Under The Weather Baby

Poor Cooper is not feeling so hot. He gets this cough about once a month but this one turned into an infection and a fever. He was so ill yesterday he just laid on the couch like a little prince propped up on his pillow and a green drink in hand. He was up a lot last night coughing and calling for me and this morning his fever is only 99 and he's finally coughing it all out. I'm glad he's on the road back it's so horrible watching your child be sick! (Bear has a cough but nothing else at this point.) I'm predicting only 2 days of being apartment bound. Poor Bear got no energy released yesterday. He was chasing the soccer ball at 8:30 last night when he's normally asleep. Anyone have ideas of how to help him burn off some energy in a tiny space??

The Best Shape Of Jim's Life?

After seven years out of the Active Army, I (Jim) have kinda let myself go. I like to think that I'm in good enough shape to be on American Gladiators, but realistically, The Biggest Loser. Even working at an ROTC program, the PT we do each morning isn't quite enough to counter the battle of the bulge I've been waging for years.

Well, a few years ago, I stopped weight lifting like I used to...it was causing too much pain in my shoulders and quite frankly, the only real benefit I was getting from it was putting on mass. There wasn't any strength really, and the muscle I was putting on was more for show than functional. So I've become a proponent of bodyweight exercises over heavy weight training or what I call bodybuilder training. That's what most people do in the gym...develop those show muscles. Women tend to be more well rounded in their workouts than men. Anyways, I've been searching for more functional workouts...more combat and combat sports oriented.

I came across exactly what I needed. It's a gym called Crossfit. Its a national gym with affiliates throughout the country. Their fitness philosophy is completely functional fitness. Its the same concept that was used by the actors in the movie 300 to rip themselves into fighting shape (Thankfully, Abbie hasn't seen the movie so she's not expecting the rippling abs that the actors had).

I've been to four workouts of theirs as a newbie. These first week or so of sessions are free so I can evaluate if this is where I want to workout. The cost is super high but they give a HUGE discount to military and its all a write off. The workouts seem simple on paper, but once you workout..they're hard as hell. These are some of the hardest workouts I've ever had, and the longest duration I've had yet has been 17 minutes 47 seconds. The shortest was 9 minutes 49 seconds. Below are the workouts I did. Try them...they're harder than you think.

#1
20" box jumps x 20
Push-ups x 15
Sit-ups x 15
Squat x 15
In order as a circuit, three times.

#2
Sumo high pull (squat w/upright row using a kettlebell or barbell) x 10
Knee to elbows hanging leg lift x 10
Kettlebell/dumbbell swing (between legs using hip power to throw it up overhead) x 10
Walking lunges with a 22lb plate held overhead x 10
In order as a circuit, three times.

#3
Jump rope x 1 minute
Plyo Push-ups on a exercise ball (push-up on the ball plus one wide-arm push-up off the ball) x 10
Pull-ups x 10 (not as easy as you think)
Butterfly sit-ups (soles of feet together) x 10
In order as a circuit, three times.

#4
Repeated #2 but increased the weight on all exercises except the knee-elbows.
In order as a circuit, four times.

I dread and anticipate what the next workout is going to be. I've watched the other athletes in the gym working out, and these men and women are machines. The instructors don't let you rest...stop, and they're already counting down "3-2-1, START!" It's exactly what I need and there are scores of military that work out there. The guy I worked out with on #2 is using it to help him get back into Special Forces.

Wish me luck...I'm going to get in the best shape of my life.

Military Update

We've had a few e-mails and calls asking for a status of Jim's return to the Army. Thought it might be helpful to do a quick post in case anyone else was wondering.

Jim took the medical exam a little over a week ago to get his asthma red flag off his chart. The doctor determined he has wheat induced bronchitis (or something like that) **actually, its wheat-induced bronchospasms...but who's really paying attention. -Jim**. Basically he has a horrible allergy to wheat and when he eats too much of it he gets an asthma attack. Seeing as though when I met him he was eating pasta daily you can see why he was having severe asthma attacks daily. Jim mentioned the doctor indicated that his allergy was the worst he had seen on anyone. I guess if you're going to do it- do it right!

So we got the letter from his doctor and tomorrow it will go off to the Surgeon's office for the Army that will take off the red flag on Jim's file. Jim thinks that could take about a week. Then he has to submit a huge packet to the Army to return to duty. He was told that he would for sure be sent to Oklahoma for 6-8 months for training so we know in the next few months we will be in Oklahoma and then to his next duty station for 3 years. **It may actually be 6-8 months training in OK, 3 weeks at airborne school, and possibly 9 weeks at Ranger school provided I pass each phase the first time. -Jim**


We pulled out the map of potential places we can go that have Jim's Artillery units. We're going to request:
1- Ft. Bragg- North Carolina **Home of the airborne. Going to jump out of a perfectly good airplane. -Jim**

2. Ft. Carson- Colorado **Don't tell Abbie, but I really only picked this not because it was where she was born and her mom always wanted us to live there, but because bigfoot apparently lives in the woods surrounding Colorado Springs. Shhhhh. -Jim**

3. Ft. Campbell- Kentucky **This was chosen simply because if the other two aren't available, this is the next best place for me to go to help my career....Hey, I've got 16 more years to go for retirement. -Jim**


So for now we have a few more weeks of waiting and Jim has some paperwork to fill out. **Actually, I've already gotten most of it compiled and filled out. -Jim** I know he's excited about it :-) **Thrilled. -Jim** We'll keep you posted as we know more.

Razors

Grandpa Steve and Grandma Cindy gave the boys these adorable little razors for Christmas. They wanted to fight over them but once they figured out there was two they really couldn't do much but try to sit on both!

Mom's Shoes

Momma Can Burn

Growing up whenever mom made a dish we loved we would say, "Mom can burn!" Meaning she can really cook. Jim doesn't quite understand my little saying but every time I say it I crack myself up. So my latest quest is to get Cooper to say that I can "burn".

Bath Time

It's a Good Day

Can you believe this? I kept asking Coop if he wanted a nap. He kept saying no but crawled up on the couch and asked me to pull the blanket over him. Next thing I know they are both asleep at the same time and I had an hour of quiet!!! It’s a good day!

(Notice Cooper slept the entire nap clutching that little train!)

Playing Together

Potty Training

• Day 2 of Potty Training. Coop sat for a very long time on the potty and Bear kept tearing it apart.
• Day 3 and 4 I found the potty in pieces in the living room.
• Day 5 I watched Coop pee right next to it.
• Day 6 I think it's in the bathtub now- in pieces.

Cute Stories

I'm not big on reading all the child development stuff- I usually just call my friend Jamie if I need help on anything. I stressed out way too much over every little milestone that Cooper was or wasn't hitting and when I let that go my life was a lot less stressful. But I figure 3 is about the age for potty training so this morning I realized I needed to pull out Cooper's little potty. (I bought it months ago but gave up when I found the seat cushion over Bear's head all the time like a little hat and the bottom in the bath tub.) Cooper jumped right on it and positioned himself and knew to say potty and stinky. He just had a little party on the potty for a while. Bear realized where we were and came running in and tried to tackle Cooper off the potty so he could play with the cushion.

I told Bear that it was not a Bear toy it was Cooper's potty. Cooper responded with, "That's right Bear, wjahn aierueij diefjei, biiiig trouble my potty."
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Later Cooper found a little blue rabbit. We've had it for over 6 months but they don't play with it. But today he grabbed it up and started slamming it up and down yelling, "Rabbit bounce!" over and over again. I know what's cute about that? Well then he suddenly looks at it, holds it tight to him and says, "Oh bunny I'm sooooo happy."
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So Bear woke up from his nap and as he's started to do the last few days he runs to Cooper's bedroom door and wakes Coop up. Today Bear started the pounding on the door and I hear a frantic, "Mommy, mommy, mommy!" I go into the room and Coop grabs my hand and says, "My boo boo!" He puts my hand on his boo boo. It happened like 3 or 4 days ago and he REFUSED to let me put a band aid on him. I even tried to sneak one on when he was sleeping but he kept taking it off. Today he sits there while I put a band aid on and I'm fully expecting him to rip it off and he says, "Thanks!" then jumps off the bed and still has it on!!! I can't keep up with the rules :-)
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Now as I'm typing they are eating lunch and Cooper keeps saying, "Oohhhh mommy, that's yummy. Wow mommy that's nummy!!" It's broccoli, squash, kale, tomatoes mixed with quinoa. How cute is he????
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I didn't realize I had all these cute stories today but Coop is doing the cutest things. I asked him to throw a diaper away for me. I don't ask them to do enough I'm so used to doing everything. So now he gets his shoes or his diaper. I thought no way will he throw this out he can't work the step lever on the trash can to open it. He takes the diaper and RUNS to the trash can. He can't get it open so he rips the whole top off and throws it in and yells, "We did it!!"
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So now he's over here picking up all the tupperware lids that Bear threw all over the kitchen and putting them back in the drawer. I find that so amusing because it used to be Cooper throwing all the tupperware lids all over the floor!

