New Year, New Resolutions

I can't even believe its going to 2015 in a matter of hours! Where has the year gone? It just seems like yesterday I was getting off a plane from Japan and starting our next chapter in America!! My calendar for the new year has already started to fill up which goes to show how quickly time can really pass if you stay busy.

This year has been a mix between major highs and lows. Important things that have happened to me this past year was moving back to the states after years living abroad, moving to Ohio, Christian starting a part-time daycare, visiting family on both sides of the coast, my sister-in-law finally got hitched to the man she has been with for years, my brother-in-law will finally make his life official with my soon to be sister-in-law, my hubby finished his Master's degree, I started getting all my paperwork together to start my Master's degree, the hubby deployed, and most importantly, I lost the only man in my life that I have ever called Dad and compared all men to.

To start the new year off on the right foot I cleaned the house, restocked the fridge, and even got my hair "did"! By the way, I never get my hair done so this is a big deal y'all!

Chrispy and I also make it our duty to donate time to a local pet shop that allows you to play with the pups for "donations" so we played with a total of 20 puppies yesterday! But one little girl in particular caught my eye, but unfortunately my hubby was not down for adding another fur baby to the pack :(

Seriously, who could resist that beautiful face?! I need another girl in the house, I'm being overran with nothing but boys!

I'm sincerely looking forward to 2015! It's an opportunity to start new adventures and end old chapters. Most of my new resolutions this year consist of family and friends, and making more efforts to stay in touch with loved ones. And of course….maintaining my healthy diet and fitness routines ;)

Our plans for this evening are going to be filled with games, festive bubbly, gorgeous cocktail dresses, and plenty of sweets at a friends house. Hopefully we can manage to stay up till 12. Seriously, when did my life change from getting ready to go out to the hottest club to now playing board games in a friend's living room?! ;) At least some yummy macaroons are going to be involved!

I hope everyone has a happy and safe New Years Eve!

Camera Roll

The past few weeks feels like they have just whipped right by me, which is absolutely wonderful, keep them coming! As I normally try to soak in every last minute of the holiday season and pray it isn't over, this year I'm just ready for it all to be over, because the sooner it is, the closer it gets to the hubby's homecoming!

Just a little peek into our lives these past few weeks….

This project has probably been the best money I've ever spent! The Lack table by Ikea in white and I just added some wheels from Home Depot and now Christian can move this table around as he pleases.  The chairs are actually from his preschool that were given to us because they got new ones! And our deer in the picture collage got a fun garland for the holiday season :) My plan is to also paint the top with chalkboard paint for fun coloring and attaching a side holder for chalk.

Christmas cards finally came in and are being sent out as fast as I can address them. Half way through my list of names I ran out of cards, leaving me with having to order more…we just know too many people!! It's getting a little out of control really…Thank you Shutterfly for getting them to us quickly!

This picture will forever be my favorite…Chrispy had no interest in Santa and just gave up. He knows where the presents really come from (Target) ;) and when Santa wasn't giving him any cars it was game over.

We stopped into this awesome little coffee shop called Ghostlight Coffee in Downtown Dayton randomly one day when a show at a theater cancelled their show last minute and didn't think to call anyone that had reservations :( We made a good thing out of a bad and stopped in for some hot chocolate and yummy donuts….

 Chrispy didn't mind a bit ;)

If you follow me on Instagram you already know about the car lot that has become my backyard. I have plans to build a little "garage" for Chrispy's collection. If you are wondering, no, I am not crazy and didn't buy any of those at full price! The Lighting McQueen car was only $20 at a thrift store in working condition, the Ford pickup was $5! It was missing its battery but had it's charger still, so Amazon was where I picked up a new battery for only $20 and the John Deer Tractor was a present from my Dad. He bought it well before Christian could even touch the pedals but he had to get it for him. One of the best memories I have of my Dad and Christian is the day he gave it to him…the level of excitement for both of them was amazing :)

And nothing like a patriotic flag picture to warm my soul. That is my hubby on the far right with the caterpillar on his upper lip (yuck)!

And one more of my hubby, looking normal. If anyone else has a loved one deployed right now I send you prayers and love right now. I know how hard it is to carry on with such a magical time of year without half of your heart :)

Have a Happy Weekend Y'all!

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the…..Well Crap!

Yep, that's right, this week has just been throwing me for loops and I've had several occasions just over this past week of me somehow being covered in some kind of bodily fluid…from my son. To start, we had a massive heart to heart when I explained to Chrispy that spitting in my face, yes may be funny, but totally is gross and I almost want to cry every time he does it…just weird. We also now have a case of serious diaper rash do to his lack of letting me change his diaper or hiding that he actually went poop. When I finally did get him pinned down to change his diaper it was the worst #2's in the world!! I was  confused, puzzled, and wondering what the hell I've been feeding him and if it is possible for a baby just  to live on crackers so there is no more weird poop….real questions people! I also didn't enjoy the poop that somehow would end up on the carpet, my hands, and yes, my jeans from him wiggling and moving about as I'm trying to clean up his HORSE SIZE DUMPs!

But these are just a few of the bodily fluids that have graced me this week, the best is yet to come! :) After a long week of disappointment, sadness, grief, depression, and sheer panic that I might run out of wine at any moment…he threw up on me. And not just in any "at home where no one can see kind of thing"….like, in public, at my favorite grocer, with about 150 people watching. I wasn't mad or upset, I was completely taken by surprise and couldn't do anything more than pat his back and tell him to "get it all out baby"…right on me.  My face could of spoke a thousand words to everyone around me. I was so horrified but at the same time completely understanding of the circumstance…and so were others. People were asking me left and right if I was okay and tried their best to help me "clean up" my new Ann Taylor sweater without throwing up themselves. Seriously, amazing people!! I said thank you about a million times before we walked right back out the doors and walked to car…did I mention it was pouring rain by now…I know, like a really bad movie. By the time we got to the car, I was drenched but carried on…after all, it could only help the smell at this point. I put Chrispy in his car seat and removed all of his threw up clothes and tossed them in the back of the car, strapped him in, and began peeling off my clothes to only leave me with a tiny white tank top and my jeans on….he even got my shoes :( Of course what made it worst was realizing that this old man was staring me down as I was undressing in the parking lot to leave me with a only a see-through tank…what a jerk!

(well, this sucks face driving home from the madness)

Can I say thank God for car heaters?…. since it was only 40 degree outside and yes, raining!!! By the time we got home we were what seemed to be okay, he hadn't thrown up in the car which I was so grateful for….because he saved it for when we got inside the house to do it right on the carpet I had cleaned just two days prior…isn't he sweet? I swear…I'm being punished for something but can't even remember what for…or it's just motherhood at its finest giving me a reality check for maybe feeling a bit low lately. Regardless of the cause, lets just pray I can make it out of this week without having to clean the carpet again…that would be nice.

Hope every one's weekend goes better than mine!

Crate Magic

So I absolutely adore old wood crates, you know, the kind that really nice grocery stores use or the ones from the past since cardboard boxes weren't invented yet! Today, people have so many ideas for them the possibilities are endless…just look at Pinterest and you will find so many great ideas! Oh, the love of I have for them, that rustic and classic look…and yes, this is me getting excited and swooning over a crate! I know…issues.

I picked up crate at Michael's for like $4 in October knowing I wanted to do something with it but never got around to actually doing anything…holidays and life always get in they way. Well, today, as I'm putting finishing touches on other projects that I'm currently working on I managed to finally get my crate painted and propped.

I simply whitewashed the natural raw wood and stenciled on a simple logo in Carbon by Behr. I love it! Seriously! And if you go to Michael's in the Martha Stewart section, she now makes vinyl stencils for reusing purposes. Unfortunately they only come in a few fonts, aren't very large, and are kinda pricey at $16.99 per font.

But, with having my own paint on hand the only costs were the crate at $4 and the stencil…a total of $20.99 before taxes. A pretty cheap cost for something I can use multiple ways around the house.

