Monday, June 16, 2008

Moving to Texas

Matt came home on Saturday with good news and bad news. Fortunately for me, both ended up being pretty good news! He passed his BIG test, but his Airborne training was cancelled. So, what that means is that he will driving to Texas with us, and he won't have to leave to go to training! I would have been down there alone with Grace for nearly a month before seeing him again. But, I know Matt is a little disappointed because he has always wanted to do Airborne training...his time will come.

That is all that's new with us. I will post pictures of his graduation when we get everything set up at home. We leave this Friday afternoon. I am so excited! My mom is flying in this Wednesday, too. She is driving down with us and gets to see our house! Hopefully they both like it as much as I do.

Bye all! I probably won't have time or news to post until Texas.

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Hallelujah!


I thought I should let all of you know that Grace has been sleeping through the night for the last 6 days! I started putting her on a strict schedule. Feeding times are not negotiable, PJ time is not negotiable, and now scripture time is not negotiable either. I took the advice of two people...my Grandma Barlow and my friend Chelsea. I was nursing Grace just before bed, but I switched it up a bit and now feed her full of cereal and fruit before bed. She sleeps like a tank! (Her Daddy would love that metaphor!)

As for Matthew...I haven't seen or heard from him in over a week now and the time for him to return home is inching closer every hour. I can't wait to see him and find out what our future holds. I will, as promised, fill you all in as soon as I know anything.

P.S. Here is another picture of Grace. She is starting to let go and stand on her own for a split second before falling onto her caboose. (Or, as Lacey calls it, her Tookus...not quite sure I spelled that right!)

Saturday, June 7, 2008

Winding Down

Our time here is coming to a close and it is kind of bittersweet. I have met so many amazing moms and families here in Kentucky. I have picked up ideas about what family scripture study will be like when our family gets a little older and so many other fun ideas for decorating, crafting and developing talents. I will miss all of my friends here.

Matt is gone for his last field training and I am so anxious I can hardly sleep. He left a few days ago and won't be back until the 14th. When this phase ends, we will know what the game plan is for the next 6 months. He has the opportunity to go to Airborne school in Fort Benning, GA after we leave Kentucky. Luckily, it is only three weeks long. Grace and I will be in Texas setting up the house and trying to familiarize ourselves to our new city, church and so forth.

Grace is starting to walk around the furniture and falls quite often when she can't figure out which foot moves next. She is such a handful, but I love her to pieces ( as her Great Grandma Barlow says). She still doesn't sleep at night. She wakes up two times usually lasting about an hour each time. Last night I decided to let her cry herself to sleep at 5 in the morning, because I had already been up for two hours with no relief. It took her 45 minutes to do so, but she slept the rest of the morning afterward. The only good thing about the "field time" Matt has is that all of the tenants around us are also out there. Needless to say, she can cry and make all sorts of noise and I don't feel guilty for her waking everyone up.

Not much new with me. I haven't been working out lately and I am starting to feel it. I have no energy or desire to do anything aerobic when I haven't slept and I have a killer headache. If anyone has tips about helping babies sleep better at night, I am all ears. I have tried everything her doctor and other moms have recommended...but I am still open to suggestions. You can call it the Save Mandy's Sanity Project.