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Thu, Jul 3, 2008 4:08 PM
Joshua woke up at about 4:30 am this morning screaming! It sounded like a really scared cry, so we think it was a bad dream. Poor little guy. I straightened him out in his crib and tucked his lovey under his arm. He quieted down right away.

Joshua has been doing great on the 50/50 soy/milk formula mix. So, Chad said we should increase the milk more and go to a 33/66 mix. I hope he continues to do well with the milk!

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Wed, Jul 2, 2008 3:55 PM
Papa had fun with the boys yesterday. When I got home, he and Noah were chasing each other around the kitchen. Noah was saying "da da da" (which means "catch me if you can") and having so much fun that he ran right by me and didn't even stop to greet me or give me the usual welcome home hug! Papa said he got his exercise. LOL!

Chad got home at 8:30 pm last night! He FLEW home!!! I kept Noah up a little later so that Chad could see him. It's great to have him home safely!

We spent the day just lounging around the house. We all got naps today. I did a few errands with Noah in the morning and Chad mowed the lawn. It was a great day just being a family at home.

Noah is saying "out" now. He doesn't say the "t", so it comes out sounding like "ow". LOL! He started saying it when he wanted me to get the Play-Doh "out" of the can.

Joshua is squealing now. It can be piercing at times, but it's so darn cute. That's when you know he's really excited and happy. He spent some time on the floor today as I was cooking lunch and he was rolling all over the place. He's getting really good at it. Still no movements that show he's getting close to crawling.

Joshua is now on the Nuby sippy cups. These are completely BPA-free. He liked the Playtex bottle and did great with the transition to those. But I figured since we're switching to BPA-free cups anyway, might as well try and wean off the bottle while we're at it. Joshua took all 4 "bottles" in the new cups. He puts up a little fuss, but not as bad a Noah who completly refused them. YAY Joshua!

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Tue, Jul 1, 2008 3:41 PM
Chad is on his way home!

Two relief crews from Anaheim arrived yesterday, which means Chad is officially done with his tour up north! YAY!

They will have to stop to refuel, get food and unload their gear at the station, so we won't see him until maybe 10 pm or so tonight. I'm so excited to see him!

Thank you for all your prayers. And please continue to pray for the safety of those still working to put out the fires.

Papa is taking care of the boys all by himself today. Pray the boys are kind to him. :)

Comments:
Uncle Bruce: This is great news. Hopefully he will be in your arms soon. Be gentle with him and give him lots of tender love. We will say a prayer for Papa that his care will be great and the boys don't cause him any permanent damage. [GRIN]

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Mon, Jun 30, 2008 3:40 PM
Chad is off for the night and is staying at a small motel this time. It’s not as nice as the hotel, but at least he’ll get some rest. They didn’t do much today. They were on structure protection again, but there was no fire. He’s hoping they can waive the mandatory 12-hour rest period tomorrow, so that they can get on the road and come home as soon as possible.

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Sun, Jun 29, 2008 3:39 PM
Noah is starting to turn away from the camera when I’m trying to take pix of him. WTH?!! When did he learn that and HOW??? It’s the exact same thing he does when I try to give him his vitamins! Anyway, I try not to laugh, but sheesh it’s annoyingly funny!

Noah is having fun with the Play-Doh. He saw the box this morning and wanted to play with it. I make sure he keeps it only on the table. He does pretty well, but he tested me a lot today and would bring it to the kitchen, to the couch, and other places OFF the table. I would tell him to “put it back on the table please” and he would cooperate eventually. That little boy is already kalohe (rascal).

Because Noah was playing so nicely with the Play-Doh, I thought I’d set up a CD player in the room so that he’d have some music to listen to while creating. I put his Baby Einstein CD in and he loved it. I play it often in the car, but I guess it sounds completely different when you’re staring at some strange box with sound coming from it. Whenever one song would end, he would do the “more” sign. The next song would start and he would be happy until it ended, so he’d do the “more” sign again. He did it like 5 times in a row. He’s too cute.

Joshua got his last two (of 4) bottles in a sippy cup today. I was thinking about the tough transition from the bottle that we had with Noah, so I’m starting earlier with Joshua to hopefully sidestep all of that. Joshua did pretty good with the sippy cup! He would pull away and start to fuss, but would also latch on right away again. I think because he was hungry, he finished both bottles with no problem. YAY! The nipples are a much faster flow than the bottles, so that might be why he fussed, too. He’s just not used to them yet.

Joshua is also getting food 3x/day now – breakfast, lunch & dinner. We had been feeding him solids 4x/day before each bottle. But we’re going to get him to “regular” meal times and offering him more food. He was getting about 1-2 T. of food. Today, I increased that amount to 1 oz. of formula/cereal/food at each meal. We need to work up to 4 oz. at each meal, and decrease his milk slightly from 8 oz. each. He fussed when he finished his first bottle this morning, so I gave him about another oz. and then he was happy.

We went over to the Haan’s for dinner tonight. Carrie & Rick also had 3 other families there - more unfamiliar faces than familiar ones. A couple times before in group situations, Joshua would show some stranger anxiety and start crying. But not tonight! He did great and just hung out on my lap. Yay, Joshua!

Chad called. He is in a hotel room tonight! It's the hotel attached to some gaming casino up there. Today was a day off for them and kind of a down day because 1) they got the news that they might be up there longer than expected and 2) they haven't been given great (ie, exciting) assignments, so they weren't looking forward to another 3 days of a boring work assignment. He said that the days are long when you aren't on the front lines. So the guys tried to relax and actually got out to see a movie. It's in the high 80s there, so he said it was nice to be in an a/c'ed area. When they got out of the movie, they got the news that they are back to the original plan and they'll be going home on Tuesday... YAY!!!

As long as the fires don't get any worse, the relief team is scheduled to leave Anaheim tomorrow morning. Chad & his crew will be officially off on Tuesday morning and then they have a mandatory 12 hour rest before they can travel home, so that means they will leave at about 8 pm and drive through the night. Chad is hoping they can leave earlier though because all of them are "over the over time" and anxious to get home. Needless to say, we're anxious to have him back home, too!

Chad got some blisters on his heels from some boots that apparently need more breaking in ;). He said they're manageable with some mole skin and duct tape! He soaked in the tub tonight and is looking forward to a good night's sleep (for once not under the stars). They'll wake up at about 6 am to have breakfast (before having to eat sack meals again) and then be on the road by 7 am to get their assignment for their (hopefully!) last day.

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Sat, Jun 28, 2008 3:39 PM
Noah gave me a booger today. At least I think that’s what it was. He produces them quite often. It’s when I’m changing his diaper that I see them. They’re hard to ignore when he’s lying down – the angle is perfect. In typical mom fashion, I went in with my pinky nail to scrape it out (which of course he hates). Noah usually squirms and screams when I try to extract them, but this time he stuck his finger up the other nostril instead. Great, he’s learned how to pick his nose. Joy. Anyway, a little while later, he wanted to give me something. He’s always picking up tiny pieces of whatever and handing them to me. Yeah, I’m not a housekeeper. (In fact, the other day, he made me JUMP! He found something and walked over to me to it hand me, as usual. He extended his arm and his hand was *this close* to my face when I see, between his cute little thumb and index finger, a DEAD FLY! EWWWWW!!! I even let out a little scream! I so was not expecting to see that! GROOOOOSS!! I’m just glad he didn’t try to eat it!!! For some reason, there are always dead flies lying around our house and I’m constantly looking on the floor cleaning them up. It’s really disgusting. But that’s a whole other story…) You would think that I learned my lesson from that dead fly episode. But my memory is short and I was busy changing Joshua’s diaper. A quick glance showed nothing between Noah’s fingers this time (whew), so I simply slid my hand over his to grab whatever he was trying to hand me. Well...I felt something sticky. Then I looked down and see something small, brown and long-ish. I didn’t take any time to inspect it any further. I just wanted it off my finger! It might not have been a booger, but really what else it could have been? I didn’t want to know. I washed my hands and thought…ah, motherhood.

Noah can say “heart”! I bought him a cute little table & chair and a little Play-Doh kit with a bunch of different “cookie cutter” shapes, one of them being a heart! He’s starting to imitate more and it’s very cute. At night when I'm reading him bedtime stories, I'll ask "where's the sheep?" (or horse, cow, cat, duck etc.) and he'll point to it. Then I'll ask "what does a sheep (horse/cow/etc.) say?" Then he'll look at me and study my lips as I say "baaa baaa". He's made the "baaa" sound a couple times and it's very cute. Everytime I say a new word or make a new sound, he'll study my lips. I think he's really trying to figure out what to do with his mouth so that he can start saying them!

I was excited to introduce him to Play-Doh. I dug out a bit of the blue compound to try. What’s the very first thing he tried to do? Eat it! ARGH!!! I told him “don’t eat”, but of course he doesn’t listen. I left the room to do something and came back to see a slobbery piece of Play-Doh on the table. UGH!!!! I tried to get him to open his mouth so that I can retrieve whatever may still be in there, but he refuses. Oh well, the stuff has got to be non-toxic, right? It’s not going to the worst (or last) thing he tries to eat.

Joshua has got some muscles. He loves playing with the toys dangling from his activity gym and will always manage to pull them off. They’re stuck on with Velcro which is fairly strong. I will keep my hand on the Velcro when he’s playing with the toys and I’m amazed at how much strength I need to use to keep him from pulling them off.

Joshua can also transfer toys from hand to hand. I watched him do it with the koosh ball today. He’s also bearing weight on his legs. He’s still got the baby bowlegs, and they’re still really chunky and full of folds that I have to clean out periodically. Can you say parmesan cheese?

Joshua is also really ticklish on his upper thighs. He giggled the whole time I was wiping his during a diaper change. He’s ticklish all over his thigh area, just like his mommy!

I gave both boys a bath in the tub tonight. It was Joshua’s first time in the tub, and my first time giving him a bath on my own. It was pretty easy, but it did take some effort to get him out of the bath “chair” that we have for him.

Comments:
traci: oh my goodness, noah is SO FUNNY!!!!!!!

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Thu, Jun 26, 2008 5:34 PM
Chad called this morning. He and his crew are getting the next 24 hours off which is good. He'll get some rest and some decent food. He doesn't think he'll be home any earlier than Tuesday. He may be up there even longer...just depends on how the fires progress.

It's Joshua's 7-month birthday today. He's getting sooo big. I keep wondering if he'll outgrow Noah... He's eating at least 2T. of rice cereal with food, and then finishing four 8+ oz each day. He gets a nap between each feeding (so 3 total) and is sleeping well at night.

Comments:
Bruce Riley: Tina, we continue in paryer for Chad's safety and that of his crew. Hopefully he is back home with his family and the fires are starting to die out. God Bless You and all your family and hold all of you in his hands. Keep on blogging I love it.

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Wed, Jun 25, 2008 5:28 PM
Chad called this morning. They are babysitting fires to make sure they didn't jump roads. They got to put out some small ones, too.

Noah LOVES raspberries. Mama gave him some on Sun when we visited and he couldn’t pop them in his mouth fast enough. She brought more raspberries to me at work to give to him, along with some breadsticks that he liked, too. Well, he would’ve eaten the whole box of berries if I let him today. And he ate all the breadsticks – one after the other. I’ve never seen him do the “more” sign so many times in a row. It was very cute.

Today was Joshua’s last bottles that included breast milk. I used the last bag of my frozen supply. :( He’ll be getting all formula after today...so sad.

The boys went to Babies R Us with me this morning, but the rest of the day was spent at home. I played and played with Joshua today. He is so cute and I love nuzzling his neck and making him laugh. I'm trying to cherish these days while he's still a baby because he's growing so fast.

Ok, so here's the update to my vague entry on 6/17. I can divulge this info now since I can happily say that we're in the clear.

So, back on 6/17, I called my OB’s office, telling her that I’ve stopped nursing, so please call in a new rx for a stronger, “regular” pill rx to take when I’m finished taking this – my last mini-pill – pack in a couple weeks. She then tells me that we need to use a back-up method during the first month of this new pill. I ask why since I was just hoping to transition to the new pills after taking the last one in the current pack. So, she says...GET THIS...the mini-pill only protects against pregnancy WHEN YOU'RE NURSING! I could ovulate at any time because I'M NOT NURSING!

OH. MY. GOSH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I HAVEN'T BEEN NURSING SINCE MAY 3!!! I thought I was safe this whole time and didn’t know the mini-pill ONLY WORKS WHEN YOU’RE NURSING!!!!!!!!! AAAAHHHHHHHH

We’ve been UNPROTECTED for OVER 6 WEEKS! AAAAAAHHHH!!!!!!

Seriously, I’m not dumb. I would have remembered if she told me that piece of IMPORTANT information! Isn't this something that we really needed to know???!! Why the heck wasn't that to me from the start???!! AAAHHHHHHH!!!

I called Chad in a panic and told him that I was buying an EPT on the way home that night. He asked if he should move up his “big V”. WTH? That doesn’t matter! LOL! What matters is the other night...and the other night before that!!! AAHHHH!!!

I'm kinda panicking. Understatement. But nothing I can do now, right?

I was wondering why I hadn't gotten my AF yet...I thought I was just LUCKY! HAHA! Seriously, I hope I am lucky. If not, I'll take it as a sign that God thinks I'm a good mom.

AAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!

So...the next day (6/18), I anxiously take the EPT. 2 minutes later...NEGATIVE! WOO HOO! I'm so relieved...

But now I'm thinking about how long those little guys actually can survive... Isn't it like 3 or 4 days??? That means I still have a couple days to still worry.

Which brings us up to today. It's now been a week. So, I take a second EPT. Hold my breath. It's NEGATIVE!! I'm not preggo for sure!! Hooray!!!

And I'm not on any kind of pill right now. I have to wait for AF to show up until I can start. So, for now, we're stuck with those lovely latex gloves. Oh well...Chad's "V" is scheduled for 8/28, so it won't be much longer that we'll have to think of any kind of BC.

Comments:
Uncle Bruce: What a tale you spin. I was engrossed in it.

traci: OH MY GOSH! YOU ARE THE FUNNIEST PERSON ALIVE!!! This sure is a LOT of information! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

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Mon, Jun 23, 2008 5:48 PM
Chad got called to fight the fires up north in Butte County. He and his crew are going in a strike team/caravan of 6 engines. It will take them 8+ hours to drive up there. Plus, they're leaving right in the middle of rush-hour traffic.

He could be gone all week. :( I started missing him as soon as he told me. I know he’s excited to go, but it will be hard to have him gone that long. It will be the longest he’s ever been away from all of us.

Be safe, Daddy! We’ll miss you!

UPDATE: Chad just called and they are in Bakersfield, which is about a 3 hour drive from here, and they still have about NINE more hours to go. They are going to be driving through the night and will arrive around 6 am. UGH.

Here's a map to where the fires are now:
http://www.fire.ca.gov/about/downloads/Statewide_Fire_Maps/
Statewide_Fires_062208_0800_A.pdf
The fire he's going to fight is the "BTU Lightning" fire in Butte County - about 1/4 of the way from the northern most border of California. We live in Orange County - all the way south, the tiny little area on the west coast, just north of San Diego County. They're going FAR!

I read that it was started by lightning, hence the name, and that about 200 residences are being threatened.

He doesn't know how long he'll be up there. It'll be a day-to-day assessment of the need, so please pray for a quick containment!

Comments:
Uncle Bruce: You know that you will have ours. He is in a very dangerous occupation and we all know it. So glad that you married a brave man with good character. Not bad looking either. [GRIN]

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Sun, Jun 22, 2008 5:47 PM
Man, what a day. I had 2 diaper blowouts, 2 doo-doo loads of laundry, a broken crib and a dismantled window blind.

Joshua was first up the diaper disaster. He was in his kick-n-play and I glanced down to see all this greenish paste on his thigh. I thought it was baby food that I didn’t wipe off completely…that is, until I got a closer look and saw it was coming from his diaper! YIKES! It was a HUGE amount, too. I would’ve thrown away the kick-n-play if I could. But we use it too often. So I wiped it off and threw it in the washer. Doo-doo load #1.

Since I had to throw something else in the washer so it wasn’t just the kick-in-play cover, I grabbed the sheets of the boys’ crib mattresses. Sounds easy enough, right? Well, on Joshua’s crib, the mattress got caught on the springs below, so I was having the hardest time getting the mattress up to remove the sheet. Well, I struggled with it and it finally came up, springs and all. And yep, it’s true what they say. What comes up, must come down. And it came down hard – so hard that a piece of plastic when flying off on its landing. It fell back crooked and completely out of whack. Oops. I really hoped I didn’t break it! Crap. Where was Joshua going to take his nap?! Crap. I didn’t know what it was or where it came from, so I proceeded to put the crib back together. I hope I didn’t damage anything else. I hope the crib is still safe! We had Joshua on the highest level since he’s not crawling or pulling up or anywhere near standing yet. Well, I figured out where that plastic piece came from...it was where the springs rest to be on the highest level. So, now we can’t put the mattress on the highest level anymore. Sigh.

Now, we pack up the boys and go to Mama & Papa’s for the day. I had the a/c on, but turned it off since we’d be gone all day. I wondered how hot the house would be when we got back. I didn’t want to leave the a/c on and waste all that energy, plus I didn’t want to have to pay for it if we weren’t going to be there. The boys had fun playing with their grandparents and we left about 6:30 to get home in time for me to feed the boys dinner and then get them to bed.

