We met on Myspace

So one of my first post several months ago was about my husband and I being together for 5 years now. But I am certain I haven’t told anyone HOW we met.

It’s a funny story actually. We met through Myspace and began talking in Jan. of 2007 and after a few months, we met at the Boardwalk and went on our first date. And we’ve pretty much been together ever since. So if anyone ever tells you that it’s only a bunch of pervs and pedis on those kind of sites. For the most part maybe, but there are some exceptions!! I guess we were an exception.

STILL POTTY TRAINING!!

After being a preschool teacher for 3 years and having the 2/Toddlers room and having to make sure all the kids in my class were potty trained before moving on to the 3 year room….. I really thought I was a master at this but….. After working with my son for 7 months now, I’m not sure I’ll ever get him using his big boy potty!!!

I always said that I would never have 2 kids in diapers and really thought I would have Jax potty trained by now but SHIT!!! What can you do with a kid that is determined to stay in diapers until he is grown!!!

I’ve always heard the rule about doing something consistently for a month before it becomes a habit or second nature but really now….. really… SEVEN months of consistency and he still fights me when I try to get him to go!!

At this point all I can figure is he’s just not ready and maybe I should stop trying to make him…. I’m thinking that I’m just going to give it a rest for now and let him take his time. He still has 5 months before his third birthday so maybe by then it will be a little easier.

You can’t have anything nice with kids…

 

My mother often told me this when Jaxon was little, when I would brag about the awesome new guitar lamp I bought for my husband or I would tell my mom we were getting new carpet. I just thought she was exaggerating… Little did I know that she was sooo right. I’ve just about decided that I will not buy anything brand new again until the kids are much older. Jaxon basically destroys everything he touches.. LoL This I promise you!

Brand new leather couch…. The second month it was covered with pen marks…. Thanks for watching him closely daddy! Ugh.. can’t tell you all the toys we have thrown away, how many walls have been marked on, and how many precious items of mine have been broke.I’ve since learned that I can’t have anything on my coffee table, and there is really no need to have an end table if I can’t have an awesome lamp there so my point to the rambling… keep valuables up high, clear off the kitchen and coffee tables and make sure that no chairs are in distance of the valuables or the candy jar!!

Teething and Ear Infections–Very Similar Symptoms!!

After a tiring weekend and no signs of anything but teething, I started to wonder if maybe something else was going on with my baby. Since his last visit to the doctor about a month ago, he has had an on and off clear runny nose. His doctor assured me it was allergies and that he had no congestion. His nurse also told me that with the teething sometime it can make their nose run due to the crying.

Sunday night the fever began so I took him to the ER. He was basically given a shot and I was assured that he only had a sinus infection and he would be fine and sent home. I wasn’t told to follow up with his pediatrician or anything.

I went ahead and called first thing Monday morning and got an appointment for the following day to see his doctor. Mid-morning I noticed some drainage in his ear and immediately called back the doctor and told them he needed to be seen today; ASAP.

I took him in and he was thoroughly checked over. His doctor said he had a inner ear infection and that with teething the symptoms are usually quite similar and with a 7 month old, they usually haven’t learned to pull on their ears yet.

I felt horrible that for the last few days he has had this and I just can’t believe the ER nurses didn’t notice the drainage in his throat from the ear infection and didn’t even look in his ears.

My oldest son only recently had his first cold so I was oblivious to the fact that these two different problems can have so many of the same symptoms. I’ve never had a child with an ear infection and I pray that this won’t be an ongoing problem he has. It’s so tuff when they are still too little to tell you what’s wrong and where they hurt!

Complications at birth

During the birth of my first son, things suddenly took a turn for the worst and it got very scary. The first problems came after a full night in the hospital in labor. My husband and I were both there and at about 5 am and my demoral began in wear off and I was in great amount of pain. When my hubby called the nurses and they came to check me, I was almost fully dilated and soon began to feel the need to push. But they told me not to. They were trying to hurry to get the epidural in me when Jaxon’s heart rate suddenly dropped and my blood pressure went through the roof. I was terrified and crying because I didn’t know if my baby would be ok. I was rushed into the OR and after only 10 minutes and with the amazing staff, my beautiful baby boy was born; 17 in long and 4 lbs. 4 oz. I at the time had no idea that my water had broke during the epidural and there was quite a lot of meconium in the amniotic fluid. He was 3 weeks early but still considered full-term.

I was fine and everyone assured me that my baby was fine but I didn’t see him for another 14 hours afterward. He wasn’t in NICU but was on antibiotics for 24 hours after his birth. I was so upset and heartbroken that I couldn’t see him and at 7:30 that evening I lost all my patients and assured the nurse that if a wheel chair wasn’t brought at that minute I would be walking with my catheter in my hands down to the nursery to see him. Immediately a wheel chair was brought and I was taken down to the nursery to see him. He was in an incubator so that he would stay warm since he was so tiny and was connected to an IV for the antibiotics.

The next morning was the first time I held him, he was brought to me and I wouldn’t allow him to leave the room after that. I wanted him with me at all times.

In the last 2 and a half years, I’ve given birth twice; and have had three friends that have had babies. Out of all 5 births, 4 were cesarean section births, 3 due to complications, 1 planned c-section, and 1 vaginal birth.

I guess complications during delivery are more common than I thought. But thankfully we have so much more medical technology than 50 years ago

And the teething continues..

For the last two weeks everything has been back to normal. Dylan was back on his schedule after his two bottom teeth came in and he was feeling better. But since yesterday things seem to be going back down hill. My poor little mister is back to drooling uncontrollably and crying hysterically for long periods of time. Last night was tough after getting up probably 5 times through the night to comfort him, put some orajel on his gums, and get him back to sleep. Today has been pretty much the same and I’m certain that a top tooth will be breaking through soon. It’s so pitiful and I feel helpless. I’ve resorted to Tylenol after nothing else worked this afternoon. I tried everything I knew and it finally came down to that but has certainly helped. He’s feeling much better and is trying to catch up on some much needed sleep. Hopefully tonight will be better.

I am furious with my local fire dept..

After a wonderful Easter morning, spending time with my family, we all left to go have lunch with our Grandmother. My husband, myself, and two sons were in one vehicle and my mother-in-law was in her car ahead of us by a few minutes. We were only a few minutes away from the house when a fire truck came flying around a blind curve literally in the middle of the road. I grabbed the dashboard to brace myself because I was unsure of what was about to happen. My husband reacted amazingly stopping almost instantly and pulling all the way onto the shoulder. I don’t know what would have happened if there would have been no shoulder and only a ditch or culvert.

I immediately called my mother-in-law who was trying to call me to warn us because she had been ran off the road and nearly hit a culvert. We were all extremely mad. She told me she was going to the fire department to make a complaint and I told her we were right behind her and going to do the same thing.

We did and I plan to go back in the morning to speak with the captain. When we arrived I went in alone because my husband was so mad, I was worried he may lost his temper. I was shaking when I walked in and my mother-in-law was already there and she too was visibly shaken. The EMT’s were extremely apologetic and assured us that he is going to be in serious trouble. I explained to him that my family’s life was just as important as that person that they were on their way to help and he almost caused 5 people (MY BABIES especially) that we knew of (no telling who else he ran off the road) to be seriously injured.

I will be making a trip back to the fire station in the morning to speak with the captain. And something will be done about this person. He shouldn’t be driving for the fire department. He made them look extremely bad today putting so many other lives in jeopardy.

A new Easter Tradition

 

For the last two years, we have an Easter egg dying party and hunt for my boys, my niece, and a few of their cousins at our house the Saturday before Easter Sunday. My youngest son slept through most of the festivities but my oldest son really had a blast! Of course we will have several more hunts tomorrow; the first one in the morning at the house just for him and then another one at Grandma's house with all the cousins.

I married into a very large and close family. Everyone gets together as much as possible for birthdays, Halloween, Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter, New Years, among a number of other events each year. So were are talking about 12 kids running around the backyard at full force looking for Easter eggs!!! It’s going to be fun!

My two boys diagnosed with Dermatitis

 

After hearing the horror stories from my mother-in-law about her daughter suffering from a much more server form of dermatitis then I had ever heard anything about, I often worried about my first son having it. While I was pregnant I had a dream that he was born with it and it covered most of his body.

He had no symptoms of dermatitis until right after his first birthday and my mother-in-law cried when I showed her. She knew exactly what it was. I made a doctor’s appointment and he was diagnosed with Atopic Enzyme Dermatitis. It has been an ongoing battle and something I often worry about. It is very hard to keep under control and causes his skin to become extremely dry and irritated and he usually scratches, making it much worse; usually to the point of bleeding.

