Update From The Road

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Whew – finally got this back up and running with the help of many hands and minds! There are obviously still a lot of kinks to work out. The most important thing however, is that this site is no longer just one big ad!

We are still on our PCS road trip — Last night we arrived at Disneyland and we will be spending a few days here before heading north to our new home. We are supposed to have internet installed pretty quickly but were alerted of a potential issue yesterday so that may or may not be what happens. We shall see.

I can’t promise what will be in this space over the next month. Right now I feel my most important focus is on my husband and my daughter – getting us settled in our new home and enjoying these absolutely precious moments we have together.

My goal is to have everything figured out by April 1 so that I can post regularly and start achieving other goals I have had for this website since I started it. It’s a manageable goal I think, so that’s what I’m going with.

I don’t know if I have any readers left after all this chaos. Have I mentioned that this website mess happened at the worst possible time? Anyway, if I have anyone left reading this I will leave you with this thought…

Of the nearly 4 years I have spent loving my husband who happens to be in the military and the 15.5 months I have spent as a mommy to the most amazing little girl the biggest lesson I have learned is this: We have moments. None of us know how many we have or what they will consist of. The only certainty is that we have them. Laugh hard and often. Love harder, stronger and longer than you think possible. Live the moments you are given to the fullest. Be thankful for them. Embrace the bad and cherish the good. Don’t take a single one for granted because you don’t know what the next one will bring.

With that – off to spend some moments introducing my daughter to the magic of Disney!

God Bless,

Cat

Technical Difficulties

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I know things around here look funny, and I’m not even sure all my readers can see this at the moment but hang in there with me folks!  I’ve got a couple people working behind the scenes to see if they can help me. I currently have limited computer access for a couple more days while we are on the next leg of our PCS journey. We should arrive in Arizona by Friday and hopefully by Saturday I can have this site issue resolved!

I’m not entirely sure what has happened except that I know I renewed my domain with Google and now my raisingmonkey.com domain site is nothing but a big ad. Luckily, behind the scenes at blogger all posts are in tact — which is better than the worst case scenerio I first feared.

So, in the mean time, keep posting your photo challenege link ups!  I know a few of mine are not showing right now but I will fix that this afternoon after my driving shift is over.

Thanks for hanging in there with me. I promise 2012 holds amazing things for Raising Monkey, Loving Sarge and it’s faithful readers — but I guess we have to get through these hiccups along the way first. I’ll make it worth your time to stick with me!

Thanks for understanding…

Signing off from Amarillo!

Cat

Tasty Thursday – Stress Relief Donuts

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The packers will here in less than 24 hours.
I have nothing packed for our month on the road.
Yesterday was awful. This week has been the worst!
But I refuse to stress… 

So this morning, after my 14 month old daughter poured out an entire container or sea salt all.over.our. .bedroom. I decided all there was to do was laugh.
(Instead of burying my head under the covers and crying my eyes out)

And make donuts. with hearts.
 

Sure, I still have hours of packing to do.
I’ll probably never get it all done and will surely forget things.
But in the grand scheme of things, what does stress do to help the situation?
Nothing.
 
 

The donuts did absolutely nothing for my diet.
And while I absolutely want to be healthy, fit and feel good about myself…
does being the skinniest girl on the beach really matter?
Nope.


The sparkle in those eyes.
Those cinnamon sugar covered hands.
The way her adorable little voice says “YUM” and it sounds like “MUM”…

She is what REALLY matters when all is said and done.
So, maybe I will forget to pack all my underwear.
Walmart is everywhere!
The smiles, the memories, the laughter…
That’s what I want to remember from this chapter in our lives.
That’s what I want HER to remember.

Let’s face it.
We’re a military family.
We’re going to move… a LOT.
I’d rather make it a fun adventure that a dreaded event full of stress.
And donuts help.
They really do.


Want to make some of these sinfully delicious donuts yourself?
They’re EASY. No, really… my baby helped make them!
They take hardly any time at all.


Ingredients:

1 can of biscuit dough (any brand works, we like Grand’s – non flaky)
Something round (or heart shaped) to cut a hole in the middle
Vegetable oil
Cinnamon & Sugar mixed together
4 tbsp of melted butter per 8 bicuits

Directions:
Heat up a pan with oil – about 1/2 an inch or so
Open your biscuits and cut them out
One at a time, drop biscuits in the oil
When one side is golden brown, flip to the other side
When both sides are golden, remove from oil and cool
(I used a paper towel lined plate)
When cool to the touch, drop each biscuit into the melted butter
Drain excess butter
Dip into cinnamon and sugar mixture


Eat.
Enjoy.
Laugh.

