Random Sillies

The last ten days have been filled with random silliness.  From the weather (which is 70 one day to 50 the next) to the kids just enjoying silly little things.  We've been lucky enough to be feeling better, minus Gunner still randomly complaining of his ear hurting (ENT appt is on the 7th of February).  Gunner wanted to show off his monster truck tattoo (although it's almost gone in this picture).  He  adored it and was very upset as it faded away with every bath. 

 One day I let the kids enjoy a chocolate chip cookie in the car on the way home (a mom will do anything sometimes to try to keep the kids awake).  Well, they greatly enjoyed it, as you can tell from Grace's face, it was delicious!  :)

Gunner loves to random silly things and one day he was waiting for lunch when he decided to turn his placemat into a hat.  He sure thought it was funny. 

Grace has learned many new skills, although some I like much more than others.  She thinks she is hot stuff now that she can climb onto the shoe shelf and peer over the couch.  Although when you're sitting on the couch and her little head pops up over the side, it is quite adorable. 

The weather has been mostly amazing lately so we've been outside as much as we can.  Our backyard is mostly sand/dirt, so I know a bath is followed shortly after outside time.  Although some days I just let them go hog wild (as you can see here). 

It's exhausting making those mud pies. 

But, this face makes you forget about how big of a mess they're making. :)  And yes, she was "taste testing" the pie.  I wish I had a video of her reaction after she put it in her mouth.

I finally broke down and took a belly picture as the baby started to pop out a little bit. I'll be 13 weeks tomorrow so I'm about 12 1/2 weeks in this picture. 

Seeing as mail takes so long to get half way around the world, we had to make our Valentine's pictures for daddy this past week.  But the kids has fun painting again (any reason to do arts and crafts is a good one).  

The only problem is letting your 15 month old finger paint one week and then expecting her to paint with a paintbrush the next.  But fingers work just as well. :)  Good thing it's washable paint.  

The other day I was able to catch some other random silliness in the car, the kids dancing to the radio.  The videos aren't the best, but you get the idea.   

I guess it's the random silliness that keeps life exciting though.  :)

Odds and Ends

 Well, in case you didn't notice, the blog is a little bit different.  I decided to get a little creative one day while the kids were napping.  I didn't have much time, but figured out how to change the background and add a little bar on the right side of Nate's requests from Afghanistan (which I can update regularly).  I'm new to the whole "blog" world so it was quite the feat just changing the background.  I'm sure I'll learn more over time.  I was able to catch a few pictures of some funny things this week.  First of all, when I get ready in the morning, Grace loves to play in the bucket of hair stuff under the sink.  I don't mind because I can watch her the whole time.  But the look on her face was pretty funny.

I also broke down this week and did some "train table repair".  We have a few pieces that just didn't seem to stay together and I finally broke down and hot glued them together.  It seems to be a great fix so far (although now I'm thinking of hot gluing the whole thing. :)

One morning, the kids enjoyed some yogurt with their breakfast, although I don't know how much actually made it into their mouths (especially Grace) but she sure did look cute.  And smelled good too. :) 

Yesterday the kids were laughing hysterically playing with a pair of my sunglasses.  I didn't mind and it was actually quite entertaining.  

They tried to put them on  Baxter, but were having some trouble so just had to help out. He was a good sport. :)  And the laughs from the kids were well worth the torture Baxter had to endure for a brief moment. 

You can see the smile on Gunner's face, but I wish I had a video of the laughter. 

I've been freezing the last few weeks (maybe it's pregnancy or the hardwood floors) but I broke down and bought a snuggie.  Not the most flattering, but I thought it was funny.  What was even funnier is when Gunner woke up from nap and insisted that it was Grace's blanket (because it was pink).  It was really cute though that he knows most pink things in the house are sissy's.  

I also had a fantastic week because Nate sent a surprise from Afghanistan.  :)  It's a beautiful heart necklace with a yellow ribbon.  It's gorgeous.  He sure has great taste.  

