New Year Resolution

This next year I am focusing on making my family healthier. My dad had a massive heart attack the other day, they were able to get a balloon/shunt into the left side of his heart but there was way to much damage done to the right side of it. He is going to be referred to a cardiac specialist in Birmingham and bypass may be done then. But I have been thinking about making a healthier lifestyle for my family, and this has put it in more perspective. I am doing the research and to help myself and also my mom, dad and brother with information. We are also going to start exercising and being more active. Another resolution is to get certified in phlebotomy so I can draw blood and make more money. I also think that I am going to make my way to be a dietitian and work in the hospital. So I am going to use my blog, or make a new one for our "journey" on getting to be more heart healthy. Hopefully I can find some good information and help others be more aware of the signs of a heart attack and prevention along with recipes that I find, and once I try it I will do a review.

Home school preschool with Shiana

So I found an awesome program for homeschooling Shiana. It has everything that she needs to know and work on before Kindergarten. It is only a 9 month "course" but she knows a lot of it so we should be able to squeeze a few months together. Hopefully we will have her ready for Kindergarten and I am going to play selfish mommy and say that I want her to be the smartest in her class (but I am pretty sure every parent says that about their kid). The main thing we have to work on is reading, writing, and letter recognition (she knows her alphabet, just not individual letters when asked to find them). So the plan for month 1 is:


Month 1 Reading     Consonant/Vowel Blends B,C
                                Short Vowel Sounds A
                                Long Vowel Sounds A
             Writing        A,B,C
                                Number 1,2
                                Copy Complete Words
              Arithmetic   Counting to 20
                                Circle & Rectangle
              Science       Feelings - Happy
                                Feelings - Angry
                                Feelings - Sad
                                Feelings - Scared
              Social Studies    Understanding Safety Rules
                                        Safety Rules - Group 1

So about mid-month or weekly or when ever I decide to do it I will update on how she is doing. They also have programs for 2 year olds and 3 year olds. I plan to start this the first on January and hopefully during the different holidays I can add in some extra stuff for her to do.

Unit 2 and an Update

So I am going to do a quick update for Unit 1 from school; I had to make chocolate chip cookies and taste vanilla ice cream at different temperatures. I have to say, personally the recipe that I had to use was not that good, much prefer the fridge ones or my own homemade ones. And the ice cream obviously tastes better cold. And my 1960s class was to pick something from the timeline that was provided that affects our life today and I did TIROS I, the first weather satellite that was released in 1960.


This unit I am just seeing how different starches react in hot and cold water so not much there. And for the 1960s discussion this week I have to discuss the public perception of veterans that returned from vietnam and the veterans that have returned from the Iraq wars. So that should be interesting.


So Shiana has been in Alabama since the day after Thanksgiving. It has been a nice break, but I am so ready to have my little girl back home with me. Thankfully we will be home for Christmas in a week and then we will actually be spending our first New Years Eve in El Paso. Then, it will only be 5 short months till we head back to Alabama for good. Hopefully they fly by but not to fast. In that time I will turn 24, wow lol, and my little boy will turn 2. I cant believe that he is already almost 2, where has all the time gone already. I honestly am not looking forward to having to pack everything up with two kids that I know will drag it all out again, lol, or that long drive by myself with two kids in the car. But I am excited to see where the next chapter starts and where it leads us. But I am going to end here for now and try to clean up some more while the little boy is taking his nap. If I don't write before Christmas, MERRY CHRISTMAS and I hope everyone has a good and safe one.

New term

So I started a new term for school today. I am taking a food lab class (YAY! I love cooking) and Exploring the 1960s (not to excited about that one). So I figured since I am taking a food class, and every week I will be making a new recipe I am going to blog it. This first week I have a choice between making cookies (chocolate chip, oatmeal, or snickerdoodle) or brownies. I decided on chocolate chip cookies. I plan on making Friday or Saturday my cooking day, so I will write on Wednesday what is going on that week and then another post after I make whatever it is I make. I probably what go so much into the 1960s unless it is something that interests me or a good debate. 

