Final Blog of 2007

Well, the year is about to wrap up. It has been one of the best years, and one filled with much growing.

I think every year is filled with both growing and learning experiences. God takes each and every day to teach us what He wants us to know, and to bring us closer to him. As you look over the past year, you can sometimes see what He's been teaching you...and what He's been doing.

In the past year:
My son has turned 1
My daughter has learned to use the potty
My daughter has decided that she MUST use each and every public (and some not-so-public ones) that we pass while we are on outings.
My husband and I have managed to make our marriage even stronger.
We suffered the very first loss of a child: the loss of an unborn baby.
I finally received the diagnosis as to the cause of the horrid hives that have been plaguing me for years.

I want to thank you all for sharing this year with me. I pray that God blesses each and every one of us in the year to come, and that He blesses us with His love and a peace that we find only through Him.

God Bless and Happy New Year!

Perfect Mothers

There's one thing I have learned from spending time around my loving, if not frustrating, family is that there is this: there are no perfect mothers, and every one is a perfect mother.

It takes all kinds of mothers to mother all kinds of children. Be the kind of mother you are!

That is, there isn't one set of rules to be a perfect mother. Ever child is different, every family is different (even among grown children becoming parents, their family is different than the one they grew up in), and every mother is different.

I got badgered all weekend long, my blouse wasn't nice enough, my son's hair is too long (even though we're growing it out since he IS half Native American), my son is too whiny, if I do "A, B, or C" then "X, Y, and Z" will happen (and X, Y, and Z are not "good" things). Rant after complaint and it drove me NUTS!

I apprecaite well meaning advice. The Good Lord knows I give out enough. But I take all advice with an open mind, an open heart, a grain of salt in some places, and with the spirit it is given: trying to help. I have learned SO MUCH from other mothers through their well meaning advice, most of it regarding what kind of mother I want to be, and how to make decisions that I feel is best for my family (such as how chiropractors and medical professionals are now saying babies shouldn't be in hard soled shoes until they are closer to 2 or 3). You would not BELIEVE the flack and nasty comments I get from people IN MY FAMILY as well as IN MY CHURCH regarding my son's footwear! HOLY SMOKES people! They are SHOES! I feel that they are best for him, I have seen him stumble around more in hard soled shoes and thus HIS FATHER and I TOGETHER made the decision to keep him in soft soled shoes! If I disclosed his shoe size I'm sure he'd have been bombarded with SHOES for Christmas!

I am still breastfeeding. There. It's in the open. Why am I? IT'S NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS!!! But, breastilk IS still better than cow's milk in a child...especially a child that is, um, ALLERGIC to cow's milk! "So give him soy milk, or rice milk," they say. WHY???? Why give him a product that isn't anywhere CLOSE to being as good for him as what I am giving him? Why put him through that emotional trauma of being forced to wean? He wants to, I want to...so we are. You don't like it? TOO FRACKEN BAD! MY CHILD, MY BOOBS, MY CHOICE!!!

So, if people could only see how every mother is different, every child is different, and every family is different and STOP GIVING MOTHERS FLACK! You want to give your advice? SURE! I'll continue to take it with an open heart and an open mind...and continue to learn about the kind of mother I want to be (and may NOT want to be). If I don't want your advice, I'll tell you...and I'd hope that others would do the same for me.

So, to all my friends who are mothers: YOU ARE AWESOME MAMAS!!! You all make the best decisions you can for your children. While I may feel that breastfeeding, cloth diapering, babywearing, and attachment parenting are the bottom line best, they are not right for every family. I understand this and it doesn't bother me in the least if you don't do these things.

So to those that don't do these things STOP GIVING ME A HARD TIME FOR DOING THEM! Go tend to your children (regardless of their ages) and let me tend to mine.

Now, for your viewing pleasure, a picture that captures the wonder of a child at Christmas.

Twas the Day AFTER Christmas...

and all through the house,
gifts are unwrapped,
and tossed gayly aside.

Boxes are opened,
the playroom a mess
and waiting for wee ones
to clean up said mess!

"MOMMY!" they whine,
"Can't we please,
just play with this one
just one time?"

I tell them no,
that the mess they must clean
and what do I get
but irritating whining!!!!

I threaten to toss
the old toys away
and to return
the new ones on day

They whine and they beg
but they clean up their best
and after all
that is all that I ask!

No one to be
a perfect child
I only ask
that the be not so WILD!!!

<>< <>< <><

So, can you tell that it's been crazy around here?

I had to bake 10 loaves of pumpkin bread, make 2 batches of homemade hot chocolate powder, package into jars (and decorate said jars), make 2 batches of cookies (and package them), and decorate 10 wicker baskets, sign cards, etc...all on Christmas Eve. We didn't get home until 11pm that night and I passed out while feeding the baby. Christmas morning wasn't any less wild. I insisted that we clean up the family room before we begin opening gifts so that we wouldn't loose anything. It worked, no lost toy parts. But we now have to go through the playroom and clean it up and make room for all the new toys and finish weeding out the ones to go to Goodwill.

All in all, though, it was a nice day. Sweet Pea was excited to be celebrating "Baby Jesus' Birthday" and kept asking when we were going to go to Baby Jesus Birthday Party, and asking what dresses she could wear to said party. I told her we would be going to Grandma and Abba's to have a special Christmas Day Dinner. That seemed to help ease her sadness over Baby Jesus not getting a party. At Grandma and Abba's they (that is, Sweet Pea and Little Dude) found they had a bike, trike, red wagon, and train table (to go w/ the train set opened a few hours before) waiting for them. We ended the day by taking the kids to the Drive In to see "Enchanted." It was a cute movie, but the kids were SOOOOOOO tired! They were both asleep before we got back onto the interstate.

So, how was YOUR Christmas?

The Bloodwork is In...

After the sever outbreak of hives I had in August, my allergist diagnosed me as having chronic hive (aka, Chronic Uritcaria or UC), told me to finish up the prednisone, and started
me on 5 antihistamines. He sent me in for blood work. Most of it was back at my last apt. but not all of it. He said my thyroid was fine, and my glucose levels were beautiful. We were waiting on the results of the testing to see if the cause was genetic or autoimmune.
My dad is adopted so we don't know anything about his history.

