Hello

I completely forget about blogging these days. Is it fading out? Perhaps, but until it's entirely dead, I'll keep it up sporadically, since my actual journaling is far more abandoned.

P is in the funnest stage right now. And by fun, I mean B-U-S-Y. But busy is good and I love it. It also means I'm pooped at the end of every day, and I constantly wonder how anyone is capable of having more than one child? I'm convinced no one has a child more busy than mine.

He's quite the talker, which he's always been, but even more so now. Everyday he learns a new word, and he'll pretty much repeat, or at least TRY to repeat, anything you ask him to say. It's rather adorable, but I swear he's supposed to be my baby a little bit longer. How is he 14 months already?

Ask him what any animal says, and he'll happily tell you. Ok, just cow, dog, cat, bear, monkey, lion, snake, cat, whale, and bird. A good enough list for now. Ask him if he wants a bath and he'll take off down the hallway towards the bathroom, ready to climb into the tub. Ask him if he wants to go outside, and you're his best friend. Bring him inside and he hates you. But only for a second until you distract him with something else...namely food. He'll love you again. He understands pretty much everything you say to him, and generally obeys. The word NO, on the other hand, means absolutely nothing to him. He could careless about toys. Dirt and water on the other hand are his best friends. He's turned into quite the climber and gets into and onto everything he shouldn't. He loves to give kisses...even to strangers. He has a silly face, and loves to show it to you when you ask him. He's a ham, and he loves to make you laugh. If you laugh at something, he'll laugh right back. If he does something you think is funny, be prepared to see it over and over again, accompanied by his hysterical laughter. He enjoys eating lemons, for nothing more than to make his sour face and make everyone around him laugh...over and over and over again. His fake laugh is my favorite. And for the most part, he's the happiest little boy I could ever ask for.

Oh how I love him and his energetic self. He melts my heart on a daily basis, and I constantly wonder how I got so lucky to have him as my own. Life would be terribly boring without him, that's for sure.

My lucky number

It's been three years since I became a Lovell. Three years of being a wife. And three years of getting to live with an insanely attractive man. I'm a lucky one! Honest. In fact, I think it still shocks my family (or my sisters at least) that I scored such a great guy. Like really great. Oh how I love him. If only he were here so we could celebrate. Four more weeks people, four more weeks...!!

The Month I've Dreaded For the Last Three Years

The first day John was gone, I thought, this kind of sucks, but, we'll manage. Yesterday I felt the same. And today, while my baby sleeps, I'm sitting here wondering, WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO WITH OURSELVES ALL.MONTH.LONG!!

Alas, I now get to feel for single mothers. Wives whose husbands are deployed. Or ones who have husbands always away for work.

And it ain't fun!

I never imagined I'd be a military wife. But I will admit, my time in D.C. made me admire the life. From the outside anyway. I guess living close to the Pentagon, and seeing men in uniform everywhere I went was enticing to me. I mean, hello, a man in a uniform. Need I say more? And now that man is mine, and I think it's less than glamorous. Only because I don't like being given two months of pure husband time, all to myself, right into an entire month of him being gone. All. Day. Everyday. Nope, I'm not a fan.

Unfortunately, there is more to military life than looking good in uniform. Very unfortunate for me. And John, because I know he was less than excited to start this training, too. Five weeks of waking up at 4:30 every morning, and not getting to bed until close to 11 pm. Mixed with marching. Making sure you properly address everyone as, 'ma'am, and sir. Saluting. Getting yelled at! More marching. Wearing full fledged uniform in the middle of a hot and humid Alabama summer. And making sure you get in the proper workout, in the proper amount of time. If not, you'll probably get yelled at some more. Yelling is their favorite form of communication.

The other night on the phone (calls home are short and rare) I asked John if he'd been yelled at already. He laughed, and then informed me he saluted someone who he wasn't supposed to salute, after forgetting to wish them a 'good morning'. So yes, he got yelled at. For one thing or another, it happens to them all. Poor guy has to endure five weeks of this!

So, for the next five weeks, I'm going to try my darnedest to keep my little boy entertained. And sadly, I think he's already bored with me. For most of the summer he's had a dad, and cousins to keep him busy. And now, it's just the two of us. His grandparents should really think about taking the month off! Because as much as I'd like to be a fun mom, I'm not. I'm boring and lazy, much to my dismay.

Let the longest five weeks of our lives tread on. And for any you Utah peeps, let's be friends. Please!!

July's Goal

How has June already come am gone? I guess I wonder that at the end of every month. The days are long, but the years are short. Is there anything so accurate? Alas, here we are, already into July, the most dreaded month for me (an entire post will be dedicated to my detest of this month later) and with a new month I have a new goal to set. No need to miss months that have already flown by. July, you can come and go as fast as you'd like for all I care.

Lets recap June, shall we, goal-wise anyway, since it was a month of success, and I like talking about succeeding. It's a rarity around here.

Four books. Thirty days. Done and done. Maybe that's nothing for some, but, I rarely read (why?), and I have a rambunctious one year old to chase around the house. When the day is over and the house is quiet, I usually want to sit and be unproductive. It's how I unwind. I'm a time waster, whether I like it or not.

I'd highly recommend all of these books. Not one bore me. And three of the four opened my eyes to how past life was for those who lived in the darker days of our time. Days I'm glad I didn't live through. World War II was not a pretty time. And the other one, it was just entertaining, but what would you except from a book titled, The Persian Pickle Club?

I will say, I enjoyed sticking my nose in the pages of books and letting someone else's words, instead of my own, entertain me for awhile. It reminded me that I like to read, and perhaps I should do it more often. And isn't that why I'm setting these goals, to remind myself of things I like to do, want to do, or want to better myself at? Why yes, yes it is.

And that leads me to July's goal, to get my craft on, all month long. Mostly in the form of sewing, but I'm sure I'll find non-stichery crafts to fill my time just the same. After all, I'm husbandless for the next five weeks, I might as well pull the Martha Stewart out of me and make myself productive...and utilize my mom for all of the times I'll mess up.

Ready. Set. Go!