We Made It!

We survived our first 15 hour road trip as a family of five...in one day!!!!  We are on our first stop during Tim's leave in Colorado Springs.  Considering the length of the trip the boys did awesome!  Even with the few hiccups we had in our travel, overall it went very smooth and it really didn't feel like a 15 hour trip. 

What's a road trip though with out kids throwing up or blowout diapers?  Colin had been sick the past two days but he hadn't had an incident for about 24 hours and we were thinking he was on the tail end of whatever he had.  Apparently he had one more in him.  Thankfully he only "got sick" one time and his timing couldn't have been more perfect.  On our first stop he got out of the car and was hanging outside the van w/Tim and Ryan when the moment hit him.  We were SO thankful it wasn't in the car.  I had brought a towel and a few other things with us just in case, but it was such a blessing not to have to deal with cleaning up the car.

The towel came in pretty handy later though when Blaine decided to have a blowout.  I was just going to change him on the go, but when I went to pull him out of the seat I realized that it was ALL over the seat.  We were currently driving through New Mexico and there aren't that many places to stop but thankfully we were passing through what used to be a town so Tim was able to pull over right away and I had a little more space to work with.  I was EXTREMELY pleased with how well Blaine did.  When we made the round-trip when he was 4 weeks old and then at 2 months old he screamed a majority of the trip.  Yes..literally screamed and yes, a majority of the trip.  I couldn't keep in his car seat for more than 5 minutes without him having a meltdown.  My friend Sarah as said it as well, and it's true...he is a completely different baby then he was 6 months ago.  This time around he stayed in his seat a majority of the time just talking, playing, laughing and sleeping.  It was wonderful! 

Confession...I gave Ryan and Colin a small dose of Dramamine to help with the trip.  The bottle says it is for children and adults.  The last time we made the trip I didn't give them anything so I was a little nervous with the way the boys reacted to it.  Colin slept a lot...but I thought that could have partly been from him not feeling well still.  Ryan on the other hand was quiet.  No words.  VERY weird.  Kind of nice; but VERY weird...kind of scary.  Although it was nice and it did seem to help the trip go pretty smooth I'm not sure we'll be using it again on the way back South.  Tim and I still have to talk about it.  Maybe a smaller dose won't be quiet as bad.

We made it to my parent's house at a very decent time and the boys still had a couple hours to play and then went right to bed.  Of course they were up bright and early the next morning excited to hang out with Grandma & Grandpa.  So far the weather has been BEAUTIFUL and they even received some desperately needed rain this afternoon.  We have already had a few outings but are looking forward to the rest of the week here.  Some of the things on our list (some still up for debate):  The Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, Garden of the Gods, Pikes Peak, Cave of the Winds, and Mr. Wilber (a fountain for the boys to play in downtown).  Tim and I are also hoping to sneak out for a few hours.  ;) 

My Birthday Gift

I posted about the one big gift we got the boys, but I forgot to mention the one BIG gift Tim got for me for my birthday....A new mattress!  PRAISE GOD!!!!!

Before Tim even deployed a new bed was on our radar and it was at the top of the list of things to buy when he got back.  Tim bought the mattress set we had when we first got married.  It's been 6 1/2 years now.  It was a queen pillow top that he scored for $500!  As most of you can probably guess...we got what we paid for.  After probably about three years it started to sink in the middle.  I could lay flat on my back and my left side would be noticeably lower than my right. I remember being horribly uncomfortable in it when I was pregnant with Colin.  Tim had even tried putting plywood in between the mattresses for me, and we bought a 4 inch memory foam topper, but I pretty much slept sitting up for the last five months of the pregnancy.  After having Colin that bed was a love/hate relationship.  Some nights it would be great.  Other nights...not so much.  It was getting worse and worse and we were SO tempted to buy a new mattress before Tim deployed, but we were praying if we could hold out one more year we could bump it up to a king.  Plus, the bed was much more doable with just one person in it.

Tim got back on a Friday and on Tuesday I woke up whining. L.I.T.E.R.A.L.L.Y....Classy, right?  So we went out mattress shopping.  We went to a few different stores, but ended up getting a memory foam from Denver Mattress Company.  We weren't even thinking a king size mattress was going to work in our budget until we saw their prices.  They just delivered it this past Saturday so we've been in it four nights so far.  It was a little rough the first night, but I think I'm getting used to it.  Tim can sleep on anything so he's been out like a rock within seconds of going to bed.  We are both LOVING the king size and are very thankful we were able to get it. 

Oh and Ryan's reaction to our big new bed, "Wow!  It's big enough for all of us to sleep on it!  Ryan (Yes, he refers to himself in 3rd person) and Colin can sleep with Mom and Dad now!"

Yeah...good luck with that one kiddo.

