I should be studying for my finals but...

I'm here instead! Hey y'all, I'm back! 

It has been over a year since I wrote a post, and A LOT has changed since that last Disney World trip. First of all, the finals reference in the title. I am finally finishing up my Bachelors degree in History (UWF, go Argos!) and I cannot be more excited to finally have that piece of paper hanging on my wall. When I decided to go back to school, I decided to change my major to History from my original choice. I figured, if I am doing this, I am doing it in something that I actually like for a change. My original major was decided for me by my very first advisor when I was 18. Since I had no clue what I wanted to study, he chose something that I would be able to get a job with later. It had nothing to do with my interests, so this time I am doing what I want! I only have two semesters left: 20 hours in the summer & 18 in the fall. Needless to say, I am going to be super stressed and incredibly busy for the rest of the year. I know I am nuts, but there is a method to my madness.

This is my nightlife now: Books, Turabian, writing papers, and lots-o-wine!

Lizzie Girl has changed so much this past year. She is a toddler now, so big, and she has the personality to match. She loves broccoli, daycare, avocado sushi, mommy and daddy (of course), Luna Puppy, and books. She is a babbling fool and loves talking into anything that can used as a play phone. Lately it has been my checkbook cover and she will go off on talking tangents with it. Her favorite book is tie between Hippos Go Berserk and Hello America and watching her play with her little kitchen can melt your heart. 

My Easter Babe

Told you she likes sushi

Hubby is doing awesome. He's teaching students how to fly everyday and is super, crazy busy. Anyone that says they have tons of "home time" during a teaching shore tour is a big, fat liar! 12 to 14 hour days nearly every day! I honestly saw him more when he was in the fleet then now, on the flip side, no deployments here mean he doesn't take off for months at a time. I still miss the 9-5 days in Virginia. But we will be back in that pace of life coming up here at the end of the year because we got his verbal orders a few weeks back and we are going to....

   

I am so excited! It is still so surreal that we got orders to anywhere other than San Diego or Norfolk. I am not yet in the freaking out "holy shit we're moving overseas" stage of it all, but I know its coming. Already, we are deciding what is staying in the states and what is going with us. And it is very little.

I'll be updating as the move progresses and I'll share little tips and factoids along the way too. First Tip: Moves to some overseas locations are super weight restricted. Like 25% of your usual moving-weight allowance. Yeah, 25 percent. Let that sink in for a minute. So essentially, 75% of our house is staying here. A massive garage sale is in order and lots of Goodwill runs are in our near future.

The big move is a big reason why I decided to come back to blogland. I want a place that my family can go to and see what we have been up to. The adventures and the daily life both will be totally different from anything we have experienced before. Ahh, I am so excited, and Lizzie ready for all the sushi she can eat!  

Friday, The Best Day

The weekend is here. It is time to clean house and make some room for possible house guests. When we have BBQs, someone always ends up staying the night. I blame my bar tending skills of yesteryear for that one! But before I start shopping for food and drinks, I thought I would share my five favorite shopping scores of the week. Grab your coffee and dive on in ladies!


{One}
   My sticky notes came in this week. I have been on the hunt for some adorable sticky notes and all I had been able to find are neon colors that do not do well with my eyes. When in doubt, go on Amazon. These are a fantastic shade of light blue with darling gold foil pops. I love them so much, I kinda don't want to use them and run out.

{Two}
   I scored the perfect quilt for the guest room at TJMaxx yesterday. I have had my eye on it for a bit and it just went on sale. I can never resist a sale, especially at places like TJs or Marshalls. Nothing haunts you more then a purchase you didn't make!

{Three}
   I finished the glider corner of the nursery with the shelf. It was another TJ find that was a hideous brown/purple color and was missing a hook. One can of spray paint and a new hook later it now holds all of our Christening gowns. The one on the left is Lizzie's, then mine, then my husband's! They probably won't stay up long because I don't want them to discolor, but I had to hang them for at least a little bit.

Cutie!

{Four}
   And speaking of baby Lizzie, mommy made a very big baby-oriented purchase yesterday: Size 2 diapers! She's getting bigger everyday. I found a premie diaper in her room the other day and it blew my mind that those were once too big for her; now she's outgrown another size. Oh time, please slow down!

{Five}
   Mommy purchase: Gevalia. I love this coffee. I just hope this box of cups work with my Keurig this time. If not, I found a {trick} online to make it work!

If you would like to join in on the fun with the ladies behind 5 on Friday and Oh Hey Friday, click on the buttons at the top and link up. Have a fantastic weekend everyone. Stay warm!

Weekend Goodness

This weekend felt like a fantastically long weekend that's for sure. So I'll take it from the top! Friday night, Lizzie Rose went to her first bar. Kinda sorta. We went out with friends to a little neighborhood place and no one had been there before, so we all assumed it was more of a restaurant that had a bar. It ended up being more of a bar that served food. But it was super yummy and a really cozy place. Kinda like if someone transformed their home into a tiny bar/restaurant. Thankfully we were there early before the real 'going out crowd' came so no one even seemed to really notice that she was even there. The only give away was her car seat under the table lol. She was a champ. Slept in my arms almost the whole time and let us relax and have dinner with some friends that we hadn't seen in a while. What a trooper.

Saturday, Mama got some time to herself! Wa Hoo! I had the second best massage of my life this weekend. The only one that has been better was the prenatal massage I got in my third trimester when I was as big as a house and achey all over. (Magic hands that masseuse had, magic hands.) Then I did some light shopping afterwards; all by myself. Daddy ended up having a lot of one on one time with the little lady that morning. I'm not going to lie, it was nice but kinda weird to be all alone without either one of them. I am so used to having the munchkin in tow that I truly did not know what to do with my hands when I didn't have a stroller to push. I felt like I was missing something the entire time I was out. I was constantly checking to see if I had my phone or looking to see if my keys ran away. I felt like I was missing my left arm I was so thrown. The best part of my solo shopping was when I started talking to myself and attracted some side eye stares. I usually talk to Lizzie when I shop. You know the usual "What do you think of this shirt baby?" "This one is too blue, don't you think?" Yeah, I was talking out loud to my invisible baby in the middle of TJ Maxx. I was a true weirdo. So, when I text Hubby to see how they were doing and got this picture back as a response:

I knew it was time to head back home. Poor babe still fights a bottle and she was hangry!  

Sunday was brunch and errand day. Oh I love brunch. Eggs Benedict are the way to my heart. And mimosas. Yum. When you finish brunch day with a little antiquing and a Jo Ann's run, it's a really good day. I am starting my newest sewing project this week; a spring/summer baby carrier cover. The one that I made a few months ago is a winter fleece cover that would not mix well with the coming Florida heat. Poor Lizzie would melt! So be sure to come back later this week for a tutorial if you want to make your own!

I can't wait to get started! 

4 Months with Miss Lizzie

My little lady is four months old. I cannot believe she has only been here for four months. It feels like she was always here. It was such a natural transition from just the two of us to a family of three. Sure the days are a little bit longer and the nights are sleepless sometimes, but it was not as overwhelming as I thought it would be. We just have a new normal now. The best part of our new normal are our mornings. Lizzie loves her mornings. Especially now that she has her little baby voice! She gets our attention by babbling away until we wake up and then she gives us the biggest smiles of the day. I love mornings now.

My little cutie pie. You are too adorable for words. Mommy and Daddy love you so much. Happy 4 Months munchkin!

  

Happy Due Date Day (sort of)

Today is my due date. I should be pacing around my house, drinking weird tea, eating spicy foods and praying that this baby makes her way out soon. But... little miss Elizabeth Rose decided to make her grand entrance a month ago! October 4, 2014. What should have been my Baby Shower day turned into my Delivery Day and little girl's Birthday.

You wanna talk about a surprise! You don't get a bigger surprise then your water breaking at 3 am, 750 miles from home, at your own mother's house, the day of your baby shower, a month before your due date. Her delivery was a true blur. Since she was breech and had not flipped naturally yet, we had an inversion scheduled for the week after the shower to try to get her all set up for a natural delivery. Well, needless to say, we never did make that doctor's appointment.

A whole month old already 

We were in Texas for the baby shower that my mother had been tirelessly working on for weeks. Everything was starting to come together and it was all looking so gorgeous. Pinks, grays, creams and golds had taken over my mom's color scheme in her house. There were chiavari chairs and tables in the backyard waiting to be set up. Gorgeous blush and cream roses were being delivered. And I was hours away from trying the cupcakes that I had been told were going to change my life. I was so excited for the first party for my little girl. Instead I wake up at 3 in the morning to a Niagara Falls situation. At first I genuinely thought "Oh my God, I am so pregnant I can't hold my pee in anymore" then I knew in a split second it was my water. Oh no. Hubby sprung out of bed so fast and ran downstairs to tell my mom and step dad that the plans for the day had changed a little.  

From the time my water broke to when Lizzie was delivered was only two hours. Two very fast hours. I think I was in shock when we arrived at the emergency room. I was way, way to calm. We walked in, I said hello to the nice nurse at the desk; then I told her my water broke, that the baby was breech and that I was 35 weeks along. All with a smile plastered on my face. I remember a cop by the desk chuckling at me and the nurse saying "Okay then, lets get you up to labor and delivery". After that, it was an hour of a few tests, some needles and monitors, then I was whisked away to the OR. The spinal wasn't much fun to get. Not feeling anything from the chest down is disorienting to say the least, but the blue curtain you see in every photo and movie really does exist. The delivery itself was very fast. When Hubby came in and sat next to me, we talked about how this was not what we thought we would be doing that Saturday. Haha, life's funny that way. I remember saying to him that it was so surreal that we were going to be parents soon; then I hear the doctor say "In about 2 minutes...I see feet!" I had no idea that she was that far along in the operation. I didn't feel any of the tugging or pulling pressure that some ladies do when they get a cesarean. So it was a real surprise when we heard a little cry from behind the curtain and Elizabeth Rose was born at 5:09 am.

 It turns out that I most likely went into labor because I ended up developing preeclampsia. During the delivery my blood pressure was sky high and it did not go back down on its own. So while Lizzie was in the NICU for monitoring I was being monitored too. Have you ever had a magnesium drip? Yuck doesn't even begin to explain it. The first 24 hours of her life, I felt like I had the flu and I couldn't leave my room to go see her. So Hubby and my family got to spend quality time with the little lady while I was trying to rest up.

My Step Dad Gary meeting Lizzie 

My Step Mom Karen seeing her newest granddaughter 

My Daddy and Miss Lizzie 

My Mommy and Lizzie Rose, her namesake 

After only 12 hours in the NICU, Lizzie was given a clean bill of health and was free to venture outside of the nursery. I was the one doctors were worried about now. I can't tell you how many times my blood pressure was checked or how many medications I was given, but it was all worth it when I got to hold her for the first time.

Hubby was so fantastic during the whole thing. From the moment he woke up that early Saturday morning, he took care of everything. He was my rock during the delivery and the three days in the hospital that followed. He was a natural with the baby and I loved seeing him wheel her into the room every morning with such excitement to be with her all day. Then he'd wheel her out every night to take her back to the nursery for tests, sweetly saying to her that she'll see mommy tomorrow. Those first few days were some that I will treasure always.  

We ended up spending two extra weeks in Texas, just to make sure me and the baby were well enough to travel back to Florida. It was definitely a blessing in disguise to have my water break while in Corpus. My whole family was in town for the shower so everyone had the chance to meet Lizzie a lot earlier then they would have otherwise. My parents got to spend time with their grand baby when she was first born. That was always something that they knew would most likely never happen. It is moments like those that get sacrificed because of our military lifestyle. But my parents were able to not only be there when she was born but an additional two weeks of loving on the little was given to them. The biggest blessing was having all of my sisters in town. Two of the three no longer live in Texas. Katie lives in Philadelphia and Natalie lives in California now. For them to be able to see and hold their niece, to be in the hospital waiting room the morning she was born was priceless. I think God had a very big hand in the whole thing. He made it so everyone was able to be there to celebrate her birth together and most important of all, that both Lizzie and I were healthy.

So my little lady had a plan of her own the whole time. The joke in my family now is that she knew she wanted to be born a Texan, and she made it happen. She wanted to be with her family when she was born. So little Lizzie Rose was born in Corpus Christi, Texas just like her mama, and it was one eventful, beautiful day.