The next 30 days

I am in such a blogging funk. So bad that I'm afraid if I don't blog about SOMETHING... ANYTHING!! that I'll stop all together. Which I know I would regret. So I'm taking the easy way out. I'm justifying it by using this as a good way to let some of my newer followers learn a little more about me :)

My next 30 days will go a little something like this:

Day 0: The 30 Day Challenge Explanation and Description
Day 1: Introduce, recent picture of yourself, 15 interesting facts
Day 2: Meaning behind your blog name
Day 3: Your first love
Day 4: Your parents
Day 5: A song to match your mood
Day 6: A picture of something that makes you happy
Day 7: Favorite movies
Day 8: A place you've traveled to
Day 9: A favorite picture of your best friend
Day 10: Something you're afraid of
Day 11: Favorite tv shows
Day 12: Something you don't leave the house without
Day 13: Goals
Day 14: A picture of you last year - how have you changed?
Day 15: Bible verse
Day 16: Dream house
Day 17: Something you're looking forward to
Day 18: Favorite Place to Eat
Day 19: Something you miss
Day 20: Nicknames
Day 21: Favorite ALL TIME Picture of yourself. Why?
Day 22: What's in your purse?
Day 23: Favorite Movie
Day 24: Something you've learned
Day 25: Put your iPod on shuffle, first 10 songs
Day 26: Your Dream Wedding
Day 27: Original Photo of the city you live in
Day 28: Something that stresses you out
Day 29: 3 Wishes
Day 30: a picture of yourself this day and 5 good things that happened since you started the challenge

Exciting huh? Stay tuned!

While the husband's away..

... always remember..

1. Don't run the dishwasher right before you go to bed. It makes scary noises and you'll be convinced that someone is breaking in your back door.

2. It's totally okay to give your baby Tylenol every night. I mean.. he's probably teething anyways, so you're really helping him out. Plus, you deserve those few hours to yourself before bed time.

3. It's also okay to keep the kitchen light on all night so the boogy man doesn't come out. (kitchen is right outside of our bedroom.)

4. Make lots of plans. It makes the days go by faster. If you have to split up Target and Costco trips into separate days to make sure you have at least one thing to get you out of the house each day.. that's cool.

5. You'll probably be thankful for the fact that you don't have to make dinner (we're talking short trips to the field here.. I know that's something you start to miss if they are gone for long periods of time) every night.

6. Don't feel guilty that you are enjoying a little time to yourself for the first time in... 7 months. You'll miss his company by night 3 anyways.

I have been spoiled by the Army so far in our time, and haven't had to deal with "field trips" since his training days. That came to an end last week as he left me as a single mama for the week. I forgot about little things like those above! I have a feeling I will learn even more about this over the next year! But it does make me enjoy our time together even more so... this was a great weekend together and I loved every second of it :)

Trip home - Part 3

Friday started the craziness of wedding preparation! We did all of the normal wedding weekend activities: nails done at the salon, a quick lunch and dressing up, rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. The rehearsal started at three and was at the country club. The same country club that Trey and I were married at, so it was very reminiscent for me. Especially because he couldn't be there.. it made me a little sad. But joyful at the same time. It was nice to relive that. Oh, yes, that was an important factor wasn't it? Trey wasn't able to make his little sister's wedding. Army.. I'll leave it at that. It was heart breaking.
Everything went really well. I would say the only part that was not so wonderful was being around Trey's biological mother and figuring out how to interact with her. Long, awful story that I won't get into out of respect for my husband and his family, but basically, he doesn't have much of a relationship with her. AT ALL. Not a good one at the very least. And he has very legit reasoning for not having a relationship with her all of which I have heard about and have seen the ramifications for her actions all throughout the 8 and 1/2 years that I have been with him. Soo.. it's hard for me to socialize with her. I've only seen her like 3 or 4 times at most since I've known him. It was incredibly awkward. It was the first time she saw Andrew and was very very awkward with him (I'll probably say that word 100 more times in this paragraph.. there's just no other word to use). I don't think she every really spoke to him.. she would just come up to us (well.. once) and stare at him. Awkward. At some points I felt rude.. but I really didn't know how to handle the situation. Trey said he would have been the same way.. but all in all.. it was awkward.
The ceremony was beautiful and I wish I had pictures to post, but the only ones I've seen are all from the professionals and I don't know if I should post those or not. They did an amazing job with the pictures btw! The reception was pretty short, but we had a great time out on the dance floor!

She made the most beautiful bride! I slept real well that night!!

After the wedding, my trip was coming to an end, but we made the most out of the rest of it.
Drew spent the night with Trey's family on Sunday. I know they loved getting the one on one time with him and I enjoyed a night off. Win win for all! Oh yeah.. before I dropped him off we went to one of my best friends Emily's daughter's (Reece.. did you get that??) 1st birthday party. I was so thankful to be home for that! We have betrothed them together and they seem to be okay with that :)

There's Ashleigh in the picture above :) She is expecting little Madison in July and we can't wait to meet her! Her and Matthew (her husband and Trey's long time bff) came over my parents house that night for dinner. I'm so glad that I got to spend a good amount of time with her. Well considering the busy schedule!

Saying goodbye (or "see you later") to my parents was more difficult than it normally would be. Every time that I've visited so far, I've already had another trip planned. It was easy to say, see you in this many months! Not this time though. It's expensive to fly out of El Paso. And it takes a lot to pack up Andrew's life and have him readjust. So, I'm not sure when the next time I'll be back is. That made it very hard to walk away from them. I swear, no matter how much I start to enjoy El Paso and appreciate the life Trey and I have made for ourselves, it NEVER gets easier. Not even a tad. I love my parents so much and despise being away from them. Can't we just move a little closer Army, pretty please??

Trip home - Part 2

The day after we got home from the bachelorette party (Monday) was my 28th (gasp!) birthday. Really, I'm not afraid of my 30's. I'm actually really, really looking forward to them. I think I'm going to ROCK that decade. So keep 'em coming!

I spent the day with Andrew, of course, and my cousin Katelyn. She goes to school at USC and was on spring break so she was able to spend the majority of the week with us. We were out and about most of the day. We took Drew to Trey's parents house. I knew that they would be on their lunch break and wanted Debby's parents to meet him. They hadn't seen him yet, so I was excited to bring him over. After spending a little time with them, we headed downtown to Cupcake :) It may have been the best part of my day. I had a blueberry cupcake with lemon frosting. Ohh myyy gosshhh! I'm salivating a little just thinking about it. Thanks for the little treat, Kate!
That night we had all of Trey's family over for a delicious dinner. The house was crowded, but I love having everyone together in one place! We ate, had dessert, and opened a few presents. Trey's parents got me a little Patriots charm for my wine glass and a Patriots necklace. Really? I was surprised. They always give me a hard time about being a fan, so that was sweet! My parents got me a ... wait for it... KINDLE!!!. So So So excited! I'm in love. Melissa got me a new (desperately needed) pair of Rainbows. *Trey had a few little gifts for me when I got home as well, a nice salt a pepper grinder - it's okay girls, I really wanted those!! - and a gift card to Amazon. He must of been in cahoots with my mum* I'd say I made out like a bandit this year. I never expect much for my birthday, so that was all a nice surprise!

Over the next few days I stayed busy with helping Melissa get ready for her big day. She did everything herself so there was a lot of work to do!
Wednesday my Aunt Kathy and Uncle Ronnie flew into town. Oh yeah, I didn't mention? Or maybe I did.. anyways.. in the mix of all of this, family from Massachusetts came down for a visit. Tons of fun! I was really looking forward to seeing my Uncle. He's the one that was diagnosed with a brain tumor over the fall. (he is doing okay. He's been through radiation and chemo, and it's not spreading, but it's also not gone either) I'm so glad that he got to meet Drew since we missed our chance over Christmas.


checking each other out



Looks like Drew approves :)

From that moment on, everytime he looked at Uncle Ronnie for the rest of the week, he would just start smiling and sometimes laughing. I guess he is just as fond of him as I am!

Here he is playing with his Great Auntie Carol and getting some life lessons, I'm sure, from Uncle Dennis. They were so great with him!

Up to no good, I'm sure!

The next day Auntie Lynda came in and showed Drew his first Redsox game! She's a bit of a fanatic. A female version of Fever Pitch if you will.



She even got him his first Redsox onesie

And until that coming up weekend, this was the gist of my trip. It was laid back, spent with family that I hardly get to see and I loved every single minute of it. We have always been such a close family and I never want that to change with the upcoming generations. We are, however, spread out a little more throughout the country (Massachusetts, SC, Texas, Oregon, and California) so it's a little more difficult.. I treasure the moments like that week!

Trip home - Part 1

After a long day of flying, I was exhausted! We landed in Charlotte around 830pm and my parents were there to meet us. My mum couldn't get her hands on Andrew quick enough. We had to remind her to walk through the airport. If we weren't there to guide her, I think she would have stayed in that moment forever.

