North Dakota State Fair 2013

    We went to the North Dakota State Fair this week and had a great time! We went on Tuesday because it was Military Appreciation Day and we if we each brought a Coke bottle then we got in for half price. (That applied for everyone, military or not) So since Andrew & Lillian are free we only had to pay $8, which is a nice treat for us! So 11-1 there was a free lunch provided for the military at the fair. We waited in line and signed in and an older gentleman came and helped me by pushing the stroller so I could fix myself a plate.

 Next was free rides for the military from 1-3. Andrew rode the carousel three times! The first time he rode it with Drew, and they just sat on that seat thing that does not moves at all. He then wanted me to get on with him. He kept saying he wanted to get on a dragon and kept looking all around the thing for it, we found it right before it started but a kid was already on it. (It ended up being right in front of where him and Drew sat before) So when everyone got off we kind of hid behind the horses and waited til there were a few people on then went and found the dragon. (Which was right in front of us because we sat on the seat thing again.) Andrew was so giggly and happy when he got on! (Well the whole time he was on he was on the dragon he was like that)

7-21-13

     Last night I got 2-3 hours of sleep and was able to put on a happy face and go to church today. Lillian got to wear a dress that was mine when I was a baby.

 She like CONSTANTLY is eating! I only give her a bottle when we are out in public otherwise just nurse her.

      Andrew is doing good because he always wants me to play with him but sometimes I am just unable to. His new thing recently is playing with his train track that  he got for Christmas. He is so cute with it too! He makes the train go around the track that he builds then says, "Special Delivery" He got that from watching "Chuggington" on the Disney channel. And of course, Angry Birds is still number one! I don't know if anything will ever rank higher in his eyes!
      This Tuesday we are going to the North Dakota State Fair! I am so excited!! We went last year and had such a great time! And then Thursday night we are going back out to the fair grounds for a rodeo.
      Oh, something historic has taken place here in North Dakota! Minot officially has the one and only Sonic Drive In in the whole state! It officially opens tomorrow. They have been doing orders for family of the workers today and yesterday. We are thinking about going sometime this week possibly. I told Drew that I am honestly in no hurry to get there because it is not like I have NEVER been to one before or will ever go to one again! haha

Singing

    Andrew was building with his toys and he starts singing, "I like to eat, eat, eat apples and bananas" hahaha. He said that was his favorite song. He heard it several times this past month while I had Pandora radio playing on the "Toddler" station. (He was just singing, "Skinny Mar-Rink-A-Dink_A_Dink" )
    Since we are saving money for the fair next week we haven't really had the money to eat out. (Which is a good thing!) It really feels good to eat something made from home. :) But tonight we are going to Pizza Ranch for dinner since his Squadron is having a get together.
    Lillian is doing good. She still sleeps a lot of the time in the day and she does well still at night. I just suffer during the day of exhaustion because my sleep is broken up throughout the night. And from being so exhausted I am cranky and tend to let it out on Drew when he gets home. I seriously try not too but it is hard.. haha.

Sunday, July 14,2013

    Last night was a night of no sleep for me... :( I could not fall asleep...  Drew didn't get home til after midnight from the work call. Lillian needed a diaper change at 2:30 and had trouble falling back to sleep for like the rest of the night. Then when I was finally starting to doze off, Andrew wakes  up scared... Then Drew comes in the room in the morning and could tell I had a rough night so didn't even bother asking if I was going to get ready for church. (He had stayed up ALL night the night before so he could sleep during the day today for night shift tonight) Turns out someone had called my phone this morning and left a message asking me to meet up with the Bishop before church. I turned to tears and cried my heart out. I have a feeling it is going to be for a calling. I just feel over my head in stuff right now but we will see later, as I did not go to church today.
     Right now Drew is holding Lillian and giving me a little break before he goes in for the night shift. I have held her like all day today because she has just been feeding non stop it seems.
     I am not really planning on going out and doing much this week. I looked at the forecast and it is supposed to be low 90s 3 days this week and that is REALLY hot when you do not have AC in your car. But we are eventually going to get that fixed. There are a few things I would like to do up here with it being our last summer here. I would like to be able to go to the Peace Gardens, which is like 2 hrs away and maybe to Fargo or Grand Forks.

Saturday, July 13, 2013

     Lillian has been asleep for 2 hrs now and it is already 9:30 at night!! Maybe if I get her up now she will sleep later... and through the night. (We'll see)
     Since today is Saturday we thought we'd go out as a family and do something together. We thought since Little Cesars has these weird hours of only being open from 11-4 and we can never make it in time that we'd go there for lunch. (We haven't had them in a LONG time!) Well we were driving the long stretch of road that has nothing on it for a mile or two and we were half way done with it and Drew gets a call on his work cell phone. (He got it for the weekend.) So we had to cancel and drop him off at his work and the three of us go and find something to do. Ended up that I took Andrew to McDonald's to play since it has been a while since he has been there. (And because they have the Minion toys in the Happy Meals from Despicable Me 2) The toys ended up being so cute! I got a Happy Meal and he got one too and of course we got the same toys so I went and traded mine in for a different one.

So Andrew played on the playground at McDonalds for about 1 1/2 hrs until Drew called and said he was about to head back to the base in the work truck and if we were ready to pick him up. So we left and met him there at his work. On the way home from his shop we stopped by the commissary to get a pizza to have as we watched a movie or two together this evening. So we had the pizza and him and Andrew were going to run to the store to rent a movie and they pulled out of the driveway and he got a call again on the work phone, so he pulled back into the garage. Andrew was crying bc he was excited to spend one on one time with his Daddy and they didn't get far from home.
     I just got done doing a workout video on YouTube, something I would like to make like a daily habit. (Along with eating better, which I totally failed at today... But I didn't have an ice cream at McDonald's! So I did make A good choice..)

Friday, July 12, 2013

    I picked Lillian up after getting dressed from taking a shower and she just looked up at me and was laughing! (but without noise) I guess she had never really seen me with wet hair, haha. She thought is was so funny.
     We went to town this evening to get a few items & went out to eat. Went by Target to get Andrew a reward for doing so well with potty training. He got "Angry Birds Star Wars Jenga" and had to tell everyone in the store about it. It was cute but he about drove us crazy when it was time to go home, haha. On the way home Lillian was crying like crazy and nothing would calm her. I heard Andrew singing "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" to her very softly and sweetly. When she got quiet he said, "Mama, Mama! I sang to Lilly and now her eyes are closed and she is asleep!" He was so proud!

Thursday, July 11, 2013

    Today has gone pretty well. The kids were pretty calm today. Lillian had her first "blowout" today. Luckily we were at home when it happened though.. I had just gotten her dressed and she had just got done taking a bath too. I put a cute little dress on her that my friend Kelly Harvey had just given her Sunday. It got on the dress in a few places but put it in the cold wash right after and it came right out! Good thing to because I hadn't had the chance to get a picture of her in it yet. haha Andrew spent all day in his underwear and didn't have any accidents... well until we went upstairs at the end of the day. I was laying in bed feeding Lillian and I felt a wet spot. I asked Andrew, "Did you pee up here?" And he said, "No" but then replies with a slow, "Yes" And I tell him it is alright and to try harder next time, and to help me take the sheets off of the bed.
     Drew came home from work early today, because he had to get ready to go to PT. I asked what he had planned for afterwords.  I was wondering if he could stay home with the kids so I could pick up a few things at the commissary. Lillian was asleep and I showed Drew where a pre-made bottle was just incase she was hungry. (They are the pre-made Enfamil ones) I went to the store, took my time and didn't rush. When I came home she was still asleep! Which was awesome! :)
      Today we actually had something healthy for dinner! WooHoo!! Go Me!! I made taco soup. I figured I should go ahead and make it since we pretty much have enough cans of the beans to make A LOT of it. (I hope they let us take canned goods when we move)
       Oh by the way, it is pretty much official now that we are moving at the end of 2013 or at the beginning of 2014. We are planning on moving to Lexington, SC but it could also be Charleston, SC, it just all depends on which school accepts him. If both accept then more than likely we will choose Lexington. From the research I've done online over the past couple of months I have found that the school system is pretty good there and IF we decide on settling there that houses are not too bad priced there either. We will be like 10 minutes away from the River Bank Zoo and about 30 minutes or so away from the Columbia Temple! Wouldn't it be awesome to be able to make weekly visits to the temple! Drew would have to travel to the Charleston Air Force Base once a month for the Reserves. And I think for 2 weeks once a year they will send him over seas for an assignment, plus he can be sent on deployments still. We won't be paid like we are now but he decided to do this so he can go back to school. And of course if this does not work out for us then we can always go back to active duty, so that window is always open for us.
     Now that we have a schedule somewhat going on, I am able to be more productive at home. The kids sleep in til about 10-11 or so and we get ready for the day. We come down stairs at about 12:30 and we play or spend Drew's lunch hour with him. We pretty much play indoors or outdoors until Drew gets off work. When Drew gets home I let him un-wind a little then he spends time with the children while I work on some chores in the kitchen. I try and do the dishes once a day and keep the floor and counters somewhat clean. I also try and keep caught up on laundry too. This evening he held Lillian and I was able to go through Andrew's toys in the den. I have a bag full to take to donate to AirMan's Attic. I will go through the toys again and again later on down the road to keep trying to down size. We just really need to be getting rid of a lot of stuff if we are going to be taking on apartment life with two children. (This is a duplex we live in now, we have never been in a single family home in our years together)

