This Too Shall Pass

For the past few weeks my wonderful daughter has lost her mind! She has gone from a sweet, sassy and independent little girl to a whiny, clingy and tantrum throwing diva. Then I realized one day she will be turning three in a month. Yes folks we don't have terrible two but we most certainly go through the terrible threes! So for the next six to seven months my daughter will be replaced by this short little diva but please pray that she returns my sweet, giggly little girl soon. For all of our sakes!

It Made Me Happy

What I learn from friends

Last night I went out to dinner with two great gals! Yup I used the word gals. Besides their being pretty cool, they're pretty smart as well. I love talking to them because every time I go home knowing something new.
*I've always thought one way about a certain topic because I thought it was unconstitutional to be illegal. Well last night I learned that I was wrong. Yes folks I was wrong, I know shocking!! On a side note i'm okay with being wrong. That's a friend's job to tell you when you're wrong, nicely.
*I don't have a lot of opinions when it comes to politics. Sorry, I just don't.
*Ordering three desserts and putting in the middle of the table is stinking awesome! (you read that right, 3)
*Getting to spend time with my friends WITHOUT children is great!!
*It's nice to sit and talk with people and just get to be me. I like me and don't really understand why other people don't. It's a mystery!! :)
*I have awesome friends. I bet you're jealous.
*Getting your friend to loudly exclaim, "WHAT!", in a fairly quiet restaurant is priceless!!
*The biggest lesson is a night away from my children makes me a better mommy!

How Fast

Twice today it has been brought to my attention how quickly my children will grow up and become adults. This is still a while away for me considering my oldest is 5 and my youngest is 5 months. I joke around that my kids will live with me forever but really the goal of a good parent is to raise your children to be independent, one of the goals. It got me to thinking that about what I love about having small children.
1. Every morning Jackson wakes up between 6 and 6:30. I get up fix him a bottle and snuggle with him before the other two wake up. He's so sweet and cuddly in the morning.
2. Playing dress up is super fun. Especially when glitter is involved.
3. Right now, my husband is deployed, I am the tallest person in the house.
4. Having cereal for dinner is totally okay with small kids!
5. I love to watch cartoons and so do my kids.
6. Play dates = mommy time.
7. Everything is more fun and fascinating for a little kid.
8. I can still fix Maggie's hair without her just flat out telling me no.
9. The super cute clothes that are made for little kids. Especially girls!
10. The imagination is an incredible thing! I love asking my kids questions just to see what they will say.
11. Anything can be turned into a song. Right now my kids still think mom is pretty cool so they don't mind me singing randomly during the day.
Children are gifts. There is no "best by" date on them. There are no guarantees as to how long they will be with us. They are total gifts from God. They are amazing little people and re meant to be cherished, loved and protected. Needless to say there are days where I look forward to them being older and not having to buy diapers anymore. But I don't want that to go by too fast!

Surviving Deployments.

So right now i'm in the midst of deployment #2 and I thought i'd share a few coping tricks. Really folks I am no expert on this nor am I a perfect soldier's wife. FAR FROM IT!! But I like lists (if you've ever read my blog this is obvious) and I like to think that for the most part i'm doing a pretty decent job of coping. So how to survive a deployment in 10 easy steps.
1. GOD, enough said.
2. Your life must go on. It can not stand still for however long your spouse is gone. Especially if you have children!
3. Get a life, with friends!!!
4. Learn to stand on your OWN feet. There are certain things I hate to do but I have no choice. The garbage still has to be set out and the yard has to be mowed, unless i'm going for a jungle look.
5. Lean on your friends/family. But look at #4 at the end of the day it's just you.
6. Don't become a hermit! I will say when things get to stressful then I hole up in my house for a few days and don't talk to anyone but not all the time! On the flip side you don't have to do something everyday!
7. Shopping is not therapy!!
8.But girl's nights can be!!! Babysitters are worth the money!
9. You have to learn what stresses you out and how to deal. I sit on my balcony at night when everything is quiet and just sit. Sometimes I wallow, sometimes I cry and sometimes I just enjoy my quietness.
10. While your spouse is gone you have to live! It has to be more than surviving especially if you have kids. They need to see you enjoy life and laugh and have fun. Side note: be honest with your children. They are smarter than you think and they know what is going on. Don't hide it from them.
So like I said I don't have this down to a science but it's what I do and as Lori would say "it's how I roll".

It's the little things

So, i've been in a funk these past few days. It really started on Sunday but then it carried over into Monday and part of Tuesday. Now you could say, "well Alicia you have three small children and a husband all the way in across the world." You would be correct, I do. But that's not why i've been funky lately. And that's not what this is about. To get myself out of my funk I began to wonder about the things that do make me happy. By the way, i'm a fairly happy person so there are lots of things that make me happy these are just the most important.
My husband. Did you read the post about him? I love him!
Those moments when my children are playing together nicely and laughing. Really what sound is better than your child's laugh?
Freshly waxed eyebrows and mascara. You may see me without make up but you will rarely see me without mascara.
Quiet moments with Jesus. Where you sit and bask in His love for you.
A vanilla coke from sonic.
Music.
A good pair of jeans so when you turn around you think, "mmmmm".
A friend who can make you laugh at any time. I have awesome friends, go down a few posts and I tell you about them.
Really I have so much to be thankful for and so many things that make me happy; big things, little things, red things blue things. Anybody else read One fish, Two fish, Red fish, Blue fish? So no more funk!

Five, 5 and under

Today I had the great privilege of watching two sweet kids. Adding these two to my own three, you got it, equals 5! The ages of these children are 5, 3, 2, 1 and 4 months. As you can imagine it was a busy day! Not chaotic, just busy! Here's a few highlights of the day:

• Sweet P loves my boys! Baby J got many slobbery kisses and hugs and she loves to snuggle with the Professor.
• Big Gun has one volume. LOUD!
• The Professor is bossy. Never noticed how much until today. He loved telling Big Gun, Miss M, and Sweet P what to do.
• Big Gun put on the super man costume, poked himself in the chest and said "it has boob things".
• Miss M was the only one to have to go to time out. She has a slight attitude and not wanting to share.
• Big Gun fell and told me that wall just came and hit him!
• At one point the four older kids got pretty quiet so I had to go investigate. They were all in the Professor's bed, Big Gun and Miss M on one end sharing a pillow and blanket and Sweet P and Professor on the other end sharing a pillow.
• Baby J pretty much minded his own business all day.
• Sweet P can't really say my dog's name. It's Sam, her s sounds like a d. You sound it out.

It was a pretty good day! The names were changed in order to protect the innocent.