29 APRIL 2004

We’re back! As revealed in my last post, we spent last week in Jacksonville, NC and then in Washington, D.C. The house we’re building is finally starting to show signs of being built. In fact, I’ve made a new page that will report the status of the construction of our new home (notice the link under the heading “Around Here” called “Our House”). Since we are not able to be there to observe the progress, our realtor is going take weekly pictures and email them to us. I will then post those pictures to the page for those interested in seeing how it turns out.

While in Jacksonville, we spent a couple of days at the beach on base called Onslow Beach. It’s actually pretty nice. I’ve added pictures of our escape to there on our “Southern Living” page at the link called “Onslow Beach” under the Jacksonville, NC heading. You will notice Annie in her first bathing suit. Also at the beach we had a mishap with our much-loved and very expensive digital camera. The short story is that it got dropped, the card got destroyed, and now the camera is not working properly. I don’t know what we are going to do to fix it. Let’s just say I’m very disappointed.

I have no pictures from Washington, D.C. (please see above). Coline Huff is going to send us a disc of her pictures that she took. I will then post them on our “Memories” page. All I can say about it so far is that we had a lot of fun and saw a lot of stuff. I’ll give more details later once I have pictures to back up my claim.

17 APRIL 2004

Mike’s mom, Kathy, was in town last week. We had such a nice visit with each other. She arrived on Friday, April 2nd. The Smiths met up with me at the airport when I picked her up. They then spent the weekend at our house. It’s always interesting to see how to fit an extra 6 people into our little home. Somehow it all worked out. That weekend Mike and Travis ran a 10K in Charleston, SC (see image at right, Mike in SHORT, blue shorts). Us girls met them later that day. We took the Fort Sumter tour. It was pretty cool. We took a fairy boat to get to the island on which Fort Sumter was built. The guys went home soon after, but the girls stuck around to visit a cute, little quilting store called People, Places and Quilts.

The Smith Family departed on Sunday after some playtime at the beach. Mike returned to work on Monday, so it was just Kathy and me to hang out with each other for the week. I took her to historic downtown Beaufort. Since I had already been on the Beaufort carriage tour, I drove Kathy around some of the same areas that the carriages take tourists. We also spent a little time at the Chocolate Tree. Kathy also helped me to sew up a shirt. My sewing skills are still at the beginner to intermediate level.

Mike, Annie and I spent Easter Sunday with the other AEGD residents. We had about 15 people over for dinner that night. Ham, fried turkey, garlic mashed pototoes, green bean casserole, and pistacchio salad are among some of the foods served for dinner. It was nice for Mike and me since there were a ton of leftovers that none of the guests wanted to take. We had enough for lunches and dinners for the next few days.

On Monday, we leave for North Carolina to see the progress on our house being built. We will then travel up to Washington, D.C. to meet up with some dental school friends, the Huffs, the Bakkes, and the Gabriels. We plan to see most of the local sites including the White House. Coline Huff spent months organizing a tour for us.

Annie is still working on her standing skills. We think she is very close to walking. She is also now able to feed herself Cheerios. We are so proud.

P.S. I updated Annie’s 8th Month gallery. Please check it out.

26 MARCH 2004

The bugs are out and taking over again. It was around this time last year that I thought, “I really love this place. It’s like paradise.” Those thoughts were soon dispelled once the little, irksome sandfleas made their appearance for the season. They are virtually invisible. So by the time you notice that you’ve been attacked by the infinitesimal creatures, it’s too late to defend yourself. They usually taunt us at dusk. But give them the chance, and they will attack any time of day. Poor Annie was assaulted several times the other evening. I feel worse for her since she can’t do or say anything about the little buggers.

Let’s talk more about Annie. She has made many great strides this week in which she turned 7 months old. She is now no longer in need of her carseat while riding in the shopping cart; Annie can now sit up like a champ.

On Wednesday I was “busy” on the computer and had put Annie in the crib to entertain herself. I turned around and found that she had pulled herself up to the standing position with the assistance of her crib railings.

Thursday was the biggest day of all for Annie. She woke up uttering “da-da” and continues it until even now. She was also promoted to authorized crawler. She is even able to go from crawling to sitting with no trouble. And, Annie no longer needs that bathtub designed for babies. Oh, no! She can now sit in the real bathtub like a big girl. It won’t be long before my little Annie is not so little anymore (sniff, sniff).

