E Love Day 7: My little helper

E cracks me up in so many ways. However, one of the things that I adore is that E loves to jump in and help around the house. Check it out...

Baking cookies with Granny. Notice the amount of flour on his shirt and the fact that his little man is also on the counter. 

Helping Daddy with the lawn mower.

Giving the hint that mommy should vacuum.

Look ma no hands (while) I mash!

Watering flowers in California.

Shredding with daddy (of course under supervision)

Turning on the lights.

Feeding Sweetpea...although it looks like she's helping herself. He can get the food out of the pantry, scoop the food, take it to her bowl, dump it, and return.

With his little yellow shovel (which matches daddy) he loves shoveling snow!!!

Besides these wonderful things, he's really a little fanatical about dusting. He has very specific ideas about which duster he should get to use too.  He also adores grabbing baby wipes from my bag or the kitchen and wiping down the walls and our coffee table. 

Sap, I tell ya! But, I love it!

xoxo

Ruler done!

Pinterest made me do it.

Really.

I had to make this cute ruler for E's growth chart. Since we move so much, I needed something that I could bring with me as we traverse across the country. I adored this one because it reminds me of marking my height on my grandparents door trim every summer. 

The ruler is super easy to make, but it took me awhile in between getting the board stained (thank you hubby) and actually getting the measurements marks done. It's been languishing in my laundry room for the last month mocking me when I actually washed our clothes. :)

If you want to make one, head on over to 517 creations for a quick tutorial.

xoxo

E Lovefest Day 6

In celebration of day six of my lovefest, I have to share with you that my boy is a CUDDLER.

After he wakes up in the morning, he grabs onto me like a monkey and generally refuses to walk to the living room. We sit down with his milk, pop on some 'toons, and snuggle. Rinse and repeat after nap time.

Before I put him down to sleep for nap and night-nights, I sit with him in a chair in his room and do more snuggling. I gather the necessary supplies of: a binky, two blankies, a sippy cup, and my iphone and put him in the crook of my arm. When daddy is around, he wraps the blankets around him like a taco. "Taco!" E will exclaim. We'll sit there together until a) E falls asleep, b) Mommy wakes up from falling asleep, or c) when I'm done at 30 min to an hour. The purpose is not necessarily for him to go to sleep but to calm down and go into sleep mode.

I love the warmth of him all snuggled up with me. Whether or not it is a quiet snuggle or a babbling snuggle, it's one of my favorite times of the day.

xoxo

E Love: Day 5

For my fifth day of my E love fest, I present to you this picture: 

because it makes me laugh. Seriously, how does he get into these positions?

xoxo

Day 4: Reader

I'm a reader. I don't just read, I actually devour books like they have an expiration date. So I really adore the fact that my son loves to read. 

Today he decided to have "soree ime" (story time) like we do at Kindermusik class. This meant he had to spread his blanket down before he could open his book. Adorable!

Love!!

xoxo

Day 3: My little swimmer

Monday night happens to be one of my very favorite nights of the week because it's SWIM CLASS! 

Last Spring

My son, the water bug, propels himself around the pool with ease. His legs churn the water constantly while his arms help him balance upright. We work on a few skills each class, but mainly we just enjoy the water and being together. He laughs and smiles most of the time we are there. Although on a bad day he might howl or scowl at me when I make him float on his back. I love it when he owlishly blinks the water out of his eyes from going under.

Compared to the freezing temperatures outside, the place we swim at is an oasis of warmth. No, I'm not exaggerating. The pool is kept at 91 degrees and the room is a humid sauna. It's bliss. Of course, when we exit the building, my wet hair freezes and my little eskimo runs across the parking lot holding my hand. 

I don't care though. I just love that he loves to be there.

xoxo 

Day 2: Binky

If there is one thing in this world that my son loves more than anything, it's his binky. As I peruse through his pictures, I find that even at two years old about half of them have the binky in! Considering that we've been working on getting rid of it since the summer, it's still in a lot!

Believe me, I've heard my fair share from binky-judgers over the last two years. (Eye Roll) I tend to be a tad bit sensitive about someone judging my parenting skills, so my inner self wants to sarcastically slice and dice people who venture onto the binky-judging mat.

