We Made It

The girls and I are finally in Cincinnati! It took a mighty miracle to get the car loaded and make the drive down. Both the girls have been sick and it's been pretty rough around here. Addison has a double ear infection and a terrible cough. I was able to take Addi to the doctors before we left so she has been on antibiotics. Avery got worse once we got to my parents and I started to get worried. Since our insurance is only good in New York I thought I was going to have to pay out of pocket to take her in somewhere. The heavens parted and my mom was able to get a hold of an ICU pediatric doctor in their ward. He was incredibly kind and stopped by after I'm sure working a long shift. He did an assessment of Avery and talked to me about what to do to help her. He then called the next day to see how she was. I don't know this man and he has a young family of four. I felt so blessed to have been a recipient of his kindness. I was feeling tired and the thought of taking Avery to some random urgent care was not something I wanted to do. This past month and a half has seemed to be one stroke of bad luck after another. This made me take a step back and realize that the Lord is watching out for my little family. One another positive note Dave and I signed a lease today. We got the house that we had hoped would work out. Another lesson in patience. We weren't able to sign a lease due to a lack of pay checks for a while. I was beyond frustrated because the company was being really strict. The house sat on the market for an additional 30+ days with no prospects and dropped $15 dollars in the mean time. I was given a blessing before my surgery promising that our housing situation would work out and I felt immediate peace. It was difficult to sit and wait and I checked on the property listing every day. I need to learn to trust in the Lord more and have faith that our lives are guided. Even though in the grand plan $15 dollars isn't much it was still enough to make me feel blessed. We're on the count down till we go down to Alabama. Addison and Avery got a new truck from Aunt Tania and they love it! It kept them busy for hours. I caught a picture of Addison trying to wink the other day. She said she has been practicing hard:) 

Where Is Spring?

I got up today and went to church for the last time in the Amherst ward. It has been weird dragging out the goodbye process an extra month longer. I gave lots of hugs and was given positive words as I left. Buffalo has been incredibly rewarding to our little family and I know Dave and I will look back on these years with fondness.

Last night I was able to really have a good talk with Captain Dave. He gave me a run down of how his days have been going and what the rules are. He said that they have to sit in silence during most meals and I told him that sounded miserable! We have two weeks left till graduation and we are both counting down the days. We just hit the one month mark since he left and it has seemed so dragged out. We have got to skype Dave again tonight and Addison sang, "Five Little Pumpkins" for him. She has a kick going on about Halloween books and song right now. Gotta love Addison's different personality! I love watching Addi and Dave talk to each other. She always says,"I love you Daddy". I'm so grateful that we have this opportunity to do this with him so far away.

The first day of spring has come and gone and we work up today with snow! What is this terrible winter that won't go away! We had one warm day last week and we all jumped in the car and went warmer weather shopping. Avery looks like a cute rolly polly in her new shorts. I got the girls a matching outfit and I can't wait to see them in it together. 

While Papa was here he saved the day by taking Addi out for the morning on little adventures. They went and bought Frozen which has been watched about 10x! He took her to Lowes, Mcdonalds, the pet shop, the zoo and Sam's Club. He was a trooper since Addison is still learning to listen:) Before Papa left he treated us to some  Addison got some fun rolly paints and has painted away this past week. One day this week I found Addi sitting with my nursing cover and feeding her baby under it. I couldn't stop laughing. She has seen me do that a million times around here! 

My mom and I are planning to leave this week and I'm crossing my fingers that all goes well and we can get out of here smoothly!

Carrots

Avery had her 6 month birthday on Sunday so we pulled out the world of savory solids. I gave her carrots and she wasn't so sure about them. She shuttered with the first few bites and then opened her mouth to eat half of the jar. She grunts through eating all her food and wants to hold the spoon. We were able to Skype Dave during her feeding so he could see while he was at COT. Avery is going to love the world of solids!!

 

No More Fat Free

I dropped the girls off at sitters and headed to the hospital last Thursday. I had to go fasting which was difficult and we had to be there at 10am. A surgery got pushed ahead of mine so I waited till just past 1pm and then I don't remember the rest! I had to stay in recovery for an extra 4 hours because I couldn't stop throwing up. It was awful!! I was so out of it I couldn't remember anything until the next morning. I have been so grateful that my mom has been here so that the girls didn't waste away! Nursing Avery has been a challenge, but I think we'll power through it. Addison went to a few play groups which has been really helpful so I can rest. I am finally off the pain pills so I should start feeling a little better. The pain is starting to get better and my dad surprised us and showed up Sunday evening. He knocked on the back door and we all were shocked! Addison has been happy running around with him all day today. I was able to eat a hamburger, girl scout cookies and ranch! Gall bladder removal went well!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just Us Girls

With Dave gone us girls have done a lot of bonding! My mom being here has been an absolute life saver! I actually couldn't of done it without her since we don't have a second car! We've managed to stay pretty happy even though the weather has been terrible! We have gone to frozen yogurt a few times because they have fat free oreo! I have my surgery tomorrow and I seriously want a large greasy pizza on my way out!!!

