Supreme Court comes to the Desert

Remember in U.S. History in high school when you'd study important Supreme Court cases and they would always start in some random town in the middle of nowhere? Today an important decision was announced by the Supreme Court after years of controversy, and it started here, in the Mojave Desert!  Moreover, it will most likely be a benchmark case that is referred to in the future when the issue of the separation of church and state arises.

Today the Supreme Court ruled that the Mojave Cross, a 6-foot cross erected in 1934 by the VFW to commemorate war casualties, can remain standing. The issue at hand was that the cross is now located in the Mojave National Preserve - government land. Unless you live in 29 Palms you've probably never seen this cross, but it's in the Preserve, which surrounds the desolate, two lane road to Vegas . The argument against the cross was obviously that it supported only Christian troops and did not support other religions, and that it was also a violation of the separation of church and state. The argument for, as was ruled, was that "The Constitution does not oblige government to avoid any public acknowledgment of religion's role in society." It's been a huge topic of conversation around here and the cross has been covered up for several months, but now gets to be uncovered.

Kind of a random post, I know, but it made me think about a few things. First, we live in the Mojave. And no one pretty much ever comes out here. So the fact that a case about something that seemed so obscure made it all the way to the Supreme Court - and on top of that made it to the front of the news today - is a big deal. Second, I was interested that the reports on this case didn't mention its cultural context - thousands of Marines who move out here in the middle of the desert and still fight for their lives every day in combat zones (and have been, since the cross was put up). For some reason (even though I don't think it should be the case, but it is), war memorials are more tolerated in areas near military bases, and I'm just surprised no reporter brought that up. Third, also from a military standpoint, crosses have historically simply been signs of respect and remembrance for fallen soldiers, regardless of religion. This is especially the case in remembrance of earlier wars - think the Normandy cemetery. When you couple that with the fact that this cross was erected in 1934, it seems clear to me that the cross was NOT put up to offend any non-Christian troops (nor as a violation of church and state, since the Mojave Preserve didn't exist then). And finally, on the topic of the military/religion relationship, I have a huge amount of respect for military chaplains, who, regardless of their religious background, travel back and forth across the front lines to provide spiritual support and counseling for soldiers, sailors, and Marines. Regardless of their religion, I feel that they provide integral support for every person out there. And yes, many (most actually) of them wear crosses. But that is not a rebuff to anyone else.  And while it could be argued that is somehow blending church and state, I think you would be hard pressed to find a deployed troop who'd say that they'd rather their unit not to have a chaplain with them.

I'll get off my soapbox now. Just thought I'd share this case with you, because it hits close to home, quite literally!

And one more...dog park fun

I didn't realize until a friend reminded me that I didn't mention how thrilled Rocky is to have his daddy home! He is so, so excited. No more depressed dog around here. I'm also excited, because Greg loves to run around the house with Rocky, which isn't really my thing (I'm the pet once he's exhausted kind of dog parent!). It is interesting though, because having Greg back has really shown the difference in the roles we each play in Rocky's life. I never really believed the whole dog pack theory (that dogs equate humans to different roles that would traditionally be in a pack) until now!

Basically, Greg is the fun one. He comes home, Rocky is excited, runs around with him, knows he is going to have the best play session ever, is crazy, etc. But Rocky also thinks that he can get away with murder with Greg. He'll bark right in Greg's face, he won't sit immediately if Greg asks him too, he only goes to Greg at the dinner table because he knows that's where he'll get food, and just in general is more aggressive with Greg. Greg calls it some "manly connection" that I don't have the capability of getting. On the other hand, while Rocky is always happy to see me, he's never as exuberant as he is around Greg. However, he knows that he can't get an inch with me. So he'll sit, lie down, listen when I say no (even when his jaw is open and heading towards a pillow), and will quietly sit by the sliding glass door while I feed Caroline for his turn to come in (compared to bombarding the door to see his favorite playmate in the whole wide world, Greg).

