Mommy Nightowl

Hurry up and wait: The first military lesson I've learned so far

2010-01-26T21:05:00.002-08:00

A good friend told me with the military you have to "hurry up and wait." A lot. Being an extremely impatient person I hadn't really taken this to heart. This past week, that changed. Even looking back, I totally see it now.

As my husband began his journey to join the military he had chosen the Air Force first, due to his experience in high school with JROTC. He was told he needed to lose weight. Which turned into something else, and another something else. It was looking that my husband wouldn't even be able to join till the spring of 2010. He looked into other branches instead, and chose the Army. Or, maybe the Army chose him. Anyway now he is in a job that will most likely have us stationed on Air Force bases anyway.

When my husband left to boot camp it took over a month for us to get our first paycheck. I was freaking out, since that is our only income. I remember when he called on Thanksgiving and told me we should finally have money in our bank account. Thank goodness! The next day I was able to the car payment and even go to the black Friday sales at Walmart and Old Navy.

When it was time to get my military ID I waited on the side of the road as I was questioned about already having obtained a sticker to get onto base. I had to explain that my MIL works on base and sometimes I pick her up in my own car. Apparently the sticker was expired (they didn't tell me) and I had to wait while they took my drivers license number, registration, and license plate number and watch them scratch off my sticker. Then I needed to wait for a temporary pass, wait in line for my ID, and then ask my MIL to come with me to obtain a new sticker since nothing is in my name, just hers and my husbands.

I wait every week for my husbands weekly phone calls. As we try to cram a whole weeks of conversation and love into the span of a few hours.

And right now, I'm waiting for someone to get back to me about obtaining a new secret pin to make a login for my husbands my pay. First I had to wait for the original pin and since it's expired I have to get a new one. Without it I can't get his LES (pay stub) or his W2 information. And without his LES, I can't move out of my in-laws house. So I had to wait everyday as I tried to get through only to be hung up on because there are too many callers.

Moral, to be clear of the message, Hurry Up And Wait! Sometimes you get help right away and sometimes it's a long wait, so grab a good book. Oh, and make sure EVERYTHING is in your name too, before your husband leaves.

Wordless Wednesday

2010-01-13T15:19:00.000-08:00

"At downtown Disney"

I'm back

2010-01-11T19:52:00.000-08:00

Well, that was quite a hiatus huh? Of course a lot has happened since my last blog post.

Ryan left for boot camp, but got to come home for a two week Holiday break. We were so happy to have him home for Christmas, Jaqlyn's birthday (we told her it was the 19th) and my birthday. We even took Jaqlyn miniature golfing for the first time, and her first movie.

"welcome home daddy"

My due date was changed to April 22, 2010, which puts me at 25 weeks. We are having a boy we are naming Riley James. I am a little scared to have a baby boy with baby boners and playing with themselves. I have mostly gotten over it though. I have been having some soreness and I went to the hospital for tests after my stomach was in so much pain I was in tears. And no pica for me, pretty much only been craving oreo McFlurrys.

"preggy belly at 23 weeks"

I had an incident with Jaqlyn's fish, Fishy. I was changing the water in his tank and he is usually pretty crazy when I move him from tank to cup, back to tank but he has a death wish or something. As I was trying to put him back into his tank he jumped out of the net which happened to be over the sink. So, yeah, I lost my daughter's fish to the kitchen sink. I told her he went on a trip and that it was time to choose a new one. I took her to Walmart and let her choose this blue one, the only one that didn't look like he'd survived a fight with another betta and she named him Dory.

"hopefully this fish doesn't end up down the sink"

Ryan has been back at boot camp for a week now. He won't be back home till I am in labor and then he goes back to training two weeks later for a month or two. After that we will finally be stationed.

"doesn't that just melt your heart?"

Jaqlyn and I are moving into our own apartment on February 1st. It will be the first time Ryan and I have been completely on our own, but I'm super excited. I just put half down on our first couch. Right now I'm just trying to fill our days so they go by faster. So I'll have much to write so I hope you stick around with me. I'm off to check out your blogs, thanks for stepping by.

Jessica
Mommynightowl

losing the blogspot in my .com

2009-10-14T00:42:00.000-07:00

"You're publishing on a custom domain"

Mommynightowl is now just plain ol' www.mommynightowl.com

I will be playing with some html on my blog and may be switching things around. Feedback is always welcome as long as it is constructive criticism please.