Hottest Grandmother on the block, no?



So, Friday was bachelorette weekend. Myself, Melissa (THA Bride), and 5 other girls headed down to Savannah, Georgia for a classic girls weekend. This is now my new favorite city. Not only is it just the most beautiful place I've been to in a very long time (put it into perspective.. I've been around nothing but Army bases for the past 2 years) but what sealed the deal was when I realized you can walk the streets with alcoholic drinks. You should have seen my reaction when the bartender asked if I wanted my Mich Ultra for here or to go at 11 in the morning.. don't judge.. remember.. we were celebrating!


Walking to brunch Sunday morning.. gorgeous trees!





Our first to-go beer!


Our hotel was gorgeous!! We stayed right on the Savannah River in the historic, downtown district. We didn't have to get in our cars at all over the weekend.



The inside of our hotel





View of the river from our balcony

 The first night there we stayed in and did a surprise lingerie shower for Mel. While meandering through the hotel, trying to find the patio bar on the roof, we instead found a women laying in the hallway of the hotel sans pants. Thong only. Imagine our surprise. After we got over our giggling, immature 13 year old selves, we realized we couldn't leave her like that and covered her up in a robe. Because we had one on hand. After getting nowhere with her incoherent self, we got some help and got her to her room. The story is much more detailed and hilarious, but we'd be here all day. I will say that the next morning we got in the elevator with her and she had no clue. I think we were all red from holding in our laughter.
Saturday we got up and started walking the streets in our adorable t-shirts and found this man with no t-shirt. Yum-O.

Sweet Irish abs.

By 3:00 some of us (those who can't hang quite as well) needed a nap. Took nap.. hours passed.. then we all got dolled up in our little black dresses to go out for the night. Fun. I won't be putting any pics up of that mess. I kid. We all looked amazing, but I don't have any decent pictures!

While I was away having a much needed weekend with the girls, Drew was having the time of his life with my family. I'm actually not sure who had more fun - him or them.

I was very excited to come home and see that precious face, but it was very anti-climatic. I called his name multiple times when I came through the door and got nothing. Not even a sideways glance. It's true. We have it on video.

More to come throughout the week!

Flying with a baby

Is not very fun. But it is doable.

We flew with Drew when he was 4 months. Key word..WE. I had help. It was chaotic enough with the two of us. To say I was a little nervous about flying with him this time.. alone.. is an understatement.

It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be though. Turns out - people are very friendly and helpful. And encouraging. See.. most people have been there. They can empathize. Each and every time I had to drop my purse, unfold the stroller, lock it up and get all my crap back together all while holding a baby (4 times btw.. before getting onto each plane) I was offered help by someone as they passed by. For the record - I never needed their help. I am Mother, hear me ROAR :) When he would go through his fussy periods on the plane - one of the flights is almost 4 hours, fussiness happens - there was always someone willing to play peek-a-boo or make silly faces. And getting off the place, sometimes a kind soul would stop and tell me what a wonderful baby he was, which never fails to make my heart smile.

In Drew's *almost* 7 short months of life he has been on 8 planes, so I consider myself somewhat of an expert. Or at least getting there. Lucky you... now I will share my expert tips:

*If your baby is formula fed, they have little packs of formula that look like the Crystal Light packs you dump in your water. Buy them. If you breastfeed I am clearly no help. Just hope that you are not as modest as I am. Those planes don't have much space!
*If the babe is at the stage where they are eating solids - buy 1 or 2 of those food pouches. Squeeze it right into their mouth.. no spoons or mess necessary.
*Make sure you have all of the extra necessities handy. Poop doesn't wait for the plane to land and sometimes - ahem - it will be a horrendous one and it will seep through his clothes and onto yours just as the seat belt sign comes on and the plane is starting it's descent.
*Give him/her a bottle for take off and landing. They can't chew gum.. swallowing helps their cute little ears.
*And mostly - just go with the flow. There is only so much you can do to comfort your baby on a plane. Have toys, be willing to make silly sounds and faces, walk the aisle.. all of that helps. But sometimes they are just going to cry. What'r ya gonna do?

We made it through and ya know what? The look on my parents faces when we spotted each other through the crowd and they saw their precious grandson... I'll fly 100 days straight to see that sweet moment again.

In other, totally unrelated, but important still news:
We had his appointment with the Pediatric Ophthalmologist Friday morning. She is under the impression that everything is fine for now. She is very sure that the difference in the size of his pupils is physiological. She is not convinced that he is blind in his left eye, but probably just doesn't see as well. Nothing they can do at this point. She gave me trouble signs to watch out for and wants to see him again in a year.

He also rolled over from his back to belly for the first time. I was getting worried, not gonna lie. He's been rolling the opposite way from 4 months. Nonetheless.. We have ourselves a full blown roller! Let the fun begin :)

A quick hello!

I know that I have been MIA and this won't be a long post, but just wanted to say, "heyyyy y'all"! I've finally caught up on blogs in the little bit of spare time that I've had and feel good that I've kept up with you all.
I'm having a great time and plan to make the most out of the last day and 1/2 that I have with family.

While walking around in Savannah 2 weekends ago, we came across a store that has a lady that sits in the window and writes on a typewriter. She takes suggestions to "cure her writers block" and has a few samples of her writing below where she sits.

I fell in love with this short little blurb and have been sharing it with everyone I think of, so naturally I have to share it with you all! I wish I knew her name to give her credit, but she signs it all, " - the writer in the window". Here you go.. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did :)

Q: When will I find the man of my dreams?
A: When you become the woman of yours.

That made my heart smile to absolutely no end!
Thank you Writer in the Window.

~ 6 Months ~

Drew baby - how is it even remotely possible that we've had your sweet little self with us for a whole half of a year??? Time needs to just slow right down right this instant!

You had your 6-month appointment yesterday so let's get straight to your stats:

• You weigh 18.7 pounds and in the 66th percentile.
• You are 27.5 inches long in the 60th percentile. (so that would make you about half the length of my body ;)  )
• Your head is 45cm around and in the 77th percentile. (it did grow at a large rate from last time, so they are going to be keeping an eye on that. Nothing to worry about right now, especially since we just had a CT Scan done on you)
• The doctor said your skin looks great and you have a beautifully shaped head, which got mama lots of praise for doing a good job at playing with you.
• You are right on track developmentally! The doctor told on you buddy.. she said you are perfectly capable of rolling from your back to your belly since you do it the opposite way.. you just don't want to. Another hint that you are going to have my personality - you stubborn monkey!
• You are wearing 6-9 and some 9 month pj's. In shorts/pants you wear 6 or 6-9 month. Onesies 6 or 6-9 month and shortall/overalls 6-9 month. You'll be wearing a very handsome suit for your Mimi's wedding next weekend and I cannot wait to see you in it :)
• Still wearing size 3 diapers, but only in Pampers Cruisers. You've outgrown a 3 in Pampers Dry Baby. Didn't know they were a little different? It's true.
• You eat almost anything. The only thing you don't like is yogurt and turns out I wasn't supposed to give that to you anyways.. woops. You seem to love your veggies more so than fruits, so that is wonderful! I really need to give you meats, but to be honest.. the thought of mushing up some chicken or beef in the blender grosses me out more than a little bit. I'll get over it very soon and feed you the good stuff.. promise!
• You love your toys and have your favorites: your soft firetruck book, the little rattle/piano that plays different songs of which you know how to play, your trucks (already), a few different rattles, and you love love love to be in your exersaucer (I have to raise it up to the next level because you are too tall for the first one now).
• You sleep with a little blue elephant and it's precious to me to see you cuddle with it at night.
• You have no problem reaching and picking up for said toys... now if I can just get you to roll over to get them, I'd feel a lot better. But no.. you don't care THAT much.
• You are into everything! When you do become mobile.. I'm in trouble! I have to clear off the table when I put you in your bumbo to feed you. Even so.. I still have to let you look around and explore for about 5 minutes before you'll actually eat! Yess.. sometimes I get a little aggravated, but you really do make me laugh.
• You went through a little week or so long phase where you decided you didn't want to sleep through the night anymore, but you were sick I found out. You have your first cold/very minor ear infection (you can thank your daddy for bringing that home), but you're on meds now and seem to be feeling a lot better even if you do still have the congestion.

We leave tomorrow for SC and this coming up weekend you are staying with your Grandparents for the first time.. all by yourself. I know they will take such good care of you. They are REALLY looking forward to spending all of that time with you.. they love you so much Drew!

You continue to warm our hearts and make us love more than we knew we were capable of doing. You really are my pride and joy! We love you to infinity and beyond (sorry.. just watched Toy Story 3.. great movie btw).

*Pictures are uploading way too slow for my liking. I'll try again lata!