Please pray

I know this is a strange place to ask for prayer but if you stumble upon this entry, please pray for my friends the Lenhams (John, Jeanne, Maggie, Calvin, Claire and Hank). Their youngest daughter, who is six, has epilepsy and has had several bad nights of cluster seizures in a row. Pray that the cycle of seizures would break, that everyone will be able to get rest, and that Claire will be healed. Claire was diagnosed with epilepsy nearly four years ago. She has tried many medications and diet therapy but the cure for her still has not been found. Through all of this her parents have been an amazing example of faithfulness and love to me and many of those around them. They are amazing people! They are a blessing to me!

Vacation

I am so excited! We are leaving for the beach in the morning. I can't wait. I feel like a little girl waiting for Christmas. Not only are we going to the beach but we are going with some of our dearest friends! I can't wait to see them and spend time together. Being with them is good for my heart.

So, no blogging for me for a few days but I am sure there will be many fun pictures to share and stories to tell when we get home.

Relaxing Morning

After several days of dealing with crazy schedules (Kim working nights), wild adventures, and going to work, it was really nice to have a relaxing morning at home with my girl. We went on a walk this morning then came back, had breakfast, and just stayed around the house. Natalie played and played while I cleaned up and did chores around the house. Then we had a yummy early lunch, Natalie took a nice long nap and I caught up on some work. Sometimes simple days are the best.

The finger painting took place over the weekend.

Board Certified!

Kim is now a Board Certified Emergency Physician. A goal 8 years in the making. I am so proud of him!

That's all I have to say really except that Natalie is asking to take a bath with Joel. Jenny, is he available?

Father's Day

Natalie adores her father, and rightfully so. He sacrifices so much to provide for our family. He works hard, he works a lot, he is dedicated to what he does but he is even more dedicated to us. He loves playing with her. He is VERY patient with her. He teaches her. She squeals with delight when he comes home. "My Daddy, my Daddy!" When he is not here she wants to know where he is. When he is not at home she often answers her own question with "My Daddy at work!" Kim works very odd hours and is often not home until the wee hours of the morning. Because of this, the boy likes to sleep-in. I am trying to become more gracious in recognizing his need for sleep but Natalie is not there yet. I often take her downstairs in the morning, in tears because she wants her daddy. When he comes downstairs she run to greet him screaming "You did wake-up!" Some mornings she is pitiful enough that she gets him out of bed with minimal sleep because he can't resist "Daddy, come play with me?" She begs to ride in his car, the old 2000 "Nasty Neon" (as I like to call it). The car is old, the a/c don't work, it makes strange noises but she loves it because it is daddy's car.

Kim adores Natalie, and rightfully so. She is a neat kid,if I do say so myself.

I was complaining about my second-place-position in Natalie's eyes to my mom the other night and she simply said "It's no fun is it!" (FYI, my mom and have have a wonderful relationship) I instantly knew what she was meaning. My Dad and I have an amazing relationship. I love my Dad so much. He is my hero. Even when he is grumpy. My Dad's opinion of me and my decisions means a lot to me. I want my Dad to be proud of me and he is. I am proud of him too. He has worked very hard for our family. He has worked hard to succeed in life and he has.

So, to the two most important Dads in my life, Happy Father's Day! I love you and am so proud of you! You do a wonderful job of loving and supporting your wife and children. What else could a woman want?

Burke Lake Park

We spent the morning playing at Burke Lake Park. One of the advantages of Kim's crazy schedule is the sometimes we are able to spend some fun family time together in the middle of the week. It was so nice to be outside and together as a family. I love seeing Natalie and her Dad playing together!

My job

So, I just spent the morning meeting with people from my job to do some planning for the future. I will have to say that I love my job! It is by far the best job that I have ever had. Do I love it because I get to work from home? Do I love it because I get to do lots of patient education? Do I love it because I get to interact with patients and be involved in their pregnancy and birth experience but I don't have to worry about being sued some day? Do I love it because I have a great boss who cares about me? Do I love it because I get to do it on my time? I probably love it for all those reasons. I am so thankful that I have been given this opportunity and experience! The great news that I got today is that I can keep this job even when we move, woohoo!!