Feel the stress melt away.
It’s not worth stressing over.

A mommy’s worries

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I had a post written up earlier today.  I couldn’t tell you what it was about.  To be honest I’m not sure I have any words to write THIS post… but I’m trying.

My sweet baby girl has been sick for 38 days. We are have to be out of our house due to our PCS in about 4 days times. I have nothing packed. Nothing ready. I cannot do anything but focus on my little girl who is STILL sick.

We have consulted with 4 doctors and have done several different types of tests. We originally had an answer and while that is what triggered this whole thing, it has been treated and now we don’t know why her symptoms have not gone away!  She has lost 3lbs in a month, has little appetite and not nearly as much energy or spunk as normal. She has had a fever for each of the 38 days despite numerous attempts of breaking it – it never does. This is just the beginning of her symptoms…

We will be seeing her pediatrician tomorrow. I trust her pediatrician to help us figure out what is going on. She may not have answers immediately, but the most pressing issue is whether or not we are missing something major.

This mommy is worried. I know God is in control and I am continually struggling with giving this over to Him. Why isn’t He healing her? Why must she keep suffering?  Can’t He hear her crying out in pain?  I know He has the answers..  my mommy heart wants them too. Every night as I rock her for hours while she alternates between nursing and crying out in pain, I just want to make it all better… and I can’t. I don’t even know how to begin trying. This breaks my heart.

There is so much resting on this appointment tomorrow…  Tonight my prayer is simple — for God’s peace and wisdom. Only He has the answers to all of these questions weighing on my heart. Only He knows if we will ever figure out what is keeping her sick for so long or if it will mysteriously disappear and she will be back to her spunky, fun loving self.

Please pray for my sweet Monkey.  Pray for this mommy to have the peace that comes ONLY from God.

Saturday Seven

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My super-amazing friend, Sarah over @ SquareGoods has inspired me to do my own Saturday Seven posts this year…  so here we go!

1.  Have you checked out the photo challenge that the aforementioned amazing Sarah and I are co-hosting for the month of February? You TOTALLY should!  Leave us a comment and let us know if you’re going to be joining us. You can even pin the challenge on Pinterest, share it on FB, tweet it or in general shout about it from the roof tops!  The more the merrier — PLEASE join in!  More info HERE and HERE.

2. Speaking of making the ickies go away… my baby girl has been sick for 35 days! THIRTY-FIVE. We’ve been told that it was everything from a virus to a dairy allergy — yet after completely eliminating dairy in both of our diets (she still breastfeeds several times a day) she is no better. The doctors at two different offices have been running tests for the last week. The most recent result is that we are being referred to a pediatric GI doctor for further evaluation and hopefully treatment. More than I wish I could make myself feel better, after several weeks of my own ickies — I want my sweet baby girl to feel better!

3. I was super excited to use my neat-o iPhone add on lenses tonight… Sarge got them for me the same night I got my iPhone but I was so busy learning all the Mac/Apple ins and outs I hadn’t played with them yet. I finally did tonight…  and now my InvisibleShield is peeling in the corner where the lens clips onto the iPhone. I’m super bummed. I’m going to order the replacement but it won’t arrive for weeks and the whole hassle is just… annoying.

4. I’ve not mentioned it on this blog until now… but I’m pretty excited that my new Scentsy venture is kind of exploding!  I signed up in August and didn’t do much with it while Sarge was deployed… but now that the word is getting out, I’m getting quite a few orders and have started brining in a little bit of extra change in the process. I’m hoping that eventually I get to the point where I can pay for Monkey’s extra-curricular activities with this money. It’s just the beginning, but hopefully….  Right now, I’m doing a fundraiser for Mason’s Cause, Inc. - the one place to turn to when faced with infant loss.  Click HERE to buy from the Mason’s Cause, Inc. Scentsy party and 100% of the profits will go directly to Mason’s Cause, Inc. Bereavement Grant program.

5. We have approximately 6 loads of laundry to wash, fold, and put away by tomorrow…  then, I need to strip diapers — which will take approximately 2 loads and several hours each. I usually don’t mind laundry… but when it piles up like this I just despise it and kind of wish I could make it disappear with a magic wand.

6. We are PCSing!  (not exactly new news… )  ONE week from today, it will be our very last night in this house. Sarge and I’s first home together… the home we brought our baby home too. The home I survived 2 deployments in. Lots of memories. It’s very bittersweet.

