Second Guessing

Veronica and Adri will both be going to preschool twice a week starting next week. Yesterday, my parents took both of them out and about, leaving Juli and I home alone for most of the day. It was such a strange feeling not having to chase after a toddler, or make lunch, or change a diaper, or do anything really. After a short while alone, I got to thinking and second guessing the decision to start Adri in school.

If Adri is gone all day, what am I going to do? Sure Juli will continue to grow and eventually I'll have to be more hands on. But really, the first year isn't all that difficult. 

Veronica really didn't start going to school until she was three. Adri is only two and a half. Is it good that I'm starting her a little earlier? I feel slightly guilty for not doing things exactly the same way for both of them.. 

Then there's the added financial burden. Not only did tuition go up by $100 a month, but now I have to pay double. We have no problem affording it, but is it really worth it.

I literally spent the seven hours that Juli and I were home either napping or trying to figure out what our Tuesdays and Thursday will consist of for the next year. 

Shopping will definitely be happening while the girls are in school. If I have any important appointments or meetings, I'll try to schedule them for Tuesdays or Thursday. I could open my Etsy shop back up, and use that money to help offset the cost of tuition. Hopefully, the house will be sparkley clean. A twice-a-week workout routine wouldn't be bad either. 

I'd also like to give some structure to the days that the girls are home. I'm thinking that sticking to a schedule similar to what they have at school is probably the best bet. Maybe incorporate some homeschooling into their days. 

It feels like I have so much planning to do and so little time to do it in. What do you other stay at home mommas do with your time?

Happy Birthday Jen [+ Giveaway]

It's my buddy Jen's birthday today! In honor of her birthday, we have a little giveaway. Enter to win $30 and get yourself a nice gift. Happy birthday, Jen!

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One Week New

Today is my due date, but Juliana is already one week old! I've spent the past week in absolute bliss. For the most part, Juli spends her time asleep on my chest. I spend that time planting kisses on her sweet little head. 

On Monday, we had her first pediatrician appointment. My bitty bear was all the way down to 6 pounds and 1 ounce. She was a tiny bit jaundice on Monday, so we had to go back on Wednesday for a follow up. By then, she was back up to 6 pounds and 6 ounces. All of those extra feedings definitely did the trick.

Nursing has been going well, although I kinda screwed myself by pumping between feedings. Now I have too much milk, and no desire to pump. 

Nights have been difficult, but for the past two, I've just been snuggling with her in my bed, and we've both slept great.

I've been terrible when it comes to photos. I don't think I've used my real camera once since leaving the hospital. Occasionally, I'll snap a few phone pics, but the quality is pretty terrible. I hope to remedy that soon.

Other than that, life has been uneventful. My parents are in town for a while, which has given me a chance to relax a bit. I've sucked at blogging as well as keeping up with other blogs, but that should change once John is back to work and my big girls are both in school.

She's Here!

And she's absolutely perfect!

My little Juliana Elisa was born on Friday, July 18, 2014 at 4:57 pm, measuring 19 inches long and 6 pounds 8 ounces. She's a tiny little booger compared to her big sisters. She's been eating like a champ though.

The entire induction went smoothly. The epidural, not so much. I'll get into that when I post a birth story. The hospital staff was phenomenal.

We only had to stay at the hospital for 24 hours after the birth. It was nice to have our complete little family at home for most of the weekend. The girls love her, but are still adjusting and trying to learn the rules, like no touching her head and to be quiet while she naps.

We have a follow up appointment this morning with the pediatrician, and I'm looking forward to seeing how much my baby has already grown.

I haven't had a chance to capture too many pictures of her yet, but I know I need to get on it since she'll only be this little once.

Thank you for all of your kind messages and comments over the weekend!

Don't forget to vote!

Happy Child Super Nutrition Shakes

I received this product complimentary for review purposes. All opinions are my own.

Raise your hand if your child is a picky eater.. I know it just keeps on getting worse with my girls. It seems like each time I serve dinner, there is something new that they refuse to eat. As a parent, I obviously worry if they're getting enough nutrients on a daily basis.

