The Embarrassing Truth

Can I tell you guys a secret?

Last week I found out that I have high cholesterol.

Yep. I'm 25. 

How terribly embarrassing.

At first I was devastated. "Are you sure?" I asked the nurse.

She was positive. Blood tests don't lie.

My throat started closing up, because even though I wasn't 100% sure what that meant, I knew it wasn't good. I cried. A lot. And then, in my head I blamed the way I was raised...eating fried foods daily, drinking sweet tea instead of water, cake for breakfast. And yes, I'm sure that had something to do with it, but the minute I turned 18 I took control. I made the decisions, but it wasn't until recently that I decided I couldn't live like that anymore. At this point I've been counting calories for 3 weeks, and I feel better. I'm going to the gym 3 days a week. I'm taking nutrition classes. I have taken control. I can turn this around. I have changed my lifestyle for the better. 

The craziest thing I've heard so far? Most people my age probably have it and don't even know it. Lucky for me though, I get the chance to fix it now. I don't have to wait until it's so high I have to be prescribed medicine.

And no matter how embarrassing that is, I'm thankful I have another chance.

Flashing Lights

I'm coming to y'all today from a dark place.

I was trying to be optimistic, but at this point I'm saying, 'What else could go wrong?'

First of all, it has been rainy/cold for the past 3 days. Which means no playing outside. And Adelei is refusing to nap. Can you see where this is headed?

Today I had my second, yes second, pap smear in a month. Ladies, take a moment to let that sink in. You know how bad it is to have it done once a year, nevermind the fact that my doctor apparently did it wrong the first time and couldn't even get a reading.

Really? Awesome. I love feeling violated and sore for days.

But to add insult to injury, on my way home I got a speeding ticket. My first one ever, and a really, really expensive one.

So that's my rant. At this point I'm just hoping that the pap smear comes back fine and that my husband doesn't kill me for getting a ticket. It could be worse, right?

Don't Go Breakin' My Heart...

On Monday, my husband got a call from our real estate company asking if we had two dogs.

He said yes, and they proceeded to say that we were in violation of our lease & if we didn't get rid of the dog in 24 hours, we could be up for eviction.

Whoa, whoa, whoa!

Unfortunately, by the time that I got off work to try to clear this matter up, they had already closed.

I went home & did my research.

We paid a pet deposit. Our lease says 'pets approved'.

Tuesday, I called the real estate company & asked to speak with the rental manager.

Long story short...even though it says in our lease, in black & white, 'pets approved' the home owner only wants one animal on the property. Therefore, if we don't get rid of our dear sweet Kaiser, we'll be forced to move and it will report negatively on our rental history.

For us, it was painfully obvious what we were going to have to do.

We don't have the time or the funds to move again. I spent all day Wednesday calling local breeders and vets with no luck. I finally had to turn to Craigslist. After a few emails from some pretty sketchy people, I was finally contacted by someone that seemed okay. We emailed back and forth for two days, and we finally met him last night. We really lucked out! Not only was he very nice, he has a house with a yard, and two other [older] dogs that need livening up. As much as I hate to see this cute face go, I'm glad he's getting a good home.

So today, we're all lounging around, being sad and missing our little man.
Have any of you dealt with sketchy landlords?

Snot Rockets and Sunshine

I know it's Halloween and I should have some really cool Halloween themed post, but that will have to wait.

I'm so far behind on blogging, it's ridiculous.

These last few weeks have been the most trying times I've had in a while. Maybe I'm being a little over dramatic, but in the past any time I needed a break or had so much to do, I would just take Adelei to Nanny's. I haven't had that here, so I've found ways to make it work. While I think it makes me stronger and more resourceful, it can be hard and frustrating at times.

Moving on...

Last Friday after play group, Adelei would not take a nap. Usually I just try to do activities that will make her tired [going to the park, playing outside, dancing, chasing the dogs around....you get the idea], but that day, everything was making her cry. She wouldn't eat anything to save her life. Even her favorite show was making her cry. I checked her temperature and it was only 99.8, but I decided to give her a small dose of Motrin anyway. I also gave her milk and rocked her, thinking that if she slept it off she'd be okay. Except she didn't sleep. And after 8 hours of fighting her trying to get her to eat or drink, soothing her a million times, and trying [but failing] to get her to sleep, we ended up at the ER.

Her temperature had gone from 99.8 to 102. They gave her a large dose of tylenol coupled with a large dose of motrin, and within the hour she was drinking all of her milk AND all of her water while eating some snacks. She was tested for strep throat, and we waited. And waited. And waited. And when we got home 3 hours later, the test had came back negative and they told us to take her to her pediatrician on Monday.

Awesome. Luckily they did give her some antibiotics, so we didn't have to go the whole weekend getting worse.

 

I called the doctor's office first thing Monday morning, and they called me back around noon asking me to bring her in. We got there and saw the doctor, and he was appalled. Apparently, babies this young aren't able to develop strep throat. Also, they told me that her ears looked fine [I told them she had been digging in them, which she usually does when she has in infection]. He looked and said that one was definitely infected, and looked like it was on the mend thanks to the antibiotics, but it was most likely infected when I brought her in Friday. He prescribed lots of medicine, suggested I buy a vaporizer, and sent us on our way.

I'm happy to say that, even though she still has a nasty cough, Adelei is feeling so much better. She's sleeping more normally, she's playing, she's eating [a little bit!], and she's pretty much back to her curious little self!

\

I want to give major props to single moms, to moms whose husbands are gone for business or deployments. This is the hardest [but most rewarding] job I've ever had!

Wisdom, but not wiser.

I went last Wednesday to have my wisdom teeth pulled. I was assured that it was an easy process and that I would be fine. I wasn't that nervous.

It was a fairly quick, painless procedure [thanks to the numbing shots and nitrous].

Afterwards was a different story. 

They told me the medicine the prescribed would probably make me sleep all day, and I was totally okay with that. However, it did the opposite for me. It wired me. I could not fall asleep to save my life.

And because I was awake? I thought I was starving. Guess what y'all? Those mashed potatoes and soup just weren't cutting it. Add to that the fact that the taste of blood was making me nauseous, this whole recovery process was starting to suck.

On Saturday, I felt well enough to start eating solid food. Thank God! 

On Monday, things just didn't feel right, so I called the dentist's office. I spoke with the hygienist who helped with my procedure, and she basically told me that I was overreacting and just to keep an eye on it. Awesome. Monday night/all day Tuesday was spent in a sinus medicine induced dazed. And today, the pain was so extreme that I called again, and asked them to please work me in.

And they did.

Turns out I have a dry socket. They had to flush the extraction site and put in some really, really nasty medicine in it. But guess what? It worked. I feel so much better already.

So there's the reason why I haven't been around lately. It's hard to get the energy to blog when you feel so craptastical. Things should be looking up from here on out, though.

Over It

I can't understand for the life of me what it is about children and babies that makes strangers open up, but I'm completely over it.

If that sounds a little rude, I'm sorry I'm not sorry.

I'm okay with someone commenting that my baby has a beautiful smile, or even stopping at our table at a restaurant to say hello. What frustrates me beyond words and makes me fuming mad? Is when someone touches my daughter without permission, and when someone feels the need to tell me I'm doing something wrong in regards to my child.

This has been going on since the first time I took Adelei out in public 15 months ago, but this week it has gotten out of control.

On Tuesday, while at the commissary, one of the cashiers came over to speak to Adelei while I was checking out. Adelei was grumpy & the lady kept trying to make her smile. Adelei was not interested and I made sure to let her know that she wasn't feeling it. The lady touched her leg. I'm not sure if she was trying to tickle her or if she pinched her, or what, but Adelei started crying in full hysterics....

I was beyond pissed.  The only thing I could say was, 'Seriously?' Who does that? Really?

I had to completely stop what I was doing to comfort my child, who was FINE [grumpy, but not out of control] before this woman, this stranger, began messing with her.

On Wednesday, I dropped Adelei off at daycare for a few hours. When I got back, the first thing the teacher said to me was 'Does your daughter not like black people?'. Again, another 'seriously?' moment.

I said 'Excuse me?' and she proceeded to say that every time she got close to Adelei that afternoon, all she would do is scream and cry. This was after Adelei's favorite teacher left & there was only one other child in the room. Was there no possible way that she was just hungry? thirsty? tired? Oh you're right. It was none of those things. My 15 month old daughter was totally discriminating towards you.

Ridiculous.

On Thursday, a lady at Hobby Lobby made the comment that she could tell my daughter was so full of herself. I'm not 100% sure what she meant by that, but the tone in her voice [combined with my lack of sleep] was enough to piss me off. I don't know about you, but I'm pretty sure all babies think that the world revolves around them.

I like to think I've done pretty well up to this point about grinning and baring it. But, like I said before, I'm over it. I'm not going to stand for it anymore. If someone feels like they have the right to say ridiculous stuff to me, I hope they're prepared for the backlash.

Just for future reference, if you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything at all. And never, ever touch someone else's child unless they specifically tell you that it's okay.

Breaking My Heart

Disclaimer: This post may be a little ridiculous [see title]. Also, spoiler alert.

A few weeks ago, when I saw the commercial for the new show Breaking Amish, I knew I was going to be a fan. Crazy? Maybe. But I'm a sucker for reality t.v.

After watching the first episode, I can honestly say I was intrigued. We set it to record every week & so far, I've been pleased. Some things annoyed us [the whole sushi scene], but for the most part we didn't have a lot of complaints. Last night, Aaron and I watched the fourth episode, and we started questioning things.

The obvious--How did these people sign up for a t.v. show? How do they know curse & slang words if they are so religious & have little interaction with 'English' people? How does one girl have her ears pierced? One guy is 32. Why is he not married with kids in the Amish community? How does the one girl know what a stripper pole is much less how to dance on one?

I only thought about it for a few minutes after the show. Until Aaron came home and said that him & some of his friends got into a discussion about the show & they said it was a sham.

Of course I had to look it up. I found several articles about it online, but THEN I came across this gem.

The blog of an ex Amish guy. He talks about the show from the Amish stand point & tells all the reasons it's completely staged.

Like--

How pretty much all of them left the Amish several years prior to taping. 

Kate has been on a modeling website since 2010.

Abe & Rebecca, who seem to have just met & started dating on the show, are actually a couple with a child together in real life.

Jeremiah and Sabrina both were married. Jeremiah has kids & has supposedly been living an 'English' lifestyle for the past 14 years. 

So yes, this bums me out. Maybe it's not a big deal to anyone else, but I feel like I was lied to. 

I probably still would have watched if they would have just said to begin with that this was a show about ex Amish young adults experiencing 'English' culture. But the fact that they've repeatedly said that this is the first time they've left the Amish & that this is the first time experiencing all of these things, really leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

If you want to see more of the lies exposed, go here.

Drama in Suburbia

Growing up, I lived in a very small town. There was an entire acre of land standing between our house and our neighbors. Pretty much everyone had animals of some sort whether it were the usual dogs & cats or cows & goats. I never knew I'd miss 'country' life so much.

The past 5 years, I have lived in an apartment. It was fun at first, but got old quick. The lack of space and no yard to call my own was something I was ready to leave behind.

When we moved into the suburbs, I wasn't quite sure what to expect. 

I had never lived in a housing area before. My husband had, but even still, the houses weren't this close together. I was just ecstatic about finally being in a house. A few weeks after we moved in, the high that I was on began to fade. I still love this house, but getting used to neighborhood life is taking more time than I would have imagined. 

Yesterday morning, as I was in the kitchen getting the coffee started, we hear a knock on our door. Aaron answered, and it was one of our neighbors. She proceeded to say that if we didn't get our dog's barking under control, she was going to call the cops on us. As soon as she said that, my blood started boiling.

First of all, my dog rarely barks. She does bark at people she doesn't know, in situations where she's scared, and when she's being protective. So yes, from time to time, when she's outside, she will bark....especially when she smells an animal or person close to our fence. What annoys me most [other than her threatening to call the cops on us]? Is that the lady said that she has 'tried to be nice to the dog & feed her treats'. UMMM, hello! Obviously if you're trying to get at the dog through the fence and she is BARKING at you, she doesn't like you or she thinks you are trying to endanger her family. If she doesn't want your treats & continues to bark/growl at you, take a hint. She's also claiming that Kami wakes her up at 3:30 am barking, which I know is untrue because Kami sleeps in our bedroom! I don't let her out in the morning until Adelei wakes up, which is usually 8:30 or 9.  I just honestly don't see how this is possible when I am home 90% of the time [in other words, I know if my dog is barking to bring her inside!]. I don't know whether it's true or not, but she says some of the other neighbors have complained as well. She also told us that we needed to keep our dog inside [she's an inside dog, but obviously I let her out to do her business & get exercise], and that we need to video tape Kami while she's outside. Getting the cops called means we'd have to pay a fine, and if they reported it to our real estate company, we could get evicted. I miss living in a place where, if a dog barked or rooster crowed, no one got their panties in a wad.

p.s. Did I mention there are other dogs in the neighborhood?

Can You Believe It?

My baby is walking.

WALKING!

It seems like just yesterday, we just sat around enjoying each other's company.

And now?

We're constantly on the move.

Have I told you how much I love this age?

Because I do.

Never a dull moment.

RedLeg Disappointment

If you follow me on twitter, you know that last night was a big night for us.

It was Aaron's RedLeg Social. 

In other words, all the guys in his unit [& their significant others] got together, had dinner, and found out their next duty stations.

I've been thinking about it since last week!

On our 'wishlist' we put:

Ft. Carson, CO

Ft. Bragg, NC

Ft. Campbell, KY

Ft. Stewart, GA

Hawaii

I was getting so excited thinking that we'd be closer to home, or in a more interesting place!

We got to the Patriot's Club around 6, & everyone was just waiting around to be let into the main hall.

Everyone else's nervousness/jitters seemed to calm me down, which was weirdly unexpected.

They finally started letting people in, and I got so confused. Everyone raced to the area where they had everyone's place settings displayed. We found out we were sitting at table 12. When we got to table 12, there was a plaque stating our new duty station.

Ft. Sill, OK

When Aaron told me, I just stood there, shocked.

I felt like I had been slapped in the face & I had to try really, really hard not to cry in a room of 150+ people.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Is this a joke?"

"No, this is the Army."

Don't get me wrong, I like it here for the most part. But I always looked at moving here to be a brief trip. We weren't expecting to be here longer than 6 months. I know I need to get used to this, but this is just how I feel right now. I know I'll get over this in a few days & be okay with it all. I know that no matter where we live, I will make the best of it for myself & my family. 

The Move

I had this really long blog post written about all of the 'fun' stuff that happened to us along the way, but lucky for you folks, when I hit publish it disappeared.

Now, here I am, kind of in shock, and I honestly don't feel like giving another play by play, so here are the highlights:

Monday

*A got a flat tire somewhere in MS.

*While he was in the process of changing it, it started storming...bad.

*Add hail to the rain.

*Our car was packed to the brim, we were stranded on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere & Adelei decides that is the perfect time to relieve herself. This resulted in me having to change her while she stood up in my lap. Awesome.

*Made it to the tire store only to find out they had 1 tire to fit his car, not 2.

*Got to our hotel at 10 instead of 5.

Tuesday

*A went to the Firestone close to our hotel to get another tire.

*He got lost & drove around for an hour trying to find our hotel. [aka wasted an hour of precious travel time!]

*Dallas/Ft.Worth is a beast! But I conquered it.

*The townhouse we reserved a month ago was nothing like what we were expecting. [aka another night in a hotel & search continued for a place to live.]

Landlord Drama

Today we got a note on our door from our Landlord stating that they will be entering our unit on Thursday to do inspections and for us to have our apartment thoroughly cleaned and free of clutter to make it easier on them.

I stared at the note for several seconds, reread it, and laughed.

One more thing to stress over? I think not.

We are moving in two weeks. Boxes everywhere.

Our movers aren't coming until NEXT Friday.

Did I mention that we have a graduation AND birthday party to prepare for? 

Decorations & Cupcake stands everywhere.

What I can't understand is why they would be inspecting our apartment BEFORE we move out.

Isn't that something they do afterward to assess what needs to be done before the new renters move in?

I mean, surely they will have to do it again once we leave, so why do it twice?

Am I thinking way too far into this?

Probably so.

My 2 cents worth

Ever since I started bottle feeding Adelei, she has used Playtex Drop Ins. For months before she was born I did so much research on bottles [as crazy as that may sound] and I decided those were the best for us.

