Meet Remy Malone Ross

We bought Mikala an early birthday present today. Needless to say, all of us (except Nikko) are in love! Mikala spent hours lamenting over his name.


Nikko meets Remy. Starts out slow, but the end is hilarious!

Parade

Our Warriors at Home group walked in the Three Rivers Festival parade yesterday. We won first place in the "Non-Commercial" division! Whoo hoo! Anyways, it was great. The crowd was very supportive....lots of clapping, "thank you"s, and standing ovations. Here are some pics:)

Pics from Kuwait.

Operation Welcome Home

Look at what my dad taught Mikala

Rut

Don't know why, but I'm in one. Most of you know that I didn't sleep at all during the last deployment (and when I did, I was on the couch). I started out great this deployment, and hit a wall about 2 weeks ago. I take a medication that has a "causes drowsiness" side-effect, so I take that at bedtime and had been sleeping just fine. I think 1:30 is the earliest that I've gone to bed in 2 weeks and as late as 3am (like last night). I also haven't been working out and eating as healthy as I was this past couple of weeks. I don't know which of those are causes and which are effects. Is the lack of exercise and poor diet causing me not to sleep? Or lack of sleep making lazy? Anyways, I'm going to try to get myself straightened out. I've been impatient with the kids, have been in a fog, and haven't been productive because of the sleep deprivation.

Here's my "to do" list for the day.
Call about biz insurance.
Call Nowak about helium for 3 River's Parade balloons.
Finishing photo shopping a shoot (about an hour away from being finished).
Work on photo shopping last shoot for about an hour.
Organize stacks of paperwork in kitchen.
Return a phone call about a wedding, and 3 important emails.
Work on order forms for class reunion that I'm shooting in 2 weeks for board approval.
Balance the checkbook.
Pay bills.
Finish pricing garage sale items.
Order buttons/dog tags for army fams.
Laundry
Dishes
Sweep/mop
Go to post office,Target, bank, grocery
Order gaffers tape and a cable release online.

I have another list of things to finish in the next week, but these are today's items. I suppose since it's 11:00am, and I'm just now eating my Lucky Charms that I should get started. If only I had gone to sleep earlier.....okay, have to focus. I'm off to be productive.

Army families

I have a couple of friends that are going through extremely difficult situations right now. These situations are being compounded by the fact that their husbands are 7000 miles away.

Doing all of the housework/yardwork, managing the finances, being responsible for all the decision making, disciplining the kids, feeling all alone even when you are surrounded by friends and family, feeling sick when you miss a phone call or chance to IM, worrying about their wellbeing, seeing your children long for their daddy, and missing them yourself so much that it's hard to breathe is extremely difficult. But add a crisis to that situation, and it's enough to rattle anyone's foundation.

We are blessed to have each other to talk to, to cry with, and most of all to understand. We have bonded quickly, and will be lifelong friends. We joke that we'll be telling the same old deployment stories to each other when we are 90 years old! We are so proud of our soldiers, our children, and each other. But we need prayers. Please keep my friends in your prayers. Please keep all military families in your prayers.

Camping at Potato Creek

Guilt

I absolutely hate being the one making all of the decisions. I think it's making me less decisive. Every year, we go camping with mom and Tim, and the Brinkers. We LOVE camping. We bought a pop-up in 2005 and planned on getting many years of use out of it.

2 years ago we stepped out of our comfort zone (Pokagon) and went to Clifty Falls. About 36 hours after we got there, I came down with a terrible case of the stomach flu. I spent 3 days down, and then we left and came home. Last year we planned a trip to Turkey Run. 2 weeks before our trip, Robert's unit was put on alert. He was going to have to go to training the week of our trip. Ugh. What do I do? Robert's training was in town, so he'd be home in the evenings (if he were going to be out of town, it would have been a no-brainer). I decided to go anyways. The Sunday before we were scheduled to leave, my grandma had a pulmonary embolism and was flown from Ohio to Parkview. We spent the week at her bedside in the ICU and her funeral was the day we were to leave for Turkey Run. The Millers and Brinkers left for camping right after the funeral, but I decided not to go. The alert and week with grandma had drained me.

