Easter & Snow (March happenings)

So, in March, the major happenings for us were Easter, and Texas snow. Other than that we pretty much laid low!
Early in March we woke up to snow!! Granted, not nearly as much as we would have in Montana, but snow nonetheless. I had to get a picture of John in TX snow!

Still not too interested!

Easter was different, although as I say that, I really don't remember Easter having any traditions that continued after we were grown, except for maybe the finding of our Easter baskets when we happened to be at home. Our church and the church who planted us (the church where Chris & I actually met) did a combined service at the big expo center here in Belton. I don't know if I've just gotten old, or what, but I really enjoy small churches. 200-300 is about max size for me. It's so easy to get lost in anything bigger, and there really isn't any sense of community. It was just different. Chris's mom joined us for church, and enjoyed dancing with John to the music. He actually fell asleep in her arms. She was tickled!!
That afternoon we had some friends from Bible Study over for lunch/dinner. We brought our expandable table into the living room, so all 12 of us could sit around us. We enjoyed ham, deviled eggs, scalloped potatoes and salad, not to mention some yummy 7-layer dip, and fabulous desserts. We spent some time playing Catch Phrase, and then folks called it an evening. Quite laid back and low key. Unfortunately, I was to preoccupied with making dinner, that I forgot to take pics of the festivities. I did manage to recreate John's first deviled egg eating experience the following day:

Hmm, I don't know about this

Ok, I'll try


Still not too sure

Ok, let me try again

The look of satisfaction!




And of course, I had to throw a picture of a picture of John normal, and pooping, b/c every child needs an embarrassing picture like this on the internet!! :o) I was actually surprised we captured it.

We did do one thing quasi Eastery, the week before. We went out to visit our friends the Allens, who have some land, and they have a bunny. John had been exposed to bunnies on our trip out to see the Meiers the week before, but not quite to this level! This bunny let him pull on him, eat his ears and steal his lettuce!! It was quite comical to watch. We also enjoyed some other firsts including playing on a trampoline and riding a 4 wheeler.


First, I'll pet it nicely...

Then, I'll grab it...

Then, pet it nicely again...

Finally, as it is unsuspecting, I'll eat it's ears!!

Hmm, ok, so lettuce goes in the mouth

Let me try some of that


Hmm, are you sure about this Mr. Rabbit, it's not looking too appetizing!

Not sure what to think of the ride!

2 down 10 to go!!

So, for most of you, this is old news, but for the random few who I haven't talked to or seen, now you have it. We will be adding to our family again this November!! The timing was quite unexpected, but we are excited. Part of why I haven't been on here to blog as often, is I am just plain exhausted. Dealing with a nearly 10 month old, and growing a little one is hard work, especially as I am still nursing, and he still wakes up at times in the middle of the night! I am currently 4 months along. Yeah, I know, I wasn't purposely avoiding telling people. We honestly didn't find out until I was over 2 months, and then after that exhaustion took over.
We are going to wait until the baby is born to find out what we will be having. We probably will do that with all of our kids!! We found a midwife here in Killeen, who is willing to do home births, so we are super excited, especially since we bought our house primarily for the master bathroom jacuzzi tub! For those of you who don't know, John was born in water and it was amazing, and Lord willing, I plan on having all my children in water.
Right now the thing that is weighing heaviest on our minds is weather or not daddy will be leaving us in December (baby will be 6 weeks old). His unit is set to deploy then, but there has also been talk of him switching to a different job prior to it. With the army, nothing is set in stone until it actually happens, so I'm not hoping either way. I know we will both grow tremendously if he is deployed, but I also know we will really enjoy him being here (especially me, as I worry about my energy level which has never been up to par since I was hospitalized our first year of marriage). We are just waiting and trusting that the Lord would put him/us where we need to be.
Well, now back to catching up on the months I'm behind in!!

