Family Pictures

About 2 weeks ago, we got family pictures done. Here are a few of my favorites.













James got sick yesterday. He was fine and dandy. Then after he took his nap, he woke up with a temp of 102.5. I gave him Tylenol and put cold compresses all over him. He didnt seem to mind, when he normally hates that. But it didnt do anything. After Jake got home an hour later, we decided to take him to the after hours clinic since the fever wasnt moving. They took us back and said that he had an ear infection and probably something else and thats why his fever is so high. The dr said that its ok for him to have a high fever because its fighting something and just to keep giving Tylenol and Motrin (alternate between the two) and the antibiotic for the ear infection. If he isnt at least acting better by Friday to take him back in. As long as we stay on top of the fever reducers, James seems to be fine. He eats a little and drinks a lot, so he is still hydrated. Poor guy.

Its odd to have James sick because SAM is the one who just had the 5 shots!! Anyways... nothing has changed in the past few days. Jake is going to be flying this weekend, so we are just going to take it easy here at the house. Watch a lot of Disney movies so James doesnt play too hard and lets his body rest. You can also go to YOUTUBE and watch some cute videos of the boys. www.youtube.com - search for jakobandstepha

Oh birthday weekends...

Oh the birthday weekend for the kids. Good times. Lets start with Saturday.

Saturday - we had some friends over that night for some cake and ice cream. Each of the boys for their own small cake so that they could blow out the candle. James tried, but he ended up spitting more than blowing. Sam, he had no idea what to do, so I gave him a little help. They both got to eat their own cake and share with friends. As the kids played, you can see in the picture with Sam in his room, that they destroyed their room. It was no big deal. They had a great time. It was an easy clean. A great time was had by all. AND that was the first time that Sam took more than one step! He took about 5-6 in a row. You can see this if you go to YOUTUBE.com and type in the search bar "jakobandstepha". Its cute.

Sunday - I had Jake stay home with the boys since they were still coughing and had runny noses. I had to go to church because we had our Primary Program. That went great. They children did an AMAZING job and I couldnt have been prouder. Then they got to eat cupcakes during Primary. When I got home, my boys took a nap and I got to rest some.

Monday - Poor Sam. He got to go to his 1year well baby check up. He had to have blood drawn out of his finger, a TB shot in his arm for daycare (if we ever need to take him in the next year), and FIVE shots (two in his left leg and three in his right leg). He didnt cry with the blood, but the shots made him cry for about four minutes in all. He did real well then slept for about 2.5 hours!!! After he and James rested, we went to post and ran some errands. Then we had a friend over, ate, and went for a walk. Tonight, after the boys go to bed, Jake and I are going to start looking for things to buy them for Christmas. We need to start getting their presents shipped out here.

That was our boys birthday weekend. Hope you enjoy the blog and the cute pictures.

Park

This morning, we went to the park. Normally, we go to the mommy play group. But today, there were a BUNCH of soldiers in there, so we decided to go with a friend to the play ground. James loves to play there. Sam had a great time climbing up on the slide and going down. I had to help him with turning around, but he didnt seem to mind. It was chilly, so we were only out there for about an hour. Oh well... good times!!

Fire station fun...

Today we went to the fire station on post. Every day, there is a mommy group that does something. Today was story time. After they read a story, they took a "field trip" to the fire station (which was MAYBE 1/4 mile away). It was real cute to have the kids hang out with the truck and the firemen and the big dog. James was SCARED of the dog, Sparky. Sam didn't care for him that much either. Oh well, we got a cute picture anyways.

James just turned 3 and Sam will turn 1. Its a big month for our boys. How fun is it for them to have birthdays so close together? James got a Leap Frog electronic "game" that helps him to draw letters. It will have you pick a letter then it will light up little dots that you follow with a pen to draw the letter. Its real neat for James since he knows his letter sounds. Hes getting so big!!!

Sam will be getting a big red bouncy ball for his birthday (shh, dont tell him). He already got a truck and a walker. But he needed something to open on his birthday - thats why the ball. But he will love it. He has been real cranky lately. We dont know if there are more teeth coming in that we cant see or what. But he just gets MAD. Maybe he is just having growing pains???

