So Sam-I-Am has decided to start waking up during the night and Mommy has not made this adjustment well. Factor in Thing 2's sudden cold that only bothers her at night and this is one cranky mommy. As I laid in bed at 3:30am after feeding Sam-I-Am, listening to Thing 2 play in her room like it was perfectly normal to be awake AND playing at 3am it occurred to me, I don't get paid enough. As Army Guy lay snoring next to me (he SWEARS he didn't sleep at all last night), I wished for just a moment that I too had a job outside of the home so at least then I wouldn't have any guilt when I would wake him up with a shove and a "it's YOUR turn" mumble. But then I remembered when I did have a job outside of the home and I was still the one who got up at 3am to take care of whichever small thing needed something. So then I wished for just a moment that I was a man, who for whatever reason, society says 'it's okay' for him not to get up every time something small fusses. Then I really thought about THAT and decided that nah I didn't really want to be a man. So then I decided I really want a night Nanny! :) Just someone to come in every other night to pick up the night shift...basically from 8pm-8am. That'd give me time to actually sleep AND shower AND put on makeup. I'm brilliant. So, I'm taking applications for that job.....any takers? Payment is in the form of fussy children, dirty diapers, loss of sanity, and "but I'm sleeping" responses to "GET UP OR YOU'LL MISS THE BUS".
I've also decided that FRG Leader should be a paid position. It doesn't have to pay very much and it could even pay in free childcare but seriously it should be a paid position. I love doing FRG because there's never a dull moment and I honestly enjoy helping my wives, but it seems like just about the time I sit down to tackle FRG Thing 2 and Sam-I-Am decide they need something and of course they take priority. So about the time I get them settled, Thing 1 is home from school and now he needs something. Okay, get him situated, FRG here I come. And just like that Army Guy is home to share his "I can't believe XYZ did XYZ" stories of the day. And then just like that it's bath time, bed time, laundry time, dishes time, and my bed time. And FRG goes yet another day without being tackled. Thank goodness I've got a good group of wives who are fairly self sufficient and haven't decided I'm stupid...well not that I'm aware of at least...I am eternally blessed with a another awesome FRG Co-Leader. She's AWESOME! She lets me be crazy and scatterbrained. It's great. Anywho, so I'm trying to figure out a way to approach Army with my "pay your flipping FRG leaders" plan. I mean, so what if Army doesn't have enough money to give my Army Guy ink for his printers-I'm 100% confident that they'll think my plan is as brilliant as I think because I'm not sleep deprived delusional at all.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
And so it begins...
That dreaded deployment cycle has started again. I've been sticking my head in the sand about it as much as humanly possible, but suprisingly enough that hasn't slowed it down. Curses! Anywho, I wasn't aware of how, even though I've stuck my head in the sand about it, my emotions were already on the rollercoaster until Grey's Anatomy premiered the other night. Yes, Grey's Anatomy sent me into deployment mode.
For those of you who don't watch Grey's, it was all about saying goodbye to a close friend/co-worker who'd been hit by a bus and the different stages of grief (I thought there were more then just 5, but oh well). So all of my not on a deployment cycle friends said "oh it's awful...i cried and cried through the whole episode". Consequently, I waited to watch episode until Army Guy was at work, Thing 1 was at school and Thing 2 was off and about doing her own thing because I hate being all boo-hooy in front of them. So there I was, curled up in chair, with kleenex, pressing play on DVR, completely prepped for the sobs. 34 minutes into the episode though--no tears. Just anger. Big hairy anger. "What the (insert really ugly word here) are these people so freakin boo-hooey about?!?!?! THEY GET TO SAY GOODBYE!!! THEY GET TO HAVE THEIR LAST WORDS WITH HIM!!!! THEY GET TO HOLD HIS HAND!!!!--if anything bad happens, I won't get that luxury!! They don't know how freakin lucky they are!!!!" It was at this point that I realized I'm in deployment mode, whether I want to be or not. I did eventually sniffle while watching Grey's but it was at the end of the episode when they showed how everyone else was handling their grief stages.
So, I've made my "things to do before he leaves" list. I'm labeling Thing 1's maps, buying Thing 2 her own map, and looking for a Daddy Doll (not the creepy stuffed picture pillow thing tho) for Sam-I-Am. I'm accepting that I'm potentially 6 months out and I'm putting my big girl panties on and dealing with it.
Stupid Grey's Anatomy. :D
For those of you who don't watch Grey's, it was all about saying goodbye to a close friend/co-worker who'd been hit by a bus and the different stages of grief (I thought there were more then just 5, but oh well). So all of my not on a deployment cycle friends said "oh it's awful...i cried and cried through the whole episode". Consequently, I waited to watch episode until Army Guy was at work, Thing 1 was at school and Thing 2 was off and about doing her own thing because I hate being all boo-hooy in front of them. So there I was, curled up in chair, with kleenex, pressing play on DVR, completely prepped for the sobs. 34 minutes into the episode though--no tears. Just anger. Big hairy anger. "What the (insert really ugly word here) are these people so freakin boo-hooey about?!?!?! THEY GET TO SAY GOODBYE!!! THEY GET TO HAVE THEIR LAST WORDS WITH HIM!!!! THEY GET TO HOLD HIS HAND!!!!--if anything bad happens, I won't get that luxury!! They don't know how freakin lucky they are!!!!" It was at this point that I realized I'm in deployment mode, whether I want to be or not. I did eventually sniffle while watching Grey's but it was at the end of the episode when they showed how everyone else was handling their grief stages.
