Motherhood Is...{37}

I'm blessed by motivation.

I made a goal for 2013 to run 365 miles this year. I made my goal months before the end of the year, and I couldn't be more proud of myself. There are days that I don't want to get out and do it, but I do. There are days that are so hot, but I get out there. The kids see me do it {they did about 300 of those miles with me, if not more!} and they know how important it is to me. My miles keep me healthy and they keep me sane. I'm proud to have reached my goal, and I strive to keep it up. I'm hoping to make it to another 100 miles before the year is over!

My kids, my family, my health all motivate me. In the end, I'm a better mother and wife when I know I'm helping myself to stay healthy!

Motherhood Is...{36}

This week I'm blessed by cuddles.

I expected nothing less of Hunter. He's always been my cuddler. But look at that picture! BOTH of my kids wanted to cuddle with me in the same night! And believe it or not, it wasn't all at once, so there were no fights about it. Can it get any better?

I was talking to a fellow deployment spouse about the importance of physical touch while your spouse is away. She's 9 months pregnant {being induced as we speak actually!} and she's sad that it isn't easy to cuddle with her girls. Right now, our children are our only version of physical touch that we have. There are spouses out there - our husbands included - who don't have the reassurance of this kind of love while they're going through deployment. Some wives don't have children. Our husbands are more than likely not overseas cuddling together. They don't get this kind of affection. I get hugs every day. I get kisses every day. My kids love on me, want to be held, want to have their owies kissed. I get some sort of physical interaction from another human being each and every day.

Before Lane and I got married we were told to read the book on the 5 love languages. We were told that if we could read and understand each other's main languages that it would help us through our marriage. Of course we both speak different languages {because life would be too simple if we spoke the same languages!} so I've had to try to learn his so I could love him in a way that speaks the loudest volumes to him. His top language is physical touch - and it goes beyond the intimate/in the bedroom kind of touch. It goes to the cuddling, the back scratching, the hand-holding, the small touches that you don't realize are happening sometimes. Can you imagine this as your first love language and you're not able to receive it? How crappy. It isn't even my number 1 {or 2 or 3} language, and I cherish the cuddles that I've gotten since Lane has been away!

So this week I'm blessed by being able to have cuddles by my kids. The cuddles make missing Daddy a little bit more bearable for all of us!

Is It Over?!

Forgive me if I've already voiced this emotion of deployment, but it's one that I'm most surprised by. I'm not even sure if there's a name for it other than tired/exhausted/drained. I knew that I'd miss Lane - that was a given. But after the missing him part of this and creating a new norm for us at home as a family of 3, I started to feel something different. Don't get me wrong...I always miss him and wonder when he's going to be able to call, and my heart still skips a beat when my phone rings {not to mention the kids run screaming towards me with the phone yelling "Daaaaaaaaady!"} but I'm just tired. Someone said it best the other day when they said that they were counting down the days until they could get a break from the Marine Corps - away from when is he coming home, away from who's husband is here and who's is gone and for how long {because that's how the C-130 squadrons work, they're all gone at different times, doing different things}. Lucky for me, my break starts in a little over a week from now.

But, back to my unknown emotion of exhaustion. I knew I'd be on my own. I knew that the house, yard, and general work would be up to me. I knew that ultimately I'd be in charge of making sure the bills got paid. I would be in charge of broken things. I'd be in charge of doctors appointments for me and the kids {this isn't new, but can often be the straw that breaks the camel's back at the end of the day.} I'm in charge of the yard. I'm in charge of the food. I'm in charge of the grocery shopping. I'm in charge of the outings. I'm in charge of the heavy lifting. I'm in charge of the hugs and kisses. I'm in charge of so. much. more! Sometimes I have to remind myself to breathe!

