"Love in Action" Blog - Go View It

My dear sister, Karen, has started a new blog titled "Love in Action." She's got some really encouraging and challenging posts up already. They are short writings about which she says:

The intent of this blog is to encourage Christian wives and mothers to show their love to those around them through daily, practical deeds. These ideas stem from things I am trying to apply in my own life. Some may not be applicable all the time, but I hope it plants a seed and ideas in the hearts of those who read to show their love through acts.

Life...

Well, so much going on here! Firstly, Elyana is back to being a little angel! I appreciate the comments, and just so you all know, both Jonathan and I really do know our daughter's cries and she really was just throwing a type of fit. I know she's young, but the thing is she almost never cries. Fusses? A little. But only for a reason. In fact, Jonathan's family had been here over 24 hours when they finally heard her actually cry (it was because she had the hiccups, which she dislikes). His mom made a comment that she was glad to hear her cry, just to know she would/could! :) We only put her down once all her needs (food, diaper, cuddling, warmth) were taken care of, and we knew she was crying about being held because as soon as Jonathan or I would get her, she'd stop instantly. We only did this 2-3 times anyway, and after my experience with the swaddling her, we made sure she had something to comfort her while she was fussing (using the 5 S's as a guide, as they fit Elyana to a "t"). Anyway, she's my little angel now. But we learned she loooooves white noise: hair dryer, shower, rain. It's adorable, and almost like a "switch" where as soon as she hears it, she perks up and looks all content! It makse my getting ready in the morning much easier!

The realy sad news? Jonathan left this morning! *tears up* These separationns are so very hard on us!!! Seriously, last night we decided to go out to dinner before he left, so we went Japanese for sushi (my first time in 9 months). And both of us were so upset about leaving each other, that we could not eat a thing and we felt really ill. We just packed it up and brought it home, and just spent the evening in one another's arms. We weren't much better this morning. And it's only 15 days apart!!! But we both agree we hope we always hate being separated so much. At least we'll have webcamming and phone calls! It made it hard on Jonathan too to say goodbye to his little girl as well...

So it's just baby and me for a few days, until my lovely sister Karen and her girls come visit!!! They'll be here Sunday or Monday, and I cannot wait. Her girls are beside themselves with excitement to meet little "Elyana Ruth" as they always call her. The like to listen to her coo or fuss when Karen and I talk on speaker phone. :) We had SUCH a great time last year when they visited, so that's my bright spot to look forward to!

And on a happy note, my Bum Genius diapers arrived! They are washing as we speak, so I can start Elyana on them later. I tried them on at the smallest setting (they have 3 settings, hence the one-size-fits-all) and they fit her pretty well. And the great thing? No huge baby butt! They fit almost as small as a disposable, so Elyana will still look cute in all her little outfits! I had to wait for her to outgrow the newborn size diapers, since she really needs to be about 9lbs to fit BG's. They come in the cutest colors too! I only bought 1 pink one, though, sticking to the more neutral colors (greens, blues, yellows) so if we have a boy I can use them too, and get my full investment out of them.

I had more to say, but I need to go put those diapers in the dryer! And kiss on my little girl!

---Update--- Oh yeah, I've got my first breast infection. I was slow in putting all the pieces together that that's what was going on. Pretty painful. Taking all the usual remedies (nursing as frequently as possible, pumping until empty, warm compress, warm bath, aspirin for pain relief). Any other advice is appreciated! (And I gave it to myself... I waited too long to nurse last night, as I was really distraught about Jonathan leaving and so I let the baby sleep too long. Lesson learned!)

My favorite pictures of all!

So, a LOT has happened since the last update. There was Thanksgiving, which this year was one of the best Thanksgivings in a long time! Maybe because we served at 6pm rather than 2pm, giving the girls ample time in the kitchen and lots of leisure to prepare this and that... Maybe because I had it with my family which I haven't since '05... Maybe because we all sat at one table rather than 3 tables, since Seths' built an awesome extention to my family's main dining table (we had 20 people at Thanksgiving dinner). Whatever it was, it was amazing!