The results are in: my allergy levels were perfect, showing no real allergic reaction to anything. The autoimmune levels were high. Really high. I believe she put it as through the roof? I see my
allergist after the 1st of the year (no openings due to Christmas) and he will go over everything with me more.

I discovered the hives.com web page after getting the CU diagnosis. I
read the symptoms of auto immune and it lined up. So this isn't a big
surprise to me. Looking back, I've always thought I was allergic to
menstrual pads as I always break out in horrible hives during that
time. I guess it wasn't that.

So this is what I'm facing for the rest of my life. I get to start a regime of strong meds, I'll never be able to get private medical insurance to cover this part of my health (pre-existing condition), and we can't drop the $500 a month insurance we have right now w/ DH's work b/c I HAVE to have medical coverage for it all. The good news: during pregnancy the hives tend to go away. I am NOT going to be getting pregnant just to make the hives go bye-bye though. LOL

Christmas to Carseats

My local mom's group had our annual Christmas Party today (and shockingly enough, we called it a Christmas party...the muslim/jewish/athiest/agnostic members didn't care! LOL). As we usually do when we are together we got to talking about safety, and since we all do things out of the norm, we got to talking about extended rear facing in carseats. The conversation was started by someone saying, "Hey! Did any of you see the special CBS 10 did on car seat safety last month?" It went from there. LOL

Anyway, we got to talking about extended rear facing...since most of us practice this...and thus to the famous video on YouTube that shows pictures of toddlers rear facing, as well as footage from test crashes with carseats both rear and forward facing. I told them I have this video on my MySpace page, and decided to post it here as well for those that don't have a MS act to be able to view it (since my MS page is set to private: no seeing anything unless you are a friend).

So, here it is!



I probably won't keep it up long since YouTube videos start automatically...and that would get REALLY annoying after a while. LOL But, for those that asked to see it, here it is!

And, for your viewing pleasure, here are pics taken earlier this year w/ both kids rear facing. Heather at 3 and William at 1.



(to the friend that called and asked about turning her child forward or remaining rear, this is not geared towards you...it is in answer to a discussion I had earlier today w/ my mom's group. *hugs*)

Logan, Sky Angel

An online friend shared this with me, and I wanted to share it with y'all. It's SO touching. You might want to have a tissue in hand. This child is wise beyond his years.

Merry Tossmas

http://www.citizenlink.org/Stoplight/A000005834.cfm?eafref=1

I got this from another blogging friend of mine, Guinevere. She rocks and this link does too! Check it out!

I've Got a SECRET!!

But I'm not telling...yet that is.

Back to you're regularly scheduled nothingness. LOL

Text Messages...

...are evil. Sure, they allow people to have conversations without having to make phone calls...a plus in the corporate environment, but they also cost money. A lot of money. As my poor husband just discovered.

We use T-Mobile for our cellular service. We've been very happy with it. There's this really cool feature where you can dial #646#talk and a little screen will pop up telling you how many minutes you've used this billing cycle. It's VERY nice to make sure we don't go over. You can do the same thing for text messages, only dial #674#talk. My poor husband hasn't figured this out yet...or else he forgot.

I just got off the phone with customer service finidng out WHY we have an almost $300 cell phone bill. Some charges I'd forgotten about and was fine with. But they were small. I did find out my husband went over his monthly text "allowence" of 400 texts. By a lot.

A whole lot.

A REALLY whole lot.

He went 750 message OVER his 400.

At $0.10 a text.

He went over $75!!!!!! I about had heart failure.

...


...


...


and it gets BETTER!!!!


...


...


...


He went over THIS month too! That was just OCTOBER! He was already over THIS month to the tune of $50!!!!

...


...


...


...

The customer service rep was AWESOME and she got his plan bumped up and backdated so we won't get hit hard as well on this next bill. DH has to curb his texting...by a LOT!

SORRY!

Wow, things have been crazy around here. Where to start...

Well, after the miscarriage, I've just been out of sorts. Then, in September a very dear friend of mine gave birth to a son at 23 weeks 6 days. He only lived 15 hours, so that was hard. My heart broke for her, and it brought back all the pain of my miscarriage.

Oh, and right after my last post? I broke out in hives! I have been covered in hives for almost 3 months now! I drove up to VA on Sept. 1 to help a friend out with some breastfeeding problems. I got the next day, Sept. 2, I ended up in the ER up there because my eyes were swollen shut and my lip had swelled up to 5 x's it's normal size! UGH! I was put on 40 mg. of prednisone that my dr. here at home continued for 6 weeks! I ended up putting on all that weight I got off on weight watchers. *sigh*

So, for the past 3 months I have been dealing with a condition called Chronic Hives (www.chronichives.com) and I will probably deal with flare ups off and on the rest of my life. *sigh* I've been on 5 meds to control them, and have been living in a drug induced haze, functioning enough to care for my kids and get my homework done.

So, life has been chaotic! LOL

Good news to report:
Little Dude is now sleeping in his own crib! We've been waiting for this day, but not pushing it. We'd try to move him into his crib, but it wouldn't go well so we'd stop trying and wait some more. Now he's ready. I put him in his crib on Tuesday, and he started to protest. He cried for a few min. and I kept trying to comfort him, but he wouldn't calm down. Finally I very firmly told him to stop it, to lay down, be quiet, and go to sleep. That he is a big boy and needs to go to sleep. He didn't make another peep! He went right to sleep. The next day I added a crib toy to the side of his crib that he's been playing w/ outside of the crib. He started to protest, I did the same thing as the previous night only adding that he could play with his toy. It worked! He is now laying right down w/o making a noise and going right to sleep!

YAY for perseverance and listening to my boy! He is now ready. He's so ready, that last night he fell asleep in my bed nursing so I left him there. He woke up when Sweet Pea started throwing a fit and woke him up. Little Dude wouldn't go back to sleep, he wouldn't nurse, he kept crying and kicking and pushing me away. So, I put him in his crib and he rolled over and went right to sleep! LOL Tonight, not a whimper. He went right down.

