Because I don’t have enough crazy in my life (and because my email list is getting looooong), I decided we need a blog. As if Alaska wasn’t far enough, we are moving to Germany. So I need a handy place to keep you posted, a way to share my love of all things crafty and fabric, and a super medium to pass the weather along to my shared brain (AKA my sister L.). Voila. Welcome to the life and times of the Huggins Middle Element. And as many of you know, we are five years into the story of our life together – hence – the beginning of the middle. In that vein, I am reposting the email update I just sent to friends and family. In time, (soon, I promise) I will go back and fill in some background.
“I have been tilting at windmills trying to write this update. How do you put into words the emotions of the last four months? It feels impossible to do them justice. And realistically, who has time for (or is really interested in) a minute-by-minute account of the last four months at Chez Huggins. So, I will try to distill it down to the high points, and answer the questions that everyone seems to ask. However, I will preface it again (and I will NEVER be able to say this enough, so don’t get tired of it please) with telling you all what a treasure your love and support has been over the past year and a half, and when I count my wealth in this world, I am counting you.
I have cried many times in my life-over trivial and selfish moments, along with times of great tragedy, but I have burst into tears only three times. Deep, shoulder heaving, uncontrollable sobs-you know the kind. The first was when I said good-bye to my precious baby H. The second was when I said hello to my beautiful J. on the day of her birth, and the third was on Nov 29th when I rode up the impossibly long escalator at the Atlanta airport and J. looked at me slightly quizzically and then leaned out of J.’s (my brother in law) arms and into mine, smiled, and said “mama.” That was it. She never once cried, she knew me right away, and she instantly made the connection that I was back to take care of her. It is a moment I will count among the great treasures of my life, and I will forever be grateful for the thoughtfulness and care the Wheeler and Maddox family put into preparing for it.
I spent three weeks in Georgia, the last with P. (the hubs) by my side as we prepared to be a whole family again. L. (older sister and other half of my brain) and I have had many discussions since then about the uniqueness of J. essentially having two families now. Because she truly was their girlie as well as mine. She knew them as Mama and Goggy and I still call them that to her. I know a part of my little girl will always belong to L. (who jokingly referred to me as her baby mama). I cried many tears about taking her away from them and the rest of the family even though I was earth shatteringly happy over getting her back. One of the more unexpected gifts from this deployment was realizing how truly loved we were and how many people set aside their own emotions and time to serve us. The obvious candidates of course are our extended families but two people I feel compelled to mention are prime examples of this. J.’s (Bro-in-law) parents, B. and S. Wheeler, essentially became her third set of grandparents without hesitation. They loved her and made a relationship with her knowing she would be taken away again. How do you say thank you for that? And it occurred on so many levels with so many folks, including pretty much the entire membership of Westminster Church as well our dear extended Huggins clan.
During that time, J. and P. were also reunited. My arrival was basically accompanied by a small circus. My aunt, uncle and their 5 kids, my 80-something year old grandfather (in a wheelchair), the 6 Wheelers plus J., my parents, G. (my BFF and younger sister) our dear friend and two of her kiddos, and my grandmother’s cousins, replete with multiple banners and the accompanying chaos. I thrive on the aforementioned chaos, but my hubby not so much. So, we were able to meet him at the airport, just J. and myself. It was slightly more difficult with P. as J. had already bonded to me and was still very close to “Goggy.” However, by the grace of God, bucket loads of supernatural patience, the extraordinary resilience of her personality, and more than a few daddy-daughter outings, I can say with unequivocal certainty that she is Daddy’s girl and I am a sorry second place when it comes to who is the coolest parent. (As it should beJ)
We spent Christmas in TX with at various times, Popo and Momo, Momma Huggs, the Huggins Eldest, the Huggins Younger (and dear sweet new nephew R.). It was a joyful two weeks, and J. immediately laid claim to everyone, informing me that she was no longer “my J.,” but “Gigi’s (P.’s mom) J.” She is well informed on who will spoil herJ (Also as it should be).
Since we have returned to North Pole, we have slipped into the rhythms of daily life with a minimum of drama. (Most of it was on my part anyway). We potty-trained right away with surprising ease (and a lot of chocolate). P. started a new job at battalion, a good career move, but not without frustrations. We do parent-toddler “nastics,” we go to story time at the library and playgroup with her little friends, and have unending rounds of crafts, baking, and Rock Band together. (She prefers the drums and we lower them to the height of her Princess Chair. It is AWESOME-an adjective Daddy taught her and she uses with gusto.) She LOVES snow and sledding and shows absolutely no fear of either heights or speed. (Emergency room here we come). Probably the most difficult things we had to deal with were the continuing rebuild of her relationship with P., and my shock (and readjustment) at dropping off a baby and getting back Miss Personality, an engaging, willful, and self aware little person who was decidedly independent. In concert with the latter was the fact that Pete and I rolled in on a toddler with very little time together to decide how to parent and discipline her with a united front. But we persevere with much prayer and research J
I will tell you that one of my more precious memories of the last few months was watching the Winter Olympics with her (the “Lympics”-she knows the theme music) and being there as she discovered figure skating. We had to watch every minute of every broadcasted routine and we had to dance all the way through each one. As soon as she saw the ice skaters on the screen, she would dig out her tutus and inform me that it was “time to twarl.” She still loves to dance and we routinely dress up, blast the music, and make up our own special moves.
The future for us is simultaneously overwhelming and exciting. We have orders to move to Germany in October (so if you didn’t come to AK, you have three more years to visit us in another really cool place). We did choose this, but as you can imagine, I am slightly panicked at the sheer amount of things to do between now and then. However, I am determined to enjoy our remaining time in Alaska and we have tons of fishing trips/visitors planned for this summer. In addition, I will be in Gainesville for two weeks in May for weddings and a mini-reunion for J. with the Wheelers. Other than that, we will be returning to “America” for a month in September.
We would kindly ask you to pray for our family as we prepare for yet another huge move and as we move into round two of reuniting. As we adjust to one another and become used to being a family again, new challenges continue to arise. In addition, please rejoice with us and praise Him as we celebrate the gifts of the previous year and the wholeness of our family.”
With love and much joy from the Huggins Middle,
P, M, and little J
P.S. I realize that this is primarily from my [M] point of view, but I am loath to put words in my husband’s mouth other than to say that he shares in my gratitude and great joy.
P.S.S The other question I get asked often that I failed to address is what the future of my military career is. It remains a question, one that has many possible outcomes and the Lord has given me much to ponder. It will be resolved over the next few months and I will keep you posted. The only thing that seems certain is that my flying will be on hold while in Germany due to lack of helicopters and a desire on our part for more wee Hugginses. And, my husband probably doesn’t want to shout this to the whole world, but he made the Majors list and will be promoted shortly. Hurray!
P.S.S.S. Snapshot of little J: She was using the big girl potty and I left her unattended for a brief moment. Being that she had recently discovered the joys of unrolling toilet paper, she had removed for herself what I deemed an excessive amount for the task at hand. When I informed her of that little fact, she furrowed her eyebrows, shook her head, looked up at me, and said very matter-of-factly, “No, trust me. Trust me.” After I got done laughing, I said, “No, Trust ME” and showed her the proper amount.