Oh. 2010.

I am mostly very, very excited to see the end of this year.

Like 99% excited.

2011 after all is at least the YEAR that this deployment will end, that my husband will return home, that the kiddos will have their Daddy back. That is a very exciting prospect. At least it will be the right year. And that is something.

2010 though. Wow. You went by so fast. I was up very early this morning with the primary reason why this year has flown by, a little thing I like to call Baby Man. He is also the 1% why I am sad to see this year end. My 4th child, my last little bundle, my sweet precious baby. HIs first year is nearly over. He is going to turn One in a week, and there is nothing I can do about it. I can't keep him a baby forever, unless we stay in 2010 forever. Which I am fairly certain isn't actually an option. But why oh WHY did he have to grow up so fast? I can hardly stand it. I'm just not ready to say goodbye to babyhood for the last time. But every day he gets closer and closer to becoming a toddler.


(Sorry, the sound is bad. It's not your computer. Promise.)

I'm still at my Mom's and my Little Man is sitting beside me "eating" cheerios. I say "eating" because he is, in reality, feeding the majority of them to the dogs at his feet. All the while happily saying "Dog dog dog dog DOG dog dog dog dog DOG dog dog", all the while the dogs dancing merrily about hoping to catch the next falling circle of sweetness.

These dogs are going to be very sad when we leave.

Also, did you catch that my Baby is saying "dog"? Cause he is. A LOT. More than he says Mama. In fact, I would say the ratio of "dog"s to "Mama"s is approximately 100 to 1. I try not to take it personally.

Ok, back to the main point here. This time last year we were hoping beyond hope that I would go into labor and have a New Year's Eve/New Year's Day baby. I spent a few hours in the evening actually timing contractions, but they stopped completely around 11PM and we rang in the New Year slightly disappointed. But certain The Man would arrive soon. We just wanted as much time together as a family, with this looming deployment. Every day counted.

He made us wait 6 more days.

He's chill like that.

We've come a long way in a year. This New Years Eve instead of waiting on a baby I am soaking up every last minute of having my baby BE a baby. My husband is pretty much as far away as he could be, and yet we are nearly to that "countdown" phase. I don't know if I will even attempt to stay awake to ring in 2011. I would rather sleep I think, and let 2010 slip quietly in to the past.

That at least reduces the likelihood that I will cry too much. Tears of joy for a new year, tears that the deployment isn't over yet, tears of celebration that the deployment IS almost over, tears for my way-too-big-kids. You get the picture. It doesn't take a lot these days.

Happy New Year, everyone!

Vacation Synopsis: Part II

Funny thing about Theme Parks.

They have a height requirement for the rides.

Funny thing about Bug.

She's uhm. Short.

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter had exactly 3 rides. And she was only tall enough for one of them.

I'm not certain I have made it entirely clear how fearless this child is. She really is completely unafraid. Giant dragon-themed roller-coaster featuring loop-the-loops and corkscrews? She was literally begging to ride it. But the Red Line. The Red Line said differently.

We had discussed the Red Line well in advance of the trip. I wanted to make it known to her that Mommy was not to blame for the rules in this place. The rules at the theme park were beyond my control. The Red Line alone would dictate which rides she could ride, and which rides she could not. I had hopes that this mental preparation would limit the number of tantrums including "But Mommy WHY WON'T YOU LET ME RIDE THAT SCARY ROLLERCOASTER???"

Instead the tantrum for this particular ride went more along the lines of "I AM tall enough, I AM MOMMY! I KNOW I CAN REACH THE RED LINE!!!!!!!!!"

Flat out denial. She felt it was the best approach.

The second ride she was not tall enough for is inside Hogwarts. We waited in line, and once you reach the front if you have small children who cannot ride there is a "Child Swap Area." This made it so my mom or I could wait with the 2 little kids while the other rode with the big boys, and then after the boys could ride again with the alternate adult without having to spend another hour in line. A very. Very. Sweet deal if you happened to be 8 or 11.

A complete and utter earth-shattering disappointment if you are four.

Pudah was actually barely tall enough to ride it. It was incredibly intense and honestly frightening. The first time through the ride, even after measuring at the line and telling her point blank she would not be able ride it, she came completely unglued in the Child swap room when it was time to separate our group. I don't think she believed until that moment that she would really be left out. Afterwards even talk of the Dementors and evil venom spewing spiders the boys' encountered on the ride did not dissuade her.

"Mommy, I LIKE spiders. I am not even scared of them at all! I like spiders, like my pet Rosie at school, and so I CAN ride the ride because spiders don't scare me. Whats a Dementor?"
(Yes. Her preschool has a pet spider. A tarantula. The first one was Rosie, the new one is Terry. But she still loves Rosie most. As much as a person can love a tarantula.)

