Things might get crazy if...

Things might get crazy if...

...You accidentally leave the door open and your dog zooms right out the front door on a Saturday morning.

...You have to get in your car to look for your dog, because you know she isn't coming back.

...With a stroke of luck, you see the dog in someone's yard! You get out, offer a treat, and she turns around faster than a bolt of lightning and speeds off like a bullet.

Things continue to get crazy when...

...You drive around for half an hour without finding your defiant dog.

...You decide to leave the garage door up and head off to pick strawberries, even though you don't have an address or a clue where you're going.

...You drive off to the absolute middle of nowhere, lose cell phone service, and realize you are nowhere close to a strawberry patch.

...Your GPS screen won't work, so that's no help either.

...No one will answer their phone for help on directions.


And things get insane when...

...Your nephew starts to cry because his foot hurts.

...Your baby wakes up after 20 minutes and decides to start fussing.

...You finally (FINALLY) find the blasted strawberry patch, only to discover that it's closed for the season.


And that was all by 10:30am.

Defiant dog, safe in her bed:


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a military wife rant.

I'm now going to post a small rant on something that has been on my heart for a long time. I'm totally entitled to these opinions, and this is my blog. Okay. Now proceed:



I hate when people make military wives feel like they cannot voice their feelings or "vent" about their situation or missing their husband. It drives me absolutely crazy. It seems as if the majority of military wives have the opinion of "Someone ALWAYS has it worse!" Yes, that's nice. Good for them. But that doesn't mean that we don't miss our husbands. Or that it isn't hard for us. Or that we don't cry ourselves to sleep* or feel like our heart is absolutely empty every single day of our lives*.



I hate this train of thought. True, tech school is nothing compared to a deployment, but if a husband and wife are separated, guess what? IT'S HARD! Especially if the two are extremely close. I honestly feel like miltary wives make each other feel like you have to keep quiet and pretend like everything is fantastic, just so you don't step on someone else's toes. Because someone always has it worse.



What kind of logic is that, anyway? I would never, ever tell a civilian wife to "not whine" or "get over it" if she missed HER husband. Could you imagine telling a doctor's wife to get over it if she missed her husband due to his long work hours at the hospital? Um no. You would never tell her that she "married into it" so she should "expect it." Sorry, I did not marry the military. I married Mark. We are insanely close. He is my best friend. We do everything together. He wishes he could take me to work every day and we have the best relationship. We miss each other dearly. Sure, we get to talk to each other daily, but he happens to be across the world. Missing everything. And he's all alone. It s.u.c.k.s. and I'm not going to pretend like it's no big deal, because it is. It's a sacrifice for our country and family.



I do get a tad irritated when people complain about not seeing their husbands at all when they live in the same town and still get to live together. But if you miss your spouse, you should be able to freely say so without someone jumping down your throat. Deployments are no easy thing. Some husbands volunteer for them (bizarre, IMO...) but mine? He did not want to go. He misses his baby girl more than the world, and he can't wait to talk to me every chance he gets. He stays "home" to talk to me every single day, and I love him more than anything.




We're allowed to miss our spouses, and we're allowed to share our feelings. Someone will always have it "worse," but so what? That doesn't make our feelings invalid.


End rant.

*Note: I don't cry myself to sleep or feel alone inside or anything. Just for clarififcation.

WW Week 2!

Well, this isn't the greatest weigh-in. I lost half a pound. But at least it's a loss! I can definitely contribute it to eating Mexican food one night, an apple walnut chicken salad that I have NO idea how many points it was, and lasagna from my sister. I could have done a lot better. But, for the most part, I stuck to the plan. Which is why I still lost weight... Even if it was a measly half a pound!

I'm now 8 pounds away from where I want to be when Mark returns. I don't even know if that's possible. I have basically a month to lose 8 pounds.. So 2 pounds a week? I know that when he returns, he's going to want some Chipotle, Cracker Barrel, and some streak... I'm going to be in trouble!!!

Today, I'll be having some healthy soup for lunch with half a pb&j. I can so do this. I only wish I had started Weight Watchers sooner, because I've lost 4 pounds in 2 weeks, and it will only get better!!

Here's to hoping I see 151 on the scale next Wednesday!!!

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tips on nursing your little squirt!

Before having Adalyn, I read lots of material on breastfeeding. My favorite book was The Breastfeeding Book by Dr. Sears, but nothing could have really prepared me for how difficult breastfeeding my infant would have been. I could not have foreseen the amount of pain that I would endure to feed her. Nope, not at all. I have about 32,953 pregnant friends - just a rough estimate - so I thought I should blog my own personal breastfeeding tips. Just in case anyone wanted some tips.


-As soon as your baby is born, try to breastfeed. The hospital will probably initiate it, but still. Those first hours are crucial.

