The end of a h-era!

If you don't know the story of how Clay and I met...it might be comical to know a side detail. When Clay and I were first introduced, and he asked me out for the first time I had the hair you have all come to know me with. Between that first phone call from him and the night he picked me up for the first time to go out I cut it all off after a miserably hot trip to Fish Camp. Since that moment even referencing haircuts in Clay's world can cause major anxiety...and for 12 years (yes all 12 years since our first date in August of 1996 - does that win some kind of wife award?) I have kept my hair past the shoulder blades to satisfy some ridiculous notion he has that girls should have long hair...that is until today. Today I donated 12 inches to Locks of Love hoping that a child with cancer would be blessed with the option to wash and dry all that hair from now on. I include picture proof because I know that you would never believe me otherwise.

It is not a great hair style yet, but hey - one step at a time.

Relaxed enough to be thankful

There are days that more often than not, I am actually too busy to be overwhelmed and thus really, really too busy to kick back and remember to be thankful. This Thanksgiving has been wonderful. To begin, its the one year mark since Clay made it home from his second tour in Iraq which makes me thankful for a ton of reasons:

• Clay has been home - really home - for a year (this is the first time in our 7 years of marriage).
• In this year of togetherness we did not kill each other as some predicted.
• Being home, Clay has been able to watche the pregnancy and birth of his second and third daughters and has spent countless hours with his oldest daughter.

In this year since he came home, we were moved to Charleston. If you know the military then you understand why military families use the phrase that way - "we were moved" and not we moved. That is because this move, like every other in Clay's 10 years in the Army, was not my choice. In fact, as always, they didn't ask my opinion about it before sending a set of 'orders' to his 'dependent' to schedule movers to come get our stuff and punt us half way across the country to a place I had to look up on the map. But, alas after 9 months here in Charleston let me also say I am thankful for this move because:

• We won the neighbor jackpot. Everyone in SC has been amazing and welcoming.
• They have seasons in South Carolina.
• Clay's job is easy. I mean really easy compared to his normal life. We both needed that.
• See notes above on how Clay has been home for a year and we haven't killed each other.
• Our girls were born with the aide of fantastic (non-military) healthcare!
• Kayla has done beautifully in her school.

In addition to all the really good things that have happened, this year in particular marks the culmination of a heartbreakingly difficult journey to build our family. With Kennedy and Karsen soon to be 6 months old, I am almost to the point where I can actually be thankful for the painful lessons God taught me along the way. I can definitely be thankful - beyond gloriously thankful - for the the abundant blessings that resulted. (And the fact that they finally sleep!)

So, with 4 desperately necessary days off (of one of the many jobs I regularly find myself barely getting by in) I can kick back, relax and enjoy it all enough to be truly thankful.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Halloween at our House

There were 25 hours in this day, which gave me just enough to sneak in pictures. I promise to write soon.