It seems that Jeremy's and my favorite way of spending our evenings together is with him playing a video game or watching his show of the week, and me on the computer, usually doing homework...but facebook, pinterest, and blog-reading as well. Sometimes, I get bored and join him in a co-op game or whatever.
I sometimes get criticized by whoever, with them saying something along the lines of "you don't spend any time together, you don't ever go out" or "get off the computer and hang out with your husband" or "he should get off the game and hang out with you," but honestly? We are sitting right beside each other, occasionally one of us might point something out, we laugh together, etc. I have no problem what-so-ever with his video games...even if he sits there all day long--and believe me, he has--it just doesn't bother me. After all, I play World of Warcraft ;)
Every once in a blue moon we get that thing called a date night...and we usually end up wandering around wasting gas because we don't even know what people our age do anymore these days lol. I cook better than 99% of restaurants (not to toot my own horn or anything lol but that's just how I feel...I'd rather eat what I know for a fact I like than risk a hit and miss at a restaurant...that and its just never ever worth the money, especially since it's usually a miss). Not that it isn't nice to get a night off from parenting, but I just enjoy being at home. Call me a homebody ;)
I look forward to this part of the day more than any other time, and it's because we ARE spending time together. It may not be random-acquaintance-that-shouldn't-be-commenting-anyway's idea of fun...but I think it's perfect <3
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Did I just get a preview of the teenaged years?
They say you get paid back threefold for what you did to your parents. If this is the case, I am in for a world of trouble for the next 16-18 years or so. Jeremy and I....we just weren't the easiest to raise! ;-)
This morning, as we were doing the usual rush around and trying to get out the door on time, I had Aiden go get his shoes and socks on. He comes back with his sandals. Now, it's like 45* out and has been raining steadily since around 8 p.m. last night. Even I'm not crazy enough to sport my flip flops. Naturally, I say, "those won't do, get your regular shoes and socks por favor."
The next part of the conversation went as follows:
Aiden - *loud sigh* I don't like mommies.
Me - Why is that? We take care of you, feed you, drive you places, make sure you have clean clothes...
Aiden - I can take care of myself! I know how!
......Ummm, when did my 4 year old turn 14? Happily, he wasn't actually getting upset like a real teenager would, and put on the right shoes without a fight, but the situation just surprised me. In 10 years or so, those same words will sound bitter and he probably really will feel that he could take care of himself. I know I did at that age. Could not WAIT to get out, and now I wish I could go be 14 again.
Nothing has made me appreciate my own parents more than becoming a parent myself.
This morning, as we were doing the usual rush around and trying to get out the door on time, I had Aiden go get his shoes and socks on. He comes back with his sandals. Now, it's like 45* out and has been raining steadily since around 8 p.m. last night. Even I'm not crazy enough to sport my flip flops. Naturally, I say, "those won't do, get your regular shoes and socks por favor."
The next part of the conversation went as follows:
Aiden - *loud sigh* I don't like mommies.
Me - Why is that? We take care of you, feed you, drive you places, make sure you have clean clothes...
Aiden - I can take care of myself! I know how!
......Ummm, when did my 4 year old turn 14? Happily, he wasn't actually getting upset like a real teenager would, and put on the right shoes without a fight, but the situation just surprised me. In 10 years or so, those same words will sound bitter and he probably really will feel that he could take care of himself. I know I did at that age. Could not WAIT to get out, and now I wish I could go be 14 again.
Nothing has made me appreciate my own parents more than becoming a parent myself.
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Sunday was one of those amazing days I never want to end. We spent nearly the entire day out-of-doors, and it was lovely (besides the not so brief grocery shopping I had to do). We finally got a new grill, and grill we did. Steaks, hotdogs, grilled veggies...mmmmm.
