Our Weekend

AJ wasn't feeling all that great this week and by the time Friday rolled around, we all were ready for a nice, relaxing weekend at home.  I'm glad we didn't make any real plans because she ended up coming down with some sniffles yesterday and was pretty sad.

Saturday we just stayed home, D mowed the lawn in the morning and then during nap time I ventured out to the grocery store for our week's worth of food.  D recently told me that he wants to eat healthier, so naturally I made some super unhealthy snacks for game day!  In my defense, we were planning on watching some football, and I had planned on making the stuff before he told me that, honest!

I was really considering going to the Commissary for my groceries because its much, much cheaper than our local grocery store, but luckily decided to just stick close to home.  I'm glad I did, because I totally forgot that the Commissary was having a case lot sale this weekend and I heard it was a total madhouse!

After I got home I made the snacks real fast and we got to watch the second half of the Army v. Northern Illinois game while munching on Buffalo Chicken Dip and Lil Smokies in BBQ sauce.  It was super yummy!

Today has been the official starting day of potty training, take 50.  AJ has just been having so much trouble with it, mostly because of the power struggle.  Every time we start to try it I decide she isn't ready and we go back to diapers.  Well, this time is starting out a lot like all the other times, but D and I are ready for her to be done with diapers, so we're going to really stick with it.  She has the ability to do it, but she doesn't care, so that has been our struggle so far.  Not to mention that she wants to do what she wants to do, when she wants to do it.  Have I mentioned she's 2?

Cross your fingers for us and if you have any helpful tips or words of advice for us on the whole potty training a strong-willed child, please, pass them along!

This afternoon we're heading across the street for a birthday party.  AJ's BFF turned 2 last weekend and today is her party.  With potty training and the sniffles, I'm not sure how long we'll last over there, hopefully long enough for some cake!

Weekend Wrap-Up

We had a pretty fun weekend! On Friday D didn't get home until 7, but that is okay because we were planning on having some of the guys he works with over to our house for a little get-together. I made cheese dip (Velveeta and Ro*tel) for dinner at like 5 when I fed AJ and then later that evening we had brat burgers, hotdogs, steak and lots of other goodies like chips, more cheese dip, and brownies.

The guys all said they were glad they came and it was nice for me to get a chance to meet the people that D has been working with (and will be working with when they're in the field in a few weeks).

Saturday we got up and got moving because we had a lunch date with some friends. They have only been here a few weeks (maybe a month or two) and they just found out that they're PCSing again (very unexpectedly). By random stroke of luck, I was able to find them a house to rent in our neighborhood and they took us out to thank us. They have a daughter who is a little younger than AJ and the girls get along so well. Its fun to watch them together.

After that we just basically spent the rest of the day laying around and being lazy. After AJ went to bed I made an early Valentine's Day dinner for me and D to enjoy. I have been saving a recipe for Penna a la Vodka for a while and I finally made it last night. It was fantastic and I plan on sharing it with you all soon!

On Sunday morning D got up and headed over to our next-door-neighbor's house to help them take down their temporary fence so they can get their permanent one put in next week. AJ and I literally layed on the couch in our jammies for the morning and then did more of the same all afternoon.

I made more cheese dip for the Super Bowl and we enjoyed watching the commercials. We don't really care about either team, so it wasn't really about the game for us. As fun as it would have been to go to a party, we're both pretty happy that we stayed in a spent the time relaxing together.

I've got some information on the status of our move and the possibilities that await us, so I'll be back soon to update you all on that!

Army-Navy Weekend

We had such a fun time in Washington, D.C. for Army-Navy weekend!

D got off work early so we were able to leave here mid-afternoon. That meant we weren't too late getting in, and the boys (ages 5 & 3) were awake and waiting for Miss AJ to arrive! The three kiddos played until almost 11 when we finally put AJ down and crashed ourselves.

AJ did not nap on Friday and was over-tired from no nap and staying up late so she did not sleep well at all the first night we were there. She and I were sharing a room, so I was VERY tired Saturday from her waking me up over and over!

Saturday morning the kids played after we had breakfast and then we got everyone dressed and ready for the day's events. We took the Metro into the city, where D, his friend, and W, their older boy went to the game while the girls and PJ, the younger boy, went to the Smithsonian Natural History museum! Yep, there were two Mamas and 3 kids at the museum (we had a double stroller and a wheelchair we were pushing around--people were moving out of our way!). We were a little outnumbered, but it was very fun!

I was a terrible blogger and I literally only took 1 picture the entire time we were at the museum. My friend took some pictures of the kids and things, but I haven't gotten them from her yet, so maybe I'll post them when I get them!

