Christmas Prep

So I have a ton of pictures I need to blog about but just haven't found time to do anything extra lately.  I forget how much time it takes to do anything with a newborn.  I have to add an extra half an hour to prep time to everything, getting ready to go somewhere, making dinner, etc.  I am so behind on my sewing, scrapbooking, crocheting, knitting, and cross stitching.  However, all the presents are wrapped.  Santa is ready to stop at our house.  I am also behind on the holiday baking.  Doesn't look like I will get the goodie plates done for the neighbors this year.  Ray's brother comes in today sometime and I am not sure what our schedule will be like the rest of the weekend before Christmas.

Good news, I'm past the first plateau.  I was stuck there for a month.  But since my last doctors appointment the end of November I have lost about 7 more pounds.  Need to lose 8 more in 6 weeks to make my goal. Could happen.

Hope everyone has a good holiday and I will hopefully do a catch up post soon after Christmas.

My First Plateau

I have lost over half of the baby weight but for the last two weeks I have plateaued.  It has been a little frustrating since I was hoping to be in my prepregnancy jeans by Thanksgiving.  I can get them on just not buttoned up.  But now we have our cruise booked I want to be down another 15 pounds by then.  That will put me close to my prepregnancy weight.  I should at least fit all my clothes.  Than by the time Joshua is a year old I would like to lose another 10 pounds.  Overall I wold like to lose 30 more pounds and than maintain.  That is all my pregnancy weight plus 10 pounds of extra.  That is my goal to reach in 14 months.

The Countdown is On

It's official.  We have decided on our vacation for 2012.  Ray got a really great discount on a cruise with military rate.  We actually had another one saved for 2013 but we couldn't pass up the rate on the one in February.  Not only are we saving about $600-$800 on the original one we had saved but we also get rooms with verandas instead of just portholes.  Those rooms alone run $900 more a piece than what we are getting them for.  We are keeping it a secret from the kids.  We will be going for Sheila's birthday.  The Disney characters will be calling the night before to break the news to the kids.  We will be on the new Disney Dream cruise ship.  We had to get two rooms but they will be adjoining.  I am very excited. 

Halloween part 1: Trunk or Treat

 Our ward Trunk or Treat was the 26th.  Sheila was a white fairy, Timmy was Bumblebee, and Kimberly was a kitty.  We bought Sheila and Timmy's costumes last year on clearance for like a dollar each and they still wanted to be them this year.  Kimberly unfortunately was too big for the one we bought her on clearance so I got her a new one.  She picked it out herself.

Daddy was a hippie and baby Joshua was a skeleton.  His outfit glowed in the dark.  He slept in it that night and it was funny to wake up in the night and see exactly where he was because the bones glowed.  I didn't dress up this year.  I did look for costumes but I didn't find anything appropriate in my size.  Next year I plan on making almost everyone costumes again.  I already have the patterns for Sheila's, Kimberly's, and Joshua's.

We had a lot of fun at the party.  The kids got some candy, although not as much as most of the kids since our kids decide only going around once or twice was enough.  Most kids go around until everyone runs out of candy.  Ray's parents and younger brother's family came over for it too.  Sheila is sure growing up.  She went off with a couple of her friends for most of the evening.

Kimberly's birthday

This is almost a month late but here are some of the pictures from Kimberly's second birthday.

 She had a Dora cake.  She loves Dora although we don't watch it much since I never can remember when it is on.

 She really got into opening her gifts this year.  We had to keep reminding Timmy and Sheila to leave her alone since they will try to open her gifts for her.

 She blew out both candles all by herself on her first try.

And she sure enjoyed her birthday and her birthday cake.

Here He Is

 Born 1:40 p.m. on October 17.  8 lb. 15 oz. and 22 inches.

 Mommy and baby Joshua Matthew.  My easiest delivery and fastest.  Only about ten minutes of pushing.

 Proud parents.

 My big boy.

 Oldest sister and baby brother.

 The brothers.

 Kimberly and according to her "my baby."

 Relaxing.

 Coming home at 2 days old.

