Lessons learned....

I wanted to end 2009 with a blog about the lessons I learned in 2009. It seems like there were a lot and I am sure I am going to forget one or 2 (or 10) but it is worth a shot!!

My lessons learned:

1) NEVER TAKE LIFE FOR GRANTED!!!!! You never know when tomorrow will not come.

2) Always kiss your babies even when they are naughty. You never know when you might not be able to.

3) Tell your family members you love them as much as you can. It never hurts to hear I love you!!

4) Always keep somewhat of a guard up. You may think you can trust someone but you just never know.

5) Always make sure you are able to care for yourself should something happen to your significant other.

6) The best friends in your life are the ones you don't have to make a huge effort to be their friend. It just comes naturally.

7) Relationships require work but should NOT exhaust you!! This includes friendships!!

8) Moving every three years sucks, especially when you have 2 small children. However, moving is such a fun thing especially trying to discover a new place.

9) Being a Stay at Home is hard work.

10) Never try to read some one's expression through the computer. If you can't see their face or hear the tone in their voice, you are going to read it wrong, no matter what!!

11) Don't take the time you have with your family for granted.

12) Family is what you make it, not necessarily blood bonds only!!

Tomorrow, I will go to set my goals for 2010!!! Let's hope I can accomplish a few of them!!

Hectic Holidays!!

Wow, it has been a while since I blogged, not my usual fashion. We arrived in NY on the 17th and we have been going non-stop ever since. Yesterday and today were declared official "chill" days since we all have been exhausted from the merriment of the holidays.

On the 18th, we had a small Christmas party with our family's closest friends and it was so nice to visit with everyone. The rest of the weekend was spent visiting with family and helping get ready for Christmas.

On the 22nd, we celebrate Riley's 1st birthday that night but during the day, I got to spend the day with her which was an absolute blast. She is such a happy-go-lucky little girl and so much fun to play with. She introduced Jordan to Yo Gabba Gabba, which now has become a favorite of Jordan's (much to my chagrin).

Christmas Eve was spent at Aunt Phyllis and Uncle Gary's like tradition. I was put in charge of the White Elephant exchange and got rave reviews since we implements new rules this year. It was a fun time. After we left there, we went to Dad and Mary's to celebrate Christmas with them. The kids got spoiled like usual and we got a GPS!! I am so excited to finally have one. Once we got back to Mom's, we got the kids ready for bed and helped them put milk, cookies and carrots out for Santa. It was adorable since Noah wanted to make sure we had enough carrots for each reindeer and the perfect amount of cookies for Santa (in his eyes). Once they were in bed, we arranged the stockings and Santa gifts and then watched Four Christmas' together. It was my 2nd time seeing it but it was just as funny as the first time.

Christmas day, the kids actually slept in. I woke up at about 7:30 but Noah didn't get up until 8:15. He had to wait for Madison and Tracey to get here before he could go see if Santa came, which turned out to be a good thing because we ended up having to wake Jordan up. The kids had a blast with their Santa stuff and the gift opening process lasted all day, literally. But then again, it usually does. I must say, my husband did awesome this year with my gifts. He got me my Paula Deen cook set I had asked for, a gorgeous Open Heart necklace (from the kids) and few other various things I had my eye on. We all spoiled each other and did everything we could to make sure my Mom had an awesome Christmas considering the year she has had. She definitely deserved it.

The day after Christmas, we got family portraits done. Trying to get 13 people right for a picture was amazing, especially with 4 under the age of 4. But they turned out awesome!! Then on the 27th, we attended Riley's first birthday party which was a blast and it was so nice to catch up with old friends. We were all exhausted by the time Sunday night came. A few of vegging out has been warranted.

I have really enjoyed being home this time. I haven't felt stressed or worried that my kids were causing havoc for certain people. What a difference it is in the house without "him" here. It is so relaxed and my mom, despite ranging from anger to sadness, seems more relaxed around the kids too. I hope that 2010 is much better for her and I hope the divorce goes quickly and with as little pain for her as possible.

I absolutely adore my nieces. Madison is a little hell-on-wheels kind of kid but she is so much fun. She is awesome and I am going to miss her tremendously when we head back home on the 2nd. Riley, like I said before, it so much like her parents, just laid-down and goes with the flow. It is amazing to watch them grow and to see all the cousins playing together has made me so happy and I am so thankful that my family has been blessed so much!!! I hate being away from them but I am so grateful for what time I do get to spend with them.

Well I better run. I promise I will be better about updated now that the holidays are winding down. Have a great day!!!!

Busy, busy time!!!

This past week has been so busy for us. It started on Saturday when I had my first Tastefully Simple party in the area. I was so excited and nervous about it but it turned out awesome. It ended up being an over $800 dollar party and I got 2 bookings off of it. Plus I recently had a woman email me in hopes to schedule a party and my hostess from Saturday is already talking about a summer party. Looks like my business will hopefully take off here. Once the holidays are done and over with, I am going to hit the ground running with it and see where it will take me.

On Sunday, I surprised Noah and we headed up to Virginia Beach to see one of my best friends, Ally and Noah's best friend Ethan. He was so surprised when they open the door. It was so nice visiting with them for 2 days and I hope that the next visit will be for longer. The boys had an absolute blast playing together and I was so happy to love on her new baby Lana. I am so glad that she is close enough that we can drive up for a few days here and there. It wasn't a bad trip, only 3 1/2 hours or so.

On Tuesday, Noah got another surprise when we went to the Wilmington Airport and saw his grandmother walking down the walkway. Grammy came to visit us for a few days and I loved having her here. I think she needed to get away, I just feel bad that the last two days of her being here was a little hard with Noah. He got sick and when Noah is sick, he is miserable. But we did get a lot of shopping done and we had a lot of laughs which was awesome!!

Noah is still sick and we are having a chill at home weekend this weekend. We leave for New York for the holidays sometime this week, just not too sure when. Lee graduates from from school on Tuesday (on his birthday) so I am thrilled about that. I have been thinking about doing a few things after the holidays to fill my time. I have been making a lot of blankets lately and I am thinking about trying to sell them. I enjoy doing it and am hoping I can make a small side business of it. We shall see though, I have to see if there is much interest out there for it.

The trip to NY should be a fun one and not too busy for a change. I am hoping I can get a break from the kids so I can have a date with my husband too. It will be nice to see all of the family especially since we haven't seen them since Corey and Leanne's wedding. I just hope the next few days go by fast!!! NY...HERE WE COME!!!!

Surprises and visitors

I hope everyone had as wonderful of a Thanksgiving as I did. I spent the day with my little family and some very good friends. We had Beth and Rob come down to visit for the weekend and we had a blast. They got in on Wednesday evening with their 4 month old daughter Emmerson. We had an absolute blast all weekend and I can't wait to visit with them again soon.

We have a busy month coming up and I am happy about that. Lee leaves on Monday to be in the field for the week. Then on Sunday, the kids and I are headed up to VA to visit the Leapard family. I can't wait to see the look on Ethan and Noah's faces when they see each other. It will be a fun couple of days.

On the 8th, the kids and I will be headed back home because we will be having another house guest that evening!!! Mom is coming to visit for a few days and we are so excited about it. Even though we are headed up to NY in a few weeks for Christmas, she thought it would be nice to come down here for a few days. It is a chance for her to get away too!! I am not telling Noah about that one either. We are just going to pick her up from the airport!! He will love it.

I am so excited about all the surprises we have coming up. It will be a good month for us....I hope!!!

Twenty Wishes

So I just finished reading a book by Debbie Macomber called "Twenty Wishes". While the book is a fiction book, I love the premise behind it. Basically in the book, the cast of women are each going through rough patches for one reason or another so they decide to take all their grief, anger and negative feelings and focus it on what they wish for their life. They each make a list entitled "Twenty Wishes" and these wishes are things they want to accomplish one day in their lives. A few examples of their wishes were to learn to belly dance, to go to Paris with someone they love or to buy a pair of red cowboy boots. The main character even goes as far as making a scrapbook of each of her wishes and adds to the scrapbook the steps along the path of achieving her wishes for example a picture of the red boots from a magazine and a picture of the Eiffel Tower. It is important to make sure they are wishes and not goals.

It was an amazing book and it got me to start thinking. What would my Twenty Wishes be? I have thought and thought about it and I have decided I am also going to come up with a Twenty Wishes scrapbook. This way it will help me focus on what is important in my life and not anything negative that comes my way. I will be interested to see what my Twenty Wishes end up being.

