Wakeful Slumber

According to Sleepdex.org Stage 1 of sleep is defined as 


"light sleep where you drift in and out of sleep and can be awakened easily. In this stage, the eyes move slowly and muscle activity slows. During this stage, many people experience sudden muscle contractions preceded by a sensation of falling."


It is in this stage of sleep where some of my favorite moments of the day occur. For instance, this morning Owen came into my room and crawled into bed with me. I drifted in and out of sleep but still had a difficult time opening my eyes; I was trying to squeeze out whatever was left of the night. It had to be after 6 am by this time and I heard Owen cough a few times. That must have awakened Mason because next Owen climbed off of my bed and I heard Mason say in an excitedly hushed voice "Owen, you sleeping with me?!"Owen must have nodded in his cute way because the next thing I heard was "Oh, we got go get your blankets." That was followed by two pairs of feet running down the hall and some giggles--hushed of course. I thought "Wow, they are really sweet with each other in the morning". It was a sweet glimpse into their brotherhood that I hope blossoms into a lifelong bond and friendship. 


There are also times when Darrell is home and I hear him getting ready in this wakeful slumber state. He isn't very quiet in the morning; not out of lack on consideration but because he doesn't realize that not everyone can sleep through artillery and crying babies, this makes it difficult for me to get back into my deep sleep. However; I relish these mornings. I love knowing where he is and what he is doing without seeing it. My favorite part comes when he gives me a kiss; his lips are always cold against mine because he's just brushed his teeth and I smell a "hint of mint" too. Sometimes I pretend I'm still in my deep sleep, but more often than not, the only thing remaining of my sleep at this point is my closed eyes. 


Of course there are other times when these moments are not tender, not sweet, and are downright annoying. For today, let's juts focus on the sweet moments before our days really begin. 

Our Life In Photos

Daddy holding his baby girl

The boys with Audra

Owen and his "lovey"

Photo by: Paulette Eaton

Mason and his pet snails

Photo by: Paulette Eaton 

At the Shark Park Splash Pad

Miss Audra Rae

Mom and Audra on the 4th of July

Third Try Is A Charm...I Hope.

After creating two other family blogs and never updating them, I have decided to give it another go.

So...third time is a charm! (My fingers are crossed).

Much has changed since I last "blogged":

1. We welcomed a daughter into our family. Audra Rae just so happened to be born on September 23--our boys were born on the 23rd of their birth months, as were our grandfathers'.

2. We moved into a bigger house 2 days after she was born.

3. My husband, Darrell, left for his 3rd deployment in the 5 years we have been married.

4. "We" requested orders to North Carolina and are looking into purchasing a home when we get there.

I guess those are the major events that I would mention to anyone I hadn't seen or spoken to in awhile.

We are now in mid-July and Homecoming Day shouldn't be too far off now. It's hard to comprehend that it's been over 6 months since Darrell left. But, here we are; still alive and thriving (with the exception of a few rough days). It hasn't been easy but with 3 kids now, I don't have time to mope around.

I took a trip to North Carolina in June to "recon the area" and fell in love with Wilmington. Darrell will work about an hour away from there at Camp Lejeune but there is a great little town called Hampstead that is about halfway between the two. Now all we can do is "hurry up and wait". Sigh. I have a hard time accepting that there is nothing I can do to get things moving and bugging Darrell about it every time he calls doesn't help either. If I sit back and let God have control, and trust in His perfect timing and plan, I can relax a lot more. 

Well, I hope to keep this updated more often for those people who aren't hardcore Facebookers and still have an interest in the happenings of our family. I don't know that there is anyone out there but at least it's something to do.

Until next time...