Sum It Up Saturday

So life has been SUPER BUSY lately! But it's starting to calm back down, and we are slowly settling into our routine again. I am in the process of making the other posts, but I wanted to get my sum it up done because I missed it last week. I did have a great excuse though. Well, not great, but an excuse...it was my BIRTHDAY. I hate to say it, but I am in my final year of my 20's. UGH. But I shall make the best of it! I have accomplished a lot in my ::sigh:: 29 years of life...and I will definitely be doing a lot more in the years to come! But the other reason I have been slacking in my posts is because my wonderful in-laws were here and sadly left on Wednesday, and things have been winding down since then, and I am literally just now getting caught up on emails, homework, cleaning, and posting. (Priorities right?!)
Ok, so I may miss a few high points, because it's been insanely busy but amazingly fun around our casa lately, so forgive me. I mean, it's not like you'll really know if I do...but I'll try to cover it!

- We had such an amazing Father's Day this year. Hubby got some oreo's and dorito's from Decklan (which is like winning the lottery these days....diets and all), Kevin and his Step Dad got to work out in the garage on a wood project, and we just got to all hang out and be together....which if you ask me, was the best we could have asked for. We hardly ever get to spend a holiday with family, so having them here over Father's Day (or any holiday) was just great.
- Monday was our day in the city of Seattle! Boy was that a busy one!! We took a ferry ride, enjoyed a winery, saw the troll, hung out at Pikes for a bit, and ended the day with dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings. Which was AH-MAZING and a surprise because for the longest Hubby and I have felt deprived because we had NO IDEA there was a BW3's here in WA! Best quote of this day; "I'm a parent too!" ~ Kevin. (Story later)
- My son is now an official band member. Well, not really. But he thinks he is. Grandma and Grandpa decided that a toy drum would be an awesome thing for him to have...not at 6am it's not. To make matters worse, when we ventured off the island to Target, Hubby found an even more intriguing drum/music set that he happened to "show" little man and guess what....little man just had to have it. And of course, Grandma and Grandpa were even more thrilled to spoil him with this new little music set. They learned the next morning (6am again), as did Hubby, that it probably wasn't the BEST idea ever. FYI, it gets hidden every single night when he goes to sleep and comes out around 11am. But in all honesty, he adores it, and I adore watching him making his loud music in every room of the house as he follows me when I run away :)
- I got the most B.E.A.U.T.I.F.U.L. flowers from my Hubby and Father-in-law from Pikes Market. They're still alive and apparently smell wonderful. The colors are so vibrant and just beautiful.
- I am in my LAST week of my second trimester!! Actually last day!! Don't fret, I have the pictures from the last two weeks, it's just one of those "it takes time to get back to my schedule of posting things" but I will. Tomorrow kicks off my 24th week!!! Gosh it's flown by!!!
- We're still waiting to hear about where the navy will send us. Yes it's horrible not knowing, especially when we don't know if we can start buying more stuff for the new baby, or what we can do for Decklan's birthday. It's frustrating, and getting exhausting, but it will all work out the way it's meant to.
- I think Hubby and I have FINALLY agreed on a name for the new little baby child. (Yes, I just said "baby child" because I was watching The Disney Channel and a commercial for the new "Good Luck Charlie" came on, and the mother who is having another baby said that. She referred to the baby in her belly as "baby child" and it made me laugh. Don't judge me. For any of that.) But I will reveal it later when I have an iron clad agreement with him. I'm kidding, it's not that serious, but kind of.
- Little Man has MASTERED the art of taking his pants off, taking his "underwear" off, and taking his diaper off and running around the house with a bare bottom. Hubby learned all of this the hard way this morning when he decided to doze off on the couch (I was enjoying my day of "sleeping in"which was in fact...very short lived) only to wake up to poop in Decklan's Buzz Lightyear car, poop and peepee on the kitchen floor and other places that will remain a secret. Just know that bleach was used in the cleaning process. It was intense from what I heard.

Alright...well that should do it for the time being. More to come later, but I am being reminded that it's mine and Hubby's "movie" night, so I must retire for the evening! Until next time!! (Which SHOULD be tomorrow! I still have a lot to catch up on!!)

Laundry & Baking & Blogging..Oh My.

Let me just start off by saying I. AM. EXHAUSTED.

But, nothing lights a fire under your ass to clean your house quite like family visiting. And that is what I have been doing since little man went to sleep. Honestly, I think he knows he's not going to be the baby anymore in a few months, and he has been super needy, and super clingy, and goodness gracious I can't get anything done because I'm at his beck and call from the time he wakes up, until the time he goes to sleep. So, that is why I had to wait until little man went to sleep to clean up. Thank god he doesn't wake up at our LOUD washing machine, or me vacuuming right by his door. He's a hard sleeper....gets that from his Dad too! But other than cleaning, I'm doing some laundry, which feels like I do it every single day, no lie, but I don't want to have to worry about doing laundry or cleaning or anything except enjoying family when they get here.

Onto this baking thing...I am such a sucker for sweets right now. This little boy inside my belly LOVES his sweets. I rarely ever have dessert, or cookies, or want rhubarb crisp, but not lately because all I want is sweets. So I normally pick up one of those Betty Crocker cookie packages when I'm at the store because as opposed to just buying a package of cookies already made, doing it my way MAKES me get off my butt and put some effort into it...which means I really want them. And apparently I did tonight. I made the molasses cookies and OH. MY. GOD. They are amazing. I mean, it's not hard to make these cookies by any means, there are only 3 ingredients you add to the mix, the hardest part is making sure you don't burn them. Which, by the way, I have done (not with these particular cookies), and ended up BACK at the store getting another package of cookies to make. That's how intense these cravings are. I think this baby is making up for the lack of cravings (actually I had zero cravings) with little man.

Ok, well, I must get back to my laundry and then go to bed. I have a big big day of more cleaning tomorrow :)

**Disclaimer for my in-laws**
Hubby is helping me! I'm not doing everything. I know I don't HAVE to make a fuss out of it, and I promise I'm not. Just wanted to throw that in there! Y'all drive safe and we'll see you Thursday!!!! Yay!

21 Weeks

So I forgot to post this yesterday (or anytime last week) but it's my "21 Weeks Pregnant" picture. Actually  we all went to the park yesterday evening to take these photos. Our weeks seem pretty busy so normally we have to wait until the weekends to do our 'preggo photoshoot.' But alas, we did get them done, and now I can finally get them up!!! Enjoy :)

21 Weeks! We're still deciding on a name. These aren't definite, just some that we're playing with.

I kind of have a love/hate with this picture. I kind of look pregnant, but it could also be mistaken for dunlop. But the sign clarifies this :) 

Someone wanted me OFF the big swing and to push him on the little swing. This is my BAD impersonation of someone falling off a swing.

Love the little hands reaching up.

Kevin was being a big kid.

Decklan kind of let's go when he swings. All his body parts go limp and he just hangs there. He loves it. And we obviously get a kick out of it!

Home Is Where The Military Sends Us...

This picture is the perfect representation for how we feel right now. My "bad news" that I spoke of earlier is making us feel just like little man feels in this photo. So, here it goes:

Our orders to Virginia Beach, Virginia were taken from us this past week. We will NOT be returning to the east coast as planned this November. We have NO IDEA where we are moving to.

Let me elaborate (and explain for those of you not affiliated with the military.) Back in February we came into our 9 month window (meaning, in 9 months, we'd be moving to another naval installation.) So we were allowed to start looking at orders (new places to move.) WE both want(ed) to be back on the east coast so very much. We like the navy on the east coast, we're familiar with the east coast, we like the weather, and well, the east coast is just so much better. So ALL we have been applying for was east coast orders. We've applied to Maryland, Virginia, South Carolina, Florida, and Connecticut and we were denied these orders every time...not because Kevin isn't qualified for any of these jobs/orders, but because the budget for the military is pretty tight right now and they don't have the money to move us back to the east coast. Not just us, but a lot of families. Basically if you're here, you're staying here.