Then I was honored and totally blessed with a baby shower than my mom and sisters threw. It was incredible! I cried of course, because of all the love and generosity people showed, but also because there was I sitting there at 33 weeks pregnant, just astounded God has kept this little girl so safe and healthy. I could have never foreseen that day!

And then Jonathan and I spent 5 incredible days traipsing around downtown Chicago, going to my company's swanky Christmas party, attending The Screwtape Letters with my parents, museum going, and dining to the nines! It was a romantic and much desired getaway for us two, and our last fancy one before Baby Girl comes along. I'm grateful we had that chance!

So, pictures for the above will follow later, with more details. But for now I'll share the best picture of all: those of Baby Girl. We got a 34 week ultrasound and it was SOOOO wonderful! It was the first time I cried during an ultrasound. She looked so fully developed, and she was moving around just like I've seen little newborns do! She is so precious!!! We got to watch in 4-D for a while, and got 2 pictures in 3-D you see below. Is it not amazing??? Jonathan and I just love the clarity and are so excited to meet her soon!!!! Her growth is great, she weighs about 4lb5oz (38th percentile, so a bit small, but I am too, so it's expected). She is head down currently and moves around like a champ all the time! I did start iron injections for 6 weeks, I don't know if they'll help or not, but they can't hurt. I can't keep my iron up with eating, supplementing, and the perscription iron I've been on since 11 weeks.

This was my first glimpse of Jonathan when he returned!!!!

And a lovely shot of us in New Bern back together again!

Precious Baby Girl - smiling at us!!!

Me in the nursery with my 33 week belly!

I'm Still Here!

This is to let you guys know I am still around! The last 3 weeks in NC have beeen soooo crazy! Starting with the 5-day prep up to my sister-in-law's wedding... Seriously, I hadn't made a wedding cake in 4 years, and a whole lot of work goes into that! I made 3 small trial-run cakes and iced them, to check out my white cake recipe. It was a good thing too, because one was moist and delicious and the other two were dry and crumbly! The icing is the same I always use, so I was of course thrilled with how that looks and tastes. But I spent Thursday evening, all of Friday (ALL), and Saturday morning on this cake! I'll post pictures in my next entry, which I'll do before the week's up!

Then, I had 4 days where my family was out of town, that I spend visiting my in-laws, my brother & his new wife, and my sister with her husband and 2 girls. I actualy stayed with them (Seth & Karen) those 3 nights. I had eaaaarly mornings and laaaate nights. I took over my sister's Sunday school class, and I visited with my grandfather, which was so wonderful. All the visiting around was pretty perfect, getting quality time with each. Karen's girls are so cute about my being pregnant, especially Shiona is. They love my stomach, and I'll tell them things about what the baby is doing and that she can hear and respond to outside noise/stimulation (like a nudge) and they loved talking to my stomach, and Shiona would kiss it randomly all the time! It was very precious. And I guess they found out they'll have their own new little sibling come this June. :)

Anyway, what do you think all that husting and bustling and working full time got me? Yeah, sick! I get sick maybe once a year! Jonathan & I stay really healthy (Praise God). So I hated when I started coming down with it. I tired to take it easy Wednesday, but Thursday went to the NC State Fair that evening, and boy I paid for it. I could hardly enjoy it & came home early. The next day? Fever, chills, achiness, headache, bleh. I slept almost all Friday, ate only a bowl of soup, but felt like I was drinking all the time. Saturday was the day I'd planned on leaving for GA. No way I could do that. I couldn't keep the fever away without tylenol anyway. So Saturday was the same thing, sleep and soup and lots of liquids... I made it up for a few hours at a time that day, so figured if I progressed, Sunday should be ok. Dad had actually insisted my youngest brother Noah go back with me home (Dad was concerned about car trouble), and he bought Noah a one-way ticket back on Tuesday. So, Sunday morning I was better. Noah and I made the drive back, with altering drivers every 2 hours or so. Even though there was no car touble, Dad really heard God on getting that squared away, because I couldn't have done that drive alone. Just those 3-4 I took brought my fever back (it was low-grade, always, btw).

