Life After Hump Day

I've been pretty lazy, so here's a run down of the rest of this weeks events, sorry no pictures. I'm just too lazy to upload them.

Wednesday Night- Howie lost his center front right tooth.  The next morning he comes downstairs and throws his tooth fairy money on the desk and says, "Mom, put this in savings for me, thanks."  Yeah! We're so happy he's learning how to save his money (that's a BIG deal for Howard and I since we're BIG savers).

Thursday- I had my 36 week OB appointment.  Bad news...the hospital changed their policy and we're now not allowed to take photographs of the birth (I cried really bad when I was told this since I have pictures of all my children entering this world).  Before and after is okay though.  Also, I'm only 1 cm dilated and not effaced.  Very disappointing since I was dilated to 5cm at 36 weeks with Jack!  I don't think this baby will be here for a while.  Good news...no new weight gain, I actually lost 1/2 pound.  So over the past 6 weeks I've actually lost weight (even though I've been eating more.) I was told by my Midwife that she'll do a medical induction at 39 weeks if I'm still pregnant them (I have REALLY bad varicose veins and I am in pain 24/7, so that's why).

Friday- I went to the school for lunch with Howie and Erin.  I surprised them with Burger King.  They were so happy because they eat school lunch every day, so it was a nice change for them.  Howard came home from work at noon and Jack, Howard, and I all took a nice long nap until Howie and Erin came home from school.  Howie and Erin brought home their Scholastic book orders (very exciting, I LOVE new books and so do they!)  In the afternoon Howard took all the children to a special viewing of the F-22 Raptor on the flight line.  They were rather disappointed because they couldn't even touch the plane.  

Jack's Surgery

This morning was Jack's second surgery.  He had his ear tubes replaced and his adenoids removed.  We were fortunate enough for Howard to get the day off to take Jack in. When small children wake up from surgery they frequently scream, cry, and thrash about.  Jack was no exception and I'm so glad Howard was there to control the situation.  I just didn't have the stamina to deal with it right now.

Rise and shine, bright and early...yawn.  Jack and Howard left the house at 6am.

All drugged up after his surgery in recovery.

Resting and watching Finding Nemo.  He's still pretty doped up and can't keep his balance when he walks.  This is the calmest I've ever seen him. He can't out run his pregnant mommy today (for once)!

He should be back to normal in a day or two.

Pinewood Derby

2 weeks ago

The boys getting the wheels just right for Howie's upcoming Pinewood Derby.  Howard was so excited that he was able to get a Dremmel tool for this project.

The night before

Howie showing off his car after we submitted it Friday night for a final weigh in.  His car weighed in at 141.7grams...the maximum weight allowed was 141.75grams. So close!

The Big Race

Howie was in lane B for this heat.  He raced several times and ultimately finished in 2nd place in his Tiger Den.  Great job Howie (and Howard)!!!!

Here is Howie with his assistant den leader, 2nd place ribbon (in the Tiger Den division), and "The Hottest Car" award. Howie had decorated his car to look like a hot rod with flames.  It's hard to see in the picture, but he even had a really cool spoiler.  Since Howie finished 2nd in his den, we were not able to take his car home because he will be racing in the International Pinewood Derby Competition in a few weeks. That basically means that our American Packs will be competing against their Japanese counterparts. Howie competed in the finals for the entire Pack, but did not place in the top 4.  At the end of the races I asked one of the officials where Howie ranked among all the other kids, and she said 11th out of about 55.  Not too bad for a first timer!

7 Years of Howie

Since Howie's birthday was this week, I wanted to share some highlights from the last 7 years and also share some Howie trivia with everyone.

1. I found out I was pregnant with Howie 2 weeks after Howard left for basic training.

2. Howie was born exactly 9 months after my 20th birthday. (grin, grin)

3. Howie was born naturally on his due date 1/19/02. I've heard only 5% of babies come on their due dates.

4. I was in labor for 2 days with Howie. My contractions started Thursday late afternoon and he was FINALLY born at 5:07PM Saturday! It took so long because he was in an awful position.  I almost had a c-section (they were giving Howard scrubs to suit up), but at the last minute the doctor reached inside of me and pushed Howie's head into the proper position and out he came.  I was in bed for a week recovering from giving birth. And since it was January he was born during a snow storm (go figure.)

Here he is about 15-30 minutes after he was born (I can't quite remember because I was so drugged up.)

Howie at 10 months old.  

5. He learned to walk at 9 1/2 months, and took his first steps on Halloween.

2 1/2 years old, beautiful blue eyes!

6. Howie became a big brother when he was exactly 18months old (7/19/03).

7. Howie finished potty training when he was 2yrs 11months.

4 1/2 years old, being silly with his cousin Jackie.

8. Lost his first tooth when he was 4 yrs old.  It was knocked out by Erin's head.  The permanent tooth finally started peeking out this week (it only took 3 years).

Happy 7th birthday Howie!

Howie is a typical boy in every way...

he likes girls (already!)

 he's rough and tumble

 very active

  likes boy stuff.

Howie's Birthday & Funny Dinner Conversation

Today Howie turned 7!  Wow!  We had an awesome birthday party at the USO in their private theater with some of Howie's closest friends.  Howie's actually quite popular, so we had a full house with every seat filled.  Howie loves High School Musical, so that's what we watched, then we opened presents and had cake.  The time when by so fast and the kids had a blast dancing to the music.  Last year we decided that since we have quite a few kids now they only get a party every other year.  This was our first year not having a party at home and it was so nice not having to clean up, also the mess was minimal at the theater.

Here is Howie and his friends enjoying the movie with their drinks and popcorn (the USO provided it free.)

Howie blowing out the candle on his cake.  We had no leftovers which was great because I'm not a huge fan of cake and I didn't want to take it back home.

This is separate from Howie's birthday, but it happened tonight during dinner.  The following is part of our dinner conversation that I just had to share.

Erin: Mommy, how old were you when you first kissed a boy?

Mommy: I was 14.  Maybe you should ask Daddy that question. (I had a smirk on my face because Howard was a wild child and his first kiss was WAY before mine.  He was in 3rd grade and I'm sure he didn't want to share his history.)

Erin: Daddy, how old was Mommy when she first kissed a boy?

Howard: She was 14. (And he left it at that, very relieved to have dodged that question.)

More of Jack's Antics and his Wee-Wee

It's never boring at the Parkes home at night!  Jack dumped out his poopy diaper on the carpet, then Erin accidentally stepped in it!  He also named his blanket tonight...Wee-Wee.  I took a video of him saying it, but I'm having trouble uploading the video.  Also, I didn't think anyone wanted a picture of the mess on the carpet.  Gotta love a 2 year old.

Pop Circus

Today we took the family to Pop Circus.  It featured Chinese acrobats, trapeze artists, clowns, and a few other cool things.  It didn't have lions or elephants or anything like that, but there was a really cool exhibit with some small dogs.  We were prohibited from taking pictures of the performance, so this is the best we could get.

We all shared the cotton candy, it wasn't just for Erin.  Although I'm sure the kids would have loved to each have their own bag.

34 Weeks

Yesterday I had a few church meetings and I kept getting comments like, "Have you dropped?" I don't know, maybe it was the shirt. Although I have felt more pressure down south and less pain in my ribs. Anyway I thought I would take a picture.  I can definitely feel my body changing and getting ready for this baby to come.  Ever since the holidays we've been very busy and our final 3 big events before the baby comes will be Howie's birthday on Monday, the Pinewood Derby on the 24th, and another surgery for Jack on the 28th.  Afterwards I plan on washing all of Luke's clothes and trying to get the house in better shape before he comes. Some of you may be thinking that I have plenty of time, but Jack came at 37 1/2 weeks, so I need to be ready just in case.

Bedtime...again!

Last night Howard and I went up to bed about 9:30pm and this is what we found in our bed. (He was looking at his favorite dinosaur book.) Also, in case you're thinking that it's a small bed, well it is!  This is our government issued full size bed that we've slept on for 4 years now.  I REALLY miss our queen bed in storage.  It gets really tight when all the kids climb in.

We never know where we're going to find Jack when we come up to bed.  Sometimes he's in his bed asleep, sometimes in the hallway looking at books, or sometimes in Howie or Erin's bed.  

Bedtime

At 9:30 tonight Howard and I were relaxing on the couch watching TV before bed.  Howard thought he heard one of the kids, so he went upstairs to check on them (their bedtime is 8pm). This is what he found!  He didn't let Jack see him and he quickly came down to get me so I could see what Jack was up to.  

