leaving soon and tired already

Well, it's been another long day (from 5:30 AM). You'd think I'd be used to it by now, but NOPE! Anyway, we've been working all day to get ready to leave and I haven't packed a bit of clothing! :) I've mostly been working on getting things in order, like getting the house cleaned, running last minute errands, finally finishing baby announcements! I've got food and stuff ready to pack tomorrow morning, but I figure, it's not too hard throwing clothes in a bag, especially when you have and especially early start and a long morning. I always make a point to clean before we leave so we can relax when we come home to a somewhat picked-up house instead of to a whirlwind of mess that we left behind while we were running to leave in a hurry WHEW!

We're not planning on leaving until 9 or 10 so we should be good. I just hope the boys do well in the car. We're trying to time things around nap time for Charley. We decided to take the suburban at the last minute so I'll have room now to sit back with the boys and read and entertain them if I need to. I'm resisting buying the portable DVD player for now, although I know it's a nice way to keep them occupied. We'll see how long we can hold out. Well, my fingers are tired and I have to at least get started packing tonight, toys, books, clothes, etc. Please pray for our safety. I'll post pics when we get back. Love to All!!

Can't wait!

So, I'm getting really excited about these next few weeks. Will is done with the SSG and will have some time off before starting back at the War College, and also, we're going on a mini-vacation down to Norfolk. My cousin, Alicia, made the Junior Olympics in pole vaulting and the national competition is being held in Norfolk (the year we're not living there, figures) :) Anyway, we're so excited that we'll get to see so many old friend from when we lived there (last year). I can't wait to see how everyone's kids have gotten bigger, and to see all the new babies that have been born! How fun! I'll have to post pics for everyone when we get back. I hope the kids do well with the long drive and crazy schedule, but most of the people we're visiting have kids so I think they'll have a lot of fun together. Plus, they can still nap in the car at their age so I think it'll work out. We leave this Sunday for about a week. See you all soon!

boys will be boys

mud on one side, sticky fruit snacks smeered all over the other, these are the sides of my happy son's face, and this is good . . . we went to the beach tonight and had a blast. Of course, I broke the cardinal rule of mommihood and forgot the camera, but we'll go again. Ben loved it too, he kept looking at the ocean and had a beautiful grin on his face afterwards that looked as if he'd never lived until tonight. He was cooing and smiling . . . it was beautiful! Charley wasn't crazy about the sand at first, but finally got used to it. He never got used to the waves though, so we'll have to work on that another time. We all had a lot of fun. I'll post pics next time. Hope everyone is doing well.

ebb and flow

This weekend was so different from the week before it. I got a chance to catch up on chores and rest a little before Will left again this afternoon. This time he'll only be gone a day and now I'm thinking, "oh that's really no big deal," because it's so short. But if I had never had to last week on my own, I might be struggling with one day. Isn't that silly in hindsite? I'm sure some people are reading this thinking, "I can't believe she couldn't make it through one week." Well, I'm learning, that's all I can say. Plus, it will get better. Ben is so little now. I think a deployment will be easier when Ben is 3 and Charley is 5 because they can play together (and fight together I know), but they can also take care of themselves more and I can take them to more fun places. We'll see, I'm not going to fret about it now.

Charley is taking a late nap right now, adding to the mystery of his sleeping habits. It's a nice break, but I don't think he'll sleep through the night, I could be wrong. I'm going to let him go because I really think he needs the rest.

Speaking of rest, I feel at peace and rested now after having some time with Will this weekend. I found a verse that said it well. It's Psalm 116:7 "Return to your rest, O my soul, for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you." Indeed the Lord's blessings on me have been bountiful. Thank you Lord for your refreshing love and restoring words.

what a week!

Well, Will's home now. His plane was delayed so he found me sleeping at 1 AM when he got home. It was so nice to see him and he was so glad to be home. I'm so glad this week is over. It did teach me what I can do and what I should change. It taught me what I can handle and what I should expect. Of course, the heat, the dog, and other little issues made it harder, those things will always happen I think. I'm already praying now for strength when Will finally deploys. I don't see how those moms do it. They're amazing! :) Single moms, for that matter, really have my respect and admiration for what they do. They're on 24/7. I think we all should support both of these groups of moms whenever we come across them despite whether or not they're in those situations by choice or by accident. What better way to demonstrate God's love.