18 MARCH 2004

I can’t believe how time has flied. Annie is already over half a year old and will be seven months old in less than a week. Part of me wants her to stay a baby forever, but then the other part is realistic. Especially this week I would like her to be a little older more independent. She is going through this stage where she is really insistent on someone holding her constantly. And she usually prefers that someone to be me. I do love that she is so attached to me, but I need a break sometimes. I’m going to have Mr. Clean arms soon. Oh well, I suppose it won’t be long when she is older and is embarrassed that I’m her mother and won’t let me kiss or hug her in front of other people. I should cherish these moments while they last.

Annie had her first babysitter on February 28th. She apparently did quite well despite my fears (and hopes) that she would miss her parents. The babysitter was unable to feed her baby food other than mother’s milk and she kept her up past her bedtime. But what can you expect from someone who doesn’t know a 6-month-old baby’s routine.

Annie has been eating baby food for the last few weeks. We recently switched her (cold turkey) to just jars of baby food (as opposed to the previous rice cereal/jar of baby food mixtures). So far not good. Annie is already showing signs of distaste for all vegetables. Last week I had to go to a church function and left Annie at home with dad. He was going to feed to her a jar of baby food then bring her to me at the church. Mike said that he felt like he was torturing her because of her horrifying screams that would not cease until she was removed from her high-chair. I gave her part of my banana this morning, and she, of course, loved it. Mike and I were so adamant about not giving her any sweet foods until she was used to the vegetables placed before her. I guess we will once again have to give in to her demands. [Since this post was actually started a few weeks ago (I know, I’m slow), Annie has made progress on her eating habits. She will now eat some vegetables straight from the jar. I just thought I should give an update on that fact.]

Speaking of the church function last week, Annie had her first “cat fight”. I placed her on the floor with another baby girl of the same age. Annie was seen pulling the other baby’s hair. I speculated that it was Annie’s jealousy for the other girl’s longer, golden hair.

I mentioned my parents’ visit in my last post. The visit itself went pretty well since they finally got to see Annie. However, the weather was craptactular with ½ an ounce of sunshine and lots of inches of rain, and then my mom fell ill the last couple of days. They ended up cutting their stay 2 days short. It was probably for the best since I would not want Annie to contract what my mother had – the pukes. Not fun for anyone.

Mike’s sister, Jenni, came for a visit last weekend by herself. It was not a long visit. I think she just mostly wanted to see Annie since she likes her much more than us. Jenni and I got to work on projects that we’ve each been working on. I showed Jenni how to make these cute marble magnets. It was a fun, relaxing weekend. Thanks, Jenni, and we can’t wait to see you again in April!

20 FEBRUARY 2004

My parents should be on their way to driving here right now. They will be spending a week with us. It will be the first time ever that Annie will meet her “Poppy” (my dad) and the first time since she was 1 week since she saw her “Nana” (my mom). Those are nicknames that they (well, my mom) came up with for Annie to call them. I don’t know if that will last. I have found in the past that most babies come up with their own nicknames for people and things.

I’ve posted new pictures of Annie in a new category on the “Baby” page called “Annie’s 6th Month“. It has been quite a big month for Annie. She is now very adept in rolling over back and forth. She has been eating rice cereal with other ingredients mixed in. Since the introduction of solid food, she has been sleeping 8 to 10 hours a night with interruption. She is able to sit up without any support for a few minutes at a time. She can even pick up items in front of her while sitting. Then this week she has started to get on her hands and knees to rock back and forth. She is acting like she very much would like to crawl. Go Annie!

I also have been busy trying new things. I made a purse all by myself. Jenni Smith and Sara Evans have been making these Vera B. knock-off purses for sometime now. I have been wanting one for myself. Sara was nice enough to make one for me. Then they showed me how to make one. Sara helped me to get all the pieces cut out for it, but then I was on my own to do the rest. It actually wasn’t that difficult, and I had only minor obstacles throughout the process. You can check it out on the “Projects” page. My goal is to make one for everyday. Just kidding! However, I do plan to make more of these cute totes. And, no, I won’t make you one!

Have great weekend, all!

04 FEBRUARY 2004

Oops! Apparently, I forgot to upload the current pictures that I added to Annie’s 5th month set. Feel free to check those out. My favorite is the one of Annie sitting on “her” sign. Please check back soon for Annie’s 6th month pictures. I still don’t feel like there is enough pictures from her 6th month to make a photo album yet.

