This view

I love this view. Makes me proud to be their mommy.

.....and now I smell a stinky. Not so proud.

Doctor, doctor!

Since we moved we've had to establish a new pediatrician for the girls. We were assigned to a middle-aged Indian woman. So far she seems okay.

Gabby saw her last week before Thanksgiving and was supposed to get shots but I didn't feel comfortable doing that before holiday travel. (Mike agrees with my medical decisions for the most part because I research everything). Well, she was supposed to get 5 vaccines today. I've been reading a lot for the last week or two about alternate/selective vaccination and decided which shots to give, which to refuse and which to delay. I wish I had researched more and refused more with Rosalie. Oh well.

So. Gabby got a shot today but that was it. She was 12.5lb and 24.5in last week.

Rosalie was 27lb 12oz but I'm not sure how tall she is. She was such a crab today and needed a nap. She was so whiny! The twos aren't going to be fun!

Home hunting...

Is no fun with small kids. Driving around just looking at the outsides was an experience with them. I can hardly imagine what actually looking at them will be like. We did narrow our list down to about 8 houses we are curious about though. I can't wait to get out of this gypsy lifestyle and have a place to call out own. To decorate. To really live. To grow. To establish traditions in. Play dates and sleepovers. Tea parties and dress up. Flag football and catch. The possibilities are endless. I just hope we can find something that we like and can make our own.

We also really need to find a church home. I'm worried we won't find somewhere that is child friendly. I hate disrupting other people's worship time with fussing babies. Other people's kids don't bother me when they fuss but I have a hard time focusing when it's my own kiddos. I'm hoping to find a church with a nursery but we will see.

4am

Gabby decided she needed a diaper change at 4 this morning. Here are some blurry action shots of our short play time before going back to sleep.

Resentment?

Why is it that I'm the ONLY one that can even think about getting Gabs to sleep. Seriously. It's getting incredibly old. I'm tired of being the only one. Sick of it actually. She screams every night for hours. I get looked at like I'm doing nothing but reality is that nothing works. After hours she finally succumbs.
I don't know if it's her personality, the fact that she's breastfeeding or what but I'm not sure how much more I can handle. I just want to give up and cry. No one can hold her hardly without her freaking out and then I spend even more time trying to calm her down.

I need her out of my bed and to sleep on her own for more than 20min at a time. I'm slowly going nuts.

I think I'm starting to resent mike. He can come and go as he pleases and I can't. He does. I haven't had but a showers worth of time completely to myself since before she was born. She does nothing but cry for him. Ugh.

Nursling

I love this sweet nursling.


I also love her big sissy who loves her sissy.

They light  up my life.

Moving day....again!

Tomorrow is moving day. Boy I can't wait to be done moving. Hopefully when we buy our house we won't have to move for quite awhile. That's the goal when buying a house, right? Never in my life did I think I'd own my own home (well with mike of course). It was just not something that ever crossed my mind. My dad always rented so I figured I would as well. I'm glad were buying. Renting seems like a giant waste of money.

Today is Election Day! We made our vote count, did you?

Stand Up!

Why is it that people can post/say opinions but the moment someone disagrees it creates pandemonium?  I'm fine with agreeing to disagree. I just don't understand how someone saying they disagree with your stance means that you have to get defensive, make red herrings and retract (delete in this case) your statement. If you made a mistake that's one thing but to just completely shut down? I don't get it. STAND UP for what you believe in, even if others disagree. There's nothing wrong with healthy discussion and disagreements. It makes life interesting! No need to be nasty of course. This is for any opinion, not just the topic at hand today.

While on this topic I feel like i need to ask my readers (all three of you?!) how you all feel about public breastfeeding and why. Think long and hard and really think about the why behind it.

Personally, I don't give a rats patootie what you do. Don't hate on (yup, getting "ghetto" here) mothers and how they feed their child. Breastfeeding is NORMAL and HEALTHY. I don't care if you cover, don't cover, feed in your car or elsewhere. Feed where you want. Babies shouldn't be banished to eating their meals in the bathroom. I do think that as mothers, women, wives that we should be discreet but sometimes babies just don't agree! They frequently like to play with covers and throw them off! That doesn't mean you have to cover but if your wearing a tank top, use a burp rag or something to cover some skin. I believe in modesty and i think that breastfeeding can be a beautiful experience and still modest. I frequently breastfeed Gabs without a cover. If it makes you uncomfortable please feel free to look away.

I feel the need to be forthright. Before I was a mom (a nursing mom especially) I thought that covering up was something you should do. I thought "Oh, why does that woman have to breastfeed without a cover, how rude!" I also had no intentions on breastfeeding before I did research and had Rosalie. Rosalie got the wonderful nutrients from mamas milk for all of two weeks before I gave up. Yes, gave up. I blamed (and still do sometimes) it on lack of support, having no idea what I was doing and what was normal, etc. All kinds of excuses. This time around I was determined. It's been hard, no doubt about that. I used to be against breastfeeding past a certain age but now that makes no sense to me and I have no idea when I'll stop. I don't see myself breastfeeding a toddler but who knows!

Gabby's first feed :)

In this article the author points out that sometimes we literally just don't have an extra hand. I hadn't even thought about that. Between keeping track of your diaper bag, using a cover, positioning baby, sometimes holding your breast and possibly trying to hold on to a wandering toddler it just isn't always convenient or easy.

I realize that this is all jumbled up and all over the place. I'm just typing as things come to me.

People (including mike at one point) say "oh, why can't you just pump and give a bottle?" First things first. Women shouldn't HAVE to pump and give a bottle. Now,  not all women are able to pump. I can attest to that. I'm lucky to get like 3oz in half an hour which isn't enough for a single feeding and some women can't even get that! Not to mention the possible expense of a pump. Why pump when boobies are free? Sometimes babies just do NOT take a bottle no matter what you do. Seriously. I know it sounds insane but it's the honest truth. Gabby is one of those babies that it was like pulling teeth (where did that expression come from I wonder) to get her to take a bottle.

I don't consider myself a lactivist. I don't think that formula is poison, nor do I think anyone is a bad mom for not breastfeeding. Do I wish more women would breastfeed? Of course, there's so much good that can from feeding your kids what was made for them and holy moly is it easier!

Daddy Baby Music Time

Evidently Rosalie loves music and loves when daddy plays the guitar. Makes this mama's heart happy.

Life In Indiana

Our time in the active military life has nearly come to an end. Mike gets out officially in mid december. I have to admit it's a little bittersweet. I loved the experiences we had while he served. The people, the places, the fun stuff we got to do and the military culture are all things I'll never regret. The military life is a tough life for anyone and I give mad props that can do it for years on end. I don't do well without Mike by my side and he hated missing out on things with Rosalie and didn't want to continue to miss out. He also didn't like a lot of the bull that goes along with the military.

On that note, we're really excited to be back in Indiana! Mike searched briefly for jobs outside of Indiana and came up empty handed so here we are. Happily, here we are.

 Mike officially accepted a position with Dish Network in Terre Haute. It seems like a great opportunity for him and will bring on some sort of stability. It's obviously much closer to home than anywhere we've been in awhile but still far enough that we'll still be off in our own little world. We've found an apartment that has a short-term lease option and we move in next Wednesday and will begin looking for a house soon. I'm looking forward to purchasing, decorating, and having our own space. Something that is truly ours, not rented or borrowed. I'm even looking forward somewhat to the stress of buying a house! Yep, as whack job as that sounds, I am!

The girls have adjusted really well and are loving all the time they're getting to spend with family. Well, Rosalie is. Gabby hasn't got much of a clue. They're both growing like weeds. Rosalie must be going through a huge growth spurt as she's eating grandma and grandpa out of house and home! Gabby's doing great as well and her reflux seems to be relatively under control. We just need to have her meds adjusted but since Tricare has no Prime providers in the area I'm afraid we're out of luck for the time being and will have to switch to Prime Remote or Standard and see what happens. Annoying but I'm just thankful to have insurance at all! 

Next thing is to find a church we can attend and feel welcomed in. I'm excited to find one and excited to get involved in our community. I want the girls to grow up involved and with lots of activities and fun things to do. 

Our sweet Monkey

Happy Halloween from the Fronckowiaks! (also, our first family picture since Gabs was born)

Someone's gonna be a rocker!