Army Life- Week 2

This week has been CRAZY! Sunday was Veterans Day, and so as a government employee, Jonathan had the day off, Monday. It was great to have him home for an extra day so we could catch up, spend some time together, get out of the house and UNPACK! I really needed a hand moving some really heavy boxes so I could get to the other ones. This last week I spent a lot of time unpacking things and sorta developed a system. It probably wont carry on to any other moves unless they are equally as short, but I basically only unpacked everything that I needed and left the other stuff (decorations, stuff for the second baby etc) for the next move or for later. Since we will only be here for five months, I didn't want to waste time that could be spent, making this place functional, by unloading all these things for my husband to hang on the walls with his limited time. And its a relief to not feel like I need to find places for everything.

It was quite the experience learning how to juggle all these new things. I am newly a stay at home mom WITH NOT HUSBAND AROUND. When Jonny was born, Jonathan was still in graduate school, so aside from when he was in class, he was home to help with anything. I would even have him do things like grocery shop, dishes, or get up with Jonny occasionally, if I had a rough night. Now that is obviously not an option, though he does the grocery shopping- since we only have one car right now. Its a strange feeling to be completely alone with Jonny, with no one to send to get a diaper or to help me change a blow-out or to watch Jonny while I go to the bathroom. I'm also at home now with NO CAR. That's new for me, since I ve been getting around on my own wheels since 19! Its weird and somewhat difficult to think= I need milk- and then have to text Jonathan and hope he can stop by the commissary to get some for us. Its also new to hardly see Jonathan EVER. We have spent probably the majority of our marriage TOGETHER. Aside from a few months in the beginning when I was working full-time, we have spent most of our days together, only apart for a few hours. This last week has been crazy cause he leaves the house for PT at around 5am or so, and he doesn't get home until 7:30pm some nights. That leaves us only about 2 hours to physically see each other. However, he has spent the majority of these two hours each night doing things to prepare for the next day. Getting his uniform ready, doing a paper for work, pinning on things for an inspection, cleaning his gear. You name it, hes had to do it. Then there is shaving and showering for the next morning, 5 minutes of FOX news and a facebook and Army email check and its off to bed! Weve hardly even eaten dinner. Add in Jonnys bath and bedtime, which Jonathan is lucky to be home for, and theres just hardly a moment to do much of anything- even talk. Its hard but I have done a really good job being understanding. The only thing that could make this worse would be if I was irrational and didn't understand that theres no way he would rather be doing this stuff and being at work for 14 hours- than spending time with us. I would never wanna be doing what he does. Id prefer being a mom :) I can only be understanding and do what I can to make his life easier. Just hope that each week will get easier.

The unpacking has been hard cause these movers did an even worse job than I expected. Not only did a box say "balls" (a huge one)- that we discovered was "BOWLS"... wow... but they broke Jonnys exersaucer (lost the springs), damages our bed frame, damaged most of the wood things actually, and then yesterday I discovered that beneath all of Jonnys clothes for the future, in a box, were DISHES, MY JEWELRY and severeal other things. I think the guy just literally reached around and grabbed anything that would fit and stuffed it into a box. Pieces of my jewelry were down in the box, mixed in with clothes. So frustrating. Apparently this is "ARMY MOVING 101"... needing to watch them like a hawk and correct them when they start getting crazy and just stuffing things in boxes. That was one of the major frustrations for the week.

Another thing that I dealt with this week was learning how to entertain an 8 month old for HOURS and HOURS. We put up the Johnny Jump-Up which he decided after many tries over 4 months, that he likes it! Also we sing the ABC's and count probably 100 times a day- German and English. Its probably one of his favorite things. There is hardly any tile in this house so the walker is almost unusable :( He enjoys sitting in the bathroom sink and turning the faucet on and off. We read books- which usually ends in 10 seconds when he takes the book from me and shuts it and puts it down. Its quite funny. Ive learned to keep a little distance and that keeps him from being able to take it from me :) We practice crawling, A LOT! Hes been taking great naps lately.. usually two 1.5 hour naps and a third half hour-1 hour nap before bed. I give him some independent play time in the pack and play which doesn't usually go over so well... he just watches me move around and whines. He does enjoy sitting on the washer and we watch the clothes go around and around (Its clear on top). Also we use one of the long mirrors that usually goes on the wall and keep it under the couch and pull it out so he can watch himself sit and crawl and walk. He likes that a lot. We have a lot of tickle time and just being goofy. He will watch me while I put away clothes or vaccumm (did that today for the first time and thought it was VERY PECULIAR but it didn't scare him at all.) We have started introducing some finger foods, beyond puffs and melts and mum-mums, such a deli turkey and green beans from a can (mushy). That passes the time cause he enjoys holding the food and manipulating it in his hands. Its hard for me to watch him get all yucky but I resist and let him explore... most of the time :)

