The Wife and Mommy Blog

Apartment Found

2008-08-14T13:48:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I decided on an apartment that I really liked. It's really cute, but a LOT smaller than what we've been used to. Nothing is set in stone just yet because there's no downstairs 2 bedrooms available, but as soon as one opens up the manager is going to give me a call. I have all the paperwork ready to turn in as soon as I hear from her.

Like I said, it's a 2 bedroom with one bath. (But it also has a sink/vanity in the master bedroom.) Walk-in closet. Patio. Lots of storage inside the apartment and a storage closet on the patio. My favorite part is the price! lol. It's about $400 less than what we were paying for the house we were renting and over $500 less than what we were paying for military housing. Hopefully we can make this work with our growing family. Oh and another thing that I love about the place is the location! It's within walking distance to just about everything... the freeway, a Starbucks, In-n-Out, Target, the mall, my mom's work and Lizz's house!

I CAN'T WAIT TO MOVE OUT OF HERE AND IN TO OUR OWN PLACE AGAIN!!!

One month down...

2008-08-10T09:26:00.000-07:00

...less than 3 more to go before Ronnie comes home! (And I can't wait.) As much as I love it here at my mom's house I'd much rather have my own place again. Let's just say it's been a really long month. It hasn't all been bad though....

Last month my mom and I signed up for a year membership at The San Diego Zoo. Since Camron is under 3 he'll get in free the whole time. I'm so glad we did it. It's so nice to be able to go to the zoo and not feel like we have to see everything in one day. The first day we just walked around for about an hour and left when it got too hot. The second time we went it was 5 minutes after the zoo opened and it was great! We saw so many animals....with NO CROWDS! I can't wait til the weather cools off and school is back in session.

My pregnancy is going pretty well. Especially now that I've started taking Zoloft. Yes, apparently I have some sort of extreme pregnancy enduced hormonal imbalance. From day one of this pregnancy it's been completely different from the one with Camron. I've been crazy to live with! I was having crazy outbursts, mood swings going from one extreme to the other, crying non stop without reason, no motivation to do anyting, insomnia and snapping at just about everyone. It was ridiculous. I finially realized that I should get help when I woke up one morning with hives all over my hands, arms and legs. The only time I've ever broken out in hives was when I've been super stressed. (When my sister was born, when I started kindergarten, when my brother was born and when I started junior high.) I've been on it for about 2+ weeks so far and I'm starting to feel much more normal... well, as normal as I can feel while still being pregnant.

As for Camron he's STILL teething off and on AND he's already started the terrible two's! It's just a good thing that I started the Zoloft. lol. He's been tough to deal with. He's been throwing the worst fits. I mean the kind where he's screaming on the top of his lungs, throwing himself on the ground and throwing things. The only thing that I've learned to do it ignore it. If you give him any sort of attention, positve or negative, he just screams louder. His tantrums usually only last a few minutes at the most thank goodness. I hope the meltdowns slow down by the time he's 2. I don't know what I'm going to do if he's still like this when the new baby comes.

Speaking of the new baby again, I have an appointment coming up on the 19th for my big ultrasound! That's when they'll be able to tell me if I'm having a boy or a girl. Everyone thinks I'll be having a girl. I'm hoping it's a girl, but I have a feeling it'll be another boy.

This Summer we've been trying to do a lot of swimming. So far we've only managed to get up to the pool a few times, but from the very beginning Camron has LOVED it! I'm sure if we keep it up he'll be swimming by the time he's 2. He's not afraid of the water at all.

Yesterday we went with Lizz, Frank and Caleigh to the YMCA and we had so much fun! Camron just walked straight in to the kiddie pool. It was only a foot and a half deep so it came up to just above his tummy. He had the best time just walking around and around. After about 2 laps around he didn't want to hold my hand any more... he fell under water 3 times, but each time I picked him up he wanted right back down. It didn't phase him at all. I'm surprised he brushed it off so easily, buy I'm so proud of him. :) I think we'll be back there real soon to go swimming again.

My beautiful son

2008-07-07T12:55:00.001-07:00

He's so beautiful that he gets called a girl almost on a daily basis. We can't go any where without someone commenting on what a beautiful girl I have. lol. It doesn't really bother me because he is a pretty boy. I'm guessing they think he's a girl because he has the most gorgeous, long, curly dark blond hair and the biggest true blue eyes. I know it has nothing to do with his clothing.... There's absolutely nothing girly about them. He's always in either blue, green or red and they usually have cars or bugs or some other boyish theme to them. Oh well, I will just have to deal with it I suppose because Ronnie and I refuse to cut his gorgeous locks. Ronnie wants to wait until he's at least two. We'll see how long I can put up with the comments....

13 Weeks and other news

2008-07-07T12:55:00.000-07:00

I'm officially starting my second trimester today and I'm feeling great!! No more morning sickness, no stomach cramps... nothing. The only way I actually know I'm pregnant is the fact that my face has broken out in pimples, my hair is growing like crazy and I haven't had a period since March. Not bad. I hope my whole second trimester is like this. =)

Well, Ronnie made it to Pensacola (spelling?) on Friday afternoon. It only took him about 3 days! And that's with a stop in El Paso, TX and then a stop at a hotel near the Texas border. So now the official wait begins... His first day of school was today and I'm already counting down the days til he gets to come back home. I love being here with family, but I really can't wait to get our own place again.

Speaking of our own place... The dream of owning our own house right next door to my mom was crushed last week. We came home from my sister's house on Thursday to the old neighbors standing outside the house with what we're guessing were real estate agents. My guess is that these people saw their ad in the newspaper where they had it listed for $5000 and jumped on it. I'm sure they saw it and figured they could make a ton of money off of this deal... Oh well. I guess it wasn't meant to be.

$3,000?!

2008-07-02T09:55:00.000-07:00

That's the price that we may be buying a house for. I kid you not! Ronnie and I have the opportunity to own a house for $3000! It's kind a crazy situation....

My mom and step dad have lived in a mobile home park (in a manufactured house) since they got married in 1998. I was 13 when we all moved in there. From the day we moved in we realized that we had some crazy neighbors. They would spy on us through the windows and talk about us outside on their porch in the early morning hours. They were and still are a very odd couple. I have stories upon stories that I could go on and on about them, but I'll save that for another time. Anyway, fast forward to the present... These crazy neighbors of ours FINALLY moved out!! My mom was so excited the day she saw their moving van parked outside that she called me up and told me what was happening. We had been praying a day like that would come. They had tried to sell their house so many times in the past, but never had any luck.... Because like I said, they're crazy and always scared people off. So they're finally gone, but it didn't look like they had sold the house before they left. Since they didn't sell it they're still responsible for the space rent until someone takes over the place.

A couple days ago my step dad was outside talking to the maintenance guy about their house. He found out that they moved in to an apartment and just abandoned their house, but are still financially responsible for the $1100 space rent. They moved because although they own the house they could no longer afford that space rent. (It is kind of a ridiculous amount to be paying on top of a mortgage payment) So they're trying to get rid of the house for dirt cheap!!! Anything they sell it for will be pure profit because the house was given to them by the lady's dad. They just don't want to have to pay the rent any more.

My step dad called up the office to confirm all of this and yes it's true.... Now it's all a matter of working out the details. We're waiting to hear back from the park management today about it. I'm hoping and praying that we get the opportunity to own this house.

It's not as simple as paying $3000 and we're done though... There's more to it then that. The place is pretty much a disaster. It will need to be tented and bombed for bugs! When they started moving out their stuff roaches started making their way to all the neighbors houses including my mom's house. Gross. It will need to be painted both inside and out I'm sure. A couple months ago the guy painted the house himself and it looks like total crap! The place reeks like cat urine so every single piece of flooring will need to be replaced. The windows, screens and window coverings will need to be replaced. Who knows what appliances will need to be changed out. I'm sure everything. The landscaping around the place will be changed around.... And who really knows what else will have to be changed and fixed.

It sounds like a lot, but it really helps to know people. My mom knows a guy at church who does fumigation for a living. My dad is a house painter and all around handyman. My step dad is a finishing carpenter and my mom has worked at Home Depot for 18 years... so she knows a little something about home improvement.

Wow, sorry for the novel! I'll update more as I learn it.
Oh and Ronnie has now made it to Texas... I should be hearing from him soon. =)

All moved out and all moved in

2008-06-30T12:15:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was our last official day at our old house. =( We took just about everything we own to a storage unit and took all of our essentials to my mom and step dad's house. So here I am... using my step dad's laptop while Camron takes a nap in his crib. I'm so happy this is only going to be for 3 months. While I love being here with my family I already miss the freedom of my OWN home.

Tomorrow Ronnie leaves on his crazy road trip to Florida. I hate that he's driving all that way on his own... Luckily his dad and step mom are in Texas so he'll have a place to sleep the first night. After he leaves there I'll be biting my nails til I know he's safe and sound on base

Pregnancy is going pretty well. I'd forget that I was even pregnant if it weren't for my growing tummy. I'm only 12 weeks, but all of a sudden look like I'm 5 months!!! What the heck? I'm afraid to even tell people how far along I am.... I can just see them saying, "Are you sure there's just one in there?" Yes, people, I'm sure. I can't wait for my next apointment. It's on the 22nd and I'll be 15 weeks by then. I'm pretty sure that at this appointment I'll be able to make an appointment for my big ultrasound... The one where they'll tell me the sex of this baby. =) Of course I'm hoping for a girl, but I'll be so so so happy to have another boy.

Camron should be waking up soon so I'll keep this kinda short. I have a few more updates on Camron, but I'll get to that next time I'm able to get online. =)

Let's talk baby names

2008-06-12T07:54:00.000-07:00

Apparently my husband wants us to be one of "those" families. You know the ones I'm talking about. They name all of their kids with the same first letter. Jenny, Jessica, Jacob, Jeffery, etc. Well, he wants all of our future children (Including the one I'm carrying) to have their name start with the letter "C".

It all started the other night when we were talking about baby names. I have a few that I picked out and absolutly LOVE, but Ronnie isn't liking anything I mentioned. That is until I said, "How about Sierra if it's a girl." He said he really liked it, but that it had to be spelled with a C. Ok then... Cierra. Cierra is a name that I never once considered, but for the past couple days it has been nagging at me and I couldn't stop thinking about this name. So I was really surprised when Ronnie said that he liked it. All the other names I had told him he immediatly shot down. This same exact situation happened when we were naming Camron... I gave him a list of names and he hated every single one of them. Out of no where I said, "How about Cameron." He told me, "I like it! But it has to be spelt c-a-m-r-o-n. No "e" in it." Ok, fine, Camron it is. So if it's a girl I think we're going with Cierra Lynn.

A boy's name is a little harder. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the name Braydon! Ronnie keeps telling me he's not too sure about it. I don't want to name our child anything that both don't agree on... So last night while we were discussing names I was looking through a baby name book at all the "C" names. There was nothing in there that was really standing out. Then out of no where Ronnie says, "How about Cason?" Cason? I asked him how to spell it.... it's like Jason, but with a C instead. Hmm... Kinda interesting. All that night I was saying it over and over in my head. The more I say it the more I love it. I've never heard the name before, it's not in any baby name books and it was ranked at number 721ish in the Social Security Name Index. I think it's more commonly a last name, but then so is Camron. I think I LOVE it! This morning I thought of the perfect middle name to go with it, Joshua. Cason Joshua...

