To a T

2012-01-28T18:20:00.001-07:00

Thanks for all the well wishes. Its been a bit of a roller coaster emotionally, but I'm trying to take it a day at a time and remember who is in control.

Telling Batman was pretty anticlimactic. The Friday before I left for Seattle (and the same day my parents came into town) I broke down and poas. In the past he's been a little torqued that I've kept him out of the loop so a few days prior I let him know that I thought I might be, in fact, knocked up again. So, anyway in the wee morning hours (because of course I couldn't sleep) I snuck into the bathroom and got it over with. And right away, just like with Brynna the positive line came up and super dark. Batman was working a weird shift that day so I left him sleeping while B and I went and met my parents at cracker barrel for breakfast. I just left the test sitting on the counter for him to see when he woke up and started getting ready. We stayed away from the house for a while until he called and said he was up and getting ready for work.
At first when I came in and asked him what he thought (in private) he was kind of skeptical because he thought the horizontal control line was the test line. After I pointed out just which one meant positive, he realized it was a pretty stark positive.
And of course he didn't/ doesn't want us to tell anyone until our first ob appt. where we get a little confirmation. So I went off to Seattle with Brynna for 10 days and had to keep it under wraps the whole time... Even though I really really REALLY wanted to tell my mom.
So here we are. According to lmp I'll be 8 wks on Monday. Which puts edd sept 9. Wednesday will of course tell us a lot more. :)

I'm excited, nervous, emotional etc. morning sickness kicked in full force just like with B at 6 wks. Along with exhaustion, sore boobs the whole lot.

And now I wait 4 more excruciating days.

Oh I almost forgot

2012-01-25T07:25:00.001-07:00

Not sure why this has to be my MO, but apparently it takes me losing one for one to stick.

We haven't told ANYONE yet (so if you know me irl please act super surprised when we do tell you) and my first appt is feb 1st.

Back to square one

2012-01-24T08:39:00.001-07:00

We've been trying to get on the potty training train around these parts.

Two words. Epic. Fail.

We thought she was ready. We got jelly beans as rewards (peds advice). We went and made a big production over buying big girl panties. We bought pull ups. We started out super optimistic.

We were duped.

She's just not ready yet. The final realization came this morning after we had "tried" to go potty 3 times (to Jo avail), we pull up the big girl panties and she promptly sits on the couch and pees. Everywhere. (promise I didn't get mad... Just realized its not time yet)

Fun times!

I think we will pack it all away and try, try again later.

Any and all advice and tips would be greatly appreciated.

If you could, prayers please?

2012-01-21T19:54:00.001-07:00

We found out a couple days ago that Batmans grandma is going on hospice. They've given her about two weeks :( its been a rough few days around here. She's such a grand lady, almost 96!

We visited her today and while she looked better than when we saw her at Christmas, you could tell she was tired and having a hard time breathing. She fell last week which turned into cracked and broken ribs, a punctured lung, and now pneumonia.

We are hoping and praying she pulls through this and proves the doctors wrong. Please keep her in your prayers!

Home at last

2012-01-19T11:39:00.001-07:00

We made it home tuesday night and (un)fortunately brought snow with us... At least we were able to stay home all day yesterday and just play in it though ;) batman has all the pics of course. So maybe someday I will post them

Snow day!

2012-01-15T16:02:00.001-07:00

We've been having fun in the unexpected snow!

We be skinny dippin'

2012-01-12T18:04:00.001-07:00

No not like THAT! Like this:

(it's a local yogurt shop)

Photo dump

2012-01-11T06:16:00.001-07:00

Thanks Shannon for the app tip!

Here's a bunch of pics from the last few days:

2012-01-10T08:41:00.000-07:00

We had such a blast at the aquarium yesterday! I can't wait to share all the pics with y'all (still haven't figured out how to get them off my phone to blogger) we got to see all sorts of sea creatures, touch and feel anemones and star fish, watch the sea otters, give high gives to the tank diver through the glass and watch lunchtime! I don't know that I'd pay the full price to do it again but any time groupon has a deal we will snag it for sure!

After the aquarium we walked down a few blocks to ivars (a Seattle icon) for some great clam chowder (the only seafood I eat... And only from there) and then up to the market to pick up some bread for dinner.

It was such a fun day hanging out with my dad and sister!

Today's agenda: lunch with Gigi (my grandma/ b's great grandma).

On a visit

2012-01-09T07:29:00.000-07:00

B and I are up in sea-town this week visiting family. One of Batmans Christmas gifts was the airline tickets, so here we are. We've been having a blast so far (even though yesterday was spent on the 8hour drive over).

Over the weekend at our house we went exploring (aka taking scenic drives do Batman could sleep- he was on a night shift over drill weekend) and had some great food at our favorite places. As soon as I can figure out how from my iPhone (if anyone knows- please tell me!) I will upload pics of our adventures!!

On today's agenda... Seattle aquarium! (groupon deals are the best, don't you think!?) I'm so excited as I haven't been in years and I can't wait for B to see all the fun things and animals they have! (see why I need to figure out pic uploading from my phone?) ;)

Happy Monday!!

TheBefore and After

2012-01-03T09:26:00.000-07:00

Finally getting time to hook the iphone up to the computer! Plus, we have FINALLY moved completely back into our house. We have a few things left to do before we can consider it completely "finished," but it's done enough for a blog post ;-)

So here we go:

Before- Study

Hallway

Kitchen/Dining

A cute girl among the chaos ;-

Kitchen

Brynna's Room (for some reason to is fascinated by the plunger)

And After:

Brynna's room (for some reason we didn't take a pic of our guest room or master?)

Hallway

Dining

Study

Dining (again, but with our new table!)

Family Room

Kitchen

I think there may be a few more pics floating around of the bathroom and laundry, but I can't seem to find them. We tiled both those rooms and I couldn't be happier with the overall results! I'm kind of in love with my house again, which hasn't happened since- oh about 6 months after we moved in.

Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T08:54:00.000-07:00

So my intentions of posting more updates this week went by the wayside with all the family activities... New year's resolution #1... Be a better blogger lol ;)

But seriously, happy new year y'all! 2011 was full of many ups and downs, but we made it through. Here's to a great 2012!

Merry Christmas

2011-12-25T21:39:00.000-07:00

I hope everyone has had a fantastic day! We sure have! Brynna has been spoiled beyond belief!

More posting coming up this week! Promise! If you're my friend on FB you can see our family pic. If not, well friend me already! ;)

Happy holidays!

Another reason I'm MIA

2011-12-12T14:43:00.000-07:00

I finally have internet again! Hooray!

First off, thank you all so much for your words of encouragement and support once again! It always amazes me that I have so many good friends that I've never met in real life ;-) What did we do before the internet? Seriously!?
Second, I'm feeling much, much better and we are ready to try, try again. I have a m/c follow up with my doc on the 21st in which I will talk to him about progesterone supps. He put me on those with B as a precaution and I wonder if I need to go that route again? I also am concerned that, while my body seems to be working correctly at the moment (which it did for a couple months after I came off the BCP before), it may go back to being stupid and anovulatory again. I think they may be doing some bw to make sure my hcg is back down to 0 as well. They did want Batman and I to take a break this month and use back up BC, but to be honest we won't. If I had waited a couple more days to test, I never would have known it was a mc so I guess I don't see the point in putting TTC on hold another month. Do you? Am I/ are we crazy? I also figure we got preggo with B the cycle after mc, so it can't be all bad to keep trying, right? Plus we don't really do condoms. And really, what else is there that's not going to completely screw up my body even more?

In other news and on a happier and brighter note (and the whole reason you haven't heard from me lately)- Batman and I decided that since my IL are on a two week vacation in the Caribbean (so we could stay at their place), we would replace our flooring NOW instead of when we get our tax return. So we picked out flooring last Monday, started renovating and removing our current flooring (yes, we are doing the removal ourselves) that night, and have been busy every day getting ready for the installation- They started that TODAY! I am so, so very excited to have brand new floors in our house. They were disgusting when we moved in almost 8 years ago, so you can imagine what they look like now! The install should be done by Friday and we should be moved back in next weekend.

I've taken a few pics of the before and during. Now I'm just waiting for the after. And I'm hoping this makes me like my house again, since we won't be able to move for at least another 2-3 years. Here's to hoping...

Hope all is well for y'all!

Tough moments

2011-12-04T09:07:00.000-07:00

So to fill you all in on what's been happening the last few days... It's been a roller coaster of emotions once again.

As I said in my first ttc update, I POA OPK the other day and it was negative (somehow I rationalized it was as good as peeing on HPT since if I was preggo it would more than likely be + as it was with B), which was all I had at the time. There was a small part of me that was holding out hope that I still could, in fact, be knocked up (some serious IPS/RPS going on) so I picked up a dollar store cheapie and low and behold there was a faint line. I was skeptical because it was so faint, but it was there. I comiserated with a good GF (whom I met on IV and we've since become good long distance IRL friends) and she confirmed that it was in fact + and that I should be congratulated. That was Wed afternoon.

Fast forward to Friday. POAS #2. Also positive. Still pretty faint, but definitely a line (although it was faint enough that my first thought was that it was negative). Batman even saw the line, was skeptical but optimistic.

At the urging of above friend, I called my doc's office, who also said a line is a line is a line is a line... They called in orders for BW for anytime I want them this next week for a beta (or 2 depending on the numbers). They also had me make an first OB appt and u/s.

And I let myself be excited. And hopeful. And I daydreamed. And I asked Brynna if she wanted to be a big sister. And did she want to have a sister or a brother (sister btw). And for one moment, I felt like "wow, it really can be an easy process."

And then woke up this morning after many, many dreams of seeing 2 really pretty pink lines and I went to POAS this morning, just to see if the line was getting darker. It was a defective test. No lines whatsoever. I should have taken that as a bad omen.

I wiped. Clots, bright red blood.

It's over.

No cramping, but I hardly ever cramp, even with past miscarriages.

I knew better than to let myself dream. To let myself get excited. To really believe that it was happening and so easily.

Batman isn't too disappointed. To him it was just an egg and a sperm.

But to me? To me that was a son or daughter I won't get to meet. To me, that was a sister or brother that Brynna doesn't get to be a big sister to. To me it was a BABY. Not just a bunch of cells. To me it was hope.

I told myself I wasn't going to get upset. I told myself I wasn't going to cry. But dammit I can't help it. I wanted this one so bad. As bad as I wanted Brynna.

And I feel so alone.

Lord? Where are you today?

Pumpkin Patch

2011-12-01T14:06:00.000-07:00

Remember way back to October? We actually did pick out pumpkins way back then! Our CSA farm does a pumpkin patch for members every year so, like last year, we took Batman's BIL (and family) and picked out our pumpkins (which btw never got carved)

Here's a little movie of all the pics (I figured that might be easier than making you scroll through them all) Sorry there's no music... I'm way too ~~lazy~~ busy for that ;-)

OKay nevermind... blogger hates my slide show... pictures it is:

Halloween

2011-11-30T16:28:00.000-07:00

Yep, it's been THAT long since I updated... YIKES!!

We really had a fun Halloween. B was the CUTEST cow! We took her to Batman's old office for a quick trick or treat in the morning, then we went and had a fun morning at the library! They had lots of songs and dancing, plus some "special" trick or treating :) Brynna got to take home some candy, chocolate milk (which I broke down and let her drink... no adverse effects thank goodness) and even a BOOK! She was so excited to get to pick one all by herself to take home :) After naps and errands, we went over to my IL for dinner and real trick or treating!

Brynna's cousins Roenan and Phoenix, joined in the fun (although Phoenix stayed in the house with Grandpa and Grandma while the rest of us braved th cold and went door to door).

Here are the few blurry pics I managed to take with my phone (the good ones are still on my IL camera... do you see why we need to invest in a good camera of our own?):

where to begin?

2011-11-30T15:42:00.000-07:00

Thanks for the encouragment on blogging again... I'm trying to find time to sit in front of the computer, but for some reason I keep finding it hard. I need to carve out some much needed "blogging" time for reading and writing ;-)

SO where to begin? Let's start with the easy stuff... TTC

AF came on Oct 31 and only lasted a few days. Not at all what her visits were like prior to Brynna, so maybe things are headed in the right direction? Here I am on CD31. Not really feeling like we caught any eggie... not even sure one dropped to be honest.

When I had the IUD out, the NP suggested I wait 2 months or 2 cycles- whichever came first- then make an appt to talk with my doc about possibly starting clomid again. Dec 10 will be the 2 month mark.

But to be honest, I'm not sure (or we since Batman's opinion does count) I'm ready to go back on meds. I kind of want to just wait and see what happens, if my body can function properly on its own, if there is something to the "relax" approach (for the record, I am a firm believer that it's more of a numbers game than it is about "relax it will happen"- Brynna was a miracle. period).