Camp LeJeune, NC was graced by our presence this weekend. We decided at the last minute to go there to get a feel for the area. We’re glad we did. Now we definitely know the area where we should be looking for a home. Our hopes are to build a house from the ground up. Wish us luck!

My parents are coming to visit during the last week of February. Then Mike’s mom is going to visit early in April. Things will again get crazy afterward since we have trips planned to Camp LeJeune, NC again and to Washington, D.C.

I am going to add a FAQ section soon since I have received many questions about how I did this or that regarding this site. I don’t know how helpful it will be for those without web design experience, but, nonetheless, I will be adding info about it.

P.S. If you are looking for my comments from December 2003, I have moved them to the archives section.

26 JANUARY 2004

Mike wanted to me to draw everyone’s attention to the bookshelf that he made for Annie’s nursery. A picture of it is located on our projects page. Please feel free to browse.

I’ve been so busy since the holidays that I almost forgot to reminisce about Sara Evan’s (Mike’s sister) visit at the beginning of January. It was great fun to have her on our new turf. We visited Savanah, GA, Hunting Island Beach, the sites of Beaufort via a carriage tour, and, of course, Parris Island. We actually had a cool experience watching the tracers that the recruits shoot during their night firing exercises on Parris Island (see picture on right). Sara was sad that her children were not able to see it happen since they would have thought it very “tool”. But there’s always this summer. (Hint, hint, Sara!) We were reluctant to drop Sara off at the Smiths’ home in Jacksonville, FL. Come back soon, Sara.

I spoke of being busy earlier. I’m sure many are thinking, “That woman doesn’t even work. How could she possibly be busy?” For those of you thinking that, mostly you are correct. However, I have kind of my own business now. I became a Stampin’ Up demonstrator in November. I did it partly to support my habit of buying stamp stuff, but I also want to take up scrapbooking. Since Stampin’ Up sells scrapbooking supplies, I thought selling Stampin’ Up would be a way of helping to build up such supplies. I want Annie and any future children of ours to each have their own scrapbooks to cherish later on in life.

I’ve also been busy trying to organize this joint. I knew that this place was much smaller than our previous dwelling, but I didn’t realize to what extent. We used to have a 1½ car garage, a wood shed and a full basement. I’m telling ya’, ya’ don’t know what ya’ got til’ it’s gone. My goodness, we had a lot of “junk” in those areas of our old house: food storage, cleaning supplies for every mess, unused furniture, hunting and fishing equipment, wood-working equipment, tools for every purpose, lumber, lawn equipment, buckets and buckets of paint and painting supplies, and much much more. We, of course, had to unload a lot of it before moving here, but we still had more stuff for which we have room. I like to think of myself as the container queen because I have lots of them (even before moving or even being married). Now I’m glad I held onto them. Anyway, I guess I talk too much. Most people aren’t interested in hearing organizational stories. Although, I do! So feel free to tell me yours.

Again, we miss y’all. Please come visit anytime!

25 JANUARY 2004

Hmmm…not much new around here but I wanted to inform viewers of some additions. If you’ll notice to the left, I’ve added a new category called “Southern Living“. It details our tails from the south. Feel free to explore. I will try to keep that page updated with our adventures around here although they will end in July. Yes, we are moving to Camp LeJeune, NC in a short 6 months. It’s only 6 hours north and still coastal.

For those interested in keeping tabs on Annie’s growth/changes, I’ve added more pictures to her 5th month set. Since she turned 5 months on January 23rd, I will soon be making a 6th month set of pictures.

Have a good week everyone!

07 JANUARY 2004

Finally, everything is starting to get back to normal. Mike almost had me committed at one point. I have spent this week cleaning up this place we call home. As people close to me know, I do not like clutter. I tend to get claustrophobic if things aren’t organized. So that’s what I did today: organized. I’m starting to feel better now about how this place is put together.

I’ve also been updating this site. I had comments made about user-friendliness. I have made changes to the “Baby” and “Memories” portions of the site. Let me know if there is any confusion. Additionally, I have added more photos to the above mentioned pages. My mother was complaining that she wanted more pictures of Annie, so I added more to each “month” in the “Baby” section. You can also view our Thanksgiving and Christmas photos on the “Memories” page. I hope everyone can take the time to look at them.

