Kimber's Navy Family

"Three Boys" by Pamela Ellis I've been reading through some of my old blogs and it made me want to do a follow-up on our family schedules and dinner plans . Things were a little intense there for a little while. I'm not sure at the time I realized how busy we actually were. Now, with one-year olds , I can see how much our schedule has relaxed, and-- I must say-- I like it. Around October of last year, I became fed-up with our drive-thru diet and quick, high calorie food solutions. We went through our freezer and made a commitment to eat better . Well, I made a commitment for us to eat better. My husband was still a little shell-shocked that I had thrown out an entire wholesale box of Chips Ahoy... After six months, we are eating even better than I originally intended. At first I was just going to remove hydrogenated oils from our family diet. Taking away that preservative naturally lead to healthier choices and I made it a habit to actually cook dinner, even ...

TwinBug Photography at twinbugphotography@yahoo.c om  For a long time, I didn't notice huge differences between C and O. There were differences between them, such as O favors his passey more than C, C wants you to help him stand or "walk" more than O, and the noises each baby makes are different-- O tends to make rumbly car sounding noises while C prefers screeching like a joyful banshee. All of our boys were so similar. When D was a baby he would make a noise and see who was watching him, which C and O both do, always waiting for the laugh. Absolutely everything goes in their mouths; even now at three I will catch D chewing on things. They all love their blankets; these Little Giraffe blankets we have for all three of them that have become known as "Batcho blankets," or just "Batcho" in our house. If someone is crying or tired or feeling cuddly, Batcho is always needed. And all of them are just busy . They want to see what happens if they dr...

It has been over two years since we found out that my husband was picked up in the Seaman to Admiral program (STA-21). Once he was conditionally accepted, it was a stressful month getting all the acceptance letters and paperwork together for us to receive orders and actually be accepted. It was hard saying good-bye to our good friends--as well as the beautiful island of Oahu-- before moving to the east coast. We had a month of leave before he went to NSI in Rhode Island, which we spent at my parents' house, the first week adjusting our toddler to the six hour time difference, with a weekend thrown in there of apartment shopping in North Carolina. A few people had suggested one area or another, some we couldn't find an apartment in our price range or in the distance we were looking to live from W's school. While my husband was in Rhode Island for the 10-week NSI "boot camp," I stayed with my parents. Because we hadn't found an apartment yet, I dragged my mom...

A whole year has passed. Where did the time go? (And why didn't my baby weight go with it?) And now here I am with two one-year olds. They aren't walking yet. C is very close to walking. He is quite steady when he pushes the walker around the sun room. Sometimes he will pick up the toy he is leaning against to get a better look at it. Once he realizes he is standing independently, he drops to the floor. O is still very happy with crawling, though I've caught him standing a few times. I've heard C say something that sounds a lot like, "Wha?" as if he is asking you, "What?" They are fairly easy babies. They tend to wake up in the night if their schedule gets off for too many days in a row, but I can play with their nap schedule during the day. Both of them love being tickled and cuddled. O is very good at pushing cars around on the floor. C loves to take off and find out what D is up to. While my husband and I can get them giggling, D makes face...

Napping while we are out. North Carolina September 2011 I get stopped all the time when I go out. I don't mind that people want to wave at my babies or ask D if he is a "big help" or throw their hands up in mock distress and say, "I don't know how you do it." Sometimes, yes, I would rather run in and out of a store, but, honestly, even if people weren't stopping me, would that really happen heading out with three kids? I've gotten used to the "you have your hands full" conversations, but one thing I never tire of talking about is my stroller. People stop me all the time to comment on my stroller, either to tell me that they wish they had that stroller back when their kids were young or to find out what it is and where to get it. Let me start at the beginning. When D was an infant we had two different Chicco strollers, the travel system and the Chicco $40 umbrella stroller. Neither was that exceptional, but they both served their p...