Monday, November 21, 2011

On this very day



A year ago, I was greeted with this wonderful surprise. Which turned into this....



Which turned into this.....


Who is now this....

(smiling with his Great Granny)

So it was on this day, last year, that I found out after 10 months of trying (I know its not that long, but it was to me), that I was going to have the chance to experience being a mommy all over again.

I've been remiss in my days of Thankfulness, so let me just say... I am thankful for my babies. I am who I am because of them. I am a mommy. Its the only "job" I have ever wanted. I am thankful that this time last year, God chose to bless us with one more little person to raise.

Sunday, November 20, 2011

Stupid Deer





Thats right folks. I hit a deer. Stupid deer was hanging out in the middle of the highway and I KNEW I was going to hit it. Deep in the pit of my stomach I knew it. And I did. But not head on. I spanked the back-end of the deer. *disclaimer - I am trying to keep this lighthearted and further down will be the truth of how I feel*

Its times like these that I am glad I married someone who can work on my cars. For around $225 he can fix all the damage. Plus I get to see the chiropractor tomorrow. When I jerked the wheel to the left to avoid the deer head on, I pulled a muscle. Oh man did my shoulder and arm hurt. Add in a week of sleeping with a toddler and an infant in a full size bed and I am in MAJOR need of this!

Now for the cold hard truth.
I am scared shitless to drive outside of the city at night now. Last year I ran over a cat on the highway. This year I hit a deer. I got back on the saddle and drove again when we got closer to Boise. Then I almost hit ANOTHER deer. Plus I was freaking Jesse out. Every little movement that I saw out of the corner of my eye I tapped the breaks. I was a huge ball of nerves.

Then as we are coming home tonight, just a few miles outside of town, another DEER! Jesse had to swerve a little to miss this one. The deer had been in line to either run right in front of us or into the side of the car. The deer turned and ran the other direction. I on the other hand, did not fair as well. I burst into tears (thankfully Jacob was sleeping) and cried "I just want to go home".

I have to go out tomorrow. Its snowed up here so the roads are crappy and while I am sure I will be fine, I'm not so sure how my nerves are going to be. Eventually I will be behind the wheel again at night, in the dark, outside of the city. But its not going to be for QUITE sometime.

Even typing out how this whole thing has made me feel, has me shaking.

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Week 2 Down and a challenge

I have completed Week 2 of the 15 by Christmas Challenge. This week I am going to go ahead and post my measurements too.

Just the other day I was looking at an old blog post from when Jacob was a baby.

Here are my stats from then.
Weight 186.4
Bust 36
Under Bust 33
Waist 39
Hips 42.5
L Thigh 25
R Thigh
L Calf 15
R Calf
L Arm 12
R Arm 12.5

Here are my Week 2 stats

Weight 181.0
Bust 38 (but I am nursing)
Under Bust 32
Waist 38
Hips 41
L Thigh 24.5
R Thigh 24.5
L Calf 16
R Calf 15.5
L Arm 12.5
R Arm 11.5

Not bad! I am 11 pounds away from 15 by Christmas. Because I need to get my butt in gear, I have decided to join another challenge. Run To The Finish You earn points and stuff by doing things. Mine is really going to be hitting the pilates. I need to get my waist to shrink some more. Especially before people start taking pictures of me!

Join in too and you could win some awesome prizes.

Day 9 Thankfulness
I am thankful today for my health

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Follow Up Appointment

Monday morning we had Levi's follow up appointment with our family doctor (whom I love). He said pretty much the same thing as the ER doctor. We caught it really early. He couldn't even hear anything when he listened to him.

My little guy is a peanut! At the ER on Saturday he weighed 13.4. At our appointment he weighted 12.11. He is 24 3/4 inches long!

While there I pointed out to the Dr that Levi keeps his left foot very turned in.


So the Dr took a look at it and Levi did NOT want to put any weight on his feet. I was told that at this point he should be wanting to stand and bounce and all of that. I even put him on his tummy to show the Dr and he wouldn't straighten out his left foot. The short of this, we will have an appointment over at our local Shriner's Children's Hospital. I would rather get this straightened out now, rather than later.

Overall my little man is on the mend!

