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New Years Resolutions

I'm not the type to make new years resolutions, the reason being is that I am horrible at keeping them. I am not sure that I have ever made one that I've kept!

There are a lot of things I really want to change in 2010, and although they do include things like my health and my weight (maybe I should cash in a nordictrack coupon to work on my running) the majority of my goals for this year are spiritual. The main one is become passionate about Christ, become a lover of God, and truly seek Him.

Like I said, I'm not setting a resolution though. I'm just gonna try to change things. Something with that word automatically tells my brain it's not going to work.

What are your goals for 2010?

Christmas is done New year is so close

I have to say, 2009 went by REALLY fast. I can't believe before the week is over it will be 2010. I am pretty happy to see 2009 be over, it's been a trying year, although we've learned a lot and grown a lot, I'm hoping 2010 holds better things (like maybe a job for my husband!)

Christmas was very interesting, I realized this year that in the 7 years since we've been married we've never ONCE been home on Christmas! That's pretty crazy if you ask me. This year we went to visit Eugene's family and enjoyed a great Christmas morning opening presents with his sister and her family, then headed over to his other sister's house for the afternoon and evening.

When my family was visiting over Thanksgiving we celebrated Christmas, i got to give my mommy her present it was nice to see her open it. It wasn't anything exciting, but it's not like she needs to rock some dental implants Plano style or anything. She got all of us towels and embroidered our names on them, on the wash clothes was a little something we like. I LOVE mine, the girls have cool hooded towels. And my mother in law made me this sign that i absolutely love. it says "Life is full of choices, remove your shoes or scrub the floor." it's GREAT.

Anyway, New Years eve is looking to be a great night, Eugene's cousin is going to be getting baptized and we'll actually be there to see it. Hopefully the winter weather holds off till Friday!

Christmas

I can't believe Christmas is so close. I just finished up my Christmas shopping, well, almost. I have to order one more thing. It was pretty easy to do since we're doing so little this year. I made most of the girls gifts, Eugene and I aren't getting each other anything this year, and family gifts were at a minimum.

This year I did a lot of my shopping online, probably because I didn't buy too much. and some of the things that were requested I could find online for a lot cheaper than in stores- like gauged earrings! Those are way marked up in stores like hot topic, and tattoo shops, i got great deals on ebay. he he. I also had some amazon gift cards which i used to pick up a few things for the girls.

You know, who ever came up with traditions must have exercised a lot more than our culture does now, or else food wouldn't be such a big part of all family gatherings. I've started running again, and I hope to keep it up. I know most people find it easier to just look up diet pill reviews than work off our overeating. I'm trying hard to work it off!

FINALLY!

I saw a commercial the other day for a product I honestly think was ingenius!!! It's a faucet that turns on just by touching it. Any part of it, with any part of you. So if your hands are covered with chicken gunk and you need to wash them so you don't spread saminella all over the place, you just use your arm to touch the neck of the faucet and *poof* water is on. I'm sure there are some downfalls to it, like if you accidentally bump it, it would turn it on and off when you didn't want that, but honestly, I think that's a great idea. I don't know if they make bar faucets or not, but man, if we weren't renting I'd go out and buy one!

On a totally different note, we got our car back today, everything looks so new and shiny, and now my husband wants a new headlight on the passengers side, because there is quite a difference. he he. OH well, YAY for having a car!

Wii

So the past two blogs I've written have been on my husband's computer. Why you ask? well, because mine has decided it wants to run like a computer from the stone age. So yah, it's like 5 years old and has half a gb of memory on it, that is no excuse to take 15 minutes to let me click on something!! I know people with iphones and all the special iphone accessories and I'm sure they can do things faster than I can. Anyway...

Lately we've been playing a lot of wii. We got the new Mario game and let me tell you, it rocks! We also got Punch out and Shawn White, both pretty good games. (my hubby got a gift card to game stop for Christmas so we were able to get them! yay for gift cards) But Mario has got to be the best wii game out there! It's pretty fun to sit down with Eugene and play nintendo, it's a nice relaxing way to end the day. We don't get much time alone with out kids can you tell? he he.

Red Box

Have you heard of redbox? I hope so, if not look it up. It's amazing. Blockbuster is out there charging you almost $5 to rent a movie, but you can go to redbox and rent one for $1 plus tax per night. Anyway, the other day we were grocery shopping and as usual I went to about 3 different stores. I was amazed because all three stores now had a redbox in them. I think they are going to be one of the next top franchises. Not only did those three stores (within a 3 mile radius) have it in, but I knew of two others right near there.

I love having so many, I just wish they weren't all across town. It's great though because you can get on their website and check to see if any of the kiosks near you have the movie you are looking for, then you can even reserve it online and pick it up. Just remember what kiosk you reserved it at so you don't drive around to all the local redbox locations trying to pick up a movie. :)

My first car accident

I got into my first car accident the other day. I hydroplaned into a guard rail. No one was hurt thankfully. but I am glad I listened to my gut and called the police to fill out an accident report. I wasn't sure who to call so I called 911 call center services and they connected me to the local police.

The whole thing is an amazing story really, I wasn't going too fast, and there wasn't a ton of water on the road, it wasn't raining but had rained earlier. it was enough water that I slid and started to spin. I put on the breaks not thinking, which slowed me down, but I smashed into the guard rail. As soon as it happened I called Eugene to find out what to do and the very first car that drove by just happened to be a man from my church. He stopped and a pilot on the way home stopped too. Together they changed my tire and got me to a safer place on the other side of the street to wait for the police. The guy from my church was so nice, not only did he change the tire he stayed with me until the police came, sat in the car with Caylee while I was in the police car and followed me most of the way home until I told him I was ok and he should just go home.

I am so thankful I waited for the police even though I got a ticket and have to go spend a day in court (the police said I will not have to pay after court). But so far the estimates on the car which don't include the two tires we had to buy and the alignment we need are $1800 and $2400. our deductible is $500, so we will end up paying about $650 total. So much for getting a lap top for my birthday!

dreaming

My 7th anniversary is coming up and I decided since we never got an anniversary we should take a good trip. surely after a year of being unemployed we can afford a little trip to Punta Cana or Hawaii or some place warm and sunny right?

A trip to the grocery store is more likely, maybe even walmart or target. :) Either way I am happy that I have celebrated seven years with such a wonderful man!

the Big 3-0

My wonderful Hubby turned thirty yesterday. we didn't have a big party or anything but we did have some friends come over. We ate a great meal of steak on the grill, twice baked potatoes, salad, home made bread and delicious chocolate cheese cake. I ate so much that my belly fat is twice as big now. Our friends brought the bread and cheese cake and man oh man was that cheese cake good!

I have a funny story about the grilling of the steak... We borrowed our neighbors grill which apparently has some quirks. Our friend was doing most of the grilling and had the nobs turned to where he thought was low, but in fact was high. We found that out only after we almost burned the house down. We had the grill on our little porch, which has a small awning, and the grease from the steaks had caused a fire. which was so big it was coming out of the grill in the back. Luckily the neighbor went out side for something and saw it, about the time I was trying to tell my husband there was a lot of smoke... he he.

the good news was the steaks were fine. and we didn't burn down the house. he he.

Gonna take a trip

Well, it's been almost a year and we're finally able to take a trip back "home" to Tennessee. It's been way too long and I miss everyone so bad.

I'm not looking forward to the trip though, 5 hours in a car with the girls is bad enough, but that lovely rock slide on I-40 changes our plans big time. Now we will have to go south to Atlanta then up to TN to get there. It only adds an hour and is much better than the detour they DOT tells you to take. Also, I'm hoping that since the DOT tells you to go another way it will mean less traffic for us.

That is a horrible section of road and this isn't the first time there has been major rock slides. I'm thinking they need to post some exit signs on the side of the mountain so the next time rocks want to fall they know where to go without taking out the road. Or maybe there is some better solution to prevent all this mess.

a loss for words

I don't remember any other time in my life where I have had no words while praying. Something burdens my heart to the point of not even knowing what to say. If you know me, you know talking is not something i struggle with!

I have several friends going through some major stuff right now, spiritual battles, health problems with them their parents, their nieces, their friends... Then of course all the people I know who are struggling financially too. (as bad as things have gotten I don't know too many people using an Entertainment workers job search, maybe we're not in the right field?)

I've found myself spending so much time and energy praying lately for one friend in particular. If I were in her shoes I am not sure what I would do. She's facing a lot right now while trying to maintain her life as a mom, wife and at work. She has been such an example to me, and even through her struggle strengthened me and my attitude, not to mention changed my prayer life! Amazing woman of God, amazing strength. If you don't mind say a quick little prayer for her and her family. Thanks!

wow...

The other day i was looking in the mirror and realized how old I looked. Between lack of sleep and well, just plain growing older i've got dark circles under my eyes and wrinkles forming! I don't think even the best eye cream could help me right now. I think I need a facial, three days of sleep and some healthy food, maybe some raw veggies? oh sounds so good. Maybe a mini vacation. My birthday is coming up... think that spa trip is in the budget? he he probably not!

Speaking of birthdays, my hubby's big 3-0 is less than a week away. We had a party in the making last year, but almost a year of being laid off changed the plans. Now we don't have anything special planned, I might see if some friends want to come hang out. Mostly we'll be celebrating by taking a trip over to see our friends in the great state of Tennessee. I can't wait!! Of course the lovely sock slide on I-40 is causing us to have a great.big.detour. but that is ok, it only adds an hour and we'll be able to meet a friend's new baby and visit a bit! needless to say I can't wait until next weekend.

The climber

Caylee is seriously glutton for punishment or pain or something! If we didn't keep the gate up she'd be climbing up the stairs all day (then screaming or falling face first back down- she hasn't mastered the down yet).

The thing she does do all day is climb up on the couch, walk across and then get off. The problem lies in the getting off. She's still working on mastering the art of getting down. Sometimes she goes from a sitting position, to facing backwards and sliding off- the easy and best way. Sometimes she tries to be a big person and just slide down facing forward. Other times she thinks she's a super hero and tries to step off the couch while standing up. This normally results in her face planting on the carpet. Sometimes she screams sometimes she doesn't.

I think we should invest in some industrial safety supplies for the years to come.

Home schooling

We've attempted to do some home school this year with Lexi. She is constantly asking me to do school, she wants to learn about different letters. She knows all her capital letters, most of her lower case. We're working mostly on the sounds letters make. I also need to teach her things like "opposites" and how to trace so she can start learning to write.

I can't wait for future years when we have some space to buy some classroom furniture and really dig into some school work! I hope she keeps her desire to learn as the years go on, and I really hope she loves to read, something neither her father or I like very much.

One thing she will have to get over if we continue to home school is the fact that she really wants to ride a school bus! We've told her over and over that she has to be 5 to ride a bus and now all she says is "when I'm five I'm going to ride a bus!" Maybe we can find a church bus or something for her...

Yay for friends!

We spent the evening with some friends of ours, it was a great time of food, fun and wii playing! All together there were 6 adults and 6 kids. It was loud at times, but we had so much fun! (Even when my husband tried to knock their wall candle sconces off the wall with his head...)

Chad made some yummy steaks, some noodles with cheddar cheese and broccoli, and I brought the salad. oh that steak was so good, he grilled it and now I REALLY want a grill. The only thing we were missing was a nice dessert, I knew I should have brought one, I'm sure my waist is thanking me now though. :)

It made me realize that we really need to get together with friends and have fun more! Even if it means not getting home until after 11pm, it's so worth it.

ugh

Well, I have given up coffee. which really upsets me. I miss it greatly. this is day #2 without it and my head is screaming. I had to stop with the coffee though because when I drank it my stomach was very mad at me. So although my head and taste buds really enjoyed it, my stomach complained enough to make me stop. I had my husband hide part of the coffee pot to assure I don't give in to my temptations and drink a cup.. or six.

Eugene has contract work right now, in fact he's quite busy. He's working full time for a guy who has an office up the street, and he is also working part time for a woman who he had been working for in the spring. He also has a couple people talking to him about making websites. If nothing else, him being really busy right now allows us to stock up the savings account, which was completely drained. The hard part is figuring out our own taxes. We're not exactly sure what to do there, but the very thought of it is enough to make me get some rv financing and run away for a while.

Ok, so I just think that would be fun anyway. Especially if we can get Caylee sleeping through the night because let me tell you, I'm ready for a good nights sleep. I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving when my family comes to visit and Eugene and I can run away for a night, for the sole purpose of SLEEPING. hopefully until noon. oh that would be a dream come true.

Speaking of sleeping, i think I might go get ready for bed... it's barely past 9:30 but the house is quiet and sleep sounds so nice right now!

weight loss

So I've got some weight to lose, weight that is being challenging. I'm sure it has nothing to do with these chocolate chips I'm eating. but it's reminded me of a show I saw about 4 years ago. It was a talk show, not a Jerry Springer show or a crazy talk show. It was one of those news, interviewing doctors talk shows.

On it they were interviewing a doctor who had created a colon cleanse system. I learned so much in that show, like the fact that Elvis had almost 50 lbs of fecal matter in his intestines. But also that all cancer starts in the intestines, with toxins that have build up because we are not as regular as we should be. In most countries people go to the bathroom three times a day! It's considered regular for American's to go only once a day. Imagine how much toxins and lining is built up in our intestines!

So yah, I'm wondering if maybe I should do a colon cleanse. :)

opportunity is knocking

Eugene has widened the opportunity of making money once again. He's done home design, web design, logo design, commercial design, and flyer design. Today he is adding to it poster design and... setting up computers he he. Although 20.9 Designs is not at the point where business insurance is needed, it's nice to know it might be getting somewhere.

I am totally impressed with how the Lord has met our needs this month. At the beginning of the month we knew we were going to be about $40 short to pay all the bills, and that was only giving us two tanks of gas for the month compared to the usual 4 we use. So we declared it a no spend month, which in turned equaled a no go anywhere month. Then we got a bill for our websites for $30, and we ran out of things like laundry detergent, deodorant and shaving cream. But amazingly enough God has provided the money for the things we needed and to pay the bills! yay for God, He's awesome.

frugality

Seems to be a very popular subject now days. and it's one I need to refamiliarize myself with. I used to be really good with things like not using the dryer unless absolutely necessary, planning menus around what was on sale each week, and even cutting back on the amount of food I eat. However the past year or so I've been completely out of it and have stopped almost all my money saving techniques.

Now I'm back to hanging my clothes to dry (on drying rack and hangers since I have no clothes line). We even have shut off the air conditioner now that it's not 95 degrees! I've started looking at sales flyers and planning menus for the week around them. I'm hoping cutting back on portions of food as well as learning how to burn fat will help me lose the weight that I REALLY need to get off my stomach!

We've even had a no spend month this month. Aside from buying groceries we've spent very little. Eugene did run out of shaving cream and deodorant and we ran out of laundry detergent (doesn't it figure it had to be this month). Other than those things we've spent no money, which is very unusual for us! and God has continued to provide for each and every need. It's awesome. Hopefully we'll be able to stick to our frugal ways and even come up with more ways to cut back on spending!

Girls night

Last night was so enjoyable! The ladies from my small group got together at one of their houses just to hang out. It was a great kid free time of fellowship. I don't get much adult time, let alone time with other girls so it was wonderful! We ate lots of great food, lasagna, salad, beans, garlic bread and mint melt aways (a yummy mix of brownies, a layer of mint cream, then a layer of chocolate. YUM!). Those few hours without the girls was as good as a weekend in Myrtle Beach vacation rentals.

I'm also looking forward to some time alone with my hubby on Tuesday morning. A friend of ours has agreed to watch the girls for a few hours so we can get away. We'll just be hanging out, walking around the mall or something free like that.

We also had some of Eugene's family here for a little bit, which was also great fun. It was fun to hang out with them and get to visit, plus with her cousins here Lexi was distracted and was pretty good! it's great to have all these little helps, it really lowers the stress level.

I want to get away....

I wanna fly away... I don't know who actually sings that song, but right now that's all I can think about. I've had enough of the every day daily junk and I'm ready to pack my Samsonite luggage, (ok, so I don't really have that kind of luggage, but I really want some!) hop on an air plane and fly to some deserted, or remote Island where it's just me and my husband in some cute little beach house. Where there is sparkling blue water, cold drinks, palm trees and people to cook for me, clean up for me and even make my bed.

We can go sailing, lay on the beach, go snorkeling, swim with dolphins, sleep in, eat breakfast in bed, eat supper on the beach while the sun is setting, and hike through amazing mountains looking at all sorts of exotic animals, trees and flowers.

I don't think that is going to happen any time soon though, so I'll have to just go take a nap and dream about it. Maybe when I wake up the house will have magically cleaned itself and dinner will be cooked on the plates ready to eat.

anyone have a job?

