Wide Open Spaces

Everything’s bigger in… North Carolina?!? I thought the saying ended with Texas… Of course, one of the first things we noticed in America was how big all the cars are. And we really enjoyed the big parking spaces, especially since we were driving that huge van! And speaking of big, it was several days before I went into a Target and let me tell ya, HUGE! It was very nice to be able to get everything we needed from one store. In Wiesbaden our shoe store is nowhere near our furniture store, or toys, or sports equipment… We have different places we have to go for each specific item. It was very convenient to be in one store and able to get everything we needed in one stop.

After we left Charleston with Nana and Papa we went straight to visit Nana’s dad, a man we lovingly call “Gramjack.” As the story goes, my cousin, Jason, called him Jack. Trying to get him to say “Grandpa” didn’t work and Gramjack was the result. It stuck. Anyway, Gramjack has recently moved into a new home called Willow Grove and we were so excited to go see his new place. There was recently an article in Matthews Living Magazine featuring Willow Grove with three pictures of Gramjack included! Fun stuff! While there we also saw my aunt and uncle, Janice and David. Janice took Parker out to see the water fountain and he about leapt out of her arms trying to get it. She came back to get us and I followed mom and Parker with my camera ready. I had so much fun capturing his expressions!

David told me a great joke… he’s an Air Force dad: The pilot of a stunt plane came up beside a C-17 and said, “Hey, watch what I can do!” And off he went, doing loops, twists, dives, and twirls. As he finished his exciting demo he came back up beside the C-17. Unimpressed, the pilot of the C-17 said, “Okay, now watch what I can do.” After about 5 minutes of flying straight ahead, steady and smooth, the C-17’s pilot said, “How’d you like that?!?” Confused, the stunt pilot said, “What did you do?” The pilot of the large aircraft said, “I went to the bathroom and got a cup of coffee.”

This is the plane we rode home in.

We had a great visit with Gramjack before heading toward Locust. Mom, Parker and I stopped at the Tomberlin’s house to let me feed Parker while Mom ran to the grocery store. It was a sweet time for Brooke to meet Parker and me to see a side of Brooke I’ve never seen… Usually she’s being entertained by my big boys. This time she was working her hardest at entertaining Parker! She’s such a little momma!

By the time we got to Mom’s house, Hayden was already on the 4-wheeler! We had packed our motorcycle helmet for this very reason. I have to say, boys were made for the outdoors and Nana’s and Papa’s house is a great place for them to explore. Woods, fields, dry creek beds, galore. It is great to be able to send them outside to see what they can get into!

Over the course of our time in NC, we rode 4-wheelers at three different houses. Carson learned to ride Papa’s and Hayden actually learned to ride 4-wheelers that require him to change gears! Bailey was happy riding with either brother who was willing to drive him around. Such a fun experience! These pictures came out totally black and I had to edit them quite a bit in order to see the boys at all.

The next two weeks were followed by amazing fun-ness!

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...

A little of everything...

What a full month we've had. Let me start by saying how thankful we are to live in an era that appreciates its service members. Every time I am thanked for my service I am taken aback because I am not in the service, my husband is. But on a regular basis people tell me how much they appreciate my willingness to let my husband serve our country. I know the wives of Vietnam vets had a completely different experience and for that, I am so sorry. I wish things were different. They served in even more difficult times, times without internet connections and DSN phone lines. They really had to serve in ways I never will. I am thankful I am a military wife during this particular time.

The community around Colorado Springs is especially sensitive to the needs of military families as we have 5 military installations located here. One of the many organizations that has taken time to give back to the military is Operation Military Kids. One of the ways they reach out is by hosting a Night in the Museum at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. We arrived after the Museum had closed and picked our sleeping spots. (This picture is of the boys viewing a HUGE dinosaur skeleton at night, while the rest of the world slept... it was much later than our normal bedtimes!)

Then we had a four different "activities" that gave us hands on opportunities to learn. (This one is the boys learning how to heat an MRE... Matt said these are Meals Reluctant to Exit (although their technical name is Meals Ready to Eat.) I think my boys' favorite was the Planetarium where we got got to "fly" from the museum to Afghanistan! It made us all a bit queasy as it felt SO real, and then while we were in "space" we actually flew THROUGH Mars. Bailey LOVED that!

We slept in the Space Odyssey Exhibition and felt quite a bit like we had lived through yet another youth group lock-in! But it was fun nonetheless! (This picture shows the "room" we turned into our bunkhouse before we unpacked...) (This picture shows the same room from the back corner after we unpacked. I placed our suitcases near the door to make a "door.")

