Oh, dear

So I went shopping at the commissary yesterday, with all kids in tow. Oh, the joy! The boys helped bring it all in once we got home, which was nice. But toward the evening, I kept wondering in the back of my mind where all the produce was. I figured it must have ended up in one bag. At the commissary, they have baggers who bag it all and take it to the car for you, and load it in the car; their only wages are tips. So, I decided that somehow the bag of produce must not have made it home, and I was all geared up to call the commissary and pitch a fit in the morning. Before I went to bed I saw a paper bag with newspapers in the top sitting on the coffee table in the living room (remember the boys helped). I assumed it was my bag of newspapers (that I don't recycle), and it felt pretty heavy, so I decided it must be time to take it out and throw it in the garbage bin since it was trash night. Then today when I saw the real bag of newspapers right where it should have been (not on the coffee table) I finally had an epiphany, that in fact, it must have been my bag of produce that I threw out!!! So devastating! I work so hard to scrimp and save on groceries and get the best deals on produce, and managed instead to throw out a bag of strawberries, peaches, carrots, apples, oranges, etc. Oh, dear!

On another note, I didn't manage to get Hunter packed up to go to New Mexico before I went into the hospital to have Tristan. So Dean did that, bless his heart. When Hunter got home and I went through his luggage to put things away, I found that Dean had packed a pair of Kyler's Sunday pants for church, and none of Hunter's. I can only imagine what he must have looked like, in my home town/ward, no less, wearing slacks three sizes too small that must have come up to the middle of his calves. Oh, dear. I would have preferred that he wear shorts or jeans or swim trunks or anything but awfully high water pants...

Results

So Tristan weighed 10lb and 14 oz at his well baby appointment on Monday, at 3.5 weeks. He's growing like a champ! He loves to eat and sleep still, which is great for me!

I took Dean to the ER on Saturday morning; he was in lots of pain and agony from the beating. Sure enough, he has a broken rib. There's no treatment for that . The doctor said "that's just going to hurt for a long time". They gave him a knee stabilizer, a long fabric/velcro cast-looking thing to wear on his leg. He couldn't drive with it on. They gave him percocet for the pain. It really helps the pain, but makes him dizzy and loopy. They set him up with an appointment for an MRI on Monday. He saw an orthopedic physician's assistant on Tuesday, regarding his knee. He has a torn meniscus, and the cartilage is roughed up. That's exactly what leads to a lifetime of arthritis. On Monday after being at work all day, his affected knee was twice the size of the other one, and all he wanted to do was lie down and elevate it. The orthopedic folks gave him a knee brace, which is just over the knee, and allows him more mobility, so I don't have to take him to work and his appointments now. So, they are going to start him on physical therapy twice a week, and then he may need surgery to fix his knee. If so, that would likely make him non deployable. I hope that's what the drill sergeants had in mind when they beat him.

My poor man!

So Dean has been at a combatives course all week at Fort Eustis in Newport News, VA. He knew what it was all about well ahead of time, but it's one of those things that you really can't comprehend until you go through it - much like the pain of labor and child birth I would imagine, which is still fresh in my mind. Thursday was to be the big day where the drill sergeants, and apparently the biggest and baddest guys they could find on the entire base, would gang up and give them each a beat down. The students didn't have any protection, except for the mouth guard and athletic cup he took. They weren't allowed to do anything but try to practice their holds and maneuvers on their attackers - no hitting back, or yelling or anything. It was agonizing and shocking to watch the other classmates (half of them women) take their turns.

Dean is a pretty good sized man at six feet and two hundred pounds, but he said he was thrown around by these guys. They, of course, have been studying these martial arts for years (specifically Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and some form of Russian martial arts), whereas the students have had this week to learn. Anyway, he is in bad shape. He has a concussion, as likely all the students do. They aren't to be taking naps or pain killers either as that's not indicated with concussions. His ribs hurt (I would be surprised if they weren't at least cracked). His knee popped out of joint and is badly swollen. He has what would be an aural hematoma in dogs, perhaps similar to cauliflower ear in people? And he has wounds from head to toe from the entire week, and he is in agonizing pain. I feel terrible for him! And really, I can't tell that there was any real reason for him to go through this. He's not a combat soldier, he's a veterinarian! Apparently his former commander thought it would be a good class for him since he's deploying later this year, so he signed him up. I guess what doesn't kill you makes you stronger? If he's well enough to drive the 4.5 hours Friday after class he'll come home then. He has a new commander, a female, and Ft. Eustis is the home base, so to speak. So he went to visit her on Wednesday, then she wanted him to come back after class on Thursday as well. She was horrified at how bad he looked on Thursday.

On Tuesday they were choked until they passed out. They had to pass out as part of the training. Supposedly they are supposed to be able to teach the course by the time they are done with it. Whatever. He said on Monday before lunch that I might not have a husband by the end of the week. It looks like I'll have one, but he'll need to be nursed back to health!

