What not to do at the grocery store

I witnessed something disturbing at the commissary today. And thankfully my children were not involved. It's always nice when something odd occurs and your children don't have something to do with it.

Nice and rare.

I was carefully selecting a bag of spinach, important to take notice of the expiration date and the fresh appearance of the individual leaves. This takes some careful selection folks.

I look up to see someone sticking their hand in the bulk candy bin of chocolate covered peanuts.

THEIR HAND.

They scooped up a big handful and then went on their way munching on the candy nuts. I'm pretty sure I was standing there with my chin around my feet. Seriously? You stuck your bare hand in an open container of food?

AND you didn't put them in a bag so you could pay for them? Really, I know the commissary gives out little snacks sometimes and little cups of free coffee, but here's a hint, when there is a price sticker on it... YOU HAVE TO PAY.

AND the real kicker. This wasn't a kid.

It was an adult.

In uniform.

Oh yeah and he was a full bird colonel.

Yup, lets just sit with that for a minute. *insert elevator music here*

You make it all the way up the ranks, yet you are cluelessly unaware that you don't stick your hand in the bulk food and that that is not there as a "snack item" but needs to be paid for?

Shoot, the Army must be relaxing their standards. Or this guy is just an a-hole. Either or.

I'm leaning towards the later.

And I don't think I'll be buying candy or anything out of a bulk bin for a while.

A mish mosh post

It's that time again! A mish mosh post. I know all of you are on the edge of your seats.

* First, I finally caved and made me some black bottom cupcakes. May I just say. Wicked. Awesome.

Flyboy scoffed at me, he took one look at them and said, "this is what you were harping about?". Yes. Yes it was. And I have also noticed one or two missing that I did not consume so my dear, what do you have to say now?

Here are my thoughts on them if anyone out there cares. Personally, they are better cold. So let them cool down and pop em in the fridge before eating them. Your taste buds will thank me. They will also sing. With delight.

I also think that they are better bite sized. They are probably more dangerous that way since you could easily eat a doze that way, but really, they are a great mini cupcake.

Everyone make them this week. If it weren't so darn warm out I'd make some and send them to all you out there in bloggy land. Everyone should know the deliciousness that is a black bottom cupcake.

* Second, I truly am losing my mind. I went on way to long about black bottom cupcakes.

* Third, I am off to my 32 wk apt tomorrow (a week early since the boys and I are heading out of town to the 'rents next week) and I'm dreading getting on the scale. I just hate seeing the numbers going up. Ironic since I went on and on about a cupcake right?

I went so far to weight myself wearing a few different outfits so I can pick the one that weights the least.

And I should say, I'm on track with my weight gain, its just the whole losing my mind thing.

* Fourth, flyboy was being a wonderful daddy tonight and playing with the boys outside. They were racing up and down our long driveway. It was so cute, until flyboy just took off and left the boys in his dust.

Dash-1 was very upset that he didn't win, flyboy told him next time to run faster. Clearly we don't believe in falsely inflating our kids egos.

We also let our kids play with toy guns, sticks, and today we tossed around some water grenades. Oh shoot I see the parents of the year committe pulling up as I type!

* Five... I can't remember what five was going to be. All I know is a cupcake is calling my name.

Lovin life

My life is pretty darn good. My kids are pretty darn good. My marriage rocks. And my figures, well, three out of four aint bad.

Being honest is a two way street. If I'm going to share all my hair raising mommy secrets (you know like secretly loathing the park, my inability to get my kids to listen to me and what not) I should share the good stuff too. And lately I've been taking note of the good stuff.

Who know's maybe its a shift in the hormones. But even as my kids drive me crazy, as they occasionally do, I'm pulling myself back faster into recognizing how very lucky I am. This may spark debate in some of the mommy circles, whether your kids should be your life or not, but to me, they are.

Perhaps that's why the burn out occurs, but you know what, they are mine, I birthed em, I'll raise 'em. And soon enough they will be out of the house and standing on their own feet like the man I married.

*sniffle sniffle* I hope they marry nice girls who remind them to call home. sigh.

Anyways, young mom/wife wrote an honest mommy post today, she's having a bit of a go with her Wee One, and I put something in the comments that just slipped out. No, not sell him on ebay, although that does slip out a lot around here. But that the bad moments help us to enjoy the good moments.

Parenting is almost like the seasons, you need those barren, nasty days of winter, when nothing seems to be going right and your sanity, like the days seems to turn dark before you want it too, to really appreciate the beauty and relaxing calm of the spring, those days when life just clicks.

Who knows, perhaps that's a bit out there. I have a feeling flyboy is going to read this and ask me what the hell crazy juice I've been drinking.

Motherhood is tough. Often times it is REALLY tough, but oh so totally worth it. I can't imagine my life without them. Life wouldn't be the same without the hugs and the kisses, without someone picking me flowers, roots and all, without a little hand reaching up to hold mine, even though it's clearly covered in some mysterious substance.

Life wouldn't have the same zest to it. Or the same purpose.

And by the way... the winner of the EcoStore 2 product giveaway was SUSAN! Thanks to all who entered. I have a couple more giveaway's planned for the summer so there are more chances to win something free. Free rocks.

Why is it?

Why is it that.....

- ice cream taste soooo much better when it's eaten out of the carton? And not shared. At all.

- as I painstakingly spent hours making cupcakes from scratch and then decorating each and everyone for dash-1's last day of school, dash-2 took my being occupies as his cue to eat a puzzle.

Yeah that's right, he ate a puzzle. Four pieces. Well he more nibbled them to the point I had to throw the puzzle away but still.