This weekend, we took him to the dog park, and I was so proud to show Greg how Rocky loves to flawlessly jump in and out of the Tahoe. Well. I am not kidding when I say that that boy remembered the fact that Greg would always lift all 75 pounds of Rocky into the Tahoe before he left, and wouldn't you know it, Rocky wouldn't jump in when Greg was around! It was crazy. That dog is so smart. So Greg lifted him in, and he was happy. But Rocky knew there was no way I could've handled that during a deployment.

It's all very interesting. On one hand, Greg's relationship is great because Rocky is always so fanatically excited about seeing him. On the other hand, I like mine because he minds what I say (and is still excited to see me - labs being mildly excited is the equivalent to being psycho exuberant for any other breed, so I don't feel short changed when I see him). I think we have the best of both worlds, and Rocky is glad he has Greg to balance out his life now.

Here is a pic of Caroline and Rocky from the dog park last weekend. No matter how many dogs are there he loves to circle back to us and say hi every so often!

Fun with Dad

Last weekend Greg was extremely tired, because he worked until 1 AM on Friday night waiting for some of his guys to return. Well, babies don't get that. And daddies don't get annoyed that babies don't get that. I was rested too, but decided to sit Caroline next to Greg to see what happened. As a result, got some great pictures of her waking up her Daddy...

step #1: Realize (with delight) that Daddy is next to her

step #2: use raptor claws to wake him up

 

step #3: raptor claws work to a certain extent; follow up stare down to be sure

step #4: Daddy's awake! commence flirting

 

step #5:  oh hi there...you got this on camera?

Letters from Miss Brown's Class

Miss Brown, AKA Catherine Brown, sent a lovely stack of homemade cards from her class in Charlottesville, VA. Since the no more mail date had passed when her class made them, she sent them to us in California, and they arrived the very day Greg came home. Some of the cards are hilarious, so I thought I'd share them with you. In a nutshell, I love that kids have no problem saying what we are all thinking (cute little kids typos included)......

- "Dear Lt Gehring, Mrs Gehring, Caroline - First thank you for saving are country and Miss Brown told me about Caroline she sounds pretty thank you"

- "Lt. Gehring your such a hero for surving our country Baby Caroline your so cute. From Your Fan"

- "Dear Lt. Gehring, I hope you haven't been badly injured. P.S. I hope you have a wonderful Spring."

- "Dear Gehring Family, Thank you for saving our country you are the best"

- "Dear Lt. Gehring, I hope you are okay in Afghanistan."

- "Dear Caroline, I am really happy for you to meet your Daddy."

Thank you Miss Catherine Brown for doing this! These cards really made us smile, and made Greg recount the cards he got while in Afghanistan. His personal favorite was "Dear Lt. Gehring, I hope you are up in a tree shooting the bad guys". Another brilliant strategy... perhaps we should all just look to these kids for more ideas!

Thought you'd enjoy :)

Let's Get Our Marines Home!

Yes, Greg is home safe and sound now, but wouldn't you guess it, the one thing in the world short of an alien invasion that is more bizarre than a coup in Kyrgyzstan is holding up the rest of the Marines in 3/4 trying to get home. That's right - the volcano Eyjafjallajökull erupted in Iceland and now the Marines who were scheduled to come home this weekend are stuck in Kuwait (where troops are going now after the Kyrgyzstan debacle) and won't get home until probably mid week at best. Which means everyone else may get delayed. Which means (and hopefully this won't happen), potentially leave could get pushed back a couple of days, and the flights that everyone has purchased may have to be changed. Ridiculous, I know. The point is, these Marines I'm sure are so exhausted and just want to get home, and I know for a fact that all of the families waiting for them to come home are even more frustrated. So, please, let's clear up any natural disasters and political revolutions and get these guys home! 

Why Greg was stuck in Kyrgyzstan last week....

 

...and why other Marines are stranded this week....

Homecoming: Photos

So Nervous!

