Day 134

Today started out great! My hubby called me and told me he was going to hook up his webcam so we could try to see each other today. He went back to his room and hooked everything up and we were able to visit with each other for a little while. When he was in Iraq, our only communication was via webcam. It was just the simplist and easiest for him. But this time he has access to a phone daily so we haven't tried the webcam yet. I just sent it over a couple of weeks ago and we tried it out for the first time today. It was great getting to see him. Oh how I miss you dear! The kids enjoyed seeing Abrahm and showing off for him. It took Alden a little while to understand that we were actually seeing Daddy live. Adalee just hammed it up for him. Technology is wonderful. Each day we talk, or email or now use the webcam, makes me feel so blessed. I think back to Vietnam or even the beginning of this war and communication was so sparse. Now if I need to get his advice or just hear his voice, I can just about instantly (well maybe not that quickly).

After chatting with Daddy, we headed out to our follow up doctor's appointment for Alden. We saw the doctor that we had a hard time with Adalee with. His name was in a letter Abrahm wrote to the hospital commander a while back. The past 2 visits with him, he has bent over backwards to be accommodating. He was very thorough and even apologized for our confusion on Wednesday when his PA was seeing us. He said that today Alden had a yucky ear infection. So he gave him antibiotics and sent us on our way.

This afternoon we had to be home for the air conditioning guys to come. So we spent the afternoon outside working in the yard and garden. My garden has had a rough start. It seems we have a bunny or two that think my garden is like manna sent from heaven. He (or they) have eaten my broccoli, peas, zucchini and cucumber plants. He's gnawed on my parsley as well. I think my broccoli is a lost cause now, but my peas seem to be thriving. I am going to put up a trellis for them tomorrow. A couple of my zucchini plants are looking good and my cucumbers are trying to come back. So we'll see how it goes. My tomatoes are doing nicely as well as the corn. If anyone has any suggestions for keeping bunnies out of the garden (besides fencing the whole thing or shooting it!) I'd love to hear the ideas.


Guess who we got to see today?
We were able to visit with Abrahm using the webcam for a while this morning! Yea!!!!

The kids sitting in the chair talking to Daddy

My garden as of today

It looks like my snow pea plants may make a comeback after being chewed up by the bunnies

A closeup of my corn

One of the two zucchini plants the bunny hasn't eaten yet

Some of our cherry tomatoes

One of the broccoli stalks that the bunny didn't eat

Our grape vines

The beginning of our grapes

Days 132 and 133

It's been a long couple of days and I am heading to bed. We've had sick little ones around her the past couple of days. We've been to the doctor on Post for Alden and Vanderbilt for Adalee. Alden has had a cough/cold for over a week now. Since he isn't getting better and has asthma I just wanted him to be checked out to make sure. I'll bore you with the details of the appointment but we walked out with a decongestant and an order to double his antihistamine. I have been giving him the decongestant, but figured doubling an already high does of Zyrtec probably isn't the best idea. He's still congested, but he's no worse. We go back for a recheck tomorrow.

Adalee started coughing and getting terribly congested yesterday. She was having a hard time breathing. I called her doctor in Vanderbilt and she walked me through what to do and had me bring in Adalee today. Long story short, Adalee is doing okay now. She had an exacerbation of her reflux. The doctor feels as though she aspirated a little food and all this congestion was her body's way of getting rid of it. He says as long as she doesn't start running a fever in the next few days she should be okay. We're hoping this was a fluke and she won't do it again. If she does, we have to go back to the doctor.

I have to tell you doing all this on my own is tough. It's not just the logistical details of it all. It's mentally exhausting to be the person solely responsible for someone. When Abrahm's here he is able to share that load. I can turn it off when he gets home because I know he'll take care of anything that comes up. And as supportive as my friends and family are, it's not just the same as having Abrahm here.

So here's hoping to a better day tomorrow! My upstairs air conditioner has been broken for several days now and they are finally coming to fix it tomorrow. It's like a sauna up there! Maybe I'll sleep on the couch downstairs tonight :)

Day 131

Crazy day here. Nothing terrible, just lots to do. I had over 20 phone calls today. Between ones that I had to make (insurance company, house warranty company, hospital, etc) and the ones I received (Abrahm :) , Vanderbilt, home repair folks, etc) I was on the phone the whole day! It's so hard trying to conduct business with all 3 running around. They were not being bad, just busy and noisy! I think I actually accomplished somethings. We'll see.

Adam and Alden started the second round of swim class today. This teacher was pretty poor. I hope our next lesson is better or I am going to ask for my money back. She just let them play mostly. No real instruction. For the money it costs I at least want them to learn something.

Potty training update. Alden is officially potty trained! He is doing great. I say that and tomorrow he'll have tons of accidents. He always tells me when he needs to go. He hasn't had an accident in a while. I am so proud of him. He is even staying dry all night! It took Adam a while to do that, so I am excited thinking I now only have to buy diapers for Adalee. No more diapers or night time underwear for my boys! Yea!!!!!


For Adam's birthday he got this bug vacuum. He and Alden have had a blast sucking up bugs and setting them free outside. A few have been flushed, but mostly they make it outside with them. Here's a picture of a spider they found.

Adalee after her bath the other night. Look how long her hair is when it's wet. She looks so big to me.

Another picture of her hair

Day 130

We had a good day today. We had wanted to go to a park and have a picnic and play today, but the weather didn't cooperate. We had rain and storms off and on all day. So instead we played around here and while and then headed out to eat lunch and grocery shop. This afternoon we just played with Legos, read books, cleaned and played hide and seek.

We have a busy week this week as we prepare for our trip next week. We are so excited to go the the beach and down to Enterprise to see our old friends. It's going to be a whirlwind trip, but I can't wait! I was able to speak to Abrahm for a while today. He had a very strange mission today. Check out the picture below to see who is VIP was today. (The one with Dick Cheney was from a few weeks back).

I spent some time on the computer as well. I posted some videos that Abrahm hasn't had the chance to see. I posted one on this page, but if you click on "Videos of the A Team" on the right hand side, you can see the others. Now that I figured out how to post larger files, I'll be posting more. Last week I finally broke down and got a Blackberry. It's a really cool communication tool. I bought it so I could always have email and internet access. So today at lunch, the boys were getting sad because Daddy wasn't there (the strangest things make them sad). So I told them about the new phone and camera and told them we could take a picture of them and then email it to Daddy immediately. So we did and I sent it to Abrahm. About 5 minutes later Abrahm responded. The boys were tickled. They were so excited that Abrahm could respond that quickly. You've got to love technology. We are so blessed to have such wonderful communication with Abrahm. I know there are a lot of folks that aren't that fortunate.

As I draw to a close this evening, I would be remiss if I didn't mention Memorial Day. There has definitely been a weight on my heart today. Since this war has started Memorial Day has taken on new meaning to me. I am sad it took that long. I have to say that I find myself getting very frustrated when it's all about a holiday and special sales. There are so many people who have paid the ultimate price so that we can live in this great country and do what we want to do. So today I want to remember all those we've had the priviledge of knowing and those we have just heard about that have gone on ahead of us. Please pray for their families that they are able to find some peace and know that there are many of us who are grateful for their sacrifices.


All 3 this morning before we headed out

My silly Adalee

The boys spent at least 20 minutes just watching...

This snail!

All 3 watching Daddy read. This is actually an old DVD from when he was in Iraq last time. They were very excited to see something new. I guess it's time to send Daddy some more books.

Another one of Abrahm's very important passengers. Today he transferred a monkey on one of his flights. This picture truly cracks me up. The boys loved it. They thought it was a little strange that Daddy would be flying a monkey. Alden referred to him as Curious George!

Finally the picture of Abrahm the day he flew Dick Cheney. He's on the back row. It took all these folks to escort him that day.

Adam Singing

I think I finally was able to find a way to post large video files. We'll see if it works. Let me know if you can see it or not. If so, I'll post more. Enjoy!

(Sorry about it being so "bumpy". Adalee was playing Ring Around the Rosey with my legs while I was trying to video. Hope you don't get too sick!)

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Day 129

Today was a pretty good day. Everyone was feeling pretty well for the most part. Alden is battling some allergy stuff, but hopefully it doesn't get too bad. We went to church to start off the day. Then we came home and ate lunch. After lunch we put Adalee down for a nap and Abrahm called. All is going well with him. He is flying like crazy and is staying so busy. Only about 2 more months until he is home for a visit. Did I mention a year seems like an eternity?

While Adalee was sleeping I really just wanted to rest. She was up some last night as well, so I am still VERY short on sleep. But instead of sleeping we decided to clean the van. It was so messy and dirty. With all 3 kids and a dog it's so hard to keep it clean. We did vaccuum, clean the seats and windows, and wash it. The boys helped me out. To reward them for their hard work, I set up the sprinkler and they had a blast playing in it! I am hesitant to set up a pool for fear that Adalee would somehow get into it. She's a sneaky little thing! So the sprinkler was the best I could do. All three had a blast playing outside. Adalee wasn't so sure about the water at first, but by the end, she thought it was okay. I think she really liked playing with the boys.

After the water fun we all sat on the front porch and ate popcicles. Adalee had her first one and loved it! She at every bite of it. We then went in and played, made dinner, took baths and headed to bed. All three are currently passed out. As soon as I can get the kitchen clean I'll be there myself!


Alden scrubbing his wheel

Adam scrubbing the tires

Spraying Adam with the hose

Soaked from brother spraying him with the hose

The anticipation of getting hosed!