We had a great weekend! Overall it was simple, but I really enjoyed it. I hope everyone out there also had an excellent time with their families this weekend.
Saturday we seriously spent all day hanging out at home. We all had a great time enjoying each others company, and playing around. Our day started with a late breakfast, and some TV watching. Then during K2's first nap session I started a workout, and K1 and the hubby did their thing. In the middle of my workout, all of my new workout stuff came from beachbody!! I am thrilled, and ready to start my new challenge group on 11-11-11. Later we made dinner together. It was a greek shrimp scampi served over a bed of spaghetti squash!
Sunday was a super slow start at our house. Since the boys have been totally weird with their sleep schedules lately, nothing seems to fall just right. K1 now gets out of bed, and crawls on the couch ottoman to sleep. I can not figure out why, but that is off topic. We got up late, and went to Waffle House for breakfast. Hubby loves to eat there, but it is a little to greasy for me, and typically leaves me in a funk all day. Then we stopped and got K1's hair cut. This is a big deal at our house since hubby does not like to get the boy's hair cut. He mentioned it while we were out, and I made sure to stop on the way home before he changed his mind.
To top off our Sunday we had friend stop by and chat for a bit. She cam over to look at some of our baby stuff to buy since she is expecting early next year. It was bitter sweet letting go of little baby stuff. Then to top off my day of terrible eating we ordered pizza. There is this awesome little family owned place down the street. In all the times we have ordered from there, this was the first time our order was ever wrong. In the long run it was corrected, and we now have pizza for hubby to eat for breakfast.
What did you and your family do over the weekend? Did you all have nice weather? Leave me a comment letting me know.
So what is everyone doing for the Halloween weekend? Both of my kids are young enough to not really care about the holiday which leaves me not really into it. K1 will dress up as a monkey any day of the week and have a good time. K2 is most definitely not into wearing a costume for any length of time.
I guess what I am really wanting to know from everyone today is! When your kids were 2 and under did you take them trick-or-treating? Maybe a fall festival is in order for more family events. The boys really do not need to collect tons of candy to eat. I do not need to have tons of candy in my house to tempt me into eating it.
My big plans for Halloween are to put the boys on costumes for some pictures. I think I will take the two small pumpkins we have here at the house, and use them in our photo shoot. Does anyone have any cute ideas for poses the boys could do?
Currently we do not even have any Halloween candy to give out. I suppose I should get some so the neighbor kids do not hate us. I also thought that maybe the boys would like to hand out the candy. We might sit on our steps for a bit and let the kiddos give away the candy. I am rally not sure how K1 will feel about sharing his candy with everyone. He got a little candy when we went to the fall festival last weekend. He ask for it all the time so it was moved to the top of the refrigerator.
So does anyone have a suggestion? What should these two little cuties do for Halloween? I want them to have fun, but they really do not seem to be into this holiday just yet. I am totally stoked for Christmas though because K1 keeps talking about it. I have no idea why he likes talking about it or where he gets it from. We do not have any Christmas items out at our house, but when he sees something he goes crazy telling me about Christmas stuff.
I am fairly certain that duty days come around to corrupt my schedule. For all my non military readers a duty day is when the hubby stays at the ship for 24 hours straight, and then stays there for a regular work day the next day.
Some how my 2 young children have figured out how know it is a duty day and just go haywire. Thank goodness we typically have left overs to eat on duty days because I am not sure we would have made it to cooking mode today.
My day started while hubby was still home, but I knew he needed sleep so tried to be quiet. K1 came into our room at around 2am. I am not sure of the precise time as it was way to early. I guess he thought it was time to get up because he requested that I get him a blow of cereal. After convincing him he should go back to bed he took a cup of water and laid down. I shuffled off to bed to try to catch a few more winks.
At approximately 3:30am K2 wakes up screaming. Being the good wife I turn off the monitor so that hubby will not wake up. I go and get the little man as fast as I can stumble there so that he does not wake up his brother. After all the typical checks diaper, fever, teeth it is verified that he is in fact just fine. I opted to give him a bottled and lay him back in bed hoping he will return to slumber. It worked!! I made it back to bed hooray.
Ta da! It is now 4:30 am and the alarm to wake hubby up for work is going off. My dear hubby never jumps out of bed. I think he loves to hear the alarm go off multiple times. I do mean hear because if the alarm is near him he just turns it off and goes back to sleep. I now control the main alarm because I will hit snooze so that it will keep alarming. Eventually he is up and on his way to work.
Typically I have been working out from around 5:30 am until my dvd is over. Today however I decided that I needed more than the few hours of interrupted sleep that I had so I rolled over after hubby left and got a little more sleep. The kids promptly woke me up at 7am. Then we had things that were already scheduled to do today.
As we started getting ready K1 was washing his hands in the bathroom. I have no clue what happened, but he slipped off of the step stool. The poor little guy landed right on his forehead, and now has a lovely goose egg. I am sure the forth coming bruise will look lovely. Needless to say we were late getting across the bridge and tunnel to our scheduled meet up with friends.
I know I have previously mentioned the bridges and tunnels in our area. Since we were late there was no reason to head back home after we met up because the tunnel would be jammed. So we got back home around 8pm and both boys were asleep in the car. K2 immediately went back to sleep once he was in bed. K1 decided however that he felt the need to run around and play with his dog. So after catching the now rested sprinting toddler I laid down with him for some soft music, and reading on the couch.
Now I am exhausted, and have no intention of attempting my work out. I really hope all of you have a great day today. I am sure once you are reading this our Friday will be going much better than our Thursday.
Well the first thing that pops into my head is the fact that I have been stalking my email to see if my Beachbody order shipped. It finally did hooray. Now it is all down to the Fedex people. Not to worry I have signed up for alerts to come to my email for every update from Fedex. I might be just a little bit excited.
In other news I cooked a meat less dinner that was awesome. Hubby of course thought it needed meat, but he did not cook it so to bad. He ate it anyway, and had to agree that it was good. I will say that a little chicken that has been marinated would have been awesome on it. We had a noodle dish with garlic, onion, bell pepper, broccoli, and cauliflower. K1 of course vetoed everything, but the noodles. He has recently become extremely picking. I think he is just trying to voice his opinion on the matter. Eventually he does go back and eat it when he realizes that nothing else will be served.Crazy kid actually asked me to make him mac and cheese. There are no extra meals at our house. You eat what was served or go with out.
Completely random thought from hubby. Last night he was asking me to pre-order a video game so that we can play it together. When we first got married I played WOW with him, and it was fun. However once the kids got here I quit playing. It was to much trouble for me to keep up with leveling a player, and keep up with the house and kids. I tried for a bit after K1 was born, but it was no fun to rush through chores to play a game for fifteen minutes. Long story short I ordered the game. I guess we will go to scheduling time we will play on weekends.
I also want to say thank you to Glo Sews for our second Liebster blog award. I will get a post out for that some time soon Glo.
Does your significant other have foods that they just will not eat? What activites do you miss doing with your spouse since you had kids? Alternately, what activities do you wish your spouse would do with you even if you do not have kids.
I hope you all have an excellent day. Until next time!
Hi everybody!! Well If you have been reading for a few days then you saw my post Jumping in With Both Feet. Today I got the conformation email that my application was approved as an active duty military coach. A big thanks to my husband for that one. Yeah no fees for my new business how awesome is that. Love you babe even though you will never read this.
After I got the email, I had to wait not so patiently for nap time so I could go and set up all of my coach sites. Hooray!! I love speeding around the internet setting up stuff. GEEK I know label me if you want to. Anyway I got them all set up. Go HERE to see my main coach page. Do you want to learn about Shakeology check it out HERE!
DON'T wait until the new year to set a resolution. Most people never keep their New Years Resolution anyway. Break the mold and start your journey to health and fitness today. I can help you! If you have a question I can't personally answer I will find you the person that can. Check out my new coach Facebook page. Give me a little slack on the Facebook since I have been setting up everything else today. You can find me on twitter too @CoachJBlocker.
Are you an active duty military member or spouse of an active duty member? I can help you get set up with your own business for free as long as you have a copy of the active duty members orders, and a copy of your ID if you are the spouse. Not interested in your own business that is fine to. By using your orders to sign up as a coach you can get a discount on beachbody products.
I am totally pumped, and ready to get you up and moving. Just PUSH PLAY you will feel better for it. There is nothing like being proud of yourself for completing a work out. The energy you gain from eating healthy and increasing your fitness level is amazing. I also love the me time it puts into my day. If i get up late or the kids are up early we PUSH PLAY together. Today my two year old was dancing along with me to Yoga Booty Ballet. He had a blast jumping around with the music.
On my own personal journey I will be joining my coach on a Insanity Beachbody Challenge. My coach will be there to make sure I PUSH PLAY everyday during the challenge. I will be there to help you. Join us on our journey to fitness and health.
Leave me a comment letting me know why you want to get in shape. Are you just tired of your clothes not fitting right? Do you need more energy to keep up with your kids?
I want to start with a simple, but heart felt thank you to A Good Deal is Just Around the Corner. She recently hosted a giveaway for the My Memories Suite V2. Lucky me, I was the winner. Well over the weekend I got to really use it, and now I am ready to share.
Here is a quick over view of the software.
There are tons of videos linked on their website. So I watched a few videos, and here is my first attempt at digital scrap booking.
If you would like to get the software for yourself here is a code for $10 off of the original price. Copy and paste this code STMMMS29366 when you go to check out. You will also get a code in your email after you purchase the software for $10 worth of designer kits or embellishments.
I hope you all enjoyed my experimental scrap book. These pictures are from the beginning of the year so we all look a little different now, but hey they were the first album to pop up in my list. Thanks for stopping by, and leave me a comment about if you scrap book or not.
First I would like to thank Jhoanna at Surviving Motherhood {and college} in Arizona for giving this award to my blog. I was very surprised and honored to receive this award today. In fact I was not even going to post today, and just take the day off. This award not only made me smile, but encouraged me to post today instead of waiting. I mean really who can wait to post about an award.
This award spotlights up and coming bloggers who generally have less than 200 followers.