Tonight I was out cutting the grass. My parents called because they were in the car. I sounded tired when I answered - because I was cutting the grass! Oh, and because I was awake at 1:30 cleaning up Nugget poop in my bathroom. Oh, and then I was awake at 5:30 because Eden had a fever of 102.2 and she needed Tylenol. Oh yeah, then when both kids were awake they needed my 110% attention all day. So yes, I was tired. When I answered, my dad asked, "Hey! Are you taking a nap?" Haha, very funny Dad! Nope, not napping {though I occasionally do - ok, I probably do more than I should!} just cutting the grass that hasn't been cut all month. I had to cut the back yard twice because it was so tall. Hunter was almost lost because the grass was so tall!

I am just so tired of doing it all. I know that it had to cross my mind when Lane left that doing it all was part of the deal, but I'm not sure I realized what doing it all actually was. I guess, what I really didn't realize was the help that I got from Lane when I thought he was doing "nothing." I mean, it's football season. The season that I get most of my laundry help ever! The unspoken deal in our house is that if he's going to sit on the couch all day Saturday AND Sunday, he's going to fold laundry. I'll wash it all week long, he folds it on the weekends. It's just what works for us. My laundry right now is overflowing. I don't want to wash it because I know I have to fold it. The laundry that is washed and folded? Yeah, it's still in a basket in my bedroom...waiting to be put away.

I'm just tired of doing it all. I only thought I did it all before. Boy was I wrong! Can deployment be over now? I promise I won't complain about Lane doing "nothing" anymore {or at least for a little while after he gets home...}

Murphy's Back

Warning...the pictures that I'm going to put at the bottom of this are gross.

Poor Ginger had a rough day! The morning started after a long night for me. Getting the kids to bed was no easy task. Luckily Lane was awake half way across the world so he could watch football, so he tried to talk some sense into Eden amidst her crazy, insane, terrible attitude when she "wasn't tired." It didn't work - but he tried. Anyways, after the kids went to bed, both dogs decided it would be a good time to vomit in the middle of the night. At different times - of course! And then Hunter woke up at 7...

This morning I let the dogs out in the back yard for about an hour so they could do their business and be outside before it got too hot out. When I went to bring the dogs inside, only Nugget was in the back yard. The back yard gate was left open after the sprinkler guy came to fix them yesterday. I knew right then that something was wrong...Nugget is our runner, not Ginger! Nugget came inside and I immediately went to the front yard and started calling for Ginger. No luck. I called the humane society. No luck. I called again in an hour. Still, no luck. No luck the hour after that, or the hour after that. I drove around for an hour. No luck. {I actually drove 60-70 miles within a 5-10 mile radius today} We went for a walk and posted pictures, and then I drove back over to the humane society with a picture of Ginger...no luck!

I had no luck until I started my drive home. The humane society called and said someone spotted a dog and they told me where it was. I didn't see the dog, but on my way home I got a phone call. Someone had Ginger. She had been hiding in a friend's garage. They assured me that she was going to be ok, but she needed to see a vet. I figured it was from being out in the 100+ degree weather or something similar. Nothing could have prepared me to hear, "she's got a gash on her head and I think she needs surgery." They told me she had eaten and had some water since the gash, but it didn't sink in that that was a good thing. I only heard, "blah blah blah, surgery because of a gash." I knew that I didn't want to meet a stranger at my home, so I agreed to meet her at the humane society - less than 5 miles away - because they had vets on sight. When I got to the parking lot "D" {as I'll call her} was getting out of the car with Ginger in hand.

This is what I saw: ***This is a yucky picture, beware!***

I almost collapsed when I saw her. I was shocked. I heard gash, but didn't realize you'd be able to see her skull! The humane society couldn't treat her because their rescue guys didn't bring her in and she was no longer a stray because I was there. She was alert and wagged her tail when she saw me, so I knew she was probably going to be ok. I still cried for her because she was alone all day and she was so hurt. D was willing to drive Ginger to the vet and wait with her until I could get there. I needed to possibly pick up my kids and take Angie home {poor Angie, I left her alone with 4 kids - 9 months pregnant - for "5 minutes" so I could run to the humane society and see if they had Ginger. 3 or 4 hours later...} Angie told me things were good, hugged me and off I went to meet D and her 2 kids with Ginger in hand at the vet. By the time I got there the vet had already done her exam and we knew that Ginger was healthy, just hurt. Good news/bad news kind of thing. But the bad news was already known - there was nothing new once I got there. The vet can't be sure, but she thinks someone struck Ginger with a "blunt object" to cause her wound. She has no other injuries, no road rash, nothing, so it's the easiest explanation without knowing for sure.

