Yes we are back in Alabama! Had a wonderful vacation in Florida but we are glad to be home! We are looking forward to ending the summer in another house. Yes in a few days we are moving to another house – much bigger and more spacious! And we are so excited…

We have been looking forward to moving since about 6-months ago. When the school told hubby that they intend to move us there, I had been crossing my fingers that it will actually happen. I was mum about it, did not blog about this before and only told a few people, because I didn’t want to jinx it get ahead of myself. We have been seeing the house from the outside but have never went inside, until just recently. It looks spacious from the outside, and its much better from the inside.

When we first moved in here in Alabama, we were given an apartment with only 1-bedroom, a living area, a kitchen and garage. It’s obviously built for a single person, not a growing family like ours. The house we are moving to is still inside the school campus. It has 2-floors. There are 4 bedrooms upstairs. Finally, Matthew and Baby Mark can have their own bedrooms. There are extra rooms at the 1st-floor which 1 of them we will make into a playroom for Matthew’s toys and games, and Baby Mark’s playpen/day-crib. The playroom is a much needed space because kids – they need a lot of space.

Although the house is still inside the campus, it is separate from the barracks which is both a good and bad thing for us. The good is – well it is separate from the baracks! The downside is that we will have to pay for Cable-TV this time; and since the house is separate, we won’t be able to visit Daddy in his office anymore as much as we want to. I’m sure we will manage, but we will miss him much more when school starts…

Right now, hubby is trying to clean up the place, and gathering what can still be useful from those stuffs left by the previous occupants. All the other stuffs will be incinerated. So grateful that an actual cleaning crew will come over for carpet cleaning and more.

Matthew and I are trying to help out by packing a few stuffs into boxes and getting them ready to be moved in a couple of days. Matthew actually enjoys handing me stuffs; and stretching the paching tape to seal the boxes. Baby Mark is being helpful by … well, being happy and content in his bouncy seat most of the time.

I hear there’s a heat wave going on this summer. Friends and family all over are complaining about the 100ish-degrees-F summer heat. Thank goodness, we are here in my in-laws house with a working airconditioner. Our home in Alabama has a malfunctioning AC. It’s in a on-again-off-again condition, eventhough it’s brand new and newly installed. So the day before we left for our trip to Florida, our AC was off! So with all the packing and moving about to get our stuffs to the car, the house became so hot, it’s hotter inside than outside!

So we are here in Florida! Our trip went well – shorter than our trip to Delaware. I spent half the trip at the backseat with the babies. This time the babies and me, all three of us, can now fit in at the backseat. We took out the big carseat that Matthew was using. He has been promoted to use the less space-consuming ‘Big Kid Booster Seat’.

We have just been relaxing here in Florida. But since we arrived here in Florida, Baby Mark has been more cranky and irritable than usual … must be heat! Or must be that he turned 3-months old, that he decided he needs more attention than usual.

We have a few plans laid out. We will be visiting some relatives to have them meet Baby Mark for the first time.

We also plan on taking Matthew to Disney World for the first time. Disney World should be exciting for him since he now knows Mickey Mouse and the other Disney characters. Baby Mark will just have to stay home with Grandma when we go to Disney World, so he won’t be baked in the sun!

Also we will be attending hubby’s high school reunion. This should be fun. Hubby have been looking forward to this since he missed the reunion they had five years ago.

Brothers: Baby Mark and Matthew

ON MATTHEW …

• “Surprise!”

When we were in Delaware, every morning when Matthew wakes up, it delights everyone that Matthew would yell out “Surprise!” rather than “Good Morning!” coming out of the room.

• Who’s the Dummy?

So Hubby has been home since school ended, and we love it! He’s not working Summer School so he has been with us all day long, and we love it! So the babies had so much attention from him these days especially Matthew who trails his Daddy all the time. They do a lot together. He has gotten used to calling out “Daddy” that whenever he means calling ME out, he ends us calling me “Dummy”. Well actually, it more like “Daaaa-mmy”!

ON BABY MARK …

• Babies grow up too fast …

We have recently visited Baby Mark’s Pediatrician for his very late 2nd Month Well Baby Appointment. He is now 13 lbs and 24 inches long. Just a few days more and he will be 3-months old but he can’t wear anymore most of his 0-3 months baby cloths.

• Wanted: Someone to talk to …

Baby Mark coos so loudly in the mornings, laughing and just baby-talking, that I can’t help but get up and check him out at the crib. He’s always just fine, but just needs someone to talk to him …

• Hand and Eye Coordination

He is exploring his hands and fingers these days, I mean trying to join his hands together, looking at them, that makes his eyes cross. It always looks so funny … I should take a photo when he does this .

• Baby + Needles = Sad Mommy

He is almost always a happy baby! The only time he was particularly fuzzy and irritable was the day he got his 2nd-month shots! (Immunization) I hate to see my baby and needles together.

