Recently I started taking iron supplements again and WHAM! my energy is back! Suddenly I have a nesting urge! I've taken two days in my own bedroom organizing everything. I have a huge box of Goodwill stuff and that is just our room! I have two bedrooms (the kids), DH's office, the living room and the dining room. This is going to take a while, but I'm excited. Four moves in four years means a lot of crap that I've just stuffed in closets. Now it is time to clear it all out so the next move is easier.
The hardest part of streamlining stuff is not cleaning out my clothes, or DH's clothes, it is streamlining the kid's clothes. I have such fond memories of them in those clothes, but I have too darn much! I just went through Baby Bird's clothes and I remember dressing Miss Tornado in them. So many people have showered clothes on us for both girls' births and now I have to cut through the mounds of clothes because there is no way one baby girl can wear all those clothes and I'm out of storage solutions. Now I have all three kids' current clothes in one dresser (one drawer per child) and now I have to sort through all the clothes in storage because there is just too darn much.
I'm so excited about this organizing! It will make things so much easier to keep up! Now I can order DH's anniversary gift and have a good place to put it! And I also have discovered I need new bookshelves. lol
The Log Jam Family
Saturday, May 26, 2012
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
2 1/2 months!
Well, we are 2 1/2 months into our deployment! This deployment has sucked so much worse than last time. I think the fact that I was expecting Man-Puppy made it a little easier. I had a major life event to plan and then the newborn haze started and time sped up. I also had people to visit out of state which broke up the monotony.
This time I am keeping up with three kiddos, two of whom have had health concerns and I don't get ot talk to DH very much at all. Everyone keeps asking if I have family coming to visit and I have to tell them no. Everyone is surprised, but they are happy to hear that I have a good Bible study group and church for support. I keep trying to entice my second mom to come visit me, but she is in the middle of her own life changing time. She is hoping to come out in October for a birth seminar on island and I hope to attend with her. It will be great! I really miss having her around!
Man-Puppy just went in for his nutritionist follow up. The appointment was at 8:30am and I had to take all three kids to the Army hospital. I left the house an hour and a half early to make sure I didn't show up late due to traffic. Half way to the hosptial I smell poop. I look back into Man-Puppy's carseat and see poopy legs (he is rear facing, so I could only see his legs). I debated turning back, but I saw the traffic back into our town and knew i would never make it. So I got to the hospital, stalked a soldier to his great parking spot and took it when he backed out of it. I then went to work. It took HALF a package of wipes to clean him up, but Man-Puppy handled it like a trooper. I didn't have any extra clothes, so he just wore a cloth diaper. So me and the two girls were dressed nicely and Man-Puppy was half naked like a little heathen. He thought it was great! lol The nutritionist has a kid, so she completely understood and commented that he looked very comfortable. At the appointment she told me that his bloodwork was fine and commended me for asking questions of the pediatrician and told me it was nice to meet a mom who didn't blindly follow someone just because they are a Dr. I really liked her. I wish she was a pediatrician, I would make her the kids' pcm in a heartbeat. After dealing with some jerks for Drs, it is nice to meet someone in the medical profession who treats me like a human worth respecting. If only the pediatricians (and other people in life) I have dealt with could understand that you have to give respect to get it. If you treat me like I am a capable adult with legitimate concerns, then you get the respect. I treat everyone with respect, but I communicate with Drs who reciprocate and more gets DONE.
Man-Puppy is doing so well! He is learning to warm up to people a little faster. He is quite the charmer and loves on his peers like crazy. His Puggles teachers (AWANAS for toddlers) love him. They always rave about how caring he is to other children and how he picks out toys and takes them to children for them to play with. He doesn't actually play with them, but he serves them. I really think he has a servant's heart, sometimes to a fault. I think that is how Miss Tornado's Cubbies vest went missing. He loves to throw everything in the trash, and now the vest is missing. oops... He is walking very well now and people just love to listen to him talk. Communication is his strong point, even without words. He just has this way of reading people and expressing himself.
Miss Tornado went in for a behavioral evaluation last week. We were thinking sensory processing disorder, but the Dr said that she is testing right at the cutoff for an autism diagnosis, so she is going in for so much more evaluation. So in July we will be going in for a child group study once a week for a month so she can be evaluated around her peers by speech therapists etc. She is also supposedt o meet with an Occupational Therapist as well for a separate evaluation. This summer is going to be a summer of Dr appointments. Of course this all happens when DH is gone. Why wouldn't it? UGH But it will be nice to get some answers and some help for her. Watching her struggle with peer interactions breaks my heart and I hope to help her integrate better so she doesn't have to deal with too many struggles as she grows. Growing up is hard enough without these kinds of issues!
Baby Bird is doing well. We went to the zoo this last weekend for military appreciation day (free entrance, free food and live entertainment). I let her crawl around on the ground for a while, but apparently she is allergic to something here. At 3am I woke up to her gasping for air. I almost took her to the ER, but I was able to get her to breath easier with some massage. So now I am keeping the kids away from "monkey pods" until spring is over. Monkey pods are sticky pods that are dropping from their trees this time of year and they stick to EVERYTHING. They really are quite disgusting and all four of us react when we are near them. I had to do some acupressure points on myself to clear a bad sinus headache. Other than the allergy, she is doing amazing! The other day I went ot check to see if she was awake from her nap and she looked at me and WAVED! She is several months ahead of where her two older siblings were at this age. She is also pushing up onto her hands and knees. Actual crawling is just around the corner! She is just so advanced! As a mom I have a pretty good idea what my kids' personalities are and Baby Bird is "complex". She isn't a really smiley baby, but she isn't exactly introverted either. The whole "still waters run deep" phrase describes her. I have a feeling she will be a VERY analytic person.
DH is doing ok. He stays busy at work. He does have a good Men's Bible Study Group there that he fellowships with. He even has them pray for me. That man is everything I could have wanted in a husband and father for my children. We get to talk about once a week and even that is spotty. He misses home, but he is doing better with his coworkers. It is like he has gone from a work environment like the movie "Office Space" to some kind of war movie. He has his frustrations, but it is good to know that he is doing well at his job. He is also working on JuJitzu on this deployment.
I am doing... ok. The stress of health issues with the kids plus anemia haven't been exactly good for my health, but I am dealing. I'm trying to work out regularly and I have started taking iron again. I miss my hubby, a lot. Knowing how much he misses us and how much he is missing with the kids' development is a tough place to be in. I miss having pillowtalk at night and a friend to joke around with during the day. He is my very bestest friend and life without him is colorless and dull. Even though the kids keep me busy, things seem two dimensional without him here. I am glad he told me to take the summer off from my college courses. I would be going insane trying to keep up with classes while dealing with all this crap. I am happy to get some reading in though. It is nice to read for pleasure instead of school. I've read a SEAL sniper autobiography, all three books of the Hunger Games, and a book called "Obama's Wars". I am working on another SEAL sniper autobiography and then I have a Beverly Lewis book to work on.
So that's life in a nutshell right now.
This time I am keeping up with three kiddos, two of whom have had health concerns and I don't get ot talk to DH very much at all. Everyone keeps asking if I have family coming to visit and I have to tell them no. Everyone is surprised, but they are happy to hear that I have a good Bible study group and church for support. I keep trying to entice my second mom to come visit me, but she is in the middle of her own life changing time. She is hoping to come out in October for a birth seminar on island and I hope to attend with her. It will be great! I really miss having her around!
Man-Puppy just went in for his nutritionist follow up. The appointment was at 8:30am and I had to take all three kids to the Army hospital. I left the house an hour and a half early to make sure I didn't show up late due to traffic. Half way to the hosptial I smell poop. I look back into Man-Puppy's carseat and see poopy legs (he is rear facing, so I could only see his legs). I debated turning back, but I saw the traffic back into our town and knew i would never make it. So I got to the hospital, stalked a soldier to his great parking spot and took it when he backed out of it. I then went to work. It took HALF a package of wipes to clean him up, but Man-Puppy handled it like a trooper. I didn't have any extra clothes, so he just wore a cloth diaper. So me and the two girls were dressed nicely and Man-Puppy was half naked like a little heathen. He thought it was great! lol The nutritionist has a kid, so she completely understood and commented that he looked very comfortable. At the appointment she told me that his bloodwork was fine and commended me for asking questions of the pediatrician and told me it was nice to meet a mom who didn't blindly follow someone just because they are a Dr. I really liked her. I wish she was a pediatrician, I would make her the kids' pcm in a heartbeat. After dealing with some jerks for Drs, it is nice to meet someone in the medical profession who treats me like a human worth respecting. If only the pediatricians (and other people in life) I have dealt with could understand that you have to give respect to get it. If you treat me like I am a capable adult with legitimate concerns, then you get the respect. I treat everyone with respect, but I communicate with Drs who reciprocate and more gets DONE.
