Owen Mason

Due to the unrelenting craziness that has ensued, I am just now getting around to this post. (As well as many others in a futile attempt to catch up my blog!)

Owen Mason was due December 1, 2012. After having Keirnan at 37+6 weeks and James at 39+6 weeks, I fully expected Owen to be another November birthday. I was wrong, he was born in a bigger rush than James on December 3, 2012!! So, here is the story of Owen's birth:

I had a 40 week appt on the morning of December 3, 2012. I was 40 weeks 2 days pregnant. I was told I was dilated about 3cm and maybe 50% effaced. Needless to say, I had about given up and the induction was scheduled for the following Monday. That afternoon I started having contractions at 5 minutes apart and picking up in intensity. Will called to check on me, as he was in the field, around 3pm. I told him I was having some regular contractions but they weren't anything major and I'd call when I needed him to head home. About 20 minutes later I called him home. While waiting for him to get home from the ranges on the back side of the post, I called Ashley and let her know as the boys were going to be staying with he Goldman/ Salkowski family. She said her boys were sick and send Justin over to watch the boys at our house until she got off work.

We got to Labor & Delivery around 4pm and after waiting 45 minutes for someone to see me I was told I was still 50% effaced and 3, maybe 4, cm dilated. They sent me home to come back when my contractions were 3 minutes apart. We were not impressed and figured it would be James all over again and we'd be back in the morning. So off to Taco Bell for dinner before going home. While eating I started talking to a very nice woman who noticed my contractions picking up and started timing them. By the time we finished eating I was at a steady 3 minutes. I called L&D and they said to come back.

A half hour later I went back in, as my contractions were now 3 minutes apart and had increased in intensity greatly. Again, I was told that while my contractions had progressed as they should for delivery, I was still at only 3-4cm dilated and they could not admit me to the ward. I warned them that my previous children had both come very fast, with the last showing less than an hour after reaching the hospital. (I had him at IACH also, November 2010.) They said it was hospital policy that they could not admit me if I was not showing “progress.” The Nurse Midwife on duty and Dr. Long, the OB coming on duty, both told me to stay near the hospital and kept an eye on me while my contractions continued to intensify in the waiting room. The midwife was amazing as she massaged my back a bit for me to show Will how to help me. I spent a lot of time leaning on the front desk, thinking it was a good thing it was past office hours!

After 20 minutes they told me they would check me again. They had to wheel me back onto the ward as I could no longer walk between contractions. The got me back into the triage room and checked me. I don't know what I was at, but the nurse was suddenly in a hurry and they got me into a real room. Funny bit is, its the same room I had James in!! Not many military kids can say they were born at the same hospital as a sibling, even fewer can say they were born in the same room!

The nurse  got my IV in but hadn't hooked it up yet as she was still finding my pre-admission paperwork in the computer when my water broke and my son immediately followed. They clocked my labor in the hospital at a half hour. When my water broke, I told the nurse and she turned around saying let me check. She barely caught Owen as he came out. The bed was not broken down, the Dr was not in the room, and Owen hit his face on the bed! (He had some bruising from it for a couple days!) As she was catching, I found I still had a bit of humor laughing as she leaned up over me repeatedly pushing the call button and getting exasperated at the answering nurse! hehe She yelled over the mic that the baby was coming now and get the Dr in the room. He walked in literally as Owen came out. His face made me laugh again. (Well, it might have been knowing I was never going to have to push something that big out again!)

My son was born at 8:35pm, no more than 4 hours after I had originally gone in and been told to go home. If I had gone home as the nurse suggested after my second time coming in, I would have not made it to my car, none the less, back up to the ward. Needless to say, I wasn't happy that the nurse had actually tried to send me home! (Thank God I listened to the midwife who said stay nearby!)

So, there it is. The fast story of Owen's entry into the world! He was 21 inches long, and 7lbs 8.5oz. I'd post more pictures but when your labor goes that fast, there just aren't any of those wonderful picture moments! (And I realized last week that first 'family photo' is non existent for each of the boys! Oops!)

Busy Fall Days

I know I suck at this, but hey, here's an update! :P

It's November 13, and my baby turned two today! I can't believe its been two years since James came rushing into the world. In the past two years we've been through a wonderful year of having Daddy home after a year long deployment. James is such an amazing little boy who is both loving and smart while being loud and opinionated to a fault! (He is my son!) We had his birthday party this past Saturday and a couple of good friends came to celebrate with us with an Imagination Movers party. It was a blast and at 37 weeks pregnant not too much for me to handle!

Yup, I'm 37 and a half weeks pregnant. Friday will be the point that I made it to when I had Keirnan and I'll admit I am ready for little Mr. Owen to get here. I am ready to have my body back and be able to sit comfortably again, but mainly I'm just so excited to meet this third little blessing I have been given! Due to a loss suffered in Will's unit, I will also say I'm a bit more anxious than I was with either of the boys to have him and watch him grow into a healthy little boy. We have everything ready to go for Owen and it's now just a waiting game. (Ok well, I haven't packed my bag yet!!)

