The Boy

First of all, I've been horrible about replying to comments. I'm really sorry. I really do appreciate them. It's nice to know that despite the fact that I blog primarily to stay sane when alone 96.5% of the time with the boy, that there's really someone else out there reading these things.

Anyway, yesterday was the boy's 2nd birthday. I so wanted to write a fun, sweet blog about how much I love that little guy but he was a maniac all day. He's been a maniac for about a week now. He's going through a growth spurt I'm sure because he's sleeping 12-14 hours at night and eating EVERYTHING in sight all day. To top it off, we went to a friend's house for a game night (adults...the kids roamed the house mindlessly while we played cards-happy birthday baby, lol) so we were out REALLY late and as a result, he was a bear again today. Just for the record, we do love the boy and we do believe in celebrating birthdays. We're just waiting for Joshua to come home...besides, the kid's two. He doesn't know what he's missing yet.

He did get his present yesterday (mostly because I needed him to have a new toy to occupy himself for a while and boy did it work). We got him a trampoline.-not a big one in the backyard but a mini one for inside the house. Secretly, I'm hoping having the trampoline will redirect him from jumping on his bed but we'll see. At the very least, it should provide a nice distraction when we're stuck inside this winter. All day yesterday and today he was jumping and jumping and jumping. It was hilarious. He was dripping with sweat at one point and I had to make him stop and read a book with me. Between all the jumping and the growth spurt, he ate three times what he normally would. I kept having flashes of what the teenage years will be like...first all the cooking, then the grocery bill. I have to admit, I was frightened.

After our rather messy dinner tonight...Spanish meatballs and rice, it was bath time. That was the point in the day that drove me to drink. The boy was getting out of the tub and (as per our ritual) he was wearing a towel while I was getting his toothbrush ready. I had my back turned for a second...all bad mom moments start with those words. The boy ripped off his towel and grabbed a bottle from the cabinet

...it was baby powder.

wet toddler + baby powder = sticky grossness (which I'm sure will be funny one day looking back)

In the split second that I had as the boy was about to squeeze the bottle I swooped down and said his name. It wasn't yelling; it was that way only a mom can say your name...barely a whisper but more frightening than any battle cry ever shouted. Unfortunately, it was a bit too frightening and the boy jumped and squeezed the bottle....hard. I reached to grab his arm to keep him in the bathroom and contain the situation.

Didn't work.

He ran out of the bathroom and into the next room...the spare bedroom where we keep the dog kennel and that's just where he went. He ran naked, wet, and covered in baby powder into the dog's kennel, grabbed the door behind himself and shut it. All the while, still squeezing the baby powder and loving every moment of it.

We have a big dog. His kennel is big.

In order to get the kid out, I had to go in. Needless to say I got covered in sticky, gross baby powder paste and to top it off the dog had come into the room to see what was going on with his kennel. Balak, our dog, aka Bubba is very particular about things. He LOVES to sleep and his blanket is to him what a bone is to most dogs. You don't mess with Bubba's blanket. So, he was pacing in front of his kennel whining...panicking really about his blanket being covered in the same goop that we were covered in.

In the end, I kicked the dog outside, gave the kid another bath, put him to bed, washed the dog's precious blanket, cleaned the bathroom, bedroom and hallway floors and poured myself a drink.

My son is two. I can do this.

Father's Day

I'm just going to say it...I'm married to the World's Greatest Dad. It's true, all those coffee mugs, computer mouse pads and cheesy t-shirts were invented with my husband in mind. Let me explain how I know he's the best...

I was raised by a single mom-hardest job in the world but that's for another post. Father's Day in a word, sucked. It was my own personal reminder that my father didn't want me. He left before I was born and every year when Father's Day came around I felt like everyone was watching me...like I was wearing some sort of bastard scarlet letter. Growing up in northern Minnesota, Father's Day was usually just the week or two after school got out so more often than not, the last weeks of school were filled with crafts and cards for Dad. I would make the little gifts, knowing all the while that it would go to my mom (who fully deserved them) or to my Grandfather. It's just not the same. Now, with the benefit of adult wisdom (feel free to laugh at that) or more accurately, 27 years of hindsight, I know that my life was better without my biological father. I met him, Terry H, when I was 19, only 6 months after my mother married my step-dad, Terry R. Yup, both named Terry...apparently she has very specific preferences-actually, she didn't even realize the coincidence until I pointed it out one day. To keep things clear, I generally refer to them as Terry (meaning my step-dad) and bio-Terry (met him second and for much of my life he was a bio-hazard).

For years, I was totally confused as to how I'm supposed to celebrate Father's Day. Things with my step-dad are cordial because I know my mother loves him but I was in college when they got married and he has three kids of his own-all younger than me. Plus, he and I are both loud and stubborn but we're loud and stubborn about very different things. Other than loving my mom, we don't have much in common. As for bio-Terry, when we first connected, I made the decision to forgive him. I knew I couldn't live with hate but then as time progressed, I realized I had decided to forgive a man who had never apologized. It came to a head after the boy was born. I strongly believe in the benefit of having actively involved loving grandparents so I reached out again and to his credit, bio-Terry responded. But, after a visit for his birthday and seeing my 40-something first cousins (they're Irish Catholic) and all the pictures of my father who was there with all of them for every Kindergarten Graduation and birthday party, I left feeling like I had been punched in the stomach. To add insult to injury, at one point, bio-Terry had the nerve to tell me that he didn't hold anything against my mother. Yup, the man who admitted leaving my mother when she was pregnant with me and who didn't even tell his family that I existed until I found him, didn't hold anything against my mother who often worked two jobs to support us. I was furious and as immature as it may be, all I wanted was an apology. Some recognition of the pain his absence caused. So, I avoided him, his calls, his letters. That's my coping technique. I run. Like I said, immature. The worst part is that I love his family. They're hilarious. They're the type of family I dreamed about as a child...big and close. They get together almost every week in the summer for BBQs and pool parties. But it hurts too much to be one foot in that world and one foot out.

Which brings me to my amazing husband and why he is the World's Greatest Dad. His own dad divorced his mom when she was pregnant with him. She never re-married and his family is tiny. By all accounts, he was set up to fail as a father but instead he is the Buzz Lightyear of dads (he goes to infinity and beyond). From the time I was pregnant with the boy, he has been loving, protective and proud. (To the point where he didn't want me near any possible dangerous chemicals...like dish soap, lol...it was great). The first night in the hospital, the boy and I slept like champs while Joshua stood over the bassinet (all night) watching the boy breath. Because the boy was bundled so tightly and Joshua couldn't always see the boy's chest rise and fall, from time to time, he'd poke the boy. Yeah. He poked the sleeping baby. The first month we were home, Joshua let me have the bed to myself. He and the boy slept on the couch. It was a week and a half before I realized that Joshua had the boy sleeping face up on his chest...he had heard everyone at the hospital say that babies MUST sleep on their backs so as uncomfortable as I'm sure it was, he made sure the boy slept on his back. Joshua has loved the boy beyond measure and not just now that he's bigger and more able to do fun things like play catch and go to the park. He's the dad everyone like me, grows up dreaming of.

Have you ever had one of those moments when everything in your heart, everything that you've been thinking and praying about was suddenly and without warning posted on someone else's blog? If not, I can tell you that it's an eye opening experience and it happened to me this morning.

For those of you who don't know, I have a heart condition which in and of itself isn't too serious. It does make pregnancy a bit more tricky and combined with the fact that I have had three miscarriages (all very early thankfully), having the boatload of kids that we want, will probably require adoption. We've talked about the route we should take, international vs domestic agencies vs adoption through foster care and we had a tentative plan in mind...I'm a planner, big time but I recognize life happens and planning for children is near impossible even in the adoption world. The more we looked into our options the more overwhelming it started to seem. I think I forgot what adoption is about and then today while goofing off online, I came across a blog post that my friend JG shared on her facebook page. It wasn't her own post and I'd never read anything by the blogger before but it was one of those wow moments. It's about the true meaning of adoption and I wanted to share it with you all. So, please go to Grace for the Orphan and check it out.

Award time...

Ok, so this is my first attempt at passing an award on...so I apologize if I make some sort of terrible blogging award feux-pas.

A big thanks to Annoyed Army Wife who posted two awards and let 7 of us pick which one we wanted...I chose the

award mostly because the other one was beauty-based and right now I'm a little annoyed with the look of my blog design (but that's for another post).

The rules are simple...list 7 things about yourself and then pass it on to 7 other people so without further ado, I am passing this award on to the following 7 blogs because they always offer something new and fun to read:

ACU's, Stiletto Shoes, and Pretty Pink Tutus

Flip Flops and Combat Boots

G.I. Joe's Wife

Me and My SoldierMan

Musings of an Army Wife

Riding the Roller Coaster

The "Sometimes Single" Mom

Ok, now 7 things about me...

1-I'm terrified of leaf piles (I know, I sound like a freak)...the thing is that I'm convinced there's snakes lurking under every leaf pile, waiting for me so it's really the snake and not so much the leaves that freak me out

2-My husband calls me Peanut and I love it

3-I'm a HUGE Minnesota Vikings fan...we will make it and win the Super Bowl one year and I really want to be there for it!

