Busy Morning...

Wow, We had a busy morning in the house today. Woke up @ 8am to get my older kids on the bus. Then got dressed, woke up little bug and got her dressed for school/daycare. Then woke up monster man to get him dressed and ready for his appointment @ the doctors. Told the little ones to wake daddy up to say goodbye before we headed out.

Stopped by the gas station to get gas, the van was on empty. Sometimes we run it dry. Gas was $3.85 a gallon...Holy Crap!!! Gas is getting expensive. Little bug arrived on time and went on the playground before class started. Then off to the doctors to get monster man in to see his Pediatrician. We arrived right on time. YAY for Mom's super driving, LOL

Had to pay a few co pays. Got him back in the room, he weighs 31.6lbs, WOOHOO, Way to Grow Monster Man!!!! The reason for his visit was last Thursday night he was complaining of an earache, and I'm thinking on here we go again with that, he becomes a horrible bear when he gets an ear infection. Friday it was still bothering him, but his dad said he didn't complain of it hurting all weekend while he was there, but still went to the appointment for the reassurance. She checked him out and thankfully his ears were clear!!! YAY, she checked to see if his 4 year molars were possibly coming in, and sure enough he has some swelling in his gums where his 4 year molars should come in, so that was probably the cause of the pain. She stated it might become more frequent as they come in, but just monitor him, and if I had any questions to call her. She is an awesome doctor!

One appointment down, 1 to go!!!!

My appointment was reassurance that my body had a natural miscarriage and no intervention was needed. Which Nathan and I were positive that is exactly what happened, but I needed that reassurance and had questions, that no matter how much research on the internet I did, i would rather confirm those answers with a medical professional. I peed in my cup to do the pregnancy test. The nurse asked me a series of questions, that included How many pregnancies I have had, including live births, miscarriages and abortions; My last period, when the miscarriage started, etc....The doctor came in, and stated my pregnancy test was negative which was good, he did an exam, also a pap smear, since I was a little overdue for one. She stated my miscarriage was complete, no medical intervention needed. YAY for my body doing it correctly. I asked him if I can ovulate without have my period after a miscarriage and he stated yes, I told him I suspected I ovulated a few days ago, he replied with my cervix looks as ovulation possibly occurred. He said if my period doesn't show within 2 weeks take a test, if it is positive go ahead and call the office and they will schedule an appointment for me to see their new OB/GYN, she is new and wonderful. I agreed. He stated we can start trying again when we feel comfortable. We were not actively trying, but not necessarily preventing, just going with the flow. He told me to continue to take mt prenatal.

I was happy with the appointment. And now we are going with the flow for a few months...

Promotion for Hubby?!?!?!

So if you all didn't know my husband is in the MIT (Manager in Training) program at his job. He works as a cook at Travel Centers of America. He has been working there since August 2011. He loves it. It is a very low pressure job compared to working as a cook at Cracker Barrel where we met. Shortly after he started working at the TA, their General Manager moved on to bigger and better things and they brought in a new manager, who he got along with quite well. By October, I believe it was, he was put into the MIT program.

I wont go into the stupid problems he has endured over the past 2 months, because it's petty crap that should have never been started to begin with.

Country Pride is the restaurant he works at. Its not bad food, lol. Its mainly buffet with other items cooked to order. He started off being the 4pm to midnight cook. But since being in the MIT program, and bringing on one of his good friends from Cracker Barrel. He isn't the 4-12 cook, but does some Manager shifts and 1 overnight shift from 12am-8am. It's the one shift I hate! Granted it is only one night a week, but still, I have issues with sleeping when he isn't here.

There were talks of several places we could go if accepted a Manager position with Travel Centers of America. The one I absolutely detested was Rawlins, Wyoming. 1st off, if anyone from there reads this, it has nothing to do with your city nor your state; It's just we have 2 little ones in our family, and I know that Nathan could not be that far away from little Jenessa, and I don't want to take Andrew that far away from his birth dad. As he does see him every other weekend. Other places were Alabama, Georgia, Texas, etc...Those are just to name a few. But in reality i would rather stay in Florida while our youngest are little and not in school yet. But in my heart, I know I need a change, emotionally I need that change. And the change would be good for our family too. I have never lived outside of Florida and I think my body is telling me that I need that change.

