7 week Survey

How far along? 7 weeks and 2 days (8/19)
Total weight gain/loss:  I honestly don't know, since I still haven't been weighed yet. Next Wednesday will be my first weigh in.


Maternity clothes? Yup, its a must

Stretch marks? Not yet thank heavens


Sleep: No way, I toss and turn sooo freakin' much its not even funny. My back is constantly hurting, so sleep is next to impossible


Best moment this week: Monday we got to see the baby's heartbeat and it was such a relief with all the problems we've been having


Movement: Too early

Food cravings: Fresh fruit, burritos, Subway sandwich, smores, apples with caramel, the list could go on forever


Gender: Not until November

Labor Signs: Heck no


Belly Button in or out? Its still an innie


Wedding rings on or off?I think they'll need to come off soon, since my fingers and ankles are already beginning to swell


What I miss: Not feeling like everything is coming back up and being exhausted all the time

What I am looking forward to: Just reaching 12 weeks and knowing we're in a fairly safe time in pregnancy


Weekly Wisdom:Eat what you can, when you can and don't be afraid to call the Dr if you can't keep anything down

Milestones: I hit 7 weeks and baby's heart is still beating!

MilSpouse Friday Fill-In #10

1. What secret indulgence do you act on while your spouse is away? (from Devil Dog Darling)
I enjoy doing what I want when I want. Stay in  my PJs all day, play video games, watch loads of tv & movies! Of course now we have kids that might all be different.
2. If you were a spice, what would you be? (from New Girl On Post)
Nutmeg, because it smells good and you can't make sugar cookies without it!
3. Where do you go for support when your significant other is deployed? (from Texas Meets Washington)
I kept it all to myself mostly. I don't really have a support system that understands. I hope this next time will be different.
4. What is the oldest thing you own? (from A Troop’s Girl)
I own a whole bunch of really old glass bottles. 1890s
5. How did you vision your future pre-military? (from Daddy’s Duty)
I so wasn't planning on any of this. I was going to have complete college and was going to be a published author, all before I had kids. (Ha, right!) I wasn't going to marry a soldier, I grew up with a lot of prejudices against Military Life. I didn't want to get married until I was twenty-five (I'm 25 now and expecting baby #3). It just really wasn't this! But I love my life the way it is.

Pregnancy Survey 8 Weeks

 8 Weeks 1 Day

How far along? 8 weeks 1 day

Total weight gain/loss: 5lbs, I'm not sure if thats good or bad

Maternity clothes? There is no getting around it!

Stretch marks? Nope

Sleep: I wish I could sleep and that scares me about what will happen the bigger I get. Will I never sleep?


Best moment this week: Today, seeing a heart beat and knowing that the Dr thinks things look great!


Movement: Too early
Food cravings: Bean & Cheese burritos, craisins, glazed donuts made by Lehi Bakery (yum!), snickerdoodles, strawberries


Gender: Not until November

Labor Signs:Thankfully no


Belly Button in or out? Innie

Wedding rings on or off?I think they'll need to come off soon, since my fingers and ankles are already beginning to swell

What I miss: Not being so tired and the nausea, oh the nausea

What I am looking forward to: Finding out what we're having!

Weekly Wisdom: Eat healthy!

Milestones: I hit 8 weeks and baby's heart is still beating!

First Appt

The verdict is in at least for the moment. I am officially 8 weeks today and my due date is not changing. It is still April 6th (kind of a relief since my last one the due date changed four times). I've gained weight, which is good it means something is making it into me. Since I haven't spotted in a week, the Dr said I only have to be on bedrest for another week before I can start slowly getting more active unless I start spotting again. He says then we'll be back at square one. So I guess we'll see what happens. Can I just say how much I love my Dr! He makes me feel so comfortable and when I went in to update info a week ago, the nurse said he'd left a note on my file saying "Look whose expecting again! Yay!" He's awesome, he even looked to see if we were having twins cause we've been hoping (right now all he can see is one, but that doesn't mean #2 isn't hiding!).

Here are some photos of our little 'Punkin.'

This is our 'Punkin' at 6 weeks 5 days and its a pretty good picture of our tiny baby!

This one is 8 weeks (today) and its harder to see, but on the left edge of the dark circle is a faint little peanut shaped baby.

This one should be easier, 8 weeks and he's measuring 'Punkin' from head to bum. Yeah, we say the heartbeat and it was a fab 165 beats! Things look good!

Wordless Wednesday

Bedrest

So, I have been a slacker this last week and I do apologize. This pregnancy is running me through the wringer and I have no energy, I sleep a good chunk of the day away. Plus you add in the all day sickness and that just makes life miserable. I have been so grateful the last two days, because some of the amazing women in my Church have been helping me out. They take my kids during the day until my husband wakes up and than I've had someone here to help me out with my kids until bedtime after Hubby leaves. Its allowed me to rest and its sooo nice. I've noticed that when I've been up alot and have over done it, thats when I notice I spot and I cramp. I see bedrest as a permanent thing through out this pregnancy.

My week has been pretty boring. We did have my Hubby's Unit's Family Day this last weekend, but it wasn't the highpoint it normally is. I think its due to the FRG Presidency changeover and so, it wasn't very organized and felt too chaotic. Oh well, it was free food, lots of water things and they had some fun games for the kids to play after you purchased tickets. I know my son and daughter had fun, thats what really matters. Then we stayed the night at my In-Laws, which was ok. I was really hoping for more help with my kids on Sunday so I could rest, but it didn't happen and I guess its ok, not much to be done about it now. I just hope we'll get more help from both families as the pregnancy goes along.

Now, the big thing for me is if they decide to officially put me on bedrest tomorrow at my appt then it will be finding things to occupy my time. I don't know what I'm going to do with myself. I know my Ward (Church) is more than happy to help with my kids, my house and meals, but I'd love someone to come over and do something with me ;). Is that weird? Any suggestions of things to do during my bedrest days?

I'll keep you all informed on how my appt goes tomorrow and I'll hopefully even get to post up a picture of the baby. ;) Until tomorrow!

6 Weeks

How far along? 6 weeks to the day
Total weight gain/loss:  I honestly don't know, since I haven't been weighed yet
Maternity clothes? bottoms at least and I'm in need of tops. It won't be too long before nothing regular fits

Stretch marks? No new ones, as of yet just all the ones from my other two pregnancies

Sleep: What's sleep? I've forgotten what that is. I toss and turn all night. My lower back is killing me and of course I have to pee non-stop
Best moment this week: Being told that everything looks fine, but that they want to keep an eye on me. Oh, plus we told our folks on Saturday and now there are four very excited grandparents

Movement: Not yet, I wish
Food cravings: Ice cream, smoothies, beef jerky (teriyaki)

Gender: Not until November
Labor Signs: Nope

Belly Button in or out? innie, for now

Wedding rings on or off? on!

What I miss:  not being sick
What I am looking forward to: Feeling the baby move and finding out what we're having

Weekly Wisdom: Take your vitamins!
Milestones: I hit 6 weeks and we're still doing OK

Pregnancy Survey-5 weeks

 *My attempt at a shot of my belly.*

8/5/2010

How far along: 5 weeks (exactly)

Total weight gain: I think about 7lbs, I haven't weighed myself since just after I got pregnant so I could be wrong

Maternity clothes: Yup, at least as far as pants go.

Stretch marks: Too soon for new ones

Sleep:I toss and turn all night, I already can't get comfortable. Yuck!

Best moment this week: Just knowing that I'm finally pregnant!

Movement: Not yet

Food cravings: Dill pickle pringles, teriyaki beef jerky and frosted flakes

Showing: Actually I am. I have a cute little prego tummy and somebody actually noticed. We haven't told anyone yet.

Temperament:Very moody, elated one moment and in tears the next. Plus stressed since I've been spotting on & off, its always worrisome since I've had 3 miscarriages

Announcing...

Babies. Babies. And more babies. I have baby on the brain. I love babies and who doesn’t? (OK so I have heard and seen a few things that indicated that yes there are people out in the world who don’t like babies, weird huh?) And it seems as if everyone is expecting, OK so an exaggeration, but I still know a lot of women who are expecting. I have become obsessed with reading all the posts where my dear Blogger friends talk about their pregnancies and all the fun things they want or have bought for their Little Ones. I can sum up my obsession in two words: Baby Hungry! (I heard that, no, I don’t want to eat babies!)

Yes, I am Baby Hungry and in the worst way. My Hubby and I found that when little Aislynn was about five months old, that we felt a very strong urge to start trying for our next little one. Now that kind of blew us away, because we’d gotten pregnant with Aislynn when Aidan was five months old and boy were we surprised. It was very difficult adjusting to a second baby when my first was little more than one himself. However, I did eventually manage to figure things out, but it was no walk through the park. So, when we felt that need to have a baby (and I do feel that it was a message from a Higher Power) we were both surprised. We had talked about trying once Aislynn had turned one and than it wouldn’t be so hard to manage the new baby. But here we were being told that it was time to work on the latest addition to our little family.

I do have to say that as the months went by quite quickly, I was starting to become frustrated as each month I’d start my period again. And that feeling we’d gotten, suddenly felt urgent like we were running out of time. This could have been for any number of reasons, but I do suffer from endometriosis and its been about three years since I had a surgical procedure to temporarily get rid of the extra endometrial lining. I was worried that it was growing back to the point to cause infertility (it’s a horrible thing to worry about, since it should never have to be a worry!) Slowly two months had gone by, then five and then 8 months had gone by with no success.

I was trying all kinds of ways to not stress about it. Thinking that it will happen when its meant to and that Heavenly Father knows what He’s doing. For all that I tried, it was no use I still stressed about not getting pregnant. That’s why when I took a random pregnancy test two days prior to when I should be starting my period, I was very confused when after having taken the test and seeing no line, that I found ten mins after taking the test there was a faint line. That struck me as odd, seeing as I hadn’t seen any lines prior to that, but the test did say to wait ten minutes. I decided that the next day I needed to take another one and verify. When I took the test the next morning, I found this:


We’re pregnant! it’s a faint line, but its still a line. I called Christopher up in tears telling him that I think we’re pregnant. He, however, being the sensible one said that he wanted me to take another test and double check. In the end, I ended up getting a blood pregnancy test done at the hospital during their Girl’s Night Out, since they were only charging $7 and not billing insurance. I got the results back two hours later and I am definitely pregnant!

Now, we put off telling anyone till now, because a day or so after we had the confirmed results I started spotting and I was terrified that it meant I was going to miscarry. I have had three miscarriages, all of which were before my son was born and I was scared it was happening again. The spotting only lasted a couple hours, but then it started the up the next day. After three days of touch and go spotting I finally called the Dr office and they got me in that night for an ultrasound & blood work. The ultrasound showed one sac, but since I was only 5 weeks 2 days according to the measurements they couldn’t see the baby itself. But there was no sign of an ectopic pregnancy (to my relief.)

