One of the coolest days ever...

As my brother M (the older of my two brothers) pointed out, May 28th was one of the coolest days EVER for our family. The baby of our family graduated from the United States Air Force Academy with a degree in both Civil and Environmental Engineering and was commissioned as a 2nd Lt in the United States Air Force. How many people can claim that in their list of lifetime accomplishments?




Mr President, meet 2nd Lt DMB.


Whatever your political opinions of George W. may be, you have to admit that standing in the misting cold rain to salute and shake hands with every single one of the 1000+ graduates was pretty amazing of him.





Although we are incredibly proud of his accomplishments at the academy and his commitment to serving our country, our favorite thing about him is his role as Uncle D.

WE ARE SO PROUD OF YOU, DMB!!!!!!

Love,

ABL

How KJ spends his time these days...

Reading with Uncle M

Drawing uncle M's hand

Having Uncle M draw his hand

Watching TV with Uncle M

Going night-night with Uncle M

Going to the park with Uncle M
Looking for fish with Uncle M
Do you detect a theme? After 3 years in South America, we are ALL so happy to have Uncle M for a visit. No one is happier than KJ, though. He wants to be by his side at all times and watches everything he does. I'm so thankful that they are getting to spend time together. Not to be left out...C-bug has been getting his share of snuggles too, but for some reason the pictures came out blurry.

side note: Yes, KJ still occasionally wears one (or two) blue gloves for no apparent reason...even when it is 90 degrees outside!

Lots of random thoughts...get comfortable

1) We took both of the boys to the doctor today. It was 2 years for KJ and 4 months for C-bug. To see them you might think we only feed one of our children. KJ is at the very bottom of the charts, height and weight. C-bug is at the top, weighing in at an amazing 16 lbs and is already 26 inches. While we were there, KJ learned a new word...stethoscope. He can say the whole thing, all three syllables. His vocabulary totally amazes me these days (I am slightly biased, though). Here is picture of them from this week (can you tell that C-bug has the sweetest dimple in his left cheek?)...

2) I've taken to calling the baby, "C-bug" (insert his name where the 'C' is). I'm not exactly sure where it came from, but think it evolved from snuggle bug. It really stuck when KJ started calling him by that name and it is ever so sweet when big brother says "Its ok, C-bug, don't cry, baby brother" or "watch this C-bug" or C'mon C-Bug, go to K's room" (as if any day now his baby brother will get up and run with him) or "mommy, where's C-bug go" (KJ always says "where's insert name go?" sort of combining the two questions).

3) I was starting to feel like we were really over the hurdle with our little (or big) C-bug but the last week or so has been a little rough. He is still sleeping great at night but will have major meltdowns at least once a day where nothing will console him. He arches his back to the point that you cannot even hold him. These usually happen in public. I know I shouldn't be, but I can not help but be terribly embarrassed and feel like everyone is staring. Recently we were in Target and having a major scream-a-thon. I finished as quickly as I could and left. As soon as we left, he was fine so we went to another store in the same area. I was oh-so-pleasantly greeted in the second store by someone who recognized us from Target and just HAD to say "Oh, look, its the screaming baby from Target". Thank you very much.

4) On that note, Saturday at church a very nice man asked me how old my baby was. I told him 4-months and he responded "wow" (in a moment of vanity, I thought he was going to say "Wow, you look great for having a 4-month-old) but instead he completed "wow, you look REALLY tired. Have you been up all night?" Thank you, Lord, for that little dose of humility.

5) Speaking of Church, have you read, Screwtape Letters? I'm getting it out to read again because I feel some of the tactics of ugly Wormwood and Screwtape might be at work in my life right now. To be more specific, I am starting to wonder if these little demons wait for me at the door to church trying to ensure that I have a miserable experience each time I show up to worship. More specifically, I feel like every-time we walk through the doors one or the other of my children so drastically consumes my attention or frustrates me that I forget altogether while I am there. I say this slightly tongue-in-cheek, but I do believe in the spiritual battle that goes on for each of our souls and I do believe the devil knows I crave the fueling I get by worshiping my Lord with my husband and by being in our small group bible study (neither of which have happened a single time in entirety since C-bug was born). I'm not really looking for advice here since I think it is somewhat of a personal battle, but I would appreciate your prayers.

6) While I'm on a C.S. Lewis kick, (one of my favorite authors by the way) I thank God everyday for a good friend who recently celebrated her birthday! This quote from C.S. Lewis very clearly defines how we became (and remain) friends. Happy Birthday, Tara.

“Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another, 'What! You too? I thought I was the only one”

We've had so many of those moments over the last couple of years as our oldest boys are 3 weeks apart and amazingly, our youngest boys were also born 3 weeks apart. Really, I might go insane without her encouragement and reminders that in some twisted way, what I'm going through is normal. Here is a picture of our oldest boys. They sure love each other.

Amazingly, I think that is about all for now. I guess if I posted more regularly I would not have to go on these marathon sessions.

ABL