One of THOSE Days! No, The Good Kind

Yesterday around noon I got hit by a bug! A BIG bug that made it hard to breathe! I wasn't even sure if I was having an allergic reaction (that's how it felt when it started) or if it was a weird virus or what. I called Labor & Delivery at the hospital (that's what you're supposed to do after 20 weeks) to be triaged and they had me come in. It turns out it was the beginning of a horrible, no good, bad virus. (Do you know that kids book I just refrenced?)

I couldn't sleep last night, every time I lay down I couldn't breathe. Until, that is, I ate 1/2 a pint of ice cream (yep, i so did & don't even care). Then I fell asleep easily.

I woke up at 6:30 am to the sound of my two beautiful children WIDE AWAKE. AT 6:30 AM!! I almost indulged in a freak-out-whine-session to myself. Luckily, the Holy Spirit stopped me. I prayed a prayer of thanks (for my family, kids, life, etc.) & asked for sleep, peace, and health. I risked starting tantrums, went upstairs to inform my kids of the early hour. Our house rule is, stay in bed until 7am, they are allowed to read or quietly play with toys. (I'll have to post later how I accomplished this task being obeyed 98% of the time.) It worked! Both kiddos got back into bed & played/read quietly.

I zombied back to bed with an attitude of whatever-happens-happens. I knew the Lord would give me the energy and patience if my littles couldn't stay in their room. I also knew He was completely capable of giving me the rest I craved.

Cut to 7am, Little Thing 1 and his quiet sister, Little Thing 2, appeared at my bedside poking my nose. They took the iPad upstairs quietly. I thought Alright God, this works for me today.

Again, cut to 7:40am Will comes stumbling into the room, by this point I am so thrilled to have received the blessing of sleep. But our God, our sweet, wonderful God goes beyond. Ephesians 3:20 says our God "is able to do immeasurable more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us." (NIV). He goes beyond our idea of what beyond is. Will climbed on my bed and pushed some toys at my face.

"What's this?" I asked

His sweet little voice replied, "I made you breakfast for in bed".

Not only did I get my sleep and not only did the Holy Spirit interfere in my attitude and perspective, I was blessed by my thoughtful son first thing in the morning.

You see, I don't know about you, but I LOVE breakfast in bed. I LOVE food, I LOVE gifts, I LOVE my bed. Breakfast in Bed is probably one of my most favorite things. Of course, this breakfast was Jenga block "pretzels", a wooden orange, and a plastic strawberry, but the thought of it! OH the thought of it blessed my heart.

The rest of the day went so well. I was productive, but not to the point of tiring myself out. The kids obeyed so well. We did fun things. We did educational things. I got a nap. Even though Corey didn't make it home until after 5pm, it was a good day.
I hope that as you meditate on how awesome our God is, how blessed we are with families and/or friends, that you will see in your own life God doing exceedingly, abundantly more than all you can ask or imagine. Even if it's just a bit more rest & breakfast in bed. I hope that you let the Holy Spirit interfere for you when you feel like having a private (or not-so-private) whine-fest.
I know I will be trying!

28 weeks! How Did I Get Here?!

I'm really 28 weeks along in this pregnancy!! I would be further along too, if they didn't keep changing my due date! Tomorrow I'm 29 weeks. I seriously only have 10 more weeks. That may not sound soon to you, but I have a lot I need to get done in the meantime. Not really, I guess. I just have a feeling the rest of this time is going to fly by.

Lately, a question has been running through my head over & over, "How well will I adjust to having 3 kids?". I know God will be there for me & give me strength. I am thankful Corey will have 10 days paternity leave (wahoo). I just keep thinking about it (& giving it to God whenever the answer in my head is a stressed response, lol). When I had Will I was in a similar situation of not having a lot of friends or even acquaintances & being relatively new to the area. However, Im hoping because this is my third child, because I'm already getting connected, & because I'm older/wiser (?) that it wont be as hard this time. Sophia was easy peasy! She was a sleepy baby, my mom was visiting when she was born & helped a lot with Will, I had so many friends to encourage me & who cooked meals for us, it was easy. Ultimately, I know we will not only get through it, but thrive. If it is an easy transition, then sweet! If it is a hard transition, then at least I will grow & be refined through that trial, right?! RIGHT?!

After all that rambling, let me just say I am SOOOO excited to meet this little guy! I'm excited to see how he's going to fit into our family! I'm really excited to kiss & cuddle him!!