Man-Puppy is doing so well! He is learning to warm up to people a little faster. He is quite the charmer and loves on his peers like crazy. His Puggles teachers (AWANAS for toddlers) love him. They always rave about how caring he is to other children and how he picks out toys and takes them to children for them to play with. He doesn't actually play with them, but he serves them. I really think he has a servant's heart, sometimes to a fault. I think that is how Miss Tornado's Cubbies vest went missing. He loves to throw everything in the trash, and now the vest is missing. oops... He is walking very well now and people just love to listen to him talk. Communication is his strong point, even without words. He just has this way of reading people and expressing himself.
Miss Tornado went in for a behavioral evaluation last week. We were thinking sensory processing disorder, but the Dr said that she is testing right at the cutoff for an autism diagnosis, so she is going in for so much more evaluation. So in July we will be going in for a child group study once a week for a month so she can be evaluated around her peers by speech therapists etc. She is also supposedt o meet with an Occupational Therapist as well for a separate evaluation. This summer is going to be a summer of Dr appointments. Of course this all happens when DH is gone. Why wouldn't it? UGH But it will be nice to get some answers and some help for her. Watching her struggle with peer interactions breaks my heart and I hope to help her integrate better so she doesn't have to deal with too many struggles as she grows. Growing up is hard enough without these kinds of issues!
Baby Bird is doing well. We went to the zoo this last weekend for military appreciation day (free entrance, free food and live entertainment). I let her crawl around on the ground for a while, but apparently she is allergic to something here. At 3am I woke up to her gasping for air. I almost took her to the ER, but I was able to get her to breath easier with some massage. So now I am keeping the kids away from "monkey pods" until spring is over. Monkey pods are sticky pods that are dropping from their trees this time of year and they stick to EVERYTHING. They really are quite disgusting and all four of us react when we are near them. I had to do some acupressure points on myself to clear a bad sinus headache. Other than the allergy, she is doing amazing! The other day I went ot check to see if she was awake from her nap and she looked at me and WAVED! She is several months ahead of where her two older siblings were at this age. She is also pushing up onto her hands and knees. Actual crawling is just around the corner! She is just so advanced! As a mom I have a pretty good idea what my kids' personalities are and Baby Bird is "complex". She isn't a really smiley baby, but she isn't exactly introverted either. The whole "still waters run deep" phrase describes her. I have a feeling she will be a VERY analytic person.
DH is doing ok. He stays busy at work. He does have a good Men's Bible Study Group there that he fellowships with. He even has them pray for me. That man is everything I could have wanted in a husband and father for my children. We get to talk about once a week and even that is spotty. He misses home, but he is doing better with his coworkers. It is like he has gone from a work environment like the movie "Office Space" to some kind of war movie. He has his frustrations, but it is good to know that he is doing well at his job. He is also working on JuJitzu on this deployment.
I am doing... ok. The stress of health issues with the kids plus anemia haven't been exactly good for my health, but I am dealing. I'm trying to work out regularly and I have started taking iron again. I miss my hubby, a lot. Knowing how much he misses us and how much he is missing with the kids' development is a tough place to be in. I miss having pillowtalk at night and a friend to joke around with during the day. He is my very bestest friend and life without him is colorless and dull. Even though the kids keep me busy, things seem two dimensional without him here. I am glad he told me to take the summer off from my college courses. I would be going insane trying to keep up with classes while dealing with all this crap. I am happy to get some reading in though. It is nice to read for pleasure instead of school. I've read a SEAL sniper autobiography, all three books of the Hunger Games, and a book called "Obama's Wars". I am working on another SEAL sniper autobiography and then I have a Beverly Lewis book to work on.
So that's life in a nutshell right now.
