He’s here!

Posted by chel on November 13th, 2008 |Filed Under General | 1 Comment

Trent was born on October 19th at 5:30 am… a whopping 9 lbs. 6 oz. and 22 inches long! He was very anxious to come into the world. My water broke around 2:50 am and we got to the hospital about 3:20 am. By the time the nurse checked me I was already at 7 cm… which means too late for an epidural (!) He was born at 5:30 am. He had to be in NICU for 36 hours because his oxygen levels kept dropping. But thanks to all of the incredible nurses and doctors, he’s fine and we felt safe that he was in good hands the entire time. He is such a handsome little guy and such a good baby… just like his sister was. She by the way, is an incredible big sister and very proud of her little brother. A baby is such a little blessing.

I’m doing well. I only took 2 weeks off from watching the boys. It’s just a money thing. I wish I would have had more time with just our family but what can ya do? Now, I’m thinking about starting to workout again, start eating right, blah blah blah. Of course, finding time to take a shower isn’t even an easy task, let alone work out. J isn’t very hands on with the baby. I didn’t expect him to be, I guess. But a little time to myself would be very nice… just to go for a walk and hopefully start running again. Now it’s getting pretty cold and I can’t take Trent with me in the stroller. So, unless I go around 5am (if Trent happens to be fed, happy and asleep) when it’s dark and cold or at night when J gets home (if Trent happens to be fed, happy and asleep) when it’s dark and cold, it’s pretty much impossible, I think. I’ll figure something out… I guess I’ll just bundle up, where something reflective and go when it’s dark and cold.

Anyway, I only weigh a couple of pounds more then I did before I got pregnant. I think around 175 now. I’ll have to weigh myself in the morning. So, I’m thinking I’ll be happy if I can start eating healthy food, kick my Dr. Pepper “addiction” and start walking (at first). It would be nice to lose about a pound a week. Not very gung ho, I know but slow and steady wins the race. If I could do that I would be around 140ish in May. That would be just fine with me.

frustrating

Posted by chel on August 22nd, 2008 |Filed Under General | 1 Comment

I find it frustrating that the parents of the children I watch are so lazy. I can understand not having money to buy new things for their children. They are quite “poor”. I can even understand not having any money to buy anything new or used… but what the hell is wrong with keep what the kids do have clean. What the hell is wrong with making sure the mud is off of your 7 year old daughters shoes so she can wear them for gym class on the 3rd day of school!?!?! I thought my husband was going to go thru the roof this morning when they showed up with their daughter in tears because her parents were too lazy to get the 1/2 inch thick mud caked on her old ass shoes from camping over 3 weeks ago! No, they want her to go to school wearing healed shoes that are 2 sizes to big for her. Her mom even said “Not my shoes. Not my responsibility.” IS THAT INSANE? She is seven years old! Anyway, J had her go down to her house to get her shoes before her parents left for work, so I could try to clean them up. Well, they were so bad that I had to soak them and even though we put them in the dryer they weren’t near dry enough for her to take to school. We felt so bad. But the poor little thing was just happy and thankful that someone gave a crap, I think. Because before they got on the bus, she gave me a big hug and said thanks for trying. Sorry, I needed to vent.

Sis had a great time at school. Daddy took her as I have the kids at 6:15 every morning. He took pics and had a tough time leaving her. Now, I know what he went through as tears were rolling down my face as I took pictures of her getting on the bus this morning. It just goes way to fast. WAY to fast!

One of the stray cats we feed came to our front door late yesterday afternoon, barely breathing. I wrapped him in a towel and held him in my arms as he passed away. We’re not sure what happened to him. He was fine one minute and gone the next kind of thing. We’ll bury him next to the others we couldn’t save out at my folks in the country tonight.  It was quite the day yesterday.

I go to the doctor today. The boys will be going with me. Hopefully, they’ll be fed and content and it will go smoothly. I’ve been having what I’m guessing (hoping) are stronger braxton hicks contractions. I’ll talk to her about it today and see what she thinks. Poor J had a dream last night that I thought I was having a braxton hicks contraction and ended up having the little guy in the toilet. It was pretty disturbing to him, I think.

The boys have about another hour of nap time and I better get the cleaning done. I hope everyone has a good weekend.

nap time

Posted by chel on August 14th, 2008 |Filed Under General | 1 Comment

It’s nap time here. So, the little ones are sleeping quietly on the couch and the other is watching a movie. Sis is at grandma’s as grandma needs a little extra Sis time before she starts school next Thursday. I can barely believe it’s that time already. She’ll love school. She’ll make friends easily and the work will be fun for her.

I started watching the kids down the street last Monday. On Tuesday, we realized they came down with the chicken pox. Sis hasn’t showed up with them. We’re praying she doesn’t get them so she can start school on the first day with the rest of her class. I had the parents keep the kids at home til the doctor said it wouldn’t be contagious anymore. We’ll see, I suppose.

I’ll tell ya what! I should have done this years ago when Sis was born. What a perfect job for me! I’m somewhat of a homebody, I don’t really care for most adults much… if I’m being honest… Anyway, it’s just perfect and I’m sure J will see that when I get my first check. He already knows how much I love it. I don’t think he understands how much work it is. But that’s okay…

I had my first DHS visit today. He came to see the kids since it’s protective daycare. He was a nice fellow. I was elbow deep in a poop explosion when the door bell rang. But it’s very rare that the house isn’t clean, I had no screaming kids, nothing boiling over on the stove, and only 3 cats in sight… so I’m sure I made a good first impression. As far as the cats go… most of the time unless I’m cooking up some chicken or they hear the food dishes… ya could barely tell we have 18 cats.

The baby is due in about 2 months and I’m starting to think about all of the things that need to be done before he arrives. I would like to paint, maybe switch rooms… put the kids in our room… set up the crib, ya know all of that stuff. I need to order diapers… that’s right… clothe diapers. I’ve gotten used to the nasty poop thing since Koa our little handicapped kitty uses cloth diapers. Baby poop isn’t half as bad as cat poop. We have a pretty good little set of clothes but I’m sure he’ll have more once he’s born.

The girl next door asked if I would watch her daughter. She’s a cute little thing, about a year old. But I think I need to see how things go with the 2 boys and a the baby and the 2 girls before and after school and days off school before I go promising to take care of anymore kids. I hate that when you see these at home daycare people trying to have more kids than they can handle. I’m a mom and I know that when my kids go to a daycare I want to know they are getting individual attention and love. Not just an assembly line of macaroni and cheese  and diaper changes.

Anyway, as much as I love doing this… I still love quiet time. And it’s worked out so well today. So, I’m gonna take these last couple of minutes to do… well… nothing.

12 weeks to go!

Posted by chel on July 29th, 2008 |Filed Under General | 2 Comments

I’m in that EVERYTHING MUST BE CLEAN AND ORGANIZED stage of pregnancy. I love this stage. The baby sure is a little wrestler… he’ll give his big sister a run for her money by the way he’s been moving around in there. What a cool feeling…

So, I was finally approved thru dhs for registered daycare. I start watching the kids down the street on Monday. I’m very excited. It will help a lot and it seems that maybe this is  a good match for me. What’s so great is that I’ll be here for Sis when she gets home from school and I’ll raise the baby instead of someone else. Of course there’s always some one trying to burst my bubble. My mother in law doesn’t seem to think I can “handle” it. Oh well, that’s her opinion. My mom thinks it will be great for me.

We have 18 cats right now. Only seven will be finding new homes. The rest will be staying with us. As long as I’m home, it’s no big deal. I trust all of them. They are all great around babies (they just ignore them) and as long as the litters and the house are kept clean they are good. But still it can be quite a bit of work. Koa, our little handicapped kitty is doing well. He got a clean bill of health from the vet. Although, I think his immune system is quite up to snuff. He seems to have a cold a lot and he doesn’t grow like the other kittens from his litter. I’ve fashioned diapers out of socks. I just cut little holes for his legs and tail. Every morning he gets a diaper change (along with about 4 more throughout the day) and a bath which he’s gotten pretty used to. He also gets a small helping of nutritional yeast on his food and about 5 minutes of physical therapy everyday.

Sis will be starting school the 20th of August. I can barely believe it. She’s pretty excited now that we got her hello kitty lunch box with matching thermos. She’s so stinkin’ cute… I can barely stand it! She’s very excited about her little brother. She makes sure she gives my belly a hug and a kiss everyday and her sweet little voice whispers I love you little brother.

Posted by chel on June 27th, 2008 |Filed Under General | 2 Comments

It’s amazing how fast time goes by. We’re all doing well. The little one is moving around like crazy. That’s such a cool feeling. Sis felt it for the first time last night. I loved how her eyes lit up when she realized her little brother was kickin’ her.

Some of you guys might of heard of the flooding in the midwest. I live just outside of Cedar Rapids. I wasn’t in it or even near it really. But I had an that lost her house and two of my brothers are out of work because of it. When you hear of things like that on the news in other places, you tend to think… oh those poor people and move on with your day. When it’s so close and affecting so many people you know and places you’ve been… things that are special to you… that you remember from your childhood, it really hits you hard and it’s all you can think about it. J and I got married in the bar we met in a year to the day we met. It was flooded up to the roof. The A & W where mom and dad took us when were kids got flooded too. People who lived in the flood plain didn’t have a lot of money. Houses are a little less expensive there. I know because I looked at houses down there because they were decent houses for less money. It’s never been flooded like that so you can kind of see where a false sense of security would come from. Most of those folks don’t have flood insurance either. What insurance company is gonna give them flood insurance? So, people like my 75 year old aunt who’s lived in the same house for 35 years has lost everything she owns, her house, her furniture, her pictures, the blankets made by my grandma… everything just gone. And now what… now she lives the rest of her days in an apartment. Some of these people can’t even go back to their houses because they’ve been inspected and are said to be unsafe. But like most any other time some sort of disaster hits this area, people pull together, find strength from each other and in God and end up just fine if not better than before… It’s just so weird one weekend we’re downtown buying tomatoes and basil plants from vendors at the farmers market… the next weekend it’s all under water.

how cute!

Posted by chel on May 27th, 2008 |Filed Under General | 3 Comments

So, Sis, bursting with excitement, went to Grandma’s and announced that “We’re having a boy!” Grandma asked “How do you know you’re having a boy?” Sis replied “Because he has peanuts.” Is that to cute? So, now everyone is calling it a peanut. She is such a cutie!

“yep, that’s a penis”

Posted by chel on May 23rd, 2008 |Filed Under General | 2 Comments

We’re having a boy! That was such a cool experience to see that little guy rollin’ around in there. That was just so cool! J really got into it. I think it all really made it sink in for him… seeing the baby’s little fingers and toes and all. I asked the lady if she did the 4d ultrasounds and she offered a quick peak with the 4d and put some of the pics on a cd for us. That was even more cool. I left the cd in J’s car so I didn’t lose it. I hopped on the bus back home so he didn’t have drive me clear across town. I didn’t want to lose the cd or get the pictures wet. I’ll see about putting a pic up when I get the disc.

SO EXCITING!!!!

Posted by chel on May 20th, 2008 |Filed Under General | 1 Comment

Wow, I didn’t realize how long it’s been since I wrote. It seems like there’s been a lot going on lately.

First of all,  things are going great with the baby. I had a doctors appointment last Friday. Sis went with me and heard the heartbeat. She thought that was pretty darn cool. We have an ultrasound scheduled for Friday morning. We’ve decided to find out what the baby is this time. For some reason, I think it’s a boy. We’ll find out on Friday.

After last Fridays doctors appointment, Sis and I hopped on a bus and went to the mall. She was so cute. She loved riding the bus. Then, we went to a little girls shop called Justice that just opened and played at the little thing they have for kids there. Then, we had some lunch. It was a great day.

GUESS WHAT!!! We bought an oven… yes… after 4 years we’ll have an oven. It’s being delivered on Thursday night. So, I’ve been making a list of things to get so we can have a baking frenzy on Friday. We’re all pretty excited about that. I can barely wait.

We have 8 kittens in here right now. They’re moms brought them up to our porch when a mean ol’ tom cat tried getting them. One of them, who we’ve named Koa (Ko-ah)… it means determined, brave and like the tree can survive anything. He has a defect of some kind and can’t use his back legs. But the little bugar sure gets around good. 4 of the grown cats came home from the spay and neuter clinic this morning… not very happy by the way.

I’ll let you guys know what we find out on Friday.

Posted by chel on April 28th, 2008 |Filed Under General | 3 Comments

So, it seems we’ve talked J into letting me take care of Sis’ friend and her two little brothers. I just need to get a home phone number, get all the cats up to date on their shots, move a litter box or two and do some baby proofing. Then, I’ll put in the application to be a registered daycare provider with my 3 letters of recommendation, get a home inspection and call it done. It’s gonna be great! Not only do I get to stay home with Sis, she gets to play with her friend, I can still keep the house going the way it has been and I’ll get a good hefty check from the state every month… about what I made at my last job. And the boys will have some one around to work with them and spend time with them. The lady they go to now just plops them on the floor until they cry. So, I’m pretty happy about this for so many reasons.

Need to get to work on some stuff. Have a good day, girls!

feelin’ thankful

Posted by chel on April 24th, 2008 |Filed Under General | 3 Comments

She amazes me. I can watch her for hours. The other day, while I watched her play with her little dolls, I wondered why we lose that ability to make believe like that. And I asked her if she would teach me how to play. I told her that I think I’ve grown up so much that I’ve forgotten how to play… to pretend. So, now everyday we have “school” and that’s when she teaches me how to pretend. She takes it very seriously. It’s the best time of the day. It’s tough work… to try to forget all of the things that need to be done, stop worrying about bills and just play. But I have a very good teacher.

She’s at grandma’s today for story time and a Cinderella play at a high school tonight. So, today I’m going thru her toys to get rid of some of the things she doesn’t play with anymore… mostly McDonalds toys and such. We cleaned her room yesterday and I told her we needed to go thru it and get rid of some stuff. She said I should do it by myself because she won’t want to get rid of anything. It’s hard to believe she’s only 5 sometimes. But I’m not allowed to give away any buddies (stuffed animals) without asking her.

Then, tomorrow I’ll go thru and organize all of the paperwork. It’s getting there. The toughest part will be our room because all of J’s stuff is in there. Then, I might go ahead and start painting. It feels so good to be able to take pride in my home. I’m just not one of those women who can go work all day and come home and do housewoork, take care of the kids, and keep a garden. I love taking care of my home. I just have to do one or the other… I just can’t find the energy to do it all.

 Well, I better get my butt to work. Those toys won’t sort themselves.


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