I should lie

and say that I DID NOT wake up and watch the Royal Wedding this morning. I should lie and say that I thought the wedding was way over top. I should lie and say I did not get a huge geeky smile on my face as soon as Kate Middleton was shown getting in her Rolls Royce and excitedly watched as they drove towards West Minster Abbey... and held my breath as she got out the car in that beautiful Grace Kelly'esk Alexander McQueen gown. I should lie and say I had no interest at all in the hoopla surrounding a wedding that I have absolutely no attachment to, that was not even in my country, and not even my future king and queen. But, I'm not a good liar. So, yep, I did. I woke up (to feed the baby at 4:30am) and stayed awake the rest of the morning to watch. I did get so excited that I was clutching my hands at one point which I realized once I looked in the mirror and saw that big stupid grin on my face. Embarrassing.

Look at her! She is absolutely stunning!

I just wonder what she must have been thinking all morning. I think one of the most surreal moments for her must have been when she and William stepped out on the Buckingham Palace balcony for the *kiss* and she muttered "Oh wow!" as she saw all of the people. That must have been breathtaking to see those thousands of people there. 

There is something about her that seems so personal and reachable.Is it just me or does she not seem like the kind of person that would be your best friend from the first moment you meet? She's elegant and classy, seemingly the perfect modern day princess. Oh man, as I read this, I'm embarrassed for myself. Bare with me. I've been watching wedding coverage all day long. All day that is until this afternoon when it seemed to be an appropriate time to finally sit and watch the King's Speech. It was a royal day all around. 

One of the big highlights of the wedding day, besides seeing Kate and her dress choice, seeing the decor in the Abbey, and all the attending A-listers, the biggest topic was the hats. My goodness there were some serious hat fashion happenings at this event. It got me thinking. Why don't we have hats here in the States? Someone should really bring those back. I can hear my husband laughing now, but seriously! Here are some that you might see over and over in the news for a while. Some of my favorites, some -er- not. They were all their own pieces of art, I suppose, in their own way.

 Umm yes... this was one of those NOTs. You sit and wonder, "What were you thinking when you looked in the mirror?" Its a flesh colored Minnie Mouse with pigtails- smack dab in the middle of her forehead. 

 This was also another NOT for me. I don't get the big blue capsized boat thing. Maybe its just me.

But, don't you just love the individuality of these hats and fascinators? Some more so than others- yes- but overall, they are simply fantastic. OK, that's my two cents on the Royal Wedding. Now, I must get back to all the royal coverage, I mean the news or whatever else might be on. :) 

Pip Pip Cheerio!

All photos are courtesy of People.com and OKmagazine.com. Sadly, I was not in attendance to take all these photos myself. My invite must have gotten lost in the mail.

Worst Gift Giver

Yep that's me. I may be past the days of my youth when I thought that a Hello Kitty eraser/ruler set was a fantastic present, but I can't say I've gone much farther.

It is an on-running joke with my husband that I truly am the worst gift giver. I'd say I cinched that award the year that I gave him "homemade coupons" for Valentine's day... and never really let him use them. A free hug. Movie night of your choice. One lazy day of your choice to do nothing (yeah, that would be the one that I never completely approved of. In my defense, he really shouldn't have tried to use that coupon on days he knew I needed him to do something...). There was, of course, my ultimate fail gift. The one year anniversary that he didn't even want. Double sigh. I thought he'd love to go to a NFL game seeing as he was an NFL player back in the glory days, so my present was the promise to buy two tickets for us to attend a Redskins game of his choice. Redskins because they were the closest NFL team to us at the time despite the fact that they sucked weren't the best team of the league that season . Well, it also happened unfortunately to be the team that he absolutely hated to watch that season. Triple sigh when he turned the gift down completely but attempted to look grateful by asking me just to put the money towards some much needed bills. Romantic, I know. Of course, the hardest part of this was that we were in Vegas at the time- his anniversary gift to me. DANG IT. I failed. :( Not just failed, I crashed and burned.

It has gotten to the point now where I absolutely dread the idea of planning for gifts. For him at least. Its not that he is ungrateful, its that I feel horrible no matter what it is I give him. He is the BEST at gifts. He just always seems to know what to get or do for me, without even asking. Not me. Just one more reason why he is the better spouse.

My point here? His 26th birthday is on Sunday and I still haven't figured out what to do. Granted, he is not home and still has no mailing address which leaves me with little options at the moment. I have been thinking for a month now on what to do for him. Its a little difficult when there is no where to send a gift, no place to store a gift when it arrives, no ability to deliver the gift in person, no time to use a gift once there. I'm at a loss. What do you buy the man that needs nothing, has no where for it, and has no time to think about it? My head is already about to explode with frustration. I wish I was more creative in this department.

Its not that I don't care. Its the complete opposite actually. I care so much that I can't ever commit to one direction. I think so much that I end up giving up before I can follow through. My husband deserves all things that would bring him happiness. This year is especially challenging because it is the first year we are a one-income-combined-bank-account household. Since we made this move, I have felt the constant guilt that I am not contributing. I have never not contributed to our household. I have always brought my share to the mix, so whatever I spent was mine. Now, I feel completely guilty like I am spending his money on him. Does that make sense? I know it is "ours" and he would always want me to think of it like that, but I don't know how.

Do any of you out there have this issue? Any suggestions? I'm desperate here.
Sincerely, the Worst Gift Giver Ever

Change

When pregnant, you can't even possibly conceive how much your life will change once the baby arrives. If you are like me, you know change is coming, but you naively believe that you will remain relatively the same, just with a little one in tow. You think you will still feel and carry on just the same. I'll be the first to now say, that is completely inaccurate. Everything changes. The world changes. Your world changes. Likes, dislikes, desires, feelings, emotions, dreams... they all change.

I was up late last night thinking about my husband and all he is going through right now. My heart was already heavy since I had been praying practically the entire day for him. And I'm sure that a lack of sleep didn't help my thought processes either. I was flipping mindlessly through channels while I listened to my baby's water sleep machine coming in through the monitor, waiting to hear her stir. As I flipped, I came across a mother holding and rocking her brand new baby, no more than a few weeks old. She had tears coming down her face. So I instinctively stopped flipping to see what this was. As I watched, I listened to her speak about this beautiful sleeping little boy in her arms, who she was about to give up for adoption. Now granted I have no idea the back story here at all. Anyways, pre-baby, I would have probably continued flipping channels, not even pausing here. But, cute baby, tearful mom, I had to watch. Of course, immediately I feel the lump in my throat. I don't have a clue what's going on, but my heart is already breaking for her. I listen as this young mother tells her baby all she dreams for him and how she will miss not taking him to the park when he is older and seeing his firsts. The lump in my throat quickly escalates to a burning in my eyes. Ugh. Why do I do this to myself? I watch as the young mom takes her baby into a nursery themed conference room where the adoptive parents stand waiting in excitement. It shows the young mother hesitantly kissing her baby goodbye and handing him over to the new mother. My tears just start flowing.

I should have turned the channel, or really I should have just turned the TV off since it was by now past midnight, but I couldn't. I watched and yet all I could think about was my sweet precious baby in the other room sleeping. Watching this whole adoption scene play out, it made me think, how thankful I am for the change in my life. I am so blessed by my sweet baby every single day. I truly don't know how that young mother (or any parent giving a child up for adoption) does it. It truly must have been like having her heart stabbed a thousand times to every say goodbye. I can't leave my daughter for more than an hour without feeling like something is missing from me. Shoot. I can't leave her for more than 30 seconds without missing her. As bizarre as I know that sounds, it is so true. I am attached. We are attached. I never want to imagine what my life would be like without her. I absolutely commend those mothers that make that earth-shatteringly difficult decision to give their babies life, even if it is not to be lived with them. That is something that is so selfless and honorable. Never doubt that that is by far the hardest decision anyone would ever have to make to let a child go after carrying it for nine long months. I cry now just thinking about it.

I treasure every minute I have with my Cheyanne. My husband doesn't get those minutes that I have with her. While our separation right now is only temporary (thank the Lord), I sit here and feel guilty that I am the one getting to be with her every day. While he is on the other side of the country going through literally hell right now, I am sitting here listening to her breathe over the monitor. He has missed out on 5 of her 7 months of life. I know that we are "voluntarily" in this situation, we chose this life of military, so I am not complaining. I am just sad. Its hard to understand the complexity of the situation if you aren't in it. I see her every minute of every day. He hasn't seen her in two months. That's not something I try to think about every day. Its too overwhelming most days. We are living life day by day. Each day is one day closer to being together again. To say that we are beyond ready for this time apart to be over is the understatement of the century. Four more months. I don't know if that is harder to think about or harder to type. F.O.U.R. more months. I am so grateful to my husband. For giving me my little Peapod. For sacrificing for his family. For sacrificing for our country. For being the best damn husband I could ever dream of. For sending me flowers when he knew he'd be away just to say he loved and missed me. For being my rock, my love, my hero, my everything. Yeah, change is a good thing.

Someone should have warned me

that baby kisses would be by far the best thing of my day! Slobbery or not, full-on open mouth or just a quick closed mouth peck, all kinds of baby kisses are the sweetest thing I have ever known. This has been a new development and I think I get more excited than even she does when its baby kiss time! Within a few days of her turning 7 months, Little Miss Cuteness caught on to my constant many kiss requests. Now, its all day long, and I'm in love. I say "Cheyanne I need a kiss. Can I have a kiss?" and (if she is not otherwise distracted- that's the key for now) she will head straight for my lips and finish off with a cuddle hug. ::Melt my heart!:: I wish I had video to share, but I'll be working on capturing this cuteness because I know you are just dying to see. So, instead, I'll leave you with one of my favorite photos from our trip to see the Giant's parents.

(And just in case you didn't know, you can always click on pictures on my blog to make them bigger if you need to, FYI.)

Our First Easter

and it was absolutely beautiful! And so was Miss Cheyanne. Beautiful. Heads up, this post is picture heavy! Daddy needs to see his little Easter bunny's every blink today :)

It started off with the excitement of her first Easter basket. The Easter bunny sure was good to her. Not only did she get ONE Easter basket, but she got TWO! Well one was of the baskets was technically a present bag, but it was filled to the top so it counts as a basket.

After church, we came back home for some major photo taking outside. 

With family visiting in town from St. Louis, we had a packed house and an even more packed dining room table! Needless to say, I went around most of the afternoon waddling and muttering something about how ridiculously full I was and how I swore I wouldn't be able to eat again until next week. That, of course, was true, until about 8:30 hit and leftovers started to sound delish. Now I'm moaning again. Why do I do this to myself every time we have big gatherings?! It was all so good! Too good. I think I'll be heading to bed in a food coma tonight.

Baby and I hope you had a very nice Easter. We missed her Daddy very much, but I think I did pretty well at making sure Chey's first Easter was a hit. And it was :)

Happy Easter Daddy!!! We missed you!

Happy Easter!!!

Full range

of emotions today.

(I love this picture so much. Isn't she a beauty?)

(Why so serious?)

All led to this...

Just a few more days of blog silence while we visit with the (Giant) in-laws. With beautiful weather outside, we miiight have pushed baby girl a little too hard today because when she crashed for the night she REALLY crashed. We'll be home Friday, so I'll be continuing the blog silence until then. Probably.

A little Winter love

Cheyanne and her Winter - they sure do love each other

_______________

This face gets me every time

7 months

Is that seriously even possible that you are 7 months old today my sweet Cheyanne? Oh my goodness! And I thought 6 months was heart stopping. Now, you are "over the hill", closer to your first birthday than you are to your birth date. ::head exploding about now!::

Cheyanne, you have been nothing but a joy to your Momma and Daddy's heart. Even though Daddy isn't here with us right now, you pose for him almost daily so we can send him your picture and show him how much you've grown. When we get to talk to him on the phone, you know his voice right away. Your eyes light up and you get really still and quiet as if you are listening to his every word. After a few moments, you will turn up at me and smile that gleaming smile like you just discovered a secret that he is talking to you, and then you continue to listen a little less calmly! You truly are a Daddy's girl, even on opposite coasts.

