Monday, February 27, 2012

More Pictures Of Piper's First Birthday

 Thankfully I was able to find all my photo's from Piper's birthday. 



Mommy made a special brunch for Piper. She had eggs and bacon.  
She really enjoyed her bacon!


After dinner (which she didn't eat) we got ready
for cupcakes.  She wore her Party hat the whole time.
I was very pleased since I made it for her party, and she
wanted nothing to do with it then!


Ohhh, cupcakes.  I even found a bumblebee one.




A shot of her cupcakes before she tried to
grab the flame. Ouch! No worries, she is okay!


Piper actually tasted some icing.  But she did not eat
one bit of cupcake. She did eat a marshmallow
off of one.



What An Amazing Year!

I can not believe that my baby turned one yesterday!  Where has the time gone?

In the past year I had a baby (duh!), had a teenager sneak out of the house and get caught by the police, turned 40, moved to another state, and to top it all off Aaron will be officially retired from the Navy in two days.  He still hasn't started his new job (waiting on his TSI to transfer to civilian) and I thought we were supposed to have one last "normal" pay check but alas, nothing is pending for the first. Great! Can you say stressed! (Phew, it's showing now!) Everything will be fine but not one step of this process has gone how I thought it would.

I really am surprised that I am still sane!  I think I nearly lost my mind those first few months after Piper was born.  Damn hormones and sleep deprivation. I'm still having some crazy mood swings and I'm sure Aaron and Parker think I'm a crazy woman most days. It really is hard (and amazingly wonderful) to start all over again, especially when both my boys were independent and I had so much freedom. But, I wouldn't trade her for anything. She is truly a blessing and a surprise! Now, the next step is getting her out of our bed and into her own. I have a book on how to accomplish this, now to just find some time to read it!


Piper finally got her eighth tooth last week.  She is standing more on her own and took six steps last night for Parker.  She is talking up a storm and aside from "Mom" and "Daddy" (and all their variations), "Uh-oh" and "Oh No", "hi" and "bye", "yeah" and "no", my favorites are "Ash" and "Hey!" She's also started saying her name "Pah-Pah". She really has become a little ham.  She loves to dance and she loves to climb the stairs.

We spent a nice relaxing day at home for her birthday.  We got her a swing, and she absolutely loves it!  Aaron smoked ribs for dinner and we had the best corn I've had in years.  I know, it's February! Of course she had none of it.  I bought some cupcakes for dessert and put a candle in one and we sang her Happy Birthday. She was actually putting her fingers in the icing and tasting it.  Then just as we were about to blow out the candle she stuck her finger in the flame.  She screamed and all three of us almost had a heart attack!  She was fine, but I honestly thought she couldn't reach that cupcake!  Mom of the year here. And no, she didn't eat any cupcakes just a marshmallow off one of  them, but she did have a Mum-Mum.  Nothing like a rice cracker for dessert! And, she wore her party hat.  Yeah!



I can't wait to see what this next year brings!


I just about had a heart attack!  I just downloaded all the photos from my camera and I deleted them from my computer somehow!  What the hell?!?  Luckily Parker took some, I hope Aaron can find them when he gets back from the DMV!

Sunday, February 19, 2012

Trip to Michael's Via the Pentagon

Or:  I'M PRETTY SURE I'M GOING TO DIE!!!!!!!

This afternoon I decided it would be fun to go to Michael's * alone * to buy some frames (big sale plus another 25% off).  And, I needed to get away on my own. Somehow, I missed the exit to Michael's.

How, well, I was screaming at my GPS (stupid thing doesn't understand a thing, like Walmart you have to say Wol Mart.  Really, so I named her Stupid Witch-only with a B).  Anyway, yes, I do know how to get to Michael's (Aaron and Parker kept asking too) I just wanted to pull it up on the GPS.  So while I was yelling and enunciating, I went right by the exit.  Great, no big deal, I could see Michael's so I took the next exit.  Now, in my defense it looked like it went right to where I wanted to be.  Nope!  Not only was it an entrance to 395 North, it was for the CARPOOL LANE ONLY! I sear to Bob, it did NOT say that it was the highway or carpool entrance.  Just looked like a damn road!

Now, if you get in a carpool lane on the Beltway, they go for miles with no way off!  So, I called Aaron, I was more freaked I was in a carpool lane and that I might get lost (stupid GPS just kept saying "turn around".  Really? See, Stupid Bitch!) Anyway, I call Aaron freaking out and swearing more than a truck driver. I hate driving, you all know this, especially somewhere I've never been.  Luckily just talking with Aaron calmed me down.

