Dress Up Drama

My girls and I celebrated MLK weekend in Indy with Kris and the kiddos while JP joined his army buddies in Vegas!  Unlike every other trip to Indy in the last several months, our only agenda item was to have fun together!  Fun was most definitely had by all.  It's incredible how Emmy's little personality brightens in the presence of her cousins.  Child-like love is the most pure form there is.  Small children tell eachother exactly what they think of them.  They tell eachother to "go away" if they are annoyed, they bark in eachother's faces if they don't feel like sharing, they invite eachother to join in their bathtime, and they cheer eachother on when they finish all of their dinner.  Emmy was so excited to join her cousins when she woke up each morning that it took an extra firm grip to contain her flailing extremities, and her happy squeals could be heard throughout the house. :)

One of the many games we played was dress-up.  Emmy was already decked out in the only butterfly costume when Clairey entered the living room.  It was, of course, the ONLY costume that Clairey wanted to wear.  A drama fit for daytime television ensued shortly thereafter.  In the end, all was well (kind of) with Emmy as a butterfly, Andy as an astronaut and Clairey as a Construction Cowgirl.

Clairey enters the room and gives Emmy a once over...

She sneaks up when Emmy least expects it...

Goes in for the kill...

Clairey is highly disappointed by her alternate costume.

Maybe this is a better choice?  A Construction Reindeer?

Emptying the dress up bin looking for just the right ensemble for Clairey...

Andy loves space, in fact, it's his favorite.  He'll tell you so.

Our baby butterfly

Much better.

The crazier the hair=the better the nap!

Rise and shine Clairey-Beary!

She cleans up well!

Playing beauty parlor with Clairey's hair accessories. It was Clairey's idea.

Mini top hat!

Somebody needs a crazy-hair-kinda-nap!

Such a girl!

Just like her mama!

Master Class

While our babies sleep, Kris and I have been entranced watching "Master Class" on the new Oprah Winfrey Network.  Maya Angelou inspires me.  I want to commit every beautiful word she said to memory.

"You see, love liberates, it doesn't bind.
Love says 'I love you!'
I Love you if you are in China,
I love you if you're across town,
I love you if you're in Harlem,
I LOVE YOU!
I would like to be near you.
I would like to have your arms around me.
I would like to hear your voice in my ear;
but that's not possible now.
So, I love you.
Go."
-Maya Angelou

God has an incredible way of sending me the messages I need to hear.

13 months old, 10 months down & 6 weeks left!

Without fully thinking it through, I told myself that all I needed to do is get through the holidays, and then Nick would be home.  It didn't turn out to be a very helpful head game, considering we still have about six weeks to go.  This sprint to the finish line is beginning to drag.  Ugh!

As the deployment wears on, Emmy has been blossoming!  It seems that her personality and capabilities have become brighter and more impressive (to me) with each passing day. :)  These days, she is fascinated by stairs.  She climbs the first step at home and holds onto the rungs of the baby gate with a giant grin on her face.  I, absentmindedly, left the gate door open a couple of days ago, and in the ten seconds that I turned away from her, she was two steps away from the top.  She was glowing with pride over her accomplishment.  I am in trouble!  We have had "classes" on how to come down the stairs, but she is way too self-confident to be trusted to descend safely without my white-knuckle grip on her.  She, of course, LOVES getting into my pantry and emptying the lower shelf to the floor, which is the highlight of Molly and Darla's every day.  Emmy will be hugely disappointed once I install the flip lock that I've purchased to the door.

Her latest sound fascination is "uhoh."  She doesn't enunciate the letters quite yet, but she has the voice inflection down pat.  She loves saying it so much, that she will throw something to the floor, just to give herself a reason to break out her favorite phrase.  She always says it with a very concerned look on her face. :)

Lately, she has been resting her head on my shoulder and then, promptly, looking up at me with an eager smile to see my joyful response.  Such a people pleaser already. :)  I think she is starting to understand that her cuddles get a positive response.  Because they do.  It is pure bliss to cuddle with that girl, but given her busy-body nature, it rarely happens.  She also now pats my back when I'm holding her, another sweet gesture that always makes me smile.  To save the best for last, she has given me three kisses in the last week!  They are wet and given with a wide open mouth.  What makes them sweeter is that none of them have been reciprocal or requested. :)

Since New Year's, I have been focused on starting anew.  The schedule I have been keeping up since the summer finally wore me down, so for the last two weeks, I have left the house as little as possible.  Instead, the focus has been on spending quality time with my girl. :)  I have been committed to a few meetings, Marvin's Eagle Remembrance Ceremony, and planning the much anticipated welcome home party.  We've been talking the party up for the last 10 months, so we REALLY have to deliver to our tired Lancer soldiers and families.  It has definitely been a topic that has commanded most of our recent conversations and filled a lot of my down time (i.e. Emmy's naps) doing research and crunching numbers.  It'll be exciting to see these plans come to fruition!

