Hayden has been getting some new skills this past month. He has a helicopter toy that he puts balls into. He's good at putting them in and taking them out. He's also practicing his baseball arm with them. He tries to throw them for Paco to chase.
Hayden has a tower with rings and if I hand them to him in the correct order, he can put them all on the stick himself. He has a puzzle with big shapes that have wooden knobs. He is quickly learning how to put the pieces back where they go. The circle he got easily, because it doesn't have corners that he has to try to fit the right way. Today he fit the rectangle, the triangle, and the octagon into place on his own. I wish I could get a video of him doing this, but he has eyes on the back of his head when it comes to my video camera. I can not sneak it in.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Mike's job and my boredom
Mike has just started his schooling here. In the army school and work are synonymous. He got stuck with mids (aka: 3rd shift). Mike wakes up around 9:30pm, leaves for work around 11:30pm, starts class at 12am, comes home at 6am. He gets to have breakfast at home then get ready for PT (physical training) at 9am. He comes home, takes a shower, spends a little time with me and Hayden, then has to be back on post for a meaningless formation at 1pm. Then he comes home and sleeps. We're grateful we only live 5 minutes from post, but when he goes in for midnight class, the gate we live close to is closed, closes at 8:30pm. At least during the day when he's making trips back and forth, he can go through the closer gate. Mike has been awesome about starting breakfast before I am out of bed. We've been on an oatmeal kick lately.
Hayden and I are trying hard to make new friends here, but we are struggling. I think I might have social anxiety disorder. Everytime I talk to new people I feel like they are looking at me like I have a booger hanging or something. It's very uncomfortable for me. Maybe it's just my really bad eyebrow waxing. Next time, I'll try to ask around for a recommendation. Thus, we've been rather bored lately. Not being used to the cold weather here kept us indoors too much for a while, but it's getting better. It just seems like everyday we wake up and do the same thing we did the day before.
I was very spoiled in Mililani, HI. Wal-Mart was within walking distance (for a person who's not out of shape anyway). Now I have to drive 10 minutes to get there (oh no!) and it seems like a day trip. I hope to get over this feeling soon. It's rediculous!
Hayden and I are trying hard to make new friends here, but we are struggling. I think I might have social anxiety disorder. Everytime I talk to new people I feel like they are looking at me like I have a booger hanging or something. It's very uncomfortable for me. Maybe it's just my really bad eyebrow waxing. Next time, I'll try to ask around for a recommendation. Thus, we've been rather bored lately. Not being used to the cold weather here kept us indoors too much for a while, but it's getting better. It just seems like everyday we wake up and do the same thing we did the day before.
I was very spoiled in Mililani, HI. Wal-Mart was within walking distance (for a person who's not out of shape anyway). Now I have to drive 10 minutes to get there (oh no!) and it seems like a day trip. I hope to get over this feeling soon. It's rediculous!
Hayden's words
Momma, Daddy, Hi, Bye, Baby, Puppy (sometimes it's Pa-py - a mixture of Paco and Puppy), we think he said Doggy last night. He likes to point to the baby on his baby food jars and say the word baby over and over.
Catchin' up to now
HAYDEN'S 1st BIRTHDAY, November 28
Since we didn't have our household goods here yet and also did not yet have any friends here, Hayden didn't get a party. He did have his Grandma Gowin here, though. We opened presents that morning and went to the zoo in Columbia, SC most of the day. Columbia is around an hour and 20 min. from here, perfect length for a nap. We left at nap time and Hayden was good to go when we got there. Mark, Tena,and Joe (Uncle, aunt, cousin who live in Columbia) and my Mammaw (from Kentucky)met us there. We had a good time. The zoo there is very nice. Mom stayed with Mark and Tena and we came home. They took her to the airport the next day. On the way home, I bought a little birthday cake at Wal-Mart so Hayden could get his first cake and get some pictures. He played with it a little, but wasn't real interested in eating it. It was much sweeter than the food he's used to.
TMI warning ---> Hayden then threw up the entire contents of his stomach and when I thought he couldn't possibly have another drop in him, he threw up some more. He had a bath, then some yogurt, then went to bed and slept well.
A VISIT FROM PAPA AND MIMI BROWN
David and Mary came for a very short visit the week before Christmas. They arrived on Thursday and left on Sunday. Paco had been staying with them since we got back to the mainland. He came with them. We are very happy to have him back. We opened Christmas presents while they were here. Hayden has way too many toys now.
CHRISTMAS DAY
Just another day for me and Hayden. Mike had to work from 8am to 8pm.
