Days 114 and 115 of 433-ish

Well, yesterday I woke up with a really sore throat. I don't remember doing a lot. Although I do remember getting home at 1 in the morning from my mother-in-law's house. Oh! I remember now. I went to Five Cities and  did some shopping with a girl friend. I also sent a package to Cody : ). So maybe it'll get to him in about a month or so. And today, I woke up sick with a cold. So my mom took Oliver to class for me and got his car seat all checked out by the Police officer that was speaking today. And it's a good thing because it wasn't even close to being as secure as it should have been. The rest of the day I spent resting since I have quite a day tomorrow. I'll tell you about it tomorrow though because I'm so going to bed early tonight.

Oliver Update: He's started scooting around! Hooray!

Goodnight all!

Days 112 and 113 of 433-ish

Well the past few days, I've had quite a bit of contact with Cody which has been very nice. I haven't made much progress with cleaning up the house. Although I've managed to just get things a little in order as far as thing I've been needing or wanting to do goes. I'm looking forward to the next few weeks though for some reason. I think I'm really going to push through on my short term goals and finally get things organized. I think I've reached a point with Cody where I'm feeling we're finally adults and parents and that we have a stable marriage. We had a pretty rough first year, but we got through it. I'm counting on this next year being better. We've both grown up so much. If we backslid, then there'd be something really wrong. Anyway, Cody asked me to get some rest so I'm going to go to bed. Oliver's been asleep for a while now so hopefully it'll stay that way. And in his cradle no less!  Wish me luck! Goodnight!

spicy ramen for dinner!

: D

Days 109-111 of 433-ish

So! It seems that getting this mess of a house in order is a lot more exhausting than I could have comprehended. And it's taking a lot longer than I thought. So I'm going slow. Doing what I can when I can. I'm not pushing myself to get it done quickly anymore. That's an unrealistic expectation of myself. So I've just been trying to get organized about this daunting task. But my mom washed my dishes a few days ago which lightened my load quite a bit and made me feel a lot less stressed out. And I've been going through mail that I've stocked up on since we moved out in JUNE of LAST YEAR. Man, that's ridiculous. And I've been picking up things as I see them instead of just walking by them. I also got a little box for Oliver's living room toys :). Which should help keep the living room picked up quite a bit. What else is new. Oh! We got a new dishwasher today! The owners of this house got on top of it pretty quickly after I talked to the property manager. So now I can start using actual plates instead of paper plates! 

The new car is great! I'm so glad things happened the way they did because even though I would have been happy with a Chevy Equinox, this Honda CRV is much more my style.

Cody's still doing well. I haven't heard from him for a couple days, but he's still alive and kickin! He's quitting smoking as well! Hallelujah! I'm so very proud of him for everything he's been doing, but this is the cherry on top. He took the responsibility to do what he needed to do to quit. 

Oh! Cupcakes! It was my grandmother-in-law's birthday on Sunday and I made angel food cupcakes with a raspberry buttercream frosting. The WORST idea ever. At least to start them at 1:30 in the morning. I didn't get done until around 4 something. And I had to get up by 10 for church. And oliver's been waking up way early cause of his teeth.

 

Oliver Update: He's got his top two teeth now! They came in separately, but one one night then the other the very next night. So he's got four teeth now! Not crawling yet. Still somehow scooting around. I'm starting to get him used to sleeping in his cradle as much as it pains me to accept the fact that he's growing up and he'll be one before we know it. 

Which is why I must cut this short!

One last bit. I haven't gotten any guesses yet! Maybe you don't really care that much haha. Oh well. I'm excited about it and that's all that matters.

Goodnight!

Day 108 of 433

I'm so tired right now. I'm so desperate to get a full nights sleep... I got some pictures from Cody today!

He's so goofy! I love him! I love you Cody!

Oliver's good. I'm good. Obviously Cody's good.

I'm gonna pass out now. I have so much to do tomorrow.

<3

Goodnight!

Oliver Update: The lump in his thigh us just tissue swelling from one of his vaccinations.

Warm compress and massaging it should help it go down, Although it'll take a few weeks. At least it's nothing serious!

Have you guessed what it was that Cody's bringing home for me yet? No? Then go ahead! He sent me a picture of it : D. The person closest will get a prize!

