Almost there....

We are anxiously awaiting my husband's return. He's been in South Korea since October 2010. He comes home this October. Yep. One year. I can't wait!!!! And even better, we're going to surprise the girls. They think he's coming home on the 15th when he's coming home on the 11th. They will really like the pizza delivery guy this day (that's how we plan on surprising them). Hopefully I'll figure out how to post a video on here so everyone (all three of you who probably read this, four if you count my mom, LOL) can watch it repeatedly.

Since his last leave I have lost 30 pounds and am hoping to lose at least ten more before he comes back. I have ran a 5k, done a 5k mudrun and have increased my runs from a 10 minute slow slow run to a good 5 mile run at about 53-55 minutes! I can now side-plank and do the bow in yoga! I am growing so much in so many different ways and gaining new levels of confidence I never even had in my early 20s or in high school!

I can't wait for him to come home. I honestly hope he doesn't recognize me. I hope I can finally catch up on some zzzz's. Yeah, that's right, Henry still does NOT sleep through the night. Once in a great while he will, but it's not as frequent as I would like it to be.

Olivia is a big, bad kindergartner now who has boys already telling her she's smokin' hot (GOOD GRIEF), Alison has a crush on a boy named Ethan (therefore I automatically want to punch him in the nose along with the little rascals who think Olivia is hot) and she's growing up way too fast. She might need braces, she's getting acne and she is even giving me attitude once in a while. Where is this coming from? Don't give me this hormone mumbo jumbo. I know, I know, I took adolescent psych so I should have been ready for this. But no matter how many chapters, articles or lessons I read, it's still my daughter and nothing prepared me for my innocent sweet little girl turn into a preteen overnight. I don't even want to think about the day she goes to prom or graduates. Heartbreaking.

Okay so now to get ready for his arrival. Trying to buckle down on my calories, boost up my exercises, speed on runs and toning in yoga and pilates. Hopefully I'll be back on here soon to say hooray! I lost 10 pounds. Or probably be more like, Dangit....I only lost like 2! Bleh! Either way, I can't wait for him to come home. I miss my bestest friend who is also my husband. He's amazing.

Peace....Nessa.

Summer notes

Okay I learned (and still learn) a lot of stuff as a mom, but I'm just going to list three that are crucial in the Summer time....

1. Sign the kids up for swim lessons A.S.A.P., for some reason these fill up real fast. Well, I know the reason. Besides wanting to have the reassurance that our children know how to swim for safety reasons, we want to wear our kids out so we can feed them and get them in bed as early as possible because we all know during summer break they tend to stay up a bit later and it is necessary for a mom's survival to have that extra quiet hour or two after they go to bed. Hard to have that when they have the perception that it's their vacation so they don't have to go to bed early because there's no school. So swim lessons come in. Water wears kids out. Point made.

2. Sand and sunblock on your clothes, in your car and in strange crevices is inevitable. Whether it be from the park or the beach, it's gonna happen. But some parks have those wonderful wood chips that sneak their way into my Toms and are just as annoying and harder to vacuum out of the van. But oh, they are so much safer for our children. I guess. :P

3. You're NEVER too old to play with water balloons or squirt guns with your kids. So enjoy it but don't be too rough or don't get them in the eyes/face. Other than that, it's so much fun and another way to wear the kids out for those long summer days and nights, and you wear yourself out as well. But nonetheless, FUN.

Just had to throw in those few thoughts for today. I hope everyone has a fun Summer. SPF it baby! :P

Procastinating blogger I be....

So yeah....I procrastinate, a lot. I find this to be a norm in our society overall so I'm not unusual as far as this goes. Okay, enough of that....let's move on.

Henry is walking. Fast. Alison had to have "the talk" which I never looked forward to but I am so glad it's done now. Olivia won't stop saying "Dammit" and I'm concerned for her teacher in kindergarten and I'm aware that I will receive frequent calls home or notes sent home discussing her behavior and/or language. I don't know where she gets this language from (Pay no attention to the mom behind the curtains!!). Good times.

Four more months and we move to Washington. I can't wait! I love my California with all of my heart but the scene here is a bit more hyped up than what I would like....I enjoy Northern CA so much more and I know Washington is going to rock my socks off. Pike Place, soon you can consider yourself "Nesser-fied". I don't know, I just made it up. I'm on a tootsie pop high.

