A Good Poo/Vomit Story For You

Having a great day today. Jim got to sleep in today and the boys and I were excited to plan a fun birthday dinner for Jimbo. We wanted to beat all the rain we’re supposed to get so got an early start out to the grocery store and to get Jimbo a little present from the boys. Couldn’t believe how well the boys were being. Cooper was his usual charming self and I met like four new people as he screamed through the produce isle and at the cashier. Everyone was just marveling at his little language that he speaks. He even charmed Wal-Mart folks into giving him a free sippy cup because he refused to give it back. So they just gave it to him. I wish that worked for adults! Sully just smiled at everyone and people kept just saying what really sweet boys I have.

Got home not one peep out of Sully he was sleeping away. Drove the car down behind the building even though it was muddy and didn’t get stuck so I considered that good. Got lunch ready and realized I was out of a supplement for Coop so I put a different brand on. He chowed down (same meal he ate yesterday) so I knew he liked it. Put away groceries and got to planning Jimbo’s birthday dinner. Lots to do- lots to do!!

Coop finished lunch and he got down to play. We’re just putzing around and I hear this burp. He turned to look at me and I could just see it in his eyes. Lunch was coming back up. (Teach me to try a new supplement.) I was halfway there with my arms extended and hands cupped when the first round came up. (We have carpet and no oxyclean and I’m trying to preserve our deposit.) Ok ewww I’m not going to touch that! I see a piece of newspaper and grab it and go chasing him as three more rounds come up. As he is puking he’s trying to get away from me and this darn newspaper. The last one seemed to get stuck in his throat. You know how dogs take a bone and swing it from side to side? Cooper starts swinging his head from side to side to dislodge the puke. Vomit is flying everywhere. Time to give up with the newspaper. I don’t know if he’s done so I pick him up and dump him in the bathroom.

That’s starts a scream fest. I don’t know what else to do so I run to get some paper towels and hear Coop just screaming and then he’s silent. Whew. Ok no paper towels. I grab some towels and head in. In his fit he’s rubbed his shirt aka vomit all over the walls and all over the toilet. When I walk in I now see why he was quiet he’s eating the vomit off the floor!!!! Ok so now I’m freaking out. I scream nooooo and he freaks out. I think I need to learn the art of not freaking out!! Nowadays when he’s busted doing something his reaction is to throw whatever it is down. (The other day I stupidly left an open bottle of water on the floor. He grabbed it thinking it had a straw and dumped water on himself. Confused he brought it up to his lips again covering himself with water again. I shout something to have him not do it again and he startles and literally throws the bottle down with water gushing everywhere.) So if you are following this he then throws the puke he’s about to eat down but instead it hits me!! I can’t be mad at him he is utterly miserable at this point.

First things first I need to change him and get everything cleaned up. I just don’t know what I was thinking. I pull his shirt up and get puke ALL over his face and in his hair. He’s fussing all over again. Ok screw it he’s getting a bath. I get the water running and get him in there. I must have known I wasn’t destined to eat again because I’d made the same thing he’d eaten for myself so I fed him my lunch while he was bathing. I didn’t mash it up like his had been and he didn’t like the broccoli heads so he started spitting it out in the tub! Grrrrr. We are out of shampoo so I run to get my own stuff and add some water to it. It was cold water. I put it on his head and he JUMPS up because of the cold and starts crying. I’m apologizing just wondering how this could be worse. Start dumping some warm lunch filled water on his head to get him warm and he decides that is the perfect to moment to poo. Ummmm hmmmm yes he POOED in the bath tub. I decide that’s it I’m so over this bath and grab a towel and realize it’s a Sully towel so it barely covers his back so I’m now soaked too to dry him off.

Luckily (fingers are still crossed) that was the end of the drama. Not sure how clean he really is but he’s now in his PJ’s ready for bed at 1 in the afternoon and I have some cleaning to do!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JIM & JOHN !!

More Pics of GiGi's First Visit

Every time GiGi would play with Sully-Bear he would start squeeling and laughing and then every single time he would get so excited he would get the hiccups!
With GiGi taking up residence in our living room last week I would get up and get breakfast going and the boys would take turns crawling into the fouton bed with GiGi. The first morning Cooper came walking out of his room and just lit up because GiGi was still there. He just ran to her and all she did was lift up the blanket and he just pushed it aside and jumped in there with her. It really was heartwarming!!
This is Cooper and GiGi doing a little bit of yoga! I need to get a picture of him doing downward dog. This kid for some reason will just stop spread his leg and put his head to the floor. Do they make yoga tapes for kids :-)

Play Time

See how the two boys play differently? Sully-Bear quietly observes his toy overhead. Cooper turns stuff over on its head.

Lake Lynn

The Boob Tube

Gotta love Baby Einstein videos. These guys can watch the same thing yet get different things out of it. Every morning they watch a video while I make breakfast. It's the baby charmer!

Trip To Gordonsville/Car Ride Issues

As we were getting the house ready to show we needed to paint the house. Not wanting the boys to be around the fumes I volunteered to take the boys on a day trip to visit Auntie Cacka. Chris my friend in Gordonsville who just so happens to have a pool!! So I pack up the boys and head off in the morning. As you all know Sully Bear well he's not so much of a fan of the car seat. So the drive down consists of me having to have my arm crooked around to the car seat patting his head or giving him my finger to suck on. I've found one of the best ways to keep him calm is to sing to him. So I sang 99 bottles of milk on the wall. I got to 27!! By the time we got to Gordonsville I was ready to nap and to never ever hear that song again.

Chris's daughter Carly took to taking care of Cooper. If he would cry she would come up to him and pat him and say, "It's ok Cooper." It was so sweet. She also taught Cooper to talk on the phone. She had her own cell phone and picked it up and said, "Oh hey nanna girl what's going on. Oh nothing we are playing with baby Cooper." I seriously thought she was on the phone until I realized it was a play cell phone! But after that Cooper walked around with his cell phone talking into it until I found it in the tub- when it was full.

So then we decided to go swimming. We started off slow getting Cooper used to the water but he was clinging to me tightly. I wasn't sure if he was enjoying himself.

So I thought hey lets put on a life vest and see what happens. He decided to put on Carly's sunglasses. Hey it was bright out there.


This poor child he might be scarred for life when he sees this picture. Anyway he adored floating around the pool in the tube as I kicked him back and forth. We only grudgingly got out when Sully Bear woke up from his nap. Surprisingly Chris and I got some time to catch up while watching three little ones so that was nice. Cooper didn't get his nap - I hadn't thought to bring his pack and play but you'll notice a theme here I thought hey he will sleep on the drive home.

Had some dinner more chit chat it's now time to pack up and go home. Sully Bear hasn't had enough sleep either I didn't bring his swing- lesson learned pack EVERYTHING! But I thought hey this could be good, they will both be exhausted they will sleep sleep sleep.

We get on the road and Sully for the first time discovers the things attached to the bottom of his arms are his hands and he's just fascinated. Cooper and I chit chat for the first twenty minutes and then suddenly he screams out and is OUT. I'm feeling pretty good at this point- Sully is quiet and Coop is out. Suddenly Coop has to be dreaming about his time with Carly. He is reaching out screaming and then muttering down to sleep. Well this keeps happening and disturbs Sully who then starts screaming. Cooper wakes up pissed because he was asleep and then they both start screaming at the top of their lungs. I'm afraid that Sully is now going to heave out a lung so I pull over on the side of the road and try to nurse him. Nope not interested. We get out of the car and I'm running back and forth trying to calm him down then swinging him as he finally starts to calm down. I hear this other noise and look in the car- Cooper is awake and not happy that I'm out there with Sully so he's screaming at the top of his lungs. I open the door and hold his hand while bouncing Sully. They are both quiet and I do take a minute to enjoy the sunset over the farmland and watch a lone horse make his way through the fields. Quite breathtaking actually. Looking at the time I'm ready to get on the road but both the boys are just happy the way they are. I make the call to get back on the road. Silly mamma.

I'd say it was quiet for about two minutes and then boom Sully starts screaming again. This starts off Cooper. My friend Znar calls and I just decide nothing is working I'm going to talk and ignore it. Unfortunately she couldn't ignore it or hear what I was saying so we hung up and I listened to them scream for thirty more minutes and then suddenly there was blissful silence. They had both screamed themselves to sleep.

So that was our trip to Gordonsville. As you all know the trip to Raleigh was pretty much the same. Trading screams and misery. I think I cried the first four hours of the trip with them. At our second stop Jim was taking a zillion turns and passing by perfectly good gas stations. I just remember freaking out- why isn't he stopping?? I need to stop!!! I was trying to call him but then he suddenly found a gas station and when we got there said, "Man I had no idea it was this bad I would have stopped sooner."

