Four weeks ago my FB status was: "In the next 6 weeks I have to graduate one from kindergarten, one from grad school, move up the hill and have a baby." Four week later we've only crossed one of those things off our list!!  This week starts a crazy pace of life in our family for a little while.  Chad has been done with classes for almost 2 weeks, but finally officially graduates from Columbia tomorrow!  He and I will be going down to the city for that tomorrow.  He also has a graduation ceremony here at West Point on Thursday.  Wednesday I have my last regular OB appointment, and that night we have the Navigators banquet for the graduating Firsties. Friday morning we get the keys to the house and can start moving stuff in!  We are still debating how much to paint and whether or not to pay an arm and a leg to just have it painted before we move in.  Saturday Chad is working West Point's graduation.  Hopefully the girls and I will make it up ther...

In the midst of moving madness, I hosted a baby shower for a friend at church, Laura.  Thankfully it wasn't at my house!  The boxes wouldn't have made great decor! Laura and her husband Tanner recently moved here and they lead worship at our church.  They are amazing people and amazing singers/musicians!  They are welcoming baby Eila that same week we are welcoming baby Lucy! I only got a few pictures of the decor.  I consider that a success given my lack of picture taking lately!!  Chad and some friends from church helped with setup and food - couldn't have done it without them! I also have to credit Pinterest for inspiration on the decorations!  I'm just not creative on my own! The brunch food looked yummy...  This cake was a total last minute decision!  I had ordered super cute raspberry cream cheese cake pops, but at 9:30 the night before, the baker emailed me saying she had a family emergency and wouldn't be a...

In the past few weeks Chad and I have mentioned many times how thankful we are for healthy kids.  I can count on one hand how many times they have been sick and Addison had never really been sick for any length of time besides an ear infection when she was 18 months.  And we have never had any sickness pass around the family.  It was never my intent to be arrogant about this - just thankful to the Lord for healthy kids and family! Well, that all came to a screeching hault this week!  We had no warning. Tuesday night we went to some friends' house for dinner and everyone was doing fine!  At 5:30 Wednesday morning Mya came in our room, running a fever and said her stomach hurt.  Because we don't have sick kids very often, we weren't thinking and put her in our bed.  Less than 2 minutes later she was throwing up all over me and our bed.  She was laying in the bed or on the couch with a fever until Saturday.  Poor girl was very uncomfor...

We've had some exciting family news this week - Chad made the promotion list for Major!  Excuse my "Army speak" briefly... This is what is known as a below the zone promotion.  He wasn't slotted for promotion until next year, but normally 5-6% of each year group makes the cut a year early.  This is certainly great news and something that shows how hard Chad has worked and what a great officer he is.  However, it does come at a cost.  This basically speeds up our military timeline by a year.  We are in a period of 3 years out of the deployment cycle, and this promotion could take one of those years away.  As of right now we are slotted to move to Kansas this coming January.  That would only be 11/2 years into our 3 year assignment here.  Now, one would think that the Army would not invest in sending Chad to grad school, only to move him after 8 months in his job.  The Army doesn't always follow practical wisdom though, so we will just ha...

Time for a little update on the girls... Addison: - 38 lbs, 47 inches - in mostly size 6 so that everything can be long enough, 7 in dresses.  Pants have to be slim fit and adjustable waist.  Can't wait for warmer weather - shorts and capris so her high water pants aren't so noticeable! Thankful boots and skinny jeans! - Can tie her shoes like a pro - can read!  She is still on a beginner level, but doing great! - doing excellent with addition facts!  Just started subtraction. - loved her short hair cut, but now wishes it was really, really long - still loving gymnastics.  She is working on her back walk over.  - favorite thing to do is play music on her CD player in her room and sing and dance - doesn't want her fan on in her room at night.  Not sure if she is a true Monroe or not.  - Loves to help me cook.  An expert peanut butter sandwich maker.  - loves to watch House Hunters and Chopped if given the ...

What good is it to set goals unless you check up and see how you did!  In case you missed the full list of my February goals, you can check them out here . So how did we do? Read    1 chapter of  Proverbs each day - complete!   Start Beth Moore Bible Study - complete fail!  I simply have to carve out more quiet time and focus on things other than things around the house.   Clean out closets - complete, technically, but not to my satisfaction. I'm on a serious nesting purge...the kind where you hate looking at any closet in your house and just want to call in a dumpster.  The Army pushed back the date of releasing the promotion list until next week.  Given the current state of the military and funding, the likelihood of promoting below the zone is slim and we know that.  As long as moving houses is a possibility though, I feel stuck.  We were offered a 4 bedroom house this week, but not in the neighborhood we want. ...

Judging from the comments and traffic on my blog, ya'll are enjoying, or at least reading, the recipes that I post.  I will keep posting since it seems like that are helpful to others! A few people have asked for the almond bar recipe I use.  Here it is . Also, here is the recipe for the Flax Muffins I've made: 1 1/4 golden flax seed meal 2 tsp. baking powder 1 Tbsp. cinnamon 1 tsp. nutmeg (optional...I'm not a huge fan of nutmeg, so I don't put it in) 1/2 salt 1/3-2/3 cup xylitol or coconut sugar.  (or stevia equivalent) I normally use 1/2 cup coconut sugar. 4 large eggs 1/4 cup olive oil 1/2 cup water 1 Tbsp vanilla Optional add ins: 1 medium granny smith apple finely chopped 1/2 cup chopped peacans 1/2 blueberries  - I normally use frozen blueberries because its easier.  You can reduce the cinnamon if you want if you use blueberries instead of apples, but I don't. Mix dry and wet ingredients separately.  Combine thoroughly.  Le...