No more rats, please!

So, the title to this blog entry may seem a little bizarre when you look at the pictures, but last week our pool was closed because there was a rat in it. What self-respecting rats lives in the pool area of suburban Virginia? Isn't there a subway in need of some rats...Anyway, the rat issue was fixed and I got over the gross-out factor and we headed back to the pool today. We had a great time. Lots of splashing, running and playing. The best part is she is exhausted and ready for bed!

Two Special Girls

Two girls who are very dear to me graduated from high school yesterday. I met these girls when I moved to Winston and started working with the youth group at Hope Church. These girls were in 6th grade when I met them. They were awkward, preteen girls but I loved them instantly! We spent many Sunday evenings hanging out together and getting to know each other. We studied the Bible together and talked about life.

One of my first crazy memories with them was a sleep-over at Lindsay's house. In the middle of the night they decided that they needed to go to the bathroom but had managed to lock themselves out of the bathroom so they were going through Lindsay's cabinets trying to find a cup to pee in. I kid you not, I cannot make this stuff up. Lindsay and I heard them searching through the cabinets, they explained what they were doing and Lindsay and I made them go pee outside , no worries, Lindsay lived in the country.

They grew from strange middle school creatures into fun high school kids. We still had lots of sleep-overs, went to football games, still studied the Bible and still talked about life. Life that was getting more interesting. We talked about boys, friends, parents. These girls trusted me. I love these girls!

They were some of the first people to visit me after I had Natalie. The night before I moved they asked to come hangout with me, do you know how much that meant to me. These girls knew how much I loved them and would miss them. Again, we talked about life. This time we were talking about the hard choices of high school and the hard consequences. We talked about how hard it is to be a Christian in today's world. I hope Lindsay and I gave them some wise council.

I have only seem then a couple of times this year on visits to Winston. I miss them tons. I am so sad to have missed this year in their lives. I am proud of the women that those awkward preteens have turned into!

Emily and Carly, I love you!

Glad to be a mommie

Today, I was very content with my life.

Today, I had a great time being with my daughter.

We had no major battles, just fun being us!

Today was refreshing and a reminder that this mommie gig ain't so bad!

A Better Day

Today was a better day. Not that yesterday was that terrible but it certainly had its rough spots, like when I had to take Natalie out of Target because she refused to sit in the cart and all Kim and I wanted to do was to try to run a couple of errands like people who don't have children! Children can make everything in life more challening. They make you have to plan, think about what you are going to do and think about someone besides yourself! What is the fun in that?

Today with a little bit of planning and a little bit of thought about my sweet girl, we made it to Target with no incidents and all came out happy (no, I did not bribe her with a toy, but I thought about it!).

Natalie Quote

"Oh, DUDE! You're OK DUDE!"

(Talking to her baby doll)

Find your "Field of Flowers"

So, the Northern Virginia adventure of the day was going to a wild flower farm (is that possible) to pick flowers. We had a great time (pictures to follow as soon as Sarah sends them to me). We got some beautiful flowers for cheap!! But the treasure of the day was meeting the woman who ran the farm...

She was once a teacher but now is a full-time flower farmer. She has a huge piece of property, several barns, three horses, two potbelly pigs (Wilbur and Petunia), and lots of flowers. When we arrived it was evident that this was a low-key operation. She had several old buckets, pitchers and Styrofoam cups for you to cut your flowers into. She also provided the clippers, etc. She explained to us that we could walk through the fields, pick the flowers that we wanted to and just leave our money in the cup (an old, plastic, cup) when we were finished (we could make our own change, etc.). She explained that a bouquet of flowers should cost between 6 and 10 dollars and that buckets of flowers were from 25-30 dollars. She did not monitor what you were leaving with, she just trusted you to leave the money that you should. She was not going to weigh the flowers or anything thing like that, she just wanted what was fair based on the pricing that she explained. Now, let me assure you that she could have been making a lot more money on this operation! She is running this farm in the wealthiest county in the country. People have money here and are not afraid to spend it (although they are probably afraid of the bugs and dirt involved in picking your own flowers). Clearly, becoming wealthy was not this women's goal. She was happy to be able to grow her flowers and be on her farm. I admire her! I admire her life! She is doing what makes her happy and is living simply! I think we can all learn so much from that.