Well, back in May we were ECSTATIC to find out that we were picked up for orders to Virginia Beach! Sure it wasn't the most ideal of orders (because Kevin would be leaving A LOT) but I was totally alright with that because I would be back with my friends, close to family, and back where I LOVE. So we spread the good news! We told our friends back in VaBeach, we told our families, and we told people here.

A month passed, and during that month hubby would say to me, "I can't wait to be back in VaBeach..." and I would do the same thing. I mean, we were pretty excited...we were even making a mental list of all the places we wanted to eat and things we wanted to do that we never did when we lived there a few years ago. And then it happened. I was sitting at the dinner table eating breakfast with little man when Kevin walked out. He looked pretty perturbed, but I just figured he was extremely exhausted from work the night before and then the words tumbled out of his mouth...."we lost our orders." Now, this may not seem like a HUGE issue to y'all, or you're probably thinking "just try for orders again" but it's just not that easy. It is a huge issue...we absolutely do NOT like it here. There are so many things that I'm not going to list because those feelings are how my husband and I feel towards people here, and about work, and other things and it's not worth it to even bother with. Just know that we absolutely do not like it. And yes, we are going to TRY to get orders again, but here's why they took our orders away.

Apparently the detailer (the guy who talks to and works with Kevin on getting us where we want to go) cut us our orders and had no clue that Kevin had two dependents (Decklan and myself). We didn't even mention the fact that I'm due to have another baby in October! But the problem with this is that the more dependents you have, the more money the military has to pay you to move you and your family, and with the budget the way that it currently is, it just wasn't going to happen.

So now we are in limbo. We are five months away from moving....to god knows where...and it's just extremely, EXTREMELY stressful. When you hit 4 months from your PCS (move) date that's when it gets really bad. You become what's called "needs of the navy" and well, they send you wherever the hell they want you to go. Lemoore, CA....Fallon, NV....El Centro, CA....and so on. These are places that you NEVER want to live. I mean, I don't speak for everyone when I say that, but a vast majority of people do not want to live there. My family included. As much as I detest where we live right now, I'd MUCH rather stay here than go to one of those places.

Hubby is talking to the detailer who is "working" with us, but who knows what will happen. We have compiled a list of places (5) that we want to apply for, but again, it's a long shot. They're not all east coast because we don't want to get our hopes shot down and stomped on again, so we're trying to look at [doable] options. Talk about being stressed. There's just a lot that's going on: trying to figure out moving, what if I have to move before Kevin and have the baby elsewhere, being pregnant, and just life in general. But, thus is life in the military...right?! I guess a better title for this rant would have been "home is where the military sends us, even if it's 5 months before we're supposed to leave and oh yeah, have a baby somewhere in there too." Is is too soon to say I'm ready for a tall glass of wine?! I'm kidding y'all. We all know that it'll be vodka.

Sum it up Saturday

To me this week has drug on and although it seemed like it would take forever for the weekend to get here, I felt busy every day. Feels slightly contradicting to me, but all is well. It is the weekend and that means in a few days my wonderful in-laws will be here! Yes, I am one of those people who absolutely adore my in-laws. They will be leaving the midwest soon and be here on Thursday. It'll be a great trip because not only do we get to celebrate their birthday's as well as my own, but also Father's Day! So I'm looking forward to a nice week of being with family and hubby being off! Ok, so onto the summing up of our week:

Daddy throwing little man up in the air!

Daddy swinging little man. This moment was just perfect to me.

