Mail Call

 Yesterday was a great mail day.  It was like Christmas.  I did have a pretty good Christmas this year with Jack coming along so it wasn't better than Christmas.  Pretty close though.

My mail day started out with two USPS packages!  One from Jillian's Drawers and the other from Cricut machine.  Now the one from cricut machine was addressed to Bobby, but I was expecting other cricut stuff, so it had to be for me.  Right? Bobby doesn't cricut.

My package from Jillian's Drawers was my CLOTH DIAPER TRIAL!!  Wahoo I am very excited, can't ya tell?  And it couldn't have come any sooner!  On Monday, I was reading some posts on The Bump, when I came across one warning people about Pampers new Dry Max cruiser diapers.  Of course I opened it, since those are the diapers I had Jack in.  The mom was explaining how her daughter got CHEMICAL BURNS from wearing them.  AHH!  WHAT?  So, to backtrack a teeny bit, for the past few days, Jack has been really cranky when we change his diaper.  Since his room is kinda dark, I didn't really notice anything going on in the bum department.  After reading this post I turned on all the lights and really got a good look down there.  And what do you know, Jack's poor lil bum is all red, shiny, and hot to the touch.  EXACTLY how the mom described her daughters bum!  Mom of the Year right here....  I called Bobby immediately to stop at the store on his way home and buy some Seventh Generation Diapers.  I was just looking at these in the store and almost bought some, but knew my cloth diapers were on their way.  These Seventh Generation diapers are chlorine free.  So other diapers have chlorine in them?  Great!

Back to the cloth diapers, they are wonderful.  Jack's bum is clearing up nicely, although he still gets upset when I go to change him.  Poor thing.  The prep work for these things is pretty intensive.  Some of the things require three washes before use.  And not like wash then wash then wash.  They mean wash, dry, wash, dry, wash, dry.  I thought these things were supposed to be eco-friendly? But so far, I ♥ them.  They are so cute on him.  Right now I like the all-in-ones.  They are easy and look so comfy.  I have a traditional prefold with a cover on him right now.  It looks pretty bulky on him, but it may just be the way I have it folded on him. (A bikini twist for all you cloth diaper aficionados)  I can't wait to buy more, you know when we figure out what we like.

On to the Cricut Machine package.  I'm looking at it like of course this is for me.  So, I open it.  Oops.  It was a cartridge I didn't order.  Hmm... call the hubby, and it's my mother's day present.  Oops again.  I was just so anxious to get cricutting I got carried away.  He got me a Stand and Salute cartridge.  He's so good to me.

Then later on in the afternoon, UPS came.  I love UPS.  Ever since we found out we were pregnant, UPS has us as a regular stop.  Between my internet shopping addiction and our families living far away so buying from our registry means shipping things, UPS makes weekly stops.  It's great!  Anyway, this UPS delivery was my CRICUT STUFF from Oh My Crafts!  I ♥ them too.  And they always send me coupons for like 20% off in my email.  Those sneaky crafters know how to make ya spend!  The cricut stuff I got:  Tear Drop cartridge, Home Decor cartridge, cartridge storage box, tool kit, rainbow cardstock paper, brown and white vinyl, and vinyl transfer tape.  Now if only I could get Jack to nap in his crib for more than 20 minutes, I could cricut something...

Greener Life

Being green is pretty important to me.  I want to make our world better for my little man.  Here are some things we do right now.

1. Eat oragnic, local food
2. Recycle a ton
3. Use eco-friendly cleaners
4. Plant veggies and herbs
5. Bring reuseable bags when shopping
6. Filter our water with a brita instead of buying bottles of water

It doesn't seem like a lot when I write it all down, but there are more things we can do.  Here's what we plan to do soon.

1. Compost our organic waste
2. Build a clothesline to dry our clothes
3. Use cloth diapers on Jack
4. Join a food co-op
5. Make our dish soap & laundry detergent eco-friendly (check out Legacy of Clean products)

I'd love to know other ways I can be more green.  Got any for me?? 

I stared writing this post this morning when a friend texted me to ask if Jack and I wanted to go walking at the park.  What a beautiful day to get out in the fresh air!   Her little boy is 15 months old, so he was running all over the playground area.  Jack was drooling all over my arm as I carried him all over the playground area.  On the way home, I stopped at Kroger to pick up a few things we needed for our steak fajitas tonight.  Of course the day I forget my camera, I see something totally worth photographing.  Sitting in between two orange display buckets is an empty bottle of a chemical used to ripen fruit.  I was shocked.  I'm not dumb to think that they don't use it, but to leave an empty bottly out where people can read it?  Like I did?  And my mouth about hit the ground when I read 'Not for human consumption' on it??  Hello, people are going to eat whatever you put that on! I tried taking a pic on my phone, but forgot to save it.  Once again, I am reminded why I am spending more on organic food...