Of course we still have MONTHS to think about names... and we don't even know this baby's gender yet..... but I think it's pretty safe to say that if it's a boy he'll be named Cason Joshua and if it's a girl she'll be named Cierra Lynn.

We plan to have at least 2 more kids. It'll be a challange coming up with 2 more C names that we both love....

9 Weeks, 2 Days

2008-06-11T14:32:00.000-07:00

I went in for my re-scan today. (Ultrasound #2) and all went well! 3 weeks ago Baby was nothing more than a teeny tiny speck on the screen. You could hardly see it! This week was a MUCH different story! The Baby is HUGE!!! It shocked us all to see it go from nothing 3 weeks ago to an actual baby today. You could see the head, spinal cord, arms and legs... My midwife also pointed out the yolksac. She gave me about 5 different pictures.... hopefully I can get my scanner to start working again soon so I can post Baby Roberts' first picture. =) Oh, we heard the heartbeat too and it was very strong and steady. Thank goodness. After the first ultrasound I had been really worried that something was wrong...

6 years ago this month....

2008-06-05T19:58:00.000-07:00

I was graduating from my senior year at Granite Hills High school. Has it really been that long? Dang. For the most part I can remember graduation day like it was yesterday... I was living at my dad's house at the time and that morning I was rushing around to get ready. I was driving myself since I had my own car. I remember that I got out of the house on time and just as I got to the school I realized that I had left my cap on my bed! I drove as fast as I could back home (in Lakeside! Granite Hills is in El Cajon!), grabbed the cap and rushed back to school. By this time there was NO parking close to the stadium... I had to run all the way from Kennedy Park up to the stadium. I'd say that was a good mile run. When I get up there I realized that I had left my tassel at home. OMG... could my day get any worse? Luckily Alyssa (can't remember her last name) had a spare and she lent it to me for the ceremony. The rest of the day went pretty smoothly. Went to lunch with the family then off to a couple graduation parties... and ended up at my boyfriend Cory's house... who also graduated that day from West Hills High School. Oh and Ronnie was there... Yes Ronnie as in my now husband. Ahhh the memories.

Anyway, I bring this all up because my little brother graduates at Granite Hills tomorrow. Class of 2008. I can hardly believe it... I feel pretty old now. He's the youngest sibling in our family and the last to graduate. Not looking forward to getting up early tomorrow.... Especially with Crabby Camron! He's so not a morning person. We'll be there though, bright and early.

Congrats class of 2008!

My, my, my how fast things change!

2008-05-30T15:49:00.000-07:00

You're NOT going to believe this! We're staying here in San Diego after all. We just found out that the head hancho in Quantico canceled Ronnie's orders because they realized that he wasn't qualified for the job and they pretty much refused to send him to school for it. I'm sooooo excited that we get to stay here!!!

Unfortunately we're still packing up our stuff.

Ronnie is getting his command to send him to the very same school the guys at Quantico didn't want to send him to! He'll be checking in on July 7th... and he'll be driving there! Leaving me with no vehicle. So we've decided that Camron and I will move in with my mom while he's gone. It will give us plenty of time to catch up on all the bills that we haven't paid since March and it'll help out my mom because we'll be paying for all the groceries every month. Oh and I'll be able to use her car if needed.

Once Ronnie gets back we'll probably move in to an apartment... I never thought we'd go back to an apartment, but if it's going to help us keep up with the bills then so be it. As long as I don't have to deal with stairs again I'll be fine. I think we'll probably look in to a really nice condo for rent.. one with everything we want like a/c, washer/dryer, dishwasher, garage, etc. The ones I was looking at the other day were about $350 less then what we're paying on this 858 sq ft house... and they were all about 1000 sq ft!

June is creeping up....

2008-05-24T09:04:00.000-07:00

Seriously, where did May go? How is it already the 24th???

I woke up this morning with a sense of urgency that I needed to get my butt in gear... A million things ran through my mind about packing, giving our 30 day notice, shutting off our cable/phone/internet, changing our address AGAIN, etc. It made me want to go back to sleep and not be woken up until this is all over with. I had to get up though. My bladder was killing me. LOL. (Thanks a lot pregnancy!) So here I am... I'm at a loss on where to even begin with all this! When we moved in to this house it was because WE wanted to move, not because someone else was making us. We kinda did things according to our own time line. Now things are much different. We really only have the next 30+ days to do all of this....

I guess I should also give an update on what's going on. I think I've been so preoccupied with my new pregnancy that I forgot to talk about our plans... If you've been keeping up with this blog you know that Ronnie got orders to be stationed at Edwards AFB and that he was supposed to be up there and starting work on the 15th of July. Well, of course plans have slightly changed... as they usually do. As it stands right now Ronnie wants us to be moved out of here by July 1st. He wants to put all of our stuff in storage except what we'll be needing for everyday life. He's planning on going to school in FL to become certified as an... well I don't know exactly.. lol... the name escapes me at the moment. While he's off doing that, Camron and I will be staying with my mom and step-dad in their guestroom. Ronnie's school will be about 4 months long give or take. So by the time he gets done with that I'll be in my third trimester! I told him that I really didn't want to switch doctors and worry about moving that far in to my pregnancy. He agreed. So I'll be giving birth down here just like I did with Cam and Ronnie will be living in the barracks for a few months. It's going to be saving us a ton of money and Ronnie will have plenty of money to drive down here on the weekends to see Camron and I. When it gets close to my due date he'll look in to taking leave so he can be here for the birth. Once the new baby arrives we'll be all set to move up north! I'm sure things won't go this smoothly, but I can dream...

Camron just woke up so I better go make breakfast.

Day at the Beach

2008-05-22T10:28:00.001-07:00

Yesterday Lizz, Frank and C invited us to come with them to the beach. Since Camron had never been I decided to go and hang out.

We started off at Sunset Cliffs looking for this secluded beach that we've heard about... and I've been to before, but couldn't remember where it was exactly. We never did find it. My pregnancy hormones were kicking in when it was taking forever to find it. I was wearing Camron in our ring sling and one shouldered carries just don't cut it any more with an almost 30 pound child! (Sorry if I was being a b**** guys...)

Anyway, we ended up leaving and we headed over to OB. Camron had fallen asleep in the car and did NOT want to wake up when we got there. I finally got him to wake up, but he wasn't too sure about this beach stuff. He refused to let me set him down! I guess he didn't like the sand in between his toes. Yes, I have a weird boy. So we ended up spending most of the time there with Camron sitting in my lap...

I think I'll need to take him there more often. It just sucks that we'd have to go on the weekends when the beaches are already starting to get super crowded with tourists! I wish Ronnie and I could take him during a week day sometime. I think he might have more fun if Dadda came with us.

Why am I awake???

2008-05-20T05:47:00.000-07:00

Ugh, I've been up since 5 this morning... It's too hot in here to sleep. Our a/c went out last week and we're still waiting to hear back from our landlord about it. Of course during one of the hottest weekends of the year so far our a/c would stop working.

So the appointment went well yesterday... I guess. I'll explain more in a minute. Anyway, I'm going to the midwife clinic this time and I absolutely love it there so far! The front desk people were so nice and very friendly to me. My midwife, Nancy, is really nice and easy to talk to. She seemed to really want to get to know me and my situation. She asked about Ronnie and I, about Camron, about my previous birth experience and even about how I plan to feed the new baby. They're VERY pro-breastfeeding there! She mentioned that some of the midwives were even certified lactation consultants. Very exciting.

Okay, fast forward to my ultrasound.... since it's so early in the pregnancy I had to have an internal one. (Not as bad as I thought it would be.) As Nancy is searching around my uterus for the little bean I see nothing on the screen. I'm no expert, but I kinda know what I'm looking for. So I was fully expecting bad news... What REALLY started to worry me was the fact that she said, "So you've had no cramping or bleeding?" I told her no, not one drop of blood and no cramps. She's searching... searching.... searching... ah-ha! We see a very faint, teeny, tiny little flicker. That's what she called it. I thought it looked like a faint little blob or blurry line on the screen. She measured this blob and got a rough estimated due date of January 14th. Not bad. Only off by 2 days. She wants to see me again in 3 weeks though for another ultrasound to see if we can see more at that time. By then I should be almost 9 weeks. I'm praying that we can see more the next time and that everything is ok....

1st Doctor's Appointment!

2008-05-19T06:47:00.000-07:00

I woke up today with my morning sickness back in full force. And here I thought I had gotten lucky when it had mysteriously disappeared last week. =( So yeah, my first doctor's appointment is today. I'm kinda excited about it! I'm really hoping that they'll be able to hear the heartbeat on the monitor. I think that's what made it real for me when I was pregnant with Camron... hearing that heartbeat! I remember that the first time I heard it I started crying. I'm sure I will this time around too. Stupid pregnancy hormones!

I'm kind of nervous about this appointment too. I'm not seeing the same people I did with Camron. (The military likes to bump you around to different places...) So this time I'll be seen on base by a midwife. I guess I'm ok with that, but I'm still nervous about not knowing any of these people...

Anyway, I better go get in the shower before Camron wakes up. He's really crabby in the mornings... and right now I just don't think I can deal with him crying while I shower. Best to shower and get ready first - then deal with a cranky toddler.

Wish me luck that everything goes smoothly today!

Another Book I'm Reading

2008-05-16T08:15:00.000-07:00

At the same time I bought The Breastfeeding Book I also bought The Best Birth: Your Guide to the Safest, Healthiest, Most Satisfying Labor & Delivery by Sarah McMoyler.

I haven't had the chance to read through the whole thing yet, but I'm slowly working on it. So far, I'm getting the vibe that I'm not sure this book is really what I was looking for, but there's a lot of good info in it based on the first 5 chapters I've read. The author spends a lot of time talking about the different options available for pain relief. She mentions that you're not a failure if you get the epidural and she talks a lot about dads getting really involved in the labor and delivery process. She also mentions how to cope with the pain. I'll give a full review when I'm done reading it, but so far this sounds like a good book for anyone planning on having a good hospital birth experience.

Right now I'm only 5 and a half weeks along and there's a LOT of time before I really have to think about labor, but I decided that I really want to be more involved in what happens during my pregnancy and during labor and delivery. I'm going to be doing a LOT of reading in the next 9 months.... With Camron I really thought I was well prepared for it, but looking back there's a lot that I didn't know back then. Knowledge is power and I plan to be armed with a whole lot of power before this baby comes in to the world!

The Breastfeeding Book

2008-05-16T07:25:00.000-07:00

The other day I bought The Breastfeeding Book by Martha Sears, R.N. and William Sears, M.D.** and it is an amazing book! If you plan to breastfeed at all in your life I highly suggest this book... There's tons of great info in it.

Anyway, I bought it for a couple reasons.

I plan to do all the research on breastfeeding as I can this time around. I WILL be successful at breastfeeding with the new baby. I plan to do whatever it takes to keep up my milk supply and to breastfeed for as long as possible. Well, maybe not as long as possible, but for as long as we both mutually desire to do so.

I kinda wanted to figure out what went wrong with breastfeeding Camron. Good 'ol Aunt Flo returned at 6 weeks postpartum which is very unusual with an exclusively breastfed baby. My milk supply had almost completely diminished by the time Camron was 5 months old and I had no idea since I hadn't pumped at all other than when we were still in the hospital. This book helped me figure out what went wrong! Since he was in the NICU for the first week of his life they were supplementing with BOTTLES... Meanwhile I was pumping to get my supply going. When I got him home my mom helped me to get him latched on to BF. It took about 24 hours to wean him from a bottle, but in doing that I think he had nipple confusion... He was so used to the bottle by this time that when he was latching on to my breast he was sucking like it was a rubber bottle nipple. I had no idea. Now I've come to realize that it's NOT supposed to hurt when they latch on. If it does you should get help.... I had no clue. Eventually it stopped hurting, but I feel the damage had been done. Camron wasn't getting to the milk sinuses which made it difficult to get all the milk. Eventually my milk supply kept going down and down and down... Poor Camron. I feel so bad about it. BUT now I know better thanks to this wonderful book! ... And Camron is now a happy, healthy (almost) 17 month old, with only a few minor set backs.

My sister is trying to breastfeed. She had a rough start and didn't seem too motivated. She would rather pump the milk and bottle feed. I can see THAT lasting only about a month at the most before she switches to formula. So I've been giving her tips on what she can do.. with the advice given in this book.

**Please note that this book probably isn't for everyone. The book's authors strongly suggest co-sleeping, babywearing, cue-feeding (feeding on demand), not using pacifiers and extended breastfeeding all throughout the book. While I strongly believe in the many benefits of all these, I know this type of parenting is not for everyone. Despite all of these things I just listed it's still a good read for anyone who is going to breastfeed. There's lots of info on getting started, how to get baby to latch on, different positions, nutrition during BFing, exercise... and tons more great info.

It's Been Confirmed!

2008-05-14T16:09:00.000-07:00

I went to Balboa today to get a pregnancy test done and it turned out positive... I could have told them that, but of course they have to see for themselves to make it "official". Once they gave me the positive result they handed me my prenatals, my lovely purple pregnancy book, a HUGE packet that I need to fill out and a date for my first official doctor's appointment. Monday is the big day. Not sure what's gonna happen on this visit, but I'm assuming lots of blood drawn and more papers to fill out.

Yippee.

Bring It On, Pregnancy!!

2008-05-10T22:42:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that I'm not even 5 weeks yet and I'm getting all kinds of crazy pregnancy symptoms already! All of them suck, but I say, BRING IT ON! To me the pregnancy symptoms just mean that everything is alright. (Do I really have 7 more weeks to worry about miscarriages?? Ugh..)

Since I will be 5 weeks on Monday and I've been through almost a whole week of knowing about my pregnancy let's see what I've been through:

Nausea and vomiting
Dizziness
Lower abdominal cramps (just my uterus starting to make room)
Cravings (!!! Sourdough bread, licorice and In N Out!)
Fatigue
Emotional outbursts (crying over nothing, getting snappy with Ronnie)
EXTREME HUNGER!
Outbreak of pimples (Ew!)
Darkening of nipples. (TMI, I know, but pregnancy is a TMI kinda subject... Just wait til I get to tell the birth story later on!)

Doesn't pregnancy sound like so much fun??? It's even more fun when you also have a husband and toddler to take care of. It's just a good thing that women do all the childbearing. If it were left up to my husband he'd be laying on the couch for 9 months eating everything in the house while complaining that his tummy hurts.

I love my hubby, but he could never handle what I do... He says he'd like me to try his job and he'd do mine for a day and we'll see who does better. I keep telling him to bring it on! He swears all I do all day long is sit on the computer while Camron plays nicely on the floor next to me. HA! Wouldn't that be nice? Just once I'd like to see him try out my job as a Stay At Home Mom... I'd like to see him do it for a WHOLE MONTH! (Just for good measure...)

New Pictures As Promised!

2008-05-10T15:48:00.001-07:00

It's about time I posted some of these pictures!

(click the pictures to enlarge them)

Daddy and Camron at Sea World.

We went last month and only managed to take this ONE picture! =(

My crazy kid... his favorite place to hang out is under the desk.
Looking so grown up with his backpack on and cell phone in hand.
This was taken on Easter... Camron wanted NOTHING to do with the Easter Egg Hunt! Maybe next year when he has a lil cousin to compete with.
This one was taken at our old house.. Probably in early March. He loves his babies! =)

Summer Rose (My Niece)

2008-05-08T22:19:00.001-07:00

I know I've posted several times today, but I just finished uploading and resizing the pictures that I had on my camera. I wanted to share a couple that I took of my niece when I was able to drag myself down to the hospital...

(Click pictures to enlarge)

My sister and Summer

My mom and her first granddaughter.

I'll be posting a couple pictures of Camron tomorrow or this weekend when I get the chance! They're all on my computer and all resized... but Ronnie wants me to go watch TV with him.

I'M HUNGRY!

2008-05-08T20:34:00.000-07:00

Holy moly, I've never been so hungry in my whole life! I don't even remember being THIS hungry when I was pregnant with Camron. I'm taking it as a good sign that the teeny little bean in my belly is growing at a good pace. I think I should really go out and buy some fruits and veggies for me to snack on throughout the day though. The last thing I need is to be gaining 20 pounds in the first trimester!!

Let's see, so far today I've had:
Toast and Chocolate Milk
Bowl of Left-over Beef Stroganoff
Spaghetti-Os w/Franks
Sourdough Jack & Curly Fries from Jack in the Box(I was craving sourdough bread today!!)
....and now I'm probably gonna go raid the cupboards once more because I'm STARVING!

I have a feeling that this baby is going to be nothing like Camron. So far this pregnancy is the complete opposite! With Camron I was 3 weeks late before I got a positive test. With Baby #2 I tested a day before my missed period and that second line showed up right away. With Camron I wasn't nauseous in the beginning. Obviously with this one I was nauseous WAY before my missed period. With Camron I had cravings in the beginning, but I don't remember being super hungry ALL THE TIME! With this one I feel like I haven't eaten all day an hour or two after I ate a meal. Maybe all of this means that I won't have problems with this baby. Maybe my pregnancy and labor will go fast and smooth with this one.... Here's hoping. So far, so good! =)

Opps

2008-05-08T14:17:00.000-07:00

I messed up... My estimated due date is actually January 12th, not the 2nd. I was going off of a 28 day cycle, but mine is 39 days. So I'm only about 4 and a half weeks along. Yikes!! That's early....

BIG FAT POSITIVE!!!

2008-05-06T21:46:00.001-07:00

Holy Crap! Do you see the double lines??? That's a positive pregnancy test right there! I know it's hard to see because the lighting in my bathroom sucks and it was taken with my cheapy cell phone. Just trust me that there's 2 lines there.... OMG I'm pregnant. Again. No wonder I've been so sick to my stomach for 4 STRAIGHT DAYS. And lucky me... I get about another 15 weeks of this. That's only if I'm REALLY lucky though. Some people go through an entire pregnancy and never lose the morning sickness. I should be thankful for the morning sickness... it means I'm pregnant and this is what I've wanted!!! Maybe not THIS soon, but Ronnie and I are really happy about it. I was really beginning to worry that I couldn't get pregnant again. I've been off of birth control since June/July of last year... So this has been a complete surprise to us. A wonderful, happy surprise!

It's still REALLY early though. I'm only about 5 weeks and I don't want to tell the whole world until I'm out of the scary "possible miscarriage" stage. 12 weeks seems to be the perfect time. Can I really wait another 6 - 7 weeks to tell the rest of my friends and family? Probably not. Too many people know already. Especially after posting this blog. LOL. I figured that I HAD to post some sort of news after talking about how sick I've been the past several days. I didn't want any one to worry about me....

How exciting.... I'm pregnant again. =)
So much for losing the weight this year. =(

Pregnant?? Or just going crazy?

2008-05-06T12:44:00.000-07:00

I'm so confused right now!!

May 2nd - Friday night I was out with Lizz at Denny's when I started feeling waves of dizzyness. It would come and go and only last about 15 seconds each. I kept mentioning it to Lizz, but I just brushed it off. Later that night when I got home I just felt generally icky, but chaulked it up to the big bowl of ice cream I had just finished off. :P

May 3rd - Saturday morning my mom calls me to let me know that Sam's water broke. I felt ok when I got up, but by 10am I felt COMPLETELY nauseous.... I laid on the couch feeling that way all day long watching tv while Ronnie took care of Camron. I only managed to eat some crackers and drink some 7up. That evening I threw up out of no where and felt so much better! BTW, I bawled my eyes out watching Trading Spaces. Cried again when Ronnie was playing with Camron because they are so cute together. Cried again that night when I told Ronnie I was sorry for being sick all day.

May 4th - Sunday morning I was determined to visit Sam in the hospital who just had her first baby! I ate a few crackers before I got out of bed. That whole day I was ok, but felt underlying nausea all day long... i just kinda pushed past it so I could see my new niece in person. On this day I cried while picking out my sister's card I was going to bring her. Like literally bawling my eyes out in the middle of Target... by myself... while reading "Congratulations!" cards. I also started crying at the hospital when I saw Summer and once again while watching CNN's Morgage Crisis.... a lady was losing her house.

May 5th - Monday morning I woke up at 5am feeling like I needed to rush to the bathroom... The nausea was so overwhelming! It didn't go away until 7pm that night. At that time I felt fine... just really hungry, so I ate a bowl of cereal.

May 6th - Today I woke up feeling fine. A little achy from laying down for 3 days, but over all I feel fine. Every now and then I'll feel a wave of nausea come over me, but nothing like the past 3 days!

Anyway, I'm pretty sure everyone is gonna tell me I'm pregnant, but would there be ANY other reason to be feeling like this?! AM I GOING CRAZY?! I have no other symptoms of anything like the flu.... And there's a possibility that I COULD be preggo, but I just don't want to get my hopes up just yet.

Just a little background:
The first day of my LMP was March 28th, but I usually have 35 - 40 day cycles. (Today is day 39 in this cycle.) AND with Camron a pregnancy test didn't show positive until I was almost 4 weeks late! I guess I'll just see what happens in the new few weeks. I'm really hoping that I am pregnant this time. If I am it would make Camron just over 2 years old when a new baby arrived. I think that's pretty good spacing.

**CROSS YOUR FINGERS FOR US !**

I'm An Aunt!

2008-05-04T10:40:00.000-07:00

My sister, Samantha had her baby yesterday at about 4:10pm!! IT'S A GIRL! She weighed 6lbs 15oz. ~*Summer Rose Medina*~ Isn't that such a pretty name?

I was so nauseous yesterday that I couldn't get up off the couch! It was weird and totally random becuase I had no other symptoms and I feel almost 100% better today. Just a little weak from not eating yesterday. So I finally get to go meet my niece!