For now, it is doing a fabulous job as decor for my cute little trees by the front door :) I LOVE CHRISTMAS!! Oh, and the little colored light tree in the Terra-cotta planter was only 50 cents at the Goodwill! It was so cheap because the bottom stand that holds it up was missing, so I just stuck the end through a hole at the bottom of the planter and stuffed the sides with wrapping confetti left over from a present…DONE! LOVE IT!

Any cute little decor things you got going on? I really am hoping to finish off all my Christmas projects/presents soon so I can be done with the whole gift giving thing. It is easier to buy a person a gift but making it comes from such a different place :)

 

 

Happy Thursday Y'all!

Reindeer Banner DIY

There is nothing like Christmas decor…it's beautiful, shiny, bright, and gets you in the Christmas spirit. Unfortunately most holiday decor comes at a price, even if it's at a discount. I'm a avid thrift store shopper and swear by Goodwill's in clean and nice locations, usually because the people that donate (including myself) tend to have nice stuff. Even with the amazing odds and ends that full my house with Christmas cheer, I always crave for the more whimsical homemade items.

I'm a big fan of banners, have them all over the house all year long and change them out seasonally. This year called for a new Christmas banner that I'm just loving. It reminds me totally of something off the Anthropology website and that makes me even happier, since I spent almost no money making it.

(In the photo, I stamped before I sewed since my triangles were kind of small so I needed to know how much space I had to work with when sewing the edges)

Supplies
fabric, enough to cut out as many triangles as desired and to size
scissors
jute string
sewing pins
sewing machine with thread, or needle and thread if wanting to hand sew
stamp, ordered mine from here
stamp ink in desired ink

Steps
1. Fold fabric in half and iron
2. Cut desired size of triangle using the folded edged as one side
3. Repeat until you reach the desired amount of triangles
4. Tie a loop knot at one end of the jute string
5. Insert jute string into triangle and as close to the folded edge as possible, pin it down
6. Sew with your needle against the folded edge and jute string as possible without sewing over it, remove pin as your sewing
7. Sew other sides together creating a completely closed triangle that slides on the jute string
8. Continue until all triangles are sewn and attached to the jute string
9. Cut jute string to desired length and finish the end with a loop knot
10. Cover stamp completely in ink and stamp in desired location on the triangles
11. Hang and enjoy!

Hope y'all have a great time decorating for Christmas. What are y'all's homemade Christmas goodies? I'm planning on making an Advent Calendar but it's hard to nail one down with all the wonderful options filling Pinterest.

Happy Monday Y'all! :)

My Holiday Movie Hit List

Yes!! It's beginning to feel a like Christmas which means trees, decor, and lights are filling my house but once everything is plugged in place I start watching all of my favorite holiday movies all the way up to Christmas! I tend to save them just for this time of year, which makes it all that more magical and gets me on a whole new level of crazy Christmas spirit.

Holiday Movie Hit List 

1. Grumpy Old Men

2. Grumpier Old Men, I absolutely ball my eyes out when Grandpa Guastafson dies…breaks my heart every time!

3.The Holiday

4. Love Actually

5. Bridget Jones Diary, not actually a Christmas movie but somehow makes it in this time of year…odd

6. Bridget Jones Diary-The Edge of Reason, because I just got done watching the first one

7. Christmas Vacation, like on constant repeat! I mean I watch this one maybe 20 times before Christmas!

8. A Christmas Story, "I CAN'T PUT MY ARMS DOWN!" :)

9. Home Alone

10. Home Alone 2, not as good as the first, but still amusing to a two year old

11. Jingle All the Way, I love that no one ever seems to question Arnold Schwarzenegger accident the whole movie, like it's not unusual to have someone live right next door to you that sounds like the guy from Rocky 4 

12. Scrooged

13. ELF!!!!

14. Polar Express

15. It's a Wonderful Life

16. Miracle on 34th Street

17. Holiday Inn

18. The Grinch Who Stole Christmas

19. Trading Places

20. A Charlie Brown Christmas

21. The Family Stone, get your tissues ladies!

22. Bad Santa, without the kids of course ;)

What's on your must watch list during the holiday season? I really just love this time of year just for the anticipation of getting to watch movies that I really love and have saved for a whole year! Hope everyone is getting Christmas bug like me! I seriously watch some of these movies so much during this time that I can quote almost the entire movie by New Year's…it's an issue I'm working on ;)

Have a Happy Sunday Y'all! 

