My very dear friend, and fellow Bond girl, Carrie, ran a 5K on Sunday morning.  Since she’s a runner and has completed a half marathon, that’s maybe not so impressive.  But, you might remember that I mentioned that she has been very ill for the last six months.  In fact, she’s still receiving weekly chemo treatments to combat her diagnosed MAS.  That makes this story very impressive indeed.

Carrie is an incredibly strong woman.  During TPS, she was our go-to girl for the tough projects and she always had more on her plate than any three of us put together.  So, it’s been no surprise to the Bond girls to see Carrie fight her disease with equal measures of tenacity and grace.  She’s been supported beautifully by friends and family in Florida, but Bond girls all over the country (world!  Hi, Sari!) are fighting for her too.

The Florida Team (Carrie on the far right, Debbie & Lynette right next to her)

The Edwards Team @ the TPS finish line

Sarah & me in Vegas

So, Carrie ran a 5K on Sunday.  But, so did all the Bond girls, in her honor.  It’s been so inspiring to me to see these women, who I love like sisters, get themselves together and overcome scheduling, deployments, illness, & injury to get on the road and running.  Carrie is our inspiration, but the challenge has made us all get up and moving…together.  Of course, we all have our supporters.  David marked out a 5K route for us to follow Sunday and he & Matt have both been supportive of Sarah’s and my efforts to get out and train.  And I know the other MOTOs have stepped up to help the other girls prepare too.

Our girls waiting for us to finish

Almost Done!

I’m so proud of these ladies.  I’m so certain Carrie will be well.  No matter what happens, the Bond girls are going to be there for her every step of the way.

Team Carrie

I don’t run away from a challenge because I am afraid.

Instead, I run toward it because the only way to escape fear is to trample it beneath your feet.

A month (!!) ago, we took off on a spur of the moment trip to Chicago to meet up with the Caspers clan. With less than 24 hours between ticket purchase and take-off, we really had to speed up our planning/list-making. But, the rush was worth it because we had a great weekend and got to see Uncle Michael before he deploys later this month!

We took off on Noah’s five month birthday, and got to Chicago in time to have dinner with Grama Peg & Grampa Clete before checking into the hotel and hitting the sack.  We were up bright and early on Saturday morning and picked up some Dunkin’ Donuts before meeting Sue, Steve, Michael, Whitney & Maureen at the house.

It had been two years since we’d visited Chicago, so we had to update this picture from our first visit.  Same kid, same snack, two years later.

Of course, on this trip, we had a new baby to shop around too, so we got several photos like this one…

…and these.

We had a great time with lots of playing in the snow…

…and Ava even found a good ride.

Of course, there was plenty of other good fun while we were inside during the weekend.

Since it’s a rarity that the whole Caspers clan can get together, we made sure to document the occasion to its fullest.  We’ve got some video of the paparazzi for these next few shots and it’s amazing the amount of noise and the number of camera shutters clicking in the background.

And, finally, the whole Caspers clan (minus Sarah & Carl).

Great trip!  See you next time!

Rolling!

Just ten days shy of six months, little dude finally got the rolling job done.  (Since this is an event of great importance, I’m breaking my blog rule and posting video without still photos.)  As is typical with this kid, when he flipped over, he totally looked at me like, “Hey.  I did it.  What’s the big deal?  You happy, Mommy?”  Chillest.baby.ever.

Way to go, Noah!!

It’s a couple of weeks late, but here’s a snapshot of Noah at 5 months.

:: Noah is such a happy baby.  With the exception of his very sick days, he’s nearly always just content to be around, hanging out.  Every time he meets someone new, he offers a big smile and I can’t tell you how many times people have remarked on how sweet & chill he is.

:: Doozers LOVES his toes.  We should just put away all the other toys and teethers because all this guy really needs in life are his tootsies.   Thank goodness he was blessed with 10 perfect ones to chew on.

:: Speaking of teethers, does this guy need to chew!  With all the slobber and constant finger, his or anyone else’s, chewing, you’d think we’d have seen some chompers by now.  But, still no teeth to show for all the mess.  This nursing mama is a teensy bit grateful for that.

:: Right at the beginning of January, we took down the swing and brought out the exersaucer.  It took him about an hour of practice to be standing up like a pro and twirling all the way around to chew on all the different toys.

:: On the day after he turned five months, Noah went on his first airplane ride.  Like a seasoned flier, he slept through every single leg of our trip to Chicago and back.  Bless babies that don’t mind flying…makes this military life with far-flung families so much easier.

It didn’t hurt that he got to bring his favorite toys along.  And, also?

Wouldn’t you kill to be able to bend like that when crammed into an airplane seat?

:: With all the fun stuff five months has brought, it’s also been pretty challenging.  Since the beginning of January, Noah has had croup twice, RSV, two ear infections (one a double), and just hasn’t been able to fully shake any of it.  We’ve been to the doc more often between the four- and six-month checkups than I care to remember.  All the sickies have made sleep issues huge and the poor guy is worn out.

:: When a baby is croupy, it’s easy to worry that they’re not breathing when they’re sleeping on their own.  So, Doozers has gotten spoiled on sleeping best in someone’s arms.  Or, in this case, up against Daddy’s chest while waiting for Ava’s dance class to be done.

:: Noah continues to be a fairly big kid.  Even with all the illness he’s still gaining weight (we’ve gotten to check a lot with all the doc visits!) and loves his solids.  So far, he’s had oatmeal, sweet potato, avocado and, just last night, bananas.  

:: We’re still waiting on the big day when Noah will roll over (I’m convinced it’s the key to sound sleeping at home and at school), but are excited that he’s getting close to sitting on his own.  He’s also a pretty coordinated guy with the fine motor stuff.  He’s just this close to being able to replace a spit-out binky and, ho-boy, that’s gonna be a game-changer with sleep.  (Seeing a trend here?  This mama’s tired.)

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Mostly, we’re just pleased as punch with Noah’s sweet and loving personality.  He gives AWESOME hugs and will just love on you as long as you’ll let him.  He’s definitely a cuddler.  We’re hoping he gets all better really soon because we hate that he feels icky.  Until that day, though, we’re just gonna soak up the snuggles and try to love him back to health.

Love you, little dude.

I enjoy having Fridays off from work because I have one day at home to get chores done and, if I’m quick about the chores, I can tackle some crafty projects too.  I had seen some projects around the interweb that I thought would be fun for the kids rooms so, on a Friday a few weeks ago, I grabbed the supplies on our grocery run and got to work during nap time.

First up was a starburst mirror for above Ava’s dresser.  The tutorial was from The Nesting Place and made the project super simple.  I bought a set of three round mirrors at Wal-Mart and painted the smallest in the same blue as some of the other stuff in Whoozer’s room.  With leftover scrapbook paper, this was cheap and easy.  Plus, no big worries if it didn’t work out!

Gotta love a grainy iPhone photo, right?

Once I got the mirror done, I moved on to mobiles for above the kiddos’ beds.  I’d seen some on Etsy, but knew that I could totally make them myself.  With some thick guage wire and a stash of beads and ribbon, I was on my way.

I added jingle bells to the mobiles so when you shake them they make a really sweet jingle sound.  I’m really happy with how these turned out.

Noah’s mobile

Unfortunately, I haven’t had time to snap a photo of the mobiles in the kiddos’ rooms, but maybe I’ll add them if I get around to it.

Hooray for Fridays and hooray for simple (cheap!) crafts!