Upon receipt of the Liebster Award, there are a few very simple rules:
1. Copy and paste the award on your blog.
2. Thank the giver and link back to the blogger who gave it to you.
3. Reveal your top 5 picks and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog.
4. Hope that your followers will spread the love to other bloggers
Now it is my turn to pass this award on and spotlight 5 great up and coming blogs!
At our house today was one of those days. Nothing seemed to fall into place, and I my head was in a funk all day. In fact it is still funky now. If this post makes no sense I blame the entire frumpy day.
First off the boys got up a little late. This would not have been a problem if we did not need to go to the commissary as soon as it opened. I hate going to the commissary when there is a huge line. So after we got everyone up, dressed, and fed we were out the door.
We seriously made it down two aisles when K2 starts flipping out and crying and screaming. First attempt to solve his problem was handing him the next item on the list to play with. That bought me two more aisles of peace. Thankfully K1 was being really good while we were at the store. Every two aisles or so K2 needed a new distraction. I know it was his nap time, but he got up late so I was hoping we could make it through the store. We made it to dairy and frozen food section and K2 loses it. Poor little guy so we got him a bottle, and he was happy until we reached the check out.
While we were still in the dairy section we get some unsolicited advice from a not so helpful bystander. At this point my cart is brimming with all the things we got. I was a major trip that I had been putting off for awhile. As I turned into the milk section the entire top layer of my cart falls to the floor. Our helpful bystander says "I think you need another cart." I need a lot of things, but you standing there telling me what I need is not one of them. No help was offered except their unsolicited advice. I mean really loaded cart 2 kids, and no one can help me pick it up. Anyway we got it picked up, paid and made a mad dash for home.
When we get home K2 goes straight to bed for a nap. The dogs had gotten into the trash can so that had to be cleaned up. Then I made the million trips back and forth to the car to bring in the groceries. K1 attempts to help me put them away. He tries really hard, but was more of a hindrance than anything. I got all of the cold things put away, and headed to the couch to sit down. I sat down for all of five minutes it felt like, and then K1 is asking for a snack.
Nap time was a total disaster. K2 slept late which means K1 went down late. Then when K2 would normally go down for his second nap he was still wide awake. This is not good because when K2 goes down for second nap it is mommy time. It is that priceless few hours during the day when both kids area sleep.
Hubby got home a little early which was a plus. It was totally awesome since cooking dinner in a haze is never a good idea. Some how I muddle through the prep work for dinner. It was served a little early since hubs skipped lunch at work. It even tasted goo which was amazing since at this moment I had the forcefully make my mind think to remember what we ate 4 hours ago.
I am trying to hold on to some excitement for tomorrows visit to the military family fall festival. We are meeting up with the sister-in-law there, and it should be a blast. Off to bed with my crazy self so I can be more fun tomorrow.
Alright then where are we jumping? Straight on to the fitness train. When I was in the Navy I worked out on a fairly regular basis, was a healthy weight, and looked good. I got out had 2 kiddos, and just left fitness some where back there in the dust.
So tonight I was talking to another Navy wife, and she is a beachbody coach. I had no idea that one person from an active duty military household could be a coach for free. No monthly fee, and a discount on products. Count me in!! I sent in my application tonight, and can not wait to order my first set of supplements, and a new work out. As soon as I get it all set up I will get you lovely readers a link to my sight on beachbody.
I am totally psyched to start working out, and get fit and healthy. There is this little black dress that I wore once that is calling my name. I have not been able to get myself to toss it. As a family we have been eating healthy, and that has started me on a little weight loss. I totally intend to push it into full gear and look awesome better by Christmas.
My new coach Sara is super pumped, and energetic. I think she has just the stuff to make sure I stay with my new work out goals. Stay tuned for updates, on my health and fitness journey.
Leave me a comment telling me what you do for your own health and fitness. If you need a little motivation in that area then tell me that too, and I will try to get you rolling along on your fitness journey. Stop by my cooking and recipe blog to check out some of our family recipes.
I know this is scary news, but the winter season is coming with all of its holidays. Holidays bring gifts. If you have kids they will inevitably receive toys. Now I have been informed that no self respecting grandparent would not send a toy as a gift. Believe me we have received plenty of toys from grandparents. We even get toys for random visits through out the year silly grandparents. In general my kids have so many toys they will never be able to play with them all!
So beginning this week we will start the massive toy culling at our house. The toy collection must face a major reduction before the gifts start arriving. Also in the realms of gift giving we will be getting ready for K2's first birthday next month. Just one more opportunity for more toys to come in to our house.the amount of toys we keep will be based on what can fit in the allotted space in the boys room. Currently we have toys in the living room, and the boys bedroom which is driving my crazy.
I will admit I do have a weakness for books. My boys love to go through their books and look at the pictures. I hope this carries on as they grow up. We are one of those crazy families with no cable or satellite television. We do get Netflix, but are cutting way back on our TV watching. My weakness here would be the Disney movies. So with those two weaknesses I think bookshelves should solve the problem. I will just have to limit us to the number of books and movies that will fit on the shelves.
The dreaded Happy meal toys. I have to say we do get fast food kids meals on occasion, and they come with the pesky toys. I do keep a few of the small noise free toys in my purse for out and about play time. I can't even count the number of times these little toys have gotten us through the check out line and into the car quietly.So our happy meal toys will be reduced down to the few toys that live in my purse.
Stuffed animals. We receive a few a year. thankfully we only have one box right now. However due to downsizing, and up coming holidays we are looking to get to half of a box. The plan is to go to the box and remove the bottom layer. Most of the time my boys will only play with a stuffed animal for a few second, and then it goes flying across the room. Both boys have two or three stuffed animals that you will see them play with on a regular basis. So we will be keeping the toys that are visibly used every few days.
Moving on to the bigger toys. We have two toys that basically do the same thing. you drop balls in one spot and watch them go down a track. At the end this triggers music to play. My theory is to get rid of the bigger one. This should make room for the totally awesome train set that I found on sale earlier this year for my toddler. My fear with the train set is all the pieces of track. I have devised a plan already. Upon emptying one of our cubes that currently gets occupied by happy meal toys and other miscellaneous small toys the track will be stored in there. I plan to find a smaller box to keep all of the engines and car in separately.
After all the culling is complete my plan will enter step two. All toys will be cleaned and move to the garage. Then a by appointment sale will be listed on craigslist. I really do not want to clear and entire Saturday for a yard sales that is my solution. I will schedule a few appointments from Friday evening until Sunday evening. I can schedule the appointments around things I know we nee to get done as a family. On Monday what ever is not sold will be taking a trip down to the local charity donation box.
On another note I am happy to report that our clothes clean out is going well. All of the kids clothes have been separated and stored accordingly. All of K1's clothes that were to small are in space bags awaiting K2 to grow in to them. All the the things that K2 out grew are in the laundry basket awaiting their division into boxes for Thred UP listing. For more about Thred UP please see our post Clearing Out the Kids Clothes.
I thought it was time to share a little bit more about me. Ok, really I was stumped for a topic, and I want to make sure my readers know me more as a person at the same time. In real life I do not like talking about me so this should be an interesting post.
I grew up in a small town in Texas with a loving family. I love going home to visit my family. Being a military family we do not live by most of our family. Currently we live near my sister-in-law and her family which has been loads of fun watching the kids play together. I try to make sure the kids and I get home about twice a year. The hubby has not been home in ages it seems.
I graduated in the top half of my class in high school, and scored very high on my military entrance test. My husband loves to tell everyone that I am smarter than him. This absolutely drives me up the wall. I for one feel that I am of above average intelligence, but that I am in know way a the super genius my husband tries to make me out to be. I love to keep learning, and I am thinking about going to college for a degree in photography.
While I was personally in the Navy for six years I worked on board an aircraft carrier. I worked specifically in the nuclear power program. That is all I can say about that. Check out my Versatile Blogger Award post to see all the countries I have visited. I have to say that I loved all the people I met while in the Navy. I even married one of them! My husband has now been in the Navy for almost 11 years. We are currently are hoping the government will leave his retirement alone and he can retire in nine more years.
Now I get to be a stay at home mom to two great little boys. Their birthdays are March 2009 and November 2010. I can hardly believe my little man will be turning 1 so soon.
Alright that is all I will bore you with for now. I seriously hate writing or talking about me. If there is anything you would like to know just leave me a comment. I will try to get back to you as soon as possible. Thank you all for taking the time to read my post. I enjoy reading your responses.
Well as my regular readers already know I have two little boys. If your new here now you know. Like all good moms planning ahead I saved all my first kids clothes so the next one could use them. This has worked to an extent. My boys were born in different seasons so the clothes sharing can only go so far. I think summer sharing is easier, because you can get away with out a shirt. There is also the summer advantage of shorts, so if the pants are to short just roll them up to shorts.
Now that we are approaching the cooler months I am busy looking for clothes that fit just right. Since my youngest is learning to walk he needs pants that are not to long, but we still need coverage as it does get cold here. Several months back I stumbled across the answer to this conundrum.
Thred UP is an online clothes trade system. When I first started there were mostly kid clothes, but now lots of people trade adult clothes too. Then they implemented toys and book boxes. You can also create a wish list of things you are looking for. This has been awesome for our family. There is no way we would have the money for brand new winter clothes for both kids.
They will even make sure you receive a set of boxes in the mail to get you started in trading clothes. Make sure all of your clothes are washed, and free of stains, holes or other damage. Now you are ready to pack a box and list it for trading. Here is a video on how to pack a full box.
I have had success with all of the boxes I have sent and received. It has become popular to link a picture of the clothes in your box in the listing its self. I am sure the people behind Thred UP are working on a way to add this in. However for the time being make an album on facebook, photobucket, or some other photo sharing site and link to your picture. Your box will go much faster if people can see what they are getting.
For all of my military families out there they have a special military program out there just for you. They now have a military newsletter. I highly recommend this for all you military families, because like us you most likely do not get all the cool cousin/family hand me downs.
We needed a Halloween costume for K2 to wear this year. So after looking through the boxes I found a lion costume available. This was excellent as K1 is going as a monkey, and now they can look cute and themed. So I picked the box, paid, and waited anxiously for the mail man to arrive. The costume was perfect. Here is a picture of my little man when he tried it on.
There is also a referral program that you can use to refer your friends, and you will both get a credit to your account once your referral picks a box. Here is my link for the referral program. I
hope all of you enjoy trading your clothes with Thred up as much as I have.
This weekend was filled with visiting people new friends, and family. Saturday we went out with some new friends we made. That is one thing being in the military makes you do. You must learn to make new friends where ever you go. We set off to meet up with our new friends at the zoo. However the road ways here have a system of several tunnels and bridges. Think naval town lots of water. Extremely large ships do not go under bridges so they incorporated tunnels. The problems with tunnels and bridges is traffic gets backed up in hurry. So our new friends had trouble crossing the water to meet us. We were to late to go to the zoo. We decided to met up at the McDonalds on the main Navy base. While we ate our dinner, we made some plans for next weekend. Always good to make plans to get out of your house as a stay at home mom.
Being a stay at home mom mom on a budget makes it easy to just stay inside and rarely venture out. Looking around the community for new things to do is always fun. This week we got a free trip to the zoo. Next weekend it will be a free excursion to the Yankee Candle Flagship Store for the Fall Festival. You never know what you will find when you type the words free and your town in to google.
The weather Sunday was amazing. We started our day with hubby coming home from duty. These are always exciting times. K1 jumped up from his breakfast to run to the door and see daddy. Hubby was up all night on the ship so he laid down to take a quick nap after breakfast. A few hours later our dear military friend P stopped by to say hi. Military friend translates into extended family for life to anyone who was wondering. He was down enjoying the local wine festival. He even brought the hubby and I a bottle of wine. It all made for an excellent start to the day.
Check out I'm so excited so how ready I was for our next adventure. Later on Aunt A drove to our side of the water. Having family only an hour away is a new experience for us, and often quite fun. Living in a highly military area paid off. Hubby's sister and brother-in-law were both in the Army, and got stationed over here. When Aunt A and Cousin A got here we went to military appreciation day at the ZOO!
We were running a little later than we had planned, but we still saw most of the animals. The dads decided to stay home, and do quite time I guess. The moms went on to conquer the zoo with 3 little curious kiddos. The monkeys as K1 called them were a big hit. One day we will get to there real names, poor little chimpanzees. I am certain if the adults were not so bust wrangling little bodies that we would have been able to reach out and touch the giraffes.
However the biggest excitement of the visit came at one of the large monitor lizard enclosures. We happened to stroll by at feeding time. K1 has his face almost pressed up against the glass. They were feeding the lizard little baby chicks. The crowd around us got so big had to actually ask people to move so we could get out. We left after it ate 2 chicks so more people could see. I personally never remember getting to see an animal feeding at the zoo so it was a fun experience.
The only complaint about the zoo was from K1 he thinks we should have ridden the train. So now we know what we must do next time. We did go ahead, and invest in a year long zoo membership pass. Now we can go whenever we want. We only live about 10 minutes from the zoo so that can be some fun little evening trips on the slightest whim.
Check out the kiddos chasing peacocks here. The Chase.
Today's post is not one I even want to have reason to write. However I do have a reason, therefore I am writing about it. A few years I ago I had no idea this day even existed. On September 28, 2006 the US House of Representatives voted with out objection that October 15th of each year is an appropriate day to observe National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day.
In May of 2008 I experienced a miscarriage of our first child. Now add in the military factor to the equation. My husband was at a duty station 15 hours away going to school. I was much to upset at the impending reality so I had to call a dear friend to drive me to the doctor's office. She stayed with me the entire day, and then took me home. We have some very special friends that we have made on our military journey. Another friend stepped in the next day to make sure I was not alone. I will forever remember the time the sit with me. The one who held my hand when I called my husband to tell him, and the sound of his voice after the news sunk in.
I often wonder what that precious little angel would have been like. I do however take joy in knowing that there is one more angel in heaven waiting on me. I am certain my baby angel is enjoy God's company, and entertaining my dad along with all my other family members that our looking down at us. We waited the recommend amount of time, and immediately tried again. Being lucky we were soon pregnant and did not have to wait long. The first months of my second pregnancy were spent on pins and needles waiting to hear the heartbeat. I made sure my husband was off work for the first ultrasound because I was terrified something would be wrong.
During the second pregnancy came what would have been the due date of our first child. So early December is not my favorite time of year. However I do take the time to think about the fact that God must have needed one more angel that day. I also remember that God has since blessed me with two little angels on earth with me.
This post is for all the loved one out there of the little angels in heaven. If you or someone you know has dealt with losing a child please remember them today. Light a candle tonight at 7pm in your time zone. Add to the wave of light.
Precious Little One I`m just a precious little one who didn't make it there. I went straight to be with Jesus, but I`m waiting for you here. Many dwelling here where I live, waited years to enter in. Struggled through a world of sorrow, a world marred with pain and sin. Thank you for the life you gave me, it was brief but don`t complain. I have all Heaven`s Glory, suffered none of earth`s great pain. Thank you for the name you gave me. I`d have loved to bring it fame. But if I`d lingered in earth`s shadows, I would have suffered just the same. So sweet family-don`t you sorrow. Wipe those tears and chase the gloom. I went straight to Jesus` arms from my loving Mother`s womb. ~Author Unknown
I dedicate this post to Baby B and Kathlyn. One day we will all meet in heaven. Please feel free to leave link below to your own personal story.