Day 107 of 433

Well today was a very lazy rainy day.

I did nothing.

Quite literally.

Well, nothing productive at least.

Just watched shows I had recorded on my DVR.

And played with Oliver : D.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaand...

Yeah.

Like I said, I did nothing productive.

Although I guess playing with Oliver's productive cause he grows developmentally!

So I did do something productive today! Yay!

AND, I'm going to bed at a semi reasonable time tonight instead of staying up until 2am like I usually do...

This time, I'm actually pretty tired and I'm not gonna fight it anymore.

Oliver gets it from me I think and he'll only fall asleep with me which will ultimately make getting him to sleep in his own cradle/crib more difficult.

So many cuddles!

But I don't mind sleeping with him :) It makes me feel all nice and loved.

Although at seven months now, it's probably time he start sleeping in his own bed.

We'll work on it :)

Op! Oliver woke up! Nice and calm as usual.

Aaaaaan he's back asleep. Nope. I started typing and he woke up lol. And out goes the paci! He's so cute I love him so much. And in goes the paci! He's my favorite! Shleepy time! Okay. Enough rambling!

Oliver Update: He's thriving! His top teeth haven't quite come through yet, but there is a little nub coming through : D.

Cody Update: He's doing well : ). He's all settled in and working hard. He's encountered some opposition already, but he's alive and well! Definitely missing home, but staying busy and communicating when he can. He said he got me a very nice present that he's bringing home with him when he comes back for R&R. I know what it is, but let's see if you can guess what it is! If you know, don't tell! Post your guess in the comments :)

Goodnight!

Days 101-106 of 433

Wow! I hadn't even realized it had bee SIX days since I last posted! I honestly thought it had been only about three or four days... Man... Shows where my brain has been focused! Well, these past six days have been both good and not so good. The days leading up to Valentine's Day kind of sucked. I really missed Cody a lot. I started thinking about things from our past that weren't so great also making getting through the holiday without him harder. But I got through okay.
I went to San Fransisco this past weekend with my mom so getting away for a few days was nice. We went to an antique book fair on Sunday and then to Fisherman's Wharf/Pier 39 on Monday and did some touristy type things, but it was raining so it was a bit difficult given that Oliver's stroller would have put him face first into the wind and rain and that's just no good. So I had to carry him everywhere which was hard because he's so heavy and squirmy! Any who, it was fun nonetheless. It was a great trip that was definitely worth all the struggles. Cody also called on Valentine's Day! It was such a nice surprise! I love him!

After getting back, I took Tuesday off because I was exhausted and I just wanted to spend some quality time with Oliver :).
Then today, I had planned on going to Montana de Oro to hike a trial, but I was so exhausted from last night (I fell asleep at my mother-in-law's house and woke up around one fifteen in the morning getting me home around 2) that I slept until 11:15 or so. So that didn't happen. Around 12:45, I left for my grandmother-in-law's house for lunch and to visit for a little while. Then I went to VONS and had to wait in the car because Oliver was passed out in his car seat like so:

                                                                                                          Then he woke up!

So we were able to go inside and do the little shopping I needed to do. Did you know that vanilla beans are RIDICULOUSLY expensive? For ONE bean, it's about $11. That's complete insanity. Seriously. Stupid. I'll grow my own vanilla bean plant and it'll be free if that's what i'm going to have to pay... Moving on. So I got home to drop off the groceries and went up to my grandmas to visit her for a while. Oliver fell asleep early on my mom then got hungry and fell asleep eating on me. So now I'm stuck on my grandmas couch until I finish this post and get to the point of being able to leave with as little of waking him up as possible. Can you tell I'm getting tired? Okay, time to wrap this up. I'll be on top of posting again :) Goodnight!

Days 99 and 100 of 433

Well, the past few days have gone by pretty quickly. I got news about the car and within twenty minutes I had a train ticket bought for Glendale, CA for the next day! So starting from yesterday, I woke up around 5:15 and got ready to go because my mom was picking me up at 5:45. We left around 6 and got to the train station twenty minutes later to have just enough time to get there, get ready to sit and wait, then be told the bus (that took us to the train in Santa Barbara) was boarding. Not many people were there though so it wasn't that big of a deal. I fell asleep after about 45 minutes to an hour, then woke up to the bus driver yelling "Santa Barbara!" to wake everyone up and get people off the train. So on the train we went. It was such a nice trip! I think I should do that more often! Anyway, then I got picked up at the train station in Glendale and taken to the dealership. There was a little snafoo with the power of attorney papers so my great uncle saved the day! Now to just work out the problems with the papers haha. The car is so nice! I stayed with family last night so I could take the rest of the day and rest and not feel like I have to rush home or fight my way through rush hour traffic. Which was very nice. My mom's cousin took me in for the night just on a whim which was very thoughtful. I have to write multiple thank you cards that's for sure.

Then today, I woke up around 8:15 after a decent nights sleep and basically decided to just get on the road. So come 9, after a glass of OJ and a goodbye to their dog Leiland, I was homeward bound! Of course I had to stop at Trader Joe's though! I picked up a few snacks and even a couple things for Cody! Once I got back on the road, I made it to just south of Santa Barbara before Oliver got hungry. So I stopped at this nice little RV park on the beach and just watched the ocean. And I managed to snap these pictures before we got back on the road!

Isn't it PRETTY! Oh man I love this car. I'm so glad everything got worked out!

So I got as far as Avila Beach before Oliver got hungry again. So I stopped in San Luis and visited Cody's mom and grandma for a little bit. Then I rushed home and got the Chevy washed and cleaned for Dillon. Then, I dropped it off at Cody's grandma's house for his mom to pick it up and take it home. I wasn't going to go with her to surprise him with it, but I decided to just go for it. When we pulled in the garage, he said, "I don't get the joke." I had told him I had to trade in my car, but I really didn't so he wasn't expecting to see it. But overall he was pleased! Which was very nice! Then I went back and picked up Oliver who I left at my grandmas house and went home. And now I'm falling asleep so I'm going to go.

This was Oliver as we were waiting to be picked up from the train station. : D

Goodnight!

 

Day 98 of 433

Hooray! Almost a fourth of the way through! I feel I've done pretty well so far :). 

This was a few weeks ago. He had fallen asleep in his swing that wasn't swinging haha. CUTEST!

Well today was a day full of productivity and excitement! 

I woke up late-ish and ate a breakfast of plain greek yogurt with honey and frozen berries then cleaned up the kitchen a little. Of course I only got so far before I remembered I wanted to make a smoothie. So before I did that, I had to clear off room on the counter. Which meant putting the left over split pea soup in little containers so I could put away the base and moving the ceramic (i think) pot thing you cook the food in over on the other side of the sink to be washed. So I did that and after cleaning up the kitchen a little more, I finally made that smoothie. It was actually pretty good! Then for lunch, I made spiral pasta with artichoke pesto sauce and meatballs. Then my mom came over to record Oliver's first solid food experience! But before all that, I received a call from the car dealership giving me some information on another car option. Long story short, I'm going down to sign the papers and hand over the check tomorrow! So exciting!

This is the car :) 

So eventually, Oliver got hungry after waking up from his nap by my talking on the phone to the man at the dealership about the car. It was so fun feeding him! At first, he wasn't quite sure what was happening so I put a little on my finger and he opened his mouth to taste it. Then I used the spoon, which is a little big but worked for the time being, to feed him little bits at a time. He started to get really into it then he started to get full and after each bite he'd grimace a little. It was so cute! I'm excited for this phase :). My little Oliver's growing up! After that excitement, my mom left and I cleaned up a little more. Then I got the great news about the car! The second after I got off the phone with the man from the dealership, I bought a train ticket to Glendale and got that figured out. Now I just need to get my butt in gear and finish making sure the diaper bag is fully stocked and that I have everything I need for the day. But I'm just so excited! And I want to finish this first. I have to get up early though so I should stop being so easily distracted by Lopez Tonight haha. Okay I'm here.  

I couldn't get the pictures from Oliver's first solid food meal onto the computer until just now. I think the memory card was being stubborn or something lol. Well here are the pictures!

The cereal

A little thick, but as it warmed up a little more it got thinner

Yum!

Passed out Oliver!

