Let's get social Sunday!!!



 

 

 

So I have become an addict to blog hops lately and you should all check this one out.

If this is your first time on my page please look around and tell me what you think.

Make sure to leave me a comment and I will follow you back!

Yay I can finally get some pics of my camera!!!

I posted the other day about my little girl being sick. Now I am going to post a few pics from our day in the hospital. The poor kid was so brave. And to be honest as much as it sucked sitting there all day we got some really cute pictures. Little ones are so pitiful when they are sick. But I am glad we took some pics because I am sure in 20 years we will look back on them and miss our snugly little babies.

Holding her bed pan in case she got sick!

She fell asleep after the finally got her IV in.

Notice the way they wrapped it up so she couldn't take it out.

She got a Popsicle and that seemed to make everything all better :)

Calling all moms... I need advice!

Yup I said it I need advice. Here is my dilemma. My little princess (haha more like terror this week) has accomplished a new feat. She is able to take apart her bedroom. A couple of days ago she woke up, opened her closet and unpacked the boxes that were in there. Now I know we have lived here for over two months but those boxes have stuff we don't actually need to unpack. But that's not it she then went to her dresser and emptied  all her clothes onto the floor. Of course I about had a heart attack when I walked in her room. She did help clean it up and was proud of herself. The next morning she decide to go a step further and take the whole drawer out of her dresser! Now I would take the dresser out of her room except that we need it to put her lamp on because this house has NO ceiling lights in the  bedrooms. So what I am asking is if anyone else has dealt with this or something similar and has any advice. Also is there a way to lock the folding kind of closet doors?

I took this with my phone the first time it happened! She does have toys and book in there she just put them all on her bed. I guess they were tired!!!

Great time for Clearance shopping

It's that time of the year again... END OF WINTER CLEARANCE!!! I am always looking for a good deal and end of season is when I usually find the best ones. I know some of you are thinking "I don't know what size my kids will be in next winter" That's how I use to think too. What you can do is buy the things that get used all year long. For example in my house we always look for a good deal on tee shirts, hoodies (they are great on those chilly summer nights) pants, socks and tights. Yesterday I went to sears and spent less than $9 and got two pairs of pants and a shirt for my daughter. They also have kids coats and snowsuit for $14.99.  Gymboree has a $10.99 and UNDER sale this week online and in stores. Another great place to go would be Burlington coat factory. They have good prices to begin with so once there stuff go on clearance you are getting a steal. Another great thing to look out for right now is clearance Valentine's day stuff.

                  Happy shopping and if you find a great deal you just have to share let me know!

Yay I'm back!!

Not that I was really gone or anything but the last few days have been CRAZY!!! Thursday morning my little princess starts vomiting all over! It's so lovely when a one year old gets sick. Although she did try making it to the bathroom. It didn't stop all day the poor girl couldn't even keep down water. By Friday she was dehydrated so we ended up in the hospital so she could get an IV. That was the worst experience of my life. That night she seemed better and then Saturday she didn't get sick even once. Sunday comes around and we decided to go out. We made it about 5 minutes away from the house and she got sick all over the car. And I haven't even had the car for a week at this point!!! So needless to say my car has been freshly cleaned and the house disinfected!!! But at lease my baby feels better. And now back to the daily grind.

Yay almost spring!

So today is going to be 50 degrees!!! It's sad that I am excited over that. I always look at the weather in our previouse duty stations. Don't know why but I just do. I looked at Jacksonville NC and they are going to have high 60's all week and here I am getting excited over two days of 50. Maybe it's all this snow still on the ground and just the though of it going away makes me happy. All I want to do is take my kids outside.

Wordless (almost) Wednesday

 Here is why you should keeps hair bows out of your toddlers reach

My little princess saw her new hair bows and juts HAD to wear them all!!!

If you look closely you will also see the ribbon around her waist

she didn't want to waste anything :)

Are men afraid to use a camera?

    So I was going through the pictures on my computer this morning and had a funny realization. It seems like almost every picture was taken by me. I have a zillion pictures of the kids. I bunch of my husband with the kids. Even a bunch of my cousins, neice, grandparents, etc. But very few of myself. I would say there are less than 10 of me with the kids. I am beginning to think my husband is afraid of the camera. Maybe because I bought a teal one. Hey I could have bought pink that is what I wanted! Is it just me or are all husbands like this? Any advice out there?

Wordless Wednesday!!!

My sweet babies!



I need help with my cloth diapers!

Ok so here's the deal. I have only been cloth diapering for a few months. My daughter is 20months. I know I started late but better late than never. I love cloth diapering but need some advice. I currently only have smartipants pocket diapers, prefold and either a prowrap (which I hate) or bummis covers. oh and I do have one fitted but I think it's to big. I have never had problems with leaks until recently. It seems like my daughter is filling her diapers up by the gallon. I mean seriously I even put her in disposables a few times and have had issues with them leaking too. So my question is do any of you  cloth diapering moms know a good diaper for a heavy wetter? Should I just invest in some extra inserts? Something has to give I can't keep changing her clothes all day long!  I love cloth so far and would love to use it on all my future babies but need to get the hang if it first. So any advice related to cloth would be great. Maybe some laundry tips (although I think I have the hang of it) diaper suggestions and how to use cloth while traveling. Thank you all in advance

Myths about Dity moves



So as military family's we hear mixed information on Dity moves. The hubby and I decided to do one in November 2009 and it worked out great. We paid about $850 for our truck $500 for gas and tolls! Between our advancement from tmo and the money we got on the back end equaled about $7200 and when you subtract what we paid out we made around $5800 and that was after taxes. So for our move this past December we decided to do a Dity move again. Now let me give you the numbers for this move. We paid about $1700 for the truck and trailer we needed. (we had accumulated a ton of stuff in one year.) $1100 for gas and tolls (A bigger truck plus more miles = a TON of gas) we got an advancement of $1200 and only $3100 after the move. So after all was said and done we pocked a measly $1100 maybe a tad more. Of course we were shocked and wanted to find out why. We have a friend who works for tmo so we called. Here is the myth about Duty moves. They DON'T cover your truck and gas. What they do is pay you strictly by how many pounds you have and how far you are going. The farther you go the less you get per pound. Also in a one years time the amount you are getting per pound has been cut in half. Now you may be wondering why. It is because the military is paying their contracted movers less than they use to and therefore we also get less. So if you are going to do a Dity move here is my advice. Go with the smallest truck you possibly can. Have as much weight as possible. And also take into consideration that you will have to pay for some of it out of pocket until you get paid after the move! It no longer pays to do it yourself! Let them pack and move your stuff while you sit back and relax



Helping with our second move



Military discounts a fact or a myth

  

   So we went to Ruby Tuesday for dinner last night and let me tell you all about my experience. We asked our server if they offered a military discount. And go figure the guy was real fast jump at the answer of NO. I have been to a Ruby Tuesday else where and they offered one. I also had an odd experience at an Arby's. At our last duty station we went to the same Arby's on a regular basis and every time we were there the manager gave a different percent. This seems odd to me since all Arby's are supposed to do a discount and I would assume it would all be the same. So I am going to do some research and get a solid list of places that offer a discount. My thinking is that if I get this info from their corporate offices then we (the military family) will be informed and can say so. I feel as though we deserve to get that discount. We aren't asking for free just a little break. Especially people like me who are station where our exchange is smaller than my house and has none of the things I need. Just wanted to get that out there. Also if anyone knows of any online cloth diapers stores that offer a discount please let me know. As a military family we are always looking to save money and it would be great to get together a list of places that us mom/wives could really use! Thank you all

The ups and downs of life

   Today I want to talk about my stepson A.J. He is nine years old and has asperger's (high functioning autism) This may be a bunch of rambling but that's what I need so here it is. I love both of my step kids so much. But A.J. has an extra little piece of my heart that no one else ever will. When my husband and I got married A.J. and his sister lived with us because their mom was making some really bad choices. From the day I met A.J. we had a bond that I can't explain. He walked up behind me gave me a hug and walked away. I remember looking at Aaron (my now husband) and he was almost in tears. I asked him what was wrong and he said "my son doesn't do that he doesn't hug people on his own) That was the first time A.J. hugged someone with out being told to. And I remember feeling great that it was me and sad that it wasn't Aaron. That year A.J. was in kindergarten and was doing horribly. So we mad the decision that I should stop working and stay home with the kids once the school year was over. I Spent that whole summer working with A.J. and we had some really bad days but the outcome was awesome. He learned to READ :) along with a ton of other things. That summer did come with a price though. My son and my stepdaughter lost out on a lot of my time.

    That first hug was exactly three years ago this month and part of me wishes we could go back to those days. A.J. and his sister now live with their mom. And since then I have seen A.J. go from this boy who was starting to make great strides to a boy who is brain washed by his mother. Who hates me and my children. Who instead of trying his best just uses his disability as an excuse. I miss the little boy who wanted to hug me. Who enjoyed being with me . Now it feels more like he hates me. Although I still have faith because what would we be without faith.

    So if you all don't hear me talk about my step kids often this is why. I love them and always will but I would rather have good things to write rather than the crazy stuff that nobody would ever believe.

Don't mind the crazy pic he had pink eye when it was taken!

How cute are these

Robot Love Valentine's Day Card

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And I thought girls were moody!!!

        Growing up I always heard my mom talking about how moody we (meaning the girls in the house) were. When my son was born I thought how easy it will be to have a boy. WRONG!!! My eight year old son is as bad as a teenage girl. And I wish I knew why that is. Yesterday was another snow day and the day seemed to drag on. I felt like every time I turned around my son had an attitude about something. "Fine" and "OK mom" seemed to be his favorite words. AHHHH someone help I can't take this. I know it's all a part of growing up but I feel helpless. Maybe it's from the move. ( for those who don't know we just moved from MN to MA back in december) He is use to having tons of friends and the boys here just aren't like the kids he is use to playing with. Although it could be many other things. The fact that he hasn't seen his dad in months or cabin fever. Anyone got some advice? I am open to anything at this point. Thanks in advance to anyone who has advice.

My munchkin on a good day at the skating rink!

Maybe I am just old fashioned

    So the hubby and I are laying in bed last night and he told me something interesting he heard on the radio while driving to work. Some lady called the station and said "I think stay at home mom's are an F-ing waste of time". Now I was appalled to think that someone would actually think that. So I am going to tell you all why I have chosen to stay home and I would love to hear everyone else's reasons too!

     I first quit my job to stay home when my husband and I got married. At the time his two children and my son lived with us. His son is autistic and we could not find after school care that we felt would actually do anything for him. This was in June and by the time school rolled around in August he was able to read, dress him self (as long as there are no buttons) brush his own teeth and shower with minimal help. He was also starting to show interest in making friends. So that alone was well worth giving up a career. Eventually my step kids moved back in with their mom and I realized there were more benefits than just helping my stepson. My own son started school and I was able to volunteer in his class. He was able to play soccer and all because I was no longer at work for most of the week. I then got pregnant and had my little princess. And let me just say that having so much time with her has been well worth the sacrifices. Everyday she learns new things and I am there to experience all of it. And it's not like I sit home and do nothing. I am helping my children become good people. Oh yeah and there is also all the cleaning, cooking, changing diapers, doctor and dentist appointments, and this time of year the added joy of shoveling. At the end of the day I feel blessed to be the one doing it all :) Oh and by the way I do not judge the working mom so please take no offense this is just my take on the stay at home mom!