Today nesting instincts hit! I tackled some clearing out of the nursery (even though there is a lot more to do), I went through the final boxes left from the move, & straightened up several areas in the house that needed it. Now we have to move a couple big pieces of furniture, recycle boxes, & packing paper. I will be beyond joyful when there are no more moving boxes in my house!

BTW, Happy Valentine's Day! I love any excuse to give gifts to my loved ones, so I went a little big (is that possible?) for Wills & Phia. I got them a little bit of candy (& even let them eat it first thing in the morning! Yes, I'm THAT mom, who cares), these cute stuffed bear PEZ dispensers, cards with little crafts inside, & these awesome balloons. Will had been eyeing the balloons since the BX started displaying them & he was thrilled when he saw his! It makes it so worth it! His was Winnie the Pooh & Sophia's was a Love Bug. I didn't take any pictures, because I'm lame & wanted to just enjoy the moment. ;)

Well, I better go make dinner & vacuum downstairs, we have new friends coming for dinner tomorrow! Hope you enjoyed my random ramblings!! Oh & I know you all want more pictures of the kiddies, so here you go! 

This is from last month, but my little boy is a ham! He just walked up to me like this & requested a picture be taken.

This little girl, quietly got into Mommy's make-up & accidentally broke most of it. This picture, by the way, was taken by William! Can a Momma get a nap without the kids wrecking the place please?! HAHA

12 Dates at Home for 2013

One of mine & Corey's favorite things to do is steal time away from our littles & have some one-on-one time. We LOVE dates! Even boring dates! We feel so refreshed after spending time together away from the littles. Now that we've moved across the Atlantic and are settling in we are looking for a trustworthy, teenage (cheap), babysitter. It's harder to find than you would think! So, in the meantime we've (or rather I) have come up with some Home Dates for after the kids go to bed. Hopefully, we can make them just as much fun as going out! I came up with 12 & we'll do one a month, or just start repeating. If you have any to share, PLEASE do!!

Without further ado...

12 Dates at Home with the Husband

1) Spa Night- full body massage(s), with candles & relaxation music, the works!

2) Spa Night- hands & feet massages, again with candles & relaxation music. Can you tell I love massages?

3) Man Movie Night- Corey gets to pick the movie, with our favorite movie theater snacks.

4) Chick Flick Night- Theresa gets to pick the movie (which will most likely NOT be a chick flick), again snacks! You've got to make it authentic/special!!

5) Fire Pit Night- light up the fire pit, bust out the smores, & cuddle, all while star-gazing.

6) Book Night- read aloud to each other, while cuddling & maybe foot rubs.

7) DIY Project Night- do something together around the house, most likely something fun like painting canvases

8) Video Game Night- This one is TOTALLY for Corey, he always wants me to play & I really dont like to.

9) Board/ Card Game Night- Settlers? War? Battleship? who knows, but we'll spice it up with cheese, crackers & wine!

10) Decadent Dessert by Candlelight- preferably a bakery ordered baked good, so I dont have to cook! ;)

11) Corey's Free Pick

12) Theresa's Free Pick

I hope this list might inspire you to try some special time with your love. Our date nights are Wednesdays... oh that's tonight... what to do, what to do? :)

Menu Plan 1/21- 1/27

Menu Plan Monday!!

Seriously, one of the happiest parts of being settled again is the ability to menu plan fully. I am a complete nerd for this, I know it, and I am thoroughly okay with it. (I was also VERY excited to vacuum again). Anywho!! Here is our Menu Plan for January 21st- 27th, 2013.

1/21: B-cereal, rice milk, apple
          L- rice, leftover meat & veggies
          S- chocolate loaf, PB cream cheese spread, banana
          D- Baked Tacos, salad, corn

1/22: B- pancakes, eggs, orange
          L- pizza pucks, salad
          S- more chocolate loaf
          D- Loaded Baked Potatoes, broccoli

1/23: B- oatmeal, raisins
          L- PBJ, carrots w/ranch
          S- Wheat Thins, cheese sticks, applesauce
          D- Corey Request: Mac & Cheese California Baby Blend veggies, crunchy chicken

1/24: B-pancakes, bananas
          L- corn dog, green beans
          S- homemade pretzel bites, grapes
          D- Vegetarian Chili & cornbread (I'm looking forward to this one!!)

1/25: B- cereal, grapes, rice milk
          L- leftovers
          S- graham crackers, yogurt, apple slices
          D- Cobb Salad

1/26: B- cinnamon butter crescent rolls, berries
          L- out
          S- spinach artichoke dip, french bread
          D- Beefy Spaghetti, salad, parmesan garlic twists (a la Roundtable Pizza)

1/27: B- cinnamon butter crescent rolls, bananas
          L- PBJ, carrots w/ranch
          S- nillas, pudding
          D- Leftovers

Our theme next week for "school"ing purposes is British Culture, so we will be making Shortbread cookies. Friday nights are Family Fun Nights, so we are making Best Brownies Ever.
If you would like recipes to any of these feel free to email or FB me. Some are also on my Pinterest Yums board.
What are you eating?