    ***This is my first blog entry since we have gotten the computer back! Expect more pictures!! (hopefully) And I am going to go back to the previous posts and add the pictures to the correct days. :D

This picture was taken last night of sweet Little Lillian

Wednesday July 10, 2013

This picture was taken at the food court on the Minot AFB on Monday, July 8, 2013

Wednesday July 10, 2013

Today has been pretty good. Lillian slept in til noon and Andrew ended up sleeping later too so I was to also. We got up and got dressed, ate a sandwich, and went out back to play. Andrew met a little girl who was also on the playground and they played for a while. We came in and went down to the den to watch tv and Lillian fell asleep on my lap. This evening after Drew gets home from work we are supposed to go to pick up the computer from being worked on. I have kind of enjoyed not having a computer though, it has been nice. But it is kind of hard to make blog entries from the phone..

Tuesday July 9, 2013

    Drew worked night shift Sunday night and Monday night. Today is Tuesday & he is just trying to stay up all day so he can sleep tonight for regular day shift tomorrow.      
     Monday I was going to take Andrew & Lillian out to run a few errands and to take Andrew to play so Drew could sleep in peace,but Drew ended up coming with us. It turned out nice having him go with us though.
    We went to Airman's Attic and I was able to find some clothes for Lillian for her to grow in to and some summer shorts for Andrew. Then we stopped by the food court and had Taco Bell before heading to the playground. We then went to Lil' Riders (it used to be called Darby Land, the indoor base playground) and Andrew played there for about an hour or two. Him & the other kids had fun running & playing tag. And for the last errand we all went to the library to check out more children's books. Drew has been reading to Andrew before bed every night for 30 min each night for the summer reading program. He got to turn in a reading chart that he had completed, already reading 12 hrs! He got a prize for completing it too. It was a round container and the lid opens half way, it is to put snacks in like dry cereals. He also got another chart to start on. We also checked out like 20 New books. :) (there was a question for every 3 hrs that you read & it asked what your favorite book was that you read over that time period and Andrew said his favorite was Nephi. So cute!)
     Sunday night Lillian just would not fall asleep til like 4 am! I think that she knew that he Daddy was not home.

First Week Of July 2013

Monday, July 1, 2013
  Today instead of putting a diaper on Andrew I put his Angry Bird underwear on him and planned to stay home & use the potty! He peed 3 times in the toilet today! Way to go Andrew!!


Wednesday, July 3, 2013
   Today at the zoo the had military appreciation day so we got in for free. We really had a great time! We also got to ride the little train for free too to tour the zoo. We were in the very last cart, the Zebra one.

Thursday, July 4, 2013
   Today we spent the fourth with Drew's squadron and had a BBQ at the Grovers' house. They bought $2000 worth of fireworks for that night! Lillian slept all through the BBQ (4-10pm) and woke for the fireworks. She gazed up at them and was very calm while watching them. Andrew played all evening with their youngest son & had a blast.

Friday, July 5, 2013
    Today we went to the movie theater and saw Despicable Me 2. It was a cute movie! Andrew said his favorite part was "the car" and "the girl"

Saturday, July 6, 2013
    Today we drove to Bismarck, ND so we could go take Lillian to the temple grounds. This was her first time going to the temple. We also went to Sam's Club and I got a shirt there. We ended up going to the mall to let Andrew play. Then to Golden Coral to eat dinner. Andrew was in Heaven with the chocolate covered strawberries! We went to the temple last. I was putting Lillian in her carseat before leaving the temple grounds and we decided to go to the gas station before heading home. When we got to the gas station I got out of the car & noticed my cell phone had been on the roof of the car since leaving the temple! Talk about a blessing that it didn't fly off while driving to the gas station!

Sunday, July 7, 2013
   Today Lillian was blessed during Sacrament Meeting at church. She was wearing the same dress that I wore when I was blessed when I was a baby! (My Mama also said 3 months after I was blessed that I wore it again when our family was sealed in the Atlanta Temple in 1986)