After some happy drugs, a few stitches {more like 20-ish}, a drain, and some meds, Ginger was free to come home!

She's confined to the house for 2 days and can only go outside on a leash {out and right back in, no walks} and has to be in a space no larger than a bedroom if she's home by herself. Tomorrow morning she'll be able to eat and drink water again and next week we'll go back and have her drain removed. Two weeks from today she'll get her stitches out. After that she should be as good as new!

So...Mr. Murphy...could you please take your law somewhere else! I think we've had enough fun with you and your spontaneous visits. I'm ready to coast through the rest of deployment without anymore visits.

Snip Snip

Check. It. Out! I did it! I've always thought of people who could donate their hair to Locks of Love had super-duper long hair. I did some research and 10 was the magic number. I only had to have a 10 inch ponytail. Lane likes my hair long, and I've been running a lot, so I needed to make sure I had a ponytail and that my hair wasn't too short. I was only willing to go short if I could donate it. I knew that I was close if I didn't quite have the length, so I didn't want to sacrifice the length after coming so far.

Eden was stomping around at tap in her dance class, so Hunter wanted to dance along.

Painting at the Children's Museum

Hunter took a spill on his bike. 

Ugh, nasty kid! He put his face in something in the middle of the road.

And the next night he tried to eat dirt.

My beautifully - sort of - freshly mulched yard. I put out 10 bags, but I still need 20-30 more...

Hunter and Daddy walking out from church.

I made doughnuts for the kids. They weren't pretty, but the kids thought I was super mom.

Hunter only wishes he could get the doughnuts off the counter.

My parents sent a box of random stuff from their house that I left on my last trip to Georgia and Frasiers towel was included in the box. I'm not sure when I finally won't be teary-eyed when I think about him or see a picture of him, but for now I miss him...

We started Daddy's bike for him and I wanted to make sure he knew that it worked.

Pool party at a friends house!

Surprise!

Another bike riding accident. This time he just wanted to play with a tire on a bike that was laid down and he lost his balance and bumped his face on it.

Hunter's last molar is not any fun! His gums are swollen and blistered. I can't wait for this tooth to just come through already.

I got a pumpkin spice coffee and I had the urge to start decorating for fall. 

He wanted more water, so he took his cup to the fridge and reached up. When he realized he was too short he said, "uh oh!" and that was my thought exactly! What on earth will I do when he can reach this?!

Football Season

Football is Lane's other lover! It doesn't matter what game is on, he needs to watch it for some reason or another. It could indirectly have an effect on the standings of his team, so he must know what happens. It drives me crazy! Well, this football season I might say otherwise. We won't have it on in the background on both Saturdays and Sundays {college and professional} and I probably won't have much of an idea of what's going on anymore. With Lane being gone {and us not having cable! yeah, we got rid of cable way back in February and I haven't looked back since!} we won't be watching much of it. That doesn't mean that I can't spoil him with his care package.

Here's a peek at his LSU care package.

I figure I'd include some foods for the guys to share. Well, hopefully share. And, hopefully it will be decent. One of Lane's favorite party/snack/football foods is a 7 layer dip, so I modified it and hopefully it will work out. It's the "Deployment 7 Layer Dip" with all of the fixings for it. The velveeta isn't exactly the same kind of cheese that I'd put on mine at home, but it'll work. I also like my dip with sour cream {mixed with taco seasoning!} and guacamole, but for obvious reasons I'm not sending those things.

 I had a cheap-o hand grater and can opener that I was able to include in the package. If they make it back home, great; if they don't, that's completely alright with me. The pie tin is for the dip to be prepared in, and the chips are for enjoying the dip with.