Operation LOVE

I am super excited to say we had our Operation Love Photo Shoot today :) The kiddos and I were all in red white and blue and I'm beyond excited to see the pictures that came out! For you military wives out there, if you haven't heard of Operation Love Reunited, here is your chance! Go to Oplove.org and you can look up a photographer in your area! It is a FREE photo shoot for husbands currently or about to deploy and homecoming pictures. I had heard about this and was planning to get this done for The Hub's homecoming, but a friend of mine found a photographer in my area currently and so we decided to go for it!
She will edit all the photos and mail the book to my hub's :) I know he is totally going to love this surprise, especially seeing how big the babies have gotten! I can't believe that I'm about to have a one year old running around the house! LOL A toothless one at that! Isn't it amazing through the pain of a deployment, we still get blessings all around us.
On another note scrapbooking frenzy tomorrow! From 9 am to 9 pm I'll be a scrapping fool. WOOO HOOO! Maybe I'll actually finish up (ahem) Big A's first year, and get started on little A's ! And only 44 days until R&R! yessss!

Alia

Jesus has PERFECT hair

I had to run some errands yesterday and while in the car I like to play the christian radio station, especially now that Big A will repeat and memorize every single thing he hears. Well as we were driving the song was talking about Jesus, and Big A piped in that Jesus was going to come and play with toys with him. How sweet huh :)

Well the concept of Jesus is quite hard for a three year old to understand, even though we talk about it often Heaven is even harder to understand. I went on to explain how Jesus was a boy and that everything he did was perfect. Big A insisted he was a girl and was going to come over and play with toys and instructed me that I needed to call "her" mommy to see if she could play) , but after the statement of Jesus being perfect Big A blurted out " YES, he even has PERFECT hair like me!" ha ha ha

Yes sweet boy, Jesus does have perfect hair and I especially love your hair too. How funny that hair in a 3 year old's eyes is the standard of perfect. For those of you mom's out there who tell your boys how handsome they are and how perfect their hair looks, just know they will remember that forever :)

Alia

A new week, and a sick baby

Well it is a new week, and I'm praying that this week will go more smoothly than the last 2. Little A is having tummy issues yet again and I'm not sure if its teething or what. We should get results from the lab back this week, so I should know more then. Its just a waiting game at this point. But let me tell you a 31/2 year old and an 11 month old with diarrhea is NOT what i would call a good time. lol

I got to talk to my soldier this morning and they are getting ready to move somewhere, obviously that was the most information I got because of safety reasons, which is annoying but probably best not to tell a wife details of war. This is basically how the convo went : We are packing up our stuff to move later this week because we have to go take care of some business. Yikes I hate hearing that kind of stuff but I just have to fill myself up with faith, to not worry about it and to take care of what needs to be done here.

So here's hoping this week goes better. I can do my workout every single day, because I have to look hot for my soldiers return... And that Little A gets better fast, we need our sweet little woman back.

"May the Lord of Peace himself give you peace at all times in every way" 2 Thessalonians 3:16

Alia

THE LONGEST WEEK EVER!

It has been the longest couple of weeks, Little A has been terribly sick with an allergy to amoxicilln, then Rota virus, then thrush, poor little woman. She has had horrible diarrhea and a very high fever, I even had to take her to the emergency room with a fever of 103.3. So needless to say, it has been a long, hard couple of weeks. It seems like she is finally getting over it though because she is getting her normal "grown-man appetite" back. So that is why I haven't posted anything lately.

The Husband's R&R is approaching rapidly :) And today I went to Michael's to get the supplies for little A's birthday invites. I can't believe she will be a year old in less than a month. I'm doing butterfly invites so as soon as I get one finished, I'll post the picture!

Not really much else is going on. We have just been fighting through the sickness, and I have been fighting a bug a little too. Big A's grandparents helped out so much taking him to his swim lessons and having him over almost everyday this past week, it was so helpful. I'm ready for this storm to be over, and I hoped I learned to be that much more grateful for healthy kiddos. Church tommorow, then a new week, and let me tell you, the new week couldn't have come at a better time.

Alia

In the middle

Do you ever feel like you are in the midst of change, I can't go backwards and I can't go forward. I'm just stuck in the middle. In the middle of God pruning and shaping and changing me, teaching in this whirlwind we call deployment. It is actually a struggle to get up out of bed in the morning some days, but hearing a message from Joyce Meyer I was inspired. Inspired to enjoy the middle, enjoy the change, grab onto it with both holds and embrace it.

59 days until my soldier comes home from R&R, and I have never been more excited to count down the days to get him for 2 weeks. I'm embracing this time, cramming in those arts & crafts with big A and about to start planning... GASP.... little A's first birthday, I can't believe how time has flown!

So the point of this post, amidst the rambling, CHANGE, I'm jumping on board, embracing it, holding on with 2 hands and ready to enjoy the ride. Ready to see my little woman turn 1, my "baby" boy turn 4 in April and then move on back to Ft. Hood, just to start the change all over again. But i'm ready and God can shape and change me all he needs.

Alia

LOVE in a gift Card

I had decided to do a little retail therapy at Hobby Lobby (basically the best store ever ) to work on my scrap booking, Big A had just received a letter in the mail from Daddy and insisted he bring it along. We folded it up and stuck it in his pocket and ventured in. We headed straight to the scrapbooks where of course ,my little man struck up a conversation to anyone and everyone who would listen.
Alijah found a mother and daughter shopping and proceeded to show them the letter. I explained how Daddy was in Afghanistan and how proud Alijah was of this letter. He then INSISTED I read the letter to them, they graciously agreed and I read the letter. I was slightly annoyed at the persistence of my three year old, but it was so sweet how they intently listened. We chatted for a couple of minutes and then when on our way.

Just a few minutes later I was greeted by the women yet again. This time the mother came up to me and hugged me and handed me a card and said that it was just a little something to show how much they appreciated my family's sacrifice. I opened it up and it was A 50.00 GIFT CARD!!! WOO HOOO! What a blessing!

I think that was just a way of showing me there is love and appreciation for what I do, my husband does and even though we struggle through this deployment, there is light at the end, and love all around. Thank you to those women who showed me LOVE in a gift card.
And thank you to my GOD who shows me grace and mercy everyday, and is helping me through the storm one little blessing at a time.