Like the Changes?

I feel like I live in a zoo, so I thought my blog should look the part :-) Do you like the monkeys? I think its a fun change...I just get bored to easily, haha.

On a more bloggish type note, I had a Mary Kay party here at my home last night and had a ball. Most of my guests were my neighbors but two were friends that live off-post. We all hit it off and had so much fun getting to know each other and chatting all about pregnancies and babies...4 of my 7 guests are expecting! I thoroughly enjoyed laughing and talking with other gals with NO children to interrupt! Plus, Mary Kay products are fun to try and drool over. I am actually seriously considering becoming a consultant myself as a way to try and earn some money for our family. The army is very good to us in many ways but "great pay" just isn't one of those ways, haha. WAY to many army families are barely making ends meet...us included, so this may be a good way for me to earn some money and still have the flexibilty I need with my schedule and childcare needs. So, we'll see. Either way, I earned hostess credit and got a few free products for throwing the party! I LOVE FREE THINGS!

I also wanted to share a picture of my sweet D in his new beautiful wool pants that I won from that facebook contest I referenced in my last blog entry. The pants are amazing! I am pretty sure he's going to wear them everyday this Fall and Winter, haha. They ARE the diaper cover so no plastic or polyester is needed...just breathable and soft wool. Check out his adorableness:

I won a contest!

I have never won anything in my entire life. I just figured that I am unlucky and just don't ever win, but I decided to try and win a contest thrown by my favorite cloth diaper website, Banana Peels Diapers. All I had to do was upload a picture of D in cloth to their facebook page and get as many facebook folks to go to the picture and click "like" underneath it (if you do facebook, you know what I am talking about). The contest was to last 10 days and the picture with the most "likes" wins. In the end, there were over 80 pictures submitted by different moms (seriously, do you thing a dad would have done this??) and tons of people "voting" by "liking" the pictures. I didn't get really serious about winning the contest until the day before it ended because like always, I figured I'd never win. Well, my facebook friends sure did come through for me! I posted the link on my own facebook page - which shows up on my friends' newsfeed - and asked them to help me out by voting. I was amazed at how many people did! I started with about 24 votes and by the end of the last final days, I had 114 votes! I was so blessed to have my good friends and family post the link on their own pages as well giving the link more visibility to the facebook community. It was a close race as there were several other pictures that had a ton of votes as well, but in the end, I pulled ahead and WON!!!

Now, what did I win? I won a $50 gift certificate to Banana Peels Diapers of course! I was so excited because there is something that I've really been wanting but did not have the money to buy for my little guy. See, his nighttime diaper is considerably more bulky than a disposable diaper, so normal infant/toddler pjs just didn't fit over his bum. Up until this point I've been using a fleece cover over his diaper and just having him sleep in my most favorite thing, his Halo SleepSack. But...all good things come to an end (except Heaven that is!!!) and the time is near to retire the sleepsacks. He is now too mobile to be in a wearable sleeping bag, haha. This would leave his little legs bare at night, ahhh!! How chilly would that be in winter?!? The answer to my problem...wool pants to be worn over his fitted diaper. They act as a diaper cover since wool is liquid resistant (well, mostly, it can absorb something like 30% of its weight before it even feels damp) and as nice cozy pants to keep his legs warm. The wool only needs to be washed about every other week since wool is also self cleansing. And the wool that I wanted is super soft and snuggly, not itchy and scratchy like most of the wool sweaters out there. I wanted a pair of Little Beetle Organic Merino Wool Pants. The downside of this whole wonderful wool pant thing is the price $$$$. The pants were $49 which is DEFINITELY out of my price range! As much as I wanted them, I couldn't bear to spend the money even if I did have it, haha, but oh did I want to try them out for little D!