But there is a bright side!! I think we've broken Sully Bear of his hatred of the car seat. Probably just because we are getting out more and he's getting used to it but he doesn't cry half as much as he used to. Or maybe I'm just immune now. The last time all four of us were in the car and Sully started to scream I just kept talking and Jim was freaking out! He was trying to soothe him and really worried and I was just sort of chuckling saying, "that's not going to work..,. nope that won't either" I seem to have the ability now to just sort of tune it out.

So now my mom tells me that Snowshoe is about a six hour drive. I'm looking for volunteers now to drive with me!!!

GiGi's First Visit To Raleigh

Exhausted.....just fell asleep on the floor!

Cooper's New Way To Watch TV

Sully Bear

This picture is how Sully's nickname of Bear got started. It was one day last week- every time I turned around he had a bear with him. A blanket with a bear attached in his bassinet then he had this little bear that he kept clenching so I of course had to have a little photo shoot and he became SullyBear. He just seems so bear like. He's in his 9 month clothes already, he will give you bear hugs (he stands on your legs and will almost jump into your arms wrapping his arms around your neck) and he even has this little bear cub like growl when he's happy. So SullyBear he became!

Move-In Day Pictures

Cooper at our first rest stop. He was so bored with me he thought he might drive the U-Haul for Jim ;-). This picture of the U-Haul is so illegal! Jim popped that bad boy over the sidewalk down a big hill behind the building so we would not have to go up two flights of stairs and a very long walk to the parking lot. I was so scared we would get in trouble but oh my goodness it made life sooooo much easier. We started saying what are they going to do evict us? Jim's a bad influence because when I have a car full of groceries and the kids I drive the car down now! The neighbors just smile and wave at me now when the see me backing up the hill.






After all the drama of packing and getting here to Raleigh, the actual move-in day was a breeze. Both the boys were dream boys. Sully Bear slept the entire time we were unloading and Coop watched Monsters Inc. It's like they both knew we needed something to go right!
Did I mention that everyone was exhausted??? Poor Jim just sort of leaned over and next thing I knew he was snoring! Notice there's never any pictures of me sleeping!!!!

Happy Birthday Katie!

Happy birthday to our dear friend Katie who turns thirty something today! I hope you have a wonderful day today!!!

Laundry Helper

This is Cooper's version of helping me fold laundry!

Cable Ladies

August 16th Cooper was up to greet the cable ladies as they installed our cable. Yes I said ladies. I have never had women come to install cable so while I'm totally liberal it did take me a second to adjust to seeing two women at my door saying, "Time Warner." As they were working and we were all talking it was so cute. Cooper just kept talking and talking to them, he was all up in their cables and they ended up reading to him and playing with him. Copper took to Kathy- he just kept pushing her down to sit in her lap. She wouldn't help the other woman out because Cooper was sitting in her lap. So the other woman sat on the floor trying to get Cooper to sit on her lap as they were on hold with corporate. The whole time I was nursing Sully so they installed the cable, babysat and then get this... they cleaned up all of Cooper's toys! Cooper is the man!!

A Guest Post From Grandma Goat About Her Recent Visit With Us In Raleigh

Baby Time

Having visited Abbie, Jim and the boys for a few days this week in NC, I realize that I’ve lost all sense of time. I’m now ready for bed when Cooper goes to sleep and wake up when he makes his first peep in the morning (sometimes more loudly than others.) I enjoy napping when both Sully and Cooper are down for their afternoon naps.

It feels like I’ve been in a time warp as I’ve lost touch with my own schedule and quickly blended into “baby time”.

Yesterday, on my walk with Cooper this different sense of time was contrasted to what we may want to call “normal time.” Cooper was delighted to sit and watch a mother duck sitting on her nest of eggs. He squealed with pleasure as he caught his first glimpse of the lake below where we were perched on the hillside. He noticed every coo of the dove above us and laughed and laughed each time a butterfly closely flew by. At one point we played with bubbles of which he never tired of trying to catch and pop each one.

As our walk continued, Coop asked if he could get out of the stroller and walk. As we walked on the sidewalk by a line of parked cars, we practiced the colors. He stopped at each car and pointed as I called out the color. He stopped and pondered a white truck for a longer time and was totally oblivious to everything else. I was about 4 feet ahead of him pushing the stroller, when a young woman came up behind Cooper in her swim attire. She asked Cooper, rather sternly, to keep moving so she could get by. I also asked Cooper to move forward, however, he was deeply contemplating this white truck like a deer in the headlights and didn’t appear to hear either of us. The young woman then sucked through her teeth and told Cooper to move on or at least give her room to move by. As I was walking back to help with this intensifying situation, she squeezed herself around Cooper breaking his dazed stare at the truck. He was so stunned that he fell over landing on his hands. Now I had seen that she hadn’t touched him but my “GiGi radar was out” and I joined Cooper in the drama that had been created. The young woman was aghast as Cooper was flailing and screaming like she had killed him. She kept assuring us that she hadn’t touched him. I then picked him up and said, “Don’t worry Cooper, she’s obviously in a much bigger hurry than we are. She’s not on baby time.”

