Home sweet Home

Our Christmas was very busy, but wonderfully awesome.  We spent a few days with my sister and her husband, then went to my aunts house on Christmas day where we saw about half of my family, then went to my other sister's house for the night and morning to hang out with them and get a little extra time with her family.  We then drove home Sunday afternoon, and Monday started the daily routines! Back into school  for Lexi and I and work for my husband. 

Monday was also my first day of my "diet". Last January I started a diet and exercised regularly and I lost 35-40lbs before I got pregnant and gained that and then some. I still have one more week until my doctor appointment where they will hopefully clear me to start running and exercising, until then I decided to at least start controlling my horrible eating habits.  I have about 25lbs to lose to get to where I was prebaby, and I'm hoping to lose about 30-35 total we will see.

I was upset with how little we were able to get the girls, but by the end of Christmas they had way more than I expected them to have!  They got a few things from my siblings and we ended up finding an awesome deal on some Dora baseball gloves so they got those too. They were more than excited to get what they got, and i think we picked just the right things.

I was VERY happy with my gift- getting to go up there! There was no room in the budget or reason for my husband to buy me anything I was perfectly content with just getting to see my family. For the first time since we've got married my husband and I were more than happy to not get gifts! He did sneak behind my back and got me The Biggest Loser game for the wii- the stinker.

Well, I need to get cleaning off my desk, maybe I'll find the scanner software, yes both mine and my husband's desks are covered with clutter again. We're so bad about that.

Happy Anniversary!

This post is about a month late, but with all the mess with my health when Josiah was born I didn't get to talk about it.

November 29th was my husbands and my 8th wedding anniversary. Our present to each other was that we got to leave the hospital! :) I don't remember too many of our anniversary presents to each other, I couldn't tell you if we got each other modern 1st anniversary gifts or traditional or if we even got each other anything.  The only anniversary I really remember was our 3rd anniversary. It was before we had kids, My husband surprised me, had a dozen roses delivered to me at work, then picked me up, blindfolded me and drove me to an adorable bed and breakfast where we stayed for the weekend. It was wonderful. We're hoping to have another good anniversary for our tenth anniversary. We shall see!!

back to normal?

After 25 months of being unemployed my husband finally got a job. Turns out trying to start your own business is harder than we expected, at least during a recession.  God has provided every need and even a lot of wants during the whole time of being unemployed. Even in the times where I doubted and worried- which was a lot. 

He worked two days this week, before we headed to NJ to visit family. Those two days were the first time I was ever alone with all three kids, not only did I manage to survive, we even did school, kept the house clean and packed and loaded the car for our trip. I realized during one of those days that not only was that the first time I was really alone with three kids, I had pretty much never been alone with just the two girls! Caylee was only a few weeks old when he lost his job so I didn't have much time to even get used to having two kids.

I must admit, even though the girls are still adjusting to having Josiah around I love our family of five.

Gruene Steam Mop Review

About a month ago I received a Gruene Steam mop and steam cleaner, I immediately opened it up, put it together and tested it out. It took just a few minutes to assemble and get ready. I was impressed with the wide verity of things it could clean, fabric, spots on carpets, tile, linoleum, hardwood, grills, counters, sinks, toilets, windows, mirrors, just about everything. It was very easy to switch from one surface to another just by switching attachments.

It uses only water to clean, and you can use about any towel or cloth for the pads to clean the floor, which means you can just wash and rewash. The product is completely green, no chemicals, no trash, and it only uses a little bit of water. I filled the tank and did all my floors, the tub, sink and mirror and it only used half the water in the tank. It left my floors clean and shiny, and ready to let the kids lay on!

The thing that made me the happiest was when I used it to scrub the spots in our rug. Again it took no chemicals, just some water. I used it as a handheld cleaner- most steam cleaners don't give you the option to switch from a floor cleaner to a handheld. I have a two year old, a four year old and a 4 week old. My two year old LOVES yogurt, but doesn't always get the spoon in her mouth, my four year old likes poptarts, but also likes to drop pieces on the floor which get stepped on and mushed into the carpet. The cleaner took ALL the spots right out of the rug, in just a few minutes.

My overall impression of the cleaner is that I absolutely love it and I love it more every time I use it!

Christmas traditions

So far as a family we haven't had the chance to make any Christmas traditions, unless you count making a paper chain to count down the days so that we don't have to answer the question "how many more days until Christmas?" twelve times a day.  We normally travel to some other state for Christmas, which is why there are no traditions yet.

 This year we will be at my aunts house Christmas day, celebrating with my two sisters and their families, a handful of my aunts and their families and my Grandma. I am super excited to see all of them and eat some yummy homemade cooking! Nothing like your mom's family's food to make you remember Christmas growing up.

 One of my favorite Christmas traditions from when I was young was getting the Christmas tree. We'd normally convince my parents (with lots of whining and begging) to go get a tree the day after Thanksgiving, at least that's when we'd start the begging.  We'd go to a place where we could cut the tree down ourselves most of the time- sometimes that meant walking through the woods and my brother's climbing a tree, other times we did it more civilized and went to a tree farm, and occasionally we'd go to a place that already had them cut. Picking out a tree was never an easy task for us. There were 7 of us and we all had different opinions of the perfect tree. My idea was (and still is) the biggest, fullest tree you can find and fit in your house. you CAN NOT see the trunk if you can, it's no good, that officially makes it a Charlie Brown tree and WILL NOT be in my house. Unfortunately Lexi's second Christmas we discovered she is allergic (or at least was) to real trees and we haven't had one since. Our current fake tree makes me cry almost every year, i HATE fake trees, and it's an old hand me down tree. It's very naked.  When we finally picked the right tree, we'd go home and set it up. Then my parents always made us wait a day to let the tree "settle" before decorating it. Looking back now as a mom, I imagine they were just too tired to decorate the tree on the same day as picking it out. :)

Another thing we'd ALWAYS beg for was to open a present on Christmas eve. Sometimes our parents would cave and let us, but sometimes they wouldn't. Our Christmases growing up never included sitting around the LG lcd TV, or a TV of any sort. We'd wake up early, or sometimes all hours of the night, but weren't allowed to touch our stockings until 6am, and we could NOT touch any presents under the tree until everyone was awake. We weren't allowed to wake anyone up until 7 i think... and most Christmases my oldest sister and dad slept right up until that last moment that we attacked them.  Then we'd all sit around the tree, one person would hand out gifts, one present to one person at a time and we'd all watch (impatiently) as they opened their gift. There was no rushing things, no everyone jumping into the pile and ripping off the paper.  Sometimes it annoyed me, but now that is one tradition I like to keep going with my kids. It's nice to see the kids faces as they open their gift, and it's nice to have that moment last longer than 3 seconds. 

Then of course there was always the yummy food, whether we went to visit family, or had it at our house, I enjoyed my mom's home cooked everything. Cheese log, chocolates, turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie.... mmmm, I'm drooling just thinking about it all.

One week till Christmas

Are you ready? We're as ready as we're going to be.  We got the girls two toys to share and one toy for just them. This year we're really going back to basics, Eugene and I are remembering and hoping the girls are learning the real meaning of Christmas. It's not about getting an ipod touch, or waking up to a pile of toys bigger than you. It's about Jesus's birthday. About our personal Lord and Savior coming down to earth, leaving heaven and the perfect life of deity to be born a baby in a feeding troth in a barn. He lived a perfectly sinless life despite the mocking of people around him. He was beaten, spit on, whipped, had a crown of thorns pressed into his head, was nailed to an ugly, unfinished, rough cross, ridiculed and made fun of. He died a painful, terrible death. Luckily it didn't end there, he rose again 3 days later and ascended into heaven so that I could have the opportunity to live eternally in heaven with Him.

If I keep that in mind what more could I ask for? Why would I be upset that we couldn't afford to fill under the tree with presents, does anything compare with eternal life?

Growing

Josiah is getting so big. He was 7lbs 14oz when he was born, and dropped down to 7lbs 8oz at his smallest. A little over a week after he was born he was back up to 7lbs 13oz. 6 days later we went to the doctor because he developed a clogged tear duct and he was up to 8lbs 6oz. That's 9oz in 6 days. Amazingly faster than either of my girls gained. No need to buy human growth hormone for him!!  That was almost a week ago, I'm sure he's up even more now, his little belly is starting to pork out there and his once tiny legs are starting to fill out. I'm sure we'll have another chunky baby within a few months. Wonder if he'll be like Caylee and hit 20lbs around 9 months then stay that weight for over a year and a half. She was so huge.

Each time we have a baby I am amazed at how fast they grow and change, you would think with him being our 3rd I would have expected it. The girls are growing too, Lexi is getting so grown up, she's a big help with Josiah. Both girls are really testing us a lot lately, Caylee has become just a pure disobedient fireball. She is into everything she can find, doing everything we've ever told her not to do. Lexi has her moments of disobeying, but she is still motivated by consequences. Caylee has no concern or fear of spankings, time outs or going to bed, in fact, I think she welcomes the threat.  surely there's something that will work for her...

Christmas time!

Turns out having three kids isn't much different than having two, aside from all the laundry, being extra tired, and having two kids to keep out of trouble while trying to nurse a newborn. Oh, then there's the fact that you don't have time to do things like mail the Christmas cards because you're just trying to stay on top of everything and show each kid you love them!

  Speaking of Christmas cards, I was sent two Christmas thank you cards from Pear Tree Greetings, as well as some samples of Christmas Cards they've made. They are absolutely adorable.  My favorite is this snowman thank you card, it has the snowman on the front and on the inside top says "Thank you" and the bottom "Happy Holidays". I like it because A) I love snowmen, but B) it's just an outline, perfect for the kids to color and send to grandma!! 

The other thank you card I got is more sophisticated, perfect for anyone who needs a thank you card! It's also adorable, here's a picture of the front, the inside is blank.

The cards are very good quality, the personalized examples that they sent me of Christmas Cards were beautiful too!  I absolutely love their work! They do a lot more than just Holiday cards, they also do birth announcements, birthday cards (invitations too) Graduation needs, wedding needs, even labels, and every day cards too!

So if you're looking for any cards, go check them out! They even have free two day air shipping right now, so you could still order Christmas cards!

Two years in the making

Today is a very important day in my house. It's my husband's birthday! Today he turns 31. WOO HOO!! Happy Birthday to the greatest man in the world! I love you very much!!

It's also a day we have been looking forward to for exactly two years, although we didn't know when the day would happen until about two weeks ago. Today, exactly two years after he was laid off from his last job, he has an interview. One that is actually for a position he would enjoy, one that would pay the bills, give us stability and be permanent!

Obviously we are praying hard that this is the job God has been preparing for him. If it's not I pray we can handle that news. His interview is at 8:30pm (yes, at night, weird I know) so please pray with us!

Getting this job would be the best birthday present in the world. Better than a pair of ugg boots to a teenage girl. And hey, maybe if he gets the job I'll be able to get him an actual present!

40 degrees. perfect weather for...

a yard sale? Around here it is. These people think that yard sales and flea markets last all year apparently. And the crazy thing is, it's the same people having the yard sales over and over, it's how they make a living. We went to one of the flea markets a few months ago (when it was still warm enough to enjoy them) and these people have everything you can imagine. Well, normally just stuff you would have no use for, old trinkets, little "pretties" to clutter up your house, tools, Ferrari parts, toys, pretty much a bunch of junk! And yet somehow they manage to stay open, or set up week after week.

We were amazed that this morning on the way to church (when it really was just under 40) there were people setting up yard sales. I love yard sales, but I just can't imagine how these people make money for it to be worth setting up week after week. I honestly think they buy eachother's junk to resell!

Painting

My husband has been working with my brother in law for a few days working on painting the outside of some guys house. I'm impressed because it's really, really cold out. Too cold to paint in my opinion, but oh well, it's a little bit of extra cash, and with Christmas, bills and a new baby we'll do what it takes.

Plus it's a chance for him to get out and do something other than work at his computer. It's not work that I would consider mega muscle builders, but it's still work. :)

The only bad thing is that the girls and I are stuck at home without a car, which is ok today since Lexi's got a stuffy nose, being inside and resting will be good for her. (not to mention I didn't sleep well so maybe I'll get some rest too!)

excuse me?

I completely forgot to tell you one detail from my doctor’s visit on Monday. Actually, there’s two things I want to tell you.
Since I finally met the other doctor I decided to ask him if he felt the same way as the doctor I like. I asked him if he was comfortable and willing to allow me to deliver in whatever position I would like, including squatting or hands and knees. He looked at me, got red in the face giggled a nervous giggle and said “Um, sure I guess. Just remember, I’m not as young as Dr. *bob so make sure I have room to catch the baby.” and laughed and left the room. It made me laugh that an OB doctor was that embarrassed at that question. He left the room so I could remove my pants so he could do his doctorly stuff. then he opened the door before I was on the table and covered. He apologized over and over and was red again. I just laughed. Why do they even bother leaving the room? They’re going to come back in there and be all up in your business….
Anyway… The second thing that happened didn’t make me laugh. It made me say “WHAT?!” He asked me if I wanted my tubes tied after the delivery. Um, excuse me, I’m 28 I only have 3 kids. why would you ask that? I guess this is just one place where I differ than the majority? Unless something major happens I am pretty sure we’ll have at least one more kid, and even then I wont be doing anything to permanently take away my ability to have kids. God’s got a number planned for us and that’s how many blessings He’ll allow. (I hope it’s not 19 or anything crazy….)
Next thing you know they're going to be handing out  lipofuze reviews and free samples to help you get the baby weight off too. 

*In case you can’t tell I changed his name to protect the innocent.

Overly Tired

I'm exhausted 85% of the day and I can't figure out why. I don't remember being tired like this in the 3rd trimester with the other two pregnancies, Caylee has been sleeping decent most nights, and I've been going to bed around 10:30 and getting up at 7. I don't think it's lack of sleep.  Maybe I need new batteries. I think my rechargeable ones have lost the ability to hold their charge, it might be more green of me to get a solar panel attached to my back or something though. 

The other thing I've been feeling lately is this nervousness of "Can I handle three kids?!" I remember before Caylee was born having this panic feeling that I wouldn't be able to handle two, now I'm adding a third and it's starting to hit me.  I know I'll be ok after a few weeks (especially once my hormones balance out and I'm not psycho emotional anymore). Sure, it will take the girls awhile to get used to having another baby around, it will probably take Caylee longer to accept not being the youngest anymore. We'll get through it!

A nice surprise

My sister in law decided to take our girls for the night. I love the random overnights that they do, it's nice to just have a night here or there where we can sleep in as late as we want (normally around 8- why is it that when your a teen you can sleep until 1 or 2, but when your a parent and really NEED the sleep 8 is late?).

It is very nice to just hang out, hubby is watching the Steelers game and I have time to myself. What's that you ask? yah I was asking the same thing. When the kids are here I think of all sorts of things that I should look up or want to look up but don't have time, and when they're gone I can't think of anything! I know I didn't have anything as important as researching Mesothelioma or anything, I'm sure it was just looking up different products or reviews for different things. But right now I'm drawing a blank. oh well, I'm sure it will come to me... as soon as the kids come back. :)

Trunk or Treat

We've never been ones to celebrate halloween, in fact normally we skip it all together. Last year we went to a Church to a fall festival, Lexi loved it and for two months has been asking when "candy day" is.

After halloween last year we got her a costume on mega clearance at target, it was 75% off so it cost us around $4.  We decided to use it this year and hit up a couple trunk or treats, as well as the shops in downtown. I must say, the girls got a TON of candy. So much that I think Eugene and I will have to be looking for some natural weight loss products because you know the whole reason parents take their young kids out on halloween is so that WE can get some candy.  After all, some candy just isn't safe for young kids, and we wouldn't want them to eat too much junk. :)

Christmas is coming... fast

I've already got Christmas on my brain. I get so annoyed when people start talking about and decorating for Christmas before Thanksgiving, and this year I've been thinking about Christmas for a few weeks already.  With Josiah coming sometime between Thanksgiving and Christmas I'd love to get all our shopping done soon. We're having a low key Christmas this year so it will help that we're not planning on buying or exchanging gifts with family members, that's less to buy for. We'll still buy for our mom's and for our kids, but that's it. I don't even know if we're going to buy for each other, and I don't think we're buying for Josiah, after all, what does a few week old baby need other than his mommy? 

I'm hoping to do a lot of the shopping online, it will save time and if we don't get it all done before Josiah comes it will be easier than trying to bring a newborn out in the cold December air.  I've seen some nice tiger direct coupons so if my husband and I do buy anything for each other I might have to take advantage of that site. I've never used it before, but it looks good.  My husband is pretty easy to make happy, a new video game, or CD or some other form of electronic normally works just great as a gift! 

Running makes my heart happy

No really, I realized since I stopped running my stress levels are through the roof.  I guess I didn't realize just how much I enjoyed getting out and running until I had to stop.  Don't get me wrong, I'd much rather stop and be a bit stressed and have a healthy baby boy than to have kept running and take the chances that I mess up my pregnancy.

I am very much looking forward to the doctor letting me know it's safe for me to start running again though. Whether that be 6 weeks after Josiah is born or sooner. (I think I cheated and started running 5 weeks postpartum with Caylee). It's just a great way to relax, get some time alone, lose weight and build muscle fast.  I can't wait to start training for another half marathon,  This time I hope to finish in under 2 hours AND run the whole thing. I was VERY disappointed in myself that I walked some during my first half.  I still completed it 5 minutes faster than my goal time (which was 2hrs 15 minutes) but I know that had I kept up the comfortable pace I was running at I would have been done in under 2 hours.

I've thought about training for a full marathon, but I'm not sure me (or my husband) are ready to put that much time into training, especially with a newborn. We shall see, if Josiah is a scheduled baby like Lexi was it will be easier to get the runs in, if he's like Caylee it will be hard.

Getting healthier

My husband and I have goals to get healthier after Josiah comes. We should be starting now, maybe eliminating  soda and so much chocolate. But we're really going to focus on it when I get the go ahead to start exercising. I can't wait to start running again, it was such a nice stress relief, not to mention I dropped weight really quickly. My husband is not a big runner, but he does like to roller blade, and doesn't mind treadmill running. We have to find him some good vitamins for men, to make up for his lack of eating vegetables (and other things). But our main focus is going to be getting to a healthy weight and being in shape!   We've been debating between buying a nice used treadmill for Christmas, or a gym membership, although we'd be able to do more at the gym, if we had a treadmill it would be here for us to use 24/7, when the kids are sleeping or napping and it wouldn't be like throwing money out the door.  We shall see what happens.

Fashion is not my middle name

In fact, I think it's pretty far from my middle name. I don't know if there has been a time in my life that I have desired (or even liked) the current "fads". I normally stick to simple attire like jeans and t-shirts, or fitted shirts. I will admit there have been a few times where if we had the extra money I would have bought a pair of nice womens boots or a sweater. For the most part though, things like jeggins and uggs just don't appeal to me.

Being pregnant adds a whole new dimension to clothes... and I am far from trendy with my maternity clothes. Right now my belly is so low it hangs out of the bottom of almost all my shirts. Even my biggest ones. Luckily we're just a few weeks from labor so hopefully I wont get too much bigger.

akward!

I'm beyond the point where giving the girls a bath is hard on me and my back, have been for months. My husband will bathe them, but he gets really nervous because they like to go "underwater" and lay down and make all sorts of messes.   The end of last week we discovered something that the girls love and make my life easier.  They shower with me in the mornings. We've done it every other day for a week and a half and each time they like it more!
This morning I realized JUST how big my belly is. Don't get me wrong, I knew it was big.... but when I turned on the shower, Caylee stood UNDER my belly. Not only could I not see her, but she was staying dry. Yes, my belly is now an umbrella for my two year old.  Nice.  At least I know I don't have to worry about weight loss, it will come off shortly after the baby is born!

Computer junk

My husband was playing around with Lexi's computer yesterday, as in, took it completely apart and was messing with all the drives and gadgets. He's attempting to learn the insides of computers because hopefully he'll be getting a job that is a graphic designer/ computer tech position. So while he was taking apart her computer he remembered that the USB ports in my computer are broken, and he attempted to put the card readers/usb port from her computer into my computer. unfortunately it wouldn't fit. My computer must need some custom usb drives or something.

Oh well, so I still don't have a USB port, but at least my husband was smart enough that both of our computers work still. :)

Generic vs brand name

I've always been a frugal, penny pincher, tight wad or whatever you want to call me. I normally don't even bother with coupons unless it makes the product cheaper than generic. In the past one of the only things I have been picky about only buying name brand is toilet paper. That's one of those things that is not worth buying generic, you use twice as much generic toilet paper to do half the work of Cottonelle, so we buy the good stuff.

However, I just found another item that I think I will be forced to buy name brand from now on.... flour. i accidentally bought the Gold Medal flour the other day, and made my chocolate chip cookies. I couldn't believe the difference, not just in taste, but in look. These were picture perfect, award winning cookies. Tonight I made pizza. The crust was 100 times better than normal.  I don't think I'll be able to go back.

It just makes me wonder if the saying that generics are just as good as name brand is wrong with everything, I'm afraid to try other name brands now.   I can understand buying name brand medicines or a colon cleanser, but soap, spices, sugar? is it all better?!

A day out

Some friends of ours (that we've known for 8 years now) are in an awesome band called Common Ground. They don't play too often, it's two brothers and one of their wives.  Today they played a show and asked Eugene to join them on drums. It's tons of fun for Eugene to get to play, the only problem is they live about an hour and a half away from us. Not too bad, but when you're talking about cramming two kids, a pregnant wife, and a full drum kit in a Taurus it gets a bit squishy. :) Especially when the only place the kick drum fits is on the front seat.

We had a blast at the show, and grabbed some ice cream to eat on the way home. I think that was a bad idea... Lexi talked NON STOP for the hour and a half ride home. I don't know if it was the ice cream or not, but man, she's a talker!  and some how vanilla ice cream left a dark circle on Caylee's shirt, I'm sure it will wash off, but it confused me a little bit.

Oh, after the band was done playing there were some people there from a Zumba class doing Zumba in the parking lot (the show was held in the parking lot of a Chick-fil-a). Lexi was amazed, stood there mouth open staring at these women, then finally joined in the crowd. She was dancing away, I was really impressed with her moves, she did about as good as I did my first Zumba class!

Insurance

We've had the same insurance for about 5 or 6 years now. A friend of ours was an agent and so we just decided to go with it. They gave us the cheapest rate, and when we moved to North Carolina from TN, we checked around and again they were the cheapest place, so we just stuck with them.  The only bad thing about who we have is that each state is individual, so if you move to a different state it's like starting over. That part is a little annoying.

After Caylee was born our agent came to our house and talked to us about life insurance, I didn't understand much before he started and didn't understand much after, but once we realized how cheap it was, we went with a term policy that would cover what we would need if one of us died. It gave us a peace of mind. A few weeks ago our new agent came to our house just to go over all our policies (life, car and renters) to make sure we had the correct coverage. She explained a bunch about life insurance and encouraged us to get whole life ASAP, it was nice to finally understand the difference and why one is better than the other.  We decided as soon as my husband gets a job we're going to transfer over some of our term insurance to whole life insurance, because it's much cheaper and easier to get now while we're young then trying to get life insurance for seniors.

Another thing on our mind lately has been getting a Will established. We're completely in the dark on this one too. A friend of mine mentioned that you don't need an attorney, that you can get one online so we're looking into that.  We don't have a ton of money or "things" laying around that will really matter if we died, but I really want to make sure my children go live with who we want them to live with, not whomever the state decides.  So a Will is the next thing we will hopefully accomplish.

The next full moon

I've been thinking about Josiah a lot lately, I know I'm in the home stretch, if I go the normal 37-42 weeks we're looking at 4-9 weeks from today. Knowing my history of early deliveries, I'm betting more on the 4 weeks than the 9. I know it's possible for me to reach 9 so I'm not trying to focus too hard on the 4, but it's just the way I'm thinking.

I noticed tonight the moon is a few days from full, and I know a lot of women go into labor when the moon is full. So I decided to look to see when the full moon in November is, just out of curiosity. November 21st. My birthday. I'll be 37 weeks exactly. Think he'll come then?  Neither of my girls waited for the full moon, Lexi was born a week before full moon, and Caylee was born two weeks before full moon. So we'll see if it has any affect on Josiah.

I can't wait to be able to run again, I'm dreaming about running that's how bad I miss it. The effects of running on my body are better than phentermine could offer me. Of course, I also have to give up chocolate, soda and junk food too... but I need to do that anyway.

Dream house?

I remember when we first found this house we are renting we were so in love with it. It wasn't perfect, but it would fit our needs. There's a HUGE room that we use as a toy room/dinning room. The bed rooms are small, but there's an extra one we use as an office, so the office mess and computers are not all out in the open in the living room . There's hard wood floors in all but 3 rooms, the kitchen has a bunch of cabinet space. There's a huge deck on the back. It's great.

Or so we thought until we moved in. The people who lived here before us smoked inside despite the owners telling them not to. Getting the smell out is a battle we're still fighting. It's not as bad anymore, but I do still notice a smell when we walk in. The other thing is there's a lot of weird cracks and holes which means a lot of bugs (including nasty spiders) find their way in the house.   And now that we're thinking of adding a 5th person we're starting to feel the smallness of the rooms. The girls share a room, which barely fits one twin bed and one crib, as well as the very small dresser we managed to squeeze in there. Luckily they have a toy room so none of their toys have to fit in there. Our room is decent sized, it was big enough for our queen bed, the girls old dresser, and my husbands chest of drawers. Now we are adding a pack and play, a plastic rolling drawer cart thing for Josiah's clothes and a small metal shelf which will hold diapers and other baby needs. We're starting to feel the squeeze. Oh, and it's going to be getting cold soon which means the toy room is going to start being too cold to play in for most of the day (there's no heat out there).

Each time we find a place to rent we are pretty happy with it until we've been there for awhile, I'm hoping that when we take the plunge and buy a house we wont feel the same way after a year. I know it will be different, because when you buy a house, you pick the one you absolutely love, and we'll definitely being looking for one we will fit in for the rest of our lives. The other bonus is if you do any improvements (like installing one of those copper farmhouse sinks) it's not just wasted money.  But I still get worried that I'll be ready for change after a few years. We'll see.

stubborness

Sometimes you just have to do things the way someone tells you to do, which can also be called admitting you're wrong.

I've dealt with oily skin and acne my entire life, ok, so I'm sure there was a point in time when I didn't have zits, but I don't know when that was. Growing up was horrible, all my friends had clear skin, they'd claim they had a zit and I could never find one on their face, meanwhile I'm searching my face for a square inch that didn't have a zit on it.  I tried everything, some of the best acne products, some natural products, cutting out sugar and soda, I even tried putting toothpaste on my zits.  Nothing seemed to work.

Once I got out of high school and into college people started telling me I needed to use an oil free lotion on my face every morning and night, even when it didn't feel dry. The thought of adding more moisture to a face that could fry some chicken nuggets on it was bizarre so of course I never did it.  Then just recently my sister in law started selling Mary Kay, and someone brought up putting on lotion. Over the years I did start putting lotion on some mornings when my face felt dry, but like I said, I've never put it on no matter what.

So I tried it.  I washed my face that night, and put on lotion. I woke up and felt my face. instead of the normal oil slicks I felt a normal face. How could that be?! So I put on lotion after washing my face that morning too. I continued for just a few days and could already notice the difference. I forgot one night and woke up greasy the next morning.

Amazing. A greasy oily face really does need lotion. Guess some times you just have to bite the bullet and say "I was wrong" no matter how stubborn you are.

A lighter load?

Today my sister in law quit her job, which means I quit mine too since I watch her kids. :) As I get further along in my pregnancy I've been getting more pains, more stress and more tired. Chasing two two year olds who fight continuously makes my days quit challenging. Add to it Lexi who has been really whiny and you get a very unhappy, crabby, not very nice mommy (or aunt).  I've noticed Lexi picking up on even more bad habits, and the way she treats me (yelling at me, completely disrespecting me and giving me dirty looks) is nothing more than a mirror of the way she sees me treating her.

So I'm hoping with a little lighter load maybe I can be a better mommy, and a better aunt when I do get to see the kids. Of course there is always the chance that it wont be any easier with just my two kids... some days they can be quite.... fun.  I also hope I can get the last few things I need to get done, done around the house. If we come up with some extra money I'd love to make a little visit to see my sister's before Josiah is born too. We wont need to take an rv, or get a rv insurance quote, but a visit with my sister's would be nice. :)

Where did fall go?

A few weeks ago it was chilly. I loved it. I love fall weather. I love wearing pants and was excited for weather cold enough to wear sweaters. Not that I have any that will fit my pregnant belly... but it's the thought that counts. I was enjoying making soups and other crock pot meals that just warm you up (like my first attempt at chili).  I was making pumpkin bread and banana bread and I was dreaming of the first pumpkin pie of the season.

But something happened. it got warm again. so warm that I wore shorts today. It's October 19th and it was warm enough to wear shorts...

cool, crisp, fall air... please come back!

too much moisture!!

About a month ago I pulled out our suitcases to pack for a camping trip, only to be greeted by the smell of mold. After inspecting them I found both our suitcases, and about half of our bags had mold on them. I was confused and annoyed, we keep them in our closet, how did they get wet? The only thing I could come up with was the moisture in the air had got trapped in the closet. So I broke down and bought new suitcases (we buy cheap ones from walmart, the ones I threw out we bought 7 years ago for about $30).

I keep our new ones in the closet still, but we make sure to leave the door open, I'm hoping that solves the issue, if not the next step is to buy a dehumidifier, something I don't really feel like purchasing, but will if it's necessary. I've inspected just about everything else in the closet and haven't found any other mildew or mold, so hopefully the bags are the only loss.

32 week ultra sound

We had our last ultra sound today, They had to do one this late because of the issues with the low placenta. We found out a lot of awesome news, Josiah is doping perfect, he's the perfect size for gestation, the reason I'm measuring so big is because I have a lot of extra fluid. The doctor assured me that the only bad thing about that is it will cause me some extra discomfort. We also found out the placenta has moved up just enough that I will be able to have a normal vaginal delivery, not a c-section. It was very close though, the Ultra sound tech measured it 3 times, then called in the professional sonogrammer or whoever she was who measured it twice.

We got some awesome pictures of Josiah though, They did a little bit of the 4D, we got a picture so good I've thought of making custom mugs with it. He's absolutely ADORABLE. He even has a little tiny bit of peach fuzz on his head. :)

Nesting!!

I am completely nesting, actually, I've been nesting for a week now. The feeling of being taken over by clutter started taking over two weeks ago, and I finally gave in.  I was determined to do anything I could to make sure this place is ready for Josiah to come. It required moving things around, figuring out how to organize clothes and blankets, burp cloths, and cloth diapers. Luckily this place is pretty kid friendly, so I didn't have to worry about buying fireplace screens, or outlet covers.  I do still have to make some pack and play sheets, since unless we somehow get a bed for Caylee, he will be sleeping in the pack and play for the first few months of his life.  When I saw the price of pack and play sheets I decided I could make some for free with the elastic and fabric we have here. Now I just have to do it. :)

Waiting

Last week some promising job leads came up for my husband, he did turn down a sales jobs that would have cost us $200 a month in gas, and he would have already been making way less than we need to survive. It was a had decision since it's been two years since he had a job, but there was no way we could have made that income pay our bills.

Now we're waiting to hear back from one place he applied at, and there is another place that an employee is really trying to get the HR lady to make a position for him. Eugene spent a lot of time fixing up his resume even more than it already was, and writing a cover letter to try to sell himself.  I'm just praying so hard that one of these jobs comes through, I'm at my wits end, we're about 3 weeks away from him being unemployed for 2 years.  Luckily we serve a God who is faithful and has provided every step of the way, how else could we still be in a house with our bills paid after two years?!

The Crafting mood

I've been feeling kinda crafty lately, I haven't made time to do anything in along time, but the other day I made curtains for my sister in law, and made one curtain for the toy room... the other one is still waiting to be made. I also have really felt like working on the girls scrap books lately. Lexi is 4 and I haven't even gotten to her first birthday yet... I'm so horrible. Needless to say, Caylee's book doesn't even have one page in it. And now I'm thinking about the fact that in a month or two I will have a 3rd little baby! Where does all the time go?! 

I just got back from a pampered chef party a friend of mine hosted, and this friend is little miss craft herself. She does everything from paper stuff (including using rubber stamps) to quilting, scrap booking, I don't think there is anything this girl can't do!  I always feel like I should be making more time to do stuff, and yet I can't seem to find the time to make the time! Oh well.... our kids know we love them anyway right?!

a mini getaway

My husband and I celebrate our anniversary and both of our birthdays in November. This year, with Josiah due in the beginning of December, and knowing our history of preterm babies we decided we want to celebrate in October. We've decided on a joint celebration, just a little weekend getaway.

A Friday and Saturday night, free of kids, free of cooking, free of cleaning. Days have been pretty busy here, with me watching  my niece and nephew on top of our girls, homeschooling Lexi and my niece while chasing around two 2 year olds is not an easy task. Many days I do not get to sit down to have any form of "me" time until 9 or 9:30, and I'm so tired by then my husband and I don't get much time together.  So we decided this would be the best gift!


We're not exactly sure where to go, we're looking for somewhere not too far away, and cheap! My only requirements is a clean, comfortable room and no cooking, cleaning or chasing kids!!

Ever growing belly

My belly will not.stop.growing. Yes, I know I'm pregnant, yes I know that is supposed to happen. But I'm only 28 weeks along and the amount of weight I have gained already is crazy. I don't even know WHERE it's going, or how it's building up so fast. Maybe I just have a 20 pound baby in there? ok, i hope not. I know one thing, once he's born I'm going to be looking into how to get rid of belly fat fast! The diet and running I did in January worked pretty good, hopefully I can find the motivation to start again. It might be a little harder for me to get started since I will have 3 kids, plus the 2 that I watch during the day. I've been pretty tired and stressed lately, I know running will take that stress away, it was a great stress reliever. Maybe I should work on the diet thing now, I know eating better gave me more energy.

Some dailies

I realized today that things have really calmed down in this house since we started doing school. I think it's because we've got a little bit of a schedule or routine going on and the kids know what to expect. In the mornings we play, have a snack and I start a subject or two with Gab, then somewhere between 10 and 11 the two little ones go down for a nap and I get Gab going with math and do school with Lexi. The little ones normally wake up before we're completely done with school, but we eat lunch, finish school, clean up a bit then head outside (weather permitting). We normally stay outside for a few hours, then come in and we'll sometimes do crafts, sometimes play on the computer or just play, i leave the back door to the porch open so they are often out there playing.

There have been a lot less temper tantrums, fights and fit throwing. It's made the days more pleasant and the dark circles under eyes a lot lighter. :) Since then I've started buckling down on some major discipline issues I've had with the two two year olds (and Lexi too some) and that is rudeness! Screaming no, or grunting, or for Lexi- being bossy. Being "mean and nasty" to each other or me gets an immediate hand slap as well as a talking to. I know they are two so it's not going to go completely away, but I've been stressing that we need to love each other, and use our words to tell each other that we're upset instead of screaming and whining. I'm hoping it works! (and yes, I scream sometimes too, i'm working on it. In fact just last night I screamed over something very stupid. I made pizza, most of it was plain cheese, but i put some spinach and mushrooms on a few pieces for me. Some spinach happened to land on some of the plan cheese and both girls threw a fit when I tried to get them to eat it. Their eating habits are something that sets me off at the drop of a hat... let's just say I apologized.)

Fall is in the air!

Fall is my FAVORITE season! (I’m pretty sure I say this about spring too) I love the cooler weather, the changing in the leaves, I LOVE fall decorations (not Halloween decorations, fall ones, pumpkins, cute scarecrows etc). Some day I am going to have a fall decorated house, i promise.
Yesterday while on our way to the mall Lexi had to go to the bathroom. So we stopped at a gas station to take her in. She was admiring the leaves on the ground and talking about fall, and when we came out of the store I noticed the clear, crisp fall air. So I asked her if she smelled the leaves. Without hesitation she bent over, picked up a leaf and sniffed it. I love her literalness.

We've been spending a lot more time outside during the day now that it's not 100 degrees out there. Today I think our total was around 4 hours of outside play. (with a few trips inside to potty, get snacks, change diapers etc.) If the bugs weren't so bad around here I'd be investing in some outdoor wall sconces so we could sit out there at night once the kids go to bed. It's really nice outside then.

Celebration cigar?

I am 27 weeks 2 days along now, The furthest I've made it with my pregnancies was 36 weeks 6 days. So if I make it 10 more weeks it will be a new record for me. :) I'm hoping I make it at least that long, we've got some stuff to get before he arrives.

The other day Eugene and I were talking about Josiah's birth and he informed me of something I was unaware of. According to him when you have a boy you smoke cigars with all your guy friends. Maybe smoking some cohiba cigars makes you more manly? I have no clue. I told him I'd buy him the gum cigars that say "it's a boy!" He didn't like that idea. Oh well, I don't like the idea of cigars.

So far things have been going good, I've got another glucose screening test coming up next week, and an ultra sound planned for 32 weeks. They did another antibody screening text last appointment to check on that weird antibody that showed up 2 tests ago. I think they just like my blood. This is the 3rd time they've screened me for antibodies. Then at 34 weeks they said they were going to start checking me for progress. Only because of my history of preterm labor. I was weighing my options with the cervix checks. I was going to refuse all of them until I was actually in active labor and wanting to push in order to avoid risk of infection. The more I thought about it though the more I came at peace with allowing them to check me. The reason being is because if they catch me dilating early they can do something to help keep this little man in long enough to where we know his lungs and everything will be fully developed. I think the risk of infection is a better option than the risk of having a premature baby who needs to be in the neonatal care for months. If I make it to 37 weeks I'll make them stop checking, there's no need after that.

I haven't been sleeping well lately, between being uncomfortable, Caylee waking up 3 or more times a night and then last night my shoulder decided to just about kill me. I'm hoping tonight's rest is a little more peaceful and satisfying.

Lesson learned :Senor Frogs

One day while on vacation we decided to go to Broadway at the beach to walk around, do a little shopping (mostly window shopping) and eat some lunch. We got there right around lunch time and I was already pretty hungry, so we started looking for food right away. My sister is a vegetarian, so we like to check menus before we just blindly walk into a restaurant, that way we can make sure there are some meat free options for her.

There were two restaurants right by where we walked in, Senor Frogs and another one, both had their menu's out, I was already getting to the point where I needed to eat soon, so I didn't want to shop and walk around looking for a place, I just wanted to eat. We decided Senor Frogs looked the best and went in. (The menu's outside were just food choices, not prices and none of us had ever eaten there.)

We were seated quickly, and started picking out food and drinks, we ordered our drinks and then looked at prices, it was a bit more than we expected, but we picked what we wanted from the cheaper things and went to order.

Remember how I said my sister is a vegetarian? Well she ordered vegetable fajitas, and the waitress said they didn't have them anymore. That was the only meat free meal on the menu. Then she tried to come up with some way to make vegetarian fajitas and was talking about carrots and broccoli. Has this girl never had fajitas?! So I decided to chime in... "Can't you just use the peppers and onions you would normally put on the chicken fajitas, and just leave out the meat?" "oh, I guess we could do that, but I would have to charge you for the chicken fajitas." um.. ok, clearly this restaurant has issues, and their first is that they hire dumb waitresses. Seriously? If you have a vegetarian fajita on the menu, why can you not charge that price?!

Then I go to order a cheese burger and ask if they can put guacamole on it. She tells me it will cost $3 more. WHAT?! for a spoon full of guacamole it will cost $3?! um.. no thanks.

Anyway, they managed to make a meat free fajita, much to my surprise. we ate, were decently satisfied with our food (it wasn't the best that's for sure, but it was edible.) Then we got the bill. $100. I couldn't believe that the meal cost $100, the girls split a children's meal. My brother in law ordered an appetizer as a meal. There's no way our food should have been that much (there were no mistakes on the bill though, we looked, this restaurant is just completely over priced, especially for their brainless waitresses who must be getting really good term life insurance through their employer for as much as their food costs.

Home sweet home

We got home from our camping trip tonight, the trip home which was only suppose to take 5 hours took us over 8 because of traffic. Luckily the girls were good for 98% of the trip, Lexi got really tired about 30 minutes from home and started some whining, then fell right asleep.

We were a little concerned that hurricane earl would make our trip a little less than pleasant, but it was a great weekend! Last night we had a bad thunderstorm, which made packing up so much fun since everything was soaking wet. Oh well, at least our tent kept us mostly dry. Friday when we got there it was really, really hot, the other few days were pretty enjoyable, a little cooler and there was a nice breeze on the beach.

This was Caylee's first trip to the ocean as far as I can remember, and she loved it, well, once she got used to it anyway. I really wish we had a camcorder so we could have taken video of her, once she got in the water, there was no keeping her out. She's so much more brave than Lexi is.

Two years ago when we went to the Myrtle Beach area we went to the Ripley's aquarium and did not like it, I blogged about it and the VP of communications contacted me immediately asking me what we didn't like, and also offered free admission to their attractions if we went back. We remembered that a few days before we left and I contacted him. I was quite impressed with how quickly he responded and followed through with his offer even after two years. We decided to check out the believe it or not museum, and mirror maze and the aquarium again. I was so glad my sister and brother in law watched the girls for us while we went to the museum and the mirror maze, the museum is NOT a place for young kids, Lexi would have been REALLY scared. The mirror maze was fun, and I'm sure the girls would have liked it. The did they like aquarium this year, which made me feel better. It doesn't compare with the Tennessee aquarium, but seeing their faces light up at the fish and sharks was worth it.

We spent some time each day on the beach (normally two times a day) and it was actually relaxing! The first night we were there we were walking right after dusk, so it was a little dark, but there was another family there who had 4 kids, ages 6,4,2 and 2 months. I was so impressed with them, they were calm, laid back and were just standing there while their kids played out of hands reach. We were all nervous, yelling at the girls when they got too far away, and trying to make them stay with us at our pace. Seeing them really got us thinking about trying to relax a bit and let them be kids. I think it really helped our vacation be more enjoyable. Yes we still jumped and yelled when Caylee ran into the campground road, or got too far away from us at the beach, but all in all we really relaxed a lot. I'm hoping to be able to continue that here, because yes I want rules and I want them to listen, but I also want them to be allowed to be kids! My sister kept pointing out to me how much more relaxed we are with Caylee than we were with Lexi and saying that by the time we have 4 we'll be like them. We'll see, I really hope we can be more laid back now!

The worse part of the whole trip was the sleeping, or lack there of. I barely slept any of the nights and tonight I am exhausted and looking forward to being in my own bed! Last year we got one of the double high air mattresses, thinking it would make life easier and better, I really don't like it any better than I like the smaller ones, in fact I might like the smaller ones better. This was probably the last summer we will be using the tent we have because it's really too small for us, we have to keep our bags in the car which to me is just annoying. We've thrown around the idea of getting a small, older pop up for next year, we'll see!

Right now I am going to answer the call of my bed! Good night!

Camping in a hurricane.

We are headed to the Myrtle Beach area to go camping. Yes, in the middle of a hurricane. My mom is worried, but everything I've read said that area of SC isn't going to be affected by more than some rain and high waves. We tent camp, but my sister is also going along, and they have a pop up, so if it rains the whole weekend we'll be hanging out in their camper! Bring on the games!! (and if the wind is too bad maybe some strong door hardware, to make sure the camper door stays closed?)

Right now I am waiting on the dryer to finish, so we can put the last few items in our bag and stick it in the car then go to bed! Then in the morning we'll try to load up the bike rack to bring Lexi's bike and hit the roads hopefully before 8. We'll see how long the 5 hour trip will take with two little ones.

I hope there is at least a little bit of clear skies this weekend, I'd love to sit on the beach!

Party!

Today Caylee turned two. I am amazed at how fast time goes by, how did I get a 4 year old, a 2 year old and a baby on the way already?! Am I really getting that old?

We are leaving in the morning for camping, so we had a little party tonight to celebrate. My husband's family was here and we enjoyed sloppy joe then carrot cake. With some present opening in the middle. It was fun, Caylee loved all her presents, especially the one from her aunt and her sister!! (a stuffed puppy and a baby alive)

She's been trying to figure out a lot lately, including how to make Lexi's big girl bike move. It's a good thing that bike has industrial handles because she's knocked it over so many times! Luckily the bike hasn't landed on her.

We got her a Tag jr, and I'm hoping she'll enjoy it so much that it will keep her busy on our 5 hour drive tomorrow, Lexi has a regular tag and likes to play with it, so now the two of them can both play instead of fighting over it. not that they wont find other things to fight about...

Anyway, all in all I think Caylee had a great birthday! I still can't believe she's two.

New found freedom

Eugene's cousin was living with us for a few months while he got back on his feet. He came to us with no car, no license and no job. Within a few weeks God had provided him a job making good money. My husband had the task of driving him to and from work each day, Although it wasn't that far it was a little bit of a pain. Within a few months God provided a place for him to rent just a mile away from us, and a few weeks later he got a car and his license. The day he got his car they were able to call up a place and get auto insurance so he could immediately start driving himself places. I was amazed at how fast God worked for him. God is faithful to care for those who are trying to get their life together. (And to those who are helping others). We serve an awesome God.

the eye twitch

Three days ago my eye started twitching. It happened to also be the day I found out some bad news I don't think the two were related since the twitch happened before i received the information, but there was a big of other stressful stuff that day.

Yesterday I decided to look up eye twitching and found some causes, stress, lack of sleep, caffeine, and fatigue were 4 of the 8 I found. I was also told that dehydration can cause it. So today I didn't have any caffeine, I've had over a gallon of water, and I've rested.

My eye twitched a little less than yesterday. but not enough for me to feel it was associated with any of those things. I'll try another day of no caffeine (I need to get off of it anyway) lots of water and rest (ha ha). I also had a few people tell me they had their eye twitch when they were pregnant too though, so maybe it's not time to try apply for social security disability, yet. Think eye twitching counts as a disability? he he.

hair question..

I noticed something the other day, after almost 5 months of my hair falling out it's finally stopped. I'm sure that's due to the pregnancy and higher intake of calories, but I just wonder why it was falling out in the first place.

Yes, I was dieting and running, but I was still getting plenty of calories and eating a pretty well rounded diet. I was on the border of looking for a hair loss shampoo it was seriously falling out by the handful every morning. Luckily my hair never looked thin, or weird, it stayed healthy looking, my house on the other hand looked like there was some crazy long haired dog living there that was shedding like crazy.

Has anyone else had a problem like this when they were training for a half marathon, or losing weight?

Pool time

Last week I ordered a blow up pool for the kids to play in. It's not a huge one, but it's big enough for me to be able to sit in and the kids play too. I ordered it on amazon because I had $15 in gift cards from swagbucks. It only ended up costing us $8, it arrived today and we've got it blown up and now it's filling.

Lexi is super excited to be able to play in it, the two little ones are napping but I'm sure they'll be thrilled when they see it too. And just in case they're not we still have our little 3" deep pool they can play in. I'm hoping this is my accredited online degree in how to keep kids cool and happy. I guess I'll find out after lunch assuming it doesn't storm...

icky, oily skin

Seriously, why am I so oily?! Today while cooking supper I was so hot I had sweat dripping down my back. Gross. the sweat only bother's me a little, the acne on the other hand... I wish it would go away. I just heard about pronexin, anyone ever heard of it or used it? It says it's all natural, and has pretty good reviews, it's also pretty cheap compared to other acne treatments.

So it might clear my acne... but it probably wont help me stop sweating when it's 95 degrees in my house huh? We have a window unit which for the past month we've been running and using fans to blow it throughout the whole house. Then yesterday we got our electric bill. Yah, it was almost double what it normally is so we decided we'll just have to be hot.

I guess I'm just bound to be a hot, stinky, sweaty person- at least until fall.

Blessed

There are very few things on our list of stuff for this baby. The majority of the things we need are boy stuff- clothes, blankets, burp clothes. stuff like that.

The only two big things we needed/wanted was a certain swing and a certain bathing seat. I planned on looking used, the seat I couldn't find used anywhere, but it is only $15 new so that didn't bother me. The swing was about $75 used.

I mentioned this to my friend as we were talking about consignment sale shopping. She mentioned that the people who sold her their new house left a swing in the basement that she'd be happy to give us. Imagine my surprise when I go down there and it's the EXACT one I wanted!!

Then today while looking at craigslist, I found the bath seat. The listing was screaming at me "Click here! Click here!" When I opened it i saw that they only wanted $5!! God is so awesome. We've also been given some boy clothes from a few different people. I'm hoping to find the last few non diaper things I need at a consignment sale coming up in a few weeks. I wouldn't be surprised if God just happens to put the cloth diaper stuff I need there too!!

Boy on the brain

Since I found out we're having a boy I have been anxiously awaiting for my chance to start buying boy clothes and boy stuff. It's really driving me insane. With the strict budget we're on there's no room for going out and buying even one outfit. YET. July is a special month and it involves an extra paycheck, which is helpful because we have Lexi's birthday party coming up AND a consignment sale.

Obviously the sale is really exciting me, I am selling 90% of my girl clothes to make room for boy stuff! I will still have a budget, but we really don't need anything big, so YAY for clothes. I really wont buy too much either, because I know other's will be buying stuff, My sister has already bought some stuff for him!

I had my first baby dream last night. He was still a newborn though, so didn't have an individual look yet, just looked like a normal newborn baby. He had a head of thin dark hair like my girls had, and round cheeks like Caylee. I can't wait to kiss that baby head!!

So yah.. bring on the boy stuff!!

Ugh. Zits

I think that whole "pregnancy glow" is a lie. a myth. thicker nicer hair? beautiful nails? glowing face? YAH RIGHT. This is my 6th pregnancy, 3rd child and not ONCE have I looked more beautiful while pregnant. In fact, my body does just the opposite I think.

My hair goes crazy and there's nothing to do but pull it up (not that I mind), my nails don't change at all and my face.... UGH. I've always had acne, I have never had a day without at least one zit, not even with the expensive acne treatments. However, when I get pregnant my face becomes so oily i can barely stand it. zits break out over my entire face, normally moving down my neck to my chest and back by the end of the pregnancy. it's SO nasty.

So maybe I do glow... however it's because the sun is reflecting off the 3lbs of oil on my skin.

It's a boy!

We had the ultra sound on Monday and found out it's a boy. We're super excited because I'm so sick of pink!!! :) Plus it will add some diversity to our drama filled house. :) I already know from watching my 2.5 year old nephew that it means a lot more running around, it's better than taking a fat loss pill!

The baby was healthy and looking good, VERY active. I have to go back around 30 weeks for another ultra sound because the placenta is low, hopefully by then it will go up to where it needs to be so there are no problems with delivery.

Now we get the fun task of choosing a boy name! We have a couple picked out but we can't seem to agree on one. We're thinking about just waiting until he's born and seeing what he looks like but I think that might drive me insane!!

splurges

My pregnancy splurges are getting out of hand. Just about every day I feel I "need" candy or soda. Yes, I'm having caffeine, bad momma, I know... I could probably give up the soda (or "pop" for all you midwesterners) before I give up my candy. My candy cravings are different every day, one day it's York peppermint patties, the next Sour Patch Kids. It's not the way to live if you're trying to lose weight fast, luckily I'm not, but I also know that kind of junk is not good for the baby (or me!) Every time I have some candy or soda I tell myself "this is the last day of this, it's really not good for me or the baby." Then the next day I'm wanting some again. Don't get me wrong, I don't give in every day. I try to stick to every other day. yah I'm bad. I'll try to be better tomorrow. Promise.

Perfection

I read a great post this morning about striving to be a perfect mom and it really hit home. Not too long ago that was me losing control, screaming, longing to just be alone for a few days. no kids. I couldn't handle them, they were too much. They didn't listen, in fact they did the opposite of what I said. Lexi screamed at me, threw temper tantrums if she didn't get her way. My life was miserable because I couldn't make my kids obey. we went on vacation and I was embarrassed at my children's behavior, so embarrassed I cried when I left my friend's house because I felt like I had completely failed as a mom.

It wasn't until two weeks ago that it honestly hit me... I CAN'T DO IT. That's what God wanted me to realize. Just like my friend Beth says in her post, we can't be a perfect mother by our own power, even if we somehow could achieve this, how would it glorify Him?

Although I didn't stop reading my Bible I wasn't applying anything. Like someone wanting to lose weight with diet pills, they can read all the curvatrim reviews they want, but until they diet and exercise and take the pills nothing is going to change! No I am not promoting diet pills, But as Christians we do the same thing, we read a chapter of our Bible a day and walk away thinking that we're going to become great Christians, perfect parents, spouses and friends all because we read a verse. It's not going to happen that way. You have to actually choose to starve the flesh and feed the spirit, you have to choose to put on the armor of Christ, you have to choose to show the fruit of the spirit not the vices of the world. I was choosing the opposite of what I was reading.

What are you choosing?

It's hot again

It was over 100 F today. in case you didn't know it, that's HOT. especially when your house does not have central AC. we have a window unit in the toy room, which is a carport that has been closed in. We use fans to try to circulate that cold air, but it doesn't work. This is the last place I live in the south without central air.

Growing up we never had air conditioners, not even window units, something about being in Pennsylvania and Maine that is a little less warm I guess. :) Or maybe it was being young I didn't notice the heat as much. I think I'm just old and spoiled now.

I am excited to go celebrate my friend's baby's first birthday on Saturday. time just flies, seems like yesterday I was buying the gift for the baby shower. I remember it because the store's little tm-t88iv receipt printer thingy wasn't working. Well, that's probably not the only reason I remember it, I love buying baby stuff. :) but either way, it's annoying when the receipt printers mess up. I am so sick of buying girl presents I'm going to LOVE shopping for his present. Boys are fun, cars, things that make noise, trucks, planes, trains... so many options!

Speaking of boys and girls... We find out on Monday what we're having and I can't wait!

Babies Babies everywhere!

I know so many pregnant women! and everywhere I go I see more. I'm not sure what's going on, there are about 12 other women that I know of that are due right around the time I am. It's crazy!! I haven't had to send a wedding gift lately, but if I gave a gift to everyone expecting a baby I'd be out of money for a year! Crazy stuff!!

A little note about my experience with this pregnancy, I do not recommend losing a bunch of weight and getting pregnant if you don't have money to buy new clothes. I felt really good about the way I looked (in a few new outfits I had) before I got pregnant and started showing. Now I just look and feel fat. I have a few outfits that at the right time of day I look pregnant in, but all of my maternity clothes are WAY TOO BIG. Even if I was bigger, it's a completely different season this time around than it was with the girls so I'd still be having a hard time. I did manage to buy one maternity shirt last Saturday which I love and I'd buy one in every color if I could! :)

We have a little over a week until we find out whether we're having a boy or a girl and I'm so excited I can barely stand it! I hope it's a boy, I'm getting tired of seeing the same clothes over and over. However, as long as it's a healthy baby I will be happy!!

