Week 4: A Family Member

Family means a great deal to me. I have a pretty small family, but married into a lovely, hysterical, and large family! My husbands family is fantastic.

My family, by blood, chosen, and married into, are seriously awesome. I love all of them! But the one I will be telling you about today is my amazingly, awesome, dearly missed, sweet, Godly Nannie.

Nannie Dearest

My Nannie. She was the absolute best person I have been lucky enough to know. So, let's take it from the beginning;

Growing Up in West Virginia

Born Janet Lee Mahan, that we lovingly called Nannie, she was the oldest of (I believe) 6 kids. She grew up in a shack of a house in the backwoods of West Virginia. Her mother wasn't a very present mom, and her dad was, apparently, married to a heinous woman. They called her "Evil Stella". She played mom to her younger siblings, and made sure they had everything they needed to go to school and to eat. Once she graduated high school she moved on to bigger and better things.

Virginia is for Lovers

At the age of 18 she moved to Virginia, where she met my mothers dad, Ronnie. They married and had my mom when my Nannie was just 20. With her high school education she was hired as a secretary at the Pentagon! I mean, think about that now. You wouldn't get onto Pentagon grounds without a college degree, and she only had her high school diploma from a tiny town in West Virginia.

Her and my Grandpa Ronnie divorced when my mom was around 10, and then, eventually, my Nannie remarried my now Popaw, who is an amazing guy. Unfortunately, my mothers dad passed away when she was about 20.

Meanwhile, my Nannie was busy at the Pentagon getting promoted!

Fast forward a bunch of years, my Popaw adopted my mom at the age of 24, my mom was married, moved to California, and had my older sister. She then came back to Virginia, where she had the rest of us, myself, Emily, and Joey. But while Joey was a baby, we found out my Nannie had breast cancer.

She retired from the Pentagon with the highest security clearance you can have. She retired because she found out she had the cancer. Her job was very secret, but from what I can piece together about her position was she was a head of a department that followed and made sure what countries had what parts that can become bombs, or any kind of thing that would be a threat to another country.

How AMAZING?! She grew up in the backwoods, no bathroom in the house, no air conditioning, no real mother figure, only her high school diploma, and she achieved all that!

She had a mastectomy. She was clear of cancer.

Retired to Florida

In 1998 my Nannie, her brother, and their spouses (my Aunt Terry, and my Popaw) decided to move down to Florida, because that's what is cool I guess.

And in 2000 we moved down to be with them. But then came the lung cancer diagnosis. Yup, this amazing woman, who already beat breast cancer, was diagnosed with lung cancer.

Thankfully another round of chemo and radiation, and the cancer was gone.

We would go over to my Nannies house almost every weekend. We had so much fun hanging out with my Nannie and Popaw. They would make us pancakes, and we would swim in the pool almost all weekend.

Then we grew up, and stopped going to their house every weekend. But, we definitely made time for them. We would go to Sunday dinner at their house and we always had Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve at their house. We would sing "Build Me Up Buttercup" to my Nannie and talk about poop at the dinner table.

Then in 2008, going in for her cancer scan, they found more cancer.

Stage 4. Lung Cancer.

Hearing your idol, your biggest fan, the biggest fighter you know with the kindest heart, say and actually come to grasp with the fact that this disease will inevidably take their precious life.

April 10, 2009

My moms birthday. We got the call that she had passed on to Heaven, because only the best, like her, get to go to Heaven. I woke up to my mom, sitting on the couch, and I just knew. My heart sunk. I couldn't see, and I swear I can't remember the rest of the afternoon. We had to deal with all the details with the funeral and stuff. Oh gosh, what an awful day.

Loss is never easy, and quite frankly it down-right SUCKS. I still think about her every day. I see her in my girls. She would love them so much, and she would be so happy to spoil them rotten.

Well, I think I'm done being depressing. Haha.

Love you guys!

Who is someone in your family who you admire? I'd love to hear.

