My Camo Colored Life

Pizza! Pizza! {Project 365: Day 21}

2012-01-22T23:35:00.000-06:00

Today was a good day.

It started off pretty chill. My mom came over and we had our shakes for breakfast. I had my Vanilla Latte shake...again. Yes, I know I'm obsessed. It's a real problem. Today I made my mom the birthday cake shake. Seriously, it tasted like I was drinking chocolate cake with frosting! It's amazing that I feel like I'm cheating but I'm really being healthy. Win!!

Anyway. After we had breakfast, Little Butt went to play at my mom's house while her and I took Baby N shopping. We went to Best Buy first, but didn't find what we were looking for. We then went to the fabric store to get her some new fabric to redo her kitchen table chairs. After that, a pit stop into Ross. I ended up finding a really awesome picture and a really pretty elephant for my bedroom!! Maybe I'll take a picture of the elephant tomorrow. She's really pretty. :-)

We came home and had some lunch then my Older Sister and I took the kids to the Y for the Yoga class this afternoon.

Now, I LOVE Yoga. It's crazy. I feel so inspired whenever I practice. It's really hard to explain in words, but my body feels so alive, and tingly, and connected. I feel like my body and soul sing whenever I practice Yoga. I've actually been toying with the idea of getting my certification to become a Yoga instructor. But I need to get fit again first.

Anyway. So this was my very first class today! I've done DVD's but never went to an actual class. I loved it!! I can already tell that I'm getting so much better at it! Every time I do it, I notice how much I've improved. My Older Sister loved it as well!

This was also the first time I've ever left the baby with a stranger. Crazy right??

Anyway, the girl in the child care center said he was super good and that I can bring him back any time!! She really liked him. LOL! He is a really good baby. I got lucky...twice! It's unheard of! But I think I'll pay in the teen year.

After the Y we came home and the kids made pizzas with my Baby Sis.

They pressed out their own dough.

Spread on their own sauce.

And added their own toppings!!

When they weren't busy eating them of course!!

Aren't their pizzas pretty?!?! Little Butt's is on the left.

They had a really great time and thoroughly enjoyed the results. Thanks for the pizza party Baby Sis!!! The pizza you made for us was dang good too!!

Oops! {Project 365: Days 18, 19, and 20}

2012-01-21T22:26:00.000-06:00

You know...it seems that I let ONE day pass and all of a sudden I'm catching up on THREE!

How the heck does life get away with you???

So now I get to play catch up!

Day 18:

Living here in Texas, it's freaking warm. All.The.Time. I am totally annoyed.

But the kids get to play outside and wear t-shirts, so I guess it's not all bad.

And yes, Little Butt is wearing cowgirl boots. She's always wearing those boots. She's so obsessed with those boots that I had to buy the exact same pair in a bigger size for when she outgrows those. It's a problem she has.

But...while the kids are outside playing...

I get to have a little fun of my own!! LOL!

My wine of the month shipment came in!!! This makes me a very happy momma. ;-)

Day 19:

I've mentioned that Baby N is a rolling fool right?? Well, sometimes he slips past me and ends up in the dining room. Little Stinker.

Day 20:

Now we are caught up to today.

Today was a pretty good day. We joined the YMCA today!!

I'm super stoked on it and Little Butt can't wait to go play. I think we are going tomorrow. We'll let the kids play and maybe we'll get in a yoga class.

The one thing that I've noticed I a not able to blog about while doing this Project 365 thing is my fitness updates.

I want to be able to write about the things that are going on in my life, as well as the kids. But I'm always behind the camera.

So how do you write a blog post about something that you don't have a picture of??

Well, it's my blog and I get to write about what I want, so I'm going to add in some fitness stuff if I want to.

So here's the deal...

In the last month I have lost 11.4 pounds.

There was one week in there (last week) that I was so unfocused.

I ate out at least FIVE times. AND skipped 2 days of working out. So I was definitely not surprised (and had no one to blame but myself) when I GAINED 1.6 pounds last week.

BUT! I refocused this week and lost 3.6 pounds! So I RE-lost last week's gain and then some. I'll take it!!

People keep asking me how I am doing it...well, I've been drinking Body by Vi shakes.

These shakes LITERALLY taste like cake mix.

I am so obsessed with them. My 2 BIG obsessions are the vanilla latte shake and the peanut butter and jelly shake. Mmmmmm...

And what good is nutritional meals without a good workout plan? I have also been doing the P90X program. I'm about to finish week 3 tomorrow.

So there ya have it folks. I highly recommend you jumping over to the Body by Vi link and seeing what they are all about!

And OF COURSE!!! I can't leave you without today's picture...

Yup. That's my girl...

He's Got the Whole World in His Hands {Project 365: Day 17}

2012-01-18T22:03:00.000-06:00

Today was a first for Baby N.

See...I've been worried that he was behind in his motor skills.

The boy needs to learn to control his arms. He hasn't yet and he's already 5 months.

All he does is flail around and flap his arms like he's trying to take off in flight.

So today, I put a teething ring in his hands. At first, he looked at me like I was crazy. He wasn't quite sure what to do with it.

Then he sized it up...thought about his next move...

Then went in for the kill!!!

Om, nom, nom, nom nom

Welcome to the Jungle {Project 365: Day 16}

2012-01-17T22:38:00.000-06:00

I think Baby N hates me.

No really.

He is at least determined to drive me crazy.

See. I decided last week that I was going to start getting up early to work out. I will set my alarm for 5am...and he will wake up even earlier.

Take this morning for example. I set my alarm for 5am. He wakes up at 4:30am. (He started waking up at 3am but officially got me up at 4:30am).

What kind of crap is that??? I swear! That child.

He had physical therapy today.

He's getting a lot better with it. He loves to work and play with Miss Helen.

He really hates the stretches though.

But it has to be done. He will thank us for it later.

The other really important thing that got done was our yard.

I noticed when we got back from Alabama after Thanksgiving that there was a jungle in my backyard.

Well...things just got worse...

So I called our lawn guy and got him over here. I kept waiting for him to just show up but he never did.

Oh well. At least it's done now.

It's time for bed.

Wish me luck with the boy!!

Dirty Laundry {Project 365: Day 15}

2012-01-16T22:58:00.000-06:00

There was a whole lotta this going on today.

I feel better now that it's done.

Now, time for bed!

Did you have a productive day today?

Korea House {Project 365: Day 14}

2012-01-15T21:45:00.000-06:00

Today was somewhat bittersweet.

The Hubble's best friend and wifey left. I was quite sad to see them go. The time together was definitely not long enough. But they have a baby to get back to so what can you do??

The good thing that happened today is that I found an awesome Korean restaurant!!

I just love living in the Austin area. Everything is at my fingertips. But I do have to do a little searching and finding the right place.

So far, I have found a fantastic Vietnamese place, an amazing Indian place, and now a delicious Korean place.

I'm still looking for a stellar Chinese place but I'm confident it will come. Oh, and I need a good Mediterranean place too. I just have to keep searching.

My Older Sister and I packed up our 4 year olds and went in search of this place, Korea House. It was actually kind of hard to find. It was in the center of this shopping complex. You cannot find it if you are in your car. You have to walk through the buildings to find it. It was a nice little hole in the wall kind of place.

The BEST thing about going to a new restaurant is trying a bit of everything...of course! We definitely ordered way too much food.

We even added sushi on top of that.

Even the kids stuffed themselves silly...and even asked for more fish cakes at the end!

We pretty much had to waddle out of that place. But it was worth it.

Right outside the restaurant is a cute little pond with koi fish swimming around.

Naturally, we had to stop for pictures. I love how kids smile in pictures.

But of course, the best ones are when you get the goofy faces.

I am definitely looking forward to going back again. And I cannot wait to take The Hubble there when he gets back too!

Now, my goal for this week is NO MORE EATING OUT! I can do it!

Have you found any new restaurants lately?

It's Fun to Stay at the YMCA {Project 365: Day 13}

2012-01-15T10:28:00.001-06:00

I'm totally late with this post!

Yesterday was a fun filled day but there was no time for me to sit down and blog. So today is all about playing catch up.

I went out with my Older Sister yesterday morning.

We had recently joined Gold's Gym here in the area, just to find out that the child care sucked. They would let Little Butt play in the room, but if I took Baby N and he needed a diaper, they would get me. If he needed to be fed, they would get me. If the poor boy cried at all, they would get me.

I only went to the gym twice in 2 months because I still needed to figure out child care for Baby N so I could go.

My dear friend Tammy started talking about the YMCA up in NY so I decided to try the one here. My Older Sister and I went on a little tour of the complex and we are ecstatic!

The place is gorgeous! And an extra bonus for me is that since The Hubble is deployed, it's FREE!

While I was there looking around the grounds, I snapped some pictures.

I really want to try Little Butt in soccer so we are going to join before the end of the month. I can't wait to take her there and let her play with the other kids.

After running errands, I ended the day hanging out with The Hubble's best friend, his wifey, and another good friend of ours.

This is the first time they were able to meet Baby N.

We went out to Luigi's...again...and ended the night doing Dance Central 2 on the Kinect and drinking wine.

It was a great time and I'm glad we did it...even if some of us girls (including me) cried into our wine at a certain point. But sometimes that just needs to happen.

How was your evening?

So Many Books {Project 365: Day 12}

2012-01-13T22:12:00.000-06:00

I know this is goofy...but I seriously cannot believe I have blogged for so many days in a row.

I think I really like this. ;-)

Last night was a rough night. I had the hardest time going to sleep. Then around 1:45am I heard some banging type noise and ended up wandering the house for about 20 minutes checking locks and looking out windows. It took me forever to get back to sleep. Then, Baby N woke up at 5am. We got up and I fed him. I was rocking him and I literally ended up falling asleep in the chair with him. So we went back to bed.

I didn't get my workout in and I feel like a slug.

I also haven't made the best food choices this week. Tomorrow is weigh in day and I think I'm going to gain. Blah.

But what can you do?? We all have bad weeks. We just have to pick ourselves up, brush ourselves off, and get back on. I'll get it done.

I went to my mom's work today during lunch to do a Body by Vi tasting. It was a lot of fun. I ended up making a Butterfinger shake, an Orange Pomegranate shake, and my new favorite, a Vanilla Latte shake. We all sat around and drank shakes and talked. It was nice.

This evening was my book group meeting.

We met at a local Italian restaurant.

The food was really delicious!

Every time I eat at a really yummy, local restaurant, I find myself wishing that The Hubble could be there with me. He definitely appreciates these little hole in the wall places as much as I do.

And what is a book club without a book??

We read the book Sold by Patricia McCormick. It's a teen book so it was an easy, fast read. But boy did it pack a punch.

My mom didn't have time to read the book so I was trying my best to explain it to her in detail. By the time I told her the end, I had tears in my eyes. I hadn't realized that the book instilled such an emotional response in me.

I had an enjoyable time. I'm so grateful to have met such an amazing group of ladies. This book group is awesome.

So now I'm stuffed, happy, and well read. LOL! The kiddos are sleeping and it's 10pm.

I've recently started Rob Lowe's bio for my Goodreads Book Group so I think I'll go get ready for bed and curl up with Rob Lowe for a bit before sleepy time.

Are you part of a book group? Are you a member of a different kind of group?

Little Bro Turns 19 {Project 365: Day 11}

2012-01-12T22:20:00.000-06:00

Today I set my alarm and got up at 5:15am. I know...gross right??

My thinking was that I would get my workout done before Baby N woke up.

That worked out great actually. Baby N did not wake up until about 8 minutes before my workout was done.

However, the workout didn't go so well.

See...today was Yoga X day.

Waking up at 5:15am for the first day to do Yoga...not a good idea!

I don't think I ever actually woke up for the workout. I was stumbling all over the place. It was pretty ridiculous.

Needless to say, I won't be doing that first thing, early in the morning again.

Today was also my Little Bro's birthday. He turned 19.

He decided that he wanted to go to dinner at Plucker's because they have a huge ass burger called The Gut Grenade. It's insane. And he ate the WHOLE thing!

Of course, since I'm the baker in the family, it was my job to make the cake.

I made a Texas sheet cake. It was pretty awesome, but really rich.

Other than that, it's been a pretty chill day.

Speaking of "chill" it was quite cold today.

How was your day today?

Keep Rollin' Rollin' Rollin' {Project 365: Day 10}

2012-01-11T21:52:00.000-06:00

Turning Frowns Upside Down {Project 365: Day 9}

2012-01-10T21:51:00.000-06:00

Today was just one of "those" days.

Baby N woke me up much earlier than I wanted to be. I was definitely WAY exhausted when we got up.

I absolutely did NOT want to do my workout but I pushed play and did it anyway. I'm so glad that I did. I felt great afterward!

When Baby N woke back up from his nap, we were playing together. I was holding him, standing on my lap and he decided to vomit right down my shirt. It was awesome!

Later, I was feeding him some oatmeal for second breakfast.

I gave him a big bite JUST in time for him to sneeze. All over me!

Then he proceeded to kick the bowl of oatmeal out of my hands.

This was all before 9am!

Little Butt woke up in an ornery mood. She was kind of a butt head all the way up until she went to school.

By the time she got out of school, she was in a much better mood, and so was I!

We came home to play and watch Rent.

Luckily, our day ended a lot better than it started.

Even Baby N was feeling a bit silly by the end of the day.

How was your day today?

Ladies Who Lunch {Project 365: Day 8}

2012-01-09T22:30:00.000-06:00

Sometimes, after I drop Little Butt off at school, I decide to have some semi-adult time.

Basically, that means that Baby N and I head to lunch with my Mom and Baby Sis.

Today, we decided to go to Olive Garden.

I know it's not REAL Italian, but whatever. I still love the place!

I had originally gone thinking that I would have the soup, salad, and breadsticks. But they had this amazing looking new dish that I just had to try.

I won't lie. It was pretty fantastic. But after some calamari, soup, salad, and breadsticks...I pretty much had about 3 bites then boxed it up to go.

Not only was it us 3 ladies and Baby N, but my nephew D-money came with us.

Now, D-money is 4. And he's Autistic.

So trying to take a picture of an Autistic 4 year old goes about something like this

Or this

Baby Sis looks great in both pictures. D-money? He could use some work.

But then...

You catch moments like this

And everything just falls into place.

He's such a sweet boy and he is so loved. He's extremely loving for an Autistic child as well. He's pretty awesome, I won't lie.

What is NOT awesome though, is trying to carry my 17 pound, 5 month old chunky monkey in his infant carrier seat after having done a P90X arm workout that morning. Nope. Not fun at all.

The only other really eventful thing we did today was to go mail a package to The Hubble. He's about to get hit with a book bomb! I hope he's ready for it!

Now, what's your favorite restaurant?

Baby N Turns 5 Months! {Project 365: Day 7}

2012-01-08T22:19:00.000-06:00

Okay guys. I warned you I was going to blog twice in one day. I figured that since no one really reads blogs on Sunday, let alone Sunday night, it would be okay.

Actually, I think it's funny that now that I'm blogging more regularly, I lost a follower. I do try to tell people that I'm really not that fun! LOL!

All I talk about is my kids and weight loss.

There's not much else to talk about though. I could whine and complain that The Hubble is not here, but that's DEFINITELY no fun! Ha!

Anyway. I am completely amazed at how quickly time is flying.

I CANNOT believe that Baby N is already 5 months today!!!

He's getting to be such a big boy!

I keep thinking that he's behind because he doesn't really know how to control his arms completely yet. But he's been grabbing onto things more often.

He has started rolling. A lot.

I've had to start laying him in the middle of the room now so that he will have plenty of room to roll before he runs into something.

He LOVES to play with and eat his hands. And he has even started reaching down and trying to grab his feet, though I don't know if he understands what he's doing.

He talks ALL.THE.TIME!

Seriously. He babbles constantly. I thought boys were supposed to be more quiet than girls. He is definitely not the strong silent type.

Strong, yes. Silent, no.

Either way, he's tons of fun and I just can't get over how big he's getting already. Can time just slow down please??

Is time going super fast for anyone else or is it just me???

In other news, I made out like a bandit at the Annual RE-Giftmas Party. I got a small bottle of Russian Vodka, a purse size planner, and... a #1 Texas Longhorns Fan License Plate! Sweet!!!

Resolutions {Project 365: Day 6}

2012-01-08T22:06:00.000-06:00

Yesterday was all about setting goals and resolutions for the New Year.

Last year, you would never hear me say that I was going to make a New Year's Resolution. I thought they were pointless and only for breaking.

I was only into making goals for myself. I figured those were easier to keep.

Recently, I was informed that resolutions ARE harder to keep. And for good reason. Setting a resolution is much deeper than just setting a goal. I can make any kind of goal. But it take dedication and determination to "resolve" yourself to make a change.

The reason I'm talking about this is that yesterday I had a big Resolution Rally party. It was a great time! We all got together and tried the Body by Vi shakes, talked about our fitness/health goals for the year, and just had fun.

We even ended up having an after party where we turned on the Xbox Kinect and played Dance Central 2 for a bit. LOL!

Okay. So my big RESOLUTION this year is to get fit, lose 60 50 pounds, feel better about me, and set a good, healthy example for my children.

My GOALS to go along with that RESOLUTION is to get back into this dress before The Hubble comes home for R&R

AND to be able to wear my wedding rings again. Right now, my fingers are too fat

If I can reach those GOALS, I will definitely be on my way to achieving my RESOLUTION.

Have you set any goals or resolutions this year?

Dead Manna Walking {Project 365: Day 5}

2012-01-07T21:35:00.000-06:00

You see that guy??

Yeah. That one. The one who drools all the time.

We are about to break up.

That boy has been waking up at 3am for the last couple nights. Well, not really. This morning he woke up at 6am. It was the 2 nights before last night that he woke up at 3am.

And the 6am doesn't count since I stayed up well past midnight because my Older Sister and I started playing Dance Central 2 on the Xbox Kinect and we lost track of time.

Needless to say, I'm exhausted!

I can barely keep my eyes open to write this post.

Anyway. Yesterday was kind of hard.

Baby N woke up at 3am for the second day in a row. Then Little Butt was telling me she didn't feel well.

I told her she couldn't play with her cousin if she didn't go to school.

So she got up and got ready. When we arrived at the school, she didn't even want to get out of the car to go play before class. She looked super pale too. All she did was sit there.

I was finally able to convince her to come home with me. Of course, I had to bribe her!

Before we were able to go home, I had to stop by the post office though. I had some Body by Vi samples to send out so we ran over there.

Poor baby girl ended up laying on the floor in the post office at one point. So we definitely high tailed it home after that. She didn't even want me to stop at Old McDonald's...that's weird!

She ended up falling asleep on the couch for a while.

Luckily, she finally started feeling well later on that evening. Maybe she just needed more sleep? Who knows.

Or maybe she just wanted to spend some extra time with her baby brother whom she loves SO much!

Who knows. I'm just glad she's feeling better.

Now I just have to get myself feeling better. To do that...bed! Goodnight all!!

Gen X {Project 365: Day 4}

2012-01-06T22:29:00.000-06:00

I have decided that I officially hate posting a day behind. I think I'm going to work on catching up this weekend. So you may see a day where I post more than once. Sorry about that. But hey, at least I'm giving you fair warning right???

Lately, I have been thinking a lot about my weight and my health.

I've decided that I'm tired of being overweight. Again.

Baby N is about to be 5 months old on Sunday and it's time for me to get back to my pre baby weight.

I discovered this awesome product called Body by Vi. I am absolutely obsessed!!

It is basically nutrition shakes that can be used as meal replacements for weight loss. Or as recovery drinks after workouts for lean muscle.

I have actually never tasted a protein shake this good. Usually I buy the powder, try to force down one or two of the shakes then never touch it again. I've been having 2 of these shakes a day for 3 weeks tomorrow and I haven't gotten bored yet. I have also lost at least 6 pounds. Tomorrow is weigh in day so I'll see what I lost this last week. When I checked this morning I was tracking 9 pounds lost in 3 weeks. I'll take it!

One of my favorites is this Butterfinger shake. It tastes EXACTLY like a Butterfinger. Yum!

I've also started P90X this week. Yesterday was the Yoga X day and I love, love, LOVED it!

I am already a sucker for yoga and this one was an hour and a half of intense yoga and I felt as though I had died and gone to heaven! It was so amazing!

I can't wait to do more of it!

Have you made any fitness or health resolutions this year? Have you started a fitness or diet program?

Le Sigh {Project 365: Day 3}

2012-01-05T21:05:00.000-06:00

Yesterday, I took Baby N back to the doctor for a follow up after doing a few breathing treatments with him.

The doctor said he sounded much better but to continue treatments. If he is still wheezing on Monday I need to take him back in. But the doctor doubts that he will need to come back for this.

He seemed to be feeling a lot better but my Baby Sister and I definitely thought he needed some extra love.

Actually, my Baby Sister just really loves the boy and can't get enough of him. She makes me give him over to her. It's kind of cute. They are totally BFF's.

Little Butt had a pretty good day too. She's working on getting back into the swing of school again after her couple week break.

She was in her room playing at one point so I walked in and asked what she was doing. She was cleaning her ponies. She's so cute!

That was really our day in a nutshell. We didn't do too much yesterday. How was your day?

Just Breathe {Project 365: Day 2}

2012-01-04T20:26:00.000-06:00

Woohoo! Look at me! Two days in a row!

I've done this in the past though. I'm hoping this isn't a fluke.

I tend to be the type of person that if I challenge myself to something, I will do it. So I'm hoping this Project 365 will be enough of a push to get the blogging going again.

Although, I'm posting the pictures a day after I take them. I just can't do it all in one day. ;-)

Anyway. Yesterday, I decided to make an appointment for the kiddos with their doctor.

I had lost my voice several days before and it took 4 days to get it back. No voice for New Years! Fun huh?? LOL!

The kids were kind of coughing too. They didn't seem to be sick other than a cough so I kind of ignored it and waited for it to get better.

Baby N ended up getting worse. He started wheezing quite a bit and sounded like he had a bunch of gunk in his chest. I know that RSV is going around so I decided to make him an appointment and I figured why not get Little Butt looked at while I was there.

Little Butt was given some cough medicine but the doc was kind of concerned about Baby N. They tested his oxygen levels and he just wasn't getting enough. So they gave him a breathing treatment.

Afterward, they sent me to a place to pick up our very own breathing machine.

Pretty isn't it?? I get to give Baby N breathing treatments every 3 to 4 hours. He screamed his head off every time we used it. Blah! But if it helps him then that's what counts.

Once we ran Little Butt to school, I had just enough time to feed Baby N before taking him to physical therapy. Then it was back to get Little Butt from school. Haha!

It was a pretty full day but we made it through. Phew!

Back to the Daily Grind {Project 365: Day 1}

2012-01-03T22:11:00.000-06:00

Man oh man!

I just fail lately don't I??

Yesterday, I remembered that I was going to start the Project 365 thing on January 1st. Yup. I remembered January 2nd.

Oh well, just a day late right??

My whole intention for doing this is to keep The Hubble updated on what we are doing, and to get back into the habit of blogging again.

So I grabbed my trusty camera and set to work yesterday. I took pictures today too, but they will have to wait until tomorrow to be uploaded, edited, and blogged about.

Anyway. So what went down yesterday??

Well...Little Butt went back to school!

She actually wasn't feeling very well and didn't even want to go to school. But as I was told when I was little, I let her know that if she didn't go to school, she didn't get to play with friends after school. So she went.

When we got there, she seemed to have forgotten that she didn't feel well...

She dropped her backpack and took off like a bat out of Hell to go run and play with her classmates before school started for the day.

Once the drop off was complete, I went to lunch with my mom and sister.

Salmon teriyaki bento anyone??

How about some sushi?? It was quite delicious.

When I went back to get Little Butt, I ended up having to wait for a while before she came out. She was being carried by her teacher and was crying her little eyes out. I guess she didn't feel well after all. But four year olds get awfully distracted by the shiny stuff.

So there you go. Day one of the Project 365. It may be a day behind, but whatever. I'm hoping this will get me motivated to blog again! And yes, I know it's supposed to only be one picture each day but...I do what I want! ;-)

Are you doing a Project 365 this year?

Dressed and Ready

2011-12-19T10:15:00.000-06:00

I cannot believe it is almost Christmas! Can you??

I mean, seriously! It's less than a week away!

Where the heck has this year gone???

I decorated the house the weekend after Thanksgiving (after we got back from Alabama...like, the DAY after) but haven't posted about it yet.

I haven't been posting much of anything lately. But I want to fix that.

So, even though I couldn't figure out how to make my pictures consistent with the lighting, I'm still going to share the pictures of the decorations I have up. :-)

My beautiful tree! The pictures don't do it justice and there are now presents under the tree but I love my tree. It is a 7 foot white tree with red, silver, and black decorations. I love, love, LOVE my tree!

The door to my sister's room.

The door to Little Butt's room.

The table in the living room.

Here's a close up of the lantern I made (spray painted).

The walkway from the living room into the dining room.

The hanging light over the dining room table even dressed up for the occasion.

The centerpiece of the dining room table is a candy cane vase that I made. It's sitting on top of a poinsettia mini table runner.

Elfis even made his debut after Thanksgiving! (Don't mind Emeric, he's harmless)

And I can't have a decorated house without a pretty wreath on the front door. So I made this one to match my tree. :-)

So that's the walk through my Christmas house. I figured you guys didn't need pictures of lights around the windows. And I'm not about to get on a ladder outside and put up lights. So that's about it.

I hope you enjoyed it!!

Have you decorated for the holidays? Do you go crazy or subtle?

A Time for Giving

2011-12-18T08:31:00.000-06:00

It's that time of year again!

I blogged about this last year and I want to share this again.

Gillette is a huge supporter or our military and the USO.

We all know how important the USO is to our soldiers. They are there in the airports when our soldiers are stranded. They are there for our families, helping us connect through reading programs, and more.

Gillette is donating $1to the USO for every photo or story about a service member posted to their Facebook page.

All you do is jump over to the Gillette Facebook Page and leave a story or picture about a service member in your life. The story can be a thank you, an expression of love, or a more intimate story about your soldier. Mine was a simple shout out! LOL!

Let's remember that every dollar counts. Especially during these times. So get over there and help make a difference in the lives of our soldiers and families!

Noise

2011-12-14T23:02:00.000-06:00

My thoughts feel very erratic lately.

I've wanted to blog for days...about different things...but my thoughts won't form into words and sentences.

It's annoying.

Anyway. I took Baby N to get his skull x-rayed today.

I keep thinking about his poor little neck and how he doesn't use it as well as he should.

He's gotten a lot better. He's sleeping right now and his head is facing left all on his own. But it's not completely there yet.

And his head is flattened a bit. The doc says it wouldn't be a huge concern if not for his forehead is starting to jut out a bit.

So I took him today to get x-rayed. The order was a STAT order so I thought I would have heard from his doctor this afternoon. I didn't.

But from what it sounded like when he went to his 4 month check up, he's probably going to need a helmet.

I keep thinking that I should stop stressing about this. It's fine. Lots of kids have helmets.

I should be grateful this is the major problem. I have friends who have faced unspeakable tragedies. In the grand scheme of things, this is trivial. I should be grateful.

So why does it make me want to cry?

How do I not blame myself?? How do I not wonder if there was something more I could have/should have done?

I know I haven't been doing his stretches like I should. I haven't been working with him. I've been busy. Or I forget. I'm so annoyed with myself.

Oh well. I can't change it. I just have to keep trucking along and take things as they come. If he gets a helmet, he gets a helmet. It's for the best.

He is a big boy though. Like I said, he went to his 4 month check up last week.

He weighs 15 pounds 14 ounces (70th percentile) and is 25.5 inches long (72nd percentile). He's not fat...just big. People are always shocked when they hear he's just four months.

He also had rice cereal for the first time last night. He did really well and liked it a lot. I actually came away from it clean. I did have to hold his hands though since he wanted to eat those along with the cereal.

He fared pretty well too.

He had cereal with his bottles today and he only ended up eating 4 times today. When he had cereal and a bottle he ended up going 4 to 5 hours between feedings instead of the normal 3 to 4.

And yes, I know it's kind of early to be feeding him (most babies nowadays wait until 6 months) but the doc even agreed that the poor boy needs more to eat.

Well, that's the update on Baby N. Maybe getting these thoughts out will help me sleep. I haven't really been doing much of that lately. Wish me luck!

Winner of the Making Memories Giveaway

2011-11-29T07:20:00.000-06:00

Hi all!

I am going to blog soon but I wanted to let you know the winner of the Making Memories Giveaway.

The winner according to random.org is number 1! Shellie!!

I will be contacting you soon with details on how to claim your prize. :-)

Sweet Home Alabama

2011-11-23T07:57:00.000-06:00

**Don't forget to enter my giveaway HERE.**

I'm beginning to think that Thanksgivings with my Father here in Alabama is becoming something of a tradition.

I hadn't intended to come to Alabama this year.

In fact, I told everyone that with 2 children there was no way I was traveling this holiday season.

I figured if people wanted to see us bad enough, they could come to us.

Then my Dad got sick. He had pretty major surgery and I had no other option than to come be with him.

Luckily, my Baby Sis left her craptastic job and she was able to come with me.

The 2 day drive was actually quite enjoyable. The kids were really good and I thoroughly enjoyed spending time with my Baby Sis. We talked, listened to music, talked some more. It was nice.

So now we are in Alabama. Another hot state.

I don't understand why it's in the upper 70s at the end of November. Maybe I did live in Upstate NY too long.

My Dad has been helping me figure out what new computer to buy. I need one really badly. I'm currently using his HP Envy and I really like it...except I'm HATING the mouse pad. Oh. Em. GEE! It's driving me crazy.

So I either get the Envy and purchase a mouse to accompany it, or I look into something else. My problem is that I tend to get overwhelmed and if I have too many options, I shut down. Blah.

Computer suggestions??

I'm feeling pretty mad at myself today. I know that won't solve anything, but I need to get it together.

Yesterday, I did absolutely horrendous with my food intake. Seriously. I had 4 hot dogs for dinner! With chips and dip! What is wrong with me??? Why do I do this??

Also, I haven't been working with Baby N and doing his stretches. Like, not really at all. I started doing some with him this morning and it's like we are back at square one. I'm so annoyed with myself.

Anyway. The only thing I can do is work to change it. Not much else right?? Sitting here, beating myself up about it is a waste of my time.

So I'm done I guess.

But before I go, here are a couple random pictures we've taken on this trip.

Little Butt has us take the most random pictures of her. Goof ball.

I snapped this picture because Little Butt is sitting EXACTLY like her Daddy sits.

And my Baby Sis got this picture of me and Baby N just chilling after he ate.

That is all. Have a great day and a happy Thanksgiving!

Making Memories and a Giveaway

2011-11-15T06:56:00.001-06:00

Remember when I talked about procrastination??

Well...one thing I can't seem to stop procrastinating on is getting crafty.

Yes, I made a couple awesome wreaths, but I just can't get back into some of the other craft stuff I've done in the past. It's like I have trouble going backward.

I used to be really into cross stitch. I haven't touched a needle since 2006.

I taught myself to knit and made a ton of scarves. I haven't touched yarn since 2005.

I used to draw. I haven't picked up a pencil since 2009.

I also got really into scrapbooking. I haven't picked up textured scissors since 2004.

I've wanted to get back into all of these things. Especially scrapbooking.

I think it would be awesome to have beautiful and creative books full of pictures and memories for when the kids get older. But I just can't bring myself to find the time.

When I think of scrapbooking, I start getting overwhelmed. I would have to choose which pictures to print and order. Then I would have to get out my boxes of paper, stickers, scissors, and glitter pens.

I think of the mess and how I just don't have the time for all of that with 2 kids.

Luckily, I have discovered My Memories, a digital scrapbooking site. You can make scrapbooking pages, videos, photo books or cards, and a ton more stuff.

I'm actually pretty obsessed with it. Look! I even made a couple scrapbook pages!

Aren't they cute?? I'm really excited about them!

Not only did I make some scrapbook pages, I also made a new header for my food blog! Check it out: Jolts & Jollies.

I'm really excited about this next part...

The wonderful people at My Memories is offering one of my lucky readers a chance to win a copy of their My Memories Suite scrapbook software! How awesome is that?!?!?

How to Enter:

(Leave a separate comment for each entry)

1. Head over to My Memories and peruse their website. Come back here and tell me which digital scrapbook layout or paper pack is your favorite. Make sure you include your email address in this comment.

Extra Entries:

2. Follow My Memories Blog

3. Like My Memories on Facebook

4. Follow My Memories on Twitter

5. Follow My Camo Colored Life through Google Friend Connect or RSS Feed

6. Follow @mannadonn on twitter

7. Tweet about this giveaway (this can be done once per day), include: a link to this post, @mymemoriessuite and @mannadonn in your tweet

This giveaway will end Monday, November, 28th at midnight (CST) and the winner will be announced on Tuesday, November, 29th. Good luck!!

So there you have it! SEVEN ways to enter to win this great product!! I have seriously had so much fun with it!

Can't wait?? My Memories is offering my readers a special discount! If you enter in this code:

STMMMS49898

at checkout and you will receive $10 off the purchase of the My Memories Suite v2 software AND a $10 coupon to the MyMemories.com store!

And since I'm in the giving spirit today, I'm doing GIVEAWAY TUESDAY! Head over to Jolts & Jollies and enter in to win a giveaway there as well!

Let's Get Physical: A Challenge for YOU!

2011-11-14T07:00:00.001-06:00

Guess what!!

Chicken butt!

Bahahahahaha!!!!

Just kidding. Sorry...I really needed to get that out of my system.

I'm done now. We can move on now.

But seriously...guess what!

I joined a gym this weekend!

I'm super excited about it.

Now, I have been a member of a couple different gyms in the past and I never used them. However, I know I like this particular corporation and I've been happy in the past with them at different locations. Even going into this gym, I feel absolutely comfortable and welcome. Everyone was super nice and I'm really excited to get started.

I bought 3 personal training sessions with my sign up bonus. I really wanted to buy 36 but I think The Hubble would kill me if I spent $2,000 on personal training.

Anyway. When I lost weight after Little Butt I tried many different techniques to keep me motivated.

One of those techniques was to make a vision board.

What is a vision board you ask...well let me show you mine from before:

Basically, you grab some poster board, a bunch of magazines, some scissors, and some glue. You find pictures or words that speak to you and really resonate with what you want to accomplish. Then you cut them out and glue them on your board. Post to board somewhere where you will see it every day so you can easily visualize your future.

Now, when I first read about this I thought it was the cheesiest load of crap ever. BUT I was the team leader of a challenge group on jillianmichaels.com so I had to do it. After I finished, I ended up carrying this thing with me through several different states. I loved it! I was so proud of it and inspired by it. It helped me remember my goals and it focused me. It gave me a visual reminder of my vision for myself.

So, now that I have joined the gym and am ready to get started, I think it's time for you to get started too.

So here is your challenge:

I want you to make a vision board. Gather your materials and have fun with it! Think about where you are going to place your vision board so you will see it every day.

Then, I want you to write a blog post about it and post that on December 1st. Come back here and link up to the linky I will have available on December 1st. That way, we can each jump around and help motivate one another. It will be like a virtual work out group.

We can even come up with weekly challenges if you all want.

So who is with me???

If you are feeling a little unsure, just go read THIS POST and get inspired and motivated!

I can't wait to see what you all come up with.

Let's get the word out about this! Tell your friends, blog about it, whatever you have to do to get people on board.

If we have a good turn out for the December 1st vision board linky, I'll throw in a prize for best vision board!!

So get after it!

PS: The vision board does NOT have to be strictly fitness related. Whatever your vision or goals are, those are what you should incorporate into your vision board. Let me know if you have any questions.

Today...

2011-11-11T21:31:00.000-06:00

I know that I'm supposed to post about Veteran's Day.

Trust me, I'm thankful for everything our Veteran's have given and still continue to give today.

However...I'm going to write about me instead. Because today has been a day.

First off, I think Baby N is going through a growth spurt. He's 3 months now and his sleep schedule is all jacked up like it was when he went through his 6 week growth spurt.

I thought it was the time change at first, but it just keeps getting worse. The first couple days after we set back the clocks, he was waking up at about 6 or 6:30am, which is normal (usually 7 or 7:30am). However, yesterday he woke up at 5am. Way early, but still doable.

Then today happened.

Today he woke up at 4am.

I told him I was not getting up at 4am. There was no way. But when he was screaming at 4:30am I figured I didn't have a choice.

I did go back to bed for about an hour after he finished eating. But I am crazy exhausted.

After we all got ready, it was time to go meet a friend for breakfast. Earlier in the week we had decided we would meet up at Denny's this morning.

I got to doing stuff on the computer and lost track of time. When I realized it was time to go, I packed me and the kids into the car then realized I needed gas. So we rush and fill the tank then jet over to the restaurant. The restaurant was crazy busy so we searched for parking. Unloaded 2 kids, diaper bag, me, locked car, walked into restaurant. I pulled out my phone and was texting my friend to see if she was there yet when she called me. She told me she was pretty sure she was in the right place. I looked up and it dawned on me...I was at IHOP. Grab kids, walk back to the car, load kids back into car, throw diaper bag back in, get me in car, jet to correct restaurant.

For all the trouble, the meal was fantastic!! They have these pumpkin pie pancakes with a pumpkin maple whip on top that are to die for! And the Christmas cookie milk shake is going to be in my dreams tonight.

By then, it was time to rush Little Butt to school then hit up the grocery store. Did that, came home, dropped off groceries, fed the baby. Grab Little Butt from school, get car washed then head to a friend's house.

When we finally made it back home for the evening it was time for Little Butt to start cleaning her room while I hung out with my Older Sister. I had just sat down when I heard Little Butt in her room crying. This was not the normal cry, this was the "I'm really hurt cry." I jump up and meet her in the hallway and she's GUSHING blood from her lip.

She had tripped over a bin and face planted it into her book shelf. I got some paper towels and my sister grabs ice and Little Butt sat crying for a while. She finally calmed down and took some Tylenol. I decided to take her to the hospital just to make sure she didn't need stitches. The doc said we could put one stitch in to reduce scarring but I opted out of that because it would be traumatic and it was not absolutely necessary.

So, now we are home and Little Butt is back to cleaning her room.

Poor Little Butt...

Wreaths, Pinterest, and Play Time with Baby N

2011-11-09T22:23:00.000-06:00

Okay. As promised. Let me tell you about the wreaths I've made.

Oh! But before that. Can I just say how in love with Pinterest I am?? I've been on it for a while now but I never blog anymore so I haven't talked about it. I get so many ideas and inspiration from that site. I love it!!

Now on with the show! My first wreath is my Halloween wreath. I first made the wreath completely orange and I loved it. Then I made an orange and black one for my mom and I loved hers even more. I posted both on Facebook and someone told me my plain orange one looked like a muppet exploded on my door so I added some black.

Here is my Halloween wreath:

My other wreath is my Fall wreath. I am SOOO in love with how it turned out:

And that's it for the wreaths...for now. I'm a bit obsessed lately.

In other news, Little Butt was crazy obnoxious today. I wanted to sell her to the circus for most of the day.

And I think my Little Man (I think that's going to have to be his new name because Baby N doesn't flow) is going to be a mover and a shaker early.

He's 3 months as of yesterday and he's already been rolling from his tummy to his back for about a month now.

Today, we were having some floor play time.

He started getting pretty annoyed and he decided he wanted to try to roll over. He tried the right side.

That didn't quite work out so he tried the left side.

He has completely different techniques for trying to accomplish his goal on each side. It's pretty funny to watch. Anyway. I helped him roll over onto his tummy.

Things were good for a while...then...

He decided he was done.

And there you have it people. The boy is a stinker.

Procrastination Station

2011-11-08T21:37:00.000-06:00

I have been feeling pretty inspired lately.

I don't even know why.

I hate that I tend to procrastinate a ton.

Like, I know what I want to do...I just don't do it.

Take this blog for instance. I know I want to post. But I don't.

I've been working on this lately though.

I've decided that this year I am going to send out Christmas cards. I say this every year. And one year I did give them out. I'm really close this year. I have the cards. I got a ton of addresses (if you want a card just send me your address) and today I went and bought stamps. Now I just have to do it.

I got this far with my baby shower thank you cards and never went any further. Of course...I still owe thank you cards for my wedding showers. It's only been 10 years...

Anyway. So I've been working on not procrastinating so much. I want to do things so I need to get them done. I'm tired of just talking about things. I want to DO!

My most recent things I've done is that I've started selling The Pampered Chef. I'm really loving it so far! I had no idea I would love it as much as I do. I'm really looking forward to building my team. But I have to find someone who wants to join me. If you are interested in learning more let me know! LOL!

I've been feeling crafty lately too. I've been working on completing the projects that I purchase supplies for. I made a Halloween wreath last month and today I finished my Fall wreath. They are both gorgeous!! I'm SO happy with my Fall wreath. I just tried to take pictures but because it's so dark they didn't turn out well. I'll have to wait and take more pictures tomorrow while the sun is out.

I want to do the Project 365. Have you heard of it? Basically, you take a picture (or more) that represents your day and you post it somewhere. I've seen some people do it on Facebook, others on Flickr or Photobucket, Tumblr, and I've seen some blog about it. I want to blog my project 365. Especially now that The Hubble is deployed. He specifically asked me to blog more so he can keep up with us. Are you interested in doing a Project 365 with me? I'm thinking about starting either December 1st or January 1st.

I've also decided that I want to join a gym. My Older Sister and I are going to go look at the Gold's Gym here in the area. I used to go to Gold's in NY and I loved it. Sadly my friend Tammy won't be with me here but she will be with me in spirit.

Okay. I feel like this post has become pointless. Not that writing it is pointless but that it has lost its point. Get it??

Anyway. I think I'm going to go to bed now. I still haven't figured out how to set back Baby N so my mornings have been pretty early.

And So It Begins...Again

2011-11-06T21:30:00.000-06:00

"Your call will end in 30 seconds."

We all know those words don't we?

How you rush through with the "I love you", the "give my love to the kids", and "can you call my parents and let them know?"

I talked to The Hubble about an hour or so ago.

He made it safely over to...wherever.

I honestly have no idea where he is or what he's doing. What's funny is neither does he. He won't know where he's going to be or what his assignment will be until he gets "there."

Who knows.

All I know is that boots are on the ground.

The countdown begins now.

365 days.

1 year.

And yes, I know there will be an R&R in there somewhere. But I have no idea when.

I have not one clue when I will see my beloved again.

All I know is that every time someone unexpected comes to my door, my heart will nose dive into my toes as I shakily walk toward the door.

I was looking through the pictures of our recent time together. Wouldn't you know that they are all of the kids. We have no pictures of The Hubble with the kiddos.

The most recent picture I have of him is this self portrait I found on the camera.

I guess that will have to do for now.

Wordless Wednesday: The Fitness Motivation Edition

2011-10-12T07:00:00.001-05:00

On the heels of this post, I figure that this is the perfect "Wordless" Wednesday this week.

Will you???

Regret is Not an Option

2011-10-10T22:36:00.000-05:00

How many times do you think is appropriate for a blogger to start a blog post with the words "I'm sorry, I suck as a blogger."??

I keep feeling kind of guilty about not blogging so much lately.

Then I start to think...I have a new baby...

And I have a kid in pre-K who keeps me super busy...

And I'm doing it on my own.

I honestly don't know how people do it sometimes.

Not the kid thing, the blogging thing too.

I miss blogging. I miss connecting. I miss reading my favorite blogs...I don't seem to have time for much of anything lately.

The only blogging I'm doing is shooting out some recipes over at Jolts & Jollies.

Anyway, this wasn't meant to be a post about how much I suck at blogging lately. It's supposed to be about me.

Right now, I'm pretty tired. I should go to bed. But the house is quiet. The kids are sleeping and it's just me, in the dark. I like it this way. It's peaceful.

I was thinking about how the only real time I have to myself is either late at night, or if I get up early in the morning.

I tried the early morning thing today. I got up early and it was pretty quiet, but I kept worrying that Baby N would wake up any minute.

I started thinking about this because...well...I'm fat.

I mean, I'm heavier than I want to be. And I'm tired of it.

I have no real excuses. Yes, yes...I know. I just had a baby. I've heard it and I don't want to hear it anymore.

I'm annoyed that I can't be one of those super skinny girls who don't look pregnant until they are 8 months then pop out the kid and are back in their daisy dukes the next day.

Instead, I'm stuck being the girl who gains 65-80 pounds each pregnancy then has nothing to wear when the baby arrives.

I got tired of wearing maternity pants (they kept falling down) so I bit the bullet and went shopping for new jeans. The first attempt didn't go so well. But I got so fed up with my maternity pants that I just got some real jeans anyway. And they look like crap. But what can I do??

I'll tell you what I can do...

I can get moving again.

So that's what I did.

I woke up at 5:30am this morning and did 12 minutes on the elliptical.

I know it's not much, but it's something. And I have felt great all day (even though I was starving all day).

I figure that the only time I have to work out is super early in the morning so that's what I'm going to have to start doing. I'm okay with that.

I've done this before, and I'll do it again. Don't believe me?? Check out my Fitness section of the blog.

I have to do something. If I'm unhappy with the way I am, I have the power to change it.

Granted, I'm not going to be able to get rid of my "baby belly" without a medical procedure (which I think I should get for my 11 year anniversary) but I can do as much as possible right??

Recently, I was on Pinterest and I found this motivational thing that has really stuck with me:

This is definitely something I'm going to remember from now on. And you should too.

Who is with me?? Who is ready to get moving??

The Children...

2011-09-22T14:13:00.001-05:00

They are conspiring against me.

I am outnumbered.

Please send reinforcements!

LOL!

That's about what I posted this morning on Facebook.

I've decided that these two little heathens I have are doing this on purpose to drive me crazy.

Baby N has started sleeping through the night...kind of. Most nights, he will sleep from about 11pm to 6am. Awesome right?? I think so too.

Except for last night. Last night he woke up starving at about 3am. I got up and fed him and he would NOT go back to sleep until sometime around 5am.

I figured this was no problem, Little Butt went to bed a bit late last night so she would sleep in right??

WRONG!

She decided to wake up at 7:30am. (Usually she sleeps until 8:30 or 9am)

This seems to be a recurring theme for my children. When Baby N sleeps in, Little Butt wakes up early. And when Little Butt finally sleeps in...Baby N wakes up at 6am and stays awake until Little But gets up.

At least I have my coffee back...

And...because I hate posting without a picture, here are a couple recent pictures of these buttheads that I have given birth to:

Y'all know how awesome Little Butt's fashion sense is...

And look at what a chunky monkey Baby N has turned into! BTW, the Torticollis makes his head turn that way. Poor guy...

PS. Little Butt is a sucker for animals and Amber over at Goodnight Moon is having a giveaway for the movie Spooky Buddies (a movie about dogs who talk and dress up for Halloween). I entered to win it for you and if you want a chance to win you should enter too. Jump HERE.

Then and Now

2011-09-21T13:00:00.000-05:00

When Little Butt was in dance class over the summer, I would take a book with me to each class so I would have something to do while I waited for her to finish up.

Since I tend to read about a book every week or two, I ended up taking my Nook at one point.

I got to talking with a couple other moms about the benefits of having the Nook versus paper books.

I found out the one of the moms was a part of a local book group. I exclaimed how fun that sounded and told her about my virtual book group. Right before the kids were released from class, she asked if the book group was something I would be interested in joining. I quickly said "YES!" and gave her my information so she could contact me.

The following Monday, I had Baby N. A couple weeks went by and I thought for sure I would never hear from her again since I never went back and the classes ended. Fortunately, that wasn't the case!

Last week, I attended my first book group meeting with this new group. I've never been a part of a book group that I didn't help found and that wasn't made up of my friends.

It was interesting and exciting to walk into a home full of new people to talk about books!

We read The Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison Allen. I loved this book so much that I ended up reading the author's other 3 books before attending the meeting. (The Girl Who Chased the Moon was my favorite)

One of the questions that we discussed was about how the characters in the novel were fighting against the views other people have of them based on who they used to be in high school. They couldn't escape their former selves because everyone knew them as a particular way in high school and didn't allow them to grow beyond that.

The question asked how we were different, or the same, from who we were in high school. This question has had me thinking a lot lately.

I am absolutely NOT who I was in high school. It's actually pretty crazy.

I used to be crazy super shy. I wouldn't talk to anyone. I would bribe my little sister to call and place pizza orders because I would have anxiety attacks about talking to a stranger.

I couldn't go anywhere by myself either. I always had to have someone with me. (Though I still prefer to have someone with me, it isn't mandatory now).

I am SO different that people are shocked to learn who I used to be.

I have to say though, I like who I am now. I like that I can make friends wherever I go. I talk to anyone and everyone.

I have met people walking into my doctor's office, sitting in a dance studio and waiting to drop Little Butt off at school. I have gone to spouse coffees on my own and met fabulous people there. I've even hooked up with someone on a recommendation from another friend and found a sister for life. (By the way, y'all should go follow my dear friend Danielle)

There are so many opportunities I missed back in the day because I was too shy to pursue something more.

I am glad I have changed. I think it's definitely for the better.

How about you? Are you different from who you were in high school? Are you happy with who you are now??

Private Murphy Strikes Again!

2011-09-16T14:23:00.000-05:00

Hi guys!! ::waves enthusiastically::

I've missed you guys!!

If you follow me on twitter, you know that I haven't been having the BEST time lately.

Let me catch you up.

The Hubble came home Labor Day weekend to surprise his family who were in town. The weekend was great, but way too short, as usual.

He left and his family left a few days later.

Then I found out that Baby N had a mass in his neck. I was pretty devastated for about 24 hours until we got the mass scanned and got the results back. There is nothing scarier than thinking that your baby has cancer. I kept thinking that I had been through so many emotions to get to the point where I was head over heels for this boy...just for him to be taken from me???

Luckily, that's not the case.

He has something called Torticollis. It's basically that his neck is twisted and the muscle is bunched up. He is not able to turn his head to the left (Zoolander anyone???). I took him to physical therapy and I've been working on helping him stretch and strengthen the muscle. I've already seen an improvement in just a few days. He is already looking straight ahead more. He doesn't cry as much as he did the first day and his head turns further left now than it did the first day.

Hopefully we will get this issue resolved quickly.

And apparently, if it's not the baby who is broken, it's me!

I was walking Little Butt up to her school a few days ago (while carrying the baby in his carseat/carrier) and I stepped in a hole I didn't see. I twisted my ankle and scraped up my knee really bad.

I decided to go to the ER because I didn't want to wait around to see if it would get better on its own since I have the baby. This is what it looked like:

And this was the outcome of my ER visit:

It's not broken, just sprained. And it's annoying. I have to be on crutches. And those things hurt my hands and under my arms.

Oh yeah, I also got a tetanus shot thanks to my scraped up knee!

Luckily, I moved closer to family and my niece has been over the last few days to help me out. I can't very well carry around a baby while on crutches. Grrr!!

So that's the haps over here for now. It could always be worse!

I miss you guys and hope to get back to blogging soon. Until then...miss me!!

Two Week Update and Song of the Week

2011-08-25T16:59:00.000-05:00

I feel like all I'm ever blogging lately is updates.

Although, people keep telling me that I kind of have an excuse right now.

I guess having a two week old baby is an excuse?? LOL!

I've been so nervous about the little guy because he eats ALL. THE. TIME!

He's 2 weeks old and he's already eating 4 ounces every 3 hours. And now...he's starting to act like that's not even enough.

When I took him to his 2 week checkup, I told them he has a worm or something and he had gained 5 pounds! It turns out I'm crazy (DUH!) and he's only gained 1 pound and 1 inch. Overly dramatic much mom???

The Hubble was able to come home to meet the little man. I have to say that both he and Little Butt are huge fans! But so am I.

The other big thing that has happened lately is that Little Butt started school!! It's only Pre-K but it's still real school. Not daycare. School.

She stands in line and I leave her to figure things out on her own.

I think the cutest thing I've ever seen is her carrying her own freaking lunch tray!!!

She even has a best friend that she eats lunch with every day. Where the heck did the time go?? How is she old enough to go to school already??

Okay. I have to stop or I'm going to cry! LOL!!

Can we go back to when she was this little bitty thing, safe and sound in Daddy's arms??? Please???

And because we've been going through all this stuff this week. I know exactly which song I want to share with you. This song was a major theme for us when I first got pregnant with Little Butt.

Calm down my heart, don't beat so fast
Don't be afraid, just once in a lifetime

Don't forget to go link up your song over at Goodnight Moon!

Have you faced any milestones recently? How did you handle them?

Introducing Baby N

2011-08-13T18:53:00.000-05:00

Well. It's official. I have a son!!

On Monday, August 8th at 3:50pm our little boy graced us with his presence. He was 8 pounds, 1 ounce and 20 inches long.

To say that I'm already head over heels in love with this little guy is putting things far too lightly. He is amazing.

And big sister can't get enough of him!!

The Hubble is here this weekend and we are definitely enjoying our time as a family of four.

Thanks to my dear friend Monica for the impromptu photo shoot at the hospital. You are amazing my dear!! These pictures are stunning!

Book Review: Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer

2011-08-05T07:00:00.002-05:00

Title: Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

Author: Jonathan Safran Foer

Publication Date: March 2005

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin

Pages: 355

ISBN: 9780618329700

This review is my opinion and I have not been compensated for it in any way.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Meet Oskar Schell, an inventor, Francophile, tambourine player, Shakespearean actor, jeweler, pacifist, correspondent with Stephen Hawking and Ringo Starr. He is nine years old. And he is on an urgent, secret search through the five boroughs of New York. His mission is to find the lock that fits a mysterious key belonging to his father, who died in the World Trade Center on 9/11.

An inspired innocent, Oskar is alternately endearing, exasperating, and hilarious as he careens from Central Park to Coney Island to Harlem on his search. Along the way he is always dreaming up inventions to keep those he loves safe from harm. What about a birdseed shirt to let you fly away? What if you could actually hear everyone's heartbeat? His goal is hopeful, but the past speaks a loud warning in stories of those who've lost loved ones before. As Oskar roams New York, he encounters a motley assortment of humanity who are all survivors in their own way. He befriends a 103-year-old war reporter, a tour guide who never leaves the Empire State Building, and lovers enraptured or scorned. Ultimately, Oskar ends his journey where it began, at his father's grave. But now he is accompanied by the silent stranger who has been renting the spare room of his grandmother's apartment. They are there to dig up his father's empty coffin.

My Thoughts:

If you would like to read my thoughts on this book, jump over to MY GUEST POST with Books to the Sky!

A Few Things and Song of the Week

2011-08-04T11:26:00.000-05:00

I know I've been a complete loser and haven't been blogging so much lately.

Honestly, this heat in central Texas is killing me! And Little Butt has had so many lessons that I'm just exhausted.

But, she is done with her swim lessons (I'll have to post about that soon) and she's got one more week of dance lessons. So things should be winding down.

Just in time for me to have this baby too.

As of today, I'm officially fed up. LOL!

I'm beginning to feel like a pincushion with how many times they keep drawing my blood. Seriously, I've had it drawn every Tuesday and Thursday for the last few weeks. And today's freaking hurt!

I've also had to do the 24 hour urine test twice now. Nothing says sexy like a big ol' jug of urine in your fridge, let me tell ya!

But, me being me, I had to name my jug.

Meet Penelopee.

I mean, we have this on again, off again relationship. When we are together, we become very close. How could I not have named it?? The Hubble has informed me that I'm crazy. I'm okay with that.

My Mother in Law arrived a week ago. She and Little Butt have been having a good time together. They play and watch movies.

I figure we will have her all caught up on the best kid's movies. So far we've had her watch Tangled, Kung Fu Panda and Gnomeo & Juliet. She's never seen Ratatouille so that's on our list.

Luckily, We've given her some adult things to do as well. I gave her a book to read and we are going to work on our adult movies.

Remember a while back, when I was asking you to vote for me on Circle of Moms?? Well, the results are finally in! Here are the Top 25 Military Family Blogs. I was voted number 14 of 25!

Not amazingly awesome, but not horrible either right?? I'm still amazed I made the Top 25 at all! Thanks for all the votes and support!!

I even get to use this cool new badge!

Y'all are the bestest and I never would have made the Top 25 without you! If you are interested, jump on over and read my interview!

And lastly, but not...leastly?? I am playing along with Goodnight Moon for the song link up again this week. I love this song right now because it's so true! I can't wait to have this baby. This is my current ringtone, just so you know. ;-) Don't forget to head over and link up as well!

Wordless Wednesday: Dinosaur Play Edition

2011-08-03T10:35:00.000-05:00

As Promised...Song of the Week!

2011-07-28T11:57:00.000-05:00

As I promised! Here is my Little Butt dance inspired song of the week!!

Now it's your turn! Run over to Goodnight Moon to link up your song of the week!

Let's Dance

2011-07-27T09:39:00.000-05:00

Put on your red shoes and dance the blues.

Let's dance.

Okay, okay. You know the song (I hope) so I don't have to keep going.

Hmmm...I haven't played along with the song link up lately...maybe tomorrow's song has just been chosen. ;-)

Anywhoooo.

Ever since Little Butt could stand, she has been shaking her money maker.

The girl loves to move. She loves to dance.

She would watch Dancing with the Stars with me (even at 2 years old) and try to copy the moves the dancers are doing. You should have seen her on wobbly feet trying to do the jive! Too cute!!

Recently, she told me she wanted to be a ballerina.

I figured that since she finally asked, I would find a way to get her in dance.

I found a great place that is about 3 miles down the road from us. What's even more awesome is that they were having a summer special! For $100 I was able to sign Little Butt up for the All-Access Pass. Basically, however many classes in her age range she wants to take, she can!

For the last few weeks, she has been going to Cheer/Tumble and Ballet/Tap/Jazz.

Now, these summer courses are not too incredibly focused. Especially since there are so many kids in each class. The instructors tell me that the class attendance is usually half of what it is right now.

Oh well. I figured we would try it out, see what Little Butt likes and go from there.

Well...Little Butt has some focus issues.

I don't know if it's because she's four, or because she's often in her own little world.

Let's first talk about Cheer/Tumble.

First off, here's the rad outfit she picked out. Yes...those are multi-colored leopard print shorts. That's my girl!

The first class Little Butt had a lot of trouble paying attention. She kept losing her place in line. She wouldn't stay where she was supposed to. She was making noise. She was just generally being a bother to the other students.

When the other girls were trying to learn the cheer...she just stood there.

Then she decided she had no idea what they were doing so she did her own thing!

I ended up getting so frustrated with her because she started screaming and singing and being a nuisance to the other students that I took her out of class 10 minutes early.

I screamed and yelled at her the whole 3 miles home then I put her to bed. I was so angry!

She laid in her bed and cried and threw a fit. I walked into the living room, sat down and proceeded to have a meltdown of my own.

I don't think I've ever cried so hard in my life!

I was sobbing. I was a mess. I couldn't breathe. I knew I had to calm down.

I tried calling The Hubble but I couldn't speak without sobbing in his ear so I hung up on him.

He called back and talked me down "off the ledge."

I have no idea what came over me.

I think it must have been a combination of a lot of things. The whole WAY pregnant thing doesn't help. The Hubble is gone. Little Butt has been acting up and testing limits lately...when she's not crying for her Daddy.

I think it all just needed to come out! I especially think that since I felt much better the next day.

I actually found this on pinterest later that day (or the next day, I can't remember) and it spoke volumes to me:

Photo Source

Since that day, we've had a lot of talks about how she should behave in class.

The classes have been much better, not perfect, but better.

In Ballet/Tap/Jazz, the first half hour is spent doing ballet. I peek in at her from time to time and see her doing so well on the bar.

It's so cute to watch her!

But the last half hour, when they put on their tap shoes...it's like she can't control herself!

She gets those shoes on and there is no way she can stay still and learn the routine!

When I peeked in on one of the classes, she was standing in her spot in front of the mirror, yes. But while all the other little girls were watching the teacher, Little Butt was tapping and spinning away...oblivious that there was anyone else in the room.

This last class, I looked in and saw all the little girls in a circle, twirling around with pretty little ribbons in their hands. But where was Little Butt??

Across the room. Stomping and roaring and being a T-Rex. Yup.

Then she walked out of class. She decided she was done. It was 15 minutes until the end of class.

I didn't know what to do so we changed her shoes and left.

So now I'm confused as to what to do.

I know I'm going to have her finish out the summer session.

She's usually really excited about going when we are getting ready.

But when she walks out of class early, do I let her leave? Or do I try to teach her now not to give up on things so easily? Do I force her to stay in class and finish it out?

Then, do I sign her up for the fall session?

I don't want her to grow up and blame me for not pushing or encouraging her to do things.

Sometimes, I wish my parents would have encouraged or pushed me to continue...or try.

The Hubble thinks maybe she's just too rambunctious for dance. He thinks we should try soccer (he was inspired by watching the women's soccer game against Japan).

I have no idea what to do with this kid. LOL!!

Any advice from moms, aunts, teachers, dads....anyone???? Bueller??

Happy Hearts and Sunshine

2011-07-21T16:21:00.000-05:00

I don't know how things like this happen....

Look!!

Amanda over at Combat Boots & Diamond Rings has bestowed this lovely award upon me.

I'm not really sure how since I've been a complete slacker lately!

And when I do post, it's usually me whining or complaining about being fat or uncomfortable or something.

But hey...who am I to complain?? Oh wait! That's what I do lately!!

So let me just say....

Thank you Amanda!!! You rule! And this brings a bit of sunshine into my life as well. And we all know we need it right??

Well...maybe not since I now live in central Texas and it's sunny All. The. Time!

I do realize I've been absent a lot lately. And I do hate it.

It seems that I only have so much energy lately and it's been being used up for swim and dance lessons for Little Butt lately.

What was I thinking putting her in both types of classes during my last month of pregnancy??

I don't know...temporary insanity maybe??

Anyway. I have wanted to post for a while now so let me at least update you on the cardiology thing.

My cardiology appointment was last Wednesday.

The night before, I looked up the directions and found out it was off the street that the IHOP I went to recently was on. So I figured I knew around about where it was.

No big deal right??

I left the house about 30 minutes early for a 15 minute drive. I like to be early to the first appointment.

Well, I drove all over the street in and around the IHOP and I could not find this place for the life of me!

I ended up finally calling the place and telling them I had an appointment but couldn't find them.

They tried to give me directions but I've only lived here for 3 months so it all sounded Greek to me.

So I called my older sister for tech support.

She looked everything up for me and tried to guide me in.

The crappy thing about Austin is that every street has 2-3 names. It's frustrating.

When on the phone with my sis, I realized that the main street I was on was ALSO the same street that I was looking for. I also found out that I was on the East side of the street and I needed the West side.

So...I finally made it....late. But whatever. I made it...and only slightly on the verge of tears.

I go upstairs, check in and get my paperwork.

I had to pee something fierce but figured I could do that after I finished the paperwork.

Wrong!

They called me before I was finished filling everything out.

I got weighed (YIKES!) and told the girl I had to go and she waited for me to go empty my poor aching bladder.

Then we went into a room and I laid down on the table. The nurse proceeded to place a bunch of tape all over my chest, arms, belly and ankles. Then she attached all the cords. I found out later this was an EKG. Who knew???

As she was hooking me up, we were talking. I ended up mentioning how The Hubble was off playing with the Army and the tears I had been holding in since driving up and down the wrong side of the street finally came out.

I felt kind of foolish...but what could I do??

I pulled myself together and we finished up.

I then moved into another room to wait for the doctor.

Now, let me just tell you people, I feel as though I'm living on the set of Grey's Anatomy the Austin Edition or something.

All of my doctors have been gorgeous! My OB is this cute little thing who was nothing but belly. She had her baby last month so I've been seeing her partner who is absolutely gorgeous as well. They are both stunning women.

I thought it was just that practice...but no!

I go to see this cardiologist and he walks in and he was hot! He had a shaved head, cafe au lait colored skin and beautiful green eyes!

Not only are all the doctors I've been seeing hot, but they are also young. How did I get so lucky???

Anyway. He looked at my numbers and we did some talking.

Apparently anemia (low iron) helps contribute to a higher heart rate. As does pregnancy in general.

He didn't seem TOO amazingly concerned about my numbers.

My heart rate and blood pressure were great that day and I guess the EKG came out okay.

He did want me to buy a blood pressure cuff, take my blood pressure and heart rate every day for three weeks, then go back to see him.

However, he did tell me I was not allowed to have any coffee until Baby N comes.

Small sacrifice right??? At least...that's what I keep telling myself!

So that's it so far. I'm being a good girl and taking my blood pressure daily (or when I remember) and I'm staying away from coffee (though that's a struggle).

But at least Baby N and I are doing okay.

Okay. That's all for today. Hopefully I'll post again before another week or 2 goes by.

34 Weeks and Counting: A Baby Update

2011-07-11T11:16:00.000-05:00

I realize that I've barely talked about this whole "being pregnant" thing.

I honestly can't believe how fast this has been going.

I feel like, when I was pregnant with Little Butt, it took forever. I couldn't get her out fast enough.

But this time, time is just flying by.

Don't get me wrong. By no means do I want time to slow down. Actually, I've been pretty uncomfortable lately so I'd love it if time would hurry up and fly by! I'm ready to have this baby now!

Okay. Are you ready for the obligatory preggo photo?? It's a doozy. I'm super HUGE!

Here it is: Me at 34 weeks.

It kind of looks like the picture is blurry but there is a shadow against the door.

See??? I told you I was big! And I still have 6 more weeks to go! How??? I don't know!

I have feet up in my ribs pretty much constantly. Which then carries around and leaves my back in pain. He loves to knead my bladder. And my right side has begun to have sharp pains.

Not only that but when I took my glucose test for Gestational Diabetes, that came back negative. However, the doctor did find out at that point that I was pretty anemic. So I had to start taking prescription Iron supplements. No big deal right?? I can handle that.

Now there's another issue.

The last 3 appointments I've had, they have had to take my blood pressure twice. Each time it was too high at first so they would have me sit in a chair for a bit then they would come take it again. It got better each time. Not always great, but better. So they talked about watching my blood pressure.

However, I went to the doctor on Tuesday and now my heart rate is an issue.

Apparently, the heart rate goes up during pregnancy as it is. The highest they want it to go is 100 beats per minute. On Tuesday, mine was at 115bpm. So they had me come back at the end of the week. I went back on Friday and they had me sit in a quiet room for about 10-15 minutes. I focused on relaxing and breathing. When they took it again, it was 101bpm.

Still higher than they want it.

Now I have to go in for a cardiology consult to see if everything is okay with me.

Apparently, the baby's heart rate is perfect. He's doing well, he's just challenging my body.

And to top it all off! I realized last night that my feet and ankles are swollen!

I've been wearing flip flops since we arrived here in Texas so I haven't tried to shove my porker feet into real shoes. I had no idea.

Anyway. There's my update. Not much else to report. I'm large. Uncomfortable. Hot. And I drink milk like it's going out of style. I have to buy 3 gallons at the store just to last me (by myself) a week. Otherwise, I'd be going to the store every other day just for milk.

So there you have it! Wish me luck in these last 6 weeks and with my cardiology appointment!

Frustrated, Incorporated

2011-07-09T10:11:00.000-05:00

I'm going to warn you right now. You should not keep reading this post if you don't want to hear/read me complaining.

So enter at your own risk.

I usually pride myself on being an understanding wife.

When Little Butt was a couple weeks old, I had no problem with The Hubble taking off for a concert a couple hours away.

I have held down the fort for many a boy's night and I rarely get to have any time to myself.

I'm not a jealous wife. I laugh about the fact that The Hubble meets up with females whom he used to go to school with. Yes, I tease him about going out on a "date" but it's all in good fun.

I have no problem when I hear that he goes out with a group of girls. Or goes out drinking with the guys.

As you know, The Hubble is away from us right now. He's in a training program where we will only see him for a week before he deploys at the end of this year.

Now, I know it was my choice to be in Texas instead of being with him for these several months that he's in Tampa. I figured, why be stuck in Tampa alone with Little Butt and a new baby when he deploys??

Usually, I'm okay with our situation. This is what we chose right??

And like I said, I have heard all the stories of him going out. I listen to the detailed description of clubs that he goes to. The people he hangs out with.

But mornings like today just...oh my goodness. The only thing I can think to say is that mornings like today really eat my nuts.

Mornings when Little Butt wakes up from a bad dream calling for her Daddy. She cries and tells me that she wants to give him a hug and a kiss. I tell her there's nothing he wants more than to be with her and that we can call him.

So we do...

We call him.

And guess what!

He's hung over.

He can barely talk or function because he had a night of drinking last night and he has to "get the wheels going."

Then he tells me he'll call me later tonight.

Oh really?? You are going to be able to call me while you're out bar hopping???

Yes, he says. He'll call before that.

Yay! He will spare a moment for me before he goes out. How kind.

Like I said, normally, I don't care. He's a big boy and he'll figure it out.

I know how lonely and depressing it is to go back to an empty apartment and all you want to do is find something to do. So you drink away the weekends hoping they will race by in a blur.

That was me during The Hubble's first deployment. There was rarely a moment when I was home. If I wasn't at work or stopping to watch a mind numbing movie, I was on the run with friends. He was in a war zone and I was living it up.

But today is hard for me. Today is hard for Little Butt. Which makes it hard for me as her mommy.

Do I sit there and cry with her or try to get her to be strong??

All I know for sure is that I needed to rant.

I love The Hubble. He's a great father. And I know he would give anything to be here with his baby girl. But he can't.

And let's remember folks...I'm 34 weeks pregnant. Crazy. Hormonal. And tired. Blah!

Thanks for "listening."

End of rant.

Book Review: The Tenth Circle by Jodi Picoult

2011-07-08T09:25:00.000-05:00

Title: The Tenth Circle

Author: Jodi Picoult

Publication Date: January 2000

Publisher: Washington Square Press

Pages: 416

ISBN: 9780743496711

This review is my opinion and I have not been compensated for it in any way. (Though I did receive this book as an Advance Reader Copy when I worked for Barnes & Noble)

Goodreads Synopsis:

Bestselling author Jodi Picoult's The Tenth Circle is a metaphorical journey through Dante's Inferno, told through the eyes of a small Maine family whose hidden demons haunt every aspect of their seemingly peaceful existence. Woven throughout the novel are a series of dramatic illustrations that pay homage to the family's patriarch (comic book artist Daniel Stone), and add a unique twist to this gripping, yet somewhat rhetorical tale.

Trixie Stone is an imaginative, perceptive 14 year old whose life begins to unravel when Jason Underhill, Bethel High's star hockey player, breaks up with her, leaving a void that can only be filled by the blood spilled during shameful self-mutilations in the girls' bathroom. While Trixie's dad Daniel notices his daughter's recent change in demeanor, he turns a blind eye, just as he does to the obvious affair his wife Laura, a college professor, is barely trying to conceal. When Trixie gets raped at a friend's party, Daniel and Laura are forced to deal not only with the consequences of their daughter's physical and emotional trauma, but with their own transgressions as well. For Daniel, that means reflecting on a childhood spent as the only white kid in a native Alaskan village, where isolation and loneliness turned him into a recluse, only to be born again after falling in love with his wife. Laura, who blames her family's unraveling on her selfish affair, must decide how to reconcile her personal desires with her loved ones' needs.

The Tenth Circle is chock full of symbolism and allegory that at times can seem oppresive. Still, Picoult's fans will welcome this skillfully told story of betrayal and its many negative, and positive consequences.

My Thoughts:

If you would like to read my thoughts on this book, jump over to MY GUEST POST with Books to the Sky!

Fourth of July 2011 and Song of the Week

2011-07-07T12:15:00.000-05:00

Here we are! It's that time again! Time for the song link up with Goodnight Moon!

This week I'm going to annoy the crap out of you so please...enter at your own risk. Believe me...you DO NOT want to hear this song.

I HATE that I like this song. I didn't realize I did until I heard it in a Target store and found myself tapping my foot to it...then it was all over.

I feel so ashamed.

Anyway. I'm sharing this song because we just celebrated the Fourth of July.

On Friday night, I was talking to The Hubble on the phone and I started crying. I told him this was the weekend he was supposed to be coming home to see us. It turns out that since he's attending a civilian school, they didn't get a 4 day weekend for the 4th. So...that meant he wouldn't be able to come home after all.

As I said, I was crying on the phone because I'm 8 months pregnant, emotional, hormonal, needy and missing my guy. I also was not looking forward to some friends visiting. All I wanted to do was sit and mope, not entertain a married couple and their daughter.

So as I was silently, or maybe not so silently, crying, he told me something about not being able to change a plane ticket.

I said "what??"

He told me that he didn't know he was going to get out of class early that day and that he needed a 6 hour lead to change the plane ticket so he wouldn't be able to be here until Saturday morning.

At that point I started bawling. I felt like I understood but still wasn't grasping it so I said "What does that mean???"

And yes, he came in Saturday morning! Granted, he had to leave Monday morning but 48 hours was better than nothing right???

We had a great weekend together and even got to take advantage of my mom's pool too.

So, in honor of this wonderful Fourth of July weekend, here is this song. Please don't listen to it! It's really not worth it! LOL!!

A Tale of...Laundry

2011-07-01T20:22:00.000-05:00

Once upon a time...I wrote a blog post about laundry.

That was when I introduced you to Bill & Peggy; the family members that almost made The Hubble and me to divorce.

I also explained the right (mine) and wrong (his) ways to fold and put away laundry.

Well...

After that post, I was doing laundry with The Hubble...again (don't ask me why I put myself through this kind of torture). I realized that it was going to end in...well...something bad. So I walked away. And he just kind of became in charge of the laundry.

Well, now I have another problem....

The Hubble is gone now. He's not here to do the laundry. And I no longer seem to be capable of doing it myself.

So let me tell you what happens with the laundry nowadays.

The clean laundry stays in the basket. Some days I pour it out onto my bed so I can find something (usually something essential like underwear). Then it goes back into the basket when it's time for bed.

If I do actually sort the laundry, it ends up in a neat pile on top of something, like the new pack 'n play I bought for Baby N.

And the other problem, if you notice on the floor next to the pack 'n play box...

And the pile of clothes here on the floor next to the laundry basket...

And the pile of clothes on The Hubble's nightstand...

Since my laundry basket is full of clean clothes, I find varied and interesting places to hold my dirty laundry.

I guess I need to find my stride and figure out how to do laundry again huh??

Is there a household chore you have trouble figuring out how to do on your own when your soldier is gone??? Or am I the only one here???

Doing Better and Song of the Week

2011-06-30T13:36:00.001-05:00

I mentioned a couple days ago that I had a really bad week last week.

So...I ended up missing the song of the week. This makes me sad. But they only songs I could think of were pretty depressing and annoying so I didn't want to subject you all to that.

This week is going much better! Although I'm being pretty lazy today. LOL! It's 1:30pm and I still haven't showered. That's next though. Stinky!

Anyway. When I start to feel overwhelmed and anxious, I tend to put one song on repeat. This song helps me start to feel better and realize that I need to get it together and keep on trucking.

There were times during The Hubble's last deployment that I thought I was going to fall apart...and this song helped save me. I don't know why...it just does.

I hope that maybe it can help someone else in their chaotic moments. I listened to this song several times last week.

Here it is. And don't forget to jump over to Goodnight Moon and link up!!

A Bad Week & Little Butt's 1st Visit to the Dentist

2011-06-28T15:07:00.000-05:00

If you hadn't noticed...it's been a bit quiet around here for the past week or so.

Sometimes in life, I just want to throw my hands up in the air and give up.

In fact, last week I did decide to give up.

I figured I had tried the whole "being an adult" thing and it wasn't working out for me so I was going to revert back to childhood.

It was a difficult and stressful week. I just wanted the world to turn off.

Instead of bombarding you guys with a bunch of ho-hum, doom and gloom I just stayed away. I figured it was best for everyone.

But this week is going much better so I'm back.

Little Butt went to the dentist for the first time yesterday. She did so good!!

I'm so proud of her.

She was nice and listened. She opened wide when they asked her to. She has 20 teeth (they counted them). She also has no cavities and very healthy gums.

The lady who cleaned her teeth was awesome! She made it a really fun experience for Little Butt.

I'm totally jealous though because they have chocolate flavored toothpaste for kids. Why can't they have that for adults???

Little Butt even let them take pictures of her teeth. They went to do the x-ray of her teeth and Little Butt let them take the front pictures. Not the back though they weren't expecting her to let them.

She did so good that she got a balloon, a sticker and was allowed to pick a toy from the treasure box.

The only bad thing was that Little Butt cried when we had to leave.

I mean, what kid does that??? What kid cries when they have to LEAVE the dentist??

My kid I guess.

Anyway. Thanks for hanging in there with me! I know I was quiet all week, but hey, we all have our bad days/weeks don't we??

Sleep to Dream and Song of the Week

2011-06-16T09:33:00.001-05:00

Sleep...

Sleep, sleep, sleep...

Okay, I have officially thought, typed and said that word way too many times. Now it's weird! (Surely I'm not the only one who does that???)

My least favorite thing about The Hubble being gone is nighttime.

It seems that all my paranoid delusions come creeping into my mind and I just can't fall asleep. Or...I just don't want to.

I've never been too keen on sleep. I kind of think it's a waste of time. There is so much else I could be doing!

But! When The Hubble is here, I go to bed with him. And we sleep.

There's a Gwen Stefani song where one of the lyrics is "You give me the most gorgeous sleep that I've ever had." Whenever I hear that song/line, I think of The Hubble. I just don't sleep when he's not here.

I want to like sleep. I would love to be one of those people who nap. I just can't do it.

Sometimes I get frustrated. I used to get so mad that I would watch the time tick by and I would start crying in frustration and even punch my pillow.

Now, I just accept that I'm not one of those people who sleep.

And yes, it's worse when The Hubble is gone.

So...with all that being said...I thought a lullaby would be the perfect thing to share for my song of the week.

And if you are wondering, Little Butt and The Hubble sleep like no one I've ever seen! They are asleep within seconds of theirs heads hitting the pillow and waking them up is beyond difficult. They are super heavy sleepers. And they love their sleep. It's already 9:30am and Little Butt is STILL sleeping. But I know better than to poke the bear. She'll wake up when she's ready.

Okay! On to the lullaby!

As always, if you would like to play along, head over to Goodnight Moon and link up your song for the week!

Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner

2011-06-15T11:52:00.000-05:00

Okay everyone! As you will remember...my blogiversary was on the 4th.

I partnered up with Inspiri Body (It's a Dog Tag Wife Life) for THIS GIVEAWAY.

I hope you entered because it's now time to reveal the winner!

Drum roll please....

The winner is....

True Random Number GeneratorMin: Max: Result:19Powered by RANDOM.ORG

(PS. I don't know why this is still saying Max 100. The Max I entered was 28)

Kendra!!!!

Thanks to everyone who entered in my giveaway and for all the sweet blogiversary wishes.

Show Your Support with Gillette

2011-06-14T09:31:00.000-05:00

Working in retail for so long...I've had my fair share of complaints. I mean...I was the manager on duty most of the times I worked so all the shiz talking came to me right??

Unfortunately, people in service positions don't hear a lot of positive feedback. People are more likely to complain before they will give a compliment. Actually, customers RARELY seek out managers for jobs well done.

Now, don't get me wrong, I've been known to do my fair share of complaining...but when someone does something great, I feel the need to share!

Being a military spouse is hard. We all know that. And being a soldier is harder. We all know that! In my travels with The Hubble we have often been stopped so someone could shake The Hubble's hand and thank him for his service. His response is always "Thank you for the support."

When we were moving from El Paso, Texas to Middle of Nowhere, Missouri we stopped in Lawton, Oklahoma and ate at a Cracker Barrel. When we were done with our meal, we found out some random customer paid for the 5 of us in our party because they found out about The Hubble being a soldier.

Unfortunately, I don't often get that warm and fuzzy feeling from many companies. There are some stand outs.

Did you know that when driving through Houston, Texas a military ID will get you free passage through the toll roads? Awesome right??

Image Source

The USO is one of those military supporters. They have places for our soldiers to sleep when they are stranded in airports. They send entertainment overseas to our troops in Theater. They are just great.

But this is not a post about the USO. No...this is about Gillette. Yes, you read me right. Gillette. The razor people.

I was recently contacted about a standout thing Gillette is doing for our soldiers.

Here's the deal. Gillette is trying to raise and donate up to $100,000 to the USO (you know...that place that helps our soldier's morale so much). To raise this money, Gillette needs our help!

But how you ask??

It's easy! All you have to do is jump over to Gillette's Facebook page and "like" them.

Once you "like" them, you post a picture, video or "story" about a soldier in your life to their Facebook page.

For every story or picture of a soldier, Gillette will donate $1 to the USO.

The story can be as simple as "We are so proud of you and can't wait for you to come home."

Pretty much anything goes as long as you are showing your pride in a US Soldier.

I wish I could tell you how much Gillette has raised so far but they don't have a running total. No matter. The page is FULL of messages of appreciation!

Now don't waste your time. Get over there and show your support for our soldier and the USO. This opportunity is only running through July 4th.

I look forward to seeing your message there!

Menu Planning Monday Week 4 {Scentsy Party Edition}

2011-06-13T11:33:00.000-05:00

Hello, hello!!

I'm back from a fun but crazy busy weekend!!

AND! I survived!!! Woohoo!

My back and my house are a little worse for wear, but nothing that time won't fix. Unfortunately, both of these issues need their own kind of attention...and they are definitely at opposite ends of the spectrum. What can you do??

So...since it's Monday I figured I would share the menu that I put together for my mom's Scentsy party.

Let me start by saying that this party (and the food) were a big hit! People couldn't stop exclaiming about how good the food was. And the Scentsy consultant even told me should was going to hire me for her large events in the future. I can get behind that big time! LOL!

Unfortunately, I don't have pictures from the party. I know, I know...what a slacker!

I was just so busy leading up to the party that the moment it was all laid out, all I wanted to do was sit and breathe. Honestly, I didn't even want to eat by that point. Just sit.

That being said, you are going to get some old pictures of my stuff and some links to the other recipes I used.

I served:

Gangsta Burger Sliders

Santa Fe Corn and Black Bean Salsa (served in chip cups)

Shrimp Appetizer Delight

Lemon Blueberry Cheesecake Bars

The following recipes I just kind of make...so if you are interested in the recipe/how to, let me know:

Limoncello Peaches

Strawberry Shortcake Kebabs

Sangria

Punch

And my dear friend Monica brought these:

Almond Jam Bars

We did have a blast at the party. We played bingo and several prizes were passed around. Somehow, I ended up signing up to do a book party next month. I hear next month's warmer is so cute that I couldn't pass up the need to have it. So...if anyone wants some Scentsy next month, let me know!

As always, if you are interested, go ahead and link up a recipe to share with us. (This is the fourth week this is running. If no one participates in the next couple of weeks, I'll stop doing this.)

Book Review: Peeps by Scott Westerfeld

2011-06-11T12:05:00.000-05:00

I know you are expecting a book review here for this book:

However. If you want to read my review, you have to jump over to:

The lovely Kaitlin and Jenny allowed me to guest post my review on their new book review site. So go check out MY REVIEW and then jump around and see what they have going on over there.

Happy Reading!!!

Busy, busy, busy

2011-06-10T12:43:00.000-05:00

Don't forget to enter my giveaway HERE if you haven't already!

So my mother is having a Scentsy party tomorrow.

If you don't know what Scentsy is, it's basically a wickless candle. You have your wax that smells great, then you get your holder with a crazy intense light bulb in it. Plug it in and you are good to go.

I think the one above (June's monthly warmer) is super cute and I want it but don't know that I'd use it.

Anyway. The reason I'm writing about this is because I have somehow become in charge of this party.

My Little Sister helped me plan the menu and My Niece helped me go get groceries and pick out platters and such.

I have so much to do and I'm sitting on the computer. What is wrong with me????

Anyway. So that's my life. The last couple days have been crazy busy and these next couple days are going to be equally busy.

I'm catering this party and need to go get cooking. I figure I'll make the cheesecake dessert and start the prep work for the party today. Oh...and of course, the sangria MUST be made today.

Good thing I have a great meal in the crockpot for dinner. At least that's taken care of.

Wish me luck!!

Daddy Box and Song of the Week

2011-06-09T10:49:00.000-05:00

Don't forget to enter my giveaway HERE if you haven't already!

A few months ago, I saw this idea for a deployment box on Household6 Diva's page.

I loved the idea so much that I knew I wanted to do this with Little Butt and The Hubble before he took off.

See...this box is basically a blank craft box (the huge one Little Butt picked out was like $4). The kiddos and parents decorate the box and talk about the soldier's impending absence from the family.

Throughout the absence, the soldier sends things home to the kiddo and the kiddo puts these things in the deployment box. So whenever kiddo misses soldier, they can go to their box and look through the things that have connected them through the absence.

Cool huh?? So we had to do it of course!

We started with the box. We first got Little Butt excited about the whole experience by letting her pick out the box and the stickers that would go on it. I picked the letters and "wrote" the I Love Daddy on the front of the box.

The Hubble tried to explain the first item that was going into the box. He had printed a map and was showing her where he was going to be compared to where she is. However, Little Butt was very distracted by the lovely, blank box sitting in front of her so she didn't really want to listen.

So we started decorating! We made dots with different paint colors and attached her stickers. She chose where everything went and we just helped a little bit.

She was so proud when it was done!

Look at that sticker detail! And you KNOW this kid chose the dinosaur stickers. LOL!

Look at all that detail. Isn't her box so pretty???

In honor of daddy and daughter, my song this week is their favorite song together right now. This was a big family favorite before The Hubble left but it has definitely turned into their song. They sing it on the phone together. They are just too cute.

Enjoy!!!

If you want to link up and join the dance party, just head over to Goodnight Moon and start grooving

Happy Birthday & A Giveaway!

2011-06-07T07:00:00.000-05:00

Guess what!!!

It's my birthday!!!

Well...not my birthday.

No...it's My Camo Colored Life's Birthday...or...it WAS anyway.

This past Saturday, June 4th, was my 1 year blogiversary. Hooray!!

It's crazy to me that I've been blogging here for a year already.

My how time flies.

I remember sitting in a new state, in a new house, with no friends and nothing to do. I wanted to feel connected to someone, anyone. I found the milspouse blogging community and decided that this was where I could connect with others. And connect, I have! I've made some awesome friends here!

My very first post on this blog (besides uploading some of my old book reviews) was Memorial Day 2010. I had just met a couple ladies that were in The Hubble's career class and wasn't sure if friendships would bloom. They did!

I also won my first bloggy award, I wrote about certain family members that almost caused The Hubble and I to divorce, Little Butt went to her first day of daycare ever, I joined a blogging challenge and struggled to find...then accepted my niche, I expressed my love for my husband and opened my heart about my sadness and fears when I was pregnant with Little Butt and afterward.

Through all of this, you have been here for me. You have left me comments. You have supported me.

You have been the one I could lean on and turn to when I felt I didn't have anyone else.

And for all of that...I am thankful.

Thank you for being so amazing and giving me that connection I was so longing for...I found it in you. :-D

And because I love you so much. Because we've been through a lot already and will continue to go through more together...I'm doing a couple giveaways!

The one for today is sponsored by J over at It's a Dog Tag Wife Life.

J has recently ventured into the body pampering business and has started making her own soaps, lotions, scrubs and more. I was lucky enough to be a guinea pig for her early stuff. She sent me some lotion in coconut lime, sugar scrub in snickerdoodle (OMG!), bath bombs in snickerdoodle and coconut lime and soap in violet. They are all really amazing!! I love them!

She's been hard at work making new flavors and scents. Just check out her Etsy site: Inspiri Body. (It's a little sparse right now but she's getting it together quickly).

Some of the new flavors she's been making I am seriously swooning over.

Like Tulip Lotion...

And Lily of the Valley Soap. Wow!!

Anyway. Let me tell you more about the giveaway. Inspiri Body is offering one lucky reader the chance to win a soap, body gel, lotion, bath bomb, scrub and bath salts in the flavor of your choice! How freaking awesome is that???

Want to win it??

Simply answer this question:

What is your favorite way to pamper yourself?

For more entries you can:

Follow My Camo Colored Life through Google Friend Connect or RSS Feed
Follow me on Twitter: @mannadonn
Follow InspiriBody on Twitter
Follow It's a Dog Tag Wife Life blog
Tweet about this giveaway (make sure to include both @mannadonn and @InspiriBody in the tweet)

There you go! That is 6 chances to win this great giveaway! (Make sure to leave an individual comment for each entry)

The winner will be picked at random on June 15th. So go enter!!! I promise...you want this one.

And don't forget to watch out for the next giveaway. You never know when it will show up!

Menu Planning Monday Week 3

2011-06-06T07:00:00.001-05:00

Each week, I sit down and look through blog posts, cookbooks and magazines to come up with our menu for the week. I actually find this to be therapeutic and I just love it.

I know most of us cook and we love to share recipes. I've seen some of you do Tasty Tuesdays, recipes of the week and others just post recipes randomly.

I don't care what you call your recipe sharing day, but do tell others about this link up so we can all share and enjoy our favorite recipes with each other.

This week, I'm sharing something that I'm actually going to make for dinner tonight.

When I first made this, I made it on a "girl food night" because you know The Hubble would look at me like I had two heads and ask "where's the meat????" if I tried to serve this.

However, adding some shredded chicken in between the tomato and the cheese step solves that dilemma.

This dish is super easy to make and tastes SOOO good! Try it with or without the chicken and you are sure to have a winner on your hands.

And I highly suggest you enjoy this with a glass of red wine. It really enhances the flavor of the tart. And...I have to drink vicariously through you for the next couple months. ;-)

Don't forget to link up and join in the recipe sharing. And if you want step by step pictures on how to make this dish, jump over HERE.

Rustic Tomato Tart
Slightly adapted from Baking and Creating with Avril

Printer Friendly Version

Ingredients:

For the crust:

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
4 Tablespoons chilled butter, cut into cubes
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
2-3 Tablespoons cold water

For the Filling:

3 Tablespoons stone ground or dijon mustard (use a mix of both if desired)
2-3 large fresh tomatoes
2 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 Tablespoons Balsamic Vinegar
2 teaspoons dried basil
8 ounces good quality mozzarella cheese
garlic salt and pepper (to taste)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

For crust:

Mix salt and flour in medium bowl. With pastry cutter (or using two knives) cut in chilled butter until mixture has a cornmeal consistency.
In separate bowl, lightly beat egg; add 2 Tablespoons water.
Make a well in center of flour mixture and pour egg mixture in the well; mix until well incorporated and a non-sticky dough forms. (During this process, if dough is still too dry, add third Tablespoon of water).
Knead dough into a ball, transfer to parchment paper; roll out into a 14 inch circle. Transfer parchment paper and dough to a baking sheet.

For Filling:

Spread mustard over the unbaked crust until well covered.
Slice tomato and arrange in center of crust circle.
Drizzle tomatoes with olive oil and balsamic vinegar; sprinkle with garlic salt, pepper and basil.
Top with sliced mozzarella; sprinkle with a bit more garlic salt, pepper and basil.
Bring edges of crust up over the edges of tomato and cheese.
Bake in oven for 30 minutes until crust is golden brown and cheese is brown and bubbly.
Allow to cool about 10 minutes, slice with pizza cutter.
Serve and enjoy!

Puttin' on the Ritz and My Song of the Week

2011-06-02T11:26:00.000-05:00

As I've mentioned before, The Hubble is off doing his Army thing.

Although, my boy has no idea how to stay inside the box...or color in the lines. He tends to be this crazy radical. I seriously don't know how the Army puts up with him...

Oh that's right, his last Battalion Commander called him a punk. That's my guy! LOL!!

Well, this "Army" school that he's in right now is not so much an Army school. It is actually a civilian run school.

Now...let me divert for just a moment. Walk with me.

When I was in Junior High and High School I had a boyfriend who wore nothing but suits. I absolutely LOVED that look. (Yes, I know that's pretty young to be so sharply dressed, but I didn't mind).

I swore to myself that I would marry a business man some day (I thought I would marry that guy, but you all know how young and stupid us girls can be).

I had absolutely NO intention of marrying a soldier. None at all.

But, to my surprise, the long haired, crazy radical of a guy I became friends with then started dating and eventually married was a closet soldier...through and through.

Anyway. Back to the present. My nutcase husband RARELY dresses up. He usually looks like this:

Some kind of band t-shirt; 99.8% of the time that t-shirt is black. He either wears jeans or shorts, depending on the weather. His favorite pair of shorts are these BDU cutoffs that he made all by himself. Isn't he talented?? (I hope you don't get hit by my dripping sarcasm...it's messy).

When he's not in his favorite shorts and band t-shirts, he's wearing this uniform that we all know and love:

Though the uniform is different among the branches of service, we all love the uniform our guys wear right?? Dangit! I'm dropping that sarcasm crap everywhere!

Now...when I'm really lucky, I get to see him in his pretty uniform:

He cleans up so nicely! I've seen him in a tux twice in our 11 1/2 years together. Once at our wedding and once at him best friends wedding.

So now I get to the meat and potatoes of this post. For the next 4 months, while he's in this civilian run school...he's not wearing his beloved shorts and t-shirts. He's not wearing his every day uniform, nor his pretty one. Oh no...this school requires him to look like this:

That's right people! Business casual. My dream guy is standing (in a bathroom I know) there, all gussied up. We bought him some nice slacks and lovely shirts and ties if he's so inclined to wear them. Then he packed all that up and took them with him to school.

I would give anything to see him dressing like this every day...but alas, the Army has taken that and rubbed it in my face (isn't that what they're good at??).

So, in honor of my sharply dressed man that I don't get to see (other than a MySpace worthy bathroom pic) here is my song of the week.

Don't forget to head over to Goodnight Moon and link up your song of the week. We're having a dance party and you should definitely join!

Who Can It Be Now?

2011-05-31T13:58:00.000-05:00

Why...it's PVT Murphy of course!!

Why wouldn't he rear his ugly head already??

I mean, The Hubble had been gone for a bit under a week when PVT Murphy decided to make his appearance.

I don't know why...but I thought I had a bit more time.

Shouldn't The Hubble at least be deployed before something happens?

Apparently not.

Let me tell you about my day that day.

I invited my niece to come hang out with Little Butt and me for the day. We were going to work on my Daring Bakers challenge. My niece loves to cook and bake like I do and she's never really had a role model for it so I thought I could start cooking/baking with her to help her learn some techniques.

We were hanging out and I noticed that my Little Niecelet (my niece's daughter) had disappeared. She was found in the computer room/library. So my niece and I started closing the doors that Little Niecelet shouldn't go into.

I went to close my bedroom door and somehow...I have no idea how this happened...I kicked the side/bottom corner of the door with my little toe. The whole thing is kind of vague for me.

All I know is that all of a sudden there was excruciating pain and numbness all at the same time. I watched as my toe began to swell to twice the original size.

I had shooting pains up through my foot and it burned and was numb...it was really weird. My niece got me some ice but it hurt way too badly to keep the ice on.

I was on the verge of tears and thought for sure that maybe I had broken it.

It finally calmed down a bit but still hurt to put any weight on it.

And what was worse...it's my driving foot.

So here I was...7 months pregnant, with a 4 year old, no husband and now I broke a toe on my driver's foot. Great!

Later that night, I realized there was a pretty nice bruise in between the last two toes:

(Please forgive my horrible pedicure in these pictures, I was supposed to go get my feet done the following weekend).

Even later that night, I realized that the bruise had extended to the top of the foot above those two toes.

(The bruise is a bit hard to see in the picture but if you look closely you can see discoloration)

The bruising has reduced significantly, as has the pain. It still hurts when I move it a certain way or put pressure on it in the wrong spot.

I did go to the ER the next day (only because my family insisted) and they didn't even take an x-ray. So I still don't know if I broke it or just jammed it really good.

Either way, the only thing they would be able to do would be to buddy wrap the two toes. They did that. And let me tell you...it helped tremendously.

Also, I wasn't sure if I could drive, but my JerBear suggested I get in the car with it off and try to press the peddles. It worked! So now things aren't so bad.

But it just figures that something like this would happen as soon as The Hubble is a thousand or more miles away.

Such is life as a military wife. And I know you all know what I'm talking about!

Menu Planning Monday Week 2

2011-05-30T07:00:00.004-05:00

It's time for Menu Planning Monday again!!

Each week, I sit down and look through blog posts, cookbooks and magazines to come up with our menu for the week. I actually find this to be therapeutic and I just love it.

I know most of us cook and we love to share recipes. I've seen some of you do Tasty Tuesdays, recipes of the week and others just post recipes randomly.

I don't care what you call your recipe sharing day, but do tell others about this link up so we can all share and enjoy our favorite recipes with each other.

This week I'm sharing a "family" recipe. The Hubble's mom makes THE best enchilada casserole I've ever had and I feel privileged that she shared it with me.

Now I get to share it with you! So here you go!

Green Chile Chicken Enchilada Casserole

Printer Friendly Version

Ingredients:

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 cans cream of chicken soup
3 cans chopped green chiles
1 can Las Palmas green enchilada sauce
4 cups shredded cheese
18 corn tortillas
onion, diced (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Cook chicken in boiling water until white all the way through; about 20 minutes.
Shred chicken; add cream of chicken soup, green chiles and onion (optional)
Pour enchilada sauce into shallow bowl; coat tortillas.
Layer sauce smothered tortillas in even layer covering the bottom of a 13x9 inch pan.
Cover tortillas evenly with 1/3 of chicken mixture; sprinkle 1/3 shredded cheese evenly over chicken mixture. Repeat process until you have 3 layers; ending with cheese layer.
Cook in oven for 45 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbling.
Serve and enjoy!

If you would like to view step by step photos of the making of this recipe, go HERE.

Now you get to link up! Enjoy!!

It's Nights Like This

2011-05-27T07:00:00.001-05:00

The other night, I got super excited because I took the trash out.

It's not just that I took the trash out. But I took it out on my own. (Well, technically my older sister was with me when I walked it down to the curb).

Later that night, The Hubble called me and we started chatting. I got super excited and was about to tell him about me taking the trash down to the curb when it hit me...

The last time the trash was taken out, he took it. It's been a week. It's only been a week. How the Hell can it only have been a week???

See...The Hubble moved Little Butt and me down here to Texas because he had to go play Army. He has now been gone for a little over a week.

I know that's just a drop in the bucket. And I think that's the problem....it's just a drop in the bucket.

We will see The Hubble for a total of 3 weeks (and that's being optimistic) over the next 16 months.

And it's only been a week.

The one good thing is that I've been able to talk to him every day. But that will change come October/November. Then it goes back to that whole "not knowing if I'll ever see or hear from him again" thing.

But anyway...the point to this post was to talk about nighttime.

I've decided I hate nighttime now.

I seem to keep staying up until somewhere between 1am-2am now. I don't want to go to sleep.

My most hated part of the day or night is right after I put Little Butt to bed.

That's when I start turning things off and thinking about washing up and heading to bed...alone.

And it doesn't help that I'm super paranoid. Every noise makes me nervous and jumpy. Some nights I walk through the house, holding a weapon, checking all the locks on the doors and windows. But of course it's not enough to check them once. No...I have to check them several times throughout the course of the night.

Usually it's worse the first few nights The Hubble is gone. I know it gets better.

But right now...

It's only been a week.

Ringtone Fun: Song of the Week

2011-05-26T15:31:00.000-05:00

I don't know about you...but whenever I read through blogs for a while, I tend to feel as though I know the people that I'm reading about.

I mean, I know you guys to a certain extent, and you know me.

But there are certain little everyday things that we don't know or see about one another.

So...for the song of the week, I thought I would post my current ringtone.

So far, this is my favorite ringtone I've had yet and sometimes I don't even want to answer the phone because I just want to listen to the song.

But alas, I force myself to answer.

So, now you can know a bit more about me. Here's my ringtone.

The portion that I hear every time my phone rings is the first two lines of the song. I love it so much! Of course, I love the song itself.

Wordless Wednesday: The Sassypants and Fun at DQ Edition

2011-05-25T11:21:00.000-05:00

**TODAY IS THE LAST DAY TO VOTE. VOTING ENDS AT 5PM PST. Don't forget to vote for me HERE if you think I deserve to be one of the Top 25 Military Family Blogs at Circle of Moms**

Before we left Missouri, the weather started getting slightly nicer. So on a particularly lovely night, we decided to jump in the car and head to Dairy Queen. But naturally, The Hubble and Little Butt had to have some camera fun before we left. (Then I took over at DQ)

Mom's Day 2011 Weekend Recap

2011-05-24T07:00:00.003-05:00

**Don't forget to vote for me HERE if you think I deserve to be one of the Top 25 Military Family Blogs at Circle of Moms**

Please don't yell at me! I know this post is super duper late...like a couple weeks right??

But better late than never??

At least I'm finally getting around to it.

Mom's Day over here was kind of more like a weekend.

Saturday, we were invited out to a small town called Taylor, TX. We have some friends who live out there and the town was having their annual street fair. We thought it sounded like a grand time so we jumped at the chance to go.

We went and picked up our friends and headed over to Main street. We bought some tickets for Little Butt.

First stop! The pony rides!

Every girl should ride a pony at some point in their lives right?? Little Butt loved animals and she had a freaking blast on this pony. And yes...this is the exact one she chose.

She had this huge smile plastered on her face for the entire ride! It was really adorable. She was in her own little heaven right there.

After the pony ride, it was into the little animal petting area. They had ducks, goats, sheep, potbellied pics and a resting pony. At first Little Butt didn't quite know what to do. She was a little timid.

She saw the pony in the back corner. She approached and sized up her prey...

Then she moved in for the kill.

Success!!! All was well until...

She was ambushed when she lost situational awareness. Way to NOT secure the perimeter Daddy!

But Little Butt and her opponent quickly sized each other up and came to a truce. All was well. So it was time to move on.

At this point, it was time to procure food! Meat, dipped in batter, fried and eaten from a stick was absolutely on the menu. She loved it and ate almost the entire thing (Daddy ate the rest). After lunch, we ate the most amazing Italian ice EVER! The Hubble and I both chose cherry and blueberry while little butt got blueberry and watermelon. (I may or may not have sent The Hubble back to get me another one after we had made it back to our friend's house. What?? I'm pregnant. What can I do??)

After we ate we made our way over to the jumping balloon area. Little Butt, of course, wanted to go on the biggest slide in all the land. This slide had to have been a couple stories high. She swiftly climbed the stairs, reached the top, looked down the slide and started crying. She refused to slide down the slide and just stood there screaming while other kids passed her by.

I would have had sympathy for her if I didn't know her better. She is a daredevil of a kid and I knew if she just went down once she would be hooked. The nice girl who was taking tickets went up to slide down with Little Butt. (We tried to convince the girl to just push the kid down the slide but she didn't feel right about that. Blah!)

So Little Butt and the girl went down the slide. At the bottom, Little Butt's first response was "I want to do it again!"

So they went up and slid down again...

And again. By this point we figured we would leave the poor girl alone so we went to find something a bit more fit for Little Butt's size.

And we did! We found one that was perfect for her! She jumped and played in this jump house for quite some time.

Then we finished our time at the street fair with a train ride for Little Butt.

She had an absolutely blast there. Us adults had fun too...except for me afterward when I realized I had the worst sunburn I've ever had in my life!

We went back to our friend's house. The Hubble and Little Butt took off to get us some dunch (dinner/lunch) and he brought me home an edible arrangement bouquet!! Woohoo! I've only been wanting one for about 4 years. But hey...better late then never right?? The fruit was so juicy and delicious.

And naturally, Little Butt went for a chocolate covered strawberry before anything else.

A face only a mother could love...LOL!!

Saturday came to a close shortly thereafter.

On Sunday, Mother's Day, the day I was supposed to rest and do nothing...I decided to host a brunch for my mom, older and younger sisters and my niece.

The spread was amazing and everyone was super full. We ended up inviting the Dad's over as well and we played games all day then ordered pizza for dinner that night. It was super fun, but I was exhausted by the end of the whole thing.

So that's my Mom's Day extravaganza in a nutshell.

Did you do anything to celebrate Mother's Day? Either for yourself or your own mom?

Thanks for bearing with me through this long post!

Menu Planning Monday Week 1

2011-05-23T07:00:00.024-05:00

**Don't forget to vote for me HERE if you think I deserve to be one of the Top 25 Military Family Blogs at Circle of Moms**

Each week, I sit down and look through blog posts, cookbooks and magazines to come up with our menu for the week.

We don't tend to set each meal to a certain day, but meal/menu planning makes grocery shopping (and my cooking schedule) a lot more manageable.

I actually find this to be therapeutic and I just love it.

This past week, I was having trouble finding inspiration (it's hard to want to cook when it's just me and Little Butt) so I went to Twitter. Luckily, my Twitter friends really came through for me and saved my weekly menu!

I realized at that moment that it was mostly milspouses who were coming to my rescue.

I know most of us cook and we love to share recipes. I've seen some of you do Tasty Tuesdays, recipes of the week and others just post recipes randomly.

I got to thinking, wondering if anyone else does this menu planning thing that I do. Again, Twitter says yes.

So...I thought, what if we all had a place where we can link up a great recipe to share with one another. When it's time to sit down and plan our weekly menus, we just hop over to one place and peruse through the suggestions of our friends and peers.

So I came up with this linky.

I don't know if any of you will participate, but the link will be up all week long. If you make your menus on the weekend, by the end of the week, hopefully there will be a lot of options to choose from.

I don't care what you call your recipe sharing day, but do tell others about this link up so we can all share and enjoy our favorite recipes with each other.

Here's my contribution for this week:

Sweet Apple and Onion Stuffed Pork Chops

Printer Friendly Version

Ingredients:

6 boneless pork tenderloin chops, at least 1 1/2-2 inches thick
1 medium onion, diced
1 medium apple, diced (I used a red apple)
2 Tablespoons butter, melted
1 cup bread crumbs (I used Italian style)
1/4 cup shredded cheese (I used Vermont Sharp Cheddar)
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Heat a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Spray with nonstick cooking spray.
Add the diced onion and saute until tender, about 5 minutes.
Add the diced apple and saute until tender, about 3 minutes.
In a medium mixing bowl, melt the butter then add the bread crumbs and toss to coat.
To the bread crumb mixture, mix in the onion and apple.
Add the shredded cheese and mix to thoroughly combine.
Slice the pork chops lengthwise leaving about 1/2 an inch on one side still in tact.
Stuff pork chops with bread crumb mixture. Secure with toothpicks
Spray each side of the pork chops with nonstick cooking spray and season with salt and pepper.
Grill the pork chops (or cook on a skillet) until the juices run clear, about 20-25 minutes.
Remove from the grill and let rest about 5 minutes.
Remove toothpicks.
Serve and enjoy!!

This is seriously one of the best meals I've ever thrown together.

I hope you all enjoy this new linky and that it's helpful! So link up and spread the word baby!! Enjoy!!!

Book Review: Cleaving by Julie Powell

2011-05-21T10:15:00.000-05:00

Title: Cleaving

Author: Julie Powell

Publication Date: November 2010

Publisher: Little, Brown & Company

Pages: 336

ISBN: 9780316003377

This review is my opinion and I have not been compensated for it in any way.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Julie Powell thought cooking her way through Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking was the craziest thing she'd ever do--until she embarked on the voyage recounted in her new memoir, CLEAVING.

Her marriage challenged by an insane, irresistible love affair, Julie decides to leave town and immerse herself in a new obsession: butchery. She finds her way to Fleischer's, a butcher shop where she buries herself in the details of food. She learns how to break down a side of beef and French a rack of ribs--tough, physical work that only sometimes distracts her from thoughts of afternoon trysts.

The camaraderie at Fleischer's leads Julie to search out fellow butchers around the world--from South America to Europe to Africa. At the end of her odyssey, she has learned a new art and perhaps even mastered her unruly heart.

My Thoughts:

Like many others, I fell in love with Julie Powell when I read Julie & Julia, her memoir detailing her ups and downs while cooking her way through Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking. I loved the book so much that I saw the movie when it came out in theaters. I now own the movie and watch it regularly.

Julie Powell's first book is the one that inspired me to start cooking, and actually enjoying it. That book earned a spot on my bookshelf of "books that have inspired and shaped me as a person and a reader."

So it wasn't a surprise that I was curious about her second book. The topic (the art of butchery) was not incredibly appealing to me. Neither was the idea that she had an affair. But, I found the book half price at a Borders store closing sale and picked it up.

With all that being said...I have to now say that I was less than impressed with this book. In fact, I'm downright angry that I wasted so much time on it.

In the beginning (like the first 30 pages) I thought the whole thing was kind of interesting. Reading about the ins and outs of butchery was fascinating (at first). But that didn't last long. It got old.

Especially because what the book is really about is her 2 year affair and her subsequent obsession with the guy. Her and her husband, Eric, were stepping out on each other throughout the book and it had nothing to do with the art of butchery.

I tried, I tried desperately to find some correlation between the two parts of the story. The only thing I was able to gather was that she was not only trying to distract herself and her readers from her whoring around and let me tell you...it doesn't work! It doesn't distract her or us!

After her and D, her lover, break up she still text messages, calls, writes letters, sends gifts and is all around creepy. She starts sleeping with random people in dark hallways. THEN she decides she has to travel through Argentina, Africa and other various places.

At first, I could understand. I have someone in my past who was able to control my thoughts and actions. He was able to get under my skin and make me do things I wouldn't normally do. He even came into my life within the last few years and made me question certain choices in my life, i.e. my marriage. However, for me, my love for my husband was so strong that I was not tempted away from him. This guy's control over me was over. For Julie Powell, unfortunately, she had not severed those ties yet.

What bothered me the most though is that there is no real resolution to any of this at the end of the book. That is what made me angry. I was just mildly annoyed before the end of the book.

I have a problem with weak individuals and this book made me think of her as weak. So...I'm choosing to TRY to forget I ever read this book and only think of Julie Powell as cute little Amy Adams in the movie Julie & Julia.

If I were you, I would pass this book up. Don't read it. Don't be tempted. Just walk away. It's not worth it.

I give this book 1 star and would give it negative stars if I could. Blah. Time to move on!

A Confession and My Song of the Week

2011-05-19T13:44:00.000-05:00

**Don't forget to vote for me HERE if you think I deserve to be one of the Top 25 Military Family Blogs at Circle of Moms**

I have a confession to make (besides the fact that I didn't realize that it's Thursday and I almost missed the song linky this week).

Yes...you may judge me.

Yes...you may unfollow me.

You may even pretend to have never heard of me before.

I'm okay with all of this. I need to get this off my chest.

Okay...

Ready...

Here goes....

I...

Oh gosh....Just say it!!

I watch American Idol!!!

Phew.

I feel so much better.

Judge away!

I've never been into American Idol that much. I never watched it when it first came on. It just didn't appeal to me.

When I was visiting my father a couple years ago, he had several episodes on his DVR and I ended up watching them with him.

But, you know how you start a show and you start to feel for the people on it, then you have to know what's going to happen???

Yeah...that was me. I ended up going home and setting my DVR to record the show as well.

I watched the season that David Cook won (love him!) and the one that Adam Lambert DIDN'T win (hate him!).

Then the show just fell off the radar for me.

Until this season. I was very curious about Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler being judges. So I started watching again.

I have to say, I think there has been some amazing talent on this show this season. (Although I'm disappointed in the top 3)

Anyway...

A couple weeks ago, Haley Reinhart sang a song I had never heard before.

Let me tell you...I was completely blown away by this song! I loved it and haven't been able to get it out of my head ever since.

I was pleasantly surprised when we were over at a friend's house and he had the original (and some other versions) in his collection! And come to find out, he had gifted the song to The Hubble several years ago. Score!!

So now, I have the song and I can listen to it all the time.

And because I love the song so much, I thought I would share it for this week's song linky party. And don't forget, if you want to participate in the fun, head over to Goodnight Moon and link up your song of the week!

Now, without further ado...here is my song!

Wordless Wednesday: The Hallway Photo Shoot Edition

2011-05-18T09:54:00.000-05:00

**Don't forget to vote for me HERE if you think I deserve to be one of the Top 25 Military Family Blogs at Circle of Moms**

Sorry I've been absent the last few days. Little Butt and I were spending some quality time with The Hubble before he was to leave. Thanks for hanging in there and waiting for us!

Now...on to the show!!

This is what happens when I take ONE picture of Little Butt...suddenly we are in the middle of an impromptu photo shoot (at her demand).

Little Butt's 4th Birthday and Her Current Song

2011-05-13T13:30:00.000-05:00

**Don't forget to vote for me HERE if you think I deserve to be one of the Top 25 Military Family Blogs at Circle of Moms**

Okay...

Now that we are a bit more settled around here, I can finally write Little Butt's 4th birthday post!

I can't believe my baby girl is getting so big.

It's crazy to see her doing things on her own (even though she's always been insanely independent).

She is just this little person now. We have these conversations that just blow my mind.

And though her birthday is about a month in our rear view, I'm finally getting around to writing her birthday post. But you were on the edge of your seat waiting to see the cake I made right?? LOL!

So here's how things went down.

On her actual birthday we took some cupcakes and juice boxes to her daycare for all her friends to enjoy. We took her to lunch at her favorite Missouri restaurant, Bulgogi House, and we gave her Tangled on DVD that day.

We had planned to do a swim party the weekend after her birthday (right before we were supposed to move) but we ~~procrastinated too long~~ called too late and the indoor pool in the area was already booked up.

So, naturally, I went to Facebook and asked if anyone had any Plan B's lying around that they weren't using.
A friend of mine came to our rescue with Kindermusik! This friend is a Kindermusik teacher and she did birthday parties. AWESOME!

She even made the theme of the music dinosaur themed (Little Butt LOVES dinosaurs). I'm so grateful because all the kids had a great time with this.

There was dancing, singing and musical instrument playing.

They played with a big tarp. They were supposed to move it up and down and pull it over their heads at certain points in the song...

But Little Butt ran into the center, underneath the tarp whenever everyone came down. She freaking loved it!

However, every time it was supposed to get back up, they had to stop so she could get the handles of her side back in her little hands. Oh well...she had a blast!

After the Kindermusik fun, it was time for cake!

Are you ready to see the cake that took me about 2 days to make??

There it is! Crazy right?? The "grass" is a funfetti box cake. And the dinosaur body is a ginger lime poundcake.

Look how happy the little dinosaur is!

And Little Butt definitely loved her cake. So did everyone else!

After cake, it was present time. She got some clothes, a MobiGo and a bunch of dinosaurs.

All in all, I would say she was pretty excited about her birthday celebrations. She didn't even miss the pool. And all the dinosaurs she got were just awesome for her!

And seeing as how this is Little Butt's birthday post, I thought for today's song link up I would share Little Butt's current favorite song. (And yes, she requests this song every time we get in the car and she sings it throughout the day)

Don't forget...if you want to participate in the song link ups, head over to Goodnight Moon and have fun!

Okay. Here's my girl's song: