Oh where has the week gone? Day 6 of 2012 is almost over. DH is still at work, so I'm just watching TV waiting on him to get home, the last hour always seems to drag on. This has been a busy week. DD went to speech on Tuesday, when she came out her therapist informed me that she made a chicken nose, umm ok? I have never heard DD make a chicken noise. Her therapist said that she saw a picture of a chicken and said "bock bock".  Today at therapy she said "shhh" and then made snoring sounds like she was sleeping. She amazes me, she really does. I have never said bock bock to her for a chicken, we always say "cluck cluck" and I have never made snoring noises to her either, where on earth is she learning this stuff. She really is a sponge. On Wednesday I had an OB appointment, I went ALONE....it was AMAZING! I didn't have to pack up DD and drag her into the office and hope and pray that she would be a good girl [normally she is but toddlers will be toddlers]. Doc says everything is on track, baby is moving like CRAZY which is good, but why must the most movement happen when I'm about to go to bed? Oh well. After my OB appointment I went to Goodwill just to look. DH and I have been trying to find a dresser for Bagel Bite's room once we get to the new house. We found one for $20 from one of DH's co-workers but we really needed another one. We wanted something sturdy but didn't really want to drop $100 either [couldn't really afford that]. Well Goodwill paid off!! $38 REAL WOOD dresser, almost perfect condition. I'll sand it down and paint it once we make a final decision about what we want in the baby's room. I'm so glad I was able to find a GOOD dresser that will last for a while that didn't break the bank. Thursday my friend J came over and we hard core cleaned the living room and dining room. It looks fantastic, I am so thankful I have a friend that just walks in and cleans. She really helped me out, while this pregnancy hasn't been that bad to me I have had my share of issues and the house has kinda fallen apart a little. On Monday she even helped DH and I organize the basement [that was Monday though]. It's been an eventful but good week, lots got done in the house and DD really surprised me with the things that come out of her mouth. What a week! Oh and tonight I tried a new recipe for frozen quiche, I'll post more about that later though. 

Homemade M&M Cookies

I love M&M cookies!!

This past summer the Mrs Fields in the mall closed [sad face]. I was very upset, I always treated myself to a M&M cookie from Mrs Fields when I went to the mall, it's something I have been doing since I was little [ok my mom was treating me to a cookie when i was little but still]. So I was on the hunt for an amazing recipe....well folks I FOUND IT!

INGREDIENTS:

1 c. sugar

1 c. brown sugar

1/2 c. butter (softened)

1/2 c. oil

2 eggs

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. vanilla

3 cups flour

Chopped M&Ms (I used about a cup)

Whole M&Ms (what ever is left in the bag)

[all together I uses a whole bag of M&Ms but it never hurts to have an extra bag on hand I'm sure you'll be snaking on them]

here are all my ingredients laid out

I found that my slap chop was the best way to chop my M&Ms. The pieces varied in size but it was really easy to get it all done, I did small handfuls at a time until I was at about a cup of chopped M&Ms

Mix sugar, brown sugar, butter and oil together until fluffy

add eggs

add baking powder, salt, baking soda, flour and vanilla

dough will from a ball on the paddle, then slowly add chopped M&Ms

I then balled up the dough [I literally rolled it between my hands into balls]

placed the dough balls on my baking stone and then stuck 3-4 M&Ms into the dough balls

[I found it helpful to roll the dough while the others were in the oven, I just rolled them up and laid them out on the cutting board that I used to chop the M&Ms]

Bake at 350 for 7-9 minuets [every oven is different 7 minuets was perfect for mine]

let them sit on the pan or baking stone at least 5 mins before moving to a cooking rack

the cookie on the top was taken off the stone too early and fell apart

the cookie on the bottom was left on the stone to cool for 5-8 mins

DH and I have been eating them all day.....good thing I'm pregnant and not on a diet! [haha]

Here are the ingredients and directions all together

INGREDIENTS:

1 c. sugar

1 c. brown sugar

1/2 c. butter (softened)

1/2 c. oil

2 eggs

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. vanilla

3 cups flour

Chopped M&Ms (I used about a cup)

Whole M&Ms (what ever is left in the bag)

[all together I uses a whole bag of M&Ms but it never hurts to have an extra bag on hand I'm sure you'll be snaking on them]

DIRECTIONS:

Mix sugar, brown sugar, butter and oil together until fluffy

add eggs

add baking powder, salt, baking soda, flour and vanilla

dough will from a ball on the paddle, then slowly add chopped M&Ms

I then balled up the dough [I literally rolled it between my hands into balls]

placed the dough balls on my baking stone and then stuck 3-4 M&Ms into the dough balls

Bake at 350 for 7-9 minuets [every oven is different 7 minuets was perfect for mine]

let them sit on the pan or baking stone at least 5 mins before moving to a cooking rack

Happy New Year!

HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM THE BAGELS

We put DD to bed but she decided that she wanted to party with us. [notice the cookie mess on her face] Ok so we didn't really party, we were actually really lame, I wasn't feel good so I took a very late nap and woke up again at 10:30pm [LAME I know]. We just watched TV until midnight.

I got my midnight kiss this year!! Since DH and I have been together [July 06] we have only spent 2 New years together. 06-07 he was in basic, 07-08 he deployed New Years Eve, 08-09 already deployed, 09-10 already deployed, 10-11 HOME! and 11-12 HOME! I am very thankful he is home this year to give me my kiss!!

Although my kiss from DD was great too. She saw me kiss DH and came running over to me and leaned in for a kiss, I know the picture is blurry but for those with a toddler you know you take what you can get! 

She even had a kiss for her daddy!!

HAPPY NEW YEARS EVERYONE

Long Time No Blog

Life has been CRAZY since my last post. I'm in school and trying to keep up with that, DD has been approved for speech therapy, I have OB appointments, DH has crazy hours at work, I have crazy insomnia, I'm nesting and oh we are moving soon.....

:Lets break the craziness down shall we?

I have a final this week. Online school fits really well into my life but sometimes I wonder how much I'm really learning. Although since I have been studying the same things for 5 years [thank you stupid transfers] I guess I know more then the person who is only learning about it for the first time. I feel like there is a lot of over lap between the classes too. Currently I am taking a Lifespan Development class...well in the Early Development and Middle Development classes I'm clearly going to be studying the same stuff just more in depth I guess...anyways once I am done with this final I have a month off to deal with the move [more about that in a sec]. Trying to finish....getting there.

At DD's 18 month doctor's appointment DH and I had to fill out a survey about her. It asked things like, can she turn pages in a book, can she throw a ball, how many words does she know and a bunch more. Well based on what DH and I put down they felt she didn't know as many words as she should. He pediatrician said he would put in for a hearing test and a speech evaluation. Well hear test came back all clear and her evaluation came back saying she was behind [which DH kinda felt she was]. The evaluation shocked us to say the least. They said she should know 20-50 word....she knows like 8words. She DD goes to speech twice a week. We've only gone a few times but so far so good, she's been pretty good for them no major melt downs [knock on wood it stays that way]. They even gave us some signs to work on with her to help us communicate a little better. She's doing good with her signs, so we'll see where this all goes in the new year.

I get to see my OB a lot more often now. I really do love my OB, I'm so glad she was recommended to me back when I was pregnant with DD. Everyone in her office is just fantastic, from the receptionists to the nurses. She just keeps teasing us "are you ready, here comes number 2" and she always says hi to DD in the hall way as we walk by, even gives her a lollipop [which of course DD doesn't turn down]. We're getting closer and closer now

DH has crazy stupid hours since my last post...he went from being in a class that got out at noon every day, to being on 12s [working 11pm to 11am] over Christmas, to being off for a week to being on 12s again [7pm to 7am] now I know that is part of military life but I have a toddler [a loud toddler] and my husband is suppose to sleep all day....yea ok...poor DH is more like a zombie. Then after this set of 12s he'll work swings [3pm to 11pm] which I am totally ok with. We just need to figure out when he's going to ALS....and that will be a whole new schedule...my gut feeling is they will do it right on or after my due date. Oh well we'll see

Insomnia and nesting....typical while pregnant. DH came home from work the other day and I had rearranged everything on the kitchen counters in the middle of the night [he was shocked]. I've been crazy about the laundry basket [DH likes to throw his stuff on the floor normally I deal...not lately]. My house is still cluttered but I am working on it.

We move soon....CAN NOT FREAKING WAIT! DH talks to the housing office this coming week to get everything dealt with. We know what house we are getting [layout I wanted YAY] and we know that we will have keys no later then February 15th but I want to move NOW! I will update again when I know more about what is going on with all that.

Well that's pretty much it...Christmas is over I got NCIS season 7 and 8 and I only have 1 more episode to watch before I need something else to keep me entertained

DH also got me Sims 3 Pets [my insomnia is loving it] is addicting to say the least

A Post About Twilight

I'm a nerd, get over it

So who's been to see the new Twilight movie already? I really want to see it but I'm waiting until all the screaming 12 year old have seen it so I can enjoy the movie with out someone screaming every time Jacob takes his shirt off or during the steaming honeymoon.

I watched the first movie last night and will be watching the second movie today and I have to hurt down the 3rd one in this city, maybe I'll just buy it on iTunes haha

I really want to find my books so I can reread them, I really love this book series, I have read it twice and will be reading it again once I can find them. DH makes fun of me, he's not big on reading, unless it's a gamer magazine, a video game guide, or work related so he just thinks I'm a bigger nerd. I wish I had more time, but with a toddler, a baby on the way and school I'm barely getting my homework done as it is I don't need to get lost in the land of vampires and wolves (although I'd love the distraction).

Ok now I don't understand this whole team Edward team Jacob debate because she picks Edward and that is just how it is, that's how the books were written, people can't change that so all this team Jacob stuff baffles me but I found this and I think its hilarious!! I have to admit I think Jacob is very pretty shirtless.

Are you better yet?!

So DH has been home about a month now and has hardly worked which has been nice! His shop gave him a week off after his "deployment" and then he was on call the week after that (and he only got called in once that week) then he worked a week and then he took a week off to spend time with my parents who came to visit for Halloween.

Having my parents visit was nice, we went to the pumpkin patch and DD went trick-or-treating for a little bit. Poor thing was turning into a popsicle on Halloween it was chilly and what toddler likes to keep gloves on?

As you know from my previous post DH surprised me when he came home, well I had already bought my plane ticket home for Thanksgiving to visit family. DH said I could still go that he didn't want to be out the money and a cancellation fee wasn't really in the budget either so DD and I flew home. Well DD flew home with my parents a few days before me. Well apparently DD got sick somewhere along the way. For the last week she has had the grossest diapers and has even thrown up a few times. She was staying at my MILs house the first few times she threw up but my MIL said she would do it first thing in the morning and then be totally normal all day, with the exception of diapers. Well when I flew in 4 days after DD and they gave me the rundown of what had been going on. She has thrown up once since I got here but these diapers are killing me! I'm 5 1/2 months pregnant the smells my daughter is creating are not my friend....thank goodness my dad works in the house if I'm desperate. DD has needed a bath almost every morning between the blowouts and the barfing. I'm starting to wonder how long this will last (and how long I should let I go). I called the doctors office last Friday (so what 3 days ago) and they said as long as she's taking in fluids and putting out fluids there isn't much they can do for an 18 month old, she'll have to work it out on her own. Well there's lots of dirty diapers that's for sure! She'll eat crackers and cereal and pretty much anything we'll get her to eat (trying to keep it bland even though the dr said we didn't have to stick to a strict bland diet). She's pretty good with bland food all day but by dinner she wants something with a little flavor. But seeing how the bland diet isn't really working I think I'll just avoid fruit. She is CHUGGING her pedialyte so that's a good thing, she'll drink a whole bottle and then some  every day, so that makes me feel a little better. I'm just a nervous mommy. I just hate that she is sick and we are 3000 miles away from DH, our home and her doctor. But at least we are with some family right?

What a day....What a week!! and fill in Friday to boot

Remember a few weeks ago how I said I mostly posted while DH is deployed....well last Friday after I posted I got a phone call from the shop. I picked up and the guy on the other end said "Hi this is a friend of your DH's and he wanted me to drop a box off for you". Now DH had been saying he had gotten me something for my birthday and that he knew a guy that was going to be on the plane so I would get the box faster that way. So a little while after that phone call the doorbell rang, there was a guy there holding a paper over his face...it was DH!!! He surprised me! [well kinda] Last Thursday I looked at the bank account and there was $70 missing and the charges were listed as a military base in England. My hamster got on and wheel and I started thinking. There was one of two reasons [in my mind] that the debit card was in England. 1. it was stolen 2. he was being sneaky and was in England. So when I opened to door I started crying and gave him a big hug and a kiss then looked at him and said, hey next time don't spend $70 in England. It was a fantastic surprise even though I kind of knew. DD wasn't sure what to think but believe me she has been thrilled to have daddy back in her life.

So this past week has just been family time, since I didnt know DH was coming home, all the food was deployment food, basically freezer meals, single serving stuff or what ever I was craving while walking around the store. So we desperately needed to get to the store and get food, thank goodness it was payday! DH let me sleep in and I got up and had a normal morning/afternoon. I said I'm going to do a little homework but then we can go get groceries, I told him I didn't care if it was Walmart or the commissary, he loves apple butter and the commissary is the only place he can find the kind he likes so he picked commissary, not big deal. We packed up DD and got in the car. Well, I'm almost 19 weeks pregnant so I know I need to keep my water intake up. We were about 3 aisles into shopping and I started to feel light headed. I told DH I wasn't feeling good and I wanted to go buy a bottle of water. I walked up to the front, got a bottle of water out of the case and got in the express lane since the woman in that lane was almost finished, I just started feeling awful and remember thinking to myself once I check out I'm going to sit on the bench. I handed the guy my money and next thing I know I'm on the floor. I remember a gentlemen asking me if there was someone they could call I said my husband was in the store, but I don't remember hearing them call DH over the speaker, I also remember hearing someone say call 911. Then I heard DH come running up and he was at my side rubbing my arm and saying 'babe, babe are you ok what happened' so not only was he worried about me but he's trying to keep DD calm because she was in the cart still. Then 2 women walked over one said she was an EMT the other said she was a nurse, they asked me when the last time I ate was and if this had ever happened before. Then a police officer showed up and was asking me questions, then the firemen and the base EMTs showed up. One of the firemen even had on his shiny silver fire pants. They were asking me questions, the biggest question I was getting asked was if I hit my head, but the gentlemen who came to my side first just kept telling everyone, 'she sat down with control' now I dont remember but I believe the guy. So they let me sit on the floor for a little bit then asked if I was ok to stand up and walk. I informed them that I hadn't tried to get up but I was feeling ok. So they helped me up, I said I was ok to walk so they walked me out to the ambulance to give me some privacy. They took my vitals, they even checked my blood sugar. Now from the beginning I kept saying 'I'm pregnant, I'm about 5 months pregnant' I wanted everyone to know, me worry was about the baby not myself. DH and DD were standing outside the ambulance waiting to find out what they were doing with me. They said they would take me to the clinic to have me checked out, so DH met me at the clinic. They did vitals again and then the doctor came in asked me questions again [I was starting to feel like a broken record]. She said they would do a doppler and check the baby's heart beat. She asked where baby was normally. I pointed to the left side of my belly and said my last ultrasound  the head was here and the feet were here [then point to the right side] so she started to search for the baby, it was taking a long time, so I was starting to freak out. Then she found it but only for about 2 seconds, I wasn't sure what to think, she said maybe I need more goop [because that's the technical term ya know] again only found it for about 2 seconds. Then she decided that she should try lower. I cannot believe how low the baby is!!! Way, WAY lower then DD. Anyways after I was given the all clear DH drove me home and told me to go lay down he was going to take DD and get the groceries but he was only a phone call away if I needed him. He came home, put DD in her room, checked on me, unloaded the jeep, and he even made dinner!! My husband is amazing!! I'm so glad he was there today because I don't know if I would have been bale to handle everything as well as I did without him.

on a lighter note fill in Friday!

1. A word that always makes me laugh is chotchkies
2. If you looked in my refrigerator right now, the oldest thing you'd find would be  a month old lasagna [haha oops!]
3. If I were written about in the newspaper today, on the front page, the headline say preggo passes out in Fairchild Commissary
4. The last movie I saw was in theaters? pretty sure it was Harry potter but DD and I just watched Lion King today
5. The best thing that happened to me in the last few weeks was DH coming home

Friday, Friday, Friday, oh Friday

It's Friday...FINALLY!!!

I feel like this week has just dragged on!! I know I am not alone in my feelings, my friends seem to feel it has dragged on as well. DD is in a mood today!! She ate lunch [ok breakfast really], well really she inhaled it, and started yelling at me, I knew she wanted more fruit so I went to the kitchen to get her more pears. She inhale those too then threw another fit, so I put her in her room to play. I'm just sitting around watching NCIS. I'm waiting on UPS to bring me my new Scentsy supplies, I can't wait! I keep singing
"O-ho the Wells Fargo Wagon is a-comin' down the street.
Oh, don't let him pass my door!
O-ho the Wells Fargo
Wagon is a-comin' down the street
I wish I knew what he was comin' for."
-Music Man [one of my favorite musicals]

Well I need to bake a cake so off I go....

TGIF!!!

Oh Monday

Oh Monday, normally I dread you, but so far today hasn't been all that bad. My friend J did me a huge favor and sat in my [ messy ] house with DD while I went to the bank to deposit a ton of checks [not a normal errand for me but I'll explain in a minuet], I was able to go to the Airman Family Readiness Center and use their printers [score!] and then FINALLY got to the post office to mail the ribbon wreath to my friend D and Scentsy party supplies to my friend K in England. Now if I would have had to take DD it would have taken me 2 hours [I'm guessing] to get this all done. 

I had a Scentsy party this past Saturday and got paid by check for all but 1 order. This is not normal for me but I'm not complaining, so I had to go to the bank today to get them all deposited so I can get the party ordered. When I took DD to the bank the other day it was a NIGHTMARE! My mom just said "payback"...Thanks mom... She didn't want to be held but I can't really let her run around the bank. The one teller was having problems, I could hear her on the phone saying "I know I just called but the other numbers you gave me weren't working and I need to figure this out" so she had to deal with that, the other teller was dealing with a guy who had a really big envelope full of stuff that he needed to take care of so I was left to wait, finally a 3rd teller showed up and man was he slow....anyways, I am just really thankful that my friend J was able to watch DD today!!

Then I went and printed out 3 chapters of my history book, have I ever mentioned how much I HATE e-books? I mean I like that they are free but I really like having a book better, so I have to print the e-books, well when chapter 1 is 34 pages I dont really feel like wasting my paper and ink either, so good thing the Readiness Center had computers and printers I can use for FREE!! So I was able to print 3 chapters today, I'm hoping I can get back there this week and print out more just so I have them. 

Then I FINALLY for to the post office to mail the ribbon wreath to D, and finding a box it fit in was interesting to say the least! I also had to mail Scentsy party supplies to my friend K in England. K wants to have a catalog party with her friends to try and earn free product [which who doesn't love free!]. I was actually surprised when the lady at the post office told me how to mail it to her cheaper. I have heard for a while now that the postal service has been hurting for money and they have even changed their hours [at least the one here on base did]. So for her to tell me I could save $8 was really nice. Then I came home J and DD and made myself a cup of hot chocolate on my new Keurig machine!! 

Well time to go get DD off the bed, I hear her playing with the blinds. Time for her to take a NAP! Then I'm going to watch some NCIS [love] and do some history homework [hate]

Don't forget it Military Monday!! Hop on over to the Blog Hop!!

Fill in Friday...on Saturday? oops!

1. I always feel like I'm 30 years old, but in reality, I'm 24, my knees crack, my back aches, I'm tired at 4pm.
2. I wish my family understood better when I tell them why we probably will never move, I can't help that DH likes where we are and that he doesn't want to PCS. I don't hate it here it's just getting old, I would like to move and see other bases but I don't get a say.
3. If you saw me when I when I get dressed up for weddings, you'd think I was a total girly-girl, but if you saw me almost any other time, you'd think I was a tomboy through-and-through.
4. I feel like I'm in a totally different universe when I go visit our families for a long time, I don't see camo for weeks, don't have to take my ID out for every little thing, then I come back to military life, its like another world.
5. In honor of this being MFF #60... 60 months ago (exactly 5 years ago, so September 30, 2006) I lived in Pittsburgh, PA and my life was totally different because I had just started my first year of college, I was living in a dorm, finally seeing what life was like with mom and dad always looking over my shoulder and learning about life.  DH and I had only been dating 2 months at that point, he also he hadn't left for basic yet. It seems so long ago!

Ribbon Wreath

In my Rag Wreath post I had mentioned that I found 2 wreaths that I really wanted to make. This is the other wreath I wanted to make. I found it really time consuming, but with DH gone it was a great project to do after DD went to bed and I had time to kill (while avoiding chores). I got the idea for the wreath from The Picky Apple. I did a few things differently then she did but the concept I got from her.

Supply list:

Foam Ring

2" Black Sating Ribbon (I needed a little over 2 rolls and each of my rolls was 4yds)

straight pins

lots of ribbon, I wish I could tell you what lots is, in The Picky Apple's blog she mentioned that she needed to go out and get more, well I bought too much, I bought over 300 yds of ribbon, if I were to make one again I'd start with 150 or 175 yards, I seemed to use about half of what I cut.

2 wooded blocks

sign/letters you want on the wreath (mine is a pre-made boo)

scissors

hot glue gun

LOTS of hot glue

and it begins....

Take a straight pin and pin the end of the ribbon on the inside of the ring and wrap the ribbon around. Hot glue it as you feel needed. This is what 4yds of black ribbon covered for me.

I know it's a little dark but this it the ring totally covered,  I also have the blocks with black ribbon (that I had from another project) and glued them on to the wreath, I have the yellow box around the block. I decided to put the blocks on first so I didnt have to worry about trying to fit them in later, I wanted to make sure they would stick really well. (Notice Heinzy on the floor, that's my boy)

Now begins the task of cutting the ribbon

here is everything I started with

I told you I bought over 300 yards

I cut a piece of cardboard width doesn't matter because the width will be the width of the ribbon, its the length that matters. My piece of cardboard was 6" long, this helped me keep the ribbon strips pretty dang close to each other

I wrapped the ribbon around the cardboard, just keep wrapping, but not to thick, I did about 1/2 the roll at a time.

Then slid the scissors in one of the loops

cut both loops and you'll cut a lot of stripes at once!

here is all my cut ribbon! over all I had 11 or 12 different patterns of ribbon

now the task of looping all the ribbon, you have 2 choices, sew them or glue them. I tried sewing a few and found it to be a pain and glued 99% of the loops.

To make the loops you want to put a dot of glue on the ribbon and then fold the ribbon in half but make sure to leave a 'tail' so you can glue it to the wreath later

You want them to look like this, where you place the glue will determine how big the loop is and how much of a 'tail' you will have to glue, you can always trim to make the 'tail' smaller later so keep that in mind

Here are all my loops! I just tossed them all in a box and mixed them all together as I went, isn't it pretty?

Here is what my wreath looked like about half way, I started at the top and worked my way around, as you can see I randomly placed a few around the wreath, you don't have to do this. I just pulled apart the 'tail' put hot glue in it and placed is on the wreath. You'll overlap the 'tails' the closer you bunch them the more loops you'll need for the wreath. Now if you have long 'tails' you may need to trim some which is fine, I trimmed some of mine. Its like a jigsaw puzzle just make it fit. Remember you can always add more later.

This is the side of the wreath, I layered them, so they wouldn't stick out. I started at the top and worked my way down so that the bottom ribbon would wrap under the wreath. Repeat this on the inside too.

this is what the back of the wreath, you can see how the ribbons from the outside and the inside and how the ribbons wrap to the back

ALMOST FINISHED!!

Here is the wreath totally covered in ribbon

Then I glued the pre-made boo sign to the blocks. (the pre-made sign was only $5 and buying letters, paint and glitter like The Picky Apple did added up to more then that)

The I had to add ribbon to the back so that I could hang it up, I just used the left over 2'' black ribbon I used to cover the foam.

I glued the black ribbon into a loop then glued it to the wreath

but to make is extra sturdy I used 2 floral pins I had left from another project

here you can see the floral pins that I pushed trough the ribbons and into the foam, these are totally optional

I really enjoyed making this wreath, it was time consuming but fun, like I said it was a great project while DD was sleeping, I have a LOT of ribbon left so I might make another one since all I'd have to do this time is glue the loops on the wreath, guess we'll see.