As The World Turns

I wrote this in April, but didn't want to post it until Nick returned...

This spring has looked much like last winter which looked much like last summer.  Seven weeks ago, Nick called to say that he wasn't able to stay with the kids during my doctor's appointment because he was leaving imminently for a training trip.  A couple of days after returning from that trip, he left again for what he thought would be a week and a half long deployment.  Six weeks later, we're still waiting on his return.

In that time, there has been lots of house painting, yard work, repairs, and keeping the house show-ready.  We've only had two showings to prospective buyers, and for that I am so grateful.  The idea of being under contract and closing on the house alone with the kids is really anxiety-provoking.  Nick has no internet connectivity and gets a strict 15 minute phone call a few times a week which has complicated things tremendously with deadlines looming for Stanford with housing, school registration and such, not to mention orchestrating our move and his out processing from the army.

I'm exhausted.  The deployments and trips are taking their toll on all of us.  I'm counting down the minutes until the end of this deployment and feeling so much relief and gratitude that with it, we are closing this military chapter.  I so look forward to settling into our new reality as a family of 6.  Now to get our fearless leader home for good.

Hannah cut her hair when no one was looking.

I waffled on how to handle her new 'do.  I knew that if I look her to a stylist, they would very likely cut her hair really short to blend in the giant chunk of missing hair.  I decided to cut it myself and still leave her hair a little longer but make it so the difference isn't quite as obvious.  Once her hair grows a bit longer then we can get a quality cut.  I'm focused on the positives: for the first time ever she's letting me style her hair and that she didn't cut it to her scalp.  I had sweaty palms snipping her hair off knowing that every follicle on her head had been growing since she was born.  Luckily, it will grow.

We were given an opportunity to send Daddy a care package, so we took this picture for him.

The new and improved 1121 Drakes Cove Road North!  My only regret is not repainting the garage door and front door and shutters earlier!  Such a difference!

The newly painted deck!

I'm taking as many pictures as I can of our yard while I can, I will miss it so much when we leave.

I honestly can't even keep track of the sick bugs that have invaded our home any more.  The day after Nick left for his training trip, we got a large ice and then snow storm.  The town was crippled because the roads were so bad.  James had just gotten over croup when Emmy became very sick with a fever, a terrible cough and extreme lethargy.  On the one day that the entire town was shut down except for the hospital, she took a turn for the worse.  She was screaming and crying whenever she coughed because it hurt so badly.  I usually have a really high threshold for taking the kids to the doctor, but this scared me.  I was literally snowbound with the kids, pacing the house, trying to figure out what to do.  By the grace of God, someone shoveled my driveway and my girlfriend and kindred spirit, Sally, texted to check on us when I put the kids to bed.  She offered to come stay with the littles so I could take Emmy to the Emergency Room.  I took her up on her offer.  When she arrived at my home, she offered to take Emmy for me because the roads were so icy and treacherous that she was uneasy driving on them, even for her as a previous resident of Alaska.  This California girl, panic-stricken, pulled out of my driveway with my sick baby buckled in tight, and white-knuckled it 5 miles per hour the whole way to the Emergency Room.  We arrived safely and were, thankfully, taken back right away.  After strep and flu swabs and x-rays, we learned that she had strep throat and multiple canker sores in her mouth.  I won't soon forget that day and the kindness of my neighbors and my friend who would literally drive through snow and ice in the dark to rescue me.  Despite my best efforts, they'll never know how much their kindness still moves me.

My Emmy convalescing.

Saint Patrick's Day!

Saint Patrick's Day also happened to be Emmy's 100th Day of School party...She had been planning this outfit for weeks!  She was most concerned about how to make her hair white, which took us (ALL five of us) two stops to finally learn that white hair spray isn't easy to find, and that baby powder (which we already had at home) is a great solution!  She had so much fun!

This boy is so full of curiosity.

Research has shown that my lap is not big enough for everybody, though they still try and fight relentlessly to the bitter end over it.  I feel so loved. :-P

My first attempt at taking everyone for a walk ended with me carrying Hannah and her baboo and stroller, while clutching the dog's leash and pushing the double stroller with an up-side-down James nearly dragging on the pavement as we chased after Emmy who was breeching her distance limit.  And that is why I don't leave the house.

So, it turns out our HOA made plans to create a walking trail and two communal gardens (with benches!) just outside our fence line.  The only trouble is that they forgot to ask us first.  Irate doesn't touch the emotion I felt as they enlisted neighborhood people to desecrate the space behind our house two Saturdays ago.  Trying to hide my fury around the kids required me to dig really deep.  After a firm conversation with our very flippant HOA president and the property manager for the management company who literally couldn't answer any of my questions, except for to confirm that they don't have an e-mail for us on file and that the HOA was supposed to get approval from all the homeowners whose properties are affected, they all got a very strongly worded e-mail with an outlined plan for resolution.  I'm still waiting for an update after their alleged meeting to discuss my grievance last night.  I'm hoping they comply because my only plan was for success.  UPDATE: They apologized for their negligence and are not moving forward with the gardens with benches.  There is very little traffic back there after the first weekend, and, most important of all, we sold the house!

We've been playing outside as much as we can, enjoying the gorgeous spring weather and our wonderful backyard.

Every morning I take the dogs out as soon as I wake-up and am regularly treated to a rooster crowing.  I absolutely love waking up to that sound...The rooster and his lady friends paid us a visit one night after bath time!

Julia is getting so brave!  She loves to go down the slide.  She takes a few moments to build up the courage before she pushes off and flies down the slide.  I am so proud of that little girl!