New Tradition

This year for Christmas, I'm thinking of doing it a little bit different. Before my children get stuck on the gobs of presents under the tree for them being in direct correlation to who is loved the most, we're changing it. I love that my children are still young enough that it won't matter much to them. I provide them with their needs throughout the year and with some wants for birthdays and special treats. I am on a quest to simplify and focus on the true reason for the season: Christ.

I've heard of people doing three gifts per family member, just like Christ received 3 gifts from the Wisemen. I have even heard an explanation of what each present was to represent. I am asking for some ideas. I was thinking along the lines of a need, a want, and something homemade. Not sure. Or, something physical, spiritual, and educational. Help me out please - I'd love to hear your thoughts! I hope this will help my children gain greater understanding and appreciation for the Christmas season as we try to adopt our own traditions. Even if you just have a favorite Holiday tradition you would like to share (and you wouldn't mind me possibly adopting/adapting for our family).

What was I thinking???

I've been thinking that more often than I should the past little bit. I know as a mother, even more so as a YOUNG mother, you tend to get in funks that bring you down. I am currently riding one. Don't you love it when the day starts with a few slip ups, you overreact a bit, and WHAM! most everything goes wrong for the rest of the day?

We finally get a chance to walk Mel to school since the weather is cooperating for a change, and I hear nothing but whining from my two children that CAN walk!! They beg me for it only to tell me how tired they are and they need me to hold them. No such luck little ones! Since my life has been a little special in the sleep department lately, I've been extra cranky. On our trek to school this morning, I kept replaying the questions, "What was I thinking having children now?! Even worse... THREE!!! I must have been extremely foolish when I signed up for all of this (Navy wife, mother of three, being "blessed" with a Julia)!" Not to mention the occasional anger that flows through me at my dear husband for leaving me all the time. (Even though I know perfectly well that it isn't really his fault - or his choice to be on the boat that he is) I know, I know... tough, that's life. Believe me, I tell myself that all the time too.

So, with Thanksgiving around the corner, I decided I was going to do all in my power to keep Hunter awake during the day so he would HOPEFULLY sleep all night, put my girls to bed ON TIME, and tuck myself in right after them. Doesn't really help me in the quest for "me" time, but I am happy to trade that for some Z's.

Neverending

Sometimes the monotonous items on my "To Do" list seem as though they will never be scratched off. Just so I don't get too discouraged with the "I have nots", I'm listing some things I have accomplished in the last week.

* Read the last two books in the Twilight saga
* Gotten an average of 3.5 hours of sleep per night
* Realized that I have a desperate need for a scale so I can figure out how my exercising is going
* Mostly organized the two rooms left in the house that really needed it
* Gotten my shopping done (even with all 3 kids in tow)
* Managed to keep my children alive
* Made a new recipe
* Gotten to the gym to work out
* Kept up with the dishes (laundry is another story)
* Maintained order well around the house for having 3 little ones

Might not seem like a lot to you - but it's progress to me!!

Wanna be Blizzard of '09

I'm not sure how many of you actually grew up on the East Coast, so I'll enlighten you. Normally when we hear (ok... so I'm an east coaster AND Yankee....it apparently makes a difference) Nor' Easter we think: BLIZZARD. This week when I heard Nor' Easter I thought someone was smoking something. Surely the temperatures were not that low to be able to welcome snow!!?? Of course they knew there would be people as dense as I was out there checking the weather/news so they threw up the definition for us. So, we buckle down and figure, what's the worst it could get? Thursday came and like a true Yank, I headed out the door with Melanie in tow to take her to school. We drove up to her school to check and see if there was indeed a school day ahead of us, only to find no cars in the parking lot. Ok... no school, check. So, I pull the car to my front door (literally) and drop Melanie off. Then I back it up to the actual street (and my parking spot) and get drenched as I come back to the house. Mind you, on our trip TO school, the umbrellas we were using blew inside out and no longer served their purpose for us outdoors. Yes, the wind was THAT strong (as I'm sure those of you that ventured out past your front of back doors are well aware). Also being a Yank, you hear that the snow to rain ratio is 10 inches of snow to every inch of rain. The reported rain fall for this wonderful bit of weather we've experienced is anywhere between 8 and 12 inches. Could you imagine 80-120 inches of snow??? That would be the biggest blizzard I have EVER seen if that happened! The last time I experienced 5-6 feet snow drifts, we were snowed in for over a week (pretty much everything was shut down). I certainly hope the earth recovers quickly because I don't want to be stuck inside much longer! Thank Heaven the wanna be blizzard never attained its dream!! Even though I would love to have some white around here for once! Plus as an upside, the base was closed yesterday and today - not sure if it would hold true for Jeremiah's boat if it was here...but we might have had him home with us for a VERY long weekend!!