In other news, Kyler, Tristan and I went to Raleigh yesterday to pick Hunter up from the airport. I planned ahead and learned how to use a baby bjorn to pack Tristan on my chest, and had the leash for Kyler, which he actually cooperated with. I had Hunter pull his own suitcase to keep him in line. It has wheels, so he managed. Kyler had lots of hugs and kisses for Hunter, and they spent the night (must have been until 11pm) doing their usual antics in their bedroom - bouncing off the walls. I just left well enough alone. Tristan did well in the car, and continues to be a sweetie. Hunter is pretty funny with Tristan. He keeps referring to him as "it": "I think it wants some milk", "Can I hold it?" Both boys think it's pretty strange how baby gets nourishment (from Mommy's boobies). They seemed to think I was joking around at first. Hunter kept calling me "Grandma" on the drive home.

pregnant no more

I would just like to say that I sure enjoy not being pregnant any more! Immediately after giving birth, or maybe more like when the epidural wears off and I can start walking, I marvel at how normal I feel once again and how much more energy I have. I love not having to get up all night, too! Being pregnant just never feels quite normal. I'm down more than 20 pounds already (9 of that was Tristan), with 15 or 20 to go. One of the best parts of nursing is that the weight seems to come right off, though I'm sure it will take a few months. Also, I'm not constantly feeling hot any more, which is a let down for Dean. He loves when I'm pregnant because then we both like the a/c to be set pretty low. Now, I wake up at night shivering because it's cold...



Tristan is a wonderful baby, and we are so happy to have him. He is sleeping pretty well at night, and sleeps much of the day. He gets cuter all the time, in my opinion. This has been the longest it has taken us to have a baby, nearly four years since we had Kyler. Speaking of Kyler, he is learning Baby's cues. He knows that it is better to play loudly "when Baby's eyes are open" than when they are closed, and that if "Baby's mouth is open", he is hungry. Hunter will be home in a couple of days, so he will get to enjoy Tristan and get acquainted as well. It has been more peaceful around here since the boys can't squabble with each other, but Kyler asks about Hunter every day.



Meanwhile, Dean is gone yet again for the week. This time he is in Virginia for a combatives course, in preparation for being deployed. He left Sunday afternoon. It gets a little harder each time he leaves, as it is forboding of the long year to come. He called late this morning to report that he may not survive the week. From how he described it before he left, it sounded like a week of hazing or gang initiation, and sure enough the drill sergeants do not disappoint. He bought an athletic supporter and a mouth guard before he left - clearly some wisdom on his part. By the end of the day he was battered and bruised, and said he'd never sweat so much in his life. He downed a couple of 32 oz gatorades, and as much bottled water as he could find. They were only allowed to drink from a fountain all day. I always marvel at how I am so not cut out for the military. I do fine as a spouse, but I wouldn't see the humor in all that the uniformed folks have to endure!

Last week our desktop computer and Dean's laptop both died. He had just bought the laptop new a couple of months ago. Consumer Reports recommends buying a replacement warranty for laptops, and not much of anything else. It came in handy more than once with his last one, and sure enough he needed it with this new one. The hard drive had died on it, so he got store credit for what he had paid for it, and picked out another one (a better one for a little more money). And he went ahead and bought the warranty for a full three years. The desktop, which I primarily use, had a dead mother board. Funny how that happens - one evening it was working fine, I shut it down, and the next morning it was dead. But at least we were able to salvage the hard drive. Dean put it in the new computer. I'm always suprprised at how much he can do with computers, because he hates doing that kind of stuff, but he sure seems to have a knack for it. I don't! Anyway, I don't see where on the new computer to put the little disk from the camera to put the pictures on the computer and on the blog here, and Dean's gone... so sorry no pictures!

Blossoms

Dean gave me an orchid last year for Mothers Day. It bloomed soon after. And now it is blooming again! My black thumb has perhaps become brown over the years, maybe even with a hint of green. He gave me a couple of more orchids for Valentines Day last year. One has long since been laid to rest, and the other got chewed up by Bob - our cat whom I lost on the 3,000 mile drive from OR to NC last September - that's a story for another time. It is still alive, though (the orchid - can't say for sure about Bob), but hasn't bloomed since it did initially. All the orchids made the trip across country, so it is a wonder any of them are alive.

And, in the garden we've harvested lots of peas, radishes, and now tomatoes. My mom spent a lot of time working in the garden while she was here, which was very nice. She replanted a lot of the squares, and now new things are coming up. The gladioluses are blooming and are beautiful! There are a couple of colors in them, though that may be hard to see in the picture. The dominant color is fuschia, with a lighter shade of pink on the inside of the blossoms.

While here my mom also organized some shelves and closets, worked on my mending pile, completed a couple of sewing projects, had the boys pulling weeds outside, and swept and organized in the garage! Thanks, Mom!

Tristan is doing great, and sleeps most of the day. My milk has come in, so he doesn't need to nurse constantly, although he likes to be latched on for much of the night. If that's what it takes for me to get to sleep overnight, then I don't mind. I got that pacifier out for Tristan to use, and he liked it. Then Kyler came across it and bit the nipple right off. Thanks, kid. That reminds me of nursing him... I lasted 12 months minus 2 days with him. Since Tristan came home Kyler has been a little bit more independent. He made himself a peanut butter and jam sandwich for the first time, and has learned to pour himself soda and juice from the fridge. I don't usually have those around, but I've been having trouble drinking enough, so they help.