I wanted to get back for my dr's appointment today, which had already been rescheduled/pushed out by 5 days! My sickess really had me worrying about the baby, especially since I've had a LOT of pain and tightness in my absomen lately (as in, I can't walk upright at times, and grab my stomach often just to help ease the pain). So I made it in, and everything with her looked fine, although I had only gained 1 lb in almost 5 weeks (I know I lost it being sick) and was dehydrated, and some other things. Leftovers from being sick. I check back in a week so see how things look.

So that's where I've been! I'm not even unpacked yet, and barely have the energy to do anything like that yet, but slowly over the next few days I expect to return to normal and get all caught up... which will mean pictures! I also have a post from October 13th that I never finished writing, because that was exactly one year from when we lost our first child. I have SO much to say on that, and won't let it pass unnoticed. But that'll be for a little later too. I'm catching up on your blogs, so if I haven't commented in a few weeks, you know why!

1/9th of the way through...

Well, we've gotten 1/9 of the way through the deployment. Last night at 2am I couldn't sleep, and had a sudden urge to go through my personal mini calendar and mark all the fractions of time we'd be at each point in each week. I marked everything I could. It felt good, knowing for example, that my next doctor's appointment for baby, I will be 1/3 off the way through. I have to play little tricks on my mind, to help give me motivation to get through. For example, I told myself today, "This is the 2nd trash day you're doing when he's gone. Only 8 more to go." That type of stuff. Yesterday, Starbucks came out with one of their seasonal drinks, the Pumpkin Spice Latte, one of my favorites (I'm such a sucker for seasonal items!). Rather than indulging right away, I told myself that I wanted to give myself a goal to get to before I indulge, sort-of like earning the reward. I told myself I wanted to get 1/3 the way through the deployment before I ordered one (that's when we figured I'd be at my appointment anyway, so double reason to celebrate). Any other fun ideas to do when I get to certain points in time are welcome.

I spent my first weekend alone here by leaving and not being alone. My sister Crystal is in school outside of Chattanooga, just a little over a 4 hour drive. While the drive up was really painful on my back (my new symptom), it was SO good to be with Crystal! We did a lot of things together, and enjoyed each other's company a lot. So much so, that instead of leaving on Sunday I left on Monday. Crystal was very hospitable in her new apartment she's sharing with 3 other girls, and the body pillow she had convinced me that buying one would put an end to my back aches. And it has, so much! $8.88 at Wal-Mart, too.

Jonathan is doing well. He has been strong when I needed, and I've been strong when he's needed. The webcamming is tremendous! He starts flying every other day today, which is a good thing for his morale and schedule. He flies for 12 hours, but with all the prep and debriefing involved, it's more like 15 hours of time involved. Then he has to sleep, so it easily makes a day pass away for him (as easy as can be). I mailed my first package off to him yesterday, which I will be grateful to reach him in about a week. He got my first letter yesterday, and considering I sent it last Wednesday and the holiday weekend, that isn't so bad. I have written him personal letters every day except one so far.

And now, I have a friend to babysit for tonight, and I have my soon-to-be brother-in-law's graduation fro Army basic training to go to tomorrow. I need to get there at 8:00am, and it should be a 2 hr drive, so I have an early morning ahead of me. While I don't relish the busyness, it can help at times.

Thank you all for your love, prayers, support, and comments. It helps so much to be surrounded by friends, through calls, visits, emails, and blog comments! Here are Crystal and I enjoying the weekend.

