BB & HP

What an incredible few days. First of all, I now have a new child to take care of during the day. His name is Charlie and he just turned one. I'm so happy that little man will have another boy to play with here at the house. He is being overrun by girls! He came out of Cassidy's room one day with blush and a necklace on. Yeah, we REALLY need more boys around this house. But I am so grateful for the children that have come into my life, both old and new. They all fit here so well and I can't imagine life without them.

On a more sad note, Bruce got laid off at Old Dominion. We knew this was a possibility when he got the job since the trucking industry is so fickle and he has never worked on fork lifts, but having that job the past few months was such a blessing and now we are moving onto something else. He already has 3 interviews! I am so proud of him. But obviously God has other plans for our family and we are excited to see where he is leading us.

On a bittersweet note, LITTLE BRUCE IS TURNING TWO! AHH!! I can't believe that this is happening. It seems like he was just born yesterday. I feel like time is flying by and I can't do anything to slow it down so I can enjoy this age just a little bit longer. He is the sweetest little boy. I couldn't ask for a better son. I am so happy that we are going to be able to celebrate his birthday with all of our family here in Tennessee. Last year was so hard because all of our family was back in Tennessee, with the exception of Lisa, Mark and Ricky.

But I do have a prayer request. Ricky's girlfriend, Brittny, lost her grandfather yesterday (Tuesday). She was very close with him and her family is going through a very rough time. Please just keep them in your prayers.

Now onto the entertainment portion of my blog:

IT'S BIG BROTHER TIME!!! To most people summer means the beach, cookouts and etc...But to me and my mom, it's means Big Brother on CBS. They announced a few weeks ago that 6 old houseguests would be returning and we were praying that one of them would be Evel Dick. And then premiere night came and our wish came true. He walked through those doors and we lost it. We even posted a video on Facebook! He is our all time favorite houseguest. But then we found out that within a week of the game starting he had to leave. From what I have read he had a friend who needed him. I'm assuming he was hurt or sick, but whatever the case may be I just hope that everything turned out for the best. I will for sure miss him this season, but I hope that he will be back on another season.

The final Harry Potter is coming out Friday. I can't even explain how that makes me feel. I have been reading these book since middle school! And on Friday it's over, done, finished, no more! It's been such an incredible ride though.

Outnumbered...

I can't believe that I haven't posted in almost a month. Actually, it will be one month as of tomorrow. I have been so busy. Between being a mommy, watching Ally and having Cassidy get out of school I feel like I am constantly out numbered by little people. But I do enjoy it.

I spent this past week working on Cassidy's room and I am happy to say that it is finally done. She has the cutest girly room! I love it!  The picture doesn't include all of the stuff. I added a few things since I took that picture. There is now a tree above the desk, mirrored butterflies around her name and there are framed Barbie pictures on the wall next to the bed (not pictured). It really does my heart good to do this stuff for her. I love her more than I could have ever imagined.

Little Bruce is repeating everything we say. He is making sentences and everything. I can't believe how much he has changed this past month. Heck, he's changed a great deal this past week! His newest thing is saying "Ready, set, go" and then taking off running. It's adorable! His birthday is next month! Yikes! His party is going to be so awesome this year because we will have family there. I feel so blessed to be able to have them all there for him. Mark has been redoing the back porch and he has been a huge help to him. It's so adorable! He is such a cute little boy and so smart.

Couponing has been awesome this past month. We have such an awesome little stockpile going and it's been such an awesome hobby. The only sucky part is actually cutting the coupons. UGH! I could do without that.

I have really got to make more of an effort to hang out with people that I am not related to and that are my age. I feel like I don't get out and do things with friends much anymore. In San Diego that was all I ever did, but now that I am home I find myself very isolated from other people as far as friends go. Another thing is that I have got to get little Bruce away from all these girls he hangs out with and around some boys. He is around dolls and stuff to much. He took a fairy wand into Wal-Mart and I said that that was just weird and Cassidy proceeded to tell me that he was a "man fairy". Oh my gosh! HELP! But he also a very manly guy when it comes to most stuff. Always copying his Daddy and Papaws.