I am so proud of my little man, but I'm also sad. My baby is growing up too fast. *sob*

Little Dude and Sweet Pea were doctors for Halloween. They were SO cute, but I haven't gotten pictures from my friend yet (Jack and Jill took pictures for me). I'll post them when I get them.
That's about it! I'll try and post more often now.

Children's Church

Yesterday was our church's "promotion" day. That is, children promote up to the next grade/age level of class. Sweet Pea moved from the nursery to Children's Church! It was a big step for her, but an even bigger one for Mommy. With Little Dude in arms, I chocked back tears as I took her to her class. She was SO proud! I thought she'd be timid but her friend Florida was in there so she ran in after her giggling. A true girl. LOL I sent DH a text message to let him know where she was and he got all misty over it. When class was over, she cam out with a painting she'd done in one hand, and a fist full of candy in the other.

So, all in all, it was a good day. Once again, I missed the sermon because Little Dude was hysterical in the nursery, and wouldn't sit still in the service. I know this will pass. Heather was this way and around her 2nd birthday she started getting easier.

Okay, off to brush my "big girl's" hair. :o)

Buh-Bye

Little Dude loves to go "buh-bye." He does this little variation on the Miss America wave, and runs to the door as fast as his chubby little 16 month old legs will carry him when he is asked if he wants to go "buh-bye." He loves to go "buh-bye" and love to shop even more.

I asked him a couple of days back if he wanted to go "buh-bye" and he added something to the routine. I'd just emptied my purse to put everything into the diaper bag (no need to haul around 2 bags) so he grabbed my purse for me.

Hair

Yup. I have nasty hair. Sure, it's BEAUTIFUL when it's long, and flowing. My dad and husband both love it. But I have to brush it every 5 min. to keep it LOOKING that way. It's thin. VERY thin. It's fine. VERY fine. And as I've learned:

thin + fine = easily tangled hair.

THIS is what I am talking about.


The sad part is, I was on the phone when DH took this picture. It took a couple of attempts because he as laughing so hard. Less than an hour later it was chopped off. LOL

So, for your viewing pleasure, the photojournal of my hair cut.

* * *

Here is my hair before it was cut. Please take note that it was still wet when these pictures were taken.

Hack hack...

The ponytail that was cut off. This was the longest piece, but about 15" total was taken off.

The final product.

At the end of the day, I am VERY happy with the hair cut. I've wanted to do this for 2 years, and I while it's still about 1/2" longer than I'd like, I love it!

Baby No More

Well, we found out on Wed. morning that we lost our little bean. I had a miscarriage. Thank you to everyone who has supported us.

The Results Are In

And I am, indeed, pregnant. OY!

Here's to hoping for an uneventful, healthy pregnancy and a healthy full-term baby. We're scared, but now that we've told our family feeling MUCH better. :o)

So, this is part of our mass announcement: WE ARE HAVING ANOTHER BABY!

:o)

The Woes of Fertility...

Yes, I said the woes of fertility, not fertility woes.

The difference you ask?

Fertility woes would be what those people unfortunate enough to experience fertility problems/issues would share.

I will share the woes of fertility. That is, the woes of a woman who is VERY fertile and married to a man who is equally fertile. I swear, my husband has Super Sperm! This man must share some genes with Clark Kent because his little swimmers can survive anything, and everything, and find an egg to fertilize against any odds placed before him. Heck, his Super Sperm managed to fertilize an egg with the IUD IN! Even dislodged (the IUD that is) that feat was incredible.

He got me pregnant while on the pill.

He got me pregnant 6 days before ovulation (enter Little Dude).

I get pregnant if he so much as LOOKS at me and I am anywhere within a whisper of a thought of ovulating.

And, he may have done it again. It's still too early to tell for sure, and I am PRAYING that I am not, but the early early sighs are all there. *sigh*

We are practicing the rules of Natural Family Planning. Since I've gotten pregnant on BCPs (birth control pills) once before any form of hormonal birth control is not an option. I am also allergic to (get ready, this is a long list):

Latex condoms - I break out in hives 2" across in my nether regions. YOUCH!
Spermicides - again, 2" hives in my nether regions. *shudders*
sponges - they hurt me so much we can't even have, well, you know.
polyurethane condoms - again, hives, nether regions, OUCH!
sheep skin condoms - they're only something like 70% effective...and DH has Super Sperm. Yea...THAT'S an "oops" waiting to happen!

So, knowing my body (yay for that), temping, charting, sticking my fingers up my nether regions to check cervical placement, texture, and opening (or lack there of) is the only thing that works for us. And we follow them religiously. (please note: NFP or FAM is not that bad at all...in fact I LOVE it because I know my body unlike ever before)

Some of the rules state:
no BDing (aka: Baby Dancing...do I REALLY need to explain that one???) after cycle day 8. Sperm can live up to 5 days before fertilizing an egg. And DH has Super Sperm...remember?

You are safe once you are 3 DPO (days post ovulation).

During that fertile period, either use spermicides (which can alter the cervical mucous), condoms, or abstain. DH has Super sperm; we abstain.


Enter my 2nd cycle postpartum. I've had one visit from the witch herself so far.

We enjoyed knowing what was going on, and had some 'fun' on cycle day 7. We are following the "rules" right? I started showing fertile signs that night. *sob*

5 days later, 4 days earlier than ever before, my body decides to release it's eggie. God, you really DO have a sense of humor, right? 5 days. REGULAR sperm can live up to 5 days. DH has Super Sperm. *ensue sobbing*

My temps look "normal". Enter 8 DPO. I have a temp dip, MAJOR cramping, and nausea and headaches. All signs of implantation.

Enter 9 DPO. My temp not only goes back up, it goes up to it's highest temp yet. Yea, a GREAT sign...if you're TRYING to get pregnant.

God....you DO have a sense of humor...right?

