You remember ME, right?

Today Jackson had a short (as usual) conversation with his dad. It went something like this:

Jason: What are you doing, buddy?

Jackson: I'm playing with my race track. You don't remember it, do you?

Jason: No, buddy I don't remember it, I bet it is fun.

Jackson: But you remember Me, right Dad?

Jason: Yeah, buddy, I remember you, you're my best friend and I love you.

Jackson: Yeah, Yeah you Do!

Later today Jackson and I were finishing a project about letters. I gave him a disposable camera to make pictures of something that started with each letter of the alphabet. We were on "W". I said, "Jackson, what is something that starts with the letter "W"? while making the "W" sound. He thought for a minute and sounded out "w-w-WAR! War starts with the letter "W". I asked him how we make a picture of war and he said you just make a picture of Army men.

We don't know how these frequent deployments will effect children. I'm lucky to have young children who have been sheltered from the largest effects of the separation. Jackson was 18 months old when he left for 15 months and 3 when he left for these 12. I've found it much harder to raise on older child through a deployment than a baby who doesn't know the difference.
Jackson is fortunate to one have a FANTASTIC memory, he doesn't forget ANYTHING. He is also fortunate to have a father who knows how to make a big enough impact when he is home to make up for the majority of his life that he has been gone.

The Very Scary Doorbell

It is Sunday morning. I wake up and get completely dressed for church while my infant yells in protest in his crib. This is the only place he is safe and girls gotta have a shower sometime. I mix my coffee concoction and begin to feed the natives breakfast. On to dressing the wild indians and packing the car. I then find myself to have 20 whole minutes before I need to leave for church so with baby on hip, I clean up the kitchen and prepare tomorrows coffee (always getting ready for the next day). Right before I begin my "get in the car" mantra...

THE DOORBELL RINGS.

First thought, Jackson is messing with the doorbell. Then he walks from my bedroom. Wrong.
Next thought, my great neighbors ALWAYS call before coming over.
WHO could possibly be ringing MY doorbell at 9am on a Sunday morning?

I don't have a large house but with baby on hip, I walk through the kitchen and dining room. In these milliseconds, my poor deployment focused mind has convinced everything in me that I will be rounding the corner to the door and peek out the window to see 2 green suitors (bearers of the WORST POSSIBLE news!) standing on my doorstep.

My hands were shaking and I nearly dropped the baby and ran the other way. I shuffled past the door a little with one eye open to see it was...

My neighbor from next door. (the one that always calls) He was bringing me banana bread and coupons from his wife. My face must have been transparent as he protested, "We TRIED to call you first!" I thanked him and closed the door. It was time for church, if my spaghetti legs would get us there.

ENTER deployment paranoia. This is a condition that can be developed at any time during a deployment. It can concern, you, your husband or your children. It could be illnesses, accidents or scary late night sounds. It seems to reach its heights as the deployment is nearing the final miles. It can range from paper cuts and bruises to overwhelming unexplained anxiety.

It's in these moments, I realize that military wives are set apart from others and in many more ways than this. That feeling is not one I want to relive. EVER. I told this story (it was a little humorous later) to a few others and one female soldier was particularly compassionate. She was very sorry I had felt that way and was sure my husband would never want me to feel that way about him either.

I know many have experienced The Very Scary Doorbell but for me, this was a first. A true sign that the end is coming but it's never ever soon enough.

Surgery? on my BABY?

