Our New Toy

We bought a fun new toy from our friend Jen. The kids both really love it.

Ashley is getting really good at pushing Ben and he loves every minute of it.

Painting

I went to pick up of some office supplies today because they are super cheap for back to school. I was in the Crayola aisle and saw some paint and thought it could be fun. So I picked it and some paintbrushes up and put Ashley to work creating my first paintings to hang on the fridge .
She had a fun time of it and honestly didn't make too much of a mess. So I thought I would share them with everyone! I also bought a bunch of Crayola markers too cause they were only 88 cents a pack. So that will be another fun project for a different day.

6 month check up

I took Ben for his 6 month check up and he is 20lbs and 28 inches long. She said he is doing well and is very strong. He is meeting all the milestones so far except not much in the field of babbling. He does lots of squeals and shrieks but not babbling.

Mike left for WA state at 5 am this morning to go and visit his mom and grandma before he deploys in Sept.

My finals are on the 24th so my posting will be scarce until then! But I will try!

4th of July...well, the 3rd actally

We went to Roma's Pizza parking on on the 3rd to light of fireworks. We got there early because every other time we have gone it has been really crowded. Umm, well not this time! We were the only ones for a long time and then one other family showed up just before we were packing up and heading home.



Ashley was so excited to see the fireworks. Mike would light one off and she would have the next one already picked out.



She liked the ground blooms the best!



Here we are watching the show. Well the early stuff.



The only bad thing is because we were the only "fresh meat" there when the sunset the skeeters were awful!!! And I mean AWFUL!!!!! The next morning we realized Ashley had close to 30 bites on her face! Yikes. Ben made out with only 3 bites.

The community picnic

The community picnic was fun although there wasn't a whole lot for the little kids to do. Ashley really enjoyed watching the older kids play on the inflatable water slide.

She got soaked and was walking funny. It was so cute to see! She also got to have watermelon but that didn't compare to the excitement at the water slide.

We miss you Burman Family!

I watched T's kids while the movers packed them out. It was great to have one last chance to let the kiddos play. Although Ashley keeps asking for Kamdyn to come over for dinner or night night.


The girls all decided it was so hot they needed to lay down and rest so they made a big bed on the floor and rested.



Bailey and Kamdyn loved our bouncy horse. They kept playing on it all afternoon.

We will miss you guys!!!

Turtle River Picnic

So we managed to take advantage of the wonderful weather lately about a week and a half ago and packed up a picnic lunch to eat at Turtle River state park. We had a blast. We walked some trails, drove around, picked a spot and had lunch! It was quite fun.


Ashley really enjoyed the chance to run freely without mommy yelling, "stay in the yard" "too far" "Ashely....". She was able to pick up sticks and run and overall had a great time!

I think we picked the wrong stroller to bring along as some of the places were quite bumpy. Oh well!

As we are not the most outdoorsy people we did have a little problem with bugs while we were eating our lunch. We made it pretty quite and planned for next time to do all the prep at home instead of there!

Oh and a quick update on Mike. He is doing better. He's back at work but is still pretty sore. He is not taking his meds at work because they make him really sleepy. But overall he's doing better.

Ouch!

Yesterday Mike tore a muscle in his back while stretching. He had just woken up and stretched while laying down and heard it tear. We couldn't get seen on base so after 2+ hours of waiting for a nurse to call back I called furiously and got him a referral downtown. He was so bad he couldn't sit nor lay down so he was stuck standing in one spot.

The doctor at urgent care diagnosed him with a severe muscle strain and prescribed a crap load of meds. Now we have another dr. appointment today on base so they can see him and decide if he needs to be on a profile or light duty. Duh the poor guy can't drive because he can't turn his head. Hopefully they understand how much pain he is in. This is so not fun!

Rain, Rain, Go Away!

Okay, so here are the pictures of the rain that caused our basement to flood for the 4th or 5th time this season.

I have to call housing now because the drywall they put up the day before (yes, just one day before) is now molding again. I think I am going to have them cut off a couple inches off the bottom to make it so it doesn't happen again.

I honestly have not seen this much rain since the time Ellen and I were heading to a meeting on base and the roads were so flooded we had to turn around in the church parking lot.

"winni pooh"

So all day Ashley has been asking for her "winni pooh" which I thought meant her pooh bear. Nope, I was so wrong! About 5 this evening I realized she was asking for her swimming pool. She was so upset when I said no because of the time and the weather. Poor girl, next sunny day for sure.

Pool time!

We finally broke out the plastic pool this week. Ashley loved it. I filled it in the morning (only a couple inches) and after her nap it was almost like bath water. The only bad thing were the skeeters! Yuck I hate those things.


Ben loved watching Ashley splash around in the pool. He started giggling when she was trying to stand on her head....didn't catch a picture of that one, darn it.





My aunt Vickie gave us this chair on our last visit home. It is perfect for the kiddos. Two cup holders and a neato little pouch for extra stuff below. Ashley loves sitting in it in the house.



So we have tried peaches, carrots, mixed cereal, and grape juice and he likes them all! And best of all he actually drank the grape juice from a bottle. I am hoping he will get used to the bottle that way and maybe one of these days I can actually get a sitter without worrying about him going hungry....

The latest Air Force Aid Society Scholarship Recipient

Whoo hoo! I just got a letter in the mail stating that I was selected for a $2,000 scholarship from the Air Force Aid Society. Now between my financial aid and scholarships all of my schooling should be covered! What a relief. I actually forgot that I applied for this scholarship so it was really surprising to get that envie in the mail! My bachelors might finally become a reality!

