Silly Kid

Coop is always "that kid" -- the one that does things a little differently than intended.

Not a Fan

Link isn't thrilled about vegetables so far.
A couple weeks ago he snatched some spinach off of my plate and I intercepted it right before it made it into his mouth. Tonight I used every trick in the book to try and sneak food into his mouth (as he locked his jaw).

Poor Kid

It's Saturday morning - 11 am. My 4 year old is sad that I told him to eat a cookie.
Worst mom failure of the morning - same child had to ask what kind of cookie it is. What 4 year old doesn't know what a chocolate chip cookie is? Not that they don't get sweets, but apparently I need to make cookies more often.

Captain Justiniano

The last five months have kind of been a blur. I've tried posting on here a couple of times, but I had technical issues and gave up.

There are a few things I might try and catch up on, but in the meantime, I'm going to mostly just pick up with what's going on.

Yesterday Rob "pinned on" his new rank. Guy & Cooper did the official pinning. Candidly speaking, promoting to Captain isn't really that big of a deal - every officer does it in time (2 years), unless they royally screw up. So, it's not a huge occasion, but an office meal is pretty much expected. With the new rank comes a raise, so that's cause for celebration enough.

I take in treats here and there, and they've always been appreciative. I thought I could cook them a meal that they would enjoy (kind of a large feat, considering we planned for at least 30 people). We provided pork taco fixings, rice & beans (both made by Rob), guacamole, had watermelon, chips, and a few little extras. Most people have a meal catered, and we chose not to because we thought they'd enjoy it, but I was afraid of looking cheap, so I added extra stuff just to make sure we didn't have that appearance. A lot of people also do an after hours party with an open bar. That's not something that we want to do, so we did lunch and that worked really well.

Rob's parents came in support (nice that they work about 10 min from base). Rob's dad retired after 20 years in the Air Force, and his mom even served in the Air Force, so it means a lot to them, I think, to be able to see their son choose this as a career (so far - for now - we'll see).

The office is really great with the boys. We had one ABU (Air Force Camo Uniform) that we bought when Rob started with the Air Force 2 years ago (too cute to pass up), so we added sleepers and a larger uniform to our collection for this fun occasion. Rob's office loved it, and so did everybody that saw them while were were around the Medical Clinic. Link was sleeping when I took the photo below--I'll have to take more with all 3.

Oh, and I made cookies - With one special Captain Justiniano one. Since moving to Dover I've discovered a sugar cookie recipe that both Rob and I love. More of a post on that later. We made about 50 of these cookies - and the "we" here was two of my good friends that I've made since moving here last August, and I. On Monday they brought their kids over for over 4 hours, and they were amazing help - as we shuffled the kids and the baking. So grateful for their help, or I probably would have been working on those cookies 'til 1 am, or so.

Congrats to Rob! Who knows how long we'll keep going with this. The Major that did the ceremony said some really great things about Rob and his work. One of the things that I've appreciated most about this move to Dover is that Rob's worked really hard to do a great job at work and still be a great family man. He's always one of the first ones in the office in the morning (one hour early almost every day) and he works through lunch most days so that he can get home when the office closes. I truly appreciate and am grateful for his devotion.

Our New Years Eve Celebration

Best New Years Eve ever. Details forthcoming.

 

Progress!

Love this kid, and how happy he is MOST of the time. Yesterday he stayed in nursery BY HIMSELF for the first time. Hallelujah! Rob's been wonderful going to nursery with him for the past 3+ months.

All I want to do today

is lay on the couch and drink orange juice (too bad I can't even drink orange juice). All moms should have super immunities - pregnant moms should NEVER get sick. Too bad that isn't reality. I've got a lovely cough, stuffy nose, and I'm just exhausted. And we've got about 3 weeks left.

The good news is that the baby clothes, spit up rags, and blankets are all washed, lots of my christmas shopping is done, and I even did my visiting teaching for the month already.

My weight gain is still 23 lbs for the pregnancy. I've been having fairly regular contractions since the kidney stone. I know it's better for this kid (still un-named) to stay in a bit, but tomorrow is 37 weeks, so at least he's safe at that point.

