Happy Birthday Bird! June 25, 2008

My children’s birthdays are always bitter sweet days for me. I am so proud of who they are and what they are growing in to but at the same time, I always feel so sad that the time is passing us by so quickly.

It seems like just yesterday that Katey was born….we were stationed in Guam but decided to have Katey back in the States and since the AF would pay for my ticket back to my home of record, we went to Naples, FL.  I think this was the first time I “moved in” with my in-laws for an extended period of time. :-)

My pregnancy with Katey and her birth showed us her personality from the very beginning…give her a bit to get used to her surroundings and then she will shine like a star!  I had 3 negative pg tests, but as soon as I got a positive one, I started puking. I was induced for over 12 hours with nothing happening and then I went from 3cm to holding a baby in an hour.  Katey waited to get her teeth and then got them all at once and she took her time walking, but then she went straight from walking to running.

Katey is my cuddle bug and she will share with you the last thing she has….even if its M&Ms or her last bite of ice cream.  She can have a tantrum in a New York minute but she wears her heart on her sleeve and is easily wounded….and just as easily forgives.  She worships the ground her big sister walks on and at the same time loves to do things to aggrivate and make Jackie yell.  I think Jason’s deployment affected her the most….even when he works less than a mile down the road she likes to hear from him during the day to know he’s close by. And those dimples…they just make me melt.

We went to the American Girl Store in Dallas yesterday for brunch and shopping. In true Katey fashion she walked around the store for over an hour just looking at everything. When I asked her if she had narrowed down her choices she told me “It’s too hard ’cause I want it all”.  She was like a rat in a maze and I just followed.  Her doll in one arm, she looked and looked. She asked me to take her back upstairs and when I did, she walked right to a cabinet and said she wanted a salon chair and the salon accessories.  Are you sure? This is the first thing she had even indicated she wanted to spend her money on.  Yes, she was sure.  This was it.  She had collected enough money for it and so we got the boxes and went back downstairs.  She was slow to make her decision, but when she did, that was that and she was ready to move on.

((sigh)) I hope that’s how she lives her life. Getting the most out of every moment, taking her time to move to the next thing, but when she’s ready and when its time to move, she will do so with grace and a zeal for life.  I love you Katey Bird!

 

Theme Song…. June 12, 2008

Lately I have an understanding for the challenges that Salmon face on an annual basis.  We are making some pretty big changes in our lives in a few short months and, while it may make sense for our family, neither of the biggest changes exactly go along with the social “norms”.  We feel in our hearts they are the right decisions and no one has given us a particularly hard time about them, but big changes are still hard.

So I was in my kitchen by myself the other day. The girls and DH were somewhere out of the house for a bit….I was cleaning and listening to my ipod (with my headphones on so I can get in my groove).    This song came on…..the lyrics struck me at this particular moment on this particular day…so I turned it up and DANCED!

The Long Way Around by the Dixie Chicks

My friends from high school
Married their high school boyfriends
Moved into houses in the same ZIP codes
Where their parents live

But I, I could never follow
No I, I could never follow

I hit the highway in a pink RV with stars on the ceiling
Lived like a gypsy
Six strong hands on the steering wheel

I’ve been a long time gone now
Maybe someday, someday I’m gonna settle down
But I’ve always found my way somehow

By taking the long way
Taking the long way around
Taking the long way
Taking the long way around

I met the queen of whatever
Drank with the Irish and smoked with the hippies
Moved with the shakers
Wouldn’t kiss all the asses that they told me to

No I, I could never follow
No I, I could never follow

It’s been two long years now
Since the top of the world came crashing down
And I’m getting’ it back on the road now

But I’m taking the long way
Taking the long way around
I’m taking the long way
Taking the long way around
The long
The long way around

Well, I fought with a stranger and I met myself
I opened my mouth and I heard myself
It can get pretty lonely when you show yourself
Guess I could have made it easier on myself

But I, I could never follow
No I, I could never follow

Well, I never seem to do it like anybody else
Maybe someday, someday I’m gonna settle down
If you ever want to find me I can still be found

Taking the long way
Taking the long way around
Taking the long way
Taking the long way around