So, I've made my "things to do before he leaves" list. I'm labeling Thing 1's maps, buying Thing 2 her own map, and looking for a Daddy Doll (not the creepy stuffed picture pillow thing tho) for Sam-I-Am. I'm accepting that I'm potentially 6 months out and I'm putting my big girl panties on and dealing with it.
Stupid Grey's Anatomy. :D
Thursday, September 17, 2009
and Then There Were 3....
So we've officially entered the "mutiny is possible" phase of parenthood. :) Sam-I-Am, to keep up w/Dr. Seuss References, (Samantha Marie) joined the group on 7 July 09. In the two months that she's been a part of the crew I've learned a ton.
First of all, going from 2 to 3 kids is significantly easier then going from 1 to 2 kids. When Thing 2 joined the crew, I was terrified of losing control--dishes, laundry, etc. So I tried, unsuccessfully more often then not, to do all things all the time. More often then not, I was INSANELY frustrated w/this baby who wouldn't let me get anything done. Argh! :) So, during my whole pregnancy with Sam-I-Am, I spent a lot of time being internally FREAKED OUT on how I was going to manage 3 of them. I was all panicked until Sam-I-Am made me calm down during delivery...we had a bit of a complicated delivery--I reacted poorly to normal dose from epidural, her heart didn't like pitocin and she enjoyed playing with the cord. :) Good times! So while 2 docs, 5 nurses and anthesiologist (sp???) were discussing emergency c-section, I realized that at some point during my pregnancy, I forgot to Let Go and Let God. So, as I've got docs arguing about c-section, a hubs who is trying to act like he's not nervous about what's going on, and nurses monitoring my way low BP and Sam-I-Am's way low heart rate, I took a deep breath and laughed about how I thought I could control anything, let alone everything, and when docs stopped arguing and started explaining I was able to say "Okay, just let me know what you need me to do". Sam-I-Am eventually stopped playing with cord, liked the pitocin and made her debut at 4:32pm. And I've been a lot more relaxed ever since. :)
Second of all, I've learned the new one makes you appreciate the old ones more. Thing 1 took to Sam-I-Am just like he took to Thing 2. He's got another sibiling--no big to him. He talks about how she has his smile and his ears and anything else cute that she does is just like when he was a baby. He likes to help feed her, even if it does involve lecturing me about how he can only feed her, not burp her, because that's my job. Thing 2 is enamored with Sam-I-Am. Thing 2 had a few issues the 3rd to 4th week after Sam-I-Am came home, but it wasn't bad--just wow cranky with EVERYTHING. It might have been a growth spurt. It might have been final adjustments to her world changing. It might have been the fact that Army Guy went back to work, Miss Cassandra went home and it was just Mommy, Thing 1, Thing 2, and Sam-I-Am. Thing 2 has become increasingly more independent and older in the last few weeks too. She enjoys playing in her room w/her toys (that might have something to do w/them all being put in time out for a week…), she’s started cleaning up her toys w/o me screaming at her (tho only when Army Guy is gone interestingly enough), and she’s just generally a bit more relaxed. She’s so old though. This morning I asked her what she wanted for breakfast to which she replied “A bagel, with nothing on it, cooked for 8 seconds on a paper towel please”. Ta-dah. And I was a little sad because there was no trying to decipher what she really wanted, but relieved that it wasn’t as much of a guessing game anymore.
Finally, I’ve learned that there’s absolutely NO way to control sibling arguments. Thing 2 will look at Thing 1 the wrong way and he comes unglued. Sam-I-Am gets cranky with Thing 2 cuz she gets too close to Sam-I-Am’s face and it irritates her. Though, the really awesome part is that Sam-I-Am ALWAYS takes her pluggie when Thing 2 tries to give it to her. I think it’s because she just knows that Thing 2 will not give up and just end up shoving it down her throat. So Sam-I-Am at 2 months has already learned to pick and choose her battles with Thing 2. So anyways, I’ve stopped trying to make them all get along and now I get involved only if there’s hitting, ugly words or blood involved. It’s taken a load off my stress level. Next task to work on: tattle telling.
