Let The Countdown . . . Begin!

So I've been super lame about blogging lately.

sorry everyone!

But I've been super busy and I'll tell you all about it. This past week was crazy hectic...

Monday, i was supposed to go to a birthday party for my friend's son, but it got postponed, so I spent a majority of the day cleaning for the party I  had on Tuesday for Tastefully Simple, which is super tasty and incredibly easy to make food and it may seem pricey at first but everything they give you goes a long way.

After my party me and a few friends took our girls to the park. Lilly loved going down the slides... she could do it all day if i let her.

Wednesday I went to the gym while Lilly was in daycare and then there was an FRG meeting to "help" us get ready for redeployment... but it was a semi waste of time, because they didn't really tell us anything that we didn't already know.

Thursday I had a party for the NFL season kickoff game between my beloved Green Bay Packers and the local New Orleans Saints... and big surprise... the Packers won! woot woot! what a way to start the season.

Friday I went to close out my Tastefully Simple party and then had a lovely dinner and some ice cream with a friend. it was a great day.

Saturday, however, was not so great. My poor little Lilly was sick with her first cold and was absolutely miserable and not too surprisingly she got me sick... we were invited to the postponed party and went, ate, had some cake, and headed home, NyQuil in hand.

Sunday Lilly and I just hung out at home in all out sickness and just lounged around and Lilly watched her silly little shows, including Yo Gabba Gabba, which is like sesame street on crack or something!

Monday (aka yesterday) Lillian and I hung out at home again trying to get over the last little bit of our colds

And today Lilly went back to daycare while i was at the gym for a couple hours and then we went to one of the playgrounds on post with a couple friends and ended up being there for almost 3 hours, but it was a good time!

(this thing was pretty fun to spin on... just so you all know)

Snooze Button

I just want to sleep... for 6 weeks.

that will pass the time quickly until Mr. W gets home but leaves me time to get ready... to bad that doing such a thing is nearly impossible when you have a 16 month old baby to keep you busy and awake. Sometimes i wish she had a snooze button!

I love my daughter to death, but by the time she goes to bed every night i just wanna relax and be able to do my own thing. so I end up staying awake until 2-3 in the morning... which in turn makes for a really tired and cranky mommy. So I went and bough some Unisom to take at like 11-12 just to try to get to bed sooner so hopefully its gets better soon, because all these nights of minimal sleep are starting to get to me.

needless to say i am so ready for this deployment to be over with.

SLACKER

That is the only way to describe my blogging lately.

So I'm gonna try to pick up the slack and get back on track... so here is our little update... my phone is STILL being uber slow when it comes to charging but thank goodness my friend said i can go to Houston with her on Saturday and go to the apple store for a replacement! so now i don't have to drive there alone and neither does she... its a win/win!

Also as I put in one of my last posts, I've been hitting the gym at least 5 days a week. i usually have Wednesday and Sunday off. but I've lost 10 lbs (according to my scale anyways, i didn't use the scale at the gym because i didn't know that it was a scale it looks like one of those blood pressure machines) but I've lost almost 10% body fat! so I'm getting closer to my goal.

And thanks to the Army I can go the good gym while Lillian is in daycare at the CDC... for FREEEEEEEEE! (well for 16 hours a month anyways) but its good because Lilly gets to interact with kids her own age too. Which is always a good thing in my opinion.

On Another Note:

I know its kinda late but i said i would but up some pictures and stuff from the 4th of july... so here they are y'all!

It was a great night and my dad came to visit for the weekend as well! we went to freedom fest on Saturday the 2nd and then on Sunday we made a little trip to Shreveport and did some shopping and had a good dinner. On monday we just had a relaxing day at the house watching movies (My dad loves movies) and then he went home on Tuesday. it was such a great weekend!

OH and did I mention that we are about to enter the single digits until Mr.W returns home from deployment AND he asked me to the ball?!? So I have to start looking for a dress! I'm super pumped for all of it! I just can't wait for him to get back home and for our family to be whole once again!

Excuse Me While I Vent . . .

