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Hivey Rash x2

Last week Brody broke out with a horrid bumpy hivey rash. I know hivey isn't a word, but you know what I mean, right? It was all over his body and we could see it spreading. These pictures were taken before it spread to his face and neck too bad. He was crying and scratching and not really understanding what was going on. We gave him some Benadryl and got some professional advice to just keep the Benadryl coming until it went away and let him sleep. Adam and our friend Perry gave him a blessing and he woke up the next morning free and clear and so happy that his itchy rash was gone. We thought it was some fluke.

Then on Thursday morning at 2:30 am, he woke up crying and we went in to see what was wrong. It was dark and we just thought he had had a nightmare so we told him to just go back to sleep. From that time until 6am, he kept waking up and we kept going in, not knowing why he was crying and whining. We weren't very nice some of the times we went in there because we were tired and thought he was just being difficult (it wouldn't be the first time). Adam brought him out at 6 to get him a drink and saw that the rash was back. We are awesome parents, I know. So he was in his bed for 3 1/2 hours, itching and crying because we didn't realize his rash had come back. What's even sadder is that he had been playing in the sandbox and didn't get a bath the night before so he had sand all over his bed and was rolling around on the sand with his itchy skin. Torture. Seriously. Oops, okay?

Brody stayed home from school and the rash was gone after 2 rounds of Benadryl, but I still don't know what is causing it. I am thinking it's something in our back yard, but I don't know what. I am going to have to do some investigating. Poor little guy.

"And to the Pugrik"

Brody's teachers at school told me they were concerned because Brody wasn't saying the pledge of allegiance with the rest of the class. I wasn't too worried- he's three. He's not unpatriotic or a terrorist. He's just three. I worked on it with him at home to see if he knew it and was just afraid of saying out loud at school. He got more comfortable saying the big words and now he says it with the rest of the class. And now he's going to say it to you. I love it.

Pure is Right

We went to the commissary today for our weekly grocery shopping. We filled our cart (or our buggy for those of you who were raised in the south) with a week's worth of food with the sweet sound of two little boys whining ringing in our ears. Why won't they just sit in the cart? Seriously.

Anyway, when we got to the milk/orange juice section towards the end, we were hungry (it was about 4:30), thirsty, tired and ready to be done. We saw this orange juice and Adam had said he had heard it was good. "$3.00 for a little thing of orange juice?" I said. Contrary to not-so-popular belief, we aren't made of money. That's not what I said, though. "Sure- whatever. We'll try it. Let's get out of here." is closer to what I said.

Usually on grocery shopping days, we come home and have Adam's French Toast for dinner so we decided to try out the Tropicana Pure Valencia (we chose the Orange Mango flavor out of the few different flavors they had). There is a reason I am dedicating an entire post to this drink. It was the best beverage that has ever been in my mouth. Its name says it all. Well, not all, since I feel the need to write 3 paragraphs about it, but it is so pure. It's smooth and silky and kind of creamy. I've never understood the word silky when talking about food or drink, but now I do. Just go try it, okay? Just fork out the $3.00 and try it. You won't regret it- I promise.

Side note- this is my 101st post. I'll be honest- I'm proud of myself for sticking to this blogging thing for so long.

Random Update

I have been a little lazy lately and my blog isn't the only thing that I have gotten behind on. Just a quick update- for my birthday, Adam invited some friends over for pizza, cheesecake, and ice cream because he knows that more than anything, I love to be with the people I love. I'm so grateful for our friends and for the support they give us while we are so far from family.

This is what the boys' room looked like during my birthday get-together. The kids all played really well together, which is surprising, considering how many small children were packed into a tiny room. I think there were about 12 kids in there at one point.

The boys have discovered a new game they call racing. They run from the front door all the way through the living room, kitchen and to the garage door trying not to get caught by the "monster" aka Daddy. When they get back to the front door, they hug each other to protect each other. This is why dads are more fun than moms. How do dads come up with that much energy?

For Valentine's Day, we had our traditional Sweetheart Cafe dinner at home together. We kept it pretty simple this year to minimize stress and it turned out delicious and really enjoyable thanks to the Winns, who babysat our kids for the night. They are nice.

A lot of people have asked us what's going on with Adam's job so here's the update- he gets out of the Navy in September but we will most likely stay here for a couple more years so he can continue working at Fort Gordon as a contractor or language instructor. That's the plan so far. It changes a lot so we'll keep you updated.

Our Family

This is our family according to Brody. He came to me and said, "This is my family!" The top one is me, then Bridger ("our baby"), the huge head is Adam and then Brody is under him. The one is there "because Bridger was one yesterday."

I love that Brody can recognize that the four of us are a family and that we have heads, arms and legs. Someday I'll teach him about torsos and necks. And maybe noses. Truthfully, these pictures remind me of a scary movie like "The Ring" or something but he's three, okay? If any of you want a drawing of yourself, just ask. I'm sure Brody won't mind.

Happy Birthday to Jess!!

26 years ago the world got a lot better.

And it has been getting better ever since.

Here are some things that most of you probably already know about Jess, but I'll share anyway just to be sure.

1) Jess is a kind-hearted person who cares about and wants to help others.

2) She loves little children, and is not embarrassed to be a goof ball. At heart I think she is still a little kid sometimes (especially when she is dancing.)

3) She is always working and willing to over come her fears. For example, she used to take 2 months to prepare a lesson for RS and dreaded it, now she can prepare one in 1 night and only sweats a little. Example 2 - some times she will try new and exotic foods - like potato soup.

4) She loves to have fun and laugh. Every time she laughs I am reminding of the fun loving crazy girl I knew in high school. (for those wondering, that girl was Jess)

5) Jess is forgiving. Any other probably would have ditched me by now, but Jess keeps supporting me and giving me "second" chances.

6) She has a strong and simple faith in Jesus Christ, never doubting and always believing.

7) She cries during the movie Cars (and so have I. Seriously, its a good movie.)

8) She is especially crafty and creative even though she doesn't always believe that fact. I think we all know that the proof shows she is.

9) She is hot.

10) Jess is better than other people. (Not in her opinion, just in mine.) I know I'm not supposed to compare, but I often find myself thinking how grateful I am that Jess does or doesn't do something that I see other women not doing or doing. I'm grateful that I was blessed to find someone as attractive inside and out as she is; and she only gets better with age.

So today I hope you all can join me in saying to Jess: "Thanks for coming. You're cool and I'm glad to know you. Also, you have really pretty eyes. And your smile is boss."

This is the only baby pic I could find of Jess, the hairy one is her brother Zach. Some say she looked like an alien, but I don't see it.