So, the trio has survived the first week daddy-less. Whew... All those single mothers (or daddies) out there... shout out! Holy cow.... this is no fun solo.
A fun filled, work packed, stressed out, loved on week has passed... and we have a few more to go!
First a little update on Justin. Justin made it to training in the south, where he is enjoying all that the South has to offer. Like humidity, sunshine (streaming through the moisture that just hangs in the air), giant sized bugs, and grits. He tried to run 4 miles one afternoon. One mile in he was throwing up on the side of the road. However he seemed much perkier than he had yesterday on the phone, and was even enjoying the evening (thanks to the storm that was moving in and making the place cooler.) The reception isn't the best, so we only talk every few days when he can get to a place with decent signal, but we can text, so he gets daily good mornings from the boys. These really seem to brighten his warm day. After this round of training ends at the end of August, he has another set that takes up most of September. Then after he has gone through all of that training, we will know for sure if he is on the list to deploy. Oh Army... how efficient. Good thing I am holding the fort down up here. I'm putting all I have into it some days, but it hasn't gone anywhere so we are managing.
Work, play dates, craft time, skype dates, drawing backhoes, story time, and a new double jogging stroller have kept us busy this week. Here are a few random moments.
We made some kool-aid play dough again... grape this time. This is apparently his favorite flavor so far, as he routinely takes a bite out it each time we get it out. Good thing I made it from scratch!
Rowan gets some down time after bath, when Jenssen goes to bed (but rarely stays there at first), where he can stretch out all naked and let his guard down. Ah... gotta love baby skin!
We had some rainy days. The love for rain boots isn't new, the lack of pants isn't new, and the jacket isn't new. However, all of them combined threw me for a loop. That and Jenssen demanding to wear this to the grocery store.
Rowan, you melt my heart.
There has been a lot of "hold Rowan?" going on. Rowan is starting to accept this.
We found our feet! And like his mama, they are talented!
I can honestly say this has been one of the most trying weeks of my life, and although I know there are a few coming up, we are ready! I still have the thought of the deployment, and all the decisions yet to be made, in the back of my head every day. The hardest part is simply not knowing what, where, or when. How do you plan for that? That is what is keeping me up at night (and an occasional little voice asking where daddy is.) Everything I touch at home comes with the thought of "do I need that if I go home? pack, throw, or take?" Thankfully these little guys make me take one step at a time, which is kinda a nice change of pace.
This week we are hoping to complete a few things on our week two bucket list.
- Botanical garden walk. Preferably with some friends so we can keep a closer watch for bear!
- Continue to smooth out the dual kiddo one mama bath routine. There was less splashing from Jenssen's end, less tears from Rowan's end, and a tad drier on my end as the week went on. I'm hopeful. A new Thomas the Train toy helped entertain Jenssen tonight, but is most likely best left for solo bath time as it is pretty exciting, resulting in more splashing.
- Run my mile a day with the new jogger. Maybe when Justin gets back we can run a mile together and we won't have to stop on the side of the road for him to laugh at my pace...
- Mow... I am so very fortunate to have had many people offer themselves, their children, or their husband, to mow for me. Maybe I will take them up on it, or maybe I'll take the boys somewhere and enjoy the silence (yes, mowing will be silence compared to the norm around here!)
- Complete the baby shower we have been planning at work, which is just a warm up for the baby shower of the decade for Baby M and mommy Kim!
- Pray for strength to be a good mommy even in the stressful and tiring times.
- Pick the raspberries in my back yard. Between working, two boys, and that darn raspberry bush, my garden didn't stand a chance. So I might as well harvest something this year!
- Mark 1 week off of my countdown!
Okay, boys asleep, kitchen clean, time for me to watch some Real Housewives! (yeah... I know...)
Stay cool all you lower 48ers... it was a nice 72 degrees here yesterday, come visit!
Rowan is growing up so fast, he reminds me of what Jenssen looked like at that age! And "grabbing the feet" stage.....the cutest stage yet! Hang in there mom, you've got a ton of people praying for your family and God won't give you anything you can't handle.
ReplyDelete