A New "Diet"

Chris has battled kidney stones for a while. They hit unexpectedly and always at the worst moment. Days before Kairi was born. At 2am of the first night we were able to get a little bit of sleep for the first time in several nights because of sick kids. The morning we're supposed to be getting on a plane and heading to Texas for Chris' first vacation in 2 years. Always at horrible times.

A few months ago he saw a urologist who offered us some hope. He ran some tests and said that he would be able to determine the type of kidney stone Chris was having and that there was a possibility of being able to treat him for the kidney stones and make them at least slow down if not completely stop. Friday morning Chris had the follow up appointment. I was anxious to hear what the verdict was -- trying to be hopeful that it would be easy to deal with and not something to worry about (as depending on the type of kidney stone, it could be an indication of a kidney disease).

The final word is that his kidney stones are made up of calcium-oxalate, the most common kind of kidney stone, and the least concerning. Which is good, for the most part... nothing serious is related to these stones so it's not a real indication of anything really being wrong. What it also means, though, is that there's not a truly "easy" treatment. We're having to adjust his diet. I was definitely not opposed to doing so, but seeing the list of good vs bad foods for his diet has left me floundering. He's supposed to avoid excessive animal proteins, foods high in carbs esp whole wheat foods (there goes bread, pasta, potatoes, and rice), and anything that's considered to be high in oxalates. The oxalate list contains things such as black pepper, beans (of any sort including green beans), berries, parsley, tomatoes and all tomato products (yikes!), and on and on the list grows. Let me just say, this will take some getting used to. I feel a little selfish but am just a tiny bit glad that I only have to make this work for the next 2 1/2 weeks, then I get to go back to cooking normally. I just have to figure this out for when he gets back home.....

I don't even know where to start

We made it to Texas for Chris' pre-deployment leave. It was great to spend time with family and friends. There were too many cute moments to list w/ the kids and too many fun times with family to explain. I would detail it in pictures, but the camera battery died before I had a chance to take pictures.

There was one cute moment that I can't help but tell about Kairi. Earlier that evening I got onto her for screaming out of the van's window at me and when I got inside the van she went on and on and on about how she was just trying to tell me that my phone was ringing. I recounted the incident to Chris about 5 minutes later and told him that I apparently broke her heart when she was just trying to help me. She quickly interjected into our conversation ''My heart's not broke Mommy! It can't be broke! I need it!'' ♥




Other than that we're simply counting down the days till Chris leaves. It's like 21 days or so, which breaks my heart.

Of course we're going through the stages of preparing for deployment which involves more arguing that we'd like right now. But at the same time we're trying to desperately savor each moment together. Such a hard balance to find ... between enjoying each moment together and trying to find a separate spot for each of us as we know that before long we're going to have to stand on our own in our own worlds. There are the moments when I want nothing more than for him to just be gone already, and then moments later I'm bawling at the thought of him leaving.
Emotional train wreck = me




We've started talking to Kairi about Chris' upcoming deployment. Which of course means that we're talking to Alex about it too, but he doesn't understand nearly as much as she does. In trying to bolster her connection and faith in her daddy, we're telling Kairi that Daddy is going to go fight the bad guys so that he can keep her safe -- he's protecting us from them because he's a good daddy and loves us very much. I was never truly comfortable with the idea of telling her that Daddy is fighting bad guys because 1) I didn't want to have to talk about there being bad guys at this young of an age as right now everyone is a potential friend in her mind and I love her feeling safe and secure and 2) because she already goes around ''hi-YA-ing'' random things, I didn't want to give her any reason where it might actually happen. Not only that, but she always has such a hard time understanding that there are true bad guys on shows. We were watching Snow White the other day and while she knew that the Witch did bad things, she still didn't believe that the Witch was truly bad and didn't want to the Witch to be hurt. She just doesn't understand it. And I'm not ready for her to understand it. But if I just told her that Daddy was going to work she wouldn't understand as Daddy always comes home within a day or two of working. I was also worried that once he's back that she'd think he was leaving for months at a time every time he left for work. She has extreme separation anxiety as it is, I am hoping that the idea that Daddy is keeping her safe will help it not become as severe as it could become in the next few months. But be prepared for me to post over and over again about the horrors that separation anxiety causes my daughter to commit. lol



Since coming home we have lived in the house of sick. I have asthmatic bronchitis and the kids are pouring snot from their noses and goop from their eyes. If they had a fever or cough I'd run them to the dr, but as it's just tons and tons and tons of drainage, I'm trying to wait it out. The question comes to when have I waited long enough? Alex has had goopy crusty eyes for over 1 1/2 weeks now. Decisions decisions...