4-On our first date, I told my now husband that I want to have a bunch of kids and stay home and if he wasn't looking for the same thing, thanks for dinner but I was done with casaul stuff...apparently I didn't scare him off but we were also friends for a few months before we went on our first date so that probably helped

5-If I could live another life, I'd be a photo-journalist for National Geographic

6-I want a huge family and although we may have to go through adoption, I think we're going to end up with at least 5 kids

7-I sleep best in an ice cold room with a fan going and at least three really heavy blankets

Thanks again to The Annoyed Army Wife

Weather Review

It's been exactly three months since Joshua left for OSUT at Ft Leonard Wood today. I could write about a ton of stuff that the boy and I have done and all that I've learned in the last three months but I'm not in a nostalgic or sappy mood right now so instead, I'd like to recap the weather we've had to endure...(around here, the weather is always a good topic of conversation because it's never boring but these last few months, it's been even more adventurous than normal).

We have...

*been snowed in, twice-once was more ice than snow but same principle

*had the worst hail storm in the state's recorded history

*had 2 tornado watches for our area and one warning which was close enough to send us to the storm shelter (another first in recorded history)

*experienced triple digit degree weather beginning in April (not at all normal for our neck of the woods)

*had a handful of electrical storms-one of which came close enough to bring the neighbor's tree down (kind of glad they're on the other side of the street)

*lost power for at least an hour on 4 separate occasions

and yesterday, we saw the metro area flooded. Over a foot of rain in many parts and one creek near a popular lake rose an estimated 30 feet...yeah, FEET. The local news broadcasters are saying that it was a once in 500 year flood.

Thankfully, through it all, the boy, the dog, the house and I managed to stay undamaged (well, apart from our wind chimes which were taken out in the tornado warning).

I'd like to say all this record breaking weather surprised me but I pretty much expected it as soon as Joshua left. I also expected a plethora of mechanical issues to come up and so they have. My hope now, is that when deployment comes, it'll be boring.

Disney Blog Carnival: Music

Disney Blog Carnival: Music

Today is the last day of the Disney Blog Carnival but if you're just now checking it out, you can go to

and check out more stories/pics. Also, check out my earlier posts in the carnivalDisney Blog Carnival: ParksDisney Blog Carnival: RidesDisney Blog Carnival: FoodDisney Blog Carnival: CharactersDisney Blog Carnival: Fireworks But, back to today's topic, Music. The theme parks are full of different music...each attraction, each land, seemingly each corner has it's own theme song and it sets the stage but rather than going over all the amazing music Disney uses in the parks, I'm just going to tell you about my favorite three Disney songs. The first, is sappy. My favorite princess has always been Jasmine. Unfortunately, I have almost nothing in common with her...I'm not a princess, I'm a pale, white, dirty-blond girl with blue-green eyes but I do have a diamond in the rough so here's a song that always makes me think of him...(with pics from two different trips-before the boy and with the boy)

Ok, sappy moment over...well, for the most part. The second Disney song that I LOVE is a song that reminds me of the two most important people in my life and their special bond...

My last Disney song is our favorite park ride song and is just the kind of song that gets into your head (but in a good way). It's Splash Mountain's theme song and was my hubby's special ring tone for a long time. The pictures are just a few of the highlights from the last couple of years at Walt Disney World.

I hope you've had as much fun reading and watching the Disney Blog Carnival as I have. Big thanks to JG at Me and My SoldierMan for hosting it!

Disney Carnival: Fireworks

Disney Blog Carnival: Fireworks!

Remember to stop by

Me and My SoldierMan: Disney Blog Carnival: Fireworks for more Disney Fireworks and to link up your own page 

 

There's just something about the Magic Kingdom's fireworks show, Wishes, that always brings a tear to my eye. Last time we went, I had a fun new camera and took lots of pics...here's a video of the fireworks from the boy's first night in the parks...(sorry about the sound quality and keep in mind, I'm 5'2" and forgot my tri-pod so big people were a problem)

And yes, the boy really did fall asleep on Joshua's shoulders in the middle of the show (that's what happens when you're 14 months old and refuse to nap and miss something during the day).

One more thing, am I the only one who sees Tinkerbell in this picture? Tomorrow's topic: Music If you missed some of my previous Disney Blog Carnival posts you can find them at:Disney Blog Carnival: ParksDisney Blog Carnival: RidesDisney Blog Carnival: FoodDisney Blog Carnival: Characters