On the mushy note:
I have so much to be thankful for this year.
I love and am loved by a God who saved me.
I have an amazing husband who has an awesome job that's going to give our family so many great experiences over the years. I have a wonderful four year old son who has survived so much in his short life thus far, and has given me so much joy.
We've been through a lot in the last 28 1/2 years, but love is still present in our family. I'm thankful that I have a mom, dad, and sister that love me and I love back. Also, who can forget the Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, and Cousins-in-law that fill my life with joy whenever I see them. For the last eight years I've had a family-in-law that I love.
I'm thankful for my friends. I've made many friends over the years. Some of them I still have. One of my friends I've known since I was about three years old. Some of my best friends I've known for only two years.
All of you put joy into my life. I hope I do the same.
On the practical note:
My brother-in-law and his wife came into town late Tuesday night and we got to hang out with them yesterday. My mother and father-in-law arrive in about three hours and we'll have the whole family together. It's pretty rare for us to have this. In fact, we remembered last night that we were together at the end of January, beginning of February. It's really, really rare for all of us to be together two times in a year.
We're having a turkey, green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole, stove top (a family fav), corn, mashed potatoes, rolls, cranberries, and the must have, olives and pickles. It's nothing fancy, and I hope I do it right. My mother-in-law is bringing her pecan pie (John's favorite), and I'm going to ask her to make the gravy. I don't eat gravy, so I've never made it, and I don't want to wreck it for those who do enjoy gravy with their potatoes.
Anywho...Have a happy Thanksgiving everyone!!
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Monday, November 23, 2009
4 Years
Today we celebrate four years of Malachi's life. What an interesting year we've had. I saw someone else do this and thought it would be a great idea. So here's my letter to Malachi.
Dear Malachi,
Today you turn four years old. You've grown and matured so much this year. You grow so often that people frequently say that you've grown since they last saw you - even if it's only been a couple of weeks. The transition to 4T clothes happened before your birthday which is a first in your life.
We've had some adventures the last few months of your life. On May 23rd while you were visiting Grandma and Grandpa in MN you had your first seizure. After a trip to the ER, some blood work and a CT they couldn't find anything wrong. After coming home and following up with your pediatrician we decided to not worry about it. 10 days later you had another one while my good friend Melissa was babysitting. Another trip to the Dr's office and we decided you needed to see a Pediatric Neurologist. But by this time we were three weeks away from our move to North Virginia for daddy's new job as a Foreign Service Officer.
After our three day drive to our new home (you were a champ by the way) and settling in you had three more grand mal seizures. You also had three partial seizures where you would throw all limbs out and your head back. It would only last a few seconds and the grand mal ones lasted 1 1/2 minutes to 4 minutes. We did finally get in to have an EEG done but I couldn't get in to an actual appointment with a Neurologist.
On July 8th after the four minute seizure I called 911. It was the longest one you'd ever had, plus your post-ictal period was 30 minutes long instead of the normal 5 with vomiting and blue around your lips. Neither of those things had happened before.
We got to the hospital and by the time we were in the ER the Dr's and Nurses were very confused because you were acting like a normal 3 1/2 year old boy. The on call neurologist requested you be admitted, so you were sent up to the Children's floor at the hospital. You were treated very well, the Dr's were very thorough, and you had quite a bit of testing done. You had an over night EEG. The application of the leeds for this test took three hours and was quite traumatic for you. To this day you still get sensitive when people touch your head. You also had an MRI which you were put under general anesthesia for. You had an EKG which was normal. All of your tests were normal. You passed everything with flying colors. Even when the neurologist did her exam she couldn't find anything wrong.
You were prescribed some medicine, Keppra, that we give you two times a day. You were released and we came home. That seizure on the 8th of July was the last one you had. We're now celebrating 4 1/2 months of you being seizure free!
You've adjusted very well to being in North Virginia. You always make friends quickly. You're very outgoing so you'll walk up to kids and ask them to play. You've also won the hearts of many of daddy's classmates being voted the unofficial class mascot of the 146th A-100 class.
I'm pregnant with your little brother right now and you're already a sweet older brother. You talk to him, "pet" him, and love on him already. You have a very tender heart, you're so sensitive. Usually your sensitivity is directed towards the people you love. If you're told that some one's coming over and they end up having to cancel it brings you to tears. It also makes you cry when people don't sit next to you in the car.
You are so, so smart Malachi. I have to give daddy the credit for this. He's always teaching you. At this age though, your curiosity is quite apparent. You very, very frequently ask us why or how something works. You'll ask us to explain it a couple of times even. Then a couple of days later, you might explain to us how that thing works. Everyone who knows you, knows you are smart.
Life with you is amazing. We love being your parents and I love being your mom. You are amazing Malachi and I love you so much.
Dear Malachi,
Today you turn four years old. You've grown and matured so much this year. You grow so often that people frequently say that you've grown since they last saw you - even if it's only been a couple of weeks. The transition to 4T clothes happened before your birthday which is a first in your life.
We've had some adventures the last few months of your life. On May 23rd while you were visiting Grandma and Grandpa in MN you had your first seizure. After a trip to the ER, some blood work and a CT they couldn't find anything wrong. After coming home and following up with your pediatrician we decided to not worry about it. 10 days later you had another one while my good friend Melissa was babysitting. Another trip to the Dr's office and we decided you needed to see a Pediatric Neurologist. But by this time we were three weeks away from our move to North Virginia for daddy's new job as a Foreign Service Officer.
After our three day drive to our new home (you were a champ by the way) and settling in you had three more grand mal seizures. You also had three partial seizures where you would throw all limbs out and your head back. It would only last a few seconds and the grand mal ones lasted 1 1/2 minutes to 4 minutes. We did finally get in to have an EEG done but I couldn't get in to an actual appointment with a Neurologist.
On July 8th after the four minute seizure I called 911. It was the longest one you'd ever had, plus your post-ictal period was 30 minutes long instead of the normal 5 with vomiting and blue around your lips. Neither of those things had happened before.
We got to the hospital and by the time we were in the ER the Dr's and Nurses were very confused because you were acting like a normal 3 1/2 year old boy. The on call neurologist requested you be admitted, so you were sent up to the Children's floor at the hospital. You were treated very well, the Dr's were very thorough, and you had quite a bit of testing done. You had an over night EEG. The application of the leeds for this test took three hours and was quite traumatic for you. To this day you still get sensitive when people touch your head. You also had an MRI which you were put under general anesthesia for. You had an EKG which was normal. All of your tests were normal. You passed everything with flying colors. Even when the neurologist did her exam she couldn't find anything wrong.
You were prescribed some medicine, Keppra, that we give you two times a day. You were released and we came home. That seizure on the 8th of July was the last one you had. We're now celebrating 4 1/2 months of you being seizure free!
You've adjusted very well to being in North Virginia. You always make friends quickly. You're very outgoing so you'll walk up to kids and ask them to play. You've also won the hearts of many of daddy's classmates being voted the unofficial class mascot of the 146th A-100 class.
I'm pregnant with your little brother right now and you're already a sweet older brother. You talk to him, "pet" him, and love on him already. You have a very tender heart, you're so sensitive. Usually your sensitivity is directed towards the people you love. If you're told that some one's coming over and they end up having to cancel it brings you to tears. It also makes you cry when people don't sit next to you in the car.
You are so, so smart Malachi. I have to give daddy the credit for this. He's always teaching you. At this age though, your curiosity is quite apparent. You very, very frequently ask us why or how something works. You'll ask us to explain it a couple of times even. Then a couple of days later, you might explain to us how that thing works. Everyone who knows you, knows you are smart.
Life with you is amazing. We love being your parents and I love being your mom. You are amazing Malachi and I love you so much.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
27 Weeks
Yesterday I went to the Dr. to have my check up. I had to go half an hour early because it was my glucose test appointment. So on a day when I wanted to sleep in, I got up before 7am. Malachi and I left at 7:30 to get there in time. I drank their fruit punch sugar drink and we sat in the waiting room until my appointment.
At my appointment I met with the last Dr. of the group. It was interesting to see him in the office because I'dve only ever seen him in the hospital. He happened to be on duty both times I went in. He answered my questions, we listened to the baby's heart beat, and Malachi helped him measure my uterus (to check on the baby's growth). Everything sounded and looked good. I'll get a call tomorrow if there's anything wrong with the glucose test. If I don't get a call, then I know I don't have gestational diabetes.
