Moms

All those with it, together moms please help me.  How do you do it?  You know, the ones that can wear the cute outfit while keeping it clean plus have their hair done.  The ones that can tackle a million projects at once and never break a sweat.  I feel like the complete opposite.  I wear sweats and t-shirts all day.  (In all fairness, I was that way before I had kids).  It seems like just cleaning the house takes me all day and it never really is completed.  I feel like the mom who just barely gets by during the day.  I volunteer to make meals for moms with newborns.  I was trying to cook the meal today while the husband was at work.  It took me forever!  Hannah was all over the place.  The dogs got into a fight.  I was exhausted by the time I finished.  It takes me a month to read a magazine.  It seems like by the time I get Hannah to bed I am so tired I want to go right to sleep.  I wish I was more like the together mom instead of the frazzled mom.  I was looking at taking a few classes online to work toward my second degree.  I have no clue if I could handle it.  Before I had a kid, I figured I could totally handle a toddler and whatever life threw at me during the day.  Now I find myself wanting to lock myself in the bathroom for a few minutes so I can have some alone time.  My goal is to become a more together mom.  I am just not sure where to start.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Another Thanksgiving is behind me.  This is the first time in my 31 years that I did not join my family in Missouri for Thanksgiving.  Honestly, I was pretty sad that I was going to miss out on this holiday with my entire family.  This has always been on my favorites.  I did get a chance to talk to a lot of them today which is nice.  I guess it is something I should get used to since I won't be near family until the husband leaves the Navy.

Since this was our first Thanksgiving on our own, we decided to go casual.  I made a turkey/stuffing casserole, green bean casserole, and mashed potatoes for Hannah.  Pretty simple.  I trimmed the tree with all its ornaments.  I also hung Christmas lights on the deck.  My house is now ready for Christmas.  Hannah may have received her Christmas present today as well.  We decided to get a play kitchen for her.  I bought it last night to beat the Black Friday crowd, and we couldn't wait until Christmas for her to play with it.  She loves it so far!  I have a small gift she can open here plus whatever family members give her. 

The husband baking a cheesecake for the first time

The cheesecake.  It was delicious!

 

Even the dogs had a Thanksgiving feast

We went fancy casual.  TV trays with placemats and cloth napkins.

That's right Iceman, I am dangerous

Friday, the husband's squadron had a Taxi Day.  This allowed family members to don the flight gear and taxi the training plane down a runway.  It felt really weird wearing a flight suit and trying to figure out the helmet.

They give you a quick summary about how to get into the plane and what you should not touch.  Then you head outside and wait to climb into the plane.  I was pretty excited for my turn.  I remember staring at all the instruments and buttons wondering how in the world pilots remember what each one does.

The instructor gave me a little lesson how to control the plane and off we went!  I was able to follow the yellow line and turn fairly well.  It was a bit scary since there were other planes around and I was supposed to avoid them.  We did a quick lap around the runway and that was it.

As you can see, I thought it was a lot of fun, but I will leave the flying to my husband.

Mommy guilt

I thought that Hannah was ready to move from the crib to a toddler bed.  Yesterday, the railing was removed and we have an instant toddler bed.  She had a blast climbing on and off the bed.  She couldn't believe how much fun it could be to do that.  It all changed at bedtime. Most nights, bedtime isn't a chore. She will cry or fuss for a few minutes, but usually go right to sleep.  Last night she was screaming and hitting the door.  She flipped out.  She slept on the floor.  Same thing with her nap today.  I was hoping tonight would be better with a baby gate in the doorway instead of a closed door. Nope!  She started throwing things over the gate.  We tried closing the door again, but she was banging on it and frankly it scared the piss out of me.  So the railing is now back on the crib.  She only cried for a few minutes and is sound asleep.  The only highlight of last night is she did sleep through the night (well until 5:30 which is her new wake up time thanks to the end of daylight savings time.)  I feel awful about the whole process.  I don't know if I should have tried for a few more nights to see if she would adjust.  Maybe she wasn't ready, and it is good she is in the crib again.  I hate not knowing.

Airshow!

To celebrate Veteran's Day, we decided to go to the airshow.  It was the Blue Angels Homecoming show.  I hadn't been to an airshow in years.  While I think planes are okay, I am definitely not fascinated with them like my husband.  I feel bad that I don't share his enthusiasm, but I did my best to pay attention to the planes he would like to fly in his career.  It was a gorgeous day, and Hannah was on her best behavior so we were able to stay longer than we originally thought.  Hannah is definitely her father's daughter.  She loved it!  She couldn't get over all the planes flying overhead. Since we live almost an hour from the base, and we had to pick up the dogs by 5 from doggie daycare, we decided we better leave before the Blue Angels performed.  I was a bit bummed, but hopefully I can catch them next year. 

I look so happy to be checking out the plane

Hannah and I in a helicopter.  Hannah has her hand on the trigger ready to fire.

She had to stop to watch the planes fly over her.  She is an aviation fan.

I feel human again!

I have been struck down with the cold everyone seems to be passing around.  Hannah woke up last Monday with a cough, passed it on to both of us.  I was the last to get it on Friday.  I can breathe through my  nose most of the time now, and my ears only hurt slightly.  I am thinking by tomorrow I should be feeling fine.  Yesterday I was so out of it, I spent most of it in the recliner watching Food Network.  After watching a mini-marathon of Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives, I want to hit the road and eat at all those places.  I think it would be fun to buy a motor home and take off.  Eat at all the fun, funky places tucked away in cities.  I feel bad that I haven't tried some the local places here yet.  I have a ton of them on my "must eat here" list, but I haven't crossed any off yet.  I still have a few more months here so I guess I better get started. 

On Saturday, I decided to make a new dessert while I was still felt decent enough to do it.  My husband is a huge fan of smores so I thought he would enjoy this one.  I found it on someone's blog, and now I can't remember who linked it.  I do apologize for not having proper linking credit.  Here is the original source of the recipe.  I am not sure what I did, but mine did not turn out exactly like hers.  They are still pretty tasty.  They were a bit more labor intensive than I thought they would be.  I didn't realize how sticky the dough would be so my approach to placing the dough on the graham crackers was all wrong. 

Before baking

Right out of the oven

After cooling and cutting

Velcro Child

Today has been a long one that tested my patience.  Everyone is sick.  We all have a cold/sinus thing and it sucks.  The husband can't fly so he will probably have watch a lot the next week which means I am on my own.  Hannah is teething and fighting this cold.  She has been cranky, and will not let me out of her sight.  Out of desperation, I tried out the ol' carrier that I hadn't used in over 6 months.  She was happy for about a minute and then she wanted out.  I was glad because my back was already hurting.  24 pounds is a lot to carry on your back!  She went to bed without a fight so I hope she sleeps through the night. 

I accomplished nothing today.  I managed to cook dinner and a few loads of laundry.  Between fighting Hannah off of me and trying to rest with the cold, I couldn't find the energy to do all my household stuff.  I wish I had a little robot helper that could sweep the floors for me while I try to figure out why my child is hitting me and crying.  That would make life just a little bit easier.   This hitting me and throwing cups at me is a phase, right?  Or do I have the mean child?