I'm still adjusting!

It has been far too long since I posted a blog. I am obviously still adjusting to the whole mommy of 2 thing. The FRG thing is actually keeping me pretty busy too. I'm really enjoying it though. I think it's filling that void that's been in me ever since I got out of the Navy.

We're doing pretty well around here for the most part. Lana is already one month old! UN-BE-LIEV-ABLE! She's already starting to occasionally sleep through the night. She had a check-up at 3 weeks and was 9lbs 8oz. Easy to remember because that's how much Ethan weighed when he was born. She had also grown half an inch. She is now starting to outgrow her newborn sized clothes. I really wish they wouldn't grow so fast!

Ethan is great. His little sister is really growing on him. He loves helping me out by getting diapers and burp cloths when I need them. He gets concerned when she cries and is finally over his fascination with the whole breast-feeding thing. He had a great Halloween. He dressed up as Optimus Prime (the animated one) and went trick or treating with his friend Trey, who dressed up as Bumblebee. We had our first parent/teacher conference today and Ethan is doing great in school. He is having trouble identifying red, green and purple, so I'm wondering if he may be color blind. My dad is, and it is a male dominant hereditary trait, so I guess we'll have to keep an eye on that.

Rick is on leave, so we're heading to Tampa tomorrow. We're all very excited! Naturally, since we're about to go on vacation, I feel a cold coming on. AWESOME! Not really. I always get excited to go to Tampa, but this time is probably the most exciting time EVER (other than our wedding of course) because we're going to the PACKER GAME! Ok, so most people are probably referring to it as the Bucs game, but you know what I mean. BATTLE OF THE BAYS! WOOT!

Well, it's 6:20 pm, we leave tomorrow, and I haven't even started packing yet, so I better get on it. I really need to stop procrastinating. I'll start working on that next week. ♥

FRG Fundraising Ideas

As you may know, the hubs is deploying soon. I will be taking over as Vice President of the Family Readiness Group (FRG) and we're trying to come up with some fund-raising ideas. I've compiled a list via google, but thought I'd make a blog post in case anyone else has any unique ideas to add. Here's what I have so far:

• Bake Sale. Okay, so it’s not exactly reinventing the wheel, but there’s a reason this is one of the most popular fundraisers. It’s easy to organize, allows less-involved spouses to participate and you can even get the kids involved. If baking is not an option, purchase wholesale candy and sell it. Set up your sale at your instillation or around town. Don’t forget to obtain approval from the venue first. Many retail locations are eager to show support for the military and will allow a foldout table or two. Do this around pay day, and don’t price the items. An officer might give you $5 for a brownie!

• Car Wash/Dog Wash. Pretty self explanatory. I like the dog wash idea!

• A Luncheon for Active Duty Personnel. This is another easy-to-participate in activity. Have each member contribute a main dish, side, dessert, snack or drink. Hold the lunches monthly and pick a different theme for each one. Or keep it simple and go potluck. Charge around $5 a plate; it’s less than what many spend on a fast food lunch anyway. Many commanders will enthusiastically allow spouses and kids to come by for scheduled spouse lunches, making it a wonderful way to raise money and spend time with your husband.

• Group T-Shirts, Magnets, Car Stickers, etc. Create items with the group logo on them and sell them to the group members. It gives your group an identity and earns the group money in the process.

• Gas and Glass. Do this at the base gas station, it's for donations, you basically go to the dollar tree and get a bunch of paper towels and window cleaner and wash peoples windshields and pump their gas.

• A Club Bracelet (or Necklace or Charm). Aircrafts, vehicles, symbols–you name it, you can put it on a charm or necklace. Selling a specialized piece of jewelry within your club is an awesome way for spouses to unite and raise funds. Silicone bracelets are another option. Lance Armstrong started this trend with LIVESTRONG and many charities have followed suit. They’re inexpensive and available for order in bulk. Check out ReminderBand.com or Wristbands-4-Less.com for price information.

• An Auction/Raffle.

• Yardsale. All of the members of the group compile things they no longer want and hold a yard sale. Find someone who lives in a good location and just make sure to advertise on Craigslist and with signs and put out a donation bucket. You can also sell baked goods and sodas.

• Krispy Kreme. http://www.krispykreme.com/fund.html

• From Yahoo Answers: Our FRG sold t-shirts with the unit logo on it we also had an auction where the highest bidder got to smash a pie in the CO's face but that was when our guys were home. You can also hold a raffle for the first kiss upon the ship’s return. You can sell tickets all year long during FRG meetings or events. At the end of the deployment, one name is drawn out of the box, and that spouse gets the honor of having her sailor disembark from the ship first and deliver the first reunion kiss.

• Cook Book. Compile favorite recipes from group members, and create and sell cook books.

• Food Sales. Lumpia sales. Get everyone together to makes tons and tons of lumpia (trust me, someone knows how, and the ones who don't will bring the food processors to chop up the ingredients). Have somone out there frying them up for sale on the spot (3 for $5, including sauce), and also have them bagged up and frozen for purchase by the dozen.

If you really can't find someone who knows how to make lumpia, do it with little cinnamon rolls or some other sort of bread-y thing that you can put in freezer bags by the dozen.

We've also done Breakfast Burrito sales but you have to be really careful about them because of food allergies and the possibility of contamination/food poisoning.


So, that's what I found. I hope other FRG leaders will find this list and find it helpful. I did design shirts for our FRG, as well as for the parents and children of the crew.

USNchic's Armed Forces Fashions

One Week Old!

I can't believe our little girl is one week old already! She is more perfect than I could have imagined. I am so smitten by her. She is such a good baby, just like her brother was. She has quite a hearty appetite. All she wants to do when she's awake is eat, eat, eat! She had her one week check up yesterday and is up to 8 pounds 4 oz (she was 7 pounds 14 oz at birth). She's in the 75% for weight, height and head circumference. I wouldn't expect anything less. We breed them big! :)

Ethan is finally starting to warm up to her. He was pretty uninterested at first, but he's been asking to hold her and likes to try to hold her hand.

He even wanted to read her a bed time story the other night.

Welcome to the World Lana!

Lana is here! She was born on October 3rd at 3:33 am and was 7 pounds 14 ounces and 21 inches long. Here is her birth story.

On Friday, October 2nd I decided to take Zoe for a walk shortly before 7:00pm. The doctor had been encouraging me to walk in hopes of helping my cervix dilate and putting me into labor. I had been walking all week, usually twice a day. Well, this time, I got about a quarter mile away from the house and I was pretty sure I felt my water break. It wasn't a big dramatic gush like you see on TV, so I wasn't sure, but we decided we'd better head to the hospital just to be safe.

Ethan headed across the street to the neighbor's house for the night and Rick and I ventured off to the Naval Medical Center at Portsmouth. They did a few tests to see if my water had in fact broke and at first, they said it hadn't. So, they said we could walk around the hospital for a couple hours in hopes that my cervix would dilate more, or we could go home. We were both pretty disappointed, but we started talking about what we should do and the doctor came back in the room and told me to take a seat. She determined that my water actually had broken, it just broke in an unusual way or something. Whatever! We were just thrilled to hear that Lana would be here soon!

I was in the labor and delivery room around 10:00. I was 4 cm dilated and my contractions weren't occurring at regular intervals, so they started giving me pitocin. As my contractions became stronger and closer together I decided it was time for an epidural. Around 2:30 the doctor checked me and I was only 6cm dilated, then I had a couple very big contractions and about 10 minutes later the doctor checked me again and I was fully dilated. That was fast! At 3:30am it was time to push. 3 big pushes later Lana was here!

She is simply perfect. Rick and I make some pretty amazing babies together! :)

Crap

After 5 hours of constant, progressing contractions, they seem to have calmed down. This is very frustrating. False alarm? Guess I'll try to get some sleep..........

I think she's on her way!

Exciting news! I think Lana is finally on her way! It's currently just about 2am and I've been having steady contractions since about 11:00pm. Right now they are about 8 minutes apart and lasting 50 or so seconds. I haven't slept at all, so I'm going to be pretty darn tired. I'm too excited to sleep, and I don't know that I could sleep through the contractions anyways. At least Rick is getting some sleep. Today is actually my parent's 27th wedding anniversary, so it's already a very special day! Happy Anniversary Mom & Dad!

39 Week Update

Well, I went back to the doctor yesterday. I haven't made much progress. I'm still only 3 cm dilated and I'm now 80% effaced. My next appointment is next Tuesday and I'm scheduled to be induced on the 13th. I sure hope it doesn't come to that. My mom will be here this Saturday and is here until the 10th, so I hope I have Lana while she's here, if not before she gets here! I can't wait to hold my baby girl! I am becoming very impatient (and uncomfortable)!

Please Vote for Ethan!

