Someone's going to the potty....

My little guy is potty-trained! Hats off to cloth diapering. He has officially been going for a total of 3 weeks. He even goes to our weekly football games in undies, and has not had 1 accident. He'll be 2 in February, and that's one thing we don't have to worry about.

Funny thing though.... He refuses to use a child's potty chair. With the other kids, I always took the potty in the car/van whenever we were on an outing. Because you never know when a toddler is going to need to go! I would line it with a plastic grocery bag and have extras in the vehicle. Well, this little guy refuses to use it. He will just hold it in until we got home or to a "real" toilet. All of a sudden the other day he decides that he is willing to use a cup or empty water bottle if we are not near a toilet. Maybe it's just fun to pee in a paper cup...! Gotta love him... for God has definitely supplied me with a lifetime of laughter and joy through this little man.

"My mouth shall speak the praise of the Lord, and all flesh shall bless His holy name forever and ever." Psalm 145:21

Deals, Deal, Deals!!!

I'm all about a great deal. Heck, I'm all about a good deal. Awhile back, a friend of mine told me about the best thing happening for us frugal mommies: couponing. I stored it in the back of my mind in the file that says "I'm going to do this, but will it really benefit me?". See, I thought my monthly trips to Walmart and Sav-A-Lot and menu planning were saving me all the possible money I could save. However, yesterday I get a call that I could use coupons to get FREE bathroom tissue. Yes, you read that correctly; FREE!!! Of course since couponing was filed in my brain, I had not been collecting the Sunday papers like a true couponing diva is suppose to do. Luckily for me the coupon I needed was not from weeks ago, but from this past Sunday. So I rushed out to buy a few papers. Yes, I did spend $5 on papers, but I have 5 papers worth of coupons for upcoming sales, so I will recoup my 5 bucks easily. Actually I did just that yesterday at Albertsons. I went to the store armed with my 6 coupons (5 that I bought and the 1 that I get each Sunday anyway). The tissue was on sale 10 for $10, so that made them each $1. My coupon was for $1 off! YAY!!! FREEEEEEEE! I also had 6 coupons for Rayovac batteries attatched to the tissue coupons. Guess what?! The batteries were BOGO (buy 1 get 1 free). The cost for 1 pack was $3.99, so that made them about $2 each. With a dollar off coupon, that made each pack $1!!!! My total bill came to $7.23, with a savings of $27.51 (coupons & instore sales). How's that for a first timer? Here's what I got....

I guess my 4 year old was as happy as I was. Probably because he's going to use all those batteries for his Gameboy.

"Sing to God, sing praises to His name...." Psalm 68:4

Ugh!

Life has been pretty hectic these last couple of days. On Thursday, Mikaela was diagnosed with pneumonia and then on Friday, Darion. Then of course, Friday night Mikaela had an allergic reaction to the antibiotic or the Motrin that she was taking for her constant 103.6 degree fever. I say of course, because in my house somebody is going to be allergic to something. The pediatrician tells me to stop giving the antibiotic and only administer Benadryl to her every 6 hours for 24 hours. Also, I was instructed that if the hives came back we were to take her directly to the ER. Well, guess what? At 10pm Saturday night, the hives came back with a vengeance. We stayed at the ER until 4:30am. They were going to keep her for the pneumonia, but thank God she responded to the triple dose of albuterol breathing treatment. By the way, my daughter is a warrior. She had never had to have blood drawn before, but she handled it like a pro. They had to try in 3 different places, even the wrist area on the back of her hand, and not once did she cry, nor did she even whine. The nurse was moving that needle all around trying to get a vein, and my baby girl laid there like they had given her anesthesia. I was so impressed with her bravery!

Anyway, she's now on the same antibiotic as Darion. However, the hives are still resurfacing every 4 hours. Poor thing! But on a good note, her fever is gone, and she's feeling a lot better, albeit a little tired and drained.

Since the ER visit, I have had to give Mikaela breathing treatments every 4 hours. Talking about sleep deprivation! At about 12:30am after administering a treatment, I went to come down the stairs to go back to bed, and I slid down the stairs. My back hurts, my neck hurts, and I think I might have hit my head, because I had the worst headache. What's the saying...? When it rains, it pours!

But, this too shall pass.

Coth diapering

I decided a couple of months ago to switch to cloth diapers for a number of reasons. One being money. I will point out that I did want to cloth diaper with my fourth child when money wasn't an issue, but my husband was against it. The economy is taking it's toll, so I decided to take the plunge. My husband is still not completely on-board, but at least he isn't forbidding it.

Anyway, it has cost me a total of $5 to cloth diaper my 19 month old. I used old receiving blankets, old flannel shirts, an old blanket, some cloth diapers we've used as burp cloths for the last three kids, and a wool-like sweater. The sweater became two diaper covers for overnights. The blanket became rectangular strips to keep the moisture from going through the cloth diapers. I cut out and sewed 6 diapers that would be considered AIO (all-in-ones). I did these by hand since I do not own a sewing machine. After about two weeks of having to wash them every night, I decided that 6 was definitely not enough. However, I did not want to sit and sew anymore AIOs, because it literally took me an hour to do one by hand. So I used the remainder of the receiving blankets and the flannel shirts and just cut large rectangles. I now just take one large rectangle, line it with a rectangular strip and a folded cloth diaper, and then pin it on him. The five dollars I spent were on a 4-pack of those plastic pants I bought just the other day to put over his little underwear. YES, I said underwear!!! He is now going to the bathroom. We only use the cloth diapers when we leave the house and at bedtime now.

Now that's what I call a success story.

Where does the time go?

I can't believe it's been over 5 months since I've blogged. Let's see... what has been going on in my life during that time? I am staying steady with the weightloss. However, I have not worked out since school started back and that was 7 weeks ago. Gotta get off my tush and get my workout on! A couple of nights ago I was really craving a Burger King cheeseburger, and I ate one. I figure that since I'm not vegetarian for ethical reasons that I can eat meat if I feel like it. I had a plate of veggie spaghetti last night, so there's still hope for me. I just have to figure out how to stop WANTING sweets.

The kids are doing great, even though Mikaela is sick right now. Poor thing, this fever will not disappear. At least it's not high. She turned 7 on Monday and Savion turned 11 back on August 5th. My babies are growing up way too fast. Mekhi can count by 10s, forwards and backwards, and Jaylem finished the 9th grade with an A average. Oh, and the little guy (Darion) is going to the potty!!! It's amazing what a cloth diaper can inspire. I'll post about my reasons for going cloth on a different post.

Hubby and I had our 11th anniversary back on the 5th of September. We have been together for 16 years, but we didn't get that little piece of paper notarized until 1997, so legally we've made it thru 11 years.

Well, that's about it in a nutshell. I'll try to keep posting as often as possible.

I'm getting smaller!

I decided that I was ready to put my all into getting the weight off. For the last four weeks I have been changing my eating habits and working out daily. It is working!!!! I have lost 6 pounds, which doesn't seem like a lot, but the inches are what matters to me the most. I have lost a total of about 8-9 inches overall! You can really see the difference, and I can feel the difference in my clothes. I have so much more energy, too. Getting up out of the bed is not a feeling of dread anymore, either.



I will post more about "what" I have been doing to get the weight off later. I might even post some before and after pictures if I get the nerve to expose myself like that.

edited on April 29th: The nerve never came, so I am not going to post any before and after pics. However, I must say I am very happy with the results. Hubby is, too! Well, lets see, what did I do to get back in shape. After having 5 babies, I must say it was not as easy as before. But, like all things, if you work hard there will be great results....

What changes have I seen in 7 weeks? I lost 11 pounds and 13.25 inches over my whole body!! Hubby doesn't want me to lose anymore weight, but I still think I need to tone, so some weight might come off in the process. Those are the physical changes. I am working out every single day now. If I don't, I feel strange... it has become a way of life now, and I am very ecstatic about that. I am a vegetarian, too. Since I was making sure I was eating nothing but good things, I sorta evolved into a vegetarian. I am not vegan, though. I can not give up my yogurt and feta cheese! I do occasionally eat fish, too, if we go out or if hubby grills. I feel great and I am so proud of myelf. The best thing about all of this is that I have inspired my husband to get up and exercise! He wouldn't agree that "I" inspired him. Of course he would say it was all his decision. But whatever, it's good for him anyway.

