The Sand is Different Here

Happy Birthday Aaron!

2012-02-01T09:00:00.000-05:00

I have definitely married into a great family and Aaron is Mr Soldier's little brother but he is actually only 17 days older than me. And it's his birthday today so HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! I have mentioned him before but just in case you forgot, he lives in NYC and works for Burberry and we live vicariously through him and his stories! Hopefully we can make it up there one weekend without Madison, it is in the plans, now we just have to find the time!

Time Flies

2012-01-31T09:00:00.000-05:00

How is it the end of January already?! Like honestly, it is scary?! Do you think we will ever be able to manipulate time way into the future?! If so, I would like me child to sleep for at least 15 hours but then for my day to also last 15 hours on top of this and weeks to be 8 or 9 days long so that I can get things accomplished!

Jesus Take The Wheel

2012-01-30T09:00:00.000-05:00

To start off this post I want to say that I am religious, but not in the way that I go to Church every weekend although I do want to start doing this now that Madison is getting older as Mr Soldier and I grew up going to Church every Sunday. We are both Catholic and Madison already has her own little pink bible but again, we are not uber religious and do not talk about it much. However, on Friday all I can describe my situation as was a "Jesus take the wheel moment" in my life. I was driving home from daycare, I had the day off and I had decided to drop Madison to daycare for a few hours so I could clean and organise the house without my toddler following me undoing everything. It was lightly raining and I could see I was clearly driving into storm clouds but the roads were still full and I had less than two miles until home. Plus the radio wasn't beeping any crazy messages at me so I kept driving. As I went up over a highway the storm hit in a second. I have a big Jeep and I was up high on this road and my Jeep got pushed one whole lane over. Thank goodness no one was immediately around me because with two hands on the wheel I had NO control over my car. I turned my hazards on (my lights were already on) and I prayed and I drove as slow as I could while still moving so that no one would drive into the back of me. I could see NOTHING. I prayed and I cried and I crawled along in my car until the road brought me back down to normal height where I promptly joined the nine other cars hiding under the bridge. Now I have driven in my fair share of Georgia storms but this was the worst. I don't know if it was the combination of the height I was at the time it hit but I prayed and begged to get home safe. As I pulled into the driveway I called Mr Soldier and cried to him, I don't really know what I wanted him to do but I needed to hear his voice. Thank goodness Madison wasn't in the car with me. How is that for a dramatic story on Monday morning?!

Madison

2012-01-28T16:32:00.000-05:00

Can you tell my child is crazy?!!

20 Months!

2012-01-27T09:00:00.000-05:00

Madison is 20 months old today... Ahhhh!! You know I am already planning her second birthday party : )!!

On the plane back from England

Madison is still AMAZING. Seriously, apart from the moments where she pushes my boundaries by ignoring the word "no" When she knows perfectly well what is means. Yes those moment are frustrating but what can I say, I am the Mum of a toddler and though I want to scream at the time, the second I am at work and missing her I want to run back to that chaos!
Madison loves colouring, stickers, puzzles and building things with her blocks...only to knock them all down later! She is great at understanding everything we are saying and when we are done playing we have a song that is simple as "Clean up, clean up, it's time to clean up" And she runs around picking things up singing "Upppeee upppeee" it is adorable.
She is going through a phase too where she wants her diaper changed the second it is dirty so if it is wet she will look at me and go "pee" and run to the changing table. We think we are going to try and start potty training in four months as she is now showing us signs she knows what is going on.

Her purple day in her Burberry cape : )

Madison is a girlie girl, she wants to try on every pair of shoes and will pick out whatever jacket she wants to wear even if it clashes with the outfit that I have chosen for her to wear that day. However, I cannot for the life of me get her to keep a bow in her hair or even an elastic band to keep her head back out of her eyes- how do all you Mums with picture perfect little girls do it? Do you bribe them?!!

Trying on her new Hunters!

I am so excited to watch her learn and say more and more. We love you Madison!
xxxxx

Lazy or Genuis?!

2012-01-25T09:00:00.000-05:00

When your husband is gone, and I am not talking about deployments necessarily, but for a few nights here and there in the field or with staff duty what do you eat? I resort to microwave meals or cereal which I devour in bed snuggled up with my Hello Kitty slippers on and watching Bravo or E! Is this lazy or pure genuis to soak these things up when your husband is away?! I call it making the best out of a sucky situation!

It's Field Time

2012-01-24T09:00:00.000-05:00

Brrr its wet and cold outside and poor Mr Soldier is in the field with his platoon, isn't that typical?! I bought him hand and toe warmers from Target to try and get him through it with a bit less pain. It's going to be a lonely week but a girl's week for Madison, Dublin and I in the house and I am counting down to get our man back!

Wedding Pics!

2012-01-23T09:00:00.001-05:00

Here are just a few pics from the day, can you believe it took me this long to get them to you? I will post some more next Monday : )

Bye Bye Army?

2012-01-20T09:00:00.001-05:00

I know after yesterday's post I appear to be anti-military lifestyle right now...I am not, I am just realising that time is passing and we have one life. When I met Mr Soldier I really didn't want to get involved in the lifestyle. Well thats not true, I thought he was hot but I was scared! Then I fell head over heels in love and said good bye to him for 12 months as I went through a pregnancy and then raised Madison for six months alone. Being an Army Wife became my life, I was so proud of Mr Soldier and loved being a part of the community and got taught the importance of soaking up every second very quickly. Now we discuss the possibility of choosing the civilian world and it is scary. Can we really leave the Army? What if we miss it? We dream of buying a home in the countryside, I dream of opening my own clothes boutique but what if that isn't the right decision or we can't make it financially? Are we crazy to walk away from healthcare? Probably! As unstable as the Army is, it is a bubble that I am not sure I want to pop!

Can We Do It Again?

2012-01-19T09:00:00.000-05:00

With the holiday season behind us and another year underway Mr Soldier's dwell time is running out. Whilst we have not heard the "D" word mentioned recently I still end up in tears thinking about possibilities. Can we really do it again? Can I let my daughter who I protect and live for every second cry and wave goodbye to her Dad without being able to stop him? Can I be a single Mum again? I know we went through it before and it made us stronger but I chose to put myself through that for Mr Soldier, my daughter didn't choose any of this.

Happy Birthday Mummy!

2012-01-18T09:00:00.001-05:00

Happy Birthday to my Mummy!!!! She inspires me to be the best Mum that I can be and she continues to provide the best example of living and loving. She recently started a new job and I am so proud of her and wish I could be closer. We were very lucky to spend time with her over Christmas and I know that if I win the lottery the first thing I will do is buy a house in London and visit more often!

Oh yes she is using my baby's stroller to hold a bottle of wine at the Greek festival in Richmond, VA 2010!

Fashion Post

2012-01-17T09:00:00.000-05:00

It has been a while since I have done one of these and with the weather in DC being totally up and down I have been daydreaming about Spring and of course, clothes!! All of these images are courtesy of boohoo.

Can you sense a pattern in what I am liking right now?!!

Day Off

2012-01-16T09:00:00.000-05:00

Woohoo for a day off, I am certainly going to enjoy this day after working six days straight jetlagged and exausted! I know I know I just got back from an amazing vacation BUT it is hard to get back into the swing of things!

Superstitions

2012-01-13T09:00:00.000-05:00

Do you say Happy Friday 13th or hide in your bed from it?! I am superstitious, not like a crazy person, but like a girl who wouldn't get on a plane today type of superstitious. Have you ever heard of any crazy things people do or are scared of?

Honeymoon Pics Part Two

2012-01-12T09:01:00.000-05:00

Here are some photos of us on the honeymoon. I am not going to sugarcoat things, Mr Soldier and I were going through a rough patch before we went away, just as every couple does. We had gone through so much in 2011 and we had forgotten to stop and be grateful and were more on the making lists and focusing on the negative track. We were forever trying to achieve more. This honeymoon gave us the perfect oppurtunity to be in a beautiful place, take a deep breath and realise that life is actually rather good to us and we need to cherish the days more rather than wishing them away. Those seven days we laughed all the time. We snorkelled, went on a sea plane, swam, golfed, played ping pong, danced and talked non stop : )

Honeymoon Pics

2012-01-10T10:35:00.000-05:00

I am not going to bombard you with pictures so I thought I would split it up into two posts and give you some of the photos of the island in one post and some of us in another! Honestly, The Maldives is the place to go, it was Heaven on Earth and is a place to visit as the islands are said to be sinking and will not always be around. It was exactly the break that Mr Soldier and I needed and it refreshed us just in time to jump into 2012 and embrace whatever God decides to bring us this year on our journey.

Our room!

The boat to get to and from our room for dinner- we swam in and out to the island during the day.

Shark!! Definitely gave us a fright the first day but we got used to swimming with them around us, something I thought I would never do!

Beach Bar

The sea plane we flew in to see the islands

Look at the colour of the water!! BEAUTIFUL!

Our resort!

The reception

Stingray! You had to watch where you stepped when you were walking in the sea!

Beach villas

Back To Reality

2012-01-09T09:00:00.001-05:00

First day back at work....shoot me now! I will be back with honeymoon updates and photos! I have missed you all!

Maybe We Will See Santa?!!

2011-12-24T09:00:00.000-05:00

We are leaving on a jet plane and looking out the window for Santa's sleigh as we fly through the night tonight and get to London tomorrow morning. I am praying for an easy and safe journey and ready to see my family! We did Christmas food and presents with Mr Soldier's side of the family last night which was really fun and now its travel time. I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas, I will be back in January and will catch up with you all soon. xxx

Health

2011-12-23T09:00:00.000-05:00

Madison gave us quite the scare the past few days as the Dr called us to bring her back in to get bloodwork done with her white blood cells being worringly low. We are trying to stay positive and putting it down to the fact that she was sick last week so her poor little body is still trying to get back on track so we are going to bring her back to the Drs again when we are back in January. It just makes me realise that this vacation is soooo needed. I am ready to get on that plane, clear my head, focus on 2012 goals and come back fresh, relaxed and ready to stay busy and healthy for my family and keep them all healthy too.

My Favourite

2011-12-22T09:00:00.000-05:00

I will be back with more soon!

Army Times

2011-12-21T09:30:00.000-05:00

We get the Army Times delivered to our house weekly so that we can keep up with events and information and yesterday named our post as getting the biggest BAH increase of 2012....Thank The Lord, it is expensive up here!

Madison

2011-12-20T09:00:00.003-05:00

We had Madison's 18 month well baby check up yesterday..yes a month late! Anyway, the shots were a disaster as she definitely knows what is coming now but her latest stats are 26lbs and 4oz and she is 35 inches! Thats my beautiful daughter growing and healthy as ever : )

Thoughts about Daddys

2011-12-19T09:24:00.000-05:00

The other day I was talking to Mr Soldier and we were counting down until our Christmas vacation and I said something along the lines of "9 days until I see my Daddy again" and he looked at me and said why just your Dad? He was curious as to why I didn't say 9 days until I see my family again and it got me thinking about a girl and her father. I talk to my Mum multiple times a week, I hear her say I love you on the phone, she hears me say it back, we have an amazing relationship. My brothers are teenagers and are way too cool for me and go through days of deleting me on facebook when they know there are going to be drunk photos of them on there that I might talk about and then they add me again once they have done damage control. But my Dad? Well we email ALL THE TIME but I don't hear his voice that much and I guess I just can't wait for that. I love him so much, I love them all so much, but my Dad? He is the best and I just want to cry when I think that I am over here so far away from him. When we settle down, we choose what is best for our new families and I chose to follow Mr Soldier around and live in America for him. Would I love to England and see my parents more? Absolutely. Maybe it is because of that. Maybe I am more excited to see him because I have Mr Soldier and I want my Dad to know he is still important too. Now I am just rambling....Anyway moral of the story, I am glad Madison has a Daddy as cool as mine : )

Check List

2011-12-16T09:11:00.000-05:00

Things to do in the next 9 days

-Post office
-Best Buy
-Pack
-Work for 6.5 of them!
-Take Madison to see Santa
-Buy Mr Soldier clothes for the honeymoon
-Get an oil change
-Dry cleaners
-Order Photos
-Clean
-Pay all bills before we go away
-Madison's 18 month appointment

Gahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

That's My Man

2011-12-15T09:49:00.002-05:00

Yesterday Mr Soldier called me to tell me that daycare had called to say Madison was sick and needed picking up early. Of course I went into hysterical Mum mode and ran out of the office to go and get her in my arms and to try and make it all better. Little did I know I was in for a ROUGH night. Madison was at the point where she couldn't even keep water down for more than five minutes so I did a lot of cuddling and even more laundry as I called Mr Soldier and told him that on his way home he needed to stop and get pedialyte, tylenol and a box of wine (the latter being for me of course!) Anyway, he did this for me and when he came in the door he pulled out a surprise for Madison. He was so upset that she was sick he had gone and bought her a My Little Pony! That is my husband, that is my baby girls Daddy and he has the biggest heart in the world. Unfortunately, he is currently upstairs in bed sick too as it seemed to have passed to him quickly but at that moment my heart melted : )

Sick : (

2011-12-14T09:55:00.001-05:00

Now that I am on the road to recovery Mr Soldier is sick : ( We are going to London in 10 days for a vacation so pray we get better before then!

It's A Small Army

2011-12-12T09:50:00.000-05:00

On Saturday night after watching the Army Navy Game we got invited with my FIL to his bosses house who he works with at the Pentagon. We decided to go for an hour or so and brought Miss Madison with us which was brave considering it was way past her bedtime and I am always anxious of her running around and breaking things in other peoples houses, especially a Col in the Army who I don't know yet! Anyway, it was a lot of fun and we got talking to some other people that were at the house and this one lady mentioned she had just come from GA too. As details were swapped Mr Soldier realised that this lady's husband had been his Battalion Commander in Iraq for two months when he was "borrowed" by another unit for a mission. How crazy is that?!! It is just another reminder that the Army is a small small world so always behave and don't be too sad to say goodbye to friends as they may very well turn up again!

About time...

2011-12-08T06:10:00.000-05:00

The Army paid us woo hoo! We can now buy Christmas presents and just generally start living again with a promise from finance that they will never do that again : )

Weight Loss

2011-12-07T07:21:00.000-05:00

Madison is 18 months old, I can no longer blame her for not fitting into my True Religion jeans, I can blame myself. You know how I came to this truthful realisation.....it was pretty harsh. I was on the floor playing with Madison and I joked with her as I pointed to my tummy and said "you did this to me" and what did Mr Soldier do?! He said no she didn't, you had her a year and a half ago, you are doing it to yourself. WOOOWWWW. That is so not a Mr Soldier thing to say. I cried but then I realised it was true and I probably needed to hear it. So here we go all over again, I am promising myself to lose two pounds a week if I can for the next few weeks and then I am going to fight to stay that size. Sure pregnancy makes you gain weight but it is up to you to get rid of it and only you.

Sick : (

2011-12-06T08:56:00.000-05:00

My body failed me. I am sick : ( I will be back but for now I am going to struggle through and pray that I don't pass it on to Madison!

One Year Ago

2011-12-05T08:52:00.000-05:00

This time last year I ran into Mr Soldier's arms after a 358 day deployment came to an end. I look back at it now and I wonder how we survived. You just do it don't you? An instinct kicks in and after the year is over it is incredible to think back about it. I have loved every second of this year despite the ups and downs as we ave really learnt how to be in a marriage and live together all at once after our previous long distance relationship. I love you Mr Soldier, I do not want to think about possible deployments in the future but you know what? If they happen, they happen and I will be here waiting. I will wait a lifetime for you ....

More Realistic Dear Santa...

2011-12-02T09:00:00.000-05:00

Round two of the more sensible price range amount!!

Kate Spade Bracelet

Hunter Wellies

Victorias Secret

Sperrys

Decemberrrrrrrr

2011-12-01T09:00:00.001-05:00

Yikes it is brrr around here! How is it December already?! This year has flown by and Mr Soldier and I have been counting down to this month, why? Because in 23 days we fly to London and in 27 days we fly to the Maldives for our honeymoon woop woop!!!

Christmas Shopping

2011-11-30T09:00:00.000-05:00

It is that time of year where the presents are starting to pile up under the Christmas tree, whether I have to rewrap them a million times or not due to a certain little girl who keeps opening them! I LOVE buying presents for other people and always try to think of something unique but this year is definitely going to get interesting since the Army have decided we are not getting a paycheck any time soon. Anyone want quality time with my family instead of a present?!!!

How old?!!

2011-11-29T09:00:00.000-05:00

...EIGHTEEN MONTHS....ONE AND A HALF YEARS...why can't you slow down Madison?! Honestly there are days where I just look at her and she is such a little grown up, as in not my baby anymore, sigh.

Madison continues to grow and learn and keep us laughing. She is in size 18-24 month clothes, size 6.5 shoes and we are about to transition her into size 5 diapers. Her latest saying is "Be happy" which would put a smile on anyones faces. Her daddy also taught her how to pound it and high five which keeps him entertained!

Madison is a bundle of energy which has been interesting now that we live in a townhome as we have to remind ourselves to get her out and about running around in the fresh air and not just going up and down the stairs to get to her room and then her toys in the basement.

This month Mr Soldier bought her a soccer net which was totally to indulge himself but she has got involved once or twice.
Apart from playing outside she has a new love for Sesame St. With her destructive behaviour such as pulling every ornament off the Christmas tree or opening every drawer in her dresser and emptying her clothes everywhere I became "that Mum" that distracts her with musical DVDs so that I can fold laundry in peace!

Madison talks all day long in her jibber jabber language but she understands exactly what we are saying, whether she selectively chooses to listen or not!

Mr Soldier and I are loving every minute with her and had to laugh the other night when we put her to bed and then sat down to dinner together and both of us admitted to having the song "ladybug picnic" in our heads!
Happy 18 months Miss Madison <3

It Happened

2011-11-28T08:57:00.000-05:00

The Army cut us off, our LES shows that we are getting paid $0 until whatever idiot in finance can fix it....please pray for us!

Thanksgiving Photos

2011-11-25T09:41:00.000-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-24T09:00:00.000-05:00

This year I am thankful to have my Mr Soldier home with me to celebrate the holiday. I am thankful for my amazing daughter who is running around saying "Ho Ho Ho" in the theme of Christmas and excited to eat yummy food tonight. I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving and for those of you with soldiers deployed, I am thankful for yours and their sacrifices.

Move.mil

2011-11-23T09:00:00.000-05:00

So after I declared the move.mil website to officially be one of the hardest ones to work out or access from a civilian computer, we went to JAG to file our claim for our disastrous move and finally managed to get a moving company representative out to the house yesterday to survey all of our damaged furniture and look at the photos I took of the move as it occurred and our $1500 mattress lying on the side of the road and my babys rocking chair falling out of the truck twice. Fingers crossed we get some compensation...and soon!

Baby Thoughts

2011-11-22T09:02:00.000-05:00

After yesterdays wish list I thought I would explain the "Its a Boy" reference! Mr Soldier would LOVE a baby boy, I would love for a little mini Mr Soldier to be able to watch them play together and learn from each other. Anyone else feel the pressure to provide their husband with a son?!!

Dear Santa....

2011-11-21T09:01:00.000-05:00

...here is a VERY unrealistic but a daydreaming wish list! Can't a girl distract herself with wish lists?!

Russell Brand

2011-11-18T09:00:00.000-05:00

Last night we went to see Russell Brand with some friends that we have met since moving up here and it was so much fun! He is hilarious and definitely reinforced my British accent for a few hours which I normally tone down around here. I have to say we have been blessed with the people we meet at each PCS : )

Lucky Girl

2011-11-17T14:52:00.000-05:00

I will be sporting this Burberry cape along with new brown leather boots courtesy of my amazing husband and his choice of anniversary present : )

Two Year Anniversary!!

2011-11-16T09:00:00.001-05:00

HAPPY ANNIVERSAY MR SOLDIER!!! Two years ago today we said I do. We have definitely had the "for betters" and "for worses" but I can honestly say I love my husband more and more every day and still thank my lucky stars that we found each other and he chose me to be his One. We were apart last year so I am very excited for date night tonight!

Cotton?!!

2011-11-15T09:31:00.000-05:00

With our wedding anniversary just around the corner...literally...I have been thinking about presents a lot and trying to work out exactly what to get Mr Soldier. Cotton sounds like an easy present but it is hard!!! Any inspiration?!

Weekend Catch Up

2011-11-14T09:25:00.000-05:00

This past weekend Mr Soldier, Madison and I drove to watch his alum play their rivals in football! Mimi was there as well as lots of family friends have not seen since our wedding this Summer. Even though Hampden Sydney lost, it was a lot of fun and definitely reminds me how lucky we are that the military has us so close to home and family in this phase in our lives

Veterans Day

2011-11-11T08:00:00.000-05:00

To all of the veterans out there and those who continue to serve, thank you. Those are two simple words but they are loaded with meaning. To my veteran, I love you and I will always remain proud and by your side, you are my hero and clearly our little girl's hero.

3 Day

2011-11-10T08:55:00.000-05:00

I have had one day off in the past 9 days and it is safe to say I am exhausted and VERY ready for this three day weekend....wait, did I say 3 day, dont be silly I am a military wife after all...I have a 3 day, Mr Soldier has staff duty!

Mimi

2011-11-09T08:59:00.000-05:00

Mimi is staying tonight so Mr Soldier and I are off on a movie date night. We are going to go see Like Crazy which is about an English girl falling in love with an American and deciding to stay here with him rather than going through the immigration process and ultimately getting deported. I am curious as to how this movie will make me feel. When you are madly in love it is so tempting to do crazy things like this but as frustrating as the paperwork process was I am very glad we did it the right way although we are far from finished.

Anonymous Comments

2011-11-08T09:45:00.000-05:00

So I know from time to time we all get plagued by haters who hide behind the anonymous tab offered by blogger and leave mean comments on our personal thoughts and beliefs. I never normally lower myself to a level where I respond but this time I am going to. I just got told that I was "an embarrassment to the military community" by writing the post I did yesterday. I am sorry but I would like to dispute this. Every military wife knows the crazy amount of mess ups and paperwork confusions that go on at a post. This is just the way of life. We all moan about it but joke too that it is something we come to expect. What I was talking about yesterday was the fact that the Army finance dpt are threatening to not pay my husband ever again as they are disputing that he is still active duty. I was not bitching about the Army and I should not be referred to as a bad Army wife. I was reflecting on the fact that I have a child to feed and I have a threat that we have no money coming in even though my husband still serves his country proudly every day. I am never one to boast about myself, I know I have flaws but I would like to think that I am not an embarassment to any military member, that I am in fact a sound supporter and I continue to face every obstacle that comes my way.

What's your status?

2011-11-07T08:55:00.000-05:00

....This is the question Mr Soldier got when he answered a phone call a few days ago when at work. After a very confusing conversation it turns out that Mr Soldier was about to be cut off BY THE ARMY! He has completed his three year obligation which essentially makes him indefinite now but he was told by the finance office on post that they have no record of him being active duty army and that they were stopping his pay immediately and coming after 12 months of backpay....WHAT?! His Battalion Commander went crazy and got on the case of helping us fix it but wow what a mess. Way to look after soldiers...oh wait you were deployed? We dont care you owe us 12 months of pay!! Thanks finance!

