wow

May was the last time I blogged?

hmmm

A lot has happened. We're still getting reacquainted to stateside spending... errr I mean living. It's been quite an adjustment.

The girls and I were able to visit family while Tony was in school.

We've been working on setting up our new house!

Carlee is now in ballet.

Delilah is almost 10 months old!!! (she keeps me way too busy!)

Tony is getting used to ship life again. He also bought himself a nice '99 Firebird that he's loving.

Tony and I are getting baptized this Sunday! (Hopefully I'll have more time to blog about that later.)

I'm officially taking the last class of my Associate's degree.

Hopefully, I'll be able to add pictures to the girls' blogs soon.

=)

ahem

i'm alive...
just haven't had time to update my blog.
if you're friends or family, look me or Tony up on Facebook.
Makes it so easy and quick to update everyone.
=)

8 days left in Sicily....

I don't know what to think yet.
There will be so many people and things that I will miss.
So many things that I won't.
I'm trying to be at peace with the fact that we didn't travel as much as I wanted to,
and yet appreciate that we did travel some... definitely more than some people ever get to.
Nervous about being back in a big city....
and yet excited for everything that is available with a big city.
Anxious.....
but trying not to be.
Nostalgic at what this duty station has brought me.
a true relationship with God.
my complete acceptance of who I am, what my role is, who I have become, how much I have grown.
Nostalgic at what this duty station has brought us.
we've grown into our own family, have formed our own ideas, have become our own persons.
Sicily put our relationship to the test, and our marriage was strengthened.
my baby grew up here.... she learned to walk, to self feed, to ride her tricycle, to fly a kite.
and now we have a new baby.
the pregnancy and her birth... are memories forever tied to this place.
such good friends were made.
beautiful, amazing women who have helped me so much,
more than many of them will ever know.
among a tumultuous cloud of emotions....
mostly, I am so grateful.

What do stay at home moms do all day?

A friend of mine emailed me this link:
Tell Me About It
Loved that.

A Quick Trip

A few weekends ago, it was a beautiful sunny day. Warm and springlike! I asked Tony if we could go take pictures of the girls in their Easter dresses that my grandparents sent. So, we did. We only drove a few minutes up the road from housing, but just being out of housing's sight and seeing the country side was nice. We ended up having a rocking chair in the trunk of the car because we had planned on taking it to a friend's house before leaving housing, and I insisted we use it in the pictures. =)





Tony didn't want to be in any pictures. =( It was so nice to be out of the house. I'm hoping I can convince Tony to go sightseeing somewhere... (anywhere!) within the next few weeks, before we leave.

NSFW Diapers

Last night, I made 4 "Not So Flat Wrap" diapers in about an hour and a half! That included all tracing, cutting the diapers, cutting the soakers, sewing the soakers in and sewing/topstitching the diapers. Not bad! I was so excited to use them today:

Spoiled:

Gir!!!
"I feel pretty."

Mighty Mouse:

The fourth one is red with the words "I'm here for the presents" written across the bottom. It was a shirt I wore at Christmas... takes on a whole new meaning as a diaper! LOL As you can see, I used some of my most favorite old t-shirts! So, not only did I get 4 FREE diapers, but I also uncluttered my t-shirt drawer! Bonus!

A friend of mine had made me one of these a while ago, but I hadn't been using it because I couldn't get it to fit Delilah right. Plus, my pins kept leaving holes! Well, after I figured out how much I had to fold them over since they're so stretchy, and after my friend told me I need to be using my snappi to close it.... Well, then I figured out that these are the most awesome things ever! They are so trim, fit really nicely under her Bummis Super Bright covers, and are soooo cute! and FREE! and SOOO completely easy to make! =D I will definitely be making more.

in His time

The other day while perusing our yard for interesting plants and bugs, Carlee noticed this plant covered in "spike-ies" and "pricklies". Intrigued by the budding weed, I snapped a few pictures holding Carlee's magnifying glass in front of it:It was very thorny, and I had no idea what it was, except an unwanted weed in the yard. The rest of it (stem and leaves and whatnot) was rather ugly, generally unpleasant to look at, rough and abrasive, definitely not welcoming and enjoyable.
Lo and behold, the next morning I peeked out the window and saw the scarlet flower had emerged. I didn't go outside to take a better look, but when a friend stopped by she mentioned it was a poppy. I hadn't even noticed. Later, I went and got a better look at the pretty little flower.
Out of something ugly and unwanted, emerged a refreshing and beautiful flower, all in His time. Not mine, not the flower's, but His. This little flower gives me hope about so many other things in my life. Reassurance that some things that might be "ugly," "thorny," or "unpleasant" right now, will emerge into something wonderful in His time. All I have to do is be patient and trust His timing.