She Grew!!

I am always amazed to look back at pictures and see how much my children have actually grown!! I know that this age they grow exponentially, but I feel the last six months have been significant for Caroline, both physically and cognitively!!

Here are a few pictures of here last year on this very day ... at this point she had just given up her morning nap, slept in the crib, didn't have many words, loved to point, and was learning to use utensils to eat.

Today my sweet girl's vocabulary and her use of it is phenomenal, she runs, laughs, tells stories and has the best memory of pretty much anyone I know. She loves having her Daddy home and loves having a baby sister -- it's as if both of them have been with her forever. She loves to read, color, paint, and be outside. I cannot wait to see what she will be like on this day next year!

Deployment is Real!

I have a friend (Avee) who writes songs, as in goes to Nashville, writes with a published songwriter, and then produces her song. At the beginning of each month I get a new Avee song in my inbox and I love it. This month's email said the following:

"Here’s another new one, fresh from Nashville : )  I wanted to share with you that I had this melody and parts of the lyrics for awhile, but you inspired this idea!  I remember you sharing while Tyler was deployed that you were doing good, getting through the days, but sometimes at night how your heart just physically ached for him…and I thought…man…I know that feeling even if it’s been for a short period of time I have been away from Lloyd…and then it made me think of how the only solace from that is to drift off to sleep and dream them home. ...."

I promptly opened the song and began listening while I made pancakes for breakfast one morning last week. And the tears started falling. I do not have permission to share the song, but the feelings of deployment and that physical heart-hurt just crept in and made me weep for my friends whose husbands are gone or are leaving soon. Although every spouse feels deployment differently, for me it is a pain that I have never felt before and I hope to never feel again.

My favorite line right now is: "No one is deploying because they are bringing everyone home by December." NO PEOPLE, they are not. I have friends whose husbands are in Afghanistan now and friends who are leaving in the coming months for ... you guessed it ... AFGHANISTAN.

This is somewhat of a soapbox post, and I apologize for that, but please remember the 1%. The 1% who VOLUNTEERED to join the American military. The 1% who may have a spouse and children at home waiting for them to come home. It is so easy to forget, yet impossible to understand what a military feels, but I ask that you pray for them. Pray for safety, for peace in this world, peace in our hearts, and for the pain of deployment to soon be a thing of the past. 

**If I get permission from Avee to share the song, I most certainly will!**

My Take on Frozen

As I mentioned on Monday, Caroline got to see her first movie last weekend. Frozen was a really cute movie. We all enjoyed the music and the story, but I have trouble "believing" in the characters.

When I hear "Let It Go" -- the main song -- all I picture is Idna Minzel. I do like the song and it's place in Frozen, but I cannot picture Elsa, it's all Idna!

I first discovered Idna when she was in Wicked. Although I never saw her on broadway, she sings on the soundtrack and you cannot miss her unique voice.

Does anyone else have this issue? Does it take the fun out of children's movies as we grow up?!

Ready for Sunshine to Stay

Sunday after we returned home from my parent's house, we all played outside. I pruned bushes, Tyler fixed our lawn care tools, and the girls played. They had fun exploring and just hanging out in the sun. We are ready for the sun to come and stay!!

Mom's Birthday!

Last Saturday we traveled to Oxford to celebrate my Mom's birthday. My Mom loves holidays and loves doing fun things for the girls, so naturally she planned a wonderful Easter day for the girls (really just Caroline). We all had a great time! **Warning: picture overload :)**

Everyone was excited to arrive at Susee & Poppi's house.

We dyed Easter Eggs while the boys took the dogs to the farm to run and swim!

Mom had an Easter Egg hunt for everyone. The big kids had to start a considerable distance from the hunt -- giving Caroline a better chance. Don't worry -- she came away with a stash of eggs!

Ready to go!

We stayed outside most of the day -- the weather was perfect!! We helped Mom plant some flowers, we played cornhole, Tyler and Jim cut down a few dead trees, we had dinner and just hung out.

Caroline got to stay up late and watch her first movie -- Frozen -- and she did great. She was still throughout the movie and asked great questions. I love to see how her little brain works.

When I put Caroline to bed, I asked, "What was your favorite part of today?" and she promptly said, "The egg hunt." How awesome!

Happy birthday, Mama/Susee, we love you!

