throw a stone and watch the ripples flow

so i thought i'd return from the depths of morning sickness long enough to revive my blog, but i see that my husband has tended to it along with all the other chores he has taken on in my "absence". he's so wonderful!!

yes, pregnancy is just as hard the second time around (if not harder) and i find myself struggling to keep from losing too much weight. so far i've lost 8 lbs and i'm entering my 10Th week. we'll see if i break last pregnancy's record of 14 lbs lost. i'm on a steady diet of crackers and juice, and have at least managed to stay hydrated so as to avoid a hospital stay. my consolation is reading about other women who lose 20+ lbs and have 4 or 5 kids in their care... it could be much worse.

erin has struggled to adjust to this change in lifestyle, but is so blessed to have aunts, uncles, and grandparents who take care of her when i'm not able. and as i stated above, my sweet husband makes sure that all the dishes and laundry are done (even after a long day of work!), and sees to erin's needs all evening long. i know he's exhausted but i don't ever hear him complain. i couldn't make it without him.

my brother nathan is visiting this week, and it has been fun catching up/having company around the house. we've watched a lot of "A Baby Story", "What not to Wear", and "The Simpsons"... he's very patient to sit through those first two :-) this afternoon, he and caleb went with caleb's brothers to see "Spiderman 3" and now he's in the middle of a Halo 2 tournament with caleb and two of his friends. i hope he's enjoying his time here!

well that's about all i can muster. i have no new erin pictures to post... there will probably be an eight month void in her photograph collection

:-)

A Survivor's Story

Here is a link to a VT survivor's blog. It goes into great detail on what happened inside one of the classrooms.

It makes me ponder what I would do if I was in the same situation.

http://colmanfamilyupdates.blogspot.com/index.html

In Remembrance

Saturday, April 23rd, I took a trip down to the 'burg with some of my fellow Tech friends. I'm not sure why I felt the need to see the campus or be a part of the memorial events, but all of my Tech friends had the same urge...so I didn't fight it. It was a shame that Anne couldn't have come too, but the combination of 8 hours in a tight car plus the rolling Blacksburg mountains would have ruined the day for her.

Anyhow I thought I'd post some pictures and thoughts...

Norris Hall, the classroom building where 30 people were killed. The police have put crime tape around the entire building, which created about a 50 yard buffer zone. This buffer zone, designed to keep people from interfering with the crime zone also helped protect the public from the "carnage" of the event. Forensic cleanup crews were constantly entering and leaving the building, usually they were carrying out cardboard boxes filled with student's personal effects. Some of the boxes clearly contained clothing items...a few people next to me speculated that they must have been cut off the injured by EMTs. The second floor windows of the building were all open...I was told that on Thursday there was a strong odor emitting from them. Fortunately it was gone by Saturday as was the blood on the sidewalks. A friend told me that previously there had been paths of blood created when the police hurriedly dragged bodies out on Monday.

Constant streams of people were walking by the building while I was there. Flowers, lit candles, poems, letters, pictures were all left in remembrance.

Tents like these have been setup on the drillfield, which separates the academic buildings from the dorms. All of them followed this general theme...this one was unique because President Bush signed the giant "VT". There were people around who seemed to have taken it upon themselves to make sure that the candles were constantly lit.

Another collection of items people had left, these items were not meant for any particular person so that is why they are clumped together. Behind me were 32 separate piles of flowers, poems (a surprising number of original poems were placed throughout the campus), etc. for each of the victims. There was also another pile for the shooter…which included flowers and some letters, none of them expressed “ill will”. There were also a few letters for Cho’s family. In the background of this picture is Burruss Hall the college's administrative building...Norris Hall is immediately on the left of Burruss Hall.

Here is the picture of the pile left for Emily Hilscher:

I was pleasantly surprised to see that most of the mainstream media has left. On the other hand there were many freelance photographers and writers running around trying to drum up a new story or take on the situation. Most of them were a terrible nuisance. Crying students usually would have at least one photographer following their every step. I was interviewed by one group who asked me something about which celebrity I felt should come to campus and speak out regarding the events. It was pointless, clearly demonstrating that the media has run out of real questions. I also saw what appeared to be a South Korean news organization asking people if their opinions of South Korean people as a whole were damaged.

One picture that I failed to take was of the media circus around a funeral at Blacksburg Baptist. While the press was not allowed on the church property, they effectively surrounded the church with the constant flash of cameras. Sometimes a free press can be a nightmare.

In the evening the campus catering service and about 15-20 local restaurants hosted a free dinner. It is no small thing to feed at least 10,000 people but there was plenty of food for everyone.

I was unable to visit the dorm where two people were killed. Even though I lived there for one year… only students can enter the building.

Not only am I not very good at taking pictures, but the zoom was also acting up on our camera, so this is the best "crowd shot" of the drillfield that I have. Note that the groups of people are at locations where people have put memorials:

And lastly a picture of an exhausted Hokie fan:

they told me to go back to the beginning... so i have.

pencil marks on a wall, i wasn't always this tall...

