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.
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.
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?!
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.
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!?
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!!
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!
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.
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?
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 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!
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.
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!
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.
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. :)
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!
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!
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.
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.
Christmas Fun
Christmas is over, and the new year is just a few days away. I can't believe how fast 2008 went. It just flew by.
We had a great time this Christmas, It started Christmas eve, we woke up and it was Christmas at our house, we opened the presents then headed to visit our good friends, Chad and Christine and their son Camden. Then that evening we headed up to visit Eugene's family.
This is the best Christmas we've had in years, not only present wise, but also just with how much fun we had visiting. Everything was so peaceful and relaxing. One of my favorite memories happened Christmas evening. I spend some time hanging out with two of my nieces, we were jumping on the trampoline. First I want to say, Trampolines were not made for women who have had two babies, are a bit over weight and are chickens.
My nieces are 15 and 17, they're young, in shape, and a bit fearless. They were doing all these flips and tricks and trying to get me to do them. I was trying, really I was. The first problem was that every time I jumped... well, let's just say after two kids my bladder isn't as good as it used to be. I had to run inside a couple times to use the bathroom. Then my attempt at tricks was pathetic to say the least. I really wanted to try all those front flips. Anyone that knew me in high school knows I was a dare devil. I wasn't afraid to try too much, but flips have always scared me.
So there I was, jumping, getting height, talking myself into flipping. My mind said "Ok, I can do this,I can do a forward flip, I can." I jump, I go to tuck and flip, and my body says "TWIST!" and it twists. basically I spin my body in a circle, never making my feet go over my head or anything, just jumped in a circle. I think that happened about 6 times.
Then my nieces decided to have me try something else. Jump high, land on my butt, then my knees THEN flip over. Ok, any chicken can do this right? So I try it. I fail a few times, then finally get it. I was so proud of myself.
Then I decided I'd try to do a kartwheel. I've never been able to do them, and I thought maybe it would be easier on a trampoline. So I tried several times (not with jumping, just standing still.) The last time I tried I got over, but didn't land, infact I was a little too close to the side and smacked my foot off the frame and the springs. I hit it so hard one spring went flying off the frame.
As my niece was putting the spring back on, I sat down and noticed the trampoline felt really cold. That was when I realized what happened.
In all my twisting and jumping, I some how ripped my favorit jeans. from the middle seam across the back side of both legs. VERY close to my bottom. Since they were my favorite jeans some spots were worn pretty thin so it didn't take much to rip them. It was hilariously sad.
We had a great time this Christmas, It started Christmas eve, we woke up and it was Christmas at our house, we opened the presents then headed to visit our good friends, Chad and Christine and their son Camden. Then that evening we headed up to visit Eugene's family.
This is the best Christmas we've had in years, not only present wise, but also just with how much fun we had visiting. Everything was so peaceful and relaxing. One of my favorite memories happened Christmas evening. I spend some time hanging out with two of my nieces, we were jumping on the trampoline. First I want to say, Trampolines were not made for women who have had two babies, are a bit over weight and are chickens.
My nieces are 15 and 17, they're young, in shape, and a bit fearless. They were doing all these flips and tricks and trying to get me to do them. I was trying, really I was. The first problem was that every time I jumped... well, let's just say after two kids my bladder isn't as good as it used to be. I had to run inside a couple times to use the bathroom. Then my attempt at tricks was pathetic to say the least. I really wanted to try all those front flips. Anyone that knew me in high school knows I was a dare devil. I wasn't afraid to try too much, but flips have always scared me.
So there I was, jumping, getting height, talking myself into flipping. My mind said "Ok, I can do this,I can do a forward flip, I can." I jump, I go to tuck and flip, and my body says "TWIST!" and it twists. basically I spin my body in a circle, never making my feet go over my head or anything, just jumped in a circle. I think that happened about 6 times.
Then my nieces decided to have me try something else. Jump high, land on my butt, then my knees THEN flip over. Ok, any chicken can do this right? So I try it. I fail a few times, then finally get it. I was so proud of myself.
Then I decided I'd try to do a kartwheel. I've never been able to do them, and I thought maybe it would be easier on a trampoline. So I tried several times (not with jumping, just standing still.) The last time I tried I got over, but didn't land, infact I was a little too close to the side and smacked my foot off the frame and the springs. I hit it so hard one spring went flying off the frame.
As my niece was putting the spring back on, I sat down and noticed the trampoline felt really cold. That was when I realized what happened.
In all my twisting and jumping, I some how ripped my favorit jeans. from the middle seam across the back side of both legs. VERY close to my bottom. Since they were my favorite jeans some spots were worn pretty thin so it didn't take much to rip them. It was hilariously sad.
Las Vegas
A friend of ours from Tennessee has moved to Las Vegas recently. It was a shock to think of him in Vegas, but he's doing The Lord's work, so I'm sure he's doing ok. I'm not sure how far away from the strip, but if we ever go I'm sure we'll need to use this Las Vegas strip map.
Not that we have any plans to go to Vegas, regardless of who lives there.
The other day he posted pictures on his facebook of snow. Yes, Snow in Vegas. How weird is that, I think it's colder there than it is here. Today it was warm enough we had the girls outside in short sleves taking Christmas pictures!
This was our second atempt at taking Christmas pictures, the first time neither girl wanted to cooperate. We finally had a good day, and good attitudes and got some good pictures! They'll be late I'm sure, but better late than never right?!
Not that we have any plans to go to Vegas, regardless of who lives there.
The other day he posted pictures on his facebook of snow. Yes, Snow in Vegas. How weird is that, I think it's colder there than it is here. Today it was warm enough we had the girls outside in short sleves taking Christmas pictures!
This was our second atempt at taking Christmas pictures, the first time neither girl wanted to cooperate. We finally had a good day, and good attitudes and got some good pictures! They'll be late I'm sure, but better late than never right?!
20.9 Design
My hubs is starting a business. Sort of. He plans on doing some work from home and apparently you need a business license for that. Hopefully he'll make enough to pay the bills! So Today he's running around town applying for state license and getting all the zoning info and all sorts of other stuff done. It's kinda scary!
But yah, he chose the name 20.9 design from his favorite Bible verse. Jeremiah 20:9
So there you have it. One HUGE prayer request. (That he gets everything taken care of and gets enough work to pay the bills!)
But yah, he chose the name 20.9 design from his favorite Bible verse. Jeremiah 20:9
If I say, "I will not mention him,
or speak any more in his name,"
there is in my heart as it were a burning fire
shut up in my bones,
and I am weary with holding it in,
and I cannot.
So there you have it. One HUGE prayer request. (That he gets everything taken care of and gets enough work to pay the bills!)
It's Winter.
The cold weather is here! Time to break out the winter coat, beanie and mittens! Cold season is here too. We had just gotten rid of the sickies in the house then Lexi and Caylee started sniffling again. I hate seeing them sick. I can't get Lexi to figure out how to blow her nose either which is so frustrating.
On another note I've been adding a bit of dairy to my diet to test Caylee's allergy. She doesn't seem to be screaming like she was a month ago when I'd eat it. I really hope she's over it because I miss eating Cheese!
Well, Caylee is fussing cuz I put her down! gotta go!
On another note I've been adding a bit of dairy to my diet to test Caylee's allergy. She doesn't seem to be screaming like she was a month ago when I'd eat it. I really hope she's over it because I miss eating Cheese!
Well, Caylee is fussing cuz I put her down! gotta go!
Busy, busy busy!
Well, I just got home from a Christmas party.There was lots of food, and lots of talking! Luckily I managed to stay away from over eating, so I wont have to discover Lipovox side effects
Just kidding, You know I don't use diet pills.
Anyway, Today was a VERY busy day. It started last night. We went to The Upper room, which was a lot of fun. They had a Celtic band there playing Christmas music, it was nice and relaxing, but we didn't get home until 11. Today at 12 Lexi and Eugene had practice for the Christmas program that the kids from church are putting on tomorrow. Eugene is playing the drums and Lexi is part of the choir. I was interested to see how she'd do, but she was so tired that she wouldn't even stand up there and sing. Hopefully she'll do better tomorrow.
From there we went to a Christmas party, we just hung out and ate some food like I said earlier. We left there around 5:30, Eugene dropped the girls and I off at home and headed to the Upper Room. We were all going to go, but since Lexi only slept for an hour in the car we didn't think she'd do well staying up until 11 or later again tonight. So the girls and I are home alone right now. Hopefully they'll go to bed early and I can soak in the tub for a bit then hit the hay! Tomorrow will be another long day!
Just kidding, You know I don't use diet pills.
Anyway, Today was a VERY busy day. It started last night. We went to The Upper room, which was a lot of fun. They had a Celtic band there playing Christmas music, it was nice and relaxing, but we didn't get home until 11. Today at 12 Lexi and Eugene had practice for the Christmas program that the kids from church are putting on tomorrow. Eugene is playing the drums and Lexi is part of the choir. I was interested to see how she'd do, but she was so tired that she wouldn't even stand up there and sing. Hopefully she'll do better tomorrow.
From there we went to a Christmas party, we just hung out and ate some food like I said earlier. We left there around 5:30, Eugene dropped the girls and I off at home and headed to the Upper Room. We were all going to go, but since Lexi only slept for an hour in the car we didn't think she'd do well staying up until 11 or later again tonight. So the girls and I are home alone right now. Hopefully they'll go to bed early and I can soak in the tub for a bit then hit the hay! Tomorrow will be another long day!
The job hunt continues
Well, A month has passed since my husband was laid off. I'm realizing it's not a rare thing, many people are out of jobs. He's not having much luck finding a job, he's mostly looking in the area since we just signed a new lease two months ago. With both of our parents in Texas maybe he should look there. Think his resume will compare to Austin resumes?