Housewarming!

2011-11-04T09:03:00.000-04:00

Its Friday and we are having a small housewarming drinks party this weekend that I am so excited and yet totally stressed about! First of all it kicked our butt into buying furniture and decorating the house in time but second of all I am working all day tomorrow until half an hour before the party so I am going to be frantic tonight cleaning and decorating and will be putting the food/alcohol shopping in Mr Soldier's hands...Wish us luck! I know it will be fun, I am just ready to get the prepping over and get a glass of wine in my hand!

BAH Issues

2011-11-03T09:24:00.000-04:00

Before I annoy anyone please understand I appreciate every part of the Army life benefits that we receive and I know how lucky we are in this economy to get help with rent money and to have our healthcare covered. However, I just have one small issue with BAH especially now that I live in an area where rent is extortionate to get anything decent to live in....why would they divide BAH in two along with the basic pay? Why not get the total BAH allotment on the 1st of the month to actually help cover all the other bills. With our rent right now, we would be short to cover all other outgoings if I hadn't been able to get a job so quickly which is scary! Just a small thought for the day!

Happy Birthday!

2011-11-02T08:56:00.000-04:00

Happy Birthday to my FIL, Papa Ray!!!! He is out of town this week so we don't get to take him to a birthday dinner but we will spoil him this weekend at our housewarming drinks party : )This is a picture of him with Mr Soldier and my BIL a few weekends ago enjoying the sunshine and Okotberfest.

Lady....?!!

2011-11-01T08:51:00.002-04:00

This is our little Madison last night. She had the best time albeit a slight sugar rush! Where I am from she is a ladyBIRD but Mr Soldier teased me all night so ladybug it was!

Halloween Scarecrows

2011-10-28T09:00:00.001-04:00

Madison has clearly decided she is way too big for her stroller and prefers to walk everywhere which Mr Soldier and I find absolutely adorable even if it does take five minutes to get to the car instead of one! Well in our neighbourhood we have to walk to our mailbox and we pass a house that is decorated with these standing outside....

Without fail Miss Madison stops and says hi and waves at them! It is ridiculously cute how she is convinced these are people that she could be friends with : )

My Military Child

2011-10-27T09:30:00.000-04:00

After all that talk of strong and brave little children yesterday, my Baby Girl is 17 months old today!!! Insane!! Madison weighs 25 lbs 3oz and she is 35.5 inches long. She has definitely lost her baby chubbiness since she has started running around everywhere and continues to get taller and taller.
Madison is still in size 3 diapers and wears 12 month tops but 18 month bottoms and 24 month sleepsuits! She is totally spoilt in the wardrobe department. I find it so much easier to spend money on her than myself so she is all decked out and from most of the photos you can probably tell that her shoes are my addiction!
Madison took about 3 weeks to adjust from the PCS but apart from the recent health scare she is now happy and healthy. She is back in a licensed in home daycare situation again like she was used to in GA but this one only has one little boy who is a few months older and they have become best friends.
She is still totally a Daddy's girl and has recently got to know her Papa well too (my FIL) as he lives close by.
Her favourite things include dancing to the Sesame St Singalong box set that we got her and dancing in the back of the car. She also likes to take her shoes off and throw them around in the back of the car so I have to redress her every time we drive somewhere. She still loves her bathtime and once we get her out of it and into pyjamas she will start blowing kisses and saying Ny Ny.
Madison continues to amaze us and exhaust us every day but we wouldn't change a second of it. She is our little angel : )

Military Children

2011-10-26T09:07:00.000-04:00

This time last week we were still frantic about Madison and what was happening in regards to her eye and as we sat for our third appointment in a row waiting for the blood test results to come back I saw something that was beautiful and yet so sad. A Mum came in to get shots for all 6 of her kids...yes I said 6! First of all that is amazing to me, I do not think I am cut out to have that many kids at all but to handle them ALL getting shots at once would put me over the age!

They obviously decided to start with the youngest as within minutes, there was crying and the Mum had the little girl back out on her lap in the waiting room calming her down. After about five minnutes the rest of the children came out and said "Ok, we're done." Those five kids had sat and got shots all by themselves without throwing a selfish tantrum because they knew their little sister needed their Mum at that moment. What really topped it off was when one of the older girls turned around and said "Do you want Daddy?" and handed the youngest child the ACU Daddy doll to confirm that he was deployed and they were carring him around everywhere and their Mum was raising six kids admirably as they all appeared to totally look out for each other....cue the tears for me!

Crockpot Advice

2011-10-25T09:30:00.000-04:00

So as much as I am a Summer girl and I like my sunshine and dresses, I am kind of lokoing forward to Winter setting in although I am sure now that we have PCSed here it is going to be colder than I have been used to in a while! With that being said, it is no secret that Mr Soldier and I work crazy schedules and that I also work every Saturday so I have enlisted the help of a new friend in my life..her name is Crockpot and I am excited to get to know her and come home to a warm, aroma filled house in the dark evenings that are ahead. Do any of you have any good crockpot recipes to share or any books I should go out and buy?!

Pumpkin Patch : )

2011-10-24T09:00:00.001-04:00

Sunday was a lot of fun : )))

Friday Smiles

2011-10-21T09:00:00.001-04:00

Even though my work week is actually Tuesday-Saturday, Friday still puts a smile on my face. Friday means staying up later than normal on the sofa with my love watching all of our guilty pleasure shows and gearing up to play with Madison all weekend : ) This Sunday we are taking her to her first pumpkin patch so I will definitely be back with photos from that and then we are going to Arlington National Cemetery. It is Mr Soldier's Mom's memorial and she is buried there so we are going to go see her and again it will be a first for Madison to visit her. It will be a sad but special day.
p.s. she is doing so much better, thank you for all of your Baby Girl prayers!

Happy Birthday!

2011-10-20T09:00:00.000-04:00

My youngest brother enters his teenage years today, this is totally crazy to me, I still remember him as a baby! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!
This is a pic of him in July in Georgia when my family came to visit, Little Miss Madison loves her some Uncle Scott : )

Baby Mama Hysteria

2011-10-19T09:30:00.001-04:00

I promise you I am a laid back Mum but when you walk in to the nursery in the morning to pick up your usually smiling little girl and one of her eyes is swollen shut, it is hard to stay calm. First thing I did, burst into tears, second thing I did was to pick her up and run to my phone, third thing...call Mr Soldier and tell him to get his butt home, fourth thing made an emergency Drs appointment, fifth thing.....oh yea tell my brand new boss who I havent met yet that I wont be coming in...great! That was my day yesterday : (

Madison has always reacted badly to mosquito bites but this was the worst yet and I wasn't going to just sit and wait for it to go down. The Drs said we did the right thing and they want to see her again today just incase any of the poison from the bite leads to a secondary infection in her eye. My heart is telling me not to google eye infections and loss of sight in babies but my brain is screaming at me so for now just pray for us and that our Princess will be playing as happy as ever by this weekend and it will have all gone away.

Paying Bills

2011-10-18T09:30:00.000-04:00

I like paying bills...is that wierd?! Ok it sucks sometimes when you add up what is going out compared to what is coming in but I like the satisfaction of writing those checks and putting them out in the mail on time. Mr Soldier and I have a finance book that we have had since we got together so we can keep track of all payments/savings etc. Not only does this keep us efficient and make us feel all grown up but it is also a pretty cool way to keep track of different times in our lives by watching our savings go up and down and with every significant expenditure comes another memory : )

FootLoose

2011-10-17T09:37:00.000-04:00

Go see it.....today....it was AMAZING!!

That and the chunky monkey banana milkshake in one hand and my Soldier's hand in the other and I had quite the date night on Saturday : )

Rough Week

2011-10-14T09:57:00.000-04:00

Its been a rough week and I am very ready for a date night with Mr Soldier this weekend. Between the constant rain, me threatening to give our dog away, Mr Soldier having issues in his platoon, Mr Soldier finding out one of his guys from his last platoon in GA had killed himself, my manager finding out her cousin had passed away and me ultimately being left in the office by myself which translates into 9 hour days, no help and no lunch breaks oh and the fact that I am working 7 hours tomorrow.....gahhhh going to see Footloose and snuggling with my man in a movie theater eating ridiculous amounts of popcorn can't come soon enough.

You're Kidding Right?!

2011-10-13T09:30:00.002-04:00

Mr Soldier did something that is so unlike him this past weekend and it was a shocker.....let me tell you I was MAD! He decided to drop the "actually, my unit is in the shoot to head to Afghanistan next year" comment in public...but not to me, to a stranger....when I was standing next to him. WAIT, WHAT?! You haven't told me but you are now letting me know via someone else and in a public setting so I can't react like an animal which is what I wanted to do!!
Grrrrr, his defense since that moment has been that he thought he had told me and that it is no big deal as it "Isn't going to happen because the Army can't keep going without his unit being home in America as they are so specialised" but wow, that was a moment for the books.

Church Pew

2011-10-12T16:54:00.000-04:00

Once upon a time Mr Soldier and I had an authentic Church pew in our home but alas it didn't stay in our family very long....This is my beautiful new church pew that I bought this past weekend.

I loveeee it, it has such charm and adds character to our home and Madison has been climbing on it since we bought it home: ) This post reminded me that I haven't put any pics of our new house on here yet so I will definitely get to that. We are having a housewarming party on November 5th so that is getting my butt in gear with the finshing touches and decor and then I will invite you all on a bloggie photo tour : )

Oops!

2011-10-11T17:05:00.000-04:00

So I totally missed my two year blogging anniversary! Wow that is bad blogging : ( Anyway, it has now officially been two years and four weeks since I started this blog as I talked about being engaged to a soldier and going from the Southern Spanish beaches to America and the fiance was planning a little vacay in Iraq...notttt.

I honestly don't know what I would have done without this blog and without all of you in the military and general blogging community. I can not say thank you enough and I know I have said it before but I will say it again. This blog has seen me get granted a fiance visa to move to America, get married in a registry office, wave goodbye to my husband and wait for him for 12 long months, move to Virginia, back to Georgia and back to Virginia again, go through three duty stations, have our precious Baby Girl Madison, buy a car, buy Mr Soldier a car, go through two property management jobs and get married (again!) in Hurricane Irene. Ha, does that even sound real?! Anyway, here is to blogging and to all of you for sticking around : ) xoxo

Lean On Me

2011-10-07T16:30:00.000-04:00

As stressful as a PCS can be and as much as I have wanted to scream (ok maybe I did scream) out the words "Why did you make me move here?!" everything has a funny way of working out. After the move, the adjustment to townhouse living and city traffic (which is still ongoing), distasteful family member behaviour among other things, Mr Soldier and I are in such a happy place in our relationship right now. It has literally been a case of leaning on each other. Madison had us and we had her and we got on with it. I got employed within a week of settling in, Mr Soldier met his new platoon and has begun his training. Madison is at a new daycare and loving it, she just laughs all day right now and honestly although I was comfortable in GA, Mr Soldier and I are better here. I think we associated that house with the deployment and here it is a fresh start, it is a new chapter and whilst people around us have exemplified how not to behave, we are just waking up every day and moving on. I can honestly say I am happy and I don't think I realised that I was unhappy before. I am excited and I am loving this adventure right now : )

First day

2011-10-03T15:44:00.000-04:00

Wow it sure is different up here....I have to say I know I can do it but I'm totally overwhelmed with the early mornings and evening commuted home already. I miss Georgia!

Hilarious

2011-09-30T09:00:00.000-04:00

Maybe this moment that I caught in action yesterday is the reason Dublin was depressed?!!

Crazy child

2011-09-29T09:00:00.000-04:00

Mr Soldier has to pass a test at his new job where he has to stand on the spot for 70 minutes without moving. They will literally draw chalk lines on his uniform so that they can tell if he moves....I wonder if he can teach Madison how do it, her up, down, left and right is wearing this Mama out!

I am employed!

2011-09-28T07:56:00.000-04:00

Woohooo I did it! It was my first interview up here and I got it and I start Monday! That gives me 3 days to find childcare...yikes! I am so excited about it but definitely going to have to prepare myself for a challenge. It is a property that the management company are taking over the day I start which could mean a few unhappy residents and raising rent prices but I know the first few months are always rough as you get to know new people and learn a new job so hopefully we will all get through it and I will be kept busy. Heres to a new job and finding a new daycare for the princess... : )

The Job Hunt

2011-09-27T09:00:00.000-04:00

I have my first interview today for a property management position like I was doing down in Georgia so Mimi is coming over to babysit Baby Girl and I am off to try and find employment. Wish me luck!!

DC Traffic

2011-09-26T09:00:00.000-04:00

Up here you have to become the most patient and yet aggressive driver ever... although I realise those are two totally different temperaments to have at once! I literally have to push and shove to change lanes which can be quite scary and then there are the last minute "wait the exit is actually right there" moments and then there is the 9 mile drive to Mr Soldier's work that takes him an hour to do in the evenings : (

Doggie Depression

2011-09-24T09:00:00.001-04:00

Did you know that a dog can self harm?! Well it cost me $140 at the vet to find that out. I guess poor Dublin hasn't handled the PCS at all and who would blame her, she went from a nice little one level home with a huge yard to play in to a three story townhome with baby gates locking her in on every level and no grass in sight! Mr Soldier joked the other day that he thought she was self harming and I gave him the "you are ridiculous look" but took her to the vet anyway and sure enough she is biting her own tail :( It looks like medication, hugs, bones and dog parks are in our future.

New car!

2011-09-23T15:43:00.000-04:00

After Mr Soldier had driven the same 94 Honda accord since he was 16 I decided it was time to get a new lady in his life : )

27!!!

2011-09-20T17:31:00.000-04:00

Happy birthday to my amazing Mr Soldier today : ) We are going out on a date tonight for dinner and I am so excited! With this PCS I am only five minutes from my FIL who is loving being called on to babysit. I will be back tomorrow with some more PCS reflections though haha

Bad drunk?!

2011-09-17T23:32:00.001-04:00

Do any of you get mean when you drink? Mr soldiers side of the family FIGHT when they drink and I Hate it :( Tonight we paid for a sitter and drove to Richmond to watch our two schools play each other I paid a babysitter I got excited to be back in campus for a few hrs and pretending to be young but alas a fight broke out .... Why?!!

Baby it's cold outside

2011-09-16T19:29:00.000-04:00

.....Brr our low tonight is in the 40s did I just day bye to the GEorgia heat and that I wouldn't miss it? Welllll I miss it! On the up side my closet has become more interesting as I have winter clothes to pick from that I haven't seen in a while!

Pcs drama

2011-09-14T09:08:00.002-04:00

Things broken..... Headboard, grill, Madison's sofa, table and shelf. Things stolen.... Watch, ring, cash, empty Louis Vuitton wallet :((((

Past life

2011-09-12T09:42:00.000-04:00

I think I must have killed someone in my past life....like really i must have been a horrible person considering my luck in this life. After recovering from our hurricane wedding we got set for our PCS and guess what our movers are awful! After a ten hr day and me watching my furniture fall OFF the truck onto the road twice, finding screws all over my house from furniture they had randomly taken apart, told one guy not to talk to me as he awkwardly followed me around my house and now realised Mr Soldiers class ring and armani watch were stolen from a backpack that we had set aside. It is now Monday morning we r in our new house waiting for the truck to arrive that was dropping our stuff off at 8.... It's almost ten and there is no sign of it....what are the chances of my furniture surviving?!!

Its go time!

2011-09-09T14:51:00.003-04:00

Bye bye Georgia I will miss you but not your humidity!

Silly Girl

2011-09-07T08:35:00.000-04:00

Whilst Mr Soldier and I are in the middle of boxes and moving chaos Madison is loving every moment of rediscovering her old baby toys!

PCS changes

2011-09-05T09:00:00.000-04:00

What a difference a PCS makes! Last time Mr Soldier and I officially PCSed, forgetting the fact that I moved by myself twice during the deployment, we were leaving a 900sq ft apartment and we had a puppy in the back of the car. Now we have a fully grown German Shepherd, a 15 month old and we have managed to fill a 1700 sq ft house with furniture. It is definitely going to be a challenging week!

Last Weekend

2011-09-04T09:00:00.000-04:00

I hope you all have fun Labor day weekend plans : ) It is our last weekend in Savannah and we are definitely sad about that. I think we are going to head downtown and wander around one last time and I know Mr Soldier plans on playing golf with his friends which means unmonitered time for me at the mall : ) By the time I hand over the keys to our house next week I will have managed exactly one year in this town which is a record and I know there will be a few tears shed as we drive away from here.

But she's not even two!

2011-09-03T09:00:00.000-04:00

That is what I exclaimed to Mr Soldier the other day as Madison kicked and screamed and I became "that Mum" in public. In the past three or four weeks our poor baby girl has been through a lot and it has clearly taken a toll on her. We commented at the beginning of last month how she had become a sponge and we were really going to have to start watching language in the house etc as she was learning everything. We got her to learn to wave, high five, cheers with her sippycup, feed her baby doll and say hi and bye in a week, it was amazing. Then the frustration started. She knows what she wants now but she cant tell us and her solution....ohhhhh she screams! She will just look at me in public and shout out or even worse say No to me. Add in the the fact that we have dragged her from GA to VA back to GA just to move house again next week and we have a tired, confused and determined little girl who knows what she wants but has no idea how to get it.

