Friday, March 28, 2008

Child, thy name is Perpetual Motion

My Little Mister used to sit and smile for the camera, to make adorable faces and let me take as many pictures as I wanted.

Not anymore.

Rose Daughter sent me this outfit for him, and I wanted to take a picture to show her how great it looks on him. Unfortunately, this was the result:




Eventually I put him in his exersaucer so I could at least get a shot of his smiling face.


*sigh*

Thursday, March 27, 2008

belgian holiday, day two

We stayed in Antwerp overnight, and the next morning we headed for home....with a detour. Not long after we visited Luxembourg, I found out that Bastogne isn't too far away from where we were. We've seen Band of Brothers five or six times; I went to Normandy with my family and some friends when I was in high school, and last week we went to Bastogne. We're actually hoping for a visit to the Eagle's Nest before we leave Europe...

a tank damaged during World War II,
part of a memorial in the main square of Bastogne

a church...sorry I don't remember the name :)

This is Mardasson, a memorial to the U.S. soldiers
who fought in the Battle of the Bulge.
I found an areal photo online,
because looking at it straight on doesn't show the cool star shape. :)

This is one the Sergeant took.
Pretty...but kind of hard to tell what it really looks like.

Up on the top of the monument,
on one of the points of the star,
the Little Mister examining a map of the area.

Me and my little guy...

Bastogne, the city...

...and the countryside.

The Little Mister..."yay!"

Monday, March 24, 2008

finally, the promised pictures of our holiday in...

Antwerp!!

The Sergeant had to spend a week in Belgium for work. Since he had his own hotel room we were going to go with him...but I was sick. :( Fortunately last Monday, just before he had to come home, the Little Mister and I were both feeling well enough to make the three hour drive to Antwerp. Hooray!

So...here are some pictures. Hope you enjoy them!

In the hotel room, just before we left to catch the bus;
the Little Mister wore green for St. Patrick's Day. :)

Walking down the street, a glimpse of the Cathedral of Our Lady towering above everything

ceiling detail

pretty pillars

standing outside the cathedral, looking up

lunch in a little Italian restaurant...
the Little Mister charmed everyone by clapping and saying "hi!" to all.

one edge of groenplaats

another edge of groenplaats

fountain detail...
I actually took this picture for Rose Daughter, I thought she might like it.
To me it looks like a cross between a horse and a dragon...or something. :)

Het Steen...literally "the Stone"
Antwerp was at one time a fortified city, but Het Steen is all that remains.

Me and my little boy...isn't he cute??

We wore the Little Mister out!!
But he had a great day.
We all did!

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

wordless wednesday: my star-belly sneetch

Now, the Star-Belly Sneetches
Had bellies with stars.
The Plain-Belly Sneetches
Had none upon thars.

-The Sneetches
by Dr. Seuss



Tomorrow I'll post pictures from our trip; it was lovely, and we took nearly 200 pictures!! But for today...my little cutie. :)

Saturday, March 15, 2008

i'm still alive....really!!

I haven't been posting much lately. I haven't been reading many blogs, and I've been commenting on even fewer. Hopefully that will change soon...

Every day I think about posting. I decided, however, that it would better to be known as "that blogger who doesn't post much these days" instead of "that blogger who whines and complains a lot." Because if I were to write about what's going on these days, here's a sample of what you'd read:

I'm sick.

The migraines are never-ending.

The coughing is making me crazy.

I'm exhausted.

I cannot believe how much energy it takes to be mommy to a nine month old.

The Sergeant is gone, and that makes everything so much harder. (He's not deployed yet, he's just TDY for a week.)

The Little Mister and I were supposed to go with the Sergeant.

But I'm sick.

And repeat.

I'm starting to feel slightly human, though. And we might go meet the Sergeant tomorrow; he's only a few hours away in a very beautiful city. Hopefully I'll have pictures later this week!

In the meantime, I leave you with pictures (and also a video!) of the Little Mister, who doesn't quit being adorable just because his mommy is sick. Hooray for smiling faces!






Wednesday, March 12, 2008

(almost) wordless wednesday: what we found at the post office

The bloggy sisters Helen and Mary Beth
sent us a care package!!!
They said they wanted to make me smile
...and they sure did.





THANK YOU!!!

Sunday, March 9, 2008

my sweet boys

I'm tired of being gloomy!

Actually, I'm also tired of being tired.

Everything seems to be unraveling at once, what with preparations for the deployment and my fun times driving in the snow. This sinus infection I have is possibly getting better, but in the meantime it's kicking my butt. I actually took a pregnancy test yesterday, because the only other time I've had exhaustion, dizzy spells, nausea, trouble eating, and major trouble with smells, like I am right now, was when I was pregnant with the Little Mister. (It was negative, and for that I am thankful...I had a difficult pregnancy, and would hate to go through that without the Sergeant and while chasing after the Little Mister!)

But...even during rough times there is reason to smile: just look at my boys!!


They have been fabulous the past few days, making me smile, giving me comfort when it's needed. Laughter really is the best medicine!


...although I won't say no to my codeine cough syrup...


:)

Wednesday, March 5, 2008

like a bad dream

Wanna hear a funny story?

Four days ago I wrote a little post about a roaring thunderstorm, and spring flowers, and the idea that spring really is coming.

When you read it, did you hear the maniacal laughter in the background? I somehow missed it, but truthfully I wasn't listening for it. I should have been, though. I'm sure it was there.

Wanna see the view out my dining room window? This is what it looks like right now...