He's done a few jobs from home for various architects around, but since work is so hard to come by no one wants to hire him full time. We've been able to spend a lot of time together as a family, maybe too much. The stress level here is pretty high which causes some stupid fights at times. In the 6 years we've been married we've never spend this much time together. It's kinda funny, of course we love each other, but times like this really test your patience.
On the plus side he's gotten to work on a few things that he's been wanting to for awhile, like really learning how to do websites. He's also just recently gotten hooked up with The Upper Room, a venue not too far from us that has local Christian bands come play. It's a lot like Straight Gate- a youth club he spent many, many hours volunteering at before we got married and in the first few years of our relationship. I am very excited for him, probably not as excited as he is to get back into the music ministry, since the band broke up years ago he hasn't had much opportunity to minister in this area. And trust me, this is the area God has called him to minister in. Hopefully he'll be able to really help out and get involved.
He's done a few jobs from home for various architects around, but since work is so hard to come by no one wants to hire him full time. We've been able to spend a lot of time together as a family, maybe too much. The stress level here is pretty high which causes some stupid fights at times. In the 6 years we've been married we've never spend this much time together. It's kinda funny, of course we love each other, but times like this really test your patience.
On the plus side he's gotten to work on a few things that he's been wanting to for awhile, like really learning how to do websites. He's also just recently gotten hooked up with The Upper Room, a venue not too far from us that has local Christian bands come play. It's a lot like Straight Gate- a youth club he spent many, many hours volunteering at before we got married and in the first few years of our relationship. I am very excited for him, probably not as excited as he is to get back into the music ministry, since the band broke up years ago he hasn't had much opportunity to minister in this area. And trust me, this is the area God has called him to minister in. Hopefully he'll be able to really help out and get involved.
9 words Women use
NINE WORDS WOMEN USE
(1) Fine: This is the word women use to end an argument when they are right and you need to shut up.
(2) Five Minutes: If she is getting dressed, this means a half an hour. Five minutes is only five minutes if you have just been given five more minutes to watch the game before helping around the house.
(3) Nothing: This is the calm before the storm. This means something, and you should be on your toes. Arguments that begin with nothing usually end in fine.
(4) Go Ahead: This is a dare, not permission. Don't Do It! Especially if what you want to do involves buying Ferrari parts
(5) Loud Sigh: This is actually a word, but is a non-verbal statement often misunderstood by men. A loud sigh means she thinks you are an idiot and wonders why she is wasting her time standing here and arguing with you about nothing. (Refer back to # 3 for the meaning of nothing.)
(6) That's Okay: This is one of the most dangerous statements a women can make to a man. That's okay means she wants to think long and hard before deciding how and when you will pay for your mistake.
(7) Thanks: A woman is thanking you, do not question, or faint. Just say you're welcome. (I want to add in a clause here - This is true, unless she says 'Thanks a lot' - that is PURE sarcasm and she is not thanking you at all. DO NOT say 'you're welcome' . That will bring on a 'whatever').
(8) Whatever: Is a woman's way of saying Bite Me.
(9) Don't worry about it, I got it: Another dangerous statement, meaning this is something that a woman has told a man to do several times, but is now doing it herself. This will later result in a man asking 'What's wrong?' For the woman's response refer to # 3.
Christmas Time!
Can you believe Christmas is 2 weeks away? I don't have all my shopping done yet. We still have to buy for My mother in law and her fiance. I'm not sure what to get them, but we need to hurry up and pick something because they live in Texas and we'll have to mail it.
I know lots of people who have taken Disney Vacations for Christmas. That seems like fun, celebrate the holidays with Mickey Mouse. I tell you one thing though, that's not us this year. Although I do want to take the kids to Disney, I'm planning on doing that when the youngest is old enough that they will remember. Since we plan on having about 4 kids and we only have two, our trip is years away. That's ok, we enjoy spending Christmas with family.
We have some presents under the tree already and Lexi is doing really good about not opening them. She has picked them up a couple times and played with them, but mostly to "build". We thought she'd open them the second she saw them. Although she might be avoiding opening them because we've officially told her that on Christmas (the day we open our presents) we are going to pack up all of her "bobs" (her pacifiers) and mail them to Beth, because the baby is going to need them. Hopefully that will work. I'm desperate to get rid of that thing.
I know lots of people who have taken Disney Vacations for Christmas. That seems like fun, celebrate the holidays with Mickey Mouse. I tell you one thing though, that's not us this year. Although I do want to take the kids to Disney, I'm planning on doing that when the youngest is old enough that they will remember. Since we plan on having about 4 kids and we only have two, our trip is years away. That's ok, we enjoy spending Christmas with family.
We have some presents under the tree already and Lexi is doing really good about not opening them. She has picked them up a couple times and played with them, but mostly to "build". We thought she'd open them the second she saw them. Although she might be avoiding opening them because we've officially told her that on Christmas (the day we open our presents) we are going to pack up all of her "bobs" (her pacifiers) and mail them to Beth, because the baby is going to need them. Hopefully that will work. I'm desperate to get rid of that thing.
Annoyance
Annoyance is the cat that was left here by the previous renters. It's quite annoying. The neighbors have kind of taken it in, they got a flea collar for it, a food dish and even one of those neat little pet beds, It's like a cube with a little whole for the cat to climb in.
So what makes the cat so annoying? The fact that is sits in front of our door meowing all day long. The fact that when we come home and try to pull into our parking spot it gets in our way. And the fact that when we try to walk outside it is constantly under our feet. That's just a typical cat looking for attention and love you might say. Which I agree and try to pet on occasion. The issue is, it's not our cat. We don't have a cat because A) my husband and at least one of our daughters is allergic and B) we don't have the desire/time to show affection to an animal.
If we had a pet of our own, we WOULD show it attention, we wouldn't leave it outside in the cold and we'd try not to grumble when it got under our feet. Those are just things you plan on when you have a pet. I just hate that this cat is expecting all that stuff from us, but it's not our cat. Maybe I'm just mean. Maybe I just don't want to get attached to it because I know we can't bring it inside. Whatever the case... I'm annoyed with it. I feel really bad for it, because first of all, what kind of person leaves their pet behind?! second of all, you can tell it was an inside/outside cat that got lots of attention and now it's outside getting no attention. Last of all... it's now limping, I don't know what happened to it, but it is holding it's front paw up and wont put any weight on it anymore. Anyone know of a good loving home for a black cat?
So what makes the cat so annoying? The fact that is sits in front of our door meowing all day long. The fact that when we come home and try to pull into our parking spot it gets in our way. And the fact that when we try to walk outside it is constantly under our feet. That's just a typical cat looking for attention and love you might say. Which I agree and try to pet on occasion. The issue is, it's not our cat. We don't have a cat because A) my husband and at least one of our daughters is allergic and B) we don't have the desire/time to show affection to an animal.
If we had a pet of our own, we WOULD show it attention, we wouldn't leave it outside in the cold and we'd try not to grumble when it got under our feet. Those are just things you plan on when you have a pet. I just hate that this cat is expecting all that stuff from us, but it's not our cat. Maybe I'm just mean. Maybe I just don't want to get attached to it because I know we can't bring it inside. Whatever the case... I'm annoyed with it. I feel really bad for it, because first of all, what kind of person leaves their pet behind?! second of all, you can tell it was an inside/outside cat that got lots of attention and now it's outside getting no attention. Last of all... it's now limping, I don't know what happened to it, but it is holding it's front paw up and wont put any weight on it anymore. Anyone know of a good loving home for a black cat?
Christmas Shopping
I'm doing a lot of online shopping this year, in one way it's fun. It saves the hassle of waiting in lines to check out, it keeps me on my budget because I don't see something else in the store that I like and buy it too. That's what normally happens, I'll have an idea of what I want to buy, go in the store, find it, then look around the store at everything else and find more stuff I want to buy. On the down side, I have to pay shipping and handling, a few times I've been lucky and found some sites with free shipping.
Maybe next year I'll try wholesale. I'll just buy everyone the same gift. That should save a bunch of money! :)
So life has been pretty busy with Christmas shopping, playing with Lexi, and holding Caylee who for the past week has protested every time we put her down. Then add all the house work, cooking, cleaning, laundry on top of it and that explains the lack of posts lately.
Maybe next year I'll try wholesale. I'll just buy everyone the same gift. That should save a bunch of money! :)
So life has been pretty busy with Christmas shopping, playing with Lexi, and holding Caylee who for the past week has protested every time we put her down. Then add all the house work, cooking, cleaning, laundry on top of it and that explains the lack of posts lately.
It was good to go "home"
Yah, even though we've lived here for a year and a half, Tennessee is still home to us. It was so nice to be able to be there for almost 10 days. We got the chance to see and hang out with everyone, it was great.
The town we lived in is just growing like crazy. new stores are popping up everywhere and there is an abundance of commercial real estate signs covering the side of the roads. It's cool to go back and see what else has showed up since we were last there.
We spent a lot of time with friends, got to go to church two weeks in a row. We even got the stomach bug while we were there. Thanksgiving day Eugene and I were locked away in a bedroom. no turkey for us! Well, we had some the day after Thanksgiving.
But now we're back in North Carolina, getting ready for Christmas with two little girls. Even though this is Lexi's 3rd Christmas, it's the first one that she's really paid attention to the tree. She is amazed by it and wants it on the second she wakes up and comes downstairs. Caylee doesn't care, obviously! :) What a great time.
The town we lived in is just growing like crazy. new stores are popping up everywhere and there is an abundance of commercial real estate signs covering the side of the roads. It's cool to go back and see what else has showed up since we were last there.
We spent a lot of time with friends, got to go to church two weeks in a row. We even got the stomach bug while we were there. Thanksgiving day Eugene and I were locked away in a bedroom. no turkey for us! Well, we had some the day after Thanksgiving.
But now we're back in North Carolina, getting ready for Christmas with two little girls. Even though this is Lexi's 3rd Christmas, it's the first one that she's really paid attention to the tree. She is amazed by it and wants it on the second she wakes up and comes downstairs. Caylee doesn't care, obviously! :) What a great time.
