Tuesday, September 18, 2007

A Great Legacy

Grandpa Scott went to be with the Lord yesterday. Although his health had been wavering for some time now – no one expected him to pass on so quickly. Though it is hard for those of us left behind – we know that he had a spectacular homecoming in heaven. Not only has he walked with the Lord, he has been reunited with his beautiful wife – Grandma Doris (who passed away in March.) Please be in prayer for the Scott family during this time. It is a time of grief, but also a time of celebration of a wonderful life lived. Grandpa Scott has given his entire life to the ministry and to the Lord. He and Grandma Doris raised four God-fearing, top notch sons who have all gone on to live and pass on the great traditions instilled in them to their families – and it passes on down the generations. We are eternally greatful for the lives of John and Doris Scott.

We sadly won’t be able to make it home for the services. To our family – please know our thoughts and prayers are with you all right now. We send our love and long to be with you in this time.


Monday, September 17, 2007

Video killed the picture star...

So I tried unsuccessfully to upload video we had taken from Photobucket and into Blogger...I tried this several times over the past few months, but only once was I able to do it. Stupid html code...makes simpletons like me look dumb. Anyway, I looked recently and Blogger added a video upload...hey welcome to the 21st century! So you may get more of these as times goes by.

Here's one we took of Luke before we got our furniture. He loves to listen to music on the computer and watch the crazy shapes on Windows Media Player. He tells us he doesn't get high before he does this, but we're not sure. Anyway, he claps and bobs his head...he really gets into it.

Mindy posted a new blog with pictures last night too, so that one's below.

Sunday, September 16, 2007

Baby steps to the elevator...

Hola all!

Sorry I haven’t posted all week. It’s been pretty busy.

Progress has been made on the house. Sadly, it’s still not finished. I’m about ready to pull my hair out. The kitchen is still what’s bugging me the most. There’s not a lot of cabinet space – so I’m at a loss of where to put anything. Thus – I’m not nearly as motivated to unpack everything so it can crowd up the little counter space I have left. Hopefully I can figure something out. We can’t really afford to buy any more shelves/cabinets since we just bought a rug for Luke’s room and a media storage cabinet for the living room. That about shot our housing budget for the month. I’ll stop complaining about that and start talking about the actual progress we made though. =)

Luke’s room is coming along. We got a blue room-sized rug for his room. It really seems to bring some life and color to the room. I also think it will help the room stay warmer. Although we cover him up when we lay him down for bed– and then I go back in to cover him up before I go to bed – the blanket NEVER stays on him through the night. We dress him warm – but sometimes there’s a chill in the house in the mornings. So I really hope this helps with that. We need to get some things up on the wall, but we’re really close to being done with his room.

The living room/dining room/office is coming along as well. We purchased a media storage cabinet to help store our office supplies – so that has helped in the progress of the room. I think we have all the furniture where we want it. We still need to go through a few more boxes and take some un-baby-proof shelves and containers downstairs to our storage cage. I’m itching to start getting pictures and shelves on the wall – I think that will really help it look like home. We brought the dining room table out of the kitchen – thankfully – and now dine in our dining room. =)

The only thing that’s driving me crazy in here is the laundry. Most of our clothes and linens came out of their boxes smelling a bit musty – this means I can’t stand to use it until it’s all washed. So I’ve sorted it all out and am making my way through it. Of course – the dining room is the only room large enough to have it all sorted out in – thus that’s where it is. I can’t wait to get it all done and put away. I miss having our own washer and dryer – that way I could keep a load going all the time. However, it is nice to accomplish 3 loads at a time in the laundry room in the basement. The only drawback is I have to wait until Luke is in bed at nights to do laundry. There’s no way I can take him, a few baskets of laundry and the detergent/dryer sheets down at the same time. Not to mention the laundry room is pretty gross and I don’t want him running around in it. =) So, only having the evenings really cuts down on the amount I can do in a day. If I keep up a good pace, I should have it all done in the next few days.

The guest room is now the room that needs the most work – even though at one point I had it almost completed. =) The master bedroom is close to being finished. I’m not sure how I want to go about decorating it though. It looks….blah. It has the wall closets all around – and there’s just not a lot to do with it. That’s last on my list for now though.

Alright – enough about the house. =) I promise I’ll post pictures once the rooms are presentable.

Chris is doing well. Work is keeping him really busy, but that was to be expected. Yesterday he almost lost his mind putting the media shelf together. =) It was one of those kits that you have to put together from scratch. Half way through – he realized that one of the boards didn’t have any holes drilled – and there were supposed to be drill holes. He improvised and was able to get it all together though. He did a good job on it.

