Chronicles of a Kappes PCS: Day 4

Here it is. The drama of a PCS. I knew it would come sooner than later. It was going to well. Not today. Today...was long as fuck. Take it from the top? Ready? It will be long, just FYI.

The morning was good. Woke up to having a one year old. My sweet little Morgan turned one and slept until 7. SCORE! Nate woke up in a good mood, too. Another great start. We had breakfast then walked over to say yet another "see you later". I won't get into that again because it sucked. Again.

After we said "see you later" to some friends, we walked over to another friend's house who just arrived. A friend I have known since FOURTH grade! It was so amazing to see her and her family and we even get to have dinner together tomorrow night. But it also sucks because that's all we get. Just 2 days. We hung out for a few then needed to head home for lunch and Morgan's nap.

We walked home, I got Morgan to sleep, and Nate earned a few minutes on my tablet. Fifteen minutes goes by and I get a phone call. A phone call from Jason saying he fainted at the Army hospital of all places. He was trying to refill our prescriptions before we left so we went into the pharmacy. He said he got dizzy then fainted nose first right on the pharmacy counter. Awesome. (insert sarcastic look) I had to go pick him up because they said he need a CAT scan at the ER which is about 10 minutes off-post.

So what did I have to do while worrying? I had to wake up a baby who had been sleeping for a whole 15 minutes. I had to take the tablet away from Nate who had earned it. Morgan is crying, Nate is crying, I am sweating. It is a hot mess. Then Morgan's car seat isn't installed. Great. So I installed a car seat with 2 grumpy kids and a husband waiting on me.

I get them situated, get Jason, and we head off to the ER. Oh yeah, did I mention he never got the prescriptions? Yep, that also happened. So we still need to get those. We knew it was going to be awhile at the ER so I took Nate to McDonald's because I was in the process of making lunch when I had to leave. McDonald's has a play area so he got a chance to eat and play while we killed some time.

Poor Jason

It was all eating and fun until Nate had to poop. At McDonald's. So. Gross.
*Disclaimer* If you don't like poop stories scroll on past this paragraph.

With no exaggeration, we were in the bathroom no less than 20 minutes. TWENTY. Because his poop was stuck. He was trying and trying. And the automatic flusher kept flushing on him. He was crying because of stuck poop and an automatic flusher. In a bathroom. Do you know how loud a cry is in a bathroom? Loud. And it echoes. I am also holding a crazy baby who hasn't napped in my arms. After 10 minutes I said, "Fuck it", and Morgan was loose on the bathroom floor. She decided to just unroll the ENTIRE roll of toilet paper. I let her do it because it was better than crawling on the floor and I was trying to calm down Nate who was yelling, "What is the poop trying to do to me?! Why is it stuck!? What does green mean!? (the green flashing light that the automatic flusher has to let you know it is about to flush) I'm pushing as hard as I can!"

I don't even want to know the faces the people must have had while they were in there. If you really want to know...the poop finally came out. And all was well again. With Nate...because I was not ok. I needed a fucking drink. I had to settle for a Dr. Pepper.

We left McDonald's and headed back to the ER after an hour and a half. Jason was still getting checked. All labs and blood came back negative. Just elevated white blood count which they said could indicate a viral infection. Stress could also be a factor. But no real concrete answer. You know what else? He never had a CAT scan. What he was sent to the ER for. What in the actual fuck!?

It's now 3pm, my mom has landed at the airport and was waiting on us to pick her up. I wasn't completely packed for the hotel. I had to take Jason back to his car at the Army hospital, go back home, finish packing, load the kids up again, then to the airport.

We picked up my mom about an hour late. Sorry, mom!
Straight from the airport we went to the hotel to check in. Then to Fritz' train restaurant for dinner to celebrate Morgan's birthday.

Dinner was fun. Thank goodness. Morgan and Nate loved the trains. The food was eh, but the ambiance was so cute. We all shared an ice cream sundae and Nate sang Happy Birthday to Morgan.

We are now back at the hotel and so ready for bed.

Hoping tomorrow will be a little less hectic. And make sure Jason takes it easy which might be a difficult task because he thinks(and usually is) a freaking super human who can do anything. 

Hello May.

May is here and it is going to busy! We move next month so packing has begun! We are packing and moving ourselves so we can do a little at a time and not be so overwhelmed as time gets closer.

With moving comes purging, organizing, and realizing you have way too much shit stuff. I mean, really. We have so much stuff. You don't notice until you are going through closets and cabinets and finding things under your couch and bed.