- I couldn't find my cold cream the other night and my mascara was irritating my eyes so I thought, I know! I'll just rub a little bit of soap very carefully just on my eyelashes. I mean I know they tell you to keep soap away from your eyes but surely they weren't talking about me.

In case your wondering how it went down, it stung so bad I actually was hopping up and down in the shower while I tried to get it all out. I am an idiot.

- your kids can bug you all morning to go do something and the second your ready to leave the house, they decide that they are too engrossed in what they are doing to leave.

- when you have a craving, no one else around you has the same one and therefore doesn't so much see the matter of life and death need to get it fulfilled?

- speaking of cravings, when you have a craving, say oh I don't know, for Black Bottom cupcakes, you can not for the life of you find them in a store. (I'm hyperlinking to a pic of them because everyone I've mentioned this too claims to not know what I'm talking about)

WHY IS IT?!

and dont forget AWESOME giveaway at the post below!! There is still time to enter!

GIVEAWAY! and my turn to the green side

I'm not a terribly green person. Don't get me wrong, we do recycle all cans, plastics, cardboard, and food scraps go in the compost pile.

I know, you just read right, we have a compost pile. I know your thinking, wow, they must be green. No, we live on a farm, if you put trash out with food in it, things eat your trash and we're talking BIG things that make big messes. This annoys me. Hence why I find it easier to put my food scraps out in a compost pile where they can just eat it out of that and I don't have to clean up a mess. I'm pretty sure our compost pile will never amount to much since it's just one big ol buffet for the wild life.

And perhaps this is also the reason that our groundhogs look like they need Jenny Craig.

However, about six months ago I started in on something. I'm paying attention to what my kids eat and what I use around them. Seriously, one should be able to read the ingredients on the back of fruit roll ups and understand whats in them.

And one should be able to clean their toilet without passing out from the smell. Of the cleaner that is, not the toilet bowl. Seriously my normal toilet bowl cleaner fills the entire house with a horrible thick smell of chemicals. And I can't help but think that for a child with asthma and other sensitivities that can't be so good for him.

And this brings me to my point, because ramble on as I might, there is usually always a point.

I got an email from a very interesting company EcoStore USA about using some of their plant and mineral based products. They range from shampoos to baby lotion to toilet bowl cleaner.

Which might I add I can not get enough of, it smells kinda minty fresh. Seriously, just yesterday I cleaned my toilets and it wasn't even Friday. But this stuff is so light and fresh smelling and let me just say, I'm the only girl in my house, I need a toilet bowl cleaner that has some serious power to it and this was it. Worked wonderful, smelled wonderful, I'm in love.

With a toilet bowl cleaner.

EcoStore USA is online for those of us who aren't in the Midwest, but if you live near a Meijer grocery store your in luck, their products are there and hopefully will be expanding nationally. If you go to their blog you can sign up for their newsletter and get coupons, updates and other good stuff.

Ok so this whole post can't just be about my new BFF toilet bowl cleaner, I also found a delightful soap bar and baby lotion that took the scales off my darling dash-2. His skin is so dry it's rough to the touch. I have tried everything and the problem is two fold, 1. my kids are incredibly sensitive so the pool of what we can use is REALLY small and 2. his skin soaks it up in 5 secs but doesn't stay hydrated. By anything.

Their baby moisturizer worked very well on him. He's smooth as the day we brought him home, sigh, too bad it can't make them quiet or sit still. And not one of us, dash-1, dash-2, or myself has had the slightest outbreak from it. And that my friends, is a feat. Oh and its great to use after shaving your legs, I used it and there was no stinging or awful red bumps. Score!

I also tried their exfoliating soap. Bar soap is so quick and easy to use and lets face it my time is hardly a spa retreat when the kids are around, but lately every kind I've used has been giving me these weird red bumps on my arms.

Ummm... eww.

So I tried this stuff not expecting much and I love it! Its their Manuka Honey and Kelp soap and it has little scrubbers in it to exfoliate. I'm not all dried out and the exfoliating stuff feels fantastic. And no red bumps. Perfect for the summer.

And really folks, just in case your wondering, I've actually tried products out and not posted the reviews because I don't feel like I can stand behind it. So take my word for it, despite my joking around I can not be bought.

Take a look at their estore, they have a whole baby line, shampoos, conditioners, cleaning products. Simple products to help get some of the chemical crap out of our lives.

And for those of you who aren't that familiar with me, I have a son who is very sensitive and allergic to quite a few things, two of which are serious allergies that could result in anaphylaxis reaction. I was overjoyed to look at these products and realize that they are safe for us and for other families dealing with sensitive kids.

And to top it off, the things I tried all worked well. I mean really, I'm singing the praises of toilet cleaner. Clearly these folks have the power to get me over to the green side of life.

And they are very kindly offering you guys the chance to green up!!

ITS A GIVEAWAY!!

You could win any TWO products from their store! How sweet is that? sigh. I love a good giveaway.

All right here's the deal.... you have the chance for THREE entries....
- leave a comment (name the two products you would like to win on this post if you dont mind) for one entry
-post a link to this giveaway on your blog and get ANOTHER entry
-follow my blog and get ANOTHER entry

Super simple right folks?

The giveaway will stay open until Saturday 12 noon (est). Good luck!

Oh do I embarrass you?

My baby had his last day of school today. sigh. Flyboy is really worked up over this. He kept going on and on about it last night.

Alright so it wasn't flyboy it was me going on and on about it, and he's not actually my baby, he's four and he's my oldest, and its hardly his last day of school. In fact he hasn't even started the "real" stuff yet. But still, where is the time going?

* insert sniffle and sigh here*

Not only can he write his name, identify his letters, heck do some simple addition, but he's already embarrassed by me.

Yes folks, I embarrass my four year old.

I was apparently acting too silly today and got "Mooooooooooooooom, stop it".

Hold up. I still wipe your butt (who would have thought that adding was simpler then wiping one's own butt after pooping?) but yet my silly rendition of Alice the Camel embarrasses you?

Ah good, we are progressing as we should.

Just wait till next year the first day of preschool and I drop him off with my nursing bra unhooked or something. Hold on to your hat kiddo, if I embarrass you now just wait!

Did your parents embarrass you? (My mother used to "show" up during middle school lunch just to say hello. Ummm horrific at that age, really I'm still blushing.)

pat a mommy blog out there on the back

Project Mommyhood is holding the First Annual Project Mommyhood Blog of the Year Contest. What a fab-u-lous idea! Not only is she offering some great prizes but the winner gets the coveted title of Mommy blog of the Year.

Take that alpha mom in the nursery school pick up line. Betcha you can't claim that title?

Back to the point at hand. So from now until July 31st she is taking nominations for great mommy blogs, just leave a comment with the blog and a link to it. That simple.

Go forth and nominate great moms. We all need a pat on the back from time to time. And it's always nice when that pat on the back doesn't leave a Popsicle print.

My honest take on baby sleep

Mandy at Mommy Musing had a post that caught my eye this morning, not only because she used my wicked cool button but because she posted about something that is near and dear to me. Infant sleeping habits.

Or shall we say, lack there of.

Her daughter was a good sleeper and is now screwing with her mind by throwing it all out the window. Me? I had a different sort of problem, my kids NEVER SLEPT. EVER. Unless I was holding them.

Dash-1 was a beautiful baby. He had big, huge blue eyes, a fantastic smile that made said blue eyes sparkle, and wispy blond hair. He was ADORABLE. However, at sleep times, he morphed into a screaming demon. Seriously that kid never slept.

Now to his defense, he had some issues as a baby, he was colicky from day one, had weight gain issues (as in, wouldn't gain it, really he had a huge head and an itty bitty body) and severe reflux, everything he ate came flying back up.

And I mean flying, I was terrified to hold him in public because he could really reach out and touch someone if you know what I mean.

The second we laid him in his crib he would scream and howl. Forever. We tried everything that first year. I remember that we would either take turns driving him around in the car so one of us could sleep or we would go together. Sometimes his swing made him happy, sometimes he was content to be held, but all in all, he just screamed. And stayed awake.

And that meant we were awake. And pushed to the edge.

Everyone would tell me, "oh my son is 4 months and just sleeps thru the night. Oh its wonderful!". Now I know every kid is different and some kids do just sleep but this would always make me think two things. A. your pants are about to catch on fire cause your lying and B. which car in the parking lot is yours so I can key it?

Seriously I felt like a horrible parent. Sweet jesus, I can't get my kid to sleep what in the world is wrong with me as a mom?

And then I came to a little discovery. Every mom (and dad I suppose but I know more about moms cause well, I am one) has that area of parenting that makes them totally doubt themselves.

And if they deny that they they really are lying. And again I'd like to key their car.

Around 12 months, when the boys no longer nursed we did the cry it out method. Ouch. It sucked. I was a total wimp about it. I made flyboy do it and I must say, he seriously stepped up to the plate. From then on we are zealots about bedtime. We have a routine, you will go to your room, lay in your bed and fall asleep. I love the boys dearly but I don't so much care to see them after 7:30.

Dash-2 is testing us on this lately.

I must say -1 was a breeze in a big boy bed, he wouldn't step foot out of his bed until I told him he could wake up in the morning. Dash-2 is another kinda child, a bit of a "screw you authority rebel".

And dammit, we are trying our best to hold firm. They can read books quietly until they fall asleep or just lay there and stare at the ceiling. No tv's in their room, not now, not ever, that may get them to bed easier right now but in the long run then I'll just have another battle on my hands. I'm not keeping him up later so he'll go down easier, the bedtime routine is standing firm.

My friends that had these great babies who slept now have toddlers who are roaming the halls at 10:30. Or the kids who was easy to potty train is now biting. The point? Every parent has areas in which they feel like they are all alone or coming up short.

Me? I have this whole blog devoted to it.

And sometimes, to get thru the tough times, we just have to do what needs to be done to survive. Although I'm pretty firm on the no tv thing.

Fathers are more then dads

I am thankful daily for my boys wonderful father, also known as my studly flyboy. Actually I should amend that. I'm not merely thankful, I am really, REALLY grateful.

Much obliged kinda grateful.

Boys need their daddy's. They keep mommy sane. If it weren't for him I probably would have had our boys in plastic bubbles a long time ago, but he helps to balance me. He is teaching them to take on the world, often times head first, even more often resulting in a boo boo.

Flyboy fills a spot in the boys life that I can't. He makes sure that they get the push in life they need, a push that is sometimes hard for me as a mom to give, I in turn make sure they have the soft spot to fall.

Right now its extra soft. But that's neither here nor there.

It's so cliche to say but I watch him with our boys and I fall even more in love with him. To see him on the floor with them building giant lego towers (which the mom in me fears will fall over and poke someones eye out, really there has to be some lego height restriction out there), wrestling and rough housing (far to rough sometimes in my opinion) or building a rocket at night so they can have a launch the next day, I see in him a father who would do anything for his kids.

I know he doesn't always like his job. He has a funny saying and I'm paraphrasing somewhat, sure I like flying, but working with idiots is my true passion. But he toils away long hours, lots of stress, and much to all of our disappointment, a lot of time away from us, but he does it for us.

And then he comes home and is an awesome dad. He is not the type of guy that comes home from work and "unwinds" with some peace and quiet or playing video games. He comes home and seldom has he even taken off his flight suit before the boys are all over him. They roll around on the floor, eat some dinner, and then roll around some more.

I love him for being such a special dad. I love that he sees what our boys need to grow up to be responsible men and I know that with their fathers love and guidance they won't just grow up to be men, but to be incredible men.

And I love that he can get dash-2 to pee on the potty.

Happy father's day my dear, we might forget to tell you sometimes how very much you mean to us, but the boys and I, we always know how lucky we are to have you.

Guess where my twizzlers go?

Dash-2 was running thru the center hallway downstairs and of course, took a spill and cracked his head. He cried and cried all while clutching half a twizzler (the remnants of his commissary treat).

I scooped him up and we sat on the stairs, he buried his head on my shoulder and as he started to calm down he did the strangest thing.

He tucked in the remainder of his twizzler in my bra and said very nicely, "Pease hold mommy".

I suppose the combination of my ever expanding boobs and the way he was sitting thus pulling down my v-neck shirt exposed the perfect twizzler holder for a boy on the run.

Good to know my boobs are useful for something even before the breastfeeding starts.

the birthday ritual and one upping

This year was a first for both Dash-1 and me. School.

It's not like we tackled full time school or anything too drastic, just nursery school twice a week for about 2 1/2 hours.

And now, on Tuesday our his first year of school comes to an end. But not first without a bit of a rant observation on my part. An observation of the birthday ritual.

It started out simple enough, bring in cupcakes on your kids birthday to celebrate. Simple right? Some parents brought in cookies, one parent brought in donuts, but for the most part, cupcakes. But then there are the parents that do more and interestingly enough it wasn't until the last quarter of the year that this started happening.

Parents started going overboard.

If it weren't for dash-1 having to take in his own cupcake into school (because of his allergies I get a list of the days he needs a cupcake and then send him in with his own "safe" cupcake), there were days I probably wouldn't even have known it was some one's birthday. But like I said somewhere around March or April that ended.

This week he had to take in a cupcake both days. One day he came out at dismissal bearing a mylar Cars balloon, but the other day took the cake (pardon the pun) he left school with not only a goody bag filled with candy but a speed racer car. And again to clarify, it wasn't HIS birthday, these were gifts given to EVERYONE in the class. All 14 children.

I happened to be standing back in the line next to a mother that I have become friendly with and she seem puzzled by this as well. I just looked at her and said "Crap, for dash-1's birthday I just made cupcakes."

Somewhere along the line the game shifted and her and I missed the memo.

It started with some parents sending home goody bags with the kids, my only complaint about this is that this is school, not a birthday party. As the mom of a kid with allergies it's really hard when goody bags get sent home to really check things out. You expect them and can better anticipate them from a birthday party, it's hard when your not expecting it and they just "appear" in your little one's book bag one day.

Especially the first time it happens and you don't know about the goody bag until he pulls it out of his book bag and starts eating "unchecked" food while your driving down the road. Or when the goody bags get sent home with peanut candy in it (this is a peanut free school AND -1 is deathly allergic)

And to me a birthday party is different, that is someone else's turf, someone else's rules. School should be a neutral safe zone.

So as some parents started sending home goody bags, one or two of us stayed firm and just sent in cupcakes. I took in cupcakes in Feb. for -1 and must admit, goody bags or anything else never even entered my mind. The school said bring in cupcakes, I do as I'm told. That's how I roll.

But it started escalating. One parent sent home massive goody bags, then the next parent send goody bags with a small balloon, then the next sent home pencils with pencil sharpeners, and so one and so forth.

Hey maybe people aren't one upping each other one purpose, really in a way its fascinating just to sit back and watch. But I can't help but notice a trend.

And be thankful that Tuesday is his moving up ceremony, it's a good thing school is over for now, I'm afraid that anymore birthday in the class year and he might come home with a puppy or something.

I'm no NY strip

The other day the sun was shinning, the breeze was blowing the grass lightly, the sky was brilliant blue. I mean, really, it was a postcard type of scene.

And it got me thinking, the cows were just meandering around eating grass. Some were laying around and just, I don't know, relaxing the way cows relax. No one had a book or a drink with an umbrella but still it looked like a pretty sweet existence.

No bills to pay, no budgets to figure out, no matchbox airplanes left laying out in the hallway at 2 am to be stepped on with bare feet on the way to the bathroom, no alpha mom's ass to kiss ... basically.... no expectations.

Nothing, nada.

Just wondering around the field left to be. I realized perhaps there was something to be said for the life those cows were leading.

And then.... I drove past the farm's sign and remembered that those were beef cows.

I might have bills to pay, my kids might drive me crazy, I step on upside down toy airplanes like there is no tomorrow, and there is an alpha mom out there who is my nemesis.

BUT.

I'm no ones dinner.

sigh. a mommy's wits end

I am feeling in a mommy frump as of late.

I am feeling more like a tired, rumpled, round mess of a mommy to two, soon to be three, then the sex siren I usually am. Actually rarely do I ever feel like a sex siren but you get my point.

Flyboy is becoming some sexy, studly even sexier, studlier running machine, and I'm kinda just feeling like I'm floundering. And this isn't even all about getting bigger, I am well aware that I am bringing new life into the world, lets just see him do that on a 12 mile run, I'm just sort of feeling "mommy overwhelmed".

Ohh I shall use this chance to slap up my honest mommy button!

All right so here is it, I'm feeling lost again. Sometimes as a mom you fall into the "mommy rut". Life begins to revolve solely around your kids. And then one day in the shower you realize that you lost yourself in the orbit somewhere.

As of late my hobbies include trying to entice a 2 year old to sit on the potty with lollipops, cleaning up pee from around the toilet from the other child, changing diapers, pushing swings, grocery shopping, and making dinner (their quality can be debated).

I used to be a really crafty person but now I don't even know where to start back up. I know I know just jump back in but really where to start? And when is there time? Truly time to sit down uninterrupted. That's the nice thing about blogging, easy to pick up and put down and very easy to do in bed at night in your jammies.

I just don't know what to do with myself bloggy peeps.

Now, the giant disclaimer to put out there, I love my life. I love it a lot. I love being a mom. I really love being a stay at home mom. I don't want my kids in day care, I like being with them and rolling with my posse.

But. I feeling a little burnt out.

I feel like a frump. A burnt out frump.

Case in point of my frump hood. And I'm not using this example to pick on flyboy, but its just sitting in my mind and has been for a day or two.

I joined 20something bloggers because a fantastic blogger -Sarah= ) started a military wives group on there. I signed up to show my support because well, I am a 20 something (I may not have half a decade left in my 20's but i do have some time) and I am a military wife.

The page was still up on the laptop and flyboy picked up the computer to look for something and said "20something bloggers!" and laughed.

After being together for as long as we have, I got why he was laughing. I'm sure he wasn't trying to push my fragile state over the deep end but well, I'm hormonal. It doesn't take much. I am a 20something, but I don't really feel like it.

I don't wear the latest fashions from Banana Republic. In fact, flyboy really likes that store but I feel like when I walk thru the doors they know I don't belong. They can smell the impostor on me. They know I'm wearing a two year old shirt from old navy.

Really, should Banana Republic cause a panic attack for someone?

No I think not. I pride myself that I don't really care to "keep up with the Jones' " but yet, here I am nervous to walk thru the door of a certain store because I feel to frumpy.

I want to be that hot mom at the park (or target, or nursery school or where ever else I see her)who just breezes thru the day looking fab-u-lous (and appearing to feel fab-u-lous about herself). I just want to feel like that for a day or two and then I'll go back to bribing the 2 year old to pee and splashing around in the 4 year old's pee on the floor.

HORMONAL PEOPLE, CLEARLY I AM HORMONAL.

Oh and to flyboy's defense I did meet a friend for dinner last week and I do have a hair appointment tonight after dinner. He is a wonderful husband. Who is just sometimes an idiot.

I just need to snap myself out of this. After all I think I stopped making any sense at all after about the fourth sentence.

damn my shrinking husband

Flyboy came home from work today and announced that he's running a marathon in October. He starts training asap.

He's been running a crap ton lately, hence why I gave him his father's day gift as soon as it came last week and why it was such the perfect gift.

A Garmin forerunner 405 gps watch. My feeble, non running mind can't even comprehend what this watch thingy even does. Quite frankly if it could cook dinner and birth children for him he probably wouldn't even need me anymore.

But anyways on with my lamenting. Flyoby is running and logging miles like crazy. And I must say. The side effects are nice. He's always a sexy stud but well, let's just say running 13 miles a day doesn't hurt the view.

But.

He's getting skinny and I'm getting fat. Fatter I should say.

Sigh. Hold me, my bloggy peeps. Hold me.

I might add some weight gain powder to his food, cause if he gets to be the same weight as me I will pitch myself off a bridge.

And I want a milkshake dammit.

new fear

My latest fear aside from spiders crawling in my ears while sleeping and my trunk flying open mid drive.... sharing a room after delivery.

And I gotta say, this one is moving up the list, almost to the point of kicking the trunk one off the list.

Our military hospital is not so large, our ob labor and delivery unit, even tinier. I mean really, our hospital serves mostly retirees and is located at a military academy. Retirees and cadets aren't really popping out babies so there is hardly justification for a ton of rooms. They have two delivery rooms and four rooms to stay in. Two are double rooms.

The single rooms are for gyn patients primarily, I mean someone who just had a hysterectomy probably doesn't want to bunk up with a newborn.

At every appointment people keep telling me how popular the end of summer is for babies around here. I'm hardly shocked, there isn't much else up here to do in the winter then, you know, make babies. But I really don't want to share a room.

Perhaps I sound selfish. It's ok, I'm surprisingly good with that.

Like I said in my last post, I'm cool with just hanging out in my own little world and sharing a room with someone else is way to close for comfort. Especially when you consider they'll have people popping in and out and a new baby crying.

Here's a bit of brutal mommy honesty for you, I like my kid, doesn't mean I like all newborns.

I mean they are cute and all. But its hard enough dealing with the lack of sleep from your crying baby without having to deal with another.

When we were at the same hospital for dash-2's birth we had our own room, their was someone in the room next door with a baby girl who sounded like a peacock mating. It was the highest pitch squeal I've ever heard. One nurse let it slip that she was relieved they were headed home.

Call me bitchy, I don't want to share a room with that. Of course who knows I could give birth to a peacock baby. Karma has a sense of humor after all.

And what if I get some crazy person like the woman at the lab? Who by the way is due the same exact time as me. Or what if it's some other weird, wordy, let's bond over our new babies kinda person? Really, with two other kids at home, the hospital actually provides a bit of a vacation to me. I mean someone makes me my meals rather then vice versa.

I wonder if they let you check out of the hospital early?

A long one about the crazy lady at the lab

I was going to post a mommy post but I keep starting it and stopping it in my head and now I can't seem to remember what the gist of it was. Sigh. Hopefully it will come back to me.

Although something else will take its place no doubt, just give it a day or two.

So in the mean time, I have a different sort of post. I had my 28 wk apt today complete with a super duper fun trip to the lab for my 1 hour glucose test. What makes the one hour lab test so much fun you ask?

Doing it with a 2 year old and a 4 year old in tow. Fun with a capital F!

The appointment went well I suppose, I'm always nervous about getting weighted in, but then again my doctor is probably weighing in at 350 so she can bite me if she has something to say about my weight gain.

Yeah I'm getting bitchy over here. Their scale weighs heavier then my scale and its pissing me off.

But on to the lab. All in all it was without a hitch. Really, I'm not going to lie, I was a tad nervous of having to sit around in the tiny waiting room with the kids in tow. I tend to view my kids as my posse, they go everywhere with me, few places am I nervous about taking them but still a lot can happen when your waiting for over an hour with kids in a small windowless room.

With other people.

But I brought some snacks, some books, some coloring stuff, we were well supplied.

But about the other people.

There was a woman there with her son, who she later told me was 19 months, and this lady was, well, interesting. I'm all for talking to other people, really, I may not seem like it, my husband tells me I can be stand off ish, but I'm really a very nice person.

But.

And there is always a but isnt there?

I don't need to talk to people. I'm content to be in my own world.

This lady kept talking to me and that's fine, so I noticed she had a woodland (think the darker cammies) "rain jacket" (I put it in quotes cause I don't know what the hell it's really called, it's the jacket they were over their cammies when its raining or a little chilly out) slung over her stroller.

I asked her if her husband was stationed at the Marine base (remember we go to an Army hospital), I was just trying to make conversation since it was obvious I wasn't going to get to stay in my quiet little world while my kids played nicely by themselves.

Holy crap I opened the mother load.

She told me that yes her husband was stationed up there but it was her jacket that she was also a Marine (or as I shall refer to her from here on out WM for woman marine, I know you think I'm creative but that's what their called).

Now this puzzles me, granted it was dreary, drizzly, and kinda chilly out this morning but she's wearing a neon green tube dress. I'm not a hundred percent sure of uniform protocol but I'm pretty sure that jacket isn't one that you just wear out with anything. Lest of all neon green tube dresses.

I figured out that neither her nor her husband are in squadron (whew thank goodness, I'm relieved to know I will not be running into her at a squadron bbq should we ever go to one). Of course I assessed this info in a rather uncomfortable way. By her BLASTING her command.

Really, it was awkward. She was just spewing forth from the mouth about how she hated the housing, how she hated the command, how the other Marines up here were sloppy and lazy, how she hated the reservist, how she hated the hospital.

Which side note here, I might not always be thrilled with the hospital but I don't believe you should sit in a waiting room speaking about how everyone who works there is a moron when these people are going to be taking a needle to your vein in a few minutes. But that's just me.

And all the while people are coming and going in the lab, and remember it's a top heavy base, 4 colonels must have come in and overheard her talking and giving a very fine impression of not just our base, but of Marines in general.

What idiot talks like that on a base? Even if it's not YOUR base, any base? You never, ever, know who is going to walk in or over hear you.

I would have loved to have gotten up on my chair and sang the Marine Corps hymn , yelled about how hard my husband works, pointed out that unlike her pencil pushing husband (no offense to pencil pushers around the military but really she was pissing me off) my husband racked up miles in the sky, flying hours that push his body to exhaustion.

And when she asked me snidely if my husband has ever deployed I wanted to fashion a shank out of dash-1 modeling clay and stab her in the eye. Yes he's deployed and even when he isn't deployed he's still never here. Bitch.

But well, not to seem like a wimp, I didn't want to get into it with her cause well, she seemed a might bit unstable. And I like seeming like I'm stable to other people.

Thankfully she left soon after that and I could go back to my peace and quiet. Shockingly enough someone who came in for his blood drawn actually said how well behaved my kids were, how nicely they were sitting while I read to them.

I hope they didn't see us later in the commissary their opinion would have been different!

As I left the hospital, I will admit, I called my husband and just asked him one question, where do you all find these people?

And now I'm blogging about this and putting it out there so even more people think the Marine Corps is filled with crazy people.

Trust me folks, I have it on good authority that it indeed is not.

oh and congrats to all who made it thru the whole long winded post. Now you just have to leave a comment so I know how many of you made it to the end. It's a badge of honor I tell ya.

Great Contest for military families!

I know that other bloggers have been spreading the word about Laptops for Flattops, a chance for military families to win a brand new laptop AND a web cam to help feel a little bit more connected to the service member serving overseas, but as usual, I'm late to the party.

So sue me, I'm not going to lie, I've been sidetracked by the awesomeness and technical complexity that is my new button. I'm a simple girl what can I say?

But in all seriousness this is a great program. Click here for the full rules and regs, because, like everything in life, there are rules and regs.

This program is sponsored by AllAmericandirect.com and this is their second time giving away free laptops. I think its great when companies recognize the scarifies and hardships faced not just by the men and women in the military but the pressure and strain that it puts on those left behind, especially the little ones.

I know a lot of you out there are on the down slope of your deployments, or don't have kids so this contest may not seem right for you, but please, if you know someone who you think could benefit let them know. Give a heads up to your FRG groups or your family readiness officer and ask them to get the word out.

All right bloggy peeps... go forth, read the rules, and spread the word!

Now I'm off to go stare at my button some more.

Check. It. Out.

How cool is that?

Check me out peeps I got my own little button! And no, I had nothing at all to do with designing it. Well I did say I liked the colors red and blue.

So in that regard I was a driving force. Kinda sorta.

The very, very, talented TRS over at The Roaming Southerner put this little beauty for me. I have no idea how she did it, that coding and computer stuff is way over my head but isn't it fantastic?

Really I could just stare at it all day. Or at least until someone gets into something that they shouldn't and I'm called away.

I really have to thank TRS for this. As of now she does buttons and headers but hopefully soon she'll be expanding into full on blog designs. I can not say enough amazing things about her.

First not to revisit me being a total tech idiot but really I am and she has been very patient with me. I gave her some ideas of what I wanted and she ran with it, and by some ideas I just said, "hey this is the wording I'm thinking of and these are the colors I like" and this was what she came up with. How awesome is she?

Please check out her site if your thinking of getting some new blog bling.

Now what is this button for?

I'm coming to gripes with the fact that I am not supermom. In fact I never will be. There I said it.

But what I am is an honest mom. I don't so much clean or work out once I put the kiddos to bed, I have been known to give them gummy bears so I can get a shower, and you know what there is the occasional day that slips by without a single veggie being eaten.

But that's ok. Why? Because I love my children, they are my life and my loves and while I might not be a perfect mom, I'm trying my best to be a great and happy mom. And that means being honest.

Honest with me and honest with all of you. So I every now and again I'm going to post an honest mom post and I hope that some of you will follow suit, you know like a post about the one thing you said you would never do as a mom and now your eating your words.

I'm still working this out in my head, but if you ever feel like posting an honest mom post borrow the button and post away. Let me, and the rest of us moms, know that we aren't the only ones out there.

Honest moms out there unite!

Friend Makin Monday

A quick post today, about all the fantastic reasons to love summer. In fact, the top ten reason to love summer.

If you want to play along, you can join the FMM fun at Kasey's blog.

Here go's my ten loves of summer:

1. Longer days. I love the sun setting in the evening rather then the afternoon.

2. The smells of fresh cut grass and hay. Even the cows and horses smell better in the summer.

3. How the sun turns my boy's hair to a light light blond which brings out the amazingness of their bright blue eyes.

4. Getting to relax in my comfy chair, under a big oak tree and read a book while a breeze blows. (a rarity, but nice when it happens)

5. No snow to shovel. No worry of snow to shovel.

6. Lounging in a pool listening to the giggles of my boys. Granted its a baby pool and there is no man servant bringing me cold drinks with little umbrella's but still, its a good life.

7. Flip- flops and painted toenails.

8. Dinner grilled on the bbq, never complete without corn on the cob.

9. Lemonade on the porch with my boys.

10. A new baby boy! (Thankfully not every summer, that my friends could get out of hand!)

What's in a name

So the name thing. Not a whole lot of progress being made. And for those of you just joining us I'll bring you quickly up to speed.

We are expecting our third boy, yup that's right, THREE boys, anywho, the run down of name choices are:
Flyboy- Seamus (pronounce just like it looks) Peirmont

Dash-1 - whatchamacallit or simply The Baby and he occasionally backs his fathers choice just to annoy me

Dash-2- Deigo Lightening McQueen (and that's all one name in his world)

Yeah you can why I'm at a loss around here. I feel sometimes as if I'm the only sane person in this house. I mean, I don't expect much from the little ones but I do expect a little more from flyboy. And I know some of you out there like his name choice. But trust me. It ain't happening, he needs to move on.

So I'm turning to you all. I'm really leaning towards Thomas. I like that name, its a strong, solid name. I also like names that can be shortened or have a more formal ring should he become a President or a Supreme Court Justice. In an unrelated little tidbit it would make ours kids in alphabetical order, R, S, T.

Very much not on purpose but yet it makes me smile cause for a brief moment I feel kinda witty or something.

It's the middle name that is hanging me up. I like Henry. Thomas Henry. Henry has no real significance I just like it. Same goes with Thomas James. No significance just sounds nice.

I also like Thomas Joseph. And here me out on this. I don't particularly like the name Joseph.

My mother is one of 12 kids somewhere after my mother she had a brother, Joseph, who was born with some medical issues, probably no big deal now but in the early 60's not as easily solved. At about six weeks old he passed away from complications of pneumonia and his other issues.

Where the other kids have pictures and pictures in the family scrapbook collection, and trust me with that many kids its a collection, he has two. Two pictures, that's all.

I can't imagine losing a child, let alone an infant. Its hard not to start dreaming of what your child will accomplish and who he will be and become as soon as you find out that you are pregnant. You start to dream and think about how their life will be. And that little boy didn't get to see any of those hopes or dreams into fruition.

He lives on in my grandparents memories and two pictures.

I keep thinking lately, as my grandparents get older and are now both in not the greatest health that he didn't get to leave much of a footprint. If I give my little boy the middle name Joseph then their Joseph goes on another generation.

His footprint last a little longer because my kids will know about him and tell their kids about him, even though there isn't much to tell, there should always be a memory of him living on.

But is that too melodramatic? Should I just go with a great sounding name that I like? Am I thinking too much about it?

I'm probably thinking to much about this. My mother's always telling me I think to hard. Betcha you folks didn't think that was possible with me now did you?

What is this.... PEACE?

Flyboy should be gracing us with his lovely self tonight. Relief would be an understatement.

I have things to clean, laundry to do, and errands to run down on post including the ever exciting grocery shopping. However. My children are leaving me alone.

Seriously there is peace and quiet to be had in this house for the first time during this trip.

No one is following me around, no one is constantly calling to see where I am and what I'm doing. They are playing, relatively, nicely together. I almost don't know what to do with myself.

Part of me feels guilty.

Am I ignoring them? No they are playing fine without me, let it go they can exist without you.

Part of me wants to get out of the house and get my commissary shopping done.

I'm a dork, I enjoy grocery shopping. I mean really, take a pregnant person who is cutting back on her shopping and put her in a store full of food and tell her she can spend money. HEAVEN!

Part of me knows that I should take advantage of my invisibility and get cleaning done.

However, how do I put this nicely, I just don't feel like it.

I feel like sitting in my glider, watch them play on my bed, yes since I started this they have moved into my room from the playroom, and just read a book.

Note to flyboy: when you read this, you may not throw this few hours of mild peace in my face when I try to explain that I need a break this weekend. Or ask why the house isn't cleaner. My story is going to be that the kids messed it up and I'm sticking with it.

Life has a sense of humor. Soon after I posted this they tired of playing nicely but on the plus side the commissary was nearly empty when we got there. Always a plus.

Dear fat cow

Dear enormously fat pregnant cow,

Please help a mama out.

Find the rooster. Sit on him.

Preferably before tomorrow morning.

Yours truly,
the other fat pregnant cow

So back to the knocked up cow

And yet again, I'm not referring to myself. I mean that term probably could be applied these days but we won't go there.

The boys and I went down to wander around fields the other day in my attempt to wear them out to explore and for the first time since the cows were moved over to their "summer house" (a wider field for them to roam) they were up by the gates. As soon as they locked eyes on the boys they hurried over.

If your thinking my children have some type of kinetic energy that attracts animals you'd be wrong. They often come bearing food. We're talking a strictly Pavlovian response here.

But this was the first time we had spied one of the preggo cows in a while. YIKES. I'm thankful I'm human. She was HUGE. And looking quite miserable.

I've never really seen a miserable looking cow. And, since living here, I've seen a cow slaughtered so that's saying something.

But back to the cow. We shared a moment. She looked at me and at my ever expanding midsection and she gave me "the look". The look that said, "I'm done, I'm cooked (although not literally and please don't tell the farmer that), get this calf out, by the way you look great I hate you bitch."

Ok so I added the last part, but really her look did kinda make me think she was a little jealous of my butt. But then again she doesn't have back fat or stretch marks so I'm jealous about that.

And I could sympathize with her poor expression. What her eyes didn't say her waddle did.

I mean I know cows are big creatures and don't exactly move with the speed and grace such as horses do, but really, this poor thing was waddling around. Trust me nothing can make you feel worse for a cow then watching it waddle around huffing and puffing.

And cankles. She had cankles, poor thing, a cow with cankles. And udders that would have put Anna Nicole to shame.

Great now that I can't imagine the searches I'm going to get now that I've used udders and Anna Nicole in the same post.

I hope she delivers soon and gets her svelte cow figure back. And an epidural.

The worry apparently knows no borders

My husband been to war a couple times, been exposed to goodness knows what and even when he wasn't in a war zone he's had to stay in "fortified" hotels. I get it. Danger comes with his job.

But I had a bit of an ah ha moment the other day.

Or maybe the brain connections that have been affected by pregnancy hormones finally snapped back into place. I'm not sure what it was.

There was a news story about four men arrested for trying to bomb synagogues and shoot down military airplanes as they were coming into a military airplane. Now maybe/maybe not that was our base, that's not for me to say in the definite on here but what it did do was remind me a bit of the danger of my husband's job.

Now I have had people say to me before that you could get hit by a bus crossing the street and while that is true, the bus driver usually isn't aiming for you.

By virtue of what my husband is, the oath he's taken, the flag he serves under, the organization that he is a part of and thus is a part of him, there is a price on his head.

We know that there is worry associated with our loved ones job if their in the military. Most of us aren't morons, this fact doesn't escape us. But I know for me at least, it had become normal.

I do worry some when he's flying, because well, as the S@m's club employee told my son once, airplanes do fall out of the sky, stuff can go wrong. And Lord knows I worry when he goes to some of the places he goes. I know that he goes to places where people are gunning for him, but now I'm reminded that that worry extends to here.

And I mean here as in the good ol US of A.

I just saw a news story on Fox that it looks like the guy who shot, killed one and wounded another recruiter in Arkansas was perhaps part of something larger, that there were more plans to take out more people.

And don't give me that "we started it and now the poor mistreated don't like us". News flash, we're apparently the infidels, they never liked us, but trust me, that's a whole nother rant for me to go down.

Just one more reason to really appreciate the military. Not just for all they do but for all they are willing to do.

They sign up for a job knowing that the risk isn't just limited to one region, but that it extends everywhere. Because of who and what they are.

pregnant cows and soul mates

You know it's true love, that it's meant to be when a simple conversation with them brightens your day. When you talk with them for 20 minutes and you feel recharged.

You know it's true love when it's a conversation about pregnant cows, expanding milk udders (theirs not mine), mulch, three day prek vs. five day, my frustrations with the ob/gyn department and an upcoming glucose test, one child who won't sleep, and the other who has started adding.

Nothing particularly exciting, nothing at all even slightly romantic, but it's enough to keep us going. To remind us that the other one is out there and that at the end of the day, we obviously were meant to be.

That is how I know I am lucky enough to be with my soul mate. And that's how I know I'll survive the rest of this trip that just seems to keep going on. Because we'll keep going on.