HAYDEN'S LATEST TRICKS
Hayden took his first few steps on his own just before his birthday. Between his birthday and the visit from Mimi and Papa Brown, he would walk holding one of our fingers, but he was pretty lazy about taking off on his own. When Papa came to visit, Hayden discovered the IPhone in his shirt pocket. He decided it was worth walking for. He would love up on Papa just to steal the phone out of his pocket. Then he'd carry it across the room to show someone else. He didn't walk on his own much when the IPhone wasn't around. After they went back home, we couldn't get him to walk on his own much. Then, Hayden's cousin, Josiah was born on the 22nd of Dec. We went to Alabama for a quick visit when Mike got a 4 day weekend pass for New Years. Hayden suddenly decided to be a big boy and walk. He has been unstoppable since then. Unfortunately, he has also stopped taking his afternoon nap. He is solid on his morning nap, but won't fall asleep in the afternoon. He is definitely tired and gets whiney and snuggles with his blanky, but just won't fall out, unless we go for a long drive. I took Hayden's bottles away and he just uses sippy cups now. Some days he does a good job drinking his milk, and some days he wants nothing to do with it. A lot of milk gets wasted around here.
ANNIVERSARY
Mike and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary this year. We were married on 01-01-2000. Yes, we really are that old. Since we were in Alabama visiting Josiah and Mimi was still there to babysit, we got to go out on a real date for once. On New Years Eve, we drove to Gulfport, MS and went to the Beau Rivage casino/hotel. We didn't stay the night, just played some slots. Then we walked over to the Hard Rock Cafe/Casino. We had a huge buffet for dinner, and with my players card, they gave me a free birthday dinner. We only ended up spending 12.83 on dinner for both of us and it was a huge spread. I lost a little money at the roulette table, but it was a fun time. We drove back to Mobile and went to the theater and saw Avatar in 3D. If we had known when we set off for Mobile from Georgia that Mimi was volunteering to babysit while we went out, we would have packed some nicer clothes and make-up. I felt a little shabby while we were out, but we had fun anyway.
Since we didn't have our household goods here yet and also did not yet have any friends here, Hayden didn't get a party. He did have his Grandma Gowin here, though. We opened presents that morning and went to the zoo in Columbia, SC most of the day. Columbia is around an hour and 20 min. from here, perfect length for a nap. We left at nap time and Hayden was good to go when we got there. Mark, Tena,and Joe (Uncle, aunt, cousin who live in Columbia) and my Mammaw (from Kentucky)met us there. We had a good time. The zoo there is very nice. Mom stayed with Mark and Tena and we came home. They took her to the airport the next day. On the way home, I bought a little birthday cake at Wal-Mart so Hayden could get his first cake and get some pictures. He played with it a little, but wasn't real interested in eating it. It was much sweeter than the food he's used to.
TMI warning ---> Hayden then threw up the entire contents of his stomach and when I thought he couldn't possibly have another drop in him, he threw up some more. He had a bath, then some yogurt, then went to bed and slept well.
A VISIT FROM PAPA AND MIMI BROWN
David and Mary came for a very short visit the week before Christmas. They arrived on Thursday and left on Sunday. Paco had been staying with them since we got back to the mainland. He came with them. We are very happy to have him back. We opened Christmas presents while they were here. Hayden has way too many toys now.
CHRISTMAS DAY
Just another day for me and Hayden. Mike had to work from 8am to 8pm.
HAYDEN'S LATEST TRICKS
Hayden took his first few steps on his own just before his birthday. Between his birthday and the visit from Mimi and Papa Brown, he would walk holding one of our fingers, but he was pretty lazy about taking off on his own. When Papa came to visit, Hayden discovered the IPhone in his shirt pocket. He decided it was worth walking for. He would love up on Papa just to steal the phone out of his pocket. Then he'd carry it across the room to show someone else. He didn't walk on his own much when the IPhone wasn't around. After they went back home, we couldn't get him to walk on his own much. Then, Hayden's cousin, Josiah was born on the 22nd of Dec. We went to Alabama for a quick visit when Mike got a 4 day weekend pass for New Years. Hayden suddenly decided to be a big boy and walk. He has been unstoppable since then. Unfortunately, he has also stopped taking his afternoon nap. He is solid on his morning nap, but won't fall asleep in the afternoon. He is definitely tired and gets whiney and snuggles with his blanky, but just won't fall out, unless we go for a long drive. I took Hayden's bottles away and he just uses sippy cups now. Some days he does a good job drinking his milk, and some days he wants nothing to do with it. A lot of milk gets wasted around here.