Finally the carpool lane ends.  And it ends about a mile from downtown DC.  Yup, I'm right next to the Pentagon Memorial.  I could see a Nordstrom to my left.  I almost went there, its my "Happy Place".  But I was in the right lane - of course!  Once the Stupid Bitch figured out where I was, she tells me I needed to turn right.  Now it was one of those right turns where you turn before the light and merge into the lane, you are not supposed to turn at the light. How do I know this, there was a sign that said so.  But like the Honey Badger, I didn't give a shit and I turned.  Made it back to 395 South and went to Michael's where I purchased 3 frames for an excellent price, and with out incident.

Now that I'm home Piper has puked all over me and is now screaming like a banshee.  I'm ready to leave again!


Monday, February 13, 2012

I'm Alive!

I did it!  I drove through Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, and Virginia.  We are alive, and I only thought we might die a few times, I did not enjoy the beltway at all!  And, the last 30 minutes to our new house, Aaron followed me, that's right, you read correctly.  Aaron followed me.  I had the GPS! Ha!

Piper did great!  We fed her a big lunch, I nursed her and we got on our way.  She slept over 3 hours, we stopped to eat and feed her and started driving again.  But, this time, she lost touch.  Screaming, shreaking, full on freak out.  But she did scream "IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII"  instead of "EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE".  So we hit the next rest area and she was poopie (I'd scream to) and I nursed her again and she slept until we pulled up in front of our house!  Parker was an amazing help and a fun travel companion.

We hit very little traffic.  Just a couple of traffic jams, accidents, or road work.  Nothing that lasted too long.  Aaron got into the wrong lane at one of the tolls (he said I had to stay behind him) and we went through the Easy Pass lane.  We don't have Easy Pass.  We are waiting for our tickets.  Nice!  The belt way is insane!  I just kept with the flow of traffic and learned very, very quickly to be aggressive if you need to change lanes.  Just keep aware of the cars around you and it's all good.  (Not that I ever want to do that again! But I can if I have too!) And, the lanes are very, very, narrow.  I think the worst times driving for me were the areas with road construction and the Jersey Barriers right up against the narrow lanes.  Makes me want to puke. I can see the car bouncing off the wall like a ping pong ball!

We got to our new home about 11:45 on Friday night.  It is very nice.  A few things remain from the 80's but nothing terrible.  There is plenty of room and I think we are going to be very happy here.  I met one of our neighbors last night, she is from Aberdeen and was very nice.  We can not hear our neighbors at all, I think we have very good sound proofing, especially since the house is pretty empty.

Aaron and I have not been sleeping too well.  Air mattresses suck.  It doesn't matter how nice they are.  Especially when you have a baby in bed with you.  Piper's tooth still has not broken through and she is a fuss butt.  You can tell it's really bugging her and she's not sleeping well.

So now, we are just waiting for our stuff to be delivered, should be Wednesday.  I can not wait!  I want my bed.  I want the house set up.  I want Aaron to go to work and Parker to go to school (Ooops, did I say that).

And I had a pleasant surprise.  I found out that one of my friends from the boat lives .7 miles from us.  Literally across the street.  She grew up here and really knows the area.  I can't wait to meet her for lunch.

We took some time this weekend exploring.  I am not used to living in such a big city.  There are so many people.  Everywhere you go, there are tons of people.  I couldn't believe it when we went to Costco (yay, finally) and it was jam packed with people.  I have never seen anything like it.  Crazy. This will take some getting used to.

We are in a very nice area. It is nice because we are close to everything!  I have already been out on my own a few times to pick up things we need.  I hate this part of moving, it is so expensive! Kind of fun too.  I guess you might as well enjoy it if you have to get new stuff!

Oh, and we had no problems checking out of our old house.  She said we over cleaned, of course, but at least there were no issues.  Except for the fact that we are not getting almost $800 back because we didn't give 30 days notice.  No one said anything when Aaron gave our move out date.  A-Holes!  We are contesting it because we did not know when or if the boat would be releasing Aaron.  We still had to go on the assumption he was going to sea.  So he gave notice as soon as he could.  Anyway, he filled a form and we'll see what happens.  This sheet really jerks my chain.  Hello, you are dealing with the Military.  Give me my money!  I'm going to send Pearl after them!  She'll get my money, then I'll go get my drink on!


Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Totally Freaking Out!

I HATE MOVING!  IT IS STUPID! I WANT IT TO BE OVER!

We have barely started this move.  The packers are not even here yet, and I am exhausted, stressed out, and so ready for this to be over.  Moving is such a pain.  And trying to move with a baby is insane.  Trying to make sure I not only pack my things, but all the paperwork and everything else we might possibly need, and all of Piper's things is exhausting and nerve wracking.

I do wish I had a little help with the baby.  Aaron and I have been taking turns with her so we can get stuff done.  Not a fun thing moving with an almost one year old who needs to be near you, on you, next to you, or in sight of you. I did have my friends daughter come help Sunday for awhile and that was a big help.  (Did I already mention that previously? Who knows, I'm loosing my mind!)

What if I forget something?  Yeah, I know I can go buy it (hopefully) but who wants to spend the money if you don't have to, moving is already so expensive.  So I'm trying to make sure we have everything we need or may possibly need in between little crying fits (my own) because I am going to miss my friends dearly, I wish we were moving home, and I'm nervous about moving to a new place.  Jeez, like I've never done this before.  Oh, and of course the kids are reacting to my stress. "I must chill!"

While I am (was?) feeling excited about the move, I am a wreck about having to drive.  You may not know this, but, I hate to drive.  I hate the people driving, they are all retard dorks (don't give me any PC talks or comments - retards are stupid, ignorant people!) ANYWAY, I am also terrified to drive somewhere I have never been before. Hell, I hate the Goldstar bridge.  That thing is stupid too!  My hatred of driving started when Aaron LOST me in Portland, OR, the first time we moved to Connecticut.  We had no cell phones or GPS and all I knew was that we were meeting at a DMV near a big Paul Bunion.  Anyway, I finally found Mario and he's lucky to be alive.

So, I guess the point I was trying to make is I'm scared shitless about driving through New York, DC, Maryland and what ever other place I have to drive through, all of which I've never been to.  And scary traffic.  I hate traffic, again people are stupid in traffic and I hate it.  I think we're going to leave at night and hopefully avoid the dorks.  Anyway, say a little prayer for me, I'm going to need it.  Thanks.

Sunday, February 5, 2012

Freaking Out A Little!

Wow!  5 days till we are on our way to Virginia.  Holy Moly!  Cable, power and water are all set up.  Paper work for enrolling Parker in school is filled out, just need to set up the appointment to enroll him.  And we have gone through this house top to bottom again today.  We threw out so much stuff that the garbage pickers must think it's Christmas.  Ha! They have been coming by all day and they can have it! Tomorrow is our last trash day here so we wanted to purge as much as possible.  Feels good!

But, I must confess!  I freak out a little. OK! Maybe a lot.  There is so much to do and I can feel it pressing down on me like a vice!  I try to be calm, it'll get done, if not, who cares?  Me!  That's who.  I try to be funny, and calm, but it just doesn't always work.  I just keep telling myself everything is going to be great!

Of course Piper was a stinker for parts of the day, her 8th tooth is almost in, and she has so much drool that she has discovered spitting! Thankfully Taylor came to help so I could get things done.  She is really starting to go through some separation anxiety, she wants her Mommy or Daddy.  Like, freak out if we leave the room, or she looses sight of us and it's freak out time.

Now for the fun stuff!

We celebrated Piper's Bee-day yesterday!  It was so nice (and loud) to have my friends together one last time before we go.  The kids all seemed to have a lot of fun and they sure made a mess.  There were Goldfish and cheese everywhere.  My socks were nasty at the end of the night.  But it was so worth it!



I had a lot of fun decorating for Piper's party.  I made
all the decorations, the cake and cupcakes.




Piper and the sweet Farrah playing and sharing their snacks!  Luckily there were no kisses that turned to bites.

 Just a quick nap during the party.

"What!?! I love these presents!"

"I hate this hat that Mommy made!"


Having fun after the party.


It was great to see everyone, thank you again for all the lovely gifts.  We really missed seeing those who were sick or had sick little ones.  I hope we get a chance to see everyone and say our good byes.  I'm sure I'll bawl my eyes out!  

I'll leave you with a few of the professional photo's my beautiful and talented friend Des'ola did for Pipers first birthday.  If you are in Connecticut please check her out, she is amazing!


"I do not like crunchy grass!"


"I am not eating this cake!"

"I am just going to take a nap!"

I love this, behind the scenes trying to get her to
smash her cake. She wanted nothing to do with
it.  Wouldn't touch it, taste it, nothing!

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Time Flies.

Count down to the Condo by the Pond: 8 days - AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAHHH

WOW! Time is going by so quickly.  Planning Piper's birthday party has helped to keep my mind off of things. I am so excited to move to our new home and start this next chapter in our lives, but I hate leaving my lovely friends behind,  It is going to be so hard to say good bye,

I've been having a lot of fun doing little craft projects for Piper's party and we had her pictures taken today.  She was a bit fussy at times (she needed a nap) and wanted nothing to do with her cake.  Silly girl!  The beautiful and amazing Des'ola of Des'ola Photography took her pictures.  She shared a sneak peak with us - I am dying to see more.  She is just so talented.


Here is the lovely Smash Cake I made  The cake plate was my Great Grandma's.


The amazing sneak peak!

Good night - sweet dreams, I am off to bed.