Our Brood

potty training

2011-07-23T22:13:00.001-04:00

Jax is potty trained! It is amazing watching him and his super colon live on his all fruit and fiber diet and know that for once I will not bear the brunt of it's violence.
We introduced him to the potty 11 months ago, just on the off chance that we didn't realize it, but he was ready for potty training and just wanted us to push him in the right direction. We quickly realized that this was not the case, and so after many unsuccessful attempts and countless celebrations of "movements" and a bottomless pit of potty bribes we have finally achieved a victory on the porcelain front. Enough of the potty talk, lets move on...
Ivy has expanded her vocabulary to dada, boof (Jax), mmmmmmmmm, babababa, and gagagagagggggg, anytime I try to get her to say, "mama" she just smiles and laughs in my face. At that moment, I have psychic visions of her teenage years and I am not excited. I think that when the time comes, I will let Jax potty train her.
She has finally started eating solids and she isn't really that thrilled about it. I thought she would love a little variety in her diet and yet whenever we feed her she gazes wistfully off in the distance thinking of simpler times when she didn't have to try and chew before she swallowed. However, once we introduce a newer 'new' food, if we revert back to an old 'new' food it is like she is experiencing a meal at a 5 star restaurant. Other than finding a sensitivity to squash it has mostly been your run-of-the-mill introducing solids to a baby stage.
We went on a little family adventure about 2 weeks ago. Ivan had a doctor's appointment down in sunny Florida, so we as a family packed up and joined him for a 3 day trip down to the sunshine state. He had a day off between appointments, so we woke up early and drove down to Orlando and spent the day at Sea World. All was going well until around 4:00 when the sky decided to open up and give us a whole year's worth of rain in a very concentrated hour and then continue to storm until we left at 9 that night. The boys were dressed in their bathing suits in preparedness for sitting in the infamous "splash zones" during the shows, Ivy and I were not so well equipped and I still found myself soaking wet after a 3 hour car ride back to the hotel (we changed Ivy into some dry clothes when we got back into the car).Even with the storm , we still had a great time there and I am excited we went. Jax got to see his beloved alligators and Ivy was entranced by the jumping orcas.

16 months later!

2011-06-04T23:48:00.005-04:00

Wow! what a difference a year and some change can make! after the last post we had a few small and BIG changes. we got a new car, a sweet minivan, ivan and i are officially soccer moms. we moved, not anything big, just around the corner from our old house into a newly renovated larger one because... we had a baby! our new baby is already 7 months old! little ivy pepper was welcomed into the world on november 4th 2010 weighing in at a whooping 8lbs 4 oz and 20 inches long. she is growing like a weed and was a healthy 17lbs 5 oz at her 6 month dr. appointment, not too bad for a kid who had only had breastmilk at that point! we also experienced our first deployment, it wasn't as near as difficult as future tours will be. the sub ivan works on needed to go into drydock, so it was taken 7 hours away into another state that had facilities to handle the repairs. we (jax and i) were able to take aforementioned sweet minivan to drive back and forth to see him every few weeks.Jax and i also took our first cross-country trip about 13 months ago to go meet his newest cousin. We got there just in time, baby Ruby was born less than 24 hours after our plane landed! It was a great experience to be able to be there for my sister and brother in law as they were in the hospital, Jax got to spend some serious one on one time with his cousin gus and it gave us both a break from missing ivan. This past year has also been the year of hospital visits, Jax had an episode of severe croup and needed to be hospitalized overnight until swelling in his throat went down and his oxygen levels went up. We had to make an er visit with ivan because he became very ill, and ended up being diagnosed with pneumonia, sinusitis and a urinary tract infection all at once, then little ivy was born and it was my turn to be in the hospital for a few days, she was quite the stubborn kid and had a labor twice as long as her brother's, and then most recently the kids and i spent a Saturday night in the er waiting to be seen so that Jax could have a dried cranberry removed from his right nostril. i tried to be a good mom and make him some healthy trail mix to snack on, and he returned the favor by sticking it up, and having it get stuck in his nose. hopefully we can go without any more visits to the hospital for some time, otherwise i think they need to give us a frequent visitor punch card and give us a free shirt.
I think that's the majority of the big changes we've had. It is time to get ready for the next round of life's surprises!

So many updates!