And this is where I am at: 9 DPO, face breaking out like a teenager, still nauseous, and scared out of my ever lovin' mind. I know that this dip "can" occur in cycles that do not result in conception. I dart off to Google: "Charting Temperature Dip 8 days ovulation". The results....not good. Implantation dip is the result. *ensue sobbing* I Google: "Implantation Dip" and find that it's not a common thing in cycles resulting in pregnancies, but when there IS a temp. dip like the one I had the chances of it NOT being implantation and resulting in a pregnancy are startling. 11%! There's only an 11% chance that I am NOT baking baby no. 3!!!!! God: sense of Humor...c'mon! Cut me some slack!!!!

Oy Vey! (to quote a dear internet friend of mine)

So yes...the woes of fertility.

*back to crying, panicking, and obsessively trying to figure out when to start taking HPTs...and desperately praying that "the witch" comes*

Maybe I'll watch "Schlinder's List" as a distraction...

How to Be a Liberal

I am a staunch conservative, and tend to tick people off w/ how conservative I am. So, some may not like this, but I wanted to post this anyway. :o)

How to be a Liberal

1. You have to be against capital punishment but support killing babies in the womb.

2. You have to believe that businesses create oppression and governments create prosperity.

3. You have to believe that guns in the hands of law-abiding citizens are more of a threat than U.S. nuclear weapons technology in the hands
of Chinese and North Korean communists.

4. You have to believe that there was no art before federal funding.

5. You have to believe that global temperatures are less affected by cyclical changes in the earth's climate and more affected by soccer moms driving SUV's.

6. You have to believe that gender roles are artificial, but being homosexual is natural.

7. You have to believe that the AIDS virus is spread by a lack of federal funding.

8. You have to believe that the same teacher who can't teach 4th-graders how to read is somehow qualified to teach those same kids about sex.

9. You have to believe that hunters don't care about nature, but PETA activists do.

10. You have to believe that self-esteem is more important than actually doing something to earn it.

11. You have to believe that Mel Gibson spent $25 million of his own money to make "The Passion of the Christ" for financial gain only.

12. You have to believe the NRA is bad because it supports certain parts of the Constitution, while the ACLU is good because it supports certain parts of the Constitution.

13. You have to believe that taxes are too low but ATM fees are too high.

14. You have to believe that Margaret Sanger (Founder of Planned Parenthood) and Gloria Steinem (originator of Natl Organization of Women) are more important to American history than Thomas Jefferson, Gen. Robert E. Lee, and Thomas Edison.

15. You have to believe that standardized tests are racist, but racial quotas and set-asides are not.

16. You have to believe that the only reason socialism hasn't worked anywhere it's been tried is because the right people haven't been in charge.

17. You have to believe that homosexual parades displaying drag queens and transvestites should be constitutionally protected, and manger scenes at Christmas should be illegal.

18. You have to believe that this message is a part of a vast, right-wing conspiracy.

GOD BLESS AMERICA (ooops, can't do that either!)

Bedrooms and Playrooms

Up until now, Little Dude and Sweet Pea have had separate rooms. This seemed silly since I ALWAYS find them in the same room playing together. Little Dude adores his "Sissy" and "Sissy" adores "Lillum" (as she calls him). They are inseparable, and Little Dude is constantly found in his sister's shadow.

Since DH and I are both in school full time, and both kids bedrooms are perpetual disaster areas that resemble an Iraqi battle zone, we decided to move both kids into one room. It seemed simple: take down the crib that LD has yet to sleep in and move SP's bed and LD's bed (he sleeps on a mattress on the floor by her bed) into his room along with SP's dresser and put all toys into SPs old (bigger) room.

It would be simple...

...or so I thought.

I spent a good 5 hours this afternoon working on this move. It's done. And my back hurts. And both kids are now asleep in their new room, and DH's laptop is now set up in the office portion of the new office/playroom. It's GREAT! When my best friend comes down for a few days (tomorrow) I have a place to put her and her kids, DH and I now have a room that we can work in undisturbed, and the kids have a place to go and play w/o trashing their bedroom!!!! YAY!!!!

I'll let you know how it goes in the days/weeks to come.

What we did....July 1, 2007

So, our actual anniversary was Sunday, July 1. We were married on July 1, 2002 in Las Vegas, Nevada. It was FUN! It was AMAZING! And, we don't have a single picture to show for it! ROFL

Anyway, DH and I had this cool day planned to celebrate in ways that would be special for us and hold special meaning without breaking the bank. But, God had other plans. LOL

Originally we were going to have a wedding to renew our vows since we never had a wedding (we got married in Las Vegas) but after DH's pay cut in April we were unable to afford it.

So, we were going to go to Busch Gardens and Adventure Island sans children to actually get to ride rides and do the things we did while dating/courting (we had more of a courtship than dating because of how long distance we were the entire relationship).

After we dropped Sweet Pea and Little Dude off at my parents' house, we got to Busch Gardens and the OVERFLOW parking was overflowing! We realized we'd have time to ride one ride before having to get to dinner and go get the kids. So, we decided to go see a movie.

We walked into the theater, got snacks, sat down and my mom called. Little Dude was inconsolable and had been this way for over an hour...I needed to get back!!! ARG!!!!!!!

So, DH (VEEEEEEERY frustrated) and I drove back to get LD. We ended up taking him with us to the movie (this time at a theater in town...we'd got to the movie theater we went to on our first date originally). We saw "Live Free or Die Hard" and LD actually did really well. He ended up eating a TON of candy just to keep him quiet, but he did really well over all. 3/4 of the way through the movie he fell asleep nursing and that was it for him for the evening.

After the movie (9:15pm by this point) we drove across the street to Olive Garden and had dinner courtesy of my grandparents (they gave us a gift card for our birthdays the end of May). He slept in the stroller the whole time and DH and I had the best dinner we've had in a VERY long time. We got to talk, we got to hold an actual conversation, we got to be honest with each other. We talked about the biggest of the hardships we've endured over the past 5 years and how we were honestly feeling at the time...and how still, through it all, we would do it all over again. We had a WONDERFUL time, and ended up bringing half our dinner home.