In the last year and a half we have been through 10 different ointments, 2 series of steroids, and many doctor visits. The steroids are the only things that work but will literally make my son climb the walls and crazy but within 2 days of being on the steroids it is almost completely cleared up. It’s so frustrating because as hard as we try we can’t keep it from happening and none of the ointments really work that well.

I’ve started noticing places on my seven month old’s ankles and I  knew he had it too. During his doctor’s appointment yesterday I showed the doctor who immediately asked, “Your oldest has it too doesn’t he?” I said yes and almost began to cry. His is nowhere near the severity of his older brothers and I hope it never will be. Only time will tell. The most important thing is they will make it through this. They are happy, healthy children, and this is something small and over time they will grow out of it.

Tips on an average weekly coupon shopping trip.

On Wednesday afternoon, after I get the grocery ads out of the mail and the ads out of the Sunday paper I began searching ads for the best priced products! Anything I find that is cheaper than normal I circle. Anything I know I have a coupon for I circle and write the amount of the coupon discount next to the price.
After finding all the best priced items I get a notebook and start with the first store; listing the items I will buy, the price of the item, any coupon I have I write the amount and whether or not it will be doubled or tripled and finally the price that I will pay for the item.
EXAMPLE:
Duracell Batteries (10 pk)  - $5.99 – ($1.00 off coupon) = $4.99  <--- This week at K-mart)
I do this with each store then after listing all my items, I write the total amount I will send in each store and the total amount of coupon and savings card savings. Then after each trip I can make sure I saved that amount if not more!! This way I can track all my savings for the month!
Make sure to only buy what you have on your list unless it’s a great deal or you have a good coupon. Also, pay close attention at the register to make sure everything scans correctly and all your coupons go through.
**Don’t forget to get your rain checks on items they are out of!!**

Tips for a well organized coupon binder

There are only 4 things you need for a coupon binder.
1. Binder ($0.75)
2. Notebook paper ($0.75)
3. 15-20 Clear trading card display sheets. (This is the most effective method I have found for displaying and easily finding the coupons) ($5.00)
4. coupons!!!
Total Spent on Binder : $6.50
I have a table of Contents in the front of my binder if I forget where something is I can look there.
You make your table of contents according to what coupons you have and how you want to set it up. I have mine set up with each page being for each isle in the store. I only shop at Wal-Mart now that I know they honor their price match guarantee. So I can easily go up and down each isle and look at each page to see if I have a coupon for items when I get to the isle. This way I’m not backtracking through the store looking for things!
Check out my other post ; Coupon Shopping!!!, for more great tips and money saving ideas!!

Coupon Shopping!!

Ok! Ok! I'm letting the secret out....... I'm a coupon shopper!! I never pay full price for anything, I always brag about my saving (as you can tell), I use a saving card or coupon on every item I buy. I promise it isn't hard to do!! I save between $150-$300 a month. Ok... this does take some thought and planning but once you get the hang of it, it's really simple.
First, we have a few rules to follow anytime you go coupon shopping.
#1. If it isn't on sale DON'T BUY IT!
#2.Search grocery ads BEFORE u go to find the best deals and lowest prices.
#3.Take coupon binder in the stores with you, just incase you see something on sale that wasn't in the ad.
#4. Use store savings cards and coupons on EVERY item to save the most money.
#5. Always clip coupons out of the Sunday paper.
#6. Sign up with websites like freestuff.com. I check these websites daily to see which brand websites are offering free samples and coupon. They send them to you in the mail!! I receive at least 2 samples or coupons in the mail each day now... How awsome is that!! One of my last shopping trips I bought Gain Dishsoap..... .25 cents! I now have a 6 month supply!! LoL!
#7. If you can print coupons online.. DO IT!! Find only secure websites. Usually product brand websites are the best. Although coupons.com is also a great website.
#8. Write down everything you are going to buy and how much it will be. You MUST go by this sheet in the store. If it is more than you thought it would be, don't buy it.
#9. Pay very close attention at the register. If something rings up wrong it could mess up the whole price. A shopping trip could go from $6.56 to -$16.56. This would defeat the whole purpose of coupon shopping.
#10. Always get rainchecks!! I can't stress this enough!! Sometimes it's a good thing if the store doesn't have something I wanted on sale. I can wait until I have a coupon with a raincheck and get the item super cheap!!
*REMEMBER*- Coupon shopping is like a game... and you are trying to beat the store!
Good Luck Fellow Couponers!!