One of our requirements for our new house was that it had a fenced in yard. I am SO glad we made it a requirement. You have no idea (or maybe you do) what it's like to live in apartments for 6 years, 4 of which you've had an active kid or two and no real place to let them run wild without taking off to the park or something. Not that parks aren't fun, but when you have to make a ton of effort to get there and then there is four thousand other people, and you have to dodge 50 kids to keep up with your own, it kind of takes the fun out of it...at least as the parent.
Now, we can let the kids (even Rylie) run around without worrying about cars zooming by, or them running into the street, or dodging other wild kids. It is AMAZING! We also have two trees in the backyard, which makes me beyond happy. Sometime I am so homesick for the east coast, with it's trees and water and lack of wind. The trees here make me happy. Aiden likes it too!
It takes everything in me to not freak out when he's up there. Every move he makes is like a mini-heart attack for me. I have to remind myself that I climbed trees at a younger age than him and survived. I still hover a bit though ;) can't help it.
Then Monday rolled around, and it was back to the early morning rush: school for me and Aiden, work for Jer, and the disgusting amount of homework. The best news? It's now officially Spring, and Summer is right around the corner!
One of our requirements for our new house was that it had a fenced in yard. I am SO glad we made it a requirement. You have no idea (or maybe you do) what it's like to live in apartments for 6 years, 4 of which you've had an active kid or two and no real place to let them run wild without taking off to the park or something. Not that parks aren't fun, but when you have to make a ton of effort to get there and then there is four thousand other people, and you have to dodge 50 kids to keep up with your own, it kind of takes the fun out of it...at least as the parent.
Now, we can let the kids (even Rylie) run around without worrying about cars zooming by, or them running into the street, or dodging other wild kids. It is AMAZING! We also have two trees in the backyard, which makes me beyond happy. Sometime I am so homesick for the east coast, with it's trees and water and lack of wind. The trees here make me happy. Aiden likes it too!
Then Monday rolled around, and it was back to the early morning rush: school for me and Aiden, work for Jer, and the disgusting amount of homework. The best news? It's now officially Spring, and Summer is right around the corner!
Saturday, March 17, 2012
Beautiful Day!
Happy St. Patrick's day! No, sadly, I won't be consuming green beer, but we DID have some green pancakes!
Complete with a green plate ;)
My little helpers!
After I cleaned the house, I headed out with my friend Rachel to Stay True Tattoo. I promptly shoved all my personal sketches and printouts of what I want for my latest tattoo at the first person who talked to us. I have an appointment set up for a couple weeks from now! I'm super pumped about it, I've been wanting another tattoo for ages and it's taken me awhile to fine tune exactly what I wanted.
After tattoo talk, we headed out to just about every consignment shop Amarillo has to offer. For less than $50 my kids pretty much have brand new wardrobes. I love consignment/thrift store shopping! Aiden has been growing like a weed lately, seriously. I have had to buy him SO many new pairs of pants this year. It's like every 2-3 months he grows another couple inches. He's so thin he could still fit into 3T sized pants, but they end at his knees. He's now in a 5/6 for length. Sheesh kid. Anyway, I got tired of heading to Old Navy or Children's Place every few months and dropping more cash than I wish to part with on stuff he grows out of so fast. He now has 6 new pairs of pants (some for play, some for school)!
I have happily talked to four people today that are real friends. Rachel I saw in person! I may only see them here and there, but when we hang out it's like we never parted. We are drama free with each other. I can ask them for advice, without them losing their minds if I don't take it. I miss my Blenders the most. She also became an army wife and lives far, far away from our hometown of Canyon. I've only seen her maybe 4-5 times since we graduated high school like 7 years ago (holy crap...7 years ago...), but it's never awkward or anything when we hang out. It's like we just saw each other yesterday. None of my friends judge me for anything. It's truly amazing after the craziness that I've been through in the last 2-3 years at Campbell.
I spent the last couple hours working in the front garden. It was already set up, but it was in pretty bad shape. There is a ton of rose bushes, which is cool because they're pretty resilient and I'm not sure how much of a green thumb I have. There was also a ton of dead leaves, some "rocks" that were actually crumbling cement I guess? I'm not sure but it was definitely crumbing and making a mess. Oh, and an overload of garden decor (like gnomes, mushroom houses, several rabbits, etc)....I got rid of most of that. I left the gnome and the mushroom house ;) Anyway, raked and pulled weeds and got dirt in my eyes, and it was great. I really enjoyed being out in the sun and the warmth and the fresh air. At one point, Aiden, my little helper, was taking off with all the rocks that surrounds the rose bushes (each bush has a bunch of rocks around it lol) and I told him to stop because I'm not sure what order they go in...then it dawned on me: It doesn't matter! It's my house and my garden so they can go in whatever order I put them in! Or I can toss the lot of them, which I'm still considering. Either way, it doesn't matter what the previous owner thought anymore. It's mine!
I hope you had a beautiful day, and hopefully got to enjoy some of this amazing weather!
After I cleaned the house, I headed out with my friend Rachel to Stay True Tattoo. I promptly shoved all my personal sketches and printouts of what I want for my latest tattoo at the first person who talked to us. I have an appointment set up for a couple weeks from now! I'm super pumped about it, I've been wanting another tattoo for ages and it's taken me awhile to fine tune exactly what I wanted.
After tattoo talk, we headed out to just about every consignment shop Amarillo has to offer. For less than $50 my kids pretty much have brand new wardrobes. I love consignment/thrift store shopping! Aiden has been growing like a weed lately, seriously. I have had to buy him SO many new pairs of pants this year. It's like every 2-3 months he grows another couple inches. He's so thin he could still fit into 3T sized pants, but they end at his knees. He's now in a 5/6 for length. Sheesh kid. Anyway, I got tired of heading to Old Navy or Children's Place every few months and dropping more cash than I wish to part with on stuff he grows out of so fast. He now has 6 new pairs of pants (some for play, some for school)!
I have happily talked to four people today that are real friends. Rachel I saw in person! I may only see them here and there, but when we hang out it's like we never parted. We are drama free with each other. I can ask them for advice, without them losing their minds if I don't take it. I miss my Blenders the most. She also became an army wife and lives far, far away from our hometown of Canyon. I've only seen her maybe 4-5 times since we graduated high school like 7 years ago (holy crap...7 years ago...), but it's never awkward or anything when we hang out. It's like we just saw each other yesterday. None of my friends judge me for anything. It's truly amazing after the craziness that I've been through in the last 2-3 years at Campbell.
I spent the last couple hours working in the front garden. It was already set up, but it was in pretty bad shape. There is a ton of rose bushes, which is cool because they're pretty resilient and I'm not sure how much of a green thumb I have. There was also a ton of dead leaves, some "rocks" that were actually crumbling cement I guess? I'm not sure but it was definitely crumbing and making a mess. Oh, and an overload of garden decor (like gnomes, mushroom houses, several rabbits, etc)....I got rid of most of that. I left the gnome and the mushroom house ;) Anyway, raked and pulled weeds and got dirt in my eyes, and it was great. I really enjoyed being out in the sun and the warmth and the fresh air. At one point, Aiden, my little helper, was taking off with all the rocks that surrounds the rose bushes (each bush has a bunch of rocks around it lol) and I told him to stop because I'm not sure what order they go in...then it dawned on me: It doesn't matter! It's my house and my garden so they can go in whatever order I put them in! Or I can toss the lot of them, which I'm still considering. Either way, it doesn't matter what the previous owner thought anymore. It's mine!
I hope you had a beautiful day, and hopefully got to enjoy some of this amazing weather!
Friday, March 16, 2012
Criss Family Traditions
I thought I'd end today by sharing a weekly tradition we started when we moved into our new house.
Friday night is officially "Movie Night" in this house. Rylie goes to bed at 7 p.m., but in the future she will be included in on it as well. For the time being, Aiden gets to pick a movie off of netflix or redbox (depending on if we go near a redbox that day lol), we all pile on the couch with goodies such as popcorn, icecream, tootsie rolls, chocolate milk, and other fine cuisines. We munch and we watch whatever Aiden has picked out. It's a fine tradition. One I look forward to including Rylie in on when she gets a little older.
