Date Night- What, What!

I have one of the bestest besties in the world & her and her husband gave Chad & I a gift when he returned from his last deployment (in October). This gift is something that two young and new parents don't get very often...and that is a nice, relaxing dinner at a yummy restaurant where we don't have to worry about high chairs (& babies climbing out of them), or Cheerios & other small pieces of food being thrown about (leaving an embarrassing mess surrounding said high chair), or disrupting the 'nice and relaxing' dinner that our table neighbors are TRYING to enjoy (but are having trouble because the loud baby next door wants to say 'hi' to them 14 million times)...Tonight will be different, my friends. They gave us a gift card for dinner at Outback & also a gift card to the best movie theatre in town. When was the last time we got to go see a movie in theatre you might ask?? "I can't even remember" would be the answer to that one. So, in other words, we are very thankful to our friends who have provided a night of fun, freedom, & relaxed hubby-wifey time (which is much-needed since Chad will be gone for Valentine's Day & a while after that). Whew! We're excited. Oh yea, I forgot to mention they're giving us free & trustworthy childcare....Saints is what they are, I tell ya!!!...:) Now, I have to go figure out which chick flick I'm going to coax Chad into watching tonight! Woo-hoo! :)

Cupid's Delivery...

I saw these super cute tiny mailboxes in the dollar section of Target right after Christmas & snatched one up so we could have a little fun with Kennady for Valentine's Day. I decided to put the mailbox on her dresser & have 'Cupid' come and leave her something sweet every evening after dinner. I can say, "Kennady...you wanna go check your mailbox?!" and she reaches for her room & leads us right to it. It's UNREAL what she comprehends...such a big girl. (sorry it's sideways, couldn't get it to turn).

She loves it and she will like it even more next year when she can have more than a small piece of chocolate & gets toys & conversation hearts too. It's fun! :) We LOOOOVEE this baby girl...

Happy early Valentine's Day everyone! :)

She's a Rambler...

As usual, I don't have many organized thoughts, but I know I'm a pretty good rambler, so here goes nothing...

Chad & I are highly considering the purchase of a Dreadmill...oh, I'm sorry, there was a typo...what I meant to say was a Treadmill. Oh, how much I LOOOOVE running on a treadmill...HA. How this came about...well, we are both participating in a half-marathon in 25 very short days & he has noticed how hard it has been for me to train under our current lifestyle. I can use the base gym which has a small 'mommy & kids' area, but there are only 2 treadmills in there and Kennady likes to climb on all of the bigger kid toys which makes me a nervous wreck while I'm TRYING to get a workout in. Plus, running 4 or 5 miles takes me an hour or a little less and that is a LONG time for a 13 1/2 month old to sit and play with unfamiliar toys in an unfamiliar environment...and don't even get me started on if there are other instigating kids to mess with! Anywho, we figure we will use it a lot more conveniently if we have one in our home...and only time will tell on that one. :) Any suggestions of good ones for minimal money??

One of our baby monitor's battery died & I need to find a place that will replace it. I was thinking maybe one of those Battery Plus stores, but I've never been into one, so we shall see what comes of that.

My brother and sis-in-law's baby shower is this coming Saturday and I am so excited about it. I am a hostess for it and I can't wait to have everyone together and to see all of the fun stuff she gets! I made her a super cute bow hanger for baby girl Liv, but I have to wait to post a picture of it until after the shower. You guys are gonna like it. :)

I got some killer deals today at Ross & Old Navy. Ross had to really cute sleepers, one fleece and one cotton, each on clearance for $2.50. DEAL!! These are Carter's brand which usually range between $16 and $20, so I thought that was a steal! I also found a pair of cute gray flats (duh, she's a baby :)) with a cute pink bow on them for only $1.50 and IN HER SIZE too, which is a miracle these days. For some reason, no matter which size of shoe we seem to be in, it seems that they are often out of it. Never fails, right?! Then, Old Navy had some super-soft fleece sleepers on sale for $1.99, so I bought the only one in her size and was excited about it. This baby may have nothing to wear for clothes during the day, but she will be styling while she is at home, asleep, not being seen by anyone else but me and daddy...but whatever. They were well-priced and I WIN...end of shopping story. (Though I would love to make a side-note that The Children's Place just really hasn't been doing much for me lately...I REALLY wish we had a Gymboree & a Baby Gap because I would be going crazy all up in there if we did...:))

I went to play bunko on base with the spouses group tonight and out of only 8 people playing, 5 won money, but ask me....were you one of the five, Kelly?? The answer is NO. As usual, I played a mediocre game that left me with my hands empty and a $5 hole in my pocket...ha. Oh well, I guess it was worth the time I got to laugh and mess with the other ladies. I'm just gonna have to change my strategy somehow I guess.