OH! Almost forgot, Army Guy’s doing well in command. So far no significant issues….no bat phone ringing at 3am. The guys need some work, but it’s doable. FRG is going…I’ve got a bunch of stuff done and I’m getting positive reviews so yay for that! Unit found out yesterday they are officially NOT going to Iraq. But they’re still deploying so yah, I’ll let you guess where they’re going. We’re potentially 6 months out and instead of being all prepped like I was for last deployment, I’ve prepped as much as I want and have decided to “head in the sand” the rest of it. I’ve got my stuff together on the FRG front and on the Mommy front, so I can afford to head in the sand some of the rest of it. Good times….good times…
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Baby, Move & Homeownership
It's been a while since I've posted anything, so bear with me and this insanely LONG blog. :)
First of all, baby stuff. Baby Girl #2 is due mid-July. I'm still shooting for the 4th of July, but she'll probably show up the 5th. My mom has the 8th on her calendar. So we'll see. I actually registered at BabiesRUs with this one. Army Guy & I laugh at how we're finally doing all those "pregnancy" things you do with our last kid. :) I don't necessarily view it as a registry as much as a list of all of things I HAVE to purchase before baby arrives. I think BabiesRUs should change the name "registry" to "must have's". Ha! We've decided to do ladybugs in her room. By the way, it's INSANELY difficult to find girl stuff that isn't drenched in pink or purple. Sigh. But the ladybugs work and they're cute and they're not too much. We've also decided not to make a formal announcement about her name until her arrival (much to the MIL's dismay). With Thing 2, we announced in September and by the time she showed up in January, I wasn't completely loving the name but we were kind of stuck with it. In hind sight, Rambo would have been a more appropriate name for that child, but that's a whole other boat. Anyhow, Thing 1's very excited about new baby. He's started asking things like "so how is the baby doing?" after my doctor appts, and that just freaks me out. I don't know why but for some reason it's hard to wrap my brain around the fact that there's a human being growing in my body. I still prefer to think of baby as some kind of alien leech thing. Yah, I'm a bad mommy. I'm one of those people who don't necessarily view baby delivery as an awe-inspiring moment as much as a really gross moment. :)
Onto Move: Move went REALLY well. Well kind of. The packers and driver were awesome. I highly recommend transportation at Fort Benning. They didn't even flinch when we asked for packers for March 11 on the March 3rd. Yay! The packers were really nice and chatty (which I always enjoy). More importantly, they packed EVERYTHING! Usually there's some food left and stuff, but not this time! :) So they picked up on Thursday and we cleared housing on Friday morning (which was easy except for the painting of the blue bathroom--mental note--no dark colors again) and headed to Fort Campbell. We spent the weekend at Army Guy's brother's house (who shall be known as Farm Guy) about 30 mins from Campbell. Sunday morning, Porter (the bulldog) got sick. We assumed he'd drank some well water, which has a tendency to upset his tummy. No biggie. So we closed on house on Monday and that went so easily it was terrifying. No one should be allowed to enter into that much debt so quickly. Then began the fridge shopping experience from hell. We got done closing at 4pm and I was adament about not buying fridge until after I've closed cuz I didn't want to be stuck with a fridge if something went south at closing. Yes, I'm insane. But we'd looked at EVERY major appliance store in Clarksville, so we sort of knew what we were looking for and the price. However, that didn't help with the actual purchase. We have Maytag appliances throughout the house, so I wanted a Maytag fridge. I didn't realize how complicated this was going to be. We wanted a Maytag side by side, stainless steel with black handles, with Ice/Water in the door. No biggie right?!?!? Evidently I'm INSANE. We couldn't find a Maytag fridge that matched that description. For resale I wanted to keep with the Maytag thing. So after 5 stores that could order it and deliever in a few WEEKS, I called little local stores and no luck there either. Luckily our realtor had recommended a particular sales guy at a particular store, so as a last ditch effort, we tried him. If you are ever buying applicances in Clarksville, TN, go to HH Gregg and ask for Bobby. HE IS AWESOME! We got contractor pricing, so we ended up with the mostest awesomest fridge at the plain jane fridge pricing! :) We had to wait 2 day for it, but that was still better then the weeks everyone else was giving us. Yay! Our first major crisis adverted! Then the movers call and announce they can deliever on Tuesday! Yay! Exciting times! Only downside is that Porter is still doing projectile vomitting of water. Sigh. I figured I'd give him another day of tap water and go from there. So movers show up next morning at 8:30am and unload us in a flurry. They were awesome!
