This & That

What “nothing” weekend.  I mean nothing. Gracie and I did go to a graduation for a guy at my work, but other then that…we.did.nothing.  It was so nice to relax to be honest.  The house isn’t as clean as it should be, Gracie has not picked up her toys since Friday, the laundry is done…only because I did it on Friday.  We watched football all day today.  (I am still in denial about how poorly the Bears played today!)  Gracie “helped” (and I mean helped by re-arranging the silverware drawer) make banana bread and apple crisp.  Gotta love all the yummy things one can make with fruits that are one step away from the trash can.

Gracie is well, Gracie.  Today she has been all about full names.  She will tell you what her full name is again and again.  It is so funny, she breaks it down to syllables.  Grace-An-na-Cunning-HAM.  She practically yells the last part.  She says my name and daddy’s name the same way. 

She has also been rambunctious today.  She has not spent more then 10 minutes in her playroom all day.  Which means that she has been in the living room right next to us.  Which has been nice, except for when one of us is trying to do homework while the other one is trying to get lost in a book.  So we gave up and just spent the day watching “baseball.”  All sports are baseball, just in case you didn’t get the memo.

She has quite the arm.  Matt plays catch with her (in the living room mind you not) and Gracie not just catches the ball a good number of times, but she also  throws pretty hard and accurately.  She is loving sports already. 

I haven’t taken the time to blog about her transferring daycares.  Matt and I made the decision to move her to another daycare on post since it was going to be closer to both of our works.  It is so brand new it hasn’t even opened yet.  She should start there some time in Feb/Mar.  We didn’t make this decision lightly.  She knows her teachers and loves them.  Not to mention her little friends Adriana and Jasmine.  However, it just makes more sense.    There is not reason to waste gas and time to take her over to her current daycare.  Plus, one of her teachers is going to be going to the new one too and I am pretty sure the director has put Gracie in the same class since the director is also at Gracie’s current daycare.  I am nervous and excited at the same time.  It will be a change, but it is necessary. 

Well, that is enough of our this and that.  I did take some pictures other the weekend but my camera is on the table and I am quite comfy on the couch.   I will have to post them tomorrow!  The pictures I have posted are from dinner earlier this week.  I had an incredibly bad day earlier this week, so Matt being the sweet husband he is, took me out for dinner so I could just “take a break” as Gracie would say. 

Lil’ Miss Thing

Gracie has reacquainted herself with the camera.  This girl is something else as you can see in the pictures.  I bought her a couple of new outfits from Target and she just loves them.  She also demanded that I take her picture!

It has been a quiet weekend here in the Cunningham house.  Saturday Gracie and Daddy had a date night out to see Yogi Bear while my friend Jamie came over for a girl’s night.  Gracie was being quite the stinker binker for her daddy according to Matt.  She was not in the least bit interested in Yogi Bear.  Poor guy!!!

Before they left, she spent some time doing her favorite thing at the moment….riding her bike around and around and around and around (get the point?) 

Yesterday, I took Gracie to the park to see her friend Natalia.  The temps are up in the 60’s almost 70’s here so we had to enjoy some sunshine.  They spent most of the time either in Natalia’s Barbie car or on the swings.  Those two girls love spending time together.  It is sad to know that they only have a couple more months together since Natalia’s mom is being stationed in Korea!

The thing I love most about a 3 day weekend is that there is only 4 more days until Friday!!!!!  I am hoping this week goes by fast because I am ready for another relaxing weekend!

My Goal 2011

So this is what I have decided to do for the new year….nothing.  I know that sounds nothing like me.  I always have something going on, my hand in some kind of something, and a long lists of to dos.  All of that is still there, but this last year, especially the last few months, I feel like they just passed me by.  I feel like I didn’t enjoy enough stuff.  Of course I have the pictures, I have the memories, but in the moment did I really enjoy what ever it was to the fullest?  If I am honest, then the answer is no. 

When I am driving in my car, I have a tendency to let my mind wonder.  The majority of the time I am making a mental list of all the things I need to take care of, but today while working out at the gym I had a moment.  I had a sense of I was missing something.  Not like I had lost something but that something was happening and I was not apart of it.  I quickly ran over all the recent events and my planner in my head.  I couldn’t put my finger on it.  Then it donned on me, I missed being at home with Gracie and Matt.  Now don’t get me wrong, I enjoy having my time alone, but I hate knowing I could be missing something.  It is something that I have been dealing with a lot since Matt deployed and came back (or at least that is when I noticed I do this a lot.)  I am always wondering what is going on elsewhere and not enjoying what I am doing at that present time.  For example, when I went home on vacation, I spent more time then I should have wondering what I was missing at work.  Now, I have a very laidback job.  Which means, not much happens there, but I couldn’t shake the feeling.  Other times, if I am out on a much deserve girls day or even just out taking some “me” time, I find myself rushing back home.  Most of that is I miss being at home with my family, but a little of it is that I have that urgency that I am going to not be apart of a good moment.  It has become such a habit that I think I am robbing myself of the memories of moments that are happening when I am there.

