Nightmares

So, Emily is having nightmares. I kind of blame ourselves with this. She hasn't had a good night's sleep in a few days. Last night she slept with me again, and Chris slept on the couch because he couldn't stand her constant tossing & turning. She'd wake me up about once an hour tossing...and then searching to see if I was still sleeping next to her...and then she'd cuddle up next to me so close that I was practically sleeping on top of her. Every time I'd try to scoot over she'd wake up again and look for me, or my arm, so that I was holding her. It was a VERY LONG NIGHT and I didn't get much sleep at all. Luckily we got a 3 hour nap this afternoon to kind of make up for the lack of sleep.

But, like I said, it's totally our fault. We bought a new movie for Emily, kind of as a second birthday present. We were both tired of watching Bolt, over and over again...everyday. So, we bought another Pixar Movie, Monsters, Inc. It's a great movie with Sully and Mike, and of course Boo. Emily actually likes Boo and actually enjoys the movie. BUT, when you think about the main point of the movie...it's about monsters that scare small children.

She's a little too young to understand the "theme" behind the premise of the movie and doesn't understand that the monsters aren't actually going to hurt the little kids. So, she intently watched the movie for the first time and clung onto daddy during the scary parts, and it would have appeared that she actually enjoyed the movie. ....and then she didn't sleep that night, or any night since...

So, between the nightmares, and having a bit of a cold...none of us have been getting any sleep this week!

The Puppet Master - Part I, II, & III

Here we are having a little fun with a birthday gift sent by Grandma & Grandpa Humphrey.

Painted Lady

Tonight Emily and I had a bit of a "Girl's Night." We hung out, watched some TV and painted our nails. Yep, I painted Emily's fingernails for the first time this evening. She thought it was REALLY COOL and was excited to get all of her fingernails painted. --- That was UNTIL, she realized that the fingernail polish wasn't going to come off. She started to scream, cry and demand a "towel" to try to clean it off. By this time everything had already dried.

She continued to freak out that the paint wasn't coming off...I think she thought it was dirty, and she hates being dirty. I tried to calm her down, by this point it was about bedtime anyway; so we sat down with a "kiki" (code: Binki) and we watched Bolt until she forgot about her painted fingers. She finally went to bed with no trouble. We'll see if she remembers her fingernails tomorrow...

A Day of 2 Firsts!

Yesterday was a day of "2-Firsts!"

Emily had been up all night on Sunday night, tossing and stirring and coughing. She ended up sleeping with us; after the third time of getting up and calming her down so she would go back to sleep we just decided it would be easier for all of us if she just slept with us for the night. Well, as a result, NONE OF US got any sleep.

So, Emily went to the doctor the next morning. The poor thing has her first Ear Infection. Chris took her to the doctor and she, of course, cried and fussed the whole time they were there. Afterwards he took her to get a Happy Meal and then she took a nap; she stayed home from school Monday. When I got home from work in the afternoon she seemed to be in good spirits, and with the exception of the cough, appeared to be just fine.

I left for work today and both of them were still sleeping. (Chris stayed home from work on Tuesday because ,he too, is now sick.)

So...Emily's "other first" on Monday.

SHE WENT POTTY ON THE TOILET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

She stopped me in the middle of dinner and said "mommy poo-poo." So, we got up to go to the bathroom. (These "potty runs" are usually uneventful.) So, we sat on the toilet and she counted to 10, as she always does while on the toilet. She was getting kind of cranky on the toilet because she was a bit constipated. But, we sat there and tried to encourage her to go. We were taking too long, so Chris came to see what was holding us up. With a little encouragement from the both of us, Emily went poo-poo on the toilet for the first time!!! We were so excited for her! And she was so excited too!! We're making progress!!

The Birthday Party

Today we celebrated Emily's 2nd Birthday with a Party at the bowling alley. We've been to the bowling alley before with Emily and she LOVED IT! So, we thought, what a perfect place for a party! We had about 20 friends & their kids come out to help Emily celebrate Turning Two!

She bowled with her friends for 2 hours...we had cake & ice cream...sang "Happy Birthday"...opened some pretty cool presents...and had a lot of fun!! The theme was "Bolt" and mommy ordered all of the decorations over a month ago. The cake was made by a friend of ours, and it turned out awesome! She was SO EXCITED to have "Bolt'y" as a part of her party.

I think we have enough pizza, cake and ice cream left over to eat for months! It went by fast, but I think the party was a HUGE SUCCESS and I know it was a special day for Emily!

Here's some pictures of the fun day we had!

Special Birthday

Thank you to everyone for being apart of Emily's Birthday.

I know it's difficult to be so far away from family when these special days arise, but thank you to everyone who helped to make Emily's Birthday very special.

She received some wonderful gifts from everyone and

she truly knew it was her second birthday!

The BIGGEST of the smallest Projects

So, the BIGGEST of the smallest projects since the move has been The Bathroom.

I don't know why but, over the years, I have accumulated A TON of bathroom stuff! For years I've always found a place few more lotions, samples, sprays, hair products, make-up, bobbie-pins, hair-ties, soaps, first aid stuff...my bathroom is like a Wal-Greens!


So, since the BIG MOVE about two weeks ago, we've been working around the dreaded bathroom boxes. I had 2 3-foot tall boxes FULL...LIKE BUSTING FULL...of bathroom stuff!! Not to mention 2 small trashcans full of stuff, and another smaller box...FULL OF STUFF!


So, my problem is that I can't just throw this stuff away. I mean, it cost me money! Or it was a gift! And it's all still usable...so, why throw it away?!? So...I needed to find a place for this stuff. Now, regardless of the appearance of the size of our bathrooms, there is actually no cabinet space in these 2 bathrooms. So...where do I put ALL THIS STUFF!!! We have a cabinet above the toilet, a medicine chest, and the cabinet space below the sink in the bottom-floor bathroom; and the top-floor bathroom has just the cabinet space beneath the sink.


Well, as per Lisa's suggestion...I went out and bought a couple of Rubbermaid drawers for under the sink. And then...piece-by-piece...lotion-by-lotion...I slowly worked my way through organizing the MOTHERLOAD of bathroom stuff.


About three hours later I was done...everything had a place. All of the old stuff got tossed, but sadly most of it stayed. So, my latest thing is "daily testers." I found about 20 sample-sized shampoos and conditioners. All have been put in the shower and day-by-day each sampler will get used up! Same with the lotions - everyday a new smell. I could probably live off of samples for the next 3 months, at least! I guess the Good News is that I won't need to actually buy bathroom products until this time next year!


How much extra stuff do you have in your bathroom??
It's crazy how you don't see it pile-up!

(oh, and the picture is just of the medicine cabinet...all other cabinets are just as full!!!)

Emily's 2nd Birthday

Our baby turned 2 today. She had a great day and told everyone that it's "my birthday". She got to wear the special birthday hat at school, and they sang to her at lunch time. It was definitely a special day for her.

We had hot dogs and mac & cheese for dinner (Emily's favorite) --- and then, of course, the traditional cake & ice cream. Mommy made a cake with her favorite colors, and sprinkles. She got a toy camera and purse with make-up from Auntie Lisa. Grandma Lauri gave her a few cute outfits, a warm sweatsuit, and a puzzle that she just wouldn't put down. And, mommy & daddy gave her an indoor trampoline/jumpy, which she LOVES! (I know some of you sent stuff, and don't worry, it will be a "Birthday Week" for Emily. We've had some bad weather last week, so some of your stuff may have been delayed...but, we'll celebrate when it gets here!!)

Next Sunday we've invited all of our local "friends w/kids" to a Birthday Party for Emily down at the bowling alley. It should be a lot of fun! So, the Birthday Festivities aren't over just yet!!

The Weekend

I'm changing my name. No longer will I be known as "mommy" - I'm sure all the mothers out there can emphasize with me on this one.

Emily was pretty tough this weekend...especially today! We've got a lot going on here. There are a million boxes to unpack, and trying to find a spot for all this stuff is just time-consuming! But...forget about getting anything done while you have a two-year-old saying "Mommy...Mommy...Mommy...Mommy...Mommy...Mommy..." ALL DAY LONG!!

I couldn't do anything today without a cranky kid by my side. She was cranky all day today! She stopped being cranky for about ten minutes while we were watching Bolt for the third time today! I'm so sick-and-tired of Bolt! We watch Bolt everyday! It's the only way I can get anything done around here; prop her in front of the tv with Bolt. Even still...ten minutes goes by and she comes to find me "Mommy. Walk." and she grabs my hand and leads me back to the tv where we can sit and watch Bolt together...YEAH!

Dinner time isn't any easier. The food isn't ready fast enough! By the time dinner is on the table she has had a spanking or a timeout, and then she doesn't even eat anything! She's been pretty frustrating lately!

We went to Shelikof this morning for breakfast. For those of you that have been there, you know that it takes an HOUR to get your food and the service is lousy! Why do we even bother going there anymore?!?!?! Their food is good and it's somewhat cheap...that's why we go. But, we get there and we wait 20 minutes before someone finally comes over to take our order...and then another hour before the food gets here...the ENTIRE TIME Emily is in the seat, out of the seat, crying, saying she wants to eat, coloring, not coloring, stacking the creamers, throwing things off the table, going outside to get a spanking, coming back in...and then we do it all over again! You see, the thing is that you can't rule out these restaurants because of the service...we are limited to where we can eat. So, you just put up with it. We go to Shelikof every weekend morning...we're just going to have to find a new place!

By the time we left breakfast this morning we were both so OVER Emily that our tolerance limit had already been reached! It set the mood for the rest of the day. Nothing got done, no boxes were unpacked, and we watched our favorite movie over and over again!

If this was a Welcoming Party for the Terrible Twos...we're going to need a stiff drink!

Slide

As most of you may know, Chris had been in Texas for the last two weeks at a Hazmat Certification School. It was a difficult class. He studied a lot and passed with the highest score in the class! He was excited to get home, although it's been full of moving-boxes ever since he landed. But, he was still excited to get back to the island and see Emily. He brought her back a few gifts from Texas, but perhaps the BEST GIFT OF ALL was a slide!

