Thankfulness 2013: Day Thirteen and Fourteen

Alyssa is getting pretty sneaky.  She can make two phone calls without my phone being unlocked.  She has learned to navigate to the ICE list on the emergency dialer in the lock screen. So while I contemplate how to teach her to utilize things like that in an emergency for real, I am thankful that we have the technology we do.  Beyond the complications that it can create for child proofing and safety, it is such an amazing set of resources.  We can look up thousands of questions that our toddlers demand answers to.  We can have endless entertainment options available at our fingertips.  The most amazing thing to me though is along with the transfer of knowledge, we can transfer virtual lives.  Our family and friends who may otherwise not get more than the Christmas card in a year, can keep up with our family including photos, daily rants, chats, and whatever else they may want to know depending on the tech form used.  Phones provide a few ways to talk to people quickly.  The Internet allows for video calls or photo swapping, and of course blogs share our stories easily.  Such a wonderful tool!

Related to tech in the general sense, my e-reader!  I absolutely LOVE my e-reader!  I am so thankful for e-readers (physical and app forms)!  Reading relaxes me and gives me a mental break from daily stresses like trying to leave the house with a toddler and an an infant.  I would be so much closer to full blown crazy if it weren't for my e-readers.

Thankfulness 2013: Day Eleven and Twelve

Though the military irritates me more often than it doesn't, I am still very thankful for the opportunities and family it has provided us.  The military background helped my husband find his great civilian job.  I don't love the way it is run but I absolutely love the men and women in service.

On those days where the incessant whining, cries, demands, and questions all pile upon my near-to-bleeding ears, I remember my great appreciation for today's luxuries.  I won't lie, I am very thankful for 24/7 kid television programming!!  Disney Junior, Sprout, The Hub, etc.  There isn't a minute that I can't find something appropriate for my toddler to gain five minutes of distraction if needed.  Pair that with DVD's, educational tablet apps, crayons, chalk, books, toys, puzzles, and food, one would think that this would all add up to a full and busy day without draining a parent.  It is never the case, but it certainly maintains parental sanity until bedtime...most nights anyways!

Honestly, any distraction of little to no risk to the health of my kids is appreciated.  I'm always looking for suggestions too!  *hint hint*

Thankfulness 2013: Day Eight

Moms are amazing people.  Honestly, parents are as selfless as a human can be when it comes to their kids.

I am so thankful for having the parents that I do.  I called my mother to whine (yes, it was pathetic) and two days later I get an encouraging note in the mail from her.  The amount of help just listening on the phone to me is worth so much, but the effort that she goes to be there for us kids makes her truly an amazing woman, mother, and friend.  I hope I am at least half of what she is for us to my own kids.

**On a total side note....the US Postal Service is really odd but insanely efficient.  It sends a letter from my mother north an extra hour and then turns around to ship it south 4hrs to get to me and still takes only two days to get it from her mailbox to mine.

Thankfulness 2013: Day Five

My husband is a very understanding man.  We have failed at menu planning this week.  Pulling frozen meat to thaw, not adding all necessary items to the grocery list, etc. all adding to the warped and constantly changing nightly menu.  I am so thankful for my husband's sense of humor when stupidity hits our household.  Now if y'all will excuse me, I have a hotdish missing a crucial ingredient that I must finish putting together in order to throw it in the fridge ready to bake tomorrow instead and a new meal to figure out...

...and then there were three.

It's that time of year again for this guard family.  Annual Training!  I am going two and a half weeks with a teething baby and a toddler milking the last half of age three for all it is worth in tantrums and stubbornness!  No backup.  My "battle buddy" is off keeping his skills honed for any future deployments.  So....

Day One:  Last coin lost at 5pm. I "ruined her birthday!" I was pretty sure I had a few months to plan that event but apparently I simply forgot what day of the year she was born AND forgot to plan a party.  Crap.  I look forward to the teen years when the storming to the room is accompanied by at least a half hour of sulking.  For now I get a 2 minute shouting from the door and then returning to sulking in my presence paired with the random fit over the same thing.