Today it’s time to head back home to Virginia and I know that I have to switch gears to a faster pace. I find myself reflecting over the past few days. I leave my grandsons and their Mommy in “baby time” with a keen sense that Cooper and Sully are teaching us to be in the present moment. I recall how Cooper explores every little thing in his environment as though it were the first time over and over again. I watch Sully calling out for us to give him attention even though it may not fit into our scheduled birthday party for their Dad. I’m even going to miss watching “Doodlebops,” with blue, pink, and yellow characters on TV with Cooper each morning. I think we could all use more “baby time” in our hectic lives and plan to try to be more mindful in my own life – thanks to my teachers, Cooper and Sully!

The Joys Of Apartment Living

As I sit here cooking lunch and watching Cooper attempt to swing Sully in his swing I'm listening to our upstairs neighbors heave and ho their keg from the party they had this weekend. Yes a keg they had on their balcony covered in black plastic I guess to hide it. Cooper, Sully and I came in with them and they were all nice and dressed up for work in a dress shirt and tie and next thing I know I see beer flowing from their balcony into the grass RIGHT in front of ours. Now I'm thinking- ok I guess I really don't care it's not my lawn but then it starts to come into our balcony and start to get all over our Chariot. Now there I draw the line I go running out the door yelling your getting beer all over my stuff!! And in true NC fashion he is soooo apologetic says he's having an explosion up there and he'll come rinse it off. So I watch him with cups of water wash off my balcony but not the chariot and leave as if he's done his job and the only thing I can think right now is damn what a waste of beer!!

Jim's Take On Getting Down To NC and The First Week

Well, I'm finally getting a chance to sit down and type a post. It's been over a week since we got here, and in a previous post, Abbie said that it was an adventure. She wasn't kidding. For your amusement, this is my take on what we went through to get ourselves to NC.

I picked up the U-haul on Wednesday the 9th. We started to pack the truck on the 9th, with the plan that we'd be on the road no later than 10AM. I had calculated that if we left by 11AM, we'd make it in time to Raleigh to get to the apartment complex, get our lease signed and do the walk-thru. Our neighbor, Rich, helped me get the couch and the dresser into the truck. Thank you to Rich because I don't think Abbie and I could've gotten it. So we closed out Wednesday with about 7/16th of the truck full (yes, I did measure, and it came out to 7/16th...John and Terry would be proud of my mathematical acumen) and John and Kat coming to visit. John did help me carry some stuff out, which was nice since I hadn't intended on putting him to work. It was a quietly emotional moment when John and Kat left that night because I think we both realized that we wouldn't have the ability any longer to see each other at any minute. Oh man, just thinking about it is making me tear up. "Tito, get me a tissue".

So, we transitioned to Thursday morning. Naturally, Cooper woke us up early. So we're freaking tired and have quite a bit of...well, junk that we figure we need to live for the next four months, to load. Abbie is packing boxes, while I'm moving them to the U-Haul. Did I mention that it rained all day...sometimes quite hard...while I was hauling out boxes and furniture? 10AM comes and goes. 11AM comes and goes. 12PM comes and goes. 1PM, 2PM, and 3PM come and go. And we're still not fully packed up. Well, by 3PM, we were relatively packed up, Abbie had cleaned the house up while I was still putting small items away. The U-Haul and car trailer was taking up six parking spaces (thankfully, everyone was at work).

