Squeaky's first haircut.

So the last few days have been both triumphant and terrifying. I'll start with the good. Yesterday Squeaky got his first hair cut from Rachel. He sat like a good little boy. Chasers went as well and was in charge of the camera. I am thinking his own digital camera for Christmas would be a good investment. He took all the pictures in this blog today with the exception of the one of him. I am very proud of both my midgets. So enjoy the pictures.

He sat sooo still throughout the haircut. With a few exceptions to see what certain noises were. Every now and then he would hear a hair dryer go on, or someone would laugh one of those atrocious public laughs. But he was so calm otherwise. Even with the paparazzi running around him.

He wanted the camera above. I think the publicity got to be too much for him at that point. See, even babies crack under pressure. His came out his backside..lol

He really sat still when she did the final touch ups around his neck line and ears. And after all was said and done, he was no longer my baby boy. He was this little adult that looked just like his father. Spitting image identical to him.

And big brother Chase, he was fantastic! He loves bieng in charge of everything with baby brother's party and pictures. And getting the haircut. He is turning into such a big boy and I miss the cuddly little baby.

The reward? YAY!! Mom ordered pizza for the boys. Squeaky ate almost the entire little piece by himself. Chasers and I were both impressed. He left a few bits of pineapple on his tray, but the rest was good. I also should mention he is now on day 2 without his binky. Out of sight, out of mind. It is tougher to get big brother to not give it to him than anything else. But we will persevere. I said no more binky by his first birthday, and I meant it.

Me? Seriously?

So today I got the most interesting call. It was from someone I had a couple of dinner dates with back in the day. And those did not go well, so we opted for just a friendship. Anyhow, he called to get my opinion on how to handle a "girl" situation. He said, I need your opinion. I kind of chuckled and said..You know who you called, right? I am the one who gives the straight forward, honest answer even if you don't want to hear it. You remember that, right?

Yes, I do. That is why I called you. You will tell me the truth without hesitation. I was shocked. My " socially challenged" values are actually being called upon. I was a little surprised, but thrilled at the same time. So I helped him with his question, and moved on with my evening.

Tonight feeding the baby has been a pain in the ass to say the least. Squeaky has found complete humor in his ability to spit his food while making a raspberry sound. Yes, I will admit I do look good in Sweet Potatoes. But it is not what I wanted to smell like.

I've been looking at house's and what not over in Leavenworth via Craigslist. I found a really cute one that's pretty nicely priced, but now it's the waiting game to see if it will be available when we get to the base. And so the search begins.

OK, it's off to do my work out now. Night all.

Stress and life...

And the world turns. Some days I just want to scream and rip my hair out. They start out crappy and usually I get them turned around by the end of the day. Today was one of those. I really hate being a one income family. I have worked since I was about 17, always doing something. Now granted, we have our bills paid off with the exception of the cars. But soon we will pay off one car. And get extended warranties on both of them. But it's truly times like this when I get stressed. They made a mistake on Jim's check so we are short now. Luckily I paid off all the credit cards last month so they are there if we need them. But it's just going to take some serious carefulness to get through the next month. Which I know I can do. Food won't be an issue as with the dieting I have learned portion size. We are eating about a quarter of what we used to. It's saving a lot of money with the exception of the fruits and vegetables intake now. And measuring the salad dressing. Good lord, it will take me about 3 more months to use up the bottle I have right now. And I've been using it for a little over 2 months.

Chase's parent teacher conference went very well. He is improving in leaps and bounds which makes me feel as though I am seeing progress! YAY! It's hard work, but we are getting there. Together we are reading Old Yeller, and he reads a paragraph or two out of it with me.

Before we headed to his parent teacher conference I took him out to Target. It was time for him to shop for little brother's birthday present. He had $50.00 from his allowance jar. I was pretty proud of him because he did the math and everything. He bought Squeaky a pair of jeans and a shirt to wear on his birthday. Then he picked out two cute toys. And he got wrapping paper with bows. He did very well. His math was a little off because I didn't go into the whole tax thing, but that's ok. I just smiled and covered it for him.

OK, I need to scoot because baby is letting me know he is done with his fruits and I need to feed him. FOR REAL MOM!!

Sleep and the cupboards~

Ahhhhhh.....That's the sigh of relief I let out this morning at 0730. Yes, I said it..0730. Without one single wake up from 830 pm on. I woke up briefly at 0430 because I had to use the ladies room. And I realized just how quiet my house was. No whimpers for a bottle. Just soft little snores as I snuck past his bedroom. Well, as quietly as a bull in a china shop could sneak. Everything in this damn house creaks. It sounds like the floor is going to fall through when Chase is playing in his room which happens to be above the living room. But yes, silence. It was great and I hope we have hit that stage finally. The picture below he is sleeping with his binky, but come March 5Th there will be no more binky. Just like his older brother did on December 6, 2001. No more binky after the first birthday. On another note we received the babies stuff for his first birthday in the mail yesterday. Chase is tickled pink because he is in charge of brothers first birthday with Mommy's supervision. So today we are going to go pick out his birthday cake and make out the small guest list. We don't know many babies around here, so it will mostly be adults. I'm sure Squeaky won't mind at all.

Now onto more humorous things. A few days ago while I was busy cropping the Vermont pictures I noticed how quiet it was in my house. So off to the right I notice some movement and look up just in time to see this. Squeaky had emptied out and crawled into the cupboard. Now the good news is that I cleaned out the cupboard of stuff I don't use anymore. But the bad news is that he accidentally broke a vase that Jim had sent me flowers in when he was in Iraq. But Squeaky was OK, so that's all that mattered to me. And best of all, I had my camera right there and handy! So a few snapshots were in order.

The one below is really just a look of surprise! I was actually able to sneak up on him and get this picture while looking down. He started laughing after he jumped about 5 feet from my voice. He was in the zone..lol Yes, he looks so fearful, doesn't he?

Vermont and New Hampshire.

Tell me that little guy is unhappy there is glass there right now.

So as you all know by now, I am not feeling well. My sinus infection is getting worse, and I think it is spreading a little to my lungs. Which sucks because I do not get sick. I do not get sick because I am the only one here to take care of my boys. And if I am sick, there is no one here to take care of them. And they definitely can not take care of themselves yet. So I can not get sick. Super medication, here I come! Now, as I promised, I have picked my favorite pictures out from our trip on Monday. We went to Vermont to visit the Ben and Jerry's factory. And then at the last minute Mom thought it would be cool to drive an hour and a half to New Hampshire to visit a little candy store called Chutters. Chutters is in the Guinness Book of World Records holding the title for *The World's Longest Candy Counter*. And Damn! It really is! Also I should note I let Chasers take the pictures as I had my hands full of baby. Who, BTW, was really good for all the driving we did that day!!

You must always take the gratuitous rear view mirror picture.

Just a few patches of ice running down the rocks in Vermont. This was so pretty!

It snowed only two times during our entire day trip. Once when we got to Ben and Jerry's, and once when we were leaving Littleton, New Hampshire.

Just the view of an iced over river on the back roads of Vermont heading to New Hampshire. I have never in my life seen an iced over river.

This was just a spectacular view off one of the back roads I had to have a picture of.

YAY!! We made it to the candy store! The picture below was taken about 3 feet in from the end of the candy counter at the back of the store. I could not believe the candies they had there!

Oh my head!

So yesterday the boys and I drove through Vermont and New Hampshire. Tomorrow morning I will finish cropping the pictures and post a few of my favorites here. But right now, I have a sinus infection type headache so I am going to go. Need to feed the baby and then get everyone started on bedtime routines.

Time flies..

Or is it slipping away..I'm not sure which one it is. All I know if is has gone by really fast lately.

Squeaky's hand is doing much better. You can hardly tell he left the little horror movie picture in my hallway. He's still scooting around and I am eagerly awaiting his first steps on his own. There are two more teeth cutting through on the top, and he is slowly starting to sleep through the night. I do get concerned when he awakes about the middle of the night for a bottle, but his Dr. states it is from the teething. We shall see soon enough.

Chasers is busy per his norm. But he is picking up on things quicker. Still angry with his father about not calling him or wanting to visit. But who am I to say anything? I don't make excuses for him anymore. I just reassure Chase that it's OK and Mommy and Daddy Jim are here whenever he needs us.

As for myself, I weighed in today. Now, I only lost a pound this last week. The positive spin on this is I lost..I did not gain. I am happy with that. I have decided that I will start doing the Wii work out for an hour a day now. I did it all in one hour today and UGH! I about died. So maybe I will switch to a half hour in the morning, and half in the evening. We shall see. I do know the weather is starting to pick up nicely, so I definitely will be walking with the baby soon enough. I'm thinking a couple miles on the track in the morning after I drop of Chasers at school. I'll start small, but my goal will eventually be 5 miles a day. Not to mention the fresh air will do Squeaky good.

Tomorrow is President's Day, so I'm taking the boys on a road trip. A well deserved one I might add. We are going to head up to Vermont to see the Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream Factory. I know it seems a little crazy to five almost 3 hours for a half hour tour, but I remember these road trips as a child very fondly. We would drive to Tillamook Cheese Factory and all the way home eat tons of squeaky cheese *cheese curds*. So maybe some of these memories for Chase are in tune.

Right now I'm going to take my aching body to bed.

Valentines Day.

