I've Really Gotta' Do Better...

...at the whole posting thing. Seriously...I need to update you guys more often about our ever-so-exciting life. The problem is, our life isn't exciting and I usually can't think of anything that you might find interesting in order to post something. And everyone loves pictures, right? Well, when I post from work on my lunch break, as I'm doing now, I don't have the latest and greatest photos on my computer to share with you. Note to self...email newer picture to work to put on my computer.

Okay...so since last week:

• Chip has been sick. He went to the doctor and didn't like the way they seemingly wrote him off and diagnosed something that didn't appear to have anything to do with his symptoms. He is still not up to full speed, but as of this morning seemed to be feeling markedly better.
• We attended a birthday party for 3 little classmates. Yes...one party for three kids. It was a big one, but at least it is better than trying to hit three different parties! Patrick had a blast and got to pet and feed various animals as part of the party attractions (it was a circus theme).
• We attended church. I just have to tell you how incredible God is for a moment.... Our church currently has three campuses and is launching a forth one near our house soon. It is, by the basic definition, a mega-church, with around 6,000 attending across those three campuses over the course of any weekend. However, the church is incredible because people seem to really have their priorities straight. Our East Campus has been meeting in an elementary school on the east side of town for about 3 years now. They just bought a church building to meet in, but the building was going to need some serious upgrading in order to get it up to speed to handle the number and types of services we have. Not wanting to borrow the money for the upgrade, the pastors asked that a special offering be taken to raise money for the upgrade. Over the course of a weekend of giving the church gave OVER $1 MILLION to this effort...in addition to the regular offering collected. And in this current economic downtime. He is INCREDIBLE, don't you think?!
• Patrick, Abigail, & I enjoyed time out and about in the neighborhood when we went on a long walk on Sunday afternoon.
• We watched some college football and both of our beloved teams lost.
• I bought some stuff at the consignment store where I most often frequent for the kids. I got Patrick one shirt for Christmas (he has plenty of clothes), Abigail a Doug & Melissa toy for Christmas and then some clothes for Abigail for now. She needed long-sleeved onesies, as the weather is not cold enough for anything more, but is too cool for short sleeves many days. She also needed some little knit diaper pants to go with them, as her long legs are outgrowing all of the others slowly but surely.
• We have stayed on our menu-plan pretty well and thus not eaten out unexpectedly (WOO HOO).
• Bought Christmas presents for two of the cousins. Just two more to go.

What's coming up?

• My mom and two aunts are coming to visit this weekend! I'm so very excited about it! Of course I love seeing them and I also love playing hostess now that we live in an awesomely touristy city. There's so much to see here that people are interested in and it is cool to be able to take them and show them new (well, actually old) things.
• My work is having our big warehouse Christmas sale this Saturday (which is the excuse my mom and aunts are using to come visit). I have to work it, but it shouldn't be too bad...I hope. I've never worked one (we haven't had one since I started working here 2-1/2 years ago).

And that's about it.

See? We're terribly boring people. If you're still around reading, I can't imagine anything but pure love that has kept you going to this point. =) I will relieve you and wrap it up now.

Until I have something interesting to post....

Breaking the Silence

I am sorry. I haven't posted in so long, and I know you must be dying with anticipation and wondering what is going on in my oh-so-exciting existence.

Well, that's just it.

Nothing.

That's not entirely true. We actually visited my mom this past weekend in Alabama and had a WONDERFUL time. We had a lot of family time together and even got all of my mom's grandchildren together for pictures. I should probably post those. But I haven't. They are at home and I usually blog during my break or lunch hour at work, so I don't have them with me to post!

Chip has introduced Patrick to the Star Wars saga. They have watched three of the six movies together thus far and let me tell you...it's like two little boys on that couch rather than one. Last night they watched Episode II: Attack of the Clones and Chip was giggling through Yoda's fight scene. Just like he did when we first saw it together in the theater. He's such a nerd. =)

Patrick has decided that NEXT Halloween he is going to be Luke Skywalker, Abigail is going to be Princess Leia, Chip will be Darth Vader and I get to be Amidala. It that wish stands for an entire year, we will be the biggest family of dorks in the neighborhood.

Next weekend my mom and two of my aunts are coming into town. It'll just be for a three-day weekend, but I'm really looking forward to it!

That's about it I guess.

See what you've been missing in my silence? What was I thinking, keeping all of this excitement from you? =)

Weekend Adventures

We had a great weekend around our house! Saturday morning started early (why can't kids realize the difference in weekdays and weekends and sleep in accordingly?!) with feeding Abigail and cartoon watching with Patrick. Chip whipped up some Pillsbury orange rolls for breakfast, which were SUPER tasty and then headed off to some friends' new house to help them paint.

The kids and I then got Patrick dressed up (it was too hot for Abigail to wear her costume) and he, Abigail and I went to Toys R Us for their Halloween parade. He colored and we all danced around the store behind Geoffrey. The trip was twofold in purpose when planning and ended up being fourfold in execution. See, TRU was also having a two-day sale and Patrick has three little friends who are having a joint birthday party in 2 weeks. That means we needed three birthday presents. And I'm on a budget, so this 2-day sale was a prime opportunity for me. Why? They had Bat Man (Dark Knight) 6" figurines at B1G2 Free! That's right--3 for the price of 1!