At this point, we're both frustrated that we've missed our deadline, pissed off that there's so much stuff and we're pretty much out of space in the U-Haul (front and back), the Saturn, and the Subaru, and we keep finding other items that need to get packed. This is the point where we blow up at each other. Moving is stressful and we started to take the last month's worth of stress out on each other. I accused her of not helping with the heavy stuff and showing no appreciation for the amount of manual labor I've done to get us packed to move...and she accused me of being a whiny ass baby and acting like a child. Fair 'nuff. So, since I'm a whiny ass baby and am acting like a child, I refuse to let her leave to drop off the cable box (she doesn't know where Cox Communications is...so I hold the upper hand here, Sucka!). Of course, she just walks out and is ready to call one of her friends to give her directions. So, that didn't work for me. I give her directions, and she heads out to drop that off and pick up some lunch/dinner for us. Cooper and I are now in this empty house. I go take a shower while he roams around in an empty master bedroom...bored. We end up sitting in the foyer waiting for Abbie....waiting and waiting and waiting. He falls asleep on my shoulder. Unfortunately, I don't have a couch or cushion to put him on, so I have to hold him...and I don't care if the scale says he's only 25lbs, that's a heavy 25lbs after 15 minutes of holding him. We wait and wait and wait. At this point, I'm wondering if Abbie's taken Sullivan and fled. But she shows up, and we get on the road....around 4PM...during rush hour.

We drive up Braddock Rd, thinking we're going to hit the beltway over to I-95 and then South. Yeah, right. Anyone been on I-95 in rush hour? We shortcut it by taking the Fairfax County Parkway, and end up on I-95 just South of Springfield. Welcome to the I-95 parking lot. It takes us, no kidding, two hours to get from FFX County Pkwy to Quantico/Triangle. Abbie's in the Subaru with the boys, and I'm driving the U-Haul pulling the Saturn. Side note: I was concerned about pulling the Saturn b/c I always have this fear of the trailer tipping or the car falling off...and as I'm thinking this, an 18-wheeler drives by me towing on his trailer...you ready for this...a Greyhound bus with 10 flat tires. I start to feel a bit better about hauling a Saturn now.

So, we get into the open road and start going faster. Now, I've got the radio going (ain't no CD player, so I'm thinking I'm miserable b/c of that), but when I call Abbie, here's what I hear..."WAAAAAHHHHHH! Hello? WAAAAAAHHHHHHH! WAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" That's about how the entire drive went for Abbie. They were like a buddy team performing Psyops on their mom....one would sleep while the other would wail, and when that one started to wind down to sleep, the other would wake and start screaming. I've no doubt that at some point, Abbie was ready to pull over and bitch slap the little shits...but, that's just my assessment. I did offer to switch with her and she could drive the U-Haul while I drove the screamers. She said no to that. Here's how to see it...imagine a movie with two scenes intercut with each other...me in the U-Haul with a little Willie Nelson singing "On the Road Again", and Abbie in the Subaru with her face all crunched up in mental anguish, balling her ass off b/c she can't help them, and all you can hear is Cooper or Sully wailing. I gotta lotta respect for her for keeping that up for eight hours. Oh, wait, she tells me they only cried for 5 hours of that...my respect is gone.

Yeah, it took us eight hours. That includes long rest stops, though. We hit Petersburg (we missed rush hour going through Richmond thankfully), and turn onto I-85. We know when we cross into NC because the quality of the road suddenly shifts from smooth to completely crappy and unkept. That helps keep us awake a bit. Around 11PM, I realize that we need to find a hotel for the night. We need something with a kitchen...which gives us limited choices...Homestead, Candlewood, or Extended Stay. So I punch in the GPS to look for hotels near our destination...and I find a Homestead about 1.5 miles from the apartment complex. I call and reserve a room with two full sized beds (it was late, so I would've taken a room with a single twin bed if that was all they had available...I'm sure Abbie and the boys would've been comfortable on the floor. Ooooh, I'm only joking. You people take things too seriously).

We get to the Homestead, check in, and drive around to find our room. It's 12:30AM at this point, and as we turn the corner, there's a group of guys out having a cookout, drunk, and they start jeering at Abbie. She's just like, "F-off, I've been in a car with screaming chillins for 8 hours". So we park, get the kids and Abbie into the room, and they all fall asleep. BUT, big daddy has to go out and get ice to keep all the frozen and refrigerated foods cold throughout the night. I finally get to bed at 1AM...fearing that one of those hoodlums getting drunk at the BBQ pit are going to break into our U-Haul and clean us out. Abbie and Sully rack out in one bed, and Cooper and I in the other. It was actually a sweet ending to a rough day.

That's my take on us getting to NC. My first week at work has been a learning curve. I forgot how different it is to have to be at work versus being a "work at home realtor" and being able to get up at 10AM (if the chillins allow). Since I've not been to any of the necessary training courses, I've spent a lot of time with my nose in my predecessor's notebooks and files trying to make heads or tails of how to go about my job. My boss, LTC Haynes, has said that I'm the interim Recruiting Operations Officer and our focus is on our partnership school, Shaw University. I'm starting to just make it up as I go. What I've realized though, is that the recruiting efforts as determined by the Army may not necessarily be the best for HBCU's...that's "Historically Black Colleges and University's" for those of you not in the know. I actually thought that I'd be the only white person at the program, but the cadre is a good mix representing the diversity of the Army. It's actually very fun working with these people. LTC Haynes told me that she's going to have me teaching classes at Shaw which I think is going to be the bomb-diggity. :-) John, there's still a position at University of Richmond with COMTek. If you're interested, let me know and I'll send you my POC's name and email.