Country Boy Can Survive Lyrics; The truth behind the words.

The preacher man says it’s the end of time
And the Mississippi River she’s a goin’ dry
The interest is up and the Stock Markets down
And you only get mugged
If you go down town
I live back in the woods, you see
A woman and the kids, and the dogs and me
I got a shotgun rifle and a 4-wheel drive
And a country boy can survive
Country folks can survive
I can plow a field all day long
I can catch catfish from dusk till dawn
We make our own whiskey and our own smoke too
Ain’t too many things these ole boys can’t do
We grow good ole tomatoes and homemade wine
And a country boy can survive
Country folks can survive
Because you can’t starve us out
And you cant makes us run
Cuz we're them old boys raised on shotgun
And we say grace and we say Ma’am
And if you ain’t into that we don’t give a damn
We came from the West Virginia coalmines
And the Rocky Mountains and the and the western skies
And we can skin a buck; we can run a trot-line
And a country boy can survive
Country folks can survive
I had a good friend in New York City
He never called me by my name, just hillbilly
My grandpa taught me how to live off the land
And his taught him to be a businessman
He used to send me pictures of the Broadway nights
And I’d send him some homemade wine
But he was killed by a man with a switchblade knife
For 43 dollars my friend lost his life
Id love to spit some beechnut in that dudes eyes
And shoot him with my old 45
Cause a country boy can survive
Country folks can survive
Cause you can’t starve us out and you can’t make us run
Cuz we're them old boys raised on shotgun
And we say grace and we say Ma’am
And if you ain’t into that we don’t give a damn
We’re from North California and south Alabam
And little towns all around this land
And we can skin a buck; we can run a trot-line
And a country boy can survive
Country folks can survive

This is a great song!! And it has so much truth to it!! I woke up this morning with this song in my head and it really got me thinking!?! What would happen in the world today if we lost all computer communications, lost electricity, and government control. It’s scary to even think about but it’s a worse-case scenario that could one day happen.
Would you be able to survive? Would you even know where to start or what to do? Everyone’s standards of living would drastically be dropped and there would be millions of people that wouldn’t even know where to began.
Can you image being raised in the old days when there was not virtually no technology? And it really wasn’t that long ago!! 80 years ago people lived so much different! There were people that still lived off the land, built their own houses from the ground up, hunted their food out of the woods, and were happy with their lives!
I read a series of books when I was 16 by a man that lived about an hour or so away from me in Fouke, Ark. The purpose of the books were firstly make sure the legend of the Fouke monster continues (but that is a WHOLE other story).
Secondly, to inform others of life for an ole’ country boy growing up in the back woods of Arkansas in the 30’s. He was proud of the way he was raised and the hardships that he faced because those struggles are what made him the person he was!!
Mr. J.E. “Smokey” Crabtree wrote a series of books, Smokey and the Fouke Monster, The Men behind the Legend, and Too Close to the Mirror. If you ever have the opportunity to read these books, please do. They will give you a different perspective on life in the old days and respect for your great grandparents and your ancestors.

I helped a friend get set to start couponing!!

Ok, so for the last couple of weeks, I haven’t really been keeping up with my coupon binder. I have been saving all my coupons not clipping and organizing. B it took a few hours to get it back in order but I got it ready for an afternoon of shopping!
Yesterday afternoon, I went to my sister-in-law’s house and we clipped, organized, searched ads for several hours. This was the first time she had an organized coupon binder and I was proud to have helped her. She did use coupon here and there but I wanted her to know that it is possible to get 120.00 worth of groceries for 40-45.00!
I went back today and we searched through all the ads for the best deals and I explained to her how I coupon shop. I tried to give her as many tips as possible and gave her a good head start on going on the FIRST trip.
She proudly called me after her shopping trip only going to one store, which in my opinion is the best choice with a teething baby. I explained earlier that if she didn’t mind taking quite a while at the register, she could go in wal-mart find the best priced items out of all the weekly ads, and when she checked out she could she the cashier the price in the other store’s ad and Wal-Mart will honor that price. It does take a long time to check out but if you can do this, why waste the gas driving around town with a fussy baby.
She was able to get everything she had planned to get and with the 31.00 gift card and 10.00 cash, she got a week’s worth of groceries!! I was so happy to have been able to help her out and I’m so glad that she is a coupon shopper now!! Yay Whitney!!
Let me know if I can help out in the future!!