What would yours be?

Hypocrites

I am amazed lately by the amount of people who proclaim to be "children of God" or "religious" yet show none of that in the actions of their day to day life. Today was a prime example. On my way home from being out and about with the kids, we were headed home only to hit the usual traffic made worse by a lane closure. I was, of course, in the wrong lane and desperately trying get in the right lane. Signal on, arm out the window waving, the whole nine yards and no one would let me over. Finally I see an opening!! I scoot over as I would normally and the lady actually decides to speed up to not let me over. By then, I was already half-way into the lane so I continued my merge. She hooked at me. When we were finally back in two-lanes, she drove by mouthing something to me that I translated to be "not nice" words. I was amazed by this initially because I waved thank you and didn't "butt-in", I actually merged in an open spot because she wasn't paying attention. But got me even more was when she drove past, all over her back window was "Got Jesus?" and "WWJD" stickers. I was shocked!!!! It just amazes me that most people who claim to be "Christian" are the nastiest people out there. It is so hypocritical!!!

Noah's Room

I am so excited because the last little thing I was waiting for to put in Noah's room came today. So his room is officially done!! I am really happy with it and he is so proud of his Star Wars room. Check it out:

The view from his door:


Looking at the wall next to his bed:


His new bed:


One side of the room:


The wall opposite his bed:


The cool sign over his closet door:


He also has R2-D2 lights that border his closet door but that picture didn't turn out too well. I had thought about painting his room but I just can't be bothered with painting again when we leave. I am really happy with how it turned out though!!

4 weeks....

Well we have been here 4 weeks tomorrow and the house is finally coming together. It has been pretty hard for me to work on the house and take care of the kids by myself for the last few weeks but I am managing. I try to get what I can done and still do fun things with the munchkins. I basically get about 4 hours a day to work on the house, 5 if I am lucky.
I finished the kid's bathroom and Jordan's room. Her room didn't really change much. We are keeping her in the crib for now but I think after the new year, she will end up in a toddler bed since she has been attempting to climb out of her crib. I just can't decide if I am going to convert her bed or let her use Noah's old toddler bed. I guess it will come to me when the time comes.

The Kids Bathroom Before:


Kids Bathroom After:




Jordan's Room After (I forgot to take Before pictures)




Noah's room is 97% done. I am waiting for one more piece in the mail and then it will be done. As soon as it is, I will put up some pictures. I think his room looks pretty cool and I am really happy with how it turned out. I decided against painting any of the room because I don't want the hassle of having to repaint them but I may change my mind eventually.

Our room is done too which is so nice. It is nice to wake up to a clean room!! The only things I have left is the office/guest room and the finish decorating the dining room and living rooms. Little by little it is coming together and I am so happy for that.

Our room (again, no before pics!!)




We are slowly getting out and meeting new people. I have starting taking the kids to the weekly storytime they have at the base library and we joined 2 different meet-up groups. So far we have only attended one event a piece but they both look promising. We shall see how they pan out. Plus Pam is back so I have been spending a lot of time with her!! I am so grateful for her friendship because I think I would be going nuts if I didn't have an adult to hang out with every now and then.

So things are coming along. Hopefully they will continue to progress on an upward slope!!

Happy Halloween!!!

Happy Halloween!! Today was an pretty mellow day for us despite it being Halloween. Noah has been sick since yesterday morning with some sort of stomach bug so he has not wanted to do anything. When he got up this morning, he just laid on the couch most of the day. He finally ate a bit and kept it down so I told him if he felt ok when he got up from his nap then we could go trick or treating. He was pretty indifferent about the whole affair and stated that if he couldn't dress up tonight than he would wear his Darth Vader costume for Christmas. It was too sweet and that is how I knew he was still not feeling well.

So the kids got up from their naps around 6 and I had their costumes all ready to go. I got Jordie dressed and Noah just laid on the couch. So I figured he decided he didn't want to go....until our first trick or treater. Once that first kid came to the door, it was a whole new Noah. He got so excited and was rearing to go. Pam came over with Baby Six Pack and off we went.

Jordie loved going up to the door and getting candy. She figured out that if she said Trick or Treat, she got candy so the whole time she was saying "Kick or Keet". It was so cute. Noah was being his shy little self like usual and forgot to say anything most of the time. But finally after about 30 houses or so, he said he wanted to go home. So we went home and gave out candy while hanging out with Pam and Six. After a bit, we headed to Golden Corral for dinner and enjoyed a nice evening with some good friends.

This year was definitely different than last year and I think that is one of the reasons why Noah didn't last too long. He missed going with his friends but we sure didn't miss the weather up there. It was so nice and warm here!! But hopefully next year he will have a friend or two to go Trick or Treating with. That would be nice!!

Darth Noah


Our Bama Cheerleader







Candy Monster

LOI Friday!!

It's Letter of Intent Friday!!!
Every Friday Julie from www.myfourboys.net does Letter of Intent Friday. Basically the idea is to write a letter to a person place or thing and let it/them know how you feel. It is a good way to get some thing(s) off your chest!!



To the minor annoyances in my life this week,

Please go away!!! You have made my life uncomfortable and it is unappreciated.
To Ms. Carpenter, please pay your bills so creditors will stop calling my house looking for you.
To automated phone message system, if I indicate that you have the wrong number and the wrong person by pressing the correct buttons, please understand that and do not call my house 7 more times in a 43 minutes period.
To creditors that are looking for someone else, if I tell you I am not that person, that we just acquired this number, please don't call back and insinuate that I am really the person you are looking for. My name is not J------ Carpenter!!
To the phone company, please don't re-issue a phone number that had been recently disconnected. Please keep the phone numbers inactive for at least 6 months in order make people stop calling it first.
To Mr. Stomach Bug, please leave my son's body so he can feel better for Trick or Treating. While we understand you need a home to live in for a bit, your are not welcome here so please pack your bags and leave!! (And that doesn't mean to move into either myself or my daughter)
To sleep or Mr. Sandman, it would be nice if you visited me a lot sooner than an hour or more after I lay down to sleep. My body is tired and it needs you to make it feel better!! And if you could swing by my son's room while you are at it and make him sleep longing that would be awesome!!!

I thank you for your time in these matters and if you all could correct yourselves, it would be greatly appreciated!!

An annoyed person

Letter of Intent Friday

It's Letter of Intent Friday!!!
Every Friday Julie from www.myfourboys.net does Letter of Intent Friday. Basically the idea is to write a letter to a person place or thing and let it/them know how you feel. It is a good way to get some thing(s) off your chest!!



Dear Solicitor,

Thank you for stopping by. I appreciate your hard work but I would also appreciate your understanding when I tell you I am not interested in whatever product you are trying to sell me. If I try to tell you that at the beginning of your sell and you cut me off, don't get mad at me that I won't buy anything. And please don't try the guilt card because that only makes me mad and makes me want to shut the door in your face.
If your product is so wonderful, why can I not buy it online or through a catalog. Why can I only buy it through you? And why don't you have a business card, flyer, etc..? Please don't tell me you will take my pennies to pay for it and then get mad when I take you serious. Don't offer if you don't mean it!!!
All in all, it would be best if you just didn't knock on my door because I am never going to buy something from you. Now if you are dressed as a Girl Scout selling yummy cookies, then we can talk but some wonder cleaner/vacuum/mop just isn't going to do it for me. I trust in three products only...bleach, a scrub brush and the hands that the good Lord gave me!!

Thank you and have a fabulous day!!!!

An annoyed wife who is tired of answering the door.

Lack of adult conversation

So I remembered why I hate moving....it is so lonely until you meet people!! Yes, my friend Pam lives here but she is away right now and won't be back for 2 more weeks. They just got offered a house so she will be back soon but still. Poor Noah keeps asking to play with his friends and I am at a loss. I feel terrible for him that he has no one to play with, not that I would have anyone over here anyways because my house is still not unpacked. I signed up for a meet-up group here and we are suppose to go to play-date on Thursday so I hope it turns out ok. I am so nervous about it. I have gotten more and more shy as the years have gone on and it is very hard for me to make friends with people. But not only do the kids need playmates but I need someone to hold an adult conversation with. I am tried of discussing Wiggles, Caillou, and Gameboy. I just keep reminding myself that we just moved here and it took me 6 weeks to make my first friend in Great Lakes (love you Anna!!). I just wish it was easier!!! Not that I don't adore my kids or anything but I think that is part of the reason I have been in a funk for a few days. Hopefully I can shake it soon!!

The house is still full of boxes!! I swear they multiply in the night or something. I have set a goal for myself to unpack 5 boxes a day until they are all gone. Monday I did good, I unpacked 4. Today, not so good. I didn't unpack a single box. So tomorrow I have to double my efforts. The plan for tomorrow is to go buy a mattress for Noah finally (I have been putting it off bad) and finally start getting his room organized!! The poor kid wants to sleep on his new bed so bad and Mom is being a procrastinator. I am still trying to figure out how to use some magical powers to get this house unpacked or something. I am so over moving, it isn't as fun as it used to be!!!

Moving In

Well we have been here in Jacksonville, NC for 9 days now and we are settling in slowly. The house is very slowly coming along but that is OK, slow and steady wins the race, huh? The first couple of days we were here was such an ordeal though!! I wanted to leave after only being here for 24 hours...it was quite a roller coaster.

It started with the trip here. We decided to try to drive straight through because the kids refused to sleep. So instead of spending $75+ on a hotel room for a few hours, we decided to drive until we hit a rest area after they fell asleep and then rest while they slept for a couple of hours. Yea, that worked for about an hour and a half when Jordan woke up screaming. She would fall back asleep and wake up screaming every 20-30 minutes after that so finally I told Lee that we need to just hit the road. Once the sun came up, it was much better. We got into Jacksonville around noon which meant we were in the cars for 24 hours!! UGH!! So to say I was grumpy was a total understatement!!!

Once we got in town, we went right to the rental place to pick up our keys. Then we went to the water company to have the water turned on since you have to do it in person. After that, we stopped at Sonic and got some lunch before finally getting to our new house. Once we got there, we walked in the door and the house smelled so bad. It smelled like the people before us had a pack of dogs instead of just one. Walking around, I got more and more mad because the house was a mess. Lee called the maintenance people to come out and fix a few things right away and we set out to see what else needed to be taken care of. Plus they arranged to have the carpets re-cleaned.

As the weekend progress and I spent more time in the house, I became thoroughly convinced that the previous tenants did not believe in cleaning products nor did the inspector look at the house at all when they moved out. It took me 1 1/2 hours to clean our bathroom alone. I scrubbed it from top to bottom. Then on Sunday I cleaned the kitchen. 3 times I changed the water from scrubbing the floor, it was so nasty. Thank you to whoever created bleach but by Sunday night, not only was the house livable but it smelled better too.

The cleaning continued through the weekend until Monday, they delivered our household goods. Well of course, one of my kids has to have something wrong on this day and I end up having to take Jordan to the ER because she has pink eye. We are even registered on base here yet and the local ER came recommended so off we went. A little less than 2 hours later, we were out the door and off wasting time until the movers were done. Then we got the call to come home and I walked into a sea of boxes!! That's when the fun began!!!

On Tuesday I went to talk to the rental office about the condition of the house. I showed them the pictures I took of the mess and they agreed to give us money off our first month's rent. So we are getting $250 off our rent for my cleaning efforts and they are still coming out to redo the carpets once I get all the boxes unpacked. Go me for sticking up for us!!

So far, trying to fit everything into this house hasn't been too bad. I am figuring out creative ways to utilize space. I am loving the ideas coming to my head for decorating and I have ordered some cool things off the Internet for our room and Noah's room. Noah's room is the only one completely changing since he got a new "grown-up" bed. I can't wait until it all comes together!!! Let's just see how long it takes me....LOL!!!

Letters of Intent Friday

My dear friend Rose shared this link on her blog and I think it is a good idea. Every Friday Julie from www.myfourboys.net does Letter of Intent Friday. Basically the idea is to write a letter to a person place or thing and let it/them know how you feel. It is a good way to get some thing(s) off your chest!!



Dear neighbor with the barking dog,

While I can appreciate how sweet and adorable YOUR family pet may be, s/he is not adorable when they are barking non-stop throughout the day while you are out of your home. They have the most ear-piercing bark and it is like nails scratching on a blackboard to me.
It would be much appreciated if you were to come up with other accommodations for the animal so myself and the rest of the neighborhood are not subjected to the company of your dog for the majority of the day.
Thank you.

Mom

I know I haven't blogged in a while because of the move and I have so much to say about that but tonight I want to focus on a very important person in my life....My Mom!!

My mom is going through a really rough patch in her life right now. The man she has been with for the last 20 years has decided to end their marriage. This came completely out of left-field for Mom and she was shocked by it all. Yes, there is another woman. After this happened, I was so worried about Mom but then I thought about all that she has been through in her life and I knew she would make it through this too.

She is truly an amazing woman. She was born a Navy Brat, in San Diego and moved to my grandmother home state of Louisiana at a very young age. She grew up there and when she was a teenager, my grandfather moved the family to Buffalo, NY. Life for her as a child was not easy. My grandfather was not a pleasant human-being and has many shortfalls and my grandmother was no better. Mom is the oldest so she was looked upon to be the care-taker of her younger siblings. She learned at an early age how to look out for herself while still ensuring other peoples needs were met.

She met my father and fell very much in love. To this day, I still believe that he was the love of her life. They wed shortly after she turned 18. They had my brother a year later and me 21 months after that. Tragically my father passed away shortly after my mother's 22nd birthday. A widow at the age of 22 with 2 children under the age of 4 can not be an easy task for anyone to endure. But again my mother used the skills she taught herself and drew her strength to go on day by day and care of her children.

Through the years, she has had to endure many hardships, learn many life lessons and deal with a lot. I know we do eventually but when I look at what I know of my mother over the 33 years (and even before my life began), I am so proud of my mother and how she has handled herself these last few weeks. She has lost a considerable amount of weight, something she set out to do even before this bump in her road. She has pulled her life together and has been showing that strength that I have come to expect out of my Mom. I know she is tired of hearing how strong she is but I have never met a strong woman. Maybe it is condescending to say you are proud of a parent but I am so proud of her!! I only hope that I am able to show my daughter the strength that my mother has shown me throughout my life.

I love you Mom!!! You are the best!!

Moving and Clean

Well the house is for the most part empty. The only things left in it are what we need to live until October 12th when our things are being delivered to our house in North Carolina. It has been a little difficult over the last few days as things just keep coming up. We have had a lot of issues with the house and are beyond ready to turn over the keys and be done with it. This has been the worst experience of my life!! I am anxious to see how the inspection goes on Thursday and how much we actually end up owing Forest City. I have heard that people get taken to the cleaners by these people so we shall see.

The last couple of days have been spent primarily cleaning. But we have had some time to do some nice things. On Friday, Anna threw a surprise going-away lunch for me and the kids. It was so nice and I am going to miss the ladies here so much!!! On Saturday, Anna and I went out for lunch just the two of us. I gave her the scrapbook I made for her and her birthday present finally. We had to laugh because we each gave each other a Willow Tree and thought we may have gotten the same one but we didn't. Sunday was spent turning and burning in the house. I am officially calling myself "Paint and Spackle Queen". It was a long day and an even long night because when Jordan woke up from her nap, she had a fever and was miserable. It bummed me out too because I was suppose to go get coffee with the girls but I had to cancel. BOO for sick kids!!!

Speaking of kids, Jordan had her 18 month well-baby yesterday. She is 30 1/2 inches tall and 23lbs, 10 oz. She is 40th percentile for height and 60th for weight. The thing that made me laugh is her head is in the 95th percentile for circumference!!! My big noggin kid!!! She got 4 shots and didn't do to good this time. She cried for a long time!!! Noah and I both our flu shots too and my brave dude didn't cry one bit!!! Last night, when Jordan got up from her nap, she literally cried for almost 3 hours straight and wouldn't let me leave her side so I am thinking now she has a cold versus teething. She was a cranky girl!!

Today we are going to finish up the house when I get done babysitting Grace. This will be my last time babysitting her....I am so sad about that!! I adore that little girl and will miss her tremendously!! We are staying in the temporary lodging tonight and tomorrow night so it will be nice to sleep in a bed and not on an air mattress. I am so looking forward to it!!!!!!!!

What a Weekend!!!

What a fabulous weekend we had!!! It was spent as a family and it was amazing.

On Friday, we had the Khaki Ball. Anna watched the kids for us and we spent the evening laughing and dancing with some pretty awesome people. My feet hurt so much by the end of the night!!! I love going to those things. I am bummed we are missing the Navy Ball this year but I guess there is always next year. Once the ball ended, we went to pick up the kids and they totally made my night with how much they missed us. Once we got them all snuggly in bed, we crashed ourselves since we had to get up early for our yard sale.

