Hide-n-seek….

Lisa September 14, 2009 1Comments

Dear Mom and Dad,

So today marks seven months here at Camp Nana.  For the most part I am having a blast.  Constant pampering, and attention, as they say… ‘it’s all good’, or at least most all of it…  let me tell you the one problem here at camp or my little words of wisdom after seven months… do not come to camp if you have a “nose full” mom or dad… cause No Fun Nana has officially EARNED HER  No Fun title today.   Look – I know I cannot blow my own nose, and I know… it is not fun to look at baby goobers coming out of my little baby nose, but I HATE THAT SUCTION THINGY and hate having my nose wiped!   I spent the better part of my entire day dodging my nose being constantly wiped, sucked and just plain irritated.  

Yea, so I kept dodging her wiping and that little blue suction thing… well it may just get mysteriously lost when Nana is not looking.    She tried to distract me with books… as if reading could divert her true intentions….  and if you’ll notice there is nothing to wipe, or suck!

Her antics of distracting me worked temporarily.. I still don’t see a problem… do you?

Okay… I know… I get it… it is gross…. but I STILL HATE THE BOOGIE SUCKER!   After it is over, and I can breathe easier…I am happy as ever!

I spent the day in jammers again, and am working at fighting off this nasty little cold… I hope you are both well, and maybe tomorrow I will be free of the ‘crud’.   I am not swimming this week… sorry little mini’s.   But really don’t want to infect anyone else.   Until tomorrow Mom and Dad, please know I love you, and please know I have a great little blue boogie sucky thingy that I would really like to give to you, (or maybe I will just play HIDE THE BLUE SUCKY THINGY AND WATCH NANA SEEK IT OUT)… as always, Little Miss Adorable, Little Miss Snuffy Nose, your daughter,

Guillianna!

Day dreaming…

Lisa September 13, 2009 2Comments

Dear Mom and Dad,

I am hanging out at Camp Nana this Sunday… it is fall, and football season is underway.   Here in Michigan… it is great if you are a college football fan, Michigan, Michigan State etc. , but how about those Lions… I may be only 9 months old… but … even I know… when the opposing team gets more than 40 points… well, it just can’t be good.   Not unless the Lions did too, and that was not happening.    Nana says she needs Daddy’s help.   The campers all pick who they think will win, and last year, Uncle Nick could help Nana, since he was in the South Pacific, this year Nana is on her own.. AND SHE PICKED THE LIONS TO WIN… DOES THAT TELL YOU ANYTHING.  Any way… Nana- not a football fan… just playing with the campers…. I am surprised she doesn’t make them all sing the anthem before a game… ha…. but tell daddy she picked daddy’s Chargers for Monday night to win!   It is all in fun, Great Aunt Pam and Great Uncle Brian play too… just to see if anyone can keep up with Uncle Brian whose middle name is “Mr. Football” .   No body wins anything, they all just try to see if they can guess more games correctly than Uncle Brian… personally, if you ever met great Uncle Brian, he is one tall dude… and just as a little note to self… WHY WOULD ANYONE WANT TO MAKE THE BIG GUY MAD?   I bet I would vote LIONS every time… just to make sure he had the best picks!  I bet that is Nana’s strategy too. 

Life at camp keeps me busy.  I felt better today, but still have a nose full.   I hate that suction thingy!   CAN I MAIL IT TO YOU, I bet it would work wonders on sand boogies.   For me, it’s a big point of contention… HATE IT!    Now I know… it is just there to help me, but boy oh boy… do I despise it.  Maybe if I hide my nose…

Here I am just thinking maybe someone is going to use that nose thingy on me..

Nah, really I was just chompin at my hand… anything and everything these days… gnaw, gnaw, gnaw…

I was playing with my Gymboree Jimbo the Clown Nana got me…. I love him, he is so bright and colorful.   He is a puppet… and yes, Nana makes him sing.   (IDEA!  Hey, maybe if we tell Uncle Brian, that the winner gets to have Nana sing to them at the end of the season… well that may give the other campers a chance …? )

I enjoyed playing today.   I dream of the day we play together.  Nana shows me your pictures every day.   She shows me one of daddy making a silly face, and I smile at it.   It is so silly.  

I am so adorable , aren’t I?

Now that I traveled to the Pacific Northwest, and to Northern Michigan…. summer has pretty much ended… and I am nearly over this teething cold thingy…. I am going to work on getting back to Goldfish Mini Swim class, and waiting on your visit.  I may not be able to go swimming this week if I am not in tip top shape… but we will see.   Nana is all about the stay home and rest thing.   I was to have a field trip to visit Great Grandma Sharyn and Papa this weekend for Aunt Arri’s birthday… but no fun Nana, said… NO.  Hmmm, imagine that.  I could have shared my cold with everyone… it could have been fun!   But no… she says no mini swim class either cause Maddie, Etta and all my buds don’t want this awful cold in the nose thingy!   Oh joy… maybe we will stay at camp and ‘sing camp songs’.  Or maybe someone will have a frog in her throat (she does have a cold you know) …. and take a sabbatical!  

I hope you and daddy are doing well and had a decent day.  I will write you tomorrow and tell you about my day at CAMP QUARANTINE.    Until then, I am your Little Miss Adorable, your daughter,

Guillianna!

Fall In Michigan!

Lisa September 12, 2009 1Comments

Dear Mom and Dad,

So all my camper buddies are back in school.  The professors at the University are no longer on strike, and you know what that means…. it is just Nana and I… singing songs… all week, all day, every day… including Saturday….exciting times in Michigan, AND the ‘all hands on Guillianna’ factor is NOW limited to two hands and a bunch of paws a good percentage of each day.   Uncle Nick is at Culinary Arts school… (I say, let Nana show him how to cook, who needs a real chef, I mean if Nana can cook for 8 every night, then she can probably teach Uncle Nick… BUT NOOOOOOOOO he is gone chopping and dicing elsewhere… and Aunt Mikayla, well she goes to college every night but Friday, and isn’t home until after ten!   Aunt Alyx, Aunt Allyssa and Aunt Arri about the same,  two of them even have Saturday classes and the other two work Saturday’s.   SO IT IS NANA  – HER TWO HANDS, AND  the 28 PAWS (not so helpful paws) combined with lots and lots of singing at Camp Nana.  Did you know there are bottle making songs, and diaper changing songs, there are spit up songs and songs I don’t really begin to understand there are dogs barking songs, and the baby is growing hair songs.   If you want I can jot down the lyrics for you both, incase you are bored or need something to do in your spare time…. ‘really’ you’ll love em…. and when she sings them with a cold… oh… it’s just awesome I kid you not.   It’s the kind of thing that can get a princess thinking….

and I have been  –   I have been thinking about this whole “school thing” and figure if no one is comin’ to my sing fest of a ‘party’…. then I will go to their ‘party’! 

So… here I am… fixin’ to go to school with the campers….

What?   You kidding me?

Everyone has one of these?

For what?  Books? 

But I don’t read!

And my books are so tiny, with tiny pictures… so  what’s up with the book bag?

Come on…  if I can carry my own books I can go?

I think I can… I think I can….

I CAN…

I CAN….

Look at me mom and dad… I am ready!

I could do this school thing… hey, do they sing to you at school?   Like all day… everyday?

Lectures you say…?

Hmmmmmm is that like singing?

Aunt Arri says, maybe I should wait until I am a bit bigger, and can use pencils and crayons and stuff like that…

I can figure out how to do or use most everything…

I am not the type to give up easily…

Today I spent all day in my jammers… and am feeling much better than I was.   I am able to sleep a bit longer without having a hard time laying flat!  So that is great news.  I played with the campers and loved the HANDS ON factor.  We played and the “black beast” caught me smiling away…

After thinking about it all… I guess hanging with Nana at camp is probably a better idea, besides… I figure I would really rather wait and let you take me to a school for princess’ where there are no LECTURES, I think I will let those wait till I am a big camper. 

But do you think you can pick a school with a slide, and toys… and lots and lots of crayons and stuff.   One other thing… how about you and daddy carry my book bag for me?

 Now that is a good idea, and I will hang out here practicing my princess wave and we can look forward to when you two can take me to school when we are all together again.  Cool beans!   I can put up with Nana’s singing – I am after all  ‘Army Strong!’  

Until tomorrow, please know I am as cute as ever, and as always am your Little Miss Adorable, your daughter,

(This is what Nana calls, TOTALLY ‘TUCKERED’ OUT!)

Guillianna!

9/11/2009

Lisa September 11, 2009 2Comments

Dear Mom and Dad,

Today is huge…. huge because of so many reasons.   It is huge because we are a day closer to being together.  It is huge because we live and breathe… it is huge because so many have suffered and yet we persevere!   I was going to tell you that since the pediatrician, I have developed a cold.   Nana has a cold too.  Aunt Arri, Aunt Alyx, Uncle Nick and Poppy are getting colds – but then we all realized it is ‘9-11’.   It is my Aunt Arrianna’s birthday.   She is 18 today.  Nana says, there were days where she did not know if she would see Aunt Arrianna grow to be 18, there were times when she was sick that she would just hope and pray for being able to see all the kids graduate, or go to college.  She is very lucky and very happy about being able to see all of it, but now…being a bit selfish… she says she wants to see me grow, and all the other campers have spouses and kids should they choose… she says it is all part of life- we all just want more.   Nana is old, and sometimes complains about feeling sick… today she is reminded about how really lucky she is… (I help do that, little spirit stick that I am!)

