Monday, December 29, 2008

On to the New Year

Well, Christmas has come and gone. All the presents have been unwrapped and my house is a disaster. LOL For some reason, it doesn't seem like Christmas is over for us. Probably because it has been so stinking hot out lately. We were in the 80's yesterday and it was muggy to boot. BLAH. That is one thing I do miss about Washington is the cooler weather. Oh well, we may be back there soon enough. Santa treated Allison pretty good. She got her new kitchen and loves it. I think Grandma did way better than Santa though. LOL My mom went a little overboard with the presents. She had bought some while she was here after my surgery and then sent more. I guess that is what happens when you only have one grandbaby. You get to spoil the heck out of them. Now, I have the joy of going through all the old toys and getting rid of the ones Allison is too old for or are missing pieces. Oh yay...

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Three Years!

Today is our three year anniversary. Whoo hoo. I can't believe it has been three years already. Boy, how time flies. I got Matt and Xbox 360 and all the trimmings. He was super excited when he opened it. Now, all I have to do is wait for tonight for my gifts. We are going out to eat and leaving Allison with one of the neighbors so it should be nice. Yay!

Saturday, December 20, 2008

Why so slow?

I am getting aggravated with our post man. First of all, he must not be able to read addresses very well because I am consistently getting other people's mail. Makes me wonder if anyone is getting mine. Then, we do not get our mail until late...some days after 6. Blah. My biggest gripe right now is that my dad mailed me a box two weeks ago and I still have not gotten it. Makes me wonder if it went to someone elses house or if the mail is backed up. I know it took a while for my Christmas cards to make it across to WA. I was really hoping to have the package by today seeing how it has the Santa suit in it and we were going to have Santa show up today at our party. BLAH! Maybe there will be a miracle and it will show up this afternoon, but I am not counting on it. I am really upset that it is not here. It took me forever to convince Matt to dress up as Santa and now he doesn't have to. All that wasted energy. LOL I don't get why the mail would be so slow since I was just reading an article the other day that the postal service is expecting 1 billion less packages this year than last. Wouldn't you think that would make it go faster? Ugh...come on mailman, bring me my box and learn what addresses go where...

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Oh my goodness

Allison is driving me CRAZY today. She is into everything. I was making cookies earlier (been doing that for two days now) and she was sitting on the floor next to me. Somehow she figured out how to open the cabinet and get into the dishwasher tablets and tried to eat one. Grr, then she goes into the living room and decides today is the day she is going to mess with all the Christmas decorations that she has not bothered since I put them up. Ahh, then she got a pen and tried to color on the wall and tried to pull out all the DVD's. The worst part is, it is only 9:20 in the morning. AAAAHHHH!!! What is the rest of the day going to be like? I am already counting down the minutes to nap time. Someone help me keep my sanity. LOL

Saturday, December 13, 2008

We're the weirdos?

So I live in a cul-de-sac with a few other buildings. Each building has 4 to 5 houses attached. Anyways, we are pretty close with the neighbors downstairs and two of the families in the building next to us. They did the decorating with us and we go out alot together like to the mall or out having fun. We have bonfires pretty much every weekend and hang out outside with our kids playing. No one else in the neighborhood comes out of their houses very often. Well, we were sitting around the bonfire last night and Amamda who works at Gamestop starts telling us a story about how one of our neighbors came in today. She noticed on his license he lives on our street and said to him, hey I live there too. I think I am across the cul-de-sac from you. He goes on to say, oh you are those weirdos who are always outside together, go everywhere together and have the billions of lights up. Um ya that's us...why does that make us weird? I think it is weirder to never come out of your house and not know anyone else in your neighborhood. So now we are deemed as the weirdos....LOL Makes me laugh...he is probably just jealous because we have so much fun. We decided what we are going to do is dress all in the same outfits kids and all and then drive over to his house, park our cars in front in a line and then go caroling to his door. Wouldn't that be hilarious? Yep, I am a weirdo I guess. Well, if he is interested we will all be leaving at the same time today because we are all taking our kids to go play in the snow that the base is bringing in. Bring on the weirdos....heck at least we have a good time!