I was thrilled when Happy Family asked if I'd be interested in trying out their new Happy Child Super Nutrition Shakes. Each of the chocolate or vanilla shakes contains eight organic fruits and vegetables, and no artificial flavors, colors, or sweeteners. The eight grams of protein and 21 vitamins and minerals available in each serving are sure to help balance out even the pickiest eater's uneven diet. 

V chose to try the vanilla flavor, so Adri got chocolate. I tried a little of each. I was pleasantly surprised when Veronica's eyes lit up after her first sip. From there, there was no taking the drink away from her. It was the perfect afternoon snack between a bowl of rice for lunch and untouched pasta at dinner. Personally, I preferred the flavor of vanilla drink. Both flavors had a nice consistent texture. Sort of like a thicker milk drink, but not overly thick. If that makes sense.

Since the shakes don't need to be refrigerated, they're the perfect option for busy days when you know meals will be coming from a drive thru. You can just toss them in your bag and go! Four-packs can be found at a Target, select Safeway stores, and on Amazon.com. 

#ThrowBackThursday

I have been procrastinating to the max lately. I've accomplished maybe one thing on my list for the week. To make myself feel better, I've added trivial tasks that I've done to the bottom of my list so that I can at least have something to cross off. Hang a random picture frame? Done. Clean the bathrooms and find a diaper bag? Not so much.

So even though I sat awake forever last night, instead of knocking out a blog post or two, I kept reminding myself how horrible child birth is. And reading this horrible July Mommies Message Forum.. I mean I get that many of these women are first time moms, but what happened to common sense?!

Anyway... I had planned to do a #throwbackthursday post today, so here it is.. A few hours late..

V's second birthday at my parents' house

Downtown Savannah

Fort Stewart splash pad

Tybee Island, GA

My messy little booger

With one of her favorite princesses at Downtown Disney

I had so much fun going through these old pictures. There were so many old memories that I had forgotten about. It's hard to believe that my babies were so little and that after tomorrow, I'm going to have another tiny one on my hands!

Crafternoon

In an effort to keep the girls from getting bored and behaving like maniacs, I've been doing my best to get us out of the house on a daily basis. Since I'm too chicken to attempt a trip to the beach with just the girls and myself, we tend to stick with indoor activities or walks to the parks in our neighbor. Last week, we got kinda crazy and made an afternoon trip to the arts & crafts center on post to paint some ceramic pieces. I was a tad worried about taking the girls to a new place filled with all sorts of breakable little figurines, but it ended up not being bad at all. 

The first thing we did when we arrived was pick out what we were going to paint. There was a huge selection of items in the $10 range. Both girls chose a unicorn and I chose a pretty little fish. 

I had high hopes for my little fishy friend. Since the girls rushed through painting their pieces and more or less just covered their unicorns in random colors, I had to hurry up and finish before they got bored of waiting around for me. 

If I had had more time, I probably would have paid more attention to detail and done a better job with the coloring of the scales. No bigs though. I'm still pretty happy with how it turned out. I definitely plan on making more trips to paint ceramics in the future. However, now I know that if I go with the girls, I'll have to paint something less complicated. 

Anyone else enjoy painting ceramic stuff as much as I do?

The Last Weekend

It may have been nice to have a quiet time at home this past weekend, but since we anticipate being locked in a hospital next weekend, we made sure to get out of the house and enjoy last weekend on the island as a family of four. We also realize that although we aren't shy about taking our new babies out into the world, juggling three little ones will be exponentially harder than one or two, so it may be a while before we're out and about.

We visited the pool on post for the first time this Saturday. We didn't stay too long, but the girls had a nice time splashing around while we were there. Veronica spent a good chunk of her time showing everyone how she could hold her breath and put her face under water.

As we were driving to the pool, I noticed this little gem. It took me a second (and seeing the picture of Mike) to figure out what the heck a "Yard Thale" was. I chuckled quite a bit afterwards. I'm still pretty amused by it. Some creative jokesters that we have here on Schofield Barracks.

In the evening, we made a trip to Waikiki for dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. I love the Cheesecake Factory here, because it seems like one of the few restaurants where the prices are comparable to the prices on the mainland. In case you've never been to the Cheesecake Factory, let me break down the typical evening for you.