So my husband has been unemployed for over 10 months now. He has learned so much in the past 10 months, he's been practicing his photoshop skills, his blog skills, and even his drafting skills. Maybe he needs to do something with data center virtualization, seems to be getting pretty big.

just in the past week he's redone his blog (check out drumbyfaith.com!) and mine (beautyfromchaos.com). he has also made a CD cover, it looks so awesome and professional too. I'm so proud of what he's done and how he's grown.

We're definitely ready for him to get a job, we need some sort of normalcy in this house, but I've enjoyed him being around. So, if anyone has a job for him... let us know.

Caylee

my little baby is almost one! Can you believe it?! a whole year old. she is less than a week away from being one year old. We're not doing much, we're inviting family over for cake. I don't even think we're getting her any toys or anything. We pretty much have everything she could need or want. plus she has aunts who spoil her.

I just can't believe she's getting so big! She's getting close to walking too, she likes to stand up without holding on to anything and just look at us. She also cruises around everything!

another day another cake

Welp, tomorrow is another birthday party. This time for my (husband's) niece who is turning 18. She is a truly unique and special person, who does not fall to peer pressure. She likes what she likes and she doesn't care if you like it or not.

I decided to make her cake. I have to admit I was clueless as to what to do. An 18 year old woman who has her own style. I asked what she liked she said "batman" and also gave me a list of colors. Well, as you can imagine my husband took over with ideas and we decided on the batman logo. I have to admit, I think it was the easiest cake I've done! Even with all the cutting. I'll have to show a picture later, right now it's covered with plastic wrap. I was afraid all the cut edges would lead to piles and piles of crumbs and make the cake look like something that came out of pond filters. However, I cut it, then stuck it in the freezer for an hour or two and I was amazed at how easily the icing spread! I'm going to have to remember that!

So tomorrow morning we will get up and I'll ride an hour and a half with a huge piece of plywood containing the cake on my lap. Just another reason why a mini van would be nice... We'll have fun I'm sure, Lexi has been talking about going up to see her for a few days now, she's a little excited.

My first spin class

Tonight I took my first spin or cycling class. it was an hour long. I have to start by saying I've never been on a bike like that before, and yesterday I worked out for two hours so my muscles were a little sore.

All I can say is OUCH. I barely made it through the whole hour. after about 5 minutes I wanted to walk out, of course I didn't. However I didn't do too much standing or "jumping". I sat a lot and just pedaled faster and put more resistance when the instructor told me too.

My husband took the class with me and he did better than me, put me to shame. I think he didn't do as much as he could just to make me feel not as bad. Love my husband I do!!!! At first I really didn't want to think about even taking another one, now I'm kinda debating, not sure... I didn't get hurt except my muscles so no Tennessee injury lawyers will have to be called. not yet anyway. :) I am just VERY glad that Jillian wasn't my instructor! My instructor was very understanding and remembered her first spin class. he he.

So will I go again? I do not know.

It feels great to be home!

I really enjoyed my vacation, we had a blast. We did a lot more than I expected and came home completely exhausted. I need a vacation from my vacation. I have dirty laundry to wash, the house to CLEAN, a yard sale to get ready for and a birthday party to plan.

As I said though, vacation was great. I was a little nervous though because both of my sisters had car troubles while we were there, I was afraid we'd end up broken down on the way home. One of my sister's cars broke down while we were in Gettysburg, they got it to a mechanic but had to rent a car and wait until the following day before they could get their car back. My other sister's suburban got hit while we were in Ephrata at an AMAZING flea market (The Green Dragon). The people who hit it didn't even leave a note or anything! that same sister was towing their pop up and about 10 miles down the road from the campground the pop up came off the hitch and went down the hill and crashed into the ditch. Luckily they have the blue advantage and not much damage was done!

Lexi was a beautiful flower girl, although she was quite a pain, I ended up having to leave the room with her because she was being too loud. She was VERY disobedient the whole time we were gone which made us evaluate our parenting skills. We've decided some things have to change with us to help her be better. Caylee had a lot of rough nights, I don't know if it was the air mattress or what, but I didn't get much sleep. Hopefully we can get some things done around here and change some things around so we can actually sleep and have peaceful days!

UGH STUPID CAT!!!

I think I've mentioned before that the lady who lived in this apartment before us left her cat. At first I felt really bad for it (I still do sometimes) but then I just started getting really irritated with it.

It constantly tries to get in our apartment, it scratches up our bench that sits outside, it begs for food. If we go outside it tries to rub against us and get us to pet it which I guess wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't nasty and covered in fleas. It needs a good bath and a bunch of Frontline or something. We have thought about calling animal control, but I think that the neighbor is feeding it now and I'd hate to take it away if it's become a 'pet' to her. When we first moved in I tried to get rid of it on craigslist, it got flagged and removed. I tried to freecycle it and got the same rejection.

I just don't know what to do because this stupid cat is getting on my nerves.

Ink Is Contageous

I got my first tattoo when I turned 18. I was home from college on Christmas break and I convinced my boyfriend to drive me from Greene, ME to Augusta, ME to this little tattoo shop in the middle of a snow storm. Yah, I wanted a tattoo that bad. From the time I knew what a tattoo was I wanted a small cross on my ankle. No one in my family approved of tattoos, but I could find nothing in the Bible, aside from an Old Testament verse that talked about tattooing yourself for the dead. and I the reason I wanted a tattoo had nothing to do with the dead. Anyway, my college didn't even allow tattoos, but it was one of those rules that was being ignored by a lot of people, so I justified "breaking" the rule by saying I techincally wasn't "at" college when I got it.

So we drove to Augusta, follwed directions and found this guys house. He had a small shop in his basement. It was VERY neat and clean, and he scheduled my appointment around picking up his daughter from school. made me feel very comfortable. I picked out a cross that I liked, and about 15 minutes later I had my first ink. I immedietly wanted more.

People looked at me crazy when I said I wanted more. and people still look at me crazy when I say it didn't hurt much. there were a few spots that hurt for a second or two, but nothing really painful. A few years later I convinced my husband to go get his first tattoo. We got matching Jesus Fishes on the middle of our backs, between our shoulders. It was corny. Looking back now I've learned a lot about tattoos and would change both of mine if I could. I feel bad that I convinced him to get that, he liked the idea, it's not like I twisted his arm, but man, it's not a "real" tattoo. I don't consider either of mine "real" I want something awesome and designed specifically for me.

Yes, I want more. I just don't know what. When I convinced my husband to get that tattoo I started his addiction too. But he has passed me. He has "real" tattoos. One designed by a tattoo artist in Florida while he was on the tour, and one he designed and got about two years ago. The one he designed is a barcode, with a cross in the middle and the words "Jesus Christ" under it (instead of 'proof of purchase') I love the meaning behind it, people often ask him about it because at first glace it could look a little off. But when he explains to people that it means Jesus Christ bought and paid for his soul through His Blood everything is clear. People often ask us if a barcode scanner will read it, and we've tried it a bunch, but they don't. :)

I wish tattoos weren't such an expensive addiction. :)

Busy week!

I don't think I've sat down at my computer for more than 15 minutes at a time this week. That's highly unusual for me, I am one who likes to be online all the time. We've been running around getting stuff done before we leave. Tonight we had a board meeting for a ministry we are involved in. It's called The Upper Room. It's a great ministry, we love being a part of it. I love to get more and more involved, but I think I might need to get my computer up to date to be able to handle the involvement! My computer is really slow and doesn't like a bunch of things open at once. I think I might need to order some ddr3 or something, try to speed it up.

We are leaving tomorrow and I have a list of things I still have to do, some are around the house, some are around town, some involve making phone calls. And we have yet to even START packing. Did I mention we leave tomorrow? and we'll have a lot to do pack. Maybe I should be doing something other than writing blogs? :)

Oh where are my keys.. oh where are my keys...

oh where, oh where, oh where, oh... there are my keys.

My keys have been missing for a week or so. I kept looking in the diaper bag for them and thinking "oh, they must be in the car." I finally decided I needed to really find my keys, so yesterday we started searching. I emptied the diaper bag (which needed cleaned out anyway, I found a lot of garbage in there!) but not my keys. Then we searched the car, they weren't there either.

We started getting creative, checking the toy baskets, the washer, under the refrigerator. We asked Lexi (who by the way had a list of places that they 'were') but we didn't find them anywhere. After two days I figured they were gone for good. I called some stores that I often go into without my husband, which means I would have my keys. but they hadn't been turned in anywhere. I even called Target. We had been there recently looking at stuff, including their REALLY marked down patio furniture, but my keys had not been found at target.

Finally today I decided I would glance around one.last.time. Just in case they happened to show up. and I looked in the front pocket of the camera case because I felt something lumpy. and there they were. YAY for keys! The most amusing part of the whole story was when I found them I shouted "I found them!!!" and my husband asked "where were they?" I said "in the camera case" he put his head down and said... "oh yah... I put them there." Gee, thanks hun. :)

I think I need a bigger car

or make that a mini van please. I started packing for our trip today. I have NO CLUE how we will get all of this stuff plus the four of us in the car. We have stuff for dressing up for the wedding, toys and movies to keep the kids busy, tents and other camping supplies. Luckily we do not have a pet, so there are no dog supplies to try to fit in the car. I'm pretty sure we are going to have to strap something to the roof.

We thought about getting a roof top carrier until we remembered what happened last time we used one. When Lexi was just a few weeks old we took a trip with my mom and step dad. They swung through from Texas and picked us up and we drove up to NJ, then continued up to Maine a few days later. They had a 4 door family car, and there were 5 of us plus all of the stuff we needed for two weeks crammed in that car. Did I mention we had an infant? Do you know how much junk is needed for an infant?! They go through about 6 outfits a day! Well, mom and Rick bought a roof top carrier to fit some of our stuff in. The only problem was they didn't have a roof rack which meant they had to strap it down directly to the car. Not a problem, the bags are meant for that. Well... it rained the WHOLE time up to New Jersey and where the straps came in the car leaked. We all were REALLY wet by the time we made it up to my grandma's house. It's a funny story now, but then it was cold and wet! :)

Just around the corner

is our vacation. YES, I am excited. it is much needed. I've mentioned before the things going on and where we are going. The only bad part is of course the drive up. We like to drive and would some day like to rent or borrow an RV and take a nice road trip, however I think that will wait until our kids are teens or at least old enough to entertain themselves for the most part.

Once we get home we'll start planning Lexi's birthday party, I can't believe she's going to be 3. I guess technically we've already started planning, since we know the date, time and most of the location. We also know who Lexi wants to invite. I'm hoping to get the invitations out before we leave, since we'll be coming home about 5 days before the party! We're not going crazy with her party, just a simple party, simple decorations, and of course a cake made by me. What did my daughter request for her cake? Sid The Science Kid. yes dear, I'll get right on that. he he. It does make for fun games and activities to do with the kids though!

Vacation, vacation...come fast!

17 days until we leave for our much needed vacation. We've had it planned since last year and I am getting so, soooo excited. Saturday my cousin is getting married, Lexi is the flower girl, Sunday I am taking my husband to the Guggenheim museum. (Did I mention my mom and sisters are going to watch the girls, so we'll be alone? on a date!!!) Then we head to the campground about 45 minutes away from Hershey, PA , where my family will be waiting. Then it's a whole week of relaxing. well and going to Hershey park, Lancaster and who knows where else. I am hoping we spend a lot of time just relaxing around the campground.

The only thing I am not looking forward to is the 12-13 hour trip up there. Luckily we have a portable DVD player from our last crazy trip up to Maine. The kids aren't quite ready for PS3 Players or gamboys or anything, but hopefully we'll keep them entertained somehow. Caylee is still rear facing, and our dvd players only has one screen so I hope that doesn't make her mad. Maybe we will turn Lexi around too.

Either way. 17 days and counting. I can't wait!

Searching

Eugene has been unemployed for 7 months now. It has been a long 7 months. We've been surviving by on unemployment, but in a few short weeks that will end. He has search and searched for jobs, there is nothing out there in his field. He's even applied and looked for jobs in other areas that he enjoys, too much longer and he's going to have to go work at Wendy's or something.

We're pretty much open to jobs anywhere, we wont jump up and look for Wilmington NC real estate or move anywhere with out a lot of prayer first, but if God says go, we'll go. There are a couple places I'd love for him to tell us to go to... like maybe TN. We miss it there. Not that we're not happy here, we like it here too.

Stress has been building up in our house, we know God has provided for us this far, and He always holds us, but it's hard to keep reminding yourself that as you see bills coming in. There is also the added stress of losing the baby. It is amazing the peace I feel about it, even through the pain. I can truly feel God holding me, giving me his peace and comfort. I've never felt anything like this before.

So thanks for all your prayers through all this, they are felt!

I love Family time!

You would think since Eugene has been out of work since November, almost non stop that I'd be sick of family time. (there was a point when I was ready for him to go back to work... then he got some contract work and actually left and I missed him!) The weird thing is that even with him being here almost every day all day, to me Saturdays and Sundays still seem like big family days. I just want to get outside and enjoy each other's company. So Today, we did just that. Until the heat got to us, then we came home.

We went to the town we used to live in (about a 20 minute drive) to hang out at one of our favorite parks. We had a picnic, then played on the playground. I think the heat beat even the best fat burners. It was so hot out there that after just 10-15 minutes playing on the playground we had to leave. We were all sweating and nasty!!

So we came back home, but we still just hung out a bit playing and building towers. Now it's just the girls and I, I hope to enjoy the evening with them too. Hopefully the lack of nap wont affect their attitudes too much. :)

What about you? Do you have a certain day that seems to just HAVE to be family time? Do you have a family night during the week?

I've had enough!

of the TV that is. it seems like it is ALWAYS on in my house. from 6:30am-6pm it's Lexi's shows, then from 6-bedtime it's whatever Eugene or I feel like watching. The sad thing is there's really nothing on! Most of the time it is on for Lexi it is just background noise, but I have to admit, she gets more TV than she should. (mostly because I spent too much time on the computer.)

So during the day we watch Curious George, Sid the Science Kid, Word World, and Veggie Tales. The evening is silly shows like wipeout and Family Feud (of course filled with commercials for a cell phones or a diet pill but that's a blog for another time).

My whole point is something has got to change. I already know it HAS to start with me. Because until I get off my lazy butt and spend more time with Lexi working on things, she's going to want the tv on. I've even toyed with the thought of shutting off internet completely until I have myself under control, but I don't think I could do that. I need a lock on my internet so I can only get on at certain times, like nap time and after the kids are in bed. I use the computer as my social life. Talking to my good friend on AIM, or catching up with people on facebook, even reading blogs. It's sad that our generation has forgotten about things like letters, phones, and even real live visits. (most of my friends and family lives too far away to visit though, which is why the internet is so good [and bad] for me.)

So there you have it. My current thoughts. Which are actually my thoughts quite often. So why haven't I changed yet?!

Wedding #1

Yesterday was the first wedding of the year for us. My Mother in law found herself a sweet Texan. I'm starting to think single women should move to Texas, because my mom's husband is from Texas too, and he's really sweet as well. Is Texas just full of a bunch of sweet guys?

Anyway, Yesterday was the much anticipated wedding! everything went well, the wedding was a beautiful mostly home made wedding. She made her dress and it was just like something you'd spend a TON of money on if you bought it from a store. She was a beautiful bride. The wedding had a bit of a western theme to it, being as he's from Texas. :) He was dressed with cowboy boots and a cowboy hat, he looked very handsome!

The deserts looked so yummy, they ordered some stuff from a local restaurant. Coconut Cream pie, Chocolate cream pie, banana pudding, peach cobbler and bread pudding. and of course the cake. There was so much junk food I think some of the kids are going to need a colon cleanse today! Being on my lovely non dairy, non wheat diet I didn't eat any of them, I just ate some apples and bananas. I did taste the cake while I was making it though, I had to make sure it was good!! (And boy was it!) It was the first wedding cake I've made, and luckily the western theme made it a little easier on me than a normal wedding. It gave me the freedom to keep things a little rustic and avoid having to make it all fancy and pretty! I used tootsie rolls instead of fondant icing, and from what I was told it tasted great on the cake. (I was wondering how it would taste with cake and icing...) Anyway, here's a picture of it...


is it Summer already?

This year seems to have flown by. I do not know where fall went. or winter. or spring. Now summer is here again.

On my list of things to do before "summer" is buy a non maternity bathing suit. Last year I bought a really nice maternity suit, but this year, although I am pregnant, I'm not big enough for a maternity bathing suit. So hopefully I'll find a nice one that I'll be able to wear this year and next year (hopefully I'm not pregnant next summer too!) There is a public pool here in my town which I am excited to get to use, maybe even today! Since I slacked off with my running I am too scared to start now that I'm pregnant, an elliptical would be nice, but we don't have the money or space for that, so a pool sounds GREAT! Plus, it's a great thing we can do as a family. The girls love water, at least in a tub, hopefully in a pool too!