Christmas is coming fast
Tonight we set up the tree. It is our first year with a fake tree, it looks ok. Lexi was so cute helping me set up the tree, then hanging the ornaments. We took a few pictures, maybe I'll get some posted on here tomorrow. I also just finished buying the first Christmas presents. I ordered the Fisher Price Nativity scene as well as some presents for some nieces and nephews. I'm hoping the nativity scene will help us explain Christmas to Lexi.
I was looking at rings the other day, because, well it's fun. I've been eying up the anniversary rings, I just think the three diamond rings are so pretty. For fun I like to look at engagement rings too. I am very happy with the ring my husband gave to me over 6 years ago when he proposed, It is just what I always wanted. Our wedding bands are my parents old bands so my set is just perfect. :)
Just a few more presents to go then I'll be done shopping. (ok, really a ton more...) I love Christmas shopping!!
I was looking at rings the other day, because, well it's fun. I've been eying up the anniversary rings, I just think the three diamond rings are so pretty. For fun I like to look at engagement rings too. I am very happy with the ring my husband gave to me over 6 years ago when he proposed, It is just what I always wanted. Our wedding bands are my parents old bands so my set is just perfect. :)
Just a few more presents to go then I'll be done shopping. (ok, really a ton more...) I love Christmas shopping!!
New Years
Do you make New Years resolutions? I normally stay away from them. A few times I've tried to set some, they don't last very long. Especially when they include avoiding chocolate.
Lately I've been thinking more about setting spiritual resolutions instead of the typical lose weight, save money,quit smoking, get a new job type resolutions that most people set. Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with those types of resolutions, many, many American's will join weight watchers, or buy Allie on January 1st to help them lose weight. But I want my focus to be on God in 2009. (don't get me wrong, I am going to try to lose more baby weight and even run more)
I think my #1 goal in 2009 is to read my Bible every day. Yes, every day. I want perfect attendance in my quiet time. I want to see how much God can do in me when I make the commitment to not let one day go by without spending time in His word and at His feet.
anyone want to join me?
Lately I've been thinking more about setting spiritual resolutions instead of the typical lose weight, save money,quit smoking, get a new job type resolutions that most people set. Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with those types of resolutions, many, many American's will join weight watchers, or buy Allie on January 1st to help them lose weight. But I want my focus to be on God in 2009. (don't get me wrong, I am going to try to lose more baby weight and even run more)
I think my #1 goal in 2009 is to read my Bible every day. Yes, every day. I want perfect attendance in my quiet time. I want to see how much God can do in me when I make the commitment to not let one day go by without spending time in His word and at His feet.
anyone want to join me?
Tennessee!!!!
Yes, that's right, we're in Tennessee. The wonderful state that it is. I've been enjoying our time here (except for the 24 hour stomach bug that Lexi caught, it was the first time in her life that she threw up and it scared her- the first time anyway). We got into town on Saturday and spent some time with a friend of ours and her two kids, then went to see some other friends of ours and their 4 kids. Then came back "home" to Jim and Kathy's house to relax for the evening. Sunday was wonderful, going to church and seeing all our old friends. We even got to go out to eat with some of them to enjoy even more fellowship. Yesterday was very laid back (aside from cleaning up barf) we just sat around Jim and Kathy's enjoying the cable tv. he he. We were supposed to go see some friends last night, but decided not to spread the germs.
Today we might head out to the Ocoee River for some old memories, then this evening we're headed to another friend's house for dinner. Tomorrow will be full of cleaning and cooking and getting ready for Thanksgiving dinner which will be held here on Thursday. Then Tomorrow night we have a dinner date with 3 couples and their kids.
Thursday is of course Thanksgiving, and lots of family (Jim's family) will be coming over including his mom, sister, niece, son, and maybe an aunt or two. Last year it was the same group and we had tons of fun just hanging out and watching the eating contests that were on TV. Talk about some major pigging out, those people on tv could eat hundreds of hotdogs in one sitting. it was sick. I thought about offering them some apidexin, (a diet pill) but didn't think that would be very kind.
Anyway, Friday I might get out a bit to do some shopping, I have a little bit of birthday money that I'd love to spend. :) However, I might not brave the crowds. Saturday we'll get together with more friends, then Sunday will be another day of church, then Monday we head back to NC :(.
Our week sounds busy, but really most the day we're just sitting around the house, it's only the evenings that are busy. I'm having a great time either way!
Today we might head out to the Ocoee River for some old memories, then this evening we're headed to another friend's house for dinner. Tomorrow will be full of cleaning and cooking and getting ready for Thanksgiving dinner which will be held here on Thursday. Then Tomorrow night we have a dinner date with 3 couples and their kids.
Thursday is of course Thanksgiving, and lots of family (Jim's family) will be coming over including his mom, sister, niece, son, and maybe an aunt or two. Last year it was the same group and we had tons of fun just hanging out and watching the eating contests that were on TV. Talk about some major pigging out, those people on tv could eat hundreds of hotdogs in one sitting. it was sick. I thought about offering them some apidexin, (a diet pill) but didn't think that would be very kind.
Anyway, Friday I might get out a bit to do some shopping, I have a little bit of birthday money that I'd love to spend. :) However, I might not brave the crowds. Saturday we'll get together with more friends, then Sunday will be another day of church, then Monday we head back to NC :(.
Our week sounds busy, but really most the day we're just sitting around the house, it's only the evenings that are busy. I'm having a great time either way!
YAY TENNESSEE HERE I COME!
Guess what? Since Eugene was laid off and hasn't found a new job we are going to Tennessee early! We were going to leave Wednesday but decided to leave Saturday instead.
I am struggling with losing the baby weight I gained from the two girls, and although I wouldn't ever take diet pills, I was looking up some diet pill info to see what makes them so appealing to people. I think I'll stick with diet and exercise.
Anyway, I have a fussy baby tonight for some reason. I haven't had any dairy in 2.5 months so I don't know what is bothering her. and let me tell you, if I've ever had a craving in my life... it's right now! I want ANYTHING dairy. ice cream, milk, cheese, yogurt, even butter would be fine. However, I like having a happy baby better than dairy.
I think maybe God is trying to get me on a different diet, I couldn't have sugar while I was pregnant, and now I can't have any dairy. and YES, i still want more babies.
I am struggling with losing the baby weight I gained from the two girls, and although I wouldn't ever take diet pills, I was looking up some diet pill info to see what makes them so appealing to people. I think I'll stick with diet and exercise.
Anyway, I have a fussy baby tonight for some reason. I haven't had any dairy in 2.5 months so I don't know what is bothering her. and let me tell you, if I've ever had a craving in my life... it's right now! I want ANYTHING dairy. ice cream, milk, cheese, yogurt, even butter would be fine. However, I like having a happy baby better than dairy.
I think maybe God is trying to get me on a different diet, I couldn't have sugar while I was pregnant, and now I can't have any dairy. and YES, i still want more babies.
I love Coupons!!!
I just went to walmart. Every time I go there I walk in for 2 things, thinking I'll spend about $5, and walk out with a few bags full, and about $25 poorer.
Well not today! money saving mom had a bunch of walmart deals listed and I thought I'd take advantage of them. I was quite disappointed while getting my list together though because half of the printable coupons weren't around any longer. Then when I got to the store some of the items were more than she said they were going to be (different locations have things different prices). So I didn't think I was going to do as well as I hoped.
But I was wrong! I got $20 worth of stuff for only $4. I got everything from food products to preparation H wipes (not that i need them right now, but I'm sure they'll come in handy during the next pregnancy. The only thing I didn't get was a good colon cleanser. I did get a great deal on some baby food to keep in the cabinet for when that time comes. I do plan on making my own baby food for Caylee, and I plan on holding her off on eating solids until about 5 or 6 months. But when going places it's way easier to throw a jar in the diaper bag, so these will come in handy.
So yah... I love coupons!
Well not today! money saving mom had a bunch of walmart deals listed and I thought I'd take advantage of them. I was quite disappointed while getting my list together though because half of the printable coupons weren't around any longer. Then when I got to the store some of the items were more than she said they were going to be (different locations have things different prices). So I didn't think I was going to do as well as I hoped.
But I was wrong! I got $20 worth of stuff for only $4. I got everything from food products to preparation H wipes (not that i need them right now, but I'm sure they'll come in handy during the next pregnancy. The only thing I didn't get was a good colon cleanser. I did get a great deal on some baby food to keep in the cabinet for when that time comes. I do plan on making my own baby food for Caylee, and I plan on holding her off on eating solids until about 5 or 6 months. But when going places it's way easier to throw a jar in the diaper bag, so these will come in handy.
So yah... I love coupons!
AHHHH!
no that's not the ahhh, like I'm relaxing. it's AHHH, like I'm screaming.
Things are crazy here! Lexi came down with what we thought was just allergies on Friday, turned out to be a cold. Yesterday Caylee started coughing and is congested now.
Caylee had her 2 month check up yesterday (and her first shot) she weighs a whopping 11lbs 4oz now. everything is in the 50th percentile (including her head! unlike her 96 percentile sister's head).
In a few minutes we'll be headed out the door to vote. I am glad God is in charge and He can use either man to lead this country.
Well, Caylee is waking up to eat and my hubby will be home in a few so I better get things moving!
Things are crazy here! Lexi came down with what we thought was just allergies on Friday, turned out to be a cold. Yesterday Caylee started coughing and is congested now.
Caylee had her 2 month check up yesterday (and her first shot) she weighs a whopping 11lbs 4oz now. everything is in the 50th percentile (including her head! unlike her 96 percentile sister's head).
In a few minutes we'll be headed out the door to vote. I am glad God is in charge and He can use either man to lead this country.
Well, Caylee is waking up to eat and my hubby will be home in a few so I better get things moving!
