Random Acts of Kindness...

I have to share something that happened to me tonight. I have not been using the air conditioner during the day and it gets pretty hot in the house. This afternoon after the boys woke up from their naps we were pretty hungry but it was far too hot to cook... So we headed off to the mall to eat at Furrs and then let Auron run off some energy.

We sat down at the table (like always), unloaded our tray (like always), said our prayer of thanks (like always), and were about halfway through our meal when an older gentleman stopped at our table.

"Excuse me Mam... I noticed your dog tags, is your husband marching through the sand?"

"No Sir. Not yet at least..."

"Is he in town with you?"

"No Sir, He is gone for training right now."

"Oh, how long has he been gone?"

"About seven months, but he will be home soon."

"Hmmm, (as he takes the ticket off my table) Well, I'm going to take care of this for you today."

And before I had time to do anymore than stutter a timid "thank you", he was gone. I burst into tears. Auron thought something was wrong because I sat there sobbing like a baby. This random stranger reached out to do something kind for me and touched my heart beyond words.

You hear people talk about supporting our troops all the time, but those who are not in the military seldom think about the families attached to those troops. It is not hard to be a military family ONLY when your soldier is in a war zone. It is hard every day... especially when we are apart. Training and non-war deployments are hard for military families too and so often people loose sight of that fact. This complete stranger acknowledged that with a simple (and wonderfully touching) random act of kindness that I will always remember.

quiz crazy again...

Your Attitude is Better than 50% of the Population

You have a positive attitude... somtimes. You prefer to see the world through clear glasses, not rose colored ones.

How's Your Attitude?

Your Stress Level is: 69%

You are prone to stress, and you're probably even pretty stressed right now. Life's problems seem to pile up on you, and this often makes you feel depressed and burned out. Learn to take time to relax and enjoy life, even if things are stressful. It's the only wa you'll get through the bad times.

How Stressed Are You?

You Communicate With Your Ears

You love conversations, both as a listener and a talker. What people say is important to you, and you're often most affected by words, not actions. You love to hear complements from others. And when you're upset, you often talk to yourself. Music is very important to you. It's difficult to find you without your iPod.

How Do You Communicate?

Like THAT could stop Him!....

I got to make a surprise last minute visit to see my husband at the base last weekend. I didn't tell him I was coming to see him, I just sort of showed up. He was way happy to see me and I was thrilled to be in the same zip code with him for 24 hours. I left Auron with Mom and Dad again so I could make the trip a bit easier and be a little more selfish with the precious little time we had together. (Thanks My-maw and Paw! You guys ROCK!) I was sitting in the parking lot waiting when he got released for the weekend and walked out onto the pad. I called his cell phone:

Me: Hey Babe! What are you doing?
Him: Oh, I'm just walking around. What are you doing?
Me: I'm just sitting in the parking lot watching you walk around.
Him: (looking up and grinning ear to ear) WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE!!??

We had a good visit (and GREAT nookie), and he got to bond with Xander a little more too. I have to take a pregnancy test in another two weeks now though. Condoms are great for preventing pregnancy... when they DON'T rip. I'm not too worried about it because I'm still nursing Xander and that tends to be a natural birth control method in itself, but the whole situation has made me even MORE aware of how strange Catholics are in certain beliefs.

Here are a group of people who think any form of unnatural birth control (even when used by married couples) is a sin. They believe God created the Heavens and the Earth and everything in them in six days... but for some reason they think that if God wants you to conceive a child... a little latex is going to get in His way. Lets face it folks... When God wanted Jesus to be conceived... he didn't even let a perfectly intact hymen stop Him!

I'm not being disrespectful at all... just stating the facts as I see them... I just seem to be a bit more blunt than most might.

Oh well... If I do turn up expecting an unexpected baby again... I'm just going to look at it as God giving me a valid excuse for my insanity! :)

Army quirk of the day...

The U.S. ARMY expects their soldiers to be fully capable of running through a combat zone while dodging bullets, communicating with each other and carrying AT LEAST one weapon...

But...

They do not trust those same soldiers to be coordinated enough to walk and talk on their cell phones at the same time. If they are caught doing this on post in uniform they are reprimanded.

I find that outright hilarious!

Blessings to count...

Blessings:

My Daddy's "terminal" Cancer has disappeared from his liver! (The doctor said there is still one tiny "nodule" but he is pretty sure that one is benign since it has never changed size and all the other ones did.) Lots of prayer, chemo, and even a bit of alternative treatments... and he is (mostly) back to being himself! The doctor is STILL baffled!

