Please Pray

A quick post to ask for prayer for myself. My back is out again and I'm in so much pain I can barely sit long enough to post this. Please pray for total healing so that I can get back to caring for my family, and please pray for my husband as he has been carrying the load for all of us.
Thank you,
Rebecca

Merry Christmas

Jungle Mom hit the nail on the head. Please go here to see what I mean.

May He Rest In Peace

And may his parents live in peace.

I'm glad the Adam Walsh mystery is finally over. I hope this gives his parents some measure of closure. I believe he is resting in the arms of Jesus. I hope one day his parents will meet him again in heaven. What a joyous reunion that will be.

Who Is Responsible?

Sorry I have been gone for so long. Between being very busy and then Alaina and I being sick I haven't been on much.
On to today's post.

Who is responsible?
When we were in the States in October we took the time to do some outlet mall shopping at a place that I have been going since I was a teenager. It's the kind of place that you've bought enough there you don't have to try things on. So, the other day, I pulled out a pair of jeans that I bought there. I unsnapped them and pulled the zipper down in preparation for putting them on. I remember thinking that the zipper must be stuck as it didn't go down far enough. So I put them on. They fit fine, not too loose not too tight. The problem was I couldn't pull them up far enough. Then I discovered the problem. They were low rise jeans. Thus my question. Who is the GENIUS who decided to make low rise jeans for fat girls? Honestly! Now I can only wear them around the house or with really long tops as I don't care to show anything that low rise jeans are intended to show.

Adoption

Today's post is about adoption. Jess over at Making Home wrote a wonderful post about the beauty of adoption. Obviously I, an adoptive mother, am highly in favor of adoption. There was a person who commented on that post and I will quote,

Jess, I would be interested to hear your thoughts on something.In ancient times, there were no adoption agencies. When a couple could not have biological children, God was deemed to have made it so for a reason. Maybe the man would have a child by another wife or concubine, but nowhere in the Bible (that I'm aware of) does it suggest that God wants us to adopt children if we can't have biological children. On the contrary, the Bible seems to suggest that if you are faithful, God will allow you to bear children.Obviously, I strongly support adoption, whether or not a couple also has biological children. I just think it's worth noting that over the centuries, childless couples would not have assumed that God wanted them to adopt. That is our modern mindset.

This post then is my response (though she did not ask for MY opinion) to this person's comment. Please note that I left out her name for her privacy.

Dear commentor, I disagree with your assertion that the Bible does not want us to adopt. In that time and place, as a rule, people took care of their own family members. Immorality was not at the all time high that it is today. Most people had children within the bonds of marriage and not outside of it, although that was not unheard of. The Bible does not mention the word adoption in regards to children and yet the concept is there. Taking care of widows and orphans is mandated for all Christians whether or not they have biological children. Some of the verses that support my opinion follow.

1. God the Father adopted us as His sons and daughters. Ephesians 1.5 He predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will.

2. Deuteronomy 10:18 He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing.

3. Exodus 22:22 - 24 Do not take advantage of a widow or an orphan. If you do and they cry out to me, I will certainly hear their cry. My anger will be aroused, and I will kill you with the sword: your wives will become widows and your children fatherless.

4. Psalm 146:9 The Lord watches over the alien and sustains the fatherless and the widow, but He frustrates the ways of the wicked.

5. Isaiah 1:17 Learn to do right! Seek justice, incourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow.

6. 1 Timothy 5: 1-16 talks about how Christian families should behave toward their own family members. It says how if a widow has family they should look after her and not leave it to the church to do. Verse 8 I will quote here, " If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever." This relates to how we must care for widows and orphans that are our own family members.
Verse 16 also has merit as you will see. "If any woman who is a believer has widows in her family, she should help them and not let the church be burdened with them, so that the church can help those widows who are really in need." I submit the same principle applies to orphans.

7. Psalm 68:5 A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows is God in His holy dwelling.

8. James 1:27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.


You mention that in ancient times there were no adoption agencies. We can't actually know that since we weren't there, but I submit that there were in fact orphans. The Bible talks of orphans and often in the same sentence with widows. The church was admonished to take care of orphans and widows. It mentions that God has a special place in His heart for them. In those times families took care of their own. If a child was orphaned other family members would take the child in. If there was no one then the Bible commands us to take care of them. We have a lot more orphans today than then. We have a lot more people today than we had then too. We live in a throw away society where no one wants to be responsible. Children are born out of wedlock at an alarming rate. Poverty is so bad in these third world contries that women put their babies up for adoption praying that someone will give them not only a better life than they can, but a life period. They wish for their children to survive. If the church were doing its part to help the poor, there would be a lot fewer children to adopt. Sometimes, the Lord allows a couple to be barren so they will consider adoption. He loves those children out there and wants them to be raised in Godly homes. Psalm 139:16 says your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. You see God knew Alaina before one day came to be. He knew what would become of her. He planned her to be my daughter though not born of my body. My life is committed to Him. If He did not wish for me to adopt, He would have prevented it. Had I been able to concieve and give birth, I would not have adopted Alaina. I've always had a heart for adoption, but likely we would have adopted later in life, possibly an older child, but it wouldn't have been now. And I submit one more thing for your consideration. If God did not want childless people to adopt, what do you think He wanted done with the orphans? Kick them to the curb? Some family that can barely support their own children to take them in? Put them in an orphanage? Are you suggesting that people who cannot have biological children are not capable of parenting or that it is not God's will for them to parent? How can you know God's will for someone else? You say that childless couples would not have assumed God wanted them to adopt. How can you know this? Were you there? No, you were not. Sarah adopted the child of the maid Abraham slept with as her own until she gave birth to Issac. Not all childless couples believe that God means for them to adopt, nor do they wish to. My brother and sister-in-law were unable to concieve and chose not to adopt. I know of several other childless couples who have chosen not to adopt. I even know of couples who have chosen to remain childless because they just didn't want kids.

The Bible does seem to say that the Lord opens and closes the womb at His will, but that's just it. His will. Hannah for instance was barren. The Lord had a special meaning for it. He gave her Samuel, and then gave her other sons and daughters. Sarah was barren. He had a reason for it. He gave her Issac and made her the mother of Israel. God had a special place in his heart for Leah because she was an unloved wife. He gave her many children. Rachel on the other hand had trouble concieving. Elizabeth was baren. God had a purpose. In her old age he gave her John the Baptist. Ruth was barren of her first husband. Had God allowed her to concieve she may not have married Boaz, But God had in mind for her to be the great grandmother of David, and thus blessed her to be an ancestor of Jesus. God allows barreness, but in His wisdom He always has a purpose. Sometimes it's for a season and sometimes permanent. You see we are all sinful, and barreness like any other problem is a result of the fall of man. The Bible does not suggest that if you are faithful God will allow you to have children. Lots of people give birth to children who would deny the very existance of God. They aren't faithful. Barreness is a result of the fall of man in the garden of eden just as cancer or any other problem is. One cannot look upon a cancer patient or one with alzheimers and say well you must not have been faithful or this would not have happened to you. The fact is we live in a fallen world and we all suffer the consequences of that no matter how good we are, no matter how bad and no matter how faithful. None of us are perfect and thus completely faithful to God. No not one, and yet some are able to have children and some are not. Some get cancer and some do not. Some get sick and some do not.
Please feel free to comment.