Bathroom Overhaul 2013

Our house has been hectic lately!  We had that week away followed immediately by a bathroom overhaul.  This is the first major project for the house and it was the top of our list.  I mean, you can only live with a tub/shower that has a register (AC/Heat) in it--think toddler bath time.

Yes, that is a window that you can see through easily there also.

Demo started on Monday afternoon (having returned home Saturday night).  My husband worked his job and then came home to do this big project with the help of his younger brother (13).  My job was to keep the kids out of the way.  Easier said than done with a curious three year old and loud noises!

The floor broke up a lot easier than they thought it would be...considering that one of the previous owners built up the floor with over an inch and half of concrete before tiling....over an old floor which was on top of the subfloor.  Oh, and it had the metal rolls through the whole thing!  It was also used as a corner form with the sheetrock/tile on the walls.


After that mess got cleaned up we had a blank slate.  Okay, so there really wasn't any way to reconfigure it when the door stays in place as does the plumbing.  But at least we could do everything else new!

Slowly the bathroom is getting put back together.  A week later we had the new tub and surround in, the electrical and plumbing completed, the register relocated, the laundry chute moved a bit further from the tub, and the window replaced.  I can hardly wait to have a complete bathroom across the hall from me again rather than in the basement (in an unfinished half without walls or door to separate it from the laundry!  We have the toilet installed, the sink is in (but not hooked up), and the shower will be the next step (right after the window trimming!).  I'll get some pictures of a finished bathroom up in the midst of my overwhelming excitement I'm certain.

Just a taste of what is going on still.

When Showers Are In Danger...

Kids should come with the Jaws music...

Survival mode sets in quickly for new parents.  Food and bathroom breaks are really all you need most days....who knew?!  I mean all we need on hand are the jars of peanut butter, loaves of bread and the toaster if you have a spare extra minute or two for toasting (go cold sandwich version for lunch and supper if you still are doing three meals a day).

You can get away with looking like a hobo if your toddler looks half way put together and they catch a quick glimpse of a happy tiny infant trying to catch any spare scrap of attention away from his more vocal sibling.  Your biggest problem is if you have someone come to the door during nap time.  Your hobo look is much more awkward when you don't appear to have multiple kids distracting you from your own hygiene.  Speaking of people coming to the door...how do they always *know* when nap time is?!?!?

Okay, so the occasional shower, cat nap, or even getting out of pajamas sound nice but really, who needs that minty flavor of brushed teeth?

So to those of you still in survival mode, I promise, you will get past it.  I can't promise when, but I can promise you get there.  I'm grateful to be approaching the end of this perpetual state of 'ugh' but I have a fear that nighttime showers will continue as the norm for the remainder of my kids-at-home life.  *sigh*

Three Years Old and Always a Handful...

Our daughter has been working very hard to drive both Papa and Momma into the loony bin lately.  Mostly she is just being Three(!) but the big issue happens to be her behavior with the animals.  Nala, the poor little 9lbs dog that we have, is tormented nearly every waking moment that Alyssa can possibly spare in between bites of lunch and asking 209809845 versions of "why" a day.  The cats barely leave the unfinished portion of the basement that is gated off (Sanctuary! Sanctuary!) when she is awake.  Overall, Alyssa seems to have lost all of her listening skills when she is dealing with growling or hissing animals.  Rather, she simply laughs, or shriek-giggles, in their faces and nearly gets bit.

Truly, she will learn one of these days that the nicer she is, the sooner the pets will actually come to her instead of running away.

So enter a new and fun issue...MESSES!

Monday--open a weight attached to a balloon, which happened to be sand, on the living room carpet.
Tuesday--Dawn poured out all over kitchen and dining room floors.