I had a Dr appt for that Monday, all it consisted of was updating my info and letting me know that my blood work showed everything was OK. They decided that they wanted to keep an eye on my hormone levels to make sure they are where they need to be. I haven’t gotten those results back as of this moment, but my first appt is at 12 weeks on Sept 23rd. My due date is April 6th, 2011 and I couldn’t be more excited. For now I’m on restricted duty and could be looking at going on bed rest since I was spotting again this morning. I guess we’ll see. I’m so very excited to finally be able to share our good news with you all.

MilSpouse Friday Fill-In #9

Here you are my Friday Fill-In, sorry it isn't much but I'm still pretty sick!

1. If you could be a fugitive from the law for whatever reason, what would your crime be? (from It’s a Hooah Life)   
So nothing creative, it would probably be from killing someone to protect my family!
2. How long do you think you will be a military family? (from Julie the Army Wife)
Life! My husband plans on retiring at some point, but he did say that once you hit 20+ years you might as well keep on being a soldier! So I imagine for life!
3. What’s your favorite recipe? (from Keep Calm and Soldier On) 
Chicken Pillows from Real Mom Kitchen
BBQ Meatballs & Mashies from The Pioneer Woman
Shepherd's Potatoes from The Sisters Dish
4.What would you want your last five words to be when you leave this life? (from My Goal is Simple)  I'll be waiting, my Love! (I plan on dying first, I couldn't bear to loose my Hubby!)
5. Where do you hope to retire? (from Pennies from Heaven)

Scotland!

ABC About You Questions

ABC About You Questions
A - AVAILABLE: No
B - BIRTHDAY: July 8
C - CRUSHING ON: My Hubby
D - DRINK YOU LAST HAD: apple juice
E - EASIEST PERSON TO TALK TO: Christopher (hubby)
F - FAVORITE SONG:Come What May sung by Nicole Kidman & Ewan McGregor
G - GUMMY BEARS OR GUMMY WORMS:None
H - HOMETOWN: I claim Lehi
I - IN LOVE WITH: My Hubby
J - JUGGLE: No
K - KILLED SOMEONE:If I did I'm not telling
L - LONGEST CAR RIDE:9 1/2 hours straight
M- MILKSHAKE FLAVOR:mint chocolate
N - NUMBER OF SIBLINGS: 5
O - ONE WISH:To be able to move into a house that we can actually afford and that is exactly how we want it! I have alot of wishes!
P - PERSON YOU CALLED LAST: my best bud, Celeste
R - REASON TO SMILE: My hubby and kids
S - SONG YOU LAST SANG:I'm not sure
T - TIME YOU WOKE UP:10 AM
U - UNDERWEAR COLOR: White
V - VEGETABLE(S):corn on the cob, green beans
W - WORST HABIT:Staying up way too late
X - X-RAYS YOU'VE HAD: way more than I can count
Y - YOYOS ARE:stupid
Z - ZODIAC SIGN:Cancer

Random Questions About You
Spell your name without vowels: Mchl
Your favorite number:8
What color do you wear most?: brown
Least favorite colors?: purple
What are you listening to?:nothing
Are you happy with your life right now?: For the most part
What is your favorite class in school?: I'm not in school
Who is your best friend: My hubby and Celeste
When do you start back at school/college?: Probably Fall 2011
Are you outgoing?: I can be
Favorite pair of shoes?:My slip-on tennies
Can you dance?: Sort of, took social dance in high school
Can you tie a cherry stem with your mouth?: Nope and I hate cherries
Can you whistle?: yes
Cross your eyes?: Yes
Walk with your toes curled?: Kind of a strange question and i have no idea

THE DO'S
Do you believe there is life on other planets?: I do
Do you believe in miracles?: Of course
Do you believe in magic?: Yes
Love at first sight?: Yes, but it doesn't happen with everyone
Do you believe in Satan?: yes
Do you believe in Santa?: Of course I have two amazing kids
Do you know how to swim?: sort of
Do you like roller coasters?: Definitely
Do you think you could handle the stuff they eat on those reality shows?: No way!
Have you ever been on a plane?: Yes, lots of times thanks to the Army
Have you ever asked someone out?: Yes
Have you ever been asked out by someone?: Yes
Have you ever been to the ocean?: Yes and it can be really pretty

THE WHATS
What is the temperature outside?:84 degrees at 10:38 PM
What radio station do you listen to?: 101.5 the Eagle
What was the last restaurant you ate at?:   Chili's, I was craving a steak!
What was the last thing you bought?: Snacks for our family campout
What was the last thing on TV you watched: AFV
Who was the last person you took a picture of?: One of my two kids
Who did you last webcam with?: My hubby back in 2007, before he came home from Iraq
Who was the last person you said I love you to? My hubby

CRYING SECTION
Ever really cried your heart out?: yes
Ever cried yourself to sleep? quite a few times more than I would like
Ever cried on your friend's shoulder?: Yup, and made my husband jealous while we were kind of dating
Ever cried over the opposite sex?: That's kind of a Duh question
Do you cry when you get an injury?: Yup, not afraid to admit it
Do certain songs make you cry?: Yes

HAPPY SECTION
Are you a happy person?: For the most part
What is your current hair color?: red

CURRENTLY WEARING
What shirt are you wearing?: blue tank top
Pants?: nope, I'm in bed
Shoes?: no
Necklaces?:Not right now, my moon necklace broke a couple days ago
Underwear?: I'm not telling! ;)

IN A BOY/GIRL
Favorite eye color: green
Short or long hair: I like a little hair, my DH insists on shaving it all off to avoid going to the barbers
Height:the right height for me!

