Birthday Girl

Saturday July 26th, Isabelle turned 1! Josh had graduated from Air Borne Training Friday evening (it was in Georgia) and drove all night to get here in time for the party. She was pretty surprised to see him when she woke up. It was really cute. She gave him this look as if she was saying "Where did you come from? You weren't here when I went to bed". The morning was spent doing food and party prep. Josh and Ben worked on cleaning up the backyard while the girls worked on getting all the food set up. Laura made a carrot cake (I think it is now my new favorite) and Danielle made a Chocolate Cake with raspberry filling. We had hamburgers, hot dogs, pasta salad, German potato salad, vegetable platter, chips and dips, hummus, panchetta, punch, and I know I am forgetting a few other things. Needless to say we had tons of food.

After we ate Isabelle started in on all her presents. There were a lot of them too. She did really well for only being 1. I am thinking she gets that part from me. I have never met a present I didn't like. She opened gift after gift and her favorite was a random card that she didn't let go of. Amie and Kristi sent some really cute clothes. Mary (the neighbor here) got her a couple of outfits. I had asked that people get her books so that we could grow her library, so we got a lot of those. A few people got her some bath toys which look like they will be a lot of fun. Hailey, one of Laura friends, gave her a chair thingy that she sits down and plays with all of the stuff attached. She made out like a bandit.

Then it was time for the cake. Josh brought out her little cake with a 1 candle in it and we all sang Happy Birthday to her. She didn't make much of a mess, in fact she didn't eat hardly any of it. She tasted the frosting a little and after I broke it up some, she ate a couple bites of the cake itself. She doesn't know what she was missing. All in all she did fantastic! We have been so blessed to have such a happy little girl.

It is hard to believe that it has been a year already. I knew that it would go fast but it never really sinks in until its over. To think that this time last year I had a brand new little baby girl to take care of. I can not imagine my life without her now, in a way I never imagined my life without her before. A part of me always knew she was coming. I can't wait to see what this next year will bring. Maybe a new baby brother or sister for her. :)

Short Catch Up

It has been awhile since I have been able to do any journaling. Things have been pretty crazy around here. Ben and Danielle got here and that has been going pretty well. It has been nice to get to know them better, instead of just through the short phone calls we seldom have.

Today Laura, Matthew, Ben, Danielle and I all went up to Ann Arbor for some shopping. I was able to find exactly what I was looking for so that was nice. I ended up with a few blisters from my new shoes but I guess that is the price you pay sometimes. This past week has gone by rather quickly and I am thankful for that. I am so ready to get out of here and have my own space again with my own things. I am tired of sharing a house with someone other than my husband. At least with my husband I can tell him to get off the computer and do something productive.

Josh will be here on Monday and I am excited about that. He has been checking out some houses on his downtime. There is one that sounds promising, it has a pool, and we all know I am for that. There is one catch; someone else got there first. However, they don't have any money to put down on it until Monday and we have the money now. So maybe that will grease the wheels a little in our favor. Hopefully, he will be able to find something good while he is there because I don't want to have to house hunt.

Other than Isabelle's birthday party there hasn't been anything exciting. I don't have enough time to go into detail but I will as soon as I get the chance. Josh was able to make it so that was nice. He drove all night to be here and then he left in the morning. Talk about a good dad. Well, I should go be present in the other room. I don't want to be rude and stay on the computer all the time.

Picture Perfect

The last few days have gone by rather quickly. I am hoping that this week will do the same. Isabelle's party is this Saturday so I have a lot to do to get ready for that. Ben and Danielle get here on Thursday and we have been working in the basement clearing a place for them to sleep. So all in all things have been going well. Granted it is still hot and sticky ... nothing like taking 3 showers in a day.

I got to go see how Isabelle's pictures turned out last Friday. They are so cute. I could not have been happier. They are exactly what I was picturing and lets be honest, how often does something like that happen. The hard part was choosing which poses' to purchase. I had her cake mash and baker girl pictures put into a large frame so that will be really cute. Then I picked 6 other ones to have made into 5x7 and wallets. I was really pleased with everything. They said that they would put a rush on the order so that I can have them by this weekend.

Wish me luck ... I am hoping that this week will go smoothly and with any luck Josh might get here in time for her big day.

Did I mention that it is HOT?

I hate it here ... who ever decided that Michigan was the place to live is NUTS! I grew up in California where it could easily get to 117 some summers but the heat here is sticky and did I mention that ... I hate it? Isabelle and I went for a walk this afternoon with Matthew (he rode his bike) and I had to turn around after 35 minutes because I was so hot. I guess I will have to go in the evenings.

I still have at least 2 more weeks here and today it feels like forever. Ben and Danielle will be here next week and I haven't decided if that will help the time go faster or not. Laura talked about going to the outlet mall (its 2 hours away) again when Danielle gets here and leaving Isabelle and Matthew here with Dan. I said that I didn't feel comfortable leaving her with someone when I was that far away. She doesn't understand why I feel that way so she asked what I was going to do when we go to Hawaii next year. I said that Isabelle will be older by then and it should be better. That was the best "reason" I could come up with. I don't think it satisfied her but its not like she can make me leave my daughter behind.

Well, now I am rambling on about nothing so I am off to go sit in front of a fan (one that you dare not leave on when you walk away from it because it uses to much energy and is useless if you aren't in front of it) and read my book.

More More More

Lets see ... Its Sunday and I have a bit of alone time (as in just me and Isabelle) for a few hours. Its nice. Yesterday was muggy and humid just like every other day here. Today doesn't seem to be as bad but we will soon see.