 I love my iPhone but this is making me wonder if its worth all the trouble i'm about to go through...

so as of yesterday my iPhone decided that it was going to start acting up for no reason at all! it takes like a bajillion years to charge (no lie, its been plugged in for like 20 minutes and is STILL at 20%) and so i was like “Oh i’ll just to go AT&T and they can just give me new battery or phone or something”

NO

they said that i have to call apple and tell them what is going on and that they will most likely send me a new one because i’m still within my one year warrenty. well here’s the kicker everybody… i call and they tell me that i can either drive 3 hours,to baton rouge, to the nearest apple store and get a new one there, or i wait for them to send me a package to send them my phone in, wait 5-7 days and then get a new one or my other one fixed, OR i can pay $30 and a have a $700 hold put on my bank account so they can send me a new phone before i send them my old one… and then get my $700 dollars back.

here are the problems with all three of these options

1. ITS A 3 HOUR DRIVE

2. My husband is deployed and i CANNOT be without a phone for a week!

3. i don’t have $730 in my bank account right now

so guess what i’m doing saturday… driving 3 hours to baton rouge to get a new damn phone cuz apple can’t just let AT&T give me a new one… awesome :P

btw... in the time it took me to type and post this... my battery is now at 19% (and its plugged in!)

 this is what i'm about to do to my phone.

How Time Flies

I cannot believe that it has been a whole MONTH since i last blogged... what is wrong with me?!?

Since i have been on a blogging "vacation" allow me to catch you all up on whats been going on.

On one of my last posts i wrote about how i need to start working out and blah blah blah... well I'm pleased to tell you all that is one of the reasons I've been missing from the blogging world. Me and some friends have been hitting the gym almost everyday, and even if we miss the gym i make sure to work out at home. Thank goodness for my fabulous friend, Ashley, who has become my "personal trainer" and its been a challenge but I'm doing well... only a few more months before Mr. W returns and i need to be looking my best ;D

In other news... living in the wonderful state of Louisiana, as anyone in the south may know, means it has been

REALLY. FREAKING. HOT.

So I'm pleased to tell you all that this means that the pools on post are officially OPEN for the summer. The pool has been my #2 hiding spot for the last month. but one thing is for sure.. Lillian LOVES the pool!

Among these things there have been small things as well... I helped a friend move, made a few shopping trips with the same friend to find things for their home. celebrated 2 birthdays with friends and I've had your average summer thus far.

But I'll leave you all with something to look forward to... my next post will feature photos and other things from our 4th of July weekend... My dad is coming to visit, Freedom Fest is on the 2nd and I'm super pumped for the Blake Shelton concert during freedom fest. its gonna be a good time i can already tell.

Two Years

Two years ago today I married my best friend and the love of my life.

Its been a great couple of years and I'm looking forward to the many to come.

I love you Mr. W, more than words can describe ♥
even though we are 7772 miles apart just remember I'm always by your side.

Ship Shape

I have a few main goals to accomplish while my husband is deployed, and one of those goals is shared by many other military wives with deployed husbands...

To look good when they come home.

and for some it turns out well... but for others, much like myself, its easier said than done.

You see, if your anything like me, you get in these kicks of "ok i'm gonna do it this time, i'm gonna stick to my workout plan and my diet" but those don't last very long... for me they last about 2 weeks and then I start slacking... BADLY.

I have come to learn that the best diet for me isn't necessarily to change WHAT I'm eating but to change HOW MUCH I'm eating. I've found that i need to keep eating what i usually eat, just don't eat until I'm full, especially if its that super uncomfortable kind of full, I need to eat just enough to leave myself just a little bit hungry... this makes your body think its still hungry so it will start using up fat in your body without putting it into starvation mode which slows down your body's fat burning speed (in order to make the fat last) not to mention eating small meals throughout the day will help your metabolism in the long run making it easier to stay thin and keep losing weight... This kind of diet is good for people like me because I LIKE FOOD and I don't want to restrict WHAT I'm eating if i can just eat a small amount of it and be satisfied which will keep me from going off my diet.

As far as exercising goes for me... i do good... when I'm motivated. which last for like 2 weeks and then it turns into "i'll just go to the gym tomorrow" or "i just too tired today." I need to stop making excused and just do it... and i have a new goal to go to the gym at least 5 days a week. 

SO here is my master plan...

go to the gym Monday - Friday

10:00 am - 11:00am (at least)

Take the weekends off to rest and recover.

Hopefully I can stick to the plan this time... if not i'll get a good kick in the pants by a friend of mine who wants to become a personal trainer and is making me one of her personal projects, which is A-okay with me because that will give me the motivation and push that I need to keep going... she may not be able to do all of it with me just yet, but she can still yell at me or whatever it takes to get the job done.

So wish me luck because this one is gonna be a race against time.

Cover Songs

So today I was on youtube catching up on all the new music videos that are out and I searched for "Till The World Ends" only for this AMAZING cover/remix to come up and I was honestly amazed at how much I LOVE THIS SONG...

And this led me to search for amazing cover songs. So here are my Three other finds...

and last but not least...

Enjoy :D

Osama Who?

So as many of you know... Osama Bin Laden is dead.

not even moments after the news broke my facebook was flooded with status updates about it. As i read some of the updates and the comments on them I couldn't help but be offended, especially when people would ask "Who Cares?" So this is what I put as my status...

"for all of you who dont' care or are asking "who cares?" about the death of Osama Bin Laden... i'll have you know that i care as well as many other military members and their families... its a very big deal to us especially if our loved one is overseas... so think about that before you ask that kind of question!"

So if you saw this let me explain myself... I know some people don't think its that big of a deal. But as an army wife... it is a very big deal.

This death could be a good thing or a very VERY bad thing... as I was watching CNN last night I heard the news anchor say that this death with cause the Al queda and all other terrorist organizations linking to Osama bin Ladan to become lost.

Just because they lost their leader doesn't mean the war is going to stop... not even close. His followers will be mad and retaliate. Things may get better eventually but not right away. As much as I (and many other people) wish that it worked that way, it doesn't and we all know that. If anything it will get worse before it gets better.


With my husband being currently deployed I'm worried about him more than ever.

Disordered

The title pretty much sums it up...

I have had a realization of sorts today... my priorities are not in order. So I'm using this post to sort them out...

Priorities BEFORE my realization

1. Lilly
2. ME
3. family
4. bills
5. having fun
6. friends

Take a moment to look at this and notice that I've been messing up lately. For example look at number 2 and then look at the bottom... messed up, I know.

I've been worrying more about myself than my family or friends... granted Lilly will always be my #1 but my family and friends should have been higher up on my list. especially above myself. because even if i'm not taking care of myself, a loving and caring family and group of friends can get you through just about anything.

if your wondering where all this is coming from here it goes, It took ONE text message from a friend of mine to make me stop and think "what are you doing? this is one of your best friends and you haven't had the common courtesy to stop and call her in the past 2 weeks just to see how things have been?" because if i had done that i would have known that i had a friend in need, but my head has been up my butt lately and i need to take 2 seconds to pull it out and take a look around.

I've been worrying too much about myself and not about what really matters in the end.

lately its been...

I wanted to go swimming
I wanted to go have fun

I wanted to go workout
I wanted to stay home
I...
I...
I!

I have so many friends in the same boat as me with this deployment and I seem to forget that at times. If I'm feeling lonely chances are one of them is also feeling lonely, so why not pick up the phone and ask them to hang out or work out or something... ANYTHING?

These are the things that have been on my mind since I got that text this morning.

So I'm re-prioritizing... and here it is

AFTER my realization

1. Lilly
2. Family
3. Friends
4. Me
5. Bills
6. Having fun  

(don't get me wrong i love to have fun as long as everything else is taken care of)

And to my friend who sent me that text... 

if your reading this...

I really am sorry

Thursday 5

And the words of the week are...

lets see if I can come up with five things that have been....

