Day 1 of K Deployment

so today is officially day 1 of James's deployment to a place we will simply designate as K. i'm not that good at opsec, but i try. 

this morning was rough, but we sucked it up and went to Jerra's house to play. came home at nap time, had dinner, then went for a walk around the block to the park. we took tiki with us; a new interesting experience. i just wrapped her leash around the stroller handle and my hand and she pulled the best she could with her muzzle halter on. she's starting to figure out how to pull forwards with her face pointed to her left. go figure, can't train the sled dog out of her. got to the park where we encountered a helicopter mom in full hover mode. her poor son, had to be a little older than pax, could not step a toe out of line. that boy could not play the way he wanted to like all the other kids were. i usually yell at pax a little bit, things like hey don't throw that! and don't push that kid off the slide! but today, i just kept my mouth shut to prove a point. that and i was mad at her, she wouldn't let all the kids at the playground near tiki cause "that dog has something around its mouth don't touch it" like my tiki was some sort of violent dog that would eat their faces off. then she pulled pax off the slide because he was trying to climb up it when her kid was trying to go down. i was like, woman don't make me kill you! but i suppose its  a natural reaction for helicopter moms to want to control all the other kids too, and as long as she didn't get mean with pax i let it go. 

i have a goal to walk/run/whatever one mile a day (at least, more is good) while james is gone. today i did 1.4 miles. i also need to fix my diet and lose some weight and wake up early every morning and all kinds of stuff. go me. i usually go into kick-ass mode when james leaves. i am going to kick this deployment's butt! 

love you honey!

happy 2nd birthday paxton!

today paxton turned 2. it's hard for me to believe i've had him this long. he is the best thing that has ever happened to me and i love him more than anything in the world. we didn't have a party today cause james isn't here and he would like to have one when he gets home, so we'll have one then. i did make him some cupcakes and let him blow out his candles tho, he really enjoyed that. so much, he made me light them a couple more times so he could blow them out again. so it wasn't a very exciting birthday i guess, but it was good enough for us.

roofing

we had a bad windstorm a few days ago, and it ripped a strip of shingles off the roof. so, me, lisa, dad and sometimes bryan got up there to fix it. me and dad did the bulk of the work, lisa held things and bryan climbed up and down.

we also had to put a few shingles on the roof of the porch so it would quit leaking on us. lisa and i did most of it while bryan stared and dad stayed away so he wouldn't fall through :P

(i know, the boonie cap is totally sexy huh. try to contain yourselves)
it was interesting and kind of fun. hopefully we did a good enough job that the shingles will stay down and it won't leak on us next time it rains. love you honey, and we miss you. when you come home, your wife may be capable of building her own house lmao.

t-ball

benny has a cheap little t-ball set that we all played with today. ben would hit then run the bases and pax would run as fast as he could after the ball so he could set it up to hit himself. then pax would hit it and run after it, even tho he never got it very far lol. he took turns pretty well with ben and even let me hit it a couple times so he would have farther to run. we'll have to put him in t-ball when he's a little older lol, he really enjoyed himself today. i'll buy him one in hawaii so we can all play when daddy gets home. we love you honey

video of pax dancing with himself

thought you'd like this honey. this has to be the best video i have taken of pax in quite a while. he was dancing with himself in the mirror and just bein silly in general. in the pic he is fixing his tow truck that you bought him while you were in. love you and miss you

somersaults

paxton learned a new trick today, he learned how to somersault. nuff said. enjoy. love you james

snow

it snowed all day yesterday and then stormed all night long. and i mean it stormed. the winds were up to 70 mph last night and it ripped the lattice off the porch. it froze the top layer of the snow so it wasn't as much fun to play in. its supposed to snow again this week, i hope it does and i hope its packing snow. i took paxton out anyway and i don't think he knew what to think about it. he couldn't walk in it very well because it was so deep and when he fell he had to have help to get back up. i think he liked it but just didn't know what to do with it. if it snows again we'll go back out. anyway here's a video of him playing with bryan

happy thanksgiving!

happy turkey day! we had family over to our house this thanksgiving, my grandma and two of my uncles.we made two turkeys, one with cajun seasoning and one plain, one ham, enough mashed potatoes to kill a horse, deviled eggs, veggies, stuffing, yams and four pies. and enough gravy to satisfy me. paxton didn't care as much for the dinner as he did the dessert, he had apple pie and he was covered. he's still getting used to the company and by the time they leave he'll prolly actually like them enough to play. i wish you were here james, the family is asking about you and what youre doing. i miss you alot today cause i know you'd have eaten enough for three of me and still have gone back for pie. then i wouldn't have to eat all the leftovers. and then i would also be mad at you tomorrow cause everything you eat goes to your muscles, and everything i eat goes straight to my love handles. only slightly jealous sweetie :D

since its thanksgiving, i suppose i can be thankful for a few things lol...hmm. i'm thankful to be living with the family. i'm thankful for my hubby and how hard he works to take care of me and pax. i'm thankful for paxton cause he makes me smile even tho he throws regular fits. and theres more, but those are the big things. i know i've been slacking on this blog, sorry honey...just got lazy i guess. anyway here's a thanksgiving pic for you, paxton eating his apple pie. we love you!