• MUST arrive before 5:00 pm or we'll be waiting for hours. 
• Get seated and flip through 256 menu pages. It all looks so good.
• Order drinks, avocado eggrolls, and the specialty from page 15.
• Waiter brings bread to the table. Must. Eat. All. The. Brown. Bread.
• Ask for more brown bread. 
• Entree arrives. The plate is huge. 
• Box up 3/4 of your entree for lunch tomorrow. 
• Split giant slice of cheesecake with your date.

When we left, there was a gigantic line out the door. Seriously. Get there early.

Sunday was our beach day. It was windier and the water felt colder than usual, so the grand majority of my time was spent either in our giant raft thing or laying on the sand. I managed to get some good sun, which I'm happy about, since I'll more than likely be spending my next trip to the beach under a tent nursing a tiny one.

This week will hopefully be spent making final preparations for the babe. John and I put together the bassinet yesterday. It took embarrassingly longer than it should have. I've got to put a dresser together today, so that all of the cute little baby clothes can get sorted and put away.

I also have a doctors appointment today and a long list of questions to ask. Thursday will be my final non-stress test, then Friday should hopefully be induction day. I can't believe she's almost here!

Please don't forget to vote daily! 

July Sponsor Highlight

I'd like to take a moment to introduce you to the two lovely ladies that have been sponsoring my blog this month: Lydia and Kelsey. Both of these fantastic bloggers are military wives as well as members of the mommy of three club.

Lydia is voice behind The Few, The Proud, and This Marine Wife. You can find a little bit of everything on Lydia's blog. She writes about all sorts of topics ranging from DIY projects, to mommy life, to faith. Along with having a great blog, Lydia owns two Etsy shops. LE's Creations features all sorts of beautifully handmade military themed decor and accessories, and Popsies and Lace has a collection of fashion and vintage inspired accessories. You can stay up to date with Lydia through Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, and Bloglovin. Make sure you stop by and say hi!

If you've been around these parts for a while, this won't be your first introduction to Kelsey of Pardon My French. Kelsey is the fashionista Army wife living up in Alaska. On her blog, you'll read about the ups and downs of parenthood, life in Alaska, as well as some great fashion pointers and collages like this one. Kelsey recently took a vacation and has shared some phenomenal views of Alaska: here, here, and here. See what Kelsey is up to via Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, and Bloglovin.

38 Down, 1 To Go!

Well friends, we are down to exactly one week until Juliana is born. Hopefully. Fingers crossed that her induction goes as smoothly as Veronica's did.

I have to call the hospital early next Friday to find out what time they'd like for me to go in. If they have too many women in there and too much going on at the time, I might have to call back at a different time. It's possible that the induction could get pushed back a day or two, but more than likely, I should be good to go!

At doctor's appointment earlier this week, I saw a different doctor than the usual guy that I've seen my entire pregnancy. Up until this point, I had been labeled high-risk, due to my elevated blood pressure, but since it's remained at a normal level, my regular doctor hasn't really treated me as a high-risk patient. New doctor guy took the label pretty seriously and scheduled me for the twice a week non-stress tests (NST) and set up an induction date for 39 weeks.

I had the first of my NSTs yesterday. I got to sit in this giant recliner chair with a built in massager. They put the monitors on my belly to record the baby's heart beat and to see if I had any contractions going on. Heart beat was good, no activity in the contraction department. From there, I had yet another ultrasound to check my fluid levels. Everything was good there too. 

The next week is either going to drag on or fly by. The fact that I still have a gazillion things to prepare, probably means that it'll fly by, leaving me no time to do anything. I have one more check-up and two NSTs next week, which won't help with my time management at all. If those appointments go anything like yesterday's, I'm just going to want to come home and nap. I wouldn't totally mind just waking up from a nap with a new baby in my arms and all the laundry done either. I can wish, right?

Please vote for my blog: here!

Terrible Two's Are Terrible

You know how some people get pregnant and have babies in hopes of saving their relationships.. Is it totally crazy for me to hope that having a new baby around will fix Adri's behavior? Miss Thang has been wild lately!