Harder to be scared of something you've never seen, and even still our descriptions of black-robed, faceless, soul-sucking harbingers of doom only seemed to fuel the intrigue. She had. no. fear.

The second time we stood in line to ride it she cried the entire time. Ok, not the entire time. It was an hour and forty-five minute wait, which is a long time to cry. So occasionally she would simply sniffle, take a few deep breaths and examine her surroundings as if wondering momentarily if it was all worth it, before breaking back in to full-blown sobs.

Oh yeah. I had THAT kid.

The people at the end of the line felt so awful for her, the girl in the Hogwarts robes kneeled down to talk to her sweetly and told her soon she would be big enough. Bug pointed angrily at me, far beyond the voice of reason, shrieking loudly "SHE won't LET me ride it!!"

Red Line Talk Fail.

That was a fun wait in the Child Swap room. Surrounded by other small children waiting quietly and patiently on the laps of their token adult as Harry Potter played on a flat-screen mounted to the wall, while mine melted in to a puddle of wailing, tear-streaked, absolute despair.

What am I going to do with her when she is a willful and fearless 13 year old?

It's not a time I am looking forward to.

Don't worry, other areas of the Islands of Adventure had more 4-year-old friendly rides. And we rode the smaller roller-coaster in Harry Potter world that she WAS tall enough for about 10 times. She insisted on riding in the very front. I am not kidding.

And now, A random photo with a special message for Daddy.


(Read the sign.)

To be Continued.....

Our Christmas

Christmas.

Finally.

I am so glad to see it come.

And go.

We had a really nice Christmas morning, even though it was just half my little family. The big Boys were at my Ex's this year, and of course, the Husband isn't here. We are at my Mom's though, after our big trip, and it was really wonderful not to have to spend the day alone.

Last night while we were placing milk and cookies out for Santa (And some lettuce and carrots for the reindeer, cause they do all the REAL work!) My sweet little Bug looked up at me and said:

"Mommy, Will Daddy be here in the morning?"

No, Bug, he won't. He is too far away, and he is working.

"Oh......Are you SURE?""

I'm sure. Sure that my heart is broken, and that I would do anything to have your Daddy be here with you, sure that he would do anything to make it all better, and sure that there is absolutely nothing I can actually do about it.

She cried. And went to bed.

The morning came though, and with it she was happy again. There were full stockings and presents under the tree. She took the better part of an hour getting through the contents of her stocking, slowly and deliberately examining each item, taking a few minutes or more to play with it, or eat it (depending on if it was chocolate or not), before moving on to the next. Present opening proceeded in much the same manner. Each item had to be completely unpackaged, and used to some degree before she was ready to move on to opening anything else. It was a very calm, peaceful, pleasant way to spend a Christmas morning. All the while, Baby Man was happy too. He played with the paper and shiny bows, perfectly content to let his big sister unwrap things, "share" his toys and even "trade" a few items that she decided he "didn't really want." Like the dinosaur toy in his stocking that she deemed to be "too scary for a baby, he doesn't even LIKE it Mommy! But I DO like it, so I will take it and then he won't be scared!"

Yeah. That's not going to fly next year.

But this year, it did. And she milked it for all it was worth.

Here are a few photos of our small, cozy, missing-lots-of-loved-ones-while-enjoying-the-company-of-others Christmas.


(The Fam: Me, Bug, Baby Man, My Mom, Stepdad and Stepsisters)


(Mama, Baby, and some ARMY pride)


(One of Four Best Presents Ever.)


(Rolling around in the wrapping paper. Babies do not need presents. For real. I don't know why we buy them any when the paper is what makes them happy.)



(Bug as a Princess (Rapunzel from Tangled)......aaaaand Buzz Lightyear. What can I say, she's her own person! I was happy that she liked the princess dress, usually she will have nothing to do with the whole princess gig. But I think the wig really sold her on this one.)

We had a nice Christmas dinner with ham and all that good stuff. I could still go for a third piece of pie, but I think I will go to bed before I give in to the temptation.

I hereby deem this a successful Christmas. And one that I am happy to have behind us. We are very much looking forward to the New Year.

Vacation Synopsis: Part One

When a person takes four children to the airport, goes through security, and boards a plane people will stare.

As we unloaded like clowns from a circus car out of my friend's vehicle, people stared.

As I made my way inside, pushing a stroller while carrying two carseats to the bag-check, followed by two boys carrying backpacks and tugging luggage while a curly-haired pixie tagged along close behind toting her own rolling bag, people stared.