--soap in eye while washing it off hands....*sigh, Momma needs to make sure to put toddler's hair in ponytail before letting her wash her hands while cleaning up messes*
--Removes own dirty diaper and THEN yells for me....Thanks kid.

What will Wednesday bring me??  Hopefully a nap!  I mean, I vacuumed on Monday and mopped on Tuesday...I should be good for the week, right? HA!

A Typical Day....

Things are starting to settle into a predictable pattern finally.

Wyatt wakes up 2-3 times each night for bottles--what I consider 'night' for the kids though is Alyssa's bedtime until her 'green light' to get up rather than times I'm asleep though.

Alyssa gets up and rouses a tired Momma by yelling "Green Light, Momma!!  It's GREEN LIGHT!"  We get breakfast going and it must be eaten before going downstairs to play with the kitties who are still being acclimated to the new house and therefore are restricted to the downstairs temporarily.

Nala (the dog) gets tormented dozens-tens of dozens of times daily by a toddler who enjoys bullying the poor little dog.  I'm waiting not-so-patiently for her to nip Alyssa's hand/arm to make her realize that pulling tails or grabbing fur on the back/sides is NOT a good idea.  (Yes, I have tried all sorts of methods to get her to stop these actions and I am at a loss other than she is in need of the hard way of learning apparently for this one...*sigh*)  Thankfully our poor, tormented dog is a little 1/2 chihuahua mix and has endured so much abuse from this girl without actually biting (lots of growling though) that I'm fairly confident that if she does get nipped it'll be a warning shot much like the two dog bites I've received from my large dog when I was growing up.  Oh, did I forget to mention that she inherited her love of egging animals on from my toddler self?  Yeah....sadly I had the hard lesson as well but it was a quick learn!

Papa gets up early and goes to work and is home in the late afternoon most days.  This relieves a lot of my stress because this begins the downhill spiral towards bedtime that many parents of toddlers are well aware of.

Supper is hit or miss on how well the toddler behaves.

After supper is a crazy blur of anything from snuggles with a movie, downstairs playtime (tea anyone?), or meltdown modes over animal torture punishments.  Any combination of those can be found around here on any given day of course.  Thank goodness I've got at least a few months before I have to start scolding Wyatt for chasing the poor dog!

Any recommendations on a good toddler/doggy relationship therapist?

P.S. I'm Not Awake.

Just some cuteness to start us out.

Throughout winter I watch people post pictures of their flip flops or images of the lakes because we all get to that point of missing summer.  Some people have pictures of their feet propped up in front of them with whatever summer view is their favorite as the backdrop.  As much as I love the views that show up via these pictures, I think feet are gross.  It doesn't matter how many pedicures you've had, what soap you used twenty times and how many coats of nail polish you just applied to get that picture to look 'cute'.  Feet are gross.

My point is proved once again by the MASSIVE swelling that I have going on AFTER the delivery of my child.  I know I had some minor swelling at the end of my pregnancy but this is like ham sized ballooning.  I'll of course spare y'all the picture because, well, it'd be weird and gross to make y'all see a picture of feet when I just declared how much I dislike pictures of feet.

I've hit the peak of swelling (for both pregnancy experiences) at 2-3 days post partum.  Hopefully it will go down soon and I can stop seeing crazy markings in my skin from socks.

What was your 'favorite' surprise during any of your post partum experiences?  (Or of your significant other's  experiences?)

P.S.~ I of course am lacking sleep along with the ability to sleep.  I've tried to take advantage of the nursery and even when Wyatt goes there I'm up every hour.  *sigh*

Confession Time....

I'm fessing up.  I admit it....I am totally nerve-wrackingly, panicked over the c-section--well, part of it anyways.

I hate (HATE) needles!  It has been sheer torture just getting my finger pricked once a month for this pregnancy...weird (but reasonable) policy at this new OB office I'm with now.

