Nick's first hockey game

Nick watched his first NHL game tonight while snuggling with Daddy. He was riveted. No, really, he loved it!

Such a newsy day...

Where to start?
How about with the most exciting?
We got a call from Nathan this morning. He was at Wal-Mart, enjoying a day of off-base leave! He bought a phone card with 70 minutes on it, and was bound and determined to use it all up so we talked for almost an hour. He decided he needed to go get some civilian food (it was 1 p.m. there and he hadn't eaten since breakfast) and he would try to get one more short call in before leave is over.
He told me that he had a real wake-up call on Thursday. Two people from the company ahead of them, Juliette, had two recruits reverted to Kilo company the day before their graduation. In other words, until you have gone through the graduation ceremony and have your certificate in your hot little hands, you can be reverted. Unbelievable. Those poor recruits and their family members who had airline tickets...
He also said that he had been in touch with the relocation person in Seattle and found out that when he first gets to his station he will most likely be in barracks, but after a few days he would be moved out "to economy," which means he'll have an apartment (possibly sharing with other coastie(s)) and will get extra pay to cover rent, utilities, and food. I wish I had spent more time with Nathan in the kitchen. He has no idea how to cook even the most simple things. Well, he could do mac & cheese and frozen pizza. Ug. Mom guilt kicking in.
I suppose I could do a "kitchen bootcamp" while Nathan is home and teach him how to make 3 or 4 staple dishes. He can eat breakfast and lunch on base but it closes at 4:00 so there is no dinner mess.
Which brings me to his next tidbit: it looks like he'll be working Monday through Friday 7:00-4:00. Weekends off, unless it's his duty watch. That will be so cool. He'll be able to take in baseball and football games and do other Seattle-related fun stuff. Or come home! He can ride the bus and the train free, and we can pick him up in Bellingham.
Okay, onto other family members.
Last night Don and I (and Nick) had a shopping date! The boys watched the girls (supposedly) while the three of us went to Old Navy. Don needed some updating in the wardrobe department. He got all stylish this past summer with great shorts and short-sleeved shirts, but now that the weather has changed he needed more suitable "on-site" clothes. Now he'll look great for Nathan's graduation. We hit some great sales and got him some great pants, sweaters, and jackets (Stacy and Clinton would approve!). And some shoes, as he was wearing shoes from San Jose. Okay, that was 15+ years ago. Those have got to go. It was lots of fun and Nick was great, except for his blow-out. Oh well.
Last night we did a change up in the night-time routine, after such a poor night of sleep the night before. We brought a space heater into our room along with Nick's cradle. Before that, he slept in our bed with us so that I could feed him easily (or lazily...) and make sure he was warm. Last night I fed him at 11ish, got him to sleep and put him in his cradle. He slept until 2:30. So did I. Thank you Lord. I fed him, burped him, and put him back in the cradle and he slept until 5ish. Another feeding. But this time he wouldn't let me put him in the cradle. He cried when he was down and would calm right down as soon as I picked him up. So I brought him back to bed with me and snuggled with him until morning. Which was 8:00. I kid you not. We slept until 8. It felt so great! Thankfully it was a Saturday morning and Don was up with the girls (they slept until 7). I feel very rested.
More news: Dylan started his job this morning at the chicken farm down the road. He'll be working about 6 hours each weekend and making $10/hr. Which means he'll have his band trip all paid for in just a few months. And he'll be able to replace his phone which inexplicably stopped working last week. He came home and told me all about it. The farm is all mechanized and the job will be somewhat interesting.
Don, Sean, and the girls are out running errands today which left me free to shower, do some laundry, watch a little t.v., and blog! Life is so good...

Who needs newborn diapers?!

Not Nick! He used his last swaddler (love those!) this morning so I put on a size 1, and lo and behold it fits him perfectly...

You can see he's getting chubbier. His legs are even holding up his socks now.

Last night was rough. He wasn't fussy...just wanted to eat every hour or so (it seemed). Both yesterday and today I've been up before 6 so I'm feeling pretty tired. I've also had an afternoon coffee just to keep my eyes open.

The boys have a Pro-D day, so they're home from school. You'll never guess what they're doing right now.

He smiles!

Tomorrow Nick will be one month old. Today I caught three smiles on camera! I thought I was pretty much done writing to Nathan, because of how long it takes a letter to get to Cape May, but between sending him these pics and telling him about San Jose's 7-6 shoot-out win last night, I think I might just have to send one more and hope he gets it before the 31st!

Hump Day, Week 7

Today is 1/2 way through Nathan's 7th week. By this time next week, Mom, Lee, and Don will all be packing their bags for early flights back east to watch Nathan graduate and to bring him home!

Yesterday we received Nathan's longest, juiciest letter yet...a full 5 pages describing bootcamp and the people therein. It felt like Christmas to have so much communication from Nathan. I can't wait until he's home.