Visiting Great Grandparents (Feb 19-24)

Chris had a long weekend Valentine's Day weekend, so on Monday we met with our realtor, and then got to meet with Chris's mentor from ROTC, Col Moore. Chris then took off back home, and I went back to Dave & Sarah's, as my folks were coming into town that evening to go visit my grandparents in San Angelo, and I was going to go with them. John hadn't seen them since he was a week old, and with my grandpa's cancer, we wanted to take advantage of every opportunity to spend time with him, and enjoy each moment.
We left after John's nap Tuesday morning. John enjoyed having someone in the backseat with him, so he and my mom kept each other entertained the whole way. I think he slept maybe 20 minutes of the 3 hour trip! Yikes! It was so good to see Grandma & Pawpaw. Pawpaw looked good, albeit quite a few lbs lighter than I remember, but he was in good spirits. He loved John and entertained him as often as he could.
We spent a good majority of the week, helping out cleaning around the house, fixing a dryer, raking leaves, and enjoying each other. We (I) had a lot of time to rest, as John was occupied by his grandma and great grandma. I also was able to have some good heart to hearts with my Pawpaw and with my grandma about the future. I was glad I went early, and I was glad I could still use my nursing knowledge to help explain things to them.
Chris got to join us after work on Friday. It was great being able to have him around again. My grandparents love him, and my Pawpaw loves to hear what things are going on in his army career. It was also nice, not to have to sleep on the floor, and not to have to worry about John waking others up, particularly since he was sleeping in a different room than me. We were able to stay in lodging at Goodfellow Air Force Base. It was a really nice condo/apt for less than the price of a motel room. Being military sure does have some nice benefits!!
Dave & Sarah joined us on Saturday, right in time to eat at Zentner's Daughter (a place that has amazing hamburgers!) and make it to my cousin Mackenzie's b-ball game. After the game, everyone came over to Grandma & Pawpaw's house, where the boys were introduced to Bobby (Mackenzie's dad, who is VERY interested in history and talks pretty much non-stop), who found both of them very intriguing!! They were both very good and patient!
We all got to enjoy church and lunch together before we all went different directions on Sunday. It was an amazing week(end), something we will remember and cherish, full of stories I can tell John when he gets older!
Here are some picture highlights from the week:


John entertaining his great grandma



Playing in the leaves with Pawpaw. Even though it was hard for Pawpaw to get down & back up, he wasn't going to miss time with his great grandson! These are some pictures I will treasure forever!


Trying a french fry for the first time. "Hmm, I think I like this!!"






Playing with the ladies!!


New toys (we actually brought them home, he enjoyed them so much, especially eating them!)

First lemon at Zentner's Daughters! He actually really enjoyed it. Pawpaw was so proud that one of his grandchildren actually enjoyed lemons!

Posing after church Sunday


My favorite picture!!

Some family photos!



For some more photos see Visit to Great Grandparents

Surprise!!