THE ROAD TRIP

Our road trip to and from Delaware was easier than anticipated. I anticipated a troublesome road trip. After all, we have a restless toddler and a baby on board. But they actually made our trips more interesting and amusing. We’ve learned that Baby Mark can cry for 10 minutes straight and then falls asleep; and that Matthew can now hold his urge to go potty(pee) but never fails to remind us every 30 seconds.

The road trip between Alabama and Delaware is about 15-16 hours but we made it about 36 hours. We took our time, stopped every 3-4 hours for breastfeeding and snacks and meals, and we stopped for the night wherever we were.

By the Pool

IN DELAWARE …

It was sort-of a family reunion on hubby’s side. His niece Amber graduated high school and we were there for her graduation party along with my in-laws.

Baby Mark had so much attention towards him too. Everyone seems to marvel at his cuteness, that they seems to genuinely like taking care of him. And Baby Mark don’t seem to mind as well. He is always a happy baby and enjoys all the attention he gets. While, Matthew got all the playtime he wants – riding at lawn mower, running around the pool,… he was just all over. Hubby and I enjoyed the week-long party, lounging in my sister-in-law’s place and hanging by the pool. And we enjoyed everyone’s company and help with Baby Mark and Matthew.It was definitely a nice vacation.

Happy Father’s Day, Daddy!

-From Mommy, Matthew and Baby Mark

It’s long overdue but just want to post this photo of Matthew in his T-Ball uniform. Isn’t he adorable?

Matthew in T-Ball Uniform. Photo taken on April 11, 2010.

Matthew's T-Ball Team. Photo taken March 30, 2010.

The T-Balls games has been concluded with Matthew joining only 1 game out of the 6 or so games that was organized. But he joined all the practices, which allowed him to play and have fun with the kids his age and height.

It always warms my heart to see him giddy and excited about having someone to play with. Unfortunately, in his excitement, he gets in trouble. There is so much for me to teach him like containing his excitement, listening and following instructions, the concept of game, not just play …

I am so grateful to the wonderful people who allowed him to this opportunity; and happy that he had this experience.

Note to self: Learn to drive, really drive!

This is our 2nd year living in a military school. School is ending in a few days. Yes, we have survived living around pre-teen and teenage boys.

The graduation for the 20 or so cadets will be in a couple of days. This school year is mostly laid back. There are more cadets but they are better behaved most of the time in my perspective anyway.We miss hubby so much this school year though, for he only had one day-off in a week and didn’t have a few weekends-off, like last year.

Yesterday night was Senior Prank’s Night. On Senior’s Prank night, they can do whatever they want without repercussions. Hubby woke me up to show me what the Seniors did. They set up the cafeteria tables and chair outside, so they had a outdoor breakfast. And they placed a table setting up the roof. I am still wondering how they did that.

It just dawned on me that I know only a few cadets ever since we started here; and most of them are graduating this year. My heart goes out to the graduating class with great hope and warm wishes as they move on, reach their dreams and pursue great lives for themselves.

My regular day in a military school goes like this …

At pass 7:00 a.m., from our bedroom, I can hear the cadets walking pass our apartment talking, just random talking, or singing their marching chants.

And then I get up. Sometimes I catch hubby bringing us breakfast from the cafeteria. Most of the time, I’d just see the packed breakfast on top of the stove.

At 8:00 a.m., their marching chants goes louder as they go to the school building.

At 10:00 a.m., or at about that time, on hubby’s not-a-busy day, he comes home and say ‘hi’, play with Matthew and the baby. If Matthew lets him, he’ll take a quick nap.

By 12:30, we’ll see the cadets come out of the school building! It’s time for lunch. Since the winter, we haven’t really came out to join them for lunch. We haven’t picked up lunch. Lunch is usually brought by hubby.

At 3:00 p.m. or so, the school grounds will be crowded with cadets doing their activities, quad, practices or just bouncing around everywhere. We are usually indoors, and out of their way.

Dinner time is almost always hard not to notice. There is always commotion before and after dinnertime.

At 7:00 p.m. it’s quiet time – they call it the study hall, when everyone is expected to be studying! Who knows exactly what the cadets are doing in the quiet of their rooms. But at this point, hubby enjoys the quiet time, sitting by office and trying to finish up his work of the day. Earlier this school year, Matthew would join him in his office for a few minutes to give mommy some quiet time too.

On a regular 8:30 p.m., in good weather, the cadets goes down to do PT (physical training). There will be yellings outside, push-ups or what-not, more running around …

By about 9:00 p.m. or so, from our living room, we would be hearing hubby yelling out for ‘cellphones’. It’s time to turn in the cellphones. At first, this grabs Matthew’s attention, and would get him run over to his daddy’s office. Later on, we learned to ignore the yelling and whatever’s going on. Even the baby don’t get bothered by the outside noises activities anymore.

