Murphy's Law the Military Spouse Edition

I'm sure you're all familiar with Murphy's Law but I just want to share with you how it applies to military spouses.

When your husband is deployed/in the field/on a mission/out of the country (insert whatever other situation or adjective you can think of that means he's completely unavailable) anything and everything that can go wrong, will go wrong.

• You will have car trouble
• It will snow and the power will go out leaving you without heat
• You'll accidentally lock the baby in the car or the house or lock you and your baby in a room
• You'll loose you keys
• The kids will break bones or need to get stitches
• It will rain and the electricity will go out
• Your child will poop during nap time and spread it all over the walls
• Your infant will cut their first teeth and stop sleeping
• Your son will decide that he is ready to be potty trained
• A pet will die
• Your child will take their first steps, say their first words, or some other important developmental milestone
• A major appliance will catch on fire or stop working
• Your pipes will freeze
• Your Christmas tree will fall on your head

This evening I went to water the Christmas tree and it fell over. Thank goodness I'd just put the kids to bed.

The tree didn't wobble, it just fell straight over without warning on my head.


It's a good thing that the bottom 1/3 of the tree had all the child proof ornaments to I didn't get stuck by anything other than branches.



The presents under the tree were soaked and covered in pine sap and I'm still picking branches out of my hair.

I calmly crawled out from under the tree and headed straight for the fridge to get glass of wine. And then I got the camera because the husband never seems to believe me when I tell him about these crises that seem to occur when he's not around.



Unfortunately there wasn't very much left :(



I really wanted that glass of wine so I pulled out a new bottle and added ice. I even threw in the glowing ice cube to help get into the holiday spirit.



I finally got it back up and decorated. And while the lights now only cover one half of the tree and ornaments are grouped in awkward clumps at least it's up!


Now the tree is crooked but I think it goes with the crooked lights and the bunches of ornaments.

Black Friday Recap

We've gotten several questions about Mike's Annual Black Friday Shopping Trip. This year we looked at all the sales flyers and Mike decided that there wasn't really anything that we needed or wanted. Instead of waking up in the middle of the night and going to stand in line somewhere working out the details of his Black Friday Battle Plan Mike opted instead to stay home. Together we did go out for a couple of hours to the mall. We enjoyed being in the mall together without the kids and were able to score some bargains at Gymboree and the Croc store. Our favorite purchase of the year was our $27 Frasier Fir Christmas Tree from the grocery store. We were going to find a Christmas Tree Farm and cut one down but then we decided to give it up and just picked one up from the grocery store. We feel like it was a fantastic bargain, it's over 8 ft tall and it smells wonderful!

Also I forgot to share the most exciting news from our Thanksgiving holiday. We have decided to go to Texas for Christmas and New Orleans for New Years! If you want to get together as we travel through please let us know!

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy belated Thanksgiving! As we get older it's strange to look back at Thanksgivings past (and holidays in general) and reminisce about how different each is from the one before. This is the 8th Thanksgiving that Mike and I have shared together and each one has been celebrated in a different place. As a kid I remember all the holidays being predictably and comfortably familiar, I hope we're able to give that consistency and familiarity to Olivia and Peter. This Thanksgiving was very different from last year (we were in the apartment in Durham, we'd just been reunited as a family and Olivia had been recently released from the hospital). This year I didn't cook, we celebrated with some new friends. It was very laid back and casual.

Mike and I are both most thankful that our family has spent this past year under the same roof and that we're all healthy.

If I had to guess I'd say that Peter is most thankful for his growing independence. He seems older and more independent everyday.

I'd guess that Olivia is most thankful to be able to go to school, for so long we had to keep her isolated from other people (and other children in particular) and I know that she loves being able to interact with her classmates and teachers at school.

We hope that you all had a happy and blessed thanksgiving!

The Two Year Well Baby

We will be celebrating Peter's birthday next week with a birthday party. I'm having a little bit of a hard time accepting that my little guy is really two years old! It's going by so fast, I am just not ready for him to grow up!

In the mean time we did go to the doctor for his two year well baby visit this past week. Peter hasn't been to the doctor for a regular exam in over a year (since his 1 year well baby visit). He really is a very healthy little guy (Thank God). On the growth chart and developmental scale he's scoring right at average which is fine by us! Having a child with special needs brings everything else into perspective! Average and middle-of-the-road sound perfect to me! Peter weighs in at 28 lbs which is the 55th percentile. He is 35 inches tall which is 65th percentile. His gross motor skills are great, he's jumping and climbing up and down stairs, he tries to dress himself and he can undress himself all by himself. Peter is not the slightest bit interested in potty training. The doctor suggested that I put him on the toilet every two hours. I politely smiled and nodded at that bit of advice. He's too busy playing to be bothered with sitting on the potty, he's not showing any signs of being ready to work on potty training. Peter is talking and he has quite a large vocabulary (at least 50-80 words) but he's just starting to put words together to make sentences.

Enjoy these pictures of Peter waiting for the doctor. He's learned to say "cheese" and smile for the camera but it's not nearly as cute as those candid moments.

Thankful for....

‎11/16/10--Thankful that Peter is cavity free and that we found a fantastic new dentist

‎11/17/10--Thankful for an afternoon without any extra curricular activities, therapy sessions or meetings and the time that I got to spend playing with the kids instead!

‎11/18/10--Thankful for olivia's teachers! They are fantastic and they both love Olivia so much!

‎11/19/10--I'm so thankful it is friday! We have had one crazy week!

‎11/20/10--Thankful for all the birthday wishes and the birthday date night with my hubby!

‎11/21/10--Thankful for this lazy weekend and so glad that next week is a short work week!

‎11/22/10--Thankful that we were finally able to go to Peter's 2 year well baby appointment, only 2 weeks late :)

11/23/10--Thankful for the special time Peter and I got to spend today with a friend's adorable infant son. We had so much fun

Halloween Part II, The Neighborhood Party (So LONG Overdue)

*Note* I wrote this post weeks ago but then had a hard time getting the pictures from the woman in our neighborhood who took the pictures. I finally got them so I can now complete the post.



I LOVE our neighborhood. It absolutely makes living here in Fayetteville(nicknamed "Fayet-nam" by North Carolina natives not from Fayetteville) worth it. The neighorhood goes all out! There was a party at the pavilion and a haunted nature walk around the lake. Olivia loved being able to run around. Peter was especially impressed with the inflatable Winnie the Pooh.

Panara

A couple of weeks ago we got envelope in the mail from Panara Bread Co. It included an invitation to sample their food at their newest location here in Fayetteville. This is exciting news in our household as I love Panara and the closest one is over 100 miles away. I thought that they might have limited sampling of some of their menu items but I was completely surprised when we got there.

I loaded up the kids and met Mike in the parking lot that was guarded by several security personnel. I had to show them the invitation (in it's original envelope) before being allowed to drive into the parking lot. There was a bit of a line to get in the door but we were given $30 of fake Panara-money and a menu to hold while we waited in line. We could order anything we wanted off the menu we just had to stay within our $30 budget. They even gave our change in Panara-money.



The restaurant was packed! I think it will be very successful here, heck, I know we'll be back! We looked around as we were waiting in line, trying to figure out how we were so lucky to receive this special invitation. Most of the other customers were in business attire and they all seemed to know each other which makes me think they are all small business leaders or Realtors here in Fayetteville. As we found a quiet spot to enjoy our dinner we saw another family with 2 girls, one of whom was in a wheelchair. We talked briefly and discovered that our invitations was compliments of Make A Wish. Panara is a sponsor of the local chapter of Make A Wish. This organization just doesn't stop giving. Dinner at Panara was such an unexpected and appreciated surprise! But also what a great business model! Why don't more restrauants do this! Having our pretend Panara-money was so much fun! We were able to sample yummy food and provide constructive feedback and the staff were able to have a very realistic trial run.

Dutch Country

Over Veterans Day Weekend we headed to Pennsylvania Dutch Country. Neither Mike or I had ever been and we both enjoyed it so much. It is such a beautiful area of the country, so unique.



Look at that countryside, so picturesque!



We stayed at a neat old farm that had been converted to a hotel so all the different old farm buildings had been converted into a couple of rooms. They had a petting zoo and a really yummy Smorgasbord (buffet). Kids 4 and under were free and Peter and Olivia definately ate their fill!



We woke up and headed to a local farmers market and then we went on a driving tour throughout Lancaster county to look at some covered bridges. They were charming!









The kids were really well behaved on the trip but they were very excited to be out of the car when we got to our final destination.

Two Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed!





The reason we headed to Pennsylvania was for the wedding of some friends. Mike was a swordsman. They had a beautiful wedding and we're happy to have been a part of it.







For me one of the highlights of the trip was a stop at Ikea on the way home. We decided that Ikea is absolutely the BEST place to stop on a road trip. We ate at Ikea, the food was good. Then they take the total you spend on food and give you a coupon for that amount on your in-store purchase. The kids had fun running around and we got to stretch our legs as well. The bathrooms are super clean. So if you're ever on a road trip and pass an Ikea, stop and explore for a bit!

5 Free Cards

Picture More Noir 5x7 folded card

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View the entire collection of cards.

No Cavities

Peter had his very first trip to the dentist earlier this week. I LOVE this new dentist but unfortunately the appointment was smack in the middle of naptime so Peter was not a happy camper. Peter was really excited to see the video games in the waiting area but had a fit when we were called back to the exam room because he didn't want to leave the video games, not a good start to the appointment. He sat in the chair all by himself for a bit to watch a video of a large primate brushing his teeth (the video totally freaked me out, it was a real monkey but Peter thought it was hilarious). He brushed his teeth for the hygienist but when it came time for the dentist to do the "knee-to-knee" exam Peter was not happy. At one point he grabbed the dentists' hand and pulled it out of his mount and yelled "All Done Bye Bye See You" and tried to get up and leave. The exam ended well when Peter was given his new toothbrush, goodie bag, and balloon animal. Peter immediately tried to eat said baloon animal and the mean mommy had to take it away to prevent him from choking on the baloon. He has 16 teeth right now and is getting his 2 year molars. Olivia has her appointment in a couple of weeks and I hope it goes as well!

Photo Captions and Thankfullness

I'm so behind on my Thankful posts, I've been posting to facebook but here's the recap.....

‎11/7/10-thankful that I was able to get so much done today! Thanks to the "extra hour" we were able to go to 9 am mass and then we still had the entire day to get things done!
‎11/8/10--Thankful for coffee time with a friend!
11/9/10--Thankful for Olivia's therapists! They are fantastic with her and we're blessed to have found them!
11/10/10--Thankful for the quality time that I got to spend with Peter while Olivia is at school.
‎11/11/10-Thankful that Gamma Phi Beta was founded 136 years ago! Love, Labor, Learning and Loyalty. Love to all my GPB Sisters.
‎11/12/10 thankful for the beautiful day spent exploring Pennsylvania Dutch country
‎11/13/10-thankful that we are able to be in Pennsylvania to see Larry and jenn say "I do"
‎11/14/10-thankful to be home! Scranton, PA to Fayetteville, NC with a stop at Ikea! Great day and discovered that Ikea may be the best place ever to stop while on a road trip. Clean bathrooms, quick food, plenty of room to stretch the legs and the kids loved it!
‎11/15/10--Thankful that everyone finally seems to be recovering from their colds! We're ready stop going through an entire box of tissues every day!


And now for some photo caption explanation. I got quite a few comments and questions of the picture of Mike from the Veteran's Day post. The picture on my Veteran's Day post is of Mike as he's completing his Jumpmaster duties. Mike can't really give me much information about the picture as he doesn't know when it was taken, he cannot even tell me if they were in the air or on the ground. In any case the photo scares me a little. Maybe "scare" isn't quite the right word. Every once in a while I will see Mike doing something related to his work that makes me look twice, I have this weird "I can't believe that's my husband" reaction. Every time I see him with a gun I have this reaction. How can the guy I meet at a frat party over 10 years ago be this guy? How is this the same person who dances around in the kitchen with our daughter? This is one of those pictures, he's so focused, he looks like a completely different person to me.

Veterans Day

I'm proud to be an American
Where at least I know I'm free
And I won't forget the men who died,
Who gave that right to me.
-Lee Greenwood

Veggie Tales

Last week we were given tickets to a local VeggieTales performance. Mike was unable to attend but I knew that the kids would both love it and I didn't want to miss the opportunity just beacuse Mike wouldn't be there. I decided that I could handle taking the kids to the concert by myself but I knew I'd need some moral support so I asked a friend and her son to join us. Our entire day was structured around attending the 7pm concert....late naps, early dinner, etc. We got to the concert and I decided to put Olivia in the stroller and have Peter walk with me. We met up with my friend and her adorable son,
J', and got our seats. Olivia stayed in the stroller and had the best view since she could see straight down the asile to the stage. Olivia started giggling the moment the lights dimmed and the concert started. She LOVED it! I wish I'd gotten better pictures of her but whenever I'd take her picture the flash would distract her from the concert so I just gave up and let her enjoy it.



Peter and 'J' had a blast! 'J' is about 6 months older than Peter, but they look so much alike!






Seriously, they could be brothers! They really are too cute for their own good! They shared snacks with eachother very nicely and I know that there are plenty of playdates in our future!





Towards the end of the concert Peter and 'J' were getting a little sleepy.



Rather than risk having to carry two very tired little boys all the way back to the car we decided to head out a few minutes early and miss the traffic. I'm rediculously pround that I was able to take both kids out by myself so that we could share this experience! I know it'll get easier as Peter gets older but right now it's a challenge just to leave the house!



If you're not familiar with VeggieTales here's a link to a video of one of our favorites!

Organizational Day

A couple of weeks ago Mike's unit here at Ft. Bragg had an Organizational Day for the families. Olivia had school but Peter had a blast and we were able to learn a little more about what Mike does everyday!



They had one of their M777 155 Howitzer Guns on display. Peter was quite confident that he knew exactly what to do!







Mike's unit now is the ONLY Airborne 155 MM Battalion in the world. They throw these guns out of the plane and then they jump out of the plane after.



Later on in the day they shot several rounds from this big gun but it was so loud! I was too busy trying to protect Peter from permanent hearing damage that I wasn't able to take pictures of that excitement.

Mike showed Peter how to work the MK19 Grenade launcher.



I got to shoot an M4 rifle.



Mike took Peter for a ride in his Humvee.







All in all it was a fun day. It was interesting to learn more about what Mike does.