Playing Catch Up

Wow, it feels like that past month has flown by and I'm just now getting around to catching up with my life. We are busier than I ever imagined while the hubby has been gone, and from my own doing, the months are just going by but never quick enough till the hubby gets home.

So this past weekend one of my sister-in-law's was getting married so Chrispy and I decided we needed to go for a visit since it was long over due and this would be the perfect time, because everyone would be there! Yes, we used a wedding as an excuse for a little family reunion but the hubby's family is from New Mexico and if you have ever been, you know it takes forever to get around places, and everyone just happens to be so far spread out that we usually end up being the car for hours at a time just to make a quick 30 minute stop at someones house. This time, everyone would be in the same town at the same time, New Mexico problem solved!! :) We were so fortunate to stay with my brother-in-law and his family which turned out to be perfect since Chrispy and his cousin are only 10 months apart in age, making our crazy Momma schedules work.

Chrispy was actually amazing on the the flights to New Mexico…for him. I was a little pissed off at American Airlines, first time we ever traveled with them, because on the website they said a car seat would fit fine in the seats and when I got there the airport employees wouldn't even let me try it out to see if it would fit, they just really didn't want to do more work in their day job than they had too :( Major problem for them not me, since Chrispy is a very "spirited" little boy that would  run laps on the plane. I managed to keep him entertained with movies, cars, snacks, crazy faces, and finally, ordering him coke from the flight attendant (not one of my proudest moments). At one time the flight attendant asked me to ask my son to sit in his seat and put on his seat belt,….I laughed so hard that I was crying. I replied with a simple, "why don't you reason with a two year old and tell me how that goes", she didn't ask for anything from me for the rest of the flight :)

From the moment we landed to the time we took off, it was like a marathon of gathering, playing, and getting ready for a weekend of wedding activities. Not only was it nice to see family but for the male attention that Chrispy has desperately been craving. His Uncle Jon-Jon fit that bill and had two little boys chasing him around the whole weekend :)

Chrispy got some serious loving from family and this was such a nice break for me since the hubby has been gone. I actually got to enjoy a dinner without scarfing it down or eating it cold!!! Amazing!! Did you know when your food is served to you at a restaurant, it comes hot? I know, this is CRAZY!!! :)

On top of the family time, I got to spend the weekend with this guy! OMG! I could eat him alive,…if he ever let anyone hold him! What a stinker! You wait Mr. Jude, I'm coming for you next time :)

With so many sets of grandparents in town for the wedding, my sister-in-law, her Momma, and me got to get away for some much needed girl time and pampering. We started at a Parisian restaurant enjoying all the magic of delicious food and ended with a mani/pedi date…I was so happy!!!

We also managed to squeeze in a fun night out dancing and drinking with some of my favorite people ever!! Lots of love going on here.

The last night there was bitter sweet. I mean, looking at this picture, all the these boys are sooo related!! Just wish the hubby could have been here to contribute to all the "crazy" that went down :(

The plane ride home for us was so different!! Not only was Chrispy Satan's helper, he also threw a total of 20 tantrums, had a blowout, hit me in the face twice (in public), dumped water on me, and called me Mom! We were also delayed for our last plane by 3 hours, at which time I had to somehow get him to take a nap…Ergo it was even though my back killed me and I couldn't move for about 3 hours!

 

 I managed to get home just in time for the temperature to drop in Ohio to a whooping -10 degrees with below zero winds….SO MUCH FUN!! I felt awful because all I had packed for Chrispy and I were light fleeces thinking it wasn't going to be snowing or this cold. Thankfully a saint came to my rescue and held Chrispy in her warm coat on the shuttle to take us out to our snow-covered frozen car. The driver was so nice and dropped us off right in from of our car, loaded the car, and scrapped my windshield…it's hard to find men like that these days! I couldn't have been more grateful as so many people helped us stay warm and get to our car safely :)

The last few days after a trip we are usually pretty tired and worn out, plus I'm usually trying to catch up on the little things that got left. I also just started Christmas shopping and really have no clue what to get the little man. I ran across this awesome Mini Cooper for him at HomeGoods, but decided that since he already has two vehicles he probably doesn't need a third, right?

