Monkey see, monkey do

It appears that Sammy is picking up some habits from yours truly; yesterday afternoon, he decided to turn the tables and take some "pictures" of me with his vintage Fisher Price camera.  I guess I shouldn't be too surprised, especially as I've been shoving a camera in this kid's face since birth.

Sammy took a quick break to enjoy a snack of some carrots (another thing he appears to have picked up from me recently--up until yesterday, he wouldn't touch a raw carrot with a ten foot pole) and then he was back to taking shots of me and the play room.  I hope this means that he might actually grow up to enjoy photography--after all, my love for the medium was ignited by my mom's ever-present camera when I was a kid.

I think I've got myself a junior shutterbug in the making.

Wordless{ish} Wednesday: Vintage handkerchief pillow tutorial

{I came across a great little book entitled Sew a Beautiful Gift (Claire B. Shaeffer, Sterling Publishing Co.; New York, NY, 1986) while out thrifting last week and I just couldn't pass it up as it was chock full of easy-to-follow patterns for everything from tote bags to children's aprons.  One of the tutorials in the book was for a one-piece pillow that was perfect for a vintage handkerchief that I bought for a dollar at an estate sale last week, although any piece of square fabric will do.}

{After you've followed the first two steps, turn the pillow right-side out and then fill with whatever you happen to have on hand.  Once your pillow is stuffed, hand-stitch the opening closed; if you're feeling truly wild and crazy, feel free to add a button to the center of the pillow to give it a nice, tufted look.  Then sit back and admire your handiwork!}

A dinner date

We invited Captain Husband's friend, Gabe, and his family over for a little Memorial Day cookout yesterday afternoon.  Gabe and his wife have a little girl, Bella, who's only ten months older than Sammy, and the two of them immediately hit it off.  Granted, there were a few skirmishes over sharing here and there, but for their first time playing together I'd say the two of them did pretty well.  I think we'll be having some more dinner dates with Gabe and his family in the future.

Flags of our fathers

Today we pause and take the time to remember the American service members who died while fighting in defense of this country; the sacrifices of these brave men and women and their families will not be forgotten.  My family and I would also like to offer our most heartfelt thanks to all of the active-duty service members, veterans, and their families for all they have done and continue to do.

On a somewhat related note, I decided to update my yarn wreath with some patriotic flair over the weekend in honor of the holiday; my wreath was still sporting the felt flowers that I made last fall and was serious need of a new look.  Inspired by this tutorial, I made some paper medallions in red, white and blue and affixed them to the wreath using barrette clips that I hot-glued to the back of each medallion.  I think it's pretty enough to leave up at least until the Fourth of July.  Here's hoping you all have a wonderful holiday today!

Twenty-three month update

Sammy turned twenty-three months old on Wednesday--is it just me or am I the only one having a hard time believing that I'm going to be the mother of a two-year-old in less than a month?!

Stats: Sammy is wearing all 3T clothing and pajamas and size 8 shoes.  I think he's working on another molar as he's been chewing on his fingers non-stop the past week or so, but I honestly don't know if any have broken through.  We made the switch over to motherease fitted diapers with covers about a month or so ago and we haven't had a single issue since; looks like my super soaker has met his match (knock on wood).  Sammy generally sleeps from 8 pm until 7 am most days and takes an hour and a half nap in the afternoon, although on some lucky days he'll sleep for two and a half hours.

New words/phrases: Sammy's had a veritable work explosion this past month and is picking up an average of 2-4 new words a day.  Here's just a sampling of what comes to mind: bulldozer, dump truck, motorcycle, elephant, puzzle, clean, blanket, share, helicopter, eggs, oval, hexagon and "excuse me."
Other tricks: Sammy knows most, if not all, of the letters in the alphabet, and all of his numbers up to ten.  He also knows most of his colors, like yellow, green, orange, red, purple, pink and blue and can identify and match a good number of shapes, such as square, circle, oval, star, triangle and hexagon.  Sammy has also mastered going up and down the stairs on his own while holding onto the railing.