So last week He got a call from his General Manager, it was his day off and he asked him to come in that he needed to talk to him. And I hate when they do that because he always ends up getting stuck there. It drives me bonkers!!!! So we went down there. Andrew and I waited in the car. He was not happy about that, as he wanted to go into daddy's work. He came back out within 20 minutes or so. I asked him what happened, and he said I will fill you in when we pull out. I was thinking something bad if he would not tell me right away. As we left, he said 1st off I have to go into work. We are going home, I'm changing and take me back, I don't want to leave you without the van today in case you need to work too. I was pretty much on an on call basis with my job as it was seasonal work. He then said I have an interview with Nick the District Manager tomorrow about a Kitchen Manager in another store in Ocala, Florida. Which I was over the moon about because he knew I did not want to leave Florida.

One thing we did not realize after he interviewed was that the job was not with Travel Centers of America and Country Pride, but it was actually for their sister company Petro Travel Center, and the restaurant is Iron Skillet. And with what research I have done; it seems Iron Skillet is just like Country Pride, but a little bigger with a bigger buffet, offering more items.

And Nate learned that the job isn't in Ocala, Florida; but actually in Carnesville, Georgia. If he accepted the job, he would be going to Ocala for his training, then going to Carnesville for the job. Which is fine. Georgia boarders Florida, and we would be close to my parents, but after researching we found out that we would the just able the same distance from parents as we are now, just the opposite direction. Which is still fine. I was more happy with the thought of going to Ocala, because it would put us an hour away from them.

We should know sometime this week if he is offered the position. Everyone cross their fingers!!!!

Something New...

So one of the reasons why i started this blog is to be able to make some extra cash, or heck even make money full time, but some extra cash would be nice. I would love to get into starting to do reviews and giveaways, but I'm not really sure how to get started. I'm not having much luck researching on the internet either, and its rare that I don't find what I'm looking for on the internet. One thing I have always been good at is researching. I will search till I find exactly what I'm looking for, but lately trying to find out how to start doing reviews and giveaways is leading me to a brick wall...Not very happy about it. And of course the other thing reason why I started this blog was for my family. We have a busy life, and although I might not always get on here, I still post about the major things that have occurred in our life. So with that said, yes I have some updates to post about. Which they will be following the next few days.... And if anyone who stumbles upon my blog knows how I might be able to get started with reviews and giveaways, leave me a comment please :)

Never got to say goodbye...

It's been really hard for me to write this post. Nobody ever wants to say goodbye to someone they never had chance to say hello too.

On March 9th, 2012, Nathan and I got the news we had been waiting for awhile. That we were pregnant! We were both shocked that we did it; but again we were so happy. I calculated my estimated due date to be around November 14th, 2012. A Thanksgiving baby! We were so delighted. So that put me early in my pregnancy, around 4 weeks.

So that was why I had a horrible stomach ache all day that would not go away! I ate 9 slices of pizza for dinner and the stomach ache got a little better, but not much. We laughed in bed that night as Nathan had to work overnights it was a Friday. And we laughed as we were in Walmart earlier that day and was actually going to pick out 2 outfits for our future child not knowing I was actually pregnant. But we decided to wait. Nathan wanted this baby to be a surprise, and that is hard for me, as I really want to know the sex, but I struck strong. But then he put the outfits back and said we will find out the sex, its too hard not knowing.

Later that night is when we found out I was pregnant. The test line was light pink, but a line is a line. We were overjoyed from then on. I had light cramps off and on, but that is normal, as my body was getting used to someone else being in there. But the weekend went on. Andrew was at his dad's house as he is only 3 he doesn't really understand much. But I could not wait till he got home to tell him that I had a baby in my belly.

By Sunday night Andrew was home from his dad's house, and I was so excited to tell him. He was happy, and said I can't see the baby, and I told him he could't see the baby till November when he or she was ready to come out of mommy's belly. Later that night Nathan's older three kids, were picked up by their sister to go visit their mom in Sanford for Spring Break.

Monday morning, I took my other test I had waiting and the test line was still light but still there. Again a line is a line. I went to work Monday and had cramping off and on, but again cramping is normal as my body is adjusting to having someone else in there. I walked from my work to Nathan's work as he had the van. He asked me to walk home as his boss needed to have a vehicle in case he needed to go somewhere, I told him I was cramping a bit, and didn't feel comfortable walking home, but oh well. I started on my walk home, and I got to the light and he texted me to come back and get the van as he didn't care what his boss said, and i shouldn't have to walk. I told him I did not want him to get in trouble, but I would go back to get the van. I went home and tried to take a nap, but Andrew was making that impossible. When Nathan was off work, I went to pick him up, and when we got home before bed, I noticed I was spotting light pink. And I remembered from my pregnancy with Andrew that I did spot light pink off and on, and I have a healthy 3 year old now. But something did not feel right. I had a feeling I was losing the baby, but praying that everything was fine.

I woke up Tuesday morning and I was bleeding. It was over, I lost the baby. It was the most heartbreaking thing ever. I was so hurt, that I let my body fail in having a healthy pregnancy. Nathan was numb and silent, couldn't even talk to me. I was scared that he would not want to try again. We were silent to each other for awhile. I felt so angry with God. Why would he let us see those positive tests if he was never going to let us keep the baby. I felt it was unfair and cruel. Nathan told me not to think like that, as he felt like we jumped the gun, by testing so early, my period wasn't due just yet. But I was pregnant. But not anymore.

The cramping was horrible, the bleeding was horrible. I couldn't stand the pain, it felt worse then having my regular period. Although Nathan disagrees; he said he has seen me in more pain when I am having my regular period. We had several long talks and we decided that we would wait awhile before trying again. My body just was not ready to support a pregnancy yet.

I know what happened with the pregnancy and the baby. I had what is called a Chemical Pregnancy. A chemical pregnancy is the clinical term used for a very early miscarriage. In many cases, the positive pregnancy test was achieved before the woman’s period was due but a miscarrige occured before a heartbeat was able to be seen on an ultrasound. (from www.babyhopes.com) It is hard to accept, and I still cry at times. But everyday it does get a little easier.

I have to remind myself what the IUD did to my body as far as preventing pregnancy. Mirena is a soft, flexible IUD that releases small amounts of hormone locally into your uterus. It gives you birth control you can count on—that lasts for as long as you want, for up to 5 years. Mirena is more than 99% effective at preventing pregnancy. You can try to become pregnant as soon as Mirena is removed. Within a year of having Mirena removed, about 8 out of 10 women succeed at becoming pregnant. If you have a pelvic infection, get infections easily or have certain cancers, Mirena is not right for you. Mirena is also proven to reduce heavy periods in women who choose intrauterine contraception. In my honest opinion I will not get it again, it also thins out the lining of your uterus so you cannot support a healthy pregnancy. Although you can get pregnant on the Mirena, if you suspect your pregnant and you have an IUD, you need to see a doctor immediately.

Although we never got to say hello, we never really said goodbye either. I know you are watching over us in Heaven, keeping all of us safe, and one day we will meet again.

Baby Frazier 3/13/12

We got it...

We got our van!!! Definitely not the van I had shown a picture of in a previous blog.

We did go look @ the van I showed a picture of, but after test driving it we noticed there was a small knock in the engine. Definitely a big problem. We cannot buy a vehicle that already had an issue with it. We need a vehicle that is going to be reliable for our family.

Funny story about test driving the Honda was I told Nate we were going to drive by another car lot to see what they had as well. He said fine but pull in so we can look. I was not to keen on stopping to look at other vehicles while on a current test drive, I definitely did LMAO, when we decided to do it. So we did. The sales guy was nice & informative, down to earth, told the facts. He actually asked about the van wed pulled up in. we We told him everything and did LOL as well.
So we took the Honda back. Nate told the guy about the engine, he said ok, Nate said no thanks on the van. The guy handed him his card, & we left & went to the other lot.

After we did our paperwork, got our numbers. Narrowed down to 2 vans, one being an 7 passenger, the other an 8 passenger. We decided on the 7 passenger. We are very happy with our decision.

We bought a 2001 Dodge Caravan. It its blue, & I love it!!

We have a reason to Cloth Diaper...

We finally have a reason to Cloth Diaper...No, I'm not pregnant...yet, lol. I was so happy when i realized we finally had a reason to Cloth Diaper. We have 2 A Mommy's Touch AI2 diapers in our stash for our new baby, but Nathan does not want me using them on Andrew. my reason is they are diapers, and he doesn't wear them anymore, but they do fit him, lol.

Our youngest son is still potty training, he wears pull ups at night, but we ran out 3 days ago, The 1st night he just wore a thicker training pants by Gerber and no accidents. On the 2nd night we did the same trainer because the 1st night we had no accidents, well he had an accident. So i changed him, and my hubby found a swim diaper and i used that. He had another accident, my fault probably because swim diapers are not designed like regular diapers, so i changed him back into another pair of training underwear and hoped for the best, and he remained dry for the rest of the night.

On the 3rd day i woke up and got smart. I went on You Tube and looked up "How to fold a receiving blanket into a cloth diaper and found this video for the "Origami fold" and went with it.

We used this video and folded up all the receiving blankets. I decided there is no use in buying pull ups when I can use these, and get hard core with getting him accident free at night. Its rare that he has accidents at night, and ever more rare when he has more then 1 accident per night.

