The Last Supper

As of one week ago, I relinqished my title of the milk cow, and am still a little sad about it. When I began the nursing process I wasn't sure how it would go, but I knew I had a goal of making it to the one year mark, and beyond if possible. Fortunately for me, breastfeeding was a positive experience, and I had virtually no trouble with it. We began the weaning process around 11 months, and now at 14 months Bradley is officially weaned.

On the night I decided it was time to try to cut out the last nighttime feeding, I read Bradley his stories as usual and turned out the light. Instead of singing to him as I nursed however, I rocked him in my arms and then put him down in his crib. He didn't appear frustrated at the lack of his usual night-cap, so it became apparent to me that Bradley was fine with this transition. I however was experiencing all kinds of emotions! I was sad that my little boy was growing up, and mourning the loss of what had been a big part of motherhood for me. No longer was I soley responsible for feeding him, and he would never be dependent on me in the same way.

As I was thinking about all these things, while stroking Bradley's head wistfully, my sweet little man looked up at me from his crib and farted! It was just what I needed to lighten the mood! Immediately I started to laugh, and so did he, pacifier in mouth. Yes, I decided, things were changing, but I would make it through this transition just fine. Still smiling, I closed the door to Bradley's room, and also to a chapter in our lives.

Good news

Thanks to all the prayers that were said for me, Bradley, and everything surrounding our doctor's appointment this week. The hematologist called me yesterday with the outstanding news that Bradley's labwork came back totally normal. After hearing this news and emailing my pediatrician, Bradley is in the clear. No more doctor's appointments, and no more iron drops! I must have breathed the biggest sigh of relief ever yesterday after hearing that news. Thank you Jesus for protecting my little boy and keeping him healthy. And thank you to everyone who prayed with the faith that I could not muster.

I honestly thought the doctor would tell me Bradley had a mild condition, so that was the focus of my best-case-prayer scenario. But luckily God is bigger than my limited faith and he gave us a great diagnosis. As Lisa Thompson's mom would text, PTL!

cautiously optimistic

We just got back from the hospital a little while ago, and right now I'm cautiously optimistic. The hematologist seems to think Bradley does Not have the blood condition thalassemia, but went ahead and did more blood work to check his prognosis. We should hear by Friday the lab results and then go from there. Without going into all the specific details, the doctor has good reason to believe Bradley's numbers are just on the low side of what's considered normal. Thank you for all the prayers lifted up. To have a diagnosis overturned that his pediatrician was certain of is nothing short of a miracle. I told God that's obviously what I would want to hear, but that we would trust Him with whatever the outcome. Honestly I prepared myself to hear that Bradley had a mild for of thalassemia, and had done so much research on the disease, that when the doctor told me his thoughts, I was rendered speechless! My list of questions I had prepared was now moot, and all I can say is that God is good.

Prayer Request

As the new week begins, I have something weighing very heavily on me, and could really use some prayers. Wednesday afternoon I have to take Bradley to see a pediatric hematologist (a blood specialist) to confirm his pediatrician's diagnosis of a genetic blood disorder called thalassemia. I had never even heard of this disease before a few weeks ago, but after Bradley tested positive for anemia, both before and after we'd had him on iron drops daily for 6 weeks, the doctor called with this diagnosis and referred him to a specialist. Hopefully this all sounds worse than it actually is, because Bradley's pediatrician had reason to believe this was a mild case that would likely never affect his life, and would require no further treatment, except that he will be anemic his whole life. Of course I have been doing my research online, and when you read about worst-case scenarios including blood transfusions and bone marrow transplants it's scary.