Nick has been dealing with lots of difficult things lately.  He is working through counseling all of his soldiers, to see where they stand before redeployment and to identify potentially high risk situations.  I understand that there is just a seven day honeymoon period for reuniting families before pre-existing issues resurface (down from three months in the beginning of the war).  A very, very sad reality.  Hopefully all of the work that Nick is doing on the front end will help with soldier awareness and will prepare us for necessary interventions in the future.  He has continued to wade through the aftermath of SSG Dave Senft's death.  Dave's biological father has taken to grieving publicly, most recently to the New York Times.  It's definitely been a sad predicament for everyone involved.  Of course the army takes media speculation very seriously, as it should.  Nick responded to this situation, each and every step of it, in the ways that were expected of him, both as a caring and empathetic human being and as a commanding officer.  The hard part about free will, is that people can make their own choices, even if they are harmful ones.  I can only pray that, someday, the family finds peace.

Nick's been flying quite a bit lately and attending meetings galore.  He just placed the order for the garage Crossfit gym that he's been thinking about and researching for the duration of the deployment. (It's served as a welcome distraction during all of the heavy trials that he's faced.)  He is an active participant in the Mustache Manuary contest he initiated between all of our (male) Lancer soldiers. He tells me that he curses himself each morning when he looks in the mirror at the sight of his furry upper lip.  I can only imagine how, um, impressive it will be at the end of the month (considering it's only halfway over at this point.) :-P

Yesterday, as I was driving to the post office to mail Nick's care package, I, unexpectedly, started to tear up and was overcome with goosebumps.  January 15th was the cut off date for mailing packages to our Lancers.  It was the first tangible sign that this deployment is nearing an end.  If mailing a care package elicited such a joyful feeling, I can't imagine how amazing it will be to first lay eyes on my Nick, standing in formation, at the Fort Campbell hangar.  Only six more weeks (or so) and I get to find out! Praise, Jesus!

Proud Mama

Today I returned to the church nursery to find my sweet girl sitting by herself in a pack n play in the back corner of the baby enclosure.  She seemed happy, but I wondered why she was separated from the other babies and all of the toys.  When one of the nursery workers brought her to me, I asked if Emmy was tired and resting in the pack n play.  She promptly told me that another baby, Emma Kay, was very upset, so they put them both in the pack n play in an attempt to calm her down.  Emma Kay stopped crying just as soon as Emmy started playing with her.  My heart swells with joy at the thought of my girl being a good friend. :)

 Emmy and her buddies Dane and Lauren on Christmas Day.

 I found her climbing on her train the other day.  She's fearless, I tell you!

 Molly and Darla model their Christmas presents from Ben and Eliana!  :-P

  Emmy in her new favorite hiding place: my disaster of a pantry.  Unfortunately, our house builders neglected to install an effective locking mechanism on the door...Looks like we're going to pay Lowe's a visit PRONTO.

Just Three Words...

WORK OF ART

2010 findings

I just hung up the phone with my Nick...We were able to celebrate the arrival of 2011, Afghanistan time! Nick's very first words of 2011 were, "Good riddance 2010."  That's a direct quote.

It would be appropriate that, as a family, we would bring the year to a close with a 20 hour work day, a nastygram, a couple of gnarly colds and bird poop on my head (I'm not kidding.)

Just a few days after New Year's 2010, I sat in a cold hangar among hundreds of other people, watching my husband accept the Lancer guide-on.  Like a deer in headlights, I accepted my own welcome gift, a large bouquet of yellow roses.  I had no choice but to accept leadership of the families of Nick's new soldiers.  I had vehemently said no, but, without any willing takers, it still fell to me.  I was exhausted from the newborn survival stage, struggling to become proficient at nursing Emmy, supporting Nick as he worked very long hours learning his brand-new job, anticipating a difficult goodbye and geographically single mother-hood, and now needing to be the fearless leader to seventy families when I was consumed by the emotion myself.  The anxiety of it all, was crushing.  I can say that now.

I didn't know how I would manage, understanding that I am unable to sign my name to anything that is just satisfactory.  It's that OCD thing that I deal with.

