Race

the pictures are in reverse order. after the race is first and the before the race is last in the line-up.

I had coffee tonight and now I'm not tired. Andy has really gotten into running lately. I am so proud of him and all the work he has put into it and he actually finally can say he loves it. He has really gotten in shape too and I think he looks good if I do say so myself! Here is a little movie I put together of the Living History Farms Race. I think it would be a fun one to run myself. I have always liked the obstacle course type stuff. They had to cross the creek something like 9 times and climb muddy hills. The only part I am not sure of is being cold, the rest of it sound like a blast. Maybe next year if I can get the ambition to actually train for a race. I know I could do it the question is do I want to do it? The training not the race.

*don't try to find Andy in this video, because he's not. I was juggling fussy baby and decided to watch him in real time instead of through a little screen.

Daddy

It was so hard to get a video of him saying 'daddy', ironic because he says it all. the.time. I am not even kidding. I love how this little guy says Da Dee so very enunciated. Every time we walk by a picture of Daddy, which we have a ton of them up right now because we were all prepared for daddy being gone for a long time. So glad we get to see him every night, instead. I love how he loves his DA DEE so very much and it is ok with me that he doesn't even say mommy on a regular basis yet. I just love to hear his little voice trying out new words and what better one that Da Dee.

Of course for the video there has to be lots of prompting and they never say it quite as clear as usual but there you go. The other sweet thing he has been doing is talking on the phone. He calls it a 'hi,yah' every time he sees my phone he points and says 'yah', usually followed with a 'hidad' I guess that must be what I sound like when I am on the phone.

Last night we had a poop disaster. We were very quickly trying to clean up after dinner so we could run an errand. We look into the dining room as a one of the chairs is taking off around the corner. I notice a huge pile of mud. What in the world?! Did Andy track in mud when he took the dog out? Wait he doesn't even have shoes on. It must be... no way... how in the world could it have.... could that really be...what we think it is? Then we realize as the guilty party is pointing at the large pile of 'mud' tracked across the floor (yeah he stepped in it). We just stared at the pile and busted out laughing what else can you do we were stunned into laughter. What a sick mess. He was even wearing a one piece romper thing and it was hardly soiled.

Changes

Alas, Andy has started his new job today. A man's got to work, and I am glad he has that desire. Ok, I am actually really excited for him! It just means my day got a little more boring. I am not complaining at all. It is crazy to think we had a month and a half of uninterrupted time together. How often does a gift like that just happen? It has been fun having him home and getting things done around the house thinking we were going to be moving this spring. With the start of this new job it feels like we can move on from all the upheaval of the past month. We are truly praising God for taking care of us through all the decisions of the past year. I only wish I was a better writer so I could more accurately express the feelings and thoughts floating around in my head.

I wish I would have gotten a picture of him looking so sharp in his new suit this morning. And it is even more exciting thinking of him working bankers hours. Now off to find out what days qualify as bank holidays :o) Oh, yeah and clean the house- I have really fell off the band wagon on that since I was trying to spend every last minute with my man.

While the cat's away the mice will....

I was gone last week. Andy was also supposed to be gone at basic training last week. I thought the whole time I was gone he was working on getting a new job and preparing for a new job, and hanging out with friends. I was wrong he was doing a whole lot more. On my drive home he mentioned there was a surprise waiting for me. But wouldn't tell me anything else. Well there are many things that could be a surprise, like flowers or a clean house or just about anything. I didn't think much more of it with a 4 year old, 2 year old and 1 year old in the back seat there wasn't much time to ponder it. Well we got home, walked in the door and my keen eye for detail spotted something out of place. The shoe shelf that is normally in our closet was in the basement. Whaaat is going on? He wouldn't answer any of my questions. I went straight up to our room to see what was in the place of that shoe shelf and was absolutely amazed that our closet had been made over! I have been wanting to do this ever since we fixed up the nursery closet. See this post. These old houses come with some fun and interesting aspects but very little closets. This one had the standard rod and and shelves on the side that you could barely reach. And yes we do share it and neither of us store things in another closet, well we do switch out seasonal stuff that is in storage. Hooray for such an awesome and thoughtful husband!! I was completely shocked and surprised! Thanks honey for working so hard!

We all have something to learn

I have poison ivy.

My friend and I had done some hiking in the mountains, a bike ride/run and a few other excursions. On our hike we found this great spot for pine cones we were excited, what better way to be economical than to find free pine cones to decorate with for Christmas. There were also these beautiful white berries that looked just like the kind you can find at Hobby Lobby or Micheal's now we were on to something. One day last week she started getting red itchy bumps on her face that we thought were hives from something she ate. Then they started getting really miserable. I felt so bad for her you could still see her beautiful face under all the raised bumps and swelling, but it looked so miserable. She did look a little like two face, well not quite that bad. It wasn't until a day later when my face started breaking out with something similar did we realize that there must have been something we got into that gave us an allergic reaction. Allergic indeed. As we got back to Iowa she went to the doctor ASAP. We don't have insurance right now so I figured I would just wait for her diagnosis. You got it, it was poison ivy, she got a shot and a couple of prescriptions to help clear it up. So I figured I would google poison ivy remedies and see what I could do to help my face and neck feel better. As I was doing my research I came across some information that said mature poison ivy white berries. Uh, oh I though I quickly google searched images of poison ivy berries and it left not a doubt in my mind. I couldn't help it I just wanted to laugh hysterically. We PICKED poison ivy, put it in my jacket and took it home with us in a bag with our lovely pine cones. WHO actually picks poison ivy? Another piece of info that solidified this was that poison ivy is often found east of the rocky mountains along streams. Wow, that is exactly where we were, on the east side of the Rocky mountains by a beautiful little stream. How dumb can you get you may ask? And I must ask, did YOU know poison ivy has berries? I certainly didn't. I think I will buy my pine cones this year.

And now for the rest of the story...

I guess it is time for an update. As most of you know by now Andy is not leaving for the Army. Back up to last Sunday morning, I left with a friend for Colorado and Andy prepared to head to his hotel that evening. From there he would get up early and go to MEPS and get processed before they headed to Ft. Jackson later in the day. So yes, we said goodbye again only under slightly different circumstances so it wasn't quite as bad as the first time. I was awakened early Monday morning with another phone call. It was Andy calling to let me know they would not let him go to basic training that day, the Army doctor said his throat still looked infected. They made up a new contract for him to leave the end of April. That was his only option, wait 6 more months. Of course the Army doesn't care that he was on leave from his job so we have no income and no insurance expecting to be on the Army's payroll effective November 4th. What did they really think we would be able to do?
We said from the beginning of this whole process that we would pursue it until we could no longer. We didn't expect to get all the way to the end where we say goodbye and then have a cold and sore throat be a closed door to the military life. We had also talked about it after the first time they turned him away and knew it would not be wise to keep putting our life on hold hoping the Army would let him go to basic in 6 months. His contract was void because they did not allow him to leave on the said date November 4th. He would have had to sign a new contract to leave in April. Since he refused to sign it so he was under no obligation to stay in the Army.
We can see God's hand in this whole process and we feel we have made the right choice. That was all on Monday.
By Tuesday Andy had someone call him about a job opportunity, he sent in his resume and had an interview by the end of the day. Wednesday this bank was closed for the holiday and by Thursday morning they called with a job offer. He could have also gone back to his original job, but this offer was too good to turn down. We feel so grateful at how God has provided for us in the past few weeks especially. It is humbling to know there are so many people who are just struggling to find work and here God provided this job for Andy before he could even ask.
And yes, I am very excited to have my husband home with me!

It's been a nice couple of days

The weather has been great. Zoo trip. Walk to the park. Glad we had the extra time to hang out.