All over the place....

My life is all over the place.

My husband is in another country (again).

We live in one city, go to church in another, and work in yet another.

I am grateful my kids are at only two different schools.

My brain is scattered.

My data is awesome and yet disappointing.

I am attacking H. pylori pathogenesis from 3 different directions.

I need hired help, but hired help isn't always dependable and that creates more work.

Time is moving too fast. Samantha's school year is drawing to a close and her summer is planned. Andrew is a sponge. His knowledge growing so rapidly I cannot keep up with him, and Matthew is on the verge of movement and foods!

But I cannot wait for Pascha.

I cannot wait to have support of my husband at home again.

I cannot wait for the data from the next experiment.

I cannot wait for family vacation when my siblings will meet Matthew.

I am focused on getting through one moment at a time.

By the grace of God, I have so many people around me cheering me on. I admit there are plenty of skeptics too. But for the most part I avoid those people.

I promise you I don't always eat right. I don't always sleep more than 4 hours. I rarely get exercise these days. But I love the life I've been given! I am surrounded by beauty and everyday I am in awe of the works of the Lord.

"How marvelous are Thy works O Lord, there is NO TONGUE sufficient, to hymn Thy Wonders!
Alleluia!, Thou art the God Who worketh wonders!"

Test video?

We actually had a better video from right before this, but it was too big to load. We'll see if this works.

Watch out...here comes sweetness.

Its about time I update you all on our sweetest, smallest family member (and no I am not talking about the kids new "pet" worms- they aren't very sweet). Matthew is 4 months already! Can you believe it? I will continue to say I think it moves faster with each child because in our case we are definitely busy, busy, busy. I finally figured out how to get pictures onto the laptop more easily (hardware issues), so I hope I'll be providing you all with more candid pics of the kids. I am so excited to download the last, oh, 3 months of photos from my camera! The last pictures on the blog have been from iPhones or from ones others have sent, so watch out...Here comes sweetness. Its pretty easy to get a smile from this guy! Or a giggle.

Loves getting snuggles from his siblings!

While he doesn't like a pacifier, he tends to chew on burp clothes or cloth diapers!

On St. Patrick's Day (exactly 4 months old)

Watching his big brother at soccer (who scored his first goal today!)

Matthew is sleeping well at night (at least this week since he got over his first stomach bug), but he isn't a fan of naps at childcare. We call him the cat napper. He takes 3-4 naps a day but they are only 30-45 minutes each. That tends to make him a little crabby but he always feels better if we spend some time entertaining him in the evenings. He is a wiggle worm, but hasn't mastered rolling over yet. Sometimes it seems like he could, but just doesn't seem to be motivated. He eats great and is growing well. We see the pediatrician for a check up this coming week and we might start cereal sometime in the coming weeks. Right now he doesn't seem to need it and I am perfectly happy nursing him. I haven't retested whether he still has a dairy intolerance (its lent afterall). I am staying away from dairy and soy products and will probably see if he's outgrown his intolerances in late April or May. Have a great weekend!

AJ, The Fighting Worm

(guest post by David- of course he doesn't know it. He sent this email to family).

So AJ had his first soccer match last Saturday.

His team name is The Fighting Worms. They don’t actually put up much of a fight (I think they lost about 15-0), but he had a blast and had no clue how badly they got beat. It was actually pretty hilarious the morning of his game, cause he announced, as he was walking down the stairs, “AJ the soccer player is walking down the stairs.” My first thought, “Great, he just started playing sports and is already speaking in the third person.”

He also believes that he’s one of the fastest players on the team. The problem is, he likes to watch how fast his legs are moving when he runs so he typically heads in the complete opposite direction of the ball, cause he’s looking at his legs and not the ball. Nice.

Happy Wednesday.

Embracing the pink princess

Ok, I admit. I don't like princesses. I don't like the idea that a little girl's self esteem may ride on what she is wearing and the fairy tale that one day she will experience love at first sight and 'live happily ever after'. I was a tomboy growing up. While my sister collected barbies (and we all built towns out of legos), I wasn't a fan of girly toys or boy bands. When Samantha started to fall in love with princesses and all things pink I tried so hard to avoid it...i.e. animal themed birthday party. I had more yellow and green girl clothes than anyone else I knew. She didn't have any books about princesses except, "Gigi, God's Little Princess" which I loved (and still do). But then I realized about age 4, it doesn't matter if I don't want her to have it at home, her friends would have princess stuff and her teachers would read her princess stories. Her friends at daycare were very princess, but then Samantha took it to a new level.