Kindess of a Stranger

Saturday was, well, shall we say.... difficult. Alright, so ALL of last week was pretty difficult! My most challenging days though, were Friday and Saturday.

Friday because I was trying to get my string bean of a daughter some new pants for school and shirts that would be long enough so she could raise her arms in school. Off to the mall we went....and I dreaded almost EVERY minute of it! We get to Gymboree, Mel: "Mom, I have to go potty", so off to the elevators we go to hit the 3rd floor for the restrooms. After her freaking out and NOT going to the bathroom.... I drag them down to the first floor again.... about 15 minutes later, Mom... I have to go potty. Well... too bad, you missed your chance. We finally get done with Gymboree and I decide to let them have a few minutes to play. We do that and then we leave the mall for the night, off to get some dinner. After dinner we ended up cutting our outing short because Julia spilled her soda all over herself, it was dark, and I didn't feel like fighting them the whole way through Walmart and then maybe a thrift store. We go home and hit the beds.

Saturday we wake up WAY too early (yes, that is life with MY children), and finally get off to the store. We stop at Target first.... As soon as we get in there... Julia: " I have to go potty...." Me: "Well, you'll just have to go in your pull up" Julia: "I can't breathe!!" Me: "What do you mean??" Julia: (getting sick all in her new coat from Old Navy) We book it out of the store, as quickly as possible without looking like we just shoplifted something. Once outside, we clean Julia up. I didn't have a spare jacket in the car though... so, the poor girl had to sport a t-shirt in the chilly weather. Mark my words... I will be better prepared with extra emergency clothes for the next time. She tells me she is ok now and she's not going to be sick anymore. I'm thinking, "Good, because we were going to go back in there anyway... I have SO much to get done!!"
Back in the store we go... finish our shopping (put a bunch of whining in there too and you'll be pretty much on the nose for that trip), and off to BJ's for salad - after that one, they told me how hungry they were. I roll my eyes and think, wow... maybe you should eat some breakfast for a change! The last stop on our run was Walmart. After the stress of that and the waiting in line thing was finally done, I take BOTH carts to the car (one for kids, one for Melanie to push) and lecture them on how hard it is for me to take all three of them shopping. An older man was walking towards the store as I unloaded my children. When I got done buckling Melanie in (she is #2 of the buckling process - those of you with more than one child will understand what I mean), I come to get Hunter and see the man standing near my car. "I'll go ahead and take your carts for you once you unload that precious bit of cargo" he says. I grab Hunter and start walking him around the car, the man notices that we have out of state tags, "Is your husband military, Are you military?" Me: "Yes, my husband is." Him: "Wow, well thank you very much for your service."

Yeah, TOTALLY cried as I was buckling Hunter in the car and the man walked away. All because he offered the simplest bit of assistance! I like to park as close to a cart corral as possible to make the distance I have to walk after loading my children in the car the shortest possible. I was literally one parking space away from the cart corral and this gentleman offered to take my carts the WHOLE way to the store for me. Then, to Thank me AND my husband for our service to our country. I will be forever grateful to him and people like him that notice us young mothers struggling. Whether we are at the very end of our extremely stressful day of shopping, errand running, etc or in the middle, thank you all for noticing and lending a hand! Sir, you made my day with that bit of service you showed me AND my family. Thank YOU!!

Taking some advice from the Young Women

Today's lesson was on the Word of Wisdom. Before you start thinking about what kind of great dirt you can get on me, I'm sure it is one we ALL struggle with. I need to decrease my consumption of sugar. Yes, that's right.... sugar. All things in moderation...right? Plus, that whole... "run and not be weary, walk and not faint" promise sounds really good for a girl trying to get back into the swing of things at the gym. BTW Jocelyn and Mom - they do have Zumba at my gym! Should I take it?

Since my new-found freedom (i.e being 6 weeks postpartum), I have been on a quest to lose that baby weight, as quickly as possible while still being healthy. I am making it official by sticking it up on my blog..... I AM ON A QUEST TO LOSE WEIGHT!! I don't want to say how much for fear of putting myself in a bad light...lets just say that my goal is to weigh 10-15 lbs less than I did before getting pregnant. So, I have a nice number to subtract from my current weight. =o\ I'm giving myself until mid-May to reach my goal. PLENTY of time! I'll periodically update with how much weight I've lost to date. So long nightly ice cream pow wows and sweet "highs". I will have you in moderation, maybe even just on Sundays. Good Bye American portion sizes, seconds, and prepared foods, from now on... it's realistic portions and "whole" foods for me! Oh how I'll miss you!!

The Ride

This morning, I decided I would venture out of the house (FINALLY) and hit the gym. The H1N1 infestation has put me on a bit of a scare, but I'm putting my trust in the Lord that Hunter will be ok. Julia and I will get vaccinated as soon as the vaccinations become available. Since he stays in a part of the play area that is specifically for babies, he doesn't have any contact with the other children really. He pretty much stays in his car seat carrier or a swing if need be. I need the gym so badly, I just had to go! This morning I decided to go ahead and take a spin class this morning. I wanted to challenge myself and jump start my routine. It felt great to be sweating on the bike today. At the end of our ride, our instructor told us some fabulous words of advice. " If we had a good time, enjoyed the workout that we should hold onto the feeling for the weekend, the next week, the future and bring the positive and happiness into our lives. It's more powerful than anything else. " So, I enjoyed the ride and I think I just might remember the feeling for later. So excited for some more "beating" in the future. Boy oh Boy I missed the gym!!

Our October

As I sit here with my bowl of Edys Vanilla Bean ice cream, I realize I really need to blog about SOMETHING, ANYTHING. So, since October is in essence, at an end, I figured I would give a recap of our adventures. We were daddy-less the beginning of the month, followed by Hunter's blessing and a birthday party for two (all in the same weekend). Happy Birthday Julia and Jocelyn!! Followed briefly with sick children (that caused me to reschedule BOTH appointments I had this month) and finished off with a move that took a week to accomplish and will continue to span the next few months (we're downsizing)!




The move will be good for us - I like that there is more room to live here. Melanie has been doing GREAT with school!! GO GREEN DAYS!!! Yipee!! Although in the grand scheme of things - I think public schools have it in for our young ones. They will get less desirable colors (yellow, red) for "working" (read fighting) things out with peers. They promptly receive a green day (very ideal color) for tattling on everyone around them. ugh.... and thus the tattling phase has begun. At least we see those green days and have stopped receiving little notes stating our child has bitten another child or keeps messing with another girls hair!! What has the educational system come to??? On an up note, Melanie has been reciting her months of the year and other random facts throughout the day - VERY IMPRESSIVE!!!

Living life by the seat of our pants!

As if our little family hasn't had enough "big" changes lately, we are moving this week!! Yikes! We will be moving (literally a few houses away)starting Thursday. We have to move ourselves and they are giving us a week to do it! I think if we got much less than that I wouldn't be able to get it all done. (We learned we were moving on Friday of last week) On our quest for boxes this past weekend, we were not very successful, so I think it will end up being a gradual process (since we are due for a much bigger move in a little over 6 months). If any of us needed to adjust to change, now is our chance! I am getting EXTREMELY excited about getting the OK for exercise this week (yes, it will be 6 weeks since Hunter arrived). Can't wait to hit the gym running! Please bear with me as I am really truly planning on updating, we are just busy busy!!

Hunter's Blessing

Our little man got blessed today. So exciting! It's actually one of my friend's birthdays today too!! Happy Birthday - you know who you are! I can't believe Hunter is already a month old!! Time flies. The only plus of him growing up means that I will be back to the YMCA REAL soon. Yipee!! I'm so excited to start exercising again.
That's all beside the point though....our little bundle of joy has brought so much joy to our lives! He likes to look around and take it all in a lot more lately and is a really good sleeper. I think he will end up being our biggest cuddler so far - he LOVES to be held. Of course I think he is way too cute! Today when he was blessed, he wore his dad's blessing outfit. Yes... this little outfit was worn several decades ago when my husband was given his name and a blessing (and has been worn at least 3 times after that before today). How stinkin cool is that?

p.s. We tried taking his paci out for the photo... he didn't like that much, so I had to settle for this.

TOFW

Got back from Time Out For Women this weekend and really wish it would have been longer. =0( There will be more opportunities later I guess(sigh). i think I speak for the entire group as a whole when I say that I had a blast. Thank you ladies!! It was too much fun! We had a lot of laughs and went through a TON of tissues (H.K). I did my best to get pictures of every speaker/performer there - I just didn't get a good picture of Mary Ellen Edmunds (MEE). Here's our collage.
 

We hung out with Michael McLean, Hilary Weeks, Deanne Flynn, Brent Top, Kim Nelson, Mark Mabry, and Mary Ellen Edmonds this weekend. After the first night, we high tailed it to Cold Stone for a treat. We made it just in time before they closed... really they closed when we ran inside... but they helped us anyway. Thanks again for a GREAT time ladies!!

Oh, and there was this SUPER cute little girl sitting in front of us (she is 5 months).... yeah, can you tell I was missing on my little boy?? Here's her mug...

Juggling Life

Sorry I haven't posted in a bit. I have been "juggling life" lately. Last week was almost full with appointments and running to the pharmacy. Just when I think I am getting in the swing of things and getting a great schedule down... and... dare I say... having "free time" things change. Thus... the life with a newborn. I love it though - our little man is such a good baby. He has his bad nights (and bad days) - what can I say? (FYI By "Bad" I mean that he doesn't want to be put down OR he wants to "snack" all night) He LOVES to be cuddled!! I may end up strapping him on me like my dear friend Jenn does with her little girl! I'm sure he likes life better still being able to hear mommy's heart beat during the day! I'll gather up some things to post here in the near future. I just wanted to be sure everyone knew I was still alive (Jocelyn) and well!

So much going on....

Welcoming a new addition to the family has been a fabulous experience so far. We aren't quite a week into the swing of things, but I think life will be good. I try to eat up as much time as I can snuggling with Hunter. He has been VERY laid back so far. We all really do love him to pieces. Melanie looks forward to coming home from school everyday so she can hold her little brother. She is fabulous with him, and Julia doesn't mess with him much. We hear her talking to him sometimes and trying to carry on a conversation (i.e "Hunter... we're going to the library, we're going to have fun.... right??) with him. I find myself trying to just enjoy this week with Jeremiah since he will leave once it's over. Then the fun begins. We haven't been crazy busy... just busy trying to enjoy each other. I think Jeremiah is just loving it up. Life without the belly bump has been wonderful. I enjoy moments of being pregnant - at the end however... I'm just miserable!! Bending comes easily, I can roll over in bed without problems, I can bathe the girls, and I feel like my energy is back! (still waiting on some of it though - gearing up for some workouts in the next few weeks) HOORAY!!

During the past few weeks, many of you know I have been called to serve with the Young Women of the ward. I am SO excited! I look forward to the activities and chances to get to know them (as well as the girls from the other ward). My first activity as a Young Women leader was to go crabbing with them. Here are a few pictures from that.




We're hoping to get a chance to head up to the temple this weekend as well. We aren't sure if we will be attending the meetings with our stake, but we look forward to partaking of the spirit there as a couple before Jeremiah has to start work ups. Hopefully our next duty station will place us MUCH closer to a temple so we can get there more regularly. I am so grateful for my family that is fortunate enough to be able to help us when we plan these temple trips. They normally come down to the temple as well and help watch the children while we go in for a session.

Melanie has also started school and has been enjoying it for the most part. It is sometimes crazy to think she is that big, but then she will do things that are proof she is growing up. Hopefully school attendance will help her with her listening skills. Since she is in school, it ties us down here in the area a bit more. I don't have as much freedom to just pick up and go out of town for a bit - most of my visits will have to be during the holiday "off days". I think it will make the holiday time off a bit more rewarding and special. We certainly can't be too lazy in the mornings now!

Pictures of Hunter's big Debut

 

(from left to right)
Top Row: Hunter's first bath, Mommy after delivery, Lying around
Middle Row: Hunter with his girls
Bottom Row: He fell asleep in this position today - too cute!, Daddy with Hunter right after delivery, Going home outfit

Pictures are In....

Well, Hunter finally joined our family on Thursday Sept 10. He weighed in at 8lbs 4oz and a length of 19 3/4 inches. It took forever to get him here, we had a lot of trials through the ordeal and overall, the blessings triumphantly dominated. We are so thankful for all that Heavenly Father did to help us welcome Hunter to our family that day. His face is a little purple/bruised because they told me I delivered him too quickly (two pushes). Because of his facial bruising, I waited a day to take most of his "newborn" pictures. He has made a lot of progress and doesn't show too much of his mother's early unintentional abuse. Here are a lot of them... with more to come as time passes.

Have I ever mentioned that I have wonderful friends?

I have the great blessing of having a lot of ladies from church that I consider my friends. I enjoy every chance I get to visit with them and hang out. The last Saturday in August I got to "hang out" a little bit with some of them. Only... there was a little twist, it was held to celebrate the upcoming birth of my first little man!! Brief explanation about that: I have ALWAYS wanted a male in the family....I begged my parents for a brother for years and of course I put in a lot of orders for a son before getting pregnant with him. As well as a lot of prayers that it was a boy up until the ultrasound day when we found out for sure. It's definitely been something that I have REALLY REALLY wanted for a REALLY long time. My friends wanted to help me celebrate that and threw a shower for me!

Upon arriving at my dear friend Allyn's house (she was gracious enough to let us borrow her house for the afternoon) I was totally shocked. There was tons and tons of delicious food and a beautiful cake (picture below) not to mention the super fun decorations in the living room (which I didn't get a picture of - I don't think). Well, needless to say, we had great fun, played a few games (I found out that I am 11 toilet paper squares around right now), and I think Hunter is set for the entire first year of his life!! The clothes were beyond adorable and I'm excited to see him in each of the outfits. Thank you guys for throwing the shower for me and going through all the trouble of planning and preparing. I love you all and am truly grateful for your friendship!! Hopefully I have the product that caused all of this celebrating REAL soon so you all can see him. My hospital room is open for visitors anytime!


Tara's beautiful cake. The top layer is coconut and the bottom layer is chocolate!

 

Some of the photos my friends took for me - all surrounding the notorious face shot of Deborah and Jenn!! A collage just isn't a collage without that kind of picture! Please don't mind the pregnant face - or belly for that matter!

Growing up?? WAY too fast!

So I hear that this time of year is like this for a lot of parents. I find myself being a little anxious and excited for Melanie this year. I think she will do great and have so much fun she'll forget about dear 'ol mom! To me, that is what being a little kid is all about though - enjoying yourself. I can't believe that come Tuesday.... my little girl will technically be a big girl. I'll update this post with some pictures of her first day and some of her own "quotes" as well. For now... enjoy the commercial.... a few friends told me about it.

And the Winner Is....

I remember a few months back, Vicki saying that her son would be on Wipeout. That episode got postponed and was scheduled for tonight. I decided I would watch (I do occasionally) and see how he fared. Low and behold.... he WON! He did a great job! Imagine that... someone we know (sort of) just made 50,000 on a TV show!! If you've never checked out Wipeout, you can catch it on the ABC website tomorrow. The episode should be available then. Congrats Travis!

Running out of Space and Time

I'm starting to think that my son must really have the wrong impression. It seems as though he thinks I still have plenty of room to spare in that uterus of mine and that my organs don't really need the amount of space they are currently taking up. Maybe he is shooting for some kind of goal to make sure my stomach and bladder stay as flat as pancakes so that he can continue with his exercise routine. My theory continues with the realization that there must be about a month's worth of memory erasing that happens the moment the baby is born. Gone are the memories and suffering of heartburn, restless nights, constant punching bag practice, and of course natural delivery.

My time is almost up, that egg timer is really getting ahead of me. There is so much I want to accomplish and that I need to do. My body is gradually giving up! Anytime I take the opportunity to lay on my side to "relax" a bit... my eyelids start drooping and I nod off to sleep. Now, that isn't going to help my nesting instincts! This week has been a little busy for me with taking that driving course test (which I passed by the way), phone conferences, trying to enjoy the last few days of Jeremiah's leave, school orientations, and hospital preparations. I'll find out Monday if my body is really as ready for this as I'm thinking it is. I'm hoping I'm dilating already, even though that doesn't mean much for predicting the big day. Tomorrow will make it official that it is finally "safe" to have the little man without the fear of him being pre-term. Yay!

Would you want to hang out with these guys for a week?

I got to hang out with these cuties for a week. I was so excited to have some time with some babies (I need to fill the void I currently have). Now that vacation is over, I just have to hang in there for a few more weeks before I get to have my own! Not to mention that I don't get to give this one back when he's hungry or wakes up in the middle of the night. Eh...I'll just have to live. I do have two amazing helpers though - the girls were just beside themselves trying to help with these little ones. It was wonderful to watch!

Baby Brooklyn at 5 months with her Momma Steph


I love those cheeks!


My husband's cousin, Tristen's, little guy. His name is Julien. How cute is he!? He's just a month old! I didn't get to hold him... but watching him was WONDERFUL!

Julien with his grandpa (known to us as Uncle Tom)! Yes, Jeremiah's family is just filled with big guys.


This is Tristen, Julien's proud daddy. I was hoping to get some family pictures done before the week was done, but they had to scoot out earlier than the rest of our pack.