Update on the Big Move

So remember when I wrote this and let you know that Jesse got orders to New Jersey and we would be moving in June? And how happy I was for him to have a new job that would have him home most of the time? Well, a lot has changed since then. Bear with me while I explain...

The job that Jesse got was offering support for something called the WIC program (Weapons Instructor Course), it's a pilot training course. So Jesse got orders in September that we would be reporting to NJ by June 30, for him to take that new job. A couple months ago, we found out that they are in the process of trying to get it approved for that whole program to move to a different base by January 2013. But... not just any base... they are trying to move it to McChord (where we are right now!).

That left a lot of questions for us and at the time and there were no answers for us at the time. Would we move out there and then move back six months later? Would we move out there and then Jesse would have to take a different job there after the program left? Would we just get new orders somewhere else? We had no clue.

A couple weeks ago we got a big answer, even though it still left uncertainty. We will be going wherever the WIC program goes and will not be moving at all, if it gets the final approval on moving out here. It is just waiting on one more signature (so we've been told). We will not know for sure until the end of April or beginning of may. So here are the two scenarios:

1. It gets denied. The week program stays in NJ and we have roughly 6 weeks from finding out to move there.

2. It is approved. Jesse will act as a local liaison at McChord to help them with their move (July-December) and then they will join him out here in January.

Jesse feels about 90% certain #2 is what will happen. That means we will be "home" for another 4 years! I'm really excited about this possibility. It allows our children to spend their youngest years surrounded by extended family. We have also decided that we will be moving back to our house (which we currently rent out) in Lacey. That thrills me, it's home for us. While I feel extremely blessed to of been able to purchase this 4 bedroom condo near Auburn, it's just not home. With me not working anymore, we don't have to worry about such a long commute from Lacey, so it's an easy decision for us.

So there's the update! :) I'll keep ya posted.

Here are some pictures of what I hope to be calling home again in a couple months!!














Oh man, I haven't looked at these pictures in a couple years. It makes me so homesick. This is the house Jesse and I bought a couple weeks before our wedding and where we found out we were expecting our first baby. I so hope that we can have our kids grow up running around in that backyard.

Discipline

Ugh, this has been on my mind for a little while. How do you discipline a two year old? I don't have the answers, but I can speak from our experience what has been working in our family. It's an ever changing process with Hunter. I am a big fan of changing up how you deal with things based on what works or is working at the time for your child.

A firm "no" was the first thing that we started with Hunter, about a year ago. At the time it worked well and he could tell we did not approve of his actions and would stop. After he got a bit more stubborn, that changed, he would just look at us, as if saying "Really, you think that's going to stop me?!".

So, we started using timeouts. Oh, they were my best friend for several months. Hunter would hang his head in time out and then rush over to me to apologize. We would hug and then talk about why he went to timeout. I got to the point where I wasn't physically putting him in time out, I would just tell him to go to timeout and he would. Oh those were the days!! After a couple months, nope, not working anymore. He would just sit there with no remorse and think nothing of it and then go back and do whatever had gotten him into timeout five minutes before.

So, we switched to spankings. Go ahead and judge me, that's fine. But I do believe in spankings. I've never done it out of anger nor have I actually physically caused harm to my child. Jesse even teases me that I have never really given him a "spanking" just a tap on a diaper covered bottom. Whatever. It worked. It would shock him a little at first and then it hurt his feelings. His bottom lip would stick out and he would say he was sorry. In the last month... nope no reaction, just a stare down.

So... that leads me to where we are at right now. We have moved on to taking things away for bad behavior. He hits the puppy, he gets a toy or the TV taken away. He doesn't clean up his toys when I ask them to, he's not going to get to use them for the afternoon. This has been working like a charm. I think it's just a natural progression with age, what "hurts" them the most at the time. Right now, the thought of not being able to watch the rest of Octonauts sends him into complete panic and he rushes to correct his behavior.

Call me crazy, but I like the discipline aspect of parenting. I know that it turns me into a "bad guy" at the moment, but it shaping him for the future. It's offering him guidance into becoming the man that God wants him to be. So yeah, when I see progress in his actions, words, and affection towards other, I like being the primary one to guide him. There is not doubt in my mind that being willing to discipline your child is an act of service and love for them. I love my son enough to want to mold and guide him to greatness.

Big News!

I just can't hold it in any longer...we are going to be adding another addition to our family in September! We are beyond excited and can't wait to have a family of four... or six if you count the dogs. ;)




We got to see the heartbeat last week during an early ultrasound. Nothing like seeing that you are growing a little human! :)



Here is my first baby bump pic @ 8w4d. Beware, there will be weekly updates! :)

Newest Member of the Family!

So yeah, I have been totally MIA lately. I thought I would be blogging all the time after I became a SAHM, yeah, not so much. Life has been busy and things are changing by the minute over here at the Doyle house. Never a dull moment.

Meet Miss Lucy Goosey... the newest member of our family!!!






She is so darn cute and sweet during the day. But, don't let her looks fool you. I have told Jesse in the middle of the night the last three nights, that's she's the spawn of satan. Lucy seriously cries, whines, and screams 80% of the night. And then that leads to me and Jesse arguing who has to get up with her for the millionth time. It's gotta be quite a humorous situation if we weren't so sleep deprived. (And I admit, I don't like to take care of puppies in the middle of the night AT ALL! So that means Jesse ends up doing it most of the time.)

Everyone keeps telling us that it will get better after a week or so. I sure hope they are right, because I am not loving this right now.

Adjusting and Weeks in iPhone Pics

I'm not sure if "adjusting" is the right title to this post. Last Thursday was my last day of work... and I feel like I haven't even gotten to enjoy it yet, five days later. That's because I started to have severe back pain starting on Friday. It's been so bad that it has even hurt to walk, until today. So yeah, I had these dreams of what staying at home with Hunter would look like: clean house, organization projects, playing on the ground with Hunter. Yeah, that has not happened in the least yet.

Oh well, I have plenty of time for all that once I get healed up a bit, right?

Well, I haven't posted many iPhone pics for awhile, so here are some from the last couple weeks!

Lots of cuddling with our favorite puppy :)



We went out to eat a few times (Adriatic Grill, Chipotle, and Snoqualmie Casino Buffet).



We were on the go!




Jesse left and then came back again!




Hunter and I hung around the house a lot together.



Hunter and I had a very low key New Years.



I took a couple photos of myself for the Instagram photo challenge



And best of all, we got to visit Henry's puppies!! We are going to get one, but we are still undecided between two of them! They are the cutest things EVER.

Potty Training Fun!

So, the verdict is out, Hunter was ready to be potty trained before Mommy was ready for him to be! My plan was to wait until our cross country move in June, unless he showed signs that he wanted to start earlier. And that he did! On Saturday late afternoon, he decided we would start. And let me tell you, I am still completely shocked how this all went down. So let me give you the run down.

Hunter and I got home around 4pm on Saturday. I changed his diaper and didn’t immediately put his pants back on, just left him in a shirt and diaper. A little while later, I turn around and he is trying to take his diaper off. I was a little annoyed by this and asked him to put it back on. He said “No! Hunter go potty!” He had never said anything like this before.

So, I grabbed his potty chair from upstairs. (I got it months ago and he only sat on it before and after bath time, but never had actually used it.) I put it in the living room and let him go naked. Within the next half hour, he had sat down and went pee. I was floored! I made a huge deal about it and gave him a Dum Dum sucker as a reward. I still thought this was just a onetime thing. Boy was I wrong! By the end of the night he had gone four more times and had no accidents! And yes, I did give him four more suckers. I figured I could give him way too much sugar one night to encourage this awesomeness! I put him to bed with a diaper on.

The next morning, the diaper was wet. But… I took it off right away and once again let him run around with no pants or diaper on. He didn’t have any accidents all day! I did have to run to Target to get pull-ups and a potty chair for my parent’s house, so I put him in a diaper for that little outing and then again when we made the forty five minute drive to my parent’s that evening.

He had one pee accident at my parent’s house on Monday, but THAT IS IT! He went poop on the potty Tuesday, Wednesday and today. I am SO proud of my little guy. He just goes and sits on his potty when he needs to and goes. I am simply amazed by this. I’ve taken him out twice for short periods of time in his big boy underwear with no accidents and for a couple hours yesterday evening in a pull-up, only to find that it was completely dry when we got home. Five days ago I had a little boy that had never gone to the bathroom outside of his diaper.

We have switched to small treats, like one tic-tac. I think the next step will be to not use pull-ups at all unless he is sleeping and to move the potty seat into the bathroom instead of whatever room we are in.

Any advice for this momma who was not planning on potty training this early? J What is the next step?? I’m just clueless about how to get from this stage to being fully potty trained.

I guess Jesse and I have a big boy now!

Lots of Changes Around Here!

If you are one of my Facebook friends, you probably have heard that there are a lot of changes going on in the Doyle family! Where to begin....

Let's start with the biggest change... we will be moving to NEW JERSEY in the next 6-8 months. We decided that it would be best for our family for Jesse to stay in the Air Force as his career. His eight years in will be complete at the beginning of the year. We weighed the pros and cons and him staying in just kept outweighing the other options.

Therefore, it would just be a matter of time before we would have to move to another base. Jesse said that he would rather have a say in where we go, rather than just waiting for orders to wherever. So, he volunteered for two positions: a four year commitment in NJ and a 2 year commitment in Papa, Hungary. Both would ensure Jesse to be home with us more than he is now. Well, last Monday, Jesse received orders for McGuire Air Force Base.

We have some split emotions. We are thrilled to know what are future will involve, the unknown was becoming a little difficult. The biggest reason that we are happy for the change is the amount of time Jesse will be at home with us. For the last 5+ years, Jesse has been gone for 200-250 days a year. With this new job, he will only be gone up to three weeks every six months and he will be home for all holidays. That is HUGE for our family! We also have good friends stationed there already, Ryan and Stephanie, and they have a daughter who is only two months younger than Hunter. That will be amazing when moving across the country from my family and all our friends!

We are sad to be leaving where we both consider "home" now. My entire family is here and the majority of our friends, as well. I do feel some guilt taking Hunter away from my parents, who have been such a huge part of his life. But I just need to remind myself that we will be back to visit plenty and anyone is more than welcome to come visit us!

The base is only about 45 minutes from Philadelphia, a little over an hour from NYC, and three hours from Washington D.C. Jesse's mom and sister are both living in DC right now, so it'll be such a blessing to be close to his family for the first time! We are excited to explore the New England states for the first time.

These are the places I want to see:














So that's our biggest change/news around here. But some other exciting things have happened this week:

I booked Hunter and my tickets to New Zealand for 17 of the 30 days that Jesse will be down there for work. Christchurch is amazing and I am beyond excited to take Hunter back there now that he's a little older. Check out the pictures from our last trip, here. I am a little nervous to be traveling there and back on commericial flights with Hunter all by myself. But... worse case, I'll cry all the way there, but I'll still land in NZ, right?! We leave in less than a month! :)

Also, last night we traded in my Honda Accord for an Acura MDX. I am in love with it! I've always liked my cars, but I have next had a "luxury" type car, and man, does it make a difference! :)

Here's a picture of it from the dealer's website: