Mr. Mom

 Here I am laying in my bed listening to my favorite sound.  Jack and his Daddy playing in the living room.  Unfortunately, I have strep throat and cannot get in on the playtime fun out there.  Last night I felt a little sore throat coming on but figured it was related to the cold I was just getting over, geez I never used to get sick I tell ya, and brushed it off.  Until about 3 in the morning when I woke up to the worst pain in my throat.  I wanted to cry, but was too tired to even move.  So for the rest of the night I tried to sleep but every swallow was excruciating.  Don't ya hate how you never even think about swallowing until it hurts to do it, then you feel every single one?

So I woke up called the Dr. got an appointment, after finding out my PCM had retired, and was congratulated by my new doctor on having strep.  Gee thanks...  And at first he didn't think it was strep since my throat didn't look like it, but since Jack is around, he did the test.  That's one test you never wanna pass...

And thankfully, Bobby is off for MLK day.  He's being a super Mr. Mom.  He's been doing laundry, dinner is in the works, Jack napped successfully without breastfeeding, lunch was made and fed, and now playtime is going strong.  I don't know what I would have done if he was at work today! 

But it's so hard to not be around my baby.  I can hear him talking away to Bobby.  I think the are playing with some trucks.  When I left for the Dr. this morning he waved goodbye to me through the window.  I wanted to kiss him so bad.  I am trying not to hold him too much since a baby with strep is the last thing I want to deal with.  So here I am, banished to the bedroom, while my boys have a boys day.  Being a sick Mommy is no fun...

My Predictions Are...

 That this year will be one for the record books!  We have SOO much going on I cannot even stand it!  The first big thing coming up is Bobby's career conference at the end of January.  This means we will know where the heck we will be moving to next.  That also means I will have a real city to stalk houses for sale in and not just those in our hometowns.  Although we would be tickled pink to move back to NY!  I am just not ready for the whole packing up a house business.  I know the Army will take care of it which makes me even more anxious after some of the horror stories I have heard.  Anyone got a good moving experience??

Next up in the excitingness is our trip to Disney for the Princess Half Marathon!  My parents paid for our room for Christmas and since they are also going we got a swanky two bedroom suite at the Animal Kingdom Villas.  We just love Animal Kindom and I can't wait for my mom to see how incredible it is!  I have been busy making dining reservations, which I compare to studying for my pharmacology tests, and just have on more lunch to figure out!  There will be some good eatin' going on while we are in Disney.  And there better be considering all the calories I will be burning!  Part two of the excitingness of Disney is that two of my best friends (and their hubs) will be there running with me!  All the boys running in their tutus will be pretty funny too...

After we get back from Disney, Bobby will start his terminal leave from the Army.  This will be such a bittersweet time for us both.  This is all we have known for the past 6 years and the only wife I have ever been is an Army wife!  I have met so many amazing people being an Army wife and a ton of those people I have never met face to face!  But we share something special and understand each other better than most non-Army friends. 

Like I said before, a new job means a new house!  I spend hours looking at houses online, mostly in the towns Bobby and I are from, but some in other dream locations.  I have my dream house all planned out in my head.  This will make it easier when we do go to find a house right?  As long as the house has a craft room, I will be happy.  All my crafty goods need a nice new space to spread out.  Another small request is a laundry room.  Something slightly larger than the laundry closet we have right now.  Hopefully unpacking will make it easier to find proper places for all the stuff we have.  A shopping trip to The Container Store might not hurt either...

This past weekend was our last (for real this time) St. Barbara's Day military ball.  And it was extra special for three reasons! 

    1. Bobby's parents came down to come with us!  They had an absolute blast.  Ann even cried.  Twice.

    2. Bobby was awarded the St. Barbara Award!

    3. I was awarded the Molly Pitcher Award!

I'll put some picture up when I get them from Bobby's parents.

Christmas Vacation

 Our little family will be packing up the new ride and heading north this week for a much needed vacation!

We are so excited to see some snow!  And eat good food, and see family, and just relax!  And the presents won't hurt either...  So see ya next year!

My Christmas Soul Mate

 One of the reasons I know Bobby is my soul mate is our love of Christmas.  Both radio stations in our cars have been set to Christmas songs since the day after Thanksgiving.  We are looking forward to our drive to NY so we can listen to Christmas music for 14 hours straight.  Not too many people have that much love for Jingle Bells.  Maybe it has something to do with both of our birthdays being in December.  His is December 21 and mine is December 24. 

Speaking of my birthday, I will be accepting presents throughout the year.  Some of my favorite things are sparkly, ruffly, shiny, brown, silver, black, green, blue, purple, well pretty much most colors.  Except for yellow, it clashes with my blond hair. 

One thing I can always get Bobby to agree to is more Christmas decorations.  He's as much of a sucker as I am for them.  Even when I say that I want to put another wreath up, I don't get an eyeroll.  And I already have 4 up.  The only thing I couldn't get Bobby to agree to was putting a tree up.  As much as I really want a tree up, I know that Jack would have pulled it down at least 14 times by now.  And we are leaving for NY next week so who would water it?  I compensated my putting up more tree trimmings from the Christmas tree kiosk around town.  We go to the same guy every year and he gives me as many trimmings as I need.  He tells Bobby the same story about when he was in the military.  Maybe when we retire in our luxury RV we can drive around selling Christmas trees.

I am anxiously waiting for our Christmas cards to arrive from Shutterfly!  I think they will be here tomorrow.  I've got all my address labels printed out so we just need the cards!  This will be our first photo Christmas card and I can't wait to see what they look like.

We are beyond excited to get home for the holidays this year.  We didn't make it in time for Christmas last year since Jack was born in the beginning of December.  This will be the first time in four years that Bobby and both his brothers and their girlfriends will be together.  Between all the deployments we haven't been able to spend it as a whole family.  Bobby is super excited for this...  We also get to meet Bobby's older brothers new fiance!  The got engaged a little over a month ago.  It totally blew all of us out of the water too!  But not we get to have a beautiful wedding next Oct at Chapel Hill NC.  We also get to go skiing when we go home!  I haven't been on skis in I don't know how long.  It's like riding a bike right??  I used to teach skiing in Vermont so I should be ok.

Jack is excited to go sledding at the cabin.  He's got his snowsuit all ready!  I can't wait to get some pics of him in the snow.  He's loves Christmas just as much as we do.  He's a December baby too afterall...

Pay It Forward

 Did you know that December 1 was Pay It Forward day?  Jack and I didn't do much that day since we were getting ready for our weekend visitors.  So I didn't get to do anything special for someone else.  But I did do something special a few days later. 

One of the girls I went to high school with, August, has an 18 month old little boy named Liam who was just diagnosed with Leukemia.  He is half way through his chemo therapy and things are looking up for them.  They are at a hospital in Rochester NY which is about 2 hours from our hometown.  Since her husband has to work in Elmira he is not able to be with them full time.  And they have another boy who is older than Liam.  Can you imagine the stress she must be going through?  She is facing some pretty big demons right now with her faith too.  This is little Liam.

Every day since finding this out, I look at Jack and wonder why.  Why does this happen to such sweet innocent babies?  Not that I understand why it happens at all.  How can a mother be put through this?  I read the updates on Liam and cry inside for August, even if they are good! 

So my pay it forward was sending money in to help this family with Liam's medical bills.  If you would like to help them out too here is how.  I know they would be forever grateful for your generosity...

Did anyone else do something for Pay It Forward day??

My baby is ONE!

 What a weekend we had!  My sweet little boy turned one!  And everyone came to celebrate, except my Dad.  He couldn't get off work, but we will see him in two weeks.  Even my sister surprised us by coming!

I can finally stop obsessing over every little One Fish Two Fish thing out there in the internet bloggy world.  It was getting bad...  But in the end, my hard work paid off and I loved everything about Jack's party! 

My first ever attempt at using fondant was a typical first attempt in my opinion.  I was picturing my cake to look exactly like the one I was modeling it after.  And well, I guess the cake had other plans.  It wasn't so much perfect, but it tasted darn good!  At least it looked like the Cat's Hat, no one was confused.  I won't show you what it was supposed to look like.  Just the wonderful job I did!

So I'm sure I've said this before, but I am not a baker.  I am a cooker.  The only cake I have ever made has been in sheet form, never layers.  So the fact that there are 6 cakes on that baby is quite impressive for me.  Pay no attention to the little nub on the top, that is not the dowel supporting the cake or anything... I gave up on a few details, like his name in blue fondant on top, the one fish cut out and letters, and the rest of the black wrinkles in the hat.  Cake making is just not as easy as it seems on tv.  Anyway, on to the rest of the stuff I didn't mess up at all...

The Candy Bar

Jack's smash cake my sister decorated

Happy Birthday To You sign in book

12 months of Jack

Seuss Poms

Goldfish favors for the kids

Wonderful food catered by the City Center where we had the party

So nice not to have to clean or cook!

One fish two fish red fish blue fish cut outs

Time for cake!

Sharing with Mommy

We had such a great time and Jack is pretty spoiled with presents now!  We are very lucky to have such wonderful friends and family that shared such a special day with us!

Oh Poor Bloggy...

How I have been neglecting you.  I have this little button on my Yahoo page that one clicks me to my blog.  I have been ignoring that little button every time I check my email.  If I don't click on it then I am not reminded that I haven't written anything in ages.  I'm not feeling too bloggy lately.  And the Jack-man is quite the free time hog.

That and all my free time has been spent planning the most super fantastical One Fish Two Fish 1st birthday party.  I really cannot wait to share it with you all!  Stay tuned...

We had a great Thanksgiving.  Our friend Jon came how from Afghanistan the day before and stayed with us for two nights, so it was just us and him.  But don't let the fact that there were only 4 of us fool you, we have more than enough for about 10.  I have a fear of running out of food and people going hungry.  And I love me some turkey sandwich leftovers.  So I slaved all day, those boys were spoiled, and turned out quite the feast.  Take a peek...

Needless to say, we didn't run out of food.  Again...  Ah well, at least I don't have to worry about dinners for a few days right? 

Today I accomplished an amazing feat.  At least in my book.  I ran 5.64 miles.  In a row.  Without stopping.  Crazy huh?  That's the farthest I have ever gone!  One week from today is the Savannah Bridge run and I am doing the 10K.  So looks like I actually might finish.  And not die.  Yippeeee!

Among some other exciting news, we will be going to NY for Christmas!  That makes us so incredibly happy you have no idea.  Christmas is our absolute favorite and the lack of snow in these parts really gets to us.  Christmas is already in the process of going up, yes it's a process, and Christmas music is in full swing around here.

Well I will leave you with one last cutest picture in the world of my almost one year old man!  Yikes!