Tomorrow
December 29, 2009 | Filed Under Deployment, Military Life | 38 Comments
I think that tomorrow I’ll just hop in my truck and take a little drive to the Buffalo airport to…
PICK UP MY HUSBAND.
Yeah, baby.
Smile!
December 27, 2009 | Filed Under Deployment, Eliza Dove, Photography | 6 Comments
Smile!
Bigger!
I know I am…
p.s. Eliza is rockin’ the rhinestone jewelry, eh?!
Miss Eliza Dove turns two!
December 24, 2009 | Filed Under Birthday, Birthday Letters, Eliza Dove, Eve, Judah, Photos | 15 Comments
This is what happens when I say “smile!”
Apparently Daniel and I jumped the gun on the name “Eve.” But, how were we to know that down the road a few years we were going to have a daughter born on Christmas Eve. And how much would she have hated having her name cleverly be “Eve” because of her birth day.
Her “real” smile.
Regardless of names, Miss Eliza turned two on Christmas Eve. I can’t believe it has been two years.
Seriously, how has it been TWO YEARS? Someone call the police and report time thievery!
I can’t really explain to those of you who have not met Eliza just how much of a delight she is. Words don’t really do her justice. But as a start… she is a wonderfully chubby ball of fire rolled in sweetness.
I absolutely adore the daylights out of her.
Again with the “smile!”
All I can ask of my sweet, sweet girl is this:
Darlin’,
Stay a baby for me, won’t you? My baby. Whether you are a delightful two, sweet sixteen, a wonderful twenty-nine with three babies, seventy-five and old and grey… always, always be my baby.
Please never stop letting me hold you, or kiss your cheeks, or tell you that you are my reward.
You are the very best ending to the second very best thing I have ever done in my life.
You, Eliza Dove, make my heart sing.
What do I say to you all day, every day?
“Mama loves you.” Because I do. I really, really do.
Love,
the crazy red-head who kisses you an average of 87,634,297 times a day
Crossfit
December 21, 2009 | Filed Under Andrea, Crossfit, Eve | 8 Comments
Daniel has been doing Crossfit for the last three years or so. And I, amidst having babies, occasionally worked out with him. But I was always so stinkin’ sore the next day, like, I didn’t want to walk up the stairs… don’t touch me… don’t breathe wrong, kind of sore.
As a mother of three young and very needy children, I couldn’t be incapacitated like that.
I knew before moving up to New York that there is a Crossfit gym in a town near by to where I was going to be living. And I knew that I wanted to work out there while Daniel was deployed. I mean, I did lose fifty pounds of post-baby weight (my body absolutely hates me and does crazy things after I have my babies) while Daniel was deployed last time. I had to do something spectacular again, right?!
But I was scared.
As the sole care-taker for my kids I knew that I couldn’t be so sore that I wouldn’t be able to deal with my kids. But I really, really wanted to work out at the Crossfit gym. While on the website one day, I noticed that there were kickboxing classes being offered. I thought: Hey! I could do that. Kickboxing classes would be a good way to get my toes wet.
So I signed myself and my Dad up.
Guess what. The classes were kickboxing… with a side of Crossfit.
Oh, baby. Was I ever sore those first few times. The weekend I was most sore I had a couple of photoshoots, my birthday, and a wedding to second-shoot with Amanda.
Did I mention that my apartment has stairs leading up to it? Lots of stairs?
It has been six weeks now; I started out with a two time a week schedule, now I am working out at least three time a week though last week was four. I can see and count my abs. I can deadlift 135# which is not much in the Crossfit community but for me it is ten pounds more than my body weight, ten more pounds than I could deadlift the week before, and it feels good for this beginner. There is so much I can do that I never knew I could do before I started going to Crossfit.
Deadlift from andrea hub on Vimeo.
(In this video I was making fun of my 135# deadlift “PR” (personal record) but I am proud of myself for doing it. Also, you get to see first-hand that I am a dork.)
We women…. are strong. Did you know you are strong? Oh, you are. A whole lot stronger than you think you are.
I have discovered that I love Crossfit. It’s hard-core, brutal, exhausting and I never want to do anything else as a method of working out.
And while I started out with “looking good naked” as my goal, I have discovered that what I really want to do is get a five rep 52# shoulder press on my record instead of the 50# that I currently have. I want to do pull-ups without using any bands. I want to back squat more weight, do a heavier clean and jerk, on and on…. that looking better naked part has happened and keeps happening. Only now it’s just icing not the goal.
Eve has been watching me work out for these six weeks. She has seen Daniel doing Crossfit for half of her life… Saturday I took her with me to go do a work out. Her workout clothes had been picked out and tried on for three days; there was a countdown; I heard of not much else all week long.
She loved every minute.
Eve doing squats
Eve’s favorite exercise: Pull-ups. Her feet had just slipped through the harness but before that happened she was able to complete pull-ups nearly unassisted.
Can I just tell you, I really enjoyed working out with my daughter. Even though she is young, learning good fitness is a lesson you can’t begin too early. Eve’s countdown to our next work out is up and running!
( Eve and I post workout. She is holding the deck of cards that we used as the basis for our workout)
I have a feeling that we are going to be a Crossfit-ing family.
Bring it on!
And the countdown marches on…
December 17, 2009 | Filed Under Deployment, Life Stuff | 16 Comments
*I think I might cry a little when I have my own house again. I have missed having my own space very much. Apartment living… is not for me.
*I’ve bought the last package of toilet paper ’til we leave. A four pack, for curious minds. This makes me feel slightly giddy.
*I allowed myself to think about sleeping in my own bed, today. Such a lovely, lovely thought.
