Monday, February 23, 2009

Flu bugs stink...

Yesterday we had a couple of sick boys. Xavier was first. He had the runs and was cranky... so I took him upstairs and we took a nap together for a bit. He slept for 2 hours and I slept for 30 minutes. The funny thing about that is that usually if he naps... he doesn't go to bed on time. Well, that night he did and was passed out all night long, which worked out well since Jay was really sick. Jay threw up on our kitchen floor right as he was going to the bathroom because he said his "tummy was angry". Then he continued to be sick every hour after that until 4:30 a.m. It was draining and tiring. Thankfully, he feels a little better now... I just need to keep him hydrated, warm, and fed.

Then this morning, Sydney tried to take responsibility for her own breakfast and dumped Cheerios all over my living room floor. I told her, "Well, there is your breakfast! Have fun!" The floor is clean, in case you are wondering and the majority of them did land in her cup that she was using! She and Xavier split the cereal and were happy with that. Anna got her own cereal. I had them all drink water all day so that if they do catch anything it will hopefully flush out of their systems quickly.

Tonight I got to play Bunco with some really great ladies. If you ever wonder about how small the AF is, I can tell you! I met 3 different ladies that all knew someone that I knew! It was really neat to find that out. I had never met any of these women and yet only having been to 3 bases, I have met a lot of people. Makes me wonder if anyone that I have met over the years ever says, "Oh! Do you know the Ottingers?" It would be interesting to know what they say back!! I am sure it is probably along the lines of, "Have they had their 6th child yet?" or "They have how many now?"

Something else that is funny is that I have had so many adult conversations in the last 4 days, that I can't keep conversations straight anymore! It has been really nice to have those conversations too!! I found out that two of my friends are having twins! That is really exciting news for them! Unfortunately, I will not get to see them when they are born. Oh the joy of military life. On the other hand though, I find out people are moving and where too and get to get all excited about their move with them.

Jerry got our name on the housing list for Robins. We won't find out anything about a house until we are closer to moving. Which won't be for another couple of months... so we will have to wait and see! We are just praying that we know which path to take when the time comes to choose, stay in base housing? Or rent?

We'll see! Need to get to bed now!

Thursday, February 19, 2009

Gotta love a man that gets things done!

We are excited that we have our official orders now! We are moving to GA the end of June/beginning of July. However, we will be out of our house here in OH byt the end of May. It should work out well with the kids school schedule as well! We are hoping to get into base housing, but that will depend on whether or not we are able to get a 5 bedroom or not.

Yesterday was a pretty good day. Jerry got a lot done. He started with saving us $20 on our phone bill/DSL bill and then progressed to getting $5 off our dish bill and adding free HBO and Starz for 3 mos!! That will take us right up to our leave time... what a great husband!

Jay is going through a mouthy stage right now... Anna seems to be picking up on his bad behavior. My responsible child, Anna, is now entering a new phase that I am hoping does not last long! Xavier is still being his funny little self. He smiles through everything!

Sydney has not figured out how to stay in one place when she is upset. She ran into the kitchen with her eyes closed, mouth wide open, head back and threw herself at me. Unfortunately for her, I was turning to catch her and she flew past me straight into the dishwasher... face first. Bloody nose, bloody top and bottom lips... and she might have chipped a tooth, not too bad thankfully. I thought it was going to be a lot worse but thankfully it wasn't.

Caleb is our little monkey-baby! He clings to me just like Sydney used to. He also sleeps like Anna did at his age (lay him in his crib with his blankie and he might fuss once but then is out like a light). He is so fun and happy! The kids adore his every laugh, coo, and when he is on the floor- his rolling! We started feeding him baby food today. He seems a lot happier now that he feels like he is eating like the rest of us! His favorite thing to do right now is blow raspberries... all the time... he likes to watch his pacifier fly out of his mouth or watch cereal fly all over you!

All our kids are growing. They have all been eating like their legs are hollow. And they have also been cranky and then crashing out early for bed time! It is funny and sometimes frustrating that they are on the same growth time table! At least I know when I am going to have to buy new clothes!

Our next couple of months are going to be a bit hectic. We have to finish school, sort through our belongings and sluff off the "stuff" that we don't need! I hope everyone out there is doing well!

Sunday, February 8, 2009

The Birthday Celebrations Begin....

For the next 3 months we have birthdays for, obviously, 3 of our kids!

