Where I've Been

As many of my avid readers have mentioned to me (which includes my mom, Tim's mom, maybe Tim...and that's about it. Ha!) I have not posted since Father's Day. Why? Here's a list of reasons, with (several) accompanying pictures, to explain:

1. The Lake

We haven't been able to go to the lake as much as I would have liked, but the times we have gone have been awesome. Lauren and Brenden both love the jet skis and Brenden has become so brave when it comes to jumping off of the boat into the water. He can dive, flip, cannon ball, and otherwise cause lots of splashing. The difference from last summer is amazing.

Cool Dude

Zzzz....

2. Baby Gazing

My beautiful friend Bre had her gorgeous daughter Brynja (pronounced Brin-ya) on June 25th and we've all been pretty smitten with her. Hard not to be! She's such a sweet baby and just so dang cute!

Meeting my beautiful Brynja, less than an hour old.

Checking out her fingers and toes. 

"She's so cute! Want to hold her!"

3. Branson

For Father's Day, Karen and her brother and sister took their dad, Ralph, to Branson. He had no idea where they were going or what they would be doing, so we decided to add a few more surprises. The kids didn't know where we were going, either so when they walked in to see their grandma they were overjoyed! They also got to meet their Aunt Brenda and Uncle Phil (he had no idea we were coming, either!) and we spent a super fun 2 days being totally spoiled. 

Grandma's Happy Kiddos

Reading with Aunt Brenda

Checking out the fountain at Branson Landing with Great Grandpa

Head butts with Uncle Phil

4. New Car

On our way to the airport in Branson to drop off Karen, Ralph and Phil, our trusty Expedition decided to stop. Many hours, no naps, a ride in a police car, and a dead cell phone later I was told that the car was done. The engine had seized and there was nothing to do except replace the engine or get another car. Obviously we decided to go with a new (to us) car. It was a stressful 2 days, but it worked out.

I know, I know...a RED car. We made sure to slap an OSU sticker on ASAP. :)

5. Staying Cool

We had the chance to go to a Driller's game and the kids had a great time. Not that we watched much baseball. 

This splash pad is all slick tiles and sharp edges. Tim decided that it is the worst designed splash pad he's ever seen. I completely agree. The kids did not care one bit.

6. Colorado Vacation

Karen and Rick were super excited to have the kids come stay with them for 10 days. I met Karen in the middle (Hays, KS) and bawled as they drove off to have a ridiculously awesome time. Every day was a new adventure, from amusement parks to splash pads to trips to Toys-R-Us. They were happy to see me, but very sad to see their grandma and grandpa go. Luckily we should see them again soon!

7. Cleaning up Lauren's Messes

Not long after Father's Day I started potty training Lauren. If you've ever been through this then you understand why I've been MIA. If you haven't, I'm jealous. Between laundry, cleaning the floors, cleaning the bathroom, cleaning the chairs, cleaning...cleaning...cleaning...it's been mostly a haze. She hasn't been very cooperative and there have been many times I just wanted to give up. If something isn't her idea she refuses to do it, throwing one major fit after another. (can you say "black eye" from headbutting? Sigh...) And if that weren't bad enough, she's also going through some strange anxiety phase and refuses to nap. Instead, she tears apart her room, which has led me to remove EVERYTHING, from her toys to her clothes. Some days are okay, some days are downright awful, but we'll get there.

THIS TOO SHALL PASS. And now I have a ton of embarrassing stories to tell in front of her friends, boyfriends, and at her wedding. Hey...I have to think of the positives, right?

That's every piece of clothing she could reach. As well as some toys and shoes.

They used to be attached. She yanked them off.

And left some marks.

But she'll nap in the car! Grrr...

And now Brenden wants in on the action. As long as they aren't fighting, right?

Oops!

As my mom mentioned to me the other day, I haven't posted anything in a very LONG time. Sorry! I've just been busy being busy. Kids, house, husband, trips, beautiful days, testing, doctor appointments, mud, fence, lack of sleep, too much sleep, headaches, more doctor appointments...yeah. So here is the condensed version of what we've been up to:

• Remember all that sleep stuff? On the 8th I headed back in to have the MSLT and oh boy, that didn't go as expected. Lauren had a rough night and I barely got any sleep. When I told them that they explained that there was no way they would do my test if I hadn't had 6 hours of sleep the night before . Of course, I burst into angry tears. I have been trying to figure out this sleep thing for months and this was supposed to be the last big test before I was able to get some answers and maybe some medication to help with my exhaustion. No one mentioned that my test would be cancelled based on lack of sleep. I finally completed it on March 22nd and it was not fun. I thought sleeping would be easy. Ha! My head was killing me. I have a follow up on Thursday so fingers crossed.
• March 9th was my 29.2 birthday (also known as 31st) and, while I thought it was going to be rough because Tim was in Chicago and Brenden was sick, it turned out really great. I met my family, which now includes my friends Bre, Jake and Andrew (my sister at heart!) at Andolini's in Owasso. After stuffing ourselves silly with pizza, pasta, garlic knots and salad, the kids headed home with Mike and Connie and I hung out with Bre and her family, watched a movie, and devoured a delicious cake. I spent the weekend being lazy, going shopping and thoroughly relaxing while Tim worked like crazy and the kids were spoiled by the grandmas. It wasn't the original plan, but it turned out great. (Although I missed Tim and the kids.) 
• The next weekend I headed out to JABMAT (Just Another Business Meeting and/or Training), which is really just my friend Susan and I getting together to enjoy a few days of relaxing and eating at restaurants with no kids. It was awesome. I highly recommend this type of getaway for any parent. It's a lot easier to deal with sick kids, teething, attitudes, and a dirty house when you've had a few days of housekeeping and quiet meals.  
• My mom's birthday was the 22nd and she requested a simple bar-b-que at our house on Saturday, the 24th. We sat around outside enjoying the beautiful weather, watched the kids play in our muddy backyard, and laughed at the awful mess Tim and I made of a homemade cheesecake. One of those rare, perfect days. 

Looking over this list, I realize that it looks like all I did for the past few weeks is relax, sleep, and then relax again. I'll understand if you're jealous. However, I will also let you borrow my very-much-into-her-terrible-twos-and-teething little girl. You may not be so jealous after that. :)

Bits and Pieces

We have been completely engrossed in moving, unpacking, meeting neighbors, etc and I have barely had time to blink, let alone the energy to type. Still, I wanted to share a few snippets of our life the past few weeks.

• Out of nowhere, Lauren suddenly loves school. This is a huge step for her since she had been screaming at the top of her lungs every time I handed over to her lovely teacher. I was told that it didn't last long after I left, but I still felt terrible. Her screams are the most ear piercing thing I have ever heard. Now? She grabs her lunch box, walks from the front door to her classroom, and happily hugs her teacher ("Keeeem!" aka: Ms. Kim) and sometimes even spares a second to wave goodbye to me. She also loves to call out to her classmates. "Ink un!" (Lincoln) "Ay laa!" (Layla) "Dom ash!" (Thomas) It's super sweet.
  
  
• One of the funniest things she has done lately, which is saying a lot because this child is hilarious, is telling us she has to go potty, running to the bathroom, and then pulling her shirt up while she stands facing the toilet, just like her brother. This is always followed by "wash hands?" and she skips on her merry way. She woke up dry from a nap one day so I put her on the toilet and she actually went, but I'm hoping guessing that was a complete fluke. I'm not ready to head down that road, yet, although I'm afraid she's going to force me. Sigh...
  
  
• Brenden just finished a fourth round of antibiotics for double ear infections that just will not go away. I took him to see the doctor that placed Lauren's tubes and removed her cyst and he agreed that it was time for Brenden to have tubes as well. They scheduled us for Friday so we won't have to wait long. (Merry Christmas, Brenden...some tubes in your ears!) I'm not sure how it will go since he can understand so much more than Lauren, but I do know that he is very excited about the chocolate ice cream (his choice of rewards) for being brave and listening. I just hope he feels better soon. So hard to see him sick all the time.
  
  
• Speaking of doctor's appointments, we've had several the last few weeks for both kids. I always dread taking them both into a waiting room because I end up chasing them, always going different directions, and looking like the crazy mom that can't control her children. Amazingly, they have both been rather well behaved, listened, and played well with each other at every appointment. Brenden sat quietly while Lauren's stitches were removed and Lauren sat in awe while Dr. Guy showed us Brenden's ears with a video camera. (It was pretty cool.) I know the awful 2's are coming and the horrendous 3's will follow, but right now I'm going to enjoy these happy sibling moments while they last!
  
  
• They've become rather close, at least on occasion. Lauren is always anxious to pick Brenden up from school so she can give him a big hug. Brenden gets really concerned when Lauren is upset, especially while we're eating. He has started offering her food from his plate, making funny faces, and whispering to her to calm her down. (He also claims her screams hurt his ears, which I totally understand.) I just hope that the happy moments when they are laughing at each other greatly outnumber the arguments and spats.
  
  
• December 9th was a huge day for us when it comes to the new house. (Pictures when we actually feel moved in!) We had the blinds installed, cable/internet/phone installed, and the refrigerator delivered. The funniest guy was the blinds installer. He sang to the kids, joked around with them, and even did a great job of putting up the blinds. The Cox guy was also really nice and felt REALLY bad when he managed to drill a hole through our wall (twice) instead of through the beam he was aiming at. I could not stop laughing when it happened because it was just so ridiculous to see a long orange wire sticking out of our wall and the look on his face was priceless. He even thanked me for not getting angry. It worked out in the end since they are going to repair it and we also got a free new wireless router. Score!
  
  
• Remember when I said that Lauren was our "serious child"? Remember when I thought she'd be slightly outgoing, but not nearly as friendly as Brenden? Oh my gosh, was I ever wrong. She is the most friendly, outgoing, charming, energetic, comical, independent child I have ever met. She's talking up a storm and loves to interact with anyone and everyone. Just today she sat across from a couple at a birthday party and spent the entire lunch saying "Nice to meet you" and shaking their hands, talking to them about her pizza, and singing "Happy Birthday" as loud as possible. She has no problems tilting her head, smiling and turning her baby blues on anyone and more often than not it works.
  
  The best story lately: We went to Buffalo Wild Wings for grandpa Mike's birthday. (Happy birthday, Mike!) She was sitting on her grandma Connie's lap, playing on her phone when she suddenly looked up and whined, "Awww, it's chicken!" Everyone, including the guy who was waiting for a to-go order, busted up laughing. She then proceeded to stand as close to his phone as possible with a questioning look on her face. To my surprise, he locked it, and handed it right over. Of course, she knows how iPhones work so she had it unlocked and was playing Angry Birds in about 3 seconds.
  
  She spent dinner alternating between shoving as many boneless chicken wings dipped in ketchup in her mouth as possible and dancing with her grandma. We are never lacking for entertainment around here. 

(Not at All) Wordless Wednesday

The phrase to best describe out household the past two weeks? "Sickly, but managing...barely."

Brenden was actually the last of us to catch the crud and he seems the least bothered by it. I'm not sure if he is actually past it or if it will hit him hard at the end, like it did with Lauren and I.

Poor Lauren has had a rough two weeks. First it was all the nasty gunk in her head, then an ear infection, and on top of that she managed to catch a week long stomach virus. Yesterday was the first time she had any formula that actually stayed down since last Thursday and today she finally ate real food and seemed to enjoy it. It was so scary to see her unable to eat and only want Pedialyte. She went from 20 lbs 5 oz down to 19 lbs 1 oz in less than a week and her hands and feet were never warm. I'm hoping we're past the worst of it and that she's good and healthy for a very long time.

Our 6 year anniversary was Monday and that night I started feeling terrible. I had been feeling cruddy for awhile but then the entire left side of my face just started to ache. It hurt to bend down, it hurt to blink. Even my teeth and the roof of my mouth were sore. I knew I couldn't wait any longer to head to the doctor. I was lucky to get in on Tuesday and she diagnosed me with an ear/sinus infection. If that pain is what Lauren was dealing with I'm not surprised she didn't sleep. It was terrible! Not much of an anniversary. Thank goodness we're really celebrating on Saturday!

Tim has been lucky. He did start to feel kind of gross but I don't think it got nearly as bad as any of ours. Let's hope it stays that way.

I hope everyone's families are past the nasty part of this season. Anyone else ready for summer???

200th Post

It feels like yesterday that I started this blog, and then not long after that that we hit 100 posts. I'm so happy that we've kept up with it (Come on Tim! Post more! Oh wait...you have a job? Alright then.) :) I've been able to look back and remember how I was feeling, what Brenden was doing, and even once I used it as a reference tool. Our blog was never intended to be life changing for anyone, just somewhere I could remember our life changes. And I'm so happy that we have it.

I couldn't think of anything fun to do for this little 200th post. No big birth story like last time, no big announcements. I just figured I would update everyone on what we were all doing. Thanks again for taking the time out of your day to see what we're doing. Even though this blog is really for us, it's still nice to share our lives with our friends.

Tim:

Still working hard, maybe a little too hard sometimes. If he's not staying late at work at Wallace then he's working on something for the Army at night. Poor guy deserves a break! That's pretty much consumed all of his time, although he said he'd really like a hobby. Anyone have any ideas on a good hobby for a soon-to-be father of two that barely has downtime already?

Me:

Still painfully pregnant...and whining about it. The last few days have been full of contractions and exhaustion. It's like when you pull a muscle, which is pretty much what is going on with my belly, and then you have to use it. It clenches and it HURTS. I think Tim asked me at least 10 times last night if I was okay. She's just low and trying to break my pelvis...that's all. The doctor did say on Tuesday that she is 5-ish lbs and most definitely head down so we're on our way. Only a few more weeks and she'll be here! I have got to get her nursery put together, her clothes hung up (we have WAY too many already) and my bag packed. Not having it done makes me nervous.

Brenden:

His potty training has had some rough times lately. Not sure what happened; maybe he's just bored with it? I'm sure he's bored with being at home so much. It takes a lot of energy for me to get up and go so we don't leave the house much. Shoot...it takes a lot of energy for me to walk to the kitchen to get a sandwich! Plus I get out of breath in about 2 seconds. I think he's excited about the baby right now, but we'll see how he feels when he realizes that she is actually staying with us. :) We found the PBS website last night and he looooved it. His favorite game was matching dogs in swimsuits to the innertube that was the same color as their suits. He knew them all! So even if he doesn't know the name of the color, he can differentiate. He's also a big fan of "helping" in the kitchen, although if you've ever had a 2 year old "help" you do anything you know how interesting that can be.

New, fun things Brenden will say/do:

"Daddy you're big. Mommy's big. Brenden's small. I'm small."

"I'm tall! TALL!" (So he's small AND tall.)

He can sing the Rescue Pack song. "Ooooh...Rescue Pack! Coming to the rescue!" So very funny!

Knowing the difference between "happy" and "sad". He has a great "sad face" that he pulls out for no reason, an "angel face" that, up until now was just when we asked him. Now...he's learned to use it when he wants something. Scary! He also saw his Wii character after he finished playing a game and it was making a not so happy face, which is what they do when you don't get a good score. He never cared before. Now, he'll say, "Oh no! Poor me!" He'll also deploy his "happy face" on us if we aren't paying attention to him. He'll tap us and just smile until we have to smile back. I'm pretty sure I did that when I was little, too, but I didn't teach it to him!

Totally Awesome/Kinda Cool

Totally Awesome Things That Happened Lately:

• WE GOT OUR CLOSING DOCUMENTS!!!! Monday morning at almost exactly 8 am the FedEx guy knocked on our door and presented me with the package we have been waiting to see for almost 1 1/2 years. As I was signing I told him that we were so happy to see those documents and I was so glad that it was over because it took them so long to get here...I didn't realize that would come across as a slam on their delivery time. Oops! By 9:30 am I was at Tim's office and we were done signing our names on the blue highlighted lines. Liz, one of the many lovely people that Tim works with, notarized everything and Tim headed over to the bank for the cashier's check. As of right now it should be in Colorado! WHOO HOO! Our closing is scheduled for 4 pm on Friday. Anyone want to join us for a bottle of champagne at 5 pm? :)
  

Tim thought I was crazy for documenting "the signing" but I want to remember every happy moment!!!