Please vote for Ethan to be the next face of Baby Gap! Simply follow the link and click the vote button.
https://family.go.com/gapcastingcall/entries/USNchic/

Also, please vote for Ethan's best friend Noah and his sister Jordan here: https://family.go.com/gapcastingcall/entries/navymama76/

You can vote daily until November 17. Thanks! :)

Video: Ethan Writes His Name

Here's a video of Ethan tracing his name on the chalkboard. He actually knows how to spell his name all on his own. Such a smart cookie! I'm such a proud mommy!

38 Week Update

I had my 38 week appointment today. I am 3 cm dilated, 50% effaced and the doctor stripped my membranes. So, maybe you know what all that means? I know that with Ethan I didn't dilate on my own at all, so this is good news I suppose. I may actually go into labor on my own this time! I go back to the doctor next Tuesday, we we'll see what happens between now and then. Rick will be gone for a couple days here soon, so let's hope she doesn't decide to come then! I've set up an online pool for my friends and family to guess when she'll arrive: http://www.expectnet.com/games/LanaRenee

I just can't believe she's going to be here so soon. The past 9 months have literally flown by. I have thoroughly enjoyed being pregnant again and am sad that I will probably never experience pregnancy again, so I'm trying to cherish these last few days/weeks. We finished her room, but I still need to take pictures. I also haven't packed my hospital bag yet. I should probably get on that.

Not a whole lot else going on. I've been doing a lot of work on my shirts. I made some really cute kid's Halloween shirts and had a request for some cute dinosaur shirts for a friend of mine's daughter. I am in the process of setting up a new shop on a different website. It has more shirt options for kids, but they don't have a bulk upload option, so I have to do each individual design and product one at a time. It is terribly time consuming. It's no where near finished, but you can see what I have done so far here.

Here's a few of the new designs:

Boo-tiful

Pick of the Patch

Handsome Devil

Dinosaurs Rock

Cretaceous Cutie

Pretty Quiet Lately

This week was a pretty uneventful one for a change. Ethan caught the sniffles his first week of school and now I have them. I've been pretty exhausted and lacking motivation all week, so I haven't done much. We did have a nice play date with Rachel and her daughter Hayden at their new house on Tuesday. That was fun! Then later that afternoon Ethan played with his best bud, Trey. I got to hold his little brother, Aiden, who is about 8 weeks old. He was laying in my lap kicking his little feet on my belly and Lana was kicking back. It was SOOOOOOOOO precious! Nothing exciting to report as far as the pregnancy is concerned. She's still quite the little wiggle worm in there.

I've been thinking ahead a lot this week. We have so much coming up in the next couple months. My mom and brother fly in on October 3rd and Lana is due October 4th. We're going to Tampa the first week of November and will be spending Thanksgiving at our house. Maybe I'll attempt to cook a little turkey or something. Never done it before, so we'll see. Then, Rick deploys. :(

I've decided to take the kids up to my parent's house in Wisconsin for Christmas. Initially I planned on flying, but duh, we have a dog. I'm assuming our friends here will also be traveling for the holidays, so I think I'm just going to drive. My friend Jaime drove from Great Lakes to New York numerous times with her baby girl and her son that is Ethan's age, so I figure I can handle it. I also have a couple friends near the half way point, so I could stop and visit with them for a bit, too. The thought of driving that far with a nursing newborn, a small-bladdered 3 year old and a dog all by myself in winter is slightly intimidating, but it will be worth the trip!

Lastly, I've been craving a caramel apple like CRAZY! I don't know where to find one around here and am far too unmotivated to make one myself. I think that will be my mission for tomorrow. Sounds like good motivation to get out of the house! :)

Sale!

Zazzle.com, the other website I use to sell shirts, is having a sale! $3 off all t-shirts. Just enter the Zazzle coupon code PIRATEDAYTEE at checkout. The sale ends Saturday. Zazzle is cool because I upload my designs and you can go through and place the design on different products to see what you like. Once you find something you like, you can customize it even further by adding text or your own images. It's pretty neat, so check it out!

USNchic's Armed Forces Fashions on Zazzle



create & buy custom products at USNchic's Armed Forces Fashions!

Packer Win = Awesome Birthday Present!

Well, I had a pretty mellow birthday. Can't do too much celebrating when you're 9 months pregnant! I spent Saturday painting doors and baseboards upstairs. Not fun, but I felt motivated and just wanted to get it done. There's a nice big vent up there, so don't express concern about why I'm painting while I'm pregnant. Saturday evening we went out to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner. My dinner was delicious, the cheesecake, not so much. I ordered a turtle cheesecake because I've been craving my dad's turtle cheesecake, however, it was quite inferior to his. Rick's carrot cheesecake was good though!