It is really my fault for having the majority of the stuff. I like decor. I like Rae Dunn. I like coffee cups. I like pillows. I like kitchen gadgets I use only once a year. I like baskets. I like all the things! I should really think about why I like all these things so much. I really need to simplify.

Later. I'll add it on my list of things to do.

Even though we still have a ton of things, we did get rid of A LOT.

We had a yard sale last weekend and purged. Our April New Year's resolution was to get rid of or donate at least 200lbs. We surpassed that. And yes, we actually weighed the things. Until we hit 200lbs.

After we hit 200lbs, we just kept adding. Whatever didn't sell at the yard sale was donated. We don't know the exact number of pounds we got rid of, but if I had to guess it was probably around 500lbs.

Of STUFF.

Isn't that crazy!? And we STILL has a house full of everything we need and more.

So now we are in May. We have a few exciting events coming up.

1. Jason is taking Nate to a Royals baseball game.
2. Bunco night. Yes, this is exciting. Even if I do lose $13 every month. Worth it for the adult time and food.
3. Jason and Nate are having a "boys only" camping trip together. How freaking adorable is that!?
4. I am doing a Color Run.
5. My brother's birthday is in May.
6. Mother's Day. Pedicure, Starbucks, and Lularoe clothes? (hint, hint...Jason)
7. Morgan's first birthday party. Her birthday isn't until June, but with everyone moving we had to move it up a few weeks. Her theme is "Sweet Summertime". Pink and yellow colors with outdoor fun and BBQ/picnic foods.

I hope everyone has a wonderful May. I'll leave you with a few quotes/saying beginning with May. Because...May. And maybe you need a little smile or inspiration.

*May we choose the harder right than the easier wrong.
-Thomas Monson

*May your choices reflect your hopes, not your fears.
-Nelson Mandela

*May you realize you are enough.

* May you drink your coffee hot and keep your kids alive.

Not A Blog Post.

This is not a good blog post. I repeat; it is not a good blog post.

I'm just writing a sentence so I don't miss a day.

I am online shopping at Old Navy and ranking the renovations I want to do on our next house. Big adulting serious business right now. While eating Jelly Beans my grandma sent. Because Easter. And because my grandma is the best. I just got buttered popcorn and black licorice so that kinda sucked.

I'm also trying to convince my husband to hard boil eggs to dye tomorrow. I am the WORST at hard boiling eggs.

What is your favorite place to shop online?

If you could renovate anything in your house right now (even if you are renting), what would it be?

I'm not doing a long post because I am working on a more extensive one about our move coming up and how to do it yourselves and make money. It will be a lot of information, but it might actually help other military peeps so I'm trying to make it good with accurate information and links and all that good stuff us military people like.

Here is some humor to end my non-blog post.

See how that was a non blog post. Told you. And you read...still. Suckers! 

Moving.

Oh the joys of being an adult. And being an adult in a military lifestyle. One aspect in my family's life that is constant is change. We move a lot. Once we PCS(move) to our next station, it will be our 7th move in 7 years. Not 7 moves in different cities. Seven different states. Seven. Let that sink in for a minute. Or 7 minutes.

It is both awesome and frustrating at the same time. The fact that we have the opportunity to see so many places, meet so many people, and experience what some many never do in a lifetime is purely amazing to me. Yeah, some states we have lived in were not so great, but the people make the memories and make it home. Like...Iowa and Kansas. We wants to live there!? Not this Cali girl. But the friends I made make it okay. Just okay though...don't get cocky Iowa and Kansas friends.

North Carolina, Virginia, Georgia, Iowa, Hawaii, and Kansas. You 6 states will forever be a part of me. Stories I will tell my kids about. Memories of hating certain parts, but absolutely loving others. The laughter, the tears, and everything that goes on in our crazy military lifestyle.

The moving and then trying to move on. Trying to move and move on, but not forgetting. Trying to move and stay close to friends you will most likely never see again in person, but only through texts, phone calls, and social media. Trying to move, but stay connected to where you still are. Trying to make houses a home, but knowing you will be moving again in a few years or less. Trying to make the most of difficult situations. Trying to explain to a 3 year why he can't go to his best friends house anymore. It's exhausting and wonderful.

It's a challenge. It has been a challenge I knew I signed up for, but didn't expect to be so hard. It's a challenge I accept and I'm willing to keep at. Because it is worth it. My family is everything to me and my husband's career has made our life what it is.