HAVE YOU EVER
Been to jail: Of course not
Mooned someone: yes, if mooning your husband counts
Laughed so hard you cried: All the time, my hubby is good at it
Cried in school: yes
Wanted to be a model: Not really, I know I could never be one
Done something really stupid that you still laugh about? Yes, but at the time i didn't
Seen a dead body:Unfortunately I've been to more funerals than I care to
Been on drugs: prescriptions of course
Gone skinny dipping: No

THIS OR THAT
Pepsi or Coke: coke
Single or Group Dates: depends
Chocolate or Vanilla: just chocolate, thanks
Strawberries or Blueberries: strawberries
Meat or Veggies: I love steak, so meat
TV or Movie: movie, most definitely
Guitar or Drums: neither
Adidas or Nike: I don't really care
Chinese or Mexican: BOTH, right now its been Mexican
Cheerios or Corn Flakes:plain Cheerios
Name one random thing about myself: I wrote a ten minute play in High School, re-wrote it in College and then got to see it preformed on stage for a week! Exciting!


Chicken Pillows

Here is the Fabulous Chicken Pillows recipe that is my families' favorite meal! I found it on Real Mom Kitchen blog and boy, does she have some amazing recipes to try. Go on over and check out her blog! And definitely give this recipe a try!

 

 

 

 

Chicken Pillows

3-4 cups chicken, cooked and cubed
6 oz of cream cheese, softened
2 -4 tablespoons green onion, diced

1/3 cup chopped mushrooms (I can’t add this cause no one likes mushrooms, except me)
2 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened
¼ teaspoon salt
Dash of pepper
2 cans of crescent rolls (I used the new crescent creations)
Bread crumbs
1 stick melted butter

In large bowl, mix together cream cheese, green onion, mushrooms, 2 Tbsp butter, salt, and pepper. Stir in chicken and set aside. Open crescent rolls and carefully unroll dough. Separate each tube into 4 rectangles. Seal seam in center of each rectangle. Place one heaping tablespoon on half of each rectangle. Fold over other half of roll dough and seal edges, creating a pillow. Dip each pillow in melted butter and then bread crumbs. Place on baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Serve with cream sauce.

Cream sauce:

1 can cream of chicken of chicken soup
1 cup sour cream
1/8 teaspoon curry powder
1 tablespoon mayo
Milk

Combine ingredients in sauce pan and cook over medium heat until heated through.

Wordless Wednesday

A Short Hiatus

Sorry friends, but I'll be taking a short hiatus for the next few days. I need some time to recover from my little visit to the ER today or I guess rather yesterday! No need to worry too much, I'm doing ok. I have been pretty sick over the last while and it got worse on Sunday. Thanks to all that 'wonderfulness,' I haven't been able to keep anything down and I got really dehydrated. Like I said though, I'm doing ok. After having 2000mL pumped into me via an IV and being dosed up with anti nausea meds, I'm feeling slightly better. So, I decided I need to worry about getting better so I can take care of my beautiful kids! I'll miss you all and I may sneak on here to read all of your blogs, but no blogging for me! See you all in a few days!

A Quest

We have ourselves a Quest; a Quest for….Dragons! Seriously, for Dragons! I don’t know how many of you have been to see How to Train Your Dragon, but it is one of the cutest movies ever and a movie that Aidan, my two year old, will actually sit through! I was astounded at how good he was when we saw it the first time and even more so when he sat through it a second time in the theatres. Since then, well I guess Aidan had a love for dragons before this, but it has been even more so since we took him to see the movie. This inspired us to track down How To Train Your Dragon toys to be given for birthdays, Christmas and I guess, a general ‘Here you’ve been good, have a dragon!’

In seeking out the fabulous Dragon toys, we found that they are only sold at Wal-Mart. Great, we shop there all the time. But we were met with a grave challenge, Wal-Mart had been sold out of the dragon figures for weeks now and their warehouse was empty. Drat! We were told that if the warehouse is empty than more than likely they won’t be getting more. Double drat! Than to add to that we found that Wal-Mart has a freakin’ monopoly on How to Train Your Dragon toys! Unbelievable! It kind of made me angry that Wal-Mart had a monopoly on these toys, but then add the fact that they hadn’t been prepared for such a craze with this merchandise! Dumb people!

Then I got the brilliant idea to look up the option to purchase said toys through other means like eBay, Amazon, etc. I about had a heart attack when I found that these toys that ran between $5 & $12 in the store, were going for $70, $80 and even over a hundred if you wanted to buy Toothless. Asinine! I wasn’t going to pay that much for a toy that was cheaper than that in stores (if you could find them). I wasn’t going to do it.

We didn’t want to give up hope though, so every time we went to Wal-Mart we checked the toy aisle in hopes of finding a dragon or two. But a month or two went by and still nothing. I’ll admit I was really disappointed, Wal-Mart has a ‘spackling of things, but not a enough of anything.’ (So says my Husband) For once I really and truly agreed with that idea.



Then out of the blue about three weeks ago, while one of the stores we shop at has been under major remodeling, we decided to check out the Toy Department. And there…There were three dragons. Three big dragons! Three different dragons! I grabbed those dragons up lickity-split and tucked them in my cart. I told my Hubby that we were buying them, end of discussion. He didn’t argue too much. Of course none of them were Toothless, but that’s okay were just glad to finally be able to buy dragons.

Then today, we stopped at that same Wal-Mart and my Hubby ran inside to see if the larger tent we need for our big Labor Day weekend campout was in stock by chance. Once again sold out online and maybe if you’re lucky you can find it in the store. Anyway, he ran into check and decided to peek at the toy section. And there sitting on the shelf were two large Toothless dragons! Not thinking he only purchased one of them, he should have snagged both of them. Although he went in looking for a tent (which was not in at that store, but at another one), he came out with the dragon we’ve been dying to get! Lucky us! I’m so glad that we happened to find them, it made my day!

So, there you have it Our Quest For Dragons!

Here is our precious Dragon purchase! Ooooo, pretty!

MilSpouse Friday Fill-In #8

Here it is MilSpouse Friday Fill-In once again and may I say that these questions are fabulous! I don't know where she comes up with these, but she does a great job! Come join in if you haven't yet at Wife of a Sailor.

What is ONE thing you’d like civilians to understand about being a military family?
Just because I'm married to a soldier doesn't make me perfect or some kind of super human. I stress & worry when my Hubby's gone, I cry alot, I don't enjoy being seperated from him, but I support him in what he does. He protects our great nation! I still have a lot of the same issues as every woman out there and I can't always be that brave, sometimes I need to show how scared I really am. I am human!
What is your favorite mistake?
This is a tough one, but I finally did come up with an answer. When I was first dating my Hubby, we had some issues and we ended up breaking up for like 6 months. It was during that six months that he became my best friend. I discovered a whole treasure trove of things about him and I found that I couldn't have picked a better guy. That helped me to realize that he was 'The One!' It probably would have worked out so much different and really wouldn't want that!
What indulgence could you give up for a year?
Soda Pop
If you could be a winged animal, what would you be?
A Pegasus, they are so majestic & I realize they are Fantasy creatures, but they are some  of the most beautiful of Fantasy creatures.
What is one question you’d like to see asked in a future MFF?
What has been your greatest adventure as a MilSpouse?

Writer's Workshop: I Miss the Friend You Used To Be

Another Mama's Losin' It writer's workshop. Can I just say she comes up with some of the most creative prompts. I picked this prompt and just let my fingers do the talking. I can't believe what ended up on the screen and even though its sad, I think it was something that I've needed to say for a long time. I hope you won't get too depressed reading it. I'll try to write another prompt tomorrow and hopefully it will be more cheerful. Enjoy!



I miss the friend you used to be. I can’t figure out where we went ‘wrong’ and why I don’t hear from you anymore. I hate feeling alone. I hate feeling like just because I want to be myself, that no one will be my friend. I hate pretending that I’m some one I’m not and I hate pretending that having no friends doesn’t hurt. I miss the friend you used to be. We could talk about anything and giggle like crazy! I wasn’t afraid of what you would say and how I would feel when we would spend time together. Its been real lonely since I found out that your spouse hates me and although you don’t say it out right, we both know its true. I miss the friend you used to be. I hate that I’m the one always trying and that I feel like I call you to ask for your advice, because I don’t know what to say to you anymore. I miss when you’d call me just to tell me how life was going or when you’d call to say ‘Let’s go hang out.’ I miss that! I hate feeling alone. I miss having girlfriends to have ‘Girls Night Out’ with. I hate sitting at home day after day, friendless and blue. I miss the friend you used to be. Why does it seem like the people I start to get along with all live far away and are only my friends through our blogs? I hate feeling desperate, but without friends that’s what I am. I miss having grown up girl talk and not always talking to a two year old, a one year old and to a snoring spouse. (Even he doesn’t have time for me.) I miss the friend you used to be. I miss being a friend to myself, but I’m depressing! I miss having someone to plan scrapbooking days with and be able to relax & have fun. I miss you answering your phone. Sometimes I think you are ignoring my calls, maybe you’re really not, but you never call back. I miss the friend you used to be. I miss you, I do. Will somebody be my friend? Will somebody tell me that they care? Will you come back? Come back and be my friend again? I miss having friends and not feeling so alone. I  miss the friend you used to be!

Oi For Days Like Today

Today has just been one of those days and not in a good way! I have been so nausious today that I can't even get out of bed without worrying about throwing up all over everything. Of course, I still have to get out a bed to take care of my two crazy little munchkins. Somehow I managed to not throw up at all today, but I spent most of the day in bed. My sweet Hubby got up after he'd slept a few hours after work and made dinner since I was sick. I love my Husband and I don't know what I did to deserve him!

Of course both kids decided to both be so tired and grouchy, that they wouldn't sleep. I tell you what I'm hating the terrible twos, but at the same time my son as these moments where he does the cutest things and than two minutes later he can be a little monster. Aidan's new thing is to climb into my bed and pull up the covers. He then tells you, "I seeping!" And as soon as you've awknowledged that he's asleep, than he'll pipe up, "I wake. I wake." What a little angel!

I can so do without all the screaming and crying they both do. I'm not sure how to get it to stop. Aidan stands at his bedroom door and screams when its bed time. I can go in there every ten minutes, every five minutes for that matter and he will still find something else he wants to give to 'Baby.' Some days aren't so bad and other days, I want to scream right along with him! I guess its just the life of a Momma.

I hope everybody had a really great day today and that tomorrow is even better. I guess I'll start to wind down for the night! Its getting late and I have to go into town tomorrow.

Wordless Wednesday

Touching Video

A dear friend of mine posted this video up on FB and there was no way I couldn't post that here. I know that all of you will truly appreciate the beautiful sentiments of this video.  I'd make sure you have a box of tissues handy! Here is a beautiful side of our lives as MilSpouses!

My Life is Chaos

Or so it feels these days. I've been pretty sick this last week and than add in the fact that I'm helping plan my sister's wedding, I swear that my life is Chaos. I starting to realize just how little my sister knows about wedding planning and she seems to have little drive beyond my Mom & I. I guess in a round about way I'm getting to plan a 'dream wedding.'  Not mine, but I feel I'm doing more planning than A is. Its a little frustrating that my sister is lagging so much on decisions, but I'm still not sure reality has sunk in yet. The two big things I'm working on at the moment is designing her wedding cake (yikes!) and finding either a baby blue dress or a baby blue shirt that will fit me in October. I'm not having any success on either one. :( The first needs more info from A and the other I just can't find anything in baby blue, let alone something I actually like. Uggg, why is it so hard to find something that I like?

With all this stuff going on, I seem to just have time to post up something very simple or photos. Sometimes I even get to read some of the really great blogs I follow. I feel like such a slacker. I'm sure trying to get back on the wagon, but its proving more difficult than I thought. Anyway, I'll try to do better with posting more things with substance. I hope you all have a really great night!

Talent Tuesday

I really enjoy taking pictures and I am always to be found behind our camera snapping away. I love to take pictures of cemeteries, historical sites, old buildings, my kids and so much more. I'm still learning though, so I'm not really that great. Here are a few photos I've taken recently. What do you think?

Memory Monday

Christopher found a memory card for our camera the other day and so I looked to see what photos were on it. This is one of the 232 photos on the memory card. Aidan was almost five months old in this picture and I'd been feeding him baby food. It seems so long ago that he was that little and now he's two! Time sure does fly.

Writer's Workshop: A Long Drive...

How a long drive turns into an even longer drive. Then add in two kids under 2, snow, and two tired adults. A long drive...from Utah to New Mexico became an adventure beyond even my wildest imaginings. Christopher & I happen to be friends with this really great NCO in Christopher's Reserve Unit, John. They went on a tour of duty to Iraq back in 2005-2006, and got to be good buddies. Tragedy struck John's family back in March, when his kid brother, Ben, died. Ben was also in their Reserve Unit and so I'd met him a few times. He was a really nice kid and I was heartbroken when my husband phoned me to say he had passed away. In that moment in talking to my husband, I felt that strong desire that we needed to do whatever was necessary to get to New Mexico that coming weekend for the funeral. Christopher felt the same way.

We scrimped and managed to pull the money necessary together, because Johm & his family needed our support. Not to mention being there to honor the life of this young man. I worked diligently to plot out a route for us to get there, trying to find ways to help us get there on $300 cash. We have family in Grand Junction, CO, so instead of taking the shorter route through Southern Utah, I made arrangements with my family for us to stay the night at their place. This would give us a free place to stay and a free meal. It only tacked on an extra few hours and it didn't seem like a big deal.

We made good time getting to Grand Junction and enjoyed free food & being with family. Unfortunately, since we had to be in New Mexico no later than one, we had to get up and leave at 4AM. We got up having had very little sleep, we loaded our kids in the car and began the trek down south. That's when our trip to an expected detour. We reached Red Mountain Pass, to find that it was closed! Great. The gas station attendant told us that there had been an avalanche and then gave us directions to take a different pass. She told my Hubby that it would only add like an hour to our drive. Yeah, right!

This pass had the most snow covered and icy roads, and we had brought our inexpensive gas car, not our RAV4 with snow tires. This forced us to go well below the speed limit down this crazy & twisty mountain pass. This little detour added like 2 1/2 hours to our drive. When we finally got out of the passes and actually started hitting the warmer weather, we were super behind on our driving time frame. Christopher had only planned for so many extra hours and we had already eaten into a large chunk of them.

To make matters worse, once we got into New Mexico we found that the speed limit changes like every 10ft in some places. This made the drive horrific. All the while we were thinking that 'Oh, my gosh. We have to get to the church before one." Christopher had been asked to be apart of the Honor Guard and pallbearers. My poor kids all the while were still in their PJs and hadn't gotten diapers changed since we'd left. We finally got out of all the towns and onto a long stretch of road before our destination, but that stretch still was going to take 2 hours.

My Hubby was going pedal to the metal literally. We stopped once so he could change into his Class As while I was driving and I changed after we switched back. We even saw a Highway patrolman while he was going like 80 MPH and all he did was flash his lights at us in warning! Thank Heavens. We did finally arrive at our destination at about 1:30PM and I sent my Hubby racing inside so that he could be ready when they needed him. I set to work dressing and changing diapers on my kids, who were not happy about having been in the car so long.

I missed the services inside, but we did make it in time for Christopher to help carry the casket to the gravesite and be apart of the Honor Guard at the cemetery. I'm glad we made it! I couldn't have imagined beforehand that our drive would turn out quite like it did. I'm glad we were there to support John & his family when they needed it most. I wish there was more I could have done for them.

So, that's how our Long Drive became even longer! We took the shorter route back, avoided all the snow and made sure we picked up a dual screen DVD player to keep our kids entertained. The drive home was far less exciting (not a problem for me) and my two kids were way happier!

I hope you enjoyed this. This was another one of Mama's Losin' It's Writer's Workshop prompts. I sure had fun with this one and I can't wait for next weeks prompts!

MilSpouse Friday Fill-In #6 & 7

I always look forward to MilSpouse Friday Fill-In, because you never know what types of questions there will be. I find that as much as you probably learn about me from this, I learn new things about myself as well. ;) I combined this week & last weeks fill-ins, since I didn't have an opportunity to answer last weeks.



What is your spouse’s best feature?
 I love his eyes. He has the most beautiful green-blue eyes and they make me want to melt! ;) I hoped at least one of our kids would end up with his eyes, but alas they both have my blue eyes. Maybe the next one.

Mild, Medium or Hot sauce?
 Mild, my poor tummy cannot handle anything spicy
What is the worst uniform you had to wear for a job?
 When I worked for Albertsons, I had to wear this horrible puke brown polo shirt covered with images of grocery bags. Yuck!
You have invisible powers… where is the first place you would go?
 I would start hitching rides on airplanes and see the world! Go ride all the rides at Disneyland or Disney World, go to Scotland, Egypt
What’s left on your “to do” list for this summer? 
 Go swimming, go on a picnic to the park, go running (finally!), take another family vacation somewhere close, but have never been, go on an overnight campout with just me & my hubby. Now lets see if I can actually do it all! ;)
What is something you wished you’d learned to do earlier in life?
 Sew clothes, I do okay but I have to get help and can't do it by myself. Now I can whip together a pretty nice quilt without any problems.
What is your biggest pet peeve with the military?
 The whole hurry up and wait. They tell you something is going to happen, but you end up waiting forever for it to happen!
What tourist attraction near you have you never seen?
 Canyonlands, Goblin Valley, pretty much all of Utah's southern national parks!
What are you avoiding doing right now?
 General house cleaning and unpacking
Wine, beer or liquor?
 None of the above,  I don't drink.

Thoughtful Thursday

" When you wake up today to realize that the problem is still there, do not go back to sleep, do not cry. Take a warm bath and start planning for the unknown."
Written in 2010 by Mitta Xinindlu --- South Africa

How Geeky Am I?

I just tried to talk my husband into taking me to Atlanta, Georgia for Dragon*Con instead of going with his family to a Mountain Man Rendevous we go to every year. (Does that say Geeky much?) There are all kinds of cool authors, movie stars and bands going to be there. I'd so rather go to that and do something new, then go to Wyoming & camp out. People like Johnathan Frakes, Brent Spiner, James Marsters and Sean Astin will be there. He told me no because it would cost too  much! :( I can dream right? I guess I just classified myself as a Geek! Oh well.

Writer's Workshop: To Do It Over Again

I've decided that this week I'm going to participate in Mama's Losin' It's Writer's Workshop. I've been really wanting to for a while since I feel like my blog is lacking something and I know I've been really neglecting it over the last two weeks. We'll blame it on a nasty chest & head cold (that is kicking my butt) and just being busy (being a mommy of two little ones can be tricky ;) ). I'm attempting to make up for it by participating in this really cool weekly post helping workshop.

She had all kinds of good questions or sentences to complete and maybe if I feel overly ambitious over the rest of this week, then I'll do each one. But for now I just picked one and it was very thought provoking. I always love having things that require me to think, especially on my blog. I think it gives everybody a different insight into what makes me, well, me!

If you could do it over again...

If I could do it over again, I think I'd change a few things, but I still keep in mind that if I hadn't made the decisions that I did and experienced what I did, I wouldn't be where I'm at today. With two beautiful kids and an amazing husband, whom I'm absolutely crazy about, I wouldn't want to change that outcome. But if I could still get the same end result (which I doubt, but if I could) there would definitely be some things I've chosen to do that I'd change. Not to mention more trivial things.

I would change how wishy-washy I was while I was first dating my Hubby, I would have realized sooner how much I love(d) him and that he was really what I wanted. He's a really good guy, but I had some strange notions about what sort of a guy I wanted and I didn't want to let that go. You know all the superficial things: skinny, athletic, funny, couldn't be short or overweight. So stupid now I look back, but at the time it seemed so important to me. Maybe we would have gotten married sooner and had more time as newlyweds vs getting married with four days to go to his deployment, then spending the first year apart. But I would never change that I married him and if getting to be with him meant doing that first year over again I would do it.

I would not put off college and truly make it a priority. I'd have gotten good grades and not ditched most of my classes one entire semester, which resulted in 3 Ds and several no grades due to lack of attendance. What a waste of money! I hope that I can stress the importance of college to my kids as they get older and that they apply for scholarships & grants to go. Its harder now that I have two kids that are so little to go back to school. I'll manage, because its something I really want, but it would have been so much easier before our kids were born.


I would have saved more money, so that my family & I could go on more trips. I'll admit to be jealous of my friends who this year alone have gone to NYC, Disneyland, and Hawaii! Not mention that they took their little boy! I wish I had that kind of money, but every time we attempt to save money there is a new medical bill that needs to be taken care of and I'm not even wanting to think what new ones are coming over the next 9 months or so. Yikes! Maybe this next year it will be our turn to take our kids somewhere fun for a vacation like that.

I would have taken more pictures of both my kids as babies. I would have forked out the money to do nice portraits of them as tiny babies. But money was tight after each of them were born and so I couldn't find the money or the strong drive to get it done. I always talked about it, but it never happened. Now, when my son is 2 and my daughter 1, I wish that I had and its too late to go back. But I will be getting them done soon, I'm going to make it a priority!

So, a few things I would go back and change, but overall my life is good where it's at and to change the past would enevitably change my present & future. I hope that this was an interesting read for you and that you might go and check out Mama's Losin' It's Writer's Workshop. Give it a try and see what fun new things you can talk about!

Wordless Wednesday

Wedding Bells In the Air

My kid sister, A, made the announcement last week that she was getting married! I am absolutely thrilled for her! My sister has been through a lot over the last few years, which is really sad to say since she's only 22. She has dated alot of real creeps and I know this sounds very protective big sisterish, but I never approved of the last guy she was engaged to. (That engagement lasted a couple months) The jerk used her for her financial stability and put her into serious debt. (No bueno, in my book) But her Fiance is perfect for her and treats her like a queen! Hurray!

Not to say that the two of them haven't had their issues, but they have gotten over it and worked things through. But can I say as excited as I am for them to get married, I'm already finding that I'm not exactly thrilled with helping plan it. I don't think either of them realized how much work it takes to plan a wedding and I feel like my poor mom & I are planning it all. I have been finagled into making the wedding cake (yikes!) and doing the slide show for the reception. Now, as much as I'm already worn out by helping and its not even been a week yet, I still am willing to assist in anyway I can. I'm a SAHM and so I have the time that my sister & mom lack to work on things like this.

We are trying to do this wedding on a very minimal budget, and so we are pulling as many favors for inexpensive or free things as possible. We're reserving a local Church House (free!), I know several people have offered to help with flowers, I'm doing the cake  & slide show, we are making & preparing the dessert bar ourselves (and having a decorating party to do it.) So, many things and so little time to do it. (two and a half months, if I didn't mention it)

I'm open for ideas and suggests on how to give my sister an awesome, but inexpensive wedding!

Questions About Me

So, I'm alive and I'm done with the 30 Days of Me because well no one wants to hear about my week and month in detail! So here is some fun questions about me! Enjoy!


1. What is your occupation? Stay at Home Mommy

2. What color are your socks right now? Bare Feet

3. What are you listening to right now? The Cake Boss, so my tv is on and not any music

4. What was the last thing that you ate? Dill pickle pringles

5. Can you drive a stick shift? Been taught, but I can't do it

6. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Blue, its my favorite color

7. Last person you spoke to on the phone? My Hubby, it was nice

9. How old are you today? 25

10. Favorite drink? Fruit Smoothies

11. What is your favorite sport to watch? I like to watch the Daytona 500 and that's it

12. Have you ever dyed your hair? Yes, red

13. Pets? Ranna (A purebred Malamute) & Danu (A Wolamute-1/4th Wolf & 3/4 Malamute)

14. Favorite food? Chicken Pillows (ask me for the recipe, if you're curious)

15. Last movie you watched? Back to the Future III

16. Favorite Day of the year? My Anniversary, April 15th

17. What do you do to vent anger? I blog! Or tell my husband how much something makes me mad (even if its not him that has made me mad)

19. What is your favorite season?I love the spring, all the rainstorms and the nice moderate weather & temp

 
21. Cherry or Blueberry? Neither, raspberry

26. When was the last time you cried? Saturday, when the cake I made for my kids birthday party fell apart after 15 hours of work & no sleep. Before that was when I got some very exciting news on Thursday! :)

27. What is on the floor of your closet?  Clean clothes, boxes and lots of Christmas presents

30. Favorite smells?  Vanilla, that baby smell that newborns seem to have, my hubby!

31. Who inspires you? My hubby & my two amazing kids

32. What are you afraid of? Losing my husband or my kids, enclosed places

33. Plain, cheese or spicy hamburgers? Cheese burgers

34. Favorite car? Dodge Calibur

35 Favorite cat breed? None, I do not like cats

35 b. Favorite breed of dog? Malamute

36. Number of keys on your key ring? I don't carry keys

37. How many years at your current job? 2 years

38. Favorite day of the week? Saturday, because its my hubby's day off

39. How many states have you lived in?  4, Utah, Wisconsin, South Carolina, Virginia

40. Do you think you're funny? Not really

41. What is your dream vacation? Scotland or Egypt

42. Did God create all or was it all just a happy little accident? I know that God created all things!

 

43. If you could pick any vocation, what would it be? An author and an Archaeologist

 

44. What is your favorite book? Fallen by Lauren Kate

 

 

If there is anything else you want to hear about, let me know!

Kids' Birthday Shindig

Aidan & Aislynn's big birthday celebration was a success I think. We had the party at Christopher's parents' ward house, because we thought we'd have more people show up if it was in town vs out in Dugway and I didn't want to clean my house to fit that many people. We had a really good turn out somewhere around 25-30 people showed up and we partied eating really yummy BBQ food. I made a cake for the kids and had been up all night working on it. The cake itself took me 15 hours, it was this really pretty castle covered with Princesses and a Toy Story toy box & all of our Toy Story friends old & new. I worked so hard on it, but unfortunately with an almost two hour drive to get to the birthday site and the poor cake didn't make it. It started loosing towers when Christopher brought it out to the car and by the time we were halfway there it had lost four more. I cried! I'll admit it, I'd worked so hard and watched it fall all to pieces. My sweet Hubby ended up making a run to Walmart and picked up an ice cream cake. I transfered all of the characters onto the ice cream cake. Everyone enjoyed seeing the cake I had attempted and felt bad that it had fallen apart. The ice cream cake tasted really good and we had a blast. Aidan & Aislynn made out like little bandits as far as presents went. Thanks everybody who came and we missed all of you who couldn't come. Next year, I'm going simple as far as birthdays are concerned! It was a lot of work to get this party going! Here are the photos of the party.