Our first shot at weaning the binky was fantastic and we had him down to nap and nights only in about two seconds. Then we went New York. Ten hour flights, the four hour time difference, and long days of sightseeing and restaurants totally did me in and I soon let him have his binky all day long just to get through.

The second try was more difficult as E was aware of my efforts to whisk his binky away at opportune moments. That ended with our first trip to California and was nailed in on our second trip.

As you can see, I'm totally not above using it as a method of getting him to smile and look at the camera.

So now we are on our third and final attempt. I've resorted to gorilla tactics for detaching him from the binky in the morning without him devolving into a tantrum.

My son loves his binky. And me? I'm eternally grateful to the genius that came up with them as it's given him so much simple comfort over the last two years.

Sigh, my baby is growing up.

xoxo

The start of my love fest.

At the tender age of two, E already has soooooo much personality. Everyday I just marvel at his mere existence. I can totally understand how parents get all wrapped up in their own child. Because, well darn it, kids are just cool. Mine is no exception. 

So for December, I'm going to be highlighting my love of this little boy. December is going to be a love fest. So prepare yourself for some sap.

Day 1: Those eyes. There are so many times during the day where he turns his attention towards me and looks for approval, to see how I'll react, or to find the next fun thing I'll do. Often times I'll turn around and just see him checking out what I'm doing. 

xoxo

Across the Street

Right now I'm looking at my infertility from across the street. I'm still infertile. I still want a second child. But for right now, I've parked myself on the other side of the road.

While it's great to take a rest from the injections, travel, and heartache, I'm anxious to move on to FET #3. This wait is definitely a lesson in patience for me.

Meanwhile, I have had people from various parts of my life share their infertility journeys with me recently.

• One pregnant on the first IVF.
• One got pregnant on IVF#1 and miscarried. Now is currently pregnant from FET#1 but is scared shitless from spotting.
• One just taking a possible step into IVF.

It feels like a zillion of my bloggy friends are pregnant...some with surprise pregnancies after adoption or after primary infertility, while other pregnancies have come from more rounds of IVF.

I'm cheering for everybody.

Enjoying my little man.

And...being patient.

xoxo

It's a Turkey!

For the past three Thanksgivings, we've had this incredible turkey to be thankful for.

2010 - 1 month old

2011 - 13 months old

2012 - 2 years 1 month old

He's definitely changed my life and me in more ways than I can count. I'm so thankful to have him and all all of my family here to celebrate with. I hope you had a great day too.

xoxo

Nice question.

So today I got my medical screening for some insurance. Conveniently, the tech came to our house to collect my vitals and fluids. When she rang the doorbell, my dog Sweetpea came to the door barking. I did the rigamarole about checking to see if they liked dogs, blah, blah, blah.

And then, then she asked me if my dog was pregnant.

WTF.

No, my f'ing dog is not pregnant (and neither am I btw).

Then, thennnn she asks, well why is she so big?

Um....really?

My 80 pound American Bulldog is so big because she's an American Bulldog!

I can't believe she called my dog fat.

xoxo

Off the wagon

I fell off the Nablopomo wagon over the last few days. A mysterious bug kicked me right off.

Thankfully I had visitors who allowed me time to curl up under my sheets and lock my door. Yes, I actually have to lock my son out.

I'm not quite sure what triggered this last stage of his, but he's been incredibly mommy-centric.

All snuggles must be with mommy upon every wakeup (like that's horrible or something! lol). In fact when my sister walked into his room yesterday morning, he laid back down and said, "No, mommy."

Also, with family here, there is a certain expectation that I might shut the door when visiting the restroom. E thinks this is obviously unreasonable. He politely knocks on the bathroom door and then immediately throws it open or starts yelling "mooooooommy" if it's locked.

I'm pretty sure that these are common types of toddler behaviors. But, I must admit, I look back at them as some of my favorite moments of the day. It just shows me how strong our bond is which makes me feel all warm and fuzzy. My boy loves me.

Tomorrow is prep for Thanksgiving. Yay!

xoxo

Yuck

I feel like death warmed over tonight.

That's all I've got.

xoxo

In the mood.

