I guess this is an add-on to my last post...

Want to know what I did yesterday? I spent an hour of my life (one that I will never get back!) cleaning my area rug.

Wanna know why???

Thompson thought it would be a GREAT idea to get into the fridge, take the eggs out, and smash them all over the rug.

Nice, huh?

I was fuming to say the least. I already have a huge aversion to eggs, especially raw, so this was like the worst things EVER for me! But I sat there trying to pat out all of the egg juicies (gross, huh!) and then had to scrub with soap, water, and carpet cleaner. I have no clue if this even got it all out. I did take my steam mop over it, praying that the steam gods kill all of the nastiness and future rotten egg smell.

I guess time will only tell... the rug's fate as well as his! ;)

At my wit's end!

I am feeling desperate. Thompson has been a complete terror this past week. Not all the time. Just when he gets in trouble and has to go to his room for timeout. For whatever reason, he has now decided to scream at the top of his lungs over and over and over.

Yesterday it was over chocolate milk. He had wanted a glass of chocolate milk and as I was making it, he did something (I cannot remember) that warranted for a time out. Rule is that we keep him in his room for 2 minutes as long as he is good and quiet. We don't start timing until he is quiet. Well here lately he will not stop screaming, kicking, crying, clawing, etc. It is actually a scary sight. We have tried to calmly talk to him and explain that his behavior is not going to work and that if he wants to get out of timeout he is going to have to calm down and quit crying. After a few minutes he will quit crying long enough for us to talk directly to him. After we explain that he has to sit here for 2 minutes, it all starts over again!

I am seriously about to pull out my hair. It makes me so mad, but at the same time I want to just sit and cry. We are giving him attention, but I know this could be some form of retaliation due to the new little brother. We are seriously trying to divide time between both of the boys, so I don't know?

But the fits can last up to an hour and I know screaming for that long is not good for him.

The other day, Robert swore that he never acted this way as a kid. Sadly, I know I did. I don't remember being this young, but I remember it after the age of 5 or so. I remember my mom leaving to go to her Friendship Club meetings and just laying by the front door screaming for her to come back. Yes, I admit that.

But honestly, I don't know if I can put up with this for years!

I need help. We are seriously contemplating taking him to the doctor and having him checked out. I know that it is just a phase, but we need all of the advice we can get.

---------------------------------------------------

On to the moving process...

We have 3 days left in the house! Tomorrow the packers will be here. Then Tuesday, the movers. Wednesday we have our check out. So Wednesday afternoon we are driving down to Oceanside to stay the night so Robert can check in first thing Thursday morning. We will hopefully have our house as soon as we can on Thursday so that way the movers can deliver our stuff. Fingers crossed!

Today, we are going to move everything out of the garage and clean it. Then we can start organizing it back in place.

I am hoping to fit in a movie this evening here on base. We have a $1 theater and I love going there! Tonight, they are playing Robert Pattinson's movie "Remember Me". I have wanted to see it for a while and am glad they are finally playing it!

Hope everyone has a great, relaxing Sunday!

Summer Time Memories

I cannot believe how cold it has been here! A storm front has come through and I definitely can feel it. Yesterday, it was freezing!! Today is a little better, but still cold. There is even more snow on the mountains. Spring time is the best time here in the desert! I am lucky to be getting out of here before the 110+ degree hits this summer. I remember it being so hot the first summer I was here. Our apartment didn't have an air conditioner, it had a swamp cooler. NOT GOOD! And that my friends is why I have been sporting the short haircut since then. One month of long, sweaty hair is enough for me! I remember the summer Robert came home from Iraq. I was starting my last month of pregnancy. It was SOOOO hot that August day. I remember sitting in this big tent (outside!) with a fan (that I had stolen from some little kid) that sprayed water on your face. Needless to say I was a hot mess! Those buses couldn't have pulled up any faster! Being pregnant in the summer is bad enough, but being pregnant in the summer with 110 degree heat is worse!

So glad that is a memory! :)

Anywho, I scheduled our final inspection for the 28th! That is only 6 days from now! I guess I am still in shock. We have been out here on and off for 4 years now. And it is true why they call this place "29 Stumps". There is nothing here. The days of driving 30 minutes to Wal-Mart and over an hour to go eat a decent restaurant will soon be behind us.

I didn't make my pasta last night, so we are making that tonight. Instead we had KFC and tried one of their new double down sandwhiches. Not bad! When I got it, it looked smaller than what I thought. But once you start eating it, it's like "WHOA, I am full!" I have always liked more chicken than I do bread, so it worked out for me great.

