My Life as an Engineer's Wife

I've thought about writing a book called, "My Life as an Engineer's Wife" and sharing the experiences of having him out of town so often, but I feared it would become a depressing book, so instead I shall just write a short blog and keep it happy.
Cooper has been learning to eat more solid foods lately, and today I gave him a pickle. I was surprized when he liked it. He munched off the soft insides with his teeth and then shoved the skin in his mouth. I grabbed a quick picture, sorry it looks rather disgusting. He was so mad when I took out the skin (didn't want him to choke) so I gave him a second one and the same thing happened again.

Cooper is quite proficient at army crawling these days. The front of his clothes always look terrible by the end of the day because he is practically mopping my tile floor with it all day long. A little drool and slide right over it - that's his strategy. Lately he has been pushing up on his feet and looks like a monkey. He might just start crawling like a monkey instead of on his knees like regular babies. It is so silly!

We went to the zoo last week with three other babies. Tater (whom we tend every day), Lucy (and mom Hilary), and Jefrie (and mom Amy). We saw lots of fun things. Because Steven has started his last semester of his graduate work (YAY!) I'm without a car many days, so Hilary picked us up. It was an adventure getting 3 car seats in the back, good thing she had her in-laws larger vehicle. We had a ton of fun!

We went as a family to the State Fair last Saturday. It was great fun as Steven and I had never gone, and obviously it was Cooper's first time too. We saw tons of animals, crafts, and rides. We had a lot of fun, and it was worth the 2 hour ride down there. Grandpa was kind enough to let us stop by his house for a little break on the way home. He even fed us. I'm sure grandma was jealous to find out later that she had missed it, we'll have to see her again soon.

We went on a bike ride around the neighborhood recently to see if we could find some parks to play at. Cooper fell asleep and we got some great exercise. We didn't find a park, but we found the Quincy resevor - unfortunatly there was a "No Bikes" sign posted. Too bad.

I feel like since we've bought the house Steven hasn't been home to enjoy it. He's been on multiple work trips and has now started school. I keep plugin away at all the housework that needs to be done, but I'm running out of steam. I am hosting a playdate for my moms group later on in the month, so that date is my insentive to get the place ready for a handful of kids.

Cooper keeps me busy and is in a stage where he hates it when I leave his sight, and he lets me know it by crying loudly. He is into a great schedule though and goes to sleep at nap time and bed time without any crying or upsetness (is that even a word?).

I'm loving tending baby Tater every day. He is just a week younger than Cooper and it is fun to watch them interact, poke, and crawl right over each other.

Today I struggled with severe back pain again. It flaired up right after 10am when the boys were down for nap time and I was able to take a shower and some meds, say lots of prayers, and be alive enough when they woke up to take care of them. I'm not sure what is causing it, but it is crippling pain, and has happened 4 times now. I think I have enough information to go to the doctor about it, but I fear it will be one of those unknown issues that they do tons of tests for and you never find out anything, but you put a lot of time into it... I guess we'll see.

Today the power went out at our house. It was a really weird experience for me. Because I'm a new home owner and was home with two babies all these crazy thoughts went through my head, like, "I'm sure we paid the power bill!" I guess I was just a little overwhelmed because in the end it wasn't anything to do with us and the power was restored after an hour. The crazy things you think about when you're in new waters.

My youngest sister turns 19 next week. That is crazy to me. Since when are we the grown-ups? Yes, I know I have my own baby, but sometimes I still think that it is just wrong that I'm not a kid anymore. Anyone else feel the same way?

Anyway, I've rambled long enough. I guess a long rambling post is what happens when Cooper is already in bed for the night and Steven is out of town. To any of you still reading - you are saints, thanks for listening.