Homeownership: Meanwhile, neighbor guy gave Army Guy a recommendation for cheap sod for backyard. So we call Sod Guy and he's going to be out our way that day, so we luck into sod that afternoon. Yay! Kind of.... We are in a new subdivision, so we have neighbors to the right and two empty houses to the left and then an empty lot. Well Sod Guy shows up with 5 pallets of sod (mental note--small yard takes lots of sod) and a forklift to move them. Well we tell him he can just put pallets on driveway cuz we didn't want forklift on front yard sod. He says "Oh, we can just go down to the empty lot and then bring them through the empty houses lots next door, it's no big deal" So a logical person assumes it's no biggie. Sigh. 5 pallets go in and Army Guy, Farm Guy, Farm Guy's kiddo, and Neighbor Guy spend the rest of the day laying sod. Whoo-hoo! Yard is beautiful. Best $450 ever spent! More importantly, dogs can be in Farm Guy's dog pen in backyard until fence battle is won and not be all muddy. Yay! Wednesday started with a list. First mistake. First on the list was to enroll Thing 1 in school. To enroll Thing 1 in school, his shot records must be on a State of Tennessee form. To get that taken care of we have to go to Fort Campbell's hospital. So I figure, we'll just go by Tri-Care and take care of enrollment while we're on post. Army Guy decides it would be best to do that before going to hospital so if hospital throws a fit, we have documentation that proves we're assigned there. Yay! So into Tricare he goes and 10 mins later out of Tricare he comes. I'm pleasantly surprised at how quick it went. Second Mistake. Army Guy announces that Ft. Campbell's policy is that if you live off post, you have to be seen off post. WTF?!?!?! So they give him a list of providers and we have to pick one. At first, I'm peeved, but then it was like okay well let's get the kids taken care of and then I'll look into the OB side. So I start checking providers in Clarksville. Out of the 40 providers they gave us, 2 are in Clarksville. 2!!!!!! The rest are 15-45 miles away. WTF?!?!?!! There's some significant swearing. I call one of the local providers and they have plenty of openings, they just ask we fill out our patient information sheets before we try to schedule appts. No biggie. They also said it was no biggie to put Thing 1's shot records together either Wednesday or Thursday. Yay! Then I look at OB's. Swearing begins again. 3 OB's on list and all of them are 45 mins away. I literally had 2 hours of labor with Thing 2. I'm planning on camping out at hospital from 36 weeks on. I need a doc who is actually in the same freakin town as I am. So at this point, I'm steaming kind of peeved, so back in the Tri Care office I go. After waiting for 15 mins, I finally get helped and then get explained that all OB patients are seen on post, but I have to have an off post doc refer me back on post. Sigh. Okay. No biggie. We decide to go out to new doc's office and make me, Thing 1 and Thing 2 patients. New doc's office is INSANELY helpful. INSANELY! They manage to get me & Thing 1 in to see someone that day. Which is wow exciting cuz Thing 1 had to also get a physical because someone at Benning FORGOT to date his last physical. Sigh. Anywho, so there Thing 1 and I sit in doc's office waiting to be seen when my phone rings. It's the realtor. Roll call to voicemail. I put my phone back in my purse and it starts buzzing again. It's Army Guy. At this point, I'm thinking it's weird that Army Guy would be calling me knowing I'm at doc. Roll it to voicemail and send a text "what's up?". Army Guy calls again. So I ask nice nurse if I can take the call and she says "yah that's fine". Army Guy is irate and wants to know when I'm going to be home. I explain that I have no idea and what's wrong. Evidently the lead contractor has stopped by the house to discuss damage that was done by the Sod guy's forklift to the empty lot and the empty yards. $300 per yard and he wants money like NOW. So I say "okay, well he's just going to have to wait and we'll talk about it when I get home". So 20 mins later after we're done with appt. I call Army Guy back, by this time, Contractor has chilled a bit, realized it wasn't Army Guy's fault and has asked for Sod Guy's phone number and he'll just get money from him. Army Guy feels a little bit guilty of that because we didn't stop Sod Guy, but I figure Sod Guy is a business, he should know the rules. Army guy agrees and sacrifices Sod Guy to Contractor Guy. :) No biggie. Finally get Thing 1's paperwork together for school. Next on the list is DirectTV guy comes out. Yay! TV FINALLY! Or so we think. So DirecTV Guy shows up and immediately asks to put dish on front of house. Ummmm...NO! Army Guy hollers at me (snickering the whole time) and explains that Directv guy wants to put dish on house. I go to make a "sure make my house look trashy" face but I catch it and say "Um, the subdivision rules say the dish has to be in the backyard." Directv guy says "well you've got trees in the back". Yah, I have trees--possibly 12 between my yard and neighbors--they're tall but they're no bigger then 18" diameter and most of them were severly injured in the Ice Storm. So we're not expecting major blooming this spring. In fact, we had tree guy come out and clean out our 2 trees before closing and he said that all of the neighbor's trees are dead. So off to the backyard we go with Directv guy and his compass thingy. And he stands in 4 different places in the yard and then announces "yah we can't do it". Sigh. At this point, I know that the subdivision hasn't been wired for the most popular cable provider (Charter). The lines are run, but they haven't hooked them up. I literally have lines at my driveway for Charter, but no luck with service. So at this point, Directv guy is calling his manager telling him the story and they say "yah sorry". Okay, well I know there's another cable provider, but you get half the channels for twice the money, but it'll work till Charter figures out how to run wires to the house. So off I go to call CDE. I talk to a really helpful CDE guy, who can "hook me up with the best pricing" which is HORRID expensive for the lack of