I have 2 million things to do right now but being sick keeps me from being able to concentrate on things. I should make myself a list tomorrow for things to start on Monday and tick them off one by one to make sure it all gets done.



Oh! How could I forget? We flew out to Texas, but drove home. We were given my grandfather's van. It's a 2002 but with only 37k miles! It's so very nice and perfect for our family. This is great for us as it means that we're going to be able to sell the car and get a huge break in our finances. I love seeing things start to ease up for us. :)

I took a break

I took a blogging break. A much needed blogging break. I thought that I was going to start up again when I posted the little note about the oven door, but things suddenly got worse instead of better. But now that we're on the upward swing, and on the count down to deployment, I'm going to try to pick it back up. So if it feels like I've avoided you or your blog, rest assured that it had nothing to do with you. Just needed to get somethings worked out is all.


At some point I may try to summarize the past month but that point probably isn't today. Instead, let me tell you about the next couple of months for us.

Chris left Sunday morning to go underway for just over 2 weeks. He'll be home (and on leave!) on the 23rd. On the 24th we're going to go see New Moon in theaters. Still looking for a babysitter for that -- so if you're available sometime that day, let me know! lol We're flying out on the 25th to Midland. I'm excited that we're headed to Midland this time instead of Longview as my parents haven't seen Chris since before his LAST deployment! That's over 2 years! My mom jokes that she won't be able to recognize him when we get there. We have a lot of people we need to see in a very short period of time. We'll take that Saturday to drive up to Lubbock to see Chris' brother and sister-in-law to see their new baby. Chris' parents will meet us there and and we'll do Thanksgiving/Christmas with all of them. We have to be back here by the 7th, so we don't have a lot of time to fit it everyone ... but we're going to try!

Then Chris starts having duty every 3 days. I hate it when there's that much duty time, it's like he's gone before he's really gone. And his final duty day is the day before he deploys, so really, our goodbyes will have to be said 2 days before his deployment. Two days doesn't usually sound like a lot, but when it's the last few moments you'll get before your husband leaves for war ... that seems like an eternity. Not to mention that we're already losing two days so that Kairi and I can be in my brothers' wedding on the 28th -- which I'm not willing to give up -- but still. It seems like more and more time is being cut into and it makes me sad.


Needless to say, the next two months will be rushed and fly by ... which parts of me are ok with that ... the sooner he leaves the sooner he's back. But part of me wishes that time would just stop moving for a while.


In the meantime, I'm making plans for what we'll do once he goes. I'm not moving back to Texas during that time (obviously as we JUST moved into the condo) so I need to have a plan of action. So far that involves working on teaching Kairi to read (she REALLY wants to learn), music lessons for the kids, possibly getting them into a marshal arts class as well, losing weight (as is the ever constant battle), and selling more Mary Kay to help afford the extra things. If I can keep us busy enough, the time should pass more quickly, and hopefully with less fits.

So that's what our future looks like. You'll notice on the top right there's a countdown for the days until Chris' deployment. If nothing else, it serves as a reminded of how important it is to cherish the few moments we have left.

The latest in our string of calamities

If you've friended Chris on Facebook then you might have seen his Facebook status Saturday evening.

Christopher Pyle found out that glass oven doors shatter into pretty little pieces. FML.

Yes, my husband shattered our oven glass door. He was carrying a wet cast iron skillet when it slipped out of his hand and bounced off his leg and through the door.







I just got a call from the condo office -- I have to pay $100 to have it replaced. Fun. UGH

Our Morning Adventure

It's been a rough morning. Kids acting out. Knee hurting. And then this:




See his head? He fell and busted it open on a plastic bin he stole from of my room. He got himself directly under the cut from his run in with the tv stand this summer.

It led to a good photo opp though. Here's the rest:







This one was completely blacked out, so excuse the grainyness now.











Which reminds me, I never got hair cut pictures up!

Last week Chris and I took Alex for another haircut. It'd been a while:






He came out looking like this:






Doesn't he look older and more grown up?

There's a Hole in the Bucket

My mother constantly sang as I grew up. She sang gospel hymns, folk songs, snippets of popular songs she grew up listening to, and tons of kids songs. One of my favorites was "There's a hole in the bucket". Let me share it with you now.

There's a hole in the bucket, dear Liza, dear Liza,
There's a hole in the bucket, dear Liza,
There's a hole.

Then fix it dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
Then fix it dear Henry, dear Henry, fix it.