Thursday, May 10, 2012
An Update on Us!
Sunday will make two months since DH left on deployment and boy has it been an eventful two months. I have seen the best of people who have pulled together to support us, and I've seen the worst who try to serve their own means. It has been a difficult two months, but I am so thankful for my dear friends and my "second mom" who have been my shoulders to cry on and who love on the kids so much. The kids absolutely love their grandma-like babysitter and it really warms my heart to see Baby Bird jump up and down in her excersaucer when the babysitter gets to the house. Even Man-Puppy has started warming up to her! My housecleaner has been a God-send as well. She is a sweet Texan lady who is like a cleaning hawk! She is a little intimidating when she gets into her cleaning "groove" and she always blows away my expectations! I called to thank her the other day and she choked up and told me that she rarely gets thanked for her work. It is nice to know that I am also a blessing to people in a time when I am receiving boundless blessings myself.
Mother's Day is coming up and it is a little bittersweet. I just sent a mother's day card to my mother-in-law and I bought myself some facial stuff for my own mother's day gift to myself. ;-) Without DH here, Mother's Day just doesn't have the same excitement. The kids are too young to do something on their own, so we are just going to focus on having a nice day. After church we are going to go to the NEX to meet some Medal of Honor recipients to get autographs and take pictures with them. I think it will be a great thing for the kids. I think I will try to get a picture with the kids with at least one recipient and frame it with the autograph. It will make a great homeschool conversation starter when the kids are older! I am so glad to have opportunities like this for the kids! They won't remember it, but I will tell them one day. We might do a unit study on the Medal of Honor one day. :-D
This deployment has been harder than the last one. Vetran military wives have told me that this is normal though. That sucks, but at least I know what to expect. We don't get to communicate with DH as much as last time, so that makes it a little more difficult. We send him care packages though, and he loves receiving them. I did handprints with Miss Tornado and Man-Puppy with finger paints, then laminated them to send him. He showed me where he had hung them up whereas most of his coworkers had hung up *questionable* posters and calendars. It is so amazing having married a family man who cares. Seeing him so involved with our kiddos heals so many hurts in my own heart. I couldn't have asked for a better father for my children. Soon we will be taking patriotic pictures of the kids and myself to send to him. :-) Miss Tornado picked out some twin sized "Cars" sheets for DH's bunk when he asked us to send bedding. I hope he likes them, knowing that it was she that picked them out.
The kids are so big now! I weighed and measured Baby Bird the other night for her 7 month stats and found that she weighs 16lbs 11.5oz and 26 3/4 inches. The EXACT same size Man-Puppy was at his first birthday. It really puts into perspective the issues he has overcome to get where he is. We have an appointment with a nutritionist tomorrow to address his anemia since his ped is completely clueless about nutrition. She lost a huge chunk of my confidence when she told me that he is anemic because he still nurses. It reminds me of a joke I heard once. "What do other Drs call the guy who graduated at the bottom of his med school class? ...... Dr." lol Hopefully we can figure out what is going on and address it. Being anemic myself, I want to take care of this soon.
We went to a craft fair the other day. We all had a blast! Here is a picture of the kids in their hooded towels I bought them at the fair!
Mother's Day is coming up and it is a little bittersweet. I just sent a mother's day card to my mother-in-law and I bought myself some facial stuff for my own mother's day gift to myself. ;-) Without DH here, Mother's Day just doesn't have the same excitement. The kids are too young to do something on their own, so we are just going to focus on having a nice day. After church we are going to go to the NEX to meet some Medal of Honor recipients to get autographs and take pictures with them. I think it will be a great thing for the kids. I think I will try to get a picture with the kids with at least one recipient and frame it with the autograph. It will make a great homeschool conversation starter when the kids are older! I am so glad to have opportunities like this for the kids! They won't remember it, but I will tell them one day. We might do a unit study on the Medal of Honor one day. :-D
This deployment has been harder than the last one. Vetran military wives have told me that this is normal though. That sucks, but at least I know what to expect. We don't get to communicate with DH as much as last time, so that makes it a little more difficult. We send him care packages though, and he loves receiving them. I did handprints with Miss Tornado and Man-Puppy with finger paints, then laminated them to send him. He showed me where he had hung them up whereas most of his coworkers had hung up *questionable* posters and calendars. It is so amazing having married a family man who cares. Seeing him so involved with our kiddos heals so many hurts in my own heart. I couldn't have asked for a better father for my children. Soon we will be taking patriotic pictures of the kids and myself to send to him. :-) Miss Tornado picked out some twin sized "Cars" sheets for DH's bunk when he asked us to send bedding. I hope he likes them, knowing that it was she that picked them out.