BTW, I'm totally jealous of her birth! Her water broke at around 7am yesterday, she got to the hospital and was only having mild contractions so they put her on Pitocin.... By 3pm she was at 8cm... She only had to push through 2 contractions and the baby was out! Must be nice. (Compared to my THREE HOURS OF PUSHING!!!) My next baby better come a lot easier than Camron did, that's all I have to say.

Anyway, I'm off to get ready! I can't wait to buy her some new baby girl outfits!!

I told her today...

2008-05-02T21:59:00.001-07:00

I told our landlord the bad news about us moving today. I felt so bad doing it.... Not that there's anything her or I can do about it, but still. She has a lot on her plate right now with out us adding to it. She told me that she's going to be induced on Monday and I really hate that I had to give her some added stress. =(

On a better note, there's a very slim possibility that Camron and I might stay here in San Diego for about 3-4 months longer than expected. Not in this beautiful house unfortunately, but with my mom. (Not that her house is a bad thing, but I'm gonna miss this house!)

Ronnie is gonna see about getting sent to school down in Florida for about 3 months. I guess the reason that the Marine Corps is sending him to Edwards AFB is because they think that he has a certain qualification... which he doesn't. He was supposed to have it, but instead got sent on a boat deployment. It was never removed from his record though.

I'm crossing my fingers for the school! If he goes we'll be able to put our stuff in storage and catch up on bills!!! Plus Cam and I get to spend a few extra months with my family. If all goes as hoped we won't actually be up in Lancaster until about October/November.

Cross your fingers with me!

Way to go, Myspace!

2008-04-29T10:43:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to share this inappropriate image that Myspace has in their advertisement spots.... And yet there was that HUGE deal (probably still is a huge deal, who knows...) about them going as far as DELETING accounts when moms would post pictures of them breastfeeding! So ridiculous. See for yourself: (click for full size)

And life goes on...

2008-04-23T21:54:00.000-07:00

After having several days to stew on the fact that I'll be moving so far away from home I'm coming to terms with it. And yes, 4 hours away IS far away from home for me since I've never lived more than 10 miles from my mom, dad, sister and brother!

Anyway, I'm feeling better about the whole thing. Of course I'm still thinking about all I'm going to miss about being here, but I'm also thinking more about the positive side of things. My mom and I came up with a great plan that Ronnie even agreed with! We've decided that about every 5 to 6 weeks Ronnie will drive Camron and I down here to SD. He'll hang out with us that weekend and possibly visit with all of his Marine buddies out here. On Sunday he will then drive back up North and go to work as usual. Camron and I will stay down here in my mom's guest room. We'll get to stay all week here!! I'll get to visit with friends (LIZZ!) and family (MY MOM, SISTER & HER NEW BABY!) FOR A WHOLE WEEK! The next weekend Ronnie will drive back down here and pick us up.... Either staying here in SD the rest of the weekend or driving back up either Friday or Saturday night. I think it sounds like a wonderful plan! Not looking forward to paying for all that gas, but we'll be able to budget it in. Especially if we find cheap housing....

Which brings me to another positive thing about moving... Cheaper rent in the Mojave! It's only about $800 -$900 to rent a 2 bedroom apartment out there!! And I'm talking NICE apartments! (Fitness centers, washer/dryer hook-ups, dishwasher, central air...) You can't find that here in San Diego. You're lucky if you only pay $800 for a studio... MAYBE a crappy 1 bedroom, but definitely NOT a nice 2 bedroom. So we're going to be saving a TON of money living out there in an apartment. Not really looking forward to apartment living again, but if we absolutely hate it we can always move again once we're up there for a while and know the area a bit better.

Another positive thing I've been thinking about is starting my own babywearing group out there. I haven't been able to find one in the area so I'm gonna try to spread the babywearing love out there! I just hope they don't look at me like I'm crazy. We'll see how this goes....

Back to apartment hunting!

Semper Gumby

2008-04-22T09:54:00.000-07:00

If you're a Marine Wife, I'm sure you've heard this phrase... It basically means "Always Flexible" which is a spin off of Semper Fidelis (meaning Always Faithful). Well right now I'm trying so to remember that I need to stay Semper Gumby.... I am a Marine Wife after all. The reason, you ask?

Ronnie just got new orders.

To where you ask? The stinkin Mojave Desert! Basically in the middle of no where!!! I've been there before. My grandparents, my Aunt Lori (her husband and my cousins) and my Uncle Vince and his wife all live up there. I didn't like it at ALL. When we went it was in the middle of Summer and it was so hot outside that my mom's car started overheating.

Ugh... Edwards Air Force Base.

Now you might be asking when, right? 45 days. We have 45 days to check out of here and then we'll have a few weeks to get settled in up there. I'm so flustered right now. We JUST finished unpacking the last box over here in our new house. Now I get to do it all over again, only this time it won't be right down the street... it will be a 4 hour drive up north. I really feel bad complaining about this because I know that it could be much worse. We could have been stationed thousands of miles from here... I suppose if we HAD to be stationed some where else, 4 hours away seems like a good compromise. Although I would have rather been stationed at Camp Pendelton. =P At least Camp Pen is still within San Diego County. LOL.

Yesterday was the hardest day to get through after hearing the news. I think it was because of the initial shock of the whole thing. Ronnie had his recruiting orders cancelled... we were staying here in San Diego. We moved in to a new house that we figured would be great for at least the next 3-5 years. This was the perfect home for us. Close to every thing and everyone. It even had a pool that I was hoping to teach Camron to swim in this summer or next. Telling the news to those closest to me was the hardest thing of all. I text messaged Lizz as soon as I found out. Then I called my mom. My mom took it really hard. Her and Hans (my step dad) are really close to Camron. Lizz took it pretty hard too.... We were both crying on and off all day.

Lizz... What am I going to do without my best friend??? We've been through so much together in such a short amount of time. It just doesn't seem fair. Who am I going to eat sushi with when the mood hits? The Olive Garden? Gossip with? Who will I walk the mall with, go to Target with, stay up late at night with laughing our asses off at nothing in particular... watch trash tv with, marvel at the fact that we have some awesome kids, who will I BABY (toddler) WEAR with??? Makes me want to cry right now thinking about it.

I've also been thinking about all that I'm going to miss.... My sister is going to have her first baby any day now! I'll only get to be here for the first month or so. Babies grow so fast and he or she won't know me at all. And Lizz is having her second baby in November! I don't want to miss out on that too.

Ok I guess I will end my pity party now and just accept that there will be A LOT of money spent on gas in the next couple years... Ugh. Thinking about it being $4 a gallon makes me want to hurl....

I Suck!

2008-04-17T09:47:00.000-07:00

Well, so much for losing all the weight I wanted to by the end of April. I'm still trying to do it by the end of the year though.... I've just been so busy with other things that my mind hasn't been on exercise at all! I'm pretty disappointed in myself about this, especially since my husband decided that HE was going to lose the weight right after I stopped trying so hard! Ugh, that was frustrating... When I was really motivated he would just try to bring me down by saying things like, "You can work out tomorrow... Come sit with me and watch TV." Or asking me if I'd like some ice cream because HE was going out to get some for himself! So once I quit trying so hard he announced that he was going to start going to the gym every day. (I wanted to pull my hair out at that point!) I don't think he was trying to sabotage me on purpose, but subconsciously I think he felt bad about himself when I was all motivated and he wanted me to be right there with him. After all, misery loves company, right? Now he's starting to look all buff and losing weight and I'm right back where I started! =( Luckily there's still hope for me! I'll be walking EVERY WHERE! I already mentioned in previous posts how close I am to just about everything I need. Did I also mention that right outside my door is an in-ground swimming pool?

Anyway, enough about that.... I guess I should also give a little update on Camron. He's growing way too fast for my liking! Where did my little baby go?? Instead I have this little boy who is learning to run, jump and loves to get in to all kinds of trouble. His favorite (and I think his first official) word to say is, "Uh-Oh!" Seriously, he says it all day long. He'll even drop something on the ground on purpose just so that he can say it. I taught him to say, "Uh-oh, spaghetti-os," but it come out sounding more like, "Uh-oh, duntundudos." LOL. Oh man, he also has the "puppy face" down! He's also learned to pretend to cry... trying to get his way. He makes himself laugh and loves to make others laugh too. It's becoming so hard to discipline him because he'll be getting in to or doing something he's not supposed to and he starts cracking up! His laugh is so infectious that you just have to laugh right along with him! =)

I've taken lots of pictures the past several weeks and I'll get them up one of these days... they've managed to make it ON TO my computer... now I just need to re-size them and upload them. Someday....

I did it!

2008-04-04T21:12:00.001-07:00

We've pretty much finished up our move this week. There's still a lot of work that needs to be done at the old house... Mainly cleaning and throwing things away, but I'll worry about that next week. I'm just happy to finially have our new house all set up and ready for my sister's baby shower tomorrow! I can't remember if I mentioned that or not...

Anyway, it's been a madhouse over here for the past 2 weeks! We've had a lot of work done to this house already... My brother came over and weedwacked our backyard for us. My dad came over and painted our vanity in the 2nd bathroom. It used to be a hideous blue and yellow! (I guess they had a Hawaii theme in there...) He also put in baseboards in the living room, both bathrooms and the hallway. (Apparently when they installed the tile floors they didn't think to put base boardsback in...) Then yesterday my mom came over and painted our fireplace for us. It went from a primary red color to a neutral sandy brown made to look like stones. It turned out really cute! Then today I cleaned like crazy. I unpacked the rest of the boxes, hung picture frames and decorated Cam's room.

Here's hoping everything goes smoothly tomorrow....

Tomorrow is the Day!

2008-03-28T13:32:00.000-07:00

Yup, tomorrow is moving day! I've actually managed to do most of the moving on my own... with Camron right at my heels whinning the whole time. The only things we really have left to move are the things we use everyday. All the big furniture, our food, our everyday dishes, bathroom stuff and a few clothes. I'm pretty dang proud of myself. =D I think the rest of today will be spent taking over the little odds and ends that still have to be moved. Luckily my mom was willing to let me borrow her car all day.

I can't wait to start living there! I've realized that it's A LOT smaller than the townhouse we're in now, but I can't get over the fact that there's so many places that I can walk to from there. I also love how we're going to be in a single story house and we now have a big backyard!! Camron LOVES it out there! It still needs a lot of work (as does the rest of the house), but I think that's a good thing. Now Ronnie will have little projects that he can work on during his days off. There's a lot that we can fix up at that house. Ronnie seems excited about the place too.

Well, I better get back to work while Camron is still napping. Our internet will be shut off for several days so I'll post again as soon as we get back online!

Moving/Packing + 15 month old...

2008-03-18T11:50:00.000-07:00

...Is like oil and water - They just don't mix! And yet some how I'm managing. (Barely)

We got our keys to the new house on the 16th!! Our lease agreement doesn't actually start until April 1st, but our new landlord said that it's ok if we wanted to start moving our stuff in a little at a time. So on Sunday I made my first few trips to the new house with our stuff. You read that right... "I" made "my" first few trips... Ronnie got called in to work on Sunday afternoon so I did it all without him. Most of it with Camron on my hip since he refused to stand quietly and watch. In addition to all of the unloading at the house I've also been the one to do ALL the packing, loading of the car and cleaning. Ronnie will get his though... he has to move all the big heavy stuff! =P

Yesterday I managed to do some more moving despite Cam's best efforts to get in the way. I think I made about 3 trips over there with the car completely packed. The last trip over there was with Camron's crib. I can't believe that I actually took it apart all by myself and then (with the help of Lizz) was able to set it up at the new house. It's one of those 3 in 1 cribs so we set it up in to a toddler bed. =) His room looks almost complete now.

Well I better go pack some more while Camron is still napping. I have soooo much to do! Ugh.. and we have our pre-inspection today from Lincoln Military Housing. Hopefully it goes well.

We're Moving!!!

2008-03-09T20:40:00.000-07:00

It looks like we'll be moving after all! Not across the country though... more like across town and I couldn't be more excited or happy! We made the decision to move after we found out that our rent here in military housing was being raised. Sure, we did get a pay raise and our housing allowance went up, but is our little townhouse REALLY worth $1700 a month?! And if we were to move in to a different housing area where the houses are a little nicer we'd be paying almost $2000 a month! Forget that! So we decided to go rent a house. =) I've only been searching for a house for about a week now, but we ended up finding the PERFECT house today. I'm so happy that we called the owner to take a look at it. Here's what we're getting:
- Single story house
- 2 bedrooms, 2 full bathrooms
- 2 car garage with a washer/dryer
- an attic above the garage
- a decent sized back yard with a cute patio area
- brand new stove and dishwasher
- central air
- a fireplace
- and we're allowed pets there

All that for much less then we're paying here! Oh, and there's a pool!! Our house is in a little community of houses in a cul-da-sac and in the middle there's a pool that we all share. Another great thing about this house, I can walk places! That might sound weird, but where we're at right now is right off of a highway and there's no where to walk to. At this new house I can walk to the mall. I can walk to Target. I can even walk to the Trolly and take it to my favorite little coffee shop. I'm also less then a mile away from my best friend!!!

Can you tell I'm REALLY excited about this?? lol.

I can't wait to move in. Ugh... no more stairs to walk up and down every day. No more baby gates blocking off our stairway. No more sharing a wall with the neighbors!!! Woo Hoo!

OPERATION: DVDs FOR TROOPS - 2008

2008-03-02T16:53:00.000-08:00

I haven't planned out all of the logistics of this yet, but here's my idea so far... As I was looking over the many people on AnyMarine.com to choose who would receive March's Care Package**, I noticed something... The majority of them were requesting DVDs. They have no cable TV out there. No HBO. No movies On Demand. A lot of them don't have room in their bags to bring DVDs with them. The lucky ones have a few movies loaded on to their laptops if they brought them... but not everyone has one.

So here's what I'm requesting from all who read this - Let's send our troops DVDs from home! If you'd like to help me out with this please send me a message. All I'm asking is for one or two DVDs from everyone. I'll be searching Thrift Stores, BlockBuster and probably Wal-Mart for some good deals, but if this is going to work I think I'm going to need a little bit of help.
Thanks in advance!

♥ Taylor
taysdesigns@cox.net

P.S. Please feel free to pass this along to anyone who you think might be able to help!

**With part of the profits from http://www.cafepress.com/taysdesigns I send at least one care package a month to a deployed troop.

What a GREAT week!

2008-02-29T22:14:00.001-08:00

This week started off with a bang! MY CAMRON WALKS!! Yes, at 14 months old and two days he FINALLY took his first steps without help. It's so funny because didn't I JUST mention in my last blog that I was getting a little tired of walking circles around the house with him? LOL. He still prefers crawling over walking, but it's only been 4 days. I give him 2 more weeks before he's running though! I'm so proud of my little boy. =)

Another big thing that happened this week? WE'RE NO LONGER MOVING! Ronnie's recruiting orders were cancelled last minute. I'm actually relieved that we get to stay here... San Diego is where I grew up, it's where most of my family lives and it's pretty much all I know. Although, I was excited about the thought of moving to some place new... I guess it was meant to be. Too much is going on right now for us to move! I'm going to be an Aunt in May.. which would have been the month we would have moved. Now I get to stay here and help my little sister out with her new baby. I'm so excited that I get to hold a newborn again. I'm really starting to get baby fever again and I think being able to help her out will make it go away.

Another reason I'm happy were staying here? Lizz and Frank. Frank only has a few more years left in the Marine Corps and he's not re-enlisting.... So if we were to move away for 3 years they'd be back in Missouri before we got back here. =(

So I'm glad that we're not leaving. At least for now. Someday I hope that we get stationed some where else, but I hope it's during a time when we're more ready and willing. Like when my mom, step-dad and brother move to Utah and Lizz and Frank go back home to Missouri.

Anyway, I better get to bed. We're going to Lizz's tomorrow for a BBQ at their new house! Good night all. =)

Getting back in to routine

2008-02-25T14:36:00.000-08:00

My life has been pretty un-eventful this past week. I guess compared to Vegas of course it would seem that way! At the beginning of the week it took a couple days for us to get back in to our normal routine. Establishing nap time and bed time mainly. While Camron was over at his Nana & Papa's house they were always out and about with him during his normal napping hours. At bed time they just put him to bed when they were going to sleep as well. I'm glad he's back to his 7:30 bedtime again!

Guess what? Camron now has four teeth!! His other top front tooth came in while we were away. Now he doesn't look like a hillbilly any longer. Haha... He's also walking a lot more now. Ok so he's not really walking, it's more like he wants to hold your hand and walk with him in circles around the house. I know he can walk on his own, but he refuses. It's starting to get annoying. There's only so many times a day I want to walk from the laundry room to the living room and back again. He will walk all day while holding your hand if you let him... but he wants to go where HE wants to go... so forget trying to get anything done when he wants to walk. I also know that he can stand up on his own. He just doesn't want to do it! If you try to let go of his hand while standing he will throw himself down on the floor and start crying. I KNOW he can do it though. I've seen him! He's only done it when he's not thinking about it. Like when drinking with his sippy cup in 2 hands.

Anyway, I'm gonna try to keep this updated more. I've just put my blogs on the backburner lately because I've been working like crazy on Taylor's Military Designs. It's been taking up ALL my computer time lately. I'll probably be working on it for another week or two until I feel like it's back to where it was about 2 years ago. After that I'm sure I'll be back on here more. =)

Vegas Pictures!

2008-02-20T20:07:00.001-08:00

As promised here are some of the pictures that we took while we were in Vegas.... We really didn't take as many as I would have liked, but that just means that we'll have to go back and do it again some time soon!

Notice the happy couple at the beginning of the trip... All bright eyed... It just went down hill from here! lol

Our first stop was to Excaliber where we ate an early dinner at Dick's Last Resort... If you've never been to this resturant - WATCH OUT! The waiters here are rude... and they do it on purpose... They throw napkins in your face, act like they could care less about your order, toss your check at you... It was a great time. LOL. We have one here in San Diego, but I've never had a chance to go... This pretty much set the whole mood to our trip! The hat I'm wearing in the pic says: "Don't talk to my breasts, they're deaf." Written and placed on my head by our lovely Dick of a waiter. lol.
This is right in front of Ceasers Palace. So much more beautiful in real life...
This would be Ronnie on Saturday morning... Let's just say we had a loooooooong night on Friday. We ended up at a bar/club called Diablo's Cantina. SO MUCH FUN!
We ended up at Harrah's on Saturday night to go to Toby Keith's Bar & Grill... We only went to meet up with Aaron and Jen. Not really our kind of place so we ended up leaving after about 10 minutes. LOL. Then we kinda roamed around for awhile...

We ended up at the Venitian. It's sooo gorgeous inside and out! Kinda hard to believe that these pics were taken inside at 1 in the morning.

On Sunday night we went out exploring again...

Monday morning we had to leave... I decided to take a few pictures as we left...

Here's Diablo's that mentioned earlier.

All the crazy construction going on...

Notice the new Tiffany's necklace... =)
Ronnie asked that I take pictures of these 2 road signs...

The madness that was our drive home
Ronnie was going crazy with all the traffic!
My new Coach bag. =)
And finally... the snow capped mountains. We don't see much snow where we're from.. ok we don't see ANY snow.... so I had to take a picture of it on the way back. lol.

I've never been so exhausted!

2008-02-19T00:02:00.000-08:00

Ronnie and I made it back home safely from Vegas a few hours ago! Pics and lots of stories to come (as well as catching up on my blog reading/commenting on my favorite blogs!).... but for now Im off to bed. *If I can actually get to sleep!* I think I'm still on Vegas time.

What a crazy weekend!

Vegas Baby!!!!

2008-02-12T09:34:00.000-08:00

It's official, we're going to Las Vegas after all. I'm pretty pumped about it! Last night we compared hotel rates and decided on staying at the Luxor... so we've already paid for our room... no turning back now. THREE NIGHTS, FOUR DAYS KID-FREE!!! Holy Moly. I love Cam to death, but mommy needs a vacation!

Ronnie's friend who was supposed to come with us and get the room decided that he'd rather stay here to take his girlfriend to a hotel downtown for Valentine's Day. I'm totally ok with that... I really didn't want to share a room with him anyway. I'm not liking him at the moment for something that happened the other night. So even better that he's not coming. Luckily Ronnie and I had the money to get our own hotel room...

Vegas here we come!!

What a crazy week...

2008-02-10T19:58:00.001-08:00

Ronnie has been on leave all this past week so things have been a little crazy around here. It's one of the main reasons that I haven't been on to update this blog in so long! Well, that and Camron and I have been sick the past several days....

So does anyone else notice that your house stays a complete disaster when your husband stays home from work?? Ugh... I clean up one room only to go in to another to find things completely trashed! I really have no idea why trash can't make it to the trash can, but it CAN make it to the counter right above it. I also have no idea why there's dirty clothes just outside of the laundry room or why there's towels on the bathroom floor RIGHT below the towel rack.

Anyway, we did mange to get a few things done since he's been home...
-We got our taxes done AND got our tax return already! Woo Hoo!!
-I've been able to do some work on my Cafepress store and I even got started on the website I've been meaning to make. (More about that later, but you can check it out at http://www.lovingourmilitary.com/ if you'd like.)
-I've also been able to spend some more time with my friends since I've had a car here to drive.
-Oh, and we're working on getting a second car so that I can drive the 4Runner during the week!

Other then that there really isn't anything new or exciting going on... I'll probably be MIA all this week too. Ronnie doesn't have to go back to work til next week. I think we're also still going to Vegas on the 15th. Not sure though because we haven't made any plans yet. I think Ronnie's friends decided to bail on us, but Ronnie's brother and his wife are still going. So we'll see. I hope we get to go because I could definitely use a vacation!!

Sorry!

2008-02-06T15:13:00.001-08:00

Sorry I've been MIA lately!! I'm still around, just really busy this week. I'll post more soon. =)

What a Cutie!

2008-01-29T21:23:00.000-08:00

I was taking some pictures of Camron the other day.... Just wanted to share how cute he is - even if he does have a messy face! LOL.

This one cracks me up!

Sunday Weigh In

2008-01-27T14:13:00.000-08:00

I hate to say it, but this week I haven't lost any more weight.... I didn't work out much other than the walking I did with my mom and sister. Plus all this weekend (Friday - tonight) I'm house/dog sitting for my mom and she has all kinds of goodies in her house. Including Pepsi. =( So yeah, I've been drinking Pepsi all weekend instead of water... Trust me, I'm very disappointed in myself.

I think this next week will be MUCH better though. Ronnie was told by Master Guns that he was looking REALLY out of shape and that he had better work on it ASAP. So now we're both going to be losing weight together. I'm feeling pretty motivated about it. Nothing like some friendly competition!

Friday's Healthy Reciepe - From eDiets.com

2008-01-25T17:34:00.000-08:00

I missed last weeks healthy reciepe so I'll put up two today! I think we'll have the Macaroni and Cheese bake tonight since Cam LOVES Mac & Cheese!
------------------------------------------------
Macaroni and Cheese Bake
Submitted by Bonnie Smith

Elbow macaroni is baked in a casserole with canned chicken soup, sliced tomatoes and processed cheese slices.
Serves 10 9x13 dish

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 25 minutes
Total time: 35 minutes
Calories: 294.58
Calories from Fat: N/A
Total Fat: 6.45 g
Saturated Fat: N/A
Cholesterol: N/A
Sodium: N/A
Total Carbohydrate: 43.03 g
Dietary Fiber: N/A
Sugars: N/A
Protein: 16.11 g
Vitamin A: N/A
Vitamin C: N/A

Ingredients
2 (10.75 ounce) cans condensed cream of chicken soup
0.75 cup milk1 pound elbow macaroni
4 tomatoes, sliced
12 slices processed sharp Cheddar cheese

Directions
1.Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.
2.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). In a medium saucepan, heat soup and milk over medium heat until simmering. Remove from heat and stir in macaroni. Pour macaroni mixture into 9x13 baking dish. Place a layer of tomatoes, then a layer of cheese slices over macaroni. Repeat.
3.Bake for 25 minutes or until cheese is golden and bubbly.

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

Dee's Special Chicken
Submitted by Denise

Garlicky herbed chicken is slow-cooked in beer for a special twist.
Serves 4

Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 230 minutes
Total time: 235 minutes
Calories: 175.44
Calories from Fat: N/A
Total Fat: 1.69 g
Saturated Fat: N/A
Cholesterol: N/A
Sodium: N/A
Total Carbohydrate: 6.18 g
Dietary Fiber: N/A
Sugars: N/A
Protein: 28.28 g
Vitamin A: N/A
Vitamin C: N/A

Ingredients
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
salt and pepper to taste
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
1 teaspoon dried sage
1 teaspoon dried thyme
6 cloves garlic
1 (12 fluid ounce) can or bottle beer
2 sprigs fresh parsley, for garnish

Directions
1.Salt and pepper the chicken breasts and broil them until golden brown.
2.Place the chicken in a slow cooker with the rosemary, sage, thyme, garlic and beer. Cook on high for 3 to 4 hours.
Remove the chicken breasts, garnish with parsley and serve.

Thursday Tag! (my very first lol) Six inconsequential things

2008-01-24T08:23:00.000-08:00

Jessica at Never a Dull Moment tagged me today, my first tag! I feel so special! LOL. So thanks Jessica... =)

The Rules:

Link to the person that tagged you
Post the rules on your blog
Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself
Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs
Let each random person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website.

Thats it!!!! So here it goes!

Quirk.... I crack my knuckles and my toes ALL THE TIME. I've done it since 3rd grade and can't seem to stop. My mom hates it and usually slaps my hands when I do it in front of her.
Thing... I LOVE Babywearing and am quite obsessed with wraps in particular. I actually own 16 of them. That's not really considered THAT much if you talk to some of the people on thebabywearer.com, but when you think I paid an average of $100 a wrap it IS kinda crazy!
Habit/Quirk... When ever I leave the house I have to check that I have my keys with me several times before I close the door. I'm usually leaving with Camron and a bunch of other things in my hand so the keys go in my purse or a diaper bag.... So I check way before we head out the door that I have them in my purse, once right before we walk down the stairs and once right before closing the door. It's annoying.
Quirk... I always, and I mean ALWAYS wear flip flops. My mom and husband think I'm crazy.
Quirk/Habit... I put chapstick on at least 5 times a day. I always make sure to have a chapstick on me at all times.
Thing... I love tattoos! I would get a ton more (right now I only have 2), but both my mom and husband really don't want me too. My mom is very religious and just thinks they're wrong and my husband hates girls covered in tattoos.

Wow, that was kinda hard to come up with! Now, who will I pass this on to? Hmmm..... I'm not even sure I KNOW 6 other people with blogs. lol.
Kelly at Mommy and the Marine

Tattooed Mama

Mom to 2

Ok, that's all I got for now....

FYI Plagiarising is wrong!

2008-01-23T16:56:00.000-08:00

Whoever set up this cafepress store: http://www.cafepress.com/PFCKlaibersWife
has stolen one of my original designs!! I've alerted Cafepress to this issue and am waiting to hear back from them.
The design this person stole from me is the "Army Wife's Creed". I made that as a custom request for someone about 2 years ago. I'm not sure where this person got my design from, but how DARE she try to make money off of something that took me a long time to put together!!! I ended up taking it off of my site a long time ago because I didn't write that poem...

I'm am so pissed off right now...

I'm going to contact a few of the other shops to see if she's stealing other peoples work too.... I bet nothing she put up is her original work.

Heath Ledger Dead?!?!?!?!

2008-01-22T16:21:00.001-08:00

OMG! I just heard on the news that Heath Ledger was found dead today...... I'm in total shock. I didn't hear any details.. and didn't even believe what I heard til I just now googled it. OMG.... how can he be dead? I've had the biggest crush on him for the longest time.... I'm pretty speachless right now....

My Daddy, My Hero

2008-01-21T15:28:00.000-08:00

I've been working a lot on my cafepress store lately... changing the layout and adding new designs etc. I just wanted to share with everyone one of the framed prints I have up for sale in my store. This picture was taken by me in my kitchen. It's of my husband and his son, Tre, taken right after Ronnie got back home from Iraq. Tre is so proud of his daddy and wanted to be just like him. =) It makes me tear up every time I see this picture!

My Daddy, My Hero

Missed Sunday Weigh In....

2008-01-21T07:13:00.000-08:00

Previous weight: 159.6
Current weight: 157.8
Weight lost this week: 1.8lbs
Total lost: 6lbs!

YAY! 6 pounds lost so far!!! I definitly need to step it up a notch this week... Only 99 more days to go.

Sunday Weigh In 3

2008-01-20T18:27:00.000-08:00

Opps, I forgot to weigh myself this morning! I'll have to do it tomorrow morning when I first get up. Although I don't think I lost any weight this week. =( I haven't really done much working out other than walking a mile with my mom and sis 4 days last week. I'll need to step it up a notch this week to make up for my slacking.

Guess what? My baby has 3 teeth! His first top tooth pushed all the way through this morning. He's getting so big.... They grow up way too quick, don't they?

American Idol 2008

2008-01-16T22:00:00.000-08:00

Let me start this post by saying how much I love American Idol... I LOVE it! I laughed and I cried... and I laughed so hard that I ended up crying! It amazes me how horrible some people can sing... and yet they think they're the greatest thing since Whitney Houston!

Out of the 7 seasons of the show, I've only watched one whole season.... and that was last year when I was living at my mom's house, waiting for Ronnie to get home from Iraq. Ronnie hates it, but I plan to watch this whole season too.

I know, I'm a nerd.

I can't wait til next week when I get to watch all my fellow San Diegans audition! I'm gonna laugh so hard if I actually see someone on there that I know.

He Has a Bedtime!

2008-01-14T21:30:00.000-08:00

Yes, that's right, my son has a bedtime! WooHoo! Well, I should say a decent bedtime. He's been pretty much sleeping through the night since he was 6 months old. (Although I could be remembering things wrong...) Anyway, he's never really had a bedtime. As hard as I would try he just would NOT go to sleep before 10pm! It drove me nuts because Ronnie and I would never get any alone time together. *I* would never get any alone time... I'm usually tired by 10pm.

So get this... he's been going to bed at 7:30pm for the past week! Of course with the earlier bedtime means no more sleeping in for me. He's been getting up between 6:30 and 7:30am. That's really not a problem during the week though because I've been getting up early to go walk with my mom and sister. It's just the weekends I'm gonna hate... I'm going to miss sleeping in with my husband! Oh well.

On another note, HE HAS ANOTHER TOOTH! That makes a total of 2 teeth! Haha... My poor little man. Why couldn't he have started teething at 6 months like any other normal baby? His two front teeth on top look like they're going to be next.... What fun!

Sunday Weigh In 2

2008-01-13T08:09:00.000-08:00

Previous weight: 163.8
Current weight: 159.6
Pounds lost: 4.2

WooHoo!!! Go me. I've worked really hard this week with both exercising and cutting back my food portions. I worked out from last Sunday to Thursday; skipped Friday and Saturday because I needed a break. I kinda wish I never skipped days though because I've been stuck at 159.6 since Wednesday. I'm sure I could have done even better... Not that losing 4 pounds isn't awesome!

Next week I'm stepping it up a notch and going for a 60 min workout instead of the 20 and 30 minute ones I've been doing. And maybe I'll talk my mom and sister in to walking 2 laps around the lake instead of 1... making it a 2 mile walk vs the one mile we're doing right now.

Wish me luck!

High School Education

2008-01-12T10:20:00.000-08:00

I found this crazy little website where you can test your blogs readability.

I've only completed high school... nothing beyond that, so it's really no wonder it's reading level is only High School. LOL.

ETA: Haha, I just checked my Babywearing blog and it said, "Genius!"
If you do go to this website, watch out if you post in your blog... they try to sneak in a link to some loan website!

What a day!

2008-01-12T06:47:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was a hard day.

Camron, who is now almost 13 months old, only has one little tooth that just barely came in right before his 1st birthday. What does this mean for me (ok, and him)?? It means that I have a one year old who's getting ready to have all of his teeth come in at once. So let me rephrase my previous sentence:

Yesterday was hell!

Camron was not himself at all. He was tired, whiny, cranky, throwing fits for no reason, didn't want to eat, wanted to eat, changed his mind again, wanted the pacifier, didn't want the pacifier.... I was pulling my hair out by the end of the day. Needless to say, we went to bed at 9pm last night - BOTH OF US!

Other things that made my day just that much lovelier (notice the sarcasm here):

1. Lizz and I were supposed to hang out, but she ended up falling asleep a little after noon and didn't wake up til like 5. I wondered all day what happened to her. I really don't mind though - I wouldn't have wanted to put Lizz and C through all of Camron's temper tantrums. It just would have been nice to get out of the house for a little change. Lizz if you're reading this, I still love ya! We'll just have to hang out another day!!