Dean had to leave early this morning for the AVMA convention. He was very sad to leave us behind. He'll probably spend a little time at an Army booth. Last year he enjoyed talking with some of the Army vets at the convention, which helped him decide to join, so he's happy to put in some time there. They are required to wear their uniforms while there, so they are easy to spot.

We spent the afternoon and evening yesterday at the beach with Penny and Steve, who are staying in a beach condo until they move away in a couple of weeks. That was fun, and Dean enjoyed boogie boarding for the first time. I sat in a chair with Tristan, who slept the whole time. Penny made some delicious, authentic, Chinese and Philipino food.

The nitty gritty

Well, it was bound to happen and it finally did! Wednesday I was having lots of contractions as usual, but they started getting more uncomfortable and even painful toward the end of the day. With some other clues, and especially some labor pains in my back, we went to the hospital after 10pm. The contractions were really painful by then, and close together. I was dilated to 5, and even threw up. The nurse could tell it was Mexican food, and said that spicy food often helps to get things going. The contractions were excruciating, and I didn't feel like I could walk to the labor and delivery room, so they wheeled me in a chair.

My water broke on its own (first time) by midnight or so, and was full of baby's meconium, which they said means some stress on his part. The contractions always vastly intensify after the water is broken, so it was really fun by then. Dean was most supportive as always. I was begging for the epidural, but having not had much to drink during the day, the nurses were having a hard time getting a vein open to draw blood for a platelet count... It took four sticks to finally get one, then what seemed like forever to get the results back and then call the anesthesiologist. The contractions were terribly frequent, and I kept thinking that it would be worth the epidural to relieve even just one of them. It finally, finally kicked in, and as promised by the anesthesiologist, it didn't numb me by any means, but it made the contractions tolerable. I kept wondering how women have done this all through history without pain relief. With Kyler I only had to endure two contractions after my water was broken before they got the epidural going - and that was enough. This time it seemed like there were dozens, and they hurt bad enough before it broke to make a grown man cry...

So, by the time he was ready to come out, they had about 8 people in the room, because of the meconium business - to be ready to suck it out of him before he aspirated it into his lungs. His heart rate dropped a bit when he was crowning, so they had me breathe through a contraction or two before further pushing. I had an oxygen mask on. Then his head came out, and the cord was wrapped around a couple of times, so they undid that, and I sent the rest of him out. Dean and everyone marvelled at how big he seemed, and sure enough he was nine pounds and one ounce, born at 4:45, Thursday July 2. For some reason the placenta didn't want to come out, so the two residents who delivered Tristan worked on that for a while. They were marveling that I had not torn at all, not even micro tears. I never have - what a blessing! Dean was very sweet the whole time, and teared up as Tristan was born, just as he has done for each of the children. Because of what was going on he wasn't able to cut the cord, but was able to trim it down once they took care of Tristan's initial needs.

Dean trimming the cord to an acceptable length.

They let me have Tristan about 45 minutes after he was born, and he was very happy to start nursing, and latched on like a charm. That wasn't always the case over the next few days while we were in the hospital, but it was a good start and he loves to nurse now (about 20 hours a day it seems). The boys and Grandma Merrill came to see Tristan, and all thought he was great. We were certainly relieved that Grandma got to see him before she left. She was here two weeks, and he was born two days before her flight out. Hunter went with her to NM to spend a couple of weeks.

Now at home Tristan is learning to be content outside the womb. It's taking some getting used to, but he's coming around. Kyler is enthralled with him, and we are teaching him to be gentle. My Shrek feet are deflating, and my mom thought my face was starting to return to a normal size as well. There's still plenty of swelling to lose, especially to be rid of the carpal tunnel pain which still plagues me. Slowly but surely!

It is especially nice to have Dean around. In the Army he gets 10 days of baby leave. He won't be able to use all of it as he is leaving at the end of the week for the AVMA convention in Seattle for a few days, then has to get back to work, but this is vastly more time off than we've ever gotten and it's wonderful! He has been so good doing all the mundane stuff around the house, and helping with Tristan as much as possible, and wrangling Master Kyler.

Daddy and baby taking a break.

Grandma and the boys.

no news

I haven't anything new to report. I'm all ready to go, so we're just waiting for Baby to drop. He's taking his sweet time. I will be 40 weeks tomorrow. My mom has been here for nearly a week, as we all await the blessed event. Dean was supposed to go to Fort Eustis yesterday and get back late tonight, but he was excused by his commander because of my situation. He is supposed to go to Roanoke Rapids, NC tomorrow, but again is excused.

I took my mom and the boys to Wilmington, NC the other day, and stopped by the aquarium. Here I am looking thrilled with life and "big as a barrel", as a door-to-door meat salesman blurted recently as I opened the door. No, I didn't buy any meat from him.



This is an albino alligator, which apparently wouldn't survive in the wild because he has no protection from the sun.

