Chief!

The list of those promoted to Chief came out on August 1--and Brandon's name was on it!!!  If I was proud of him before, I'm about to explode with it now.  It's such an accomplishment, and "proud" just doesn't seem to cover it.

In the Navy, Chief is not anything like the preceding ranks, where you simply assume the title (and all that goes with it) upon being chosen for promotion.  Instead, you become a Chief Select, and there is a six week Selectee Season of training, character building, and so forth, before the pinning ceremony and official ascension to Chief-hood.

The Navy Chief's anchor pin.
photo found here

So far, we are about a week into the Season, and it's rough.  His status as a Selectee does not excuse him from his normal responsibilities, so everything has to be done either before or after his normal work day.  And, the training itself is pretty intense.  Brandon keeps saying that they're being "Miyagi-ed", and it seems an apt description.  I don't think I can really share much more than that, because this whole process is kept pretty hush-hush to ensure that future Chief Selects have the same learning opportunity as the current and previous ones.

For my part, I've been helping him as much as I can.  They held a briefing for the wives at the beginning, to try to give us an idea of what we'd be in for, so I knew that he would be working a lot of long hours and need a lot of support at home.  I normally work two evenings during the week, but since he can't be home to stay with the girls without missing training, I had them take me off of the week-day schedule. Not only does this free him up to focus on his stuff, it allows me more freedom to help with whatever projects he brings home.
I hadn't initially given much thought to how all of this would effect things at home.  They kept telling me that we wouldn't see much of him, and while I knew that I would miss him, I didn't really give it much thought beyond that.  After all, I knew that I would get to see him everyday, if only briefly, and that all of this is for a very, very good reason.  I didn't realize how much he really would be relying on me, and I definitely did not think about how it would affect the girls.   It took only until the end of Week 1, Day 1, for me to recognize the oversight.  He didn't get home until just before the girls' bed time, and waited only long enough to eat some dinner before going to bed.  When she realized that he was going to crash without playing with them, or even without putting them to bed first, Elora just burst into tears.  It was a wake-up call for me: Brandon and I aren't the only people in the equation anymore.  The lesson has only been reinforced over the past week.  Not only are they really missing their Daddy, but I know they have to be picking up on the stress that he and I are under.  They're fighting a bit more, and are a little quicker to tears.  Elora has been having accidents again.  Kaylie's speech seems to have back-slid a bit.

I'm trying not to let the huge positive of his achievement get lost in the difficulties we're facing now.  I keep reminding myself that all of this is really a very good thing, and that the current situation isn't going to last forever.  Brandon will be officially pinned as a Chief in mid-September, and then things will slow down and pretty much go back to the way that they were--except that he will be a Chief.

Summer Visit with Oma, Part 2

We went to the Virginia Aquarium on Monday, the day before Momma had to go back.

Their changing exhibit is a butterfly garden, showing all the various stages of a butterfly's life cycle.  They had caterpillars crawling around in little terrariums, and a case full of cocoons in addition to all the butterflies fluttering around the garden.  The case is checked twice daily, and any butterflies that have emerged from their cocoons are released.  (I'm not sure when the exhibit ends, it just says "through August" on the website.  It's worth checking out, for the locals!)

We saw only 3 different kinds, though I'm sure there were more. I almost stepped on this little brown one as I was taking pictures of the others, he was so well camouflaged with the leaves.  Momma warned me that it was there, but I still didn't see it until she physically pointed it out to me.

We didn't spend any time looking at the informational exhibits,  focusing instead on all of the animals.  The girls enjoyed watching the harbor seals making laps around their pool right outside the entrance to the aquarium itself.

Personally, I had more fun watching my mom and the girls than I did the animals.

So many of the areas are so dark that it's really hard to get good pictures...

The turtle tank.  This one in particular was very friendly.  He (she?) swam right by us several times in a row, as if to say 'hi'.

The sting ray tank.  Both girls had their hands in all the way up past their elbows, and Kaylie's hair was falling in the water.  I'm sure she would have been happy to just get in there and play with the rays!!

When we left the aquarium, we detoured by the Cheesecake Factory in downtown Virginia Beach for some cheesecake.  I left mom in the car with the girls and ran in for a few slices to take home and share.  Man oh, man.  So good.

