Been a While

Well, it's been a while, but I'm still here. Not much has changed...still struggling with naptime. Today, we are doing it the hard way. We tried one nap yesterday and it was clear that she is absolutely not ready for that yet. Jonathan's work days are getting longer and that's another adjustment. I miss him around here. Yesterday during Emily's one long nap, I showered and sat outside to read my Beth Moore insecurities book while my hair dried. Of course my hair didn't look that great when it was dry, but it amazed me how refreshed I felt from a little wind in my hair and sunshine on my skin. I love outside. Outside is my friend. It's a place of peace for me. We have one tree in our front yard and i'm growing to love it. Emily and I sit under it's shade at least once a day. She likes outside too just like her mommy. We took Molly to the vet yesterday. She got lots of shots and tests--just a routine check-up. We are going to start PetSmart obedience school soon. Molly is in dire need of obedience. Well, I have dishes to put away, Emily toys to pick up, a bed to make, and a dog that needs to go out. What am I doing blogging?

Please Read!!

I have dear family members who are working to adopt a little girl named Hope from Ethiopia. This is a really fun fundraiser that they are doing. I hope that you will support them!


Will you join me in the REALLY FUN give-away and help this family bring their little girl home from Ethiopia. You can see the full details and purchase your 10.00 entry here:

www.embracingtheleastofthese.blogspot.com

Here is the run down...

See all these shirts and the beautiful pendant?



Well...they can be yours. ALL OF THEM !!

So this is how this puppy works...
You enter into the give away and you choose how many times 1, 2 or 3. It's easy!

One entry is only 10.00 and if you are quicker than me you have already done the math and figured that is like less than a dollar a shirt. Yeah, really.

To sweeten this a bit more, you can have two entries for 15.00.

Really, really want this ensemble of shirts? (Me, too!) Receive a third entry by blogging, tweeting or facebooking about it. They will even send you the wording so you can just repost. Not on their facebook? You can fb friend them by clicking on the fb badge on the left side bar of the blog.

So just head on over to http://www.embracingtheleastofthese.blogspot.com and give it a shot. You will be helping in bringing home a PRECIOUS one...and what is better than that? And if you already have one of the shirts in the set, imagine the blessing you will be to gift it to another person who God may be calling to love the orphan.

Seriously, lets blow the socks off this family and bless them. We are ALL in this together...and helping one another

No Subject...

We had fun at the ball. It was nice to be around other adults. J had the following day off (yesterday). We were fairly productive. We got both cars worked on, did some shopping(...new flip flops!!), and cleaned the house thoroughly. I cooked pepper lime chicken last night. It was so easy and very low fat. I am a fan of that recipe. And, there are tons of leftovers so we have lunch for a while. I think i'll make a chicken salad out of them. We got a vacuum cleaner yesterday and my excitement is out the roof! I thought that being a stay at home mom would be relaxed and i'd have tons of time to do whatever I need or want to do. Wrong. It seems like there's always something that comes up that needs to be done and I haven't been able to get around to everything lately. When will things calm down and settle into a routine? Ever? Maybe not. I just have tons of thank you notes hanging over my head from the wedding, and an extra day of homework for my Breaking Free Study, and a baby who tries to climb me like a tree. Oh well, i'll manage. Guess I should go get started.

Ball Day

Well, it's the day of the ball. I found a dress yesterday--first store I went to. Calvin Klein, hot pink, silky, floor length, swooshes when I move,slinky, and way cheap. Good find, huh? I'm pretty excited to wear it actually. I'm not sure what to expect with this ball, but I am SO excited to feel pretty for my husband and have an alone night. Before that whole pretty thing can happen though, I've gotta work a miracle on this hair. Hopefully Emily will let me. My mom dated a guy, John for several years. We were very close and he had two daughters. His daughters happen to live in Copperas Cove which is ten minutes from our house. They have been asking to babysit Emily. I remember being in high school (like it was so long ago) and loving to babysit young babies. We are taking Em to their house this afternoon. I did my first lesson in our Breaking Free study. I enjoyed it. I am learning about the king's of Judah in Isaiah's time of prophecy. I love learning. Jonathan requested something for dinner last night with "no dishes". So we had hamburger helper. What a slacker am I? We got our skype set up so all of you beloved family members and friends out there, find us! jonathan.and.amanda is our skype name. My coffee is calling.

Monday Again

Well, it's Monday again here in Texas. I haven't blogged since Thursday for several reasons: husband had a four day weekend, I had a cold, and I had to relax. My husband is back to work, the cold is gone, and no more relaxation for me. We had a good weekend. Thursday afternoon we went to a bbq with some of J's friends. Friday, we met Meloy at a park and walked Molly and Emily. Then he came back to our house and I cooked pulled pork sandwiches with root beer sauce. It was a hit with the boys. Saturday was stormy so we declared it "do nothing!" day. And that's exactly what we did. We watched two whole discs of Lost. How sad are we? Sunday we went to church, heard a great message, came home, took naps, and I headed out for my first night of Bible Study. This is a new church for me and it's huge. I've been struggling with feeling like a nobody there. It can be so impersonal. But I decided not to give up on it and what better way to get to know people than through a Beth Moore study? I'm serious when I say the woman is my hero. I just love all of her stuff. I'm currently halfway through her "So Long Insecurity" book and i'm convinced she wrote it about me. A friend of mine so graciously went with me not knowing what she was getting in to. I am so glad that she went though. It will be good time for us to make friends and strengthen our existing friendship. I can't wait to see what the Lord does through this. Part of me is scared to take the journey and to let go of things, but the cost of what i'm holding on to is absolutely not worth the possibility of what I could have if I will just let go of it. I owe it to myself to dig in, take a deep breath, and let go. Honestly, though, I feel a bit skeptical. I've heard testimonies and how wonderful this study is but, seriously, how many retreats have I gone to and studies have I done where I leave feeling absolutely sure i'll succeed? Too many to count. And then what happens? I fall back into the pit AGAIN. Again, again, again. Beth says that this can be the end of the agains. I'm going to muster up enough faith to believe that. Maybe if I believe it, it will happen.
Tonight, I made beef stroganoff and sweet potato pie with streusel topping. I wasn't crazy about the stroganoff but J loved it. I find that I'm not enjoying the food I cook most of the time. I wonder if anyone else experiences that.
The military ball is Wednesday and of course, I've waited until the last minute to find something to wear. Sweet friend, Keri is coming over tomorrow to keep Emily so I can run around and find a dress. I hope. I think this might be our first date since our honeymoon. Oh, and we forgot about our one month anniversary. Oh well. I suppose there will plenty more of those ahead. :) The dishes are done, Emily's asleep, and now it's our bedtime. Goodnight all.

Partially Frozen Milk

Mmmmm. Know what I absolutely LOVE? Partially frozen milk. It's the best ever. At Wal-Mart right now, they have these amazing sugar cookies with inch-thick bright green frosting and yummy little green candy stars on top. Combine that with my perfect glass o' milk and man...what a bedtime snack. My sweet mother-in-law noticed about me during our last visit there that I always have a bedtime snack. That's something I didn't even really notice about myself until she pointed it out, but it's true. I fall victim to the midnight grumbles. Tonight, i'm having sudaphed with my cookies and milk. No fun. I"m congested--the kind of annoying congestion that makes you flip the side you are sleeping on every 20-30 minutes so you can breathe. One nostril open is better than none, right? Today, husband and I found a nice walking park. We took both kids--Emily and Molly. We walked around for a while and found an open field where Molly could run off of her leash and chase her beloved ball. After about 20-25 minutes of desperately chasing a bright green ball like her life depended on it, she found a large puddle and decided to have a rest. Molly loves the water. Our time outside inspired me to get the kids out of the house more often. It will be good for all of us. I'm just full of lofty goals lately.
We spent the afternoon at J's platoon sergeant's house for a b-b-q. I think Em got her first taste of sun on her nose. It's pretty cute. She went to sleep without a bottle. She was so ready for bed. We are expecting to get up in the night to feed her. We'll see how that goes. Tonight, J and I have watched "Operation Dumbo Drop" and, now, are receiving a hefty dose of "Everybody Loves Raymond". Now...back to my milk :)

Naps, Groceries, and Laughter

Emily is going through another one of her phases. I just can't wrap my mind around how someone so little can be so stubborn. And I'm also perplexed as to from whom she has inherited that personality trait. :) Just kidding. Her mother can be one of the most stubborn people on the planet, I'm convinced. We had a rough Monday and Tuesday because the little angel refused to take a nap. By night time, she was ready for bed around 6. Of course, we couldn't let her go to bed then so it resulted in a couple hours of screaming before bed normally around 7:45. Sunday night and Monday night, she woke up sometime super early in the morning when absolutely nobody should be awake and refused to go back to sleep. If I put her in bed with me, she would sleep for hours. Same goes for naptime. I am well aware that that is a bad habit. I was an everyday participant in the co-sleeping habit for a few months while we were breastfeeding every two hours. I broke that habit and most of me is glad about that. Of course, who wouldn't want the most precious baby in the world cuddled up right next to them? Even better, I got to take a nap too! Take one for the team, you know. One more plus to that... she wakes up rested because she'll actually sleep without crying for two hours first. However, I firmly believe that she rests better in her own bed and I know for a fact that I rest better in my bed alone. So, last night we put her down around 7:45 and she slept until 8:30 this morning. Talk about a long sleep! I knew she was tired, though. After 3 days of no naps and rough nights, I'm pretty tired myself. It is so nice to wake up before her in the mornings. I think i'll make a habit of that. I think that alone time...just me...is valuable and I should make a point to have it every day. I need that time to be with God. The days get so busy and packed with things, then the nights come and its time with my husband. Then it's bedtime and I read a couple chapters in Beth Moore's latest masterpiece "So Long Insecurity", a devotion, some Bible verses, a prayer, and then i'm fast asleep. That's just not enough time for me. I want something deeper. Something more. Something divine. My new goal: To wake up before Emily every morning, have my wonderful cup of coffee, grab the Holy Bible, and dig in. This is bound to do a body good.

J gets a four day weekend. So that makes today Friday. I get to go grocery shopping today after Emily's first nap--if she takes one. It's my first routine grocery shopping trip since we've lived here and I became a housewife. I loooove grocery shopping. I'm not sure why, but I just love picking out individual ingredients and being creative in my mind with how I can put them together to create something delicious. I love picking out things that I know will make Jonathan so happy. Something as small as a few containers of easy-mac can bring a huge smile to his sweet face. I love that smile. I think I fall in love with it more every day.

Yesterday, I was cooking dinner and J and I had one of those times where you laugh so hard your whole face hurts. We laughed for about 15 minutes straight. It stopped with us holding our cheeks in close together because they hurt so bad. Now that's refreshing.

Something Beautiful

I have so many thoughts today. First one- I skipped blogging yesterday and broke my consecutive streak. Devastating, I know. Yesterday was a great church service. We are so happy that our friends, the Hellebusch's, are attending the same church. The sermon yesterday was about being a sheperd. Our culture is so self-centered. It motivated me to not think of myself so much and put others first more often. Seems like a simple concept that we've heard a lot through the years, but it's not that simple. Selfishness is embedded in the very core of our being. I don't know about you, but things that are found deep within me are hard to shake. I only heard this sermon yesterday and already there have been several situations where I've been mindful of my selfishness. My next thought: When I grasp a concept that I completely understand and fully embrace...a concept that I really want to put into action...I mean, I really really do...Why is it so hard to just do it? Goodness gracious. I get it, I understand it, I want it. The next step is to do it, right? Maybe that's easy for some, but not me. So, I'll keep trying. I realize I'll never get it all right here on the earth but "we'll understand it better by and by".