* While listening to Glee, changing my sons diaper, and getting hit in the face with one of those HUGE  ballon's on a rubber band, I realized that there is nothing more in this world that makes me happier than my little family. I am lucky to have a husband that supports us and allows me to be a SAHM.
* I secretly put a temporary tattoo on Decklan...he didnt' realize until WAY later and well, it had to come off ASAP. He was not a happy boy.
* It makes me feel REALLY good knowing that I am 5 months pregnant and just now weighing what I did when I got pregnant with Decklan initially. I'm pretty proud of that. I feel bigger, but I am not allowing myself to "let go" because I'm pregnant! Yay for me!
* I learned that cheddar bratwurst do NOT cook well on the mini Foreman. But, Decklan absolutely LOVES them!
* Bagels have become somewhat of an every day staple for me. I literally have to have one every single day or my day does not feel complete. It's so weird!
* I've decided to stay stocked up on ALL the ingredients for rhubarb crisp. I know in my heart that not a day left in this pregnancy will go by where I don't want it. Kevin shall be busy in the kitchen. And that previous bullet about my weight is probably gonna go right out the door. (I'm kidding!!! On the weight thing. I just have to step up my exercising!)
* We got some bad news earlier this week and we've been telling family little by little. Don't worry, it has NOTHING to do with the baby and we're all super healthy, it just has to do with a future situation. I'll elaborate on this later today. It's not detrimental, it just really sucks. (For lack of a better word.)

And that's pretty much it. I did alright with it this week. I can't lie, I did write a few things down :) What can I say...I've got pregnant brain. Well happy Saturday to you all! I'm going to get mine and little mans butt dressed so we can go for a brisk walk and then play at the park. Until next time...

Life's Little Moments

Today was an alright outside day. A little chilly, but that's fine. The sun was out. A rarity in WA in my opinion. Hubby decided to capitalize on this and mow our backyard. It was in dire need of attention and it has literally been raining every day for a while, so it's been neglected. Well, little man likes to do any and everything that his Daddy does, so he wanted to mow the yard as well. I caught some of this on camera, and wanted to share. It's moments like this that I live for and are there to remind me how lucky I am to be this little guys Momma!

                                   

Being like Daddy mowing the backyard!

More gets done if they go in opposite directions!

So as you can see, little man is definitely aspiring to be like his Daddy :) Sweet little moment for sure!!!

Meat Muffin...oh yeah.

This week my husband has been working nights and it makes it extremely hard to find motivation to cook dinner for myself! Of course I cook dinner for Decklan, but he's not hard to make dinner for. He's rather easy to please with food. But, don't get me wrong, it's not like I'm NOT hungry and I'm starving myself, I just don't feel the need to make some extravagant dinner for myself. Honestly, I could live off of chinese food (ordering it of course) and PB&J's and be completely happy. And the bad thing with this is, so could little man. BUT, I try to think outside the box, and force myself to make some kind of dinner. Not a four course gourmet meal or anything, but something other than PB&J and spaghetti.
So as I was perusing through the vast amount of recipes on Pinterest, because let's just be honest here, when you need some kind of inspiration with food (or life in general), you go to Pinterest. Ok, so I already had some ground beef thawed and needed to use that. So that's what I was looking at, ground beef recipes. I saw some meatloaf recipes, and thought, hmm...that might be alright. And then I found it. A title I couldn't HELP but click on. "MEAT MUFFIN." Now, I have never heard of this before in a food sense, because I like to refer to my hubby as a meat muffin from time to time. Actually, I'm lying, those words have NEVER come out of my mouth in reference to him, but they will now! But I was intrigued. I needed to try this recipe! So....I did.
You basically do it the SAME way you make meatloaf, but instead of shaping it in the larger cooking pan, you just portion them out into a muffin pan. Brilliant. Why hadn't I ever thought of this?!

Yummy....raw meat muffin. That's what I'm talking about.

And the final product. I forgot to take a photo of it when it was still in the pan, so this is it in the tupperware since I only ate two.

When Kevin got home, I guess he ate some because this morning he told me that my "meat patties" and mac n cheese really hit the spot last night. Silly hubby. But all in all it was pretty good. I'd probably change up the actual meat loaf recipe and use my own rather than the one I saw last night, but these were still tastey!!