Coming from Wisconsin, I've witnessed a polar bear plunge, and hear of them often. In Hawaii, not so much. Yet they are doing one here for the Special Olympics, and Stryker has signed up! It's this Saturday, and he's wearing a costume... Don't worry, I will be posting pictures. If you're so inclined, you can donate to the cause. I put a little widget over to the right.
I have a riddle for you.
How does potty training lead to an ER visit?
Stumped? Well let me tell you...
Last night after dinner, Fuzz grabbed the travel pack of wipes and laid on the floor because she had a stinky diaper. Stryker and I laughed and as I carried her off to change her diaper, I said that if she could do that, she probably is getting close to being ready to be potty trained. Famous last words. So, after I changed her, I left her diaper off. I said, "now next time you have to go pee pee, you just tell mommy or daddy and we'll take you to the potty" And she squatted down and peed. Again, we laughed as I raced her into the bathroom but it was too late, but then she kept wanting to sit on it. It was like it finally connected for her, pee = potty.
So off and on we kept going and sitting on the potty and she wouldn't go once she was on it. Pretty soon she goes to the diaper bag and grabs out a diaper and starts to take it to Stryker. He said "Oh, you want to wear a diaper?" and she peed and then she was kinda sad. So we cleaned it up, no big deal, and put a diaper on, calling it a night on the potty training.
Pretty soon I was sitting on the couch with Fuzz while Stryker was doing dishes (love it) and she climbed on my back like she wanted a piggy back ride. So I take her around, go to do one more loop around the coffee table and slip in what we are assuming was an unnoticed pee puddle. Somehow, I kept holding Fuzz on my back, but I bounced off the corner of the coffee table before landing on the floor.
My first thought was "first broken bone, possible dislocated shoulder". It was immediate pain from my wrist to my shoulder. Once the initial fall I knew my shoulder was ok, but my arm was immediate red and starting to swell. I got lightheaded and nauseous. Stryker sprung into action. Ice, garbage can, ibuprofen, all while holding Fuzz. She got a little scratch on her leg but was more scared than anything.
Since it was about 8PM by this time and it was either go in and get it checked out or put Fuzz to bed. I thought better to get it checked out than go in in a couple days and find out it was broken and have to have it re-broken or worse. Icky.
My wrist/arm is not broken, but yowzer it hurt. I since have discovered I must have landed on my hip when I hit the floor because I felt that a few times while rolling over in the night.
So all is well at the Kiki house. I have a lumpy wrist, and a huge red mark from my wrist to the middle of my forearm that will probably eventually bruise, a bruise on my bicep, and a bruise on my hip, but it could have been so much worse. It is a glass table, if I didn't hit on the corner, I could have broken it. Fuzz could have gotten hurt worse, etc, etc. Again, lucky and blessed!
Potty training is over for now....
Katie, I promise I didn't forget! Katie gave me this amazing award for my attitude (which I am very unsure of at times). But either way, thank you, it really means a lot.
I'm not sure how Katie and I got acquainted either, but I'm so glad we did! Her and her mom and awesome supporters of our troops and sent multiple goodie boxes to Stryker's company during the deployment. Love you girl!
The rules for accepting the award are as follows:
Put the logo on your blog or post.
Nominate at least 10 blogs with great attitude and/or gratitude.
Be sure to link to your nominees in your post.
Let your nominees know they have received the award by leaving them a comment on their blog.
Be sure to link this post to the person who nominated you for the award.
I feel like I have a lot of "sisters" in this Army life we lead. So many of you have gone through or are going through deployments right now. It is hard to stay positive during these times, but so many of you do it...and with grace. The people I nominate are:
1. D.A.R. - She is an amazing woman, student, and military wife. Murphy has not been nice to her this deployment, but she takes every crisis and turns it into a learning experience. I admire her, and hope one day I am lucky enough to meet her in person.
2. Lindsay - I haven't been reading her for that long, but she is so in love with her soon-to-be husband that it just makes me smile. I'm so excited for the wedding pictures!
3. More than an Army Wife - A new mom, with a deployed hubby. She posts pictures of her little "Mootz" frequently, and I've yet to hear her complain about being a mom by herself while Stonewall is gone.
4. Tucker - Tucker is doing a kitchen remodel while her hubby is deployed. Love it! What a great accomplishment during deployment. This girl is clearly not sitting and sulking. Head on over and help her pick the kitchen sink!