A couple weeks ago James took his turn at researching how hot HOT can really be. He touched the stove just after I turned it off, resulting in a trip to the ER followed by a longer trip to Kansas City to Children's Mercy to see the burn specialist. They said he received a bad second degree burn to the pad of his palm and has been sporting a "flipper" for the past couple weeks. We took it off a day and a half ago and its doing great. Though there will be a bit of a scar, the specialist said he shouldn't suffer any limitations from it. I, on the other hand, am pretty sure there is some grey hair now mixed into the blond highlights!

Keirnan is finally potty trained!! Ok, well mostly! He has the peeing thing down with very few accidents for about two months now. Unfortunately, he is suffering from that first almost dip into the big potty while we were out once and is afraid to sit on the toilet, which means I still have to wipe his bum every day! (He's pooped on the potty a handful of times, each time getting me excited that maybe this time he'll realize the toilet isn't going to eat him!) Its a work in progress, but we're much further than we were during the summer, and down to one in diapers for a bit! James likes to sit on the potty after Keirnan every so often and shows other signs here and there but none are consistent enough to take that on at this time! So for now James is Keirnan's biggest potty fan!

Will's been in and out of the field the past few months which means the boys keep going through that evil transition period where they are unbelievable beasts each time Daddy leaves for a few days. Its pretty trying, and makes me wish they would just go out for a month straight like they use to do in Germany! But we are coming to the end of that and have enjoyed having him home the past month!

This weekend (Saturday, the day I hit 38 weeks pregnant) we are going to be taking our concealed weapons class that Will has been wanting to do. I figure it should be very interesting as the second half of the day is spent out on the range! The guy running the class is being awesome about it though and the guys have worked out a plan to get me on and off the range with the least amount of noise possible! Hopefully it all works out, and who knows, maybe it'll send me into labor and I'll get to meet my little man before Thanksgiving!

Well, that's about it for now. I'll do a post about the holidays another time. Thanksgiving is up in the air right now and we'll be driving to Virginia for Christmas, so there is plenty of opportunity for adventure just in the drive alone! (Two adults, 3 year old, 2 year old, and 2-4 week old boys, and two chocolate labs! God help us!)

Potty Training 3.0

Well, we've been here before, but this time I have the pleasure of saying Keirnan is finally getting it! Its not an easy 3 day process, but we are making progress none the less!

We started Monday and it was a very long day full of fights and some good points. The goal of the day was to get Keirnan to understand this is it and I am in charge! I think we both figured out I might pretend to be in charge, but his bladder really is what's controlling everything! lol I think we went through the entire pack of Super Hero underwear that day!

Tuesday Keirnan had preschool, so he went in that morning in underwear!! He did fabulous and stayed dry not only through school, but through lunch out with Daddy! We did have an accident that morning before leaving and a couple more in the afternoon. The big problem is he doesn't want to poop on the potty!

Wednesday we had a play date at a friend's house and again Keirnan went in underwear, went on the potty there, and stayed dry through lunch! The afternoon was much like Tuesday, a few accidents. The problem seems to be he doesn't want to tell me he needs to go, so if I don't catch him and get him to the potty, he'll just go in his pants. He doesn't like it, but is being stubborn in connecting the two!

Thursday was preschool day again and again he did great. At lunch he said he had to go, and then went in the potty!! I thought we'd finally hit our breakthrough moment. I was wrong. I knew I needed to get him on the potty again mid afternoon, but got distracted while we played outside during nap time and he had an accident. I'm not surprised as like I said, he doesn't tell me before he goes. He had another accident after dinner while was a straight out him not wanting to cooperate. The rest of us were all still eating when he said he was done and headed off to play. As he walked away I asked him if he needed to go and he said no. Not 5 minutes later (literally) he was coming back with wet pants! Needless to say, I wasn't happy and he knew it! He did go on the potty before bed, and he has stayed dry in underwear all night every night this week! Leave it to my kid to do this backwards!

The biggest thing I've figured out, but am still working out, is he doesn't need to go first thing in the morning. Usually about a half hour after he wakes up. But with our busy mornings we've had a miss each day! He will go on the potty a tiny bit each day, and then when I finally give and have to get in the shower so we're not late he goes in his pants! guess what that means, we've been late every day!

I think we are definitely making serious progress though, and diapers and pull ups are a thing of the past. Its just going to take some time to get my boy to give fully over and 'get it!' Oh, and pooping might take a bit longer too! Ewww!