2010-02-13T00:14:00.002-05:00

Many apologies from us to you about our lack of upkeep on here, hopefully we won't have another 8 month lapse in posts.
lets see if i can do the quick abridged version of the past few months:

June:
The weekend after father's day Ivan had one of his long weekends between shift changes so we took advantage of it and went away on our first family vacation. We went to Atlanta and got there about lunchtime to go straight to the zoo. Jax was really excited to see all the animals, but we agree that the elephants were his favorites. The next day we went to the World of coca-cola which is something of a mix of a museum, bottling factory and shrine to all things coke. we ate the varsity, the largest drive in in the world and walked around the Olympic park. our last day there we went to stone mountain, which is a little northeast of Atlanta. It is a huge monument (3 times the size of mount Rushmore) dedicated to the confederacy from the civil war. there is a relief carved into the side of a large granite mountain. from there we came home.

July:
Ivan had to work evenings during the first week of July so he missed out on fireworks. Jax and Nora went to the fireworks display on base on the 3rd, where Jax did really well with his first experience with fireworks, he was a little scared at first but ended up enjoying them. Our friend Logan came to visit at the last minute, which ended up being a lot of fun. We went for a picnic on the beach at Ilse of Palms, walked all over downtown after hitting the farmers market, and went to the angel oak tree. Not too long after her visit, Nora's mom flew in and treated us to our first ghost tour downtown. It was a fun way to learn about some of the history of this old city and it's residents.

August:
Jax started taking his first unassisted steps, and finally on the 29th he got his first tooth, followed shortly by his second on the 31st. He also finished his first set of swimming lessons. Next summer we'll do it all over again so that he is comfortable in water. Nora started going to a quilting class on base.

September:
September was a big month for us, Jax took his first plane ride! He and Nora were needed in Odessa for a friends wedding in which Nora was in the bridal party. This was Jax's first trip to Texas and he got to meet so many family members and many "aunts" who were ready to spoil him. He did amazing on the flights and the travel (there was a roadtrip to Dallas) . And he got to have his first of his 2 birthday parties.

October:
Jax turned 1!!! He had a great birthday party with a few of his friends. Not too long after Ivan graduated prototype school, where he received an award for personal excellence. We celebrated by heading to Virginia right after the ceremony to go to Busch Gardens where Jax rode his first rides. Jax was walking pretty regularly by the end of the month and going days at a time without crawling.Ivan got selected for staff pick-up which means that we're staying put for the next 2 years. Jax got to do a little trick or treating this year, but he mostly just hung out with daddy while he passed out candy to the trick or treaters.

November:
another slow month, I'll save you the details, but this was Jax's first time to get ahold of a dirty diaper, we found out that we can sterilize a baby and his room in record time. Also we moved Jax into a bigger room and switched his old one with the office. It's a little further from our room, but he has so much more space for his limitless supply of toys. By the way, if you are thinking of getting Jax something, please no more toys or stuffed animals, board books are great and so are clothes. Ivan had to work nights for Thanksgiving (boo!) so we were lucky enough to dine with some other friends who have boys close in age to Jax.

December:
We decided at the last minute to take advantage of Ivan's military discount to Disney World and went the weekend before Christmas, for both our second family vacation and our little Christmas gift to ourselves. Jax finally got 2 more teeth, bringing the total up to 4! We were able to ride most of the classic family rides and enjoyed nice weather, we left on a Thursday after Ivan got home and stayed until Monday evening so that Ivan could be back at work Tuesday afternoon, so we were able to devote 1 day to each park. This was every one's first trip to Disney World and it was really successful, we have already started making a list of all the things we want to do the next time we go! Ivan had to work Christmas, but ended up getting Christmas eve off so we went to the festival of lights on John's Island (about 10 mins on the other side of downtown Charleston), where there is a 3 mile drive through Christmas lights. A few days after Christmas, Nora packed up the car with Jax and drove off to Texas for a late Christmas with some of her family because Jax's cousin Gus was flying in as well.

January:
January was filled with roadtrips and relatives for Nora and Jax and work for Ivan. Jax managed to get 2 more teeth in Odessa followed by both of his top molars cutting through in the same evening, luckily it was a few days before they were scheduled to head home so he was doing much better with the teething pain by the time they hopped back in the car to leave. The trip home was more eventful than we would have liked plagued with bad weather and a fire alarm going off in the middle of the night, but we made it back in one piece. The end of January was just spent enjoying being home and spending time with each other.