I was rocking my baby to sleep the other night and she wasn't having it. Finally, she laid her head on my shoulder and I began to hum to her. She was still a little wiggly so I started to sing the words to what I was humming. I made my way through about 15 hymns and she was sound asleep. It was one of the most precious moments I've had with her yet--the first time I have been able to successfully sing her to sleep. The last song I found myself singing was "Something Beautiful: something beautiful, something good. All my confusion, he understood. All I had to offer him was brokenness and strife, but he made something beautiful of my life." I thought to myself, whoa...story of my life. About a year and a half ago, my life was one big pile of brokenness and strife. And that's the nice way to put it. Look at all of the beautiful things that he has done with my life. It amazes me! What a wonderful time to realize it--while laying my beautiful daughter down for a night of peaceful sleep and rejuvenation.

Yesterday, after church, we spent the afternoon at the Hellebusch's for a bar-b-q. It was absolutely beautiful weather. Emily will need sunscreen soon! I can't wait to take her swimming this year mostly so I can pick out a really cute bathing suit for her. We came back home last night and had frozen TV dinners (I got 2 nights off this week :) ) while we watched several episodes of Lost. During those episodes, I was mildly distracted by our wedding pictures that were being uploaded online. Lucky for me, I can multi-task pretty well. This TV show that I'm hooked on gets scarier and scarier. Why do things scare me so easily? It's a TV show...seriously. Anyways, I don't mind having a distraction for the scary parts that I'd rather not watch.

Emily is down for a nap. She woke up right after J left for PT this morning around 6 am. I put her in bed with me and we cuddled and slept 'til 8. That was the 2ND most precious moment I've had with her lately. It's rare when she is still enough for a cuddle moment. We enrolled in TriCare during her morning nap today so this afternoon nap should be a long one. Maybe I'll have one myself. Roast is for dinner tonight. Thank you grandma Price for the crock pot!

Cleaning Saturday

Today was declared cleaning Saturday. Sweet husband let me sleep in and played with Emily 'til I emerged from the bedroom at a lazy 8:45. I started my day off right--with a strong pot of coffee--props to my father-in-law for getting me hooked. I cooked bacon and pancakes and Emily went down for her morning nap just in time for an uninterrupted breakfast. We began the cleaning and got quite a bit done while she napped. When she woke, J went to clean out our storage unit from our month home on leave. We spent the night making a run to Walmart for lawn chairs to take to a cookout tomorrow and also a run to Texas Roadhouse for take-out ribs and steaks. Emily went to bed without a fuss and now it's time for season 2, disc 3, episode 1 of Lost.

What a Day

Do you ever wake up in a bad mood? I sure do and today was one of those days. After I realized it, I then had the daunting task of overcoming it and not letting it effect the way I treated my daughter, my husband, friends, and family. Luckily, I have a very understanding husband who can sense when something is up with me within the first five seconds of being in the same room with me. Jonathan left for work today and decided not to come home after morning PT. Of course, I missed him waking me up with a "Whoa! Look who's still in bed!!". I also missed seeing him get a smiley Emily out of bed brimming with excitement to see her daddy. However, that's one of those minor things that will help him out and reduce some stress. After all, the traffic around here is awful and it takes about three times as long to get anywhere as it would in a normal town. Anyways, we thought that we had fixed J's car yesterday with a funnel and some coolant. Wrong. It died in one of the busiest streets today during his lunch break. Emily and I were to the rescue. Of course, the tow truck beat us there, but at least we were there at the body shop to sit with him for an hour and half while he waited, right?? Turns out some belt broke that controls lots of stuff. That's my amazing car lingo for you. We got it fixed, ran our errands, and we're home for the night. Julie and Julia...here we come!

New Routine

I'm taking the advice of my very wise aunt Kim. Emily is on a new schedule. I am a big fan of the schedule thing. I know it's not for everyone, but it works well for us. I believe that Emily likes knowing when things will happen. She can count on it--dependability. Lately, she has been taking a really long nap in the morning around 10 am and not taking one in the afternoon at all. By 5 or 6 pm, she is absolutely miserable. She actually fell asleep while eating her dinner last night and sitting up in her high chair. Pitiful, I know. So...today, Jonathan got a two hour lunch break (:D) so we kept her up until noon. She went down without a peep. We'll see how long she sleeps and how this evening goes. I'm hopeful for a better night. It's so difficult to prepare a meal with a fussy baby crawling up your leg desperately shrieking for your undivided attention. I'm probably preaching to the choir.