So, I did rather well at getting my epidural with Alyssa.  It may have been the fact that I was in enough pain that I could hardly breathe though.  How in this freaking world am I going to be able to curl into a ball to get a spinal without the pain motivating me??!  There will be NO distraction from this one this time!  I almost am hoping to go into labor on the drive to the hospital just for the contractions to distract me from a spinal....I am such a wuss, people!

I'm not really scared of the surgery itself.  I expect my doctor and hospital staff to take good care of me before, during, and after that, so really it comes down to mundane things like having a needle inserted into my back without a sufficient pain motivator.  Or things like recovering at home with a toddler running wild.  The only thing keeping me from being scared of the drive home (seatbelt and incision site are essentially the same spot I've noticed) is the fact that I'll be all drugged up still!

So yeah, there y'all have it.  Nerves.  I'll be fine and it'll all go well.  So long as I can handle that Spinal process....Now I'm off to pretend I'm not freaking out so I can have some of my birthday cake today!  *hums birthday song*

Baby #2...We Aren't Ready!!

Here we go!  We are in the last couple days before the new guy finally gets here and my physical body is the only thing actually ready for it.

The house is still in general chaos (what can I really expect having moved in roughly a week before Baby Boy joins us?).  The crib isn't even assembled!!  We don't have a crib mattress yet!  Most of the baby stuff is in storage four hours away.  The clothes that I have for him--admittedly sparse still--are still in the apartment along with the car seat (thankfully that isn't four hours away!).  We just bought the first bottles for him Wednesday night (less than a week before he gets here remember and one of the first things you need for a bottle feeding baby!)...Can we say UNPREPARED, people??

While I am mostly concerning myself with the baby prep and the related house things that will make my life easier coming home from a c-section which I'm sure I'm working up into a much more horrific recovery than I need to-hopefully...My husband is dealing with the rest of our lives.  He is basically a rock and even rocks can show cracks now and then.  Between work (he is the first and only IT guy at his company and they are hitting major renovations pretty much RIGHT NOW), school (he is going for his BA, or maybe it'd be a BS in computer stuffs..yeah, I suck at technology), moving a family, and welcoming a baby and a recovering wuss of a wife home...well, let's just say that he deserves some kind of reward!  Like something massive IMO...I figure I'm not "pushing" this time so maybe he needs the "Push Present" that I heard tales of last time.

So just to clarify...I am literally days (DAYS) away from delivery.  We are still in moving process.  My hubby is AMAZING.  Oh, and he has drill just under an hour out of town this weekend...don't we have such wonderful timing?  At least we made it past Christmas...wish us luck!  Please?

The Blogging Adventure....probably taking a backseat.

I've been at a loss on how to keep up with my blogging over the next month or so...It might get pretty sporadic around here but I'm determined to not let it get dropped altogether.  I'll try to keep up with updates of our holiday, birthdays, moving, and a birth (of course with an introduction to the new man as well).  Bear with me through the crazy hectic life that is our December/January...

We are still in the process of planning exactly how our holiday will go this week plus the toddler birthday next weekend paired with house closing and painting and moving beginning next weekend as well!  I think Christmas is going to be the easiest part of this season since we aren't able to travel to family for it.

As exciting as all of these changes are, I can assure you that we are just short of overwhelmed when we look at a calendar.  It is going to be a little bumpy packing it all into less than a month but at least we will be super motivated by deadlines...HA

So if you could spare a little extra patience with my gaps in posts, I promise I'll try my best not to leave y'all hanging for full weeks at a time!

Prayers to CT

Prayers to all the families and children affected by today's horrific tragedy.  There aren't enough words to express the shockwave that has hit parents across the nation at this news.

Go hold your kids and tell them how precious they are in your life.  I know most of us will be doing exactly that and thanking whatever god we have that we can.

30 Days of Thankfulness: Day Twenty-eight

Some days you just have to be happy even if you feel like crap.  Quotes from a toddler never seem to fail to cheer me up.  So I am thankful for comic relief that my toddler provides!  A simple reason for all future generations (starting with anyone age 7 and down right now I'd say) to hate Social Medias like Facebook where I've got quite the cataloging of things Alyssa says:

Alyssa with her drum: "Where my stick?"