As for James and how he's handling the potty, well he's just silly! He gets excited every time Keirnan gets on the potty because he gets an M&M! He has also tried himself a few times. No success there yet, but we'll see. He is only 22 months, so I'm not so worried yet. But could you imagine going from 2 in diapers with one of the way to 2 in underwear with a baby!?! How sweet that would be!

Dear Drama Queen

Dear Drama Queen,

I just need to get out this absolute need to laugh at you and your amazing ability to be such a drama queen at about 30 years old. I find it hilarious that, though I have done nothing to hurt you, I did apparently offend you. Apparently we're in grade school again and you can't just talk to me, rather you have to go behind my back and tell all our friends. Whatever, such is life.

But, your need to not just unfriend me on FB, rather to block me so I can't see what you put on your FB, really? That's just childish. Oh you weren't done, you mean you have to go further and when I finally see you, you ignore me completely but do make a comment about how you have to block people on FB because you don't want them to know what you're doing. Wow, just wow.

I always knew you were a bit of a drama magnet, but ignored it because you were a good friend to me, but really you're not actually that important to me at this moment for me to care to deal with your pettiness. Its time for me to move on because I don't play these games.

I wish you them best in life, and hope you learn to find joy and happiness again for the sake of yourself and your family.  I also thank you for all you have done for me and my family over the past years. You were a good friend while it lasted.

Sincerely,
Me

HouseHold 6's Rules for the Soldiers

You know you've been an NCO wife too long when you have a quickly growing list of rules for your husband's soldiers. Here is the start to my list, I'm sure as the years continue to roll by, there will be more!

1. DON'T DRINK AND DRIVE! This may be a duh rule but it has to be said. I would rather my husband get a call in the middle of the night to come pick your drunk butt up than lose him to days of paperwork at the other sad alternatives you might end up in!

2. DON'T DRINK UNDER AGE!! OK, again duh. I know you are soldiers and while I agree its not right that you should be allowed to fight and die for our country, but not be able to legally drink alcohol, it is still against the law! So, do yourself a favor, and stay in your room or at a buddy's house to do it! Don't go out and be drunk in public when you are obviously only 19 years old!! I'm not saying breaking the law is right, but I'm realistic enough to know you're going to do it anyway, so be responsible!!

3. ENCOURAGE YOUR WIVES TO LEARN ABOUT THE ARMY! I am so sick of young wives who know nothing about their husband's job, or the benefits the entire family receives as an incentive for said job. There are literally tons of resources for you to learn about being a part of the military, whether soldier or spouse- use them!!

4. DON'T LET YOUR WIFE SCREW YOUR CAREER! Again, this involves knowing the benefits. If you and your spouse get in a fight and she becomes vindictive and crazy enough to call the cops, its your career on the line. Make sure she understands that if she gets you kicked out of the Army, she receives NOTHING!!!

5. USE YOUR EDUCATION BENEFITS! Even when you are deployed you can be taking FREE college classes. Do you know how stupid you sound when you say, "no, I want to wait and use my GI Bill." You don't lose your GI Bill by taking classes while still in the service. There are plenty of opportunities out there, even for those who haven't decided what to do when they 'grow up.' Don't let these go to waste!

6. DON'T TREAT THE DEPENDANTS AT THE PX LIKE CRAP! If you see a mom (or dad) struggling with her two kids while trying to pick up a mess the 3 year old just accidentally made, don't just sit there and watch. Chances are her husband is deployed and how would you feel if it were your wife and children being ignored when you could easily help. Use your manners and some common sense!

7. TEACH YOUR SPOUSE THAT THEY DO NOT WEAR YOUR RANK. Fraternization happens between the ranks, not the spouses. Your spouse can, and in the modern world of computers, will make friends with other spouses outside your immediate rank. This is actually OK, as long as its not with your immediate Chain of Command. The likelihood that your spouses new playgroup buddy happens to be the spouse of your CO is minuscule on most posts. Even if it happens, their playground friendship isn't likely to expand to the soldiers!

8. IF YOU DON'T LOVE YOUR JOB, FIND A NEW ONE! The military is not the place for disgruntled employees. My husband's life may depend on how well you know and do your job. Unhappy employees usually don't do very good on the job! I would prefer him not be killed because you were too busy hating the Army to watch his back!

9. TALK TO YOUR COC IF YOU HAVE A PROBLEM! By not telling your CoC you have a problem at home, you are inviting them to not care. Many good soldiers 'go bad' because they think their Command doesn't care. That isn't always true! If you have an issue tell someone, it might save your career!

10. BE PROUD OF YOUR JOB! It is often a monotonous and thankless job, but it is an important one. Be proud of it, I am!

I'm Back... with a gun post!

Well, after all, I do have an excess amount of boys in my life! And as we found out last month that Baby #3 is another boy, I just better get use to it! So, with that in mind, and a 3 year old who has a definite love of guns, I thought I'd do the big gun post!!

