Vacation from a Vacation

It's been quite some time since I've written. I apologize for the late update. My husband successfully completed Phase 1, IFS, of training. After which we took a 10-day trip to visit family in Texas. We spent several days in Houston and a couple days in Austin. My biggest concern was keeping Mariah on her schedule. I didn't want to completely abandon what she's been used to for so long. I also hoped that she would continue to sleep through the night though we were in a completely new place. All my Babywise friends told me to expect her to get off schedule, enjoy the time with family, and worry about getting back on schedule when we return home. Did I listen? No! So, I packed up her bassinet, swaddle, portable bed, and everything else she is used to. My husband and I literally had 1 suitcase in our entire SUV. The rest was all her stuff! (should have taken a picture of that madness!) I honored her awake and feed times on the road, which turned an 8 hr trip into 11 hours. We didn't mind though. Once we'd arrived to grandma's house in Houston. We setup our room EXACTLY how she was accustomed to things are at home. She did pretty well actually. The first few nights she woke up at an odd hour. I gave her the pacifier and she went back down. After about 3 nights, she was back on routine. Her biggest struggle was napping during the day. Everyone wanted to see the baby! I think people that haven't had kids in a long time forget HOW LONG NEWBORNS SLEEP! I often heard folks mumble, "that baby is always sleeping!" Well, it's true she did nap quite a bit...but HEY that's what she is used to...that's what she likes. (Remember, daytime sleep begets night sleep.)

All in all the family enjoyed meeting her! She had a grand ole time and loved all the attention. My grandma, Mariah's great-grandma, would take her after her early morning feeding and just talk to her! Mariah loved loved loved it! She just eats up all the attention. She'd sit there and smile and listen and even try to talk back! She also was able to get some tummy time and watch her Your Baby Can Read video a bit.

She did quite well, I think. While we were in Houston, I surprised my husband with two tickets to the NCAA Final Four Championship. He and my uncle went and had a grand ole time. Though they did say the game itself left much to be desired. It was apparently a low scoring game that seemed to drag on forever. We also visited my FAVORITE church in Houston, Second Baptist Woodway Campus! I always make a point to attend there whenever in Houston. In fact, it was Mariah's first time at church! It was so special. :)

When the time came to travel to Austin, I wasn't sure she'd transition to traveling again! We were only planning on spending two nights in Austin so by the time she settled in, we'd be on the road AGAIN! She did okay. Her night time rest went well. But yet again, her day time naps were off. This led to interruptions in her nighttime sleep. It became quite challenging at times. But, we were glad to be able to visit family. One night in particular was hilariously fun! I visited with my aunt, cousins and high school/college bff. We all had a blast flipping through old photo albums. When I say old I mean, pictures of my aunt and my mom as kids. Pictures of my maternal grandparents, now deceased. I saw a few pics of myself that I'm more than embarrassed to show! Ha ha. Good times. Lots of laughter. I'm sure I burned at least 300 calories from laughing so hard!

We are back home now and things are back to normal. I've tweaked her schedule (below) just a bit to prepare for the next Babywise milestone: dropping her last feeding so that she transitions to 10-12 hours of continuous sleep. I've been getting back in the swing of things because after all that driving I needed a vacation from vacation!

12-wk Babywise Schedule

7:00 am FEED
8:00 - 10:00am NAP

10:00 am FEED
11:00am - 12:30pm NAP

12:30pm FEED
1:30 - 3:00pm NAP

3:00pm FEED
4:00 - 5:30pm NAP

5:30pm FEED
7:00 - 8:00pm NAP

BEDTIME - 8:00pm FEED and go directly to bed.

DREAMFEED - 10:30pm (will drop at 16 wks to yield 11 hrs of continuous sleep!) YAY

First Solo Flight Is On The Horizon

Just a quick note to say that my husbands first solo flight completely by himself is on Tuesday. Mariah and I are planning to go watch him and take pictures. We are so excited. Successful completion of his solo flight marks the end of Phase 1 of training. Then, we'll take a vacation to Houston for a week or so. He's slated to start Phase 2 mid-April. Wooohoo!

Babywise Update: How's It Going (Week 8)

Hey there folks. I want to be sure to update my blog as often as possible. I have so many things to share, mommiehood, being a military wife, and what's going on with Mariah. I'll also try to dedicate a few posts to Babywise, the parent directed feeding method Michael and I are using. Mariah has started her OWN blog to keep you all updated on what she's up to. Be sure to sign up to FOLLOW her blog.