I liked them from the start because they were light weight and easy to clean. Adelei took to them right away. That was another plus.

I never even thought about getting her a different kind of bottle until last month when I bought her formula [similac] and it came with their new bottle.

She loved it! And even though it still held 8 oz, it was more compact/easier for her to hold than the 8 oz Drop In. At that point I looked in to getting her more.

And then I saw the price...

2 bottles for $14

That was an instant turn off, especially since I got my Drop Ins for $3 a piece.

As of today, I am so so glad I didn't waste my money on the similac bottles. It could be because they are a new design, or maybe they're cheaply made? But after my very active 8 month old dropped it, it cracked all up one side and completely through the bottom. Formula was everywhere! I can't tell you how many times she drops her other bottles [even from the shopping cart!] and not so much as a small crack.

Lesson learned: just because something costs more doesn't always mean it's better quality!

Things are getting weird

I know that kids toys are supposed to be silly, and sometimes they don't make a lot of sense, but this thing

....RIDICULOUS.

I saw a commercial for this while watching Adventure Time today, and all I could do was sit there with my mouth open wide wonder if I had just seen a faux commercial.

But after seeing it for the third time in less than an hour, I realized that it was a real toy. Or game. Whatever.

All I know is, I would never spend money on a toy for my kid where the whole purpose is to watch it poop.

We have a real dog for that.

If you like ridiculousness...

...you will like this.
If you have no sense of humor,
hit the X at the top right of your screen now.

Kids say the darndest things......

Best moment of the day?

Hearing a student say,
"Have ya'll seen Ms. Keith? She looks like that baby is about to burst out of her."

Drunken Idiots

Last night I was woken up by the sound of my dog barking out of control.
She only does this when she is seriously scared/knows something is wrong. Aaron got up to check the situation, and from what he could tell everything was fine.

Fast forward to this morning.
I was about to leave for school when I saw this on my door step

Immediately I put two and two together and realized that the reason she was going crazy was because someone was out there. Now, I realize that to most people this is not a big deal [possibly even funny], but for me it was infuriating.

Do you know how hard it is to fall asleep comfortably when you're this pregnant? Trust me, it doesn't come easy. Not to mention that every time I seem to get into that perfect position I have to get up to pee. So getting woken up because of someone else's ignorance makes me want to spit fire.

It wasn't until I came home after school that I found out a few of our other friends had this happen to them as well, so I'm trying to be all CSI and figure out who did it so I can [as I so nicely put it] rip them a new one.

Because honestly, you just don't mess with a woman and her sleep.

Teenage Dirtbag

This was a real life conversation I heard between two seniors today....

K: Why do Germans look like Americans if Germany is in Asia..Wouldn't they look Asian?
M: Germany isn't in Asia, stupid, it's in Russia.

Sometimes, I really wonder about the quality of education of our high schools.

Yep

Remember how I told you that I lost my voice?
Yea, it has been 5 days now and it still hasn't come back.
My husband said I sound like Marcel the Shell with shoes.

I went to the doctor yesterday, and they basically said [without even looking at my throat] that there was nothing they could do for me.
AND they tried to charge me $45.
I think not.
Anyways, I'm hoping that this weekend is my cure.
I'm getting plenty of rest, watching a lot of tv/movies, drinking lots of hot tea, crafting, and trying to not talk, at all.

Say a little prayer...

Dear Friends,

Today something insanely scary happened. Not to me, but to someone who attends my university and lives less than a half mile away from me. I've mentioned on here before that I live in a not-so-safe neighborhood. There are always sketchy looking people walking around during all hours of the day & night [remember Pecan man?]. Anyways, today this young lady answered her door unsuspiciously and was kidnapped in her OWN car, stabbed multiple times, and when her car ran out of gas the bastards left her there to die. Somehow she had enough strength/will to live to WALK to the nearest house to get help. You'll be glad to hear that she is currently in stable condition. Although her wounds will heal, it's going to take a toll on her psychologically. I've tried to put myself in her position mentally and it keeps bringing me to tears. I can't even IMAGINE this happening. I honestly have no idea why anyone would want to do this, and I'm kind of scared to even be at my own apartment by myself. Please, please, please.....if you pray, PLEASE take just a minute to pray for this girl.