It's hard to believe that an entire month has already flown by, but it has my friends and tomorrow Drew baby and I will be on a plane back home. I dread these flights.. I really do. Andrew always does great ::knocks on wood:: but they are still exhausting. I miss the days of flying solo! I had no idea what a luxury that was!
Anywhoo... It's a bittersweet feeling to be going back. We will miss it here. Both of us. Andrew has just blossomed here. I think he's so used to up and traveling to a different place at this point. The makings of a true Army Brat in this boy! It has been reaffirming for me. I knew coming home for the deployment was the right move to begin with, but I still felt antsy about it and doubted myself sometimes. I don't anymore. I'll make a note to elaborate on that later, but I'm feeling really good about that decision!
It's been beyond amazing to have this month with my family. Their company and help with Andrew... I don't even have words. (The following is not meant to be read as "oh poor me, so please don't read it like that.. I simply didn't know what I was missing!) I'm used to doing just about everything by myself. With Trey in his XO position we haven't been seeing him until... on average... 7 at night. Sometimes later. By that time, everything is done (dinner, bath, clean up.. blah blah). So to have people walk in the house between 5 and 5:30.. wow! And people that are eager to unwrap Drew from my legs and go play with him so I can cook. So THIS is how normal people live??
On the same note, I'm ready to get back. I'm ready to have our own space. Part of me.. try to follow me here, I know this may sound contradictory to everything I just said.. just go with it.. Part of me is ready to get back in my groove and do everything on my own. Remind me of those words in 2 days. I can't explain that feeling. It's just what I know I guess.
AND MOST IMPORTANTLY - I'm ready to see my husband!!! I can't say just when he'll be home, of course, and I'm sure it will be another fun Army Waiting Game, but it won't be too long of a countdown once we get back. I can't wait to wrap my arms around him! To see him with Andrew and catch him up on everything that's changed in the short month since he's seen him. To have our movie nights back! Good stuff.
I've been telling Andrew since we got here that he's a lucky boy because he has 2 homes. It's the easiest way I could think of so he wouldn't get confused and I wouldn't have to specify, "Mizzy and Grampy's home" the whole month. He gets it and will tell you he has 2 homes. So, I guess I'm pretty lucky too. That I can be "at home" in both places. That I have more than one place to call home.
Now if someone could just move one of those homes to a cooler climate, I'll be even more content (ahem.. looking at you Army!)
Showing posts with label Family. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Family. Show all posts
August 20, 2012
July 9, 2012
Back from vacation
Well, we are back in town from visiting family. We were in Illinois getting some time with Trey's family, some we haven't seen in years! And it was nice to catch up with them.. such good, sweet people!
For the most part we really enjoyed our time. Andrew LOVED playing with his cousin, Addyson. They spent countless hours outside together, swimming in the kiddie pool, running around giggling, blowing bubbles and fighting over toys. He also met his new cousin, Reagan, whom he actually held and gave kisses too. This is a big step for a certain little boy who is not quite a baby-hater, but definitely has a lot of strides to make before another baby makes its way into our house!
We went to a tractor museum, where a GREAT time was had! Andrew was in tractor heaven.
We enjoyed ice cream, Popsicles and fireworks. Well... some of us enjoyed the fireworks. SOMEONE was scared of them and had to sit inside the whole time. No, I'm not talking about Trey.
I got to see a movie with my SIL - Brave. It was cute, but not my favorite. I think I'm in the minority here though.
Like I said, a fun time for the most part. Then things got a little crazy. I won't go into too much detail with names or too much specifics, but it does need to be mentioned. I thought long and hard before posting about this. I don't usually like to post about family business when it's derogatory, but inthe end, I really felt like I had to. This is my blog where I talk about important things going on in our lives. This is big for me right now, something I'm very concerned and hurt over.
We all know that judgement is out there when it comes to your parenting. It's not right, but it's going to happen. Mostly (and sadly) from other mommies though, right? And especially from women who aren't yet parents. We can forgive them because, bless their hearts, they just have NO CLUE. We let them think they will do it a whole different way and have the perfect child while they can. Sometimes ignorance is bliss, right?
Sadly, for the last half of the week, we caught the brunt of parental judgement. I would even go as far as to say judging my child. That, my friends is not fun to deal with. Apparently, we don't discipline our child well enough, if at all. Isn't that funny? I find myself exhausted with how much I have to stay on Andrew, but if it's not done the way people think you should do it, it's not good enough or it's not correct. It was made clearly known to us that we should be spanking. And that even if we do not spank him, he WILL get spanked at said someone's house whether I like it or not or whether I'm there or not.
REALLY???
That was one of my biggest issues. Please do not threaten myself or my child. I don't respond well to that. (I'm trying to keep this factual and not let my anger come out, but I'm having a hard time... back on track!) A few different conversations were had by certain people that were concerned with Andrew's behavior (he cries, whines and throws tantrums at times... in other words... he's a toddler. A young one at that who doesn't have a complete vocabulary to express himself with) and the way we handle it (without spanking. We do time-outs and talk calmly, but firmly to him). Eyes were rolled in his direction multiple times. That's the gist of it.
When did it become anyone's business but mine and Trey's as to how we raise our child? Why do people feel they can dictate how we run things? I'm upset and I'm hurt. Mostly for my husband and baby. This was supposed to be a vacation for Trey. His week of relaxation before NTC. He definitely doesn't feel like he got that and that's really sad to me. Secondly, I hate people looking at my child as less than. He may not behave the same way as another child and we may not handle things the same was as another mom. That DOES NOT make him the lesser child and it certainly doesn't mean our parenting isn't up to par. Please don't give me the feeling that you are annoyed with my child. It doesn't sit well with me.
That's about all I can say. All of this being said, I really did enjoy getting that time with Trey's family that I haven't seen in such a long time. I just wish it hadn't ended on such a sour note.
For the most part we really enjoyed our time. Andrew LOVED playing with his cousin, Addyson. They spent countless hours outside together, swimming in the kiddie pool, running around giggling, blowing bubbles and fighting over toys. He also met his new cousin, Reagan, whom he actually held and gave kisses too. This is a big step for a certain little boy who is not quite a baby-hater, but definitely has a lot of strides to make before another baby makes its way into our house!
We went to a tractor museum, where a GREAT time was had! Andrew was in tractor heaven.
We enjoyed ice cream, Popsicles and fireworks. Well... some of us enjoyed the fireworks. SOMEONE was scared of them and had to sit inside the whole time. No, I'm not talking about Trey.
I got to see a movie with my SIL - Brave. It was cute, but not my favorite. I think I'm in the minority here though.
Like I said, a fun time for the most part. Then things got a little crazy. I won't go into too much detail with names or too much specifics, but it does need to be mentioned. I thought long and hard before posting about this. I don't usually like to post about family business when it's derogatory, but inthe end, I really felt like I had to. This is my blog where I talk about important things going on in our lives. This is big for me right now, something I'm very concerned and hurt over.
We all know that judgement is out there when it comes to your parenting. It's not right, but it's going to happen. Mostly (and sadly) from other mommies though, right? And especially from women who aren't yet parents. We can forgive them because, bless their hearts, they just have NO CLUE. We let them think they will do it a whole different way and have the perfect child while they can. Sometimes ignorance is bliss, right?
Sadly, for the last half of the week, we caught the brunt of parental judgement. I would even go as far as to say judging my child. That, my friends is not fun to deal with. Apparently, we don't discipline our child well enough, if at all. Isn't that funny? I find myself exhausted with how much I have to stay on Andrew, but if it's not done the way people think you should do it, it's not good enough or it's not correct. It was made clearly known to us that we should be spanking. And that even if we do not spank him, he WILL get spanked at said someone's house whether I like it or not or whether I'm there or not.
REALLY???
That was one of my biggest issues. Please do not threaten myself or my child. I don't respond well to that. (I'm trying to keep this factual and not let my anger come out, but I'm having a hard time... back on track!) A few different conversations were had by certain people that were concerned with Andrew's behavior (he cries, whines and throws tantrums at times... in other words... he's a toddler. A young one at that who doesn't have a complete vocabulary to express himself with) and the way we handle it (without spanking. We do time-outs and talk calmly, but firmly to him). Eyes were rolled in his direction multiple times. That's the gist of it.
When did it become anyone's business but mine and Trey's as to how we raise our child? Why do people feel they can dictate how we run things? I'm upset and I'm hurt. Mostly for my husband and baby. This was supposed to be a vacation for Trey. His week of relaxation before NTC. He definitely doesn't feel like he got that and that's really sad to me. Secondly, I hate people looking at my child as less than. He may not behave the same way as another child and we may not handle things the same was as another mom. That DOES NOT make him the lesser child and it certainly doesn't mean our parenting isn't up to par. Please don't give me the feeling that you are annoyed with my child. It doesn't sit well with me.
That's about all I can say. All of this being said, I really did enjoy getting that time with Trey's family that I haven't seen in such a long time. I just wish it hadn't ended on such a sour note.
June 26, 2012
My Parents Visit
My absense probably isn't even noted anymore around here since my new norm is getting out.. what?... a blog every two weeks? Don't blame me. It's the baby's fault ;)
My parents and youngest brother were out here for a visit last week. There is something very cruel about having triple the help while pregnant and caring for a toddler to zilch because your husband leaves, don't you agree??