Texting Greg to see where he is...and one of my awesome friends in the background

 Patiently waiting for her Daddy

Around this time everything became a total blur

 Found him!

 Caroline waiting in the wings :)

Meeting Baby C

The look on Greg's face: "I hope I don't drop her"

Family Photo

Chapter Two - Homecoming

On Sunday, I got the official word that Greg would be arriving in 29 Palms at 5:00 AM on Monday morning. This of course got delayed (see a pattern?), and when I got a text from Greg saying they had landed at March Air Base in California at 7:45 AM, I figured it would probably be closer to noon. It was pouring rain and so windy when I woke up on Monday morning, and my first thought was "what a fitting end to this homecoming tale - the day he gets home is one of the 5 rainy days all year." But, the storm passed and the weather cleared, and by 9 that morning it was sunny and warm - a perfect day.

The whole feeling of Monday was so surreal. I was so anxious and nervous and excited all at the same time. It was weird hearing Greg's ringtone on my cellphone after seven months of not hearing it, and it was weird getting text messages from him after seven months of only texting my girl friends. It was also weird trying to put together a stellar outfit/shower/blowdry my hair while balancing Caroline's schedule and Rocky's schedule. I figured it out, though, and before I knew it it was time to go to base.

I had the best group of friends/photographers who showed up at Homecoming for me. My friends Valerie, Michelle, and Jessica (all 3/4 wives--they have 2 more weeks of waiting) and Crissy (my neighbor) all came to be there to talk to during the inevitable waiting game, and to take pics. It was a fitting end to a deployment, during which they were my 29 Palms support group. They were joking that they had no idea what Greg looked like, which reminded me that when their husbands come home, I'll won't either (it's always funny to think that our husbands all know each other and we all know each other but we don't know each other's husbands and vice versa).

Once I got to base the anxiety and nervousness really hit. All of a sudden standing with my friends who I had seen and gone through a lot with in the past 7 months seemed like a potentially more comfortable scenario than being with my husband, who I hadn't seen even a picture of since September. It was just a really weird, surreal feeling. We all waited for about an hour, while the guys arrived on base, went to the armory to turn in their weapons, got back on the bus, and came to the field where we were all standing. Finally, the white school buses pulled up. Other Marines who had stayed behind lined up and saluted everyone as they got out of the bus, and one by one guys came down the line and found their families for a hug. Greg was on the second bus, so it was awhile until I found him, which meant I waited for about 2 minutes, watching everyone come out in the same uniform and wondering if they were Greg.

Finally, I saw him. He came down the line and everyone else was a blur. I wasn't even paying attention to any other Marine or any other family or my friends or even Caroline (who was being held for the initial hug by Crissy). The funny thing is, that's how everyone else is - it's just a massive field with lots of people who are tuning out their surroundings. Greg couldn't see us for awhile, and I didn't know whether to shout his name or run up to him (both my plans in my head for 7 months) - in the moment I was just totally paralyzed. So I just silently wove in and out of Marines hugging their wives until I got to Greg, threw my arms around him, and just buried my face in his uniform and gave him the biggest hug ever. He looked great - exactly the same, albeit a little tan/worn from the Afghanistan sun and stress. Even though I hadn't been on the verge of tears all morning, I heard myself heaving and crying as my head was still down. And the first thing he said to me was, "Don't cry, Weezy, this is a happy day." And in that moment, all of my nervousness and anxiety just flew away, because I knew it was the same old Greg.

After a minute of hugging I noticed that Greg was looking over my shoulder, and realized that he was looking for Caroline. So, the introduction to his daughter began. It was just as I had hoped it would be - Caroline had just eaten so she was in a good mood, and smiled at Greg immediately. He picked her up so delicately and just held her, hoping he was doing it right (he was). Then we took a family picture, and slowly the rest of the world began to come back into focus. In a matter of minutes, we were the only people left on the field, because everyone had already left to get their bags and go home. We did the same, hopped in the Tahoe, and began the drive back to Yucca, asking questions and still in disbelief that the first deployment is officially under our belts, and that we don't have to start thinking about the next one for another two months.

