Moving...Moved...Almost Unpacked.

Honestly.  The move wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, aside from leaving our dear friends in Illinois.  It breaks my heart everytime Ady asks for Brady, and which house is his new house. 

Last Saturday (Yikes, has it realy been a week?!?!) we packed up the house into a 26 ft Penske truck, and of course ran out of room.  One quick trip to Uhaul later, I had added a 4x8 trailer to our moving plans.  Finally everything was going to fit.  You never really realize how much junk you accumulate until you move.  It was rediculous.  Still is.  Half that damn truck must have been the kids' toys!!! 

Checkout went great, in fact, they moved the next set of tenants in before we even got the moving truck/trailers out of the cul-de-sac!!  Really.  We were still saying bye to the neighbors when they took over the keys!! 

The drive wasn't bad either.  More challenging with 2 kiddos, but overall it went well.  Cooper screamed a little more than I expected.  He was done in the car after about 5 hours each day, which is understandable, but the show must go on!!  I was worried about Ady needed to stop to potty all the time, but she did great.  I just kept her pink potty in the back of theTB and we got it out at every stop.  The truckers all had a good laugh at the little girl on the pink potty, everytime we stopped.  Here are a few pictures from along the way.  The ice is in Kentucky, just before we crossed into Virginia.

What better way to pass the time than "ride" the Uhaul trailer?!?!  Yeeeee-Haaaaaaa!!!!

We finally made it to the new house and I haven't taken any pictures yet.  Except these:

Ady's new back yard has a rock wall...

and a slide...

and a flying trapeze bar...

and swings...

Before we had cable, Adyson was survivng watching only the portable dvd player.  Cooper enjoyed it also!

We have met lots of new neighbors, but no kids yet.  However, there is a 13 year old girl next door who has already offered to babysit.  Our favorite new neighbors are these guys:

More on them later, but this was literally in our garage. 

Poo-Poo in the Pot-tee!

I will spare you all the photographic evidence, but yesterday for the first time EVER, Adyson pooped in the big girl potty.  She was very excited once it was a done deal, but it was a fight to get her to sit on the potty long enough to make any progress.

I had decided yesterday morning that this weekend I was really gonna hit the pooping thing hard.  I went to Target and picked up a Zhu-Zhu pet (basically a motorized hampster)  while Ady was at school and hid it.  I never said a word about it to Adyson.  Later that day when she asked for a pull-up I told her no and she needed to try on the potty.  She did a couple fake tries and asked again for a pull-up.  I talked her into trying again and got out the new books I had also bought for her at Target.  We were on page 2 of the second book and she got real quiet and started looking between her legs... SUCCESS!!! 

...and that is all she has talked about since.

I gave her the "Mousey" and she has had a blast playing with it.  I also bought the ball to go with it, but couldn't get it to work right so today we went and exchanged it for a car and now her "Mousey" has a car to cruise around in.  I am realizing now that I haven't snapped any pics of this yet but I will share them when I do!!

Mommy?!?!

Oh, how I am quickly learning to dread that word in a certain tone... 

Two days ago, when Ady called for "Mommy?!?!" there were half a dozen goat pellets on the floor.

(See "Ady's 'Spill' ")

Really, could it get any worse?

Today, while cutting up some chicken in hopes of actually getting to eat it, Adyson was at it again.  I left the living room where she was zombied out (or so I thought) in front of cartoons and went to make my lunch.  A minute later, here comes Ady, sneaking up behind me as I am cutting up a chicken breast.  "Mommy?!?!" (in her sweet innocent tone) and I turn around to this:

Before I can even say a word, she says "I think we need to throw these away" and hands me the two markers she has used as lipstick.  (We always threaten her that we will throw her toys away if she doesn't play right with them)  All I could do was laugh.  I tried to be real serious and tell her she was naughty, but I am not sure she bought into it with a huge smile on my face.  Luckily, we only own washable, non-toxic markers (which have now been taken away) - and now I know why.  The marker came off with a wipe no problem.

I am just glad it wasn't on the walls, carpet, furniture, clothes, or Cooper!!

Cooper "Porker" Lease is 4 months old!!!

Ok, ok.  He really isn't a porker, but he did gain a pound in less than three weeks!!  That isn't really a lot, considering 1-2 pounds per month is considered "normal", but since he was losing weight 3 weeks ago I am super excited about the weight gain.

So his stats were:

12lb 14oz

25"

and his head was so big around she came back and measured it again... I left the growth chart in the TB so I don't have the number but his head has been off the charts at every checkup.

