Loving Fall

I absolutely love this time of year....The cold (but not too cold yet), all the pumpkin and fireplace smells, the cloudy gray skies, the rain..just everything about fall! I finally got all my decorations up, way later than most years I might add. Of course with all the b-days this time of year is becoming more hectic. I can't believe my little one turns one next week, and we just celebrated Kristina's 8th b-day! Of course the con to this season is having two of the three kids sick and being cranky. I'm also really excited because in a month my dad will be coming down to hunt and then my brother will join Thanksgiving week. I can't wait to have Thanksgiving with them and it will be really great to see them with the kids. Last time they saw Annika was a little over a year ago, so she wasn't even 2 yet, and they haven't even seen Connor yet! The girls are ecstatic that papa and uncle nic will be in town soon. Of course they will be in Hot Springs so that means we will be traveling down there on the weekends as much as possible but that's fine by me. I'm just really enjoying the season at the moment, and getting excited to decorate for Christmas (though all the shopping that will have to be done can wait even longer ha ha ha).

So Tired

I don't know why but I can't seem to get enough sleep these days! I go to bed earlier than I ever have (between 9:30 and 10) and I'm still so exhausted these days! It doesn't help that the allergies are kicking in and giving me a sore throat, and Connor hasn't been feeling well either. He's teething and has a virus. I just wish I could get more sleep these days and feel awake during the day. I don't like wanting to do nothing but sleep!!
On a positive note, I am really looking forward to the Tuesday morning Bible study that is about to start up in a few weeks! And MOP's is starting up soon as well! I love being able to get together with other women, it really makes my weeks better! It was such a great time and experience going to Flavor last night. A nice little break from the kids too. Although I did feel bad leaving Connor with Mike since he has been so cranky and fussy from not feeling well. I came home to Connor fussing (apparently he had slept a little) and Annika was happier than usual to see me. She was so upset for me to leave that she cried herself to sleep and woke up just a little bit before I got home. All in All it went well and I really enjoyed myself.

Summer is ending

The summer is ending, and WOW has the summer really flown by this year! I swear every year things just fly by quicker and quicker!! Kristina is getting ready to start second grade on the 6th of August, and she is super excited! Annika just keeps getting bigger and bigger and becoming more and more of a "big girl" and not just my little toddler. She's become my mini me and literally does and say's everything I do and say. She even runs to get her baby doll when I'm doing something with Connor. Speaking of Connor, just started pulling himself up onto his knees in his crib yesterday and this morning I walk in and he's standing up completely!!! Time to lower the crib!! He's been doing the army crawl for several weeks now but hasn't really tried to pull up...until yesterday.
We had a great family vacation last week. Just to Hot Springs, but we stayed in my Aunt and Uncle's lake house and it was great! We went swimming...an adventure since Annika is scared of everything, took about an hour to an hour and a half to coax her into the water. Then she had fun of course. Connor LOVES the water and loves to splash so he was completely happy swimming. We had lunches and dinners with family and even took the kids to Pirate's Cove, a miniature golf place. Everyone had a blast and it was a very much needed vacation for us all!
Now that we are back, we are just trying to get into the swing of things. Kristina has one week of summer left, I've taken on more kids to watch (so I have 7 counting my 3....Some day's I'm not sure what I was thinking ha ha), and Mike has a new promotion starting this week! I love it, he now works office hours Monday through Friday, so he has evenings and weekends off finally!! I think this will be a great change for our family! It was so nice to sit down at the table and eat as a family last night! I don't remember the last time that happened!
We are still up in the air about when we will be moving. As of now we are hoping to have Mike at Officer training in the middle of October and me and the kids in Oregon at that time. Though if we decide to let Kristina finish this semester of school then we wouldn't go to Oregon until Christmas break. Mike HATES the idea of me and the kids being here by ourselves....and while I would prefer not to, I think we would be just fine. I just HATE not being able to plan for anything. As of now our duty station will be Hawaii, right outside Honolulu. We are still really excited, just tired of the waiting game.
So all in all, the Lombard Clan is doing well...Just waiting to try to prepare for the so many changes we know are a head of us.

Just an update

So there really isn't much going on around here. Kristina is finishing up her last week of school and then we will be going to Hot Springs to visit family over the weekend. Connor is finally rolling over...YaY! Now if he will only start crawling! I always expected him to do the same stuff at the same time as Annika did, which was 6 1/2 months for everything (except walking) and he will be 8 months on the 22nd. And yes, I do know that all children are different, but still lol.
Other than that we are just taking it easy now that I am finally done being sick. I had some sort of cold or allergies two weeks ago, and then the weekend after that we had a neighborhood yard sale and because I always seem to forget to put sunscreen on myself, I ended up with a nice sunburn and a touch of sun poisoning. But all that is behind me now and I'm feeling good now! So other than all this and trying to figure out about moving that is all that is happening around here.

One of those days!!!

So today is definitely one of those days! To start things off, I am sick and don't feel well and haven't since Saturday. Of course we all know mom's have no day's off even when we are sick. We are out of everything so going to wal-mart was a must today so as soon as Kristina jumped off the bus, off we went. Connor was cranky most of the time, though I tried seeing if he would be okay sitting up in the seat instead of his infant carrier...he kept falling over. Finally laid him down in the seat (I have one of those seat covers so it was some what soft and clean for him)..this seemed to do the trick until I went around one of their freight carts and not realizing how far over the side his little feet were, I squished his poor little foot between the cart and the other thing...I feel like a horrible mother!!! Poor guy started screaming so I carried him for awhile and let Kristina push the cart which made her happy but gave me more work since it was a little heavy for her and she kept running into things. Annika of course was trying to open everything and bite into the hot dogs, and kept standing up (almost falling out a couple of times). Gave her two spankings and guess they weren't good enough because it didn't seem to phase her much but of course I still got several horrified looks from other people. We finally make it home and I start putting away groceries when Annika had gotten a hold of a glass frog tape dispenser (with out me noticing) drops it on the floor...Glass goes every where, she screams and runs away. I ran after her to check her over and she had two nicks on her foot but was fine. So I sweep the whole dinning room and kitchen and then mop it real quick to ensure all glass is put up. In the middle of this Annika some how pees all over my entry way...I say some how because I'm not exactly sure how since she had on a pull up. Hmmmm. So I stop what I'm doing, rush her to the bathroom and clean the pee up. Now I have to mop my entry way as well. Then in the process of doing this I decide to clean the cat's box being that tomorrow is trash day and if the picky cat does not have a perfectly clean box he will pee on my bed...It has been done before...always on mikes side of the bed oddly enough...makes me laugh slightly but not him ha ha. During all this Annika spills a drink in the living room. I run to clean that up hoping and praying its not spilled on Mike's lap top...Thankfully it wasn't, just on the floor. During the whole ordeal the girls are fighting non stop and Connor is fussing because he's not getting the attention he wants. I finally manage to get everything cleaned up and groceries put away just in time for Annika to pick up the cats/dogs water dish full of water, drop and break it (getting glass every where once again)and soaking her and the floor.....which when she spills something on her like that, she screams bloody murder and it takes a few to calm her down. So It has been one of those days or nights..whatever. I'm exhausted and still need to cook something...think it will be hot dogs since mike is working...and go buy another dish for the pets. UGH!! Well thanks for listening I actually feel slightly better now after venting! Maybe I won't lock my children in the closet for the night....Just kidding, I wouldn't do that...Just think about it ha ha ha :D

Finally a new post!

Wow! I am way over due to post something!! I need to get a ton better about this especially if we are moving! So anyway.....The newest thing going on in the Lombard Clan is that Mike is officially an Army Officer!! He is a 2nd Lt. and I couldn't be more proud. Just wish I could start planning our big move to Hawaii, but can't do that until we get orders which won't happen until Mike takes the Nclex exam to get his RN license. Other than that the kids are growing so fast! I can't believe Connor will be 7 months this week!! I'll post some pics of him later when I switch over to mikes laptop. I have got to organize my picture files....they are spread out over 3 computers which is part of the problem on me posting new pics lol. Anyway, here are some pics of the commissioning ceremony and Kristina's spring pic.

Exciting news!

Wow! It has been way too long since I have posted anything!!! So much has happened since the last blog! Miss Annika has since turned 2 and is in the midst of potty training! We're letting her go at her own pace and it seems to be going well! So as I said in title, We have some very exciting news....We are going to be stationed in Hawaii!!!! We are nervous and excited about it. Not sure when we will be going. Mike will graduate and be commissioned in May, but will have to take his nclex exam to get his license. It will take the UA to send the state board of nursing a while to get them the proper paper work so it will probably be in June when he can take the test and then 2 weeks on top of that to get results and licensing in. Then he has to go to OBC (the army officer training) and that is 3 months long and is unaccompanied (so me and the kids can't go with him). Typically they send you to OBC before being sent to your duty station, but if the next session is to far off then they will station you first. So basically no idea when we are moving yet. We will post more when we have more to tell! Kristina is so excited about the weather since she thinks she'll be able to play outside every day lol. We're starting some research on the housing market, schools, and just what it will be like there. None of us have ever been there before so this will truly be our new adventure!

The real pants wearer in the family

Apparently Annika wears the pants in this family lol. Here she is in my jeans (of course her sister was kind enough to cinch the belt around her waist and roll up the pant legs lol). Just thought it was too funny not to post!

Annika is turning into a big girl

So Monday night I decided (and I'm not sure what made me decide to do this) to convert the crib to a toddler bed. We plan on getting a different bed for her in the next month or so, that way we can use the crib with Connor. While converting the crib, Annika of course had to "help" me but she was so excited about getting a "big girl bed." We are very into being a big girl at the moment. I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised with how well she did! She stayed in bed all night and went right to sleep (except she did fall out once and scared herself) and wouldn't get out of bed until I walked into her room. I had put the baby gate up in her doorway just to ensure that if she got up, she couldn't get into anything but her toys. Nap time the next day went awesome as well and last night's bed time. She just simply goes right to sleep and still won't get out of her bed until I get her out. I even went in there this morning and told her she could play with toys because I wasn't ready to get her out of her room just yet, she still didn't get out of bed lol. Guess the next step in this new "big girl" adventure is to get her completely potty trained. She is doing great at peeing in the potty (well when I make her lol), so I guess I should stop being lazy and really get the ball moving! So if any of you other mom's have any great tricks let me know :D

Just an Update

Wow! Its been way too long since I've updated this site lol. I have several pictures from Christmas that I will post later. The picture posted is of Connor, he's getting so big so fast! He'll be 3 months next week already! I decided to try to feed him some rice cereal with applesauce to help fill his tummy. The child is already drinking 6 oz bottles and has been for some time. This was about the time I started feeding Annika baby food as well. I know what the books and doctors say, but I say I know my child way better then they do..I'm just not a by the book kinda mom. He seemed to really like it, although he decided it was time to smile and coo at me making the feeding take longer and a little more difficult lol. That is what the picture above is of. Of course, the minute the camera came out he stopped smiling for me and then started up again once I put it away. We had a wonderful Christmas with the family and the kids loved all their gifts. I still need to write thank you notes...fell a little behind. Well that's it for now I guess, I'm about to head to bed for the night...after a snack :) I'll post more pics later.