-Don't let those nurses talk you into "supplementing" with a bottle of formula. Don't.Let.Them.Do.It. It will only make things more difficult when your baby tries to go back to the breast. Colostrum is all (s)he needs. God is amazing like that and designed it best.

-Try the football hold if your newborn is having latch issues. It is the only way we nursed for about two weeks. I have rather.. largeish (understatement) breasts, and my newborn could not deal with a regular hold. She just couldn't latch that way until she was a few weeks old!


-It hurts like heck. I would like to describe it as... a pair of pliers twisting your nipple to shreds? Yes. Definite pain. But you can stick through it. My personal remedy was to count to ten in my head and hold my breath. Once she latched and the milk was flowing, the pain was no more.

-Adalyn had a shallow latch, which gave me "lipstick nipple." Yes, that is a real term! I had NO idea that this even existed! It resulted in extreme pain when she latched for the first 6-ish weeks. I remember nearly crying in Moe's to Mark and suggesting that we just go with formula. He helped me stick it out. But anyway - the point is that you have to make sure your baby's latch is good. There are instincts, but your baby really has no idea what they're doing, to an extent.. they've never nursed before! So you gotta help them.


Drunk on milk.

-Nurse on demand. Don't try to set a strict schedule. I think I nursed my newborn every 2 hours when she was fresh and new. It will help your milk come in, but it's extremely exhausting.

-Bedshare if you can. I never knew this before, but night nursing keeps up your supply! Something about nursing at night makes your hormones go crazy (in a good way!) and makes you make a lotta milk. Plus, night nursing is one of the factors that keeps you from having a period. I'm 7 months PP and still without a period, and I guess I contribute it to night nursing? Who knows!



Milk Coma II


-Bedshare if you can, Part II. Nursing at night is so easy, it's unreal! I'm able to get a full night's rest, even thought Adalyn doesn't technically STTN. I'm not quite sure how many times she wakes at night, but I just roll over and hook her up, and I go right back to sleep. It's a beautiful thing. Think what you wish, but this single (present) mama is getting good rest at night ;)

-Don't pump and feed your baby from a bottle for the first 6 weeks. I didn't know this until I read it from the La Leche League, but it's one of the things you definitely should not do! A baby extracts more milk than a pump does, and your baby will prefer the bottle. It'll just slow things down and make it more difficult in the long run. On the flip side, though, it means that no one, including your husband, can help you feed! So you're up alone feeding the baby in the wee hours of the morning. It made me pretty tired, but Facebook on my iPhone kept me entertained through those nights :)

-The La Leche League also teaches to not give pacifiers for the first 6-ish weeks. I offered one to Adalyn, but she wouldn't take one. My midwife says that breastfed babies won't take artificial nipples because they want the real thing. It was true in Adalyn's case. But I know a ton of breastfed babies who take them, so who knows?? She will take one now to go down for a nap, though.. and boy, I LOVE the pacifier over here!!


Milk Coma III

-Make sure your husband is educated on bfeeding so he can be there to help support and encourage you. Mark was my cheerleader, and I'm so thankful for him during those first few weeks when I didn't have any strength left!


So here we are - Adalyn is 7 months old, and she's never drank from a bottle. I just never bought a pump. I thought it was silly to buy one when I would be the one feeding her every day, so why on earth would I pump!? I'll never forget those first weeks when I wanted to give up so badly, but I'm glad I did. But I wish I had someone tell me just how difficult it would be, so I could be a little more prepared.

You can do it, guys! :)

Updates

Oh boy. I'm sucking with the blog post thing. You know what? I think part of my problem is that I used to have a laptop in front of me, and the words and creativity just flowed. Now, I have an iPhone/iPad and it just ain't the same to have to text your blog post.

But hi ho, Mark is coming back to us in a month-ish. I am SO beyond anxious. My heart races and my stomach does flips when I think of it. And, oh, we have a zillion plans. We have to move into our new home. Make it a home. Spend $600 of gift cards at the BX on stuff for our home. And do family things every.single.weekend. until it gets too cold to be outside. And then?? THEN I will have SO much to blog about that I will explode.

I promise that good blog posts are coming. Soon. Don't give up oh me. Please.

So now we are the parents of a 7-month old kid. Cuh-razy. That kid talks up a storm, eats real food, and will pinch the fire out of your skin. Oh I'm not exaggerating. She has made my face and my mother's face BLEED from her scratches! And I'm sporting a big bruise on my am from the pinch of the century. But I love my little toot so it's all good :)





Her newest favorite and most calming thing is to go outdoors. It's finally warm enough to take her out without a million layers and hats.



