Home Sweet Home

The Beach! We live about 1.5 miles from the beach, it's about an 8 minute drive, WOO HOO! (Water is way to cold for me this time of year, but everyone else got in!) Brighton's first experience on a boogie board, he loved it! Justin made Adaira into a Mermaid, she was so proud. The sand is perfect for playing in year round. It's moldable without having to be wet. This picture is to prove I was there... Dale was his usuall chipper self...lucky me Brighton had a good time chasing birds

Fall Festival Last Saturday Brighton's school had the annual Fall Festival. We went and the kids had a great time. They had a few of the big bouncey toys, a haunted house, face painting, pony rides, bake sale, etc. We spent about two hours there and then we went to the beach! Adaira was excited to ride the pony, Brighton didn't ride because he was "too nervous" This is the view leaving the parking lot of Brighton's school, and yes that is the beach across the street just a stone's throw away!

Random Pictures Dale is growing so big so fast. When I'm holding him and he stretches out his legs, his body spans from my shoulders to my hips! He's become a much happier baby recently, though he is only happy when held and is definitely high maintenance, and still doesn't sleep well! But at least he is happy and gives us lots of smiles and coos. A funny story goes with the picture below. When I lay Dale down on his back, he will turn his head to the side and take one hand and reach up and stroke the hair on the back of his head. He starts and the top and runs his fingers downward. I decided to take a few pictures, but right after I took this picture he started to scream. Not a gradual cry because he was bored, but a crying scream like he was hurting. I realized he had clenched his little fist and caught a handfull of his hair but couldn't figure out how to let it go.  The poor kid was pulling his own hair but couldn't realize he was doing it to himself. I ha...

We Made It! The kids and I finally made it to Georgia (or "Jo-Jah" as Adaira calls it) to be with Justin. Dale slept almost the entire time on the airplane and probably only fussed for about 15min. of the entire trip! What a blessing since him screaming the whole plane ride was really a fear of mine. The kids did pretty well too, although I did have to break up a few fights toward the end of our flight to Atlanta. Justin's dad had a conference in Atlanta so I was fortunate enough to have him for backup on our flight to Atlanta. The flight from Atlanta to Brunswick was only 40min. so that went by quickly. I had posted a "housing wanted" ad on Craigslist for a 3bd furnished home/condo on St. Simons Island with a specified price range and was contacted by a guy who was moving out of his house since he has a lot of work in Jacksonville and his wife and kids are in South Carolina taking care of an ill mother-in-law. Their house isn't usually a rental bu...

Justin I miss you I love you See you Thursday

This is a little out of order but I have a few pictures from our trip out last month. In Ft. Stockton TX we had to get new tires for the car dolly (it's a long story but it apparently wasn't manufactured right and it wears the outside of the tires out in about 750 miles). Then right in the Wal-Mart parking lot my battery went out. David took it out and I ran in and got a new one. After that we didn't stop anywhere but a gas station or a Wal-Mart just in case we needed anything. We felt fortunate that it happened right there. Any where else a 20 minute ordeal could have been several hours to a day. I think I actually opened up the hood to take my picture. I did replace the spark plugs and wires once I made it to GA though. I was glad I had a capable shotgun along with me. We drove through the night on Monday and slept for a few hours in a Wal-Mart parking lot somewhere in Alabama. We traded off driving and made it to Jacksonville sometime late Tuesday afternoon. After a dinn...

Poor Brighton got jumped! We were at the Ellsworth's and Brighton was out back playing. My brother, Don, has a Doberman that's a little over a year old, LARGE and hyper. He's never jumped on Brighton this bad but I guess the dog has been lonely. I happened to look out the window and see Brighton trying to fight him off and the big dog just kept jumping on him (playfully, but still!) while Brighton is screaming and trying to get him away. Brighton finally falls down and the dog still keeps jumping on him. I ran out there and screamed at the dog & he came running towards me. I smacked him so hard my hand stung and then tried to give him a good kick but I don't think it was good enough. In hindsight I wish I would have pulled out my mace and taught him a lesson. Brighton looked really dirty but I didn't realize he had all these scratches until we got back inside...then I was TICKED. I so wanted to kill that dog... Here's Brighton's aftermath (You have to en...

I'm finally starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel with little Dale. To be honest, I had a hard time feeling very grateful for him the first four weeks of his life. He has been super fussy, has to be held all the time (literally, if he is awake and I put him down - whether in a bouncer, swing, floor, etc. he is crying within two minutes), and the longest stretch of sleep he has given me in his five weeks here is FOUR hours, and he has only done that three times. I've spent probably $150 on doctor visits and a prescription for reflux medicine (which didn't end up helping), chiropractor visits, homeopathic remedies (colic tablets, probiotics, chamomilla, mylicon drops), different holds/sleeping positions, etc. all in an effort to find a way to comfort him. He has EXHAUSTED me to my limits, and it hasn't helped that I've been doing it all myself for the last three weeks since Justin reported to basic training in Georgia. In the last week Dale has calmed dow...

One more for Justin... Adaira is his little princess But I warn you babe, this little princess is developing quite the ATTITUDE!

This last weekend we went to the cabin. The kids had fun, I held Dale about 99% of the time like all other days, forgot to bring his sling, so I couldn't do much, but it was a nice getaway. I misplaced the camera so I don't have any pictures, but I found it last night and thought I should get some pictures of Dale since he is growing so fast. He is 5wks old now, 12lbs, and FINALLY starting to calm down a bit. He's not fussy 90% of his waking hours anymore! He is still busy and wants to be held and entertained constantly, but just 4 days ago he wanted that and still cried all the time. Brighton and Adaira just love Dale. Unfortunately up to this point in his life they haven't been able to interact with him much due to his constant crying, which made them nervous. Adaira had him first this morning for the pictures and when I gave him to Brighton to hold, Adaira got so upset she started crying...drama...Anyway, they love little Dale.

Brighton's first school photo. His smile reminds me SO much like Justin in this picture, but the weird thing is Brighton NEVER smiles like this! This isn't a normal face for him at all.

Get a firsthand, brutally honest view of what it's like to be a hero HERE She is an amazing woman, just like the countless others out there who for the longest time were shamed into not telling their story or being proud of their sacrifice. I'm glad we are coming into a time where birthmothers can finally share their amazing stories.

Sad goodbye to Daddy... Justin left for Georgia yesterday afternoon. Right now he is somewhere in the middle of Texas. His good friend, David VanAllen, took time off work to be his driving buddy. Thanks David and thank you Jenny for letting him go! I thought I would be more emotional considering the seemingly impossible task of holding down the fort at home for 3.5 weeks with an impossible newborn and two other kids that love to challenge my authority on a constant basis, but I was doing pretty well. Doing well until Brighton started crying, that is. I expected Adaira (a TOTAL Daddy's girl) to breakdown but she was fine. Poor Brighton lost it and just wouldn't let Justin go. He hugged and hugged him crying and after we went outside he was crying and hugging him again. When Justin started pulling away Brighton started to freak out like he was going to chase down the truck, but luckily my Dad quickly distracted him by asking him to help him with something. Later on that day Brigh...