I rented this movie for tonight.

I can't wait to watch it!!

T Minus 7 days!

Well turns out my doctors appointment was today and not yesterday! So I woke up early for nothing! Oh well. My doctor prescribed me some great medicine that will hopefully knock these allergies out!

And our TMO appointment went well yesterday. We are scheduled to have the packers come on Monday and the movers on Tuesday! CRAZY!!! I am super excited. I called the moving company today and they told me that they can deliver the stuff on that Wednesday or Thursday. So, Robert is going to check in a day or two early so that way we have our house in time for the movers to deliver our things.

Last night Robert and I worked in our garage. Let me paint you a little picture... One car garage. FULL to the brim. NO walking room. And definitely unorganized. 10 plastic bins, 3 boxes, and 2 space saver bags later, we are semi-organized. I have moved all of the boxes into the back of the living room for now. I need to finish the rest of the garage this week. I am planning on having a garage sale this weekend so hopefully I can get rid of a bunch of stuff.

Tonight I am making a throw together dinner. (I call it that because I don't know what it would be called and I basically grab whatever ingredients I have and throw them in one pot!) Anyways, one of the things I am going to use is my new pasta sauce!

Have you seen this at Target? Giada De Laurentiis has started a line especially for Target. It has pasta sauces, infused oils, cutlery, cookware, and appliances! I am estatic! I love her! I really want to just go buy, buy, buy all of her stuff! So I am excited to try her creamy tomato sauce tonight! I am going to bake some chicken, chop it up and mix it all with some rigatoni pasta. YUM!

Other than that, we are just laying low. The boys are taking a nap and I am planning on relaxing a bit before I start working again!

Busy Tuesday!!

We made it back from our weekend trip. It was good besides me being sick the entire time. I initially thought it was strep because I couldn't swallow. But then that went away and I had a severe sinus infection. Not wanting to sit at the ER all night I opted for some Mucinex and Airborne. As of last night, I am feeling much better.

Today I am scheduled to go visit my doctor and then Robert and I have an appointment with TMO, the military moving people. I am PRAYING that they will come when we need them to. But most of the time getting the military to do something on your schedule doesn't really work out. So we will see.

Some big family news! Brycen is rolling over and over and over and over! I knew that he would be doing it pretty soon. And today he wouldn't stop. Didn't even scare him. He really is such a good baby.

Not much else is going on here. We are 10 days out of our move, so I am getting anxious. I am just ready to be there and get settled in. Funny thing is that I will be in AR in May for about a week and a half. Then we are headed back in June for the month. I won't be back to CA til the first week of July! So I won't even be really moved in til this summer. I plan on painting the house as well, so that will probably have to wait til then as well. It will all come together. And you know I will have pictures when we are done.

Have a good Tuesday! Tonight is my TV night so I am excited to watch The Biggest Loser and Parenthood! Great shows!

Oh, and if anybody wants to bake these babies, ship some my way!

Our New House

Welcome to our new house!

You enter the front door into the living room. (Don't mind the two crazies in the picture, this is the norm for them!)

Here are the other walls in the living room.

The Kitchen/Dining/Family area

The Laundry Room

The patio area and my HUGE backyard!
(Insert sarcasm here!)

Boys' bathroom

Our bathroom

The Garage storage space

Master Closet and Storage Closet

And the view from the cul-de-sac, a little bit of an ocean view.

Oh, what a day we have had! I woke up feeling really sick, sick to where I couldn't swallow. I knew it was my allergies or I was getting strep. I have figured out that I think it is my allergies. I popped a mucinex and Airborne and I am hoping to wake up feeling great!

As you can tell we went and looked at the house. I will be honest, the layout is odd. For some reason they made the dining/family are huge! I would have added some size to the living room, but oh well. Other than that, I loved it. The backyard needs some work. We are going to have to lay some stones or something. I love our carpets in our house now. They don't show anything! I have had these carpets before and HATED them. Loathed them. So I am not excited about that. The boys' bathroom is bigger than the master. Don't know about that one, but atleast I have my double sinks! And I love the size of my closet. So nice. And the double car garage will be nice too!

Oh, it's not bad. It is definitely bigger than what we have now. I am anxious to get in there in the next 2 weeks and really get it fixed up. We will probably definitely be painting. Too much white for me.

Anyways, that's it. Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Fever, Fits, and Fish

Pretty random, huh?

Yesterday, Brycen had his 4 month shots and the poor thing is STILL running a fever. We have been giving him tylenol every 6 hours, but he still feels so warm.

Thompson has been a terror lately. I really thought we would be over the "terrible two's" since he has been in them forever. But for some reason he thinks it is ok to just start screaming at us if he wants something. Or he growls. Yeah, let me tell ya... that is the fastest way to get something. Not!! So he walks around the house acting like a big ol' bully. It better stop, quick!

Last night we had some salmon that needed to be cooked. Dummy me left the grill gas on and so all of our propane was run out on our brand new tank. Nice... Anyways, so I decided to cook them in a pan on the stove. Turns out delicious! Until this morning. I woke up, walked in the kitchen and it stinks sooooo bad! I have no idea what from. We ate all of the fish, washed the pans, ??? So I opened the patio door for a bit and that pretty much cleared it out. But now my house is filled with flies. Ugh! I have the best of luck. :P

Appointments and Such!

Today was a good day! I got the pleasure of sleeping in, which is always nice! I then woke up, ate breakfast, and watched some t.v. Brycen had an appointment at 3:20 for his 4 month check up, so I got ready for that too. I LOVE not being rushed. I can take my time and just enjoy the day.

Brycen is doing great! The doctor said that he was really far ahead developmentally and that he was a healthy boy! Poor thing had to get his shots today as well. :( It always breaks my heart to hear my boys cry over them.

After that, we all went up to see one of our friend's new baby girl.

Moriah Jewel

She was an absolute doll! She weighed 6lbs 8ozs, just like Brycen. But it is so hard to believe that my 13+lbs boy used to be that small. Holding her was like holding a little baby doll. Goodness! Babies are such a miracle!

Day 3 of the diet is going pretty well. I made Robert and I salmon and salads for dinner. Then we are about to do our P90X workout. I try to have fun while doing it. Some of the stuff is just too dang hard! I can't do pull ups on the pull up bar, so Robert went and got me the resistance bands today to use. Hopefully one day I will be in shape and can actually do all of the stuff!

Tomorrow, Robert checks out of his unit. He has been with 2/7 for the past 4 years. We were lucky that he has gotten to be a part of one of the best infantry units out there. I just hope that the next 3 years will go smoothly. Then we will be gone for a few days down to Oceanside.

I have been really praying about our move. I lived in Huntsville my whole life until we moved when we got married. I never had to experience going to new schools where I knew no one. So, I am a little apprehensive about starting over. With the Marine Corps, you basically have to start over every 3 or 4 years. I am really hoping that we find a great church that we can get involved in. From that, I hope to meet some great women to help be a support system for me and develop some great friendships. I was really blessed to have some great friends in 29 Palms, I hope to find the same in Camp Pendleton.

Right now, Brycen is asleep in his swing after his big day with the shots. And Thompson is walking around the house with his rain boots and football helmet on. I am seriously in love with my boys! I hope that they always know how much their momma and daddy love them!

Southern Cooking and Diets-- Oxymoron much?

Ok, as you all know I have started my P90X workout and diet. Going great so far, but today is only day 2. Tonight I went to the gym and surprised myself on how long I could stay on the elliptical. It was such a huge difference from the last time I went. Anyways, I have also been cooking really healthy.

But...

I can't get over the meals I made last week from Trisha Yearwood's new cookbook.

I am dying to buy it and make everything in it!

Why is it that everytime I am on a diet all I can think about is the not-so-good-for-me foods?!?!

If there are any healthy eaters out there, does it ever get easier? I know it is a lifestyle change, but how do you change everything that you have ever known??? I grew up with a Granny, a Granny who knows how to cook! It wasn't rare for her to bring a pot of beans, fresh corn, or a chocolate pie by the house. We also ate out A LOT! Since I have been cooking myself for our family, we really eat pretty healthy in my opinion. BUT, I need to learn a few things.

1. Portion control-- Eating a whole pan of cornbread (not that I do! *wink * wink*) or making a cheesecake to eat between Robert and I is not a good thing.

2. Resisting urge-- How do I overcome the urge to go in the kitchen and make something I know is horrible for me?

I know there are probably some of you out there laughing your butt off at this post, but I am very serious. I am addicted to southern cooking! I LOVE me some red velvet cake, mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, and anything with butter!

Is it possible to lead a lifestyle where I can eat this and still be healthy? Serious. Don't laugh. ;)

I know that you basically need to exercise and burn off what you consume. I know that I DON'T have to make all of these foods all the time. I also know that it should probably be a treat like thing. You know? Sadly, I do know everything I have talked about. I guess I just need to reiterate to myself.

I CAN do this. I HAVE to do this.

Monday!

