We’re back from a wonderful trip to Indiana (I’ll try to post pictures & write about it in the next few days).  We actually got back a bit ago but its taken me awhile to get back into the swing of things.  Jim went back to work the end of last week.

Ben is full-steam into crawling and moving onto cruising the furniture.  Jim has him on the deadline to walk before he deploys.  I’ve laughed at Jim with the crawling.  He was so anxious for Ben to start since he was deployed when E did.  Now I think he’s regretting that! LOL  It doesn’t help that, with the layout of this place, its harder to do some babyproofing.  In our place when he was a babe, the living room & kitchen were completely separate, so it was easy to keep her out of the kitty food & water.  Plus we spent most of our time upstairs in her room (the computer was in her closet & there was a TV in her room).  And it was obviously totally safe for her.  And she had no big sister to chase after!!

Elizabeth is doing okay.  Turns 4 next week.  I don’t even know how that is possible!  She’s developed a lot of fears & separation anxiety.  We’re muddling through it but not well.  I expect it will only intensify when she finds out about the deployment and it actually happens.  *sigh*  I got the name of a good child psych if we need it.  They’ve recently hired a few new ones because of the demand with the upcoming deployment.  *double sigh*

I did the kids’ bathroom and it looks cute!  I need to take pictures.  I haven’t done the bedrooms yet.  I need to find a couple picture frames still.  I’m planning to do them one day while Jim is at work.

If you like to buy items from the US but have a hard time finding them, here’s a website that details brands made in the US.

Mom gives birth (without pain meds!) to a 15 1/2 pound babe. Impressive. And OUCH.

We’re going to WDW! We’re leaving on the 23rd and coming back on the 28th. I am BEYOND excited. We’re staying at Shades of Green which is a Disney resort they lease to the DoD for military members. We watch a lot of WDW videos on YouTube. Elizabeth is pretty much WDW-obsessed already.

I am going to make a larger effort to both keep up with my blog and read other blogs.

Big Brother 8…I’m absolutely disgusted with CBS, the editing & the producers. To say that the editing for the show was biased is an understatement. This was the first year I followed the feeds pretty closely (I don’t have them, just follow threads on TWoP discussing them). And this is the year that they did the worst biasness in their editing. With the new Grodner & crew as producers, I’m not sure I’ll tune in next year.

I put up some new pictures on our site.

When I picked E up today, I brought two of her babies with me and had them strapped into her seat. When she spotted them, her eyes got so wide and she had a big smile on her face. She leaned over to kiss each of them and said “I so hap(py) to see you. I lo(ve) you.” So sweet.

<Knocking hard but quietly on some wood…> Sleep has been going SO well this week!! Bedtime is taking less than 30 minutes and she is only waking up ONE TIME! O-N-E T-I-M-E!! It has been more than two years since she has woken up so few times for more than one night in a row. Oh, how joyous it has been! I’m not holding my breath that it will continue but I’m soaking it up while it does happen.

I have a trike-rider! We have a Radio Flyer that has an adult push-handle on the back. Back in June she was getting *so* close to doing it on her own. Yesterday it cooled off and I was feeling decent (only threw up a couple times yesterday!), so we went out so she could ride. It was the first time we have had it out all month. She got on & started peddling w/o me pushing her! She doesn’t quite have the coordination to get going if she stops with the peddles in the wrong spots. It was so fun to watch her go!

When E does her prayers at night, she always thanks God for the ‘bae in ma’s tu’ (baby in mama’s tummy).  Lately she’s started adding thanks for ‘dad take shower’.  LOL  I have NO idea where she came up with that line but it cracks me up every time.

