The Other Baby

Last night, Isaac enjoyed playing in his Exersaucer. That is, until he noticed "the other baby." On one side of the Exersaucer, there is a small mirror. Isaac will lean over the mirror and get sooooo irritated that he can't get to the other baby! I almost feel mean for laughing at him.

Off the Charts!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JUSTIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Today I took Isaac to his 4-month check-up appointment, complete with shots. The first thing they do when you arrive is measure them in every way possible. He came in at a whopping 18 lbs. 12 oz.! His head circumference was 18 inches. Both of those measurements were off the charts. Only his length, 26 inches, even fell on the chart, and it fell in the 90th percentile! Isaac is a big boy. When I asked the doctor about starting Isaac on solid foods, he said that a lot of people do not recommend anything other than formula before 6 months. He also said that with Isaac being the size of boy that he is, he would want to eat every hour on the hour if he wasn't eating some cereal to help keep him full. He said after a few consistent weeks of cereal along with formula, that I could possibly begin to slowly introduce some fruit. We had to stop Isaac from rolling off the exam table several times; this led the doctor to say Isaac would likely be rolling over within a matter of days. He was also impressed with Isaac's desire to interact. Isaac tried to pat the doctor's hand several times, and he also tried to take the stethoscope every time the doctor placed it somewhere new. Isaac babbled a lot, and he also held his head up very well. All in all, the well-baby part of the appointment went well.

I was terrified of having to hold Isaac down for shots. Justin was here to do it last time. I, like most any mother, am weak when it comes to seeing my baby cry in pain. As you can see in the above picture, Isaac went to sleep as the doctor and I were discussing details. Then the nurse came in and gave him a stick in each leg, to which Isaac awoke with a scream. After a little cuddling, he took the oral vaccination and was fine! He hasn't seemed overly cranky about any of it. In fact, he even smiled at me before we left the doctor's office! We were sure to thank God soon after for the successful appointment.

Beauty Here and There

I have pictures from Iraq! I was so excited to finally get to see Justin's surroundings. The sunsets are beautiful! I have an example posted below. I'm also including a few random cute shots of Isaac.
Isaac and his friend Daniel at Mrs. Lynn's (his babysitter's) house. Isaac and Daniel really enjoy each other's company!

As I cleaned out the car yesterday, Isaac watched from his Excersaucer in the garage. Isaac really enjoyed getting to play in the sun and being near me as I worked.

Isaac is wearing the onezie my brother had made for him for Christmas. It says, "I Love My Uncle Z." This is what Isaac will call him one day. Not until I began uploading pictures did I notice that Isaac looks as if he's been drinking. He was giggling as I took his picture.

O.k., so this particular example of Iraq isn't exactly beautiful. Justin moved his bed into his office, as shown above. The office is a good bit more spacious than I realized. The conveniences of internet, a microwave, and a coffee pot make the office a not-so-bad place to be staying.

Justin looks as if he's hard at work at his desk. He really has so much more space than he had in his office at Ft. Hood.

Here's a shot of Justin in another corner of his office. Around him is a sort-of living room set up, with a chair, sofa, and loveseat. I'm not sure who the guy is standing in the doorway.

I'm not sure what Justin is standing on, but this is an overhead shot of sorts of the living quarters for many of the soldiers. Justin described the quarters as being like empty 18-wheeler trailers.

What a beautiful sunset! It's stunning to look over the expanse of desert to see the sun meet the horizon...God is such an artist!

Food, Fun, and FELLOWSHIP

O.K. So the first picture is kind of random given the title of this post. I just love posting pictures of what's going on in Justin's world. This is a picture of a phone trailer in Kuwait from which Justin was able to call me. It is such a blessing to have places like this to help soldiers keep in touch with their families. Here's where the Fellowship aspect begins to come into play. Justin has been very blessed to be able to serve alongside a friend as good as Will. Not only are they stationed at the same state-side post, but they were able to meet up overseas before heading in-country! It is amazing how God works in our lives and places people exactly where they need to be at exactly the right times. I picked this picture rather than a close-up because I feel it gives a good idea of what a chapel at a more established post looks like overseas.

Not only has God blessed Justin with Will as a friend, but he's also blessed me with Will's wife, Jessica. She's such a sweet friend, one of the many I've been blessed with meeting since we've been here. There are several pictures on or attached to this blog of Justin and Will, so I thought it was time to put a picture of Jessica and me on here. She took this one tonight at the Military Fellowship. We had a great time with other past and present military families from the church.

Here, Justin is pictured with his assistant, Sgt. Ross. Sgt. Ross has also been a blessing to us. From what I perceive, he is a very talented soldier and has a strong faith in the Lord. It is naturally very helpful when those you serve the closest to share your faith.

I hope to have more pictures coming soon!

I think I can...I think I can!

We'll begin with a random cute picture of Isaac. He was in the mood to "chat" this afternoon, and I was ready and waiting with the camera. Here's where the title of this post begins to apply. Isaac has been trying to roll over lately. This time, I had my camera ready. He didn't actually make it all the way over (on his own), but he certainly did try. He can roll over onto his hip and stay there, which he loves to do.

