Things are a tad less hectic with Derrick in Ohio but don’t get me wrong it’s far from “boring”.  I talk to Derrick almost everyday to see how he’s doing. He’s having a great time in Ohio with Torrey (and of course Grandma, too).

Xavier’s surgery is scheduled but unfortunately the doctor performing it is taking vacation the week we wanted it. So it’s not until Aug 14 which is after Geno goes back to Iraq. I asked about switching doctor’s but the lady said that if I did that with all the “red tape” it would take even longer for the surgery.  I’m a little more nervous now since Geno won’t be here but there is nothing I can do so it’s out of my hands.  It turns out he needs to be out of daycare for 2 weeks so my mom will be down the first week and Grandma Lolli will be down for the second. This is a Godsend since I can’t afford to take off anymore work then I’ve already have scheduled off.

I have my second 5k this weekend in Selma, NC (it’s about 45 minutes or so away). It’s to benefit the Special Olympics here in North Carolina. Sharon will be watching Xavier again and will meet me at the finish line cheering me to the end.

Well…that’s about all that’s going on right now.  Here are a few pictures of Xavier that I took just a few minutes ago… he’s such a ham for the camera!

This one was from yesterday - not such an innocent look, huh?

from the depth of our furnace known as Fort Bragg, NC. We’ve been busy here, especially with Geno’s R&R leave coming up. We are doing a mini spring cleaning. Derrick is going to stay with Grandma Incorvia. He leaves this Sunday (Father’s Day). He will be staying in Cleveland until the last week of July. His friend, Torrey, is visiting family for the summer so Derrick is excited. It will also be a good break for him.

Xavier had his ENT(Ear, Nose, and Throat) appointment today. It’s confirmed that he does indeed need his adnoids and tonsils removed. When the doctor showed me a comparison between what they SHOULD look like and Xavier’s it was apparent.  This is what has contributed to his snoring, minor sleep apnea and not being able to sleep through the night most nights. We are planning for his surgery to take place the last few days of Geno’s leave.  I’m a little nervous even though it’s a relatively common and simple procedure - he’s still my baby.  That’s why I’m glad Geno will be here.

Geno is expected sometime the last week of July. We plan on leaving for Ohio the later part of that week for the Lolli Family Reunion.  The boys have planned a night out in celebration of Ben’s 21st birthday. The girls (Stephanie, Karina and I - plus anyone else we can round up) are planning our own little girls’ get together - not exactly sure what yet We plan on staying in Ohio until Sunday or Monday and then heading back here.

Xavier has also started potty training “officially”. I think his friends at daycare have been an influence and sparked his interest.  He is growing into quite a little man.

Derrick received his report card today. ALL A’s and B’s!  We are VERY proud of him!!!

My running is going well. I’ve been following my training schedule from Lora (my running coach). I’m registered for 2 more 5k marathons before the 10k August 18th. One is the Law Enforcement 5k Torch Run (to benefit the Special Olympics) which is on June 23. The second is the Paul Hale Memorial Run on July 14th. I’m looking for a few more after the 10k in August before finding my next “major” goal. Someone asked me if I was ever going to do a marathon - not sure 26+ miles is A LOT of running! Running has become such a stress reliever for me - nothing like sweating out the frustration of the world.

Things on my end are moving along. I’m anxious for Geno to come home on leave. It’s been a long 6 months (going on 8 by the time he comes home). Alot has happened, alot of things said but I think I’ve woken up during this deployment. I’ve realized a tremendous amount and have grown appreciative of even more. Geno mentions destiny in his blog and though I believe in destiny I also believe more that you can change fate/destiny by the choices you make. I have made some bad choices and though they may come back to bite me, without them I would have never “woken” up to the finer things in life. We have a lot to discuss and sort out but when all is said and done we both will be stronger.

As you can see the craziness never ends - here are a few new pictures of the boys…

busy week and weekend.

Last Monday(Memorial Day) I took the kids to the pool for the first time of the season. Xavier had a great time after he took some time getting used to the water.  Derrick got bored after about 30 minutes because there wasn’t anyone to play with, all his friends were out of town for the long weekend.  Here are a couple picture of Xavier -

Derrick had his orthodontist appointment on Wednesday. What was supposed to be 30 minute consultation turned into an hour and a half!  It turns out Master Derrick still has 12 baby teeth. The majority of those are molars so he won’t be getting a full set of braces anytime soon. If he had only 4-6 teeth that were baby then they would just pull them but they won’t pull 12, which Derrick is thankful for.

So I will be talking to Geno and probably be scheduling a 4×2 treatment. Since his front 8 teeth (the top 4 for sure) are the problem right now they will just put 8 brackets (4 on top and 4 on bottom) and straighten out the front. Then hopefully, once those are straightened the rest of the teeth will come in the way they are supposed to be and he won’t need a full set.

The rest of the week was pretty uneventful - then the weekend came. Friday night Derrick spent the night at his friend Austin’s house.  He had a soccer game on Saturday and Saturday was the Manna in Motion 5k - yup it was this weekend.  My co-worker/friend Sharon came over bright and early at 7a and accompanied Xavier and I to Southern Pines for the event.  There were quite a few people - I’m not sure about the exact number but 160 people had preregistered and there were quite a few that showed up and registered there.  I did the 5k(3.1 miles) in 30:19 (30:31 was the OFFICIAL time but I made a note when I went through the timer lane).  I wanted to do it under 30 minutes but Southern Pines is NOT a flat area. There were MANY hills so I’m proud of my time - especially when I’ve only been training for a month.  I had some pictures but they were horrible so I’ve chosen one from after the race. It’s still not the best but as you can see Xavier was happy to see me.

Xavier also chose this day, at this particular time to decide to start potty training. He came up to me and said “Mommy, I potty” so off we went to the portapotty.  He was a little leary of the portapotty but after a try or two I was able to convince him to sit and go - AND HE DID!!!  Since then he’s come up to me about a half-dozen times and stated he’s had to go and 50% of that he has. The other 50% he just wanted to use toilet paper :-)  I had him in big boy pants for a couple hours today but he soon decided he didn’t want to wear them and wanted a diaper, but it’s a start.

Turned out Derrick’s team won their game 2-0.  Derrick didn’t score any points but he said that a player on the other team scored one for them…poor kid!

I took the boys to get their hair cut and Xavier was such a big boy.  Here are a few pictures of that…

Before

During

After

Today we just went to church and hung out at the house.  Laundry is slowly getting done - not exciting but necessary…

I hope everyone had a great weekend and thank you to all those who wished me luck with the marathon and called to pat me on the back afterwards!