Mountain Dew Rampage

I just went ballistic and spazzed out over soda cans. My husband is a bit of a Mt. Dew fan, and now his cousin (who is also a Mt Dew fan, is staying with us. They go through quite a few cans a day, which means a lot of empty cans sitting around.

Thankfully they don't leave them spread out through the whole house, just in one or two spots. However, I HATE seeing them pile up. Even one can on the counter drives me insane. It is a rule that they must be rinsed before being left on the counter, and I love my husband because he at least does that much.

However this morning I went crazy. there were maybe 8 cans on the counter, but there were ants all over the floor. I HATE ANTS. They will not go away. About a week ago I went ballistic and put the garbage can for the soda cans right outside the back door (right next to the counter they get stacked on). I thought it would help keep them off the counter. It didn't. Well, it did because I kept throwing them in the can.

Anyway, I started grabbing the cans, rinsing them and brought them out back. Then realized the garbage can was full, so I dumped it all over the porch and started crushing them. They take up a lot less space that way. Then I came in the office where my husband was in search of cans, found about 5 more and i *might* have freaked out a bit and said I was about to ban all soda from my house. Then I went out and crushed them, and came in and apologized.

Why is it that things like empty soda cans can set me over the edge?

Beds

Lately I've been thinking about what to do about beds and bedrooms once the baby comes. We have a 3 bedroom house right now with a big toy room, all 3 bedrooms are pretty small and one of them is currently the office where my husband works during the day.

As is the two girls share a room and it's tight with the twin bed and crib, there is no way to fit another twin bed in there unless it's a bunk bed or trundle. If we did a trundle we couldn't fit the crib in there with it so we're really trying to figure out what to do. We've played around with a couple ideas like putting my husbands computer in our bedroom and giving Lexi her own room (the office) then Caylee and the baby could share a room once the baby is out of our room.

That's the other thing, our babies normally sleep with us either in our bed or next to us for the first 6-12 months of their lives, so technically we would be fine with the way things are until next June or so. Since our lease runs out in February we COULD just try to find another 3 bedroom with bigger rooms, or a 4 bedroom, or something with an office in addition to bedrooms at that point.

The other thing we're thinking about is to design furniture for the girl's room that would give them each their own bed and still fit the crib in there. It would be nice if we could fit a dresser in their too, like I said, there room is REALLY small. I guess we'll see what we come up with!

It's hot in topeka... and my house

For the first time since we've been married we don't have central air. And down here that matters. We have one window unit in the toy room, which used to be a carport and was closed it. It really is the hottest place in the house so it's appropriate that it has the AC. However, everywhere else in the house is ROASTING, even with the AC on.

I have a feeling that as the summer goes on, it's gets hotter and I get bigger I may be dreaming about central air. I'm not sure I'll get too big and miserable with this pregnancy since I'm not due until December, not like my other two babies who were both due in September. It was hot the entire time I was huge with them. I am not sure what I'll need for clothing this summer, my summer maternity clothes were all bought in the big and tall clothing section (ok, maternity section), but since I just lost 30lbs and i wont be as far along I'll probably be able to fit into my summer clothes from last year. My regular summer clothes that is. I'll probably look funny and need some maternity shirts to cover my belly, but we'll see. I've already found my shirts that I bought after losing weight before finding out I was pregnant, to be a bit short.

For now I'll wear what I have, I love that my shorts that were too small last summer are still big even though I have a bit of a baby belly. :)

Trying to run again

I think I told you when I first found out I was pregnant (4 days after running my half marathon) I was advised to stop running until I hit 12 weeks. So I did. It was very hard to not run since it has been a huge part of my life over the past 5 months.

After my ultra sound on the 1st I was told I could start running by a different doctor, who actually told me I never had to stop in the first place. The next day I tried to run. I made it a mile. I was out of breath and felt like I had never ran before. It was pathetic. I haven't attempted to run since then although I did spend last weekend at a youth camp where I walked up and down a steep hill no less than 20 times a day to get to my cabin. I'm sure that was enough exercise for me.

I really need to do something like walk or maybe try jogging again, if I had access to the gym I'd get on the elliptical, but that's not going to happen right now. Luckily I haven't gained a ton of weight or anything since I stopped running, I was afraid of that.

A little off my plate

For a little over a year I've been the treasurer for a youth club near by. I've loved it, i really like details and organization and it was so fun to keep track of everything on all the spreadsheets. The only not fun part was doing the taxes, only cuz I was worried I'd mess up.

Since we moved in February and I started watching my niece and nephew I haven't been able to keep up with it like I should have, and it was harder to get the information I needed since I was an hour away from everything and everyone. So they started looking for someone else who could take over.

We were blessed to find an accountant who was willing to take over. I love knowing that it's in safe hands. Tuesday we met and I gave him all the files, I wish we had a way to make an online backup of everything, but for now the flash drive and files on my computer and on his will have to work. I am relieved to know it's one less thing I have on my plate, but as I mentioned, it's also nice knowing everything is going to be done the right way!

Oh the colds

For over 3 weeks now we have been fighting a cold. It started with Lexi, then hit Caylee and then me. we all overlapped and I've had mine for 2 weeks. The girls are all better now, aside from Caylee's ear infection. I have so much sinus pressure that my head feels like it's going to explode, and I can't seem to stop coughing. I am thinking about getting personal respironics oxygen concentrators to see if that helps. Ok, it's not THAT bad. I would like it to go away soon though, I miss being able to bend over without my head hurting.

I am glad that the girls got better faster than I am though, and my husband barely got it at all, he had a bit of a sore throat off and on but that's it. We did manage to pass it on to just about everyone we came in contact with over the 8 days we were gone. We infected people in Indiana, PA, TX and Maine. I don't think any of the people from NJ came down with the cold thankfully. What can I say, we just love to share!

Home

Well, we made it home! our vacation was great, even though we passed a cold around and at least two of us were miserable at every given moment. It started with Lexi on Sunday morning (the day we were leaving) she woke up with a fever of 102.1. After talking with my friend we decided to make the trip anyway. Lexi had the fever for a day and a half, started with a cough and runny nose on Monday and said her belly didn't feel good on Tuesday. By Monday Caylee had a runny nose. By Friday she had the fever. Hers just wont go away. Eugene got it and got over it within a day or two, and I just have the stuffy nose and cough.

Either way the whole trip was a blast! We had to spend an extra $250 to get our back breaks fixed while we were gone but hey, that type of stuff needs done right? We decided that we REALLY need a mini van or something bigger than our taurus, we were completely squished in that car.

While at Eugene's friend's house we decided it's time to say goodbye to tv stands and put the tv on the wall. They had theirs up there and I really liked it. It is a lot nicer than telling the kids to keep their fingers off the tv, and stop pushing the buttons... I'll enjoy not having to watch tv around the million little finger prints that cover the screen.

Traveling and the belly

Ugh. the only thing I hate about traveling (besides the actual driving) is the changing of eating habits. At home we don't eat all natural, 100% healthy, but we also don't eat junk. Traveling while trying to spend as little money as possible always means eating fast food. UGH. that does a number on your belly! And it's definitely NOT how to reduce stomach fat.

When we got to Beth's she eats very healthy, in fact my husband didn't eat much while we were there because the food was just too good. he he. Now we're at his friend's house and it's a mix of eating out and eating home cooked meals. All this changing up is really messing with my stomach though. I loved all the fruit and healthy food at Beth's house, my body is craving fresh fruit!!

Maybe we should just drive the 7.5 hours back to her house to get a plum. Sounds good to me. Don't think my kids would go for it though.

Diners and motorcycles

Last night we got into town around 7 and hadn't eaten supper yet. We were starving so we stopped by Eugene's friend's house and we all went to the local diner. It's a place that Eugene used to eat a lot growing up, so it's a requirement that we eat there every time we visit the area. The old town diners always have the best food.

Last night we decided to save some gas and take their van and motorcycle. I got to ride home on the bike, it was a little chilly but oh so nice. I can't wait until Eugene gets his bike and we can ride together. I'm not sure what i like better, riding a motorcycle or atv riding though. with motorcycles you have to stay on roads and have to balance better. atvs you can drive through puddles and over mountains. :)

Tomorrow morning we leave for camping, I can't wait to see all my family and just hang out at the campground!

Old Friends

We're having a good time on our vacation, we spend almost 3 days with my bestest best friend, and then drove from Indiana to the western side of PA to visit with Eugene's best friend. We got here last night and hung out, and then today we drove around and went to visit his old neighbors. I love visiting them because we don't let them know we're coming we just drive up ring the doorbell and hang out.

Today it was just the perfect weather out we just sat on the porch. It was about 83 degrees but there was a wonderful breeze that just kept things cool. The girls played in the soft grass in their front yard and we just sat and chatted. I hope it's that nice while we're camping!

homeschooling

So all the homeschooling mom's out there, what's your recommendation for Math curriculum? I am teaching my niece, we just finished 4th grade and have been doing saxon math, she's had a hard time grasping some of the concepts and I'd love peoples input on different options out there. I know I'm not worrying about sat prep yet, but I'd still like her to understand 5th grade math. So what do you recommend? and while I'm asking for input, what about science too?