Greg had the rest of Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday off. I forgot how fast time can go by. It FLEW. We did a whole bunch of nothing - went down to Palm Springs for lunch, bought new running shoes, went to Home Depot, took Caroline and Rocky for a jog, made good dinners and watched movies. Pretty much the same stuff I would do by myself but it was of course much more fun with Greg. Having the time to step back, breathe, and think about how we are finally back together has actually been completely exhausting, especially because neither of us got much sleep when he was stuck in Kyrgyzstan. There are also lots of emotions running high - Greg has been thrown into a world of diapers, remembering about 10 things to put in the car even if it's for a quick trip, and feedings every 3-4 hours. I have been all of a sudden out of my daily routine, and even if it's something as little as not watching my nightly tv shows, it's enough to make a day feel a bit strange. But these are all such little adjustments that we are already getting over (every night when we have passed out at 9 PM Greg comments that "we are such parents now"). I'm excited for this weekend. We are getting a sitter to come tomorrow night so we can go to P.F. Chang's on our first date as parents, and are really looking forward to it.

So there's the update! I will post pics next. Thank you all for your support and friendship during the whole deployment - I hope I can do the same for you some day!

Homecoming Chapter One: Kyrgyzstan

So, here we are. By now I'm sure unless you've been living under a log you know that Greg is finally, finally back. He arrived home on Monday around noon, and life has been a hectic whirlwind of emotions, new beginnings (especially with Caroline), and getting back to "normal" (in quotations because in the USMC what is normal for most people is actually a rare couple months out of every year).

It is such a relief to have Greg home, and it's unbelievable how much chaos really happened between Camp Leatherneck (big base in Afghanistan which is the first and last place in country where Marines go) and Germany. In a nutshell (and you can ask me for details later, because those are hilarious), Greg was stuck in Kyrgyzstan because of the coup. Since the US had not yet recognized the new government, no one really knew what was going on, and there were worries of the unrest getting even more out of control. Manas Transit Center (where Greg was) is an Air Force base. And what did the people stationed there decide to do in the event of an attack on base? Send the Marines, who just got out of Afghanistan! The same plan also applied to the small Army Special Forces unit that happened to be on their way home as well. The whole thing sounded like a ridiculous plan, but frankly a smart one, given the people/resources available. Obviously nothing happened, but the whole thing was pretty funny in retrospect.

On Sunday, Hillary Clinton called up the new leader of Kyrgyzstan to say that the US recognized the new government. This opened the airspace quite literally, and allowed Greg and the rest of the crew to get out. They had previously been told that no flights were going to be let out of the airport for at least another 24 hours, so everyone was spread across base, when all of a sudden they found out they were leaving in 45 minutes. Again, total chaos. But the important thing is they got on a plane in what was the middle of Saturday night California time. I found this out right when I woke up Sunday morning (hence my "I feel good about today" post), but I didn't want to jump for joy only to be delayed yet again. But this third time was a charm, and once I heard they were in Germany, I knew the chances were pretty good that they would make it to California.

So there's a rough overview of how they finally got home. Chapter 2 has the actual homecoming so read on.....

Sunday

I've got a good feeling about today. I haven't heard from Greg yet, and I have a hunch that's a good thing. Nothing's going to knock me down again at this point, so I'm still not believing a word I hear until I physically see him, but I'm hopeful.

In other news, my friend Crissy informed me yesterday that she and her husband are "hijacking" Caroline for the afternoon, so I can go to a spa and get myself pampered. Conveniently Greg (with the coordination and help of Linda - thank you!) got me a gift certificate to my favorite spa in Palm Springs for Christmas, and I think no time is better than now to use it. So, I'm going to get a much needed massage today. Can't wait!

In other news, I hung up Rocky's sign today, and clearly he is exuding excitement over his Daddy's arrival. What an adolescent.