Have You Ever?

I saw this on Michele's blog. Go over and check her answers!

Have You Ever?...
Bold the ones you've done?

1. Started your own blog?
2. Slept under the stars?
3. Played in a band?
4. Visited Hawaii?
5. Watched a meteor shower?
6. Been arrested?
7. Been to Disneyland/world?
8. Climbed a mountain?
9. Held a praying mantis?
10. Sang/played a solo?
11. Bungee jumped?
12. Visited Paris?
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea?
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch?
15. Adopted a child?
16. Had food poisoning?
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty?
18. Grown your own vegetables?
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France?
20. Slept on an overnight train?
21. Had a pillow fight?
22. Hitch hiked?
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill? They're called mental health days.
24. Built a snow fort?
25. Held a lamb?
26. Gone skinny dipping?
27. Run a Marathon?
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice?
29. Seen a total eclipse?
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset?
31. Hit a home run?
32. Been on a cruise? Around Manhattan.
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person?
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors?
35. Seen an Amish community?
36. Taught yourself a new language?
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied?
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person?
39. Gone rock climbing?
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David in person?
41. Sung karaoke?
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt?
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant?
44. Visited Africa?
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight?
46. Been transported in an ambulance?
47. Had your portrait painted?
48. Gone deep sea fishing?
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person?
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris?
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling?
52. Kissed in the rain?
53. Played in the mud?
54. Gone to a drive-in theater?
55. Been in a movie?
56. Visited the Great Wall of China?
57. Started a business? Does a babysitting business count? or how about the time I sold candy bars in highschool for profit. My profit. Does that count?
58. Taken a martial arts class?
59. Visited Russia?
60. Served at a soup kitchen?
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies?
62. Gone whale watching?
63. Gotten flowers for no reason?
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma? Well, I tried. They wont take mine.
65. Gone sky diving?
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp?
67. Bounced a check?
68. Flown in a helicopter?
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy?
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial? No, but I visited his tomb and home in Sprigfield, IL.
71. Eaten Caviar?
72. Pieced a quilt?
73. Stood in Times Square?
74. Toured the Everglades?
75. Been fired from a job? Yep. Caught the boss skimming money from the register. Somehow I got fired.
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London?
77. Broken a bone?
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle?
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person?
80. Published a book?
81. Visited the Vatican?
82. Bought a brand new car?
83. Walked in Jerusalem?
84. Had your picture in the newspaper?
85. Read the entire Bible?
86. Visited the White House?
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating?
88. Had chickenpox?
89. Saved someone’s life?
90. Sat on a jury?
91. Met someone famous?
92. Joined a book club?
93. Lost a loved one?
94. Made a baby? I made a baby cat out of plaster once does that count?
95. Seen the Alamo in person?
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake?
97. Been involved in a law suit? I testified in one once. Does that count?
98. Owned a cell phone?
99. Been stung by a bee?

Halloween

It's late, but I wanted to post halloween pictures of my Alainita. Me hija. Me corazon. (I hope I spelled all that right) Rita, Pam, Rebecca, correct me when I'm wrong. She was so cute in her little pumpkin costume, and had a blast trick or treating. She didn't really get the concept, but had fun walking up and down the street holding her pumkin basket and watching her socks that had flashers on them.

New Church

So we found a new church. A brochure was dropped into our mail slot at the house advertising a church just outside of post that caters to the military. It's Grace Baptist church. One thing we have really missed while here in Germany has been being a part of a regular church. Going to chapel is nice, and I'm glad we at least have had that. But, it's not the same as a regular church family. At the chapel people are from all sorts of Christian denominations and thus it's a very general service so as not to offend anyone. At least that's the impression I have. We have gone to Grace 2 Sundays now. They have morning and evening services, Sunday school, a nice nursary for Alaina with care workers that actually seem to like children. The one at the chapel had paid care givers who seemed to me to be more interested in talking to each other than looking after the kids, and they had kids ages 0-4 in the same small room. They were supposed to separate them, but when I asked about this they said they didn't want to even though there were more than 20 children in the room. Alaina went one time and I went and got her after an hour because the big kids were just running the place over. Anyway, she seems to be ok in the nursary until she sees us. Then she comes as fast as she can crying. lol Well, when she gets used to the idea and realizes that mommy and papa are coming back it wont be so bad. They also have home groups. We have not gone to these as they start at 1830 on Wednesdays and Alan generally doesn't get home until then or close so it doesn't work out. The pastor and his wife are missionaries to the military (I think) and the service is in English and really it's just like a church back home. I'm quite pleased that they still sing hymns. Some of the worship songs today are a bit confusing. Anyway, we are so glad to go! We found some old friends from Ft. Sill there and are excited to see them again. Also it starts at 1045 instead of 0900 so it's nice to not have to get up so early. While we are not of the Baptist denomination and don't agree with every detail of their faith, our beliefs are similar and both evangelical and we are glad to have the fellowship of other evangelical believers.

Our Trip Part 5

For the last leg of our trip we went to New York city to see Alan's family. We had a second dedication there for his family. It was done at a church I attended when I was living and working in NJ. We had fun visiting with family and friends. We got to meet a new niece and we were able to accomplish getting Alaina's name changed. Alan got to have some real New York pizza and I have to admit it was good! We enjoyed going to diners again and it's always fun to be in a big city. I don't seem to have any pictures from that, but I think Alaina's god mother is sending some that she took. If that's so and she does, I will post them for you to see. After arriving back in Germany, we were exhausted and then discovered that we had a flat tire. So, poor Alan had to change the tire, tired as he was, and then we drove back home. We were glad to get home. Alaina had wet through two outfits and was teething. Then there was the next morning.

Cute Pictures

Our Trip Part 4

The time we spent in Springfield was good, but it went fast. While we were there we spent time with friends and family. It was so much fun to show off the baby! I voted early. We tried to get Alaina's name officially changed, but it was a no go. We had to photo shoots for family and baby pics. We got Alaina's feet measured and bought her new shoes. A pair of black patent leather mary jane's for dress and a pair of white sneakers with little pink flowers on them for play. Here are some of the pics from the Springfield leg of our trip. The top 2 pictures are of me, Alaina and my brother Steve. The last of Alaina in her car seat on one of the picture days.