Of course, we did more than the zoo and the aquarium.  Mom and I went out for lunch, pedicures and shopping on Saturday.  Saturday night, Mom stayed with the girls so that Brandon and I could have a date night for our anniversary.  Sunday, we took the girls to see Monsters University.  Not to mention the down time, just hanging out at home.  It was all so much fun!  I'm so glad that Momma got to come up and hang out with us for a week!  One day, we'll live closer and get to see each other more often, but in the mean time, these visits are a treasure.  :)

Summer Visit with Oma, Part 1

My mom came up for a week in the middle of July.  I didn't take as many pictures as I should have--Of the 7 days that she was here, I have pictures from only three--but I do have some to share.  She flew up on the 9th, and we were very, very glad to see her.  Elora barely left her side.

Momma's been doing the superman thing with the little ones since I was a little one.  She also puts them up on her feet, and flips them from her knees over her head.  She said that Elora is the first one to ever try flipping backwards.

Unfortunately, I was not able to get the whole week off from work.  The annual inventory was scheduled for the morning of the 12th, and since mom was there to stay with the girls, I went in both that morning and the one before it, to help.  So, knowing that those 2 days would be out for going and doing, we took advantage of the days we did have free.  We went to the zoo:

The kids got to play in the water again, which was great.  It was really hot that day!  I should have worn a swim suit as well, so I could cool off too.

Our friends met us there:  Rebekah and "Big" James, and Lydia and "Little" James.

The girls were in rare form that day, especially Kaylie.  I could get Elora to stay put by one of the fountains, but Kaylie was all over the place.  I was going a little crazy trying to keep an eye on them both.  At least until Kaylie threw a tantrum over returning a toy to another family, and I put her in time out, over by Momma and Aunt Bekah, who had given up on the fountains in favor of the shade.

She ended up being distracted first by the birds fluttering around in the areas behind them, and then by all the fun games on her Oma's phone.  We went to get lunch not long after that, and then walked around to visit the animals.

Oma's phone was in high demand.  It got put away during lunch, and then it was Elora's turn.  Why the phone was more exciting than the zoo, I have no idea.  Miss Kaylie continued to be in her funk for the rest of the day.  Maybe she was working on molars?  Maybe it was the heat?  Or maybe it was just that she's two.

The baby giraffe was out and about with its parents.  It's so stinking cute!  Just like a tiny version of the adults, but brighter and fuzzier.

The last thing we did was to visit the tigers.  Momma absolutely adores tigers!  We only got to see one of them, being lazy in the shade, and I didn't get any pictures.  She had to settle for pictures of the statue.  :)

We went to the aquarium, too, but I'm thinking that maybe I ought to make that another post.  Stay tuned.  :)

Reenlistment, the Fourth of July, and a Time-Warp

Back at the beginning of July, Brandon signed on for another 6 years with the US Navy, which is a pretty big deal.  Since they're drawing down the military, they're being really choosy about the people that they allow to reenlist.  The fact that they not only re-upped his contract, but that they signed him for another 6 years (the maximum, by the way), really speaks to how awesome he is.  I, for one, really just could not be any more proud of him for doing what he does, and for doing it so incredibly well.

The girls and I drove out to the command for the little reenlistment ceremony.  It was very quick--the drive down there took longer than the ceremony did.  But not only was it a major thing for his career, but it's a big deal for our family.  On the one hand, the Navy kind of owns us for another 6 years.  We'll be moving soon, because he's up for new orders, and he'll be going back to a boat for the first time in 6 years, for the first time since we had children.  It's inevitable that he's going to have to go out to sea, and I'd be lying if I tried to tell you that I'm not terrified of being left alone.  But, to balance that, the Navy has been very, very good to us and it's reassuring to know that we are going to have a steady income and health care for the next 6 years.  So yes, it was good to be there, to witness this commitment being made, and to show our support.