Babywise weeks 7-9 is the time period all mommies secretly can't wait to get to. Why? Because that's when the middle of the night feeding should drop off. If following the Feed --> Wake --> Sleep routine on a 2 1/2 - 3 hr schedule prior to week 7, baby should sleep at least 7 to 8 hours through the night by week 9. I'm happy to say we've hit that mark! How did we get here? Now that's what makes this an entertaining post! It's been constant flexibility and persistence on our part. We've had to work very hard at feeding her on schedule, keeping her awake directly after eating, and putting her down for a nap after her wake time. Through these couple months, we've made several mistakes. We had some really good days right on schedule and some rough days. The key, however, to recovering from an "off-day" is to get back on schedule. This may take a couple of feedings, but aim to get back on your regular routine. Staying on routine not only trains your lactation and metabolism, but it also keeps baby's stomach in check! Baby's tummy begins to become hungry and expect food at your scheduled times. This allows baby to eat a FULL MEAL and not snack feed. This also ensures mom is secure in knowing what baby wants and needs throughout the day. If it's Noon and she eats at Noon, then she's crying because she's hungry. If it's 1 p.m. and she just ate, then you know she needs a nap. If it's in the middle of a nap after a full feeding, then you know it's a dirty diaper or trapped gas. (This isn't perfect by any means. There are times when you just can't figure it out.)

Weeks 5 -8 in particular have taught us several things. Here are our highlights-

Mistakes We Made

1) Calculating wake time:
I realized very recently that we'd been calculating waketime all wrong. For those not familiar with the Babywise method, waketime is the amount of time the baby is awake...between naps. I thought it meant the time AFTER a feeding. But, no! It is the time awake, including feedings. For example, on a 6a, 9a, 12p, 3p, 6p, 9p, 11p schedule. Wake time would be from 6am when the feeding starts, until the child goes to sleep. Wake time should be 40 to 70 minutes with babies between the age of 6-8 weeks according to Chronicles of Babywise Mom. I have found this time frame to work well for Mariah as well.

2) Feeding dropped, so pump less often:
When Mariah dropped her middle of the night feeding around 6 weeks, I stopped pumping in the middle of the night. My breasts assumed I did not need that milk and so they began to fill less. Now, I wake up in the middle of the night to check on her and I notice my breasts are not consistently firm. I realize now that I need to continue to pump throughout the day, perhaps an additional time so that my breasts still "think" I need that milk. I have noticed a decrease in my supply. Remember, breast milk typically works on supply and demand, so keep demanding and pray they keep supplying. Don't stop demanding.

3) Middle of the night cry isn't always hunger:
This was a huge "AHA!" moment for me last week. The first time Mariah slept through the night was around 6 weeks. She did it twice in a row. I was prepared for this to not be permanent since Babywise says it happens after week 7. However, I knew she was making progress in the right direction. Well, after night two of consistent sleep, she woke up during night 3. I heard the cry and immediately looked at the clock. It was 4 a.m. So strange. Oh well! I took her into my embrace and nursed her. She was out in 10 minutes. That was really odd! She never eats for such a short amount of time. Then I realized that was a snack! Oh no...not snack feedings. Hmmm. The next day I was baffled because yet again she fussed at 4 a.m. By day 3 of this, I began doing research to figure out what was going on. Then it hit me! I recall the Babywise book explaining that different cries warrant different responses. It dawned on me that I didn't stop to see if she needed anything else, I just offered food. That night she woke at 330am, I offered the pacifier and she went right back to sleep until 730am.

Lessons We Learned

*The importance of optimal nap time:
I had no idea what this was until a few days ago. Optimal nap time is the best time to put your little one down for a nap to get optimal (i.e. very little) pre-sleep fussiness. Putting them down at this time also discourages waking up early from naps. [ [ [What do I mean by waking up early? According to Babywise, a 5 - 8 week baby that is sleeping through the night should nap continuously for 1 1/2 to 2 hrs 5 to 6 times per day.] ] ] The key is to figuring out when your baby's optimal nap time is to look for sleep cues: yawning, red around the eyes, slight fussiness, loosing alertness. Optimal nap time will vary from child to child. It may even vary at different parts of the day. Mariah, for example is ready to go down in 40 minutes earlier in the day and 60 minutes later in the day.

