Starting over...

It has been a while... I've not posted in months; I've been busy, distracted, and I figured there wasn't a following anyway... However, I am changing my outlook, this blog is a way for me to keep my sanity, to document my life for future reference, and ultimately a release.

The past nine months have brought lots of change to our house. Clark is 18 months old now, I'm expecting another baby (due one day after Clark's second birthday), and I am slowly ticking away at my college degree. The next few months are going to include some of our "lasts" in Germany, we are scheduled to move back to the States in March of next year and so this is our last summer here, our last wine fest season, and our last chance to get in those trips we've been meaning to take for the past five years.

So I will surely be attempting to post on a more regular basis.

Getting Political

I don’t usually get into politics, on facebook, with my friends,  or in any other public forum, because politics and friends don’t usually mix. I learned to keep my views to myself when I was going to cosmetology school, the number one rule, other than not turning someone’s hair purple or making it fall out, is don’t discuss politics or religion. I am also a firm believer in the freedom of speech and the freedom to have your own ideas and values. Where I draw the line is when someone tries to take away my freedoms, the freedoms that my husband, father, grandfathers, grandmother, and all of the soldiers that have given up their lives have fought for. You see, I have this “friend” that regularly posts about his wanting to become an expatriate and live in Europe for the rest of his life, he hates our social system, our education system, our healthcare, and our freedom to have weapons. He constantly posts about our not being the number one super power that “we boast about” and he goes on to brag about his great adventures in Europe and how anyone that does not live that lifestyle is not taking advantage of life. 

I think that he is a pompous ass.

His most recent post was about gun control and how our society is 2^nd class because we are 18xs more likely to be shot than a German citizen is. He thinks that we all tote guns because we are afraid ALL OF THE TIME, that if we took away the right to own a gun the crime rate would decrease in America, etc. I do not agree. I think that the “bad guys” would still have their weapons and we would be defenseless.

I think that my “friend” has this utopian idealism that is a pipe dream, but then again he also thinks that you should take from the rich and give to the lazy. That’s right, I said it… I don’t think that all poor people are lazy but I do think that our welfare system is broken and taking from a hard working person to give to someone that refuses to look for a job because they are getting a government check each month is a bunch of hogwash! I think that people on welfare, unemployment, and those on food stamps should be given drug screenings. I think that people that have committed robbery of any kind should not be allowed to own a weapon because they clearly don’t know how to make good decisions. I think that any person that is diagnosed with type 2 diabetes should be required to take a nutrition class, and I think that there should be a tax on junk food (ALL OF IT, fast food and store bought junk food), I think that those taxes should go to pay for the socialized medicine that is being pushed on our country, those taxes should pay for the healthcare of people with coronary heart disease that is not genetic and stems from a bad diet and lack of exercise. I think that preventative medicine should be number one on the doctors list instead of reactionary medicine.

Children should be forced to pass health and physical education classes with a C or better and I do not give a CRAP if they don’t want to get dirty or sweaty, they are in school to learn about life and get an education, not to be pretty. I think that parents need to take a more active approach in ensuring that their kids are learning the life skills they need to make this world a better place but sadly too many parents are more concerned with being their kid’s friend or trying to be the next cougar on some reality housewife show.

I could go on and on about what needs to happen and how things should be but they aren’t and the only yard that I can keep clean is my own, so I will take care of my family and teach them the tools to succeed, I will ensure that my children know how hard their family has fought to keep this country free and what it means to have the freedoms that we have, I will show my children gun safety and when it should be used, and I will make sure that they understand that life doesn’t just happen to them, they are the captains of their destiny. The choices that you make are the choices that shape your future!

Getting Back In The Groove...

So I have fallen off of the running train, the yoga train, and basically any train that does not include dessert... Luckily I've been doing some serious walking around with my awesome sister and haven't put on any weight, but I feel jiggly all over. NOT COOL!

So to battle the bulge I am going to train for an upcoming 10 miler (in October) put on by the ARMY, I am also going to look for another 1/2 marathon to run in November or December. I will do my best to stay on track and am looking for this blog to keep me honest.

My baby's dimples look like mine...

So here's to getting rid of the jiggles and losing that loving feeling for desserts.

Water Baby

We took Clark to the local pool the other day; he loved it! I was so excited to take him and to see how he was going to react, he did not disappoint. He is such the little cutie!

We had a really good time with him in the water. The other kids did not pay any attention to the fact that we were hanging out with an infant in the water, they just splashed and splashed. I thought that it would bother Clark to get the water in his face when they did but he didn’t seem to be bothered at all. He just sat and watched them play. I think he is ready to be a big boy so that he can do it too. Seriously, every time he is around big kids he watches them with these huge eyes and tries to crawl over to them. I am very concerned for our future… HA

Teeth!!!

We’ve got teeth!!! How about those apples???

My little boy is growing up too fast! I cannot believe that in less than 8 months the little baby that took his merry sweet time about making his debut, a week late and after 46 hours of labor, has decided that he is going to run past every new milestone… I am just waiting for him to walk and then I think I will have seen it all. He is not only moving around this house faster than I can keep up but he is already pulling himself up onto the couch, climbing stairs, climbing over obstacles, and generally keeping me on my toes!

Anyway, tonight we are having chicken tetrazzini for dinner and I thought that I would share the recipe with you:

2-3 chicken breasts (pan cooked with garlic salt, Lawry’s season salt, and pepper)

2 sm or 1 lg package(s) of mushrooms (sliced and sautéed)

1C Caesar dressing (sometimes I use regular and other times I use lite or vinaigrette)
¾ C parmesan cheese (reserve ¼ C to the side for topping)

½ C bread crumbs

½ C chicken broth (I use Knorr granules and make it with a little hot water)

1 package spaghetti

Preheat oven to 350 F. Pan cook your chicken, sauté your mushrooms, and boil your spaghetti according to package directions. (Perfect spaghetti is boiled for 8 minutes BTW) Then you are going to combine all of the ingredients and mix. Top with reserved parmesan and a sprinkle of bread crumbs. Bake 45 minutes or until the top starts to brown.

I like my top noodles to get crunchy so I let it cook a little longer.

Enjoy!

Clark is in his own bed!

(written 6 July)

My little boy is growing up too fast!

He is officially sleeping in his own bed. ALL OF THE TIME!!! You see, Clark has slept in our bed since we first brought him home. I never wanted a baby in the bed with me but Travis would cuddle him and snuggle him to sleep and Clark wouldn’t sleep in the basinet that we had for him unless he was swaddled and then he would only sleep for an hour or so and wake up. Then we had to travel to and from the states, twice, for weeks at a time and on those trips Clark slept with me because he barely fit in the travel bed and he wasn’t happy about being in the damn thing anyway. Then it just got to the point that it was easier for all involved. Breast feeding in the middle of the night meant that all I had to do was roll over and pop a boob in his face, too easy. So seven and a half months have gone by and Travis and I have not slept alone a single night. That is until this past Tuesday!

Wednesday was the fourth of July and that meant that Travis was off from work, he was also going to be off the following day and then again on Saturday and Sunday, so I figured that this would be the perfect time to implement the new sleeping arrangements. I have been making Clark nap in his crib for a few weeks now, ever since he learned to crawl because I’m afraid that I won’t make it to him after he wakes up before he takes a header off the bed, so I know that he is capable of sleeping in there. Monday night I snuggled him as much as possible because I knew that it would be the last night I would have him in my bed and let me tell you, neither of us slept that great. There was lots of rolling and thrashing going on so come Tuesday I was more than ready to take the plunge!

The night came and we put the baby to bed in his room with the door open to both of our rooms so that I could get to him quickly if needed. I turned the baby monitor on and muted it (we’ve got a super monitor with a camera on it so I can see him all of the time), I figured if I heard him rolling over then I would be jumping up repeatedly and if he were awake and crying I could hear him from the crib. He slept from 830 till 1030, I fed him and put him back in his crib, he fussed a little but then fell back to sleep, roughly an hour later he woke up and threw a dang fit. This time I knew that he wasn’t hungry, that he was just mad that he wasn’t in the bed with us, so I let him fuss. He cried for about 20 minutes, IT BROKE MY HEART!!! But then he was fast asleep.

Around 4AM he cried out for me and I went in and fed him again, then I put him back down in his crib and he fussed for about 30 seconds before falling back to sleep. I headed back to my bed and figured that we would all get about two more hours of sleep before the day would begin. ZZZZZZzzzZZZzzzZZZZzzz

Then… I woke up, Travis woke up, we both reached for our watches, Travis got to his first and he said, “HOLY SHIT! IT’S TEN-O-CLOCK!” I jumped out of the bed, “is he alive?” and ran to Clark’s room. That little bugger was still knocked out! I cannot tell you how refreshed I felt! That was the first time in over eight months that I have had more than four consecutive hours of sleep. WAAAWHOOOO!!!!

I am happy to report that it wasn’t beginners luck either. Clark has successfully slept in his bed each night since. YIPPY!!!

(though he is still waking up every three to four hours...)

We're Back!

Travis and Me on moving day...

Okay so the move is done, family visits are over, and life is starting to get back to normal. We've had some exciting firsts happen over the past six weeks and I am going to post all about them... So here you go:

(Written on 6 July)

We’ve finally gotten into the new house! All of our things have been delivered and I am steadily unpacking them. I’ve actually gotten two out of three floors completed, save for the office. The issue with unpacking this house is that it is a traditional German home and has zero closets. That’s right, not a single damn space to shove things out of sight when the neighbors drop by… So I have invested in a shit ton of baskets. I will have to give the “tour” once the house is completely put together but for now here is a peak at what we are dealing with:

The kitchen before unpacking

Dining room

Foyer

Living room

Because we don’t have closets and the ARMY has a back log on the furniture that they are allowing people to borrow I have had to turn our guest bedroom into a closet for Travis and me to use. I can’t say that I am too upset about this because I really like to be able to walk into a room and see all of my clothes. I just wish that I had drawers to use. I'll show you photos soon...