Today I tried making some baby food for the first time. Since we were living at my in-laws for two months I didn't have the equipment, space or freedom to make his baby food. Today I baked some asparagus- one of my husband and i's favorite foods- and blended it up with one container of spinach and pear baby food, to thin it out a bit. It was pretty chunky but I offered it to him and he liked it. Yay! I cant complain though, if there is something he doesn't like in the future, because so far there isn't anything I have found that he doesn't like! Hes such a good eater. I plan to make some meatloaf- turkey, onions, mushrooms, carrots and green peppers (plain yogurt and soy sauce which I wont put in it until I take some out for him), some fajitas- chicken, mushrooms, peppers, onions (sauce, cheese, plain yogurt as sour cream and tortillas- omit) and some taco soup- ground turkey, black beans, corn, pinto beans, kidney beans and tomatoes (ranch packet and taco seasoning packet- omit) and I will blend a portion of each as I make them, for him. I want to introduce him to the flavors we like- within reason, and learn to make some recipes of ours without milk or with substitutes, so that its not just ALL, ONE DAY- that I have to do that, in case his milk allergy does stay. Im really limited because he has a soy allergy too. Most substitutes are soy. I can try coconut milk, almond milk and some other things.

A funny, well, not so funny story from this week and one im sure every mom is familiar with in some way-  A BLOW OUT. Jonny wouldn't go down for his third nap yesterday which is very unusual. After 30 minutes I finally took him out of his bed. I decided to change his diaper cause it looked pretty wet. When I undid his onesie and went to pull it up in the back, I basically grabbed a handful of poop. No wonder he wouldn't sleep. He was lying in poop. I didn't smell it so I didn't think of it. Ugh. It was disgusting. It was in his armpits so he had to bathe and I had to wash both my sweater and my hand and arm. Oh, the life of a mom! never lacks excitement... sometimes in the worst of ways!

This week Jonny is trying to learn to crawl. Well, hes been trying for a while. But this week he made some progress, in that he made the connection he must move his arm forward. So he lifts JSUT his right hand and plants it a few inches in front of him. He doesn't do the other hand yet, so there is no "crawling". He does get where he wants but it has no rhyme or reason. He can also go from sitting o crawling position which is cool to watch!

JUST before his 8 month birthday, which is today, the 15th of November, Jonny did a few new things. Things have gotten so fun. I feel like I always say that but each stage seems to be more exciting than the last! Jonny is into imitating now, which im sure is normal, given that he is "supposed" to be learning things like "mama and dada" and eating finger foods etc. He got a cute little spoon from his grandma that has a pig on it. I just recently gave it to him to play with and attached to it "AND THE PIGGY SAYS....? SNORT SNORT." And he loved that. Ive learned, with him, that when I attach "funny things" to something, then every time he sees that certain toy, its a new fascination, when he starts to get bored. For instance, when im changing his diaper, I sniffed the back of his thigh and say "OOOH so stinky!!!" and he bursts out laughing! Diaper changing has always been fun for him, weirdo, but this makes it full of laughs and entertains him since he likes to squirm away from me now. Also, when hes on his back I clap his feet together and say "theres no place like home"... once when I was at my in-laws we were discussing The Wizard of Oz and I jokingly did that. He LOVED it. So now I do it if he gets cranky and he will start smiling. Its fun to watch them learn to recognize things you say and do. I think they are so much smarter than you give them credit for. So anyways- After about a week of doing the "piggy says" thing he suddenly started SNORTING after I said it! It was so cute! Also, he has become SO much more vocal. Whenever he sees my phone he starts freaking out because he has heard his daddy talk to me a few times on speaker so I think he thinks my phone "IS daddy"! He will turn the pages of this one cardboard Elmo Potty book and talk the whole time as if he is reading. When someone is on the phone he tries to chime in and talk over me. He also got a seventh tooth. The left bottom incisor (second one from the middle). Like many of his teeth already I had a hunch, since I hadn't checked in a while that he might have new teeth. He is such a tough kid he has gotten several teeth without me knowing. He indeed had a new one! He has also begun to recognize pictures of his dad. When you show him a picture he will zero in right on Jonathan and touch him...ignoring the others in the photo. When he hears his voice on the phone or he sees a video of him he goes crazy! Its so precious. The downside is that Jonathan has been working til almost 7:30 most nights and thus Jonny is in bed, since his typical bedtime ranges from 6-7. So Jonathan hasn't seen Jonny since the weekend. Its a bummer because Jonny has started to have trouble going to sleep. He has also started getting very upset in the evenings which is unlike him. Yesterday he sobbed. I think he was missing his dad and expecting to see him. Luckily daddy tested a video of him saying he loves Jonny and goodnight and after watching that about 30 times (not kidding)- he fell right asleep. Jonny also started saying "dada" yesterday. I caught it on video. ITS SO Cute! He says "tatatata" sorta sound or "chachachacha". He shows all 7 teeth and you can see his tongue touching the roof of his mouth like I show him. We have only taught him dada so far, cause I want that to be his first word. I don't know why but I just do. I want him to be a daddy's boy! That melts my heart to think of! I was sad Jonathan missed it but happy he did it! Now if he would say it when he saw Jonathan...!! :) I cant believe my little angel is 8 months old. Time has gone so quickly but it has gone slow at the same time. I try to enjoy every moment but what mom doesn't enjoy seeing them grow and meet milestones!? IT keeps things interesting and fun and exciting. And its certainly exciting to see that your baby is growing and your "teaching" is paying off. To see that they are smart. Its a great feeling!