I admit that part of it is my fault. Since she's still my baby, I sometimes treat her like one. There's the occasional baby talk or rocking her like she's a tiny little human. I suppose to her, that means that she gets to continue acting the way in which she's acting.

Lately, she has this thing against boys. If a little boy shows up anywhere around us, such as at the park, she makes it a point to make it known that she doesn't like him. The same thing happened while we were grocery shopping and he passed by a cart with two boys in it. And, if that shopping trip wasn't already exciting enough, as we were passing by some lady, she pointed and blew raspberries. Let's just say, I wanted to die right then and there under an avalanche of juice.

In a couple of weeks, little one will be joining V in school, and I'm hoping that she kicks some of the mean little things that she does to big sis around the house. I'm talking hair pulling, hitting with Barbies, and pushing. I don't want to have the little bully of the class.

Potty training is still a pain. I was hoping to get it knocked out before preschool started, but it doesn't look like that'll be happening.

We're still battling the co-sleeping battle, which will definitely have to change once Juliana is home and snuggled up next to me. Bedtime has also been a battle. Although she is finally starting to warm up to John, she absolutely refuses to let him put her to bed. So I get to sit next to her bed every night and rub her back for half an hour-ish. Let's hope she doesn't miss me too much in a few weeks. Adri is definitely a momma's girl.

My biggest concern is just getting Adri to listen. I will definitely be using Juliana to help motivate Adri. "Shhh. Juli is napping.." "Hurry, Juli needs to get in the car.." Hopefully, using the baby doesn't come back to bite me.

Don't forget to vote daily for my blog in the Top 50 Military Blog competition! Thank you! 

Semi-Charmed Kinda Weekend

Who doesn't love four day weekends?! Thank you US Army! For once, it didn't feel like this one flew by. Maybe because John had to work on the 4th of July but we were actually able to hang out a little while he worked, so it wasn't so bad. Although the weekend was pretty great, the loss of a friend weighed heavy on my mind.

Veronica was in school on Thursday, so we took a trip with Adri and our friends to Chinatown for lunch. I considered taking my big camera with me, but didn't. I'm kicking myself for that now. It was quite the interesting place. And actually, there were many more Vietnamese shops versus Chinese. Lots of produce and stuff being sold on the side of the street. Strange smells coming from the market with a whole pig head just chilling in the cooler.

My Friday started around midnight or 1:00 am with the news that one of John's fellow platoon leaders while we were at Fort Stewart had been killed. I ended up only getting an hour of sleep after that. Although I constantly had the whole situation on my mind, the 4th ended up being a pretty good day. 

It was my first time celebrating Independence Day on an Army base, and I was relatively impressed. In the afternoon we walked to where the little carnival was, and the girls got to go on rides. Later on, I returned with a friend to catch a glimpse of the the Third Eye Blind concert. Semi-Charmed Life is one of my all-time favorite songs, but the concert really wasn't all that great. Oh 3eb.. It's been so long. After dark, we were able to watch the fireworks on post from our backyard. We'll probably never live on base again, but I'm glad that we decided to do it here. 

One of V's friends from school had a party at Chuck E. Cheese on Saturday. I was seriously concerned about going, and the place being nasty, but it ended up actually being a good time. I took both girls with me while the husband did some golfing. We played a bunch of games, the girls rode on some little mechanical ride thing, and over all just had fun. The place wasn't as dirty as I was expecting, so there was no need for a bleach bath afterwards. 

Sunday was that time of the month for me... Pedicure day! I had my nails painted in an awesome neon pink color in honor of the baby girl coming soon. Every time I look down at my toes, I can't help but smile. Seriously, such a fun color! We got together with some new friends for dinner. Surprisingly, Veronica did really well playing with their son. Usually, she hates boys, unless they're older. Adri just kept taking her clothes off.

Today is my 38 week appointment. How crazy is that?! I'm being seen by a doctor other than my usual guy, so I'm hoping she's receptive to my request for an induction. This pregnancy started out with all of these crazy high-risk concerns and telling my how I'd have to be induced early and have to be monitored several times a week. I'm glad that everything has gone normally as far as my blood pressure, but can I please still have that induction that I was promised?

