Category: Parenting

Daily living · Parenting · Travel

Gerrit is Six!

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2020 was such a crazy year, and I really didn’t get any time to blog. So this post is getting typed up about half a year two years late! The majority of this was typed up in early 2021, but I’m finally getting the chance to finish it. Here is a recap of Gerrit’s life from age 5 to 6:

Age: 6 years old on 27 October 2020
Weight: 40.6 lbs
Height: 45 inches
Teeth: 20? I can’t remember if he had started getting his 6 year old molars yet!
Clothing size: 5/5T

I’m going to stop doing milestones, because I don’t even know what to put anymore! Gerrit started kindergarten a couple of months before turning six, but we opted to go with the full virtual option during the COVID-19 pandemic. So everything was done at home on a laptop he got from school. I know that when he started school, he already knew everything being taught. He was already counting to 100 and doing simple addition and subtraction. He knew all of his letters and letter sounds. He knew his shapes and colors.

I totally dropped the ball with doing a birthday interview, so here’s Gerrit’s 6-1/2 year old interview:

What is your favorite color? pink
What is your favorite food? Buffalo chicken pasta
What is your favorite TV show? “Pokemon” or Minecraft tutorials
What is your favorite movie? Frozen 2
What is your favorite thing to do? play Pokemon
Where is your favorite place to go? outside when it’s snowy
What is your favorite toy? chess
What is your favorite book? dragon books
What is your favorite animal? falcon
Who is your best friend? Isabelle (neighbor)
What did you do on your birthday? I had a Minecraft party and played punch-the-zombie!
What do you want to be when you grow up? an airplane pilot

Gerrit’s year from 5 to 6:

Halloween 2019: I basically took over Halloween this year! I really wanted to do a group theme, and I convinced everyone that a Wizard of Oz thing would be fun. Gerrit was really into the Tin Man costume when I put a robot spin on it, and thankfully Andrew took the reins on the costume design. It turned out to be SO cute!

November 2019: A trip to the alpaca farm, Gerrit’s obsession with homemade slime/goop, going to Gerrit’s preschool Thanksgiving party, and Thanksgiving dinner at home

December 2019: Enjoying treats from the Christmas countdown house, decorating the Christmas tree, Gerrit’s Nintendo gingerbread house, playing at home, Christmas at the squadron, Gerrit’s preschool Christmas party, Christmas celebration at home, and a few from Christmas with my family in Missouri

January 2020: spending time with Aunt Becki, more goop/slime, our weekend in Tucumcari to visit the dinosaur museum, and a nice day to play outside

February 2020: a snow day, enjoying hot cocoa, fun at home (Jell-O creations & color mixing fun), Gerrit’s preschool Valentine’s Day party, chocolate raspberry cookies for Valentine’s Day, and Jurassic World in Amarillo

March 2020: Dr. Seuss week at school, a visit from Gramps & Gram before Dada deploys, and trying to stay entertained as the COVID-19 pandemic begins (Safari Loop bear hunt, rock painting, and lots of playing at home)

April 2020: fun outside, Mama’s attempt at some “schoolwork,” Easter fun, day-after-Easter snow, haircuts at home, water fun in the mini splash pad, MORE goop/slime

May 2020: Front Porch Project Mommy-and-Me photos, fun inside & out with our quarantine buddies

June 2020: wearing a mask when out of the house, rough-housing on the couch, finding fun at home, wearing red for Dada being deployed, Dada’s homecoming

July 2020: Gerrit gets a cheetah, going out for rolled ice cream at The Unicorn, 4th of July at home, roasting marshmallows & making s’mores, day trip to Palo Duro Canyon in Texas, working on his beloved Minecraft workbook, playing with ice chalk, working on Lego creations, chalk paint, matching shirts with Berend

August 2020: launching rockets, celebrating Dada’s birthday, first day of (virtual) kindergarten

September 2020: a day at actual school, virtual learning, lots of outside play!

October 2020: Fall Break in Angel Fire, Mimi & Papa visit

Gerrit’s 6th Birthday!
By the time Gerrit’s birthday rolled around, things pandemic-wise were loosening up a bit. We were able to have gatherings up to 20 people, and we were able to have my parents on base (with masks). I didn’t intend to go crazy with Gerrit’s Minecraft themed party, but I feel like the pandemic and lockdown pushed me to do more than I originally planned! I felt bad that Gerrit never really got to finish preschool, he wasn’t attending kindergarten in person, and he spent most of his sixth year stuck at home. I hope it was a special day for him despite the unexpected year we had.

I usually give the kids the option of renting a bounce house or doing party games/activities, but this year we just went straight for games to avoid too much contact. We did a pin-the-tail-on-the-pig game, punch-a-zombie prize game, and of course, a ghast piñata. I was thankful to have my mom help me with decorations and Andrew put together some awesome Minecraft creatures out of boxes and spray paint. Gerrit had so much fun with his friends!

We celebrated a little bit more on Gerrit’s actual birthday with presents from us and a mint chocolate trifle!

Gerrit, I hope you had a great sixth year! I know it turned out differently than we all thought with a global pandemic, lockdown, longer-than-expected deployment, and things like social-distancing and masks in public. But you were resilient and lived the best 5-year-old life you could considering everything! We’re so proud of you and your hard work so far in kindergarten, and we love you so very much!

Daily living · Parenting

Just the Three of Us: Week 1

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In trying to get back into blogging, I pulled up my old blog post drafts and came across this one from early August 2018: 

So in the last 5 months, we’ve moved from Texas to Little Rock, had a baby, then moved from Little Rock to New Mexico. All so we could be together when I had Berend. I didn’t want to be in the delivery room without Andrew. I couldn’t imagine him not being there. It was probably the most complicated way to do this whole thing (moving Gerrit and myself to Little Rock with Andrew for just a few months), but I think it was worth it.

Anyways! Berend was born in the middle of May, in the middle of Andrew’s C130 training. Andrew was basically told to take 2 weeks off after the birth and drop back a class. I was hoping he wouldn’t have to do that (even though I wanted him home to help) because it landed us in this situation: him leaving me and our two kids in a new house at a new base for a month of training out of state because he couldn’t get dates changed.

Had he not dropped back a class, we would have had two extra weeks to get settled here before he left. Thankfully, my mom agreed to drive from Arkansas to New Mexico with us, and she stayed for a week after Andrew left to help out.

But now it’s just me, a 3-1/2 year old, and a 2 month old in a house on an unfamiliar base with a LOT of unpacked boxes.

Day 1: I was ambitious and agreed to go to a play date meet-up at a park on base to get out of the house. We arrived late since Berend was napping, but I made sure we got out of the house. I enjoyed chatting with a few other moms, but Gerrit was being shy and didn’t want to play with the other kids. He told me he missed his old friends. Break my heart! 😦 The day was long because Berend refused to nap longer than 15-30 minutes at a time, so I was constantly trying to get him to sleep, get him back to sleep, or keep him relatively happy before I tried again with the naps. When I put Gerrit to bed, he told me he didn’t want to play outside the next day. When I asked why, he said, “So I don’t get dirty, and I won’t need a bath.” I told him I thought he liked baths, and he said, “But I want Dada to give me a bath.” Seriously, this kid is trying to make me cry! And cry I did. It was dark, and I was rubbing his back while he fell asleep, so he didn’t know I was crying. I just felt alone and overwhelmed. And I wondered how in the world I would ever survive an actual deployment.

Day 2: My only goal for today was to get to the commissary. So I had to write up a menu, write my grocery list, and get us out the door. With basically only myself to feed, it was a pretty short list. I feel like the day went better because Berend actually took some good naps! I didn’t feel so defeated at the end of the day, but I was definitely exhausted.

Days 3 & 4: The weekend! Although the weekend is like every other day when you’re alone with your kids. We went on some walks to the splash pad/playground in our neighborhood to get out of the house. Berend is not a big fan of the car seat/stroller right now. I thought he’d be okay with it since he can see me (vs the car seat in the car), but he’s almost always screaming on our walk back to the house. I can’t imagine what the neighbors think of us…

Day 5: Gerrit continues his binge watching of “Transformers: Rescue Bots” on Netflix. Berend thinks he just needs cat naps until early afternoon. I needed two large cups of coffee today. But I remembered to get the garbage out for trash collection! Accidentally left B screaming in his bassinet while I got Gerrit to bed (white noise machines work very well to cover baby screams) and felt like a crappy mom. Berend continued waking frequently until he had a large blow out poopy diaper at 3am… then finally slept 2 hours straight. He and I snuggled together from 6-8am so I could get some more sleep.

Day 6: More cat naps. More “Rescue Bots.” Trying to get a Crock Pot meal on the table tonight.

I’m so glad I didn’t delete this! It was less than 3 years ago, but it seems so long ago. Last month was Month of the Military Child, and this post illustrates how hard this life can be not only for the adults but also for the little ones. I’m so proud of my resilient boys! 

Baby Update · Daily living · Holiday · Parenting

Berend: 11 Months

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You know when you first have a baby, and they’re crying all the time? You have thoughts like, “I just need to make it through this hour/day/week/month.” And then you’re writing your baby’s 11 month update thinking, “How are we only a month away from your first birthday?!”

Age: 11 months on 15 April 2019
Weight: about 22 lbs
Height: about 30.25 inches
Teeth: 6
Clothing Size: 12-18 months & 18 months
Diaper Size: size 3 in disposable (this box is lasting forever) and one size in cloth

Milestones: saying “z” sound, saying “tuh” sound, crawling on hands and knees more regularly, responding to “no,” signing “milk” (maybe?)

Likes: playing with Gerrit, baths, meals, Mama (bordering on obsession), tickles, going outside, rummaging in the refrigerator, finding tiny things to put in his mouth, unraveling the toilet paper roll, mouth sounds (blowing raspberries, spitting, clicking his tongue, smacking his lips… and don’t forget his trademark growling!), dropping & picking up toys, being walked around, climbing on top of baskets/boxes/toys, eating shoes, climbing up and down the stairs like a pro, snuggling with Mama in the wee hours

photo by Gram Kiel

 

Dislikes: long car rides, diaper changes, clothes changes, Mama walking away, being confined (in the car seat, in the stroller, in the shopping cart), getting his face washed

Sleep: Berend is still getting about 12.5 hours of sleep a day including 2 naps. His morning nap is usually around 10 or 10:30am and is almost always on the short side (40-45 min). His afternoon nap is all over: anywhere between 1:30 & 3pm, sometimes short, sometimes longer. He’s in a much better mood when he gets a decent afternoon nap though!

Night sleep is about the same as it has been. Berend goes to bed between 7:30 & 8:30 (9 if he had a late nap), is up every 1-2 hours (3 hours is a treat), and wakes for the day between 7 & 8. I bring him to bed with me around 3 or 4am most nights. Sometime he’s restless in bed with me (crying out, moving around a lot), but other times he just snuggles right in. I love waking up and watching him sleep.

Eating: At the start of this month, I felt like Berend had days of not being very interested in nursing or eating. But by the end of the month he was nursing a lot! He still seemed off of solids though. I think he has been eating more than I thought, but he’s also been dropping a LOT on the floor. Especially broccoli. I feel like he may be teething, but nothing has popped through yet.

Although when we went out for sushi with Andrew’s parents? Great eater, of course.

Mommy Update: Shortly after Berend turned 10 months, Andrew’s parents arrived for a visit! It was basically just for Andrew and me to get a break… and a date. It gets hard to not have family to help out, and we were thankful Andrew’s parents wanted to visit.

It was nice for me to get to sleep in for a couple of weeks, Andrew got to do some projects he’d been wanting to get to, and we even got out for a lunch date and errands!

I also celebrated my 34th birthday this month! Nothing much planned to celebrate… I made one of my favorite meals for dinner, made a strawberry lemon sheet cake, and got some sweet gifts from my guys.

Opening my gift from Gerrit: a story about potatoes and dinosaurs

Opening my necklace from Andrew: a bear for Berend

Memorable Events: Berend’s 1st St. Patrick’s Day… even though we didn’t do anything other than dress in green haha.

While Andrew’s parents were visiting, Berend had his first trip to the zoo! There’s a small zoo here in Clovis, and it was pretty much the perfect size for us to get through at this point.

Berend tried some raw sushi for the first time!

Here’s Berend’s first time riding in the “fun cart” with Gerrit:

And here is Berend’s April photo:

Berend, oh child, you are a handful! I feel like the closer you get to walking, the closer you get to me. You have been very attached to me all day long. You don’t even want to sit in a shopping cart! It’s my arms (or Dada’s) or nothing. You still love playing with Gerrit, but you two have been butting heads a bit more. You’re getting speedy cruising around furniture, and you end up getting into your brother’s things. And Gerrit likes to “help” by taking things away from you that you shouldn’t have. Tears on both sides… but you still adore each other. Sometimes when we’re eating dinner, I look at you and can’t even imagine you not being in this family. Good days or rough ones… we love you, and we’re so glad you completed our family, little bear. I can’t believe we’re planning your FIRST birthday already!!