I have decided that I am going to take a step back and force myself to realize that I am going to miss some things, but I am not going to miss everything.  If I am honest with myself, I would admit that this may have a huge tiny bit to do with control.  I have made drastic improvements in this area, but I still have a ways to go.  I am sharing this with you because I feel like as a mom, we may all have this “nagging” feeling more often then not.  Especially those of us that are working moms.  It is a choice we have made to be working moms, regardless if it has to do with finances or the fact you love your job, but I know it is something I have dealt with.  For me, I feel much better just talking about it, acknowledging that even though this isn’t something that is going to keep me from doing anything, but that it is something I struggle with.  By speaking up, maybe I can relax just a little bit and learn how to enjoy the moment and not constantly be looking around the corner for the next moment or worry about something that I may miss.

So here is to 2011, a year of enjoying the present, looking back on the past, and anticipating the future (but not obsessing about it!)

First Week of 2011

The first week of 2011 was an eventful one in our house.  On Monday, Matt calls me and tells me that Gracie’s eye was swollen.  I told him to give her Zyrtec and to keep on eye on it.  By the time I got home around 2 this is what I found:

The last time her eye was swollen, the swelling went down about an hour later.  This time it took almost the whole day.  I called the tele-nurse to make sure there was nothing else we could do and they referred us to the quick care clinic (and we sat there for 2 hours) for them to tell us that it is her allergies and to give it time.  So that blew our Monday!

The next two days flew by and then on Thursday Matt got a really bad migraine.  We tried to go to the clinic to get some medicine but they were closed for training (you gotta love military clinics) so they referred us to the ER.  After 3 hours, an iv with some major drugs (it was a seriously bad migraine), and a very groggy, hungry Matt we picked up our little girl and went home.  For those of you that have actually met my husband, when he is hungry, it is not in your best interest to make him wait.  So, we stopped at Jack In the Box (one of Matt’s favorite’s) and headed home for a very quiet evening.

It was not the healthiest start to 2011.  I sure hope this isn’t a sign on how the rest of the year is going to go! The rest of the weekend was pretty laidback.  I had to work on Saturday and we spent Sunday relaxing at home getting housework done.  Gracie and I did take a few minutes to get out of the house and head to the park.  Gracie loves to go and as much energy as she has she needed the outlet!  She is getting so adventurous on the playground too.  She wants to climb up EVERYTHING!  It’s crazy!

So Gracie has taken to carrying Harley around ALL.THE.TIME.  This poor dog does not get a break.  When we decided to get Daisy, I thought that having smaller dogs would be great.  Not to mention that poodles do not shed.  What I did not take into consideration was what they would have to go through once Gracie reached this age.  Now I know that big dogs get the same kind of love only in different ways, but you can totally see how Harley was feeling while this was all going on.  I have to admit, I felt so sorry for her, but I had to snap some pictures before I was willing to come to her rescue!

This poor puppy, why do I have a feeling this is only the beginning? ha!  Poor Harley! 

End to the Holiday’s

So today marks the end of all things Christmas and New Year’s in our family.  It is the day that we realize it is now back to work.  Oh, wait, Matt still has tomorrow off, it’s just me that has to go back to work tomorrow.  However, it really isn’t that bad since I have been working all through the last two weeks. 

Today we took Gracie to her first basketball game.  It seems that my girly girl is starting to have a place in her heart for sports! (I am sure Matt is not sad about this!)  She loved every minute of the game.  We sat right behind the band and every time they started to play, Gracie would start dancing.  She even watched a little bit of the game.  She was more interested in everything else happening.  But she did have a great time.  At one point in time she got camera and started taking pictures.  I think she is starting to take after her mommy a lot in that department! 

It was a great day out as a family.  I look forward to more days like today.  If we go by Gracie’s reaction to the game, I have a feeling we will be going to more and more games! 

Goodbye 2010

I can’t believe another year has come in gone.  When you are younger, you can’t wait for time to speed up so you can experience life.  Now that I am older, I just want it to slow down just a little bit.  Just a tad, ok, maybe a lot.  Gracie has turned from a sweet little toddler to a full blown little girl this year.  She has changed so much this year.  Just 3 years ago, I was holding my newborn baby on New Year’s and this year, she was cuddled up to her daddy taking up most of the recliner.  It amazes me how fast she is growing up.  I feel like I can’t keep up.

This year brought a lot of change for our household.  Mostly it was Gracie, but we made a major life change.  When you are a military family, you can never be certain what your future holds.  For a long while, we were planning on ending our military career and going back to civilian life, but that changed in May when Matt re-enlisted for another4 years.  He changed his job and we found out we were staying here at Ft. Bliss.

Gracie got to experience a lot of new things, from bowling to camping, a trip to another country, lots of sun, and a trip home to see family.  She was fully potty trained in the spring, talking our ears off by summer, and bossing everyone around by fall.  This little girl has brought a lot of joy and laughter to our lives, that is for sure!

This is what else that happened in 2010:

Looking over these pictures, you can see Gracie grow up.  Man, I am just not ready for another year.  However, 2011 has come full of hope and promise of happiness.  Matt will be starting his new job this week and we are hoping to see some major changes.  There is no way to know what the future holds, but I am anxious to see how it all unfolds.

Happy New Year from the Cunningham’s to all of you.