Our Trip Part 3

So the day of her dedication was spent with family and friends. We ate at Golden Corral and after that spent the afternoon in the lobby of the hotel with family. The kids all ran around and played. It was so much fun to see them and exciting to see how much they loved Alaina and included her in the play. My little baby had a blast! She had so much fun running through the lobby with the cousins chasing her! I wish I had a few pictures of that. I don't know why we didn't take any. I guess we were too busy having a visit. The next day we headed for Springfield, MO where I grew up. My sister traveled with us and it turned out to be a real blessing as it was a 6ish hour trip and though she is a good traveler she is only a baby and gets restless. At one point she pulled out her pony tails and we had stopped for a lunch break. Fran and I took her into the bathroom and changed her diaper but neither of us had a comb so we came back out with her hair all crazy. We were eating lunch when Alan joined us. After only a few minutes he stood up and picked up Alaina. He said, "I have to go comb her hair. She looks like Buckwheat's sister!" So here is a pick (not from that day) of Alaina looking like Buckwheat's sister.

Cord Found

I finally found the cord to the camera. So, now you can scroll down if you wish and see Alaina's dedication pics. Carrie from Oklahoma if I had remembered you were near Lawton I would have let you know. It would have been so much fun to meet you and show off my family! Oh well, we may be back in that area again. If we are, I'll be sure to let you know.

The Prayer Of Billy Graham

I recieved this in an email. I do not know for certain that it originated with Billy Graham, but it sure sounds like it might have.

Billy Graham's Prayer for Our Nation

This man sure has a good view of what's happening to our country!

'Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask your forgiveness and to seek your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says, 'Woe to those who call evil good,' but that is exactly what we have done. We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values. We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery. We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare. We have killed our unborn and called it choice. We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable. We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self esteem. We have abused power and called it politics. We have coveted our neighbor's possessions and called it ambition. We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression. We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment. Search us, Oh God, and know our hearts today; cleanse us from every sin and Set us free. Amen!'

Commentator Paul Harvey aired this prayer on his radio program, 'The Rest of the Story,' and received a larger response to this program than any other he has ever aired. With the Lord's help, may this prayer sweep over our nation and wholeheartely become our desire so that we again can be called 'One nation under God'.

May the Lord forgive me for the part I have played in this. When others in my presence are all agreeing about "Choice" etc. and I say nothing, I am condoning it.

Practice What You Preach

As soon as I find the camera I will post the pictures. Sorry about that.

My post today is about bloggers. I have a real issue with people who blog about modesty and how women should dress and talk about their good Christian morals and hold themselves up as an example of how we as Christian women should be, and then I see ads on their blogs with half dressed women, or advocating birth control (that the blogger claims to be against) etc. It just shows me that the almighty dollar is worth more to them than their moral convictions. Ladies let's practice what we preach. If the advertisement is against what you say you believe then get rid of it. Doing things like this just makes all of us Christians look bad. No wonder people say the church is full of hypocrites. Stop it. 'Nuff said.

Our Trip - Part 2

So dedication day was bright and cheerful. As you can see Alaina was adorable and did well. It was so good to see old friends again and get a chance to hug and hold people who have meant so much to us. Made me homesick for a town I only lived in a short while.

Get Out The Vote '08

GET OUT THERE AND VOTE! DON'T FORGET! IF YOU DON'T VOTE YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO COMPLAIN! THIS IS YOUR BIG CHANCE TO HAVE YOUR VOICE HEARD SO GO TO IT!

Our Trip Part One

Ok. So, now that we are all healthy and happy and better rested, I can tell you about our trip. We left for the States to have baby Alaina dedicated and for her to get a chance to meet her grandmas. Once again, Alaina did quite well on the flights. We flew from Nurenberg to Paris to Atanta to Oklahoma. The Paris airport is a nightmare avoid it if at all possible. I wont go into all the details but the staff there doesn't know anything and they seem to like to send you on wild goose chases. When we got off the plane in Atlanta, the people around us were saying what a good baby Alaina is. They had been worried, as I might have been, when they got on a transatlantic flight and saw they were next to a baby. Once back in the States we had to go through another immigration snafu because the boarder patrol is not educated in their own paperwork. It's pretty bad when American citizens have trouble getting in to their own country because boarder patrol doesn't know what it's doing. Only one suitcase made it to Atlanta. When we arrived in Oklahoma we were so glad to be there and we were quite excited to see that Alaina's stroller and car seat had arrived as well as her suit case. Our suit cases had not arrived, but that's better than hers not showing up. We eventually got our suitcases the next afternoon. So we get to the hotel and we were sitting on our bed eating our Whataburger sandwiches when Alaina squeezed the carton the ketchup came in and it went all over the bed and her. White bed spread don't ya know. So, then of course the hotel had given away our crib even though we had a late check in scheduled and had called from Atlanta to assure it would be there. We had to put her on a fold away cot and my husband had the great idea to squeeze it in between the wall and our bed, and block it on one end with the easy chair and on the other end by keeping one end of the bed folded up. We had been up way over 24 hours at this point and so we all slept well. The next day was Saturday and we visited a former pastor and his wife and drove around town to see how things had changed since we had been there. By evening, all of our family had arrived that was coming and we all went out to eat. We ate and visited and played with the kids. More tomorrow

We're Back!

We arrived home from a visit to the States Thursday evening. Friday morning Alaina awakened at 4 am with a slight fever and nasal congestion. Since her molars are coming in way early I figured it was that and gave her some pain reliever/fever reducer. When she woke up next, she was hot and had a fever of 103.8F. To make a long story short it's been quite a weekend with this relentless fever. Good thing she has an appointment with her doctor this week. Anyway, pics from the trip and more when Alaina is feeling better and I am getting more sleep.

