Weekend Plans

Happy Friday Everyone!!! This weekend MADISON IS GOING TO BE TWO!!!!!!!!!!!!! AHHHHHHHH!!!!! Mr Soldier has to work all day Sunday which is her birthday but we are ok with that because thank goodness she is too young to throw a tantrum about it! Mummy wanted to do this but I refrained! (His whole post have Friday and Monday off...Mr Soldier is working Friday, Sunday, Monday ) Tomorrow we plan on enjoying the beautiful weather here and fixing up our little patio area with flowers and hanging baskets just in time for Madison's party next weekend. Then tomorrow night we are going for dinner at Red Robin (yummmm...couldnt resist!) as this Mama is craving it and it is perfectly family friendly enough for Madison on a Saturday night. We are also going to give Madison our main present to her so that she has it to play with all weekend. We bought her this play kitchen and I am so excited for her to see it.

Sunday with Mr Soldier being gone I think Madison and I are just going to have a low key two year old birthday where I will cry over my baby not being my baby anymore and distract myself by taking her to the park to play! Hope you all have a great weekend : )

It is your decision

I am one of those people that needs to remind myself every morning that today is a new day. It is your decision whether it is going to be happy or sad. Make the most of it, smile through difficult things and enjoy all moments. Recently I have really had to bang this mantra into my head as I have adjusted to Mr Soldier's crazy schedule. He is gone A LOT and works some crazy hours which results in him coming home exhausted. Madison has been sick and well...I'm pregnant, add it all together that is a lot of this hormonal Mama to take but I think I am getting there and I am giving myself a pat on the back for it! I am the first to admit that I have given into cravings this pregnancy and I think partly because I have been alone so much but now is time for a change. I am 23.5 weeks pregnant, that gives me 16 ish weeks to give my baby girl everything she wants and needs. I have started by walking Dublin every morning for up to an hour by the river at our neighborhood. It is perfect and gets me the amount of fresh air and boost for the day that I need. Then I have come up with an eating and snacking regime which is so much healthier and more "my body is a temple" rather than "my body is a catherdral" which was the route I was previously going. I am hoping to enjoy the Summer as much as I can and really appreciate this pregnancy and every kick that Kennedy likes to give me throughout the day. Walking and swimming are going to be my to do things and Mr Soldier, well I am loving on him extra amounts when I see him and we are settling into the job just fine : )

Baby Necessities

So since we already have Madison and all of her things we are blessed to be having another little girl, it certainly cuts down on expenses! Mr Soldier has laughed at this because he knows I won't be able to resisit buying MORE clothes but we have come up with a list of baby necessities that we will need to welcome Kennedy into the world. After that the extra little things can be my hormonal/nesting indulgences! We need a new crib/toddler bed. We are leaving this until the last minute as we are waiting on Madison to make that decision for us. You see if she starts climbing out of her bed this Summer then we will buy her a big girl bed and move her crib into the new nursery. However, if she is content to stay confined in her crib than so am I so we will buy a second one. We have decided to go ahead with this double stroller. It matches the travel system we have so we can just clip the carseat into it and both little girls can be happy : )

We obviously need more of these. I used Avent with Madison and I was pretty happy with them so Avent it is.....nothing to do with the Made In England labels on them I promise!

We will definitely need another one of these as Madison's broke in our PCS : (

I never got one of these but with a crazy toddler running around the park every weekend I have a feeling this will come in handy.

We will need another Graco carseat base as Mr Soldier was deployed when Madison was born so I was only using one car but this time we want the convenience of having two vehicles ready to go.

Then there are the clothes. Madison was born in this state in May, Kennedy is due in September which can be an unpredictable month. I would say we are 75% prepapred but will definitely need more leggings/cardigans for her to get her through the winter or even just tights to put under Summer dresses. Which will all be hung on more of these : )

Ear Infections

So little Madison is on her fourth ear infection in less than a year and thankfully she is handling them so well but I feel so sorry for her and I need to face some reality. My brothers both had dairy allergies when they were younger, they grew out of them but my Mum mentioned that I should look into it. So what does this Mama do?! Googleeee, thank you very much, you are my lifesaver. Sure enough type in dairy and ear infections and up pops a million pages. Now I am not going to self diagnose my daughter, she is visiting her pediatrician every 2 weeks or so and we just started a fresh batch of prescribed antibiotics this morning BUT I am about to face some reality in the grocery store and kitchen. Madison eats yoghurts for breakfast, cheese all day if she could and has milk going to bed. I am going to the commissary this afternoon to try and find some dairy free products and to change her milk just as a test. Why not try it for a month and see if there is any difference? Any advice for me?!

Push Present

So I always tease Mr Solder about what I want for a "push present" as I got a car with my last pregnancy, however, that was more of a lifestyle change preparing for a baby so he knows I am joking when I say I want a new one for this baby....at least I hope he does! My real push present for having Madison was this beautiful David Yurman ring....I love it and wear it all the time!

I have been thinking a lot about what I would like for this baby. You see I really struggle with spending money on myself these days. I used to be the girl that could go shopping a couple of times a week with no cares in the world. Obviously, financial responsibilities and have changed drastically since then but also I just prefer to spend money on Madison and I know I am going to be even worse when I have Kennedy and I can buy them matching clothes! I really see the push present idea as a way to ask for something that bit more extravagant that I would normally never spend the money on but that I will love and cherish and know I worked hard for 9 months for it! Here are some ideas so far...

Kate Spade Bag

Tory Burch Bag

Tory Burch Flip Flops

Tory Burch Wedges....can you tell I have a thing for Tory right now?!

Lilly Maxi Dress

Lilly Dress but in Navy

Lilly Amberly Dress Or anything Dior.....so yea you can see I have put some thought into it!!!

Busy

It sure has been busy around here, between Alicia coming to stay with us for a few days and then Mothers Day (which I never blogged about but I didn't cook one meal or change one diaper that day, oh and I got bought an hour long prenatal massage...thank youuuu Mr Soldier!) and then going to VMI to see Sean commission and graduate, our feet have barely touched the ground! Now Mr Soldier leaves today for a TDY mission and I drive to Richmond tomorrow for a family party. Time is flying by!!! It has all been exhausting but fun and distracting us from our pregnancy countdown which is now at 17 weeks (ish) until we meet Baby Kennedy!

Picture Post!

We are back after a whirlwind 48 hours and I have learnt a tough lesson that I can't do trips like that anymore...or wear heels all day when pregnant with a 30lb toddler on my hip. We got back yesterday and I almost ended up in the emergency room I was in so much pain. I think I had just overdone it and my body went into fever mode. I was hot one minute and shaking cold the next and if you told me I had broken a rib I would have believed you. I literally couldn't sit, stand, lie down without my whole body hurting. Thankfully I am feeling a lot better today after 12 hours of sleeping it off! We did have a great time at VMI and we are so proud of Sean. Here are some of my pics and then I stole two from the photographer in the family (Jennifer Thiers Photography!) Of course I don't have any photographic proof that I was there, isn't that the way it always happens when you go to events, its all over and you realise you have no photos of yourself even at it!

Mr Soldier and his brother pinning Sean's new officer shoulder boards on : )

Mr Soldier with his Dad, sister and brothers.

Taking the Oath

He did it! VMI class of 2012 : )