Sariah turns 1!

My baby turned 1 today. It was momentous. Grandpa Great Leonard sent her a card with a  little bit of mula in it, she got a new bouncy ball, a bowling set, a rocking horse, some super cute outfits, and some good ol' fashioned frosting on the nose! Friends to share with and cupcakes to top it all off with! What a great day! Gotta love Friday the 13th! Happy times!

Oh, and just to top of such a great day with Sariah, baby number two decided that they were going to let us know that they were on their way. Yes, if you didn't manage to understand that complicated sentence, we are pregnant and expecting baby number 2. Yes, my feet are starting to swell, and I'm nauseated in the evenings (which is new for me).. I hope that something 'different' in a pregnancy doesn't translate to a surprise in this pregnancy.. you know... like twins or some crazy nonsense like that! Anyways, back to the point, we had a great day with Sariah and we're looking forward to another addition sometime in April next year. Love to all~

And then there were 6...

My new internet friend Heather, has requested that I show the projects that I'm working on. I'm proud to say that, this one, is done. This project is a particular milestone for me, It took way too much yarn, and was very expensive, but I can send my dad a picture of this, and tell him, "I FINISHED A REAL PROJECT!!!" And now my husband also has a blanket that is longer than his 6'1'' skinny butt thats always getting cold.... I love it. That is all. (Hexagon Afghan)

Post Surgery

Mr. Bear survived surgery. He came out almost better than new, but unfortunately, even with extensive rehab, Mr. Bear will never walk again. His leg has been successfully reattached, but so permanently it will never be mobile again. Well.. At least until the monster removes it for him again. Do bears have phantom pain? At least he's got a sweet ride~

Organizing the Stash

I got the cleaning itch this week. For those who know or live or have lived with me, You know how rare that is. But I started cleaning. And in cleaning, I began to organize the yarn stash that iIve got for the current projects. And then I counted how many projects I currently have in the works. 7. Thats a lot... I mean, I can only work on one thing at a time right? It was about this time that Chad came home from work, asked what I was doing (because seeing me clean was so abnormal it didn't automatically register) and then went about his business. I think I gave up on the cleaning about five minutes later. I organized all the yarn, had it neatly stored in a basket where I could see the colors and pull threads without tangling them with others- which inspired another project. So that would be 8?! Luckily, it was an easy project. One that I intend to gift to my sister... So hopefully she doesn't read this. Aleah, if you're reading this: STOP. and don't look at the picture. And act surprised if you ignore me right now. . . . . That should stop her, right? So here we are, project number 8, that I actually finished before any of the others, as modeled by the little monster I call offspring.

Side note**  The monster can walk, and has been walking for four months, she is depicted here in a restrained position because thats the only way we can get her to hold still for pictures!

Destructobaby strikes again

This is how I found the bear this morning. Stripped.  Leg Ripped Off. Stabbed in the back with vicious razor sharp teeth, stuffing coming out and everything. I'm afraid to see how her dating years turn out... especially when some  idiot hormone raging kid breaks her heart, because this is what he'll look like after the fact. And that's before her dad gets to him. I'm debating whether or not I should be proud in advance of the fact, or scared that I'm going to have parents banging down my door because my baby hurt theirs.

Guess I'll worry about that in a couple years.


Poor bear. He now matches the hole in my couch, from the same vicious teeth... And the laundry scattered on my floor, no longer in nice, neat, symmetrical piles... Guess I have to start over and re-do all I did today again tomorrow. Tonight, however, I'll just try to restitch the bear. 

Consuming time

We've been here for two and a half months. Been to the mountain a couple times, figures out how to camp, how ot budget, how to shop the sales. We've figured out a lot. My house is still a mess, but thats not really going to change until August or so.. not that I couldn't change it right now, but I will have motivation to clean it at the end of August. See, my in-laws are coming for a visit, and even though I'ma bad housekeeper, i'll try to make sure it's all in order, I don't want them having to walk or trip over all of our stuff. Besides' I think I would like to show off how big my pantry is... I can't do it today with the five or eight loads of laundry that are currently laying on the floor. I guess updating my blog will help kill some time While he's at work. I've taken to some serious crocheting and knitting lately. I went so far as to design my own (very simple) celtic heart that I'm working into a pattern that I've made up in my head to mirror one of my favorite maternity sweater jacket wrap thing.. I'm not really sure what to call it, other than it's not too warm so it's technically not a sweater, and it only has 3/4 sleeves. It's cotton, stretchy, comfortable and i pretty much like to wear it regardless of my state of fertility. If I didn't know what true ADD looked like, I might consider myself ADD.. Bit I'm pretty sure that I'm just a super multi-tasker and get bored with current project real easily. I have two blankets of large proportions, one just needing fringe, and the other slowly coming together. I still like the one that is probably only 20% done. But the one that needs the fringe.. I have to leave it alone until I've got almost nothing else to do. It'll probably get doe before the second one though. I should probably also put some pictures up. I haven't even uploaded the pictures onto Ravelry, thats how lazy I've been. Maybe that will be my goal for tonight. I've got (what ever thought I was gong to put here is no longer in my brain). Maybe I'll even work myself up into putting some updated pictures on here.

I need to update everyone on the little monster monkey I call my offspring. She has teeth. Lots of teeth. These teeth have made grocery shopping particularly difficult because she likes to pick up whatever is closest and well... bite it. Especially if it is cardboard related, cream cheese, oil filters... So ya, teeth. Oh, and attitude. Isn't she a little young to show those little personality traits that are going to become the bane of my existance in a couple years?? She's mastered which parent to go to for hugs, kisses, treats, toys, and everything she's not supposed to have (Dad), and as for food, diapers, shoes, you know, necessities (Mom). I'm pretty sure that when we take her down to Texas at the end of the month she'll have everyone wrapped around her little fingers within minutes. She's a pistol. A high pitched, very loud, and piercing pistol. And then she looks halfway over her shoulder and give a little half smile. And suddenly it's going to be ok, that smile fixes everything. I'm going to sit here and roll my eyes for a bit, and in twenty years, Mom, remind me how that smile fixed everything, ok? This is going to be an adventure.. Oh my... She'll be one next month, and the walking and climbing and eating everything in sight business is cute, and frustrating, but mostly cute. There you have it, my monkey is the cutest almost one year old ever (in my most biased opinion)! Love to all~

The Year in Review

I'm just another army wife with a new baby. Blogging is just another activity to keep my mind occupied and my hands busy so that I survive motherhood, wife-dome, and the inevitable long separations as dictated my the Army. God bless our Soldiers, and watch over them as they fight for freedom.

In the year (one year exactly April 6th) that my husband has been gone, I've learned a lot. I've done a lot. I was let go from my job, I gave birth, I sold a car, (I traded it for a piano), I started collecting yarn, I taught myself how to knit, I started a quilt, I'm changing a million diapers a day, and the list goes on. I started a new diet to help with the extra baby weight, and I'm proud to announce that I'm loosing weight. It makes me happy. I'm going to look good when he gets back.

I learned how to navigate single parenthood, without eliminating my husbands role in our family. It's a delicate balance. One day I get so mad at him because he wants to talk to a baby who can't talk back, and then next day, I'm so happy that he wants to talk to her for a minute so I can zone for a moment and enjoy her cooing.



I planted a garden. And it's starting to come up. I'm excited to see all the peppers and onions grow over then next couple of months, and hopefully (once I'm off this diet!) I'll be able to enjoy homemade salsa.



Now if I could just master the arts of wifery. You know, cleaning, laundry, putting the laundry away, dished (gross. Absolutely my second least favorite thing in the world!), cleaning the bathroom (the first and largest least favorite thing in the world!).

The baby has started using the sign's that I've been trying to teach her this week. She can say "want up" and "want." I know, not exactly the best thing to teach the baby, but it's saved me a lot of hassle and guess work. She's even figuring our how to point while singing "want." She thinks that she can walk. She's too young I tell myself, and her, frequently. But she's just like me, she doesn't care what I choose to try to dictate, what do I know- I'm just the mother. 



Oh the irony that parenthood is in my life. I guess I should apologize to my mother. Mom: I love you. You're awesome. I'm grateful that you didn't kill me as a teenager, but somedays I think that you probably should have (it would have saved both of us a great deal of stress and trouble). Nevertheless, I'll try to follow your example and not cause bodily harm to my own child, even when she drives me so crazy I wont hold back the screaming. Maybe I'll move out of your house by then. Maybe not. It's not up to me. The Army has full control of my life. You know that, but all the same, thanks for sharing your space with me. Have I told you how awesome you are yet? Because you are. But I do blame you for my quirks, and this crazy yarn hobby that I've adopted. It's because I'm following your example ;)