Sunday was Erin's 2ND birthday! It seems like yesterday we were bringing her home, and yet I also can hardly remember what life was like before she arrived. She is so special to us! I took her to the Doc for her 2 yr check up - she is 38 inches tall and weighs 30.2 lbs. The pediatrician asked if she has a vocabulary of at least 20 words... ha ha!! I told him that Erin never stops talking at home and would be surprised if it was less than 100 words. She has also memorized several of her favorite books and consequently can "read" to herself when I'm busy with other things. This helps me out a lot because when I read to her, she likes to have the same book read 3 or 4 times before moving on to the next, leaving me little time to finish laundry and dishes before the next meal. How did my mother do it????

Today (if the weather holds out) we'll be off to the zoo with Vanessa and crew. Erin enjoyed the zoo last spring, and it should be even more exciting now that she can talk about it. Her favorite animals are elephants, monkeys, and lions. Hopefully at least one of those will be out and about today :-)

I am so relieved that spring is here. All my life I thought I was a winter person, but I'm starting to realize that I was just a summer person who needed winter in order to fully appreciate summer. I don't like the sedentary feel of winter, especially with a daughter who loves to be outside on the swing as much as possible. She's already been asking when she can go to the pool! I wasn't even sure she'd remember the pool, but I guess she's a summer gal too...

time keeps moving from a crawl to a run...

A few weeks ago I went to Dallas for a conference with my Mom and sisters... Since my grandparents live in Ft. Worth, my Dad drove the rest of my siblings up from San Antonio and I got to see all of them in one place for a couple days. It was good. I'm not sure how long its been since just the 11 of us spent some time together (or if it'll ever happen again) but gosh it was great to be a family again for a day. Dad took us all out to Pancho's Mexican buffet (famous for their fabulous sopapillas) and even though there wasn't a table big enough to accommodate the whole group, it was a great time of laughing and reacquainting. I sat with Nathan, Shelley, Aubrey, Timothy, and Bethany, and I don't think I've laughed that hard in a long time. We took turns quoting lines from "The Office" until our sodas were in danger of spewing from our noses. Gross, I know. But it made for good memories. I realized sitting at that table that I hardly know my little brother Tim. He takes Tai-kwon-do, is a pickier eater than I am, and is way taller than he has any right to be. It seems like yesterday he was a one-year-old and I was carrying him around everywhere - we shared a room and I fed him all his meals. Now he's 10 and loves to sword-fight. Where have all these years gone?? Now I'm a real mom with my own baby, and time moves even faster. There are sweet moments with Erin when I think "I'm gonna remember this forever" and a few days later I can hardly recall the circumstances... life goes on and we're too busy living it to document everything. But there are moments with my daughter and husband that I will remember forever, pictures or not. And I'll always remember the weekend in Dallas with my family. It WAS good.

I've been here before, I've seen it before...

I guess all bad things come in threes... We're currently at two and I'm not anxious to see what's next :-) Erin recovered quickly from her stomach bug last week. In fact, that very evening she was jumping up and down on her Daddy and begging for some of his dinner! But last night she went to bed with a fever and this morning woke up with an earache too... So, we're off to the doctor tonight to make sure its nothing serious. I don't buy into the whole "cold weather makes you sick" but lately I'm starting to wonder :-)

In happier news, we got a few beautiful inches of snow last night!! We woke up to a soft blanket of white this morning and have been enjoying the view all day. Its already melting but that's ok - snow is best in small doses...

these fragile dusty frames

Today my little princess woke up with a stomach virus :-( After throwing up several times, she is finally sitting in my bed covered with towels and pretending to watch Little Einsteins. She won't cry or talk, and she's very hesitant to drink her water... I can tell this will become a battle as the day goes on. Please pray for her!

its been a quiet week in lake wob... er, lovettsville

Well its been a month and since I'm a slacker, I have no new pictures to share. I got a really cool camcorder for Christmas (from my wonderful husband) and have consequently abandoned our digital camera. Who has time for both??

So here's an Erin update:

Her favorite phrases are "Oh no, something's happening!" (Yes, she's paranoid just like her mother), "I go Carrie's house?" (her cousin next door is her best friend), and "Mommy I'm happy!"

Her favorite pastimes are naming all her shapes and colors, singing her ABC's, counting to twenty, and the newest: guessing the songs that Chi Chi hums to her. She'll be on a game show someday.

She has us somewhat startled with her height as she is taller now (at 21.5 months) than her Daddy was at 24 months. At the doctor's office they measured her at almost 38 inches but when I measured it was closer to 36 (sigh of relief!) inches. Either way, she's definitely off the charts in height! This puts me at an obviously disadvantage as I didn't expect her to be opening bedroom, oven and refrigerator doors at this age!

Last week the three of us accompanied Caleb's family on their annual ski trip to Timberline in West Virginia. Despite the warm weather down here, it was a different story up in the mountains and there was plenty of snow. We had such a good time and a relaxing week. The lodge was beautiful (and huge!!) and we kept ourselves occupied with board games, the pool table, hot tub and of course lots of skiing. Too fun!