February:
So far this month has been pretty awesome, Ivan made E-5 so he is now a second class petty officer!!! Also he turned 25, way to go! We got a new bedroom seeing as how our old set was falling apart and missing drawers and we upgraded to a queen size bed, that's right, we'd been sleeping on a full size bed for over 4 years!So that may not be very exciting to anyone else, but it was super exciting to us. Tonight we are experiencing the first measurable snowfall in 10 years, we took Jax out but he really didn't care for it, it was (and still is) snowing and he didn't want it in his face or anything. (it's where our picture came from) He better get over it by the morning because we are going out and making him his first snowman whether he likes it or not! We switched Jax over to a big boy bed and he has been doing incredibly well with it, his first night he went down for the first time and didn't get out until 7 and a half hours later! It has only improved since then. We are still using the crib at naptime, but he is getting better at knowing that his bed is where he needs to be sleeping now.

I realize that I need to update pictures soon, until then go to youtube and look up nordorr for a few videos of Jax!

Hi there!

2009-06-19T03:10:00.008-04:00

Ivan graduated top ET of his class from power school. Nora's grandmother was able to come down that weekend to visit and see the ceremony. He got his own special little plaque and when he went to get it all of the other graduates has to stand at attention. The weather cooperated and Jax even slept peacefully through almost all of the ceremony.

After power school Ivan went on hold for 2 months and worked in a lab at the training school. He was happy to have a bit of a break from the studying and Nora and Jax were happy that he was home a little more.

In April we had Nora's mom, sister Rose, her husband William and their son Gus visit. It was really exciting to see the little cousins interact. For those of you that don't know, Gus is exactly 6 weeks older than Jax. At the time Gus was crawling and Jax was still rolling around. We took them all over the area and went to a few gardens that were in bloom for spring.

A few days after Nora's family left, some of our friends from Texas came to visit and we did the garden and tourist circuit again. during this time Jax got sick so we took him to the doctor to find out that he has horrible seasonal allergies! He was given a prescription for baby allergy meds and we continued our garden tours without any further problems.

At the end of April Ivan started his last leg of training; prototype school, he'll be done with that in just a few short months but we probably will not know for certain when and where we are moving to until after his graduation, please don't ask, we don't know, but we will let everyone know as soon as we find out. Just as in the other 2 schools Ivan is excelling and running away with the curve, we know he is getting excited to be finishing up with all this school. As soon as he is done he will be a certified nuclear reactor operator and no one can take that away from him, go Ivan! Right now he has started his 12 hour rotating shifts that will last until his graduation. He hasn't had to work overnight yet, I'm sure that it will be a shock to him when it happens.

As far as Jax news goes, he is crawling, crawling a lot, he will crawl on his hands and knees if he feels like it, but generally prefers to army crawl. He is also pulling up to standing. He just started that a few days ago and is already ready for the next step! Hopefully we can adjust to pulling up before he decides to stand up and walk off. We took him to the beach last weekend for Ivan's class family picnic. Jax had such a good time, I think he is part dolphin, but what did you expect when both of his parents were swimmers?

Sadly our other computer died and we have yet to get most of the pictures off of it, but here are a few from the past months and more recently. Us at Ivan's power school graduation, Jax and Gus at cypress gardens, Jax at wannamecker county park, and Jax at the beach (our friend Cassie was holding him while he was getting his picture taken).

Quick post

2009-01-26T23:24:00.002-05:00

I love baby sunglasses. I especially love the way his eyes are, you can see them through the glasses. This picture is so priceless, it's the new background on the computer.
There are new pictures up on the flicker album. I like to just put it on slide show and watch all of them from start to finish.
Ivan is doing really well, he has one of the top gpa's in a class of about 300, and he is overall the top E.T. (his class is made up of E.T.'s, M.M.'s, and E.M.'s) by a pretty wide margin. He just has three tests left before his comprehensive final. He is gearing up to graduate power school on Friday Feb. 13th. He went ahead and volunteered to be on hold for 2 months before beginning prototype school since there were not enough spaces for all the students graduating. He will still be doing something during this time, (its still up in the air which job assignment he got), but his days and hours will be much shorter so he will get to be at home more and spend some more time with Jax and mommy.
Jax is consistently rolling from his tummy to his back and he will roll in the direction of either mom or dad if they are sitting beside him instead of in front of him. He is trying to roll from his back to his tummy, but can't quite get it yet, he can roll up on his side but just can't make it all the way over. He is starting to uncurl from birth, but he still keeps those little legs tucked most of the time. His legs are starting to straighten out from being bowlegged and his feet are starting to get arches and turn out. This past week he started laughing, he has been giving little chuckles for a few weeks and he squeals in delight, but now he does the full blown big hearty laughs. Great news, he has gotten to the point where he doesn't completely hate his car seat, in fact, he usually smiles when he gets in it (he knows he's either going for a ride or walk) and has stopped having huge breakdowns if the car seat isn't in motion, well, the breakdowns are fewer and far between at least.

