MilSpouse Friday Fill-In #32

In an effort to learn more about fellow MilSpouse bloggers, Wifey from Wife of a Sailor started this weekly meme;  here are this week's questions.

1. Do you or your {spouse} ever wish your {spouse} was in a different branch of the military? submitted by The Turner Family

I'm pretty limited in my knowledge of the other branches, so I don't really have any strong feelings one way or the other (I'm sure each branch has pretty similar lists of pros and cons).  However, I do know that when Captain Husband was just a wee lad he wanted to be a fighter pilot.  Unfortunately his less than stellar eyesight kind of put the kibosh on those plans, so into the Army he went.

2. What duty station(s) are on your “No Way, Hell No, Not Going, Have Fun Unaccompanied” list and why? submitted by Every Branch

My list is currently comprised of Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas.  Now to be honest, I've never been to any of these locations, but Captain Husband has been stationed at all of them at one point or another.  Based on what he's told me, Texas is a big no-go for me primarily because I wouldn't be able to handle the heat, the lack of green foliage and having to check my shoes for scorpions on a regular basis.  Oklahoma and Kansas are on the list because I need to have a major city within an hour's drive to escape to when things start to feel a little claustrophobic around the house...and the locations we would likely be stationed at do not meet that requirement.

3. If you could be one age forever, what age would you choose and why? submitted by Three Krakens

I suppose if I had to be one age forever, I'd probably go with my current age (31).  I'm at a point now where I'm pretty comfortable in my own skin and truly like the person I've become; while many of the experiences I had in my late teens and twenties made me the person I am today, I am in no way chomping at the bit to relive them if you know what I mean.

4. If you were a breakfast cereal, which one would you be? submitted by the C.W. 

Honey Nut Cheerios.  Sweet and just a little nutty.

5. What is your morning beverage of choice and why? submitted by NH Girl Displaced

It used to be a medium iced caramel latte with sugar and whipped cream courtesy of my local Dunkin' Donuts.  However,  I haven't had one in months.  Yes, you read that correctly: I have kicked my DD addiction to the curb.  So now my current morning beverage is water (ooo, exciting!) or some sort of juice.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Foto Friday: Shapes

This week's suggested theme over at the Household 6 Diva is "shapes."  It was an incredibly slow week around these parts.  I didn't have anything fun or exciting on the calendar, so Sammy and I spent most of our time just hanging out at the house, which generally translates to me being rather lazy in the photo-taking department.  I was running low on ideas for this week's theme when I had a flash of inspiration while watching Sammy play with his infamous bead maze:

  Be sure to click below to check out the rest of this week's photos:

What's cookin'?

Every now and then, you come across something that is such a great deal that you can't in good conscience pass it up.  This is what happened to me a few weeks ago.  I was browsing Craigslist for kid stuff when I came across an ad for a vintage wood play kitchen comprised of a sink and a stove; the photos weren't the best, but overall the set appeared to be in good condition so I made an appointment with the seller to examine the kitchen in person.  And boy, was I glad that I did; I was very pleasantly surprised to find out that the kitchen was about a million times better than the photos suggested (I may be exaggerating slightly) and was exactly what I was looking for; sturdy, well-designed and, most importantly, not a single piece of garishly-colored plastic in sight.  Needless to say, I bought it on the spot and gleefully loaded it into the car.

The kitchen is now prominently set up in my living room and pulls double duty by providing neat and tidy storage for Sammy's toys.  And while Sammy's a little too young to be playing with it at the moment, it was a huge hit with his two-year-old friend, Caleigh, who had a blast playing with it at the play date I hosted on Monday.  (She was having so much fun playing that she actually threw a tantrum when her mom told her it was time to leave--as far as I'm concerned, that's the sign of a successful play date.)

Some vintage movement

I really enjoy linking up with the photo challenges that other blogs come up with and I love it when I'm able to take a photograph that successfully captures multiple challenges in one shot.  So this week I'm linking up with The Paper Mama, who's theme is movement, and a new-to-me-photo challenge hosted by the lovely blog, This Life is Sweet, who's theme is vintage.  I present to you Sammy rocking on his vintage 1950s rocking horse:

Be sure to check out all of the other lovely entries by clicking below:

High and dry

Early in February I blogged about my trip to Abby's Lane, where I had hoped to find something, anything, to keep Sammy dry through the night.  And now I can happily say that I've found my cloth-diapering solution!  Here's how it breaks down: I start with a large Gen-Y cover and insert a Joey Bunz hemp insert.  I then fold a Boori bamboo prefold and place it on top of the hemp insert.  Last but not least, I top the whole thing off with a GroVia BioLiner.  What exactly is a BioLiner?  Well, they say a picture is worth a thousand words, so let me show you by using my incredibly awesome Mr. Poop bank (what, you don't have one?):

