~ 15 Months ~

I feel like I just wrote the 14 month update the other day. Seriously. Either way, this month has been a blast! We are having SO. MUCH. FUN. with our little Andrew.

I know that he's understood what we've been saying for quite some time now, but because I knew that, and it didn't seem like he did understand, it was very frustrating. Now, it's a whole new ball game. So much so that we all of a sudden have to be very careful what we say. If you say, "ready to go bye-bye", you better be ready to head out that door because he's running to it. If you say, "get your socks and shoes", he does. He gets them, brings them to you, sits on his bottom for you to put them on and he's running for the door. "Let's get a diaper change", "bath time", or Let's go upstairs" and he's running to the stairs. "Pick out a book", and he does. Looks for whatever specific book he's wanting at the time, brings it to you and lifts his arms up to be picked up to the couch.

I know it sounds so simple, but it's amazing to us. Just watching him grow, comprehend, use toys the way their supposed to be used, stay on the sidewalk because he understands he can't go in the road... I love it all. I love being able to communicate with him. I feel like it's been one-sided conversation all this time and now it's finally paying off. He can "tell" me when he wants water by giving me his cup or going to the fridge and pointing to the water thing. He can show me when he wants a snack by going to the pantry and pointing to a certain thing. Or when he wants a banana by going to the area of the counter where they are kept. Too cool.

He is full of affection. I get so many hugs throughout the day. And now he pats or rubs my back along with the hug. Too sweet. And his little kisses.. be still my heart.

Stats:
Who knows, really. I took him to the doc a few weeks ago for a lingering cough. He weighed 22 pounds and was 32 or 33 inches, I believe. Pretty sure 32.
He is wearing 24 month Pj's with a tad bit of room to grow. Mostly 18 month clothes, but some outfits are getting a bit snug. Still in size 5 diapers. Moving up to a 5 and 1/2 or 6 in shoes.

Words:
(old words)
- Car (ca)

- Dog (daw)
- Outside (ou-taaaa)
- Dada and sometimes daddddy
- Maaama

(new words)
- I really believe he is saying I love you. It sounds just like this, "ya ya ya". He'll repeat that every time I tell him I love him. See.. affectionate. Little squish face.
- Some kind of variation of What's That? Sounds like "ehh daaa". Says it every time he points to something in one of his books.

Food:
We're still going strong here. And not only is he NOT a picky eater (Dear Lord, please don't reverse this on me for bragging on my kid.) he is a much more healthy eater than most adults! His faves are grapes, bananas, green beans.. well any type of bean actually including things like lima beans.. seriously.. what kid likes lima beans? This one. Goldfish, Cheerios, and Animal Crackers. I've given up trying to give him things like chicken nuggets or fries. Which is totally fine. It's not like I wanted him to eat that stuff.. that was just reserved for my lazy days. He'll eat sweet potato fries that I bake, but not frozen regular fries. He'll eat my baked chicken nuggets made from a chicken breast, but not the Tyson stuff. I know how lucky we are and I pray pray pray this continues!! I'm not sure where all of the food he eats goes.. I swear he doesn't stop eating. Ever.

Naps:
He still takes his morning nap without fail. Always at 9am and lasts either 2 or 2.5 hours. The afternoon nap is up in the air. I give him the opportunity to go down between 2 and 2:30. Whether he chooses to nap or play is up to him. I would say that 2 or 3 times a week he actually naps.. for another 2 hours. If not, he'll play for about 45 minutes in his crib.

Firsts:
We covered most of them, but let's see...
He knows where all facial features are and will point to them when you ask. He loves hair right now and wants to play with ours constantly. Which is pure heaven to me.
He's very aware of his own body parts (legs, arms, belly) and loves to point parts out while being changed. Loves to watch his hands pop out of his sleeve.. thinks that's the greatest thing ever.
Combined with the stuff up top of the post, I'd say we've had a big month!

Andrew, we love you to the moon and back!

Anndddd... Is this how our monthly pics are going to go from now on? This is the best one I could get..

The rest all look a little something like this...

I'm not giving up.

What we've been up to

First off, we had a great Thanksgiving. It was truly wonderful and I enjoyed it thoroughly. I cooked my first REAL meal. In years past I've admittedly served my little family of two - cringes - a turkey roll. My mother has always been appalled, and yes, she is right. She raised me better than that. I knew I had to woman up and start making a real Tday meal soon, add in two extra soldiers who were away from loved ones, and it was settled. I was going big.

I was mostly scared to clean the bird out, I'll admit it.



But, our good friends, The Galas's, came over to drop over some spices that I found myself without and ended up staying for hours. Nancy gave me some added confidence and in the end, the turkey was actually extremely perfect.

Everything else was homemade except the cranberry sauce. Sue me, nothing beats that canned jelly goodness. The gravy would have been disastrous if it weren't for Mel's husband, Al. God bless him. We all enjoyed the meal, some more than others, and I can't lie.. it's made me feel all kinds of good inside to hear my husband brag on me endlessly for the past week. Love that man.

We did a lot of playing outside on Thanksgiving in between cooking.



Yes, I realize this face is a bit of foreshadowing to the trouble this kid is going to be in the future. I'm totally aware and preparing myself.

 The next day, we put up our Christmas decorations. I couldn't wait a second longer and I'm so glad we did. I love that I can get that calming glow from the tree starting at 4:30 in the afternoon and get to enjoy it all night. Andrew is pretty infatuated which thrills me even more.

He had the whole "be gentle" thing down on the first two days, but he is getting braver and thus, less gentler by the day.. Bless his heart... or mine.

We've been playing with Jingle Bells.

And venturing into the world of Sensory Bins. I'm getting all kinds of ideas. Getting our materials gathered and organized. Oh yeahhh.. we're gonna have a blast. I started with water yesterday. Which was easy and I knew he'd have a blast.. but oh-so-messy. Totally worth it.

And finally, busy turning 15 months old. Yes, mum, there's a post to come!

A Little Reminder...

... definitely for me. Maybe for you too.

There are many different ways to parent. There is no right or wrong way. Well, I totally take that back. There are lots of wrong ways. But I'm not talking in the extreme sense here. Once you have the basics down.. you know.. making sure they're fed, clothed, and have a warm place to lay their precious little heads.. the other stuff is a personal choice you make. One you make based upon what works with your family. We know all of this. So, my point?

Sometimes I forget this little fact. Sometimes, I see what's working so well for others and think, "ohhh that's what I'm doing wrong. I'll do exactly what she's doing. That'll fix everything." Basically, I can be my own worst critic at times. My mind can be tricked into doing something I'm not comfortable doing, just because someone else is doing it and doing it well.

My SIL has been my parenting guide since day ONE. Her baby is 7 months older than Andrew, so she's been through everything and it's still fresh in her mind. Plus, she has set a high standard. She's an amazing mother! For the most part, our parenting beliefs have matched up exactly, so it's been real easy for me. Let her go through all of the trial and error and then have her walk me through it.. ha! And for the first year of Andrew's life, it's worked out perfectly. Everything she was advising me on, I 100% agreed with and wanted to do with Andrew.

Enter in our visit together. Andrew starts acting up and being extremely clingy to me. It looked like we were starting the next bout of separation anxiety and I'm thinking.. perfect! Mel is here! She can help me fix this. Because at that point, in my mind, I have been horrible with discipline. I felt like I wasn't disciplining at all. I knew that she has been implementing time-outs for quite a while, so I turned to her. I wanted her to guide me through this time-out thing. I wasn't planning to start them quite yet, but I just had had it up to here with my son and didn't know what else to do. Combine that with the fact that Addyson was getting time-outs and it was correcting her behavior... I was on board.

So, that afternoon, when I was getting lunch ready in the kitchen and he wouldn't let me do a thing.. crying and clinging to my leg, Mel walked me through time-out. Because that's what she would have done with Addy.

It broke my heart. I hated every single second of it. My stomach had that awful, gut-wrenching feeling because he was crying more. Now to the point of hysterics and I just wanted to hold him. "What is wrong with me??", I was thinking. I'm going to be a total sap. My son is going to walk all over me and he'll never have boundaries. I was completely beating myself up and now even more confused than ever. And, surprisingly, it took a few days of that, until I got to the point where I had to excuse myself to fall into a pit of tears in my room, until I realized that... when it comes to discipline.. for the moment... Mel and I aren't quite in sync in our methods anymore. And that's okay.

It totally works for her. Just because I won't do it quite like she does, doesn't mean that I think she's wrong. She's obviously doing a lot right. Her daughter is so very well behaved and such a sweet girl. And Mel is fierce, but at the same time completely loving and interactive. Like I said above, she's an incredible mom, we are just different at the moment.

Always listen to your gut. A few days after Andrew started being extremely clingy, whiny, and just all around constantly needy like that.. he got a slight fever and started the whole runny nose, cough escapade. And then broke 2 teeth in the back. There was a reason he was acting like that. And instead of giving him the comfort that he needed, I isolated him in a separate room and used my "firm" voice. Remember that you know your child better than anyone else. I think I was feeling pressure and totally lost sight of that. If I had been more focused on the way Andrew and I handle things, and less concerned on being just like Mel and Addy.. (Ha! I have to laugh at myself)... I would have known that.

Also, I realized, once I took a step back, that I do discipline. I just do it differently. I pick my battles and the battles I pick may not be the same as hers.
1. There is no throwing. Of toys or food. He gets one firm warning (No Throwing) and I show him the appropriate ways to use said toy/food, and if he does it again, the object gets taken away. If it's a car, the car is gone. If it's food, he's done with his meal. That works for us at the moment. (I'm finding a lot of the times with food, he's telling me he's done and doesn't now how to tell me otherwise. So he's learned that if he throws his food, I put him down, and he's done. So, clearly we need to work on that :)
2. Absolutely no hitting. This he will get a time out for. Like above, he gets one warning. If it happens again, time-out. And honestly, I've only had to do the time-out two or three times. The warning is enough now and the behavior happens less and less. I'll get to the point where there aren't any warnings with this, but for now, this is working.

There are other little things, but we don't need to get into it all. You get the general idea. I'm just not as big of a time-out fan as others are. Yet. When he's older, that's totally the route we'll go. If it works for him... that's my plan anyways. I definitely won't use it ever again for when he just needs some mama comfort. Yes, sometimes it's an inconvenience, but this won't last forever. He won't need me forever, sadly. I've found that giving him something to do in the kitchen works wonders. And at times, if it doesn't, and he just wants me.. dinner can wait.

Merry Christmas

No, I haven't gotten sucked into the Christmas before Thanksgiving hype. Just because I'm itching to put the tree up and it's hard to walk by the closet that holds our decorations... I've still held out. Okay.. maybe I'm listening to Christmas music in the car. Sue me. I have to start early so Andrew can learn all the songs.

Santa did, however, visit our house early. Well, for me at least.
I had already put the bug in his ear that I wanted.. no.. really needed.. a new camera this year. My old, slow reacting one just wasn't cutting it in this fast-paced toddler-run world. 
THEN.. then.. my camera disappeared, which I believe I've mentioned. Ummm.. I absolutely cannot let a month go by without taking pictures. Not possible.
So now, thanks to Santa Clause himself, I'm the proud owner of one of these babies -

A Canon PowerShot SX40! While it's not as high tech as it would have been (ya know.. since we didn't have another month to save) I think this one is perfect! It's a step up from the point and click that I had, but not so much to overwhelm me... I think.. ha! Plus, it came with a bag, a little tripod, and an extra memory card. Hopefully I'll have lots of fun pictures to share :)

Anyone have any experience with this camera, by any chance?

Oh, and remember this post from Friday? You know.. about this smoothies. Way to leave a sister hanging! You mean to tell me that none of y'all have any smoothie concoctions to share? Except my dear friend Kristy? Y'all are in trouble!!

Foodie Friday

Second day in a row with a post! I'm on a roll!

Although I have no pictures (because my camera has mysteriously disappeared of the face of this earth. For real. It's nowhere) this is still a great recipe that can be made quickly and enjoyed any time of the day...  as a meal replacement or a snack. I mostly will make this for my breakfast, but it's great if you just have a hankering for something sweet and don't want to use 300 calories.

I just put stuff together, so it doesn't have an official name, but here is how you make my Chocolate-PB-Banana Smoothie:

You'll need:
1C fat-free milk (Smart Source is a great option)
2 spoonfuls of light vanilla yogurt
2T Nesquick dry chocolate mix (or whatever you use.. carnation is even better to use, actually. You know.. vitamins and all)
2T reduced-fat PB (preferably the creamy variety)
A banana
As much crushed ice as you'd like

Blend all of this together. I use my Ninja and it takes like 25 seconds, but anything will work. And viola.. a delicious smoothie.

Warning:
You'll become obsessed and drink one every day for about 3 months. Don't worry, it may taper down to one every other day after that.

We're hard core into smoothies right now, but this seems to be the only consistent concoction so far. Do you do smoothies? Have any winning combinations you can share? Please?

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..


Circa summer '09 - Can you spot me?

 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!

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!

Hmm.. 14 Months!

My company (SIL and Niece) are still here, but since we are all sickies and all in bed except Trey and I, I wanted to write a little blurb. Mostly because I need to do Andrew's 14 month update. I knew I skipped his picture, but I completely passed over his monthly blog shot-out. And since I've started his first years' scrapbook... I realized how important that is..shewww that's come in handy!

This is what my little man is looking like nowadays -

I know.. I know.. I don't know how I stand all of that cuteness either.

He's a full blown walker.
A touchdown signer (you know.. throwing his hands up to make the touchdown sign)
An open mouth kisser and a hugger that pats your back.
A non-hand-holder.
An almost runner.
A food lover.
Still a car, rock and dirt lover.
A very talented colorer and a sidewalk chalk enthusiast.
A skillful dancer who jams out to Fresh Beat Band.
His favorite song is Friend Like You by above mentioned show.
A great sleeper.. still.
A mommy obsessor lover... still.
And the cutest, sweetest little boy that ever existed.

Stats: If I had to guess, I would say 22.5 to 23 pounds. But I'm not positive. He's wearing 24 month PJs with room to grow, 18 month pants and shirts and size 5 shoes.

Words:
(same as last month)
- Car (ca)

- Dog (daw)
- Outside (ou-taaaa)
- Dada and sometimes daddddy
- Maaama
(New)
-yeah yeah yeah yeah (in a sing song voice... repeating me)
He also point to everything and says Da.. kind of like he's asking me what it is maybe? So we talk about lots of random objects during the day. His favorite thing to point out right now is the moon, cow, balloon, and rabbit from Goodnight Moon. So precious.
He babbles in full sentences, but I have no earthly idea what he's saying.

Food: Still everything. Even pasta now. He wouldn't eat that last month, but he thoroughly enjoyed it tonight. I know I need to get him to start practicing with his own spoon.. like.. yesterday, but I'm telling you.. I'm just not ready. I'll be sucking it up real soon though! Lord, give me patience.

Naps: Great napper. Back to his two naps a day, usually, so it looks like we don't have to give up that 2nd nap just yet! First one from 9 to 10:30-11 and the second one from 2-3:30. Talks to himself to put himself to sleep while listening to Scout play his bedtime music and usually does the same when he wakes up.. unless he's hungry, then I'm sure the neighborhood hears his screams.

Firsts:
That whole touchdown thing. It's gotten to the point that he throws his arms up if he even sees football on TV. Yes, we're proud.
Walking :)
Figuring out his little shape toy (He always puts the circles in the right spot and has just recently gotten the star)
First long vacation with his Mimi and Cousin Addy.
He dances and gets really excited when his Daddy does the B-A-M-A chant. (Trey really wants to make sure we remember that ) :)

Struggles:
He's going through another bout of separation anxiety. And apparently that's normal at around 15 months. Back to the basics of always telling him where I'm going and talking to him.. lots! Hopefully that will work again.. and at least this time he can walk to where I am instead of being stuck in one place.
More teething.
Getting him to understand that he cannot go outside first thing in the morning (it's freezing) or right before bed and us trying to figure out the best way to handle those tantrums that follow. .
We're also trying to sort out what behavior we want to correct or accept. And come to an agreement on how we are going to handle the correction.

Dear, dear Andrew,
We have more and more fun with you by the day! You are such a joy to be around with your coy smirks and contagious laughs. You are really growing up and you continue to amaze us by the minute! I'm so grateful that God thought we were worthy of being your parents. I only hope that we do better than good enough with you!
I can't believe you are walking (and almost running) through our home, discovering new things everyday. I love how curious, yet still cautious you are. I'm really loving this stage and not rushing it one tiny little bit, but I know the next few months are going to be a lot of fun.
We love you to the moon and back!
xoxo, Mama and Daddy


If you've gotten this far.. ughh.. you're awesome! My life will be getting back to normal soon and I'm looking forward to blogging more regularly. I have a few things to write about already planned, just have to find the time :)
BTW.. I have almost 200 followers now. It's crazy to me that you all take the time to read about my thoughts and our life. It's pretty flattering. But I want to know who you are and get the chance to get to know you. Introduce yourself with a quick hi if you'd like!

Foodie Friday

I miss blogging so much! I realize it even more so when I sit down and actually start typing. I just haven't been able to fit it in, I'll get there though!

I definitely wanted to share a new recipe we tried this week though! I could go into a thousand fun adjectives to explain how delish it was, but let's just say when hubby took his first bite, all I heard was a big heart, "Ohhh my God!!". Yup. It was that good. And I found it on Pinterest, so see, all of that time wasted can't be a bad thing!

It's called Honey Sauced Chicken and I found it here!
But I also had fun with it so I could show you my attempt :)

Honey Sauced Chicken

Here's what you'll need:

 

A few chicken breasts (we used two, but there was plenty sauce left over if you need to use more)
1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. black pepper
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/8 cup chopped onion (or 1/16 cup onion flakes)
1/8 cup ketchup
1 Tbs. vegetable oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes

Sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper and throw those in the crock pot.

Mix together honey, soy sauce, onion, ketchup, oil, garlic and pepper flakes.

And pour it over the chicken.

Afterwards, cut your chicken up into bite-sized pieces and return to crock pot to mix with your sauce. (or if you're like me and only use 2 chickens, just spoon some of the sauce on top of the bites because that will be too much sauce.)

You can serve it however you'd like. I got a box of Rice a Roni's Fried Rice and put the chicken on top of that. I think next time it would be great to add in some veggies to the rice!
My end product looked like this..

In the original recipe, her sauce looked all thick and coated on the chicken and I'm not sure how she accomplished that. Unless she added in some flour?? or something and didn't say? But basically, if yours doesn't come out like that don't freak.. it's still scrumptious.

Try this! Your family will thank you. If you have any other ideas on how to serve it, please share :) Happy eating!

Put one foot in front of the other...

... I'm nowhere near ready for him to be walking out the door, but Drewsky took his first solo steps over the weekend (Saturday, Oct 15th)!! It's so exciting. We've been waiting for this for quite a while, as we've been quickly tiring of walking around with him as he holds our fingers.

The best part of it all was that Trey's parents were here for the weekend to see it happen, and my parents were able to see.. maybe not the first steps, but the ones shortly thereafter, over Skype. I'm also pretty sure it was in the middle of the Alabama game, which is only appropriate.

He's gotten more and more confident with it over the past few days. He'll go from sitting, to standing and starts walking now and is up to about 5 or 6 steps at a time. It's really the cutest thing ever to see his little hynie sashaying from side to side.

Good timing, Andrew! You're really getting so heavy to carry around. Also, trick-or-treating will be much easier in your cute little lamb costume.

Crappy phone pic.. but it's still cute.

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 photos were taken courtesy of Jessica Brooks





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!

Overwhelmed

I may have set a new record for myself. Longest days straight without blogging? Possibly! It feels like it.

I was doing so well there for a while. I have a section in my super awesome organization binder just for blogging. So I always have a place to jot down ideas when they come to me. (Because after three years of blogging.. almost going on 4 I think(!!)... that's how my brain works. Blog worthy or non-blog worthy events). I have a schedule set up and I usually have so many ideas in my head that, on Sundays I can map out my week of posts. And I mean.. it does get planned out. But you see where that's gotten me.

I feel like I'm barely keeping my head above water. A lot of it is perceived as worse than it really is, I think, because Andrew has decided that 5am is the ideal time to wake up for the day. Not cool, kid, not cool at all. I've gotten to the point over the past two mornings that I'm just turning the monitor off and let him cry.. not because I'm cruel.. but he's GOT to remember that's it's much more fun to sleep until 6:30. I don't fall back asleep anyways, because I can tell that he's not going to go back to sleep. And we're all out of bed by 5:30 and starting our day. Sounds miserable, doesn't it? It is.

Then, I mean... he's 13 months old. I guess that's the magic number with kids... you know.. the one where they start to get extremely determined to have their way. I know it's normal and I know it comes with the territory. If we were sleeping until a decent hour of the morning, I think I could handle it better. But an exhaustion that coffee can't even kick makes tantrums harder to deal with. It makes it hard to get excited about going outside for the 10th time in one day. Please don't get me wrong.. I love how much he can interact with me now. I love that part of this stage. He's almost walking. He's doing better and better about showing me what he wants. He's so incredibly lovey. Sometimes I feel like we're having real conversations. He laughs so much. But I have to get better at planning actual activities with him. Which I've always been excited to do. Doesn't he realize that if he'd just let me sleep for an extra hour and 1/2, we'd have so much more fun?!
My rope is very thin these days. Gone are the days where I could take him anywhere I pleased and he sits and smiles and let's me do my thing. Ha! Gone are the simple days at the Grocery store. Gone are the days where he'd basically do anything I wanted him to do. The nerve of him to have an opinion of his own!
So.. we fight battles daily. I win some, I lose some. Plenty of tears are shed... mostly from him ;) He kicks and screams and yells all of his frustration out multiple times a day. By 4:00 I think I'm going to lose my ever loving mind if I hear one more shriek/cry/scream. Trey comes home and I fight the urge to run out the door while he has it open (kidding, kidding.. kind of). And then it's all forgotten the second he says, "mama" in that sweet little voice. Or cuddles up to me to read. Or hugs his dog or glow worm. Or even better.. me.

I know this is just a season. Can you tell that I have to tell myself that a lot? I have less and less time for myself, but I know that's only going to diminish even more so. I'll be okay with that eventually. I'm just having a hard time balancing all my roles. Wife. Mother. Friend. Daughter. Between wife and mother... I'm really, really slacking at being a good friend. Any free time I get that's not used on Andrew goes to trying to keep my house in some sort of an order. My poor friends! I can't tell you how many emails have sat there.. unanswered. I do good to answer a text message the day after I get it. I've been a huge flake all around and even screwed up with a play date. I feel terrible.

I know I will sort everything out. I'll adjust. I'll be able to balance everything better. I know I need to MAKE time for myself. To get to PWOC (I didn't make it this morning and it crushed me), to blog (I NEED to blog), to.. ya know.. have a conversation with a friend (If I have any left ;)  )

So bear with me. If anyone has figured toddlers and time management out, feel free to leave me your magic tips!

~ 13 Months ~

Holy Moly... do I have a toddler or what? I do. I do. I have a very.. ummm.. strong willed toddler. He is still as sweet as ever, but I think he just gets so frustrated. He wants to do so much on his own, but still needs me to help him out. I can see how that would be a little angering.. don't you? So we work through the tantrums and soak up the sweet moments even more so! Like when he crawls towards me, saying "maaama" every so sweetly, climbs in my lap and rests his head on my shoulder. Yeahhh... I'll take that all day!

Stats: He doesn't have another well baby appointment until 18 months, so unless we need to go to the doctor before than for any reason, I won't know his exact height and weight for a while.
He's wearing mostly all 18 months clothes. Definitely 18-month shirts, onesies and PJ's. Almost ready for 24 months for PJs. Can still get away with 12-month pants. The waist in everything is too big for him, so I've given up on that! Ha!

Words:
- Car (ca)
- Dog (daw)
- Outside (ou-taaaa)
- Dada and sometimes daddddy
- Maaama
Yes... those have been his first words. In that order. Don't worry.. I know where I stand anyways :)
He's been saying Dada for quite a while now, but now he actually associates the word with Trey.

Food: Ummm... everything? There is nothing he won't eat! Except he wouldn't eat spaghetti the other night. That could have just been coincidence though. (For those that have children that are a little older and are picky eaters.... were they ever like Andrew is? I'm afraid to be too confident in his eating now if he's guaranteed to go through the picky stage later.)
He especially loves vegetables.. I know.. I know.. I don't know where it comes from. If I put every food group on his high chair tray.. I promise you he will go for the veggies first. No, I'm not complaining :) Still just drinking whole milk and water. Not at the same time of course.

Naps: Up until Monday, he was still taking 2 naps a day. He was in the process of moving them between a half hour or an hour later in the day, but he was still taking them. The morning nap was lasting and hour and 1/2. Either the same for the afternoon nap or as long as 2 hours. Since Monday... not the same story. He's refusing his morning nap. He will scream and scream and scream some more until I go and get him. So we've moved his afternoon nap up a bit and we'll see how that goes! Unfortunately for me, that nap isn't lasting any longer.

Firsts:
-Playing Patty Cake
-Clapping
- Making that indian noise by hitting his mouth with his hand.
- Saying Mama and Dada and associating it with us.
- Shaking and nodding his head. Especially while dancing. Kids got some moves.
- Plays Peek-a-boo. By either pulling his blanket over his head or crouching down behind the ottoman.

He still isn't walking yet, but is cruising along furniture much more and much faster. He's walking a little more while holding onto his car too.
He's getting a little attached to his blanket. He's never had a security item before so that was a little out of the blue for me.
He's getting really good at being able to tell me what he wants. Pointing at things. Saying "CAA" in an incredibly needy and urgent tone if his car goes under the couch, the entertainment center or in the pantry. And you know.. good old-fashioned meltdowns. We've just started to teach him Sign Language. Hopefully that works out.
He loves to make towers out of two or three of his blocks at a time. He loves even more so to knock them down.
Cars is still his favorite movie and is a magical lifesaver in a pinch. Or for babysitters :)
He's all of a sudden terrified of dogs when he's always loved them. Normal? He still likes them from afar. On TV, in books or from far away. Not so much when they get close to him though.
He still loves reading his books together, but he's got a little too confident with turning the pages. He rarely gives me the time to finish reading what's on the page.. silly boy!
Your Daddy suggested that you go to CDC (daycare) a little more often because you are slightly attached to me. You do not like to be away from me. So, I bring you in twice a week, only for an hour and 1/2 and things are getting better. Plus, you are in watch care for a few hours every Wednesday morning so I can go to PWOC. I don't always like to drop you off, but I know it's good for the both of us. It does warm my heart to sneak up on you when I pick you up and watch you for a little bit. It's usually nap time when I do come to get you, but you're never sleeping. One time you were even trying to wake up the other kids by banging on their little cots... haha! You're going to be THAT child, aren't you??
He loves his independent play. Which I know is a good thing. But sometimes he's already pushing me away when he just wants to play by himself. LOL.. he'll literally pick up his toy that he is playing with and go to another room if I try to play with him when he doesn't want me to.
This kid cracks me up!

13 Months

Because in reality, that's what a lot of our day looks like lately!

Andrew, we love you so very much! Even when you look like you do in the picture above ;)
You make my heart explode with love and you make your Daddy more proud than he ever thought possible. I can't imagine my life existing without you!

Weekend in Review

I had a REALLY busy weekend.. compared to my normal weekends. Busy. (side note: I accidentally wrote Busty and then laughed incessantly). Very busy. But in a really good way. A few days in a row that really filled up my cup.

Friday night, Trey and I had our friends, Nancy and Bryan, babysit Andrew so we could go out to dinner with Jennifer and Fritz. You've heard me mention them quite a few times (Jenn is the one I went to high school with.. and now we live in Texas together). F is deploying.. umm.. very soon and we wanted to get one last night out with them before he leaves... and since Trey can't be available this week.. Friday night it was it. It was bittersweet. We went to Cattleman's Steakhouse.

both pics found on Google Images

Which is beyond amazing. This coming from a girl who could live without steak for the rest of her life and really not feel like I'm missing out on a thing. (I've been telling people that this place was featured on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives, but apparently that's the one in Oklahoma City. I'm not sure if they're the same thing. If not, this one needs to be on the show too. For reals). We had a great time with them (even walking through the stinky petting zoo in heels afterwards where Jenn and I came very close to revisiting the food we just ate), but it was hard to put the reason we were eating together that particular night out of my head. I can't imagine how she feels (or any of the other number of women who's husbands are leaving) if I've been worrying over it this much. I know she will thrive while he is away though.. she's an OUTSTANDING person :)

Another good friend of mine, Ashley, had her baby boy Friday afternoon. I was able to go to the hospital and visit Saturday morning and ohhhh myyy... he is precious! He's just perfect. I don't feel comfortable sharing pictures of other people's babies, so you'll just have to take my word on this one. Perfection wrapped up in a tiny 6 pound 12 ounce body.
Ever since I gave birth to Andrew, I've become super sensitive to others having babies. You can't understand the true miracle of it all until you've had a child yourself, I don't think. I know I never did. I had NO comprehension at all for the amount of love you experience. None. And now.. I do. And I want everyone to experience it. And to see that new understanding in the eyes and written all over their expressions.. it does this girls' heart good.

We then spent the day at JG and her husband's house watching football all day on Saturday. Minus Andrew's new found extreme fright of dogs (WTH... seriously.. the kid has always loved dogs. Loved them. It was his second word. All of a sudden... he clings to me like a koala bear around a tree when they are around. What up with that??) we had a great time! Especially when JG made Pioneer Woman's fried chicken. Slurp.. excuse me while I salivate at the memory of it. Best fried chicken (that was mostly baked) in the entire world. Yes.. including Chick-fil-a. Wowzers. Bama won.. good for us. OU won.. good for them. Too bad the Pats couldn't keep it rolling on Sunday.

Sunday morning, Fancy Nancy and I got out of the house super early and decorated the *mostly* outside of the new parents' house. We were so incredibly excited. It looked pretty darn good if I do say so myself. I hope they enjoyed it all! I also hope it's not too hard to take down!

So yeah... friends + babies + good food + football = a pretty awesome weekend!

Silent Sunday

In an effort to take more creative pictures (you know.. other than pics of Andrew. Inside. Playing with cars.) and to also do more outdoorsy things with him, I'll use a lazy Sunday post to put up my favorite pictures from the week. Plus, it'll make my mum happy.... This week I have two that I couldn't choose between :)

At the park, down the street from our house.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Foodie Friday

One of my goals in my quest to better myself for my family, is to try a new recipe once a week.

I became obsessed with the Crockpot Girls website recently, so I've tried quite a few actually. The one I was planning to post today was a Chicken Pesto Pasta that I found here. Butt... surprisingly, we didn't so much like it. I think it was just the brand of pesto I used though? I'm not quite sure, because I usually love this meal. This one had a funny aftertaste.

So, instead, I'll share the roast I did on Sunday (from Crockpot Girls). Trey said it was the best roast he's ever had. That is saying something!!

To Die For Roast

1 (4-5 lbs) beef roast, any kind (we used a Chuck roast)

1 package brown gravy mix, dry
1 package Italian salad dressing mix, dry
1 package ranch dressing mix, dry
1/2 C water

*Place beef roast in crock pot
*Mix the dried mixes together and sprinkle over the roast
*Pour the water around the roast
*Cook on low for 7-9 hours

We'll definitely make this one again :)

Officially Fall... almost

Tomorrow marks the first official day of fall and I've finished my Fall Bucket List just in time!

When Katie first posted hers for all of us to not only oooooh and ahhhhhh over, but actually print it out as well, I was straight giddy. A Fall themed decoration that serves a purpose... bonus! I could hug her through the computer for giving me the adorable idea.

When I clicked on the link to print it out, I thought I'd be able to change the "to-do" items. You know.. make it my own without having to do any of the work? Not so much. Seems I was going to have to dig out my old computer skillz.

I love your ideas, Katie. I do. From the looks of it, you're going to have a few months worth of awesome family fun. But... I live in the desert. Beautiful, crunchy leaf piles? Not gonna happen for us. And while I love pies, I've only attempted to make one and it wasn't very fun for me. I'll leave that one alone too. So you see... I just needed to make my own list. But I'm ever so grateful for her posting her creativeness for the world to see so I can copy it :)

I also have no free printable to post like she did. Not because I'm not super nice like that... I.. umm.. don't know how to do that. If anyone does know how and is that interested, feel free to leave me directions. I don't mind sharing.

I can, however, show you what I did with mine. I have my dry erase marker ready for checking off all the fun things we have planned! Ta-daaaa -

That's a big picture. Good thing I just dusted!

PWOC

How many of my military spouse readers take part in your PWOC (Protestant Women of the Chapel) on post? If you don't know what I'm talking about, or you just haven't quite gotten around to trying it out yet, I strongly suggest you do.

For those that don't have any idea of what PWOC is, here is a link that can tell you all about it. It's a chance to have some fellowship once a week with other Christian military wives. We socialize, eat and drink coffee, do some worship, and break into smaller groups for different Bible studies. If you're into that sort of thing, please go and check your local group out. Fort Bliss's group means the world to me and I can feel the changes it's making in me.

My faith is always something I have struggled on and off with. There have been times where I so strongly believed in everything the Bible says, but other times, when I was filled with doubt. I had too many questions. The devil has worked wonders in my life and I'd have to say, has taken precedence more times than he should have been able to.
Over the past year, my strength has been unshakable. God's done some awesome things in my life lately and I've finally been able to just let go of any doubt I had. Now, my faith in God and His word is something I can't imagine doubting or questioning. But that doesn't mean I don't still struggle. I have so much to learn. I have stories to learn in the Bible that have been ingrained in most people's minds their whole lives. I want to have scriptures memorized and have them get myself or others through tough times. Or use them to praise God in the good times. I need to be able to live His words out more in day to day life. I could go on and on, but I see myself getting very side tracked here. I attribute these changes that I've seen in myself to going to PWOC. Well, to God of course, but He put me here.. at this post.. with this group.

When I started going to PWOC last year, I wasn't very committed. I would go here and there, but if something else came up, I had no problem skipping it. Now, it's probably my absolute favorite morning of the week. We get so busy during the week with day-to-day activities. With household chores and taking care of our babies. Things can get so.. routine. And busy. Wednesday mornings, my soul has a chance to regroup. It means SO MUCH to me that my baby is taken care of while I recharge. While I spend the morning in prayer, praising God, and focusing on the things that really matter. To quite myself. To remind myself that no matter what is going on in our lives this week, not only is God looking out for us, loving us and standing by our side... so are about 150 other women. There is something so powerful about hearing all of those women singing together. Praying together. Lifting each other up in hard times, like deployments (imagine going through a deployment....not alone but with this huge group of unfailing support.. wow!) and celebrating the good times.
It's hard for me to stop in the midst of our daily craziness to appreciate what God has given me and my family. To remember to go to Him with my problems... because He's right there waiting. So not only does PWOC refresh my mind and soul and remind me of these things, but the study that I've gotten into this year provides me with a little bit of quite time each day (yes, I have to physically schedule it into my daily organizer, but it does get done and that's what matters) to redirect myself as well.
There were so many wonderful choices.. two others that I wanted to do (Power of a Praying Wife and Shepherding a Child's Heart), but in the end, felt powerfully led to do Hope for the Homefront. I'm so glad I chose that one. The others would be great to read on my own time anyways, but this is great for me right now. We've been focusing on fear so far (which I struggle with A LOT) and how instead of letting it cripple us, we need to trust in God's word more. I love the way it flows. How it makes me think without spelling things out completely. It's pretty awesome. I've heard from multiple others that have read it and loved it as well! (Just came to me.. but I could possibly see a give away coming up when we're through with it!)

So..that's all. I just felt overwhelmed with these feelings of gratitude towards this group today and wanted to share. From those that have known me the longest, this post may catch you off guard a little. I've never been very open with my faith. I'm not sure why. It's always made me feel a little awkward talking about it, but I know it shouldn't be that way. I'm a little uneasy with even putting something as personal as this out, but I shouldn't be. I should be anxious (in a good way) to hit that publish button. Ready to share my faith with anyone who may benefit from hearing about it. I know that's what we're supposed to do. I'm working on fixing that... just another area I need to grow in.

The day Andrew turned ONE

I didn't think I'd ever get around to posting about Andrew's birthday party!

We had so much fun! We did a Dr. Seuss theme (because I love Dr. Seuss and at this point, I can still control things like birthday themes) and I got LOTS of good ideas from other blogs and online in general. While I did the majority of these decorations myself, the ideas mostly came from quite a few months of Google searching!
Andrew had 20-something of our his closest friends over. We chatted, ate, did presents, and soaked up the cuteness of a special little one year old! I let the pictures do the talking. This will be a heavy picture post :)

The birthday boy:

The decorations:

The Cake Smashing (kind of):

Much to my surprise, he did too much enjoy the taste of cake. Not a sweet lover I guess. He does enjoy playing with frosting, though.

The love:

This is Jennifer. She made Andrew's outfit and her cake. So yeah.. she's awesome!