need to brush off the dust

Maybe I should just make this a "updated every 3-6 months blog" and I won't feel like it is super neglected. I guess I have written since Rick came home so it isn't quite as outdated as I thought.

Big events since August have been Aidan starting 2nd grade, Connor back in preschool, and Ian turning 1. The deployment time seemed to drag on forever yet Ian's first year flew by. Doesn't make sense really but that is just how it was.

We did a quick 5 day trip up to Anchorage to visit family and take care of a few things like new drivers licenses. Hopefully next time we will have a few more days to see more family and friends we missed this trip.

I guess I will do a quick family run down and call it good.

Rick - Just went back to work after a month long block leave post-deployment. He unfortunately has to go to a school on the 29th of this month which will last a little over 2 weeks. This equals him missing yet another one of Aidan's birthdays. We broke the news to him yesterday and he is ok, we will just be celebrating his birthday a little early. Not many kids object to that! It will suck having him gone again so soon after a deployment but at least it is only a couple weeks.

Ariana- Nothing new here, just trying to keep up with kids!

Aidan - Doing extremely well in school as usual. He decided to give soccer another go after taking a year or so off from it. His team is coached by a dad of one of his school friends. They are undefeated with only 1 game left for the regular season. He is the goalie and has done awesome. They are a talented little team so it is fun to watch. We have also ventured into the world of cub scouts this year. He seems to enjoy it and it is a good activity to do with dad. Just a couple more weeks and he turns 8!!!! Where did the time go???

Connor - Our busy middle man is now 4 years old! He is enjoying his second year of preschool with Ms. Karen. After spending his whole life watching his brother play sports he finally was old enough to play soccer. Four year old soccer is about what you expect, a lot of running around and not paying attention and hey once in a while someone scores a goal. He still is interested primarily in all things Aidan has/does. It is rough being the little brother trying to keep up with the big boys but he holds his own!

Ian - Our "baby" is almost 14 months old now! His feet are doing awesome and he is now starting to walk. He is probably the most easy going little guy you have ever met, we really are blessed! It amazes me the things he picks up on watching his brothers or us. He definitely can brighten your day just hearing him laugh which is a pretty common occurrence.

I'm sure there are other things going on that I am forgetting but maybe I will remember something else and actually have another blog post before the year is over!

Oh we did new family pictures, this is one of my favorites of the boys :o)

Wow

So time has flown by and this blog was definitely neglected. Rick made it home from Iraq a week ago. It was a VERY long deployment even though it was our shortest of the 3 in actual days. Our orders to Fairbanks were officially deleted so hopefully we will stay here for the next couple of years and might actually have daddy here that whole time!

Hopefully I will be a bit better at keeping this blog updated. Having another adult around should be a big help!

oops I missed a month

Well February sure came and went fast! Once again the blog took a backseat to life. We had the opportunity to get pictures done of the boys by Dani of Cleotography. She got amazing shots of all 3 boys, if you are looking for a photographer in the Puyallup area I highly recommend her!


So the most exciting news in February came at Ian's 3 month follow up appointment since being in his shoes and bar. I wasn't sure going in how they would start cutting back on his time wearing them. Dr. Mosca came in and looked at his feet and immediately said "ok we can go to 12 hours a day" I was thrilled since it means now he pretty much only has to wear them to bed. Bring on the cute shoes! I actually had brought a pair with us that he wore out of the hospital. He said his right foot looks like what you would expect a normal corrected club foot to look like but his left foot looks awesome so even better than expected! He is loving his "free feet" time as I like to call it. The guy from orthodics that checked his shoes out this time was not happy with the fit of his original pair and moved him into a smaller size. So we don't have any more problems with his right foot, which is slightly smaller, slipping out of the shoe. He will go back in May to check on his progress. It is SO nice having him free from the bar during the day, he can actually sit in a shopping cart now at the store. There are so many little things that are just easier now it has been wonderful. He is trying so hard to figure out how to crawl, my days are numbered! Even without knowing how to crawl he can scoot and roll around and get to wherever he wants to be already. I can't believe he will be 6 months old on Wednesday!

February was also a bit of a rough month or maybe just a continuation of a rough time for Aidan. I think 3 deployments plus all the time Rick has been gone for training etc. is finally taking its toll on him. If you add it all up he pretty much has been gone for half of Aidan's life. The battles, screaming fits and just general anger is getting worse as time goes on. He tells me he hates me almost daily now. I decided it was time to get him some help because I don't know what else I can do for him. Military One Source has a great program where you can call and get 12 counseling sessions so I called them last week. I really hope talking to someone can help resolve some of the issues we are having at home. Thankfully he is still doing great at school so the problems have not spilled over there but it is probably only a matter of time before they do if we don't do something about it. Unfortunately I am having a hard time getting anyone to call me back to set up his appointments so we may have to get a referral for a different place to try. It is incredibly hard to see your child so angry and hurt and not know what to do to make it better. Another thing I have noticed this deployment is that he really doesn't talk about Rick much at all. In the past he would talk about missing him and want to see him and talk to him. This time when Rick calls or gets on the computer he has very little interest in even talking to him. I wish we could say this will be the last deployment but that just isn't reality.