Likes: Planes, trains and automobiles (along with the occasional boat and helicopter), "reading" books and being read to, dancing to music, drawing and coloring, his fuzzy blankets, bath time, and anything and everything to do with mommy.  Sammy has recently turned into a stage five clinger and will break down if I'm out of his sight for more than a few minutes, much to the chagrin of me and Captain Husband.
Dislikes: Being separated from mommy for any length of time, brushing his teeth, and diaper changes in public restrooms (can't say I really blame him).

Texture Thursday: Sweet

I attended my very first FRG meeting last night (Family Readiness Group for those of you military-acronym-challenged, like myself), which was going to be a family-style potluck affair.  Being that this was going to be the first time that many of the soldiers and spouses of Captain Husband's battery were meeting me, I definitely didn't want to show up empty-handed.

CH insisted that I didn't have to make anything, but I didn't need much excuse to make my current go-to favorite dessert--strawberry cream cake (you may recall that I made this a few weeks back, but here's a link to the recipe again because seriously, it's awesome.  You should make one immediately if not sooner; you'll thank me.)

The cake turned out fabulously and apparently CH's battery thought it was pretty tasty, too--only one piece was left by the time the meeting came to a close.  Yeah, I totally called dibs on that last piece--it was in my belly about two hours after we got home last night.  Do you have a go-to dessert?

Wordless{ish} Wednesday: A few of my favorite things

{There's no other flower that can bring a smile to my face quite the way that a bunch of yellow tulips can.  They brighten up any room and never fail to brighten my day.}

{Another of my favorite things is Miss Sandy Cat, of course.  And one of her favorite things to do--second only to using our new sofas as scratching posts-- is nibbling on the leaves of my flowers when she thinks no one is watching.}

{And l couldn't let a post about my favorite things go by without a mention of Sammy, my favorite resident toddler.  Here he is showing off one of my recent thrift store finds--a vintage photographer's backdrop and stand that I scored for $10 at my favorite thrift shop.  What are some of your favorite things?} 

I've got nothin'

Yesterday was a bit of an emotion-filled day for me; Captain Husband and I had a nice, long talk and hopefully we've gotten things a bit back on track between the two of us--at the very least, we're keeping the lines of communication open, which is always a good thing.  But as a result, I never really got around to photographing anything for today's blog post, so that means you're all going to be treated to some cute shots of Sammy and Henry from a week and a half ago.

Man, I feel better just looking at my nephew's happy face! (And to everyone who was so sweet to comment yesterday, thank you all so very much.  I seriously wanted to cry from happiness just knowing that I'm not alone in feeling the way that I do at times.  You guys are awesome.)

Things I'm afraid to tell you

Deep breaths: I've been contemplating writing a post like this for some time now, but then a few of my blog friends went and created something awesome called Let's Get Real, which made me summon up some testicular fortitude and sit down and do it.  Soooooooooooo here goes.

For every post I write featuring some cute craft that I just made, there are at least four half-finished projects lying around the house in some state of neglect.  I start things that I wind up not finishing and then I feel horrible about it, so I move on to something "easy" to make myself feel better.  And posting about crafts means I don't have to delve into my personal life quite so much for material, which honestly leaves a lot to be desired these days. 

I totally seek the validation of strangers with this blog.  It makes me feel so good when someone--anyone--compliments my photos and the like and I get really down on myself when a post goes by without a single comment.  Sad, right?

I'm not really enjoying being a military spouse these days.  But then again, I'm sure my problems are not limited to those who happen to be married to someone in service, so I think it might be accurate to say that I'm not happy being a spouse at the moment.  I find myself wishing that Captain Husband would have to go somewhere for a few months just so I can get back into the routine that I had established while he was in South Korea last year.

I miss working.  A lot.  I miss using my brain and having conversations with other adults about things that have nothing to do with kids or kid-related activities.  I feel as though I have nothing to talk about and like I'm the most boring person to ever walk the planet.  I try to keep up with current events and read the paper every day and whatnot, but it seems like every single conversation I have with other people somehow returns to the minutiae of being a stay-at-home-mom and I hate that.  I can't remember the last time that I sat down and read a scholarly article; no wonder I feel so brain dead.