He spoils me

I am quite possibly the luckiest girl there is.  Well I will always think so anyway.  For the first time in our wonderful three years of marriage, we got to spend our anniversary together!  Even though we went out to dinner the night after, it was worth it!  Bobby brought me to an amazing five course wine dinner at the Aquastar restaurant in the Westin Savannah.  We met Executive Chef Michelle when we went to Easter Brunch here and he remembered us, even brought us a surprise!  The dinner was made to compliment four CakeBread wines and it was to die for!  So yummy!

Of course I had to take pictures of our meal, so get your drool rag ready...

The first course was paired with CakeBread Chardonnay.  Maine lobster Feuillete, grilled asparagus, tobicco caviar.  The Westin flew in the lobsters from Maine that day!

Second course was paired with CakeBread Sauvignon Blanc.  This was Bobby's favorite wine and he even won a bottle! This was my favorite course too!  Fine haricot verts salad, tomato tartare, and chive oil.  Chef Michelle said they roasted these tomatoes for something like 6 hours at a very low heat, so tasty!

The third course was a new experience for me.  I am slowly becoming a fish eater.  I have ordered fish in a restaurant three times!  So when I saw sea bass, I was a little nervous!  Striped sea bass with sweet parsnips, arrow leaf spinach and saffron vanilla sauce.  I actually really enjoyed it!

The fourth course was paired with two wines!  The CakeBread Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon.  The merlot was actually really good.  Usually merlots are not much to write home about, but we ended up ordering a bottle!  The cabernet was so full-bodied.  Definately good with the meal, but too heavy to drink!  Pan seared Kobe beef filet mignon with a gorgonzola ivory sauce, low country Anson Mill grit cake and sweet corn.  Heavenly...

The fifth course was strawberry sorbet shortcake with sweetened creme fraiche.  It was yummy, but I like my strawberry shortcake much better!

Remember the surprise I mentioned??  Chef Michelle remembered it was our anniversary dinner and brought us this....

So sweet!  I love chocolate covered strawberries!  We ended up taking them home because we were stuffed and full of wine!  The night was a lot of fun.  We met an awesome mother and daughter who are also foodies!  Eating out in fancy places is definately something Bobby and I enjoy.  By far the best anniversary we have spent together...

Help our Children!

I think about what life will be like for Jack all the time.  It gives me a slight case of anxiety actually.  Of course I want the absolute best for him.  What parent doesn't say this?   I worry about what school he will go to.  Who knows where we will end up next!  I worry about him having friends that are good influences on him.  I worry about someone hurting him or kidnapping him.  I worry about him becoming overweight.  I worry about him being unhappy in life.  I know I am just being a crazy new mommy, I just hope he has better than Bobby and I did.  But after all the crazy experiences Bobby and I have had in our lives, we should be able to raise Jack to turn out ok.  He really will right? 

In the meantime, I will do everything in my power to give him the best start.  Bobby and I watched some of the Jamie Oliver Food Revolution a few weeks ago.  I don't understand why it takes some celebrity from another country to want to change the food our children are exposed to at school.  Why as parents are we not fighting for a change?  These are our kids!  We protect them from monsters and flu viruses, but not over-processed junk.  When Jack is ready for school, chances are I will pack his lunch, but I want the option for him to have a healthy lunch there too.  I remember when I was in school wanting to buy my lunch some days, so I know Jack will want to.  So I signed Jamie's petition.  Jamie would like to take his petition to the White House to show the President and First lady how many people really care and ask for their support.  Won't you sign it too?  Pass it along to everyone you know!  Sign here!

Another thing Bobby and I hold close to our hearts is The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.  The first date Bobby took me on was to a black tie charity auction put on by this center.  Pretty fancy huh?  Bobby's dad also sits on the executive board.  This year Bobby will participate in the Rochester Ride for the Missing.  On May 14, Bobby will hop on his bike, along with his brother Jon and Jon's girlfriend Emily, and peddle 100 miles to support prevention education programs and to remember all missing children.  Please donate to this great cause and support my wonderful husband! Check it our here!

Thanks for letting me gab on my soapbox!