November already?!
There is about an hour left of October. I can't even believe how fast this year is going. Each day it's starting to get a little bit cooler here, not enough to break out the electric blanket, but of course we keep it kinda warm in the house due to Caylee.
November is a pretty busy month for us we have my husband's birthday, my birthday and our anniversary (6 years!) We also have Thanksgiving, which we will be traveling to Tennessee to visit our "family". I'm just praying we sell some things we have on Craigslist so we can have the money to pay all our bills and make the trip. You can pray too if you want! ;)
Well, it's kinda late, we just got home from visiting a good friend of mine and Caylee's eaten and ready for bed, so I guess I'll head that way too!
November is a pretty busy month for us we have my husband's birthday, my birthday and our anniversary (6 years!) We also have Thanksgiving, which we will be traveling to Tennessee to visit our "family". I'm just praying we sell some things we have on Craigslist so we can have the money to pay all our bills and make the trip. You can pray too if you want! ;)
Well, it's kinda late, we just got home from visiting a good friend of mine and Caylee's eaten and ready for bed, so I guess I'll head that way too!
it's Friday!
I just thought I'd let you know in case you didn't.
Friday's are wonderful, not as good as Saturday or Sunday, but they are nice because I know I get to spend the next two days with my husband!
Tonight we're going to visit a good friend of mine that I haven't seen in years. She hasn't even seen my kids! Her name? Beth Ann. yup. She was one of my youth leaders when I was in high school. She means a lot to me. I even lived with her for my senior year of High school while my mom moved to Indiana a head of me. A few years ago her and her husband moved to Virginia, but I never got up there to see her. Recently she moved here, to North Carolina, only about an hour away!! So when my husband gets off work tonight we're loading up the car and heading down to visit!
I thought maybe I'd share some pictures from when my mom was here. Enjoy!
Here's our whole family. The girls weren't ready for this picture to get taken, but it's still the only picture we have of the four of us!
Here's my mom and Lexi, I thought it was cute that they both had the same color shirt on.
And here they are building with the megablocks my mom bought at Goodwill for $2.99. the best $3 every spent on Lexi
I think!
My mom made Lexi and I matching aprons, and Caylee a matching bib. This was our attempt to get us all in the picture. Lexi didn't want to stop playing with her blocks as you can tell since she pulled them into the kitchen for the picture. :)
Friday's are wonderful, not as good as Saturday or Sunday, but they are nice because I know I get to spend the next two days with my husband!
Tonight we're going to visit a good friend of mine that I haven't seen in years. She hasn't even seen my kids! Her name? Beth Ann. yup. She was one of my youth leaders when I was in high school. She means a lot to me. I even lived with her for my senior year of High school while my mom moved to Indiana a head of me. A few years ago her and her husband moved to Virginia, but I never got up there to see her. Recently she moved here, to North Carolina, only about an hour away!! So when my husband gets off work tonight we're loading up the car and heading down to visit!
I thought maybe I'd share some pictures from when my mom was here. Enjoy!
Here's our whole family. The girls weren't ready for this picture to get taken, but it's still the only picture we have of the four of us!
Here's my mom and Lexi, I thought it was cute that they both had the same color shirt on.
And here they are building with the megablocks my mom bought at Goodwill for $2.99. the best $3 every spent on Lexi
I think!
My mom made Lexi and I matching aprons, and Caylee a matching bib. This was our attempt to get us all in the picture. Lexi didn't want to stop playing with her blocks as you can tell since she pulled them into the kitchen for the picture. :)
My mommy has gone to Maine
I really enjoyed the time my mom was here, but unfortunately it had to come to an end. After all she does have 4 more children all of whom live in Maine. Although I'm the youngest, I'm not the only one who matters.
Caylee got really spoiled by her Grammie, as did Lexi so I'm sure the next few days will be interesting. Too bad we couldn't have gone to Maine with her, I'd love to see all my family. Grammie bought Lexi a wagon full of Mega Blocks at good will on Saturday night and that is ALL Lexi has played with since then. Looks like getting more might be a smart Christmas present option. Lexi enjoyed playing with her letter magnets with Grammie too, she likes to show people that she knows all her letters. I haven't decided if she's too prideful of what she knows or not. We always praise her for what she does so she really doesn't know any different. In fact, sometimes she tells herself "goodjob" when doing something.
Caylee just got held a lot and hasn't wanted to be put down too much. I got spoiled cuz I had someone else here helping with the laundry and dinner! I was hoping she'd teach me to make rolls but we didn't get the chance.
We did however find the world's best fabric store yesterday! We ended up way down south of Charlotte, at Mary Jo's cloth store. it was about a walmart sized building full of just material! My mom bought a bunch of material to help her make things to start her etsy store. I just had tons of fun walking around drooling at all the pretty fabric. I WILL go back there once I get some spending money!
Life has been pretty busy lately with visitors and moving. I think we're done until Thanksgiving when we get to go to Tennessee to visit! I'm SOOO excited for that trip, we miss all our friends and "family" there.
We have been facing a few small delemas lately. One is that Eugene's work has lost a big project and pretty much has no work. The owners told them all that they have enough money to last through the end of the year. All the employees are pretty much looking for new jobs. It's not an easy task since he is a draftsman (like an architect) and everyone knows the housing market is not exactly the best field to be in.
The other thing going on right now has to do with us moving out of our old house. We had a verbal agreement with our landlord that she would give us our security deposit back even though we only gave her an 18 day notice instead of a 30 day notice like our lease says. She had been avoiding us for a few days, then finally called my husband with this news: she "hired a safty inspector" to go through the house and check for any mold. (the reason we moved out was because of a horrible mold smell in Lexi's and our bedrooms.) Well the "inspector" didn't find any mold, so now she doesn't want to give us our deposit back. She said if she gets it rented out before the end of the month she'll give it back, or she'll prorate it and give us what is left. There are a few problems with her logic... first of all we were on a month to month lease, our only requirement was a 30 day notice- despite our reasoning for WHY we moved out. Also, North Carolina state law requires her to give us writen information about where our deposit will be held and she didn't. All in all, we could both legally be wrong. We didn't give a full 30 days notice. We did give a notice, and talked to her to make sure the 18 days was enough. She said yes. We should have gotten that in writing. She failed to give us the information North Carolina law requires, she told us she would give us our deposite and is now saying no. The biggest issue is that we told our current landlord that we would be getting it back and give it to him as our deposit for our apartment.
So yah.. that's that.
Caylee got really spoiled by her Grammie, as did Lexi so I'm sure the next few days will be interesting. Too bad we couldn't have gone to Maine with her, I'd love to see all my family. Grammie bought Lexi a wagon full of Mega Blocks at good will on Saturday night and that is ALL Lexi has played with since then. Looks like getting more might be a smart Christmas present option. Lexi enjoyed playing with her letter magnets with Grammie too, she likes to show people that she knows all her letters. I haven't decided if she's too prideful of what she knows or not. We always praise her for what she does so she really doesn't know any different. In fact, sometimes she tells herself "goodjob" when doing something.
Caylee just got held a lot and hasn't wanted to be put down too much. I got spoiled cuz I had someone else here helping with the laundry and dinner! I was hoping she'd teach me to make rolls but we didn't get the chance.
We did however find the world's best fabric store yesterday! We ended up way down south of Charlotte, at Mary Jo's cloth store. it was about a walmart sized building full of just material! My mom bought a bunch of material to help her make things to start her etsy store. I just had tons of fun walking around drooling at all the pretty fabric. I WILL go back there once I get some spending money!
Life has been pretty busy lately with visitors and moving. I think we're done until Thanksgiving when we get to go to Tennessee to visit! I'm SOOO excited for that trip, we miss all our friends and "family" there.
We have been facing a few small delemas lately. One is that Eugene's work has lost a big project and pretty much has no work. The owners told them all that they have enough money to last through the end of the year. All the employees are pretty much looking for new jobs. It's not an easy task since he is a draftsman (like an architect) and everyone knows the housing market is not exactly the best field to be in.
The other thing going on right now has to do with us moving out of our old house. We had a verbal agreement with our landlord that she would give us our security deposit back even though we only gave her an 18 day notice instead of a 30 day notice like our lease says. She had been avoiding us for a few days, then finally called my husband with this news: she "hired a safty inspector" to go through the house and check for any mold. (the reason we moved out was because of a horrible mold smell in Lexi's and our bedrooms.) Well the "inspector" didn't find any mold, so now she doesn't want to give us our deposit back. She said if she gets it rented out before the end of the month she'll give it back, or she'll prorate it and give us what is left. There are a few problems with her logic... first of all we were on a month to month lease, our only requirement was a 30 day notice- despite our reasoning for WHY we moved out. Also, North Carolina state law requires her to give us writen information about where our deposit will be held and she didn't. All in all, we could both legally be wrong. We didn't give a full 30 days notice. We did give a notice, and talked to her to make sure the 18 days was enough. She said yes. We should have gotten that in writing. She failed to give us the information North Carolina law requires, she told us she would give us our deposite and is now saying no. The biggest issue is that we told our current landlord that we would be getting it back and give it to him as our deposit for our apartment.
So yah.. that's that.
She laughs and talks and smiles!
Within the past two weeks Caylee has started smiling, laughing, and talking. The first smile was for her daddy. The first laugh was for her daddy. Her first talking was for her Grammie... Maybe she'll roll over first for me.
She's been very gassy lately, normally she only acts this way when I've had dairy. I guess the chocolate chip cookies I've had contained too much milk. :( I really miss ice cream, chocolate, cheese and milk.
My mom has been here since Saturday and we've really been enjoying our time with her. I'm glad the girls are getting to see their Grammie, it's good for them. Lexi has really enjoyed playing with her, and apparently Caylee likes her since she started talking for her.
That's the brief update on why I've been so quiet and what's going on!
She's been very gassy lately, normally she only acts this way when I've had dairy. I guess the chocolate chip cookies I've had contained too much milk. :( I really miss ice cream, chocolate, cheese and milk.
My mom has been here since Saturday and we've really been enjoying our time with her. I'm glad the girls are getting to see their Grammie, it's good for them. Lexi has really enjoyed playing with her, and apparently Caylee likes her since she started talking for her.
That's the brief update on why I've been so quiet and what's going on!
Hurray!
Most people hear a lot about getting a car insurance quote, to making sure you're getting the right deal. Car insurance is one of the insurances that is always talked about; everyone needs it, so everyone has it. I just wonder why there isn't as much out there about renters insurance. We just recently realized how cheap renters insurance is and we've also recently started the process of getting life insurance (outside of my husband's work).
Since we moved we've managed to save money on renters insurance! Our apartment is newer, and is right in down town, less than a mile from the fire station as apposed to our old trailer in the middle of nowhere!
I love saving money.
on a different note, here are some much needed pictures of the girls.
Since we moved we've managed to save money on renters insurance! Our apartment is newer, and is right in down town, less than a mile from the fire station as apposed to our old trailer in the middle of nowhere!
I love saving money.
on a different note, here are some much needed pictures of the girls.
Why don't boxes unpack themselves?
So we're all moved in. I think we have too much stuff, I'm getting ready to go on a mass Craigslist spree and try to sell some stuff. Yes, I know it's kinda backwards to sell things AFTER we move, but oh well!
We thought we had done good with the move, everything looked good. Until we tried to watch a movie the other day. It seems our electronics are on strike. First our DVD player wont give us any video. We can hear everything, but we get no picture. So we put the DVD in the xbox (you know, that really expensive toy I just bought my husband in July...) and it freezes. So my husband messes with it and messes with it, and tries again. It still freezes.
We ended up watching the movie on the computer. Luckily the xbox has a 2 year warranty on it, so after talking with Microsoft we learned all we had to do was mail it to them (postage paid) and they will send us a new one. YAY!
Another thing I've been busy doing is running! I'm trying to get back into it since it's been awhile. I was very pleased with myself, because even though it had been a year since I ran I still managed to do almost a mile the very first time I ran. By the 4th time I had done almost a mile and a half. Then I took a weeks break because of the moving, but I was able to still do a mile. (I haven't tried further yet, my knees are hurting a bit). Yesterday I decided I would see how fast I could run the mile. 8 minutes. I was happy with myself. I'm hoping to run a 5K in December. To someone who runs a lot that is nothing, but I've never ran much at all, and last time I was running regularly I had just made it to the 2 mile mark. running in a 5K would be an accomplishment to me.
The girls are doing quite well, Lexi counted to 9 in Spanish today. Every once and awhile we count to 10 in Spanish, French and German. We just thought it would be something fun to teach her. Caylee's face is clearing up, I'm still not sure what it was/is that was going on. She still has a few red spots and it's still dry in places too. It seems as long as I wash it (with just water) a couple times a day and put Aquaphor on it once a day it is clearing up and looks better. She did have some puking issues today. One while I was driving that was so bad she couldn't breath. luckily my mommy instincs told me something was wrong so I looked back and saw her wide eyed with spit up coming out her nose. That is one of the scarriest things to see. She does way better with the screaming/gas when I'm off milk, and it seems that the puking is related to me having acidy drinks (I had juice last night).
We have aquired an outside cat. The people who live here before us left their cat (which was apparently an inside/outside cat because it keeps trying to get inside. I felt bad for it because it was sitting outside meowing so I bought it some food. My husband is not pleased about that. He says he doesn't like cats, he's allergic so it can't be inside, but I don't see a problem with an outside cat. Did I mention it's all black? By the way, what kind of people move and don't take their pet???
We thought we had done good with the move, everything looked good. Until we tried to watch a movie the other day. It seems our electronics are on strike. First our DVD player wont give us any video. We can hear everything, but we get no picture. So we put the DVD in the xbox (you know, that really expensive toy I just bought my husband in July...) and it freezes. So my husband messes with it and messes with it, and tries again. It still freezes.
We ended up watching the movie on the computer. Luckily the xbox has a 2 year warranty on it, so after talking with Microsoft we learned all we had to do was mail it to them (postage paid) and they will send us a new one. YAY!
Another thing I've been busy doing is running! I'm trying to get back into it since it's been awhile. I was very pleased with myself, because even though it had been a year since I ran I still managed to do almost a mile the very first time I ran. By the 4th time I had done almost a mile and a half. Then I took a weeks break because of the moving, but I was able to still do a mile. (I haven't tried further yet, my knees are hurting a bit). Yesterday I decided I would see how fast I could run the mile. 8 minutes. I was happy with myself. I'm hoping to run a 5K in December. To someone who runs a lot that is nothing, but I've never ran much at all, and last time I was running regularly I had just made it to the 2 mile mark. running in a 5K would be an accomplishment to me.
The girls are doing quite well, Lexi counted to 9 in Spanish today. Every once and awhile we count to 10 in Spanish, French and German. We just thought it would be something fun to teach her. Caylee's face is clearing up, I'm still not sure what it was/is that was going on. She still has a few red spots and it's still dry in places too. It seems as long as I wash it (with just water) a couple times a day and put Aquaphor on it once a day it is clearing up and looks better. She did have some puking issues today. One while I was driving that was so bad she couldn't breath. luckily my mommy instincs told me something was wrong so I looked back and saw her wide eyed with spit up coming out her nose. That is one of the scarriest things to see. She does way better with the screaming/gas when I'm off milk, and it seems that the puking is related to me having acidy drinks (I had juice last night).
We have aquired an outside cat. The people who live here before us left their cat (which was apparently an inside/outside cat because it keeps trying to get inside. I felt bad for it because it was sitting outside meowing so I bought it some food. My husband is not pleased about that. He says he doesn't like cats, he's allergic so it can't be inside, but I don't see a problem with an outside cat. Did I mention it's all black? By the way, what kind of people move and don't take their pet???
All Moved!
Well, the move on Saturday was successful, we had a friend and his kids helping us, which was great because it gave us someone to help entertain Lexi and someone to help Eugene carry all the heavy stuff!
I've been very busy the past few weeks, between packing, having my sister here, moving, unpacking and on Saturday my mom is coming. Not to mention I have a baby who STILL eats every 2 hours through the day and sometimes at night too. Hopefully I'll be able to blog more soon, maybe even post some pictures of the girls and our new place.
For now I'm signing off, hopefully I'll talk to you tomorrow!
I've been very busy the past few weeks, between packing, having my sister here, moving, unpacking and on Saturday my mom is coming. Not to mention I have a baby who STILL eats every 2 hours through the day and sometimes at night too. Hopefully I'll be able to blog more soon, maybe even post some pictures of the girls and our new place.
For now I'm signing off, hopefully I'll talk to you tomorrow!
6 weeks over, time to lose the baby flab!
Welp, since I got the clear to exercise I decided it was time to start running again. I haven't ran in over a year, but when I was running I was really enjoying it.
I was never a runner before, but I decided I wanted to try. it took me about 3 months and I got to the point that I could run 2 miles, then some things happened and I couldn't get to the park to run and our road was too busy to run on, so I stopped running for a week. After that week was up I never started back up. Then I got pregnant.
So, a year later I'm running again. My sister (an avid runner) came down from Maine to visit and got me jump started on running. She helped me make it over a mile by the 3rd time I ran. I was impressed.
But since she left I've discovered it's hard to find time to run with two babies! I wish I had a treadmill or something so that I could run during nap time. Unfortunately, we don't have the room in our apartment for one.
hopefully I'll be able to find time when we move to our new place. it's much closer to my husband's work so he'll be home earlier after work. it just might give me the time I need to run before it gets dark!
I was never a runner before, but I decided I wanted to try. it took me about 3 months and I got to the point that I could run 2 miles, then some things happened and I couldn't get to the park to run and our road was too busy to run on, so I stopped running for a week. After that week was up I never started back up. Then I got pregnant.
So, a year later I'm running again. My sister (an avid runner) came down from Maine to visit and got me jump started on running. She helped me make it over a mile by the 3rd time I ran. I was impressed.
But since she left I've discovered it's hard to find time to run with two babies! I wish I had a treadmill or something so that I could run during nap time. Unfortunately, we don't have the room in our apartment for one.
hopefully I'll be able to find time when we move to our new place. it's much closer to my husband's work so he'll be home earlier after work. it just might give me the time I need to run before it gets dark!
freedom
Now that Lexi is two she's learning all sorts of things. I think my favorite thing she's doing is playing pretend. I love to see little kids cooking, cleaning, playing house and dress up.
Lexi's getting quite an imagination. I've heard her talking to her dolls, even reading them stories. We also give her the freedom to pick her own clothes sometimes. When she does I just say "oh my!" some of the things she puts together are interesting to say the least. Especially the shoes she picks. I think she might be the next Manolo Blahnik.
That wouldn't bother me at all, she could take care of me when I get old, and I'd have the nicest shoes around!
She's also loving her little sister more and more each day. She tries her hardest to comfort her when she is crying, it's too cute to hear her say "I know Tayee, I know." ( Tayee is how she says Caylee). They're gonna be great friends in a few years, I just know it.
Lexi's getting quite an imagination. I've heard her talking to her dolls, even reading them stories. We also give her the freedom to pick her own clothes sometimes. When she does I just say "oh my!" some of the things she puts together are interesting to say the least. Especially the shoes she picks. I think she might be the next Manolo Blahnik.
That wouldn't bother me at all, she could take care of me when I get old, and I'd have the nicest shoes around!
She's also loving her little sister more and more each day. She tries her hardest to comfort her when she is crying, it's too cute to hear her say "I know Tayee, I know." ( Tayee is how she says Caylee). They're gonna be great friends in a few years, I just know it.
Worry? I think not.