As we made our way through the back and forth zig-zag of the security line waiting for our turn to be metal-detected, people stared.

I met eyes with one such staring person, and smiled at her. She smiled back and said "You have amazing children. I've been watching, they are so well-behaved."

Thanks, I said.

"And they are a good-looking bunch too! You must be proud."

I was. I am.

They are exceptional children always, but it seems they had all remembered their Good-Behavior-Underpants that morning because they were even more exceptional than usual. Edo especially was truly amazing: pushing Bug in the stroller, loading and unloading things off the conveyor belt, assisting with shoes and bags and all the while remaining completely composed and stress-free and all without even being asked. He made the whole airport experience a breeze, and I was sure to let him know how much I appreciated his attention and efforts to be helpful. He brushed it off like it was no big deal, but it really made my day seeing him so thoughtful and responsible.

In spite of the fact that I think we seemed very organized and orderly, I still got more "Wow you've got YOUR hands full!" and "Oh my goodness are those all YOURS?" and "You must be one brave woman!" comments than I could count. But I get those at the grocery store so I guess I should have expected no less at the airport.

The flight was uneventful. Boring even. The boys watched movies, read books, listened to music. Bug played with her Star Wars figures and repeatedly had me take her to the bathroom just to get up and walk around. Baby Man sort of fussed off and on, and was most happy when splashing about in the tiny glass of water the flight attendant gave me to drink. I was thirsty the entire flight. He was damp the entire flight. The young-ish guy sitting next to us was still impressed with their behavior, even though Bug dropped some silly-putty in the cracks of his chair which he spent quite a bit of time attempting to retrieve for her.

We arrived at my Mom's house pretty late, had a short visit with my brother and his fiancee before eventually heading off to bed. Edo and Pudah were so excited about the trip, I don't think they actually slept much at all.

The next day, as I already posted, was a long drive but with surprisingly few stops considering the volume of children on board. They are becoming quite the professional travelers. Pudah was the only one inquiring "Are we almost there?" "How much longer?" "Do you think we will be there by 7?" "Is this Florida?" "Is this Florida?" "Is THIS Florida?"

Repeatedly stating "We will get there when we get there" and "Please stop asking" did little to deter him from his persistent rephrasing of the question. But eventually, We actually got there.

Our next day looked something like this:

(Double stroller$24 to rent. $3 extra for one with steering wheels. Worth. Every. Penny.)


(Destination: Universal Studios Islands of Adventure. Primary objective: The Wizarding World of Harry Potter.)

The hats and hoodies were necessities as it was about 40 degrees when we got to the park. It was nice though, I will take that over 85 degrees and humid any time.


(Excited random pointing. I don't know, this makes me laugh.)


(Random "Hey! We're all on a surfboard! Except Pudah.....he's drowning. And the 11 year old is totally non-plussed. Take a picture!" picture.

And then, after walking approximately 500 miles because they were directing all patrons to follow the longest path to Harry Potter (and trust me, that is where EVERYONE was going.) We arrived at the Hogwarts Express.



We proceeded directly to The Three Broomsticks for our breakfast reservation (part of the vacation "package", and I highly recommend it because it is reservation only for breakfast and then the line is ten miles long to get in for either lunch or dinner.)

There was butterbeer, butterbeer, and more butterbeer. Both cold and frozen, with frozen eventually being the preferred state for partaking. And we splurged on the "commemorative mugs". I think the situation warranted it.



All through breakfast Pudah said "Can we go to the wand shop?" or "Are you done eating so we can go to the wand shop?"and a few times "I think the wand shop is going to close before we get there, so can we go now?" and also "I've had two bites already, so my tummy is full, can we get going to the wand shop?" and more than once "Is it time to go to the wand shop?" and "If we don't go to the wand shop right now I'm going to freak the FREAK out!"

Ok he didn't say the last one, but it is totally what he meant. Eventually we were all finished and proceeded to the Olivander's Wand Shop line. Pudah danced, wiggled, shrieked, bounced and bit his nails for the entire 45 minutes we waited. Luckily, the experience completely lived up to his expectations, and we left with three different wands and three different scarves for my three very different little Wizards.



Pudah knew he was meant to be a Hufflepuff. Bug HAD to be just like the REAL Harry Potter (she even chose to get a replica of his wand). Edo deliberated, thoughtfully as always, and eventually came to the conclusion that he was more Ravenclaw then Griffindor. Everyone was happy. We probably could have turned around and left right then and no one would have even complained.

But there were rides to ride and things to see, and we were just getting started.


(Except for Baby Man. He was already wiped out. He is completely asleep in this photo, and I think it was about 10 a.m. For a nearly-one-year-old, he did fantastic.)