Jack had got in and was waiting patiently for us to get him out since he was stuck. As soon as I saw Jack tears came to my eyes and I think I pulled a muscle in my abdomen because I was laughing so hard!!!!  Jack was just sitting quietly playing with his airplane in the laundry.

We took him out and asked him to show us how he got in.  He couldn't get back in.  We still don't know how he got in the laundry sorter.

Green Giant

We had a wonderful dinner tonight.  It wasn't the meal that was served, but that the kids cleaned their plates without any complaints and they did it quickly. We had tuna noodle casserole and canned greens.  We don't love canned green beans, but we have them and we need to finish what's in our cupboard before we move.  As I started eating I decided to start with my green beans and I told the kids that I was going to beat Daddy and finish my veggies before him.  Of course they joined in and within a couple minutes we all finished our green beans without any complaints.  It was actually quite fun.  Here's the story as to why we're not fond of canned green beans. About 3 1/2 years ago there was a really good sale at the commissary, so good in fact that I was able to get about 20 cases of canned green beans and corn for FREE!  Yeah, I guess I went a little overboard, but they were free.  Needless to say we are tired of canned green beans and corn, and yet we still have a few cases left!  I think we'll donate whatever is leftover to the missionaries when we move.  

If you're interested in a really good green bean recipe just click here.

33 Weeks

Today I had an OB appointment with my CNM.  I'm happy to report that Luke is head down now and I have not gained any weight the past 3 weeks.  This by far has been my biggest pregnancy with the most weight gain, so it was a relief to finally not see the scale budge. And don't feel like you have to post a comment saying how cute I am, because Howard and I both agree that pregnancy is not the most flattering on me.  No regrets, that's just the way it is.  I go back at 36 weeks, then every week after.  I'm VERY anxious to get this baby out, but I know I have to be patient.  Luckily since every pregnancy seems to go by faster, the next little while will go by in a snap!

Howie's Question

At dinner tonight Howie posed a very interesting question. "Why do most names that are initials have the letter J in it?"  I asked him to elaborate and he gave me a few examples. "You know...AJ,  JD, JJ...etc." I started thinking about it and he's right.  Of course there are names with initials without the letter 'J', but the majority have 'J' in it.  Here's my list. I've put an asterisk next to the initials of people we know. Let me know if I've missed any.

AJ*, BJ, CJ*, DJ*, JJ*, LJ*, MJ*, PJ, RJ, TJ*, JC, JD*, JK (Rowling), JR , JZ

UPDATE: OJ...how could I forget that one!

Bedroom un-Makeover

Howard and I put a lot of effort into our humble home 4 years ago when we moved in, but as we near the end of this assignment, we must make it look like we never lived here.  We painted most of the rooms in our house so we have a lot of work to do before we move out.  Howard has a long weekend home and we thought that it would be best to start early, one room at a time, so that repainting won't be overwhelming the last week in our home.  He has started with our bedroom, since this is where Luke will sleep until we move (we ran out of space in our house for him).  We want the paint fumes gone before he is born.

Before (our beautiful sunshine yellow walls)

Howard and Erin working hard at making the walls look ugly.  You can't see it in this picture, but Howard painted the top (it looks perfect) and Erin did the bottom (pretty good for a 5 year old).  The standard color for base housing is the exact same color as masking tape. Ugh!

Tops in Blue

Every year, Tops in Blue, comes to Kadena on tour.  We were able to attend their show on Jauary 1st.  We've been able to attend the past 3 years, and this was by far the best year of their performance in my opinion.  This year's theme was focused on songs from popular movies.  One song was from "Beauty and the Beast" and female singer for that song came on stage dressed as Belle.  Erin leaned over to me and said "I can't believe Belle is here!"  She really thought it was Belle.  The kids had a great time, but got a little irritable towards the end simply because they didn't have enough sleep the previous night.

There were a variety of songs and lots of costume changes.  Very fun!

That evening Howie was anxious to take down our Christmas decorations so him and Howard got everything down and put away in about an hour.  I cleaned up the little left over pieces and put things back in their places.  Now my house is a little more back to normal and CLEAN!  Yippie!!! Howard and I ended the evening by watching "State Fair", one of my Christmas gifts.