Revenge...in a passive/aggressive way.

I don't like my neighbors.

I'm ashamed to say it because I've really prayed about loving my neighbors and serving my neighbors and caring about my neighbors. Really, I have! I know that they are all God's creation and even if they are jerks (to put it nicely) they too were made in the image of God and Jesus died for them too. Even if they don't act like it.

I should put my disclaimer here: The neighbors I'm talking about aren't the Jones'. Those are the neighbors I love easily and don't want to move away from. The neighbors I'm talking about are the ones who have a billion (so it seems) delinquent children and who deal drugs. Those are the neighbors I'm having a difficult time loving.

I'm totally trying to justify my behavior right now. I know I am.

Anyways, these neighbors are just pushing all of our buttons as much as they can. The teenagers ride their skateboards in the street. That is not a big deal. I would rather them be in the street than run over my toddler on the sidewalk. It's the giant ramp they put in the middle of the road and the middle finger plus obscenities they say to me when I drive down the road and honk at them to move (after sitting there for a few seconds waiting for them to move their stuff). These kids literally stare at me and stand in front of my car! They refuse to move! So, I have started refusing to brake...we'll see who wins between my 1983 piece of crap car and their skateboard. As I said, I'm being passive aggressive.

The kids also sit on the cars which are parked on the street. I know my 1983 Toyota is nothing to be impressed with, but it's my car. Sam and I paid for that car with our own money and I don't want kids climbing on my car. I may be irrational here, but footprints do not belong on the roof of a car. The Jones' called the cops on the kids for that one and they got tickets for loitering. I had nothing to do with that, but it still felt good.

Finally, the kids (and their parents--at least I think it's the parents, I'm never sure, could be older brothers?) run all around our neighborhood with their air soft guns shooting each other with pellets and cussing at each other. Even the little 7 year old is yelling, "F" this and "F" that. I understand running around playing, but shooting air soft guns?! C'mon! The last straw was when they ran by me and Nathaniel shooting. My kid is 2! Pellets hurt!

So, instead of being parents, the adults in those families have started retaliating to the calls to the cops. Instead of disciplining their children they are "playing the game". They will park their cars so that there is half a car length between them, leaving less space for us to park. They discourage their children from staying off of the parked cars, even when asked to move by the owners (hence the cops giving out loitering/trespassing tickets).

Tonight I retaliated in my own way. I squeezed my little Toyota into a spot that a normal car can't get into (we're talking maybe two inches between me and the other cars) and happily walked away while the owners of the car I blocked in were cursing at me for blocking their car in.

Suck it neighbors!!

Wow, I need to repent. I suppose it's better than keying their car. And if my Toyota gets keyed, oh well. The rust spots will cover it up. Besides, I've had worse done to my car by these people (I guess I forgot to mention the chewed up gum that's been thrown on my car, by the adults since the kids were all at school at the time).

*sigh* I suck. :(

Things I have learned from my child.

Being a parent for the last 2+ years has really taught me a lot on how to behave as an adult. I often find myself telling Nathaniel things and in turn, have incorporated them into my own life. Of course, some of these are silly and some of these are serious, but either way it is something we can all take to heart.

Use your words.
There are times Nathaniel is pointing and whining and I tell him to use his words. When I reflect on this I realize that there are times I expect people to know what I want/need and I get "whiny" when things don't go my way. I am still trying but have definitely begun to "use my words" more often. Especially in communicating with my hubby!

Don't just cry about it, tell him to stop it, that you don't like that.
This falls under the same category as use your words. Since Nathaniel has been under the care of a sitter this month he has been playing a lot with the same little boy. They usually get along great, but sometimes they both act their age and snatching of toys and hitting eventually happens. If I happen to be around for these things (as I come home or as I'm leaving), Nathaniel runs to me crying with a look of hurt and injustice in his eyes. Of course I give him a hug (he has to know that I'm in his corner) but I also tell him (if he's not the culprit, if he is the instigator I correct him and tell him we don't treat our friends that way) that when someone does something we don't like we need to say, "Please stop that, I don't like it when you do that." I realize that there have been times when I've let people treat me like crap and have ran off to Sam or someone else to complain, when really I just need to let those people know that the way they are treating me is not appreciated. Still working on this one.

Say your prayers.
We pray a lot in our house. It's not always deep, meaningful prayers, but since Nathaniel is learning how to pray he often demands that we pray. Since he is 2 he also has the need to pray for everything he sees, including the wall or his water or his blanket. While it's his way of being silly it has shown me that I need to always be thankful for the many blessings I have in my life. The fact that there is a roof over our heads (that we can afford to pay for), food and clean water to eat and drink and even the nice little extra comforts are things I often take for granted. I need to remember to always thank God for the blessings in my life.

Of course there are other things that I can't figure out how to incorporate into my life. Phrases such as:
We don't wipe our penis and then blow our nose...
Don't hit the kitty with the broom!
We don't pour milk over our heads.
Don't drink the bathwater!!
No jumping in the bathtub.
Don't run away from mommy.

But hey, at least I'm learning something from my kid!

It's a boy!

This morning's ultra sound went very well. Sam and Nathaniel were eager to see the baby and I was looking forward to making sure that all was really going well. Everything looks great. 10 fingers, 10 toes, four heart chambers, all of the brain, eyes and ears and a penis.

Looks like I'm going to be a mommy of boys for a little while longer!

Good thing I'm more of a tom boy than a girly-girl! And I can continue to go to Disneyland without having to worry about princess dresses and getting dragged into that darn Libby Lu store! Woo Hoo!!

