Kiddo update

It has been a very long week so far...and it isn't even Tuesday yet. Christian isn't getting better. He isn't puking or anything but now he just has a stuffy/runny nose and just whines alllllllllllll day. He doesn't have his appetite back yet either. He isn't very fun. haha. I would imagine that if Sarah wasn't here he would get all the cuddles and attention he needs but alas Sarah needs to eat and be tended to as well!

He got up at 4:30am this morning. I have been so tired the last few nights that I haven't heard him get up in the mornings and Matt has been doing it (he has been sleeping downstairs on a mattress because of him being sick and coughing his head off). I managed to get him back in bed at 7am and he slept until 9. So that was good but then made me worry about him taking another nap later in the day. But no issues there!! He went back down at 11am and didn't ge up until almost 3pm. Poor kiddo.

Sarah isn't getting better with her teething. If she is, in fact, having that going on! I still don't see any buds coming in. But I haven't found anything else that it could be! So, teething it is.... I've been giving her lots of teething tablets and keeping on the Tylenol at night. She is sleeping in hour long stretches now instead of waking up every 20 minutes like she did for two nights in a row. I should have just puer her in bed with me. But now that I'm keeping up with the meds she is getting better. Her longest stretch so far is 3 hours! Yay!

She still won't suck on a pacifier but will chew on it all day long! I don't get it. She can suck on ME all day long but won't take the binky. :( I let her cry for 10 minutes with it in her mouth today hoping that she would just take it. Nope... I'll keep at it. I just rotate between 2 or 3 and hope she takes one.


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Matt got in contact with Housing as Grand Forks. We can't put in for a spot on a list until Matt gets his paper orders (official hard copy ones) so hopefully that will happen soon. The gal he spoke with sent him pictures in an email of the different floor plans and pictures of the houses. So we'll see where we end up!

I'm a slacker - but we've got news!

I'm sorry! I've gotten one page of pictures up and have some more to go!! Lots of Sea Life Park and lots from Nancy's week here.

It's just been a long week since Matt got back. He was sick in Korea and brought the crud home. Then the day before Christian's birthday he got sick and barfed all over himself (and ME!) on the couch. He still hasn't gotten his appetite back - just little things here and there. Then I'm fairly sure Sarah is teething for real this time. There was one night this week that she was up TWELVE times before 1:30am. Finally at 3:30am she slept a full hour which let me get about 45 minutes. That was a very long night. She is getting better as the nights go on but not bu much. :( If I keep on top of the Tylenol and teething tablets she seems to be okay.

Anyways - my baby boy is TWO! He had a crappy birthday and spent it sleeping on a mattress in the living room with Matt. It was a pretty sad sight to behold. :(

So he did his presents and sorta ate some cake the day after. I'll get pictures of him opening presents up later.

So this week has been another long one to add onto my already long month of Matt being gone! Is it April yet?!

Okay so onto the news! I'm sure ALL of you have been informed by now but Matt got orders during one of his last days of being in Korea! Some back story first:
There is some sort of list for AF bases that nobody really wants to go to. Minot and Grand Forks (now, who wouldn't want to enjoy the nice winters in North Dakota?!?!??!?), some place in California and we think a base in New Mexico (Matt can't remember). Anyways, for a VERY long time Matt has been trying to fill out the forms to volunteer to go to one of these bases. He is supposed to do it online but never got the thing to work. While in Korea he was talking to a Superintendent about it. This guy worked his magic and all Matt had to do was sign a piece of paper!! That's it! Done. The next five years of Matt's career with be spend in Grand Forks, ND!

Say it with me folks - Hallelujah, God is GOOD! We are so excited we can hardly contain ourselves. We will be 335 miles from HOME. That means mini weekend vacations, hunting, fishing, SNOW forts, being able to drive 20 miles in the COUNTRY, seasonal weather, down-to-Earth good people...and so much more! There are just so many things that we are looking forward to when we move from Hawaii. It was a great experience while we were here and we certainly tried to make the best of it while on The Rock..but we sure can't wait to leave it! By October 30 we will be at Grand Forks AFB and living the life that we want our children to love. We can't wait!!!!

That is all I have time forin this post! I'll hopefully get some more about the kids in later!

Two more nights!

Two more nights and I will FINALLY have a husband again! He should be getting in Monday morning unless planning goes horribly wrong and they make him stay there or something! How fun would that be? :(

Anyways, this last week went fast thanks to Nancy.
We cooked lots of meals

Took Stanley to get a Dole Whip

And spent time with the two most amazing kiddos in the world



Nancy, THANK YOU so much for coming out and spending time with us.