Anyways, we had such a good time. We didn't do anything wild and crazy, in fact the majority of our time was spent right here in mi casa, but that's just how we roll. A few things that stand out and I'd like to remember:
Andrew is in LOVE with my brother. They played and laughed and rough-housed the week away. He actually cried when we drove home from the airport without him. We live 2.5 seconds away from the airport and knew which plane was theirs when it flew over (don't scoff and roll your eyes... my dad described the plane and told me when they were "zipping" down the runway). Andrew waved to the plane and said, "bye Steve", so naturally he now says the same thing to every plane that flies over his head. To him, Steve lives on flying airplanes :)
I mean, he liked everyone else too, but there is some serious Steve Obsession going on right now.
I think Mizzy secretly really enjoyed waking up with Andrew every morning before 6:30. She always reminded me that I could just keep my happy behind in the bed in the morning. When I would walk out Andrew would have already had his milk and breakfast and be freshly diapered. And Mizzy always had a little happy smirk on her face. See... Andrew's a little obsessed with me. If I'm around he won't be cuddling up to anyone else. No one else can give him his milk, take him to bed, read to him, change his diaper.. blah blah blah. WHY YESSSSS, it is exhausting for me, but my boy loves me, what can I say? But it's like out of sight, out of mind. So when I was tucked in bed behind my closed door in the morning, she got to cuddle him for that 4 seconds it took for him to drink his milk.
(It's very hard to grab a picture of my mom and any point, so I don't have one. My brother took a great one, but for some reason, it's taking them an eternity to post them up)
My dad had a great time just hanging out. He played lots of blocks and took advantage of the fact that Andrew really enjoys feeding people right now. Don't ask me.. he thinks it's a blast. So, naturally, he had Andrew feed him his favorite food all week:
He also enjoyed the local cuisine...
A few other things we did to pass the time:
We baked cookies to send to my other brother and his friends that are overseas. We all benefited from that (sorry Charlie, if you don't get as big of a batch as you expected) but Andrew clearly benefited the most.
We drove up to Scenic Drive where you can look out and see the entire city, plus into Mexico. It's really breathtaking! From there we continued on to the outlet malls, where again, Andrew was the only one to benefit. That's not true actually... we had some of the best pizza I've ever had in my life there for lunch.
We played a game called Redneck Life. Have y'all ever heard of or played this? It's just like the board game Life, but obviously for rednecks. HIL-A-RIOUS. You can buy it here, I strongly suggest it. You may end up as someone named Betty Lou with a 5th grade education, working as a Mullet Hair Stylist, married to Billy Joe and have 6 kids named Cooter. But, hey, that's just Redneck Life.
During the game I wrote down a few hilarious situations that we went through, but I threw it away and now I don't remember. You'll just have to trust me on this one. We had to walk away from it one night because we were all in hysterics.
We watched lots of Carolina Baseball games. Obviously them being here was a good luck charm. As soon as they left, it went all down hill.
My mom did just about all of the cooking for me, God bless her, I can't stand the thought of cooking food right now. My poor family. When we weren't cooking we were eating out at local restaurants (Taco Cabana, Charlie's Subs, Cattlemen's Steakhouse... where we waiting 2.5 hours to eat a steak. It was Father's Day and worth it. Carlos and Mickey's. I think that's it!)
Speaking of Father's Day - I got to spend it with my dad AND my husband this year! How awesome is that???
It was just a great all around visit and if I weren't going back soon for an extended period of time, I'd be really upset that they are gone. But, I guess they had to go back to their own life or something... I personally think moving down and being my live-in help wouldn't be such a bad gig!
My parents and youngest brother were out here for a visit last week. There is something very cruel about having triple the help while pregnant and caring for a toddler to zilch because your husband leaves, don't you agree??
Anyways, we had such a good time. We didn't do anything wild and crazy, in fact the majority of our time was spent right here in mi casa, but that's just how we roll. A few things that stand out and I'd like to remember:
Andrew is in LOVE with my brother. They played and laughed and rough-housed the week away. He actually cried when we drove home from the airport without him. We live 2.5 seconds away from the airport and knew which plane was theirs when it flew over (don't scoff and roll your eyes... my dad described the plane and told me when they were "zipping" down the runway). Andrew waved to the plane and said, "bye Steve", so naturally he now says the same thing to every plane that flies over his head. To him, Steve lives on flying airplanes :)
I mean, he liked everyone else too, but there is some serious Steve Obsession going on right now.
(It's very hard to grab a picture of my mom and any point, so I don't have one. My brother took a great one, but for some reason, it's taking them an eternity to post them up)
My dad had a great time just hanging out. He played lots of blocks and took advantage of the fact that Andrew really enjoys feeding people right now. Don't ask me.. he thinks it's a blast. So, naturally, he had Andrew feed him his favorite food all week:
 |
| That sure was a fun night... |
We baked cookies to send to my other brother and his friends that are overseas. We all benefited from that (sorry Charlie, if you don't get as big of a batch as you expected) but Andrew clearly benefited the most.
 |
| Get it baby! |
We played a game called Redneck Life. Have y'all ever heard of or played this? It's just like the board game Life, but obviously for rednecks. HIL-A-RIOUS. You can buy it here, I strongly suggest it. You may end up as someone named Betty Lou with a 5th grade education, working as a Mullet Hair Stylist, married to Billy Joe and have 6 kids named Cooter. But, hey, that's just Redneck Life.
During the game I wrote down a few hilarious situations that we went through, but I threw it away and now I don't remember. You'll just have to trust me on this one. We had to walk away from it one night because we were all in hysterics.
We watched lots of Carolina Baseball games. Obviously them being here was a good luck charm. As soon as they left, it went all down hill.
My mom did just about all of the cooking for me, God bless her, I can't stand the thought of cooking food right now. My poor family. When we weren't cooking we were eating out at local restaurants (Taco Cabana, Charlie's Subs, Cattlemen's Steakhouse... where we waiting 2.5 hours to eat a steak. It was Father's Day and worth it. Carlos and Mickey's. I think that's it!)
Speaking of Father's Day - I got to spend it with my dad AND my husband this year! How awesome is that???
It was just a great all around visit and if I weren't going back soon for an extended period of time, I'd be really upset that they are gone. But, I guess they had to go back to their own life or something... I personally think moving down and being my live-in help wouldn't be such a bad gig!
June 11, 2012
And He's Off
For a few years now (3), my brother has been driving me absolutely, bat sh!t, crazy.
He joined the AFNG 3 years ago and ever since then, has been itching to get on a plane overseas. I don't think I'll ever fully grasp the idea of a service member REALLY WANTING to deploy. Yes, they join of their own free will, knowing that they will most likely go at some point and they are okay with that. But jumping at the bit to go into a war zone? I don't get it. I know lots of military members out there exists that think this way... I would just never be one of them is all I'm saying. I'm in awe of them. I think they are truly remarkable people and it makes me teary just thinking about it.
So, for 3 years, I've been listening to his eager hopes every time a flight was going out. (if I don't use proper AF terms, forgive me. You know what I'm trying to say!)
"There's a flight going out, I'm gonna try to get on"
"I think they may let me go out on this one". "No they aren't". "Yes, I'm going.. I'm pretty sure". "Nope.. can't go."
"Hey, I really think I'm going this time. So and so has to come back and I think they're gonna let me take his place".
"Nope.. have to stay".
Years of this I tell ya. So many conversations that when he came to me last time letting me know that THIS WAS IT. This was his time. I was all, "yeah. okay. Whatevs."
I didn't think anything of it at all to tell you the truth. I put it out of my mind and waited around for his call letting me know it wasn't going to happen. Except when he called me back, he was letting me know that later that week he was getting his shots. You know the shots I speak of.
It shocked me. I was in the car with a friend, gallivanting around town, and just lost it a little bit. My little brother was going overseas. FOR REALS this time.
Then it all happened so fast. He got his shots. Was issued his deployment gear. Had his last day at his normal job. Had his last 50 beers (I kid.. 75). Packed up his stuff and my parents went to send him off. And now he's there.
I'm anxious to hear from him. Without going into too much detail, I feel pretty good about his general safety. But one can never feel TOO good when your loved one is in a war zone. I want to make sure he's not too tired. That he's eating well. That he's safe. I know he can handle all of this and I know he wanted it so very badly... but he can come home now :) He's been over there a few days.. enough to get it out of his system, right?
Either way, I'm one proud sister!
He joined the AFNG 3 years ago and ever since then, has been itching to get on a plane overseas. I don't think I'll ever fully grasp the idea of a service member REALLY WANTING to deploy. Yes, they join of their own free will, knowing that they will most likely go at some point and they are okay with that. But jumping at the bit to go into a war zone? I don't get it. I know lots of military members out there exists that think this way... I would just never be one of them is all I'm saying. I'm in awe of them. I think they are truly remarkable people and it makes me teary just thinking about it.
So, for 3 years, I've been listening to his eager hopes every time a flight was going out. (if I don't use proper AF terms, forgive me. You know what I'm trying to say!)
"There's a flight going out, I'm gonna try to get on"
"I think they may let me go out on this one". "No they aren't". "Yes, I'm going.. I'm pretty sure". "Nope.. can't go."
"Hey, I really think I'm going this time. So and so has to come back and I think they're gonna let me take his place".
"Nope.. have to stay".
Years of this I tell ya. So many conversations that when he came to me last time letting me know that THIS WAS IT. This was his time. I was all, "yeah. okay. Whatevs."
I didn't think anything of it at all to tell you the truth. I put it out of my mind and waited around for his call letting me know it wasn't going to happen. Except when he called me back, he was letting me know that later that week he was getting his shots. You know the shots I speak of.
It shocked me. I was in the car with a friend, gallivanting around town, and just lost it a little bit. My little brother was going overseas. FOR REALS this time.
Then it all happened so fast. He got his shots. Was issued his deployment gear. Had his last day at his normal job. Had his last 50 beers (I kid.. 75). Packed up his stuff and my parents went to send him off. And now he's there.
I'm anxious to hear from him. Without going into too much detail, I feel pretty good about his general safety. But one can never feel TOO good when your loved one is in a war zone. I want to make sure he's not too tired. That he's eating well. That he's safe. I know he can handle all of this and I know he wanted it so very badly... but he can come home now :) He's been over there a few days.. enough to get it out of his system, right?
Either way, I'm one proud sister!
June 1, 2012
5 years
Tomorrow my husband and I celebrate 5 years of marriage! In October, it will be 10 years of togetherness, but tomorrow is the day we said I do, 5 years ago!
Here we are 5 years ago at the ripe age of 24 (and 25..him.. old fart):
And here we are now:
We've been through so much together and have come such a long way. Never, ever when I said, "I do", did I imagine that this would be our life. We bought a house together and sold it. He joined the Army and I drove 18 hours by myself to go live with him. We moved to Oklahoma and then to Texas. We learned how to live life on our own. Just the two of us. And we thrived. Our relationship became stronger than ever. That will happen when you only have each other to depend on. Then our love brought the most amazing little boy into this world:
He is the best thing that could have ever come into our lives. He made our family even brighter and happier.
After leaning on each other through our miscarriage, we realized we make each other stronger. I'm a better person with Trey by my side.
And what better time than our anniversary, while celebrating the love that we share, to announce that we are expecting again*! Do you like how I just threw that in there? Not what you were expecting to read, huh? We are thrilled and so very excited at the thought of growing our family even more so.
So tomorrow night, we'll be going out to dinner to celebrate us. To celebrate all of the ups we've shared together and the downs that have made us even stronger. Happy 5 years, babe! I love that man more than I have the words to express.
*I hope I didn't knock you out of your seat with that announcement. I realize I just did a whole woe is me post about not getting pregnant and how out of whack by body was. Turns out I am! No wonder my body was crazy. Also, I may be crazy for letting the whole world know this early ( I actually have no clue how far along I am), but I would be out and open with it if anything does happen. We need all of the prayers we can get for a healthy pregnancy, so if you think of it, please pray for us! I have a good feeling about this, so we're celebrating and acting as if there is no threat... all while taking it as easy as possible of course. Plus, I had to find a way to tell people before my sweet mother told the world for me :)
Here we are 5 years ago at the ripe age of 24 (and 25..him.. old fart):
We've been through so much together and have come such a long way. Never, ever when I said, "I do", did I imagine that this would be our life. We bought a house together and sold it. He joined the Army and I drove 18 hours by myself to go live with him. We moved to Oklahoma and then to Texas. We learned how to live life on our own. Just the two of us. And we thrived. Our relationship became stronger than ever. That will happen when you only have each other to depend on. Then our love brought the most amazing little boy into this world:
After leaning on each other through our miscarriage, we realized we make each other stronger. I'm a better person with Trey by my side.
And what better time than our anniversary, while celebrating the love that we share, to announce that we are expecting again*! Do you like how I just threw that in there? Not what you were expecting to read, huh? We are thrilled and so very excited at the thought of growing our family even more so.
So tomorrow night, we'll be going out to dinner to celebrate us. To celebrate all of the ups we've shared together and the downs that have made us even stronger. Happy 5 years, babe! I love that man more than I have the words to express.
*I hope I didn't knock you out of your seat with that announcement. I realize I just did a whole woe is me post about not getting pregnant and how out of whack by body was. Turns out I am! No wonder my body was crazy. Also, I may be crazy for letting the whole world know this early ( I actually have no clue how far along I am), but I would be out and open with it if anything does happen. We need all of the prayers we can get for a healthy pregnancy, so if you think of it, please pray for us! I have a good feeling about this, so we're celebrating and acting as if there is no threat... all while taking it as easy as possible of course. Plus, I had to find a way to tell people before my sweet mother told the world for me :)
April 23, 2012
A Week with Chuck
I took a little week long hiatus from blogging, unintentionally, because my brother came in town for a visit!
He flew in last Friday night and left Saturday morning. It was so SO nice to have him here for a week and I wish I could have kept him longer. Alas, apparently he has something called a life and had to fly on home. I LOVE for family to come and visit. There is something just comforting about having your family with you in your current "home". Well, I guess not everyone can say that, but for me it definitely is. I loved everything about having him here.. the constant company and the kind of companionship that only a sibling can provide, having someone else to play with Andrew (which the little guy LOVED btw), someone else to eat my food, drive around with, go to the park with, play Draw Something with when you're in the same room together... even the ESPN constantly on in the background.
My favorite part was seeing Andrew bond with his Uncle. At first he was a little clingy to me (which I felt terrible about and kept trying to assure Charlie that I'm sure Andrew likes him.. he just has some mommy issues.. when it turns out he actually had a double ear infection the whole time. Who knew?) But he took to him soon and Andrew just loved him.
They played with lots of Army Men.
Mowed the lawn.
We took a trip to White Sands, New Mexico and played in the sand.
Had a delicious steak dinner at Cattlemen's Steakhouse. We looked at animals afterwards and even fed some rabbits.
Even though we have no pictures to prove it, we also spent a lot of time at various parks, showed Uncle Charlie Scenic Drive, had a cookout, watched a few hockey games (Go Bruins), and just got a lot of quality time together!
I'm always borderline depressed the day family leaves and it's always an emotional scene at the airport, but it's totally worth it. Who's coming out next??
*Also, girls, just so you know... Uncle Charlie is single and obviously good looks run in the family. Plus, he has a great job (Active Duty AF National Guard) and is WONDERFUL with kids*
He flew in last Friday night and left Saturday morning. It was so SO nice to have him here for a week and I wish I could have kept him longer. Alas, apparently he has something called a life and had to fly on home. I LOVE for family to come and visit. There is something just comforting about having your family with you in your current "home". Well, I guess not everyone can say that, but for me it definitely is. I loved everything about having him here.. the constant company and the kind of companionship that only a sibling can provide, having someone else to play with Andrew (which the little guy LOVED btw), someone else to eat my food, drive around with, go to the park with, play Draw Something with when you're in the same room together... even the ESPN constantly on in the background.
My favorite part was seeing Andrew bond with his Uncle. At first he was a little clingy to me (which I felt terrible about and kept trying to assure Charlie that I'm sure Andrew likes him.. he just has some mommy issues.. when it turns out he actually had a double ear infection the whole time. Who knew?) But he took to him soon and Andrew just loved him.
They played with lots of Army Men.
Mowed the lawn.
We took a trip to White Sands, New Mexico and played in the sand.
Had a delicious steak dinner at Cattlemen's Steakhouse. We looked at animals afterwards and even fed some rabbits.
Even though we have no pictures to prove it, we also spent a lot of time at various parks, showed Uncle Charlie Scenic Drive, had a cookout, watched a few hockey games (Go Bruins), and just got a lot of quality time together!
I'm always borderline depressed the day family leaves and it's always an emotional scene at the airport, but it's totally worth it. Who's coming out next??
*Also, girls, just so you know... Uncle Charlie is single and obviously good looks run in the family. Plus, he has a great job (Active Duty AF National Guard) and is WONDERFUL with kids*
January 28, 2012
Normalcy
I don't usually take the time to write a post over the weekend. I'm usually staying off of the computer as much as possible, enjoying time as a family. Today, though, I have some strange sharp pain between my chest and armpit that strikes with any random movement or breath (I'm guessing some sort of strain-ish type thing from Power Pump) and it's pretty windy and cold outside.
After running errands this morning, we're now lounging around the house watching Tarzan. I was folding laundry when I took a moment to look over at Trey and Andrew. Trey lying on the floor, Andrew sitting next to him with his little hand on Daddy's back, wiggling his toes, both transfixed by the movie. That simple moment just about took my breath away. Just a simple little moment between my boys. It filled my heart in such an honest way. It only lasted a minute of course, not even long enough to last until I pulled the camera out, and now Andrew is climbing all over him and driving his car all over his back. But he is still smiling ear to ear. He's enjoying his Daddy.
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I'm trying to ingrain these images into my brain. Life is about to get crazy for us. Trey will be gone for weeks at a time all leading up to his first deployment. I think it's these very simple moments I will miss the most... the normalcy of life that I can't help but feel we've taken for granted all too often lately. My heart hurts for the two of them. But I can't delve into those feelings right now... I'm not quite ready. I just wanted to capture that little moment to have to look back on, and since it didn't make the camera, it HAD to make the blog.
After running errands this morning, we're now lounging around the house watching Tarzan. I was folding laundry when I took a moment to look over at Trey and Andrew. Trey lying on the floor, Andrew sitting next to him with his little hand on Daddy's back, wiggling his toes, both transfixed by the movie. That simple moment just about took my breath away. Just a simple little moment between my boys. It filled my heart in such an honest way. It only lasted a minute of course, not even long enough to last until I pulled the camera out, and now Andrew is climbing all over him and driving his car all over his back. But he is still smiling ear to ear. He's enjoying his Daddy.
