Grocery Shopping

After reading a few posts from ladies and their grocery shopping (most recently Kait), I thought I would join in and show you what we buy and what we make with our food.'

I generally shop once a week. That is really all I have time for. We also try to make most of our meals on Sunday's because with J working nights, I just really don't have the time to make a huge meal every night of the week. And I really hate to buy fast food.

I budget $120 for the 1st and the 15th, so $240 for the whole month. This doesn't include what we buy at Costco, which is budgeted for differently. We do 95% of our shopping at the commissary. It's generally cheaper and their produce is pretty good.

So here it goes (no picture, the hubs was super productive and started putting it all away before I could snap a picture)

Tortilla chips
Oriental noodles (3)
Triscuts (2)
Baby Cereal (2) (just getting prepared for when we decide H will start solids)
Cereal (2)
Mashed Potato's (6)
Earl Gray tea
Bay Leaves
Cinnamon Sticks
Chicken breasts
Shredded carrots
Apple butter
Zucchini (3)
Green cabbage
Garlic
Sweet Potato's (4)
1 bag sweet onions

Grand total $56.91

Our meals for the week will be:
Carnita's
Lumpia
Pansit
Kelliguin
Hamburger Pie
Spam Fried Rice

This is J's last week of night check and they will be doing a pot luck at the end of the week and they requested we make a few of the Chammoro (or Guam-ish) recipes (okay all of the Chammoro recipes) I know how to make.
Lumpia is basically a twist on an egg roll
Pansit is the lumpia "guts" with oriental noodles
Kelliguin is like a spicy chicken salad made with lemon juice and peppers.
The the carnitas will be like pork burritos.

There is so much food in my house right now. No need for separate lunches, we will be eating leftovers for sure!

That's what I'm eating this week. What are you eating?
Love,
L

Please ignore my possible misspelling of carnita's. lumpia, pansit, kelliguin, and Chammoro

5Months

Oh my dear. Has it really been 5 months? Because I am pretty sure it has only been 5 weeks. Seriously. How on earth does time fly this fast?

Well, my little baby ninja, you are getting so big! At your last appointment you are 14.7 lbs and 24.75 inches long. 25-50% for height and weight and then that darn noggin of yours is still 90th percentile!

You are not yet rolling over, but you are SO CLOSE. You like to get all the way on your side and have both shoulders touching the ground, but then roll your self back over because you know you don't want to be stuck on your tummy. Smart! You are reaching for some of your toys when we hand them to you, and love to stick everything in your mouth. You like to "stand". And you love facing forward when we hold you. Your head is getting so much steadier during tummy time and when we we sit you in your bumbo.

You laugh ALL THE TIME. And you think I am funny, but you think Daddy is HILARIOUS. He seriously cracks you up. You blow raspberries all the time and babble constantly.

At night you are sleeping from 7:30-12:30 eat 4-6oz and then go back to bed again until about 4:30 where you eat another 4-6oz and then go back to bed until you are up for the day at about 6:30. I am missing the days when you slept thru the night, but if you are getting up since you are hungry (which you are!) I don't mind. One day you will sleep thru the night again. But I am thankful you don't ever wake up crying. Every night I wake up to you talking to yourself. I love it!

This week, we sat you in your high chair, and you were so delighted! I'm not sure what tickled you so much about it, but you had so much fun sitting in your big boy chair. We still set you in the bumbo every day or so for a few minutes, and your big ol' head is getting so much steadier! I know mama's who are telling me their babies are sitting in the bumbo easily at like 2 months...not you! You've got lots of brains to hold up!

Well baby ninja, I am so happy that I am your mom. I can't wait to see how you change over the next month.

Love,
Mama.

P.S. Mommy confession: I blame my semi-messy house on my babe. True confession? It would probably look the same regardless of Hyatt.
 Also, I had no idea how big Hyatt's head was until I was changing one of my friend's little boy's clothes. I pulled the onesie over his head and his head just slipped on thru the hold. Not my baby! You have to STRETCH that onesie over my lil ninja's head. You and your 90th percentile head...makes me smile!

Little Bits

Here are a few of the  little bitty things on my mind:

LOVE having J's grandparents here. I was plenty worried about what I was going to do with them, but it has been so relaxing and just NICE. I have love spending time with all of our family that has been visiting this month, and this visit is included in that. I'm gonna be sad to see them go tomorrow =(

Baby ninja is getting SO BIG. He is holding up his head a ton better. We tried out his high chair today and he LOVED it. He was glowing and giggling. I can't wait to start feeding him solid foods.

On that note, he just isn't ready for solids. J and I are waiting for his head control to get a little better, his tongue reflex to go away, and for him to show an interest in our foods. Mainly we are just waiting for him to show an interest now. Like every thing else, he will do it in his own time.

Oh. My. Gosh. In 2 more days I will have a 5 month old. Where on earth has the time gone?

J will only be on nights for a few more weeks. I am excited to get my man back at night! I'd forgotten how nice it is to have help with the babe.

