Been so busy!

I didn't mean to go this long between postings!! Between getting the car sorted out, the holiday, and work we've been busy! Friday and Saturday Drew worked on the car most of the days, and I was watching Taylor inside because it was so hot out. Sunday I got a little stamping and scrapbooking done, then we went to the neighbors to play some cards. Monday I caught up on some house cleaning and Drew cleaned up the garage from the weekend endeavor. Yesterday I got up and ran some errands, then went to weight watchers where I lost 2 lbs, I'm not sure how! It was much welcomed after last weeks .4 gain though. So, that has me down 19.6 lbs. since we got back from our trip. This morning I went to work where I was BUSY, and finally doing things on my own and getting the hang of it (I'm so much more of a hands on learner, than a follow and take notes one).

Taylor has been CRAAAANKY the last 4 or 5 days or so. We really think she must be teething for SURE now. She's drooling buckets, fussy, she seems to calm down with some orajel and likes suckign on the teething ring which she didn't care for before. I don't see or feel anything yet, but I'm hoping that's what it is, because WHEW.. she's hard work this last week. She hasn't been going to sleep very well either, and she'll randomly wake up in the middle of the night and be awake for an hour or so. Thank goodness it's not EVERY night, or I'd be hurtin'! She's also eating a ton.

Cossie and Holden are doing well. Holden was out of his kennel playing today and he actually whined to go out potty which was a first, normally he just walks by the door a few times and you ahve to catch his cues in time. He did piddle once in the house today, but he did it right in front of the door (on tile), so that's promising. Considering he's not 3 months yet, I can't complain! He seems to be getting the hang of it. He's a smart boy. He sits for treats, dinner and to come in the house. He knows "kennel" and he doesn't cry at night anymore unless he has to go potty.

I've decided that we need to make more use of our video camera so I charged up the batteries and got it out this weekend. I thought that while pictures are nice, Video is a better way to see what's going on with Taylor and the rest of us! So here's a couple videos! One of is Taylor eating some cereal, and the other is of the boys in the backyard. I was holding Taylor and recording so it's kind of bouncy, hope you don't get sea sick!







That's all for now, I'll try and update more this week. Tomorrow I've got to run to the grocery store in the morning so Drew can take the Trailblazer to work at 12:30.. then back to work Friday! Hopefully I'll have more pics and videos to upload soon so we can share more with ya!

Making a comeback

Well, this has been a crazy week! Everything is going pretty well. Taylor has been rolling both front to back, and back to front routinely now! BUT she will only do one at a time, so if she rolls back to front, she cries because she doesn't like being on her tummy, but if you put her on her tummy she'll roll on her back. Silly kid!

On the car front, we're still waiting to settle the claim with the insurance. We weren't completely satisfied with what they were going to offer us, so we sent them some links to "like" cars in the area that were going for more than they were offering to see if we can get them to come up. However, we will be buying it back as it's only $450 to buy the salvage which seems to be in good shape except the interior.

The adjuster told us to go ahead and tow it home since they would no longer need to look at it. So we rented a trailer from the base equipment rental and brought her home. Drew started working on her yesterday to see if we could get it running. He's still working on swapping all the fluids and stuff out with new stuff, but so far the electrical seems to be unharmed so that's a plus. Hopefully sometime tomorrow we'll get to try and start her and see how it goes.

Here's some pics of the endeavor:






I think this pretty much sums it up:



And Taylor thinks it is all just too boring:

No plans for Memorial Day yet, we both have the day off so we'll probably just hang out and relax. I know I have some cleaning to get done this weekend, oh fun!! Hope everyone has a fantastic weekend!!

Total Loss

Well, the insurance adjuster called yesterday and said our car was going to be a total loss. Drew and I are both really bummed for several reasons. One being that it was paid off! Two, we both have a very sentimental attachment to the car. Three, on the outside, it looks perfectly fine so it's hard to accept it as "totaled". We stopped by to pick up the personal belongings and grab the stereo out of it until we know what all is going on. I took some pictures while we were there.

The car was parked straight, but the water floated the back end over to a diagonal.


Here you can see the water line on the door. Because of the way it was parked, it was a bit higher on the other side.


Water in the cup holders


and in the center console.

The trunk

The back seat carpet.

We took the speakers out and it was already starting to mold in the box.

When we lifted up the floorboard of the trunk, the spare tire was floating.

About a foot of water still in the trunk.
We need to wait to hear from the insurance company about what will happen next. So that's our big bummer for the week.

Work is going well for me, though it's still to be determined if it's going to continue to work out. With all that went on last week none of us got as much sleep as we needed, and sharing one car is particular frustrating. I actually got to do some work on Friday rather than just shadow so that was good, mostly it's just the tedious process of learning this clinics particular procedures go.

I got the stitches out of my finger on Friday and while it's still quite sore and doesn't bend all the way just yet, it's healing up nicely. It's still tender and swollen around the joint, and it's still numb from the wound up to the base of my nail, but I imagine that it will take quite a while to completely heal.

Taylor is doing well, she's still rolling over and being a giggle monster. It seems every day she does a little something new.

Holden is also growing like a weed, getting the hang of this potty thing, and Cossie is getting less annoyed with him. He is too cute, he's already learning the routine for feeding time. As soon as you get food in his bowl and walk over to put it down he runs into his kennel and sits down then stares at you and waits until you put it down and give him the okay. He's a smart little boy!

Off to figure out what to do for dinner while the baby is napping. Just wanted to give a quick update!

She rolls!!

Taylor finally started rolling! She rolled from back to front the other day but it takes her a LONG time to get over. Today she was on her tummy and rolled straight to her back and now she does it over and over! I got it on video with my phone so the quality isn't that great, but I'm uploading it here so you can see!



We also heard from the adjuster today about the car, but basically he just said he was contacting everybody and would be out looking at vehicles on Fri, Sat, and Sunday. Hopefully he'll get to us Friday because I want to start getting it taken care of. Drew said it was already starting to smell in there, ugh! Well, what can ya do???

Off to do a little cleaning!

When it rains, it pours....

We had severe thunderstorms last night through this morning. I was getting pretty freaked out last night because it was raining so hard and the thunder was LOUD! It was clapping and rolling and the sky was lit more often than it was dark from lightening. The power went out for a few minutes and when it came back on only half the house did. One of the breakers was flipped so I flipped it back but it didn't help. Drew flipped it a few more times today and it finally came back so that was good.

The bad news?? Our Zx2 may be totaled. Drew went out to leave work last night and the car had gotten caught in a flood where it was parked on base and had been filled with water half way. The upholstery is all soaked, the cup holders and center console were filled with water. The computer is behind the cup holders so its probably shot. The current must have been pretty strong because the whole back of the car had been swung sideways so the car was parked at an angle in the spot instead of straight. It wouldn't start of course. Luckily while we had taken the collision insurance off of it due to it's age and value, I left the comprehensive on it, so it IS covered. I called to file the claim today but they can't get an adjuster out tomorrow.
So I guess we'll find out the damage over the next few days.

Anyway, that's the excitement in the White household this week so far. Otherwise things are going okay. Work is good, a little awkward as most new jobs are, but I'm sure I'll get the swing of things. They are all really nice there and seem to be willing to work with whatever schedule works best for me. Whether it be 1 day a week or 5, so thats nice to know that if 3 days isn't working out, I can always cut back. It's still to be determined.. Drew hasn't gotten much sleep on the days I work (nor I for that matter!), but there has been a lot of other things going on too!

I'll keep everyone updated on whats going on! Off to see if I can grab a nap while the baby is napping!

Guess What? More Pics!!!

Did a quick photo shoot of the boys and girl today (and a toad from last night!)! If only I could process them each the same way, I can't seem to get my white balance the same on them all... maybe I'll figure it out someday. Anyway.. on with the pics! I just realized these loaded backwards but I'm too lazy to move them around so Taylor comes last (she's the best, right!?)

Our friend, the toad.







Taylors Turn in the basket!






Drew took this one of Taylor and I reading last night also. She was holding each side of the book, it was too cute, but by the time Drew grabbed the camera she let go.

Pics!

Okay, Taylor is napping so I'm uploading pics real quick!!

Here's from her first cereal. Her high chair came with toy attachments (just what she needs, right??) she was enthralled with it so we ended up taking it off. Who needs to play at dinner anyway??

Waiting for mom:

First bite, not so sure.

I'd rather play with this toy

i'd still rather play with this toy

Where'd the toy go? What are you putting in my mouth???
Hmm, thats not bad, I'll have some more please!

Whos this handsome boy?
He's a hotdog.
He's a hotdog outside too
Who do you think won this one? Yep! Holden!
Here's my bum pinky during a dressing change today. Doesn't look to bad all closed up!

Still hurts though.

Baby is up, I'm off for now. It's sweltering here today. Thermo says it's 92 outside right now, and humid! Ugh!

Fingers are overrated.

So this morning I thought it would be fun to spend the day in the ER, so I attempted to cut off my pinky. Okay, really it was an accident (and pure stupidity on my part), but it wasn't pretty. It was a deep cut that made me almost pass out (my BP was 70/40 at the hospital). I now am the proud owner of 5 stitches and a huge splint to keep my finger from moving since the cut was partially into the joint. They say I will be fine though! Luckily Drew was home so he was able to take care of Taylor while we waited..and waited.. and waited to get me patched up. Of course while we were waiting she had a huge blowout of a diaper. We had left in such a hurry that her diaper bag wasn't fully stocked. The wipes had fallen out in the car and she didn't have a spare change of clothes. So we wrapped her in my breast feeding cover.. so embarrassing! We're home now though and all is well. My lidocane is wearing off so I'm going to take some tylenol and rock Taylor for her nap.

Whew!

Well, made it through until Wednesday!

Saturday night went great with Holden, but Sunday however was not quite as nice. He screamed from about 4AM to 6:30AM! It's gotten a little better since then at least. Potty training is going okay, slow of course, but that's how potty training is. We're still working out our routine, once we get one established I think it will move a long quicker.

Monday Drew took his test, he feels like he did a good job but we wont find out the results until AUGUST. Here's hoping! He did study a lot so I know he was about as prepared as he could get. In the afternoon we took Holden to the vet to get him checked out and I left with a job. Seriously!

I had asked about volunteering a few hours a week there to keep up my skills and they said they would get back to me. While we were there one of the head techs came in and told me they don't do volunteer, but they could hire me on a part time flexible basis. Whaa?? I explained my concerns and why I didn't want to be held accountable (if Drew changed shifts, etc. I'd have to be home with the baby). She said most of the people that work there are military and all I need to do is call as soon as I know. She brought me an application and I told her I'd bring it back later. As I was pulling out of the driveway, she came running back after me to see if I could do a quick interview. I told her I wasn't wearing my interview clothes as I was dressed in shorts and a t-shirt with flip flops, toting Taylor (whom they absolutely adored!). She said that was okay, she just wanted me to meet the office manager. I went in, they asked me a couple questions, but mostly flirted with Taylor, she said, Can you start Thursday?? I laughed and said No, but that I would bring back the application and we would go from there.

I took it back this morning and I'm going to do a trial week next week. My schedule will be Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 8 to noon. I think that will be feasible, and if it's not working out, well I don't have to stay, but for the flexibility and the light schedule, I couldn't NOT try. Mostly to keep my skills up, but the extra cash is always nice (especially with these gas prices, whew!). It's a beautiful clinic, and everyone is very nice there. I'm looking forward to it, but nervous at the same time. I'm afraid I'm biting off more than I can chew, but I guess that will be determined!

Yesterday morning was Taylors 4 month checkup. She's no longer tall and thin, she's short and thin! I guess they measured her wrong last time (Did i mention I hate the base pedes clinic????) so she's shrunk from 25" to 23.5", she weighs 12lbs 11oz (25th percentile for both), I can't remember her head size but it was in the 50th percentile. The doc said she's growing proportionally though and doing well. She said we can start her on rice cereal as well one to two times a day. So, she had her first bites of rice! She wasn't sure what to think, but she was getting the hang of it towards the end. I do have pictures, but I need to get them off the camera so I'll try and do that this evening.

After the doc appointment we ran some errands and then went to Weight Watchers. I lost 3 lbs, yay! So I made up for the 1.2 I gained last week, and then some! That put me right at 15 lbs since I rejoined and at my pre-pregnancy weight!

We got home and Taylor was cranky from being up early and her nap schedule getting messed up. At 5pm I went ahead and let her take a nap, except she stayed asleep! She didn't get up until 6 this morning, then went back to sleep for an hour! I couldn't believe it!

Thats the update for the last few days. I'll get the pics when I can and share them. Hope all is well with everyone!

And puppy maked 5!!

The White family has now expanded by one more four-legged fur kid! We made the 4.5 hour drive to Baton Rouge to pick up Holden today and he's everything we thought he would be! Adorable, sweet and calm! We got back and I took him down the street half way, and Drew brought Cossie out and walked him towards us, we introduced them and things went great. Both tails were wagging, and then Cossie turned around ready to walk, so we all walked back to the house and in we went!

We put Holden in his crate and gave him some food and water while we fed Cossie, had dinner ourselves and got Taylor to bed. He ate, whined a little, then got on his bed and watched us. After we were all done and Taylor was sleeping, we put up the baby gate to keep him in the kitchen and living room and let the boys play.

Here's the pictures of their first in house adventure! Cossie isn't sure what to think of the little guy, he's a little freaked out but wants to play at the same time. I think they will grow to be good buddies in time.
Also a couple pics of Taylor on the drive.

Eating her toy:

Telling a story:

Being a drool bucket:



Also, yesterday we THOUGHT she was going to roll over, she was trying really hard but only managed to get 3/4 of the way there several times. I sense that it is coming soon. She still doesn't show an interest in rolling from front to back, but on her back she certainly tries to get to the front!

Here she is half way rolled:

and 3/4 of the way.. ALMOST! But not quite. Maybe tomorrow!



Alright, I'm off to bed. It's almost midnight and it's been a LOOONG day!! Hope you enjoy the pics!