Frustrated, Discouraged (but not beaten) Ramblings

Surely we must be in the last days. The world is falling apart around me. It seems that it is now better to be homosexual than a straight (never divorced) married couple with children. Godlessness abounds. People walking down the street having a normal everyday conversation can be overheard referring to this f-ing thing or that f-ing thing. Sexual abstinance for unmarried people is considered outdated and stupid. Even in many of the churches today. Gay ministers? So we're now ignoring that part of the Bible that calls homosexuality an abomination in the sight of the Lord? Children now run the households as society has decided that parents have no right to correct their children. Seriously, we are one step away from society deciding that children may not go to church or be taught religion until they are 18 because it shouldn't be "forced" on them or some such nonsense as that. Hmmm reminds me of communism. No one really cares about anything that matters anymore. Reporters don't report the truth, they only report what they want people to believe. New Orleans is still a mess, but taxpayer money managed to take care of the Saints ball team and their playing stadium. Glad they have their priorities straight. And seriously, they want us to send money down there when they paid for the football team first? Little black children go missing every day, but you'll never see it on the news. Caylee Anthony will be in the news forever and she is more than likely dead. Not that her case doesn't deserve to be solved. It does, but she isn't any more important that any other child. The government says they're taking care of their wounded warriors, but empty buildings that house do nothing programs don't help. The big wigs show up for the cameras and blow a lot of smoke, but in the end nothing of value is done. They'll spend tons of money telling us how they are working for our brave wounded soldiers, but they wont put in automatic doors at the health clinic so a soldier using a walker or a wheelchair can get in with out serious difficulty/potential injury. It amazes me that we have automatic doors on the PX but not on the health clinic and no one can seem to do anything about that. They can put in place a false entity that all donations for the guys "must" go to, but the money doesn't seem to be going to the soldiers. I don't know where it goes, but I don't see it going to them. Maybe it got used in the bail out of the fat cats on wall street. I keep seeing commercials about America Supports You. But I can't seem to get any of that support for the soldiers in my husbands unit. People are always saying what can we do, but when you tell them something that the soldiers would actually want something that might actually work, somehow it can't be done. All of this tells me that no one really wants to help anyone else. I look at the movie stars and how they throw attention to this cause or that cause. I see Oprah taking up the cause of girls in Africa. It's a nice idea and all but why do they want the average american to send money we clearly don't have to these things? When Oprah and the rest of them sell everything they have and only live in a modest home and drive modest cars and wear modest clothes and fly coach and eat at home or at modest places and give all their extra money to the causes they tout, then I'll believe that this is a cause they really believe in. Seriously, I know she earned it, but what does Oprah need with a 50 million dollar home in a state she doesn't live in? Why can't that money go to feed kids in Africa? Why can't someone take up the plight of the dirt poor in our own country in Appalachia? Now there is a section of our country and a people that my heart cries for. People in our own country going hungry, no clean water, no indoor plumbing, no healthcare readily available, unable to meet their basic needs. No we'd rather send our money to some other place. What ever happened to charity begins at home? I'd like to go and work among the people of Appalachia when my husband retires. The government beuracrats wont stop me there, they don't care enough to stop me there. You don't see politicians caring about their votes. Of course Obama didn't care enough to go to see our wounded soldiers at Landstuhl since the cameras couldn't come. I can't understand anyone wanting to vote for a person who puts talking to people in other countries (where they think he's an idiot that's why they want him to win) about stuff that he has no control over over encouraging the men and women who have put it all on the line to keep his sorry butt safe. It's late and I can't sleep for all the frustration I am feeling. You'll always get the God's honest truth out of me at such times. Not that I'd lie at other times, but I might not be so forthcoming. The truth is I want Jesus to come and I want Him to do it now. I don't want to wait. I want to go. And I know that it's selfish of me because He will come just as soon as the full number is gathered in. And I do want them to make it. Thanks to Jungle mom and the others who are out there bringing them to Christ. The thing is too I know I'm not worthy. I'm not any better than anyone else. I'm just forgiven. How beautiful is that? Forgiven, not perfect just forgiven. We had a houseguest last week that did something really quite hurtfull. I spoke to her about it and it wasn't intentional just one of those thoughtless things that we all do from time to time. My husband has a hard time with stuff like that because when someone hurts me he wants to rain down hurt upon them. lol he loves me. I had the beautiful choice of choosing to forgive her or choosing to not forgive her and knowing that true forgiveness means more than saying I forgive you. It means meaning it and restoring the friendship to where it had been as if the injury had never happened. I chose to do that. I could not have made that choice had God not made that choice for me. He chose to forgive my sin and restore me to the relationship we would have had had Eve and Adam (and me)not sinned. I was thinking of Eve the other day. I was feeling a bit whelmed with Alaina and really felt (still do) that I am flying by the seat of my pants when it comes to her. Can you imagine how hard it must have been for Eve? Having those babies? She had no freakin clue how to raise them. She was never a child. She couldn't have remembered back to how she felt when she was their age. She had no mother or older sister to bounce ideas off of. There was no Dr. Phil or Dr. Dobson. She hadn't watched friends and family parent and chosen the best ideas she had seen from them to use in raising her own. I have to say I'd rather be me than her. Having had the garden, to lose it, to lose that relationship with God and then suffer learning to work and give birth, and make clothes and all of that and truly from scratch. No recipie books there. You suppose she was ever suicidal or perhaps not. Since no one had ever died perhaps it never occured to her.

PS: the baby has been waking up in the middle of the night lately. Several times and crying for a minute and then going back to sleep. Any ideas what's wrong with her?

I Support McCain/Palin '08!

I support John McCain for president. This is a man who will do what it takes to make our country run right. His opponent Obama will not. Obama is a man with no experience who is incapable of making a decision. His voting record in the senate shows that when the controversial decisions need to be made he votes "present". Dispicable. Obama is paid to do a job by the tax payers of Illinois that he refuses to do. He spent what one year in the senate before starting his campaign for president? How does he have the gall to call governer Palin inexperienced? If that isn't the pot calling the kettle black. and no don't write me a nasty comment, that wasn't meant to be a racist remark. I'm just plainly saying that he isn't capable of leading the free world. He isn't even doing a decent job as junior senator from Illinois. Why would we want to elect him president?

NOBAMA 08!!!

Go on over to Jungle Hut and read this post. Globetrottingarmywife supports this post and this blogger. I support because I love my country and I love my Lord and until He comes again I will do what I must to see His will carried out. My prayer today is that the Lord will rain down His blessing though we don't deserve it and have His will in this election.

Busy

It's been crazy around here lately. Besides doing everything I have to do everyday anyway, we are getting ready to go to the States for Alaina's dedication. In addition to that, I am trying to get funding for things that my huband and I would like to be able to do for the unit of wounded warriors he commands. Getting funding is not as easy as one might think and getting things done with a baby along makes it more challenging. Anyway, we are so excited about the ideas we have and are eager to put them in to action. Please pray for wisdom for us as we try to have a positive impact on these soldiers lives.

Who Can Do It?

Click on this link. Take the challenge and then leave me a comment telling how well you did.

