Day #253

HAPPY 70TH BIRTHDAY GRANDMA JEAN!!! We just wanted to wish my mom a very happy birthday. We hope you had a wonderful day!! We sure love and miss you a lot. Can't wait to see you when you come next month.

Day #251

HAPPY BIRTHDAY UNCLE KIRK (Abrahm's youngest brother)!!! I have no idea if he even reads this or not, but we wanted to wish him a very happy birthday. We didn't forget, things are just a little crazy here. Your card and gift are on their way!!

Yesterday I took Alden back to his pediatrician. She confirmed he had a really bad infection in BOTH ears!! No wonder he's been so irritable. She kept him on the antibiotic and gave us more motrin. The Army even gives motrin to little people!! (For those of you not familiar with the Army medical philosophy: Motrin cures EVERYTHING!). Today he was quite crabby. This evening he seemed a little happier and even played on the floor for a while. He isn't taking his bottle really well, but he's eating everything else. He was fever free all day today, so hopefully he'll feel better tomorrow.

Yesterday Adam had swim lessons. He went to class without shedding one tear. I was so proud of him. He just smiled and waved as he jumped into the pool by himself (the teacher was already in). He is really doing well. He swam the length of the pool twice (with his back float on). He jumps off of the diving board, he blows bubbles and tries to float on his back.

A proud mommy story...Yesterday while we were eating I was telling Adam how proud I was of him. I asked him "Why is Mommy so proud of you today?" His reply, "because I went swimming without crying and I didn't have a paci." I was so excited he could verbalize why I was proud of him and what exactly that meant. He really amazes me every day.

A pet peeve of mine...(Disclaimer- Sorry if I offend anyone) Yesterday at swim class when I went to drop Adam off, he asked Mrs. Patti for the "orange ball." She was very impressed, since he is the youngest in the class, that he already knew his colors. Then she made the comment, well kids really learn things early these days from the great TV programs. I explained to her that Adam doesn't watch TV very often at all (maybe Blue's Clues 2 or 3 times a week). I am not sure if she was more surprised that he knew his stuff without learning it from a television set or if she was upset that I didn't let him watch TV. Either way I was kind of offended. I am not saying that TV programs don't have their place or they are totally a waste of time. What I am saying is when did we as parents put the responsibility of teaching our children and helping them to learn on television programs? Okay. I am off my soapbox now. Sorry.

Alden playing this afternoon. Today is the first day in several days he's spent any time on the floor playing. He is much happier today. 

Adam and Alden spend lots of time playing with this together. They really like it. 

The boys playing together this afternoon before naps 

Adam sitting by the pool before swim lessons. He did great today. No crying at all. Just jumped right in and swam after the ball. 

Adam at swim lessons today. He talked about playing with the orange ball all the way to class today. Mrs. Patti gets it out just for him.  

Day #250

I'll keep this short this evening. Alden, Adam and I did end up in the ER this morning around 2 AM. I have to say it was the quickest trip I've ever had there. Only 1 hour from the time I left the house to the time I got home. Alden's temp stayed above 103 all night and most of today. The doc thinks he has an ear infection, but isn't 100% sure. He ended up giving him medicine and sending us home. Alden has been pretty crabby all day. Only wants to be held except for about 30 minutes all day. Needless to say, Adam has been a little jealous since Mommy is spending so much time taking care of Alden. I think I've only slept about 5 hours in the last 48. So I am heading off to bed. Let's hope tonight is better. We'll see!

A not feeling so good Alden today 

Adam up to no good today. You would think I would learn my lesson from the last experience with the packing peanuts 

Day #249

Kind of a yucky day for us today. Alden was really really crabby all day today. Then before his afternoon nap he started running a fever. He still had a fever before bed, so I am sure the night won't be much better. If he still has a fever in the morning, I am sure we'll end up in the Emergency Room. I am trying not to think about that.

The pictures today are ones I told Abrahm I would post. I've been in a cleaning/reorganizing mood the last several days. Not sure why. But I wanted to show Abrahm some things I have done to the nursery. Adam loves his little reading nook. He will sit on his carpet and look through his books.

Well I am off to get more work done before I head to bed. I think I'll try to turn in a little early since I am anticipating a long night.

The new shelf Abrahm (and Adam) painted while he was home on leave. I put both boys coming home outfits on it with pictures and their silver cups. 

Adam's new door sign. He helped paint it. 

Alden's crib in the nursery. This is the crib Abrahm built for Adam when he was born. Alden goes between 2 cribs at the moment. I am working on puttting both boys in 1 room. 

Adam's reading cubby 

Day #248

What a fun and busy day today. I took Adam (and Alden) to the library for the first time today. He had a great time. He loved looking for just the right book and then going back to the couches and reading it. Our local library is great. They have a huge selection of children's books that are easily accessible for little guys. They have fish and two turtles (which Adam was so excited about). They have a special room where they do classes and such, but when it's not in use the children can go and read their books in their. There are lots of stuffed animals and nice benches and tables to sit on. Even Alden loved playing with the stuffed animals. Adam found 4 books he had to have. He got one about trains, which he found all by himself. He found other books about bedtime and the farm. The last book he found was about a frog who learned how to swim. He even took the card to the lady and checked them out himself. How much fun.

Then after the library we went to lunch where Alden ate 1/2 of my baked potato. Then we had to pick up some stuff at Fred Meyers. Once we got home we took naps (and I chatted with Abrahm).

This evening we made homemade cookies and then made ice cream sandwiches rolled with sprinkles. Adam had a great time making them. Alden even helped. We are having friends come and play and having dinner here tomorrow night so we needed to make a special dessert. On a side note, Alden crawled several times today. He is pretty slow, but he's getting the hang of it. I am not sure I am ready for both to be mobile.

Rolling the ice cream sandwich in the sprinkles for our dinner guests tomorrow night 

Mommy this one is all done 

All finished making our ice cream treats. 

Adam with the books he chose today at the library.

Alden at the library 

Adam with his train book he picked out from the shelf all by himself 

Alden with all the animals at the library 

Alden with the monkey 

Day #247

Kind of a quiet day here. Well as quiet as you can get with two little critters. We were supposed to go to playgroup, but decided against it since Alden and I still have colds. Hopefully these will pass soon!!

So since we were home today we caught up on some work around the house. I rearranged the furniture in our bedroom. I am trying to redo it before Abrahm gets home, but I am not sure if that will happen or not.

Adam and I colored and built some things out of legos. Alden is really trying to crawl. He even made a couple of steps toward me today. He stays up on his hands and knees a lot now. It won't be long. If we could just cut these teeth.

Alden helping with dinner too. He's just tasting all the veggies to make sure they're okay. Here he is gnawing on an orange pepper. Notice all the drool on his shirt. I don't think these teeth are ever going to cut through!!!! 

Adam helping me cook dinner tonight 

Day #246

Well we had a better day today. Not perfect, but much better. We left the house early this morning so Adam could go to swim lessons. He is really enjoying them. He likes to jump in and splash and play in the water. He likes to jump off the diving board. He only cries for about 15 seconds when I get ready to walk away, but once I start leaving, he is just fine. He even waves to me. Silly boy.

I started helping out with a new group at church today. A girl from the youth group watched the boys in the church nursery while I worked with the kids. Things went pretty well. At the end of "Sprouts" we had chocolate chip cookies. I took one to Adam in the nursery. Somehow Alden got a hold of it and put up a pretty big protest when I took it away. You should have seen the look on his face. He must be a chocolate lover too!!

Good news from yesterday. We found out Abrahm will be promoted to Major on October 1. This is a great accomplishment for him and we are really proud. Yea for Daddy!! We love you!

Having some fun time before bed tonight 

Day #245

Well today I lost my sense of humor for a little while. It was a hard night last night and a very rough long day today. Not sure what the problem is, but I hope it is gone tomorrow. Both boys were awake for a lot of last night. Adam was awake from 11:00 to 12:00 and then Alden from 3:00 to 4:30 or so. I think Alden's problem was his teeth. I think they are just about ready to break through. They seem to be hurting him very badly. Today Adam was just naughty and Alden fussed most of the day. Adam summed things up pretty well this afternoon. We were talking about planes and flying. He asked me if I was going on a plane again. I told him no, not anytime soon. He then proceeded to tell me that he wanted me to go on a plane to Iraq and Daddy to come home. Guess I am not as needed as I thought I was. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

Day #242

Happy 8 month birthday Alden!!! I can't believe he's 8 months already. He is doing so much and growing so quickly. It's amazing to me how time flies. Before long he'll be walking and talking. Then what am I going to do?

We had a great day today. It was a beautiful fall day here. We spent most of the day outside. We went to Creamer's field this morning and we went looking for ducks this afternoon. Creamer's field is a place where migrating birds come for a short time until they head south. It is also the first sign of spring when they come back. We took a long walk around the property and saw lots of rocks and leaves and trees. There were also a lot of birds in the big field. Adam just loved watching them. We started looking for ducks at Pioneer Park. But they drain the pond so no ducks!! Adam was quite upset. We finally found some along the Chena River. They weren't as friendly as the Pioneer Park ducks, but they still enjoyed the bread Adam was throwing. Alden enjoyed eating the bread and watching the ducks.

Nothing else fun to report. We're all feeling much better these days (Abrahm included). Speaking of Abrahm, he's spending a lot of time planning for redeployment. No dates definate yet, but looking like the end of December at the moment. I'll keep you all updated as I get the info.

Up on all 4s. Now what? 

Trying to be on the move 

Feeding the ducks