So lately all sorts of crazy things have been going on with the economy. House market is going to the dump, jobs going over seas, shortages on gas and even the market crashing.
Do we panic? are we in for another great depression. Some people say we are. I have to be honest, I can't worry about it. I can't think about how in debt we are as a country or how a ecommerce merchant account is doing. (or even what it is). Because if I think about that stuff I worry. and How can I worry. I know worrying is not the thing for Christians to do. After all God says he clothes the lily's of the valley and feeds the birds of the air, and we are way more important to him than those things. We are his children!
So when I hear something that makes me want to worry the best thing for me to do is pray about it then never thing about it again. Sometimes that is easier said than done, but each time I think about those things I have to just pray again and leave it in His hands.
Do we panic? are we in for another great depression. Some people say we are. I have to be honest, I can't worry about it. I can't think about how in debt we are as a country or how a ecommerce merchant account is doing. (or even what it is). Because if I think about that stuff I worry. and How can I worry. I know worrying is not the thing for Christians to do. After all God says he clothes the lily's of the valley and feeds the birds of the air, and we are way more important to him than those things. We are his children!
So when I hear something that makes me want to worry the best thing for me to do is pray about it then never thing about it again. Sometimes that is easier said than done, but each time I think about those things I have to just pray again and leave it in His hands.
Counting down the days
We made plans to go home to Tennessee for thanksgiving and I can not wait.
I love Thanksgiving, I think it's my favorite holiday. I love being with family (and friends), I love the turkey, stuffing (or in the south cornbread dressing), olives, mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie!
I am excited to see all the friends we haven't seen since Easter, I can't wit for them to meet Caylee and see Lexi again. I can't wait for it to be like old times, sitting on Jim and Kathy's couch, petting the crazy dogs, watching the food network channel. :) I miss Tennessee so bad.
We had so many friends there. Friends that were close enough to call family. I don't know why God sometimes calls us to unfamiliar places, places where we don't know anyone. We've been living here for a year and haven't really made any good friends. We're just now trying to settle down in a Church which will hopefully lead to the fellowship we had in TN- or at least some fellowship.
We know God brought us here for a reason, despite missing home. But we're still excited for the chances we get to go to Tennessee and see our friends.
I love Thanksgiving, I think it's my favorite holiday. I love being with family (and friends), I love the turkey, stuffing (or in the south cornbread dressing), olives, mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie!
I am excited to see all the friends we haven't seen since Easter, I can't wit for them to meet Caylee and see Lexi again. I can't wait for it to be like old times, sitting on Jim and Kathy's couch, petting the crazy dogs, watching the food network channel. :) I miss Tennessee so bad.
We had so many friends there. Friends that were close enough to call family. I don't know why God sometimes calls us to unfamiliar places, places where we don't know anyone. We've been living here for a year and haven't really made any good friends. We're just now trying to settle down in a Church which will hopefully lead to the fellowship we had in TN- or at least some fellowship.
We know God brought us here for a reason, despite missing home. But we're still excited for the chances we get to go to Tennessee and see our friends.
fashion
I know I'm getting old.
I see teens in church and stores and I say "oh my.... that's an interesting style..." I see clothes in the mall and think there is no way anyone could possibly think it looks good, then I look around and see all the teens wearing them.
I just don't understand today's styles. Short skirts and leggins? UGG Boots? belts OVER shirts? Some things just scream 80's to me and I don't understand why anyone would want to go back to those styles.
I am thankful that while I was in high school the style was so simple and made sense. Jeans and a t-shirt, or a fitted baby t. Not skinny jeans, not peg legged jeans, just regular relaxed jeans. Sure, some guys wore them too low and pretty baggy, but I'd rather see guys in baggy jeans than in girls jeans! (seriously, how is that comfortable? not only do guys wear girl's jeans, they wear TIGHT girls jeans!)
I don't claim to be a fashion expert, in fact I'm quit comfortable in my boot cut, or regular jeans and whatever shirt I choose to put on. I just know that I'm getting old when I don't even see a way that the latest teen fashions could be considered "cool".
I see teens in church and stores and I say "oh my.... that's an interesting style..." I see clothes in the mall and think there is no way anyone could possibly think it looks good, then I look around and see all the teens wearing them.
I just don't understand today's styles. Short skirts and leggins? UGG Boots? belts OVER shirts? Some things just scream 80's to me and I don't understand why anyone would want to go back to those styles.
I am thankful that while I was in high school the style was so simple and made sense. Jeans and a t-shirt, or a fitted baby t. Not skinny jeans, not peg legged jeans, just regular relaxed jeans. Sure, some guys wore them too low and pretty baggy, but I'd rather see guys in baggy jeans than in girls jeans! (seriously, how is that comfortable? not only do guys wear girl's jeans, they wear TIGHT girls jeans!)
I don't claim to be a fashion expert, in fact I'm quit comfortable in my boot cut, or regular jeans and whatever shirt I choose to put on. I just know that I'm getting old when I don't even see a way that the latest teen fashions could be considered "cool".
random thoughts
I'm so glad that while you're dealing with all the fun postpartum things like acne, flabby bellies, sleepless nights and nursing issues that you have an adorable, wonderful baby to look at. It makes it all worth it.
Seriously, without the baby I'd just be a slob!
On a different note, it's fall here in North Carolina. I'm loving the cooler weather, the chance to wear jeans and long sleeves. It makes me want to go to a high school football game. If we were still in Tennessee I would go, we don't know anyone here that plays football so it would be kinda weird.
Fall is just a great time of the year. It's tied as my favorite season with Spring. For some reason this year I am really loving fall decorations. I've never been into the pumpkins and corn stalks, or autumn colors. But this year every time I see a fall decoration I want to buy it! I want to make outside decorations out of dried corn stalks and pumpkins and guards. I want to put a weird wreath of colored leaves and sticks on my door.
Wonder if this means I'm getting old or if I'm just appreciating things more this year?
I have a strong desire to go outside with the girls, and yet I never do. Mostly because there's nothing to do outside here. Lexi has a tricycle but doesn't know how to use it, I'm sure she'd appreciate just being outside. She'll find something to do. Maybe we'll go out this afternoon, it's a little chilly right now.
I still love the fall weather!
Seriously, without the baby I'd just be a slob!
On a different note, it's fall here in North Carolina. I'm loving the cooler weather, the chance to wear jeans and long sleeves. It makes me want to go to a high school football game. If we were still in Tennessee I would go, we don't know anyone here that plays football so it would be kinda weird.
Fall is just a great time of the year. It's tied as my favorite season with Spring. For some reason this year I am really loving fall decorations. I've never been into the pumpkins and corn stalks, or autumn colors. But this year every time I see a fall decoration I want to buy it! I want to make outside decorations out of dried corn stalks and pumpkins and guards. I want to put a weird wreath of colored leaves and sticks on my door.
Wonder if this means I'm getting old or if I'm just appreciating things more this year?
I have a strong desire to go outside with the girls, and yet I never do. Mostly because there's nothing to do outside here. Lexi has a tricycle but doesn't know how to use it, I'm sure she'd appreciate just being outside. She'll find something to do. Maybe we'll go out this afternoon, it's a little chilly right now.
I still love the fall weather!
Lexi's birthday money
A month later we finally decided on something to use Lexi's birthday money on.
See, she's been watching The Incredibles over and over and one of the previews before it starts is for the movie Cars. Eugene and I both LOVE the movie, so when we saw her so interested in the preview we thought it would be a good investment. You can only watch The Incredibles so many times before getting annoyed.
So we bought it today. After the big race in the beginning she lost interested and wouldn't even watch it. Of course Eugene and I still did, but Lexi was not amused. Maybe she'll want to watch it some other time, but not tonight! It was like there was a big exit sign on the door, all she wanted to do was leave the room! How could you NOT like cars?!
See, she's been watching The Incredibles over and over and one of the previews before it starts is for the movie Cars. Eugene and I both LOVE the movie, so when we saw her so interested in the preview we thought it would be a good investment. You can only watch The Incredibles so many times before getting annoyed.
So we bought it today. After the big race in the beginning she lost interested and wouldn't even watch it. Of course Eugene and I still did, but Lexi was not amused. Maybe she'll want to watch it some other time, but not tonight! It was like there was a big exit sign on the door, all she wanted to do was leave the room! How could you NOT like cars?!
Adjusting is hard
Lexi is proving to us that adjusting to a new baby in the house is extremely hard for her. She's very whiny, especially if her daddy is home. All she wants to do during the day is watch movies. One of her favorites right now is The Incredibles. I think she'd watch it all day every day.
The rest of us are adjusting pretty well, We're dealing with having less and less time for things for us like sitting on the internet or for Eugene-playing his games. He still gets some time after bed or during nap time to play his xbox or playstation (nothing fancy like a PS3, just the normal old fashioned play station.) I'm sure he'd like more time on them though.
Caylee is doing pretty good, she's adjusting to just nursing- no bottles anymore which makes life a little bit easier on me. I'm slowly figuring out how to balance kids, husband and housework. The house isn't as clean as I'd like, but it's acceptable I guess!
Speaking of housework, the diapers need washed!
The rest of us are adjusting pretty well, We're dealing with having less and less time for things for us like sitting on the internet or for Eugene-playing his games. He still gets some time after bed or during nap time to play his xbox or playstation (nothing fancy like a PS3, just the normal old fashioned play station.) I'm sure he'd like more time on them though.
Caylee is doing pretty good, she's adjusting to just nursing- no bottles anymore which makes life a little bit easier on me. I'm slowly figuring out how to balance kids, husband and housework. The house isn't as clean as I'd like, but it's acceptable I guess!
Speaking of housework, the diapers need washed!
Life is crazy!
Well, almost two weeks have gone by since Caylee was born. A lot has happened. We've been through jaundice and now we're dealing with a cold. We got a simple cool mist humidifier It's not fancy like an Ebac dehumidifiers, but it seems to be helping. Luckily Caylee didn't get a fever and the cold hasn't affected her eating or sleeping so the doctors are just having us keep our eye on her.