Cleanliness is next to... impossible

Although I agree that cleanliness is next to Godliness or however that saying goes... but in this house it's almost impossible to get it to be clean and stay clean. I've been cleaning all day and it feels great. I can see my counter, table and desk. I've scrubbed the Kitchen, bathroom and entry floors, when the kids wake up I'll vacuum. I've done 5 loads of laundry, folded 4 of them so far. It's great to have energy, I'm not sure where it's coming from but I don't mind. I think maybe I brought it home from when we were visiting with my in laws. My sister in law and I spent a good 3 hours cleaning up her daughters room. Not really cleaning, but going through and getting rid of things. It was great fun.

I guess my goal to lose weight is off for now, no matter what the liporexall reviews say, I guess I'll have to hold off on that until February or so. ;) I'm sure chasing two kids will keep me in decent shape through this pregnancy. If not chasing them then cleaning up after them. Seriously, I've never seen two kids make this big of a mess before. Maybe it's the small apartment that makes a small mess seem bigger, I don't know. Either way right now it looks pretty good, minus the stains on the carpet. Eventually we'll take care of that.

Guess what?

I'm pregnant. Yup. Another baby is coming to my house. We must be crazy to get pregnant this soon after Caylee since she's only 8.5 months old and still isn't sleeping through the night. Maybe we got carried away in one of Las Vegas Hotels. no not really.

We were planning on waiting until July to try to get pregnant, but God had other plans and we're ok with that. We would like everyone to pray for a healthy baby, since we lost the baby between the girls we are nervous every time we get pregnant.

Thanks!

Bye Bye Chocolate

I enjoyed you for the past few months.

Last week I noticed Caylee started eating less, then she started waking up more (I know, you're thinking how can she wake up more when she doesn't sleep? I've been avoiding blogging about her sleep because she's done pretty good and I didn't want to ruin that!) Anyway, I also noticed her pulling on her ears again while she was falling asleep. So I scheduled a dr appointment and brought her in. Sure enough both ears are infected AGAIN. Last time she had an ear infection it lasted almost two months (that was about 2 weeks ago).

So she's on more antibiodics, and I've been forced to make a decision. I'm going back off dairy. She had no problems (with ear infections) the first 6 months of her life, it wasn't until I started having dairy again that she got an ear infection. We did allergy testing (with blood work) and they came back saying she had no milk allergy, but a mild egg white allergy and a moderate wheat allergy. So I went off wheat. However I really think the milk is behind the ear infections. There's nothing else that has changed.

So from here on out I am on a dairy free, wheat free diet. yay for me. If I don't notice a difference in her in a month maybe I'll go back on dairy, who knows. For now it's bye bye ice cream. :( Maybe the lack of dairy will help her ears stay clear, and maybe the wheat is upsetting her belly which is causing the lack of sleep. Wouldn't it be amazing if in a few weeks I have a happy, healthy baby who sleeps through the night?! That would be a miracle.

She had been doing better with the sleeping, for about 5 or 6 days anyway. three nights she only woke up twice, and only nursed once. The other few days she woke up about 4 times, but still only nursed once. Now she is back to waking up every hour and wanting to nurse every hour. I know it's from the ear infections. I've given up on the No Cry Sleep Solution for now, I feel like we're on the No Sleep, Cry solution instead. It's all part of being a mommy I guess, I know it wont last forever so I'm trying to keep my hopes up.

If she actually goes to sleep tonight I might have to take a long, hot bath and enjoy the quiet. :)

Camden

Lexi has a little friend spending the weekend with us. It's going to be a fun weekend. We've had him here one night, so far having 3 kids is pretty fun, of course that might be because Lexi and Camden are the same age and play nicely together. Watching friend's kids is a great job, no employee background check required. Best of all we're getting a date out of it too.

They offered to watch our girls one day next week so Eugene and I can go out. I have to admit, we have failed to take date nights since the girls were born. We've been out about 4 or 5 times since Lexi was born almost 3 years ago. We've been out once since Caylee was born 8 months ago. I would say a date is needed! Someone once told me you only have your kids for 18 years, you have your husband forever. Knowing that should make me really want to focus on our relationship even more. I can't put My relationship with Eugene off for the next 18 years then expect it to be great, because the truth is if I do that, in 18 years Eugene and I wont have a relationship.

So that's one thing I'm gonna work on. I'm sure it wont be weekly date nights, but maybe once a month we'll go out. Once a week we can have at home dates, turn off all electronics and just spend time with each other, talking while playing board games or something! :) We have done the board game thing before, we normally get on kicks where about 4 nights of the week we'll sit up and play cribbage or dominos or some other game. It's great.

Update on the babies.

Lexi and Caylee are growing so fast. Lexi is in a twin bed now, and loves it. We were afraid what she would do at first because we heard horror stories of kids screaming, and coming out of their room all night etc. We tried the baby gate for the first few nights, just in case, but she never even got out of her bed. The biggest thing she does is lock her door while she's up there playing. Luckily the door hardware is broken so it doesn't really lock.

Caylee has an ear infection AGAIN. it took us 2 months to get rid of the last one, now two weeks alter they are back, both ears infected. hopefully this round of antibiotics will clear them up and keep them away.

I'm getting really excited for our camping trip coming up in July, it will be a blast, starting with my cousin's wedding. I was really hoping to lose some weight before then, but I have no self control. Since the race I haven't even been running regularly. It stinks. Hopefully I can get back out there AND control my eating too!

Walgreens

So Today only you can get a free 8x10 photo with the coupon code MOTHER.

I've been trying for the past hour and a half. I keep getting errors, plus it's running so slow because apparently Oprah must have announced it on her show like she did the free KFC meals.

By the way, the new grilled chicken is good. just wait a few days before you go try it, or else you'll wait 40 minutes for your food. :)

Spring Cleaning

We went camping this past weekend, when we got home I was so overwhelmed with how messy our house was. I spent all day Tuesday and part of yesterday cleaning. I can see our table and counter! it looks great. Now if only the rest of the house was that clean.

On a funny note, Caylee got her hands on Lexi's baby doll today. Every time she'd get it this is what she'd do.

1st Camping trip of the season

Tomorrow we leave for our first camping trip this year. I'm so excited to get out there and enjoy the nice fresh air.

We're planning on leaving between 10 and 12 tomorrow, that being said we have nothing packed. lol. I have one tote packed with the things that are always in it, so that doesn't really count. I don't even have a list of things to pack written down. That's highly unusual of me. Tomorrow morning is going to be a crazy one as we pack, and load up the car with all our stuff. chairs, stroller, UGG Australia footwear (just kidding) but I do intend to bring my running shoes and get some runs in while we're gone.

This is Caylee's first camping trip, I'm a little nervous about how she'll do. Hopefilly she'll love it and be fine.

Contentment

Two of my friends are looking at houses, normally when friends of mine are house hunting I get very jealous. I really want a house. I'd love to be able to paint and remodel, add an undermount sink if I want to.

But I can honestly say for once I am not jealous! I have no desire to buy a house right now. Which is honestly good because there is no way we could or SHOULD buy one. We have no down payment saved, we have bills to pay, debt, and no steady income. (Yes we're working on those things).

I am not one to be content. I normally have the desire to move, rearrange, buy some piece of furniture or throw away things. God is teaching me contentment in all areas of my life (except my Spiritual life, you should never be content there). Yes, our apartment is cluttered, as I sit I have a double jogging stroller to the right of me ( in the middle of the livingroom), a toddler table behind me, and a car seat to the back right. but you know what? I don't care. :) Ahh, contentment is so nice sometimes.

Babies!

People around me are pregnant again. 3 of my friends are expecting this year. One is having a boy, one is having a girl and the other is a surprise! All this pregnancy makes me want to get pregnant again. Maybe I'll wait until after we get Caylee sleeping through the night first. :)

I love buying presents for little girls. I love girl clothes. luckily I have two little girls so that helps- helps me have a home for the little girl clothes I buy and helps me know what is practical. Little boys are fun to dress too, although not everyone shares the same sense of little boy style I want to buy so maybe sports gifts are better. Although not all little boys are into sports either. Toys it is I guess. And how to you buy a gift for an unknown gender? gender neutral clothes are no fun, I know my friend has all the baby toys she needs (she's had two babies already) So I guess diaper supplies it is!! It's always great to buy cloth diaper stuff anyway!

