Are you serious??

  So today I was pulling out the stuff for dinner tonight when I realized crap I am out of half the spices I use on my pork chops. So as soon Steve walked though the day at 4 pm I tagged out and rushed over to the commissary in hopes of beating the after work crowd and pick up the 5 things I needed. Of course the problem with living on a rather large base is that the commissary is ALWAYS busy unless you get there butt crack early or really super late. I grab the things I need and head to the self check out where only 3 people waiting when a lady comes up in line behind me. I am just causally minding me own business staring at the coke cooler fighting the urge to grab a Dr. Pepper Bold when she says "So, when are you due?" I look sideways at her expecting to see some women with a cute baby bump or a cell phone in her hand, but instead I find myself staring right into her eyes. I am stunned! I know I am not 100 lbs, but I definitely don't think I look pregnant and I sure don't look far enough along for someone to be so bold as to ask when I am DUE!! I ask her if she's talking to me and I can tell just by her facial expression she's regretting her question. I say the only thing I can say at this point as I am holding back a growing lump in my throat "13 months ago, but thanks for the motivation I needed to workout today." Then I turn my back to her and just pray to GOD this line moves fast. The next time I get enough courage to look behind me she is gone. Probably sulking at another line. At least it's a lesson for her...KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT!  I never ask anyone when their due unless I have been told they are pregnant even if they look like they could pop any second. It's just plain dangerous.  Needless to say my urge for soda went out the window!

Put Up or Shut UP

Well we are only 3 days into 2013 and I already feel like this is going to be a fantastic year! I have decided that 2013 is the year I put up or SHUT UP! I am tired of being the person complaining about how much weight I have gained as I chugged down another soda pop or stuff another cupcake in my mouth. If I am not willing to put in the effort to do something about it I need to just stop complaining. So starting Jan 1 Steve and I agreed to give up both fast food and soda (although Steve is allowed one soda a day, but I know he's already broken that as today he had a Coke ICEE and 2 pepsi's that I know of) for a whole month. After that month we can eat fast food only twice a month. Now when I say fast food I really mean Chick-Fil-A not gonna lie we love that place and we were eating it at least once (TWICE) a week. I know CRAZY GROSS!! On top of that I have started a portion control diet with the help of SENSA don't worry folks I'll keep you up to date on how it's going. I have also added 3 cardio work outs and 2 abdominal workouts to my weekly routine. Fingers cross I don't give up as easily as I have in the past. I am really excited about this diet and I am ready to look in the mirror again instead of rushing though my morning routine as fast as possible and avoiding as much eye contact with myself as I can. I know they say that sometimes you have to hit rock bottom, before your ready to make a change and last year I did it. When I stepped on the scale for the first time in almost 5 months two weeks ago the numbers that popped up devastated me. While I was pregnant with Grace I kept saying I want to get back down to my wedding weight before her first birthday, but instead I am still 20 lbs over. I am done talking about wanting to lose the weight..this is it I am putting up or shutting up this year!!

Holidays!!

Wowwers!!! I can NOT believe that 2013 is just days away. November and December of this year have flown by faster then green grass though a goose! I guess being busier then bees will do that huh?
Here's a quick run down of the Bostwick's past two months...

Nov- Steve upgrades to Aircraft Commander and we find out we are having a Nephew!!
11th-19th Katie and Gracie travel home to Georgia. Grace decides that she likes flying but only for 10- minutes then she wants out of the plane, but then again who would want to be coupe up for 3 hours in a plane when your just learning to run around??
19th-25th Brittany meets us in Denver!! Thanksgiving....Black Friday....Shopping Shopping Shopping....Brittany leaves. :-(


December!

3rd My mommy comes to visit.
6th- My little brother turns 16!!! Scary!!! / Steve's Aunt Judy comes to visit.
8th - Gracie's 1st birthday party!! I wanted to do it early since I didn't want to have her party and Christmas in the same week. Squadron Christmas party/ first time Steve and I have been out together without Grace since she's been born!
9th- Aunt Judy returns home.
12th- Daddy's bday!
15th- Kids Christmas Party/ learning Grace is TERRIFIED of Santa, but is okay as long as he isn't touching her.
17th- Steve mom's birthday/ My mom leaves.
18th- Steve's mom and sister Laura arrive to spend time with Gracie.
20th Gracie turns one!! I could write a whole other blog about how much I can't believe she had grown in a year and all, but I will just leave it at this...She amazes me everyday. Steve and I can't even begin to put into words how blessed we are and how much we love her.
21st- WE SURVIVED!!!
24th- Steve's mom and Sister leave.
25th Christmas Day!! I cook WAY to much food for us and 2 other couples but hey leftovers are always great right??

Needless to say I feel like these last two months have been a blur, but I wouldn't have it any other way. I love having family and friends around I guess that's just the Italian in me. I know next year will be just as busy with all the things we already have planned and I am so excited to see what other unforeseen things it has in store!

Keeping Christ in Christmas.

   So I know I am gonna get SOMEONE's panties in a twist reading this blog, but I urge you to read the WHOLE blog and please keep in mind that this is simply the ramblings of myself. As in this is my blog and I can write pretty much what I want to and if you don't like or agree with it fine no skin off my teeth.

   It is NO secret that I am a  cradle Catholic, born and raised and damn proud of it. I love my faith and I plan on raising my children in the same fashion I was. So obliviously I am going to celebrate Christmas as in the birth of Christ. I am going to dawn my house with an Advent wreath, Christmas Tree, lights, and as of yesterday my Nativity scene. On Christmas Eve we will attend Mass, come home open two presents for Grace one of which will be her Christmas Jammies and the second a book some how related to CHRISTMAS.  We will place cookies by the tree, put her to bed and patiently wait for Santa. The next morning we will wake her to the wonderful magic that Santa Clause somehow broke into our house without a chimney and place tons (and I do mean tons HELLO first Grandchild) of presents under the tree and filled her stocking. Then we will ready the story of the Nativity and the true meaning behind OUR CHRISTmas. This is how CHRISTMAS (or the Christ's Mass) will be celebrated in this HOUSE, because this is our faith and this is our belief.

    Are you panties wadded yet? For most of you no, because a lot of my friends and family will agree with what I just wrote and say that they practice similar things in their home. So here's where it's gonna get sticky. Let's do a little history lesson into Christmas. Alright Christian love ones...Why do we celebrate Christmas in December? If you said that is because that is when Jesus was born you would be wrong. Sorry. The Bible actually does not state when Jesus was born in either of the Gospels that his birth is mentioned. In fact evidence points toward Christ actually being born in the spring, I mean why are Shepherds herding sheep in the middle of winter? Even in the "middle east" it gets darn chilly in the winter. So back to my original question why do we celebrate it in the winter then? In the early years of Christianity we did not celebrate the birth of Christ. In fact the big holiday for us Christian's was Easter. Somewhere in the mid fourth century however, church officials decided to institute the birth of Christ as a holiday. Pope Julius I chose the date December 25th. It's actually believed this time was chosen to in an effort to adopt and absorb the traditions of pagan festivals such as Winter Solstice, Satunalia, Juvenalia, and the celebrations of pagan gods such as Yule and Oden. By holding Christmas at the same time as traditional winter solstice festivals it increased the chances that Christmas would be embraced. In the Middle Ages Christmas was actually celebrated much differently then we do now. On Christmas believers would attend church and then celebrate much the same way we celebrate Mardi Gras without the beads of course. Through out the centuries the traditions have morphed into the more family friendly modern Christmas that we celebrate today. So you may ask ok what's your point? My point is that YES there were festivals and "holidays" that were celebrated in winter LONG before we Christians made the whole month about the birth of our Savior. This is a fact I know and understand, but that being said I have another point to make.
 