Dr. Coble was impressed with his head control and abaility fo push up on his arms so well.  I credit it to the ExerSaucer and Bumbo chair. He sits in those things alot!  He also said he is "sitting" well (when you sit him up on your lap - or wherever - he sits instead of slumping over into a ball). 

We also got the green light for solids, although as you all know I already jumped the gun on that one!!

I had a hard time getting good pictures today.  Ady was taking pictures with her camera as well, and since Cooper's favortie thing on Earth is Adyson, he would only look at her!! 

These "rings" are Cooper's new favorite toys.  He plays with them all the time!!  I hang them from his play mat and he can entertain himself for a good 10 minutes!!

Coop's "Alfalfanator" hair do!  He is rubbing a bald spot in the back of his head, so he has hair on the top and hair on the bottom (his mullet) and nothing in between!! HA!

Ady's "Spill"

So this is the whole story...

Adyson refuses to even try to poop on the potty.  Today, literally a minute after I sat down to nurse Cooper (who is totally watching Ice Dancing right now while sitting in his ExerSaucer), she told me she needed to poop and she wanted a pull-up (just like she always does).  She is getting pretty good at dressing/undressing herself so I told her she could put it on herself.  She got it on fine, but it was a little crooked so I tried to straighten it with one hand.  Cheapo Mommy bought generic pull-ups because all she does is poop in them.  I figured it would be fine. 

A couple minutes later Ady assumed the position behind the couch and went to pooping.  And then the conversation ensued:

Ady: Mommy?  Mommy!!  I think I spilled something.

Me: Ady, what did you spill?

Ady: Uh, I think I spilled poo-poos.

WHAT?!?! So I hurry and put Cooper down expecting a giant mess running down her legs on to the carpet and instead I find this:

Some days, you are thankful for strange things, and today... I am thankful for "goat pellet" poops!!

Home Sweet.... Well, it'll do :)

I decided I wasn't going to post anything else about house hunting/rental search until I had some good new to post.  We have secured housing in Virgina.  We are renting a single story 3br/2ba house on a cul-de-sac with a huge field behind it for maximum playspace!!  Amy (our realtor) is still working her tail off for us even though we have decided against buying at the moment and she toured the house for us since we are renting from so far away.  Turns out, she actually knows the owners!!!  Crazy!

This sidewalk lead to the field I was talking about.  It is a huge open area where the kids can go run and play!  Whoo Hoo!!

Deck in the backyard.

Playset (which Ady is going to LOVE) and a little storage shed

Entry way

Wood burning fire place!!

Kitchen!

I am so excited to not be looking for houses any longer!!!

"Official" End of Tour Today

Since Quentin will be spending the next two weeks in Virgina, today was his last "real" day at work at SDDC.  While the job was not what he expected, I think he enjoyed his time here overall and was able to learn a lot of neat things through all the transportation classes he took.

This afternoon they had a going away "ceremony" for Quentin where he was awarded an Army Commadation Medal.  It is going to be quite a conversation piece since not too many Navy guys sport the Army Commadation Medal.

Captain Little presented Quentin with the Army Commadation Medal as well as a pair of

 Captain (O-6) collar devices, stating that he was certain Quentin would earn them in the future. 

Quentin said a few words of thanks to his fellow "shipmates" and civilians.  Lucky for me he kept it short and sweet because Coop was starting to fuss and Ady had spotted the cake!!

Cake!  Yum!  Ady had two pieces!!!

And with that we say good-bye to the SDDC Army Command at Scott Air Force Base, and set our focus to ships and sea!!

Oatmeal & Bananas

Cooper had his first go 'round with "solid" food today. I swore I was gonna wait, but here we are a few days shy of 4 months old, trying out solids. Cooper has been very fussy lately, not sleeping well at night, and just hungry. Hungry all the time. So I decided what the heck. I bought a couple jars of babyfood (bananas and sweet potatoes) and some oatmeal cereal and stuck them in the pantry. Today when he had nursed for 30 minutes and was still fussing I decided it was time. I mixed up a little oatmeal and cracked open the jar of nanners. He totally did not get the spoon idea at first. So I scooped some oatmeal up on my finger and stuck it in his mouth.  A few funny faces later, he was catching on - mouth wide open as soon as he saw my finger.  Then I did the same with bananas.  He really wasn't sure about bananas at first.  Lots of squints and eye flutters, but he didn't spit it out.  He gobbled it right up.  Eventually I just mixed the two together and he ate it all.  He ate probably 2 1/2 Tbs this morning and roughly a 1/4 cup this afternoon.  He LOVES it.  Just eats and eats and eats.  I am pretty sure he would eat more if I offered it to him, but we will do a little each day and see how it goes...