Thank you for being a reader and please leave comments so I can come see your wonderful blog as well.

25 Random facts about me

2009-10-13T21:31:00.001-07:00

1.I have been a night owl for as long as I can remember. My best friend growing up, Victoria and I used to try to "pull all nighters" but we'd always finally fall asleep sometime around 4 am. And even though I never stopped trying it wasn't till I discovered code red in the 9th grade I could stay up all night.

2.I can't draw but I love to doodle. My doodles are mostly hearts, scribbles and flowers a 5 year old could make better. Oh, and I can make a bumble bee if I have yellow and black pen.

3. If I had extra money for a shopping spree I'd only buy things for my kids. I feel guilty about buying things for myself. But before Jaqlyn was born I was a very impulsive shopper.

4. I was born in Arizona and when I was 16 my mom moved my sister and I to California simply because she wanted to live there. I was very depressed and angry with her because I wanted to stay at the same high school. Four years ago they moved to New Jersey but I stayed behind with Ryan, my future husband.

5. I always think it's weird that when you have adult relationships they almost never meet your parents. Maybe it's just the fact that 6 years ago my mom did know all my friends.

6. My handwriting changes as I write. I think I have about 3 different writing styles.

7. I've only had one good pet. A black and white cat named Patches.

8. I hate wearing anything but chap stick on my lips.

9. The only magazines I've ever been able to read cover to cover are Self and Parents.

10. I sometimes go through small phases of OCD where I need to clean. I call them "clean clean phases." I've pulled all nighters on a "CCP" but sometimes I'll die down in the middle of one and be left with a mess bigger than the one I started with.

11. In high school I ran cross country and track but it was when I was 9ish that I was told I had a lot of endurance after a turkey trot race. I went to regionals and did not do well after I ate half a hamburger before I ran.

12. I've run two half marathons.

13. I don't usually throw up, no matter how sick I get. I'm pretty sure I've only thrown up 5 times in my entire life.

14. I rarely drink after a night of "jungle juice" with friends in AZ. Well I rarely drank before that too. I used to do the occasional Jager Bomb with my husband but I'm more of a designated driver kinda gal.

15. When I was in the 4th grade I fractured my arm by riding into the gap between the sidewalk and grass. My mom didn't believe me because I was trying to watch my bike because some kids my age were messing with it. She didn't take me to the doctor for two weeks. I needed to be in a cast, and of course I chose my favorite color, purple.

16. I can't walk properly in heels. I only own one pair.

17. When Jaqlyn was 4 months old I got really bad post pardum depression and needed to be hospitalized for 3 days. When I got out I went against doctors orders and went to a job interview I had missed. I had set it up because I knew something was wrong and I needed to get out of the house. I worked for them for a year and a half before I went to school to become a dental assistant.

18. I have a few nicknames but the one that stands out the most is the one that I don't understand. My grandmother has always called me Nickel. I don't think she even knows why she calls me it.

19. I really don't like being called Jesse. There are only two people who have been able to get away with it, my husband and my daugther's god father.

20. I have two brothers and two sisters. All half siblings.

21. I am very near sighted and need to wear glasses or contacts to drive or even watch tv. In the 6th grade my glasses were stolen from someone in my class who wore them the very next day to school. She had even stashed my case in her desk instead of taking it home.

22. I don't really think copying is the highest form of flattery. Especially if you steal the persons stuff. (see above again if this doesn't make sense)

23. I am very quiet when I first meet someone. I'm always very standoffish and don't show my true colors at first.

24. I almost have my hair fully grown out with its natural color. I haven't had my hair it's natural color since I first started dying it when I was 13.

25. When I first met my husband I had really long hair, down my back. When I moved out of my moms house with him I had to pay for my own hair coloring. I tried to dye it myself and ended up with black hair. Since I damaged it so bad I had to cut most of it off to my shoulders. Needless to say I don't dye my own hair anymore.

Not me Monday: being a dork, cravings, and cutting my own hair

2009-10-12T01:51:00.000-07:00

Possible alternate title: Who ate all my chips and Salsa?!

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

First let me say that was not me being a dork at Wal-mart recreating a photo I saw on the True Blood facebook page.

I was not also the other dork wearing a "hello my name is..." sticker on my belly at young married cafe at the Rock Church. My husband had not taken an extra sticker and put "baby" on it then proceed to stick it on my belly. -People who knew us thought it was cute and congratulated us and we even found out someone we knew was pregnant. People who didn't know us would point it out to others like we weren't standing right there, but not say anything to us.

I did not give in to pregnancy cravings this week. Otherwise I would have eaten sushi (which I did not.) Or I'd do something silly like eat a whole jar of salsa and whole bag of chips in two sittings. And yesterday I wouldn't have drank half a small red bull.

And speaking of chips and salsa and since I haven't blogged in awhile, last week I didn't go to taco Tuesday with my neighbors. I wouldn't have thrown a fit about having to sit in the bar area, sitting practically on top of Jaqlyn since our table was too small and in a sour mood because someone was hogging the chips and salsa. Which is not in my opinion the whole reason you go eat at a Mexican restaurant. Or at the very least the best reason.

If I had indeed done this I would have pleaded morning sickness and hormone levels at an all time high.

I am not looking forward to my next hair cut because this week I did not attempt to cut my own bangs. With all my training in hair cutting I would have angled them perfectly and cut only hair that was my bangs and not surrounding hair. Instead of one perfect angle I had my first snip, I have small chunk, medium chunk, then little angle, with long pieces mixed in. They look okay from far away but chunk together in their same lengths as the day wears on.

Guest post, by my husband. A review of Slim Shots, provided by fuel my blog and Ideavillage

2009-10-11T23:49:00.000-07:00

A couple of months ago I received an email from fuel my blog telling me there was an opportunity to review slim shots, an appetite controller. As soon as I was pregnant I forgot about sending back a request to participate thinking maybe I hadn't responded soon enough. And then two weeks ago, there they were, the slim shots, in my mailbox.

I felt really bad they had come, thinking someone else could have tried them. But I had an idea. I could let someone else in my household try them and let them guest post on my blog about what they honestly thought. And who do I trust more than my husband? Nobody. That's who.

So without further ado, my husbands review on slim shots.

*Please first note I am not a doctor but I play one on tv. Please consult someone with a doctrine if you are taking a medication before trying slim shots. And as always before you start a diet or exercise regimen.

To start this review I must tell you it tastes like a milky tums tablet. Once you get past the taste and the look of it being a coffee creamer it actually worked sort of. The first day I took one before breakfast (14 come in a box) and like the box said take one before lunch and it will help you eat less. Well it seemed to make me eat less but as far as weight loss I'm not sure. Surprisingly I wasn't hungry between lunch and dinner. And yes I ate less at lunch.

I thought it was a pretty neat product because of the fact that it can be mixed with coffee and it had a nice little carrying case. Its all natural for you chemaphobes out there so no worries about that. No side effects that I can see so far, I have my wife tell you if I grow a third ear or something. Joking aside, there's no jitters and its not going to give you the poopies after eating greasy foods!!!

All in all I give the product before me a 5/10 for the sheer fact of I'm not a big fan of eating less, I like food. But since I must review the effectiveness of the product I shall give it an official (television) doctor approved score of 8/10. Tastes funky only comes in chocolate or vanilla I personally wouldn't mind if they made a fruty pebbles flavor it probably would have gone a little smoother.

Thanks, God Bless, And never stop reading MOMMY NIGHT OWL!!

The test with the positive result

2009-09-24T17:15:00.000-07:00

"The test with the positive result"

I knew I was pregnant right away. I took the test two days after aunt flow didn't make her visit and was happy and excited when it was positive.

With Ryan so close to being in the army I feel much more secure with bringing a baby into this world again. I'm excited that this time we will have our own home and be more financially secure.

I will be due April 28, about the time Ryan will be getting home from training. This was my only worry until we were told we wouldn't be moved if I hadn't given birth yet.

"8 weeks"

The doctors appointment was just like the first one I had when I was pregnant with Jaqlyn. The only difference was Ryan had to stay in the waiting room with her as she watched blues clues and upside down show on my ipod. Also I didn't think the baby looked as much like a peanut as Jaqlyn did.

"8 weeks- Jalqyn"

The most memorable moment from this day was when I had my blood drawn. First I'm sure they forgot I was there because I was the last one called even after more than five other people showed up. And I usually have had positive experience with their lab, I used to have my blood drawn a lot when I was having seizures.

But on this particular day I was stabbed in the arm. It was such a shock that I pulled my arm back. She responded with "oh honey don't do that" which just pissed me off more after she pretty much shanked me.

Her second attempt wasn't any better but this time I didn't pull away and was able to fill the viles and be done.

I've seen this on other blogs and liked the idea, I'll update every week or two

:STATS:
Week: 9
Weight: 192 pounds
BP: 100/70
Feeling: sick to my stomach but not throwing up
Cravings: none
Smells that make me more sick: pets, nail polish, Usher cologne (story to come later)

Wordless Wednesday-Jaqlyn falls asleep on Chico(neighbors dog)

2009-08-26T12:40:00.000-07:00

it wasn't me

2009-08-24T14:13:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

It was not me this past week struggling to wake up at a decent hour of the day so I could work out with my next door neighbor. Of course I was not at all sore, because I can handle a workout. I did not discover yoga is actually quite harder than I though it would be. I had already known that. I did not have to stop this workout today for reasons that will not be disclosed yet.

It was not me scolding some of the neighborhood kids. That just simply wouldn't do. I'd never try to parent a child that wasn't mine. Well, unless it effected Jaqlyn or they were destroying property.

First I was not asking the kids to pick up the trash they had left all over our row of apartments. It isn't my biggest pet peeve to litter, and it wasn't driving me insane that the kids in question litter everything from their lunch wrappers and cartons to the doggie poop bags for residents.

After telling asking them, nicely of course, I didn't tell their mother what they had been littering. Her response wasn't only "where in the world would they get doggie bags?!" As if saying, "my children litter? you are crazy!"

Later I didn't have to try to get other kids to slow down on their scooters. I, of course wasn't outraged that they almost ran down Jaqlyn and that every time they came by she had to jump out of the way.

I had a pretty dull week as you can see. Even the stuff I didn't do didn't liven it up much.

Wordless Wednesday-new hula hoop

2009-08-19T00:25:00.000-07:00

candy land with Jaqlyn

2009-08-18T17:13:00.000-07:00

Even though Candyland is for ages 3-6, I thought Jaqlyn was ready to sit down and play some kind of version of the loved children's game. I wasn't surprised Candyland was able to keep my 31 months old attention, but I was entertained at the event of her first game. Entertained enough to share it here with you.

I started the game by asking her what color piece she wanted to be, even what color she wanted mommy to be. Knowing her colors and how to count I figured we could maybe get through at least half a game the right way. We made it to Mr. Frost before Jaqlyn started moving her piece up instead of following along the board.

This is some of what happened our first game:

She would sometimes count how many colors were on a card she drew starting with a larger number. Two blues would sometimes become seven.

She would start to go through the deck and choose cards she wanted. Based on color preference, not at how far along it would get her.

Picking up a green card, she wanted to move the green pawn to a green space, this happened the last 4 green cards.

"yeah, this is a brand new board. never EVER leave a toddler unattended with a board game. no matter how much she whines about it"

After telling her "mommy is getting close to the castle, you win when you get to the castle, so try to move your pawn towards it" she drew a card. And when I asked her what it was (2 blues) she told me "it says I win" then she moved her pawn to the last rainbow spot.

"GAME OVER"

married two years, together four

2009-08-10T21:59:00.000-07:00

Ryan's and my anniversary was yesterday, and unlike last year we both knew it was coming up. My mother in law offered to watch Jaqlyn so we could have time to ourselves but we didn't really have a disposable income this year to do anything too spectacular.

We woke up pretty late and spent the morning and most of the afternoon laying in bed together just enjoying each others company. And no, this is not meant to be some kind of sexual innuendo. We finally rolled out of bed around two got a few donuts and a red bull and took showers and got ready to head out.

We headed to Mission Beach to walk the boardwalk and enjoy the scenery together. Mission Beach, the home to this scary old roller coaster, the Giant Dipper.

"view from our car as we spend 45 minutes looking for parking"

The giant dipper, built in 1925 has of course been refurbished but seems to have been restored in the same technology they had those 84 years ago. Its not a very big roller coaster if you have been on a descent one, but the noises it make adds to its appeal. When riding it when I was in high school all I could think of was "OMG, I'm going to die because this roller coaster is so old, its going to fall apart I just know it*." Ryan never being on it, didn't really want to go on it anymore after I told him of the noises it makes.

*I'm sure it's perfectly fine. It hasn't broken down since 1976, that I'm aware of. And people get off it all the time just fine, they do lose all their money on all the rides and carnival games that sit adjacent to the coaster but that's a different story.

"on our way to the beach"

Back to our day. We walked the shops, I was on a mission to find something cute with a starfish on it. We walked the boardwalk, hand in hand. I really wanted to take off my shoes and walk on that strip of sand that is wet but doesn't touch the tide anymore. Ryan, not liking the sand feeling after you walk back to the car, didn't want to. I must admit I didn't want that feeling either.

"comparing the sounds of the beach"

Ryan had told me I was acting like a tourist with my fascination with all the souvenirs and wanting to take lots of silly photos. I had to promise him I wouldn't put any of his silly photos on my blog.

Weirdest thing we saw that day? Dead sharks in glass bottles.

"I really couldn't tell you"

I took a close up, yeah that's a dead shark. Why? I guess because that's how we roll in San Diego.

"my aunt went to San Diego and all she got me was this lousy dead shark?"

And it took my awhile but I was able to get someone to take a picture of both of us.

"love"

We ended the day at Sombreros (I love their burritos) and were greeted/trampled by Jaqlyn as if she hadn't seen us in a week.

"love, touched by sun rays"

Married 2 years, and we will be together 4 years on the 15th.

lol with Jaqlyn

2009-07-30T23:06:00.000-07:00

Ever seen the movie Look Whose Talking Too? Or do you remember the 90s TV show Rugrats? Do you watch Family Guy, with Stewie and Brain? The baby in these stories is understood by the child old enough to be able to talk to adults as well. Well sometimes I wonder if Jaqlyn really can understand her baby uncle, Chase.

And then something like this happens.

We, Jaqlyn, Susan, Chase and I were sitting in the living room playing with toys. Chase was cooing and making a lot of noise so I decided to test this.

Chase: AHHH AHHHH Aw!
Me: Hey Jaqs what did Chase just say?
Jaqlyn: He say AHHH AHHHH Aw!

Later, I ask her again to show Ryan this, because I thought it was hilarious and the answer changes.

Chase: AH! AHHH!
Me: Jaqs, what did Chase just say?
Jaqlyn: He say AH! AHHH!
*everyone laughing*
Chase: AHH!
Ryan: What did he say?
Jaqlyn: He say yes in Chinese.

(almost) Wordless Wednesday- Yearbook Yourself, a look into the past

2009-07-22T16:06:00.000-07:00

On this Wordless Wednesday I was playing with yearbook yourself. Here are a few of my favorites:

"1950"

"1960"

"1978"

"1984"

"1990"

"2000"

compared to my actual yearbook photo

"class of 2004, as you can see in the picture"

I even had a little fun with my husbands yearbook photo.

"1966"

"1980"

And lastly us as King and Queen.

"1978"

Not Me Monday: Sun burnt at Mission Bay with a nightowl toddler

2009-07-20T15:15:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

Well, as you know I have not been blogging. We have not been doing much of anything actually. I searched some playgroups on Meet Up and found two. We were excited, ready for our three dates this week.

We did not wake up really early that morning, to take Susan to work so we could borrow her car. It was supposed to be "Sundae Monday", an ice cream date at Mission Bay Park. We of course arrived to the park on time, Jaqlyn was a gem that morning, and after minutes of showing up at the park we found our party right away and met some great friends.

Reality check! We showed up twenty minutes, yes, we had a bad morning so sue me. I had studied the photos and names of the moms and kids we were meeting and map quested the directions to the park. I walked around that park for a hour trying to find the playgroup and couldn't find anyone. I even walked around asking people if they were even there with a playgroup. And of course, of course, my cell had been turned off that morning so even if I had one of their numbers I couldn't have called them. To make matters worst? Guess who had the bowls and spoons for said ice cream, us. I had to read the moms comments on how "even though they couldn't eat the ice cream they had a fun time". I felt horrible because in my head all I could think of was a bunch of toddlers looking at ice cream but not getting to eat it and how that might have caused a melt down.

I also did not get a sunburn, as usual when its just the two of us. I always care more about Jaqlyn's fair skin to make sure she isn't getting burnt or hurt to even care about myself.

I loved this new header too so I thought I'd share some of what Jaqlyn wasn't doing this week.

Now Jaqlyn loves her daddy so of course she wouldn't be testing his patience and defying him. She of course isn't back talking him and screaming more loudly than she would for me when she is put in time out. She is in no way favoring a parent and sometimes treating the other, well lets say less satisfiable. (I tried to spell something else, but apparently it wasn't a word so it gave me this instead.)

She also wasn't on a crazy sleeping schedule that had taken us this past week to break. She was not staying awake till three in the morning or later and then waking nine hours later, turning into a night owl herself.

Wordless Wednesday (sorta) pretty princess hair

2009-07-01T23:01:00.000-07:00

I was looking for new blogs to read and leave comments with through Secret in the Sauce and came across a very cool one. Sugar and Spice and All Hair Nice is a blog written about hairstyles a very creative mom does on her daughter. I was very impressed with her 4th of July hairsyles, my favorite being the sewn star on pigtail buns.

I was so impressed in fact that I was intrigued as to what I could perform on my two year old. Mind you, I knew she wasn't going to handle it all in one sitting. You'll see pictures of the steps I took to create this totally generic hairstyle, not at all like Sugar and Spice, and know, after each photo was taken she got to run free for five minutes.

"First step, brush hair then put into pigtails"

"Second step, notice daughter needs bangs trimmed"

"Third Step, braid one pigtail"

"Forth Step, trim bangs"

"Fifth Step, braid other pigtail"

"Sixth Step, add flare, and praise daughter on how pretty she looks in hopes she'll let you do it again, another time"

The hair stayed in well the whole day and she wants me to do it again tomorrow. Please make sure to visit Sugar and Spice and All Hair Nice and check out all the great hairsyles she does.

Interview with a Jaqlyn

2009-06-25T23:21:00.000-07:00

An Interview with Jaqs:

Daddy is Ryan
His eyes are blue
His favorite food is spaghetti and meatballs
He's stronger than a boy
His job is to play football (she means soccer)
He's really good being a friends
I love my daddy because I love my daddy

Questions above from from Quilao Triplets

What is your name? Jaqlyn
Jaqlyn what? Me
Whats your favorite toy? cars! i know my favorite toy mommy. baby Chase (her uncle) wheres my toy? whats my favorite toy? I know, cars.
Whats your favorite color? blue
why blue? cause I have blue on my shirt
whats your favorite tv show? wow wow wubzy. wow wow wow.
I thought you liked...? Max and Ruby?
Well yeah, and Maggie and the Ferocious beast. Whats your fav show? Max and ruby beast.
hey Jaqs, knock knock. know knock
whos there? you
you who? you on the bus. knock knock
whos there? daddy
daddy who? daddy on the bus (laughs at herself)
I have officially lost her at this point

oh, well, I guess you have to keep a interview with a two year old short and sweet.

This post has been brought to you by Mama Kat's Writers Workshop, please check out her site to see the other prompts, her lovely blog and other responses (that are just as lovely)

I think I may owe you an explanation

2009-06-24T10:05:00.000-07:00

My last post I had stated my husband had joined the army and from comments of surprise I think I may owe you an explanation. I realize now that my readers who only know me through my blog don't know our story.

When my husband was in high school he was in JROTC (junior reserve officer training corps). He was in drill team, color guard, saber team and was a flight commander. He was on the fast track to the Air Force.

Bitter from not getting a baseball scholarship after throwing out his elbow he never joined.

Fast forward three years later, Ryan and I meet in the deli at Vons, where we both worked. Flirting and rides home, lead to dating. Dating leads to moving out together with friends, which leads to getting married.

While I was in school this past year, getting my degree to be a dental assistant Ryan started to think what he wanted to do with his life. Air Force came up, and he decided it was time for him to fulfill his destiny of working in the miliary.

Ryan met with his recruiter for the first time in October of last year. He was told he needed to lose weight, pay off his credit card debt and take his ASVAB again. He weighed in at 285 pounds.

"Ryan and I, my 21st birthday, 2 weeks after Jaqs was born"

He quickly got to work. He started running and watching what he ate and the weight melted off him. I was super jealous. He paid his bills and studied and took his ASVAB.

When he went in to join the Air Force, they had closed their recruiting because of too many people trying to join. Even when they opened again Ryan wasn't moving on the list, so he started talking to Army recruiters.

Present day, Ryan weighs 199 pounds, has signed a six year contract and is a private first class (E-3) for the Army. In October he goes to boot camp then to training for his new job, an aircraft powerplant repairer.

He has changed his destiny from Air Force to Army but will none the less be proudly serving our country. He plans to be in for life.

I couldn't be more proud of him.

I love you honey bear!

"he is skinnier than this, but its the most recent picture I have on my computer"

It wasn't me

2009-06-21T22:24:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Not Me Monday. This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

It was not me standing in front of the Twilight section in Hot Topic for thirty minutes with all the other tweens who love the movie. My husband did not tease me about my fandimonium. So I did not end up leaving the store with a True Blood shirt instead.

"True Blood: It's like Twilight but for adults- adults who take dorky photos (or maybe that's just me)"

It was not me ~~indulging~~ ~~ruining my diet~~ simply eating two snickers bars. I did not wash them down with two sodas. If it were indeed me eating like that I would go and play soccer with my husband on Friday. I have of course played in the past seven years so it wasn't me running up and down the field, then limping because I pulled something in my left leg, and all out of breath.

"see it's not a snickers"

It was not me, completely miserable at the ~~Del Mar~~ San Diego Fair this year. Of course it was a lovely day, not at all hot and sticky. Of course my daughter was in a good mood with all those rides she could go on.

"Oh yeah, she is in a good mood"

This is not the only ride she could go on. [okay, there were like three she could actually ride]

"yeah! Riding in ~~circles~~ ovals is fun"

If you live in my apartment complex, please don't call CPS because it was not me yelling last night. I am a poised, extremely patient mother, so it was in no way me yelling for this red balloon to get out of my face, as my daughter watched her shows in the bed next to me. Of course because my daughter knew this would drive me insane, you know if it were to happen, my daughter didn't freak out and cry at the top of her lungs. It didn't take me twenty minutes to calm her down, so that wasn't her keeping you awake. And because this didn't happen, I didn't spend the rest of the night trying to find the opportune moment to pop the balloon myself.

"What is it with kids and balloons?"

Lastly I did not become an army wife this week. My husband didn't join the army this past Tuesday. We are now not in a waiting game for him to go to boot camp and training. We are not welcoming and getting ready for our new lifestyle I know is going to be a big change.

Of course, as always I hope you don't have a good week. And please don't leave comments. Jaqlyn is still asking me what happened to her balloon, and when she is going to get another one.

Wordless Wednesday

2009-06-17T16:53:00.000-07:00

not me Monday: great moogley moogley [maggie and the ferocious beast]

2009-06-15T20:37:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Not Me Monday. This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

It wasn't me you saw out your car window walking with my daughter to the park. I did not walk there four times this week, hoping to burn enough calories jump start some weight loss. By no means was I wearing the same workout pants all four days. That would be silly seeing as I've already done my laundry for this week. We did not eat our lunch at the park, play and blow bubbles.

"June Gloom"

I didn't buy Jaqs her first ice cream sandwich this week. We didn't have to explain it to her by telling her an ice cream sandwich is a cookie (said with hand out flat) cookie (other hand out) and ice cream (her hand in the middle.) I didn't let her eat the mostly whole thing. I most definitely didn't have to help her with a few licks so it wouldn't melt too bad all over her. And of course I had wipes to clean her up after she devoured it.

"cookie cookie ice cream"

I have not been laughing all week listening to my daughter sing the theme song to Maggie and the Ferocious Beast. I have not been singing it in my head all week either.

"you might have to turn up the volume to hear her, sorry the video is so poor quality, I took it with my phone"

I had a super eventful week. As always, I hope you don't have a good week. Please be sure not to leave comments, I do not like them.**

**Please note, I like to stay in character, Manic Monday is supposed to be a sarcastic or opposite kinda post. Please have a great week, and please please leave comments, they are much appreciated.

cookie cookie ice cream

2009-06-13T21:21:00.000-07:00

A couple of days ago we, Ryan and I, told Jaqs about a creation she did not believe us about. It was an cookie ice cream sandwich, a creation of two things Jaqlyn loves. When we told her what it was she wasn't getting it at first so we told her, it a cookie (said with my hand out flat) cookie (other hand flat) and ice cream (Jaqs hand in the middle.) At first she gave us a look that cracked us up. It was almost a "don't mess with me mommy, is this real or not?" look.

To prove to her the existence of this once unicorn we got one for her yesterday. This is our conversation in photos as she tries her first cookie cookie ice cream. In photos, because its so cute. That and she didn't really talk at all as she ate it, the captions below each photo are not what she said, but what I think she is thinking based on her emotion.