After getting off the exit at Bake, I started noticing a fertilizer odor. I glanced down at the a/c and noticed that I had the air on “fresh”. So, I change it to “recirculate”, thinking of course I'd keep the bad smell out. Well, the smell isn't going away. Then Noah starts getting fussy. It took me a while to figure it out, and then I realized...ahhhh...ok, the stink is coming from Noah! Big poopy diaper #2 for the day. We get home. I get Joshua into the house first, then get Noah out and start changing his diaper. The doo-doo came out the top of his diaper and started going up his back. GROSS. Keeping him buckled in snugly in his car seat doesn’t only mean there’s no wiggle room for him; it also means there’s no place for his doo-doo’s to go, except up his back! Argh! The doo-doo is on the inside of his shirt, too. Did it get on the car seat? Must remember to go back to the car and check...so both Noah's shorts and shirt are now off and headed for the washer. Doo-doo load of laundry #2.

The house was hot, but not as bad as I thought it would be. To start getting all the hot air out, I turned on the house fan and, as fast as I could, open all the windows upstairs. I started with Joshua’s room, fine. Next was Noah’s room. He’s got a huge window with big blinds. Heavy blinds. I pull hard on the cord...and the whole thing comes off and falls down with a big bang. Crap. All 3 poster board shades come down, too, now that the blinds aren’t there to hold them in place. Crap. Did I break the lamp? Did it ding any of the furniture? Quick glance - nothing big. Ok, good. Thank God none of it fell on Noah! He was upstairs with me following me around as I opened windows, like the little nosy boy he is. Chad is working, so I stand there for a moment looking up at the place where the blinds used to be and wonder how the heck I’m going to put everything back by 8 pm when Noah needs to go to bed. It’s too high and too heavy for me to put back by myself. Think, Tina, think!

It’s now 7:15 pm. Neither boy has eaten yet and I still need to unload the groceries and bags from the car and get them fed and ready for bed. Thankfully, Joshua isn’t screaming for food yet. I start getting Joshua’s food ready and sit Noah in his highchair to get ready to eat, too. I open all the other windows to start cooling down the rest of the house.

I then realize I could call Rick to help me with the blinds! But no one is home at the Haan house – NOOOOO! Next, I try Carrie’s cell. They’re on their way home from all-day baseball games – maybe 5 minutes away – YAY! Nathan’s team won the championship – yay! And they can stop by before going home to help me put the blinds back – YAY YAY! It’s great to have family that close! I got the ladder upstairs and ready for Rick to help. I also put the clean sheets back on the boys’ mattresses. Ugh, it’s so hard getting those sheets on. I know they make them snug so they won’t be a safety hazard, but SHEESH! I almost broke my hand trying to get them on. It never gets easier. Anyway, the Haans arrived and Rick helped me put back the blind. It literally took seconds. I just needed a strong hand. Whew! Done and fixed. Noah’s room was finally back together.

The boys finished eating. Thankfully, they both ate well. Noah is getting good about taking his vitamins, too. He doesn’t really fuss anymore, but he will keep his lips closed for a few seconds and then will open his mouth for me to get the dropper in there.

Oh, and Noah said a new word today - "down"! When the Haan's were over, he starting freaking out, and didn't want to eat. When I asked him if he wanted down, he said "down"! I couldn't believe it!

It was still too warm in the house at 8 pm, but I needed to get the boys in bed. So I turned on the a/c to cool the house down further and started shutting all the windows. I wish I could leave the boys’ windows open, but the outside noise (esp. cars driving by) can get really loud. The temp read 85 degrees inside, so I set the temp to 78 to cool it down fast. I dressed the boys in just onesies and turned on the fans in their rooms. The a/c works really well and when the temp hit 81, it actually felt comfortable which was unusual. Usually, we set it at 80 and it's still a little warm. Anyway, now I start to worry that the onesie wasn’t going to keep them warm enough if it gets any cooler. So, I kept the a/c at 81 which ended up being perfect. By morning, it was 67 degrees outside. So, I opened up the windows again. Ah, relief! It’s supposed to get cooler as the week progresses...yay!

That was my crazy day. So, I spent the rest of the night “dead-ass”-ing it (as Chad calls it) on the couch watching TV.

Comments:
traci: Wow, sounds like you had a CRAPPY day! Have you tried out "The Ultimate Crib Sheet" yet? It sure is a lifesaver when poop or pee goes down! Don't forget, you can call us anytime for help too! =)

sara: tina- you have the funniest stories! bless you for all of your patience!

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