The Army Life

I realize it's been awhile since my last post, but I have said many times that I am not a very good blogger. You have been duly warned!

We made it down to Georgia on October 2 and are now happily situated here in Columbus. This city sits right on the Chattahoochee River and it's where the last land battle of the Civil War was fought. I love being somewhere with so much history. Not only have people been here since the Civil War, people were here during the American Revolution! We went to Savannah, Georgia recently and saw lots of historic monuments, including some cannons that were a gift from Mr. George Washington, the first President himself! I really enjoy it. (Pictures to come soon... hopefully!)

The best part about living here is being so close to Denver. We get to see him every weekend, and he gets to call me every night. I love being so close. Last weekend he got a four day pass for Columbus Day and it was so nice having all that time together. It makes the move and everything else totally worth it just to have those few days. He will have Halloween off and the weekend of Mikaela's first birthday off. Libby's birthday happens to fall on a Saturday so we'll be together for that as well.

Denver graduates from Officer Candidate School on December 10. After that we are going on a three day cruise, and then coming back to Idaho for a few weeks. After that we have no idea! We find out at the end of next week what branch Denver will be in and where we'll be living for his training. We should also find out where our first PCS (Permanent Change of Station) will be. I will blog again after next week to let you know!

All is well here! We miss our family and friends but will hopefully see everyone in December!!

Larissa :)

The August Rush

August is halfway done and fall is officially in the air. We've been able to open the windows at night the past few nights which has truly been amazing. There is nothing like fresh air at night, I love it!

Denver is now in the second phase of bootcamp. There are three phases altogether: red, white, and blue. Red is the most difficult and it gets easier as the phases move along. He's one week into the white phase.

A few weeks ago he worked on administering and receiving IVs. He did well and got it the first time on his "subject". Unfortunately, the person giving him one went clear through the vein on BOTH arms! Poor Denver!

Last week Denver was able to work on Basic Rifle Marksmanship. He has an M-16 that he carries around everywhere and finally got to practice some shooting! He really enjoys this although the live fire from his platoon-mates can be frightening sometimes.

We get to hear from him today and are sitting by the phone waiting for the call. One week can really feel like a lifetime when you are away from your spouse :( but we are thankful we get the one call a week! The letter writing has been kind of fun and will be nice to have to look back on someday.

As for the rest of us, we are doing pretty well. Mikaela has a cold and a flu right now, but she is amazingly still a happy little 9 month old baby. She is trying so, so hard to walk. She can pull herself up to standing and walk around using a mixture of furniture for balance and crawling. She is so much fun!

Libby is having a blast still playing with her little Aunt CeCe. They entertain themselves all day long playing games, going outside, and everything else. I feel like I hardly see her anymore! She will be sad when the kids go back to school, but she will be going to preschool on Tuesdays and Fridays, so it shouldn't be too bad!

That's all for now. More to come, probably in September!

Oh, Oh those summer nights...

Hello!

I apologize for not keeping up with my blog. For a few weeks we didn’t have the internet and then we moved so we haven’t had a lot of time. Before I forget, here is Denver’s bootcamp mailing address:

Lee, Denver
BTRY C 1st BN 19FA 3rd PLT
402 S Boundary Road
Ft. Sill, OK 73503-8012

This address will be effective through September 18th. We finally heard from Denver on Sunday. He called after he first arrived in Ft. Sill, but then I didn’t hear from him for a few weeks. He is doing well. He said it’s very HOT down there, especially in all the military attire. He was extremely excited at first about the food (Steaks, burgers, etc) but has since had to change his diet because of the heat. He said he now eats a lot of fruits and veggies and even has a SALAD with mealtime. I never thought that joining the military would give Denver healthy eating habits, but it has!

So far he has made it through Hell week, repelling, and the dreaded gas chamber. He hasn’t done any artillery training yet, just a lot of marches and not a lot of sleep. For his first PT (physical training) he had to get up at three in the morning and run two miles. At the end of it they told him his time and he was kind of discouraged because it was 16 minutes. He was later told that it was actually a lot longer than two miles, they just wanted to mess with them.

He has a battle buddy which is basically someone that you have to go everywhere with whose name is Mark Lee. He is from Arizona/New Mexico and related to Robert E. Lee. Denver thinks they may be related which would be pretty ironic. They get along pretty well.

As for the rest of us, we are doing great! We are all moved in to my parents’ house and slowly unpacking all of our stuff. Libby loves living at Grandma and Grandpa’s house and hanging out with her little Aunt CeCe all the time. She will be sad when school starts in the fall. Mikaela grows a little everyday and is very close to walking. She will be nine months next week.

That’s all for now, I’ll try to write more soon!

Larissa & Family

So long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, goodbye…

We have made it to day 3. It has been quite an adventure so far. The first day Denver left, we went out to my Mom and Dad’s to drop Julia off and hang out. Chelsea was over and wanted to go to this drive-in in Emmett really bad. So we agreed and got some food and sat outside on a metal picnic bench to eat our food. Libby kept trying to run off and I kept getting after her. Well, we got all our food out and just started eating when Libby (who had been jumping on the bench) lost her footing and fell over the edge and fell right on the corner right smack on her face.

Immediately she had blood gushing from inside her mouth and her nose. It got all over the concrete, all over her clothes, and all over me. We took her into the little bathroom and used a whole roll of paper towels soaking up all the blood. I kept trying to look inside her mouth to see how bad the tear was but it was hard because her upper lip swelled up HUGE! Anyway, I confirmed there were no missing teeth at least, and her nose didn’t appear to be broken.

