November's Sunday Shennanigans

1-I LOVE that we had our first Thanksgiving together

2-I LOVE that you loved eating Turkey, stuffing, and mashed taters with us

3-I LOVE that we got to play at the park

4-I LOVE that you are such a flirt with the girls

5-I LOVE, Love, Love being your Mama

XoXo-Mama Bear

Giving Thanks and stuff

So it has become that time of year again. How has this year flown by so fast? It feels like I have missed sections of it or something. Normally the year lasts a little longer. lol This time last year I was pregnant, huge, and miserable....It seems like I just had Baby Bear, and now he is almost a year old?!!! Wowzers!!

Well I want to join in the fun of expressing the things I am thankful for. So in no particular order.....Here are the things that have come to mind right here and now:

1-My AMAZING Baby Bear- I waited 10 years for this little man. 10 years of marriage wondering if I would get to start my family. I am so thankful that we did wait although it was a painfully long time to wait....Papa Bear and I are stronger in our marriage, we can provide for our son a lot better than we could have at the beginning of our marriage, and we can focus more on him than on ourselves. (and let's face it....newlyweds tend to be selfish the first few years while they get over the me me me's and figure out the we we we's!) I am so thankful every day that I get to hold my Bear. He is so precious and amazing to me. Even when I am past exhaustion some nights and I am rocking him back to sleep and some absurd hour......I might be falling asleep in the rocking chair.....but I don't want to put him down because I know that those moments are going to get fewer and fewer the older he gets. I want to take advantage of cuddling with him every chance I can. I love looking at his sweet little innocent face while he sleeps. Nothing is more amazing and beautiful than that. Well unless he starts to laugh and giggle in his sleep. Then that is the icing on the cake. I am so thankful that I have the opportunity to be a Mama Bear. We thought it might not be in the cards for us, but it is the most Amazing gift. ;0)

2- Papa Bear- Okay I might whine here and there about this guy, but he really is a hard working amazing husband. And let's face it....he must be pretty incredible if he puts up with me! lol

3-My family- This extends to my mom and dad (gramma and grampa bear) my BEAUTIFUL sister and her amazing husband. My awesome nieces and nephews, Aunts, uncles and cousins. I am so thankful for each and every one of you! I love that I have been able to get to know you, spend time with you, and that I have you in my life.

4-My Beautiful Sister-okay I know I already mentioned her in the one above, but I am really thankful that I have her. We may live hundreds of miles apart, and I may have put her up on this pedestool of perfection......but I look up to her and everything she does. She appears to me as one of those people that can do it all. I am convinced you could give her straw and she could spin gold out of it. She knows how to do everything....and do it really, really well. I love her and I hope that I can become at least half as amazing as she is someday.

5- The Marine Corps and our Marine Family- So somedays I may not be so thankful for this....but I really am. I love that the Corps turned my husband into such a hard working man. I love the Marine Corps family and that we can count on each other for support. And I love all the new people and places we meet and experience.

6-Chocolate- Do I really need to give this one an explanation? lol

7-Sleep- Who woulda thunk that I would be thankful for sleep? Since a yound age I have suffered from insomnia. But with the birth of my baby bear.....when he allows it....I can actually sleep now. wooohoooo

Well I have to go now, but hopefully I can continue this later.

XoXo-Andrea Carla

10 Months of Awesomeness!

How is this possible? How is it that my Baby Bear is 10 months old? Time has flown by so fast. I hate that it is going so quickly!! It doesn't seem fair. You know things that you hate seem to drag in time. And yet things you love or are enjoying....time rushes by. It should be the other way around. NO REALLY it should! lol

Well against my protests and Mama Bears advice.....my sweet little Baby Bear is officially 10 months today. I am still in denial about it, but I think I am coming to grips with the fact that He isn't going to listen to me. lol My 10 month old bear is only 14 lbs. He still fits in his 0-3 month old clothing, and is still in size 1 diapers. lol He is my sweet little, little, man! It is fun having such a sweet little guy that has this much personality. lol Here are a few pictures of my sweet bear.

