Hello World!

One of my favorite parts of getting Afton up in the morning is throwing open the blinds and saying, "Hello World!!!"  Then Afton starts waving and saying, "Hi!" out the window.  I feel like I need bid the world a nice "Hello Stranger!" after our long unplanned blogging sabbatical.  In case you were curious, my other favorite part of getting Afton up in the morning is how, before I can pick her up out of her crib, she has to hand me everything else in her crib one by one while telling me what they are.  "Bear!" "Baby!" "Baaa!" (sheep) and "Bayee!" (blankie) are all options, depending on what she took to bed with her the night before.  Then last, but not least, "Ah din" gets to get out, then we walk over to the window as she frantically says, "Hi! Hi! Hi!"

So anyways... Hello World... It's been awhile.  A lot has happened, but a lot is much the same.  I apologize for neglecting the blog for so long.  Nesting took a much higher priority for awhile.  It was in full force for awhile there, and has since died down, because honestly, there's not much else I can think of to do.  The clothes are washed and hung, the newborn diapers are in their place right next to the size 3's, the bottles are up in the cupboard, the burp cloths are in the drawer, the hospital bag is mostly packed, and even the baby quilt is actually completed before the baby is born this time... I'd say we're pretty ready.  T minus 19 days until the baby is due, but I wouldn't count on her waiting that long.  Just a gut feeling I have... no pun intended.

I believe the last thing I posted was on the morning of the 4th of July, which was a wonderful holiday I might add.  We had a great time having Ty's brother Abe and his wife Grace in town to celebrate with us.  I didn't get many pictures because that is not one of my strong points.  But here are some that I did take:

I wouldn't exactly call myself a culinary queen, but I was pretty proud of my contributions to our edible consumptions of the day.

The cake

Our breakfast

Untrue to true American festivities, it rained most of the day.  Ty, Abe, and Afton had fun playing out in it though.

We had a great time.  Though we didn't get to spend much of it outside, we enjoyed the company, the conversation, the games, and the fun.  Thanks again for coming Abe and Grace!

After our fun weekend, Abe and Grace were kind enough to let Afton and I caravan with them back to Georgia and stay for a couple days.  Then they took us to the airport in Atlanta so we could fly to Colorado for a month to stay with my parents.  Ty had an Air Force training program in Pueblo, CO (just an hour away) for that month.

We've been lucky to be able to spend a lot of time with my family over the past few months.  I'll plan on writing about those trips next.  Be forewarned, they may end up being some big picture dumps.  But until then, just know that we are alive and well.  Until next time, Goodbye World!

God Bless America

Last year and this year:

Waiting to watch the national fireworks in DC

Actually about a month ago, but isn't she cute?

The past few days, I've been participating in an email conversation with some family members about one of many issues in the United States.  Our nation's problems seem to be a common topic of conversation for many recently, including myself.  I often jump on these conversations quickly or initiate them myself.  Don't worry, I'm not about to say that these issues should be taboo or that I'm about to change my ways on this one.  I feel it's important to be relatively informed and to separate right from wrong.  However, what I would like to say is that, despite all of its problems, America is a place in which I am grateful to live, to be a citizen, to participate, to support a husband who defends it, and to call home.

If I may, I'll just copy and paste the last paragraph of my most recent email contribution to the aforementioned discussion:

"I am grateful we live in a land that allows us to be free in many ways.  Even though many use this freedom in ways that are opposed to the purpose for that freedom, I am grateful it is there.  I am grateful that we are a diverse society and that many people can and have come here to live the true American dream.  Our country's issues are many, but I would choose it over anywhere else in the world.  It is still one nation under God, with many promises from Him for prosperity should we choose to obey Him--I see that literally fulfilled.  On Sunday, we sang "America the Beautiful" in sacrament meeting, and it moved me to tears--one because of gratitude for this great nation, but mostly of mourning for what beauty has been lost through the years and isn't stopping anytime soon.  Today may we recognize our nation for what it is, weaknesses and all, and thank our God for the blessing of living here.  Despite the problems, I feel very blessed today."

I recently found myself studying in the Book of Mormon in 2 Nephi chapter 1.  Verses 6-7, in reference to America, say:

 6 Wherefore, I, Lehi, prophesy according to the workings of the Spirit which is in me, that there shall none come into this land save they shall be brought by the hand of the Lord.

 7 Wherefore, this land is consecrated unto him whom he shall bring. And if it so be that they shall serve him according to the commandments which he hath given, it shall be a land of liberty unto them;...

I feel very blessed and humbled that I am counted among those who live here.  I feel a great debt toward those who made this great nation great.  Even more than that, I also feel a great obligation to try harder to live better and to help others.  Where much is given, much is required; and I have been given quite a lot, as has anyone who calls this country home.  These verses of scripture have caused a lot of personal reflection for me, resulting in a renewed commitment to stand for freedom and to help bring others to Christ.

Today I am going to focus on the good.  I am going to enjoy time with my family.  I am going to pray prayers of gratitude.  I am going to have fun.  And I am, of course, going to eat a good old-fashioned American cheeseburger hot off the backyard grill.

God bless America.

Rosies

Ring Around the Rosies was an Afton favorite for awhile.  But the last time we played it a few weeks ago, it made her mad.  She made it clear that she was obviously too mature for the stupidest game ever.  But last night we decided to try resurrecting it.  Good choice.

Of course it was much better when we decided to grab the camera, not when we actually caught it on film.  Ain't that how it always goes?  Anyways...

And then we watched the first video on the camera.  And then Afton was very aware of the camera.

