This another one of those Long Over Due type of blog posts…

My son was born in November 2008! Everyday since has been marked with a lot of love, a lot of crying, a lot of diapers, but no more vomiting… at least from me! Jaered has had his days and nights mixed up since birth. Joy. Essentially I’ve been up most of the night and most of the day, considering my other two children sleep and play at normal hours and require my attention as well. Isn’t it amazing how even though one can be completely worn ragged they still find the energy and strength to be there for their offspring. Well, it amazes me! Now don’t get me wrong I would LOVE to sleep at night. That would awesome. However, Jae is very colicky and there’s not much that comforts him at this point, and I’m ok with that. It’s just another hurdle we’ll get through together as a family. I’m just happy to have a healthy baby, no matter his gassiness LOL!

Jae’s a happy baby for the most part, aside from all the colic. He smiles often and coos when you talk to him, just as most babies his age do. His siblings adore him. Kae sometimes shows a little jealousy but that’s normal. He loves his new brother but is definitely starting to show a little resentment towards having a new baby around. I think he’s feeling a tad bit “replaced” so I try to reinforce my love for him everyday. Tae is sticking true to her nick-name,  “Mama Tae”. She is constantly asking to hold him and is even wanting to change his diapers! Once she gets them open if there’s a hint of “poo” she immediately closes it back up and shouts “Mama!” Guess she’s not ready for that I’m not ready for that!

Lately, I’ve been down and depressed and quite frankly out of the loop. With holidays and birthdays approaching faster than I care for them to and not the most desirable living situations topped off with being 30 weeks pregnant, broke, with no quick hopes of income coming in, I’d say I’ve been feeling quite sorry for myself. I even missed out on posting my awesome Wordless Wednesday photo due to my own depression.

Today, however, I pulled myself together and out of bed… pushed aside my feelings of baby sickness and was determined to get an article out for Kelby’s site Type-A Mom to which I am proudly an editor for her. As I sat here and typed I decided to pull up twitter.  Something I have not done in over a week. I’m still getting to know the people on there and I never have too much to say. But something in my head today told me to open it up and join in the conversation.

I may well be an open book, but I am a shy person and often find it awkward getting involved in the tweets. Today was no different. But I often read the different “tiny urls” that are posted by the various tweeters Even though I was in the heat of looking for a picture to go with my new article on Household Budget Advice my eye was caught by one of those tiny urls posted by LaTara. It was a link to her newest blog post on her site Mom Unplugged. I have a good idea why that specific tiny url distracted me so much that I had to read it.

Oh, but you know me, I didn’t read it right away. Of course not, instead I opened it in a new tab and saved it for later, at least I didn’t just bookmark it for later like I’ve done with so many others that I never read. For some reason this one was was different, I could feel it. I kept mis-clicking on my various tabbed adventures and would continuously bring up, yup, you guessed it, LaTara’s post. I finally gave in, stubborn as I may be, and read the post. I was so touched I teared up. Now you can say I’m just being hormonal due to my baby blues but in this case you would be wrong.

I have no doubt as to why this particular post affected me the way it did. Because I have strayed from my faith in God and instead of listening to Him I’ve been trying to make my own way. Now you can get what ever you want out of her post, but for me, it was a matter of my heart and knowing that some where back on this rocky road I’ve been on, I’ve lost my way.

I haven’t been listening to God’s will and doing things His way. When you try to take on the world alone expect to be alone. God is there for you if only you’ll let Him! Thank you LaTara, I’m waving my white flag.

So far into this it has been the most difficult pregnancy I’ve had out of the three. My pelvis is constantly in pain and the doc says that it’s normal. I’m a skeptic on the normality of it considering I didn’t hurt like this with the first two. But hey I’m not a doctor, right? My protest is that I know my body better than him so we’re currently at a stand still. LOL

The baby’s very active now and is already taking after me by aggravating the hell out of his father. Poor guy. Every time he tries to feel the baby kick he stops kicking. It just cracks me up! Daddy doesn’t find it as amusing as I do however.

At 28 weeks I look similar to a beached whale… Even my doc says I’m putting on weight to fast and in his words “will be as big as a house” by the time I deliver. Way to cheer me up there big guy! But seriously, I love my doctor! He’s honest and to the point. He’s not one to sugar coat and is always rather blunt with me. I also love the fact that he’s a family doctor and in turn sees my whole family. I’ve never had a family doc before and the originally the idea that the same doctor was going to treat me as well as my children was a little disconcerting. I have come to LOVE the fact that he treats my entire family and knows my family history. It’s always an awesome feeling when he remembers me and the kids. I never feel like just another patient. Being use to having specialty doctors made things a little odd at first, but I know now why they call them “Family” doctors! I feel like family when I go in there. What an awesome feeling to have!

That’s right! Sick Day went into overtime… Not quite like I predicted but he missed another day of school none the less. Friday was a day filled with potties and laundry! I never knew one small boy could go through so many underpants in one day! Aside from that, we made the best of it. He got spoiled while I became exhausted. Running back forth from laundry room and bathroom can take a lot out of an over weight pregnant woman, let me tell you!

When at last Kaeden was ready for a nap I was over-joyed. I promptly passed out on the couch only to wake up to the melodious sounds of a 4 year old vomiting. I ask you, why, oh why do these stomach viruses exist? Is it to make our lives miserable? Because they do a great job of it. After this final passing, however, he seemed to be fine. Our weekend was looking up… and then Saturday came.  It was my turn.