Xander is over two months old now and still healthy as a little horse! He seems to have come through all of the hurdles of an unexpected conception and difficult pregnancy with flying colors. He is also a very mellow baby (most days) and has been my most enjoyable newborn (go figure!) the other two were terrible at this age!

Auron is driving me nuts on a daily basis and has an extremely extensive vocabulary for a two year old. He is way too smart for MY own good. (And even though he drives me up the wall and I beg him daily to "be quiet for just five minuets... I promise you won't explode!" I am so blessed that he CAN drive me up the wall.) He is also dealing with missing his Daddy much better than I thought he would.

Samantha's seizures are finally mellowing out enough that she is back to her beautiful self. Grinning and giggling like a little mad woman, wearing her Paw out chasing her around the living room, giving her nurse a hard time, and chewing the crap out of her hands anytime our backs are turned. She has started her home bound schooling and we are all very optimistic that it will be a serious improvement on previous years.

Darrell is now a four hour drive from my front door and I have been to see him three times since the middle of August. I won't be able to see him again until the end of October or the beginning of November and only then if I can afford to make the trip again, but I still get to talk to him every night and that is a MAJOR improvement. He is doing great in his schooling and has the highest average of all the AIT students in his class. He will get to come home for two weeks for Christmas too!

Lubricant not included...

Looking to spice up your sex life?

Join the US Army!

Get screwed in all sorts of new and exciting ways!

(Just don't expect them to let it be by your spouse.)

DAMN "THE MAN"!!!!!

OK... So I was all set to leave town early in the morning to go see my hubby... Then at 2100 he calls me and tells me that he has been informed he will most likely NOT be getting the pass he earned two weeks ago... for the second weekend in a row!!! GRRRRRRRR!!!

And I just got cleared by my doctor to get some nookie again after Xander's birth!!!! Talk about a bummer! I even had a sitter (Grandma Rocks!) for Auron so we wouldn’t scar him for life if he woke up to see Daddy making a Mommy sundae (ahhh.. the many uses for whipped cream)!

So here I sit... too pissed off to sleep. There is still a slight chance he will get his pass by the end of the day tomorrow, so I am sitting on "GO" to make a flying trip to the base if he calls and tells me to. Who knows how long it will be until he gets another overnight pass... and for those of you I haven't told yet... his AIT was extended from 10 weeks to 19 weeks. We don't get to be a family again until sometime in January!

DAMN THE MAN!!!!!!!
(For those of you who don't know... that is a reference to a move called Empire Records.)
DAMN THE MAN!!!!

Confession...

Guilty Confession of the Day:

If Xander is crying while I'm in the shower at night, I take a much longer shower than when he is quiet.

(Because as long as I can hear him screaming... I know he is still breathing.)

Is that twisted?

Or just to be expected of a Mom who has been forced to do CPR on her other two children?

Xander Elias Moon is here!

Xander Elias
August 2, 2007
5 lbs. 8 oz.
18 inches long

Samantha meets her new baby brother.




Auron likes him too.

He gets to meet his Daddy at Fort Sill on Thursday the 9th. Everyone is doing well... I'm exhausted... but I guess that would be normal for someone with a new born and a two year old at home. Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers!

Update...

So, you thought I fell off the face of the planet again, didn't you?

Guess what? You can't get rid of me that easy!

I'm still baking the Xander bun in the oven. I hit my 35 week mark and he has been marinating in steroids for three weeks now so he should be healthy when he decides to come now. I am SO READY!! I want him to get here BEFORE August 8th so I can avoid making the 7 1/2 hour road trip to my husband's basic training graduation HUGE pregnant. Much more comfortable to travel with a newborn than a massive wiggling belly.

Overall I guess things are going OK right now. I miss my husband more than words can say and he misses all of us like crazy too. Sam's seizures are starting to kick up again because of the summer heat, but Mom and Dad seem to have a pretty decent grip on the situation. They leave on this Sunday to take her to Houston for a check up with her neurologist. It will be their first road trip for her doctor's appointments without me. I think it will be a good learning and bonding experience for them. I am doing my best to step back and let them make decisions and arrangements for her as they see fit. No one will ever do things exactly the same way I would but that doesn't mean that a different approach is wrong... its just different. It is a huge change to suddenly be responsible for someone who's health is as fragile as Sam's is and my parents have been doing a phenomenal job. There is a definite learning curve involved but I am confident that Sam is in the best place for her right now.

Well, I guess that's all for this update... I just wanted to let everyone know I'm still alive! I will post pictures of Xander as soon as I get some rest after his birth. As always your prayers are way appreciated!