There, that's my segue into my weight/diet/exercise. YES! I'm doing it. Since we moved back to CA in October I have so far lost almost 30 pounds. This last week and a half I've lost five and can't wait to hit my goal. I'm gonna be one smokin' mama soon....teehee. Oh, tootsie pop as the segue you ask? Well, I'm getting lean and mean when it comes to counting my calories and I found out that tootsie pops are only 60 calories! What you say? That's ludicrous! I say it is a gift from Heaven. Now since I'm dieting, I've been skipping any and all junk food, especially candy or dessert-y type of stuff....oh I miss cupcakes but I will have one only once in a blue moon now. But when I have a sweet tooth, it's nice to know that tootsie pops are low calorie (I know not a lot of nutrients but sometimes I need that candy fix) and a nice break away from those caramel rice cakes (not as great as they sound....believe me). So that's what reminded me of my weight-loss and exercise stuff. Oh I love my spin class, yoga and circuit training with my trainer. Feels good to sweat (sometimes)!

Oh and I forgot to mention....I finally went to Hawaii!!!! Yeah! Back in April. It was so much fun. Expensive but FUN. I'll probably post a separate blog about that later with pics describing our fun yet crazy vacation/adventure (we had to make I believe at least two trips to urgent care, no really, we did). We had a blast though! Poi, pork, leis, surf, sun, Leonard's and so much LOVE! It was great.

And that's that. I hope everyone has a pleasant day and please forgive me if I do not blog as often as I'd really like. I might tomorrow....and then again I might put it off for another week or two or six. We'll see.

North Korea Stinks, Charlie Brown is Awesome and Thank you Santa Ramble

So here it is, the "most wonderful time of the year". I could tell you to contemplate what Christmas really means, to enjoy this time with family, laugh at all the maniacs in the stores fighting for parking spots instead of walking an extra 20 feet to the store and yadda yadda, but I'm not. I'm sure you've heard it over and over. I'm just going to do what I do best and babble about what I want to babble about....

I love Christmas. I love my family. I hate North Korea. There you go. I said it. Phew, now that it's out in the open I feel a teensy bit better. Not a lot, just teensy. My husband is currently stationed in South Korea and can't say a thing about what's going on, if it's getting better or worse or if it's the same ol' same ol' and I HATE IT. Thank you immature, bratty Kim Jong Il (pardon me if I spelled that name wrong) for acting childish over waters that you claim are "yours" when in reality it is everyone's waters. It is the ocean for crying out loud! You are going to hurt people and make people suffer over something that was here long before you were here? Long before you wanted to sport sunglasses and a fur hat that make you look like that old lady I see at the thrift store contemplating if she should purchase that VCR that's missing its pause button....get over it and your ridiculous ego please.

On a better note, or a few better notes:

Henry is now crawling....so fun! And cute, plus I think he's not fully aware that he's crawling so his confused expression while he's doing it is priceless. He also is getting his first teeth, and get this, they are NOT his bottoms like most babies. He is getting his two top teeth! The first one just cut through on his top left, in the front. My mom keeps calling him Bucky, ha ha!

I love this time of year because I can use Santa as a threat for my four-year old. I don't have to so much for my 10-year old, she's pretty well behaved as it is. But my four-year old, Olivia, is really testing me a lot lately. So I get to use the good ol', "Santa's watching you!" or "I'm going to call Santa" as I grab the phone and pretend to make that long distance call. Ahhhh, good times, good times.

Now....all I need is Charlie Brown's Christmas to come on t.v. like it does every year and I'll be content. Well, that and knowing my husband is safe and will be okay. I hate not knowing. I hate that all he can tell me is "I'm okay", "I'm at work" and "I don't know". That's it. That's all he can say. Oh yeah, he does tell me he loves me, and that's wonderful. But it'd be nice to know a little more detail. I need some reassurance I guess.

I read in an article that South Korea had this large, metal Christmas tree all lit up right by the South Korean and North Korean border and had a choir singing Christmas songs. Made me wonder, is it like "Whoville" over there and Kim Jong Il is the Grinch? Are they going to have Roast Beast? Well tell that Cindy Lou or whatever her name is to hurry up and work her charm on that egotistical fat head over there so I know my husband will be coming home safely, the troops and civilians will be safe and I can sleep a little more sound.

Okay, enough of my babble that made me write, type or blog (whatever you want to call it) all out of order....my English professor Mrs. Arnold would have had a fit over this and stamp it with a big fat F. I warned you, I was just going to babble. Nothing fancy.

May you have a wonderful and safe Christmas (or whatever it is you celebrate, I celebrate Christmas, therefore I say "Merry Christmas!") and a dazzling (and also safe) New Year!

