Decisions

Yesterday I posted about my child-care dilemma. Truthfully, what I want more than anything is to be able to stay home with my precious baby and enjoy this time in our lives. While I know this is not an option, I am looking ahead to the future when it could be. More acurately, I'm looking ahead to when I could work part-time, or at least less than my job requires me to now. Most weeks I'm lucky to complete my work in 50 hours, and it isn't just me. When I first started my co-workers warned me that the job would never be done in 40 hours a week. But I didn't care. I was young, my husband was days away from deploying, and we had no children besides our Bloodhound Duke.

Two years later I'm a mom, wife, full-time student, and more than full-time worker. And I hate it. I hate missing so much of Tennessee's life. So I'm thinking something part-time. Maybe something around 20-30 hours a week. In a perfect world, I'd be one of those moms who is very Stepford, but brings in extra income by doing crafty things or writing books or something. Woudn't it be great if I actually could get paid to do what I love??

I have to stay with my current company until April, but I am seriously considering a more family oriented career at that point.

Curve Ball

We moved to Florida from Arizona in July. I knew absolutely no one within hundreds of miles. Having a full time job, going to school full time, and having a 6-week-old baby meant I needed to find trusted daycare for Miss Tennessee. We started with the FCC list the base provided to find someone nearby that we could trust. Someone who was licensed and held to high (seriously, extremely high) standards. There were several providers in our area, so I started calling. I met several really nice women, but none that could help me. The problem was, no one out here watches infants, and those that do either lived way too far from me, or don't watch children during school breaks and summer. My job is extremely unflexible, so if hubby is deployed, I would be up a creek.

I finally found one person, not connected with the base, who could watch Tennessee for a price I could afford. At first it was good, but as time went on there were more and more things that made me uncomfortable leaving my child with her for any length of time. There were several times I contemplated quitting my job and finding something, like local stores or restaurants where I could work in the evening when David was home.

I felt like Tennessee was safe with this woman, but she was extremely unreliable, so I kept looking for another provider. Low and behold, I found one. One through the base, one I loved. Her family is really sweet, the other kids are great, I was HAPPY. Fast forward a few weeks, to Friday night, and I get a call saying the provider is giving me notice because all of the other kids she watches are older, and she can't do the activities with them she wants to if she's busy taking care of an infant. So I have the next couple of weeks to find what took me months to find before.

To be fair, I understand infants are a lot of work. Mine happens to be very independent, but she is definitely more needy than a toddler. More diapers, more meals, etc. More than anything, I am sad because, for once, I though I had it all figured out. But I guess that's life.

When I told my parents my dad said he wished he had retired last month when he was offered an early out so they could move to FL to help out. Now, the earliest he could retire is May. Aren't my parents the greatest? Willing to move cross-country just to get me out of a child-care bind. I have to admit, right about now I'm wishing it were a viable option.

Wish me luck in finding someone else I trust to watch my sweet little girl.

Christmas 2012

Sorry for the picture dump, but I have a couple of weeks to catch up on!

Christmas comes and goes so quickly, doesn't it? We prolonged out Christmas a bit by first celebrating with my family in Arizona, then coming home to Florida for Christmas Day. I wish I could have spent Christmas Day in AZ, since no family loves Christmas like my family, but I am grateful for the 4.5 days (nowhere near long enough!) I had back home.

 

 

 



We crammed a lot of family and friends into those few days, but I am anxious to get back and spend more time with the people I love. The pics are all out of order, but were all taken in AZ.

 

                       

 

Christmas Day in our house got a late start since Tennessee slept until about 10. She had stayed up until about midnight the night before, and we joked that she was waiting up for Santa. It actually worked out well since it gave me time to make breakfast (biscuits and sausage gravy). Mmm.

Tennessee woke up during breakfast, and I snapped this picture of her playing on her floor mat:

 

Look at this happy face!

We opened presents after breakfast, none of which were purchased by me! Our family sent so many awesome gifts for Miss Tennessee that I didn't have to. And David and I decided not to do gifts for each other, but to simply purchase a few things we each wanted over the last couple of months. I got some new clothes to fit my post-baby body, and David got a bunch of gaming stuff. 

 

 

After presents we got dinner started in the crock pot. Around lunch time we made my mom's homemade eggnog recipe (the only eggnog I can drink) and spent the rest of the day eating, watching movies, and enjoying our first Christmas as a family of three.

 

Hope you all had a very Merry Christmas. Bring on 2013!

 

New Day

I finally found a new babysitter for my sweet little girl! I have been less than happy with the daycare situation we had before, but was having a hard time finding anyone around me who watches infants. Toddlers? No problem. Infants? Good luck. I've been continuously checking in at all the resources around us, and no one ever had a spot open for an infant. Until now.