For the next year though, Will won't deploy and we'll have so much precious time together. I'm very blessed. We've spent all day today getting stuff done and catching up on sleep. He was so sweet to try to work and help me get stuff done after his long week away, instead of just letting it go until next week. At least we both had naps today. He has to leave again Sunday night, but will be home Monday night, and then after a couple of days at work, he'll have a few weeks off. That will be nice. I had proposed a trip to Niagra Falls, but I'm not sure if we'll go this year. I think we'll just stay home and work on things here and rest.

Thanks again for all the prayers and words of support this week. I love my friends and my family. God has blessed me with you. Dios le bendiga . . . God bless you.

feeling better ...

after a shower and a quick rest. I couldn't sleep because my thoughts were racing and I thought Charley was already awake again, turns out he just made a noise. Ben didn't stop crying like I thought, at the end of my last blog, so I had to go get him again and rock him to sleep, but that was sweet and fun because he's so sweet and cute! It turns out I think I fell asleep on the couch holding him :)

By the way, the storm seemed to completely miss us, except for a few light showers last night, unless it stormed through the night and I was just so tired that it didn't wake me, which is entirely possible. It's a beautiful day today!

so far . . . not so good

ugh, another early 5:30 morning, even after keeping him up a little later, usually that works. I'm worn thin. I finally broke down this morning talking to my mom. I think I have expectations for myself that are just too high. I think that everyone else does such a better job, but all the while, everyone else has been through the same thing in their own time and struggled through just like me.

This week has been really hard. I hope today gets better. Ben is screaming himself to sleep right now. It's taking him longer lately, usually he goes right down. I had to make Charley go down for a nap because it was time. I think we're all wearing thin. At least they're both asleep now, or will be soon. I need a break. Finally quiet. ahhhh

Thursday's Thoughts

All week I've been telling myself, "if I can make it to Thursday, I'll be alright," well, Thursday proved to be more of a challenge than I expected.

This morning was more like a punch to the stomach rather than the easy end of the week I was expecting. I was up again in the middle of the night before making sure that the noises and squeals I heard from Andrew (boy I babysit 2 nts/wk) and Ben wouldn't turn into crying that would wake up every child so when Charley and Andrew popped up again at 5:45 (a 15 min. later than usual), I was already lagging behind. Apparently Charley was too, because he was an absolute monster after Andrew left and I had to force him to go down for a nap early just before 10. (Thankfully we still have the crib up because he never would have stayed in his toddler bed and he needed a nap bad). It was heart breaking though because he was standing in the crib crying and reaching for me and I HAD to leave him. Of course, 5 min. later he was snoring :)

Anyway, I managed to make it to the afternoon when Ben finally woke up and decided I had to get out of the house. Plus, both my babysitters are doing summer camp right now so I couldn't just take off and get a break alone. I had no idea where I was going or what I would do, so I figured we'd browse Wal-Mart then see what Old Navy winter clothes looked like. Amazingly, Charley did great for the stores which was good because ON had an incredible sale going on and I ended up getting next summers clothes for Charley 70% off (which is cheaper than I can find at Wal-Mart or thrift stores or even on e-bay and they were brand new!) Needless to say I was thrilled :) Anyway, we get home and the monster is back ... laying around everywhere, mad about everything ... I had to force another nap (same scenario and yep, 5 min. later zzzz). He woke up at 7 PM and was wonderful! At least I knew that he was missing out on sleep too and it wasn't just me :) I let him stay up until 9 just to make sure he'd sleep and hopefully, that will buy me an extra hour or two of sleep in the morning, maybe not, I'll let you know. :)

Will comes home late tomorrow night so I still have to get through Friday and it's supposed to rain all day. At least the week is almost over now. At the end I think I'm going to say, "I can't believe I did it!" I still don't see how other moms do deployments for 6+ months with little kids. I'm not looking forward to that and have already started praying about it. I think the solution is to stay as busy as possible and get regular babysitting. I'll see when I get there I'm sure. Until then, I'm still going to take it a day at a time and try to get all my sleep. I'm getting better and I'm learning too.

