Some pictures of my little girly (and her bows, too).

So, today I thought I'd share a few of the 497 pictures I've taken so far this month (those are the ones that didn't get deleted for obvious defects).


Here is Lucy sporting her first custom M2M (made to match) bow. It is just too cute and is so nicely made. I got it from http://www.fiveblessedbows.com/ , who I highly recommend.



And here is one I made her. It isn't perfect, but it turned out pretty well. The korkers were really easy to make.

And I just LOVE this outfit and have been chomping at the bit to get it on her. It is still a bit big, but I don't care. And I made this bow myself, too.

And just a few from today. She is really pushing up well with her arms. I'm just waiting for her to get up on her knees a bit. She is really close to sitting up, too.

Do you Etsy?

Have you ever heard of Etsy (http://www.etsy.com/)? It is absolutely one of my favorite places to go for crafting ideas. It is essentially an online craft fair.

I've only bought from Etsy a few times, but this week I got a new apron. I had purchased a very similar one from the same seller for Johnna for Christmas. I loved it so much that I had to get myself one. And, if you've ever seen me in my kitchen, you know I am an apron wearer. I probably wear my aprons a good 4 or more hours a day -- I hate getting my shirts wet. So, anyway, here is a picture of it:

And now I want to try and make one myself. I really need several more aprons anyway. Of course, I want to do several things differently (though I do love the one I got), simply because I have to add my own personal flair to any project I do. It is rare that I ever follow a pattern/tutorial exactly as written. That is one of the things I love about crafting...putting my own unique spin on an item (I do the same thing with cooking -- I rarely follow recipes exactly as written, unless I'm baking).

I also want to try making Lucy several pillowcase dresses, which there are an abundance of on Etsy. Really, every time I visit Etsy, I come away with a list of things I want to try and make. Crafters beware!

Feet, sleep and sunny skies!

So, my foot is feeling much better today. Not perfect, but better. I'm trying to keep myself dosed up on ibuprofen still, but things are definitely better. Actually, my calf is bothering me more at this point than my foot is -- I've been walking around on my toes on my left foot and it has fatigued my calf muscles quite a bit. I did manage to run my elliptical for 35 minutes today, though.

And, you won't believe what happened here last night. The kids were all in bed and asleep by 9:00. Guess when I next heard from them?! Hmmm...I think it was about 7:10. I woke up at 6:40 and they were all still asleep. That is AMAZING! I passed out just after 10:00, so I got 8 1/2 hours of sleep IN A ROW!!! Wow -- did that ever feel good. I'm keeping my fingers crossed it will happen again (though, I know it is not likely for Lucy to go all night without eating). And Ross has gone to bed several times in the last week or two without too much of a ruckus. Things are getting better here on the sleep front, even if progress is slow!

And as far as the weather here...it has been a crazy week. The area was pretty much shut down due to snow for 2 days. And it was in the low 60's and sunny today. It was GORGEOUS outside. I can feel a bad case of spring fever coming on...I am so ready for this nice weather to be here to stay! I just can't wait to be able to get back out into the yard to do some gardening.

Am I committed or stupid?

So, as I've mentioned before, I'm exercising at least 6 days a week right now. And I really prefer to do something everyday. Today while I was feeding the boys lunch, I realized that I couldn't put my left foot down without extreme pain -- it felt like I had a bunch of thumbtacks in my shoe. So, what do I do? I down 800 mg of ibuprofen with the hopes it will kick in before I work out. Did it help? Not really. Did I work out anyway? Yep. Twenty-five minutes on the elliptical and a full round of weight lifting later, I realize it wasn't a very good idea. My foot hurts worse now than it did this morning and I'm hobbling around like an old woman. So, here I sit pondering -- am I just really committed to being fit or just extremely stupid? I started off thinking committed, but the worse my foot hurts, the more my mind starts veering toward the other option.

And I'm not exactly sure what caused this, but I'm thinking my snow boots are to blame. I only had them on for an hour or so yesterday morning, but they had zero support. I distinctly remember stomping snow off my feet at one point and having it really hurt (like, hey, I was expecting the soles to provide a little cushion from the cement, but apparently not).

I'm hoping this goes away by tomorrow...I'd hate to be tempted to do anything stupid again.

Where am I?

It sure as heck doesn't feel like North Carolina around here. We have, what I think to be, about 4 inches of snow right now. The most we've had since we've moved here is a dusting. This is highly unusual for this area. Needless to say, everything is shut down here (which is good, because the locals around here don't know how to drive on snowy roads). The boys had a blast playing outside today.

I think the pool looks so funny. Bright blue and inviting...looks warm, doesn't it?

Oh, and I didn't have any snow boots for Reid (can't find them to fit on his wide feet). So, this is what we rigged up. Great, aren't they?

Happy Birthday, Jeremy!

Today is Jeremy's 30th birthday! I wish he were to here to celebrate with, but then, we did have a party for him back in November.

Here is a picture of my old man from last weekend (and he's looking pretty good -- I'm a lucky gal).

Editing to add: According to Jeremy, the Crossed Sabers are the most photographed monument in all of Iraq. There are two sets of sabers separated by a parade field (concrete). The hands holding the sabers are a model of Saddam’s right hand.

Two months down...

...only 4 more to go until R&R. Ugghhh. These have been the longest two months of my life. On the other hand, I've survived them well enough to be sitting here complaining about them.

The good news is that I lost another 3 pounds in the last month (so down 10 total since Jeremy left). I was pleasantly surprised to have lost anything in the last month, considering what I ate over the holidays. (Did I mention my mom & dad showed up here for Christmas with a gallon sized Ziploc bag of buckeyes? I should also mention I ate the majority of the bag.) I want to lose at least another 5 pounds before R&R, perhaps more, depending on how I feel when I get to my target weight.

Oh yeah, I'm to my skydiving weight -- woohoo! However, I have no desire to go until it warms up some. I'm really looking forward to it. I'm wondering, though, if I should wait for R&R so that Jeremy can go with me (he's been skydiving already with the Golden Knights -- lucky guy!). I'm not sure I'm patient enough to wait that long!