The offical start of summer..

It's official, summer is here. We had our first trip to the neighborhood pool today. I had been putting it off for fear of the cold water. Natalie had a great time, so did I. Here's to many more days at the pool!

We all need to do it!

After an hour of weaving through a spiderweb of blogs I have found lots of fun people that I went to college with. I have been able to get a peek at these people's lives and have come to the conclusion that everyone should be blogging. How open and honest you want to be on your blog is up to you but we should all be able to "catch-up" with each other this way. I am not sure how this whole blogging world came about but I love it. I am not sure how or when it is financed but I am not sure I care. All I know is that it is a great way for me to waste hours on end and find out about people that I once knew well. Such fun!!

Fun Random Picture

Oh my goodness!

I'm being eaten by a dinosaur!

Thumbelina

Here is Natalie with the world's smallest horse, Thumbelina. When we were at Mt. Vernon last Tuesday Thumbelina was walking around with her owner. Weird! What do you think George would think?

Day off!

The boy needs a day off! Tonight Kim is working his 14th day in a row. I am not exaggerating. He has been at the hospital for at least 8 hours a day for the past 14. Often, he has been there for longer than 8 hours. For the love!

It is wearing on him and it is wearing on our family. He needs time to rest, he needs time with his daughter! Natalie needs time with her Dad! I need time with my husband! I am so thankful that my mom was here for part of the time or I would be in the loonie bin!

I know this sounds a little whiny of me considering that one of my dearest friends is without her husband for 15 months while he is serving our country. I have thought about her so much over the past two weeks. I seriously don't know how she or any other military wife does what we ask them to do. I was definitely not meant to be a single mom nor do I believe anyone is. Raising children and a family is a two person job!

Kim, thank you for all of your hard work for your patients and our family! Enjoy your well-earned three days off!

Enjoying a day off last November!

Fun Random Picture

September 2005

New Hobby

One of the many fun things Sarah has introduced me to is the world of quilting. We had some girl time this morning at a Quilt Show. I was completely overwhelmed by all of the quilts that I saw! There are some very talented people in this world. While I know that I will never be creating works of art, I would like to create a few fun things to pass along to my friends and family and some to keep for myself. This hobby could quickly get very expensive and time consuming.

No, no, I love you more!

Natalie and her Papa went back and forth on the phone exchanging "I love you, more!" for several minutes this evening. When I finally got the phone back, my dad asked me when I had taught her to do that. I am proud to say that I did not teach Natalie to return her grandfather's affection. She did that all on her own. Natalie loves her Papa!!

Sad to see her go...

After spending a week with us that was entirely too short, mom headed back to North Carolina today. I am going to miss her! We had so much fun walking to get coffee in the morning, playing together, watching "So You Think You Can Dance", and just being us.

I am not going to lie, part of the joy in my mom being here is that she helps me with Natalie. It is so nice to have someone else here who delights in playing with my little girl. When my mom is here I am definitely second in Natalie's world. She loves her Mimi! She prefers for Mimi to give her a bath and put her to bed. Who am I to deny my mom and Natalie that time together? She prefers for Mimi to play with her and Mommie to clean-up. Again, who am I? She prefers for Mimi to push her stroller. I get so much more mental and physical space to myself when my mom is here, I love it!

When my mom is here I also get to spend nearly 24 hours a day with one of my dearest friends. We are already planning her next trip up and I can't wait! The only thing that could make it better is if Dad comes too!