I can't tell you how good it felt to fire her old babysitter Friday morning when I dropped Tennessee off. I was nice about it, because I needed her to watch Tennessee for the remainder of the day, but I'm so glad I did! It was the perfect day to do it, too. It seemed as if every day I took T there I heard more family drama that I absolutely did not want my daughter around.

Long story short, yesterday was the first day at a new daycare. Tennessee was so happy when I picked her up - and so was I! One of the dads was picking up his little girls (whose names are ones we considered for Tennessee) and playing with Tennessee when I walked in. So nice to be surrounded by happy people. All of the other kids in this daycare are part time, so Tennessee was the only one going to be there today. My guess is she'll be as spoiled there as she is at home. And I'm ok with that.

Catching Up

Holidays - such a busy time of year. It's also one of my favorite times of year because it's normally filled with family, friends, and really good food. This year is a bit different since it's my first holiday season away from home. Even so, David and I have managed to sneak in as much family time as possible.

Thanksgiving week:

The Friday before Thanksgiving we packed up our Bloodhound Duke, baby girl Tennessee, and what felt like everything we owned and started the long drive from Northwest Florida to Virginia. We decided to take the long way there and drive the short way back. It ended up being a 15 hour drive through Alabama, Georgia, SC, NC, and finally into VA. We got there just before midnight, and were completely exhausted.

Sunday morning we got up drove 2.5 hours to PA to meet David's aunt and uncle for lunch. It was their first time meeting Tennessee, and only the second time (first was our wedding) I met them in person.

 

Monday David and I drove into D.C. for the night - without Tennessee! The little mini-vacation was a gift from my in-laws, and while we both really enjoyed our time away, I was ready to get back to my baby girl!

Tennessee on the swing at her grandparents' house

Makes me think of the "It's so FLUFFY!" line in Despicable Me!!

Cousins Corinne and Tennessee

 

We decided to leave on Thanksgiving Day, and drove to Knoxville, TN for the night. It was so nice to split the trip into two days! And even nicer to drive through some beautiful country. I'm only sorry we didn't have more time to explore the area on our drive back. We will definitely have to add that to our my ever growing list of trips we need to make in the near future.

Next up is our trip to Arizona on the 15th. Less than two weeks! I can't wait to be back in the land of my people!

Busy, Busy

The last couple of weeks have been absolutely crazy. I work in property claims and with Hurricane (or superstorm) Sandy, quickly followed by winter storm Athena, work has been oh so busy. I have heard many stories and seen many pictures of the devastation. Most of the people I have talked with had damages such as roof leaks, wind damage, flooding, lost utilities (some still don't have power), and even a few whose homes are no longer standing. As a result, I've been working lots of overtime. It also makes me take a step back and enjoy having a warm house and a hot shower every day.

I've also been busy with homework. This class ends next week, then I immediately start the next. I'm looking forward to it since I only have two more classes left, and will graduate with my Master's degree in March. I. Cannot. Wait.

Thanks to how busy I have been, my house is a mess. Especially the floors. A husband and dog will turn shiny travertine floors into a smudgy, dirty mess in .53 seconds. My floors haven't been cleaned since last weekend. Ugh.

On a happier note, David's grandparents drove in from NC this evening. They have a time share in the next town over, so we're letting them settle in tonight before seeing them tomorrow. Also gives me a little more time to clean house before they see it! They're here until next Friday, which is the same day my vacation starts and we make our drive up to VA for Thanksgiving. I wish I could have taken a few days off this week while they're here, but after maternity leave my PTO is somewhat limited. David on the other hand, is a lucky guy and gets Monday off for Veteran's Day, works Tuesday, and then his vacation starts Wednesday. I must admit I'm a little bitter about that...

Oh, I almost forgot, David moved Tennessee's bassinet into her nursery for me this evening, so the plan is to let her sleep there on her own tonight. My less than 1700 square feet house suddenly seems enormous as her room is on the complete other side of the house from mine. Here's hoping we both get some sleep tonight.

Stretchy pants

For the last year I've been wearing all things stretchy. Stretchy tees, yoga pants, jeans with no zippers, etc. At first it was awesome. If I had been able to eat anything, I could have eaten a buffet full and my pants still would have fit. Fast forward a year, when I'm no longer pregnant, and no longer enjoying my zipperless pants, and I have some serious shopping to do.

Since I still have 12 a few pounds to go, I'm focusing on tops, not bottoms. Here are a few of my recent purchases:

I bought the top, but actually like the look of the leggings.

Not sure I would like them on me, but they look great on the model.

I bought this sweater in black and cream. It's so darn comfy. I just love it.

 

I did cave in and buy these lovely twill pants.

 

 

I picked up a few other things, but all of these items came from Forever 21. I purchased a jacket, 4 sweaters, and 2 pairs of pants for less than $100. That's my kind of shopping. And just in time for our trip to Virginia in a couple of weeks. Now I just need a few accessories to pull it all together. Feels good to shop in the normally proportioned person department!

Travel Plans

I FINALLY booked our flights home to Arizona in December. I've had the time scheduled off for forever, but had to wait for David to get the leave approved. Easier said than done. After much consideration, he finally got the ok from his supervisor, so we booked our flights. In the few weeks we had been waiting for approval, flights went up about $100. So it's costing us $850 for the two tickets home. Ouch. But seriously worth every penny.

Most of family is in AZ and we have long standing traditions that no one ever misses. EVER. I would be heartbroken if I wasn't there for the annual Farmer Family get together at my great aunt's house, or for the Christmas Eve get together at my Grandpa's. Although, the Christams Eve party hasn't been held on Christmas Eve for several years now. Now that my generation is all grown up, it makes more sense to hold it the Saturday before Christmas so no one has to worry about trying to get there from work or whatever.

This Christmas is particularly special because it will be Tennessee's first, and one of my cousins is pregnant due about a week before we fly in. I'm hoping she's a few days early so her baby girl will be there for all of us to love on. I just love babies at Christmas time. Well, I love them all the time, but the holidays are definitely more magical through the eyes of babies.

As far as Thanksgiving goes, we're driving from the Florida panhandle to my in-laws' in Virginia the Friday before. It's about a 12 hour drive, and we're taking Tennessee (obviously) and Duke the Bloodhound. Should be an interesting drive...

We'll have a week with David's family, and this will be his first trip home since our wedding in 2010, and his first holiday with his family since he joined the Air Force almost 4 years ago. Definitely long overdue. We are also excited to spend time with our niece Corinne, who is 3 years old but we've only met once. We are definitely looking forward to the trip - and to having 6 whole days off of work!

Monday update

David and I had a good weekend. We explored Destin a little, which David had never been to and I only had driven through once. We went to the Bass Pro Shops, but weren't too impressed with their inventory. Small store, very cramped. Maybe next time we'll check out the one in AL. We walked through the little outdoor mall and picked up a couple of holiday scented candles at Bath&Body Works, and had lunch at the Hardrock since it's all right there together. Next time we'll check out the Harbour Walk.

Yesterday we mostly watched football, and made homemade potato soup and homemade mozzarella sticks. The soup was delicious, the cheese sticks were just ok. Will do a few things differently next time. David went out last night so Tennessee and I watched the SNF game and I tackled laundry and dishes. Not the most exciting Sunday evening.

The Weather: Highs are currently in the low-mid 80s, but the nights are clooling down in the 60s and sometimes 50s.

Right Now I am: Watching Monday Night Football and giggling at Tennessee rolling all over her play mat and trying to put all of the toys in her mouth.

Thinking: Not much. I'm pretty tired after work, schoolwork and housework, but trying to keep myself busy until Tennessee is ready for bed.

Reading:

I've been reading the Highlander series from Marti Talbott. There are 13 books in the original series, that follow one clan through generations of war, murder, and daily life in the Scottish Highlands during...I'm not sure, exactly. I think these start not too long after the death of Christ. They're easy reads but certainly entertaining enough. I'm on book 7, and I understand that after these 13 there is another series that follows the same clan once they come to America. I found them on my Kindle, first book was free, the rest have been $4.99.

On My TV:

Even though there are shows I love, like Grey's Anatomy, I really don't watch much tv besides football. I don't have the time, and now that David and I are on a more similar schedule I don't have any time to watch what I want without hearing whining in the background. We do, however, usually watch Raising Hope and New Girl on Tuesday nights.

On the Menu:

Not a whole for me at the moment. I'll still be cooking for David, but I am trying really hard to lose the last of the baby weight I'm still carrying. I gained a rediculous amount of weight (60 pounds), most of it at the end of my pregnancy, but I'm 3/4 of the way there. Only 15 pounds to go! Until I hit 125 pounds and my size 4 pants fit, I'll be eating less than exciting food. Sundays will be my cheat day since we like to make snacks for the football games.

On My To Do List:

Ah yes, the never-ending to do list. Pretty much the usual. Cook, clean, homework, take care of Tennessee, watch as much football as I possibly can, fit in time to run every day.  And sleep. Yes, definitely sleep. I also need to get Duke's nails cut and his ears cleaned. He hates both, and I have to tackle him to do it. Not my favorite thing to do, but better than dealing with bleeding quicks and ear infections.

Speaking of Tennessee, I am still on the hunt for food she will eat that will help keep her full longer. She has slept through the night since she was 6 weeks old and now she's waking up every few hours to eat. The formula isn't enough, and she doesn't handle the cereal well at all. I'm trying stage 1 baby foods with her, but she's still trying to figure out the spoon so she doesn't eat much at a time before getting really frustrated. It's a work in progress, but hopefully she gets used to it soon.

Also, we're supposed to get our travel voucher Wednesday, which I am using to buy our flights home to AZ in December. Wish I could actually get time off at the holiday, but the week before will have to do. I am also going to FINALLY order Tennessee's crib and bedding so I can finish the nursery and move her into it. I will definitely post pictures once it's all finished.

Fall

I have been a little MIA here lately. We've been busy, but I will owe an apology to the family members who come here for an update on our lives now that we're too far away to just drop by and visit. Here's what we've been up to lately:

FALL

As much as I love the heat and freedom (more imagined than real) of summer, I also love the change in seasons. I love packing away the shorts and tank tops and pulling out my boots and cozy sweaters. I've never lived anywhere where it gets really cold, but I still enjoy the coziness of the season. I can't quite fit into my favorite fall clothes just yet (almost there!), but for now I'm happy to have my house decorated with pumpkins and various Halloween stuff.

I also LOVE that football is back, and David and I are spending Sundays, Monday nights, and Thursday evenings catching as many games as possible. The downside is that we can hardly stay up late enough to finish the night games now that we're on EST. I did, however, stay up to catch the end of the Jets v. Texans game last night. And yes, Tebow should get more play time.

HOUSE

I was excited just to get it cleaned and decorated this past weekend! I'm still working on a few projects, but the biggest is the nursery. I need a few more of those lovely 3M strips to finish hanging pictures, and then I just need a crib. Almost finished. Once we have the crib (maybe sooner) I'll be moving Tennessee into her own room. I was going to do it this past weekend, but just never got around to it.

TENNESSEE

Speaking of Miss Tennessee, she has grown like crazy over the past couple of weeks. Not so much physically as mentally. Her coordination has greatly improved and she is now much more interesting in toys, as well as anything that moves, lights up or plays music. She is still primarily eating formula, but I'm also throwing in some baby food to help keep her full. We tried the baby cereals and no matter how I fix them, they don't agree with her. Poor thing.

Worst part about being a parent

I stayed home (again) yesterday with Tennessee. She's fine, but the kid at daycare that got her sick two weeks ago is STILL sick. His mom called me Saturday morning to say they had him in the ER Friday night and that the docters thought he had Pertussis. She said Tennessee and all the adults need to be tested to make sure we don't spread it further. So I spent most of Saturday morning at the local Urgent Care, just to be sure.

The little boy is on antibiotics and seems to be doing better, thankfully, but I still didn't want to risk having Tennessee around him yesterday. His test results came back today and it turns out he didn't have Pertussis, but he did have some sort of bacterial infection going because the Z Pac they gave him worked. I took Tennessee back today.

I was supposed to meet with another option for daycare yesterday afternoon, but she had to postpone until today. So at the agree upon time I went to her house and knocked on the door. No answer. Rang the bell. No answer. Called her. No answer. So I buckled Tennessee back in and we just came home. Have I mentioned that I hate daycare? Seriously the worst part about being a parent.

School

I've been working on my master's degree for a while now. I graduated from Arizona State with my bachelor's in 2008, and took a break from school until last March when I started using my tuition assistance through my job to get a master's degree. I'm taking classes from Grand Canyon University. They're all online, so I'm able to continue even now that we've moved 2000 miles away from GCU's campus. Thank God.

Today I am starting a new class. I have 2 more to go after this and then I am DONE. I should be finished by February. I actually would have been done sooner but I took a little break starting in May when I was 9 months pregnant. Then we moved cross country and I needed a little time to get settled. I have enjoyed the process but now I just want to have my pretty piece of paper and move on with my life. Especially since there are rumors of an early 2013 deployment. I really want to be finished before that happens. I don't want to try to be finishing my degree, working full time, and taking care of Tennessee all by myself, all at the same time. No thanks.

On another note, looks like I'll be switching daycares for Miss Tennessee. There have been a few things over the past couple of weeks that have made me...less than happy. I gave it a chance because I know I will be super hard on anyone watching my baby girl, but I'm ready to move on now.