I'm still having a hard time getting her to nurse. She wont nurse at all on one side, and sometimes she'll nurse on the other side. Yesterday was a good nursing day and I got my hopes up thinking we'd be able to take the bottle away soon then today she barely nursed at all. I'm getting sick of pumping and bottle feeding AFTER trying to get her to nurse. It's really quite frustrating. Not to mention I'm pumping about 6 oz every time I pump and Caylee only drinks 2 sometimes 3. So I have an over abundance of milk in the freezer. I don't even know what to do with it, there is no way we'll use it all. Anyone have any ideas? I think it's too late to try to donate it to a milk bank because I'd have to go through the screening process before they'd accept my milk. I think that's how it works anyway. I know it's good for 6 months but with the amount I have already plus each day I put more in there I don't know what to do.
Lexi is VERY whiny and tests us constantly. She's not adjusting very smoothly. Any time one of us is holding the baby she seems to disobey. Especially if I'm feeding Caylee. Other than that she's doing good, her cold seems to be going away, she still has a bit of a runny nose, but nothing bad. Her and Eugene got to go to church today, I was so jealous. Caylee and I are gonna stay home from church for another week then go when she's about 4 weeks old. It will be tough, but best for her.
On an exciting note, I tried on all my pre pregnancy clothes and I fit in about 75% of them. My stomach is still nasty looking and some of my shirts look really bad. I've lost all my weight from Caylee, but I still have about 10-15lbs to lose from my two previous pregnancies. Hopefully I'll be able to work on that over the next few months.
Well, I guess I'll turn in for the night, I've got about an hour before Caylee will want to eat. Did I mention that her eating every 2.5 hours really makes the night interesting. Trying to get her to nurse, then feeding her a bottle then pumping takes about an hour to an hour and a half which leaves me an hour to sleep before the next feeding. Eugene gets up to do one feeding a night which really helps, but since he has to get up and work I hate to ask him to do more.
Anyway, Have a great night!
I'm still having a hard time getting her to nurse. She wont nurse at all on one side, and sometimes she'll nurse on the other side. Yesterday was a good nursing day and I got my hopes up thinking we'd be able to take the bottle away soon then today she barely nursed at all. I'm getting sick of pumping and bottle feeding AFTER trying to get her to nurse. It's really quite frustrating. Not to mention I'm pumping about 6 oz every time I pump and Caylee only drinks 2 sometimes 3. So I have an over abundance of milk in the freezer. I don't even know what to do with it, there is no way we'll use it all. Anyone have any ideas? I think it's too late to try to donate it to a milk bank because I'd have to go through the screening process before they'd accept my milk. I think that's how it works anyway. I know it's good for 6 months but with the amount I have already plus each day I put more in there I don't know what to do.
Lexi is VERY whiny and tests us constantly. She's not adjusting very smoothly. Any time one of us is holding the baby she seems to disobey. Especially if I'm feeding Caylee. Other than that she's doing good, her cold seems to be going away, she still has a bit of a runny nose, but nothing bad. Her and Eugene got to go to church today, I was so jealous. Caylee and I are gonna stay home from church for another week then go when she's about 4 weeks old. It will be tough, but best for her.
On an exciting note, I tried on all my pre pregnancy clothes and I fit in about 75% of them. My stomach is still nasty looking and some of my shirts look really bad. I've lost all my weight from Caylee, but I still have about 10-15lbs to lose from my two previous pregnancies. Hopefully I'll be able to work on that over the next few months.
Well, I guess I'll turn in for the night, I've got about an hour before Caylee will want to eat. Did I mention that her eating every 2.5 hours really makes the night interesting. Trying to get her to nurse, then feeding her a bottle then pumping takes about an hour to an hour and a half which leaves me an hour to sleep before the next feeding. Eugene gets up to do one feeding a night which really helps, but since he has to get up and work I hate to ask him to do more.
Anyway, Have a great night!
Craziness!!
Well, Caylee was born last Tuesday morning. It's a crazy story really, she came quite quickly. Life has been completely crazy since then with nursing, bili lights, a toddler who isn't adjusting very well and sleep exhaustion that taking over my body! Did I mention my husband hasn't even gone back to work yet? That happens tomorrow, I'm pretty nervous about him going to work and not being here to help me take care of Lexi. We chose to not have anyone here because I'd rather just have to adjust once instead of twice.
I spend a lot of time on the couch nursing and pumping, I wish we had nice, comfortable, modern furniture instead of our couch which is kinda hard and hard to get out of! Hopefully soon things will get a little easier as Lexi gets used to having to share her mommy and Caylee gets used to nursing and I get used to having two girls! For now I'll just push through, I know it wont be like this forever.
I spend a lot of time on the couch nursing and pumping, I wish we had nice, comfortable, modern furniture instead of our couch which is kinda hard and hard to get out of! Hopefully soon things will get a little easier as Lexi gets used to having to share her mommy and Caylee gets used to nursing and I get used to having two girls! For now I'll just push through, I know it wont be like this forever.
just waiting
We're in the last few weeks of having one child and that's exciting. In fact, it's very exciting. The way things have been going the past few days I think we're just days away from meeting Caylee. I'm actually quite nervous that it will go so quickly and I will be unaware of what is going on that we'll barely make it to the hospital or we wont have enough time to get Eugene's sister down here to watch Lexi and I'll end up delivering the baby alone because he'll be busy watching Lexi.
I'm enjoying this long weekend, one extra day with my husband at home is a great treat. I'm sure Lexi will be very interesting tomorrow, she's whiny today! Sure long weekends are not as nice as Orlando vacations, but they are still nice!
I'm enjoying this long weekend, one extra day with my husband at home is a great treat. I'm sure Lexi will be very interesting tomorrow, she's whiny today! Sure long weekends are not as nice as Orlando vacations, but they are still nice!
She did what we wanted!
And she's two! Can you believe it?
Today has been an interesting day, Lexi woke up early, putting her in a bit of a sleepy mood all day even after her nap. We had several incidents where she was disobeying, we tried time out, we tried a spanking (to which she laughed at), and we tried ignoring her behavior. Nothing seemed to work.
After supper she was asking for her bubbles, but before we let her have them, we told her we wanted her to pick up all her toys. She had made a horrible mess all over the living room and her bedroom. We simply asked her to pick up her Mrs. Potato head and pieces while we cleaned up the rest.
Eugene and I got busy picking up the blocks, puzzles, alphabet magnets, dollhouses, fake food, plates and cups, books... you name it we picked it up. EXCEPT for the MRS. Potato head pieces. 5 minutes later she was still standing there staring at the pieces. The rest of the house was clean. She started whining for the bubbles. We kept explaining to her that until she cleaned up the potato head, she wasn't getting bubbles. She kept whining and whining and whining.
We didn't give in. (amazingly enough).
We were sitting on the couch watching tv, she was whining. I simply said "Lexi, listen to mommy, we want you to pick up your potato head toys, then you can have the bubbles, do you understand?" She kept whining. I said "honey, pick up the lips and put them in the potato." She finally got it and picked up the toys. We celebrated and gave her the bubbles.
So, although it took her almost 20 minutes she did what we asked!!!
Today has been an interesting day, Lexi woke up early, putting her in a bit of a sleepy mood all day even after her nap. We had several incidents where she was disobeying, we tried time out, we tried a spanking (to which she laughed at), and we tried ignoring her behavior. Nothing seemed to work.
After supper she was asking for her bubbles, but before we let her have them, we told her we wanted her to pick up all her toys. She had made a horrible mess all over the living room and her bedroom. We simply asked her to pick up her Mrs. Potato head and pieces while we cleaned up the rest.
Eugene and I got busy picking up the blocks, puzzles, alphabet magnets, dollhouses, fake food, plates and cups, books... you name it we picked it up. EXCEPT for the MRS. Potato head pieces. 5 minutes later she was still standing there staring at the pieces. The rest of the house was clean. She started whining for the bubbles. We kept explaining to her that until she cleaned up the potato head, she wasn't getting bubbles. She kept whining and whining and whining.
We didn't give in. (amazingly enough).
We were sitting on the couch watching tv, she was whining. I simply said "Lexi, listen to mommy, we want you to pick up your potato head toys, then you can have the bubbles, do you understand?" She kept whining. I said "honey, pick up the lips and put them in the potato." She finally got it and picked up the toys. We celebrated and gave her the bubbles.
So, although it took her almost 20 minutes she did what we asked!!!
Interesting Day
Lately when we go in Lexi's room in the mornings it has been smelling like mildew. We've always kept her door closed while she sleeps, that way the noise we make doesn't affect her. Since breathing in mildew isn't exactly a good thing we thought we'd try leaving her door open while we were asleep too. We weren't sure what was going to happen, but we tried it.
At 4:30 this morning she started crying for momma. After a few minutes she was still crying so I went in to get her and brought her to our room. I thought since it was so early she'd fall back asleep in between Eugene and I, and we'd be able to bring her back to her bed and get some sleep. I was wrong.
She wanted to snuggle with her daddy, which was fine, until she was trying to get him to play peek a book. She seemed too awake. So I asked her if she wanted to go back to her bed. She said yes, Eugene brought her back there and as soon as he put her in the crib and pulled the side up she started screaming. Not the type of screaming you ignore, especially not at the wee hours of the morning. Anyway, we tried a couple other things and at 5:30 she was still wide awake so I gave up and brought her into the livingroom. She wanted to watch Curious George, so she sat on the couch, milk in one hand, cereal in the other. She was in a complete zone.
I decided to take advantage of the still time and read some blogs and stuff. My computer is running so slow now, it doesn't like waking up so early, I think it needs a memory upgrade or something, but for now I deal with a slow computer.