My Rant

I was just over at Making Home reading a very good post. It's about birth control. I personally don't have a problem with birth controll and believe that it's a personal decision between husband, wife, and God. However, the post put me in mind of something I've wanted to write about for some time. Professionalism seems to be a thing of the past. Everywhere you go people are just plain rude/and/or take liberties with how they treat others. I constantly hear complaints about how unprofessinal somebody was. I continually see unprofessional behavior everywhere I go. Society today is all too familiar. When I was a girl, children referred to adults outside of their families as Mr. Mrs. or Miss (that was before Ms). I would never have considered calling a friend of my mother by her first name. Nowadays children call adults by thier first names and don't even consider using a title. At businesses people no longer are respectful and kind. Instead they are rude as if they are doing you a favor for being there instead of you doing them the honor of using their business. People on the street assume they can and should address others by thier first names without asking. Nurses in the hospital address patients by their first name without permission. Patients insist on calling nurses by their first name. Doctors call everyone by thier first name but then insist on being addressed as "doctor". That is so wrong. If you want to be called by your title then you must refer to others by their title unless they ask you to use their first name. I feel that if we as a society would go back to addressing each other with respect a lot of the disrespect out there would go away, and a lot of the inappropriate conversations out there would stop. People you don't know or don't know well will ask you if you're husband is good in bed. Co workers tell you intimate bedroom details as if you wanted to know or talk about their many conquests publicly. Whatever happened to a lady/gentleman doesn't kiss and tell? If you have more than 2 children people tell you to stop it or ask you if you haven't figured out how that happens yet. If you have one child people ask you if you're having another and when. If you don't have children and you've been married more than a year people want to know when you are starting your family or what you're waiting for. If the person anwers that personal question indicating that they are trying or they do want kids they get bombarded with even more personal and completely rude questions about their sex life, positions, etc. Honestly! I have struggled with infertility and people ask me if it's me or him. If we are having enough sex. What positions are we using. Have we tried this or that. Are we going to try this or that. I have had complete and total strangers ask me things like this. I had one lady I had only just met who discovered Alaina is adopted say, "Why? Can't you have your own?" And she said that as if adoption is a lesser choice. My question to the nosy people is this. How is anyone else's family life any of your business? We have already had odd looks as we are raising our daughter to call our friends Mr. or Mrs. etc. calling a non family adult by their first name is not an option for her. She is also going to be learning insanity like yes sir and yes ma'am, and may I be excused. We apparently have lost our minds. I have always called my patients Mr. or Mrs. I do not allow a doctor to call me by my first name if I may not call him or her by his or her first name. If he asks may I call you Rebecca? I say sure if I can call you Fred or whatever the name might be. They might be a doctor, but that doesn't mean they derserve more respect as a person than I do. The same goes for a first meeting with a new GYN. He can meet me for the first time with my clothes on or he can choose to take his off and put a paper robe on and meet me that way. The same with ministers. If you call me by my first name expect me to call you by your first name and not pastor so and so. I had a pastor and his wife that I loved dearly, but they drove me nuts as they demanded to be called pastor and sister so and so while calling me and my husband by our first names. The pastor even told everyone from the pulpit that we are not allowed to use his wife's first name as she deserved our respect. I respected her very much and still do, but I do not agree with people holding themselves up as deserving more respect than others. I am an army wife. I refer to everyone by their title unless asked to do differently. If Col. so and so wants to call me Rebecca he had better expect to be called Jim. Otherwise he can call me Mrs. P. and I will call him Col. so and so. The same would go with president Bush. I will call him President Bush and he will call me Mrs. P. or it can be George and Rebecca. There, I've had my say.

Connie From Texas

I'm a little worried about Connie of Connie's Thoughts From The Heart. Her home was in the way of hurricane Ike. Has anyone heard from her or know anything about their current circumstances? Let's all say an extra prayer for her and her family today.

She's A Tough Cookie

My little girl is one tough cookie. We're all sick right now. Those colds have moved on to a sore throat for Alan, a sinus and ear infection for me and bilateral ear infections and a cold for Alaina. If it weren't for the snotty nose you just about wouldn't know she is sick. She is such a trooper! I knew she was a little whinier than usual but now that she is getting tylenol around the clock even that has cleared up. The doctor was quite surprised to see how great she was doing with both ears so yucky. I thank God that he has blessed me with such a tough little one and I thank Him that He has blessed Alaina with such a cheerful disposition even in the midst of illness. Thank you Lord!

The Previous Post

Jungle Mom posted the What spice are you thing in the post below but somehow I was unable to link to her on that post.

You Are Cilantro

The bad news is that there are some people who can't stand you. The good news is that most people love you more than anything else in the world. You are distinct, unusual, fresh, and very controversial. And you wouldn't have it any other way.

What Spice Are You?

Sarah Palin

I love the fact that she has been selected to run for vice president. I love the fact that she is a woman, wife and mother of 5. I love that she is the mother of a soldier, a special needs baby that she is still nursing (although with campaigning that may not last long I don't know) and though I hate the circumstances, I love that she can set the example for the nation in her response to her teen in trouble. To those who say she can't parent 5 children while being VP I say nonsense! She will only be parenting 3 children as her son is now in Iraq and her daughter will soon be married. Now that's not to say that once your children are out of your home you no longer interact with them, but it is to say that only 3 will be under her roof. Her husband will be there to parent them also and there is no indication that he is incapable of this. To those who are saying that it is unBiblical for her to be vice president I refer you to the Bible itself. Romans 13:1&2 "Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling aginst what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves." NIV

I submit then that God set her in her postiton of authority as the governor of Alaska and I believe that if elected it will be by God's ordination. I personally believe that God has put her in this postion at this critical time in our country. My prayer is may God bless Sarah Palin. May God put His angels around her to protect her and her family and may God give her wisdom and the words to say when the tough questions come that His name will not be maligned.

Wifezilla

Alaina, Alan and I all have colds. How fun is that? Alaina is whiney and snotty and not old enough to blow her nose so if I don't catch it in time she wipes it with her hand and then wipes her hand on whatever happens to take her fancy. How fun is that I ask you? I'm hoping Connie from Texas is alright as her home apparently was in Ike's way. How rude of Ike. I was doing laundry earlier (still am) and cleaning bathrooms and decided that there is nothing sexy about cleaning toilets. Not that this is a revelation to many of you however I felt it needed to be said. I mention this because the first week or two after Alaina came home was exhausting. One day I looked in the mirror and realized that my husband had just come home from a long day at work and here I was with my hair a mess, no make-up, no shower and in ratty (but comfortable) clothes. I saw myself as I prayed he didn't but feared he did. At that point I decided that I needed to take/make the time to keep after my appearance. Not so much for vanity's sake as for Alan's sake. How awful to come home from a long day at work to a screaming baby, and your wife looking like godzilla. Well, thankfully the baby no longer spends much time screaming. She is much more interested in playing with her toys or getting into things she ought not to. I have done a pretty good job I think of keeping myself up so I always look presentable. It was just today as I was swishing the toilets that I decided there was just no way to look good doing that and if my husband were to see me doing it the last thing he would be thinking is boy is she hot! lol oh well. I'm sure he appreciates it getting done as much as he appreciates not having to see it.

September 11th - Where Were You?

Again we sadly observe the 7th anniversary of the terrorism of September 11th. I am sad today not only because of what happened then but because we as a nation have forgotten the terror of that day. We are busy screaming no racial profiling! Today I'd like us to remember where we were on that day. I was in bed in my apartment in Springfield, MO. I worked the evening shift in the burn unit of a hospital. My phone rang and it was my friend Carrie. She said someone flew a plane into one of the buildings of the World Trade Center. I thought, "who could be so stupid as to not see that building and fly right into it?" Carrie said she thought I might want to see what was on tv. I was going to go back to sleep but something told me get up and see this. I turned on the TV and a few minutes later saw the second plane crash in. At that moment I realized and thought, "Oh my God! We are under attack!" At work later that day I was there when we recieved a call asking us how many survivors we could take. We didn't end up taking any. Our chief of trauma who is with FEMA and was called to work the site said they thought there would be more survivors than there were. I remember the shock and the pain and the pride I had in the men who foiled the plane headed for the White House. They gave their lives for their country. They are true heros.