27 weeks along in my pregnancy means that I have 13 weeks or fewer left of my pregnancy. 13 weeks really isn't a very long time. I'm so excited to meet the little boy inside me. On the other hand, I'm a little frightened of having an infant again. It's been so long since I've had one. A couple of months ago when I was holding my friends infant it felt so small and weird. I couldn't really remember how to hold one. People tell me it will all come back quickly, I hope it does.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Surprise!
A couple of weeks ago John and I were invited to a dessert party taking place on the 13th at a friends house. We didn't have any plans and I thought that sounded pretty fun (and delicious). We planned on it and when our friend Sam was taking care of Malachi during the anniversary celebration she put it on the calendar for us to make sure we didn't forget. Friday night John and Malachi made a delicious dump cake and we made our way over to Lynn's place. When we walked in the door everyone was looking at us and they yelled "SURPRISE!!!" My initial reaction was that of confusion and when I saw the pile of presents in the middle of the room I knew it was a surprise baby shower for John and I. It was so sweet!!
Unfortunately I didn't have a camera with me so I have no pictures, but a friend did and when I get a hold of them I'll have to share. There were desserts as promised as well as a wonderful pomegranate cheese with crackers and a fruit platter that Malachi went straight for. John and Malachi's dump cake was a huge hit and many people asked for the recipe.
The hostess put together three shower games that were Foreign Service Baby Shower games. In each of them Secretary Clinton gave us an assignment, one assignment was to name the baby using places she's been and people she's met. The night's favorite was Pakistanly ConGen Roy. The second game was to plan out our next seven posts to make sure that the Roy Boys got a lot of Global Exposure and good education through their lives. John didn't take part in that one, but was surprised by all the employment advancements that he made and on my plan he even got Ambassador!
After the second game, they encouraged us to open presents and who can say no to that! All of the presents were from all of our friends who were present and they told me I had to open the small boxes first. So I did and we got the little robe and booties set that I registered for as well as some matching wash cloths. Then I grabbed what I thought was going to be a bath tub and instead opened the body of the stroller that we registered for!! I was so excited! All the other presents (three more) were parts of the stroller (wheels in one bag, front wheel portion with the basket that goes under the stroller in another bag, and in the big box was the tray for the baby, the toy for the tray, and the hub caps for the rear tires). Yay Stroller!!! I'm so excited for that! John put it loosely together before we left so everyone could see it together and we let Malachi ride home in it. It's a big stroller! Malachi fit in it just fine. but what I like about it is that the back reclines so that we can put an infant in it that's not sitting.
While John was putting the stroller together they played the last game. The assignment from Secretary Clinton was to suggest words to us that we could repeat to the baby to make them the first words instead of simple words like mama and dada. We had some great suggestions in Chinese, Spanish, Malay, Korean, Arabic, and Hindi. Ahh the Foreign Service!
Both John and I were sincerely and very surprised, they did a great job of keeping it a secret. We're so happy and so blessed to have the friends here that we do. It makes being away from friends and family that much easier.
Unfortunately I didn't have a camera with me so I have no pictures, but a friend did and when I get a hold of them I'll have to share. There were desserts as promised as well as a wonderful pomegranate cheese with crackers and a fruit platter that Malachi went straight for. John and Malachi's dump cake was a huge hit and many people asked for the recipe.
The hostess put together three shower games that were Foreign Service Baby Shower games. In each of them Secretary Clinton gave us an assignment, one assignment was to name the baby using places she's been and people she's met. The night's favorite was Pakistanly ConGen Roy. The second game was to plan out our next seven posts to make sure that the Roy Boys got a lot of Global Exposure and good education through their lives. John didn't take part in that one, but was surprised by all the employment advancements that he made and on my plan he even got Ambassador!
After the second game, they encouraged us to open presents and who can say no to that! All of the presents were from all of our friends who were present and they told me I had to open the small boxes first. So I did and we got the little robe and booties set that I registered for as well as some matching wash cloths. Then I grabbed what I thought was going to be a bath tub and instead opened the body of the stroller that we registered for!! I was so excited! All the other presents (three more) were parts of the stroller (wheels in one bag, front wheel portion with the basket that goes under the stroller in another bag, and in the big box was the tray for the baby, the toy for the tray, and the hub caps for the rear tires). Yay Stroller!!! I'm so excited for that! John put it loosely together before we left so everyone could see it together and we let Malachi ride home in it. It's a big stroller! Malachi fit in it just fine. but what I like about it is that the back reclines so that we can put an infant in it that's not sitting.
While John was putting the stroller together they played the last game. The assignment from Secretary Clinton was to suggest words to us that we could repeat to the baby to make them the first words instead of simple words like mama and dada. We had some great suggestions in Chinese, Spanish, Malay, Korean, Arabic, and Hindi. Ahh the Foreign Service!
Both John and I were sincerely and very surprised, they did a great job of keeping it a secret. We're so happy and so blessed to have the friends here that we do. It makes being away from friends and family that much easier.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Exhausted
I've been regretting this part of my return to home. On Monday night and Tuesday morning/afternoon I didn't feel like doing anything, so I didn't do anything - including the blog. We (Malachi and I) were in Dallas for almost five days and we were pretty busy. Most of it was just hanging out with friends - we both had a great time doing that. I'll try to make this summary quick.
Thursday: Malachi was an angel the whole day of travel (about 8 hours from door to door). I kept him pretty occupied with books and snacks and his toys on the first flight. We got in to Memphis a little early and had time for bathroom breaks and some phone calls. I made Malachi sleep on the next flight and tried to sleep but couldn't get comfortable so I read. We got to Dallas, got the rental car and headed to our friend's (wonderful Don and Rosanne) house. Another friend, Danielle, was there with her kids, one of them being one of Malachi's best friends. Then another friend of mine, Ginger, joined us after a little bit. They wanted to be there to support me because they had some bad news. They had to change the time and day of the shower due to a funeral for the father of a friend of ours. I certainly understood and wasn't nearly as disappointed as they thought I would be. We had a great time of playing catch up. Loved it!
Friday: Rosanne let me sleep in an hour while she and Malachi hung out. We didn't have any plans until 11, so we spent the morning chillaxin. At 11 we met a friend at Chick-fil-A. We don't have CFA here, so we were both very excited to have it! It was a lot of fun to catch up with Sam and hear about their new adventures. I meant to make plans for Friday and I did try, but it didn't work out. We ended up just hanging out at Rosanne's house. Danielle and her kids came over again so they played while we did more resting. I was still exhausted from the previous day of travels.
Saturday: John left DC at about 6am to come to Dallas for the weekend. We had breakfast plans in Dallas with our friend Holly. I was so excited to see her. After we got back "home" from breakfast we left to go back to Dallas to get a couple of friends, Cassie and Sarah, for a mini-shower because they couldn't make it to the re-scheduled one. We met another friend, Cassi (yes that's right, at the table sat Cassie, Cassi, Sarah and Sara), coming from Austin at a Mexican restaurant. That just happened to be the restaurant that John and his friend Chris had gone to. They had been there for just a few minutes when we walked in and went to our own table. We all said hi and then went back to our separate tables. The girls had a great time playing catch up and eating delicious Mexican food. The boys did to as far as I can tell. After lunch I brought Sarah home and met John, Chris, Holly (yes they're married) and their one month old son Stephen at Starbucks. We sat with them for at least an hour just talking and hanging out. It was a lot of fun, and Stephen was awesome. He just laid there in his mama's arms sleeping the whole time. Afterwards John and I passed a little time waiting for another time of hanging out with some friends. Eventually we made our way over to Cassie and Jason's house. Cassie, Cassi, Jason, Sarah, Ival, Isaac, John, and I spent a few hours that night catching up and having a great time. People started getting tired (three pregnant ladies!) so we left around 8:30. John and I put Malachi to bed right away and hung out with Don and Rosanne for almost three hours talking. More catching up!
Sunday: Church day! We were so excited to go to church and hear our Pastor speak. Malachi enjoyed his time at church with his old friends and so did we. I cried through out church because I missed it so much. After church we had lunch at our favorite after lunch spot with some friends. We went to Target for a short time then made our way over to my shower. The ladies had put together an awesome shower and I had a great time. I was so blessed by those who put together my shower and by all who came. John and I went from the shower to visit our friends Raul and Valerie. We hung out with them for a little bit and then went to dinner at one of our favorite BBQ places. I dropped John off at the airport so he could do homework and went do Don and Rosanne's. They were having a home group meeting so Malachi and I went to my room and I started packing. They finished their meeting and I went to visit with people I still hadn't seen. I stayed up to watch the Cowboys beat Philly.
