5 weeks!

5 weeks down... 47 to go!

Holy cow- the weeks are just floating together at this point.

The fact alone that I have not had time for mindless crafting, playing with pictures, or EVEN watching  Live with Kelly ( and Michael now ) should prove how overly occupied we have been.

We have made it through a few sad days and have nothing but GREAT things to look forward to in the next two months.

What to forget:

1. A rough night last weekend which only allowed for a small window of sadness. The power of prayer mixed with instant social networking is pretty amazing. Thanks friends.

2. Monday's 18 mile run. Goodness.That one more mile sure kicked my A--. If it wasn't for ibuprofen and a good ice bath, I'm pretty sure I would have spent the day as a hotwheels race track while laying on the couch snuggling with Kaners ( this did happen but luckily it was brief)

3. A terrible Football Sunday.

4. Lola chewing 1 too many helicopters AND the last of our favorite sippy cups. Her "relocation" bio will be posted here shortly..

5. THE HEAT. Yes the mornings are a bit more manageable, but the fact that we still have days over 100 and it is almost October is just not right. Remembering everyday why I was so miserable living here for 4 years!

What to remember: 

1. A GREAT Sunday at Church. Having branched out of my comfort zone of the familiar Catholic church, I really am enjoying the service we have been attending with my Grandparents here. The people are friendly, the pastor is awesome, and last Sunday BOTH boys had a cry free sunday school which is always a joy.

2.  KANERS got a tooth! FINALLY. I was starting to think we would get to see that adorable gummy smile until his first birthday, but without any fuss ( as usual ) 2 little white nubs have finally broke through . I hate to compare.. but why didn't his older brother catch this whole pain tolerance gene?

3. Auntie Candace came over for dinner and some play time this week! She left us dying in laughter, as always, which is a medicine that really can heal anything. Having her in our kids' life means so much not only because she is a wonderful person but because she was been a part of OUR life from our first go at dating,  to our SECOND time dating, our marriage, and everything in between. Always a blast with her.

4. Learning from Youtube how to cut toddler boys' hair semi-succesfully.

5. Playing at Pump-it-up for the first time. We had a blast playing in all of the bounce houses and slides with some friends. Mr. Pants became brave enough to climb up the tallest slide by himself and, as always, flew right down on his belly. Even Kaners got to bounce around with the big kids a little bit!

What to look forward to : 

OCTOBER!!!
- Finishing up the last few miles of Marathon training... ready to hit that big 2-0
-A REALLY exciting 2 day getaway
-Aunt Milania coming to visit and play with us
- NAU homecoming WOOOO HERE WE GOOOO JAACCKS
-Halloween and trick-or-treating. First for Kaners and First time for Steven actually WALKING up to the door ( it's hard to believe last year he was still crawling)
- Some sub 100 degree days, hopefully.

If it is possible, November will be EVEN better! Happy happy happy days ahead <3

Missing Daddy like always, more and more each day. Without him nothing worth anything would be possible. Without his strength and commitment to not only our family but also our country, none of us would have the freedom to enjoy life as we do. It's cheesy I know, but I am the luckiest WIF there is.

Have a great weekend friends! Here is to pumpkin flavored everything,better football games, and some real refs ;)

One of those days

I swear if I had a 6 pack of blue moon or a bottle of wine here it would be gone by now, but I don't.  If I had someone here to sit on my couch while my kiddos sleep, I would go for an endless run to erase all the pain. But I don't. SO I guess I will just write.. sorry if this isn't rainbows and sunshines.

Let me just start by saying we are ALMOST at a month, only 11 months to go. Friday I was boasting to my husband how proud I was of us , as a family, and how we powered through that first month with ease. It flew by because we never had time to sulk or throw pitty parties for ourselves. We know that this all has purpose and it will be over before we know it. It has been a great action packed month. 

Today must have been that last jinga piece that was pulled before the tower came down because DOWN that tower has been falling all day. and DOWN the tears have been pouring all day. Uncontrollably. 