Our Monday has been pretty quiet. Robert went to work today to PT the guys. Brycen is taking a nap, and Thompson is about to lay down for his.

Brycen went to bed around midnight last night. I was sooo tired! And then I didn't even go to sleep til around 2:30am! What the heck? We all did sleep til around 10 this morning (well, after his 7am bottle). So that kind of makes up for it. But now I feel like the whole day is gone!

We are going to Oceanside later on this week. We get to go view our house! I am so excited for that! I am so anxious to get the layout and see how it will work for our family.

Well, I guess I am going to get off here and go jump in the shower! Ahhh, the things we take for granted in life after kids.

Oh, and this morning I woke up and was flipping through my DVR list. Guess what I found? The season premiere of Tori & Dean: Home Sweet Hollywood! Best. Day. Ever! ;)

Happy 4 Months Brycen!

Can you believe it?! You are 4 months old today!

Like I have always said, you are such a HAPPY baby! People would scare me to death while I was pregnant saying, "Well, you won't have another baby as good as Thompson!" Gee thanks... But look who has showed them! :)

You are weighing in around 13 pounds, maybe a little more. You are 25.5 inches long! So for your weight, you are in the 5th to 10th percentile (don't know how accurate that is...) and for your height, it says the 50th to 75th percentile. So apparently you are really long and skinny. Funny thing is that you aren't that skinny. You still have the chubby rolls on your legs, a little double chin, and a big ol' belly just like your brother. You are built just like him! Although, I think you are going to be taller. But you have officially doubled your birthweight and have grew over 5 inches

A story my Granny Lola always told me was how your Papa Garry was the smallest baby out of all three of her children. And look who turned out to be the biggest! So I am anxious to see if you are like your Papa Garry.

You are wearing a size 1-2 diaper. And your clothes are 3-6 months in most of your outfits. Although you have outgrown your sleepers, we have had to move up to the 6-9 months for the length.

Your eyes are green just like your momma and brothers. You are growing more and more hair everyday! And you finally passed your hearing test! YAY!!!

You LOVE to lay down in the floor on your mat and play. You will kick so hard that you turn yourself in circles. You have rolled over from your tummy to your back. But we are still working on your back to your tummy. You will roll over all the way on your side and I know you are just so close! I bet within another week you will have it down.

You are sleeping really good these days. You go to bed around 9-11 at night and will sleep til around 7:30 the next morning. Then you eat, play for an hour, and then go back to sleep for a few hours for your morning nap. You are also taking an afternoon nap, usually around the same time as Thompson.

You are still eating around 5 ounces every 2-3 hours. We haven't tried baby food, and probably will next month! When I hold you, you can sit up pretty good.

I am so excited for the next few months! We will be eating food, getting teeth, sitting up by yourself, and then crawling! Oh my word! We will be busy! You are also moving into a new house in about two and half weeks. How lucky are you to grow up at the beach!

We love you, Brycen. We are so blessed to have you in our lives.

A Whole Lotta Nothing!

Not too much has been going on around here lately. We did have some friends over for dinner the past two nights, which was awesome! I love to cook and entertain! I made some new recipes that were delicious. I got them off here. I had watched Trisha Yearwood on The View that day and my mouth was watering so bad by the end of the show. I HAD to make something. So, Thursday night I made the pork tenderloin and asparagus. By far my favorite!!! The tenderloin was so moist and had so much flavor. YUM! And the asparagus was so good too! Last night I made the baked spaghetti and it was ok. It wasn't my favorite, but would be good for a big pot luck or something. And then I made the asparagus again. :) My friend, Kelly made these bad boys!

Always a favorite!

Today, we have done a whole lotta nothing! I don't even know if we have any plans for the evening.

I forgot to mention that yesterday I took Brycen to his audiologist appointment. He ended up passing in the normal range in all of the tests! PTL!! The doctor said that he had extremely narrow ear canals and that might have been the reason for the failed tests at the hospital. We have to take him back in a year to do a check-up, but she thinks that he is completely "normal". I am so relieved to have this news. I always knew that he could hear me. It wasn't that I ever thought he was deaf. It's just I didn't want him to have any disabilites. What mother wants handicaps for her child? So to hear that just made my day!