So, as promised I am posting pictures of my Valentines Day gift from Jim. He asked me earlier when I was busy if I liked it. I have to say I Love It! However, I am needing to get more jewelry now..*snicker* You did well this year honey, but I am looking forward to next year when I can actually get a hug and kiss from you. That would be the best Valentine's Day gift ever.

It has been a busy week so far with Valentine's Day fast approaching. Tonight I am working on 24 cupcakes with frosting and hearts. Ugh is all I can say. It's been tedious as all get out. But I am almost done. And then I am off to bed, I have some shows to watch and thinking to do.

Night All.

Clue.

It was CPT Squeaky in the Hallway heading towards the kitchen. But he only killed his hand. Ironically he has his fathers stoic side and I had no clue he had hurt himself until I was putting his coat on. Then is when I noticed the blood on my hands and his pants. And the blotch of blood that almost matched our carpet. He fussed when I cleaned him up, and it was just a small nick on his palm. He has his tetanus shots and he's been fine all day so I have had no worries. What did he catch his hand on? A carpet nail that has somehow been missed by big brother and myself for the over year and a half we have lived in this place. Now the truest irony of this blog are the pictures. *snicker* I have been cleaning my house most of the day and just as I was about to walk out the door at 2:45 pm, I noted something on the door to the basement. What did it look like? My very own horror movie with tiny fingerprints. I just had to share the pictures with you guys because I thought it was pretty funny.


Moving on..Jim called me today and told me to go pick up my Valentine's Day present. I would have loved too but I get so busy after school with homework, dinner, and my evening chores. It was crazy tonight as well because my friend Rachel comes over with her two kiddos. I really enjoy her visits. It's nice to have someone come over and have tea with you in the afternoon. It really makes me miss my friend Babsi. She would come over, we would let the kids run wild and just sit in the sun and talk. I really do miss that camaraderie. But I will have it soon enough with Jim gets home.

Sorry honey I did not get to pick that up today, but I will tomorrow I promise. And I will let everyone know what it was then.

Coraline

Today turned out pretty good after all. Chase spent the night over at Jonah's house last night so it was oddly quiet around the house. But he survived, and so did I. Baby even let me sleep with the exception of a 2 am feeding call.

I was up at 0700 and started my morning chores. Had my house completely clean, floors and all, by the time baby woke up at 0830. I was pretty impressed with myself. Jumped in the shower while baby played with some toys in his crib. Got out, got him into the bath while I dressed and got ready for the day. Got him out, dressed to tackle his day and downstairs to prep everything to head to Jenna's.

Arrived at Jenna's at 0900, got Chase dressed for his day. Jenna took Squeaky, I took Jonah and off to Norwich we headed. I was surprised when we got to Aunt Jeanne's house because Aunt Michelle was an HOUR early! This NEVER happens. Usually everyone waits an hour LONGER for her to arrive. Good Job! Got the boys set up to play the Wii and then did my weigh in. I am proud to report I lost 5.6 pounds over the last week. And that was just by adjusting my diet to correct proportions. And lots more water.

Purchased some of the protein shake stuff and we had our little hour long class. As soon as 1100 hit the boys and I were out the door! Off to Lisbon center to watch the 3D version of Coraline. It was a terrific movie with the exception of No One Told Us To Turn On The 3D Glasses! But I was feeling a little better after all was said and done because those who had figured out to turn on the glasses exclaimed they did not work anyway. So we were given passes to attend again at a later date. Which I promptly passed on to Jenna to take Jonah again later.

So tomorrow starts a new week for myself. I will be setting up my Wii program to assist in my weight loss. I will also start adjusting my diet a little more as well. I've been tracking my blood sugars and will be doing a fasting glucose test next week. I'm interested to see how this turns out as I have had some pretty good readings lately. My only concern has been my first thing in the morning blood sugars. The numbers seem a little high to me which is a concern. My bed time blood sugars are good. So am I dipping in the middle of the night? And is my body rebounding?

We shall see. But for now I am going to head upstairs and get the boys squared away. Then time to write in my text message log journal. Oh, and I will be watching Extreme Home Makeover tonight because the Voluntown CT Girard Family will be on it.

Night all!

Diane Welch.

I don't know who you are but you need to either start paying your damn bills, or change your freaking number! I get on average about 2 or 3 phone calls a day for her. Some of them are just call and hang ups. Some are stupid computers saying *This is an attempt to collect a debt*. The last one I came unglued on. Some lady gets all pissy with me because I told her I was not Diane Welch. She seriously asked me if I was sure. I was like..I have not been Diane Welch since you guys started calling me almost 2 years ago. I was a little pissed off when she said..Well..YOU could be lying.

Listen lady..I pay our bills. We are out of debt and not planning to make anymore new debt. And YOU are the reason why we don't make debt.

At that point I was so annoyed with this lady I actually hung up on her. And cleaned. Because I clean my house when I am annoyed or angry. Not saying I am angry or annoyed a lot, but my house is always clean. *lol*

So I am planning to head out to Oregon in April. While I am there I am planning to go to a couple of places up in Portland. I'm pretty excited about visiting there, but am cautious because I am working on my weight loss. Which is going pretty well by the way.

I also started a new medication for my skin. I'm hating the fact that I am 36 years of age and going through puberty. Pleh. It sucks.

OK, upstairs to go watch a movie with Chase. Huggers!

Oh ugh!

That's for the factor of Aunt Flow visiting. I have noticed since I closed the factory her visits are very regular and come with a painful slap. But I have also noticed they are only a couple of days, which is nicer.

Tonight is short and sweet. I'm tired. Night all.

Ok, enough!

With the whole Michael Phelps thing! Good lord! He smoked a little pot people. It's not like he torched a church with dozens of innocent orphans burning to death inside. This kid is exactly that, a kid! Who went to the Olympics at 25 years of age! Who in turn brought the USA 8 freaking gold medals! There are some days I can barely get my ass up and down the stairs. So my philosophy on his *huge* pot smoking problem? The kid was just showing us his amazing lung capacity from all that practice at swimming the Olympics.

On to bigger and better things..Geesh. Chase is improving in school a little more with the Tenex added to his Adderal. The reports back have been a lot better, so I'm starting to breathe a little easier. Squeaky is not wheezing as much. Only when he does his version of the Olympics and knee sprints through the house. And then it's a very light wheeze.

I'm doing much better than I expected with changing my diet and exercising. I went to the Dr. today to talk to him about how to better approach this stuff and we did a weigh in. Now, if his machine is correct I have already lost 2 pounds. Which I won't lie..I would be very happy because it is showing progress. The exercise is not a problem, I get tons of that all day chasing after baby and cleaning my house.

Some people and their stay at home Mother notions need to be corrected here and now. I am a stay at home mother. But I will tell you right now I am busier now than I was when I had just Chase and worked a full time job. And as well, you can ask anyone who knows me well how immaculate my house is. Now I know that old adage of *A clean house is an unhappy child* and blah blah blah. But I also know that since I have the opportunity to be home with my children until I start college the LEAST I could do is make sure this place is clean and my children and clean and well fed. I never understood the concept of a stay at home mother who had a trail through all the dirt and crap in her house. That makes me wonder what in the hell she does all day? My day usually starts with making breakfast, doing dishes, feeding, bathing and dressing baby and then off to drop off Chase at school.

Then chores such as check the mail, Dr appointments. Maybe the grocery store if I need to do that. Back home to clean my floors, put away laundry. Occasionally I have had an efficient morning where I am able get everything done before I have to drop off Chase. Not often. Those little nap times with the baby are nice. I won't lie about that. But it does not happen often. When baby takes his naps now I catch up with reading I need to get done. Or I do research on our new duty station. I have even started checking out who, what, where and when for our road trip to Kansas.

Right now though my back is killing me so I am heading upstairs to bed.

Sicko.

Yesterday and today I watched a documentary in my quiet time called Sicko. It's made by Michael Moore. Now, I have heard good things and bad things regarding this documentary so I decided I was going to check it out for myself. And I am glad I did.

I highly recommend it to anyone and everyone who reads this. It is an eye opener. I really stopped and did a lot of research on my own regarding socialized medicine and the living conditions of various countries that support it. I am truly appalled that in this great land of ours, we street people who can not afford their medical bills. And I know it happens because I have seen it. Over here in Connecticut a lot of places will not treat you unless you pay up front what your insurance will not cover.

I felt truly blessed to have Tri-Care insurance until I watched this documentary. Now I wonder if my family really will be OK or will my husband and I have to work other jobs to have extra insurance to save our asses as we get older?

Or maybe moving to Canada would be better in the long run? We shall see. I will be passing this documentary along to my friends Jess and Jenna. And then, I will send it out to my Mother in Oregon because she herself feels the same way I did before I saw this.

Now, along other notes Squeaky has been sick the last few days. He has a virus right now called RSV. And because of this I won't be doing parent pick up for the rest of the week. RSV is a basic common cold in adults, but the number 2 killer of infants 6 months and younger. And with there being so many infants and newborns at the parent pick up I would be devastated in the least if one of them were sickened because of this. So I lean to the side of caution. But on a lighter note we had to pick up a new humidifier for Squeaky. So below is a picture of it. I gotta tell you that Chasers and I giggled so hard when we turned this thing on. The mist comes out of little slits above the eyes and below the mouth so it looks like smoke. It is the cutest thing!

OK, I am off to relax and watch a movie until I fall asleep. Along with baby being sick, I am as well.