Jonathan and I are going to pick out a TV today. I'm excited. Who knew a tv could be such a source of excitement? Combine that with cable, which i've missed for quite some time now, and my heart rate increases. Okay, maybe that's a bit dramatic. Although, I know my sweet Em is excited to have her Baby Einstein DVD's back.

I'm loving being a housewife. I love cooking wholesome meals for my husband and his friends when they come over. I love having the house clean for him after a rough day at work. And I love having his laundry neatly folded for him. I suppose some people would hate this daily routine that I now live. I view it as a way to serve him, which I believe is my duty as a wife. He loves me unconditionally and, in return, I serve him by doing the things that I love to do. How cool is that?

So...the plumber had to come back. It flooded again.

Plumbing Plunders

Emily finally gave into sleep after a morning of fussiness. She has catapulted into the stage where she is crawling, pulling up, desperately trying to do everything on her own, and can get into just about anything. Talk about energy. This kid has more energy that I've seen in a long time. I wonder what it's like to not be able to sit still and just... be. So she is asleep, and the maintenance crew just got here to fix our plumbing. We have a brand new washer and dryer but haven't been able to use them. About 1/3 of the way through the cycle, water starts to flood everywhere. We tried plugging the pipe holes with washcloths but the water just came out into the other room instead. So, the landlord got a phone call. He said that the main water line had some roots blocking it so he cleared those out and its supposed to work. I sure hope it does because i'm running out of towels to clean up the floods! Jonathan is at work. I'm getting used to being alone with Emily most of the time again. I spent the first 7 months of her life mostly alone with her. Of course I had the help of my sweet mother, grandparents, and dear friends at church but our days were normally enjoyed together--just the two of us. After Jonathan came home, I had the privilage of having 2 months (almost) of tons of help with her. Now it's back just us. Another one of those adjustments. As I prepare for Jonathan to attend a 2 week long school on post next week, I worry about several things: being in a new house alone, not knowing the neighborhood, taking care of a baby and a dog by myself, cooking meals, getting her to bed, and somehow finding time for myself. I know i'm perfectly capable of doing all of these things just how they need to be done. There is really nothing to worry about. I think that one of the things that can benefit a person most in life is being flexible. That is something i've had to learn. I wasn't exactly a flexible child or teenager. The army is teaching me this lesson very quickly. After all, where would being rigid and harsh get me? I choose happiness and contentment.

Starting to Blog

I think i'm a little behind on the blogging fad. Seems like it might be a good way to get thoughts out to the world. Who knows how many people will read them, if anyone. However, it must feel good to express your thoughts in some tangible way. I'll give it a try. I chose to title this blog "Life in Fast Foward" because that's what my life feels like lately. It all started back in June when I gave birth to my little Emily. We spent the next 7 months waiting for the man of our dreams to come home from Iraq. Surviving a deployment slowed the time down. That's for sure. Jonathan was welcomed home in January. A week later, he proposed. We got married in February and moved to Texas in March. We just got things unpacked in our new home yesterday. There are so many adjustments to be made all at once it seems: I don't have to go to work every day, I get to stay home with my sweet baby, I get to send my husband off to work every morning and have dinner for him when he gets home, I get to be a housewife and control my own house, and I live in a totally new town mostly full of insensitive, careless people who are, not to mention, horrible drivers. I suppose there are sweet, kind people in Killeen, but I have only met a handful of them. I love my husband and I love my baby. I love my new lifestyle, but I still have adjusting to do. The Lord has blessed me with so many wonderful things and the life I always desired. I should be nothing more than purely grateful for all of this adjusting that I get to do. My attitude varies daily, but I keep striving for positive, uplifting, and encouraging thoughts to keep my family looking to the Lord in praise.