On Saturday, we got up nice and early for our yard sale. It was not to bad out, just a little chilly. We didn't do too bad and manage to get rid of some of our stuff. I had more fun just being outside with my family though. The kids ran around and played while Lee and I, when not taking care of "customers", threw the football around. It made for a very pleasant morning. Once we decided to pack it in, we fed the kids lunch and put them down for a nap so we could enjoy the Alabama game. We curled up on the couch and watched it together...or maybe I should say I curled up, Lee jumped up constantly, LOL. It was a pretty mellow game though and of course our boys won!! When the kids woke up, Noah complained that his tummy hurt so we cancelled our plans. At about 6:30, he was feeling better and we needed some things at the store so we headed out to Target. Noah finally said he wanted to eat so we stopped in at Ruby Tuesday's and grabbed a bite. Once we got home and got the kids to bed, we went to bed ourselves and watched a movie.

Sunday morning we tried to do our yard sale again but it was a bust. So we got dressed and headed downtown for the White Sox game. Lee got us tickets since I had been complaining that we have lived here 3 years and never went to one. Better late than never right? Noah really enjoyed himself and even Jordan watched for a bit. It was a gorgeous day and we enjoyed it as a family. When we got home, I whipped up some dinner and the kids were so tired, we put them to bed at 7:45 without one single objection. We watched our shows for the night and then headed to bed ourselves.

It was such a great weekend, one we were in need of and one I will cherish for a while because I know once we get down to NC, Lee will be crazy busy!!! Oh well....now it is time to finish getting ready for the movers. Less than 4 days to go!!

VOTE FOR PEDRO!!!

Actually, not really!! Vote for Noah and Jordan though!!!

Please vote for Noah and Jordan to be the next face of Baby Gap! If you follow the link, just click the vote button. https://family.go.com/gapcastingcall/entries/navymama76/

Some of our friends are entered too so check them out!!
Noah's best friend Ethan: https://family.go.com/gapcastingcall/entries/USNchic/

Our friend Rose's 2 girls Brenna and Paige: https://family.go.com/gapcastingcall/entries/clanbrunn/

You can vote daily until November 17. Wouldn't it be neat to see the face of one of these munchkins in GAP ads nationwide!!!

Thanks! :)

Upside Down and Frustrations

Life has flipped upside down in a matter of days. Some things have happened in our family but I am going to keep them private out of respect for the people involved. It is a huge shock and a huge adjustment I guess. I hope things pan out for the better but only time will tell. I just hope that those who are involved know how much they are loved and how much we hope things work themselves out!!!

On a similar note, I am beyond stressed about this move. I have been hearing so many horror stories about how awful Forest City is toward people when they move out. I am so worried they are going to try to charge us for everything. We have been trying to repair things and get things fixed on our own but who knows how they will be.

One of the things that we needed to fix was the siding on the back of the house that I accidentally burned. According to the price sheet, they will charge $100 and up for siding repairs so we asked around on how to fix it ourselves. We finally found the same color siding (because of course we have to live in a red house) at Menard's for $10.98 for a piece. We only needed one piece cut down and they even cut it for us. So Lee spent a little time yesterday fixing the siding. It looks as good as new!!! Hopefully they won't be able to tell much. I just couldn't believe that they wanted to charge us over $100 for something that costs $10 and took about an hour to fix.

Another thing we needed to fix was 2 sets of blinds. We figured out how to fix them without having to buy new ones and thankfully, I fixed one so far. The other one is in Noah's room and I am going to delay that as long as possible in case he tries to break another one.

The last frustration with this move has been the money issue. When we gave our 30 day notice, we opted to pay our pro-rated rent for October so they would stop our BAH allotment. Well Lee went in to bring the check in on Monday and they told him they wouldn't stop the BAH allotment until we had our pre-inspection, which was scheduled for the 29th. Well, if you know anything about military pay, DFAS needs 7 days before a pay day to process any changes to a service members pay which means we would have to have the allotment change in by the 23rd. Lee was so mad and tried to explain that to the woman but she kept saying "you will be ok and get your allotment stopped". He came home so mad. Well, I was not going to play that game. I called right up to the housing manager and explained to her what happened and how unacceptable that was. She quickly changed our pre-inspection to tomorrow so we will have enough time to get the allotment change in. But I swear if on the 1st, the BAH is not in his paycheck, I will be on their doorstep so fast demanding my money!!!!!

I just want this move to be over with so I don't have to worry about dealing with these people anymore!! It is craziness!!!!!!!!!

Real....

Well I started taking things off the walls today. Now the move officially feels real. It was so weird to look in the places where things used to hang and just see empty holes. As I look at the the holes, I take a step back and think of my last 13 1/2 years being with the Navy...the first 10 as a Sailor and the last few as a Navy wife. What a ride it has been so far. I have seen so many places, experienced so many things and meet so many interesting people. There are people who have stayed in my life and people who left their mark but are no longer there. It is amazing how different my life is though in those 13+ years. Then for a few short moments, I wonder how different my life would have been had I not joined the Navy. I say short moments because it is very apparent to myself and those who know me best that joining the Navy was the best decision I made in my life. I wonder what the next 13+ years are going bring me.....

Other than that, things here are what they should be for a family getting ready to move. I feel like the more I do for the move, the messier I make the house which of course is driving me absolutely INSANE!!! I hate how cluttered everything feels but I always hate transporting things we don't need. Hence the decluttering bug that has bitten me. I worked on the garage this weekend and we are prepping for our big moving sale the weekend of the 25th-27th. It is going to be a busy weekend between the Khaki Ball, the moving sale and plans that I have made with people. I am starting to feel bad because everything going on is affecting the things I do with the kids. We are constantly doing things for the move and haven't done anything fun since our little trip. So I think next week, I am going to take them to Apple Holler or something like that so they can have some fun!! They deserve it...they are really great kids!!!

Peek-A-Boo and Stories

Do you have things in your life that always put a smile on your face? I do.... two little kids named Noah and Jordan. It amazes me each and every day the things they do, say and learn.

Jordan is picking up everything. She is my little mocking bird. You say something twice and she repeats it. It is so much of a vast difference from when Noah was this age and we could only use basically sign language to communicate. She is so animated too and always has a smile on her face. Her latest thing is to play peek-a-boo constantly. She is so cute when she does it and I was lucky enough to get it on video today.....


Noah has become an avid reader (or listener). We read constantly throughout the day and we always read 5-6 books at night before bedtime. He has especially taken to this series of books by Bill Martin Jr & Eric Carle. His favorite is "Panda Bear, Panda Bear, What do you see?". There are four others with similar titles. We now own 3 of the 4 because I was tired of getting them out of the library. Well we have read them so often that he can "read" them on his own. So I taped it today....it is so amazing!!! He is getting so big!!!


I look at these two children and then think of the man who helped me give them life and I relish in the fact that I have all that I need in this world 2 small little packages and 1 funny and sometimes annoying package. I am truly a lucky, lucky woman!!!

House Hunting Trip Day #7

Well we are home…unfortunately. I wish we could have stayed in TN longer or something. It is nice to be home though and it will be awesome to sleep in our own beds again. We left early this morning to hit the road. It was a long trip and felt like it took forever to get home but that is mostly because we hit Chicago right at 4:30 during rush hour traffic on a holiday weekend. Huge Mistake!!!!! I hope that is the last time ever we have to drive through that traffic.
Well I am beat and am ready for bed…..what a trip this has been!!!

Lesson(s) learned: Always plan your trip around where you might hit rush hour traffic!!!

P.S. I put all of our pictures from our trip on my Facebook. Check them out!!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=117889&id=507375779&l=8f698c70c1

House Hunting Trip Day #6

What a day!! I am beat, we walked so much today!! We got up early and headed out the door by 9:30 to go up into the mountains. We found a few neat spots to check out and let the kids discover new things in nature. Then we found a trail and decided to hike it. It was 2.9 miles up and it was so gorgeous. We saw waterfalls, rapids, and springs. We crossed bridges and navigated up the mountain. We got about ¼ mile away from the top when we ran into a family who told us there was a baby bear at the top so we decided not to go all the way up. We found a cool little spot and let the kids throw rocks in the water and play for a while. It was so nice to be out in the fresh air, enjoying all of God’s gifts. By the time we got down the mountain again, we were all dirty and a little wet and loved it!!! So we decided to head back for some lunch and more sight-seeing.

Enjoying nature




Throwing rocks




One of many waterfalls rapids we saw


We picked up lunch, went back to room to eat and change then headed out again. We walked every where. The kids and I went into a wax museum while Lee went in a motion theater thing. Then we went up to Ober Gatlinburg. It is this Amusement area that you take an enclosed tram to get up to it. The tram hangs 200 feet above the mountains. It was breath-taking. Noah loved it and even made a friend on the trip up. After we were done up there, we headed back down the mountain and decided to go to the Aquarium. It was so cool. They have this neat tunnel thing that you basically walk through and are surrounded by the sea life (sharks, fish, turtles, etc...). Both the kids absolutely loved it and didn’t want to leave but we were all getting hungry so we headed out for dinner. While walking out of the aquarium, Noah suddenly started screaming and was holding his face near his eye. We looked to see what happened and it looks like he got bite by something. He is going to have his first black eye though I think.

One view from the tram


At the aquarium


After dinner, we headed back to the room to get ready to leave. We are headed back to Great Lakes tomorrow and we have so much to do!!! I can’t believe the movers will be there in less than one month. OMG, I am so tired!!

Lesson(s) learned: Appreciate all the gifts God has given us!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Always try to experience new things; you never know what kind of happiness it will bring you.

House Hunting Trip Day #5

We left NC and headed to TN today. We are staying Gatlinburg and it is so gorgeous. We walk out on the balcony of our room and have a gorgeous view of the Smoky Mountains. It is so nice to be out in the fresh air and enjoy the things that nature provides us with. We got settled into our room and headed out to see what the town has to offer. We went into a few of the shops and just took in the sites. We found a great restaurant to eat dinner at and then went to Ripley’s Believe It or Not museum. Noah thought it was really cool. We got some ice cream after that and just enjoyed walking around.

Over all it was a great day. The kids passed right out and now I am going to follow suit. Tomorrow is going to be a fun day!!

Entering Gatlinburg


The view from our room


In the giant chair at Ripley's


Lesson(s) learned: A little family time works wonders!!!

House Hunting Trip Day #4

We found a house today!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


I am so excited. It is such a cute little house. It is 4 bedroom, 2 ½ bathrooms and about 1700 sq. feet. It has a huge backyard with a privacy fence and it is in a nice little sub-division. The master bedroom and guest room are downstairs and the kid’s rooms are upstairs which I didn’t like at first but now I am cool with it. We just need to get a really good gate for the top of the stairs. Plus, it is only one mile from the main gate which means it is close to work for Lee!!!

It was a long day though trying to get it situated. We were so defeated from yesterday that we almost didn’t go in to see the realtor but I am so glad we did. Lee went into housing first to see what the status there was and they were so rude to him. But basically it is a 6-8 month wait for SNCO housing so we have no choice but to live out in town. So we went to the realtor appointment we had and I told her what we had been told the day before. She said absolutely not and that she would have us in a house by the end of the day. We went through the computer to see what was available around the time we were moving and one of the ones available was one I had seen on the computer through the AFHN. It was actually on the top of my list. So we picked out three we liked and went to check them out. We fell in love with the first one and decided that was the best for us. We are so excited about it.

After we got everything done, lease signed, deposit paid and kids happy, we went to a friend’s house for dinner. Mark is one of Lee’s old friends and he and his wife Karen are recent empty-nesters so they loved having the kids around. We had a lot of fun playing outside with the kids and just catching up.

We decided since we found a house already that we are going to leave early to head home. We are going to take a detour through TN to sight-see a bit. I had wanted to go up to VA and see some friends but we felt bad giving people last minute notice. Plus we are too afraid of how Noah would react to seeing Ethan and then not seeing him again for a while. He asks for him constantly and I think it might make it worse. But mostly, we need some quality family time. This has been a stressful couple of days and the kids have kind of gotten the shaft during all the craziness of finding a house. They need some time where Mommy and Daddy focus solely on them.
Off to bed, we are heading out early in the morning.

Lesson(s) learned: Don’t give up even if everyone is telling you “no”. Sometimes you need to find the right person to help you

House Hunting Trip Day #3

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!!!
Today is my 33rd birthday. I can’t believe it. And oh what a frustrating day it has been!! We had an appt to look at one house at 12 noon so we went out to check it out. It was a decent house with plenty of room but it was a ways out from the base and it needed work. The lady said the family that had it before did a number to it and you could tell. It needs new carpeting for sure and so minor improvements. We are not jumping on it yet because we still have a few more to look at but it is not off our list.

We also went to a few realtors today and that was such a headache. Basically they all told us that because we are here more than 30 days before we want to occupy a home, we wouldn’t be able to find one. I don’t understand how they can’t project which houses they will have available and which ones they won’t. They each said “It is so nice to have someone actually use their house hunting leave but you are here too early”. We looked at 2 houses but they were so small. The houses here are really tiny….ugh!! By the time it was time to head back to the room, the kids fell asleep in the car so Lee and I decided to drive around some and see what we could find. It is going to be so weird to live here and not have things right there available to me.

For my birthday, the kids gave me a pair of earrings with my birth stone and Lee decided to give me money so I can buy what I want. I am going to put it toward a new cell phone since I need one bad. I wanted to go to a seafood restaurant for my dinner but the good ones were all a bit of a drive so we ended up at Red Lobster. HUGE MISTAKE!!! The food as not good and way overpriced!!! I was so annoyed by the time we left. We stopped and picked up some cupcakes so I could at least have some cake for my special day and then headed back to the room.

It has been one of those days that I just want to end so I am going to try to sleep since the kids are both passed out. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day!!!

Lesson(s) learned: Don’t go to a chain restaurant just because it is easier. You don’t always get what you pay for!!!
Just because you are doing the right thing, doesn’t mean it will be the easiest thing.

House Hunting Trip Day #2

We made it to North Carolina!!! WOOOOO HOOOOO!!! I forgot how much of a culture shock this is going to be once we move down here. Everything is sooooo spread out. We got up this morning and hit the road early. Of course we got here early and couldn’t check into our room until 3pm. So we drove around and checked things out. Then once we got settled into our room, we went to Wal-mart and got a few things for the week and went to drive past a few houses on our list.
Our room is actually pretty nice. I was a little afraid when I made the reservation because it is the Staff NCO TEQ but it is a suite which is really nice and it suits us perfectly. Noah has his own little bed to sleep on (a pull-out love seat) and we brought Jordan’s pack and play. We are right on the water here too so we went for a walk tonight and showed Noah all the things he doesn’t get to see living in Chicago. I think the most exciting part for him though was seeing the helicopters flying and doing ops. He loved it!!
Well time for bed, tomorrow is a very busy day!!!

Lesson(s) learned: Don’t prejudge some place just because of your preconceived notions.
Don’t leave too early if you only have a short way to drive or you may end up having to entertain yourself before you can check in your room.

House Hunting Trip Day #1

Well we are finally on house hunting leave. I can’t believe it. We left this morning at about 7:15. The original plan was to leave by 5 but Lee turned off the alarms. Thankfully Noah is an early riser or who knows when we would have left. We made it about 650 miles before we stopped in Princeton WV which is right on the border of WV and VA. The hotels here are so expensive and it took us a little bit to find one that was reasonably priced. Once we found a place, we went to dinner at Cracker Barrel and then came back to the hotel to take advantage of the indoor pool. It was nice to play in the water as a family and let the kids burn off some energy.

The drive overall was pretty uneventful. I packed breakfast and lunch so we ate breakfast in the car. After a bit and once the kids got a little fussy, we stopped at a rest area and let the kids run around while we ate lunch. They needed to stretch their legs and not be cooped up. That was the best decision we ever made and we will definitely do it again when we come back down for the final move.

At the end of every day, I am going to write out what lessons I have learned from this trip (if any) mainly for my memory but also for anyone else who may be planning an extended trip any time soon. Also, since I don't have internet access, I am going to draft these and have to publish them all at once when we get home.

Lesson(s) learned: Plan where we are going to stop before we even leave and make a reservation online since it is usually cheaper.
Make sure we pack our traveling meals again. It really helped!!

Helping Daddy plan the route...


Sleeping travelers

Bittersweet

Did you ever notice how for every great moment, there is always bad one right around the corner? It doesn't have to be bad bad but it could be sad bad. Well we had one of those times this weekend. It started as a wonderful weekend....

Friday night, I opted out of girls night out because Noah wasn't feeling too well and was clinging pretty bad to me. So we decided to have a Family Movie night. We popped some popcorn and watch Wizard of Oz. Noah loved it!!! I was a little worried about him maybe being afaird of the witch but he loved it all and has even asked to watch it again.

On Saturday, we went to the Meet and Greet picnic for the new Chief selects. It was a lot of fun and the kids had a blast. Last year, when we went, it was miserable hot. This year, it was so nice out, perfect picnic weather. Noah played in the bounce house, on the swings and with the other kids there. Then they went on their first pony ride. They both loved it. I was afraid Jordan wouldn't but she was squealing with delight while she was riding!!!


Noah riding the pony


Jordan riding the pony


Noah loving it!!

After the picnic, we went home for a little nap time. Then when the kids woke up, we were off to Chuck E. Cheese. Noah earned the visit by pooping on the potty. They had so much fun playing the games and watching Chuck E. on the stage. Jordan loved playing skee ball and we couldn't get Noah out of the tunnels and slide. He also wanted to play the Virtual Bowling game all the time. It was a great night and we were there for almost 3 hours!!


Noah playing bowling


Jordie playing skee ball

Sunday was our sad day. I finally had an inquiry about Jade and arranged for the gentleman to come meet her. Well he came and fell in love with her immediately. So Jade has left our family to be with her new family. It was the hardest thing I have done and it has broken my heart. I raised her, sat with her everytime she was sick, took her to the vet when she needed it and she got me through a lot of rough times when Lee was on deployments. It was best for her and for the kids, but it doesn't make it any easier. I hope she adjusts quickly to her new home, I think she will. Franc seemed like a really nice man. Our house will never be the same though.

Bittersweet....that is the one word I can use to describe this entire weekend.

Obstacles

So we have the hard copy of Lee's orders in hand. We are officially moving to North Carolina on October 9th!! I am so excited, nervous and frazzled all at once. The first obstacle we are hitting is finding a place to live. We have to get a place out in town since the wait list is 4-12 months for E7. We have written down what we are looking for and I have contacted a few Realtors so hopefully they can find us something. We are headed to NC for house hunting leave next weekend so hopefully we will find something. Which brings us to obstacle number 2....

There is not one place available for us to stay at for the entire week we are there looking for a house. For now we have a reservation on the Air Station but they are a Space-A facility so we can "renew" our room every night as long as they have the room available. It is so stressful worrying about where we will stay with the kids on a daily basis. Hopefully it will all work out.

The next obstacle really has nothing to do with moving but it is still an obstacle I trying to work out...what to do with Jade. She is not getting any better with the kids and is growling at them on a daily basis now. Yesterday, she came so close to snapping at Jordan so it is apparent that she needs to be placed with a new family that does not have young children. I contacted a Rat Terrier rescue yesterday and they were no help at all. They told me to contact the breeder (Jade is 5 and the breeder is in Alabama) or to put her through training (which I have already done). I took her to the vet to get recommendations and the vet's brilliant notion is that she is just like this and we had to live with it. Well I am not going to live with my children's safety at risk. I have put an ad for her on Craigs List but no responses. So my last resort is to take her to a no-kill shelter unless someone can help me and find another place for her. It is not fair for her to live behind the couch because she is afraid of the kids and I can't worry all the time that the kids are going to get too close and she will bite one of them. It is such a heart-breaking situation for us to be in!!

Well hopefully all the ducks will fall in a row eventually. I know that big changes always come with obstacles, let's hope we can navigate these obstacles with little injury.

Orders

Well we finally got word from the detailer that Lee's orders will be here by either Friday and very early next week. What an ordeal it has been and the waiting has been killing us. But we finally have a plan, a date and now it is time to get things going. I asked the ladies on the Great Lakes Military Wives forum for some moving tips and there is so much that I had forgetten about (and we just moved here 3 years ago). But it is so different when you have to worry about moving an entire household and not just 2 people. Our lives have changed considerably in the last 3 years and along with that comes the changes of having to move!!

But the news of our move is not meet with all happiness. Yes we are excited for a new adventure but I am terribly sad about leaving my friends here behind. I have made some awesome friends here and it is going to be very hard to say goodbye but one thing I have learned in my 13 years of being with the Navy, the ones who are meant to be your friends for life will be. I am looking forward to showering my path with new friends while keeping my old ones close to my heart.

So it looks like we will be leaving in less than 60 days....scary huh?

No pain...no gain

Well I finally started doing it. I am trying very hard to lose my last 10 pounds of baby weight. Before I got pregnant with Noah, I was about 150 lbs. I went from 225 pregnant, 164 when I found out I was pregnant with Jordan and I am now 159. All that weight change in 3 short years has wrecked havoc on my body and it is time to whip it back into shape. So I started a healthy eating lifestyle and have started a work out routine. And boy I can already tell it works,, my body hurts!!! I bought myself Wii Active since it is really hard for me to get to the gym and I love it!!! It is so awesome and it really works out your body. They have a 30-day challenge which I started on Saturday. I will do my weigh-ins on Saturdays and I am hoping to lose the 10 pounds by the end of the 30 day challenge. So far it has been easy except for at night which is my worst time of the day as far as cravings and wanting to "munch". But as long as I keep reminding myself of the outcome, I should be ok.

The biggest reason why I finally started this is because Jordan weaned herself recently. At first it made me really sad but now I am ok with it. I still get sad to know that she is my last baby and that I will never have that feeling again but it is all good. Sometimes I wish that door was not closed but then I look at how perfect our life is with Noah and Jordan and I am grateful that I even have them. Why rock the boat?

Things are slowly improving in other departments too. Sometimes the best way to get across how you feel is to be straight forward, regardless of how much of a slap in the face it may be for someone. Well I had to do that recently and it has made things improve a lot. I am not going to allow my walls to come down again just yet because it is still the "honeymoon stage" but who knows, maybe this improvement will continue on the up-hill path. I sure hope so!!

Other than that, things here are good, just trying to keep busy this summer. We are still waiting to hear from the detailers about our move. It is rather annoying to wait, wait, wait but that is the military way of life. I would just like to start making plans and have some knowledge of what is going on rather than being in limbo. But we will continue to wait...wait....wait!!!

Been a while...

So I just realized I haven't written in a while. Things here have been mellow yet crazy all at the same time. Last weekend, we just chilled around the house doing basically nothing. We went out for dinner on Saturday night and had a great time. It did make me realize one thing though. We are done having kids. It was so nice to have one of us concentrating on Noah and the other on Jordan. I can see now why people say 2 is perfect. I can't imagine the chaos that would be my life if I had more than that. Looking at our life that night, I realized that it is the best decision for us and I am happy with it finally. I will get my baby fix with all my friends who are having new babies and I am sure I will have more nieces and maybe a nephew one day, who knows. But for us, two is perfect.

Noah got sick this week. He hasn't been pooping very often and he had been backed up for 5 days so I guess the stuff in his tummy needed to come out somehow. I felt so bad for him. I have to call on Monday to make an appt for him so we can figure out why he is not pooping. Hopefully they can come up with something.

After Noah got sick, I also got sick just not in the same sense. I had a little 48 flu or something. I felt bad on Thursday,good than bad on Friday and all better today. I think my body was worn out from a sick boy and teething little girl. They have worn me down.

Yes Jordan is teething FINALLY!!! 7 teeth to be exact. Her molars are coming and her 4 side front teeth (not her I-teeth). She has been pretty cranky and not her cheerful self lately. Lee and I were just saying the other day that we wanted our sweet baby back. Hopefully these teeth will come in soon and she will feel better!!!

Well I better run. The house is destroyed since I was sick and no one else knows how to clean except me apparently. Tonight we are going to take the kids to the drive to see Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs. Should be a good time!!!

Changes....

So I have been making so changes around the house, with myself, with the kids and with how I do things around here. I had been focusing so much time on things that are not important and things that didn't need to consume my time so I decided it was time to purge the unnecessary and stick with the stuff that counts.

We have put ourselves on a budget. It is working so far. I took my credit cards away from myself and I only spend money if it is absolutely a needed item. I have a goal set for our bank account and I am hoping we can achieve it before the holidays. It honestly hasn't bothered me yet. I am enjoying finding creative things for the kids and I to do as well as knowing that if an emergency arises, we will be OK.

Another small change but very impacting has been to change the kids bedtime. Before they were going to bed around 9:30-10 and waking up at 7 am. Even when we kept them up later, they still woke up at 7. So we tried to see what would happen if they went to bed earlier and you know what, they still woke up at 7. So now, we start bedtime routine at 8pm and they are usually in bed by 8:45 at the latest. It is so nice to have them in bed that early because it has been giving Lee and I extra time to spend together. Last night we were able to watch both of our favorite shows and still head up to bed by 10:30. It was amazing!!

Speaking of TV, that is the other big change. The TV is going to become no more in our house. Well, maybe not no more but the new rule is that Noah can watch TV in the morning while I watch the news. After the news is over, his TV goes off as well as mine. At night, unless we are watching a movie as a family, they will not be watching any TV. The television has become too much of a habit in my family and not a privilege like it should be. It has been nice since we started doing this because we are spending more time together as a family and find more fun things to do.

Lastly, the biggest change has been me. I have been trying my best to not let the things that happen around me affect me unless it directly affects my family's life. The hard part about being a Navy wife is the high school drama always involved. I have crossed paths with so many women who have nothing better to do that cause drama and be hypocrites; and those are not people I want to waste my time with. So I am going to continue to keep my circle tight and if people have a problem with that, don't be the type of person I described above and we would get along great!! It is nice to know that I have the power to allow things to affect me. It has made me feel more free.

As a matter of fact, all of these changes have made me feel more free. I feel like things in our life continue to get better and better every day and I am so thankful for all that I have been blessed with but for mostly, the ability to recognize the need for change and to do it!!

What's important....

So I was going to write this blog about some things I found out that made me upset today but after a good day with my munchkins and cleaning my house, I decided against it. Not only is there no point in giving the matter a second thought but it is really something that is unimportant in my life. And you know what? I am grateful that I can say that. I am grateful that I have 2 absolutely adorable kids who, while driving me crazy and giving me gray hairs, melt my heart on a daily basis. I am grateful that I have an awesome husband who, despite our ups and downs, loves me with all his heart and loves me enough to let "me do me" (as he would say). I am grateful for my family who is the nuttiest group of people I know and I love them all. I am grateful for my friends who, near or far, are the greatest group of women I have kept in my life and I would do anything for every one of them (you know who you are). But most of all, I am grateful that I am who I am and I know what is important to me.
Can most people say that? Or do they lose sleep over the small stuff in life?

Life is precious....

Why does it always take something bad to happen to appreciate what you have in your life? Why don't we appreciate what we have right in front of us rather than always fighting for the next big thing?

On Thursday, the kids and I went to the pool to enjoy the sunny weather. When we got home, I got the kids down for a nap and settled on the couch for some quiet time. Then the phone rang and showed a phone number that I knew meant something was wrong. It was Anna's mom. Anna is one of my very best friends, my sister not by blood but by love!! I can't begin to express to you how much a part of my life Anna is. But anyways, Anna and her husband Matt have been on vacation in Naples, FL this week. Her daugher, Grace, has been staying with Rita, Anna's mom. So automatically, I thought something was wrong with Grace until Rita says "Anna is in the hospital". Anna is a diabetic and knowing how fragile her body is, my heart sank. Apparently, she woke up with intense pain so Matt took her to Urgent Care and they told her it was back pain and gave her pain killers. The day they were scheduled to come home, she started having difficulty breathing so he took her back and they immediately sent her to the hospital via ambulance. She got admitted to ICU and was a real mess. Matt said had they waited, they could have lost her. Her body was just all out of whack...her blood sugar was messed up, she had some sort of infection going on, her electrolytes were off, everything.

As of today, she is doing much better and will be moved to a regular room. I got to talk to her for like 2 seconds this morning but hearing her voice made me so happy!! I haven't been this worried about someone since my Mom was sick so it has been a rough few days for me. I came so close to losing someone who means the world to me and I hadn't been taking that too well but it is going to be better now, espeically now that I talked to her.

All I know is that once she gets back here, not only will she have her husband on her case to take extra good care of herself but she will have me on her back too!! I am going to make sure I do my part to ensre this never happens again!! This whole ordeal has made me really look at how precious life is and how, in an instant, things can go downhill fast. Chreish every moment, both good and bad. You never know when those moments will no longer happen!!!

With that said, I am off to play with my munchkins.....

Turning a corner?

I am thinking (knock on wood) that we are finally turning a corner with Noah and potty training. When we first started training him, he did awesome with going tinkle on the potty and pretty much got it down pat within a week. But poopy on the potty was a whole other story. He absolutely refused and would wait until he took his nap to go poopy regardless if he was in a pull-up, diaper or underwear. Well, while we were in NY, he told me he had to poopy on the potty and he actually did. We were so excited and everyone made a huge deal out of it!! Since then he has gone on the potty almost every day and hasn't had a single accident!! I am so excited and am continuing to make a huge deal out of it every time it happens. I am hoping and praying that we are going to be done with pull-ups completely soon. But I am definantly not counting my chickens before they are hatched. One can hope though right?
Other than that, things are pretty mellow around here. The kids and I went to the pool yesterday and are planning on going again tomorrow. I am just trying to get the kids outside as much as possible since we were cooped up so much this winter. I am so looking forward to our move and not having to worry about -50 degree weather again!! Right now it is raining so we are spending the day inside.
Well, the kids are sleeping so I think I am going to head to bed myself!! Noah is having nightmares again and he ended up in our bed again last night so it was a long night!! My bed is calling my name!!!

Weddings, trips, family.....Oh My

What a trip!! We got home on Saturday July 4th from a 10 day trip to New York for Corey's wedding. It was an amazing trip and an amazing wedding. We had so much fun and I truly enjoyed spending time with my parents and family. It was so nice to see people I haven't seen in years and to show off my gorgeous little family. Noah looked so handsome in his tuxedo and did so well in the wedding. At the reception, we danced till our feet hurt and I was beat by the end of the night. I can't beleive Corey is married, in my eyes he is still a little kid. But I adore Leanne and I wish them many, many years of happiness.
After the wedding chaos was over with, we settled into a week of visiting with family, spending time with old friends and taking the kids on adventures. We spent Monday in Buffalo spending the day with my grandmother which was such a nice visit. On Wednesday night, we went out to Plum Garden for dinner with all my siblings and no kids. It was weird being out without the kids but we had a blast. On Thursday, we took the kids to Strong Museum of Play and had so much fun. Then that night, I had "Sister's Night Out" and went to see My Sister's Keeper with all of my sisters. It was such a great movie and I balled my eyes out during the movie. On Friday, Mom and Dom took Lee, the kids and myself on a boat tour and out for lunch. It was so pretty to see Rochester from another angle. Friday night was our last night at home so Mom made some of my favorite foods...ribs, macaroni salad, etc...It was amazing!!! We got the car packed and then hung out with Mom, Dom, Corey and Leanne playing cards. Saturday morning, we got in the car to head home and the drive was not too bad. The kids did ok and that is the best thing we could ask for.
So we are home now. We made it home in time to go see the fireworks on base which the kids loved. They are truly my kids!!! We are finally having so decent weather so I went out today and bought the kids a pool. I can't wait to play with them in it when they get up from their naps!! It will be a good time.....

You get what you give.....

So today was Father's Day and I have been protesting it all day. I love my husband termendously and think he us a wonderful father but in my opinion, being on strike is well deserved.
A little back story....on Mother's Day, I was in New York for Jordan and Madison's 1st birthday party, Leanne's bridal shower and my dress fitting for the wedding. I didn't go just for the hell of it or on a whim. It was a planned trip for months and months. I asked Lee repeatedly to come with us just for Mother's Day weekend and he said he didn't want to spend the money and he assured me countless times that we would celebrate Mother's day on the Sunday after I got back. Well we got back to Chicago, that Sunday came and went, and no recognition of Mother's Day. I received 2 cards, one from him and one from the kids, when we first got home and even then he made mention about celebrating that Sunday....but nothing.
So I decided that I was going to give to him exactly what he gave to me for Mother's Day. He got a card from me and one from the kids and that is it. I have basically ignored him all day which is rather funny because the more I ignore him, the more he is up my butt, talking my ear off and trying to hang around me. It drives him crazy when I ignore him!!! LOL.
Maybe two wrongs don't make a right as my mother pointed out but it is the principal of it. Out of any holiday of the year, Mother's Day is the one holiday that should never be pushed to the way-side especially for a stay at home Mom!! I didn't complain about it or carry on, I just let it go and made the decision that "you get what you give" and that is how the day has gone!!!

Awesome Day!!!

We had such an awesome day today. I got up and took the kids to the Libertyville Days parade. We met up with Anna, Matt and Grace and had a fun time looking at all the different things in the parade. Noah loved the men in the little cars and all the candy that was thrown at the kids. After the parade ended, we headed home for lunch and naps!!! I was wiped out since we were up so late last night because of the HM Ball. Unfortuately though, I was unable to get a nap because the forces of nature were just against me!!!
So after naptime, I made a easy dinner and then we hopped in the car to head to our favorite playground, Independence Grove. Lee hadn't been there yet so we wanted to show Daddy our favorite play area. We had so much fun running around, playing on the swings, going down the slides and enjoy some good family time.
After that, we headed to Dairy Queen, or the ice cream store as Noah calls it. It was so yummy!!! Jordan loved her little vanilla cone and got it everywhere. But that is the best part of being a kid...making a mess!!!
All in all, it was an awesome day. I got to spend it with my family and some awesome friends. I got a little sunburnt and was able to breathe in some fresh air...something I have been dying for!! I couldn't ask for anything more......

Rain, rain go away!!!

UGH!!! I am so tired of the rain. We have had like 3 nice days in the last few weeks and every other day it is raining!! I want some sunshine, I want to go play at the beach or the pool, I want to get some sun!!! I just keep reminding myself....not much longer and we will be in the sunshine again!! I can't wait to have more than 3 months of "summer" again. This up north stuff is not for me anymore!! I can't wait to get to North Carolina!!!!!!!!!!

Klutz!!

Just call me Klutz!! I sprained my wrist, my left wrist no less!! How frustrating. Yesterday, I was carrying Jordan, following Noah and Jade got under my feet. Between Jade under my feet and Noah's toys on the floor plus my lack of natural gracefulness, I tripped and trying to protect Jordan from getting hurt, I hurt myself. Of course Lee was on duty yesterday so I couldn't go to the ER until today. I slept horribly last night because it hurt so bad. So we all took a nap and when we got up, I went to the hospital. Surprisingly, I was only there for a little less than 2 hours. They did some x-rays and said it is a really bad sprain. But they want the xrays re-taken in a few days because there was a questionable spot on my ulna bone close to the wrist bones. Hopefully it is nothing and just a weird angle of the xray or whatever. I am in a brace thouh for the next 3-6 weeks and the best part is that Corey's wedding is next week, thankfully my flowers are big enough they should cover the brace. UGH!!! I can't beleive I did this. We have been joking that my mom needed to wrap herself in bubble wrap before the wedding because she has had such a rough year and what happens? I get hurt!!! Karma is a bitch huh?
Other than that things around here have been pretty mellow. Jordan is teething and gave us a little scare this week with a high fever. Come to find out, she is just one of those kids who gets high fevers when they teeth!! We are not used to that though because with Noah, when he got a fever it was because something was wrong. So it freaked us out a bit.
But other than that, all is well. Hopefully this week, we will get a day or two of decent weather so we can enjoy some time outside. Let's pray for sunshine!!!

Moving past it....

People who have nothing better to do with their lives other than be nasty and catty drive me crazy. So my blog yesterday about friendships has been resolved and I am so glad for that. Obviously, I have a great friendship with her if I was able to go to her with how I was feeling and we were able to resolve this in a matter of a 30 minute phone call. And I knew at the end of the phone call we would be ok and be able to move past it. But it just makes me so angry at the person who put the questions in my head in the first place.
Thankfully this person is not my friend and never will be!! I knew something was off about her from the day I met her and I am glad I trusted my instinct!! Now it is time to move past this and enjoy my life as I have been!!! Why do I let things like this consume my time and thoughts? What a waste of my energy it was but unfortunately because of past "frindships" and past issues where I had been burned, it made me question things. I am glad I am at a point in my life that I just confront the issue head on rather than letting it go, listening to idle gossip or untruths, or letting it eat me up inside. I guess in that way I have grown up....finally!!!

Friendships

So how loyal are you in your friendships? Do you stick by your friends no matter what? Do you tell them when they messed up and you don't agree with it? Or do you tell your friend one thing (what you think they want to hear) and other people something else just to save face? I very recently found out that a friend of mine may have done this to me and I am pretty upset about it. The situation that occurred is not what I am upset about, nor am I upset that I think she threw me under the bus. I am not even upset, I am hurt....hurt by the fact that I think she told me one thing and other people something else. Now, yes I am getting my information for a third party so I am not beleiving it completely yet but it is making me question my friendship with this person. I hate when I have to question any relationship in my life. And honestly, I have gotten to the point that there is no sense questioning it, just move past it.

I just don't know why I allow myself to get into these types of situations. I have always been the doormat for people, never sticking up for myself and always giving so much to people who don't deserve it. I guess I always try to find the good in people no matter what and look past things that are staring me smack dab in my face. Lee is always telling me that I need to get a backbone and tell people how I feel but I never do. And sadly, I am the person who is always accused of being a "bitch" because I let things go and go and bottle them up inside until I finally explode and it makes things 10 times worse. Oh well, you can't teach an old dog new tricks right? Maybe one of these days.....

So Long for Now

I can't sleep, I am exhausted and I can't sleep....too much on my mind, I guess.

My baby turned 3 today. It was such a bittersweet day for me. I can't believe it has been 3 years already. My whole universe changed when he came into this world and now it is one adventure after the next. I never imagined being a mom would be like this. I knew I always wanted to be a mom but never did I imagine how it would feel to hear my son tell me (his little sweet voice)"Thank you for my awesome party Mommy, I love you". It brought tears to my eyes. Why do they have to grow up so fast? I wish I could capture time in a bottle and just savor these moments a little bit longer. A friend recently told me that I should not only make sure I take tons of picture of the kids but I should record them often since I will miss the sound of their voice when they get older. I believe she is right, I think it is time to break out the camcorder for sure!!

Another thing happened today that leaves me with a sad heart. I had to say "So Long for Now" to a very, very good friend and her son today. She is moving away, a common trend in the military but one that sucks all the same. Thankfully, when we finally move, we will only be about 4 hours away from them but it seems like that is a lifetime away. So now, within weeks of each other, I have had to say goodbye to 2 very dear friends. The hardest part for me is that they were both "unexpected" friends who have come to mean more to me than I could have hoped for. Ally and I met through Myspace of all places. She found me by doing a search when she was about to move here and after "chatting" we found that we had little boys who were 5 weeks apart. Noah and Ethan became fast friends and in Ally, I found friend I knew I would cherish forever. She is like a little sister to me and I am so grateful that it is "So Long for now" instead of "Good-bye". Pam is a whole other story. Pam joined the Great Lakes Navy wives board I am a part of and she was this life-force who just drew you to her. She was always there, being everyone's kids "pal" and being the one that anyone could turn to. But it wasn't until she became a moderator on the board that she and I truly started hanging out. I think what did it for us was Noah yelling at her to go home when she came over to my house one night. She was determined to win him over from that point forward and in turn she won me over too. As our friendship blossomed, we learned how much we truly had in common (even down to how much our husband were alike) and I learned that I can turn to her with anything. Thankfully, when she left a few weeks ago, it was not an extremely tearful departure because we will be seeing each other very soon. Her husband got stationed in Camp Lejeune, same place we are heading to!!!

Unfortunately, my kids adore both of these women as they have been very important parts of their lives for so long. But as my children grow, they will learn that you never say goodbye to someone, just as I never say goodbye to the people I meet, form friendships with, or just cross paths with. You never know who might end up as your next door neighbor at the next base you go to. So as a Navy family, that is one thing we will learn to do well....say "So Long for Now".

Beginnings....

So I decided I would start blogging. I have so much on my mind and sometimes it is good to get it out somewhere. I do a website for the kids but why not one for just me, myself and I. Sometimes I forget that I am actually a person in this crazy thing I call my life. I hope who ever reads this enjoys my journey which is never a smooth one but like my title, is never a broken one.
I am who I am, it took me a long time to figure out just who that was but it is nice to say that I am in good place in my life and I am actually happy. I stick to my values and beliefs, I don't put on "airs" for anyone and my philosophy is if you have taken the time to get to know me and you still don't like me, then it wasn't in God's plan for us to be friends. I learn something from everyone who crosses my path and being a Sailor for 10 years and a Navy wife for 5, I have had quite a few people cross my path.
But like I said before, I hope you enjoy my journey...it may be boring at times, it may be exciting but to me, it is life!!