So that's where we are on that. I don't really have any desire to POAS, just to be disappointed. Plus I dont have any HPT in the house so that pretty much gets rid of any temptation ;-) I had one OPK sitting under the counter a few days ago and for the sake of peeing on SOMETHING, I went ahead... of course it was negative ;-)

Hopefully, the next update will be better

Reclaiming my blogging mojo

2011-11-28T07:48:00.001-07:00

Okay, it's seriously been way. Too. Long.

So many things have been going on. And yet, it doesn't seem like it.

So I'm here to vow that I WILL start blogging again!! So if in the next few days it seems like my blog has thrown up a bit with updates... don't be scared away ;-)

So here goes nothing...

My Neglected Blog

2011-11-09T09:12:00.000-07:00

Apparently I've been on a blogging hiatus without really realizing it. I'm still here, still alive, still busy...

I think I've just lost my blogging mojo.

I keep thinking "oh, this is so going on my blog" over and over. And then it doesn't.

I guess I just need to force myself to sit down and start writing and reading again. Maybe it will come back after a little inspiration?

I promise I'm coming back... just need to find the motivation.

Oh and in case you're curious on the ttc front? AF finally arrived after 3 weeks and today's cd10... wish us luck ;-)

2 yrs old!

2011-10-25T07:18:00.000-06:00

Thank you all for the birthday wished for my girl! I can't believe I have a 2 yr old already. It kind of makes me sad a little that my baby girl is growing up so fast. But honestly, I'm LOVING Brynna at this age :) She so full of curiosity and her personality is really beginning to shine (along with the terrible twos and tantrums. Oy!)

Her birthday was fabulous! We had so much fun and it so nice to see all the people that love her :) I took a few pics with my phone, but most of the good pics are on my IL camera so as soon as I can get their card I'll post better ones ;-)

We had her 2 yr well kid check yesterday and she "passed" with flying colors. Here are her stats... although I think they're a bit scewed since they weighed and measured her with her clothes and shoes on (werid right?)
Height: 32.5 in (10%)
Weight:27 lbs (50%)
Again, still pretty petite, but growing right on track!

She was a little scared at first when he wanted to look in her ears and eyes, but she sat on my lap instead of the table and did just fine. Such a big girl! She got her hep A and flu shot and cried for about 10 seconds (until she was handed a sticker and a sucker).

She seems to be growing like a weed! We finally bumped her up this month to 2T (yep, skipped right over 24 mos... seemed silly to buy that size when 2T will last longer even if they are a bit big right now). Still in size 4 'sposies (I think... it's been a while since we've used any) still CDing (I'm so OVER diapers ya'll- Can't WAIT for her to be PT... but that may be a while... see below).

She talks a ton these days and we are really having to be careful what we say because she's a little parrot (I called some other driver a jacka$$ the other day while we were driving and wouldn't you know it she yelled out some version of it HA! Oops!)

She is doing really well with her motor skills, but we've decided to sign her up for a toddler gymnastics class starting next (Nov) month (similar to LittleGym)! We really love this gym! My cheer team practices in their cheer gym part on Saturdays (The cheer gym director is my assistant coach) and the entire facility is AMAZING! I can't wait!

We've been having a bit of an issue with getting her to eat more than just a few bites at meals these days and I'm hoping it's just a phase? If anyone has good ideas for toddler meals, let me know. I'm at a loss some days on what to make her for lunch (although I will admit I've taken some ideas from Ella on her WSA vs WSWO days) ;-)

Brynna also has become a morning person. This has been going on for some time now (unfortunately) and while it's nice to get the day started, I don't so much enjoy starting it at 5 am. Let me sleep in until 6 at least PLEASE! I'm kind of scared how daylight savings time is going to go around here... YIKES! Her doc suggested that we keep her up an hour or so later for a week and see if that helps her sleep later when the time change occurs. Hopefully that will help!

Potty training has been put on the back burner for a while. She's gone pee in the potty 2 times (and I think this was just good timing on my part vs her actually "going" out of cognitive thought), but other than that, she doesn't seem all that interested. She still could care less about sitting in a poopy diaper. Again, per her doc's suggestion, we will revisit it again in a couple months and see. In the meantime, we will still ask her a few times a day if she wants to sit on it and try to "go." Even if she only sits for a couple seconds, she's picking up the concept, right?

And that's all I can think of... here's a few recent pics (some of her party):

One of my favorite pics this month

Being silly with Mr Potatohead!

She makes this face all the time and it makes me laugh :)

At her party with Auntie Ashley (sorry it's blurry... dang iphone!)

With Batman's mom and dad and cousin Roenan

Mommy and B at her party!

Papa (my dad) and B going through her "treasures" from the hay find

Putting her new baby to bed

"helping" with dinner last night

Happy Birthday Brynna!

2011-10-21T08:29:00.000-06:00

Happy 2nd Birthday my sweet girl! We love you so much!

(how did she get to be 2 already!?)

PS sorry I've been MIA this week... so much to do for her party still... will update with pics about our week AND her party :)

Tomato harvest

2011-10-14T08:01:00.000-06:00

I planted a garden this summer. Did I tell you that? Normally, I don't even try because I tend to kill things. And rather quickly. But this year I was DETERMINED to grow something.
So I had my FIL build me a raised bed on the side of our house.

And I actually had things GROW. Over the summer we enjoyed radishes and lettuces and swiss chard, lots of basil and chives and parsely. Carrots and cucumbers. Oh my! It was de-lish!

Now that the weather is getting cooler my monstrosity of a tomato bush (seriously this thing is huge! see pic below) is finally ready for harvesting a bunch of tomatoes! And if you know me IRL you know I love, love, LOVE fresh, homegrown tomatoes (and this heirloom variety was named "best of Seattle" how could I go wrong?)! I've been more excited about this plant than really any other in my garden (other than broccoli. But that was a bust- the aphids took over and there was nothing left of it :( )

This thing took over half my garden... sadly that meant my onions had no chance (next year I will most definitely trim, trim and trim some more so I don't have such a huge plant)

So Wednesday morning I went out and picked everything I could!

I ended up with about 3 bowls full (and there are still more that weren't quite ready yet). And even though I <3 tomatoes, I knew there was NO WAY I could eat them all. So instead I took the advice of our CSA farmers and roasted them!

I split up what I had into 2 batches- one "Italian" (tomatoes, garlic, onion, basil) and one "Mexican" (tomatoes, onion, garlic, peppers) all from either my garden or the farm.

I threw them in the oven @ 400 for 30 min, then turned it down to 275 for about 5 hours, stirring them every 30-60 min or so.

And viola! 3 freezer bags of each! I can't wait to use them this winter in some sauces and soups! If they taste half as good as my house smelled, they will be heavenly!

And on a side note- I think we may need to get B her own step stool for helping out in the kitchen... (and yes, I do believe I have the world's tiniest kitchen)

Hopefully the beginning of the end

2011-10-12T13:53:00.001-06:00

Of diapers! This morning Brynna came up to me and said "Pee pee Mommy" so we quickly ran to the bathroom where her potty chair resides, whisked off her pants and diaper and- lo and behold- she went pee on the potty!!! She was so proud of herself. And we found some "special" princess stickers (aka some random ones in my plethora of scrapbook supplies *wink* but she doesn't know that) as a reward for being such a big girl!

Now, I haven't gotten her to go again yet, but we are going to keep at it! I'm hoping that this is the start of real potty training- wish us luck!

Done and done

2011-10-11T09:51:00.001-06:00

First off... Melissa- where did you go? Did I miss something? I hope everything is going okay for you!

Yesterday's removal was fairly uneventful. It took the NP a number of tries (more than a few, less than 10) to find the strings (what little was left of them) and get the Mirena out. But it is, in fact, out. I will let you know if I have any of the crazies coming off the progesterone. So far so good.

In other less exciting news, I looked in the mirror this morning and realized my lack of exercise the past couple weeks is really starting to show. Not on the scale, but I can tell in the mirror. So here and now I'm GOING to get MOTIVATED! Seriously, I don't know what happened, but I feel like I'm in a fog. It's kind of ridiculous.

Back on track. I need to remember the little engine that could. I think I can, I think I can... instead of getting a defeatist attitude any time I miss a day.

So here we go... back on the TTC train. Back on the workout train. Back on the healthy diet train. Back on the crazy train...

Tomorrow is the day

2011-10-09T19:23:00.000-06:00

And I won't lie. I'm kind of a ball of nerves. Kinda like my last post about getting the our out.

Are we really ready for this? I guess we will find out...

Now if I can just get some sleep tonight. You'd think I was awaiting my wedding day or something because my emotional state is kind if ridiculous.

Oh, and the pregnancy dreams continue, so that hasn't helped.

*sigh*

Wish me luck... Or maybe sanity?

One project down...

2011-10-05T08:30:00.000-06:00

843 to go...

Yep I'm talking about Brynna's birthday! It's only a few weeks away and now it's crunch time! I finished the invites last night and they're being sent out this morning.

What do you think?

Okay... Must. Get. More. Done.

We did have a slight snafu with our original "venue" but we've figured out an alternate location that will work put just fine. Sadly, no live animals though.

I will keep updating as things come together.

It must be on the brain

2011-10-04T13:38:00.000-06:00

T minus 6 days and counting until the IUD comes out!

And apparently even though my conscious mind doesn't think about it a lot, my subconsious is in baby overdrive. Every night for the past two weeks, at least, I've dreamt I'm preggo.

Every.
Night.

And to be honest, the dreams are kind of starting to freak me out.

Because, are we really ready for #2? I realize there is no guarantee that we'll even get a #2. And there's also no guarantee that it will happen quickly. But if we do, and if it does... are we really ready for another one? Will Brynna be ready to share the attention? I barely stay sane with just her these days... what are we thinking?

Insanity update... or not

2011-09-29T06:22:00.000-06:00

I can't really call this an update since I've kind of put Insanity up on the shelf for a while.

See, first I left for Seattle a few weeks ago (mid week 7... or was it 8? Can't remember) for a week and left it at home. Then I came home and had ZERO motivation to get back into it. And then... well, that's it in a nutshell. I kinda gave up on it.

Don't get me wrong it was a really good workout. I enjoyed, for the most part, those 7ish weeks. And I was starting to see some changes, notice more strength, getting better at each fit test. But I just kind of ran out of steam when I got home.

So after a couple (3) weeks, I decided to come back to it at a later date and instead start up p90x again. I just really felt like I was getting a better work out from it overall (it may have something to do with the fact that I was a lot more consistent with p90 than I was with Insanity). And I kind of like having the weight training AND cardio. I missed that with Insanity.

So that's where I am. Sorry there won't be any before and after pictures... maybe next time I go through insanity? I only have 3 lbs until I've hit my original goal weight. And when (if) I ever get to my dream goal weight, I'll let you know. I think they're going to be the hardest!

The date has been set (edited for clarification)

2011-09-28T06:43:00.002-06:00

Well, I made the appt and my IUD (hopefully) comes out Oct 10th. Let the TTC crazies begin!

I'm hoping this time around I can be a little more relaxed and laid back in my approach. But who am i kidding? When am I ever NOT crazy about something I set my mind on?

Anyone have any advice about getting the IUD out? All I can find online are horror stories (thank you Dr. google). ETA: My IUD has little-to-no strings and they had to use an u/s to even find it back in April when I was having that weird spotting... so I'm not sure if it's going to be easy, hard, whatever :( But does AF show up right away or am I going to have to wait around for her to get with the program?

I'm kind of excited. And kind of terrified. We will see what happens.

I will say this though. I recently had my palm read (by a 6 YR OLD- so it's completely reliable {dripping with sarcasm}) and supposedly we are only having one child so maybe all this anticipation is for naught?

22/23 months

2011-09-26T08:39:00.000-06:00

Little Miss Brynna turned 23 months last week (how is this POSSIBLE?!) and since I was such a slacker mama last month (aka didn't do a 22 month post) I'm combining it ;-)

So here goes:

She weighs in at 25.2 lbs on our home scale (40%) and is about 32in tall (12%)- I think ;-)

She's wearing mostly 18 mo clothes, some 12 mo, some 24 mo, but the 24mo is still pretty HUGE on her, especially if she wears pants without a CD (with 'sposies they fall right off).

Still in size 4 'sposies, but we've been avoiding buying many lately... trying to cut down on our expenses and at $10 even at Wal.Mart for a small bag... well, kudos to those of you that buy the big boxes!

Her feet have finally grown and she's now in size 6! Which meant a couple weeks ago I had to run out and buy a couple pairs of new shoes for her (darn, huh? LOL). I LOVE that we have so many kids' consignment stores around here! I got her 2 pairs (one ske.tchers and one con.verse) for $12.

I know I've said this the last few months, but her vocabulary continues to expode! She's putting together (very) short sentences now, which has been kind of excting for us ;-) A couple of my favorite words she's taken to in the last couple months are: baby corn, Apple.bee's, what happened?, mommy (instead of mom), gramma's house, and Kino kisses. They all just sound so cute with her little voice ;-)

She's getting more and more into coloring. I have to keep the crayons and markers out of her line of sight, otherwise we'd be coloring all day in this house!

We continue to go to the library once a week, although we've missed the "tot time" the last couple months (August is their month off and we haven't been going in Sept due to schedules), but hopefully this week we will get back into the swing of things. It's been fun going on our own though and playing and picking out books on our own.

She's FINALLY getting enough hair to braid! Yay! My mom even got it into a french braid when we were up in Seatown a couple weeks ago, so there is hope that she won't have to be Hulk Hogan for Halloween (My brother J has been trying to get me to dress her up like that since last year... he thinks it would be hilarious! For the record- she's going to be a cow)

Her love of animals continues to grow so now anytime we see a dog or cat in the neighborhood, we have to stop and either pet them or watch them for a while (all friendly of course). We've been to the zoo a couple times and she has such a great time! I'm thinking next year we will do an annual pass and go once a week or so.

She's still my little helper and loves to clean (that would be from her dad) and help around the house. I've been letting her "help" me with dinner a few times here and there and she has a good time pouring ingredients together. She got to lick the beaters from some cake mix a few weeks ago and she LOVED that!

And I think that's all I can think of right now...

Here's some highlight pics of the last couple months:

Great weekend! (warning-picture heavy post! and kinda long)

2011-09-18T17:34:00.000-06:00

We gained a new family member on Friday! My SIL went in for her scheduled csection and out came our beautiful new nephew Phoenix ;-) We got to visit them yesterday in the hospital and OH MY! I think I'm ready for another one in our house LOL (that's another post entirely... don't get any ideas):

My SIL is recovering well. She's diabetic, so it's been a bit of a rough pregnancy for her, but the c section went great and she's feeling good.
Here's baby's stats:
Weight: 9lbs 9oz (so glad she had a c/s and didn't make her wait the extra week and a half to her EDD)
Length: 23.5 in (no wonder why she was pretty miserable for the last couple months!)
Name: Phoenis Orion W.
He's really just precious! And finally a grandkid in Batman's family that looks like his side LOL ALL the other 4 grandkids look more like their mama's (B included) ;-) But this one seems to take after Batman's mom's side (he looks a lot like Batman's late grandpa- Batman's mom's dad- we're hoping it sticks) ;P
And since my SIL had Phoenix on Friday, my IL had big brother Roenan! So we met them for the ZOO on Friday!

Grandma and Roenan

Playing on the Tigers

Grandpa and the munchkinds

Little Helpers

Meeting in the middle of the prairie dog tunnel

Ready to GO!

Plus our Broncos won another game and are still seated #4 in the polls! Saturday we found miss B a couple new pairs of shoes too. I'm loving all the consignment stores in our area! I found her a pair of pink, sparkly Sk.echers and pink, hightop Con.verse for $6 each!

Today we spent the morning at church and then relaxed at home. Batman's had to work all weekend :( so we will be giving him some TLC tonight *wink wink*

And since Miss B turns 23 months in just a couple days, I'm going to be a slacker mom and just do a joint 22/23 month post ;-) This kiddo is growing up way too fast! Yikes!

Hope ya'll had a fantastic weekend!

Home at last

2011-09-14T07:53:00.000-06:00

and trying to recover... well, actually we've been home since Monday, but it's taken us a couple days to get back into our groove.

The wedding was FABULOUS! And thanks to Brynna entertaining the crowd throughout the ceremony, I didn't cry at all (even though I was on the verge of tears all Saturday). The song went well (did I tell you I sang with my younger siblings? This song) and people even came up to me after and said "I didn't know you could sing!" (I can't really... it's more that I can carry a tune... certainly no american idol or anything!) My brother was so happy and my new SIL looked amazing!
Unfortunately I was so preoccupied, I didn't get many pics- and none of B in her dress :(! Eeek! So here's a little taste until I can "borrow" some off of FB from the photog ;-)

And since I'm late on this- to answer the couple of Insanity questions:

Emma: It is pretty hard on the knees if you have issues. There is a TON of jumping up and down and lunges and squats... I would stick with something less impact. I did the turbo jam series a few years ago and it would be (or turbo fire) a much better option for you, I think. HTH!

Christina: between the 2, I lost the most weight with p90x. And to be honest, I think I liked it better. Insanity is no joke, but I just felt like I was getting a better all around work out with p90x. HTH!

Off and running again

2011-09-06T19:54:00.000-06:00

B and I leave in the wee hours of the morning for Seatown. My brother, J is getting married on Saturday so we are headed up for the festivities. Should be a grand time! And miss B is one of the flower girls, so you KNOW there is a picture post coming ;-)

Hope everyone has a great week!

The end of life as I know it...

2011-09-05T09:36:00.000-06:00

In other words, I had a birthday yesterday (and thank you to all of you who wished me a happy one on FB- it really was great!). It was the big 3-0. Yikes!

And while this might come off as a bit melodramatic, to be honest, I'm having a hard time coming to grips with it. My age. I realize that 30 is NOT old by any means. But it does mean I'm getting older. And I think what has be freaked out the most is that I'm not where I thought I'd be at this age. Don't get me wrong, I'm not in a bad place at all. Quite the contrary. I've got a great life, a wonderful husband, the best daughter, a nice home. It's just not quite what I pictured, you know?
And I certainly wouldn't trade it for anything! It's just... different than what I imagined.
I guess I thought I'd be more "grown up," done having our kids, working, living elsewhere, etc. I know this is just rambling and not making any sense. Hell, it doesn't even make sense in my own brain... it just is what it is I guess. It's silly, really, to have a hard time with a birthday. They're inevitable. Every year.

Maybe my problem is that time is just moving too fast? Maybe it's that I need to stop and savor the moments I'm given instead of dwelling on what isn't? Probably...

It's Game Day!

2011-09-03T15:58:00.000-06:00

And you know what that means...

We are decked out in our blue and orange, waiting for Boise State to kick some Georgia A$$ (down with the SEC)!! It's gonna be awesome!! You better believe we will be cheering on our Broncos! Game starts at 8ET in case you didn't know- on ESPN ;-P
In the meantime, I'm waiting for Batman to get home from climbing Mt Borah, wiling away the hours watching other college football games.

(On a side note- thank you all for your thoughts and comments. My parents have been in contact with their attorney and the union, as well as the city's HR dept. It's been a crazy few days- only to get crazier! My older brother is getting married in a week (9-10-11), so obviously the timing of my dad's termination is very poor. I will keep y'all posted though)

More bad days

2011-09-01T07:51:00.000-06:00

Yesterday my dad got the call from the city. He was officially terminated.

I'm so angry! What the hell is wrong with the City? Don't they know that in court they won't have a leg to stand on? Why put themselves through a long and costly legal battle? Why put my parents through the hardship when it's more than likely only going to go in their favor? Ugh! Why couldn't they have at least given him the option to retire? The man has been their slave for 34 YEARS!

I talked to my brother about leaking the story to the press and I guess at this point it doesn't make sense. He said the union is going into "binding arbitration?" Whatever that means (I have no legal background so can someone please explain this to me? From my understanding this would add a 3rd party and their decision would be final? I'm confused...) I'm not sure what happens after that, if anything?

And of course the city waited until the last day of August. The last day my parents (and younger siblings) had benefits. My dad could have had the knee surgery he needs, that contributed to his accident, had they known sooner! Instead they jerked him around for over a month, not allowing him the opportunity to get it done. Again. So now he will just suffer longer (mind you he tried to have this done prior to his accident last summer, but the city refused to allow him the time off as they "needed him" those months).

And the worst part of all this? My dad feels like a big, fat failure. Like he's not worth it. And that breaks my heart. He's one of the most hard working, nicest, big hearted men I know. And it kills me that people are doing this to him.

Insanity Update

2011-08-30T13:36:00.000-06:00

I think it's about time for one of these, right?

Well, I'm still going strong, although I fully admit I miss a day here and there. I really do enjoy it (well, once the workout is DONE, I feel better for having done it), and I've seen some changes.

The first 4 weeks are the same 4 workouts over and over, switched up each week in order. They give you a great "bang-for-your-buck" workout for only being about 40 min each and honestly I was DRENCHED in sweat by the time I was done. I was finally getting a good rhythm going with them. And then it changed-
Last week was "recovery week" so I did the same workout (cardio core and balance) everyday all week (I hate to say that I only did it 3 times though, instead of the 6 days it wants you to do- chalk it up to busy schedules). It wasn't as intense as the first months, so it was kind of a nice break/ breather.
So I started week 6 yesterday. This week, everything changes even more. Workouts are longer (60 min). They are more intense. I'm drenched in the first 5 minutes. It looks like I will be doing this different set of 4 workouts over the next weeks, but like the first month they change up the order each week.

And the stats- I've only lost about 3 pounds, but I've gone down a full size in pants- which is nothing to balk at. I'm excited to see where I'll be at by the end. The first month was kind of a bust following the eating plan, but I'm doing much better last week and this week and I know it will pay off as the next weeks go by!

Any questions? Comments? I'm an open book ;-)

MIA

2011-08-29T06:55:00.000-06:00

In my defense, last week was CRAZY BUSY! So here's what's been going on in bullets ;-)

Cheer started last week so Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday were spent with 8 college students. All day. I'm really excited for what this year is going to bring. Hopefully, no drama. This seems like a good group of kids and I think it's going to be a good year
Monday was our last playdate with Katie and Collin. The school year begins around here today, so K is back to teaching. We are going to miss seeing them, but come November we will get to see them more often while she's on maternity leave!
B turned 22 months!
We went to the fair last Sunday. Pics to come in B's 22 month post. We had a great time and B LOVED all the animals! Her farm themed birthday party is sure to be a hit :)
Speaking of her party- Batman is trying to convince our good friend E to talk his parents into letting us have the party at their farm. They have horses, cows, chickens, dogs, cats and I think he said a sheep? It would be AWESOME if we could!
Batman tried to surprise me with a trip to Disneyland for my birthday (yes, it's coming... the big 3-0- YIKES!), but I shot him down. I am kind of bummed that he was getting buyers remorse (before spending the $$) and part of me wishes he would have just gone ahead without asking me. But the other side of me is glad we didn't drop a couple grand. I keep telling myself it's more important to pay off our school loans. Right? RIGHT?
We (meaning me) watched this movie over the weekend. It's been on our net.flix instant queue for weeks and I finally sat down for it. And now I think when we get home from the wedding we are going to Reboot!
So does anyone have any suggestions on a good juicer? We have a vitamix already and that *would* work, but I'd rather just get a separate juicer. We are looking at a Breville or maybe a Champion. They are 2 very different machines and I'm not sure at this point which we'd be happier with.
We may or may not have talked about TTC again. Our original timeline was going to be Januray, but it looks as though we may start sooner than that. =D
B has been in her big girl bed for 2 weeks and it's been going AWESOME! She likes sleeping in it and nap and bedtime are so easy (although bedtime last night was a bit of a struggle). She just climbs right in!
Batman unofficially will continue his orders through June! This news came down last week. Yay! :) After that we are looking at taking over the family painting business (we've had our own before, but after joining the military Batman only did it as a side job here and there). I'm kind of nervous about being self employed again, but we'll see how it goes. God is in control, so I don't need to be.

It doesn't sound like that makes for a busy week, but I assure you it does! And now I'm off to go grocery shopping and get this week started! Happy Monday!

A Heavy Heart

2011-08-20T22:22:00.000-06:00

Our neighbors were found today. Unfortunately, the news was tragic. You can read the news story here.

My heart hurts.

From what we've gotten through our other neighbors, D and T, Barb and Charlie turned onto an old road (probably at Charlie's insistance as he was adventurous and Barb did what he wanted) that narrowed beyond what they could navigate. Speculation is that they tried to back out, lost control of their truck and rolled down the embankment. From the evidence, it appeared that Barb was killed before Charlie as her body had been covered by sleeping bags. He was found yards away from the sight, probably looking for help. Their dear pup, Sassy, survived the entire ordeal and has been given to family that has been staying at their house.

I can't even begin to imagine what they went through. Was Barb killed in the accident? Did she live with injuries for days before passing? Oh, what Charlie must have felt, seeing the love of his life, pass before his eyes. What really happened? We may never know for sure. I pray that the end came quickly and as peacefully as possible for them both. They were so dear to our hearts!

Please pray for their surviving family! Our hearts are exceedingly heavy tonight.

Down on the Farm

2011-08-18T14:52:00.001-06:00

So I think I've decided to go ahead with the Barnyard/Farm theme for Brynna's birthday (Am I thinking about this a tad too early since it's over 2 months away? I think not!) She's just so into everything Pick! (pig) Cow! (cow) Baa Baa! (sheep) Neigh Neigh! (horse) Baa bock! (chicken) these days, it just seems to fit her.
And in typical T fashion I've been scouring the internet for ideas. Here's stuff I've come up with so far:

1.For invitations- homemade (obviously since I have SO much scrapbooking stuff that never gets used. And Batman would prefer it gets put to use! And not have to spend $$) similar to this barn shaped one with something like "Baa! Neigh! Cluck! Moo! Farmgirl Brynna is turning 2!" and then all the pertinent invite info.
2. Cake- Either just a round cake covered in fondant with cow spots or a pig (and a big #2 on top similar to this) -OR- a barn with a couple animals -OR- cupcakes with animal toppers. (Although I would really love to get THIS cake!)
3. Food table- pretzel sticks (hay/ horse feed), "farm fresh veggies," apples, chex mix or chips of some kind (chicken feed), whoppers or raisinettes (sheep poop), hot dogs or pigs in a blanket (self explanatory- real hotdogs and fake), burgers (bean burgers and cow burgers), potato salad (pig slop), corn on the cob (self explanatory) and maybe no bake cookies (cow pies). Milk (real and soy or rice), lemonade and water bottles to drink (unless people want coffee too).
4. A "hay ride"- borrowing my IL red wagon, filling it with some hay and taking the littler kids for rides
5. Barn playhouse- made out of big boxes- I may need to scour Best.Buy or Lo.wes to get my hands on a few that would be big enough (or maybe this should be what we get B for her birthday? A real playhouse not one made of boxes).
6. Games- pin the tail on the pig, cow or horse, ring around the saddle (I'm going to see if our friend would let us borrow one of his saddles for the day), haystack hunt (instead of a pinata- not that I would do a pinata for a 2 yr old, but I liked the idea).
7. Dress up/ photo booth- different animal hats (that people can take home), bandanas, straw hats, etc- OR- big animal cut outs with face holes.
8. Favors- $store animals, cowtails candy, animal crackers, farm themed stickers, maybe $store tractors?
9. Decorations- hay bails (these may get pricey so I may have to rethink this), cow print table runners, red plates and flatware, maybe a few animal shaped balloons and some streamers (but maybe not on the streamers), and possible a banner (like the buntings I've been seeing all over the internet- farm themed).

Am I missing anything? Got any other ideas? Obviously we won't be doing ALL of this stuff... that would be a little overwhelming I think. I also looked into pony rides, but the only place in our area charges $150 for an hour and I just don't think Batman would go for that (I will have to do some heavy convincing as it is!) ;-) If we weren't going to be in a club house at my IL subdivision, I would try and coerce our friend to allow us his horse (with him in charge, obviously!). Maybe I will just put Kino in a cow costume... he's big enough, right? Right? ;-)

So many things to think about...

Lost in Translation

2011-08-17T06:41:00.000-06:00

It's come to my attention that someone didn't like Batman's most recent post so much. Unfortunately, they hid behind the "anonymous" mask. Which in my mind says they are a coward. Or that blogger wasn't working. One or the other.

Let me say a couple of things in response. While Batman doesn't need anyone to defend him or his blog, I feel it's my obligation as his wife (and love of his life)to do so.
First, it's his blog. Not yours, not mine, not Tom's, not Dick's, not Harry's, but HIS. So honestly? He has the right to post whatever he wants. And not feel bad about it.
Second, one of the reasons I love and married Batman is his sarcasm and very dry sense of humor. Obviously, this somehow was lost on anonymous as they were reading said post. While at times he can seem a bastard, it's almost always in jest and not malicious.
Third and finally, his intent, while not completely known to me(I didn't ask), was probably not "bashing", but merely venting his frustration about getting numerous pictures a day from our SIL. He likes seeing pics of our niece and nephew, but 20 a day seems a little over the top. I completely understand his point of view, as I get the same picture. Personally, I don't mind getting the pics since I show them to B and she now "knows" who M and D are. Batman? Not so much.
The other thing you have to understand is that said SIL does kinda come across as a "keeping up with the Joneses" type person. If we try something new, she has to also, but do it better. It's been like this since as long as I've known her (which is coming up on a decade and for Batman much longer). And this has always rubbed Batman the wrong way.
So there's my little rant. Take it or leave it.
And to anonymous- if it really bothered you that much? Stop reading. It's as simple as that.

2011-08-15T08:26:00.000-06:00

Apparently Batman is a good manipulator (not always a bad thing)!

Over the weekend 2 things happened.

1. We turned B around in her car seat so she's now FF. I would have preferred she stay RF until she outgrew the weight limit, but I had compromised and settled on her 2nd birthday. Well, Batman wore me down and I finally said "just DO it!" on Saturday. Brynna seems happy as a clam. And now I won't get any more comment from my IL about how they wish she were turned so they could see her face (I was REALLY getting tired of those comments).

This looks SO uncomfortable! RF was a much better angle to sleep!

2. We made B's crib into a day bed. She's officially a big girl now! I wasn't really certain it would work, but the last 2 naps and nights she's done great. Again, I thought we'd wait until she was closer to 3 before moving her from the crib, but I guess we will keep it this way. Funny thing is, she hasn't really figured out she can get OUT of her bed... LOL I guess this is a good thing ;-)

Cheese!
Oh and I forgot to mention that I went to the Michael Buble concert last week **swoon** It was A- mazing! Best concert I've ever been to... probably helps that I kinda have a crush on him (but what woman doesn't?).

nothing much to say these days

2011-08-13T10:36:00.000-06:00

Haven't had much that's blog worthy lately... But Batman is trying his hand at blogging again, so maybe he'll have something for you to read... Catch him over here

My neighbors are still missing. Batman thinks they may have gone off the road coming down the mountain and fallen in the river. I don't know if we will ever know. Their kids and grandkids have organized their own searches and keep coming up empty. I'm still praying that they will be found safe.

Oh we did try a new restaurant last night. Donnie Mac's Trailer Park Cuisine. I guess they were on that food network show- Diners, Drive-Inns and Dives? It was pretty good and I'm sure we will go back again! :)

And that's about it.

Some Updates

2011-08-05T07:40:00.000-06:00

My neighbors:

They are still missing, but there are reports that they were seen last Saturday afternoon at a flea market in the mountains. No one has seen them since, but it's a start and the police are now searching Valley County. Unfortunately, this is a huge county, all of it mountainous and mostly uninhabited. We are still praying they are found safe.

My Dad:

He had his meeting with the Public Works Director yesterday finally (they changed from the mayor's office to him). Not really a lot happened and no decision has been made yet. My dad went in with the union attorney and a coworker (who was filling in for someone from the union). He read a letter he and my brother had written, apologizing and rebutting (is that the word?) some of the allegations against him. Then the attorney made his point- basically that there has been no accomodation from the beginning for my dad, even though there should have been, and that he does have a disability that makes some issues and basically that if the city chooses termination, they will have a legal issue to deal with. The director thanked them for the "new information" and stated he would make a decision over the weekend. My dad is still on paid administrative leave until then.

Me:

Insanity has been... okay. When I got sick a few weeks ago I was in the middle of week 2 and to be honest working out made me feel worse not better. So I bagged it until I got to feeling better. Last week I restarted week 1. So here I am almost finished with week 2. I haven't lost any weight yet, but I do feel a little stronger (meaning I can get through more of the workout with less breaks!) and some clothes seem to fit better.
We pulled down my "skinny box" from the attic last weekend and I actually fit into about half the clothes in it! Yippee! I was so excited! The other half, I think I need to lose about 10 more pounds before they'll work. So... 10 or so more pounds is my goal. I'm hoping I can do it over the next month, but I have a feeling it may take me longer. Since Batman's been home, my eating habits haven't exactly been great... neither have his ;-) I guess we need to revamp things and go back to 1 bad meal a week instead of 3 or 4.
I still have a sore throat every few days... For some reason I can't seem to completely kick this virus. Grrr! Batman's been after me to get into the doc, but since I have never established myself with our PCM, I'm kind of on the fence. It will take them at least a week to get me in and I may be fully better by then, right? What would you do? Hmm...

Batman:

It's been so great having him home and we've been getting back into a great routine. This week has been really crappy thanks to the ORE out at the base (operation readiness exercise). They have the ORI (inspection) in October, so all these practice runs make for long weeks :( He's been working 14-16 hour days and we've hardly seen him. Thankfully, Sunday is the last day and then Monday is a down day. I wish they would give him more than just one day though. He could use the rest!

Brynna:

Ever my sweet girl! We have been getting out more this week. Tuesday we went to the park and splash pad with a GF of mine and her son:

She had a great time and lasted almost 2 hours before we had to go home for lunch and naptime!
Wednesday we went to the library and she picked out 5 new books to "read." She's been enjoying some new stories before bedtime and she definitely knows which one she likes LOL.
Yesterday we went to the zoo again. This time we paid the extra $1 to go through the butterfly in blooms exhibit and she had SO much fun! We even had a few land on us and she did SO great!

Today we are laying low and staying home I think. Tomorrow we may head to the farmer's market... we'll see.
And this girl will be 2 in just over 2 months! Yikes! And I have no ideas for a theme for her birthday. I've considered Elmo, but she hasn't been super into him these days (other than having to have her 2 Elmos to sleep with). Then I thought a barnyard theme since she loves animals these days (we've added a cow and horse to her menagerie of "nighttime must haves"). Any one have any ideas?

Missing

2011-08-02T14:00:00.000-06:00

My neighbors across the street went missing over the weekend. The last they were seen was Satruday morning (I saw them that morning too) and they were supposed to have shown up for a family get together Saturday afternoon and they never showed. A police officer was at their house Sunday morning and asked around the neighborhood. It was thought that they may have taken a day trip to the mountains, as they often do, but there's no evidence of them making it to their common destinations.

My heart is heavy today, as they have called off the search. I'm unsure of the reasoning. I'm just hoping they find them soon!

21 months

2011-07-28T12:55:00.000-06:00

Yep, we are now only 3 months away from Brynna's 2nd birthday. Yowza!! I can't believe it's coming so soon!

So her stats for 21 months:

we did both of these at home over the weekend so they are completely unscientific (lol) and there is a large margin of error, I'm sure ;-)

weight: approx 24lbs
height: approx 31 in

ever my petite little munchkin. We were even at Wal.mart the other day and I had an old man comment on how cute she was followed with "what is she? 9 months?" I almost laughed! I just responded with a "nope, she's almost 2" and went on my merry way.

Since we did our spring clean over the weekend, we went through her closet and took out anything under 18 months. While 12 mo stuff still fits, they are getting pretty short (pants are now capris and tshirts tend to show her belly a bit). We are no where near 24 mo size yet! Maybe by next spring?
She's still in size 5 shoes, but I don't think for much longer. Her flipflops (that seems to be our go-to shoe these hot days) are fitting just right, so I'm thinking by September or her birthday we will go to the next size.
Diapers are all the same- size 4 'sposies and our normal CD.
Her vocan continues to explode! Everyday I swear she learns more and more words and is now putting some together like "go outside" and "play Kino" It's been exciting to see her learn :) Although just this morning she may or may not have tried to copy daddy when he said f*ck. Thankfully she can't really say "f" yet!

Since Batman got home, she's had a new favorite toy to play with. He brought her home a little stuffed horse that says "I <3 Texas" on the side. She takes that thing with her EVERYWHERE. She still loves playing with her babies though and we bring out her tea set every few days and have tea parties on the back deck. Puzzles are becoming a fast favorite again as well. We've also expanded our morning tv show to include Kipper sometimes! (she watches one show while we eat our breakfast- I hope this doesn't make me a bad mom?)
We've been playing outside more and more (obviously, since it's summer and all). One of our local parks has a huge splash pad and we spend at least one day a week there, sometimes 2 or 3. She's really been enjoying tot time at the library too! I'm hoping that all this interaction with other kids helps her socialize a bit. Since we stay home a lot, it's really all she gets other than Sunday School at church. I feel bad that we don't know more moms with kids that we can do playdates with. Any one of you want to move to Idaho so we can play?

She still has the irrational fear of all things bugs, although it's calmed down a little this past month. Now instead of freezing and being completely terrified, she'll run away and yell "bug, bug, bug!" I'm hoping she doesn't have this complex for life like her mom.

And that's all I can think of... Here are a couple pics from the last month:

Visiting Daddy at work

With our 95 yr old (great) grandma (Batman's Dad's mom)

At the Pancake House waiting for a table

Teaching her baby to play the piano

At our local splash pad

At the Snake River Stampede (yes we LOVE rodeo!)

July 4th with Daddy

In time out (yes I have to hold her there... not quite getting it yet)

Enjoying a yummy treat compliments of Auntie Amber!

Sitting on the front porch

Heartfelt thanks

2011-07-25T20:29:00.000-06:00

Thank you all for your kind words, encouragement, support and prayers! They have meant a lot to me these last few days.

My dad's meeting with the mayor has been postponed for the moment, as the mayor has other things more pressing at this time. They are supposed to call him this week to reschedule. Until then, he assumes he's on paid admin leave.

My parents met with a disabilities lawyer this afternoon and he feels they have a very strong case, should they need to proceed. At this point they are waiting to see what, if anything, the union is going to do.

So now it's just a waiting game. I know in my heart things will turn out alright, even if that means my dad no longer is working (maybe early retirement?). God will see them through as he always has and does.

As far as Batman, Little Miss and I- we had a great weekend of "spring" cleaning and organizing. Our house feels like it's back to normal again ;-)

The other shoe just dropped

2011-07-21T16:11:00.000-06:00

It feels like the last year we've just been waiting for it to, and I think it finally has...

Serious prayers needed! Sorry this may be long and rambly... As you know, my dad was in an accident a year ago (Sunday is the anniversary) resulting in severe brain trauma. To be honest, he is a walking miracle. In less than a year he regained almost all his normalcy, including going back to work full time. While it has been a struggle at times, he has perservered. Yesterday, he was called into a meeting where his supervisor (and others) informed him they are recommending to the mayor his termination (he works for the city of redmond washington). The final decision is on the 27th, until then he is on paid admin leave. They handed him a letter in which stated all the reasons they had come to this decision and while many are justifiable, ALL OF THEM are due IN FULL to his injury and current disabilites (when he came back to work is was recommended he return to light duty or part time to ease into things, but they did not allow this and it was either full time or termination then... obviously he chose to go back to work). None of his disabilities were taken into account when the board came to this recommendation. There was a complete disregard for the fact that he still continues to have neurologic issues that damper some of his work. This is a man who has spent the majority of his life serving this city. He has worked there for 34 years, grew up in the town, went to school there and made it his goal to better the city through his job. Until his accident and resulting injuries, he has NEVER had so much as a single mark , on the contrary has been an exemplary employee, even one people turned to with questions and concerns even though that was not his job. The whole situation makes me sick... and angry. It just seems like there should be SOMETHING illegal about how they are handling the situation and my father's career and life. Sorry this is so long, but it helped to get it all out. I'm just so MAD and wish there was something I could do to fix it...

Home again, home again

2011-07-20T21:34:00.000-06:00

Well, this post was supposed to go up Monday. However, I apparently hit the save button and not the publish button... lovely. Here it is anyway:

We spent the weekend a couple hours north of here in McCall for our annual family vacation. It was a pretty glorious 3 days with lots of sunshine and family fun!

We headed up after Batman got off work on Thursday evening. The cabin we rented was gorgeous! {And for sale! If only I could afford the $500K price tag ;-)} And fit the 9 of us that made it (Batman's youngest brother and his family couldn't get the time off work + my SIL is preggo and sadly miserable this time around). We had a campfire the first night and did some reminiscing, stayed up way too late and fell into bed sometime around 2am.
(This is problematic when you have a daughter who refuses to sleep past 6 am even when she goes to bed 3 hours past her normal bedtime)

Friday dawned bright and early. We ate breakfast, played outdoor games (ladder golf, horseshoes, bocce ball) and went for a long bike ride (which B was NOT a fan of!).

Batman and A being crazy!
We went to the lake for the afternoon, after some very short naps (including Miss B's 30 min wonder), went swimming and played in the sand.

This mama did a little relaxing in the shade though because a) the lake water is snow run off = freezing cold = not fun to swim in and b) I was miserably sick the whole weekend (aftermath of the whole handm, foot and mouth debacle + catching Brynna's sinus infection). Friday night, I tried a home remedy of an alcohol induced slumber to try and rid myself of the sickies, but to no avail. The campfire was fun though. We did more reminiscing and had a good bunch of laughs ;-)

Saturday everyone seemed a bit on edge, so we all laid low for the most part. We walked around town,

went swimming at the ranch pool,

baked some goodies for the evening and tried to keep the peace ;-)

Sunday we packed up all our stuff, returned the cabin keys and headed to tourist central for breakfast aka The Pancake House. And while the food is good (but not anything spectacular), the wait time for a table and then the service was TERRIBLE. Like beyond belief. As in, we won't be going there. Ever. Again. Which is sad, really.
And then after we headed on home.
And that's our weekend in a nutshell. Happy Monday!

Well, here it is Wednesday night when I'm trying to put out another post... guess that one will have to wait a couple days...

It just keeps getting better

2011-07-14T10:54:00.000-06:00

Please note that the title is dripping with sarcasm.

Now B has a sinus infection. Our whole house has been a cess pool of sickness going on 3 weeks now. It's been lovely. Really.

So for the first time in her life, Brynna is on antibiotics.

Which is a story in itself. And maybe I'm just being an over concerned, know-it-all, mom here, but to be honest, I'm losing confidence in our pediatrician.

Yesterday, when we went in he kind of gave us the brush off, "I'm too busy today" appointment and it really kind of irked me. I felt kind of like we were wasting his time since she is just "on the edge" of it being considered a sinus infection (nose yuckiness for 10 days and 3 days of eye conjuctivitis). I'm kind of wondering if he forgot that it's people like me that KEEP HIM IN BUSINESS?!

And then he prescribed B amoxicillin, which is completely outdated for sinus infections. There are SO many better products out there that DON'T require a full 10 day dosage before working effectively. Working in a peds office for 5+ years through HS and college, I do know a thing or 2 about meds and antibiotics (not trying to toot my own horn, just stating a fact). And it just seems silly to me to put a child on amox for 10 days when zithromax or augmentin are only 3-6 days and work SO. MUCH. BETTER. Why play around with the bug for 10 days to see if amox will kill it? Why not bring out the PROVEN big guns from the beginning? I blame it on the state we live in... it being underserviced and all (aka considered rural). While there are many fine doctors that practice here, many things just seem a bit outdated.

This has been a bone of contention with me before when Batman has been sick and had to go on antibiotics. They prescribed the same thing. And MOST of the time, he's had to get another script for something stronger.

At least my mom works for our "Seattle ped" and can call in the big guns for us if she is considerably better by Monday.

*sigh*

Inevitable

2011-07-10T09:03:00.000-06:00

Contrary to what I thought, I did not have coxsakie when I was child. Which means, like any virus, I can get it as an adult.

And since Brynna had it last week, it was inevitable that I would get it.

And I did. Complete with nasty throat postules, runny eyes and nose and overall ickiness. Wanna see? Look below... (be warned it's kind of graphic)

So this weekend, which was supposed to involve spring cleaning and yard work and Insanity, has been a major bust.

Forgive me as I wallow in my pain...

See the nasty? There are a couple on the sides you can't see that are ulcer-ish that hurt like the dickens!

Batman's surprise

2011-07-06T07:30:00.007-06:00

You didn't think I'd forget, did you?

So Batman is a ~~big~~ HUGE fan of having fires in the backyard. Not the "burning your house down" kind, but the "sit around, have a couple beers and good conversation" kind. For the past 5 or 6 years we've had this dinky little fire pit that has sat on our deck. We'd huddle around it, praying it was far enough away from the house not to catch anything, and have a great time with friends and family. Winter or summer doesn't matter. We'd get it going and it was almost like camping, only without all the packing, driving, unpacking, set up, repacking, more driving, etc.

So me in my BRILLIANT wisdom thought how nice it would be to have an in-ground fire pit in the yard. And then that expanded to a cobblestone patio too. Me and my grand ideas...

Anyway, it turned out pretty well, if I do say so myself. It was a TON of work (not difficult, just a lot of manual labor), but well worth it.

And Batman was REALLY surprised. He had made a couple guesses as to what my project was (swing set, fountain), but he was blown away when he came home and saw it (which of course also made it worth all the work).
Here are a few pictures on the transformation:
I forgot to take an official "before" pic, but this was is sort of close. I had only dug out the perimeter and a small section of the grass

Almost all the grass gone!

(the "hole" is about 12 inches deep, just for a point of reference)

In went 6 inches of road mix gravel

Then a few inches of sand (and obviously Little Miss helped out)

The mostly finished product (sorry about Kino's butt in the background. He was terrorizing my neighbors chickens), just needs a layer of sand to hold the pavers in place.

And the finished product. We took for a test drive on Saturday and it's pretty awesome ;-)

Just disregard the fact that we need to mow...

Insanity

2011-07-05T07:30:00.006-06:00

Yep, you read that correctly. Batman and I have officially started 60 days of suck. After doing p90x (well almost) all the way through, I thought I was in fairly good shape. However, it did NOT prepare me for the craziness that is Insanity. We did the fit test yesterday and as "simple" as that was... it really kicked my a$$. We both are trying to get in the best shape possible before my brother J's wedding in September. So hopefully this will get us there.

I will update as to how things are going periodically. And hopefully those updates will be about how much better I feel and look and now about how I want to die every minute of every work out...

And I may or may not post my before and after pics...or maybe just on my other blog ;-)

Celebrate Independence!

2011-07-04T13:58:00.000-06:00

Happy 4th Y'all!

We are spending the day at my IL, bbqing, swimming and hanging out! So much fun and the weather is great! Clear and 95! Perfect :)

Pics to come... hopefully ;-)

Fantastic

2011-07-03T07:25:00.000-06:00

Batman arrived home late Wednesday evening, hence the blog hiatus. And it's been GLORIOUS! I almost forgot how nice it was to have him home ;-)

We've chilaxin' and swimming and just spending time together these last few days. The base gave him 5 days off before in-processing on Tuesday so we've been making the most of it. B just LOVES her daddy and I can tell she missed him. He seems to be her go to choice most of the time lately, which makes his day :)

Gotta run... update on my project soon, now that Batman has seen it (and was pretty blown away btw)!

19/20 month update

2011-06-29T12:18:00.001-06:00

I'm such a slacker that I completely missed a 19 month update. But in my defense, it's been a whirlwind of activity in the last month here, counting down the days until Batman comes home.

So here's what's been up with Little Miss:

We don't have any true stats since she hasn't been to the dr, but the other day when we went in to have her checked out and got THE dx, she weighed in at 24lb 14oz with her clothes and shoes on. Too bad her shoes along are like 1/2 a pound... so I would say she's pretty close to her 18 mo weight, maybe a few ounces more?

She's STILL in the same sizes, a lot of 12 month, but mostly 18 month. Anything bigger (24mo, 2T) is way, WAY too big. Still in size 4 'sposies, when she wears them (which is only at grandmas). And obviously, her OS BG are fitting just fine ;-)

Her vocabulary has EXPLODED! I guess, I should say you were all right (correct). There was no real reason for me to worry about her verbal skills ;-) It was somewhere in between 19 and 20 months that she started repeating a lot of what I say, so I've warned Batman to watch his mouth when he gets home. Being around military for any length of time and he comes home with a potty mouth ;-)

Naps are about the same at 1.5-3 hours depending on the day. She sleeps at night from 7:30- 6:30/7 most of the time, although the last week has been terrible since she's been sick.

She LOVES playing outside and says "ow-siiii" 100 times a day. And then throws a fit if we don't go outside. She's also discovered a love for otter pops, which I was hesitant to give her since they're loaded with sugar. But I guess since she doesn't get a lot of sweets elsewhere it's okay... right?

We've also discovered Yo Gabba Gabba. And let me tell you it makes me want to blow my ear drums out. However, B LOVES it! So I just let her watch an episode once in a while and try to ignore it.

We've been hanging out a ton at my IL pool and Brynna has started saying "ready, set, GO!" although it sounds more like "eh ee, eht, GO!" and then she'll "jump" (well, it's more of a lean really) into my arms so I can twirl her in circles in the water. It's the CUTEST thing!

Oh, and she's decided she can't go anywhere without her purse and sunglasses these days. If I try to leave without them, she won't budge until we grab them. It's pretty hysterical :)

I almost forgot! The kid is OBSESSED with rocks. It's "rock, rock, rock" everywhere we go and see a rock or she even thinks of a rock! She picks them up and puts them into a pile. Then she puts that pile into piles. then she throws them back and starts all over. It's crazy!

And that's all I can think of... not much for a full 2 months worth, but it works. I think I've decided I will continue to do monthly updates until her birthday and then we will go to once every 6 months or so. Here are a few of my favorite snap shots from the last 2 months:

PS: Today's the day we've been waiting for!!

I was wrong

2011-06-27T21:55:00.000-06:00

While, B's gums are a bit inflamed and her molars are "coming in the next month or so," that's not what has been making our lives a living hell these days. No, teeth are not the culprit.

Apparently, it's some kind of herpangina. Otherwise known as hand, foot and mouth. How IN THE HELL did my child pick up THAT? I guess, I thought that was only something she'd pick up if she were in daycare or around lots of other kids (we haven't been to church in a few weeks). Apparently, I was wrong.

You can get it from not washing your hands properly. It's a fecal-oral transmission most of the time. Basically, she got it from someone's poo. Who's, I have no idea, since we are pretty good hand washers in this house and so are my IL. So I have no idea. None.

I've been wracking my brain, trying to figure out where we have been in the last couple of weeks and I'm coming up empty on where she could have picked it up. I don't think we will ever know.

What I do know is, we probably got a few kids sick with it since we went swimming a couple times. And met up with a friend of ours today (although Brynna didn't actually touch him the entire time they were together so he may be safe).

On the bright side, it usually only lasts 5-7 days with the first 3-4 days being the worst. And we are on day 4 so tomorrow HAS to be better, right? RIGHT?

And we are thisclose to Batman getting home! Only a matter of a few days now :D

Teething woes

2011-06-25T13:52:00.000-06:00

Apparently, Brynna is cutting her 2 year molars. Isn't it a bit early for this? For cyring out quiet, we just got done with her canine teeth a couple weeks ago!

This means of course that neither she nor I slept much last night. And it's been a long day today.

And I have lots to do in preparation for Batman coming home.

Ugh!

Blogger sucks the big one

2011-06-24T07:48:00.000-06:00

I've been trying to comment ALL FREAKING MORNING and blogger isn't letting me. It sucks!

So anyway... for those of you still reading, I AM reading your blogs and trying to comment!
And if you have some extra love to spread around, go give Sarah a ((hug)) today. And Caryn too! They both could use a little love today!

Happy Friday Y'all!

Single Digits

2011-06-23T07:25:00.000-06:00

Yep, Batman gets home in just over a week! Skeeeee!! There is some excitement brewing around here! Now if we can just tie up all our loose ends (aka finish all our projects) before he gets home, we'll be good.

In other news, I had a dream last night what I was preggo with triplet girls. Umm... yikes that would be a little crazy! Must have been the crazy thunderstorms we were having, messing with my dream cycles.

And Brynna turned 20 months! The 19/20 month update coming up in the next couple days!

Dairy Days Parade

2011-06-21T07:39:00.000-06:00

Last Friday, Little Miss and I joined our wonderful neighbors at the Diary Days Parade in our little town! I had never gone before, and while it was definitely a small town parade, we had a great time! Here's a few pics of our adventure (sorry none of them are of the ACTUAL parade... I got a little lazy with the camera)

She kept wanting to pick her blanket up off the ground. Didn't matter that people were sitting on it LOL

Trying cotton candy for the first time. She didn't know what to do with it at first until I showed her.

Happy Father's Day!

2011-06-19T20:45:00.000-06:00

To the favorite men in my life- Happy Father's Day!

To my dad- thanks for being the best dad a girl could ask for and being a great example on what a great parent should be. You are an amazing Papa! We love you!

To my FIL- thank you for raising Batman in the way you did and for allowing me to be a part of your life. You are an amazing example and a great Grandpa. Love you!

To Batman- You are an amazing dad and you keep getting better every day! Our baby girl is so LUCKY to have you as a father and I can't wait to see her and your relationship grow. Love you Babe!

Happy Father's Day!

Not much going on....

2011-06-16T07:38:00.000-06:00

I haven't had a whole lot to blog about this week. We are just counting down the days until Batman comes home. I think these next couple weeks are going to creep by :(

I've been playing a little roller coaster game with the weight loss the past few weeks. Still doing p90, although my enthusiasm has waned a bit. You'd think with only a couple weeks left of the program, I'd be stoked to finish, but instead I find myself making excuses... last week's dental visit may have been a damper on my spirits haha! I am down overall, which is good. So I will keep on plugging. Since I only have 2 weeks left, I gotta make them count right?

I realized I also completely missed Brynna's 19 mo update. Terrible mom! So I think I'll just combine her 20 mo update with it and post that next week. This girl is growing into quite the little character, I tell ya! She's saying so many new words every day! And that personality- Oh my!

We are also working on Father's Day gifts this week. We usually make t-shirts for my dad and Batman's dad. They have this long running joke about them both being #2 dads so we usually do something along those lines (#2 Dad, not quite first place- #2 Dad, first runner up- #2 Dad, almost #1 but not quite- you get the idea) Last year we did one- #2 Dad but #1 Papa/ Grandpa. And this year I'm out of ideas. Seriously, I got nothin'. I think I may take the easy way out and make them all i t-shirts (iDad, iPapa, iGranpa). Batman's been kind of obsessed with his iphone so it works well for him. Not sure about the grandpas though. Any thoughts? *sigh*

If I can remember I will post some pic on my secret project. I am nearing completion ;-) I can't wait for Batman to come home and see it (aka be impressed by my mad building skills LOL).

Yep, that about sums it up... Happy Thursday

A sneak peek

2011-06-13T07:27:00.000-06:00

Pretty much any time Batman goes on tdy or deployment I redo a room in our house. This time, since we've DONE all the rooms, I decided to take it outside...

Here's a sneak peek at what I've been working on:

Can you guess what it will be?

My FIL also came over and restained our deck on Saturday. Here's the before (with a very cute girl, eating a popsicle):

And the after:

Not too shabby!
And here's a bowholder I made for Little Miss over the weekend:

The child has too many bows already and this isn't even all of them

And a sneak peek at some of the ribbon I used for the giveaway!

The bows are going out today, so Andrea and Melissa, be on the lookout this week! :) I can't wait to hear what you think!! Hopefully, you like them ;-)
Happy Monday All!

Recouperating

2011-06-09T07:40:00.000-06:00

Everything went well Monday morning for the most part. As those of you on FB know, I had never had nitrous before this appt. Let me tell you... that stuff is from the GODS! Whoever discovered that was a frikkin' GENIUS! The only issue the dentist had was getting me completely numb. Apparently my mouth resists the effects of novicaine. 8 shots later though, I made it through.
One of the hygenists asked if I wanted to keep the teeth. She suggested I make them into a necklace for Batman. Ha! (She's crazy like that)
They sent me home with some tylenol with codeine, which I only had to use Monday and Tuesday. Yesterday I switched to plain, old Ibuprofen and have been just peachy.
I even went back to doing my mountain of yard work (another post about that) yesterday, I was feeling so good.

My sister and a family friend were here helping me out, which was nice too. They came in Sunday night and left yesterday afternoon. It was nice seeing them and they helped out a bit- especially entertaining Miss B- which was great! I miss them already though. It's nice to have the adult conversation ;-)

And only 21 days until Batman gets home... the countdown is in full swing ;-)

Winners!

2011-06-07T08:28:00.000-06:00

Because I'm apparently NOT so savvy, I couldn't figure out how to get a screen shot of the random.org numbers. But I did pick 2 winners!

#1-Melissa said: Gorgeous bow, Tiff! You did a really great job with it - and I would totally love one for my girls!
So where are the pictures of Brynna modeling your new creation? ;-)

#4- Andrea said: Heck yeah! I need to start baby girl's accessory collection :)

So if you lucky ladies will email me at tifwalk(at)gmail(dot)com I will get you your bows! :)

Thanks everyone for playing! I may have to start making giveaways a regular addition on here!

Rough Days

2011-06-05T06:48:00.000-06:00

Brynna started cutting her eye teeth the past few days.

This means she is crabby, whiny and not herself. Normally, she's really as sweet as can be, easy going, and fun.

And there has been NO sleep in this house.

And there seems to be no end in sight, since only ONE has broken through the surface and the other 3 seem to be taking their time. But her gums are red and irritated, so I know they're coming soon.

And I get my last 2 wisdom teeth taken out tomorrow morning.

Lovely.

It's gonna be a great week.

PS- if you haven't entered my giveaway- go do it! You know you want to! ;-)

My first ever: GIVEAWAY!!

2011-06-03T07:09:00.001-06:00

So remember a couple weeks ago when I won that bow tutorial? Well, I finally got around to making some bows... of course I only took a pic of one of them:

Anyway, I'm going to give one away! To you! All you've got to do is leave me a comment by Sunday night at 5pm (MST) and then I will pick 2 (YES 2!) random winners! :) And I will make the bow in the color(s) of your choice! (Sorry to you mommies of boys... I will try and come up with something boyish to give away soon too)

So is anyone interested?

Headed home

2011-05-31T11:11:00.000-06:00

Well, I'm headed home here in a couple of hours. I've had a wonderful weekend with Batman! This trip was definitely worth it and I know Brynna had a great time with cousins and family. I have a feeling she may have a bit of a rough week though from here... she's been seriously spoiled the last 4 days LOL
Here are the few pics I have to post, but we didn't take a lot :( Kept forgetting to have people take our picture. I'm terrible about that.
Anniversary gift (of sorts) to Batman... this took most of our Saturday in OKC so we didn't get much sight seeing in... it was worth it though. We are both happy how it turned out! If you are ever in the OKC area and looking for a tattoo artist- RAWB Carter at Cannibal Graphics is awesome! (he's not listed on their website since he's a newer artist, but he was amazing!)

Headed out for the day on Sunday- went to Denny's (epic fail) and the mall. Pretty exciting huh? ;-)

Hanging out in his apartment (I use that term pretty loosely since it's barely 500 sq ft)

Breakfast Monday at Cracker Barrel

And that's about it...LOL I think Batman may have a picture or 2 more so I will post those when he sends them to me.

We had our "anniversary dinner" at this fantastic restaurant called Cheddars's... SO good and CHEAP ha! I kind of wish they would open one up in Idaho!

Only 4 more weeks until Batman gets to come home! Can't wait!

I made it!

2011-05-28T09:46:00.000-06:00

I finally got to OKC this morning at 1am. We had a delay in Denver that lasted 4 hours. 3 hours longer than was supposed to (thanks again Caryn for offering up your home!). But I made the most of it, found the one 'bucks in the airport and waited.

Didn't get to bed until well after 2 ;-)

God, I missed my husband.

I will definitely be making the most of our time together this weekend.

(oh, I went with the first outfit. Thanks again for all your input!)

Today's the day!

2011-05-27T06:56:00.003-06:00

I'm so excited I could burst! I guess I've been missing Batman a lot more than I thought ;-)

I did end up finding some similar items yesterday when I went out. Pretty much everywhere was a bust, I didnt end up maing it to Target, but I did go back to old navy after hearing all their clearance was an extra 50% off (call me a frugal shopper). So after scouring the clearance racks I found this, this, and this OR this and this and I would add a little black sweater with it. As you can tell, I'm still a bit undecided on which outfit to go with. My mom and Alicia (soon-to-be SIL) vote for the black ensemble, and my friend and sister vote for the first. No clear winner ;-) If I have a chance to take some pics of what I look like in each, I will... Maybe that would help?

Anywho...

I've gotten a little panicky about leaving Miss B with the IL, but I'm sure she will be fine. They have taken care of her enough that I know I have nothing to worry about. But still... talk me down from the ledge will ya? (I'm tempted {very slightly} to bring her with me... which I know would be a huge mistake).

It's gonna be a crazy day of packing and cleaning. EEEE!!

Strike out

2011-05-26T06:59:00.003-06:00

Thank you for all your opinions! It was very helpful.

Only problem is, Oldnavy didn't have a single item from EITHER outfit. And Maurices only had the top in XS, and never in a million years was that going to happen.

So back to the dawing board. I'm going to check out Kohls, another Maurices and Target today and see if I can find anything.

I think I'm leaning towards an outfit similar to the first one since I'm usually FREEZING on airplanes. Hopefully, I can find something I like that is along the same lines.

If I find something I will post some pics and see what y'all think :)

Need some advice ASAP : edited

2011-05-25T09:00:00.004-06:00

This has nothing to do with being a mom and everything to do with being a wife ;-)

So, as you know, I'm going to see Batman this weekend. And obviously, I want to look my best. And cute. And a little sexy. Without going overboard and looking like a hooker. So, I'm looking for a cute, sexy, but airplane/travel appropriate ensemble to wear Friday. I've been scouring my usual spots (old.navy/ maur.ices/ ga.p/ etc) in search of the perfect outfit and I've come up empty...

Or maybe I'm just indecisive. Probably.

So here's where y'all come in.

Got any ideas? Something flirty, summery, cute, sexy, but understated. Here are a couple things I was looking at, but I'm not sure they're really what I'm looking for.

Old Navy #1

Old Navy #2 (but with a tank instead of button up shirt underneath)

Maurices this top with a pair of dressy shorts and heels

That's all I can come up with. Any advice?

ETA: To answer a couple questions: the weather is supposed to be upper 80s/ low 90s (OKCity and WF, TX). I like the idea of a sundress, but Batman is not usually a fan of me in dresses... not sure exactly why...

Happy Anniversary!

2011-05-23T11:58:00.002-06:00

To me! Today Batman and I celebrate 7 yrs of our marriage.

God has blessed me with an amazing husband and I am thankful for him everyday.

Happy Anniversary Babycakes! I love you!

Weight loss check-in

2011-05-22T07:31:00.002-06:00

Just because I'm so excited about how my weight loss is going, I thought I'd post about it!

Down another 5-6 pounds since my last post (I think) which means I'm about 10 lbs to my goal weight. Skeeeeeeee!!!

I have a feeling these are going to be the ones that won't budge... or at least 5 of them will be. But I'm going to keep working hard and eating right and I WILL lose it all ;-)

Since I had a bit of a lapse in p90x when I went to Seattle I'm a week behind, which puts me at week 8 starting today. It's amazing how great I feel! To be honest I never thought (even though I knew I would force myself Ha!) I would get this far into the program without keeling over.

So here are the stats:

Weight loss this week: 3.5 lbs
Weight loss in May: 7.5
Weight loss since Batman left: 19.9 lbs!!!!
Initial skinny jeans: fit but I still have a bit of a muffin top and since they are SUPER low rise, I'm not wearing them yet
Ultimate skinny jeans: Um... these are still in storage HA! But since they are a size 4 I know I have a bit of losing to do before I will even get them past my knees ;-)

Since I'm going to see Batman next weekend, I'm hoping to lose a few pounds before I leave on Friday... which means I'm going to double up the workouts and really be good on what I'm eating (aka- no "bad meal of the week" before I see him).
So there you have it. Wish me luck!

A review: Jade Thermal Therapy Breast Pack

2011-05-20T06:42:00.004-06:00

I was recently asked to review a product by one of the patients in my mom's office- Jade Breast Thermal Therapy. While I'm not a breasfeeding mama at the moment, I hope to someday be again, so I told her I'd try it out and see what I thought.

LOVE! As their website says, "More comfortable than a bag of peas."

The gel packs are fully adjustable allowing them to fit a range of cup sizes (A-C for the small, D and bigger for the large).The fabric is nice and soft and is of good quality. They can be heated or cooled, depending on what you are using them for (and where you are using them, as they can really be used anywhere). You can heat them using the microwave or hot water, and cooled in the fridge, freezer or cold water. They stay pliable regardless of the temperature (unlike a lot of cold packs).
I think for myself I would purcahse the large size since the girls get quite large when I'm nursing (DD+ which for me was just ginormous), but the small worked and would accomodate a generous C easily. And I think the best part about them was that you can use them while you are nursing. Sold! I can't tell you how many times I would have killed to have something like this, especially during those first few months with the crazy engorgement and having mastitis. And they would have been useful when I was weaning B too. There were a few days when I actually did use a bag of peas and it wasn't so cute... or indiscreet. Obviously, I didn't leave the house ;-)

The price isn't too terrible at $20 a piece (or $40 for a pair). If you are interested, you can purchase them through their website here with Pay.pal.

Their website could use a little work, but I know it's a "work in progress." I would have liked to see an instructional video or some kind of marketing video, but it's coming. I'm sure as things get rolling for them, it will be a little easier to navigate and have more content.

So there you have it. My first review in all it's glory ;-)

We interrupt this broadcast...

2011-05-18T19:43:00.002-06:00

Sorry to post twice in one day, but I'm too excited to keep it in... (sorry ladies, I'm not preggo)

I get to go see Batman next weekend! He called me up today and said 6 more weeks was too long to wait and that for our anniversary (which is Monday) he wanted me to fly down for the holiday weekend!

So next Friday, I will be leaving B in the capable hands of my IL (and SIL and BIL since they'll be in town with their kids) and heading to OK City. There Batman will pick me up and wisk me away for a fun weekend... at Sheppard AFB. Okay not exactly Paris, but I can't wait to see him! (and yes, Morgan, there will plenty of *ahem* other things going on all weekend too)

Skkeeeee!! I'm too excited right now to think about leaving my girl for more than a night. And going out of state without her.

Ask me again in a couple days... I may be thinking a little more clearly ;-)

A day at the zoo

2011-05-18T06:42:00.004-06:00

While I won't pretend that our zoo is even close to glamorous, we did have fun last Thursday and you can't beat only paying $4.25 for a few hours of fun :) Having grown up going to this zoo, it was hard to see a lot of animals just in cages, but it looks like Boise is coming around and starting to make habitats instead of dwellings.
Anyway, here are pics of our adventures. Brynna had a really fun time and was mesmerized by the meerkats and prairie dogs. She even was entertained when a gibbon came and sat right in front of her in his cage and just stared at her.
She really liked this bear- I think it's a sloth bear?
She was SO happy to get out of her stroller! I had to wait until we weren't surrounded by kids- there were like a dozen different school groups there that day
Checking out the statues outside the penguin exhibit

And inside the penguin exhibit. She liked watching them swim right in front of her, but they were too fast for me to catch on camera

Enjoying lunch and checking out the geese that were begging for a bite on the other side of our picninc table
B and the bobcat (see what I mean about cages... this animal had maybe a 8x8 foot cage outdoors and 10x10 indoors to live in... kind of sad)
The Meerkats

After a bit, she seemed more interested in the other kids checking out the Meerkats than the animals themselves ha!
And finally the Komodo Dragon

We may have to go back a few times this summer and try it again :) I've been debating on an annual pass since it would get us into the other zoo I mentioned above. For Free! But I don't know if we would really get enough use out of it to warrant a full year pass. Hmm...
Do any of you go to the zoo?

Winner, Winner

2011-05-16T07:57:00.002-06:00

Yep, I'm a winner! Or so naptime crafters said ;-)

She had a giveaway for a tute from here. And so I commented. And I WON! And even though I won, I think I'm gonna buy a couple more of the tutorials. Especially this one, 'cause I think it's awesome.

I just got my prize in my email this morning. And so this afternoon, I will be going through my ribbon and making a bow.

And then I will make some more and give them away to YOU! :) I gotta spread the love, right? I'm so excited!

Blogger hates me

2011-05-14T20:25:00.002-06:00

Apparently my last 2 posts are lost in the land of lost blogs... bummer

On a happier note though, I won a giveaway over here! EEE! So exciting!

I think I may have to share the love a little bit once I get the tute...

B and I went to the zoo on Thursday for the first time. It was pretty fun, but it's hard not to be judgmental since I grew up with a pretty stellar zoo. I'll post the pics when I get a chance.

Happy Saturday!

Our Easter- in pictures

2011-05-11T08:16:00.007-06:00

We had a fantastic Easter a couple weeks ago when we were visiting family!

Here are some of the highlights in pics:

At church Easter morning
Egg dying the night before Easter

Yuko had never dyed eggs before!

Me and B
Let the hunting begin!

Getting help from everyone

Helping Nana do some chores

Church again to hear Auntie Ashley sing- she's got an AMAZING voice btw

Hope you enjoyed! Happy Hump Day!

To my parents

2011-05-10T09:43:00.002-06:00

You guys are a great example! Happy 37th Anniversary!

Love you!

Oh Happy Day!

2011-05-09T11:05:00.001-06:00

I did it! I finally got down to pre preggo weight! :D

EEE!!

Only like 20 more lbs to go to my ultimate goal!

Woot!

oh and the first pair of skinny jeans? I can get them up, zipped AND have a little room! Too bad the weight distribution on my body is vastly different than pre B. The muffin top prohibits my wearing them for a bit longer, but they FIT!

Now onto the next pair of skinni-er jeans! :)

It's a great day in this house. A great day indeed!

Happy Mother's Day!

2011-05-08T10:27:00.002-06:00

Happy Mommy's Day to all my mama friends out there! Hope the kiddos and men in your life are pampering you today!

And to all those waiting to be mommies, I wish a day full of happiness. I continually pray that your journey brings you your dream!

Our trip in pictures

2011-05-07T10:00:00.001-06:00

I kept out the ones from Easter for another post, since B was so darn cute hunting for eggs, but thought I'd share our travels! Hope you enjoy. Oh and be warned, there are a lot ;-)

All packed and ready to go

Enjoying a quick treat at 'bucks before heading out on the road
Enjoying a meal at one of our favorite places: Acropolis!

Papa trying to steal a bite!
She thinks sticking her fingers up her nose is funny- her uncles' laughter didn't help matters

A trip to 'bucks with Yuko (she was a Japanese exchange student with my parents a few years ago- she loves my family so much that she comes back and visits from time to time- We LOVE her!! [oh and she just got done working at Disney World for the last 13 mos... JEALOUS!])

Lunch with Uncle Jeremy- we brought him Ezell's!

'bucks again- this time with Gigi! (She's my mom's mom)

Checking out the live crabs at the market- she was fascinated

She LOVES her reflection and the massive amounts of mirrors at David's Bridal made for great fun!

She also kept kissing herself in the mirrors

She loves my parent's dog Georgia and even says her name now! I guess Kino is chopped liver...

Sneaking Easter candy from her basket- this was funny because we have found she LOVES jelly beans- she even scavenged everyone's easter baskets for them.

View from the beach house

Feeding Papa

Enjoying some bubble gum ice cream in Ocean Shores

Just us

Saying "bye bye" to the beach house

Having a yummy dinner at OSF with (soon-to-be) Auntie Alicia

Brynna and Nana

Okay I think that about covers it ;-)

18 months!

2011-05-06T13:37:00.003-06:00

Well we've hit the official year and half mark. It's hard to believe that we are now on the down slope towards 2! Oh my! I think time just keeps moving faster and faster! (Although NOT with the time left for Batman returning!)

We ended up seeing our "Seattle ped" while we were there since our normal ped wouldn't have seen us anyway. And well, we just LOVE Dr. Kilburn (if anyone ever moves to the Seattle/ Eastside are he is the BEST ped in the state!). He gave Brynna a very resounding "perfect toddler" award! I told him my concerns about her verbal skills (or lack thereof) and he laid my fears to rest. And her reminded me that just because she's not verbally getting her point across, doesn't mean she's not communicating, which is really what we should be looking at ;-)

So her stats:

Ht: 30 3/4 in (25%)
Wt: 23 lbs 3 oz (35%)
HC: 17 7/8 in (30%)

Still my petite little girl. I guess I didn't really realize just how petite until I was reading Mic's blog and saw little K's 9 mo stats (and NO I don't think K is gargantuan baby... just surprised me that they were nearly the same size, but separated by 9 months is all...)

Anywho...

She finally moved into size 4 'sposies, which we used while we were in Seattle (I was NOT about to try and CD on vacation). 12 month clothes still seem to fit her the best although some of the pants are too short. 18 mo stuff just drowns her or falls off, but the length is better although a bit too long. We still have a few 9 mo stuff hanging around in the closet too that still fits well- but all tshirts and onesies.

This month Brynna started saying more animal sounds! When asked what a sheep says she'll go "ba ba ba" and a cow she'll go "mmmmmmoo mmmmoo." She was already making a duck sound ("cack cack cack") and a dog ("wff wfff") sound so it was exciting to hear the other 2 coming out too. She now says hi pretty consistently although she whispers it, which is kind of funny. She says banana "neh neh" and please "pee" although she signs that one most often. Oh and she LOVES saying Papa... or maybe she was just enamored with him ;-) And Mommy seems to be her FAVORITE word these days. Melts my heart!

She is RUNNING everywhere! It's hard to keep up with her and most days I fall into bed exhausted. Unfortunately this hasn't equated into any extra weight loss for me :P She is constantly on the go!

Her naps have become a bit longer (Hooray!) and are usually 2-3 hours vs the 1-2 that we were having. It's a little bit of heaven for this mama as it allows for more time to blog and work out and craft ;-) (speaking of, I need to post about that. I've got some fun stuff to show off and I'm thinking about giving some of it away if anyone is interested?)

We have unofficially started the potty training process. And I do mean VERY UNOFFICIALLY. Dr K suggested that we put a potty for her in the bathroom she most uses (for baths) and get her acquainted with what it's for. So in light of that, we brought out the potty chair my IL gave us a few months ago (BTW it makes a little chiming sound when you go potty on it so B LOVES sticking her hand in the bucket to make it sound off... lovely) and stuck in the bathroom. I've had her sit on it a couple times right before her bath. And that's about as far as we will go for a while. She's SO not ready. In fact the kid is content to sit in a poopy diaper for who knows how long. Apparently she's her mother's daughter, as I was the same way.

Brynna got to go to the beach for the first time ever and had a GREAT TIME! Here are some of the highlights:

(PS We made a collage of these pics at Wal.greens today for FREE! Through tomorrow use the promo code FREECOLLAGE and get a free 8x10 collage! EE! [and no I was not compensated in anyway for telling you this, I just thought it was a good deal])

She's started humming along with the alphabet song! We have this little fridge toy and as much as I HATE hearing it, I think it's actually doing some good because B knows the letter B! I can ask her where is the B and and she will either grab it or point to it.

Whew! That's all I can think of for now.

We have lots of pics to share from our trip, but that will be in another post... this one is long enough ;-)

Happy Birthday

2011-05-05T21:42:00.002-06:00

Today Batman turns 32!

Happy Birthday my love! We miss you and can't wait to see you soon!

<3

T

Home at last!

2011-05-04T12:58:00.002-06:00

We finally made it home late Sunday night/ Monday morning. We had a great time up in Seattle, making new memories with Nana and Papa, Uncle Jeremy, soon-to-be Auntie Alicia, Auntie Ashley, Uncle Zac, Gigi and countless friends!

And then Monday came and I came down with the flu (so did my sister, who had to drive back all day with my brother... poor girl had to resort to zo.fran to keep from vomiting the whole way... and it only sort of worked!) and was puking my GUTS. OUT. ALL. DAY. LONG. Thankfully, my IL came to the rescue right as Brynna was waking up from her {extended} nap [hallelujah], took her to their house for a few hours, then brought her back and put her to bed for me. They are amazing, I tell you ;-)

I was still feeling pretty yucky yesterday, so we laid low and didn't do much.

Today is a new day, I'm feeling good and the sun is shining!

Which means all my fun updates will have to wait until later... it's too beautiful outside to sit in front of the computer! ;-)

And we are off

2011-04-17T06:39:00.001-06:00

We left for Sea-town this morning with my brothers. We will be visiting family for the next couple of weeks, and I get to finally meet my new SIL-to-be- Yippee! Should be a grand time!

I will try and check in with everyone as I can, but since I won't have my personal computer, it may be hit and miss.

Hope everyone has a great couple weeks!

Discouraged

2011-04-16T06:54:00.003-06:00

Do you ever have those days that even though almost everything else is great, one thing just makes the whole day seem like a downer?

That was yesterday...

Everything was going great! And I do mean everything! My brothers got here safe, I scored a cute outfit for a great deal at BRU for Brynna for her Easter basket, watching my neighbors daughter was a breeze in the morning (FUN even! We played a very interesting, but super fun game of life), I got in my work out, make great eating choices (well, until dinner, but that was my "free" meal this week).

And then I got to my cheer clinics. And one of my new candidates bailed. The one that I was REALLY, REALLY hoping was going to stay. But there was a new girl. And by the end of the clinic she approached me and said she really didn't think it was for her. Softball is more her style, you see.

And as soon as I left when we were done, it hit me.

Discouragement. Frustration. Irritation. But mainly, discouragement.

I feel like I'm doing everything wrong. And it's silly really because I know I'm not. But for some reason that one girl not showing up made me feel like everything else was falling apart too.

I kind of wonder if I've got some hormone issues going on right now?

My brothers are coming, my brothers are coming

2011-04-15T06:35:00.002-06:00

In my head that sounded like Paul Revere's ride, but somehow it just doesn't equate electronically.

Anyway, yes both my brothers are coming into town today! I'm excited to see them! We haven't seen them since Thanksgiving and I miss them a lot! And they are both coming!

See, my older brother does this for a living. Well, more specifically he directs all the summer camp programs for the church we all grew up in, including the regional camp grounds. And because of this, NNU has hired him to bring this to campus for their regional teen activity days (basically it's laser tag on crack). My little brother works for him over the summers and breaks.

So since they are coming they are going to take B, me and Kino home with them on Sunday and then bring us back in a couple weeks! :) I'm so excited to see my family and meet my SIL to be and meet up with some of my friends from HS that will also be in town (She was one of my besties in HS... and come to find out she also married a military guy [navy] and he's on cruise until Oct. Who'd a thunk?). We have so much fun stuff planned for while we are there! I can't wait!

Now if we can just make it the afternoon without going crazy with excitement, we should be okay ;-)

PS- Thanks Katie for the input :) I think we may look at doing something similar in the fall. We only had 4 returners come and 4 new people, and even though I will probably take everyone (and only because I would even if there were a dozen more- they are all good) I think I want a slightly bigger team than just 8. ;-)

Tryouts, tryouts

2011-04-14T07:00:00.002-06:00

We decided to do something different with the cheer program this year.
Tryouts in the spring. What a novel idea? Only pretty much every.other.program does it this way ;-) So tonight starts our clinics.
And this year I'm doing interviews.
And there is a chance we may even get a little money to give out a couple small scholarships!

The only thing that disappoints me is that so many of my "returners" aren't actually returning next year. They all "wish they could" but just can't for one reason or another. School load is too heavy, they need to find a job, they are going part time, etc, etc, etc. I've heard just about every excuse.

I guess the next couple days will tell how next year will shape up.

Do you think I'm doing myself (and my team) a disservice my not doing tryouts in the fall when I would capture any incoming freshman? (I have some coming that have already decided to go to NNU, I would just miss those that haven't decided on a school yet or those that aren't on my recruiters list). Hmmm...

OH and this is my 400th post! Who'da thunk I ever would have gotten here... next goal-500!

Update...yep it's still there

2011-04-13T16:38:00.002-06:00

So the appt was pretty uneventful. I like the NP that saw me. She did a quick pelvic exam and she too couldn't find the strings so she sent me off to u/s. And yep, it's right where it should be. And, no I didn't have it taken out. Apparently, I have to make an appt with my doc to do that. She couldn't. Ah well! I guess it was meant to stay in a little longer. I'll keep working on Batman ;-) And apparently longer periods and irregular spotting is just another side effect of the Mir.ena... Lovely...

If it's not one thing it's another

2011-04-13T07:40:00.004-06:00

So the day Batman left, AF showed up... Well, at least I *think* it was AF. And now she has overstayed her welcome and won't. GO. AWAY.

I called my doc's office yesterday because a 2.5 wk AF is just a little ridiculous. And the nurse (not my normal nurse, but a PT one) kind of freaked out (more than) a little. She asked if I could still feel the strings of my iud, to which I reminded her (since she supposedly had my chart in front of her) that they had recently been trimmed a 2nd time and were short enough that even the doc would have to go searching for them. She all like "oh my" and "why would Dr. Nice Guy do such a thing" and "that is completely the wrong things to do" and "you're going to have to come in right away."

So today I have to go in and see if they can find the iud. May result in an u/s which is no big deal, but kind of a nuisance.

And to top it off, she doesn't really think the iud is causing my bleeding. She is just worried that I can't feel the strings... REALLY? I called because my body won't stop BLEEDING! Not because I'm worried about an iud not being in place (aka not working... hell, I'm not even getting any since Batman's gone, so who cares?)!

Hopefully the NP I'm seeing today will be a little more reasonable about the whole thing and give me some answers about my actual question... Wish me luck... I may just have her take the dang thing out so I don't have to think about it anymore.

(mind you it would probably have to go back in when Batman returns as he's not quite ready to jump on the baby train yet)

Sorry about the bullets... blogger won't recognize my spacing and it kind of annoys me

17 months

2011-04-11T06:37:00.003-06:00

Okay I'm finally sitting down to write a quick update about B since she turned 17 months...oh, 2 and a half weeks ago. She's doing splendidly these days. Not much changed with her between 16 and 17 months though, so here are things in bullets.

She's the same size in dipes, shoes and clothes.

Still walking (obviously) and getting into everything.

She hasn't really added any more words to her vocabulary yet, which is beginning to really worry me. She's a smart cookie though and follows directions (well, most of the time) and understands anything you say. Just the other day at church, her Sunday school teacher was telling me how smart she thinks she is. I guess she had told them the story of Noah's Ark and B pointed out each of the animals perfectly! I guess all that reading is paying off in some ways ;-)

She LOVES coloring still. We've had to start making a rule of only coloring at the table since a few weeks ago she thought it would be good to color our walls. I guess she felt they needed to be a little different color.

We found her some crayons that color in the tub and she LOVES them. I think they are almost used up already. Shower time is now color time too LOL (this may make the rule of coloring at the table backfire huh?).

She loves carrying around her stuffed animals and dolls. It's the cutest thing, especially at my IL because they have this little stroller that she will stack them in and push them around.

She likes stacking blocks and doing her puzzles. She's gotten to wear she can put her pieces back in the correct spot everytime. I may have to get her some new puzzles!

As I've said in previous posts, we've been getting out to the park more and more as the weather gets nicer and she's become quite the daredevil, which of course makes this mama always on edge ;-) She's mastered the slide and now will go down on her own no problem!

I think it was this month that we discovered Whole.Soy yogurt? Well, she LOVES it! I think this kid could eat it at every meal, I kid you not! She loves it so much, she wears it:

(and for those of your wondering... yes, I did make her a Horde bib in honor of Batman's WOW addiction)

I think it was this month, too that she started giving actual "kisses." It's also very cute because you ask her for a kiss and she will come at you with kissy lips. And now that Batman's gone, when we skype she insists on kissing the camera to "kiss him ni-night." So adorable!

We discovered the silly song games on the ses.ame. street. website too. She loves "typing" on the keyboard so this has been fun to play with her since it encourages "typing" ha!

Okay, that's all I can think of...

If you are interested in seeing how my weight loss and healthy eating is going, click over here... I had a good scale day yesterday!

blah blah blah blah

2011-04-08T13:21:00.005-06:00

The weather here has been downright COLD this week, which means B and I have remained indoors. We did get out to the park 1 day, but only for like 15 min before the rain made it no fun. The highlight of our week was a grocery run on Wednesday... good times! It sucks being stuck indoors and honestly gets downright boring! I need some fun inside things to do! Anyone have any ideas? Games you play with your toddlers? I'm going out of my mind crazy these days and I'm tired of trying to come up with things! HELP!

Picture Post!

2011-04-07T07:43:00.004-06:00

I finally got all our recent pics uploaded to the computer... So as promised here are some shots of our last week before Batman left (sorry about the blurriness- they were all taken with my phone):

I'm back! in bullets

2011-04-04T09:05:00.003-06:00

Last week was rough. I really hate it when Batman is tdy :( Here's our week in bullets so I don't forget anything... I promise I will be posting more!

Batman left Sunday morning (as you know) so after we dropped him off, B and I headed out to breakfast, then home for a nap (much needed) and a day of relaxing

We spent a good part of the week trying (but failing for the most part) to stay busy

My MIL celebrated her 55th birthday on Wednesday. We went out to dinner with them which was a nice distraction

Brynna turned 17 months a couple weeks ago (post to come on that!)

I've started to take this weight loss seriously. Batman and I have a $200 bet going on who ends up the "fittest" by the time he comes home. I'm determined to win!

I'm down 3.5 lbs this week. He's down 9... guess I have to step things up a bit

My older brother got engaged on Saturday! I'm so excited to meet my new SIL to be when we go up to Sea-town in a couple weeks!

One of my cheer friends (she's the director of a local cheer gym, is the daughter of my advisor, and has been a family friend of Batman's since he was in middle school) had a beautiful baby boy last Sunday!

We had 2 really nice days this week that afforded us the opportunity to get OUTSIDE! We went to 4 different parks in 2 days! It was so fun and I can't wait for summer!

I started using my other blog to help me keep up with the whole "losing weight- being healthy" lifestyle. Just really using it as a diary for myself more than anything.

Brynna misses her daddy and has had some terrible nights of sleep, but I think she's getting used to him being gone now.

We get to Sky.pe with Batman just about every night, which has made things a bit easier this time around. It also helps that he's stateside.

I've gotten hooked on old seasons of army wives on net.flix. Probably not the best show when I'm already an emotional mess ;-)

I think that's about it in a nutshell.

Hope everyone is doing well. Pictures and more posts to come!

And with that...

2011-03-27T12:57:00.003-06:00

He's gone. It's been a little bit of a rough day around here. Batman leaving, compounded with Little Miss waking up at 2:30 makes for a very. long. day. Needless to say, we didn't make it to church this morning. And we've just been kind of lazy- reading books, napping, watching movies and se.same. str.eet. It doesn't really get any easier no matter how many times we have been through these separations. *sigh*