Sans orange juice, it will be a couch day. The boys are going to love an all day TV day - don't know when the last time was that we had one of those. I guess I'll do a lot of internet shopping...

Turkey Day

In my effort to do more fun things (especially for the holidays), for Thanksgiving we made these little treats. Believe it or not, it was harder for me not to eat the rolls I made for dinner than to avoid all this chocolate. However, there are still Whoppers in the cupboard, and I plan on indulging in some of those as soon as the baby is born.

Something I learned in this process: Double Stuff would have worked better. We made this work okay, but next time, I'll be sure to use the Double Stuff ones.

We had Thanksgiving with Rob's family. They were very kind and sensitive to have things there that I could eat for sure. Rob's sister even made whole wheat mac and cheese (of which I had a little). Did I tell you that I can't wait for these next few weeks to be over? On that note, I really should go find the box of 0-3 month baby clothes and get them in the wash. Off I go...

Picture Day

I remember when I used to take photos quite often. It was a sad moment the other day when Rob asked if I thought I'd ever "get back into it." Yikes, I've been that bad. I did remind him that I had recently done two little shoots of friends' little girls, and that I still love it. At the same time, our house is still in major need of decor (and blinds), Christmas is coming, and at the rate that this pregnancy is going, this little boy may be here before Christmas, so I'm trying to stay on top of everything before I fall behind. Never mind the bb-sized kidney stone I passed three weeks ago, or the gestational diabetes I got diagnosed with on the same day of the kidney stone. Never a dull moment, right? Apparently this little guy (still unnamed) likes to remind me of his presence almost constantly. This pregnancy hasn't been a walk in the park.

Yesterday was fantastic weather, and lighting - when we went to meet friends at the park, my camera was in tow, and I actually used it.

Guy looks so serious - he's actually pulling Nerds out of a box.

I love the background photo of Cooper, too bad it was so fuzzy, but I think this turned out okay with the other one.

Coop just finished a Tootsie Roll Pop. It looks like he feels a sense of accomplishment - but the photo shows the truth - the Tootsie Roll Pop won, no question. He was a sticky dirty mess when all was said and done.

I keep wondering how this coming little boy will look, and how he will make Guy and Cooper seem alike.

And the latest with the pregnancy: I've gained about 22 lbs this pregnancy. I have 4 weeks left (from yesterday), max. But with the few issues that arisen, the dr. is thinking a 39 week induction would be good. Typically, my water breaks in the middle of the night (Friday night, with both Guy and Coop). This time, I've got Strep B (as I did with Coop). I'm hoping to avoid the NICU experience (never even had Coop in my room) by getting in early enough to pre-medicate and avoid all the testing they did with Coop that kept him in the NICU. That's the main reason I'd like to induce.

Something is Sinking In

On Sunday while I was cooking dinner, Guy trailed Cooper into the kitchen and said, "Coop, you Lamanite!

Guy and Cooper had been fighting over a toy when this happened, and I knew he was upset with Cooper at the moment--and it was hard not to laugh.

But my response was, "Hey, if anyone in this house LOOKS like a Lamanite, it's you, Guy."

Delaware Fun

In August, shortly after we got to Delaware, we went to the beach for a morning. Delaware is actually known for its beaches. And while I'll be the first to admit that they are quite different from the So. California beaches that I know and love, they are pretty great.

Guy wasn't a huge fan of the water, but he spent a little time there.

 

This little one is a bonafide water rat. He would have drowned if we hadn't kept a close eye on him. He loved the waves and the water, and ran to it more than a few times.

 

Digging holes with Dad was a hit.

  

I know this isn't the greatest photo, but we got to see a bunch (herd?) of dolphins swim by. It was at least 8 that I counted, and a few of them were doing some fun leaping.

 

We had to get some ice cream (even if it was lunchtime and that hadn't happened yet).

Love to see the brothers sharing.

I've known that the house Rob grew up in was down a road that has a sign that points the way to "Bowers Beach." Later in August I saw Bowers Beach for the first time. It's a nice little inlet where there are no waves and there are a lot of horseshoe crabs. I'm glad I finally got to see it--still not sure why it took almost six years, though--especially considering his sister still lives in the house he grew up in and we've been there plenty of times. :)

Come visit and we'll take you to the beach.