Traditions

This is the 3rd year that shiana has been gone for the first part of the holidays. The past 2 years were nice; the first one I was completely "alone" (keylan was still baking) I felt blessed to have a healthy daughter and a healthy growing baby. Last year was a little more rough, shiana was older and missed home really bad and keylan was of course a breeze to take care since he was only 7/8 months old. This year has been so different, shiana still misses home but she is not crying every night cause of it. And keylan has completely changed since she left. Usually he is a constant screaming terror, but he has not screamed one time other then the 2-3 tantrums he has had. But though the time is nice I have realized that we have no family traditions of our own for the holidays. I remember being little and going to the Christmas parade(which they have completely changed the route for this year )= ), going to have Christmas pictures taken (this is our only year to miss formal pictures) going to see Santa and riding the reindeer carousel while at the mall, looking at Christmas lights on Christmas eve after visiting granny brand, decorating the tree together and leaving cookies and milk out for Santa and carrots for the reindeer and then not sleeping all night and getting up early. How could I have missed starting all those kinds of traditions? The only one we have is christmas eve granny gardner's house. Next year will be different! We will be back home in Alabama with our families around and really seasons. Hopefully we will have a house (even if it is renting) so we can decorate. Halloween will be more then just going on post to trick or treat, we will be able to decorate and go see our family and then trick or treat, thanksgiving we will all be stuffed from all the meals that will be made, and my favorite part starting traditions with my kids. I want shiana to be able to look back when she is married with kids and say " this is what we did every year, these were our traditions". I do know that we will do elf on a shelf next year and hopefully things will just happen.

So Different

So for Thanksgiving this year we spent the day driving to Dallas to meet up with my mom and dad. They have Shiana till Christmas leave and we go back to Alabama. Had Golden Corral for dinner and will say that is nothing like a good home cooked Thanksgiving meal. Keylan screamed and cried and latched on as soon as they got around him, but he eventually warmed up to them. Breaks my heart every time to see him do that with family, so glad that in a few months he can get to know them and be around them often. They left early Friday morning and while getting Shiana into their car she gave me a hug and was saying she was going to miss and just about started crying. So now it is day 3 that she has been with them and I am missing her, but she is having fun being able to run around and actually play outside. Jeremy, Keylan, and me went to Bass Pro Shops and looked around and then decided to go to the Ripley's house. Soo thankful that they have a set military discount of 5 dollars per ticket. It would have cost us roughly $70 for everything we did and we only paid $15. Had a blast and Keylan fell asleep during it. Then we headed home.


So on the drive to Dallas I read Heaven Is For Real. Absolutely LOVE the book and cried several times. After having two miscarriages I always wondered if my babies were in heaven or where exactly they went. But after reading the book and the little boy's encounter with his "older" sister (his mom miscarried before he was born), I know that my babies are up there waiting for us. They have got to meet Jeremy's mom and welcomed Granny Gardner and I know that they are being loved so much up there. I wish that I personally could see them or at least know who they were (boy/girl?) but I will just have to wait my turn. 


On another note though, like ALL of my friends are pregnant and the damn baby bug is biting hard. LOL. I love seeing all the belly pictures and the newborn pictures, but I would love to have just one more. I know it won't happen, and my body could not handle being pregnant and having to have another csection and all the complications that come with it. Some might call me selfish for only thinking about myself and my body, but my body is what supports that growing baby and I know the risks that can come from my problems and I would rather avoid those. Maybe in a few years we will look into adoption which is something else that I would love to do.

Thankful

This year I am thankful for a beautiful, loving family. I have been blessed with two wonderful, loving kids that get me through the day most days. I am thankful for Jeremy who works so that I can stay at home with them and watch them learn and grow everyday. I am also very thankful for my wonderful mom and dad who are willing to drive 10 hours to meet up with us, on Thanksgiving, to spend the night together and then take Shiana back to Alabama with them for a few weeks. I am so thankful that I can get a few weeks to spend with Keylan by himself; kinda hesitant about how he is going to react to Shiana being gone and wondering if Shiana is going to freak out. I know she will be in good hands and her mammaw and pop pop are going to spoil her to death.


Now I just need to figure out presents for the kids and get them and also get the cat fixed. lol

New Ideas...

So I am starting a new idea and hoping that this keeps everyone full all the time and our poor fridge,freezer and cabinets are not naked by payday. I have already been one to make meal plans for at least dinner, but I am slowly adding breakfast and lunch into the mix. On here I am going to start doing a menu on either Sunday or Monday, depending on when I do the grocery shopping. On that note I am going to take out cash and split my grocery shopping to once a week. I really hope that I can do this and be successful with it. So here is the first menu, starting on payday (Tuesday).

Tuesday (Nov. 1): Oatmeal

                                Sandwiches

                                Eat Out

Wednesday: Cereal/Egg/Oatmeal

                       Sandwiches

                       Slow Cooker Orange Chicken with rice

Thursday: Pancakes

                 Corn Dogs

                 Hamburger Helper

Friday: Cereal

             Sandwiches

             Pizza roll monkey bread

Saturday: French Toast, bacon, eggs

                 Ramen

                 Hamburgers with french fries

                       - homemade creme filled cupcakes

Sunday: Homemade donuts

               Sandwiches

               Beer brine chicken with mashed potatoes and homemade mac-n-cheese

Monday: Cereal

                Leftovers

                Petite lasagnas (muffin pan) with a salad

Tuesday: Cereal

                 Hot dogs with chips

                 Chicken wraps (egg roll wraps)

I am also getting stuff to make breakfast burritos and freeze them so they are easy breakfast foods.

Again

So in the next month we have another date that Jeremy is suppose to leave. But there is no set yes you are going so we are waiting yet again. It has been nice having him home and though the circumstances were not that good. It is stressful trying to figure out if he is going to be leaving or if he is going to be staying. I personally do not want to wait till that day and then they say "oh yeah you are not going", the uncertainty and trying to explain to a 4 year old is getting harder too because it has changed 3-4 times now. But I personally think that he is not going to be going over there; now that I said that he will go, lol.

On another note though; the kids had their 6 month dentist appointment last week. Both of their teeth look really good, no cavities. They used the metal scrappy things on Shiana's teeth and I had to go to my happy place. I seriously cannot stand hearing metal scrap on anything. They suggested sealants on her molars, at $27 a piece, I told them no. I could understand if it were her permanent teeth, but in the next few years she is going to be losing the baby teeth. I let her brush her teeth and then go over them again. They just brushed and counted Keylan's teeth, but he has 6 teeth coming in at one time. The top eye teeth are almost all the way in, the bottom eye teeth just started to come up and have a ways to go and he also has 1 of his 2-year old molars coming in. We go back in April for their next check-up.

I have also started looking for Christmas presents, which is not going all that well. It is harder this year, there are things that Shiana wants but they are baby-ish and I know she will not play with them for long and there really are not a lot of bigger toys that she is wanting. Keylan is easy, cars, lol. And Sydney I have no idea what to buy for an 11 year old.

Today, I also started a new adventure that I never thought I would do. I am now an admin on Army Wives Recipes, obviously it is recipes and I love cooking and trying new recipes. I am hoping that I can bring some things to it and get it a lot more active and lots of new recipes going around, especially with the holidays coming up. 

Well I have to go and clean the hurricane disaster that the kids have made. Hope every one has a good Monday!

 

Wow! 18 months already!

So my little boy will be 18 months old on Sunday! I cannot believe that is has been a year and a half since he came into our lives. He had a rough start, but has overcame everything. We are still dealing with reflux, but have come to the conclusion that he is basically going to have it for life since it is on both sides of his family. So what we do for that is watch his diet, a lot of sugar irritates it and makes it worse, and medicine.

I have no idea what life would be like without him, other then the kids both being very independent and wanting their own way and then clashing and fighting at some point during the day, they love each other and their are the small moments where they love on each other and are nice to each other.

I sat down yesterday and thought about what words he is actually able to say. The pronunciation is not perfect but he is only 18 months. He can say roughly 30 words, which has been since mid-August, before that he really did not say anything. He uses the potty seat at least once a day (crossing fingers he is the easy one to train), loves to take a bath and shower and loves having the water poured over his head as he looks up. He helps get dressed and cleaning up around the apartment. Another huge accomplishment that I have personally accomplished is that he is still rear-facing. He is getting a little long, but he props his feet on the seat or crosses them and happy and content as can be.

We have finally decided and agreed on getting Keylan's haircut. I have been wanting to get it cut for a few months, but Jeremy was getting ready to deploy and I had agreed to wait till he got back. But now that he was delayed, and there is always the chance that he won't go, we agreed to get it cut. I will probably cry, but no more baby mullet. Now, we have 6 months till he turns two and already thinking about having birthday party. I might have a small "party" here in El Paso, but since we will be home a month after he turns two I am thinking of having a big party for him. 

But now I need to go clean of the path of the hurricane. Lol

Halloween

So Halloween is only 24 days away. This year is more fun since both kids are older. Keylan can walk and "talk" and more fun than last year. Shiana is already excited about dressing up and trick or treating. My mom got their costumes this year, but Keylan's do not fit. One is to small and the other is way to big. She couldn't decide which one she wanted to be, witch or Belle, so we are using both of them. But she is going to be a sparkly not scary witch. So our plans are this:

•  Next weekend, October 15th, we are getting the Halloween decorations and getting what we need for Shiana's costumes and getting Keylan's costume, no idea what he is going to be. For Shiana's witch costume: face make-up and hat; Belle costume: tiara, shoes, jewelry, and either gloves or nail polish. Then we are also going to decorate some.
• The 22nd-ish we are going to get our pumpkins from the pumpkin patch.
• Then either the 29th or 30th we are going to Boo at the Zoo. This is when Shiana will be the witch. I am looking forward to it and plus it is free since we have a membership =) 
• Then of course the 31st we will go trick or treating. 

There are so many cute outfits for Keylan that I cannot pick just one. I kinda want to put him in a giraffe costume.

How cute is that costume, lol. Ready for next year holidays, even if we don't get our own house I hope we can rent one and be able to decorate the yard and everything. I love decorating for the holidays and there is not much you can do in an apartment.

Ramblings

We will be done with the Army in May and cannot wait for it. Ready to be around our family and being able to have the kids, mostly Keylan, get to know everyone. Shiana was around everyone for almost 2 years before we moved here. Keylan has been around everyone for a month and a half in almost 18 months, so sadly he does not know everyone all that well. So with that idea in my mind I have been looking at houses. I am ready for my family to have a house to call home, not an apartment. I have nothing against apartments since they have been my home for the last 4 years 8 months, but we need more space and a yard. I want to be able to paint and decorate the kids rooms and not have to worry about re-painting them or deposits. I want to decorate the kids bathroom and ours and the other rooms. There will be a yard with outside toys that the kids can go out and play when they want, instead of playing on concrete or rocks. I am already planning or coming up with decorating ideas for all the rooms and I love it but I hate it. The prices make me sad, but we are planning on saving our tax refund and travel money. 

But, before we can get a house, we prefer both of us to have a job. I am not stressed about me getting a job at the moment. I can take the summer off and get adjusted and Shiana ready for Kindergarten, then I plan on looking. I only want to work bout 20 hours a week, enough to pay for groceries and daycare for Keylan. I think that is going to be the hard part. Shiana had her time with mommy by herself and I feel that he deserves the same, so if we can manage it I might be able to do that. But if we need the extra money I will get a job. Hopefully Jeremy has an easy time getting a job, at the moment 2 places are in mind, so we do not have to stress as much.

On another note, Keylan has been peeing in the potty at least once a day =) I feel a huge accomplishment there, at the same age Shiana was not even doing that. So hopefully, maybe by his birthday he will be potty trained. I am also going to get Shiana more organized and doing things on her own. I am making up a "chore" chart with making her bed, picking toys and her room up and brushing her teeth. It is also a fight to get her to put her clothes on so we are going to get an organizer for the back of her door so I can set out clothes for the week, including pajamas. 

But that is the end of my ramblings and I feel better writing everything out. I love writing what I want, lol.

Potty Training

I know that Keylan is only to be 18 months on the 16th of October, but I am going to start getting him in the potty mindset. So today we are going to buy him a potty set. We have the one that goes on the toilet and he sits on it and has peed in the toilet once. But I think it is easier to start with the actual potty seat and once he gets the hang of it move him up to using the other one on a regular basis. I am surprised that I am actually thinking about doing this because I was stuck on the "I'll start when we get home in May" mindset. But since he has peed on the potty, tells me poo poo and knows when he is wet I think it would be awesome to get home and he is potty trained =) But I am also not going to get upset if he does not want to do it. We let Shiana go at her own pace and by 3 and half she was potty trained both during the day and all night, and she was stubborn, very stubborn. So I am excited and nervous, but I know one day he will be potty trained.

Looking ahead

I have been thinking about things that are going to be happening in the next 8 months. That would be the first of June, putting us at home in Alabama for about 2 weeks. Between now and then we have holidays, I turn 24 and my little boy turns 2. We want to get a 3 bedroom house, with washer and dryer connections and a yard; but, if we have to we will look at apartments. Our only requirements is having a washer and dryer connection and 3 bedrooms. We don't want to have to worry about getting quarters and waiting on people to do laundry and we also want both kids to have their own room, and we want our own room too. But, I came to the conclusion last night that when we get into a new place that instead of a toddler bed for Keylan we are just going to put him in a twin bed. Shiana was 18 months when we put her in a twin bed so 2 years should be good. Now I am already trying to come up with an idea on how I want to decorate his room. He is first this time since he will finally have his own room after 2 years. Then I will do Shiana's room most likely for her birthday. I am excited to decorate their rooms and honestly can not wait till we move again.