*Daniel and I are trying to figure out the plane ticket buying. Not such an easy decision since we have nothing firm in the way of dates. But still…. plane tickets…. hooray!
*I have started to go through the stuff we have here at the apartment. Selling some, giving lots away… the process feels quite overwhelming. Life needs to march on… the feeding, clothe-ing, washing, homeschooling, Eliza’s birthday, Christmas… there isn’t a pause button for my duties while I pack.
*Everything we are bringing back to New Mexico has to fit in the 5.5 feet bed of our truck. I’m good but I don’t know if I’m that good.
*No Christmas tree this year. My kids are sad but there’s no point and it would be a waste of money. It’s too bad because I did buy a tree stand at a garage sale for .50 cents. I hate to waste it… ha!
*I’m going to really, REALLY miss Wegmans, Sephora, the big beautiful mall, a great health food store, Craig’s List, knowing that I can drive to just about any store I can dream up in no more than 15 minutes. I like to shop without being inconvenienced and our tiny town in New Mexico has squat. And that is very inconvenient.
*Tomorrow night is our last “Girl’s Night” before I have to move. These ladies have been my life-line. And I am going to miss them very much.
*I have less than a handful of Crossfit workouts left. Tonight I have one and I am taking Eve with me on Saturday. Next week is going to be almost normal but after that…. I don’t know. And not knowing makes me nervous! I have really enjoyed dying Crossfit-ing every other day.
*Not being able to send Daniel his daily letter or any more packages has made me feel sort of useless. But, time is short now. And that makes me happy.
Off to make something for dinner!
Happiness is mine!
Who knew math could be so funny!
December 15, 2009 | Filed Under Eve, Video | 15 Comments
Eve from andrea hub on Vimeo.
Eve lost her other front tooth last night. I am now officially giggling every time she talks to me.
“Yeth, Ma’am” she says. Love that.
School was such a blast today! Oh, the laughs we had as she and I went through language and reading.
I am so very glad that I have two more children to experience this lack of incisors fun with!
p.s. that wasn’t my kid screaming in the background.
p.p.s. why does Eve use such a random assortment of three fingers?
p.p.p.s. is there anything cuter than no front teeth?
p.p.p.p.s most days homeschooling is da bomb. (i know, that phrase was totally circa 1998. roll with it, please… I’m feeling kinda dorky tonight.)
Aching for home.
December 8, 2009 | Filed Under Deployment, Military Life | 35 Comments
It’s been no secret that I have struggled this deployment.
Some people fly right on through these separations, never seeming to be bothered all that much. They are vibrant and busy. Happy and optimistic.
I have never wanted anything to end so badly.
I ache for home.
It’s funny to hear myself say that because really, where is my home? Is it here in New York? Because this is where I grew up. It should feel like home, yet it doesn’t.
Is it New Mexico? I mean, that is where my home should be after all. Well, if I hadn’t abandoned ship.
When I visited Vermont I felt the closest to being “home.” Probably because that was where Daniel and I had spent four intense recruiting duty years together.
But, what I come up with is this: Daniel is my home.
And so my heart aches for him.
Three weeks left. Probably, most likely, we’ll see.
It should seem so short. But, as I wrote to Daniel a little while back, even one day seems too long.
All I want to do is bury myself in him. Hide from the world. Let him refresh my heart. Soften the memories of life lived without him.
I can’t escape the sadness right now. I want to. Everything and everybody is so happy! It’s Christmas! Your husband is coming home! Be filled with good cheer! Stuff your face with cookies! Wrap presents!
All I can say is: I’m trying. I’m smiling. I’m holding out hope. I’m singing Christmas carols. Tearing off a link in the paper chain each night. One day closer.
Why is the end the hardest?
Eve, the firstborn…
December 2, 2009 | Filed Under Eve, Photos | 22 Comments
My Eve… she’s amazing. Sweet, loving, very funny, smart, orderly. The list goes on. I really love her. I’ve called her my “sunshine girl” ever since she was a wee baby… because that’s what she is – sunshine.
I took her on a date this past Saturday night. We went to “The Nutcracker” at the beautiful theatre down in the city. We dressed up in fancy clothes and had a wonderful night out. I had splurged and purchased really, really good seats. What an amazing view we had! The tickets were worth every penny. Eve commented to me afterward (as we were running to the truck ’cause it was wicked cold out!) that she wished she could have every costume the ballerinas wore. I wish I could give them all to her… they were so lovely.
Math is her favorite subject to learn. She eats up those numbers… a very different mind from her mother! I am hoping that along with Daniel’s personality and taste in food and eye color that she also has his smarts. So far so good!
I am pretty sure she is going to have a large family… she is very much an administrator and enjoys having lots of little people around to direct. It seems all of this could come sooner rather than later as she has already had her first marriage proposal… my oh my! Daniel needs to hurry up and come back from Iraq so he can beat the boys off…
I am very much enjoying watching Eve develop into her own person. I love watching her become “Eve.” Meticulous, quiet, diligent, highly social, out-going, cautious, obedient…
I’d be remiss if I didn’t add that Eve has her own definite style in clothing and all things related to being a woman. She still doesn’t own a pair of sunglasses because we can’t find “her style.” She wears her clothes in a particular way, her earrings, her hair, she rolls her jeans, she must wear lip gloss ( I swear she’s straight out of Mississippi with her lipstick (gloss) manners.) her purse is attached to her side permanently. Oh, it’s quite the process for her to get out the door. But I love it and her.
If you are a mother, I would love to hear about your firstborn in the comments! Or, tell me about you, if you like me are a firstborn yourself. We sure are an interesting group!!