Day 7 Thankfulness

Today, on my Grandmother's birthday I am thankful for her.
She has made both of my boys beautiful blankets.
She is gracious and loving and I am very glad she is still around.

Day 6 - Thankfulness Challenge

Day 6 Thankfulness
Today I am especially thankful for my mother.
She came and helped me with the boys.
She is always there for me when I need her.
Day 6 is her birthday, so I wanted to celebrate her on this day.
She encourages me
She loves me
My mom is always there when I need a listening ear.

Thank you for all that you do mom!


3 months old and....

Pneumonia (HA! I finally spelled it correctly without using spell checker!). Thats right. My little Levi Bug is 3 months old (barely) and has pneumonia.

I'm sure you are probably wondering how I knew he was sick enough to take in. I didn't.

This is how my weekend went. Friday I get up and a gal drops her little girl off for me to watch. Jacob has a runny nose and a slight cough. Which is lovely, considering he was JUST over the last cold just a few short days ago. The day went pretty well. Put the kiddos down for naps, Levi at 11:30, the older kids at noon. Big kids get up around 1:30 and 2... Levi is still sleeping. While this is awesome, its SO unlike my kid. He just does NOT nap. 30 mins here or there, but Jacob was a 1-4 hour napper as an infant. Heck, he still takes an hour to two hour nap. Finally around 5:30 Levi wakes up. Awesome. He has now slept for 5 hours, I'm betting he is going to be up ALL night. I feed him, he is chill, so I lay him on his play mat. The little bugger goes BACK to sleep!! He was awake for less than two hours. He slept from 7:15pm until 4:00am. 9 hours! Ate, and then went back to sleep until 6:45am.

At this point, I know something isn't quite right. Also, Jacob is up and REALLY not feeling well. So I message the gal who's kid I am supposed to watch and let her know its a no go. Get some wonderful advice from my mommy friends. Plus, Levi at this point is running a fever and I have NO idea how much he weights so I can dose him correctly. So I call my mom to meet me at the ER.

2.5 hours later at the ER, Jacob has an upper respiratory infection and Levi has pneumonia. Sucky. We then go to get the anitbiotics and not a single pharmacy in the area carries the one that was prescribed to us. I love our pharmacy. The gal working called around, I spent an hour there just trying to get it filled. Finally she called the hospital and got the dr to change it to something else. $73 later I have antibiotics for my littlest.

5 hours after leaving the house this morning, we are finally home. Jacob goes down for a nap, he is exhausted. Levi is still sleeping in his car seat. I run the rent check across the yard and come home. The baby wakes up, I get him up and take his temp. It was 101 :( So back to the ER we go. The only instructions on my discharge papers were to bring him back if he had a fever. After another 2 hours there, I was sent home basically telling me that I am a crazy overreacting mom.

Well this crazy overreacting mom caught pneumonia in her 3 month old before he ever really had any symptoms. So there.

Day 5 Thankfulness Challenge
I am thankful for my mommy instincts.
Without them, Levi could have gotten much sicker.

Friday, November 4, 2011

Getting out of Debt

In honor of Dave Ramsey's Debt Free Friday, I thought I would talk about our debt.

As of today, we are $39k in debt. Two unplanned cesarean births, other medical expenses and "stupid tax" has led us to this place. Hubby and I started this journey together in April of 2010. Together since starting we have paid off OVER $26k in debts!

Well we must have an income greater than that? Yep, I think last year we made almost $35k. "Well thats impossible!" Not really. We settled accounts, sold a car (or two), worked (you know, that thing you do that makes you get up every morning and then they give you money?). We gave up things. Its not been an easy road to travel, but its been worth every step.

Just this last week we paid off my credit cards (the hubby has never had any). We have our starter emergency fund ($1k) and are working our debt snowball. I use envelopes for things. Actually we used to just take Jesse's tip money and spend it as needed. But now we are taking it and any other cash we end up with and splitting it between 8 envelopes.
  1. Food
  2. Extra Gas Money
  3. Giving
  4. Misc
  5. Clothes
  6. Repairs
  7. Gloves
  8. Christmas/Gifts
Let me explain a few of these. Number 1. Food. I try and grocery shop once a month to once every two months on $100. Every other month for sure we buy meat, so an extra $60. The food envelope is for that quick trip to the store, or for meals out. Number 2. Extra Gas Money. On payday, I take out $160 in gas for our two cars, $80 each. Well Jesse usually ends up needing 1-2 extra tanks of gas each 2 week period. So we put tip money into this one. The envelope also lets us know if we can afford to take a drive somewhere, just for fun.  Number 7. Gloves. Its an odd envelope, but Jesse buys gloves about once a week at work. At just under $5 a box, this adds up fast. He does it so his hands aren't all greasy and nasty when he comes home.