Emily LOVES the slide, and it's something that isn't sold on our island. So, Chris brought Emily a slide all the way from Texas! Daddies are just awesome!!

(PS - The stickers and tags had to come off the slide BEFORE she would use it)

Drip...Drip...Drip

Moving Update

I feel so "out of touch" - we've been in the Moving Process for the past 2 weeks...and REALLY DEEP IN THE MOVING PROCESS this entire week!! I've briefly checked my email while at work, and I'm hoping that my Internet will be back up tonight by the time I get home from work. (we'll see...)

Chris took the week off of work to finish up the packing and clean the entire house. The Move-Out Inspection for Base Housing is RIDICULES!! But, here we are...Thursday afternoon...and we still have 2-3 truck loads of stuff remaining at the old house! We've done about 3-4 FULL LOADS with a uhaul truck...and about 20+ loads with the Titan...and there's still stuff leftover!!

I think at this point we may NEED to just pay someone to clean the house for us. I'd rather not because that's a $600 fee, but I think that at this point we may have no choice.

Anyway...that's the latest update! I've got more fun "new house stories" that I'll share with you as soon as I can get an Internet connection at home! Stay tuned!!

Kodiak Rodeo and State Fair

This weekend was the annual Kodiak Rodeo and State Fair.

To give you a brief history...we went to the Fair last year and I was SO DISAPPOINTED in this annual community event that I decided to join the Fair Board and help to make changes to the Fair so that the next year wouldn't be as embarrassing as the first year we went. Well...for the past few months I regretted "raising my right arm" and volunteering. My volunteer experience was OVERWHELMING...they are seriously missing helping-hands and there are too many "stable horses" that are stuck in their own ways of this is how we always do it. I came on board to try to change the Fair for the better and it's been a uphill battle ever since I joined! I often times wanted to quit completely, but couldn't do it because there was only one other person who was dedicated to the annual Fair and Rodeo, and I couldn't leave her to do it alone...so, I grudgingly stayed on.

I've been in charge of all the advertising for the Fair. I did posters, websites, coupons, email campaigns, table tents, press releases, newspaper ads, rodeo programs...the list goes on. The last week or two has been overwhelming for me and I've stayed up till at least midnight every night to attempt to complete the NUMEROUS things that needed to get done before this weekend. I was bitter and disgruntled, to say the least.

Well, the weekend finally arrived. All of my hard work would be shown by how many people we could get out to the Fair. Prior to the weekend we had received more sponsorship donations than the Fair had ever received in the past...I like to think that my letters and emails had something to do with that. But, would people actually come out to the event??

Let me just say that I am so proud of the team that I was working with to help make this event happen. There were at least 200 people out at the Fair this year, and we still have tomorrow as well; compared to the 50-100 or so that showed up last year. There were kids all over having a great time, and last year there was NOTHING for the kids to do.

It was also very fulfilling to see Emily having such a BALL, and know that I helped to make this event possible for her! She LOVED the horse-ies!!

She got a blow up horse-ie that she just wouldn't let go...she loves it!

She danced to the folk music performers. She pet all the animals at the petting zoo.

She went on a hay ride. She attempted to ride a real horse, but I think she was a bit overwhelmed by the MASSIVE SIZE of a REAL HORSE...all the normal horses she sees are in books, but never up close. So, we attempted to get her to ride, but she just wouldn't do it.

And, she loved seeing all the horse-ies in the Rodeo!!

It was definitely the best event we have had on the Island since we've been here and I am SO PROUD to have been able to be a part of it. Sadly, I don't think I'll get the opportunity to get involved in next year's Fair & Rodeo...only because it took A LOT of my time away from my family, and in all honesty, I complained a lot about the obligation I volunteered for...so, I don't think I'll get to do it again. But, I am glad I was able to be a part of this year's event!!

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On another note...we entered a few items in the Exhibits in the Fair. We entered Chris' uniform he made for Emily and a peanut butter pie that Lisa made, which is just AWESOME!

Lisa's pie WON FIRST PLACE in the pie contest!! Chris' uniform he made Emily got SECOND PLACE in the sewing contest!! And a few random pictures of ours won THIRD PLACE in the photo contest!!

We Got the Keys

September 2nd we got the keys to our new house. For the first time we got to park the car in our new driveway and walk up the stairs. Yes, our new house sits on top of a hill, so there are stairs leading from the driveway to the front door. Not "ideal" but we're young and we should get some good exercise out of it!

So, for the first time we walked in through the front door as a homeowner. It was much colder than I remember...probably because there was no furniture and the heat hadn't been on all day. It was pretty exciting!

We bought some paint and brought in a few boxes, and began making it our own. Lisa has been hard at work with all the painting and the BIG MOVE won't happen until this weekend. Luckily it's a 3-day weekend and I'm glad to have the extra help with the move while Lisa is on town.

Here are some pictures of our new house: