Andy, Sarah, and the Boys

An Update is due

thenormalones — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 21:51:36 +0000

Well we’ve finished moving, mostly. There are a few things out at the parent’s houses that still are making their way over here. This includes boxes of knickknacks that have been in those houses since we’ve lived there years and years ago. Now all that is left to do is unpack, sort, stack, ship, setup, paint, clean, loose, locate, relocate and at the far far end of the list …rest.

I’ve uploaded some more pictures that were long over due at Flickr. We’ve reached the limits of a free account which is 200 pics. This means that some of our earliest pictures will not be viewable until we upgrade to a paid account. The photos are still there I’m told, just not visible. We may upgrade or we may just continue adding to the photostream. Having 200 of our latest pictures is good enough right? I suppose if anyone really wants to "preserve" one of their favorite pictures, they can simply save it to their desktop before we overwrite with 200 newer ones.

You can see those pictures here:http://flickr.com/photos/thenormalones/

There are a few of the house in there while it was still under construction. As soon as we get some of this mess out of the way, Sarah will take a few snapshots and I’ll get them uploaded.

A day with the family

thenormalones — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 03:26:55 +0000

Well last night Tristan decided he wanted to pull an all nighter and keep Sarah and I awake. So this morning when I was due to roll out of bed Sarah mentioned how she wished I could just stay at home. So, I did. I have enough PTO time and the more I thought about it, we really didn’t have any pressing matters on the books at work. So I called my boss, gave him the true story and Tristan and I watched some TV while Jack and Sarah slept in a bit longer. Eventually Jack got up and about 9:00am Tristan decided breakfast would be a good idea so we finally got mommy up.

After piddling around all morning, we ate lunch and everyone took naps. After our naps we decided some groceries were in order and we looked into getting some new tires for the car. We’ve needed some for awhile now and today seemed to be good enough day as any since I was home and we wouldn’t be eating into our precious weekend errand time by taking care of it today. These are the times when being a Sam’s Club card holder is worth it. Actually any day is worth it because I really don’t pay for the membership, I piggy back off my parents.

After tires we made a stop at ALDI’s and got the essentials and came home and put everyone to bed. Even though this day started out as a day to recuperate and get some rest, we sure spent all the energy we gained in the afternoon errands.

Is Summer Finally Over?

thenormalones — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 16:20:22 +0000

Yay! I have the windows open today! I’m not sure that it will last all throughout the day, but for now it is so nice to get some fresh air in here. I can’t wait to get out of this apartment and into the house. We have given the apartment complex our moving out notice, so I finally feel like it is going to really happen. That means however, that I need to get packing! It will take me awhile with two boys and just me packing. Rae is coming over today to sit with the boys while I get some stuff done.Â

I’m finding myself figuring out where I want to put furniture and such things. Grandpa K made me an AWESOME bench for my entry… I can’t wait to see it. Thank you Grandpa.. it’s exactly what I wanted!!!! I’m going to be so busy trying to get moved in and unpacked enough to hold Thanksgiving dinner at our hose this year. I’m already trying to work out how to get everything cooked on time. It’s going to be so much fun.

The boys are both doing fairly well. Tristan is sleeping 8 hours at night, eating, and going back to be for another 3 hours or so. Jack didn’t do that until he was one, so I am VERY thankful. Jack is, well… he is being very “toddler-ish” these days. I am learning patience, and am trying to figure out this parenting thing. Some days are harder than others, but God gives me what I need to make it through each day – even when sometimes I don’t feel like I’ll make it through with all of us staying sane! I am so thankful that we have family near to help when the going gets tough.Â

Anyway, thats enough for now – its movie/snack/collect yourself time. Hopefully Tristan will take a good long nap for us thig morning. Love to all!!

Back from Hiatus!

thenormalones — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 04:56:51 +0000

Sorry guys, yet another Andy post saying how I promise to post more! Â Even though I haven’t been keeping this blog up to day my other “gaming blog” I have been posting frequently on so I’ve learned a lot more about the WP platform. Â One of the first things I learned that I’m going to share with you is that if you upgrade things, other things are likely to break. Â As did our last theme. Â Which is why you see this new one. Â Not sure if it’ll stay but its OK for now.

In an attempt to pay you guys off for my lack of updates, Jack has promised to sing a song to hold you over. Â We have tons of pics and a few old videos we’d like to upload in the coming days as well. Â And as you can imagine, closer and closer we get to the house, the more posts you’ll see updating everybody on the move!

And with that…I give you Jack, who offers his services to sing at weddings, church quires, romantic dates…anything that pays. Â Enjoy.

How we are all doing…

thenormalones — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 17:02:07 +0000

I am so sorry that posts have sort of stopped the last few weeks and months. Jack, Tristan, and myself have temporarily moved in with my parents while the weather has been so hot. Our apartment can’t keep up with it, and I worry about the boys being in the heat. Anyway, we are home for the time being, while the weather is a bit more manageable. Both of the boys are doing fine, and are both fairly healthy. I have started Jack on Zyrtec, for seasonal allergies. Tristan is growing like a weed and is impressing his Dr. very much. I am continuing to try and loose some weight, but am finding myself a little bit “stuck” as I am not really allowed to lower my calories anymore (because I am still nursing) but have seemed to loose all I can with how much I can diet. Ah… oh well, it will come off after I have all of my children. I have started packing, hoping that we can move into the new house sometime mid September to mid October. Andy and I are planning to have Thanksgiving at our hose this year, so I hope that it all works out! Sorry this isn’t very long, but at least it’s something. I’ve got to get back to the kitchen and finish making lunch for Jackson. Love to all….

Quick picture of the new house

thenormalones — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 01:43:09 +0000

Here is the Foundation

So here is a screenshot of the foundation of the new house.Â I took this as a panoramic with my 1.3 megapixle cell phone so please excuse the lines.Â This was taken on July 6 so I’m sure its progressed alot more then this.

I broke the site again.

thenormalones — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 14:41:19 +0000

Yeah so I upgraded to wordpress 2.6 which just released early today fully realizing that I would more then likely break most of the site.Â And it did.Â It’s not too bad now.Â A few moments ago it wouldn’t even come up.Â Anyway as people rewrite the plugins to be 2.6 compatable things will start to return to normal.Â In the mean time you can still see the photos and videos at their respective sites.

Photos:
http://flickr.com/photos/thenormalones

Videos:
http://www.vimeo.com/user458267/videos

New and Improved! Now with Video!

thenormalones — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 04:50:07 +0000

Hey guys!Â Sorry I don’t post as often as Sarah.Â Somehow I don’t think anything I’d have to say about us would be all that interesting to hear .Â I can however make upgrades to the site and post new pictures.Â So with that I also give you our newest feature to the blog!Â Video!

Now the quality on some of these isn’t the greatest.Â I filmed most on our $50 video camera.Â To be honest I think filming video with our digital camera works better then the camcorder.Â Oh well.Â Hope to have more up soon!Â Here is a bunch I’ve uploaded thus far…the flood video was taken with our digital camera…the rest were with the camcorder.

An average Thursday morning….

thenormalones — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 16:38:41 +0000

Well, good morning! I actually have a little time here to update on how our lives are going. I will try to give a little info on how everyone in the family is doing…

JACKSON

I decided that Jackson needs to have a little quiet time in the morning, so I will be putting him in his crib from 10:30 to about noon from now on. He doesn’t have to sleep, but I think that he needs a little bit of just “Jack” time. I know that may sound silly for an 18 month old, but he is going through a bit of an “intense stage” right now and he doesn’t usually mind time by himself, so I figure I will at least try it. Today he has gone to sleep after about 30 minutes of playing. . . I am hoping that it will do him some good.

Jack is doing very well with potty training. This is his second week in “big boy underwear”, and we are having significantly fewer accidents. I would say that we average one a day, but some days he doesn’t have any at all. It seemed to help a lot when I got him his own potty, rather than just a seat that goes on the “big potty”. He gets to put stickers on a chart every time he goes, and enjoys that very much… a little too much at times… as he occasionally wants more than one sticker to place.

At the boy’s Dr. appointments last week, Jack continued to be in the 90th percentile in his height. The actual visit went a little better than expected and he didn’t freak out quite as bad as he did the last time we were in.

TRISTAN

Ahhhh… my very tall boy. Tristan was off the charts in his height when we went to the Dr. He had grown almost two inches since his previous visit, which had only been three weeks before. He was perfect in weight and head size, and is altogether very healthy. He is nursing fairly well, at least we get him fed, and I am very happy for that fact. I would say that he is sleeping, on average, a nice 5 hour chunk at night, and then is a little restless until he gets up. He wakes up, without fail, at 5:45 every morning. Sheesh… I am soo not a morning person! We usually get up and have some quiet time before Jack gets up a little bit later. I have been trying to keep Tristan satisfied and in bed for a little bit longer than that, but it has not been working out very well.

ANDY

Hmm… I should make him report on himself, but I will say that he is doing well and is being a very good father to his boys. I try to make sure that he gets to play WoW or something when he gets home from work, because I know that is one of his only times to relax. It gets a little difficult at times, since both of the boys always seem to need something at the same time, but he is a sport when it comes to getting interrupted by things.Â We usually have dinner right when Andy gets home, and then he usually plays with the boys for a little while before playing. That is nice, because it gives me a chance to get dinner cleaned up and try to pick up the house and get the last of the laundry done (sometimes).

SARAH

I am doing well. I am not nearly as tired as I was when Jack was tiny. I don’t know if I am just more used to sleep deprivation or what, but I feel pretty decent. I am working on my weight and have lost almost 9 lbs already. It is hard work sometimes, but it is worth it when I step on the scale and the weight is going down. I just got my green flag from the Dr. to go ahead and start exercise, so I am going to start my baby and mommy workout with Tristan in the afternoons when Jack is sleeping. I also got myself some whitening strips for my teeth, and am trying to take care of my skin and stuff. Sheesh, I sound like I am in a mid life crisis or something, but really I am just trying to take care of myself so that I am a little more in shape when I am ready for my next baby. As for the teeth, I just want to feel pretty, and whitening my teeth is one thing that I can do to help that out. Someday when I get the money, I want to get my hair done and highlighted, and when I get to a decent weight I will get some clothes that make me feel cute instead of like a dead mommy.

Anyway, after my incredibly long update, I hope you get to see a little more of what our life is like these days. For now, I am going to go make us some pancakes for lunch, and then get Jack up. Love to all…

Sarah

Jack got hurt!

thenormalones — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 04:26:00 +0000

First off…he’s ok! Praise God. This week (Wednesday I believe) while running in the house, Jack took a spill and hit the coffee table. Lucky for us its round and that Jack has a few extra Angels assigned to keep him from causing too much havoc. As you can see from the photo his eye was swollen nearly shut for the first 2 days and he’s got some interesting color going on with it several days later. Sarah took him to the doctor the next day and confirmed that his actual eye is alright. A few fractions of an inch lower and there could have been some severe damage. I’ve started tagging a few pictures in our photo stream with “Black Eye” so you can see where its showing up on camera.

These are really big pictures…One of the left is “day of”, one on the right is “two days after”.