Saturday

Today was supposed to be my welcome home post, but that's not happening. As suspected, the delay is even longer than it was originally supposed to be, and really we have no idea for how long.

 Finally news of this has hit the media after days, and hopefully there will be some sort of pressure to get this situation figured out soon. Remember when I made the comment that there was no contingency plan and that saying that was just an attempt to calm people down? Well, check out the quote from this article, the only one so far that sheds light on the 1,300 U.S. troops stuck in Kyrgyzstan:

"The stranded troops include those coming home from Afghanistan and others going into the war zone. The spokesman said it is not known when the airfield will reopen and it is not yet certain how the troops will be moved out."

(Here's the full article, if you want to read it: 1300 U.S. Troops Stranded at Airbase)


As you can imagine, the sketchiness of these details is frustrating on all sides. The hardest words for me to hear is that it is "not yet certain how the troops will be moved out." This is ridiculous!

We are trying to make the best of things, just hoping they can get out of there. I took Caroline and Rocky to the dog park today to try to get everyone's mind off things, and that helped a bit, but as I said yesterday this is just a rollercoaster of uncontrollable emotions. And nobody's happy about it. Let's hope this solves itself - for good - soon.

The Home Stretch: Friday

Today is the first day within Greg's original "arrive home window." Needless to say, no Greg. I'm still being pulled around though, as the Manas base resumed all military flights this morning, then curtailed them again this evening. So I have no idea what's going on. Perhaps his delay won't be as big as he suspected, and he was able to get out in the 12 hours that the base was opened. Perhaps it will be even longer than expected, and he's still stuck on base. I don't know - I haven't heard any updates from him.  We will see - I'm certainly not hinging too much on this one.

As for me, you can probably guess that I'm EXHAUSTED. I haven't been this tired in a long, long time (wait...who am I kidding...I was definitely this tired after Caroline was born but that I'd been expecting). This whole thing has been such an emotional rollercoaster, and as I result I've had a hard time sleeping, been going to bed late and waking up earlier, and just haven't been very energetic. I feel like when Greg actually does get here we are going to go home and want to sleep for 36 hours straight, but unfortunately won't be able to do that with our little bundle of joy. Oh well - it will be more than worth it just to have us all together under one roof, even if we are all exhausted!

Please be thinking of us and hoping this situation clears up shortly....more than anything, it is tiring!!

The Home Stretch: Bad News Thursday

Never, in a million years, did I ever think I would care one iota about a country with the letter "z" in its name. Never. The same would go for former Soviet countries. Yet, here I am, with a husband who is stuck in a country with a z, and all my talk of the home stretch and last weekend being the last weekend I would have to spend without him is all for naught.

In a nutshell, there was a coup in Kyrgyzstan. One of the U.S.'s most crucial bases - which ships all troops in and out of Afghanistan - is in Kyrgyzstan. Conveniently, this base is in Bishkek, the capital city. Anyway, the Pentagon has indefinitely suspended all flights in and out of Kyrgyzstan, and yes, that includes Greg's flight. Great quote I found today:"In Washington, a senior Pentagon official told CNN that the turmoil had interrupted flights into and out of that facility, and it was unclear when those flights would resume. But the U.S. military has contingency plans to deal with the situation, the official said." Every time I'm in a tight spot and don't want to disappoint wives and babies waiting for their husbands to come home, I'm going to start saying I have a contingency plan, too. I'd love to hear what that one is. Give everyone a candy bar who's stuck on base and hope it makes them happy?

Sorry. Obviously this news has not put me in the best mood. As you know (from the riveting things I've been doing every day this week to make it go by), time has been dragging, and news that it's going to drag even more is so, so sad. Psychologically this has been so hard on me - it's just been game after game after game. I just want it to end. The good news is, it will, I just won't know when (this is hard on everyone, but particularly hard on master organizer/planner Louisa, who never has and never will fully be able to rationalize the concept of not being on time).

