Reasons to love life...

With Charlie's birthday coming up I've had time to reflect on the past year and how wonderful my life has become! There are so many reasons I love that boy, it's crazy!~His beautiful smile
~How he giggles at the most random things
~His giggle
~How when it's quiet I know he's gotten into something he shouldn't
~Now he eats anything he can get his little mitts on(For you information- the food he is eating is pasta with alfredo sauce and cinnamon toast crunch-YUM)
~And then spits 90% of it out
~His cheeks, and how when we're in the car the jiggle ever so cutely
~His great hugs
~The drooly kisses
~How much drool, snot, pee, poop, and vomit can come out of something so little
~He yells to get your attention and as soon as you look he looks away all bashful-like
~How when he doesn't feel good he becomes a great cuddle-bug
~How he barks and bites the dog to get her back for barking and biting him
~He yells "DADA!" from his crib whenever there is someone in the bathroom near his room because most often it is daddy.
~He flirts, but only with the ladies(how does he know???)
~ Splash fights
~His manly voice
~When he's tired he sucks his thumb
~If you look at his right thumb it's dried and cracked from him sleep sucking it
~How he looks just like his dad and I love him too
~He's mine and oh so sweet-when he wants to be.
There's so much more but I don't want to brag anymore than I already have!

I hate Nosebleeds...

I hate Nosebleeds, they are dumb and icky and I hate them, that is all.

Just living life.

Well I haven't updated in awhile but we haven't done anything marvelously amazing of late just living life! My baby is growing up far too fast I love all the new stuff we get to do now that he's older but he'll snuggle up to me and I miss the tiny little baby he was! He can now crawl, is great at standing and walks when helped, and has two teethies!!! I haven't been able to get a picture of them because he sticks his tongue out. I've tried to get him playing patti-cake on camera but he freezes and smiles! He is enjoying eating everything and is very demanding when you don't share and has figured out how to throw super tantrums, way fun. He is jibber-jabbering all the time too and loves to tell stories and get books read to him.Reading his books with his feet up on his toy.
I'm planning on enrolling him in baby swimming class once it gets a little warmer because I know he'll love it and I'm excited to get to do that with him! I'll also be starting up some school get a few more generals out of the way since we'll be here until January.
We got our taxes back and paid off some bills and my ring! It's so beautiful I had to post a picture and flaunt it a little!And of course Larin bought a gun he wanted, he is so excited and can't wait until hunting season starts.After that we still had some to put in savings! YAY! We are planning on getting a new mattress here soon and once we save a little more a new car, a four-door so Larin can drive his truck and I won't have to try and squeeze Charlie's seat into the Honda! That and save a pretty penny on gas. That's all for now!

My New Year's decision...

Yes, it is the 11th and I'm just getting to it but here goes. I decided to try new things and have chosen 7 that I want to try and WILL do!

1. Learn a new Language...I have the best opportunity because my husband is in the military and we have FREE access to Rosetta Stone. Come on, I know you've seen the commercials. I figure I'm a stay at home mom so I thinking I need to do it 30min. a day 5 days a week isn't crazy, I can do it! So I choose SPANISH! I actually used to know quite a bit having to converse with my co-workers at Sol-Rio. But after not working there and dropping Spanish in High School (Senor Kerns creeped me out majorly) I think it will be easy to get back into- hopefully!




2. Finish my many crafts I started!- Yup, I've been known to start one and never get around to finishing it, I have like 5 right now that need to get done so I will get on it! And maybe when I'm done start decorating my house, it's pretty plain!

3. Work out!- Everyone says this but I'm going to I swear!! My abs are pretty much non-existent since a certain little boy was growing in my belly- Same as the language thing 5 days a week at least 30 min a day, I've done two days so far so yay!! So yeah, I'll never look that good ---------------------------------->
without surgical intervention but a girl can dream, or my husband can;)



4. Get out of the house as a couple- Larin got great news that he will not have to work as a recruiter the remainder of our months here so he will now have NORMAL HOURS!!!!! So we need to start keeping the romance alive- so we try new thing together or just go out on a date at least 3 times a month!!!


5. Read the Scriptures- It's been a loooonnggg time, now that I have a child I need to get back into religion so we can be a family for eternity. Larin and I always say we are going to start it up, the whole going back to church and what not and now we have a great reason too.

6. Learn to Cook better- I'm an awesome baker but my cooking skills fall pretty FLAT, or bland if you ask Larin. So more food from SCRATCH for our dinners- dinner as a family!! In this case WISH LARIN LUCK!




7. Learn PHOTOGRAPHY- This is an idea that I've been brooding about for awhile, reading up on and what not. My family always gets together and is like "we need a family picture before anyone gets pregnant again or moves far away...". I thought maybe I could learn to do it and do it well and hey wherever my husband, Charlie and I end up I could do it as a job out of my house. Maybe that part won't happen but I'd like to have more family pictures and it's such a hassle to get Larin in on it so if I can do it myself at home we would actually have them! The camera I want and it's accessories is $450, yikes, so this one might be a little later in the year after I save up that much! Taking donations-just kidding-unless you have money you want to give me then do.

So there you go- I hope I can do all of these! Wish me LUCK!!

Oh the stress!!

So before I go into the boring me complaining here are pictures of my son, he cracks me up sooo much!This was him showing off his standing skills, holding on to the couch, and look how TALL he is! I don't know what happened to my baby!Him doing his doggy impression, it took me forever to catch this on camera because when he sees the camera now he poses and smiles like a ham, note the following picture...
TOOOO CUTE! He has been testing my not so great patience, yes I know something that cute could not ever be bad but he has decided this past week he CAN NOT be left alone, ever, period. And if you dare try be prepared to hear the most heart-wrenching screams, and upon re-entering the room there will be a red-faced tear stained sad little boy. I asked the other women who have had children in my life "WHY, and when does this stage end????!!??" It's a normal stage and it usually takes a month according to my sister who has raised three children and has one (RJ) going through this stage again, so let's just hope I make it through with what's left of my sanity. My mother's truthful answer made me laugh (and cry inside), "The stage ends when they find another more annoying stage to move on to." I laughed because I know it's true and cried because I do that a lot lately, which brings me to this fun part of my life.
As many of you know I have been struggling with my health. I was sick of being sick and having every doctor say something was off they just couldn't figure out why and what. I, being fed up, made an executive decision...get off the anti-anxiety med Effexor XR, which 'could' be the problem according to one of the many docs I was seeing. I have been on an anti-anxiety since I was 10, yes, very young but I needed it. When you are in the fifth grade and trying to figure out suicide it was a life-saver. I rarely missed a dose these 11 years because I was on Paxil, which just like Effexor has some pretty serious withdrawal symptoms. After getting married I switched to Effexor because it is safer for pregnancy since we were planning on eventually having kids, which we did obviously. Switching over was TOUGH, I think I understand heroin addicts trying to quit. The physical and mental pain is only understandable if you have been there, and its similar to a 'party' drug in that you know what would make you feel better...it's right there in the bottle on your nightstand...just take a pill and feel better within an hour. Quitting without having anything else to dampen the withdrawals was HELL. The sweating, spinning vision, vomiting and what we have come to call the "zappies" (remember when your older sister told you to stick your tongue on the D battery, its that but more intense in your brain and throughout your entire body)are only part of the difficulty. My emotions have been very unstable, and I hate it. I cry at the drop of a hat, yell way more than I have ever, feel like a stranger in my own body and mind and actually have wanted to throw things. Then after one of those things happen I'm ANGRY, why can't I just control myself, why am I miserable, my life is great- a wonderful (very patient) husband and a healthy happy baby (most of the time:)) what more could I ask for? The normal me knows it's because I have been on these meds forever and I have family history of depression and high anxiety so I know it's normal but that doesn't make it stop. Poor Larin has been yelled at and cried to more in this last month than our entire marriage and I hate putting him through this, it's not his fault! After all I was only slightly insane when we first met, he didn't have any clue this crazy lady lived in me! I just decided to let everyone in so you understand a little bit more of why I don't seem the same when we hang out. When I'm not at home my only defense is to not really feel so not to let my feelings out of control, so I'm a little monotone and not as spastic as usual, don't worry, it'll come back. I am working with a (eek) shrink and learning better 'coping techniques' it is just going to take some time.
So onto the whole weight loss thing, yeah, Christmas came with the pies and big family dinners and candy and all that deliciousness I'm back up to 150 but my measurements are still the same? yeah I don't understand either, maybe water weight or something. So my resolution is to EXERCISE. Back in my hayday I could run a six minute(or less) mile and enjoyed it. That was waaaayyyy long ago. I figure my eating habits aren't horrid, I eat fruits and veggies regularly and only indulge when I am with family and friends...darn you! I can't just jump back into it but I am committed to doing this because it can also help with the whole going crazy thing so this is more for my health then looks. Who needs skinny when you've got a face like this and curves like these?? I'll just keep telling myself this!
Better than before not what I want but hey, I just had a baby!! Ok, that was 9 months ago but a friend of mine told me I can use that excuse, I have permission, so there.

Charlie's first Christmas!

The weeks leading up to Christmas were pretty insane, it felt like we were never home! Larin got his promotion up in Idaho at training which was a BIG accomplishment so WAY TO GO BABY! They don't look alike at all do they?
Afterward was his Battalion's Christmas party and SANTA was there, it was waaayyy exciting. We were watching Spencer and Madelyn and Spencer got a hold of the camera so there were pictures of the carpet and people's butts and Spencer's face! Spencer enjoyed seeing Santa more than Charlie and definitely more than Maddi who wrapped herself around me as soon as Santa came and screamed if he got too close!Not a bad picture from Spencer!Spencer asking Santa for a paddle, yeah Santa looked at me very confused!A picture from Spencer's escapade with the camera, there were 10 like this one!It was like Charlie is used to seeing a big fat man in a red with a big beard, he's so nonchalant.Charlie got ahold of a candy cane and was pretty pleased!

So Christmas Eve morning we had Christmas at our house so we could have our first family Christmas with just us three! It's not like Charlie had any idea what was going on anyways, he just knew it was exciting! The wee one made away like a bandit with plenty of toys and a new fish tank which he can sit and stare at for minutes, which is a long time for a baby!His BIG fish tankWaiting on Daddy to come open presents!UMmm...why is everyone so excited??He is in love with his Step n' Ride
We then packed up and headed up to Idaho to have Christmas with family where Charlie got even more spoiled and got much needed clothes since that kid is growing like a weed. Grandpa helping him open his presents!
He is already in 12 month clothes and isn't even 9 months yet, he's also VERY sturdy, not super chubby(except his cheeks!). Go ahead pick him up if you don't believe me, or carry him around for a day and feel the burn in your arms! Charlie loved playing with his cousins, especially R.J. since they are close to the same size, R.J. was excited to have someone to pick on but Charlie thought it was all fun. I love this one because it looks like they are having some kind of conversation!It was a fun weekend but it was certainly nice to come home after!

Thanksgiving vacay!

For Thanksgiving we went up to Idaho Falls of course and had a great time seeing everyone! This picture is actually before we left at our house, Charlie was "helping" with the laundry.
Charlie isn't much of an eater which is hard to believe when looking at those adorable rolls but he seems to have finally gotten over the texture of foods and was eating tons at Grandma and Grandpa Sullivan. We stripped him down to his diaper and threw some whipped cream and let him at it. At first he wouldn't put it in his mouth he would just squish it, of course I give him food and he doesn't put it in his mouth but any garbage he finds on the floor he eats it right away!
I put him on this little push car because we got him one like it for Christmas(don't tell!) and I wanted to see if he liked it, he did! R.J. thought it was fun to push him around for a few minutes and then pushed him off, maybe he got too heavy.


Larin and I got to go out with friends sans the wee one which was great. We went bowling and first round I got a whopping 24, with Larin bowling a frame for me so I think it was really 17. This made me come to the realization Wii bowling is completely unrealistic and should not be taken seriously because I can whoop some butt on that thing. We also got together and did karaoke. Did I mention I would rather be forced to do an interpretive dance of my life experiences half naked than sing do karaoke, well I would just don't hold me to it. One thing Larin forgot to mention was that EVERYONE else there had singing experience, yeah, well I figured it out. In the end I had fun so I guess I will survive the embarrassment. We all came home with wonderful colds, what a fun souvenir, kids are good for that.
So my diet...hmmm... okay I have not been working out, I have however increased my physical activity by taking Charlie on walks and what not, I will try harder I promise! Tsk tsk, I know but I have been eating waaaayyyy better, minus a few weak moments during the holiday( stupid ice cream and pie, grr). But I have lost some!!
Weight:148 Lost-8 lbs!
Waist: 30 Lost- 2.5 ins!
Hips: 38 Lost- 2.5 ins!
Legs: 23.5 Lost- 1.5 ins!
Arms: 11.5 Lost- 0.5 ins!
It just doesn't seem real, I feel smaller just not by that much, maybe I was super bloated when I did the first measurements!! So Nutrisystem, eh, I'll give it a 7 out of 10. Pros- I lost weight, I wasn't hungry- in fact I was too full sometimes, and it took the guesswork of what to eat when. Cons- Cost of course, it isn't cheap and you still have to buy a lot of fruits and veggies to go with it, taste, some of the entrees were good some not so much and not having dinner as a family. I'm just finishing it up and hoping that I have learned the right way to eat. I figure if I actually start working out it will hopefully even all out! So I still want to lose 8 more pounds, at first I wanted to be 135 but I think that is unrealistic considering I haven't weighed that since I was 15 and my body has changed due to the human being I grew in it so 140 sounds good to me. And I'm also hoping to tone up my lower half, gravity ain't giving me any freebies here. I think I can I think I can I think I can....