My envelopes

This is working for us. We have more money now, than when we were both working two jobs and didn't have kids! I will periodically keep you up to date on how this is all going for us. We start teaching a new Financial Peace University class in January.

Day 4 Thankfulness Challenge
Today I am thankful for my hardworking hubby
Without him, the things I am able to do would not be possible
 

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Filing

and shredding. Sheesh. Now that we have some more things paid off (a post for later), I need to get my important papers together. This is so I know who is left to pay off.

My hopes are to do this for 15 mins or so each day until I am totally caught up. Then stay on top of it. That is the key... staying on top of it.

Day 3 - Thankfulness
Today I am thankful for the parents I have
Without them, I would not be the parent I am today

This was taken Summer 2007 before my brother went to basic training

*sorry its not more of an exciting post... I've been screamed at, puked on and changed my clothes more times than I would care to today....

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Week 1 down

Well I made it through the first week of the 15 by Christmas weight loss challenge. Last night we even went to Texas Roadhouse, where despite the fact I ate FOUR rolls (no butter), I don't feel bad about the choices I made. I went with the oven roasted chicken, house salad with dressing on the side, and fresh veggies. I didn't eat the skin on the chicken, only dipped my fork in the dressing and ate all the veggies!

I think eating out while dieting/trying to lose weight/stay healthy is hard. Not only do you get the guilt from spending money on eating out (I'm sorry but the $40+ it costs a family of 4, with only 3 people eating, to eat out, will feed the same family a few meals at home) but you also get the guilt from eating your WEEKS worth of calories in some meals. Yikes!

I started last week at 185.8 (the joys of having a baby) and with watching what I eat, exercise, nursing and stepping on the scale daily... I finished the first week at 182.6!! That is a loss of 3.2 pounds! Have to say, I am pretty excited. I also don't feel like I am starving myself. I am finding new things to eat and love. Like the Fiber One 90 calorie chewy fudge brownies. Mmm. Also the Dannon Okios Greek yogurt. Loving the blueberry fruit on the bottom one. It smells like blueberry muffins.

Day 2 Thankfulness Challenge
I am thankful for a house with heat. 
According to yahoo weather its a whole 21 degrees outside.

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

30 Days of Thankfulness Challenge

I am sending out a challenge to all of my friends. Blog (or comment if you don't have a blog) for the next 30 days about something that you are thankful for. Sounds easy right? Well it usually is.... for the first week and then people "get busy", forget or other various excuses. And it does not need to be a separate post. Just make sure you tag it as "thankfulness" so I can check and see what YOU are thankful for. I think it helps to put things into perspective.

Thankfulness Challenge Day One
Today I am most thankful for the family that I have.
The ones who are still with us,
And the ones that are not.
I know that on today, my Grandfather's Birthday,
He is looking down on me and smiling.
I have a wonderful husband who works hard
Two beautiful little boys.
Parents that love me.
I am thankful.

Halloween 2011

Of course its the topic of conversation for blogs across the nation. Especially mommy blogs!

This was Jacob's 3rd Halloween. He was Eyeore and only 10 months for his first one.




For his second Halloween he was almost 2 and dressed as a construction worker.
This year he is almost 3 and was a fireman. Little brother was a bulldog.

Don't have one of the littlest in his, but when I do, I will post it as well.

Jacob is ready to go back out again! Too bad for him Halloween only comes once a year. He was well behaved and polite. Held someone's hand while we walked from house to house. Also, said thank you every time someone put candy into his bucket. Then back at my parent's house he had a BLAST handing out candy to other kids. At first he was unsure about giving candy to others but then he really got into it. What a great into to the season of Giving.