Did you know?

Alright. I've decided my blog is ULTRA boring. So from here on out, I'm going to try and post more things. Interesting things. Ha! So, whether or not this is actually interesting to you, I am going to jot down 15 things about me once a week that I bet you didn't know. Hopefully I don't run out of things to say by the end of March.

1. I had ingrown toenails up until my first trimester when pregnant with Titan when I said "enough is enough!" and had them fixed! I didn't want to be 9 months pregnant with swollen toes that had ingrown toenails. Gross but true.

2. I have never had surgery before.

3. I've never broken a bone. (If you knew me as a young person, you'd think this was amazing! I did a lot of dumb things.)

4. I can stick my finger up my nose and make myself sneeze on demand. Wait, so far these are all kind of gross-ish. Anyways...

5. I cannot cook to save my life. I caught my kitchen on fire (and I'm talking a 6-8 inch high flame that reignited after I put it out the first time, with me frantically trying to figure out whether to put it out with the extinguisher or get the neighbors. Instead I blew it out with my own breath while 8.5 months pregnant and nearly passed out)

6. For years and years, I'd look out the window every night and make a wish on a star. But for ONE wish, I'd find THREE more stars and say things I was thankful for.

7. Derek had known about me for two months before talking to me. I had never seen him before. Since we had never talked and he didn't know my name, I was known as The White Skirt Girl, seeing as I wore the same skirt to church each week. (Come on, white matches with everything. I'm a practical person.) My wedding ring has the letters WSG engraved in the inside because of this nickname.

8. I hate celery. I tried for years to get myself to like it and I JUST CAN'T.

9. I can recite almost every line (ask my husband if I am exaggerating when I say EVERY LINE) of every character on every Disney movie Titan watches.

10. My least favorite household chore is unloading the dishwasher.

11. I dropped my cell phone in the toilet at McDonalds in Odessa on our way to Georgia and it miraculously came back to life. I still have it today!

12. My favorite thing to buy at Costco are the TortillaLand cookable tortillas. If you haven't tried them, do it!

13. I ran track all four years of high school but I hate running.

14. I was so tired of having braces for 3.5 years that I made my orthodontist remove them early so I wouldn't have braces in my senior year pictures for a trip I won to California. Now I have random gaps in my back teeth that also serve as meat-catchers. Disgusting.

15. I took first place for the state of New Mexico in Public Speaking for the DECA program, which is why I won the above trip!

Alive & Kicking!

I'm sure some of you thought I'd fallen off the blogging bandwagon and never check my blog anymore but that's okay...here goes another post! (But to be honest...I'm kind of over blogging. How lame am I. I still like to read other people's blogs but I haven't been as inclined to write.)

As most of you already know, little Claire was born into our family on January 26th! It was quite the adventure getting her here. I began dilating and effacing at around 36 weeks so my doctor thought she'd come around the 38th week. No sir. She came 2 days past her due date! And not only THAT, but I was induced the day before and because I made no cervical change within the hours I was there, I was sent home at 2 AM. 9 AM the next day I began having good contractions. I labored at home for almost 5 hours before heading to the hospital. I was having AWFUL contractions, some lasting 3 minutes and spaced only 45 seconds apart. I was dilated to a 4 when I went in. If I wasn't a 5 within an hour, they said they'd send me home. I told them I'd go to another hospital so you better admit me! Good thing they did, too because I had miss Claire when dilated to an 8. My body decided a 10 was not a necessary goal to reach for giving birth! Yes, I felt it. She came so quickly that the doctor barely made it in the room to catch her.

She was such a beauty! Pretty pink skin color, hardly any vernix on her...and just sweet as ever. Never cried for anything! Ate like a champion. Slept well. She was perfect. She's been such a sweetheart ever since. She never had to figure out her days & nights. Some nights she'll go between 6 and 8 hours without a feeding. I love this little girl! And she sleeps often enough that I still get my mommy-Titan time in. He loves that and so do I!

Derek is doing phenomenal in his job. After 3 1/2 years of being married, I've never seen him enjoy a job so much as he does now. And he gets paid well, which is something he always felt he never had. I guess anything sounds good though coming straight out of the Army, considering he calculated that he made like $2/hour or something like that. Haha. Poor guy.

I'm doing well, just adjusting to life with 2 children. It's definitely an adjustment! I like my kids more and more as they grow older, more stable, and more dependent. At this moment, I laugh at the "terrible two's" statement people make because honestly, Titan is a blast and he is such a good boy. I love him and enjoy him more each day. But for now, we think 2 kids is plenty...there just might be a few years between ole Claire and the next one. On our flight to South Beach back in 2009, we met a nice older man named George. We have never forgotten George. I was 7 months pregnant and he noticed this, obviously. He told us, "You know, it's EASY to be a bad parent. But it is really HARD to be a good one." How true is that?! Parenting is definitely hard for me. But I take comfort in the fact that it's difficult because that tells me that I care and that I am trying hard every single day to be the best mommy I can be to these sweet little ones Heavenly Father has entrusted me with. I love my little family!