I am doing pretty good. Most days I’m able to keep up with the pace of things. Other days, I wake up sick and exhausted. I’m just thankful that those days are fewer than before. I’m still on the meds – probably will be for the rest of the pregnancy. I think I’m 22 or 23 weeks pregnant now. I’ll have to get a belly shot up sometime this week. I don’t have any right now, but I’ll have Chris take one in a few days.

Luke is doing really well. He’s growing daily! I think he’s finally starting to put on some weight again. He’s into EVERYTHING! I learn every day that it may be impossible to Luke-proof this house. =) He started “reading” books – and it’s just the cutest thing. He’ll take a book and flip through the pages all the while “reading” it. Flip page “ahyayaya” Flip page “babupbaya” Flip page “ohyaya” and so on – it’s too funny! He’s also found the art of turning circles. He’ll stand in the middle of the rug and turn and turn and turn – until he’s dizzy from turning and we’re dizzy from watching him. Let’s see – oh yes – he likes wiping down the table with a paper towel after he’s done eating (I’ll have to take a picture) AND he thinks it’s hilarious if you pat his mouth clean. Now if you try to wipe it clean – he’ll throw a fit – but if you pat it clean, he giggles with glee. Toddlers are so funny!

I’ve been taking him on daily walks in his red wagon. We usually end up at the playground – which he LOVES. It’s amazing how quickly this habit has formed. On Friday, I wasn’t planning to take the walk so I could get more done on the house. However, Luke woke up from his afternoon nap – pointed to his jacket and went over to his wagon. He was ready to go like usual! =) How could I say no?! It’s been good for both of us to get fresh air and exercise.

Luke is a yellow sticker stickler. When the Army moves you, they mark every single piece of furniture and box with a small yellow sticker. From the start, Luke has been obsessed with making sure all the stickers get peeled off and thrown away. If he spots one, he’ll try to peel it off himself. If he can’t get it, then he will come get us, drag us by the arm to the location of the sticker and point it out so we can take it off. He’s quite insistent about it. It’s actually quite funny. I’m not sure there is anything left in this house with a yellow sticker!

Tonight we finally cut Luke’s hair. At first we doubted what the final product would look like, but Chris came through like a pro. He ended up using the clippers all around. He tried scissors – but let’s just say – it wasn’t looking so hot! =) After some work with the clippers, it looks great!

This week I start studying hard for the driver’s test. I’m pretty nervous about taking it. Some of the rules are different over here, so I’m a bit worried I’ll relapse into my American driving knowledge once the test is in front of me. I just want to get it done and over with.

I’m not even going to start listing all the other things that have to get done this week. It would only bore you and overwhelm me. =)

I’ll close with a few pictures!


Luke moving my Commentaries around and stacking them in piles...

A pudding Hitler mustache...Chris says he's been in Germany too long...

Helping Daddy put together the media shelf.

"I think this goes here..."

As I was sorting the clothes Luke has outgrown, I came across his little dog robe. I couldn't resist putting in on him again! It's sadly too small - but so cute! =)



This is the rug we got for Luke's room. He liked playing "see-saw" on it before it Chris laid it down today...

"See-Saw - See-Saw..."

Here is the room with the rug - much better!

Luke chillin in his newly rugged room...

Bath time!

"Who me?!"

So warm and cozy in the towel. You can see how much shorter his hair is than before...we cut right before his bath.

Hope you all had a great Sunday!

Monday, September 10, 2007

Weekend Progress

Hello again everyone!

I thought I would blog about our weekend progress. =) We started right away Saturday morning. Chris put together Luke’s crib (with some help from Luke.) The bigger Luke gets, the smaller his crib looks! =) I was a little worried that it might take awhile for him to adjust to sleeping in a different bed AND a new room. He’s transitioned beautifully though. The only thing that’s gone wrong is that somehow he pinned himself under his blanket in the middle of the night. Don’t ask me how he did it, but somehow he did. When he tried to change positions, he realized he was stuck. He let us all know with high-pitched screaming. I think I would have done the same though – being a bit claustrophobic and all. Anyway, he was fine – just a little scared. Chris brought him in to bed with us for a few minutes, and then put him back down in his crib. He slept like a charm!

We worked on the guest room quite a bit – I think because it was the least daunting of rooms! =) We got most of that finished – but now it’s become a “holding” room for decorative items and half-filled boxes from the living and dining room. We moved into the dining/living room area – where most of the boxes still remained. At times we just walked in circles because we just didn’t know what to do next. Somehow we managed to start putting a dent in it all. Today there are only a few boxes left – and I can see the floor!!! =)

The kitchen and master bedroom are different stories though. We did nothing to the master bedroom. It’s still a mess of clothes and boxes and random things. Chris found my pots and pans – which I washed and put away – and that’s about all that was accomplished in the kitchen. =)

Luke thinks it’s all a big game. He goes around getting into everything – strewing it all across the house. =) I have a half-filled box of books that he has managed to open and empty about 10 times.

Hopefully the momentum will continue this week. I have a lot I need to do this month –other than unpacking. I still need to take my drivers class and test. Unfortunately, I can’t do that until I get Luke enrolled in childcare. Once I do that, I have to hope I can get him in on the date of a class and test. I was told they give priority to working parents and parents who are in school – after that, us stay-at-home moms can select whatever dates are left – if any. So I’m praying the day I need to take the class and test will have an opening.

Let’s see – what else…oh yes – thank you all for your response on my sciatic nerve issue. =) It has gotten much better over the last few days. By the end of the day it’s jumping around a little, but nothing like the other night. I’ve been able to walk to the bathroom every night since. =)

Alrighty - here are some pictures and then I’m off to keep working n the house!



Luke and Daddy putting together the crib...again...=)


YAY! a real bed again!

Somehow, when our backs were turned, Luke found a roll of toilet paper. Jay Jay (his little stuffed animal) got the brunt of it! =) Oh yeah - we put down the dining room rug in his room for now. We plan to get him a blue or red rug for his room when we get the chance. And yes, I have a second crib mattress on the floor. I'm just anticipating him climbing out soon - I just don't want him to fall on the hard floor once he realizes he can shimmy up the bars.

Empty?

Poor Jay Jay!

Luke walking his little toy dog...he really misses Riley.

He's learning to eat with a spoon...

How cute is this?! In the spirit of football season, my two favorite boys put on their jerseys!

how adorable!
More later!

Saturday, September 08, 2007

Oh My Aching Back!

I don’t know why I find my new situation so funny – because it hurts like the dickens, but somehow it strikes me (and I think Chris) as hilarious. =) With pregnancy comes some unpleasant symptoms. I remember dealing with this last time, but I don’t remember what I did to help it out - I guess this is why you should write everything down. =) Anyway, all of a sudden last night, my sciatic nerve went CRAZY! I was just lying in bed reading my book. I went to turn over and all of a sudden I had searing pain in my back and leg. Although it may not sound funny – it kinda was because I’m trying to call for Chris to help me move – all the while trying to find a suitable position to relieve the pain (and trying to find any position with a pregnant belly is always a challenge.) Chris comes in to help me and nothing worked - we are both laughing - but the laughing makes it hurt worse - and the worse it hurt, the more I couldn't stop laughing! I ended up just awkwardly flopping from one position to another with no relief. Finally I was able to find a position that didn’t put so much pressure on the sciatic and was able to sleep. However, when I got up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom (another unpleasant symptom of pregnancy) my sciatic was still out of control! It took me 10 minutes just to get out of bed and then I couldn’t stand! If I could show you video footage, you would see why this is funny. It really doesn’t sound funny, but like I said – for some reason it just is. =) So anyway, I crawl to the bathroom. =) I guess all the moving around limbered me up to be able to walk back to bed. So I awkwardly crawl back in bed and go to sleep. This morning it seems better, but it’s still acting up a little. So, the reason I wrote all this was to ask any of you out there if you know any way to relieve the sciatic craziness? Any stretches? I’ve looked it up online, but was wondering if any of you had any personal experiences or knew of some things that might help. I know that the growing baby and the added weight on my body is the main cause – and that can’t be relieved for another 19 weeks. =) So any advise would be much appreciated! =)

Hopefully today (as long as my sciatic doesn’t up and crawl out of my back) Chris and I can make some progress on the house. My main goal is to get Luke’s room set up and get the kitchen started. I’ll post pictures once things start taking shape. =)

Alrighty, off to drink my 1 cup of coffee and start on the house!

Friday, September 07, 2007

Slow Progress...

Hello All!


Progress has been slow in unpacking. The challenges of trying to unpack while pregnant with a rambunctious wiggly worm of a toddler is proving to be…interesting. =)


Challenges unpacking and moving furniture while pregnant:


1. Your belly gets in the way. =) I’ve been shocked that I haven’t been able to pick up and move boxes and furniture like I used to. I’m not a strong or muscular person, but when it comes to moving furniture and lugging boxes around – I can do my fair share…until now! I guess it’s because I can’t find any good leverage with my belly sticking out. I have to hold boxes way out in front of me or to the side – which means they can’t be huge or heavy boxes.