Brenden wanted to join in on "the signing" fun!

• Sunday was another Change of Command for Tim's reserve unit. We attended the going away dinner (see below under "Kind Cool Stuff") and I thought that was going to be the last I heard of it. Then Tim came home and handed me a green folder with the kind of smile on his face that says, "This is actually really cool and I'm super excited about it but I don't want to brag." I opened it up and realized that he had received an award. The outgoing Colonel wanted to make sure Tim was recognized for all that he does so he recommended Tim for the Army Achievement Medal. :) Seriously, SO proud of him! Congratulations, Tim! Here is what it says:

DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY

This is to certify that the Secretary of the Army has awarded

THE ARMY ACHIEVEMENT MEDAL

To Captain Timothy J. Kelly
1st Brigade (Engineer), 102nd Division (Maneuver Support)

For meritorious service while assigned to the 1st BDE (Engineer), 102 Division (Maneuver Support). Your professionalism and devotion to duty reflect great credit upon yourself, the 1st Brigade and the United States Army.

Kinda Cool Stuff That Happened Lately:

• The night before the Change of Command we headed to dinner at Ti Amo's (which is where we had our rehearsal dinner) for the going away dinner for Colonel James. Let me tell you, it was nice but dang was I nervous. I was not aware that we would be the youngest couple there by about 15 years. All of the other Army dudes were Lt. Colonels, Colonels, Majors (although the one Major I met was sooo funny) and who knows what else that may or may not have outranked Tim. I think I met one dude that Tim outranked, but the fact that he was an E-9 something or the other...yeah, he was super duper intimidating. I mostly kept my mouth shut, trying to pretend I knew what they were talking about when the acronyms started flying (ORB? NCORB? Um...I know what it is now that I asked) and smiling when it seemed like I was supposed to. Dinner was yummy and we made it through without getting salad dumped in our lap, unlike the guy across from me. Eventually, when it seemed like dinner was over, they started handing out presents to the outgoing Colonel. That took another hour. It was great to have a night out, but I could have done without the STRESS!! :)
  

What a difference a week makes.

If you had told me last Monday that this last week was going to be fabulous I think I would have laughed in your face. But now, on this side of the weekend, I can truly say that it was one of the best weeks we have had this year.

Monday started off AWFUL, as many Mondays do. You can read all about our car and the newest drama we had with it here. (It's a looong post...just warning you.) We were still having problems with our property manager. We still couldn't get in touch with the lawn guy so that he could mow our yard and keep it from looking like this again. We heard back from our realtor about the showings we had the previous week. Both of the couples liked the house but neither were interested. Things just were not looking up.

On Tuesday we finally had a ray of hope. Gayle, our realtor, wanted to know if we would be interested in letting someone move into our house before we closed on the sale. In essence, they would be renting until the closing date. They were a military family and their household goods were being delivered very soon and they were hoping to have a house to put all of it in, not a storage place. (That sounds familiar!) After I stopped hyperventilating we decided to run it past Tim's dad to make sure we weren't getting caught up in the idea of having an offer on the house and forgetting to factor in something very important. He said that it sounded like a good plan as long as there was paperwork in place to protect us in case the sale fell through or they changed their minds. We let Gayle know that we would be willing to work with them. I thought we would hear something back from them immediately. When Wednesday morning rolled around I got nervous. Had they changed their minds?

And then, Wednesday afternoon, Tim called to let me know that he was looking at an email that contained their offer. They wanted to move in on the 12th and close by the 31st of July. My head was spinning! We signed the papers that night and by Thursday afternoon we were officially under contract.