Babies love music!! Even Rock N Roll!

During both of my pregnancies the first few times I felt my boys kick, was while I was playing the guitar with it pressed against my belly. Ok, so at first I didn’t know if they liked it or hated it. I continued to play during the majority of my pregnancy; until I literally couldn’t play because my belly was too big and I couldn’t fit it in my lap. Not to mention the babies kicked so much and so hard. It was much worse with my second son because I gained a few extra pounds and my belly got extra big.
Now with both of my boys avidly listening to my husband and I play, they really enjoy it! Dylan now crawling, likes to climb on it not really understanding the whole concept yet but Jaxon has his own “little man” guitar and strums a neat little beat. He also plays my hubby’s drums as often as I’ll let him!!
Kids love music even from an extremely young age so why not start them out early! It is a awesome hobby for the whole family.

My son cut his second tooth

I knew it wouldn’t be long until my six and a half month old son cut another tooth! He had been miserable the last few days and I felt terrible for him!! We used Tylenol and baby orajel all day long and finally at about 10:30 (last dose before bed) I felt it had broke through. He has still been miserable ever since and I hate it because I feel helpless, being unable to really do much of anything for him.
My first son didn’t get his first tooth until he was 11 months old and really didn’t have much trouble at all. He was only fussy a few days and they all seemed to come in at once. Well, one after another. He had all his teeth even his molars after only 4 months of cutting his first tooth.
I’ll be so glad when he’s feeling better and hope that he is able to get the fairly quick for his sake. He’s always such a happy baby and it is so unlike him to be so miserable. It’s really sad and hurts my heart!

Hearing Loss in Babies

3 out of every 1000 babies born today will suffer with some type of hearing loss and many of these babies aren’t diagnosed until months down the road. This is because only 43 states have laws passed that make sure each baby’s hearing is checked before they may leave the hospital. This means 7 states will not mandatorily check each baby! A baby with hearing loss may be given a clean bill of health and sent home and the problem may otherwise go unnoticed until the baby is little older!
Expecting mothers:
You can get a copy of your hospitals policies to find out if hearing screenings in newborns is a mandated law. After having my first child I found out that my insurance did not cover the screening but they range from $10 – $15 dollars depending on the different test used so even if it isn’t mandatory in your state you can still have it done for next to nothing!! Please make sure to get this done. It is defiantly worth it!!

Bird Seed

I have never really thought about it until my son became fascinated with it the other day, but children really seem to like birdseed. Running it between their fingers, stepping in it, playing with it, and making stuff with it!!

We decided to make a bird feeder stick with birdseed and peanut butter and afterword, Jax played with the birdseed for quite a while!! I know it feels really different than most anything a two year-old was played with before and he really loved it!! He even wanted to go play back in it again this morning when we went to watch the birds!

I’ve always heard that we should let your children explore everything, feel different textures, etc. and I think that this would be something WONDERFUL to add to a sensory table (with supervision of course)!! Perfect for this time of year, not to mention the birdfeed sticks you can make, and the great times you can have with your children watching and learning about birds!!

Garden Success!!

After several years of no success….. EVER with my garden, I seem to be having better luck this year! Gosh, I hope I don’t jinx myself!

I added several new flower beds finally after having nothing in the front yard for years. We recently added a front porch, which I love and I added a herb garden, vegetable garden, and two flower beds!!

My husband also bought me some Tiny Sensation Lily which I love because they are finally blooming and are beautiful!!

Last year, almost everything dies in the first month and what didn’t die, my oldest son either pulled up on stepped on!! Anyways, wish me luck for the rest of the season!! I am super excited that my yard is beautiful!