My husband's story is quite different. We had not met yet. He was in officer candidate school in Georgia. His group was out in the field on a training mission. They had been given a senario they were supposed to do. They were accustomed to surprises being thrown it as part of the training. Someone came out to the field and told them about the attacks. He said that if any of them had family in New York or Washington DC they were to try and contact their family to see if they were ok. He had brought a phone. My husband was from New York but he was unable to reach his mother. The training group thought this was a training surprise and were talking among themselves about what they might do. It wasn't until they were taken to the main gate (which was an open gate that anyone could come in and out of) and given M-16 with live ammunition. They were told what to do and that if anyone did not follow their orders they were to shoot to kill. You see they don't give you live ammunition in training senarios. That is when they knew it was real. Most of them had never seen combat before (many of them were prior enlisted) and had never been in a situation like it. Military life changed that day. Now we get searched etc. when going on post. No more open gate. No more easy military life. Now it's frequent deployments and everyone has seen combat.

So share with us. What were you doing and how were you feeling 7 years ago today?

Coupons

I have had some questions about how I do my coupons and how with the coming of Alaina I have time for it etc. So I decided that I would do a post about it.

I use a baseball card organizer. You get 9 coupon slots per page and the pages are a lot sturdier than photo album pages are. I keep my coupon center at my desk which is in the living room and where I spend a great deal of time. I have a small basket on my desk. As coupons pages come in they go in a stack to be cut out. Loose coupons go in the basket. When I am on the computer doing things it often takes time to download or upload or for a page to change or whatever. I use that time to cut out the coupons and put them in the basket. Then as I have time and as I'm waiting for things to upload, download etc. I grab a handful of coupons and sort them. I have my baseball card organizer divided and tabbed acording to the isles in the commissary I visit most often. That way as I am shopping I have it open to the section that corresponds to the isle I'm on. Even if I visit another store and it isn't set up the same way I know where things are in my commissary so it's easy to find the coupon I want. So, as I sort the coupons, I sort them according to the isle the item is in. I only do a handful or so at a time. Once they are sorted I put the isle one stuff in the isle one section etc. I also have each section divided but not tabbed into smaller sections. For instance in isle 4 they have nutritional supplements like slimfast and ensure, dental stuff, feminine hygiene products, all the baby stuff, medications, haircare, and body care like bar soap, body wash, lotions and face care products. So, in my organizer in section 4 the first page is nutritional supplement coupons, the next is dental products, then haircare coupons etc. each section has as many pages as is necessary. I make it easier on myself by putting all my coupons for the same product in the same slot. As in all my coupons for Cascade dishwasher detergent go in the same slot even if it's $1 off 2 or 25 cents off one or liquid vs powder vs packs etc. One thing that cuts down on having expired coupons in my book is that if the coupon is going to expire this month and it's something I need it goes in the stack of things I must get this trip. Otherwise it doesn't go in unless it's an exceptional coupon.

The benefit for me in doing things this way is that when I am in the store, and I see something on sale that I want, I already have a decent idea of what coupons I have so I can just turn to the page corresponding with the isle I'm in and see if there is a coupon and then pull out the one that gets me the best savings. As I pull them out to get one I weed out the expired coupons. ( I always wear something with pockets to the store. One pocket is for coupons to be used and one is for coupons to be tossed.)

I share my many coupons in several ways. One is that coupons for things I don't use I pull out and put on the shelf there with the product. For instance I don't use Tide but lots of people do. So I put all the tide coupons right there where others can be blessed by them. I don't do this with every coupon but I do it with ones for products I don't use and with coupons that are due to expire. Another way I share my coupons is that I bring my book to the support group I help to facilitate and PWOC. The ladies can see quickly what they want or don't want. The baby item coupons are always a hit. I also sometimes offer one to someone in the store who is stressing over the price of an item. I might offer it to them or I might just put it on the shelf by the product where she can see it.

As If!

I was watching some of the commentary today about Gov. Palin's speech last night. Obviously, as a rule, the Dems were dishing her and the GOP was praising her. The one thing I laughed at was (and I do forget who they are) the people watching for the Hollywood stars. They were laughing and making fun of the fact that there were few stars there and the ones that were there were B-list stars and below. Aside from laugher, my reaction was SO WHAT! Hollywood is not known for being overloaded with great thinkers! I would actually consider it a good thing that there were few of them there. I get a big kick out of the Democrats parading around their high school drop out Hollywood supporters as if they know anything more than the average American and we should all follow them. I really think the Democrats are scared out of their wits (both of them) about Gov. Palin. If they weren't they wouldn't be making such a fuss.

Punish?

Senator Obama says that if one of his daughters came home pregnant he wouldn't "punish" her with the baby. I'm intrigued. He proposes that the baby be punished for his daughter's mistake. He would rather put his daughter through a dangerous proceedure and kill her baby than have his daughter go through an unwanted pregnancy. Whatever happened to teaching your children personal responsibility? What ever happened to people facing the natural consequences of their actions? That is what Gov. Palin has done. Her daughter is taking responsibility for her mistake. She has chosen to marry the father of her child and raise her child with him. Sen. Obama deems that punishment, and he seems to be implying that Gov. Palin has pronounced this punishment on her daughter. Nonsense! No one can force anyone else to do something they don't want to do. Aside from that, have we all forgotten about adoption? Why couldn't any young woman in this position choose to give her child life and let some loving couple who wants a child adopt? What is wrong with him?

First Birthday!

Sunday was Alaina's first birthday. I can't believe it has already been a year since this wonderful child came into our lives. At her party there was a lady with a newborn. Looking at this baby I could hardly believe Alain was that small the first time I saw her. Sigh. I love her so. Here are some pics from the party. She is walking quite a bit now and soon will give up the crawling I'm sure. We have introduced the cup to her and she is getting the idea, so the bottle will likely be gone in a few months. Sigh. She is growing up so quickly.

Equal Rights For Women?

I have had several things on my mind for blogging lately. The first is equal rights for women. Now, I'm not a feminist although I do believe in equal pay for equal work done. I also believe in voting rights for women and that women can and should hold public office. What I take issue with is this equal rights agenda that the feminists are putting out there. Last week I was watching the Mike & Juliette show. They had a segment on about "manamony". Manamony is alimony for men. It's when the wife was making a lot more than the husband or even he is staying home and she is working. In the case of divorce she has to pay him a monthly amount of money instead of him paying her. They had several people on to talk about it and the thing that astounded me is that the women complained about having to pay! I have never heard of a woman complaining that she got alimony. One wife who had been married 10 years to her husband prior to divorce said she thought he had married her for her money and he shouldn't get it. She made millions per year. I don't hear women complaining about other women who marry men for their money. And in the past century they have been getting alimony. Now obviously I am not referring to everyone. I was really annoyed. They want equal rights. They want to wear pants and have the same jobs and get all of the benefits of being equal without any of the sacrifices. True equality would mean all women registering for the draft. It would mean women forced into combat. It would mean women paying alimony if the situation is appropriate. You wanted equal rights baby and now you can't handle the responsibility that comes along with that. Personally, I do not want equal rights. I'm too old I think, but I do not want my daughter to have to register for the draft or be forced into combat. These women want to have their cake and eat it too. Nonsense!

