Happy Memorial Day!

Bobby and I are off to a Purple Heart ceremony, then spending a wonderful 4-day weekend thinking of all our friends who are currently overseas and those who have made the ultimate sacrifice.  I thank God everyday for bringing my best friend home from Iraq almost two years ago.  Some day Jack will know about all the sacrifices we have made for our country and I'm sure he will be just as proud of his Daddy as I am.  Happy Memorial Day everyone, and THANK YOU for all your sacrifices!

Spreadin the Recipe Love

Well I am way late in this, but hey, I might as well join in right?  Better late than never?  So The Mrs over at Trying Our Best is hosting a recipe blog hop!  I love cooking, so I'm not quite sure why I never wanted to get in on this sooner.  This recipe is super simple. Carbonara always sounds like a way complicated dish, but lucky for you, it only tastes like it is!

Chicken Carbonara

1lb chicken breast cut into bite sized pieces
6 slices bacon
1 small red onion
2 cloves garlic
2 cups frozen green peas (fresh would always taste better)
1 cup chardonnay or chicken broth or mix of both
6 egg yolks
1/4 cup half and half
1/4 cup grated parmesean cheese
1lb spaghetti (or whatever pasta you love)
salt and pepper to taste


Saute the bacon in a pan until almost cripsy. Remove from pan. Pour off all but 2 or 3 tablespoons of the bacon fat

Boil a large pot of water for the pasta.

In a bowl whisk together egg yolks, half and half, cheese.

Saute the garlic and onion in the fat. Once the onion is soft, add the chicken. Crumble the bacon pieces back into the saute pan. Add the wine/broth and reduce heat to simmer until chicken is done. Add peas.

When pasta is al dente, drain and return to pot. Add the chicken mixture from saute pan to pasta. Stir in the egg mixture.

Since the hot pasta will cook the eggs, there is no need for additional cooking!

Happy eating!

Can You Believe This?

 I am very pro breastfeeding.  Besides all the obvious like its WAY better for the baby and FREE, it's NATURAL!!  Now I completely understand those Mamas who cannot for whatever good reason, but I can't stand those who don't try.  Why wouldn't you give your baby the best of everything??  I have exclusively breastfed Jack for going on 6 months, and I don't plan on stopping anytime soon.  So when I read a post Chanda over at The Eco-Cheap Mom put up, I couldn't believe it.  How will breastfeeding ever be seen as the most normal, natural thing it is if people write this crap about it...

Read the post, you'll see what I mean.  :Jumping down off my soapbox:


EDIT: I just wanted to add that I always use my nursing cover in public, I do agree that most people don't want to see that.  I do it more for me than them though, I don't need anyone but the hubs looking at my lady lumps...

The No Sleep Kid

Jack has lost his ability to sleep.  He won't nap.  He doesn't sleep through the night anymore.  He's cranky.  A lot.  I am also cranky.

I'm hoping all this sleeplessness is due to the crazy changes Jack has been having lately.  First, his crib was recalled so he sleeps in his pack n' play in his room.  Then we started him on solids on Mother's Day.  I was just so excited to feed him real food!  We also took his first flight and he really wasn't feeling that too much.

I can't seem to get Jack on a schedule.  I have things to do some days.  So he gets packed up into the car and hauled all around town.  Now, he sleeps in the car, but I can't drive around multiple times a day just for naps.  And I sure don't have time to read all those wonderful books that will magically make your child sleep if you read them.  And of course follow their principles, duh.  I called my BFF the other day, almost at my witts end with Jack screeching in the background, for any advice she had.  She has two boys, who nap.  She must know things.  She told me I need to get him on a routine.  I know I do, but hoooowwwww???

Night-time is pretty much a nightmare too.  Since Jack doesn't nap, he's super sleepy come 6:30pm.  Right when we are trying to make and eat dinner.  Last night we had to juggle Jack while putting food on the table, then inhale it as he cried in his high-chair.  Putting Jack to bed at 6:30pm sounds great huh?  Well no, it's not.  Not when he wakes back up at 12:00am.  And then again at 3:00am.  And then again at 5:00am.  We are back to month one with this kid!  Remember when he usd to go down at 8:00pm and sleep till 4:00am?  That was wonderful...

So Jack eats food.  And he has real poop.  Maybe this has something to do with the sleeping?  His tummy is all like what the heck?  I hope it gets used to the stuff cause we ain't stoppin' now! 

I really hope the replacement crib parts come today.  I need this boy back to normal.  And Mama and Daddy need some sleep...

Welcome to the Household of God

 That's what the cake the church made for Jack (and the other little girl Christened) said.  And it was so yummy.  That's because it was a Wegman's cake.

The Christening was beautiful.  Jack wore the same gown that my dad, his brother and sister, me, my sister, and all my cousins wore. 

During the service, Jack was getting a little fussy, so I took him out to feed him before the baptism.  After he ate, he passed out.  He slept through all of the ceremony until Father Bill took him to pour the water on his head.  Then he cried.  But you probably would too if you were sound asleep and wake up to some stranger pouring water on your head!  He was fine when it was over.  And since he had his little power nap, he smiled at everyone who would look at him. 

Jack's godparents are my sister Abbe, and Bobby's brothers Andrew and Jon.  Unfortunately, Jon was not able to make the Christening since he had to work.  He's an airline pilot and getting time off is tricky.

The weather was beautiful in NY.  We really enjoyed our time home.  I love that everyone gets to see Jack in person and snuggle him.  He gives the best snuggles.  And one more picture of all of us.  Of course there were a lot of paparazzi there, Jack's slightly famous.  In case you are curious about the shoes, my mom goes to China for work and she got these at an ancient Chinese village.  They were made by an 85 year old woman and by wearing them he will have a long life. 

Bad Mommy

 I had my first mommy fail.  And it sure was a doozie.  Wednesday before we left town, I locked Jack in the car.  I still tear up thinking about it.  And it was hot, 90 degrees hot.

Jack had an appointment to get his second round of 4 month vaccinations.  Since military health care is always right on top of things of course this was only two weeks after his initail 4 month shots. Tons of sarcasim right there...  So nope, they made me wait over a month... reason 5,492 I am begging and pleading to see a civilian pediatrian in my town.  Anyway, during this appointment, his pedi told me that his last urinalysis came back elevated again and he wanted to send it off one more time to a different lab just to be sure.  If it comes back abnormal again, he gets referred to an endocrinologist.  Figures I would get this news when Bobby couldn't come and I leave my phone in the car.  So after I beg the pedi to just put a urine bag on Jack and not catheterize him, he pees right away, and he gets his shots, I race to the car to call Bobby about what happened.

Picutre it, I am carrying Jack in his car seat, the car keys, the diaper bag, and some papers the nurse handed me on the way out.  I am fumbling to unlock the car, and lift Jack into his throne.  I snap him in, put the keys over the front seat so I know where there are when I get in, and shut Jack's door.  My stomach sank as the door shut and I remembered the beep I heard like someone locked their car door.  I grabbed the front door handle. Locked.  I grabbed Jack's handle. Locked.  I almost fell to the ground right there.  My purse, keys, phone, and CHILD are locked inside the car at 11:00am in 90 degree heat.  He was already screaming from getting shots and wanting to be held but now he was wailing.  Luckily there was a woman getting in her car behind me so hysterically I told her what happened.  I think it was English.  She understood after what seemed like an eternity and by that time another woman had pulled up in her car.  The first woman called 911 and I called Bobby on the other woman's phone.

After an excruciating 10 minutes, the first MP (military police for all you non armies) showed up.  He sloooowly walked up to the car and asked what was wrong.  I almost tackled him, but instead screamed at him that my 5 month old was locked in the car.  He then tells me (slowly) that he doesn't have anything to get the car open.  My options are to wait for someone who does or break the window.  I think I told him to break the window before he even finished the sentence.  So he pulls out his gun.  Removes the clip.  And asks me which window.  By this time, Bobby showed up and I lost it all over again.  I couldn't watch the MP break the window, but Bobby said it took him a while to actually break the glass.  Once broken, it felt like the world was in slow motion.  No one went to unlock the doors, so I rushed to the window, brushed the glass away, and pushed the unlock button.  Bobby was already over on Jack's side getting him out when I ran around the car.  My poor little boy was crying and dripping sweat when he came out.  I lost it again.  We went to the ER to get him checked out. Thankfully, he was fine and will never remember it! 

Yesterday was my first day back in the car after our trip home, so I was extra cautious with locking the doors.  I actually had an appointment at the hospital, so I made sure to park far away from the spot I locked him in.  One door now stays open at all times until I am in the car.  I will never let that happen again...

Blogcation

We are off to NY for Jack's Christening in the morning, so there won't be any blogging going on around here.  Stay tuned on Tuesday for stories about my weekend!  Also, the horrifying mommy fail that happened to me today.  Don't worry, everyone if fine now...

My First Mommy's Day!

 I know I say this a lot, but my boys really spoiled me this weekend.  I didn't just get a day of Mommy spoiling, I got a 3 day weekend. Thank you Army for giving my husband Monday off! And surprisingly, all Bobby's yahoo's were good so he didn't get called in or have to spend hours on the phone!

We woke up very early Saturday, the story gets better I promise, to drop my Jeep off to get her oil changed.  Then Bobby watched Jack while I went out for a run. I know still sounds not so fun.  Since I want to run a half marathon next March, I need to start running more!  Bobby and I are also doing an adventure race June 5th. Ok ok back to my weekend.  After we picked my Jeep up, we headed our to get some family pictures taken.  The location the photographer chose was beautiful.  There is an old horse barn on the property and since I am crazy about horses, I had her take a few pics of us in front of it.  I hope they turn out, they are supposed to be my favorites!  Saturday night we went to have dinner with an alumni of the same college Bobby went to.  They live on a beautiful horse farm with 15 horses, goats, donkeys, cats, dogs, and birds.  I was in heaven.  I told Bobby he could come pick me up in a few weeks.  They took us to this restaurant deep in the woods.  So deep that our GPS didn't know the address when we tried to put it in, and when we got there this is what it read...

At least we were following them...

Sunday morning my boys woke me up with flowers.  Bobby said he showed Jack three different bunches and the ones that he smiled at the most, he bought.  So my little 5 month old baby picked out my first mother's day flowers. ♥   That morning we went down to Forsyth Park to run around the perimeter of the park. Hey, just cause it's mother's day, doesn't mean I can't run... We took the dogs and they were so happy to get out of the house.  We have been so busy lately, their walks get pushed aside.  Then we walked down to J. Christophers for brunch.  We love to sit outside since the dogs can sit with us and they even get served "puppy chow."  I had the spinach and bacon skillet.  It was so yummy.  Roasted potatoes, sundried tomatoes, goat cheese, spinach, bacon, and two sunny side up eggs!  Good thing we ran!  The walk back to the car really did a number on Jack...

Then on Monday, lucky me still celebrating! Bobby, Jack and I went to pick strawberries.  We also saw my midwife who delivered Jack!  She told us she is pregnant!  I would do anything to have her deliver our next baby.  Maybe Bobby will make the big bucks in his next job and we can fly her to our castle mansion.  Yeah I know a castle is too over the top.  Anyway, we only picked a few strawberries...

my boys.

me picking.

strawberry plants are so cute.

one of these full is 5 lbs.  so I needed two.

7 lbs of strawberries.

I'm quite lucky Bobby didn't beat me when I picked 7lbs of strawberries.  See we are going to NY in two days and strawberries don't keep real well.  Now we could have eaten all 7lbs, they are that good, but instead I froze some and made strawberry jam sauce.

Has anyone ever made jam?  I don't know what I did wrong.  It's not jammy.  It's sauce.  I followed this recipe.  I thought it was all going good.

I even read how to can things, and sterilized, and sealed the jars right. I think, they were stuck pretty good.  I got four pretty little jars of jam, I thought.

one is in the fridge.

But when I made a PB&J for breakfast, it was strawberry sauce.  Oops.  I don't know what happened...

That's Mrs. Nosy to You

 If you ask my husband, he'll tell you I am that nosy neighbor always peeking out the window. He calls me 'grandma' and likes to tell all our friends that I keep up with the neighborhood gossip. We have some interesting characters in our subdivision, topping off the list with our neighbors. She is lovingly referred to as 'Crazy' and lives with her daughter, who wears slippers outside and wouldn't know a hairbrush if it smacked her in the face. The daughter also has two kids. The little girl will one day be strutting her stuff down the street in a bikini top and a cigarette, and the boy will probably torture all the stray cats (that they feed). It's actually a very sad story. But I wouldn't call me 'nosy', just curious. I like to know about people. Now of course when three cops cars, an ambulance, and a firetruck come screaming down your road and stop in front of the hoodrat/drugdealer/crackhead house down the street, I'm gonna wanna go check it out. You would too, admit it. I think we all have a little ambulance chaser in our hearts. Right?

I love to know peoples stories. I love to hear where they come from, what they are about, and what they are doing in life. So many times when you talk with someone, you end up being connected to them somehow. Wonderful little six degrees of seperation.

A few months ago, Bobby was asked to speak at a MOAA meeting a couple hours from us. We packed up our new little baby and ventured down to backwoods GA to have dinner with some awesome military veterans. Bobby's speech was about reassuring these veterans all the work they did during their servicetime is still worth their sacrifices. During the speech Bobby also gave his background and our crazy little love story. After he finished, one of the men raised his hand and asked how much studying he did in Lavery Library. Turns out, this guy went to the same college as Bobby in upstate NY! Small world! And now, on Saturday, we are headed back to that small GA town to have dinner with this man and his wife. I love how this stuff happens!

Yesterday, Jack and I had our first Squats N' Tots class. It is put on by the same woman who did our Waterbabies class. Four of our yogi friends were in the class too! This class was a bit more intense than yoga though. We did lounges. Holding the babies. Down a loooooong corridor. Yes my legs are screamin, thanks for asking. At the end of the class, I was talking with the instructor about us not being there next week since we are going home to NY. She asked where and then told me she was married on Keuka Lake in NY! Her husbands family has a cottage there, but they are from Kentucky. My family used to have a cottage on Keuka. Those are some of my favorite memories from childhood. Small world again...

So, if I ever get to meet any of you, or if I already know you, I don't ask a million question to be nosy. I love finding out what makes people who they are. I also love people watching, and since I once had an english project assigned to watch people and make up a life for them, I don't find anything wrong in it!

On a different note, today is Military Spouse Appreciation Day! Take a moment to hug and thank any military spouses you know for all the sacrifice we make!

JacksBook

I made this book for the grandma's for mother's day!  But don't worry, one already got hers and the other one is in China till Saturday.  (they don't know I blog either)

Click here to view this photo book larger

She bakes!

 I am not a baker.  I am a cooker.  Following recipes gives me hives.  But I sucked it up, took a benadryl, and got out my measuring cups, all for my little man.  If you read this, you already knew I was planning a monster of a cake for Jack's Christening party.  Well since baking is sorta my arch-nemesis, I decided to do a trial run.  And you know what?  It really didn't suck.

I used Dorie's Perfect Party Cake recipe for the cake layers and Martha Stewart's classic cheesecake for the cheesecake middle.  Lemme tell you, Martha sure knows how to make a fattening tasty cheesecake.  Now,  I say I don't bake, but I do make cheesecake.  I have perfected the art of not cracking the top.  I know, I know, hold your applause till the end of the show please.

All three cake layers were made the night before since the cheesecake didn't come out of the oven until almost 9:30pm!  So bright and early yesterday morning, I set out to tackle the icing and assembly.  Dorie's cake came with a buttercream frosting recipe, but I highly advise against using it.  Mine came out HORRIBLE!  It was all runny and curdled. (there was lemon juice and eggs in it...)  So I scoured the internet for another recipe.  I found a lemon buttercream recipe from the famous sprinkles cupcakes.  I have no idea what sprinkles cupcakes are, but famous? yeah I'll take it!  This recipe was much easier to whip up, no double boiling and whisking till my arm fell off, and man, was it yummy!

So on to the assembly...

 

Here we are halfway in.

Cake

Frosting

Strawberries

Cheesecake

Yum

And more frosting

more strawberries

and the top layer

Isn't it huge?

And frosted.

The inside. 

Amazing I know.

I'm so glad I did the trial run.  This is what I learned.

• 
  
  This cake was not as scary as I thought it would be.
• 
  
  I hated the frosting from the cake recipe.
• 
  
  I need to make more frosting for the big day
• 
  
  I need a cake stand.  Although the cutting board was a good substitute.
• 
  
  Two people cannot possibly eat a cake that weighs over 7 pounds. 
• 
  
  Even inviting 3 friends over, there was still 3/4 of a cake left.

It's funny to me how when I cook something, I can still have a clean kitchen throughout the whole process.  When I bake, it's a disaster.

My sink was worse.

And I had the cutest little assistant. 

 

I cannot wait to make this for our family and friends!  You may now applaud...

MilSpouse Blog Hop!

 Since I'm an Army wife, I love to read other militaryrulesmylife blogs.  That's how I stumbled upon Riding the Roller Coaster and this fun way to meet other lucky girls like me!

So, I'm Alexis. Wife of this handsome guy, Bobby. Mommy of the most adorable boy, Jack.

Here are some interesting things about me...

We live in a tourist town and try to take advantage of that a lot, who knows where we will be next?!?!

Bobby and I were married three weeks exactly before he deployed.  Bobby honeymooned in Iraq, without me.

I am an RVT (registered vet tech), although my days are spent changing diapers instead of IVs.

Crafting has become my new passion.  I bought a cricut, which has almost bumped Bobby down the "I♥u" list to #3. Jack will always be #1.

Jack was born in a tub.  I had an amazing water-birth, with no drugs, and I cannot wait to do it again. Later.

I want to become a runner.  I will do the Disney Princess Half Marathon next March!

We try to be a green family.  We recycle (there is no curbside recycling in our town...), cloth diaper, and eat organic.  I always am open for ways to be more green.

We love to eat out.  This has become slightly harder to do since Jack came along.

A grocery store will bring us back north.  We ♥ Wegmans.

I can't wait to meet new bloggy friends!