The first week was a bit busy trying to learn it all. I had to work on Saturday at a recruiting event, which I have a feeling is going to be very common. But, my time at St Augustine's may be short lived if 1) the position isn't extended beyond October and/or 2) a permanent position opens up at NC State.

Anyways, that's my update and I'm sticking to it. I hope y'all enjoyed it. We miss everyone back in NoVA and want to say this, "Enjoy the traffic, Suckers!"

While Daddy is Out

Our first day at home without Jim :( We miss you honjeeeeeee. Cooper has been exploring everything and making things his own. I love the one level thing! His toys are in his room and he just keeps going and bringing them to me in the living room. Both of the boys have been fascinated with Baby Einstein CD's. Cooper's new word for today is, " La la la la la la." When we were moving we discovered he is listening VERY carefully to us. I was cleaning the fridge and under my breath muttered, "Jesus." That kid looked at me and said, "Jesus." I lost my balance and fell right on my butt in shock. So for those of you counting, he will say GiGi, baby, Dada, Jesus but he still WILL NOT say mamma!!!

Cooper's latest hiding place...........


And Sully in his favorite position...........

Jim's First Day at Work

The boys dressed up for their dad this morning to give him a proper send off to his first day of work! Jim was pretty nervous before he left so we'll see how it was when he gets home!!

We Made It

Hello everyone!

Just wanted to write a quick post so everyone knows we made it to Raleigh safe and sound. It has been an adventure that is for sure. We are unpacking and finding our way around town. Lots of stories will be posted soon. Unfortunately we don't have internet set up at home yet and won't until next week so we are taking turns going out to get on-line for a few minutes.

So far I have been talked to more in two days by people at gas stations or the store than in months in NOVA. Everyone talks to the babies and I mean they stop and talk. We were at a stoplight and realized after a few minutes we could turn on red and had a huge line of cars behind us. Not one of them honked at us!!

The apartment is small but nice. We are close to a zillion things. Took the route to Jim's new job and it's not far. Made a loop on campus and then found the Whole Foods. I've been taking lots of pictures and Jim is getting his blogging fingers ready so we will keep everyone posted.

I think the hardest part is realizing this is real and we aren't going back "home" as we keep saying. We do have a futon mattress and pillows for anyone who wants to come visit!!!!!

Oh- John and Kat I broke down and we bought a shower curtain for the second bathroom and a floor mat for the front door. But I promise from here on out I'm not buying anything else for 4 months!!!

Our love to everyone!

John's Gotta Problem!

Yesterday, brother John had to go for a procedure at the doctors. He had to have an endoscopy (they shove a camera down your throat and through your stomach) because of pain in the stomach whenever he ate. Very sharp pain. [Wa-Wa] Super sharp pain. [Wa-Wa] House...of...Pain. It's a pricey procedure and slightly involved...he was under for about three hours+. What I don't understand is why he didn't just use his watch, save him about $5000 and a day of his life.

We'll update more as we learn more.

Sully's First Bath

Sully took to his first full bath without even a flinch. He just sat back and let us take our obligatory pictures and get him all cleaned up. We thought man this is just way too easy. We got him all wrapped up in his towel and robe and ....
he was still happy until bam who knows what happened maybe he realized he was cold but we got the cry after the first bath picture!

Ok seriously how cute can he be???