2. You tire quickly. In the morning I’m pretty motivated. Of course for the bigger jobs, I have to wait until Luke goes to bed at night – i.e. unpacking the kitchen. However, by the time Luke goes to bed, I don’t have any energy left to even think about unpacking – let alone a big job like washing all the dishes and finding a place to put them all. If only our dishwasher was working…that would help. Maybe it’s silly to feel like I need to wash all our dishes. They were washed before they were packed – but that was months ago! And they’ve been in trucks and boats and storage units along the way.


3. You can’t drink 12 cups of coffee every other hour. I will admit, I’ve started drinking 1 cup of coffee in the mornings again, but I know that 12 cups would be going WAY overboard…that will have to wait until the baby comes…sigh…=)


4. Bending Over. It’s becoming harder and harder to bend over and pick things up off the floor…too bad all the boxes are on the floor! =)


Challenges of unpacking with a wiggly-worm-never-sit-still-all-over-the-place-toddler:


1. It’s impossible. =)


2. Everything you try to put away gets unput away by the Wiggle Worm.


3. Mr. Wiggle Worm runs all over the house – and with boxes and furniture everywhere, it’s not exactly babyproof right now…meaning, mommy runs all over the house making sure Wiggle Worm isn’t pulling a stack of boxes down.


4. When I can put Wiggle Worm and myself in a room to work on boxes and shut the door, I do so…but then refer to challenge number 2.


5. Nap times – what I thought would be the perfect time to work…except loud noises and scooting boxes and walking from room to room wake up little Wiggle Worm...=) I mean, I don’t mind leaving him in his pack-n-play until nap time is over if he wakes up early, but he’s a mega-grouch if he doesn’t get his naps in…thus I’m more motivated to let him sleep. Mr. Grouchy Wiggle Worm is 100 times harder to deal with the just Mr. Wiggle Worm.


We have managed to set up our living room area in a somewhat livable way for now. I was able to put down the rug so Luke would have a softer place to play. The guest room is getting close to being finished as well. I still have A TON of clothes to wash – they smell a little musty after being packed away for the last few months, so that’ll take awhile to complete. I am REALLY excited that tomorrow is Saturday. Chris will be home to help and it’ll be an extra set of eyes and hands to keep an eye on Mr. Wiggle Worm.


Movers came yesterday to pick up our government furniture, so Luke’s room is finally free to start fixing up! YAY! We even got some of our orders from Target yesterday. The bedspread I ordered is a bit big for his crib, but we’ll just hang it over the side until he moves to his big boy bed. I’ll post pictures once we get it all set up.


The weather here has definitely turned to the cooler side. It feels like fall! In fact, we may need to start turning the register on in Luke’s room during the nights. I’ve even had to start wearing socks! We will definitely be investing in some warm coats for the Germany mountain winters.

Yesterday marked 21 weeks for Baby Bee! It’s nice to finally be on the second half of the pregnancy. I’ve been feeling a lot better. I still get sick at times, but every day seems to bring more relief then the last. I thank God for this great relief. I was so tired of feeling so sick all the time. Baby Bee has been moving around and kicking – I have a feeling he/she will be just as active as his/her older brother!


I don’t really have pictures for this blog. I think I have a couple, so I’ll make up for it next time around.


We love and miss you all!





Luke "helping" mommy put Christmas decorations in the trunk...



Mr. Wiggle Worm finding any way possible to get up and run around on the couch. This was right before the movers came to take these away...one less couch and chair to worry about him climbing up on. =)



I had to add this picture in for Riley, Tiger and Little One. It was taken a couple years ago. We miss our pets like crazy! Mom and Dad Shotts and Mom and Dad Scott, please give them all a hug and kiss for us! =)


More later!

Tuesday, September 04, 2007

The Move-In

Hey all!

Our stuff is finally here! It was a loooong day yesterday, but a happy one nonetheless. We were so tired last night, we were in bed before 9:30pm. I know, we’re getting old. =) I’m not sure I’ve ever gone to bed that early when there was a house full of unpacked boxes…but that’s what pregnancy does to you. On all of our previous moves, I’ve stayed up most of the night unpacking and getting things settled…and usually I would work like that until the job was done. That won’t be the case this time though. =) I tire VERY quickly…not to mention trying to keep an eye on Luke during the day as well as keep him out of trouble and unpack at the same time…well, it’s not working very well. I will have to take advantage of his two nap times and do all I can then. After that, we’ll see what actually get’s accomplished. =) Speaking of nap time, Luke just went to sleep, so I’m going to post pictures and get busy on this house!

More Later!