Spring Fever

Woo Hoo for Book Club! This was my Book Club's inaugural month and we chose to start with Mary Kay Andrews' Spring Fever. When first trying to pick a book, we wanted something light and airy, and our first several choices were yet to be released. We settled on this book and I couldn't put it down. I read the book in four days and every night that Tyler saw me pick it up he said, "Oh, the book again!"

I enjoyed the book because I could relate. The story is set in a small, *fictional,* Eastern North Carolina town not too far from Fayetteville. Pinehurst,  Fayetteville, Moore County, and Vass are real places that are within an hour's drive of my home and are mentioned throughout the book. One character went to Wake Forest, one to UNC and another to NC State. The main character, Mason, was a counselor at Camp Seagull one summer, which is the brother camp of where I was counselor one summer. I had a lot of connections and could truly visualize where the characters were.

The book revolves around the Bayless family, a Southern family who started a regional, cherry soft drink called Quixie (loosely based on the family and story of Cheerwine from Salisbury, NC). Mason Bayless and Annajane Hudgens are star-crossed lovers that are given every opportunity to make their high-school romance something more permanent, yet somehow find excuse after excuse to deviate from it.

I enjoyed the twists and turns throughout the book and the secrets that each character had; some that were hidden right to the end of the book.

I highly suggest this book as a mind-less, fun read, particularly if you like drama, romance, and all that small, Southern towns have to offer.

My Military Children

I not only have the privilege of raising military children, but I had the unique opportunity to teach them for 2.5 years before I had my own. When I think of the military, these children are the true heroes because they do not choose this life nor do they sign any dotted line. They move around, transfer between schools, live without their soldier parent from time to time, and are still some of the most wonderful children I've ever met.

I was very afraid of the military life -- particularly for my *unborn* children -- and I didn't date Tyler for a while because of that. I was afraid they would be uneducated, they would have no friends, and most certainly would not live near family. Although my children are only 2.5 years old and 7 months old, I can already tell you this could not be farther from the truth. They get an education unlike anything I had in my small town for 18 stable years. Caroline was born in Alaska and has driven across the United States -- something few adults can say they've done. She has lived in three states already and has made friends in all places.

My children experience a marriage that relies solely on verbal communication when Tyler is away, they appreciate the moments they get to talk with Daddy and most certainly the meals we have with him because he does go away from time to time. They see a Mommy who, although she prefers Daddy is home, can survive without him for a bit. They see that loving someone doesn't mean having them physically there every moment of every day and just because they miss a big event doesn't mean they don't care.

Here are a few precious pictures when Tyler came home from Afghanistan last October. They bring tears to my eyes because Caroline did not miss a beat -- she saw Tyler walk in in formation and didn't take her eyes off of him until she was asleep in the car on the way home that night.

My military children will no longer be military children come March 1 of next year, but I hope many of the values and experiences they would have had as military children can be translated to the civilian world as we make that leap.

I linked up with my first Army friend, Kate, at Daffodil's today. Check it out!

Nothing Better

There are few things better than fresh cut flowers in the house. I really indulge in the Spring and Summer because the choices are much more appealing! I love to take one bunch of flowers and stretch it into different rooms in the house. Currently I have tulips throughout the house and that makes these cold, dreary Spring (?) days a little better!

What is your favorite flower to have throughout the house?

Sleeping Emma

Meet Emma -- pacifier hoarder extra-ordinare. I do not have a lot of pictures of my girls as they sleep because I think a sleeping child is worth more than any picture will ever be. However, I've wanted to take more pictures lately and I want to remember little things about them -- like Emma's pacifier hoarding habit -- and only pictures can do that. There were so many things with Caroline that I thought I'd never forget, but the years pass and you do. Fortunately, Tyler and I can compound our memories to create a pretty good picture of what Caroline was like :)

Happy Monday, friends.

I'm Getting Soft!!

Y'all. I took my main squeeze to the airport earlier this week for an extremely short trip and let me tell you -- I left with tears in my eyes. FOUR measly days and I have tears in my eyes as I leave the airport?? Some Army spouses could probably string me up by my toes. I am very thankful it is a short stint, but I couldn't help but laugh a little as I wiped away tears.

Life is much more fun when you're around my friend. Have fun -- see you soon :)

Woo Hoo

I know -- I can't believe it either. This makes 12 posts this month, which embarrassingly surpasses the total for 2013. Here's to many more this year!