Cooper tried to control the situation by holding on to the spoon, so I gave it to him once.  He gagged himself so I didn't let him have it anymore, but he had to "help" me get the spoon to his mouth almost every time...

I have videos of this too, but for whatever reason I cannot get them to load.  I created a YouTube channel and you can find it by the channel name "jackielease", search by my google email (jackie.l.lease@gmail.com) or just click on the video bar at the top of the blog (which is hopefully still working right and actually showing my videos and not random ones...)

Anyway.  Bananas and Oatmeal were a success, we will try more tomorrow and maybe sweet potatoes in a few days!! I will of course post our progress!!

Tubes.

Adyson got tubes in her ears yesterday.  Honestly, it was probably way harder on me than on her.  I was so worried about her being under general anesthesia for the first time I could hardly see straight.  She did awesome and the the surgery only took about 20 minutes (much to my relief).  Ady doesn't remember anything, at least when we ask her if she did any of the things they told us she did (smelled bubble gum scented gas, watched a movie, saw a flying fish) in the OR she says she didn't do them.   Here are a few pics we took yesterday.  Hoepfully, this is the end of her ear troubles... Now, if I can just get the doc to prescribe her some fitted earplugs.... Sigh.

Watching cartoons, waiting for the nurse to come get us...

Playing with the remote control

Watching tv again... Ady loves her cartoons!!

This one is right after they brought her out of recovery.  She was pretty grouchy, but it didn't last long.

Happy Birthday Ady!!!

A little early, that is.  We had Adyson's birthday party this past weekend on the 13th.  Her party was at The Little Gym and it was a TON of fun!! 

We started the day off with a little shopping.  After hearing "No, I don't like that one" about 15 times, Ady finally chose this outfit as her "Birthday Outfit" complete with rainboots (which are the only shoes she has worn since then...)

This is what I got when I asked her to turn around so I could take her picture "Buuuuuuuuuuuuttt"

At the party they started off with circle and introductions.  They prentended to be crabs, clams, and starfish during a "warm-up" exercise with lots of running in between.  They also played with the giant parachute (which we actually turned into a slide where all the parents lifted the 'chute up and slid all the kids to the middle), hide 'n' seek, balls, bubbles, and air track (which is a giant air mattress basically).  I think the kids really enjoyed it!

Mmmmm.....Cookies!!!

This recipe is from Sunny Anderson on the Food Network - the recipe originally calls for dried peaches (which Wal-Mart didn't have) and 1/4 c light and 1/4 c dark brown sugar, I only had golden brown sugar so I used 1/2 a cup of that.

Ingredients


3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch salt
1 stick butter, softened
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 1/2 cups rolled oats ( I used quick cook oats)
1/2 cup dried mixed berries (I used cherries, cranberries, and blueberries - they all came in one bag)

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1/2 cup white chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F with the racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven.

In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt. In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Slowly add egg and continue mixing. Slowly add flour mixture, oats, peaches, walnuts, and white chocolate chips. Mix until combined.

Line 2 sheet trays with parchment. With wet hands make 20 balls from the dough placing evenly among sheet trays. Press down on cookie dough with palm of your hand to make a flat circle. (I used a scooper like I always do and got 24 cookies)

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until golden and still a bit tender in the center. Remove from oven and let sit on sheet trays 1 minute. Remove to cooling racks to cool completely.

Yawn...

This week really kicked me in the pants.  I am absolutely exhausted.  Yet, here I am at 10:45 posting a blog because I cannot sleep.  As Ady would put it "What da heck?!!?!?"

Cooper is doing much, much better.  In fact, he is right back to normal with the exception of his nasty cough, but it is rearing up less and less.  He still has bruises on his little hands from the IV and the attempted IV, but other than that he is doing great.  He isn't quite rolling yet, but he can spin in circles (while his head stays in basically the same place) until he tuckers out and falls asleep. 

Ever wondered what type of face Cooper would make if Shasta was licking his feet?   It looks like this.

Ady had an ENT appointment on Wednesday and she will be getting tubes on Tuesday the 16th.  Her left ear is still infected and so she is on another round of antibiotics and ear drops (which she calls "pumps" for some reason).

Those are Skittles in her mouth...

Super Star

Out of all the commotion this week, Ady became a super star.  At the hospital, there was a play room down the hall where siblings and patients can go play if they are well enough. My mom took Ady down and they were invited to go to a hula dancing thing downstairs.  So they did.

The group was called the Spirit of Aloha and you can visit their blog here.

Ady made the local news!!

Here is the link to the video.  I can't figure out how to save it to the pc yet, so the link will have to do.  She is in the bottom right corner, refusing to dance :)

Spirit of Aloha Video

Here are also the pictures from the news website...