That was my first thought when I had them take a look at the fact that little Lincoln's tongue was attached all the way to the front of his mouth. I had asked the pediatrician about it and she sent me on a consult to UNC. Although this was far from home, I knew the best of the best came from this school and they would know what they were doing. I was completely impressed with the bedside manner of the pediatric ENT surgeon that we saw there. She calmly explained to me the ease of this procedure and the possibility of doing it without putting him to sleep but told me she'd be more comfortable doing it with him unconscious in scheduled surgery because of the risk of clipping the salivary glands under the tongue. I did have a moment of panic when she used the words "unconscious" and "take him back into surgery". But we all want what is best for our children so I quickly browsed my phone for dates I could call in Super Nana for backup for both Mommy and Lincoln. I knew I couldn't do this alone. I just imagined me standing there as they rolled my youngest son back into surgery as I just melted into a blubbery mess. She came to the rescue and it was set.
On Monday Feb. 15, we went in for an "excision of the frenulum" as they called it in surgical terms. The whole procedure took about 30 minutes, the recovery took about 1 hour tops. I'll admit I was a little alarmed when they gave him the Michael Jackson drug (fentanyl)while in PACU but it was just a precaution and to help him rest. It was far more emotional stress for me than it was distressing for him. I can't attest to his pain level but I'd say the hardest part for him was not eating from 10pm to 10am. Boy LOVES to eat!
I had a great prayer circle every end of the country all the way to Afghanistan (thanks daddy!) and everyone is back to normal already.
FYI-
Tongue-tie or ankyloglossia is caused when the membrane under the tongue (the frenulum) extends excessively toward the tip of tongue. Sometimes this membrane is an intact piece of tissue attached to the floor of the mouth and extending down the length of the underside of the tongue. Sometimes this membrane is interrupted, leaving a small strand of membrane, which attaches close to the tip of the tongue. In either case, this frenulum limits the mobility of the tongue, often giving it a characteristic heart shape when extended.(www.ivillage.com)

Southern Style Snow Cream

This has been the worst winter the Northeast has ever encountered. Snow swells in areas like NYC and DC that have shut down the city for several days. Even the pentagon was closed one day last week. Although we've had some cold and miserable days, we've had nothing like that. Our little ice-in last month was bad enough to make me not wish for it here. On Saturday morning, we got an unexpected little blanket of the fluffy white stuff. It was the BEST kind of snow. A solid 3 inches on the ground. Big, Wet Fluffy stuff that never even stuck to the roadways. It made great snowballs and a cute snowman. It wasnt' really the sledding kind of snow and it was melted by the end of the day but it was fun to play in while it lasted. Oh, and it made for some tasty snowcream. Nana was smart enough to place my large bowl outside on the grill to catch the new falling snow. I had always just raked it off the top of the car. I don't mind eating a little car dirt. Apparently from my google search, snowcream is somewhat of a southern thing. Funny because snow is so rare for us from the south. I read in one place the reason it is a southern tradition is because the vanilla that is added used to have alcohol in it and the alcohol added would calm crazy kids who were a little over excited about the rare snowfall in our neck of the woods. Anyway, if you need the recipe to cook up some snowcream, here is one version:
Snow Cream

Large mixing bowl of fresh snow
1-2 c. Milk (any type is fine, but whole milk is best)
1-2 tsp. Vanilla Extract or other flavoring
1/2 - 1 c. Sugar

Take your large bowl of snow and stir the snow around a bit to fluff it up. Now quickly stir in just enough milk to make the right consistency of ice cream. Start with about 1/2 cup and keep going until you have enough to make the snow creamy. If you add too much milk and it becomes runny, just add some more snow. Then stir in a little vanilla and sugar, and Viola, you've got yourself some homemade snow ice cream!

i ♥ nana

First of all, I'm a proud user of google for everything my mind wonders. EVERYTHING! Sick? google, phone number? google, clingy baby? still looking on google! I found out how to make the cute "♥" symbol and of course I found it on google! If you need to know you type & hearts ; without the spaces!

So this year I have to admit, Nana was MY valentine. She flew in and rescued me in more ways than one. Thanks to her photo journaling, you'll have pictures to detail every event!

Beginning with the tale of the cast iron heart shaped pan. These cast iron muffin pans have been a part of my valentines day for as long as I can remember. They are my Granny's and she has always made me these cupcakes for valentines. As a child, I would help her with them and when I went off to college, they would show up in my mailbox or in my car on my way home from a February visit. Even as an adult living here in NC, I could count on the mail man delivering these confections to my door in early February. As of late, she acquired another pan totaling 3 and this year, I got my very own pan to keep. It's a smaller 9 heart pan and it's just perfect for making heart muffins or cupcakes. I had to get a short lesson in seasoning a cast iron skillet. This consist of soaking it in oil and heating it several times to make sure these adorable hearts come out perfectly. Jackson and I had consumed several batches of heart shaped muffins and we waited until Nana came to make the cupcakes. Wouldn't you know, in her luggage, she still came bearing Granny's cupcakes all the way from Alabama.
Jackson and Nana mixed up a lovely box of red velvet heart shaped cupcakes. Jackson loves to cook and likes to taste even more. He even iced them, tasting the icing after each smear! Mmmm everyone likes double dipped cupcakes!
From the photo, you may think we gave Lincoln a taste but not quite yet. Not that he wouldn't LOVE it, I'm just not ready for 2 sugar monsters to run free in this house yet.
We ♥ Nana
We ♥ Granny
and we ♥ "♥" shaped cupcakes.

