Wordless Wednesday - My Loves

Ignore the TERRIBLE hair day I was having

I need to get my roots done stat

I said Stand Down, not Stand Up

I've been struggling a bit to get out of this blogging funk I seem to be in.  But this morning I had grand plans to write this long, witty post about what's been going around here, and some updates on my ever-growing girls {how do I make that stop by the way, stop feeding them??} I never blogged about Baby C's nursery and I have some fun home-improvement projects I'm going to start soon and need to flush out some ideas on here.  But not only did I wake up with a head cold this morning, when I walked into Baby C's room this morning, this is what I was greeted with...

Umm, not cool baby girl.  You are only 8 months old!!!  I swear she will be running and talking in full sentences by her first birthday! 

So instead of blogging today I'll be up in her room wresting with a crib as I try and lower the mattress.  Good thing I have lots of this to help me get through the day.

Best.Day.Ever

Seven years ago today was hands down the *best* day of my life.  Skip came home safely today.  There is no better feeling in the world than when I finally got to hold him after all those months.  The joy, elation, and relief I felt were just indescribable. 

I will never forget those feeling and I will continue to honor this day every year for the rest of our lives..

Fur Baby Friday

Today I'm linking up with Mrs. Monologues for Fur Baby Friday!!

My two sweet pups do not get enough facetime on here, so I'm pretty excited to do a post just for them!

First up is my rarely-seen {by the blog and by me honestly} pup Shiba.  She is a Shiba Inu {I know, real original on the name...what can I say, it suited her!}  Shiba Inus are a Japanese dog and are kind of like miniature Akita's.  She's only 14lbs full grown.

Shiba is seven years old.  Skip and I bought her back in April 2005 right after he got back from Iraq and just before we got married.  She was our first baby and we loved her so much {still do don't worry}

Shiba is pretty much the weirdest dog I've ever met though.  She's more like a cat.  We can leave a bowl of food out for her and she will just pick at it when she's hungry.  She hates taking walks {which made it fun at the condo when we had to walk her} and all she wants to do is hide.

Seriously, she spends most of her day upstairs in either the nursery or our room, hiding behind doors and in corners. 

She hates pretty much everyone and everything except my little sis and chips....those are her two favorite things ever.

 She really is like the weirdest dog ever, but I wouldn't trade her for anything else in the world!

 And sure she might be the world's worst watchdog, but when she snuggles up with me in bed?  Best thing ever. 

My second fur-baby.  None other than the one and only Mr. B!

Mr. B is an English bulldog we got when he was only 7 weeks old back in July 2008.  I was pregnant with Little M at the time.  He was soooo tiny!

This is the first picture we ever saw of him!  We got him from a breeder in Ohio so we didn't see him until we brought him home. 

Seriously, I could not believe he was that little.

Obviously we had to get a bulldog...Marine Corps mascot!

This was his first day home.  Look at him compared to Shiba!

I wasn't sure that adding another dog right before a baby was the best idea we'd ever had, but this little guy wormed his way into my heart immediately.

Mr. B is the most loving, lazy, stinky dog I have ever met.  He does get a little nudgy and likes to chew things.  But other than that he's awesome.  All he wants to do all day is find a little piece of sun and pass out for hours.

He's not that into exercise, but will take walks with Skip.  He just loves the girls and they love him right back.  I'm so happy they have a real tough and tumble dog to grow up with. 

Mr. B and Little M when she was a baby!

At 48lbs he's actually on the smaller size of bulldogs....which makes him believe he's a lapdog!  He's totally good natured and puts up with a lot from us.

The Giants didn't lose a game when he wore this shirt!

He is a pretty good watchdog and a total love all at the same time.  As tough as having two kids and two dogs is, I wouldn't trade this little love nugget for anything either!

Few Things for Sale

Okay I'm doing a last ditch effort to sell a few of the girls clothes.  Shipping will be added after the sale for what it cost.  I can accept money through paypal.  Email me at mommymandymusings@yaho.com or leave a comment if you want anything!

Carters newborn short-sleeve and 3 month long-sleeve $5

Carters newborn $3

Carters 3 months $4



Sold




Sold




Sold




Sold




Sold



Our Day of Love

I know a lot of you won't agree with me, but I LOVE Valentine's Day.  I always have and always will.  It's not because I need a day marked on the calender to remind me to love on my husband and family...trust me, I know how precious life is, I love on them every second possible.  But it's nice to have a day set aside to just focus on each other.  And I will take any excuse for a date night!

Skip and I actually went out to dinner the night before Valentine's Day....we didn't want to take my mom away from my dad on the actual day!  We went to a local steakhouse we'd never tried before.  I don't eat red meat, but the chicken was amazing...they also had the best onion rings I've ever had in my life! I like getting to try new places with Skip.  After dinner we stopped by our friends new house to check it out before heading home.  It was a much needed, long overdue night out with my man.

Dressed up for dinner!

How cute is my man...made a heart out of ribbon for my gift!

For the past few years, we have made Valentine's Day about Little M, and now Baby C too!  It's fun to get them a few treats, work on some crafts, and take her out for a special dinner.  The girls woke up that moring to some Valentine's Day door hangers and hearts and flower pieces all scattered between their bedrooms.  When they came downstairs we gave them a few trinkets I picked up at the Dollar Tree for them. 

We quickly had breakfast then had to get the girls dressed and ready to take Baby C to her 8 month doctor's appointment {my 18 lbs girl is totally healthy!} Afterwards it was home for lunch and naps.

For dinner we headed over to one of our local malls {and by one of, there are 3 in the same town...3} This is something we do pretty regularly with the girls.  If you have young kids that might not just sit quietly in restaurant, but you and the hubs want to go eat with them?  Go to the mall.  Seriously, will change your life.

First we took Little M to ride the merry-go-round.  She is obsessed with horses these days and so this is one of her most favorite things to do.  She made sure to ride Cindy, who is obvsiously the best horse ever {so says Little M}

After the merry-go-round we took the girls to the Disney store.  Little M loves everything about that place!  She just wants to run around and see and touch everything.  But she is also very good about not asking to buy things really, unless we tell her she is allowed to.  She looks at it more like a museum {which is perfect for us}  But since it was Valentine's Day she was able to pick out a little something for herself. 

It was just about dinnertime and so we headed up to the foodcourt.  That is why you need to go to the mall with your little family if you want to go out to eat.  It's cheap, eveyone can eat what they want, you can roll the stroller right up to the table, and it's always so noisy that fussy kids don't stick out.  It's seriously one of our favorite things to do.  I have even brought the two girls there myself for dinner before!  It may not have been the romantic evening most of you had planned, but it was fun and stress-free.

Happy meal time with her new Beauty and the Beast characters

Happy in her stroller!

By the time we got home it was bath and bedtime for the girls and then relaxing time for Skip and I.  With my two girls now, my heart is so full and I was so happy to get to shower them with love on Valentine's Day