I'll update the website tomorrow maybe. I'm super tired and wasn't able to get a nap in today. So maybe tomorrow some time I will get a few pictures up. But for now you just get a blog. :) I'm headed to bed!

Lots of cooking!

Nancy and I have done A LOT of cooking the last few days! It was great fun and I'm glad I had some help. I counted all the different dishes and bags that we put food into and there are 17, yes SEVENTEEN, dishes of food. That means 17 nights in the next month I don't have to think about what to cook. I just thaw and bake! :)

Also, here is the recipe for the bread pudding. Some have asked for it so I'm going to post it here for everyone!


Cinnamon Bread Pudding Recipe

4 eggs
3 1/2 cups milk
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 tpsp additional brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon, divided
1 loaf cinnamon raisin bread, torn in pieces

Spray slow cooker and put in bread.
In bowl, combine eggs, milk, 1 cup brown sugar, vanilla, 1/2 tsp cinnamon. Mix well.
Pour over bread. (you can stir if you want)
Sprinkle remaining cinnamon and brown sugar.

Cover and cook on low 4-5 hours or high 2-3.


Once the kids get up we are headed to the Dole Plantation to get some Dole Whip and pictures with Flat Stanley. :)

Forgot to post Sarah's new stats!

Sarah had her 4-month well baby check on Thursday. She is doing great! :)

Here are her 2-month stats:
11.8 lbs (75%)
23.25 inches (80%)

Her new 4-month stats:
14.8 lbs (70%)
26 inches (95%)

Yes, you are reading that correctly. She is TALL!!!! She grew almost three inches in two months. She doesn't fit in any of her 3mo clothes anymore and a lot of her 3-6mo are starting to be too short for her torso. Get this girl a basketball hoop!

She got shots as well. They were still out of the HIB so who knows when she will get that!

She will go again when she is 6 months old. :)

Next Pediatrician appointment is for Christian. He has his check up ON his birthday!

Freeze Ahead Meals

I should totally be napping but I wanted to share what I did today! I am going to be cooking A LOT of food with the help of Nancy when she gets here. So today when I was getting a few things for this endeavor I was told to buy a vacuum sealer and bags. The vacuum sealer was only $3.49 so I thought why not!? Well, I love it! It came with 6 AA batteries. People...CAME WITH the batteries. A pack of batteries alone can cost over $4! It also came with 3 quart sized bags. See, look!


You just press the little doo-hickey to the circle on the bag and viola!

So, I wanted to try my lovely bags out. I had what I needed to make a double batch of chili. A-cookin' I went! And here is one of the three gallon-sized bags that I have full of chili. Flat of course, so I can pile multiple bags on top of each other :)


So I have lots of things to make and put in bags and tupperware containers. I'm super excited. This is going to help us not go out to eat as much. :) It will save us money in the end even though the grocery bills will be higher. Yay, me!

Oh, and I wish you could smell this:

It's cinnamon bead pudding in the crock pot. A loaf of cinnamon raisin bread with a mix of eggs, milk, brown sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon poured on top!!!!! And little ole me gets to eat it all!!!!

What a day...

I am only 8 days into Matt being gone and it feels like 18. I don't know how single mothers do this. It's not fun. Not fun in the sense that I get no help, no breaks, no alone time. I love my kiddos but the added hands of The Husband is wonderful. I miss him.

He called tonight for a few minutes. He sounds worse today then the last time we talked. Very stuffy and very tired. Non-stop working for the exercise. I just hope he is getting enough sleep.

Christian was a turd all day. He woke up with a stuffy nose and then it ran all day. And he keeps taking his entire forearm and wiping his nose. ICK!!!!!! Once he even went to his little couch, picked it up, and ran it across his nose. Gross, dude. So I have to keep telling him he needs to use a tissue.

Sarah now has the sniffles and a runny nose. Hers started midday. I have no idea if it's a cold like what Christian may have or if she is TEETHING! She has been drooling a lot (more than the usual bucket fulls) the last few days and has been mauling her face with her hands. It's like her entire face itches and she takes her hands and beats herself up. I have to try and wrap her up in a blanket when I feed her so she doesn't poke her eye out. She also felt hot this evening. So I gave her some tylenol, put some teething tablets her gums, suctioned out her nose, and am praying for a peaceful night. We'll see how long that lasts.....

Sarah also has her 4-month well-baby visit tomorrow. I think she is growing quite well. She is in 6-month clothes and very few of her onesies fit anymore. And she ran out of sleepers!!! I'll update her stats when I get the time tomorrow.