One sad thing I discovered this week was that Jonny is most likely allergic to pomegranates. I gave him some water with a splash of the only juice we had- pomegranate juice, and the next morning he woke with a red rash all over his face. I thought it was strawberries but I realized that it was the juice, after I gave him more yesterday, when the rash had mostly cleared up and it came back. Now its all yellow and crusty over where the red is :(. Luckily its easy to avoid that, because obviously pomegranates are not an everyday ingredient. Soy, Cows milk, too much Apple (sauce, juice etc) and now pomegranates are what he is "allergic" to. The Soy, Apples and Pom juice all cause face rashes and butt rashes (some bloody), the Soy, Apples and Cows milk all caused eczema. And the Cow's milk cause cankers. I didn't keep him on the other stuff long enough to know if it did.

This was him yesterday afternoon on the way to the mall..



And this was him that morning when he woke (mid-blink)


On additional thing i have been learning is balance and organization. I had a lot of help with everything before when Jonathan was around or I didnt have to do anything when we lived with my in-laws. But now there is cooking, Im trying to tackle baby food making, slowly, while introducing him to foods we eat so the transition can be slow, FOR MY SAKE! Im also trying to unpack and keep things orderly and clean. Its a tough thing. All while being 25 weeks pregnant and trying to teach Jonny things and entertain him.

Army Life- Week 1

Wow! What a whirlwind! This whole week has just been crazy! And God has been teaching me many things all week- namely, FLEXIBILITY! I know all this sounds crazy, but as a new mom one of the major challenges has been schedules and noise-levels. When you stay in a hotel or are on an airplane or you are driving to an from airports- there is just NO way to make your baby sleep when he needs it. Jonny was officially up for the longest time in his life- from noon to 7pm. He wouldn't sleep on his flight and didn't fall asleep in the car from OK City to Lawton. He did good though. And im happy to report that this is probably his 7th flight- and has still not shed a tear! I can officially say he is just SUCH a good boy!

At the  beginning of this week, Sunday, after the packers and movers had come and gone, Jonathan, my husband, left in his car with a FULL car, floor to ceiling, to go to Fort Sill, in Lawton, OK. He left Jonny and I behind, to follow on an airplane. We were staying with his parents at Carlisle Barracks, at the Army War College where my father-in-law is stationed  during the transition from the Army Reserves to Active Duty. Then we found out that Hurricane Sandy was on its way RIGHT to PA. We got ready and prepared for the worst (my mother-in-law and I) and prepared for no power or water and some terrible weather, and had NOTHING of the sort. We postponed my flight from WEdnesday to Thursday and now know we didn't even need to cause it hardly was a storm, in our area. Being from Florida and seeing some SERIOUS hurricanes- this was nothing- IN OUR AREA. LET ME CLARIFY- IN OUR AREA! lol.

So, on Thursday I finished up the packing and all our stuff barely fit into 4 suticases. I had three carry-ons, 4 suitcases, a pack-n-play and a stroller. And a 20 pound 7.5 month old. When I got to the Delta desk, they proceeded to tell me that in fact, our bags are NOT free, with active duty military orders, which I brought, and their site says, it actually must be the ACTIVE MILITARY PERSON- or he must be with us. It would have cost 245 dollars, but I kept my cool, asked to speak with someone else. A guy came down and said he had 3 kids in the Army so he was sensitive to my situation. He said he couldn't do it for free, but he could rearrange things. He would count "baby stuff" as free (2 of the things), give us two free bags, and then charge us for two- each one bag, so it only ended up being 50 dollars. Jonathan was SO angry and is still planning on calling Delta and flipping out on them! :)

My mother-in-law was able to get a guest ticket to help me through security with my baby, stroller, carseat, and 3 carryons which f course have to be virtually emptied because of the formula, water, ibuprofen, Benadryl, juice, etc. Baby out of the carrier, Carrier on the belt, stroller through the special gate to be checked, shoes off... and then someone has to put all the bottles in some machine to check that they aren't some kind of bomb-liquid or something. Its a big process but luckily Ive been through it so many times, just in the last 8 months that it doesn't even stress me out anymore.