And because I'm sure you're dying to see this little bundle of cuteness...here she is!

Holy Belly!

This belly is a champ. It's been stretched, poked, rubbed, kissed & squished. It has done quite the transformation since we first found out I was pregnant.


About 3 weeks pregnant



8 weeks pregnant


12 weeks pregnant


Almost 16 weeks pregnant


18 weeks pregnant



About 20 weeks pregnant


24 weeks pregnant


26 weeks pregnant


28 weeks pregnant


32 weeks pregnant


Almost 36 weeks pregnant


And finally, this is my latest photo. It was when I was just 2 days shy of 38 weeks.

I am now 38 weeks and 2 days pregnant so I'm trying to convince this little one that she can come out ANY DAY NOW...

Wish us luck!

The Moments We Live For.

This kid.

There was a time when we didn't get along. I didn't know how to be a Mother; in fact, I'm still learning every day. I would get up early, make him a breakfast that he wouldn't eat. I would play with him and it wasn't enough. He would throw fits at naptime. He wouldn't eat lunch, wouldn't eat dinner and wouldn't go to bed at night. It was hard to feel like being a Mother was "worth it" during those times. But this child is the sweetest, smartest, most loving kid I have ever met in my lifetime.

Derek and I woke up freezing the other night at around 4:15 AM. I went into the hall to flick on the heater and had a feeling to go in and cover up Titan. I found him cold, in a ball on his bed with his face buried in his pillow. He was awake, just waiting for someone to tuck him under his covers since he can't really do it himself. I covered him with his wubby, then with his comforter. He looked up at me and said, "I Love You". It melted my heart! I whispered, "I Love You, too" back to him. He looked up at me a second time and said, "I Love You" and I smiled. I told him, "I Love You, too" once again then walked out of his room. He didn't make a peep after that and he slept until almost 7 AM.

Those are the moments we live for as parents. I love you, little Titan!

Merry Christmas to All!

I have been such a blog slacker. Seems my life has been filled with rather uninteresting events that aren't worthy of blogging about. But when I think about it, it's not true! Let's see:

*Derek found an amazing job that he loves.
*My parents came to visit us for the weekend and have an early Christmas with us. That was a BLAST!
*I've started to venture out on my own and navigate my way through the Phoenix Valley a little bit...(Has anyone truly ever realized how BIG this place is?!)
*I have one month left until our little girl arrives.
*Titan is quickly approaching his 2nd birthday (where on EARTH does the time go???)

Anyway, life is so good here at the Hargrove home. I can never complain. Sometimes I get nervous when I'm about to gush about how great my life is and how blessed I am, because I'm afraid that one day it will all be taken from me. Isn't that morbid? I have just heard so many stories in my lifetime about these people who fall in love then get in car accidents. People who are 39 weeks pregnant and their baby passes away. People who lose their children to weird things like cancers, SIDS, tumors, etc. I guess I get scared because I feel like I have a fragile heart and don't want it to be tested. This year has brought so much heartache, yet so much joy!

I often feel sad that we are no longer an Army family. I miss the days where Titan and I lived in Georgia. I miss missing Derek (does that even make sense?!). I feel sad when I see his friends graduate from each new phase of training and I know it pierces Derek just the same. I often find myself wondering what our lives would have been like had we continued on that path. But I know this is where our family is meant to be. Together. No deployments. No time away due to training. No danger. No governmental drama like he dealt with in his field. I could not be happier to have my sweet husband living at home with us. Where once I was wondering how January would play out, (Titan and I alone on his birthday with no friends or family, me giving birth alone 1500 miles from anyone in our immediate family, New Year's and Christmas alone...) now all of that will be different. We will spend the holidays with TONS of family. We will have my mom here to welcome in Baby Claire and squeeze on Titan. Derek should be able to attend the birth. It's WONDERFUL!


This is our self-timer-taken Christmas card picture (haha). Surprisingly, it didn't take too long to get a decent shot. My face definitely looks like a 35 week pregnant person face...


Here is little Claire, hanging out all cozy in the womb. She is very sweet and mild. I can tell this about her already. She hardly ever moves and when she does, she's pretty gentle about it. She gets the hiccups a lot, and I get heartburn more frequently as of late. I also urinate up to 12 or so times a night which is so much fun. I've gained about 27 pounds and it's all belly, bum and boobs. A lady at Victoria's Secret measured me the other day (I was in a sports bra no less) and I'm a 32 C. Wow. So I can bank on having some rather large honkers after my milk comes in. To say I went from a small A to a small D is quite the jump for someone like myself! Ha!

Anyway, life is good here and I hope you all have the Merriest Christmas of all time and remember what Christmas really is about.

Love,

The Hargroves

Yes, please!