When mama's sick...

When mama's sick...

-the laundry piles up HIGH!

-there are yogurt containers and fruit snack wrappers amuck.

-the kitchen becomes self service = junk food

-"rest time" becomes all the time

-there is an official movie marathon on TV

-the babysitter is called in to feed and diaper the infant

-the trash overflows, shamelessly

-there is a funny smell in the refrigerator (still unidentified)

-pajamas are appropriate for any outing

-rainboots are also approved

-coats are optional (for the mouthy toddler, not the baby)

-hourly care works are SAINTS

-tempers are short and days are long

that's when it would be REALLY nice to be a dual parent home.

I miss him at Christmas, I miss him on birthdays, anniversaries, and other sappy holidays but I miss him most....when mama's sick!

Breakfast with 16 of your closest friends!

What do you call 24 eggs, 12 pancakes, 8 slices of french toast, 6 biscuits, 3 lbs of sausage and 2 gallons of orange juice? That would be what takes to feed the Higerd party of 16 at Cracker Barrel for Saturday morning breakfast. That's right, Northridge Plantation took on Cracker Barrel this morning with 8 adults and 8 children. True bravery stood in placing all the children at ONE table ALONE! Everyone ate their fill and even escaped any major meltdowns thanks to a genius grandma (Thanks Mari's mom!)and a tube of play-doh. Now the floor and the poor waitress probably didn't fare so well but we hope she was well compensated with a tip.
Where are the pictures of this circus you ask...Seriously, who has time to make pictures while corralling 8 toddlers in a crowded restaurant?

{{Frozen}} Rain drops keep falling on my head

On Saturday morning, we woke up to exactly what was predicted for us...sleet and about 2 inches of it. All day we hoped it would blow some fluffy snow our way but no dice. It rained straight down frozen precipitation ALL day. It was strange to hear the tiny balls of ice hitting the ground and see them bouncing off of everything as it slowly became covered in this lovely layer of ice. Jackson couldn't wait to get out and play in it so I let him walk around in the backyard for a few minutes right away. As you will see in the photos, the camo coveralls that he received from his great uncle for Christmas did come in handy for our adventures. Around noon, we opened the garage to check out the road conditions. I then remembered the large piece of cardboard that I had recycled from bringing my new frame home from AL. I plopped it onto the frozen driveway and took a dive! I slid all the way down my driveway and halfway across to the neighbors and it was FUN! Jackson and the neighbor boys were then chasing me to try it too. So on a card board box, we sledded down my frozen driveway until our hands were too cold to feel. It was an instant hit with Jackson.
With the temperatures not reaching above freezing through the night, you might have guessed that we were once again snowed (or iced) in today. This morning, I had a better idea. Once Lincoln went down for his morning nap, Jackson and I hit the driveway again. Only this time we were sledding on Rubbermaid tops! Yes, they were FAST on the refrozen driveway and Jackson and I sledded down together each time. I even made some video so Jason could see how useful our steep driveway was during a winter storm.
When stuck inside with small children, my neighbors are better than State Farm, they're not only there for me...they COOK for us too!

Blog Bits

So we've not had any major events going on the last week or so. Can you blame me? After 6 weeks of holiday travels, we've been getting back to a routine that we call life.

I have spent most of my time unpacking, cleaning and conforming the children to strict 8pm bedtimes and keeping them fed. Boy it seems like once I clean up from one meal, it's time for the next. I've recently made fun of myself for "saving time" by using both paper plates and paper bowls. It makes the dishes much easier but I counteract that time saved by hand making most of Lincoln's baby food when I could probably buy it slightly cheaper and much easier. Oh well, I've got nothing but time, right?
The BEST thing I've done for myself since this LONG deployment began is begin putting the kids in hourly care 2 times a week. It's free for 16 hours a month and a mere $2 an hour after that. I seriously can't afford NOT to do it right now. So I spend those precious hours running kid free errands and running miles alone. That's my idea of FUN these days. I have a 10K coming up next weekend.