XOXO

Caitie B

Week 2: Spouse / Significant Other

I am beyond thrilled to talk about this subject. #hearteyes

Here's a little of our back story:

My husband and I met almost exactly 7 years ago (on the 28th to be exact) on a dating website (I know right?). We met at a little Beef O' Brady's in between our two cities. We ate, and when the check came, he asked me to draw a picture for him on the receipt. I drew a picture of Mary Poppins, which he still keeps in his wallet today! *heart flutter*

If I'm being completely honest, the day I met him I knew he was the one. He took some persuading though, not a lot, but some.

Babies. 2010.

I am such a lucky lady to have this man to share my life with. He's 100% the ying to my yang, the peanut butter to my jelly, the sunshine on a rainy day. And more corny relativities. All of them.

He works all the time to make sure we have everything we need and want. Long, hard days. He's a crane operator for an electric company in Tampa, but does everything from digging holes to sitting in his crane doing intense pole positioning. He's up and out of the house, most days, by 5am, and doesn't get home until around 430-5.

I've never seen a greater dad. I'm not sure what I was expecting when we got pregnant, but he's beyond every expectation I ever had. Which made me fall even deeper in love with him. He lives for his girls, and it's the cutest thing ever! He's going to be the fun dad with all of their girlfriends, and the super scary dad to any "boyfriends" we have beating down our doors for our girls.

Having a partner in life the way I have him is the greatest thing I've ever experienced. We've been through a lot of trials and tribulations, but we have always kept each other the priority.

"I wish I could explain your eyes, and how the sound of your voice gives me butterflies. How your smile makes my heart skip a beat and how everytime I'm with you I feel so complete"

XOXO

Caitie B

2017 Weekly Blog Challenge and Resolutions

Hi again you guys

So, this is something I have been wanting to do to up my blogging game. And since my amazing husband gave me a new laptop for Christmas I will be able to do more blogging once the girls go to bed, because I like to go to my room once they go to bed since I don't get a lot of alone time with two littles running around.

So, searching around Pinterest and found this sweet challenge.

I'm going to be attempting to do one of these a week along with other cool tips, tricks, life stories, and stuff going on in my life. Which I'm going to go ahead and assume isn't much.

2017 is going to be great. I cannot wait until the new year.

Its always so fun and refreshing to me. I hope I can hold to my resolutions this year!

My resolution last year was to have more "me" time. And that happened like 4 times, maybe. Haha, but that's okay. I think I want me time but I end up just missing my kids and husband. Silly right?

2017 New Years Resolutions:

Lose 80 pounds.

May sound a bit extreme and probably insane to some people, but I would like to lose at least that much before we decide to start trying for a third baby. I really think if I put my nose to the pavement I can do it! And trust me when I say, I do have that much to lose, if not more.

Grow My Business.

Some of you may or may not know that I have a mobile hair and makeup business. I mostly do brides hair and makeup for their wedding day at their venue so that they don't have to travel around before one of the most important days of their life. If you want to follow my Instagram it's @ido_hairandmakeup or you can check out our Facebook!

Blog More!

I would love to be able to post weekly and that's why I would like to do the 52 week challenge. But maybe (hopefully) post even more than that!

These are all going to be challenging and, along with 2 little girlies and regular wife and mommy duties, will keep me very busy. I hope that I can keep up with everything. Should be interesting to see!

Follow along and see what else my sweet family has coming up in 2017.

I pray for all of you to have a wonderful New Years!

XOXO

Caitie B.

(Potty) Training the Beast!

Every child is different.

And I think it's important to remember that when you go into attempting to potty train.

I am, by no means, a professional! This is my first time potty training, just want to share the way we're doing it so maybe it'll help someone else.

(By the way, guys. Tomorrow is Halloween and I'm listening to Christmas music while writing this. #noshame)

So, Harper (my oldest) has been going to the potty on and off for like 6 months. Never #2, only #1. She turned 2 in October and quite honestly, I was running low on her diapers, so I said let's do this thing. We had been trying her going potty in the big potty with the little seat on the toilet, but found that she was more comfortable with the training potty. Hers is Minnie Mouse and makes a clapping/celebration noise when you "flush", so she's all about it.

We hunkered down in the house for 3-5 days, I made sure our schedule allowed that. She wouldn't wear any undies or diaper or PullUp, just a t-shirt, and let her run around like she went about her day as she normally would. Lots of Monsters, Inc. and Disney. We would only put a diaper or PullUp on her when she would go to sleep, naps and bedtime.