This post was brought to you by our next move, which is in a few months. We actually put an offer on a house sight unseen and didn't get it. Someone offered more. So now my feelings are all mixed up and I'm emotional for different reasons. I'm sad because I started to plan. I was starting to plan where furniture would go, which room would be the kid's rooms, what color to paint the walls, etc. I was starting to feel like, "Ok, One thing to check off the list". Nope. I was starting to sense some stability since we know we will be stationed there for a few years and have a house. But...I'm also fine with it. I can look at more houses. We had put the offer in without even seeing it, which is SCARY! I'm also fine because we still are in Kansas for a few more months which feels like FOREVER! I am just starting to feel settled here and moving just means more change.

So here I am. In this strange limbo between trying to make Kansas a home and enjoy my friends here and get ready for the next move. And this feeling happens every move. You want to move, but you want to stay. you wish you had stability, but love getting to live in different places. You love to meet new friends, but miss your old ones with all your heart.

For now I just try to take a breath and relax. Everything will be okay. It always is.

Week One

It's officially been one week since Morgan was born. There are a lot of changes going on in our world. Not only are we transitioning from 1-2 kids, we are also in the middle of a PCS. Nate has become a big brother, and I am going through what some call the "4th trimester".

I want to celebrate Morgan's 1 week, celebrate Nate being a big brother, Jason being awesome, and me adjusting to postpartum life.

First...Morgan. She is the cutest little chunker. She eats and sleeps and poops. All. Day. Long. When she is nursing, she sounds like a Pterodactyl. She is in newborn clothes, but not for long. She loves to sleep on mommy and daddy's chest. Target was her outing at 5 days old and at 7 days old, she went to 808 Bounce to watch her big brother bounce. She had her first bath at 6 days old...didn't love it, didn't hate it. She doesn't have a sleep schedule yet, every night has been different.

Second...Big Brother Nathan. He is very loving towards her and asks where she is frequently. He will randomly kiss her on the cheek. He likes to give her his bear and blanket in the morning when he wakes up and she is still sleeping. He tries to share his toys with her, like a puzzle piece or a small car. Since he cut the umbilical cord, he asks if he can "cut it"(her stump is still attached). He really hasn't been rough with her. I think it is because we talked to him about her from the very beginning and he watched her being born. I have no doubt he will very protective over her.

Third...Myself. The 4th trimester is the first 3 months after baby is born. It's all the changes that happen to a woman's body after growing a human inside of you for almost 10 months. It's been a week and my body is changing. The first few days my uterus was still contracting. Super painful. Day 3 my milk fully came in and I was in SO much pain. I still get super engorged and pump at least twice a day to relieve some of the pain. In 7 days, just pumping twice a day for about 3 minutes, I've accumulated over 30oz of milk in my freezer. That's not counting all the milk Miss Morgan is getting. I am averaging about 3-5 hours of sleep at night and not all together. It seems like I am just taking small naps. Let's just say I'm tired, but still functioning well in my opinion. My stomach is slowly going down. I have lost about 10lbs. I still look pregnant. I still wear maternity clothes because I am in an in between size and they are more comfortable holding in that extra fat. I'm pretty pleased with how I look just 7 days after popping out a human though.

Fourth...Jason. The best daddy and husband. He celebrated his first Father's Day as a daddy of two. He was been on Nate duty so I can be on Morgan duty. He sleeps through the night so I can nap during the day. He tells me I'm sexy. He changes poopy diapers, both Nate's and Morgan's. He is handling all of our PCS arrangements from flights to hotels to rental cars to shipping and selling our cars and everything else we need to handle before we leave Hawaii. The guy never stops. Always doing something to help out. How did I get so lucky?

So that has been our last 7 days. With everything going on, I feel like we are adjusting as well as we can. Everything is falling into place and my stress levels have dropped tremendously. I can't wait to see how the next weeks go. My next goal is getting some family pictures of the four of us. We are in organized chaos. We are living our life and it is amazing. Crazy, but amazing and I wouldn't trade it for the world. 

From the Aloha State to the Sunflower State

It's almost time to PCS...again! As our move approaches, I am starting to think of all the changes that comes with moving from state to state. Yes, the states combined make up the United States, but each individual state has a culture of their own. This move will be a very drastic change. From Hawaii to Kansas. Can't get much different than that.

We have only been in Hawaii for a year and a half, but the culture grows on you, you embrace it, and you pick up on "local" slang and mannerisms. When I think about it, it is actually quite strange. You literally change and morph into another person(to a certain extent, of course). It happened in Georgia, too. Caught myself saying "y'all". I would've NEVER thought I would pick up on that word(?).