Keep in mind you want to be ahead of the curve in figuring out that this time is coming so that you can PUT BABY DOWN AWAKE. That is key in teaching baby how to fall asleep on her own. The optimal time window also passes within about 15 minutes. I've noticed with Mariah that if I miss her optimal window, she'll lay down, obviously exhausted, and refuse to sleep. Instead she'll lay there and look around, sometimes until her next feeding!

*Handling the 45-minute intruder:
Babywise speaks of the elusive 45-minute intruder! What makes it so elusive is that it can easily be confused with a variety of other issues such as, decrease in milk supply, growth spurts, or overstimulation. The sign of the 45-minute intruder is when baby is sleeping on schedule fairly consistently then all of a sudden wakes 45 minutes early...in other words, 45 minutes before the next feed time. Babywise suggests treating this like a hunger issue before assuming it's a sleep issue. So, if baby wakes early, feed and adjust their schedule. If they do not take a full-feeding then you know its not a feeding issue and you can treat it like a sleep issue. A common suggestion if its a sleep issue is reducing the amount of wake time as it may be overstimulating your little one. Other suggestions can be found here. Mariah has hit her 45-minute intruder this week. Both yesterday and today have experienced this unwelcome visitor! It is definitely and odd situation. Parents that are schedulers, like myself, may find it really hard to deal with. You're accustomed to knowing exactly when your child will do what then all of a sudden something out of the norm happens and you're left scratching your head. The 45-minute intruder appears during weeks 7 or 8 and again around 4 months (or 16 weeks). Recognize it and tackle it. It should be gone in a couple days. Leave it untreated and it could affect milk supply and throw your routine out of whack for a long time. I'll be sure to let you know when ours disappears.

*Sleep begets sleep:
Babies need adequate rest during the day to sleep well at night. Counter to what seems would make sense, Babywise and non-Babywise researchers have found that babies that sleep well during the day are more likely to sleep through the night. Sleeping well is defined by getting the recommended 16-18 hrs per day (includes nighttime rest). Sleeping well also means that baby can comfortably transition from active to deep sleep and back again. Each phase lasts about 40-50 minutes. Mariah goes through about 1 cycle per nap: active --> deep --> active.

Well that was a boat load of information. My goal is to not only share my experiences with it, but also provide detailed information for any of you considering using the method. It takes a lot of encouragement in the beginning. I hope to provide that to those of you that are starting out on the Babywise path. :)

Toodles!

More Babywise info can be found here.

Pilot Training is Underway...

Everything we've been hoping to get started on is finally coming to fruition. Michael has jumped into pilot training and he's loving every minute of it. He says, "I can't believe I get paid to do this," at least 3 times a day! With all this fun comes lots of hard work. My husband literally spends hours and hours studying, pretend flying, and quizzing himself. I recall one Saturday, he was closed in his study room for 11 hours straight. I think I heard a toilet flush ONCE! His hard work has paid off thus far. He earned an 'A' average in the first phase of academic tests. Just to recap his training schedule timeline, here goes. Keep in mind, nothing in the military is 100% set in stone, so these timelines could change! "SIGH"

Phase 1: IFS
Runs: 2-3 weeks
Where: Pensacola, FL
What it consists of: 2 weeks of academic tests, followed by 13.5 hours of flight instruction in the actual aircraft. To date, Michael has completed just over 7 hours of the required 13.5.

Phase 2: API
Runs: 6-8 weeks
Where: Pensacola, FL
What it consists of: Academic classes.

Phase 3: Primary
Runs: 6-8 months
Where: Pensacola, FL (some do it in Corpus Christi, Tx)
What it consists of: A variety of academic classes and in-flight instruction.

***You find out which type of aircraft you will fly after your final flight in this phase. It's a pretty big day! You are asked to rank your preferences. Command ranks you against your peers and gives you a decision. The majority of Marine Corps pilot get helicopters, simply because there are more to go around. Jets, C130, and Osprey slots are harder to come by because there are fewer slots to give.

Phase 4: Advanced
Runs: Between 6 - 15 months depending on type of aircraft
Where: Depends of which type of aircraft you select.
*Jets (Meridian, MS or Kingsville, Tx)
*Helicopter (Pensacola, FL)
*Ospreys (Corpus Christi, Tx)
*C130s (Corpus Christi, Tx)
What it consists of: A variety of academic classes and in-flight instruction.

We actually got to watch him take off and land the other day. Mariah and I drove out to the airfield where he is flying and watched for a few hours from inside the air conditioned car. :) More updates on flight school to come...

