day 6.

Today was a rough day.

:(

day 5.

Woke up to my alarm at 7am and started getting the boys & I

ready for church. Made everyone breakfast, including myself

for a change. For some reason today seemed like a great day

to really buckle down on my nutrition and exercise habits

so I started the day off with 1 cup of multigrain Cheerios,

1/2 cup of skim milk, 11 grapes, and water for my drink:

We were out the door by 8:30.

Church was interesting today. The pastor talked about how we are all

so obsessed with our appearances and trying to get acceptance and love

by others but at the end of the day we were created in the image of God

and he loves us just the way we are, and only sees us for who we

are on the inside. I really enjoyed it.

"Look at the hat I made in the childcare center!"

My friend invited us to eat at the Bx after the service, and

as much as I was craving me some Taco Bell (don't judge) I

said "No thank you" like a good girl and headed home. Plus

Dylan was exhausted (partly due to crying for me for a bit in

the childcare center. Sad face.) so it wouldn't have been a fun

time anyways. Made the boys lunch and laid them down, and

then made myself lunch. Chicken deli meat on whole grain bread

with 1 tbsp of mayonnaise, an oats n honey bar and water:

I slowly enjoyed this meal while watching Army Wives. I am

getting more and more into the show but think to myself each time

"This probably is not the best time to watch this". Haha. I ended

up taking a snooze and when I woke up I saw the sun shining

through my window and immediately woke D up, got

Ty ready and headed to the park. It was absolutely

gorgeous outside!

Tyler actually took this next picture!

Swinging highhhhhh!

Dinner time! Chicken, 1/2 cup of corn, 1/2 cup of apple sauce and..

yup, water!

Total calories for the day: 1200

Then we ended the night with an orange bath! (:

The end.

day 4.

Was not looking forward to the weekend at all since it's the

time everyone is busy their families (and not on Facebook)

but then I remembered that I was meeting with a doula client &

meeting her husband and mom, who will both be in the room when

she delivers. It went really well, considering I had the boys with

me, and I absolutely can't wait to be by her side

on the big day!

Got home and put Dylan down for nap. Tyler painted, play-dough'ed, ate,

colored, ate again. I scrubbed toilets. It was a pretty eventful afternoon. :p

After D's nap we just hung out around the house again since the weather

was still yucky. I don't think I have ever seen it like this.

I miss the sun.

Keeping the tough mommy gig going, I warmed up dinner from

last night and gave it to the boys again. They boys did really well. I was pleased.

I decided to make myself some fettucini alfredo with the new noodles.

Whole wheat & whole grain. Not a huge deal but if you know

me you know it kind of is. Yes, it was a bit darker &

thicker than I prefer but it was delicious. It gets better! Both boys

ended up taking some from my bowl and devouring it. They too loved it!

Small victory in the Meade house tonight!

day 3.

Not as easy as the prior days but we have made it through it

and we are still standing. Well, I am still standing.. on my feet, while my two

little angel men are fast asleep in their beds. Must be nice. ;]

So today.. hmm, what happened?

Did the usual up at the crack of dawn breakfast routine

and just hung out with the boys until Naomi and her little ones were up.

Her husband was due to arrive from his deployment around 1pm today

so she left the boys with me to finish tidying up her house and pick

out that perfect outfit. About two hours later she was back and said that

his flight had been delayed until 6-7pm this evening. Bummer.

So we killed a couple more hours by wearing the boys out at the

park. Then she left and I brought the boys up and started

making dinner. Tonights menu?

chicken with italian seasoning

(Tyler wondering where the crunchy brown skin is..)

corn

& watermelon.

Yum yum!

And the best part of all? Daddy got to join us tonight!

The end. (:

day 2.

Woke up entirely too early and immediately made breakfast,

like I always do. Naomi and her boys

woke up a couple hours later (lucky!) and we made omelets. Yum!

She stayed for a little bit and then around lunch time she headed home.

I've decided that throughout this deployment I am going to try my hardest

to show the boys, even more than usual, how much they are loved.

They need it. So instead of making a regular peanut butter and honey sandwiches

I made it a little different.

Nothing too special but they both were pretty excited about their

flower sandwiches! It's the little things... (:

Dylan napped per usual and Tyler and I watched a movie in my bed

(where i may or may not have napped).

Dylan woke up and we killed some time before some friends came over

by building blocks.

Jessica, my very new weather wife friend, came over with her two

adorable little girls and we all hung out for a couple of hours.

Oh, and look what she surprised me with..

Wine, chocolate and a sweet card to help me through this rough time.

How sweet is that??? Thank you so much Jess!

Shortly after she left Naomi was back for sleepover pt. 2. Neither of us could

wait to watch more Army Wives. LOL.

Then Kyle called me and told me he figured out the internet and was able

to Skype me so I jumped right now. He caught me up with everything that he's

been doing, including finding out where we are going to next!

I AM SOOOOOO HAPPY!!!!

Most of you have seen the video so no need to get into details but

like always Kyle figured out a cool way to tell me.

I feel so so happy right. It's like, all the hardship we've gone through

since living so far from family has been rewarded.. it's like God is patting

my back and saying "You did good.. Now go back to family"

It's so unbelievable at this moment! Agh!

day 1.

Woke up, put a smile on a face and started making the boys breakfast.

I decided to try out a new recipe. It's 'healthy chocolate chip muffins' which has

the following ingredients in it: wheat flour, cocoa powder, light brown sugar, quick

oats, flax seed, unsalted butter, yogurt, vanilla- among the usuals like egg, baking powder,

etc.

This is what they looked like before I popped them into the oven..

..and this is what they looked like ater they were done..

Alright, I will be the first to say it.. It totally looks like dog feces.

I don't blame Tyler one bit for not eating them. Dylan, on the other hand, seemed

to thoroughly enjoy them for breakfast.. and snack later in the day! (:

After breakfast was finished a friend invited us to Kids Zone so I got the kiddos

dressed and ready, with a couple of minutes to spare for me to slap some mascara on.

I was ready for the day!

Dylan looking so handsome with his mohawk..

Kids Zone wasn't so bad. I haven't been there in months and I must admit I still

have some anxiety about bringing them to places like that. One usually is off playing

in one area of the place, while the other is at the total opposite end.

I packed the boys lunch and had them eat it there- only to have the grumpy

old man who runs the register at the front tell me that it's again "army regulation"

or some crap (even though I purchased lunch there so they made money off of me...)

Let's just say my friends got to see first hand the little attitude I give.

They then came up with the term "Pulling an Amber", meaning to get angry

with someone. LOL

We got home around 1pm, just in time for Dylan to nap, and just in time to enjoy

a rare thunderstorm..

(Probably hard to see but the sky was black and it was pouring!)

Luckily it cleared up shortly after Dylan awoke from his nap and we were about

to leave the house again to pick up a new DVD series.

That's right, Army Wives! :D

Around 6pm my friend Naomi and her two boys showed up for a sleepover

(hey, it's fun to pretend to be 13 again), where we made baked chicken and broccoli

and watched all four boys place nicely (for the most part) together.

After the kids were all down we watched the first two episodes of Army Wives and

like everyone said, I can't wait to watch the next one.. and the next one after that. :p

It's 12:18 in the morning now and Naomi and I are both sitting at out laptops

like geeks, blogging and playing Sims.

(Thanks Na for being such a wonderful friend and keeping me company

on this 1st out of one hundred and seventy-nine nights. ::hugs::)

*Oh! Kyle managed to Facebook me, letting me know that he made is safely

and that he will try to get his internet figured out tomorrow and try to

Skype me. :D

Alright, it's off to bed.. G'night!*

sad face.

Today is the day I have dreaded for 5 long weeks now. He is gone.

I hugged him one last time this morning and then turned and walked away before he could see the tears in my eyes. I feel okay right now but it's only 9am.

I decided I am going to commit to my blog throughout this deployment because as silly as this sounds, I want to try and remain positive and do fun things so that I can write about it later. Does that make sense? I don't want to write "I cried all day today" instead things like "we went to the zoo. I was surrounded by friends. I feel good today" sound much better.

Wish us luck on our 1st day.. I'll write about it tonight.

Tschuss!

(that's goodbye in German)