ME: Here you go Jaqs, your first cookie cookie ice cream

"oh my, its a cookie cookie ice cream!"

ME: Jaqs stop looking at it and take a bite.

"are you sure I can eat it?"

ME: Well, Jaqs, how is it?

"it's almost too good"

ME: you know Jaqs, maybe you shouldn't eat the whole thing.

"oh no you didn't" OR "You have got to be joking"

ME: I was only joking Jaqs, you can eat it all. I'll just take bites when it starts to melt.

"that was really funny mommy"

ME: *lol* look at you, you're covered in cookie cookie ice cream.

"it's a yummy mess"

I can totally be an overdramatic mom sometimes

2009-06-05T00:15:00.000-07:00

I have been a mother for almost [by almost, I mean, in December, thats almost, right?] 3 years and I must say there are some things I still have not gotten used to.

For starters, and what provoked this post, I am still not used to the fact I need to clean up my daughters messes. I am not one to throw up, but most of my few times I have they were due to seeing or smelling someone else throw up. So naturally when I see my daughter emptying her stomach onto some piece of furniture I am going to have to clean once I clean her up, I can not help, but to gag.

I also am not used to when my little one poops in her bathtub and worse when she poops in her pull up and then proceeds to stick her hand in and mark territory somewhere with it.

The first time my daughter pooped in the bathtub I can honestly say I didn't know what to do. I knew I should drain the bathtub and I knew she would need to be cleaned again, as would her bath toys. What I mean is I didn't know whether I should scream or cry. I know right? I am so melodramatic. All I could think of was how am I going to get the poop out of the tub? Well, being the drama queen how do you think I did it? I called in re-enforcements, my mother-in-law. My MIL who walked in like the pro she is, bare handily pulled it out and tossed it into the toilet like it was a piece of candy we wanted to send to the fishes [you know, all drains lead to the ocean? I have Finding Nemo on the brain] I still get freaked out when my daughter poops in the bathtub but am able to now bare handily pull it out. Nevermind I wash my hands like 5 times afterwards and use an entire two ounce bottle of purell.

Well, do you wanna hear an even better story? Yesterday. Normal night. Ryan is playing video games, I'm on my laptop, we're in the living room. Jaqs is in the bedroom watching noggin, her shows. All of a sudden it's quiet. Too quiet. Ryan and I decide it probably in our best interest to investigate what caused our ability to hear our neighbors all too well. We walk into our bedroom and the scene brought me into one of my top mommy moments.

I'll be blunt and honest with my readers, I flipped. Point blank, I was not a happy camper and I had a moment of mommy weakness and, well flipped, a little. And, now wait a minute, don't go calling on me, I didn't touch a strand on her head, I just yelled.

A lot.

Jaqs was sitting on our bed, in nothing but a pull up. Her hands were covered in poop. They were covered because she had decided she didn't want our bed to be blue, she wanted it to be brown. Our daughter was painting our bed. Marking her territory. With her poop.

Thirty minutes pass. Jaqs is clean again, in fresh pull up and pajamas. Ryan is putting our bedding into the dryer. And I am apologizing to my daughter for freaking her out from my screaming. And my MIL is telling me she was only trying to hide her poop because she thought we'd be mad if she didn't make it to the potty.

Well, all over our bed was a fantastically good hiding spot.

I'm sure I'll get better when we have another baby*. I am almost positive I won't be so exaggerated. I am learning as I go along. Learning how to do things better. And learning how to not be so theatrical.

*No we are not having a baby anytime soon. Depending on where we get stationed we were thinking of having another baby, but I haven't decided if I want a baby or to pursue my ~~acting~~ dental assistant career. *Laugh* When we told my grandmother this she thought I was already pregnant and was a little disappointed when I reassured her many times, no, we really aren't.

new moon!!!

2009-06-02T21:56:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I know this is kinda late, but I was really sick and all I wanted to do was sleep. I thought the New Moon trailer would suck after a friend told me it did and it only lasted 30 seconds. Well, umm, I think it was actually pretty good.

"NEW MOON"

And if that wasn't enough, or you though it sucked, how about this? It's the reunion between Bella and Edward at the end of New Moon. You know right before Edward walks into the sun to expose himself and all other vampires alike so that the Volturi will help to put him out of his misery. Of course its just photo stills but it is still pretty AWESOME.

Enjoy!

"AWESOMEness"