The kids are so big now! I weighed and measured Baby Bird the other night for her 7 month stats and found that she weighs 16lbs 11.5oz and 26 3/4 inches. The EXACT same size Man-Puppy was at his first birthday. It really puts into perspective the issues he has overcome to get where he is. We have an appointment with a nutritionist tomorrow to address his anemia since his ped is completely clueless about nutrition. She lost a huge chunk of my confidence when she told me that he is anemic because he still nurses. It reminds me of a joke I heard once. "What do other Drs call the guy who graduated at the bottom of his med school class? ...... Dr." lol Hopefully we can figure out what is going on and address it. Being anemic myself, I want to take care of this soon.
We went to a craft fair the other day. We all had a blast! Here is a picture of the kids in their hooded towels I bought them at the fair!
Monday, April 30, 2012
My birthday week!
It's official! I am no longer in my "early twenties". lol I feel 35, but oh well. :-) I turned 24 this year! I wish DH could have been there, but he did a wonderful job with my birthday gift! He got me a sodastream! Now I can make my own soda and fizzy drinks at home! How cool is that?! He also sent some gorgeous flowers and a sweet card. I <3 that guy! I also went out to lunch with a dear friend whose birthday was the day after mine! We ate at Tony Romas and then hit the mall! It was like being a teenager, but with money! Later that evening another friend came by and gave me some hand dipped chocolate covered strawberries! I am loved! The love people poured out on me was just astounding, it is nice to know who really loves you! :-D Here are some pictures from my special day!
Here is 24 year old me!
I let Miss Tornado put my 24 candles in my cake. She loves birthdays, so I thought I would let her celebrate mine. :-)
The prettiful flowers DH sent me!
"DH" and I went on a movie date the next night!
My sodastream bottle with coke flavoring added!
Friday, April 20, 2012
Hair (and other stuff)!
Last night I finally got to Skype with DH for the first time in almost a week. I hadn't even gotten an email from him. He now has internet access, which I am really thankful for! Another thing that happened last night was a certain package! We got the books that DH read on dvd for the kids from the USO! The United Through Reading program is so wonderful! Miss Tornado sat with the book he read and kept up with the pages. Her attitude has improve exponentially since we got the DVDs. Even Man-Puppy was trying to hug the TV.
Today our babysitter came over and I went to the salon and got my hair done. The kids love the babysitter, she is like a grandma to them. She doesn't have grandchildren yet although she has two kids my age. I think one of the reasons she watches children is to get the "grandma time" in. Even Man-Puppy likes her! And that's saying something!
At the salon they washed, blow dried, flat ironed, and trimmed my hair. It felt great to do that! Here are some pics!
Today our babysitter came over and I went to the salon and got my hair done. The kids love the babysitter, she is like a grandma to them. She doesn't have grandchildren yet although she has two kids my age. I think one of the reasons she watches children is to get the "grandma time" in. Even Man-Puppy likes her! And that's saying something!
At the salon they washed, blow dried, flat ironed, and trimmed my hair. It felt great to do that! Here are some pics!
Our day at the botanical gardens
Today a friend of ours brought us a picnic and we all went to the botanical gardens. While my friend and I talked pregnancy and birth and parenting decisions Miss Tornado and Man-Puppy went running around. Since it was a weekday there wasn't anyone around so the kids got to go hogwild. They were particularly fascinated with the ducks since you don't really see them that often here on the island.
Here is Miss Tornado climbing a tree
Cheese!
It's a wild duck chase!
She actually chased it to Man-Puppy who nearly caught the darn thing! I guess if we ever get stranded somewhere and have to hunt for duck we would never go hungry...
Proud big sister "guarding" her little brother
They are getting so big! Blink and you miss it!
When it is Baby Bird's naptime, it is Baby Bird's NAPTIME. lol This is her in the stroller with my shawl stretched over it. She was so ready for sleep!
Monday, April 16, 2012
Deployment thoughts
*Sigh* This deployment is 1/8ths done now! Today marked one month since DH left and boy has it been a doozie. Just when I think nothing else could go wrong, something else blows up. I am being taught a lot about patience. It is so great to know that I have so many people in my corner. Whenever I need to talk to someone, there is usually someone willing to let me cry on their shoulder. It's always nice to be loved. They really go out of their way to help me out. When times get tough you really find out who your friends are. <3
Miss Tornado had another difficult night at Cubbies. Her developmental pediatrics evaluation can't come soon enough. The sooner we get her some help the better. As she gets older, it is getting more obvious that she has a sensory processing disorder. It breaks my heart when I see her trying to interact with her peers and they try to avoid her after a while. Her concept of personal space is very skewed. Once we can get her into occupational therapy I know she will finally have the tools she needs to relate better.
I think Man-Puppy is cutting more molars, poor baby. When we are home he crawls into my lap a few times a day and tugs at my shirt to be nursed. This is a change since before DH left he only nursed at night before bedtime. Now he wants to nurse three or four times a day. Today at Puggles though they told me what a special little guy he is. <3 They really like him in there. It is nice to see him come out of his shell. He may be really super small for his age, but he has a huge heart.
Baby Bird is chunking up so well! We started solids last week and she sure loves them. Not as much as mama milk, but she does get excited when she sees the baby food come out! She is very mobile now and there isn't much onthe floor that she can't get to with some carefully calculated rolls. I like to call her "thunder thighs". Having a chunky baby after having a super small baby is such a relief.
I've started getting the books for my summer reading list. Hunger Games is my first book, then The World is Flat, and then an autobiography of a sniper (I can't remember the title) is next. I am excited about it!
Tomorrow marks one week since starting "Operation Hot Homecoming". I will weigh myself and see if I lost anything this week. I don't feel like I have, I need to watch my food intake a little more closely.
I got to talk to DH for all of 5 minutes today. I wasn't expecting ot hear from him, but our skype call was ended suddenly and we didn't get to say goodbye. This spotty internet connection problem he has over there is super sucky. At least the kids got to say "Hi". I know that made Miss Tornado happy. She had been asking me to call him for a couple of days now.
I need to go work out and then do some housework before bed.
Miss Tornado had another difficult night at Cubbies. Her developmental pediatrics evaluation can't come soon enough. The sooner we get her some help the better. As she gets older, it is getting more obvious that she has a sensory processing disorder. It breaks my heart when I see her trying to interact with her peers and they try to avoid her after a while. Her concept of personal space is very skewed. Once we can get her into occupational therapy I know she will finally have the tools she needs to relate better.
I think Man-Puppy is cutting more molars, poor baby. When we are home he crawls into my lap a few times a day and tugs at my shirt to be nursed. This is a change since before DH left he only nursed at night before bedtime. Now he wants to nurse three or four times a day. Today at Puggles though they told me what a special little guy he is. <3 They really like him in there. It is nice to see him come out of his shell. He may be really super small for his age, but he has a huge heart.
Baby Bird is chunking up so well! We started solids last week and she sure loves them. Not as much as mama milk, but she does get excited when she sees the baby food come out! She is very mobile now and there isn't much onthe floor that she can't get to with some carefully calculated rolls. I like to call her "thunder thighs". Having a chunky baby after having a super small baby is such a relief.
I've started getting the books for my summer reading list. Hunger Games is my first book, then The World is Flat, and then an autobiography of a sniper (I can't remember the title) is next. I am excited about it!
Tomorrow marks one week since starting "Operation Hot Homecoming". I will weigh myself and see if I lost anything this week. I don't feel like I have, I need to watch my food intake a little more closely.
I got to talk to DH for all of 5 minutes today. I wasn't expecting ot hear from him, but our skype call was ended suddenly and we didn't get to say goodbye. This spotty internet connection problem he has over there is super sucky. At least the kids got to say "Hi". I know that made Miss Tornado happy. She had been asking me to call him for a couple of days now.
I need to go work out and then do some housework before bed.
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