Preparations

Alaina's first birthday is on Sunday. This week has been full of preparations. Packages have been coming in from family in the States. Extra house cleaning. We had purposed to just have a few close friends over as she isn't really old enough to get the idea of her birthday and all. Well, it has all gotten blown way out of proportion. People ask us normal questions like when is her birthday. Then they ask the normal question of are you going to do a party or anything. I answer yes we are just going to have a few people and before I get the whole thing out they state that they are coming. I don't feel that I can say well we just wanted to keep it small etc. and so I'm looking at this as a wonderful opportunity to show hospitality. So now I've got like 50 people coming on Sunday from 2-5. I have managed to let people know that its not going to be a regular party with games and all. Just some food and a cake. Now I just need to get more food and more cake. Perhaps I'll bake some cakes instead of buying. I had ordered her a princess cake from the cake people on post. I ordered half a sheet cake. It's golden cake so I could bake a chocolate one and then there should be enough. And I already have cake mix and frosting in the house so it wont cost any exta. Otherwise I'm having my 7 quart crock pot full of lil smokies (beef) in barbque sauce, a veggie tray, a fruit tray, 2 varieties of chips with zaziki for dip, Corn chips with that dip you make with Velveeta and Rotel tomatoes, coke, coke zero, tea, water and juice boxes for the kids. I thought the juice boxes would be a lot easier and less mess so though it may not be as frugal as possible it works for me. If anyone has any more suggestions please let me know. I'm now worried that there wont be enough. I just wanted the day to be special for my little girl. Tomorrow we go to have professional pictures taken. Some of her for her first birthday and some family photos. So, today I need to get our outfits chosen and ironed and all ready to go.

The picture above is of Alaina after opening her first birthday present from Tia Fran. (My sister)

So many have come in and there will be more at the party so we decided she needed to start opening one a day or she would be crazy and not having fun. She loves her new toy as you can see from the big smile on her face.

The Pictures Below

I see now that I neglected to describe the pics below. Alaina had gotten into the baking cabinet. This didn't bother me as she often does and likes to play with some of the things. There isn't anything in there that will hurt her. What I didn't count on was that the jar of red colored sugar sprinkles had been previously opened. She finally figured out how to open it and then proceeded to dump in on the floor. At that point it was her goal to get as much of it as possible into her mouth. So I snapped a few pictures before I cleaned her and it up.

What Is Your Personality Type?

You Are An ISTP

The Mechanic You are calm and collected, even in the most difficult of situations. A person of action and self-direction, you love being independent. You seem impulsive, surprising, and unpredictable to outsiders. You are good at understanding how all things work, except for people. In love, you tend to be very easy going and flexible. The only thing you can't stand for is someone trying to change you or your life. At work, you can stay completely calm under pressure. You handle stress well. You would make an excellent pilot, forensic pathologist, or athlete. How you see yourself: Logical, flexible, and unconventional When other people don't get you, they see you as: Indecisive, flippant, and disrespectful

What's" Your Personality Type?

The problem with this one is that I don't think I handle stress well and I don't think I'm calm and collected all the time.

Guess Who's Walking!

Alaina that's who! She took her first steps on Sunday. 3 of them to Momma.

Settling Down In Our New Home

We arrived home to Germany on Thursday evening July 31st. Alaina's 11 month birthday. The next day was a matter of unpacking our suitcases and putting things away and continuing the process of unpacking the house. Saturday we decided to take Alaina out to the PX in Graf. to get the things she needed that we could not have gotten ahead of time. We also went to the commissary as no grocery shopping had been done since June. Alaina did exceptionally well in both stores. We got enough baby food and diapers to last a while. We bought her a high chair with a tray as I have decided that is better that the kind that pulls up to the table where she can grab everything and throw it. We also had already discovered the need for a diaper pail with a lid. Those of you with children will understand and are probably nodding and smirking right now. It was a long day so we topped it off after we got everything we bought into the car by going to the food court and enjoying some good Taco Bell! We ran into some good friends there who had also adopted from Guatemala. It was really good to see them and talk with them. Alaina chose this time to pee through her outfit so I was thankful I had brought along an extra outfit in the diaper bag. It was while we were eating that we discovered she likes diced tomatoes. She in fact prefers them to Cheerios.Anyway, we have settled into a good routine. Alaina is generally a very happy baby and life is good. We thank God for bringing her into our lives. She is so precious.

Today

Yesterday was so relaxing. Church was really good and we all just took it easy. Today however is a different story. I woke up just before 7am. I would really liked to have gone right back to sleep, however I have discovered that if my day is to be successful at all, I must get up an hour before she does. This gives me time to shower and dress and do my hair and makeup. I also can usually get the bed made, my Bible read, and possibly fold whatever was in the drier overnight. Since I don't move too fast in the morning, all of this may take me longer than it does you. So, this morning, I got up at 7. Alaina generally gets up anywhere between 0730 and 0830. If she isn't up by 0830 I get her up or it will throw our whole day off, but I digress. OK, so, I got up at 0700. Showered, washed and conditioned my hair. (when you have long, coarse, dry hair like mine you only wash once or twice a week. If I wash more I end up looking like foo foo the clown) I even managed to shave my legs! Woo Hoo! Got it all done. Hair, make-up, Listerine, clothes. I put a load of whites in the washer, and stripped the bed. I then realized that I could not make up the bed because the other set of sheets is in a closet in Alaina's room. (Note to self: pull out sheets on Sunday night before she goes to bed) Then I changed the towels in the bathrooms and gathered anything that needed to go downstairs. 0830 Alaina is still asleep so I go in and wake her up. I wonder if she's thinking that she's landed in some sort of crazy people family where they try so hard to get you to sleep and then go and wake you up from it. lol I figure she can make it up at nap time. So Alaina up and changed and dressed. Hair done. We gather up our things for downstairs and head down. Breakfast for both of us. Clean up from that and unload, reload and run dishwasher while baby works on puffs in high chair. 0900 bottle time. 0915 She's had enough and is ready to greet the day, play with toys and pull things off shelves. 0915 - 1330 I read and answer emails and get things ready for lunch for her. We watch some olympics as the View was discussing vaginal rejuvination. I'd just die if those ended up being among her first words. lol I find myself absolutely amazed by the things people will discuss on these talk shows. So we watched the olympics as we went through our morning. Mommy washed bottles and got some set up for her etc. 1330 Lunch time. Introduced cottage cheese to her. She wasn't impressed. Sweet potatoes were much more palatable. 1400 bottle time. Baby doesn't want to sleep. It takes a good half hour or more to get her down. 1430 - 1630 Put clothes from washer into dryer and start load of towels. Clean up from lunch. Set up for supper. Make all preparations that I can ahead of time. Set table. Make brownies. I have been craving them lately. I believe this is a sign of PMS and every woman knows that it is an absolute sin to ignore the God given chocolate cravings of PMS. Therefore, the brownies. While they are baking I check email, update my to do list, check the blogs I read and blog myself. I also work on invitations for Alaina's birthday party. I watch olympic rowing of some sort while I do this. Germany is doing well in this one. The housemeister did not come as promised today. The puddle on my bathroom floor leaking from the toilet tank is growing better. They wonder if they can come Wednesday from 2-4. No they can't. They will need to find a better time but find one before the floor collapses beneath the toilet. My neighbor is having the same problem. Hmmmmm. My plans for the rest of the day in no particular order are to actually make supper. Clean up from it. Set up for breakfast, get Alaina up from nap, change at least 2 more diapers, set up for her bath and give it unless hubby gets home in time to give it. Feed her supper. Bottle and bed time for her. Book reading for her. Proverbs 18 for all of us. Fold clothes that are in dryer, put towels in dryer, fold those, set up iron and ironing board for tomorrow, get consignment store items ready to go for tomorrow, get Alaina's outfit ready for tomorrow and pack up diaper bag.

