Kisses for mama
I was inspired to post again when something happened that I want a written record of: my 16 month old daughter learned how to give me kisses. If I ask for a kiss, she'll lean in close and touch her face to my cheek, and then back off and say "kiss!" This happened for the first time last night, and then again today several times, so I know it's not a fluke, and I just wanted to write it down so I could bask in how it felt every time I re-read this, her pure and innocent affection. *happy sigh*
In other news:
More generally, this year has just flown by, I've just come home from the second of two visits to PDX, though the first was complicated and extended when a bad head cold for Sprog & I turned into pneumonia for her and bronchitis for me.
The primary purpose of the first trip home was my grandpa's ill health, but as he was still around for the second visit (a miracle indeed) I've no complaints. All his physical problems are still there, but he's hanging on anyway, so since he's pain free, I'll take as long as I can get.
The second visit involved Spouse also, he got to drive the car up (11 hours one way) so that we could renew it's registration properly (a military family keeps their license/registration/taxes & votes in their state of origin, unless they request otherwise) so we got the car taken car of and went to the wedding of an old college friend... Congratulations, Dunn!
While we're on the blast from the past stuff: got an email on Friday from an old college friend I was really glad to hear from: she has four adopted kids from Ethiopia and other news I never would have expected, so it was really neat.
Spouse's parents recently announced they were moving to Colorado in August to be near his sister's family and attend bible college: good for them for shaking it up.
I'm doing a fair amount of volunteering, both with women's groups at my church and military wives support groups, that keeps me busy, and Spouse has started his Masters program in strategic intelligence, so the schedule has been full. Good, but full. He's coming up for review soon and that always puts him on edge, so please pray for him. He always gets great reviews but he lacks the belief in himself to make it a painless process.
I was in a bit of a funk the last while, I think just exhausted from traveling and over-scheduled-ness, but the last week things have definitely started to turn around. I'm enjoying my garden, taking evening walks & swims with Spouse and Sprog, and cooking regularly again. We hope to visit Grass Valley again soon also, now that things are calming down.
Some relatives of mum's in Sacramento passed on some furniture they'd recently inherited, not antiques, but nice used stuff. I'm delighted that my house is fully furnished now (practically a year to the day after we moved in) but planning on slipcovers and curtains when I find time and money.
Sprog was one in March, and so was a good friend's daughter, so the the year has already had it's quota of cake faced babies, but the cuteness continues. Sprog makes animal sounds like moo and baa; calls every cat, squirrel and lemur a kitty; and would exist entirely on strawberries given a choice. She's mastered the sippy cup and has been introduced to the spoon, although at this point more food goes on than in.
Last week she got her first trike- she doesn't quite reach the pedals but thinks it's the best thing ever all the same. She walks, runs, dresses herself in necklaces and pulls any garment with a hole over her head, from boxers to bras. She still sleeps 11-12 hours a night, with around three hours of napping during the day; sometimes all at once, sometimes in two naps. She loves other children and going to the playground, and gets so excited about the nursery at church she starts giggling and clapping when we enter the foyer.
In sum, I'm incredibly blessed, and hope to update at least once a month in the future.
In other news:
More generally, this year has just flown by, I've just come home from the second of two visits to PDX, though the first was complicated and extended when a bad head cold for Sprog & I turned into pneumonia for her and bronchitis for me.
The primary purpose of the first trip home was my grandpa's ill health, but as he was still around for the second visit (a miracle indeed) I've no complaints. All his physical problems are still there, but he's hanging on anyway, so since he's pain free, I'll take as long as I can get.
The second visit involved Spouse also, he got to drive the car up (11 hours one way) so that we could renew it's registration properly (a military family keeps their license/registration/taxes & votes in their state of origin, unless they request otherwise) so we got the car taken car of and went to the wedding of an old college friend... Congratulations, Dunn!
While we're on the blast from the past stuff: got an email on Friday from an old college friend I was really glad to hear from: she has four adopted kids from Ethiopia and other news I never would have expected, so it was really neat.
Spouse's parents recently announced they were moving to Colorado in August to be near his sister's family and attend bible college: good for them for shaking it up.
I'm doing a fair amount of volunteering, both with women's groups at my church and military wives support groups, that keeps me busy, and Spouse has started his Masters program in strategic intelligence, so the schedule has been full. Good, but full. He's coming up for review soon and that always puts him on edge, so please pray for him. He always gets great reviews but he lacks the belief in himself to make it a painless process.
I was in a bit of a funk the last while, I think just exhausted from traveling and over-scheduled-ness, but the last week things have definitely started to turn around. I'm enjoying my garden, taking evening walks & swims with Spouse and Sprog, and cooking regularly again. We hope to visit Grass Valley again soon also, now that things are calming down.
Some relatives of mum's in Sacramento passed on some furniture they'd recently inherited, not antiques, but nice used stuff. I'm delighted that my house is fully furnished now (practically a year to the day after we moved in) but planning on slipcovers and curtains when I find time and money.
Sprog was one in March, and so was a good friend's daughter, so the the year has already had it's quota of cake faced babies, but the cuteness continues. Sprog makes animal sounds like moo and baa; calls every cat, squirrel and lemur a kitty; and would exist entirely on strawberries given a choice. She's mastered the sippy cup and has been introduced to the spoon, although at this point more food goes on than in.
Last week she got her first trike- she doesn't quite reach the pedals but thinks it's the best thing ever all the same. She walks, runs, dresses herself in necklaces and pulls any garment with a hole over her head, from boxers to bras. She still sleeps 11-12 hours a night, with around three hours of napping during the day; sometimes all at once, sometimes in two naps. She loves other children and going to the playground, and gets so excited about the nursery at church she starts giggling and clapping when we enter the foyer.
In sum, I'm incredibly blessed, and hope to update at least once a month in the future.