Changing subjects and going back in time a week we had one of our biggest medical emergencies as of yet. Many of you remember Hayden busting his head open when he was 3 and getting 5 stitches, poor guy. Most of you will remember Bailey's bike crash a few months ago that really scared me. Now Carson has had his turn at reminding me that I am the mother to three very active boys. He was riding his bike on the sidewalk from home to the park (they are not allowed to ride in the street without me outside with them). The park is one unit away and behind all the houses so the most dangerous part is riding on the sidewalk toward the park... mostly a safe trip. Well, a lady was walking her dog on the sidewalk (how dare her!! Just kidding. Pedestrians have the right of way and bikes aren't supposed to be on the sidewalk... I know, I know.) Carson swerved to get in the grass but his front tire went into a small groove between the sidewalk and the grass. Not sure exactly what happened but he busted his mouth on the handlebars and knocked out his front tooth. (This is his first lost tooth but at least we found it later!!) He came home screaming and as I heard he enter the house I knew that it wasn't a small injury. I met him at the door and blood was everywhere, as mouth/head injuries produce absurd amounts of the red stuff. Fortunately the floor plan of this house has a bathroom place right by the garage door and we were right there at the sink. I tried my best to settle the little guy but he was screaming in pain. I tried my best to keep him from seeing his mouth and all the blood and did a pretty good job, if I do say so myself. Once he was rinsed and had soft paper towels stopping up the blood I went back out to find the tooth. There was blood all over the sidewalk and I later had to clean it up. (BBC was going to come clean it but they couldn't find it. How in the world they missed it, I'm not sure. But it took some Peroxide and an old toothbrush to get it cleaned up.)

Anyway, I called the boys' dentist and the receptionist answered. She tried to get in touch with the hygienist or dentist but they had all gone home. While I was on the phone Matt arrived which was great: he was able to snuggle Carson who was no longer screaming but was still crying. It was too hard for me to hear the receptionist while Carson was crying so it was really perfect timing. Poor Matt had to come home to chaos that night! The receptionist gave me some tips for taking care of him and told me if I was uncomfortable I could take him to the ER. We hung up and I was debating on taking him in when the phone rang. She called back to let me know that she had eventually heard back from the dentist who was already on her way home. She wanted me to have the option to bring him in right away and of course, I needed to do that. 15 minutes later Carson was in the chair having X-rays taken of his mouth. I was so pleased that she was willing to do this! I was even MORE pleased that back in April I had changed dentists and the boys all had taken X-rays there so she had something to compare the new ones to.

After cleaning his mouth and examining him, she sent him with the receptionist (who stuck around to be an extra set of hands) and she talked to me. She really felt like he could use stitches but thought it would be a good idea to wait 24 hours to see how well his mouth would heal on its own. She sent me home with all sorts of things to clean and medicate the wound with, as well as instructions on how to do that. Carson had stopped crying by the time we left for the dentist and he never even whimpered while she was digging around in his mouth! She could not believe how tough he was! 20 hours later we went back in and she was ABSOLUTELY AMAZED at how much he had healed. He did not need stitches and she just wanted me to continue treating his wound and having him eat only soft foods for a week. This past week we went in for his 3 week check-up and she was completely convinced we had made the right choice. His mouth looks great and as far as we can tell, there are no tooth fragments in his gums. (To explain exactly what happened when he knocked his tooth out, notice the tooth below. It still had live roots attached, and was at least 6 months away from coming out on its own. He probably knocked it up and it hit the adult tooth. It came straight out through the gums making an incision all the way up to where his top lip is attached to his gums. Looking back I could see that he HAD to have been in severe pain! When I got my wisdom teeth removed I had them completely put me under and my 6 year old had this done in one split second with no pain relief!)

I've had some people ask me if I could have had them put it back in and the dentist said it was not a good idea with a baby tooth. An adult tooth, yes. I would have put it in milk and they would have done that. But not a baby tooth.

(This was the syringe I used to clean his wound several times a day with salt water.) Bailey in the background glad it's Carson about to be worked on and not himself!) Carson would lie perfectly still while I worked on him! Again, a tough little guy! And here's the cutie with a swollen top lip! Missing a tooth!

And a final note to update you on our little one. I had my 12 week appointment this week and it was SO neat to see our fourth child moving around. He/she was very active and adorable! It should not surprise me to see this child go from shrimp-like to human-like in a few short weeks, but it never fails to amaze me. He/she was sucking on a hand, and kicking around. I can't wait to start feeling him/her, but more than that, I can't wait to be able to officially call this child a him/her. The anticipation is fun, but I know I won't be able to wait until March to know if we're having a Parker or an Anna. Unless, of course, this child is as modest as Hayden was and refuses to show us what we want to see! Seeing our child made this a bit more real! We are excited and are thankful (almost) everything is going along well. The "almost" refers to the fact that I failed the one-hour glucose test and will have to go this week for the three-hour one. While I don't look forward to this, I will sit in a waiting room sans kids for 3 hours reading. As a mother, I must admit it sounds kind of relaxing.

Okay, so I said that last one was a final note, but there's one more note...

We're going to Disney World!

I have always wanted to take the boys there while they are still of the magical age, but never thought it would be possible. Well, thanks to Disney for having amazing military deals on 5-day park hopper passes and to Melissa, our travel agent, who got us a hotel/food package for less than half what it would have been otherwise! I can't believe this is happening, but I am thankful it is!

A friend from high school suggests letting family and friends who would have purchased Christmas gifts for the boys give us "Disney Dollars" so the boys can each buy a souvenir. I thought that was a great idea. Only problem is, we're going in November, before Christmas, so I'm not sure this will happen! But it's a great idea, anyway!

Well, off to make lunch for my stinky boys! They've been out playing on the playground... mmmm... yummy.