No Baby

Sad times.. I was pretty much convinced that I would have to stay at the hospital to be induced yesterday. That was not the case. I've been drinking tons of water (and some sweet tea), so the little lady had plenty of fluids to swim around in. Now we're back to playing the waiting game. 

I have an appointment a week from today, where I'm hoping I can talk to the doctor about an induction. Let's just hope that she's receptive to the idea.. When I first started going to appointments, the doctors made it seem like an induction at 38 or 39 weeks was almost certainly going to happen. Since my blood pressure has leveled out since then, it hasn't been discussed at all. 

Having the appointment yesterday forced me to get my hospital bag packed. So now it's ready to go. Since I didn't stay at the hospital, I also had a chance to come back home and finally get all the clothes in newborn and 0-3 sizes washed. 

Today is the start of John's weekend. While he's home, I'm going to have him help me finish up furniture movements and setting up bedding. Even though it was only a three day week, it feels like it lasted forever. 

Big Day?

Oh my gosh! Today might possibly be the big day! I have an appointment this morning this morning to check my fluid levels, and depending on how that goes, I might have to be induced!

Since my ultrasound last week, I've been trying to drink as much water in possible in an attempt to get my levels up, but honestly, I wouldn't mind being induced at this point. I'll be 37 weeks on Friday and the ultrasound tech last week made it seem like if it was necessary, the baby should be absolutely fine.

I never got around to posting an outfit pic yesterday, because it was actually pretty boring. A maxi skirt and a neon tshirt in the softest most comfortable material known to man.

My trip to Target was phenomenal! I ended up spending just over $200 (which included a new dresser for V) and saving close to $100! It took some planning and work at the register, but I made it happen.

The bare minimum got packed for my hospital bag. Thanks to those who shared suggestions. I didn't go overly crazy packing things, but there are one or two things in my bag that no one mentioned. I'll be sharing the contents of my bag, sooner or later.

Also, as I was typing this up last night, I got an email that I was nominated as one of the top 50 military mom blogs. Woohoo! If you wouldn't mind, check it out and show my blog a little love. You get 5 votes a day, so you can also vote for a few of the other lovely ladies that were nominated.

Hopefully I have some exciting news later today! Since my phone broke, and I only have an iPad with wifi at a hospital with no wifi, if you don't hear from me, it might be a good sign!

Baby Registries

Normally, I hate Tuesdays. I have to wake up extra early to get V ready for school and Adri ready for gymnastics. From the time we leave the house to drop off Veronica, until lunch time, we're go, go, go with errands. Fortunately, gymnastics is closed for the week, so Adri and I are going on an adventure to the big red O while V is in school.

A few weeks back, I made a few baby registries for myself, with Target being one of them. I don't believe in having baby showers for second and third children (in most cases), so this list was strictly for me. I made the registry mostly as a shopping list for the few items that I would need to purchase before the baby is born. Unlike a typical shopping or wishlist though, I knew that by registering, most retailers would send me a coupon to purchase the items on my registry.

Last week, I received my coupon book from Target. Not only was there a 10% off coupon for my registry items, but additional coupons as well. Today I'll be heading into the store with my stack of coupons, plus some additional manufacturer coupons that I printed from online to stock up on newborn diapers for Juli and some Pull-Ups for Adri and a few other last minute necessities.

Cloth diapering with Adri has been frustrating lately. Since she's going to be in the care of people other than myself frequently for the next few weeks, I figured I'd make it easy on everyone and just stick to disposables. It'll be a while before Juli fits into the one-size cloth diapers, so being able to load up on diapers at a discount (plus the 5% REDcard discount) is going to be great.

Two other places that you can register at and receive coupons from are Babies R Us and Amazon. I'm sure there are tons of other places, but those are the ones that I'm most familiar with. I literally have one item on each of those registries, but hey, if I can get 10% off, why not do it?!

Oh! And my clothing order came in yesterday! Thankfully, everything either fits or seems like it'll fit once the belly is gone. Be on the lookout for an outfit post on Instagram today!