On Tuesday we had Grace's 15 month checkup and quite the experience getting immunizations.  Hindsight it's quite entertaining but not so much at the time.  The man giving her shots, didn't quite seem to know what he was doing (gotta love Naval Hospitals right?!).  He didn't secure her down tight enough and in the process of trying to give her shot, she got her legs free, and her arms, and proceeded to pull the needle out (scratching her leg in the process).  She was bleeding and of course screaming hysterically.  The guy felt like an idiot (which he should have).  But hindsight I had to laugh that Grace pretty much told this guy that she wasn't having that.  She's got a little bruising but all in all I think she taught the guy a great lesson in giving immunizations (or at least I hope he learned alot). 

I haven't been able to snap many pictures of the kids with their daddy dolls (I just never remember) but they still love them.  They sleep with them every night and Gunner has been playing with his alot more.  His newest thing is that he wants "two daddy's" (his doll and Grace's).  :)  She's pretty easy going and shares pretty well (for the time being, I know it won't last). 

All in all, we've had a pretty good week.  Gunner still has an ear infection (on another antibiotic and waiting for our ENT visit Feb 7th) but other than that they've been feeling better.  We've been able to enjoy some outside time and even spend some time with friends.  We definitely miss daddy, but every day is one day closer. (or in the case of the blog, every week is one week closer) :)

First Post of the New Year (finally)

Well, first of all, Happy New Year everyone!  Hard to believe this is the first post of the new year, but we've had a crazy two weeks.  Let's rewind.  New Year's Eve was fun, especially the kids running around with their hats on.  

 

I'd like to say I made it till the ball dropped, but not even close. :)  But we enjoyed our last few days in Kentucky.  Including fun things like car carts (best invention ever and side note, how do Walmart and 1Target not have car carts?!).

 We stayed in Kentucky a few more days and then hit the road on Wednesday to head back to North Carolina.  13.5 hours in the car doesn't lead to many exciting pictures either, but I have to admit, the kids are great travelers.  I am blessed in that aspect. We got back on Wednesday night and then the sickness began.  Gunner started with a nasty cough and I took him to the Dr last Friday just to get checked, only to find out Grace had a double ear infection.  Then Saturday Gunner was asking to go to the Dr again because his ear hurt, so it was off to urgent care.  Sure enough, ear infection for Gunner too. So we had quite the first weekend back.  On top of the Dr madness we had a little accident as well.

If you notice, we had all our Marine Corps glasses (and a few other special ones) on a ledge between our kitchen and living room.  Gunner was playing with his ball and CRASH.  If you notice, there is a glass missing right where that little red ball is.  :)  It was an accident but a difficult one as the glass fell so far and broke right where all the kids toys are.  But it forced me to crazy clean so it was a good thing I suppose.  We also send Nate a package every week so fingerpainting was a great sick project.  He loves getting crafts from the kids.  It was Grace's firs time and took her awhile to get used to it but by the end she loved it. 

Then Monday I had my first OB appt.  They pushed my due date back a week (new due date is August 7th), but that's a blessing in disguise, it will give us more time to get adjusted once Nate gets home before we throw a baby in the mix.  I did get some cute ultrasound pictures though. 

Unfortunately, the only other ultrasound we'll be getting in at 20 weeks (one downside of going to the Naval Hospital).  But the baby looked great and had a nice strong, fast heartbeat (180 beats per minute).  So according to the old wives tale, it should be a girl.  Which was my guess a few weeks ago too, but we'll have to wait and see. :)  A few days later Gunner was still complaining of his ear so it was back to the Dr AGAIN.  She referred us back to the ENT but they can't get us in for almost a month.  So, I guess it's just a waiting game for now.  He seems to be feeling better though so we've been doing more the last few days.  Nate's birthday is still a few weeks away  but when you're sending overseas you gotta plan ahead.  So the kids made birthday pictures yesterday. 

Then Gunner helped me to make cupcakes to celebrate daddy's birthday.  We made a couple of jarred cakes (in a mason jar) to send to Nate too. 

Gunner even made a video saying Happy Birthday to daddy before he ate his cupcake.  Hopefully Nate likes the package (and hopefully it gets there before his birthday).  Aside from that, we've just been enjoying the kids feeling better.  Yesterday we even went to the park for awhile. 

So hopefully the kids are done being sick and we can get back to having fun again. :)