Randoms on a Random Monday

I haven't done a random post in quite a while. Things have been crazy around here and I just haven't had a chance to sit down and write. Here are a few things going on around here.

*Mady officially climbed out of her crib today. I could hear her crying and it sounded louder than normal so I went upstairs to find her sitting on the floor near the door, screaming! I think it just scared her. So, I am praying that this is not a reoccurring habit. Please Lord!

*My parents stayed with us last night. It was so nice. They are headed to Charleston, SC for a few days and decided to stop hear on the way down to break up the drive. Mady just loves her Nana and Papa and I love having them around.

*So we move in about 10 days and I still have so much left to pack but honestly it is all stuff that you kind of have to pack last minute so I am not stressing too much about it. I know it will all get done. I cannot wait to move out of here. I will be so happy to hand back the key and say in the words of Mady, "buh-bye!"

*I really would love to go on a date with my hubby to some yummy dinner and to see the Dark Knight Rises. We have not been on a date in a while. I miss our date nights....

*I am on the hubby's computer so this post will, unfortunately, have no pictures. My computer is being used to stream some of the Olympics so even though we don't have cable, we can watch something. =) Also, I haven't taken many pictures lately expect on the phone.

*I am so beyond ready for fall! It is my favorite season by far! The smells, the chill in the air, the holidays celebrated, the food, my baby turning 2!!! Ah. Too bad we have much of summer left. This heat is killing me though! C'mon fall! We are ready and waiting.

Thats about all I have today. Short and Sweet.

Have a wonderful Monday!!!

Craziness with a Capital C!

The past 24 hours have been absolutely crazy, frustrating, tiring, and overall horrible.

It all started last night at around 10:15.

We were all sleeping. Peacefully.

Suddenly I wake up because I notice both of the fans turned off. In my sleepy, out of it state, I try to turn them back on and get frustrated that it is not working. Then I notice the alarm clock is off and everything is super dark.

Matt wakes up and we both sit there for a few seconds waiting for the power to kick back on. Never does.

So, we go out front to see if we are the only people or if the whole complex is out. Nope, just us. Awesome.

It was 90 degrees out last night at 10:30 pm.

Poor baby is sleeping in a hot room with no fan now.

Matt calls emergency maintenance and the guy comes over and checks our fuse box( which is outside..Thank you Lord)...ok ready for this....

IT CAUGHT ON FIRE!

yeah...

AND...

our next door neighbor saw it and decided not to do anything about it. Wouldn't you think to tell your neighbors that their fuse box is on fire?!

Instead, she came outside when she saw the maintence man and asked if she could turn her air conditioner back because she didn't know if it might catch fire and she kept complaining how hot her apartment was getting.

Really Lady, Really!?

Anyways...so it is 10:45 now and we cannot stay here. We talk for a minute and try to gather ourselves and thoughts. Do we go to a hotel? We don't have our pack and play or our air mattress because they are at our parents. Do we try to borrow those things from someone but who?

Thankfully, we have met some great people through our community group. Jim and Andrea were our angels last night. They live about 5 minutes away and insisted on us staying with them. Matt had called Jim earlier to see if they had a pack and play we could borrow. I quickly packed some stuff for Mady because I had no idea how long it would take to fix or what. I wake up my sleepy, confused baby girl and head over there.

Meanwhile, the maintence man let us use another apartment for all of our food so it did not spoil. Matt packed that all up and brought it to the other apartments then packed his bag and headed over to Jim and Andrea as well.

When I first got there, Andrea had everything set up for us and Mady laid right down. Awesome! I was so excited to see that. It took Matt about an hour to do everything he needed to do before he got to their house and by this point, Mady was awake.

We tried her sleeping with us, in the pack and play, and all other options from about 12:30 to 2:30...no one slept during those lovely early morning hours.

Finally we all somehow drifted off to sleep at around 2:30. Next thing I know it is 6:30 and Matt has to leave for work in 15 minutes. Meanwhile, Mady is up and ready for the day but everyone else was sleeping. This is the part I hate when staying with people because I cannot contain my crazy 20 month old in a little room so we head to the play room and probably wake everyone up in the process.