XoXo-Andrea Carla

3 Sick Little Bears

The 3 bears have been sick lately, but we are starting to come out of it. Papa Bear got sick and gave it to Baby Bear and I at the beginning of the month. Of course Papa Bear got over it in 2 days. Baby bear got a little ear infection and is now over it thanks to some medication. Mama Bear is still sick. Although I am starting to get over it. I have had this cold now for 3 weeks and it is getting old. But then again you know I seem to always be sick. lol If you even look at me from across a room and you are sick..... I seem to somehow catch the cold without even coming in contact with you. I am pretty sure I could be in a glass box and I would still get sick from someone standing on the outside. ha ha go figure.

Papa Bear has been working a lot. Soon he will be training someone else to take his spot and he will take on another job. But he leaves when it is still dark outside, and he comes home after it is dark again. Poor guy is working himself to the bone. But I think it kind of make it worth it when he walks in the door every evening and a few minutes later Baby Bear hears him and gets UBER excited that his dad dad is home. It is so cute. Baby Bear gets this massive grin and usually screams in excitement. It is pretty awesome to see and hear.

Baby Bear is growing up way to fast. Now he is still my small little guy weighing in at 14lbs. But he is making leaps and bounds elsewhere. He climbs things now. He has figured out how to use a Rubbermaid bin and a pillow as leverage to climb up on the couch and into Mama Bears arms. lol It cracks me up. He has also learned to cry a little when he wants something or is demanding attention. I try pretty hard to be firm about telling him no and not to laugh at him when he does his cute little pout but it is hard. lol He is so stinkin cute when he does that. He scrunches up his nose, makes a snorting sound, and sticks out his lower lip. It cracks me up.

He loves music. So when he hears singing on the t.v. he turns to watch it. And today the Wiggles were singing and he turned to watch it.....and they started clapping, and he dropped what he was doing and started clapping with them! I had a proud Mama moment then. lol

Christmas is right around the corner, and I am soooo stinking excited!!!! We ordered Baby Bears stocking. It is a nice needlepoint of Santa and his reindeer. And his name is stitched at the top. We all have reindeer stocking holders, and I just cannot wait until we can decorate!!! This year I will start doing the advent books with Baby Bear. So starting on Dec 1st. Every afternoon after Baby Bears nap he will wake up to find a new present under the tree. He will get to open it and it will be a book for us to read. We will read the story and then do a craft that ties in with the book. I am excited to do this each year. It will be super fun. I can't wait for the Cookie Dough Fairy to visit us so we will be able to make Santa's favorite cookies for Christmas. I will for the 1st time make a Dutch breakfast that my family has been making since the beginning of time. lol I am UBER excited to be able to continue all these traditions that I grew up with that I haven't been able to do since Papa Bear hasn't been to big into holidays. I think Christmas is really growing on him, but I don't think it is as big of a holiday for him as it is for me. But I really do hope it does become this way for Baby Bear.

Last month I got to attend my first Ladies Night Out at the base Hobby Shop. It was pretty fun. We made Fused glass. And I absolutely loved doing it. I am trying to get them to do more. I had 3 1/2 hours of uninterrupted Mama Bear crafting time. It was sheer awesomeness!! Well Wednesday Baby Bear and I got to attend our first Mommy and me Crafting class. We have such a tight schedule in the morning that it is impossible for us to get anywhere. But I really tried to get to the class by 10 a.m. But alas we were half an hour late. And by the time we arrived there was only one other person there. everyone one else had already left. ;0( Blast!! I was hoping to meet some other military wives. But it is probably for the best since I am still a tad bit sick. So one of the employees came over and helped us out. We got a cute little plate and then painted Baby Bears hand brown. His hand print came out pretty cute. Then I took a little brush and painted around his little fingers different colors and made his hand print into a turkey. It was fun and challenging seeing as he was in my lap, on the table, and crawling all over the place. lol Here is the finished fired plate. It was pretty fun to do. Well I was still feeling very creative, so Baby Bear and I went back out into the main hobby area and looked at all the ceramics for sale. We picked out a little tile for Baby Bear to paint on his own: I love that this is his first art project, and I was able to capture it. ;0) Next I made a platter since we have none. I found a really cool one. Now the tree did not turn out anything like I thought it would. So I am going to take it back in and redo it. Then I still had an itching to make something else. So I grabbed another platter and decided to make another, but this one with some prints of Baby Bears. ;0) It isn't all nice and perfect, but I think it gives it character.

