Someone needs an attitude adjustment

My hellacious child (can you feel the love oozing?) has decided to make today the worst day ever. On top of having to have 2 finals to complete by Thursday, a mountain of laundry to wash and another to fold, dishes and wiping down the countertops, sweeping and vacuuming, and a scattering of toys across my house to put away, my daughter has decided to throw tantrum after tantrum. The total for timeouts is now up to 5, and it's not even noon. I know she got plenty of sleep last night, but whatever the case, she is not in a good mood.

• I tried to have her help me pick up her toys, and put all the letter magnets back on the fridge, but instead she threw them at me. So, that was a time out.

• I asked her to not unfold the blankets I had just folded and put away on the couch armchair, and while looking at me, she slowly pulled the bottom blanket out, unfolding all three of them. Time out number 2.

• I asked her to come out of my room so I could shut the door (she's not allowed to just hang out in there), and she just continued to play in the dogs bed. Time out number 3.

• I handed her some books to put away on her shelf, and she ripped out a page. Time out number 4.

• I sat her in her chair for a snack, and instead of eating her banana and oranges, she threw them at the dog, who wasted no time engulfing them like I hadn't already fed her. Time out number 5.

Needless to say, I will not be able to run my errands today before a friend stops by at 3. I may not even have time to take a shower because instead of having the house picked up before nap time so I can shower, I will be using her nap time to clean.

Baby name updates

Well, it seems that agreeing on a name with my husband was not as difficult as I thought. I mean, we did go through A LOT of names, but we have both agreed on a very pretty name. Annelise. It's a German name that is originally spelt Anneliese, but I think I prefer the American spelling leaving out the extra "e". I don't want to give her some odd spelling that no one can spell. I remember a lot of people in school having odd spellings, and they were constantly annoyed with people spelling their name wrong. Although, my name is spelt "correctly" and it was still spelt weird at times. I mean, come on, how hard is Tiffany to spell? Haha.
Anyway, now the battle is over the middle name. I think John likes Annelise Mae the best, which is good since the other option was to give her my middle name, Nicole. I don't know if that's a good idea or not. I mean, it is passing it down, which is neat, and since it's not a first name, it's not going to cause any confusion. But, I would like to give her her own unique name, like I did with Victoria.
In other news, we are all doing well, and trying to study to finish our finals this next week. Both of my classes are online, so I have to finish my finals by Thursday. I have to write a 5 page essay, which I have given very little thought on since I still have NO idea what I'm going to write about. It doesn't have many requirements, we just had 3 different styles available. And, none of them have called out to me as something I'd like to write. I like how there isn't many guidelines, but at the same time, guidelines do help you narrow down all your ideas. So, hopefully today and tomorrow I can figure something out and have it done before Thursday. I don't want to wait until the last minute.
My other final is an art test with 50 accumulative multiple choice questions. It's open book, so I just want to browse through the book and take it as soon as I can since I've been working on art the last couple days. I surprisingly really liked my art class. It opened my eyes a little to not only the history of art, but how it's created, and how it's critiqued. And the book was surprisingly interesting. It had a lot of pictures, which really helps explain the different types of art and shows you the variables in each style.
And John has already taken his Chemistry final last week, but he has his math final on Tuesday. So, he's been studying a couple chapters a day to make sure he understands all the formulas and things that could show up on the final. I am SOO glad I finished all my math requirements. I hate it. Mostly because ever teacher teaches differently. I've only found one teacher that I REALLY was able to understand math from. I actually enjoyed that class, and since it was an algebra class it did help me out a lot. But, for the most part, since I don't use any math in my daily life besides calculating out how much 2.5 lbs of apples will cost at their set price. Haha. Not too difficult. ;) Plus, cell phones have calculators on them, so if ever I don't even feel like doing that, like Tori won't stop talking, and I can't concentrate, I can just do it on my phone. My phone even turns into a scientific calculator. In case I ever wanted to calculate sin or cosin, I'm set. Haha.
And of course, Victoria is doing really well. Running around, throwing her toys around the house, playing with the dog, and eating lots of carbohydrates. it's her favorite food type. Bread, plain pasta, dry cereal, etc. And she just discovered vanilla and chocolate ice cream. At first she refused to eat the vanilla ice cream with the chocolate syrup because she didn't recognize it (that's how she decides what to eat these days, only recognizable food), but John outsmarted her and she decided she liked it. Although I don't know if it was a good idea. Haha. Now she LOVES ice cream.
Oh yes, and it's snowing today. FINALLY. It's been super cold (like high's of 30, at best) but we have no snow on the ground. The little we got a week or two ago melted during a slight "heat wave" of 40 degree weather. So, anyway, time to actually go out and buy Tori her snow suit. I bought her shoes already. I just need to get her some snow proof clothing. Hopefully Walmart will have some cheap options. Although, if I get a better quality one, it'll last for this next kid. But, with the holidays upon us, money isn't exactly abundant. We'll see.

And the gender is...

A girl! Good news is, I don't have to spend a trillion dollars on clothes for the next few years. I'm sure as soon as this next one starts catching on that she's not getting "new" clothes, I'll have to start supplementing the used ones, but hey, she'll probably hate me at some point anyway, so, why not make her wear clothes she hates while I'm at it!! Haha.
Anyway, since I named Victoria, I am being reminded I promised John he could name the next one. The only problem? He wants to name her Maylene. It's not the ugliest name I've ever heard, but I definitely am not a fan. Especially when her older sister is named Victoria Elizabeth... I mean, I'm jealous of her name, so, I can only imagine what a younger sister would feel like if she was named Maylene. And it's not even a family heirloom name. It's just a name he pulled out of his butt. So, anyway, hopefully I'll be able to persuade him into changing his mind. The only problem? Every name I come up with, he hates. I literally shout it out, and before I can even take a breath and wait for a response, he shoots it down.
So, if anyone would like to help me find a name for our next child, I will be taking suggestions. Hey, I may even try to figure out how to create a poll on here. I'm sure it's do-able. Maybe in a couple weeks of narrowing down names, I can take a formal vote. We shall see. Wish me luck. ;)

Thanksgiving

This year, our household hosted Thanksgiving. Originally it was only supposed to be us and 2 other couples. A very calm Thanksgiving with 7 people, including the 2 toddlers (Tori and her friend Claire). Well, a few days before the big event, I found out that it wouldn't just be 7 people, but more like 16. Luckily I always plan on making TONS so everyone gets to take home lots of leftovers, so I only had to run to the store to grab a few extras. Anyway, we cooked our 20 lb turkey over night like my grandma Carol does, and it was absolutely delicious. I had to scrap the bones for some extra meat once everyone left since there wasn't much left. Just a drum stick and a wing. Luckily I had a friend make another smaller turkey so we stole some breast meat.
Anyway, it was an eventful day/evening which ended in a lot of cleaning. Luckily since we definitely don't have seating for everyone, we used paper plates and called it a day, so that made it a lot easier. And we're still working on leftovers of the quadruple batch of potatoes, cranberry sauce and stuffing. So, it's been a nice weekend of not cooking or doing much cleaning.

Other than that, I'm still pregnant. This week I have my next appointment, so more to come on that. I'm hoping it's a boy, but I have this bad feeling it is going to be a girl, again. Not that we won't love her. I just really don't want to deal with 2 girls and all the drama that will inevitably ensue. Not to mention that they are so close in age that it will constantly be a battle.

And John deploys in about a month. I'm not excited. It finally hit me last night that not only will Tori and I be without him for 5 months, but I will be very pregnant, and delivering our next child alone. Hopefully my mom will make it out here in time (I'd like for her to just stay for a month or two), since I'm freaking out that my friends around here won't get me to the hospital in time. Since they'll have to drive from their house, one to watch Tori, and one to take me. I guess if worse comes to worse, I can just drive myself as soon as labor starts. It's not so bad in the very beginning. But, it's a lot of waiting in the hospital... anyway, I will miss my hubby a lot. And I'm really not looking forward to this next year. At least not before May.