Misses

I miss my Grandpa. I miss him saying, "I'll be out the door at 6 a.m. for my morning walk. If you want to go, wake up before then and be out the door with me at 6". He wasn't kidding. 6:01 a.m. He was already down the sidewalk. Those walks were great. We'd walk to the beach (he was like maybe a ten minute walk away) and by the bluffs. We'd get to see all the sea lions hanging out on the shore and rocks which usually only happened really early in the morning since there was hardly any people around at that hour. I miss my Grandpa and Grandma saying, "Whoever loses this card game will buy you and your brother ice cream". I loved it when Grandpa would lose because he would get us the double scoop! And it was always a fun walk to the nearby Thrifty's for the ice cream. I miss catching tadpoles with my Grandma and Grandpa under the nearby bridge, in the creek. We'd ride our old Schwinn Beachcruisers and walk them under the bridge, jars in our hands and try to collect tadpoles which would change into teeny tiny frogs. It was so exciting.

I miss sitting on the lawn at the university with my mom and brothers for Fourth of July and getting ice cream from that Mexican ice cream cart with the guy who pulled it and the little bell that would ring as he was walking. I miss going with my older brother Chuck to the store in the mall where my mom worked to wait for her to get off. I also missed doing that when she worked at this headquarters building, and my brothers or my little brother and my dad and I would sit in the grass waiting for her.

I miss having pet ducks and the nasty water in their wading pool had such a funky smell but it was so exciting to go to the backyard to chase around the ducks every day, pick them up and pet them (except for "Rambo", my little brother's duck, that one bit).

I miss wearing the same awesome Snow White costume my mom made for me year after year for Halloween. That was the best costume ever! She is seriously the best mom ever.

I miss going to my Great Grandma's and her always having fresh bananas for me (I loved bananas when I was a kid, still do, but when I was a kid it was as good as mac'n'cheese).

I miss my Uncle telling me funny stories about a belly button that would run away, those made me giggle so much! Along with other great stories he would tell, he was always so good at that. It was so cool to see him doing the same thing with my kids a couple weeks ago! I got all nostalgic and what not, ha ha!

I hope I can do for my kids what my mom, my dad, my brothers, my grandparents and my uncle did for me. Kids, if you ever read your mommy's blog....maybe you should be out catching frogs, chasing ducks or getting ice cream instead! Or take a walk on the beach. I hope I'm doing for you what my family did for me....

Like the night before wasn't action-packed enough with my 4-year old throwing her typical 4-year old tantrum and hitting her older sister along with a baby that did not want to be rocked let alone go to sleep. I woke up this morning looking like an after shot of a stunt man in an action movie....my nose was bleeding and not just drip drop, more like that gushing as if someone just knocked me square in the nose. But nope, there was no fights, no hits, no fists or feet in my face. Just woke up with a bloody nose. I knew within seconds this wasn't going to be it....there it was. Baby needed his diaper changed. Then the alarm went off (yes, I always happen to wake up minutes before my alarm goes off, it's so fun! Not.) and I had to get my oldest child up for school. So here I am, tissue in my nose (actually a baby wipe since I couldn't grab a tissue quick enough and wipes were the closest thing to me), changing a baby diaper, trying to make sure the younger daughter who happened to fall asleep with me wasn't kicking her baby brother off the bed in her sleep (notorious wiggle worm) and trying to shout out my oldest daughter's name to get her to wake up and get ready for school. Done.

Baby on hip, wipe in nose, 4-year old still in bed and me trying to spread cream cheese on a bagel one-handed in order to feed my 10-year old before I send her on her merry little way to school. Oh the beauty and mystique of it all.

Two hours later I realize my older daughter has an eye doctor appointment. Back to the school, get her out. But now, they are happily playing outside with their Papa and I have a nice quiet minute to enjoy my own bagel, a glass of pomegranate juice and blog. I would take a nap but I know the second my head hits the pillow one of them will come in because someone hit someone else, someone had an "accident", someone HAS to have this new toy they saw on TV, so on and so forth.

All this but it's moments like last night, where I watched my 4-year old dance in her tap and ballet class. She listens to the instructor so intently (something I wish she would do for me once in a while) and is so focused on getting each little step and kick right. Even the thought of it lightens my mood, along with watching my other one finally find something she truly enjoys as far as sports go. She started archery and it lights her up like nothing else has. She's tried soccer, ballet, tap, basketball and a couple other things. Granted, she did enjoy tennis and still does, but not half as much as she loves this. It made my (pardon me for sounding super cheesy) heart so happy to know something makes her this happy.