One day I'll write about how we're getting settled in, or how we love Mississippi, or how we went to Utah to surprise my mom for her birthday, or how we're going to Colorado for a month.  But today is not that day.

What We've Been Up To

Welp, Ty graduated.  It was pretty cool.  He still has had a few things to do to finish up his thesis course, but THAT is a long and frustrating story I'm not going to delve into.  Technically he's still not completely done, but he has a culminating conference call to attend to in about an hour.  THEN he'll be done!!!

Oh, and one minor detail that must have slipped my mind.  We found out at graduation that we had ONE week to move, instead of two.  That was a shock to our systems.  Suddenly our leisurely attitudes about packing, seeing the DC sites we hadn't seen yet, and sleeping in changed to babysitters, frantic packing, staying up late and getting up early, and lots of fast food.  But with the help of some great people, we were able to get it all done and hit the road on Saturday morning.  Phew!

Among everything else, the lawn also got mowed (with little exclamations of "Whoaaa!  Whoaa!! Whoooaaa!!!" included, of course).  This is the only picture I have of us getting stuff done that week.  I wish I would have taken more pictures, especially to help us remember all of the kind people that helped us survive.

Waving goodbye to Maryland

This was the first leg of the trip.  It was an exhausting week for Afton too.

 First stop, visiting Mount Vernon with Uncle Joe who was in town on business.  It was great to see him!

The next stop was Tappahannock, VA, home of Ty's cousin Levi, his wife Emily, and their three cute kids (and Aunt Lynn happened to be visiting that weekend too!).  We have absolutely loved living near them.  They have been so good to us.  Not only have we spend many nights in their home and enjoyed that thoroughly, they've been there to help us a lot.  We especially appreciated this past week that Levi got to go up to DC for a day to help us pack the moving truck.  We might have died without him.  Literally.  Thanks guys!

In regards to our stop, as usual, I did a poor job taking pictures.  This is all that I have from our visit.  And aside from the video, these pictures could have been taken anywhere and do a terrible job documenting our visit.

Did I mention that we always have fun at Levi and Emily's house?

I've taken a lot of pictures like this recently.  I think it's so funny how she always sleeps like this!

This is the face of a little girl who cannot resist the temptation to climb stairs.

That picture of Afton's road rash reminds me... let's take a time-out to discuss one of my worst nightmares.  I have always feared, especially since having a daughter as cute as Afton, that some childhood injury would permanently disfigure my child's face.  Although I'm positive we're not looking at permanent damage, Afton managed to temporarily disfigure her face three times in eight days.  It's becoming almost comical each time it happens because it's so ridiculous.

The first one was actually at graduation.  Ty and I had a little miscommunication about who had (or hadn't) buckled Afton into her stroller.  As we were walking to the graduation ceremony, Ty was taking the stroller down some stairs, but gravity pulled Afton down a little faster.  I can't even explain the sick feeling I had when I ran ahead to make faces at her, and instead watched her fall helplessly and thud on the ground.

The is the face of the Worst Mom of the Year award coming my way... at least that's how I felt.

Luckily, she's one tough cookie and got right back up on that horse... errr... turtle, after the ceremony.

 The next injury was the aforementioned fall down the stairs.

Then on Monday, at our lunch stop at Chik Fil A in northern North Carolina, the play place wasn't kind to Afton either.  She took a nose dive in one of the tubes and got a nice fat lip.

I promise we try to take good care of our child!

Monday night, we stopped outside of Charlotte, NC.  Adrienne, a good friend from high school years, and her husband Dan, and their daughter Vanessa live there.  They were kind enough to have us over for dinner. I thought about taking pictures, but had left my camera in the car.  Luckily I was able to swipe these ones from Adrienne and her blog. :)

A new state for both of us.  And that's our moving truck--to prove we were there since we didn't get out. :)

Kisses goodbye.

Cartoons in the morning while mom and dad pack up

Tuesday, we drove through South Carolina and down into Georgia.

And another new state for us.

We stopped at Hartwell Lake, right on the border of South Carolina and Georgia for lunch and for a chance to stretch and let Afton get some wiggles out.  It was beautiful!

Afton didn't enjoy the lake quite as much as we had anticipated.

She enjoyed the playground much more.

And the food.

 And the grass and dandelions.

 

And the geese.

Then we made our way to Columbus, GA where Uncle Abe and Aunt Grace live.  (I missed the Georgia state line sign, but we'll have another chance really soon).  We were so glad to finally make it!  We had a delicious dinner, went out for ice cream, walked around an amazing park, put Afton to bed, played games, and had a great time.  The next morning, Ty and I took off for Mississippi to go get checked in, and left Afton with Abe and Grace.  Apparently things run a little differently than we thought, and our one-night-stay has to be two due to some leave regulations.  My little mommy heart hurts a little, but I've decided to use this opportunity to rest (finally), have some fun with Ty, and of course write a monster blog.

Aunt Grace doing Afton's hair. 

We've been to Mississippi before, but not to this Air Force Base!

We saw our new home last night, walked around the perimeter, and peeked in as many blinds as we could.  We get to move in on Tuesday after some maintenance work is done.

Here's some pictures I've gotten from Grace:

Afton loves her cousin Clara.  She gets excited when she sees her in our family
picture book and squeals "Baby! Baby!"

PB&J

Aunt Grace made this cute dress for Afton.  She also gave us a smaller matching one
for the baby coming in a few months.  They're really cute!  Thanks Grace!

And now I'm just sitting in the hotel room, Ty's finished his conference call, and he's waiting for me to get my rear in gear and go run some errands.  And there you have it.  The monster blog of our journey thus far.