I'm taking Tennessee to meet a potential sitter Monday afternoon. She's closer to home and I enjoyed talking with her on the phone. I already felt better by the time we got off the phone. Here's hoping I like her as much or more in person. Wish me luck. I hate daycare...

Office Reveal

I FINALLY finished up painting my office, and am nearly done with it - for now. I know I'll want to keep adding things to make it more personal, but right now I am just so pleased with the difference from what it looked like when we moved in, to what it looks like now.

Here's the before:

And the After:

Baby girl on my mousepad.

The postcard on the top is from my brother. He sent it to me, just to say hello, 

from somewhere in Nevada while he was on the road. Love him!

Pics from my bachelorette party.

Still need to hang the blinds.

 

My trusty treadmill.

My original plan for room was to be gray with a stencil up one wall. Funny what happens when the paint counter messes up your order and you get both gray and light blue paint. This paint is called "Galactica" from Olympic.

Weekend Recap

I swear the weekends go by ten times faster than any other two days in the week. I managed to get quite a bit done this weekend despite recovering from whatever it was Tennessee had. After spending a few days holding, rocking and soothing my sick baby, I guess I should have expected to get sick. I used the last of my PTO, which kinda sucks, but I'll be able to earn enough between now and December for my trip home to Phoenix.

I managed to get my nails done, go to the eye doctor, go grocery shopping, find a new Chinese food place that delivers (!) and watch plenty of football. I wasn't that impressed with the nail place I went to. I'll try a different place next time, but I have a feeling it's going to be one of those things that's just better done in Phoenix. Like local news. Phoenix seriously has the best local news production. No wonder our broadcasters win awards every year.

Don't you love this pattern? It's my wallet.

 

My eyes are loving my new contacts. I got a new prescription which was pretty much the same as before, only my eyes are now two different prescriptions. Before they were always the same. Whatever. I'm just happy I got new contacts and am no longer being poked in the eye occasionally by what felt like shards of glass. I'd been wearing my last pair for five months longer than the recommended two weeks. Don't tell my Momma...

P.S.
Tennessee got a new toy. Check her out:

Ryder Dean

One of the hardest things about moving away from all of your friends and family is that you will inevitably miss holidays and special occasions with your loved ones. Although I've already missed 4th of July and a few family birthdays, today is the first big even that I've missed.

Every year for the past four years I have driven from Phoenix to Las Vegas to celebrate my Godson's birthday. Today he is five, and I am missing his special day for the first time ever. Since his birth it has been tradition that I get up early Saturday morning and drive the 5 or so hours to Vegas, enjoy the party and marvel at just how many kiddos are there. After the party we adults usually head out to dinner or down to the Strip, then we have breakfast, occasionally lunch, then I hit the road back home. It's a short but very sweet weekend.

Ryder's mother is my best friend Natalie. We met at the tender age of 2, when my 4 year old brother showed up on her doorstep (a few houses down from ours) and announced he could play. The irony is that Natalie and I were instant friends, while she and my brother pretty much hated each other until we were nearly adults.

In Jr. High Natalie and her family left Arizona and moved to Las Vegas, and to be honest I think the distance has made our friendship stronger. We lived one state and 5 hours apart for years, but now we're six states (depending on the route) and way too many hours to drive apart. So traveling to each others children's birthdays is more difficult than ever before. That said, I'm hoping this is a one off, and that from here on out I'll be able to visit for Ryder's birthday in September, and the peanut's birthday sometime in late February/early March, whenever she decides to make her entry into this world.

For now, here's a taste of what I'm missing:

First Birthday

Second Birthday

I love this picture! Look at that face.

Third Birthday

Fourth Birthday

Doing his best Spiderman!

 

A few weeks ago on his first day of school.

 

 

Can't believe he's already five. They grow up fast, don't they?

 

Happy birthday Ryder!

Broken Promises

Dear Sarah,

I promised you that I would make you Spicy Rigatoni while you were visiting us in Florida. I meant to, I really really did, but it just didn't happen. I blame the hurricane...

Your loving cousin,
Dandy


Let me give you all a little back story: Sarah is my cousin (our mothers are sisters) and we're pretty much the same age. We grew up together and even lived together in college at ASU (go Devils!). We share a lot of things, and one of them is a love of really good food. Especially Italian and Mexican food.

A few years ago we went to Las Vegas for my Godson's birthday. While we were there, we went to dinner with my best friend Natalie, her hubby, and a bunch of her friends to celebrate one of their birthdays. We went to Buca di Beppo, and it was the most hilarious and rediculous dining experience ever. Not in a good way. I won't go into all that here, but I will say is that Sarah and I shared an awesome dish: spicy rigatoni.

We've gone there a few times since, and every time the service has been much more impressive than the first. We always order the same dish, because it's just that good. Then one day a few months back I was searching the internet for new recipes and found one that claimed to be Buca's recipe. I quickly wrote it down, emailed it Sarah, but never actually made it. Until tonight.

Here's the finished product:

Sorry for not using a fancy dish to take the picture, but I pretty much started eating it before it was ever out of the pan.

Here's the recipe:

1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 tbsp crushed red pepper
salt
ground pepper
1 tbsp chopped garlic
6 oz chicken, sliced
3/4 cup marinara sauce
1/3 cup alfredo sauce
2 tsp butter
1/4 cup peas
1 lb rigatoni pasta
Additional red peppers for garnish

*can substitute Bertollis Parm Rosa sauce for the marinara and alfredo.

1. In a saute pan, heat oil over medium heat. Add red peppers, salt, black pepper and garlic. Saute. Add sliced chicken and saute long enough to coat with spices.
2. Add marinara and alfredo sauces (or one jar Parm Rosa), bring to a simmer. Cook until sauce is thickened and chicken is fully cooked. Turn off heat. Add butter and peas.
3. Toss pasta with sauce, garnish with additional red peppers.

Okay, anyone who knows me knows I don't really measure things. And that I like crushed red peppers. So what I actually did was pour some oil in a deep skillet, dump in a bunch of red peppers, garlic, salt and pepper. I used 3 chicken breasts that I cooked pretty much all the way through in the oven, then sliced and added to pan to finish cooking. I couldn't find the Parm Rosa sauce, but Walmart had Bertolli brand Four Cheese Rosa, which is the exact same thing. When it came to add the butter I just put a spoonful in, then I dumped a bunch of frozen peas in the pan until I though there was enough green.

I had more to say, but I think I'm going back for seconds...

On a side note, baby girl is pretty much back to normal. She's been smiling at lights and fans all afternoon. She's even eating like normal, again.

Also, I can't end this post without saying about 9/11/2001. We all have our memories of that day and the days and years that followed. I won't share mine, but I will say that the one good thing that came from that tragic day was a chance for our country to come together and set aside our difference for one common purpose. This truly is the greatest country on earth, and I am so proud to call her home.

Goals

I spent this weekend doing a whole lot of nothing. Well, if you count taking care of mini me while she's sick nothing. Poor thing still isn't back to normal, but she seems to be getting her appetite and is sleeping lots and lots. Now that it appears she's on the mend, hubby says he's coming down with whatever it is Tennessee has. Ugh.

We decided to keep Tennessee home from daycare and David decided he would take a few days to catch up on his rest and take care of baby girl. We figured it would be easiest for him since he has a million days of leave saved up and I only have about 12 hours of PTO since I used all of mine for maternity leave and moving from AZ to FL. Problem was, David had to go into work, do PT, then put in his leave request. He sent me a text this morning saying he was going to be late getting home, so could I take the day off? Of course, I did. He came in a few hours later and agreed to watch Tennessee while I got my eyes checked. So I headed off to Eyemaster's, but the eye doctor has decided he now wants Mondays off, so I ended up making an appt for this weekend. And I stopped in Old Navy next door for Military Mondays. I ended up buying T a few little outfits, something I really haven't done yet. I got so may clothes for her at my shower (thanks Momma!), that I was pretty well set through 3 months. I can't wait to take pictures of her in the new clothes I bought! Ugh, she's just so adorable it's unreal.

Anyway, since I spent most of the weekend rocking my baby girl so she's stay asleep, I started thinking about all the things I want to do here in Florida and in life in general. Anyone who knows me knows I love to make lists, so I made a 30 before I turn 30 list (I'm 26 now).

30 by 30

1. Get out of debt. We don't have credit card debt, but we have two car payments and 3 student loans. Ouch.
2.Finish my Master's degree. I'm almost done with the program, only 3 classes to go!
3. Give Tennessee a sibling.
4. Spend Christmas back home. This is especially difficult because it's hard for me to get time off around the holidays.
5. Spend Christmas with David's family. And since they live super close to D.C., I want to see the capital at Christmas time, too.
6. Rent a pontoon boat and spend the day on the water. Preferably without getting sunburned.
7. Visit Savannah, GA.
8. Visit Charleston, SC.
9. Visit the Bahamas.
10. Spend more time at the beach. As close as we live to the water, I have yet to actually get in. Can you imagine that?
11. Make a quilt.
12. Get my parents and brother to visit at the same time. Would love to combine this with #6
13. Read more.
14. Spend less time wishing, more time doing.
15. Be able to attend David's work functions. This is a hard one for me because we bid for time off for the following year in October. Then those with the most seniority get first pick. Days that are left can be taken anytime during the year, but the have to be scheduled a couple of weeks in advance to be considered planned. Trouble with this is the military does everything at the last minute. Which means I just don't get to go/participate. In fact, the guys at our last base called me "fictional" because no one had ever met me.
16. Visit David's family in San Fran
17. Visit David's grandparents in the Outer Banks
18. See New England during the fall.
19. Get to know my neighbors better.
20. Go to a professional sporting event. It's been way too long.
21. Go to Homecoming at ASU.
22. Take more family pictures.
23. Teach my children to love books and play outdoors.
24. Try not to spoil my babies (too much) on birthdays and holidays. I saw a board on Pinterest once that said gifts should be: Something to wear, something to read, Something I want, Something I need. I love that idea.
25. See the Vietnam Vet Memorial.
26. Start a family vacation tradition.
27. Go to Disney World.
28. Visit Branson, MO.
29. Set foot in the Atlantic Ocean.
30. Figure out a way to work less, play more.

Labor Day Weekend

Here's a late post: Hope everyone enjoyed the extra day off last weekend. I know hubby and I did! We didn't get much rest or relaxation, but we did get a lot accomplished. After a bunch of trips to Lowes, hubby and I were set for our individual projects. Hubby buried some concrete blocks under our gate so Duke couldn't dig himself out. I swear we should have named him George. Curious George. Which is one of his many nicknames. I like Nosey-boy, Sir Sniffs-A-Lot, Pretty Boy and Daddy Duke (thanks to protective instincts over baby girl) best.

 

My big project for the weekend was my office. I managed to get it painted, not so easy with a 3 month old, but it's still a mess. I have it somewhat put back together so I can work this week, then I'll get it finished up this weekend. I have a little paint to touch up, the aforementioned stencil to use, and lots of cleaning/organizing. Stay tuned for photos of the transformation!

I also worked a little more in Tennessee's room:

I decided to make Tennessee's nursery a combination of a baby and a toddler room. I didn't want anything to be too babyish, and I really don't want to have to completely redo her room in a couple of years to make it age appropriate. So I decided to do a couple more crafty things that she will grow into.

Bulletin board

I bought a cheap cork board at Hobby Lobby and Mod Podged pretty fabric to it. The I stapled the edges of the fabric to the back of the cork board frame. This was a cheap and easy project that I really love. Don't you just love this giraffe fabric? I ordered it off Amazon, and have found a few more uses for it in the nursery - more on that later! For now, here's the finished bulletin board. I'll post pics of it in place when I do the big reveal!

Chalk boards

Chalkboards and chalkboard paint are all the rage right now. And yes, I love them, too. I decided I wanted to have something that was a chalkboard in Tennessee's room, but I couldn't decide what type of surface I wanted it to be. Then one day I was in a Walmart in the next town over and found a 3 pack of canvas. Not stretched canvas that's already framed, but flat canvas. My local Walmart has very little craft supplies, but this Walmart still has a fabric section along with a large selection of other DIY supplies. I found the 3 pack of flat canvas for a fraction of the price craft stores sell them for, and knew right away these would be my chalkboard surfaces.

Here's the canvas pre-paint. Sorry it's white on white.

Next time I'll do better. Promise.

 

 

This stuff is A-MA-ZING!

(Excuse the reloading supplies in the background.)

I brought the canvas home and used a can of spray chalkboard paint (also from Walmart) to apply two coats to the canvas, letting it dry for a full 24 hours about 4 hours in between coats. Then I brought the canvases inside and prepped the surfaces by covering the whole thing in chalk and then wiping the canvas clean. I used those trusty 3m strips to hang the canvases (I used two) behind Tennessee's closet door and next to her window. My only complaint is that the canvases weren't exactly the same size, even though they were supposed to be, so the one on the left is slightly longer. Which does NOT make my OCD happy! Grr...

Bottom line: I love taking the time to make things for Tennessee's room. My parents and grandparents did that for me when I was little, and I still have a lot of handmade items from my childhood room. I'm not sure that anything I'm doing for Tennessee will be that permanent, but at least it was made by her Momma.

Also, David and I found the perfect comfy chair for her nursery on Craigslist, for $50! After getting it cleaned up we put it by the window with a rug and lovely pillow from Target (gasp!) that was ON SALE and probably cheaper than any pillow I could have made. I think it looks PERFECT! Pictures to come!

We also bought a dresser off of Craigslist (from a very sad little man) and had to drive all the way to Pensacola for it. About an hour from our house. We made a day of it and had sushi at Shark Fin while we were in town. Food was delicious, baby girl was amazingly sweet and calm (as usual), and the dresser is in decent shape - just needs a bit of refinishing. That's my next big project. Although I may put hubby to work sanding it since he usually gets a choice - work, or watch Tennessee. Not sure what it is that makes men afraid to be alone with babies (even their own, even when they're really good with said baby)?? Maybe it's the amount of up and down work associated with constantly feeding (seriously. CONSTANTLY.) and changing and playing with baby.

Rough Day

My sweet little 3.5 month old baby girl is sick. She was home with her dad yesterday while I was working, and we kept noticing her sneezing more than usual. She has always sneezed a lot, but not like this. Then the coughing started. After every sneeze came a cough. She just kept getting more and more congested. Poor thing. When I put her down for the night (she always sleeps through the night) she only slept for an hour before she woke up screaming. She's never one to cry, so I knew she was really hurting. David and I took turns rocking her since it was the only thing that calmed her down. She threw up a couple times, and David and I were just heartbroken we couldn't make it all better for her. None of us got much rest last night, so we scrapped our plans to work on the house and ended up staying home just hanging out. We spent most of the evening watching VH1s countdown of the too 100 songs from 2000-2010. "Crazy in Love" from Beyonce and Jay Z was #1. I also made yummy Mexican stuffed shells for dinner. David told me I should make them more often. He's a picky eater, so that's success in my book! Especially after last night when I made chicken quesadillas and he told me I was killing him with goodness after he asked what made them so good and I said "butter". The house projects will just have to wait for another day. Right now my baby girl and sanity all depend on me getting some rest.

Delivery

Don't you love getting packages in the mail? Today I received a stencil that I ordered from Cutting Edge Stencils that I had forgotten about even ordering! While it's better to get presents or things you didn't pay for, I was pretty happy with this purchase since I googled "Cutting Edge Stencil promo" and found a coupon for 20% off. Love coupons! And love the stencil more. I'll be using it in my office, and hope to get that done this weekend.

I also got our internet/cable bill in the mail today. Normally this wouldn't excite me, but it reminded me that hubby has been asking me to call and add a few channels to our programming. We basically had their bottom tier with the HBO movie package. I could usually care less about TV (except during football season), so it didn't really matter to me what package we had. Hubby? He cares. And he really cared that since we moved here in July he has not been able to watch BBC or the Science channel. So we've been watching Top Gear (a favorite in our house) reruns on Netflix. All 5 billion episodes. So I called and added an additional package that gives us BBC, Science, Nat Geo, the Military channel (also a favorite) and a few others I can't even remember. I declined to add the children's package because I don't like the idea of Tennessee growing up a child of television. I want her to play outside, get dirty, use her imagination. Anyhoo, I added the additional package for $4.99. Guess it's a small price to pay to make David happy.

Also, I feel like I survived something great today. I picked Tennessee up from her last day of daycare this week. It was a rough week for me and David, but Tennessee seems to be adjusting just fine. She's always happy when I pick her up, and really, really tired. I guess being around other kids wears her out.

David doesn't work Fridays, even though he has to go in for PT, so he'll make it home just in time to take care of our chunky monkey so I can lock myself in the office for 8.5 hours. AND, I'm hoping he'll enjoy his day with baby girl so much that he'll excuse me to leave the house long enough for a haircut and maybe even a pedicure. Neither of which have happened since Arizona. Egad. If not tomorrow then hopefully I can fit it in sometime this weekend.

Mommy needs a little "me" time too, ya know.

Sunday Funday

Don't you just hate that phrase?? Everyone uses it, and to be honest, Sundays are a little sad for me these days. Back in Arizona, Sundays were pretty much my favorite day of the week. Except for the pending doom of Monday, of course. What made Sundays so amazing? Glad you asked.

Family. Specifically, this guy:

This is my Grandpa in his Army uniform during the Korean War. Isn't he handsome? Starting when I was in high school, I spent every Sunday morning with The Grandpa. That's right, he has a title. It's a little bit like going to church, if your church tells stories of wild shenanigans orchestrated by one unruly sinner who married a saint.

 

The Saint aka Grandma

 

Here's their wedding picture

Gorgeous, don't you think?

 

And here he is with my newborn munchkin

 

 

Seriously, though. The Grandpa has the best stories (all true - but maybe a little embellished) and I am so lucky to have spent so much time hearing them. Stories of a time much more free, and much more difficult than life today.

 

 I always miss him when I'm away, but especially on Sundays.

 

P.S.

While I hate the term "Sunday Funday", I'll let it slide this weekend. Reason being? Football is back in season, and tomorrow is a holiday. Enjoy your extra day!