How Life Is

So, Jonathan has now been gone about 5 days, plus a few more hours. It can be frustrating and wonderful thinking of the time that's passed. Sometimes I can have a positive outlook, thinking that 5 days is 1/14th of our time. And others I can get discouraged because it's not even been a week. Yet one week will be 1/10th of the way.... So, I just have to pray every morning for perspective and strength, for both Jonathan and me. True to form, sometimes we have different emotional trigger-points. For example, nighttime is my hard time. I am alone, done with work, and just hating being alone in the dark. Yet in the morning I get fresh perspective with a quiet time, I feel like there's one less day in the countdown, I get to make myself some yummy coffee, and I get to look forward to calls/emails/webcam with Jonathan that day. He is opposite. At night he feels he has completed one more day of deployment, he is one day closer to it being over, and he gets to spend some easy hours sleeping. Morning he has a whole work-load in front of him of some long days and he feels far from the goal of 70ish days. So we can help one another and pray when the other is weakest and we are strongest. Even at this distance we can help each other bear this load.

We had such a precious thing happen with Baby Girl before he was deployed. When I first started feelings flutters I could identify in the 15 week mark, I told Jonathan. He then replied, "I can't wait to feel them myself before I deploy." I basically let him know this was near to impossible, as at the time they were so tiny and almost unfeelable, and only by me because they were hitting organs and parts inside. We never said another word about it. Then the morning he was to leave, we were lieing down on the couch and I had my shirt up to show my belly. We were just laying together and talking, when I felt a sharp kick in my left upper-belly. I realized it as a swift kick. I pointed it out to him and Baby Girl gave two sharp visible kicks right after. It was truly amazing. It was as if she were just saying her little good-bye to her Daddy. I couldn't belive it. I have not seen a kick since then, though I have felt them at times, so that stands out as something really special for him.

We have been really surprised and our spirits so lifted at our ability to webcam where he is!!! Last time internet there was really restircted and difficult to obtain for long at all. Now? There are a few different public areas with wi-fi, so we have been able to webcam every day he's not been flying. We even got 2 hours one day, plus our daily emails!!! So that is a kindness of the Lord we never thought really possible. It has lifted our spirits more than words could express by having face-to-face unhurried conversations. Last time, we just got 15 minute calls every other day or so, and believe me, when you try to put 2 days worth of our lives into 15 minutes, you just end up putting on a brave face and keeping it rather surface because you just want to keep your spirits up. We ended up with much deeper communication though email, which was fine, but we missed that real-time conversation. What a blessing skype has been!

As we speak, I am in Tennessee, 4 hours from my house, staying in my sister Crystal's apartment/dorm here at Lee University. It's an easy drive for me, and I wanted to visit her (I did that last time too). It's been SO good being with a family member, and she always makes me feel welcome. I was going to leave today (Sunday), but she really wanted me another day, and there's no reason I can't work here while she goes to school tomorrow, if just to give us more time together.

So for now I'll close this out with a cute picture I took at 18 weeks. I haven't gotten a 19 week belly shot in, but Baby Girl has had a growth spurt, or just really moved to the front of my belly now. Days ago I could lie down and my stomach was flat so you couldn't tell I was pregnant. All of a sudden she moved and there's no losing the belly now. :)

So, onto the Vermont pictures! I arrived on Friday. Stuart had already been there a week, and was leaving Sunday morning. So my trip coincided perfectly with seeing him for a few days (Dad's brilliance in ensuring). That's why he's only in the first two pics. :)

This was my first night there. Dad decided to have a real Vermont cheese tasting. All (cheddar) cheeses are white there, btw. They are serious about their cheese, even the most basic grovery stores carry about 20 different kinds. We were trying 8 different ones, by 2 different makers (Cabot and Crawley's). Their names ranged from Hunter's to Medium Sharp to Seriously Sharp. Each one had a paper next to it for our comments. We each tried various ones, then Stuart read aloud all the comments, and then we voted on the "best of the best." Incredibly enough, 7 out of 10 voted on the same kind! It was the strongest tasting cheddar. You know our father has had a huge influence on us (his opinion is there is never a sharp enough cheddar!). Many of the comments would be, "Disappointingly sharp" "Not distinguishably sharp enough" "Missing the sharp bite its name promises" and so on. It's hilarous. Even Fred agreed, and as he's not family yet, I'd say that's promising. Oh, and for the record, Carter obstained all-together because he "doesn't like cheese." Horrendous!