I know I had more I wanted to blog about tonight but I can't think of them.... So, this is all for now!

3rd times the charm! Timeouts. Staring Contests.

Matt called me tonight. But we didn't actually get to have our conversation until the third time! There is some internet phone of some sort that he can use to call me. It wasn't working so he had to find a phone and use a calling card.

It's so nice to hear his voice. :) But it's a stuffy one now. He got a cold. I'm sure he is feeling like crud having to work 12-hour shifts. He works from 4pm to 4am. He has to be ready by 3pm so that he can take the bus to work. Then I'm sure he sleeps all day! Ick. He said he misses us of course and looks at the pictures I sent his phone before he goes to bed at night.

That is all I have to report about Matt. I can't tell you the mushy stuff!!! ;-)

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Christian has been a stinker the last few evenings. I can tell that he is bored with me by the end of the day and would rather have Matt. Wish I could give that to him. I'm starting a new time out method. Before he would get a swat if he refused to listen a few times. But a friend's daughter was quick to go to timeout by the wall when she said. So I asked her what she did. Quite literally, she just brought her to the wall and put her nose to it. She said it took about 10 times for her to realize that this was timeout and she had to go to the wall and stand right next to it with her face.

So ever since Matt left I have been doing this when Christian blatantly refuses to listen or throws a tantrum. I have been taking him to a wall and holding his head there and telling him that he is in timeout and shouldn't do whatever he did to get there. I was holding Sarah once when he started getting mad and threw something. He was told to go to timeout by the wall and he actually went!! He didn't stay there, of course, but he knew what I was talking about!! :-) So, I'm going to do this timeout thing hardcore and hopefully he will be 'trained' by the time Matt gets back! How much easier life will be if I have a toddler that actually listens. haha.

In Sarah news...she has been having staring contests with her hands. It's the cutest thing and I really need to get her facial expression on camera. In past weeks she has known they are there. But never has she stared at them quite like the last few days! The way her arm is held and the look she gives it - almost like a Japanese Kung Fu voice over. I laugh every single time. That girl is awesome.

But that girl is going to have a 'tude!!! When she gets frustrated she lets out this high-pitched squeal. That is going to get her in trouble when she is Christian's age I think! It's her "Do something with me RIGHT NOW" scream.

'Yes, Ma'am!!' responds Mom.

The kiddos are sleeping, I'm going to FINALLY have dinner, and then watch a show or two before I head to bed. Love you!

One weekend down...

I made it the whole weekend!! Every week I look forward to Saturday and Sunday because we get Daddy home all to ourselves. I didn't think it would end! Now I can go back to it being Monday and pretending Matt is just at work!

No phone call from him yet today. Not sure I will get one since he started his 12-hour night shifts. I'm sure he is super tired and wants nothing more than to sleep.

I put a ton of videos on the website. Go check them out! Next time I talk to Matt I'll have to see if he is able to access the website and look at the kiddos. I'll have to make a special video with the kids just for him if he can.

I'm going to get a bowl of cereal and catch up on some of the TV shows that I have recorded.

More phone calls!

Matt has called me almost every day since he got to Korea! :-)

He called me two nights ago VERY briefly to just say hi. He wasn't able to get his calling card to work so he had to use his actual phone number. And that is costing him $1.99 a minute. Then he called last night at about 10pm. I was already in bed because I was exhausted and was able to talk to him for about 5 minutes. He said he was really busy with work every day. Getting inprocessed and then having to get ready for the exercise that he will be doing there. Then he called tonight at about 5!! I could tell he wasn't using a regular phone/satellite. The response time was VERY laggy and we kept talking over one another. But he got to say hi to Christian on speaker phone and heard Sarah talking in the background. He misses them a lot. Of course he said he misses me too!

He starts his 12-hour night shifts tonight (which is his Sunday night). He isn't looking forward to that but then maybe if he stays on that the whole time he is there it will make the return trips time change a bit easier. Who knows...

We haven't done much at the house. Went to K-Mart today to get some baby wipes and to just browse a bit so Christian could get out of the house. It was raining so I couldn't let him run around in the backyard. Well, I could have...but didn't want to have to deal with the mess that would have ensued! Anyways, the store is literally 3 miles away and it took me a good 25 minutes to get there. EVERYBODY was trying to get to Target!! HAHA! Traffic was quite horrible for 3pm on a Saturday. But I made it there and back alive. I'll get to Target later when the hype has died down. But believe me - if I didn't have to bring two kids with me I would be there ALL the time!

