Altus AFB is the best base in the world! Literally.

You can't make this stuff up. Altus Air Force Base recently won the 2014 Commander in Chief's Installation Excellence Award! (If you want to get all military and acronym-y, it is generally referred to as the CINC IEA.)

Translation = the best base in the Air Force this year.

With such a high honor comes some serious cash for base improvements, which are desperately needed. The Altus Chamber of Commerce hosted a big party on base to celebrate the occasion, and in the spirit of finding fun, Scarlett and I had to attend.

We got there really early, so it looks totally empty from the picture, but I assure it was NOT. There was free lunch, bounce houses, a dunk tank, and music. They announced the new projects on base, which are actually very exciting. We're talking mini-golf and a splash pad, people. And remember how I hate the kids area in the gym? They're making improvements there too.

Unfortunately, two things happened that prevented me from properly documenting this with my camera phone. Scarlett was high on sugar from that morning's National Donut Day celebration and refused to eat her lunch. So she 1) ran around like a wild banshee and I could barely keep up; and 2) as it approached 1 p.m. (her nap time) she started throwing rocks around other kids. Time to leave.

Hooray for base improvements! If you need me next summer I'll be at the splash pad.

Transitioning to Twins

The first thing I did when the doctor told us we were having twins is laugh. The second thing I did was start thinking of all the things we were going to need to buy, get rid of, and change around our house.

This picture was taken approximately 17 minutes after being told we were having twins. Can you tell our heads are spinning? And can you tell it was Mustache March?

When we thought we were only having one baby, we thought we would just do some minor rearranging to make some room for a crib and changing table in our office. We could keep the majority of the baby items in Scarlett's room. Not much would change and we could go on with our merry lives.

My mind was racing with thoughts like, We have to buy another crib. And another infant car seat. I thought I bought all the big stuff  with the first kid and wouldn't need to do this again? Do I need a double or a triple stroller? Scarlett needs to learn to walk more because I'm not going to be able to carry her. What if I can't potty train her before the twins come? I can't have three kids in diapers. 

Todd and I went to lunch after our appointment and we just sat there looking at each other. We were honestly stunned for about a week and couldn't think or talk of anything else. I was going to hold out telling people until after the first trimester, but we couldn't keep this news in, so I outed myself on Facebook at 10 weeks.

Now that time has passed, the news has sunk in. True to our style, the only way we've been able to cope is by being proactive. I'm consolidating and downsizing and organizing like crazy. I've become obsessed with selling everything on our local classifieds page, because why should Goodwill get the money when I can? Yes, it's a total pain but I have to pay for my Sonic drinks somehow now that I have to pay for three kids in college at the same time.

You know how Kate Gosselin had sextuplets and got all kinds of free stuff like Gymboree clothes, nannies and helpers, and a tummy tuck? Maybe Sonic will take pity on me and award me free DDP for life.

National Donut Day

Remember how I love donuts? Remember how I craved them during my first pregnancy? Fortunately for my blood sugar, this time around I don't need a daily dose of donut. But that didn't stop me from partaking in National Donut Day again this year. 

Ham and cheese croissant, jelly roll, and a big DDP with easy ice. Probably excessive but HELLO -- it's a HOLIDAY. Yum.

Scarlett loves her glazed donut holes. I love that she loves them too, but I'll be honest, she's kind of a beast for the next few hours after eating all that sugar.

    

P.S. Dear Sonic -- please explain to me how this is "easy on the ice." 

This is not a drill.

So I've been MIA for a couple months. I apologize, but there's good reason.

That's right -- I'm pregnant! But wait, look closely. Yes, it is what you think it is. We are having TWINS.

I will answer the first two questions that came to your mind: 1) no, twins don't run in my family; and 2) no, I wasn't taking any fertility drugs. This is ALL NATURAL PEOPLE.

Through my research I have discovered that your chances of having twins goes up in your 30s. Excellent. The moral of the story is that it can happen to you too!

So what does this have to do with the blog? For the last two months my one goal for the day has been to have enough energy to keep Scarlett alive. I was so exhausted I couldn't do much else beyond that. But the first trimester is over and I can feel my body waking up. Hooray!

Speaking of Scarlett, what did she say when she heard the news?

The Day I Rescued a Feral Animal

Yesterday the Seattle Seahawks defeated the Denver Broncos to win the Super Bowl.

It was also the day I rescued a cat from my snowy backyard.

We heard him meowing and it was so cold outside, we had to take him in. He's the nicest cat alive; he's so friendly and cuddly. So now he is in our garage awaiting his fate. Clarity would protest if we brought him inside, so it's really in his best interest to keep them separated.

I've posted on every Altus classifieds Facebook page I can think of. I've reached out to friends in Texas and Oklahoma City for help with what to do with him and possibly locate a foster home. The rescue shelter in Altus that places with foster families is full. I'd love to find his owner, but at this point I don't think one exists.

He might also drool, it's hard to say. Todd says he saw drool, but I have yet to see that, but we're trying to be super careful. That's another reason he can't be around Clarity.

Is anybody in Altus missing the nicest orange and white cat you've ever met?

I think we can all learn a lesson from Bob Barker. Please remember to have your pet spayed or neutered.

5 on Friday

--ONE--

Hooray, the last day of January is HERE!!! January is the worst, isn't it? I feel such a sense of relief when February 1st arrives. I'm usually so surprised at how fast time passes when a month is over, but not with January. That being said, I will be really sad if we don't get just a little bit more snow. It turns out I appreciate the seasons more than I thought I did.

--TWO--

Todd won a couple awards recently that are very exciting -- Squadron Field Grade Officer of the Year and Operations Group Field Grade Officer of the Year. I am SO PROUD of him I can't stand it! He is now competing for FGO of the Year at the wing level. We find out in one week who won at the Annual Awards Ceremony and I am so excited and anxious all at the same time! It's a formal event and I can't wait for a night on the town to celebrate his accomplishments!

--THREE--

I spotted this glow axe at Wal-Mart this week. What in the world? Necklaces, bracelets, rings, sunglasses...and an axe???

--FOUR--

I watch a lot of reality TV. A LOT. The newest show I'm obsessed with -- Wahlburgers.



Let me state for the record that Joey was always my favorite New Kid. Donnie was a little old and raunchy for young and impressionable me. I like him better as an actor -- did you see Band of Brothers? He was almost unrecognizable. However, I am completely fascinated by the Wahlberg family, especially Mark. That guy is so disciplined it's crazy. The way he has turned his life around from a teen gangsta (for real), to Marky Mark, to a legit actor and producer with a wife and family amazes me. Dear Marky Mark -- please write a book because I would read it immediately.

--FIVE--


Photo courtesy abc.go.com

I'm a little late to the game on this one, but another new show obsession is Shark Tank. I went to go visit some family in Utah a couple weeks ago and my SIL and BIL are hooked on this. Thanks to them, now we are too. It inspires me to start a business until I remember that I don't have any original ideas of my own.

Moms at War?

About every month some new article about the Mommy Wars goes viral. The latest installment started circulating social media last week, and with every share and repost that appeared in my Facebook feed, I became more and more passionate. Not necessarily about the article -- I mean, it was fine and I applaud their effort to encourage moms to support each other. But I am becoming more and more convinced that most anti-mompetition articles seem to miss the point entirely.

Most of these kinds of articles just tell me how judgmental my friends are of me and how judgmental I am of them. They tell me we're all insecure and that we shouldn't feel that way. They think the problem is solved by simply saying "Stop judging! We're all in this together!" I don't think so.

Yes, we judge from a place of insecurity, but you can't just tell a person to stop being insecure. Why are we insecure? Let's get to the root of that.

We judge because we're insecure, and we're insecure because motherhood is the most thankless job on the planet. My daughter isn't going to tell me my diaper-changing technique is flawless, or that her eggs were scrambled to her liking this morning. So we seek validation from other places.

What's the ultimate validation? We've been told imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. If I convince my friends to mother the way I do, then obviously they think I'm a great mom, right? Imitation is definitely flattering, but we're looking for the wrong kind of validation. We'll never truly stop comparing and judging until we are satisfied with ourselves.

Easier said than done, right?!? Ha! So how do we become secure with ourselves and our parenting abilities? How do we reach the point where we don't take offense when our friend makes a different choice than we would have made?

Honestly, I think a lot of it comes from maturity and humility. The two go hand in hand -- I think the most mature people are the ones who are the most humble. My religion gives me knowledge and perspective that I value. I know we were created in God's image and that he gave each of us our own abilities and temptations.

We're all different for a reason. I have different strengths and priorities, I handle problems differently, I have a different energy level, etc., and the way all of that stuff comes together makes me different from everybody else. Our goal on this earth is to magnify our talents and overcome our weaknesses in positive and pleasing ways. We must humble ourselves and pray to recognize and accept what makes us different before we can move forward. And then we can pray for confirmation that what we're doing is right for us.

Seriously though, this kind of mastery and acceptance is definitely not going to happen over night, which is why we've been given a lifetime to accomplish it. And don't get me wrong -- I don't think we shouldn't learn from others. There are people in our lives with experience and guidance we should definitely value. But in the end, we have to be secure in our decisions, humble enough not to impose our will on others, and mature enough not to give a flip what others think.  Why don't these Mommy Wars articles talk about how to accomplish that?