7.  My FAVORITE photo from this week:

I went in to check on Monkey last night, after being very concerned about her breathing most of the evening.
I found her sleeping so sweetly and peacefully. My heart melted into a puddle.  <3

Re-Posting: The Trouble With Blogging

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I don’t usually re-post things other bloggers write… but I saw this on FB this morning and it’s truly exactly what is in my heart. Go check out this post by Amy of “Blogging with Amy” and see why this touched my heart this morning.

I have big dreams for my blog, but at the same time, I haven’t been able to fulfill them because it just has had to take a backseat while real life, my family, and myself take priority. I have to figure out how to balance my roles as mother, wife, student etc. before I can officially add blogger to the mix.  In the meantime, I think this blog still does have a purpose. I can’t quite define what that purpose is… but maybe, I don’t really need to. Maybe I just need to keep blogging and working towards my big goals for this blog…  if it’s meant to be it will fall into place. God always has a way of making that happen, and it’s not so silly to trust Him to handle even the smallest things — like my blog!

Now I’m off to be a mommy and get my little Monkey girl down for her nap!

2012 is HERE!

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Happy New Year!!
Our family at midnight on 1/1/12

I can hardly believe that 2011 has ended and the new year has begun!  Obviously, this blog took a backseat for the majority of 2011. To be honest, this last year was a challenging one. There were highs and lows and lots of in-betweens and I’m really pretty glad to see a new year begin – full of new beginnings and adventures.  Thanks for hanging in there with me while I wasn’t very frequent around here.

I’ll do a full catch up/re-cap 2011 post in the next couple days, but I thought I’d just update on what is going on in our lives right now.

Sarge made it home (FINALLY) from his 2nd deployment just before Christmas! By the time he got back home he had been gone for 9 months. Re-integration has been quite different this time around, but we are all adjusting and things are falling back into place.  We celebrated Monkey’s 1st birthday just before Christmas as well. She actually turned one at the end of October, but we felt it was important to wait until Daddy was home to celebrate. Her party was amazing and it was so nice to be able to celebrate our baby girl together!

We had a fantastic Christmas together! We stayed home this year, which was a very nice change. We haven’t been at home for Christmas since our first Christmas together 3 years ago. We took Christmas Day very leisurely and enjoyed Skyping with family and watching our girl experience the magic of Christmas as she opened all of her gifts.

Now, we are busy preparing for our first official PCS!  We are headed to northern California and the movers will be here in about 2 weeks – YIKES!  We aren’t anywhere near ready, but we’ll get there!  More on that soon — I am hoping to Vlog our PCS as we go along. We are taking leave en route so we won’t actually arrive at our new base until the end of February. It should be quite the adventure!

That pretty much catches up the last couple of months!  I hope to post a lot more this year than I did last year, though in an effort to reduce stress during a stressful time I am not going to promise how often, and will instead just promise to do much better than last year!

I hope the beginning of 2012 has been good to you!  Happy New Year!

A Sick Halloween

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Monkey and I had great plans to have a Halloween party with lots of good treats and friends. However, we had to cancel the party because of illness. Even after I decided (a couple days ago) to call off the party tonight, I had hoped we’d at least feel well enough to enjoy the day. It seems that it’s just not in the plan this year. Unfortunately, even Sarge has managed to get sick. He is still deployed and is absolutely miserable.

I hope to get out in a bit to get our annual Jack-O-Lantern pizza and I picked up some fun Halloween mac and cheese to make for lunch today too. Once Monkey wakes from her nap I will probably go ahead and get her dressed in her Halloween costume. I think we will just plan to snuggle up, munch on some pizza, and probably watch some some Charlie Brown. Maybe Sarge will feel up to Skyping later too.

I was searching for a cute printable sign to put on the door to let trick or treaters know we wouldn’t have any candy (and to stop my doorbell from ringing incessantly all night) and couldn’t find anything, so I decided to make one myself. It’s nothing special, but if you’d like one to print and put on your own door check out the facebook page where you can download the sign I made. Be sure to “like” the facebook page if you stop by! Once we hit 100 likes I’ll be doing another giveaway!

I’ll be posting about our fall festivities in the next few days!  Also — be sure to keep an eye on the blog for a VERY big change and announcement!

1st Birthday – Midnight Picture

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Happy First Birthday, Monkey!!

How is it possible that it has been an entire year since this we finally got to meet this little one who has stolen my heart and captivated my soul? My heart is overwhelmed with emotion and there is so much I want to say.

I will be back to post about her birth story and her birthday celebrations. However, tonight I have the very important job of making sure everything is set for her to enjoy the most amazing first birthday celebration in the morning. Things have been a little hectic around here, but I am determined to make tomorrow (er – today?) absolutely the best day possible!

Here it is… her first birthday.
Unbelievable.