In case you're wondering, the dr said Caylee's ear looks like it is healing. Hopefully it heals up completely and quickly. I also hope she pops out the tooth she's working on, then maybe we'll have a happy healthy baby again!

attack of the never ending ear infection

For at least a month now Caylee has been battling an ear infection. She's gone through 2 rounds of antibiotics and is currently getting shots of some stronger antibiotics to try to clear it up. She had her first shot yesterday, today when we went back for her 2nd shot and a check of her ears there was no improvement.

Because of a reminder from my mom of me getting ear infections all the time when I was younger because of my milk allergy, we had blood drawn to check her allergies. I'm going to be going off milk again until we find out the results. The sooner I start avoiding dairy, the faster it will get out of my milk and the faster her congestion will clear up. If that's not the problem then I'll enjoy dairy again, it was great to eat things again without concern.

The past month has been even worse with sleeping than the previous 6. She's gone back and forth between waking up 3 times a night to waking up every hour, or even every half hour. When she does wake up it's normally screaming at the top of her lungs in pain.

It's so hard to deal with not getting any sleep, but it's harder to know that she is in pain. I'm just praying she heals quickly, that this second shot has done something to heal her ear infection. Please pray with me, k? thanks.

Daughters

Can I just say that I love my daughters? I've never had a son to compare them to (hopefully God will give us one, maybe next time) but my girls are just so sweet!

Babies are such blessings and it's not always east to remember that, (especially when they're teething and have ear infections and are screaming for hours at a time). My girls have brought me such joy in different ways. Just a hug or a snuggle. Some times Lexi will just randomly come up to me and tell me she loves me. I love waking up in the mornings (not always as early as I am woken up) to my face being rubbed, then when I open my eyes I see Caylee grinning from ear to ear.

Babies, or kids in general change your life completely. (In more than a "what's the best diet pill" kind of way.) Yes, they change your figure, but they are worth it!

They grow up so fast. I can't believe Lexi is just a few months shy of 3 years old. She's in a big girl bed, drinks from normal cups, has no more pacifier and now She's potty training. We are almost two weeks into it things have been going fairly well in fact we made it through the day with no accidents today!

Caylee is 7 months old, she started getting up on her hands and knees and tonight she started rocking. I'm imagining she'll be crawling within the next few weeks. (she tends to do things quickly once she shows progress). I also think she'll get some teeth soon, she's been chomping away on everything for weeks. She had showed favoritism to wooden objects, so I found a cute wooden teething ring/rattle online and called it her Easter present. :) She loves it.

Being a mom has had some hard days, but all in all it's worth it! Sure, you sacrifice. You give up sleeping past 7am and eating your food while it's still hot. You give up dates with your husband and having lots of clothes (and time for yourself). You receive double hugs and kisses, extra hands to hold, snuggles, and the opportunity to watch a gift from God grow from a tiny baby to a grown adult.

Life is Precious.

Shopping!

My sister came down for our "big" race last weekend and not only did we run the 8K, we also did a lot of shopping. We did more "window shopping" then actual buying. We spent half a day in the mall looking for dresses to wear to our cousin's wedding. I couldn't believe the price of things, I never go shopping in big stores, I tend to stick to Target, or cheaper stores. I did manage to find a good sale at Charlotte Russe in the mall and snagged an outfit! I could have bought almost everything in that store if money was unlimited!

I also fell in love with a couple skirts from Kohls, they were on sale too, but not a good enough sale for me to justify buying them since I had already bought a whole outfit from another store. I'd love to buy a new wordrobe, mine consists of wholey, bleached up t-shirts. One piece of clothing at a time right?!

It's done!

Well, Today was race day. My first ever running race. I trained for months to be able to run 5 miles and the day finally came. It was great to be able to run with my sister (who flew down from MAINE to run with me- she's so crazy!)

If I didn't have her with me running I probably would have walked some, I'm not sure what happened because I have been able to run five miles for quite a few weeks now, there were hills but they weren't anything worse than where I trained. I think most of it has to do with how fast we ran for the first 2 miles or so. We finished though, running the whole thing faster than my goal (50 minutes), so that's good. For my first race I think it was pretty good. It was at least an accomplishment. I wonder though if it might be easier to buy Ferrari parts than run a race. It was so crowded for the first mile and according to my sister this race wasn't half as crowded as most of the ones she runs. I wasn't use to running elbow to elbow, heal to toe with people so it made things interesting.

Either way, I ran it. It's over. Now I have to decide what to train for next. With an 8K under my belt I'm wondering if my next race should be a 5K or a 10K, because I really did want to die around the 3.5 mile mark. he he.

a job? maybe?

So, my husband has been out of work since November. We've somehow been living off of unemployment. It's not our favorite thing to do, but with two kids we can't exactly just take anything. I can't even go out and get a job to help make up the slack.

He's had a few little freelance jobs come in since November, he is trying to start a business but with the economy the way it is not too much work is coming. Well Tomorrow he has a meeting with someone who will hopefully have steady at least part time work for now. Hopefully it will be enough to pay the bills!

Luckily we haven't gotten behind on any of our bills. We don't live a luxurious lifestyle with crazy things like cable (he he) but because of some (not so good) decisions in our past, we have a bit of debt which makes it hard to survive on little money. We have cheap auto insurance, so that was easy to keep up with too.

The biggest thing that's kept us ok is God. He's somehow made our money stretch to pay all the bills each month. Keep in mind we're making about half as much on unemployment as we were when my husband was working (and we barely got by when he was employed). Somehow He's managed to make sure all our bills get paid, we have food in our bellies and gas in our car. I don't even TRY to keep a budget or make sense of it all because on paper it doesn't work. Isn't God awesome!?

With good weather come lots of leg rolls.

The past few days have been glorious here, almost 80 degrees, sunny with a nice breeze. Weather like this means breaking out the cute little dresses for Caylee. Both yesterday and today she wore little outfits that showed off her um..not so little thighs. With her legs exposed you can see the fullness of the leg rolls. The rolls that keep coming and just when you think you've seen them all you take off her diaper to find more. These thighs make me think we might need to look into extended stay hotels for all the rolls that keep showing up our apartment is almost full! They are adorable though all 27 of them. She got lots of compliments at church today about them, they're hard to resist. An old man even came over while we were eating lunch and pinched them while commenting on them.

Lexi had a little bit of a chunky stage, but nothing like this, in fact the clothes Caylee is wearing right now Lexi wore when she was about 10-12 months old! (Caylee is 6 months). I have to admit, I love the chunky baby!!

Changing

I am just amazed at not only how fast my babies are growing up, but how much they are changing each day. Lexi looks like such a little girl some days, other days she still looks like a toddler. But man, I think I could fill a compact flash memory card each day with new pictures and not have too many pictures!

I've officially started Caylee on solid foods, She eats about 1/3rd to 1/2 a jar a day, her favorite thing so far is peas, just like Lexi! Although she had applesauce today and really liked that too. And she loves mashed potatoes, made with rice milk of course. I am really hoping she will outgrow her milk allergy so that I can start having some dairy products again (like a nice milk shake!). Today I had a spoon full of macaroni and cheese, I even gave her a little taste of the cheese, she didn't freak out (yet) I would think if it was going to bother her it would have by now since that was at 6:30ish. She did just wake up a little fussy, but I held her, we gave her some gas drops and she is right back asleep so I don't know if that was from the cheese or just normal gas. A few days ago I gave her a couple bites of mashed potatoes made with milk and she didn't react to them, so I am praying this is the beginning of a really good thing!

We're still waiting to get Lexi's "big girl bed" the twin sized has been ordered and we're waiting for the call that it's in. I can't wait because right now Caylee is in the pack and play (the bassinet was starting to bow). Putting a sleeping baby in a pack and play is a pain, not to mention that when we let Caylee nap in the crib she sleeps so much longer. Maybe it would keep her sleeping the whole night through!

My Baby

My baby is just a few days away from being 6 months old. I can't believe how fast the time has flown by. Almost every day it hits me how big she is! She's wearing 6-9 month clothing (and has been for a month). She rolls and rolls, she pushes up and now she's started pulling her knees up under her. She doesn't have any teeth, and still isn't sleeping through the night. In fact she gets up about 3-4 times a night (between 8pm and 7am). It's really starting to get to me too. Between 3:30 and 4am every night she wakes up screaming with lots of gas, then is normally awake for an hour to an hour and a half. This is only after she wakes up around 12:30 and again at 3:00 to eat. After I get her back to sleep around 5, she normally will wake up again at 6 then sleep until 7 or 8. I have no clue what to do, or what not to do. Lexi was so easy and slept through the night by 5 months.