1. Hubby’s day-off is Tuesday. I let him choose what shows/movies to watch on his day-off; and he never chooses American Idol over the new DVD/Bluray releases.
2. I always forget that American Idol is up when it’s up! And on the rare occasion that I do remember it’s up, I couldn’t care less…
3. Because when I watched the earlier episode of the show, none of the contestants took my attention.
4. Thus I do not have a favorite this year. I think they are – flat, uninteresting, ordinary, etc…
5. The few that stood out, weren’t good enough. Lee is cocky, Crystal has a dull personality; Casey James only has good looks going for him; etc.
6. I think the previous seasons were better than than this season. If any of the contenders this season ever tried to compete with those of the previous seasons, none of them will ever make it.

Will I watch tonight’s American Idol? Most probably not! I’ll be watching Dancing with the Stars Result Show. I’m rooting for Evan to win.

Will I watch tomorrow night’s American Idol Result Show? Yes, they always make a great Finale Show. I just wonder how they are going to top last year’s finale show, especially ‘Adam Lambert/Kiss’ performance.

It seems like I’ve neglected my blog, but really – I can’t help it. Life is happening that blogging is taking the backstage… but not right now.

ON MATTHEW …

Lately, Matthew has been deciding what movies to watch. Hubby and I likes suspense movies. Matthew used to not get affected by these kinds of movies. He’s around when we are watching but he’s not actually watching. But Matthew’s starting to get the ‘suspense’ or ‘scary’ sense of the movie, that he hides and starts crying in the corner whenever knows it’s coming up. So it seems like, no more scary movies around him.

But I am so proud of him. He has learned to dress himself in a span of weeks! Although, he still gets his cloths backwards a lot of times, still so proud of him …

ON BABY MARK …

As for Baby Mark, he is over a month old now. He is actually a good baby! I try my best not to carry him all the time, so he won’t get used to being carried around. So a lot of times, he’s at the baby swing or his napper.

He almost got rid of his newborn skin and his newborn cry… he is a lot louder now when he cries. And when he cries,… I am glad I am breastfeeding – feeds him and soothes him at the same time. If I didn’t breastfeed, I wouldn’t know how to sooth him whenever he cries.

MY CHALLENGES LATELY -

… Synchronizing our sleep pattern! The three of us – me and the 2 babies, should be napping and sleeping all at the same time!

… Watching the movies I’ve rented from Netflix. I’ve rented ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ and ‘The End of the Affair’ in Netflix – not at all scary or suspenseful movies, but not for kids either. I just couldn’t find the day and time to watch them. And like I have mentioned, Matthew decides what to watch.

…. Finding a balance between what I want to do and what I need to do. Of course the babies comes first, but the laundry or cleaning always at the bottom of my to-do-list.

… Having a tidy floor, clean sink and orderly stuffs for 10 minutes! All factors considered – toddler, baby and even if I’ve overcome the challenge mentioned above – ‘clean’ and ‘orderly’ for 10 minutes straight just don’t happen in my household!

… Breaking Matthew’s associating ‘taking a bath’ and ‘going out’. Lately, he is only willing to take a bath if we are going out.

… Teaching Matthew the concepts of – waiting, not yelling, listening to Mommy and following Mommy’s instructions.

… Catching Baby Mark’s smile on the camera. He smiles a lot, but haven’t been lucky putting those smiles onto a photograph. And he also makes a lot of funny faces!

… Deciding on which birth control method to use. My 6-weeks postpartum check-up went well! I’ve got to decide now how not to have any more babies for now or ever!

WHAT A LIFE, STILL A CHARM!

To be honest, compared to weeks back, I actually feel better now that … on top of my responsibilities, I found another hobby – photo booking – and I’m doing it digitally so no mess.

I have been busy creating photo books both for Matthew and Baby Mark. In so doing, it’s amusing to find some photos where Matthew and Mark look almost alike.

Newborn Mark	Newborn Matthew
Newborn Mark	Newborn Matthew

This time I really hope to finish the photo books really soon. Actually the first pages are ready for print orders, but as soon as I am about to click on ‘ORDER’, the perfectionist in me is preventing me to do so. I am afraid that a better idea will come to me and it be too late to implement it. This is what happens when ever there is no deadline and when I am doing it for myself.

It was Military Day here at the military school a couple of weeks ago. It’s one of those few times to get out, socialize and meet people; and to get dressed up at the evening dance.

There was no dressing up and going to the dance for me this year. This year was all about Matthew having fun at the blow-up playhouse, while Baby Mark was sleeping the whole time.

All photos taken on May 1, 2010. Click photo to enlarge the photo.

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• Military Day