1 Month Down...A Lifetime To Go

Where has the time gone? Month 1 flew by! It seemed like each day, Mariah learned how to do something new! One thing is for sure, with every passing day, Michael and I are falling more and more in love with our little Munchie.
Daddy is absolutely smitten at the slightest smile or coo! I spend hours just staring at her smiling...and occasionally crying. It's such an humbling experience to watch your infant grow, learn, and change. They rely on you so heavily to take care of them. They have no fear, just certainty that Mommie and Daddy will take care of everything. I can't stop saying thank you enough. Every time she smiles, or grunts I'm grateful. Every day I wake, I'm grateful to have another day to serve my child with unconditional love. Ahhhh! It's the coolest job in the world!

This month we had THREE major milestones: 1) Mariah took her first bath and boy was it scary! For starters, I was terrified she'd drown in the tablespoon of water I bathed her in! I just KNEW it was too cold and she'd get hypothermia within 60 seconds of being wet. As the bath commenced, I was certain she'd slip out of my hands because she was so squirmy and wet. All around, I think she was very confused as well. She kept staring at me as if to say "Why are you doing this to me? I'm not enjoying it and neither are you! Why don't we just stop?!" Daddy caught this expression on camera...priceless.

2) Mariah's eyes followed the pages of her book as I read to her. I try to read to her at least twice a day. We are reading the same book over and over again right now to provide repetition. Usually she'd just gaze aimlessly or stare into my face as I read. Well around week 4, she actually focused her attention on the book's pages and as I turned the pages, she turned her head. I was super excited! Sounds so incredibly small, but things like this are HUGE for a new Mommie!

3) Mommie and daughter spent the afternoon out together! This was more of a milestone for me I guess. But, every mom is terrified, I'd assume, driving their little one around alone for the first time. I wanted to visit one of my dear friends who also has a newborn. So, Mariah and I got dressed in adorable outfits. I did my hair and put on a light touch of make up...and we hopped in the car all by ourselves to visit our friend. It was a huge moment in my Mommie experience. I was super nervous about her back there all by herself. At every stop light, I put the car in park, reclined my seat, and leaned back there to see if she was okay. Of course, she was! I was just ... ya know... a paranoid new mom! When we got to our friends house, Mariah did a wonderful job eating, playing, and napping right on schedule without any prompting from Mommie! It was super duper fun!

Month 1 has been a wonderful blessing. The time has flown by. In other news this month, I completed my spring semester course and should be graduating with a Masters in Educational Leadership and Human Development from George Washington University in May! I look forward to making the trip back to D.C. to spend some time with friends and graduate!! I was also waiting, ever so patiently, to hear back on my Ed.D. application and the news came in. :) I was accepted! WOW! Uhm, not sure what's next. Do I go? Do I defer my acceptance for a year? Can I do "stay-at-home-mom" and "Doctorate student"???? I don't know! I'm praying about whether or not this is the path God wants me to take. I have two weeks to accept, reject, or defer my acceptance. We shall see!

One last note, my dear friend Gail is the mother of a 3-year-old. When her son turned 1, she had a birthday party in her home and decorated the house with pictures of her child from each month of his life. I STOLE that idea!!! Check out Mariah's one month pictures. As always credit to Modern Joy Photography for capturing our life's priceless moments. [Side note: MJ Photography will be in Houston and Austin on June 10-13, 2011 if anyone is interested in booking. Packages start at $250. Email jessica@modernjoyphoto.com for booking info.]

Life has new meaning...

The alarm clock doesn't sound the same. Time doesn't move the same. Days don't pass the same. Life, as I know it, has changed. The sound of my alarm clock used to annoy me terribly because it meant it was time to leave dreamland and go on to the busy tasks of work and school. I'm not saying these things weren't exciting, but they are literally a drop in the bucket (a MASSIVE sized bucket) compared to the joy of hearing an alarm that reminds you it's time to wake up and feed your child. Nursing her is surreal. I get so excited to pull her into my cradled arms and stare deep into her brown eyes. She stares back and for a moment time seems to freeze. She stares with such curiosity. She looks and listens and she realizes after several moments that she recognizes my face and voice. She settles into my embrace and begins to feed. Aside from the mesmerizing affect of nurturing my child, I've found that time just flies past us. I go to sleep at night literally grinning ear to ear in anticipation of spending time with her again in a few hours. She's my joy. She's my heart. She's my life.

So how's it going you wonder??? What's it like you ask???