As miserable as this situation is, it could be worse. I could have no friends out here (and my friends have been incredible - offering to come over/making an impromptu Friday night dinner plan), and I could be without friends who drop what they are doing and talk to me for an hour (seeing that Sarah and Caroline B. are the two that have done this today, this also makes me suspicious of how much law school encourages procrastinating... :) ). Finally, my awesome parents, who are always up for adventurous trips (especially when they involve cashing in frequent flier miles, sun, and warmth), are looking into the possibility of taking a mini vacation to Palm Springs, giving Caroline and me the opportunity to distract ourselves for a few days. We'll see - fingers crossed! I am loved, and for that I am very grateful.

So that's the situation. Thanks again for being so wonderful and supportive. This blog is called Semper Gumby Adventures after all, and the whole point of it was to track our adventures with the USMC, who is notorious for training its family to shift gears on a moment's notice, and be "always flexible". Guess in the end this is yet another example. Let's just pray the situation in Kyrgyzstan clears itself up soon!

The Home Stretch: Wednesday

Ahh. Humpday. I feel much better now that it's over.

Today, like every day this week, I have woken up after a restless sleep in the most wretched mood ever. By far the last week is the hardest. Yes, he is coming home soon, but the anxiety and the realization of what I've slowly been chugging towards for months is just a grasp away, and suddenly a few days seems more insurmountable than four months seemed back in December!

Luckily, I have found in Yucca what I've only found a few times before in my life: a friend who is up for anything, everything, at any given time. Likes to hang out just for the sake of hanging out, on a moment's notice (Anna Brown, my friend from college, is another one of these friends, and I'm sure I have more, but she is the other one who pops to the forefront right now). I'm not necessarily one of these people - many times I say no to hanging out because I have work, or had made another schedule for my day that I have a hard time bending. It's a fault of mine, but the fact is, I LOVE this trait in other people!

Anyway - my "drop everything and hang out" friend here is Crissy Gardner. She is one of my photographers for the homecoming, and today she texted me asking if "Operation Welcome Home Lt. Daddy Gehring" was still on schedule. I then wrote back some whiny thing about how time is dragging, and boom! Just like that we had lunch plans in Palm Springs in two hours. What started as a lunch at Panera then led to perusing Marshall's (awesome store, by the way), which brought me to Caroline's mealtime, followed by grocery shopping. And before I knew it, I was home and it was 4 PM! And that's what friends are for.

After I got home I baked lots of brownies and cookies for Homecoming, because I said I would for a battalion bake sale. So that took up more time. Then I watched a DVR'd Oprah episode about Glee! (SO excited for that to start next Wednesday!!), put Caroline to bed, and poured myself a celebratory glass of Sauvignon Blanc.

Not too exciting, but one more day is down. Friends are the best, and certainly one of the blessings embedded in this deployment has been that I have been able to become close to several people out here. Onwards to Thursday!




P.S. For those of you wondering why I haven't said when Greg is coming home, it's because I can't for security seasons. And because I want you to have an incentive to keep reading :). So stay tuned and you'll see!

The Home Stretch: Tuesday

Happy 1/2 Birthday to Caroline Collier Gehring! It's the strangest thing - while this deployment has seemed so long, my time with Caroline hasn't seemed like six months. It's like there are two timelines going on in my life right now, and one is flying by and the other is dragging.

Anyway, we are very excited (or at least I am). This is a big accomplishment! Not to mention that at 6 months I feel like so many babies are ready to take on the world of more solid foods, sippy cups, crawling, and many other things. So we have an exciting time ahead of us (especially since Daddy will be home for it).

Here is the obligatory pic per month that I feel like every blogger mom I know posts up. Enjoy!