With what should I fix it, dear Liza, dear Liza,
With what should I fix it, dear Liza, with what?

With a straw, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
With a straw, dear Henry, dear Henry, with a straw.

But the straw is too long.

So cut it.

With what shall I cut it?

With an ax.

But the ax is too dull.

So sharpen it.

With what shall I sharpen it?

With the stone.

But the stone is too dry.

So wet it.

With what shall I wet it?

With water.

Where shall I get it?

From the well.

With what shall I draw it?

With the bucket.

But the bucket has a hole in it!

(http://www.songsforteaching.com/folk/theresaholeinthebucket.htm)


I always felt so badly for poor Henry. Things just didn't go well for him. Nothing worked out right for him and Liza never understood. She kept telling him to do things that wouldn't work. In my mind, I equated her with my mom. Pushy and demanding, not listening to the whole story. Poor Henry.


And then I married "Henry".



This past month of moving has given me a fresh perspective on this dear couple. Instead of seeing a woman that couldn't understand that it was impossible, I found myself feeling badly for the woman that had to describe in detail every action that had to be taken. It wasn't enough to say "fix the bucket" she had to solve every single critical thinking problem that presented itself to Henry. (For that matter, why did she even have to tell him to fix it? Shouldn't he have been able to say "There's a hole in this bucket, I should fix it."?)



You would have thought that telling Chris to pick up a load of things from the old house to bring to the new house on the way home from work every day was self-explanatory. Apparently it wasn't. I spent all last week working my tail-end off at the house trying to finish getting our things out of it and getting it clean. Chris brought home a half-full cab of things every day that he remembered, but I always heard "I didn't know what you wanted, so I just grabbed a couple more things". I kept thinking that it's not that hard to walk into the house and determine what is trash and what is not, and bring it over. Apparently I was wrong.



I realized though, that when I stand there and give him very specific short directions, and don't expect any critical thinking to come from him, that things get (semi) accomplished.

Instead of "sort through the closet so that I can take what you're not keeping to goodwill and we can move the rest", I needed to say "Go into the closet." "Pick out all the clothes you don't want." "Put those clothes in the goodwill pile." "Take the clothes you're keeping out of the closet." "Put them in my trunk."



The last 2 days Dear Henry has been running through my head. The kids just about have it memorized. I wonder if Chris understands why I keep singing it?






Regardless, we're now moved (not unpacked yet, just moved). :) I will never again enter the old house. And I'm thankful for that. It takes a huge strain off my marriage. As a sort of celebration, last night a friend stayed over with the kids while Chris and I went out. We went to a Trent Tomlinson and Joe Nichols concert. FUN! We danced and sang and loved every minute together. I even got a nice new shirt b/c I stained mine. :) I wish I had remembered the camera, but by the time I realized I didn't have it in my purse, I had already gone back inside 4 times for things I forgot to do. I think Chris would have killed me if I'd made a fifth trip.

The Great Sock War

From time to time I see a therapist. Named Fred. Usually I go running into his office when I am so overwhelmed and stressed out that I am on the edge of a nervous breakdown -- or at least am at the point where any one and any thing can make me cry.

This last month I've been crying so very much, that I finally decided that if my period was even 2 days late, I was going to go pee on a stick. In other words, take a pregnancy test -- even though I have had a tubal and the chances of being pregnant are TINY. Thankfully, it was just one day late and I didn't waste money on a test.

So it was time. I went to see Therapist Fred. He always talks me through it. I gripe about kids, husband, finances, family, dog, etc. He listens, and then either makes me laugh with a bad joke or reminds me that I'm not supermom and can't save the day for every single person every single time. Apparently it's not quite sinking in because he keeps having to remind me ... but maybe one day I'll remember that.

During my gripe session I griped about the socks. You know, the dirty ones that husband leaves the floor next to the desk. The ones I've griped about before. The ones that pile up and pile up and pile up -- with me half believing the dear husband when every day he tells me that he's going to put them in the hamper that night before bed but then never being surprised when he doesn't. They're gross and disgusting. And then I finally get tired of letting them pile up and gather them up, trying to not breathe in their toxic fumes, and dump them in the washer. Yup, this was definitely worth a therapy session. ;)




Today, Therapist Fred told me hide the dirty socks under the bed. Or I could stuff them in his pillow case. (Chris...are you reading this? Because if you are, Fred said that you aren't supposed to know that he told me to do this, and so you need to pretend you didn't read it. :P And while you're at it, pick up your socks. ;) )



(FTR, Therapist Fred is not the first person to suggest such things, but it makes me laugh when my THERAPIST tells me to do so.)