We've settled in to a routine that seems to be working so far. She eats on a fairly consistent schedule as part of the Babywise method (parent-directed feeding). The goal behind this method is to promote full-nights rest for mommy and baby within 2 months. So, our feeding times are: 6a, 9a, 11:30a, 2p, 5p, 8p, 11p, and once in the middle of the night whenever she naturally wakes up.

We also use a wonderful swaddle blanket that she loves. The Miracle Swaddle keeps her so incredibly comfortable. There was a night or two when she didn't have it because she'd soiled it earlier that day and I definitely noticed a difference in the quality of her sleep. Daddy and I are firm believers in the swaddle. It works wonders!

Beyond scheduled feedings and swaddling, we are also using cloth diapers (FuzziBunz). This has been very pleasant. The first thing my friends ask me about motherhood is "how's the diapering going?" It's done very well. I do wash diapers each night before bed and I assemble them in the morning when I get up for the day. It has proven to be a great investment thus far!

I'm also trying to settle into a routine for myself. Mommy needs sleep, meals and quiet time or I can't do my mommy job very well. I give her 3 breast milk bottles per day to help me strike a balance. I like the idea of measuring her milk a few times per day so that I know she's getting enough. The 3 bottle feeding times are the late night/early morning (11p, middle of the night, and 6a). This way daddy and I can alternate nights, allowing each of us to sleep a decent number of hours...every other night. I also find that Mariah sleeps very well on a bottle before bed. During the day, I nurse her and squeeze in time to pump out those 3 bottles.

Motherhood is definitely a full-time job. The first few weeks of motherhood require every ounce of my attention and energy. I eat for her. I sleep for her. I drink tons of water for her. I take my vitamins for her. It's literally all about her for several weeks as she's adjusting to life outside the womb. The greatest part about your infant needing you so much is that God gives you a heart for nurturing our children. I get joy from every task I do for her. I cannot explain how fulfilling this experience has been so far. I feel truly blessed to have this opportunity.

Mariah Gabrielle McGehee...7 days old

PHOTOS by MODERN JOY

Our Hearts Are So Full

This blog could be pages and pages long about just how joyful and fulfilled my heart is. Though as I think through words to describe the overwhelming feelings I have right now, there are none that are sufficient. I don't think the English language does a good job at describing love. The Greek language, for example, has so many words that more specifically delve into the varying depths of the love emotion. But, since I'm not fluent in Greek, I'm going to use the English word LOVE here to describe something I've truly never felt before.

At 1:56 a.m. an angel came into this world. She proceeded to wail for several seconds until she was laid on the cleaning station. As several nurses and attendants worked on cleaning her up and checking her out, she quieted. Not a sound. She extended her arms and stretched her toes for the first time in life. Her right hand bumped something...hmmm...what's that? It was dads finger. She grabbed on and squeezed really tight as if to say "I'm so happy to finally meet you Pappa." Though my view was limited as I was being "attended to" myself, these moments were captured by my dear photographer Joy, so I was able to relive them moment by moment and see what I was so sadly missing out on as I laid on the hospital bed being stitched up. (OWWW! No one talks about THAT part of labor!) When Michael felt 5 tiny fingers wrap around his index finger, the camera snapped. Captured. A priceless moment between father and daughter. The picture speaks so much of the LOVE he felt at that very moment. His heart, so evidently full. Full to the brim with a joy that words truly cannot describe. Full of a joy that speechless tears can only portray.

Then she came to me, bundled tightly, eyes tightly closed...still so peaceful and quiet. She laid on my chest. I stared down into her face and felt every muscle in my body relax. I felt time freeze for just a moment. I heard God whisper to me, "this is your blessing." My heart filled to the brim with literal unspeakable joy. A joy that takes words away. A joy that seems surreal. A joy that's only felt when God so clearly hands you a blessing, that it takes your breath away.

Our hearts are so full...

Mariah Gabrielle McGehee
January 26, 2011
1:56 a.m.
7 lbs
20 inches

The Time Is Near

Boy oh boy am I slowing down these days. On Monday, January 10, I'll be 36 weeks! The time has flown by and I'm sort of sad to see it going. I realize my heart will be so full of joy once Mariah arrives, but I do think the bonding we are doing now while she's inside of me will be missed. Pregnancy, despite its more challenging moments, is such an incredible blessing. I feel incredibly humbled that God would bless my womb with one of His precious creations.