I realize that as a mom there was absolutely nothing I could have done to prevent Bradley from getting this, it's just the way the genes ended up, and so now I am focused on getting educated and learning what I need to do to keep Bradley as healthy and normal as possible. Our appointment is on Wednesday at 1:30pm so if you could lift us up at that time, that would be wonderful. Pray not only for a good diagnosis, but pray that I would stay calm (I tend to majorly stress out and get flustered in these types of situations), and that I would be able to comprehend all that the doctor has to tell us. Ann is going with us too, to give us an extra set of ears, and to help with Bradley so that is already a huge blessing. The other cool thing is that I researched both hematologists we could have been sent to, and the one we are seeing did his med school at the University of Kentucky. I made the appointment with him to give us a common bond right off the bat, and it helped ease my fears just going into the appointment with that knowledge.

I appreciate your prayers so much. Lord willing, this will be something minor, and nothing to worry about. I know other parents are not always so lucky, having children with severe illnesses, and so I already feel blessed right off the bat.

shade, and poo, and the ocean blue

Bradley and I were in uncharted territory today. We went to the beach by ourselves. Some friends of ours were supposed to meet us there, but at the last minute they backed out on us. I was already in my swimsuit, and lathering up Bradley with sunscreen when I found out. To heck with this, I thought. I'm not going to let my beach plans get spoiled. We can go by ourselves. So away we went.

I'm used to hauling Bradley, the umbrella, and the beach bag down to the beach by myself, but it's no picnic, let me tell you. It's a Looong way from the parking lot to the ocean! Nevertheless, I was not to be deterred from my Saturday at the beach. I wisely selected a spot in front of the lifeguard stand, lest I get attacked by a shark in the water with Bradley in my arms. I wanted eyewitness, and a chance at being saved. So I spread out Clifford the big red blanket, and commenced to set up the beach umbrella. I've decided after today that Satan's minions are in control of that umbrella. I literally lost count of how many times the umbrella uprooted itself from the sand, no matter how deep I twisted it into the ground, or which direction I pointed the shade. What really burned me up was that not one person offered to help me, when I was obviously alone with a baby, and obviously struggling to keep the thing standing so my little boy could have shade. Not even the friendly lifeguards would even look my way. As I looked around at all the other umbrellas dotting the beach, they mocked me in their upright position. Why was this so difficult? Brian never has trouble with it, so it's my own ineptitude to blame, but I'd rather put the fault on Satan's minions.

The last straw with the umbrella was the final time it decided to blow out of the ground and turn inside out, barely missing impaling my son. I jumped up and caught hold of the thing, flipped it back right side out, threw it on the ground and buried it in the sand so it wouldn't fly away and hurt some poor beach goer who refused to help me. Maybe I should have let karma take over on that one.

There was one other event that made this beach trip so memorable. Right after we got there, Bradley was sitting on Clifford in the shade of the still-standing umbrella, and I had just given him some goldfish to munch on. All of a sudden I am smacked in the face by the distinct aroma of poo. I wince in horror, praying it's not what I think it is. But I'm fairly perceptive when it comes to the scent of poo, so I was unfortunately right on the mark. Now mind you, Bradley has never once had a poopy diaper at the beach, but of course it would happen today, the one time I'm by myself to deal with it. I weigh my options. Go all the way back to the car and change his diaper, or two, remove the offensive cloth and wipe Bradley clean with the 2 measly wipes that I found in my beach bag, and then scrub him down in the ocean. I opted for door number 2, pun intended.

I figure, it's not a swimming pool right? The ocean is big enough to handle a little feces every now and then. So off came the diaper, back on went the swim trunks, and into the ocean we went. All in all it was not nearly as dramatic as it could have been, and the only immediate negative side effect from this decision was the smell of poo from the nearby diaper lying in the sand, wafting in my general direction every so often while I was soaking up the rays.

Between the dirty diaper episode and me chasing the umbrella every 10 minutes we somehow managed to stick it out for about 2 hours. Finally we gave up, packed up and headed home to shower. Along the way back to the car, I deposited one busted umbrella and one stinky diaper in the trash receptacle, glad to have both off my hands.

Today I To-Did

Yes, it is I, your faithful DIVA, up late working for you, the reader. I'm working to make your reading experience of this blog a more pleasant one. I've tweaked, and shuffled, and added new features. Thanks to Rachel, I've discovered a new site with super cute backgrounds, and wanted to use them all, but finally settled on this one, aptly called "your highness." I thought it was suitable for a DIVA's page.

Yesterday I was a hot mess. Today, I am superwoman. Here are all the things I accomplished today:

Friday's To-Do List

1. watered my hanging baskets (twice)
2. emptied the trash cans and took out the garbage
3. washed a sink full of dishes
4. loaded/ran the dishwasher and put those away
5. 2 loads of laundry; washed, dried, and put away
6. put the finishing touches on Brian's care package and mailed it at the post office
7. went to walmart (what day is complete without this?!)
8. shopped at the commissary on base for non-perishable groceries
9. called insurance to make sure everything was set for Bradley's dr. apt.
10. cooked and ate a fabulous Mexican meal for dinner
11. talked to a former coworker for 25 minutes today
12. talked to Conley for 2 hours tonight
13. picked up Bradley's refill prescription of iron drops
14. updated the blog
15. watched the Titans lose their preseason game

WHEW!!! This was one productive day (and this doesn't even count all the time spent on email and Facebook and playing with Bradley!), and I am darn proud of all that I accomplished. Bring on the Beach tomorrow, baby!

Dubs Down

I am still learning all the protocol for what is acceptable and not acceptable to talk about and write about concerning Brian's deployment, but last week we hit the 20 day mark of him being gone. In the long run, 20 is still a small number, but I feel like it was a good milestone to achieve. In my OCD-ness, it is a nice, neatly packaged set of 10, so that makes me feel like we've accomplished something. 20 days in reality feels like a lot longer though. It's hard to believe it's only been a few weeks, and can get discouraging when I think of how many days are still ahead of us, so that's why I count down to the next set of 10 days, so I can put another check mark in the box.

Thankfully, I've had 2 sets of visitors, first Ari, and then my parents and sister, so that has helped fill up my time. I'm still running 3 times a week with Jess and Kim, and I have still met my personal goal to get out of the house at least once a day. Brian has easy access to a phone, so he has been able to call me almost daily, and usually more than once a day. He's doing fine where he is, except that he has mentioned killing a lot of mice, and the food there being terrible.

Bradley is walking a ton now, so he is keeping me busy. More than once today he has appeared behind me out of nowhere seemingly, and silently, so I've started to refer to him as "my little ninja." I leave him in his room to play, and then BAM! out of nowhere, he's behind me as I'm folding laundry or at my feet as I open the refrigerator.

If you're keeping up with the tropics (and you know I am!), tropical storm Claudette dumped a lot of rain on us here, but nothing else to report, and it looks like we don't have much to worry about with Hurricane Bill in the coming days either. As always though, you can count on me, "Hurricane Bradley" to stay abreast of the latest tropical disturbance.

Let them eat diaper cake

I am just so darn proud of this diaper cake that I had to post a picture to share! I made this (with some help from Mama B while she was here this weekend) for my friend Felicia who, in case you couldn't tell by the cake, is having a little girl. I got so excited to buy pink stuff, and this gift was really easy and fun to put together. I think total I spent just under $30, but I figured I know plenty of fabulous ladies who may need a diaper cake in the future, so I jumped at the chance to get in some practice.

the 2/3 DIVA convention

Ari, one of my best friends in the whole world, and fellow DIVA, came to visit me and Little B last weekend. We didn't do much, but the kind of friends where you can just sit around and talk are the best kinds of friends I think.

Saturday night, the day aunt Ari arrived, we went over to Wes & Jess' next door to hang out with a bunch of people after Bradley had gone to bed. Ari got to meet all the people we usually run around with, and confused everyone there when she announced that Bradley (meaning me) had cooked the most amazing dinner that night!