Here's my mom...

Kyler is never at a loss for entertainment and trying potential new styles and trends, such as dishwashing gloves on the feet.

The magnolia trees here have been blooming and they are glorious. Those are white flowers dispersed throughout the tree. I wish it was a better picture.

I hate false alarms

I was a little stir crazy yesterday by the time Dean got home from work. I did take the boys to play group in the morning, which is always fun for them to play with other kids, and for me to visit with the other ladies - so many interesting topics of conversation! So, Dean let me go run around for a few hours late in the evening. I hit some sales at Michaels and Staples, stocked up on baby wipes at Sams Club (the last baby item on the list), and not wanting to walk for miles at Walmart just for extra virgin olive oil, went to the Food Lion. It was the last stop and I was pretty thirsty, so I went down the soda aisle to satisfy one of my guilty pleasures - diet soda. I had never tried Sun Drop before, and just assumed it would be caffeine free and gave it a whirl. It wasn't, though, so having a big glass of it at 10pm kept me from sleeping until about midnight, or I assume that's what it was.

I was awake again at 3am; with the carpal tunnel problem, if I don't find just the right position, my arm is exquisitely uncomfortable/painful/tingly, and there's no possibility of sleep. Then I proceeded to count about 5 contractions in 20 minutes or so, and then less frequently after that until I finally got up around 5 am. I just have no inclination to do anything in the middle of the night, so I picked a book from the bookcase (one of James Herriot's - always a pleaser) and sat on the couch reading and monitoring contractions until Dean woke. I told him I thought it was time, as the contractions were still coming, though not regularly. They ranged from 2-10 minutes apart, and were not painful. I did a whirlwind tour through the downstairs and finished packing my bag, and straightened things up - more nesting I guess, and who wants to come home to a mess anyway. I fixed oatmeal, and the boys were down and showered by about 7am. I called Penny and woke her up (sorry!), to let her know that I thought it was time and we'd have the boys over by 8am. I had a conversation with Kyler about being on good behavior at Miss Penny's, so unbeknownst to us, after eating his oatmeal, he trotted right over at about 7:10. We just assumed he was upstairs with Hunter, but should have known better since there was no noise... Dean was putting baby's carseat in the car and noticed Kyler's bike across the street at her home, but assumed he must have left it there last night. That's our boy!

So, we got to the hospital soon after 8am, and the contractions were still irregular, coming 3-10 minutes apart, and I was dilated to between 3 and 4. The nurse said it should be between 4 and 5, so sent us out to walk around for a couple of hours then come back in for a recheck if I was still contracting. I was, but still not regularly, so a recheck 3 hours later showed no progression, and alas, it's not time for baby! So disappointing! We were so excited that maybe it was finally time! I feel awfully silly for getting it wrong. They do say that the contractions should be regular, and progressively closer together and more painful... I should have known better. It just seemed like such a convenient day; Dean somehow didn't have anything scheduled at work. So we came home dejected mid afternoon. He picked up the boys and went fishing while I took it easy. They actually caught a couple of croakers.

Hopefully soon!

Christmas in June

So I tagged along with some friends who were going to an estate sale for a child care center on base yesterday. It is closing so they are getting rid of everything - all the toys, baby items, desks, furniture, appliances, etc. My dad has said before that a good yard sale is as good as Christmas, and that can be true! I found a number of things, for great yard-sale prices, to use for the baby and for the boys. Then we hit a yard sale on the base and I found more treasures for the boys. Hunter has probably spent 10 hours over this weekend playing with this contraption that he assembles, then sends marbles circling through. Kyler likes the idea of playing with it, but mostly takes it apart or otherwise demolishes it while Hunter is working on it, which is upsetting to Hunter - but oh, well, he needs to learn patience and to get along!

Speaking of Kyler, with the new summer schedule, or lack of one with Hunter being out of school, he has been staying up hours past his bedtime, and not taking naps. So by the evening he is usually not much fun to be around. I told him at about 5pm today to go put on his jammies, expecting that it would soon be time for bed. He never came back - went right to sleep on his own. Woohoo! But it was short lived - he came back around at 7, and is now finally in bed at 9:30.

mmm, Steak

So maybe this isn't blog worthy, but I really don't know if I've ever bought T-bones in our 9 years of marriage. Dean thinks maybe I did once. They are just so pricey! But, they are on sale this week, so I bought two for us - no sense in wasting good food on the boys. They actually did have a few bites of mine. It turned out pretty good, or at least Mr. Food Connoisseur (Dean) thought it was good, and we don't even have a grill. I used Montreal steak seasoning and olive oil like I do with most all cuts of meat, and our "grilling pan", which has raised grooves to give the appearance of having been on the grill. And, I picked up some fresh corn on the cob today, which is one of my all-time favorite foods. The boys love it too, although these days Hunter insists on having his cut off the cob for him because he always has loose/missing teeth (lost another this week).