As with any move, there are always some glitches. Our first glitch was that housing won't be able to come pick up our government furniture until Thursday. Meaning we had to put as much of it as we could in one room to have it all out of the way of the movers. Which means, we won't have access to using the room until they come and get all the furniture...and it just so happens that we had to use Luke's room for it. So, sadly, we have to wait a few more days to put his crib up. Right now he still has residence in the guest room. =)

This is early on in the move - we still have energy!

Luke and I took our posts in the "Government Furniture" room so we would be out of the way of the movers...

At first, Luke was content to watch the movers carry things in...

After a few minutes of that, he was ready to get out and see what was going on for himself...


Of course, I wouldn't let him, so he threw a fit...

When the movers took a break, we let Luke go check out the living room. He wanted to tear into all the boxes, climb all the furniture, and drag whatever he could around...
We started to notice that some of our stuff wasn’t coming in - in the best of condition. Here the top brass handle was broken off of our bedside chest. Luckily they were able to find it in the truck and I think we can repair it. There's more damaged things, but so far nothing we can't live with or fix.

The day was cold and rainy. When the movers took their lunch break, Chris and I went around wiping the rain off all our furniture. Luke saw us doing it, and wanted to help too!

Daddy letting Luke stand on the dresser - yikes! Don't worry, Chris held on to him the whole time.

How much stuff do we have?! Every time we move I say I'm going to cut down...and yet we still have more then I ever remember!

Luke thought this white broom was the best find of the day! He dragged it everywhere he went for at least an hour. Now I just need to teach him how to use it! =)


Here Luke is standing in some shelves. He's on display! =)

I'll post more later, but I better get to work while Luke is still napping!

Sunday, September 02, 2007

Doctor's Appointment and Rugs...

Hello all!

Today we had our “real” doctor’s appointment. =) I was able to see the Chief of the Department – who is really great. He sees patients while he’s on-call, which is why I had a Sunday afternoon appointment. He also comes to Baumholder every so many weeks to see patients here, so that’s even better! I should be able to do the bulk of my appointments close to home. It looks like the baby is doing really well. Dr. Jackson did an ultrasound - and although I asked if he could see a third leg, Baby Bee was not in a cooperative position for finding out the for-sure gender. I guess he/she wants to keep it a secret for a little while longer. Hopefully he/she will be in a different position when we got our official ultrasound. The heart beat was good and the head, belly and leg measurements of Baby Bee were good as well. The only possible issue (and it’s not a for-sure issue at this point, so I’m not sweating it yet) is that my placenta is low-laying right now. It’s not cause for concern at this point, because in most cases, it positions itself in the right place as the pregnancy continues. They’ll probably check again once I near the end of the pregnancy, but like I said – at this point it’s nothing to worry about. In fact I read that as many as 1 in 4 pregnancies may have a low-laying placenta in the early stages of pregnancy. Dr. Jackson also filled my Zofran prescription without even blinking…yay for an understanding doctor!!! I’ll have my next appointment at the end of the month.

In other news, we were able to purchase a few rugs for the floor. We didn’t spend quite as much money as we thought we would – but it still added up to quite a bit. I like what we got though – and they’re much better quality then the ones we’ve bought in the past.

Tomorrow is a big day! Finally our household items will be delivered! It’ll be a lot of work to unpack, but I’m just so excited to finally have our own stuff again.

Today we tried the traditional Protestant service on-post today. It was nice, but a lot more "traditional" than we’re used to. We also didn’t find out until half-way through that they have a nursery…meaning Chris spent pretty much the whole service watching Luke play in the rocks outside the chapel. The people were really nice and the Chaplain assigned to Chris’s unit did the service. If there were more options around, we would probably search more and just see what else was out there. However, we really don’t have many more options. I think we’ll adjust soon – but I may complain every whipstitch about the lack of peppy music. =)

On to pictures!


Here, Chris just unrolled our Dining Room rug. Luke thought it was the best thing ever!

Daddy and Luke unrolling the Living Room rug...

Luke was so excited about the new rugs (afterall, he's been walking on cold tile since we moved in.) He had to check out every aspect of the rugs. He crawled all over them...

Ran from one rug to the next...and then back again...over and over and over...

Then he would sit and examine the designs on them...

Here is a full picture of the Living Room Rug...

Full picture of the Dining Room Rug...

Full view of the hall runner. It's 12ft, but it looks pretty short in the hall.

Luke LOVES watching all the shapes on Window's Media Player. I'll put on some Baby Einstein (baby classical music) and he just loves to sit and watch it. He usually gets up to dance to it after watching it for awhile.

Here he is clapping to the music and shapes.

20 weeks - what a belly!

Baby Bee is growing like a champ!

I'll post pictures of the big "move-in" later!

Hope all is going well!