Changes

So we have had some changes here in oh the last 5 days. Friday Jeremy just had formation and then was off the rest of the day. At about 8 AM he told me I needed to chase the kids because he was hurting, thought it might be appendicitis . We got to the emergency room about 10 that morning and waited for about 2 hours. I went to get Keylan some milk from the little coffee shop and he was taken back. The nurse said that it would be 2-3 hours before we knew anything. He had to have a CT scan done and when it came back it showed that he definitely had acute appendicitis and that he would be having surgery that night. I got the kids ready to head up to the hospital, was hoping to see him before he went back but didn't make it. On our elevator ride up to the surgery waiting room there was a biker guy, so I would think he was, and Shiana said that Daddy was in the hospital. He asked me what for and I explained to him what was going on. When we got off the elevator he asked if he could pray with us and I told him yes of course. I will admit I started crying, I am such a sap. We sat in the waiting room for roughly 2 and half hours till Jeremy was done. Kids were tired and crabby and ready for bed, but they also wanted daddy. He came out and we got to see him and ride in the elevator up to the floor that he was going to be on and into his room. We spent a few minutes with him but I needed to get the kids into bed. I felt bad because through both of my c-sections he stayed with me; but when there is no family around or places to leave the kids overnight there is not much choice. On Saturday we ran to the store and got a few things, and then we headed to the hospital again. Jeremy was suppose to be getting discharged after lunch and we passed the time very slowly. Dinner came around and food was ordered and around 6:15 a nurse came in and asked if he had ate lunch....umm yeah. He got discharged and we had to go on post to drop some papers off so that he did not have to deploy on Thursday. Now he is on convalescent leave for 14 days and is not deploying till later. So the things that have changed are: Jeremy has one less organ, on a few more medicines, and playing deployment by ear now. 

I am so ready to have a break; but him and the kids keep me going and keep me busy. Keylan's vocabulary has expanded again. He says oww, boo boo, poo poo ( and knows when he actually has done it), kitty, doggy, bark, meow and some others. He has also hit terrible two's at 17 months old and they are 100 times worse then Shiana ever was. It is a constant fight with him, he gets into the fridge and dishwasher, he can turn it on and open and close and tries to unload it, when he gets made or you try to move him and he doesn't want to he will go limp and sit on the floor. Shiana likes to fight with him, lol. She is excited about Halloween coming up and dressing up and candy.

A Bragging Post =)

What mommy does not like bragging about their kids and their new accomplishments. I have a really big one tonight though; Keylan peed in the big potty for the first time tonight =) The best part is that we are not even trying to potty train him yet, I am to worried about him regressing with deployment and moving multiple times coming up. I put him on the potty before bath time and tonight he used it. He got lots of praise, a yay with clap and high five, and the smile on his face was priceless. I love that he is growing up, now if Jeremy would just let me cut his hair, but it is also sad because my baby is not going to want to be treated like a baby much longer. I also use cloth diapers and I kinda don't want to leave them yet. But if he is easier to train then Shiana is I am all for it. Shiana is growing up and we have a few things that we are going to be working on the next few months. She can count to 20 with only missing 17, but she likes to skip around lol. She can also say her alphabet, we need to work sight now because she can not pick them out; she knows shapes, letters, and has been working on tracing them and she has also been tracing letters and shapes. She is so smart and bright and I cannot wait till she starts school, we just need to work on behavior (though we have never had a complaint from anyone that she has stayed with or when she is by herself with either me or Jeremy). We are pretty positive that the acting out at home is from jealousy.But that is my bragging about my kiddos tonight and I love both of my kids so much and so thankful for being able to be their mommy and watch them grow up. 

As Time Goes On

So it finally dawned on me that this deployment is really going to happen. I knew it was coming and pushed it to the back of my mind, but it got out of there last night while packing Jeremy's bags. He had bags and clothes and everything else spread throughout the kitchen, dining room, and living room. I know Shiana and Blackie, the cat, can tell that something is going on, they just are not sure what yet. Shiana knows daddy is going to a new country called Afghanistan to work and will be gone, in her terms, a really long time. At this very moment though I am not nervous about the initial deployment, I am nervous about the traveling, lol, and once we get there I know that it will set in with deployment. Me and the kids will be fine, we have both of our families that will help us with anything that we might need. So like the title says, as time goes on, we are getting one day closer to him leaving and us being around our family, but once he leaves we will be working on getting one day closer to having him home again. Then that will start another journey of getting ready to get out and move back home. 

I know I am rambling but it is how my brain feels right now.

A Mess, the Zoo, and Case Lot Sale

So today started off really crappy. Keylan had a terrible two period (so not ready for that yet) this morning. The kids got up and out of my bed and in the span that it took to talk my butt into getting up and the rolling over and actually getting up Keylan turned into the Tasmanian Devil. He had somehow managed to get the cloth diaper detergent off of the counter, open it and poured it throughout the kitchen, dining room, and living room. Then he got my water bottle, off the counter, and somehow busted it. It still had water in it so he mixed the water and detergent together. Yay, tons of fun cleaning that up, lol. Then he got to the cat food and took hands full of the food and put it in the water to make cat food soup. Getting that picked up he went over to the litter box and clawed, pushed, scooped, whatever you call it, litter onto the floor. So then Jeremy got off early and we decided to go to the zoo.

When we got to the zoo, we went ahead and got the membership that we have been talking about getting. lol. We walked around and looked at the same old animals, but this time is was more fun with Keylan because he was more interested in them. Mostly the cats, his favorite animal =). Jeremy found a sick pigeon and gave it to one of the zookeepers. And by that time Shiana was hungry so we rushed along the rest of it, which wasn't much. But we got to the tiger exhibit and if you live in El Paso then you heard that the male tiger was killed. Well they had a memorial set-up for him, his name was Wzui. But there was a tiger laying next to the window that Keylan fell in love with and Shiana got to see the "zoo horses". After we finished there we stopped at the gift shop and let the kids pick a small thing out, Shiana got a powder candy stick and Keylan got a stuffed tiger. We left and went to Dairy Queen and got the kids a cup of ice cream to share and they ate off my chocolate dipped cone, mmm yummy!

 After Dairy Queen we went to the case lot sale at the commissary. Basically it is bulk items at a really cheap price and what you get last for us about 2 months which is really good. We spent $115 dollars on:

1-12 pack toilet paper
laundry detergent
4 boxes caprison (40 pouches)
2 boxes mashed potatoes (16 individual packs)

9 large lysol wipes

6 boxes Trix cereal

6 boxes coco puff cereal

24 cans of cat food

48 bottles of water

24 packs of cornbread/muffin mix

12 boxes hamburger helper

14 boxes of dunkaroos

20 pack soda:Dr. Pepper, Coke, and Sprite

1 box swiss rolls

1 box oatmeal creme pies

So for all that I think we did really good. Plus most of this I can take to my mom and dad's when we go back next month and it will help a lot.

 ^^^^^Dog food is not included, lol.

Hurry Up and Wait

So I have not written in awhile, honestly a little surprised. So at this point Jeremy should have been deployed and me and the kids back home in Alabama, but it is the Army and the love the "hurry up and wait" That is now what we are doing. It will happen at some point and then we will be home 2 days later.I was ready the first 2 dates that he was given and then moving it further out made it harder. Do NOT get me wrong, I am going to miss him to death and I do not want him leaving. But, it is his job and it was inevitable to go 3 years without a deployment. It has been hard adjusting to the new date because we had already started preparing Shiana for when daddy leaves and then it got pushed back and poor kid is confused. I had mentally prepared myself for him leaving and I was able to breath a few more days and now I am back to where I was before, stressing and preparing.

But how do you prepare? I know everyone is different and you have to find your own groove. We have lots planned out while we are at home; I get to take the kids up to Nebraska and see my grandparents that I have not seen in 2 years (excited to have everyone see how much Shiana has grown and to finally meet Keylan), pumpkin patch and polar express and hopefully some play dates and spending time with family. Plus I will be starting my second term for my bachelors, at this moment I have A's in both of my classes and will be on the President's list, an awesome feeling that I now have to hold up the whole time. In about 11 weeks I will be starting electives for my bachelors, but those electives will actually be my classes for my masters degree. I am actually nervous, but I know that I can do anything that I put my mind to. 

Now an update on the kids:
Shiana had her 4 year old appointment the 2nd. She weighed 56 lbs and 44 inches (99% for both). She has perfect eye sight for a 4 year old, which is 20/30, and learned that perfect eyesight,20/20, doesn't hit till about age 6 and her blood pressure was perfect. She also got her flumist and 4 shots while we were there. Keylan also got his flushot that day. Since being home his vocabulary has expanded to about 15-20 words, but he understands more then he talks. He can walk backwards and jump and pretends and loves his stuffed animals and his blankie. I love watching both of my kids grow up but they need to slow down and learn how to semi get a long.

Shiana: Birth Story

My life revolves around my kids. They are what get me through a bad day and yes they can sometimes make a day bad, every parent has those days, lol. So I figured that I should write their birth story and roughly about their first year. So of course I am starting with Shiana.

Me and Jeremy had only been official dating for about 5 months when I got pregnant. I know the weekend that it happened too, lol, fun times at Six Flags. We had gotten an apartment in Sylacauga and they were having a Thanksgiving get together so we decided to go to it. I told Jeremy then that I had not gotten my period and thought I might be pregnant. So we decided to go around the corner to Wal-mart to get a test. When we got back to the apartment it was about 5 at night and I went in the bathroom and it took less then a second for the second line to show. The first words out of my mouth were "Oh S***". I was 18 years old with a crappy job and my first semester in college, in all honesty we were not ready to have a baby. But from then we started to prepare. The next step was to tell everyone. We waited till my parents came home from their cruise to tell them; my mom threw a remote at my head when I told them (had to put that in there and I will tell Shiana and Keylan about it too,lol). It was a rough start to our relationship and we had our fights, but in January me and Jeremy moved in together.