I look forward to times like this; I don't always appreciate every second I have with my kids right now. There are days where I want to rip my hair out by the roots and run out the door, hop in my car, and never come back (kidding...kinda). I love them more than anything in the world, but they can definitely drive me crazy, and I definitely don't get a lot of 'me' time like some moms do. Our movie night tradition is a reminder of the fact that in just a few more years, these kids won't be spending Friday night at home. They'll be out with their friends, and if they go see a movie, the last person in the world they'll want to see it with is their mom or dad. They'll be up to other youthful mischief (that is hopefully safe and legal), while we'll still be at home, missing the days when our babies wanted to cuddle up and watch a movie with us.
I want to make every moment count. So I invent traditions.
P.S. Sunday is "TV free day" :)
Friday night is officially "Movie Night" in this house. Rylie goes to bed at 7 p.m., but in the future she will be included in on it as well. For the time being, Aiden gets to pick a movie off of netflix or redbox (depending on if we go near a redbox that day lol), we all pile on the couch with goodies such as popcorn, icecream, tootsie rolls, chocolate milk, and other fine cuisines. We munch and we watch whatever Aiden has picked out. It's a fine tradition. One I look forward to including Rylie in on when she gets a little older.
I look forward to times like this; I don't always appreciate every second I have with my kids right now. There are days where I want to rip my hair out by the roots and run out the door, hop in my car, and never come back (kidding...kinda). I love them more than anything in the world, but they can definitely drive me crazy, and I definitely don't get a lot of 'me' time like some moms do. Our movie night tradition is a reminder of the fact that in just a few more years, these kids won't be spending Friday night at home. They'll be out with their friends, and if they go see a movie, the last person in the world they'll want to see it with is their mom or dad. They'll be up to other youthful mischief (that is hopefully safe and legal), while we'll still be at home, missing the days when our babies wanted to cuddle up and watch a movie with us.
I want to make every moment count. So I invent traditions.
P.S. Sunday is "TV free day" :)
Lifestyle Change Pt. One
Lately, it's come to my attention that my life is in dire need of change. It started with a series of friends, all of which I've since been forced to remove off my 'friends list' (both literally--facebook--and metaphorically). It took me awhile to realize they all had one thing in common; they were army wives. Guess what? My husband is no longer in the army, and therefore, I really don't fall into that category anymore.
For those of you reading who have never been an army wife, I just have one thing to say; It's not like the TV show. Nothing like the TV show. It's not all flowers and peace signs and female bonding time. It's usually claws and trash talking and nasty gossip. My advice? Be very, very picky when it comes to friends if you become a military spouse. The online forums most of us turn to in the beginning and during deployments are also fake. It's easy to be nice and supportive when you're talking online, especially when your spouse is stateside.
That being said, if I met you at Ft. Campbell, whether I saw you with your claws out or not, you're gone. Your husband being gone, you being pregnant, etc, isn't an excuse to treat people in your life like shit. I was pregnant, twice, while my husband was gone, and I don't recall treating any other spouse like shit. I don't recall treating anyone there like shit regardless of whether or not I was pregnant or my husband was deployed or in the field.
And on top of that, don't you for a SECOND think that your husband being gone is any harder on you than it is on everyone else. Regardless of whether or not you and your spouse fight every day or never fight at all (or somewhere in the middle), for MOST people, their spouse is their best friend.