channels. But at least it's something. We get through all of the questions and then CDE guy says "okay we can be there May 1st to install". At which point, I have a hemmorage. "MAY 1ST!! SERIOUSLY?!?!? I CAN'T HAVE DISH AND CHARTER ISN'T WIRED AND YOU ARE MY ONLY OPTION AND YOU CAN'T WORK ME IN BEFORE MAY 1ST?!?!?!" And CDE guy says "Nope, May 1st is the earliest date I have" to which I reply with some comment about customer service and cancel order and hang up. Directv guy, who is still in my house for reasons I don't understand, says "yah I think it's going to be 2 years before Charter is out here" Why would you say that to a pregnant woman with 2 kids are trying to actively kill each other????? So I call Charter with sheer desperation in my voice. I get a really nice guy on the phone and I explain to him my situation and that I will buy the biggest monthly cable package they have if they will just come hook it up BEFORE May 1st. Please. Please. Please. He chuckles and then proceeds to check everything and he is fairly certain they can do it. YAY! So I'm getting like 8000 channels for $100 a month, but they should be here on Thursday to install. He sent a tech out to verify they can do install and yes according to tech they can install. I'm not going to believe it till I see it. Then onto Fridge. Army Guy and Farmer Guy's kiddo decide that they can just go get fridge and save the $70 delivery fee (mental note--always pay the fee). Evidently, picking up the fridge went smoothly. The bringing in of the fridge not so smoothly. Luckily Neighbor Guy showed up to help struggling Army Guy & Farm Guy's kiddo. We ended up having to take the handles off and my wood floor in the entryway got scratched, but it is the mostest prettiest fridge on the planet so it's all good. So Wednesday ends finally. Onto Thursday. Thing 1 decides he doesn't want to go to school until Friday, which works because I didn't get the enrollment paperwork completely filled out until after 4pm on Wednesday. So I take enrollment forms to school on Thursday and everything is set for Friday. Yay! So we head to Lowe's for fence help. We actually find someone who is very helpful and we decide on doing panels (it has to be privacy because of subdivision rules) instead of picking individual boards and we get a list of all the materials and Lowe's will put together and deliver on Friday. Yay! At this point, unpacking has gone well, but we have a surplus of boxes on the front driveway. But then a neighbor from down the road stopped by and asked if he could have the boxes. We said "YES!!!" and then neighbor cornered Army Guy for a good 45 mins talking about Army things and neighborhood things and pretty much anything. But it was worth it cuz he took all of the boxes! Yay! Then onto commissary shopping. Fort Campbell has the prettiest commissary of all time. They have a HUGE selection of stuff!!! It was like Christmas all over again!!! More importantly, it meant that we didn't have to go out for food! Yay! But of course I had to check out every isle, so it was late by the time we got home. So groceries away, kids to bed, and all was good and right in our world. But I realized my plant was still outside, so as I opened the door to get it I noticed a note on the door. Note says "The dumpster that you dumped all of your boxes in costs me $400 to dump, so you need to either split this with me or remove all of your boxes tomorrow". Sigh. Luckily, note writer left a number that I promptly called at 9:45pm and explained that we gave our boxes to a guy down the street. She accepted that explanation and said she'd talk to him about it. At this point, I've decided that the people in this hood are nice, but contractors/builders and all those of the like suck! Friday was better with fence material delivery going fine. Army Guy about killed himself getting all the post holes dug and he's still working on fence, but it looks good and hopefully no one will complain. More importantly construction of fence has deterred neighborhood Great Dane from pooing in our yard. That and I yelled at her and her owner was all "oh, I didn't realize she was down there". How do you NOT know where that dog is? :) Saturday started well, but ended with me doubled over with some lower intestinal bug from hell. Sunday consisted of me laying on the couch, sleeping and being made at Thing 3 cuz she decided that Sunday was an awesome day to be the most wiggly.
OH! I forgot to finish the Porter Story! So by Wednesday, Porter is still projectile vomitting (which is an awesome thing to experience by the way). At that point I decicded it wasn't well water or moving nerves but he must have some kind of stomach bug. So I call Farm Guy's wife for a vet recommendation and she hooks me up with an AWESOME vet. I take Porter down there and they do an x-ray to determine if he's eaten something he shouldn't have. Lo and behold there's a dark spot on the xray but it's in an odd spot and they want to keep him for a couple of hours and take another xray. This is Thursday morning, so I'm all "yah that works--let him puke on you for a bit". :) So I leave and tell Army Guy the story and he's all "this is going to be expensive", but I don't care. After lunch, vet calls to confirm that xray shows dark spot and they gave him a shot of stuff that should help stomach get rid of whatever dark spot is, but they want to keep him over night and xray him again in the morning. I'm thinking "okay, no biggie". Army Guy is thinking "more money". The next morning, vet calls and says that he passed some kind of greenish, spongish thing and has been acting tons better and the xray appears to be clear, but can they keep him until noon to verify he's fine. Yes, you can. Yay! So I head to the vet at noon fully prepared for a $400 vet bill. Of course that's before I know he has to have meds for a week and special food for a week. Great. More money, but at least there was something really wrong with him and it's not just all "well, hmmm". Little chick actually winced when she gave me my total of $238!!! Yes!!! I did a dance. :)Porter is doing much better now and the vet actually called on Monday to make sure Porter had a good weekend. Love them!
