THE Stroller!

Drumroll please......

My new double stroller has arrived!

As with most things in my life, I thoroughly thought through and researched double stroller options. I even considered not getting a double stroller and just using a baby carrier instead. My issue is that my 2 1/2 year old is just NOT mature enough to be without a stroller just yet. I do not trust him in any store or at any doctor's appointment to not be securely fastened in a stroller. So, a double stroller became a must!

Then the big decision was WHICH double stroller. There are only about a million on the market and their prices range from about $80 up to over $700. Clearly, my budget was down towards the bottom of that range. D is pretty tall for his age, so that is a factor was a factor as well. I didn't want him to outgrow the stroller after only 6 months of use. Even now, at 4 1/2 years old, C occasionally wants to ride in a stroller when we are out all day - especially when we go into DC. I can assume D will be the same way. I needed a stroller that he would fit into for about 2 years.

This led me to this Baby Jogger City Micro. It holds each child up to 50lbs. It still fits my 45.5" almost 5 year old. It turns like a dream - even with one hand. It looks awesome. It has just enough of a recline to be comfy for an infant and a toddler. It folds up FLAT - like seriously flat! It easily fits through any doorway. And most importantly it was way on sale...and that brought it into my budget!

My kids couldn't wait to try it out. In fact, they were tearing into the box as soon as the UPS guy dropped it off. I can't seem to keep D out of it. He wants to be in it. Then he wants to push it. I need to put it out in the garage so he quits messing with it, but honestly, I am still enjoying looking at it and playing with it myself. I love it! And really, that says a lot. I have had more strollers than I can recall in my 5 years of parenting. Everything from a travel "system," a sit'n'stand, an umbrella stroller, and a double jogger. You name it, I've had it. This is why I was hesitant to buy another stroller. I find faults with everything. Then I sell it.

I am happy to say though, that this stroller seems like a winer! I will be selling my double jogger (that doesn't fit through a doorway...arg!) and using this exclusively. I may use that money and buy the baby his own new single stroller for when its just me and him (D's was bought from a consignment store several years ago, and though it still works, I may get the baby his own new one)....we'll see. Craigslist is my best friend! I can sell anything on there!

Check out the pics of my newest and coolest addition!

Flat fold - those little chairs in the background are tiny...the seats are maybe 15 inches off the ground. This stroller folds up flatter than anything I've ever seen!

We had to test it out with "Purple Baby" to see how a newborn will fit with the new insert I bought for him. It was perfect! "Purple" loved it :-)

Check out the headroom on this thing. Even my tall boy has several inches of torso growth before he will outgrow it. And C still fits pretty nicely too!

Our Vacation in the Making

I have been planning a vacation in my head for years now. Sort of. I've wanted to take a trip to Disney World since the day we welcomed C into the world...probably even before then. I know a lot of my friends have been to Disney multiple times and have a blast every single time. I have friends who have honeymooned there as adults and have had the time of their lives. I went once when I was in the 6th grade with my family and from what I can remember, we had a ton of fun. Our pictures sure are wonderful anyway!

When my good friend and I were pregnant with our first children 5 years ago, she and I talked about one day planning a Disney trip together since our kiddos are right about the same ages. It was fun to dream!

Now that C is almost 5, and D is 2 1/2 and our last baby is on the way, I can finally see our trip in the future. I didn't want to go when we had a newborn. I didn't want to go when I was pregnant. I wanted ALL of our family to be able to enjoy this trip. I think its because I know that this is going to be one big and expensive vacation and for us, and it may be a once or twice in a lifetime experience. We will not be going back yearly, haha.

With that being said, I have determined that we will go on our Disney World vacation in the Spring or Summer or 2013. I know it seems goofy to be thinking that far in advance, but hear me out...

B and I will celebrate our 10 year anniversary in 2013 and as much as I'd love to run off to a faraway beach with him (seriously, I really do day-dream about this), I know we would have a blast if we went on a vacation with our children instead. Maybe there will be another time for he and I to do a getaway :-)

B will be VERY busy in 2012 with the presidential election. I have been told we will not see much of him from the Spring of 2012 through inauguration in January 2013...so it sure would be nice to have a vacation planned in the Spring of 2013 when he rejoins our family :-)

Our children will be 7, 4 1/2 and 2 years old. Those seem like perfect ages to experience Disney World. Plus, we will not need any of the "baby things" that we would need to bring if we went any sooner.

Lastly, this will really be the first time that we will be able to afford this elaborate vacation. This gives us two years to focus on paying off debt (which we really want to do prior to splurging on a vacation). I think we will be in much better financial shape in 2013 than we are now. We just paid off B's car, so at least we're headed in the right direction!

See, in my mind, it just makes sense to begin thinking about our vacation in two years. I've even decided where we will stay based on the advise of other military friends. We'll be staying on the Walt Disney World property in the Shades of Green Hotel - a hotel especially for military families.

The prices and the amenities look amazing. I can't wait to begin planning everything for real! Okay, now back to day dreaming about Disney...and the dream vacation with my hubby. Do any of you guys have a timeshare we could use somewhere at the beach? :-)

Oh, and could you send us a nanny to watch our kids?

Toddler Nighttime Solution

My Big Boy D has been potty training for the last several months. He is still doing remarkably well and is down to only wearing a Pull-Up when we run out of the house for any reason (I do not trust his bladder on outings yet) and of course for naps and bedtime. For him, this is about 2 Pull-Ups a day since he typically stays dry when we are out and about.

Two Pull-Ups a day is really great in my mind. I mean, he isn't even 2 1/2 years old yet! Nonetheless, being the cloth diaper lover that I am, I hate buying disposable Pull-Ups. The $8.99 every 12-14 days makes me cringe every time I have to pick up a pack.

I have tried a couple different cloth pull-up style options, but they haven't gotten a good fit on my skinny little one. This is why I keep going back to the disposable Pull-Ups. I don't know exactly what the final straw was, but three days ago, I decided, enough is a enough. I have a million cloth diapers that still fit D. Why not just stick him back in a cloth diaper for bed time? Then we'd only be using ONE Pull-Up a day. That sounded like a good plan to me!

So, back in a diaper he went for bedtime. I was so excited to see one of my lovely diapers on his cute bum again :-) Even my husband commented how cute it was to see him in a diaper again.

I had actually already snapped the rise way down to make the one-size diapers teeny tiny for the baby coming in a couple months, so I had to unsnap the rise and stuff in a more absorbent insert, but alas, my Bum Genius diapers did it again. They held a whole 12 hours worth of pee and still got a great leak proof fit!

Plus, he looks completely adorable just before I slip on his PJs and tuck him into bed :-) Just thought I'd share our new nighttime solution. For those of you that are in the same boat...maybe a Bum Genius diaper would work for you too!

Future President

When your dad works at the White House Communications Agency, there is a lot of talk about the president in the house. We live close to Washington DC, so my kids are familiar with the White House and who lives there. They are also familiar with the Smithsonian and all the monuments. So, it shouldn't seem that strange that this afternoon, C turned the box from our new high chair into a presidential podium. I found her in the living room giving a presidential speech...odd, nah...I think its pretty normal for us :-)

The Build a Bear Surprise

We surprised the kids this past Friday with a fabulously fun day because well, frankly, they deserve it. They are awesome kids and we love them dearly. We rarely do anything super "fun" and spluge worthy because we are generally pretty thrifty with our activites. And of course, we function on a pretty tight budget.

But, all this came to a halt when we received our tax refund in our bank account Friday morning. We already had virtually every penny of our refund budgeted out for important things - like say, paying off our car and replenishing our savings account - but we did factor in a few fun items for ourselves and the kids! Yay!

I bought the kids a few Spring outfits, D got a new toddler bed mattress, the baby got a new high chair, and D got a remote control car (I am still not quite sure how that snuck in there!). Anyway, we ALSO budgeted in a day at Build a Bear for my little sweeties. They are very accustomed to wandering in the Build a Bear store to just browse around. We do it every time we're at the mall. C has only been allowed to make one bear in her entire life. D has never made one. After all, these little bears/bunnies/puppies dressed in life-like clothing can be ridiculously expensive. This is why we normally steer clear of the franchise for actual purchases.

Anyway, we told the kids we were heading to the mall so I could run an errand. First we drug them into Babies R Us so I could pick up a high chair for the baby. They went along like little troopers as we then headed to the mall. We didn't tell them where we were going and why we were there until we walked in the Build a Bear store and I bent down and asked C, "would you like to make one?"

Her little face lit up and she took one glance at the row of flat lifeless animals. She then made a split second decision and grabbed a purple fluffy puppy. Seriously, I think she thought I might change my mind if she took too long to decide on one, haha. Her decision was made in less than 5 seconds. We let D choose one as well, and of course, he also chose a puppy.

As usual in the store they stood on the petal while the employee blew the "stuffing" into their new friends. They kissed and rubbed the little hearts that they then shoved inside their animals. They bathed, blow dried, and groomed their little furry friends and then they chose outfits and filled out birth certificates.

As if the whole Build a Bear experience wasn't exciting enough for them, we then left the mall and took them to Chuck-E-Cheese for lunch (another place we have hardly ever gone...as in, maybe twice ever). The kids had a ball playing games and eating pizza. They won tickets and rode rides. B and I were so happy to be able to give them such a fun day. Even he and I had a blast!

Here are a few snap shots of the Build a Bear experience:

At the end of the whole day, as I tucked C into bed, she thanked me for the day. It may have been the highlight of the whole experience for me as her mom.

"Thanks for giving me this awesome day!" she exclaimed.

"You're welcome, baby. You deserve it." I said.

Although all I essentially did that day was frivolously spend way too much on stuffed animals, feed my kids pizza, and let them ride a few silly rides, I know in my heart that we built memories as a family. And in my mind, memories like that are worth $84 for one day of fun every once in a while :-)

Personalized Prizes For the Kiddos!

I love to go online shopping and I love it most when my packages finally arrive in my mailbox. I tear into them like a kid at Christmas!

Well, today was the most exciting package I've opened in a really long time! I just must share it with you, my blogger friends. It was from MommyGrams and More who partnered with me for my very first giveaway last month. These are my first items from her and I am 100% sure they will not be my last. The embroidered Big Bro/Big Sis shirts and the Turtle bib are extremely well made. They are absolutely adorable, so much so that the pictures cannot even do them justice :-) Just take my word for it.

My kids loved them so much that they tore off the shirts that they were wearing right in the middle of the kitchen as soon as I pulled these out of the envelope. They wanted to wear them immediately. It was so cute that they were just as excited as I was, haha. These are going to make GREAT pictures at the hospital when the new baby arrives!

P.S. I guess now you guys all know the baby's name :-) Yay for Baby Nathan! Isn't the bib just adorable? It is so very sweet!

Six Months In

As of today, have officially been in Virginia for six months. I can't believe it's already been that long! It still seems like I am adjusting to our "new" area. I have learned a lot of the roads and we have found our new favorite restaurants. I have joined a MOPS group and a PWOC bible study. We have also recently joined a wonderful church. C goes to pre-K and has made friends. Even D has made a friend!

I have made a good handful of friends at church and at some of my women's groups. Just last week I even played bunco with a group of gals from C's preschool. B is enjoying his job at the White House Communications Agency. He completed all his training and is now going on trips regularly. He has fit right in and is shinning in his job just as usual. He stands out no matter where he goes. :-) And he finally got promoted!

We have gotten D involved in speech therapy and are seeing a lot of progress. C played soccer in the Fall and is already planning her Spring athletics here on post. She's already looking forward to Cheerleading camp this summer.

We've also seen a variety of seasons here! It was scorching hot in August and freezing cold in January. We've seen snow and have had to buy a snow shovel for the first time.

Oh, and I have gotten pregnant and grown a baby in my belly for the past 28 weeks :-) I've enjoyed seeing midwives for the first time with this pregnancy - its been different but very exciting!

I'd say we've been pretty busy for the last few months, haha. For me, this has been a hard transition. I have missed my friends back in NC quite a bit. I guess I got really attached to the girls there when B was deployed, so leaving them and my house was really tough. I am so blessed to have found some friends here though. It has helped ease this transition greatly to have some friendly faces that recognize me and that come to expect me at various engagements. I miss my family a lot since I can't make the 11 hour drive quite as easily as I could make the 6 1/2 hour drive from NC. Fortunately, we've had my in-laws come visit as well as my parents and my sister and brother-in-law. Hopefully my in-laws and my mom will come back again when the baby is born in April. I sure will need the help!

I look forward to the next six months but I am definitely nervous about adding a new baby into the mix. I know he will fit right in, but I know it will take some adjusting to having a newborn around the house again - the crying, the diapers, the pacis, the baby food, etc. Ahh!

We'll be here in Virginia for several years, and I know that this place will become "home" to us. Its hard to see it now, but I am sure it will be hard to say goodbye when we eventually have to leave to wherever the Army sends us next. As friendships are formed and strengthened, leaving just never gets any easier. I think I have cried as I left every city we've ever lived in.

Here is just a few pictures of some of the things we've done since we've lived here. We've done A LOT! Here's to the next six months...and beyond!

Gone to DC with Family

Enjoyed a Fall Festival

Played in the snow

Completed Smart Start Soccer

Potty Trained!

Had my parents come for Thanksgiving

And here's how I looked when we moved here...

And here is how I look now...