And the kudos goes to...

THE ARMY!! That's right, the Army pulled through this time!  We are going home to christen Jack!  I love when the Army makes me smile! 

Since my mom will be in China for the next month, I want to make most of the food for Jack's party.  I found this amazing looking cake at She's Becoming DoughMessTic.

This cake weighs over 7 pounds. Yum!

Two layers of lemon cake with a cheesecake in the middle. I can feel the pounds on my thighs already...

Armyed again...

I will say we have been very lucky in our {almost} five years in the Army, but pretty much every major event in our lives has been "Armyed." 

Picture it...

December 2006- Unknown to me, Bobby buys a ring!

January 2007- President announces surge in Iraq

February 12, 2007- The love of my life asks me to marry him!

March 2007- Bobby is in the field the enitre month, I plan the WHOLE (wasn't too much work since we opted for the small quickie kind) wedding.

April 6, 2007- I marry my best friend

April 27, 2007- Bobby deploys to Iraq to 15 months, oh yeah, he left on ADVON too.  Honeymoon? Forget it.

Thank you Mr. President, no, of course I did not want to have a big beautiful wedding in NY with our families there....

Armyed.

So what do you do when the Army only gives you a few moments together?  Take your "honeymoon" during R&R of course!  We went to Disney for 4 days, not exactly the honeymoon I was dreaming of, but we had a blast! 

This should be us on an exotic beach drinking pink drinks with umbrellas in them.  Hey, at least I got him all to myself!

Armyed.

We are so blessed to have Bobby home during this deployment.  Bobby got to see this birth of his son.  Very lucky for an Army family during deployment time!  That is something we will have forever! I will never forget this memory.

The lone Army kudos in this post...

So the Army is at it again.  Jack is fast approaching five months old and we want to christen him.  We want it done in NY, at the church I was christened in, with all our family there.  Not too much to ask right?  OF COURSE IT IS!!!  When Bobby asked months ago if he could have a weekend off to christen Jack, his XO said "YOU CANNOT TAKE LEAVE."  Hmph, someone must not be Catholic...

Now I completely understand that Bobby is the Rear D commander and the rest of the unit is gone. He has legal power in case something legal needs to be done.  The other guys don't get leave.  I get it.  But one weekend?  We can't just have one weekend to do this? We aren't trying to take a cruise here...

Well Bobby's XO called him on Sunday and asked if he still wanted to take leave.  YES, YES, YES, we do!!  So I called my mom as fast as I could, told her to call the church, lets get this rolling, we only have a month! 

By Tuesday this is what we have... 

Father Bill called- check

Church booked- check

Family starting to plan- check

Email from Bobby's XO saying he can only get leave if there is another CPT to cover- check WAIT WHAT?

Armyed.

Hopefully this all works out. In our favor of course. But this is the Army.  This is the life I have come to expect.  All I want is my son to be christened.  Who would have thought that would be so difficult...

Mamarazzi Monday

One of the many blogs I frequent hosts this so that us Mommys who take a bazillion pictures of our sweet babies know that we are not alone when our husbands call us crazy.  Here's my Mamarazzi Monday!

11:15am. No nap since waking up at 6:30am. Boycotting.

11:17am. Still awake. Pick me up mommy?

11:20am. Fighting the sleep. Play with me Mommy!

11:30am. Fine, I can play with these.

It is now 11:54am and after walking the "sleep path" for 20 minutes, I finally have a sleeping baby.  In his own crib.  I only walked away with one injury, a hickey on my left bicep.  I can pull through, have faith...

Tank Envy

I love deals.  I scour the internet for them.  I always have a coupon.  I frequent many "one at a time" deal websites.  And one of them always gets the best of me.  For four months now, I have been chasing the elusive Glamourmom Nursing Tank on Babysteals.  Babysteals is one of my go-to baby deal websites.  Everyday at 11:00am EST, they put a new deal up.  Today was the nursing tank.  I want this.  Being a nursing mother now, pretty much all I wear are nursing tanks.  There is nothing like nursing in public knowing your post partum belly is covered up by a tank.  I love my nursing bras, but they don't hide the belly.

I am pretty sure people sit and wait for the new deal on this site.  Actually I know they do.  I read their blog and they even had a contest asking their readers what they do when "Steal Time" happens.  Here is a cartoon about finding a wi-fi spot to catch the deal...

Today I checked the site at 11:33am EST.  Everything was sold out.  Well almost.  The floral color is still available.  Gee, I wonder why?  Yuck...