28 years old

Today is my 28th birthday. There is only one hour left of my special day. I thought I would share 10 things I've learned in 28 years. I'd do 28 but I'm tired and I still have a lot to learn.

1. Tomorrow is never guaranteed. This especially rings true after the death of a dear friend and her unborn son in October.
2. Not everyone is going to like you. And that's okay.
3. When all else fails take a nap.
4. Enjoy the small things. Get on the floor and play with your kids. Watch the sunrise. Stay in bed on a rainy Saturday.
5. Take care of yourself first and foremost. Because if you are down then how can you take care of the kids or anyone else?
6. Sometimes it just takes a manicure and a pedicure to make yourself feel good.
7. Don't forget to pray. Everyday.
8. Pay it forward. Because what goes around comes around.
9. Remember to breathe. God won't give you more then you can handle.
10. Love unconditionally.

I had a good birthday surrounded by my little family. I have amazing friends and an amazing family. I'm looking forward to the next year and making it the best yet. Time to get healthy and put down roots.

Because number 8 is important to me I'm going to pay it forward with a giveaway at the end of the week. So stay tuned!

Happy 1st Birthday Harper!

 

A year ago today at 4:41 pm you came into this world screaming, crying and peeing all over the place (according to your grandma). The little girl that I had so longed for, but wasn't sure would ever come to be. You were perfect. Seven pounds and fourteen ounces of pure bliss.Your daddy was half a world away in Afghanistan, but with us in heart. As soon as I saw you and the nurse said you had my dimple I was in love. A love so grand and instantaneous. Your brother was the first to hold you, and he loves you so. Nowadays you follow him around and bug him, but I know that the love you two will have will last forever. 

The last twelve months have been amazing. I worried if I could ever love the second child as much as the first. I found you can. Your heart just grows in size to fit all the love. You amaze me every single day. You love to chase the dog while screaming Ellie at the top of your lungs. Your laugh is infectious, and I love watching you learn. I know that the years to come will be just as amazing. I can't believe you are one today. Time goes by too quickly. 

Dearest Harper, your daddy & I love you more then words can express. One day when you become a mother you will understand. You are my sunshine and my heart and soul. You make every day so great. I look forward to many more years of birthdays, hugs and smiles. Happy 1st Birthday baby girl. I love you.

Mommy

Oh Christmas Tree

 

Beautiful tree and Harper sneaking in the picture

I put up our tree today. Actually I put it up yesterday and it was the leaning tower of Treeza (my husband named it that). So we had to take it down and go buy a new base today. So I wrestled the tree back up today and finished decorating it. It was a good idea to buy plastic ornaments because Harper just LOVES to take the ornaments off and throw them. Oye. It is Beautiful though and I love it. I think we should have a Christmas tree up year round.

Cake smash

I decided to do Harper's cake smash pictures today. I picked up a little white cake from the grocery store and moved furniture in the kitchen so I could capture it.

It was a total fail. After about five minutes she was over it. She didn't really like eating it. She only liked rubbing her hands in it. A lot of the pictures are out of focus and blurry. It's ok though. I got a few pictures that I will cherish forever.

I can't believe she will be 1 on the 21st. It is bittersweet.

New job, stress and moving

This post may be all over the place. I apologize in advance.

Josh is getting out of the Army. He is currently on terminal leave. He got a job in DC and he started today. I am so very proud of him and his accomplishments. He has worked his ass off to provide for our family and I am forever grateful.

The thing is we live 66 miles from DC. We need to move closer. We have been looking at houses right outside of DC and in the panhandle of WV (which is just as far). Pretty much any where around DC we are trying to find a house. We are first time home buyers so this is so foreign to us. We. Are. Stressed. He had to get up at 3 in the morning to catch a train so he could be at work by 845. That's a lot of commuting and very tiring.

I've always known it is expensive as hell to live in or around DC. Did you know that 200,000 dollars will get you a 1 bedroom, 1 bath, 450 square foot condo?! Holy crap. So basically the further out we go, the more bang for your buck. But the commute sucks. So downsize and pay a ridiculous amount of money for no space but the location is amazing, or go further out and have 3,000 square feet but a ridiculous commute? It's stressful. Plus figuring out when to put in 30 days notice here so that it coincides with moving into our new house. Oye. Big decisions for us. We also have to make sure we are in a great area with great schools.

Until we figure everything out he will just take the train. I don't think we will see much of him during the week which sucks, but I'll take it. We've been through 3 deployments so we can stand not seeing each other much during the week. We just have a lot of thinking to do and searching.

Halloween and a hurricane

Hurricane Sandy blew in this past week as I'm sure you all know. We are located in Northeast Maryland so we definitely felt the hurricane's effects. Luckily, we never lost power and only had a few issues with water coming in the front door. We lucked out. I'm praying for all those that lost their homes and businesses due to the storm.

Halloween was a success. Harper & I went as Pebbles and Wilma. Landon was a dead ninja and Josh was a redneck (or I don't even know what he was.. he definitely was embarrassing). I made Harper's costume and while the storm was going on we carved pumpkins. Unfortunately my laptop took a huge fall this past week and my card reader is now permanently residing way up in my computer so I only have iPhone pics to share.

I hope everyone had a wonderful, safe and spooky Halloween!!!