Monday: I woke up excited to return home. Being excited for my return home made the morning happen kind of slowly. Ginger and her daughter came over for our last morning. Malachi and Rachel played nicely while the adults stayed in the living room and talked. Malachi and I left at 10 for the airport. I had to return the car, ride the bus, check the car seat, get through security and get us some food by 12:00 and I made it. Malachi had a pretty rough day this time. He was completely exhausted by this time from the lack of naps and the super busy-ness that this weekend was. Happily for me we got on the second plane and he fell asleep during the safety announcements. He slept almost the whole flight. It caused a bit of soreness for me, but it was a great break too. John met us at the airport and I was so happy to see him! Even though he came to Dallas, the time spent apart sucked.
Tuesday: Woke up with John and wished him a Happy Anniversary. We were celebrating 8 years of marriage on Tuesday. He gave me an awesome card - seriously hilarious. Then he handed me a second one. It was a gift card for a pregnancy massage, I'm very, very excited for it. Unfortunately I had forgotten to get him a card and I didn't know he was getting me a present so I didn't get him one. I was totally being lame. John went to work that morning and I tried to rest while doing things to get ready for the night throughout the day. Showering, doing hair, make-up and packing were almost all done by the time John got home from work. At 4:30 our friend came over to stay with Malachi that night.
We made our way to the hotel where I pulled out the pregnancy and anniversary cards and got us an upgrade to a Jr. King Suite. It was like a regular hotel room, but bigger. The size was great. We had some time to kill before going to dinner so we sat down to enjoy some TV and there was a knock on the door. The gentleman who checked us in and gave the suite to us sent up some champagne and chocolate covered strawberries with raspberry dipping sauce. It was delicious. I toasted our anniversary with him with a sip of champagne. We took a taxi to our restaurant and ended up there half an hour early, but they were very accommodating and sat us right away. When I made the reservation I told them it was our anniversary and I'd like a view of the capital. They were quite good at fulfilling this request. Unfortunately there was a large tree between us and the capital and I could only see white spots through the tree. I guess in a couple of months when all of the leaves are gone it'll be visible. Dinner was delicious! I've really been into potatoes lately so I think my favorite part of the dinner was the Yukon Gold Potato Puree. I totally over ate on the Puree. Then we ordered a very decadent chocolate dessert. Then our waiter brought us over another dessert, he said it was for the baby. We will totaly recommend this restaurant to anyone who wants a good steak dinner.
After dinner we made our way back to our apartment complex to a goodbye party for a friend. I didn't think I could make it through a movie so we decided to do this. She's moving to London on Monday, and I didn't want to miss saying good bye to her. We stayed for about 20 minutes before I started wilting. We headed back to the hotel and went almost immediately to bed. We got to sleep until 8am the next morning! That's not a huge deal, but we got 9 hours of sleep. It was awesome! We had breakfast at the buffet at the hotel and checked out. We made our way over to the Spy Museum. We had a ton of fun there! I also recommend this to anyone visiting the area. After that we headed home. We had a very fun time celebrating our 8 years together.
Ok, so this is probably the length of a short story. Hope it didn't put you to sleep.
Thursday: Malachi was an angel the whole day of travel (about 8 hours from door to door). I kept him pretty occupied with books and snacks and his toys on the first flight. We got in to Memphis a little early and had time for bathroom breaks and some phone calls. I made Malachi sleep on the next flight and tried to sleep but couldn't get comfortable so I read. We got to Dallas, got the rental car and headed to our friend's (wonderful Don and Rosanne) house. Another friend, Danielle, was there with her kids, one of them being one of Malachi's best friends. Then another friend of mine, Ginger, joined us after a little bit. They wanted to be there to support me because they had some bad news. They had to change the time and day of the shower due to a funeral for the father of a friend of ours. I certainly understood and wasn't nearly as disappointed as they thought I would be. We had a great time of playing catch up. Loved it!
Friday: Rosanne let me sleep in an hour while she and Malachi hung out. We didn't have any plans until 11, so we spent the morning chillaxin. At 11 we met a friend at Chick-fil-A. We don't have CFA here, so we were both very excited to have it! It was a lot of fun to catch up with Sam and hear about their new adventures. I meant to make plans for Friday and I did try, but it didn't work out. We ended up just hanging out at Rosanne's house. Danielle and her kids came over again so they played while we did more resting. I was still exhausted from the previous day of travels.
