How to know whether you're ready for children or not.

I have received this as a forward some time ago, and I love it. So in honor of all those who are parents and/or are going to be parents, I thought this was quite true.

I remember how idealistic I was before I had children, and then I became a parent for real. And from time to time, I hear parenting advice from non-parents, and begin to close my mouth and think, "someday they will understand."

Enjoy!

MESS TEST
Smear peanut butter on the sofa and curtains. Place a fish stick behind the couch and leave it there all summer.

TOY TEST
Obtain a 55-gallon box of LEGOs (or you may substitute roofing tacks). Have a friend spread them all over the house. Put on a blindfold. Try to walk to the bathroom or kitchen. Do not scream because this would wake a child at night.

GROCERY STORE TEST
Borrow one or two small animals (goats are best) and take them with you as you shop. Always keep them in sight and pay for anything they eat or damage.

DRESSING TEST
Obtain one large, unhappy, live octopus. Stuff into a small net bag making sure that all the arms stay inside.

FEEDING TEST
Obtain a large plastic milk jug. Fill halfway with water. Suspend from the ceiling with a cord. Start the jug swinging. Try to insert spoonfuls of soggy cereal into the mouth of the jug, while pretending to be an airplane. Now dump the contents of the jug on the floor.

NIGHT TEST
Prepare by obtaining a small cloth bag and fill it with 8-12pounds of sand. Soak it thoroughly in water. At 3:00 p.m. begin to waltz and hum with the bag until 9:00 p.m. Lay down your bag and set your alarm for 10:00 p.m. Get up, pick up your bag, and sing every song you have ever heard. Make up about a dozen more and sing these too until 4:00 a. m. Set alarm for 5:00 a.m. Getup and make breakfast. Keep this up for 5 years. Look cheerful.

INGENUITY TEST
Take an egg carton. Using a pair of scissors and pot of paint,turn it into an alligator. Now take a toilet paper tube and turn it into an attractive Christmas candle. Use only scotch tape and a piece of foil. Last, take a milk carton, a Ping-Pong ball, and an empty box of Cocoa Puffs. Make an exact replica of the Eiffel Tower.

AUTOMOBILE TEST
Forget the BMW and buy a station wagon. Buy a chocolate ice cream cone and put it in the glove compartment. Leave it there. Get a dime. Stick it into the cassette player. Take a family size package of chocolate chip cookies. Mash them into the back seat. Run a garden rake along both sides of the car. There, perfect.

PHYSICAL TEST
(Women)Obtain a large bean bag chair and attach it to the front of your clothes. Leave it there for 9 months. Now remove 10 of the beans.

PHYSICAL TEST
(Men)Go to the nearest drug store. Set your wallet on the counter. Ask the clerk to help himself. Now proceed to the nearest food store. Go to the head office and arrange for your paycheck to be directly deposited to the store. Purchase a newspaper. Go home and read it quietly for the last time.

FINAL ASSIGNMENT
Find a couple who already have a small child. Lecture them on how they can improve their discipline, patience, tolerance, toilet-training and child's table manners. Suggest many ways they can improve. Emphasize to them that they should never allow their children to run wild. Enjoy this experience. It will be the last time you will have all the answers. :)

two miles.

So yesterday, I made it two miles in 19:18. Not too bad considering the circumstances I am in! :) And this morning, I am not even sore. Rob came home from work yesterday, so we headed up to the 2/3 mile track up in Caledonia. Rob was pushing Ben in the stroller, and was very good about not leaving me in the dust, while I kept telling him to just go, and not let me hold him up. He wouldn't leave me, which was quite humbling, because in my faster days, I can't say that I would do the same. Actually, I know that I wouldn't do the same. But, that is what I love about Rob. The last 10K we ran "together", he cut me loose, so I could place 2nd overall among the women. He ended up making great time anyway, he wasn't more than a minute behind me. And he, too, placed receiving 1st for men in his age group!

Recently, Ben has gotten really good at coloring, which is great, except that he gets frustrated now when he colors out of the lines! I guess ignorance really is bliss! So I color out of the lines to show him that it is OK and that "practice makes perfect". Anyway, there was a point in our run yesterday where I fell behind a little bit, and Ben kept asking Rob where I was. When I finally caught up - read Rob slowed down for me - Ben told me that "practice makes perfect". I loved that he sees that concept in other areas. And I definitely need to practice more! :)

airfare. air force style.

We are back from leave, and slowly getting in to the groove again. After traveling to SC to drop Ben off with his grandparents (Rob's parents), we spent a night in Savannah visiting the Winslows, and then took a Space A (Available) flight out of Charleston AFB on a C-17. Here are some pics. While there were minor setbacks, you can't much complain, since you don't pay a dime for the airfare (except $3.85 for a box lunch).