I'll admit it was cool to be living on our own with no rules or parents hanging over us asking what we were doing or where we were going. But, then Jeremy was work all the time to pay the bills and I was in school still. Most of the time he worked out of town which left me alone at the apartment by myself. But, when he was home we would lounge around or hang out with friends and we would also go to walmart in the middle of the night just to walk around. I eventually had my first doctors appointment in January and I was 12 weeks along with a perfectly healthy little baby. I loved knowing that there was a little being growing in my belly. I remember the first time we felt the kicks, we were in the shower and I gave Jeremy a hug and right at that moment we got a nice hard kick. The weeks went by and we had our gender ultrasound, I ended up having to go to it alone because Jeremy was stuck in traffic. That evening I found out that we were having a little girl, I was ecstatic, I had a little girl to put dresses on and the tea parties and ponies; Jeremy not so much at that time, he of course wanted his little boy. So knowing that we were having a little girl we started buying what we needed, most of it was hand-me downs and we were so thankful for them because we would never had been able to afford any of it on our own.

The weeks crept by slowly and we came up with this little girl's name, Shiana Marie. It was different and we like different =) and her due date, July 18, came and went. I was roughly 41 weeks and not dilated or contracting at all, we decided to set-up a day to be induced a week later. The night before I was to be induced we went over to our friends house and talked and played with her 3 month old and then headed home. We made sure everything was by the door and ready to go, picked up and then got in the shower and into bed. Literally just as soon as I fell asleep, I thought I peed myself, my water broke. So we got up and got dressed and went to...walmart. Yup we went to walmart and walked around for about an hour, I was hoping it would start contractions.

Then we headed to the hospital. When we got there we had to go through the emergency room and then headed up to Labor and Delivery. Once we got up there we checked in and my nurse looked at me and said "honey you are a little early you know that right" I told her my water had broke and she said "oh well then lets go have a baby". We got into our room and settled and changed and the IVs hooked up and then Jeremy fell asleep, lol. A few hours later they started Pitocin to get things going and then I started to barely feel contractions. About 9 the anesthesiologist came in to give me my epidural, though I had not asked for it at that time. I was only 2 cm and was wanting more. But I did get some sleep and at noon they came in and checked and I was still 2 cm; at that point we agreed to do the c-section. So at 1:45 ish I was being rolled back to the OR for my c-section. Then at 2:05 PM my beautiful chubby girl was born. She was born July 27th and weighed 9 lbs 9 oz and 21 inches long. Her and Jeremy went straight to the nursery to get cleaned up and then I was rolled over to see her through a window.From there I went to recovery for about an hour, was suppose to be longer, and then on to my room. Once I got in there, Jeremy was able to bring Shiana in and that is the first time I got to hold her.

























So that is enough pictures. I spent 2 days in the hospital and then we headed home. She was a perfect baby, we actually had to wake her up to feed her during the night. But since her birth story is written I will do an overview of the last 4 years with her =)

So not ready

But it is time for me to put my big girl panties on and get ready. The Big D was moved up, a lot. No dates or anything but me and the kids will be back in Alabama in 3 weeks-ish, and now kinda wishing it could be sooner. The place Jeremy is going has no communication basically, I can deal with deployment and being apart when I can look forward to a phone call or email or letter but now knowing that I probably will not get any of that makes this a lot harder. This really sucks. =( I am honestly on the verge of tears just thinking about it. I will focus on my kids and take lots of pictures(note to self buy another sd card for phone), I will focus on my next term and classes that start September 21, and I will try and get in shape and lose some weight. I plan on walking and eventually jogging/running 4 days a week and I am buying the Zumba or workout game for the Wii since Tyler has one at my parents house and doing that after the kids are in bed at night. I want to be able to do a 5K while he is gone or shortly after he gets back.

I want to....

DECORATE!!!!! lol. I really want to decorate a room for Keylan. I have two themes that I love and would love to do. One is baby-ish but it is so cute, but the other one is more "big boy".


















This is the baby-ish one that I want, but it is Lion King and how can you not love Lion King. I will say that if we every were to have another one, which wont be happening, that this is definite the bedding that we would use. Jeremy likes it too.




















And this is the bedding and decor that I will probably go with. I love it and think it is adorable.

Right now though he gets to have a corner in our room decorated because he still rooms with us. Really wish he had his own room, but didn't want to go through the moving and new apartment since we will be moving back home in May and will either get a 3 bedroom apartment, but hopefully it will be a 3 bedroom house with a yard. Haven't thought of redoing Shiana's room since I just got pony stuff and bedding for Christmas. Maybe next year for her birthday we will do her room for her 5th birthday and starting school.