Wednesday was also the day that Rick called to let me know that he was standing in our house and that not ONE thing that the property manager had promised to do had been done. The doors were still broken, trash in the garage, holes in the walls, no garage door openers...all after a month and several phone calls where she promised to be done "next week". We didn't have to beg to get Karen and Rick to finish the repairs, although we would have. They went down on Thursday, measured the doors (which ended up being smaller than the ones at Lowes...urgh) and fixed the CO2 detectors. Since they actually have lives outside of fixing our house they weren't able to go back until Saturday, which is when the inspection was going to be done. Gayle wasn't too worried but I knew the inspection is a big hurdle and I was nervous.

Saturday afternoon I was in Bartlesville helping with the Open House/Shoe Sale at the studio when Gayle called with the results. The only things that came up were the things that Rick and Karen planned on fixing that afternoon. WHOO HOO! She was just as shocked as I was. We didn't think anything major would come up, but we also didn't think we would pass that easily. Usually SOMETHING comes up. Technically, I know things did. But we never saw a report and there wasn't anything we weren't expecting.

By late Saturday afternoon Karen and Rick were done. All the doors were whole again (after much cutting, measuring, and other such thing), the holes in the walls were filled, the stove had drip pans again, and the garage door had openers. One of our old neighbors let us know that there were vehicles in the driveway on Sunday and since the paperwork we all signed stated that any repairs that needed to be done after they moved in would be their responsibility I'm guessing they were satisfied.

As of today we have our car back, fully paid for by our insurance. (Although my sanity may have suffered.) We're only 17 days and a few steps away from closing on the house, which was officially on the market for 7 days this time. (MUCH better than the 260 days it was on the market the first time.) We're also expecting the remaining balance of the security deposit from our awful property manager, which will cover the repairs that had to be done. Let's just hope our luck extends to our case against those terrible renters. Although, if it doesn't, we're not going to dwell on it.

See...I told you it was a fabulous week. :)

What's Going On? (as of Oct. 9th, 2008)

Since we created this blog to let everyone knows what's going on with us, I figured it was time to actually say what's going on with us. :)

Tim is working at Wallace Engineering in Tulsa and LOVING it. He is doing grading and utility design work, including storm water, sewers, water detention and runoff design. He is currently working on projects such as the Montero Assisted Living, Owasso School's Athletic Center and Mid-High, and the White Church Development in Broken Arrow. Tim is also serving as a Captain in the US Army Reserves and on September 7th, 2008, he took over as Commanding Officer of HHC 1st Bridgade 102 Division. He is currently in charge of 75 soldiers and drills with them once a month in Sand Springs.

Amanda is still enjoying staying at home with Brenden and watching him grow into a very smart little boy. She is also helping out at Art of Motion Dance Studio in Bartlesville twice a week, which works out great because she gets to take Brenden with her.

Brenden changes every day and continues to amaze us with what he comprehends. He is officially walking and seems to be trying to run. He has started climbing as well, which leads to all sorts of new baby proofing problems. Some of the words he has learned to say, or is working on saying are: mama, dada, baba, please (sounds like dease), Daisy (Grandma and Grandpa Warehime's dog), Justin (as in Uncle Justin), bird, leaf, ball, diaper, kitty, more, down, up, and out. He is still learning to sign and has mastered the signs for: more, milk, cereal, eat, please, and is working on bird. His favorite songs include Patty Cake, Itsy Bitsy Spider, The Wheels on the Bus, and Barbara Ann by the Beach Boys. He absolutely LOVES books and can sit in his book nook (the corner where the books ended up) and "read" for long stretches of time. (15 minutes is long for 12 months old!)

So far we are still living with Mike and Connie (THANK YOU!) while we wait for our house in Colorado Springs to sell. Right now we have not had any offers and no one has looked at it to rent it. It has not been the easiest to deal with and we've spent many days pulling our hair out trying to figure out how to get someone in there. (if you know someone who wants a great house in Colorado, let us know!) On a happier note, we just started looking at rental properties so we can finally get out of Mike and Connie's hair....oh, and feel like adults again. :) We're keeping our fingers, toes and eyes crossed!