Ok, so I'm still a little bit behind on blogging. These next 2 ish posts are from February! The weekend after Valentines Day, we went to San Antonio for a former coworker's baby shower. Plus it gave us time to try to catch up with everyone we hadn't seen since we moved to Killeen. Unfortunately, we tried to fit too many people in, so we weren't able to spend a lot of time with Sarah & Dave. Well, I should say me. Chris didn't go to the baby shower on Saturday, nor did he go with me to visit my college roommate, Heather, so he got to spend quality time with them. Little did I know, it also helped my sister get things ready for an evening I was totally not expecting. They told me that we were going out to eat at the quarry at an Italian restaurant. Sarah wanted me to get home "early"(4 pmish) so we could get there and beat the crowd and possibly wander around.
Well, I didn't end up leaving Heather's til nearly 5. Sarah called and asked if I needed anything inside. When I told her no, she said they would all wait outside b/c we were running late. When I got home Chris got John and his car seat packed into Dave's car and off we went. We went to this awesome Italian restaurant, Bravo's. It was our Valentine's day/my birthday dinner. Just a side note, my birthday is on Valentines Day and we have lately decided not to eat out on Valentines Day anymore. We had a VERY low key dinner and evening, a little bit too low key for me, causing an argument. Little did I know that he was told to keep things low key.
So, we are eating dinner, and Chris keeps getting texts, and Dave keeps getting phone calls. Me, totally clueless. We talked about what we were going to do that evening. I was all excited about watching Pirates 3. We pull up to Dave & Sarah's house, and Dave makes the comment, "Oh, it looks like my parents decided to stop by." I ask Sarah, "Is that normal, that they just show up sometimes?" She kind of mumbled yeah or something. Then I see this older gentleman walking along the sidewalk. He waves, and Dave waves back. I'm thinking, "Hmm, must be one of their neighbors." Chris is pushing me very firmly towards the door. I was like, "Why are you pushing me?" Mind you, I'm still completely oblivious. Still looking forward to bathing John, putting him down and enjoying a movie. I walk in and, even though Sarah & Dave have already made it in, the house is nearly completely dark. I look and I see Steffen, Chris's battle buddy from OBC, and a girl I didn't know. I was STILL completely oblivious. Granted I couldn't figure out why Steffen was there, but I really still wasn't expecting what was coming. The lights flash on, and the room was filled with people, yelling "Surprise." Honestly, it took me about a minute to realize that they were saying, "Surprise" to me. Then, I looked around in awe, and saw all (or nearly all) my near and dear friends from San Antonio. It was really precious!
Then it all started coming together. Sarah didn't want me inside, so that she could get everything ready and decorated without me seeing. And, she wanted to go early, so that we wouldn't be there when people arrived. Chris kept getting texts from people trying to find Dave's house. Same with Dave. Chris explained to me, that he had kept my b-day low key to make that Saturday night more special. It was one of the best birthday presents I had ever received. I love people, and to be able to spend time with dear friends just hanging out and talking was so precious. Here are some pictures from that night:



Here's John enjoying his time at the restaurant. Eating the table and, yes he got a taste of some of the pasta!

The awesome cake my sis made me. Yummy chocolate!!!

Bryant showing some of his moves. Actually he was demonstrating how he could stand!!!! Hooray for Bryant!!!!

Enjoying some catching up time with Jo Addington

John enjoyed getting to stay up late playing with friends!



...And various other shots from the evening. I wish I had captured more, but I was kind of in shock most of the evening.
For more pictures from the weekend see: Valentine's Weekend

John's own room!

So, one other first that happened in the month of January, was John got his own room. We had him in our room, partially so that we wouldn't have to make a "nursery" at our old house, and partially b/c it was just easier. We had decided that we would put him in his own room when we moved to our new house. Well, it took us a while to actually move him in there, b/c we were missing one minor detail: a crib mattress!!! :o) Well, January 19th was the big day, er night! I didn't prepare myself for how hard it would be, not for him(he fell fast asleep, like he had been in his crib and his own room all along), but for me! I cried and cried off an on all night. I felt like he was all grown up, even though he was only 5 1/2 months! I think it was a realization of how but a breath life is. I ended up writing in my journal a letter to John about how I felt. Here are some excerpts from what I was feeling.

I had been encouraged even before you were born to treasure every moment, b/c before you know it they will be gone. I thought I had been doing that, but I realized on that evening, that I spent a lot of time just existing, and longing for you to get a "little" bit older so it wouldn't be so difficult (time consuming) to get things done. Putting you in your own room was very eye opening for me. I didn't want to go to bed, b/c I didn't want to see your empty cradle. All I could do was sit in the living room, looking down your hall and imagining you, tall, dark, and handsome, all grown up. I desire for you to grow up and be a man of God and accomplish great things in His kingdom, but I'm not excited about you having to grow up and not be my little boy, who needs me to hold him, & feed him, & nurture him. I guess the whole of what motherhood is, hit me tonight. I think I finally fully grasped all the love & tenderness & fear & hope & all the other emotions that come with being a mother. You are an amazing little guy, and I love watching your personality develop. You have become very social & smiling & "talking" to everyone, and our prayer is that you continue to be friendly and loving, that you would love making people smile & feel comfortable. As hard as all the changes are going to be, I can't wait to see you grow up. I'm so thankful I get to watch every minute of it.