It's Coming

So the big D,deployment, is coming up way to fast. Kinda depressing, actually it is really depressing and stressful. I know that everything will be fine, it really is just hard to comprehend just how fast it is going to get here. We will more then likely go home right before the holidays and spend roughly 2 months there. I am going to try and keep the kids busy and maybe it won't be as hard. But during that time I will have school, should finish 2 terms at least, and setting up some type of school routine for Shiana, lots of pictures and care packages for Jeremy, and saving money. Really looking forward to the last one, lol.

So thankful

Like most kids, mine still get on my nerves some days, but today I was reminded just how much my babies mean to me. One of the momma's in El Paso that I know had her baby girl earn her wings today. Sweet Caralynn was born April 21 and has been through so much in her short life, but her and her family have impacted so many people. I am reminded that this life is a gift and that at any time it could be our time. Shiana wanted to snuggle for a little while and instead of telling here no, I laid down on her bed with her and snuggled. Keylan did not care much for mommy trying to snuggle him. So no matter how bad of a day you are having, hug your babies and tell them you love them. Also, Jeremy's granny passed on August 6th. So last week was a hard week to go through. My mom explained death to Shiana; when you asked her she would say "Granny Gardner is in the clouds and she is not hurting anymore. And if I want to talk to her all I have to do is talk and I can still give her kisses by going outside and blowing her kisses and she will get them" She handled the viewing a lot better then I thought she would, actually saw her at the casket by herself and just standing there quietly.

But a little happier note, an update on what we have been doing on our trip. So last weekend we went to the beach. Beaches were nasty, we (Jeremy and I) got there about 6 so we ate some pizza and then me, Jeremy, mom, and the kids went to the Track to let shiana play. Her and Jeremy had fun on the bumper cars and boats and Shiana drove a mini go kart all by herself. When we got back to the hotel room the power was out and my laptop completely deleted my schoolwork. The next morning we left early since his granny had passed and we got through those few days. We also took the kids to the zoo and they had a blast and they went and visited my granny. Now we start packing stuff up and getting ready to head back to El Paso and start the long list of things to do there before the Big D Day. Still debating on staying there and coming home just for holidays or the whole time. But I do know I want to decorate Keylan's corner or room.

Needing Prayers

So we are finally on leave and not going good. Jeremy's Granny Gardner really needs prayers right now. About 3 weeks ago she went in for a lung biopsy because they had found a spot, she has had lung cancer before. It turns out that it cannot be gotten rid of with chemo, already hit her limit with radiation, and cannot remove the lung because of emphysema. She then developed pneumonia and has gone down hill quickly. We need prayers for comfort during this time. Now of us expected this, but I am still determined to have a good trip, especially for the kids. They were pretty decent on the ride here, Keylan hated it because of how active he is and he hated being strapped in, plus he is cutting 2 K9 teeth, ouch. Shiana was ready to get to "MamMaw's world" and we of course surprised my mom. They have been playing outside and LOVE IT! I have to say thank you to my professors for giving me an extension on my assignments. But, I am going to go eat a bite, and drink some Gatorade and water. This heat and humidity might try and kill me and I really hope that Keylan doesn't lose any weight from it. I will write when I can but I have schoolwork, make-up work to finish, and family business to attend to.

Getting Started Again

So the next few months are going to be time to adjusting. The Big "D" is coming, and I know that is only for a few months but it is still hard to know that Jeremy is going to be missing those months. We have leave coming up in a few days so it is going to be busy, but my goal is to update at least once a week (and with pictures). These kids grow-up crazy fast and it is fun to watch, but also sad at the same time. So on that note I am going to update on the kids.

Shiana: So my baby girl just turned 4 years old this past week. Geez where have they gone? She is still a big girl, 53 pounds and 45 inches. She is learning so many new things, and working on losing the teenager attitude that has developed. Lately, she has been asking for a baby sister, but doesn't understand why mommy and daddy can't give her one.

Keylan: Um, yeah. This little boy is a hand full, lol. He is now 15 months old and running, jumping, climbing and being all out boy =) He does not say a lot but he can definitely get his point and what he wants across. An accomplishment on my end is that he is still rear-facing and using cloth diapers 75% of the time.

I plan on writing out both of their birth stories at some point in the future.

Update on me: I finally graduated in June with my Associate's in Applied Science in Medical Assisting. It only took 5 years, but that includes changing schools, moving to a new state and two little ones so I am damn proud of myself. I am still in school, now to get my Bachelors in Health and Wellness and working my way to my Master's in Public Health with a specialization in Epidemiology.

I am going to do my best to keep this updated more, especially with deployment coming and it will give me something to do.