for Eric

Had Shannon snap a couple of recent pics. Hope you enjoy!

Busy Days

Aloha!! Its been a while since the last blog. Thought I would post some brand new pictures and just kinda give an update for everyone. Things are going very well. Blake is getting big and so smart! He is learning so much and amazes me everyday with his imagination and how bright he is. He turns 3 next month (October 12) and already knows his ABC's, colors, and can count to 6. He is also VERY good with Shapes and because of noggin knows what an octagon is :). We are trying to stay busy and hope that the time passes until Daddy comes home. I am starting a new committee for Eric's boat. For now it is called The Jarvis Welcoming Committee. We are looking at changing the name because there isn't a lot of interest when people think that is all we do. We have so many things planned and things that we are hoping to plan. We are making a HUGE lei for the ship when it returns. From what some have told me it takes about 1000 trashbags to make a lei. Not to worry we will reuse them and pass them out. Reduce! Reuse! Recycle! Also going to buy pumpkins and have the kiddos paint them for halloween. Should be good times. So far I have 3 Pampered Chef parties to attend. 3 birthday parties (counting Blake's). I am even thinking about starting to sell Gold Canyon Candles. I don't know if I will but its something I am going to look into. I can make some good money by booking parties.. My only worry is finding a babysitter for Blake and booking too many things when Eric is home. When he is home I guess I am selfish and want us to spend as much time together as we can. Well that is about all the news for now. Things are busy and going great. Eric is real busy on the boat. He can't give me a lot of info because of their mission. So I pretty much hear what movies he is watching and what they are eating for dinner. Hey that is fine for me. As long as I hear from him I don't care what the email says. Well until next time.
Much Aloha,
Amber and Blake

Questioning myself

I question myself as a parent almost daily. Am I doing this right? Am I doing that right? Is my son going to grow up and resent me because I didn't read him a million books or I let him watch Blues Clues? Will he remember his childhood fondly? Or will he be one of those adults who grow up resentful and pissed off at their parents because they didn't do this or that. I try my best to be a good mommy. Its hard most days trying to do what I know is right for him. Especially when I have to act as both parents because Eric is gone. Its hard to find time for myself and not feel overwhelmed and stressed because I have this or that to do. Don't get me wrong I love being a parent. I love my son so much. I just can't imagine my life without him nor do I want to. I know most people probably think I am flakey or wishy washy because it generally takes me a while to accomplish things. I know I need to get my son on a schedule. I know I need to potty train him. I know everyone wants to give me advice. And generally I don't mind it. But I guess I just don't like being told what I already know. I have high hopes this deployment that I can start on some of these things and maybe by the time Eric gets home Blake will be in bed by 9 and will be using the potty full time. We'll see.

I also question myself as a friend. I try really hard to be a good friend to everyone. I try to go out of my way and help people and be there when they need me. Sometimes I think I go to far but I don't say anything I just go with the flow. How do I know if my friends really do like me or want to be around me? How do I know they aren't just tolerating me because their husbands are gone too? Why does it seem that some friends hang around me more then others? Is it because my kid is too crazy for them? Or do they just find me too much to handle? I think this is where the wishy washy comes back in. I have some friends that I think I tell too much while there are others I don't tell anything to. Maybe I should choose more wisely about who I tell what to.

Well thats all I am thinking.

