Near and Far

It has been pretty quiet around here lately. The past week or so has been full of Ross and I attempting to decide if we should move on post, getting summer plans (somewhat) in order, catching naps when able, and keeping Levi as happy as possible. Out of everything, Levi is still the easiest! We have returned to having the company of a friend of ours who recently returned home from a deployment. He stayed with us for about six weeks before he left last summer ("curse" of the married couple with a handful of single friends!) and we have happily fed him and allowed him to keep us company the past couple nights. Juno LOVES Greg and he keeps her entertained for the time he is here visiting. It doesn't matter the size of the blessing, it is the fact there are blessings everywhere. Levi and I are working on developing a nice schedule during the day. Ross and I have been blessed with a baby who may enjoy sleeping as much as we do! Except for a few colic-like days, Levi enjoys...

Today is our one year anniversary of living here in New York. I use the term "Yankee" lovingly for a friend of ours that we made while living in Lawton, OK. Colleen you are our favorite Yankee :) A year ago we had completed our 24 hour drive from Oklahoma with our luggage and my mom in tow. The day we arrived here in the North Country, it was cold and rainy. We soon found our temporary home at the Fort Drum Inn and Mom and I set out to locate the commissary to buy food and shampoo. Mom and I then got extremely lost on post because of a major geographical change, trees. Trees limit ones ability to see into the distance and know if you are approaching a turn. I was missing the Oklahoma plains. Another geographical change that I wasn't used to was roads built on a loop pattern. I had always lived in a "grid pattern" and for that reason, had always hated being in Tulsa on their looped roads. The next day we set out to begin the in processing procedures. Those of...

Today was Levi's first photo shoot. We failed at having newborn pictures take up until this point and I now know why they want them done before the baby is 2 weeks old... Levi took on a hard core attitude about posing and having anyone take his picture. His way of dealing with it was dirty and resulted in lots of laundry needing to be done. The very very nice photographer did very well with our little grump! He peed twice on the blanket he was  positioned on within the first 15 minutes of the shoot. He then let us work with him for about 30 minutes. Then peed on the photographer. Levi followed that by wanting to eat. We decided to leave the diaper on to be safe and then he spit up on the new blanket. He needed to be changed shortly after that and he pooped on the ottoman. Needless to say, the photographer received a tip for all her efforts. I hope that we were able to get some good pictures out of the two and a half hours of the bodily fluid circus. I have learned that babies a...

Growing up I loved weekends. It meant I could either hang out with friends, spend the night at a friends house, or stay with my Mamaw and Papaw. In high school, weekends were busy with basketball games, work, and hanging out with friends. In college weekends meant going to work on Saturday and hanging out. And now weekends have a different meaning. This last weekend was our first since Ross went back to work following his paternity leave. I was so excited to have him around for an entire day and be able to have a face to face conversation with a person who knows how to talk! We spent Friday night laying around catering to Levi's every need (fresh diapers, fresh change of clothes, and feeding) and watching tv. Two of Ross' coworkers came by to meet Levi Saturday afternoon and then we went to a friends "Going Away to Ranger School" party that evening. Sunday, Mr. Levi changed on us. It was his 3 week birthday and he decided to make it our first day to be parents to ...

Those of you who know me know that I do not like change. It takes me FOREVER to make a decision and once I have made one, I don't like for anything to change. There have been very few things that I have jumped right into, but what I have, I am still happy with. I did not hesitate when a guy asked me to marry him three years ago (in fact, I didn't even answer him for 9+ hours because I jumped so fast). I agreed very quickly to take a drive to pick up a puppy that Ross had committed us to. And lastly, I had no choice but to jump when a little stick(or four little sticks) read the word "PREGNANT".  I know those are three very different things, but I don't jump often! Now my days are full of changes. Diaper changes, outfit changes, blanket changes, position changes, volume changes, and whatever other changes this little 7 pound human demands. I am learning to deal with the changes on many levels. Ross' job is constantly telling us that things are going to change...

Here it is, my very first blog. I'm not sure what I will do with this or if anyone will read it other than me, but here it is. Ross and I have been very busy the past 17 days (plus 12 months). We have moved from Oklahoma to New York, lived in a hotel room for way too many days, discovered we are not apartment people, got our first pet, we both started new jobs, made new friends, and found out our family was expanding to 3(SURPRISE!), 2 trips back to Oklahoma, I quit my job, and a baby boy was born. 12 crazy months. I knew that having our baby would be completely crazy, emotionally overwhelming, painful, and some other things, but it has been so so much more. We were extremely lucky to have my mom be here with us for most of the month of March to help prepare and to be here with me while Ross was gone in the field. She helped us set up the extra room for the baby and did the chores that required bending over (our toilets and kitchen floor was quite disgusting!). It was a huge he...