Momma: "You put it in your diaper and we had to throw it away a long time ago."

Alyssa: ".....new stick?"

Lesson: Momma doesn't replace gross drum sticks.

---------------------

Alyssa: Momma! Me need my blue nuk.

Momma: No. .....why?

Alyssa: Blue matchey my cup.

---------------------

*thud*

Alyssa in her bed: The wall hit me!

Momma from livingroom: Well don't hit the wall....

*All dialogues displayed above were within an hour of each other on Tuesday morning.

30 Days of Thankfulness: Day Twelve

I am thankful for my online connections to my friends.

Being in a new city without a job outside the house leads to a more isolated Momma than normal.  I am more introverted than extroverted though I have taught myself to be more balanced between the two over the years.  [Note:  by introverted, I mean more that it takes me a while to warm up and open up--once I do you can't shut me up without walking away.]  Luckily through those same online connections I actually met another mom back in the months that we were both pregnant with our daughters.  She just so happens to live in this city we moved to.  Seriously small world, right?  Our daughters now get to play and we get to have some adult time while watching them interact at the parks or other get-together's.

Alyssa (in purple) and her local friend

30 Days of Thankfulness: Day Ten

I am thankful for used and abused toys who have been loved too much.  The toys that witness every stage of development that our children go through and comfort them through every bump, bruise, change and every night of good and bad dreams.  The love for a toy that can protect a child from the dark or from being overwhelmed by sad feelings.  The toys like this one:

Elephant Lovey

Great for Travel

Perfect Baby Size

Or this one:

Horsey is a very big lovey.

He is a toddler favorite.

Poor Horsey has had many paw surgeries but gets snuggled every night (and most of every day).

"THOSE" Days...

There are so many good days in parenting.  Honestly, they far outnumber the ones where you contemplate tube tying as a brilliant solution to avoiding too many more horrifyingly difficult toddler days.  It is wonderful being a Momma.  I swear I wouldn't trade it away ever...even on those tube tying thought days.

I never was warned that those good days and those difficult days would be one in the same though, and never did I think it could happen in such record times as to give you whiplash!  A good night's sleep leading to a playful toddler...a lunch and then a fought nap leaving behind an overly tired child not wanting anything to do with any requests made of them.

Or how about those days when you go into the bedroom and see a Waterbaby open and drained all over the bed and pillow in the middle of naptime??  Yeah, those days sure aren't fun ones either.

Hormones wash over me at less than a moment's notice right now being 28 weeks pregnant and crying in frustration is sometimes inevitable.  Those moments that I can't hide quickly bring a remorseful and cuddly two year old who wants nothing more than to make Momma feel better.  Of course that doesn't last the whole rest of the day because there are still missed naps and independence to deal with the rest of the day but those moments of cuddles are what get me through...at least until Papa gets home to take over for a few minutes!  ;)

Climb or Fall out of Bed

So there are days that you just don't want to leave your bed.  You think that the world could keep spinning if you slept through just one 24 hour period.  Well, you'd be right...but then there are those things that wouldn't get done if you didn't drag your butt from under your covers and brave the world that you have no interest in facing.  I mean, there are the pets to feed, meals to cook, diapers to change, hugs to give and books and toys to use-abuse-and clean up after.  There are owies to kiss, noses to wipe, hair to brush and baths to prepare.  We can't forget of course the myriad of basic housekeeping chores such as dishes, floors, laundry, tables, beds, etc.  While some of those things can easily be put on the back burner (and I encourage this be done when you need to), it can't be that way every day.  It's a good thing that my daughter gets me to drag my butt out of bed every single day.  She makes me smile even mere seconds after she has me ripping at my hair in not-as-silent-as-I-wish frustration.  She brings me a book to read to her and then runs off for another one only 3 pages in.  She takes every.single.toy out to play with before going back to the first couple options for the remainder of the messy day.  Then she throws a fit that resembles a 'you stole my favorite snack and I'll never have another one!' epicness whenever a commercial interrupts a beloved cartoon (Max and Ruby, Kai Lan, Bubble Guppies, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse).  She offers me a seat on the couch to watch a movie with her and even cleans her toys away to make room.  She snuggles in and throws herself across my lap fondly smiling and declaring 'Momma!' because I might have forgotten who I am in the last couple minutes.

She is a great reason to leave the warm covers of my bed behind on cold winter days when you just don't want to face the dishes (clean or dirty!) or the mountain of laundry needing to be washed, dried and *grrr* folded....  She is a great reason to smile through the day even if you are screaming in your head that you can't give one more lecture on not pulling the cats' hair off their stomachs or that a commercial just means that the show will come back in 2 minutes!  (Remind me often of that last one please...every 10 minutes or so...)

Just because we have those days, and most everyone does, doesn't mean we can't enjoy the day outside of our bed.  I might have to work a little harder to do so, but Morning Hugs and a beautiful 'you're my hero' smile make it a lot easier.

So those days you just don't want to face the world, climb out of bed--or fall if you need to.  Paste a fake smile on and find that reason to exchange the fake smile for a real one.  You don't need a great day, just don't let it be horrible either.  And when you get to that breaking point (I have, I admit) where even falling out of bed doesn't do it, pick a day, get some help with your responsibilities and stay in bed.  Take that day off that you need.  Close your eyes when you pass the sink full of dishes or the basket of laundry.  Good luck to us all on those days that start so tough.  I hope you have a great reason to get out of bed.

Looking Forward

So, in a military family, there are things that we just can't share with others.  For safety of not only our soldier but for other families' loved ones.  So dates, places, movements, etc. are just not allowed to be shared.  It's called OPSEC (operation security).  This doesn't mean that we don't follow the rumors at near rabid pace and gobble up the if's, and's, or's, and but's....

Army rumors are truly very unreliable and you learn rather quickly that you don't make plans based on them.  Don't get your hopes up too high or the fall is just that much further.  Don't start planning that Welcome Home party for the week after you 'heard' because it likely will change.

Change is inevitable and we learn to (frustratingly) roll with it.  However, not all the change in plans are bad!  Sometimes, SOMEtimes we get our soldiers back ahead of schedule.  SOMEtimes we get a deployment postponed.  SOMEtimes a training is cancelled and they stay home.  SOMEtimes we get one more night or two or twenty.  Those changes are not a change I will ever complain about because those are precious changes.  They make the changes that we brace ourselves for just a tiny bit easier to handle.

Since dating my hubby through the record holding NG deployment of 22 months (that was a few changes in the wrong direction if you didn't guess), we have had trainings that changed, drills that changed, deployments change, and dates we never count on as hard-and-fast.  So when I get rumors headed my way about changes that I'd like, well....I've learned to brace for the worst and prepare for the best.  That said, 3 different rough-rumor dates have reached me via various rumor wheels and none of them are my hard-and-fast idea.  I have one hard-and-fast and that is based on official orders (and those can change in a matter of minutes too).  Hmmmm, maybe I should just throw out the 'hard-and-fast' phrase for the foreseeable future...

I look forward to throwing a Welcome Home party.  I look forward to so many different things for our family.  The thing that I look forward to the most though is that first embrace.  Having that first hug off the plane/bus/whatever for our daughter and me is what I yearn for and I suspect will always be my favorite thing of a homecoming.  Every day is bringing us closer to that moment and I get giddy each time I think about it.  Time has flown by this deployment (though only when looking back on it).  I'm grateful for that, but I'm ready to have my husband home!  So let's go!  Let's throw a big Welcome Home party and have all our troops home and safe soon for those first hugs...