You wouldn't think one little baby could add so much work. I'm mystified.

Travel Day

We got up at 0330 Wednesday morning at the hotel in Guatemala City. Took our showers and got ready to go. Got Alaina up, changed and dressed and saw that everything was packed. We checked out of the hotel and took the shuttle to the airport. We waited in line for over an hour to check our bags in. Then we were told that the flight would be two hours late because they got in late the night before. I assume that has to do with the number of hours a flight crew is required to rest between flights or something. Eventually we got on the plane. It was not crowded so we were able to move over to a row of 3 seats and Alaina could move around some. We fed her on the plane and she did well. Then we touched down in Miami. Alaina was officially a citizen!!! We celebrated with her, but hurried to get off the plane and through imigration and customs etc. so we wouldn't miss our connecting flight to Frankfurt. Well we were delayed at immigaration. They were not as pleasant as they might have been. By the time we got to the counter to get our boarding passes we could have made the flight but they wouldn't escort us through the lines to get there on time and then of course Luftansa was also on strike so they were short handed. So, then we had to wait and try to get another flight. It was a mess, but we finally got on a flight to Dusseldorf. We only waited in the airport like 8 hours. I was so glad I had packed extra food and diapers than I thought we would need. Did I mention that Alaina got attacked at the Miami airport? Alan had run on ahead to hopefully get us on our plane and Alaina and I were waiting in line to get on the elevator. (she was in her stoller) There was a lady in front of us with an airport employee. I noticed that she seemed to have some sort of skin problem but the lighting was poor and I paid little attention untill...The lady backed up without looking and backed into Alaina's stoller. She turned around and hit her on the foot and leg, yelling at both of us. I moved to protect Alaina and let her know quite loudly that she backed into us and she doesn't need to hit my kid. She didn't hit her hard enough to leave a mark but with that wierd skin I didn't want any rash or anything to develop either. And for the love of mike who hits a baby? The airport lady said that she is crazy etc. She did seem to be escorting her somewhere but she should have kept better control over her if she is unstable. The lady is lucky Alan wasn't there. He would not have responded as well as I did. Anyway, the evevator came and I warned a new couple that had come up not to get on with her as she was loco. I hope I spelled that right Jungle Mom. So the transatlantic flight went well. Alaina caused very little disturbance and was kind enough to poop only in airports where her diaper could be disposed of better. We let her know that we appreciated it. We got off the plane in Dusseldorf and waited at the entrance to the plane for our stoller. They had taken it and put it with the checked luggage. This meant that we had to carry her through the whole airport. This was not good. She is heavy and we had carry ons. Then, we waited to get on a plane for Nurnberg. They gave us a hard time about what flight we could take because of all the mix up in Miami and we waited quite some time before we finally got the boarding passes. Oh I forgot to mention that for the big flight they were very kind to us and only charged us for a lap ticket but they gave us a 4 seat row all to ourselves. Ok so waiting for the trip to Nurnberg they told us that there would be no drink service on board and provided us with warm drinks to take on board with us. Well, when we got on board they did have drink service so that was interesting. But, they made a big deal over Alaina and she went to sleep after we took off and slept all the way there. When we landed in Nurnberg, Alan played a very unkind trick on me. It was already about 36 hours since we had started at the hotel and neither of us had had much sleep. He said, "Well, we're in Frankfurt. Now we just have to get to Nurnberg and then we can get in our car and head home." I didn't recieve that bit of false information well. So we get our bags and wait as Alain gets the car and we head out to it. Alan had not installed the car seat before he left for Guatemala. It was raining and we were tired and it took quite some time to figure it out. Turns out it wasn't right but we made it ok. We retured home to a house I had never seen and a town I had never been in. Alan had gotten quite a bit done as far as setting things up. Only the kitchen and decorating remained and a little rearranging, but not much. We got some take out pizza and fed us and Alaina and we all went to bed. Until Alaina decided that she was not happy about being put in a crib in a different room. We let her cry it out and within a few days she was fine with it.

So that is our story. I'm sure I've left a few things out but that covers most of it.

Back To The Guatemalan Adventure

These are pictures of Alaina here at home in Germany with her brother Smokey. The two of them have grown very close. It was quite hot that day and since there is no airconditioning in Germany I just had her in her oneszie.

So there we are back at the Marriott. It took both of us about 10 days to get over our bout with Rotavirus. Poor Alaina went through a lot of outfits as the diapers were just not constructed to deal with that amount of poop. I have to say though. Even on the other side of it. If pooping were an olympic event, my daughter could bring home the gold. Or perhaps they would construct a special brown medal for that one. Anyway. Alan finally arrived. Boy was he a sight for sore eyes! He even looked taller! I had forgotten he was so handsome. I had been there 5 weeks and missed him very much. That first moment when he got to hold his daughter again was so precious. I loved the look of love and joy on his face. The week that followed until we were able to go home went by so much faster than they'd been going. My world was right now that Alan was with us. I'd forgotten how wonderful it was to have him to lean on. Thank you Jesus for my wonderful husband. He's not always perfect, but he's a perfect match for me. Well, the other interesting things that happened are that our interpreter got us kicked out of the embassy the day we went for our interview. We went back the next day without telling him but he showed up anyway. He almost got us kicked out again! I'll skip all that ensued with him, but the Lord was with us. It was imperative that we get our visa that day. You usually get it the next day, but since we had gotten kicked out the day before we had to get it that day because our plane was leaving the next morning. The first interview guy first liked us because our baby was quiet (the child before us was screaming at the top of its lungs) then it turned out that he is prior military and felt for our situation so he put our case at the top of the next guys list. The next guy turned out to also be prior military and moved our case along so we were able to get Alaina's visa that afternoon. Praise the Lord for His goodness! After that I took care of Alaina while Alan got us packed up and ready to leave the next morning. Then there was the travel day...