So ta-dah. Welcome to my life!
First of all, baby stuff. Baby Girl #2 is due mid-July. I'm still shooting for the 4th of July, but she'll probably show up the 5th. My mom has the 8th on her calendar. So we'll see. I actually registered at BabiesRUs with this one. Army Guy & I laugh at how we're finally doing all those "pregnancy" things you do with our last kid. :) I don't necessarily view it as a registry as much as a list of all of things I HAVE to purchase before baby arrives. I think BabiesRUs should change the name "registry" to "must have's". Ha! We've decided to do ladybugs in her room. By the way, it's INSANELY difficult to find girl stuff that isn't drenched in pink or purple. Sigh. But the ladybugs work and they're cute and they're not too much. We've also decided not to make a formal announcement about her name until her arrival (much to the MIL's dismay). With Thing 2, we announced in September and by the time she showed up in January, I wasn't completely loving the name but we were kind of stuck with it. In hind sight, Rambo would have been a more appropriate name for that child, but that's a whole other boat. Anyhow, Thing 1's very excited about new baby. He's started asking things like "so how is the baby doing?" after my doctor appts, and that just freaks me out. I don't know why but for some reason it's hard to wrap my brain around the fact that there's a human being growing in my body. I still prefer to think of baby as some kind of alien leech thing. Yah, I'm a bad mommy. I'm one of those people who don't necessarily view baby delivery as an awe-inspiring moment as much as a really gross moment. :)
Onto Move: Move went REALLY well. Well kind of. The packers and driver were awesome. I highly recommend transportation at Fort Benning. They didn't even flinch when we asked for packers for March 11 on the March 3rd. Yay! The packers were really nice and chatty (which I always enjoy). More importantly, they packed EVERYTHING! Usually there's some food left and stuff, but not this time! :) So they picked up on Thursday and we cleared housing on Friday morning (which was easy except for the painting of the blue bathroom--mental note--no dark colors again) and headed to Fort Campbell. We spent the weekend at Army Guy's brother's house (who shall be known as Farm Guy) about 30 mins from Campbell. Sunday morning, Porter (the bulldog) got sick. We assumed he'd drank some well water, which has a tendency to upset his tummy. No biggie. So we closed on house on Monday and that went so easily it was terrifying. No one should be allowed to enter into that much debt so quickly. Then began the fridge shopping experience from hell. We got done closing at 4pm and I was adament about not buying fridge until after I've closed cuz I didn't want to be stuck with a fridge if something went south at closing. Yes, I'm insane. But we'd looked at EVERY major appliance store in Clarksville, so we sort of knew what we were looking for and the price. However, that didn't help with the actual purchase. We have Maytag appliances throughout the house, so I wanted a Maytag fridge. I didn't realize how complicated this was going to be. We wanted a Maytag side by side, stainless steel with black handles, with Ice/Water in the door. No biggie right?!?!? Evidently I'm INSANE. We couldn't find a Maytag fridge that matched that description. For resale I wanted to keep with the Maytag thing. So after 5 stores that could order it and deliever in a few WEEKS, I called little local stores and no luck there either. Luckily our realtor had recommended a particular sales guy at a particular store, so as a last ditch effort, we tried him. If you are ever buying applicances in Clarksville, TN, go to HH Gregg and ask for Bobby. HE IS AWESOME! We got contractor pricing, so we ended up with the mostest awesomest fridge at the plain jane fridge pricing! :) We had to wait 2 day for it, but that was still better then the weeks everyone else was giving us. Yay! Our first major crisis adverted! Then the movers call and announce they can deliever on Tuesday! Yay! Exciting times! Only downside is that Porter is still doing projectile vomitting of water. Sigh. I figured I'd give him another day of tap water and go from there. So movers show up next morning at 8:30am and unload us in a flurry. They were awesome!