Saturday: John left DC at about 6am to come to Dallas for the weekend. We had breakfast plans in Dallas with our friend Holly. I was so excited to see her. After we got back "home" from breakfast we left to go back to Dallas to get a couple of friends, Cassie and Sarah, for a mini-shower because they couldn't make it to the re-scheduled one. We met another friend, Cassi (yes that's right, at the table sat Cassie, Cassi, Sarah and Sara), coming from Austin at a Mexican restaurant. That just happened to be the restaurant that John and his friend Chris had gone to. They had been there for just a few minutes when we walked in and went to our own table. We all said hi and then went back to our separate tables. The girls had a great time playing catch up and eating delicious Mexican food. The boys did to as far as I can tell. After lunch I brought Sarah home and met John, Chris, Holly (yes they're married) and their one month old son Stephen at Starbucks. We sat with them for at least an hour just talking and hanging out. It was a lot of fun, and Stephen was awesome. He just laid there in his mama's arms sleeping the whole time. Afterwards John and I passed a little time waiting for another time of hanging out with some friends. Eventually we made our way over to Cassie and Jason's house. Cassie, Cassi, Jason, Sarah, Ival, Isaac, John, and I spent a few hours that night catching up and having a great time. People started getting tired (three pregnant ladies!) so we left around 8:30. John and I put Malachi to bed right away and hung out with Don and Rosanne for almost three hours talking. More catching up!
Sunday: Church day! We were so excited to go to church and hear our Pastor speak. Malachi enjoyed his time at church with his old friends and so did we. I cried through out church because I missed it so much. After church we had lunch at our favorite after lunch spot with some friends. We went to Target for a short time then made our way over to my shower. The ladies had put together an awesome shower and I had a great time. I was so blessed by those who put together my shower and by all who came. John and I went from the shower to visit our friends Raul and Valerie. We hung out with them for a little bit and then went to dinner at one of our favorite BBQ places. I dropped John off at the airport so he could do homework and went do Don and Rosanne's. They were having a home group meeting so Malachi and I went to my room and I started packing. They finished their meeting and I went to visit with people I still hadn't seen. I stayed up to watch the Cowboys beat Philly.
Monday: I woke up excited to return home. Being excited for my return home made the morning happen kind of slowly. Ginger and her daughter came over for our last morning. Malachi and Rachel played nicely while the adults stayed in the living room and talked. Malachi and I left at 10 for the airport. I had to return the car, ride the bus, check the car seat, get through security and get us some food by 12:00 and I made it. Malachi had a pretty rough day this time. He was completely exhausted by this time from the lack of naps and the super busy-ness that this weekend was. Happily for me we got on the second plane and he fell asleep during the safety announcements. He slept almost the whole flight. It caused a bit of soreness for me, but it was a great break too. John met us at the airport and I was so happy to see him! Even though he came to Dallas, the time spent apart sucked.
Tuesday: Woke up with John and wished him a Happy Anniversary. We were celebrating 8 years of marriage on Tuesday. He gave me an awesome card - seriously hilarious. Then he handed me a second one. It was a gift card for a pregnancy massage, I'm very, very excited for it. Unfortunately I had forgotten to get him a card and I didn't know he was getting me a present so I didn't get him one. I was totally being lame. John went to work that morning and I tried to rest while doing things to get ready for the night throughout the day. Showering, doing hair, make-up and packing were almost all done by the time John got home from work. At 4:30 our friend came over to stay with Malachi that night.
We made our way to the hotel where I pulled out the pregnancy and anniversary cards and got us an upgrade to a Jr. King Suite. It was like a regular hotel room, but bigger. The size was great. We had some time to kill before going to dinner so we sat down to enjoy some TV and there was a knock on the door. The gentleman who checked us in and gave the suite to us sent up some champagne and chocolate covered strawberries with raspberry dipping sauce. It was delicious. I toasted our anniversary with him with a sip of champagne. We took a taxi to our restaurant and ended up there half an hour early, but they were very accommodating and sat us right away. When I made the reservation I told them it was our anniversary and I'd like a view of the capital. They were quite good at fulfilling this request. Unfortunately there was a large tree between us and the capital and I could only see white spots through the tree. I guess in a couple of months when all of the leaves are gone it'll be visible. Dinner was delicious! I've really been into potatoes lately so I think my favorite part of the dinner was the Yukon Gold Potato Puree. I totally over ate on the Puree. Then we ordered a very decadent chocolate dessert. Then our waiter brought us over another dessert, he said it was for the baby. We will totaly recommend this restaurant to anyone who wants a good steak dinner.
