Married after how long of dating???

So last weekend we went to Hilton Head Island, SC for a marriage retreat. Since Rob is a chaplain, I get the "pleasure" of going on all of the retreats with him. Sometimes they are fun, sometimes stressful, but overall I learn something new about our marriage. Our first retreat, seems so long ago, January of 2008 at Epworth by the Sea in St. Simmons Island. It was fun, we were the newly wed couple, that had never had a fight, no kids, and none of the issues that most couples were there for, but we still learned a lot about communicating. Since then I think I have been to Epworth about 4 times, done the Hanan Ranch and Grassy Pond once as well, so I have had my share! But, I must say this retreat was pretty amazing, and not just because Rob organized it. He is usually the one that coordinates this retreat, or Marriage Resiliency Training as it is called in the AF, but this time he really did good and I was super proud of him. He wanted the weekend to not only be beneficial to married couples as far as the classes, but also a little break for them. There was childcare provided during the classes as well as Saturday evening to allow the couples some kid free time. Anyone that has young kids especially more than one or two, knows how hard it can be to have time with your spouse.
  I usually don't fully participate because Rob teaches a lot so it makes it difficult to really do some of the things and if he's not teaching he's running around making sure everything is perfect. This time I participated more and we even hung out more with other couples. The way that everything was set up for the trip we were all together a lot more than at any of the other places, which was kinda cool.
   We met a couple that had been married almost 2 years and got married after 3 weeks! Rob was jealous that they had us beat, we did it after 7.5 weeks,but when asked how could you marry someone so quickly they responded that it was easy because they knew that God was in it. Such a simple answer with such a strong message. You can date for years and years, but if you know that this is not someone you want to marry or spend your life with or have children with and see a future with, than WHY WASTE EACH OTHERS TIME? I know dating is fun, but why waste so much time on someone who is only gonna be in your life for a season. Let them go and move on to the person you are supposed to be with. I think a lot of people get married without really praying about it or they ignore signs that are telling them it's not right. Although Rob said he realized right away I was the one, it took me a little longer. I guess I will keep him around lol.
 But back to the weekend, I usually get so annoyed with all the work he has to do to prepare for these weekends especially how much that damn work Blackberry goes off, but after this last one I was really proud of him. It made me realize all the late nights and emails and phone calls were worth it. He was able to get all the funds to cover childcare, great location, great food, great service and overall a great weekend. He works so hard and gives so much to other people it can be frustrating, but after this weekend and learning our character traits (something new I learned) I now understand how he is, and he's not changing!

POOL TIME

He had a blast!

She just wanted to splash.

Pool time wore them out!

I have a really good excuse....

Okay, yes I have been slacking off but I promise I will do better. We have been crazy busy! Marriage retreat in Hilton Head, getting Preston on a basic schedule, figuring out what to do for Rob's birthday, a teething Gracie running a fever and WE GOT ORDERS! 
Yes finally, we know where the hell we will be living, unless for some crazy reason they change something, which I hope does not happen, because I don't do sudden change well when it comes to the kids. So, yesterday morning I wasn't feeling all that great. It had been a long night and I just was in a ugh mood. I prayed that it would be the day that we got orders, well I guess I prayed a little harder than usual or God was tired of hearing the same prayer, but it was answered. Rob called me and asked me when I last talked to someone who lives in San Francisco, since he never really asks about her I figured we had orders to some where in California or Las Vegas. He told me we were PCS'ing to travis AFB in Fairfield, CA. I had a mix of emotions. Nervous, excited, stressed, scared, happy all at once. I immediately Googled Fairfield and surrounding areas. Well what little bit of California joy i had went out the window. The town, yes town that the base is located in is kinda scary, I even read a ton of post saying don't leave the base after dark because of all the gangs.....WTF, not cool at all. i don't do good in the hood and so far this place was the hood to the 100th power! After spending the day trying to find a safe area that won't be too much of a commute for Rob to the base and for me to take Preston to school I narrowed it down to Benicia, CA, but I really like Walnut Creek, CA but it's a longer commute and  really expensive. It's so hard to have to decide on a place to live and a school for your kids when you know nothing about the area and are relying on reviews by other people. I don't consider myself to be stuck up, but I like nice things and I like living in nice safe areas! I think we will end up picking a school and securing Preston a spot and finding somewhere to live when we get out there. It will be tough to find something we all like, that fits our needs, and not super expensive. I think I will get more excited once we are out there. Rob is excited to at least be in the same state as Tre' (his oldest son) although it is about a 2 hour plane ride from San Diego. 
This will be my first military move, first time living in a different time zone, first time being so far from family and first time driving cross-country. Rob is pretty pumped about that part. I guess I can start looking into fun stops along the way. I don't think I ever realized how big California is. I have been to San Diego and really enjoyed it, but from what i hear the bay area is totally different, so we will see. Hopefully I can have a little CALIFORNIA LOVE, LUST, okay LIKE for the next 2 years. Regardless, it will be something else to add to my collection of experiences! 

How RUDE!!!!!

I think sometime people don't realize how rude they are, especially women! Even when they may think that they are saying something nice sometimes you may need to stop and think before it comes out of your mouth. I am sure I could name a ton of things that I have heard especially since being a wife and mom but I am going to tell you the top ones and the reasons why, so here we go. 
  "Wow, how far along are you? You are so small, is the baby okay?" So I heard this question so many times during both of my pregnancies and asking someone why they are so small is just as rude as asking why they got so fat. I am 4'11" and about 100 pounds so when I was pregnant I gained about 23 pounds, which was a healthy weight. I think so many women use being pregnant as a reason to eat everything, but it's not. Once that baby is out of there you will be stuck with all that baby fat wondering what the hell happened! Question number 2, "How close in age are your kids? Was the last one an accident?" An accident???? How old are we people, I believe that most people knew how babies got here way before they were even thinking about sex, so to call a baby an accident is screwed up. You know that if you have sex there is a chance that 40 weeks later you will have a baby, so let's find a new word. Unplanned or a wonderful surprise or a blessing, but not accident. For the record Gracie was planned, I knew I wanted them close in age and wanted her born in the spring so that gave us a few months of trying and the last month of trying, I got my little girl! Question number three, "How old are you?" Asking someone their age once they are an adult is kind of rude. I usually get this question when I am with Rob, because people notice the age difference. I guess I forget about it because it's not a big deal. My newest response to that question is, "I'm 25, how old are you 46?" Rob and I are 16 years apart for all the people wondering. Okay, so question/statement number 4, "You know you won't be able to have a natural birth, your pelvis is too small..."So you are my doctor now? I am sure they are trying to say how tiny I am and so on, but who are you to tell me how I will be giving birth. And to all of the people who said that, I had both children in a natural labor with no issues. I had an excellent doctor and mid-wife that did an amazing job during both deliveries. Question 5, "Is he walking yet?" I was at the point of being ready to bitch slap the next person that asked me if Preston was walking, I even let it get to me at one point by taking him to the doctor and even had an apt. with a specialist to see if he was okay. The evening before he was scheduled to go see the specialist the kid walked, at 16 months. So what it took him little time, but I could not imagine having to chase after him and watch him climb and jump off of stuff any sooner than I did. he walked when he wanted to, which was okay for me!
And now my final question, number 6, "Why do you use cloth diapers and breast feed? It seems like such a pain in the ass." Well, I do cloth for a number of reasons. I consider myself to be somewhat green, I did not want all those chemicals on my children's skin, I knew that cloth diapered babies were potty trained sooner and it saved a TON of money! If you are thinking gross, you have to wash poop out and stuff, then maybe you shouldn't be a parent. The only times that I have ever had a diaper blow out has been the times when the kids had on disposables. We only use them when we are traveling somewhere and won't have access to a washer. As far as the breast feeding, I could do a whole post or two on why I do it. Not only is it healthy, easy, a wonderful bonding experience and pretty much amazing to see what your body can do, but it burns calories like no other! A couple weeks after having both kids I was bikini ready, no really I was, I will post a pic to prove it lol. 
So next time you are about to say something, take whatever adjective you are going to use and replace it with the opposite and see how it sounds then, small-big, green-wasteful, skinny-fat, etc.!
Below are some pics of me pregnant right before having the kidos, right after baby, cute cloth diapered butts and me and Rob! 

About a month after having Gracie

belly cast of both at start of 3rd Trimester, Preston on left Gracie on right

Nap time, a few days old Gracie

about 32 weeks with Preston

After nursing Preston, a few days old

Preston Daniel Marks

Savannah Grace Marks

My cloth diapered baby girl

Me and Rob

PRESCHOOLS the new college???????

So the search is on for pre-school, I feel that I am kinda stuck. I am pretty open with my parenting and not extremely strict with my kids, but when it comes to anyone watching them, the doctors they go to and baby gear that is for them I am a NUT. I research like crazy, I read reviews, I have a list of questions, I watch youtube video reviews, I go test it out, I google like crazy, basically if there is information out there I will find it! Like most parents I want the best for my kids and I want them to have even more and and even better opportunities than I had, which will be hard to top because my parents were and still are amazing, but I am trying. So like most parents, around the age of 3, it's time to really start thinking about schools and so on. My kids have never been to daycare and we don't really have a regular babysitter. It is not often that I leave them in the care of anyone besides myself, even their dad. CRAZY... I know, but as their mother, as the one who carried them for almost 40 weeks, who felt every kick and punch while in the womb and as the one who went through two natural labors, I feel that it's my job to protect them and keep them safe and it makes me seem a little loco it's okay. 
   With that being said I am STUCK! Preston turns 3 in September and I want him to be in preschool this Fall doing half days, at least 3 days a week! Well find a school you say, well it's not that simple. Being a military family we know that moving is always something we will have to deal with and I am okay with that, but right now I need to know where the hell we are going to be in the Fall. Rob is up for orders(means we will move some where) this year, actually any day now between now and June. Most really good preschools have waiting list and some kids have been on that list since birth! How can I compete with that, I can't! So yes, I am at the point of getting super stressed. If we were staying in Valdosta I would have him at Brookfield Academy with no hesitation, but I don't see that happening.
  When did school for a 3 year old become such a major event, is this college or preschool? Between the interviews and the waiting list and tuition, my kid would have better luck getting into Harvard... tomorrow! Yes, I know it may not be that extreme, but maybe it should be. These are people and other children that my kid will be around for a lot of his waking hours. Until I know where we will be living I have started to narrow it down to the type of school I want. I went to Montessori and so did my step-son, so Rob and I both agree that Montessori is at the top of the list, but there seems to be so much to really have to look at and not enough time. 
While I am grateful that Rob has a job that allows us to live in new places and experience new things, don't they know I have to pick a school! I am happy and looking forward to this next milestone in Preston's life, but I would like to have a little more control over the whole situation. I know some may feel that it's not a big deal and nothing to stress over, but IT IS! lol

Got Green?????

So for me March the 17th was always pretty exciting. I grew up in Savannah, Georgia and St. Patrick's day is a big deal. Schools were closed on the 17th and sometimes the 18th as well. When I was younger it was always fun to watch the parade and where the green and the beads, once I got older it was fun to go downtown and be on River Street with all the crows of people. Now that I am a mom it's fun to dress the kids up and cute outfits and stroll around the city during the day, although going out was fun this year I must admit, I can't party like I used too and i don't really like the crowds of people anymore. Overall, it was a great St. Patrick's day and I look forward to many more. Rob finally got to meet my best friend since I was 5 years old, we laughed until our cheeks hurt, we ate pizza from Vinnie's 2 times in one day, I saw friends I had not seen in a while and we got to read all of the dumb things people got arrested for in the newspaper,(one of my favs was the guy who smacked a cops horse on the butt). I know some parents are probably thinking, it's one one holiday to have to buy a themed shirt for to be worn once a year or that leprechauns are one more thing along with the tooth fairy, easter bunny, santa, etc.  that you will have to tell your child are not real, but I don't mind! I have so many fun memories even at a young age of going into my classroom and seeing little green footprints all over the place and all of us believing little leprechauns had come in our school and they were lose and we had to find them! So yes, some may think it's silly but I look forward to my kids getting older and enjoying the holiday and all the celebrations as much as I did and still do! Maybe it's just a Savannah thing, but whatever it is it's FUN! 
Here are a few pics of our trip!

What kind of doctor are you?????

So I am sure that we all have received advice that wasn't asked for! Well this post is a little venting on my part. Preston has been out of diapers since the end of December. We did the 3 day boot camp for Preston. He deosn't say that he has to pee but will grab himself and start dancing around, so we know he has to go then. He sometimes will say he has to yucky, but his doctor told us that the poop in the toilet part takes a little longer to click, but it will. Okay, so yesterday Rob was telling his doctor that one of the reasons he doesn't get a lot of sleep sometimes at night, is because Preston wakes up around 3 or 4 AM and uses the bathroom and he can't fall back asleep after that, so she suggested that we put him in diapers, well pull ups which are overpriced glorified diapers to me, at night. ummmm.... WTF???!!!!! really, I snapped on Rob before he could even finish! First of all does he not remember how hardcore the 3 day boot camp was, why would I back track. Second of all I'm not getting much sleep either, I still breast feed Gracie which has some late night and early morning requirements. Third of all, diapers or pull ups, I use cloth diapers unless we are out of town, so why would I do disposables now and why would I waste that money. Fourth of all, at least he is waking up to pee, I have changed a wet bed at 4 in the morning and I much rather take him to the bathroom then to have to clean up a bed wetting accident. I was beyond pissed that she would even suggest such a thing, not to mention she has made previous suggestions that I was not a fan of. Since I am on a roll I will mention it, we co-sleep and we love it. Preston's bed is now right next to ours, but he will crawl in the big bed around 5 or 6 AM and of course Gracie is there all night. It started when Rob deployed and I was breast feeding Preston and terrified of SIDS so I just kept him in the bed with me. Rob hated it at first but after trying the cry it out method, which I could only do one night (I cried more than Preston), he really loved the co-sleeping. So we started putting him in a bed next to our bed once it came closer to my due date with Gracie so he wouldn't feel like we just kicked him out the bed! I didn't even bother to set up the crib once we moved, because it would just take up space and I knew Gracie wouldn't use it. Anywho, this same doctor suggested that we put her in a crib and him in a bed. Well, WOMAN, NO, simple as that, I have my ways of doing what makes me happy and what works for me. I don't like cribs, they scare me and I don't want to get out of bed go get her, nurse her, take her back to her room and sleep with a monitor on trying to listen to her breath, yes I'm that paranoid! And hello, have you not seen all the crib recalls and deaths. My crib has not been recalled, but I don't want an accident with my child to be the reason why it makes the list! I'm sure she also believes in filling babies up with tons of formula and cereal to make them sleep, I don't do either, but I'm just saying, it has been suggested. 

   It makes me so mad, when people try to tell me what I should or shouldn't do with my own children. What works for some, doesn't work for others. I feel that I am their primary care-giver, 75% of their lives are spent with just me alone, so I'm not going to drive myself crazy doing what everyone else feels is right. I do what feels right and what feels natural, look at me with judgement eyes all you want, but at the end of the day, whenever it may be since my kids aren't on a schedule (judge some more people), I am happy with my children and how they are turning out. So for all you that like to judge here is a list for you to get to judging! I let them watch TV for more than 2 hours a day, I let Preston have milk and french fries for dinner, I hold Gracie while she sleeps (I did the same for Preston), I still exclusively breast feed Gracie and she rarely has solids, Preston has an ipod that he plays with for hours at a time, some days I let him eat french toast for all 3 meals, they have NEVER been sick, I sometimes hold Gracie in the Ergo carrier all day, we co-sleep, I use cloth diapers because I'm green, I pick them up as soon as they cry and over baby them sometimes, but you know what they are 2 of the happiest and healthiest children in the world. I rather enjoy every crazy moment with them than stress myself out to fit us in a perfect family mold! Okay, I'm done! here are some pics of the little happy children!

  

I will Never Be "that" Wife, and I'm Okay With That!

So growing up like most girls i had certain life goals. I wanted to be married by a certain age and kids by a certain age and a career and so on. Well God has a way of changing your plans to His plans and although it gets frustrating I am okay with things the way they are. This weekend Rob and I along with the kids went to a memorial service on the base, Rob had to do the invocation. Anyways I realized at this event  after interactions with some wives that I will never be "that" military wife. I completely support Rob and respect what he does, because I couldn't deal with hearing people complain all the time, but at the end of the day it's HIS job and it makes HIM happy. It is also HIS rank. So many of the wives say "we" and "us" and while Rob always says that he couldn't do his job without a strong support system at home, I am okay with being in the background. Now I'm not anti-military functions though. I have gone to all but 2 events in the past 3.5 years, pregnant and all at some. I just don't feel the need to interact with a ton of other wives or be invited to hang out with other wives just because my husband is an officer. Mainly because I don't really like fake people, if you want to be my friend okay, if not okay too, but be my friend because you really want to be, not because you feel socially obligated. And for the record, well at least what I have experienced in the last few years being a military spouse, it's NOT like Army Wives. Yes, Rob and I hang out with some officers and some enlisted, but really the Generals wife being BFF with a Sergeant, let's be real, it's not happening.  Also, the older I get the less I really care about people liking me or what people think of me. I have a small, very, very small group of friends that I truly interact with, and the more I grow up and experience things I realize that sometimes you do out grow friends. Not to be mean or to say I am better than them, but you just reach a certain level and you can't relate to what they are doing, because you are both in such different stages of your lives. 