Ok it might seem a little overboard, but I am totally pumped. The Zoo where we live is having a military appreciation day!!! That means we get to go to the zoo for FREE!
Now while I am sure I will not have near as much fun as my two year old I am stoked. He is going to LOVE it. Currently he runs around our house pretending to be different animals. I can only imagine his excitement with getting to see all the animals in person. Then there is the obligatory petting zoo inside the zoo. He is going to completely flip at the idea of petting all the animals. I just hope the goats behave.
I am not quite sure my husband shares the same enthusiasm about the impending zoo trip that I do. He has duty the day before, and will need a nap before we go. However I am certain that once he gets there, and sees the boys having a good time he will also have fun. Little baby Ken, I have to use baby as long as possible because his first birthday is coming up. Anyway little baby Ken will most like not think it is the best trip of his life, but he will enjoy riding in the stroller. Now I just hope the nice weather will hold out.
Do you remember your first trip to the zoo? Maybe you have fond memories of your little ones first trip to the zoo. Please leave a comment sharing your favorite moment at the zoo.
The first thing I ever remember about the zoo was as family trip we took when I was little. Being the oldest I was out prancing around, and being reminded to keep up with our group. We had to stop for awhile at the hippo building. Not that I don't like hippos, but it felt like we were there forever. All because my little brother got covered in bird poop. That is right he was the target of a fly by pooping. I still remember this as being totally hilarious. The good news is he was most likely to small to remember. The bad news he hates being the center of attention. Sorry man I had to share! Maybe something awesome will happen on our first family trip to the zoo, and then I can use a new story. Stay tuned for update next week all about the zoo.
So lets hear it what is your best memory of the zoo.
Now don't get me wrong I love the cable guys. Obviously I have an addiction to cable internet. I however do not like seeing them at my neighbors house. They were there all day fixing something. No matter how bad I felt for my neighbor having some kind of technical difficulty in their home. I was totally irked when fixing it involved turning off the internet to my house.
Yesterday I spent numerous hours resetting my router, and unplugging the cable modem. I even took the time to ask the toddler if he had touched anything in the area of the modem and router. Lets just say I thought I was loosing my mind, and would need to call the cable company. Yet another thing I dislike sitting on hold for people to answer my question. Calling when the kids are awake is pointless so I waited.
There is one point in the day where I get both kids napping at the same time for a few hours. In this short window I prefer to take a little me time I shoot for 30-45 minutes of what I want to do. My time is usually used to play on the internet or read a book. Yesterday I spent the entire time working on the internet.
Then nap time was over, and I realized I did nothing else. Now I have to begin dinner preps while the kids are both awake. I was working at the sink when I hear "Mommy look a big truck." So I meander on over to the window which my toddler is now occupying. Sure enough there sits the cable truck. Why did I not look outside all day? I was certain we were having an equipment malfunction, and I was determined to fix it. I watched for a while, and they made several trips up and down the poles. Every time they went up I check my cable modem sure enough it went dead. Now why did I not notice a dead modem all day? They only flick it off for about a minute and then they turn it back on. So all day by the time I would reach the modem after noticing a loss of connection to the computer, and it would be back on.
To ensure my sanity I wandered down to ask the cable guy how long they had been working here. The guy told me they had been there most of the day. Conclusion I am not crazy, and the modem and router work just fine.
Here is to hoping for a cable guy free day. So in those brief times where both kids are sleeping or occupied I can sneak on the internet. I know all my mom readers out there appreciate their mom time during nap time. So here is to nap time!!! The only quiet part of my day.
I hope everyone's quiet down time goes smoothly today!
I know everyone is entitled to there own point of view on everything. I just wanted to share my point of view on family and housekeeping. I have two little boys that are ages 2 1/2 and 11 months. A little background on myself. I was in the Navy for 6 years, and my husband still is. Serving in the military teaches you a lot of different things, but flexibility is a major point. Who knows when you will get the call that you have to report to leave in 24 hours. I think that has carried over to my take on being a MOM.
Being the mom of a toddler means anything predictable in your life just got tossed out the window. Throw in a baby for added excitement, and the roller coaster you just got on is off at full speed. I for one LOVE roller coasters. Around our house you never know when a ball might fly by your head, or some crazy toy will start blaring music all on its own. Now my house is by no means perfect. I would never suggest that my way of parenting is the way it should be done. This is a reminder to take a step back, and look at the important things in your life.
However my kids know they are loved!! When is the last time you took a look around your house, and said you know what all these things are here because of someone I love. My kids have way to many toys I will be the first person to tell you this. For some reason they have grandparents that love to send them more toys. When I come from the kitchen after retrieving a sippy cup of milk to see that the living room toy box got turned up side down. I just take a deep breath sit back and watch, usually there is moment of sheer joy about to happen. You see when my 2 year old finds a toy at the bottom of the box he has not seen in a few days he gets terribly excited. Most of the time he will rush over to me, and show me his great find. Now days he typically has a little shadow that comes right behind him full of excitement, but not quiet sure why.
So my house has piles of toys, dishes that need to go in the dish washer, and laundry that needs to move from the washer to the dryer. If I spend all my time worrying about keeping the house spotless who knows what I would miss. Morale of the story take time to enjoy your family. Families are an every changing dynamic so if you miss it now you will not get it back.
Here is a post from I'm A Silly Mami as she views a change in her family dynamic. Take time to enjoy your family as it is now. I also enjoyed this post from 24/7 MOMS. In her post she steps back to reflect on some of here families favorite memories. She reminds us that it is important to take time, and make new memories to cherish with your family.
Take time for family. As a military family we are always trying to squeeze in extra good memories to keep us going when we are separated by deployment. So even if the sink is full of dishes take your family to do something fun. Memories last a life time so go make more.
Do you have kids that never seem to go to bed on time? At one time I could say no my kids are always in bed, and asleep when I would like them to be. However the times they are a changing.
General overview my 2 1/2 year old and my 11month old share a room. We do have another bed room, but it is upstairs and I prefer to not put one of them up there alone. Initially everything was fine, and they would both go to sleep. Now the tiny man goes to sleep at first, but then his big brother gets up and wakes him so they can play.
On a few occasions toddler man has skipped his afternoon nap due to an urgent outing such as, grocery shopping. These days he goes to sleep quickly once in bed at night, but around dinner time he is a terror. Since he did not get a nap these days we try to ignore his whining attempts to get what he wants.
The new technique we are trying for bed time is baby goes to sleep in their room, and toddler falls asleep in mom and dad's bed to be moved to his bed later. This is working currently, but I wonder if it has brought up our new problem.
In the past three days Korvin, my poor toddler has awoken around 3AM and wandered into our room, with his blanket. Now my first response in my sleep haze is to pick him up in to our bed, and go back to sleep. His plan however seems to be stay awake, and play with mom's hair. On the weekend it was not a problem, but today he came in at 3 AM and hubby's alarm for work goes off at 4:30 AM. I generally get up with my hubby, so that I can have my alone time in the morning. This is seriously the only time I have by myself!
The random waking does not seem to be caused by the bad dreams, or whatever it was that used to wake him up. I guess the bad dream reaction could have changed from sitting in bed screaming to getting up and finding mom and dad.
Do you have any tips or general suggestions? Please leave me a comment below with any ideas you may have. Sincerely the mama that wants to have a few hours in the morning to herself!!
This is just a quick post so technorati can verify my blog. I have to make a post with my claim token 3KBXC4FSZ5J8 so they can verify that it is my blog. This is a very simple process. Not like some others where I have to go into my HTML and add a tag for verification. I am always concerned I will mess something up in the HTML. I hope everyone is having a great day. My dear hubby has the day off for Columbus day. This is one military family headed out to do something fun on a rare day with daddy. I am so excited that his duty days fell just right for a 3 day weekend.
The other day we were out wedding a flower bed while Kenaniah was asleep. Korvin initially kept trying to run off, and check on Blaine who was mowing the grass on the side of the house. As a fun distraction for Korvin, I pointed out the worms in the flower bed. I gave him a little stick, and let him have at it. For the first few minutes he just poked the poor worm. I stopped and showed him how to scoop it on to his stick.
Here he is happy and content with the worm.
Some how the first worm escaped and he is looking for it.
The boys got matching pajamas for the month of October. Getting them to sit still for a picture was a whole different story. Korvin did alright, but ken is just getting really good at moving at the last minute so all of his pictures are blurry. Kenaniah is busy trying hard to keep up with all the things Korvin does. Once he starts walking Korvin is going to love it. A full time assistant in trouble making!!
On October 6th I had the pleasure to sit in on a tele-conference with Mama Fusion. Below you will find my overview of the call,and my interpretation of Emily's plan.
Do you feel lost in motherhood? Does it feel like society is pushing you to be June Cleaver? Come see how one mom over came the pressure, and wants to help you break out.
After the birth of her second daughter Emily felt lost. She was unhappy, and generally felt that she was being a bad parent. Her brain was telling her to do better at things like cooking gourmet meals, and having a pristine house. Her heart's desire was buried under it all.
She found she had been crushed under society's perfect picture of being a mother. When she found the courage to step out, and be the mom she wanted to be life was better for the entire family. The relationship with her husband, and her kids improved.
Before she found her focus she just stumbled through her everyday motions to try and fit society's picture. Now she is spending more quality time with her kids and husband. She had spent a large "quantity" of time with her family before, but the quality of that time was poor. She spent it trying to decide what was the next step to fill the mold she thought she needed to fill.
God made Emily to be a spunky free spirit. What was God's design for you? Sit back for a minute and think about all the things you like to do. Does the world's perfect mold of parenting keep you from being the person inside that you miss and love?
Is your inner self caked with the dirt of society's ideals? Join Emily at Mama Fusion for Finding the Focus. She will show you how to break free of the dirt and grime that society has thrown at you over the years. Don't be what people have told you that you should or can be! Be the unique person that God designed you to be.
If you would like to hear a recording of the entire call. Visit Mama Fusion's Monthly Call tab.
If you would like a chance to attend Finding the Focus for free the entry for is here. The winner will be drawn on October 14th.
Hooray!! Yippee!! I got a blog award. I was very excited last night when I went to check my blog, and found an award. Who knew little old me would get an award.
Thank you so much Lacey for choosing to pass the award on to me. Everyone please go by, and check out Lacey's blog. Little Miss Nerd Girl Yeah!!! Still excited!!!
By accepting this award I agree to do the following:
Thank the blogger who awarded me with a link back to him/her.
Share seven things about myself.
Pass the award on to fifteen other newly discovered blogs.
Seven things about me:
I was in the United States Navy for six years working in nuclear power. I met my husband there.
I was born and raised in Texas. I love to go back, and visit all my family.
I have lived in Texas, Illinois, South Carolina, Virginia, and North Carolina. Now we are back in Virginia at least for a little while.
I have visited a handful of foreign countries: Crete, Spain (3 times), Italy (2 times), Greece, Turkey, Slovenia, and Dubai UAE. I think that is all of them.
I have 2 little boys with unusual names, Korvin and Kenaniah.
I love to: read, garden, play with my kids, cook anything, surf on the internet, and spend time with family and friends.
I am currently on a self improvement kick. I am working on taking time for me, eating better, and hope to start a fitness routine soon.
Wow picking out people was tough. I hope everyone shares the joy around. I really was excited to see an award just for me. Share a bright spot in someone's day.
The garden we had this year was very small, and only had the basics for my kitchen in it. The military transferred us right in the middle of prime planting season. Between two kids, a husband, and household stuff there was no way i could plant a big garden. The good news is this year I will have plenty of time to prepare.
I love having the ability to run out to the garden, and grab something for dinner. It really is fun for me, and my two year old loves to go out with me. As the end of garden season for area is coming to an end I am making up all kinds of things to freeze, can, or dry for the winter. In a previous blog I made Pesto to store in the freezer. My family loves pesto sauces, and really do not think that the batch I made will last us very long. I will however hold off on using it until I just can not stand it any more.
I have been daydreaming of the things I can plant next year. There are so many things I want to plant. However there is only so much room. I am trying to convince my hubby to make me a raised bed for more space.
Things I know I will plant.
tomatoes
bell peppers
jalapenos
spicy basil
oregano
thyme
rosemary
black eyed peas
Things I want to plant
garlic
onions
eggplant
squash
okra
maybe some mint for a few mojitos
Do you ever think of planting a garden? What would you plant? What are your favorite vegetables and herbs? Not sure you have the time. Just plant some herbs in pots, and place them near the door you typically leave the house from. On your way out take a pitcher of water for the plants, and leave the pitcher on the porch. Then just take the pitcher back inside with you on your way in.
Ahhhhhhh the holidays are approaching. Does stress around the holidays put you in a bahumbug mood? If so then swing on by www.mamafusion.com . She is starting a new program to help you deal with the stress, and gain clarity and direction in your life.
Your turkey does not need to look like this!
The below paragraph is a quoted directly from the Mama Fusion website.
Are you ready for less stress and more purpose? Join me for a 5 week intensive group program, Finding the Focus, where we will delve into who you are and why you should LOVE that amazing woman! Find out more details here: www.mamafusion.com/finding-the-focus. Even better, one LUCKY lady is going to get the whole program for FREE! A drawing will be held on October 14th through Rafflecopter. Enter BELOW!!!
Alright your heard her lets get this form filled out for your chance to win your spot FREE!!
Lets all have a calm, cool, and collected holiday season this year! Enjoy spending the time with loved ones.
WARNING: Do not read any further if you do not want to hear about potty training type information. This post includes poop, pee, and frustration.
My dear 2 year old is going to drive me off the deep end with this venture. We started with the typical 3 day training plan. I stared at his crotch for hours, and we ran to the potty all day for 3 days. That worked for a bit he would run screaming to the potty after awhile, and there was no mess to clean for a few days. He began to falter so we added M&M rewards for pee, and little toys like a new matchbox car for a poop success. Our poop success ratio was very low. I mean this kid must love pooping in his pants. We finally got to about 2 weeks with an excellent potty record. I for one am overjoyed.
This triumph was however short lived. I have tried everything I can think of to get him back to where he was. Now days he just sits where ever he is and tells us after he pees that he "Pee bed" or whatever may be the case. Friday and today have me climbing the walls with frustration. For the first time in 2 1/2 years he has decided to play in his poop, and put it on the wall. So as to not encourage the behavior by getting upset I remained calm, and placed him in the shower to contain the poop. Now add to the factor that my nearly 11 month old is every where and into every thing. Now I have to catch and contain the little man before I can even begin cleaning the poop.
So now I am asking for advice. What do I do? I am terribly tempted to just put him back in diapers, and throw my hands in the air. This has been over a 2 month battle already. Am I just rushing the process? I knew when we started that even when he was doing really well we would still have occasional accidents. Should I just take a few weeks off, and start all over? Help I am grasping to the last threads of my sanity here.
I have received some suggestions from mom friends, but they do not really fit our military life style. My husband is gone at least twice a week for around 40 hours at a time. I do not have the ability to just hand him the baby and devote multiple days to potty training. Our first attempt at the 3 day method was over a holiday weekend when my husband had a rare 3 days off. Now I know there are plenty of families that have similar situations that are not in the military. So please give me all of your tips!! I will try anything once in this case. Thank you for reading this much of my insanity.