At home at last.

Almost time

I have had several false alarms so far.  But I should have known better.  I never go early. Tomorrow is the due date but I am scheduled to be induced on Monday.  Now I kind of hope he doesn't come until Monday since I will get the doctor I want and we already have it arranged for Ray's parents to come over and be with Kimberly and pick up Timmy and make sure Sheila gets off the bus.  If I do deliver earlier in the day than the afternoon they can pick up Sheila early too.  We go in Monday morning at 7 so we will pretty much be able to get the kids completely ready and then Ray's parents will only have to stand out with them to get on the bus.  If the bus comes on time we may be able to put them on the bus even before we leave.  What would be funny though is if I go into labor naturally on Monday morning and don't have to be induced after all.  I have had other signs that labor is approaching besides contractions but they disappeared today so I hope if we wait it out today than he will wait until Monday to come.  I will try to post more regularly once a new schedule is established with the baby.

Frustration

That is how I feel this morning.  We got home late from the fair last night and since Ray has class at 8:30 we decided to have him take the kids to school and let them sleep in a little bit.  That backfired in our faces.  I need to have one of the booster seats in the van so I can pick up Timmy so Ray put the one in his car and then we got the spare one out for Sheila (who legally doesn't need one anymore but the seatbelts bug her).  She threw a huge tantrum about it and we had to threaten her to get her in the seat and fight her to get the seat belt on.  I was so ready to make her walk to school. She does this almost every time we take her to school.  Now she is going to be late.  I told Ray to make her get a tardy slip from the office.  Also we will not be taking her to school again.  She will be getting on the bus every morning for now on.  And we got the new bus schedule yesterday and the kids bus is going to start coming 15 minutes earlier in the morning so now we really have to get up early to get them on the bus.  Why does she have to be so stubborn?  Why can't she see reason?

I'm Still Alive

Well, since the kids have gone back to school I seem to have no energy and no time.  I have tons of pictures (finally downloaded) that I hope to eventually will blog about.

Things that have happened lately:
1. Sheila lost her first tooth.  Never got a good video of her wiggling it although I tried.  I did get some pictures that may eventually make it on here.
2. We been painting our kitchen because we replaced the rotting back doors.
3. We got a new nephew.  Ray's younger brother and wife had their second.  Their oldest is just a few months younger than Sheila.
4. Timmy and Sheila started school.

Things that should be happening soon.
1. Finish painting kitchen and dining room.
2.  The fair.  I have a bunch of stuff ready and hope to finish about a dozen more if I find the time.  Some I have only a little bit of stuff to do and other's a little more but close that I should get done.
3.  Our baby.  Just a month left.  We are picking up a dresser this weekend and then I should finish organizing the nursery.  It's been hard with bags of clothes sitting everywhere and Kimberly and the baby's clothes squeezed into a small dresser.

Ugh, I can't take it anymore

My house is a mess.  I have a hard time cleaning up now since once I get down on the floor it takes a long time to get up.  I have tried to keep up with cleaning up/off tables, counters, etc. but I have to look to my kids and husband to help with the floor more.  Well, this week with us being all so busy my house has become a big mess.  I can't take it anymore.  I am going to clean as much as I can today.  The kids bedroom and the living room is the worst.  I also am behind on my projects.  My schedule is off since I now have to get the kids off to school and pick Timmy up at 11.  I still figuring out a good routine.  Next week will be just as busy.  In fact probably every week will be just as busy until the baby is born.  I will try to update the blog at least once a week but if I don't you know why.  I have pictures to download of the kids first day of school so hopefully I can get that done sometime in the next week.  Today is cleaning and catching up on projects.

Our temple trip

In the middle of July we headed down for Orlando to go to the temple one last time before the baby is born.  It is a six hour drive one way.  I will never do it pregnant again, since it was so hard on me on the way back.