We are still set to move the last week of April. Hopefully our things will get to the house on Friday, the 30th. That way we could have the weekend to unpack and somewhat organize the house as much as we can before I leave for my trip to AR. Robert starts working on the 3rd, so he will be so busy. I know that he won't be able to do much while I am gone. He will be doing what they call "lights cycles". This means that he will be working from the time the lights go on (around 5am) til the time they go off (around 10pm). He might get the weekends off, we don't know. This will last for 4 weeks and then he will get a 4 week break. So basically he is working in 4 week rotations. But he only has to do one "lights cycle". After that, he will find out his schedule. We plan on a big trip to Arkansas in June. He loves to fish, so I am hoping he can do a lot of that while we are there. We are also hoping to take a trip to Florida while we are back. Robert has never been and it is one of my favorite places in the entire world! I have gone many, many times since I was a kid. But I never get tired of it!

I guess I am going to get around. Robert and I are going to do our new workout video, P90x. We did one yesterday and I didn't like it very much. Robert got a good workout in, but I couldn't do a pull up and I can hardly do a push up, so my workout kinda sucked. We are doing cardio today, that is more of my area. But, I definitely could see it working. I will let you know. Monday, I start my big diet. I have been doing a diet with my sister, Tara, but after a month or so my body didn't like it very well. So now I am just sticking to a pretty strict diet (P90x diet).

I was reading a friend's blog the other day and she linked this blog post. How true is that?! Love it!

And a big shout out to one of my best friend's Becca! Today is her 24th birthday!! Happy Birthday! Love you!

Allergies, House, Bins, and Graduation

First off, has anyone else been as sick as I have?! I have been battling allergies like no other. Which in turn has caused me horrible migraine headaches. I got one really bad on Easter Sunday which kind of dampened all events on that day. I just ended up in bed for the afternoon.

On Tuesday, Robert cooked burgers for us. We ate around 5pm so that way we had enough time for our food to settle before we went to the gym to workout. Not long after eating, my stomach felt really "off". I popped some tums and got ready for the gym. I worked out for a bit until my stomach hurt so bad I couldn't take it. So we came home and Robert went and got me some ginger ale and crackers. The next morning I woke up, still nauseous, so I took some medicine I had for nausea. The sick feeling subsided, but then it felt like I had done a zillion crunches. It just felt extremely sore. So... today I am hoping for a migraine and stomach ache free day!

Yesterday, a lovely woman named Diane called to inform me that we indeed had a house! (Yippee! That is why she is a very lovely woman!) So, with me (and my mom) and our mad, crazy skills, I have a map of the entire neighborhood with an exact aerial view of our house. Oh, and I also Bing'ed the house as well.

Look at my mad skills below!

The houses are like a duplex style house. I WISH I would have had the other side due to beautiful ocean views, but eh...we can't always get what we want! ;) So you can see the outlined house. That's ours! The boys are lucky to have the playground literally steps from the back porch. Oh and if you squint just right you can make out that we will have a front porch! Don't be surprised if I buy a rocking chair or two to put out there. Anyways, the house is beautiful on the outside! We are headed down there this weekend so you know I am going to drive by and hopefully get to go inside! I will post pictures of that when I get some! Oh, but do you want to know the crappy part?!? The house is ready to move-in on the 13th, but because of Robert's great, new command, we cannot check in til the 30th. Nice, huh?

Now, onto bins... You gotta love them? You know the big plastic bins that hold EVERYTHING!!! Well Robert has brought me four of them I have already semi-filled 3 of them. I am working on my 4th today. I put away Thompson's winter clothes, my maternity clothes, and some holiday decor. Today, I am going to put up our winter wordrobe. Needless to say, I have been a busy bee.

I had always planned on going to graduation. I WANTED to walk across the stage and receive my diploma. I wanted the pictures. But with the whole not moving til the 30th business, it kinda put a damper on my plans. I didn't know how we would be able to do it all AND fit a trip back to Arkansas in the mix. Well, I decided not to go. And then yesterday I had a change of heart. Things will be fine if they have to sit for a week. It will get done eventually. So, I am going to go and enjoy my graduation. Now, I am just needing lots of prayers that I will make it through the airport with 2 kids BY MYSELF!!! Now, that's a nightmare!!

Here are some pics from our Easter weekend.

Happy Birthday to My Little Sister!

My baby sister, Brooklyn, turns 20 today! It still feels unreal that she is not a teenager anymore. I still think of her as the "baby". Growing up, we have definitely had our fair share of fighting. But, there were many times where she was one of my best friends. I remember every night I would go sneak into her bedroom and we would lay in there and watch a movie and fall asleep together. I would always get up early because I didn't want my mom to know that I was scared and using my 6 year old little sister as my protector. And Brooklyn never complained. I think she liked the company. ;)

Happy Birthday Brooklyn! I love you very much and only hope that your day is the best one yet!

Pictures!!