Meant to get this up yesterday -- Chris interrupted me though

Last one....

It's long. Just to warn ya. But super cute.

2 Videos -- 1 more coming later today

I took this video in June. And then promptly forgot about it. The house is VERY messy and laundry needed to be hung (what's new?). The video is sorta long, about 4 minutes, but still cute. I was focusing on getting Alex's new words on video so that's why it seems like I'm avoiding Kairi... sorry about that.






And now a video of the house. It's still not completely unpacked, a little messy, and such, but this should give you an idea. :)




Video of the kids coming later today -- have to edit it first.

Animal Post

Post one of at least two today -- videos coming
(Clickable pics)

First, the other morning after feeding the kids bowls of oatmeal and then walking into the other room, I came back to the dining room to see Aslan sitting like this:





That's MY seat at the table. And there he set, expecting his food to be served there. For the record, he's never been fed at the table, and never will be. But obviously he considers himself royalty and tried to demand it that morning.




And now for Zoe. Remember when we first got her she was much smaller than we expected:



Then the next pictures of her where these:







And now .... Here's her this past week!




Zoe is sitting a foot or so behind Alex, even though you can't tell it in this post, but it's still a decent comparison shot ... And Alex is cute. :)

A Conversation I'm Tired of Having

The screaming in Kairi's bedroom had calmed down after being sent there.

M: Kairi, come down stairs please and talk to me.
K: Coming Mommy! sobbing
M: Kairi, what did you do to get in trouble?
K: I yell at Mommy.
M: Are you supposed to yell at Mommy?
K: Nooooo.
M: What happens when you yell at Mommy?
K: I get a spank'n.
M: And what else?
K: I go to bed.
M: Do you like spanking and being sent to bed?
K: NO!
M: Kairi, remember, don't yell, not even when answering my question. Now, when Mommy tells you to do something next time, are you going to yell at her or are you going to say yes ma'am and do what you're supposed to?
K: I'm going to do it.
M: Thank you, Kairi, that would make me happy. I don't like spanking you.
K: Love you Mommy. Hug?
M: I love you too Kairi. And then we hug.


Repeat entire scenario in about 20 minutes.


I'm TIRED of it.

While cooking lunch today

I turned around to see



on my floor. Next to it was a puddle of pee that I didn't take a picture of. (You're welcome.) I immediately grabbed my camera and then went searching out the naked butt it belonged to.

Crying too Hard to Make Sense -- Just Read The Article

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1212924/Doctors-said-Id-miscarriage-did-premature-baby-fought-life.html

The Post I Meant To Make Yesterday, But Ran Out of Time

Yesterday was the first day in over a week that we have had consistent internet access in our home. It also happened to be the day that I had the absolute least time for being online of the last week.


Yesterday was also the anniversary of a day that has shaped and defined my life for the last 4 years. I cannot adequately describe the memories I have of that day, even though they are still as clear to me as yesterday. But I believe that I can adequately describe how it has shaped my present and my future.



September 11, 2001 rekindled a fire in my then friend, and now husband's, heart to protect and serve his country, just as multiple past generations in his family served. He suppressed that desire for the next few years because of me. But the day came when he could no longer suppress it, and with me finally giving him my "I don't like it but I'll support you no matter what" speech, he enlisted in the Navy. I don't believe that I have ever seen him as proud as he was at graduation minus our wedding day and the births of our children. He may now not enjoy his job, he may become irritated with the bureaucracy and the backwards policies, but I also know that he wouldn't be the man he is today if 9-11 had never happened.


September 11, 2001 changed my view of the world. I went from having a fairly nationally minded point of view, to being more concerned than ever before at events in countries beyond North and South America. I began to take interest in more cultures and histories than ever before. I had always enjoyed them, but at a distance before. Suddenly, I found myself longing to spend time in those cultures and with those people. I want to spend time in Africa and India. I want to go to China and Korea. I want to spend time in the Philippines. I want to go to the Middle East. I want to see the land that my faith originated in, as well as begin to understand and relate to the people there more than ever. I still want to travel through South America, especially Honduras, and preach and teach there as well. For now, those plans are on hold. But I know without a doubt that one day I'll begin my travels. And every time I set off for another unknown place, I'll know that it began on 9-11.