I also took the boys swimming at a nice outdoor pool on the base today, with some friends. We were there about three hours. They had a ball, of course. I was looking for carpal tunnel relief. I've read that being in the water is somewhat like an all-over compression stocking and might help relieve the agony. It helps. It would really help if Tristan decided it was time to head on out!

Where's Tristan?

I went in for a routine appointment yesterday (June 9) and was checked out a bit. I am dilated to two, having contractions about 10 minutes apart, baby seems to be head down, etc., but the doc said it would probably be a couple of weeks... Dean was able to go to the appointment with me, and was hoping it was time. Alas, we still have time to get more ready at home. He put the cosleeper together over the weekend, and the swing before that. The other day Kyler mistakenly thought he heard us say that the baby was out, and he wanted to see. I was lounging in bed, so he ripped the blanket off me to have a look at my belly for himself. It was pretty funny. He still likes to hug baby (aka my belly).

What's in a name?

We may finally have a name for "baby", and it's not even on the babynames.com website list that we created. We both like Tristan at the moment - which is how we settled on "Kyler". The middle name would be Rush. I knew that that was going to be inevitable at some point, and I'm fine with it. Tomorrow (June 5) I'll officially be 37 weeks, which is full term, and means baby (Tristan - it's time to start calling him that I guess) is welcome to come any time. That also means I'm finally starting to "nest", or at least realize that I'd better get the house in order, as it is certainly not at the moment! My only real problem is some horrific carpal tunnel syndrome, which always accompanies me late in pregnancy. It's causing me to lose some sleep at night, but if that's my only issue, I can't much complain.

Some dear friends threw a shower for me last week, and it was a lot of fun, and we were given some really wonderful things. I feel blessed! The theme was "The Coming Attraction", and was complete with movie theater treats (nachos, popcorn, candy, etc., and some sweet cupcakes). In the first picture you can see the "Red Carpet" behind me. I haven't ever learned to properly scrapbook, so I specifically asked for ready made scrapbook pages, and the ladies came through! Now at least one child will have a respectable scrapbook, and all I have to do is slap the pictures in as he grows. Thank you Haylee, Liz, and all the others!!!

By the way, I've been told that my baby bump definitely looks lower, so I'm guessing that means baby has "dropped" into position. That doesn't mean anything about when he will come, though, if you're wondering. He did feel like he was rolling around in there on a few occasions recently, so perhaps that's what he was up to.

Laundry Hamper

I have been detesting our laundry hamper situation for some time now, and finally found a solution. I bought this sorter a few years ago, and it has been a piece of crap for probably about 2/3 of that time. So I recently found a lovely piece of "furniture" that is a laundry sorter as well, at a price I could not resist, from the homedecoratorsoutlet.com. And, now, we have before and after pictures. It did take a few hours to assemble the new one, but it is well worth it.


Note that the hamper isn't much standing up straight, and we finally got to the point of just throwing the laundry in the general direction of the hamper. The "buckets" of the new hamper are not very big, which is the only draw back to it. I wanted the drawers (who couldn't use more drawers anyway - perfect for stain stick). A model without drawers would probably have more room for laundry. Oh, well! It will certainly do!

Air Show

We recently went to an air show at Cherry Point (Marine Corps Air Station) in Havelock, NC, about an hour away. I had never been to one, and neither had the boys. It was a good opportunity to try out the new GPS. Sure enough it got us there, and it was nice to not have to print out maps. Dean was as excited as the boys to see a lot of marine air craft up close, along with some tactical vehicles on the ground.

Dean is in the jean shorts and yellow shirt above.

This was taken after dark of a twin prop plane that performed in the air show.

SFG

As promised, here are some recent pictures of my square foot gardens.
The one above has different plants in each square. It's lots of fun watching them come up, and it's great for surprises, since I didn't label anything. But it's all things I want, so I'm sure to be happy. I put flowers in a couple of the squares, so it's not just vegies.

Those are peas growing up a trellis on the back. On the front left corner is the summer squash. I'll have to train it to grow away from the rest, as squash plants get very large.

These are mostly cauliflower and broccoli, along with some onions (back left), gladiolus (back middle), hot peppers (front), and a couple of tomato plants.

These are green beans (back right), cayenne peppers (back left - but starting this late I don't necessarily expect them to produce this year), and I forget (maybe pumpkin and cucumber) up front - I may try to trellis them up the deck rail as they get bigger.

Two wheeled

Some friends across the street recently upgraded Kyler's transportation to a two wheeler, and low and behold he can ride it like a champ! That's not bad for being three and a half... Add it to his growing list of "skills".

Service

I was on the receiving end of much service recently, and I feel blessed.

Early in the week after playgroup, a friend offered to take Kyler home for a while so I could have a break and get some things done. What a relief! He got to have a ball playing with her son, and I was able to get some things done without a monkey on my back (ha ha). I am so grateful!

