former critic

When I was teaching I will admit that I was highly critical of parents. I often wondered how parents could let their children be exposed to things and why parents would allow some behaviors from their children....I now know I was being a pretty harsh judge.
Now that I have two children of my own (even if they are both still under 2), it is safe to say that I hate disciplining my kids. I know as their parent it is my job, but that doesn't mean that I enjoy it. However, when I think of the consequences of not disciplining them, it makes it all seem so much better. Finding a effective discipline technique has been a challenge. Gunnar laughs when we smack his hand, his butt, or thigh under his butt since he wears a diaper, so we have had to be a little creative, but luckily he is usually a pretty good boy.
I try to be selective about what my kids watch. I think it is horrible that Kyle lets Gunnar watch SpongeBob. Gunnar also climbs up on Kyle's lap and watches the occasional Simpson's show (another dislike of mine). But those are the worst things he watches.
Keeping this in mind today I walked in Gunnar's bedroom and saw him with his water gun Kyle bought him a while back. He had it up against his shoulder and was making the motions and noises as if he was shooting Kyle who was asleep on the floor. Gunnar thought he was hilarious. He was cracking himself up. I did not think it was so funny. I thought about the many conversations I have had to have with parents about their children playing "guns" at school. I then had the fearful thought that in four years I will be the one being talked to by one of his teachers. I even heard all the same excuses go through my head that I used to get so annoyed at, "well, his father is in the army, what do you expect?" or my favorite "boys will be boys."
After I took the gun away Gunnar picked up a doll and started rocking it and patting its back, proving to me once again that he really can be a sweet boy.
Today I was also thinking about how fun it is to see your children learn to play with their toys properly. They go from being totally uninterested to pushing their cars and making car noises. Today I saw Gunnar making his toy helicopter fly, and his toy people walk. I love watching his imagination blossom. Watching a young life develop confirms once again to me what an amazing God we have. I can't wait until Ryker starts playing with toys. Right now is satisfied rolling all over the place and putting things in his mouth. Although he has started enjoying the bouncer the last couple of days.
Sometimes I wonder if sound effects that go along with cars (or trucks) and guns are just built into boys....

Here are some picture of the happenings around our house today...

Christmas

We had a great Christmas weekend at my parents house. It was the first time in four years that we ALL were together. It was a special time together as we celebrated the birth of Jesus, God's only Son who He sent into this world to die for our sins. What a gift God has given us.

December 24:

After a crazy morning of realizing all my bathroom items had been left on the counter at home I made a frantic run to the store. My childhood friend Debbie was taking family pictures that day, and makeup really was needed. I got my makeup, and got the family ready looking our best for pictures. After pictures we took Debbie and her husband Jeremy to Six Degrees for lunch. It is our new favorite restaurant in the Tri-Cities and will use any excuse to eat there. We wish Debbie and Jeremy lived closer as we love spending time with them.

After pictures and after a nap Gunnar played hard.

On the evening of the 24th we went to a wonderful Christmas Eve Candlelight service at my parents church.
When we got home Ezra, Owen, and I made Santa some mini chocolate pies. We figured he would get enough cookies on the way. They didn't turn out quite how we had hoped, mainly due to lack of little people following directions, but they still tasted good.

 December 25, Christmas Day:
We spent the morning getting things ready for our big lunch and of course opening stockings.
I made this stocking holder for my mom for Christmas. It is hard to get a good picture of because of the lighting, but it turned out better than I could have hoped for.

Then there was opening gifts....

 My happy little Ryker on Christmas morning. I sure do love his smiles.

I love Gunnar's smiles too.
December 26, Paul's 30th Birthday.:
After church we went to Eatza Pizza for a great time.

 Owen helping Paul blow out his candles.

 My sister Jami and Ryker.

 Silly boy Gunnar eating cake. Kyle's nick name from his mom was "Cakers" growing up because he loved cake. I think Gunnar would suit the name well too.

 Gunnar grabbed my heels and was sporting them around the house. I must say, I was very impressed with how well he walked in them.

 Me and my baby boy. I can't believe he is a little over 4 months already. Time goes by to fast.

 Ryker and Kyle. Two of my three favorite boys.

December 27:
We drove back to Fort Lewis. We are here safe and sound. Now it is time for bed.

The Pettit Clan

Our household goods have arrived. We went from sleeping on air mattresses, having not much to cook with, no chairs to sit on, to a house full of boxes. Luckily for us, Kyle's Dad, Laura, Shawn, and Caleb came to have an unpacking party with us. Their help was awesome. The boys spent most of their time playing with Gunnar. So much so I almost forgot I had two kids, almost. We still are not all the way unpacked but they got us off to a great start and we just have to do a little organizing and opening of a few more boxes. Hopefully we get some motivation and get to it soon. No one likes to live surrounded by boxes.
While they were here we also got to celebrate Laura's birthday and an early Christmas. We had a great time and sure do love these four. We appreciate them so much and all they do for us.
Gunnar hanging out with his Uncle Caleb.

 Gunnar making sure the dogs were eating correctly.

 Ryker with Grandpa Mike.

 Nana succeeds yet again at putting Ryker to sleep.

 Silly boy Gunnar.

 Gunnar uncles took him for a walk while the movers were arriving and apparently riding in the stroller is hard work.

 Kyle and his dad making sure the movers are doing their job correctly.

 Gunnar really loved opening presents.

 Gunnar and his Grandpa at lunch. They sat at a table just the two of them. Looks like they are up to no good if you ask me.

Nothing

Kyle is at the end of his two weeks of leave after his surgery and we have done....nothing. We have done a lot of hanging out and doing a whole lot of nothing.
Monday Kyle is back to work. Mike, Laura, Shawn, and Caleb will get in tonight and be with us until the 23rd. We get our household goods on Monday so they will be here to help us get all settled in....finally.
Here are a few pictures.
Gunnar loves to wrestle with Ryker. It is hard to get after him because Ryker just thinks it is halarious. He laughs the entire time Gunnar is crawling on top of him.

It is so hard to get a good picture of Gunnar anymore. He is just way to silly and busy for taking pictures.

Wednesday our friend Jackson came over to visit. We met him while we were at Fort Campbell, KY in 2005. We have kept in contact over the last 5 years and he now is living in Seattle, so we got together. It is nice having familiar faces around.

We got the boys a Fold'n Store Picnic Table for Christmas. UPS delivered it today and Kyle has been busy putting it together. Gunnar has enjoyed helping him put it together....so much for waiting until Christmas.

Pictures with Santa

Here is one of the two boys with the Post Exchange (PX) Santa.

 Here is a picture of Gunnar with the Santa at Kyle's work Christmas Party. Gunnar is getting to be at the age where he is uncertain of this strange bearded man.

I love this photo of Ryker. He was just in awe of Santa's beard. Before Mrs. Claus was set up with the camera Ryker was giving Santa huge smiles.

 Gunnar decorated this little wreath at the Christmas party as well. It is our only Christmas decoration in the house. I miss our stuff. But while we don't have any decorations, I am thankful all our neighbors do to help remind us that its wintertime.

The Great Escape, Attempt One.

It is time.
Time to put on the child locks in the car.
I felt a large breeze today while we were driving in a roundabout.
I am thankful a little person in my backseat has only mastered how to undo one part of his car seat buckle.
I am grateful we weren't going very fast.
I am relieved my husband has quick reflexes and was able to save the car door from any harm.
I am really pleased that the little person got scared!

Now. Let's hope we don't do that again. Child locks are on.

Today Gunnar made his first attempt to escape. Life has been rough the last couple of days with a broken dad and sick mom, but has it really been that rough? 

a LONG update

The Sunday after Thanksgiving our family of four drove the 6 hours from the Pettit house to Fort Lewis. It was a long drive with unhappy children. But, we survived. We were scheduled to get housing on that upcoming Thursday and decided we didn't want to be away from each other anymore and would just pay for lodging those 4 nights. We discovered that Air Force Lodging is about half the price as Army lodging and this is a joint Air Force/Army base so it worked out well....minus a bit of a longer drive. We got to stay in a nice family room with a full kitchen, living room, landry room, and two bedrooms the first two nights, then they had us move into two adjoining rooms with basically just beds and a shared bathroom. We got our house Thursday, but realized we had nothing to sleep on, so we booked one more night in a hotel and they moved us back into the nice family lodging but only had a one bedroom available. So since our journey to Fort Lewis started on Oct. 25 the boys and I have moved 6 times! Crazy.
My parents arrived Thursday and stayed with us in our hotel room. Friday morning Kyle had to be at the hospital by 8:30 to check in for his surgery. My parents took Gunnar and went to our new home as our unaccompanied baggage was arriving that day. I got Kyle checked in then had to run to the house, which is conveniently 5 minutes from the hospital, to sign a paper that gave my parents permission to receive our unaccompanied baggage. Once I did that, back to the hospital I went were we sat and waited for Kyle's name to be called for him to go into surgery. He finally was wheeled away around 10:30. They told me they would call when he was finished as they hated for me to wait around with Ryker, and Kyle was insisting that I not sit around and wait as it was pointless. So once in my life I listened to him and I left, my parents already had gotten the unaccompanied baggage, the baby beds were set up as well as the air mattresses. We went and got some errands run, I fed Ryker and it was around 3:30, so I assumed Kyle would be ready to come home, so I left Ryker with my parents too.
I got to the hospital, got a run around with getting Kyle's medication, then got up to his room and I came face to face with the evil Kyle Pettit. Wow-zer, he was so angry with the world. He doesn't remember much of it, but he was in pain, on a lot of meds, and nothing was helping. The nurses told me to hang in there, it wasn't me, he was being mean in general. This is not typical of Kyle and he is usually the nicest guy around. It was pretty humorous for me, but I tried not to laugh in his face as it would only make him more upset.  After getting yelled at for an hour or so, they sent him back down to the Pharmacy. The system there just happened to not be working, and I waited over 2 hours. As I was finally getting the prescriptions I hear someone shout out "is there a Beth Pettit here?" I turned and said "yeah that's me," then this woman says "your baby is freaking out over in the nurse's tower. He is HUNGRY and your mom needs you now!" So I guess my assumption that I not be so long that Ryker would get hungry again was VERY wrong. I then rushed over to where my mom was and I could hear Ryker screaming from way down the hall. This nice lady apparently saw my mom in distress with this screaming baby and ask if she could help. My cell phone had died and last we had talked I told her I was in the pharmacy, so this is where the lady came looking for me, which was a good 5 minute walk. It took a long time to get Ryker calmed down, but him and my mom both survived, thank goodness.
I then went back up to Kyle, 3 hours later, and he was one of three day surgery patients left (the room was packed when I first arrived). So he wasn't pleased about the time it took me to get his prescriptions and he didn't understand why Ryker was so upset, but in the time I was gone they had managed to get his pain under a little bit of control and he was ready to come home.

So we got home. Over the weekend I started not feeling great, and just assumed it was the stress around me. I had a huge paper due for my master's and was busy taking care of Kyle. My parents left Sunday, and were an awesome help, I love having them closer. Monday, I laid down for a nap and got the chills horribly. I took my temperature and was at 102. I had body aches, a head ache and pain in my breast. It was like I laid down and everything hit me at once. Kyle insisted I go to the doctor, but I thought it was silly, so he called my mom, and the ganged up on me. I called my doctor and they couldn't get me in so I had to go to the ER. I sat there for 4 hours with Ryker. Kyle and his broke leg stayed home with Gunnar (which was an adventure by the looks of the house when I got home). I have mastitis, I had it when I was breastfeeding Gunnar but don't remember it being this horrible. I just have wanted to stay in bed, but I have two kids that need me and a husband that needs me too right now, so it has been rough. I am finally feeling a bit better after 2 really rough days. I am hoping the worst is behind me.
So this has been the adventures in our house, and why I haven't been blogging much lately. Hopefully now I can keep up a little better.
Here is a picture when we first got home from the hospital Kyle just crashed on the floor. Gunnar brought him a blanket and book.

 Apparently Kyle is a good place for nap.

Here is a picture of cute Ryker after a bath yesterday.

Today I decided that since I was feeling a little better I would at least take the boys out for a short walk. It is always raining and the sun was out so we had to had advantage of it. On our walk we found a park close to the house so I let Gunnar play for a few minutes.

 I know it is sideways, I am to lazy to turn it right now.

We have two camping chairs and these three important chairs in our house. While Kyle was having surgery my dad found the recliner on Craigslist. He decided the camping chair wouldn't be all the comfortable for a guy who just had surgery. He was right, it has been a huge blessing to have. Kyle's other chair is his wheelchair. We recently found out he has a SLAP tear in his shoulder (which is usually caused by a fall). He has complained to me about his shoulder since he got home from Afghanistan with his broken ankle and I never thought much of it. He has lost a lot of sleep over it. He finally got it checked out and turns out something is wrong. They figure he will have to have surgery to repair it. Crutches will only make the tear worse so he gets a wheelchair.

I finally get my rocking chair. Kyle bought this for my birthday last year when Gunnar was 4 months old. But, there was no way to get it to Germany, so I have been anxiously waiting to use it. My parents brought it over with them. It is perfect for rocking my babies.

In case anyone is interested, here is video showing what they did to Kyle's ankle. He had three tightropes put in. http://www.ankletightrope.com/

Pettit Thanksgiving

We spent Thanksgiving with the Pettit Family this year. I was suppose to head up to Post Falls on Tuesday, but because of the bad weather we waited until Wednesday. Kyle's dad showed up at my parents around 8:30 am Wednesday morning (which means he left his house around 5:30, crazy guy) and picked up the boys and I. Kyle then arrived late Wednesday night. It was so great to see him again and have our little family whole. He had been up at Fort Lewis for over 2 weeks without us and we were really missing him.
The day we were suppose to leave we spent a bit of it playing outside in the snow with cousins Ezra and Owen. Cousin Zane came out and played in the snow too, but Gunnar was still napping when he was outside. As you can see cousin Owen wasn't to excited about having to stop playing in the snow to have a picture taken.

A few pictures of the boys while we were still at my parents. Apparently Ryker makes a good foot rest.

Some pictures from Thanksgiving day...
Great-Grandpa Pettit and Gunnar

And the rest of the Thanksgiving crew.

Apparently somebody ate to much turkey, he was exhausted.

We went up to trailer at Priest Lake on Friday. It is always so beautiful up there, summer and winter time. Here is Gunnar is his rockin' snow suit. He has a great winter coat, hat, and gloves, and I couldn't find bib snow overalls for him anywhere. So the morning we headed up to the lake we hit up a thrift store in Post Falls. This was all they had, and it works, it keeps him warm and dry...and it was cheap.