Stuart's last day there we went to Grafton to eat. This was an old barn/warehouse type place that's been made into a place for large gatherings. We've ambled here in the past and adore it. Dad wants to build one like this for our always-explanding never-under-30-people family gatherings. Seriously, even the most modest Sunday lunches can't stay small with us! It's (laughably) insane at times!

This was our Father's Day picnic! We've done this in the past too. We get near the falls, spread out blankets, and serve up sandwiches, fruit, chips, olives, and (of course) cheese and crackers. Dad loves sitting/laying down and listening to the peaceful sound of the waterfalls. We wade around too, but it was rather chilly.

This was Father's Day evening. Seth & Karen (from a distance) treated everyone to Ben & Jerry's ice cream (Dad loves that). And I, being the odd ball in the family who doesn't like ice cream, obstained. Dad looooved it!

Ok, 9 of us packed into the Sequioa for a 3 hour trip to Boston. Did you get that? 9 adults! The Sequioa advertises "seats 8 comfortably." That's not true, if the 8 are adults. But there aren't even 9 seatbelts! Sometimes the girls buckeled together, sometimes Fred&Mary. It was pretty fun, even so! And this is a picture of what 9 people packing for 3 days in Boston looks like. I am so doggone proud of our packing skills! (Laptops were mandatory as Dad & I had a 1-day business trip to Chicago.)

Noah, Carter, and Dad in the resting in the cemetary in Boston along the Freedom Trail.

This was us "kids" in the elevator of the hotel one evening we ate out in Faneuil Hall together. The hotel had lemon & lime water dispensers near the elevators & we were nuts over them! We'd come inside and rush to the water. It was pretty hilarious. And we were loud. So I got a picture of us in our mirth! Except my flash wouldn't work so it's a bit dark/blurry! I really have the best of times with my awesome siblings!

This was a snack bar about 3 miles from our cabin. Everyone except Suz, Mom and me jogged the 3 miles for lunch. We took the easy route. It turned out to be awesome food and great service (1 guy cooking it all!).

Suzanne and me after lunch that day!

Mary and Fred walked down Commerce street for me an unknown distance because I knew there was a Bruegger's Bagels "somewhere" down it. They were really patient and trusted me - and thanks to Jonathan's Iphone, he got us there without any wrong turns! So I treated them, the least I could do. I couldn't stomach Starbucks (haven't in weeks), but hey I wanted the picture.

And this is a lovely one of Mom and Dad at the waterfall. They're so cute toegher and I love them SO much! Their generosity made this ALL possible!

July Happenings

The lack of updates has been directly related to the amount of activity in the Wilson household. As usual, we've traveled around a lot. Sometimes I've had my camera, other times I have simply been satisfied to live the moment rather than capture it.

I continue to be deeply touched at how many of the people I've gotten to see face-to-face since our IVF decision have honestly desired to talk about it. I expected a lot more of the "elephant in the room" syndrome and frankly, some censure too. But I've really just had kind, curious, interested people. Thank You - all of you - for your genuine love so far! It still seems so far away (over a month until my 1st appt), and yet I'm glad for this time to reflect and continue to enjoy this honeymoon-like state I find myself in with Jonathan and his current Air Force schedule. I purchased my 1st ticket out for an initial appointment, and it cost $5 because I was able to use Delta miles. Over a year ago, Jonathan realized how much travel we were doing and wisely switched us to a credit card that rewards with miles. His foresight has allowed 4 free tickets so far!