9/11…. reminds Nana and the campers of the historical moment eight years ago- when so many lives were changed.  Tragedy – awful and painful…and yet from it – new and different lives emerged.   So many service men and women enlisted after 9/11.  So many men and women met through the army like you and dad… and then little lives like mine have come to be.   There are no words that can ease pain from loss, but thinking about the slightest good, or looking at the world through the ‘rose’ colored glasses that Poppy always seems to ‘wear’… well, it helps ease the magnitude of it all a bit. 

Someone sent Nana an email the other day, it made her think about how PERSPECTIVE is everything.  The e-mail depicts a soldier… in several situations…. unable to locate source, and specific permissions, I hope I am not in anyway offending the photographer, or author.   It is slightly edited.  Since it was sent REQUESTING THAT IT BE CIRCULATED … I have done so by posting portions of the photography on my site.  The sentence below was copied and pasted onto the site as to verificaiton of the authors desire for it to be seen.  Thank you unknown author for a reality check for Nana and the campers… and note to self… I CAN HARDLY WAIT UNTIL MY SOLDIERS COME HOME… HAPPY AND HEALTHY… AND READY TO BEGIN OUR LIVES TOGETHER… I am sharing these photos on my page because I am proud to be the daughter of two United States soldiers, and Nana  – she is very sorry for complaining about being tired… we are all fine!  We just want you home.  

WHEN A SOLDIER COMES HOME 
 (This email is being circulated around the world – please keep it going)

 
When a soldier comes home, he -or she- finds it hard…. 
 
..to listen to his son whine about being bored. 
 
….to keep a straight face when people complain about potholes. 
 
to be tolerant of people who complain about the hassle of getting ready for work. 
 
…to be understanding when a co-worker complains about a bad night’s sleep.
 
..to be silent when people pray to God for a new car. 

..to be compassionate when a businessman expresses a fear of flying. 

….to keep from ridiculing someone who complains about hot weather..  

….to control his frustration when a colleague gripes about his coffee being cold.   

….to remain calm when his daughter complains about having to walk the dog and to be civil to people who complain about their job. 

How to be forgiving when someone say’s how hard it is to have a new baby in the house. 

Maybe the only thing harder than being a soldier….

Is loving one.  

 Knowing what is endured, what is sacrificed is more than a human heart can sometimes bear.   My love letter tonight is not to take sides, to boast a political opinion, for Nana says, to each his own.   It is to remind you we may not be living your life, nor be able to relate to your heart aches, but we are here, we are your family, we are always with you… and you with us.  Never forget Poppy… his rose colored glasses, or the love a parent has for their child.  Nana for you and all her children as you have for me! It is that love that gets us through the hardest of days, the longest of nights, and helps us to reach our shining and brightest moments. 

I hope whom ever wanted these photos seen, will appreciate that they have been posted on my site, Nana is not elequent or smart enough to have expressed herself without the help of these photos.  So again thanks to all the service men and women… for doing jobs that are not glamorous, often criticized, that take a toll beyond measure, and ensure a freedom most Americans take for granted from time to time.   I love my mom and my dad.   I know that they had no idea how hard this would be! 

Nana and Poppy are trying with all of the campers to make sure your precious little princess is loved.  I wait, and soon we will be re-united and the world may not be perfect, and problems and chaos may exist, but for us we will begin a journey that truly is the most amazing and fulfilling you will ever dream of.   All you have seen  –  and all you have done –  will  pale in comparison to us being together again.

I know that you are making good- on promises you made, and are committed to being the best people that can possibly be in circumstances that are far from the best.

ALL OF US want to see you home safe and soon mom and dad!

I am doing fine mom and dad, a small cold, it’s not a problem.  Nana is fine too… no worries there.   Aunt Arri, doesn’t mind having a cold either, she will most likely get CAKE.   We all have it in perspective.   We all love you very much.   We all remember the unity of a country brought about by events eight years ago, and so many huge events in the many years before that – that shape us    and also by way of Poppy, and his rose colored vision… we find a way to rise out of the chaos, and pain of our past… to a new beginning.   KEEP YOUR EYE ON ‘THE PRIZE’ MOM AND DAD…

Look at my face…. I am waiting … right here… safe….. happy and loved beyond measure… for the return of my Soldier Mom and my Soldier Dad.  As always, your Little Miss Adorable, your daughter, aka ‘THE PRIZE’

Guillianna!  (Photo above was taken last week but you had not seen it (there are soooo  many of me!)  Nana will upload one from today as soon as possible!  Love  Ya- xoxoxoxo )