Lincoln is crawling ALL over the place. He's great at getting into things and still prefers to be held, especially in those wonderful "witching" hours. He likes to eat, Oh, he likes to eat. He prefers to feed himself and has expanded his palette to include, peaches, sweet peas and cheerios that he can pick up himself. He is still always fascinated with his big brother.


Jackson is my never stop talking stress inducer and comic relief all in one. He can say some of the funniest things in his daily never ending conversations. Today, when I picked him up from hourly care we were counting to twenty. He stopped me and said, "No, mom, I want to count in German!" Really, I didn't even know we knew German. I told him I didn't know how and he said, "Ok, we can just do it in Spanish." Then he proceeded to count to ten in Spanish and told me his school teacher had taught him.
We are also growing a manakuppi which is an egg cup planter where the grass seeds grow as hair for the little porcelain snow man. I told Jackson we were growing the snow man some hair and he asked if we could grow daddy some hair! Followed by him asking why our daddy doesn't have any hair and saying daddies are supposed to have hair. Ok and finally, the disgusting little boy moment of the month.
As I was getting Jackson dressed recently, I caught him scratching his butt. I said "Jackson, stop scratching your butt, that's nasty!" In his sassy manner told me, "I'm just scratching the outside, not deep down in the hole, THAT's where it's NASTY!"

Jason is still flying a bit more than I'd like him to be for safety concerns and from his tone, it's not just casual sightseeing flights they are making. I prefer to play dumb to what's going on over there and he agrees to let me. He says he'll have stories to tell me once he's safe at home with us. He mentioned today that he looked into the traditional anniversary gifts for me which is next week. It's wool and copper. I'm interested to see what's going to come about with those options. My real present isn't scheduled to arrive until sometime mid-april. THAT will be the present I've been waiting a LONG time for.

North Carolina via Ohio

On our way home to NC, we are traveling through Ohio to visit our good friends the Wallaces and their girls. Alexandra is 4 and Charlotte is 5 weeks.

The road to Ohio was as uneventful as it can be considering I was traveling with a 4 year old, 7 month old, a dog, a cat and an SUV FULL of Christmas stuff. All in all, we made it in one piece but I'm pretty sure Roxy (the dog) and I have several more gray hairs from the ordeal. First we traveled to Nashville and met another girlfriend, Jen, and her 4 children. I had yet to meet her youngest and her mine. We dined with 6 children at California Pizza Kitchen and really enjoyed the meal and our conversation. It was not as chaotic as one might suspect with 6 children under 6 years old. On to Ohio, by way of Kentucky. We made several stops in the greater Kentucky mountains including one right-off-the-side-of-the-highway bathroom stop. I did eventually have to make use of my fancy Bose headphones for the ipod for noise cancellation. Lincoln was crying, Jackson was crying because Lincoln was crying. The cat was crying and the dog was snoring. One mom shouldn't have to endure such torture alone. My prayers were answered in that the cat wasn't as much trouble as he has been in the past. We finally arrived around 9pm and swiftly made our sleeping arrangements.
Today we spent decompressing and let the kids play together. We made beautiful (ok, tasty) heart shaped cupcakes with LOTS of icing and dressed up like police and princess. Tomorrow we're going to jump into the mini van (it's borrowed) and take 4 kids into Cincinnati. That will be another story.

Lost and Found

I'm writing this story mostly because I want to remember it myself.
While in Alabama, I went out on an errand while wearing the emerald and diamond pendant that Jason got me on R&R. A gift for my 30th birthday saying "sorry I wasn't here." I got home and mom lifted the small white gold chain off my neck WITHOUT the pendant! My heart skipped a beat and my mind raced to the two places I had been. We split. She took linc and went to the closer one, I went on to the crowded lunchtime restaurant. I drove a little too fast and got there and didn't have any luck when she called and said it was my lucky day. She had found it in the parking lot. I was so thankful to have found it and decided a new chain was in order for the expensive and meaningful piece of jewelry.
Later that same week, I went to the spray tanning salon. Before leaving I glanced up on a shelf and a sparkly bauble caught my eye. As I picked it up, I felt a familiar heart race as I realized this was a VERY large and beautiful engagement ring. The 14K on the inside proved it was in fact very real as well. My heart ached for the person who had left this ring as I know how she would feel once she realized she had misplaced it. Not only was it beautiful, it was sentimental. I pondered what to do and decided that I would prefer to personally return it to the owner. I called the tanning salon and told them if anyone was looking for a piece of jewelry to call me and left my number. I expected a phone call within the hour or at least that night. No one called. I wasn't sure how someone wouldn't miss a ring of that size quickly but it slept in my jewelry box.
At 7am, I got a phone call from the tanning salon saying there was a girl who owned and described the ring and would like to come and get it as soon as possible. Knowing full well how lost she must be without it, she came immediately. She showed up crying and Very thankful. She claimed she hadn't slept all night. Well I guess NOT!
So the happy ending to this story is everyone got their jewelry back. I'm lucky to have found my pendant and she's lucky to be sporting that magnificent diamond. Call it Karma, or God watching over us but the moral of the story is: It's always the right thing, to do the right thing!