I continue to try my hand at another step in domesticity as I'm sewing curtains for the living room. Crystal helped a lot reading the pattern and teaching things I was "expected" to know. It's been joyful to productively spend time each day on a project so gratifying!

The garden has been pouring in produce each day. Our biggest producers are yellow squash, okra, and tomatoes. The beets' growth are stunted, and the watermelons have but a week or two more to ripeness! The 2nd corn planting hasn't happened yet. Because of the heavy tomato volume, at Crystal's encouragement, we bought 2 lbs of buffalo mozzarella at Sam's and have nightly been serving "Salad Caprese". You simply slice the tomatoes and mozarella into rounds, layering it alternately on a plate. Then drizzle on extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar, fresh basil shreds, fresh-ground pepper and sea salt. Truly delicious with all fresh ingredients!

Now, because I have little to add at the time, I shall conclude with a picture update of the last 2 weeks. I shall attempt more regular updates!!!

The Fourth Of July - Graydons, Wilsons, Robinsons, O'Malleys.
Girls Jumping in the pool, then Christopher & Sarah. She is SO cute.

Suzanne had a broken toe, so she couldn't walk much. Here's Cath & Suz talking, then Steph & Mary in the pool.


Katrina Joy! Crystal outside the aircraft that took us back to Georgia. Jonathan let her fly for about 30 minutes, & she liked it.


Seth & Carter... love the bald head.... Then Jonathan cooking up Injera (Ethiopian flat bread). What a good meal!


This is the runway at Robins... And Jonathan bringing us in for a landing. His landings honestly are better than I've ever experienced - very smooth!


Crystal & me at the Atlanta Acquarium... Jonathan & me at a South African restaurant we took Crystal to, called 10 Degrees South. Truly delicious.


Crystal playing with my kitty Peaches, then her and I at our Daily Starbucks trip! How many wonderful talks we had there!

Fun Travels Coming Up!

Meet my wonderful husband's gift to me!

And this was SUCH a fun night this past Monday. It was our fourth hog hunt & we'd never even seen ones the other times. We hadn't sighted in the rifle since our first time out, but assumed it was ok. This time we saw 4 around 5:00pm and 5 around 9:00pm! And I missed both times! When I haded the rifle off to Jonathan (thinking it was me), he missed too! Yeah, the scope was off! I know because at 50 and 100 yds at the range I always hit the bulls eye, as does Jonathan. Plus, the next day I shot a rabbit at about 40 yds with a single shot to the head with a bb-rifle! Not propped up, just free-hand (or whatever you call it). A little frustrating, but I definitely want to go out again! We had a lot of fun, even though it was really hot and lots of bugs!

Now I'm headed back to NC Tuesday to Friday to see my dear friends the O'Malley girls visiting from Chicago (friends for 18 years!). When we moved to Chicago & I was in 2nd grade & the school year had started a few weeks before, Michelle was assigned to show me around and be my "friend". A friendship that lasted! Her sister Christen happened to be in Karen & Stuart's kindergarten class and she & Karen became friends! So fun!

And Susi Forshey is in town, a girl I really love too! She did the flowers so incredibly at my wedding and I did the cake at hers! She is wise, patient, gentle, godly and an Army wife to boot! She got married & moved from everything she knew in VA all the way across the country to Washington state!! Her husband is currently in Iraq serving 15 months. They have a baby daughter only 6 months old! She serves the military ladies around her and has started leading a weekly prayer group for ladies that don't even know the Lord - just to minister to them! My sisters & I loved the 4 girls in their family! We had numerous tea parties, stringed music sessions, sleepovers, berry picking, showers for one another, wedding gigs! Such sweet times... I can't wait to see her!

