Strawberries

I love strawberries.  I like to eat them plain, with chocolate, cool whip, or sugar.  I ate so many strawberries when I was pregnant for Jack that I'm surprised he didn't come out red or with a strawberry!  Last night I was trying to talk Caroline into eating a strawberry.  Trying to get her to taste something is definitely not an easy job.  After a lot of begging, pleading, and bribing on my part she finally at least licked the strawberry.  That's pretty big for Caroline!  Finally, she said if I covered it in chocolate she would eat it.  So I melted some chocolate chips, cut the strawberry up in tiny bites, and mixed it together.  After tons of crying, screaming, choking, and gagging Caroline ate the whole strawberry!  I didn't push her to do it she wanted to (she knew that she would get a new toy for eating it).  She claims that she liked it and would eat another one today (she has yet to do so) so I guess only time will tell if she really did like it and will eat some more.  I am very proud of her for at least trying it.  Now, if only I can get her to try some more new foods!

Flip Flops: Take 2

So a year ago I attempted to make Caroline a pair of pretty flip flops.  The year before she fell in love with a pair that I bought for her in Florida (I paid $25 for them!), so I decided to try and make some for her since she outgrew her first pair.  They came out alright, but they didn't last as long as the pair I bought for her.  So This past week I decided to give it another try.  This time I did some things different, and now only time will tell if these last longer than the last pair I made for her!

Supplies

Ribbon colors to match her Daddy's work dress.

 

The first thing I did was use flip flop glue to glue on the gems.  I may have went overboard on the clothes pins, but I wanted to be sure that it would stick!

Ribbon on dowels ready to be baked.

Pretty ribbon!

The bows I made.  Two are for flip flops and the third is for a hair bow.  I think I did pretty good for my first time ever making bows!

The first part ready (24 hours later)

The bows completed after adding the button for a finishing touch!

Side view of completed flip flop.

I think they came out pretty good!

Caroline sure does look cute in her Daddy's work dress with matching bow and flip flops.

Her bow!

Ta Da!

I had a lot of fun making these.  I can't wait to see her dressed up in her outfit when we pick daddy up in a month!

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Coming Home

Deployments suck.  

But luckily for us, Jack's 3rd deployment is coming to an end and the phrase "coming home" (which I seem to hear and read everywhere lately) makes me giddy.  I'm hoping that this is Jack's last deployment for at least 2 years.  I don't think I can handle another deployment mentally or emotionally, and it's just too depressing hearing Caroline say "I miss my dad, can he come yet?"  Now don't get me wrong, I'm extremely proud of Jack and the job he does, but it will be nice for our family to be together for more than a year at a time.  On a happier note (well it makes me happy, our family...not so much) when I hear "coming home" I also think of my homecoming to Fort Campbell, Kentucky.  Of course I love Louisiana and all of our family and friends here, but it just doesn't feel like home to me anymore.  Kentucky and Tennessee feel like home to me.  I think the reasoning for that is the fact that every time we live there Jack is home and our family is together.  We are happier so it feels more like home.  

I went to Fort Campbell Sunday and Monday of this past week to find us a new place.  This is our new house that we will be renting for the next 6 months or so.

The house is really cute, but it's so much smaller than I would like.  I can move in on April 1st, and I'm really hoping to, but it might not happen.  Moving back to Fort Campbell will be a bittersweet move.  I will be thrilled for Jack to be coming home at the end of April, but I'll be sad knowing that we will be leaving all of 

our friends up there in September when we change duty stations to Fort Polk, La.  Our friends up there are like our family so we will be heartbroken to leave them.  We were supposed to be moving overseas in September, but due to some changes the Army made that's not possible unless we want Jack to deploy again as soon as we get there.  With that said, we will be moving 4 hours away from our friends and family in Louisiana to Leesville, La.  I'm not thrilled by the move because I have yet to hear of anything good about the place, but I know our family will be happier to see us more often.

I've been watching the show "Coming Home" on Lifetime, and if you haven't watched it yet you should check it out.  The full episodes are on http://www.mylifetime.com/shows/coming-home

This show is about military families reuniting when returning from deployments.  It is definitely a tear jerker so have tissues on hand, but it’s a sweet show that shows the emotions that military families feel when their loved ones come home.  Also if you watch it they are at Fort Campbell a lot which shows where we live (if they talk about Fort Campbell, Oak Grove, Ky, or Clarksville, Tn they are all pretty much the same.)

St. Patrick's Day 2011

 Happy St. Patrick's Day!

 Nana gave Jack a flower...

 ...this is what he did with the flower!

 Then we went in Nana's backyard to hang out.

It was a beautiful day that we enjoyed outside. I tried taking pictures of Caroline, but she was mad so she wouldn't take any!

I'm not eating that

Caroline is a super picky eater, and it drives me crazy.  I just don’t know what to do anymore.  As a baby she was breastfed, and we stuck with it until she was 20 months (mostly because I was afraid to stop since she wouldn’t eat anything else).  When she was around 5 months old I introduced baby cereal to her and she hated it, we moved on to solids and she hated those too.  I tried to get her to eat them every day and she just wouldn’t.  Either she would open her mouth and take a bite and then gag on it, or she just wouldn’t open her mouth at all.  I just kept trying and trying.  As she got older and she could start eating table food she would eat a little bit of homemade mac-n-cheese, pizza crust, bread, French fries, and chicken.  So I thought we were doing good that she would start eating more and that she just didn’t like the baby foods and that’s why she didn’t eat.  Well that that didn’t last long, and all she would eat is French fries, chicken nuggets, cheerios, and oatmeal Debbie cakes.  Her diet is pretty much the same 4 years later.  I just don’t know what to do anymore.  I feel like somehow it’s my fault that she is such a picky eater.  I feel like I should have tried more with her or pushed more.  I’ve tried everything to get her to try new foods, but she just can’t bring herself to do it.  She does take her vitamin everyday so that comforts me in worrying about her diet a little bit.  I hope as she gets older she tries more foods and changes.  As of now little Jack is completely different from his sister.  He loves to eat.  He loves everything that has to do with food.  I haven’t found a baby food that he doesn’t like yet, and I hope it stays that way.  Unlike Caroline we had to stop breastfeeding at 2 months due to my supply issues and Jack is on formula.  I wonder if that made a difference that he is not as picky as his sister.  I just wish I knew what to do to help Caroline eat more.  I guess it will just take time. 



When I grow up...

“Mom, when I grow up I want to be a stop sign.” –Caroline 3 years old, April 23, 2010.

One night when I was lying in bed with Caroline to get her to sleep she informed me that she wanted to be a stop sign when she gets older.  Aside from her wanting to be a stop sign she also wants to be a princess, a pink superhero, a dancer, and a rock star, but she does not want to be an actress because she doesn’t want to live in the TV.  She said that if she was an actress then she wouldn't be able to go shopping with me anymore.  Listening to her talk about what she wants to be when she grows up brings back memories of all the time I spent growing up and changing my mind about what I wanted to be when I got older.  Of course I didn’t have any really cool dreams like being a stop sign, instead I wanted to be a teacher, a nurse, and a singer (even though I can’t sing to save my life).  I’m now 24 years old and of course none of those “dreams” came true.  Now that I’ve grown up a bit my dreams and goals have changed.  I’m in the process of finishing up an associate’s degree in medical transcription, and while I enjoy transcribing medical documents, I don’t think it will be my career choice for the rest of my life.  I would still love to be a nurse in the labor and delivery or neonatal unit once Jack is out of the Army and my children are older.  While being a nurse would make me happy, there’s another career that I would love to have and that I think would be much more satisfying for me.  I know where to being to make that dream come true, but I’m so self-conscious  about things that I do and say that I don’t think I’ll ever have the guts to go ahead and try to make my dream come true.  Maybe one day I will get over my fear of rejection and try to accomplish my dream.  Until then I’m content with being a stay at home mom, and loving up on my children.  I’m also looking forward to hearing what Jack wants to be when he gets older.  If he is anything like his sister, I’m sure it’ll be something cool!

New Blog

So I had my other blog that I started for school and then for personal use, but I didn't like it and wanted to start fresh.  I didn't post very often, but I'm hoping to change that this time around. 

So lets start with the title of my new blog.  All day everyday I hear Caroline talking about princesses and superheroes.  Some days she is a princess and other days she is a pink superhero.  She also likes to think that her brother Jack is a superhero.  So I think that the title fits my children's personality and since I will blog about my children more than anything, I like it.

About me...I'm a stay at home mom to Caroline and lil'Jack.  My husband is in the Army and we have been married for 5 years and together for 7.  I'm currently working towards an associates degree in medical transcription with the hopes of working from home once I'm finished.  I'm not a crafty person, but I really wish I was.  I do enjoy scrapbooking, but I don't scrapbook as often as I would like to. 

My daughter Caroline is 4 years old, and definitely has a personality of her own.  She's sassy, funny, loving, outgoing but shy at times, and I think she's really smart.  She will be starting preschool in September and I can't believe it!  She is growing up way too fast.

My son Lil' Jack is currently 7 months old and waiting for his 1st birthday party in July.  Jack learned how to crawl about a week ago, and now he gets into everything!  He has trouble crawling on his hands and knees so he does an Army crawl and gets to where he is going!  I'm not happy that he is growing so fast, but I'm looking forward to seeing his personality develop.