So here are a couple things that will change from moving to Hawaii to Kansas...

1. Military related pay. We get COLA(cost of living adjustment) in Hawaii. Basically we get paid more for living here. Kansas we will not. Cost of living is way lower in Kansas and Hawaii is considered overseas. Boo to less money.

2. Shoes. In Hawaii, we wear flip flops everyday and when you enter someone's home you take them off and leave them either outside or at the front door. It is seriously going to take great effort to remember to leave my shoes on in Kansas.

3. Addressing adults. Everyone in Hawaii is called "auntie" or "uncle". Nate says, "Hi, Auntie!" to practically every stranger. When we move, we will switch to calling everyone else "Sir" and "Ma'am". Nate is going to be very confused.

4. Weather. One of the aspects I dread the most! From sunny 70-80 everyday to snow. Snow. Blah. So not looking forward to that. Nate, on the other hand, will be excited to build a snowman!

5. Traffic. Extreme to non-extreme. What!? A positive!? Oh dang, Kansas...look out, there is something good about you!

6. Visitors. A lot to a little. Everyone wanted to visit us in Hawaii. Kansas. We shall see...

7. Shipping. Another positive for Kansas! Shipping things to Hawaii sucks! It takes forever and some things won't even ship here! The costs will be lower in Kansas and it will be quicker!

8. More weather related stuff.
a. AC------>Heater
b. Towels-------->Jackets
c. High surf advisory------->Tornadoes

9. Food. Less rice moving from Hawaii to Kansas. There is freaking rice with EVERYTHING in HI. I'm assuming more BBQ sauce is in my future in KS.

10. Music. Reggae to Country. Eh...I could go either way with this change. I like them both. Jason on the other hand might be using his IPOD A. Lot. He hates country. I love it and hopefully will be getting to go to a couple concerts!

Those are just a few changes we get to experience with our next PCS. I am super sad to leave Hawaii. But, life must go on and the Army must move us. We will survive, we will adjust, and hopefully embrace the next new state we get the privilege of living in. Because honestly, who gets to say they have lived in so many states as us!? From North Carolina, to Virginia, to Georgia, to Iowa, to Hawaii, and now to Kansas.

In less than 2 months we will be on a flight with a 2 1/2 year old and a newborn. Wish us luck and hope we move with grace and a sense of humor! Mahalo Hawaii for being such a great duty station and Howdy, Kansas...nope. Can't do it. Howdy will not be in the vocabulary.

Transition to a Big Boy Bed: Night 1

January 9, 2015. A date I am writing about because I will forget it in about two weeks. We got a twin bed(free thanks to a friend!) and are starting the transition from crib to big boy boy for Nate. This is a huge deal for me as a mom. I wonder if Nate thinks it is a big deal. Oh to be in the inside of that boy's head.

This is a big deal because it symbolizes change. Just another thing that reminds me Nate is growing and not going to stay a baby forever. In his defense, this wasn't his choice. It was mine. Me, the mom, the one that doesn't want him to grow up. Ironic, huh? There are reasons why I wanted to transition him to a big boy bed.

The biggest reason is Nate has a lot of change coming in his life in the next 6-7 months. There will be a new baby and we are moving. Doesn't seem like much, but they are going to impact him. Having a new sibling and sharing his attention will be tough. When we move, we will be in a hotel, then another hotel, then a new house. All with a newborn. These two things even stress me out. Maybe I am worrying too much? I just feel like his little world is going to be flipped upside down and I want to make sleeping in a bed one thing he doesn't have to worry about.

So how did the first night go? Pretty decent, actually. I thought it was going to be WAY worse. This is what we did...

Kept the same night routine except one thing.
1. Bath time
2. Read books in his new bed. This is what we changed. We normally read in our bed.
3. Brush teeth.
4. Airplane. A nighttime daddy/son thing Jason and Nate do. It is super cute.
5. Tuck Nate in.

We did all that and waited for his bedroom door to open and him to walk out. It didn't happen. He was talking to himself, but then it went silent. Jason and I watched a few shows. Nate started whimpering after about an hour for 3 minutes, then silent. I went to bed a happy mom. At 4:45 Nate started crying. I gave him a couple minutes to calm down, went in to re-tuck him in and went back to bed. He was good for about 20 minutes, then cries again. I cuddled up next to him, ran my fingers through his hair, or lack there of, and we fell asleep together until 8.

I call night 1 a SUCCESS! On to the next night....