AJ was so funny at the museum. She had certain things that she would focus on and she didn't want to move forward to see other exhibits, she just wanted to stay where she was. The first time this happened we were in the room with all the skeletons and bones. She found funny chairs and just wanted to sit there and hang out. Later she got hung up on the actual map of the exhibits that was situated at the beginning of where all the taxidermied animals were. Once we got her moving again she went crazy for the animals, but she really liked the sign! Ha! Kids are so funny sometimes.

As I'm sure you know, Army lost (again--10 years in a row, WOW). Its okay, the guys had tons of fun and it was really just great to be able to spend time with our good friends again! The last time we saw their kids was PJ's baptism in 2009, and they saw AJ when she was about 3 months old, so its been a while! It was also the first time the boys and AJ had met. They had so much fun playing together and AJ was walking around the house yelling out PJ's name Saturday night! So cute!

We got up Sunday morning and drove home. Its not too far, so we were able to get home by mid-afternoon and put AJ down for a nap to try and catch her up on some of the sleep she missed this weekend with all the fun and excitement!

All in all, it was a great weekend and I think we're both hoping that we'll be able to get back up to D.C. again and spend some time actually touring the city, going to the monuments and doing all the touristy stuff! I know I haven't done that in years and would love to go back and see it all again as an adult.

Go Army, Beat Navy!

Since we finally live close enough to the location of the Army-Navy game, we decided to make the drive up for the weekend and go to the game. D has obviously been to the game when he was a cadet, but he hasn't been since he was in school.

AJ and I will not be attending the game itself, but we're planning to go tailgate and hang out before the game and then we'll probably head back to hang out with our friends we're staying with while D and his friend go to the game!


I'm excited to see our friends again (its been a long time since we've seen them) and I'm really excited that D will get to go to the game again!

I'll be back next week with updates!

Our Life In iPhone Pics

AJ has been feeling a little under the weather the past few days, so we've mostly been hanging around the house.  We like to watch college football and this weekend we got super lucky and both my team and D's team were on TV here!  We both eked out wins, too!

AJ was representing both our teams all day on Saturday--she was wearing the t-shirt for my alma mater and D's Army boots (along with her jammie pants, of course)!

Here she is posing with the Army megaphone in hopes of an Army win!

I have also noticed over the past few days that the temper tantrums have increased in duration and frequency.  I think we're definitely inching closer and closer toward the terrible two's!  Heaven help me!  The thing about these tantrums that is different from before is that she's not really mad about anything like she was before (when she was banging her head on the floor), she just isn't getting her way.  She usually throws herself on the floor and just cries or yells.  It looks a lot like this (please note that this particular tantrum lasted well over 15 minutes in this position):

The best (or most amusing) part about these tantrums is that if I give in and let her have her way, she looks at me, instantly stops crying, smiles and says, "Tan You!" which is her version of thank you.

I did a little crafting and made a little something for our front hallway table.  I went a little crazy at Kohl's the other day and the table was a little lopsided, so I added this:

I made the little tree.  By made I mean, I walked out into my yard, found some twigs and spray painted them white, then made a little bunting banner that reads: "Happy Halloween".  The best part is that I can always make a new banner for each holiday if I want to!

One of the most random things that happened lately was I received a package from allrecipes.com that contained two orange reusable shopping bags.  I'm not sure why I received them (thinking it was because I'm a contributing member--I paid $25/year or something?  I don't know.) but I like it.

Fiiiiiinally, AJ is officially stealing my clothes and shoes.  We've actually had a lot of shoe sagas lately, more about that soon.  She has decided that she'd rather wear my shoes around the house.

She also has a new-found love for Nutella.

Girl has her priorities in line.

Longing For Fall...

Lately, with the temperatures and humidity we've been having in my neck of the woods (and the rest of the country) I've found myself dreaming of Fall. I love Fall. There's something about cool, crisp weather and football that makes my heart happy.

I think I've been struggling with the realization that since we live in the south now, Fall will most likely be short lived. I'm a Midwestern girl at heart, so I'm used to cool temperatures and changing leaves from about September until November. I have a feeling that we're not going to get much relief from the heat until at least September, and more likely October. Boo. Oh well, a girl can dream, right?

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Who wouldn't love to be strolling (or running) along this path right now? I know I would!

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Oh, football! I love me some college football. Brings me right back to the Saturday mornings I spent tailgating and then screaming my head off for my team!

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I don't think I need to explain how wonderful the seasonal coffee drinks are at everyone's favorite coffee shop.

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To me, there is nothing better than a cool Fall night to have a big bonfire. In the south you almost can't even enjoy a bonfire until the weather cools off at night, and that isn't usually until at least September.

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I love a nice, hot apple cider come October. Yummmmm.

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We carved pumpkins the past two years, but this year I think I want to try something like this for the front porch. We do live in the south now, and southerners love their monograms, right?

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Lastly, I can't wait for Thanksgiving to roll around so I have many excuses to indulge in some of my favorite thing ever, pumpkin pie.

So, what about you? Are you counting down the days until Fall and cooler weather get here? Or maybe you're trying to soak up the final days of summer and sunshine?

I have decided to suck it up and write a post for you all since I promised last time that I was working on a post. When I wrote that, I had ever intention of doing just that, working on the post. Let me be honest here. I have not written a word for that post since I started it! Ha.

The past week has been busy. D and I had a talk about finances because I've determined that my previous plan of "spending less money" wasn't really working all that well for my goal of "saving more money." I have looked into Dave Ramsey's plans in the past and while its not completely for us, I like some of the aspects of it, so we're doing a modified version. I sat down the other day and really laid out what our monthly expenses are and I think we have a solid plan in place. There is something to be said about simply discussing and coming to an agreement. I feel like our goals are actually attainable now. Funny how that works, huh?

Anyways, I also decided this week that I spend too much time on the computer. I want to get to know people here and make friends and I'm not going to do that on Facebook. I've been really putting forth an effort to keep my computer in the office and not in the common living areas anymore. I think that has helped a lot. Don't get me wrong, I'm still going to Facebook, and blog and all that, I just don't want to feel like I'm tethered to status updates. Ever feel that way? My cutting back on Internet and computer time has been part of the reason I've been slacking on blogging lately.

I have some crafts and sewing projects that I'm working on that I really can't work on while AJ's awake, so that leaves nap time, which is when I typically write my blog posts.

I've also been busy meeting new friends! Yesterday D got done with work early, and I had been invited to join a bunch of girls to go to a movie, so I went! We saw The King's Speech and it was awesome! I had no idea what it was about before it started, and I'm not usually into historical movies, but I loved it. I laughed, I cried, fantastic! Afterwards we walked over to the frozen yogurt place and my life was complete. Ha.

Last night we ordered Chinese food and had our neighbor over to hang and eat with us. They just moved in and her hubby had to go back to our old duty station for a few more weeks, so she's alone. We like her, so we do nice, neighborly things like make her come over and eat and hang out with us.

This morning we decided that it was time to venture out in the rain and check out some mattress stores in the area. We want a mattress for our guest room and the tax refund finally came, so off we went! We were in and out of the mattress store in no time (and we got a great deal on a mattress) so we headed to the Mecca (aka, Tarjay). Apparently everyone else on Earth also decided that this afternoon was a perfect time to hit up the holy land. I mean, I knew it would be crowded and all, it being Saturday afternoon, but come on. It was ridiculous. D and I were both like, seriously? I've never seen a store so busy in my life, except maybe Costco on a Tuesday ;). We also went to Home Depot and bought a ladder. Oh the joys and excitement of home-ownership.

So there you have it, my week in a nutshell. Not super eventful, but that's kind of how I roll these days. We've mainly just been enjoying the new house (more pictures to come of the guest room once the mattress gets delivered) and spending time together while D is working mostly short days. Pretty soon he'll have to actually work and then I have a feeling that we'll rarely see him.

Look for me in a few days, I should have found enough motivation to write my other post by then! Otherwise, if you don't hear from me for a few days, don't worry, all is well!

Oh, and GO STEELERS!

(We're Bears fans in this house, so I think legally we're not allowed to root for the Packers...)

Go Army!

Sink Navy!


While I've never made it to the game, I always look forward to this weekend! I'm really hoping that this year Army wins (since they finally have a shot!).

We're all decked out in our black and gold today and we're heading to a friend's house to cheer on the Black Knights!

The Killer Wait!

We had a fun weekend! Saturday evening we went to dinner and watched the Iowa v. Michigan game with D's 1SG. Iowa won (of course) and it was a fun time! Sunday we went to a "tailgate" party on post with a bunch of people D works with. We had hash and eggs, teriyaki kebabs, steaks, tons of stuff! We watched a few of the games, but the Bears weren't on this weekend, so we left and went to Cabela's during the afternoon game.

Now that Monday is done and this week has officially started we are just waiting for Abby and Z to come to visit on Thursday, the next prenatal appointment on Friday and our 20 week ultrasound on Monday. I think Saturday I am going to take the kiddos down to Seattle and do the whole REI thing and Pike Place Market. We will have to see what they want to do. D has a competitive shooting match Saturday, so he will be there for part of the day and will join us later for fun and excitement (and probably dinner).

Abby had some excitement this weekend. She got a new toy since Monkey Man passed last week. The only problem is, she can never find it! LOL.