The Swine

No matter how much you try to ignore H1N1, it still manages to tear you down. Normally mind over matter can help you get over some head colds, but apparently somewhere in the process of the mutation of this particular flu bug, the mind over matter has been shot down, and is now laughed at.
On a side note, it's necessary to attempt this feat when you have a sick husband and a sick child. Sick men are like wounded bears, and 18 month old's don't understand why you can't fix them. So, you are forced to take care of them when you would rather have never woken up.
Oh yes, and I feel I should also note that when you're pregnant your arsenal of medications is very limited, and none of them help. I'm taking Tamiflu (which MAKES me puke) and Tylenol Cold (which I have run out of as of an hour ago). So, the issue is giving a friend a list of things to pick up at the store, or just going out and braving the freezing weather on your own. Maybe if I walk around with one of those masks on people will steer clear. I have no patience left to deal with the people of Walmart (check it out www.peopleofwalmart.com) I feel like I may have already passed that link along, but, just in case, you get it again.
Another thing I hate, between being pregnant and sick I cannot remember anything. Last night I skipped Tori's dose of Tamiflu because I couldn't remember if I had given it to her or not. I woke up this morning realizing that I had not given it to her lat night, and immediately felt terrible.
Anyway, moral of the story is, wash your hands and use hand sanitizer like a mad man. I thought I was being good, but apparently not good enough. So, be better.

Double Strollers

So, since I will soon need to cart 2 children around under 3 (AHHH!!!) I decided a double stroller would be a must have purchase. After doing some research, I decided the side by side strollers, although nice because it's not super long (you save yourself from being THAT person that hits everyone in the Achilles) is much too wide to take shopping. I like being able to fit down isles and what not. Plus, on sidewalks, I'd hate to run everyone off just so I can get to where I need to go. So, ultimately, I have decided to get the narrower version where they sit single file. After doing even more research, I found that I have to get a Graco if I want my current infant car seat to fit into it (makes it easy when the kid is still asleep, but you need to get out of the car). I have 2 options, the DuoGlider or the Quattro Tour duo. I currently own the Quattro Tour single stroller, and I LOVE IT. So, that's what I'm leaning towards, but it's an extra $50-$100 more than the other for various reasons. Like more storage, and a more compact design so it can fit in sedans, or not take up the entire back of an SUV. So... anyway, who knew picking out a double stroller would be so difficult?
On top of all the choices you have for a regular shopping stroller, you also have the jobbing stroller which is light-weight. I debated on getting one of these, but they are all side by side and their front wheel sticks out pretty far... I guess I will go to Babies R' Us and test drive some in the coming months. Try to get John's opinion before he leaves for Afghanistan.

Slacker

Yes, I know... I haven't even thought about my blog in weeks. Which is good and bad. I've been super busy, and whatever time I have free, I'm typically napping. And no, I'm not lazy. As some of you may know, I'm pregnant again with our second child. I am 11 weeks along, as of yesterday, and hopefully at my next ultrasound later this month (the 28th) we'll know if it's a boy or a girl. Fingers crossed John passed along his male sperm. I don't know if I could convince him to risk 3 girls. And I think he'd hate me forever if I tricked him by "taking" my birth control. Haha. Although, it happened the first time! I suppose it wouldn't be such a huge surprise if my fertility told the birth control "sorry, I win." But, with that being said. I forgot how terrible the first trimester of pregnancy is. And I'm remembering how terrible the third trimester is... so, if this is our last child, I will be one happy lady. Getting the baby making over and done with early! That way by the time we're 45 we'll HOPEFULLY have an empty nest and be able to retire from the military, and enjoy being just the two of us again. We didn't get much time before Tori showed up, so I'm looking forward to it. Now I just have to make my children super smart so I don't have to pay for college. Haha. Or convince the grandparents to pay for it... we don't really have even $15/month to be putting away. Unfortunately between mortgage, groceries, and bills we're pretty much living from paycheck to paycheck. Not my idea of a good time, but, that's how it's going to be for a few years.
Anyway, we're really looking forward to Halloween. As I'm sure you noticed in the pictures above, Tori is going to be Piglet, and last night I spent an hour at the sewing machine and made Ozzie a costume as Tigger. Although it could work as a tiger too, it's basically orange fabric with black stripes.
I'm trying to convince John we need to buy decorations, but he refuses to do so until we settle down... looks like we'll finally have decorations for the holidays when we're in our 50s. It's hard to settle down in the military. But, thank goodness the dollar store has decorations. That way if we have to throw them away when we move, it's really not too big of a loss. I know we're definitely having people over here for Thanskgiving and Halloween, and I think we're going over to a friends house for Christmas dinner. Otherwise, we'll have people over here too.
So... lots going on over here in Utah. The trees are beautiful, and the mountains have some dusting of snow. It hasn't rained for a week or so, which means it's begun to melt, but, I'm really looking forward to seeing them covered in snow again. It truly is beautiful here. Even without an ocean.