New toys!

Goodbye, small wooden train table. You were cute, but this new Step 2 train table is what's up now.

Wilson is in love with his new table. A table in which, I don't have to constantly fix the tracks, because they are BUILT IN!  

My sanity is somewhat restored, though it may never be fully regained. 

In the background, you can see another toy, that had to be put together. And that will be Callie's favorite toy. She absolutely loves cozy coupes. Any time we've gone over to friend's houses, and they have one, she immediately goes over to it. 

Next up on my big ticket toy item, is hunting for a doll house. Hopefully our next house has enough room! 

Meal Planning

I made a facebook status about meal planning for 2 weeks and it caught some interest. So I thought I'd hop over here and share what meals I will be making for the next two weeks.

1. Monday: Stuffed Pepper Soup and a loaf of french bread
2. Tuesday: Taco Pasta Bake
3. Wednesday: Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole
4. Thursday: Leftovers
5. Friday: Doritos Bake 
6. Saturday: Baked Penne
7. Sunday: Easy Chimi Changas and Spanish Rice
8. Monday: Mac n' Cheesy Chicken Stuffed Shells and veggies.
9. Tuesday: Pulled Pork Sandwiches and Pasta Salad
10.  Wednesday: Tater Tot Casserole
11. Thursday: Leftovers
12.  Friday: 3 Envelope Picante Roast and Mashed Potatoes
13. Saturday: Pot Roast Sliders -using Friday's left overs.

I switch it up every 2 weeks and try to make something different. Making dinners with Andy on swings is a little tougher, and a little lonelier when eating. But we normally always have leftovers, and since Andy isn't home, I basically pack up what would be his portion, and he takes it into work the next day. So we save money by him not eating out all the time.

It's crazy how fast money can just disappear when one eats out everyday for a meal. This has helped us cut back on a lot of extraneous purchasing, we haven't been eating fast food as often, although on his days off, we will hit up a fast food place.

Luckily for me the kids will eat everything, except for the Stuffed Pepper Soup. Last time I made that one, neither of them would eat it and only ate their bread. So we will see how this time goes.

Floridays are coming our way!

Finally, after MONTHS, of wondering where the heck were Andy's orders? We have finally orders, and while they might not be the most amazing orders ever. It is one of the places of the possible 6 that we were hoping for.

Sadly, no European or Asian travels are in our horizons, (yet) but we will be moving to Florida, the Sunshine state!

Eglin AFB to be more exact. I enjoyed getting to live on the Gulf when we lived at Keesler, and I'm sure I am going to enjoy living there again, especially now that my kids don't hate sand!

On a funny note, here is how our day went: I woke up, surfed facebook, saw that one of the people Andy was grouped with for getting orders, posted a status about going to North Carolina. I, then freak out, run upstairs, wake Andy up.

"BABY! I THINK THE ORDERS CAME OUT!" -Me

"For waking me up, I'm going to take my sweet time telling you where our orders are going to be." - Andy, and then he goes back to sleep.

"OMG WAKE UP! YOU NEED TO GO AND CHECK AND TELL MEEEEEEE!"

*snore*


About an hour later he got up and ready and went and then called me.

"Well baby, we didn't get our number 1. So where do you think we are going?" -Andy

"We are going to Nebraska." I said this very sadly.

"No, not going there, where else do you think?" -Andy, amused with my negativity.

"We are staying here at Barksdale." I said this even more sadly.

"No, we aren't we are definitely moving." Andy, still amused.

"We are going to North Carolina?" Now I'm just confused.

"No baby, we are going to Florida!" - Andy is clearly exasperated with me.

"OOOOOHHHHH! YAY! WE GOT OUR SECOND CHOICE!!!!" Me, actually relieved and happy again.


So now, we are trying to figure out what is going to happen from here, Andy is supposed to go TDY and get training for 2 months, and then out process, but since we are supposed to be moving in December, there may not be enough time to get everything done, and we may be following Andy TDY enroute PCS mode. (I don't know what the technical term for all this military jargon would be) but basically, we would pack everything up here, outprocess out, go down with Andy to his training site, live in a TLF for 2 months, then when he is done, we would all go to Eglin together.

I don't know for sure yet if that is actually going to happen this way, so we shall see in the coming weeks, what exactly the plan is!

Cute story about Wilson.

This past Wednesday, I took the kids out for the afternoon to give Andy some time to study for Staff Sgt. Test. 

We stopped at Cullen park and it was really hot and muggy because it was like four in the afternoon and there was hardly any shade. 

The kids didn't really want to play very much because it was just so hot and as we are getting ready to leave Wilson ran over to this big tree and he  noticed that there was a hole  in the base of the tree and he would not leave it alone he was so entranced by it. 

As I got closer he started to tell me he was saying "Mommy, mommy Totoro sleeping! Totoro lives in tree. Where are you Totoro? He sleeping. Come out, come out wherever you are!"

It was super cute watching  him do that and speaking fairly well. The only thing was, I was a little nervous about if there was some wild raccoon or snake in there, so I had to go in there and check it out make sure that there wasn't anything that would attack him. But he  was for sure certain that Totoro was living in that tree. 

Callie at 18 months.

Today Callie had her checkup!  I have been a little worried about her weight, but she gained weight, and actually climbed up the chart scale. So mommy is happy to hear that. 

At 18 months:

your child is 23 pounds, and that is
at the 28th percentile for weight.

your child is 32.5 inches, and that is
at the 70th percentile for height.

your child has a head circumference of 18.9 inches, and that is
at the 85th percentile for head circumference.

So right now she is tallish, and skinny, with a big head! And this I know! I have lots of tops that I have a hard time getting over her big head! 

We had to wait about 20 minutes to get her immunizations, so we walked around.  

I know looks aren't everything, and I hope Callie will grow up and not be obsessed with her looks, but seriously, almost everyone commented on how beautiful she is. 

Of course, had she been screaming and fussing, I doubt I would've gotten as many comments. But, she was happy to be walking all around and smiling and saying "hi!" To everyone. 

Sadly, Callie had to get 5 shots today, and it was so sad! I had to keep from crying too much myself, but I HATED hearing her scream from the pain. 

You know your children's cries, and there have only been very very very few times you hear these cries. I hate the look like "mommy, why is this happening?!" 

Ugh, just breaks my heart! But it's over, she got a lollipop and even told everyone "Bye-bye!" So I know it wasn't that bad. 

She came home and ate, was happy, took her nap, played a lot more. And in general, was a good girl today. Luckily, no adverse reactions, and no fever! 

Wilson got to have some Daddy time today as well! He and daddy went to the pool and swam for a couple hours. Daddy has been studying for a test to hopefully move up in rank. So he took some time off and it has been nice. When he goes back to work after the test, we will be a family trying to survive the dreaded "swing" shift which is 3pm to 11 pm. But since we live out in the boonies it's more like 230 pm to 1130 pm. And on pt days, it's like 1130am-1130 pm. 

This shift really sucks for us as a 1 car family. And it's really hard on me as a parent, I almost feel like I get no break. So 2 months of it to go. *sigh* I think this shift would be hard for older kids too, basically it's just not a good shift for a family. It's a poopy shift. 

Secret playgrounds!

So some lucky people get one thing: no street behind their house so they don't have a neighbor facing the opposite street, which means they actually have a backyard! 

And, some even luckier people, get to have a yard, and their own little playground as well! 

The past couple days, we have been going for a walk, and then stopping and playing at this one particular playground. 

I've walked before and noticed how this sidewalk would go behind a house, but I never went to go see what it led to. Until, 3 days ago. *cue dramatic music* 

What a stroke of fabulous luck! *does a happy dance, while simultaneously, becoming  immediately envious* 

I would sell my firstborn child, if I could have a house with this secret playground/backyard combination. 

Sorry Wilson! 

Anyhoo, it's been a lot of fun for the kids, and pure torture for me! Hey! You try pushing your kids around for an hour in this hot weather! And then go home and slave away, feeding and changing them, and giving them every comfort, all while you are hot, stinky, and sweaty! 

Well, I'm trying to do it, to umm, be in better shape. But seriously, I'd rather just stay at home and play candy crush saga. 

But I need activity. When I stopped breast feeding, I kept eating like I was breast feeding and gained about 8 pounds. Which doesn't seem like a lot. And it's not. But sadly, you don't get to pick weight distribution. (Because I totally would've put those 8 pounds straight to the boobs and booty!) So I hope by practically walking myself into a heat stroke, I will drop a few of those pounds.  

Happy times.

It's starting to be summer. Oh my gosh. Hotness. Took the kids to the park over on the Main Base. And I about died! 

I love air conditioning so much, I wanna take it behind a middle school, and get it pregnant. (30 Rock reference anyone?) 

 I don't know why when I share pictures on my phone they are grainy. So here's hoping they aren't. So you can see all the cuteness radiating from us. Especially me. 

Not everyone can wear no makeup and still be as good looking. Well, some of you can. Maybe all of you. I don't know. Take some selfies of yourself and let's compare? 

Anyways pictures huzzah!