The first day was rough, not gonna lie. But, I kept telling myself that she's learning what the feelings were and that it meant she needed to head to the potty. Our biggest challenge was going poo poo. She did not get it, luckily I knew around what time she went #2 and kept her on the toilet until she went. So there were no #2 accidents on any floor, but plenty of #1 - thank God for Swiffer Wet Jets! I only diapered or PullUp'ped her when she went to sleep, and as soon as she woke up I took her immediately to the potty and that was successful.

Day 2 went amazingly better. She woke up, sent her to the potty, she went pee pee. "High five! Knucks! You go girl!!" She thought she was Queen Bee! Accidents decreased immensely. She maybe had 1! It was amazing. But this day I thought I would leave her pajama pants on her because it was a little chilly. Well, joke was on me, she went #2 in her pants. *face palm* She had a freak out about that, though. She didn't like it in her pants. But, I guess having it in a diaper is okay? Meh, whatevs. Rest of the day went well. This time I decide pad to not put a PullUp in her for her nap. And unfortunately, that was unsuccessful. The rest of the day went great, no accidents! PullUp for bedtime. And mommy got to do laundry and some floor cleaning. (What's new, amirite?)

Third day was insane. Woke up in the morning with a dry PullUp and went potty immediately. Oh yeah, go Harper!! I found myself not having to ask her as often if she needed to go to the potty, and she would run in and go when she needed to. #2 in the potty! Poo poo dance! No PullUp for nap time; woke up dry! Wait.. Is this the same kid who pooped in her pants and peed on the floor not 2 days ago?! Oh yeah, it is. Honestly, I'm feeling like boss ass potty trainer.

I bought her Frozen panties as an incentive, we've bribed her with chocolate or "fries" aka Cheetos. But, quite honestly, the biggest help and motivator has been making a big deal out of her going in her potty! She gets a high five and "knucks" when she pee pees, and when she goes poo poo we do a big, fun, crazy, silly "poo poo dance"! She loves it!! She'll be mid-poop and say "POO POO DANCE!?" It's super cute. We still do PullUp or a diaper when we go out. So, I need to get more confidence in doing out of the house potty trips.

I'm sure there will be more accidents across the next few years. But, I'm very happy with this success!

Do you have anything that has worked for you while potty training your kid? Any advice on what NOT to do? (That can be almost as important as the good advice, I've learned)

6 Girls at a Corner Table.

Myself and my best friend Mandy.

I haven't seen my best friend since, I believe, October for Harper's first birthday! She decided to move to California for a change of scenery in January. Which sucked big time because I was pregnant and so she didn't get to come see Emerson when I had her in the hospital. But, if she was in Florida, I know she would've been there.

Speaking of Emerson:

Holy precious Sweet Face!! #hearteyes

By the way, that's my nick name for her, besides Sissy and about 47 other things we call her, is Sweet Face! Because, well.. I mean look at her!

So anyway, let me give you a bit of background/detail on Mandy and I's relationship.

We met in 2008 at the gym and became kind of inseparable. We would go at LEAST 2 times a week to this country bar in Tampa called The Dallas Bull to line dance and mack on some fellas. We were looking good, then, too (actually, that was just me, Mandy basically looks the same, only she straightens her hair more than she did, haha) and we've been best friends since then.

#throwback circa 2008.

 Being a stay at home mommy and wife, its hard to make new friends, so keeping the ones you have is really important; but still hard because a lot of people who don't have kids don't quite grasp the mom struggle just yet and so they loose patience with it. I can't blame them, it's hard! Friendship always requires maintenance; attention, and conversation, something that becomes less easy to do when you're taking care of children, a husband, and a household. (because let's be honest, we 100% take care of our husbands, they can't do crud without us!)

Moving to a new city, a place where my husband is from, is hard to make new friends, and I hate relying on my sister in law to be my friend and hang out with me, when she has her own friends. So I really cherish the times I get to unwind with my best gal pal (doesn't that make you feel like your grandma or something? Pretty sure that's a grandma saying - "gal pal".) And that's just what we did yesterday; we got to hang out and just gab our faces off! While eating at our favorite Mexican restaurant.

Our moms came along too, because over the years they've become friends, too! 6 girls at a table in the corner of the restaurant.

I don't have a very big family. My mom is an only child, and my dad has one sister with no kids. So, I'm the only person I even know of that doesn't have any real cousins! There are 4 of us kids and we're very close. But beyond that, there's not much else. So, if I've learned anything over the years, it's definitely that you can choose your family. I'd say you should choose people who are trustworthy, loyal, honest, and happy. And I choose her and her family to be apart of mine. They're good picks!

Well, there's supposed to be a tropical storm coming better get off the computer!

Follow me on Instagram & Snapchat for more fun, silly stuff with super cute babies!

What Did You Want To Be When You Were Young?

Ever look back and think how differently your life has turned out than you were expecting it to be when you were 8, 9, or 10? How far have you come, what did you want to be?

Do you guys every sit back and think about all the things you said you wanted to be or do while you were growing up? Teacher, doctor, lawyer, police officer, fire fighter, veterinarian..
My nephew even told me one time he wanted to be a "poop sucker", which is the guys who pump your septic tank.. Hey, someone has to do it! More power to ya, kiddo.

Well, my future profession changed with the wind when I was little.

I wanted to be a cheerleader, an astronaut (haha!), teacher, a pop star with absolutely NO singing abilities, pretty sure I wanted to be a Barbie at one point. But, to be fair, who doesn't want to be Barbie? amiright? That chick has it all! And does it all. Go girl!

But, from the time I was a kid to the time I was a young person, I never really had a true calling. I just thought "hey my hairdresser does my hair really well, this looks like fun, I like hair and trendy stuff.. I guess I'll go to cosmetology school.." And if I actually voiced what I truly wanted to be when I was in high school, I probably would've been laughed at, and probably would've scared some people off.

Wife. Mommy.

Boom! That's what I wanted to be! With all my heart. I wanted to be married with kids. Honestly, I didn't want to be anything else. I love doing hair and makeup, don't get me wrong. But it wasn't one of those things I've wanted my whole life.

Being a mother, being a wife, taking care of a home, watching my kids grow up.. THAT is what I wanted. I've always had, what I call, an "old soul". I was the so-called "mom" of the group. I wasn't very into partying or any of that typical teenager stuff.

My mom was a great example of what a mom should be. Took us to every practice, game, and competition, involved with our lives, leading by example, pushing us to do better, never letting us quit, making sure we were friendly to everyone, loved by all our friends, teaching us love, faith, compassion, and to be happy.. Maybe that's where I get it, but that's exactly what I want to be and do for my kids. Soccer mom status hard core!

Call me old school, but having your husband come home from working, your kids running towards him yelling "Daddy's home!", while he's greeted with an ambush of hugs and kisses, and seeing that joy on his face because he knew what he was doing all day was to give these little mini humans everything they want and deserve in life.. That's the coolest feeling. Yes, I'm sure he would rather be at home with them but the fact that he gets up and goes to work, while I get to stay home and raise our children, he's the real MVP. Some may think that it's crazy or weird, and that's fine. Everyone's different, that's the beauty in it all, right? You can be or do whatever you want!

Growing up I hated how tall I was and that I was bigger than most girls my age. It never stopped me from having a lot of friends or being social with other people, but it was something I've always had an issue with, since I was 8! And through nobody's fault but mine, I was just one of those kids who was bigger and taller than everyone and it bothered me. I'm not sure other kids even realized it then or not, it was all in my head, and has been since then. But my mom always told me that I was beautiful, and funny, and smart, and kind, and courageous.

And THAT is what I want to be when I grow up.

To be my kids "person".
To raise my babies to be great people!

And to also build my husband up to make sure he knows how great he is, too.

My 19-month old daughter loves to play with her dolls and absolutely adores "taking care" of her little sister, which makes me so so happy. I love the fact that she knows what to do at such a young age. Just means I'm doing my job right. And if she comes to me and says that she wants to be a mommy when she grows up, well, I'm pretty sure I'll cry. Because, to be honest, I cry over everything that little sweetie does.

 

Check back in a few days for another post. Thanks for reading my words, it means a lot!