July 2006

Cooper's favorite treat is to eat an avocado right out of the skin now. He will lick it clean! Thankfully Cooper is throwing less and less of his temper tantrums. With the birth of Sullivan I think his world was just a little rocked and he had to adjust. Don’t get me wrong he still can throw a tantrum but we’ve learned a few tricks. First we got consistent- I know- imagine that! He must have been sent to the corner in daycare (or seen it happen) we have surmised because one time he was in trouble someone pointed to go a different direction and he went right to the corner and put his nose in it! We have created the “Comfort Corner.” It has a pillow and it’s where he goes when he is having a really horrible tantrum. Granted he is still pretty young for this. (We’ve been recording Super Nanny and taking notes!) So when he threw his water bottle at me for the umpteenth time and bruised my ankle Jim told him he needed to not do that again and apologize to me. Well that didn’t seem acceptable so he proceeded to scream and throw himself around so Jim put him in the CC till he could calm down. He knew what he was doing. He would cry if we were looking in his direction. As soon as we would turn our heads he would try to sneak out. But Jim was on him like white on rice man. It took a few trys but he finally sat there, got calm and then came out ready to play. Although he never apologized he hasn't been throwing his bottles at my feet anymore. No joke he would wait for me with all his empty sippy cups to throw them at me. I never screamed or gave a reaction but for some reason he felt he needed to do it. Anyway now we just tell him he needs to stop (insert behavior) or he will go to the CC and he stops. We’ll get back to everyone in another 6 months on that one.

We now have our trashcan elevated on a stool. We have lost way to many tupperware lids to the trash now. If you've lost it in our house look in the trash!

He is now climbing down the stairs now. Until now it was just up. That has opened a whole new world. He is fanatical about closing all the doors. He says, “Closing” but it sounds like “cloo.” Something new for us is one second he’s there and the next he’s GONE. We had to take the baby gates down for painting and he is taking full advantage of that. Coop used to avoid the top of the stairs like the plague. He made it to the basement one day and all the bills we had put in a crate to be filed were strewn all over the floor! Hard to get mad when he looks like he had a blast doing it.

Cooper must have my stubborn streak. He has learned some baby signs which make our life much easier. He will say eat and put his fingers together. His finger to his mouth is drink. Wipe your hands across the tray for all done. He even will say GiGi!! But the little bugger refuses to say Mamma. Our conversations go a little something like this:

Abbie: Can you say GiGi?
Cooper: GiGi
Abbie:Can you say Mamma?
Cooper: Dadda
Abbie: Mamma
Cooper: Dadda
Abbie: Mamma
Cooper: Dadda
Abbie: MAMMA
Cooper:DADDA
Abbie:MAMMA
Cooper:DADDA
Jim: "Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!!"


We couldn't believe how much stuff we have. This was one day of trash!

His comprehension of words is getting better and better. He used to wave but not know why he was doing it just that he was getting praise for it. Now he knows what goodbye means and will wave without any prompting. One day I left for a bit and as I was pulling out I looked back at the house and there was Cooper at the door waving goodbye to me. I honestly don't know how to explain the lump in my throat when I saw him doing that.

He still says, “baby” but mostly now it sounds like, “pappy” and will pet Sully. He likes to sit next to him and play footsies with him it’s very cute. Sometimes a pained look will still come over him and you know he’s upset that the baby is in my arms. But boy oh boy what a difference a little time makes. He is such a patient little guy. When I'm nursing he's either playing, or sitting next to me. He tries to crawl on top of Sully only when he's really tired but other than that he just waits it out. I've learned to do the poop patrol at the same time which saves a lot of time!

And oh my goodness is Sullivan is such a little gem. He is gooooing a lot and sleeping a lot….. during the day. He likes to get all his gas at night and will wake me up every hour and a half usually punching me with his little boxer arms. Once he finally gets the gas out he’s ready to nurse and go back to sleep. I’ve been lucky that Jim has been there to get Cooper at 6:30 to make him breakfast so I can get another hour of sleep still.

Sully loves to push up and stand up on your lap. Nowadays if you jump on the rebounder he is smiling within 5 seconds and 30 seconds later his eyes are rolling up into his head. It’s absolutely a phenomenon. Nothing else works like the rebounder. We can’t even put him in the swing until he’s mostly asleep. We’ve broken him on the swing though. He pretty much has to have it during the day or every time Cooper screams or pokes him when he’s sleeping on the couch he’s awake. I just can't describe how easy Sully makes it. He cries very little and goes to sleep pretty easily. Besides the fact that he continues to poo on me constantly I really can't complain. We were eating out during the big packing phase and he did break out in eczema. That was a huge bummer. But I stopped eating all dairy and wheat and within 2 days it was gone. (phew)

I'm watching him now in his swing making his little chipmunk noises. If you would have told me a few years ago my heart was capable of holding this much love for these two children I wouldn't have been able to imagine it. We may complain about the poo's or the temper tantrums but I wouldn't give it up for the world.

This is Sully's toy that Cooper isn't allowed on. It drives Cooper nuts to not be able to crawl all over it!!