I keep blog stalking people. I love the posts on clothes and what they are wearing (I have no style these days, and if I am being honest I haven't had style for a long while!). I love the PF blogs. And what people are buying at the grocery store. Wow. I'm a stalker!

Have I told you all how much I love being a mom? I kinda left off here when I was having a really hard time. And since going back to work I am a whole new person. I could do a little post on my lovely time with PPD, but that will be another day.

I am so terribly thankful to one of our friends who will be renting our house back home. Such a weight off our shoulders.

That's all folks!
L

Oh life....

Some days, I just want to curl up on my couch and pretend life isn't out there. That my every worry is taken care of. I wish that I was a child with out a thought for the cares of the world.

But I am not.

I am a grown up. And a wife. And a mommy.

And with growing up comes responsibilities. And pain. And fear.

And my problems seem much more insignificant when I compare them to a family that just lost their darling daughter today. Cancer is not fair. And it seems especially unfair when it strikes a child.

I cannot comprehend the pain and sadness being felt by their family. And I know that she is safe in the hands of our Heavenly Father. And all I can do is pray for peace for her family.

That's all I've got today.
L

Home is a house with a heart...

Right now, in my little home town Extreme Makeover Home Edition is building one of the most deserving families I know a brand spanking new home. And oh how I wish I could be home right now helping. But I am not and I can only do so much from afar. But what I do want to share with all of you lovelies out there is her blog. She and her friend run a company called Earth Monkeys and they make some of the best baby products I own. And to make a long story short, they had a blog post today about some of what is going on at the site there and there was something that really stuck with me. And that was:

... but it's a place you wanted to be, because of the people.  This is a family filled with love and chaos, but mostly love.

This is the type of home I want to have. This is the type of wife and mother I want to be. Life may be chaotic, it will never be perfect, and there will always be laundry. But when people come into my house, when they meet me and my family, when they become a part of our lives, I want them to feel the love. I want to have a house with a heart. And I want to be the heart of my family. And I have no idea how to do this, but that is where I want to be. It’s part of the person I want to be. 

That's what is on my heart right now, and I just needed to share.

Love,

L

Family

Sometimes, when it rains it pours... And September is raining family!
Labor day was filled with my family. My aunties and uncle, mom, brother, sunshine, lots of laughter, food, and most of all fun. So many sweet memories made over a terribly short weekend.

This weekend J's family is coming up again. And as usual, their visit will be much too short. This weekend shall be another sunny one. It feels like summer has finally reached my little corner of the world!

The next week J's grandparents will be coming to town. It will be nice to show our little town to a fresh set of eyes. I really enjoy being a tourist in my own town. And it seems as though we never take the time to really explore until we have people visiting.

We have the best of intentions for touring our little town and spending much of the weekends out doors, but something always seems to come up. Generally in the form of lazing on the couch. Oops!

So here I am, enjoying these last few weeks of summer, finally getting my act together and enjoying all there is to enjoy here in our little military town.

Love,
L

Has it really been this long?

Why yes, yes it has been that long. It has been over a month an a half since I last blogged. I have been so busy. Between working, baby, hubby, and just LIFE in general. So how about a little catch up?

Hyatt is 4 and a half months old. And he is still the most amazing little man. I am a tiny bit worried that he isn't rolling over either way yet, but I figure when he want's to start moving and shaking he will. And until then, I am SUPER happy that when I set him somewhere, he stays there.
Oh my goodness this boy talks. All day long he babble babble babbles. And then there are the fingers in his mouth, and the drool, and the blowing spit bubbles. It is drool galore in my house!
And if he could be any cuter, I might just explode. He is so happy all the time. He "angry coos" when he he wakes up in the middle of the night and is hungry. He hardly cries, except when we are starving him to death or he is really tired.

Other than my amazingly sweet son, I am working over 40 hours a week. And I am LOVING my new job. It keeps me busy, I am making a good amount of money (paying off bills baby!), I love talking to people all day long (and then hate being on the phone after work!), and work is such a good thing for me. Snapped me right out of any depression. I love being back to my old self!!

In slightly sadder news, J has been switched to night check so that means very little time with my all time favorite man. This is our first week of the new schedule (hence the time for blogging!) and so far so good. I am attempting to be a little super mom-ish and getting my run on after work, along with cooking dinner, chilling with my little man, and then bath time and down for bed. It's feeling like a lot by myself. But J is here in the morning and we will see each other on weekends.

I am feeling like this is our first real introduction into the Navy. It's not exactly what we planned for, or what we want, but we are rolling with the punches. And I am looking at this as my preview of deployment. And I am feeling lucky to have a preview into what my life will be like as a sort of single mom.

So that is it, hopefully I will be around more often

Love,
L

P.S. Here are a few of my mommy confessions from these first few months for you:
*I am officially "that mom". The one who lets her baby cry because sometimes you just can't come running for every little thing. Someone's  gotta cook dinner!
*I am also the mom who blows off the paci before putting it back in his mouth. No steril sanitizing here!
*Sometimes, in the early morning, I will let my baby talk himself back to sleep just so I can get a few extra minutes.
*While my family was here, Hyatt didn't get a bath for about 4 days. Can you say dirty bird? Oops!