My husband is my best friend, and it absolutely killed me when he left. It killed me when he joined the army and was gone from us for 8 months; it killed me when he left for 10 days for training, especially the second time because I was in the process of miscarrying our second baby; it killed me when he left for JRTC for a month, especially because I knew he was about to leave for deployment; and it killed me when he deployed for a year. ESPECIALLY the deployment. I cried all day for days, I cried every night for months, I cried several times after my daughter was born because he wasn't there, and I'm tearing up right now thinking about it all. It. was. painful. And I never, ever thought it was harder for me than it was for anyone else. In fact, it was quite the opposite. I thought it'd be easier for us than a lot of the other spouses who didn't seem as secure in their relationships as we are in ours. I knew we would survive marriage wise (and survive we did!). Added to that, there was about 5 or 6 other pregnant spouses during our deployment. Obviously, we weren't the first set of women to ever go through a deployment pregnant. I imagine it's happened countless times. I didn't set some record. I didn't feel like I deserved a medal, or a cookie (well...maybe the cookie ;)).
It is unfortunate that so many military wives think they deserve to treat people however they want to.
I totally didn't mean to start this post off with a rant about military wives, but that's how it ended up. I have run out of time for now, so I'll post the rest of it later.
If you're reading this, I love you.
Even if I don't like you anymore.
(FYI: Not every spouse was terrible. I think I just met the wrong set. One person from Campbell is still my friend, and this isn't directed at her. There are a few that I know for a fact aren't like this. But the few that I ended up close with almost all turned out to be like this--or worse, they cheated on their spouse while he was deployed and that's just not something I want in a friend. Most of this was honestly brought on by my reaction to one person).
For those of you reading who have never been an army wife, I just have one thing to say; It's not like the TV show. Nothing like the TV show. It's not all flowers and peace signs and female bonding time. It's usually claws and trash talking and nasty gossip. My advice? Be very, very picky when it comes to friends if you become a military spouse. The online forums most of us turn to in the beginning and during deployments are also fake. It's easy to be nice and supportive when you're talking online, especially when your spouse is stateside.
That being said, if I met you at Ft. Campbell, whether I saw you with your claws out or not, you're gone. Your husband being gone, you being pregnant, etc, isn't an excuse to treat people in your life like shit. I was pregnant, twice, while my husband was gone, and I don't recall treating any other spouse like shit. I don't recall treating anyone there like shit regardless of whether or not I was pregnant or my husband was deployed or in the field.
And on top of that, don't you for a SECOND think that your husband being gone is any harder on you than it is on everyone else. Regardless of whether or not you and your spouse fight every day or never fight at all (or somewhere in the middle), for MOST people, their spouse is their best friend.
My husband is my best friend, and it absolutely killed me when he left. It killed me when he joined the army and was gone from us for 8 months; it killed me when he left for 10 days for training, especially the second time because I was in the process of miscarrying our second baby; it killed me when he left for JRTC for a month, especially because I knew he was about to leave for deployment; and it killed me when he deployed for a year. ESPECIALLY the deployment. I cried all day for days, I cried every night for months, I cried several times after my daughter was born because he wasn't there, and I'm tearing up right now thinking about it all. It. was. painful. And I never, ever thought it was harder for me than it was for anyone else. In fact, it was quite the opposite. I thought it'd be easier for us than a lot of the other spouses who didn't seem as secure in their relationships as we are in ours. I knew we would survive marriage wise (and survive we did!). Added to that, there was about 5 or 6 other pregnant spouses during our deployment. Obviously, we weren't the first set of women to ever go through a deployment pregnant. I imagine it's happened countless times. I didn't set some record. I didn't feel like I deserved a medal, or a cookie (well...maybe the cookie ;)).
It is unfortunate that so many military wives think they deserve to treat people however they want to.
I totally didn't mean to start this post off with a rant about military wives, but that's how it ended up. I have run out of time for now, so I'll post the rest of it later.
If you're reading this, I love you.
Even if I don't like you anymore.
(FYI: Not every spouse was terrible. I think I just met the wrong set. One person from Campbell is still my friend, and this isn't directed at her. There are a few that I know for a fact aren't like this. But the few that I ended up close with almost all turned out to be like this--or worse, they cheated on their spouse while he was deployed and that's just not something I want in a friend. Most of this was honestly brought on by my reaction to one person).
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