Chain Saw

Alex and Jess bought a battery operated chain saw for Little Al and gave it to him when they were down here last month. He was so thrilled. He kept wanting to go outside and use it on the bushes. He's been enthralled with chain saws ever since he worked with Uncle Al up in Inkom while Adam was at OCS. Uncle Al was cutting down trees and working outside and Little Al couldn't get enough of it.

 

Haircut

Alex said he wanted his hair cut like Papa's (he has two Papa's: Randy and Adam's Grandpa Willis, and they both wear the same do).  So I indulged him . . .

 

for a few minutes.

Sink or Swim

Paige runs a tight ship when it comes to swimming lessons.  She has been teaching swimming lessons all summer to the neighborhood kids with great success.  These are no "dip your toe in the water" swim lessons.  Parents who can not handle the "save yourself" style of teaching are welcome to observe from inside the house or better yet, not stay for the lesson.  Paige honestly can get kids who are screaming and clawing at her the first couple lessons to be completely comfortable in the water and able to get to their backs when they enter the water at the end of a two week course.  Those in attendance whether it is the swimmer or a spectator will experience a range of emotions anywhere from heartbreak and anger to relief and a sense of success.  All the while, Paige never gives in while holding steady to her purpose and reinforces her tough love with words of encouragement throughout and hugs and high fives at the end of lessons.   

 

We went to Inkom for family reunions so Alex got his chance at swim lessons.  It was great.    

 

Hide and Seek

When we hear Adam parking the car downstairs when he gets home from work Alex runs to hide.  Lately this has been one of his favorite, most clever spots.

 

Our Stuff

We have survived a month in California without almost all of our stuff and have actually been using very little of our stuff, thanks to living with family, since we moved from Boston last fall.  The apartment we moved into here in IB is furnished so we have gotten by fine.  Although I am very excited that our stuff is here, I really kind of wish we didn't have so much STUFF!

 

 

Just to give a little history, when we moved from Boston to Idaho we loaded everything into a PODS shipping container.  This pod sat in a lot for a month or so in Boise while we decided what to do with ourselves.  Once it was decided that we would move in with Paul and Whitney for a while we unloaded everything into one side of their garage.  There it sat for 5 months.  Then when Adam started OCS and Alex and I moved to Inkom we loaded everything up in a Uhaul truck, drove it to Inkom and unloaded it in the loft at Randy and Paige's house.  When it came time to leave Inkom, the Navy moved our things for us.  Unfortunately we were on a waiting list so we had to leave for California before the movers came.  They had to repack a lot of things so that they could fully insure safety.  From Inkom our storage containers were moved to Boise, then transported to somewhere in the Midwest, (Nebraska I think) then they finally traveled to California where they were unloaded and reloaded somewhere in San Diego.  We left Inkom on June 10th and our stuff finally arrived in IB today, July 13!  It is amazing that the only things that have been broken along the way since Boston were the feet off of a box fan and one of the hooks on our vacuum. 

Beach

We took our first walk to the beach, Imperial Beach, where we live.  It was Sunday and we wanted to just do a quick walk over but it ended with Alex stripped to his underwear so he could properly enjoy the water and sand.

 

Goodbye Inkom

We finally had to leave Inkom.  We loved living there while Adam was at OCS but now that he is done it is time to move to California.  We arrived June 10 and Adam checked in onto base on June 12.  The first week we were here we lived in the Navy Lodge on the North Island base in Coronado.  As much as we liked living in a one room place that included a mini fridge and microwave we were very excited when we finally found an apartment to rent.  We really wanted to live in Coronado but after looking for many weeks prior to moving to California and looking more once we got here, we finally decided it was out of our price range for what we needed.  We settled in Imperial Beach (IB as all the locals say).  Our condo is only 10 minutes to the base where Adam is stationed and 15 minutes from Coronado.  We live 2 blocks from the beach and 5 minutes from church. 

Cousins

Alex has had so much fun living at my parent's house and living next door to his cousins (David and Kathryn's).

David, Allie, Payson, Alex, Maylee

Baby Chicks

We have been incubating eggs for the last few weeks.  They finally started to crack. 

 

 

The first one to crack we named Petey. Unfortunately Petey's life was very short. The last three that actually hatched and lived, Alex named Milky, Cuff Ball (Puff Ball), and Chocolate.

 

 
Alex loved the chicks.  This project is very meticulous, we learned a lot, and had fun but I doubt that we (I) will be doing it again.

It's a . . .

 

GIRL!  We are having a girl, I am due October 19th, and we are so excited.  Alex had to make sure the ultra sound table was nice and cozy.

OCS - The NYC Leg

Whitney and I went to Adam's OCS graduation on May 25 but we made a few stops before and after the event.  Patrese met up with us too.  Whitney and I met up in the Newark Airport and took a cab to the apartment we were going to stay in for a few days.  We found it on airbnb.com and it was an awesome location, just a block from Times Square and much cheaper than a ritzy hotel. 

The first night we walked up and down Times Square and had a late dinner at Carnegie Deli.  Patrese came in on bus from D.C. somewhere around 5am.  Over the next couple days we rode the subway to the financial district and walked all day exploring sights including Lombardis (best pizza ever) and Rice to Riches. We tried the Wicked Lottery with no luck and went to see it anyway buying cheap tickets that were never claimed by the original buyers. We walked all the way up through Central Park and down 5th Ave. After a few days and many adventures we hopped on a Mega Bus that took us to Rhode Island.

OCS - The Boston leg

After Newport we drove to Boston, a beloved city to us. Our main goal in going was to see our awesome friend Ellen along with others, and to show Whitney a bit of the city. We spent time touring Boston, making trips to the airport as our group members started leaving one by one, and staying up late chatting with each other and EP.  We also got to go to church and see old friends that we miss so much.  I had such a good trip with these two and wish we all lived closer.

 

We stayed with Ellen so we were able to get a lot of good catching up time.  Adam and I were the last of our group to leave and we had so much stuff due to Adam's navy gear.  The big suitcase is covering up another suitcase behind it and Paige had already left with another large military pack of Adams.  It was crazy. 

 

 

OCS - The Newport leg

After arriving in Rhode Island and renting our car, we (Whitney, Patrese, and I) went straight to the base in Newport to see Adam.  I was so excited.  It had been 3 months since we had seen each other, with very little phone communication, but luckily Adam did a stellar job sending letters.

During our time in Newport besides seeing the Vanderbilt Mansion most of our time was spent going to Adam's events.  Randy and Paige also met up with in Newport to attend the activities.  The first night was the "Hi Moms" dinner.  It was held at a Yacht Club which was very fancy and nice. 

 

 

Adam received one of two fitness awards. 

 

 

We witnessed early morning PT (physical training)

 

 

and the chow hall procedures.

 

 

Finally graduation.  Adam graduated and became a naval officer on May 25th.  New officers are also called ensigns (pronounced en-zin) for the first 2 years.  Adam is on the 4th row up, 4th person from the right, so basically unseen. 

 

 

Although Adam was all too ready to be done with OCS, he made some life-long friends there . . . and he knows how to do hospital corners. 



Dentist

Last week I took Jacob to the orthodontist to get his braces on.  Alex was with me and was completely enthralled with the whole process and kept saying to me, "Braces, me too, pees mama."  Today I took Alex to his first dentist appointment.  He told Mammie he was going to the dentist and informed her he was getting braces. 

Grandma Sipherd told me a few years ago how she prepared Adam's dad for his first visit to the dentist, so I used a similar approach with Alex.  I got a small spoon and told him it was like the mirror the dentist was going to use and I also got a fork and said it was like a pick.  Then I had him lay down on the couch and open his mouth.  I put the spoon in his mouth against his cheek and used the fork to tap and pick at his teeth.  He kept asking for more.