Dazzling

Spectacular

Terrific

Perfect

Ecstatic

1. Lillian is simply Dazzling lately... every day she is doing new things and I am Dazzled by how quickly she learns

2. I'm really hoping to look Spectacular for Mr. W's return ;)

3. We have had some pretty Terrific weather here lately... nice and warm but not too hot (not yet anyways)

4. Mr. W is my Mr. Perfect ♥

5. I'm Ecstatic at the prospect of possibly seeing my hubby this weekend at the VTC.

Sun. Burnt.

So this past Friday I took Lilly to go swimming at a friends house... it was a beautiful sunny day which I knew meant we would both need sunscreen... I put some on Lilly every 30-60 minutes and I put some one before we went do to the pool... keep in mind this was 50 SPF lotion. We were out for about 3-ish hours.

We got back to her place I took one look in the mirror when I was changing and I was BURNT... i looked like a dang lobster!

Lilly was only a little pink on the tip of her nose and her right cheek.

This is my sunburn... 3 days later (today)

Thank goodness for Aloe! Its days like this I wish Mr. W were here to rub it on my back in all those painful yet hard to reach places :(

Thursday 5

<br /> <center><a href="http://flipflopcombatboots.blogspot.com/search/label/Thursday%20Five"><img border="0" src="http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b245/cntrystr05/1-19.png" /></a></center><br />

I found this on flip flops and combat boots and thought that it was a pretty cool concept...so here it goes...

These are the five things that have been...

Delicious

Exciting

Awesome

Rewarding

Priceless

Today me and a friend had some Chinese food for dinner and it was Delicious because I hadn't had Chinese in a while.

I'm looking forward to and Exciting weekend with my friends. There will be shopping and a trip to the zoo for the kids.

After a nice long swim with a friend and our girls (did some laps) and a walk (over a mile long) I'm feeling Awesome.

Seeing my daughter learn and grow everyday is so Rewarding.

Having such loving and great friends, family, husband, and daughter is Priceless

RnR

Prepare yourselves folks.... its gonna be a long one.

So I haven't blogged lately because Mr.W was home for RnR and I was spending what time I had with him and Lilly rather than posting. I'm sure you all can understand that.

Anyhow... here it goes...

Mr. W called me on Monday March 21st from Atlanta telling me he would be landing that night... this is after i didn't hear from him the whole day before because unknowingly to me he was traveling... so while Lilly was down for her nap I packed up the car and got everything ready to go. At around 8:30 p.m. Lilly and I headed to the airport! As soon as I saw Mr. W all I could do was smile. I was so happy and relieved to have him home. We hugged and kissed and all that jazz and then headed to a hotel for the night.

Mr. W seemed to amazed at how much our little girl has grown in the 6 months that he was away. he could barely take his eyes off of her. And of course she slept in bed with us that night for the first time since she was about 3 months old.

The next day we started our trip up to Michigan with a lovely breakfast at IHOP

after that we hit the road and didn't stop until we hit Illinois. And it started again the next day we passed through Chicago and then Milwaukee. Once we hit Green Bay the weather got all poopy so we had to slow down, which caused us to get into town alot later than we had hoped, but we were just happy to make it home.

 The next few days where spent with our family and planning Lilly's first birthday party, which was so much fun!

The next week we spent as much time with our family as possible until we had to leave which proved difficult at time when they had to return to work, but the time we did have was great. We even had an early Easter since Mr.W will be missing it this year/has missed all the other holidays this year. We had a Ham dinner and even made Lilly an Easter basket and Mr.W helped her with her first ever Easter egg hunt!!!

On Sunday Morning we started our drive back down to Louisiana. It was a fun drive though. we did alot along the way. We stopped at Lambeau Field hoping to see their new super bowl trophy but sadly it was not on display yet. But we went and did a stadium tour and even got Lilly a new little Packers jersey! Our last stop in Wisconsin was at Mars Cheese Castle...

The Next stops were in Illinois. We stopped at Gurney Mills right outside Chicago to eat at the Rainforest Cafe. We thought Lilly would enjoy seeing all the animals, but I think she might have been a little scared of them. After that we drove into Chicago and went up into the John Hancock Building.

We ended up stopping that night because the weather was looking bad but the next day we continued our drive into St. Louis and stopped to check out the St. Louis Gateway Arch. It was pretty cool but I'm not gonna lie I was scared half to death when were where up at the top. It was a somewhat windy day which means that the arch was moving, it wasn't alot but it still freaked me out! After we came back down from the top we went to the little museum in the building at the bottom, and then let Lilly walk around in the park outside and stretch her legs...

After St. Louis we stopped at a mall to look for some shoes for Mr. W. sadly we didn't find any that he liked. Then we stopped for dinner and then drove through the night to arrive back at the house at about 6:30 a.m. we slept until 11 went and saw some friends and then headed back home for some family time before Mr.W had to leave the next morning.

The next morning we woke up and Mr. W finished packing up his stuff and we headed back to the airport to say our see you soon's and then off he went... again. It was sad but it was a little easier this time because I know that he will be home before we know it, this deployment is about half way over, so we are just hoping the second half goes by just a quickly as the first half did. I'm just thankful that he was able to be here for our daughter's first birthday and that we got to make more memories to share and hold onto while we are apart.

See you soon babe,

Be Safe,

We love you!

Tick Tock

Let the countdown to RnR begin!

With Mr. W finally on his way home my excitement grows as well as the length of my days because he is so close but so far away. But I know he'll be here soon and thats all that matters! This is going to be a very exciting and fun vacation for us because not only will Mr. W be home but we will be going to Michigan to visit the family and celebrate Lilly's first birthday!

yup thats right our baby girl is going to be one in approximately...

~ 11 DAYS ~

it still feels like she was born yesterday and its already been a year. its all kind of bitter sweet...

(To Stop Music Scroll To Bottom Of Page)

I AM AN ARMY WIFE

I am an army wife. I knew exactly what I was getting myself into when I got married, I knew that there would be good times and bad times, as well as times when I may get lonely, overwhelmed, and feel like absolutely everything is out of my control. But I also knew when I married Mr. W that all the loneliness, and stress would be worth it. Just knowing that he will soon be back in my arms and that he is doing a wonderful thing for our country makes the time pass a little bit easier.

I am an army wife. I have been in the worlds most difficult long distance relationship so don't go comparing your long distance relationship to mine... they are completely different unless you've been in a relationship with a service member.

Don't tell me you know what is like to spend months away from one of the most loved people in your life, whom you barely get to talk to, who is in danger everyday, and who you know is in a place where things could turn bad at a moments notice... because NEWS FLASH... YOU DON'T KNOW

Don't whine to me that you and your significant other don't get to spend your days together,

Don't whine to me that you are feeling "deprived" when you haven't had any "action" in TWO WHOLE WEEKS,

Don't whine to me because your significant other works "so far away"

AND

Don't whine to me that you are stressed

because frankly... I am NOT the person to get sympathy from in these situations and I could careless about your problems compared to what I deal with.

and this concludes my vent of the week.

One Year Older

Today was my 20th Birthday, and even though my family and husband weren't able to be here, it was still a very good birthday thanks to a friend of mine... Jeanette and her kids. She not only took me to lunch and helped me with Lilly but she also made us dinner and this ADORABLE cake...

And her daughter made me those super cute bracelet ...

 Thanks for another great birthday everyone :D

Patience

It's hard not to get excited knowing that Mr.W will be home before we know it. I want to plan all the thing we are gonna do and have everything prepared for him, but this can be hard to do when you don't know the exact date that he is going to be here. So I just have to be patient.

just knowing how much longer it is going to be makes a day feel like a week and a week feel like a months sometimes... time has never gone by so slowly in my entire life. I am doing the best I can to keep my self busy to make the time go by more quickly but that doesn't always do the trick, some things don't seem to take as long as they used to...