They also gave me an award, which I was definitely not expecting.  It 's an achievement award,  recognizing and thanking me for my support as the one standing behind Brandon and his work in the Navy.  I was pleasantly surprised, though I also felt a little put on the spot...there were actually a lot of people there, and I'd met only a handful of them a handful of times.  Still, I thought it was pretty cool.  :)

So, that was July third.  I thought it was an appropriate way to celebrate the Fourth, especially since we didn't actually do any celebrating on the Fourth.  Saturday we went out to Virginia Beach for some Fourth of July family fun.  We tried out one of the local seafood places for dinner, then headed on over to the strip to have some old time photos done.  This was not done on a whim.  I've actually been planning that very photo session, at that very location, for a year or two.  You see, Brandon was stationed here back in 2003 for his C-school training, and he flew me up to see him a couple of times.  One of those times was over the July 4th holiday weekend, and while wandering around in Virginia Beach, we had some old time photos done then.  So how could we not go back and do it again, exactly 10 years later?  I couldn't resist, and even Brandon said that it pretty much had to be done.
 I didn't want to take the original photos with us, since we have only the one copy, so we snapped a picture of it with Brandon's phone, to show it to the people at the studio.  Of course they were all over it, and perfectly happy to help us try to recreate the original:

How awesome is that?  10 years, 3 duty stations, and 2 kids later, and neither of has changed much at all.  How's that for a time warp?  Here's the rest of the shoot (because of course I had to have the CD with all the digital images on it...) :

The girls LOVED getting all dressed up, and playing with the props.  Heck, so did I, for that matter.

Elora looks unhappy in the first one, because the photographer had handed her a gun, and told her to hold it up for the picture.  "But, guns are dangerous!"  And she continued to look worried until he took away the gun, and handed her the fan.  She was much more comfortable with the fan.  Kaylie, on the other hand, was in 100% dress-up-loving-toddler heaven.

We got done with the photos just before 10, when the fireworks were supposed to start, so we just headed across the street to the beach walk. We waited patiently there by the beach, but I couldn't help noticing that there wasn't anyone else standing around, looking expectantly at the sky out over the water.  Sure enough, there were no fireworks that night.  As it turns out, I'd misread the schedule.  They weren't Saturday night at 10, but Sunday night at 10.  Oops.  Thank goodness for smartphones!  Since Brandon was able to double check the schedule, we didn't wait around too long, but got the girls loaded up and headed home.  Poor Elora was heartbroken.  She'd been so excited to see the fire works!  We kept telling her that we'd go back the next night, that she would still get to see them, but she was so tired and so disappointed that she whimpered the whole way home.

We did go back, and she did get to see them.  Elora loved them.  This is the only picture I was able to get of her once they started, because she was so excited that she kept jumping up and down.  Apparently, holding still also meant that she had to stop grinning, but at least I got a picture!

Kaylie was not so impressed.  She didn't like the noise, but kept peeking through her fingers to watch them anyway.  She spent part of the show in the stroller, and part of it with Brandon.

I hope everyone had a happy Fourth of July!

June.

A photographic sampler of the month of June.

June 1: Water Play

June 2: Chuck'E'Cheese

or, More On Potty Training  Reinforcement

Elora, while fully capable of using the potty, has consistently shown a lack of enthusiasm for doing so.  Why gt up and go to the bathroom, when it doesn't seem to bother her in the least to have wet pants?  So, we've been trying to inspire the proper enthusiasm in her, both punishing her bad choices and rewarding her good ones.  This reward chart is actually something that I made for her back in January, but that I never blogged.

Note:  I made this exclusively for our own personal use.   I do not own the rights to any of these images.

These are the counters.  

I made 3 for Chuck E Cheese, 5 for the ice cream, and 7 for the movie.  I printed it all out at home, then took them to Office Depot to have them laminated.  I cut out all of the counters, and used Velcro in the squares on the chart and on the backs of the counters so that they could easily (and repeatedly) be moved around.  Then I hung it all on the wall right next to the potty, right at her eye level, with the card board sleeve from the movie hanging over it all so that she would be able to see that, too.

Based on advice I'd received and articles I'd read, I thought it might help to give her something to work toward, and for her to be able to see it and be reminded of it every time she went to the potty.  Initially, she was really, really excited about it, but she would never go more than a day or two without an accident.  Fast forward to June, and she FINALLY got her 3 days in a row!

June 6: At the Zoo (with Aunt Bekah)

We've been zoo-ing about once a month or so, since it got warm.  By this point, it had gotten hot, and knowing that they have these awesome water fountains just inside the zoo, we dressed the kids in their bathing suits.  We ended up getting there shortly before story time, though, so we did that first.

The kids could not wait to go play in the water, but when they got there, they were super shy about getting in it.  Elora, in particular, does not like to get water in her face, so she just kept backing into the fountains.  And of course, whatever Elora does, Kaylie must also do.

And then we learned that a baby giraffe had just been born that morning.  Have I ever mentioned that giraffes are Elora's favorite animals? These pictures aren't great, because they were taken through the glass and my camera kept wanting to focus on the fence rather than the giraffes (I forgot about manual focus), but isn't he sweet? Only about 7 hours old here, and already standing and walking around.  So, so cool.

June 14: Hopscotch

It was late in the day, either just before dinner or just after.  The girls and I had been inside all day--we hadn't even changed out of our PJ's.  It was a beautiful afternoon. not too hot, and Brandon decided it would be criminal if we didn't get at least a little fresh air.   We opened the garage door, set out the blue lawn chairs, and watched the girls play.

I didn't really take any pictures of their faces.  I was fascinated by the light, the nightgowns & boots, and the chalk lines.  Is it weird that I'm kind of in love with this picture?

June 28: Farmer's Market & A Speech Therapy Update

There's a farmer's market at the local park every Wednesday and Saturday during the summer, and Rebekah and I finally got around to taking the kids to check it out.  

We ended up eating half of our strawberries right there, they were so good!  We haven't made it back yet, but I'm thinking we really ought to.  

That afternoon, Kaylie had therapy.  We're still going twice a week, and Kaylie is making great progress!  She's added lots of new words to her vocabulary, and is signing for a lot of things as well.  Jennifer has moved from just trying to get Kaylie to repeat simple words to focusing on specific letter sounds and final consonants.  For example, Kaylie says "eee" for "eat", dropping the T and speaking only the beginning of the word.  We're trying to teach her to say the whole word.  At the end of each session, Jennifer always makes suggestions for what we can do with Kaylie at home, so that she continues to learn in between visits.

Elora always goes with us, and is always very good while we're there.  Jennifer either brings something special for Elora to play with, incorporates her into the lesson, or allows her to play one of the kid's games on her tablet.  Frankly, I think that might be Elora's favorite.

And that brings us to the end of June.  Next time, I'll try to bring us up to date in July.  :)

Speech Therapy for Kaylie

When we took the girls for their annual check-ups back in March, their doctor put in a referral for Kaylie to see a speech therapist.  The office we'd initially been referred to had a giant waiting list, so we had to jump through a few insurance hoops to get the referral changed and everything settled.  We finally got her in for an evaluation last Wednesday.  When she was done, Jennifer (the therapist) reaffirmed what I've been thinking right on along:  Kaylie is on par as far as social development and comprehension levels, but that she just isn't verbalizing the way she should be. By this point, she should have a pretty impressive vocabulary, and she should be using a  lot of simple, 2- and 3-word sentences.

Her first therapy session was Monday, her second was yesterday.  Each session is only 30 minutes, and the therapy itself is all guided play.  So far, Jennifer's had a hard time getting Kaylie to cooperate.  She has an array of books, toys, games, and flash cards that she uses to try to engage Kaylie and get her to articulate certain words or sounds.  She'll hold a toy that she knows that Kaylie wants, to try to get her to name the toy.  When Kaylie does it, she gets the toy.  Unfortunately for Jennifer, Kaylie has mostly just shrugged and gone after something else, so both sessions have just been Jennifer following Kaylie from one task to another, trying to engage her, and get her to play along.

  

One thing that does seem to be going well is that Jennifer is using sign language alongside the verbal language, and Kaylie is picking up on that very quickly.  More often than not, she responds not with words or sounds, but with hand gestures.   As we were leaving on Wednesday, Jennifer told us to really focus on learning and using the sign language in conjunction with the words.   Apparently, children tend to learn words  much faster when there is kinetic activity involved, maybe because it is stimulating more of the brain?  I am not sure of the science behind it, but it does seem to be working.  I've downloaded an American Sign Language app for my phone (the first one I've ever actually bought!) and she's picking them up just as fast as I can learn them!  I'm excited to see where this is going, I just cannot wait to be able to really communicate with my Kaylie girl!