Sean has decided to join not one, but two choirs at school. One is Jazz Express, which meets twice a week at lunchtime. The second is Redhawk Voices, which meets Wednesday mornings before school. Dylan also sings in Redhawk Voices. We're pleased that Sean is expanding his horizons but we need to keep an eye on how well Sean is able to add two more balls to his juggling routine.

Dylan has a job! Woo hoo! And not only is it a job, it's a perfect job. Which means that it won't conflict with school, it's close, and it will allow him to earn all the money he needs for his band tour (Disneyland during Spring break) without dipping into his savings. The actual job? Well, maybe not so perfect. He'll be working at a friend's egg farm, about 1/2 mile down the road, collecting and packing eggs, checking equipment, etc. It won't be hard, heavy, or dirty work. The thing Dylan might not appreciate is that he'll be working alone. After his summer of working here with 50 other teenagers, the chickens will probably not cut it in the "socialization" area. But he'll hopefully stick it out since, like I said, he needs the job.

At the moment all is well and life is good : )

See this huge baby?

After Nick's bath last night (in the big tub with Jordyn, no less!) we weighed him. In less than 4 weeks, Nick has gone from 6 pounds 5 ounces (discharge weight) to







































10 pounds!

Isn't that amazing? I know he's getting bigger, but since it's a gradual change I didn't think he was that different from coming home from the hospital. He's actually made a 50% weight gain. That's significant!

Everything is going well on the homefront. Today is another milestone for me: I get to take the girls to preschool all by myself as Don is working onsite today. Thankfully, the weather is nice. I think getting everyone out the door and into the big truck would be much less enjoyable in the rain!

Cheers,
Cathi

Nick's Big Day

This morning Nicholas went to church for the first time in his life. In honor of this momentous occasion, we bathed him last night (4th bath of his life...hey, he's the 6th!) so he looked very cute and clean. He was great...slept through the whole service! The girls were very happy to get back to their church routine.

We got another phone call from Nathan yesterday during his on-base leave. His whole company got 6 hours (3-9 p.m.) leave and when Nathan called he was giddy with freedom. We got to talk for about 15 minutes...until his phone card expired, and we had a great time talking. We did tell him that Don was attending his graduation ceremony, so there's no longer any reason to keep that under wraps. He told us he has to report to his unit by 4:30 on November 6, so he'll have 5 1/2 days of leave. He has a list of many things he would like to do during those days, and told us, "boot camp has taught me what can be accomplished in 5 days." I can't wait to see the new, improved Nathan. I'm hoping that boot camp has taken an otherwise perfect young man and taught him time management skills, self discipline, and attention to detail. Then there'd be very little to complain about.

It's a beautiful sunny but cold day here. Don and the girls spent a lot of time outside this afternoon. Now we're getting ready for a dinner of pork loin roast, red potatoes, and delicata squash for supper.

Cheers,
Cathi

Babymoon is over...

After 3 blissful weeks of being pampered and helped along, I am now flying solo and facing my new reality: three kids 4 and under. Mom and Lee left this morning and we all miss them already. They've been here since the day Nick was born and the closest I can come to describe how helpful they've been is to say that I've had the pleasure of having a wife and a chauffeur!

So the past three weeks have been really easy for me. I'd say I'm completely healed from my c-section, except that the actual incision is still a little tender.

Mr. Nick is still an amazing baby. He has had fussy evenings for the past three nights, so I guess that is technically a pattern. But ofther than that, he is calm and content. We are all in love : )

I promised mom that I would be more prolific about posting blog entries, so that she can see Nick's daily growth and change. I know she misses him already.

Thank you, Mom and Lee, for this wonderful three weeks. It's been the best gift we ever received. We love you...

Nick at 2 1/2 weeks

Here is Nicholas on his due date! I'm pretty sure he has gained a pound since we've been home...

He continues to be an amazingly content baby. We are so blessed, and I can't imagine life without him.

Nathan News!

Nathan called last night for his "5-minute business-only phone call." He sounded tired, like he hadn't had a good night's sleep for 5 weeks! I'm so thankful that I was here to get the call. Imagine what a let down it would have been for Nathan to get the answering machine after waiting 5 weeks to make a call.

He told us amazing news: he is stationed in Seattle! I couldn't believe it, but I'm so happy to know he'll be close. After this past 5 weeks without him, I realized that I'm really not ready to have him far away. Even thought he'll probably be out at sea on a cutter for up to 3 months, the fact that he's only a couple hours away by car seems very comforting. He's very happy, too.

He will definitely graduate on Oct. 31, barring getting "reverted" for disciplinary reasons. He passed his physical and classroom tests and he says he's doing great and it's not as hard as he thought it would be. I asked him how he was doing on a scale of 1 to 10 and he said, "about a 13 or 14."

He might get off-base leave granted next weekend, so he'll be able to call and talk as long as he wants (or until his phone card runs out). We're expecting a call on Saturday.

He also asked us to please contine to write, because getting mail is definitely the highlight of his day/week/life right now. If you're inclined to write, here is his address.