So we went back to Mom and Dad’s for a little while to get her cleaned up and put some ice on. I was debating taking her to the ER (it was too late to go anywhere else) but nothing seemed to be broken. So then we left the parent’s house and went and picked up Daynera at the airport. We took her home and got everything inside (Lib was asleep by this time) and it was 11:30 p.m. I had a very long day.

The next morning we got up early and called Primary Health Pediatrics and told them what happened. They said we better come in and get it looked at so we did. Dr. Overy (ha ha) said that she looked good, the cut in her mouth was healing well and wouldn’t need stitches (phew!) and her nose wasn’t broken. She still has a huge upper lip though. (See picture to the left… this was taken the next day!)

Anyway, so we took Libby to school yesterday (she still really wanted to go!) And then Daynera and I went home and cleaned up around the house. Then we ran some errands and picked up Libby, then went out to Mom and Dad’s again for some dinner and fun. By last night I was really, really emotionally and physically exhausted, and I am very happy to have such a great family to help me take care of the kids when I really just need some sleep. It is very hard having Denver away because he is such a great help and a great support for me.

So I woke up this morning early, feeling great and ready to go! We're not sure what we're going to do today... we are thinking of going swimming somewhere... it's a rough life, I know!!!

Larissa & Family

Death by Flu Virus

What a crazy week! It all started on Monday... we went to Libby's swim lesson and life was normal. We came home, put her to bed, and two minutes later she called down to us "I threw up in my bed!" So we ran upstairs and sure enough there was puke everywhere. This was just the beginning of a week long crazy flu virus that I'm still not sure we're over! The first night she threw up really intensely all the way until 6 in the morning. Larissa also got sick later that night and describes it as the worst flu she's ever gotten... really bad stomach cramps, headache, and COMPLETE cleansing of the entire body! The next day Libby and Larissa felt better but then Denver got the flu and his lasted a complete 24 hours! Just when we thought we were all over it, bam Libby started feeling sick again and then began another round. This was a few days after the first episode. A few days later, Larissa started throwing up again... it never ends! (I actually downloaded a swine flu app for my phone because I was starting to think that maybe....? but no.)

Anyway, other than our crazy virus that keeps wreaking havoc on our plumbing (That's for you Natalie! :P) we are doing well. It has been a busy week and we submitted our 30 day notice today for our apartment so we will be out at the end of next month. Larissa and the girls will probably go stay with her parents for awhile. Denver leaves in just over one week and we are sad although we are looking forward to starting our great new adventure! That's about all to report.... good night!!

Summer has arrived! (Maybe?)

Already June 18th! We've been busy getting Denver ready for bootcamp and the rest of us prepared for life without our man around! We've been trying to get into shape and eat healthier but of course summer is the time for BBQs and Roaring Springs so we haven't been doing as well as we would like... but we're getting there!

I got my haircut today! My first cut since last October, I was in desperate need! It feels so nice to have all that hair gone and off my neck, it will be nice and cool for summer. It's also nice to be blond again, it's been a few years!

Libby has been taking swim lessons, she is doing very well! The first few lessons she wasn't that into it, was being very crabby and wouldn't go under. Now she is like a little fish... she has confidence and will go under water and all kinds of things. It's really amazing!

Mikaela has been teething, it has not been exciting. She's gotten 4 new teeth in only 2 weeks with another right on the edge. She's been very grumpy and has been running a temperature and it really sucks. I can't wait for her to get over the teething crap!

Well that's about it... 2 blogs for the month, I am doing AWESOME!

What's in a year?

It has been almost one year since I started this blog, and I've only done 4 posts! Shame on me... I would say I'll try to do better but usually I just get worse, so instead I'll say good job me for writing 4 whole posts in just one year! 

Life once again has kept us busy. Keeping up with a three year old and a seven month old can do that to you. We are in the process of trying to get Mikaela to sleep through the night, so far the most we've gotten is six hours straight of sleep, but typically she is still up every three hours. Does anyone have any advice? The doctor told me her nightlife is unacceptable and that with sleep deprivation you really are no better than a drunk driver, but didn't really offer any sound advice in how to remedy the situation. So.... here we are.

We returned one week ago from Italy, we went over there for a friend's wedding and then traveled around a little bit to Venice, Florence, and Rome. It was very fun although very hot which didn't agree with Mikaela all that well. Libby got to stay home with Grandma & Grandpa, Tyler & Natalie, and Kristen & Joe. She had a blast getting to play the only child once again but is adjusting well back to life with her little sister. 

Mikaela went from being a baby to a pre-toddler all on our trip. Italians adore babies and it was a little like being a movie star for the two weeks we were there. Everyone would say "Che bella bambina!" (what a beautiful baby!) They all wanted to touch her feet or her hands and some would ask to hold her. It was a lot of fun and Mika loved the attention. She started waving at people on the trip, and has also learned how to crawl (but only backwards!) She also says things like dadadada and mamamamam and bababababa. It's very cute!

We are getting ready for a summer of adventure... Denver joined the military and starts bootcamp July 7th. Immediately after that he goes to OCS (office training) for three months. He will be away until December 14th. We don't know what we'll do without him for five months, he is such a great daddy and hubby. After he gets done with that we will be moving but won't know until mid-October where to. We are hoping somewhere in Europe which is where we put our location preferences. There's a good chance we could go to Germany since there are several Army bases there. I think that would be a lot of fun, I need to start practicing my German since it is getting a little rusty, ja. 

That's about all! I never was able to find a job in this crappy economy so I will be spending the summer playing with my little girls and enjoying the sun!