We said goodbye to my MIL and she cried. She was very sad to see Jonny go, and I always internalize those feelings and feel really bad when I leave family. I cant imagine not seeing Jonnys chubby little white face and blue eyes and smile EVERYDAY. I have yet to ever be away from him and it sure would take a LOT for me to do so. I don't even think a trip to Greece could make me separate from that boy!! On the airplane, I quickly discovered that Jonny has changed his mind about strangers. He officially LOVES all strangers. He was jumping around, squealing and dancing for every single person who would smile at him. Everyone guessed that he was 1 and were surprised when I saw he was only 7 months old. They said he had a "mature" face... Im guessing that means he looks like an old man? :) And he definitely LOVES him some women!

He took a short nap on the first flight, no problem, in his carseat. But no such luck for the rest of the day. He were hoping that they would follow-through with having some assistance or at least an escort to help me get where I was going on my short layover in ATL but no such luck. After 20 minutes of waiting and NO one showing up, I finally left to find my gate myself. I trudged through the airport and located elevators and trains and got there just in time. We boarded early both flights which was nice. Jonny enjoyed the second flight too cause one of the flight attendants adored him. She actually busted out laughing and had to compose herself during one of her announcements cause he peeked over my shoulder and saw her and SQUEALED with delight. It was quite cute!

When we got in, Daddy was there to greet us, we got all our bags and got in the car to make the 80 mile drive from OK City to Lawton. We stopped at Sonic and I chuckled because people here must seriously LOVE Sonic. We went for 4 exits with a Sonic at each one! No kidding!

We got to the hotel and put Jonny down. He slept through the night but it was tough cause Daddy had to get up at 4:45am for a 6 mile run for his first day of Pt and of course that meant me and Jonny also had to wake up with daddys alarm :( Jonny did WONDERFULLY in the hotel the first day. He took 4 long naps and made up for his lost sleep. That night when daddy got home he took us to Outback to celebrate for dinner, that he got the house we wanted and we went to see the house and take some pictures. Its about 1500 sq ft, has a huge yard, a giant master closet, is barely over our budget, has a room for a playroom, a very large living room, nice counter space in the kitchen. I cant say enough! And a nice BIG bathroom! I just love it! I cant wait to move-in.

We got a move-in date set for Monday, when the movers with drop all our stuff off so tomorrow we will go back over there and check it out and figure out where to have them put our big furniture. Today we went to the Lawton mall after Jonnys first nap (he slept in til 740am!) and it was nice! We went to SEARS and picked out a washer and dryer. They don't match, but they were both clearance items, and both just returns. We bought a protection plan on them so we should be good. Neither of us know much about what to buy as far as those go, but hopefully we made a good choice! Guess we will find out! The washer was originally 999 on sale for 779. Its really nice and I believe its LG brand. Both are spacious! Then we had lunch at Chickfila and peeked in Old Navy to get Jonny a couple bigger and LONG-SLEEVED onesies. Yesterday it was really warm out and today I brought Jonny outside in a onesie and I think it was 60 degrees! Yikes! COLD! After his current nap we will be heading to ATT to upgrade our phones and get back on our own phone plans and headed to the PX and Commisary to get my LONG-AWAITED Keurig coffee maker and my delicious Holiday blend coffee- the Eggnog is THE BEST! If I cant have eggnog as a prego, I sure as heck am gonna enjoy the egg-nog flavored coffee! and we have to get Jonny some baby food. Our power will be turned on Monday, goods delivered, and we will get our W&D on Tuesday! Installed and delivered!

So far, I have expected the worse in every situation. I TOTALLY expected to be powerless in the hurricane. I expected Jonny to finally have a meltdown on a plane ride. I expected to miss my flight. I expected to have a horrible hotel experience where everyone is screaming and running by and slamming doors and waking him up. I expected us not to find a house for 2 weeks and have to go to a Laundr-o-mat. ETC. But everything has been so wonderful and I find myself REALYL embracing the whole calm, cool, collected, flexible Army wife thing. Im enjoying the role and really trying to get everything I can out of it. I have a spouses class where I will get to meet and greet the General of the Schools wife- who has already been told about me through a friend of my in-laws! Yay, connections :) Its during Jonnys bedtime, but it should be fine :) Trying to go with the flow! Ill have an update after we get moved in!