New Stroller

*warning* this post will be incredibly boring to anyone who is not in the market for a new stroller, which is a total of... none of you. But, it's all I've been thinking about for a couple of months, so here it is.

My newest obsession? A new stroller. With a 2 year old and a newborn, it's a necessity. And, just in case, I tried going to the mall with Kate in the car seat and stroller, and holding Hyrums hand -just walking through one store to the playground area -it was a disaster. Not so much on the way in, but on the way out it became very apparent that we did need a double stroller.

Our current stroller has been an okay purchase, I loved having a jogger, but we had a few problems with it almost right away. We've made do, and it really has been a good stroller, especially for the price. The problem with the double joggers is they're HUGE!

And, the tandem double strollers and super long and hard to maneuver. I was certain that if I did enough research, read enough reviews, and tried out enough models in the store, I'd find the perfect double stroller. I've decided such a thing does not exist. You pretty much need two of them, a jogger and a tandem.

So, my choice was... do I try and buy a cheap tandem and then this spring buy a cheap jogger (keep in mind, there is actually no such thing as a cheap anything when it comes to baby gear) or... try and spend a bit of money (and to Justin, no amount of money is just a bit) on just one stroller, and hope it fits our needs.

I'm not kidding you, I lost sleep over this decision. Ridiculous, I know.

So... I went with the tandem sort, but what's called a sit and stand. It's a bit shorter than a regular double, and this one lets you put the car seat closest to you and allows the older child to sit in the front. It gives me another 6 months or so before Hyrum has to sit on the back sit/stand area. Of course, I had to choose a newer version, one that no one actually carried in their stores, so I ordered it online. I just had to hope that it would fit okay in our Civic. (A new, larger vehicle is in our near future, but not quite yet. But, strangely enough, I won't obsess over that purchase -I'm pretty sure a new Subaru will find it's way into our garage without too much of a fuss.)

Success. It came today (even after I decided on the type of stroller, then I had to kid myself for weeks thinking I could score some great deal on it, but I did okay I thought), and it fits in the trunk. I don't kick it when I walk (a problem for most strollers other than a jogger) and it seems really sturdy and good quality.

Now... I need to find a new obsession. How would I spend my ample free time if I don't?

Oh, and if anyone cares, it's a Joovy Ergo.

Welcome Aboard

It's been official for a while now, Justin accepted his commission and was sworn into the Navy last month.

This weekend he had his first drill weekend. It's a little different than a few others we know like my cousins husband and our neighbor (I guess it pays to enter the military as an officer). His weekends will be at Hill Air Force Base (30 miles away) for the most part and he gets to come home in the evenings. Also... his two week training is in Rhode Island (which happens to be extremely close to Boston), so we might try to make a vacation out of it for a few days either before or following the training this year.

We also took advantage of another military perk this week. Shopping at the commissary. For the most part, I thought it was priced like a regular grocery store, but you don't pay tax, and when things are on sale, they're REALLY on sale! I got a pound of spaghetti for .39 cents -well, I got about 6 or 8 boxes of that. Spaghetti sauce for .69 cents, great prices on the orange juice we usually buy and lunch meat and cheese. Definitely worth a trip every now and then, especially to stock up on some basics.

I'm not sure the occasional cheap bag of chocolate chips and frozen chicken is worth a year of deployment every few years, but we'll see. Justin will be doing mostly office work during his deployments, and we're hoping to pick the places that he might go. If he's able to go to Europe or stateside, our family will most likely join him. There are a few places that if he had to go... we'd definitely be staying home.

Oh... so don't forget to salute Justin next time you see him (he gets a kick out of that).

It's the little things

After a baby (even it's not the first, and sometimes especially because there's more than one) it's important to acknowledge the small accomplishments.

-I've showered EVERY single day since I had Kate. Most of the time it was before 2 o'clock, and a few of them were longer than 3 minutes.

-We've had dinner on the table almost every night. Thanks t0 freezer meals!

-We have clean clothes every day. Justin would point out that often times we need to fish them out of the dryer or a laundry basket, but at least they're washed, if not always folded.

-Every few days I get both kids down at the same time and get a nap myself. Today was one of those days.

-I'm half way through a book. I love being in the middle of a book, and with Hyrum, I don't think I picked up a non 'how to make your kid sleep' type of a book until he was 9 months old.

-I'm still losing weight. I'm not sure how long I lost weight after Hyrum, but since Christmas I've lost about 5 pounds. I'm walking every day, and even tried some ab exercises last night.

A new beginning

I guess a new year and a new blog should start with some New Years Resolutions or something like that.

We'll start with the obvious... lose weight. So far, this is too easy. Four weeks after delivering a baby I'm still losing a pound every couple of days. I know this won't last. Morning walks and/or trips to the gym and tracking my calories on a new iPhone app should help when it gets a little tougher. Plus... I'm hoping that a few strategic placed photography events (baby blessing in February, a possible wedding in April or May, and Gough family photo shoot in May or June) will keep me on track. I got within 10 pounds of my pre-pregnancy weight after Hyrum, but it was only a few months before I got pregnant with Kate. I hope to be a bit better this time around.

Blog... a lot. Now that we've gone private I'm sure they will become even more like a family and personal journal than ever before. Boring for most of you who are still reading them... but important for record keeping. Last year I got 2 years worth of printed books for super cheap, and this year I need to make and order our 2010 book as well as Hyrum's first one. I'd also like to keep up with getting family and kids pictures at least once or twice a year.

Read. I've always been a reader. The Young Women have been challenged to read the Book of Mormon again (this will make 3 times in two years). I'm in a book club that tries to meet once a month, plus I usually read a few books on my own too. It's good to read something other than Curious George and Thomas the Train.

Be nice and try to find joy in my everyday life. Sometimes it gets a little boring and mundane being at home all day. Too little sleep, too few hours to myself, and having a hard time finding the time and even satisfaction of cleaning a house that can't stay clean. But, I have a hard working husband that allows me to stay at home, I have two healthy kids, and great friends and family I get to see often. I should be able to smile a bit more.

I read on another blog (I can't even begin to remember which one) goals for the mom's kids too. So, for Hyrum -toilet training. He's ready, I just need to find the time and energy to do it. And Kate? I guess getting a good sleep schedule going and making it to at least 3 months with breast feeding. It's not easy (or all that enjoyable to be honest) for me. I don't have enough milk, despite herbal supplements and a prescription that insurance doesn't cover. It doesn't hurt as much anymore, but I still feel nauseous when I breastfeed and pump.

That's it, and that's plenty, as far as I'm concerned.