Jake is flying more and more. Its good for him, sad for me. He does enjoy flying over Korea at night. We are trying to see more and more of the country, but since he is "progressed" and can fly, he has to work more. So that takes time away from us exploring.

We just had family pictures taken at a beautiful forest here. We should have them back in about a week. Ill post some pics when we get them. The lady that did it is a wife to a guy in Jake's company. She was super sweet and James just adored her.

I have more and more projects that I want to do while here. There are a few quiet time activity books I want to MAKE for the boys to keep them occupied during church.

Thats about it, I think?? Hope all is well with all our friends and family back home in the states. MISS YOU ALL.

Getting chilly!!

Ok, so it is starting to get real chilly here. It has been in the mid 60's for the past week! That is beautiful, yet chilly when the wind picks up. Things are going well though. Let me tell you a story!

Last Monday, Jake was packing to go back up to Green Platoon. He didnt have to leave until 1230, so we decided to hang out until he left and run errands. He was planning on taking the car up there so I could take the truck this week. We took both cars to post so that he could leave from there and I would be able to get home. After running errands, he decided he was going to take the truck instead and let me have the car, since I like to drive a LOT while he is gone. No problem. I didnt mind a bit. We switch cars, he leaves with the truck, and I take the car over to the dr so that James could get his TB shot (you have to have a shot and a physical to get put into the daycare for any reason, and I wanted the opportunity to put them into hourly daycare if I needed later). After dealing with James at the dr (**which I will tell you that story after this one), I head home. Right before I get off post, Jake calls me. He is FLIPPING out because we switched keys and the extra keys that I now had, he needed to get his gear out to fly in about an hour and a half. He demanded (I say "demanded" because he was VERY upset he forgot to grab the keys and there was NO way around this situation but for me to drive and I was too scared) that I drive up to Seoul RIGHT THEN and bring him his keys. I hesitated, told him that Sam needed food and that they both needed diaper changes to which I only had one each for them... he replies with (to sum it up) "oh well, get here now". So we hang up, I freak out, he calms down, and calls me back. He apologizes that he has to make me do this but convinces me that I will do fine. He gives me AMAZING directions and lets me call him EVERY turn I make to make sure what I did was correct (here, you cant just get off a freeway and hop back on again, you have to go like 15 miles to "turn around"). About 45 minutes later and thankfully no wrong turns, I made it to him. He greeted us and gave the boys diaper changes and snacks. He thanked me over and over and then we had to leave. He had drawn me a map of the way home, explained it VERY well again, and we headed home. He had to be in class but swore that if I called, he would answer. I made it home, again with no problems thanks to his awesome directions. And that was my surprise trip to Seoul with just me and the kids.

So... James and his TB shot - I told the nurse to not let him see the needle because he is not dumb. She had her hands behind her back until she was ready to stick him. I grabbed his legs, a male assistant grabbed his arms, and the nurse doing the shot had his arm that she was going to pinch. James tried with all his might to get away. She stabbed him and he moved. So she had to re-stab him and he moved more. She quickly pushed in the shot (and kinda squirted my eye) and he was done. He got a big (I say big only because his arms are so small) bruise from the shot and moving, but he was fine. No TB. :-)

Sam is eating me out of house and home. He is non-stop eating. And his teeth? Oh my goodness. Instead of just getting one upper tooth, he got TWO MOLARS without me even knowing. I cant say that he didnt tell me because all he has been doing is crying and biting and chewing on things. So I suppose in his own way he DID tell me. I just didnt understand. Poor little guy. He is getting tough, thanks to his mean older brother. And James is getting meaner and meaner, thanks to - well I dont know.

Jake should be done with Green Platoon tonight, but he just called me and said that his hawk is not able to fly. So he may have to stay the night and fly tomorrow. Whatever, right? Sigh... the army life. We have been talking and think that we may try for Ft Carson after this station. We feel like we need to be back in the states, as much as we want to try for Germany.

Well - that is my post for the day. Hope you enjoy the few pics.