I thought maybe her being in our bed and nursing laying down was the problem, so we moved her into the pack and play and I sit up to feed her. It helped for the first few nights, but now it's back to her screaming again. I'm planning on asking her doctor at her 6 month appointment, but that's not for another 2 weeks. She also has a bunch of spots of dry skin on her, I think it's eczema, but I'll have them check those out too.

I really like the girls doctor, and their office is nice and put together. They also have these cute netbooks, that they keep all the information on in stead of lots of papers floating around. I think it was the first time I had seen a netbook before, but I just thought they were so cute and was amazed at the technology. The one time Lexi had an ear infection the doctor just sent the prescription right to the pharmacy from her netbook. It was cool.

If anyone has any suggestions on how to make a baby sleep through the night I'd love to hear them.

DQ's Sweet deals!

Dairy Queen has a new value menu! You can mix and match nine menu items, choosing two for $3, three for $4 or four for $5. You have the freedom of choice with more than 20,000 combinations.

Menu items include the famous Dairy Queen® cheeseburger, classic all-beef hot dog, new chicken wrap, yummy French fries, crispy onion rings, fresh salad, beverage and an irresistible sundae or cone made with the signature DQ soft serve with the curl on top.

You can try it for free if you have a blog and you make a deal with them. Here's the info.

Now here's the deal I'm making with them. I'm spreading the word to my 4 readers AND I will let my husband buy a Blizzard while we're there. Maybe I'll let my daughter have her first every blizzard too!

I know, not a very creative deal, but hey, it's a deal and my creativity is maxed out right now!

Weight loss

I am starting to think I will never lose weight. I can't figure it out. well, maybe I can but I don't want to admit it. I've been running 3x's a week for a few months now, seriously running. Saturday I ran 4 miles, Monday 3 and today 2. This Saturday I will run 4.5 miles. Yet I'm not losing any weight. I am also doing exercise videos.

There are only two reasons for not losing weight, I think they both have something to do with my lack of weight loss . My knees are swelling from all the running, they are really holding a lot of water which I'm sure is some of the fat I have lost. The other option (the one I don't like) is that I am just not eating right. It's not that I eat a ton at meal times or eat bad things really, it's more that I like to night snack. I guess we have also had a lot of snack food in the house lately which I'm sure doesn't help.

I have a goal to look nice by the time my cousin gets married (in July) and yet my stomach still is holding onto the pregnancy fat (from Lexi!) I need some ideas on how to motivate me to not snack, anyone have any?

Neighbors

The Bible commands us to love our neighbors but it seems like these days no one even knows their neighbor. We live in a small little apartment community and by small I mean there are 5 apartments. We've lived here since October and I think I could give you the first name of 3 of the 8 other people that we share a small driveway with. One of their names I only know because their significant other left a Valentine's day card in front of their door (which is right next to my door.)

I have to admit, I think that's pretty sad.

I live not too far from Charlotte, there are a lot of subdivisions around here, houses pretty much stacked on top of the house next to it, with little to no yard between them, and I just wonder how many of these people actually KNOW the people who live less than 10 feet from their house. They may know their names, but do they know them? Do they talk with them? Have coffee together? what about picnics?

When we lived in Tennessee we lived in a duplex, we got to know our neighbor quite well, He was a single guy (for most of the time, he got married shortly before we moved here). My husband and him would often talk, we were close enough to trust them with a key to our house when we went out of town, close enough that we'd bring eachother's garbage cans in from the curb. Close enough that when he got married I often found myself over at his apartment, working out with his wife, or sitting on the front porch talking. It was a lot of fun to actually know my neighbor.

It reminded me of when I was little, we knew all our neighbors, I'd go to their house, we'd make food for them when they were sick, they'd buy stuff from me when our school was selling things. For a little while I had a little taste of what it used to be like. Those were the days when no one needed a burglar alarm, their neighbors WERE the burglar alarm. They knew who went in and out of the houses on a regular basis, they watched over each other's houses while one was away.

I actually got a taste of that when we lived in that duplex. I was home one day and heard a lot of banging next door. My husband and I had one car, so when he was at work it was impossible to know if I was home or not. Our neighbor was at work so I found it odd to hear so much noise coming from his apartment. I glanced out the front window and didn't see his car, so I decided to go out our back door and peek around the corner. I honestly thought I was imagining things- I have a tenancy to do that.

So I was honestly shocked when I walked around the corner to his back door and saw strange men loading his guitars and other stuff in their car. So shocked all I did was said "What are you doing?!" Now, I don't honestly recommend confronting people when they are breaking into a house, it wasn't the smartest thing I've done, and honestly about the time my feet hit the inside of my apartment and my door closed a list of about 100 other things that I should have said came to my head. Things like "Oh, you must be fixing the fridge, he told me you'd be stopping by" Anything to make them think I wasn't running back into my apartment to call the cops.

But no, not me, I made it very obvious. I was shaking in my boots while I called peeking out my front window to try to get a better look at the car as it pulled out of the driveway. I called my neighbor and that was one of the most awkward calls I've ever made, it's no fun to tell someone you're close to that you just watched a couple guys carry away a couple thousand of dollars worth of musical equipment. The Police eventually showed up, but even despite my descriptions of their cars and the guys I don't think they ever found the burglars.

Despite the fact that I couldn't stop the men, I know my neighbor was grateful that I was close enough to pay attention to things at his house. I was a good old fashioned burglar alarm.

I tried something new last night. it’s called sleep. I had had enough of Caylee being in my bed and wanting to nurse every 45 minutes to an hour. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all about the cosleeping IF it’s working for all individuals involved, mommy, baby and daddy. For the past two months it hasn’t been working for mommy, and Daddy hasn’t really been enjoying it either, for Caylee it was great, it was like sleeping at an all you can eat buffet.

I couldn’t really tell why she was waking up so much, I could tell she wasn’t really hungry every time she wanted to nurse, and I figured it was linked to an excess of gas stirring in her belly. Since she ate all night, we always nursed laying down, I thought maybe that was the problem, so I tried sitting up each time I nursed her last night. Not only did I do that, I put her back in her bassinet after each feeding. She never once laid in our bed last night. And I must say… it was WONDERFUL.

She still woke up 3 times in the 6.5 hours I was up there sleeping, but the sleep I got was actual sleep, it was great.

When she woke up at 6:30 she nursed then went back to sleep, but since my sleep seemed so great I decided to get up. I have been wanting to get up before everyone for weeks now. That uninterrupted time allows me to get a lot done. I read my Bible, spent time in prayer, drank some tea, loaded the dishwasher, folded clothes AND wrote a blog.

I was so proud of my blog, I uploaded pictures and everything. I was on top of things, I was writing my Meet and Greet Monday post at 7:20am!!! I was so excited that I had it done. It has been ages since I participated in a Meet and Greet Monday carnival.

I was very disappointed when I realized today was Thursday. Maybe I’m not as on top of things as I thought I was…..

pantry moth problems?

A while ago I was talking with my friend who had to throw away a bunch of food because moths had gotten in her pantry. If I remember correctly, she actually had to throw away things twice because some eggs stayed behind the first time.

I've had this happen once before and it's extremely frustrating! I saw this thing online, it is called a pantry moth trap. I haven't used them, but I thought I'd share the link with anyone who might be having or have had moth problems. Replacing all your food due to moths is expensive, so these would probably be worth it! I'm not quite sure how moths get in your pantry to begin with, but it's frustrating!

Lots of thoughts

it's 6:42am. I don't mind getting up this early, if the kids are still sleeping and it means I can have some quiet time. Today though, the kids are awake. I'm not too excited about the fact that they woke up at 6am, bright and chipper. But some things are out of my control!

Caylee started rolling over a few days ago, I was amazed because Lexi rolled from her belly to back, but then it was a month or so before she rolled the other way. Caylee rolled from her belly to back one day, and then from her back to belly the next day.

Valentine's Day is coming up. My husband and I aren't doing anything for each other, we decided we spent too much money already that we shouldn't get each other anything. But I was glancing around online at watches. (my hubs has never been much of a watch person, but he mentioned something a month ago about a watch). I came across these Jaeger Lecoultre Reverso watches, a little out of our price range, but they're nice!

I've been looking up car seats lately. Since we have our income tax return we thought it would be a good idea to buy a convertible car seat for when Caylee outgrows her infant car seat. I wanted a safe, comfortable car seat. As I was researching something led me to You Tube to look at videos of car seat crash testing. While doing so I learned several things I was unaware of.