Matt heads to work and Mady and I stay with the H's until 8:45.By then the apartment office was opening in 15 minutes and I needed my Dunkin fix (We all know I needed an iced tea!) and see what was going on with the fuse box.

Get to the apartment and nothing has happened. Really?! They asked for the best number to reach me at and said they would call when they heard anything. Great. Who knows how long this will be. Mady is so tired by now and so am I.

So many tears fell today. My mom was such a blessing to me and calmed me down every time I called her with what to do. Don't know what I would do without her.

I go to our apartment and grab my lap top and some toys and snacks for Mady and head to our make shift other apartment for a little while. Finally it is 11 and I march myself and Mady back to the office and again ask what is going on and if it will be done today. They said yes it should be done today but don't know when. Then! they said that we can move out whenever. But you had to hear the way they said it. Kind of like well why don't you guys just move it. TOO bad we couldn't because if we could we would have been out of here today.

I attempt to take Mady to chick fil a for lunch but she falls asleep on the way there. So I go through drive through and of courese Mady wakes up the second I wake into the apartment and is ready to eat lunch. Not exactly how I had pictured everything going. Oh well...just that kind of day.  We head back to the H's after lunch and a failed pool attempt.

Finally Matt gets home. Thank the Lord he had a somewhat early day and Mady is refusing to nap at the H's and is screaming her head off and contiuing to get out of the pack and play. So we take her and drive around for a little bit so we can fall asleep. She does in all of about 2 minutes.

We head to the apartment complex and see someone working on our box! YAY! So, Matt gets out of the car and talks to the electrician and property manager and finds out that it will be about 2-3 hours until it is done. Better than tomorrow. So we head to Starbucks and Target and wander around. Then decide to go back to the H's until it is ready.

We finally make it home at around 5 pm today.

I'm exhausted, tired, and so beyond frustrated with this place.

Only two more weeks.....needless to say I am going crazy packing tomorrow!

Thank you so much to my husband who holds is all together in these crazy times. I could not have done this without him.

Last but not least, Thank you to Jim and Andrea to opening their home and everything baby that we needed to us. You have been such a blessing to Matt and I!

The End.

I scream, You scream...

We all scream for ice cream!

Can you tell we enjoy ice cream treats in this family?! 

Yesterday was a really low key day as I said. So, after dinner, last night we took Mady to Friendly's for some ice cream. She had been such a good girl all day so we decided to treat her. We have been really struggling with Mady and disciplining her so it was so nice to have a good day as a family yesterday.

So off we go to Friendly's, and I tell Mady that we are going to get ice cream. She gives the biggest smile and continues to repeat "ice ceam" until we get there. Oh and she wanted "chocolate"....I don't think so girlfriend!

At the friendly's she was so excited and I wish I would have gotten a video of her because it was honestly that cute. We all got waters and I forgot Mady's sippy cup so she had her very own cup and straw. I think that alone would have made her night. Then we ordered our ice cream and I got Mady a cone head sundae.

When the waitress brought us our ice cream, I truly thought Mady was going to have a heart attack. She was yelling "ice ceam" and shaking because she was so excited. All Matt and I could do was laugh. She thoroughly enjoyed her ice cream and ate like such a big girl.

Eating the eyes off her cone head

can't get enough

It was such a fun and heart warming night as a family. So glad I get to enjoy these special moments with my two favorites. Truly thankful.

How is it only a little over 3 months until her 2nd birthday......? AH!

Life Happens

Things have been crazy around here. I definitely didn't intentionally take a whole week off from writing but it just kind of happened. But...I'm backkkk! =)

Anyways, between morving in 2 weeks, a trip to NJ, and dealing with a very strong willed and stubborn 20 month old, I just haven't had the time to sit down and write. I haven't uploaded pictures from my camera either so this post will have only a few pictures.