Annie has been making quite a few strides this week. She can now roll over from her back to her tummy and vice versa. I can’t leave her alone on any suspended objects anymore. Earlier today I put her on her back on the middle of a blanket only to find her moments later 3 feet from the blanket on her tummy. What a crazy baby! I imagine she will be crawling pretty soon.

Please let me know what you think of our site. I really want our friends and relatives from out-of-town to be able to “see” us on a regular basis. I will try to keep the site updated as much as possible. We miss everyone!

24 DECEMBER 2003

Things have been crazy since before Thanksgiving. Mike, Annie, and I drove to MN for Thanksgiving for a week and a half. We really enjoyed spending time with Mike’s family. I was able to see a few friends while there as well.

It seems like since our return the craziness multiplied. Two days after our getting back to SC, Mike had to fly off to San Antonio, TX for C-4 training for 8 days. He was trained to be a medic during combat. It’s scary to think of Mike in combat having to care for wounded soldiers. I hope that that never happens. Mike returned late Friday night (December 5).

Ryan and Shannon Arnold were planning on visiting that weekend, but called to say that they would not be coming. They decided at the last minute that it probably didn’t make since to travel 9 hours arriving at about 2:00 a.m. on Saturday only to leave early Sunday afternoon. It was kind of a relief for everyone since I had to leave on Sunday afternoon to go stay with the Smith girls in Jacksonville, FL for a week.

Travis and Jenni Smith went on cruise that week and entrusted me with the responsibility of taking care of their 3 children. The girls were very easy to handle making the week a breeze for me. However, bad news arrived Thursday afternoon. Gary Olsen (stepfather to Mike and his siblings) passed away. He had been very sick for some time. His last days were spent in hospice care.

Mike and I decided it would be best for only him to travel back to MN to be with his family for the funeral. If Annie and I had made the trip, then we would have had to bring our animals (or, at least, Lucy). It would have also been risky to put Annie on a plane this time of year since the flu is so rampant. Annie has also been having trouble sleeping while away from home. I don’t think she liked the Pack-N-Play in which she had to sleep. Annie has been sleeping much better now that we are back home.

Since Mike will be in MN during this week, Annie and I will be spending Christmas alone. That means Annie’s first Christmas will be without her daddy. Fortunately, we will spend Christmas Eve with the Petrescu-Boboks and Christmas day at the Clancys’ home with many other families. We might even go over to the Mays’ home if time permits on Christmas day. Thanks to the Petrescu-Boboks, the Clancies, and the Mays for being so thoughtful!

I made the dumb mistake of not having Annie get her picture taken with Santa when he was available at the Jacksonville ward party. The Smith girls all visited with Santa as I sat oblivious to Annie’s “needs”. I don’t feel so bad this time since Annie probably won’t remember anything this Christmas.

I have been taking a couple of classes via the internet. The classes ended yesterday. Did I finish everything? No! With the combination of Annie crying for Mommy to hold her and Lucy finding items around the house to destroy, my extra time left me.

Well, I hope everyone is having a merry Christmas. Mike and I wish we could be spending this time together with all the people we care about. We thought we would love living in SC, but so far it has only kept us from being able to spend time with our close friends and families.

08 DECEMBER 2003

At last, our website is finally live! I have been working on this project for a few months now. I have come to the point with this thing where I feel like it can be viewe by the world. Please no negative comments, I know I’ve still got much to learn.

Anyway, since this site is going to be posted for people that we’ve not kept in touch with, I will give a brief update of our lives. Mike finally finished dental school, May 2003. We made the decision to join the Navy. They paid for all of Mike’s dental school. In return, he will have to stay active-duty for 4 years. It’s not a bad deal actually.

The Navy moved us to Beaufort, SC in May 2003. Those of you who have no idea where that is, Beaufort is halfway between Charleston, SC and Savannah, GA and very close to Hilton Head Island. We are renting a nice home that’s been newly refurbished due to bizarre circumstances. We are really enjoying our situation here. Mike and I have met some wonderful people down here. Most of whom are in the same situation as us. They have kind of been like family to us. We never seem to have a free night anymore. I lost count of how many “workshop” parties I’ve attended.

We also have a new addition to our family, Annabelle Louise. She arrived on August 23, 2003. She weighed in at 5 pounds, 11 ounces. Annie has been such a blessing in our lives. I didn’t know it would be this wonderful to have a child. (Many of you already know how uncomfortable I am around children.) I’m starting to see children in a different light since Annie became part of our family.