We've settled in Florida and things are finally well-organized. There are a few odds and ends such as curtains that still need to be done. Mariah's bag is packed for the hospital and we are working on our bag this weekend. Her nursery is absolutely beautiful! I wanted it to feel contemporary with an antique touch. Our crib and dresser are antique white, the changing table and lamp are also antique white. Her crib sheet is a beautiful rich creme 600-thread count Egyptian cotton. It's softer than our sheets! Ha Ha. The pink in the room is a muted shade much like the pink we used in our wedding. The bed skirt, bumper, and curtains are all being made in pink Duponi Textured silk. (The inside of the bumper will be a more "throw-up" friendly fabric.) White sheers will soften the light coming into her window between her curtains. That's about it! My textiles aren't done being made just yet so they haven't come in. When they do I will certainly post nursery pictures!

We are working on our Babywise schedule as well so that we can aim high! I've heard wonderful things about Babywise from a few different moms. I've even heard great things about it from non-Babywise moms. What is Babywise? Babywise is a feeding/sleeping philosophy for infants that promotes parent directing feedings or in other words full-feedings and long nights rests at an early age. It doesn't work for every child or parent because it can be incredibly tedious to deal with at such a delicate time in life. However, we are going to aim for success with Babywise which as we understand should have her sleeping 7 1/2 to 8 hours by week 7 and 10 1/2 to 11 hours by 4 months. Doesn't that sound dreamy??? I'm sure as I journey down this path I'll blog more about it. If any of this sounds interesting to you, feel free to do research on Babywise to see if it's right for you. Here are a few links:

Objective book review
Where to buy
Review of the book

We also spent a few hours taking maternity photos with our favorite photographer, Joy Watson of Modern Joy Photo. She showed me some sneak peeks and gave me permission to share them with you all via my blog, so here are a few pics...enjoy!

Let the Baby Nesting begin!

We've got the unpacking bug! Along with unpacking comes the need to NEST. We have officially started the baby room. The dresser itself is quite the task. My husband opened the manual to find over 100 steps of instructions! He began separating the screws and realized this was a multiple day job. The dresser is just the beginning. Michael's dad is quite the furniture maker and he's designing a bookshelf/storage system to match our dresser and crib. We even have a gallon of the perfect shade of pink for an accent wall in her room. I'm not sure that we've formally announced the name, so please let me do that now... Mariah Gabrielle McGehee. Check out Michael working hard for his babygirl Mariah.

I have started washing everything. I'm on the very last load. Blankets clean, onesies clean, outfits clean, diapers...yes CLOTH diapers... clean! The amount of stuff a baby can have before she's even here is overwhelming! My bestie Marquet used vacuum seal bags to store all her cloth diapers and clothes. When it came time to open this gigantic bag, I commissioned my dear friend Audra to help me unload everything (picture below).


With all this baby nesting Christmas has sort of slipped to the side. We decided a tree was simply too much work at this point. So instead we hung our living room curtains which are coincidentally green and set our stacks of presents in front! Having my husband home during this holiday time has been nice and cozy. All these gifts are actually for other people. A few are for Michael and I but honestly, just having each other this Christmas is truly all I really want. (Who knows how many holidays the Marine Corps will take Daddy away from Mariah and I.) So we cherish just having this Christmas together. On that note, I should mention that if your gift is sitting among these, please know that it will be tardy!

Florida is a change of pace!

Such a perfect play on words! We are living in the Pensacola area. (Area being the key word in that sentence.) Our specific town is called Pace, FL and it sits 20 miles between the two work locations my husband will have during our stay here. He'll begin working at the Pensacola base and then switch to the Whiting-Field base during his flight training. Instead of moving, we opted to just live right in between. So Pace, Florida is our new home. (Don't worry change of address cards coming in the near future!)

The only similarities between Pace, FL and Alexandria, VA is that they are both located in the US. Pace is your typical country town. I began to realize just how small and quaint it was when I called to setup our water utility. I called, expected to hear a dial-in automated system with selections to choose from. Option 1 for new service, option 2 for billing questions, et cetera. I was quite surprised to hear two short rings and an elderly lady answer the phone, "Pace Water" in the countriest accent I've heard since living in Texas! I told her I needed to setup new service and she said, "come on in and see me." What? I was shocked. No website. No mail in orders. Simply, come in person with an ID and a check book. WOW!

(Should I also mention that on my way home from the water company, we had to come to a stop on one of the neighborhood roads to allow the turkeys to pass?!?!?!?)