To be continued.......

Holy Tired, Batman!

It turns out two days of vacation with four kids can really wear a person out.



But only in a totally fun, we had a blast, couldn't ask for anything more, my feet are so sore I would like to take them off until tomorrow kind of way.



Still, the tiredness prevents one from really doing much blogging.


But as you can see, there are wands and scarves and Happy Children.


And for tonight, that will have to be enough.

7+4+4 A Christmas Miracle

Here is a little Christmas Math for you:


7 Hours in the Car.

Plus

4 Children.

Plus

4 Stops.

Equals

A Christmas Miracle


That's right, my Mom and I made a 7 hour drive today with all 4 kiddos. We stopped once for lunch, once for gas, once because the 4 year old refused to use the bathroom at the second stop but almost immediately regretted it, and once to see my Grandparents for a brief visit (They. Are. Awesome. But Great Grandparents really only need to see Great Grandchildren in small doses, especially close to bed time. I wish we had started out trip about two hours earlier, but oh well. It was still good to see them.) That equates to only one stop per child technically.

I think we deserve an award for Best Kids Ever. Don't you?

The icing on the proverbial road-trip-cake though is the fact that my 11.5 month old Toothless Joe decides that a 7 hour road trip would be the perfect time to cut his first tooth. I didn't realize it till we got to the Grandparents because he had been such an angel all day long!

Yay Baby Man, gettin' some teeth!

Just. Really odd timing. Might want to work on that, kid.

The Big Kids were all really wonderful traveller's. Pudah and Bug watched some movies, played some toys, listened to some music.

Edo read three books.

Three.

Books.

Some series about Nicholas Flemmel, The Alchemist maybe? I don't know, but he read the three books he had and is now wondering what he will do for the trip back in a few days. Love. That. Boy.

Alright everyone is asleep and I am typing in my hotel room in the dark. So I should go.

Look out, Harry Potter. Here we come!

Countdown to What?

I think pretty much Everyone is in Countdown to Christmas mode at this point.

Well. Everyone but Me.

I like Christmas, I really do. I even love it most years. Last year was a pretty good one, although being seriously pregnant (read: uncomfortable) and also having my older boys away at my Ex's made it slightly less than perfect. At the time we thought we would have "next Christmas" a.k.a. THIS Christmas to spend all together, but the fates of deployment did not see it that way at all and the fates of deployment have a little more say-so in this particular arena then I do.

My very favorite Christmas of All Time was 2008, because we got the best present of all time on December 23rd of that year.









(Let it be noted that the "E" on home here is missing because he hugged his Dad so hard that it fell off. We do know how to spell "home")

A Homecoming.

If you have never witnessed a military homecoming, I highly recommend it. This easily ranks as one of the Top 5 Greatest Moments of my Life. (And in case you need reminding, I have had 4 children who occupy the other 4 slots in that particular list simply by having been born.) So, yes, that was a miraculous Christmas.

This year it all feels....deflated? Empty? Bogus? Lame? Bah-Humbug?

I don't know, there is just something about spending Christmas without the person you love most in the world that really takes the Happy Holidays wind out of your sails.

But you know what I AM excited about?

I AM excited about January 1. I am excited about the fact that in 16 more days we will at least cross over in to the same YEAR as the year my husband returns home to us. I am excited about knowing that 2011 will bring us another magical, heart-mending, soul-tugging, tear-jerking, letters-falling-off-the-sign-from-hugging reunion. That is a day I look forward to every day. That is a day that is definitely count-down worthy.

However, that day is still a long while coming. So, In order to expedite the count-down process we plan to spend as little time moping as possible by taking ourselves on a little trip. A little trip to a place I like to call "Universal Studios: The Wizarding World of Harry Potter." The boys are pretty much losing their minds over this trip. It should be one for the history books. My Mom is coming along to help herd children and also because, uhm, who doesn't love Harry Potter?!?!?

Stay tuned for lots of fun pictures, and I'm sure an amusing story or two. Because if you've got to spend a major holiday without your spouse, you might as well spend it in Florida on vacation.

Movie Monday: Push-Car Edition

Here is Baby Man's first ride on his little push-car. It actually belonged to Bug when she was small, and she LOVED it. It had been out in our garage collecting dust, when I mentioned to my husband a few days ago that The Man seemed like he wanted to take a few steps but was instead letting go of things and simply falling over. Which made Baby Man very angry. The husband said "Well don't we have anything he can use to try and walk? Why don't you get that push car out, that Bug used to use to walk behind?"

He's a genius. Even from a trillion miles away, he remembers things in our garage that I cannot.

So we got the car out, but he didn't really want anything to do with pushing it. He was, however, a BIG fan of riding it!

(Pardon the "Blair Witch"-esque filming of the first portion. Edo has trouble remembering to hold the camera still because half the time he isn't watching the screen. And the lighting was bad. Still, it is a pretty cute video!)

Christmas Par-tay 2010

This evening I took the kids to our Brigade Christmas Party.


It was a rather large affair, in the Special Events Center on post. When we walked inside it was like a small version of the North Pole had planted itself semi-permanently there. Each unit within the brigade had a table, but each "table" was more like a small booth with it's own entrance decorated to look like the front of a gingerbread house complete with names like "Gingerbread Place" or "Lollipop Lane" and so on. There were decorated Christmas trees everywhere, music being played by a truly talented violinist and cellist, and a large central location with a white picket fence, poinsettia's, beautifully wrapped fake presents and two large comfy arm chairs for Mr. And Mrs. Santa Claus.

Bug was absolutely BESIDE HER SELF wanting to go see Santa. When we got there he had not yet arrived, but when they announced he was there and ready for photos we got in to the line as quickly as possible. She was shrieking, dancing, twirling, hopping and giggling the entire twenty minutes we stood in line. Her excitement even rubbed off on her big brothers, who were initially annoyed at having to stand in such a long line. When we were finally next in line, there was an "elf" who handed each child a hand-sanitizing wipe and exclaimed "Santa likes for all the children to have clean hands!"

Even though this was both a wise and sanitary decision, it still made me laugh.

Finally it was our turn. My little Bug hopped right up on Santa's lap, smiling and chattering ten million miles a minute. Santa laughed and smiled back. The photographer positioned the bigger boys, Edo kneeling on the ground and Pudah sat on Mrs. Claus' lap. He was, in reality, WAY too big for that. But, whatever. I wasn't the photographer and I wasn't going to tell her how to do her job. Then once everyone was set they told me I could place little Baby Man on Santa's other knee.

Baby man looked up to his right and saw Santa's face. He frowned. Baby man looked left and saw Mrs. Claus's face. His frown crumpled in to a look of sheer terror. I waved and said his name, clapping and smiling. The photographer waved an Elmo with a jingle bell hat. He ignored us. Baby Man looked only up and left, right, left before bursting in to the most sincere, heartfelt and epic meltdown of his young life.

We took a picture anyways.
(pardon the poor quality, my camera is broken and I can't figure out my scanner so this is a photo of a photo that was provided by the photographer, then uploaded from my phone to facebook, then saved in iPhoto. Yeah. So awesome.)


I scooped him up of Santa's lap, and the photographer took another photo of the three not-crying children.



I think Bug would have sat there all night talking to Santa if she had been allowed, but he gave her a candy cane and sent her happily on her way. Happily, that is, until she tried to unwrap the candy-cane and it split in two as those accursed things are known to do. Big fat tears welled up in her eyes as she opened her mouth to cry out against the injustice, but before the words could be formed her ever-heroic biggest brother silently presented his unbroken candy cane to her right hand while swiftly removing the objectionable fractured cane from her left.

I am telling you, this Big Kid of mine is Good.

Once again all smiles we went about visiting the various booths, playing a few game, chatting with other families, making Christmas Bell necklaces with soldier's who were ever-so-kind and sweet with my children. It was so touching to see these grown men sitting, lacing bells on green and red string, made to order for my four year old girl who misses her own soldier so very much. She told the young man helping her how many gold and silver bells she wanted, and sat beaming as he tied it around her neck when it was finished. She gave him a big High Five, and he smiled and laughed at her enthusiasm for such a small thing. I don't think he quite realized how much it meant to so many of these kids just to have 5 minutes of attention from a man who reminds them just a little bit of Dad.

We also entered the raffle for the door prizes. Every person got a ticket, and there was a long table up on a big stage with lots of prizes. Hanging from the table in front of each prize was a stocking, so you could place half you ticket in whichever stocking you chose and keep the other half to see if you won during the drawing later. They gave each child and myself a ticket so we didn't have to debate which item to try and win. Priceless.

We visited our own unit booth, and got a small ornament with the Brigade symbol on it. We watched some of the video of Soldier Shout-outs from Iraq, but never saw any footage of Daddy. We eventually got a little bit to eat and found a table to sit at while we waited for the raffle to begin. Sipping soda and eating cookies, Pudah started to ponder aloud "We won't win anything Mommy. We never do. Maybe we should just go. We aren't going to win anyways."

Well, I said, thats probably true. We may not win anything, but look at all the people here. Most of them won't win either, but it is still fun to stick around and see what happens.

