Alzheimer's Walk

Don't forget to donate...click on the donation page to the right of your screen! :-) I still have at least $100 to go! :-)

Craziness is a good word...

So relating to Melodie and her stress...here is mine: Our rental house has ants...not just a few here and there...a BUNCH in the kitchen and front door area and a few here and there in the bedrooms/bathroom!! Raid isn't working and neither is a bug bomb...so my g'ma Stenzel is sending me an "ant plant" to put in certain spots that they are coming in at to see if that works...I guess the whole town is being invaded with all the rain that we have been getting but still! YUCK! Oh and the boxes of stuff have overwhelmed the small space making room for only paths to each room...literally!! So Bob told me to call my mom & dad and see if they wouldn't mind me and the boys crashing for a bit...so here we are in LaCygne. Thanks again mom & dad! Oh boy do we owe them BIG...just not sure how to repay someone for something like that! Stress!

So then we found a house we love in Burlington and we put in an offer and after many counters we finally agreed on a price and are now going through the process of getting our loan approved, etc...our house in Warrensburg should close on the 19th of this month and then we can move forward with the house in Burlington which is scheduled for a closing on or before the 30th of June. Stress.

Oh and then there is money. Which is draining quickly with having mortgage/rent, dual electric/water bills, good faith payment, storage unit (small house not big enough for our stuff) & random things that you have to buy in between. Oh and of course the driving back and forth from Burlington to Warrensburg...GAS SUCKS! Stress.

Did I mention that my husband and I are not living together and haven't really since he got his job back on the 21st of April!! And won't be until our new house closes probably. Stress.

Mother's Day was nice. Bob gave me a gift certificate to Old Navy and said congrats on my weight loss and told me to buy some new clothes! How sweet! I am now down 25 pounds! And two sizes! :-)

Here is the link to the house we are trying to buy:
http://www.anewrealtyllc.com/content/listdetail.html/58516811?proppos=3&ag_id=3448353&startpos=1&endpos=10&ids=66887000,54270905,58516811,62588006,66318948,62678389,59987598,54472146,65913456,64462636&propertyCount=28

Blogger Out!

Not sure when I will get a chance to look at Blogs again or write one for that matter. Internet will be down after tomorrow and our computer will be all packed up today! The movers just called me and they will be here in about an hour so I am trying to get all my loose ends tied up. I had to pack up clothes/diapers for Camden and some toys for Decovin, he is currently staying at my mom & dad's house while the movers are here...thank you again mom! Camden is with me and he is being good so far (knock on wood). I think I pretty much have everything I want set aside done. The only thing I might have an issue with is our last minute bag(s) of trash as our last trash pick up is today. Maybe our neighbor will let me give them my last bag. :-) I also will be depositing some frozen goods to her too...if she wants them that is! :-) Hopefully everything goes smoothly today. I am not looking forward to this evening when Camden and I have to sleep on the couch...well, he can sleep in his swing...but I get the lumpy couch. ha!

Well, that is all I can think of right now. Oh we did go to the zoo yesterday. Decovin & Camden's first time! Decovin was interested in all the animals but they only caught his true interest when they were RIGHT up against the glass by him. The chimps were the best! :-) I am not sure when I will get a chance to upload those pics so just imagine the cuteness. Ok, love to all and hope to see you all again on here soon!

Getting up early SUCKS!

I have come to determine that since I have had kids that I am STILL not a morning person, even though they make you get up anyway! This morning, at 4:50am, Camden starts to stir...I quickly get up to pop the pacifier as this will usually help him sleep an additional hour or so if I am lucky! Phew! Got it! Then no sooner than I get back to bed Decovin is crying?! What in the world?!? Ok, so I go in there and tell him it is still "night-night" time and that he needs to go back to bed which he didn't like but usually after hearing this from one of us he will eventually fall back asleep...NOPE! This went on for over thirty minutes before I got up to get him a drink of water and then I decided I better hop in the shower while I can...when I get out of the shower they are both crying/stirring...can't a girl get some time to herself in the morning?! Guess not! Needless to say, I'm tired and my eyes are BURNING! All I can say is thank goodness for coffee!

Oh and to date I have now lost 20 pounds exactly on Weight Watchers! Which means I have lost 10% of my weight! WHOO HOO! I would ultimately like to lose an additional 40 pounds but we will see. Just taking it a day at a time!

Romeo & Juliet & Cousins

So Jeff & Marianne babysat the boys last night while Amanda & I went to her beau's high school play that he was asst. director of. They did Romeo & Juliet. I wasn't expecting much since it is Shakespear and usually the language throws the young ones...even I get confused sometimes. So I was quite impressed when everyone knew their lines and did a great job! There was even some funny moments too! All and all it was a good show!

Jeff & Marianne said the kids were all really good and they all played together really well. Yay for cousins! Decovin ended up sleeping in the same room as Katrina, they had their first sleep over! :-) It was super cute when I got up with Camden at 6:30am and as I am coming down the stairs I see Decovin & Katrina sitting side by side watching cartoons together! It was the cutest thing EVER! I am glad they get along so well! I only wished I had my camera! Blast!

We are planning to do a bbq picnic later this afternoon outdoors! Should be fun!

I heart Google

I look forward to holidays and google...they are so creative with their artwork. :-) Even on no-big-deal holidays like today, Earth Day...if you read this today, the 22nd of April, Earth Day 2008, then go to www.google.com and see their artistry at work. I don't know why I look forward to it, but I just do. :-) A little something to look forward to.

So did anyone else get woken up at 4:30am by the VERY LOUD thunderstorm?! It was hailing and POURING down HARD! I couldn't believe that it didn't wake the boys. It was the loudest storm I can remember! Just the rain hitting the windows, pavement, etc was loud enough to wake me up and then the lightening and thunder just added to it. It was insane! I am still shocked as to how we didn't lose power!

Sad am I

Well, Bob moved down to Burlington today. I am all alone with the kiddos. He starts work on Monday and we won't move down there until the 6th or 7th of May b/c that is when the movers are coming. So there you go. I'm sad, and lonely, and busy, and I need to clean my house before the "open house" tomorrow! Oh and b/c I am sad and lonely and depressed a bit...I really could care less how the house looks right now. And I hate that feeling b/c I am usually pretty anal about preparing for said events. Especially since I have no idea how many people will be coming to look at it. I really want someone to give us an offer soon. That would be nice wouldn't it? Still trying to think positive on that one! :-) Well, if you too are bored and lonely...give me a call or pop by for a visit.

Oh and I need to know who all wants to get their hair cut/colored/pedi/mani, etc. one last time and when so I can arrange baby sitting, etc.

Here's your blog...

Volunteer work...
I don't mind volunteer work, in fact, I used to volunteer for things ALL the time especially in 4-H, etc...Even when I worked at UOP...I did things for the community with them as sponsors...I will even volunteer to help do odd jobs around my parents house if they need the help...like painting...don't mind it...so I volunteered! :-) Now, I do have a problem when I am volunteered without my knowledge and guilted into doing something for a family member...it feels so dirty and doing the said volunteer work then becomes a chore instead of a delight...I hate that feeling...but because I am a family member I will probably do it anyway...but Grrrrr...I would have rather been asked and then volunteered my time...but instead the time has already been set up and planned and we are expected to be there. *sigh*

Crazy Busy

I don't feel busy until I stop and think about all that still needs to be done before we move...and then I can't breathe. So then I try to stop thinking about it and then I feel anxious like I forgot to do something! I hate that feeling...oh and our house is still for sale...fyi...maybe someone will be interested when the weather warms up...*sigh*

So Camden is doing MUCH better...he is back to eating 5 oz in a sitting and can actually breathe without too much trouble...I didn't have to give him a breathing treatment today which was a first or suction him out! I just realized that just now sitting here typing...WOW! He really is doing better! Here are a couple of pics from when we were doing his breathing treatments:

Decovin is much better also...an occassional cough here and there but not too bad. He has also learned that when he coughs to use the back of his hand to cover his mouth...it is really cute! LOL! Grandma entertained Decovin with the Alien headband while she stayed with us after we got back from the hospital...

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Bob's "V-Day" has come and gone. We will no longer be able to have any more children! We are definitely done! The Veterinarian says he will be fine in two days...heh!

What a week...

Sunday: Went to Burlington to check out one last housing option to rent...lucked out and it will do. It is small & old, but it is cheap and will work until our current house sells and we can find another one. :-)
Bob's parents watched Camden & Decovin for us and Decovin had already been coughing and stuffy nosed and Camden had JUST started coughing the day before but not bad...he wasn't eating a whole lot but I figured it was just b/c he didn't feel good...no big deal. We take them home and go to bed.
Monday: In the wee hours of the morning (4:30am), Camden wakes up and I try feeding him...he gets down 3 oz. before he throws it all up everywhere b/c he was choking so bad on his snot...had to change him, me and bed sheets. He goes back to bed and we all get up at 7ish...deciding I need to call the doctor to set up an appointment for him. 7:30am, I call the appointment desk and they can get us in at 8:45!
Ruthie is at our house b/c we were supposed to go get our hair done but I couldn't go so she held Camden for me while I hopped in the shower. While I was in the shower, Decovin throws up all over the couch and himself...great! I get that cleaned up and the boys ready to go out the door. I grabbed both the boys a change of clothes just in case. THANK GOODNESS! I no sooner get on the highway and I hear wretching in the back seat...Decovin is throwing up all over himself and everything on the floor board with his amazing projectile-like vomitting! I pull over on the side of the road, in the rain, and try to wipe him up as best as I can until we can get there...I decide against changing him right then for fear he will just do it again and the fact that the car seat was now wet...awesome.
So I rig up a walmart sack under his chin and tell him to use it if he is going to get sick again (like he knew what I was saying/asking...ha!)...on the road again...at this point I call Bob immediately and tell him to COME HOME NOW! I was supposed to actually pick him up from work that evening b/c he was turning in the government car he was borrowing since he is all done recruiting now but it wasn't going to be until late because it was "mission day" (meaning the last day of the month to get as many people in the NAVY as possible for that month)...and you just don't leave early on Mission Day...but he figured out a way to get home, thank goodness!
Ok, so I get to the base and I park in the "15 min" parking b/c I am: 1. late; 2. I still have to change D's clothes b/f we go in; and 3. I just didn't care if they towed my car at this point! I get D changed (while standing in the rain...again) but I don't get his shoes on b/c I am running late so I just threw those in a bag and carried both boys in!
They get us in pretty much right away. They take Camden's stats and information and then the doc shows up and says that he is dehydrated and will need to be hooked up to an IV to get some forced fluids. They can do this in the office and send me to the "treatment room" where they then proceed to poke Camden 5 times (twice in the head and three times in the hands) before giving up on the IV idea. They have me try just bottle feeding him. Well, he is so exhauted from crying from them poking him that he won't even wake up to eat...so then they try syringe feeding him...this sorta works and he gets about 20cc's (which is like nothing...a couple teaspoons I think they said)...they tell me, sorry, he has to be admitted to the hospital and has to be transported via ambulence per their policy! Great. So about 2pm, I think, we were on our way to Children's Mercy South in Overland Park, KS. It took the ambulence like 2 hours to come and get us...since we weren't a real "emergency"...fun times I tell ya...
Decovin, all the while, was sitting on the floor next to me about to fall asleep (which, if anyone knows D, this NEVER happens...he really wasn't feeling good!)...Bob got there finally and spent most of his time cleaning up the car and car seat as best he could before Decovin had to sit in it again. He also moved my car from 15 minute parking (which the male nurse that weighed and measured Camden took care of for me so I wouldn't get towed...bless him!) and then switched the car seat into the Jeep. He came back in and took D home so he could get some rest and apparently he threw up one more time in the Jeep on the way home...poor guy! He was fine after that though...he slept for awhile and then he was pretty much back to his old self apparently.
Christy, Mom, Dad, & Amanda came up to the hospital that night and Christy & Dad ended up driving to Warrensburg. 1. So Christy could stay with Decovin while Bob went to work the next day and 2. so dad could go and get my car off base and bring it up to me at the hospital along with some clothes. Mom stayed with me while they did all this.
They all go home and Camden & I stayed at the hospital. They had to deep suction him a few times throughout the night but they said he was getting better.


Tuesday: The doctor finally rounds around 9:45am and states that he has to stay another night b/c he has to be "deep suction" free for at least 24 hours. Great. I only had Bob pack enough clothes for one day and Christy already took a personal day to watch D for us...so back up mom & dad came and they drove out to Warrensburg to drop mom off and Christy stopped by the hospital on her way home to give me more clothes. I really have an awesome family that will pull through no matter what...not many people can say this.
Wednesday: We are released from the hospital a little before noon and we head home. I called my doctor on base and set up a follow up appointment (per hospital's request) for the next day. Good thing too b/c Camden was really snotty throughout the night and we had little to no luck sucking out the snot that plagues him.
Thursday: I leave mom home with Decovin while Camden and I go to his doctor's appointment. The doc says he is still a bit "rattlely" in the chest and so she prescribed a nebulizer/breathing treatment. She told me to use saline first and see how that works and if it is still not getting the snot loose then to use the medicine she prescribed instead. I got home and set up the nebulizer and mom gave him the breathing treatment and afterwards I was able to suck out quite a bit and then he napped the rest of the afternoon. Poor guy is just tuckered out!
Friday: Let's hope it is uneventful shall we? LOL!
Sorry this was so long...just wanted to document my week for future reference. Thank you again to Christy, Mom, & Dad for driving all over and back and for watching Decovin, etc....love you!

Something in the air...

Last night Camden slept for 8 1/2 hours! YES! Maybe it was because he went to his 8 week appointment yesterday and decided he was a big boy after getting his first set of shots! One can only dream! LOL! It was nice though, I'm not gonna lie! But I am still exhausted...waking up at 5:30am is not my idea of "fun"! LOL! But, I'm not complaining!

So he is now 12lbs 3oz. and 22 3/4" long and these are both in the 50th percentile...his noggin is just like his daddy & brother's...BIG! It is in the 75th percentile...he'll grow into it! LOL! Take some cuteness:

Easter has come and gone

So we spent Easter with Bob's side this year...it was fun and the food was good too! Decovin & Camden were spoiled rotten (*sigh*) and came home with an extensive amount of candy (which I choose not to eat due to my diet and needing to fit into a bridesmaid dress by June 21st) and Easter baskets...like seriously I think between the 2 of them they came home with 8 baskets of some sort. YIKES! We need to set some limits!!! OY! It was like Christmas in March!

Onto a different subject:

Bob & I went rental house shopping in Emporia on the Saturday before Easter with little to no luck. The price range that we were trying to stay under (and what we thought would have been reasonable considering the area we were looking in) was apparently the "ghetto" listings...the first home we viewed we pulled up and I didn't even want to go in...Bob said not to judge a book by its cover so we went in and then almost immediately turned back after the smell and size of the place...our King Size mattress would have had to go in storage b/c it wouldn't have even fit in the living room! Onto the house #2...it was O.K. but very outdated and needed some work...next! House #3...all I need to say here is cockroach infestation....NEXT!!!!!!!

House #4, near "gang park"...MOVING ON!!!! House #5, in a nearby town, was doable but it was also really old and outdated and needed some patchwork here and there on the walls and not to mention there was only one bathroom and you had to SQUEEZE between a small wall and the sink to get to the tub...it was even hard for ME to get through there! I had to turn sideways! Plus it had a weird access door from the stairs to get to it...awkward! House #6, the guy showing us around apparently doesn't have the keys to it but was hoping they "left it open"...WHAT???!!! Next...House #7, quote from the agent: "The owners are actually trying to sell this place but I bet they would rent it out"...OH. MY. WORD.! House #8, home-fry tells us, "I don't have the keys to this place either but it was in the paper and the owner used to be a pharmacist so it should be cute inside"...WHAT THE F***?!?!? See ya later weird real estate agent man, who reminded us of Harry Carey by the way! OY!