Negative 1 Week Old

0 Months Old

One Month Old

Two Months Old

Three Months Old

Four Months Old

Five Months Old

 Six Months Old

The Home Stretch: Monday

Today is day one of what I'm calling the Home Stretch. I was going to go to a coffee with my friends, but there is a horrible case of Hand, Foot, and Mouth disease going around base, and the last thing I want is for Baby Caroline to be sick when she meets her daddy! As hard as it was to give up a fun time-consumer (in a good way-that's the whole point of this week), I bowed out at the last minute. So today I've mostly been sitting around, trying to create a game plan of how to pass the time before Greg gets home. One of the things I decided to do was to hang up Greg's homecoming sign. For those of you that don't know, hanging up homecoming signs on the fences outside the front gate of a base is USMC tradition (and probably in other branches too, although not all branches have units coming home in busses in droves - some come straight off the plane, others meet family at the ship). Anyway, the concept is that when the boys arrive on the busses, the first thing they see before they even enter the base are signs that their wives and kids  have made for them. It's also a signal to everyone else who lives on or visits the base that a unit is coming home, which is a great feeling too, to imagine a family that has been waiting for months to see their husband/Daddy and finally he is home.

Well, finally that family is us - Caroline, Rocky, and myself! I felt like I've come full circle today, because I remember tearing up when we first moved here every time I'd see the "Can't Wait To Meet You" sign from a baby who had been born while his/her Daddy was gone. I remember thinking, I don't think that's possible to survive that. And yet, with just a few more tiny steps, I will add that as one of my biggest life accomplishments so far! But enough about that....anyway, we hung up our sign today, right outside of the front gate, and here's the finished product:

Hopefully Greg will be on the right side of the bus so he can see it when he comes in. Rocky also made a sign, but we'll save that one for the backyard. Once I put that one up (later in the week), I'll upload a pic of that as well.




P.S. For those of you who think that perhaps I actually flew to Afghanistan to fly this banner up, no, you're wrong - this is actually what 29 Palms looks like. And yes, apparently it does look exactly like Afghanistan. One less transition Greg has to make, right?!

Easter

Caroline, Rocky and I had a good Easter weekend, for several reasons. First, it is the last weekend we will spend for awhile without Greg! Second, it was fitting that the last weekend of the deployment is the weekend that we celebrated Christ's Resurrection, but I can truly say that my faith has grown so much this deployment and without Him (and all of the support He has given us) we couldn't have done it! So that was nice. And third, because we stayed (somewhat) busy!

Here's what we did: Friday night, I had a fish fry for one, with fried trout, cornbread, and grits to celebrate Good Friday. It was fantastic. Saturday I got my hair cut (well, chopped - you'll see pics soon enough, but I like it), which was a treat. I also saw Miley Cyrus at a coffee shop in Palm Springs, and celeb sightings are always entertaining. Then my friend Valerie came over to visit with her sweet dog Camo, who is a 14 month old, and is a perfect match for Rocky. The two of them bumbled and tumbled and played for 4 hours straight, and were POOPED after they left! It was great - just what Rock needed. Then I let him sleep in my bed and although I didn't sleep too well, I did wake up at 4 AM with my arm around Rocky, cuddling with him, his head on Greg's pillow and body stretched out on the bed like a human. Ridiculous.

Today we got dressed up in our Sunday best and went to church. Then we came home and relaxed and then we went over to my friends Crissy and Todd's house for Easter dinner. It was really low key and fun - just what we needed. We had an Easter egg hunt (Crissy and Todd have two kids who are 15 months and 3 years, so they loved it) and just enjoyed each other's company. They have made sure I am never alone on a holiday when I am here, and we really appreciate it!

So that was our weekend. But I know you are really just reading this for pics. So without further ado...

Rocky and Camo - Fast Friends

 Kaelyn  - one of Caroline's first friends :)

Curious Caroline, checking out the big kids

The Gardners made an egg for everyone, including Greg!

6 Months

It's amazing what a difference 6 months can make....check out these two photos - one from Caroline's first bath (probably at around 1 weeks old), and the other is from her bath tonight!

Teeny Tiny Cranky Pants - October 2009

Loving Bath Time! April 2010: