Keeping on that Fashion Train on a budget Spring 2015

Being a Mom is hard. Especially when it comes to our wardrobe. Long gone are the days of always having the latest trends in clothes, shoes, and bags. Now the kids have the latest while ours is struggling.  Well NO MORE for this mom.
Now yes I still love to head out in Jeans and a shirt, AND the 4 yr old is in constant need of clothes. So how do we do both? Let's face it some of us are tired of looking and feeling frumpy. I'm not saying go out and burn all of your yoga pants. Let's face it too clothes are pricey and they don't last, so when we buy for ourselves we want something that will last.

I love trends but now that we are a 1 income family and the kids constantly need clothes my wardrobe takes a back seat. Last spring I had enough of feeling frumpy and I started to make a change in my wardrobe. I still have all of my comfy clothes, bum clothes, etc. I went through my closet and purged some items and took them to a consignment store. I got an in store credit and used it to purchase a few new and new to me pieces. I scored a brand new J Crew red skirt that I LOVE!

I glanced through some fashion magazines to see what was going to be in style for Spring. I only purchased a few pieces that I could mix and match with what I already own. BOOM I had just created several outfits to have me looking in style. I went to tjmaxx, Marshalls, and Old Navy for my shopping. I also scored somethings at Ann Taylor Loft Factory. Late Spring/Early summer I did the same thing. I bought a couple of pieces (some classic, some trendy) to create some cute summer outfits. Fall and winter I kinda dropped the ball because let's face it sweaters and jeans are what I want to wear LOL.

Here we are Spring is here again and oh la la the color palette is all over the place. Mint Green, Sherbert Orange, Fushia, Royal Blue/Electric Blue mixed with yellow and white. I have also seen grey mixed with the orange and green.

Last year I scored A mint green summer weight sweater at ON. Hooray for it being in this spring. Same goes for the orange. So all I have purchased for this Spring is a pair of Blue Pixie pants from Old Navy and a white boyfriend button down shirt. I went to TJ Maxx and scored a Nine West yellow purse on clearance for under $20. Now all I need to complete the outfit is a necklace to pull it together. I'm not a huge yellow fan so going with an inexspensive bag or jewelry helps. The shirt I know I will use again with other pieces I own. Now I just need the weather to warm up so that I can wear my new outfits. I might even find a pair of grey pants to mix up with my mint green sweater. Here is my new outfit for Spring.

The fight for the RIGHT Diagnosis

Today Annalise had her full 4 hour testing for Autism. Now they are saying that she is NOT autistic. That's not how it sounded a month ago. I was warned that this would happen.

While Annalise shows the behavior side of Autism, she does not display the social communications deficit. So in other words they are saying she is NOT on the spectrum.  That's great right? But why do I feel that sense of dread that because she is so social thanks to my training that this could come back to haunt us down the road. They only spend a short time with her I spend all day with her and I see a lot more than anyone else. I'm worried that she is on the cusp of the spectrum and it could hurt her in school because of not getting the proper diagnosis NOW. I also feel like the stuff that screams autism is being downplayed because of her being a love bug. Every child is different.

They did say that she has a sensory processing disorder but won't put it on paper in those words due to insurance companies do NOT recognize it. SERIOUSLY?

They did give her a diagnosis of feeding disorder and delayed milestones. So they have suggested therapy and OT for Anna. We are still waiting for an OT since the last visit. They kept saying she has a rigid temperament. Well NO kidding.

This was just their summary today and I was told that they would email me their full findings. They also said that if the therapies do not work we would talk meds. Uh hold up why does she need meds? She's not add or adhd.

I am going to ask the pediatrician next month if he can get us a second opinion if necessary. They didn't even test her for 4 hours like I was told so. So we shall see.

I guess my biggest thing is  All of her behavior POINTS to autism, techniques and therapies for kids with autism work wonderfully for her, then HOW is she not mildly or should I say HIGHLY functioning autistic? All because she is social and smart? I'm sorry but I don't buy that.

Is my kid Autistic?

Anna was born a healthy child. She hit all of the milestones as a baby right on target. Was always high in percentile with her height and weight. Even when she started eating solids she would devour everything. Everything was going great until she hit 18 months old. I watched my baby girl go from eating everything to pretty much nothing and I do mean nothing. I talked with the pediatrician and he noted that there were some small red flags for autism but he was not worried about them. I was worried but trusting this Dr. when he told me this. As time went on we saw flourish with her intelligence and mastering things but the food aversions remained and got worse. There was a lot of refusal to potty train which may have been some negligence on my part. Over time I kept voicing my concerns to the Dr and time and time again he pointed out that she shows little signs but he's not worried. At this point I am talking to friends of mine with children on the spectrum (Thank you Theresa, Erin, and Teesha!) I see Anna doing some of the stuff but not all. I am being very vigilant at this point.

Fast forward to this summer where the signs are getting worse, She has become the work of TWO children. Yes she appears normal and if you are around her you would not really pick up on it, well someone did. I was asked if Anna had asburgers syndrome. I had silently thought this but to have someone who had just met my child ask me floored me. She saw in 5 minutes what our last pediatrician ignored in my opinion. When we returned from our summer travels I immediately started the process to get her tested.

We waited 2 months for our appointment this week. I was under the impression that it would be the full on testing, it was not. It was an assessment to see if she needed further testing. Which she does. Because she is so young they did not want to put her through the ringer if not need be. During the assessment the doctor saw what I have been seeing since Anna was 18 months old. She said that all of Anna's behavior is Autistic but she needs more testing for the social side. Anna displayed some of the social cues but not enough to get a diagnosis that day. Anna definitely has sensory processing disorder, hence the non potty trained, texture issues, food aversions, and the reactions to really loud noises.  When she explained how hard it is for Anna to process things it broke my heart. I knew that she was struggling but I didn't know how bad. It still makes me cry thinking about it. She did say that Anna is very smart and high functioning which is awesome.

Course of treatment to help Anna: She has to see a nutritionist, food therapist, and receive Occupational therapy. We are worried about the OT as the doc said that our tricare does not cover it. I am looking into programs out there to help cover the cost just in case they won't cover it. She suggested 2 books for us to read to help. We are now waiting for ANOTHER appointment for the testing which could be January at the earliest. There are programs we can apply for, to help but we have to have the diagnosis in writing. It's very frustrating. I feel like like I am right back where I started from.
At least now I know that I AM NOT crazy. That I was not forcing something on my kid. Yes people actually told me this when I had mentioned the issues I was having with Anna and the testing.

Now to start the barage of appointments to help my baby girl.

Once Upon A time Love Not Hate

I feel compelled to write SOMETHING in response to yesterday's events. It has been eating away at me ever since I saw the first hateful bitchy tweet yesterday. An attack was made on a show and it's creative team that is VERY dear to me and for that I cannot be silent.

Let me tell you a little story to start out. 2 years ago I was sad to learn that an actress from How I met your Mother was leaving to pursue a leading role on another show. I had to know what this show was. It was called Once Upon A Time. I was delighted to learn that another actress that I adore would be starring as well. Miss Ginnifer Goodwin, not to mention that it's a fantasy fairytale show. That's enough for me I was onboard. So I WAITED for it to air, then to my amazing delight I saw that my FAVE pirate Lee Arenberg had a role. This was fabulous in my eyes. Throughout the pilot I was introduce to my Beloved team 7, as well as other characters. When it ended I was left craving for more. Each week a new story was brought to me, I devoured it like I was starving. Once was feeding a need that has been neglected for so long, I did not realize it was still there.
I was 36 years old married, with a baby. FULLY grown up no time for fun, fantasy or creativity. I'm also married to an officer in the Navy which means always on display. Have to behave and act accordingly. No time for fantasy. Have to be a grown up.(Especially when they can be so boring) Growing up I was BIG into theater but as I grew up it was not cool or accepted in my circles to be artsy, fantasy and the likes. No time for that when you have bills to pay, etc. Soon I saw that Once had spread to twitter where I met the most wonderful people. I could tweet for hours with people who accepted me for ME! I was allowed to indulge in arts, fantasy, etc and it was encouraged. I have become very close with some of my oncer sisters that I love dearly. We shared all of our interests, even those outside of once. Also I would be wrong if I did not mention the Oncer guys I met as well. Neil we miss you! ( I hope you know who you lovely ladies are, April, Abbe, Kim, Karen, just to name a few LOVE YOU GUYS!) I got connected with the awesome guys who portray #TEAM7 and it just spread like wildfire. I regained my courage to be me in real life as well as online. With the support from my once family I can be me in everyday life now and not care what others think. (THANK YOU FOR THAT!) I got to attend a con a few months ago and meet Lee and He was awesome of course. I also had the pleasure of meeting one of my Once Sisters and her sister who rock!

So let's fast forward to yesterday. To be honest I do not know all of the details because there are too many. I started seeing the angry, hateful tweets all over twitter after the panel at comic con yesterday. I saw Adam standing up for himself and his show. Yet people were still being hateful and insulting to his creation. This is HIS creation HIS baby. Without it we would not even have once. A lot of hate and ruckus over a a ship called SWANQUEEN that was NEVER going to set sail. I understand that we as human beings are greedy and we want what we want. But this was insane. People were tweeting Adam in attack form, as well as "Good Luck with ratings" "We're done", etc. Someone even accused him of not standing up for the LGBT community( which is untrue he did). Again WOW all of this ugliness because certain people of a particular ship (I know it wasn't everyone) were disappointed. Not to mention all of the hate that Jennifer has received. Can we be grown ups here. Now I know that some are teens and still have a lot to learn. But common decency and manners is for all ages. If you want to abandon ONCE, sad to see you go but do so while keeping your hate and ugliness to yourself. I myself sent out some tweets hoping that people would read them and remember to be kind, calm down and think before tweeting. In turn only ONE of my tweets spread and I got ugliness my way. I'm okay with that. They did not bother to read all of my tweets no biggie. I did not respond to them personally as to not engage anyone.

To whom this may concern: When you attack Adam, or anyone else associated with #ONCE you are attacking my family and that is not okay. It is not up to you what the content of the show will be. Furthermore Adam and everyone else on the #ONCE team give up a LOT so that we can enjoy once. They pull all nighters writing scripts, production, etc again ALL for us fans. They miss meals, holidays, and general time with their families all so we can have Once Upon A Time. For that I personally am grateful to everyone that works to create Once Upon A time for us. This includes every from from Adam, the writers, production crews, Hair/makeup/costumes, security, Of course our beloved Actors and Actresses, and anyone else who works with ONCE. They give so much of themselves so we can be entertained. I think that deserves some gratitude, not hateful bitter tweets, etc. Once is about LOVE, accepting of everyone no matter your walk of life. I'm just so sad over this and very disappointed. Shock is an understatement. I guess I grew to expect more than that from our wonderful group of people. I have seen some ugly tweets from members in the past and did not speak up. Shame on me for that. Oncers we are better than this. Love Not hate. Instead of being negative how about we be positive. Appreciate the gift that has been given to us. Trust them on their journey that they are sharing with us. You never know there could be something coming that we will love and embrace, could be better than the ship you are shipping. But most of all Oncers Lets's be kind to one another instead of the other.

Death of A Friendship

Lately I have been doing my best to avoid airing my issues on the internet, But I am feeling so many emotions right now and well it's MY BLOG and I have to get this off of my chest.
 The past week has been a whirlwind of emotions and huge disappointment. I am not putting names in here because I am writing this to vent get it off of my chest not to be mean or expose the person. So please don't ask who.

I was so looking for my bestie and her husband coming to visit for commissioning week. This has been in the works for months. I have missed her so much. Miss our days of paling around Jacksonville doing our thing. During the past few months we had made plans around Graduation and a wedding they were staying for. Making sure that we would get equal amount of time in.

So I cleared my schedule for the week and spent lots of time preparing for their visit and the plans we had made. Finally it's the weekend they are to arrive and my husband drops a bomb on it. According to rules of his job they cannot stay at our house. he could get fired from his job but yet I pleaded with him that we could not yank my offer 2 days before they arrive. We needed to figure something out. (*BACKSTORY- They were coming up for graduation and a wedding. I knew they couldn't afford a hotel so I offered up my guest room, also a way to see them. Did not accept at 1st but called sometime later to ASK if the offer was still good and I said YES!)  The day came they arrived and hubby avoided us so as to not get caught since we were doing them a favor. Hubby avoided us the last few days he was home. I thought it was kinda worth it since she was my friend and I was so happy to be able to help her out and see her. I was informed they had to check with their friends and would let me know the plans for the week.
I secured a babysitter ($70) and ticket for graduation because SHE wanted me to go. I didn't have to go. But she's my friend so I made the effort and went. I was pretty much ignored except when I was paying for the beverages. I had sat down next to her and she told me to move so her hubby could sit next to her.(I spent the ceremony between her hubby and some complete stranger. I went for HER) I didn't think much of it until later. Moving on they go to after party and go out on their own and do not arrive back at house until 12:37 AM. My baby and I were asleep. Again no biggie. So Wednesday morning arrives and I am blocked in my driveway waiting on them to get up. So I am waiting, waiting, waiting and freaking waiting. FINALLY THEY EMERGE! Was looking forward to spending some time with them showing them around my new city. I did hint a few times that I was going to go somewhere to run an errand and still I was blocked in my driveway. But whatever right? I was about to go hang with my buddy.  So they come out ready to go and inform me that they were going off ALONE and let it be known that I was not invited. When I asked about dinner (in beforehand plans she had said if I bought groceries we would cook at my house every night so I did. but as of this time they had eaten somewhere else every night. So glad I dropped $200 at the store on food I DIDN'T NEED) She said they would be eating in the city. I was like WTF in my head. I smiled and kept on being the gracious hostess who was being blown off every day. She then mentioned they would be going back into the city on Friday and I quickly added that I would love to join them and show them around. Her response was "I have to check with Ashley and make sure she doesn't need me." Are you F'ing kidding me!!!!!!!! She might as well have slapped or spit in my face. Now to be fair when they first told me they were going in the city and I wasn't invited my response was You're F'ing stupid for going in the city at this time of day. I was going to apologize later but I cannot apologize to someone who is not around. Her hubby had made the comment of well you will have her tomorrow night while I'm at the bachelor party. Without missing a beat I returned with Yay fun for me. night plans while my kid is sleeping. cannot go anywhere whoo hoo. My tone was dripping with sarcasm by the way. Again another late night and I was prepping for bed when they returned. I had taken my daughter out for dinner, ice cream and duck feeding since Our guests did not want to spend time with us.
So the day of Hell came. I awoke at 6:30 to hear Anna crying. I was praying she would go back to sleep. She did drift off. I just got that bad Mom feeling so I went to check on her. She was covered in puke (this had also happened Tuesday Morning) So I cleaned her up and immediately she got sick out the bum bum this time. Called the Dr. and they told me to take her to the ER. She had a temp of 102, puking and pooping like crazy. I alerted my guests my apologies but I had to rush baby to ER and for them to please let themselves out using the side door. (the night before feeling kinda used I had put on FB that I was debating about departing for VB the next day to take kid to see Daddy we missed him and our guests was ignoring us. No point in sticking around.) So while I am prepping to get out the door they are trying to make plans for us the next day in DC. Was being polite and accepted but again later  after nerves calmed WTF. I'm trying to get out the door not knowing whats wrong and NOW you want to make plans with me? Seriously? Guess they saw my FB. Turns out it was a horrid tummy bug and I got to take her home. So relieved. Tonight was my girl night with my bestie. Was looking forward to it but I was already exhausted.
She lets me know she wants me to order pizza for dinner. I am not a huge fan of pizza but had mentioned I might order one. MIGHT. She kept insisting on the pizza but never once offered up any money. I am NOT saying she wanted me to pay for it, just stating that she never offered any money. She mentioned that it would be 7:30 at the earliest that she would arrive. I informed that that does not work for me. Toddler eats at 6 and I eat dinner with her. She eats better if I eat with her, and if I don't eat with her then I end up skipping dinner. I later texted her and told her to eat while she was out being that after cleaning puke and poop all day I had NO appetite. She then texted me and told me it was going to be later. LATER? I am exhausted and have a sick kid. At that point I was ready for bed.
So I told her to don't worry about it I was going to bed. I was tired of being 2nd choice. Thru a series of texts I politely told her how all week I had been her second choice and it hurt my feelings. She said she was sorry and that it wasn't intentional. I knew it wasn't She has always been a total sweetheart to me. I just said It's rude and it hurt my feelings. But from her feedback all she took away from it was I was mad because she didn't sit next to me at graduation and that she would have if I had asked. Remember I was told to move, but whatever. I told her it is what it is and what's done is done. (I say that a lot especially when trying to move on) Please don't block me in just in case I need to leave I have my mommy duties to do. I was ready to put baby to bed and go clean the puke/poop smell off of me and hit the hay myself.  Shortly thereafter I am in the middle of cleaning up NASTY DEATH poop and I hear a knock on the door, then the doorbell like someone really wanted in. (Didn't know ti was them, she had said she would be later) I could not get up and leave baby covered in poop. As soon as I could I ran down the hall saw it was them and opened the door and ran back to baby to finish the clean up and get her into bed.
When I had went to the door I saw her husbands face and he had the I'm ready to fight face on. Had no idea that I was the person he wanted to fight. They were pacing in the living room, then went to guest room and you could feel the tension pouring out of them. I was going to go out there, see what was up but my kid needed me and cried for me every time I put her down. After seeing what had just come out of her I knew she needed me and they would have to wait. They're parents I knew they would understand. My dishwasher was running so i could not hear everything they were saying, but I started hearing bits and pieces of snide remarks against me. I'm thinking WTH did I do other than be polite and point out that they were being rude to me. You don't go to someones house for a week and not spend anytime with them it's rude. I hear a snippet of something of me putting something on the internet about her and that I was f'ing lucky she didnt come down the hall. I tried to put baby down to go handle it right then and there and once again she cried so badly for me. So I held her and started rocking her to sleep so I could go deal with them. While rocking she starts stomping up and down the hall running her mouth. I was so appalled. I had never seen her behave so poorly. I know she was raised better than that. So they both go in their room and I hear him call me a chicken. Seriously? I am rocking my sick baby, being a good mother? Really dude? Next thing I know they packed their crap and left all while I am still rocking my sick child. Slamming the door on the way out was SO classy by the way. Woke my kid up when she needed her rest.CLASS ACT PEOPLE CLASS ACT!

I was so shocked, appalled by their behaviour. I sent her a text the next morning giving everyone a chance to calm down. I just said hey Don't know what your problem was but do not appreciate you showing your butt in my house, running your mouth while I am caring for my sick child. Also mentioned that FYI it's rude to make plans with someone and stay with them for a week and blow them off everyday. i would never do that to them.

A few days later and I STILL don't know what happened. I do know that via FB her hubby is portraying me to be the villain. It is what is is and if that's what he needs to sleep at night whatever. I have not heard from her and do not expect to.  I do not know if we will be friends. They owe me and my family a HUGE apology for their rudeness. It's really sad because we were good friends. But I guess I am not needed anymore and she has found someone else to do so many things for her. That's fine, such is life and I wish her well. I do not wish ill fate upon them.

I guess you could say this is what happens when you assume things: I assumed she would keep her word and plans with me, She assumed I did something, made an ass out of herself in my home, and severely damaged a really good friendship.
 Again I did not write this to be mean, spiteful. I just needed to vent. I have been feeling so many things. I'm sad because I pretty much lost a really good friend and I don't even know why. I have done so much for her over the years and NEVER asked or expected anything in return and I got treated like crap in the end and it sucks and it hurts. I'm pissed that they showed their butt in my home with my daughter here. SO NOT COOL.

Will we ever be friends I don't know she owes me a HUGE apology and even then I don't think I could be that close again after the broadway musical that played out.

It is what it is..what's done is done

My Daughter I Am Here For You!

This morning I read a blog post by April Perry that moved me so much it brought me to tears. I have taken the time today to think about what she was really trying to get across to people. She had so many valid points. The title of it is: "YOUR CHILDREN WANT YOU!" It talks about how in the day and age of Pinterest, Mommy blogs, parenting sites, magazines, etc all by these UBER Moms that they make us normal moms feel inadequate if we cannot manage to make those bakery images recipes, or organize the house in minutes. It really does make you feel like crap. Like you are a horrible Mom. Personally I do not have time to make bakery perfect concoctions. I have a toddler who is hell on wheels. Do those people have Nannies while they are being all artsy fartsy? I sure as hell don't.

She goes on to talk about Her Mom who is disappearing everyday due to her older age (70). This part will have you bawling I promise. She also talks about her children who helped her realize that they want her and could care less if she is the Diva Mom from Pinterest.

Here is the link so that you may read it yourself  http://powerofmoms.com/2012/04/your-children-want-you/

I have taken the time to truly reflect on this. Lately I too, have had the feelings of being a bad Mommy for one reason or another. I too realized that I am a great Mommy. My daughter smiling and giggling at me this morning made me realize that. When I go into her room every morning I get the biggest smiles and hugs. She gets so excited when I play games with her or we read books together. She goes bananas when both my husband and I have playtime with her. That's what my daughter wants from me. My Love and Attention. Yesterday she came running down the hallway and dove into my arms. it never occurred to her that I might not catch her. She trusts me that much. it really overwhelmed me. Of course I caught her. :)

I Promise you my daughter that I will always be here for you in the now moments. I will not miss moments with you focusing on stuff that is trivial and does not matter. Yes I always want things to be near perfect, that is my OCD, but I promise to not let that make me miss out on the now moments.

We will laugh, play, talk, giggle, and explore this journey of life together. This I promise you

Love always and forever

MOM

JUST ONE YEAR, and it goes so quick

I cannot believe that my baby girl turned 1 yesterday. She is officially a toddler. Crawling, walking, talking and eating table food. She had a wonderful day. We started out the day in Georgetown, MD for cupcakes. Georgetown Cupcakes is the best bakery ever. Then we drove a few minutes away to the National Zoo to visit the Gorillas. After doing half of the zoo we headed home for presents and the traditional Baby covered in cake. As I look back at pics from the past year I feel a little sad. She is not a baby baby anymore. But she will always be my baby. Most importantly where has the past year gone?

8 Months...

Yes I have an 8 month old baby girl. Time is flying by. 4 teeth and sitting up all on her own. She is even feeding herself at times. She is also clinging to MAMA like there is no one else in the world. But her smiles can light up my darkest day. I love my baby girl.

GET YOUR HANDS OUT OF MY HAPPY MEAL!!!!!!!

I have been going back and forth about blogging about this issue and what exactly I would say. Not sure if anyone ACTUALLY reads my posts, but just in case, I am peeved and am ready to get this off of my chest.

I am more than just a Mom, I am also a person. Occasionally I am in the mood for some salty french fries from McDonald's. They are my FAVORITE french fries. We do not need to mention how many I consumed while pregnant with Annalise. There are times I want McDonald's and I do not feel like eating a HUGE meal, so I get a Happy Meal. It gives me a small dose of my fried, salty goodness, as well as either a burger or chicken nuggets. Well now Thanks to Michelle Obama (We all know she is behind this), some self righteous trendy Moms, and them dang Tree Hugging hippies I will no longer be able to get my fix.I will now only get HALF the amount of fries and some unwanted apple slices. McDonald's has caved to pressure, in fear of future regulations I'm sure, and is changing the contents of the beloved Happy Meal. Did I mention that this meal has been like this for YEARS and no one has had a problem with it? All because our First Lady and all of her Band Wagon fans are blaming The Happy Meal for childhood obesity. Such Blasphemy.
I have a question for all of you self righteous, nosey people: What did the Happy Meal ever do to you? I was always taught that if you didn't like the way a place does business, then don't patron there. It's that simple. If you don't want your kids eating that, then don't take them there. But leave it alone for those of us who CHOOSE to patron there. I am not into the whole raw/vegan/vegetarian movements you people come up with. But if that's what you choose to eat, and feed your kids, it's your choice. You don't see me leading protests to force your trendy raw place serve me cooked meat do you? NO, because I am respecting other people's choices and how they raise their kids. I am not FORCING my beliefs and way of doing things on others. The last time I checked We live in America, where we are supposed to be FREE to make these choices ourselves and not have the government make them for us. Wasn't that the whole purpose of our ancestors coming over on the Mayflower? How about when we fought Britain for our independence? Was that the case or did I just dream all that up?

I am currently 35 years old and I personally did not eat a lot of Happy meals due to the fact that my parents were too poor to buy them for 4 children. But when I did get one, I cherished it, and ate every bite. The Happy Meal has been sorta like a rite of passage for kids for years. Plenty of my friends ate Happy Meals on a regular basis and guess what? They were not obese!!!!!! I wonder why? Oh maybe because in My day we played outside, rode bikes, had recess everyday, as well as PE on a regular basis. We didn't have computers, cellphones, video games, and all of this technology that the kids are addicted to these days. They do not but sit on their butts glued to whatever technology device they can be. Kids these days are LAZY. Also back in my day we had parks to go play at, I remember riding my bike with my siblings to a park that was about a 5 to 10 minute bike ride away from home. We would play kick ball, red rover, tag, play on the slides, and swings. Then when it was time to go home (we had a watch to tell us what time it was--remember those?) we rode our bikes the entire 5 to 10 minute ride home. Nowadays that park is an abandoned lot and no children playing outside for miles.

As a Mom, yes I will let My Annalise eat Happy Meals when she is old enough, and of course it will be in moderation. Don't you fret, I will be buying a small order of fries so she can have her yummy goodness just like I did as a child. Yes go ahead and faint you Happy Meal Haters!!!!  You know what else I am going to do? She will sleep in her own bed, NOT a family bed, She will eat cooked foods, meat, and whatever else I dang well feel like feeding her. MY KID MY CHOICE, NOT YOURS!!!!!! On top of all of the bad food I will be feeding her, She will play outside, be limited on her technology access, and sleep in her own dang bed, in her own room. No family bed in this house.

So for all of you who feel the need to worry about what other people are feeding their kids, how about instead you focus on these things. (1) Get more parks in the neighborhoods so that children have a safe place to play and run around. (2) Fight to keep PE in the schools and more than once a week. (3) Make sure that recess is still in schools to give the kids a chance to move around on days that they do not get PE. Oh and here is a better idea take your kids out to play as well. So many kids do not get enough exercise. How about we make that a priority instead of butting into what others feed their kids.  because in all reality people, Other people's kids are NOT your responsibilty. I know that this might be hard for some of you to comprehend, but it's true. Worry about your own children how you see fit, and leave mine to me.

7 Months already

I cannot believe that my Angel is 7 months. Where does the time go. It's hard to believe that I need to start thinking about her first birthday. WOW 1st Birthday. 

6 Months old going on 5

Annalise is 6 months old now. She is 6 months old going on 5 years old. Already 18.4 lbs and 27.5 inches long. She is tall for her age. Shooting up like a weed. Her weight has slowed down now that she is moving all around. Today she rolled from back to tummy and back to her back for the 1st time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I almost missed it, I had looked away for a few seconds. She holds her bottle and even drinks from a cup. She is just amazing. Her laugh makes my heart overflow with such immense love and joy at the same time. I never knew it was possible to feel this way.

Like I said Growing like a weed.

Disney Dining Plan: RAGLAND ROAD IRISH PUB AND RESTAURANT

I want to share a snippet from how we saved a bundle using the Disney Dining Plan while on our last trip to the world. I did not save all of our receipts, so wish that I had to really demonstrate how we saved a fortune and got to eat at 4/5 Star places.

Now Due to being Military we were able to get a room and the dining plan without having to buy the tickets from Disney. Good thing we got the tickets at Military Price for $135.00 (4 days with park hopper)

We spent 45.99 per night per person for the dining plan. We stayed 4 nights. For each day you got 1 snack, 1 counter service meal, and 1 sit down meal. Quite the deal when you see how much you save.

First Up Ragland Road Irish Pub at Downtown Disney. Sitdown Meal. Upscale Irish Pub and Restaurant.
On the dining plan with the meals you get a dessert with your meal and a beverage. Alcohol and appetizers are not included. Here is what we ordered.

1 Killians Red-$6.00           1 Appetizer Platter-$26.00      1 Paddys Pork-$23.00    1SalmonDinner-$25.00
1 Apple/Strawberry Crumble-$7.99      1 Dunbrody Kiss(chocolate)-$7.99          1 Baileys Coffee-$8.50
Our Bill total was $110.33  After the dining plan deduction we paid $42.99 plus tip.
Before Tax we saved $63.98. If my husband had skipped on the beer and coffee it would have been different. But still You have to think that My Entree was $23 plus my dessert for $7.99 plus my tea, which was not on the bill. If you subtract My meal from my $45.99 meal plan cost I am left with$15 bucks. That's not including the tax on my meal. So estimate it to be about 12 bucks left. Now for 1 day I still had a counter service meal and a snack. A snack is: a food item, or a beverage. Let's not forget this is Disney and I have dropped 12 bucks on a counter service meal before. A bottle of water is about $2.50. On this particular  day I made my money and little extra. For lunch that day we ate at Flame Tree BBQ in Animal Kingdom. My meal was about 10 bucks, plus I had dessert and a beverage. I used my snack that day to grab a Mickey Ice Cream Bar at the hotel while swimming.
Stay tuned I have more to come

Baby laughs and giggles

I sit here writing this as I have been reflecting on the past 4 months and some time before that. Annalise will be 4 months old on the 4th. She laughed for the first time the other day. It was a half laugh. Well tonight just for me she was really laughing an really hard too. To hear my sweet baby giggle and laugh was music to my ears. To see her face light up at the same time brought tears of joy to my eyes.

It makes me think back to her being born so I started pouring over the hundreds of pictures I have snapped in the past 4 months of her.  I found a few that I had forgotten about and do not remember. Here are a few

3 Month Milestone

I look at my Baby girl today and wonder where the past 3 months have gone. It seems like Yesterday I was screaming to push her out and now I have this wonderful baby who is getting bigger every day. I love to watch her develop her personality. The smiles, trying to laugh, and checking everything out with her mouth. Everything goes in the mouth, LOL> I know that may sound bad, but every bib, blankie and rattle she has to taste.

My little baby is 3 months old now and still growing, currently sleeping  ahhhhh the little things.

Sleep at Last

It is the most wonderful thing when your baby starts to sleep through the night. The first night they do it you wake up panicked that something is wrong. So you scurry off the nursery to make sure everything is okay. By the 3rd night of this you start to relax but also you get spoiled of getting that 6 to 8 hours of sleep. Then you have the next few nights of them waking up once here and there. But finally it is an every night deal. SWEET!!!!!!!!!!
I feel like a new woman with a full night's sleep every night. I am able to face the day like a normal person instead of coming off like a half crazed looney. My pediatrician even commented recently on how happy I looked. Did I really look that bad? I love doing our bedtime ritual and then putting her down for the ENTIRE NIGHT!!!!!


THE DOWNSIDE: The downside to Annalise sleeping through the night is the naps are shorter and fewer during the day. There have been days with no naps. So how are you supposed to cook, clean, run errands, all the while keeping your baby entertained and cared for? It is rough and exhausting so by the time her bedtime rolls around I am ready to crash.  I can barely hold my eyes open some nights. She goes down between 9 - 10 PM, and sleeps until anywhere between 6 - 9 AM. Lately it's been close to 8:30 AM. That is a blessing. I wake up, get dressed and have my coffee all before the Peanut wakes up.

It is funny what a Mom learns to accomplish while your little baby naps. Lots to do everyday with little to no time to do it.  but at least for now we have Sleep at Last.

2010 gone What did I accomplish? 2011 already in progress..

My first post for the new year. In 2010 I had set out to learn something new every month. I was also working out, using my Wii Fit to help me out. I was progressing with a few lapses when I found out that I would be having a baby.
2010 brought many new things and changes to my life. I had a baby at 35, how crazy is that. I had been told that I would deliver early my entire pregnancy, well she was a week late. Docs do not know everything. I was reminded that my husband is just a man and could possibly stray at anytime. Note to self: keep all 24 yr old single moms away from him, LOL. I did manage to read more books in 2010 than 2009. I beat my number by a few books. Hooray me!!!!!!
The big one here: My learning something new project. When I started out I thought that I would be learning new things, hobbies, etc. I learned more about myself, life and how things will either make you or break you. To this day I do not know if Rob and Heather hooked up. I don't know if her texts that she sent me were real. All I know is that they were friends, texted each other for hours on end, and he took her out to dinner one night and they met for drinks a few times and he picked up the tab. It still eats at me a bit every day but I am dealing with it. I do believe in my heart of hearts that there was something there. I am not sure what but there was something.


2011 is a New Year and I am not sure what it has in store for me. I had not set any goals yet. I am still learning to cope with a baby and the lack of sleep. As of right now I am a stay at home mom/wife. I would not make enough for daycare so I stay home. ( I would pay for daycare and have maybe 20 bucks left over.) I really miss having a job and making my own money.
Until next time.....

Maryland Life

I did it. I drove 10 hours last Sunday from Augusta, GA to Bowie, MD. It took longer due to the Pregnancy stops. Stopping to pee, Stopping to stretch. But I finally made it to my new home. Our belongings arrived on Tuesday. Monday was football in Baltimore. USNA vs University of Maryland. I have to say I think their fans need to learn some respect. Yelling Navy you suck to young men who will be putting their lives on the line for others ability to live in freedom is beyond disgusting. The drive up was long, it got scenic once I hit Northern VA.

I have ventured out alone once. I went all the way to Greenbelt, MD for curtains. I even got on the beltway. I had mapquest directions to my destination, but failed to get the return directions. I took a couple of wrong turns but made it home in 30 minutes. Guess I have to learn sometime.

We are still in our unpacking phase. I think this will last awhile. It had better end soon. As of tomorrow I have 10 weeks until my due date. We are unpacking all of the boxes in the house first, then branching out to the mountain in the garage we rented. Our living room is mostly set up and functional. Our bedroom is set up and mostly functional, same goes for the master bath. The nursery is currently a storage space for boxes. We are getting there, LOL!!!!!! No I am not posting pics, I am embarassed by the clutter. Me being a neat freak and all. I am currently waiting on someone to come by and figure out why I have no hot water at all in my apt. Welcome to Apt living!!!!

I will post more as it comes

Happiness My butt

I thought when I met my husband that I had met the man of my dreams, and that we would have a happy life together. We would get married and have kids, and we would BOTH be so happy about everything. Man when did I fall into a naive childish state? We have been together for 4 years, married for 3 years. It has not been easy. I am married to a man who is 6 years younger than me and is in the Navy. I know that the Navy always comes first but it is getting a bit old. Right this second the thing that amazes me the most is the fact that he is a Naval Officer and cannot handle me yelling or fussing at him. He is in the military. He went to the Naval Academy where he was yelled at on a daily basis. But when I let him know that he hurt me, pissed me off, or let me down he cannot handle it. He goes nuts, goes off on me, cusses me out, he throws a tantrum like a child all the while spinning the tables on me blaming me. Then he accuses me of doing all the things that he is doing.
I am 4 1/2 months pregnant. I am stressed out as it is. I do not need my husband acting like a child, I'm 34 with 1 on the way. I have had to be mature, and start acting like a parent since the day we found out. But not him he gets to do whatever he wants and it's ok.
We have been fighting a lot since I found out I was pregnant. We fought quite a bit before but it's a lot worse. I think the most we go is 2 days without a fight. I cannot move to MD to be with him even if I wanted to. The biggest problem I have is that there is so much that needs to be done around our house and I am unable to do any of it due to being pregnant.  But every chance he gets he is off helping other people with their houses. Then complains to me bout calling him when he is busy. He is busy working on other people's houses instead of his own. He never stops to think how that makes me feel. Of course not.

So again happiness my butt

3 Months away, Man have I been Busy.

Well it has been a little over 3 months since my last post. No I did not give up on my goal to myself for the year. On April 1st I learned that I would be doing a new learning project to last me a lifetime. I even tried to make a cutesy post but decided against it. I found out that I was pregnant. I am now 16 going on 17 weeks. Officially in the 2nd Trimester. In a week I find out the sex of our baby. I have a gut feeling that it is a boy.

Rob did get the job at the Academy. He is now living in MD and I am living in FL.  It is what it is.

Nala the Golden pup demon had to be returned to the rescue. She was too much for a 34 yr old pregnant woman to handle. I cried the day I returned her, but honestly I do not miss all the extra work she gave me.
My 1st trimester was horrible, I started having just about every bad side effect of pregnancy you could possibly have. I am starting to do some better.
I felt the baby kick for the 1st time last week. If I lean back too far, he gives me a kick reminding me to sit up. LOL!!!!!
Well I am off to bed.  Just felt like updating my projects.

March Madness UPDATE*****

So still no word on if Rob got the Academy job or not. Patience is a virtue I hear, Not sure I have none. LOL!!

So my "To be read list" grew quite a bit in the past week. Last weekend was the annual Jacksonville Library book sale. I went 2 different days. On Saturday Rob and I walked out of there with 66 books for a total cost of 75 bucks. On Sunday it was fill a brown grocery bag for 10 bucks. Being the uber Navy Wife packer that I am, ( THANKS MOM!!!!!), I packed about 26 to 30 books in there. Yes Paperback and hardback. More hardbacks though. Not only were they selling old library books, but donated books as well. I got recently published hardbacks in awesome condition. Paperbacks were 50 cents, Fiction HB's were $1.00, and all other HB's were 2 bucks. Yes I will take a picture of my loot and post it. Man are our packers going to hate us when they come to pack us out. I will now have plenty to read for over the next year. There is no way I could read all of those books by December 31st. Well maybe if I did not have a job, and there was no internet. Hey if we move, reading more could be a possibility. I did read the Twilight series in a month. I also read some of the thicker Harry Potter books in a week. Let me clarify. it took me a week to read each one. I still need to read book 7. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm  ADD kicking in again, LOL!!!!!!!!!!

In other updates, still no time to bond with my Wii Fit. My job really does get in the way of my own personal growth and development. LOL!!!!!! I have been walking the dogs on the really pretty days.
NOTE TO SELF: DO NOT ATTEMPT TO WALK BOTH AT THE SAME TIME ALONE!!!!!!!!!They are too much for 1 person to do alone. Especially little tiny me.

Well I am going to Savannah this Saturday, hopefully get to do some sightseeing. Maybe learn a little more about the city. I love Savannah. Next week Joy will be here and I know that we will go somewhere and learn something new.