My baby is a year old!

                                   

   Notice any resemblance?                                        How 'bout now?

Holiday overload!

I just finished taking down the last of the St Patrick's day decorations, and I have thrown away at least 1000 plastic eggs from numerous egg hunts this past week.  And I am still finding chocolate coin and candy wrappers everywhere.  Do these kids not see the trash cans I have in almost every room?  How come Mick is the only one who throws anything away around here?!  Sheesh.  Oh, and I guess it's about time to put the Christmas tablecloth back up in the attic.  And to pack away Kiley's Valentine's day outfit.  Tomorrow is Kiley's 1st birthday.  I don't know where the time goes!  I have spent entirely too much time on the computer house hunting.  Even though I have a realtor that I know and trust.  It seems the hours just fly by while I am surfing, and for some reason, the house fairies have been skipping our house.  So, as much as I would like to sit here and further avoid doing any housework, I need to make a dent in it because I know the mess will only increase when the kids start getting home from school in 30 minutes.

A woman's work is never done........

No guarantees...

The Marine who was Tim's driver in Iraq lost his wife and his baby boy (she was 5months pregnant when she died) last week.  She was 21, he is 23, and is now the single father of a 7 month old son, who won't remember his mother.   He was driving when they hit the IED I wrote about previously.  I am sure when he came through that, he never imagined he would come home and lose his wife less than a year later.  It's all so very sad.  She was a beautiful, vibrant girl.  She and their infant son flew to CA to see him while he was attending recruiting school a couple of weeks ago.  Shortly after their arrival, she started feeling very ill.  He took her to the hospital, where they diagnosed pneumonia, and within a couple of days, they had put her into a medically-induced coma because she wasn't getting enough oxygen and it was a tremendous struggle to breathe.  Her unborn son died a day or two later, and she passed after a week or so in the coma.  We went to the wake last night, and the baby's ashes were in an urn in her casket.  Her husband said to my husband and me, that their 7 month old is having a hard time because she rocked him to sleep every night, and he misses her.  Her parents live locally, but his are in Georgia.  His life has completely changed.  It was good to see his Marine friends rallying around him for support, but in the end, the responsibility of making a life for himself and his son rests on him alone.  No 23 year old should have to go through this.  I don't think you can ever prepare for something like this, nor can most of us imagine being in his position.  I pray that he will continue to be able to count on family and friends, and that the raw pain and the shock that he is feeling right now will lessen with time.

My Brain Hurts.........

We just found out yesterday that Timmy is going to need surgery on both of his feet.  Without the surgery, he could end up with his joints fusing together, which could entirely mess up his feet, his ankles, his knees, etc.  He has completely flat feet, but apparently that is not all that is wrong with them!  He's been complaining of pain and hobbling around for some time.  He walks like a duck (he used to walk on his toes), slapping his feet on the ground.  He's been seeing a podiatrist for over 2 years, and has orthodic insoles, but they can't solve what is becoming a bony-structure problem.  Of course, since we are moving, it doesn't make sense to have the surgery performed before we leave, because he'll need to follow up with the same Dr.  His current Dr said he will be attending a podiatry seminar early next month in Georgia, and that he would try and find out if anyone there practices in the Northern VA/MD/DC area, so that he could send us to that person for a consult when we are up there house-hunting next month.  Ideally, he'd have the surgery and be out of casts by the time he starts school in the fall. 

I am still researching the housing market,and have started the mortgage approval process.  About the only thing I am sure of right now, is that we need more room than we have here, and that I trust our realtor to take care of us.  And that, 5 months from now, no matter what, we will be where we are supposed to be, and settling in!

This time around, more of the kids are expressing worry about the move, sadness over leaving their friends, worry about fitting in where we move, and in their new schools.  Katie is applying to be a summer camp counselor, which I think is a great job for her, but I think, in her mind, she is just anxious to get out of here and start her life.  I kind of wish she'd spend the summer with us getting settled into our new home and our new environment, before she heads off to Americorps in the fall, but I am glad she is motivated to do something constructive/productive with her summer.  Molly's best friend is moving this Friday, and she is very sad about that.  She says she finally feels comfortable, and like she fits in here, and has a good group of friends that she can be herself with, and we'll be leaving in 3 months.  Sigh.  It isn't easy being a military kid, that's for sure!