More Space for our Adventure

We are so happy to have such a large amount of space to sprawl out here at the Inns of Charleston. We fully expected a hotel room with two queen beds and a bathroom. We arrived to find that we are staying in a fully furnished duplex, complete with kitchen, dining room, breakfast room, living room, 4 bedrooms, and two baths. Yesterday mom was planning on coming to pick us up in their extra vehicle, which just so happens to be a minivan that I've been able to use almost every time I've visited. As mom was on her way to retrieve the Hamrick clan, we walked over a mile to eat breakfast and the weather was nice. We ate at the golf course and, I must admit, I was pleasantly surprised by how good the breakfast was! Omelet, pancakes, hashbrowns, grits, and, as I mentioned in my Facebook Status, sweet tea! Yes, it counts as part of the breakfast! While there I realized there was no way for my mom to contact us so I called the hotel receptionist and let her know we were at breakfast and that my mom would likely be calling. I asked her to let my mom know that and that once back in the room, I'd check in. The walk back to our room, or, house, reminded us that we were, indeed, back in the south. It was hot. We all changed into shorts and short sleeves when we got back.

After we returned to the house I called the front desk to find out if mom had called. She had and not with good news. She was stranded a couple hours away as the green van had about lost its wheels, literally. Mechanics were looking at it and dad was working on a back up plan. Off and on throughout the day we got calls from them, updating us on the status.

During the time at the house the boys played outside in the enormous back yard for a while and then took a short rest time. Matt and I used that 90 minutes to play "Hill Rummy." (It's a cross between Gin rummy and Phase 10... very fun.) Because breakfast had been sort of late, we ended up eating a rather late lunch. This involved another long walk, probably 1.5 miles. On the walk back to the house, Parker started to unravel. He was super tired and just wanted his bed. The big boys were troopers, but Carson's legs started to get tired. Matt ended up carrying him the last 10 minutes. Back at home we got a call that Mom and Dad were about an hour out! Excitement started to grow amongst the Hamrick boys!

Carson put in a movie and chilled in his room, Parker ate, Bailey went outside, and Matt, Hayden, and I played Scrabble. Then the call came... they were 10 minutes out. Matt and Hayden headed to the main gate to meet them and I gave Parker a quick bath. Afterwards, I had to put him down (how dare I?!?) as I needed to move his pack-and-play into the room he was going to use. He cried the entire time. In fact, he was still screaming when Nana and Papa came in the front door! It didn't take Nana long to have him perfectly content and all the reunions were sweet.

Dad had rented a huge, glorious 15 passenger van so I went out to install the car seat base, trying to stay out of Parker's eye sight while he was calm. (While Matt was in Garmisch last week Parker became something of a mamma's boy... bless him!)

Once the initial hellos were complete we all loaded up, for the first time ever, into the same vehicle. While they were visiting us in Germany we had to travel in two. There's something to be said about a 15 passenger van! It promotes togetherness!!! And, Matt is excited about this, we won't have to strap the luggage and extra kids to the roof to get everything to North Carolina!

Loaded and ready, our destination? CHICK-FIL-A!!!! Oh, the blessed Christian Chicken. We've missed that place! I had chicken strips with CFA sauce. Matt had the new spicy chicken, and the boys had nuggets. I may have to beg for CFA for breakfast to get the Chicken-Minis. And guess what?!? All 5 of the Hamricks who can eat solid foods enjoyed sweet tea with dinner!

The plan was to come back to the house and watch Myth Busters and eat popcorn. The Mythbusters was in but no one was hungry for popcorn. All three boys were asleep before the episode was over and, as it ended, the adults called it a night.

Parker woke up at 0600, ate, played for a few minutes, and then was back to sleep by Reveille. (Yes, it played at 0700 and I enjoyed every single note of it.) Bailey and Carson both woke up at 0700 to use the bathroom but have since fallen back asleep. Currently I'm the only one awake and the coffee has brewed. I think I'll go pour a cup...

Count down continued...

I could write for hours on my experiences over the past week! I do hope I'm able to journal my thoughts because they are priceless to me. Over my time as a mother I have learned more and more the meaning expressed in Luke when he wrote that "Mary pondered these things in her heart." I bet she would have been a journaling lady... I want to remember every detail but do not trust my memory to do so.

8 March - Monday was one of the worst days I've had in many years. I believe it may have been influenced by normal pregnancy hormones but amplified by the pitocin still coursing through me, as well as the fact that instead of holding my infant I was "doing school" with the boys. Anticlimactic may be a word to describe it, but either way, it was rough. Bailey struggled with reading which sent me into a crying spell which could compete with any rotten two-year-old. During another part of school, after I had composed myself, Hayden came over and told me that an MP was writing something near my car. I went outside in socks, big belly, and pj pants, and a tee-shirt the boys had made that said, "World's Best Mommy" on it. We've been parking facing traffic every since we got here, along with 10 or so other cars on our street. I like to do this as I can open the automatic van door and my boys jump right out of the car onto the sidewalk in front of our house. They don't have to cross the street at all when we park like this. Well, when I kindly asked what was wrong he explained that "there have been complaints" about all the cars parking the wrong way. I asked if I could simply turn it around and I think he may have detected a wildness in my spirit that he was safest to avoid and he said, "I think I can do that." He quit writing my ticket and went on to the next car. I felt so bad the rest of the day for all the other car owners who had pink tickets flapping in the breeze. So - Hayden saved the day, as did Parker, whose presence reached the MP a full minute before I did! Something about a pregnant belly can speak volumes!

Later that day I ran to the commissary and while there used the restroom (can't make it in and out without a stop in the restroom). I got home with my loot and tried to find my phone. No where. I called it three times hoping I'd hear it in one of the bags. Eventually someone answered it. She was in the restroom at the commissary! I thanked her for answering and asked if she'd leave it with the manager. She did better than that... She brought it to me! And as it turns out, while I was thanking her and we were getting to know each other, she and Matt sat together at a recent function and her husband is in our unit. Small world and God put her in the restroom "for such a time as this." Never thought I'd put the word "restroom" and that scripture together...

So on a day that was as difficult emotionally as I could have endured God broke through and intervened on my behalf, saving me a ticket and a lost iPhone. In the midst of my hard day He reminded me that he's still here and still cares about my life. And if he still cares about the silly stuff I just described then he MUST still care about my baby, the timing in which he arrives, and the health concerns related to the pregnancy.

Tuesday and Wednesday were much better days but Thursday was beautiful! We had prepared the house once again for Parker's arrival so when we woke up on Thursday all 5 of us were able to just relax and watch TV. The boys had put in a "Dirty Jobs" on high-rise window washing and while I had planned to get ready to go get Nana and Papa I got engrossed in that episode. It was a fun, spontaneous, relaxed moment in which our very last few hours as a family of five were just perfect. We laughed till we hurt and then we loaded our van and headed to the airport. We got there in plenty of time and after only about 30 minutes of waiting we saw Nana and Papa!!!

Because it was close to noon, the Hamricks were ready for lunch and, though they were arriving at 5 am on their body-clocks, Nana and Papa were up for a quick lunch at the PX. We decided to keep it low-key and let them get settled in at home so we headed there after we ate. It was a great day of talking and of me showing mom all the things I had done in an attempt to make our lives easier while they were here and I was not working at 100%. We all went to bed early as we had had a big day and the next held hope of meeting Mr. Parker...