   Here are a couple of pics of us from some events, told you I do go, even 8 months pregnant!

Fish & Grits Friday!

Well today Is the first Friday of Lent which means fish and grits in this house! I was raised and I still am a Catholic girl so The Lent season is nothing new to me. We all went to Ash Wednesday mass on the base to start things off right. Every year I say I will go to Stations of the Cross but never really make time to do so. I am making it a priority to go atleast once. So I gave up alcohol, yup no wine, beer and deffinetly no Jack. Rob gave up drinking as well as going to CJ's to shoot pool. I guess we will go to bed early. We will be an extremely well rested family by the time Easter comes around! I do not know what we are going to do with all this free time together but we will figure something out!
Today Gracie also turned 10 months! Time is going by so quickly, I don't like it at all but I am blessed to be here to see it happen and to have healthy children to watch grow up, even if it does give me baby fever! Just this week Rob and I were feeling so lucky and realized how precious time is together. A friend of mine found out her cousin's 1 month old baby died, Rob had a husband on the base lose his wife in an accident and then we wake up to hear about Japan. It makes you realize that tomorrow is not promised to anyone and you have to really treasure the time you have together. Make sure you say I love you, you never know what can happen!

Kidney Donation...the good, the hard, and the best thing ever!

Okay, so this post doesn't really fit in any order of things, but I am doing it to link to the National Kidney Living Donor Site. I tried to make it as short as possible without leaving out too much. I searched and searched for as much information as I could find about living donation from a actually donor, but didn't find much. Hopefully, someone can find this info useful!

   So about 5 years ago my mom got really sick and we didn't really know what was going on. She stayed in and out of the hospital all the time. It almost seemed to norm for her to be in the hospital, sick or at a doctors appointment. After a TON of doctors and different procedures we found out she had end-stage kidney disease and needed a transplant but in the meantime would be doing dialysis 3 days a week for almost 4 hours each session.

   Without hesitation I offered to donate, she didn't even have to ask. Although the chances of us matching were very slim. I was adopted at a few weeks old, and blood relatives are usually the best match. My mom also has 3 living sisters that she would hope would match. In May of 2009 I went through the first screening which is over the phone. They ask you very basic questions that you would answer during a physical. If you are on any medications, have high blood pressure, or a diabetic they end the questions and you are no longer able to proceed. This knocked my dad, and 2 of my aunts off the list and my mom's BFF.

    The next step was blood work. I flew down to Miami (this is where the closest transplant center was to my parents in West Palm) and had about 12 tubes drawn and a urine sample. My mom also did the same. They were testing my blood type, making sure I was disease free and also did a crossmatch. A crossmatch is very important in donation. It determines if the recipient will reject the donors organ. Once we got the results back from that I was told I was a match and able to go on to the next step (there are a bunch of steps). Well, mom got sick again, really sick and was not cleared for surgery and we didn't know when she would be cleared again. So we would wait and she continued dialysis.

   In September, I found out I was pregnant with Gracie. It was a very difficult pregnancy and honestly didn't think I would make it out of my 1st trimester, but God had other plans! Although, I wanted to help my mom as soon as I could she was glad about another grand baby, especially a girl. She didn't want me to put my life on hold, I knew that as soon as I had the baby I would start the process back up. I delivered Savannah Grace on May 11, 2010. I had to wait 3 months before they would reactivate my donor file. 