  • Rear-facing is safest for both adults and children, but especially for babies, who would face a greater risk of spinal cord injury in a front-facing carseat during a frontal crash.

  • Rear-facing car seats spread frontal crash forces over the whole area of a baby's back, head and neck; they also prevent the head from snapping relative to the body in a frontal crash.

  • Rear-facing carseats may not be quite as effective in a rear end crash, but severe frontal and frontal offset crashes are far more frequent and far more severe than severe rear end crashes.

  • Rear-facing carseats are NOT a safety risk just because a baby's legs are bent at the knees or because they can touch/kick the vehicle seat.

  • Rear-facing as long as possible is the recommendation of the American Academy of Pediatricians, and can reduce injuries and deaths. Motor Vehicle Crashes are the #1 overall cause of death for children 14 and under.
Other countries, such as Sweden keep their children rear facing until 5 years and 55lbs!

So after watching several videos and doing some research I decided Lexi is getting turned back rear facing. Her Car seat it a convertible car seat that allows the child to be rear facing as far as forward facing, and according to the manual, she still has 2 inches to grow before it's unsafe for her to be rear facing. She might not like it, but I'll feel safer!

It also caused me to choose a convertible car seat that would stay rear facing as long as possible. For me, money is not an issue when it comes to choosing a car seat. I'd rather get a good expensive one that I knew was the best out there than get a cheap car seat that may have just barely passed the safety tests. With that being said I really wanted a Britax, my husband on the other hand wasn't sure a car seat was worth $279.

So I kept looking. Luckily I came across a web site (Albee Baby) that had a very girly pattern of a Britax Marathon for only $179!!! Which just happened to be the top of our price range. if we have a boy we'll figure something out. for now I'm excited to know we're getting a Britax at a very reasonable price! All of the Britax car seats were on sale Albee Baby, so if you're looking for one, check it out, it had free shipping too!

My girls

Caylee rolled over today.

This morning just Caylee and I were awake, I laid her on the floor and turned my back for 3 seconds. As I turned back around I realized I had missed it. Her first roll.

Lucky for me she did it again several times today. And she let both her daddy and me see. :)

Organization and exercise makes me happy

I was very overwhelmed by the amount of toys we had in our living room. Since we moved into this apartment in October I haven't been able to figure out what to do about toys for Lexi. Her room is upstairs, but we spend most of the time down stairs, we weren't comfortable with her going up and down the stairs by her self to play so our only option was having toys down here. Toys on top of toys on top of exersaucers, bouncy seats, bumbos etc. My living room was feeling very cluttered. So I called the moving trucks in to haul the toys away... to Lexi's room. We kept a few down stairs, but I bought a container to keep all the little pieces in, so it makes it neater. I just want to say my livingroom doesn't look like a toy store anymore, and it feels great.

The other thing that is making me happy is... you guessed it- exercise. I've been working on my training towards the 8K, running 3 times a week, resting 1 time and doing some strength/cross training 3 times a day. I got this Jillian Micheal's exercise DVD that I've been doing and it's kicking my butt. I love it. I like how good I feel after exercising, full of energy and I even feel better about myself. Hopefully it will all pay off and I'll be able to look cute for my cousin's wedding in July. :) I can't wait!

Maine pictures


Here's Lexi all bundled up playing in the snow with her cousin Leah. It was funny cuz she was so frustrated by the time we got her all bundled up she didn't even want to go outside, we made her of course.









Here's Lexi and Caylee with my friend's baby. It was so cute to see them interact as much as a 2 year old, a 8 month old and a 4 month old can!





One thing I forgot to mention in the last email is that Lexi is going to be my cousin's flower girl. She's getting married in 6 months. While we were in New Jersey we got to hang out a bit, we even picked out a flower girl dress. It's so cute. I'm excited to see what happens, and how well she walks up the aisle. I do want to lose some weight before then, without the use of Leptovox hopefully running will take care of that, as well as portion control!

Anyway, I hope you have a great day!

Too much to do, too little time

Things have been absolutely crazy since Christmas. I feel like I've had no time to just sit and do anything, let alone write a post. We decided last minute to make a trip up to Maine to see my family. it was about an 18 hour drive, so we stopped in New Jersey to break it up a bit. I have family there, so it makes it nice and easy to stop for the night. We also got to stop in New York to visit my good friend Jeremy and I got to see his daughter.

One thing we decided on this trip was that we need a mini van or something. We had too much luggage and toys and pack and plays... The car was very cramped. Add to it the fact that we hope to get pregnant again sometime in the next 6-9 months and we wont be going anywhere if we have a third baby!

While in Maine we got to see lots of snow, Sunday about 13" of snow fell on us, it was great. Lexi got to play in the snow with her cousins, it was great to just see her play with her cousins. We don't get to go up to Maine too often so she doesn't really know them very well, but luckily she's pretty outgoing, so she didn't mind.

In about 8 weeks I'll get to see my sister again, she's coming down to run a race with me. We were going to run a 10K in April, but because of classes she would have only been able to come down the night before and leave the night after the race, so we found an 8K that is the same time as her Spring break, so she'll be able to stay a bit longer. I am kinda nervous about running that long, but I have 8 weeks to get my distance up so I should be fine.

I'll post some pictures soon!

I haven't forgotten you

I feel like a failure of a blogger right now. The past few weeks have been crazy. We were gone for a few days around Christmas, then we had company for a few nights around New Years, they left and the next day we got more company. Two weeks later we are alone as a family and trying to get our girls unspoiled.

Today I haven’t felt like myself and I started thinking, honestly since Caylee was born I haven’t been “normal”. Not that I have ever been normal, but normal for myself. My house hasn’t been as clean as I normally keep it, and I’ve been a lot sleepier, or at least I’ve wanted to lay in bed a lot more. I’m trying to figure out how to do things with two kids. I didn’t think it would be this hard of an adjustment, but truth is Lexi was an easy baby and Caylee is not. Caylee is very high maintenance, even when I’m off of dairy. She fusses a lot, wants to be held all the time, still eats about every 3 hours, and still wakes up several times during the night. Lexi hasn’t quite been her normal easy self lately either, I’m not sure if it’s just her age (she is two…) but she’s been extra whiny.

Over Christmas we took away her beloved Bob, so she’s also adjusting to sleeping without it. We’ve only had a few hard times where she really cried for her pacifier, but the past week or so she’s been waking up a lot at night and not going down easily- for naps or night time. Today was a rough one for nap time, but I am happy to announce that as I type this (9:30pm) both girls are sleeping. Well, Caylee just cried out and Eugene is laying down with her, but they WERE both sleeping…

I made some resolutions this year, one of those was to run a 5K. Well, I found a 10K that is taking place near by in April and I’m hopefully going to be running it. for those of you who aren’t runners a 10K is 6.2 miles. That’s not too bad. I don’t know as though I would ever want to run more than that. I’ve never been much of a runner, but the past two years I’ve really wanted and tried to get into it. Before I got pregnant with Caylee I could run about 2 miles, it was the furthest I’ve ever been able to run. I’m finally almost back to that 2 mile mark and I have 14 weeks from Saturday to train myself to run another 4. I think I can do it. If all else fails I’ll run/walk it, but I think I’ll be able to do it.

I have a ton of pictures that I need to share and post more in detail about Christmas and the past two weeks, but right now just doesn’t seem to be the time. I’ll get back to you on that one…

Happy New Year!

Well, 2009 is here! I'm not they type to make resolutions. In fact I normally avoid them and make fun of people who set them However for the past few months I've had a few things on my mind.

The first thing and most important decision I'm making is to not let a day go bye that I don't read the Bible. I've actually been thinking about that for a while and Sunday our pastor's sermon was about getting into the Word more. It was just confirmation for me.

The other two things are a little less Spiritual... One is spending more time with my children and less time on the internet. The other is a physical goal. To be more healthy in general. I want to eat less junk food, no more soda, have smaller portions and run a 5K.

I've already started working towards the 5K goal.. and turned it into a 10K goal. There is a 10K April 18th that I plan on running. That's 14 weeks away. I hope I can make it.

I rang in the new year with some of my favorite people, Eugene's sister and her family. We hung out, talked, played games and ate junk food. :) The last junk food I'll have for awhile.

We always have a blast when company comes over, in fact we're due to get more company tomorrow. My sister and brother in law are coming from Maine. There will be lots of cribbage played and lots of talking about everything, maybe even insurance rates :) nothing is beyond reach.