Our 2 year old, Mr. Pants as his Dad calls him, is quite the " spirited" child some would say. I would say more passionate. He has challenged us and taught us to be the best parents we could be. When he is UP he is up. His laugh is infectious, and it could go on for hours and hours. He loves everyone and gives his Mama hugs and kisses all day just because he wants to. When he loves something he LOVVVESS it. But if he is upset, he wants every single person in his little world to know and understand how upset he really is. Today was an example of the latter.

Highly demanding fits are nothing new in our house. I have read just about every parenting book under the sun to guide us through the past two years, and am very thankful to have found some wonderful techniques/books that have worked for us along the way( Babywise , Happiest Toddler on the block, and Love and Logic ) But some days there is nothing anyone can do to prevent these mini tornadoes from spiraling over and over again throughout the day. When there are two parents present we can at least give it a tag-team effort so each parent gets a break OR use each other as some comic relief and laugh it off when possible. 

When you have been the sole provider everyday without a break, no escape to work, no nights out with friends, no time spent chatting with your spouse or other adults... your brain becomes a little worn down.

Throw that into the mix of having your husband deployed for a whole year, family and friends wanting to vent to you about petty nonsense, two really annoying dogs, never ending 100 degree days, cleaning, cooking, and OH YA meeting all of the needs our 7 month old ( who is absolutely the BEST baby on the planet earth might I add.)... and people wonder why I run so much....

Long story short, which I am never good at, too many Jenga pieces have been pulled out this month and one little day dealing with two year old tantrums sent the whole tower tumbling to the ground. Tomorrow is time to start building back up, hopefully a little stronger than last month. 

I miss my husband, a lot. He is absolutely amazing and I pinch myself everyday to see if this is really my life. If he were here right now I wouldn't be writing this because he would have hugged me and told me what a great Mom I am and that everything is ok. But he is not so here I am babbling to the computer. 

Ok that's all tonight.

 I already feel better.

Going to go for a treadmill run and watch some Big Love. 

Thanks for listening <3

Week 4

4 weeks down ... 48 to go!

4 weeks seems huge tonight . I can't believe our nearly first month is behind us already !

Things to remember :
1 . A phenomenal 17 mile training run.
2.Finished the 50 shades series and onto casting the movie in my head all day everyday .
3. We went to our first MOPS meeting here in Anthem which we all enjoyed.
4. My college roommate ( of 3 whole years!) was in town from LA and got to meet the boys finally .Seeing her play with Mr. and actually hold a baby was pretty awesome . Followed by a pizza Friday night playing with Aunt Courtney !
5. Was super surprised to see the beautiful iPhone 5 at my doorstep during naptime. I love my husband.

Things to forget :

1. One very sad night. No reason just missing him terribly .

2. Dealing with getting both cars emissions tested and registered in Az with only one driver , not fun.

3. Saying goodbye to Alabama plates :(

4. Insurance doubling thanks to switching to Arizona . Ick .

5. Tried doing some shopping at the outlets with both boys - worst idea ever . Needless to say I only walked away with a bag from Carter's and children's place .

We are almost to a month and so far we are making the most of it. People think that during a deployment your relationship is put on hold. I am really starting to think we are becoming closer with this distance if that is possible . I have an absolutely amazing husband and each day I realize that more and more .

Crib sides repurposed

I LOVE a good repurpose- the ultimate form of recycling ( my husband should be proud). Everything on this is Pinterest inspired in some way shape or form I am sure.

We are beginning a new semi structured preschool set up at home next Monday. I wanted to build a type of art easel/ bulletin board that we can use together and be portable incase we are doing activities outside, in the kitchen, in his room, or wherever. So here is what we came up with...

 Started with the crib sides, cardboard box for a bulletin board, 2 pieces of MDF , chalkboard paint, a 18 inch chain, velcro, fabric, screws, hinge, and some hot glue of course ( what is a project without hot glue)

This piece of MDF was 4$ and they cut it in half for free. One I painted with chalkboard paint, one I glued velcro to, placing the other velcro pieces to the " bullitin board" / cardboard box so that it can come off and the fabric covering can easily be changed. 

These hinges worked best for where I wanted them, but I would recommend large door size hinges if your rails aren't curved like mine.

Because of the shape of the crib sides, the hinges were by far the most difficult part. Getting the drill in that angle was ridiculous. 

Then I took the chain also from the handy dandy home depot- 50 cents 

Simply screwed it from one side to the other right in the middle. This prevents it from flipping completely open. 

Painted one side with chalkboard paint. Mr. helped me cover the homemade bulletin board with a neutral grey/white fabric we scored in the dollar section at walmart.

Then we screwed each board on, screwing in a utensil holder as a home for that pesky chalk . IT took NO time for him to get started coloring...right over my hello kitty 

He had to get his tools to help me get the final screws in...

I took some colored duct tape to make a solid border around the sheet protectors which we pined onto the bulletin board. These will be used to display what unit we are on- our first one being  All about the letter A ! 

Just wanted to show an up close shot of how handy a homemade bulletin board can be!

SO there you have it. Project complete.

 We had a lot of fun making it, but will have even more fun using it!

week 3

3 weeks behind us, 49 to go!

Things are just trucking along, full speed as always. We have been so insanely busy that I feel like the second I lay down for bed each night I instantly wake up to the sound of lightening mcqueen bashing into Mr Pants' door... meaning it's morning of course.

Busy is good in times like these, leaves much less time to think. I do reminisce of our  simple peaceful two years spent in ALA-BAMA ( That's cheerleader for Alabama, incase you were confused) and ache a bit at how much things have changed. I miss having nothing to do and MAKING things to do, I miss being forced to cook every meal, I miss being surrounded by friends-turned-family, I miss hearing helicopters overhead 24/7, I miss running through Ft Rucker and that ONE hill that always kicked my A, I miss the best cupcakes on the planet, but most importantly I miss being a complete family and having my husband by my side. Ok that tangent came out of no where, I apologize,  this is what happens when I sit and think for a millisecond.

So here was week three-

What to remember:
1. Spending a nice weekend in the beautiful mountains of Show Low with Grandma Mush.
2. Running my favorite distance- 13.1- at a perfect 52 degrees at sunrise through pinetrees and wildflowers. Seriously heaven.
3. Picking up pizza on a jog with the boys Friday night.At least I earned the pizza right?
4. Going to Imagination Avenue with Jamie and Abbie. If you live in Phoenix,  have kids,  and haven't gone I REALLY recommend it. It is a little place that is set up like a toddler sized indoor village complete with Home depot, bakery, school, market, nursery, jail, etc and in the middle is a sectioned off baby area that is perfect for Kaners. It is quant and easy to manage with little ones.
5. The sweet moment Mr. shared with me the other night as he comforted his worn out Mama.

What to forget:
1. A few intense tantrums over the weekend, which is inevitable when you travel with little ones.
2. Basically daily breakdowns on my part when I realize I just can not accomplish even 50% of what I need to each day.
3. The beagles. Enough said.
4.Yet another tub pooping incident - I thought we had gotten through that phase.
5. Sunday night football.

What to look forward to:
1. Finishing the new crib sides turned into art easel repurpose we have going on.( pictures to come!)
2. A new 2 year old educational unit based on the alphabet I have been slowly working on but am SUPER excited to share it. We are beginning it on Monday :)
3. 17 miles Sunday- Really don't know if I'll survive this one.
4. IT may not be next week but that fact that my SOLE sister and favorite person ever is coming next month from Wisconsin < and her bun in the oven>,  just booked her ticket and It will probably be in this category for the next month.
5. Everyday that we get to see and talk to Daddy <3 he really makes every stressful day better somehow.

Have a great weekend friends! Enjoy the start of fall if you are anywhere but Phoenix Arizona  ;)

Full circle

Tonight was one of those nights that my tornado of a toddler left me completely awe struck and I just  can't resist sharing. 

So here we are. After a completely exhausting day beginning with a way too early wakeup from an un-named girl beagle, a removal of diaper during nap time , and running errands with two teething babies... my head hurts so terribly I can hardly see straight. We are in the bathroom, Mr. Pants is out/pjed/teeth brushed, Kaners is out of the bath about to get dressed. Mr. decides he wants to sit on the potty AGAIN but frankly I do not have the time or patience as I have a barking dog and a baby to get pjed and fed. As I realize how awful this is that my son WANTS to try going on the potty but I, as his Mom, can not even help him I ultimately lose it and begin sobbing. Possibly the first real cry in front of him ever.  As soon as the tears begin to pour Mr. climbs onto my lap, places his arms around my neck for a "tight squeeze", and begins rocking me with a quiet " SHHH SHH" The same way I have been calming him down for the past two years. For a good minute he would pull back, look me in the eyes, squeeze tighter and quietly shush me. 

WHO is this kid? This wild toddler that gets into everything, only has one speed and that is FULL, needs my attention 25/7, but also rocks his mommy to quietly calm her and make everything ok. He is his Daddy's son, that's who he is.

Sometimes it is difficult to look past the tornado that is a two year old, but the eye of that storm is silent and peaceful. 

Our son is amazing, and nothing in that moment could have made me feel better than being rocked and shushed by my wild child. 

So much more to say but NOT enough time-

More to come this week including some beagle news, a few craft projects, and a 2 year old home learning program I have in the works!

------Never forget 9-11... all the heroes that lost their lives on that day and the many men and women that continue to fight to protect our country the red-white-and blue. ----

week 2

Two weeks down, 50 to go. Thanks to an ENORMOUS support system here , facetime, and an absolutely amazing husband I like to think that the past two weeks have been 200x better than expected. Not to say we haven't had our meltdowns ( are we talking about ME or the toddler.. hmm..) but overall so far so good.

With wanting to document this year, but also realizing that time is something that seems to be absent from my life at the moment, I have decided to create a simple way to remember the weeks. You know how they say those that have the most to say say the least? Well I am the opposite. I don't really have much today but can talk circles around absolutely nothing. So hopefully this makes keeping tabs on life a little easier for all of us here...

Things to remember week#2

1. Spent labor day weekend hanging out with Grandpa/ Grandma Trumbull, feeding the ducks and riding the train at the park with Abbie, a sleepover and takeout  with Monica,  Lunch ( mama only) with old NAU teammates and our favorite Auntie Candace's Mama ALL the way from Hawaii,  and top it off with BBQ at Papa and Grandma's house while  getting to play with cousin Lyla bear.

2. I ran 14 miles AND finished book two of '50 shades' finally.

3. Kid free facetime dates !

4. We sent our FIRST care package to Daddy, but since a bag of kettle chips didn't fit we ate them for him.

5. Steve booked his ticket to come home for a WHOLE week for Thanksgiving :D

Things to Forget:

1. Both kiddos are teething. Yikes.

2. Lola is getting more annoying than ever, she is close to becoming a craigslist ad

3. Becoming pretty overwhelmed with having 30 hours of 'stuff' to accomplish in a 24 hour day lately :/

4. Thanksgiving seems like an eternity at the moment

5. Steve's new mustache

Things to look forward to next:

1. A couple days at the parents' Cabin

2. A couple days without the beagles

3. Meeting up with a fellow Army/ Apache wife and getting our 3 "Rucker babies" together for the first time :)

4. Talking to Daddy and seeing his pretty face, hopefully sans mustache ;)

5. Running 13.1 miles at 7,000 feet elevation ! Woo hoo

I also just want to say thank you to everyone that is actively in our life. I knew that being in Arizona meant having people close, but I didn't realize how busy everyone would keep us. It really truely helps .


Have a great weekend friends! Bring on week 3 !