    Since I had a baby and all the hormone changes I had to start to process all over again! This time they sent me a special kit to have my blood drawn in a lab in Valdosta and I overnighted (yup you can overnight blood) 12 tubes of blood back to them in Miami. It took about 2 weeks and I finally got the results and was cleared to move on. I flew down to MIA in August 2010 and had to have a full physical (pap smear, breast exam, EVERYTHING), another urine test, another crossmatch, 6-7 more tubes of blood, a physiological exam, had to sign a ton of paperwork saying I was not being forced to do this and that I was not being paid to donate and a lot of other stuff (about 50 pages).  After all this I still had a ways to go.

    I had my FINAL set of steps in September. It would take a couple of days so we all went down, it was also Preston's 2nd birthday so he celebrated like a big boy Miami style! I had to pick up this brown jug from the lab to collect all my urine for 24 hours, kinda gross huh? The gross part is that it had to stay cold for the whole time so it stayed in our mini fridge in the hotel. So the next day I collected all my urine and kept it cold, I was not allowed to eat or drink after midnight which was extremely hard because I was breast feeding Gracie. The following morning I woke up EXTREMELY parched and kind of nervous that we were so close to the end. My mom, dad and I (Rob stayed at the hotel with the kids) went to the hospital. It was a long day to say the least. I had another physical, urine sample, 25 tubes of blood drawn, EKG, CT- Scan, meeting with the surgeon, meeting with the case worker, mouth swab, nose swab and I think that's all. It's amazing how quickly I listed all that stuff but I was there from 6 AM until about 3 PM, no FOOD or water! I was in a mood to say the least. 

     I received my CONGRATULATIONS call a week later. My mom didn't know because they are very strict on keeping donor and recipients separate so the donor doesn't feel pressure to donate, you have up until the put you under to change your mind no questions asked. The transplant was scheduled for November 3, 2010. Mom wanted it as close to her break as possible since she teaches and didn't want to miss a crazy amount of days. November 1, 2010 we drove down to Miami and Rob's mom flew down from TN. She was going to help Rob while I was in the hospital and come back home with us to help for a few weeks.

 The day before surgery my mom and I could only have liquids. We also had to do a bowel prep by drinking this really gross stuff that gives awful tummy cramps, but they have to make sure your colon in pretty cleaned out. We were given another crossmatch, just incase we weren't compatible anymore. Although its rare we were told that sometimes it does change and they get that far and cant have the surgery. We weren't allowed to eat or drink after midnight the day before. We also had to shower with special soap and could not put any lotions or perfumes on, not even deodorant. I didn't sleep much that night, I was busy getting everything laid out for the kids(I had outfits in ziplock bags for each day with all matching pieces). I also pumped 100 ounces of breast milk which we froze and brought down in a cooler. I was determined to not give her formula. 

   The morning of the surgery my parents, husband, MIL, kids and I went to the hospital. We checked in and my mom and I were taken to another area to get prepped while everyone else waited in a special room. We changed into the gowns, I was given a urine test to check for pregnancy and we were given another crossmatch. We were also given valium to relax us. My mom and I were in beds next to each other in the prep area. We had mini TV's to watch as we waited. Kim was our nurse and she was really good. She put in our small IV, we would both have another put in before the procedure but we would be asleep at that point. My surgeon's assistant came by and drew about a 7.5 inch line on my side and initialed it, this is where they would be cutting. I had to have the old fashioned right open flank incision instead of the laparoscopic because my left kidney is bigger and they wanted to leave me the bigger one. The anesthesiologist's nurse came by and told be what she would be doing and the rest of my surgery team came by as well. Rob and my dad came back and prayed with me and over me before they took me back. The last thing I remember is asking if my hair was a mess because I had to take my ponytail holder out and my hair had been in a bun all night so I knew it was a mess. They would take mom back after the safely removed my kidney. It took about 6 hours for me and 9 for my mom. Part of my lungs were nicked so the had to pump them back up. It's pretty common and was something they told me could happen.

   I woke up to see a nurse and Rob and I think my dad and MIL. I'm a bit blurry on the exact details. Rob fed me ice and I asked over and over again how are the kids and how is mom. My dad said I asked "is mom okay?" about 10 times in a row. I had a PCA in which allowed me to give myself pain meds and I received oral meds and pain meds in my IV and I will say that it was still a great deal of pain. The area they cut is numbed but you still feel the pain. There is a ton that I could go on about my hospital stay and day by day, but this post is already so long so I will do the summary.

   I stayed in the hospital until November 6, 2010. I slept a lot. I was special compression stocking on so I would not get blood clots, I was given a shot one a day in my arm to prevent clots, I was also given benadryl for the itching(all the drugs in my system made me itch), no solids just clear liquids the first two days and softs the rest of the time, which was jello, pudding, tea and juice. The catheter was taken out after 2 days. I had to use the bathroom on my own which was hard, it took about 10 minutes to get out of the bed and I still had all the IV's and stuff in. I also had to do laps around the nurses station which was hard. I called my mom a lot who was in a special wing recovering and I called the kids as much as I could. My iPhone, iPod and Bose headphones were stolen out of my bag during the stay but that's a whole other story. I had to pump and dump(so sad) my milk the whole time I was there because of all the meds. Once released we stayed one more day in Miami and then headed home. 

   The first week was really hard. I didn't have a ton of energy and still in a lot of pain. I didn't take my pain meds for more than a couple days, because I wanted to start back breast feeding. Rob was given leave for 30 days to stay home, which helped a lot. I was able to lift Gracie, but not Preston since he was over 15 pounds. It took a while to get to feeling better, but I am almost there. The scar is pretty numb but itches from the inside, weird to explain. It is still sore in the area if I push on it as well. There is a scar that will fade more, but it doesn't bother me at all. My mom is doing great and has had no rejection. I had my 2 week labs and everything was great. I will have labs again in May as well. Although it was probably the most painful things I have ever done, worst than natural labor and worst than back labor (I had both), I would do it again without hesitation! 

Here are a couple of pics one right after and one now.

YIKES, ALREADY SLACKING OFF....

Okay, yes I know that I wanted to have this amazing blog and really be able to sit down every day and write, but I don't live in a perfect world so it's not happening. I was bust towards the end of last week getting stuff together from my Stella & Dot Trunk Show. It was fun, message me if you want me to put one together for you. Anyways, the weekend wasn't too eventful, just caught up on a lot of TV shows with the hubby. But yesterday was one of those days, the kind when I ask myself do I really want to be a SAHM and I also strongly consider working outside of the house. Anyways, It started off with Rob bringing me coffee in bed, sweet huh? Well yes and no. He is not the one that usually makes the coffee and he just puts as many scoops as he thinks it needs, which was way more than I do. I couldn't tell how strong it was through all the creamer so I gulped it down and went on about my morning. I took a shower(amazing to do this before noon) and I was just in a very hyper/happy mood. I'm not a morning person so this was strange but I figured I would just go with it. I started doing some S&D stuff and suddenly started to get all jittery and anxious feeling. I knew it had to be all the caffeine. I texted Rob and asked how many scoops he used and it turned out to be almost double the amount I use. Well no wonder I had the shakes like a crack head. He thought it was funny, but not me. It is the worst feeling. I googled how to make this topic go away, apparently it happens a lot, because there were a ton of suggestions. I tried eating, but it made me feel queasy, the nap suggestion was not gonna happen because I was so wired and I have KIDS so I went with the water drinking suggestion. It helped a little but I still felt bad. Well I guess the kids decided they needy to join in the Monday blues. Gracie is teething and decided that she had to be held ALL DAY LONG, I put her in the Ergo and carried her around but that was not cutting it. She wanted to be in my arms completely. So while in the glider with her Preston decides to get jealous. He comes up and sits with us. I think things are going okay, but not with my little ones. Gracie starts hitting Preston on the head and he starts pushing her back and finally gets down but starts to whine.....The day continues with a lot of tears from all 3 of us(sometimes a good cry makes you feel better). Every time I would almost have Gracie asleep Preston would have to pee, which means she would start crying because she was put down lol. Preston also had 2 accidents yesterday, one on my lap!!! By the time Rob came home, I was ready to crash from the caffeine wearing off but he had plans to shoot pool. So may day pretty much continued to go down hill until 10:45 when he came home. This morning he said wasn't yesterday funny now that its over? ummm HELL NO! It wasn't funny then and it has not been long enough after all the events to find it funny yet. Oh sometimes these kids manage to push every button, but i don't know what I would do without them, although a nanny or mommy's helper a few hours a week maybe 2 days out of the week would be amazing! Maybe I should ask for that for mothers day this year. Anyways, have a terrific TUESDAY!!!

It's HUMP DAY, wait it should be GRUMP day

So today is what the working world calls hump day. Not to say that I don't work because being a SAHM is a full time job, but i don't work outside of the house. I remember when hump day put me a wee bit closer to  party Friday and sleep in late Saturday and Sunday funday, but now I barely know what day it is. Well I take that back, my days are known to be by what comes on TV. Since I had the kids and stay at home it seems as if all my days just run together. I wake up, fix breakfast, change Gracie, take Preston to the potty, shower(sometimes), and look around the house and wonder how the hell did it get back so messy so fast. I swear I clean everyday, like really clean the house everyday but by the time bedtime rolls around (whenever that is b/c my kids are not on any type of schedule) it looks like a tornado went through my house. But anyway back to the grump day, Gracie woke up around 7 AM, not cool, she usually sleeps until 8:45. since we co-sleep when she wakes up so do I. I tried to nurse her back to sleep which seemed to backfire, she all of a sudden had a burst of energy. Well, Mr. Preston decided to wake up around 8 something and was in a mood. He sleeps in his own bed, which is next to ours for most of the night, but somewhere between 4-5 AM he crawls in the big bed. After getting Chick-fil-A which he loves I was sure he would be in a better mood....WRONG!!!! He still is in a mood as he lays next to me on the sofa whining and Gracie squirms around in my arms. Maybe he will wake up a bit more refreshed and in a better mood after a nap. Until then I will let him play Angry Birds on my phone, I much rather here the sounds from that instead of him crying. Anywho, happy hump day for those that it actually matters to!

  

 

Meet My Blog Party

Okay, so I copied this from Emily and I figured, why not, so here it goes.

Welcome to the Meet Me Blog Party! This is a way for others to get to know me and a way for me to get to view other people's blogs as well. All you do is tell a little about yourself by posting a few pics for a bio then copy and paste the Q & A part to your blog and fill in your own answers. Come back here and post your link to my page in the comments section so others can view your blog as well :)

Bio:

My name is Colbi and I have been married to Rob since January 2008. We have a son Preston Daniel and a daughter Savannah Grace. I was born and raised in Savannah,, GA. I moved to Valdosta for school and ended up getting married, and now we are currently stationed here. I started to blog to keep up with everything going on in our life. I love the idea of having an amazing scrapbook to look back on, but honestly it's a ton of work and I don't have the focus to do more than a few pages.

Q & A:

Q: What would you be doing if you weren’t a stay-at-home mom (insert your profession here)?

A: Well, if my husband picked for me it would be something in education or with kids, but since having 2 of my own I don't know about that anymore. It would be great to have a job where I could get really dressed up in cool business clothes everyday. Maybe I say that since I normally lounge around in yoga pants and tank tops all day.

Q: What are your hobbies?

A: Any craft things, Facebook (it can be a hobby lol), taking pics of my little ones, finding new hobbies.

Q: When you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up?

A: A newspaper delivery girl, I know high standards, but I would ride my bike up and down the sidewalk to re-throw the newspaper.

Q: What are your guilty pleasures?

A: Reality TV, celeb gossip, looking at really expensive shoes that I would never buy, fried food, carbs

Q: What is your biggest fear?!

A: I never really had fears until I had my children and the fear is dying and leaving them or either something happening to them. Sometimes I wish I could put them in a bubble and keep them safe forever, but I know everything happens for a reason and gotta trust in God.

Q: When you’re on vacation, where do you like to go?

A: Oh gosh, anywhere besides this town of Valdosta. Anywhere warm or with good places to shop.

Q: What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?

A: I think it was in a baby book or blog, but to always trust your mommy gut, no one knows your child better than you, don't let anyone make you doubt or feel less about your skills as a parent.

Q: What do you value most in others?

A: Someone who is real and a good friend.

Q: If you could choose one of your personality traits to pass down to your kids, what would it be?

A: Just one, well i will do two because I have two kids lol. My ability to adapt to new situations and my creativity.

Q: If you could have lunch with anyone in the world….living or dead…who would it be?

A: Oprah

Now tell us something random about yourself:

I was a Hooters Girl for 3 years

I got married to Rob after dating for 7.5 weeks

I love Jack & Coke

I am afraid of bugs, lizards, frogs I have sat in my car because a lizard has been at the door