As we drove around our neighborhood to get acquainted, I began to realize how much I liked the change of pace. When you wake in the morning, you don't hear cars, just birds chirping in the trees. When you step outside late at night, you don't see tall buildings around you...you see the stars. It's incredibly peaceful and a nice change of speed from the DC metro area. What I miss most about Alexandria are my friends. There isn't a day that has passed, thus far, that I haven't had the urge to hop in the car and drive to see Marian for some homemade muffins. Every 5 minutes I think of a reason to pop by Marquet's house, only to realize it's no longer just 5 minutes away. When the first Sunday passed that I knew hearing my dear friend Kati singing my favorite hymns on stage during worship was not an option, I began to tear.

The more time I spend here in Pace, I realize I am very grateful to have the opportunity to follow my husband on this journey. It's not every family that gets to explore different parts of the world every few years. Though it's a sacrifice, it's also a huge blessing. Moving away from VA has also shown me how very intentionally God planted me in Alexandria, VA amongst spiritually mature and God-invested girlfriends to grow. Mid-growth, He has now moved us to sew seeds in other parts of the country with other folks we meet. I look forward to getting knee-deep in my community here and continuing to harvest the goodness from my Virginia girlfriends.

Boxes, paper, and bubble wrap...oh my!

Let's flash back a few weeks with this very overdue post:

The official word has been given...on December 17 Michael and I must be in Florida! December 10 will be Michael's last day of work in Virginia! Let the packing frenzy begin! With only 10 days notice to get packed up and moved, we have lots to do. Finding boxes wasn't too hard. People are always trying to rid themselves of those after a move. The tricky part was going to be figuring out how to physically pack the house up while my dear husband was at work. Here's our tentative schedule:

**Thurs, Dec 2: received official word. we're moving!
**Mon, Dec 6 - Fri, Dec 10: Michael's last week of work.
**Fri, Dec 10: Goodbye Game Night to say good bye to our friends and family.
**Sat, Dec 11: Loading up the big truck with all our packed belongings.
**Sun, Dec 12: Michael drives all our belongings away pulling along his car on a trailer.
**Mon, Dec 13 - Tues, Dec 14: Spend the last few days in Virginia at a friends house.
**Tues, Dec 14: Michael flies back to Virginia, hops in my car, and we hit the road.

WHEW!!!

So how'd it go you ask??? My dear Virginia friends came by during my packing week to help out as long as they could. My bestie Marquet came over literally every single day with her 1 year old son. We set him loose amidst the boxes and packing paper, which he and the animals seemed to enjoy. She climbed counters, pulled pictures down from the wall, and decorations from high shelves. In short...she packed the majority of my house! With boxes full, lining the walls, I began to feel more and more prepared for the move. There was no way we could have all work and no play! So each day we sat down and crafted a bit in the middle of all the chaos. It was a bunch of work but also lots of fun.

Once packing ended, the truck-loading day came and that was super exhausting. I obviously didn't move anything. But, I was...in my husbands words... in charge of the sending boxes down in an orderly fashion. So I orchestrated what should go. I color coded boxes according to room so I knew what was what. In less than 3 hours our condo was empty! We then gathered at Japanese Steakhouse for some good ole hibachi-style cooking. My dear husband and I spent the next day cleaning the condo until it was spotless! Then, we headed to our friends home for dinner, a nap, and for my husband.... a long road trip! He hit the road at 3 a.m. with our friend Tim and drove the 941 miles non-stop from Alexandria to Pensacola. They spent the night in PCola at our dear friends, the Poynters and hopped on 6 a.m. flights back to Virginia.

I picked up my exhausted husband from the airport and in a short few hours, we were on the road to PCola...for good. The drive was long. The weather was brutally cold. 20 degrees! All the potty stops made the trip much longer than we'd hoped. But eventually we made it, safe and sound to our new home in Florida. We showed up around 5 p.m. Within minutes, the Poynters had arranged for their church friends to meet us at our house and unload our truck. Within less than an hour, the truck was empty!

And we've been calling this place home every since...

