MIA.

So as I sit here, still sweaty from a 4.5 mile run, I am feeling behind as I log in to my blog account. This is my attempt to add to the blog since it was last updated on March 19th! Oh my. I am surprised it has only been three months, because to be honest it feels longer. We just got home from picking Ben up from VBS, after Rob and I ran with Lydia. Is it possible that Rob is still reading a book to our son at 9:20 at night? Well, that is just the good dad that Rob is. Rob has just come into the room to recount a nighttime conversation he just had with Ben. They were reading A.A. Milne's "When We Were Very Young", a book of poems.

Ben: Dad, what are poems?
Dad: They rhyme and have rhythm and they are short.
Ben: Why are poems short?
Dad: So you don't get tired of them. So if anyone ever asks you why you're short, if they ask you, then just tell them it's so they don't get tired of you.
Ben: (he laughs) Well, I'm tired of you. But I'm not tired of my mom.

I had no intention of adding that story obviously, but I just felt like it was cute. This makes me feel just a little bit more special, because Ben is so very much about being boy and being like Dad. It's nice to know that he has a little sweet spot for his Mom every now and then. And I feel like many moments of our life have been "cute" and "memorable", yet I haven't so much as kept any physical notes detailing them. This has been on my mind, because I know that some day, I am going to be really sad that these moments are gone. I feel like Lydia is already close to 1, when she is only 7 months.

While all this has been nagging me, I received an email from a very good friend and sort of mom to me back in Clovis, asking me how I was and if I was OK, and that I hadn't updated the blog. Thanks, Anna Marie! It was just what I needed. So over the next week (I am hesitant to commit myself to that short time), I am going to update you in a sort of 4-parter. I feel that is the right amount I can bite off each day, and not bore you with one really long update.

But to sort of give you my initial "happies" (as a friend who once lived here in MS coined the phrase, Liz), here is a quickie STS:

1. Lydia's crawling and cutting a tooth. I forgot about all the feist that comes with the crawling strut. I shouldn't be surprised if you I really think about it: a 6 1/2 - 7 month baby learning such amazing feats! To actually coordinate those limbs, oh the joy! Ben is so far quite patient with her, which impresses me. When we were in Phoenix a couple weeks ago, it was a funny sight to see that Ben had relocated himself a couple times each time the sister got closer.

2. Today, Ben weaned himself of his training wheels on his bike! Rob and Ben had been practicing here and there, and yesterday and today were the only days that they practiced two days in a row. Rob began by raising the training wheels off the ground so high that he still fell on the ground, but the training wheels cushioned the fall a bit. Once he got the hang of it, he was riding it without them touching the ground, so Rob took them off. It amazes us that he can even ride on our rocky, dirt road. I figure once we get him on smooth asphalt, he'll be even better!



3. Ben literally crawled our doorframe in the living room all the way to the top of the ceiling, and then let go jumping to the ground. We caught in on video! It makes me laugh to think that he was ever "failure to thrive" just because he's skinny! The funnier thing was that at first he told me he invented it, but then he told me later that he didn't invent it. He said he saw it on TV on the news at Lolo and Lola's house (in AZ). He said they showed a guy climbing a wall outside. So, if any of you have ever been to AZ and know of its illegal immigration problems, the first thought was, "they were probably reporting on Mexicans climbing the wall to get to the US." I know, that's bad. I'm just telling you what I thought. :)

4. We have a Dunkin' Donuts in Columbus now! How exciting is that!? Makes for a great iced coffee on the run.

5. My new jogging stroller that I won! As one friend said, "it's like the Gucci of jogging strollers." This was one of the fundraisers that we had for our MOPS/Stroller Strides walk that we organized in memory of the late Blair Faulkner, one of the two pilots that died in the crash we had here a year ago. We raised just under $15,000 in Blair's name to the Palmer Children's Home, a local home here in Columbus. It far exceeded our $10,000 goal!6. Rob is doing wonderfully at work. While a lot of our friends are AF, and we all think our husbands are the greatest, I am especially proud of Rob for his hard work. It really seems to be reflecting on his OPR/ADP. For all you non-military types: it's translating really well on paper. What counts these days, right?! I don't mean to brag, but I figure if you spend all day at a place that you work, you might want to be told you're doing a good job every now and then! And you might want that one person to be your spouse, who stays at home with the kids and is thankful that she can do so.

This brings me to my closing. I think some of the reasons I have slacked in blogging is because of time. Time flying. Time coming to an end. Time. Time. Time. This is theoretically our last summer here. This might be our last child. I feel like I am losing time. It won't be long before Ben is in school all day. I still have a year, but it still freaks me out. Ben has officially spent his formative years in the south. I can't believe we left NM when he was only 15 months - that seems like an ETERNITY ago. I know that it isn't. I know that I have so many more parenting years to endure. But why does it still feel so fast? So I am relishing every moment with the kids, kind of living in a bubble, trying not to be anxious, trying not think beyond August (when we should hear about an assignment). Summers, let alone time, goes so fast.

If any of this has made you feel a little bit crazy like me, I promise I won't do it anymore. It's out of my system, I have said it out loud, it will not happen again. For this next week, while Ben is at VBS, I will attempt to go back a few months in time.

I hope this summer finds you all the times you need: summer breezes, Kodak moments, and a chance to smile and breathe all God's blessings.
Love,
Jenny