Hurt, Hope, and Heartstrings

Though I didn't plan on posting today, there are a few things that have really tugged at my heartstrings and should be shared.

First I'd like to petition your prayers for my friend, Julie, and her family who are in a world of hurt right now, to put it lightly. I found out today that they were in a car accident earlier this week and lost their six month old son, Tony, yesterday morning. From what I know, both Julie and her husband Todd were treated and released, but little Tony was in critical condition and just didn't make it. Utterly heartbreaking. Although I haven't been in touch with Julie much since college, I can vouch for what a beautiful person she is inside and out. When I moved from West Point to Pennsylvania as a shy and timid third grader, Julie walked confidently up to me on the playground the first day of school and asked if I wanted to be friends. Thanks to her, I had a best buddy from then on to sit with every day on the bus, walk home with once we got to middle school, carpool with once we got to high school (I still can't believe how patient she was every day when I was late), and just share some wonderful times with. She is such a caring and kindhearted person, as is her husband. Please please pray that they are just surrounded with love and support in the months to come as they try to make their way through this tragedy that no one should ever have to experience.
Thank you.

I'd also like to share these two videos that both reduced me to tears, but for much happier reasons:

The first is an amazing testament to the hope that can come out of a tragedy and the fact that good people are still out there making miracles happen.

Memory Lane

This past weekend we returned to our little abode on the shores of the Hudson to witness the beautiful wedding of Peter's old roommate. From the time the plane landed until it took off again we spent less than 48 hours on the ground, but our whirlwind trip was the longest we've been back at West Point since we graduated five years ago. Needless to say, it brought back a lot of memories. But not just of our time at school; I was constantly reminded of my childhood, too, since I spent four happy years growing up at West Point when I was in elementary school. For all the days I spent at there playing as a carefree first grader or wishing I could graduate and be gone from the place already as an overwhelmed cadet, I was so thankful for the two days we got during this return trip to relive the memories from different decades that kept popping into my head and overlapping!

Isn't she the cutest
mama ever?!

The best part was probably getting to see our dear friends (and fellow West Point grads), Tera and Tyson. Tera was my saving grace when we were in the same unit at Fort Drum, and despite the miles that separate us, she continues to keep me sane from week to week. So getting to see her in person is always a long overdue treat! They're both quite the inspiration--Tyson was injured in Afghanistan last year, after a facing a complete 180 in their life course and devoting the last year to his recovery, they finally got to leave Walter Reed/Bethesda last month to accept jobs at West Point. They offered to put us up for the weekend even though they just moved, and even watched lil' Ethan man during the wedding (the big kids stayed in Denver with Gran and Granddad). We were also glad to provide them with an opportunity to practice baby care before their little darling arrives, since they're currently expecting their first--a little girl due to arrive in July (I got to feel her kicking!). It went by too fast as always, but it was so awesome to see them again!

Couldn't Ask for More!

Today is a much different Mother's Day than last year. Last year we were all together at my aunt's house, I was eagerly anticipating our newest blessing (we didn't even know yet that he was a boy!) and it was one of the last extended visits I had with with my grandmother while she was still lucid. Today is a little bittersweet for me in some ways knowing that she's not around anymore and that my own mother and her siblings are missing her dearly today.

My New J-O-B

It's a funny thing, this stay-at-home-mom business. 

While at a friend's house for dinner recently, I was asked the simple question of how my new gig was going. I gave a little laugh but was coming up dry with ways to explain how it was the most ridiculously amazing yet stressful and frustrating pull-my-hair-out job that I've ever yearned to do. Luckily my friend's wife--a veteran stay-at-home-mom--helped me make sense of my hemming and hawing so that I could attempt to explain this anomaly to her husband, who had asked the question. Since then I've had some time while changing diapers and holding toddlers in the time-out corner to reflect on the question, and I think I've come up with the proper answer to how the whole stay-at-home-mom thing is going:

It's going.

Six Months!

Ethan man is half a year old today.  Say it with me: unreal!!!

Here are some of the milestones that lil' Speedy Gonzales has been up to:

TEETHING

Those chompers
could show up any day now!

Essential Resources

Let me start out by saying that this post probably holds no interest for the vast majority of you, and your time would be better served reading about things other than my medical history and grievances. But if you have a friend struggling with endometriosis, please direct her to this post. It could save her a world of heartache.

(In short, tell her to read this book. Before her next doctor's appointment. It may be the best investment she can make, I wish I'd found it a long time ago).

Usually in moments of pain and desperation, I end up consulting Google to see if there are any links I haven't clicked yet that boast new pain relief techniques or treatments for my condition. I feel like I've tried everything...besides my staple of Advil, I've tried natural hormone supplementation and other supplements such as B vitamins, magnesium, and Omega 3s; I've tried cutting out gluten, soy, and processed foods from my diet,

Happy Easter - 2012!

"Christ is risen from the dead! By death he has conquered death, and to those in the graves he has granted Life."  
-Paschal Antiphon

Easter Morning...time to rejoice!

Easter Best!

Playing some "hymns"...

A Week of Firsts

These first few weeks in Colorado have been crazy but lots of fun and filled with many "firsts" for all of us--and for once, I actually captured most of them on camera!

After delaying it for as long as possible, I finally cut Marie's hair for the first time ever. She'd been asking since before we moved to have it cut like her friend Maddie's, and I told her once we moved to Colorado I would cut it. Naturally, when she asked to have it cut our first night here I said no. But promises are promises, so I gave in after about a week and tried not to cry in the process...

First haircut!
She looks so old now...

The next day was Monday, and Marie got to go to a special Tea Party at her Gran's house right around the corner, complete with Gran's special silver tea set. Her older cousins who live in the area were also there, and they had a blast.

Dearest De, How We'll Miss Thee...

We've been blessed to have some wonderful caretakers for our children these past few years, which is a very big deal. Because whether she admits it or not, I think every mother's biggest nightmare is knowing her child is with someone she doesn't completely trust, whether it's for a few hours, a few days, or possibly months at a time. It was hard enough to leave my kids for work every day even when they were with a trusted caretaker, and the few times I had to leave our wailing little girl in back up care at the daycare on post--in the company of strangers whom I didn't always trust--were by far some of the worst days I can remember. Nothing could assuage my guilt on those days. This is why I'm so thankful that we've had the benefit of some wonderful nannies who have cared for our children in our home, and for the past two years, that "second mom" to our kids has truly been second to none...

New Beginnings

The past two weeks have felt like a time warp, with time both speeding by and standing still as we let go of our old life and began to embrace our new life. In the midst of it, I think I've felt every emotion under the sun. It's an odd feeling to be so excited yet apprehensive about these moments that I've been waiting for so impatiently now for so many years, and surprisingly nostalgic as the chapter I was so eager to leave behind actually starts to fade away. But both literally and figuratively, we have finally arrived, and I cannot be happier with our new life!

Looking back at what the past two weeks have wrought, our crazy schedule went something like this:

Goodbye Army!