So I ended up getting 4 figurines (2 Batmans, 1 Joker, 1 Two Face) and two Batcycles. That doesn't add up to three gifts you say? Well two different b'day boys will get one Batman and one bad guy (you need a nemesis to fight, you know) and one b'day boy will get a Batcycle. Patrick will also be getting one for Christmas although he doesn't quite know that yet because he can't do math well yet. =) So that ended up being 3 birthday gifts and 1 Christmas gift for just $21 (the cost of two Batcycles). Hooray!

While Patrick was coloring at TRU I noticed an ADORABLE costume hanging nearby. Halloween costumes MUST be on sale that day, right? Sure enough...there was a sign declaring Halloween items to be 50% off. This cotume was ADORABLE (again). Abigail will be able to wear it in about 2 years, but we'll have it. It's a Wonder Woman costume. It's got a little velveteen bodice with a blue metallic skirt (complete with white stars) and a red metallic cape. I know that WW didn't have a cape, but it somehow makes the costume more complete. And for $14 I couldn't say no.

So there you have it...Halloween fun and goodies from TRU as well as three b'day gifts, 1 Christmas gift and 1 future costume. Whew!

That evening we trick-or-treated around the neighborhood. Patrick RACKED UP with some candy! Wow is all I can say. Here are our cuties in full regalia:

Patrick was Storm Shadow (ninja) from G.I. Joe

Our little ladybug along for the ride. The costume was adorable and complete with antenna and wings.

Patrick also proved he is quite the Ladies' Man. He saw one of our neighbors who he is infatuated with. He talks about her incessantly. Did I mentioned that she is old enough to be his mother? He loves her.

We saw her and her husband about and he hugged her. Tightly. Then he came to me and took off his mask. I knew at that moment what he was up to although she didn't. He walked back to her and hugged her again. When she bent down to hug him back, he kissed her. He then returned to me and put his mask back on. It was hilarious.

In other, non-Halloween news, we have now let Patrick watch two of the Star Wars movies. He's in heaven and that makes Chip so very proud. And Abigail got her first taste of food this weekend. Yep...two meals included some rice cereal. She is trying to figure out the process of eating still, but she smiled really big when I put it in her mouth, so she must like the taste. =)

Celebrating Our Anniversary and Doctor's Update

So last night we had a great time for our anniversary.

We watched Patrick's final football game. In the rain.

Luckily it wasn't cold and since the lightening had not really begun, they went ahead and played. Chip got soaked while he stood on the sidelines taking pictures. My left butt cheek was wet because that is the part of me that didn't fit underneath the gargantuan gold umbrella that covered me and Abigail (in her carrier) on the bleachers (yeah...my butt didn't fit...go figure).

It really was fun to watch and he had a great time. That's all that matters. He now has a baseball medal and a football one. He wants a basketball one to match. We'll see...soon...as signups for basketball are already ongoing. At least with that one I know we won't have to sit in the rain. =)

Seriously...that was our anniversary. And it really could not have been spent more perfectly. Sitting on a set of bleachers with a beautiful little baby girl while my husband cheered on our awesome son while he played football with his friends. That's what life is about and I loved every moment of it.

Oh...and Chip did share the last Hershey bar in our house (that we bought for a cooking project and didn't use). That was our anniversary treat.

Onward...

Today was Abigail's 4-month check up and Patrick's 4-year check up.

Patrick weighed in at 36 lbs and 41" tall...about 50% percentile on both. His bloodwork was great although he freaked out about having his thumb pricked. His urine workup was great. She wants him to eat more veggies (yeah...he's not really good at that). They did his EED (Ears, Eyes, Dental) test that he needs to start public school in GA. They were going to go ahead and do the last of his immunizations before he starts school, but after he freaked out about the thumb pricking, Chip decided to bring him back another time for it, as we still have plenty of time before he has to have it.

Abigail came in at 13 lbs and 8 oz (almost 50% percentile) and a whopping 26 inches in length! That's like 97% percentile people! She's a tall one!!! Patrick was the same way at that age although I don't remember him being quite that long. She is perfectly healthy and developing well. We've been given the go-ahead to start her on solids when we are ready (thanks for the permission, doc), and she got some immunizations as well.

So all are healthy and happy. Especially since Chip comforted Patrick with some chocolate milk. =)

Sorry there are no pictures. I'm at work and the camera and its memory card with the pictures on it are at home. I'll post some later.

Tonight is Patchville (Halloween alternative) at church. If it is not raining we'll be heading there.

Why does our child have more of a social life than we do? =)

Happy Anniversary!