Caught On Tape

I was making lunch when I heard these delightful squeals coming from the bedroom. They are now chasing each other around the apartment on purpose. I know that sounds weird but before Cooper would be running and laughing and Bear would sort of run along wondering what the commotion was about. Coop would think Bear was chasing him and laugh louder creating a little cycle. But now when there is a toy to be had Coop will snatch it and run. Most times it starts a game of chase, other times just Bear on the floor screaming because his toy has been snatched!

Our Slide Adventures at Lake Lynn

We had a little bit of fun taking the boys down the big slides at Lake Lynn Park!

Our Anniversary

Boy did we luck out this year. Chris/Popi drove down from Snowshoe for a visit and to babysit the boys while Jim and I got to go out for our 5th anniversary. (This is only the second one we've actually celebrated!) There wasn't a lot besides going to bars in the area but they do have a "First Night" celebration here in Raleigh so we decided to give that a shot. We found there was a Maggiano's restaurant about 30 minutes away. Our first date was at Maggiano's back in 2001. They had one reservation left at 5:15 so we snatched it up. As soon as we got there we realized why it had been open because it was in the worst spot by the kitchen. We laughed because that was exactly how it had been on our first date with us stuck back by the kitchen.

It was a unique experience to have a 2.5 hour meal and to enjoy every course. I even told the waiter to hold off on putting our main order in so we could just sit and enjoy and not feel rushed. Every once in a while we sighed over the cuteness of some other child at a nearby table but mostly we just got to talk and enjoy our evening. As we were paying the bill I remembered having a Maggiano's gift card (that we had only used some of) from KT and Bruce and it covered our entire bill! That was a nice little surprise.

Off we headed to First Night. The first show we saw was an African Dance Troupe. I don't know why I thought we needed to sit in the front row but there we were. This huge man started booming "A-go!" and when he said that you had to say "A-may" as loud as he did. Jim decided to use his deep and loud voice to boom back at the man and got into a little competition with a kid next to us. My ear was ringing from Jim yelling so loud! So it was only natural when they were doing some audience participation he stopped in front of us (my head went to the ground refusing to make eye contact) when the next thing I know Jim is out on the dance floor jamming out and getting everyone to scream for him. (No, I didn't have my camera!) I personally think Jim was having flash backs to his BMOC days at Longwood.

Then we headed over to see the Wake and District Public Safety Pipes & Drums group. They got together to do the bagpipes and drums for their fallen police officers, fire fighters and soldiers. It was so different from the African dance event we had just attended but man it was breathtaking. I got a little choked up when the did the song they do for their fallen. All I could think was I hope I never have to hear that song for real. Then they did a rendition of Amazing Grace that would bring anyone to tears. The drums were so fast you could barely see them hitting with what you were hearing. It was just amazing. So after that we broke down and called Chris and got a chuckle because bed time for the boys had certainly not been easy for Popi. I told him they knew a sucker when they had one. I think they went down around 11! He even told me not to call again for fear of waking them up!

So next we traipsed across town to get to an Improv group that did a pretty funny set. Jim only heckled them once. (I was so proud!) Then we found our way to the big acorn (their version of the ball drop) and listened to a Raleigh native, Tift Merrin, and did the countdown. The fireworks started off and we were a little worried because they were really, and I mean really, small but then they took off and we had a nice firework show. It was so nice to bring in the new year together that way. This year promises to have a lot of life changes again. Jim has decided to join the Army instead of looking for the National Guard jobs. So that means another career change and a move and I'm starting my new business. I've been told that 2008 is the year of new beginnings! So here's to 2008!