Suzanne's Visit, Hunting, etc

Wow! What a wonderful weekend we had! Friday we went dove hunting and Jonathan got 4. I also saw a huge banana spider! :/ It looked Huge!!!! I'd say 4 inches worth of legspan at least! Saturday we spend the morning lazily and then went out in the early afternoon to a place for Jonathan to get a drill press and some cool tools, and then to the mall for me to spend some money. I got some kimono-style shirts at Wet Seal. I love that look! Especially with chopsticks in my hair, a necklace with a boldly-colored large-gem necklace, and some trim jeans or black pants, and of course red lipstick. Love that look! It just ties together. Got some things at Bath & Body Works, and used some of the Starbucks card my sweet sister Mary gave me!!!!! The Pumpkin Spice Latte is back, and I'm so glad. I've had 3 since I found that out 2 weeks ago.

Then that evening we went out to the country to help a friend in Care Group for a Christian Outdoor Alliance dove hunt. We weren't paying $75 to hunt, but we wanted to help out. There were some newbies out there that shot pigeons or sparrows, and missed some really obvious doves, but it was a lot of fun. Especially to get clean and pick up a Papa John's pizza and snuggle through Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. :)

Sunday we had church and then again went out hunting that evening. This time I got 2 doves!!! My first ever! I got them two in a row! My average was much better than on the skeet range (thank goodness, I think skeet is boring!). Jonathan got 6. Well, 7, but we couldn't find one. It was so much fun to hunt together. I can now tell a swallow's flight from a doves's quite easily. :) When we headed home we cleaned up and then fixed a super-duper meal. Dove, sauteed in thyme, marjoram and butter, broccoli, rosemary bread, and rice. Getting clean after all that time out was so refreshing.

On Monday we headed to Government Canyon for our hike. We ended up hiking 6 miles, and drinking 3 liters of water between us. Exactly what we brought. We crossed the trailhead with a few swigs left. We had a great time hiking and exerting ourselves and sharing wonderful conversation, jokes, and everything in between! We kept a very good pace. Jonathan told me he never realized I'd be a outdoors girl... He thought (feared) I'd just want to spend vacation days like this at the mall!!!! I love that I'm not that way, and we can share the same loves! Ourdoors are such a great adventure together.

Here are some fun pics from this weekend. And some from my dear sister Suzanne's visit.

Loving Married Life!

So we've been having fun lately, so many good times with my bestest friend. :) I'm getting very excited about our Labor Day weekend get-away down to Corpus Christi on our newly-fixed boat. Don't know where we'll venture out to, but we're sure to get quality-time together and some delicious seafood. Perhaps we'll even catch something worthy of adorning our dinner plates. No matter what, it'll be an adventure. That's what we love best. Our Grand Adventure is what I sometimes refer to our marriage as, which seems fitting.

Jonathan had a test yesterday on top secret weapons and defenses the US military has... He did wonderfully! He was so diligent in his studying, going in early most mornings (6:30 when show-time was 9), and also going in on the weekend. He is such an example of a hard worker and serious student. I love watching him in that role... I guess that's something I've watched since before our marriage.

My sister Suzanne flys in later today! She used her hard-earned money to buy a ticket out here to visit me! I've planned many fun outings and two craft-like projects for us together. We of course plan on going to Starbucks every single day! Just like I did when Mary was here.... except she refused it one day. :( So we broke our record. BTW, if you reload a Starbucks card online from a Visa with $50 or set it up for (any amount) of automatic reload, you get $10 extra put on your card. 3 cards per household. That's $30. Our monthly Starbucks budget. You betcha I'll cash in!

Nothing more here, except I got a beautiful present from Seth & Karen in the mail, it's a dresser with these gorgrous coffee-pictures painted on it. I'll post a pic soon. I moved all my coffee stuff in there where it sits in my kitchen looking beautiful. More later! Here's a pic of us on our trip to Dallas.