In other words, it keeps solids contained for easy clean-up; all you have to do is just remove the liner (and whatever horrible stuff that happens to be attached to it) and flush it down the toilet.  And believe me, anything that makes dealing with Sammy's awful diapers (oh, the joys of introducing solid foods) is a major win in my book.  Here's Sammy modeling the whole kit and caboodle:

The only downside to using this cloth-diapering combination is that it gives Sammy some major junk in his trunk.  I've actually had trouble getting him into his footie pajamas at night because of how big his bum is, so I've started putting him in two-piece pjs and that seems to be working out pretty well.  There have been a few instances of leaking, especially at the beginning when the hemp inserts were still getting primed, but generally speaking this system keeps Sammy dry and comfortable for an average of twelve hours a night.  Be sure to give this combo a try if you're looking for a nighttime cloth-diapering solution.

Weekend recap

My mom and my brother, John, came down for a visit and to give me a bit of a much-needed break over the weekend.  On the agenda was hanging out, watching movies (The Other Guys was surprisingly humorous), taking care of some child-proofing, and installing Sammy's new car seats.  I can gladly say that we managed to accomplish everything on the list and then some.   I've only undertaken the bare minimum in childproofing, such as covering the outlets, placing gates at the tops of the stairs, installing locks on all of the lower kitchen cabinets and padding the edges of the coffee table, but I now understand why some individuals are willing to pay exorbitant amounts to have other people go into their homes and take care of all of the necessary childproofing, because installing this stuff was a giant pain in the butt (of course, if I had taken the time to drill pilot holes for all of the cabinet locks things would have gone a lot more smoothly, but that's hindsight for you).  Here's Sammy playing next to the  coffee table in all of its ugly-yet-kid-friendly-padded glory:

The best thing about this set-up is that the padding is completely removable; this was a big selling point for me because I didn't want to take any chances in damaging the original finish of the coffee table (I know, I know--antiques and babies are probably not the best combination, but I'm crazy like that).  I'm curious to see how it holds up at the next play date that I host.

My mom spearheaded the installation of the two new car seats that I had ordered last week for the car and the truck; Sammy has all but outgrown his infant carrier so it was time to put him in a "big boy" car seat.  I have a feeling that Sammy is going to enjoy the extra room that his new car seats will afford the next time we go for a ride.  All in all a pretty productive weekend!

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Today is last day to vote for our entry in the Love Letters to Kitty Paw contest; Sandy Cat sure would appreciate it if you could click below and give us a vote--our entry is listed at #9.  Thanks so much!

MilSpouse Friday Fill-in #31

In an effort to learn more about fellow MilSpouse bloggers, Wifey from Wife of a Sailor started this weekly meme;  here are this week's questions.

1. Aside from no deployments, what is one thing you would want to make the MilSpouse life "perfect"? submitted by Oh How Delightful

I touched on this last week; I would love it if there were longer tours of duty at permanent duty stations.  I want Sammy to have a stable childhood and make long-lasting friendships, which is going to be difficult if we're moving every three years or so. 

2. Just how many peppers did Peter Piper pick? submitted by Married into Army

He picked a peck and since a peck is a measure of volume and not an actual count, the answer is "it depends."  Wow, this was a spectacularly boring answer.  Sorry!

3. If you could have any career in the world with nothing holding you back, what would you do? submitted by It's My Party and I'll Cry if I Want To

I'd love to be a prop manager/set designer for period films/television shows.  I would give my left arm to work on something like Boardwalk Empire and Mad Men.  (One of my favorite things to do, which is probably super annoying to everyone else, is to watch period films and point out all of the inaccuracies in the set design and costuming--I'm such a nerd.)

4. Do you have a service oriented tattoo and if so what is it. If you don't what would you get? submitted by The Squid's Accomplice

I don't currently have a service-oriented tattoo, but if I were to get one, it would probably something Sailor Jerry in style, or a Gil Elvgren-type patriotic pin-up girl.  I like to keep it old school.

5. Imagine a block of time has opened up in your busy day for you to take a class in anything you like. What subject would you choose?  submitted by To The Nth

Digital photo editing.  I pretty much taught myself the basics of Photoshop but I would love to learn how to use all of its tools to their full potential.

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Speaking of Photoshop, my entry in the Love Letters to Kitty Paw contest made the top ten!  Sandy Cat sure would appreciate it if you could click below and give us a vote--our entry is listed at #9.  Thanks and have a great weekend everyone!