Mommy Musings

Here's a quick tip for all you allergy parents out there.  We took Emmy for her yearly visit to the allergist last week to have all the paperwork filled out for school this year.  While we were there, the allergist told us about a new blood they've come out with.  I think it's just for those with a peanut allergy, but I could be wrong.  The test goes one step farther than a traditional blood test.  It tests not only if a person is allergic to peanuts, but whether or not they will have the anaphylaxis reaction. It turns out that even among the people with a 5+ allergy to peanuts, only about 1-2% of those people will go into anaphylactic shock if they ingest peanuts.  If Emmy had tested negative on the blood test, we would have then brought her into the office for a tolerance test.  She would always be allergic to peanuts, but it might only result in a bad rash. Sadly, we got the call this morning that Emmy did in fact test positive for anaphylaxis, so we're just going to

Last week we headed down to my parents house again to spend one last visit at the beach before school starts.  We got up real early and headed down, as to spend as much time there as possible. We dropped Shiba off at the house and then headed to Long Beach Island with my mom and sister.  It is my most favorite  place in the entire world!  We spent the morning on the beach, and the girls just loved playing in the ocean! We were all very hungry after that, so we went to the best pizza place ever!  The girls just wanted to sit with my mom and sis, so it was like Skip and I had a date all to ourselves. Of course I had to stop and take a picture by the gorgeous sunflowers outside! We went back to my parents house and spent the rest of the day relaxing down there.  I was even able to get in a quick run with the most gorgeous view ever! The next morning we got up early and headed over to the smaller beach by my parents house.  It is on the bay, so the waves were much smaller.  The girls were

Skip and I recently got to attend the wedding of one of the cops he works with.  We celebrated with them the night they got engaged, and we had been looking forward to their wedding for months.  My mom came up for the night to stay with the girls, and because of that I was able to head out that morning and get a fresh haircut. Yay for not having to do my own hair that night!! I had bought this amazing dress from ThredUP a few months ago and knew it would be perfect for the evening.  And at only $10 it was definitely a steal!! We posed for what looked like prom photos and headed out! It was a fabulous  wedding and so great to spend time with a lot of Skip's co-workers.  They are all great guys and girls and I love getting to see them all together.  Plus any kid-free time spent with my husband is really special!

A few weeks ago, I took the girls on a little South Jersey get away for the night.  We had a baby shower to attend for one of my Marines Girls who is having her second baby...a sweet little girl!  The girls and I were then going to spend the night at my parent's house. Sadly, as is the norm on a Saturday in the summer, the girls and I hit a lot of traffic on the way down.... a lot .  What should have been an hour and 40 minute trip turned into 4 hours and a stop at a very  crowded rest stop. We were obviously late to the party, but the girls were angels in the car, so it really wasn't that bad!  Plus, getting to see some of my favorite ladies was totally worth it. Thankfully there was no traffic on the way to my parents house and we got there just before dinner.  We got lots of time to relax with them and my big sister! It has been a struggle the past year to get the girls to bed down there, because they share a room.  But this time they went down with no problems! The next mor

If there's one thing I've learned about working out, especially running, it's that it is 90% percent mental. Our bodies are way more capable than we think they are.  I can't tell you how many times I didn't want to work out, or didn't feel well enough to, but manage to get it done anyway.  It really is amazing what you can accomplish once you set your mind to something. As I mentioned before, a friend of mine challenge me on Nike+ to run 50 miles in two weeks.  I thought he was crazy at first...there was no way I could get that done.  But I'm not one to back down from a fight, so not only was I going to do it, I was determined to win.  I kept a pretty strong lead for most of the race, but had fallen behind on Wednesday.  I was going to have to do a pretty epic run to catch up.  I didn't sleep well Tuesday night.  We were down the shore at my parent's house and the girls woke up a few times.  We spent the morning at the beach, then home for a deliciou

I just wanted to take a minute and brag today.  A little over two years ago, I decided to start running.  It took me a really long time to get into it.  It was hard , harder than any other workouts I'd done.  But I pushed through and instead of alternating running and walking, pretty soon I was running the entire time.  1 mile, 2, then 3.  A 5k was a pretty big milestone to me and I was able to reach it last year.  I stayed pretty content with that mileage for a while, before deciding my next goal would be 5 miles.  I always said I'd like to get to the point where I could run 5 miles every day.  Finally this past May is when I first reached my first 5 mile mark.  The rest of the summer I was taking it pretty easy though.  I was still running consistently, but I kept using the excuse that I couldn't be spared for more than half and hour or so for working out, so I was staying pretty consistent around 3 miles or so.  I've really stepped up my mileage this week because of

Happy Wednesday everyone!  It's actually more like our family's Saturday since it's Skip's first day off..yay!!  There's a lot I've been wanted to say recently, so what better way than a random mish mash post. - I am still very sad over the death of Robin Williams.  The world is just a little less bright without him. Such a loss in the entertainment community...Hook, Mrs. Doubtfire, What Dreams May Come, Good Will Hunting, these are some of my most favorite movies.  The military community will feel a hole he once filled.  I don't know if people realized just how much Robin Williams did for our troops.  He was the entertainer who went over to Iraq and Afghanistan with the USO more than anyone else {including when Skip was there!}.  And depression has claimed another victim.  My heart breaks thinking he, or anyone for that matter, got to a place where leaving this world is the best option.  He surely will be missed by all. - Emmy starts back to school three we

10 years ago I spent the day at my Grandma's house. 10 years ago today we were celebrating my cousin's return from his 15 month deployment to Iraq. 10 years ago today I drove up to my boyfriend's house to pick him up.  He had surprised me two days before...5 days of leave before he had to deploy to Iraq. 10 years ago today I was confused when he met me at my car, and brought me around to the back yard. 10 years ago today I left his house a fiance, because when he asked to spend forever with him "yes" was the only answer I needed to give. 10 years ago today we celebrated with family and friends. 10 years ago today my intense joy was marked by just a touch of sadness as I wondered if this man I wanted to spend my life with would ever come back home again. 10 years ago today at 21 years old, I said yes as Skip slipped a ring on my finger.  I had never been so sure of anything in my life. Skip and I didn't have a typical engagement most people seem to have these d

It's no surprise that I am a huge Giants fan.   Huge .   Seriously, I was in the paper once for being the biggest fan ever. So when I had kids, I was determined to pass on my love of the game and the team to them.  I wasn't going to push it on them, but at the very least I would make sure they were never Eagles fans...or Cowboys...or Redskins...and definitely not the Jets. It started as dressing them up in Giants stuff every game day when they were little.  Football is on all day on Sundays in the fall and winter.  And they pretty much just have to deal with it.  Emmy was not into it at first.  She didn't realize why I got control of the TV for hours, watching a sport she didn't care at all about. But sloooowly she started paying attention a little closer to each game.  She would get excited whenever I would cheer and dance around.  She started cheering as well, and learned that "GO GIANTS" is the cheer of choice around here. Recently I was talking to Skip abo