This year, we planned our camping trip to Potato Creek, leaving after church on Father's Day. When we popped up our camper to check it out, it had been taken over by some alien fungus that had eaten through the canvas. Tim took it in to check it out and the cost of the repair would be the same amount that we paid for the camper. So we would have to rent a camper for about 300 bucks for the week. And spend about 160 bucks on a site, and then gas, and food. And I would have to pack everything for the 4 of us, set up, tear down, clean out and return the camper. Probably taking up a good 12 days of my life. Unfortunately I can't spare the money or the 12 days right now. So I made the decision not to go. I am both relieved and sad that we will be missing out on another family tradition. But without Robert here to go with us, it just isn't the same. I'm holding out hope that we'll get to go to the Dunes this October.

One thing that I hate more than making decisions is constantly second-guessing myself. I have to remind myself that these aren't life-altering decisions. I'm not taking anyone off of life-support! It's so easy to get sucked into the guilt vortex. I'm going to hang on by my toenails if I have to and not let it suck me in!

Poor, honey.

I finally got to IM with Robert for a while yesterday. He said they've been working 15 hour days, and the sandstorms are relentless. It's been a week since we've talked on the phone, so I hope I can talk to him sometime soon. Usually around day 10 is when I start to go thru withdrawals. I told him to take some pics around the base so we can see where he eats, works, lives, etc. Please keep him in your prayers. They have a very high-profile mission , and right now tempers and nerves are being tested.

Mother nature is not nice.

Our power went out at 6pm on Monday, June 9th and still isn't on as of 3pm on June 10th. AEP said that we are on the bottom of electrical totem pole due to the small number of homes in our addition without power (there were 30,000 outages in FT Wayne out as of 10:00pm last night). I am SOOOOOOOOOOO behind on photoshopping. UGH! We are at mom and Tim's now (of course all my pics are on my PC at home). I might just go get it and bring it here so I can start getting caught up. I'm trying to be patient.....have I mentioned that I HATE waiting?

Healthy healthy healthy

Most of you know that I'm on a quest to get healthy. I have high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and two autoimmune diseases: Hashimoto's Thyroiditis and Pernicious Anemia. And this year the big FOUR O. So, I've been on a mission to turn my life around, get healthy, and look hot when my dear hubby comes home next year (wink wink). I exercise 5 days a week doing weights, circuit training, Tai Bo, The Firm's Absculpt, Cardio Sculpt, Body Sculpt, biking, hiking, etc. No pop (or caffeine) since March, smaller portions, lots of fresh fruits and veggies, no late night snacking, no drinking empty calories. Since New Year's day I've lost 31 pounds and hope to hit 40lbs by the end of the month. I would love to lose 10 more after that, then tone and sculpt from there;) I feel FANTASTIC! I have more energy, I've been sleeping better, I'm more patient with the kids....exercise is a great stress reliever. I don't crave sweets now. I haven't had ONE candy bar since March! I used to eat one everyday! But I haven't cut sugar out completely. If I really want something sweet, I let myself have it (which has only been about 5 times in 3 mos). But I don't mindlessly eat it anymore. The weight is getting harder to take off, but I'm up for the challenge. I just want to challenge all of you to live up to your physical potential! I've filled the void that I WAS filling with food with self-satisfaction. Exercising has helped me not to stress-eat. And I don't eat out of boredom anymore. I hope this motivates you to be the healthiest you that you can be:)

My hair.........

Most of you know that I turned 4o last week. So, I decided to celebrate by donating 13 inches of my hair to Locks of Love and coloring it for the first time in my life:) Here's the new me:



Shout out to Diane Shockney for taking the second pic:)

Happy Anniversary, honey!