Oh...and DH and I discussed my cooking. That first year it was horrid...and now, well, he
told me last night that he loves my cooking. In fact, he didn't like the Chicken Parmesan because he says mine is better!!!! ROFL

That was our "big" 5th year anniversary. And, you know what, it was 100% US! It was all things that WE love to do! I will say again, I LOVE THIS MAN!!!

5 YEARS as Mrs. F

5 years ago I married the love of my life. I use the term "DH" to refer to my husband. DH means Darling Husband or Dear Husband. My husband is Dear to me. And over the past 5 years he's only become even more Dear to me. I love this man. I love him more than I can ever explain or begin to put into words. Hmmm...maybe I should read some Shakespearean sonnets...maybe he could describe the depth of my love for this man???

They say that the first 5 years are the hardest. They say that if you can survive the first 5 years then you are in the "safe zone" (as safe as that zone is in today's 50%+ divorce rate). The past 5 years have been...well...our marriage. That is, we've gone through the military and all it's highs and lows (although I'd be happy if he went back in). We've been through military discharge, difficult pregnancy, an injury on DH's part, the premature birth of our child, financial ruin...over and over and over and over....and still going....again. We've been through a 2nd pregnancy and all that entailed (during the 1st trimester I threw him out of the house as well as chucked a pillow and TV remote at his head...POOR DH!!!!), the birth of our 2nd child, and the amazing 1st year of this second child (Little Dude). We've gone through multiple jobs, unemployment, a secure job, moving on average every 6 months, and now school.

God is good. God is wise. God is AWESOME! God created this many JUST FOR ME!!!! MAN did God know what he was doing!

So, at the end of the day, I am thankful for this amazing man that God gave me. I pray that He (God) continues to remind me of the amazing things that my husband has done and has survived with me through all the times to come where I can't stand this man yet love him so deeply. And, in 45 years....come back. I'm sure I'll have an even more amazing tale to tell.

Finals Update

Well, after a LOT of fighting on my part, I won and he was considered "in the wrong." He had to (and did) accept my final and I still got an A on it. :o) Thanks for all those that spoke w/ me regarding it!

Finals...

I am in school. I'm working on an A.A. in Criminal Justice through the University of Phoenix. My finals were due on Sunday. Finals through UOP are, for the most part, papers and/or power point presentations. My classes were Environmental Science and World Religions. So, things were going okay through the term. In the Science Course, the final was a 2000 word paper and a power point presentation. That was simple enough, got it done.

The World Religions final was a 2000 word paper. I got it done, and went to turn it in. The classroom setting is a message board, with 4 forums, one of wich is private just for each student and the professor (each student has their own private forum). The Final was to be posted in this private forum. When I went to submit it at 1:40am there was a message sitting there from my instructor. The message:

"It is now after midnight and you have not posted your final paper. According to Axia College policy I am unable to accept late work beyond the last day of class. If you have any questions please refer to the course syllabus which outlines the policy on late work."

THIS is complete crap! Pardon my crass language, but it is! I checked my syllabus, and sure enough! I had until midnight ARIZONA time...not EASTERN time! So, I sumbited it anyway, telling him that I DID check the syllabus and that the syllabus said I had until 3am.

Well...here I am...2 days later and I STILL haven't gotten a reply from him! I have called my academic adviser, she consulted other people "in charge" and they all agree: I am in the right, my paper WAS submitted on time, and he has to accept it per school policies. How can I get through to him, though, if he won't respond to me!? I have tried emailing him both through his school email AND the personal email he gave the class, no response.

I am understandably stressed out. Our final grades have to be turned in by the professor soon and he won't acknowledge me or my paper!

Anyway, I'll keep y'all updated on this saga. Thanks for reading and for praying for a good outcome.

My Homemade Mei Tai!

So I finally tried my hand at a Mei Tai. I used wrap straps instead of padded straps. What do you think?

Hitting the Nail on the Head

So I found this personality quiz on the myspace page of a buddy of mine. I was intrigued and decided to take it (I don't take very many of these). The results shocked me...and at the same time I was impressed. The hammer hit the nail on the head with this one!

You Are a Warrior Soul

You're a strong person and sometimes seen as intimidating. You don't give up. You're committed and brave. Truly adventuresome, you are not afraid of going to battle. Extremely protective of loved ones, you root for the underdog. You are picky about details and rigorous in your methods. You also value honesty and fairness a great deal. You can be outspoken, intimidating, headstrong, and demanding. You're a hardliner who demands the best from themselves and others. Souls you are most compatible with: Old Soul and Peacemaker Soul

What Kind of Soul Are You?

Coloring on the Walls

Well, I found some beautiful artwork done by my precious little Sweet Pea this afternoon. It was beautiful. Bold colors: orange, blue, yellow...just beautiful. Covering the walls from my baseboards to as high as her little arms could reach.

I rewarded her for her job well done by handing her a sponge and showed her how to scrub. She scrubbed. And she scrubbed. And scrubbed....and scrubbed...and scrubbed.

She scrubbed the walls for a good 30 min. She scrubbed while I made dinner. I told her to scrub until the crayon was gone. It all had to come off.

She whined. She cried. She asked me to just spank her. She asked me to put her into time out. She scrubbed.

I scrubbed too. I also cooked dinner. When dinner was done, I sat her down. We discussed why she is not allowed to color on the walls. I informed her that if she did it again, she would have to clean it off again. She apologized and we ate dinner.

Later, I asked her if she wanted to color on the walls again. Her response: "NO! NO! NO COLORING, Mommy! NO COLORING!!!!"

Lesson learned? I think so.

June 1, Halfway Through '07!

Today is June 1. That means we're half way through 2007. I can't beleive we're already half way through 2007! WOW! Where has this year gone? It seems as though it was only yesterday that we were celebrating the new year, and now another school year has come to a close, DH and I have celebrated another birthday, our children are another year older, and we're looking at the future wondering what lies ahead. Does anyone know where the year went?

Some Pictures to Get me Through...

So, while I grieve the loss of an unborn child, I thought I'd celebrate the wonderful two children I have...and love dearly. Thank you, Lord, for these precious children. Thank you for entrusting me with their care. Thank you for a husband who loves me as much as he does, but loves our children and you as much. Thank you for our life. Thank you for your love. Thank you for our children.

Now a Mommy to An Angel Baby....

I went in to see my Chiro yesterday for an adjustment, and she and I had been talking all week about the possibility of my being pregnant. She specializes in pregnant women and children, and is an actual doctor, so she did some digging and called some friends as well. Here is the general consensus based upon everything that happened (please remember I'm only sharing a small amt. of information here).

Apparently, a couple of things happened. First, during my exam 2 weeks ago, when my Gyn checked the IUD placement, she must have dislodged it a bit. DH and I had been intimate that morning before my exam (yea, I know...LOL) and this must have allowed a spermie to get by. Conception must have occurred, and I tested b/c I started feeling some of my usual early pregnancy symptoms. We're guessing that I got a pos. either just as HCG hormones were beginning to produce, or just after the pregnancy ended, but either way, our best guess is that I must have gotten pregnant and my body resorbed the baby, most likely because of the Mirena. The tests I took yesterday morning and this morning both produced shadow like lines at around 5 min., but were so faint that I'm not sure if it was wishful thinking on my part, or what because DH wasn't ever able to see them. I don't know. We now know for certain that the Mirena was dislodged, because part of what I've been feeling was it working its way out. This afternoon, it came out completely. I am now without my Mirena and feeling crampy.

It was one of those freak things, I guess. But, after hearing that I was most likely pregnant and lost it because of the Mirena, well, I don't want another one. For now we're going to go back to NFP (Natural Family Planning) and just see what happens. DH just got a potential job offer last night that would double his income and move us from FL to Pax River, MD...so we really need to see what's going to come of that. Obviously, if a final offer is made, we'd take it.

Anyway, this whole week has been one of those crazy kind of weeks and this whole story is one that I'd expect to read on a message board as one of those "a friend of my cousin's sister-in-law's, best friend's 3rd cousin had..." if you know what I mean. I'm just looking forward to moving forward with our life, and I don't know that I'll ever get over the fact that I have an angel baby up in heaven waiting for me. I don't think it'd hurt this much to loose a baby if I weren't already a mother, but throw in that I desperately want another baby soon (not just yet, but soon) it only makes it harder. I don't know how DH is doing, he won't talk about it...it's kinda the elephant in the room. But if you could please spare a few prayers as we heal and move forward it would be greatly appreciated.

Signed,

A Mommy to an Angel Baby

Soon to be Free...

...of the IUD! I have had this thing in to make sure that I didn't have another surprise baby after Little Dude was born. My pregnancies are SO hard, and I just could not have handled no insurance, a high needs baby, and being pregnant. So...June 8th I am going in to get it out (hopefully). No...not planning another baby any time soon, but honestly...I wouldn't be opposed. :o) I want to be done having our children before I am done with school...when I have to figure out how to pay back all the student loans.

Anyway, soon to be free!

Poopies!

So, there's this baby poop story contest going on here
.
So, Here's my story!

When Little Dude was a couple of months old he officially made me a mother. I had been a mother for more than 2 years, but he made it official. He'd been battling a diaper rash. None of the creams on the market were helping much, and it wasn't yeast. So, knowing about all the healing properties that breastmilk holds, I decided to put this on his bottom. It went very well...it helped his bottom a lot, he healed very quickly. One diaper change I leaned over him to squirt the milk on his bum, straight from the tap.

Then it happened.

It...

the poop.

Any mother will tell you that a newborn has this amazing ability to projectile poop. And that's what he did.

All...



Over....



My...



BOOB!!! That's right...runny, seedy, mustard colored baby breastfed poop all over my breast!!!! Yea...that diaper changed ended very quickly, culminating in my jumping into the shower.

I managed to get a shower that day at least....

pics

Here are some pictures from this morning.

Wrist Pain

I'm sorry I haven't been able to update lately. My wrist has been bothering me a lot lately. I'm not sure what's going on, but I suspect it might be carpal tunnel or tendinitis. *sigh* I've only been able to type up my course assignments, nothing else.

I went through my CLC (certified lactation consultant) course April 30 - May 4th. It was a VERY stressful week, but worth it. We survived and the kids are glad to have mommy home again.

I am now watching Jack and Jill's daughter 2-3 days a week. She's a cutie but it's taking a lot of adjustment on her part. She is VERY clingy and gets jealous if I even hold Little Dude to nurse him. I am hoping (and praying) that this adjustment period will pass quickly.

The kids are doing well. They survived sinus and ear infections, but the allergies are killing them both as well as DH.

That's all for now!

51 lbs of Kiddos!

A friend asked if it is possible to wear two kids in wraps. I took it as a personal challenge. See, I've seen OTHER moms do it (or, rather, seen pictures of them doing it) but I've never done it myself. I knew it was possible, I've just never actually done it. So...I did it.

William is in the front with my Didymos Rosenquartz Indio sz. 6 and Heather is on my back in my Storchenweige Inka 4.2m. William is 21 lbs and Heather is 30 lbs.

Win a Coach Purse...

I saw this on another blog, and thought "Hmmm...what the heck!? I'll enter.'' So, Here is the link. Good luck to all!

Cat Pee...

Okay, since I AM a Christian woman I won't use the word most people would have used. I must confess, though, that when this incident happened...well, "pee" wasn't the word that flew out of my mouth when DH asked me what happened. For that, I am sorry. :o(

Anyway, I am stressed. This week has been spent trying to prepare for next week. Next week is the week I am spending all week, away from my children (and my nursing son) to take the course to become a certified lactation consultant. There is a LOT of pressure on me regarding it and I have a LOT to do to prepare...the least of which is laundry.

Lots, and lots, and lots, of laundry. Why? Because I know DH won't be doing during the week, I have only a few outfits that will work for the week, and I won't have time to do it during the week.

So, I am loading the washer w/ one of the two loads of towels I have to wash. The cat comes up and starts rubbing up against my feet yowling. He's been yowling a lot lately. Frankly, he's been driving me up the wall with all his yowling.

Why is he yowling? Because he wants to go outside. But he is not allowed outside. Why? Because this time he came back w/ a leg so swollen he couldn't walk, and a so infected it was abscessed and it's been draining for almost 3 weeks now. That means I have to clean out his leg twice daily. Yea...it sucks. Last time? He came back missing two toes!! He got into a fight w/ another cat and that other cat ripped two toes out of one of his back feet! So, KiKi is now an indoor cat...and he's letting us know just how much he hates it.

So, I didn't think anything of his yowling. He apparently decided to get even.

I'm putting towel after towel into the washer, sorting, pulling out wash clothes b/c those have to be bleached, and suddenly...IT happens.

Yes...IT.

I sniff. *sniff sniff* I smell IT.

Then, I use my 2nd sense. I feel IT.

Yes, FEEL IT.

What is IT?

THE CAT WAS PEEING ON MY FOOT!!! THE STINKIN' CAT WHO HAS CAUSED ME MORE GREEF THAN HE'S WORTH PEED ON MY FOOT!!!!!

My pants, my ONLY pair of cute boot cut jeans that FIT, became a casualty of our little war. I had JUST showered, taken the trash out, loaded and started the dishwasher, and was CLEAN. I was actually wearing clothes that were clean and look good on me and FIT...and he PEED on them!

What did I do? I had the last war in this battle. Since he was peeing ON my FOOT, my foot was in the prime position to pretend to be a super bowl football player. I did what anyone in my (now wet and smelly) situation would have done.

I went for the 50 yard field goal. I wasn't kicking pig skin though...I was kicking wet, peeing, cat skin. Across my kitchen, across my dining room, and into the family room.

I screamed as I kicked.

DH knew why he'd been kicked into the family room.

He was waiting.

Kiki is now in the dog kennel...yowling. He's not coming out. His litter box is in there, it's clean, the door was open...there was no reason for him to pee on me and my pants (oh yea...and my floor...my freshly mopped floor). So, he's in 'kitty jail' now. We'll see how long he lasts.

Suddenly, the humane society is sounding kind of nice. *sigh* But, he's the kids' cat. Sweet Pea would miss him. Would I? Ask me tomorrow.

Babywearing Daddy...

That's right! My DH has started wearing Little Dude! Last Monday we went to Busch Gardens w/ our friends. I was still weak from being so sick over the weekend so DH finally broke down and carried a very sleepy and fussy LD on his back...IN A WRAP! I had brought the Didymos Sven that I bought for him last month and he agreed to use it. It's red white and blue (a blue base w/ red and white pinstripes) so it it at least "masculine" for him.

Well, we went to Busch again yesterday, just the 4 of us, and he ASKED to wear Little Dude! And he told me to just use my purple wraps b/c that's what I had out!!! I am SO proud of him...but more than that I am SOOOOO in love with this man...this man who is willing to carry his son on his back and show the world that he loves his son.

I took a picture of him in Sven last week, but I promised not to publish it. Sorry! No photo to share. I will respect his wishes.

I love you, Babe!

Sorry to go M.I.A. and some updates.

...but Sweet Pea passed her flu bug on to the rest of us. For 2 weeks now we've battled illness. We were all over the flu by last Monday, I wasn't strong again until Tuesday though. Then, Tuesday DH ended up having to call into work to get his tooth pulled on a emergency thing. We spent 2 hours calling around looking for a dentist that could fit him in as an emergency patient (and had to pay extra for it). While we were waiting for him to see the dentist I kissed Sweet Pea's head only to have my lips burn! She was BURNING UP! I rushed her to our pediatrician as he was only 2 miles away and our house (which = our thermometer) was 8 miles away. I get there and she's running a temp of 104!!! Yup..she has a SINUS infection now! So, after a week w/ the flu in our home, SP gets a sinus infection.

Needless to say, I ended up with a headache from it all. A headache that lasted 5 days!!! I tried to get in to see my mom's doctor but they don't have any openings for, get this, FOUR WEEKS!!! So...I'm going to have to find another doctor because that's a joke.

My mom got back from Jamaica on Sunday. She was there for 10 days doing missions work. It seems that while we were under attack spiritually (and physically) the Lord was able to Bless her trip. I am very grateful for that. I would rather have had Satan attack me and my family than her trip. I only regret that due to my being so sick I was distracted and didn't pray for her and her trip the way I wanted to and had intended to.

I finished my 3rd block of classes. I passed with A's and have a 3.5 GPA now. :-) Not too shabby for a full time stay at home mom! I am VERY pleased with myself.

And God has provided me with a wonderful opportunity to help make up the difference in the loss of pay Tim took at work. Some very dear friends of ours have asked me to watch their precious daughter starting next month. The pay will give us the much needed "fun" money. :-) I look forward to it as their daughter is just precious....a wonderful little girl whom I adore. :-)

Well, that's about it for now. I'll write again tomorrow...as long as this (new) headache goes away.

Sick Children

Sweet Pea came up sick yesterday. She threw up all day, and then last night started running a temp of 103. Her doctor gave us a Rx for phenergan supositories, that the insurance didn't cover. $28 for 5 of those suckers!!! My poor baby girl has to have me stick them up her bum every 8 hours. Poor girl!

Then this morning, after he woke up from his morning nap, Little Dude woke up w/ a fever. He was running a temp of 104.1!!!!!!!!! I gave him some tylenal and a cool bath which brought it down to 103, and it was down to 102 by the time we got to the peds. office. I got home and it was back up to 103. 5 and when I set him down on the floor he just laid donw!!!! My little man who loves to crawl around all day, refusing to stop for ANYTHING, wouldn't move and was SOOOOOOOOOO lethargic! I laid down to nurse him (he wants to nurse, so he stays hydrated at least) and he's back asleep.

I hope and pray that my babies feel better soon! I feel so badly for them!

Pictures...