Shiona Marie Robinson

On Saturday evening, May 20, 2006, at 9:17pm, God brought forth a new life into our lives! My precious sister Karen gave birth to a little 8 lb, 8 oz girl, 20.4 inches long. Seth was with her the whole time and little Katrina was with grandma. The little girl will be called Shiona, which means "God is gracious", as that is something they saw evidenced throughout the birth and afterward. She resembles her big sister a lot now, and Katrina is especially excited to have a new baby in the house.

Rejoice with us and congratulate Seth & Karen on this wonderful event!!!

Mary's Gone :(

*sighs* We had such a lovely time, and now my beloved sisster is gone, gone, gone........

My Sisters' Visit

This last week has been insanely busy but oh so enjoyable!!!

Thursday to Sunday I had my precious sisters Suzanne, Crystal and Mary down to visit. The days flew by way too fast! Dad was driving through Charlotte to head to Montgomery with Carter, to visit his father & brother and to pick up a boat he'd just bought. So he dropped the girls by on the way down, but spent Thursday night with us.

That evening after dinner we all (except Jonathan, who was working) headed to Jitterz for ice cream, wine or coffee! We talked until closing time (they blinked the lights out on us). Dad is seriously pursuing the RZIM 3 month Apologetics training in Oxford next year!!!!! It seems like such an incredible opportunity to be invited to, and exactly the kind of equipping God would have for him at this season of his life, given his talents, interests and opportunities to share Christ!

Breakfast the next morning consisted of scrambled eggs, brown sugar bacon, cream cheese braid, and selection of juices and coffee. They left at 8, as did Jonathan for school. I was suppose to finish Indexes for work, and then shop with the girls at Concord Mills, with enough time to head home and fix dinner for the McMahons!

Index Day had been Thursday. Usually I start about 5:30am, but that morning we slept in a bit and had an Air Force moving brief at 8:00 that lasted til 10:00. I had started the Indexes the night before, but by lunchtime I had a call from Dad saying a report had bad numbers on it... Sure enough, there was a bug we found. Someone was suppose to be researching a fix, but they misunderstood. I left for HomeMakers Group (the last one for me *sighs sadly*) with a good conscience that I couldn't do any more work until I got a fix. I brought my comp as well as forwarded all work calls. I got about 4 during the meeting! That's when we discovered the bug wasn't being tracked down (yikes). Fortunately, soon after we found a fix had already been uploaded. So what it left me with was Regression Testing plus finishing indexes.

That's the sad part. I didn't finish until noon on Friday! So by the time the girls and I headed out, it was like 1:30! They were all so sweet about it! We got Starbucks (Mary's treat for everyone, bless her generous heart!!!!!) Everyone got something at The Body Shop, so that made me happy. The time flew!!! When we got home at 6 we had 1 hour til the McMahons were here. Every girl had 2-3 things to do immediately, we worked together perfectly! We had such a lovely time, the boys stayed til 2! Taige makes great margaritas, btw! Go Taige!

Saturday we trekked over to SouthPark (the call of Sephora), then went to a Charlotte Symphony Orchestra "The Magic of Christmas" concert. Fun! Then to Cheddar's for dinner (who puts chili powder in Chicken Tortilla Soup??), and watched a movie with popcorn & hot cocoa. I love spending time with my sisters, all the conversations, jokes, giggles, and sharing. They are my best friends after my husband. And I admire each their Christian walks and separate personalities.

All in all, I'm sooooo happy they came! I hate that we didn't do this more.

Tonight, Jonathan's dad comes for dinner, the night and breakfast. That'll be fun! I'm fixing Leg of Lamb with Garlic and Herbs. I wish I could have lamb every week!!!

Working now, tomorrow is Jonathan's last day of school before exams, hooray! I can't believe we're so close! I've loved the school life, we've had so much time together. I can't imagine any other way, Jonathan gone for less than 8 hours a day, home for most every lunch, etc. What a precious 1 year 8 months we've been given!