Today is our 8th wedding anniversary. This is our story:

During the summer of 1994, I found myself marching in a drum and bugle corps located in Montgomery, AL. It really didn't make sense as to why I was there. I was a saxophone player for goodness sake (and there are no saxes in drum corps). It didn't make sense at all. It was basically marching band meets Marine boot camp...with instructors yelling in your face while you held your position at attention, doing push ups for punishment, and spending 18 hours a day practicing (during the entire month of June). Then we got on motor coaches and traveled around the country sleeping on the buses and on high school gymnasium floors. Except once. Once we bedded down in the hallway of a school after waiting three hours for someone to open the school for us. And I paid to do this. So many things about it didn't make sense.

Later I learned that there was one purpose for me to participate in this activity that held no other real meaning to me (yes, I loved every moment of it, but I still could not figure out what possessed me to be there in the first place!). My life would change forever on August 13, 1994 in Allentown, Pennsylvania.

Our group performed early that morning in preliminaries and did not score well enough to qualify for that night's big performances. So we resorted to being fans...part of the crowd. I was walking through the souvenir booth area with some friends and ran into a girl from our color guard and a guy from another corps. She introduced us. His name was Chip. That's about all I knew at the time.

I saw him again in Massachusetts about 2 days later and then again in Boston almost a week after our first introduction. He gave me his mailing address and phone number and told me to write. This is the first time I knew what his last name was, as he had written it on the sheet of paper with the contact info.

So we wrote. And wrote. And wrote. Life continued for both of us, but we knew what each other was up to for the most part. He joined the Army Reserves. I plugged away through high school. The following summer I recommended him to be a brass instructor for our high school's band camp. Our director hired him, so one year from the time we met, we saw one another again. I fell in love.

Time moved on, and although he lived 6-1/2 hours away from me, we still talked on the phone from time to time and still wrote those letters. He was becoming the only person I still spoke to from that summer. I had lost touch with the 108 people who had become my family that summer...eating, sleeping, showering, etc with them. I now only had contact with this one person whom I spoke with three (short) times that summer.

He taught another band camp, went to a couple of proms with me.

I went off to college, and he was deployed to Bosnia. We wrote emails now and he called from quite often.

After he returned home from Bosnia, we truly started long-distance dating. He would visit for a weekend, I would visit for a weekend. We were both in college, but still "dating" across the miles.

I had no desire for anyone else. I had guy friends. I went to social events where there were plenty of guys there. I wasn't interested. I had some friends who were very attractive guys (in more than just the physical sense...they were smart, funny, interesting, etc), but they held nothing for me. I was taken with another.

The night before my college graduation, Chip took me to a VERY nice restaurant. We then went to get ice cream at a local place that I would SERIOUSLY miss when I left Auburn. We then went walking around campus in the moonlight, so I could just spend a few more moments at this campus that I dearly loved and would sorely miss.

He proposed. Right in front of Samford Hall. Samford Hall is the landmark building on Auburn's campus and when lit at night, is truly striking! It was so special and the ring was (and still is!) very beautiful.

The date was set: October 27, 2001.

When September 11th occurred, in the chaos of the aftermath, we were worried that he might be called to active duty to go to Afghanistan. We decided that if that happened, the big wedding could wait and we would get married before he left. Luckily, that did not have to happen though.

We lived in Mississippi for the next 5-1/2 years together. It was overall a good period in our relationship although it wasn't always a good time. We had a lot of growing to do...both individually and as a couple. We had our problems. We had some BIG problems. We worked through them. We came out stronger. Our marriage is more solid for the heartache we had to endure. I won't provide the details; the only reason they are important to remember is so that we never let our relationship move in that direction again. All is well. We are strong.

Chip had always wanted to be a dad. I never had a strong desire to be a mom until I had a possible (?) miscarriage during the summer of 2004 (long story as to why I am still unsure). At that point, I longed for the baby that might have been. I truly WANTED a baby. Then on February 1, 2005 I found out I was pregnant with Patrick. It was an awesome time in our marriage. The pregnancy went very smoothly and we were (and still are!) in awe of that little blessing of a boy.

In April of 2007 I moved to Savannah to start a new job and in June when the house in Mississippi sold, Chip and Patrick joined me. This was an answer to a lot of prayers. Chip was unhappy in Mississippi, I was at the top of the ladder I was climbing at work and had no where else to climb without changing career paths, and we needed to get away from a lot of reminders of the bad parts of our marriage. So Savannah was God's answer.

And here we are now. Parents of two beautiful, smart, healthy children. In love with one another. Wrapping up our 8th year.

It's been such a great ride this far...I can't wait to see what else is in store for us!

I love you, Chip! Thank you for putting up with me and still being proud to call me your wife. =) You are the best husband and father I have ever met. I thank God for you daily, as you are so much more than I deserve.

And no...I never returned to drum corps. I got what I (obviously) went for.

First Football Game

Saturday was Patrick's first flag football game. It was awesome. He ran the first play of the game and got about 3/4 of the way down the field before anyone got to him. Then in addition to pulling his flag, they tackled him and he got upset. We were proud though, because after 3-4 minutes he got back into the game and had a lot of fun.

Here are some photos:

No, the coach wasn't poking him in the head, but we laughed when we saw the picture because that's exactly what it looks like!

And here are his cheerleaders on the sideline. =)

Thought for the Day

Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body. ~Elizabeth Stone