Today is our 16th wedding anniversary. I got a phone call and flowers:) He got to go on an ammo blow today. I got to do laundry. Hardly seems fare, huh? lol. Anyways, here are the gorgeous flowers that I got. I'll post again in a couple of days with an update when they open:)

Bills....

...oh, I hate paying the bills. I hate balancing the checkbook, and I hate having to make the decisions as to what to spend the money on. Finances stressed me out more than anything the last deployment, and I'm determined to get on top of things this time and not let it overwhelm me. I can't believe how many medical bills we have. Brennan had 2 surgeries between Sept and Nov and I had mine in March. When seeing the bills my first instinct was to panic...but then I realized how thankful that I am to have insurance. The surgeries ranged from 17,000.00 - 24,000.00 each and we only pay 20% of each one. We are very blessed to have incomes, insurance, and great medical care in this country. So I'll pay my 20% and try not to complain anymore. We truly are blessed to live in this country.

Training photos-he sent no captions, so I made up my own:)

Rough week

I'm a bottler. That's just how I am. But I think I cried more this week than I have in a year. I'm not sure exactly why. Robert called me on Mother's Day for the first time since he arrived in theater, and I was SO glad to talk to him:) But a song on the radio later that day hit me. And then a Mash episode one day, and IM'ing with him trying to decide whether he should come home for 2 weeks of R&R this summer, or save that two weeks until he gets home. And I don't even know what caused the other episodes. I am a control freak, and I do NOT like being in control of my emotions. I know....it's not healthy to keep your feelings inside. But that's just how I am.

Last week Dan realized that the pipes in my tub were leaking, so my dear friend Wayne came and fixed that. Wednesday Mikala threw a sticky toy up and it stuck to the ceiling in our hallway, and she broke the light fixture trying to "unstick" it with a broom. And our hot water heater started leaking Friday and ruined the floor in our hallway. Wayne came and fixed the leak on Saturday. I spent an hour and a half talking to 7 people at our mortgage company Friday trying to straighten out our mortgage (they have a special program for military that lowers your interest rates on loans to 6%). It has caused them great confusion. I was told 5 different payment amounts and 2 different due dates depending on who I talked to. I received a letter saying that the new amount was in effect as of March 9th, but they said their system hasn't updated yet, and would reject that amount????? But that's a whole blog within itself. Okay, maybe the emotions this week were founded.

Updated New Orleans pics.

Insomnia

It's 1:35am. I needed to go to sleep 2 1/2 hours ago. We have church in the morning, and after this past loooooong week, you'd think I'd be able to sleep. But I'm wired. I think the excitement of seeing Robert, anxiety of traveling so far with the kids alone, stress of spending all this money for the trip, and dread of saying goodbye and dragging the kids away from him is starting to stress me out. I'm going to bed now, but I have a feeling that sleeping is a ways off.

4 Day Pass

Most of you know that we are leaving Tues April 22nd for New Orleans. The kids and I are getting on an Amtrak in Champaign, IL on the 22nd, and will arrive in New Orleans on the 23rd. Robert will be meeting up with us late that night. He has to leave in the eve on the 27th to head back to MS. We will get back on the train on the 28th and return to IL on the 29th to drive home (about 4 hours). We are so excited about seeing him for 4 days before he leaves. And we are thrilled to get to go to New Orleans! I am trying not to think about saying goodbye....again. Please keep us in your prayers.

This past week:

Grown men doing what they dream of as boys:

Brennan waiting for Mikala to try on sandals at Old Navy: Kylie and Grant chillaxin at the Starrs:
Mikala was playing Capture the Flag. She was "taken down by some big kid".
No broken bones, just a bad contusion on the cartilage and a sling for 2 more weeks.


The sling. Oh yeah, after getting her hair tangled in 2 seperate trees, Mikala talked me into letting her cut about 8 inches of it off.

March 9th, saying goodbye at the airport.