Mama Bear and then some

Hi, it's me! Remember that time when I had a blog and used to write stuff? I know, I almost forgot too. I guess two years is a long enough break to get me geared up and ready to enter the blogging arena again. Well, OK. Confession. I do have another blog. I've been cheating on this blog with another blog. But I'm allowed to cause I make all the rules here. If you're interested, find that blog HERE. It's my photography blog. Maybe one of these days I'll find a place in my brain to combine the two. Hmm... I'll have to think on that. But for now, this one will probably stay funnier and that one will stay more sophisticated. Although I'm not sure who I'm kidding with the sophisticated stuff. ha. :)

Anyway. To commemorate this return to blogging day, I going to catch you up on my life of late and then talk about something extremely important. Just wait for it. It's really important.

Since I last blogged I...

1. Had a baby and she just turned two! Woah.
2. My two-year old just turned four. Huh?
3. Moved across the country. West coast for life! (insert some weird, exaggerated hand signal here)
4. Lived through my hubby's 9-month deployment. Phew.
5. Threw myself into my passion, photography!
6. Participated in my first "Mud Run". Got dirty.
7. And some other really interesting stuff I can't think of right now.

Alright. Now on to something very important.

I don't want to get all mushy and serious on you, but I need to speak of something right now. (Name that movie quote and you get $50. Not really, but I'll think you're amazing.) Whenever my husband has to be gone for long periods of time, I get all crazy and motivated. It's weird like that. All the sudden my life does not revolve around getting dinner ready by 6p.m. or having the house clean when my hubby gets home (not that either of those things actually happen very often...). Instead, I suddenly stop thinking and wondering how he's doing or what his plans and schedule are and instead focus on what I want to do and get done in my schedule. In a way it's amazingly nice. Now, don't get off thinking I'm some insensitive wife who just writes off my husband every time he leaves. No, not the case. In a big way this is therapy for me. If I were to continuously concern myself with his schedule and what he's doing, I'd literally go insane. Other marine corps (and army, navy, etc.) wives can back me up here. It's not like we get some daily 5 o'clock call letting us know their meetings are done for the day and now they're out to dinner at some nice restaurant. In fact, it's probably a lot scarier than that (at least on deployment) and I'd rather not know, thank you very much. Hence, my motivated single self. Now, if I could find a way to internally merge my two selves, I'm sure my life would be much happier. But that's another therapy session for another day.

But suffice it to say, Mama Bear comes out on those long, lonely days and I get stuff done. In a way I look forward to those separations. In a twisted-crazy-green-alien sort of way, I like it. At least that's how I cope and it works for me.

What works for you? When are you the most motivated?

To pee or not to pee? That is the question.

Ok, I'm going to sacrifice my good name and self respect for a funny blog post. It's been quite a while and I think my readers deserve at least that much. :)

Fact: I'm 8 months pregnant.
Fact: I've had about every single pregnancy symptom you read about in all the books. Wait, lemme think....yep. Every one.

Story:

So my doctors fortunately alleviated the whole bed-rest requirement and put me on better medicine (not so many crazy, shaky side-affects) and told me to hang in there (essentially).

Anyway, the other day (yesterday) I'm sitting outside, enjoying the beautiful weather and fun company when I see my 2-year-old son sprinting straight for our backyard pond. I yell for him to stop, but being the 2-year-old that he is, he just speeds up. So I take my achy-breaky back and big belly out of my chair and run full-speed (yes, full-speed) to save his life. When I finally reach him and give him my mother-schpeel about disobeying me I realize my pants are totally wet. Like, more than a few drips here, people. We're talking through the undies, through the pants and creeping up the sides. This totally freaks me out since I didn't even feel like I had to pee and I've never had a water-breaking experience before (they broke my water for my first babe). Knowing that I'm at the exact same point in my pregnancy that I was with #1 when I delivered him, I call my doctor and consequently head to the hospital to get checked out. By this time I'm not totally sure it was my water since I'm not leaking or anything. Anyway, after about an hour and a half of hospital tests (and calling my whole fam to warn them I might be going into labor soon) I find out that I just peed in my pants. No amniotic fluid. Sweet. And thank you very much.

I already told my husband he can make fun of me for the rest of my life for my genious-ness. It's ok, I deserve it.

So from now on there will be mandatory potty breaks every 30 minutes, whether I'm feeling the urge or not. Either that or adult diapers, and I'm opting for the former.

Advice, anyone?

Just when I was starting to really enjoy this pregnancy (no puking, lots of eating) the third trimester reared its ugly head and threatened to destroy my happiness. Ok, so maybe that's a little extreme, but still. Let's just say that after two trips to the ER and lots of drugs later, I'm back at home with the baby still in my belly (thank goodness! I'm only 32 weeks!). BUT, here's the catch, I've been advised by several doctors to "take it easy" and keep off my feet as much as possible. Not that I don't occasionally (ok, often) welcome a good excuse to be lazy, it's just really hard to feel productive when I'm sitting or laying down all the time. My body is sore from doing NOTHING. How weird is that?!?! Yuck. So if any of you have 1) been through this yourself, or 2) can at least empathize/sympathize with my situation, then I welcome your advice on how to stay active without being active. Hmmm.... yeah. So come one, come all with your fabulous suggestions!!

Crazy kid

How my son feels about oral hygiene

Cleaning and the Twos

Honestly, I like cleaning. It's true. (I promise, family!) I'm definitley my mother's daughter and that's just one place where it totally shows. I was house-sitting for a friend last week and I was excited to clean her house. I've been living in a place where people clean for me and I was excited to do it myself! Weird, I know. But for some reason, I find a WAY greater joy in cleaning someone else's house or cleaning for company than I do just cleaning for the day to day. I mean, does my 2-year-old son REALLY care if there is a little sticky yogurt on his bib from that morning? No. Will it get sticky again? Yes. Is it worth it to clean 5 times a day? You be the judge. But if I'm cleaning for someone else, I'm totally a perfectionist (well, as perfectionist as I get). The smallest speck totally bugs me. When we were leaving our last house I got all crazy over a few specks of dirt we left on the rug. Hmmm... and I always thought my husband was the OCD one...

On another note, the terrible twos have reared their ugly head. My son makes me so happy and I love to kiss his soft, plump cheeks, but sometimes there is nothing that annoys me more than his little sweet face!!! AH! He's learning how to be independent and defy his parents' orders, the stinker. I'm totally becoming "that mom" with the kid in church who doesn't leave or even flinch when her son screams cause she's become so accustomed to the sound. Ah....kids these days... What d'ya do?

The boy acting all sweet and innocent with his cute little girly friend

Dad teaching him how to chew and spit sunflower seeds. An essential male skill. 

It's in the good stuff

Hi. Ok, I'm a genious. I just figured out how to post from my phone. Sweet. My blog has seen better days cause my computer and Internet are without my reach for a while. Don't ask. My life is crazier than you're thinking.

So I'm pretty positive the movie, Girls Just Want to Have Fun, was my all time favorite growing up. It even beat out the likes of Newsies and Indiana Jones (although they were very strong competitors). There was just something about the dancing, the young love, and the rebellion that put a fire in my blood. I couldn't help but make up my own dance routines and sweet outfits during the closing credits. Even now when I hear Cindy Lauper's shrill voice singing that familiar song I can't help but get psyched up and ready to face the world!

Its crazy how music and memories do that to us. Kind of the same way country music always makes me want to open my windows and do a little spring cleaning. Oh where would my home be without a little bit of that lovin'?!

Everything from long runs to lonely nights to spring dance parties got a good kick from life's little gems. All I can say is thank goodness for the good stuff like that!

Life of late has been pretty crazy. I've found that sleep is often more restless and non-relaxing than vegging in front of the TV because of everything on my mind. I guess that's life though, right? 

I've decided to dedicate this post to one of my followers who inspires me. In fact, I think I'll be doing this quite often, so if you're following this blog it could be YOU! 

The person who inspires me to be a better person and be proactive is my sister Tracie! Tracie's birthday was yesterday so I've been thinking about what an amazing person she is. She basically has the patience of Job and is the best peacemaker I've ever met. I honestly don't ever remember fighting with her in my entire life (and believe me, that's got nothing to do with me!). She always remembers birthdays, anniversaries or anything else special in someone's life. She has made several baby blankets for family members, which is an arduous feat given that she can sometimes be quite the perfectionist. She is always looking on the positive side of any situation and very very rarely gets discouraged. She is not afraid to try new things and she doesn't judge by what's on the outside. She doesn't compare herself to other people - only to herself and in how she can become better. All of these things (plus about a million more) are reasons why my sister Tracie inspires me. 

Thanks for everything, Tra! I can't wait to play this summer!