Now, to figure out names...

Promotion

Congratulations Cpt. Daddy! We are so proud of you!!

Sam getting his cover put back on with his new rank.

The happy family at the Armory this morning with our new Captain.

They are recruiting them younger and younger these days!

Nathaniel, "pinning" Sam's new rank. With the new uniforms, it is just Velcro, which is why Nathaniel got to do it.

What a great thing to witness. Nathaniel was completely enamored with all of the Army guys and seeing Daddy at work. Yay Sam!!

Compassion

I am so excited to watch Nathaniel as he develops into his own little person. It has been an amazing blessing to see him change and grow, even in the last few weeks. Since Sam has been gone I have had to have a sitter come and watch Nathaniel while I work and go to school. It has been good for Nathaniel to have interactions with another kid close to his age, I can see him growing a ton socially. However, there has been something growing in him that is difficult to teach, that is just part of the way God has made him. That is his compassionate side.

First of all, until recently, Nathaniel has had animosity towards any kid under the age of about 16 months. I don't know what it was, but he would bully any kid who couldn't walk. It even got to the point where he would go and smack my friend's kid in the head whenever we were together. I was worried that my kid was going to be the bully. But, lately, he's actually showing care and concern for others. Whenever he hears a baby crying he says, "Mom! Baby crying!" and then says, "It's okay, baby!"

Today I was watching him play with his friend (my baby sitter's boy who is 6 months older than him) and I really noticed his compassion. Nathaniel is a little more advanced with his moter and verbal skills than his friend. Nathaniel knows how to jump and somersault and his friend was trying to copy him, but was just unable to really get it. So, Nathaniel would show him how to jump off of the step stool and then say, "Brynden's turn!" and help his friend up on the stool and hold his hand while he stepped down. He even got the idea of taking turns! ("My turn! Brynden's turn!")

Then, right before naptime we were getting ready to read books and Nathaniel went to grab blankie. I said, "Do you want to show your little brother or sister blankie?" And he came over, lifted my shirt to expose my belly and pushed the blanket up against my belly. Then he moved the blanket, said "Hi baby!" and then said, "Mom! Hug baby!" and hugged my belly and gave it a kiss and said, "Bye baby!" and put my shirt back down.

Wow. I love being a parent and watching my kid grow.

What we've been up to (in pictures)

Even though I've been super busy, we've still managed to do some fun family activities. Nathaniel and I went to Disneyland yesterday and today we met up with my friend Kate (yay!) and her sister at the L.A. Co. Fair. It was quite different from the Iowa State Fair to say the least (no butter cow!) but, it was still entertaining. Nathaniel's favorite part was the horse ride I let him go on (how could I not put him on a pony?!) and my favorite part was the giant corndog and the funnel cake. Ohhhh...it's not my favorite now (can we say heartburn?) but it was sooooo good!

Here are some pics of our latest outings.



L.A. Fair montage



Random fun montage.

I have to say that my two favorite parts (aside from the yummy food) from today were Nathaniel running around the animal barn almost hysterical with glee squealing, "Oh, look Mom! Chickens! (or goats, pigs, cows, etc.)." My second favorite, the grown man explaining to the grown woman with him what each animal was. Yes, this is Los Angeles County, where there is zero farm land for miles around... Silly Southern Californians!

Oh Captain, my Captain!

Hooray!! Sam finally got his promotion today. The National Guard has only been sitting on his promotion packet since February, but today it finally went through and Sam is finally a Captain. Sure, he hasn't gotten pinned yet so he still has all of the appearances and duties of a First Lt., but he's getting the pay of a Captain, and that is what truly matters.

On another note, I have realized that some people simply do not have any tact at all. Here are some things that real actual people have said to me concerning either my pregnancy or Sam's deployment to Kosovo:

Pregnancy:
Upon the announcement that I was pregnant:

Again!?

Woah, you really are cranking those babies out!

You guys must have started having kids right away (this was in response to someone hearing how old I am, assuming that Sam and I must have either been pregnant when we got married or got pregnant right away. Actually, we got married when we were 21 and I didn't have number 1 until we were 25 so...yeah).

The last comment wasn't so weird, but why do people seem shocked that Sam and I are pregnant again? Nathaniel will be 2.5 when this baby is born, which is plenty of space between kids. I was almost down to my pre-pregnancy weight (I don't think I will ever get back down, those last five pounds were really allusive). Plus, people seemed to make financial comments about us having another kid. Honestly, our financial situation really isn't a lot of people's business. We pay our bills every month, we have health insurance and we have money in savings. We also do not get any government help for those things (unless you count the Army as government help...) so...why do people feel the need to make comments?

The main comment I hear about Sam's deployment is: Well, Kosovo isn't as bad as Iraq or Afghanistan.

True. That statement is very true, but still it does not mean that we aren't going to miss Sam while he's gone or that he's going to have a super easy, safe job. He is still getting hazard duty pay and he will actually be in more danger than he was in Iraq (minus the IEDs) because he will be walking the streets dealing with the locals. I think that people seem to forget that Sam is still leaving his family for a year and with that is probably missing the birth of his second child, not to mention all of the cool milestones that are met during those first 10 months of life (Nathaniel was walking by 10 months).

Not that I'm aiming for a pity party here. I'm just saying that people need to be more sensitive. Or at least have a filter of some sort. That's all. Of course, I'm highly sensitive right now with the whole "hormonal" thing so take everything I type here with a grain of salt. :)