Nick and I were baptized (by submersion) last Valentine's Day, it was something that we had talked about doing for awhile, and the time just seemed right with his impending deployment.  Little did I know that once I truly opened my heart to God, that he would fill it, so completely, with all that I needed to persevere.  He has never left my side during each and every trial, through which I have learned so much about myself, other people and just life along the way:

It is possible to mow the lawn, both front and back yards, and weed within a two hour Emmy nap.  It's a photo-finish, but it can be done with a lighted baby monitor!

Making a pit stop in a hotel parking lot to breastfeed on roadtrips offers more privacy and MUCH cleaner restrooms than do gas stations.  A hands-free carrier is clutch in getting the job done inside the hotel bathroom, and never forget to buy a soda from the vending machine to make it fair and avoid funny looks.

There is no such thing as perfect delegation when you are in a leadership role.  You are always the default person and there is always a need for you.

There are a lot of entitled people out there who don't know how to say "please," "thank you," or "I'm sorry," but we still must carry ourselves in a respectable way.

Grieving families find great comfort in telling old stories to new faces.

It is possible to carry a trunk load of groceries into the house in just two trips.

There is a cardinal rule to never interrupt a military funeral processional.  Instead, it is appropriate to pull over, climb out of the car and stand with your right hand over your heart while the hazard light-blinking line of cars pass by no matter how long it takes.

Don't EVER start a half marathon in the front of the pack, you will question your running ability for the remainder of the race.

Open-casket funerals terrify me.

Delivering a homemade meal for someone who has fallen on hard times is one of the most appreciated gifts you can offer them.

Nothing, NOTHING, is as simple as it should be.

Bringing a grieving family a box with  household goods that will be used up with the expected foot traffic in their home (i.e. detergent, paper towels, tissues, toilet paper, paper plates, etc.) is a helpful way to show support.

There are people out there that are dumb enough to steal the contents of your glove compartment.  Don't forget to lock up the car, even in your own driveway.

Running with a stroller with inflated wheels is way easier than with flat ones.

If your child has repeated blow out diapers, it's helpful to introduce the next size up.

A toy "bait and switch" approach with a determined child is a highly effective tool.

Having a credit card that accrues miles is supremely helpful in times of crisis requiring last minute travel. (Use it for everything to earn miles quickly and, most importantly, pay it all off each month!)

A small container of creamer can buy a thirty minute sit-down restaurant meal with a one year old.

A pack-n-play and a high chair are necessary inventions to take a shower and make dinner with a little rugrat in the house.

Birds are miserable creatures.

Sesame Street music videos on You-Tube can buy extra time in bed first thing in the morning...It's Incredib-elmo! ;)

Facebook is the most helpful invention for bringing people together, but detrimental when someone's bad day spreads like wildfire.

It is possible to survive without TV for a week and air conditioning for a mid-summer weekend (although it was close on the latter of the two.)

Molly is terrified of fireworks.

Darla humps my leg when she is stressed out.

A musical toothbrush can be a favored Christmas gift.

Just because your six month old plays with her ears, doesn't necessarily mean she has an ear infection.

God has strategically placed people in certain places to help and teach us along the way, but it's on us to listen to them.

By in large, people want to help, they just need to know how.

Mom and Kris have olympic-standard stamina when it comes to supporting me.  It's astonishing just how much time they have spent on the phone encouraging me and their willingness to drop everything to help me, no matter how tall the request.  I hope that neither of them are ever in a position for me to repay them, but if they are, they've taught me through example.

There are people who aren't above kicking you when you're down.  Crisis brings out the worst in some people.  No matter how hurtful they are and how difficult it may be, we must still forgive.  God is the only judge that matters.

Friends do exist that wont hesitate to pack up their kids to come peel you off the bathroom floor, just so long as you let them in.

Taking big risks beyond my comfort zone has led to the greatest lessons, life experiences and triumphs.

It takes knowing the lowest lows to know the highest highs.

The time I spend with my husband is absolutely worth every lonely minute I am without him.

With faith in God, no challenge is insurmountable. That's a proven fact (by me.)

HAPPY 2011!!!!!

Virtually Home for the Holidays

After all of the travel I've done this fall, I made the decision that Emmy and I would enjoy a Tennessee Christmas this year.  While I miss my family terribly, I didn't miss the stress of of traveling, and Emmy and I were able to channel our loved ones through the family traditions we continued.  All that was missing was my Nick.  But, to remedy that, we were thorough in documenting our holiday festivities so that Dada may "virtually" be home to celebrate them with us.