So then I remembered there was a house on the outskirts of town that another agent told us about but at the time I thought was too high in rent...so Bob suggested we go look anyway...the guy told us it was an old schoolhouse converted to a house and they owners built on an addition and turned it into a duplex...so we go in and it is clean at least, it is weird though b/c it was an old schoolhouse there is a "stage" and that is where the kitchen/dining room are...the carpet is old school (hehe) and a different color for every room, but it would work, plus the basement is HUGE and has LOTS of storage...so this is our best option of all the ones we looked at for the day.

Then we drove down to Burlington to see if there were POSSIBLY anything available there for rent (there is an outage going on right now so a lot of them our being rented out currently to the outage workers...figures!). So a real estate agent was nice enough to give us a tour of the town and we find some brand new apartments for rent but they weren't open so I gave them a call on Monday to see if Bob could view them on Tuesday (since he had his physical then, which he passed) and come to find out AFTER Bob waits on the lady for 2 hours to return from her lunch break that they are low income housing!!!!! Thanks for letting me know that when I was on the phone with you STUPID WOMAN! Last chance is this Sunday, we are going to view a house that a local narcotics cop is renting out...he is currently "fixing it up" and says it looks terrible from the outside but that we are more than welcome to come and see it...so cross your fingers that it is livable b/c it would be ideal to live IN Burlington so Bob doesn't have to drive an hour round trip everyday on top of working a 12 hour shift.

Ok, I'm done...

Crossing Fingers...

We have two appointments coming to view our house today and tomorrow! Let's hope we get an offer! Wouldn't that be nice?!

Doctor anyone?

These are just cute:

Decovin after a chocolate chip cookie:

Camden wearing G'ma Long's crocheted hat:

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So I have been in and out of doctor's offices since Friday trying to get all my last minute stuff taken care of...Friday was the dentist...no cavities...whoo hoo! Monday was my 6 week post baby check up, everything is fine! Monday afternoon was my eye appointment, no change but my glasses were a bit old (~5 years) and they had scratches on the lenses and my sunglasses were just as bad if not worse. So I bought new ones on Tuesday after my regular doctor appointment on base for my peeling fingers that I haven't been able to get control of since about mid-November! She called it some kind of dermatitus and I am to put on a steroid ointment first followed by lanolin (the stuff you are supposed to put on your nipples while breast feeding) and then white gloves and I am to minimize my exposure to water...which to her means only washing my hands twice a day if possible. (GROSS!) So I had to buy latex gloves to change the boys' diapers and to use when I use the bathroom also. Gloves are also required for dishes, etc. *sigh* Fun times.

Anyway...enjoy my new glasses:

Our House on MLS

http://ginger.reeceandnichols.com/Public/Listing/ListingDetail.aspx?Search=10399383-404f-4e42-8b72-7e5334486fd9&Listing=29444345&Image=1&First=1&Last=10&pagesize=10&Sort=6&SearchType=&ListingDistrictTypeID=&FirstLetter=&Cookies=

A Rush of Sadness

So the real estate agent dropped by yesterday and we signed paperwork to get our house on the market to sell...she took pictures and said it should be on the market by sometime today??? We shall see, I will send out the link as soon as I know.

Today, after all the cleaning has been done and all the stress to get to this point is over, I finally relaxed a bit. Then I realized, this is the first home my boys have ever known and Decovin has been here long enough to know where things are...like silly things such as the silverware drawer...he knows where I need to go to get him a "poon"...he knows where HIS bedroom is, where the bathroom is, where everything is! *sniff*...just thinking too much I think. I never thought I would be so sentimental about a home.

Man, my girls HURT!

