Baby Therapy

My last post was meant to be happy, but turned out sad. So to brighten the blog, here's some pictures of a baby. :)

Funny

I just spent the morning laughing until I cried. Have you heard of Axe Cop? Here's a link. It is a comic written by a 5 year old boy. It totally made me think of some of my little nephews. The imaginations we have at our house are full of fairies and ponies and princesses and flowers. Actually, Apple is a little more wild. She is always asking about the "sword" that Uncle Jed gave us and if we are going to use it to kill bad guys. She is a little obsessed with death right now. She keeps telling me tearfully that she doesn't want to die and that she always wants to stay with me and that she never wants to be a mommy because then she couldn't be with me always. Strawberry doesn't help much: "Well, we're all gonna die!" Apple is just now coming to grips with the fact that daddy isn't coming home any time soon. She asked me the other night, "How old am I going to be when daddy comes home?" Poor little girl. She is about the same age Strawberry was when Luke went to Iraq.

Strawberry is showing some strain too. She's much more easily upset about things and really hard to calm down. Plus, I feel like I'm grounding her all the time for acting up, but I feel bad because I know why she is acting up. It's such a conundrum. I can't just let her get away for things because she's sad, but I feel like I should be more understanding and let her get her frustrations out. It's hard though because I'm easily upset and frustrated too. I need to be loving and firm, and I try to, but I lose my temper too easily. I wonder if they have parenting classes for how to deal with grieving kids. I'm sure they do. They've got all kinds of stuff here. I just can't go to it because I've got 2 kids and a baby.

Luke says they are really busy trying to get all their projects done. They've had to deal with rain and snow and supply delays and language barriers. They're doing 24 hour operations now in shifts. But Seabees thrive in adversity! :) One tough thing is that they don't have religious facilities and so he is missing having that spiritual support. They are too busy to do anything anyway, but it would be nice to at least have a prayer meeting or something. I told him he should just go to the Mosque there and learn about Islam, but I guess that would be difficult when he can't speak the language.

Happy Birthday Luke

Here are the pictures from your party. Sorry they couldn't get the candles blown out on the first try. No wishes this year. But the cake was superly delicious (red velvet). Except the rose on the top turned out to be plastic. Weird huh?

We love you so much honey. I'm sorry I couldn't pamper you for your birthday. I'll make up for it next year. Happy birthday.

Apple's Valentine

The girls had an awesome Valentines Day with lots of candy and hearts and boxes. But then mommy delivered her Valentine to Apple and sort of ruined the day.

If you cant quite see it, she has a red spot on the left of her forehead that looks exactly like a lipstick kiss. I was stepping back from the stove and she tripped over my feet, causing her to fall and smack her face on the linoleum. I've never seen a bruise look so much like a kiss. Crazy huh?

Later that night, I got a Valentine present from my secret sister (another girl whose husband is in 4) that threw Strawberry for a loop. A couple of weeks ago she left bath stuff and lotion and a bottle of wine. Strawberry was horrified. Her reaction made me laugh so hard. "Who would DO that?!? None of your friends would have done that. Maybe it was X but she's so nice, I don't think she would have." It was like someone had left a flaming bag of poop. ~Sigh~ Time for another FHE. I tried to explain that it was really a nice thing, but she just couldn't get over it. But then we got the next surprise: giant heart-shaped sugar cookies and flowers. Strawberry thought they were the awesomest thing ever. So now she just doesn't know what to think about this mysterious gift-giver. :)

And now, here's Mango showing how amazing her V-day was.

Without You, Our Hearts are Blue

Happy Valentines Day, Luke. We are all missing our favorite guy. Sending lots of love and kisses your way.

I Found Her

After I got the weeds down to a manageable level, I found Apple. Unfortunately, she was in there for so long that she has gone feral.

Thanks for all the offers of help. You are so sweet. But I was just being dramatic. :D The yard is totally manageable, and I actually really enjoy mowing the lawn. I used to do it all the time when I was a kid and that yard was much bigger and the mower didn't have power wheels like ours does now. The smell of fresh mown grass totally takes me back to my beautiful childhood in Idaho. That and the smell of burning fields are my favorite in the world. Also, since almost all the other husbands in the neighborhood are back from deployment, I've got a great pool of help to move the trampoline if I really want to.

But I think I just may make Strawberry do it. It'll be good for her. I don't have enough work for my kids to do around here anyway. I've often wondered about how I'm going to teach my kids to work without farms around. I was out in the fields breaking child labor laws when I was 12 and before that, my parents had plenty of stuff to do around our house. Gymnastics will help and I'll make swimmers out of them too, but that doesn't seem like enough. It's a dilemma. I guess we could always buy major fixer-uppers wherever we move and have them help us restore it. Anyways, I'm babbling. Bye.

Gymnastics!

I got the girls back into gymnastics two weeks ago after a 6 month break. Strawberry is loving it! On her first day they said that she needed to stay in level 1 for a while because she was a little rusty, but on her third lesson, she had improved enough that they moved her back up to level 2. She has been so happy to be back that she has been giving it her all and has tons of energy and drive. I love it. She says her new favorite apparatus is the bars and she has gotten pretty good at flipping around on those things. She has really surprised herself by how quickly she has been able to improve.

The gym is about 25 minutes from our house and so on the way there and back, she has been reading to me her AR books and reading assignments from school. She has really taking to reading well, but AR has been a problem. She rocketed up the reading levels and went from her first evaluation of 1st grade level to well into the 4th grade level before Christmas. But now she is a little slower and is struggling a little more with the books and isn't really interested in the books the school has to offer anyway. Instead of reading what she wants to, she has to read AR that she doesn't like and the teacher keeps sending home notes about how behind she is. It's making me crazy. This is on top of the 1-2 hours of homework she has every night. I'm not going to let reading become something that she enjoys to do turn into something that she is forced to do against her will. Her grade will take a hit, but who cares? The thing that frustrates me the most is some things her teacher has said to Strawberry about this and about some other things, basically judging my parents skills. Grrr. It's hard to know what to do because I don't want to be the stupid mom who doesn't understand what it is like to be a teacher, but I can't let her be the stupid teacher who doesn't understand my kid. Sigh. The older they get, the more complicated things are. :)

She's been doing really well with this deployment, mostly due to awesome friends in the neighborhood. She still misses her daddy a lot. She told me that the other day in class, she started getting tears in her eyes because she was thinking about him. She can't wait until he is back. She has been planning backpacking trips for the two of them.

Dear Luke, I'm Sorry I Took You for Granted

The lawn has turned into a monster and I lost Apple in it yesterday. It only took three weeks for the weeds to get this high! Luke always just took care of this stuff and I never really considered it that important. But now I know. I also discovered that the trampoline is really really heavy and since I don't have anyone to help me move it, we are going to have a jungle under there for a while. I guess I could send Strawberry under there with a pair of scissors. She's always trying to do extra chores for money. Or I could rent a Shetland pony and let it graze. While I was mowing (after the 20 minutes it took for me to figure out how to turn the mower on), I remembered that stupid story from elementary school about the lady who wouldn't give the kid $5 until he's mowed everything perfectly and the hedges were perfectly level. I don't think she would have given me 10 cents for the butcher job I did. I always hated that story. Cheap old lady. I never understood the point. Was it supposed to inspire us?

Anyway, thank you Luke. To show my appreciation, here are pictures of Mango sucking on her toes during a diaper change. Are we even? :)

For Daddy

Dear Luke,

Apple learned a new trick she wanted me to show off to you.

It's so funny because she says "I can look at my nose!" and then just stares straight at you for a second and then all the sudden her eyes move in towards each other randomly. Very cute. Strawberry tried so hard and came close, but it wasn't quite there. Apple said "Take a picture and get it off the computer and send it to daddy!" We love you and miss you and think about you all the time. It's amazing how painful it has been seeing 3 get home. Brandon walked with us to school today and I couldn't look directly at him without tearing up. Anyway, I hope this makes you happy. Love ya.

From Luke

This is from Luke's email this morning:

"There are people here that are getting the stomach flu. I haven’t got it yet. We woke up to about four inches of snow this morning. It has continued to snow most the day. There is about 8 to 10 inches on the ground now. We have had some good snow ball fights. Little bit of Army against Navy. I have got in it a little. Pretty fun. Couple people protecting me, a couple targeting me. I will have to note this. :) We are getting close to getting a lot of the initial issues and hang ups taken care of and should be able to start Seabee work pretty soon. I can’t wait."

Just wanted to let you know what is going on with him. That is all. Later.

My Poor Baby

Mango's sick. :( She got it from Apple, whose getting better, but is still pretty miserable. It's just a cold, but post-nasal-drip and coughing mean lots of spitting up which means lots of feeding and clothes changes and not much sleep for mommy. Sigh. On the positive side, I'm not sharing a bed so bringing the baby to sleep with me doesn't keep Luke up all night and I still have plenty of room. Deployments aren't all bad. I get to spend lots more time on Feminist Mormon Housewives. :) Plus, we can have cereal or take-out for dinner every night of the week. Just teasing. We did that when he was here too. At least we don't have to pay taxes. Ha! Take that, civilians!

Mango's cold has totally given her laryngitis and her cries are so cute except when she really gets crying because then she is shrieking and I have to put her in her crib and bury my head under a pillow. But it is so funny because even when she talks normally, she sounds like a little old lady so with the hoarseness, she totally sounds like a frail old lady complaining about her ailments.

Luke made it to his base they are going to be working on. He says it's tiny and will be a lot of work. They convoyed through a town to get there and he said there were hardly any cars, but lots of carts and wagons. Funny weird. The base paper has an article about NMCB 4. I like how it says that this is "historical." Because they are the first Seabee Battalion to go to Afghanistan. . . .since the last time a Seabees battalion went to Afghanistan a couple of months ago. Sillies.

Turtle Face

I caught Mango pulling the turtle face the other day, just like her sisters. Can you tell who is who? You'd think with how different Luke and I look, our kids would be more interesting combinations. But nope. Oh well. When you hit perfect on the first try, it's best to stick with the formula. :)

Chinese Zodiac

Strawberry has been learning the Chinese Zodiac at school and when she got home, she asked me to look everyone's up to see if they were right. It was a little uncanny.

Luke: Dragon

People born in the Year of the Dragon are healthy, energetic, excitable, short-tempered, and stubborn. They are also honest, sensitive, brave, and they inspire confidence and trust. Dragon people are the most eccentric of any in the eastern zodiac. They neither borrow money nor make flowery speeches, but they tend to be soft-hearted which sometimes gives others an advantage over them. They are compatible with Rats, Snakes, Monkeys, and Roosters.

Okay, he's not excitable, but he can be short tempered with our crazy kids, and everything else is spot on. And it's nice to know that since I'm a Monkey, we are compatible.

Bethany: Monkey

People born in the Year of the Monkey are the erratic geniuses of the cycle. Clever, skillful, and flexible, they are remarkably inventive and original and can solve the most difficult problems with ease. There are few fields in which Monkey people wouldn't be successful but they have a disconcerting habit of being too agreeable. They want to do things now, and if they cannot get started immediately, they become discouraged and sometimes leave their projects. Although good at making decisions, they tend to look down on others. Having common sense, Monkey people have a deep desire for knowledge and have excellent memories. Monkey people are strong willed but their anger cools quickly. They are most compatible with the Dragon and Rat.

I like the erratic genius part. That thing about leaving projects? So me. The memory thing is kind of iffy. I have a great memory for facts, which is why I tend to do well in school. But I can't remember appointments or where I put my keys or what I why I just walked into a room.

Strawberry: Horse

People born in the Year of the Horse are popular. They are cheerful, skillful with money, and perceptive, although they sometimes talk too much. The are wise, talented, good with their hands, and sometimes have a weakness for members of the opposite sex. They are impatient and hot-blooded about everything except their daily work. They like entertainment and large crowds. They are very independent and rarely listen to advice. They are most compatible with Tigers, Dogs, and Sheep.

Yep, she's definitely a horse.

Apple: Rooster

People born in the Year of the Rooster are deep thinkers, capable, and talented. They like to be busy and are devoted beyond their capabilities and are deeply disappointed if they fail. People born in the Rooster Year are often a bit eccentric, and often have rather difficult relationship with others. They always think they are right and usually are! They frequently are loners and though they give the outward impression of being adventurous, they are timid. Rooster people's emotions like their fortunes, swing very high to very low. They can be selfish and too outspoken, but are always interesting and can be extremely brave. They are most compatible with Ox, Snake, and Dragon.

She thought this was hilarious and went around crowing for a while. We'll have to wait until she is a little older for most of this, but there is definitely potential for it to be right.

Mango: Ox

People born in the Year of the Ox are patient, speak little, and inspire confidence in others. They tend, however, to be eccentric, and bigoted, and they anger easily. They have fierce tempers and although they speak little, when they do they are quite eloquent. Ox people are mentally and physically alert. Generally easy-going, they can be remarkably stubborn, and they hate to fail or be opposed. They are most compatible with Snake, Rooster, and Rat people.

This one just isn't right. She's not patient or easy going. And she definitely doesn't inspire confidence in others. She makes me feel like I have no idea what I'm doing. This is my third kid and I had it all figured out, but she is sooo different from the other two that I feel like I'm just starting. She does speak little, anger easily, and have a fierce temper though. And she is mentally and physically alert. :)

Anyway, it was fun to figure us all out. Strawberry was pretty excited when I told her that Uncle Peter was a horse too. Now they really have something in common. :) Anyway, everybody have a happy Chinese New Year, which we will totally be celebrating instead of Valentine's Day (bleh--stupid people in love showing affection for each other).