To the Grandparents

Because you can't see us everyday and you can't see how the little ones grow so fast, this is dedicated to you. Enjoy.

And now you can see why I weigh 8 lbs less than my pre-pregnancy weight and I'm always hungry. He keeps me busy.

Bats and Lizards and Spiders, oh my!

Bats!Lizards! (ok, the geckos are kinda cute)
And Spiders!

Oh My!

my turn

Ok, I admit I felt a tiny twinge of jealousy that Mary made a card for Doug with his name on it (see blog- I'm Allowed). I mentioned to her yesterday that my wish for my birthday is that she'll make me a card with MY name on it. When we got home, I started feeding Adam and she immediately went to her arts and crafts drawer, pulled out a marker and paper and did this.
Guess I need to come up with another birthday wish, since this one was granted.

power outage Saturday

Today our whole housing area (and half the base) was scheduled to lose power for the day (8am-6pm). At least we were notified ahead of time. Unfortunately, Doug was feeling miserably sick and just wanted to curl up in bed and sleep. Hard to do that when it's hot and no power. So we packed up the kids and headed up north to the aquarium. We hadn't been for quite some time and now was the perfect opportunity. It was a gorgeous day. Even on the expressway, it's a long trip. The construction made it longer, the speeding saved us only a few minutes, but hey, I was tired of driving. It took almost 2 hours to reach our destination. Adam slept most of the way and Mary was awesome. She whispered, she sang, she stayed quiet. When we got there, we hit the playground to work off some pent up energy, stretch our legs and just have some fun. Mary loved the ropes course. She was too small for it last time we were here, so I was glad she could do it this time. She was fearless.

Mary was super excited about the "sprinkler". This was an area that blew cool mist in the air. I called it the mister. I loved that she loved it so much. I also loved that she didn't get wet and therefore didn't need the extra change of clothes I brought. There was another area with a splash pad, but she didn't see it, we didn't point it out and we let her have extra time in the mister. It all worked out well. I told her it was time to go to the mister and this is my picture of her running to it. She was so excited.
This is her at the mister wondering where it is. It's like she's thinking, "I just ran here and nothings happening."

Here it comes!
Fun time!
It was finally time to go inside and see the fish. Unfortunately, we missed the dolphin show and they had the tanks roped off, so we couldn't even see them afterward. Oh well, maybe next time. I really enjoyed watching the kids watching the fish.



So, for being such wonderful children (and of course, me being a wonderful wife and mother) we treated ourselves to Yogurtland. We also had 4 more hours to kill before our power was to turn back on. We chose lemon lime frozen yogurt with bananas, kiwi, dragon fruit and Mary's favorite, sprinkles! It was so good. I will say most of us really enjoyed it. I'll chronicle the 4th person's experience with photos.



All in all it was a good day. Poor Doug was such a trooper, going from place to place to keep the kids entertained, when all he really wanted to do was curl up somewhere quiet and take a nap. This post is already too long, so I'll save you from all the little details like how Mary and I played tons of games and blew tons of money at Jusco. I won't tell you about taking the kids to the playground on base and watching Adam's face light up when he was put in the swing. I won't rant and rave about how we desperately watched the clock for 6pm to roll around only to find that our power wasn't restored as promised. I will say that I asked Mary what her favorite part of the day had been and she immediately said, "The dolphins!" Ah, that kid makes me laugh.

On Okinawa...

...we go to the beach with friends.

One good thing about living on an island that's super hot and super humid...you can go to the beach in late September, and it's still hot. Today we tagged along with Nicole and the girls for a morning at the beach. Mary didn't hesitate for a second when I asked her if she wanted to go.

...we eat as much sand as we can (okay, some of us do).





Here he is flirting with the ladies next to us. Such the charmer. Of course, a few minutes later, his body reached his quota for sand ingestion and he threw up. So I scooped him up and took him in the water to wash off while the ladies decided to move their beach blankets a few hundred yards away.

86...51...3...HIKE! Ha,ha,ha! Future quarterback?

...we had a fun morning with friends.

I'm allowed

(Monday morning Sept.20,2010)

This morning, my lovely, wonderful, creative, smart daughter wanted to draw. I was checking e-mail, looking at Facebook, reading friend's blogs and looking at Okiyardsales for any super duper find. Adam was taking his morning nap. I told Mary that if she wanted to draw, she could go in her "arts and crafts" drawer in the living room and pull out paper and markers. She came back a few minutes later with this.

It has 2 holes in it where she obviously pressed too hard on the paper, but the letters are clear as day and no, I didn't help her. She said she even drew his picture. The 2 lines drawn straight down from his face are his legs. I am amazed. I guess all the work is paying off. I'm so proud of my smart little 3 yr old. Ok, I'm bragging. I admit it. I accept it. I'm allowed.

Say no to Nerf

Note to self, no Nerf toys for Adam until he's older. Maybe every mom already knows this, maybe I just wasn't thinking appropriately, maybe I'll be able to help one absent-minded mom who might do what I did. So today, I put Adam down for his afternoon nap. He seemed pretty wide awake and I thought he might want to play with the football for a while. I tossed it in his crib, said goodnight and closed the door.

3 hours later, this is what Doug found.

And this.

And this.

We're so thankful he didn't choke. He apparently gagged and threw up, since it was all over his clothes, his bed and he had a certain smell that lingered on his body resulting in a quick scrub down in the bathtub. So now we know that 1) Nerf is off limits for the time being for "destruct-o boy", 2) Looks like Santa will have to bring a replacement ball, and 3) we need to be on the look out for some really colorful poo.

Just call us The Greens

The Putthoff household is trying it's best at becoming more "green". You know, do everything we can to be more Earth friendly. We all share this planet and we want it to be around for our great, great, great grandchildren to enjoy.

Just today, Mary decided she no longer needed toilet paper. She would rather sit on the can all day and let herself air dry/drip dry. Aha! Think of all the money we can save! We might not get as much done throughout the day, but we'll be able to read lots of books. And why change panties? She said they look clean, so why not wear them again? Good question. I'm always doing laundry and that's such a waste of water. Smell them? No thanks, Dear.

Adam's even doing his part. He's so good at filling up on grass and dirt and sticks and garbage...etc. Why do I even buy him snacks? He's saving us some serious money. I wonder if I cooked him a chicken breast and tossed it on the floor, if he'd crawl over to it, stand up and just gnaw on it (like he did the stick at the playground today and he was mad,mad,mad that I pried open his mouth to scoop out any remaining particles).

So now, whenever I do anything around the house, be it cooking, cleaning or just sitting around reading, I always ask myself, "Am I being green? Am I doing my part?" Because, heaven knows, my kids are.

The name says it all

Finally, after 2 yrs, 2 mo and 20 days of being on Okinawa, we ventured across the street to Climax Coffee. I've seen it, I've giggled, I've snapped photos of it decorated for Christmas with a huge tall, skinny tree out front, but I've never crossed the threshold. So I packed up the kiddos and we met a new friend for coffee this morning. My macchiato was delicious and reminiscent of Italy, but it paled in comparison to the fabulous, mouth watering, sinfully delicious mango pancakes and mango juice.

Good thing I ordered just a half stack. It was huge! Mary is my mango girl. Whenever she's given a choice of flavors, she always chooses mango. I had a tiny taste of my friend's mango muffin. YUM! They actually have a pretty good looking menu starting at 11:30am, pastas, burgers, steaks. We might have to come back and try a meal. But for today, I am completely satisfied with my first experience at Climax Coffee; However, I think they should rename it Climax Mango.

Adam

A future gymnast?

No. A current "I just learned to stand, but can't figure out where to go from here" pose. Our little future walker.