Dean and I are both more or less invalid at the moment, me because I'm five weeks from baby's due date, and Dean because he is having a real problem with his lower leg. He finally had the bone scan done, and saw a sports medicine doc - he has a stress fracture. So, in this time, our lawn has gone unmowed, and the weeds in the lawn have gotten out of control. It's looked atrocious. Truthfully, I could probably mow the lawn if I did it over two or three sessions, but that's probably not a good idea. So, after a nice walk yesterday with a dear friend, she insisted on mowing the lawn! I thought I could appease her if she just did the front, which would have vastly improved the looks of the place, but she wouldn't stop there and spent two hours doing the front and back!!! I am still dumbfounded, and eternally grateful. Dean was stunned when he came home, and felt awfully sheepish, but that's our circumstance at the moment. She, by the way, is busy with five children, and her husband is currently deployed, and I visit teach her, to boot!

And at the end of the week, my sweet visiting teacher brought me a wonderful lunch! What a treat! Kyler and I both enjoyed it, and she thought of everything, right down to a fork, napkin and mint, and a lovely lunch bag!

'Tis blessed to give, but it is also nice to be on the receiving end!

The details...

I haven't updated in a while, because I couldn't think of anything profound to write about. Lots of little things, though - so maybe I'll give a smattering of our minutiae.

We've LOVED having Dean home for a couple of weeks now. We could get used to that! Of course, last night he remembered to mention that he was leaving tonight (Sunday) for a "military conference" at Ft Bragg, a couple of hours from here. He'll come back on Wednesday. He's there now, and still doesn't have any idea what it's all about. They'll find out tomorrow. Welcome to the army! He's been sick on and off this week with some bizarre fever/infection. We're wondering if it's not related to whatever unknown injury he's had in his ankle region since he was in Texas. He's scheduled for a bone scan at the end of the week.

He took the boys to the stake fathers and sons outing/campout on Friday night. He was still sick, but more or less masking the fever with ibuprofen. The boys had a blast, of course, jumping in the water, rolling in dirt, canoeing and playing with the other kids. Kyler came home so tired that after sleeping all the way home and a shower to clean up, he slept on the sofa all afternoon.

Hunter has been memorizing the Articles of Faith, which are basically a summation of our religious beliefs - http://scriptures.lds.org/en/a_of_f/1. He has completed numbers one, two and three so far. Kyler is even picking up on them as he hears us go over and over them. I was at the store the other day, and have been on the lookout for new dress pants for Hunter as he only has one pair for church. I actually found suits marked down (I assume after Easter) for $15, so I bought him a nice pinstriped one. It's a little big now, but he wore it today and looked handsome.

I'll take a picture soon, but Kyler, at 3 1/2, has mastered a two-wheeled bike! He's been riding one with training wheels for some time now, and last week the neighbors gave him a slightly bigger model, without training wheels, and low and behold he can ride it like a champ! He took a tumble or two initially, but is doing great now. He is speaking better all the time, as well. He still likes to cuddle and be our baby. Hopefully he won't feel too dethroned when a real baby comes next month!

I am doing well incubating baby. Some days are better than others, but overall I can't complain too much. My nose is noticeably bigger, and my face oozes oil, but some of my other usual pregnancy maladies haven't appeared yet. We still don't have a name yet, but are getting closer. I had a very nice Mothers Day. Dean made me a scrumptious breakfast of a bagel sandwich with eggs, ham and cheese. Hunter had made a dozen "gifts" for me at school, and even wrapped them all himself with newspaper at home. Dean gave me a GPS, a Garmin Nuvi. I am somewhat technology shy, but I'm getting tired of printing out google maps every time I need to go anywhere new, not to mention that I'm often getting lost. We tried it out going to church today, and it's great so far!

My square foot gardens are coming along nicely. (see http://www.squarefootgardening.com/ for more info - I even bought the book to learn how to do it right). I have three 4x4 boxes, all with lots of growing things in them. It is a bit of an investment initially, but I realized today, that what I've spent so far still wouldn't nearly add up to the cost of a small tiller (like a Mantis), so comparatively it's really not that much, and hopefully it will pay for itself with what it produces, and we should be here next summer for sure, and at least part of the summer after that...

I bought six packs of several vegetables (tomatoes, peppers, broccoli and cauliflower). Only one of each of those is supposed to go in a single square foot (one tomato plant, one pepper plant, etc.), but then that would take up most of the three boxes, so I put more than one in a lot of the squares. Dean always chides me when I don't do things how they are supposed to be done, but we'll see what happens. If I didn't want to take up the entire gardens with them, I might as well have just thrown the extras out, which I couldn't bring myself to do. I also bought a package of small gladiolus bulbs a while back at the dollar store, and put them in one square foot. They have shot right up. I bought some onion sets as well, and put probably 16 in another square foot, and they have also come right up. I've planted beans, peas, squash, carrots, beets, radishes, pumpkins, dahlia seeds (perennials used as annuals), honey dew, watermelon, etc. The big plants and vines are supposed to grow vertically up a trellis, which the book details how to most easily build, so that is still on the to-do list. I had a more traditional garden last summer in Oregon, but kind of got depressed by August when we knew we would be leaving, and just left it there, with broccoli and peppers growing... I do as much as I can with the energy I have, then leave it alone. With the Square Foot Gardening, after the initial work of building the boxes and making the soil mix, it's pretty darn easy (no weeds, fertilizing, hoeing, digging, irrigating, etc).