Tomorrow, here I come! :)

Tropical Storn Beryl

Ok, not that I needed one more thing this week, but now we're under a tropical storm watch, fun! :) I'll enjoy the wind and rain (and remember to roll up the windows in the car, unlike 2 nights ago), but I just hope it doesn't flood or get intense enough to break anything . . . especially since Will is still gone. At least I have a neighbor who is a firefighter and everyone in this neighborhood is pretty nice so I'm sure I could get help if I had a problem, which I probably won't, but just in case. I'm watching the track and the strength pretty closely so we'll see what happens. Thanks for your prayers.

veggies for all :)

oh wait, one last fun thing . . . the storm blew around the green onions in our veggie garden (that my mom and mother-in-law planted together) pretty hard so I had to cut a bunch. The neighbor who helped me yesterday had also said he liked them when I mentioned we had some, so after I cut a lot of them, I dropped some off at his house, then on our walk, I handed the rest out to random people we know in the neighborhood. It was so much fun! It made me wish I had a basket of veggies to just hand out to people. Maybe next year, we'll grow more and I can do that. It's also fun because it gives me an excuse to knock on the neighbors door and say 'hi' and chat for a second. It gets pretty lonely being at home alone with the kids all day or even out running errands with them by myself. For those of you who know me well, or just know me :) you know that I don't like doing things by myself and I love having someone to talk to. Anyway, ok for real this time, good night!

what a show!

Last night we got our thunderstorm! It cooled us off about 10+ degrees I think and today was much more pleasant because of it. The thunder and lightening was incredible though! It was like the sky was showing off :) It went on forever, even enough for someone like me who loves it, to get my fill. It woke Charley up around 10:30 though (right as I was going to bed) and I let him sleep in bed with me until 1. I'm still not sure if I slept the whole time because of the flashes outside and because it's hard for me to completely rest with my baby right next to me (does anyone else have that problem?). It was still nice to have him there with me watching the storm for a little while. Of course, all the commotion didn't make him sleep later the next morning, in fact, he was up just a little earlier at 5:20. What does this kid run on?! I need to harness this energy and sell it! (my mom sent me a cute cartoon to that effect last week) :)

I also was able to get a nap because Charley slept for almost 3 hours after we went to the playground (finally something wore him out) and Ben was asleep during the same time as well. That nap made all the difference for the rest of my day and even gave me enough energy to actually play with Andrew and Charley in the evening and give airplane rides instead of stick them in front of a movie. I really hate doing that, but sometimes it's all I can do. (right before I reach the point of screaming or crying). I guess I'm just one of those people who really needs sleep, unlike my 2 year old apparently. That being said, night to all.

PS. Thanks for all the prayers, today was a lot easier. Still hard, but easier.

Benjamin Wayne Rimmer

Since it's been awhile since our last mass e-mail and some have been suprised (sorry), I gave birth to Ben Rimmer on April 27, 2006 at 9:44 AM. He weighed in at 8 lbs. 13.5 oz and was 20.5 in. long. He was 5 days late, but right on time because he waited for the Rimmer grandparents to fly in on April 26th before decided to put me into labor the very same night, so my mom and Will's parents all got to be there (literally) for the birth. It was much easier the second time around and I recovered much more quickly.

Ben sleeps much better than his older brother did as a baby and I have a feeling that this will be my quieter, easy going child, layed back child, but time will tell. He's already sleeping through the night as of 2 months old and is starting to smile at us. I'll post a picture when I catch it. I'm enjoying him as a baby much more than I did my first probably because I have more of a clue about what I'm doing. It's still quite a transition going from one to two and we're still adjusting. More milestones to come . . . stay tuned . . .

comments

Thanks for the sweet comments and e-mails I've been getting. I hope I get to hear from all of you either here on the blog or through e-mail. Yes, you do have to create a blog to post a comment, but there's no commitment or fee, and the most personal thing you really have to give is your e-mail address. Plus, then you'll have a place to write too! :)

Day 2

Ok, I've made it through the second day of what's becoming a very long (and hot) week. I'm just thrilled tomorrow is Wednesday already and the middle of the week. Since Sunday, I've been thinking, if I can only make it to Thursday, I'll be fine.

The upside of today is that I met two more people in our neighborhood. This neighborhood is great. The people are so open and friendly. I'm glad, because it blew my stereotype of Rhode Islanders or more generally, New Englanders, right out of the water.

While I was out on a walk I met a retired Captain who served in Vietnam as a supply officer. When I thanked him for his service, he downplayed his role saying that the most he has to complain about was the A/C going out in their barracks. He wasn't in the middle of danger, but he was still over there. It was interesting to think about since I've been talking about putting things into perspective this week. hmmmm

The other person I met was a neighbor across the street. I asked him for help with a really disgusting garbage issue in our garage. (I won't go into the details) It was a little embarrassing that the first time I met him was to ask for help, but I figured they were nice since Charley yelled "hello" from across the street and he said "hi" back while intently working on his flowerbed. Anyway, he came over, helped me contain the situation and then came over again to spray for the pests that escaped the bag.