That's about all I can think of... maybe I'll dust off the camera this week and take some pictures :-)

Christmastime

Well here we are looking as Christmas-y as we ever do. I can't really believe that my favorite holiday is less than a week away (and almost over!!), especially since yesterday topped out at about 73 degrees. I keep telling my husband (see handsome man pictured above) that this is why I left San Antonio! And speaking of, we are so sad that we won't be going home for Christmas this year. It'll be the first non-Texas one in a long time and I can't help but feel a little blue. Its been a year now since I've seen any of my grandparents or cousins, and that is WAY too long! My cousin Matthew is getting married this weekend - this will be the first Warren cousin wedding I've missed :-( Hopefully we'll make it out there next summer though...

I hope everyone has a Happy Christmas full of family and fun!!

the lights on my tree, i wish you could see...

I am thankful for...

• My wonderful husband ~ he has worked tirelessly at painting the house, repairing what's broken (or hiring someone if he can't do it), making money so we can pay bills, and consistently reading the Word to Erin and me each evening.
• My sweet daughter ~ Erin says "love you!" to Caleb and me each night, and it only gets more precious each time I hear it. She's growing up so much and every day she amazes me with what she knows! She can sing "Twinkle Twinkle", "Jesus Loves Me", "You are My Sunshine", and a few others :-)
• My sister Kristen ~ I was just telling her the other day that I don't remember what I did before she moved here. Its been almost a year since their moving van pulled into Lovettsville and we've had so much fun ever since! We take turns making bread for both families (thanks to Sis for teaching us how!!) and on rainy days we fuss about how our other sisters left us.
• My family ~ We've seen every one of them this year, and had at least one person visiting every month since January! I know it won't happen every year, but I'm thankful it happened this year!
• Notre Dame football ~ Ok well, football in general is something to be thankful for but this year our team has done particularly well and barring an embarrassing loss to USC (doubtful) we'll be cruising to the Sugar Bowl... Not too shabby.

Obviously this is not exhaustive list but I'm trying to get in the Thanksgiving mindset before the Christmas madness consumes me completely!

I may be climbing on rainbows, but baby here goes...

I love this man.... isn't he handsome? And he looks so good holding his newest nephew too :-) We are blessed to have him!!

Tears and fears and feeling proud...

This morning the last of the Warren family left.... CJ and Aubrey drove away at 645a leaving Kristen and me alone our doorsteps wondering how we will fill our days. Since Bethany arrived in July we've had a constant stream of visitors through the warm summer days and we made the most of it by swimming, hiking, picnicking, or just laying around enjoying the sunshine. But now we're left to face the winter on our own. I'm gonna need a lot of eggnogg and pumpkin pie to make me feel better...

Erin is talking up a storm now, and I'm constantly amazed at her communication skills. She understands everything and can usually tell us what she wants and what's bothering her. She loves to read books, she loves to watch Dora the Explorer, and she still loves playing outside. We're still working hard on improving her attitude in certain circumstances... Its funny - when I tell people that she's strong-willed and often disobedient, the usual response is "Oh, she's just expressing herself" or "Wow, she's full of personality". I'm sure these are just meant to make me feel better about the struggle, but does that mean obedient and well-mannered children are completely devoid of personality and incapable of expressing themselves? I can't imagine that's the case. I choose to believe that while she is expressing a part of herself (her sinful nature), we press forward to make sure she's not overcome by that nature. May God grant us wisdom as we have no earthly idea what we're doing :-)

you know you're the best thing to ever come out of this place

At Aubrey's request, here are some recent pictures of Erin. Yes she has grown, but she's not driving quite yet. We've had Granny here visiting, Dok making bread (I finally learned how too!) and a new little Slaughter boy to round out the family (pictured below with Erin). Liam is such a cutie and is already too old!! Kristen and Dave already wonder what they did without him :-)

Since my last post we've been to the beach with a bunch of friends (see Cindy's blog for pics) and to Virginia Tech for the first football game of the season. Hopefully we'll make it down for one more this year. The leaves are changing here and to celebrate autumn, we've carved pumpkins (pictures in the next post) and eaten our weight in apples (no pictures available). Christmas is already too close and I'm feeling the anxiousness of being behind the curve in the shopping world. Oh well, nothing new there. Thank goodness for cooler air!

i wanna soak up the sun...

Ok ok, here are some Warren pictures. This is not an exhaustive list so I'll TRY to post some more...

a month in the country, a day by your side...

The Weltys, Russells, and Slaughters all took a picnic to Washington Monument State Park and hiked up the trail to the monument. It was a breezy evening with perfect weather. I'll post more pics once the Warrens roll in!

Here's Jonathan outside the monument.

Caleb and Erin about to walk the winding stairs up to the top - it was so dark inside!!
The whole group (or most of them anyway) having a picnic after the hike.
Annie, Joshua and Bethany at the top of the monument.
Wes relaxing with a beautiful view behind him.
Isaac on the stone wall.
Molly showing us how big the view was!

it would be so fine to see your face at my door....

I just have to say.... We are SOOOOOOO excited to see the Russells in less than two weeks!! I didn't have pics of all of them, but here are a few of the faces that will be at our Virginia door pretty soon!!

oh i wish i was in the land of cotton...