This picture is from a month or so ago. It looks much different now; I'll take more pictures soon.

The Circus

Or maybe more appropriately the circus that is living with Master Kyler. Sometimes I don't know if I should laugh or cry. That kid usually has the household in an uproar to one degree or another. I could give blow by blow accounts of the day, but that would consume novels, so just a highlight or two from the last few days of recent memory should make the point:

On Thursday we got home from somewhere. He rarely follows me into the house from the car willingly, so after hauling in whatever I had, I headed back out to collect him. He had his pants/underwear around his ankles and was standing up straight. This isn't necessarily unusual in itself - however, he said that he was pooping. That is far more unacceptable than what he would normally be doing in that situation, and I proceeded to march him into the house. As of yet there were no deposits from him. He hooted and howled all the way, and did leave one small snippet before we got to the pot. After filling it up, he got to go back and retrieve his mishap.

Friday: something earlier in the week possessed me to brave the circus - without Dean. Normally such a feat would be unthinkable, but I figured it would be cheap entertainment for the evening. I had free passes for the boys, and bought my ticket in advance for $12. Dean said on the phone that he couldn't believe I was doing it on my own - neither could I by the time it was over. So, on the way there, Kyler decides to pee his pants, in the car. The kid has been perfectly potty trained for nearly a year and a half, since he was 27 months. That hasn't stopped him from just letting loose about every 6 months or so for no good reason (that isn't often enough for me to think about keeping spare clothes in the car). My options were to forget about the circus and just go back home, as there wasn't enough time to go home, then make it to the circus, nor was there time to stop anywhere on the way and just buy something to wear (even a diaper with no pants wouldn't have bothered me, but alas no time). So, I got to smell him all the way there, and all throughout the circus, and all the way back... Then, to add insult to injury, I had to take the carseat out of the car, and figure out how to take it apart to get the cover off and wash it. That is always a terrible ordeal, but it got done.

The circus was excellent, by the way, with all the excitement one would hope for, such as the motorcycle guys in the cage, the guy being fired out of a cannon, girls hanging from and doing acrobatics by their hair, and much more. I stuck to my guns and didn't drop an additional cent, as their objective is to separate you from all your money. I didn't even pay for parking, and we all got a little exercise to boot by walking a bit!

Saturday, we went with some friends to an awesome aquarium that is about 45 minutes away. That was lots of fun, and Kyler wasn't terrible there - just the typical running away and such. When we got home, once again he didn't come inside, so I went out to retrieve him. He was on top of the car jumping up and down as though it was a trampoline. I've been telling him lately to not climb the car - the kid climbs anything and everything, and if it isn't hurting anything I usually let him - he's never fallen yet. But the car is a different story. So I marched him to his room for a time out.

Hunter is getting up close and personal with the pelican in the first picture; Kyler would be the one hanging from the viewer. I happened to be standing very close to where the pelican is in the picture when it decided to come over and land (I was momentarily concerned that it might land on me or do a dirty deed on my head). I assume it was looking for handouts, but it was amazing to see it so close and friendly. Hunter and his little friend were so cute holding hands on the nature trail.

Today, Sunday, we went to church as usual. I sat behind a friend who has kids Kyler's age and younger, with whom he loves to play. That seat happened to be open, as we don't ever get to church on time, so that's why we sat there - I do know better than to put such a temptation right in front of him. He proceeded to act like he was on fire or something, gyrating uncontrollably and being terrible. I wanted to nip that in the bud, so I marched him right out to his car seat and locked him in for a few minutes until he decided he wanted to be good and come back in. The rest of the meeting was unexceptional, although he never was perfectly still or quiet (far from it, but at least under control). I sent him and Hunter off to Primary after Sacrament Meeting, and apparently they both went there just fine. But after the three hour block of classes, the Primary Secretary brought the boys to me and was very apologetic and said that he had apparently left primary shortly after it started (it is for 3-11 year-old children) and went to the Nursery (for 18 month -3yo children). He is well aware of how much fun Nursery is, and that it is stocked with toys and snacks and endless play. With the right attitude, Primary can be fun, as they sing songs and have interactive lessons and such, but apparently the temptation was just too great today, and off he went, apparently unnoticed. Oh, and did I mention that he peed on his bedroom floor this morning before we went to church, just for grins?

He can be the sweetest little devil, and is full of hugs and kisses all day, and loves to rub my ever-growing belly and talk about the baby. He is terribly cute and good looking, and is funny and occasionally obedient. We do love him to pieces, and life would be dull without him. I'm re-reading John Rosemond right now, figuring out what I'm doing wrong. So, slowly I am making progress. He is starting to listen more the first time, as the consequences are happening immediately now, rather than useless threats, bribes or pleas.

Anyway, that's my boy!

Welcome Spring

In moving to North Carolina we expected warmish weather most of the year, and indeed it was pretty mild through about Christmas. Since then it's been mostly cold, with an occasional warm sunny day. Of course people in the North East or midwest would beg to differ about the meaning of "cold", but it has been cold enough to warrant a coat, and to keep me from wanting to go outside much.