Well Finally!

2009-01-07T00:19:00.007-05:00

We finally have a crib for Jax! Just in time for him to turn 3 months old. The plan was to have one before he was born, but things just didn't work out that way. After finding and researching cribs that we wanted we would go to order or buy them and they would be either discontinued or out of stock indefinitely, this happened 3 times!!! The last time it happened was in August when we found yet another crib that was the style that we wanted, was one we could agree upon and was in our price range with good safety ratings. We went to order it and oh, no longer available in stores, no longer available to order online. That was the final straw for me. I had a mini nervous breakdown fueled by pregnancy hormones and just decided that we were going to use the bassinet in the pack and play for a little while because crib shopping officially sucks. We slowly gathered everything but the crib and went out and found the one we wanted about a month after Jax was born. As soon as all of Christmas was over we ordered that bad-boy so that Jax could start off the new year in a new bed.

After all the heartache that went into finding a 4th crib that matched everything that we both wanted, and then ordering it we thought we were going to be happy and done with it. I was so excited that I went and got all the bedding and ironed everything, including the little fabric flaps on the mobile. We went to babys-r-us the other day and saw it in person in white and it was so ugly, both Ivan and I hated it, it was just so tacky and that's what was coming to our house. When we got home we were both so upset and disappointed. Today when the crib got here I was just going to put it together and be done with it. But much to my surprise, ours didn't look so tacky, it actually looked really nice. I guess just a different finish makes a big difference. I got most of it done and then Ivan finished it off. We put in all of the dinosaur bedding and it looks so cute. Most important of all, Jax is sound asleep in it right now he had absolutely no trouble in the transition from pack and play to crib.

It's Santa!

2008-12-23T02:26:00.007-05:00

We took Jax to see Santa today. Of course Santa was at the complete other end of the mall from where we parked. Not usually a big deal, but Ivan is on crutches with a really bad sprained ankle. Jax was really good with Santa and didn't cry until after his visit was over and the picture was bought and paid for. I need to hook-up our scanner and stick that baby on here. Until then this cute picture of Jax in his Christmas outfit will have to do.

Marrington Fields Forever

2008-12-14T19:08:00.010-05:00

Things around here have gotten pretty busy with the holidays fast approaching we seem to have run out of time for everything else. Right after Thanksgiving Jax got his first cold it was a little scary at first because he's never been sick before or felt so bad before, but he has come through it with flying colors. Right after he started to feel better we had to go back to the doctor for his 2 month check-up and his first shots. The visit itself was pretty awful and Jax was such a trooper through the whole thing, it wouldn't have been so bad had the clinic not been so over-booked and we wouldn't have had to wait for 2 hours to get everything done. Jax is now weighing in at a whopping 11 pounds 3 ounces and is 22 inches long, for those of you keeping track that's 3lbs2oz over his birth weight and an extra 2 inches. We have to go back again this week for him to get his flu shot because the clinic was all out last week. Hopefully it won't be so bad this next time around.

We have been busy getting the house ready for Christmas and getting all of our gifts in order to send off. Christmas cards are in the works, but may become New Year's cards at this rate.

Mom is doing good, she and Jax go for a small walk most days weather permitting, she goes back to the doctor soon to see if she is cleared for exercise and off of her limited duty rest. Let's all hope that she is cleared, it would be a Christmas miracle.

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Daddy is doing well in school and everyone tells him so. This weekend his class held their class held their class picnic out at marrington fields here on base. We hadn't ventured out there before but it was on the to-do list since there are some nice nature trails there. It was the picture of southern beauty with it's mossy oaks and ponds. Ivan had a good time showing off his family while we watched the different sections of the class have football, ultimate Frisbee, tug of war, golf, and eating contests.

In other news, Sarge has figured out that Jax has hands too. You can now find him rubbing up against those hands anytime we set Jax down. I don't think Jax minds very much since the kitty is soft. Fitzy doesn't really care for the baby yet, but she loves to sleep under the Christmas tree and acts like her being here is our present.

Here is a picture of Jax at the 2 month mark:

a little info

2008-11-21T23:22:00.002-05:00

Things here are a little hectic, so the blog has been neglected lately. Ivan has about 2 tests every week, so he is super busy studying or trying to go to bed early. All of his studying is paying off though, he is currently ranked 12th in a class of 319 and moves up a little higher after every test. Nora went to her 6 week check-up the other day and is still on light duty, she did too much heavy lifting and walking too soon after Jax was born and ended up delaying the healing process. She promises that she will be good and hold still for the next month so that she can be better and be able to move around again.

And now for Jax news (that's the whole reason you're reading, right?) Our little guy has decided that now that he's a month old he needs a later bedtime, so he grumbles for about 2 or 3 hours of being put down and finally goes to sleep long about 2. We had a small victory last night and he fell asleep for good after the first time that he was put down, and it was at 1, so we are making a little headway. Also as bedtime approaches he decides that he needs to be grumpy for about an hour. It isn't colic, thank God, but it is pretty frustrating. He is just too excited to go to sleep, but too tired to stay awake without being grumpy. We found out that he loves to be held so that he is standing up, and he will hold it as long as he can before his knees give and then as soon as he can he'll shoot himself back up. He is getting pretty good at balancing himself in a stand so that he can hold himself very briefly independent of our hands. I think it's pretty funny that he can support his whole body, but he is still having trouble holding up his head. We are working on crawling and he is just really improving every time he's on his belly. He can hold his head up at a 90 degree angle for a few seconds and has figured out how to roll over onto his back if his arms are underneath him. He will move his back legs and can actually scoot just a little, he could get further if he figured out how to move his arms too. He also LOVES to dance. Anytime he gets fussy or grumpy all we have to do is put him in his bassinet and turn his mobile on and he will lay there and kick his feet and wave his arms for about 10 minutes while it runs through it's cycle. Now he has started to coo so he will make baby noises and coo and smile at his mobile too. This makes life so much easier to have a solution to a grumpy baby. He is also quite the snuggler. He loves to be held and prefers to be held at all times during the day, but will go to sleep by himself at night (whether he stays asleep is a different matter). He is focusing on faces and he will watch people walking and follow them across a room. He is starting to smile and not have it be related solely to gas and has even smiled upon seeing either one of us and will coo at us. We know we are still really lucky to have a baby who is so sweet and is only fussy for about an hour a day, that is so much better than what it could have been.

Picnic in the Park

2008-11-08T22:45:00.004-05:00

Today we took our lunch over to a park/playground area about a block away from our house. We spread out a blanket and had a nice picnic and enjoyed the warm sunshine. We set Jax up on his boppy pillow so that he could sit and watch everything that was going on around him. After we ate we took Jax for his first ride down a slide and he got his first turn on a swing. We tried to find a way to play with him on most of the equipment. He was a pretty good sport about everything and lasted for almost an hour before he was ready to go home and take a nap.

1 month

2008-11-07T21:56:00.002-05:00

Jax is 1 month old today! Where is time going?

4 Weeks

2008-11-04T21:59:00.003-05:00

Jax is now 4 weeks old. He is no longer classified as a newborn, just an infant. Here's a picture of him from today, doesn't he look so much bigger and alert than his pictures from 4 weeks ago?

Happy Halloween

2008-10-31T23:17:00.007-04:00

Today was Jax's first Halloween. Ivan and I love Halloween so we dressed him up all day. First, he wore a sleeper that said my first Halloween with a matching hat. Then we put him in a body suit that said I love my mummy. On top of the body suit we put him in a dinosaur costume that aunt Rose and family sent. It was really a monster costume, but I think that it passes well for a dino. We sat out on the carport and handed out candy to trick-or-treaters for about an hour and a half before Jax and I had to leave daddy outside to get Jax some food. Jax was the cutest dinosaur in the neighborhood and all the kids that came by loved looking at him.