She only wears dresses (with a few very rare exceptions). She wears pink (again a few exceptions, mostly purple ones). She wanted a princess castle - we got her a doll house, but 1 year later when she got a castle for Christmas (it wasn't a Rapunzel tower- I still fight a few things), she said, "Just what I always wanted. Its a dream come true." I cringed and then smiled really big, "Isn't Grandmommy the greatest?" She is. And I've learned my lesson.

Samantha may love princesses today. She is 6. Tomorrow she'll be one day closer to 16. She could like skulls and cross bones- for some unknown reason there are even toddler clothes with this death symbol on them. When she is 8 (hopefully 10 or 12), she will suddenly be too cool for princesses. I may not want her to believe love is instant, but reality will set in -one day . There are plenty of pink princesses who have grown up to be independent, strong, Christian women and its not because their moms loved or disliked the princess. So, I have committed myself to embrace Samantha's love for all things pretty, pink and princess. She deserves to have my support.

My little princess wants to play soccer next fall since she sees how much fun AJ is having. She also went on her first training run with me for the 'marathon' she is running. The goal is for the kids to run 25 miles before the 'kids marathon' (1 mile each time out) and then at the kids marathon they will finish the race. Samantha really enjoyed our run and has already asked when we'll go again. It interesting trying to teach a 6 year old to pace themselves!

Age and wisdom, power, strength?

Tonight Samantha was terribly upset I couldn't carry her all the way to her bed...I did carry her upstairs. (Even that wasn't a good idea. She only weighs 38 lbs, but I' m down to 100 and out of shape.) I told her I needed to put her down because she is too heavy for me and let's just say it wasn't pretty...bottom line, "but Daddy can do it and you are older than him"...If it only worked that way.

Bedtime route at our house consists of showers (Samantha) or car washes (AJ), reading books, brushing teeth, and prayers. Lights out 8pm. Tonight we were ready for lights out 11 minutes early (thanks to a babysitter who actually bathed Samantha before I got home, helped her set the table and helped her make her lunch). Samantha wanted me to explain why there was no 7:60 o'clock. I explained 12 o'clock am verse pm and how there is always 60 minutes in an hour, ect. She wanted to know why there are so many hours in the day and 60 minutes in the hour. I couldn't remember. I told her I'd do some research and let her know in the morning. She said maybe some other scientists know, or maybe Lottie (daddy's grand mommy) knows. I ask hy Lottie and she said, "did you know that when you have wrinkles it means you are really, really smart? Mrs. Kirksey (who has wrinkles) told me that. So I think Lottie is really smart. And she loves me so she'd want to teach me."

So I guess age give you more strength and definitely more wisdom in the eyes of a 6 year old. Not all wrong.

For your interest, Why is a minute divided into 60 seconds, an hour into 60 minutes, yet ther are only 24 hours in a day?

Lovin' it!

Conversations with a 4 year old (AJ)

"Mommy, was Dr. Suess a doctor?"
No, but I honestly don't know if he had a doctorate or how he got his name. Maybe your teachers read about it.
"No, Ms. S didn't read about it."
You know I am Dr. Algood, right? Because I am a research doctor.
"No, You are a mommy and a researcher."
*Love him!

After listening to Lulu Mae's new CD, AJ wanted to relisten to Corollina (beautiful song!)
"Mommy, is Corollina a girl or a princess?"
A girl.
"Does she live in this world?"
I think so.
"Where does Corollina live?"
I don't know. You'll have to ask Mr. Joel and Ms. Sarah. "
"Where do they live?"
In Nashville.
"By Daddy's work?"
No, closer to your school.
"Well, turn around and drive there RIGHT now. I need to know where Corollina lives."
*4 year old crush on fictional character

First day of soccer
(morning)
David, AJ do you know what the secret to soccer is? Sharing the ball with your team mates.
"Yes, and you do that by kicking them the ball"
*natural
(after practice)
"That was great. Why can't we have soccer EVERYday after school?"
I am so glad you had fun.
"We even played lots of games. RXXX is so fast. BXXX pushes everyone and uses his hands. You don't do that! LXXX wasn't there. I even got this mark (shows me the imprint on his shin from the shinguard)."
Your son is tough. I have video of him getting taken down and he popped right up and went right back after the ball.
*natural (I hope.)