Day 14: May 29 (long rambling ahead)

I am so proud of myself! I RAN a few times this week! If you know me, I have such a hard time running. Probably because of this darned altitude! For 3 years before college, I was very faithful and went to the gym 5 times a week. I was in the best shape of my life! Then I started college and it was a feeble attempt to keep going. Then about 2 years later I stopped. I regret that so much! Now I have to start the habit again and after two kids, I am down to about 15 pounds to lose. I told Eric I want him to come home after his PT. I tried so many other methods, such as home exercise videos, or waiting until he comes home to workout. Then I said, "Screw saving on gas! Exercising first thing in the morning is best for me!" So he has been coming home after PT and I would go out for a run. That schedule worked the best for me. Family dinner together and after dinner moments (Scripture, prayer, and bedtime routine) is too important for me to miss. By the time Hyrum is in bed, it's already dark out. On post gym closes at 8 and opens at 5 unfortunately.

Then we went for a walk to King Soopers. I walk almost daily to King Soopers to buy some food. With Anna in the cart and Hyrum in the seat, I don't have much room to put food in anyways so buying lots doesn't work out for now. I do not trust Hyrum enough to let him follow me around. And to add exercise and daily walks, we just walk to King Soopers almost daily, then I would buy some items we'd need to make for dinner that night or fresh produce, and we'd walk home while Hyrum snack on an apple or banana or raspberries.

Today Hyrum put himself down for a nap by himself. He does that sometimes. It was hard to believe as a baby he was a terrible sleeper. He would  go to bed for the night at 11pm, wake up a few times for the next several hours until he was up for the day at 6 am. There a few good days where he actually slept for 4 hours straight, but it was incredibly rare. After months of tolerating it, finally at 7 months I looked up on sleep training. I found Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child book through a friend. After trying the beginning method, it wasn't working. It got to the point where Hyrum was only napping at least once a day for 15 mins and it took me about 4 hours of putting him to sleep each night. He was so exhausted and cranky. Finally, I had to try Cry It Out. I avoided it for months, and finally had to use it as the last resort. After 3 days, he was going to bed at 5 pm, waking up once or twice to eat, and sleeping until 8 am! He was a changed baby and so much happier. After Eric got home from Afghanistan, Hyrum started to skip night feedings on his own and from then on started to sleep through the night. We have had a few sleep regression, teething, and sicknesses that disrupted his sleep, but other than that, he was one of the BEST sleeper for a toddler. I love how he can sleep so well now. Because of that I am a firm believer in training your child to sleep because WELL RESTED KIDS MEANS HAPPY KIDS!  Every child needs a different method, but EVERY CHILD needs a good amount of sleep!

Well....we had a flat tire this morning! Probably some damage from driving on the dirt road at the campsite on Saturday. I think Eric said he gave the tire an air recently and when I was about to go for a run, I looked at the tires on my way out, and saw one was getting low. So now we have to replace it! Thankfully, Eric wasn't running late to work when he put the spare tire in.

Day 13: Wednesday May 28

I took too long on Wednesday to take pictures of the kids. It was darkening out already by the time I snapped this! I used high ISO and it became grainy. Oh well! There is a special program for military families to sign up for called Operation Paperback. People from all over the country collect books and mail the package to military kids all over! This particular package was from the Kalamazoo, Michigan Boys Scout. Thanks, Operation Paperback!

Day 12: Tues May 27

Daddy went back to work and our life went back to normal. The weekend went by too fast!

 Waiting for Daddy to come home from work.

It was 6pm and dinnertime. Our agreement was dinner starts at 6 unless we know Eric is coming home. We try to have a family mealtime together (one of my favorite traditions growing up). But some days we had to eat without Eric. So no Daddy and we had to eat without him that day. :( But yay for baked Macaroni and Cheese for dinner!

Day 12: Monday May 26

It was a pretty simple day. We went to the America the Beautiful park. Yes it was named after the song. Katherine Lee Bates went up to Pike's peak (I believe) and that is where she was inspired to write the beautiful poem. Colorado is very proud to be part of the song's inspiration (Kansas was part of the inspiration too!). It had some pretty interesting playground for the kids, but the fountain wasn't on. Hyrum had a blast trying out the playground, but he doesn't pick up his feet when he runs. So that is when Hyrum fell and hit his head, resulting a little lump. Then we went to Josh and John's homemade ice cream shop. It's good, but ridiculously expensive and they give us tiny bowl for the cheapest one. I liked it, but I liked Call Hall better. Sad there isn't any nice local ice cream that's also affordable. 

 See any lump? Poor kid!

America the Beautiful park in Colorado Springs

Can you see where Katharine Lee Bates got the verse, "For purple mountain majesties..." from?

Day 11

Camping with an active toddler is HARD! And our tent was way too small for all four of us. So instead of staying one more night, we just stayed the whole day, packed up and left that evening. I'm glad we did. It was raining again when we left. It probably stopped sometime that evening, but with two small children, I'd rather have a trailer and a BIG tent before we attempt to camp more than one night with the smallest kids! I feel so bad for the pioneers trying to keep their kids warm and dry. Hyrum was muddy and wet anyways, and he didn't care. But Anna was tiny and I tried to keep her dry. I kept thinking the two worst enemies while outside are the wind and being wet! 

Day 10

Some retired military couple gave part of their land for military families to come and camp at for free. It's about two hours away from Colorado Springs (In Buena Vista, Colorado). We were able to camp at FOB Campsite for part of the weekend!

These are when the kids and I stayed in the car and waited for Daddy to set up the tent. It was raining haha. Eric was a trooper setting up the camp and fire for all of us, so the kids and I can stay dry. But I also watched them because setting up the camp and watching a wandering two year old is not fun! It was fun, but it rained all night. Bummer! Hyrum had a harder time settling down because he was so excited. Normally he sleeps through the night, but that night he woke us up asking for MILK at around 2 O'Clock in the morning! We were pretty squeezed in haha. But Anna was a trooper. She fell asleep and stayed asleep all night. You could feel the cool, crisp air and I tried to keep her warm. But since she's a baby, she could only have a blanket go up to her chest. I kept checking on her to make sure she was still alive and warm! But she slept happily all night. 

Day 9: Sleeping beauty

I was making dinner. I HATE holding my daughter while I make dinner because I get nervous she may get too close to the stove. It is the only time I do not want to hold my daughter: that is when I'm making hot dinner or handling sharp knives!

So Anna has this little bouncer that she likes. She was playing with her receiving blanket and the next thing I knew, she fell asleep! Haha! Hyrum really has never slept anywhere besides me, but the carseat and his bed!

I told Eric to hold her and talk to her to show off her personality. Everything someone holds her, she stares at me. I love the typical Anna look!

Anna does this look all the time!