Anna's celebrating started this weekend. When asked what she wanted to do for her birthday, she said she wanted to get her ears pierced. Grandma and Grandpa Dragon had come over for a visit to celebrate her 6th birthday, so grandma and mommy took her to Claire's in the mall and got it done! She was all brave and excited until they got the guns out and the ladies tried lining up to pierce her ears... then she kind of got a little tense! But in the end... she was a big girl! And she loves it! Hopefully, she is much better than her mother was at this age with pierced ears!

Anna seems to be our easiest child to buy anything for. She loves clothes and sewing and crocheting and coloring and drawing. She is so easy to please it is great! And then we have Xavier... he is so hard to buy anything for! Clothes... he couldn't care less. Star Wars toys are great but not young enough for him and books he likes but then loses interest... What do you get a 4 year old boy? He does like Gameboy and computer games. But we have so many already! Kind of frustrating... Sydney, who is after Xavier in the birthday line up, is pretty easy to please like Anna. She likes baby dolls, clothes, little dolls, hair bands, dolls, coloring books, etc...

It is fascinating to sit and watch each of them at the dinner table and just watch the differences in personalities and the similarities too! The smaller ones each look up to their older siblings and a lot of times mimic them in order to learn. Xavier has been coming in to the kitchen when I am doing school with Anna and Jay and seems to get a kick out of watching them. I think next year he will be ready for a preschool program.

Well, little Caleb is howling... better go rescue the poor, little, left-alone baby!

Thursday, February 5, 2009

More kids for us? Or ... not.

Last week I asked Jerry to really think about whether or not we are going to have anymore kids. Why did I ask him to think about it? Because I really want both of us to be in agreement one way or the other if we are done or not. That weekend I did not feel good and ended up going to bed at 6:30 because I felt so awful. That left Jerry taking care of the kids with his parents (b/c they were visiting). He fed them, bathed them, and put them to bed. During which time Sydney probably threw 2-4 fits...? (I don't know that you could really call them fits... because they are loud and obnoxious and VERY annoying. She screams and cries at the top of her lungs and won't listen... sometimes kicks and flails her arms... yeah, not pretty by any stretch of the imagination!) The next night I still didn't feel right but was helping with the others while Jerry brushed Xavier's teeth. Xavier stuck his finger all the way in the back of his mouth, gagged, and proceeded to throw up all over the sink, the bath mat, and the toilet... Right in front of Jerry of course! So the next day he looks at me and says, "I am done thinking... there is no way I want to take a chance on having another kid that throws fits like Sydney and has no disgusting factor like Xavier! I am done!" Meanwhile, I have had time to think about it and my thought was, "Let's wait until November to decide permanently!" :-) So... nothing permanent will be done, but neither will we be trying! If it happens, it will be God's doing and not our own.

With our move coming up faster than I want to think about... I need to go through all of our things and shave off a couple 100 pounds of clothes and what not! Should be interesting stuff! We are looking to rent down in GA because we will be there for 2 years and the base housing lady told me that their 4 bedrooms are only 1400 sq. ft. We are in a 1500 now and are comfortable... anything less and we will be cramped!

I am having to take Caleb to the doctor every couple of weeks for weight checks... this is nothing new for me. My last three kids seem to have taken a growth path that freaks doctors out. Thankfully, I have a down to earth pediatrician that actually BELIEVES me! That and my kids have a history of dropping in their growth curves until the find their own. The doctor said he wanted to just chart his growth before taking blood and doing a whole lot of work ups on him to make sure it is just genetics and not something else. Caleb meets all the milestones, and is happy and active. He said if he hadn't seen him and just looked at a chart he would order the blood work, but Caleb charmed his way through it all!

Jay and Anna are still doing great with their school and we will be able to finish before we move. Xavier and Sydney have actually both been really good the last couple of days... Jerry and I are astounded by how good Sydney has been. Her screaming fits have ceased! (Jerry thinks it was the threat of no more kids!) I think she just grew out of it.

Oh and by the way... funny part about the whole Sydney's fit thing was that my parents said she reminded them of me at that age and Jerry's mom said that the fits reminded her of Jerry at that age!! SO evidently, we got double whammied with her! She has been having fits for 3 mos. now and they seemed to have just ended yesterday. In my opinion, I have to agree with my MIL because she said Jerry threw those kinds of fits until he realized that it didn't get him anywhere... and I think that is what happened with Sydney. She just ends up being sent to her room until she calms down and she doesn't like being away from us. Silly girl!

Anyway, that is it on our end for this week.