    Don't tell me that you Celebrate Christmas but don't believe it had anything to do with the birth of Christ. How does that even make sense? Even you don't believe Jesus was the son of God there is ligament proof that a man named Jesus walked the Earth and preached to everyone he was the Son of God. It is because of this man and his teachings that the Holiday even exist. I don't believe there was a god named Odin who flew around in winter deciding who was worthy enough to keep alive and who was going to parish the next spring, but the story of Santa Clause is loosely based on this pagan belief although with the Catholic Bishop named Nicholas and a 1930s Coco-Cola Ad. The reality is that you can not celebrate one belief without accepting the understanding of the other. I am not saying that you have to celebrate Christmas like I do, but what I am saying is that you have to accept that Christmas as in the Holiday that we recognize on December 25th is in fact BASED on the birth of a man a Jesus Christ. Weather you chose to celebrate the religious holiday or the commercialized version of the holiday that is up to you and your household. The one thing I love the most about living in the United States that we are free to believe what we want and NONE of us should be judge on that, and for goodness sakes call it a Christmas Tree or a Yule-Tree but none of this Holiday Tree CRAP. If it looks like a duck, quacks like duck, it's a freaking duck!!!

Dismount Soap Box.

War on Sleep

About a month ago when Grace and I traveled to Georgia I assumed there would be some changes in Grace's sleeping habits. What I was not prepared for was the 3 week battle with my daughter to get her to sleep at all. It started our first night in GA, I knew that she would probably be up "later" then normal due to the fact that there is a 2 hour time difference. So I waited till about 9:30 pm EST to start our normal bedtime routine of bath, book, bottle, & bed. Everything was going great until we got to the bed  part. She refused to lay down at all. I thought okay she's just excited about being in a new place. So I let her run around some more with her Aunt and MeMaw. Finally at around midnight I was able to get her to lay down with me in the bed and fall asleep. I gently laid her down in her pac n play expecting her to sleep till at least 9 am. She got up at around 4 am and would not sleep unless she was laying in bed with me. I was exhausted so I gave in and she slept with me until 7 where she woke up bright eyed a bushy tailed. This patterer continued thought out the whole week we were there. Getting up in the middle of night sometimes going back to sleep once she realized I was in the room, but other times not sleeping again unless she was laying in bed with me. As good of a time it was to be back "home" I was looking forward to coming home getting her back into her routine in her room and getting a good nights "sleep".  I was so naive!!

I had expected some resistance to getting back into our sleep pattern, but as I said I was completely blind sided be the war that waged on for 3 weeks. The first week home Grace was up a minimum of 5 times a night. No amount of rocking, bottle feeding, or crying it out would put her to sleep. Since I knew letting her sleep in our bed was a BAD idea I would regret later I opted for making myself a small pallet of blankets and spent three nights on the floor in her room. After night 3 I just gave in letting her come sleep in our room at about 5 am just hoping for a couple of extra hours of sleep. Steve helped out when he could, but I always tried to let him sleep since I could cat nap with her though out the day although we had company that week so sometimes finding a nap was not easy. I was so excited when he took the morning shift that Saturday letting me sleep in till 8. As week 2 rolled around I figured I needed a new plan of attack. So I thought I will try this cry it out theory. As any mother out there knows the sound of her crying is just heartbreaking intensified by her pitiful cries of "MOMMA!", but I thought hey if gets her to sleep maybe it was worth the try. Grace decided she didn't like this game and pulled out her very own trump cards. She would either poop her diaper or throw up knowing that I would have to come in there and change/clean her up. Touché Grace Catherine! Since I didn't feel like cleaning up vomit every night I decided this method just wasn't going to work for us on to plan C.

Just ride it out....I figured this was just a phase and surely it would have to end sooner or later. Weather that meant another week or 5 years I had no idea, but nothing else was working. So week 3 came about and I decided to just go with the flow. I moved her bedtime back an hour in hopes that tiring her out a little more would help her sleep better. Which it did till about 4 am. Then I would get up with her, change her diaper and feed her about 2 ounces and place her back in bed. This method seemed to be working only twice that week did she wake up again before 7 am.  I took some advice from some mommy friends this past weekend and placed a dim light in her room and like 5 pacifiers in her crib. Sure enough monday night she slept from 9:30pm -7am. I thought I had died and gone to heaven when I woke up almost completely rested Tuesday morning. Tuesday night the same thing. I would hear her get up for about ten minutes move around the crib looking for her passy and then silence. I am trying really hard to not the jinx it but I think we have finally won the sleep battle. Which makes this mommy a very happy and pretty rested camper!! Just in time for the holidays!

9 1/2 Months

   I can not believe my little girl is 9 1/2 months old today. It seems like just yesterday I was sitting in the hospital room at Evans waiting for her to arrive. I know that in two and half months I will feel just the same as she turns one. I know I have been so terrible at keeping you folks updated on how she is doing, but that is because she keeps me so busy now a days.  Gracie took her first full step forward on September first. Steven and I were sitting on the couch after helping a friend move into her new house. Grace was playing with her activity table in the middle of the living room. I said something to her and she got super excited turned toward us and let go of the table. So I said "What are you going to do little girl? Walk?" Sure enough she took a step forward and was still standing. You could tell by the look on her face she was proud of herself. So she got brave and tried to take one more step, but atlas her legs gave and she fell. That was it for about two weeks. Every time she would be standing there by herself I would try to get her to come to me but she would get into crawling position and crawl over. Since then she has taken about 4 to 5 steps at a time across short distances, but not much more. I was guessing that she would be walking before Halloween, but now I am not sure. I know that she will do it when she'e ready and believe me I am not pushing her. This girl is all over the place as it is I can't even image what she's going to be like when she's upright! Other then that we are all doing well. Super excited for this holiday season! However not sure I am looking forward to winter. We are expecting our first snow TOMORROW! Two days earlier then last year. I am not ready for a long winter I would have enjoyed those 60 degree temps a little longer. :)

BEDTIME!!!

   So I am starting to wonder what happened to my kid. Grace has basically been an angel to put to bed from day one. She has had MAYBE a grand total of 5 bad nights since she has been born, but other then that bath, story, bottle, and SLEEP. NO PROBLEM. For some reason though the past week she has been fighting bedtime like it's the devil. Nothing has changed in our routine and she's not showing any signs of teething although I did give her the tablets tonight just in case. So last night I was like ok I am gonna give the cry it out method a try since nothing else is working. We started our normal bedtime routine at 8 and she was eating her bottle by 8:30 as normal. She fell asleep while still eating which is again normal for her. So I put her down in her crib and walked out. Before I could close the door she is full on SCREAMING!! So I was like ok let her cry......2 minutes later I am still kind of holding strong but failing fast. Grace has never been a cryer so when she does my heart just melts. After 10 minutes I couldn't take it especially when she started screaming MaMa and Dada. Even Steve (who had been studying for a check ride) put down the books and gave in. He picked her up and wham she threw up all over him. I checked her temp and everything was fine so I am assuming she cried herself sick. So I finally gave up and laid down in the guest bed with her and watched some Disney Jr. Night Light. She finally drifted off and I put her back in her crib at 10:30. Where she instantly woke back up and cried for about 2 minutes before going back to sleep till 645 this morning.
   Tonight she pulled almost the same thing. Crying until she got herself sick got her cleaned up and put her to bed where she cried for a couple minutes but drifted off shortly after. We will see how long it last. I hate listening to her scream and the getting so worked up she gets sick just doesn't sit with me. ANd I don't mean she cries for a while and gets sick I mean like 5 minutes of screaming and she's throwing up.  I'm just not okay with that at all. I know that giving in is just going to create bad bedtime habits that I am sure I will kick myself for later, but in the moment I just don't care. Ugh I really hope this is just a passing stage and that it will end fairly soon. I miss my angel who just wanted ten minutes in the rocking chair and then was out of the count.   I am also selfish and miss my mommy time at night even if it is only an hour. :-(