Yesterday was Sunday, and therefore, quite obviously spent watching football. Unfortunately, Rick's Bucs lost to the Cowgirls. They had a nice start, but somewhere along the way they just lost it. Better luck next week in Buffalo!

I don't even know where to begin when it comes to talking about last night's Green Bay Packer victory over the Bears. I enjoyed this quote from the Chicago Tribune, "Cutler was supposed to be the Packers' worst nightmare; instead, he was their best friend. He did everything but wave a green and gold towel, leap into the stands and join the 70,000-plus in a rousing chorus of "Bang the Drum All Day."' LOL! Seriously, there was so much hype about Cutler, and boy was he awful. He ended the day with four interceptions and a 43.2 passer rating, completing 47 percent of his throws, compared with a 92.0 passer rating and a completion percentage of 61 for Rodgers. So, the Bears and their fans discovered last night that their new leader on the offensive side of things probably isn't going to be the savior they had hoped for. To pour even MORE salt on the wound, their superstar linebacker, Brian Urlacher, who injured his wrist last night, had surgery on said wrist this morning and is out for the remainder of the season! OUCH!

As for the Packers side of the ball, although it was a gut wrenching nail-biter until the very end, we looked good. The new 3-4 defense seems to be a good fit. The D kept Cutler to under 50 percent on his pass attempts and held Matt Forte to 55 yards on 25 carries. Rodgers was interception free and finished the game in a way he was unable to last season. We lost so many games in the final minutes of play last season because our offense simply couldn't perform under the pressure, but last night, against our biggest rival, they pulled it off beautifully.

I had so much adrenaline from the game that I stayed up past 2:00am! To pass the time I made some new Green Bay Packer Football shirt & gift designs for my Cafepress shop. :)

If you click on a shirt, you'll be taken to the shop.
Shirts are available in Men's, Women's & Children's

Cheesehead Born & Raised Shirt Sample




Cheesehead Shirt Sample




The Bears Still Suck Shirt Sample





Here are a couple designs from last season that I put back up:


Packers Maternity Shirt Sample





Mommy's Little Packer Backer Sample (Also available in Daddy's Little Packer Backer)




This Girl's a Packer Backer Shirt Sample

I even made a Green Bay Packer Cheesehead Dog Shirt! :)

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USNchic's Armed Forces Fashions on Facebook.

FINALLY!

Regular season football is finally here!!! GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO PACKERS!!!!!!!!! GO BUCS!!!!!!!!!! WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)

Time Sure Flies!

Where has the time gone? Ethan just started pre-school and I'm about to have my second baby any week now! It is midnight, and officially my 26th birthday. I'm closer to 30 than 20! I simply can't believe how fast my life is flying by. I wish I could hit the pause button and take it all in.

So, as I said, Ethan started pre-school this week. We're all really excited about it. I'm excited for him to learn in a class room setting and it gives me a nice little break, and he's excited about being a big boy and making new friends. He only goes 3 days a week for 3 hours, but that's plenty at this age if you ask me. Here's a picture from his first day:




I had my 36 week check-up this week. The doctor says I'm already 1-2cm dilated and she doesn't think I will go over-due this time, so that was GREAT news! I sure hope she's right! I've been having braxton hicks contractions this time, and I don't recall having them with Ethan. I'm thrilled that I've only gained 26 pounds! I've had numerous people (strangers) in the last week comment on how tiny I am and boy does that feel great considering how big I got with Ethan! I don't think I'm eating any healthier than I did when I was pregnant with Ethan, so I'm not sure why I'm staying so small this time. I even exercised when I was pregnant with him and haven't really done any exercise this time around. How odd!

Here's a video of Lana kicking me:

More exciting news..........Rick bought our tickets for the Packers @ Bucs game last night! WOOHOO!!!!!! Happy Birthday to me!!!!! I am so beyond excited. This will be my first regular season Packers game. I've been to two pre-season Packer games, as well as a regular season Jaguars game in Jacksonville and a Bucs game in Chicago. This one is obviously going to be the icing on the cake for me. I think it's time for me to finally buy that cheesehead! :)
I also can't wait until the season opener Sunday night! If only I still fit into my favorite shirt!



*This shirt has gotten me many free beers in Wisconsin! :) GO PACKERS!!!!!!!!