Friday Laura had Haley's kids so we all went to the splash pad here in town. Isabelle had fun. She crawled into the water as much as she could until she couldn't see any farther. It was too cute. I ended up getting some pretty good pictures so I will make sure to post them when I get settled again.

Friday Isabelle said her second sign ... "more". It started at breakfast when she wanted more banana but the big deal was at lunch when I let her taste mac and cheese for the first time. She gobbled that up and then asked for more more more. It was so funny. Laura said she later found a stray piece on the floor, ate it and then looked up and asked for more. Now she says it all the time when she eats. She had her first taste of milk yesterday too. She wasn't to sure about it at first but she drank most of it. This morning however, she drank it all and then asked for more. Now I can't wait for her to do individual signs for what food and drink she wants.

Did I mention that the Jimmy died on Josh right after he got to Ft. Benning? Well, it did. He got it working again last night so lets just hope that its fixed enough to get him to Bragg. I guess if I have to Isabelle and I can just drive there ourselves. It would suck but it would be do-able.

Well, Isabelle is getting fussy so I should get going. I don't have anything exciting to report anyway. Big surprise I know.

Am I done yet?

Part of me can't believe it is already the 9th of July and the other part wishes it was the 29th. Oh well. We always want what we can't have. The past few days have been alright. Here is the low down ...

Josh tired to surprise me by getting here one day early but when I wouldn't stop bugging him about stopping and getting a hotel he fessed up. He was really only an hour away instead of a day away like I thought. It was a welcomed surprise but I felt bad that I ruined his plans. He isn't a very good liar so when he kept telling me he had pulled over I didn't believe him. I guess its a good thing that he doesn't lie well. Anyways, we had a nice weekend together. Phil and Mary came over for the 4th. It was nice to see them. Josh and I got to go see 'Get Smart.' Whoo hooo. Our first outing alone since Isabelle. Granted it was 9 pm when we left and she was already in bed but we still got to go out on a date.

Josh had to leave Sunday morning and I was bummed. After he left I was thinking that it was going to be a long sad day. That was not the case. About 20 minutes after he left Dan came down and told me that my directionally challenged husband had made a wrong turn and our BMW had died. I tried finding a rental car but out here in the mid west places aren't open on Sunday and the one place that was ... was out of cars. Flights were nearly $1300 so he ended up taking Dan and Laura's GMC Jimmy down to Georgia. I had the BMW towed to a garage to get fixed. It ended up being a blown water tank. Luckily it happened after he got here and not somewhere in the middle of Nebraska. That would have been bad.

He made it down to Airborne school on time and passed his huge PT test. That was a big deal because if he had failed we would have been sent back to Washington and that is not something we want. He called tonight and told me that he jumped off a 36 foot building 4 times. He isn't fond of the idea of jumping out of planes but its part of the job.

As for me and Isabelle we are hanging in there. Most days are good. I forgot how humid it can get here. You get out of the shower and 10 minutes later you feel like you need to take another. I hate it. I have been trying to keep busy. Laura and I went to the outlet shopping center the other day. That was pretty fun. I was in need of some new clothes. Today I made an apt. for Isabelle to get her pictures taken. I am looking forward to seeing how they turn out.

The house hunt is still that ... a hunt. I have found a few places but getting ahold of someone isn't as easy as one would think. Its a good thing I am doing this all now and not when I am already there. I seriously don't want to spend a week in a hotel. The cost is one thing but can you imagine living in a space no larger than a bedroom with your 1 year old, a dog and a cat. That is enough to drive me to drink.

Hopefully the next 2 weeks will fly by and my family will be one again. Otherwise I just might need that drink after all. :)

One Week Down

Goodness, when I sit down to write it seems like time has flown by; but thinking about how much longer I have until my family is back together again seems like forever from now. Things are going okay here. I feel stuck though. This isn't my house and I don't feel entirely comfortable. I know it sounds odd but I feel like everything I do is being judged. Its like I have to prove that I am a fit mother and a good wife. I know that this really isn't true but that is what it feels like. If I said any of this out loud to Laura I am sure it would start a whole other "fight". Maybe it stems from not ever having a family of my own to feeling like I need to earn my way into this one. I am sure the rough start that I had here doesn't help but that is in the past. I wish I could forgive and forget as easily as other people.

Okay, moving on ... Yesterday we went to see Haley and her new baby twins. They are so tiny. Isabelle just loved them, she wanted to crawl into the swing with them. She was pretty good about being gentle with them too. I think she is going to be a lover, she loves animals, her blanket and now babies. I am having a hard time getting her on a schedule and sticking to it. One day it will go well and the next we are off doing something with Laura and the whole thing gets blown out of the water. Have I mentioned that I can't wait to go home ... even though I don't know where that is yet.

Josh is in Iowa today. He is visiting with one of his college buddies and taking a break from driving. He should be here on Friday. I can't wait to see him. You forget how much you love and need someone until they aren't with you sometimes. I need to do better about making time for us once things get settled down again.

Isabelle is going to be one this month. Scary how time flies. We are going to have a birthday party for her. Laura has been inviting people left and right. I don't mind, it will be nice to have a party that is just for her. I only hope that I can keep things going in the direction that I want them to go and not let someone else make the decisions. So far so good; then again we haven't really gotten started. I did pick out a photographer to get her pictures taken though. I am looking forward to that. I think I might need to change the outfits I picked out for her though. I am going to try and go in on Monday to take a look around and check out their packages. It should be fun.

I suppose I need to get back to looking for houses. We will kinda need a place to live once we get to North Carolina. Happy house hunting to me!