Conquering 2010

Happy New Year, and Happy Birthday to my little sis too! She turned 24 today! :)

2009 presented a lot of changes for us with Cole's arrival and our big move. Now 2010 is here and my feelings about the near-future are mixed. Brian's deployment is suddenly upon us. He's launching into training and the calendar is jam-packed. I'm sad that most of his workups take him to other states, and his departure date of ~May 15th is fast approaching.



Of course I will always be worried about Brian and his well-being...but honestly, my most nagging concern is, can I be the role of Mom AND Dad? I'm so afraid that the kids are going to suffer, and it will be my fault. When Brian deployed previously, I didn't have two little angels depending on me.

So my New Years resolution is that I WILL conquer 2010 and all that it has in store for me; it won't conquer me. Strange resolution, but no one ever said I was normal! My vow to my sons is that I will figure out a way to make this a positive experience (and not go senile.)

Brian is enjoying the new challenges as a team leader. He keeps dragging huge bags of brand new gear home too, so he will be well-equipped. I just wonder how the heck he will carry all of it?! I tried on his bullet-proof vest and helmet and that was plenty for me. He leaves January 24th for a 5-week school in Cali, ONE day before his 30th birthday. What an OLD man.

Caden is playing with Brian's new gear. The USMC had some cutbacks on the weapons budget; GI Joe picked up the slack.


The holidays were quiet, aside from the trip that went nowhere. Yes, you read correctly: NOWHERE. Let me explain...

We had big plans of doing an 11-hour overnight trip to Ohio for a wedding, but winter weather had another plan for us. The snow fell and the drivers here lost their minds. An accident on the interstate halted traffic and we had no choice to pull off and find a hotel. Weather was better the next morning but accidents and stalled cars resulted in 6 hours of driving a mere 150 miles. Brian and I were in good spirits for the first half, and even sort of enjoying it. The second half, not so much! We finally had to give up again because the National Guard closed the interstate. Hotels filled up and we had to backtrack 90 miles just to get a room. Do the math and we netted 60 total miles of progress in an entire day of driving. That hotel was not prepared so we settled for a half price room with a dirty bathroom. Talk abut a neat vacation. (Riiiiiiight.)

The moral of the story...we never made it to Ohio. Our boys were troopers, but rightfully so, they were done by Sunday. Cole cried the entire last hour and Cade got carsick. We were glad to be home for the holidays after that adventure.

AH HA!


He's not having any fun at all.


Brian, don't even think about it...(and to answer your question, yes, he did.)


By the way, the winter weather didn't JUST affect us...it left a lot of people without power in Iowa. My parents and my siblings took the tractor to get to Grandma's and opened gifts Christmas night at the farm in the dark! They felt like they had gone back in time.

Cole met Santa


Caden allowed Santa within 5 feet of him this year


The holidays were quiet and relaxing. On Christmas Eve, we webcammed with my parents and they watched the boys open gifts. Later that day, we went to Christmas Eve mass and enjoyed a special meal and cookies with hot chocolate afterwards. Brian's teammate Will joined us. Brian said my food "almost" lived up to my Mom. Little does he know, I spit in his hot chocolate.

I wrapped Brian's gift card in a box of Brownies. Grandma K and Mom were cracking up.


Hi Santa baby!


So excited he stuck out his tongue. ?!


Big gift for Cole (FYI, Caden closes his eyes in 75% of pictures)


Helping little bro


Sneaking early gifts


Where's Brian?!

Ahhh, such adoring eyes for his buddy

Papa Bob got a Johnny Popper!

Christmas Eve


Handsome boy


Christmas Eve tradition

On Christmas Day, we stayed in our pajamas all day and just enjoyed the kids. Cade's favorite gifts were definitely his auger and his fire station. I can't say for sure, but I think Cole's favorite gift was his new pacifier.

Merry Christmas, Cade!

Ready to farm, corn and all


NO picture...I want to open gifts!

Who's bigger, the stocking or the baby? (I am STILL sewing his real stocking.)


All smiles now that the gift opening commences

Back off Dad, I've got this


The only thing on his wish list was a fire truck...Santa hooked him up with a whole station!


Me and my little man


Brian had a lot of time off for the holidays but we didn't do much other than hang out around the house and do some shopping. For New Years, we took Cade bowling and he had so much fun (and was so well behaved) that Brian and I almost felt like we were on a date. That night, we had shrimp for supper, hung out with Will again, and played the game Clue. I know what you're thinking...how could we possibly stand all that excitement?! But honestly, it REALLY WAS a lot of fun!!! (I'm officially old.)

As part of my goal to conquer 2010, I've decided that I need to combat Brian's absence with a project to keep me busy and give me a sense of achievement. Stroller Warriors was the answer. I have organized a running club for military Moms in the Jacksonville area. We're going to meet every Wed morning at an area trail/playground and I'll plan a workout for us. I'm pumped to meet some other runners and Moms. It should be fun for Cade too because he'll have a new playgroup. I just hope I haven't gotten myself in over my head?! We already have 10 members. Seems there's a need for his...so let's hope it goes well! I've never managed a group like this. At least it's free, so they can't get too upset with me, right?!

My other project is the upstairs bathroom. Have you ever been in a fishbowl? Well, I have...right here in my own home. Brian insists the heinous fish wallpaper never bothered him. I say he's nuts. I was claustrophobic every time we gave the boys a bath and I swear I was having fish nightmares.

So last Sunday, I got the itch and just figured I'd tear down all that horrific fish wallpaper. No big deal, right? WRONG. Apparently tearing down wallpaper is not a simple small project. It's messy, it's tedious, it's ANNOYING. Our toilet is in the tub, fixtures removed, and it sort of looks like a war zone.