.JPG)
I'm trying to ingrain these images into my brain. Life is about to get crazy for us. Trey will be gone for weeks at a time all leading up to his first deployment. I think it's these very simple moments I will miss the most... the normalcy of life that I can't help but feel we've taken for granted all too often lately. My heart hurts for the two of them. But I can't delve into those feelings right now... I'm not quite ready. I just wanted to capture that little moment to have to look back on, and since it didn't make the camera, it HAD to make the blog.
December 6, 2011
True Meaning of Christmas (the next Charlie Brown special)
I've had these jumbled up thoughts in my head for almost a week now and have been trying to get to the computer to sort them out (I've tried talking about it multiple times, but my mouth, unfortunately, doesn't have a backspace button), but I've been busier than normal. In a good way. I've allowed myself a little more freedom in my social life area and it's done my soul a ton of good. Most importantly, I helped friends get ready for Nancy's sweet baby shower that was held on Sunday. Nancy and I discovered we had locked up talent that was dying to be let out.
And Ashley convinced me that I need a Cricut when we worked on this together.
Speaking of Christmas.. let's get down to the point.
Growing up, Santa was EXTREMELY good to us. The presents always extended far out, half way across the living room. It was SO MUCH fun. I'll always have warm, fond memories of waking up on Christmas morning and seeing the room dimly lit by the tree and other decorations, and feeling the magic of Santa Clause even as an adult. Having younger brothers helped too. I'll always remember both of their excitement.. coming to frantically wake me up so I could see what Santa brought. We'd all sit down in the living room, my mom with her coffee, camera, and a huge grin on her face. My dad with his OJ, trash bag, and sweat pants telling us all to "relax". Ha! He loved it all just as much.. I think we were all just a little too hyper for him.. and I'm not sure why the sweat pants stick out so much.. but they really do. We'd open a present one by one, each taking turns and would stop half way through to refill drinks and maybe get a little something to much on. This was like a two hour affair.. at least. I loved it. I have such great memories of Christmas with my family.
Which makes my conflicting ideals that much more difficult. I'm struck with my strong dislike of the commercial side of the holiday this year more than any others. The constant countdown reminders of how many days you have left to shop. How Black Friday might as well have started on Thanksgiving itself. I'm seeing people break the bank.. literally.. trying to get gifts for everyone they feel obligated to buy for.
We're choosing not to do that this year and it's a great feeling. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE to give. It's one of the best feelings. But it becomes such a hassle around Christmas. I hate that gift giving is EXPECTED. I hope this isn't coming out wrong. I want to give.. within our means. And that's what we're doing this year. My side of the family usually gets a gift for everyone.. this year we're doing a $25 limit Chinese gift exchange. It's going to be a blast and we'll be able to just be. Together.
In our immediate family.. Trey, Drew and I.. I want to focus on the real meaning of Christmas in the years to come. I want to talk to our kids about Jesus' birth. To show them what it's really all about. To teach the importance of giving.. ironically. But giving to those that have less. We'll still have all of the fun decorations and Santa will be a part, but I don't know that we'll have presents filling up the living room on Christmas morning.
I saw this on Pinterest the other day.. which is what sparked all of this.
A big part of me wants to stick with this. The item they want and read can be from Santa. The other two can be from us. If we do this, we can take whatever money left of what we budget and sponsor a child that may not receive anything.
We, as a family, may not have excess.. we may not have the best of things.. we definitely don't keep up with The Joneses in other words.. but we have plenty. We have everything we need. We are warm, clothed (even if I do have to do laundry twice a week), and always have food on the table. Andrew is in no shortage of books or toys. We take all of this for granted and I want to teach him that others may not have ANY of this, and we can be in a position to help.. if we don't spend all of our money of gifts for him that he may WANT but not NEED.
I can't help but go back to my fond memories growing up though, and feel like he'd be missing out on that. It's a smaller part of me that thinks like this, but it's obviously enough to cause some conflict. When he's older.. but still young.. how would I deal with the whole, "but Johnny gets a ton of gifts from Santa.. am I not being a good enough boy?" type of thing.
I'm probably thinking way too much into this, but that's what I do. I have no idea how I'd answer that.
Anyways, that's where we are and we'll sort it all out. In the meantime, we are very much enjoying our lower-key Christmas this year. It's going to get busy soon with traveling and chaos, but right now, it's calm, beautiful, and peaceful. And Andrew almost has putting coins in the Salvation Army bucket down pat.
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| Not perfect, but keep in mind that this was the first time either of us had ever even touched fondant. |
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| I seriously want one so very badly. Good thing my birthday is in March because my Christmas present was used up with a camera. Which I love. |
Growing up, Santa was EXTREMELY good to us. The presents always extended far out, half way across the living room. It was SO MUCH fun. I'll always have warm, fond memories of waking up on Christmas morning and seeing the room dimly lit by the tree and other decorations, and feeling the magic of Santa Clause even as an adult. Having younger brothers helped too. I'll always remember both of their excitement.. coming to frantically wake me up so I could see what Santa brought. We'd all sit down in the living room, my mom with her coffee, camera, and a huge grin on her face. My dad with his OJ, trash bag, and sweat pants telling us all to "relax". Ha! He loved it all just as much.. I think we were all just a little too hyper for him.. and I'm not sure why the sweat pants stick out so much.. but they really do. We'd open a present one by one, each taking turns and would stop half way through to refill drinks and maybe get a little something to much on. This was like a two hour affair.. at least. I loved it. I have such great memories of Christmas with my family.
Which makes my conflicting ideals that much more difficult. I'm struck with my strong dislike of the commercial side of the holiday this year more than any others. The constant countdown reminders of how many days you have left to shop. How Black Friday might as well have started on Thanksgiving itself. I'm seeing people break the bank.. literally.. trying to get gifts for everyone they feel obligated to buy for.
We're choosing not to do that this year and it's a great feeling. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE to give. It's one of the best feelings. But it becomes such a hassle around Christmas. I hate that gift giving is EXPECTED. I hope this isn't coming out wrong. I want to give.. within our means. And that's what we're doing this year. My side of the family usually gets a gift for everyone.. this year we're doing a $25 limit Chinese gift exchange. It's going to be a blast and we'll be able to just be. Together.
In our immediate family.. Trey, Drew and I.. I want to focus on the real meaning of Christmas in the years to come. I want to talk to our kids about Jesus' birth. To show them what it's really all about. To teach the importance of giving.. ironically. But giving to those that have less. We'll still have all of the fun decorations and Santa will be a part, but I don't know that we'll have presents filling up the living room on Christmas morning.
I saw this on Pinterest the other day.. which is what sparked all of this.
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| source: http://www.giventolove.com/2011/11/four-gift-rule.html |
We, as a family, may not have excess.. we may not have the best of things.. we definitely don't keep up with The Joneses in other words.. but we have plenty. We have everything we need. We are warm, clothed (even if I do have to do laundry twice a week), and always have food on the table. Andrew is in no shortage of books or toys. We take all of this for granted and I want to teach him that others may not have ANY of this, and we can be in a position to help.. if we don't spend all of our money of gifts for him that he may WANT but not NEED.
I can't help but go back to my fond memories growing up though, and feel like he'd be missing out on that. It's a smaller part of me that thinks like this, but it's obviously enough to cause some conflict. When he's older.. but still young.. how would I deal with the whole, "but Johnny gets a ton of gifts from Santa.. am I not being a good enough boy?" type of thing.
I'm probably thinking way too much into this, but that's what I do. I have no idea how I'd answer that.
Anyways, that's where we are and we'll sort it all out. In the meantime, we are very much enjoying our lower-key Christmas this year. It's going to get busy soon with traveling and chaos, but right now, it's calm, beautiful, and peaceful. And Andrew almost has putting coins in the Salvation Army bucket down pat.
November 17, 2011
Cousins
I know.. I know.. not the most creative title ever. But you'll have to cut me some slack as I try and transition into regular posting again. The creativity isn't flowing by any means.
Our life is attempting to slow back down after our month of visitors. Good luck with that around the holidays, right?! In other words, it's just the three of us in the casa for a while. And while Andrew loved having his Mimi and cousin here with him for two weeks, I think us mamas learned a valuable lesson. Two weeks is too long of a visit for toddlers. The one visiting wants their own toys. Own bed. Own house. The one having the visitor doesn't want to share their toys or their mama anymore. Wants their space back. And they get cranky. Andrew is coming along, adjusting back to normal life, and seems to like other kids again. Yes, for a while there he was pretty ugly to other children. It wasn't a proud period. All of that being said...
I'm SO SO thankful, like deep down in my heart thankful, that they got that time together. It wasn't an easy trip for them to make, nor was it cheap. But they did it and I loved it.
Growing up in Massachusetts (for the first 12 years of my life), I was extremely close to my extended family (proximity and relationship-wise). And there was a lot of them.. see..
We were/are so close. Getting together for holidays, birthdays, cookouts, just because. And while we're still close in our relationships, life has gotten in the way. Some of us have moved. Almost all of us have our own families now. While we used to all be in the same state, just a short drive away, now we're spread across the county. Massachusetts, South Carolina, Texas, California and Oregon. And this is just my mom's side. Factor in my dad's side and we add in Maryland and Ohio. And we've never lived near each other, which makes things even more difficult.
So, after we moved away from everyone and started our life in South Carolina, I just knew my future family and I would NEVER move away. My children would see my parents all the time, not just for special occasions. We'd go over and hang out just because we felt like it. My kids would go to school with my brother's kids. They'd be best friends.
Ha! Best made plans, right? While I know that I'm living out God's plan for my life and not my own, this whole ideal was something I haven't quite been able to let go of. While my convictions that I'm doing God's will are getting stronger, and in turn, I'm coming to terms with it all, it's still something that's caused me heartache.
So when Melissa and Addy came to visit and our kids started playing together immediately.. when they laughed together.. when they walked around the house together.. heck even with they "fought" (you know.. the best way toddlers know how to fight) with each other. It did good things for my heart. To see this..
I know the distance will change things. But, as parents, we can make sure our kids are still close. Technology is wonderful for that these days. I can make sure we talk about his Grandparents, Uncles, Aunts, and cousins a lot. Look at pictures. Make an effort to Skype frequently. And make the visits as much as we can. And I'm sure they will do the same.
It is what we make of it! I plan to do as much as we can!
Our life is attempting to slow back down after our month of visitors. Good luck with that around the holidays, right?! In other words, it's just the three of us in the casa for a while. And while Andrew loved having his Mimi and cousin here with him for two weeks, I think us mamas learned a valuable lesson. Two weeks is too long of a visit for toddlers. The one visiting wants their own toys. Own bed. Own house. The one having the visitor doesn't want to share their toys or their mama anymore. Wants their space back. And they get cranky. Andrew is coming along, adjusting back to normal life, and seems to like other kids again. Yes, for a while there he was pretty ugly to other children. It wasn't a proud period. All of that being said...
I'm SO SO thankful, like deep down in my heart thankful, that they got that time together. It wasn't an easy trip for them to make, nor was it cheap. But they did it and I loved it.
Growing up in Massachusetts (for the first 12 years of my life), I was extremely close to my extended family (proximity and relationship-wise). And there was a lot of them.. see..
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| Circa summer '09 - Can you spot me? |
So, after we moved away from everyone and started our life in South Carolina, I just knew my future family and I would NEVER move away. My children would see my parents all the time, not just for special occasions. We'd go over and hang out just because we felt like it. My kids would go to school with my brother's kids. They'd be best friends.
Ha! Best made plans, right? While I know that I'm living out God's plan for my life and not my own, this whole ideal was something I haven't quite been able to let go of. While my convictions that I'm doing God's will are getting stronger, and in turn, I'm coming to terms with it all, it's still something that's caused me heartache.
So when Melissa and Addy came to visit and our kids started playing together immediately.. when they laughed together.. when they walked around the house together.. heck even with they "fought" (you know.. the best way toddlers know how to fight) with each other. It did good things for my heart. To see this..
It is what we make of it! I plan to do as much as we can!
November 9, 2011
Back to life - Back to reality
Our visitors are gone and it's back to real life! We dropped Melissa and Addyson off at the airport this morning, said our tearful see-you-laters (only minimal tears because they were sort of in a rush and we'll see them in two months anyways), and made the ... ummm.. very quiet 2 minute ride back home. Andrew was looking for Addy in the car seat next to him and it made my heart hurt a little. While they were definitely sick of each other for the past few days, I know he still got used to and enjoyed her being there. But back to their own life they must go! I'm pretty positive that Mel has a sinus infection and she's not doing very well flying, so if you happen to read this in the next few hours.. send up some quick prayers for them if you will!
I won't lie, the quiet is really nice right now. I miss them dearly, but I value my alone time as well, so I'm okay with it. Plus, I really missed blogging :)
Andrew is down for a nap and the house has been cleaned and thoroughly disinfected. Not because I wanted to scrub any remnants of them away or I think they're gross.. we've all been so sick. No fun! I think Andrew and I are turning the corner though, while unfortunately, Mel was getting worse and I really needed to get these germs out of my house. No one wants to be sick during a 4-day!
So, we had a great time over the past two weeks. We didn't get to do all that much, but we spent plenty of time just being together. Isn't that what it's really all about anyways? I think so. I spent some much needed face time with my SIL. Since we chat.. on average.. two or three times a day, it was nice not to have the phone glued to my ear! She got to hang out with her brother. Trey and I got to really know our niece. Andrew got to familiarize himself with them.
Our kids played at the park together. We scrap booked together. We laughed. We coughed. We ran errands. We vegged out on the couch. We took walks. We got our kids dressed up and trick-or-treated. We watched lots of hours of Nick Jr. and Cars (and Dexter!!). We built towers with blocks and sang lots of ABCs and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. We fought off sleep deprivation with coffee together. We Pinterested together. We Neti Potted together (gross?). We made tunnels out of boxes. We colored. We just did life, really.
Lots of good memories were made!
I won't lie, the quiet is really nice right now. I miss them dearly, but I value my alone time as well, so I'm okay with it. Plus, I really missed blogging :)
Andrew is down for a nap and the house has been cleaned and thoroughly disinfected. Not because I wanted to scrub any remnants of them away or I think they're gross.. we've all been so sick. No fun! I think Andrew and I are turning the corner though, while unfortunately, Mel was getting worse and I really needed to get these germs out of my house. No one wants to be sick during a 4-day!
So, we had a great time over the past two weeks. We didn't get to do all that much, but we spent plenty of time just being together. Isn't that what it's really all about anyways? I think so. I spent some much needed face time with my SIL. Since we chat.. on average.. two or three times a day, it was nice not to have the phone glued to my ear! She got to hang out with her brother. Trey and I got to really know our niece. Andrew got to familiarize himself with them.
Our kids played at the park together. We scrap booked together. We laughed. We coughed. We ran errands. We vegged out on the couch. We took walks. We got our kids dressed up and trick-or-treated. We watched lots of hours of Nick Jr. and Cars (and Dexter!!). We built towers with blocks and sang lots of ABCs and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. We fought off sleep deprivation with coffee together. We Pinterested together. We Neti Potted together (gross?). We made tunnels out of boxes. We colored. We just did life, really.
Lots of good memories were made!
October 11, 2011
Randoms
I just need like and hour and 1/2 added to the day. Couldn't we all use that?
I have a few spare minutes to blog, but my mind isn't capable of putting together full, concise paragraphs at the moment, so it's another fun random post. Yay!
First, and most importantly, Fort Bliss lost a Marine, SSGT Christopher Diaz, recently. The other day was the funeral and burial. The night before, it was posted all over FB that the westboro crazies were coming to protest the funeral. I won't get into how sick this makes me as 1) I'm sure you all know and 2) we'd be here all day. What I will do is boast about how incredible the Ft. Bliss community is. A very large amount of people showed up to support this family and westboro did not! I'm so glad for that family! Some of the pictures that I've seen so far are just breathtaking..
All scrap booking stuff is on sale at The Hob Lob for 40% off until the 15th. I couldn't be any more excited. But, don't you wish money grew on trees? That's wonderful that it's on sale and all... but if you have very little extra money, it doesn't matter too much. That all being said, I'm going tomorrow to pick up juussttt a few things.
~ Ahem ~
All of that above was written yesterday. I'm just sitting down to finish quickly, and have to admit that I went a little crazy at the Hob today. But I am in scrap booking heaven! I can't wait to start on Andrew's 1st year book. I may or may not be just waiting on the 335 pictures I ordered from Snapfish the other day to come in. Woopsies! But as my good friend Nancy pointed out... that's less than a picture a day. I think I did pretty good narrowing down a year's worth of pictures.
My in-laws are flying in on Thursday. I'm so excited to have some visitors. It's just a short visit, but we're going to make the most of it. It should be a fun few days :) I'm hoping Andrew will take his first real steps while they are here. He's so so so very close. As in has taken one or two wobbly can-barely-count-as-steps-steps. We're so close and I can't wait. No matter how many people tell me, "I'm in trouble now". That really grinds my gears (said in my best Peter Griffin voice).
I've finally joined Pinterest. Got sick of fighting it and it's the best thing that's come into my life. A little obsessed? Possibly.
That's all for now. I can't promise that I'll come up with any note-worthy posts anytime soon. Unless you can find me that extra hour and 1/2 in a day!
I have a few spare minutes to blog, but my mind isn't capable of putting together full, concise paragraphs at the moment, so it's another fun random post. Yay!
First, and most importantly, Fort Bliss lost a Marine, SSGT Christopher Diaz, recently. The other day was the funeral and burial. The night before, it was posted all over FB that the westboro crazies were coming to protest the funeral. I won't get into how sick this makes me as 1) I'm sure you all know and 2) we'd be here all day. What I will do is boast about how incredible the Ft. Bliss community is. A very large amount of people showed up to support this family and westboro did not! I'm so glad for that family! Some of the pictures that I've seen so far are just breathtaking..
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| All photos were taken courtesy of Jessica Brooks
|
~ Ahem ~
All of that above was written yesterday. I'm just sitting down to finish quickly, and have to admit that I went a little crazy at the Hob today. But I am in scrap booking heaven! I can't wait to start on Andrew's 1st year book. I may or may not be just waiting on the 335 pictures I ordered from Snapfish the other day to come in. Woopsies! But as my good friend Nancy pointed out... that's less than a picture a day. I think I did pretty good narrowing down a year's worth of pictures.
My in-laws are flying in on Thursday. I'm so excited to have some visitors. It's just a short visit, but we're going to make the most of it. It should be a fun few days :) I'm hoping Andrew will take his first real steps while they are here. He's so so so very close. As in has taken one or two wobbly can-barely-count-as-steps-steps. We're so close and I can't wait. No matter how many people tell me, "I'm in trouble now". That really grinds my gears (said in my best Peter Griffin voice).
I've finally joined Pinterest. Got sick of fighting it and it's the best thing that's come into my life. A little obsessed? Possibly.
That's all for now. I can't promise that I'll come up with any note-worthy posts anytime soon. Unless you can find me that extra hour and 1/2 in a day!
September 6, 2011
Let's catch up, shall we?
Look at this new blogger website setup. They claim it's faster and cleaner. We shall see!
It's been a while since I've sat down to type and I really don't know where or how to even begin. You know what that means.. bullets!
- We just got back from a weekend in Ohio for my cousin Kristine's wedding. We had such a great time for multiple reasons. Of course it was awesome to be around my parents, brothers and Vicky (my future SIL ;) ) I loved hanging out with them and seeing them spend time with Andrew. On top of that, the wedding was perfectly planned. It was beyond gorgeous, everything went smoothly (as far as we could tell), and tons of fun. But most of all, I loved reconnecting with my dad's side of the family.
It's been far too long since I've seen all of them. Life got in the way. Priorities weren't where they should have been. I was honestly a little nervous because within the past year, words where exchanged that shouldn't have been. But then we got there. None of that mattered... the time past or the harsh words. I was taken back to the age of 10 all over again and it was like time stood still. In short, I'm so thankful we went. I left with a rekindled, genuine attachment to my family and have vowed to not let this happen again. I didn't realize how much I've missed them. I'm still tearing up when I think about them. Trey loved them and was really impressed with the area. Seeing my Grandmother with my son was the ultimate highlight. I hope we got enough good pictures. To sum up what was supposed to be a short snippet.. this long weekend trip was good for the soul.
- When we got back, we realized that the weather has broken around here. The unbearable heat is finally gone and I hope gone until next summer. It inspired me to turn the air off and open the windows (at least until around 1pm.. baby steps), do a little fall cleaning, take out the fall decor, and paint my nails grey. It's my favorite time of year, y'all.
- I'm not quite sure what's up, but Drew has a temperature of 102.2 last I checked. I noticed today that he felt really warm. He's been just a tad extra clingy and whiny, but I chalked that up to the traveling and all the attention he got over the weekend that he is not longer receiving. It's been as high as 102.5. He's still eating more than enough. Everything I've read though has said to not call the doctor until it gets to 103. I know we are not far from it, but with him acting normal for the most part, I feel comfortable waiting it out. Germs from the plane? Teething? Just a plain ol' cold? Who knows.
- I REALLY need to jump right back on the WW train. It's been slacking. Well, non-existent is the more accurate term to use. After seeing yet even more friends doing it with success and all the calories that were consumed over the weekend (I haven't stepped on the scale, but I can tell a difference in my clothes), something's gotta give. My discipline!! Where did it go??
- A good friend is going to be leaving me soon. "A good friend" doesn't really do our friendship justice. We've been friends since high school and it just so happened that our husbands were stationed at the same post. How's that for a situation to strengthen an already existent bond?? My stomach already knots up when I think about her leaving, but mostly I'm in denial. It's not going to be good when reality hits me like a brick. I have to switch subjects now.
- Something to lighten the mood... GO.
We'll have lots of visitors over the next few months, thank God. I LOVE having people come to stay with us. Especially now that we live on post and love our home. I really enjoy getting to show off the area we live it to our friends and family. Trey's parents will be coming in about a month, then his sister, then my brother. It's all pretty much back to back. I'm excited.
I think that's all for now. Off to the Commissary for some German goods. Don't ask.. long story. It has something to do with Book club, birthdays and a turtle.
It's been a while since I've sat down to type and I really don't know where or how to even begin. You know what that means.. bullets!
- We just got back from a weekend in Ohio for my cousin Kristine's wedding. We had such a great time for multiple reasons. Of course it was awesome to be around my parents, brothers and Vicky (my future SIL ;) ) I loved hanging out with them and seeing them spend time with Andrew. On top of that, the wedding was perfectly planned. It was beyond gorgeous, everything went smoothly (as far as we could tell), and tons of fun. But most of all, I loved reconnecting with my dad's side of the family.
It's been far too long since I've seen all of them. Life got in the way. Priorities weren't where they should have been. I was honestly a little nervous because within the past year, words where exchanged that shouldn't have been. But then we got there. None of that mattered... the time past or the harsh words. I was taken back to the age of 10 all over again and it was like time stood still. In short, I'm so thankful we went. I left with a rekindled, genuine attachment to my family and have vowed to not let this happen again. I didn't realize how much I've missed them. I'm still tearing up when I think about them. Trey loved them and was really impressed with the area. Seeing my Grandmother with my son was the ultimate highlight. I hope we got enough good pictures. To sum up what was supposed to be a short snippet.. this long weekend trip was good for the soul.
- When we got back, we realized that the weather has broken around here. The unbearable heat is finally gone and I hope gone until next summer. It inspired me to turn the air off and open the windows (at least until around 1pm.. baby steps), do a little fall cleaning, take out the fall decor, and paint my nails grey. It's my favorite time of year, y'all.
- I'm not quite sure what's up, but Drew has a temperature of 102.2 last I checked. I noticed today that he felt really warm. He's been just a tad extra clingy and whiny, but I chalked that up to the traveling and all the attention he got over the weekend that he is not longer receiving. It's been as high as 102.5. He's still eating more than enough. Everything I've read though has said to not call the doctor until it gets to 103. I know we are not far from it, but with him acting normal for the most part, I feel comfortable waiting it out. Germs from the plane? Teething? Just a plain ol' cold? Who knows.
- I REALLY need to jump right back on the WW train. It's been slacking. Well, non-existent is the more accurate term to use. After seeing yet even more friends doing it with success and all the calories that were consumed over the weekend (I haven't stepped on the scale, but I can tell a difference in my clothes), something's gotta give. My discipline!! Where did it go??
- A good friend is going to be leaving me soon. "A good friend" doesn't really do our friendship justice. We've been friends since high school and it just so happened that our husbands were stationed at the same post. How's that for a situation to strengthen an already existent bond?? My stomach already knots up when I think about her leaving, but mostly I'm in denial. It's not going to be good when reality hits me like a brick. I have to switch subjects now.
- Something to lighten the mood... GO.
We'll have lots of visitors over the next few months, thank God. I LOVE having people come to stay with us. Especially now that we live on post and love our home. I really enjoy getting to show off the area we live it to our friends and family. Trey's parents will be coming in about a month, then his sister, then my brother. It's all pretty much back to back. I'm excited.
I think that's all for now. Off to the Commissary for some German goods. Don't ask.. long story. It has something to do with Book club, birthdays and a turtle.
June 14, 2011
What if....
*I know.. I know.. two posts in one day! To my defense though, the last one was a scheduled post I wrote yesterday*
Whoever said that the feeling of being homesick goes away is a liar liar pants on fire.
Sometimes I wonder what our life would be like now if Trey never joined the Army. If we never left our hometown.
Would we have been able to keep up with our mortgage and still be living in our home? We were dangerously living paycheck to paycheck.
Would we have decided to get pregnant at the time we did? Would we have Andrew right now? Let's say we did. Our parents would never have to miss him. We could go and spend an unlimited amount of time with them. My parents house would look like they had a grandchild besides just the pictures on the wall. Maybe they'd have their own stash of bottles, diapers, baby food and toys. (Trey's parents have a granddaughter that does live in the same town, so their house does look like this already). I could see my mom and dad loving on my baby and I feel like my life would be more complete.
I'm struck with a stabbing sense of regret and sadness when I hear about my friends that are able to do this on a regular basis. Just something as simple as going over their parents house for dinner.. to watch a movie.. to grill out. Visit them when one of them is sick or in the hospital. Spend holidays with them. Watch a game. Anything. Sometimes, it's little things that stop me in my tracks. The other morning when I was drinking the same type of coffee my mom drinks. I was instantly back on her beautiful deck drinking it with her. Or today when a loud truck drove by. For the quickest nano-second I pictured my brother pulling up in our drive way and plopping down on the couch asking for some munchies and a Gatorade. Do you know what I would give to experience these little mundane things????
But, on the other side... What If he didn't sign up.
What if we never moved away? Would I still be that same dependent girl who never grew up? Never did anything on her own? I barely knew how to keep up with bills before he left.. so serious. I can remember while he was at OCS in Benning and I made my first road trip down to see him. It was the first time that I ever.. in 26 years of life.. got in the car and took a road trip by myself. I was scared out of my mind. (Rightly so, apparently, I almost died.) And after a summer of making monthly 5-hour road trips to Benning, I friggen jumped in that same car, by myself, and drove 18 hours to Fort Sill, Oklahoma. Me. Ask my friends.. they'll tell you how unlike me that is. I grew so much. I don't know that I would of ever had the chance to do that otherwise.
I look at the people I have in my life now. I've met so many amazing people. It's crazy to me to think that I wouldn't have met all of them had we not made this decision. When you're an Army family, you learn that you don't have all the time in the world to form a relationship with the people you meet. So, sometimes, when you meet the right people, it's instantaneous. After the obligatory, where are you from? Do you have children? How long have you been in? What posts have you been to? That's it.. it's like you've fast-forwarded 2 years into a friendship: you have their number, your FB friends, and they immediately are an irreplaceable part of your life. I've been so blessed in this area.
If he hadn't joined, we probably never would have had the opportunity to see the places we have seen over the past 2 years. That's sad to me. While we were eating dinner at The Edge of Texas last Friday night, sitting outside, looking at the mountains, we talked a lot about that. No, El Paso is not the most exotic location in the world. But, it's beautiful in my opinion. We never in a million years would have randomly said, "hey.. let's book a flight to El Paso for vacation this year". But, I'm incredibly thankful that we're here... experiencing a new to us culture. Viewing a part of the country we wouldn't have otherwise. I'm getting opportunities that not many people get. Because it's not just a vacation, because we live here and will for at least another year and a half (probably more it's starting to look like) we get to take our time. Explore the area. Travel to surrounding locations.
Fort Sill, or Lawton, OK rather, was a hole in the wall, crap town. But I can guarantee you that if we weren't stationed there for a bit, I never would have seen Oklahoma City.. which we loved btw. I never would have met the people that I did there that I now would consider some of my great, great friends.
And this is only 2 years into our experience. Who knows what else we will see. Who knows who we will meet. I don't believe there are any mistakes. The places we go and the people that become part of our lives.. it all happens for a reason. So, yes, while there are the drawbacks of being homesick and missing out on time with family, I still have to say that I love our life and I'm very thankful for where we are in it. And hey, the pay will only get better. Soon, I'd imagine we'll be able to afford flying back home more often.. now I just need to come to terms with the hassles of flying with a child/children.
Whoever said that the feeling of being homesick goes away is a liar liar pants on fire.
Sometimes I wonder what our life would be like now if Trey never joined the Army. If we never left our hometown.
Would we have been able to keep up with our mortgage and still be living in our home? We were dangerously living paycheck to paycheck.
Would we have decided to get pregnant at the time we did? Would we have Andrew right now? Let's say we did. Our parents would never have to miss him. We could go and spend an unlimited amount of time with them. My parents house would look like they had a grandchild besides just the pictures on the wall. Maybe they'd have their own stash of bottles, diapers, baby food and toys. (Trey's parents have a granddaughter that does live in the same town, so their house does look like this already). I could see my mom and dad loving on my baby and I feel like my life would be more complete.
I'm struck with a stabbing sense of regret and sadness when I hear about my friends that are able to do this on a regular basis. Just something as simple as going over their parents house for dinner.. to watch a movie.. to grill out. Visit them when one of them is sick or in the hospital. Spend holidays with them. Watch a game. Anything. Sometimes, it's little things that stop me in my tracks. The other morning when I was drinking the same type of coffee my mom drinks. I was instantly back on her beautiful deck drinking it with her. Or today when a loud truck drove by. For the quickest nano-second I pictured my brother pulling up in our drive way and plopping down on the couch asking for some munchies and a Gatorade. Do you know what I would give to experience these little mundane things????
But, on the other side... What If he didn't sign up.
What if we never moved away? Would I still be that same dependent girl who never grew up? Never did anything on her own? I barely knew how to keep up with bills before he left.. so serious. I can remember while he was at OCS in Benning and I made my first road trip down to see him. It was the first time that I ever.. in 26 years of life.. got in the car and took a road trip by myself. I was scared out of my mind. (Rightly so, apparently, I almost died.) And after a summer of making monthly 5-hour road trips to Benning, I friggen jumped in that same car, by myself, and drove 18 hours to Fort Sill, Oklahoma. Me. Ask my friends.. they'll tell you how unlike me that is. I grew so much. I don't know that I would of ever had the chance to do that otherwise.
I look at the people I have in my life now. I've met so many amazing people. It's crazy to me to think that I wouldn't have met all of them had we not made this decision. When you're an Army family, you learn that you don't have all the time in the world to form a relationship with the people you meet. So, sometimes, when you meet the right people, it's instantaneous. After the obligatory, where are you from? Do you have children? How long have you been in? What posts have you been to? That's it.. it's like you've fast-forwarded 2 years into a friendship: you have their number, your FB friends, and they immediately are an irreplaceable part of your life. I've been so blessed in this area.
If he hadn't joined, we probably never would have had the opportunity to see the places we have seen over the past 2 years. That's sad to me. While we were eating dinner at The Edge of Texas last Friday night, sitting outside, looking at the mountains, we talked a lot about that. No, El Paso is not the most exotic location in the world. But, it's beautiful in my opinion. We never in a million years would have randomly said, "hey.. let's book a flight to El Paso for vacation this year". But, I'm incredibly thankful that we're here... experiencing a new to us culture. Viewing a part of the country we wouldn't have otherwise. I'm getting opportunities that not many people get. Because it's not just a vacation, because we live here and will for at least another year and a half (probably more it's starting to look like) we get to take our time. Explore the area. Travel to surrounding locations.
Fort Sill, or Lawton, OK rather, was a hole in the wall, crap town. But I can guarantee you that if we weren't stationed there for a bit, I never would have seen Oklahoma City.. which we loved btw. I never would have met the people that I did there that I now would consider some of my great, great friends.
And this is only 2 years into our experience. Who knows what else we will see. Who knows who we will meet. I don't believe there are any mistakes. The places we go and the people that become part of our lives.. it all happens for a reason. So, yes, while there are the drawbacks of being homesick and missing out on time with family, I still have to say that I love our life and I'm very thankful for where we are in it. And hey, the pay will only get better. Soon, I'd imagine we'll be able to afford flying back home more often.. now I just need to come to terms with the hassles of flying with a child/children.
May 25, 2011
My Dad
It's times like these where it really SUCKS - for lack of a better word - to be away from family.
I got a call yesterday from my mum saying she was at the hospital with my dad. Not to freak out too much, but it was his heart. He was awake, hungry and complaining. I was on my morning walk with Andrew and was stopped in my tracks. "Don't freak out too much".. I don't know why people bother telling me that. Of course I'm going to freak. I kept on with my walk all while texting trying to find out more info. (Of course this is on the one day during the week that I can't talk to my husband).
I don't know much more information. I was able to talk to him. He was transferred yesterday to the heart hospital and they are doing tests.
He's had issues with his heart before. His father did as well. He already has a pacemaker that was put in a while back. It's working just fine, but his heart beat is still irregular. They did labs and he didn't have a heart attack. This morning he was brought in for a 4-hour nuclear stress test, and they are hopeful we'll have some answers by this afternoon.
It's hard to hear your dad in obvious pain or discomfort. It's hard to imagine him in the hospital. My heart really hurts, not being able to be there. To give him a big hug and kiss. To be there for my mom. It just plain sucks.
Please lift my family up in your prayers! Pray for his comfort, my mom's peace of mind, and for those doctor's to find some answers.
*One thing that really made me smile last night, was to hear that he was very upset that he couldn't watch American Idol at the volume he would at home. He would usually have it cranked up to 60 and can't really do that in his hospital bed.* Always a sense of humor in this family!
I got a call yesterday from my mum saying she was at the hospital with my dad. Not to freak out too much, but it was his heart. He was awake, hungry and complaining. I was on my morning walk with Andrew and was stopped in my tracks. "Don't freak out too much".. I don't know why people bother telling me that. Of course I'm going to freak. I kept on with my walk all while texting trying to find out more info. (Of course this is on the one day during the week that I can't talk to my husband).
I don't know much more information. I was able to talk to him. He was transferred yesterday to the heart hospital and they are doing tests.
He's had issues with his heart before. His father did as well. He already has a pacemaker that was put in a while back. It's working just fine, but his heart beat is still irregular. They did labs and he didn't have a heart attack. This morning he was brought in for a 4-hour nuclear stress test, and they are hopeful we'll have some answers by this afternoon.
It's hard to hear your dad in obvious pain or discomfort. It's hard to imagine him in the hospital. My heart really hurts, not being able to be there. To give him a big hug and kiss. To be there for my mom. It just plain sucks.
Please lift my family up in your prayers! Pray for his comfort, my mom's peace of mind, and for those doctor's to find some answers.
*One thing that really made me smile last night, was to hear that he was very upset that he couldn't watch American Idol at the volume he would at home. He would usually have it cranked up to 60 and can't really do that in his hospital bed.* Always a sense of humor in this family!
March 24, 2011
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??
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!
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 :)
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??
March 23, 2011
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.
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!
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.
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!
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.
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| checking each other out |
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| Looks like Drew approves :) |
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!
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| Up to no good, I'm sure! |
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| She even got him his first Redsox onesie |
January 25, 2011
Grab a Tissue!!
My brother surprised me with this video a few weeks ago. He had to do a slide show for a midterms for one of his classes. He was even working on it while we were home for Christmas and I had no idea. He sent me a text one day asking me to get on Skype and then watched my reaction as I watched the video. Needless to say.. there were ugly tears involved!! Hope you enjoy :)
January 5, 2011
Back to Normal
How is it even possible that the holidays are over along with the trip back to SC that I was so much looking forward to?? On one hand it feels like it was a huge whirlwind that never really even happened it went by so quickly, on the other hand it feels like we left to start the whole trip ages ago. We had a great time, but there is a lot to catch up with so you know what that means... another post brought to you by bullet points.
Yes, I shed a few tears leaving my parents, even though I know I'm coming back in 2 short months, but I would be lying if I said it wasn't a relief to walk into our own home and get back to just the three of us. Back into our little routine.
Speaking of routine... off to wash some bottle, do laundry and get some groceries in this house!!
- I ADORED seeing Andrew meet all of the most important people in our lives! He did so well on this trip. He handled flying like a champ, the time change didn't phase him a bit, and charmed every single person he came in contact with with his beautiful smile. Seeing my parents as grandparents is something that warmed my heart more than I knew it would.
- We spent the first 6 days staying at Trey's family and the rest of the trip with mine. There was drama involved with that, but it's just how it worked out.
- Christmas was wonderful. Andrew was pretty much not impressed at all, but if he understood all the cool presents he got from everyone, he'd be pleased. Lesson learned though? We can't do it like that ever again. It cost Trey and I an ungodly amount (more than a round trip plane ticket) to ship everything back. I can't think of a fun solution yet, but we'll have to work on that!
- I went dress shopping with my SIL for her wedding. She found a dress and looks breathtaking in it. She is going to make a beautiful bride.
- Andrew rolled over for the first time while we were home! He did it once and that was it for a few days. I thought he would never do it again but then decided it was pretty fun I guess and I now officially have a tummy to back roller. Let the fun begin! He's also eating rice cereal mixed with fruit every night :)
- I got a Flip from my mum for Christmas. Couldn't be any more ecstatic about that than I am. Now if only I could figure out how to upload videos here and why FB takes FOREVER to upload them!
- I had multiple play dates with my friends' babies. It was amazing. I can't believe we are all mummies. Next year, Ashleigh's little one will be able to join!
- New Years Eve was spent at my parents house with some of our closest friends. The Blairs came into town. We had lots of delicious food, little bit of vino, and some fireworks at the end of the night. I couldn't have planned a better way to ring in the new year if I tried!
Yes, I shed a few tears leaving my parents, even though I know I'm coming back in 2 short months, but I would be lying if I said it wasn't a relief to walk into our own home and get back to just the three of us. Back into our little routine.
Speaking of routine... off to wash some bottle, do laundry and get some groceries in this house!!
October 19, 2010
Just Another Day
We don't have much going on over in the Casa de Norton, but I figured if I didn't write while I had the chance (nap time), then I never would. Plus, I wouldn't want that Anonymous commenter to get bitter again with the lack of pictures!
My brother is here staying with us for the rest of the week! He got in on Saturday and we've been loving hanging on with him. He is SO great and sweet with Andrew. Charlie's big thing has been getting him to sleep at night and it's the most precious thing. He is a wonderful Uncle! I'm just a little worried that he's been bored out of his mind as I don't lead the most glamorous life!
I can say that I do not deserve the Mom of the Year award this week! I called our Tel-a-Nurse line over the weekend with concerns of his ongoing congestion that he's had for about 3 weeks now. The last time I called they said it wasn't much to worry about and would probably go away on it on. Welp, it hasn't. We have an appointment tomorrow but that is neither here nor there. When the sweet nurse asked how fussy he has been I told her he has been extra fussy over the past few days. After a long conversation, she suggested I go from feeding him 4oz at a time to 5 or 6. HELLO?! Why didn't I think of that on my own. He was sucking down the 4 ounces no problem and then I was wondering why I couldn't make him happy. I've been starving my child! I know, I know, not really, but he's definitely been ready for more food. I uped the food and I have my sweet happy baby back :) I think I overthink things and look for serious problems.. I need to remember that his needs are very simple. hey.. I'm learning as I go right? Wa wa waaa...
*I do have an amazingly cute video to upload of the babe, but after about and hour of leaving this up while it was "uploading", blogger decided there was an error and didn't want to cooperate. Don't worry mum, I'll email it to you :)
My brother is here staying with us for the rest of the week! He got in on Saturday and we've been loving hanging on with him. He is SO great and sweet with Andrew. Charlie's big thing has been getting him to sleep at night and it's the most precious thing. He is a wonderful Uncle! I'm just a little worried that he's been bored out of his mind as I don't lead the most glamorous life!
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| Uncle Charlie and Andrew's first day together |
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| 6.5 weeks old |
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| 7 weeks old after watching a Patriots win at Buffalo Wild Wings |
October 13, 2010
Can't we all just get along??
This post is inspired by a recent.. ummm.. conversation (?) that was had on my Facebook page about college football.
It's no secret that I am passionate about it. We live and breath it every weekend (and Thursday and sometimes Friday) during the fall. And those that have been reading my blog for a while know that I am a firm believer in the SEC. I personally believe that no one out there can compete. I've been a S. Carolina fan for years and years and over the past few years have been persuaded by my husband to route for Alabama as well.. it's hard not to, right? But this is less about our conference as a whole and more about one particular team... OHIO STATE.
Please, ladies, please... let me know if I'm wrong! Unless you live in the state of Ohio.. most people don't care for (or may have some stronger words) Ohio State Football. I've never run into anyone that isn't from Ohio that actually likes the team. Well I have family that lives in Cleveland, Ohio and are huge fans. I don't hold that against them ;) but there has been a huge stink caused on my FB page (seriously.. like 60 comments long) over the fact that I don't like them (the team, not my family).
They say it hurts their feelings that I don't like them and sometimes vocalize my feelings on the subject. And they are REALLY worked up about it. Really? It's nothing personal, says I. I could care less if anyone in the world.. no matter how close you are to me had something bad to say about any of the teams I pull for. To each his own! Say whatever you want and I'll be glad to have a little friendly back and forth banter with you. Why does it have to be so serious? Of course I never want to hurt any one's feelings.. especially friends and family, but to make matters worse - All of this was started over a conversation that was had on my MIL's fb page. They don't know her. Shouldn't be able to see what was on her page. Clearly, I have the right to discuss football (or anything) in whatever fashion I want when it's not directed at them, right?
Here are the reasons I do not care for Ohio State:
I don't have much respect for them as a team. I feel like they play cake teams all year round and don't deserve to be ranked where they are. Come on down south and play some real teams instead of Illinois, Minnesota, Northwestern. See how you hold up.
They value a coach (Woody Hayes) that smacked a student player (from Clemson) by still having his name on the stadium. I understand that happened years ago.. but it's all about tradition and history.
They call themselves "THE Ohio State". Isn't there only 1 state of Ohio? Grrrr
There are lots more that gets under my skin about them, but Andrew is starting to stir and need to finish up my point.
Basically.. I love my family, I do. But I will NEVER love or like Ohio State Football and don't see why this has been made out to be such an issue. Don't let it hurt your feelings.. embrace it and lets have a good ol' fashion family rivalry and pray we play each other in a bowl game or better yet.. National Championship!
It's no secret that I am passionate about it. We live and breath it every weekend (and Thursday and sometimes Friday) during the fall. And those that have been reading my blog for a while know that I am a firm believer in the SEC. I personally believe that no one out there can compete. I've been a S. Carolina fan for years and years and over the past few years have been persuaded by my husband to route for Alabama as well.. it's hard not to, right? But this is less about our conference as a whole and more about one particular team... OHIO STATE.
Please, ladies, please... let me know if I'm wrong! Unless you live in the state of Ohio.. most people don't care for (or may have some stronger words) Ohio State Football. I've never run into anyone that isn't from Ohio that actually likes the team. Well I have family that lives in Cleveland, Ohio and are huge fans. I don't hold that against them ;) but there has been a huge stink caused on my FB page (seriously.. like 60 comments long) over the fact that I don't like them (the team, not my family).
They say it hurts their feelings that I don't like them and sometimes vocalize my feelings on the subject. And they are REALLY worked up about it. Really? It's nothing personal, says I. I could care less if anyone in the world.. no matter how close you are to me had something bad to say about any of the teams I pull for. To each his own! Say whatever you want and I'll be glad to have a little friendly back and forth banter with you. Why does it have to be so serious? Of course I never want to hurt any one's feelings.. especially friends and family, but to make matters worse - All of this was started over a conversation that was had on my MIL's fb page. They don't know her. Shouldn't be able to see what was on her page. Clearly, I have the right to discuss football (or anything) in whatever fashion I want when it's not directed at them, right?
Here are the reasons I do not care for Ohio State:
I don't have much respect for them as a team. I feel like they play cake teams all year round and don't deserve to be ranked where they are. Come on down south and play some real teams instead of Illinois, Minnesota, Northwestern. See how you hold up.
They value a coach (Woody Hayes) that smacked a student player (from Clemson) by still having his name on the stadium. I understand that happened years ago.. but it's all about tradition and history.
They call themselves "THE Ohio State". Isn't there only 1 state of Ohio? Grrrr
There are lots more that gets under my skin about them, but Andrew is starting to stir and need to finish up my point.
Basically.. I love my family, I do. But I will NEVER love or like Ohio State Football and don't see why this has been made out to be such an issue. Don't let it hurt your feelings.. embrace it and lets have a good ol' fashion family rivalry and pray we play each other in a bowl game or better yet.. National Championship!
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