Jax went to the doctor yesterday for a weight checkup. He didn't weigh as much as the doctor wanted him to at his 10 day visit so we had to go back for a 20 day weight check. He needed to gain 10 ounces in that time, and that little chunk gained 17! That's almost twice as much as expected. So he went from 7 lbs, 15 oz to 9 lbs even. I guess we don't have to worry if I'm making enough food for him anymore!

overprotective mothering

2008-10-27T20:59:00.004-04:00

We went for a walk the other night, just Jax and myself, and I wanted to make sure that he was okay since the weather had started to cool down. He was in a long sleeve sleeper and then I bundled him up in a swaddler that is made to fit in car seats. On top of that we had a nice warm blanket and a cute little pumpkin, or I like to call them, jax-o-lantern, cap. The temperature during our freezing walk? About 63 degrees.

It's the Great Pumpkin, Jax Davis!

2008-10-21T21:04:00.004-04:00

We took Jax to a pumpkin patch on Sunday. He lasted for about an hour, which was great and longer than I thought he would. We just pushed him around in his stroller and made him take pictures. All and all it was a successful outing. He had his well-baby check-up yesterday and he is doing great. His belly-button is healing nicely, it fell off Sunday morning, and he is only an ounce off from where he should be. His weight dropped after he was born and the doctor wanted him back to 8 lbs yesterday, so that he would be at his birth weight (8lbs 1 oz) today at his 2 week mark. He was only 7lbs 15oz so we are pretty close. He is pretty much the best baby ever and I can't believe that he is already 2 weeks old!

dino shoes

2008-10-17T23:12:00.004-04:00

We went to Ivan's class softball game today. Ivan wasn't on the team, he is on the racquetball team. we had to take Jax to go show him off to all of daddy's classmates. He was a hit, so were his cute little dino shoes.(Thanks Rose!) Ivan's class won and Jax was great sitting there for about an hour while the guys played. He was really well behaved and didn't care about the barking dog sitting next to us in the bleachers. We have been super blessed with such an easy going little guy. He is already 10 days old, where has the time gone?

A Little Early

2008-10-11T18:01:00.003-04:00

It's a little early to be posting this picture, but it is just too cute to resist. Plus if you know us you know what Halloween nerds we are.

BABY TIME!!!

2008-10-07T15:08:00.003-04:00

Our baby is finally here!!! Jax Thomas Davis born 10-7-08 at 1:36AM in Trident Hospital, Goose Creek, SC. 8lbs 1oz., 19 inches.

Lazy Saturday

2008-10-04T16:45:00.004-04:00

Well, still no baby, and I am pretty sure Nora is ready to have this kid ASAP. I dunno, I'm not the one that has had another human being inside of them for almost 10 months, but yeah pretty sure she wants to have this kid sooner than later. Life around the house has been hectic at times especially with all the meals we have been preparing and freezing in preparation for the king's arrival. I like it though because it feels like we are coming to the end and finally getting to do everything so it is exciting. Tonight Nora and I are going to go see a movie at the free movie theater so that's cool, and we finally put the car seat into the Xterra which I've wanted to do since we got the thing so that makes me happy. Yeah, all in all I feel we are doing alright with the pregnancy coming to an end, and hopefully we are ready for what awaits us afterwards.