What did I do? Each morning I walked on the treadmill for 30 minutes. I can now jog on the treadmill for 15 minutes straight. In the beginning I could only jog for maybe 2 minutes! Then in the afternoon, I did Slim in 6. It is an As Seen on TV exercise program by Beach Body that you do for 6 weeks. I didn't use any supplements, no diet shakes, nothing extra. I did it all thru exercise and changing my eating habits. Saturdays were my free days, so there was no workouts and I ate whatever I wanted. What I wanted slowly evolved into eating the same way I ate all week and maybe adding something like cheesecake. I had a few times in those 7 weeks that I couldn't follow my schedule or eating plan. Like Easter at the in-laws, the days we spent at the hospital with my husband's grandmother, and of course her funeral. I just went back to my routine after life took me off of it.

Now, I am going to use The Firm and Tae Bo to tone up. I figure at the end of May I will be done "trying" to get in shape. Then I will just continue to eat right and make sure I workout 6 days a week.

"...but with God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26

A nice clean kitchen floor

I love a clean kitchen floor. Not the "I just mopped" clean that most of us are familiar with, but the "I was just down on my hands and knees for 1 hour scrubbing my kitchen floor" kind of clean. There is something about the sense of accomplishment, the feeling of "I climbed the mountain and conquered it". I just wish it would stay that way. I will look at it tonight after dinner and my eyes will tear up, because my little food hounds will have dropped and/or thrown food all over it. But that's ok, because they are only here for a short time, and then I have to watch them leave and start their own lives. So I will periodically hands-and-knees scrub my kitchen floor. Then I will stand back and marvel at it's beauty, for however short-lived its beauty is. Regardless of its pristine gloss and eat off of it cleanliness, knowing that my blessings are happy and loving me is enough to do it again and again. I can't wait until my darling hubby gets home to take in its magnificance. It will stay clean until he gets in, because the children are definitely banned from entering the kitchen. This is my proof that I don't sit around all day doing nothing!

Don't look at my baseboards, because those are not done yet. Another project, another day. I am the kind of person that decides to clean the baseboards, and then clean all of them in the entire house. I can't just clean the ones in one room. I feel defeated and lazy. Who knows, I may be a closet moron!

Ok, back to work. I have to put the table and chairs back in there. Right now they are all sitting in the familyroom. It's like trying to navigate through a maze to get to my bedroom.

"But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin." I John 1:7

Wordless Wednesday

Isn't he a cutie! I just discovered how to change my pics to black & white.

It's been a long time....

I totally forgot about this blog. So what have I been up to? Let's see, I had to wean Darion because I was sick and had to take a medication that prohibited me from breastfeeding while taking it. Since I had to take it for 9 days, I figured what was the point of going back to nursing him. For the first time in 10 years I do not have the feeling that someone is missing in our family. Does that mean I am done wanting/having more kids? I hope so. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE all of my little blessings, but I think we are complete. I have a nice full feeling.

What else have I been doing? We are participating in the American Cancer Society Relay for Life Walk in May. So the majority of our Saturdays have been spent fundraising for that. Of course, our Saturdays have also included football (can you see me doing my sarcastic happy dance?).

We have also been doing the usual... Girl Scouts, football, homeschooling, and just being happy.

Jaylem went to a "Silver Ring Thing" event a couple of weeks ago. It was an awesome experience for him. He wears his ring daily. I can only pray that he holds on to the promise he made until the night of his marriage. That is such a rare thing these days. Am I a hypocrite for wanting this for my kids, knowing that I did not wait until I was married? Shouldn't we want better for our kids?

I also discovered FaceBook. I think I might be addicted. But it's a good addiction. I have found a few of my bestest friends in the whole world. It's amazing how we just fell back into place as friends, like there has not been almost 2 decades between now and the last time we've seen one another. It is great to be able to reconnect with friends from my past. A few of my old friends from Jr. high and High school are going to get together for lunch soon. Without Facebook, what's the likelihood that I would have crossed paths with people I have not seen in over 20 years?

So that has been life for the last couple months. Nothing too eventful, but definitely eventful. Life is good!

"O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good" Psalm 136:1