Savior, Please

Chase left for Norway this morning and as I was taking the hour drive back home listening to the radio this song came on. It was so perfect I felt like sharing it.

Anyways, I felt like this song was perfect because it describes how I was feeling right then. I was praying to God for Him to help me be strong for our daughter and get through this deployment. I know its only a short time, but it remains difficult none the less. I always try to be tough and I never cry in front of Chase because I want him to know I'm strong enough to handle things on my own, even when I feel like the weight is going to come crashing down. I know I survive these trips and manage to keep the family together through it all because of God being there, helping me through.

Savior, please take my hand
I work so hard, I live so fast
This life begins, and then it ends
And I do the best that I can, but I don't know how long I'll last

I try to be so tough
But I'm just not strong enough
I can't do this alone, God I need You to hold on to me
I try to be good enough
But I'm nothing without Your love
Savior, please keep saving me

Savior, please help me stand
I fall so hard, I fade so fast
Will You begin right where I end
Find More lyrics at www.sweetslyrics.com
And be the God of all I am because You're all that I have

I try to be so tough
But I'm just not strong enough
I can't do this alone, God I need You to hold on to me
I try to be good enough
But I'm nothing without Your love
Savior, please keep saving me

Hallelujah
Everything You are to me
Is everything I'll ever need
And I am learning to believe
That I don't have to prove a thing
'Cause You're the one who's saving me

What do you mean she'll be 3?

So with Morghan's 3rd birthday rapidly approaching I've begun to overwhelm myself, as usual.

I finally decided that her birthday main party will just take place in her classroom this year. When Chase gets back from Norway we will probably do a small one with friends and family. I was beginning to go over the top so I quickly stopped myself. Instead of spending a boat load of money on the party itself we are just going to get Morghan some new things like clothes and toys. Every year for her birthday she gets Old Navy gift cards which is FANTASTIC because I love all their stuff. I've already purchased her stuff from Carter's thats hanging up in a closet because if she finds it she'll never let them go, as she loves to play dress up. The list from Old Navy is still about $130 worth, which if she gets gift cards like every year she'll be set for fall/winter clothes.

The only situation I've got myself in now is that I have a huge list of things to get her. I want to get her some educational things as well as play things I just can't decided how many and what!
I've got puzzles, the new Leapfrog TAG Junior, a tea set, table and chairs, blocks, legos... OMG I could go on forever. She's out grown so many toys and soon we will be re-decorating her room as well so I'm trying to work that in.

Hopefully over the next couple weeks things will just fall in to place.

Its only natural...

So I used to absolutely LOVE thunderstorms and ugly weather. It turned from love to fear about 2 summers ago after we just moved back out here to SC. My parents had just left that morning and Chase wasn't scheduled back from Iraq for 2 more days. It had been raining all day and then just as darkness fell it got a lot worse. We were under SEVERAL tornado warnings through the night. When a siren actually went off for a tornado I literally lost it. I was by myself with a 10 month old and had no CLUE what to do. I called my parents hysterical and shaking so bad I could hardly speak. After all was said I'll never forget the night I fell asleep in the bathtub holding Morghan for dear life.

The worst weather ALWAYS happens when I'm alone with Morghan. Until this year. All last summer when Chase was gone constantly there were hellicious storms. To top it off as soon as he left for El Centro for 6 weeks there were 2 storms in the Atlantic. One crossed over Florida and caused rain here has a depression. The second storm was headed straight for us and at the last minute changed its course to the North.

Where am I going with this? Well recently I've actually gotten to the point where I am okay with the rough storms, because lets face it. In the Summer in South Carolina it rains/storms every day around 3-5pm. You can safely bet on it. Just as I've begun to take pride in myself for finally getting past the nonsense ...I see it. There on the news. Tropical depression, followed by a wave off of Africa just behind it. Why does this nag at me? Simply because Chase is leaving for Norway in 2 weeks. I am fully aware of how unpredictable tropical weather is, I've lived by the coast my entire life. I remember evacuating, I remember Allison that flooded the greater Houston area. Hell, I barely missed Hurricane Ike because my plane left like 3 days before he hit! I know that these 2 storms are WAAAAY out in the Atlantic and that I have about a week, if not more, before I really need to pay too much attention about their directions.

Its mostly the thought that there is potential for extremely bad weather conditions sitting out there brewing just as Chase is about to leave Morghan and I to go to Norway. I can't just evacuate to family. The closest family I have is down in Orland or up by DC. Both destinations are crazy far away, plus I'm packing a 3 year old and 2 dogs. Regardless of the distance and unpredictability, it makes me nervous and stressed that again this summer I face a hurricane, alone.

Florida and Pneumonia

We had a blast on vacation and Morghan seemed to enjoy all of it. She was so excited to meet Mickey mouse. Here are some pictures to sum up the trip.

PICTURES FROM DISNEY

We had to wait in line for 50 minutes to see Mickey Mouse, but Morghan's reaction made it totally worthwhile. As you can see, she could not keep her eyes off of him! She was dead asleep 30 seconds before it was our turn and I was scared she would wake up in a bad mood. She tells everyone she sees that she saw Mickey and Minnie that day.

Mad Tea Party (she got very dizzy at the end)

Racing Daddy in my lucky #7 car (I actually got this car by chance too!)

Quick picture before I got in with them

WEEE! Riding on Dumbo, up high!

She loved riding on the carousel!

Daddy and Morghan in front of the famous castle!

Her mickey mouse ears!

These are the pictures from Sea World.

Your classic Shamu picture

Morghan posing next to an image of a King Penguin

Manatees

This was her expression when she saw sharks for the first time up close.

Petting stingrays

So after all is said and done we came back home and after weeks of fighting with doctors over being sick they finally did a chest x-ray and confirmed that I had pneumonia. Something I suspected a couple days after we arrived in Florida. Chase is leaving for Norway at the end of the month so that will be an interesting couple of weeks. I'll update again soon.. I hope.