 

 

 

Avery Mae

Miss Avery Mae is quickly approaching her 6 month mark!! I looked at her today as I was getting ready and can't believe she is almost half a year old. I mostly can't believe the lack of sleep I have endured for 6 months either! Last week I told myself that it was time for her to give me a little more shut eye at night. I have been letting her cry it out until it has been at least 5 hours since she ate last. Most nights she'll cry for at least an hour and sometimes two. It's been pretty miserable, but I have had one or two nights where she'll sleep 5 hours straight. She has turned into a great napper during the day and has seemed to out grow her massive screaming fits. I have introduced tomato products back into my diet and she seems to be doing okay with it. Avery loves to eat everything in sight! If you hand her something or if she grabs it it goes right into her mouth. It has been an adjustment for me since Addison rarely did that. She can sit up almost all the time without falling over. She finally got mad enough to roll over! Addison and I clapped and cheered her on. She won't do it consistently, but at least she has done it! Here are what Avery is up to around 6 months:

Weight: 16 lbs 50%
Height: 25.39" 36%
Head: 16.7" 48%

* Sleeps with the soft bear blanket I made her by her face. If you try and take it away she grabs a hold and pulls it by her face. 

* Doesn't really use a binky. This has been kinda nice that she'll go to sleep without one.

* Has a very quiet giggle. I sometimes can't tell if it is a cry or a laugh. 

* My favorite time with her is when I go to get her out of her rocker in the morning and she is grinning and giggles a little.

* Blows raspberries like a pro! Addison is always very concerned that she is spitting and should sit in time out!

* Is very eager when she wants something done like her rice cereal or diaper change.

*Takes an amazing 2 hour nap in the early morning and then likes a 30 min cat nap about every 2 hours throughout the day.

*Loves to observe what is going on around her and follows Addi with her eyes all the time.

*Sofie the giraffe is still her favorite toy because she can shove the whole head in her mouth!

Avery has been a blessing in our family over these past 6 months. I have learned as a mother to prioritize what is important for my family. Balancing two different schedules plus remembering to take care of myself has been a challenge for me. Since I didn't have as difficult of a recovery this time around I have found myself being a lot more sensitive when Avery cries. I carry her a lot of my hip and I think that is part of the reason why she is a mama's girl! We couldn't imagine our little family without our sweet brown eyed Avery! 

COT

Dave made it down to Montgomery, Alabama and survived his first week at COT (commissioned officer training). It was really weird not being able to talk to him for a few days and then just a text or two at about 11:30 at night. He said things were rough and emotionally, physically and mentally exhausting. They do a lot of marching and getting yelled at he said. It's hard for me to picture Dave going through all of this just from the short texts here and there. On Friday evening I finally got a phone call and it made my night! I felt giddy and had a hard time going to sleep after we spoke. It was only for about 15 minutes, but it was enough to hear his voice and know he was surviving. He said that the food hasn't been too bad and he even got his southern favorite of fried catfish (gross!). He was able to skype us on Sunday which made Addison really happy. She misses her daddy a lot and asks when we're going to go pick him up. Dave told me that he is the guy that stands at the front of the marching line and holds the flag. I am getting really excited to see him do all of this! I got my dress for the banquet and we have a hotel booked for the first week in April. We both have expressed that this is a little harder than we thought it was going to be. We've done quite a bit of time apart over the almost 7 years that we've been married. This is however the first time we haven't had open communication which is what makes it different. I am incredibly proud of Dave and his hard work and dedication for our family. He emailed me a spouses handbook for the Air Force and I about fell over after I saw that it was 90 pages! Looks like I have a little bit of homework myself! Here's to
 counting down to April 3rd when I get to meet Dave at the banquet!!

 

Patience

I am seeing a pattern in the Michael Family mishaps ...I think we all need to continue to learn that ever difficult lesson of PATIENCE!! Dave went to over 20 homes and found nothing. On the day before he left for Alabama he found one that we liked. It was a little more than we had wanted to pay, but we still felt okay about it. Since Dave has had little communication I've been trying to handle the business side of the paperwork. FAIL! I am realizing that I have pretty much been clueless in our fiances and the Air Force. I've had to dig up log in and passwords and understand our finances through the Air Force. After about 4 attempts of working with the leasing agent I had to call it quits until we receive a pay check. There is no way around it even if we put a deposit down. I feel pretty discouraged and kind of like every effort we have put forth with this move is flopping. Later this afternoon after speaking to the agent one more time she pointed out that the rent had dropped $15 dollars a month. There might be a silver lining at the end of this situation. So now we just sit and wait and I need to convince myself that I can be patient!

The moving company stopped by to survey our place yesterday. We were given a certain allotment of weight and they estimated that we would go over almost 500 pounds! What the heck! It is really expensive for us if we go over even a 100 pounds. I started to feel stressed about this when he left. We can only hope for the best and the first thing to go will be Dave's bow right?! I think if we pack our food storage in our car that we should be okay. There is no way we have over 13500 pounds of crap in our little duplex!! 

My surgery is set for one week from today. Eating almost completely fat free is getting old. We got our girl scout cookies and they had to go up on a top shelf! I made pizza the other night...my part had no cheese (how sad!). On the plus side I have lost almost 8 pounds! Too bad this has been the most miserable I have felt towards food in my life though. I had my pre opt today and all should go well.

Dave reported to training on Tuesday. It has all been a little surreal to me. It's the first time in our marriage that we haven't been able to say goodnight to each other. It's unsettling sometimes wondering what he's doing all day. He has been able to sneak a text or two, but nothing more. I know he's working hard and this will all be over before we know it!