After dinner we made our way back to our apartment complex to a goodbye party for a friend. I didn't think I could make it through a movie so we decided to do this. She's moving to London on Monday, and I didn't want to miss saying good bye to her. We stayed for about 20 minutes before I started wilting. We headed back to the hotel and went almost immediately to bed. We got to sleep until 8am the next morning! That's not a huge deal, but we got 9 hours of sleep. It was awesome! We had breakfast at the buffet at the hotel and checked out. We made our way over to the Spy Museum. We had a ton of fun there! I also recommend this to anyone visiting the area. After that we headed home. We had a very fun time celebrating our 8 years together.
Ok, so this is probably the length of a short story. Hope it didn't put you to sleep.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Tres Horas
Last night I only got three hours of sleep. I have this horrible, horrible habit to stay up when I have something really exciting going on the next day. Luckily until I get to Dallas I only have to do about 10 minutes of driving. John can do the rest.
Malachi and I are both super, super excited to see our friends this weekend. We've been talking about going to church and all the friends he gets to see. I hope some of those friends come to the baby shower on Saturday so he can see them more than once. I really miss having those friends for him and I really miss the connections that I built in Dallas. I've made a few friends here, but non that have the connection that I have so with many wonderful women in Dallas.
Our first flight leaves at 11:30 this morning. We have a connection in Memphis and arrive in Dallas at 3:50pm. I'm checking his car seat (for free, yay!) so after getting that from baggage claim and getting the car I rented I figure that I wont get to my friends house that I'm staying at until about 6:00. I think we'll just have dinner with them and chill there tonight. I have a feeling I'm going to be even more exhausted than I am now. I also expect to have some soreness.
GAH! I'm so excited!!!! I'm leaving my apartment in a little over an hour, so I guess I better be getting ready. :) See you later Dallas!!
Malachi and I are both super, super excited to see our friends this weekend. We've been talking about going to church and all the friends he gets to see. I hope some of those friends come to the baby shower on Saturday so he can see them more than once. I really miss having those friends for him and I really miss the connections that I built in Dallas. I've made a few friends here, but non that have the connection that I have so with many wonderful women in Dallas.
Our first flight leaves at 11:30 this morning. We have a connection in Memphis and arrive in Dallas at 3:50pm. I'm checking his car seat (for free, yay!) so after getting that from baggage claim and getting the car I rented I figure that I wont get to my friends house that I'm staying at until about 6:00. I think we'll just have dinner with them and chill there tonight. I have a feeling I'm going to be even more exhausted than I am now. I also expect to have some soreness.
GAH! I'm so excited!!!! I'm leaving my apartment in a little over an hour, so I guess I better be getting ready. :) See you later Dallas!!
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
tidbits
Because my life is so crazy with out being crazy (where does the time go? what do I actually do with my time?) my blog entries tend to be long, especially when I wait a week to update. So I decided that this time, I'm going to forgo the details and do tidbits.
Shots - Malachi and I have been perfectly fine over the last week. Neither of us have shown any signs of flu or colds even. I'm hoping this means that the H1N1 vaccine will work for us, but we'll see. We have the rest of the season to make sure we don't get it. John and I are trying to be wise about where we go with Malachi with out going over board with it.
Foreign Service Life - John's schedule changed effective yesterday. He now works 8-2 instead of 10-4. That means on admin days (sporadic Wednesdays when they have half days) he's off at 10 instead of 12. It was so awesome yesterday when he got home before I put Malachi down for his nap. Mom and dad had some extra child-free time during the day, it was almost like a weekend day. Tomorrow just happens to be an admin day and we're going to go downtown to the building affectionately known as Main State and go to the Passport Office to go get pictures taken and apply for passports. Malachi and I can't apply for Diplomatic Passports yet because we don't have travel orders yet but we all need our regular passports (for all non official travel) because Malachi's never been out of country and mind and John's expired last year or earlier this year. It feels like forever since we've been out of country!
Travel (in country) - Malachi and I are leaving for Dallas in less than 48 hours woohoo!! I'm so excited to go "home." I'm even more excited that John's joining us on Saturday to see some of his friends and so that we can go to FOJ as a family on Sunday morning. He got a late flight on Sunday night so it gives us all of Sunday together too. Unfortunately since our trips are short, I'm having a very, very hard time figuring out how to spend my time. John has a ride from the airport and is going to hang out with one of his best friends for brunch. Funny (short) story: I'm going to breakfast with said friend's wife earlier that day. That breakfast, my shower, and church on Sunday are my only set plans. So if you're a good friend expect a call or an email today or tomorrow to plan something during my time there.
Pregnancy - 25 Weeks today! This is the first day of my last trimester and the pregnancy is going pretty well! I have some aches and pains here and there but I push through them. I've been having a hard time the last couple of weeks not over doing it. I know that will be a huge issue this weekend in Dallas, but I'll try to get rest. John has been amazing to me the last few weeks. He's taking care of Malachi so much and cooking so much, it's awesome. He's been such a good husband, such a blessing to me.
Halloween - We had a great time this year! This was Malachi's first year to go trick-or-treating for real. His Pirate costume was a big hit. He got a ton of candy in about an hour and a half of 'treating and he's been very nicely sharing with mommy and daddy. John and I had a lot of fun as parents watching him do things that we did as kids. Next year we'll be at the embassy doing embassy parties and embassy style trick-or-treating which is different at different embassies/consolates.
How'd I do? I think I might have gotten into to much detail on some of those, but oh well. I think the format breaks it up enough to make it easier to read.
Shots - Malachi and I have been perfectly fine over the last week. Neither of us have shown any signs of flu or colds even. I'm hoping this means that the H1N1 vaccine will work for us, but we'll see. We have the rest of the season to make sure we don't get it. John and I are trying to be wise about where we go with Malachi with out going over board with it.
Foreign Service Life - John's schedule changed effective yesterday. He now works 8-2 instead of 10-4. That means on admin days (sporadic Wednesdays when they have half days) he's off at 10 instead of 12. It was so awesome yesterday when he got home before I put Malachi down for his nap. Mom and dad had some extra child-free time during the day, it was almost like a weekend day. Tomorrow just happens to be an admin day and we're going to go downtown to the building affectionately known as Main State and go to the Passport Office to go get pictures taken and apply for passports. Malachi and I can't apply for Diplomatic Passports yet because we don't have travel orders yet but we all need our regular passports (for all non official travel) because Malachi's never been out of country and mind and John's expired last year or earlier this year. It feels like forever since we've been out of country!
Travel (in country) - Malachi and I are leaving for Dallas in less than 48 hours woohoo!! I'm so excited to go "home." I'm even more excited that John's joining us on Saturday to see some of his friends and so that we can go to FOJ as a family on Sunday morning. He got a late flight on Sunday night so it gives us all of Sunday together too. Unfortunately since our trips are short, I'm having a very, very hard time figuring out how to spend my time. John has a ride from the airport and is going to hang out with one of his best friends for brunch. Funny (short) story: I'm going to breakfast with said friend's wife earlier that day. That breakfast, my shower, and church on Sunday are my only set plans. So if you're a good friend expect a call or an email today or tomorrow to plan something during my time there.
Pregnancy - 25 Weeks today! This is the first day of my last trimester and the pregnancy is going pretty well! I have some aches and pains here and there but I push through them. I've been having a hard time the last couple of weeks not over doing it. I know that will be a huge issue this weekend in Dallas, but I'll try to get rest. John has been amazing to me the last few weeks. He's taking care of Malachi so much and cooking so much, it's awesome. He's been such a good husband, such a blessing to me.
Halloween - We had a great time this year! This was Malachi's first year to go trick-or-treating for real. His Pirate costume was a big hit. He got a ton of candy in about an hour and a half of 'treating and he's been very nicely sharing with mommy and daddy. John and I had a lot of fun as parents watching him do things that we did as kids. Next year we'll be at the embassy doing embassy parties and embassy style trick-or-treating which is different at different embassies/consolates.
How'd I do? I think I might have gotten into to much detail on some of those, but oh well. I think the format breaks it up enough to make it easier to read.
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