So that's it....that's my thoughts for today in a nutshell, aside from the monotonous errands and odds and ends that need to be done. Hopefully my certain little Mr. someone will start sleeping through the night soon so I can blog more. It feels good to let it out once in a while. Yeah, that's right, 7 months old and still not sleeping through the night. I don't want to hear anymore of this "Oh he'll sleep through the night soon" or "try rice cereal" or "make sure he naps less in the day". No no and no. He hasn't slept through the night "soon" just as everyone keeps saying. He has had rice cereal, baby oatmeal and other baby foods and nothing. I tried supplementing formula. Nothing (except spit up that stinks more). And he hardly naps, and when he does it's like little tiny cat naps. Okay, enough said. What my point is, whenever this "soon" is, whenever he will sleep through the night, maybe I can blog more. I hope everyone has a glamorous day as I did. I wouldn't change it for the world!

Carry on....

Oh the trends that bind them.

First I will start off by saying, I am not intending to offend anyone but I have a feeling someone or a few people might feel offended by this. And there are some great people out here, regardless of what they name their child or what they drive. I'm just making an observation and I'm sure I'm not the only one. I'm talking about observing the trends I see here on base. I'm pretty sure it's mostly an army thing, but it can also be just this base thing, I'll find out in a year when I go to a different base. But have you ever heard that in basic training, the soldiers kind of get brainwashed in a way? Well, I'm starting to wonder if it's to the extent of what they drive, what they name their kids and what they wear.

When I delivered my son here at the hospital on base (side note: The best birthing/labor/delivery experience I have ever had!), a nurse asked my husband and me what we were naming him. When we said Henry she let out a big sigh of relief and said, "Wow! I was ready for you to say Aiden or Peyton" and started chuckling. We knew what she was talking about. It seems almost every other kid here is Aiden (Aidan?), Petyon, Hayden, Kavon, Trayvon (Trevon?), McKayla, Mckenna and Lily. Oh good grief, stop it with the Lilys already! It's almost as if I see someone pregnant and I hear them or chat with them about their new addition, the second they say it's a girl, I know what the next thing they are going to say. "We're naming her Lily." Yes, it's a beautiful name, but come on. There are thousands of other beautiful names out there. Expand your horizon, please, before your daughters realize what you have done, feel like a cookie cutter child and rebel by changing their name to Moonbeam. There are a few other names that are more than just popular but almost seem like the names are standard issue names and the parents don't have a choice. But they do, and this is what they choose. I never thought I'd say it but I miss those names that make you wonder, "why did they decide that?". Banjo, Kiwi, Pilot, I almost (ALMOST) miss your peculiarity. Oh well, to each their own I guess (that seems kind of like an oxymoron since even though it's "to each their own", they seem to emulate one another).

Next "trend" I keep running into here: The cars. Either you drive a Dodge Charger or a new Ford Mustang. Oh, don't forget those rims that look like cheap silver plastic that my kids have on their 99 cent store motorcycle toys. If they're not driving one of these, then it's most likely they have a ridiculously raised truck or unnecessary Hummer with the "oh so cool" chrome gas cap. Oh, and please please put that bumper sticker on your car that displays your rank because that's so important outside of work. I understand, you work hard for your rank, and that's great. You probably went through stuff I wouldn't dream of going through. I respect that. But I nor should others think you're a cooler, better or more fun person to be around or we should let you walk all over us outside of work because you outrank others or their spouses. Give me a break. Leave your rank for when you're in uniform, when you're in charge of others, when you're at work, and so on. Outside of that, we are just as human as you are, mmmm'kay? And I promise, if my husband ever tries to use his rank outside of his job to take advantage of anyone or try to make himself seem cooler, he will get it. But I have a feeling no one has to worry about him going there.

Last but not least....the outfits. It's mostly the guys. The females out here, they tend to have their own thing, what they like and it's all good, for the most part at least. But the males, the majority of the males out here, I completely understand they have to have the same or similar haircuts, it's part of their career choice. I understand. But on your weekends or days off, do you guys have to dress the same? With your striped polo shirts (some are okay, but some are overdone) with your popped collars, your hats you are wearing in a style that makes you (at least you think) look "gangsta", oh or those shirts with the skulls or ed hardy-ish type designs. They are looking like the bopsy twins. You have to match and be uniform during duty hours and what not, yes....but I know there's a brain in there that has thoughts of its own, please use it!

But I guess in a way I have to thank these guys, they make my husband, my friends and myself look and feel more unique. I enjoy that at least. A lot of these people are great people, many of them are soldiers that put their lives on the line for us and I support and respect them very much. I'm just taking in the amplitude of the people that follow these trends within this subculture. Interesting.

If you read this and you fall into any of these categories, like I stated earlier, it was not my intention to offend anyone, and I know people that are my friends that fall into these categories. It does not make them any less of a person in anyway and a lot of them are very amazing and extremely wonderful people! I'm just making note of what I noticed to be what's the "in" things around here, no biggie. Anyway....Have a wonderful day!