IT'S FRIDAY FRIDAY GOTTA GET DOWN ON FRIDAY!!
and I couldn't be more thankful for the weekend. The past few weeks that I've been away from you have actually been amazing. We found out Bryce WONT be extended (can I get a freaking HELL TO THE YEAH!?!... Thanks!) and he will be home VERY soon... like... single digits soon! It's possible that by this time next week I'll have my best friend in the whole universe home and let's just say there won't be much time for internet escapades ;) I can't believe that I'm this close to the end, that it's RIGHT there in front of me and I can see it, I can see that bright beautiful light at the end of the tunnel. As much as I love love love love that light, that shit needs to hold it's horses, because I need to get this house back in tip top Amanda crazy clean shape before Bryce walks in and questions whether he's walked into an alternate Narnia universe or if this is really his pig sty of a house.
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| OW OW! |
Over these 6 months I've really learned a lot about life, about marriage, about being a single parent and just about who I am. I remember saying a few blogs ago, how proud I was to just be doing this and doing it well and let me tell y'all something, I'm STILL proud... no... I'm not proud, I'm a fucking rock star! Granted, there's no way I would have gotten through this without my support system. I've come to find that I have the absolutely most amazing friends anyone could ever ask for. They're there when I'm sad, when I'm happy, when I'm borderline certifiable and that means more to me than anything. Hell, my best friend flew in on a whim, just because she missed me and wanted to be with me... I think that makes me the luckiest best friend ever. I for sure couldn't have done this had I not been blessed with the most well behaved children in the history of the world. I don't know what I did right in life to deserve those girls, but I'm glad I did. It's funny to hear people say how hard it must have been to be surviving deployment with two kids in tow, but the thing is that without them, this would have been 100 times harder. I ALWAYS had two little somebody's to hug when I just needed a hug or to tell me they love me, when that was all I needed. That's the best feeling in the world, being their mom is the best feeling in the world.
Deployment ain't nothing but a thang, not for me anyways. So as it comes to an end, even though I hated it pretty much the entire time, I'm really thankful for it. It showed me that I'm one tough lady and you know what they (yes... I'm referencing THEY again, but seriously, WHO ARE THEY!?!) say, "Tough times don't last, tough people do." I kicked deployment's ass and that's something I'm pretty proud of.
Aside from the deployment updates, not a whole lot has been going on. Lily Pops started ballet and I'm not sure I've ever seen a cuter ballerina in my entire life!
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| so sassy. |
She loves it, her lack of coordination isn't such a huge fan though. We're gonna sign her up for soccer once Bryce is back, because we aren't sure which YMCA we're going to go through this time. Unfortunately the Y that we use now is closing (this is the worst news ever when your daily schedule revolves around them 2 hours a day.) so now we have to find a new one. There are a lot of options for us, but most likely I'll wind up at going to either Planet Fitness or LA fitness since they have child care. .... wow, that Lily update took a turn really fast. She had an especially hard time with Bryce being gone, SO we want to surprise her with him when he gets home. He should be home around Easter, so wanna know our super cute surprise for her? Of course you do! Why else would you still be reading if you didn't? We're gonna put him in a box with the bottom cut out and wrap it in pretty paper and tell her the "Easter Bunny" brought her and sissy a present and it's going to be Bryce!!! How freaking perfect is that!?! It's so perfect, that's how perfect it is! She is probably going to cry, because she's a hot baby mess with her knight in daddy armor gone. Thankfully, it won't be for much longer.
Emmy's turn! We had a cardiologist check up the other day, because my mini hadn't put on any weight since her 15 month check up and her regular doctor was pretty concerned. The thing is, she's in the 85% for her height and just not a heavy little girl. At first they were concerned, because a side effect of her murmur is slow weight gain and as I'm sure you remember is considered "failure to thrive." At first I was admittedly really scared by this, but then I remembered who and how Emory is. She doesn't get junk food like most kids, she doesn't even like juice. My kids DON'T get candy, soda, sweets, cookies, etc. like most other kids their age now days and yes a lot of it is because I want them to make health conscience and smart eating decisions later in life, but a lot of it is because my kids don't like that stuff. When it comes time for dessert, they'd rather have strawberries and apples with a little honey than a sugar filled cupcake. Emory goes through two whole things of bananas in about three days time and two cartons of cherry tomatoes in week. So that kind of eased my mind and I just made an effort to make sure they's eating 5 small meals a day and two snacks instead of three HUGE meals. At her check up her amazing doctor said that everything looks fantastic and though the left side of her heart is a bit larger than the right, it's nothing to panic over. For now, surgery is off the table and that is the biggest weight off of my shoulders. He really prided me in my parenting choices and said he's never seen a 19 month old lay as still as she did not only for her EKG, but for the ultrasound of her heart. That little pat on the back from him, really went a long way.
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| I can't get enough of her ever haha |
Other than her heart being amazing, she's just my silly little Emory. She's talking up a storm and saying at least one new word a day. She loves her play time with her big sissy and as of lately her absolute favorite thing to do is to pretend to be a cat. She will literally crawl all over the floor meowing at us and then cracking up at herself, because she thinks she is just SO funny. She comes by that self hilarity honestly, she is her mother's hilarious daughter and we all know I'm hilarious :p
I guess I'm my turn to update about me... since... I KIND OF have a life outside of my children, sometimes... when they're asleep... let's be honest, I don't really have a life outside of them, but I pretend I do. ANYWAYS! Life is life with me. I've been pretty much killing myself in the gym for the past two months and I love every second of it. It's become more of a routine than something that I feel like I need to do. Uhh... OH!!! Are you ready!? I taught myself how to sew and how to crochet, no big deal, but that's kind of a big deal. I've mainly been making pillow case dresses and small things like that, but that was all I really wanted a sewing machine for anyways, so it worked out in the end.
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| cute much!? Yeah, I know. |
I've honestly just been spending a lot of time with the girls and with my friends trying to stay busy and occupied. A part of me wants to go back to work, but another part of me doesn't want to give up the time that I have with my girls for anything. We do really well money wise every month, so there's not really a need for me to work and these are crucial years that I'm never going to get back, so I just can't bring myself to sacrifice the quality time that I get daily with the girls for something that I don't have to do, especially since Bryce supports me in that decision 110%. I have been toying with the idea of going back to school though, I was supposed to do so like a year ago, but I couldn't bring myself to half heartily commit to something, I'm a firm believer in doing everything to the best of my ability or not doing it at all. I'm looking at going to be a home economics teacher, because I'm not sure that there is a more perfect job for me. I'm Martha freaking stewart on my own, so why not pass that on? You feel me? Of course you do. I'm sitting here racking my brain for things to tell about me, but I seriously am having a hard time, because... all I do is sew and craft and read and talk to bryce and hang out with the girls hahaha Oh #awesomemomproblems.
Alright, this is WAY longer than I thought it was going to be and I finished it before Friday, so NOW I'm going to spend the next 9 minutes waiting patiently for it to turn midnight so that I can hit publish. Man, I am so awesome... obviously. OH WAIT! I really did forget to tell you something! Guess who gets TWO FREAKING WEEKS ALONE WITH THEIR HUSBAND IN MAY-JUNE!?!?! I do. That's who! My mom is pretty much the best mom ever and is taking my ladies to nanny's house of fun (in ground natural water pool and beach included) for two weeks. I'm going to miss them more than words, but I think after 6 months alone with them and no time alone with Bryce, I deserve it. Grated in the middle of said vacation, I'm running a 5K, but it's going to be awesome. I've already started to plan little getaways for us and I think I'm gonna try and throw some surprises Bryce's way too. I seriously cannot wait for it! Once our two week are up I'm flying down to P-Cola so see my family and we're gonna be there for about two weeks and then we'll make our way back to glorious Ohio. It really is going to be really awesome though and I can tell Bryce is getting really pumped about it too. The girls are going to have a blast and a half with my family. I already know my parents are going to managed to send them back more spoiled than those two already are if that's even possible. Pee Paw has a serious, "I can't say, "NO!" to Lily... like... ever!" problem, so I'm sure his bank account won't like him much once those two weeks are up and I can't imagine that Emory is going to make that any easier for him.
Seriously though, now I'm done. Stop making me tell you things, I know I'm awesome but SOME OF US have 6 miles to kill in the gym tomorrow and need to go to bed. Goodnight blogger world. I hope your month/weeks/days have been as blessed as mine have been lately.
See you soon.
-Amanda <3
p.s.
It's 12:05 am. Holler at me Friday.
