Absent!

Oops, I've been a little M.I.A. from this blog again. Sorry everyone! Incase you didn't hear, I've been busy trying to get my cloth diaper shop up and running. Very exciting stuff! I'm going to do my part to make cloth diapering a less intimidating and less expensive option for parent's in the Annapolis Valley (or anywhere else for that matter)! If this is news to you, please check out the shop's Facebook page, Elodie's Dipes & Wipes, email me at: dipesandwipes@gmail.com, or check out the shop's blog here!

In other news (point form style):

- Elodie is officially 6 months old as of 10:55pm last night. Where has the time gone? Seriously! Here is her six month photo with Big Teddy:

Like our new-to-us patio furniture? Courtesy of my in-laws! Thanks Nanny & Grampie I.

- Our roof has finally been replaced. Another task to check off our massive you-just-bought-a-100+-year-old-house list. Phew! And, today my Grampie (Elodie's GaGa) is supposed to stop by and install our patio railing and privacy fence. So exciting! Turkey Butt and I have been doing some painting touch up's on the fence posts while the weather has been nice.

- Poor Adora Poop Face is finally starting to mellow out after three loud days of roofing. Poor dog is such a scaredy "cat"! Oh, and what we thought were her food allergies ended up not being so. Best guess is she had an allergic reaction to the flea bites - though we don't know the reason for her pulling her hair out in the first place and therefore inviting the fleas to feast on her. But it doesn't really matter right now because all her hair has grown back in and she is back to being our completely adorable, mopey dog! Seriously, she's the Eeyore of dog's!

- Turkey Butt is loving his military training! We were lucky enough to have him home for a week and a half straight but he's back to the base on Friday. I see big things in his future with the Canadian Forces and I couldn't be happier for him!

- Little Miss Elle is almost to the point where she can sit up without help. She says "Dada" alot - even when she's not upset (she only says MumMum when she's upset). She is trying her darndest to crawl but just doesn't have the upper arm strength yet. Oh, and still teething (since two months old, oye) but no teeth. I'll be very excited to see her with a cute little tooth. I'm not sure if her Soph (teething toy) will feel the same way though! What else? She stands holding on to something - like our fingers of the coffee table. She's slept 13 hours straight two nights in a row - but then reverted back to her previous sleep schedule. She is just, overall, a really pleasant baby and only fusses when she is tired or hungry. No complaints here! They really broke the mold when they made this blue eyed cutie:

Photo courtesy of AVH Photography!

- And little ole me? Well, I'm busy buying stock for the new shop, loving on my family, and looking after an adorable little boy a few days a week. It certainly keeps me busy and if you know me, you know that's the way I like it!

This is my life!

So Much Going On Right Now!

I keep meaning to update this regularly and I keep failing miserably. In my defense, it has been very busy around here. Some of you may or may not have known that when Turkey Butt was assigned to his BMQ his civilian job fired him (such a big no-no). That meant that for awhile, his only income was from his 3 days a week on base. After searching and searching for another civilian job - he was offered two and opted to start work last week at a Cheese Factory in a town that is about a 20 minute drive away. For me, this meant that he was not only on base all weekend, but he would leave for work each weekday at 7:20am and not get home until 5pm. By the time Turkey Butt arrived home, it was pretty much time to start Elodie's bedtime routine. Needless to say, it has been hectic around here.

Did I mention that I recently got accepted into the Business Administration program at the local Community College? Well I did. Which should be great. Except I kept flip flopping about whether or not I should do it. On one hand, I'd love a career change and am planning to open my own business in the Fall so the practical knowledge would be great. On the other hand, can we afford for me to not be working for the next two years? Do I want to put off trying for Baby # 2 for at least two or three years while I finish school and get settled into a job in my field? So many what if's... And if you know me, you know that I hate to make a decision.

And this is where Friday comes into play. Friday afternoon I get a text from Turkey Butt. It was something along the lines of,

Hey, I got paid $### by the military.

And guess what? That the amount he got paid was a whole $700 less than I was expecting it to be! First off he was misinformed about how much he would be receiving as a day's pay, and secondly they only paid him for the first two weeks of this month instead of for the entire month. Seriously? It was bad enough when they decided not to pay him on the 15th, but I was then expecting he'd just get twice the money on the 30th. But no. Course not. Anyway, cut to later on that afternoon when I got my usual post- work day phone call from Turkey Butt. It went something like this...

Hey, the factory just went out of business and we all got laid off.

Yup. This is what we're dealing with around here. It's enough to make me pull my hair out to be honest. Especially since we just spent more money than usual on frivolous items to celebrate our 2nd anniversary thinking we were getting a big cheque from the military and a weekly cheque from the Cheese Factory. Ohhhhh boy are we just barely scraping by. But I guess there's one good(?) thing to come out of this - my mind has definitely been made for me on this school situation. We don't even have the money for me to reserve my seat so I'm thinking we definitely won't be able to afford for me to not be working for two years. Oh well. I can always try again in a few years when/if we're more financially stable.

On another note I might start looking after a sweet little one year old boy a few days a week. I'm enjoying doing a little baby proofing/ rearranging to make our house better suited for two busy little ones to play! If I can manage to get it finished today I will try to add some pictures of the play area I've created in our Dining Room. Oh fun, fun, fun! This is my life!

Exhaustion.

Elodie is still screaming. Happy screaming, sad screaming, angry screaming. Sigh. I'm exhausted! I've been lucky enough to have Turkey Butt home more than usual the last few days but have his first weekend of BMQ quickly approaching.

I've been attempting to use Turkey Butt's extra time around the house to get a few things done. The main thing that I have been dying to complete is Little Miss Elle's bedroom. I'm happy to say that, aside from a few hours that I need to focus on organizing my craft supplies, I am almost finished. Looking around it today I am shocked to see how many ideas I picked up from Pinterest. Love Pinterest. I hope to be able to show everyone in blog land some of my Pinterest projects soon.

On top of Elodie's room, I have a very important birthday coming up! My very favorite (and only) sister in the whole wide world, the lovely Aych, is celebrating her birthday in 8 days. I have offered to throw her a little family birthday gathering and am loving the ideas I'm planning for it. Can't give anything away incase she reads this, but again, I love Pinterest. This is my life.

And Repeat.

It took Turkey Butt more than a year to make it through the Canadian Forces application process and be sworn in. Now things are moving far too quickly. He just called me from the base after his night there ended. He phoned to tell me that they worked their butts off (another new recruit vomited and then passed out), and that he'll start his on base training in a few weeks. This means that from March til July he will be living on base all weekend, every weekend. Gah! Turkey Butt and I have been lucky during our relationship that we've never spent more than a few days apart (I went to Maine for a few days without him - it was hell). I cannot imagine having him so close yet unable to see him so frequently. I just have to keep repeating to myself that he's doing this so that we (he, Elodie, and I) can have a better life.

The really sad part is that this is just the beginning of the Canadian Forces keeping us apart. Turkey Butt has already informed me that he would love to do a tour of duty overseas if he is given the opportunity. Oye. Not to mention any course/ training that he'll choose to do that may keep him away. He's doing this so that we can have a better life. He's doing this so that we can have a better life. He's doing this so that we can have a better life. Sigh. This is my life.

"I'm in the Army, Bay"

Sweet hubby went to the base to pick up his kit yesterday. I was expecing him to come home with a uniform and maybe a couple t-shirts for PT (physical training). Instead he cam home with this:

I cannot even tell you everything that was a part of his kit but I'll give you an idea : gas mask, snow shoes, arctic gear, shirts for PT, underwear, socks, gloves, air mattress, sleeping bag, parka, scarfs, canteens, cook stoves, etc. Speaking of gas masks,

... worst thing ever! Seriously. I was nauseous for hours after taking this baby off. Blah. Anyway, the Army sent my boy home with a whole sh!t load of stuff and he couldn't be happier. Me? I couldn't be more paranoid that Adora wouldn't use one of his new pairs of boots as a chew toy. Needless to say, I cleaned out the board game closet on the second floor and made Turkey Butt store his kit there.

Now where should I put the board games.... This is my life!