Sunday, March 29, 2009

Three Months

 
My little guy is 3 months old today.
He is busy watching his big sisters, rolling from his tummy to his back, and sleeping well at night.
Laurelei had a day of not feeling well and a fever.  She crawled up onto the chair and just laid next to Kjetil.  Check out his disblief that she was just laying there, not poking at him or writing on his head or trying any of her other fun play ideas.

 
After awhile, Kjetil got bored and moved onto a different spot and activities. Laurelei remained.

 
The furniture is comfy!

Saturday, March 21, 2009

Tanker v. Tinker

A week ago, after the base picnic, Eric dropped me off to do some grocery shopping and he kept the kids taking them on a driving tour of the base.  The tour included the edge of the "bone yard".  He was happily playing tour guide pointing out various planes.  Laurelei and Kjetil slept through the tour.

Eric, "CJ that is an F-16"
CJ in her best bored teenager voice, "I don't care. And I don't see an F."

Not to be discouraged, Eric continued with the tour.  He loves looking at the planes and they still had time to spare.  Several minutes and planes later they came across a KC-135.

Eric,"CJ that is the tanker plane that daddy used to fly on."
As excited as a 4 yr old can be, busting at her own seams, she exclaims, "DADDY, YOU FLEW WITH TINKER BELL?!?!?!!?"



****On another note, I have figured out where her, "Don't get me wrong Sunshine" phrase came from.  Any guesses? The winner(s) I will assume have a little girl between the ages of 2-8.  Isn't that prize enough ;)

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Great weekend!

We were busy this weekend!  Saturday we went to the base picnic, enjoyed the bouncy houses, slides and climbing wall.  The girls rode a little ride and got their faces painted.
 
Kjetil enjoyed the day as well.

 neither are paying attention to their driving....hmmm
 Then on Sunday we went to Chandler for Jayden's baptism.  It was a lot of fun to spend the day with the Bandys'!
 
Kjetil and Jayden
Jayden is a month older, they both loved looking at each other and Kjetil wouldn't hold still for pictures.  We rushed home to meet up with Eric's sister and family.  We got to meet Cael, who is 9 days younger than Kjetil.
The cousins
We decided that Cael and Kjetil must weigh about the same, but Kjetil is a lot longer/taller.  I love Cael's little meaty thighs though.
Monday we played tourist.  We went to the Pima county air and space muesuem.  CJ even did the flight simulator.  It was a great day to do the outside planes.
 
In the hands on kid section.

 
SR-71 (I think)
and CJ pushing Kjetil in the stroller.

 
Atop Sentinal Peak.
Laurelei fell asleep on the way to the top and Kjetil decided it was time to eat..but a place we will return to, so pretty to see the city from up there!



Friday, March 13, 2009

What's a mom to do?

I put Kjetil in the pack n play, in my bedroom, so that I can use the bathroom, with the door open, in my master bath.  He's safe right?

Apparently he was lonely.
Despite my best efforts, I cannot keep the girls out of the pack n play when Kjetil is in there. There is some magnetic force greater than me pulling them.
 
He did get to take his first nap in his crib by himself.

 
Currently all the kids love bath time...and the girls have become my big helpers.

 
I hope this doesn't mean I'm being replaced.

 

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Don't get me wrong, Sunshine

CJ's newest little phrase she says all the time..."Don't get me wrong, Sunshine..."
 We don't know where she picked it up from, and often she is just saying it to be saying something.


Well we haven't been doing much...

just sitting around.....

 
In curious places....

 
oh and on our new furniture!!!!

 
This is the "family" area if you will of our great room

 
And they have already tested out the climbing possibilities...grrr...

 
The "piano" area as Eric likes to call it.

 
I really like the warm yet neutral colors, however we have way too many pillows, not sure about that. The space in our 'Great' room filled up fast with all the new furniture.

 
And the girls' bunk beds.  Laurelei can now successfully go up AND DOWN the ladder...another grrrr.

Saturday, March 7, 2009

A year

How fast a year can fly by.  How much we can accomplish.  How much we miss.

A year ago we left Florida.

Since then we moved to Texas and bought a house and now live in Arizona.  (for my sleep deprived friends, that's 2 moves) Eric would like it clarified that he moved 3 times with his TDY enroute in Arkansas.

Eric got his wings.

Eric's mom and my dad are tied with 3 trips to Texas each.

We've been blessed with a son.

I got a smokin' deal on a 9ft pre lit Christmas tree, after Christmas.  Our new house has 9 foot ceilings.

Today we bought our first and second living room sets. It was 10yrs in the making...once it get delivered I'll share pictures.  We also got, gasp, bunk beds for the girls...I'm still not sure about this!

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Where we live

We live out in the country...yet in a subdivision, so my brain is having some issues wrapping around having neighbors surrounding us, yet very much in the country.  For example as you drive to our house....
 