We filed our taxes the other day and both had a huge smile on our faces for the rest of the day. It's going to be a good tax year for us and we are happy about that. It seems that money just gets away from you sometimes, and we are happy to put it back where it belongs. Plus, we get to buy the dreadmill (potentially) with some of our return...yippee!! :)

I have noticed that although baby girl is still the most beautiful and photogenic baby I have ever encountered, that since her first birthday, I have really started to suck at keeping up with taking her picture. I don't know what it is (maybe that her daddy is home and I don't feel so obligated to get it on film), but we have just been lazy camera people lately. Her 1 year memory book is going to suffer because of me.....ha. Maybe I'll rectify the situation these next couple of days...:)

I think I am coming down with another head cold and I AM NOT HAPPY ABOUT IT. It's the mucous that only fills your sinuses when you lay down at night (which leads to needing nose spray), makes your throat sore from drainage, & causes that stupidly annoying chest tickle that forces the deep cough. Sudafed is my friend these days, along with some Afrin, & hot tea. Still, I want it to go away for GOOD!

Friday night Chad, myself, & most of my family are going to go two-steppin' (for the first time in FOREVER) at Graham's to see Jack Ingram play (he is a 3rd cousin to me). I have seen him in concert several times before, but it's been a good while and I am excited to hear some good country music while dancing with my hubby and my pops. It should be a lot of fun! And only $10!! WOO-HOO!!

Well, I think that's it for tonight. Goodnight moon! :)

More thoughts...

I thought of a couple more things:

*Kennady is walking really well...just not very consistently. She still feels & knows that scooting her booty gets her there faster! It's cute to watch her take her little grandpa steps though! :)

*After a year of living in this wonderful house, Chad & I have finally got the garage cleaned out enough to fit both vehicles into it. That is a HUGE accomplishment for us. Only a couple of touch-up & organization things to finish up this weekend and it will be perfect! Yay!

*We transitioned from formula to whole milk at the one-year mark and that was yet another very successful transition with her. About two days after the switch, she was fine to have it all of the time. She is so good to me. Now, I just have to figure out how to get her transitioned from the bottle to the sippy cup and I am SOOO nervous about it. The doc said they like the babies to be done with the bottle at about 15 months...that's only about 7 weeks from now. I know that every baby has their own schedule and nothing is in stone, but I would like to get it done and out of the way sooner than later (much like the pacifier), but she LOVES LOVES LOVES that bottle. Any suggestions from those who have had success or terror transitioning stories?! Everything helps! :)

*Chad & I are going to be spending quite a bit of time in Arkansas in these next 6 months and I'm feeling anxious about it. It bothers me that even though he is in the states (which is so much better than him being deployed), that we still can't just live our lives like we like to and on our own terms...I know, it's the AF life and we both signed up for it, but I had to vent for just a second. :) Moving on...

*I am highly considering doing something called the Warrior Dash with a group of other spouses from the squadron. I would definitely have to get really serious in training because it looks to be something that is ridiculously brutal & difficult on the body. The idea of doing it is taunting me, so I think I might just have to give in to my gut, sign up, and face it & have a blast doing it! It would be so much fun. Check it out here: www.warriordash.com

*Well, I'm headed to bed so I will add more later. Goodnight! :)

The worst ever...

Me at being a blogger, that is. It's embarrassing that it has taken me 5 months to come back to this. In the past 5 months, so much has happened that it would be impossible for me to catch you up without a novel, so I'll try my best to crunch it up into a quicker bullet post:

*Operation No More Paci went off without a hitch! I did it cold turkey and she seemed to miss it at first, but the bottle became her replacement and that worked fine. Two days later, she acted as if nothing happened and went along being her happy, sweet self. Whew! 9 months proved to be a good time to cut out the paci...note to self for our next kiddo. :)

*Kennady began speaking so well. She can now say "Mama, Dada, Bottle, Bye-Bye, Hi, Mwah, Lala, & More". (that's all I can think of right now anyways)

*She eats everything we eat & plays for hours a day. She loves to swing in her swing outside, ride in her wagon, & play with all of her crazy toys.

*We have finally reached the point where she sleeps for 10-13 hours a night and it is GLORIOUS!!

*Chad came home from his deployment in late October & it was so nice to have him home. It was a little challenging for Kennady, but we have returned to normalcy & we are hoping no more deployments are in our NEAR future.

*We had a wonderful Thanksgiving and Christmas, did a lot of traveling, & have really enjoyed our house here...especially the fireplace this winter.

*I was so sad to take down our Christmas decorations...my house seems so boring now! Anyone else have this problem?! haha. Now I need to go buy some new curtains, pillows, mantle decor, etc. Taking down Christmas is no cheap task!

*Chad & I are signed up to run a half-marathon in Austin in late Feb. I haven't been doing very well training lately, so I'm really having to jump on the training wagon ASAP.

*I am happy to report that I am under my pre-baby weight & I have high hopes of making that even better this spring. Maybe I'll be in shape enough to put away the mommy one-piece & jump back into that bikini again, before I get to old to be able to, haha. We'll see! Wish me luck!

Well, that's obviously not everything that has happened in 5 months, but I'm tired of thinking, so I'll come back to this some other time. I also want to take this naptime opportunity to read up on the last month or so of all of your blogs, so adios for now! :)

Operation: No More Paci

Well, my title gives it all away. I have decided to break my young lady from her obsession and need for what I have always referred to as her "best friend". I have never liked any of the nicknames for pacifiers that are out there, so that's what I chose. We are so thankful that she has even taken one up to this point, especially with the 4 flights we have been on and the really long road trips that wouldn't have been near as successful as they were had we not had the support and lovability of the pacifier to get us through them. I'm not trying to break her cold turkey, but I am hoping to be able to do it in a rather short amount of time. So far, she has gone almost 24 hours without needing or asking for it (though I thought her crying stint before her nap was for the paci, so I tried it and that still didn't do the trick...turns out she wanted some milk...who knew!? :) ha.) She then still didn't take it after her bottle like she usually does and still had no trouble falling right to sleep. I think initially, if she 'asks' for it, I'm going to allow her her buddy to nap with. Then, hopefully we will get to where we just don't need or want it anymore. Though, I'm a little nervous that she will attempt thievery when she's at Mom's Day Out, but hopefully not. :) I'll have it in her bag for the sake of the caretakers just in case she decides to get handy.

Speaking of, our first experience of Mom's Day Out was yesterday and she did SOOOO well. There are 8 kids in her class, the Puppies. :) Five are boys and 3 are girls. They each have their own high chair and crib and the two very experienced ladies that take care of them are sooo sweet. They have activities and lunch, diapertime, storytime, and most importantly, naptime. She was happily playing on the floor with the other kiddos when I walked up and when she saw me, her face totally lit up. It was so sweet. I got a lot done while she was gone and when she goes tomorrow, I'm going to treat myself to some coffee with the other wives, maybe a mani/pedi, and lunch to say farewell to some of the wives that are about to PCS. It should be fun!

Well, that's all for now! Be back soon, I hope! :)

The itch to write...

Well, ya'll all gave me the itch to post something, even though it doesn't have much direction or much of a point. Here is our plan for the next couple of days:
* Pick up my new (used) jogging stroller from the bike shop since they had to patch up one of the tires before I could use it.
*Get my run on at the gym and participate in Body Pump with a friend.
*Meet the teacher for Kennady's Mom's Day Out is tomorrow evening at the church and I am excited to see what it's going to be like for her while she's having fun, giving mommy a little chunk of time to get a couple of things done during the week.
*Football season officially kicks off tomorrow night and we will be at a friend's house watching the SEC and the Gamecocks get off to a great start against Mississippi State! Go Gamecocks!
*This weekend, we are headed to SA-town to spend time with the family over the long holiday weekend and in the meantime, will be celebrating the 30th birthday of my oldest nephew (I know, sounds crazy) by eating dinner at Cheddar's and singing karaoke at W&T's. It should be a really good time!
*My brother just recently got signed on to the SAFD and I am so proud of him! This is very exciting news for him and his wife who are expecting their first child in March!! Talk about having your life enriched from many angles at the same time! We are so proud of you Adam!
*I am so happy to be able to say that my hubby will be joining us again in just a short 7 weeks! We can do anything for 7 weeks, right?!
*Yesterday was another 'welcome to mommyhood' first when Kennady starting tooting in the bathtub while she was playing. Mommy thought it was hilarious, so I grabbed the camera like any other mom would do. As I was filming, I saw things go from playful toots to 'oh no, you better not push young lady' very quickly...too quickly actually, and because I was so entertained by her popping performance, I was rewarded with poop in the tub. And yes, I got the WHOLE thing on film. Daddy happened to call right after all of this drama took place and couldn't help but laugh his head off. Probably because he wasn't the one gathering poop remnants with toilet paper out of the bathtub while baby girl sat on the bath mat laughing like nothing ever happened. He thinks that the video will be a great blackmailing piece when she gets older...he said, 'we might even pull it out during her wedding slide show', haha. NO WAY DADDY, but I see that you might be onto something. haha. It was an experience to say the least. And it all started out with a couple of harmless toots. :)

That's just proof that horror stories that you always hear from 'other moms' could eventually happen to you....lesson learned. That's all for now. :)