 We got to the hotel just before 4.  After checking in we looked up movie times for Harry Potter and one started in just 20 minutes so we headed down to the theatre just a few blocks away.  We had to park in a parking garage (luckily the theatre validated our parking so we didn't have to pay for that.)  Then we walked to the theatre.  By the time we got there the movie was starting.  We bought our tickets through a kiosk because we went in at the second level and not through the box office.  The theatre was awesome, huge with huge seats.  After the movie we went straight to dinner and then back to the hotel.  We pulled over to let a fire truck go by and it turned into our hotel.  Guess it wasn't a fire because we went right back in the hotel, good thing to since it was raining, and never found out why it was there.

 We stayed in the Embassy Suites.  It was a really nice hotel.  We splurged a little since this is our last trip for the year.  It had a really nice atrium. 

 A view from outside our door.

 The bed was huge and comfortable.

 The next morning we checked out after breakfast (they have awesome breakfasts.)  We got to the temple right before one session started so we headed over to the clothing distribution for a few minutes and then over to the temple to do a session.

We headed home after the session.  We stopped half way home for lunch.  It was a fun little getaway and I am so glad we finally made it to the temple to do a session.

Today is an Anniversary

I can't believe 13 years ago today I left my mission.  It doesn't seem that long, and then sometimes it seems like it has been a really long time.  I had such a good time.  Had several great companions and met some really awesome people.  But most importantly I found myself, my self confidence and self worth grew.  I know that is because I came to know and love my Savior.  I understood the Atonement and realized how important it is to each person as an individual.  Jesus Christ, our Savior, loved us so much that if he knew he would only save one person by dying on that cross and being resurrected, he would have still done it.  I just wish that every one understood that and lived accordingly.  I have struggled in those 13 years, but my testimony has got me through those rough times and I know it will in the future as well.

Family Day

Ray's work had Family Day out at Bonita Bay on July 23.  It was so hot and I was miserable but the rest of the family had fun.

 They had a guy there making balloon shapes for the kids.  Sheila got a flower.

 Timmy got a monkey.

 Ray participated in the cardboard boat races.  He's in the red.  There were four boats but they only raced two at a time.  It was a time race.  The other boat, shaped as a F22 jet, sank as soon as the guys got in it.

 Ray was nearly in the water when they got back.  His troop (Ray's his supervisor) finished dumping him in after the race.  They came in third overall but because one boat was disqualified since they used something other than cardboard and duct tape, they came in second.

 The kids had fun on the water slide.  I had to get after them because they didn't wait for people to clear out of the bottom and we had a four kid pile up at the bottom and Sheila bit her lip pretty good.

Kimberly was also hot and miserable.  She wouldn't let me put her down.  My hips and back ached from sitting on a bench for two hours and holding, carrying her.  By the time Ray brought the car around I was in tears.  He had to go get the other kids.  I couldn't breathe and Ray asked me if I wanted to go to the hospital.  Once I sat in full blast air conditioning for a few minutes I was able to calm down and breathe again.  It was pretty scary though.  We didn't go to the pioneer activity that night because of it. 

Loose Tooth

Sheila has a loose tooth.  When it gets a little more wiggly I am going to try to get a video of her wiggling it.  She is very excited for the tooth fairy to come.  I think I am going to make her a little bag to put her tooth in for the tooth fairy.  Should be fairly simple.  I got a new cricut cartridge (Joann's is having an awesome sale right now) with a tooth die cut.  Maybe I will use that. A lot of her friends lost teeth in kindergarten so she has been waiting a long time.  She was a late teether so I am not surprised it took her longer to get one.

Also I am no longer as discouraged as I was in my last post.  I read some article in the Ensign that helped me realize that it could always be worst and that I am truly blessed. 

Discouraged

I have been feeling a little discouraged lately.  Maybe it is the pregnancy hormones raging in me.  Last night I just started bawling for no reason.  When my husband asked me what was wrong I couldn't tell him.