We had so much fun. I think I could have stayed all day crafting until my heart was content. But then again if that was the case I could still be there painting. lol

Friday I got to go to another Ladies night out. Another 3 1/2 hours of painting and crafting. I learned so much about painting ceramics. It was so much fun. I learned how to blend the colors, and made an amazing platter that is big enough to hold a turkey. Here is the picture of the finished product before it has been glazed and fired.

Well that is all for now. I hope everyone is doing well.

XoXo-Andrea Carla

Ohhh Poop!!

The last few nights Baby Bear and I have been having a sleep over in his room. His room gets to cold at night even with the heater on. And so I have been camping on the floor so the space heater can stay on and I can keep an eye on it. I wake now and then and turn it on or off. But it allows for some more heat to stay in the room. It has been a little fun to wake up to my smiling little man in the morning. lol However Baby Bear decided to wake at 5 this morning, and stay up. Ughhhh So after failing to get him back to sleep after his morning bottle.....We went to the living room so he could play. I tried to drink some good ole Dr. Pepper....but it wasn't helping. I fell asleep on the couch while Baby Bear played in the living room. I woke a few minutes later to him coming over to tell me that it was breakfast time. I noticed some brownish green smudged on his face, one hand, and his tongue!! OH CRAP!!! I had heard of these horror stories where babies get into their diaper. I was horrified. I checked him, but there was nothing in his diaper. Hmmmm. So I looked around to see if we had failed to throw out a diaper. I couldn't find any. He still had some animal cracker on his face from earlier...but this new color was for sure poopy. Ughhhhh I wasn't going to let my child become that kid who eats poop! I hunted everywhere and then finally found it. A gold marker. Apparently gold marker mixed with some animal cracker looks a lot like poop. Phew! I think I almost cried I was so relieved. I was feeling so guilty for falling asleep on him and the fact he might have eaten something horrid. (HUGE SIGH OF RELIEF!!)

Mama and Baby Bear are still sick. Me more so than him. Papa Bear seems to be over it. Of course. I do not understand why I have such a weak immune system. Oh well.

Here are some pictures of what crafts I have been doing here and there to de-stress.

XoXo-Andrea Carla


Ceramic Ice Cream Bowls


Fused Glass


Halloween Wreath


crayon art for Baby Bears room

Halloween party

On Friday October 28th Baby Bear and I headed to Camp Pendleton to attend Papa Bears Halloween party for work. We drove about an hour to the location area but we were unsure of where it was. So we pulled over on the side of the road, and called Papa Bear. He said he would be there in 10 minutes so we hung out and waited. An HOUR later he showed up! Ughhh Poor Baby Bear wasn't as happy as a little man any more. But we followed Papa Bear to Battalion and parked. Papa Bear got Baby Bear dressed in his costume, and we headed on over to the party.

Well there was nothing for our little Bear to do. Two jump houses were set up. But alas those are for older kids. It looked like a craft had taken place, but nothing was left but trash. Baby Bear got 4 pieces of candy, and then we headed home. It was a waste of gas to drive that far for. But Baby Bear was so cute the Battalion CO's wife had to take a picture of him. lol

Here are all the pics we have of him in costume

XoXo-Andrea Carla

October's Sunday Shenanigans

1-I LOVE that we got to take your pictures in your Dragon Halloween costume

2-I LOVE rocking you back to sleep at night

3-I LOVE when you hold my hand at night while you sleep

4-I LOVE making you laugh and giggle

5-I LOVE that you love to try new foods

XoXo-Mama Bear

P.S.- Mama Bear Loves You!!

I stuffed my Bra!

