I feel like I've been thinking in 'lists'. Like if you wrote out what I was thinking...most of the time, it'd be in bullet form. Is it just me or does adding another kid to the mix force you to perfect your ability to get organized and write lists? So, these daysv as I parent on my own, I write lists. I write lists in my head. I write lists on my calendar. I write lists and email them to myself and here's the list of what I've got for you tonight.

1. I need a pedometer. I'm pretty sure having a three year old and a three month old forces me to take more steps in one day than I've ever taken before.

2. My jogging stroller arrived and I'm SO excited! Why you ask, if I'm somewhat complaining above about how many steps I'm taking? Oh, who knows...maybe because now I can have my hands semi-free while taking all these steps?

3. I'm absolutely loving this season of American Idol AND the Bachelor. Go ahead, judge me on my choice of awful TV. I don't care...it makes my nights less lonely and I'm not ashamed! :)

4. Queen's song 'Another One Bites the Dust' is a REALLY cool song to dance to in the kitchen with my girls. It makes Sophia happy, Alessandra laughs and it burns calories. I mean really? What's better? ;)

5. Note to self. Get a video of Alessandra's most adorable smile. She's a girl of many talents and has more smiles than most three month olds (I'm not partial or anything) but the smile I'm referring to...well, it takes over her whole body and it's amazing. Could be one of the best things I've ever seen and warms my heart.

6. Why yes...I'm 25 and my birthday this year was absolutely wonderful. I had a very special delivery from the love of my life, I had all my sisters, my mom and my girls here in Huntsville to spoil me rotten AND I drank a glass too much wine and had a delicious dessert. It was marvelous. I'm so ready for my 25th year and on the list in my head I remind myself of the goal I made on my birthday...To make this year the best yet. It'll be good. It'll be REAL good.


7. I always remind myself that the Lord is GOOD! After a whole lot of praying, I finally have a working heater in my house and what's the weather like outside? In the 70's! Go figure. But hey, God answered my prayers...I just forgot to specify.

8. You know that old suggestion for new mom's? Nap when your child naps? Well, no matter how many times I put it on my list and VOW that TONIGHT I will go to sleep when the girls go down and have twelve hours of glorious, uninterrupted sleep leaving me feeling refreshed and ready to take on the day...I never do. Now more than ever, I find that I crave the time I have that is just my own and the only time I've got, is into the night. One of these days I'll learn. OR my body will just adjust to not sleeping...much like my husband.

9. Things to remember to do: Pluck eyebrows more often. Maybe that'll help me look more awake?

10. This deployment will not get the best of me. Maybe that's not what would typically be on a to-do list but it is something I repeat every day. So much has happened since he's left, both good and bad, but learning to roll with the punches is one of the things I remind myself when the going gets tough. Do I have my off days? Of course. But I've got this! And you won't hear me whining.

So now that I've successfully mixed thoughts with tasks and tasks with thoughts, I feel that my mind's got a little less clutter and I can begin again. My girls give me every reason to smile as I write this...tired, drained, and just plain old worn out...and my friends...ahhh, my friends. They have been the rocks that I need the most and the beautiful distraction when the months ahead feel like they will never end. And I leave you with some pictures of what makes all of it, SO worth it.

Sancho enjoying the sunshine!

Sophia's new favorite thing to do to help Mom. It's wonderful and she does it without being asked.

Chris' home in our lives! It's nice to have him around. ;)

My sleeping beauty.

Month two? Check!

Well we're just coasting along through February aren't we? Thirteen days in isn't too shabby in the second month of this darn deployment, aside from the couple inches of snow that fell over the past week. I think about February and I swear I think in pink and red (I'm a hopeless romantic and a sucker for a good holiday ;) and despite what most like to call the worst month of the year...I love it. Come on there's a lot to look forward to in February. The hope for the groundhog to see his shadow, an excuse to say I love you and be extra cheesy...and this Valentine's week, temperatures in the 60's! Reasons to celebrate I tell you.  It's the shortest month of the year so thinking about checking off days of this deployment and swiftly moving into March, well this mama looks for any excuse to brighten her days. And then comes Valentine's day and the lovely traditions that I vowed I'd put into play this year...this year that Sophia's so much more aware of the simple yet oh-so special intricacies of life. Sophia's put some extra love into February for me too and it's been heartwarming. Her Auntie's put a bug in her ear and told her my birthday's coming up so I've had about two weeks of 'Happy Birthday' songs and some really cool playdoh birthday cakes...candles and all.

Look at my chubbo's cheeks!!!! I could die!

Our wonderful friends Tracy and Jay bought Sophia her first basketball hoop and she loves it.

My littlest on Friday, Feb. 11th. Wearin' red to support our troops!

Sophia took this picture. She loves taking pictures and it's nice to see how many actually turn out.

My big girl.

Being silly in her new towel. I'm lovin' the smile!

Just like her Dad...she wanted nothing to do with Mama's attempted photoshoot. It made Chris laugh when I emailed him the photo.

And last but not least...my playdoh birthday cake courtesy of Sophia. And of course she insisted on blowing out the candles. :)

All is well in our little world, with my little crazy haired beauty and my scrumptious bundle of chubbiness, although we miss our Marine. Sophia is constantly surprising me and you'd think over the millions of times I've said those exact words, I wouldn't be at all surprised by her ever-growing little personality. But I always am. And I love it. I wish I could record her and show you how her thoughts play out these days. I laugh when I hear myself in her little comments and I smile every time she tells me that she's happy. How could you not? I don't so much see my baby anymore, I see a little girl growing up so fast. But it's a beautiful sight to see. A sight that makes everything in life so worth it. She's got that natural maternal instinct and it comes out most especially when she's around Alessandra. She's eager to bring me a diaper or choose Alessandra's new outfit or even make sure she has a clean bib. Just the other day I heard her talking to her saying, 'It's okay baby sister. I'm here. I'm your big sister'. And you better believe if Alessandra is crying, Sophia will belt out an extremely loud version of 'Twinkle, Twinkle little star' to 'comfort' her little sister. It's wonderful to see Alessandra growing too. She's my big baby...weighing in at a little over 13 pounds and she's a couple days into her third month. She smiles just about any time someone talks to her and she's coo-ing more and more every day. She loves sitting with her sister in the mornings watching cartoons. She'll crane her neck to catch a glimpse of the tv and watched the ENTIRE superbowl but fell asleep during the halftime show (go figure!) She hardly ever cries, I tell you (no seriously, hardly ever)...well apart from when she's hungry and then she WAILS! I can't help but laugh a little because it's cute to see her little frown. Awful I know but even her quivering lip is a-d-o-r-a-b-l-e! Alessandra looks a lot like Sophia did as a baby but their personalities are already so different. Maybe it's a mama's intuition but Alessandra is much more content to just 'be' whereas Sophia was always very high energy. It's a beautiful thing being a mom to two girls, two sisters at that. I find myself staring at Alessandra and wondering if she'll be anything like her big sister....staring at Sophia wondering what it'll be like to send her off to school for the first time. I find myself  thinking...what'll my girls be when they grow up? Those thoughts make a lot of my struggles these days so undescribably  worth it. I can't even begin to tell you how tired I am. I can't even begin to tell you how busy my days are and how sometimes it feels that making it to 8 pm is a huge victory. But true to form...there is always a brightside and in saying that, staying busy has made the time pass by much quicker than I anticipated. My mother-in-law told me not too long ago that before I know it, Spring will be here and Alessandra will be crawling...and I'll wake up one morning and find that it's the day that Chris comes home. I've got a long way to go to get there and I'm not naive in thinking we'll go without struggles...but today...thirteen days into February...despite everything...we're doing great!