YAY for friends!!

Yup, I just spent the past few days with my bestest best friend ever. We've had fun. Our children have blended so nicely and it's kinda fun to have 5 kids ages 1-5 in the house. I'm just glad they're not all mine, I think I'd go crazy if there weren't two mommies here.

We've gone to parks, a zoo, ran through a fountain, had some coffee, eaten lots of hummus, splashed in a pool and talked a lot. It's been good times. All the laughing has to be the best fat burning supplement available. I DO NOT want to leave tomorrow, there will probably be lots of tears and whining, not only by Lexi but me too. :)

But I do have a fun weekend ahead of camping with my family, so the vacation is not ending yet.

Friday- Finally!

Every since we made the decision to go visit my friend on Sunday this week slowed way down. But today is Friday and it has the potential to be a very good day. The girls came home this morning after staying at their aunts house for the night. Then She took one of the kids I watch with her, leaving me with 3 (of course the one she took is the 10 year old who causes no problems at all).

Either way it's Friday and we're going to be going on vacation in just 2 days. I have nothing packed yet, but that's ok. Someone needs to invent some sort of scanning software that will scan your list and house and just pack for you. I think that would be a good invention and I bet lots of people would buy it. :)

Thankful

I must say I'm very thankful for my husband's cousin right now. He's helped us out a lot with car stuff this week. First he changed the spark plugs and wires (something my husband was supposed to do about 5 months ago...) We've had the stuff sitting here waiting for him to do it and yet he never did. His cousin comes along and changes them in like 20 minutes.

The other HUGE thing he did was change the seat belt on our car. Well, just the part you click the belt into. I'm SO THANKFUL. I was sick of riding in the middle of the front seat of the Taurus. In case you were wondering, even though there's a seat belt there, it's not meant for a person to ride in.... That probably would have taken my husband a few hours to figure out and he got it done in about 20 minutes. That will make our trip up to Indiana a whole lot more comfortable for me! Kinda like going from a pair of dollar store shoes to a pair of Cole Haan shoes. Yah, the middle seat is that bad.

So Thanks Cousin, you rock.

It's been a long day

Seriously. I woke up thinking it was Friday. That never goes well when it's not actually Friday unless of course it's Saturday, but Today was in fact Thursday. Then every hour that went by today took about 3 hours to go by.

We spent 3 hours outside in the morning (really only 1), then the babies napped for 4 hours (ok only 2) Then we played outside for another 4 hours (yes I mean 1.5) you get the picture. It was one of those days where I wondered if there was some wireless security systems watching me and rewinding everything.

Luckily the kids were all really good until about 3 or 4 when the two littlest ones got tired and started getting whiny. It was just a long day.

Then it picked up because My husband's sister just happened to stop by tonight and decided to take the girls for the night! WOA! yah I have no kids right now and I'm sitting here blogging. I'm awesome.

It's getting real

Today I had my first Ob appointment, although I'm only 9 weeks a long and we didn't get to hear the heart beat and they didn't do an ultra sound for some reason the pregnancy started to feel real today.

I started dreaming about the newborn phase, the nursing, the snuggles, cute little baby clothes (which will hopefully be in blue this time...) I just can't wait to see the cute little baby, the little toes and fingers, the soft skin and cute little nose. I can just see all those features on little photo cards announcing the arrival of our newest addition. Too bad we never actually get around to mailing those cards out that my husband designs. :)

I do have an ultra sound scheduled for two weeks from yesterday, it would be sooner but since I'm going to be gone all next week the earliest I could get in is the first. I can't wait to see the baby, and just know that everything is alright. It will certainly give me a lot more peace.

Watch out Indiana here we come!

I couldn't be more excited right now. My little idea to go visit my best friend is ACTUALLY going to happen! Yup, Sunday morning we are getting in the car and driving to Central Indiana! I hope my friend has homeowners insurance or renters insurance or whatever cuz between her family and my family there will be 9 of us in her house. :) YAY

I've been told she has lots of stuff planned for us to do like going to parks and a zoo, and lots and lots of walks. :) I'm hoping that since she homeschools her daughter who is a year older than Lexi that Lexi will get to sit in on school and kinda get the feel for what's supposed to happen. Then maybe Lexi will accept that mommy is the teacher and she needs to listen. If not I'll ship her off to Beth to teach next year. :)

Anyway, I'm excited!!

Feeling the pressure

Well, another month has gone by and my husband still can't find a job. He's been working on trying to start a business. He's a draftsman by trade but has amazing talent with graphic design. He's picking up on all the code and details needed and has made several websites, custom myspace pages and logos and headers for people. Problem is as of right now it's not enough to support us. He's also a web dealer for Eagle carports, so if you're looking for a carport, barn, storage building or horse barn let us know. :)

I'm getting pretty frustrated with the lack of job, he stays busy either working on things or learning things but I'd still feel a lot more comfortable if he had a steady job. I guess God is still teaching me to trust Him!

could it be?!

I'm very excited tonight. There is a chance I could get to see my best friend in a few weeks. We are going camping over memorial day weekend with some of my family at a state park below Harrisburg PA. That's really far from central Indiana where she lives, BUT you see my husband was offered a free testosterone booster (aka motorcycle) if he goes to Western PA and picks it up.

So today I was thinking we could leave a week early, drive from here to central IN, visit for a few days, then drive to Western PA, pick up the bike and spend the night with his friend, then drive to the campground. To me it's a win win situation. See, she's my best friend and yet we haven't seen each other in 4 years. Yah. sad I know, she's never met either of my girls and I've only met one of her 3 kids!

So I say we do it. There's only one kinda major thing we have to work out. That is how to get the motorcycle which isn't running from PA to here. We only have a Ford Taurus with no hitch, so renting a trailer isn't an option. Maybe we can throw it on the roof? I really hope something works out because I want to see her!!

30 minute muffins take 3 hours

At least this morning they did.

See, this morning I was digging through the house looking for something good for breakfast when I discovered I had 2 bags of frozen overripe bananas in the freezer. (When a banana gets too brown to eat I just put it in a ziplock in the freezer, and I add to the bag until it's full) I decided Banana muffins would make a great breakfast and got started making them.

I quickly realized I didn't have baking soda, but since my niece and nephew were already here I had to wait for my husband to get done showering before I could send him to the store for some. So the muffins waited on the counter half mixed up for an hour. Of course he came to the rescue and I was able to finish making the muffins.

I had already preheated the oven, so I put them in the muffin tin and stuck them in the oven. I set the timer for 20 minutes and walked away to take care of some other house hold stuff. When the timer went off I checked them and they were no where near ready, so I set the timer for 5 more minutes and walked away. Timer went off, checked, still no where near done. 5 more minutes. 5 more minutes. FINALLY after they had been in the oven for about 40 minutes I realized I never turned the temperature of the oven up to 375. It was on 200. That was when I remembered starting to set the temperature and hearing massive amounts of screaming coming out of the toy room so I stopped what I was doing and ran to see what happened. Apparently I never remembered to set the temperature. Whoops.

So my muffins took an hour to cook, and they didn't rise up very well, but they taste good enough that I had 4. (Now you understand why I haven't made banana bread or muffins in about 5 months....) Time to start looking for some fat burners. Or I could just blame it on the pregnancy and forget about it until the baby is born...

"MOMMMAAA"

I want to start this post by saying I love being a mom, even on the whiny days and the days where I barely ever get to sit down.

However, this week I've wished I could change my name and produce infomercials on the best shampoo for thinning hair or something. My oldest has spent 90% of her day saying "momma...." followed by some silly thought or command. I'm honestly sick of hearing my name! especially since it's normally in a whiny voice because she wants to complain about something or beg for something.

I'm sure I'm not the only mom who thinks this from time to time, right?

Yard Sale!

Saturday we're having a yard sale. Technically a 5 family yard sale. I can't WAIT to get this junk out of my house, and hopefully we'll sell enough to be able to buy a new seat belt for the passengers seat in our car, I'm getting tired of riding in the middle seat.

Yard sales are a bit of work, but they're always worth it to me, I love getting rid of unwanted toys, clothes we no longer wear/fit in, and random stuff that's sitting around our house like old speaker boxes and cardboard displays. If this baby is a boy and I actually new already i would have a whole bunch more stuff to sell, for now I'll keep holding on to all those baby girl clothes and blankets though. oh well!

Houses

A few of my friends are either house hunting or have just bought new houses and it always makes me think about how nice it would be to own a house. It's not enough that it makes me want to make unwise financial decisions and do whatever I can to get some high interest APR with no money down just to own a house, but it is enough that I start thinking about what I'd like in our own home.

We have the normal list about how many bedrooms, a garage, big kitchen etc. and of course land! I think the most exciting thing about owning a house would be changing things, painting, new carpet, new Quoizel lighting oh and being able to plant a garden and flowers!

This year we have a family garden at my SIL's house, I hope it produces a lot of crops, there's nothing better than fresh veggies! I look forward to walking out to the garden and pulling beans off the stalks. Fresh produce. even better than local farmer market produce. (because I don't have to pay for it!)

Whenever I start thinking about owning a house I start listing off the nice things about renting, like when something breaks you don't have to pay to fix it. Or if you get sick of living in one place you can just move, no selling, re buying, loan applying etc. So for now, I'm happy in my rental house. Probably happier than I've been in any rental we've lived in!