I'm already starting to plan her first birthday. The theme? Minnie Mouse. Not because I'm a huge fan of Minnie, but it coincides with our vacation, so it's perfect! Do you have any idea how many Minnie birthday items are for sale on Etsy?? It's a beautiful thing.

Ahh I am so excited about my life. And being a mommy to my amazing little nugget. And being a wife to the sweetest most loyal husband ever. I love it all!!


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WW Week 1!

Week 1 weigh in:


I'm down four pounds in my first week!!! I am extremely excited and proud!

I get 36 points per day - higher than normal because I nurse, so they give me extra points. For breakfast, I have either Special K Chocolatey Delight or Cocoa Krispies... Both of which are shockingly low calorie & fat! I usually have a frozen meal or turkey sandwich & sweet potato fries or soup or something along those lines for lunch. Snacks consist of fruit or a pudding or granola bar, and supper is just a regular healthy meal! I can still squeeze in one Coke per day and still remain within my points, so that makes me a happy mama :)

My first weight-loss goal is 148, with my overall goal being 130. I hope to be 130 by the time we sail away on our Disney cruise at the end of October (Aka Adalyn's birthday).

I can so do this!! I just signed up for WW online, so I don't actually go to meetings or get weighed by a leader. But trust me, I have enough motivation. Once I see the scale numbers dropping, that's enough motivation for me to keep going! I don't want to give up on this -- I want to be a hott wife for my hubs and a healthy mama for my baby.

Once Mark comes home, I will be able to go to the gym, which will help! I am so excited to get my old body back and excited to blog about it too!


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I'm that mom.

Hi, friends.

I'm shamelessly going to ask you to vote for Adalyn's picture.

Will you? Pretty please with sugar on top??

http://photos.parents.com/category/vote/photo/858309?esrc=nwphotofaves_pmcover11

There's the link! PLEASE! :)

rantom thoughts!

I haven't heard a sermon in months. Many months. Somehow, it works out every.single.week. that Adalyn wants to nurse right when the sermon starts. Today she fell asleep while we sang, and I thought Oh BOY! Finally!! She's going to let me listen to the sermon!

Five minutes into a lesson on Ezra, she woke up and cried. So we made the walk to the nursing room (aka an empty room with a rocking chair) and enjoyed Sunday morning alone. Again. How does this always happen? Oh, my Little Toot.

I never really wanted to blog about poop, but the time has come: I'm about to blog about poop.

We're battling our first bout of constipation. Oh, when I say we, I mean Adalyn, of course! I have no idea how this has happened. I still nurse her and still feed her the same foods that she has always enjoyed. Suddenly, she poops very very hard poop. And I have to.. well, help her. I'll save you the details, my friends. I bought her Gerber prune juice and have been feeding her pears to get things moving. Poor kid has been grunting and in pain for 4 days now. I'm really at a loss of what to do. I hope things just.. correct themselves? Poor Little Toot.

Only four Sundays left in Kentucky. That makes it seem EXTREMELY close - does it not?! I can't believe that I only have 4 Sundays left here at my home church! Ack! Time is ticking away!

Adalyn thinks Mark is hilarious. When we Skype, especially on the iPad (where she can see him much better), she just smiles continually and laughs at him. I think they'll get along great.

While typing this blog post, Little Toot opened the desk drawer (she's in my lap) and is rummaging through items in the top drawer. Who is this kid, and how did she get to be so big?

It breaks my heart.
I need a newborn.
Pronto!

Sigh :)

I threw Adalyn on my back the other day.
It was way too much fun.

Spoon. And more!

This little girl


loves carrots.


No, like really


loves them!!!

But even more than carrots? This gal loves...








A SPOON!!!


In other news, Adalyn has transitioned from four naps to three naps a day. As soon as I published my 6-month update, she decided to prove me wrong and dropped a nap! I had a feeling she was reading my blog all along.

Guess how many times Adalyn wakes up a night. Go on, I dare you!

No, she doesn't STTN.
Nope, not once!
Not twice!

...Every hour and a half!

I bet your jaw just dropped. I'm (sadly?) used to it, though. We still bedshare and breastfeed, and apparently it is VERY VERY common for babies to nurse all through the night when you pair those combos. From what I've read from tons of mamas, their kids continue to nurse a lot until 18-ish months.

Adalyn doesn't sleep nuzzled to me. We each have our side of the bed, and my back is actually toward her. I sense when her breathing changes and know when she is about to wake up. She moves a little, and I nurse her before she is even totally awake. So we just go back to sleep. I'm sure that sounds bizarre to you (yes, you..), but it is extremely comforting to me that TONS of moms do the same thing. It's just that no one talks about it. Except on BabyCenter :)

We are almost to the 30-day countdown for our family's reunion!!! I am beyond excited to have a partner in parenting and a best friend to share life with again. Being a single mother is not easy.. I just do it! We have our own little groove now, but I am definitely looking forward to having some help with her!!