I have secretly become obsessive over Pinterest. For the longest time, I had no idea what it was and had no desire to find out. But alas, I got a wild hair one day and decided to check it out. My eyes grew wide with all the amazing things they were being exposed to! I found so many amazing recipes, quotes, craft ideas and much more...along with this little dilly whopper you see above. It's called Bacon Ranch Pull Apart Bread. Does that not sound like the best thing ever?!

I have yet to make it, but I'm thinking it will make a great appetizer for Christmas Eve while at my in-laws house. If anyone else wants to try it out, tell me how it tastes! Here are the directions:

1 loaf of unsliced sourdough bread (preferably round)
8-12 oz cheddar cheese, thinly sliced
3 oz bag of Oscar Meyer real bacon bits
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 tablespoon ranch dressing mix

Use a sharp knife and cut the bread horizontally and vertically, but be sure not to cut all the way through. Place slices of cheese and bacon through the cuts. Mix the butter and ranch, then pour over the loaf of bread. Wrap the entire loaf in foil and place on a baking sheet. Cook at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Remove foil from bread and place back in oven for an additional 10 minutes, or just until the cheese has completely melted.

I think my mouth is salivating just typing this up. Someone make it and tell me how it turns out! (Or...if you live in the Phoenix valley, I'd be happy to stop by and taste test it...)

Helloooo again!

Hey all!

What a whirlwind of crazy events has happened since my last post! Technically I had one more post to the Happy Marriage series, which had to do with Money, but I'll save that for a rainy day so I can catch you up on our lives as of late!

Starting with my hubster: He just turned 28 this year! Wow! Only 2 more years to thirty...scary? I think so! But life just keeps on getting better as time passes. : ) The United States Army is currently doing a 60,000+ soldier downsizing and President Obama had recently announced a major cut in military funds. For my husband, this meant a lot of things. Because he was going into the Officer side of the Army (versus the Enlisted side), he had specialty schools to attend and the Army needs a lot more money to pay the college graduates (the Officers). The Army ended up in a huge financial crisis, leaving some 200+ soldiers fighting for 30 or so slots in Officer Candidate School, a school where they were all originally promised a place in the class at a specific time. There were so many soldiers being held over at the center where soldiers get "recycled", that Derek didn't even have a pillow to sleep on and I believe some didn't even have bed sheets. Luckily I lived in Columbus and I just tooted on over to Ft. Benning and gave him what he needed. Our visits were basically supervised and 1-2 minutes at a time if we were lucky. (It was kind of like being in a maximum security prison honestly!). But I was able to see him once a week at church which made our time apart so much more bearable. A perfect score for the PT test is a 300. The cutoff for Rangers, the most elite group of soldiers in the Army is a 240. The Special Forces are required to get a 260. The cutoff for Officer Candidate School due to the downsizing was upped to 290! Derek scored a 287 the first time, causing him to be held at the recycle center for 3 entire weeks before even getting a second chance at the class. The second chance he got, his PT score-keeper docked him 23 points on his pushups because he wasn't going low enough. Have any of you seen my husband?! He's buff and awesome and a STUD! At this point, Derek felt like Heavenly Father didn't want him in the Army. His PT score, had the score-keeper not been on a "short changing" high, would have been a 302 putting him above the curve by many points. He prayed and thought and decided it was best to take the new No Fault discharge the Army was now offering due to the downsizing. As he waited to be discharged, he thought about what it might be like to try a third time. Then he sprained his ankle. Further confirmation that he wasn't supposed to be there any longer. He was finally released on October 29th and we blew out of town like it was nothing! We rented a truck and trailer and left our little place in Columbus, Georgia. We drove 13 hours, pulling into Marshall, Texas at 1:45 AM. We left again the next morning and drove another 13 hours to El Paso, Texas where we spent a day with family. The next day we drove to Phoenix, AZ to drop our things off at a storage unit then we drove up to Snowflake directly after. I must say, it was a romantic way to spend our 3 year anniversary- 6 months pregnant and juggling unloading a 16' moving truck, watching an almost two year old zip all around the asphalt and organizing all the junk you just hauled across the country into two 5x10 units. We celebrated by eating out at our favorite place: Filiberto's Mexican food. Trashy, dirty, cheap and DELICIOUS.

Little T-man: He's been such a champ. His vocabulary has expanded and I love hearing his sweet little voice. He's smart as a whip and I love watching him grow. Those newborn stages really suck the life out of me and I don't actually enjoy little tiny babies. Like, at all. But this little man is so much fun that I can't get enough of him.

As for me, I'm finally in my 8th month of pregnancy already. How wild. Did it go by fast for anyone besides me? I'm still feeling quite unprepared! I haven't hit the nesting stage at all- maybe because moving across the country and back in the last few months has made me not want to sift through another box for as long as I live. But who knows. I've gained 21 pounds and it's strangely nice to be half the size I was when I was pregnant with Titan.

Well now that you've got the scoop on us as of late, I'm going to end this post! I'll be around more often now that life has finally began to slow down. But that will all change again in 7 weeks!