September 11, 2001 did not just shape my current circumstances, and my dreams of travel for the future, but it reshaped my view point of the Islamic faith. It went to being something very distant and foreign to me, to being something that I want to understand and learn more about. Now, before I continue, I would like to point out that I stand very firm in my faith. I'm not in danger of converting (rather, this desire to learn more does nothing but strengthen my faith). But I am on a constant quest to understand more those that share the origins of my faith. I have so many questions about why they do certain things, why they believe in certain ways, etc. And I'm learning more and more every day. I'm learning that the stereotypes I believed for so many years may be accurate for a few, but in the lives of many they are just flat out wrong. I'm learning that while Christians often point to Muslims as examples of people strong in their faith, that Muslims often point to Christians as examples of people taking care of and loving on other people. I'm learning that there are many Muslim women who are much stronger and opinionated than I ever imagined. And I'm learning that people are simply people with problems and arguments and prejudices, no matter what their faith. "We all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God" -- the only difference in Muslims and I are that we place our hope of redemption of that sinful nature in much different places. Which is probably what leads the Christian faith to being so much more willing to help each other -- we are compelled to by the love Christ has shown for us, rather than by mandate. I know that my life is richer for the knowledge I now have, and I know that my faith is stronger based off of what I learned. And without a doubt I know that I would not have dived into this pool of knowledge and understanding, if 9-11 had never happened.




September 11, 2001 shook our nation to its core. It reminded us as Americans that we are vulnerable; it reminded us that we need to place our trust in God (oh how quickly that was forgotten though!); it reminded us that we needed to love and support each other in this country (something else we should be reminded of on a daily basis). But the reaches of that day went much farther than just to touch our nation, it touched individual lives. I'm certain that I'm not the only person, or even one of a few people, that can trace direct events and changes in their future back to that day. Instead, I'm quite certain that nearly every person that can remember that day has a story to tell about how 9-11 changed things for them.

So now I ask, what impact did it have on YOUR life?

You Coming Too Daddy?

As I've mentioned before, we're moving soon. We originally wanted a house for a yard for the kids and dog, but after realizing that we could have a nicer place while paying less we agreed to look at condos as well. And we found the perfect place. My only regrets are 1)no yard, and 2)we're moving away from amazing neighbors, but that would have had to happen regardless. Either way, I'm still really excited to start moving into the new place -- we start today, HURRAY!


We've been talking about this around the kids, but had yet to actually address the situation with them. Don't get me wrong, they saw the houses with us -- but Kairi seemed to think we were just visiting lots of new places to play. So last night we decided to specifically tell Kairi about it while we were eating dinner. The conversation broke my heart. Here's how it went:

M: Kairi, how would you like to move to a new house?
K: Ummm...
M: You would get a new bedroom and a new bathroom and you would go up and down stairs everyday!
K: Stairs! Yay! I like stairs Mommy.
M: I know you do! It'll be fun!
K: But Mommy, you comin'?
M: Of course baby girl.
K: In a squeaky, almost scared voice, looking seriously at Daddy -- we could tell she was worried.Daddy, you gonna come too?
D: Yes Baby! I'm coming too!
M: Kairi, we're all going. You, me, Daddy... We're all going.
K: Oh no! You not leaving Alex!
M: No! We're not leaving Alex. It'll be you, me, Daddy, and Alex. We're all going.
K: Poor Zoe puppy.
M: What's wrong w/ Zoe?
K: She don't get to go.
M: Yes she will! Kairi, you, Alex, Mommy, Daddy, Zoe AND Aslan are all going to move to a new house. TOGETHER. We're moving together. We all get new bedrooms. And stairs to walk on. And a new living room. And a new kitchen.
K: Ok! I like stairs!
M: I know you do baby. And this is going to be a lot of fun.
K: But Mommy ... what about my house? Where it going?
M: It's going to stay right here. We're going to take our things out of it and move them to our new house.
K: My poor house. Mommy, it gonna miss me.
M: Baby, it'll be ok. And we're going to get a new and more fun house!
K: But my friends are gonna miss me Mommy. Referring to the neighbors I'm sure.
M: Kairi, your friends are going to come see us in our new house. And we'll go see them. I promise.


The conversation went on and on and on like this. She became more and more happy about the stairs and would tell us that she wanted to go up and down the stairs a lot. But then suddenly she'd get concerned -- most of that time it would revolve around making sure that Daddy was moving with us. We frequently heard "Daddy, you wanna come with me? I'm going to a new house. Wanna come? Please?"



Navy life sometimes takes a toll on a child that has a hard time dealing with change. One change and she's suddenly terrified that she's going to lose her Daddy. I hope that moving with Daddy helps her know that he's not leaving her...