Thank yous : )

2011-09-02T09:58:00.000-04:00

After everything to do with our wedding day got rained on...literally.... and we had to come up with an amazing plan B it really touched me when people rallied together to help. Obviously my military guests and army wife bridesmaids took the change of venue as just a typical event in an ordinary day which made us smile but really, I had strangers helping set up the reception hall, I had family friends rushing around to fire stations to get the roads cleared of trees so guests could even get there. I had my sister in law take all of our photos even though she had no light. I really had an amazing support group around me and I am thankful to every single one of them. A lot of prayers were answered and a lot of flower bouquets have been sent out this week from us as a result!

Where do I begin?!!

2011-09-01T12:02:00.000-04:00

Ok so here we go....wedding week recap!

Sunday- a bridesmaid tells her husband to tell my husband to tell me that she wont be in the wedding. Her grandma was sick and she had to fly to Germany : (

Monday - packed up all of our garden furniture and moved it inside as we prepared to drive to Richmond and Hurricane Irene was coming straight for our house in Savannah.

Tuesday- woke up to realise that I had forgotten my new wedding ring, the fedex guy had dropped our programs off and my Dad's name was spelt wrong and we got the first nervous phone call from my FIL who works for the Corps of Engineers and therefore has the most accurate weather update to let us know Irene had changed path and was heading for my outdoor wedding in VA. As we sit outside for lunch and try to breath through it all and stay calm...the patio started moving.....anddddd oh holy earthquake the epicenter was 20 miles away.

Wednesday- we joke that God is trying to tell us something about our marriage and we get weather updates that look worse and worse. I cry. A lot.

Thursday- guests start calling to tell us they have been deployed with the National Guard to help with the hurricane/trains/planes are cancelled.

Friday- it is the day before the wedding, my equipment company wont put the tent up, my outdoor wedding is a disaster and we change venue to a cute church down the road and plan the reception in the parish hall. We finish setting up our new venue 45 minutes before the rehearsal dinner and rush back to get ready just to find that my dress was at the wrong venue and I had to send a bridesmaid out to get it so that I wouldnt show up to my own rehearsal dinner naked.

Saturday- wake up calmer than I have been all week, say screw it, its too late to cancel now. I love my husband, vows are the most important thing not the wedding. Go to the hairdressers with my bridesmaids and wonder who will get their hair done or not as the power flickers on and off. Drink a lot of champagne. Rush back to the hotel with my heavily pregnant bridesmaid driving us and holding the wheel with two hands as the car gets blown all over the road. Pick up our dresses, go to the country club where we are getting ready to find there is no power so sit next to the window to try and do our make up using the natural light. Get to the church to no power, no organist and our guests singing the most romantic hymn in candelight for me to walk down the aisle. My dad kisses me, my groom cries and all is good with the world. I LOVE MR SOLDIER and no one will ever ever forget our wedding!

Think Pink!

2011-08-30T09:00:00.000-04:00

I think I see a trend in all of the shoes that I am lusting over right now!

Post Wedding Schedule

2011-08-29T09:00:00.000-04:00

You didn't think I would just sit and relax and think about our amazing day this weekend did you?! Oh nooooo!!! Why am I still running around? Well we PCS in 11 days ohhh life : )

I do!

2011-08-27T09:00:00.002-04:00

Oh heyyyyyy, I get to say I do today again to my dream man and hero <3

Rehearsal Time!

2011-08-26T09:00:00.000-04:00

It is official, Mr Soldier and I are getting our dream day tomorrow! The majority of guests got into town today so we are all meeting out at the wedding site this afternoon to do a quick walk through of the ceremony with the officiant and then we are having our rehearsal dinner : ) I tried to get everyone to stay in the same hotel so that I could organise transportation to get our out of town guests to and from the wedding so we are also going to have our rehearsal dinner there tonight for about 38 people and I am excited!

Aftershocks

2011-08-25T09:10:00.002-04:00

Did I mention that the aftershocks from the crazy earthquake are making this week a ton more interesting too?!

Family Politics

2011-08-24T09:00:00.000-04:00

Today is the day to finalise seating arrangements aka make frantic phone calls to people to find out their plus one's names and try not to make enemies as I plan on who is sitting next to who for the most effective and fun reception that we can get. Who knew families were so political?!!

Schedule

2011-08-23T09:00:00.000-04:00

Today we areeeee....
- Dropping our car to Firestone to get a state inspection as ours expired when we were down in GA and we don't want to get a ticket this week!
- Returning the Uhaul trailor that we had to hire in order to get all of our wedding things up here!
- Bringing my dress to the drycleaners to get it steamed after its car ride journey tucked up in its bag
- Bringing my veil that was Mr Soldier's mothers to Aunt Bobbie's house so that she can sew a comb on it
- Meeting the band leader out at the reception side so that he can see where they will be setting up and we can work out if we need to spend money on renting a generator
- Going to corks and kegs to get our wine and beer for the reception!

Phewwwww busy day!

Really God?!!

2011-08-22T11:35:00.000-04:00

I interrupt these scheduled posts with an update that God thinks I am stronger than I do. You see I got through immigration, I said goodbye to my husband after 4 weeks of marriage and I had an R and R baby who I then raised alone for six months. Now after a LOT of money and planning and dreaming, the wedding is five days away and I am one bridesmaid down and there is a hurricane scheduled to head straight for my outdoor wedding.......

Rich- what?!

2011-08-22T09:00:00.000-04:00

RICHMOND! We are on our road trip and so ready to get to Richmond to begin the wedding craziness. We will get in late tonight after our drive North on 95 and after a few hours of sleep all of the whirlwind will begin. I definitely want to make sure that I remember to breathe and soak it all in as each day passes this week.

Warning: Scheduled Posts

2011-08-19T09:00:00.000-04:00

This is a warning to all of you that the next week or so is a complete line up of scheduled posts and my justification?!.....well my parents and brothers got here today!!! We will be complete tourists the next few days doing trolley tours and trips to Tybee and Hilton Head and then on Monday we all get in the car and drive to VA to start prepping for our vow renewal!!! AHHHHHHHHH <3