Well that is about it for me tonight. I am going to go hit the sheets and get some rest. I'm so exhausted from the past week. But I am so looking forward to next week, Ally comes back and I have no big "jobs" to do. It's back to normal for me!

A wine kind of night...

So, my binder has arrived. It took me almost 5 hour to get all of my stuff in it and organized. But I have to admit, I really enjoyed it. I was amazed at how many coupons that I had at that point. Now I've more than doubled my amount. My Dad gave me all of his extras, Lisa's coworkers gave her theirs and we have another set to go through. Then it all starts over again next week. It's a ridiculous cycle!

Life has been rough the past week. I feel like I can't get ahead or do anything right. I can't really explain it, but I just feel worn out. I hope it's all over soon, I am tired of feeling like crap all of the time. I need to figure out what to do to fix this or hopefully it fixes itself.

This is a short blog, I just needed to get that off my chest.

Easter, Couponing and Royalty!

Whew...both Bruce and I have had major changes to our work schedules. He now works night shifts and I now have a different schedule with Ally which isn't a bad thing. We are pretty much set into our new schedules and it's been working out pretty good.

Easter was amazing! We had such a good morning at church and little man looked so cute all dressed up in his suit. After church it was time for him to nap and it was time for me to get to work on dinner. I made a honey glazed ham, baked mac and cheese, deviled eggs and rolls. Lisa made veggies and potatoes.

Little man did so awesome when it was time to hunt for eggs. He wanted to carry his basket all over and put them in there himself. He found 29 eggs! We were so proud of him.

He is so talkative now. Well, he's always been talkative. But now he is saying EVERYTHING! It has been so amazing to watch him grow up so much these past few weeks so much. He changes on a day to day basis. I feel like time is moving by so quickly and I wish I could just pause it so I can enjoy this time more.

Anyways, I've been couponing! I am on my way to becoming a crazy coupon lady! So far I've racked up a good amount of loot. I've gotten over $80 in free body wash, $10 in deodorant, $8 in floss and $12 in personal stuff.

I have ordered a binder to get it all organized and it should be here tomorrow and I'm so excited to get all of my coupons in order and grow my collection so I can really start racking up the savings. I don't make a ton of money babysitting, but with what I am saving in groceries and personal items it is helping to even out the amount that both Bruce and I contribute to our family.

And tomorrow is going to be so amazing! Tomorrow is the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton! I am so excited! It's just so awesome that I get to see such an amazing event happen. I wasn't alive when Charles and Diana got married, but I am so excited to be able to watch their son wed. It's the stuff of fairy tales and I know that a lot of people don't see the reason behind all of the excitement. But I do, it's just so amazing to know that there are still kings, queens, princes and princesses. And to know that a regular girl can grow up and become a real life princess and eventually queen. It's what every little girl dreams of growing up. So, tomorrow is the big day and I am going to be here watch every minute of it with my little prince. And I know that there are all sort of matters that are more important than a wedding, but for those of us who still believe in fairy tales this is an amazing event.

Anyways, I'm going to wrap this up so I can watch the Lifetime movie William and Kate and then go to bed.

Work, work, work...

It feels like it has been forever since I have blogged. But here I am. That past two weeks have been very busy. Bruce is now working at Old Dominion and is loving his new job. I started watching a little girl named Ally. She is 3 and I couldn't ask for a better little girl to take care of. Little Bruce is saying everything now. And when I say everything, I mean everything. If you can say it, so can he. But he is still as stubborn as ever. He is the perfect mesh of the two of us. He has our stubbornness, my pickyness, my cleanliness, Bruce's ability to play for hours and hours without stop. He is just the best little boy.

We are just trying to get adjusted to being here and our new life. But sometime next year we will be moving closer to Bruce's work in White Pine, TN. But until then, this is our home.

I've been coming to terms that San Diego isn't home anymore. I won't ever see those places again and I won't be living that life anymore. It sucks, but at the same time I know that this is where we are meant to be.

I had the pleasure of working at the Clothing Carousel yesterday and I have to say that it was awesome. Since I volunteered to work I got to go to the preview party and we got such awesome stuff for little man. And working the sale on Saturday was fun. I love feeling like I accomplish something every day. Whether it is doing laundry, cleaning, working, etc... I just sleep better and feel good when I know that I did something productive at the end of the day.

I also have special request, if everyone who reads this could please say a prayer for the Arrechaga family. They lost their solider in Afghanistan this past week. He was a husband, a father, a son and a brother. So, if you could just pray for God to give them peace during this horrible time.

Like father, like son? Like mother, like son?

This week has been so amazing! Bruce has a job interview on Tuesday and we are so excited! He has been going crazy just being here at the house and not working. But we all really needed this time together. We have missed being a family so much. It's still super weird that we are living in Rogersville. Bruce said that he is used to it already, but for some reason I'm not. I still feel like this isn't my home yet. And I'm not talking about the house I live in, I'm talking about the town. But hopefully it will fade soon. But I am really missing the isolation that we had in San Diego. We didn't have to worry about anyone but ourselves. I know that sounds selfish, but that is how we have lived for the past 3 years. The job that Bruce is interviewing for is about 40 minutes away so once we get settled as far as him working and things like that we would be moving to Morristown probably. And that is a good thing because I still get to be around family and stuff, but I won't be in the same town so I will have a little bit of space.

Anyways, little Bruce has been doing so much more stuff. He says all kinds of new words and it's so cute! He is just the funniest little guy. He is trying to be just like his Daddy. He copies everything that he does! It's adorable! But I am happy to say that he is just like me in a lot of ways. He is very particular. He doesn't like it when you do things for him if he knows that he can do it. He won't eat something if you rip it, you have to cut it. He likes to pick up his messes and put away his toys. He likes his stuff put a certain way when you put it up also. He likes to sweep, wipe tables, vacuum, etc... So in all of those ways he is just like his Mommy.

Today has been relaxing. It's my last Sunday of staying home while everyone is at church. I will start going with Bruce and little Bruce next Sunday. We will be going to a different church than our families do. We are going to Hope. It's the church we went to before we left Rogersville and it's more like our church out in San Diego which we miss a lot. I'm excited to start going back though. I've really enjoyed my alone time on Sundays, but I need to be back in church.

Anyways, that is about it for now. I'm going to relax for another minute or two until everyone gets home.

One week has gone by...

Bruce has officially been home for a week now and life couldn't be any better. We are loving this little mini vacation we are having and loving that we don't have to follow any Navy rules anymore. So, Bruce is growing facial hair for the first time. I'm not entirely sure if I am going to like it, but I do like what it looks like now. It's just rough.

Little Bruce is such a cute little mini Bruce. He does everything that his daddy does. It's adorable. He still doesn't like to have him out of his sight.

Our furniture got here on Friday and we spent the entire weekend going through our stuff trying to get what we need to have with us. I think that we are both still wiped from it. But I am happy to say that we are done with moving stuff and have our two little rooms all ready and it feels a little more like home now.

We went on a double date for the first time in what seems like a lifetime. It was with Ricky and Brittny. We went to Ruby Tuesdays and to see the movie "Just Go With It". It was so nice to just go out and relax. I always hated leaving little Bruce with babysitters, but leaving him with family feels different. I don't feel so guilty about it.

Next week Bruce is starting his job hunt and once he gets that all worked out I will start babysitting kids here at the house. And I know most people hate working, but I am super excited to be contributing to our house income again. I love being a stay at home mom and at this point I don't think that I could go to work a regular job and leave him. I have been with him almost every second of his life.

Anyways, I'm going to relax while Bruce is at the gym!