Where we are

2008-10-01T01:27:00.004-04:00

I went to the doctor this afternoon for my 38 week check-up, (I'm currently 38 and a half). I didn't think that I was going to get checked for dilation and effacement; I have been going for weekly visits for the past 3 weeks and they never check me when I ask, instead the doctors say that it is too early since it is my first pregnancy. Today they asked me about contractions, and no I didn't think that I had been having any, so I thought that they were going to pass me over again, but I guess since I was full term they would go ahead and check me. Turns out I am 2 cm dilated and 70% effaced, so yay! I know that it means that I could still go past my due date before T.K. is here, but I am being optimistic that he's coming earlier than that. I can't wait to meet him and see what he looks like. I'm pretty sure he's just going to be a little clone of Ivan, but maybe he'll have a little of me in him.
As excited as I am about having him here soon, I am kind of hoping that he takes just a little more time while I finish up some projects. Tomorrow I have a BIG grocery list that I need to shop for. I have written out a menu for the first half of the month and I want to buy all the supplies for that. There's the menu stuff and then I am also buying groceries to make a ton of cassaroles or one pot meals, my plan is to get home from the store tomorrow and cook them and freeze them. Those are for after the baby is born and neither Ivan nor myself will want to cook. Until the kid is here we are going to try to stick to the menu for the meals, my mom is going to be visiting for a little while to help out with the baby so I know that she's going to be helping to cook stuff too. I just don't want to come home from the hospital and eat fast food for the next 2 months. So there's that food stuff and then there's these workshops that I have been going to on base for spouses and new parents. They aren't really that exciting, but they get me out of the house and meeting people and I look forward to them. I have one coming up that I would like to go to. Then we were planning on going to the movie theater this Friday to see baby momma. I know that it has been out for a while and is going to be released onto DVD soon. The movie theater on base gets movies about a week before they are sold on DVD and shows them for free. It is a good waste of time and it's close enough to our house that we walk there. Seeing as how that might be my last movie for a while I want to go see it. If we don't make it I'll just rent it later.
I think that the king will be here soon. Ivan has a test on Friday and another one of Wednesday, I am almost certain that I will go into labor during one of those tests, instead of over the weekend like I would like. I would like to keep Ivan from missing as much school as possible. With that being said I would like to include a gentle reminder that sleep is a very important commodity at our house, and will be even more so after the king is here. I know that people are getting excited about the baby coming but please, please don't call us after 10:00. Ivan goes to bed a few minutes before and really needs his sleep, also the odds are that I am at least in bed too, and I don't want to keep him awake by talking on the phone.
Ivan is doing really well in school right now, his grades are high enough where he doesn't have mandatory study hours, but he still usually puts in about 4 to 5 hours a day. He is really excited about the baby and has already picked out clothes for him to wear, trust me, you'll know them when you see them.

2008-09-26T18:12:00.003-04:00

Well, I'm totally ready for this baby and to be a Dad. Power School is taking up a ton of time, for those of you who don't know what that is send me a line and I will help to educate you on it, but I feel that while the baby is going to be a huge adjustment to our family dynamic it is going to be a positive one. Living in South Carolina isn't so bad I guess, if by bad I mean if anything has moisture on it it is instantly consumed by mildew and in the summer it is about 100% humidity all day and night, than yes not so bad is a good term for it here. Also, when the bronaugh's came down to visit last time we saw an alligator in the river right near the restaurant we were at leads me to feel good about the choice of keeping our cats indoors here. I can only imagine Sarge v. Alligator...yeah I know alligators have small brains, but they would have the upper hand brain wise on Sarge I am pretty sure. Anyway, like I said I'm excited to see "The King" aka Hellcat Ace, and I am pretty sure Nora is ready for her Baby-ectomy to come asap, but whatever, I can wait a little longer, heck I've waited this long to meet our son, couple more days cannot hurt.

Briefing

2008-09-24T22:38:00.003-04:00

I know that I said that I would try to post once a week and I fully intend to keep my word, but right now I am waiting on a dual effort blog to be written between the two of us. I have added a link to the George family post which is Rose and William's blog about their family. There is also a link to our flickr photo page so that you can go and view our albums that we are creating. Right now all I have is one filled with pictures that cover the span of the pregnancy. Hopefully we can add a few pictures of us and some of our cats being silly before all of our pictures are dominated by the king. Keep an eye out for a new blog in the next few days!

First Entry

2008-09-17T13:19:00.004-04:00

We thought that it was time to copy others and create a public blog for friends and family to keep track of us. We will use it to let people know about the things that are going on in our lives and most importantly, once our son is here, it will have little updates and stories about what is happening with him.
Here's where we are right now:
Although her due date is not until October 10th, Nora has decided to will herself into labor between October 2nd through the 8th. She is trying to stay busy between now and then, and to focus on projects that will keep her occupied. Throughout pregnancy she has knitted 4 full size blankets and is about to start number 5. At her last doctor's appointment the baby, nicknamed The King (T.K.), had a nice strong heartbeat and was measuring to be an average size baby.
Ivan is currently in his middle session of training school and is doing well. He applied and was picked to be assistant section leader for part of his class. There were only 2 open spots and 6 very qualified applicants. He also had his wisdom teeth removed about a month ago and has made a full recovery. Ivan is anxiously awaiting the arrival of his mini-me.
We will be 37 weeks along this Friday!