Three for the Price of One with Mowenackie

Little Butt and I are starting to feel much better. Aaannnnddd...our house is shaping up quite nicely so far! Woohoo!!!


We still have a ways to go but I'm definitely happy with our progress thus far.


Today, for your reading pleasure, I have the funny and talented Sarah! 


Sarah was one of the first bloggers that I found I had a lot in common with. We are both "older" bloggers (meaning we aren't in our 20's) and like she mentions, we both have an intense passion for books. 


Sarah is one of the most wonderful and genuine people you will meet. Once you are done reading about her poor babies here, jump over to her blog and give her some love there. 


Thanks again Sarah for stepping in and helping me out with my new house! ;-) 

Howdy! My name is Sarah and I live over at Mowenackie where I am staying insane through reintegration, pets and other craziness. That used to read deployment in place of reintegration, but my husband recently returned home from his year-long assignment in Afghanistan. We’re now learning how to Live Together Again. Hooah.

I’m very excited to be guest blogging for the fabulous Maranda, who is navel-deep in the process of moving her pregnant self and the rest of her lovely family to a new home. My Camo Colored Life was one of the very first MilSpouse blogs I started following, way back in the day, and Maranda and I share a crazy love of books, books, books! (Just ask to see a glimpse of her sleeve tat sometime.)

I had originally planned to write a post on some of the pros and cons of the National Guard (okay, mostly cons) – a post I’d been planning for my own blog for some time – but my plans got a little derailed this evening.

You see, my cat Jackie (she puts the “ackie” in Mowenackie) had an appointment for a dental cleaning today. So this morning I loaded her and the dog in the car (Owen puts the “wen” in Mowenackie) and drove the half hour over to the vets. We dropped off Jackie and went merrily along with our day.

Round about three-thirty, we made our way back to the vet to pick up Jackie and get Owen his monthly joint-lubricating injection. It’s kind of funny to see Owen trying to hide from the vet in a room where there are no hiding places. But once he had finished his ostrich impersonation and pulled his head out from under the chair, we paid the rather hefty bill, collected the kitty and her antibiotics and headed for home again.

When we got there, Jackie seemed fine. Maybe a little wobbly from the sedation, but she looked like the normal, slender cat that she is.

About an hour later, her face was a little swollen, especially around the jowls. I chalked it up to the dental cleaning. A half hour after that, her shoulder was puffy, which I thought was weird, but still no big deal.

Two hours later, we’d finished dinner and my husband said, “Uh, you might want to go check out your cat. She doesn’t look good.”

Doesn’t look good? First of all, thanks for scaring the ever-living crapola out of me. Secondly, “doesn’t look good” is up for the Understatement of the Year award.

My cat looked like the Incredible Hulk with fur. Her face, shoulders and back were grotesquely swollen. Her tongue was sticking out and at odd intervals she would wretch and spittle would fall out of her mouth.

I immediately called my neighbor, who used to be a vet tech. She took one look and said, “Have you called your vet?”

I got on the phone. We all assumed it was some sort of reaction to either the anesthesia or a medication she’d been given. I was afraid her throat might close up. The vet’s emergency service said to bring her down right away.

As I started to get her ready to go, I noticed that her head was not only puffy, but crackly. It would actually snap and pop when I pet her. It was the most bizarre feeling.

By nine-thirty p.m. we were headed back to the vet’s, for the third time in one day. When we arrived, I mentioned Jackie’s bubble-headedness. You could actually see the light bulb going off in the vet’s brain.

“Aha!” she said. “She’s got subcutaneous emphysema.”

What?

That doesn’t sound good.

The vet went on to explain that sometimes when a cat is tubed, it can tear the trachea, causing air bubbles to get under the skin. Eventually, the tear will heal itself (unless it is very bad), but until then the cat will likely be uncomfortable because of the air pressure.

Wouldn’t you be? It looks like someone blew her up with a bicycle pump. My cat is a furry piece of bubble wrap.

Poor girl.

All we can do is wait. And occasionally pop her bubbles.

At any rate, we didn’t get home until after ten o’clock, which is why the National Guard pro/con post didn’t get written. Maybe I’ll get it up on Mowenackie sometime in the near future. I hope you’ll stop by and visit.

In the meantime, tell me: What the weirdest thing that’s ever happened to one of your pets?

Baby Boy with Calm Crazy

Well...we are in our new house now. We are still up to our eyeballs in boxes. We took the weekend off to visit with The Hubble's parents before they left Sunday afternoon.


Now, Little Butt and I are sick. She was throwing up on Sunday night and is just so sad. I hate to see my baby girl sick. But what can you do. Hopefully we will both be on the mend soon so we can get this house set up.


While Little Butt and I are resting and getting healthy again, I have Amanda from Calm Crazy here to keep you company! 


Amanda is the mommy of 4 boys. Yes...I said 4. Count them: 1, 2, 3, OMG FOUR! LOL!


I've asked her for a bit of advice in the rearing of boys section of the world since I'm very unskilled but will be needing the knowledge soon. Thanks for your post and your wisdom Amanda!


After you read her hilarious post, head over to her blog and give her some love...but tell her I sent you!

So your baby has a penis.  Life will never be the same.

Chances are that your son will show off his favorite body part almost immediately upon entry into the world.  How do I know?  Three of my four boys peed on me within seconds of being born.  It was like they wanted to make sure everything was in working order right away. 

“Whew!” I imagined them thinking, “That’s a relief.  Now what am I supposed to do?  Oh yeah!  Breathe!”

And really?  It’s all downhill from there. 

My husband (Jason) and I split childcare pretty evenly.  That is to say that he’s not changed too fewer diapers than I have.  However, he has not been “showered” nearly as often as I!  I think that is extremely unfair; he, of course, thinks it is a riot.  With four boys, you would think I would have gotten better over time—but that isn’t the case.  My youngest peed on me just as many times as my oldest did. Maybe more.  I think Jason has had better luck because he has more, er, experience dealing with things in that area.  He tells me that I’m just a slow learner. 

Maybe he’s right but, in my defense, it only took me one time to learn that placing the baby’s bath on the kitchen counter while dinner is being prepared is a bad idea.  This is especially true if baby is “pointed” in the general direction of said dinner.  (Let’s not discuss the fact that this happened with boy #2.  This story already makes me look bad enough!)

On the plus side, things start looking up around potty training time. Many boys are pretty enthusiastic about potty training.   Throw some circle-shaped cereal into the toilet and let your son “shoot the target”.  (Just don’t actually expect this early target practice to improve their aim later on—seriously.)  Or, like my mother-in-law, you might find it easiest to encourage them to “whip it out” and let loose outside.  Boys find it endlessly fascinating that they can pee outside.  Trees, flowers, ants, windows, puddles…nothing is safe.  Of course, it would have been nice to know that this method was encouraged before the neighbor’s daughter came running around the house yelling, “He’s peeing in the yard!  He’s peeing in the yard!”  (Y’all laugh, but I’m not a country girl.  I didn’t know people encouraged kids to pee outside until that happened!)

Should I talk about ticks?  No, that’s probably best left to your imagination.  (Oh, yes.  We have dealt with this.  And recently.)

Yep.  Your life is really and truly about to change—and all for the better.  Manna, I am so incredibly over-the-moon happy for you and your family.  This little boy is going to add so much love and laughter to your lives; being the mom to a little boy is a special and wondrous thing.  You are going to do great.  Thank you so much for asking me to write a guest post for you—I am honored.  I hope the move is going well and I can’t wait to read all about it once you get settled.

P.S.  Start stocking up on bathroom humor now.  It will make you very popular during the early school-age years.

Dependent ID Card With Goodnight Moon

Hopefully, today I am waking up for the first time in my new house in Texas! We will be nose deep in boxes for several more days but I'm hoping we are all motivated to get things done (I hope this because I'm typing this out several days in advance!).


Today, I have another special guest for you. My dear friend Amber from Goodnight Moon agreed to write a guest post for me about growing up a Marine brat then becoming a Marine wife. See...I know all about growing up Army but was interested in hearing about the Marine side of things. However, from Amber's post, I've learned that the two aren't any different in the eyes of a child. I hope you enjoy Amber's post as much as I did!


Take it away Amber!

I was born and raised a Marine brat. I’ve owned a military ID card since my 10^th birthday. A day that I so looked forward to. Not only did I turn 2 whole hands old, I was also in the double digits. But that wasn’t what I looked forward to, turning 10. If you are military brat yourself, you know that when you turn 10yrs old, you get to go down to the ID card center and get your picture taken and are finally able to have that flashy brown military dependant ID card. I was so excited and proud to have that ID card. It meant that I was able to go into the PX or commissary and buy something ALL.BY.MYSELF. It meant that I was old enough to walk up to the base pool, sign in and show my ID card to prove that I belonged there. But it also meant that I was responsible in my parent’s eyes to hold that ID card, the ID card that had my father’s social security number on it. Gosh forbid if I ever lost it…which I never did, thankfully!

I learned responsibility at a very young age. Being brought up in the military taught me life lessons that have stuck with me and have shaped me into who I am today. I basically have the attitude “suck it up and get over it” attitude. I pretty much apply that attitude to all aspects of my life.

When my father was gone {which was a lot}, I don’t ever really remember sitting around crying about it. I’m sure I did, especially when I was very young, but I was use to him being gone all the time. He missed a lot of special moments in my life that I really wish he was there to be a part of, but I remember “sucking it up”. That was what I did, and that is what I still do to this day being a military wife.

I learned at a young age that my dad had no control over when he had to leave us. My mom taught me how to support my dad and how to stay strong within myself when my dad was gone. Watching my mom be a strong military wife at a young age, really helped shape me into being one myself. 

I am pretty lucky to have been brought up a Marine brat, because without being around this lifestyle I call home, I’m not sure how I would’ve handled being a Marine wife today?

Housing Specs With The Annoyed Army Wife

Today, if all has gone as planned, we should be doing the final walk through on our house here in Missouri. Tomorrow, we will be heading off to Texas!


While I'm engaged in all things "moving" I have asked some amazing bloggers to help keep you company. Today, I am pleased as punch to introduce you to The Annoyed Army Wife, though I'm sure she requires no introduction! We all already know and love her don't we?? (Even if she is always annoyed. LOL!)


Anyway. Without further ado, here she is.




While Maranda and her fam move into new digs, I’m happy to be here to keep you all entertained. A handful of you may know me as the annoyed army wife. The husband, OccDoc, recently got back from a stint as a battalion surgeon in Afghanistan. I held down the fort with our two Chihuahuas (one skinny and one slightly…err…morbidly obese) and two rabbits (one older than dirt and the other weighing in at a healthy 18 lbs). I work part time as a massage therapist, but, really, does it even count as work? As I like to say I support the troops just not always the one I’m married to.

Anyway, enough intro stuff, a few weeks ago OccDoc and I found out our landlord wants to toss us out on our butts. Okay, fine, he just wants to sell the house we’re living in. We’re welcome to stay while he sells it, but I’ve lived in two properties that have been sold and I’m NOT going through that again. Alas, we might be moving again. Groan. Whatever, come on now, we all know that living the military lifestyle makes you AWESOME at moving, so this shouldn’t be too hard, just annoying.

OccDoc and I are faced with finding a new rental home. We’re quite picky when it comes to where we live, unless it’s on post where you can't be picky, which is why we don’t live on post. We want a pet-friendly house with an Allison-proof fence, Allison is the 4 lb Chihuahua and our smallest pet. That’s where the similarities end. OccDoc and I each have our non-negotiables. And we each have a wish list.
My Non-Negotiables:

• Dishwasher
• Decent windows, that aren’t drafty when you hold your hand up to the glass
• Secure Looking Doors
• A Room for the Bunnies (Yes, my bunnies have their own room in our house. Yes, they are that spoiled.)
• Enough Room for the Furniture
• A Decent Looking Yard

My Wishlist

• Real Hardwood Floors some where in the house
• Ceramic Tile, not linoleum tile
• The Ability to Paint or rooms that are already painted a color I like
• A Landscaped Yard with Water-Wise Plants
• Enough Room to have Dinner Parties

OccDoc’s Non-Negotiables:

• A Garage for his Car
• Enough room in the garage for his tools
• A Power Source in the Garage

OccDoc’s Wishlist

• An Attached 2-3 Car Garage
• A Heated Garage
• A Garage with a Hydraulic Lift for his Car

Um, as you can see my lists and my husband’s lists are quite divergent. The house also has to feel right to us. The neighborhood has to be somewhat decent without rundown, weed-ridden yards and floppy jalopies/hoopty wagons lining the streets. I know we aren’t buying and we won’t be there forever, but I want to at least like the place and not be embarrassed of my home for however long we live there.

What do you look for in a home? Do you and your spouse have similar or different tastes in home requirements?

On the Road Again...Almost

Here I sit...in a  hotel room...

The last few days have been a complete whirlwind of activity. As I sit here, I find myself not knowing what to do with so much down time.

The Hubble is back at the house doing a bit more work before calling it a day, but he dropped Little Butt and me off at the room so we could rest and get ready for tomorrow.

Wednesday was Little Butt's birthday. The Hubble met as for a bulgogi lunch (yes, that was Little Butt's choice of cuisine). She got the movie Tangled that day for her birthday, so of course, her and I had to order pizza that night and watch it. It was a great girl's night while The Hubble had a work event to attend.

Thursday, Little Butt and I ran around all morning and some of that afternoon getting her 4 year checkup, immunizations and grabbing some groceries. That evening, I started on her birthday cake (I'll be posting pictures of this crazy cake once we get settled in Texas).

Friday was full of packing and cake decorating. The Hubble and I achieved as much as we could within the limited amount of time he had between him getting off of work and having to drive 2 hours down to St. Louis to pick up his parents from the airport.

I worked on Little Butt's cake from about 5pm to 11pm. I was able to get most of it done but had to get up and finish things up the next day.

Saturday, we had Little Butt's birthday party. We had a dinosaur themed Kindermusik session for her. I didn't even know Kindermusic people did birthday parties. But hey...Little Butt and her friends had a blast!

The party didn't end until about 7pm, then it was work, work, work! I have no idea what time we finished up last night but I know I'm tired today!

We got up at 8am today and started working again. We literally did not stop moving until about 5:30pm when we finally called it quits to go get some dinner.

After dinner, The Hubble's parents went to their hotel, The Hubble dropped off Little Butt and me and he headed back to the house to get more work done.

Which brings us back full circle.

I can't believe we have already been here a year! It was a year ago that Little Butt played in these boxes:

How is it that we are moving again already??

Oh well...on to bigger and better things I guess.

For the next couple weeks, you will be being kept company by some really great bloggers while I'm off doing all this crazy moving stuff. Give them lots of love and make them feel welcome please!

Next time I type to you, I hope to be in Texas! Wish us luck!!

Wordless Wednesday: The Birthday Edition

Today is Little Butt's birthday. In honor of this day, I thought I would share some pictures from past birthdays. 

Her actual BIRTH day: April 2007

Her 1st birthday: April 2008

Her 2nd birthday: April 2009

Her 3rd birthday: April 2010

Here's a link to the post I did for her 3rd birthday last year. I'll post about her 4th birthday when we get to Texas.

Happy birthday little girl! Mommy and Daddy love you SOOO much!!!

Packing While Fat Sucks

Today, I was going to write about how I haven't really been sleeping lately.

I used to have insomnia pretty bad...but since I got pregnant I've just been crazy tired...CONSTANTLY.

I think it's the pain in my legs that are preventing me from sleeping. And that whole "needing to pee every 5 minutes" thing.

This morning I woke up and my right leg hurt SO bad! I rolled over on my left side and went back to sleep.

That is...until I heard Little Butt downstairs crying her eyes out.

She didn't see me behind my pillow and thought I was gone. She was so upset...poor thing.

BUT!

I'm not writing about all that today.

Today, I want to write about packing.

Really...the lack of packing that I'm doing lately.

See...we are moving...next week...and our house is not packed.

We don't have orders so the Army is not financing or covering this move in any way since it's a personal move and not Army sanctioned.

No big deal, we usually do DITY (do it yourself) moves anyway.

But this time...I'm huge!

Don't believe me??? Look!

See?? I told you! You still don't believe that I'm really huge?? Here's a close up!

WOAH MAMA!!!

See??? That's what I'm saying!

And let's put things in perspective here. Those boobs...they're 40F! That's right...size humongous!

And I'm only 21 weeks! Lord help me!!

I'm frustrated because I can't move as quickly or as easily as I would like to. I have this solid mass preventing me from bending up and down to pack boxes and pick things up.

I can't move any of the boxes that I pack anyway.

And to top it all off...The Hubble is in class this week. So he's no help.

He tries to be. But he had something last night, and he's gone all night on Wednesday (Little Butt's birthday, of course).

I'm doing what I can, but it's slow going. And I'm tired. Remember that whole "not sleeping" thing?? Yeah.

The Hubble has been really great though. He's encouraging instead of annoyed when he comes home after a full day of work to find out I've only packed 2 boxes (both being full of my shoes).

At least they were large boxes right?? (Although they are 2 large boxes FULL of my shoes!)

We have to get the packing done by Friday because his parents fly in to drive the UHaul for us that night. Then we have Little Butt's birthday party on Saturday (and she's asked me to make some crazy cake that will take me at least 2 days to make). We pack the truck on Sunday, do all the cleaning Monday, have the final walk through on Tuesday and out on Wednesday.

And let's go ahead while we're at it and throw a couple doctor's appointments in there shall we?? I mean...just for fun.

Well...I guess it's either laugh or cry.

No matter what...it has to get done. Who wants to come help??

And The Verdict Is....

Why hello there. Happy Friday!!

I'm here to reveal some results to ya.

Last week, I posted about Baby N and how everyone should take a guess about the gender.

The poll I set up had 8 votes: 5 girl. 3 boy.

In the comments we had 7 votes girl and 3 votes boy.

Now, some of the comments may also be poll results but I'm showing you what people have said.

The Hubble has been adamant from day ONE that this is a girl.

Little Butt has been adamant that Baby N is her sister.

Many of my friends have said boy and some have said girl.

The Chinese Birth Chart says girl.

In the beginning, yes...I bought a pink bib. It never occurred to me that I would have anything BUT a girl.

However...

In the last couple months I kept telling The Hubble that he needed to stop believing it was a girl.

I kept asking him if my intuition was kicking in, or maybe my fears were manifesting themselves into believing that Baby N is not a girl.

So...who was right??

Was my intuition correct???

Or was I just being swayed by the many people who said boy??

We went to the ultrasound and the technician spent a good 10-15 minutes doing tests and things. Measurements and whatever else they do.

Then she turned the screen so I could see. 

The Hubble remarked on the fact that Baby N is more docile than Little Butt was. Little Butt practically flipped off the technician. Seriously. We have the picture of her fist to prove it.

Baby N literally yawned while we were watching. This baby just hung out...sucking on the itty bitty thumb.

Baby N's legs were crossed at the ankles so the technician had to do a  lot of moving around and searching.

Still...Baby N just chilled.

Then we saw it....

There was really no mistaking....

It was a penis and scrotum!!!!

Yes, that's right.

I said: PENIS AND SCROTUM!

I grabbed The Hubble's shoulders and tried not to freak out.

The technician told me she could be wrong.

I asked how long she'd been doing this job: 25 years.

I asked if she thought she was wrong: no.

I asked her what percentage she was sure: 85-90%.

So there you have it....

If this lady is right, and I think she is because we definitely SAW it....

We are having a BOY!!!!

Photo by L*u*z*A*

Fun Day at the Park

With the 40 degree weather today, you would have never known that this weekend was absolutely gorgeous!

Well, wait...

I speak/type too soon.

This weekend wasn't gorgeous...SATURDAY was gorgeous. Sunday, the wind was so intense that I thought our roof would blow off our house any minute!

Growing up in the Army, I've had my fair share of different climates and weather. 

BUT...in these different places, you knew what to expect.

In Oklahoma, it was hot and humid...ALL THE TIME.

In Washington State it rained...ALL THE TIME.

In Texas it was sunny and warm...ALL THE TIME.

In Upstate New York it snowed...ALL THE TIME.

Here...in the Middle of Nowhere Midwest, there's no telling what you will get from day to day. 

To say it's frustrating is putting it mildly. 

Needless to say, when we get a (rare) nice day around here, we take advantage of it!

While I ran off to spend money at a Pampered Chef party, The Hubble took Little Butt to the family fun day at the child care center Little Butt goes to. 

They had such a blast! (Even though there was a LOT bit of drama over a lost hair tie The Hubble didn't put in tight enough).

After the party, I wanted to enjoy the gorgeous 70-something degree weather as well so I met them at the park. 

The most important thing on Little Butt's agenda at the park was to conquer the climbing of the slide.

Now, I believe that slides are meant for going down, not up...but The Hubble thinks there should be no rules a the park. 

So...I watched Little Butt in her struggle to conquer her newest foe.

Here she sits upon the slide. Contemplating her strategy.

She figured the best way to achieve her goals was to use the dividers as a holding point.

Trying so hard! Almost there!

Alas...she falls. 1 point slide, 0 points Little Butt.

But it's not the way you fall...it's the way you get back up. So again she climbs, this time with a two handed, center of the slide strategy.

NOOOOO! Foiled again!

Okay. This time she is determined. She uses everything in her power to fight her way to the top.

She knows this is a journey only she can take. She climbs alone...

And finally! She is victorious!!! She has slain the beast!

With just a little help from Daddy. We wish you a great week with wonderful weather!!!

There's a Party Going On...Are You on the List?

I have never participated in one of the blog parties before but I figured why not start now!

My name is Maranda....aaaaaaaannnnnddddd....I'm not really good at introductions.

What is my blog about??

Well...lots of things.

I talk about books (I'm a bit obsessed). Sometimes I even write book reviews, though I've been a super slacker lately and am behind a couple books.

I grew up as an Army Brat and have lived a ton of different places. When I grew up...I accidentally decided to marry an Army man. So now I'm an Army wife and continue to move...a lot. In fact, we're moving in a couple weeks from the Middle of Nowhere Midwest to gorgeous, sunny Austin, Texas.

I like to write about, and post pictures, of my beautiful Little Butt who is going to turn 4 soon! (What??? When the heck did that happen?!?!?)

I am also 20 weeks pregnant and we are (hopefully) finding out Baby N's gender soon.

Sometimes I post things that are real and make people cry and sometimes I like to be a bit more goofy.

I absolutely love makeup, and so does Little Butt apparently. And The Hubble and I almost divorced over a couple members of our family; Bill and Peggy.

I have written about my weight loss struggle and how I continue work on it every day...especially being pregnant. And because I like to bake and cook and blog about all things food! (That's definitely not helpful).

So that's me in a nutshell. I'm a bit goofy with a serious side. Jump around and see what you think. I'm excited to get to know you and look forward to partying it up with you. Though if this is a drinking party, I'm not sure I can stay very long...I'm not really into the fetal alcohol crawl thing.

Party on dudes! (And when saying that last line, please make sure you say it as if you are an extra in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure. M'kay?? Thanks!

**So...I realized I'm a complete flake and I linked up under the wrong list. I don't do product reviews and giveaways. Leave it to me to not scroll far enough down. I am a mom blog with little to no product reviews and giveaways. Or we can call this a daily life/opinion blog. Either way, I don't want you misinformed. Also...please don't follow me if you don't find something of value in what I say and/or am about. This is to make friends...not stats. Thanks!**

Mz. Griz is in the Hiz

Don't forget to jump over HERE to read details and cast your guess for Baby N's gender!

Alrighty.

Remember when I wrote about my friend Chrissy??

Then she wrote a guest post for me where she updated us all on how she's been doing.

Well, apparently, writing that post really inspired her. She's been bitten by the blogging bug and started up her own blog.

So...if you would be so kind...jump over to her blog and give her some love!

Thanks!!!