The drawing started. A few items down was the stocking Bug placed her ticket in, but they did not call her number. A few more items down was my own selection, and alas, my number was not called either. There were many, many items and finally near the end were the two Edo and Pudah had selected to place their tickets.

"Alright!" The announcer said, "We've got here now a 250 piece Magic Kit!"

"That's what I picked Mommy!" Pudah exclaimed, tightly gripping his tiny ticket, facial expression vacillating rapidly between eager anticipation and prepared disappointment.

"The number is 115885"

"That's YOU PUDAH!" Edo starts screaming, "THATS YOU!!!"

"AAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!" He shrieks, throwing his ticket down on the table and bolting for the stage.

PUDAH! You need the ticket to get the prize!

"AAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!" He runs back, grabs the ticket, and takes off running again.

We are clapping and cheering as the announcer double-checks his ticket before handing him this GIANT box, asking his name and saying Congratulations.

He makes his way back to the table with the biggest grin and the widest eyes I have ever seen.

"Mommy! I won. I WON!!"

You sure did, baby boy. And if any of us had to win a prize, I am so glad it was you. Good thing we stuck around.

He just needed that magical moment a little more than the rest of us, and it made my heart so happy to see him so pleasantly surprised by the whims of chance. We made our way out to the car with lots of Congratulations and Merry Christmas wishes, drove home with two sleeping little ones and two wide-awake-out-of-their-minds-with-excitement-about-magic-tricks older ones whispering in the back seat about what trick they might try first.



All in all, I call it one heck of a successful Christmas Party.

And the Best Day Ever goes to.......

I have some exciting news.




Very. Truly. Awesome News.





I would like to share this news with all of you, because of its wonderful awesomeness.





Prepare yourselves to be amazed.




And perhaps to say "Oooooh" or "Ahhhhh" or even "OH mah Hey-yck! Mah fort box is blowin'!"





(Yeah, most of you won't get that last bit. But my Dad will. I bet he's laughing right now.)





(Hi Dad!)




Ok but seriously, back to this News Business.


See this guy?



Thats my Husband-guy.



And it turns out, that besides just being nice to look at......


(This is not simply my opinion. It has been independently verified by several outside sources.)

(Mmmmmm..... Dress Blues......)

Ahem, Anyways. BESIDES being nice to look at, it also turns out he's a bit of a Smart-y.


Because My Husband-Guy.


Has been accepted to teach.


At West Point.


TEACH.


AT.


WEST.


POINT.

(In case you didn't catch that the first time.)


Excited isn't the right word. Ecstatic doesn't even do it justice. This is so huge, so wonderful, so absolutely mind-boggling in the awesome department that I just don't even have the words.

But I am beyond proud of him, and all the hard work he has done to get to this place. I know he is going to make a fantastic instructor. He's such a natural teacher in everything he does, this just makes sense. For him, and for our family.

(And we surely won't mind having him at home for a few years in a row either.)




(No, I don't think we will mind that even one little bit.)

So, to sum up, we will finish up this deployment, spend about another year at our current duty station, and then move to wherever he gets accepted to Graduate school. He will be in school for two years, and then teaching at West Point for three years after that.

In other words, he will be home until our oldest child is headed off to college.

Best. Day. Ever.

I love you, baby!

The Not-Forgotten Child

My Second Born Child.



My little Pudah has always had such a sparkle in his eyes.



And a mischievous little smile.


I realized that I don't talk about him much. But the thing is. He's a Complex Kid.




As a little guy, my Dad called him "The Random Electron." It was the truth, you never knew where Pudah was going to be at any given moment. His movements were random, unpredictable, and often quite wild. He was the complete. Complete. Opposite of his older brother in that regard, and it took me a long time to realize I had to seriously modify my parenting plan in order to address the specific needs of this exuberant, energetic, keep-you-on-your-toes-and-hopefully-not-too-often-in-the-ER-Kid. He wasn't trouble in the intentionally trouble making kind of way, just in a curious about the world and can't quite contain my excitement about life kind of way.

It's an important distinction to make.

I remember vividly going to his first Parent Teacher Conference in Kindergarten. I was a nervous wreck, thinking I would have to sit and listen to his teacher tell me how he is all over the place, how he can't sit still, how he must have ADHD or something and try and convince me to medicate him. I braced myself for a fight.

I went in. I sat. His teacher said "Your son is a delightful (I knew this), intelligent (I knew this too) boy. But he is just so quiet and reserved, it can be challenging to get him to interact at times."

Quiet? Reserved? Nothing could have shocked me more than those two words. Can you double check that file because I am pretty sure you aren't talking about MY child. In fact, I am certain you must have him confused with some other child by the same name because my boy has never been quiet for a moment of his life and I don't see why he would suddenly start at the age of six to be "reserved" either.

