The Adventures of Baby Nope

Now that my baby is a year old he has started being more demanding, and clearly has a mind of his own.

 While he can't yet say "nope", I do imagine that's what he's thinking when he screams and fights me on occasion.

A lot of occasions.

So, here are his adventures. The adventures of Baby Nope.

Part one:  Boogers.

Ugh. I know I can't possibly be the only one that has spent 10 minutes trying to clean snot of their baby.

 If he would JUST HOLD STILL!!!

But nooooo, tissues are EVIL.  Didn't you know that?

Best Roasted Toasted Pumpkin Seeds

I love pumpkin seeds! I could eat them everyday. I could eat them in some hay. I will eat them here and there. I will eat them everywhere!

Anyways..... I know there are several recipes out there, but here is my favorite.

Once you get the seeds out of the pumpkin give them a quick rinse.
Next boil them in a few cups of water with about half a tablespoon of salt for 5 minutes.
Drain them and place them on a cookie sheet, spread out evenly in a single layer.
Drizzle with olive oil and a hearty sprinkling of season salt.
Mix them around to insure an even coating, then spread back out in single layer.
Bake at 400* for about 20 minutes, stirring once halfway through.

Keep and eye on them so they don't burn!
Cooking time will be less if you have less seeds.
They should be a light golden brown when done.
The season all/ season salt is what makes them AMAZING!!
Allow to cool before devouring!

Time Flies When You're Having Fun

 Elijah started preschool today and Jackson is almost 6 months old (and almost crawling!!). My how time flies when you're busy driving your mamma crazy :)

Also in recent news, my brother graduated basic training!! Now he's at tech school for 5 months or thereabouts. I'm really proud of him for accomplishing his goal and I hope he will get through his classes on the first try! I've heard it's pretty hard (the job he is training for) but I'm sure he can handle it.

 Awwwww :)

We've got a lot of projects in mind for our new house. Perhaps once we actually get around to starting one I will post some pictures. Hopefully that's not too far off! I did finally get our family pictures hung up though. I did a collage of family photos over the couch. I think it turned out pretty cute!

Well that's all for now folks :)

Words are POWERFUL. Please PRAY for our MILITARY.

I have a friend that I have not known long, 
and I don't spend a lot of time with. 
But I can tell from the little I've seen and heard,
that she is a wonderful woman. 
She is a military wife. 
She wrote this and I find it amazing, powerful and true.
I had to share. 

*******************************************
The truth is: 
I watched him walk away–that uniform, identifiable gait—and my heart bent and splintered as the reality of a another deployment began to shower over me. I picked up the phone, dialing the numbers my numb fingers always meander toward, and sat in silence while she tried to ease my pain. “I can’t imagine…He will be home….I’m here.” And then she said six words that shot through my ears, penetrated my brain, and stiffened my spine: “You know how to do this.” She was right. I do know how to do this. I intimately know the all-too familiar lump in my throat. The year of being both father and mother, making the best of a situation. I know exactly how one year feels as I " X " each day off my calendar. And I know how to ensure that while our lives are on hold, we still live. The truth is I know a lot:

The thought of being alone for a year doesn’t bother me. The fear of being alone for a lifetime—does.
Flat rate boxes can hold twenty whoopee cushions, four baby wipe boxes, 3 packages of granola, and five perfume-scented letters.
Technology can be a double-edged sword—one side delivering his face; the other a brutal live-action feed of explosions and camouflaged body parts.
Murphy’s Law is a constant companion. The moment he walks out the door, anything that can break, collapse, bleed, or explode–will .
Five hours of uninterrupted sleep is a gift from the deployment gods
Holidays are hard, but manageable.
Deployments come and go, but sand from his boots never leaves.
Nothing can replace a handwritten letter. Through those beautifully folded pages, he is holding my hand again.
When the National Anthem is played, I know goosebumps will rise on my arms, and a lump will fill my throat.
The silence in communication following a war zone attack is agonizing.
Laughter is a powerful ally.
Each deployment offers two options: grow or regress. This is a choice.
Cereal is always a dinner option.
Videos of lost teeth, funky dance moves, and recitals of love poems or renactments of jokes can be emailed to Iraq nearly instantly.
Five powers of attorney and the intimate details of his will are needed to navigate a deployment.
White out blizzards can actually bury a truck in five minutes.
Rosie the Riveter was right: We can do it.
Children cling to hope and the promise of tomorrow.
Living in each moment together is possible when facing the fear that it could be your last.
Welcome home kisses are sweeter than the finest chocolate.
Anger will grip me and depression can hold me, but another military spouse will steady me.
A son or daughter can feel the absence of their father so deeply that she can suffer from clinical depression.
A military spouse will often hold her/his tongue, silencing a story, for fear of sounding “unpatriotic.”
The sound of a bugle can make my heart swell with pride or collapse in sorrow.
Duct tape and a monkey wrench can fix nearly anything.
Despite the protestors and those who tell me I “knew” what I was getting into, I know there are countless American citizens who will go above and beyond to show they support us.
There are many things I know.

I know how to change the brakes on my truck, rappel from the side of a cliff if I had to, shoot a double-barreled shotgun, balance a checkbook, earn my keep, and kiss a child enough to feel like two.

But there are still so many things I don’t know.

I don’t know how to start my heart again when I see a death notification car on my street.
When that knock echoes on the door of my neighbor, I don’t know how to forgive myself when I am relieved.
I don’t know how to hug him enough to last a lifetime, or kiss him just so in order to feel satisfied—should our reunion be at the foot of a pine box.
I’m not willing to learn how to pretend he doesn’t exist, to keep him out of our life while it goes on without him, or to build a wall so high he has no way to scale it.
I don’t know how to stop his panic attacks, and I have no idea how to make my nightmares of rampant bombs and lifeless limbs disappear.
I don’t know how to adjust to his presence in my house when our floor rarely feels the weight of his boots.
I don’t know how to tell his small children that, yes, he leaves them all the time. But because he loves them so deeply, he is willing to die to keep them free.
I can’t understand those who would question my desire to stay with him, or how I can peacefully sleep beside a “killer.”
I am amazed and confounded that despite all he has seen, he still has the courage to laugh.
I don’t’ know how to give up on my family.
But, most importantly:

I have no clue how to still my pounding heart when he finally walks through our door again, I don’t know how to pull my hands from his sand-stained neck and say goodbye, and I don’t know how to ever walk away from a man who stands while many choose to sit. And why some think that lifes trivial bullshit seems to be so much more important than what men like mine are doing? For during this time that our lives are trying to just cope, can they not just appreciate it enough to shut their mouth over this trifling????
***********************************************


Thank you for those powerful words. I will be praying for our military families. I hope if you are reading this that you are praying as well. God bless :)