I also got the lovely opportunity to fix a dryer. Yep, a dryer. My dryer stopped blowing heat so off to You Tube to figure out what to do and after the better part of a day of gathering parts and watching tutorials, I finally got that baby warming up!! Just call Mrs. Mechanic :)

What I'm most excited about these days is that we get to slow down a little with all the holidays coming up. Though we have a few holiday parties to hit up, we aren't traveling now which gives me a sense of relief since this Momma is so tired of traveling with a toddler on my own. It's totally doable, just hard. So these awesome pancake shapers I found at the Goodwill really made me so happy to know I will be able to use them all season long! Aren't they the cutest things ever?! I got them for a whooping $.79 together!

I also managed to get some decor out on the table…but Chrispy was quick to "dine" at it :)

(The way Apollo is eyeballing that burger you would think I never feed them!)

And I've gotten a new piece of furniture to work on but still really undecided on what direction to go. I am really thinking between a mint green or a coral for a little girl's room, any thoughts?

In all, after having lots of fun traveling we are so happy to be home and getting back into our little routine. I'm sure not before long I will get my "itch" and have to venture somewhere else but for now we are enjoying the home life.

I hope everyone's holiday season is going wonderful with plenty of family time and fun.

And now I leave you with the saddest/meanest face ever of a little boy not getting any Coke from his Uncle Jon-Jon, which I would later find out that he was sneaking him some the whole weekend! All I have to say is karma is a bitch Jon ;)

We'll Get Through This

Seriously, there are no words to describe the moments that Chrispy has uncontrollable tantrums. One minute we are completely fine, playing on the floor with trucks, trains, and cars and when I tell him things like "no" or "stop" because he is about to throw his toy across the room or trying to jump off a counter it becomes a living nightmare. Terrible two's are no joke and anyone who laughs at you when you describe this should be shot…just saying.

Grocery shopping has become a thing I look forward to the most because my child can not stand the thought of being strapped into a buggy while Momma takes her sweet time buying things to eat, so she hires a babysitter ;) Its the only possible solution I have at this point if I even want to be able to feed us from home. I never thought the regression from the hubby's deployment would take an impact on him quit this hard but who was I to know…it's not like we had a child the other million times he has been called away for work.

With all the parenting books, websites, and blogs out there to help me manage with the "terrible two tantrums" I sometimes find myself overwhelmed with the different tactics I could take in order to solve the problem of the death stare/scream…and end up having a little tantrum myself…in tears. Sometimes for me the best solution to these horrible problems we are having are just to hold Chrispy as tight as I can in my arms, usually crying myself, and telling him how Momma loves him and that we will get through this. He sometimes calms down right away from the sound of me crying, which turns into him brushing sweet and gentle short strokes through my hair and telling me "Momma okkkay" and sealing it with tiny little kisses…which makes everything better. Sometimes the holding leads to a full on body convulsion in which I am being kicked, hit, and punched to let him be free of my grasp..either way, we are making it through…I think.

Time outs are slowly catching on as I'm starting to enforce them more regularly, but of course I'm usually sitting behind him facing him in a corner and reminding myself to stay strong. It is a true test being a parent and I can only imagine God gave loving parents this willpower we have to keep on going, even through the times you just want to give up. Truly a parent's love for their young baby is greater than any feeling I've ever had. Tomorrow is another day to start again, to make another impression on him, and to remind him how much you love him. I know I'm just speaking for myself in my little world about how hard it has been for Chrispy, but I remind myself that millions of us military families do this everyday, with children, and pets, and in different countries away from all of our loved one's to help us, and that gives me a wonderful warm fuzzy inside that it obviously is possible, and we'll get through this.

Happy Thursday Day Y'all! :)