We are now on a car search. We currently have a Jeep Patriot, but we need something a little bigger. 12-hour trips home with a baby and a dog require a lot of room. We have no idea what we should get. Any ideas??

I've already lost 2 pounds on Weight Watchers in 3 days. I ate a salad from Longhorn for lunch. Afterward, I looked up the nutritional information online. It was 20 points. I only get 36 a day! Now I only have 4 points left today (after I had breakfast and a coke).. Ugh! Guess I'll be eating 0-point veggies for supper!

It looks like we won't be going back to base housing for sure. Well, we're pretty certain, anyway. I am looking very, very forward to decorating our new home. And having carpet. And an ice maker. And water we can drink.

I promise to try to blog more often. Hold me to that promise, okay?

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WW

Quick update:

We are 6-ish weeks away from Mark's return!! Which means I have 6-ish weeks to lose some weight.

I have 25 pounds to lose. Or so. 20 away from my pre-pregnancy weight, but 25 away from pre-marriage weight. So last night I joined Weight Watchers, and I am ready!

I've decided to blog it all. I'm still nursing, and the weight just will not come off. If I pig out on Mexican food or starve myself with heath food, my weight doesn't budge a pound. It's just stuck. And it's pretty frustrating.

I'm starting my journey at 157 and would like to end up around 130. We have a fabulous cruise planned for October, and I'd like to look somewhat decent for Mickey Mouse. Ha.. Kidding. Sort of.

In other news, how adorable is my 6.5-month old daughter? I can't get enough of her!

6 months!

Adalyn is six months (and almost a half..) old now! I've reached a point in this deployment where I just have no energy to blog. Well, I do. Kind of. But at the end of the day (730pm), I either:

a. stalk people on Facebook
b. read my October 2010 birth board on Baby Center
c. Google stuff
d. go to sleep insanely early

See, blogging just doesn't make the list. It's unfortunate, eh? But now, my sweet little possum is playing in her exersaucer. So mama has a moment to blog:

She is half a year old! And her personality is exploding! My little koala baby now loves about 85% of people and hates the other 15%. She is full of smiles all day long and only makes a grunt sound when she is bored and wants to do something else. She can still only go about 2 - 2.5 hours between naps. And, sadly, usually only naps for 30 minutes at a time. Resulting in 4 naps a day. Still. Sometimes she will take an hour and a half nap. And she still needs (!!!!) to be swaddled for naps and still wears her Magic Sleep Suit to bed each night.

I wonder how many times I wrote "still" in that paragraph.

Little Toot is wearing 9 month clothes now and some 12 month clothes. She is 50% for weight and 75% for height. Though my family still can't believe how teeny she is. She is so, so petite and sweet. I love her small little rolls on her arms and legs. I can't get enough!

She will laugh every.single.time. if you kiss her hands. She just thinks it's so funny. And she also loves my necklaces and has already broken one.

She is discovering her voice more each day and has recently learned to say "ba ba" and actually says bye-bye, though she has no idea what it means. We're working hard on learning dada, since her daddy would die of happiness to hear her say it!

She loves her Jumperoo, her My Pal Scout, and any little trinket toy that she can stick in her mouth. But her most beloved toy? A Munchkin spoon. I have 3 in my diaper bag for a quick entertainer while we're out & about.

We still co-sleep with no end in sight. I've contemplated putting her in her crib.. but just haven't yet. She takes her naps in her crib though. If you can count a 30-minute sleep-fest as a "nap," that is.

She thinks she's big stuff when she rides in shopping carts but still prefers the Moby above all else. I dearly love having her close to me and get pretty sad when I think of her growing up so fast.

We're right in the midst of the super duper oral fixation phase, so everything goes to her mouth. Would I sound like a bad mom if I admitted that I had to retrieve a hunk of play-doh from her mouth the other day? What? I don't know how she got play-doh. Ahem. I guess her mother should have been watching her :)

She loves to be sung to sleep. I love it too. She falls asleep for naps in 2 minutes flat when I swaddle and sing to her. And at night? We're still reading Won't You Be My Kissaroo, and she never gets tired of it. And I never get tired of acting out the book in dramatic hand motions and sounds!!

No sign of crawling anywhere in the future, though she loves to stand up while holding onto things (music table, ottoman, anything!).

She thinks Mark is hilarious, especially when he makes a "popping" noise with his mouth. I'm glad she finds her daddy so entertaining. They love "talking" to each other on the iPad.


Right now she is playing solo, chewing on her exersaucer, and saying "baaa baaaaa." I love her SO much. And, while she exhausts me to no end, I couldn't imagine a more perfect daughter. She is everything I ever dreamed of.

(This blog post was mostly written for my own personal memories.)