The 2 months Run-Down

I don't even know where to start on updating my blog. I feel like I almost need to re-introduce myself.
Want a run down of the last 2 months? Okay here we go...
*We lived in TLF (that's the base hotel, but it has a full kitchen & a living room, so like a condo) for 3 weeks. 2 weeks in a pet-friendly one (i.e. older & slightly stinky) & 1 week in a regular one (i.e. HUGE). Both were great.
*We had trouble with finances for about a MONTH! so frustrating. The Government Travel Card got messed up. The banks took forever to link up so we could transfer money in between them. Corey couldn't transfer his direct deposit for a long time. The travel voucher, the housing allowance, the housing allowance advance, and all that stuff of course took a long time also. BUT we are all settled in the finance department & figuring out our new bank's online system & how to pay our British bills & American bills.
*We moved into our new home the 7th of December, but we didn't get our household goods until December 31st. Until then we used borrowed furniture from the military & what we had with us.
*We bought a new car, a VW Roba (Rubba? idk), it's Corey's work car. It's a little, nothing remotely fancy car. We had plans of buying 2 cars, but a long story short, the bank is weird & even though we have perfect credit we weren't able to. SO we have to go to another bank & take out another loan. The first one was only $3k, so no biggie. BUT our car rental is due back by the 24th, so we need to get on it.
*Everything moves slow here & business all close around 530pm.
*We got our internet connected this week! And while I am soooo beyond thrilled to be connected again, our connection is too slow to be able to watch Hulu. We just live in a bad area (which by the way, most of the housing areas around here are bad areas for internet, go figure).
*Will started school the 7th of January. He goes 3 times a week, Monday 9-3, Wednesday 1-4, and Friday 9-3. The first week was hard adjusting. One of the teachers corrected him & now he freaks out just seeing her. In 100% honesty, she is overly nice/sweet when we come, which makes me think she may not be so sweet when parents aren't there. Maybe I'm paranoid, maybe it's instinct from working in childcare, or maybe it's just mommy instinct, but whatever it is I keep an eye on her. lol. He loves the food they cook & likes his Key Caregiver Jamie & another teacher Lottie. It's also hard on him going 6 hours those 2 days, but I see it as preparation for Reception, which he starts in the fall.
*I've started a PWOC bible study (Protestant Women of the Chapel), didn't know it existed. I think it's going to be good. I chose Faithful Abundant True, a study by Kay Arthur, Beth Moore, & Pricilla Shirer. I'm excited & hope to make some good friends there too.
*Our final crate of household goods (it was split to clear customs faster) arrives Monday! Hopefully all of the hardware that is missing for our bookshelves, Sophie's bed, & Will's bed is in there! Our dinning table will be in there & our hampers! lol. Good news: because we had it split, when they come to give us the rest of it, they will take all the boxes from the previous shipment! SCHWEET!
*Our house, like all British houses, is small & has little storage, but I am already getting used to it. We are asking our landlord to invest in a shed, because we do have quite a bit of outdoor stuff that needs it.
*It snowed! I was excited to move here for the hope of snow & people tried to crush those hopes, telling me it doesn't snow in England where we will be. Well, maybe it doesn't normally, but it snowed a good amount this past week! Take that nay-sayers! ;)

I'm sure there are things I forgot. Although we aren't fully settled (are military families ever really settled though?) we are getting there! We are making friends, searching for a church, organizing our house, finding our favorite places, and most importantly having fun with each other & the whole process.

Now that we have internet, look for me to catch up here in Bloggyland & to update more often. I hope you all are doing well wherever you may be, geographically, stage in your life, & spiritually.

& We Have Arrived!

Hello there! It's been an exhausting day. I wanted to give a quick recap of our adventure over here, while it's still fresh in my mind. As well, I need to stay up a little later than now to adjust to the jet lag.

Starting off with the fact that the night before we left, I really had a breakdown. It's so hard for me to admit when I have a breakdown, but I do it because we all do & better not to pretend like we are living charmed lives when we aren't. Right?! Anywho, there were several contributing factors to mine (aren't there always?), off the top of my head I'll say pregnancy, travel jitters, & not keeping God in my day. There's more, but it would take too much explanation, so that last one covers a lot. The breakdown was good though. I really talked to God & just got refocused & a plan of attitude. I knew I had to continually thank God for everything during the trip rather than get upset at the inevitable mess ups (which there were a few). I spent the whole trip in prayer & it felt awesome. Now, no lying, toward the end I started to want to cry, but I kept up the thankfulness & it all worked out.

SO, now on to the trip. We left Corey's parents house Friday around 3 pm to make it to the airport 2 hours early to drop off Molly. We got there & got put in this really slow line (think 90 minutes of waiting), that happened to be the wrong line. We checked our baggage & Corey took a cab across the airport to drop Molly at Cargo (even though we were told several times on the phone we wouldn't need to do that). P.S. One of the 4 guys it took to check us in, insisted for the first 10 minutes that NO DOGS AT ALL were allowed to be shipped to the UK from the US period. I, finally, looked at him & told him, "I'm sorry, you're wrong. I've been doing a million things the last month to get her ready to be shipped. I know you can." Then he made a huge stink when I didn't trust him about other things he swore about. UGH. God was gracious though. We were still all together at the airport, all of our expected money had come in (& more) making finances not a concern, the kids were behaving beautifully, I knew we had some awesome prayer warriors fighting for us in all corners of the country, & my husband is hot. Like that last one?

Corey got back at 6:20 (our flight was at 6:40), so we ran! & we made it to the gate minutes after they closed the door. haha! God is still good though, because we were all together, Molly was checked in, there was another flight that night (which before we were told there wasn't). We went to customer service & this AWESOME lady named, Purie, helped us get on the practically booked 10 pm flight & was super nice. The staff at the gate of the 10 pm flight was also helpful. They moved enough people around so I was with Will & Sophia (Corey was in a middle seat ahead of us), but our seats were in some special row that had TONS of leg room, reclined really far & had footrests that went up, so we practically had a bed to lay on! SCORE!!! Want another score? BOTH kids fell asleep, or rather passed out before we took off & for the most part stayed asleep the WHOLE flight! I caught a bit of sleep here & there. In the last hour or so of the flight Corey & I switched seats & he was able to sleep some & I watched a movie.

Alright, that's a lot for a blog, I'll have to make a part 2 later... Will have to title it something like No Shuttle, No Dog, No Money. haha Aren't you excited?!

Seriously though, God is awesome & I am so thankful for all the ways He has blessed us, for the way he has carried me through this day, which I could have taken not so well, for so much.

Hello, We Are Actually Moving

I don't even know what to tell you. I never doubted this move would go through since we got the orders, but it is really here! The movers come tomorrow to pack up all of our belongings. By Tuesday afternoon we will be at my Dad's house for a couple days & then in Maryland for a week and a half. Then BAM! we are flying across the frakin' ocean for 3 years! Can you tell it is really hitting me today?

I am so very excited for this adventure & the opportunity to explore Europe! And, in full disclosure, I'm scared. I know everything will be fine & great even, but it is still scary leaving the country you grew up in. Not knowing if you will indeed be able to come visit like you promise everyone.

Will I find friends? Okay, I know I will, but will I find at least one GOOD friend? You know the kind you can hang out with almost everyday & share everything with? You know the Janet, Emily, Michelle, Trinity, Korinne, Abi, Lindsey, -type friend? I have been extremely blessed to have had just 1 great girlfriend, I know that! But those times I didn't have one, whew! Those were rough times!

Will we find our church? For some obvious reasons this one is easier to place in the hands of God. I still think about it. I still pray for it. Everyday. It took us awhile to find Alice Drive, here in Sumter, SC. It is AMAZING! So, I have to let go of expectations & search for what God has for us. Where God is going to use us.

I almost cried on the way to pick the kids up from preschool. I was in my typical rush-rush-rush mode & I felt God ask me to slow down, to listen. He's so intuitive that God! Then I realized I'm leaving. For the better part of my time here in SC, I hated strongly disliked it. The last year or two has been the turning point. I am connected to the people, mostly through the military & the church. So, I am going to cry. I don't like crying, especially in public. I'll probably cry tonight when I say goodbye to some of "my" girls in the youth ministry, as well as some leaders. I'll definitely cry Sunday when we say goodbye to our New Balance small group. I'll cry when I say good-bye to each friend I've made here. If anyone doesn't cry with me, I'll just blame my pregnancy hormones ;)

This is the hard part of the military life, saying goodbye. I look forward to blogging more about the GOOD part of the military life (i.e. adventures, making friends) in the upcoming... years! Bundle of emotions, yep, that's me!

Have a blessed day!!