We checked the file. It was his. I shook my head in disbelief, and she went on to explain that often when the classroom gets too noisy, he goes off to a corner on his own. That he is always the first to follow the directions, that he is always the first to listen, that he gets anxious when there is too much activity. Are you kidding? My kid IS activity. My kid IS noise. My kid wouldn't know a direction if it was a Direction Snake that bit him and then he had to drink Listening-anti-venom in order to survive because he wouldn't drink it since he would be too busy doing anything else besides listening to the person giving the directions telling him to drink it.

If you know what I mean. That was the kid I THOUGHT I had.

However, it has turned out that formal schooling brought about a whole new dimension in this child's life. A whole new side, a whole new way of being. There was the School Way, and there was the Home Way. Mid-way through his Second Grade Year I think the two sides of his Behavior-Self are beginning to meet a bit more in the middle. He is better at listening at home, and better at expressing himself at school. At school now his teacher has them keep track of a monthly Behavior Report Card. It has a small strip at the top, which has a box for each day that contains either a gold star, a blue stamp, a smiley face, or a frowny face or some other mark indicating poor behavior. Gold stars are the best and then so on down the line. This strip is stapled to a piece of paper on which the children are expected to write an explanation of their behavior grid, what they can improve and what marks they are proud of, etc.

For November he brought home all good marks. All gold stars, blue stamps or smiley faces. And this is what he had to write about it:

"Dear Mom,
Just look at my month!
Not a ton of good marks...
But no bad mark!
Ohhhhh man!
I'm going sky high!
Only if you could see me in school. Sigh....
Well I hope this November was the best November,

Love,
Pudah"

So modest. So incredibly sweet. His teacher this year tells me my Boy is a fantastic leader in his class, a wonderful example, and a true friend to all. I think he is really beginning to find a balance between the dynamic, expressive Pudah that we all know and love in our family and the more introverted, contemplative child that he becomes at school. It has been such an amazing process to watch, but I see now from this short little note that he needs to know that I can see him the way his teachers see him.

I am going to do everything I can to let him know that I do. That I see all that, and more. So much more. And that wild or reserved, serious or silly, listening or otherwise he will always be my one-of-a-kind Pudah-budah with his one-of-a-kind ways to make everyone smile.

11 Months

Baby Man is 11 Months Old.

It's madness I say.

This little Man has grown far too fast, certainly much faster than any of my other little ones. This first year has flown by and here we are, nearly at the end of it. And then. He will no longer be a Baby. He will become a Toddler, and then a young Child, and then he will go off to college and I will die of a broken heart.

Ok, so we have a FEW years before that happens. But at this rate I swear I will blink and it will be tomorrow and he will be driving away.

So. 11 Months. My point-and-shoot camera decided to die, leaving me to take pictures with what is really meant to be a video camera.

Translation: The pictures suck.

But I couldn't just let the milestone pass us by so these will have to do.

This is basically his only big kid trick. He will stand, holding on to things, and kind of cruise along back and forth a few steps.




Look! One hand!


We tried to get him to take a step to us. He didn't want to.


Bug tried to MAKE him. He didn't like that.


He makes this face a LOT now. And goes "OOOOooooooo!" like something really cool just happened. But usually, nothing is happening at all. It's very misleading.



And now, a short video which will prove conclusively that I have the cutest baby of all time.

Movie Monday

Because it is Monday, and because I don't want the previous post to leave anyone thinking my darling 4 year old is a complete brat (She really isn't, she's just 4. And dramatic. And maybe a liiiiiiiiitle spoiled.) here is a movie of Bug being a total sweetheart. She is playing Doctor with the dog, who is the most tolerant creature on the planet and who I swear to never say a bad word about again (unless he gets in to the cat litter again anyways. Which he had better not.)

And also, I was on the phone when I took this video. So my random words don't necessarily make sense. I thought if I waited till I got off the phone they would have quit being so cute. So. Just ignore me in the background, ok? Thanks.

Epic Tantrum of the Middle Class American Child

Today, we had to run to the corner store to get a few last-minute items for my 11 year old's science project.

The tag-alongs naturally asked if they could have something, and feeling in a particularly kind and indulgent motherly mood I agreed they could select a small treat.

Bug chose a pack of gum. Pink. Original gum flavor. She loves gum, although typically she gives it about three chews and then spits it back out in the wrapper proclaiming loudly "I'm DONE! Boy, I LOOOOOVE Gum!" I think this is partly because she was not allowed to have it at all until recently, and partly because we always send lots of gum to Daddy in his care packages that she thinks it must be fantastic even if it turns out she doesn't actually like to chew it.

