Update

Here's an update on what we are all up to these days. Sam recently had his four month checkup. It was fun to see how he has grown. At his two month checkup he was in the 75th% for his weight, and between the 5% and 10% for his length. No wonder he looked so round!:) I thought that at his four month checkup he would be in an even higher weight percentile, but he actually went down to the 50%. He weighed 14 lbs. 8 oz. As for his length, he's still in the 10% (23 in.), but at least his weight and length percentiles moved closer together. :) He is showing more and more personality every day, and whenever I need my spirits lifted, I can just smile at him and I know I'll get one in return. I can't imagine life without him now!

Avary seems to grow up a little more every day, especially with how she talks. She is constantly saying new things that I didn't even know she knew how to say. She surprises me all the time with new sentences and ideas that are her own. She's a good big sister and loves to help give Sam a bath and give him toys to play with. Of course, she also likes to take those toys away, but is getting better at sharing. :) She loves to help me cook, or help with anything I am doing. She likes to talk about Daddy. The other day she was on her little car and I asked her if she was driving her car. She said, "I going Army with Daddy." I said, "Oh, you're going to Iraq." She said, "Yeah, I going Raq with Daddy." So cute!

I have started scrapbooking lately, and have discovered that its very therapeutic. The pages I've made so far would never win a scrapbooking contest, but that's OK. They're fun to make. I've also been trying to get in shape for a marathon that Mike and I decided we'll do together when he gets back. I have to laugh at myself just for mentioning that because I have a VERY long way to go, but if nothing else, I can walk it. It's been so cold here, I can't take the kids out yet to go for a "jog", so I have been limited to indoor exercise, which so far has consisted of working out with Denise Austin's Boot Camp video (feel free to laugh out loud). Yes, I feel silly listening to Denise tell my how great I am, and how I'm burning fat and building muscle, and to give my self a hand as she claps and says "Yea!!!", and practically falling over as I attempt to lean over with a weight in one hand and kick one of my legs back at the same time. But if any of you are looking for a good workout that you can do inside, and are willing to swallow your pride, this is a good one. Anyway, maybe it will help me to be able to run at least a mile once the weather warms up. :)

Mike is in Baghdad now, and has been for awhile. Hopefully he can post soon because he can describe what he's doing a lot better than I can. I believe he and the soldiers in his platoon are working at an aid station on the base he is on. To be nice to me, he never tells me when he is going off base. He waits until after he has come back, but he is always in a good mood when he has been off, and has found it interesting to see the city. He has run into a couple of people he knew from ROTC, which is cool. I guess the Army is a small world. He recently lost a friend over there, and although I don't feel like I should put his name on here, I think it is important to recognize his sacrifice. Mike has a lot of respect for him as a soldier and a friend.

I'm grateful for all the heroes who surround us. There are so many people who perform heroic acts, large or small, every day. All of you, my family and friends, have done things that I see as being heroic. I enjoyed the end of President Bush's State of the Union address when he told some stories of some everyday heroes. It reminded me of what is important. One of the stories he told was of a man named Wesley Autrey who was waiting at a subway station when he saw a man fall onto the tracks. He jumped onto the tracks and pulled the man between the rails and held him there as the train passed over. He said, "We got guys and girls overseas dying for us to have our freedoms. We have got to show each other some love." Whether or not one feels that what our service members are doing right now is really preserving our freedom is not the point here (I'm tired of hearing those debates). What matters is that there are people who are willing to serve, in so many different capacities, because they believe in something bigger than themselves. I believe Mr. Autrey was saying that with our freedom comes an obligation to use it for good. The fact that there are everyday heroes, like Wesley Autrey, and everyday heroic acts performed all over the place, shows that there is something very special about humanity. It's up to us to make sure that special something is not lost.