Since we returned from D.C. and Indiana last weekend, Emmy and I rushed around to complete our Christmas cards and put the finishing touches on our families' Christmas gifts so that everything would be mailed out in time!  Nothing like a big deadline like Christmas to light a fire under you! (And a dead car battery to slow you down!)

After checking those items off the to-do list, Emmy and I dove, head first, into baking a number of family favorites; which is something that I have looked forward to for as long as I can remember.  Some of my favorite Christmas memories were made in Mom's kitchen baking sweet treats with she and Kris!  There's nothing like long hours and late nights working side by side with your favorite girls to create something delicious.  We've shared many of our best conversations over cookie dough. 

Because our television died the beginning of last week (and I can't get a technician here until next week), I've filled the house with Christmas music instead, which has offered a relaxing soundtrack to my baking, decorating and wrapping frenzy.  I might be completely out-of-touch with current events, but I am some kind of "zen" baking and present-wrapping mama; I've practically been skipping every where I go. :)

On Christmas Eve, we made like elves and packed up the car with a dozen plates overflowing with our baked goods and delivered them to our neighbors and friends!  I can't remember a Christmas where we weren't knocking on doors wishing our neighbors a Merry Christmas with a bunch of homemade goodies!  It was so fun to share it with my girl this year.  She was also a fan of this tradition, as she got lots of hugs and kisses along the route.

Later on, we got ourselves dolled up for the exquisite candlelight Christmas Eve church service, where we cuddled and listened to the beautiful acoustic carols that were played.  During the sermon, Emmy stood on my lap, facing the people sitting behind us and attempted to recruit them to clap with her, which I know, judging by the size of her smile, got exactly the reaction she'd hoped for.  I was just grateful she wasn't talking over our pastor (which wouldn't have surprised me at all given her chatty nature.)  After swapping Christmas well-wishes with our amazing church family, we emerged through the doors into the newly falling snow.  It was like a scene right out of a movie.  I was sure to make a mental snapshot to be stored in my "special memories" rolodex, to remember both Emmy and my very first white Christmas.

We came home, and, in sticking with family tradition, Emmy opened her first gift: an adorable new pair of Christmas jammies (and hat to match!)  Just as Dad did for us when I was little (and not-so-little), I read Emmy "The Polar Express" (we got through the first two pages before she lost interest.)  We then broke-in Emmy's "hand"-made "Santa's cookies plate," with a few select cookies that she put great love into making.

After Emmy went down to sleep, I finished making my cioppino (an Italian seafood stew that we have every year on Christmas Eve) and prepared the house for Santa's arrival. ;)  I kept checking outside to marvel at the falling snow, it all seemed so magical.  Truly, the only thing missing was my Nick...

The next morning, Emmy was up by 7, having little clue of the fun that she was in for.  She picked up on the excitement just as soon as we walked upstairs to the Christmas tree!  From that moment on, she was beaming for the rest of the day, racing around from gift to gift, unable to focus on any one for long.  Christmas-induced attention deficit disorder was in full effect!  We received a perfectly-timed phone call from my Nick just as Emmy began opening her second present.  For fourteen minutes and fifty-two seconds, we were a family celebrating Christmas together and it was positively blissful!

After opening most of Emmy's gifts, we came downstairs for an Odell-style Christmas morning breakfast, complete with eggs, hash browns, little smokies sausages, raspberries and Grandpa Jack's buttermilk pancakes (I added those to the menu because Emmy's a fan.)  It was obscene how much food that child put away, Papa would be so proud.  She was, indeed, a "Clean Plate Ranger.";)

After naptime, we decided to put Emmy's new snow jacket to the test! :)  She was intrigued by the snow, but was far more focused on Molly and Darla's high-speed game of chase around her. (Or, rather, Darda, as to her, that is both of their names.)  After our snowball fight, Mama and Emmy versus Molly and Darla, we headed inside to warm up and bathe Darda(s?).  Side-by-side we gave Molly and Darla a bath, which was also a memory I will always think of fondly.  Emmy was giggling hysterically as Molly and Darla stood, resembling drowned rats, shivering, in the bathtub.  She proceeded to offer them her rubber duckies to play with, a pastime she enjoys very much during her own bathtime. :)

All warm and clean, we finished opening, assembling and playing with the last of Emmy's presents.  Not long after, we loaded up the car with gifts and food platters to join the Head's and Andrjeski's for Christmas dinner.  How blessed are we to have such incredible friends take such wonderful care of us?! We had a very delicious and relaxed Christmas dinner, which fell perfectly in line with the rest of our holiday!  Something tells me that with each year, Christmas is going to get better and better!