I’ll spare you the details but I assure you it wasn’t pretty. It only lasted the one day for me, but that was enough to get my schedule out of the groove and leave me completely off task. This is not a good thing! A single mom can’t afford to lose track of daily chores. Heck, no mom can’t afford to get off task! Life was much simpler back in the day… when I had a mommy and daddy to clean up after me. LOL

At any rate, my day will be spent trying to replace used groceries and toiletries. Buying the obnixious rodent I call my dog some much needed dog food. Ok so he’s not a rodent. He’s a Chorkie but looks more rodent than dog if you ask me.  And then there’s always that pile of dishes that is calling my name, and the neglected laundry that consists of items other than underpants. So with that, I’m going to sign off and try to get busy on daily chores. Unfortunately, the baby isn’t cooperating and my “morning” more like all day sickness seems to be getting the best of me… Oh yeah, thanks for letting me vent

Today was my son’s first sick day at school. His school serves him breakfast every morning and today it didn’t sit right with his tummy.  As a concerned mommy I raced to go pick him up after hanging up with the school nurse. What I found was am energized 4 year old boy that was having a blast in the nurse’s office! I checked him out and brought him home. Made all the preparations for a sick child, puke bucket and all.

Not once has Kaeden even so much as dry heaved since his return home. I however, have lost my lunch twice due to this pregnancy I’m sure. My concern now is Kaeden isn’t taking well to leaving mommy all day as it is. Now that he knows the secret of how to get out of school he might start playing hookie as often as he can. Its just one more road block on the path to a decent school career! LOL He’s had one heck of a sick day playing with my nephew, having me read to him, playing cars… Heck, if I were him, I’d pretend to be sick more often too!

He’s already asking if tomorrow’s a school day. I can just hear it now… “its time for bed.”

“Mommy, my tummy hurts!”

It seems these days my life is being determined by fleas, fleas and more fleas! Its the craziest thing. First we had a few, and my poor daughter gets them drawn to her like a magnet, so we sprayed problem taken care of right? Wrong! They went away for a little while but now they are back in full force if not triple force and are taking over the yard and slowly making there way BACK INTO MY HOUSE!

The craziest thing is this. We have a cat and dog in the house that are regularly treated with flea medicine. Neither of them seem to have any fleas! What’s up with that?!? They are living in our grass and invading our home. I have always heard of a flea circus but this is ridiculous! I mean come on! People live in Georgia and don’t have nearly the problem I do. My daughter, my son, and myself are getting torn to shreds by these pests while my sister has not one bite one her! What makes my children and I so special?

So being proactive and trying to stay on top of the problem, I’ve purchased every flea control method I can find. I looked into some “professionals” but being on such a tight budget I can’t afford the outrageous pricing they have! I’m not talking a mere $100, I’m talking SEVERAL $100! I’m not made of money. I think someone is making bank on fleas… At any rate I went to the local feed store and got the locals advice on fleas and now I’m using a product call IG Regulator as well as something called Demon Wettable Powder. Here’s to hoping that it works and that the locals know their fleas. Other wise I’m at a loss for what step to take next! If you have any suggestions PLEASE COMMENT!

Its all about me today or should I say you!

In our daily schedules these days we forget about the most important thing. Our well being! We’re so over run with work, the kids, the cleaning, the shopping, the I need to do this or that, etc, etc. You get the idea… We forget about ourselves and the stress levels rise sometimes to outrageous rates, and our bodies in turn take the beating. I don’t just mean physical but mental as well. There are many things one can do for oneself to keep from having a whole body breakdown!

If you can, try to schedule things as organized as possible. This will help dramatically on feeling overwhelmed by the daily must-do’s. Don’t forget to schedule some alone time as well I’ll get into that more in a second.

Keep a detailed shopping list to cut down on the last minute runs to the grocery store because you’re out of milk. This may seem weird and maybe I should have added it to the Meme but I have what I call my “Master Shopping List” saved on my computer as a Word document. I’m able to do a quick scan of what’s in the cupboards, compare, and then buy. I try not to let commonly used items, such as pepper, become too low on supply. I like to keep cans of beans, cans of corn, and huge container of salsa to make my Quick 3 Bean Chili on days that I don’t feel like cooking from scratch or those days when I’m just really pressed for time. Also, stock up on the things you can! And please don’t forget about nutrition! I love the saying you are what you eat. If you put a lot of fast fixin’s into your body, you’re filling yourself with unwanted chemicals and a serious lack of nutrition. There are healthy and quick alternatives. However, eating that TV dinner every now and again isn’t going kill you. But just remember, as I was taught in my Traditional Chinese Medicine class, all things in moderation.

One thing I personally like to do is have a general meal plan for the week, or sometimes even the entire month. I’m not saying to write out anything like the school lunch menu that the kids bring home, but simply know what you have and know what you are going to do with it. If you want to take the time to plan out a weekly menu then by all means, go for it! Just leave room for some flexibility in case something unexpected arises.

Now that we’ve got our meetings, appointments, school functions, grocery shopping, and meals planned we can plan time for ourselves. What do you like to do for you? I like to take a hot bath with fresh ground ginger and lilac essential oils. I also like to get lost in a good book! Exercise makes some wonderful me time and is often over looked. A brisk walk in the morning is a good one too. You could even take in a new movie or treat yourself to an ice cream. What ever that you find yourself doing that brings a smile to your face and some relief to your body and mind is important! Indulge yourself at least once a week to maintain your mental well being which will in turn help you to maintain your physical well being.

I’ve shared some of my Me Time ideas and I’d love to hear yours!