ole schnikees: 2018

Tova: says momma now (not exactly sure she knows that means me but she's got the sound down), dances a little bit to music, she's a bit of a goofball and likes to make us laugh, she's having some separation anxiety and loves to follow us all around the house, she does not like it when her brother is not with us she constantly looks for him, still waking every 3 hours or less at night crying, still pooping tons

Monday and Tuesday were brutally cold! Monday morning we went to Jodi's to play since she was leaving for Pittsburgh on Tuesday for the weekend for the national championship for volleyball! Trevor had school and Al was off so we just hung out and tried to stay warm. Tuesday was again staying in, school, and then I had my final dentist appointment for my cavities at 2pm. this time was the bottom ones and I was numb for 5 hours so we didn't do much the rest of the night.

Wednesday morning I dropped trevor off at jenny's house while I took Tova to urgent care since the nurse I spoke with and I were sure she had an ear infection. but nope, the doctor said her ears were perfect and couldn't find anything else. could be another tooth but I can't see any. she is still up every 3 hours at night usually wakes up crying, playing with her ears all the time, pooping a lot, and she didn't eat or nurse well on Tuesday. I grabbed trevor from jenny's and got home for tova to take a nap. then when trevor was having his snack tray before school, Brohmer showed up! he had just done testing for his application for Al's department. so he hung out until I went to get trevor from school. then Al went to work, we had dinner, did baths, and bed.

Thursday morning when I was up feeding Tova at 4 am, I got an email from Al that HR wanted him to come in and sign the paperwork for his transfer back to patrol (he'll no longer be a sergeant)!!! He's getting his 4 years of patrol work back as seniority and getting to be higher up on the pay scale than it was sounding like! this is something he's been trying to do since the summer and the county had not been very cooperative (as this had never been done before in their county.) but we pushed through and even though we don't know what shift he'll be on yet, as the other patrol officers have already done shift pick, he will be on days (6a-6p) for any and all future shift picks!!!! we could still use some positive vibes or prayers or whatever you fancy that he will not be placed on overnights!! These overnights are awful on all of us, but especially me! and I really don't want to be adding stress to al's life/job; he's got a stressful enough job as it is. this will start January 1st and will be a pay cut, but we'll make it work for some sanity back (we're ALMOST done paying off his student loans!! so that'll help, too!)

Thursday morning after breakfast, the kids and I went over to jenny's house to play and for haircuts for trevor and me. trevor's hair was scraggly looking and we have family pictures coming up so it was much needed, and we didn't want to just buzz it as we like to keep it longer in the winter. trevor had fun with Kourtlyn and it was so fun to see Klare and Tova actually interact/play! Tova didn't nap there so napped when we got home at 11 (she only took 2 naps on wed & on thurs!) So I fed trevor, got him on the bus, brought the monitor down to Al, and went to my chiropractor appointment. then came home and got some outside stuff done including straightening up the garage and vacuuming out my car! then fed tova and headed back out for errands and picking up trevor. once we were home, Al left for work, we ate supper, and then I got out our collapsible tunnel. the kids had blast playing in it together and Tova crawled through it many times. :)

Friday morning mom came down to watch the kids while we went to trevor's conference. I had to wake Al up at 1045 after he got home at 530 :( but we were both glad to get to go and hear from t's teacher. trevor has a couple things to work on like empathy, sharing, and problem solving for himself, but she said he's doing awesome. he plays well with many peers, his literacy skills, letter & number recognition, counting, and name writing are way above benchmark. we got some paperwork on his test scores and made his goals for the rest of the school year based around the things he could improve on. then we came home, had lunch, grandpa peter stopped by for a quick visit, both kids laid down (I thought trevor would sleep but he didn't), I cleaned out the Volkswagen and swept the garage, Al finished up some base wood work on the new door, and then trevor & nana made us homemade pizza for supper.

Saturday morning was full of games, dancing, and getting things done. during tova's nap (she again only took 2 naps!) mom and I ran to old navy for a few things then back home for lunch, a few more games and then mom headed home. trevor watched a movie instead of napping (he probly needed a nap but he'd hit his head really hard that morning so we were taking precautions against a possible concusion) and then he and Al went outside for about 10 minutes before it got dark. then we had a little supper, played some Trouble, and got the kids ready for bed.

sunday morning we had our family pictures at 11 am and it was freezing outside!! luckily, the new photographer we found is fast! it took us a while to warm up afterwards. then we had lunch and nap/rest time while Al went to the grocery store. then I went over to Emily, joe and graham-burger's house to see their new place (it's gorgeous and brand spankin' new!) once home we got into the car and went over to matt & Jodi's for supper; it was so nice to see them all again! (volleyball is done for Jodi now.) then home for bath/shower for the kids and bedtime routine.

Monday morning the pediatrician said he wanted to see tova for her tummy issues. so we drove to the Chippewa location for the first time to see the only ped i'm comfortable with as of yet at 1120 (Al was up and stayed home with Trevor.) this particular doctor is very thorough but he talks slowly and a lot so it was a long appointment that resulted in he thinks Tova's reflux has been aggravated even more from the stomach bug we had weeks ago. so we're trying her reflux medicine again (she had it in the first month or 2) in hopes of getting more than a 3 hour stretch of sleep at night and having her not waking up crying so much. once we were home it was lunch and Al went to work at 2pm. once he was at work I got an email from him that they put him on the 3p-3a shift... which is only a tiny bit better than the 5p-5a he was working. :( but if anyone from the day shift leaves, he has the highest seniority left to be put into that spot so fingers crossed!! (there's rumor 1 guy wants to retire soon and someone has to fill the sergeant position and the lieutenant position so if either of those come from the day shift, Al could go to days. lots of positive thoughts and wishing and hoping still needed.) once tova was awake from her nap, we went and picked up Tova's prescription then home for supper, crafts, and playing before bed.