The state of the economy is really starting to worry me now.  I really wasn't worried for a long time but now things are really starting to effect us.  I have noticed every time I go to the grocery stores, prices have jumped again.  For example, Country Crock has jumped over $1 in price, that is an increase of 50%.  Most thing are 20-30 cents and when they were only a dollar to start with that is a huge percent.  Ray got a piddly raise this year, but I am still grateful for it since not many people got a raise.  The goverment claims that they give the military raises to match inflation or the growth of the economy or something to that fact.  But my grocery budget has been going over every month and I even increased it like I do every year.  I have been using coupons a lot more but the overages are adding up.  I really have been trying to save more this year and that has been a struggle. (I use the coupons when the item is on sale or is less than the brand I normally buy is.)

Now we found out they want to mess with the military retirement.  Before if you did 20 years you got 50% of your base pay every month for the rest of your life.  Ray has 12 years.  We had the plans that he would work about another 20 years after that and so that money would go straight to a retirement plan and we would live off his other income.  But if the plan goes through he would only get 2.5% for each year he has right now which would be shy of 30%.  Then he wouldn't receive that money for another 10+ years after he retired.  So now our retirement plans are pretty much messed up.  Why don't they cut the politicians retirement?  Most of them make millions anyway in other businesses.  There is no way they deserve 100% retirement for the lousy 2-6 years of service they give our country.

Ray and I made the decision that I would stay home and raise the children.  That we would sacrifice that second income and do as the Lord has asked us to.  I feel that the Lord has really blessed us.  We have been able to do a lot for what we make.  But now I am feeling the pressure.  We have been in the house for 7 years and things are starting to wear out.  Our carpet is hideous.  Our paint is nasty.  We have a rotted piece of wood on the back door jam that we need to replace.  I still want to get a fence so my kids can play out in our back yard without stray dogs and kids wandering in.  I'd like to take my children on vacations every year.  But something has to give.  So the fence may have to wait another year so we can fix the back door.  The carpet will take another cleaning and hopefully will last a few more years so we can finish painting the house.  Savings may suffer so I can pay for groceries to feed my kids.

Now just a side note about the groceries.  I do not shop at more expensive grocery stores and I usually buy store brand items.  Our grocery budget it actually probably at least 1/3 less than the average family of 5.  I make homemade meals most often and with less expensive ingredients.

I know the Lord will bless us, I just need to have faith and not listen to the news so much.

Yay, the lawn mower is fixed

Last year our lovely gas lawn motor died for good.  Ray has been wanting to get an electric one forever.  It was September and we finally found one at Lowe's.  We got it for a great price and got a military discount on top of that.  He got it out in May and mowed the lawn.  Then with the drought he didn't have to mow the lawn at all until he got back from school six weeks later (he came home on the weekends.)  It was completely dead so he charged it for over a day and it still wouldn't work.  While it was charging we had a small rainstorm.  That was the only time it got left in the rain.  We were extremely afraid that might have done something.  He found someone in town that does the warranty work for that type of mower.  Well, yesterday he picked up the mower.  It turned out to be a faulty switch, nothing to do with getting wet and was covered under warranty.  So now our lawn is short again.  Yippee.  Paying tithing works.

Independence Day

Last year we were on the road for Independence Day but this year was back to our normal traditions.

 We actually remembered to put out our flag.  We usually forget.

 Grandma and Kimberly ready to watch our own firework display.

 After the first one Kimberly had enough.  Soon after this picture I took her inside and put her down for the night.  Maybe in a few years we can try a big display but not until the kids aren't scared of the noise.

 Some of my better shots.

 Timmy and Sheila actually sat outside for the whole thing although they moved back to the middle of the driveway.

We just had about 10 or so this year.  I think it was the perfect amount for our kids ages.  Maybe next year we will get the next larger package.  Before our fireworks we had our american hotdogs, potato salad, macaroni salad, and watermelon.   We also decorated patriotic sugar cookies.  We didn't attend the parade again this year because it was too hot but that is something I would like to do in the next year or two.

Father's Day

Okay so almost a month late I am finally getting these pictures posted.

I rarely get pictures of Mother's Day and Father's Day so I am going to try to make a better effort at it.  A lot of these pictures turned out a little blurry and that was disappointing plus the nice overflowing garbage and messy desk in the background.  Other than that I love the pictures of Ray with our three current children.