Homeownership: Meanwhile, neighbor guy gave Army Guy a recommendation for cheap sod for backyard. So we call Sod Guy and he's going to be out our way that day, so we luck into sod that afternoon. Yay! Kind of.... We are in a new subdivision, so we have neighbors to the right and two empty houses to the left and then an empty lot. Well Sod Guy shows up with 5 pallets of sod (mental note--small yard takes lots of sod) and a forklift to move them. Well we tell him he can just put pallets on driveway cuz we didn't want forklift on front yard sod. He says "Oh, we can just go down to the empty lot and then bring them through the empty houses lots next door, it's no big deal" So a logical person assumes it's no biggie. Sigh. 5 pallets go in and Army Guy, Farm Guy, Farm Guy's kiddo, and Neighbor Guy spend the rest of the day laying sod. Whoo-hoo! Yard is beautiful. Best $450 ever spent! More importantly, dogs can be in Farm Guy's dog pen in backyard until fence battle is won and not be all muddy. Yay! Wednesday started with a list. First mistake. First on the list was to enroll Thing 1 in school. To enroll Thing 1 in school, his shot records must be on a State of Tennessee form. To get that taken care of we have to go to Fort Campbell's hospital. So I figure, we'll just go by Tri-Care and take care of enrollment while we're on post. Army Guy decides it would be best to do that before going to hospital so if hospital throws a fit, we have documentation that proves we're assigned there. Yay! So into Tricare he goes and 10 mins later out of Tricare he comes. I'm pleasantly surprised at how quick it went. Second Mistake. Army Guy announces that Ft. Campbell's policy is that if you live off post, you have to be seen off post. WTF?!?!?! So they give him a list of providers and we have to pick one. At first, I'm peeved, but then it was like okay well let's get the kids taken care of and then I'll look into the OB side. So I start checking providers in Clarksville. Out of the 40 providers they gave us, 2 are in Clarksville. 2!!!!!! The rest are 15-45 miles away. WTF?!?!?!! There's some significant swearing. I call one of the local providers and they have plenty of openings, they just ask we fill out our patient information sheets before we try to schedule appts. No biggie. They also said it was no biggie to put Thing 1's shot records together either Wednesday or Thursday. Yay! Then I look at OB's. Swearing begins again. 3 OB's on list and all of them are 45 mins away. I literally had 2 hours of labor with Thing 2. I'm planning on camping out at hospital from 36 weeks on. I need a doc who is actually in the same freakin town as I am. So at this point, I'm steaming kind of peeved, so back in the Tri Care office I go. After waiting for 15 mins, I finally get helped and then get explained that all OB patients are seen on post, but I have to have an off post doc refer me back on post. Sigh. Okay. No biggie. We decide to go out to new doc's office and make me, Thing 1 and Thing 2 patients. New doc's office is INSANELY helpful. INSANELY! They manage to get me & Thing 1 in to see someone that day. Which is wow exciting cuz Thing 1 had to also get a physical because someone at Benning FORGOT to date his last physical. Sigh. Anywho, so there Thing 1 and I sit in doc's office waiting to be seen when my phone rings. It's the realtor. Roll call to voicemail. I put my phone back in my purse and it starts buzzing again. It's Army Guy. At this point, I'm thinking it's weird that Army Guy would be calling me knowing I'm at doc. Roll it to voicemail and send a text "what's up?". Army Guy calls again. So I ask nice nurse if I can take the call and she says "yah that's fine". Army Guy is irate and wants to know when I'm going to be home. I explain that I have no idea and what's wrong. Evidently the lead contractor has stopped by the house to discuss damage that was done by the Sod guy's forklift to the empty lot and the empty yards. $300 per yard and he wants money like NOW. So I say "okay, well he's just going to have to wait and we'll talk about it when I get home". So 20 mins later after we're done with appt. I call Army Guy back, by this time, Contractor has chilled a bit, realized it wasn't Army Guy's fault and has asked for Sod Guy's phone number and he'll just get money from him. Army Guy feels a little bit guilty of that because we didn't stop Sod Guy, but I figure Sod Guy is a business, he should know the rules. Army guy agrees and sacrifices Sod Guy to Contractor Guy. :) No biggie. Finally get Thing 1's paperwork together for school. Next on the list is DirectTV guy comes out. Yay! TV FINALLY! Or so we think. So DirecTV Guy shows up and immediately asks to put dish on front of house. Ummmm...NO! Army Guy hollers at me (snickering the whole time) and explains that Directv guy wants to put dish on house. I go to make a "sure make my house look trashy" face but I catch it and say "Um, the subdivision rules say the dish has to be in the backyard." Directv guy says "well you've got trees in the back". Yah, I have trees--possibly 12 between my yard and neighbors--they're tall but they're no bigger then 18" diameter and most of them were severly injured in the Ice Storm. So we're not expecting major blooming this spring. In fact, we had tree guy come out and clean out our 2 trees before closing and he said that all of the neighbor's trees are dead. So off to the backyard we go with Directv guy and his compass thingy. And he stands in 4 different places in the yard and then announces "yah we can't do it". Sigh. At this point, I know that the subdivision hasn't been wired for the most popular cable provider (Charter). The lines are run, but they haven't hooked them up. I literally have lines at my driveway for Charter, but no luck with service. So at this point, Directv guy is calling his manager telling him the story and they say "yah sorry". Okay, well I know there's another cable provider, but you get half the channels for twice the money, but it'll work till Charter figures out how to run wires to the house. So off I go to call CDE. I talk to a really helpful CDE guy, who can "hook me up with the best pricing" which is HORRID expensive for the lack of channels. But at least it's something. We