While I'm usually more of a bah humbug type of girl until the Christmas decorations go up, I can't help myself right now. I've already broken out the holiday pajamas, and it's totally my sister's fault! She sent me these... 

The stripes just kill me! I can't help but be cheery! Besides, how could you not after looking at that smiling face?

xoxo

A is for Adultery

On the first night my husband met me, he asked me straight out if I had a boyfriend and if I was married. Can you tell that he's a straight shooter? I was taken back a bit because in my little world, I would never be chatting up a guy if I had either. However in my hubby's world....not so much. 

Living in Korea, I saw a lot of servicemen and women who were geographically separated from their families for the year. Similarly in the last decade, multiple back-to-back year-long deployments have meant families are strained and stressed from separations. For example, within a six year time period, my hubby was deployed three years and home three years. These separations put some spouses in a position where they feel the need to cheat. It's not an excuse to do so, but many servicemembers or spouses have gone in that direction. 

So I was not that surprised when I heard about a former general's affair with his biographer. To be fair, he's not part of the military anymore and thus not under Uniform Code of Military Justice. As a reservist, she is though. Within the shitstorm that is brewing, another high ranking officer is also under investigation. 

Unlike some other professions, the UCMJ clearly defines adultery as unacceptable behavior that comes with consequences. So I wonder is, what will really happen to these military members? Will they get a slap on their wrist or will they have real consequences? 

I just don't get it. Why would you ever put your whole career and family on the line just to get some? 

xoxo

It's Major

Celebrating Veteran's Day was a major event in my household this year. Before the long weekend, my husband was promoted to the next rank. While we've known since last March that the promotion was coming, we've been anxiously waiting for his number to be called up for the month. So this day was a day for much celebration in our house!

This is the first promotion ceremony that I have been able to attend since he was commissioned after ten years of enlisted service. He's been deployed so often that his promotions have fallen when he was in the sandbox. So getting to attend the ceremony, to have E there, and also my parents, was just cool.

My husband is what I would describe as an ardent patriot. He loves this country and defends it with pride. I don't think I really understood that depth of patriotism until I met him. As a person he is demanding, infuriatingly logical, confident, intelligent, hardworking, loving and loyal.  He applies 100% of his himself to defending our country so that we can live our lives in a peaceful and stable nation.

I'm so proud of him.

He is not alone in his service to our country. According to the Census Bureau, there were 21.5 million veterans living in the United States in 2011. At the same time, there were about 311 million people in our country. This puts the percentage of people who have served in the military at about 7%. While this number varies between sources (usually between 7-9%), it at least gives you a general idea. Even this number is changing as the WWII generation leaves us.

Thanks to all of our veterans who have served. You are thought of and appreciated.

xoxo

Sweet

There are so many things that I had NO idea were so fabulous about being a mom. One of those things is wrapping up my son in a towel and carrying him back to his room. Or, in E speak, "hug!" There something just so fabulous about smelling his clean hair and feeling his soft cheeks that just gets me every time. I just don't think I could love him any more than I already do. Thanks grandpa for catching one of my favorite moments on camera. 

Hope you are having a great start to your week.

xoxo

The P Words!

There are a couple of P words that are going around our house this weekend. 

P Word #1

Daddy was super surprised during a changing when E burst out with the word "penis!" Of course he then grabbed it. Daddy came out and was like, "What are you teaching him!?!" 

P Word #2

With the 'rents here, we slipped out for a date with other tall humans on Saturday night. When we were on our way home we got a text that E had puked twice. My son is not a puker, so we felt bad that we weren't there to comfort him. 

P Word #3

Today E had the grunt face going on while we were playing. When I asked him if he wanted to sit on the potty, he said yes! So off we went! There was success. :D

xoxo

Anyone?

Anyone want to come and have a picnic with me here in Wasilla?

xoxo

Self-explanatory spoiling

Granny is here. 

Life is good.

xoxo 

Alaska

Every week I drive into Anchorage to shop and run errands. Since I live in Wasilla, this means I get to drive about 45 minutes through some spectacular scenery. Today was a major day for us, but we managed to stop on our way home and snap some pictures. 

Right now, it's cold here but there's been a notable lack of snow. This has been a marked difference from our record breaking year last winter. There's just enough moisture to make the landscape freeze white.

These were just some quick snapshots that don't do it justice, but I want you to get a picture of what it looks like up here!

xoxo

It still cracks me up.

I posted this picture on election night because, it made me happy.

One of my hubby's buddies wrote this on FB:

Good Looking Boy! Thank the Lord he's got your genes. :)

Bahahaha....it still cracks me up. 

xoxo

TWO!

I'm not quite sure how it happened, but October slipped by without the necessary homage to my now TWO year old son! So in celebration of his two year old well baby visit, let me catch you up on little E.

Here are his stats...

Height? 34.8 in, 52 percentile
Weight? 30.2 lbs, 72 percentile
Head? 48.5 cm, 42 percentile
Diapers? Yes, size 5
Favorite food? Cheese, milk, green beans, pineapple, berries, and of course cooo-kies & cake!
Favorite activities? Dancing to music, swimming, bouncing, reading, and coloring.
Favorite toys? His slide, iPhone, xylophone, cars,
Favorite books? Brown Bear, Llama llama Red Pajama, The Busy Little Spider, Dr. Seuss' ABC

Since my cycle had us in California on his actual birthday, my sister was kind enough to throw E his party. She based it around his favorite "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see?" book by Eric Carle. We had a lot of fun...

Before the party...stations of fun and chairs for adults.

Painting and food stations!

The Goldfish station was a favorite as it was filled with goodies. :)

Bubbles?

Book station! Perfect for when all the kids were hot.

Painting & coloring!

Watermelon on a hot day...yum.

Blowing out the candle

Auntie smashed his cupcake in his face. He was not amused. 

We had a fabulous day filled with lots of fun and of course a few tears because well....he's two. Thanks Auntie D for throwing the party.

xoxo

Running fail.

With my time off from baby-making established, I decided that this was the prime time to lose some of the weight that I've packed on since I've been married.

I'm the kind of girl that has weight creep up slowly. A few pounds for each fertility treatment, another couple from wanting to crunch something during CIO, general mama-awesome-hood, vacations, very long winters, and well, general laziness and an adoration of food.

I did a great job while I was pregnant with E by only gaining about 15 pounds which I lost within two weeks. Of course, I gained it back....slowly, of course.

With our break, I'm refocusing on getting back in my groove.

I started with tracking all of my food (yeah, not very clean eating right now) and jumping on the treadmill with a Couch to 5K program.

My first run was great. It just felt so good to have those endorphins released. During the run, I had some pain in my right foot which is normal as I overpronate.

When I rolled out of bed the next morning, I could hardly walk on it. Let me tell you, that's NOT a good thing when you have a two year old who is going a little stir-crazy.

So tonight after a few days of letting it heal, I bit the bullet and googled for some information on shoes that help support plantar fasciitus (no spell check, I don't want to change this to fascists). Since it usually recurs and takes a long time to fully heal, I don't want to derail my efforts. So, my googling efforts led me to some great orthotics.

Orthotics.

That's just making me feel old.

Bahahaha.

xoxo

I'm awesome.

I may just be awesome. Check this out.

A few months ago, I mentioned my intention to make E a tent for his birthday. While wasting time channeling my creative desires on Pinterest one day, I came across a tutorial based upon the tent below.

I shopped for fabric, pulled out my sewing machine, and spent about a week of my free time and ended up with this...

He loves it! The best part is that he's in the stage where he thinks he disappears when he's inside the tent. We get a ton of belly laughs from hiding in there.

So while I'm definitely proud of my efforts and delighted that he loves it, I think the project moves into awesomeness category because tonight I saw this in the Land of Nod catalog...

I must admit, it's pretty darn adorable. If I didn't enjoy making things myself or didn't have the time, it would be perfect.

However, the best part of this discovery? Land of Nod tent $149. Mine $50.

I'm awesome!!!

xoxo

{If you feel so inclined you can access the tutorial for the tent by clicking here.}

Trying to take a Halloween picture.

This is how things roll at my house...

I am so not wearing that hat.

What were you thinking, mama?

I am pretty cute though.

Alright, alright, you can have one shot.

xoxo