When we got to the dentist he walked in and said hello.  After playing with the buttons for the chair he climbed up and was ready.  The hygienist showed him all the tools and asked if she could put them in his mouth.  He was very excited.  She asked if he wanted cotton candy toothpaste or strawberry.  I am pretty sure all he heard was candy and he immediately exclaimed, "cotton candy!"  He put the head phones on for the TV and settled back.  I am pretty sure he took it as another pampering time.  He loved every minute of it, from the teeth picking to the electric tooth brush to the flossing. 

Thanks to a phone picture blogger will not accept a rotated photo!

 

When we were walking out he looked in the mirror and smiled and he said, "Awww, no braces" in a very disappointed voice.

Candio

Adam became a Candidate Officer on May 2nd.  In military lingo he is now a "Candio."  He is over the new class (the indocs) that started May 6th.  The first few days they were there he was in charge of helping the indocs prepare to meet their drill instructor by teaching them how to dress, talk, respond, act, etc.  He was very excited for a change of pace and his new privileges that came with being a Candio, one of which was being able to call me every night.

Feeding Grandpa

This morning Alex insisted on helping my dad get his breakfast.  My mom had made eggs.  Alex scooped one up on the spatula and in a very professional manner flipped it onto my dad's plate like he was flipping pancakes.  Next he wanted to put the ketchup on my dad's plate.  Then he cut a bite of egg with a fork, dipped it into the ketchup, and fed it to my dad.  It was hilarious.  I then had to tell him that Grandpa had to finish on his own so that he would let my dad be.  Before Alex got down off the chair he turned to my dad and said, "Need a hug" and leaned into my dad and gave him a big hug. 

Paige took these pictures a few weeks ago of my dad and Alex.  Ales loves to be around my dad.  Every morning he asks my dad, "where you going?"  My dad will say "To work" and Alex asks, "Shop, come too?"  Alex also has a song he likes to sing when he first sees my dad in the morning and when my dad gets home from work.  He sings "coo, coo, coo, coo, coo" using different notes and just repeating the same word. 

Horses

"Only cowboys ride horses," or so Alex says.

Baby Wammies

In March we went up to feed the baby bum lambs a few times.  Alex calls them, "Baby Wammies."

Warheads

Alex kept begging Keith for a warheard and I said he wouldn't like it because it would be too sour but he wouldn't stop. Some may think this is torture but Keith gave him one and it was so hilarious.  He finally just kept saying "don't like it, spit it out" so I gladly finished it for him. We had a similar situation a couple of nights ago with jalapenos. We had some of those ones like they have at Subway in a jar. We got them out to eat on sandwiches. Alex kept asking to try one and started to cry because I said he couldn't have one because it would burn his mouth. I finally cut off the tiniest piece, smaller than a tic tac, and let him have it. He stuck it in his mouth and started chewing and then all of a sudden he looked at me in a sort of panic and said, "too hot mama." I said "yeah I know." He guzzled a large glass of water. It was pretty funny but he clearly did not learn his lesson since he would not listen to me about the warhead today.

Tractors

Paige did a photo shoot with Alex a few weeks ago on some tractors around my dad's farm.

County road grader.

He thinks the 4 wheeler is just for him since he can climb up on it by himself.

Payson and Alex.

Steiger tractor tire.

Egg Hunt

Yesterday we colored hard boiled eggs in preparation for an egg hunt. 

 Alex had so much fun and even made a special one for Adam aka "Gaggy."

When we got up this morning my parents tried to say they saw bunny tracks outside in the fresh snow and Alex went running over to the window and exclaimed, "No, dog tracks!" Then my mom told him she thought they were bunny tracks so then he went running back to the window and started screaming, "Bunny tracks" over and over again while wiggling his nose and mouth like a bunny.

My parents hid hard boiled eggs and plastic eggs all over the upstairs and this morning all the kids looked for them. Alex was so excited. Every time he found any kind of egg he would go running to Greg and Jacob screaming, "I found one, I found one." Then Anna and I would coax him back to the room he left to continue looking. Alex found the egg with $5.00 and he popped it open and yelled, "Cash!" He also found a few others with single dollar bills. Jacob was pretty sore about it. He asked me how much Alex got after the egg hunt, I told him and Jacob said, "I got jipped." It is hard to be replaced as the young one of the family. Alex found $9.75, and I think Jacob only had $2.00. It was pretty funny.

We ended the egg hunt by peeling the hard boiled eggs and making an egg sauce to have over toast.  Alex loves peeling eggs.

Baby Goggy

Adam and I are going to have baby #2.  We are both very excited.  I still have a ways to go but will be due somewhere around October 13th.  When we first found out that I was pregnant we told Alex that I was going to have a baby and we asked him if he wanted a baby girl or a baby boy.  He sat there for a second and said very thoughtfully, "Ummm, a baby goggy (doggy)."  Unfortunately he will not be getting his wish anytime soon.

Visit to Amy's

While in Utah we stayed with Amy and Austin at their house in Heber. It was great to see where they live. We had a BBQ on Saturday evening and went and to get icecream and frozen yogurt while Austin went to the Priesthood Session. They have a train outside Dairy Keen in Heber. My dad kept telling us we had to make sure to take Alex by to see it.  

 After the treats and Alex was in bed we watched Wait Until Dark, with Audrey Hepburn.  I highly recommend this movie.  Natalie and Anna jumped out off of the couch a couple times but it was great.

We finished watching and listening to conference at Amy's and on the way home today.  It was a great weekend.

General Conference

During our trip to Utah, Natalie, Anna, and I went to the Saturday morning session of General Conference in the Conference Center in SLC while Alex stayed with Amy.  Sheila met up with us to go to the session.

Afterwards we went to lunch with Johnny, Sheila, and their kids to a Peruvian restaurant in SLC.  It was delicious.  This is their daughter Heidi.

The Armstrong's

This past weekend we went to Utah to visit the Sipherd's, Dain and Annie, Jennifer and Jessica, and Amy and Austin.  It was a busy time.  Natalie and Anna came with Alex and me.  When we were at Dain and Annie's Price got his Lightning Mcqueen car out.  Alex looked like a preppy nerd driving it.  

Price drives it like a pro and as he drives off he likes to put his arm on the back of the seat and look back at you and pose like some cool kid.  Alex on the other hand just kept running into things.  It was so funny to watch.  

They had so much fun together.  I wish we could see them more often.

Naptime Antics

I have had a couple episodes with Alex since he was transferred to the big bed and since his passeys have been taken away. 

A couple weeks ago after Alex had been down stairs supposedly napping for about 30 minutes I thought I heard something.  I quietly went down stairs and outside the bedroom door I heard in a very distressed voice, “Mommy, help me.”  I went in and found him standing on the bed with his shirt off and his pants unbuttoned and he was trying to unzip his pants to take them off.  The box fan that was in his room was on full blast.  The sight was so funny I had to bite back my laughter.  I knew I still had to get after him for his behavior so this wouldn't continue. 

Then we had another one a couple days later.  I went downstairs to listen for Alex talking after about 15 minutes of him being down there for a nap.  I didn’t hear anything so I went back upstairs.  About an hour later I thought I heard something and I went in the bedroom to find Alex wide awake, sitting up in bed, and driving a small pickup over his blankets while making engine noises.  There was a chair pushed up to the dresser, which I am sure he stood on to get the truck.  I took the truck away and told him it was time to go to bed.  About another hour later he came upstairs and I could clearly tell he had not slept at all.  I made him lay down on Anna’s bed.  He came out to the kitchen about 10 minutes later and said in a very chipper voice, “morning, slept 2 hours.” 

The crib and passey made him focus on sleep.  I have only had a couple other days I had to go in and tell him so stop talking and go to sleep and it has only happened during nap times.  Since then he has been fine, so hopefully the adjustment is over.

Update on Adam

Adam is doing very well at OCS.  Today he had his RLP (Room, Locker, and Personnel) inspection.  I just received an email from him and he passed.  For those not familiar with the RLP, it is a very difficult inspection and it is not completely uncommon to fail out of the class because of this.  It takes a lot of preparation time.  Their rooms and uniforms are inspected and they are tested on their knowledge of things they have been memorizing since starting OCS.  This is the biggest test Adam will have while at OCS.  I am so happy for him.

Peanut Butter

The other night Alex and I made peanut butter cookies.  I opened a new jar of peanut butter for the cookies and Alex stuck his finger in it and got a big dip of it and sucked it off his finger.  I told him to not put his finger in it, while also meaning I didn’t want him to eat anymore.  He took the “keep your hands out” literally and helped himself to a small spoon out of the drawer and brought it over to me to get him some on the spoon.  I got him a small amount.  Then someone called and I left the jar unattended to answer the phone.  I came back to find Alex pulling a very large spoon out of the jar with a heaping amount of peanut butter on it.  I startled him and I had to hurry and grab it away before he stuck the whole thing in his mouth.  He was not happy about that.

Cowboy Al

We have not been in Inkom long, but Alex has already taken on the cowboy role. I am constantly telling him to not point his fake pistol at people. We went to visit Mammi and Papa this evening and he wanted to get all decked out before going. We went out to the chickens and Alex looked at me hesitantly and said, "shoot chickens?" It was finally his chance to embrace his new role as a cowboy and show off his pistol. Paige took some awesome pictures of Alex in action.  He has always loved being around the chickens. Click here and here to see more.

Alex takes his role very seriously. 

Waffles

This is Alex enjoying a waffle for breakfast.  Whenever I ask him what he wants to eat for any meal he will either say "Nothing" and carry on with whatever he is doing or he will exclaim, "Waffles!" and go fling open the fridge door looking for batter.  He would be happy with waffles for every meal, if only he could convince me. 

So Long Passey

Last Thursday night I told Alex that it was his last night with a passey.  He pretty much was down to just using it to sleep and occasionally in the car but I was tired of packing it around and making sure he had one.  It was time.  On Friday, March 9th Alex woke up and I told him it was time to destroy the passey.  Alex has a love for scissors so I thought snipping it would be an appropriate way for Alex to get rid of the passey.  He went upstairs, got out a pair of scissors and carefully snipped the passey and put both pieces in the garbage. (Note: Alex has about 10 passeys strategically placed throughout the house, car, and my purse, but we only destroyed 1, the rest have gone into hiding.  I think you could safely say that Alex and I had a strong addiction to the passey.)  I really thought we would have a rough go of it for the next few days after we got rid of them but he only has asked for one a couple times and with a slight reminder that we are all done with passeys he goes to bed without complaint.

This is one of my all time favorite passey pics that my friend took of Alex clear back in the fall of 2010. The passey has been a very loyal companion and has had a long life with Alex. Type "passey" in the search box at the top left of our blog to see previous passey stories and pictures. They won't disappoint

Good Morning

I woke up last week at 6:15am to Alex right in my face saying, “Tima get up?”  He is sleeping in the crib at my parent’s house and I still have not seen how he actually does it, but he crawls out of it in the mornings and after nap times.  The crib here is pretty deep and tall so to prevent an injury I decided to move him to a "big boy bed."  This happened on Tuesday, March 6th.  He was very hesitant at first because he loves the crib but after a little coaxing and telling him that this is how it was going to be he accepted.  We haven't had any problems with him staying in bed when it is time to sleep so the move has been successful. 

Sandpoint vs. Rhode Island

Adam has started his officer training at OCS in Newport, Rhode Island.  He started March 4th and graduates May 25th.  Alex and I are not going with him so we are living with my parents for the next few months.  Alex so far has loved being here.  There is an endless supply of tractors and trailers to play with and he loves being around Anna, Greg, and Jacob every day when they get home from school. 

When we lived in Boise Adam had to travel to Sandpoint, ID a lot for work.  He would leave on a Sunday night and get back at the end of the week on Friday night.  No matter how often I tell Alex that Adam is now in RI Alex always tells everyone that Adam is in, "Candpoint (Sandpoint)."

Goodbye Boise, Hello Navy

Our time in Boise has come to an end.  It has been short but sweet.  Adam has joined the Navy.  About 3 years ago Adam mentioned that he wanted to join the Navy and become a Navy SEAL, I was thinking, "Yeah whatever, this is just wishful thinking and it will pass."  He said he would work a year in Boston with EY before saying anything about it again, and I once again thought, "Okay sounds great, this will definitely go away."  Well if you know anything about public audit accounting you will know that this is not the kind of job that will persuade you to put off dreams of other jobs.  At the year mark Adam started talking about Navy SEALs again and finally said to me, "I am serious about this so I want you to also get serious about it."  The pressure was on and so I got serious.  After quite a few months I finally said okay.  When Adam told his mom that we were going to move forward with his dream she said, "What does Carolyn think" and Adam said, "She has warmed up to the idea and is okay with it."  Paige responded, "Is she warming up or wearing down?"  I would definitely say at the time that it was a bit of both but now I am onboard completely.  It will be difficult for us but I am also excited for the new things to come.

The training for Navy SEALs is called BUDS and is very difficult and basically crazy.  The pass rate is very low.  We have read, studied, and watched a lot of stuff to prepare for this and I feel like Adam is as prepared as he can be at this point.  I highly recommend watching Navy SEALs BUDS Class 234 if you are interested in seeing what kind of training the pre-SEALs have to undergo before actually becoming a SEAL.    

But before Adam does SEAL training he decided to try to get into officer school for the Navy.  He interviewed for this last June and after about 6 months of waiting, moving to Boise, and thinking he did not get in he finally heard that he was accepted to Officer Commissioning School (OCS) with a billet to go to BUDS after officer training.  Long story short, this has cut off our time in Boise and we would never have moved from Boston if we thought he was going to get in.  But he did and he starts officer training March 4th.

Gucko

Many of Alex's key words still start with a "G". Click here and here to see past posts on this subject. As of late gucko (as in sucker) has been added to his G vocabulary. Alex loves suckers. On a very regular basis he wakes up asking for one and to pacify him I tell him he can have one after his snack which is after his nap. Today he woke up from his nap and came into my room, I did not receive a hug, or a hello, or even a hey, all I got was "gucko?".

Chef Alex

This chef outfit was one of Alex's Christmas presents. As previously mentioned in various posts, Alex loves to help in the kitchen, from the start of the recipe to clean up after a meal. I searched everywhere for an apron for him with no luck. But then Adam's aunt Amy found this awesome little outfit.

Meet Matt

Matt is Paige's brother who lives in Great Falls with his wife Tony and two daughters, Hannah and Mia. Matt was like an older brother to Adam when he was young. Adam has some wonderful stories and memories with Matt. Alex met Matt for the first time over the New Year's Eve weekend and immediately warmed up to him.

Pinata

Adam's mom's side of the family (the Willis') get together every New Year's in Inkom. This year I think there were around 45 people for about 3 days, which meant lots of noise, food, chatting, and fun! One of the favorite past times of all is staying up into the wee hours of the night playing mafia after the kids have gone to bed.

On New Year's Eve there was a pinata for the kids. Alex loved taking his batting turn and was so excited when it finally cracked and candy spilled everywhere.