Nothing about this project has gone quickly, including the paint selection. After removing old caulking, patching flaws and holes, and priming everything, I was sooooo excited to paint Monday night that instead of purchasing a sample (like a sane responsible person) I figured, heck, let's do a whole gallon!

I had already picked out a bright monkey curtain to set the theme, so I picked a fresh bright green. Or so I thought. Once I saw the can of paint, I cringed. But she had already mixed it and I felt like I needed to buy it. So home I went, with my questionable green (yellow?!) paint. I immediately got to work and was dismayed to see the transformation before my eyes. My fish had been replaced by a yellow highlighter. HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?!

Three Home Depot trips and three paint samples later, I am very pleased with my "Herbal Garden" green and will post final results on the next blog!

I did learn that Caden is not quite ready to be on his own while I do a project. I decided that while Cole napped, I'd quickly cover up the highlighter and get the first coat new paint on. He was upstairs with me, which I figured would be best. That plan sort of backfired. He decided to use the opportunity to play with all my tools, including sanding and scraping the wall. I sounded like a broken record, "Cade, put that down, that's not a toy....Cade, put that down, that's not a toy..." and on and on.

He finally gave up when he realized that no tool was safe, so he retreated downstairs. I could hear him rummaging in the kitchen. Snackmaster was rooting for food. After a few minutes of "quiet," which is never good, I yelled, "Cade, what are you doing?" I heard the pitter patter of him sprinting out of the room. I came to the landing and saw an empty living room with a perfect bowl of about 900 gleaming white marshmallows sitting on the couch. So, what is wrong with this picture? The 900 marshmallows? Or the cute little boy begging me to keep them?!



Needless to say, I wrapped up my painting project and decided it could wait till the evening. :)

Part of why I felt the itch to makeover the bathroom was because my parents arrive next week. They are really excited to see the boys. Cole has started pushing himself backwards in the walker, loves to play with toys, and has started eating some cereal, to his dismay. He wears 12-month clothing and will turn 6 months on the 25th. He stills loves attention and generally complains when no one is holding him or talking to him. I guess he's going to be an extrovert like me.

His smile makes ME smile


Shortly after this, he fell. I'm a bad Mom, snapping photos instead of catching him.


EW. Ewwww. Who's idea was this and where is my bottle.


Look, there's a toy attached to my body...SWEET.

They played ball TOGETHER for the first time!


Seriously, Caden? GET OUT.


Caden is our budding runner as he loves to race us around the house. He's getting more difficult to catch, which is a problem when he runs from me in stores and I'm wearing heels! His vocabulary is immense and he repeats everything we say. He has a sharp memory too. We got him a Curious George Treasure Hunt game for Christmas and it's helped him understand his colors finally.

On the less pleasant side, talking back is a new thing for us, but just another growing pain right? He still staunchly refuses to potty train and meals have not gotten any easier yet. He forgets to chew and the food just sits in his mouth. I usually just feed him myself. I'm going to have to stop that at some point, or I'll be spoon-feeding my teenager.

We sure do enjoy him though, and he has such a good heart. At library story time on Tuesday, I gently suggested that he take a toy to the shy little boy in the corner. He didn't even hesitate. He dropped what he was doing, grabbed a nearby truck, took it to the little boy, and plopped it in his lap. "Here you go!" On his way back, I told him "That was so nice, Cade," but he didn't pay attention to me; apparently he was on a mission. He found a ball and once again, marched over to the little boy and presented him with ANOTHER toy. It just made the Mom melt, and me too.

He keeps life interesting too. We were at Best Buy the other day buying a new computer (ours kicked the bucket) and they had Rock Band set up for X-Box. So the three of us proceeded to jam out to the Beetles, "Yellow Submarine." (Cole refrained...he is too cool for such silliness.) Tonite during bath time, I tried to record Caden singing happy birthday to Aunt Jen. Instead he chose to sing Yellow Submarine. It was fregin HILARIOUS. And he wanted to do multiple recordings, review the shots, and do it again. Maybe we have budding pop star on my hands?! American Idol was on the TV in the living room. You just never know.

If he's going to be a pop star, we might want to rethink the wardrobe.


THIS IS THE BEST STORY...last week after bed time, Brian came downstairs in a daze and maybe for a second I saw a tear in his eye?! Every night we do the same routine for bedtime, including laying in bed with Caden for stories, prayers, and songs. Caden snuggled up to Brian and stroked his face. Then he said, "Daddy, you're my best friend."

Wow. I teared up then, and I just got tears in my eyes again! Caden loves his Dad so much. This is a big reason why I'm so sad about Brian leaving. It's going to hurt Caden.

There is one more thing weighing heavy on me and I want to share. My Grandma Klindt has been fighting Colon Cancer for almost a year now. She's endured so much. Lately, she has been feeling a lot of pain. Testing confirmed that the cancer has spread to her bones. Now her arm has also become paralyzed from an abcess pressing on her spine. Hospice has gotten involved to help. There is no treatment for the tumor because it's too close to her spine.

I've been praying like crazy and I know you have been helping too. Please keep the prayers coming. Prayer is the most powerful healing force. Grandpa and the whole family need help right now. I'd like to ask for some special prayers for my Mom too. She has shouldered so much and she could use the extra love and strength.

I truly hope you all had a nice holiday with your families. Many of your photos are up in our kitchen. I LOVED and appreciated all the cards! All the best to you in 2010. We've got challenges ahead, but with the Lord as our guide, we'll get through it.

Keep your eye out for the upcoming birthday blog...