Last week it was my turn to plan a playgroup that we attend with other ladies from church, so we had a little Easter egg hunt in the backyard, then quickly came back inside where it was warm. The kids had fun, and Dean, being home for the week, was a good sport and even mowed the lawn the day before and hid the eggs for the kiddos. Since it was a school day, only the little guys were participating. In this picture Kyler is picking up his eggs that escaped from his basket.

And, in case you're interested, here I am six and a half months preggers. I don't feel like I'm nearly as big as I look in the picture, but perhaps the proof is in the puddin'. The clothes I wear make all the difference, and that blouse happens to make me look very large. Although, on Saturday someone asked how far along I was, then proceeded to ask if I was carrying twins. Ha ha. That's a first for me. The OB says I'm carrying high, which she said the old wives' tales say means it's a boy, which indeed baby is a boy...

So Dean has always been on me for Easter and other such holidays to do more of the festive stuff like color eggs and carve pumpkins and all that. I'm not sure why, but that stuff is never terribly appealing to me. Actually, I think it has a lot to do with just having so little energy for some many years. I just don't feel "up" to the non-essential things in life. However, after being treated by the naturopathic physician last year, I actually wanted to decorate the Christmas tree, so that's progress! But being in the third trimester of a pregnancy will zap most anyone's energy, so that's my excuse right now.

Anyway, Dean usually ends up doing the kid stuff, and I usually don't even manage to get pictures. So on Saturday, he had been here a week and was preparing to leave again on Easter Sunday for another two weeks of training in Texas. He wanted to color eggs with the boys. I had hard cooked seven eggs earlier in the day, as I needed some for a potato salad we were taking to a get together. So there were three eggs left. So in the evening when we were home, he started to get worked up about coloring eggs yada yada, and I said that we had three eggs. Of course that seemed ridiculous to him, but I said they didn't need to do dozens to have the experience - three ought to be enough. So, I pulled the food coloring and vinegar out of the cupboard and he went to town with the boys. I had to run get gas, as the car was on fumes just before the Sabbath. So, I wasn't involved, and there are no pictures for evidence, but they did it.

Also on Saturday, Hunter finally wiggled out his two front teeth that have been loose for ages. He won't eat apples these days because he always has loose teeth. I am not one to harass him and threaten to yank them out. I figure they will come out when they are good and ready. Apparently he was good and ready, and must have helped them a bit himself. He told us that a kid at school says that the tooth fairy brings a whole lot of money (like $6) when one loses two teeth. That sounded a little rich to me. Since Dean was here he took care of all that business, to the tune of $4. His mouth has been bleeding since Saturday, from losing the teeth, because of his hemophilia. So I found his medication that is specifically for mouth bleeds in hemophiliacs. It helps to keep a clot intact if one forms. I gave him some before bed tonight. It is quite a bit expired, but hopefully will still help. There was a much newer bottle of the stuff from his tonsillectomy last summer, but I couldn't find it. I don't remember if we used it all up or what. It was kind of pitiful this evening to see small bits blood on his chicken sandwich while he ate dinner.

Dean was wanting to hide Easter eggs Saturday night for the morning hunt, but by the time we went to bed it was late and we were tired, and decided it could wait until morning. However, Hunter got up bright and early, and searched high and low for Easter eggs, and came to report to us that apparently the Easter bunny hadn't left any. Dean was awfully frustrated and was grunting and thinking and wondering what to do about such a predicament. I asked him what was the matter, and he would only say "nothing", but he was obviously upset. So, I called to Hunter and asked if he wanted to get in bed with me. He always wants to, but I usually don't allow such an intrusion. He was delighted to climb in, and of course the stipulation is always that he must tickle my back. So, Dean took the cue and ran outside and hid eggs for the boys, then came back and told Hunter that the Easter bunny must have hid them outside so that he wouldn't run into the tooth fairy inside, as that just wouldn't be right. Hunter said that that was what he had thought. We told him he had to wait until Kyler was awake, so he promptly ran upstairs and woke him up for the excitement. Dean escorted them out while I stayed in bed a few more minutes, hence no pictures. Kyler, being a quick observer, noticed that the eggs were the same eggs he had hunted earlier in the week with the play group, and he was none too happy about it. Dean and I thought that was pretty darn funny. Hunter had no idea what he was talking about, fortunately. So, somehow it all went off without a hitch, and we more or less covered all the silly Easter bases.

And, I've been contemplating what to do as far as Easter gifts. I am of the opinion that it just doesn't seem right that a bunny should be giving eggs and presents because Jesus was resurrected. I don't want the focus of Easter in our home to be eggs, plastic grass, bunnies, candy and presents. But then is that hypocritical if we celebrate Christmas as the Savior's birth, and have candy and presents? I definitely didn't want to lavish them with presents by any means and support the commercial nature of the Holy Day, but I did get the "game" Hullabaloo on sale recently, and figured this would be as good a time as any to give it to them, along with a couple of things from the dollar store (card games and sidewalk chalk). We told them it was from us.