Winning this contest allowed me to get the pants for free. I am sure I will LOVE them when they arrive in the mail this week and the best part is that I didn't pay a dime for them! I did have to spend an extra $10 on some wool care items, but thats all I paid to be able to have a brand new pair of beautiful and luxurious pants for D to sleep in every night all Fall/Winter - except for wash day of course :-(

So, THANK YOU for all of you guys who voted and who posted it on your own facebook walls to encourage more voters. If you are not a cloth diaper"er" yourself, you may not understand how excited I am about this purchase and how wonderful they are going to be, but those of you that do use cloth, I am sure you can understand completely why I wanted these!! I will post a picture of D in his new pants as soon as they arrive and I get them prepped for use :-) Yay!!!

Oh, and check out these cute little wool footies that are made from recycled wool sweaters. Maybe I'll get to try one out sometime soon as I think they look GREAT as well!! Cloth diapering is so much fun!

It's been a while!

I feel like I haven't been a good blogger lately. Things have been so hectic and crazy, I just haven't had the time....and when I do have time, I do something else (like read a magazine, watch TV or search www.diaperswappers.com, haha). Our house is finally over the sicknesses that took over several weeks ago and I am proud to announce that we are all healthy and well! I have bleached towels, sheets, diapers and the shower and sprayed Lysol on every solid surface that may have harbored germs. Hopefully, we will be sickness free for quite a while!

I was able to attend my MOPS group this morning for the second time. MOPS stands for Mothers Of Preschoolers and we meet twice a month in the coffee shop at church. Our children are cared for in the nursery while us ladies enjoy breakfast, juice, coffee and some good fellowship. There is also some kind of speaker with a great message. Today our speaker was a mom of 10 kids! I think she had some GREAT advice on discipline and training God's way. I am so blessed to have found such a wonderful group of women (over 40 of them!) to get to know and be encouraged by twice a month. It's good to know that I am not alone raising two young children...and that I am not the only way who occasionally loses my temper, uses bribery, sometimes hides in the bathroom, and doesn't get dressed until after lunch!

C is still doing great in preschool. We now utilize the parent drop off/pick up every day and she always bounds out of the van just as happy as can be to run up the sidewalk and into the school doors. She knows just where her hook is to hang her backpack and exactly where to find her classroom and her cubby. She just spins around and give me a quick wave and a "Bye mom!!!" as she runs to the door. When I pick her up, no sooner is she in the car when she begins telling me about what craft she made or what she had for snack. The teacher is always still buckling her in her carseat when she is telling me all about her day. As we pull out of the parking lot, I always have to hand her her backpack so she can pull everything out and hand me her things one by one...the picture she drew, the birthday invitation, the newsletter, the craft she made, the paper on which she learned to cut straight lines, or the receipt for her tuition payment, haha. Today she had a goody bag full of candy (lovely) from a child's birthday. I guess the mom thought it'd be nice to send goody bags for all the children in the class. Well, C typically doesn't get much candy, so she sure was excited to show me everything she had. There was gum, pixie stix, whoppers, kit kats, etc...She pulled out the gum and I told her that she was too little to have gum. Then we she got home she was just dying to open the pixie stix. I told her to wait until after she ate lunch, well....while I was outside walking the dog, she broke into it - obviously - since when I returned inside there was blue sugar all over the kitchen table. So, being the good mom, I took rest of it and told her to open her mouth. I slowly poured a little bit on her tongue. Haha, I guess it was pretty sour, because she puckered up and didn't want the rest! (Whew, we don't have to deal with pixie stix for a while longer!)

Anyway, this is getting long and rambly, so I'll cut it off. I think I'll go read a little bit of the book entitled, "Life on Planet Mom" that was distributed to all us MOPS moms. Both my kids are napping and this is a VERY rare occurrence, so I am going to soak it up for everything I can :-)

"What do I know of Holy"

I have been listening to this song lately and just wanted to share it with you. Since I don't know how to put a song on my blog, I am just including the lyrics and a link to hear it on You Tube. Just stop and listen to it. I hope it touches you the way it touches me every time I listen to it. Click here for the You Tube video. It's by Addison Road and it's called What do I know of Holy.

I made You promises a thousand times
I tried to hear from Heaven
But I talked the whole time
I think I made You too small
I never feared You at all No
If You touched my face would I know You?
Looked into my eyes could I behold You?

What do I know of You
Who spoke me into motion?
Where have I even stood
But the shore along Your ocean?
Are You fire? Are You fury?
Are You sacred? Are You beautiful?
What do I know? What do I know of Holy?

I guess I thought that I had figured You out
I knew all the stories and I learned to talk about
How You were mighty to save
Those were only empty words on a page
Then I caught a glimpse of who You might be
The slightest hint of You brought me down to my knees

What do I know of You
Who spoke me into motion?
Where have I even stood
But the shore along Your ocean?
Are You fire? Are You fury?
Are You sacred? Are You beautiful?
What do I know? What do I know of Holy?

What do I know of Holy?
What do I know of wounds that will heal my shame?
And a God who gave life "its" name?
What do I know of Holy?
Of the One who the angels praise?
All creation knows Your name
On earth and heaven above
What do I know of this love?

What do I know of You
Who spoke me into motion?
Where have I even stood
But the shore along Your ocean?
Are You fire? Are You fury?
Are You sacred? Are You beautiful?
What do I know? What do I know of Holy?

What do I know of Holy?
What do I know of Holy?

An evening out! (more like an hour)

It has been hectic around here. We are all still struggling with sickness, B is getting prepared to deploy again soon, and the dog still is not potty trained. On a good note, B just came off of a week long leave in which we went to the beach, hung out here some, and then had his sister and kids come to visit. It was a good week off, but it went by SO fast! Now, he is preparing to deploy by training training training. This is the part that made me so annoyed last year since these are his last few weeks "home" yet he isn't really home at all. Oh well, its not just me (or him) - I have learned that this is what the Army is all about...training for the mission...not being home to spend time with your family. So, I will put on my big girl panties and suck it up - most days anyway.

Yesterday, C came down with pink eye which has just thrown off some of my week. She clearly can't go to preschool with such a contagious infection, so she'll be home tomorrow. Thus keeping me and D home from the first week of my long awaited Beth Moore bible study at church. Did you catch the sadness in my words? I am so bummed! I have been looking forward to this for weeks and am so sad to miss the very first week :-( BUT, my child's health is a priority, so I'll be home letting her rest and keeping eye drops in her eyes every few hours until all traces of pink eye have vanished!

Lastly, the dog, oh sweet Darby... still is peeing and pooping in my kitchen constantly. In fact, she rarely uses the bathroom outside at all! It's as if she has regressed from when we got her and has trained herself to relieve herself in the kitchen. I am so tired of cleaning up her messes that I am resorting to a rather strict and "mean" way of housebreaking her. She is staying in her crate until she properly relieves herself outside! See, she is crate trained and does very well not peeing or pooping in her crate. So, she is now confined to the crate until she properly relieves herself outside. Only then is she allowed to be "free" in the house until the next time she is to go out and "try" again. So far, its working. I walked her outside about 8 times today and though she spent several hours in the crate, we had NO accidents in the house and a couple successful pees and poops outside!

All this to lead up to my much needed escape this evening. I took about an hour and ran to the local kids consignment store. I didn't really need anything, just wanted to get out. After wandering the store and finding many things I liked but didn't care to spend the money on, I found a nice pair or Merrell shoes in C's size! I really liked them, but they didn't have a price tag, so I had to ask up front. As I braced myself for an amount that was out of my price range for a used pair of shoes (this consignment store is typically always overpriced!), the lady told me they were only $4.50! Wow, a cute pair of Merrell shoes for $4.50! I could swing that...and did. They are currently in the kitchen drying from the Resolve carpet cleaner I sprayed on the few dirtier parts. I am so excited about them though! They fit C great and are adorable and look so comfortable on her feet. Yay! Then, I picked up a Starbucks pumpkin spice latte. I don't REALLY love the pumpkin spice latte, but it always reminds me of Fall and since I am looking so forward to upcoming season, I thought it would be a good choice. Turns out it was since the weather was so perfect on the way home, I rolled down the windows, enjoyed the sunset, drank my Fall latte, listened to the Dennis Rainey radio talk show..all with my great deal in a bag on the passenger seat.

This one hour made me feel completely revived and renewed. Unfortunately, trips out like this are numbered for me since after B leaves, I certainly can't run out by myself in the evenings. Oh well, once again, suck it up and move on...at least I had tonight! (and got a cute pair of shoes out of it!)

Sick and on Vacation

There is a sickness in my home. I am not sure exactly what is lingering in every nook and cranny in the house, but it is mean and relentless. My little D got sick 10 days ago with what seemed to be a cold. He was having trouble sleeping and wasn't eat all that well due to his stuffy runny nose. C had a runny nose for a day or two but then improved very quickly. I got sick a couple days later (8 days ago). For me, it started as a horribly sore throat and a throbbing headache. I was concerned that it may be strep throat, so I went to the doctor to get checked. He said it was just a cold. So, poor D was still sick and now I was sick as well.

Our friends came in town to go to Myrtle Beach with us. We had been looking forward to our little getaway for about a month so a simple "cold" wasn't going to stop us! We certainly enjoyed spending time with them here at our house and once we got to the beach. Our condo was on the Cherry Grove pier in North Myrtle Beach and we stayed on the 10th floor. There were roof top pools on the 9th floor, so we had a great view of the beach, the pier, the beautiful pools....too bad it poured rain!!! We never even got to put on a swimsuit, haha. The day we got there, the weather was decent, so we took the kids down to run on the beach for a few minutes. And then the day that it rained, B was able to take C down there to run around a little more and collect a few shells. It just wasn't swimming weather.

In the meantime, D and I were still sick. Poor baby actually developed a high fever on the first night and then didn't nap or eat well the next day. I tried to keep the fever down with tylenol and motrin but he clearly didn't feel well...plus he wasn't eating well. After a call to my aunt who is a pediatric RN, I decided to take him to the ER there at the beach to get check out. I am really glad I did since he was diagnosed with an ear infection, pink eye, and an upper respiratory infection. He was given an antibiotic and eye drops and was on his way. He didn't sleep through the night for 3 nights because he would wake up every time he coughed. I'd get up to rock him which would then get my cough all activated. Needless to say, neither of us got much rest. He seems to FINALLY be feeling a little better and actually took a whole bottle today (he hadn't been able to take one since his ear and stuffy nose bothered him so badly), and he is now sleeping well. I am still hacking up a lung frequently and still got a bad headache this morning. After a nice long nap this afternoon and a different cough medicine, I actually feel somewhat normal this evening. Maybe...just maybe we are finally getting over this horrible sickness!

Sickness aside, we had a great time with our friends and just wish we could have stayed longer. Two nights at the beach just wasn't long enough! We love them and would love to have been able to spend some real time down on the beach or at the pools with them. Plus, I couldn't really hold their little baby any since I was sick! I need to see her again when I'm well! B had to come home after one night since he had a big day at work on Tuesday. He had to go to the "Promotion Board" to basically get drilled with questions by some high ranking officials. He did great and is now "promotable" to be a NCO (non-commissioned officer for you non-army folks). This is a really big deal around here. He had to study and prepare his class A uniform and make sure everything looked Army perfect! Hopefully he will now actually get promoted sometime this Fall/Winter!

I wanted to include a few pictures of our little getaway... There are not many of D because he was too sick to do anything fun and none of me because I felt (and looked) like blah the whole time! So most are of little C :-)

This was from our balcony. Notice the ocean, the pier, and the roof top pools behind her. It was really pretty.

Little C under the pier. This is when B took her down there to play after it had rained so much.

Showing off her shells....

I love this one :-)

B took these next beautiful pictures!

This was on the first night we got there when we let the kids just go run on the beach for a little while.

C and her little buddy!

The kids looking out longingly at the ocean, haha. So cute!

"Mommy, can we please go out there?"