2. The maintenance people woke up Camron from his nap! I had FINALLY gotten Cam to lay down... Had to bribe him with a bottle... and no later then about 20 min in to his nap there were people on my front porch!!! Get this - the maintenance people (a man and a woman) were on my porch plugging in a TV to see if it worked. (We have 2 outside outlets right next to our front door....) Apparently someone threw out a TV in to the big industrial sized dumpster that sits right out side my house. (Gotta love Lincoln Military Housing! I'll have to get a picture later of this eyesore.) Well all the racket they were making caused Camron to wake up. Stupid people! Ugh. If I wasn't trying to keep Cam asleep I would have opened my front door and asked if I could have helped them... in the rudest possible voice!

3. The new next door neighbors are the loudest people ever!!! The walls in these townhouses are super thin. You can't be playing your stereo with the bass and volume turned up as loud as possible. You just can't. Period.

4. Ronnie's cell phone got shut off by Sprint just because we didn't pay the bill on the 25th. Ugh. The nerve! (There's that sarcasm again!)

I'm sure I could go on about my horrible day yesterday, but I can hear Camron starting to wake up!

Friday's Healthy Recipe - from eDiets.com

2008-01-11T12:57:00.000-08:00

I got this reciepe from an e-mail I received from eDiets.com.... I've never tried this recipe, but it sounds delicious! I love a good tortilla soup!! Enjoy.
*Look for a new healthy recipe every Fri!*

Chicken Tortilla Soup IV
Submitted by Taseia Armstrong
Freshly fried strips of corn tortilla garnish this chicken, black bean and corn soup seasoned with cumin, chili powder and oregano.
Serves 6

Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 10 minutes
Total time: 25 minutes

Calories: 265.26
Calories from Fat: N/A
Total Fat: 5.44 g
Saturated Fat: N/A
Cholesterol: N/A
Sodium: N/A
Total Carbohydrate: 36.50 g
Dietary Fiber: N/A
Sugars: N/A
Protein: 17.57 g
Vitamin A: N/A
Vitamin C: N/A

Ingredients
2.5 teaspoons vegetable oil
6 (6 inch) corn tortillas, cut into 1/2 inch strips
3 cups chicken broth
0.5 teaspoon ground cumin
0.5 teaspoon chili powder
0.5 teaspoon dried oregano
1 (15 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 (15 ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained
2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cut into bite size pieces
0.5 cup salsa
0.5 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Directions
1. Heat 2 teaspoons of the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add half of the tortilla strips, stirring often, until crisp. Drain on paper towels. Repeat with remaining 1/2 teaspoon of oil and remaining tortilla strips and set aside.
2. Add the broth, cumin, chili powder and oregano to the pot. Raise heat to high and bring to a boil. Add the beans, corn, chicken and salsa. Reduce heat to low, stir and simmer for about 2 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through and no longer pink inside.
3. Add the cilantro and half of the reserved tortilla strips. Ladle into individual bowls and garnish each bowl with some of the remaining strips.

Laundry Room... Check.

2008-01-09T10:04:00.000-08:00

One room done.... and I have the rest of the house to go. It's a start though!

I started... and finished with the laundry room. IT TOOK ALL DAY! My mom came over and helped me out by watching Camron. I couldn't have done it without her... so thanks mom! I took some pictures of what it looks like now. I really wish I had taken some "before" pictures to compare the "after" pictures with. Just know that this is a HUGE improvement!!

Before you could NOT see this part of the floor!

This used to have clothes and other junk piled as high as these boxes! These boxes are the beginning of our packing... As I pack up more stuff around the house they'll be stacked up with these.
I know this may look messy to some, but these shelves used to be piled high with empty detergent bottles, trash and other random stuff.... Just trust me that it's a huge improvement!

Now that our laundry room is done I'm moving on to my next challenge! Next I will tackle the downstairs bathroom and the 2 downstairs hall closets.... Here's the "before" of the one that will be most challenging: (This is supposed to be our linen closet btw. LOL.)

Cleaning and Organizing My Life

2008-01-07T12:31:00.000-08:00

I'm adding another goal for myself in 2008.
This is the year I'm going to clean up and get organized!

I woke up this morning with the overwhelming feeling that I need to go through all of my closets & rooms (there's 6 closets in this house!), throw out the old stuff and organize everything else!! I think the reason behind this feeling is that I realized just how soon we'll be leaving my hometown... As of today we only have about 3 and a half months left before we'll be leaving! That's only 3 and a half months we have before everything will need to be packed up in to moving vans and sent on it's way to our new home.

Here's how I'll get my life cleaned up and organized:

Living Room: Clean up the desk area - throw out/shred old bills, ads etc. Get rid of anything that hasn't been used in the last 6 months... including Cam's toys. (He has way too many!)
Kitchen: Go through cupboards and get rid of any dishes that haven't been used in over a year. (We have 2 sets of drinking glasses and one we NEVER use.) Get rid of all of Camron's old bottles/bottles & cups he never used.
Both Bathrooms: Throw out any old shampoos/conditioners/lotions/make-up. Get rid of old curling irons, hair clips.
Master Bedroom: Get rid of old clothes/clothes that don't fit. Get rid of purses I will never use again. Get rid of books that haven't been touched in ages.
Camron's Room: Pack away all old clothes in his closet. Get rid of all old toys he doesn't play with. Pack away old receiving blankets/baby towels/thick baby blankets/burp cloths.
Up stairs hall closet: Get rid of any old craft stuff I never plan to use. Organize the stuff I'm keeping.
Downstairs closets: Get rid of old shoes/coats/uniforms. Get rid of anything else no longer in use. Organize everything!
Laundry Room: Get rid of everything in there that we no longer use - including the box that sits in the corner and everything on the shelves!
Pantry: same as laundry room. Organize the boxes that are down there.
THEN TAKE EVERYTHING THAT'S STILL GOOD TO THE SALVATION ARMY!!

Now I just need to get started. All of this will probably take me about a month to accomplish. Sorry for the really boring post... Just like with the weight loss goal I needed to type everything out, otherwise I'll just keep feeling overwhelmed and nothing will get done...

An Awesome Upper Body Workout and Talk of Las Vegas!

2008-01-06T19:02:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to share with everyone a really good workout I found online at Exercisetv.tv. It's a 20 min upper body/cardio workout that I did for the first time this evening. It really gets your heart rate up and it's definitely a challenge to complete! At least for me since I haven't worked out in ages...

View the video/website by clicking here.

Yay! I'm so happy I found this workout.... My upper arms and back are one of my problem areas and I'm looking forward to a nice, toned upper body!! =)

In other news, I found out that my husband, his brother, his brothers wife and some of hubbys friends are planning on all of us to go to Las Vegas in February. I heard this being brought up about a month ago, but wasn't sure they were all really serious. I guess they were... Now they have the dates they want to go and wanted me to ask my mom to watch Camron on those days. So looks like we're going to Vegas! I've only been once when I was 18... It was kinda lame since you have to be 21 to do just about anything there. This time should be pretty fun though... (As long as there's no drama going on with anyone.) We haven't seen my brother-in-law in almost a year. He's in the Army and is stationed up in Washington State. He got married this past Summer and we haven't even met his wife yet. Ronnie's friends are coming because it's going to be like the last big party before we get sent away on recruiting. Kinda looking forward to it... Especially since I should be several pounds lighter by that time!! =)

1st Sunday Weigh In

2008-01-06T10:28:00.000-08:00

Current weight: 163lbs

I knew my weight was a little off from my guess. So there ya go... My first weigh in of many. I'm hoping that by next week I'll actually be at 160! So far I think I'm doing pretty good. Well, as good as Camron will let me be. More of his teeth are starting to come in so he's been really moody, clingy and whiny! That makes exercising a little difficult. I tried to get a 30 min workout in yesterday, but he kept trying to climb up my legs. He just wanted to be held all day!! So frustrating. And we couldn't walk because it was raining all day long.

As for eating I think I'm doing a lot better. I'm paying attention to the suggested serving sizes on foods I eat and eating a lot less! I did cheat yesterday though. =( Ronnie wanted Jack in the Box for dinner so I picked it up after my trip to Wal-Mart. I think I did pretty good considering it's fast food. I got the grilled chicken with a Lemonade Lite to drink.... not the sandwich, just straight grilled chicken. (I've never noticed it on the menu before...) Ok, I also had a few of Ronnie's curly fries, but that's it!

Nothing else is going on right now, just wanted to update my progress. =)

Weighing In (tomorrow)... On my new scale!

2008-01-05T22:02:00.000-08:00

This afternoon I took Camron with me to Wal-Mart to get some birthday money my MIL sent me and to buy a couple things.... I ended up getting a brand new digital bathroon scale, 3lb weights and a pedometer. Happy birthday to me! LOL. Never thought I'd spend birthday money on that kind of stuff.

Let me tell you about this awesome scale though! I haven't bought a new scale since Ronnie and I moved in together back in 2003... and even then we bought the cheapest one we could get. So this new scale is kind of a big deal. LOL. Like I said, it's digital and it has a two user function. It records your weight each time you step on the scale and will let you know how much you've gained or lost from the last time you stepped on it! I thought this would be the perfect way to see my progress. I plan to weigh myself in the morning to get my actual weight... 160lbs was just my best guess. Then from now on I'll weigh myself every Sunday morning and post the results here.

Losing the weight this year!

2008-01-04T16:49:00.000-08:00

When I was about 18-19 years old I gained about 25-30lbs due to getting the Depo shot and not exercising like I did in high school. Now after having the baby I still have the extra 30lbs on me, but it's been redistributed and I'm not liking my body at all! So this year I'm setting goals for myself to lose 35lbs!
I'm planning to keep track of my weight loss here in my blog.

Here's my current stats:
Height: 5'3"
Current weight: 160lbs
Waist (around belly button): 41.5 " (yikes!)
Hips (largest part): 42"
Thighs: 23"
Biceps: 12"
Pants size: 12 - 14

Goals:
Goal weight: 125lbs
Goal pants size: 6/7
Date to have lost the 35lbs: April 30th - that means that I have to lose at least 2lbs a week from now until then!

How I'm going to get there:

NO MORE SODA! - I drink at least one 12 oz soda a day... I know it's so bad for me, but I'm completely addicted! So no more buying soda for me...
DRINK MORE WATER! - As it stands I really don't drink much water at all. I will drink at least one tall glass of water at each meal.
Cut back on sweets. - I don't eat that much, but if it's offered to me I will usually take it. NO MORE! I don't need the extra calories or fat!
Cut back my portions - No more huge portions of food. I usually tend to load up my plate and eat the whole thing... Also from now on if we do eat out any where I'll only eat half and save the rest for later.
I will stop eating so much take out on the weekends. - As it stand now I really don't eat that much... but on the weekends I don't like to cook. I'll change that by continuing to make dinner on Saturday and Sunday night.
I will squeeze in at least 20 min of exercise a day. - I will do this by either walking in the mornings with my mom and sister or alone. On the days that I don't walk I will use the OnDemand freezone workouts. If I don't feel like I have time for either one of those I will crank up the music and dance while I pick up the house!
Check in once a week. - I will post an update of my progress at least once a week.