Ballet

Mary started ballet class this evening. I don't know who was more excited, me or her. Doug thought it was me. Ha,ha,ha. I kept having flashbacks to my childhood. Even though I didn't start lessons this young, I have many fond memories of ballet (it was practically the only thing I could do without being a total klutz). She'll be going once a week all the way to January when they end with a recital. Doug and I think that since she's not in preschool, this is a good chance for her to get more socialization with kids, learn to follow rules (that aren't set by us) and listen/obey a teacher. Oh yeah, and most importantly, have fun. I hired a babysitter to come watch Adam so I could watch (and take pictures). The rule is, any child under 7 must have a parent present. I learned today that means we sit in the hallway or the lobby and look through the window. If we want to stay in the actual room with the kid, we have to participate. Huh? As soon as we heard that, all the other moms hi-tailed it out of there so fast it was as if there were adult size leotards chasing after them. Of course, Mary was the youngest and smallest and I really wanted pictures of her first day, so I stayed. I asked her if she liked me in the room with her or if next week she wanted me outside. She said, "You can sit in the hall, but look through the window every once in a while and say 'PEEK'." That's my girl. (Her new leotard is lavender. I let her pick any color she wanted. She said, "I want purple because it's Carli's favorite color.") Thanks Miss Kathryn! We'll see you next week!

I picked the wrong profession

I rented a Hedge Hog from the self help store the other day and...LOVED IT! Who would have ever guessed that I, the girl that dislikes getting dirty, hates to sweat and gets tired even thinking about doing yard work, would love trimming the hedges? Maybe it was the power tool or the immediate sense of accomplishment or the way the flab on my upper arms jiggled. I have to admit, it's been a long time since I've fully enjoyed a task like that one. It ranks as high as removing an impaction (I like to call it "going digital"). Ewww, nursing humor. Sorry, Mom and Dad, you spent so much money sending me to nursing school when all you needed to do was put a power tool in my hands. Ok, maybe nursing was the better of the two jobs (it certainly pays more. I'm still waiting for Doug to pay me for the hedges- ha,ha,ha!), but man was that fun!

We ended up having a pretty productive day. Doug cut down some low hanging branches and cleaned up some other areas of the yard. Mary got a turn in the swing.

And Adam hung out in baby jail.

M is for Mary

We're the odd family out. It seems like every 3 yr old we know is going to preschool this year. After much discussion, Doug and I have decided to wait until we move back to the States next year to enroll her. Are we wrong? Of course, I worry that maybe we're hindering her developmental growth by keeping her home. Ahh, life as a parent. We've been working extra hard with the ABC's lately for fear that her friends will surpass her in the smarts department and we'll have a lot of catching up to do. In addition to books, refrigerator magnets, toys and constant nagging, we developed a new bathtub game. Here's how it works: Mary picks 10 random foam letters and throws them in the bathtub. As she's playing in the tub, she picks one up and tries to tell me which letter it is and what words start with that letter. She then sticks it to the tile in a single file line. After all the letters are on the wall, she then fills up Adams squirty basketballs, I call out a letter and she shoots it down. We continue this until all the letters are gone. Mary thinks it's a blast, I like to think she's maybe learning something in a fun way. I took more pictures and videos, but she kept moving in the tub so much that she ended up mooning me or showing a little frontal nudity. Didn't think I could post a blog that was rated R or get called out by the censors for child pornography. So for now, these will have to do.

(Oops, hope no one was offended by the moon. She so darn quick!)

Finally, a beautiful day

Between typhoons with the ever constant wind and rain and down right dreariness, we had a gorgeous day on Friday. Little miss Mary, who always wants to go to the beach or play with friends or go to Jusco, was granted a quick 45 min. trip to Sunset Beach after nap. The only rule was that she could put her feet in the water, but no swimming since it was only me and I can't watch both kids by myself. I don't have much to complain about. Mary played in the sand and dipped her feet in the water, Adam stayed on the mat and only ate the sand that was within reach. It was still hot and humid, but not as bad as it's been. I can't wait for the wonderful fall weather to arrive. Doug thinks I might be spoiling her a bit with all our trips out of the house to do things. I sometimes wonder if he's right, but then I also tell myself that next year, she'll be in school and life will be so much different (Adam and I will have bonding moments in Target). Hey, you're only a kid once, right?


Time to go. You can tell the storm is about to approach. The wind really picked up and it felt wonderful.