Another bit of bad news is that Rick may not get his R&R at all. Things are just in the rumor stage but it is a possibility. Of course this is the Army we are talking about so we won't know one way or another until the last minute so as usual it is hurry up and wait.

So this doesn't end completely depressing I would just like to say that I am SO thankful for family. My younger brother and his wife did something totally nice for us just because and I hope they know how much I truly appreciate it. They also want to have Aidan spend some time on the weekends with them which he will be thrilled about. Definitely lightening my load :o)

boys for sale

Anyone want to buy them? I suppose I would miss them if they were to go, it might take a while though. Connor dumped a brand new box of Coco Puffs all over the floor and these are the times I really question why I had children! So tomorrow I will be vacuuming up smashed cereal. They are just one disaster after another, I don't think it is possible for my house to ever be clean. They destroy things twice as fast as I can clean. It will probably only get worse once Ian gets older.

Everything seems to take longer/more effort when it comes to trying to get anything done around here. I suppose this blog post is a good example. Just when I try to take a minute to type Ian gets fussy or the boys get out of bed. I am trying to make myself go to bed a lot earlier now, I just don't have the energy to stay up later and by later I mean after 9 pm. Everyone gets along much better around here if we have had enough sleep. I don't want to get through my day relying on caffeine and energy drinks. The secretary at Aidan's school took a look at Connor the other day and said "you must just be exhausted by the end of the day" I laughed and said "try by four o'clock!" Getting up at 5:45 every day and staying up to late took its toll on me this month.

I don't know if this entry is making much sense but that may be fitting. I am tired and surrounded by chaos. Hopefully February will be a better month. I am starting it off with a massage appointment on Tuesday. I definitely carry my stress in my shoulders and have been hurting the last couple of weeks. I started going to bed earlier this week and it definitely helped things. Now if the boys would just start listening things would be great. Oh and Ian is teething but thankfully he has only been slightly cranky so maintains his title of "worlds easiest baby".

One great thing this week was I finally bought a new laptop and Rick is temporarily at a different location that actually has webcams on their computers. We have been able to do a couple of video chats which has been good for all of us. It is sad when you go 3 months without seeing your husband/kids/dads face.

Even though I don't have to be up at 5:45 tomorrow (just by 8!) I do need to get some sleep. We were supposed to do pictures of the boys today and were rained out so hopefully there is a break in the weather for that. I should have some new pictures to share for the next post.

Pirate Fun

We spent the weekend partying with the Beech family. They are another Army family we met at church. They have SIX kids and he is currently deployed to Afghanistan, well not at the moment though because he is home on R&R. They had a pirate birthday party on Saturday for their son and then a baptism/first communion party on Sunday for 2 of the girls. My boys would stay and play with their kids all day long if I let them. Never a dull moment there.



Ian had to be a pirate too!

Not much else new to report. Basketball starts tomorrow for Aidan and then swim lessons start in a week. Back to our busy schedule.

I swear I'm trying!

I could say life is just to busy to keep up with a blog but for those of you on my facebook friends you probably see on my profile "Ariana is playing Bejewled Blitz" so I'm totally ratted out. Yes I like to play Bejeweled when I have a little time to myself hahaha Our lives just are not very exciting these days and I don't have that knack for turning everyday life with these boys into something hilarious to read about.

Really less excitement is better when I look back on our last few months. I appreciate that we don't have a lot going on because the alternative usually involves hospital visits! I guess I can just give a rundown on how the boys are doing these days.

Ian - I thought Aidan and Connor were very good easy babies but Ian is outdoing them both. I am so thankful to have such a happy, good natured baby. Despite being in his braces full time he still just spends his days smiling, talking and generally being cute. He will be 4 months old on the 17th, time sure is flying! It will be interesting to see where he falls on the growth charts. He is SO long and outgrowing clothes like crazy. We don't have to go back to Seattle for his feet until February 22nd so we have had a nice little break.

Connor- What to say about my middle child........ he definitely keeps me on my toes. We have a lot of battles every day, currently he HATES going to bed and it is usually quite a fight. Of course what works to get him to sleep one night won't the next day. At least he is coming back around on the potty thing, it was very frustrating when he regressed to having accidents all the time after Rick left. I am happy to say he isn't changing his pants 3 times a day anymore. He is still loving preschool and will be starting back up with swimming lessons in a week or so.

Aidan - Luckily Aidan seems to be handling this deployment better than the last. He does have issues at times but overall he is doing well. He is doing great at school and really loves it there. I am so happy we made the decision to switch him to private school. He is anxiously waiting for basketball to start next week. He will be playing on the same team/coach as last year which is great because we really liked his coach. He's losing teeth like crazy and growing fast, he has to watch out or his brothers will be catching up with him!

I am tired but hanging in there. Life isn't always perfect for us but really we have a lot to be thankful for. A longtime friend was diagnosed with cancer this week, she is the same age as me and has 2 little girls. Definitely makes you appreciate being healthy. Looking at the disaster in Haiti is another good reality check.

Well like usual I will try to keep updating here and get more pictures posted here and there but for now I better go get in one last game of Bejeweled before I go to bed :o)