The C-17 Globemaster. On the way out to Mildenhall AB, England. We are the only two passengers on the plane.



At least we know we won't lose our luggage! :)





This was taken on the way back to the States from Ramstein AB, Germany. How we got to Germany from England is a whole other story. A much busier flight! The whole of it is that when we wanted to leave England, there were no flights leaving, so we flew commercially (also another story) from London Stansted to Frankfurt Hahn, and then shuttled over to Ramstein, where there is so many more flights available. While we were waiting to see if we could get on a flight we happened to meet the nephew and his wife (who had flown from Turkey to "hop" home to MS) of our previous home owners! Very weird to say the least.




Here is your boxed lunch...not bad for $3.85 USD - especially after we spent our USD in British pounds! :)

new carpet

Here are pictures of our new carpet!

so....

So, yesterday I was humbled a bit. I know that I'm pregnant and I'm so happy about it. But, yesterday something got me. Seeing thin, unpregnant, attractive women doesn't bother me. After all, I am pregnant and there is a child growing inside of me. Seeing girls that are pregnant with close due dates to me doesn't bother me. I have no qualms about losing the weight, I trust myself in that area and know my body and what works for me.

But yesterday marked the first day in exactly a month that I have taken a run. Ever since I got pregnant this time around, that became my biggest focus, and I wasn't concerned with running as much. I didn't stop all together, but let's just say I took it down a notch. I cut my average running distance in half to about two or three miles and added a good minute to my pace. As if that wasn't bad enough, I was only getting the opportunity a couple times a week. I really wasn't sweating it - literally and figuratively.

So yesterday I ran all of one and third miles....just short of DYING. I'd like to say I'm exaggerating, but I'm not. I have never felt my thighs burning that much until yesterday. I am surprised that my legs don't hurt more than they do this morning. I have seriously never felt my legs burn in pain like that. And I think I added another 30 seconds to my pace. The only thing I can attibute it to is lack of discipline in this area, and the extra 14 lbs I'm carrying around. That is roughly 13% or my body weight. What was weird, though, was that all the perceived problems I thought I would encounter never happened. What I thought was going to hinder me was my belly feeling in the way and my cardiovascular strength. My heart felt great, it was just the pair of legs it was stuck with. I am quite pleased, that my heart strength wasn't the problem, because that is one of the best things about running: cardiovascular strength.

Have I mentioned that my thighs were on FIRE?!

What is most humbling for me or any person is knowing that you were at a certain level of performance and knowing that you aren't anymore or right now. Isn't that the definition of humility?! Being taken down a peg or two or three or... I had thoughts of, "will I ever run like I did again?!" And thinking that there is no way possible, just by the state I was in yesterday.

And to think that Paula Radcliffe took her pace down from a 5:30 to a 6:30 mile when she was pregnant. Incredible. Oh, to be elite.

stimulus check.

So as was the purpose of this stimulus check, we have decided to get new carpet for the entire house. They are working on it today and tomorrow.

Lowe's has this great deal of $99 to install carpet in the whole house. So we purchased carpet and they are installing it right now! I will upload pictures soon. Unfortunately, they started in the our bedroom where the carpet was its worst, and I didn't take a picture of its hideousness. :)

Today also marks our last week home before we take a trip to Europe. Friday evening we will be driving to Rob's parents' house in SC. Ben is planning on spending the entire time with his Gram and Grandpop, while Rob and I travel Space A (which is like stand-by for the military). So like normal stand-by it requires flexibility and patience. But it is cheap and they will take us to somewhere in Europe (we just don't know WHERE in Europe yet).

I have to say that this is probably one of the most adventurous things I have done. And I know that some friends were surprised when I all of a sudden mentioned we were leaving the country. I honestly didn't think that this trip was going to happen anytime soon, only to find out that the husband had still been planning on it.

We're excited, and I'm a little nervous to leave Ben. We have left him in good hands before, but never to leave the continent. Please keep us in your prayers for health and safety. Never before in my life, have those two specific things meant so much to me - I guess those things become so much more important when you obtain your own family.

We'll let you know how this fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants thing goes!

a defining moment.

A hamburger bun or a hot dog?

We wanted to announce that we are having a girl!

There isn't much else to say except that we're excited. Rob's a little fearful, but none-the-less, excited! It seems we have already had parenting talks about a teenage girl already in the doctor's office, along with future visits to the shooting range.

The shot we got of her anatomy seemed to be much more obvious than with Ben's. This is not to embarrass our son. But the main difference I can see here, is that Ben's was taken at 25 weeks versus this pregnancy's almost 17 weeks. There is a two month difference in finding out. And while the Ben was bigger when we found out, there was also less room to capture the shot.

This little girl of ours was in what was said to be the perfect position to be able to tell. Sitting, with her legs spread well enough for the world to see. Or at least her excited parents!