Whatever the reason, for 89 cents it makes her happy.

Pudah found a GIANT lollipop, all swirly-colored and the size of his head. It was Obnoxiously Giant, but it was only $1 and therefore on par with the pack of gum, spending-wise. The Bug quickly examined the pack of gum alongside the Obnoxiously Giant lollipop and decided she wanted to swap her treat out for one like her brother's. We hadn't paid yet, so I asked if she was certain. She was. She even put the gum back herself, and carried her lollipop out with both hands, as was necessitated by its Obnoxiously Giant size..

We got home. The lollipops were enjoyed for about a minute, then set back in their wrappers and quickly forgotten they lay on the kitchen counter for several hours. All was right with the world.

Then suddenly, and without either warning or provocation, my 4 year old burst into a tantrum of epic proportions. I honestly am not sure what triggered it.

"MoooooMMMYYYYYYY!!! I want GUUUUUUUUUUUM!"

Ok, well, you picked a lollipop. It is still on the counter. You can have more of it if you want.

"BUT I DON'T WANT THAT I WANT PINK BUBBLE GUM!!!!!!"

We don't have any pink bubble gum. You chose a lollipop. That was your choice. You can go to your room if you are going to keep screaming like that.

"I WANT TO GO TO MY ROOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooommmmmmm!" She trails off as she stomps up the stairs and slams her door.

From behind the door, the tantrum continues. And it goes. Like This:

"LOLLIPOP I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU LOLLIPOP AND I DON'T WANT YOU! I DON'T LIKE YOU LOLLIPOP AND YOU SHOULD GO. AWAY!!!!!!! I LOVE MY GUM AND I DON'T LOVE YOU, I HATE YOU LOLLIPOP BECAUSE YOU AREN'T GOOD AND YOU AREN'T PINK BUBBLE GUM AND THATS WHAT I WAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNTTTT AND I DON'T WANT YOU AT ALL!!! "

After thoroughly berating the poor, dejected lollipop, she continues:

"OH PINK BUBBLE GUM! WHY! WHY AREN'T YOU HERE WITH ME????? I LOVE YOU PINK BUBBLE GUM BECAUSE YOU TASTE GOOD NOT LKE THAT LOLLIPOP THAT I DON'T WANT! AND I WANT YOU, GUM, AND I DON'T WANT ANYTHING ELSE!!! I LEFT YOU AT THE STORE BUT I STILL WANT YOU AT MY HOUSE!!!!! GUM IS GOOD AND LOLLIPOPS ARE BAD BECAUSE THEY DON'T TASTE GOOD AT ALL!! I. WANT. MY. GUUUUUUMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!"

Wash. Rinse. Repeat.

This went on for 20 minutes.

Life really isn't fair when you have a giant swirly multi-colored lollipop instead of a pack of pink bubble gum. The injustice of it all is simply too much to bear. At least, if you are a middle-class four year old American child like mine. Someone should write a letter. Someone should fund a billboard campaign. Someone should start a charity: Money For Kids With Lollipops But No Gum Because They Have Mean Mommies Unite. Someone should overthrow the Tyranny of those who won't let us have gum AND lollipops!

Or maybe Someone should just stop buying their kids check-out-line treats.

I'm just sayin'.

Whew: NaBloPoMo Recap

Ok. November was an interesting month.

I have to say, making the commitment to blog every day for an entire month ended up being more challenging then I expected. I generally am the type of person who can talk about anything and always has something to say, so it was surprising to find days where I just couldn't find the words.

Of course, I found SOME words every day. They just weren't always exactly what I wanted. Or planned. Or expected. Like that Christmas Card post.

Dude. I so didn't see that one coming.

But the need to write something I think also brought out fun and creative things too, even if they were in the form of a Sickness Haiku.

The month also led to the discovery of the amazing "Post Options" tool, which allowed me to schedule posts. This was great because i could write in the evening (when I have the most time) and set them to post the next morning. It is definitely something I plan on utilizing more often to help me write more consistently. I only feel slightly stupid for not taking advantage of it before now.

All in all, a great experience. I appreciate every comment I received, and I appreciate everyone who took the time to read what I have to say. I found new and interesting blogs to read as well, which is always fun. My Dad said it helped him feel more connected to the every day life of my family. This worked to my advantage because he sent me some Chocolate Decadence cake from Harry & David's after reading a few down-in-the-dumps posts in a row. Score One for pity chocolate! My Best Friend said I should write every day forever and ever. I'm not sure about that. But, I will definitely participate again next year.

And now we move on in to December.

Hello, Last Month of 2010. I am happy to see you, but I will be even happier to see you go.