Day 4,148

The 1613 Men

Our church put together a two-day camp for the young men in our families to teach them the various basics about manhood.

They learned how to push a car to the side of the road, how to bait a fishing pole, how to introduce themselves, all about knife safety, how to workout, how to use common tools, how to make their own lunch, and lots of other things I can't remember at the moment. 

Through it all, while they were learning the various aspects of what growing into a man looks like, there was woven into the instruction the thread of the gospel and the distinction between godly manhood and worldly manhood.

"Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong." 

1 Corinthians 16:13

Meanwhile, the ladies (Heater included!) took a day trip to the dog beach and had ourselves another fun day in the sun. 

And topped it off with some "Old McDonald's" ice cream cones!

Then, more birthday celebrations!!

Day 2,377

The Lawbreakers

Can’t make this stuff up. 

So I’ve been convinced for probably 6 months now that I in fact, misplaced the tabs to the truck but that they existed somewhere between our multiple dwellings over the last year. Adam wasn’t as convinced. He however, did nothing about the issue...which were due to be replaced at the end of December 2017. So yesterday, we made a plan to deal with the potential consequences of not re-registering our truck for over a year by taking a visit to the tax collector. But first, we had a prenatal appointment at the birthing center. Following our 35 1/2 week appointment - which went great...baby is healthy and getting big! - we took a quick detour to our favorite local breakfast spot and enjoyed a yummy brunch before piling back into the truck and heading to the tax collector. We traded jokes earlier in the morning that we’d made it a whole year on expired tabs and that today was the day we’d finally get found out. We knew it was going to happen. Because: justice. And as you can plainly see in our rear window above, that’s precisely what happened...a half mile from arriving at the tax collector. We knew the officer wouldn’t believe our story, so we didn’t even try mentioning it because seriously, who’d believe it? When he asked Adam why he’d been driving on a years worth of expired tabs, Adam replied, “I have no excuse, Sir.” We then learned that the officer could’ve had the truck towed right then and there if he’d wanted to, but thankfully with three babes in car seats and a pregnant wife, his compassion overcame his justice. Thankfully. He sent us away with a $113 ticket and implored us to get the truck registered ASAP. Which we obviously did while laughing/kicking ourselves the rest of the drive to the tax collector. 

Also, just as a little FYI: if you drive on expired tabs and get ticketed for it, you STILL owe the past due amount on the tabs AND the charge on the ticket. Adam was under the false premise (jokingly) that it was cheaper to drive on expired tabs for a year than it was to register the truck, but when the tax collector lady printed out the bill, last year’s tabs were charged with this year’s tabs, just as they would’ve been if we’d done it the right way. So it’s in fact not cheaper. Uncle Sam is smarter than that, Hon. Can’t get away with nothin!! At least our foolishness served as a unique - though expensive - learning opportunity for the kids. Right?

Day Eighteen hundred and Fifty-Seven

The Mulch we were Supposed to Purchase a Year Ago

My dad always asked me when I was a kid, "Are ya workin' hard or hardly workin?"

Workin' hard, Grandpa. Workin' REAL hard. Not only did I manage to score 60 bags of mulch for the price of 30 bags, but I also walked away with TWO free wooden pallets AND a large man who unloaded the entire truck for me while I stared in wonder at all the possibilities ahead of me for those pallets. Workin' hard alright - using my big huge brain in place of my tiny little muscles. Whoever said hard work was all physical anyways?!

Day Eighteen Hundred and Forty-Nine

The(re's) a First Time for Everything...Even a Hurricane

Happy Offseason, here, have yourself a hurricane!

No rest for the weary...that's how it goes, right?

As of today (Wednesday) at 11PM, the hurricane's path is headed directly at us. Not as a Category 3 like the above photo suggests, but as a Category 4. My heart. We're so in need of rest, but for now, we have to act. We'll fight on under the protection and favor of the Lord, regardless of how tired we all are. And so, we set out yesterday for some preparation.

We arrived to Home Depot at 1:30ish looking for a cooler and a water container among other things. Thankfully, we had already purchased flashlights from the storm scare a month ago...but others...not so lucky.

House supplies. Check! 

Water supplies. Check!

Food supplies. Check!

Palms trimmed. Check!

Hong Kong Orchid trimmed. Check!

Garage cleaned. Check!

Car picked up from the auto body shop. Check!

Both cars parked in the garage (with 8 inches to spare). Check!

Helping neighbors install shutters. Check!

And a last farewell to "normal" dinners for probably at least a week. Check!