Turkey Celebration Madness

Folks it's been quite the three weeks! Thanksgiving started everything and from there time has just been flying by! Thanksgiving was quite fun and more intimate than we'd expected. Originally, we were hosting and 2 of our good friends were coming to share the holiday with us. We split the cooking so that it was less work on both of us. On my cooking list I had a turkey pinwheel lined and stuffed with Grandma's stuffing and Grandma's peach cobbler. Simple enough, 3 things! My dear friend was planning to bring green beans, sweet potato casserole and an especially secret Oreo pie recipe made by her husband. After all the grocery shopping, cleaning, and cooking we were finally ready and boy were we tired. Our dear friends little baby girl, Addy, fell ill and so we mutually decided to celebrate in our own homes to prevent the spread of sickness. BUTTTTTT, we'd all ready split the menu so we met up on the day of and swapped hefty portions of each dish we'd made. Then, we both went home and enjoyed our dinners. Things were absolutely YUMMY! We were sad we couldn't entertain our friends, particularly since we are moving from this area very soon. But, having a quiet Thanksgiving to ourselves proved to be very nice and intimate. After all, who knows how many holidays in the future he'll spend with the Marines and NOT with me. Sooooo it was very special indeed! Plus, baby girl was there too and BOY did she love the food! She kept telling Mommie to eat again and again and again.

After Thanksgiving I conked out. I seriously refused to move for at least 48 hours afterwards. Lets not talk about what the kitchen looked like on Friday and Saturday! As usual, I hadn't realized just how much work it was and just how tired I was. Not to mention I'm in that pregnancy phase where sleep is a luxury. Sometimes you get and many times you don't. Folks...many ... most... practically consistently...I do NOT get a good nights rest. But, that's ok! No complaints here. It'll all be worth it in a few several weeks.

December 1 rolled around and it was one of those days that seemed to go by too quickly. I had this lofty idea that I'd make my husband his favorite meal for our anniversary and then we'd swap gifts and enjoy a quiet evening together. My entire schedule was thrown out of whack when I realized I could not sleep the night of Nov.30. I tossed and turned and slept for a whopping TWO hours from 1-3a.m. Around 7 a.m. I finally fell asleep and let my body rest as long as possible. When I got up, I rushed out the door to the store to get the ingredients for Grandma's homemade lasagna. The store trip was quite trying. It was just one of those days. I felt rushed and unprepared. I was tired and hungry...and SLEEPY! Lest we not forget I'm pregnant so I walk slow and I don't bend down very much. The trip was 30 minutes of really pushing myself to not just run (well walk quickly) out the store crying! Instead I pushed through and hurried home. I got home, so satisfied with what I'd accomplished thus far - a trip to the store! Quite the feat for my energy level at that moment!!! I began unwrapping my groceries to begin cooking only to realize I'd FORGOTTEN THE MAIN INGREDIENT IN THE LASAGNA - Ricotta cheese. This is when I broke down. Tears, frustration, the desire to kick rocks...all these emotions flooded my mind. As I cried I realized he'd be home in just 2 hours. So, I put a different dinner on the stove. Oh well, I thought...he'll be disappointed but he'll understand. I felt sooooo sad. My new dinner option was cooking but I wasn't satisfied so I decided to reach out to friends. I made calls explaining my sob story to my dear friends emphasizing that a big fat NO CAN DO is totally appropriate for what I was asking. Lo and behold, one of my dear friends popped into the store, grabbed my cheese and brought it over JUST in time for me to throw the best dang lasagna I've ever made together and put it in the oven before hubby got home! Oh how I'm going to miss my girlfriends when we move. Dinner with husband was wonderful. The gifts and food was the cherry on top. Along with his gift was a card, that he evidently spent a long time picking out. By line 2, I was in tears (again that day!). It's sitting by my bed now. I absolutely love it. He really liked his anniversary gift as well. I got him a pretty snazzy pilot's watch that measures all these things I don't understand from in the air while you're flying a plane! Very fitting, I thought. To top it all off, I slept like a baby that night!

The next day proved to be much much much less frustrating. It was his birthday and with his favorite meal left overs in the fridge, I felt very prepared. My husband isn't big on birthdays. He didn't even want to tell anyone at his work! My lips were sealed. But for a split second it did cross my mind to send a singing telegram to his office. Can you imagine?! My husband had been begging me to open the gifts my grandmother got him since Thanksgiving! I'd stuck to my firm NO sir. Finally though I knew he'd be thrilled to find out what she bought him. After all gifts were open, dinner was had, and he'd come to terms with being 26 years old...another great surprise popped up that made his day! His dad happen to be in the area and wanted to get together and hang out. This was the perfect end to his birthday. I know he misses his parents terribly and the fact that his dad was doing business about 45 minutes away on his birthday was the cat's pajamas! After hubby left to see his dad and hang out for a bit, my best friend and I went maternity shopping. After 4 hours of shopping, I ended up with a few cute things that fit my new body properly and back home in bed with a cute Marine.

Whew...up next...moving!