I’m planning a trip to Chicago when we go to IN next month (Vicki, check your e-mail!). But I’m leaving E with my mom. This will be the first time we’ve been apart over night, let alone for an entire weekend. I am SO looking forward to getting to sleep through the night!! Seeing old friends will be a plus, too. I think she’ll be fine with my mom. They are really well-bonded. Mom will sleep with her as she does when my niece stays over. I have lots of family in town, so there can be lots of ways to keep her distracted. And if things go sour, I can make it home in about four hours. Still, its a long time away from me. And me from her!

Tonight we were talking about the baby and what the baby will be able to do/won’t be able to do. She commented that the baby will have to nurse b/c the baby can’t eat popcorn. She then said there isn’t a lot of room on mom’s lap, so she’d have to wait her turn to nurse. Uh, sorry to break it you, but that’s not happening!! LOL Its common for an older non-nursling to want to try. After a few months of not nursing, though, they lose the ability to remember how they did it. So some people recommend letting them try, since they won’t succeed. But even after 13ish months of not nursing, I have no doubt that *my* child would still remember and take back up!! LOL I’m not against tandem nursing at all but, in this case, that’s not a scenario I want!!

My update….I threw up only one time today!!! And I mostly even felt “normal”. I don’t remember the last time I felt even semi-”normal”. Jim leaves for ranger this weekend, so I’m REALLY hoping this is coming to the end of the worst of it.

Tomorrow E & I are off to Florida!  We’re going to Fort Meyers to see Jim’s family.  We were supposed to go to Atlanta today to meet up with some friends for a park day and then do shopping & stay the night at a hotel.  I struggled to get packed & everything for the house done yesterday, so we decided to not go.  I am HOPING to head to Atlanta early tomorrow and do some shopping prior to flying out but we’ll see.  We get back next Tuesday.

Friday I am meeting up with a friend I haven’t seen in almost two years.   Her husband is also in the army.  I am so excited to see her and her little girl.

So I tried to post before we went to IN last week but I couldn’t get it to go through.  I didn’t disappear off the face of the planet, just out of touch w/technology.  My mom has dial-up, so I usually don’t get on while I’m there.  Its a nice break, really.  One I wish I could force myself into here.  If the computer is available, it acts like a magnet.  But if I don’t have it available, in whatever way, I’m totally fine.   Its my connection to the “outside world” and I use that too much as an excuse.

Anyway…

We I finally decided on a comforter for Elizabeth’s “big girl bed”.  I’ve been on the hunt for quite awhile.  As I posted a few months back, the ones I was finding I liked were $1100+.   About a $1000 more than my upper limit!!  I got on the hunt again, narrowed it down to 5, Jim narrowed it down to 3, E chose the same 3 (I don’t think she understood that I was asking her to pick ONE LOL) and I made the final decision.  I think it’ll be cute.  Feminine but not overly so.  Once it arrives, I’ll take the fabric to the fabric store and look for something to use for curtains and/or a valance.  I’m looking forward to putting her room together, finally.

It was almost exactly a year ago I posted about everything being packed up for Germany and ready to go!  HA.  What a year it has been!

My mom drove back from IN & flew home Saturday.  It was nice to have her to entertain E on the drive.

Speaking of which….on the way home, E got sick literally 5 minutes from home.  Vomit was everywhere.  I had to pull of the interstate, strip her down on the side of the road (no place else there), clean her up and comfort her.  At 9:30.  On a poorly-lit exit.  Some guy stopped to offer help.  I think he was honest but it still made me nervous.  I was glad my mom was there.  She then had two weird BMs Friday.  And today, she curled up on the dining room floor and then vomited.  She was then fine.  I thought the sickness on the drive home was car sickness but now I’m not sure.  She’s been acting pretty normal though not fully “right”.  I’m not too concerned but I do wonder if something is going on.

Jim is out in the field a couple nights this week.  I’m looking forward to it.   As much as I miss him when he’s gone, I also like my own bedtime routines.  Since he goes to bed early, I don’t get that time when he’s home.  It’ll be a nice change.  This school has him gone several times for a few nights at a time.  A nice variety, good preparation for the next few schools.