I neeeeeed to blog!

Remember my post about our computer and the creeper who fixed it? Well, he didn't fix it and it officially crashed about a week after I wrote that blog. J felt sorry for me, trying to do everything I needed a real computer for on my phone and we decided the least expensive route would be for me to have a tablet, which would, in theory, get me to his home-arrival date. We have a brand new laptop, it just happens to be with him. In Afghanistan. Probably in a foot locker. Where I can't use it. I'm still not positive how that came to pass. The one we had was dying when he left {{hence, the new one}} and I'm not exactly sure how the new one went to Afghanistan and the old one stayed home to die here {{no TAPS for a laptop, huh?}}.

Anyway, for about a month I made due with the tablet and my phone. Both of which I could have typed a blog on, but niether are entirely comfortable for long winded post-typing and also {{an more importantly}} we didn't really have anything exciting going on. Our days come and go with Groundhog Day-esque monotony, broken only by random appointments and pay day errands. Fully narrated {{for your viewing pleasure}}, not by Bill Murray, but by the awesome observations of an almost three year old. She tells me what we are doing from the moment she enters my room in the morning until it's time to find her princess flashlight for bed. "Mommy, you wakin up now? Mommy, you changing baby sissers butt now? Mommy, You making cereal? Mommy, that noise is the coffee pot. Haha! Beep! Beep! Time for coffee, Mommy! Mommy, you eating toast? I like to make toast, can I help? Mommy, you unloading the dishwasher? Mommy, you walking up the stairs now?" It. Goes. On. AAAALLLLLLLL DAAAAAAYYYYYY. Sometimes, the narrative stops {{thank you, sweet Jesus!}} and she uses a series of clicks, beeps and bops to communicate {{womp, womp}}. My point is, if I posted about our days of this I would very quickly lose any readers I may have, so I just haven't posted.

On the up side, lately I have thrown myself full into getting my long list of projects done. I have made a nice dent in the list but this funny thing happens when you accomplish one project, you think about another one to add to the list. So, while I may be getting a lot done, I can't seem to get to the bottom of the to-do list. The biggest project is re-doing the rooms upatirs to accomodate our pending arrival. The bonus room {{currently our active living area}} with the girls room. What is currently Bugs room will be the man cave. What is currently 2.0's room, will be the Mama-cave {{I wish my name was Wanda so we could call it "Wanda-land"}}.

Here is where "we" are in our massive room re-dos: {{Some day each of these rooms will have their own post}}

I painted the man cave in the NFL colors of Js favorite team. {{It's funny because the princess bed is still in that room and it just looks silly!}} From where he is, J has been Ebaying team paraphernalia and chotchkies to fill his space and make it a happy home for his butt. The room will be loaded to the gills, but hopefully, in a classy way and not in a bad Applebee's way.

The girls room has been painted. This has been difficult because it is still acting as our family room, so trying to decorate around the sofa {{any one want to buy a giant couch?}}, tv and my office has been kind of a pain. I bought one color to paint the whole room and it turned out to be the same color the builder used {{womp, womp}}. We decided to paint the top half of the room in the light cream color and do a pink that coordinated with the fabrics I am using on the bottom half of the wall.

I love the way it turned out and with the way I am using everything, I think it will be girly without being punch-you-in-the-face-pink {{not what I was going for.}} I also finished the girls name art. I mod-podged my fabric scraps to the letters for their names and each girl will have a wall with their name and maybe pictures of them {{or something?}} I haven't really decided on that yet.

My next project is to get the furniture I have purchased for their room painted. So far we have a nice three drawer nightstand {{free from a friend}}, a five drawer dresser {{$45 from a local thrift store}} and some shelves that we had, that I decided to up-cycle for their reading area.

I have also been doing a TON of sewing {{hello? How come now one told me how addicting the sewing machine was?!}} and I have decided I'll be using Wal-mart flat sheets for everything in the future. Inspired by the awesomeness of the little reading tent I made, I am making matching duvet covers for each of the girls.

{{Still a work in progress}}

Sadly, the Mama-cave has taken a back seat to the other rooms. I really want to have a nice place for J to go to relax when he gets home and I also want the girls to have a fabulous room. That being said the Mama-cave re-do will probably not be done until after the new year. However, I am already pinning ideas and I know how I want it to look, and that's half the battle, right?

Stay tuned for more projectopia and a very late baby update {{whoops!}}

Wednesday Wish Day

Ok, I'm back {{I think}}. Since J left I have been moping unmotivated lazy indifferent distracted. I haven't really wanted to do much, much less complain about it. Beyond caring for my children and doing my household duties, I've kind of been slacking. Yesterday when I woke up felt different and I feel like I got more done yesterday than I have in the last week {{but really I didn't}}. The most important thing I did yesterday {{other than enjoying our GORGEOUS weather}} was making a Deployment To Do list. Lists make me happy. They give me warm and fuzzies and make me feel productive even if all I've done is just write a list. It's a pretty ambitious list that has a "short-term" and a "long-term" side. It includes things I've discussed here previously and new things I added to keep me busy {{hey, I have 7 months to fill}}.

After I made the list I prioritized it. As I was doing this, sitting outside on our pretty screened in porch on a gorgeous NC day, Bug was playing in our sand pit weed & sticker infested no grass at all backyard with the dogs. J and I have talked about having sod put in since we moved in. the builder said they seeded but I could probably put up a good debate to that. While watching her chasing the dogs, digging in the sand and falling on her face {{she is my kid}} I decided to add a play set to the list. The more I thought about having a play set, the higher on the list it got. When I realized that if we had a play set, on any given day when my child was driving me bananas, I could send her right outside to play. Suddenly, this was the best idea I've ever had!

This morning I found one that I liked and that Bug would definitely enjoy {{We could put a piece of wood back there and it would make her happy}}. Not only that but the huge amount of sanity saving play time this would give me {{Have I mentioned that yesterday was day three of listening to her favorite make-mommy-want-to-hang-herself noise??}}, makes this almost an instant necessity. Unfortunately, its not in our budget today. Probably won't be tomorrow, but hopefully soon. Also, there's the silly little detail of putting the damn thing together {{probably NOT something I can do by myself}}.

So, my wish for this Wednesday is the play set fairies will visit in the night and drop off a fully assembled {{and paid for}} wooden play area.

Probably not gonna happen... But it's Wednesday. I can wish all I want.

Deployment Rules 1, 2 and 3

Any military spouse can tell you the number one rule of deployments is, as soon as they leave, things will inevitably fall to smelly, smashed up pieces. In the last 72 hours 2.0 has started MAD teething {{which makes her want to be held ALL day and not want to nap}}, Bug has learned to open the fridge {{yay for raw eggs being found all over the kitchen}}, the laptop cable for our computer died {{thank goodness for my old phone book Dell laptop cable fitting}}, our TV is probably dying {{the picture keeps shrinking and I cant fix it}} and I'm pretty sure I found mouse poop this morning {{EFFING AWESOME!!}}. Oh and for some reason, no matter how hard I try, I can't grow a third arm so I always have a free hand to carry my phone.

J left on Tuesday. When J's schedule changed, my BFF changed hers so she could be here with me and I'm not quite sure how I would reacted if she wasn't there. She was able to keep me distracted enough that we were all making jokes and laughing right up until they called the 5-minute warning for the end of family time. We hugged and kissed and hugged again and then he chased us off to prevent a long drawn out "see you later". Bug was upset that we were leaving him, but I think my ability to keep myself together, kept her from freaking out and once in the car I was immediately relieved for that part to finally be over with.

So, he's gone. And inevitably, as is how it goes, it is time for everything to explode, die, overflow, get lost or ruined, and or fall apart. The really sad part about all of this is that, as far as I'm concerned, not growing a third arm is my biggest problem right now. The second rule of deployments is that you will become tethered to your cellular device as you {{and those around you}} never thought possible. Being married to your phone is one of those little ticks you get after they leave. You wait for days to hear from them, compulsively checking your email, Facebook, Twitter {{well, I would if I had one}}, MySpace {{hey, it could happen}}. Take a shower, check your phone. Pick up a crying baby, check your phone. Tie your shoes, check your phone. Hear a beep, chime, or church bells; Check your phone. It's an illness. Then you panic when you try to check your phone and you can't find it. I've had three almost-meltdowns because I couldn't find my phone when I've been sitting on it. This is where that third arm would really come in handy. I'd never have to put it down.

Of course, not putting down your phone doesn't stop other retarded things from happening. J sent me a message yesterday saying he would call soon and then in the four hours after that message, I got five phone calls from telemarketers. Deployment Rule #3: As soon as they might call, every sales group in the western hemisphere will call from numbers that *might* be your spouse. There is always this awkward moment of serious let down after you answer expecting your spouses voice and a woman asks if you've ever considered AT&T, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, ADT or voting for Mit Romney. Seriously, These things happen to me.

If I didn't find it all almost funny, I'd probably be a mess right now {{or be day drunk constantly}}. For the most part I know how lucky we are: the girls and I are safe, J is safe and my mom will be here soon for a visit. Even at my loneliest, I have found that I'm not truly alone, it just feels that way. And there is always wine {{sweet, sweet, feeling killing wine}}.

J will be home before we know it and in the mean time I can work on that third arm.

The Positive Side of Prison - The latest in the Crayon War Saga

There are some moments you have as a Mom that make you all warm and fuzzy inside.

Adventures in Toddler Land

We have tried everything to get Bug into using her big girl potty. I've tried the cute Princess undies, talking to her about what a big girl she is and even showing her by taking her to the bathroom with me. We spent the whole day Saturday with her sporting her Tinkle Bell underoos.

I don't know why I thought it would be easy, but I did. You know, "Here's the toilet, the paper, a book. Make it happen. Call me when you're finished." Instead, we followed her around all day and had to talk her into sitting even for a minute. One time we got her to sit for a good 20 minutes. At the end of it I knew she had to sit longer because as soon as she got up she would pee. Guess what? Yup, as soon as she hit the carpet, she peed. Everywhere.

After that little episode {{Where Mommy had to figure out how to be nice without turning to booze}} I decided to try and figure out ways to keep her on the potty until she actually went potty. Here is what we tried:

Reading her Abby Caddabby Potty Time Book {{four thousand times}}

Apple juice. Lots and lots of apple juice.

I painted her toes. Then mine. Then her fingers.

Playtime with her favorite toys.

And, of course, good old fashioned bribery with our M&M jar.

Two: The number of times she made the potty sing.

Six: The number of times we changed her into new undies throughout the day.

Four: The number of times she asked for her diaper back {{womp, womp}}.

{{On a completely unrelated side note}} 2.0 is 11 weeks old today. She is getting so big and has added so much love to our house {{as shown in this pic - ha!}} I can't believe she is almost three months old <3