The past couple weeks has been crazy with hubby at Gunnery, but we did have a couple family events that allowed us to go out and visit him. A week ago we had a family BBQ and the boys loved seeing Daddy, "Daddy's soldiers," and "real guns." They were especially thrilled that the guys let them see the real guns and both boys got to hold Daddy's sidearm.

This past Saturday was family Day for the squadron, and we got to go out and not only let the boys play on the vehicles, but my husband's platoon was out on the range that day, so we got to actually watch them do a live fire. Though the firing point was a little bit away from us, we were at the base of the range tower and had an up front seat as the vehicles went out and came back in. The boys really liked watching the Bradleys drive past! So, that was the boys' fun for the week.

I've been struggling to find a good reference about how to teach such little guys about gun safety. Everything seemed geared to older children, but I don't want to wait. With an arsenal in our family, I want them to start learning now. Finally, this weekend my Mom found the perfect site. I like that the mom who made the website is a mom of multiple boys herself and therefore has the knowledge and humor that I can connect with. So, we'll be working with the boys on this starting immediately.

Next week hubby has leave so we'll be buckling down on the potty training for Keirnan, and maybe a trip to the gun range will be just the incentive he needs to finally get this! He turned 3 in May and has no interest in using the potty at all. Tomorrow he starts a 2 day a week preschool program and while they allow diapers, I'd like to get him out of them as soon as possible! (Plus, with baby 3 coming in under 4 months, I really don't want 3 in diapers!!!) So, I still need to talk to Will about it, but I am thinking it sounds like just the thing to get him motivated!

Well, its been a pretty good summer, and hopefully, I'll get back to the blogging thing. I'll try to remember to give an update in a couple weeks on how the potty training goes! And maybe later this week, a quickie on how the first 25 weeks of this pregnancy have gone. Here's a heads up: Owen likes to tease the OBs and has a very powerful kick!

Disneyland with family (pics)

The week before Memorial Day Will had a week of leave so we took a last minute trip to California! It was only 3 days (plus 2 travel), but just about the perfect length for toddlers! We flew out Tuesday and enjoyed the evening getting settled into our hotel.

Wednesday morning we were up and ready to hit California Adventure. Since the boys have so little they can do, it didn't take us very long at all. It would have been much longer if we'd done the shows but seriously, how many 3 year olds and 1 1/2 year olds do you know that can sit through a bunch of shows!?! So, we went straight to the back of the park where they have the Bugs Life area and the boys had a blast on all the kiddie rides! I did too for that matter! I was a bit sad we were a month early to see the new Cars Land, but the Radiator Springs rock formation is awesome!

After lunch at the highly over priced Mexican grill, (At least at Disney World the dishes are huge! I was expecting the same, so we ended up needing seconds! I fell for this multiple times!) we watched (and danced at) the Phineas and Ferb street party and then went on The Little Mermaid followed by Mickey's Fun Wheel. By the time we'd finished, had a snack and gone through a couple gift shops it was time to head back to the hotel to catch up with Will's parents who'd flown in earlier that day!

After a nice nap for James and some downtime for the rest of us, my MIL and I went to pick up my SIL and her family, then we all wandered off to Dave & Busters for dinner and some fun! It was my first time at a Dave & Busters and I had a pretty good time and a very good steak! lol

Thursday and Friday mornings we were all up early to be at Disneyland at park opening. There are some things about Disneyland I really liked over Disney World, like the rides are still much like they originally were. Read Space Mountain is still completely dark and Pirates still has drops and is long! BUT, I was very disappointed by the lack of "magic" in the park. A friends husband says he prefers Land to World because it doesn't have all the extra 'fluff' but I call this the magic of Disney. Maybe its because I was raised in Florida and went to World at least once a year. But Disneyland doesn't have the extra little touches. Another friend who was raised in California asked my incredulously, "you didn't like it because of a shrub!?!" lol And really, yes it comes down to the shrubs!! At Disney World, every single bush is perfectly tended and formed, if not into a Disney character, than into a classic work of tree art! At Disneyland, the bushes were like every other bush in the area! But this is just an example, another would be the lack of Mickey heads! They are everywhere in Orlando and I went all day without seeing one in Anaheim! I was a sad kiddo!! (And yes, a bit ridiculous!)

But I overall enjoyed the park immensely! I loved watching my boys charm Will's family, since we don't get to see them but every few years (They hadn't met James yet!) and enjoy the wonders that Disney offers. They loved Pirates, Haunted Mansion, and Winnie the Pooh, and poor James slept through Toon Town, while Keirnan ran around Donald's Boat and Mickey's House and saw Mickey again! They both even loved the parade! (I also got to enjoy Space and Splash Mountains!)

Overall it was a great trip and I am so glad we were able to make it happen. Not only was this trip a dream of mine, but such a great experience for my boys!!