One of the things I love about having a daughter...

Is the cute stuff I get to put on her.

Every morning I wake up and look forward to what I get to put her in..

She's like my little doll. My beautiful, perfect doll.





Now, just cant wait 'till she gets some hair....

Spring Cleaning IS WHACK

My back is aching from all the scrubbing, and bleaching and cleaning of every nook and cranny of my home.
I think I have carpal tunnel from squeezing the Windex bottle so much.

I know what you're thinkin'..."Boo Hoo!"

Well on the bright side I'm half way done with the castle painting I've been working on for the last couple weeks.

I'm super glad that I only pay like 4 bucks for my brushes instead of getting the super expensive ones, because like I've said before.. I'm a pretty messy painter and this usually always happens to all my brushes eventually.

this one was particularly one of my favorites.
RIP Flat edged brush.... May you find peace in your rock hard acrylic shell...:(

The Easter Bunny and the Golden Slippers

It's Madison's first Easter so... I was REALLY excited about getting her pics with the Easter Bunny. Matt could have cared less about the Easter Bunny. He had trouble understanding what the big deal was. So we were waiting in line at the Navy Exchange at Pearl Harbor when Madison decided to say..
"Da-Da"

Matt freaked out, and we both stared at her.

then she giggled and said

"DA-DA-DA-DA-DA"

Matt's mouth pretty much dropped, and I rolled my eyes. She said it about five more times before we sat her on the Bunny's lap. I was really not impressed with this Easter Bunny at all. He had mud all over his ear and he was anorexic looking, but I shrugged and made a fool of myself to get Madison to smile. Which was so worth it.

I tried to explain to Matt that even though she's saying "Da-da", that it doesn't mean that she knows what it means.... But I don't think he believes me. Oh well.

We went walking around the Exchange looking for things to stick in Madison's Easter basket, when from a distance I saw these beautiful sandals.

As I got closer, they became more and more shiny and pretty.

I picked one up and inspected it closely... Oh no.. they're coach.

I own a couple coach purses that I shamefully admit are a bit on the pricey side. I could only imagine how much these sandals cost. I took a deep breath and checked the sole for the price tag.

*gulp*
man... that is A LOT for a dumb pair of sandals.

a dumb BEAUTIFUL pair of sandals.

the sales person brought me a size 8. I slipped them on. They fit wonderfully. and looked fantastic with my skin tone and even went perfect with the coral three quarter sleeved blouse I was wearing at the moment.

I smiled as I admired how they glistened under the store lights.

NO!

I threw them at the box.

THEY'RE TOO MUCH CORALYN, DON'T DO IT! IT'S NOT WORTH IT.

I walked away from that shoe section very sad, and I felt my old roxy flip flops feeling more and more raggedy with every step I took. :(

man.. why do expensive things have to be so nice! grrrr..

As Thumper Once Said

"If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. "

....
So I dont have much to say.

Another Weekend :)

This weekend was awesome.

Had so much fun!

Matt threw me an awesome birthday bash. So many people were crammed in my little house it had my head spinning but I had an absolute blast hanging out with my friends and neighbors.

After the party we slept in pretty late. The second I got up we headed down to the beach at Bellows with our friends.

things I love about the beach are:
1. It's free
2. It's relaxing

3. It's beautiful

I always admire people who can make sandcastles that actually look like castles, instead of giant mounds of sand with pebbles and finger-poked holes in them... I am not talented in the castle making department. But Britney and I found this one..

Whenever Matt and I go to the beach alone, we don't stay that long. The beach is funnest when you're with a big group of people

Women generally don't like getting in the water a much as guys do. I think it has something to do with the cuteness factor going down when you're all wet and your hair is all messed up. But whenever we have our husbands with at the beach, it's either get in the water willingly, or be dragged by brute force. Fortunately for my friend Katie, she puts up a good fight.

Matt had lots of fun boogie boarding with the guys. The water was great, and the weather was perfect. Matt ended up getting a bit of a sunburn at the end, but I'm sure he felt it was well worth it.

I took SO many pictures of our friends while we were there. I'm pretty sure I'm now the officially "The Psycho Picture Taker". I seriously love my new canon t1i.

What I've been workin' on...

So I decided I wanted to paint some pictures of castles for Madison's room. I found some cool pics of Cinderella's castle and Sleeping beauty's castle that I wanted to give a try.

I'm pretty much the messiest artist in the entire world.
I have no idea how freelance artist sit on their little chair, with their easel in front of dozens of people walking back and forth looking over their shoulder, and manage to stay so neat and organized. I could never do it.
My paintings never turn out looking like what they're suppose to until the very end. People walking by would probably think I'm retarded.


I drew a grid (I have no idea why, like I'm even going to follow it..) In an attempt to stay neat and organized.

As I began drawing, and erasing, and drawing and erasing,



I put down my pencil to grab a glass of water and.. Oops, dang.


When I began painting I made an attempt at keeping my palette neat and pretty. Didn't quite work out. There really is no point in me having those individual spots on my dish to keep my colors separated, I don't even use them.




I remember in high school, my art teacher Mr. Allamen (that might be spelled wrong) told me I was the messiest art student he ever had, and that he had no idea how my paintings ever came out looking the way they did... and to be honest, I have no idea either. :)

Green Beans were a hit!

Madison loved them. I gave them to her for the second time tonight.

Out of all the different foods I've given Madison though, Bananas are her all time favorite. She gobbles those up like a little monkey.

I went to my first FRG meeting tonight. I always avoided them in the past because I've heard aweful things about FRG groups, but to be honest it wasn't that bad and everyone seemed pretty nice. They handed out all sorts of paperwork and discussed a few services that ACS provides for spouses of the deployed service members such as free daycare ect... Then went over fundraisers and boring stuff like that.

I CANNOT WAIT FOR THIS WEEKEND! I'm so excited. :)
Saturday is my Birthday Party that Matt is throwing for me
and Sunday me and a bunch of friends are going to Bellows for a picnic on the beach. I hope it doesnt rain!

Adventures in Baby Food.

Baby food is super expensive. Especially the "good stuff".
A lot of them have additives and preservatives
They're not horrible for babies, don't get me wrong. But why spend so much money on it, when you can just make it yourself?

Especially for breastfed babies, it's super easy to make the food at home and add milk to it so that your baby can still get all the vitamins, nutrients, and immunity from the milk. PLUS it helps baby get used to the taste, because the oh so familiar and favored milk is in it!

Just need a blender, an ice tray, and some fruits or veggies. :)

Here I used some green beans (steamed), a little water , and of course a few ounces of breastmilk

(the other foods already in the tray are bananas, and sweet potatoes)

Instead of an ice tray I bought this fancy smancy baby food feeder tray from Babies 'R' Us, it cost about five bucks, but with a regular ice tray you can just cover it with plastic wrap. When I'm ready to feed Madison I just defrost the individual cup for about 10 seconds, or I sit it in some hot water for a minute.

Madison is a really good eater, hence why she she's so chubbalicious. She gets super excited when I sit her in her highchair and take out food for her. :)

Sleep tight, and goodnight. :(

Madison's second tooth is coming in right now. She's growing so fast. Makes me sad.
Then last night we decided to move her into her room to sleep in her crib for the first night. She did really well, actually, 10 seconds after we laid her down she was totally out. Secretly I was hoping tha she'd throw a fit so she could stay in our room just one more night. At about 5:30 the morning I could hear her start to toss and turn a bit on the baby monitor, so while Matt was still asleep, I snuck into her room to grab her then laid her on the bed with me so we could snuggle. I missed having her sleep near me.

Matt has only 2 more months here with us until he deploys to the middle east for 12 months.

As of right now we've decided that Madison and I are staying here at our home. Because if we leave and come back we'll only have about 3 more months on the island when Matt returns,and that's a lot of moving back and forth.

My cousin Leslie is moving to the island with her husband Allen. They might stay with me for a little while they buy a home.

After that my dad might come out for a few months to keep me company. He's retired military and a retired DoD employee, so he has full access to the facilities on post.

I have a few friends that tell me that they're wanting to come out at one point as well. So I wont always be alone.

Madison and I may possibly come home for a few months between the end of september and the end of December. Still not 100% sure on dates yet.

Stayed up way too late

Last night our friends Katie and Erik came over after a few games at the bowling alley.

We had a lot of fun. Coincidentally when they came over afterward we played wii bowling. Because it was free and we're better at it. :)

We decided to play apples to apples until we basically went through the ENTIRE box of cards. I think that was 4 hours straight of Apples to Apples, it was nuts. But a lot of fun.

They guys were acting silly because they decided to indulge in a few alcoholic beverages. One specifically called a Jaeger-bomb. To break it down it's monster energy drink mixed with this nasty stuff called Jaegermeister.

I wouldn't ever in a million years touch the stuff, not just because I'm not a big drinker, or because I hate energy drinks, but because I ABSOLUTELY HATE THE TASTE OF BLACK LIQUORICE. bleh!!!!!!!

After our friends left I went to bed very sad, still mourning the loss of my wedding ring :(. I woke up in the morning with puffy red eyes and very tired. But I headed down to the police station to fill out a report, then called the insurance company to place a claim.

During our outings today we stopped to look a few places that sold wedding rings. Didn't really find any I liked because to be honest, I just want mine back. I tried on a couple but nothing really lifted my spirits. Whenever I decide to get a new one, I want my husband to be there to help me pick it. The only problem is I have extremely small hands (I wear a size 4 ring) so it's really hard to find a ring that I like that they are able to size that small. Most places will only size down to a size 5

The Best Day Gone Horribly BAD

The day started off like this.

Madison slept in until 9:30am. Which means Mommy and Daddy got to sleep in too.

Then we decided to go to the beach today with some new friends!

I got to play with my new camera, and actually take some decent pics for my album.

We stayed for several hours, and talked and talked, and swam and swam. As the day began to get hotter and hotter, I decided to put some extra sunscreen on Madison.
I took off my wedding ring and set it on a towel, and began vigorously rubbing lots of lotion on Madison.
Then I continued to talk and talk and have lots of fun.

Well, it was about 4pm and we were already planning on going bowling with our other friends Katie and Erik, so we had to get going.

I grabbed the easy stuff (diaper bag, camera bag ect...) to bring to the car. We said goodbye to our friends while Matt started to break down our cabana.

I sat the bags in the car when a suddenly I had a flash of realization
THE TOWEL! MY RING! OH NO!

I slammed the car door shut and began running back toward the beach
please Matt, don't touch that towel, please don't touch that towel

Then I saw Matt, with the cabana put away and the beach towels folded away in our bag.

My whole body tensed, up, I felt sick to my stomach, and Matt looked at me like "what's wrong?"

I yelled "Matt, I think we have a problem!"

Matt had shook the towels to rid them of all the sand on them, and my ring was somewhere on this beach!

My eyes began to water as I frantically combed the area we sat at.
"It's gone Coralyn." was the only thing my husband had to say to me. He already knew it would be hopeless looking for my ring, It could be anywhere buried in the sand.

no no no no no no no no no

People around us noticed my distress, and began searching too

No no no no no.
I kept praying I'd find it. I felt like it was just under my nose, but where is it!?

Madison fell asleep in my arms as I kept searching, finally Matt put his hand on my shoulder and gave me a sympathetic look. I knew he wanted me to give up.

I thanked all the random people on the beach helping with the search, and we headed to the car.

We almost left the parking lot, when I said
STOP! LET ME JUST CHECK ONE MORE TIME!

I ran back to the spot and looked around some more. but still couldn't find it.

That's when I really started crying.

When I got back into the car, the ride home was really quiet.
"Are you mad at me?" I asked Matt

"No I'm not mad" He said calmly
"I'm mad at me, why aren't you mad?"

"it's just an object sweetheart, It was only a symbol of our love, just because it's gone doesn't mean anything has changed.These things happen. If you wouldn't have cared that you lost it I probably would have been upset, but you cared a lot, and it can be replaced".

I have a great husband. He knows just what to say to make me feel better when the worst things happen. My heart is seriously broken that I lost that ring. The sentimental value in that ring was more valuable than any other material possession I own.

I'm filing a police report on Monday in hopes that if someone finds it, it will be returned to me. I know it's a slim chance, but it's worth a try. I'll probably file a personal property insurance claim, and sure I'm more than likely going to get a replacement ring... but it won't nearly be the same.

Mother Teresa knew a good poem when she saw it..

The FINAL Analysis Written by Dr. Kent M. Keith

People are often unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered; Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, People may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives; Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies; Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you; Be honest and frank anyway.
What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight; Build anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous; Be happy anyway.
The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow; Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough; Give the world the best you've got anyway.
You see, in the FINAL analysis, it is between you and God; It was never between you and them anyway

teefers.

Why are you crying my little baby, why so fussy? Maybe you're hungry?

I'm feeding Madison, when all of a sudden ..OUCH!!!!

...
what was that!?

MY GOODNESS, IT'S A TOOTH SPROUTING!

my princess is getting so big :)

Getting used to this Camera.

So basically, this camera Matt got me isn't the most user friendly device ever, but I figure... everyone has to start somewhere, right?

Still flipping through the instruction manual, which is rough for me because I am a total visual learner.. but I finally figured out how to take video on it. That's 1 step.

Now I just need to figure out how to take better pictures (so far, I'm living off of automatic focus, not too keen on manual quite yet.) Still working on what lighting is best on what modes.. and what all these abbreviations mean, and what they're for. Not to mention still learning how to handle it appropriately without breaking it (thanks Rachel).

This reminds of when I started that oil painting class at Sierra College. I had always used acrylic and water based paints, and I figured hey, oil painting can't be that hard. yea... whole different world, way more complicated and expensive too. I finally did get the hang of it, but it took a lot of practice.

to me, point and shoot cameras=acrylic painting, and dslr camera=oil painting.

Birthday Wishes.

I got my Birthday gift early this year because I am evil, and Matt isn't good at hiding gifts (for some reason they are always hiden in the garage).
He got me the Canon Rebel T1i. I've been asking around for several months (october-ish) about different SLR cameras but decided not to get one because they're really pricey. Since Matt is leaving in a few months he wanted to take our family camera (little sony cybershot) with him so he can take pics and send them to us, so we were planning on buying another small digital camera for Madison and I to send videos and pics to Matt while he is gone. That is why it totally took me by surprise that Matt decided to go all out on my birthday and get me this really nice camera. Though surprised, I was happy he got it. Hopefully I'll be able to take some really great shots of Madison and I, and it will be nice sending Matt really good HD videos of Madison while he's in Iraq.

By request, I have compiled a small list of little things I'd enjoying having for my birthday. These are not in any particular order.

*Picture frames, big, small, multi-picture, doesn't matter.
*Scrapbooking supplies. (i really need new scissors with those cool edges) Pens, stickers, gadgets ect.
*Acrylic paints, or a new sketchbook and drawing pencils.
*a teapot that can go on a stovetop

*a portable hard drive
*for gift cards, Target is always a winner.

cranky butt

trying not to be a cranky butt, I feel super sensitive lately. No bueno.