I've been tired the last few days. It's exhausting when I don't get the extra set of hands to help me with the little things in the evenings. Amazing how much it helps when Matt just occupies the kids for a half hour or something so I can get dinner ready or to unload and reload the dishwasher.

Tonight I gave the kids a bath at the same time. I thought about taking a picture but I'm not THAT good at multi-tasking. I was too busy trying to keep Christian's splashes from drowning Sarah!! It worked out well and I was able to get them both clean. Hooray for good smelling kiddos.

I'll try and get some videos up later. I'm still trying to figure out how to download some of the bigger ones. I'm having issues. :-(

Two Seconds of Fame!!!

I watched the news last night at 5 and 6pm. I was on BOTH times!!! Only for about two seconds though. We were in line checking out and there was a camera guy there. Sure enough..there I am in my green shirt and Sarah strapped to my front in a blue carrier.

Take a look! I'm at the time 1:43. HERE

I can't wait to go back to Target to go CLOTHES SHOPPING!! Mommy needs more pants!


Side note - no call from Matt last night. Boo.

A phone call and a Target!

Last night after I finished up the blog Sarah woke up. :( It was about 10:15 and Sarah just screamed at the top of her lungs. I went up and picked her up and patted her back and then put her on the bed to do some bicycle legs. Sure enough she had gas - and LOTS of it! That little girl can toot! I got her to sleep and was walking down the stairs at 10:24 to the sound of somebody singing in the living room. ???

It was my phone!!!!!!! I missed Matt's phone call so I call him back and it rang FOREVER before he picked up. Phew! He was at baggage claim in Korea and just wanted me to know that he made it. Yay. :) It was nice to hear his voice before I went to bed for the night.

In other news...I might be IN the news! The brand new Targets just opened up today here on Oahu. Of course I went!!! I got some puzzles for Christian and more socks for Sarah. I even brought Flat Stanley along. He got a picture with the guy on the big Security scooter that was outside.


It was a good morning! Hopefully I can stick with being busy and makes these next few weeks fly by.

Decent day today.

We all took Matt to work this morning. It was weird. I just pretended that he would be coming home that evening. But of course he wouldn't be since today he left for Korea! He has a long flight there, long bus ride to base, and lots in inprocessing. So I hope to hear from him by Thursday morning.

It was a good day though. Little rough with the toddler attitude today but I put a stop to that and put him down for a nap at 10 am. WAY earlier than he usually goes down. Sarah went down fairly well right after I put Christian down. I got about a 20 minute nap...I think. I'm not sure when I feel asleep but I kept waking up. The first few times I thought Sarah was making noises but I would look at her and she was out cold. So I think I have just been so tired that I am whimpering in my sleep or something. I have been known to do that a few times!! But then Christian got up at noon and my napping was cut short. :( I got him up and gave him some lunch while Sarah slept a little longer. Then it was off to the commissary to get some milk. It wasn't too crowded but it seemed like everybody went to the checkouts at the same time. And why they only have 2 lanes open at a time is mind-boggling. They never have enough checkers.

After we were done there we went and hung out at a friend's house for a while so that the kiddos could play. They had lots of fun and wore each other out a bit. They played with DVD cases and made a mess.

It's fun to watch them play together. They try to copy each other and then steal back the toys. haha! They are such good kids, though.

Well, my first night in a long time that I'm going to bed alone and with no conversation from hubby. When he went to Virginia however many months back I was able to at least get a goodnight and an I Love You. But not this time. He will be super duper busy. The kids are in bed, I've updated with pics and I did a blog. Even though I haven't done my dishes and cleaned the kitchen, I'm calling this day successful!!! :-)

One down - 20 to go.

I Take It Back....

...Matt hasn't been up to nothing. Well, he was doing nothing until Thursday that is.

I'm sure all of you have heard the news by now. Matt is going to Korea for a few weeks. I don't mind at all. We are just miffed at the lack of time between when he was informed of Korea and when he is actually leaving for Korea. Four days. Thanks Air Force! He could be gone for 3 months instead of 3 weeks and I wouldn't have minded it as long as there was adequate time preceding his departure. Grr.

Anywhos...I just hope that I can handle both kiddos. Christian is still a pill and Sarah would rather nurse all day. I told Matt that I want to clean/organize/sell some stuff while he is gone so I hope to find the time to do so.

Enough of that, it's no biggie.

Here is a video of the kiddos. For some reason Sarah giggles when Christian is in front of her. He makes any movement/noise and she loves it!! She was laughing so hard that I had to help hold her head up. It would go back and she had troubles getting it upright again. haha Hope you like the video. **And don't mind the mess. It was 10:30 in the morning and I don't clean much until about 3pm! haha