So on the 3rd night we got him ready for bed in his origami folded receiving blanket with a snappi, and a Gerber Birdseye cloth diaper folded as a lay in insert, a pair of his thicker training underwear, and his pj shorts and sent him off to bed. I made sure i had back ups in case he had an accident. He woke up once and needed to go potty. Then he woke up wet through to his shorts, I changed him into my back up that did not have the Birdseye folded insert, but instead another receiving blanket folded as an insert, he didn't remain fully dry for the rest for the night. He woke up and I changed him, but he wasn't wet through to the receiving blanket on the outside, but just the folded insert. I was so happy and proud of him.

Here are the pictures of what we folded and how it looked.

Here is Andrew all ready for bed in his origami folded receiving blanket with a snappi. The one thing is we do not have any type of water proof cover to use, So i am improvising for now on that, till I can either get something or make something.

And here is the picture of our little stash.

The one on the right is the ready to use with an insert in case of an accident Too bad we are only using them this week till Thursday night, as Drew is going to his dad's for the weekend. I am happy and very proud of myself.

Too Long...I know...Several Awesome Updates!!!

I know I left again. We have been having internet difficulties lately. But now everything is fixed. We gave Comcast the ax, don't even want to go into it. We are happy with U-Verse. I love it. I'm not happy with their channel line up, but it is something I can get used to. My son is definitely not happy that it does not include Sprout TV, which means no more "Super Why" He loves that show, and although at times I feel it can be corny, It is a very good educational show.

Things have been a little stressful here, we are one of the millions of Americans that are still waiting for their tax refund still. We filed on 2/1/12, and at first we were told we would have it by February 21st, then it was changed to February 14th. We on Friday, hubby and I decided we would give it a rest and quit obsessing when it would come cause we know its coming, its just really hard when you need that money. So I made it to Sunday without obsessively checking and the message i received was we should have it by February 23rd. And Hubby said, "So much for their 21 day promise". Its not really a promise from the IRS that we will receive it within 21 days, that is just the normal processing times for the IRS, but I think when they implemented this new pay system, i think it was, everything got screwed up, and i know a lot of my local friends are either getting them a week early or a week late. I really truly hope this money comes before the 24th, but I know i can wait until then.

We know exactly the van we are getting, there's a hint to one thing we are using our tax money for, is finally getting a bigger vehicle!!!! But without any type of money we cannot do much about it. Here is a picture of it. I really hope we can get it

Isn't it beautiful!!! Just perfect for our family size.

In more good news, I finally got my sewing machine, Thank to my wonderful mother!!!! I had originally asked for hers, thinking she didn't use it anymore, but she cannot locate it in the hanger, she decided I did not need her old one, but a brand new one. So she bought me a Singer Heavy Duty 4100 series. I love it. I haven't used one since i was a teen and it was my moms i used. I had no problem threading the bobbin, but I am having problems threading the machine properly, and all the thread is bunching on the bottom. When I told my husband he said I will help you with it on Monday on my day off. So tomorrow he is gonna help me and i can finally get to sewing!!!! YAY for me!!!!

Here is a picture of the Sewing Machine she got me. I am in love with it. After my mom said she was going to buy me one instead of giving me hers, i told her i didnt want anything special, something with plenty of stitch choices, nothing too fancy or expensive. I love her to death, she knew I needed something to last me. My 1st project, is my 1st cloth diaper. Nothing too fancy or special. I dont have all the materials to make it at this exact moment. I still need some hook and loop and FOE, and i want some regular elastic. I like the look of the FOE, but i know it wont work for every type of cloth diaper.

Here is a picture of what i have so far, sorry for the poor quality, they were taken on my phone.

It is made from one of my husbands old huge t-shirts and one of my sons old baby blanket. It has only 3 diaper layers, but i am attaching an internal soaker pad as well. It's ok if I dont every use it daily, but its my first trial diaper, and im proud of myself, and so is hubby.

I know the stitching on the internal soaker isn't correct, but its not done, cause of the thread bunching on the bottom. But it is only my 1st attempt. So i know it wont be perfect. Before i attempt to buy all my fabrics, including PUL, I want to get some good practice. Plus i have tons of things i can use around the house to make diapers, covers, inserts, and cloth wipes. Plus i want to attempt a few wet bags too.

He asked me if i could get a good hang of doing this, could I make them at home and sell them, and i told him absolutely, So we will see how good i can get!!!

Here is some random thought for you all...What would the world be like without us?