Those were two nice blessings that seemed more like tiny air bubbles trying to make their way to the surface of a thick, hot cake baking in the oven. :) I hope that analogy makes sense to everyone, it's kinda wierd I know.

I'm going to try to make it to bed earlier tonight so I've gotta go get some chores done while Tweedle-dee and Tweedle-dum enjoy their beautiful dreams, probably about some place very warm. At least I have a fan on each of them . . . we have playgroup tomorrow so hopefully the day will go quickly and easier. I'll let you know.

"My yoke is easy . . ."

The good is . . . I have two wonderful boys
The good is . . . I have a great Mom who I can call up and who listens and tries to understand my complaints and tries to encourage me
The good is . . . at least I have a roof over my head, even if it is hot
The good is . . . I can turn to a loving God for help and comfort anywhere and at anytime.

Yesterday, some verses shot into my head, no doubt because the Holy Spirit knew what I needed to hear. "Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Matthew 11:29, 30 These words have been running through my head all day and I've been reciting them to myself like a mantra, "my yoke is easy and my burden is light, my yoke is easy and my burden is light," I guess it helps me to remember that things could be much worse, especially without Christ. Many people DO have it worse right now, especially in Israel and Lebanon this week. Knowing that still doesn't mean that this isn't hard for me, it just means that I have perspective and something to at least be thankful about. And that's good because when I have something to be thankful about, I'm thinking a lot less about myself and a lot more about God and that tones the complaining down a bit. :)

Praise you Lord for ministering to me even when I'm not seeking it or necessarily wanting it; thank you for showing me love when I'm not easily loved; and thank you for helping me even when I forget to ask for it. Please help me to bear the stress of this week with more grace than I am bearing it with now, and please help me to be kind to my children and husband through this. I love you my Saviour and my God. ps. could you send a stronger breeze or better yet, a cold front? :) that would be great, thanks!

Thank you all for your prayers! Please pray for the people of Israel and Lebanon whose countries are being torn apart.

You have got to be kidding!

Gayla, our German Shepherd, got sprayed by a skunk last night AGAIN! This is the second time in a week! We just had her bathed, even though that doesn't do away with the smell completely, and now I guess we'll have to take her back again. Add to that the heat index outside is in the 90's and many Rhode Island homes don't have A/C, including ours. We have fans going everywhere, but I think I'm going to end up sweating through the week. My solution was to get us out of the house this morning and go shopping, which is a task in itself, but I think after naptime today, we'll go in the back yard and keep the sprinkler going for awhile :) Charley should enjoy that. He and Andrew, the little 18 mo. I babysit a few days a week, loved it yesterday! We'll see how it goes. I think the heat just wears you down . . . on top of Charley's early morning wake up calls (5:30 again) and the dog, ugghhh

weary, tired, and worn

I wish my first few blogs could be upbeat, but I'm in a different, tired, place right now.

I have the boys on my own for the first time this week while Will is traveling to D.C. It's a challenge with a 2 year old who has more energy than the Sun itself, and a 2 month old whose very existence depends upon my care right now. Charley only sleeps about 9 hours a night and takes one nap during the day of varying lengths. So, when he goes to bed at 8 and is up and about at 5:30 the next morning . . . it's a little bit of a shock to the system :) Especially if I want to stay up any length of time passed his bedtime to just decompress or get stuff done before the next day. What it really means is that I have to go to bed right NOW!

if your friend jumped off a bridge, would you do it?

Apparently the answer to that is, "yes."

Tonight I'm finally taking my plunge into the blogosphere following in the footsteps of my husband and friends who have gone before :) It makes me a little nervous knowing that everything I write, good or bad, dumb or . . . hopefully not so dumb, will be in print for any and all to read. However, it's going to be nice to finally have a place to write down all the thoughts that are in my little head.

For those of you whom I haven't seen or spoken to in awhile, you may know me by my maiden name, Cathryn Leigh Janke. I'm married, as of 5 years ago, and now it's Cathryn Leigh Rimmer, still 'Leigh' though, that hasn't changed. I hope I can catch up with many of you through this.

Anyway, I'm off . . .