If You Write It Down... You Will Make It Happen

11 months ago when I got pregnant Jim and I talked about it and knew that we really wanted to make a change. I wanted to stay home with the kids and we wanted a bigger home. (We are literally busting at the seams in this townhouse. I'm not kidding our basement just became our storage unit!) We went about life and Jim started a job search. He would scour the job boards and sent out over 200 resumes. He was offered one job here in Alexandria which would have just kept us in the same situation so he declined that. That seemed like hope and that more job opportunities would be coming- but they didn’t. The months went by and Jim kept looking and looking. And looking and looking and looking. And looking.

Maybe Jim was looking for the wrong job we thought? Jim has always had a passion to help people and all of the office jobs weren’t really doing it for him. He really wanted to do something military related or become a police officer. So in June we knew time was running up and we needed to do something. We put up some butcher paper and pulled out the markers. We had read that if you write down your goals you are more likely to make them happen in a short time. So we wrote our mission down.

*Jim find a job with benefits
*Abbie stay at home
*Abbie find work from home opportunity
*Move to a lower cost of living area

Then we wrote down all the ways we could think of to do it. We came up with three options and evaluated which one would work best for us and we went into action. It wasn’t easy- Jim had one obstacle after the other when he was trying to get his applications for different police jobs notarized. But he got it done and we made our plans to hit Charlotte and Raleigh to apply in person. Jim started to ask for help! (Something I've learned he hates to do.) Both of our parents were using all of their networking to help Jim find a job. Next thing we know my Aunt Beverly is calling because she used to date the secretary’s brother at the Gastonia Police Office and got his resume personally handed to HR. Aunt Cheryl had a lead for a Real Estate Advertising Coordinator with the local newspaper. And the Federal Government was asking Jim to complete personality tests. It was amazing.

We just kept saying we will make it happen one way or another. We started packing and put the house on the market. We decided to live off the proceeds of the house if we had to. And then it happened. Out of the blue a job that Jim had applied for a very long time ago came available again. It had a new hiring manager and within two days Jim had an offer! It gets us to Raleigh (an area that meets our health needs, Whole Foods, and housing costs AND not too far from NOVA.) Jim will be working for a government contractor helping them recruit students into the ROTC program at St. Augustine’s College. He gets to wear a uniform ,do PT in the morning, and gets the opportunity to teach but doesn’t have the increased risk of being deployed!! (Abbie side note: whooooooooo hoooooooooooooo!)

So thankfully the wheels were already in motion for getting the house on the market. The POD was delivered and poor Jim had to pack it in the heat wave. We now have our temporary housing set up so we can take the time to explore Raleigh before purchasing and it gives us time to sell this place. It’s so exciting and a little sad at the same time. I told my team at work I would be leaving them the end of Sept. and that was really hard to let go of. As much as I want to stay home with my M&M’s (My Monihan Men) I like the paycheck, the appreciation and the adult conversation! Jim told his boss he was leaving so it is official. We move this coming Thursday!!

I think we are both in a little bit of denial that we will be leaving our family and friends. We believe home is where you hang your hat but it will be really hard to not be able to just see our family or friends without having to make big weekend plans.

So for the moment our cell phones will remain the same but our address will be:
3140 Hidden Pond Drive
Apt. # 103
Raleigh, NC 27613

Jim is getting rid of his HomesWithJim email on September 1st, so our emails will be abztha@yahoo.com and jemonihan@yahoo.com.

Who's Chair Is It Anyway??

This has been fun to watch. We have been pulling out all of the infant seats again to which Cooper had zero interest in... until Sullivan sat in them. Take Sullivan out of a seat and within a few minutes and a few grunts Cooper would be up in the seat. The blue chair actually was an infant seat that converts to a toddler seat. Cooper had not one little iota of interest of sitting in that seat... until we put it back to the infant seat and put Sully in it. Now he keeps taking the little toy bar off and poking Sully with it when he's sleeping! He only got into the little swing one time. He climbed in and with his weight of climbing in it started to spontaneously swing!! He hung on for dear life and gosh, now that I'm thinking about it how funny is it that I grabbed a picture instead of stopping the swing!! I watched him slowly climb out with this dazed look and he was done with it after that!

At least Cooper has stopped the horrible screaming that we endured when Sully was first born. We try to be very careful and not make a big deal of him getting in any of Sully's chairs. There is only one toy we say is just for Sully and boy does that frustrate Coop. He will circle it and circle it and the big reason we don't allow it as a Cooper toy is he throws things on it like his drum sticks. Not good when it's at Sully's head! We had two times where Cooper threw his tennis shoes at Sully's head. Cooper got his first time out with that one and hasn't done it since thankfully.