When V and I first got to Gettysburg, she wanted nothing to do with either BeBe or BaBa. Every time my father even looked at her it was enough to send her into a fit of whimpering or crying. God forbid he try to hold her.

However perseverance finally won out and after two days, V finally allowed my parents to hold her. She is now completely enamored with my father and will smile for him almost as much as she smiles for me, much to his delight.

Mom has had to work a bit this week so V sometimes still gives her a hard time about cuddling.

I grew up in Connecticut. That means I was surrounded by maple and oak trees, lush grass and lots of precipitation, in all forms! I moved away from CT when I was 22 but was still lucky enough to live in areas with similar features (PA, FL, CA, Okinawa). This past year in AZ has made me appreciate all those things in CT that I didn't realize I loved until I didn't have them anymore. The desert has started to grow on me with its beautiful Gila Mountains and saguaro cacti scattered here and there but it will never fill the soft spot in my soul for lush greenery.

When I made my plans to come to Gettysburg to see my parents and to show off Little V, I had two wishes -- to see that greenery which I so desperately missed and to have it rain. We haven't seen rain at my house (other than a few 3-minute sprinkles) in about 5 months. Well, I got both of my wishes. I spent the first part of the week walking around outside or sitting on my parents' deck and just relaxing around the trees. But yesterday we had a magnificent thunderstorm. The kind that would have terrified me as a kid but that I love as an adult.

I was outside with V when I noticed the sky getting a bit darker and the thunder in the distance. When the trees started to move in the wind I knew I was going to be a happy girl in a few minutes! The lightning and thunder started and the rain came down and I was in heaven. I would have been out playing in the puddles if I didn't have to hold V! Once my dad got home, we set some chairs up in the garage and watched the rain fall and listened to the storm. It was wonderful!

As soon as it stopped we saw a gorgeous rainbow just over the hill from the house. Perfect ending! Of course, my dad had to take V out and splash her feet in the puddles. What a great time we had!

I decided that I was a confident mother. I could handle anything that my little V threw at me and I would win. I was so confident that I boarded a plane with Victoria for a 4 hour flight to Pennsylvania to see my parents. I mean, at three months old, how bad could she be? I could handle it, right? RIGHT?!

Apparently she could throw a lot at me. And while yes I did handle it and did finally make it to my parents house, it was a long plane ride! I had a feeling that trip would be kind of sketchy when as we were getting ready to board she started fussing. I knew she was hungry and planned to nurse her during take-off but she jumped the gun a bit and started screaming once I was on board. She settled down to nurse after a few minutes and once we were in the air she was rather content to look around and stand in my lap. The two businessmen on either side of me were smiling at me and enjoying the beginning of their flight. Not much of a bad start really.

Her usual 30-45 minutes of happy time after eating and before sleeping was cut down to about 20. Then she started to fuss which quickly turned into screaming as she tried to get her mind around the idea that she'd be sleeping in my lap on a plane surrounded by unfamiliar people, sights and sounds. The screaming lasted another 10 or 15 minutes and finally she fell asleep in the most uncomfortable position possible for both of us! I attempted to move her into a better position (one which I hoped would prove to give the gift of a longer nap) but she didn't go for it. So I left her alone and I started to sleep. Unfortunately for me, Victoria and everyone else, my head kept lolling around and I kept jolting myself awake. Which in turn jolted Victoria. Which eventually, after 45 minutes, irritated her enough to jolt her completely awake. And, back to the screaming.

I finally got up and just hung out in the back between the bathrooms for the rest of the trip. She needed to eat again on the flight, so I attempted to sit back down before she got herself too hungry and pissed off (she has a tendency to not nurse if I've waited too long to feed her. Almost as if she decides to punish me by screaming since I've made her wait). As I'm sure you can imagine, she was not for sitting down again or for nursing. So I abandoned that idea and once again made my way to the back of the plane. I decided to change her and while I was in the tiny bathroom, I thought, what the hell?! Why not see if she'll nurse in here. So, with me standing in the airline bathroom, I finally got her to nurse. She did allow me to sit on the toilet seat cover for half of it, which I thought was rather nice of her.

We had about 45 minutes left on the flight from Hell and I was itching to get off that hunk of metal. While we were still in the bathroom (I was in there for literally 30 minutes total. I can't imagine what the crew was thinking! HA!), the captain came on saying to take our seats as we were getting ready to land. Great . . . but . . . now that she just ate she wouldn't want to nurse for the decompression. Oh well! We made our way back to our seats for the final 30 minutes of flight time and true to form, she screamed and fussed until we landed.

I put her into the Bjorn (which she LOVES by the way) and made my escape from that dreaded airplane. Incredibly once we were in the airport walking around she was (unbelievably) smiling, laughing, talking and overall having the time of her life. I couldn't believe it, and honestly I was rather put out by it all!