ANNIVERSARY
Mike and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary this year. We were married on 01-01-2000. Yes, we really are that old. Since we were in Alabama visiting Josiah and Mimi was still there to babysit, we got to go out on a real date for once. On New Years Eve, we drove to Gulfport, MS and went to the Beau Rivage casino/hotel. We didn't stay the night, just played some slots. Then we walked over to the Hard Rock Cafe/Casino. We had a huge buffet for dinner, and with my players card, they gave me a free birthday dinner. We only ended up spending 12.83 on dinner for both of us and it was a huge spread. I lost a little money at the roulette table, but it was a fun time. We drove back to Mobile and went to the theater and saw Avatar in 3D. If we had known when we set off for Mobile from Georgia that Mimi was volunteering to babysit while we went out, we would have packed some nicer clothes and make-up. I felt a little shabby while we were out, but we had fun anyway.
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Moving into our new Home
When we got to Georgia, we stayed in the Value Place Inn, a cheap extended stay hotel. We were there for two weeks while we looked for housing. It was definitely not the best, but, like I said, it was cheap.
Initially, we were hoping to buy a house here in Georgia, but there were very few decent/safe/close-to-post homes listed in the range our budget would allow. The ones that were listed were not worth the risk of buying, since we don't know exactly how long we'll be living here. It could be anywhere from 12 months to 4 years. Mike's schooling will be 12 months (and he hasn't gotten into a class yet, so that time has not started yet) and we are counting on the army keeping him here for his follow-on assignment. All things military are subject to immediate change.
So, we drove around and around and around the Augusta area looking for a decent house to rent. We nearly settled on one when we noticed the name of the street we were passing was the street one of the houses we were interested in purchasing was on. That house was under contract when we got here, so we never got to look at it, and we wanted to drive by to see what we missed. Driving through the subdivision, we found a For Rent by owner sign and decided to call and check it out. The landlord was at the house doing renovations and invited us in at that moment. She had recently purchased the home as a foreclosure and was renovating it to lease. She had painted everything in the house (including the garage). She replaced the bathroom floors with nice ceramic tile, refinished the kitchen cabinets, bought a brand new side by side refrigerator, etc. etc. Anyways, it was by far the nicest place we had seen and we thought we had nearly seen every place in the area for rent in our price range. We agreed to rent it from her right away and arranged to have dinner with her and her husband and sign the agreement that night. They treated us to IHOP and we got to know them a little. We are very blessed to have a land lord that is local. Nearly every other place we looked at was managed my a realtor. We had to wait another week for them to finish the work on the house. This meant a second week in the hotel. We toughed it out. We moved in November 17.
In Hawai'i, a house with a master bedroom that will accomodate a king size bed (comfortably) is a rare find. We had a queen size bed while we lived there. Mike's feet practically hang off a queen size bed, and I like having my own space, so I talked him into us buying a king size bedroom suite when we got here. We found one at Rooms-to-Go and a mattress at Sam's, and this was the only furniture in our house for the next few weeks except for a small table and chairs set that we borrowed from a couple at church who weren't using it. I'll post pics of our house eventually. We're still not settled in.
Initially, we were hoping to buy a house here in Georgia, but there were very few decent/safe/close-to-post homes listed in the range our budget would allow. The ones that were listed were not worth the risk of buying, since we don't know exactly how long we'll be living here. It could be anywhere from 12 months to 4 years. Mike's schooling will be 12 months (and he hasn't gotten into a class yet, so that time has not started yet) and we are counting on the army keeping him here for his follow-on assignment. All things military are subject to immediate change.
So, we drove around and around and around the Augusta area looking for a decent house to rent. We nearly settled on one when we noticed the name of the street we were passing was the street one of the houses we were interested in purchasing was on. That house was under contract when we got here, so we never got to look at it, and we wanted to drive by to see what we missed. Driving through the subdivision, we found a For Rent by owner sign and decided to call and check it out. The landlord was at the house doing renovations and invited us in at that moment. She had recently purchased the home as a foreclosure and was renovating it to lease. She had painted everything in the house (including the garage). She replaced the bathroom floors with nice ceramic tile, refinished the kitchen cabinets, bought a brand new side by side refrigerator, etc. etc. Anyways, it was by far the nicest place we had seen and we thought we had nearly seen every place in the area for rent in our price range. We agreed to rent it from her right away and arranged to have dinner with her and her husband and sign the agreement that night. They treated us to IHOP and we got to know them a little. We are very blessed to have a land lord that is local. Nearly every other place we looked at was managed my a realtor. We had to wait another week for them to finish the work on the house. This meant a second week in the hotel. We toughed it out. We moved in November 17.
In Hawai'i, a house with a master bedroom that will accomodate a king size bed (comfortably) is a rare find. We had a queen size bed while we lived there. Mike's feet practically hang off a queen size bed, and I like having my own space, so I talked him into us buying a king size bedroom suite when we got here. We found one at Rooms-to-Go and a mattress at Sam's, and this was the only furniture in our house for the next few weeks except for a small table and chairs set that we borrowed from a couple at church who weren't using it. I'll post pics of our house eventually. We're still not settled in.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Leaving the Island
We have successfully moved from Mililani, HI to Grovetown, GA. It has been more than a month since my last blog posting, so I'll try to break up the last month into a few posts so there's not so much to read all at once.
On October 22, our household goods were packed up and we spent the next 4 days/nights in the home of our friend, Candy, who took good care of us on our last weekend there. She even let us have friends over for a farewell and game night Friday night. The Baxters and the Cauthens came over and she fed us home-made enchiladas and guacamole and brownies with ice cream. She even cooked breakfast for us the mornings she didn't go to work, and she left coffee brewed for us when she did go to work. It was like staying in a high end B&B. Tuesday, the 27th, Mike took his truck to the port and Brenda Booker picked him up. After going back to her house, we borrowed her car and took Hayden to the doctor at Tripler, because he caught a yucky cough and I wanted to get him checked out before we left the island and had no medical access except for the ER for a while. They gave him an inhaler and a steroid (Prednolisone) prescription. They told me to give him 4cc's of the steroid once a day and use the inhaler 4 puffs 4 times a day. I thought this sounded like way too much medicine for an 11 month old, so I did not follow doctor's orders. I gave him the inhaler about once a day, when he sounded the most congested, but he never did get the steroid. He was fine a few days after we got to the mainland. Terry Booker took us to the airport around 7:30 for our 9pm flight. Hope and Trey met us at the airport to send us off. They brought us a goody bag with snacks for the flight. We checked 6 bags, Paco, and the car seat. We took Hayden's stroller on the plane with us. It was great to have it in between flight connections. We were able to put his big diaper bag in the basket of it when we were waiting for our flight, and Hayden got to push it around at the airport. He likes to stand behind it and hold on to the basket and take off. . The army pays for a seat for infants, too, so Hayden had his own seat on the plane to sleep in. Conveniently, most flights from Honolulu to the west coast are at night, so Hayden slept most of the way. We had the three middle seats on a 767, so Hayden slept between us. We didn't sleep much, partially because we had to keep catching Hayden from rolling off onto the floor.
On October 22, our household goods were packed up and we spent the next 4 days/nights in the home of our friend, Candy, who took good care of us on our last weekend there. She even let us have friends over for a farewell and game night Friday night. The Baxters and the Cauthens came over and she fed us home-made enchiladas and guacamole and brownies with ice cream. She even cooked breakfast for us the mornings she didn't go to work, and she left coffee brewed for us when she did go to work. It was like staying in a high end B&B. Tuesday, the 27th, Mike took his truck to the port and Brenda Booker picked him up. After going back to her house, we borrowed her car and took Hayden to the doctor at Tripler, because he caught a yucky cough and I wanted to get him checked out before we left the island and had no medical access except for the ER for a while. They gave him an inhaler and a steroid (Prednolisone) prescription. They told me to give him 4cc's of the steroid once a day and use the inhaler 4 puffs 4 times a day. I thought this sounded like way too much medicine for an 11 month old, so I did not follow doctor's orders. I gave him the inhaler about once a day, when he sounded the most congested, but he never did get the steroid. He was fine a few days after we got to the mainland. Terry Booker took us to the airport around 7:30 for our 9pm flight. Hope and Trey met us at the airport to send us off. They brought us a goody bag with snacks for the flight. We checked 6 bags, Paco, and the car seat. We took Hayden's stroller on the plane with us. It was great to have it in between flight connections. We were able to put his big diaper bag in the basket of it when we were waiting for our flight, and Hayden got to push it around at the airport. He likes to stand behind it and hold on to the basket and take off. . The army pays for a seat for infants, too, so Hayden had his own seat on the plane to sleep in. Conveniently, most flights from Honolulu to the west coast are at night, so Hayden slept most of the way. We had the three middle seats on a 767, so Hayden slept between us. We didn't sleep much, partially because we had to keep catching Hayden from rolling off onto the floor.
Re-enlistment
On October 15, Mike re-enlisted in the army for 4 more years. As previously published, his defective hearing has caused him to reclass into a different MOS (military occupational specialty). He is reclassing from an MP (military police) to a SATCOM operator maintainer (something to do with satellite communications). Therefore, we are moving from Hawai'i to Georgia where Mike will do 8 months of school (AIT (advanced individual training))plus 18 additional weeks for the specialty he's in. We are hoping he will assigned to the same post in Georgia after the schooling, which would keep us there for around 4 years.
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