DIVAS reunited!! (it had been way too long)

The next day we went to church, watched Pineapple Express (my current favorite movie, available any time for me on Demand) and laughed a ton. After B got up from his nap we ventured into Pensacola and found this store in the mall:

As Ari commented on Facebook, the store was a little ghetto-fab, but still blog-worthy nonetheless. Our mission that day was to find Bradley some Big Boy shoes now that he's walking. That was our mission, and we chose to accept it. And the mission was accomplished. I posted a hilarious video on my YouTube channel with B trying to figure out what the heck is on his feet (his new sandals). He isn't too sure about them at this point!

Monday, Ari babysat for me while I went to my yearly doctor's appointment, and then when I got home we discovered this amazing Mexican restaurant in Navvare called the Cactus Flower Cafe. I for sure had a food-gasm that day. We tried to take B to the butterfly house and/or water park after lunch but they were both closed that day, so we headed back to the house to chill for a while, while B took his nap. I made us some sangria slushies and we sat out back on the patio and sipped on those. They were quite refreshing!

Later that day, Ari, my non-beach-loving friend decided that we could drive to the beach a take a walk as it was later in the day, and hopefully the sun wouldn't be as brutal. Wrong! It was miserably hot, and the delightfully warm water was just a tease to me as I could only dip my toes in. I pulled out my 6-way infant carrier that I haven't used with Bradley in forever, and we attempted to hook it up so I could carry Bradley on my back. This was a picture of us laughing hysterically while trying to adjust it, and Bradley was looking at us bewildered of what was so funny, which only made us laugh harder.

Eventually, we scrapped the carrier idea and just traded off carrying the chunky monkey on the beach walk. That evening we sat outside drinking and talking, and solving the universe as only good friends can. I was sad to see Ari leave the next morning, but so thankful we live within driving distance. And now we get to look forward to the end of September when we will have a 3/3 DIVA convention, the first time all 3 of us have been together since Bradley was born in June of 08. I can't count the days fast enough.

Fodder? I don't have to tell you the rest!

I knew that Ari's mom was coming to visit her today, so I had a brilliant idea for a funny while I was getting ready today. I called up Ari... ring ring ring
Hello, says Ari.
Hey, I say, I was just calling to see if Joe was there yet.
Joe?, she replies inquisitively. Joe who?
Joe MOMMA!!! I exclaim as I burst into laughter!
It was the perfect set-up. I couldn't believe she fell for it. Later in the conversation she was saying something about chameleons on her back porch. I interrupted her.
Are they Karma ones?
What? She asked.
Are they karma chameleons? I pursued.
You really need to get a hobby, she replied.
But I know deep down she really loves me and my horrible jokes.
I'm blogging about this, I say to her. This stuff will make for some great blog fodder, and I don't even know-er.
Yes, I add the punchline to my own joke. Ari is long since tired of that joke, which makes it all the more funny to me. I sincerely hope the rest of you are rolling your eyes too. And your ease, except after seize.

a pin eons

First off, happy birthday to 2 very special ladies, and former SOGWEAW members- Ari is 28 today, and Emilio is 27 tomorrow! Love you, ladies!

Secondly, it appears that my son was born with an opinion, like everyone else, and he has just begun to make those opinions known. It's funny to watch this process unfold, as frustrating as it might be at times. Case in point. Bradley always has a banana for breakfast. He's been eating a banana for months now without fail, only recently it has come to my attention that if there is any other food on the breakfast table, the banana bits get thrown to the floor. So I have to compromise and give him half of a banana, and when that's all gone, then I can pull out the cereals, the muffins, the whole grain waffles, and give him that. But once the carbs have entered the scene, the uneaten fruit becomes a distant second, squashed on my hardwood floors.

Bradley also has opinions on books. We read every night before bed, first thing in the mornings most days, and occasionally at other points in the day. Most of the time he turns the pages willingly of whatever book I choose. But today we played a fun new game. I sat on the floor of his room, and Bradley crawled to his basket of books on the floor and chose a book for me to read. He crawled back to me, book in hand, and I sat him on my lap and read the book. When I was done, I sat the book aside, creating a stack of "read books" intending that he go and get a new one. But all of a sudden, he is obsessed with his ladybug book! I read it, and put it down, and he picked it back up. After reading it 3 times this afternoon, and 3 times tonight, and him getting pissed when I refused to read it once more (3 is my threshhold) I smiled when I realized my little boy has favorites, and he's showing me in the only way he knows how, what he likes and what he doesn't like. Luckily, I like the ladybug book too... for now!

One week of deployment down...

Too many to count to go!

So far Brian and I have been able to talk on the phone almost every day. Our longest phone call to date has been 12 min 38 seconds; most average around 6 minutes. I'm so thankful for that time though. He usually sounds tired when I talk to him since he's just finished working and getting ready to go to bed, but no news is good news otherwise. I've been told that if I don't hear from him, it means everything's A-okay, and that if there were some kind of emergency, I'd be notified quickly. This has become our reality for the next 3 months. I'm grateful that the calendar now says "August" because it means November is just a little bit closer.

So far I've met my goal to leave the house at least once a day. I even went running Thursday night with my 2 friends/neighbors Jess and Kim. We ran for 30 minutes at a nearby park, with walking intervals in between. For someone who hasn't run in a long time, and to have to push a stroller while doing it, I was pretty pleased with myself. We're supposed to go again tonight, so wish me luck.

Not much else to report on the home front. Bradley is walking a little more at a time. He still would rather crawl, or have me pick him up so I need to encourage him to self-propel since my wrists are starting to act up again. Pray for that, and pray for Brian, Bart, and the rest of our troops.

Let's go to the zoo!

The effin zoo may have been closed for Ray and Jerry, but not for us! Ann and I took Bradley to the Zoo of Northwest Florida, which is conveniently across the street from our neighborhood. I had been waiting to take Bradley when he was old enough to recognize some of the animals and pay attention to them.


Here's Bradley & Grandma Anna, waiting for the train. You will notice of course that B is decked out in his safari hat, and tiger shirt and shorts! He is ready to see some animals!

On Tuesdays & Thursdays they have a Zoo Tots program for kids under 5 which includes storytime (which Bradley could not have cared less about), a train ride through the park (which Bradley was too hot and fussy to enjoy, plus the animals weren't close enough to gain his attention) and a live animal encounter, which Bradley LOVED! Here he is about to pet Pepe, the Gecko

And now petting Hedgie, the Hedgehog

We got to see lots of different kinds of monkeys, lions, tigers, and bears, oh my!

I know what I smell, and it wasn't no brimstone!

Bradley's favorite were the sheep, because he got to touch them, and the giraffe. After traversing the grounds for several hours, a hot and sweaty Bradley was ready for some lunch and a much-needed nap. Hopefully we will get to go again soon. Thanks for taking us, Grandma Anna!

Driving down Hwy 98 is like deja vous... all over again

A lot of people have been asking how I'm doing, adjusting to Brian being gone. Usually I'm fine until they ask, and then I start to fight back the tears. Yesterday was both and "up" and "down" day for me.

Bradley and I drove out to Panama City Beach to visit Rhonda & Joe on their mini-vacay. The weather cooperated, so we got in some beach time. We burried Joe in the sand, and Bradley actually enjoyed being in the Big Ocean for a change- I think I finally figured out the trick here- take him out past where the waves are breaking, and he loves being held and splashing in the water! Of course with Photo Joe and his lovely wife around, they had the camera and were taking pictures, so I don't have any of my own to share yet, but I'm sure they'll be good when I get them.

After beach time, we headed up to the condo for lunch and cleaned up and left to go shopping at a nearby area called The Pier. We treated ourselves to ice cream, and Rhonda and I had to pose for a picture in front of the Panama City Beach location of Tootsie's Orchid Lounge! I didn't realize there was one down here. Joe left us briefly to go look at shoes, so Rhonda suggested we go in this store called Deja Vous. So then I suggested we go in this store called Deja Vous. :)

After a small poop explosion from Bradley which required an outfit change in the family bathroom, we drove around a little more, and then dropped Rhonda and Joe back off at their condo. It was Bradley's nap time, and time for us to head back west on Highway 98. I did take one picture on our drive back. It's a little weak for the TAR blog, but I laughed nevertheless.

Laura guessed that maybe she was a pig farmer. I suggested perhaps she's a manager of a Honeybaked ham store.

Driving past base on my way home, I couldn't help but see all the uniformed people driving home from a normal day at work and feel sad that Brian was not one of those people. On a positive note, I have gotten a phone call from him almost every day so far, and daily emails as well so that helps. He is doing well and adjusting to his new job and schedule. So far I have met my goal so far of physically getting out of the house at least once a day. Today will be no different. I'm taking Bradley to have some follow up bloodwork done for his anemia, and then tonight we have church and choir. Happy Hump Day to everyone.

Steppin out with my baby

Maybe Bethany will be the only one who'll get the title of this blog (JustJazz!!!) but the point is, Bradley is Walking!!!

He took his first official steps on Friday before Brian left (I wasn't in the room when it happened, but he and Ann got to see it) and then today Ann and I got him to take several steps in a row and document them on video.


And remember, you can see this video and more on Bradley's very own Youtube channel:
http://www.youtube.com/AVilendrer so subscribe now and be notified when new videos are posted automatically.

Shoes Blues

Twelve minutes and thirty five seconds. That is exactly how long I got to talk to Brian today. I never knew that a phone call could make me so overjoyed, or so overcome with sadness at the same time. Most of you know this by now, but Brian has left for Afghanistan, and won't be back until sometime in November. It seems like an eternity away at this point, but those who have been through spouses deploying before tell me that the first two weeks are the hardest. After that, you realize you can do it, and you create a new normal, and a new routine.

I look around and see Brian everywhere. His shoes by the front door, his towell hanging in the bathroom, his Mountain Dew bottle left on the counter, and I don't want to move any of it because I don't want to take "him" out of our home, and of our lives. But then my OCD kicks in, and slowly but surely I am starting to put the towell in the hamper to be washed, and rinse out the Mountain Dew bottle and put it in the recycling bin. The shoes however, are a different story. Even though that's one of the tiny things I've learned to accept about living with Brian- he leaves a pair of shoes by the door so he can slip them on when he leaves. I would prefer they stay hidden on a shoetree in our closet. But those shoes laying there on our front step just remind me of him, as if I could forget anyways. So the shoes will stay where they are. At least for now.

short road trip

Please point and click your mouse HERE when you're done reading to see the newest addition to the long-ignored That Ain't Right blog. These came from a recent roadtrip to the other side of Panama City, FL to visit Brian's Grandpa Cimpher.

Tuesday we drove out to Port St. Joe, FL to visit Grandpa Cimpher in the nursing home. It's about a 3- 3 1/2 hour trip each way, but he was sure glad to see us! I'm so glad we got to drive out and visit before Brian leaves for Afghanistan soon.

Bradley with his great-grandpa Cimpher

Me, Brian, and Bradley with Grandpa Cimpher. I gave up trying to get a picture where everyone was looking and smiling at the camera, so this is as good as it gets!

It's not easy bein Green!

Kermit the frog said it best: it's not easy being green. I liken the whole global green movement to eating healthy. It often costs you more time, and more money, but in the end it's better for you. That's how I feel about the making the effort to "go green" and reduce our carbon footprint on the world. My sister in law Sarah could probably give a lot of facts to back up what we're doing (and maybe she will post a comment with some info and other helpful hints, hint hint!) but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord, and we will do our part, one thing at a time, to be kinder to our planet. Here's what we've done so far:

• Recycle. We purchased 3 recycling bins from Lowe's, and we recycle paper/cardboard, plastic, glass, and aluminum (an added perk is that since we recycle, we can share the cost of trash pickup with our neighbors b/c we don't produce as much)
• Replaced all our lightbulbs with the long-lasting environmentally-friendly CFL ones
• Installed a timer to our hot water heater. Now it kicks on twice a day, between 5:30 and 8am, and again at 5:30-7:30pm, and we still have plenty of hot water throughout the day
• Be conscious about turning off lights when we leave rooms, especially keeping the computer turned off when not in use
• Unplugging appliances like the toaster, and even the coffee maker when not in use, and phantom energy users, like ipod docks and cell phone chargers, that consume energy when left plugged into an outlet
• Installed an energy-saving shower head which reduces the water pressure, saving several gallons of water for each shower taken
• Keeping our thermostat set at higher temps in summer, cooler in winter. I'm cold natured and this usually doesn't bother me. Ours is at 77-78 during the day, and 75 at night after we put Bradley to bed. We also turn the temp up a degree or two when leaving the house.
• Run the dishwasher/washer/dryer only when we have a full load
• Use reuseable cleaning cloths in place of paper towells whenever possible
• Use reuseable shopping bags
• Purchased a special power strip for our office, so that once the computer is turned off, all the other accessories will shut off automatically
• Stopped buying bottled water, and other individual plastic bottled drinks and use refillable bottles instead
• Use tupperware instead of plastic baggies whenever possible

Now that I look at the list it seems like a lot, but Brian and I are constantly looking at ways to reduce energy consumption even more, so any ideas of your own would be helpful, and I hope our list inspires you to take steps to go greener. This site is a good place to start if you need ideas.

POP goes my baby

The blog title references a song in of one of my favorite movies, Music And Lyrics. The subject matter of the film focuses on pop music and the impact it has on people's lives. I use my Bachelor of Music degree every day (thanks mom and dad for college!) to sing to Bradley. Most of the time, we sing pop songs with the lyrics changed to apply to him. I thought I'd share a few of these.

• B-man (Michael Jackson's Beat It)- since B-Man is Brian's nickname for Bradley
• Gwen Stephani's Holla Back Girl- during breakfast, since B has a banana almost every morning. The song serves educational purposes!
• Munchkin Man (Macho Man- the Village People)- since another nickname is munchkin
• Miss New Booty- Bubba Sparxxx- yes, some will wag their finger at me for singing offensive rap to my child, but it just comes naturally since we refer to Bradley's derriere as his "booty!" (the lyric most often sung is "Booty booty booty rockin' everywhere!"
• All the single Babies (All the single Ladies- Beyonce)- this is a favorite of mine to sing to Bradley as he immediately starts clapping along, just like in the real song, whenever I sing to him

I'm sure there are more, but they escape me at the moment. I love surrounding Bradley with music and making it a part of every day life. I can't wait til the day he hears the real version of a song we sing to him, and recognizes that it has different lyrics than the ones we usually sing!

Fashion rose pas

This morning Bradley and I went to our first ever Spouses gathering for Brian's squadron.  It was an informal coffee at Panera, and it marked the first time I would meet other wives whose husbands are in the same squadron as Brian.  After a year of being here, I figured it was about time I got involved, plus it gave me an excuse to get a cinnamon crunch bagel from Panera!  Nevertheless, I was nervous about going.  Would these ladies be snooty and not welcome me into their group?  Would they frown upon the fact that I brought Bradley with me?  I got up extra early this morning to give me enough time to shower and get ready before Bradley got up, and I decided on a bright red shirt and jeans to wear.

Well now I'm home, and the coffee couldn't have gone better.  I met so many wonderful ladies, and two other moms had brought their little girls with them, so it eased my fear about bringing children to these sorts of events.  I whisked Bradley inside to get him down for a nap since he missed his morning one completely, and I'm feeling pretty chipper, and confident that I could have made some potential new friends.  All of a sudden, I look down at my feet, and in horror, realize that I still have my hot pink flip flops on from this morning, when I slid them on to water our plants out front!  I had meant to change shoes and left the house in rush to make it on time, and forgot to make the switch.  I am mortified, and hoping that no one else noticed my fashion faux pas of a red shirt with pink shoes!  So much for making a first impression, huh?