Growing Green

One of my fond memories of childhood and of school was doing experiments. I always like (and still do!) when they turn out all sparkly! Lucky for me my mom is eighth grade science teacher and amateur scientist. She brought home this crystal growing kit for us to try out. Jackson thought he was Sid the Science Kid with his goggles and magnifying glass. My cousin Austin helped Jackson with his crystal growing adventure. After about a week, we had sparkly, spiny, green crystals. I thought we were teaching Science, Jackson claims it was magic!

What You Need:
•1/4 cup epsom salts (magnesium sufate)
•1/2 cup water
•shallow bowl or dish
•sponge (optional)
•food coloring (optional)

1.Boil the water in a microwave or on the stove.
2.Remove the water from heat and add the epsom salts. Stir the mixture until the salt is fully dissolved. If desired, add food coloring.
3.Pour the mixture over a piece of sponge (optional) or into a shallow container. You need just enough liquid to cover the bottom of the container.
4.Place the container in a warm or sunny location. Crystals will form as the water evaporates.
Tips:
1.The sponge provides extra surface area to allow the crystals to form more quickly and helps make them a bit easier to view and handle.
2.Compare the appearance of the epsom salts before stirring them into the water with the appearance of the crystals that are produced.

Fort Jackson-The cure for cabin fever

It's COLD here in Alabama. The coldest start to the year since 1938 for you history buffs. The bitter cold and lack of snow have left Jackson in a WILD state of boredom and if you have a 4 year old boy (or any child for that matter) you know that this equates to BAD behavior. On Thusday while Mom was out of school for the imaginary blizzard of 2010, she does what she can to save Jackson's hide. She's been around the block a time or two when it comes to bored children. She took out her photography clamps, a large box that a portrait came in and a black and white piece of material previously used for a backdrop. Magically, a Fort appeared. This isn't your run of the mill Fort either. It has a working door and a roof. It comes accesorized with a head lamp and pillow and blanket. You can even order yougurt for breakfast, DELIVERY! But that's not all...oh no, this 2010 version of a Fort is not like the ones we had as children. No imagination is necessary thanks to the invention of portable DVD players. First they revolutionized the mini-van and now they're showing up in Forts everywhere. Home Alone (the original "KEVIN") is now showing in a Fort near you!

So..."Keep the change you filthy animal!"

Alabama Snow Day

Schools were out and the store shelves were vacant where the bread and the milk used to be. No one around here would be without their PB&J at lunchtime. Everything was perfect for a Snow Day...except there was NO snow. It is not an uncommon occurrence around here for the weather men to transform into giddy hope-filled 5 year olds and raise everyone's expectations for snow. One should just be prepared for a big disappointment. This is ALABAMA people, it just doesn't snow here.
So what do you do on a non-snow day when it's too cold to go outside? Jackson spends much of his time trying to talk his way into getting some candy or watching MORE TV. I spend my time either on the computer or walking around with a wooden spoon trying to prevent the 2 previous actions AND keeping Lincoln away from the fireplace. Apparently there is some strange magnetic force between Lincoln and the fireplace that he has discovered he can pull up on.
Nana always saves Jackson's day by providing some type of diversion. Today it was Gingerbread cookies. He had waited patiently for this "snow day" to make these cookies. He was serious about the job and even more serious abut sneaking a taste of the cookies.

He did get out and walk around in the SMALL flurries that fell. It was fun to see but equated to a boy stir crazy from being stuck in the house. And a stir crazy boy usually leads to an altercation with me and that trusty wooden spoon.