First off....Let me ask you to please read the title again. It says stuffed, as in past tense, as in not any more. lol

Second..... Don't judge me...I was 10. ha ha ha

I thought I would start out by confessing something funny and silly. I remember I was in fifth grade and 10 years old. I felt like such a woman getting to wear a bra. I think my mom was just taking pity on me wanting to grow up and be a woman....that she let me think that I was ready for one. ha ha I remember thinking I couldn't fill out my shirt so I stuffed my bra before I left for school. As I headed for the door to go to the bus, my mother said something was wrong with my shirt and came over to fix it. She found out....HOW DID SHE KNOW? It was one of those creepy moments where a child realises that mom's do know everything that you are doing! lol How? How was it possible. Was it that weird voodoo thing of parents know all? lol
As I look back at this event as an adult now I have to laugh. I was soooo silly on so many levels. ha ha And what I thought was the weird parent voodoo of PARENTS KNOW ALL......was really my mother knowing something was way way wrong with her daughters appearance. ha ha ha
Is it wrong that I can't wait for one of those moments now...when Baby Bear will look at me with that look of....HOW DID YOU KNOW THAT? lol

So the Three Bears Have been sick this last week. Papa Bear got it first, then Mama Bear and Baby Bear. Baby Bear has an ear infection and a stuffy nose. Poor little bear. I tried so hard to keep him from getting an ear infection by cleaning his ears daily....but alas......He seems to be getting a little better. Papa Bear took him to the Naval Hospital to see the Dr. and we luckily caught it early and got him on antibiotics. Of course me....I am sicker than anyone else. I hate how you can be across a room look at me with a cold, and I somehow catch it and get sick. Papa Bear gets sick for 1-2 days...I hold on to the stupid cold for a month or more. LAME!! I always seem to be sick. For some reason my body cannot fight off colds. I take my vitamins, I have really tried to eat healthier. But it does not seem to help. And then as if that isn't cool enough...I have to be even more awesome by meds don't work for me. Yah that is right folks. Unless it is in a very high dosage....it won't work. See I have insomnia....I can take 4 Ambien, 2 Lunesta, and 2 Flexerol.....and nothing happens but I talk really funny. We have tried all sorts of cold meds, pain meds, sleep aids.....nothing ever works. So going to the Dr. when I am sick is a waste of my time, and the Dr.'s time. I just get to ride this thing out as long as it lasts. Super fun time. ;0) Yah I know... I am a weirdo

Papa Bear has been working a lot lately. I have to admit I have been feeling the selfish side of me coming out and whining a little about it. Maybe it is time for some leave and down time for the family.

I have been crafting my little heart out lately. Every chance I get I have been trying to do something crafty as an outlet for my feelings. As a result I have become an addict of Pinterest, and have turned out some pretty awesome crafts. Pinterest is soooo much fun. I love it, and yet it has helped me a lot. I have found amazing ideas for Baby Bears birthday, and new ways to clean and organize my home. I have found activities that will be fun crafts for baby bear and will help him learn at the same time. Pinterest is amazing, and soooo addictive.

Baby Bear is now a crawling fool. He weighs in at 14.6 lbs, and is 9 1/2 months old. He still wears size 1 diapers, and 0-3 month clothing. ha ha ha I love my little guy. He is so amazing. I know that parents all say that about their kids. But what is so awesome.....People always tell you how amazing it is to watch your own child....but you really have no idea until you actually experience it. Holding my little man while he is passed out asleep is sooo amazing and awesome. I love seeing his little hand grab mine. He is sooo cute and little. And yet he is getting so big so fast. At Papa Bears Halloween work party we saw another 9 month old baby. That little boy outweighed Baby Bear by at least 10 lbs. It looked like he ate a Baby Bear. ha ha ha
For Halloween we didn't get to do anything fun. I was pretty disappointed. I really wanted to carve pumpkins and go trick or treating with Baby Bear.....but alas Papa Bear had to do work stuff and we didn't make it back home until 8p.m. I got Baby Bear into his costume and ran across the street to the neighbors house so I could show off Baby Bear. It was pretty fun. We didn't get any trick or treaters since it was so late....But I got to show my little man off to our neighbor D who lives in the guest house as well. She oohhhed and aahhed at him. It was fun. I felt all sorts of proud that my little man is so handsome. ha ha ha

Well I had better go for now.

XoXo-Andrea Carla