Much Aloha,
Amber

A hard day

This morning I got up with the mentality that I was going to stay home and not go anywhere. I've been needing to run to the commissary for a couple of days to grab a few things. But have been putting it off. With the tooth pulling and stuff I have just been laying low. My friend called me and said she was going so I decided I would go and get it over with. They were having a big tent sale so we walked over to check it out. I ended up buying a palm tree that lights up. Going to display it at Christmas even though technically some people display theres all year long. Blake got to jump on the bounce house for a few mins but was very angry at me for making him leave. I should have known better then to let him jump BEFORE I went into the grocery store. I should have known it wasn't going to be fun for me. Oh well.. Anyway we went in and Blake wanted to walk. I am trying to give him more freedom. I know he needs to find his way and I know he also needs to learn what his limitations are. So we have a monkey leash. Its a backpack thats a monkey and his tail is the leash. So he asked to wear his monkey and I thought I would give it a whirl. We haven't done it in the commissary yet. So I wanted to see how he would act. He did very well at the beginning. And even though there were a couple of points I had to get onto him because he was trying to get away for the most part he did well. At least until we got into the checkout. He was pretty much a holy terror. Screaming, yelling etc etc. At one point was laying on the ground. People were staring at me and I was pretty mortified. I mean he is almost 3 and I have to remember that but sometimes you just wish they were born knowing how to act. It didn't help that we happened to get behind like the slowest people in the history of checking out. I mean really? If you are that slow you really should let the cashiers do it. Don't do it yourself. I mean you might break something. After what seemed like an eternity of standing in the checkout we finally checked our stuff out and was headed to the car. I got to my car only to realize I had no car keys. Of course I begin to panic. What did I do with them? Oh no I didn't lose them did I? Oh man Eric is gone and if I've lost my keys I'm in so much trouble! What am I going to do? My friend Shannon was with me and kept Blake so I could go search for them. I went all over looking for them. Revisited the tent sale and walked the whole commissary again. I went back to the car and was like I can't find my keys! Shannon is like did you lock them in your car? So at this point I am praying dear God please let me find my keys. I call onstar because we don't see them inside the car. Onstar unlocks the car for me and I begin to search. Lo and behold they are almost right behind/under Blake's carseat. I guess I had sat them there when I was getting him out and didn't realize it. I get my keys and I 'm so thankful I found them. Now I just want to go home and remain safely where I can't lose any more car keys or I don't have to deal with screaming crazy children. Today has been a hard day. Blake fell asleep late so it looks like a late night for me. I generally don't let him nap this late but after my day I just need a min. I am fixing to go wake him up and start dinner. I just want to say I am so thankful for Onstar. Without them locksmiths would be making bank over me. (this is my 2nd time locking my keys in the car in a few months) So for tonight going to make my chicken and salad and going to relax. Maybe put in a kids movie with my crazy child and try to salvage our day together.

MY BIRTHDAY

Today I turn 28. To many people that isn't old. I guess to me I'm just a little nostalgic. Its hard for me to believe that 10 years ago I was in high school. Running around with friends and probably trying not to get caught doing something hahaha. Today I realized 10 years ago I went into a gas station and bought a pack of cigarettes. Just because I was 18 and could do it. And I knew they would card me. I remember the rush of them looking at me like you aren't 18. And being able to prove I was. It was so exciting. Then 3 years later going into a liquor store and buying that first bottle of tequilla. The guy smirked and was like can I see your id. Of course I said I am 21 TODAY!! You don't realize how fast time flies by until it actually passes. The next milestone I hit will be the big 3-0. Am I ok with it yeah probably. I will probably feel old for like a day and then be over it. Now when I hit 40 that might be a different story. LOL :) Anyway just my thoughts for the day.

Much Aloha,
Amber

UPDATE ON MY TOOTH.

Hello!

Well I had my tooth pulled yesterday morning. My friend Christine was kind enough to keep Blake for me. Anyway the tooth was a partial root canal with a crown on top of it. The dentist that did the root canal couldn't find all the canals so he put the crown on it thinking that I wouldn't have any more issues. Well the tooth ended up getting absessed. So I went to a specialist and he told me he thought the tooth was cracked and that it needed to come out. So I went back to my dentist who sent me to an oral surgeon. They numbed me up real good. No I didn't get put to sleep. I stayed awake for the whole thing. The hardest part was taking the crown off. He actually had to use a drill to get it off. That was no fun. But I couldn't feel anything so it worked out LOL. As they were pulling it they were like OMG. And I am thinking what? whats wrong whats going on? I had an infection inside my tooth that had pretty much grown into a mass. It was about the size of a button. It was good size! They couldn't believe I wasn't in an excruiating amount of pain. They kept talking about how fascinating it was. Anyway they got the tooth out and stitched me up. I am doing pretty good. I am sore and the meds make me tired but I'm not going to complain. They got the infection out before it had spread to my sinuses. So I am thankful. It has been challenging taking care of Blake being so tired but I am making it work. I am going to try to leave the house for a while tomorrow so that he doesn't start getting bored and getting into trouble. Well thats the latest update. I will blog again soon.

Much Aloha,
Amber and Blake

hi!

Things have been busy here in our household. Blake recently had a dental appt where he was deemed cavity free! YAY! I also had a follow up doctors appt. Had to get my cholestaral and glucose levels checked. My numbers have gone down and I have lost a total of 23 pounds. My doctor was very pleased! I have a ways to go but if I just stick to it I know I can do it. Eric has been very busy on his ship. He has a new guy coming in soon and I'm very excited to meet his wife. Eric is getting ready to deploy again for roughly 3 months. He will be home for Thanksgiving and the Holidays. I am sad he'll miss Blakes 3rd bday and Halloween but I have my priorities and I know having him home for the holidays is just as good. Well I go tomorrow to have a cracked tooth pulled so I will probably be layed up for a couple of days. I am going to try to get better at posting on this thing.
Much Aloha to everyone,

The Lange Family.