Laundry used to take all day now its only seems like a few hours,

Dishes went from a half an hour to 15 minutes,

general pick up around the house went from an hour to 30 minutes,

The saying is time flies when your having fun, so maybe I should try to do some more fun things instead of doing chores! any suggestions?

Lucky

have you ever had the opportunity to just sit and think about how lucky you are sometimes?

Whether is an experience that makes you think about it or just looking at another persons life?

Today after laying my daughter down for a nap and just sitting down on my couch to relax for a bit, I started to think about some recent events that have been happening around me and it made me realize how truly lucky I am.

I am lucky to have an extremely healthy child, she may not be the most well behaved at times but she is mine and I couldn't ask for anything more.

I am lucky to have such an amazing and loving husband,

I am lucky to have found him so early in my life,

I am lucky that he supports me so I can stay home with our baby,

and I am so lucky to have such a trusting and trusted husband

♥I Am Lucky That He Chose Me ♥

I am lucky to have such a supportive and caring family and group of friends.

  I AM LUCKY 

Speechless

Everyday I spend with this little girl the more and more she amazes me.

She is becoming more independent and is developing quite the personality. She is standing by herself (only for about a minute) but everyday she is staying up longer. Even if she falls down she isn't afraid to try again, no crying or whining she just gets back up and goes for it.

She is slowly learning to walk [with some hand holding of course] and I'm hoping Mr. W is the trick to her taking those first steps, when he comes home for RnR. I mean its worth a try, right? I hope so anyways.

and this brings me back to the fact that this little girl amazes me beyond words.

Happy Valentine's Day

Since today is valentine's day, and its Lilly's first I decided to maker her a special breakfast...

and I shaped them like hearts...

and Lilly loved them...

And we just wanted to say that we love you Mr. W and Happy Valentine's Day!

Let's Get Physical

When I was in Michigan for Christmas/New Years, my Mother-In-Law and I made a deal that for our new years resolutions She would quit smoking if I lost 20 pounds by the time we go up in March... and it was going great until I went completely off my diet while in Florida... I managed to gain back all the weight i had lost... yeah all 8 pounds! So when we got back home I had to start busting my butt to get back on track, my diet is working out well and working out was going well. Mr. W's PS3 is also our DVD player and he wanted me to send it to him, thus leaving me without a DVD player for my workout videos for an entire week and a half so I had to do as much as i could remember, but it just wasn't working as well as having someone tell me what to do...

And all of this brings me to the main topic of this post...

My new laptop has an HDMI hookup so I can now put the DVDs in my computer and watch them through my TV with sound and all... I was super excited when i found this out, because now i don't have to go and buy a new DVD player or wait for one to be sent to me i have on to hold me over... My diet and exercise have been saved by my laptop... thank goodness!

Tax Time

If any of you are like me you can't help but get excited about tax refunds... you start planning on what/where the money will go and be spent on, and check your bank account almost everyday watching to see if it has come yet. Well our refund came on Friday and it has been spent wisely. Bills have been paid and wanted items bought. Remember this post?

I didn't get the Uggs, the iPad or the sweet new jacket, but I did however get that sweet pink laptop! and  best of all it arrived at my house today, and I'm using it to type this post! And although I didn't get the iPad I DID get an iPhone 4! and I LOVE it.

Even Mr. W got in on the spending action and bought his Superbowl gear and laptop as you may have already read, I'm just thankful to know that he was able to get himself something nice... I'm anxious to see what he does for my birthday, which is in exactly one month... HINT HINT Mr.W and soon I have to start doing some birthday shopping for Lilly's first birthday... i can't believe that she is gonna be a year old next month. she is growing soooo fast. We are still hoping that Mr.W is able to come home for her big day ::fingers crossed:: Its gonna be an exciting time for our family, and i can't wait for us to be together again, even if it is only for a couple of weeks.

P.S. GO PACK GO

Go Pack Go!

So last night was a very exciting night in the Waye household. I am so excited! And some of you probably already know this but... The Green Bay Packers are the XLV Superbowl champions!!! It was so exciting. And thankfully Mr. W got to see the last quarter of the game. I laughed a little when the won thinking to myself about how it was just Mr. W's luck that the packers would win the super bowl the one year that he is away from home. But he was on the ball about the win and even managed to order a superbowl shirt already. So he was a happy guy last night between the win, the shirt, and him ordering himself a new laptop. But anywho... If any of you football girls are like me, it just isn't as fun to watch football games(especially the superbowl) alone, so of course I invited some friends over ordered some pizza and wings and let the goodtimes roll. And even when you only have 7 people over, you manage to get a hood variety of fans which makes things a whole lot more interesting. But Ll in all I'm happy to report that it was a good night. Even Lilly had a good time...

Big Girl Bedroom

Our baby girl's first birthday is just around the corner. With that thought and a walk around Toys R' Us , I was inspired to think about what I want to do with her room as she gets older. Right now she has a Tinkerbell/Butterfly room, So I thought i might be easier to stick with the theme for a little bit longer or until she wants something else... so here was what i found...

Chair # 1                -or-               Chair # 2

Toy Chest

And of course some bedding.


Granted she will probably be getting most of this when she is around 18-24 months, but theres nothing wrong with planning these things.

Three Nifty Things

Have you ever noticed that when your just clicking around on the internet or walking through a store when you stumble across things that make you think "Thats so cool, I wish I could try that"? Well this has been happening to me so I figured I would share some of those things with you...

1. Sally Hansen Salon Effects

Pretty nifty right? They are little strips that you put on over your real nail and they leave some very nice patterns. So far everything i have read says they actually last the 10 days they box says they will, plus they have a fairly large selection of colors and patterns. ($8.99 at most stores)

2.  Zoku Quick Pop Maker

You can make a whole variety of Popsicles in at little as 7 minutes. Yes I said MINUTES can you believe it? they even make a recipes book to give you ideas. The only downer is the price... ($49.95 @ William Sonoma)

3. Sony Bravia 3D TV

I always see the commercials and would LOVE to be able to sit and watch an entire movie on one of these.

Thats all for now.

The Sunshine State. . . a.k.a. Florida

So for the last week and a half Lilly and I were in Florida visiting my dad and sister. and we had a fun time. Our trip started off kinda rough mostly because my first flight to Atlanta was DELAYED... so instead of getting in to Tampa at 7:20, we got in at 9:30 p.m. but it was worth all the stress and trouble when we finally got there and saw them waiting for us there. and enjoyed our late night dinner at Denny's :)  It was pretty tasty considering we don't have one around the always lovely Ft. Polk (sarcasm intended)

The Saturday and Sunday were shopping / hanging at home days. Sunday night however, my sister was kind enough to watch miss Lillian while my dad and I went to Hooters to watch the Packers pound the Falcons... it was an exciting evening for us. Just wish Mr. W could have seen it (he was working)

Monday-Thursday my dad had to work but was home early-ish to spend time with us and we went out to dinner EVERY NIGHT... it was so nice. we had sushi and even went to Carrabba's as part of my dad's Christmas present. We did some minor shopping during the week... I even found these A-D-O-R-A-B-L-E sunglasses for Lilly...

♥ Such a little diva ♥

 FRIDAY was a super fun day for us. We went to Busch Gardens (free thanks to Mr.W) Lilly really enjoyed looking at all the animals and watching all the rollercoasters. Her grandpa even got her a super cute stuffed giraffe with a hot pink "Busch Gardens" hoodie. Here are some pictures from our day...

Looking at the ducks with Grandpa...

Watching the flamingos...

They even matched...

Posing for some pictures

In the words of Mr. W... "why are you trying to feed our daughter to a tiger?"

LOVING THE TIGER. It was sitting there for a few minutes.

Watching the elephants and rocking my packers tee

Yelling at the elephants

loving on momma ♥

Yeah, I'm terrified of birds and that green blur is a bird flying right at me... AHHHHH!!!

It was a fun day :D

After we left we went shopping at the "International Plaza." Then we all went home and crashed in bed.

Saturday was another shopping day we bought Lilly some super cute clothes and her Grandpa even got her, her first official Packers tee. WHICH she wore sunday... and this brings us to one of the most eventful days of our entire trip... SUNDAY we woke up and were getting ready for breakfast, but before we left my dad wanted to scan some pictures onto his computer, it wasn't working so he went to check his scanner and leaned on the coffee table (which he and myself have done a million times) but this time the glass top broke and in he process of all of this my dad cut his finger open. When all this happened we had to go to the ER where we came to find out he had severed the tendon in his left pinky, which wouldn't have been so bad except he is a left handed nurse, and might need surgery so fingers-crossed everything turns out alright. after all of this was over we went back to the house got him all cleaned up and headed out to watch The Packers win the NFC Championship game against The Bears... Needless to say Mr.W, Me, and everyone else in Packer nation is super pumped to see them got to the super bowl

Go Pack Go!



But now I am home and doing alright. I even got help filing our taxes thanks to my always helpful Mother-In-Law. And it is a HUGE weight off my shoulders to see how much we are getting back this year.

Lovin My Life as A Mommy and Army Wife

Watching Lilly Bloom

Every time I look at my daughter it seems like she is so much bigger than the last time I looked. She is growing so quickly that it makes me wonder where the time is going. Yesterday I actually had to go buy her a BIGGER carseat. She has finally out grown her little carrier/carseat, not to mention she had a forward facing carseat when we were in MI so she has been having hissy-fits every time we would go anywhere and she had to ride in her little rear-facing carseat. I figured it was about that time. So this is what she got...

I installed it in the parking lot at the store so it was a nice ride home.

 Also just the other day I was curious to see how big she really is and she is now 20 lbs according to our scale. Everyday she is growing more and I am truly amazed at the little person she is becoming and the adorable personality that she has. She "sings" to the radio in the car, she has recently figured out the whole sippy-cup thing, and she is figuring out how to pet the cats and dog without pulling all their fur out. The only thing that could make this experience better would be having Mr.W here to watch her grow with me. But I do my best to keep him updated. even Lilly wants her daddy to know that she is thinking of him.

On another note... She seems to be happy to be able to crawl around outside again now that we are back down south. This past weekend we helped a friend move and she was in LOVE with the deck at their new house.

She really enjoyed the sunshine, but it was slightly chilly so that is why she is in her jammies.

Home Sweet Home

So I'm back home in Louisiana... actually I've been back since Monday, but I've been busy running errands... Oh Joy. Anyways... It's great to be back home, but I miss my family up north and I'm looking forward to seeing them again in a few months, Plus I'm going to visit my dad and sister in Florida next week. But in the meantime there's nowhere else I'd rather be than at home with my baby girl, and close to all my friends who can relate to almost all of my struggles and worries.

So... now that its the new year I've made a few resolutions.
First Resolution - I'm going to work off my "Lilly Chub" I've already started the process. As many of you other stay-at-home moms know it can prove difficult to get to the gym so I went to Walmart and got these fabulous workout DVDs for just $9 each.

I've only started the "Banish Fat Boost Metabolism" and its really good if you wanna boost your cardio there are seven 6-minute circuits as well as a warm up and cool down, With the instructions the program is about an hour long. I'm probably going to start the "30 Day Shred" next week. I also bough a Gold's Gym 5lb. soft weighted ball, which comes with a workout video as well. and its really good for toning your arms and legs as well as strengthening your core muscles.

My second resolution is to stress less and care more, for example...

• I'm going to stress less about losing weight and care more about being physically fit now that I have a daughter to chase around and play with.
• I'm going to stress less about saving money and care more about what the saved money is going towards (new truck and Disney World (fingers crossed))
• I'm going to stress less about how my daughter seems to become more destructive as she grows and care more about all the milestones she is achieving as she grows.

There is a lot to look forward to this year...

Lilly's First Birthday

♥ Mr.W's RnR & Coming Home ♥

Our First Christmas, Thanksgiving,
& New Years as a family

Lovin My Life as A Mommy and Army Wife