5. The Mrs. - Despite being constantly plagued by a crazy phobia of her trunk flying open while she's driving, she trucks on raising two wild young boys, incubating a third, and cooking without eggs, all while her husband flies in and out of town... And get this, she does it without complaint!
6. J.L.S. - Her sweetie just left home after R&R and she's trying to get her bearings back after getting used to having him around again, yet her attitude remains grateful for the time they had together.
7. JLC - JLC's "Bumbee" was just home on R&R and she had some pretty amazing time with her hubby. Don't miss her "humps and pumps" story. It's sure to make you either laugh til you cry or pee your pants.
8. KD - I am inspired by KD's recent attack of CrossFit. All of a sudden she decided she wanted to try it, and now she's a CrossFit machine!
9. ens - Her man deployed recently, and despite not hearing his voice in 6 whole weeks, her attitude has stayed AMAZING!
10. Teresa - She just passed the halfway point in deployment. She blogs daily and is thisclose to R&R.
Lots happening in the last couple weeks. Stryker's official redeployment ceremony. It was for the whole brigade so the amount of soldiers there was awesome. It's hard to believe that that many men and women were over there. 
We had a battalion picnic where Fuzz learned how to be completely independent on the playground equipment. She now goes up the stairs and down the slide repeatedly until you make her stop. The car ride home was quiet.
Stryker got promoted.
And block leave started. He only took a few days since we are staying here anyway. We are saving some up for PCS leave. It was a nice week having him home though. Should be short days even when he goes back, at least until block leave is over.
We went to the beach today that always has sea turtles sunning. We took Fuzz right up to them, but I think she thought they were rocks.
Life is good over here. We are blessed.
When I take my chapstick out of my purse, Fuzz gets a little sparkle in her eye. The girl loves it. She takes the cap off, or makes me do it, puts it to her lips and shakes her head back and forth like she's applying it. Adorable. Ok, so once in awhile she digs her finger in it or takes a little bite. Like I said, she loves it.
So imagine her joy when her Auntie sent her some all for herself! Well, you don't have to imagine. Here is the evidence. After these pictures I had to pry it out of her hands to put it away.
First of all, thank you for your supportive comments on my last post. I know that these feelings are normal, and they make sense, but hearing your validation helps tame the crazy.
On to my conundrum. As we all know, the economy leaves something to be desired lately. For the last couple years, I've been a stay at home wife and mother. I'm really passionate, and interested in photography, and would love to pursue that as a career. I'd like to take some classes, invest in some equipment, and make this dream a reality. I'm actually trying to sign up for a workshop in April.
However, in just over two years, Stryker will be getting out of the Army. At least that's the plan. Once he's out, he's very serious about going back to school. So the question is, do I get a job at our next duty station in the field that I have my degree in so I'll have a little experience by the time Stryker gets out, thus leaving me making more money to support us, or do I keep on (selfishly?) pursuing the photography dream?
Stryker is very supportive, but it's hard being an adult! I know that it's probably smarter to get a job in my field, but I know it wouldn't make me as happy.
Hopefully after the workshop in April (if I get in), I will have a better idea. At least I have a few more months to stew over it. What to do, what to do?
Although I have tons of other pictures I could post, I figured maybe words would be nice for a change. There have just been so many photographic moments lately that I haven't been able to resist.
Fuzz acts as if Daddy has always been around. I, however, am not so quick to forget what life was like before redeployment. It's very strange. Pre-Fuzz, reintegration was a snap. Post-Fuzz, not so much. It's frustrating to me.
I am completely grateful and blessed that Stryker is finally back home with us. It's wonderful having him here. The house stays cleaner, I'm not drop dead exhausted by the end of the day, Fuzz has a mommy and a daddy to pay attention to her throughout the day, etc. etc. There are so many benefits to having him home.
I spent 15 months wishing he was here. I longed for his touch, I wished that those "Mwa!"s at the end of every conversation were real, I couldn't wait to feel his skin against mine. So how messed up is it that now that it's finally real, those touches and kisses I so longed for sometimes cause irritation?
I'm not used to being touched and kissed so much throughout the day. When he was gone, I had to adapt to not having those things, and now that they are reality again, I need to adapt back. I guess I'm not quite there yet, but it is getting better daily. We talked about it the other night, and since then I haven't been stressing about it so much, and things have been much better.
I love my husband, and it's hard for me to accept that this is normal, even though I know it is. I know we'll get there, I just wish it didn't take so darned long.
