Mother's Intuition and Other Random Stuff

I never thought much about mother's intuition until I had kids and it began happening to me. When Julia was a baby, I remember jumping up to check on her out of the blue, even though I had just done so and she was sleeping soundly, to discover a bug resting on her eye. Lots of little moments like that have led me to trust my instincts, trust that mother's voice in my heart that tells me what to do. Just last week, Julia was supposed to come back home and tell me if one of her friends was home before staying to play, and when she didn't return after 15 minutes, I decided to go look for her. She was supposed to be going to her friends' house on the very next street, and normally I go a certain way, but on this day I decided to go the back way...as soon as I rounded the corner, I knew what had pulled me in this direction, for there was my little girl, with another child I'd never seen before, starting to walk down a steep slope off the walking trail....it led to nothing but rocks and water and broken glass, and she was wearing flip flops.... There is no doubt in my mind if I had shown up five or ten seconds later, she would have already fallen down there. I screamed her name and caught her just in time. Needless to say, she was not allowed to play the rest of the day and got a firm talking-to about just how dangerous her little adventure could have been.
Mother's intuition struck again a couple of weeks ago, only I didn't realize it until today. I went to the parents meeting for cheerleading on the Vilseck base, about 2o minutes from here. I saw a woman there, and I thought she looked oddly familiar, which was strange to me considering at the time we'd only been here a month, and I was on another base. I didn't think I'd seen her here on Graf, and knew she didn't live on my street. Where did I know her from? I even said hello to her and mentioned that she looked familiar, but I could tell she didn't recognize me so I let it go. I thought she probably looked like someone I once knew or something.....
Then today....today we went to the CDC (child development center, for you non-military folk) to have a tour, since Aiden and Lexie will be starting there Sept 2. Lo and behold, when they walked us by the infant room, there is this woman, rocking a baby and talking very softly to him. The director was telling us "I will have to look at the roster and see if she'll be in the A or B class." But she didn't have to tell me, I knew that this woman was going to take care of Lexie. This would be Lexie's new teacher, her favorite teacher, that she would bond with her just like she had with Ms. Miriam and the other wonderful teachers at Jellybean Junction. I kept looking back at her, I couldn't believe what my gut had felt weeks before was coming true. When we walked back to the front, the director confirmed what I already knew in my heart and soul....Lexie would be in the A class, with this familiar stranger. We walked in to be introduced and when I said "This is Lexie...." She said "Alexis Smith? I already have your birthday up on the wall, we just need your picture! We've been waiting for you! We need another little girl..." Lexie just beamed at her. It was amazing. I felt so content and at peace, watching her interact with my daughter. Wally felt it too. I know it's going to be a little bit of an adjustment for Lex at first, since she's been out of the classrooom environment since June, but I feel very comfortable with the care she will be receiving. This is the right place for her to be while I am finishing my degree.
The school is brand new, and there are lots of cars and trucks, so Aiden will be very happy too. The rooms are so nice! And clean! And CDC's have very high standards, both for education and for cleanliness. I know because I used to work in one in Mannheim. The only downside is that they used an astro-turf for the playgrounds (because they were trying to avoid having to mow around play equipment) and have found out that it contains lead....so the children can't play on the playground until the astro-turf is replaced. They are having outside time with tricycles, water tables, bubbles, etc in a certain large area that is not covered in astro-turf. Unfortunately it will be October before the supplies arrive from the States to correct this problem, but if this is the only downside to this school, I think I can live with that. :) Aiden can't wait to go back to school...he was so excited running around that place, Wally and I were laughing. He's going to be sad next week when Julia starts school, and he's stuck here with his baby sister and boring old mommy!
Other things going on:
*Wally had off work today and will also be off tomorrow....tonight we painted Aiden's room a pale blue. Tomorrow Julia's room will be painted pink.
*Our van should be arriving tomorrow! YAY! No more 3 kids stretched across the back seat of our Rodeo, poking each other incessantly!
*Saturday we are going to Regensburg to make some purchases at IKEA....a desk for Julia's room, a piece for our entryway to store shoes and other items(hard to describe, will post a pic of it after we get it), and something else, but I can't remember what. Also to visit a cool antique store....we met the owner at the PX and she gave us her business card.
*Tonight we had Aiden's foot measured at the PX....he was in a 10 when we arrived here in July....now he's an 11! I don't know how to keep this child in shoes! Julia wears a 12.5, and she's six years old! AIDEN IS TWO!!!!!
*Aiden's new thing is saying "aw man!" whenever he doesn't get his way...it is super cute and super effective! He is the funniest kid! :)
*I went to the sub orientation at Julia's school today. I will be available to start subbing once the kids start at the CDC. The staff is very nice, and I was able to meet Julia's new teacher, Mrs. Weight. She seemed great, so I'm sure Julia's going to have a successful school year.

Okay, that's all for now. I have to get some sleep! I have terrible insomnia lately, but I think having to start getting up at the crack of dawn to get Julia to school next week will cure it. At least I hope it will! lots of love to all of you! :)