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Lights galore

Well, I had posted earlier about the competition for lights in the neighborhood. I think it is safe to say we have everyone beat. LOL I was able to get two of our neighbors into it so now our house is lights galore. Matt had laughed at me when I said in November I wanted lots and lots of lights. Well, who was the one who went out every day this weekend to buy more stuff? Not me! LOL I am not complaining of course. It looks really pretty. The pics do not do it justice. We even had one of the other neighbors come over and tell us he tried to compete, but we did too good of a job. Not that I am competitive or anything. HA! LOL Here are some blurry pics, but you get the idea....Now to convice Matt we need to set it all to go off with music and I am set...just kidding




Tuesday, December 9, 2008

I have been ass slapped. LOL

So my friend Abby at Me and My Boys! has ass slapped me. Oh yay. LOL

Ok, so here are the rules:
1. Show it on your blog
2. Take seven others to partake in the fun times. Link them on here and comment on their blog to let them know they have been ass slapped!
3. List 10 random things about yourself

So here are 10 more random things about me:

1. I am completely afraid of balloons. Only latex ones, the mylars are okey dokey.

2. I never wanted kids, but would not trade Allison in for the world. It took Matt a good year to convince me to try to have one.

3. I still do not know what I want to "do when I grow up." Even though I have a college degree, I am as lost as the day I got out of high school.

4. Even though I complain about watching the kid's shows with Allison, I secretly like alot of them.

5. I have lived in two countries and 4 states

6. It really drives me crazy that everyone else in my family can curl their tongues except me. Darn recessive gene.

7. Christmas is my favorite time of year. If I could decorate my house like the Griswald's every year I would.

8. Some days I miss working and wish I had not decided to be a SAHM, but I get over that pretty quick.

9. Sometimes I think I love my cat more than my hubby. LOL He gives love without asking for anything in return and I know he likes me the best.

10. I never open forwards in my email, unless it is something I have asked someone to send me.

I have no one to tag that hasn't already so I guess I will skip this part. HE HE.

Friday, December 5, 2008

Many thanks...

I just wanted to throw a BIG thank you to all the people out there still donating this Christmas season. We were fortunate enough to recieve a free tree this year through a program called Trees for the Troops. It was sponsored by Fedex and the Tree Growers Association. Each of the trees had card on them from families or people that donated. Our tree had a bunch of cards and handmade ornaments from a school in GA. It is nice to know that people are still willing to help others out. Which reminds me that I still need to get my gift for the Toys for Tots program.

On a side note it is amazing to me to see the homecomings going on again. The last brigade from the base is coming home two months early and will all be home in time for Christmas. How exciting is that? I still start to cry every time I see a Welcome home banner or see those ugly white buses roll by even though Matt has been home for almost 8 months now. Who knew that seeing plain white buses roll up could be the best thing in my life? Welcome Home 4th Brigade...We love all of you and can't wait until all of you are with your families again this holiday! ROCK OF THE MARNE!!!!

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Christmas is here...

I think my house is finally clean from the flu. Poor Matt had it Sunday. Now, everyone but the cat has gotten it. LOL We put the lights up on Saturday. It looks pretty. I will have to get pics when I get the chance. Why is it that when you put lights up, there is always one person on the block who has to top you? Sigh, everytime we put something up, one of the neighbors did. I found these really pretty snowflake lights and put them up...the next day the neighbor had snowflakes hanging...of course they do not light up like mine (I bought all the ones the store had. LOL) but still, come on. Oh well, now to come up with something to top that. HA HA



My mom is still here and bought Allie her Christmas outfit. I tried to get pics, but the child does not cooperate or sit still. LOL Here are a few attempts Enjoy:


Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Tis the Season

For sickness that is. There is a nasty bug going around here. You get really sick for about 8 hours and then you are fine. Allie had it the other day, the neighbors had it, and one of the other neighbors had it twice now. Blah. I am praying I do not get it. I cannot imagine getting sick with my incisison. It amazes me how quickly Allison can bounce back from stuff like that. One hour she is lying on the couch pale and barely moving and then as quick as she can be she is up and running around again. Crazy kids. LOL
I am so excited to decorate for Christmas this year. I have plans. I told Matt we need about a zillion lights. LOL He said no way because he is the one who has to put them up. I love this time of year. You can even feel the buzz in the air. I had Matt pull down the boxes this morning so maybe later this afternoon I will start going through them. Of course that is in between getting ready for tomorrow. We are having a few of the single soldiers over again this year. We will see how many show up. Usually we get one or two who swear they are coming and then don't show. Frustrating....

Saturday, November 22, 2008

No fun

So I had surgery on Tuesday and it sucks. I hate being so helpless and weak. I think I pushed myself a bit too much yesterday because I was bleeding a little bit and really sore this morning when I got up. I feel like I am trapped in the house and so I made Matt help me walk to the mailbox with me. Big mistake I guess. Of course it doesn't help that I live upstairs. Matt and my Mom have been great helping me, but I am one of those people who likes to do things themselves. I hate asking for help. Oh well, I guess I will have to do it a little longer.

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Random thoughts...

It is funny how things go sometimes. You fall out with people and move on, but they seem to be stuck in the same position. I look at some of Matt's friends and they are in the exact same place as they were three years ago when Matt and I got married. Some of them still live at home with their parents, have no jobs, and look like they are going nowhere.
A friend of mine the other day told me a good saying and I have been thinking about it alot. It went, show me your friends and I will tell you who you are. It rings true in a matter of sense. I look at who I am with now and I am glad to say I have cut out much of the people who took in the friendship rather than gave as well. One in particular, I am sort of glad to see go. I look at who she surrounds herself with now and it makes me wonder why we ever became friends in the first place. Hmmm, maybe having Allie changed everything. Maybe that maternal instinct kicked in and showed me who people really are. It really amazes me all the things I missed over the years and now when I look back, man I looked like a fool. All the things that were lied about and things that were copied. Everything we did, this family had to do. The scary thing is they even went and bought not just the same car, but the same color and everything. Who does that? There is so much more, but I would need volumes to fill it all. I am ready to let the past lie and move on. Too bad Matt isn't. Sigh, he sees what I see, but feels that we should be fake towards them and make it all seem like everything is okay. Not my style at all. I am an honest up front person. Oh well, enough of my rant, since this is what it turned into....

Thursday, November 6, 2008

Stress, Stress, and more stress

Life certainly has a way of testing you. Stess seems to be number one on my list lately. I swear everything happens all at once. Ahhh! I am nervous as all heck about my impending surgery in two weeks. It is so bad, I am not really sleeping and when I do sleep I have nightmares. BLAH. I feel like I am always hungry and want to eat all the time...I am sure that is from the stress. Of course with Matt getting out soon things are already stressful enough. Now, he is talking about re-enlisting again. That makes ME nervous. He heard that one of his buddy's is getting a $20,500 bonus just to re-enlist and now it has his little mind going. I don't know what is right. I want to do what is best for our family and I am not sure what that is. I know if he stays in the Army, he will most likely deploy at least one, maybe two more times. If he gets out, then who knows what the future holds. I know it will be tough, but I know that whatever we decide we will get through it. At least that is what I tell myself everyday. Oh well, that is enough of my rambling for now....it really helps to get it out sometimes.

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Ooooh, food...


Here is a pic of Allison eating some yummy rice. Can you tell she likes it? I am entering it in a photo contest over at 5 minutes for mom the prize is a $500 grocery gift card!! Hopefully she will win.

Monday, November 3, 2008

Is it Christmas already?

I swear it comes earlier every year. Usually you get hit with the decorations around Halloween and then the stores start playing the music around mid-November. Well, not around here. We went to Walmart yesterday (two days after Halloween) and they were ALREADY playing Christmas music. What the heck? Now, I will be the first to admit that I love Christmas music, but I think this is way too early for playing music in the stores. My mind is totally not ready for this. Heck, Thanksgiving is not even close yet. Grrr. Retailers. LOL

Anyways, Halloween was fun. Allie totally got into the whole trick or treating thing. Once she realized she was getting stuff from all these strangers, she was running from house to house. We only did a few streets because we really do not need too much candy (who does, right?) Matt is already planning our costumes for next year because he decided we need to do something as a family. We will see. Here are some pics of my little pirate...



Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Who makes the rules?

So we have been trying to buy a house for a while now. We had put in an offer to a house only to find out someone had already bought it. Of course we had gone through all the right channels and was pre-approved for a loan. Well, the loan expired and we called to get it renewed. Turns out doing a VA loan, you have to have at least a year left in the military or been out for two years. WTH? So we have been trying to get a loan through all different banks. No one will give us one. We get the same line from everyone, "You have great credit, that is not stopping us, it is just that you only have five months left in the military." We explain to them that Matt will be going to school and getting paid for it from the GI bill and I will most likely get a job. Matt will also be working. Apparently that is not enough. It really gets on my nerve because you can give an average person a loan and they could be out of a job in five months. How is that better than us who has a plan? GRRR!!! All I can say is THIS SUCKS!!! Now it looks like we will be renting for awhile...which I feel is a waste of money if we could be putting that money into a house of our own. DANG IT...why can't we be rich and just walk in a buy the house outright. LOL Stupid rules.

Monday, October 20, 2008

Pumpkins and more...


We were off to the pumpkin patch this weekend. It was pretty fun. We got lost in the corn maze for almost an hour...not so fun. LOL Allie had a great time. I guess you could not really call it a pumpkin patch so much as a farm with pumpkins on it. There were no fresh pumpkins to pick and they basically took store bought ones and put them on the ground. Oh well, it was still fun nonetheless.

Allie is still not sleeping. It is causing a bit of friction between Matt and I. I have tried everything. We will see if tonight is any better. I changed the sheets to completely new ones and hopefully it will work. You never know right?

We are getting new neighbors downstairs. They seem nice enough I guess. Supposedly they have a little girl who will be two in December, but I have not seen her yet. They seem pretty young. This is the hubby's first duty station so it will be interesting. Hopefully they are not too crazy and we can all get along. It will be nice to have another little girl around since Allie was surrounded by boys. Uh oh, she may have competition for her boyfriends now. LOL

Friday, October 17, 2008

Exhausted

I cannot tell you why, but for some reason, Allison is not sleeping at night anymore. All she wants to do is be held. It is making for a tired and cranky Mommy and Daddy. I think it should be if you start sleeping through the night, you should stay sleeping through the night. I mean at 14 months, you would think you need as much sleep as possible. I just don't get it. Blah, kids, right?

We are headed to the pumpkin patch this weekend with the kiddos next door and a few others. It will be alot of fun. It is so funny to see Allison playing with the twins. Even though they are two months younger than her, they are taller. She has two boyfriends, but definetly has a favorite. She follows Victor everywhere and he just laughs and babbles at her. Poor Daddy is already nervous that his little princess likes boys. LOL I wonder if they actually understand each other and their babbling. Sometimes it seems like they do, but others they just talk at each other. It is still cute nonetheless.

Matt and I are doing this diet thing. Of course Matt is eating more, but losing way more weight. It is so not fair. I eat way less and run after a 14 month old all day and he loses more weight. ICK! Well, hopefully I will still lose weight in the long run. We are going to buy a jogging stroller so we can start jogging in the evenings. We tried with our stoller, but it just does not work. I guess that is why they make jogging strollers. LOL
Here is a pic of Allie and Daddy at Oktoberfest a few weekends ago. Just for your viewing pleasure of course. LOL

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

It has been a long time

Eeek, I am horrible. I totally forgot about this after I moved back to Georgia. Things have been going great. Matt came back from Iraq, we went on vacation to Disneyworld and Atlanta, and are in the process of purchasing a home. We are preparing since Matt gets out of the Army in March. Allison is one and boy she sure is trying to exert her independence. I can sense that the terrible two's have started and may not end for a looooong time. She is a character though. You can definetly tell when she has done something she is not supposed to have done. She has this look. Well, now that I remember that this is here, hopefully I will keep it updated.
Lisa