Daddy's off to 7-level school

Daddy left today for 7-level school. We have been so spoiled that he has been home for over a year straight! We were loving it but now I am out of the swing of deployments and stuff. He'll only be gone for 10 or so days but I still feel like I don't know what to do with myself. (And to keep myself from going crazy caring for the munchkins. So we went to the gym this morning and took a walk to the park this afternoon.


Poor kids. Mommy wasn't paying attention to the temp and I over dressed us all. It was windy and overcast out so I decided long pants for us all. Wrong choice mom! It was over 80 out and humid, long pants were the wrong choice. Oh well.


It was fun to get out of the house but oh my goodness playgrounds are so scary for parents. Ashley has no fear and is climbing up everything and running around. There are all the gaps and poles and toy things that are designed for bigger kids. I must have looked like a fool chasing her from one area to the next to keep her from running off the deck. I swear at each playground on base they need to have a big one for the big kids and a smaller one (not as tall with few gaps to fall from).

But as you can see Ashley enjoyed herself! We met up with our friend Laura and her little girl Katie and had a good time. Plus I got in some mommy talk, which was definitely appreciated.

Climbing the big slide. Eeek!

Now Ben was the easy one. He stayed put!

The mysterious disappearing tooth

So Ben's mysterious tooth disappeared. I know I am not crazy! Mike saw it, I saw it and another lady at the FSC saw it! I have no clue where it went as it was just about to break through the skin. I could feel it and see it but now it's gone. Hmmmm, interesting. So now I have to see if I want to keep my appointment on the 7th or if I'll look like the crazy woman who thinks her kid has a tooth when he doesn't! Oh well!


Ben loves playing on his tummy but will only stay that way for a few minutes. He usually ends up drooling so much I have to change the blanket.





The first cracker...So today I was eating some saltine crackers and Ben was really acting interested so hmm I handed him one I figured what the heck right. He seemed to enjoy licking it the most. He took a few nibbles and then had some really confused looks when he had chunks in his mouth. Overall I think he got about a quarter of the cracker in his mouth and the rest of it ended up in a soggy mess. So much for rice cereal as a first food.

A canine tooth, already!

Holy moly, so the past few days I have noticed signs that Ben was teething. Lots of drool, chewing on anything and everything, and overall crankiness. So yesterday I shoved my finger in his unsuspecting mouth to feel around. What did I feel? A tooth! But not where it should be not a front tooth, nope, not Ben! He is cutting his first canine or eye tooth. Ashley just cut hers like 4 months ago. I called the pediatrician to double check and they recommended that I call my dentist to see what they thought. So I called my dentist and she said that it is VERY unusual and although nothing may be wrong they want him to see the pediadontist. Hmm this should be fun. I will update when I know more. We have to see the base pediatrician. first so we can get a referral because Concordia doesn't cover them when they are so young. Lovely, this should be an event.

Benjamin

Ben napping on mommy's bed. He loves cuddling!




Alright, I have heard some complaining about me not posting any pictures in like 5 days....holy moly, sorry mom. Here you go.
Caught red handed! Or at least that's the look he gave.


Ben's first grass experience.

EGGS-celent

This is what happens when you are feeding the baby....I told Ashley that for breakfast we could have scrambled eggs. But I had to feed Ben first. So I am sitting on the couch feeding him and crash...she is repeatedly saying "uh oh, broken now, eggs". Not only do I get to clean up 8 smashed eggs but I get to listen to crying/whining toddler who now does not get eggs for breakfast....poor girl

All done!

Well I just finished up my last homework assignment for this term. Yeah! It is a relief to have it all done and a few weeks off. My next term starts on June 4th, so I have 2 weeks to relax and try to get some stuff done!!!! (yeah right)

I took Ben for his 4 month check yesterday. He is doing great. On the doctors scale he is 17lbs 4oz and 26 1/4 inches long. He got 3 shots and an oral roto-virus vaccine. I have never heard him cry that loud or sad sounding before. Man that pulls at a mommy's heart strings. Otherwise they said he looks super healthy and said that we can start him on solids anytime between now and 6 months. I think I will wait a little while but that will be fun.

I switched him out of his infant car seat because he is officially too long so we'll see how he likes it on our next trip out. I already miss the bucket!

Ashley's poor little earrings (well, actually just the holes) are infected for the first time. I put some cheap, cute earrings in the other day and apparently her ears didn't like them. Mommy feels bad again! I took them out and now don't know if I should put the good ones back in so the holes don't close up or if I should leave them out until her ears clear up...any input?

picture time!

Ben has just started enjoying his tummy time. Before he would just scream as soon as I put him there but now he'll hang out for a while with a smile!

Here are the kids this morning. Ashley decided she wanted to hold Ben (doesn't happen all that often!) so I jumped at the shot to snap a pic.

It's crazy there is only 7lbs difference between them.

were better now!

What a smile!!!!!

Chilling out watching TV while mom put away the laundry.



As you can tell Ashley is now back to her usual self. She is much better now. She is still down 2 lbs but is eating like crazy so I don't think it will take her long to gain it back. (don't I wish that was my problem...)

Next week is my last week of classes so my life will calm down for a little while. I just finished up 2 papers that are waiting for Mike to proof read. At least they are out of my hands now!

Today we tried out the Johnny jumper and he really liked it. He stayed in for about 15 minutes and was able to touch the floor even at the shortest settings. I think those things are made for doorways that are 10-12 feet tall not 8 ft like in base housing (or most places for that matter).

Ben will be going in on next Thurday for his 4 month well baby. I am excited to hear what they say. But not so excited for the shots part of it.