A Nice Quiet Friday Evening

I'm so happy that I can just sit here on a Friday evening with my husband and only one baby!! It's so nice! Usually every Friday night, my mother-in-law comes over to get my oldest son! And this Friday was no different!
I'm now able to enjoy  nice quite evening, listening to my husband play the guitar and water my plants without having to throw down the hose to run and get my son, who is usually taking off next door to his Honey's (grandmaw's) house.
I love living out in the country with no loud vehciles, neighbors, or anything else. Only the crickets at night and the occasional train! I love my life!

Eureka Whirlwind Upright Vacuum

I just bought this vacuum about 2 weeks ago and it really has some wonderful features. It advertises a “Whole Home Clean” on the front of the box which really is what lured me in.

It features the Power Paw which is great for upholstery, stairs, celling fans, blinds, curtains, and the list goes on and on. The Whirlwind using cyclonic technology that powerfully grabs dirt and dust deep down in your carpet and has a HEPA filter that catches 99.97% of dust and pet dander. Trust me, it makes a difference for people with allergies!!

My husband did have to assemble the vac for me but other than that it’s an easy to use vacuum. Also, is self propelled. I love this feature, being a small lady. It feels much lighter when it is running. I actually like to use this product and now, I don’t mind vacuuming….. as much!! LOL

MIO Liquid Water Enhancer

I ordered a free sample of this product about 2 months ago and have probably bought 4 more since then!! I love it! I’m not the only one, my son really likes it too, which is wonderful because there is 0 sugar, 0 sodium, and 0 fat! All natural flavors, nothing artificial!! It’s great!

A tiny container makes about 24 servings and you just add a few squirts to a bottle of water. It doesn’t get any easier than that!!

Bloggie Touch digital camera/camcorder by SONY

After my sweet little son destroyed me Kodak camera last Christmas and myself being camera-less for way too long, I went camera shopping!

I spent about an hour looking at cameras, trying to decide which one was best for the bucks I wanted to spend. I had decided on spending about $150 for something that would last with my rambunctious two year old, and take good quality photos.

The Bloggie Touch digital camera/camcorder was my final choice and after about a month of owning it, I couldn’t be more pleased. It take HD photos, 14 megapixels, records up to 2 hours of video, software installed on Bloggie (plug in camera to computer and automatically installs), 4 G memory, and it’s a touch screen. It’s extremely simple to use, there are only 3 buttons and everything else is done on the screen.

Some people may consider these the drawbacks but I do not. There are no batteries. You must plug it in to your computer to charge. I use mine for a week, everyday before I charge it, but the battery never goes below half way charged, so it has a very long charge! There is also nowhere to put a memory card, but with 4 G memory, there really no need for an additional memory card.

I ended up spending about $200, this included an extended 4 year warranty, but I’m so happy I bought it. It really takes amazing pictures and the software included is simple to use. You can automatically upload photos to your Facebook account, which I do quite often and love!!

Compost Piles

My grandmother always had a compost pile when I was growing up. I remember saving all kinds of  scrap veggies, fruits, and meats. So after several years of really no luck with my gardening I decided this year… what the heck! Hey it couldn’t hurt!

I started my pile back before Christmas so it was really to add to soil in early Feb.

I mixed compost in all my soil several weeks before planting and I have had wonderful results! I’m certain I’ll  continue my compost pile. I’m really just thrilled to have everything grow this year!!

A 6 month old with a tooth!!

So, after 4 days of non-stop crying and no sleep my poor little 6 month old son just cut his first tooth!! The doctor and I talked about it 2 weeks ago when he had his check up and he said he may be starting the process of teething but it will be a while before he gets any teeth…. boy has he wrong! And won’t he be surprised when Dylan goes back in 3 weeks for his next booster!!
I’m very relieved because I now know what has been wrong with him the last few days. Anyways, I’m glad I’m no longer breast feeding! Haha!

Dragon Age: 2

With everything going on the past couple of months, I have had no time for one of my favorite hobbies.... video gaming!! My husband even pre-ordered this game and we just now got it..... We pre-ordered back in December!!
Well, my husband started his character last night and was very happy with the game play, graphics, and his favorite, the cut scenes!
I will hopefully be able to start my character this weekend, finally! Every review I have heard has been great. I don't think I've heard one negative thing about this game so far. The only complaint I have heard has been from one of my friends, saying he wished the game would have been longer, which was my only complaint with the first Dragon Age.
Well, I probally won't do much blogging this weekend... gonna try to get some hours in on Dragon Age!! Yay!!