So I've decided to start the weening process off of breastfeeding and man are my boobs BIG and painful! I figured I should do this now so that by Saturday I am able to bowl with ease...hehe! I don't need 3 bowling balls, thank you very much! So I just have to get over this hump and soon be back to normal! But until then, OY!

Also, our Real Estate Agent is coming over Wednesday afternoon to take pictures of the house and we still aren't ready! I still have to fully clean the extra bathroom and vaccuum all the floors + stairs and clean the kitchen floors and the landings at the base of the stairs! All the while keeping the other rooms that we have cleaned clean! This is really tough with a toddler! My kitchen, I think, is the hardest to keep clean b/c it is used SOOO often. Anyway...I have a lot to do today so I better get off of here and hop to!

The only way to get sleep...

Is to put Camden in bed with us. *sigh* He will actually sleep longer than 2-3 hour stints...hmmm

More about me...

• I love the smell of my babies heads...I just want to sniff it all in and eat it!
• I love gummy smiles from a newborn...the way their lips concave and make such a cute dimple...why can't it be that cute when we lose them later in life?
• I love little button noses and little ears.
• I love the little fingers and little toes.
• I really love watching Decovin run from the changing room to the bathtub...his little tush makes me laugh.
• I love that we gave Decovin a playmate, too bad he doesn't play with him yet. hehe!
• I mostly love that I don't have to be pregnant ever again! I wish I could say I enjoyed being pregnant but really, it was just painful and uncomfortable...
• I love that we named our children after people in our family...it seems so traditional, yet we were still able to make them unique.
• I love sleeping babies, just wish it was for longer periods of time. :-)
• I still love butt paste
• I love change but fear it at the same time.
• I love that family is so close and am scared to lose that.
• I love TV and hate it at the same time...
• I love Spring and wish it would get here sooner than later.
• I love to shop but wish I had more money to shop with. :-)
• I love having plans for the weekend.--this weekend should be a blast!
• I love that we had a mini family reunion at my house last weekend
• I also love that no one mentioned how dirty my house was to my face. :-)

That's some more about me...thought I would try to keep it on the positive side today. Today is going much better than yesterday. :-)

Still not sleeping well...

Except for Decovin we are all up in the middle of the night! Bob is nice enough to help me out and swap with me occassionally throughout the night. We are still not seeing a good sleep pattern yet, but are hopeful in the next few weeks he will start to sleep better as he gains weight. Currently it is still only a maximum of 3 hours of sleep. The 5 hour sleep only happened one time!
He confuses me, he will be well fed (will have just eaten 5 oz.) and diaper is dry but still cries a lot...I wouldn't call it colicky but it is really hard to have him "awake and happy." I can remember with Decovin we could put him anywhere and he would generally be happy and alert and carefree. Not the case with Camden. We can't hold him all the time so sometimes we get to listen to Decovin yelling over the baby crying while Bob and I are trying to have our own conversation! It can get really loud in here at times and really stressful! My lack of sleep gets the better of me sometimes and I am one cranky individual. And before you say it, I know that every baby is different and can present different obstacles, but I just want to vent.
On a fun note, Camden is starting to smile a bit if you tickle his lips, it is really cute and he is focusing on objects more. I've noticed over the past couple of weeks his intensity staring at the mobile in his swing. He is getting better and better at following it.
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Decovin is now in his "naked phase," he strips every chance he gets...so this is usually when I am in the computer room and he is watching cartoons...I will get up to check on him and he will be stark naked running around! *sigh* What's a girl to do? He is not ready to potty train, this is obvious b/c he still will sit in his poop until we notice it...he won't tell us and he is still waking up from his naps with really wet diapers...we have a ways yet. So I guess we have to deal with the strip downs! It is kind of funny to walk into a room with a naked baby! LOL!
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As for Bob, he has several interviews set up over the next month or so! They are all over the U.S. as we are keeping our options open, we would ultimately like to stay in the Midwest of course, but we have to take what we can get. Keep your fingers crossed for the ones around here to go well and offer enough money so we can stay! :-)