Colorful Colorado!

We've been in CO for about four days now, and boy is it BEAUTIFUL! Helen and John have been great hosts, even if we did take them by surprise! We really didn't think we'd be in until Saturday evening, but managed to make it by three in the afternoon. We had a nice relaxing evening in the yard where the kids played and we ate a very windy dinner off of the grill. Sunday, John took us to a nearby park where we walked a trail that lead to some nice views. Mia was getting pretty full of herself, "No hands!" She insisted on walking unassisted, and it was pretty rocky for a toddler in a few places. She took quite a few spills, nothing major and kept it up until the home stretch which was spent mostly on daddy's shoulders. (gary has the laptop, so I'll have to post pictures later)

Monday was spent online and looking for houses in the morning. In the afternoon we went to check out some of them. Unfortunately, our moving truck wouldn't be able to get to a couple of them. We'd end up either parking at the foot of the driveway or downloading everything at a storage unit. Both idea's meant schlepping a lot of heavy items. We have actually managed to get on a waiting list for some of the nicer upper enlisted housing on Ft. Carson, thanks to the EFMP office. Gary requested that it be a newer unit with no carpet (meaning wood, laminate, tile or vinyl) or new carpet, no history of pets and freshly cleaned vents and ducts if applicable. He should be calling soon with our position on the list, and that will determine how aggressive we should get with off post house hunting. We would be dumb to pass the opportunity if they can get all of that done for us on post. The stuff in our price range is pretty tiny anyway, and we'd have to either pay to store or get rid of a lot of things. We need to do that anyway, but we'd like the room to sort it out.

The negative bit of the experience so far is that we woke up to find our car had been pilfered last night. John noticed that the door was open when he left for work and when Gary went out to inspect, several big ticket items were missing. They took our nice camera (the SLR), our GPS, DVD player, two cd wallets, Gary's Ipod/accessories and a dvd that was in the player. We think it had to be a younger brat, because they took cd's but left some other "grownup" things that could have been sold. We've been keeping our eyes open for those things on Craigslist and Ebay. Gary filed a report and the cop said that the pawnshops have to hold items for 30 days before selling so they can be cross matched with reports. I don't think a kid would pawn something so he's probably enjoying the Ipod, dumping the Raffi and other kids cd's and selling the rest. We think we have some of the things insured, the camera maybe, USAA is working on it. However, our deductible is $500, so with the depreciated price of all of those things, I'm not sure how far ahead we'll get.

I love Caden to bits. She said, "At least they didn't take your car!"

Hello from Calgary!

Well, we made it to Calgary, Alberta in Canada. We're about 2-3 hours from the US/Canadian border, then 120 miles to Great Falls. We plan to try and push through it. Being two days behind has us trying to get the miles in where we can. We drove through the first night and catnapped at pullouts, got a cabin very late the second. With the cabin we managed to get a shower and a couple of laundry loads out of the way. We stayed at a "b&b" that was certainly not the Hilton, but as long as we don't come out covered in bedbugs we'll be alright! Last night was spent in another pull off surrounded by behemoth RV's. We've secured a Super 8 (for a hilton price!) for this evening so it will be nice to have water pressure!

It's been an interesting trip for sure! This is a smattering of what we've experienced so far:

• Two flat tires, on the same tire. Luckily Gary does lovely tire plugging and we had help for the second one. We picked up the first shard of sheet metal around a road construction area after only being on the road for an hour and a half the first day! We think the second was a souvenir from the first site but it took longer to work itself into the tread.
• We've seen 2-3 black bears, one young brown bear, several mountain goats, foxes, porcupines, bison.
• They use turn signals in Canada! For the most part, anyway. Take note, Anchorage!

I guess those are the first things that pop into my mind, which is very sluggish and not operating properly at this point. We may or may not be able to post again by the time we reach CO, we didn't even think we'd squeeze this one in!

Getting closer!

The time for our departure is careening towards us! We were planning on leaving Friday, but the Jeep was one of a few vehicles that the shipping company over scheduled. We'll ship it Friday and leave Saturday. Our container was supposed to be picked up today, but another scheduling snafu has pushed it to tomorrow. We are about a day behind all around! We still have plenty of time to do the drive.

I have no pictures to post since we packed up the desktop, sorry folks. A rundown of our week should suffice!

• Found a screw in the tire, took to friend's shop to have it fixed. He said, "Um, that would have been bad." Who knows how long we be-bopped around with that thing hitching a ride, but it went all the way through.
• We picked up medical records and our truckload of prescriptions that should keep us medicated until we find the appropriate compounding and home health pharmacies.
• We've been in touch with a case manager in Springs, who has another interim CM for us to contact once we "belong" to Ft. Carson (we belong to Elmendorf's hospital and use their nurses lines until we report)
• We had our last play date with Mia's little friend Lily at the zoo today. I wasn't even able to take one picture before I got the dead battery sign, so my friend will be sending me the pictures that she took. They had a blast, the height of the visit being the polar bears. Mia was going to see herself a polar bear and didn't let anyone forget it! Mia mostly wanted to pick up the rocks. She's fascinated with them; we have a budding geologist! She was very impressed with riding
• Mia tried apple for the first time and stalked me for the rest of the day, asking for more. We only do about a table spoon per day. I tried to give her applesauce and she wasn't having it, only wanted a crunch apple. That is actually good, I was afraid she'd reject the texture but she seems to crave it. Day two has shown very little change other than MAJOR gas that woke her up several times during the night. On one hand it's a red flag but not enough of one to pull it. It's also expected, I mean, you eat apples to get things moving, you know? Not that she needs help in that department!
• We turned in our last little stash of library books and said goodbye to our library friends. That was sad, we really enjoy the Eagle River Library. I hope the next one is just as friendly and has a little hidey hole for her to sit in. She had a routine that involved helping put books into return bins, running back to the children's section and camping out in the hidey hole until we went to check our books out. Then she would stack and unstack the baskets by the counter until we were ready to go. She even began to recognize the landmarks on the way. Even if it was a trip to the grocery store she'd see the turn and ask if we were going to the library!
• We had to say goodbye to her GI and her Dietitian. We didn't get a good adios in with Dr. Pratt but we saw Julianne when we were at the infusion center on Friday. I wish we could take her with us!
• We also said goodbye to her nurse at the base hospital. Erica has gone beyond for Mia on countless occasions, she is the epitome of everything a good nurse should be. We would really like to take her with us as well, but she's going to Japan which is pretty cool so I suppose we should allow her that opportunity!

Now we are trying to get the house cleaned up. We will get the ball rolling on the rental front tomorrow, now that things are not looking badly kept! Our handyman came and worked on the deck today. I think Mia really wants a paint sprayer now. I scrubbed the cabinets and the kitchen walls, not that you can tell. Those cabinets are very old and they certainly look their age. We'll also have the walls and trim painted so we have to start taping everything off tonight. I have a copy of Patsy's final cleaning checklist that the base housing office gave them to help keep me on track. Those guys get pretty detailed and I hear that they are brutal when it comes to the inspection. I'm glad we don't have to go through it, but I'd still like for it to be clean for the renters.

We freecycled like crazy today. Gary was in the toss-n-go mode yesterday, ready to chunk out a big garage size toolbox and several other items that I managed to have picked up all in one day. A couple of the guys were so funny. We had a pile of things that either had to find a new home or they would end up at the dump (very much not my preference) before we left. They had a use for almost everything and if they didn't, they knew someone who did! They certainly had the true spirit of Freecycle, and I'm glad because I wasn't happy about taking all of that stuff to the dump. Not that Gary was gung ho about it, he hates to throw anything out if it is still held together with chewing gum, but you get frantic when moving day is so close!

Okay, enough about our junk. I'm off to tape up some windows!

Are we there yet?

No, but closer! The downstairs room is getting very full of boxes, but the house seems more crowded than ever! You stub your toe or trip over something every five steps. Seriously, the payoff better be good or I'm going to be a swear-word form of "ticked"!

Mia got a fun little box from Mimmy and PopPop today. She knew right away that the red sparkly shoes were hers. Everything else was nice but those shoes made her day! They are a bit on the big side, but not for long! She's finally out of 4! She's still a tad too small for 5 but she's growing! The scale registered her at 28lbs today, fully clothed so she's probably around 27 or so. We're still going with the quinoa, but on the fence.

We got a call from a case manager in Springs today, but Mia and I were out getting her follow-up CBC drawn. We did connect right at 5 o'clock Colorado time, and decided we'd do the long phone call on Monday. She sounds very personable and motivated to help us get situated. Of course it's her job, but sometimes you encounter people who despise that you are making them do their job.

This is actually a "busted" photo, she knows that she isn't allowed to have books/toys in bed at night. I honestly have no idea how she even got it, being attached to the pump and unable to climb out of bed alone!

Test driving the new cover

Mamma got crafty!

We are on day 5 of the great quinoa trial. I'm very sorry I have to do this (TMI, I know, but this is my world!) but I really must report that this morning, Mia had what could very well be her first normal BM! She said she had to go potty, and she wasn't kidding! On the downside, she was pretty out of sorts today. Very clingy, not feverish but had that clammy feel like a fever had broken and the sweat dried. She didn't complain about any pains except her feet. No idea what that conglomeration of symptoms would point to!

We ferried Daddy around while his Jeep was getting a checkup. He had a transportation briefing (details about the move) this morning, so we went to JoAnn's and grabbed some supplies to finish the car seat cover. After we picked him up, we went to the hospital where we requested our records, xrays and spoke with Mia's case manager. She's helping us have the smoothest possible transition between medical facilities. We grabbed our grocery bag of prescriptions and headed towards home. We then dropped Gary at the shop, went home and did NOT take a nap. The rest of the day was spent in almost equal parts sewing and play. She thought it was very cool to watch me serge the edges and commended me often. "GOOD MATCHING MOMMY!"

The cover is a triumph for me! I was not willing to drop over $60 for a used one on Ebay (though now I understand why the "custom" covers are $90!) and couldn't find any on Craigslist. I called Mom and Grandma to get their ideas on how to make my own pattern without taking apart our current cover. We decided that draping and pinning the fabric would be the best route so I got busy doing that, tracing the seams and cutting out the pre-pattern (I used an old sheet). I made all of my markings, then traced the sheet pieces onto paper, added seam allowance and transferred markings for holes. Now, for me to use a pre-made pattern is usually a joke. Something always comes out wrong or mismatched and I have to do a lot of seam ripping and re-stitching. However, when I make my own from scratch, the entire thing fits perfectly, except for the skirt that cinches it on, but it was a quick fix. Go figure.

How many more kid-in-a-box pictures can we get away with?

I believe my sister would say, "Woot woot holla holla!" Or something like that.

Little Miss Sassafrass!

I've had two other moms describe their daughters as "sassy", and it seems to be too fitting for this age. Apparently, she has decided that she shall be doing the bossing from here on out. We've had several talks, time out sittings and practices with being polite. I'm well aware that it's my own tone that also needs to be tweaked, after all, who else tells her what to do for most of the day? I can probably only speak for myself when I say "we" have been trying hard to use a nice voice more often. It's funny, you have grand plans of raising a gracious and polite child and when it backfires, you realise that it's yourself you are seeing in this tiny little person!

She had a big day. We've been trialing quinoa (keen-wah) for four days now with no immediate (IgE mediated) reaction, but she's a slow fail when it comes to non-IgE mediated and eosinophilic reactions. We have not seen anything bad on the bathroom front, but her behavior has certainly changed today. I added an eighth of a teaspoon of flax seed oil to each serving, perhaps that should stop. She actually refused to finish her bowl tonight, which is very out of character since she cries and badgers me for more!

Daddy and our newly appointed handyman have spent the day replacing our front door with a new one, so that our renters will be happy with the heating bills! The old one was probably the original and needed to come out. We know that too much heat was escaping through it over the winter. Mia and I blew bubbles for a while on the lawn, where she suddenly decided that she was tired and would "lay down on mommy" for...oh half a second. After the work began on the door, we loaded up our fifty million pounds of library books and headed to the library to get another half ton!
Mia absolutely LOVES the library. They have a great little hidey hole cushioned area and she makes a beeline for it every time. She'll sit with a book and "read" while I fill the bag with books. She helps sometimes, mostly trusting my judgment. On occasion I have enough patience left on the Mia Card to grab a book for myself (not that I'll ever get to finish one for the next 23 years!)

After stuffing the book bag into the car we walked next door to the thrift shop run by the local catholic church. I have been on a mission to find My First Leap Pad books and cartridges since we just got one of the pads for the trip. I bid on a lot of 4 books on Ebay, thinking surely they had their cartridges, but after the auction ended, I got four books without them. I went back to the listing and it appears that it was not mentioned until someone asked the seller AFTER I bid. Shame on me for not asking myself, but now I have four useless books. ANYWAY, I walk in and there on the shelf are three sets! We were pretty excited (well, I was, she was more impressed with the ziplock bags they were in) and thought we'd see if our luck extended to the Salvation Army a couple of blocks down. It didn't, but I did finally find an ipod cover and a belt to hold up my pants that have somehow become too big. She was very well behaved in the stores.

Perhaps that is why we had a little squirmy worm on our hands for the potato bake that the church held for the new library. They are moving and the youth at church wanted to help with funds, so they baked potatoes and set up bowls and bowls of yummy toppings. Mia had her quinoa but didn't eat very much of it. She was unusually whiny (okay, toddlers are whiny but she was VERY whiny) and when we went home to read Babar before bed, she fell asleep before I even finished! We didn't even do our goodnight song and prayers because she was sawing logs as I lay her down.

I wish I were as tired. I'm antsy and wired, but not in a productive way. It's the run-in-circles bat-crazy kind of wired. I should start on that car seat cover, because they certainly aren't getting cheaper on ebay!

Jeep Rack Gymnastics!

Yes, we are still packing, and will be for a while! I am wondering how the process is going for my friend Patsy and her family. I believe they clear this week and will be a few minutes away at a motel close by. I'm sure things have become so hectic that she hasn't even been able to sit down.

We think we have found our property manager...literally next door! We like what we heard and we like the contracts, but most of all we like that she will be extra careful about what kind of renters get into our house! So, yes we've decided to go ahead and rent the house out for a year and then re-evaluate.

It was nearly 60* today, so we got outside and away from the boxes for a little while.

Gary has to get the Jeep ready to ship and that meant putting the hardtop on and removing the roof rack. Mia's pretty swooft with a wrench!

She is always proud when she is helping her daddy with real tools!

Two bums on a box...but after the hard work I suppose I'll let them stay there.