We've decided to stay and ride out the storm. Our house was built in 2011 with all the updated standard requirements of new builds in South Florida. We have upgraded hurricane shutters and a gigantic electric door (looks and operates similar to a garage door) that encloses all our outside doors. We've removed as much potential debris as possible, cut back the trees from the house and pool screen, and secured everything we can think of. We've got 16 gallons of water stored up and plenty of food. We plan on grilling when we're without electricity if we choose to stay home once the storm passes. We've finished all our laundry, prepared some food, and tidied up a bit. To say that I'm terrified is about as accurate as it gets, but Adam - and the rest of our neighborhood - is confident that what we have here is sturdy to withstand the wind and rain and whatever else is headed our way. Please, please pray for our safety and everyone else affected by this storm. And please, if you get overwhelmed with concern (Nan!), have perspective that Haiti - one of the poorest nations in the world - just endured this storm with much much less than what we have. Pray for them. Their situation is far more serious than mine and they need as much of our help as we can offer.  But do know that we are NOT taking this lightly and have done every single thing in our power to prepare accordingly. Neither of us have ever seen a natural disaster in person, and though I would prefer not to begin my hurricane journeys with a Category 4, this is what we're dealing with.

A few things: 

It is highly likely that we will be without power and potentially cell service. We were told that our best bet at correspondence will be via text message, but that it isn't guaranteed. We will update once the storm hits if we can. It is supposed to begin really affecting us around 8PM Thursday night and continue until Friday morning around 8AM. I cannot say for sure that I'll be able to post my blogs either. Depending on if and how long the power is out, tomorrow's post might be my last for...however long. I will continue writing and documenting our days, but if I'm not able to upload to the internet, I will do it once we have power again. 

Thanks for your prayers.

Here goes nothing. 

Day Eighteen Hundred and Forty-Five

The Farewell to Apartment #10

Upside down sleep.

Because sleeping like a regular human being is just too difficult a concept for a 19 month old. 

Continuing on in our exhaustion, we woke up early yesterday and packed the contents of our Miami condo into our big truck. Thankfully, everything fit, nothing fell out, and there was even that light breeze I had hoped for to cool me off while I made four trips down 23 floors with a toddler who couldn't do much but make a mess of everything I was trying to clean. I even left one minute earlier than my 4 o'clock goal! And then spent the next 3 hours in Friday rush hour traffic, when it generally takes about an hour and forty minutes to get from Miami to home. But that's baseball life for ya. And though I'm more tired than I can remember, I'm grateful for the way my heart left the Party City. And also grateful that we never will live in downtown Miami ever again.

Day Eighteen Hundred and Forty

The Delphin

JDF. 

We love you. 

We miss you. 

We cherish you. 

Dearest Jesus, may this man's short life on Earth continue to bring you honor and glory. Hoping relentlessly that Jose's found his eternal rest in your truth. Please, Jesus. 

Day Sixteen Hundred and Sixty-Four

The Helping Hands and Roughed-Up Raptor

Mimi and I woke up yesterday to zero food in the house and two hungry tummies. So, I whipped up the only thing I had: a sweet potato. Thankfully, she loves her taters and begged me for them while I cooked.

After breakfast, we trekked to Whole Foods where we spent all Dad's money on Apartment #10's necessities. When we got home, I put the little shopper to work.

And she did it happily. 

Girl after her Mommy's heart.

And I sure was in need of some extra heart squeezes yesterday. Because I sort of crashed the truck. Well, crashed is absolutely an exaggeration, but that's what it felt like to me. After having driven that gigantic truck for FIVE straight years, I've never once as much as scratched the truck, and I do pride myself on that. However, we were NOT notified that our truck actually does not fit in our new condo's parking garage (before moving in, we did give them information about the size of our vehicle) and so I found that out the hard way upon exiting the garage. The front driver's side of the truck traded paint with the garage's unnecessary dividing pillar and now, my pretty black truck has an ugly bright yellow blemish. Uhhhh!!! We have no idea where we're supposed to park now, as the garage is - as far as we know - the only option our building offers since it's downtown, but we have a meeting with the management office on Monday to determine our next steps!!! Hopefully they can find us a spot outside the garage, otherwise, I have a terrible feeling that we might have to relocate to another building. 

Day Sixteen Hundred and Forty-Three

The Miniature Truck Driver

Move over, Mama! I got this!

On second thought, taste-testing is much more fun than test-driving.

Day Fourteen Hundred and Eighty-Six

The Teething Errand Partner

This happy girl put up with hours of errands yesterday.

I know, an oxymoron considering she spent much of it in her car seat, but an oxymoron I'm glad nonetheless!! And WHILE teething! Such a little champ! 

Check out that tooth!

Ever since she started actually teething, we've seen SO many new, fun faces!

And silly ones too!

She's always wiggling her tongue and drooling everywhere.

She's just the best.

We are so thankful for her sweet and calm demeanor.

It was a long one yesterday, but she managed every bit of it, and even treated us to a NAP in the truck! Who is this kid?! Love you MillieGirl! We're officially out of Miami and onto the next thing: preparing for our trip with friends to the Blue Ridge Mountains until Monday!!!

Day Fourteen Hundred and Forty-Five

The Ninth Move (at least)

Yesterday, Amelia and I woke up to Daddy making oatmeal at 7AM. He handed off the oatmeal - my favorite morning breastmilk enhancer - grabbed my bags, escorted us to the rental car, and kissed us goodbye. Five hours later, were were deboarding the plane in New Orleans. Just me and the babe. 

With an entire apartment to pack by myself, I was feeling overwhelmed. Amelia wouldn't go to sleep and was barely content enough to sit alone. I managed to pack up the kitchen, sip on my granita (the best thing about going back to NOLA - thanks Puccinos!), and get a few smiles from my Girl before she decided that it was going to be her way...or nobody's way. So we did it her way. And sat on the couch for two hours doing nothing while she did her thing. I was about to lose it, but then she fell asleep. Finally, my time to shine.

Somehow, I morphed into Super Packer and got almost every single item of ours mashed into the truck before Millie woke back up. I thought this would never happen. I was done with the truck - and had everything in it - by 7PM. Holy smokes. 

And then, it was Baby-Wearing-Clean-Up Time.

With the help of Tiffany...who's evening visit was EXACTLY what this mama needed...we were able to vacuum, dust, eat, and scrub while handing the baby back and forth until it was all done. I'm so so blessed by your friendship and kindness. Thank you for helping me when I needed it most. We love you Tiff!

And we LOVE this photo. 

When I arrived in NOLA yesterday afternoon, I wasn't thinking of my refrigerator's contents. I might've actually forgotten to look into it at all if Adam hadn't reminded me that he didn't remove a single thing from it since he was last there. Awesome, I shuddered. Miraculously, there was nothing rotten in there besides a decrepit old lemon. Otherwise, just a bunch of organic condiments I was dreading to throw in the trash. And then I opened up my freezer. And cried. I forgot all about my breastmilk! There was at least 70 ounces in our freezer and my heart was breaking to throw it away. I can't do it. I cried to Adam that I didn't know what to do, so he told me to take a load off and just dump it - "you can make more."

NO.

No. No. No.

I couldn't toss it.

Impossible.

So, I panicked. Cried some more. And then I realized...FACEBOOK!

I messaged every mommies group I could think of and finally, after an hour or two, I found a mama in NOLA in desperate need of breastmilk!!!! So, at 9:30 PM, Amelia and I walked outside our apartment and gave the sweetest, most determined mommy, 70 ounces of breastmilk, all our condiments, some grassfed beef, and a couple pounds of organic chicken so she could feed her three-month-old the best way she knows how!!!! I've never enjoyed giving a gift as much as I did last night, and now that I understand more closely the plight of an underproducing mama, I have every intention to keep on pumping and keep on giving! Praise God for his sustenance!

I did keep the ice cream for myself though.
Guilty.
And even without a proper utensil to eat it with, I've never felt more satisfied with a scoop of vanilla in my life. We're officially all moved out of apartment #8.
2001 Cypress Creek Road #D127, farewell, my old friend.
_______________________

Currently, it's 1AM in Washington DC on Friday morning/Thursday night. We're waiting for Dada to get in. He starts tomorrow (Friday) against the Max Scherzer and the Nationals at 7:05 EST.

Day Thirteen Hundred and Thirty-Three

The Days with Millie

Millie and Mommy kept plenty busy yesterday.

We learned to say "Amelia."

We went on a jog.

(*DISCLAIMER* to all postpartum, first-time mommies trying to get their bodies back in shape after 2 months: USE THE RESTROOM before you try to run a mile...or do any workout, for that matter. You wouldn't want to pee your pants completely unwillingly in the middle of the street just because you forgot to go and couldn't hold it in. No, you certainly wouldn't want that to happen. And of course, I'm just speaking generally. It's not like that happened to me or anything...)

We played with our friends.

We danced with the fan.

And didn't make the bed.

AND WE DIDN'T CRY FOR AN ENTIRE 20 MINUTE CAR RIDE because we found our toys for the very first time!!!

What a productive and life-changing kinda day.

(And yes, I was stopped at a red light when I took that photo, just FYI.)

Oh, and Adam is safe in OkC, for those of you wondering. He was in the city, safe, and never even saw any of the tornadoes! Thank goodness.