get through all of the questions and then CDE guy says "okay we can be there May 1st to install". At which point, I have a hemmorage. "MAY 1ST!! SERIOUSLY?!?!? I CAN'T HAVE DISH AND CHARTER ISN'T WIRED AND YOU ARE MY ONLY OPTION AND YOU CAN'T WORK ME IN BEFORE MAY 1ST?!?!?!" And CDE guy says "Nope, May 1st is the earliest date I have" to which I reply with some comment about customer service and cancel order and hang up. Directv guy, who is still in my house for reasons I don't understand, says "yah I think it's going to be 2 years before Charter is out here" Why would you say that to a pregnant woman with 2 kids are trying to actively kill each other????? So I call Charter with sheer desperation in my voice. I get a really nice guy on the phone and I explain to him my situation and that I will buy the biggest monthly cable package they have if they will just come hook it up BEFORE May 1st. Please. Please. Please. He chuckles and then proceeds to check everything and he is fairly certain they can do it. YAY! So I'm getting like 8000 channels for $100 a month, but they should be here on Thursday to install. He sent a tech out to verify they can do install and yes according to tech they can install. I'm not going to believe it till I see it. Then onto Fridge. Army Guy and Farmer Guy's kiddo decide that they can just go get fridge and save the $70 delivery fee (mental note--always pay the fee). Evidently, picking up the fridge went smoothly. The bringing in of the fridge not so smoothly. Luckily Neighbor Guy showed up to help struggling Army Guy & Farm Guy's kiddo. We ended up having to take the handles off and my wood floor in the entryway got scratched, but it is the mostest prettiest fridge on the planet so it's all good. So Wednesday ends finally. Onto Thursday. Thing 1 decides he doesn't want to go to school until Friday, which works because I didn't get the enrollment paperwork completely filled out until after 4pm on Wednesday. So I take enrollment forms to school on Thursday and everything is set for Friday. Yay! So we head to Lowe's for fence help. We actually find someone who is very helpful and we decide on doing panels (it has to be privacy because of subdivision rules) instead of picking individual boards and we get a list of all the materials and Lowe's will put together and deliver on Friday. Yay! At this point, unpacking has gone well, but we have a surplus of boxes on the front driveway. But then a neighbor from down the road stopped by and asked if he could have the boxes. We said "YES!!!" and then neighbor cornered Army Guy for a good 45 mins talking about Army things and neighborhood things and pretty much anything. But it was worth it cuz he took all of the boxes! Yay! Then onto commissary shopping. Fort Campbell has the prettiest commissary of all time. They have a HUGE selection of stuff!!! It was like Christmas all over again!!! More importantly, it meant that we didn't have to go out for food! Yay! But of course I had to check out every isle, so it was late by the time we got home. So groceries away, kids to bed, and all was good and right in our world. But I realized my plant was still outside, so as I opened the door to get it I noticed a note on the door. Note says "The dumpster that you dumped all of your boxes in costs me $400 to dump, so you need to either split this with me or remove all of your boxes tomorrow". Sigh. Luckily, note writer left a number that I promptly called at 9:45pm and explained that we gave our boxes to a guy down the street. She accepted that explanation and said she'd talk to him about it. At this point, I've decided that the people in this hood are nice, but contractors/builders and all those of the like suck! Friday was better with fence material delivery going fine. Army Guy about killed himself getting all the post holes dug and he's still working on fence, but it looks good and hopefully no one will complain. More importantly construction of fence has deterred neighborhood Great Dane from pooing in our yard. That and I yelled at her and her owner was all "oh, I didn't realize she was down there". How do you NOT know where that dog is? :) Saturday started well, but ended with me doubled over with some lower intestinal bug from hell. Sunday consisted of me laying on the couch, sleeping and being made at Thing 3 cuz she decided that Sunday was an awesome day to be the most wiggly.
OH! I forgot to finish the Porter Story! So by Wednesday, Porter is still projectile vomitting (which is an awesome thing to experience by the way). At that point I decicded it wasn't well water or moving nerves but he must have some kind of stomach bug. So I call Farm Guy's wife for a vet recommendation and she hooks me up with an AWESOME vet. I take Porter down there and they do an x-ray to determine if he's eaten something he shouldn't have. Lo and behold there's a dark spot on the xray but it's in an odd spot and they want to keep him for a couple of hours and take another xray. This is Thursday morning, so I'm all "yah that works--let him puke on you for a bit". :) So I leave and tell Army Guy the story and he's all "this is going to be expensive", but I don't care. After lunch, vet calls to confirm that xray shows dark spot and they gave him a shot of stuff that should help stomach get rid of whatever dark spot is, but they want to keep him over night and xray him again in the morning. I'm thinking "okay, no biggie". Army Guy is thinking "more money". The next morning, vet calls and says that he passed some kind of greenish, spongish thing and has been acting tons better and the xray appears to be clear, but can they keep him until noon to verify he's fine. Yes, you can. Yay! So I head to the vet at noon fully prepared for a $400 vet bill. Of course that's before I know he has to have meds for a week and special food for a week. Great. More money, but at least there was something really wrong with him and it's not just all "well, hmmm". Little chick actually winced when she gave me my total of $238!!! Yes!!! I did a dance. :)Porter is doing much better now and the vet actually called on Monday to make sure Porter had a good weekend. Love them!
So ta-dah. Welcome to my life!
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