Just after his 2:00 bottle. He was ready to play, despite an earlier tummy ache. He was trying to roll over and rotated in the process.

Almost there!

I did it!.............with Momma's help.

As for other Isaac news, he really is babbling and doing pre-talking a LOT. Tonight, as we were changing a diaper just before our 6:00 bottle, I sat Justin's picture down beside him. Isaac tried to roll over to grab the picture the entire time I was changing him. This is the picture of Daddy that we hug and kiss each night as we're getting ready for bed. When we'd finished changing, I set the picture back onto the chest-of-drawers. I picked Isaac up, and as we were walking out of the room away from the picture, Isaac squeals (as he's begun to do lately), "Daaa!" It may have been pure coincidence, but I believe Isaac is getting ready to say Daddy. The video camera will be working overtime as we prepare to capture that special moment when it does happen.

Say Cheese!

Woo hoo! I have now seen my first picture of Justin since he's been gone. Sorry Jess to steal this picture from you -- I wouldn't have to if my husband would send me pictures! (Sorry Hon) In Justin's defense, the camera did get misplaced somewhere, somehow, as he was headed "in country." We are working on getting him a new one. In the meantime, enjoy this picture taken of Justin and Will (Jessica's husband, mentioned in the last blog post). It was taken before they were in Iraq, as Justin and Will are at different FOBs.

Justin seems to be doing pretty well. We got to talk for a few minutes last night. And yes, it was actually just a few minutes. When you don't get to talk every day, even the infrequent longer chats seem as if they're only a few minutes because you have so much to catch up on. Justin is actually living in his office, as it has a microwave and coffee pot. I can't imagine what his assigned quarters were like if a coffee pot and microwave have him living in his office! Sometimes the offices are larger than quarters, as is the case with Justin's assistant, SGT Ross. At least Justin is fortunate enough to have 4 walls and a roof, as opposed to a tent which would waver and fill with dust during the almost constant winds. I will post more pictures as I get them.

There's a First Time for Everything.

Isaac and I experienced some firsts together today. I've tried to document them below.

Here are a couple of pictures of Isaac in his First Christmas attire. In case you can't tell, his pajamas say, "I saw Mommy kissing Santa Claus." Sorry Justin (He doesn't like the cutesy things as well as I do.). I tried to capture me actually kissing Isaac, but he was more interested in me picking him up.

First Cereal

Tonight, Isaac also had his first encounter with eating solid food from a spoon! It was pretty funny; he wasn't sure what to think at first. After I turned the camera off, he discovered the cereal that had spilled on his hand. He sucked on his fist then like he never had before. Click on the play button beneath the above picture to witness this encounter.

Today was also a first for me. I made my first trip on post since I dropped Justin off to deploy. It was naturally a little emotional. But, as is always the case, God confirmed to me that this is where Justin is supposed to be and that I need to be a supportive spouse, willing to let the Lord work through Justin and I both through this difficult time. God spoke to me through a song on the radio in His always-impeccable timing. I'll go ahead and tell the story behind the song. My friend Jessica's husband is deployed right now as well. She created a beautiful slide show with music to document Will's (her husband's) deployment. The song she chose was "Here I Am" by Downhere, a contemporary-Christian group. While watching the tribute, I realized that the song's lyrics epitomize the attitude Justin (and I) need to have about this opportunity to minister to his soldiers (I'll post the song below). I watched this the day before Justin deployed, as Will had to leave a bit earlier. Well, when driving up to meet Justin for final goodbyes at the gym, "Here I Am" came on the radio. It was like the Lord was telling me, "I know this is hard, but this IS what I want him to do." Isaac and I went on post today to do some banking and to get Justin a pair of running shoes. As I was turning onto the road which takes you past Justin's office and to another PX, guess what song came on! I just cried. I cried because I desperately miss Justin, and because it's beautiful to have no doubt about what God is telling you. Here are the lyrics:

Sometimes Your calling, comes in dream

Sometimes in comes in the Spirit's breeze

You reach for the deepest hope in me

And call out for the things of eternity

But I'm a man, of dust and stains,

You move in me, so I can say

Chorus: Here I am, Lord send me

All of my life, I make an offering,

Here I am, Lord send me

Somehow my story is a part of Your plan,

Here I am

When setbacks and failures, and upset plans

Test my faith and leave me with empty hands

Are You not the closest when it's hardest to stand

I know that You will finish what You began

And these broken parts You will redeem

Become the song that I can sing

Chorus

Overwhelmed by the thought of my weakness

And the fear that I'll fail You in the end

In this mess, I'm just one of the pieces,

I can't put this together but You can

Chorus

Here I Am, all my life an offering to You, to You

Somehow my story is a part of Your plan

Here I am

I'm going to try and post an actual audio file of the song at the side or bottom of the blog so you can listen.