This means that we are frequently crossing cattle guards.  Nothing new to me!  However CJ insists that these are signs for moose in the area.  Does anyone have a sign for a moose crossing?  It is a pretty view as we drive to our house, don't yacha think?
Also a familiar sound are coyotes.  They get all the dogs in the neighborhood riled up.  Josh heard a coyote while he was here.
And this is the view at the end of our street...we are on the base of the mountains.  This is the reason that our neighbor on Monday morning watched a cat walk down the middle of our street, get on her belly and crawl under another neighbor's gate.  And by cat I'm not talking about a stray that keeps you up at night with it's meowing.....I'm talking about a mountain lion, that walked right by our house.  Do you think getting the word out that there is a "Panther" in the neighborhood will deter such activity?
 
Prickly pear --remember to pick with the claw and not the paw--I always think of Baloo when I see them.  They do provide color along the desert landscape.
Not to leave out the house, we have been working on that as well.
 
Thanks Josh!

 
And one more thing....
The kids are doing well. CJ has managed to only have a day of the AZ crud, while the rest of us continue to battle.  Kjetil has discovered his hands and although he smiles all the time, I have yet to capture the moment.  Here is a close one.
 
A note for Josh, CJ said she is only letting you borrow "her" hat.

 

Monday, March 2, 2009

Quick update....pictures to come later

Okay, so we haven't really taken any pictures the past couple of weeks, but I'll get a few taken and up soon. We even had our first batch of company Friday and forgot to get the camera out.  Karen promises that they'll be back, it was great to see Karen, Erika, Kelsey and baby Jayden!

Let me back up a ways...Laurelei had her 2yr well baby check up before we left TX...she has finally made it to 25lbs and was 34.75 inches tall...tall and skinny as always.  Kjetil also had his 2mo well baby check up and he weighed in at 12lbs 2oz...he was just over 7wks at that time.  He was 24 inches...and again tall and skinny despite being a big baby...his weight was only the 50% and his height at 75%.  He eats really well, every 4 hrs and has begun to do 6hr stretches at night. The doc suggested I increase his feedings so his weight can catch up to his height...I laughed, he from the get go wouldn't eat unless hungry and I don't think that will change now.  She also suggest the same with Laurelei, but unless I just fed her ice cream all day, I'm not sure how else to get her to eat more.

During that time our house was being packed up.  We had a great crew from Mayflower who treated our stuff well. We were able to do a door to door move and 2 of the 3 from CC unloaded for us here.  We signed papers and got keys on Monday Feb. 23rd.  Eric cleaned the carpets in the bedrooms and my brother wiped out cupboards, the ceiling fans and lights --THANK YOU.  Our stuff came on Tuesday.  We picked up my brother in San Antonio and it was wonderful having him along.  We did a quick tour of the River walk and everyone else visited the Alamo, while I nursed Kjetil and read a book in the park.  Our trip was pretty uneventful.

Eric did a great job in picking out the house.  We are at the base of the mountains...well slightly up the base, and the area is beautiful.  We are outside of the city limits but in a housing community. The neighborhood is quiet and safe which is great.  I just wish Eric didn't have a 30min commute.  The area offers lots to do and the weather has been great.  I will admit, it doesn't feel like home.....yet...I'm sure that will come.  Despit having great weather, we did not make it to the local rodeo days.  We were all pretty worn out from the move and Laurelei came down with croup, CJ had a terrible cold and I was feeling the yuck as well.  We caught it early and Laurelei is on the mend.  Next year I'm sure we'll take in all the festivities. --Josh come back!

Josh was a great help...moving furniture, hanging an oval mirror which he says is a pain, ceiling fans and unpacking boxes. He also kept Panther walked and played with the girls.  He says I owe him one though (I think I may owe him more than that).  Friday night, the night before he left, Eric and I returned a pan to the neighbor.  CJ was upset that I wouldn't let her tag along.  Well the neighbor had good info for us and was a bit more chatty than I had planned on. When we returned I could hear the girls in the bath and Josh met us at the door and let me know just what we had left him with. Two crying girls, and since it was taking too long he started the bath, only to find that Laurelei had a poopy diaper.  I use cloth diapers and Josh said he put the dirty dipe on the dryer and the disposable wipes into the dirty diaper bag.  I looked at him quizzically, and he said, "hey, I panicked".  I'm sure that sealed the deal for him to be ready to return to the cold and snow in Iowa.

Eric reported to work last week and has been busy with briefs and in processing. He begins class at the end of the month.  We got reconnected with the world yesterday and today we played school all day and made puppy chow.  Panther has gotten a few more gray hairs, moving and babies seem to do that to her.  The stress has also caught up with her and we are monitoring her closely, today she started to eat again, so hopefully she is on the mend and it is nothing serious.

Off to make supper, clean and unpack a few more boxes.