Getting Dirty

A few weeks before Tim's unit deployed last year, one of his friend's car started having a lot of trouble.  Long story short....he needed a new engine.  So while they were away he was saving up his money for not just the engine but a few other "upgrades" as well.  The new engine was barely in the car before the guys were in the garage putting the rest of the stuff on.  The plan was to install a new exhaust and intake.

Once they installed the new exhaust they gave it a test run and I heard it from inside the house and had to go out to take a look.  It sounded great and they were all a little giddy over it.



They still had shocks that Alex wanted to install so a few days later Tim and Alex worked those.  I think they made at least three trips to Auto Zone/Sears for a certain tool.  Right around 8 PM they thought they had successfully finished when they looked around to find an extra piece laying around that they forgot to put on.  (Oooops.)  It was only another hour or so when they got it all together, and they were grining from ear to ear.

I was kind of sad that Alex didn't have any more upgrades to add to his car.  I enjoyed watching them work and see them gain joy from their accomplishment.  I'm sure something else will come up soon though.

One Big Gift

A few months before Tim came back we began discussing what we wanted to do for the boys.  Tim wanted to buy them one big gift.  We were going back and forth between a Power Wheels (which the boys have been wanting) and a Trampoline.  We ended up going with the trampoline.  I think it was a good choice.  The boys love it.  Although most of the day it's wickedly hot out and we tend not to go out till after dinner, it wears them out!  I've jumped on it a few times myself, but to be perfectly honest it feels completely different since I've had three babies.  (I feel like my uterus is going to come out.)  They love it most though when Tim comes out and jumps with them.

The only thing we are NOT looking forward to is when we move and we have to disassemble it. 

Life as One

As many of you know my hubby came home about 2 1/2 weeks ago!!!  Hence part of the reason I've be a little absent.  He made it in right about noon.  We were thankful to have some of our good friends Matt & Sarah join us for the "ceremony".  They were gracious enough to be our photographer and videographer.  (I'd share the vid...but I neglected to give Matt instructions on the video camera and so half of it wasn't recorded.)

Here's Blaine just hanging out holding down the stoller and all our provisions.  At the last re-deployment ceremony we were there for about 3 hours before they showed up so I made sure to bring plenty of diapers, snacks, drinks, etc.  Thankfully it wasn't that long of a wait this time around.

The boys did such a great job coloring this sign for Tim...

One of the great things about Tim being tall is it makes it a little easier to pick him out of a crowd.  :)

Colin was ready to take off as soon as they opened the hangar doors...

Our 2nd photo as a family of 5!!!!



Tim hit the ground running when he came home.  They were stuck in Iraq for a few extra days due to sand storms/lack of a plane, so he was pretty much able to switch his body's time clock before he got home.  We always try and keep it pretty relaxed the day Tim comes home.  #1 on the agenda is normally coming home and showering.  #2 is grilled cheese sandwiches.  #3 is Oreos with REAL milk.  (I think we've already gone thru 5 gallons since he's been home.)  By day 2 Tim was pretty much ready to go out and already started knocking things off of our "to-do" list. 

We are so thankful to have him home and the boys have done great adjusting to the change.  I'll try and post a few more times on what we've been up to the last few weeks.  We are looking forward to Tim's leave (hopefully by the end of the week) where we'll spend some time visiting family and some time just at home.

8 Month Update

I know I've been pretty quiet on the blog front lately.  Thought I would break the silence today though to write an update on Blaine.

Tomorrow Blaine will be 8 months old!  Currently weighing in at 22 lbs (feeling like 25)!  Blaine's last week of being a 7 month old was very exciting!  About four days ago he started crawling!  He's getting better and better everyday.  He doesn't like the tile floor and he always makes a bee line for any shoes or matchbox cars left lying around.  On top of crawling this last week Blaine has had FOUR teeth break through, with THREE more on the edge!  I have never seen that many teeth come in at once.  (Granted he's only my third child.  Still craziness.)

He loves his brothers and has adjusted very well to Tim being home.  He can still be quite sensitive and seems to have trouble with new faces.  We were at the mall last week and when we walked into one of the stores two other ladies started admiring him and he puckered out his lower lip and started crying.  Then, just two nights ago, Tim was holding him and went over to talk to some of his friends and he just about had a meltdown. 

Here's just a quick clip of him a few days ago....

It's About Time

Today we got to color a sign for Tim's Welcome Home Ceremony!

It's been a little surreal this past week.  There was a few days delay in their flight plans due to sand storms and who knows what.  Although I know he is headed home, it seems kind of un-real.  We've been doing a lot to prepare for his homecoming, but it's hard to grasp that this time he's coming home for more than a 5 day or 2 week visit.  My heart is filled with excitement, anxiety, some reservations, but I can't wait for us to adjust, to work through it together and be a family of one again.

Silly as it may be, one of the simplest things that helps to make this a reality for me is this.....

Today, I got to put my husband's towel back on the towel rack.