I weighed you yesterday at home and it said you are now 18.5 pounds. I have no idea how long you are, but I swear you have grown more every morning you wake up- you just look bigger. We have started and finished your first swim class, which you loved. You have began eating solid foods twice a day. You now have had oatmeal, acorn squash, sweet potato, avocado, bananas, and as of last night green peas. You gobble them all up on the first taste, then tend to resist more after that unless I wait a while and RE-introduce them, then you love them all over again. Tricky girl. And you will not touch any of it unless it is warm. I don't blame you though because who would eat cold squash? Yuck. Momma made all of your food from fresh scratch, except peas. I gave in on peas and gave you jar food. You didn't seem to mind one bit. You ate it up and grabbed for more. Yum yum for the green stuff. Carrots are next.

You love a good breeze outside on a sunny day. Makes you laugh every time the wind blows across your face. You are such a happy baby. It seems these days the only times you really cry are when you are tired, hungry, or meeting strangers. Yeah, those strangers get you most every time, not a fan of new people right away. You like to sit back (in your Momma's arms of course) and observe people for a while before allowing anyone to get too close and feeling comfortable. That's just fine with me because I secretly love that all you want is me. But... we will start working on that whole socialization thing... next month. You are not shy in the talking-to-Momma department. Talk talk talk 'til morning and night. And you have started to talk to new people more too. Squeal, scream, babble... you do it all.

You stay sitting up all by yourself really well, although you love to throw yourself backwards for laughs. Thus your overprotective mother keeps you padded pretty much every sitting moment. Everything goes right in your mouth- toys, food, fingers, paper, you name it. It all ends up in the same place. And with those two sharp teefers that you have now, thank goodness you've found other things to chew on because the back of your knuckles were starting to look like a war zone from all the chomping. One of my favorite things is that you touch my face while you nurse. You love to "beat" my chest and touch my face the whole time. Its just so precious it melts my heart. You also love for me to kiss the palm of your hand while you are falling to sleep. You have made me quite the multitasker- I sing Hush Little Baby, pat your butt, bounce you gently, and kiss your hand all at the same time to put you to sleep. And you sure do hold on as long as you can before you fall asleep. Although sleeping has become a little more routine. Naps are a breeze. You take a solid two naps, one around 10:30am and one around 2:30pm, and they usually last from 1-1.5 hours. Even bedtime has gotten much easier. By 7:30, you are definitely read for bed. If you could walk up to bed yourself and lay down, you usually would. However, staying asleep is a whole other issue. You sleep well until somewhere around 1am then its up every 2-3 hours to nurse a little and go back to sleep until we wake up for good at 7am. I've decided it is just to hard to let you cry in the middle of the night right now, so I'm waiting until we move when Daddy's home to work on that part of sleeping through the night. I don't think so clearly at 3 in the morning to let you put yourself back to sleep. I take the easy route. Once Daddy's home, that's all going to change baby girl.

That's a good sum of what all you've done by your 7 month birthday. We have been celebrating your day by playing with Heather, Winter, and Evan that all came in town to see you.

 Happy 7 months my sweet Peapod. 

Bye bye swim lessons

I hate that our her swim classes are over. They were so much fun. It gave me something to look forward to every Tuesday and Thursday. And it certainly got her excited when we started getting her bathing suit on and heading toward the car. She always knew what was coming!

We had a little bit of extra fun at our final class since we got to explore the mini indoor water park during class. Shooting water and a slide?! Who wouldn't love it? Despite the lack of photo smiles, she really did!

She even got a "diploma" after her final class... which she of course tried to eat right away.

Congrats baby girl on your graduation. Bye bye swim lessons. Pool time on our own, here we come.