"Happy Birthday, Sweet Pea!"

C. pushing her little brother, C., and Sweet Pea on our garden swing.

She partied till she was pooped....and then dropped.

This is the cake made WITHOUT the butter cream goat's milk Icing. It's a carousel, if you can see the horses on there. Next time I'll use a very light colored glaze on each horse.

A random shot of Little Dude and Sweet Pea playing on my bed one morning.

Little Dude and Sweet Pea enjoying Mommy's new wrap: Holunder Waves Didymos

Passed out in mommy's lap. The blue things are Baby Legs, and I put them on him to keep all the pollen, dust, and dander that he's allergic to from irritating his eczema.

Well, that's all for now. Enjoy!

Missing "Us"

Those that have been married and have had children while might be able to relate. I found myself in "a funk" last night. I decided to make a montage of DH and I. Just us. No pictures of the kids. Wow...was that hard. We don't have a SINGLE picture of just the two of use in almost FOUR years!!!!! We've been married almost 5, so yea....there's a big gap in the "us" picture department. So, I started digging through my scrap booking box. You know, the big box of scrap booking stuff that I have from when I liked to scrap book...before we had kids. I then started sorting through those pictures to find some of us to scan.

In order to scan the pictures I had to install the drivers for our new printer/scanner combo onto our dinosaur desktop since they're not compatible w/ the Windows Vista that's on our new laptops. That gave me time to look through the rest of the pictures from the period of our life when DH was in the Marine Corps and we didn't have children. Big....mistake.

I found myself weepy and mourning that period in our life. It was just us. We lived 3,000 miles away from family. We had enough money to pay all our bills. DH didn't have to worry about paying for medical insurance. We didn't have to worry about him taking an $1,150 a month pay loss. We could stay out until midnight if we wanted. We could drive to Las Vegas on a weekend whim if we wanted. We could do what we wanted, when we wanted, and didn't have to worry about anything except being back when he had to be at work, not going more than 500 miles away, and leaving extra food and water out for the cats while we were gone. He actually got a full month off every year for vacation instead of the measly 1 week a year he gets now (yea, that's a joke). Except for our children, our life right now SUCKS! I mean yea, we have awesome parts of our life that we wouldn't change for anything. Sweet Pea and Little Dude complete our life. We're friends with Jack and Jill. We're in a house (of sorts, LOL). But I MISS our old life...and found myself mourning it. I've mourned that part of our life, the "early days" often but more and more in recent days.

But, then I stopped and gazed upon the faces of my precious, sleeping children and I am glad we have them. We just didn't want children before 5 years of marriage, and yet by our 5th year we have two. We wanted 5 years of "us" before having to share each other with children....and we wanted it that way because we know once we had children that "us" time would be rare. Heck, we try to be together as man and wife and we get interrupted...EVERY STINKIN' TIME!!! Is it any surprise that the past year has been so rocky for our marriage!?!?!? If only we had family who would be able to take the kids for a weekend...but Little Dude would NOT tolerate that. *sigh*

One day...if these kids don't tear DH and I apart...

Pictures...

Little Dude was less than thrilled w/ the whole "cake thing."

Sweet Pea, enjoying Mama's new Inka Storch wrap.

Little Dude enjoying Inka in his way.

BIG SMILE!!!

My BEAUTIFUL little Princess!

That's all for now!

Couple Friends

Every couple needs another couple with whom they are close. After almost 5 years of marriage, DH and I have met that couple! Jack and Jill are a true God Send. Not only do we see eye to eye politically (a miracle in and of itself), but we also agree on the key issues of Christianity, they are Christians, and they have a daughter who is the same age as Little Dude! Little Dude and Dudette were due on the same day, however they were born 3 weeks apart.

Sweet Pea, my 3 year old princess, adores Jack, Jill, and Dudette, and Jack, Jill, and Dudette all come over to our home multiple times a week to have dinner, play games, watch movies, or just chat. And BOY can we chat! LOL

Thank you God for these wonderful friends!

Life And Times...

Life And Times...

So, how do I begin to share what has happened since August?

In September I started school! I am a STUDENT! YAY!

Well, on October 30, 2006 we moved into a house! A house that a friend of my dad's at church owns and is renting us! The move was from a very bad place, and was the move from HEDES (h-e-double hockey sticks). In fact, the move nearly tore apart my family. But, we did it, we moved, we are now settled in, and we LOVE it! We have a huge hard, fenced of course, 2 dogs, and 2 happy children.

In December Little Dude celebrated his 1st Christmas. It was nice. DH's cousin "J" came over and stayed with us for a few days to celebrate with us. Again, very nice. I will publish pictures later. Little Dude also started crawling, which is a huge milestone.

In January DH and I took Sweet Pea and Little Dude to Disney World's Magic Kingdom w/ K and her 3 children. We had a blast.

Last month, we got our 2nd dog, a purebred German Shepherd Dog (GSD) named Shelly. She's a great addition to our family but needs to learn to be less aggressive towards Bean, our first dog (a Golden Retriever/Boarder Collie mix). She really loves Sweet Pea and Little Dude, but loves me more than anyone.

Little Dude turned 1 last Wednesday! I can't believe it! He's ONE!!! WOW! Where did the year go!? So, that means that Sweet Pea turned 3 YESTERDAY! That is just as hard to believe. It seems as though it was only a few months ago that she was in the NICU struggling to thrive! Now she's my 30 lb, smart mouth, drama princess 3-yr old. I love both of them dearly.

We got a severe blow financially, though. Tuesday, DH's hours got cut. He was talking to his boss, and his boss informed him that he's not allowed to work any more overtime! That's a 20 hour a week, or $650 a month pay cut!!!!! Add that to the fact that our insurance is $500 a month JUST for DH and I and it's an $1150 a month loss in pay that we're going to be suffering!!!!! I'm not sure how we're going to survive, but we will. God will provide. He always does.

I am about to publish a post that I though I'd lost! I have lost so many posts that I had quit posting my thoughts. Well, I finally got this darned thing figured out, and so look out world, I'm posting again!