My parents were waiting to meet us (her really. I was just the vessel to get the granddaughter to the grandparents! I knew my role and I was fine with it!) and I guess more new people were not what V had in mind. She started to scream and fuss while we waited for my one bag and then fussed and screamed once she was in the car seat. My parents live about two hours from BWI and would you believe it? Victoria screamed and cried and wailed for about ninety minutes of the drive home.

Once we arrived, she nursed and then fell promptly to sleep. After about six hours of straight screaming and wailing, I could understand that she'd be a little tired! Thankfully she slept the whole night and woke up around 10am.

She was fussy all day yesterday as she tried to adjust all the newness in her short little life, but this morning was better. She was happy for almost and hour after she ate and she kept smiling at BaBa (my dad) for most of it . . . as long as he kept his distance and she remained in my arms. So, progress is being made! Let's hope it lasts until this coming Sunday when I board another plane and make the 5 hour return trip home with her. I will admit right now that I'm nervous for that flight.

So much for the confident mother!

Back in 2006, J.E.B. and I decided to turn our duo into a trio and bought a German Shepherd puppy who we named Atlas. For four years he was our "child" and constant playmate. Now however, he's taken a bit of a back seat to our Little V and has been feeling a bit neglected.

So, in honor of his four years of being the center of attention, this post is dedicated to Atlas. (even though he can't read it!)

The gentle protector

Took this just a few days ago. I put his kong on his paw and he just laid there staring at it for what seemed like a minute!

Atlas and Bogey playing tug-of-war

The trio of pals -- Atlas, Roxy and little Bogey. Man, they all had a great time playing together!

At 4 months old. Molly was the last person to hold him!

At 5 months old

Another shot of his adorable ears. Looks like a strong wind took hold of them!

Gotta love the ears learning to stand up on their own

He loved to hide his head under the chaise or the coffee table as he slept. Now, he still sleeps with his head under the bed

Same day. J.E.B.'s favorite picture

The day we brought him home at 7 weeks old. This is my favorite picture of him

I never cared much one way or the other for the ocean. Sure it was pretty and nice to visit, but I'd never really lived close enough to enjoy it on a daily basis. After living in Okinawa for four years and living a 5-minute walk (literally) from the seawall, I didn't realize how accustomed I'd gotten to the blue water, the waves, the smell, the wind and the sound of it all.

Living in a desert now was a shock to my system which likes vibrant colors. How I miss the ocean now. I was looking through some pictures of various places on Oki and I started to get a little homesick for our apartment (there are no street names in Oki so I never really knew what street we lived on) and the frequent walks we'd take down to the seawall. The pictures from different scuba diving adventures (he dove, I snorkeled, if that) now seem so bright. In fact the colors seem fake to me after a year of looking at various shades of brown and yellow.

Happy Atlas running through the water!

Scene from Pizza In The Sky, a great pizza joint on top of a mountain.

The Sunabe Seawall near our apartment

Ahh, Bolen Beach. The gorgeous beach where J.E.B. and I got our truck stuck.

This is from the seawall by our old apartment

So our desktop computer isn't working correctly and keeps shutting down on us. The laptop still works great but there aren't as many pictures on it. So, until the new parts arrive for the desktop you'll have to be happy with some "old" pics of V! I say "old" but really its only from the end of July! Although, I guess when you are only three months old (3 months old today, actually!), a month and a half makes a huge difference!

J.E.B.'s mom took this shot right after we brought her home in June.

I can't believe how much smaller she is in this picture!

Yuma, especially where we live has some great sky to enjoy stargazing. After a year of gazing upwards at the stars during our evening walks with Atlas we decided to learn more about the little twinkling things that so captivated us.

So we bought ourselves a telescope and a few star chart books. Its been pretty exciting. J.E.B. has been doing most of (ok, all) the reading and inital looking through the telescope and then he passes on his new found knowledge to me. Its awesome to go from being able to recognize only the Big Dipper sometimes to now being able to confidently find at least 4 constellations. And J.E.B. continues to teach me (or try to teach me) more each night.

We saw the moon up close the third night we had the telescope. The first night we had it .. cloudy sky. Same the second night. Murphy's Law since waay too many nights out here are clear! Man, the moon was bright! But once our eyes adjusted we were able to see craters and textures! It looked fake almost! It was so amazing.

V is quickly growing and she is now three months old (or will be on Tuesday). She's started cooing and babbling to us and loves to give great big smiles. Her new favorite thing to do is to practice standing and its great to watch her bobble around as she tries to get the concept of balance!

This is her favorite way to snuggle on J.E.B.'s shoulder.

She's trying to stand, aka launch herself off my lap and onto the floor!

Her first "ride" in the bjorn. I put her in it to stop fussing and within a few minutes....this!

This smile is a huge breakthrough with Dad! Previously she'd burst into tears whenever she saw J.E.B.!

Am I really a blogger now?

So I decided to start a blog since I'm not sure I like the whole shutterfly, online photo album site thing. I don't really know what form this blog will take (just full of photos and videos? my thoughts with some pictures added in?) but hopefully it will be entertaining!