Present & Future

It is so easy to get caught up in what might happen in the future and wish away the present. 

Hubby & I have been antsy since December about a possible next step in his military career.  A possible next step that we won't hear about until the end of April.  I thought these months would be torturous, waiting and wondering every single day.  It's a career move that Chris really wants and I really want it for him.  I have the moving itch and I'm ready for something new.  Everyday I hear about another family moving away from here.  This career move would mean a lot more training and a much more distrupted schedule.  On the other hand, it's possible that the next 'move' doesn't happen at all and we stay here even longer. 

It occurred to me last night as our little family sat around the dinner table promptly at 5:30pm - You know, we have it pretty good right now.  Chris doesn't have to go into work very early and he's almost always home between 5:30-6:00pm.  We have dinner together, playtime with Landon, and watch Jeopardy & Wheel of Fortune.  Life is good!

I can't make April arrive any faster so I'm going to take a step back and enjoy what we have.  Afterall I can't let one single day in April determine my happiness. 

It's the little things, each and every day, that make me happy!

1 year project

Somehow, without trying, I managed to keep all of Landon's checkup stickers from his first year.  And in relatively good condition.  I thought it would be neat to do something with them, as well as his newborn footprints.  An added bonus is that I'd be less likely to lose them. 

Here is the end result:

A weekend with friends

Our friends from home in Virginia came to visit us this weekend with their little girl who is around Landon's age.  When we go home we usually get to see our friends for a split second, if that so we were looking forward to a fun weekend!  While we indeed had a great time, the trip was not without a few hiccups.  Meg (our friends little one) decided to kick off the trip by puking on the plane so her Mom & Dad could smell like vomit for the next 6 hours.  Unfortunately there was a repeat by Meg on her Mom & Dad's bed at about 5:00am after they had just arrived around 2:00am.  This, followed by Mark getting a bloody nose (darn North Country dry air), and my hubby slamming his finger in the garage door.  We were starting to think we shouldn't leave the house all weekend. 

But we did and had a wonderful time!  That evening while the guys were out to pick up pizza & beer, we Mom's let our guard down as the kiddos were having a snack.  I guess Landon felt left out and decided to puke all over the couch.  Awesome.  :)  Fast forward to Saturday afternoon, Landon develops a rosy cheek look which we attribute to the cold. 

Turns out he was on his way to a full blown ear infection, cough, and day one (of many) of trying to break his fever.  Despite the 'few' hiccups, we really had a wonderfully fun weekend with our friends!  The kids played well together and you wouldn't have known they didn't feel 100%.  You can't rain on our parade!

Just to add insult to injury, our friend's plane home from Charlotte was cancelled due to the snowstorm in Virginia.  They ended up renting a car and driving home a day late. 

Hey friends, let's do this again some time! ;)

February 17 - Random Act of Kindness Day

Don't check your calendars.  I am aware that today is February 18th and yes I am a day late.  Howevery, I believe we should be inspired to perform random acts of kindness everyday!  Below is a link to my blog published yesterday on SheSpeaks.

http://www.shespeaks.com/Random-Act-of-Kindness-Day#comments

Ghirardelli Milk & Truffle Chocolate review

These chocolates arrived in my mailbox right on schedule...Valentine's Day!

As a blogger for SheSpeaks, I have the privilege of receiving products to sample and sharing them with you!  If you know me at all you know that I'm a chocoholic.  I'm pretty sure I have chocolate everyday in some form, even if all I have is chocolate syrup & milk!  Anyways, back to the chocolates pictured above.  Ghirardelli has a new "square", the Milk & Truffle chocolate.  I'm ashamed to say I had judged the chocolates before they even arrived.  I doubted how different it could really be from a plain chocolate square,  I mean, a couple years ago I sampled their peanut butter and caramel filled chocolates (delish by the way!)  So how could this possible compare?!? 

I was so wrong.  The truffle filling is so smooth and practically melts in your mouth.  It is far better than a regular chocolate square.  And it's Ghirardelli!  I'm pretty sure a plain piece of chocolate will never compare now that I've tried the milk and truffle. 

Now here is the real question.  Do I save the remaining pieces for my guests arriving tonight or hog them all for myself?  :)

A Tribute

Just over 6 months ago, my Father-in-law lost a VERY short battle with cancer.  My husband was in Afghanistan when his Dad was diagnosed and when he passed.  You can read more about that here http://thelitlething.blogspot.com/2012/01/year-of-challenge-and-celebration.html. 

Today is about a tribute.  My Father-in-law was President of a local volunteer fire department and a teacher/mentor to fiirefighters within a 100+ mile radius.  He served nearly 30 years with the fire department with one of his sons serving as Chief, and his other son, my husband, serving as a line officer before joining the Army.  In short, he dedicated his life to the fire fighting.  Recently the department held their annual banquet and played the video below recapping 2011 with a special tribute to my husband's Father.  If you are interested, skip to about 3:30 in the video. 

It's evident how many lives he touched during his time here on earth and it shows me where my husband got his sense of duty & service.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-mfmOaO9nI&feature=share

Crib biting

So I was getting ready to brag about how my 13 month old will play and talk in his crib for 1.5-2 hours during nap time even if he never falls asleep.  While I'm thankful for his willingness to rest and play by himself, I have a new topic on the brain now. 

When I went to get him out of his crib I noticed white specs on his mouth and shirt.  I then noticed two small patches of paint missing on the top railing of the crib.  Seriously?  This can't be good.  Landon's always been a biter but this is new territory for me.  Don't they make some sort of protector for this?  Time to start researching!

Thought for Thursday

Why does the word 'no' followed by my attempt at discipline cause my 13 month old to cackle with laughter?

Confession:  I usually want to laugh right along with him!