I'm jealous of the fact that CH gets to leave the house and go to work every day.  I'm jealous that he has a private office and can shut the door when he needs to work on something important (or if he just wants to be left alone for a little bit).  I'm jealous that he gets to unwind from his day at work during his drive home.  I want those things for myself...more importantly, I'd like to be able to pee without Sammy going into a separation-anxiety-induced panic attack every time I try to close the bathroom door.

Believe me, there's more, so much more.  I've only just scratched the surface but I don't want to scare everyone off of visiting my blog in one fell swoop.  Thanks for letting me get some of this stuff off of my chest.

Foto Friday: Feathers or fur

Sandy Cat really likes the perches that I put up for her in Sammy's play room, especially as they give her a safe place where she can watch over Sammy without worrying about him getting too affectionate and check out the neighborhood birds that like to congregate around the bird feeder in our backyard.   She had apparently just spied a few tasty-looking ones when I snapped this photo.

In other news, this baby is kicking my butt, or rather, he's kicking my back.  My lower back is still a mess, so I finally broke down and called my doctor in the hopes the could recommend something, anything really, that might help.  He gave me the name and number of a local massage therapist and I have an appointment tomorrow afternoon with her, so I hope that it will do the trick or at least give me some sort of relief.  Maybe if I play my cards right I can convince Captain Husband that this will need to become a weekly expense until this kid is born--I kind of like the sound of that!

Texture Thursday: Texas sage

Our rental house in El Paso happens to have a seven-foot-tall Texas sage plant in the front yard--one of the only plants that doesn't look half-dead or completely haggard.  Thanks to all of the rain we received here last week, the plant has recently erupted in a multitude of tiny, purple blooms, giving me the perfect subject matter for this week's Texture Thursday.  I hope that the blooms stick around for awhile as I really love the unexpected pop of color that I get to see every time I go out.

Wordless{ish} Wednesday: You can't eat without it

{I was born and raised in southwestern Pennsylvania in a rural area about twenty miles outside of Pittsburgh, the home of all things Heinz.  As such, I grew up using Heinz ketchup and only Heinz ketchup--I may have even made myself a ketchup sandwich once or twice as a kid.  My dad and brothers put it on everything, from fries and mac 'n cheese to scrambled eggs and chicken, but I draw the line at fries (and they think I'm the weird one).}

{It appears that the love of Heinz is alive and well in the newest generation of my family; the other day at lunch, Sammy decided to just dispense with the fries and go straight to the source and ate the ketchup straight out of the package.  I don't think my brother could have been more proud of his nephew.}

Parting is such sweet sorrow

Ben, Sarah and Henry flew back to Pennsylvania yesterday afternoon and the house is so strangely quiet now that they're gone.  I really miss living within driving distance of my family and their visit definitely drove that fact home, big time.  As I watched Sammy and Henry play together over the past week, I couldn't help but be a bit sad because they're not going to get to grow up together in the manner that I did with my cousins, something that I now realize that I took for granted.  I hope we'll be able to get together again soon--this whole seeing-family-once-every-six-months-or-more thing is starting to get old fast.

Say Uncle

My brother and his family's visit has been beneficial to all of us; Sammy in that he's learned how to interact with someone much smaller than him and me in that I was given a small taste of what it's going to be like to have two kids under foot in the house, but I think this visit has been the most enlightening for Captain Husband.  It's easy for me to forget at times that CH has never really been around kids in this age group, but he was only here for the very beginnings of Sammy's newborn phase and then he came home a year later to a toddler that was walking, sleeping through the night, and feeding himself.

This visit has been eye-opening for CH at the very least--dealing with an eight-month old who can sit on his own but isn't quite crawling yet, that still takes a bottle a few times a day and needs to be fed in a high chair for all of his meals, who is beginning to cut his first tooth and thus waking up crying several times in the night, is a far stretch from having a walking, talking, sleeping-all-night-in-a-big-boy-bed toddler in the house.  But CH has taken to the differences between Henry and Sammy like a duck to water, so I know that he's going to be just fine this second time around.  But then again, a little practice never hurt anyone, right?  Plus it always helps that our nephew thinks his uncle is a pretty funny guy.