For warning...this post will probably be all over the place.

I hate moving. H.A.T.E. Packing and unpacking. Boxes everywhere. Everything looking like it is in utter chaos. AH. It drives me crazy. I like things to be tidy, cleaned up and put away but that is so far from how my house looks right now. August 10th cannot come soon enough. Moving should be fun with a 21 month old right?!?!!? *sigh*

Mady and I headed to NJ from Thursday to Sunday. My uncle and cousin had flown in from FL so we had a big family get together in Cape May (my grandparents live there) Too bad it was so chilly! My mom and I had to run out the night before to get her a sweatshirt and some pants. It was a fun day though of beaching, walking, ice cream eating, and hanging out with family. A fun but long day with the Madelyn.

We had a good time visiting with Nana and Pop Pop too. It was kind of crazy because my mom ended up cutting her finger while we were making dinner which then had her and my dad headed to urgent care so get it taken care of. So she had to deal with a big huge bandaged thumb that she could not get wet throughout the weekend. Then, we had to deal with Mady just blatantly not listening to anyone...fun fun. Always a exciting time at my parents house! =)

Sandy windy hair and yummy ice cream

Sunday I drove home. Mady was woke up randomly between 3 am and 5:15 am. So needless to say we were on the road about 6:30 that morning. I was so tired and just so ready to get home. The drive from here to NJ is so easy but it can be so long. We were both so excited to see Matt. Once we got home, Mady was super cranky as usual so we headed to our pool. Mady loved jumping from the side of the pool and just loved swimming around. I think she took a 3ish hour nap. It was so nice to catch up with Matt and rest a little bit before community group that night. I always look forward to community group.

Today has been a low key day. I really needed it. I think I went to bed at 8:30 last night and Matt let me sleep until 7:30 this morning. Between all the driving, stress about the moving, and dealing with my insanely stubborn child, I was worn out.

We ate an early dinner so we can head to Friendly later for an ice cream date with our Mady girl.

So that's a little catch up on whats going on around here.

Enjoy your Monday! =)

Walgler!

Yesterday we loaded Mady up and headed to Water Country USA. It is about a 40 minute drive from our apartment. We went with one of Matt's friends from work and his wife and 4 year old son. We had a great time! It was a hot and sunny day. Perfect for a water park.

Honestly I am crazy when it comes to packing when we are going somewhere for the day. I make sure we have everything we need and of course a little more. I think I drive Matt crazy...actually I know I drive him crazy. Sorry babe! =) You just never know what situations are going to arise with a 20 month old.

We were able to use our free military passes for Matt and I, and Mady was of course free. Score! We ended up only paying for parking, a locker and our lunch. Not too shabby.

When we first got there, Mady was so excited. "Wagler" everywhere!!! The smile on her face was priceless.

Waiting for daddy to get our tickets

Mady and Daddy

Love her expression here!

It was insanely hot. I think I put sun screen on Mady like a billion times! Her skin is so fair and I did not want her to get burned. We all managed to not get too much sun so I am thankful.

First stop, kiddie pool number one. Mady was very nervous in the beginning. She would just wander around the outside skirts of the pool and sit herself in one of the chairs. Matt and I would attempt to take her in the water but she would cling to us and cry. I was seriously wondering if we made a mistake by bringing her. She usually LOVES the water. Finally, she warmed up to it and had an absolute blast. I think it was just a lot for her at once. Spraying water everywhere, lots of kiddos and just a lot of noise in general.

Mady is the one holding onto the edge of the slide going up. Such a big girl

One, Two, Three

GO!

She probably went up and down this slide about 15 times. She would walk up the stairs all by herself, wait in line for her turn and then go down. I was so proud of her. She looked like such a big girl doing that all by herself. Some of the kids were so pushy and one little boy kept pushing Mady. At one point, I even said "Hey!" to him. I was getting really mad. Like where is his mom?! Thank goodness he left pretty quickly. My momma bear was coming out for sure!

We hung out at this pool for a little while and then decided to head to another kiddie pool. I liked this one a lot better. More stuff for them to do. Mady would pick one slide and pretty much spend the majority of her time there.

Daddy showing Mady all the cool slides

Mady liked to attempt to climb on the alligator

She is over it and ready for some lunch

By 12:30, we were all tired, hungry and a little irritable. SO we found some shade and got some lunch.

Drama Queen

All she wanted for lunch was fruit. Typical Mady

After lunch Matt went back to the car to get the stroller and her night nights. We both could tell she was so tired. After we put her in the stroller, this is what she looked like in all of about 2 seconds...

Yes she had to have her blankie in 90 degree weather

While she was sleeping Matt went and did some rides by himself while I laid on the chair and relaxed a bit.

Buddies =)

Momma got to relax a little bit too.  Stupid water got on the carmera!

When Mady woke up, we did more of the same. Playing, playing, playing. By around 3 o'clock, we were all pretty tired so we decided to head home and sit in stupid traffic! Ugh.

Overall, it was such a fun day. I am so glad we were able to go and make memories as a family. I love days like that.

Oh and I was in bed by 8:30...chasing around a 20 month old is quite exhausting but oh so much fun! =)

Time to play

I try to come up with activites to do with Mady throughout the week. Some weeks are good and we have a lot of stuff planned and other weeks we end up watching too much TV/Movies. This week, however, I am proud to say we had a good week.

As I mentioned in a previous post Mady has really been into her babies lately. As I was cleaning her toys out the other day and putting the baby toys away, I realized Mady really didn't have much in the way of toys. I don't go out and buy her toys on a regular basis. Honestly, the last time I bought her toys was probably Christmas. Books, on the other hand, I buy her all the time. I love children's books and I love reading to her.

Anyways....off we went to, where else but Target. I got her a baby stroller, another baby, and play fruit that has a pretend knife and cutting board so you can "cut" the fruit. She was so thrilled and I have seen her play a lot more this past week than in a long time. I was so happy to see that. We played babies, "cut" fruit, and "cooked" with our fruit. The TV was not on near as much as usual.

Giving her babies a bottle

 Another day, we went to the park and played for a while there. It is getting much easier to take her to the park now. She has a little bit more independence and can manage more things. I really enjoy it now actually. Before I would go because it gave us something to do and I know she loved it but now I love it too.

This is typical Mady at the park. So excited!

She probably went down this slide 15 times. She loved it

Then yesterday I decided to try finger painting with her. We headed to Michaels to grab a few supplies and then we were ready. She was unsure at first and of course put it in her mouth then I showed her what to do and she had a blast!

Little unsure

I brought this water out for when we were finished to clean her up but of course she wanted to play it in

Her masterpiece

Dirty girl

It was fun. She had a great time doing something different and fun. I love seeing her trying new things and how excited she gets.

Off to pinterest to find some more ideas...this girl has too much energy for me! =)

Happy Saturday!

From one day to the next

It is crazy how much emotions can change from one day to the next or really, in my craziness, one moment to the next.

Yesterday was a great day. I felt like a decent mom who had activities planned for her energy crazed daughter. We went to the park for awhile, ran some errands, had lunch, played with her babies, went for a walk, and finally daddy came home since he had training that day! (Yay for working 6:30-2:30!) We hung out as a family. Went to the mall, ate dinner and walked around. It was just nice. I loved it.

Then today my emotions change. Matt is back to this normal schedule. Mady has been really fussy and constantly chewing on her fingers (her eye teeth are FINALLY coming in!) so I know she doesn't feel good. I make lunch for her to only push it away and not want to eat it. She goes down for an early nap so I know she will be up early and I have to find ways to entertain her. It has just been hard.

On days like today I miss my family (mom, dad, brothers, mother-in-law) so much. Like it hurts so much. I wish we could just hop in the car and head to my parents to swim in the pool for a little bit and do some shopping with Nana. It is always a nice and pleasant distraction and plus we love hangin out with Nana.

I know we are here, in Virginia, for a reason but I am ready to move back to NJ like yesterday. I am ready for Mady to be around her family and grandparents who love her beyond measure. I don't want to be here for, at least, 6 more months but it is not my timing or my plan...at all. I need to Trust.

This is just what is going on in my mind at the moment. I was ready to pack Mady and I's bags and head to NJ this afternoon but then I would be leaving Matt behind on his days off and we already miss him so much during the week that it is not an option.

Oh well...the life must go on.

Little Mommy

Mady has really been into her babies lately. It is so cute to watch her "take care" of them. Hugs, kisses, walks in the stroller, putting them to night night, giving them a pretend bottle. She has become a little mommy. I love just watching her play.

 Taking her baby for a walk

 Tucking them in

 Bottle time (really an icing container)

Finally kisses goodnight

Life lately

Mady's eating lunch and the hubby ran to the post office so I wanted give a little update on life around here lately. Mostly through pictures. Enjoy!

It has been HOT in Virginia the last few days...feeling over 100 for about 3 days. Yuck! I hate heat like that. We did our best to stay cool.

Our pool is opening tomorrow!!! So Mady and I headed to Target to get a puddle jumper! So loved it. She would not let me take it off! We will see how she does tomorrow! (And of course it is going to rain tomorrow. Praying the rain holds off so we can enjoy the pool)

Daddy had drill and work this weekend so Mady and I did our best to help pass the time and keep cool! Yummy Rita's! She just gets so excited. I love it. (Don't worry we didn't get 3 waterices....only 1 split into 3 cups.)

Too hot to cook. Chick fil a it is! Plus, Mady had been asking for french fries for a few days.

Sunday morning we decided to bake cupcakes for when daddy got home that afternoon. She was such my big helper. 

All ready for church in the pretty dress Nana got her. Mady cried when we left church yesterday. I am so glad she loves going and has such a great time!

Finally daddy came home and Mady wanted him to read some books. 

An after dinner fruit bar is a must when it is 100 degrees out and of course no clothes but a diaper is required! (Please excuse my skimpy shorts. It was just too hot!)

And the hubby was finally able to sit and relax and enjoy his beer. =)

Cuddling with daddy is a must.

Those are just a few random pictures and things going on around here. Nothing too exciting (besides packing (ugh) )....and I like it that way!

What a day!

Ok I normally don't recap the days events but yesterday...well yesterday needs to be recapped. It was one of those days where you go...really?!

Mady and I left Jersey around 7:30 in the morning to head back to Virginia. Mady decided however, to get up at 5:00 am and between the time she got up and the time we left, she had me in tears from just completely ignoring me when I am telling her no about something or running away from me when I am trying to dress her or get her ready to leave. Awesome. Plus it is always emotional for me to leave Jersey. I love it there and I love my family more than I can tell you.

Anyways, we get in the car and head out. Everything is fine until about an hour and half into our trip. I can tell Mady is pooping. She is really straining and saying "okay okay." Basically I could tell she was not feeling well but I could not pull over at the time because we were on the high way and no where to go so finally I get onto a road that I can easily pull over into a parking lot.

OMG! Poop EVERYWHERE! Like literally. I think I just stared at it for a second. All over her car seat. Her outfit. Her legs and feet. Mind you, I am by myself. So I clean up what I can with the wipes before taking her out of the seat all the while trying to stop her from touching anything. I strip her down and throw everything away. Clean her up as best as I can and put a fresh diaper and outfit on her. I let her sit in the front passenger seat while I attempt to clean up more of the poop on the car seat. Finally I do the best I can and I lay a blanket over the spot that smells and strap her back in. All in all this probably took 10 to 15 minutes.

Back on the road. But I can tell she is super fussy and seems to not be feeling well. So I am attempting to soothe her while also attempting to drive. Not easy. Finally she falls asleep for about a half hour.

Sleeping with attitude. Oh my Madelyn

The rest of the ride was uneventful. Thank the Lord.

So we get home and I unpack, clean the car seat over, do the laundry. All the good stuff. I let Mady play for about an hour then decide to see if she will go down for a nap. Nope. Screams bloody murder.

Great! I know she is going to be so tired and cranky. Yup, I was right.

We watched movies. Ate fruit bars outside. Played. Made dinner. Got a bath. All the good stuff. Finally at around 5:30 she is in completely melt down mode. So what do we do?! Go to Target.

Chillin with a fruit bar

Can't eat a Popsicle without a stick

I get her strapped in and not even 30 second later she is asleep. Of course she is, SHE IS TIRED!

Lights out!

We do the whole walk around Target to pass time, grab a few things and head back home. By this time it is around 6:30. I let her play for a little while and then decide it is bed time. We do the normal bed time routine. Book. Prayers. Kisses. Bed.

Except. Nope, she was not having it. So I let her cry while I took a quick shower because it was 100 degrees at 5:30 when we went to Target and I felt gross. Anyways, I get out of the shower and she is screaming. So I get her and let her come in my room and then we head downstairs to watch a little bit of a movie. So by, 7:30 I say it is time for bed again. I go upstairs and she starts crying so instead I rock her. She finally falls asleep and I lay her down. She POPS up and starts screaming and crying. Only this time I could tell she was even more tired. The crying and screaming was not as loud and there were breaks inbetween. So I let her cry. I felt bad. I was sitting downstairs crying myself because honestly I didn't know what to do for her. If I continued to rock her and her fall asleep, she would wake up every time I would attempt to put her in the crib so I knew that was not going to work. She was going to have to cry.

I felt like today was one of those initiation days of motherhood. Days where you just don't know what else they are going to throw at you and you just have to roll with the punches.

Needless to say, I hope we have a better day today.

4 years...

Today is our Anniversary. Our 4 year wedding anniversary. As I was driving home today from Jersey I happened to glance at the clock...12:05. We were getting married at that point 4 years ago. So many memories came flooding back to me. It was such a wonderful and magical day.

Matt,

As I am sitting here writing this I don't know where to begin. You have been such an amazing husband, best friend, supporter, encourager, father, and so many other things to me and now to our daughter. We have been through so much in these past 4 years married, or 10 years together. High school graduation College graduation, Bootcamp graduation, getting married, having our daughter, deployment to Kuwait, moving to Virginia. I mean that is crazy and we are only 25! I love living life with you. You make it fun and enjoyable. We never know what is around the corner for us. I am just thankful to have you by my side through all of our trials and tribulations. You compliment me wonderfully. You are truly my better half.

Thank you for the last 4 years. They have been wonderful, trying at times, but none the less wonderful. I cannot wait to grow our family with you. I look forward to the special memories we will share together and with our children.

I love you always.

and Forever.

Independence Day

I love the 4th of July. I love everything it stands for. I love the food. I love the colors. I love being with family. It just makes my heart happy. The only thing missing was Daddy. He has to work today so he is back in Virginia. =( I can't wait until we can finally spend some holidays together.

Anyways, last year we started the tradition of going to the Audubon parade. It is where my mom grew up and I love it. I wish we could move there. The parade is so cute and about 45 minutes long. Perfect!

We met up with my dad's side of the family and enjoyed the parade together.  Mady was such a good girl. I can't believe how big she is and how much she can participate in things now. She loved all of it. Wasn't scared of the fire trucks. Ran to get the candy. Waved her flag. Clapped and danced to the music.

I loved just watching her. Wondering what is going on in her little mind. I love holidays with her. They are always so much more magical with kids.

Anyways....here are some pictures from our morning.

Waiting for the parade to start

Getting some candy

Mady and Nana

Being Patriotic

Mady and Mommy

Excited!

It was such a fun morning. This afternoon is just a long key BBQ and Matt's mom is coming over. More pictures to come I'm sure.

Happy 4th of July!

Thank you to all the men and women who continue to fight for our freedom everyday. They sacrifice so much. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.