Oliver Update: He ate his cereal without making a huge mess :) and tomorrow he's going to get to experience his last time in his baby car seat and his first time in his upright seat and in the new car too! Exciting! I think I'm more excited than he is. Haha. I'll take a picture of it tomorrow!

Goodnight!

Day 97 of 433

Well, today was pretty nice! I woke up and went to church and was actually there on time! For the first time in a LONG time! I couldn't really focus because Oliver was just so cute in his outfit! That's a kiss by his eye not a bruise or large scrape! I also talked to Cody a little this morning through text which was nice. He was a little concerned about me because he found out I've been having a hard time with something which was very sweet so he thought he'd check in and even go as far as apologize even though it wasn't his fault. I'm so lucky to have him. We've been through so much in our short relationship, but it's made us into the strong and confident people we are today!

<3

Then after church, we left Oliver with his great grandpa (he was passed out in his car seat anyway so we figured why not) while we went and picked up the pizzas and a few other things at Costco. I found these AMAZING dark chocolate covered Acai with blueberry candy/snack thingys and I am ADDICTED! I feel like I've eaten about half the bag. They're that amazing. And I'm not a huge fan of the Acai berry. So that's saying quite a bit. Although with the addition of the dark chocolate and the blueberry I can't taste the Acai much. ANYWAY! I also found FOUR POUNDS of Meyer lemons for $6! Man. I'm gonna preserve some of them to use with dinners and such :). After Costco, we hit up Trader Joe's and ran into Food 4 Less to get some ice.

We even got back to find Oliver sleeping in his carseat still. Eventually Dillon and I left to go find him a jacket and some warm clothes for his trip to Europe next month. I'm not a huge fan of Forever 21, but their earrings aren't too bad nor are they too terribly priced. Then starbucks for a smoothie and back to their house for the rest of the superbowl. Then to my grandmas house to watch the superbowl episode
 of Glee. Then home! So an eventful day!

Oliver Update: His teeth in front on top are definitely coming down. I'm seeing little white lines! So exciting! I'm gonna try his first solid food
tomorrow! My mom's gonna come by and record it so we can send it to Cody. And maybe I'll post it here for you all to admire haha!

Goodnight for tonight!

The inside of the Butterbeer Cupcakes I made :) So good!

Day 96 of 433

Well, today was another pretty productive one. I woke up around 9:00 I think and fell back asleep and woke back up on and off for another our or so. Once I woke up, I stayed in bed and cuddled with Oliver for a while before starting my day. Once I got up and dressed and such, I looked out my living room window to see my grandmother-in-laws car in the driveway so I opened the door to let her in. Shortly after that, my mother-in-law came by with my brother-in-law so my house was a buzzin'! It was a little overwhelming due to their strong desire (and much appreciated!) to help me get my house cleaned up, but I managed okay. They even each took a load of my LAUNDRY home to wash for me. O_O. Are they sweet or what?! My mother-in-law washed the three or so rounds of dishes I had and doing some laundry for me and my grandmother-in-law was running around folding Olivers clean clothes and throwing things away and in the recycling bin outside. Man it was a mad house! But I was able to get the split pea and ham soup started and get the Butterbeer Cupcakes made (both turned out great!) before heading to a friends housewarming party where I tried venison sausage. Not too terrible, but not something I'd pick up at the store if I had the choice. Anyway, my mom went with me which was nice :). We left early though because with my friends two dogs and the big group of people there, Oliver just didn't want to sleep. So we went back to my house where I made Mocha Fudge Brownies while my mom kept Oliver distracted but awake so he could go to bed at eight and not take a nap at 6:30 and wake up at 7:15 then not go to bed 'til 10. Which is basically what wound up happening anyway.

Butterbeer Cupcakes

I finished watching the Glee marathon and went on to watching whatever else was on TV which was most likely The Nanny at the time because that's what I'm watching now. I'm pretty tired so I'm gonna head to bed. Well, hopefully, I absolutely love this show. I can't get enough of it. And I don't remember seeing some of these episodes. Of course I have DVR but it's not exactly the same... But I love my DVR. Okay I'm done. I have to pee and I have to go to bed. Church and super bowl lunch tomorrow!

Oliver Update: He's doing okay with his teeth. They still haven't cut through the gums yet, but the place where they'll cut through is a little swollen like they're getting ready to cut through the gums. I'm probably going to start feeding him solids on Monday! I'll post pictures don't worry lol

Chewing on everything withing reach!

Goodnight!

Days 94 and 95 of 433

Well today was pretty interesting. It's been a heck of a long day that's for sure. I woke up and was able to take a shower while Oliver watched himself in the mirror thank goodness. I was due for one. Then I was about 15 minutes late for class this morning, but we never start on time anyway so I technically got there right on time. Class was fun and pretty informative. We had a guest speaker from the Red Cross. She talked about how we really should be prepared for anything and be sure we're prepared cause things can happen quick. Which, of course, freaked me out since I'm not ready for anything but a power outage lol. We can really easily take advantage of our environment. Anyway! I'm spacing out cause I'm getting really tired. And the chair I'm setting in kinda smells like cat pee so I'm getting a bit of a headache. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand theeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeen..... uhm... whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat was I saying? What point was I trying to get to... Oh yeah! After class I went with my mom and her dog to the beach and walked for a while. It was a nice day out, but after about 30 minutes it started to get really chilly so we left. We stopped in Morro Bay and got some lunch then my mom dropped Oliver and I off at home because we were all exhausted. So I just spent the hour or so that I was home doing nothing but watching TV and cuddling with Oliver because that's what I felt like doing. Then we went to my mother-in-laws house and here I sit waiting for Oliver to wake up so we can go home cause I'm exhausted. I haven't heard from Cody much lately, except for a few texts this morning just letting me know everything was okay. Which is so very sweet of him. I'm so lucky!

Oliver Update: His two top teeth in the front are starting to peek through. They haven't quite cut the through the gums yet, but they're definitely showing so sometime in the next few days we should hopefully see them! I think that's why he's been talking so much lately haha

Our first dance :)

Goodnight!

Day 92 and 93 of 433

I just got an "I love you" text message from Cody. That's all I need in this life right now. I can keep myself busy, I can eat right, I can try and stay as social as I can, but nothing helps keep me going like knowing my soldier is thinking about me overseas regardless if what he's doing. It's such an honor to be that important to someone. I know I'm that important and more to Oliver considering he can't do anything without me really, but for your spouse that has so much more to think about to take the time to let you know he's still thinking about you it's overwhelming in a good way. That's my post for these two days. That's what's on my heart and mind so that's how I'm leaving it.

Oliver Update: He's talk talk talking away like his happy usual self.

Goodnight for tonight!

Day 91 of 433

Well today was pretty interesting. Cody called to let me know everything was okay so far and that he loved his package. Then after falling back asleep, I woke up to Oliver talking to me. Oh so cute and sweet, but man was I tired. We stayed in bed for a while just playing which was really nice. I'm so lucky I don't have to work. I'd be pretty crazy if I had to work. Once I got some energy, I sat up and made some phone calls. I got an appointment at the pediatricians for Oliver's six month check up all set up for next week. I was able to make another phone call about withdrawing some money to help with the down payment on this car I'm trying to buy. And I was able to get my AAA membership renewed and some information on my account changed. After that, I got ready to walk around town and do my errands. I got Cody's valentine's day package sent as well, so hopefully he'll get it next week. I was out for a total of probably four hours tops, but I did quite a bit of walking that's for sure. I skipped out on walking to the local farmer's market because I 1) ran out of time and 2) I just got tired. I'll go next week. They do have some pretty good stuff there though. All local vendors. For dinner, I had my mom and grandma over. We had burgers and salad, which was actually pretty good for just microwaving and toasting and sticking the salad on a plate. (I already had the patties made.) Then I gave Oliver a bath, they left, and I put him to bed. So here I sit, slowly slowly drifting deeper and deeper into the sea of fatigue. I should go to bed. Oh my goodness I'm exhausted. Ugh. I'll be taking a picture of our Cherry Blossom tree. Or whatever it is it looks A LOT like a cherry blossom tree. It's in bloom right now so I'll be posting that tomorrow. But for now, I'm saying goodnight.

Oliver Update: I'm going to try feeing him some solid food sometime this week I think! He keeps wanting to just eat and eat and eat, but I can only take so much! And I'm positive he's getting ready to crawl pretty soon!

Goodnight!