everyone hail to the pumpkin king

today is halloween! i LOVE halloween it is my favorite holiday. and its even better now that i have a kid, i get to dress him up and eat all his candy! and if i feel like it, i can dress up too. i just won't get any candy for myself...i have to steal it from my own baby. this year, paxton was a skunk and he was just the cutest skunk around! this is actually his second halloween, but the first one he didn't care about much besides boobs since he was so young. this year he kinda got the idea, he held his bucket and was amazed when it started filling up with candy. he loves lollipops, so as soon as he got one he dug it out and tried to eat it thru the wrapper. well, he eventually got it off and was then walking around with a tootsie pop in one hand and his bucket and my hand in the other. we didn't do the actual trick or treating where you go house to house, we did trunk or treat at the church parking lot (half the town was there anyway) everyone kept saying he was an adorable little skunk. i wore one of lloyd's old DCUs, lisa wore an old BDU, ben was superman and bryan was a swordsman. james, i wish you coulda been here for it but you will be next year, and then pax will be more into it. anyway, here's a pic or two and there's more on myspace.

pizza face

its been too long since i posted. that's mainly because not much excitiment occurs around here...unless you count chasing my one year old and digging out drool covered objects of unknown origins from between his teeth. he really is a sweetheart tho. he does something new almost every day and it never ceases to amaze me. he is also in his climbing phase, he loves to climb on the couches and the chair i'm sitting in, and climbs on bryan every chance he gets. he also walks around with his hand in his diaper. i dress him in onesies all day so he can't get to it but most of his jammies are two-piece. today was a hungry day, pax had two pieces of pizza, minus the crust. i took a few shots of his pizza covered face, here's one of them.

i think he looks like you james. he has your smile. we love you and miss you!

kitchen faucets and bloody lips

today was interesting. we had out first major biff-it, paxton was palying on the couch and suddenly ended up in the floor crying. this isn't the first time he's fallen off this couch but it is the first time he cried about it, so i picked him up and held him for a bit. when he pulled away from my shirt i noticed there was blood all over it and all over his face. i couldn't find where it was bleeding from exactly, i think its under his top lip where his teeth meet the gums and lip right in the middle. but he is ok, no more bleeding and i think he has all the teeth he's still sprouting. kinda hard to tell when the number of teeth change every day.

dad and i bought sink faucet for the kitchen yesterday for mom, since the old one was showering whoever turned it on. so since dad can't bend over too well too many times, i got the honor of installing everything under the sink. it took two trips to Ace but we got it! first we had to buy thread tape. when i asked where it was the guy working there looked at me like i was stupid and asked if it was for electricity, when i told him it was for plumbing he informed me there was no such thing. i said yes, its white. goes on threads on pipes and such. then he said OH you mean thread seal tape. thank-you, sir, for looking at me like i don't know what i'm talking about, when in reality i know your job better than you do. anyway. we got back home and discovered that we have four pipes with female ends and no way to connect them without some sort of male adapter. back to Ace, where another guy looks at me like i'm an idiot when i explain what i want. i had to demonstrate to this one what i needed. back home, we thread taped everything and connected females to males to females (these pipes are having a threesome) and ta-da! no leaks! everything works! i didn't even get hot and cold pipes mixed up! in this picture, paxton has decided to be of help by holding the screwdriver for me. (i put some more pics up on myspace) well james, i hope this tickles you. you have taught your wife much, including how to install a kitchen faucet simply by showing me what thread tape is. and how to give the evil eye to males that know everything in hardware stores. we love you and miss you.

maples

yesterday we decided to hike out to see a little grove of maples that are changing for fall. pax had a blast. he got to run around and pick things up and throw them, like sticks and rocks and leaves. i think he was just excited to be outside. i've noticed he is happy outside, maybe we have a future outdoorsman. could be fun. i bet he'll like boy scouts. but anyway, we went out there and took a few family pics (with what family we have here, we're missing james, lloyd, angie and cory) i think paxton cooperated for one then decided he had better things to do like pick up sticks and try to escape. anyway, here's some of the pics we took. there's more up on myspace. love you james, wish you were here with us.

miles

well, i thought i was doing good. while i still lived in hawaii i ran occasionally, and i've made a goal to run here. in hawaii i can run about a mile without stopping, even if i get a little slow in the end. a hawaiian mile does not equal a heber mile! i guess oah'u is about sea level...well the elevation here is 6500 feet. not much oxygen in the air here. i lasted almost half a mile before i needed to throw up. i have a feeling the 32oz of dr. pepper earlier didn't help much either. but i do believe that after i reach my goal of three miles here, i will be able to run even further when i get back to hawaii! i have six months to do this. keep me on it everyone!

in the house here we have a wood stove. i've been a little worried about paxton with it, he hasn't managed to burn himself yet but i'm sure he will. he tapped it once while it was hot and it must've startled him because he cried bloody murder, but there was no burn. now i believe my boy is a smart little thing, but he keeps running back to the stove and hitting it. most of the time its cold, but eventually the weather's gonna be cold enough that it will be going constantly instead of just in the mornings. he did manage to get into a little soot this morning, you can see it on his nose.

and this is the first fire i've built in years!

anyway i'm done for now. sorry honey i haven't posted in a few days, i'll try to be better at it. i love you james!

back to heber

well, we made it to heber safely. the flight was long and horrible. paxton slept maybe three hours (out of 5 andahalf hours) of the flight. the rest of the time he whined, then cried, then screamed and threw things until the lady in front of me gave him a lollipop. that shut him up. since james left he's gone into his separation anxiety stage, every time i walk out of his sight he cries and pitches a fit. that with his molars all coming in makes for a cranky toddler. he doesn't always cry, but it sure seems like it sometimes. he had a better day today than yesterday, until dinnertime. he had to cry himself out tonight before he went to sleep. i hate to let him do that but he won't be consoled. he throws his sippy cup away, pushes me away if i try to hold him, and runs back to his bed if i let him go. motrin, tylenol and orajel are going to be part of the bedtime routine til that last molar pops thru.

not only do i have a cranky baby, my poor hubby is sick. he has a cold and a toothache and his neck hurts. but the man won't buy tylenol! i want to take care of him so bad, but if i buy him tylenol by the time it gets there he'll be feeling fine. i guess he's so used to me taking care of him when he gets sick that he's forgotten how to buy his own medicine. i try to take care of him the best i can and i worry about him gone. can't help it, i love him too much. he doesn't know how much i do love him and he prolly never will. i guess i'll just have to show him every day. alright, done with the mushy. (i miss james. can you tell?)

i started a blanket for james. i have 5 rows done in half double. its wider than i am tall so its gonna take a while.

this is a video of me tickling paxton. its the second time around, the first time was more belly laugh but lisa doesn't know how to push a button, apparently.

dance baby dance!

here's a little video of paxton dancing.

he swings his hands too but i didn't catch it in this one. sometimes he dances when there isn't even music. he's just a happy boy. honey we love you.

moving right along

yeah i missed a couple days. but i haven't done much besides work on cleaning out the house. nothing exciting happened, nothing new. but just about everything is out of the house except the tv and a few random things. the storage unit is packed full. all this is thanks to the fergs. the fergs (j and melissa and the kids) are wonderfully helpful people. and mel is a great cook. and they've been a huge help and comfort for me and paxton after james deployed. i'm definately gonna miss them when i go home. but, they'll be here when i get back! thank you for everything. i wish you'd let me buy you a monster.

paxton gives me kisses now. its sweet and slobbery and i love it. i've been trying to get him to give mel or jen a kiss but he gets shy. and he likes to watch his tv. this is him watching...ok i really don't know how to spell it. its the little chinese girl on nick. she has a pet tiger and koala bear and i think i've watched it too much. and he's still throwing his sippy cup, today he hit me in the knee cap and made a pretty bruise. i guess that's all for today. james we love you tons!

hole

i got the outside cleaned today. there is a huge pile of trash on the curb waiting for pickup tomorrow. hope i don't make the trash men mad...but i do feel like i accomplished a good portion of what i need done for clearing. i'm gonna miss it here but i'm not gonna miss the neighborhood, too much screaming. the MPs are here every other night. i miss my james. here's a pic for you to remind you of the smile pax gives you when you go to pick him up. we love you james.

nothing today

i only cleaned today. well, cleaned and packed. then went to the fergs to watch gone with the wind. that movie is messed up, but cool. so no pics today, sorry honey. the internet keeps going out anyway. but we love you james. be careful.

friendly types

bird bird bird is the word haha i'm watching family guy where peter finds the bird is the word song. makes me miss james. WEIRD i know but he loves this episode and he would sing the song all the time. i got him a duck at easter that sang that song and flaps its wings. babaoomamowmow lol its fun. i miss you honey, but eight months really isn't that long. the pic is from when we went to bellows and you hurt your shoulder. love the beard. we miss you honey.

the search for target

paxton and i had a rough morning. up too early, etc. paxton has been whiny 80% of the day, and the loud irritating whiny this morning. so i gave him a sippy cup of milk and set him on the floor in his room and i sat outside his door on the other side of his baby gate so i could check my email. the boy threw his sippy cup at the back of my head, and i mean he nailed me good. now don't laugh. his sippy cup weighs about as much as a coffee mug, its hard insulated plastic. i have a lump on the back of my head from that thing! and i have a hard head!

there are two target stores on oah'u. i know where the one in honolulu is, but i knew there was one in the kapolei area that was newer...somewhere. yesterday, jen wanted to go to target and i suggested the new one and she agreed. so we set off for target, and i put it in on the GPS and it wasn't there. so we spent an hour or so looking for it then just went to Kmart (then another hour looking for panda) well today we tried again with directions off the internet. yeah where did those directions take us? the middle of nowhere! so after another hour of looking we got better directions from the one lonely gas station and headed off again. guess where target was? the same block we spent two hours circling last night looking for panda express! AH! well we laughed at ourselves for a while and then went shopping. they have tons of halloween stuff out (i absolutely love halloween) and i found world of goo for james. now all i need is an address...and that was our day. we love you james. here's your pic of the day.