Anyway, around 8:15 she decided it was time to go back to bed and slept until 11. So now it's lunch time, but it feels like it's still 9 am!! This day is just flying! I've even been getting stuff done like laundry, dishes, more laundry, diaper stuffing. All the usual.
On a good note, she woke up in a great mood and is happy now.
At 4:30 this morning she started crying for momma. After a few minutes she was still crying so I went in to get her and brought her to our room. I thought since it was so early she'd fall back asleep in between Eugene and I, and we'd be able to bring her back to her bed and get some sleep. I was wrong.
She wanted to snuggle with her daddy, which was fine, until she was trying to get him to play peek a book. She seemed too awake. So I asked her if she wanted to go back to her bed. She said yes, Eugene brought her back there and as soon as he put her in the crib and pulled the side up she started screaming. Not the type of screaming you ignore, especially not at the wee hours of the morning. Anyway, we tried a couple other things and at 5:30 she was still wide awake so I gave up and brought her into the livingroom. She wanted to watch Curious George, so she sat on the couch, milk in one hand, cereal in the other. She was in a complete zone.
I decided to take advantage of the still time and read some blogs and stuff. My computer is running so slow now, it doesn't like waking up so early, I think it needs a memory upgrade or something, but for now I deal with a slow computer.
Anyway, around 8:15 she decided it was time to go back to bed and slept until 11. So now it's lunch time, but it feels like it's still 9 am!! This day is just flying! I've even been getting stuff done like laundry, dishes, more laundry, diaper stuffing. All the usual.
On a good note, she woke up in a great mood and is happy now.
Aaaaaaah
I've been watching my friend's little boy who just happens to be the same age as Lexi. Let me tell you, two two year olds is a rather fun combination. Most of the time it's a good thing, but days like today when they are fighting over every toy- I just want to scream. I clean up the living room, and three seconds later it's a big mess again. I don't think I could even fill out an online auto insurance quote without having to get up 17 times to break up a fight. I have a bit of peace and quiet right now because I just laid them down for a nap. I really should be cleaning up the livingroom, but instead I am sitting here blogging, no wonder my house is a mess.
I am still trying to solve the toy storage issue in Lexi's room, nothing seems to work for us. She's got so much in her room with her little table and chairs, her kitchen, dresser, diaper shelf, and bed that there isn't much space for toy storage. I'm wanting to get a shelf and put her toys on it, with baskets for the smaller toys so that she can see everything, but there is no room for that. I don't know what we'll do when Caylee is ready to move in there and we have a crib and a twin bed!!
Anyone have any perfect solution?
I am still trying to solve the toy storage issue in Lexi's room, nothing seems to work for us. She's got so much in her room with her little table and chairs, her kitchen, dresser, diaper shelf, and bed that there isn't much space for toy storage. I'm wanting to get a shelf and put her toys on it, with baskets for the smaller toys so that she can see everything, but there is no room for that. I don't know what we'll do when Caylee is ready to move in there and we have a crib and a twin bed!!
Anyone have any perfect solution?
Life insurance
Yesterday evening our insurance agent came to our house to meet with us. I have to admit I found it very strange that he was coming to our house. He's been wanting to talk to us about life insurance for some time now.
Eugene and I are not the most financially aware people. We don't save like we should, and live paycheck to paycheck. Although we've made a budget and try to stick to it, we're not very good at it. We also barely have enough money to cover our bills let alone set some aside for savings or investing or things like futures trading.
We know life insurance is a good thing, something we should have- just in case. He does have a small life insurance policy through his work, but it's not enough to take care of everything if something were to happen.
I was honestly shocked at how cheap it is! Like renters insurance we've put it off thinking we couldn't afford it, after meeting with him and going over our options I'm pretty sure come next month we'll be signing up for a life insurance policy.
I'm so thankful that he came (although it was a bit awkward) because he really did tell us about our options and made things a little more clear. (previously our thoughts on life insurance were clear as mud, now they are just dirty water). I DO want to learn a little more about life insurance, everything I've seen and read online seems to point to term insurance, especially for people our ages, Also, the policy he gave us a quote for has $10,000 coverage on each of our children- one flat rate no matter how many kids we have, it's only a couple bucks a month. Anyway, I would like your thoughts on life insurance, if you've written or read a good post about life insurance, please leave the link in the comment section. maybe it will help clear up our thoughts a bit more.
Thanks!
Eugene and I are not the most financially aware people. We don't save like we should, and live paycheck to paycheck. Although we've made a budget and try to stick to it, we're not very good at it. We also barely have enough money to cover our bills let alone set some aside for savings or investing or things like futures trading.
We know life insurance is a good thing, something we should have- just in case. He does have a small life insurance policy through his work, but it's not enough to take care of everything if something were to happen.
I was honestly shocked at how cheap it is! Like renters insurance we've put it off thinking we couldn't afford it, after meeting with him and going over our options I'm pretty sure come next month we'll be signing up for a life insurance policy.
I'm so thankful that he came (although it was a bit awkward) because he really did tell us about our options and made things a little more clear. (previously our thoughts on life insurance were clear as mud, now they are just dirty water). I DO want to learn a little more about life insurance, everything I've seen and read online seems to point to term insurance, especially for people our ages, Also, the policy he gave us a quote for has $10,000 coverage on each of our children- one flat rate no matter how many kids we have, it's only a couple bucks a month. Anyway, I would like your thoughts on life insurance, if you've written or read a good post about life insurance, please leave the link in the comment section. maybe it will help clear up our thoughts a bit more.
Thanks!
Boyles furniture giveaway!
Want to win $10,000 for a dream room?! Sounds good to me! Boyles Furniture will be giving one lucky winner $10,000 to furnish their dream room!How awesome is that?
Ever heard of Boyles? It's really nice, high quality furniture. You can check out their website and their discount furniture at their site. I was checking it out and there is a lot of furniture I'd love to get my hands on. I'd love to furnish my bedroom with their furniture. Talk about a luxury room!
To enter to win their giveaway just click on the image it will take you to the page to register!
Going to town
I'm so excited because tomorrow I get to go to town. Although gas prices are dropping (Praise the Lord for that!) we still try to stretch gas as far as we can, which means only going to town once a week unless there is something planned.
Tomorrow there is something planned! So I get to go to town. And since I'm "nesting" and trying to get things all put together, I've come up with a list of things we need, most of which I'm going to put on our Target registry, but a few things I might pick up because they are cheap and needed sooner. I'm going to pick up some soap, and some baby hangers to put away the millions of newborn clothing we have. I might even pick up a basket or rubber maid container to put all of Lexi's play kitchen stuff in. Maybe I'll pick up some home theater sconces in case someone buys that big screen tv that my husband put on our baby registry. (Just kidding!) Is that a guy thing by the way? To scan some weird thing that has nothing to do with babies, but he'd love to have?
Anyway, I'm really excited to get out of the house, I should say off of our road since I've been getting out of the house by going for walks.
Yay for going to town!
Tomorrow there is something planned! So I get to go to town. And since I'm "nesting" and trying to get things all put together, I've come up with a list of things we need, most of which I'm going to put on our Target registry, but a few things I might pick up because they are cheap and needed sooner. I'm going to pick up some soap, and some baby hangers to put away the millions of newborn clothing we have. I might even pick up a basket or rubber maid container to put all of Lexi's play kitchen stuff in. Maybe I'll pick up some home theater sconces in case someone buys that big screen tv that my husband put on our baby registry. (Just kidding!) Is that a guy thing by the way? To scan some weird thing that has nothing to do with babies, but he'd love to have?
Anyway, I'm really excited to get out of the house, I should say off of our road since I've been getting out of the house by going for walks.
Yay for going to town!
Getting closer
Tomorrow I will be 33 weeks pregnant. I can't believe the time is drawing to an end. I am so excited to see my baby, hold her, kiss her and introduce her to her big sister. I'm a bit nervous about how Lexi is going to handle the big change, I've been praying for an easy adjustment for her.
After Lexi's 2nd birthday party I was so relieved that we had nothing to do until Caylee is born. Then the reality of how soon that could happen it and I realized how much we have to do! I dug out the newborn clothes and washed them, now I'm trying to find a place to put them all away. I also realized we don't have a diaper bag yet! The one we have for Lexi is awesome, but it is not big enough for two babies in cloth diapers.
Then of course there is the fact that we have to buy more cloth diapers, we're still searching for the best option and the best buy. Little things that we need keep popping up too, I mentioned earlier trying to get all the newborn clothes put away, our plan was to let Caylee and Lexi share a dresser, but truth is we have too many clothes! So we're thinking about buying a cheap closet organizer to optimize the space.
So with excitement comes the nervousness that we might not have anything. But hey... as long as Caylee has a place to sleep (which she does) a car seat to get home in (which she does) and food to eat (which she will once she's born) she'll be fine! I just have to keep reminding myself that a little bit of mess and clutter is ok. :)
I hope you're all having a good day!
After Lexi's 2nd birthday party I was so relieved that we had nothing to do until Caylee is born. Then the reality of how soon that could happen it and I realized how much we have to do! I dug out the newborn clothes and washed them, now I'm trying to find a place to put them all away. I also realized we don't have a diaper bag yet! The one we have for Lexi is awesome, but it is not big enough for two babies in cloth diapers.
Then of course there is the fact that we have to buy more cloth diapers, we're still searching for the best option and the best buy. Little things that we need keep popping up too, I mentioned earlier trying to get all the newborn clothes put away, our plan was to let Caylee and Lexi share a dresser, but truth is we have too many clothes! So we're thinking about buying a cheap closet organizer to optimize the space.
So with excitement comes the nervousness that we might not have anything. But hey... as long as Caylee has a place to sleep (which she does) a car seat to get home in (which she does) and food to eat (which she will once she's born) she'll be fine! I just have to keep reminding myself that a little bit of mess and clutter is ok. :)
I hope you're all having a good day!