And that is where the funny in this post ends. Yesterday we got about five inches of snow in about five hours. It wouldn't be much of a stretch to call yesterday's weather a blizzard. And in this lovely weather I got into the car to drive to the health clinic to hopefully get new medication for the Sinus Infection That Will Not Die. (This was the beginning, notice the date...) I could see to drive, and growing up in Michigan I certainly know how to drive in the snow...but it was very slippery. Very. I was not yet out of the apartment complex when I turned a corner, barely moving, and hit a slick patch. The wheels wouldn't turn, the brakes wouldn't brake, and my front driver's side tire banged into the curb.

I somehow managed to move the car out of the way. It can't be too damaged, I thought to myself as I struggled to make the car move and turn. I was barely moving. And all I hit was a curb. And I was fine, although a bit mortified that a seasoned snow-driver could do something so ridiculous.

Flash forward a bit to the Sergeant talking to the dealership, repeating to me what they say is wrong "so far": ...drive shaft, tie rod, tire, rim, power steering... And today we learned that if the frame is bent, which is entirely possible with all that damage, the car is totaled. Our 2007 Ford Focus, the car we've been driving for just about one year, might be totaled. Because I hit a curb. Going about 2 miles per hour.

It was a nightmare. The Sergeant had to bundle up the Little Mister (many, many thanks to Crazy Grandma Judi for the snow suit!) and hike down the very slippery, snow-covered hill to where I was with the car. We had to wait for the MP, go over it all with him, call a tow truck, call the dealership...a nightmare. When I was no longer needed I re-bundled the Little Mister and trudged back up the hill (In Baumholder, the hills are not alive. But they might kill you.), into the wind and blowing snow, carrying a twenty pound, screaming baby, with my body already weakened by the Sinus Infection That Will Not Die. Until yesterday I never fully appreciated the phrase "my lungs were burning."

See that sad, runny-nosed face? That was after our trek up the hill...

We made it up the hill and to our apartment, where I pretty much collapsed. And I'll fully admit this: after the accident, I wallowed. I was crabby about missing my doctor appointment, I was stressed about the car, and I was still sick. So I did nothing but the necessary mothering activities, and even many of those were handled by the Sergeant. I curled up on the couch, put M*A*S*H into the dvd player, and played my new computer game. When it was time I went to bed, although I couldn't sleep due to coughing fits...

But.

Today is better. We still have car troubles--obviously--but for now we have a rental and the rest is out of our hands. I got to the clinic this morning, where I was given stronger antibiotics and something to still this wretched cough. The Little Mister is taking a nap, I'm cozy in the house, and outside the snow has stopped falling.

And, somehow, I'm still hoping for Spring.

Monday, March 3, 2008

favorites

A bit of coolness about the whole blogging thing is finding new blogs and making new bloggy friends. One blog I've recently discovered is Thursday Drive. If you haven't already, check it out! I've very much enjoyed getting to know Jennifer. And apparently she wants to get to know me too, 'cause she tagged me for a pretty cool meme that is all about getting to know each other via old blog posts.

Here are the rules: Go back through your archives and post the links to your five favorite blog posts that you've written.

Link one must be about family.
Link two must be about friends.
Link three must be about yourself.
Link four must be about something you love.
Link five can be about anything you choose.

Post your five links and then tag five other people. At least two of the people you tag must be newer acquaintances so that you get to know each other better.

So. I only have 88 posts to choose from, but I think I can do this. :)
  1. Here is a list of the Little Mister's New Year's resolutions.
  2. I haven't written a lot about my friends; that's probably because they are all so far away. :( I know this post is very recent, but it's about old friends, so it fits.
  3. This post is about the Little Mister...but it's mostly about how I dealt with a tough situation.
  4. This one is easy. I love books, and reading, and I like to write about them too. In January I posted about my favorite book and the magic of reading aloud. I know this is two posts, but it was actually a two-part post, so I'm going to count it as one. Because I can.
  5. This one was actually difficult to choose...I decided to pick a post about going crazy...because it makes me laugh. :)
And now to tag five people...
  1. Amy's World
  2. Viking Conquest
  3. Lyrics of My Life
  4. Reality Testing
  5. Within the Woods
They aren't exactly new acquaintances...but since I've only been blogging since October I chose people whose blogs I really like but haven't read from the beginning. Because I can. ;)

Oh, and if you're tagged and you don't want to do the meme, no pressure. And if you're not tagged but want to do it anyway, go ahead!

Saturday, March 1, 2008

in like a lion

...and we're not talking about a crouching lion, or a sleeping lion. This is a roaring lion.

The wind is howling around the building, rattling the windows as it passes.

There is either rain or hail making a rat-a-tat-tat on the glass.

The lights are flickering.

A few minutes ago there was a flash of lightning in the distance.

And there is real thunder!

I love spring. I know it's not "officially" here yet, but it's coming. Thunderstorms, sunshine, the fresh smell of earth...and spring flowers!!

I snapped this picture in Luxembourg, on February 8.
I was bouncing up and down with excitement...
the Sergeant just rolled his eyes.



And now to you, my bloggy friends...thank you. Your response to Thursday's post was overwhelming; when I read the comments Friday morning (and the ones rolling in throughout the day) I was moved to tears. Just to be reminded that it will be okay, and that I am not alone... I don't have words to express my gratitude. I hope "thank you" can somehow be enough.


edited to add: About five minutes after I posted this everything stopped and the sun came out. So much for my beautiful storm. Oh well. I love sunshine too!! :)