So there it is for everyone to see.... Kinda embarrassing, but it had to be said. If I don't write it all down I probably won't do it. This post will be here to remind me of what I want to accomplish. It's gonna be hard, but I'm tired of being fat. Tired of not finding clothes that fit. And tired of feeling tired!

Happy Birthday...

2008-01-03T10:47:00.000-08:00

...to me! LOL. Today I turn 24 years old. (Yikes!) I'm feeling so old right now... I'm 24, married for 4 years (with him for 5 1/2 years) and we have a one year old! A lot of the friends I had when I was in high school still don't even know what they want to do with their lives, let alone have kids! It's crazy to think about. I guess 24 isn't that old when you consider the fact that I'll probably live to be at least 80. It also doesn't seem that old when I think about the fact that Ronnie will be turning 27 this year... he hates when I bring that up.

Well, today should be a nice day. My mom is taking me, Camron and my sister out to lunch at The Olive Garden. Then when Ronnie gets home we'll be taking Camron over to my mom's and we get to go to the movies! I haven't been to the movies in over 2 years!! So this is kind of a big deal. LOL.

Oh I almost forgot! Today is also a special day because Ronnie got pinned a Staff Sergent today. He's been waiting for this day to come for awhile now. I'm so proud of him. =)

Today's A-ha Moment

2008-01-02T15:37:00.000-08:00

One of my pet peeves is when someone puts the toilet paper on the roll backwards... I hate having to reach from behind to pull the toilet paper down. (I hope I'm making sense lol) Seriously, why would anyone put it on backwards like that?! Well today I had an, "A-ha" moment!

I was going to the bathroom with my one year old in there with me... He spotted the TP and started swatting at it... causing all the TP to unravel on the floor... My solution? TO TURN THE ROLL AROUND! That way when he'd send it spinning it just goes round and round instead of ending up on the floor.

A-HA! I get it now!

Camron's 2nd Christmas, 1st one with Daddy!

2008-01-02T10:41:00.000-08:00

Christmas was extra special in 2007 for both Ronnie and Camron. It was the first one they got to spend together... and our first one as a whole family. On Camron's first Christmas he was 2days old, his daddy was in Iraq and he was in the NICU.

He was in the NICU because of this... Doctors never figured out what caused it, but I think it could have been from him being sunny-side up, the doctor turning him while still in me and from me pushing for 3 hours!

These are pictures from this past Christmas. Camron was completely spoiled this year! I guess that's gonna happen when he has 4 sets of grandparents and no cousins or siblings yet!

After opening presents at our house we headed over to Granda E. and Grandpa's house.
They bought him a singing ride on pony.... It's Camron's favorite toy and I'm just about ready to throw it out the window. I should have never shown him how to turn it on.

He got so excited with present he opened.

Next year should be even more fun with a two year old!

Camron's first birthday

2008-01-02T10:23:00.000-08:00

These are a little belated, but better late than never! Camron's first birthday was on the 23rd of December. I can't believe I have a one year old... That first year went by way too fast! Enjoy - Christmas pictures are coming as soon as I can get them uploaded. =)

I LOVE this picture! I wish I had it in time to send out with Christmas cards.

Camron with Grandma E.
Getting ready for the cake!
I had to show him what to do.
He got the hang of it.
Opening presents. He got a Hokie Pokie Elmo from Grandma E. and Grandpa.

The excitement was just too much for them! Camron and Dada passed out for about an hour!!

New Year = New Laws

2008-01-01T14:10:00.000-08:00

Starting today in California there's a law that passed that says that you can't smoke in your car with a minor child in there with you. I don't know the official name of it... or any other details.. I'll look it up later...

I, for one, am thrilled about this law - probably because I don't smoke. My husband does though. I'm not sure if he even knows about this law yet. I'll have to tell him when he decides to drag himself out of bed. (Apparently he had a long night.) I'm just glad that it's now against the law for him to smoke around our son... at least in the car.

Well, back to the taking down of the Christmas stuff. Camron is making it awefully hard though. If I put something in a box, he takes it out. This is gonna take all day...

Happy New Year!

2007-12-31T23:25:00.000-08:00

I can remember a time when I thought New Years Eve was the night of all nights... It was a time to stay up as late as you could, drink as much as you could and have as much fun as you could. Well, that's not for me any more. This is my second New Years Eve as a mom and I'm finding it so hard to stay awake til midnight! (Last year I had an 11 day old newborn and I was passed out around 9pm... Of course I was probably woken up again around midnight to breastfeed him.)

My husband on the other hand still parties like a rock star. I dropped him off at his friends house around 8pm. Must be nice to pretend like you're not a parent and do whatever it is that you want to do. If I sound bitter about it, it's because in a way I am.... I would rather us do something together as a family. Oh well... I'm over at my mom's house spending time with her and Camron... and in the end I won't look back on things and wonder about all the stuff I missed out on with our son.

Anyway, Happy New Year! Here's to 2008 being a lot better than 2007! (So far it's not looking that way though...)

Might as well...

2007-12-30T22:51:00.000-08:00

I've had way too much time on my hands tonight. Ok so I'm lying. I'm actually putting off a bunch of stuff that I should be doing instead. I just put Camron to sleep and I know I should probably be putting a load of laundry in the washing machine, putting away clean dishes from the dishwasher, picking up the toys on the living room floor, taking down Christmas decorations and probably about 10 other random chores. But no, instead I've been sitting here looking through random blogs. And you know what I've come to realize? I have the most boring, non-interesting life ever! I've been reading blogs about people who travel the world, about photographers and all the cool places they get to go, about people who have "real" jobs and who get to leave the house everyday! Then I think about me and my life. The title of my blog pretty much sums everything up... I'm a wife and I'm a mother. I don't work outside of the home. I never went to college. I have very little adult contact. 95% of my adult conversations are with my husband... and I'm not sure he counts as an adult most of the time.
(As I'm typing this he's sitting behind me playing Call of Duty 4 on his XBOX 360.)
So what the heck am I doing blogging about my life?! Then I came to the realization that I'm really doing this for me. Since I don't get out much in the "real world" I'm using this as my outlet. I also realized that not everyone is able to do what I do. I am married to a Marine and I am a stay-at-home mom. I think both of those deserve at least a little pat on the back. They are both such hard work in their own ways.... I think now I should probably give a little background on how these two worlds came together...

In March of 2006 Ronnie and I found out that we were going to be having our first baby together. (I say "together" because he has a son from his first marriage... but that's another story)

Anyway, in August 2006 he left for a 6-7 month deployment to Iraq. It would have been a piece of cake since that was our 3rd deployment together... but this time I was pregnant. Luckily I live about 5 miles away from both of my parents AND I had the support of a fellow pregnant Marine wife. I'm talking about my best friend Lizz. We met on Myspace and long story short her hubby left for Iraq a month before mine did and she was about 3 months ahead of me in her pregnancy.

In October 2006 Lizz had her baby girl while I still sat around hugely (is that a word?) pregnant.... FINALLY on December 22, 2006 I was induced (I was due around the 10th) and on the 23rd I had my son.... AFTER THREE LOOOOONG HOURS OF PUSHING! All without my hubby home. My mom was in the delivery room with me.... Ronnie was halfway around the world staying in contact through e-mail with Lizz.

January 2007 Lizz's hubby came home from Iraq. I sat around at my mom's with my newborn son and waited for it to be our turn. Finally in March 2007 Ronnie was able to come home and meet our beautiful son for the first time.

It's been a long difficult road since he's been back, but we're working on it. I think it's difficult on the men to leave a pregnant wife behind only to come home to a wife and a two month old. I know it was also hard on me... to have him leave and be totally self reliant (well besides financially). To learn by myself (with my mom's help) how to care for this new baby. It's been hard to learn how to be both mom AND wife.... Like I said, we're still working on it. I think we're gonna be ok though.

Anyway, I think I've written enough for one night. Time to go to bed. Camron has been getting up so early. Good night.

What a Ham!

2007-12-30T18:44:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to share a few adorable pictures of my son. He's such a little ham when it comes to the camera! I know this is probably all gonna change in a few years so I'm getting as many smiles in as I can!!

He is so gorgeous!

What a little Ham!
"Helping" out daddy.
Can you see the look of disgust on his face? He hated those antlers being put on his head!
He makes my heart melt.

"No More Bottles"

2007-12-30T18:28:00.000-08:00

...That's what Camron's doctor told me at his appointment. You want to know what no more bottles means? It means a very cranky Camron which then means a very cranky mommy! I tried to do it cold turkey - big mistake. He's been refusing to drink from his sippy cups, refusing to eat his regular food and he won't stop whining! So I gave in. He's had about 4 bottles since Friday afternoon. I wouldn't say that's too bad though... I just wish that he wouldn't keep refusing to drink from his sippy cups. (He used to drink from them just fine btw.) I think I'll start filling his bottles with water and his cups with milk. Might get him to change his mnd... Or make him even more whiny...

Camron's One Year Check-up

2007-12-28T15:12:00.000-08:00

Today was Camron's One Year Check-Up and thankfully all went well. If you know us at all you'd know that we had a bit of a scare at his 6 month appointment. He was admitted to the hospital for "failure to thrive" for about a week. In the end we found out that it was due to lack of nutrition. He was an exclusively breastfed baby and apparently my supply didn't keep up with his demand. So we were forced to switch to formula. (yuck!) As soon as he started on formula he was gaining weight like crazy!

Anyway, Camron is now a happy and healthy one year old. He weighed in at 21lbs, 12oz and 30" long. He's in the 30th percentile for his weight and the 75th for his height. Thank goodness!

For a reference - here is Camron right after he got out of the hospital at the end of May:

And this is him at the end of October.

First of Many

2007-12-27T15:04:00.000-08:00

Welcome to my new blog. This is sort of a spin-off of my "Wearing My Babies" blog... I wanted to keep that one more geared towards pictures/reviews/posts about babywearing. So here I am. Not too sure what I want write about just yet, but I'm sure it won't be too hard. I do, after all, have a one year old and a husband who keep my on my toes AT ALL TIMES!

I should probably add a little info about me. I'm a 23 year old (ack! 24 in January 2008!) stay at home mom to our one year old son. He's a handful at times, but I'm loving it. We're really close and I wouldn't have it any other way! I'm also married to a Staff Sergent (as of Jan 2nd) in the Marine Corps. We've had many ups and downs, but have some how managed to stay together for 5+ years. We've been through 3 deployments together and I hated every minute of them. The first was a year long deployment to Japan. The second was a 7 month long deployment on a world tour and the last was 7 month deployment to Iraq. Luckily (or maybe not so lucky)for us he'll be stateside for at least the next three years. Only because he got recruiting orders. That'll be happening within the next 4 months. Should make for a pretty interesting blog here soon. I've never left my hometown for longer then a month at a time.... I'm gonna try to make the most of the next 3 years though. I hope to share it all here in: The Wife and Mommy Blog.

Favorite Cafepress Items of the Month

2007-10-24T09:15:00.000-07:00

January 2008

I LOVE cafepress! If you look at my links above you'll notice I even have my own cafepress store - however, these ones are from other stores that I just happen to love! I'll be posting new products once a week.

I thought this one was too funny!

Blog Directories

2007-10-24T09:08:00.000-07:00

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