Surviving on Starbucks..and a Prayer

 

{It's Decaf}

Somewhere around the 9 week mark of this pregnancy, I thought I was going to make it. I had a burst of energy return and the nausea subsided, but then around 11 weeks it returned with a vengeance.

 

I've, for the past 5 days, been living on Banana Popsicles and frozen Powerade. Yum...

 

Today though, well last night even, I started to feel like myself again! I had a craving for Chicken N Dumplings!! I haven't eaten those in YEARS. Literally since I was about 12 years old. Plus, I have Celiacs which means no biscuits/dumplings for me. But my amazing husband, because he is amazing, managed to make (from scratch!) homemade GFree chicken and dumplings! It was the most delicious thing I've eaten in weeks! <3 him.

 

Back to this morning, COFFEE finally has become appealing again. After several weeks of gagging at the mere smell of anything coffee related, I woke up wanting some! NEEDING some!

I remembered I had a Starbucks gift card. {hooray!} So I stopped in on my way to work at got a Decaf Iced Americano with a pump of SF Caramel {and room} Room, ya know, to add Cocounut Milk once I got  here! FABULOUS!! *Happy Dance* It's so tasty..and dairy free!  

OH Baby!

Time has flown since school started. The girls are doing fantastic and loving every minute.

 

Cami has had the hardest time adjusting to fourth grade. I've had to send a few very "parental" emails to the teachers to get my point across about being involved with my daughter's studies. She began having overwhelming amounts of homework sent home as well as entirely too many tests per week. I mean one week, she had two sheets of homework per night, 25 spelling words to memorize, 25 vocabulary words, and 3 tests to take on Friday. I was livid! There was no communication and no organization. Thankfully, I got my point across to the teacher and she relayed my email to the principal who then emailed me himself! I was shocked and a little bit nervous to see that email sitting in my Inbox. But, it was all positive and very helpful information. Since then, there has been significantly less homework and half the weekly tests. They also changed the daily schedule from switching between four classes to two! I feel SO accomplished as a mom!! So thankful that I stood up and got involved. ;)

 

Carrah is beyond brilliant. She is a whiz kid and I'm so proud to be her mom. I literally never have trouble with her in school. She brings 100% home every single day and zooms through her books she has to read. I'm just amazed with her thirst for knowledge. Love love love it!

 

JClaire is obsessed with PreK. The kid thinks she is a senior in high school and she prances around talking about her friends every day. I'm thankful that she is adjusting so well to only be four years old. I was so worried that she would cry and throw fits about being away from her beloved baby sitter, but she has proven me wrong. We are still working on her learning to write her name, but at least she is recognizing more letters now which is a plus.

 

 

 

 

Now to the big news!!

 

We're having a BABY!! I'm beyond ecstatic to be saying this right now. This has been a few months in the making and honestly I was to the point I did not think I was able to have any more kids. Jake even took a fertility test for men to see if he was the issue. We decided it was a God thing and we needed to focus more on Him and devote our life more to Him and in His time, it would happen. And it seems we were right! As soon as we "gave up" trying and accepted our family as it is, Wha - La! I ended up pregnant! We are both over the moon and could not feel more blessed! I'm so thankful for the life that I'm blessed to be living currently and can't wait to see where our future takes us.

 

Right now, I'll be 11 weeks tomorrow. We've had our first appointment and the baby is perfect! Heartbeat is 165 beats per minute and measuring right on track. It was love at first sight all over again seeing my wiggly baby bean!

 

First Day of School - Monday 8.17

This is the most exciting , overwhelming, anticipated day of the year (other than Christmas) I have such great kids who love school and eagerly wake up to get back into the groove.

 

We've talked about the impending first day so much in the past few weeks so I feel like they were truly prepared. Even Jaci Claire was beyond ready to get there and be in big girl school for the first time.

 

Honestly, I had stayed up so late Sunday night getting everything ready and prepared that we did not have to wake up super early like I had originally planned. All of their clothes were laid out for the entire week, lunches packed, backpacks hung on the hangers ready to go, etc.. Literally, all they had to do was wake up, get their clothes on and wait for me to fix their hair. It went so smoothly, in fact, that we were the FIRST ones in the drop off line. Mom score!

 

Since it was the first day, I parked and walked the girls to their classrooms. JClaire ran immediately to her seat and was ready for the day. Her teachers gave her a hug and she could not have been more thrilled to meet and greet all of the other students walking in. She waved "Bye!" to me like it was no big deal at all.

 

 

I then walked Carrah to her class and she went straight to her seat as well, got out her box of crayons and started coloring the picture the teacher had waiting for her. She gave me a hug and said she was fine and excited for her day.

 

 

 

At the same time, Cami was fidgeting and ready to get to her class. Fourth grade is big kid status... I honestly thought she was "too cool" for mom to walk her to her class. While waiting to walk Carrah into her class, Cami said

"Do I go?" and looked extremely nervous, so
I said "Yes that's fine, go ahead to your class."

 She took off , half sprinting, down the hall.

I said  "Hey! Give me a hug!"
So she came back and without taking her eyes from the end of the hallway, gave me a quick hug and was off.. .

 

Well I later found out after school that she was really upset and her feelings had been hurt that I didn't walk her to her class. It broke my heart!! I felt so guilty and promised her I'd make it up to her.

 

{My friend took this pic for me}

 

:( That is the worst feeling as a parent, knowing that you inadvertently made your child feel sad and less important than her siblings. Made me nauseous! But later that night, she forgave me and told me it was OK and she had a fantastic day regardless of the anxious morning.

 

It is now Friday and we nearly made it completing an entire week; however, Carrah and Cami both got a Stomach Bug and had to miss a day of school. They both woke up vomitting. Pretty sad that school JUST started and they already caught something. Boo! Everyone is feeling better now, though, and we're prepared for this school year!

Let's go 2015-2016!

Last Week of Summer Activities

 

I think I mentioned last week how busy we have been! We've had open houses, orientations, practices, etc..

 

This past week was the busiest yet! Two cheer practices, PreK and 1st Grade Open House on Tuesday night, then 4th grade (MIDDLE SCHOOL) Open House on Thursday night, which, by the way, was two hours long.{oy vey!} We rotated classes like the kids will be doing. It was very informational and I think it's a great idea. It'll keep them from getting bored and in a learning rut. I just pray the homework isn't too overwhelming!

 

 

VBS

 The girls also went to Vacation Bible School at some friends of ours' church. They had a wonderful time! It's one of the few times that all three of the girls enjoyed doing the same thing!

Open house for the girls!

Carrah got the teacher she wanted and she has several of her BFFs in her class. She loves learning and is the most eager to get back in the groove of studying and reading. Both her teacher and principal are amazing and formulated a special learning plan just for Carrah to better help with her vision and learning in class. She gets a front row seat next to the board and has a few other tools to benefit her specifically.

My sweet tator tot sitting at her PreK table! She was so excited to see her classroom and meet her teachers.

 

This open house was a booger! Cami loved it and was thrilled to see all of her friends in one place again, but switching four classes was chaos for a bunch of fourth graders. All of the teachers had different rules, lessons, assignments, etc.. I pray that it flows smoothly and we do not have drama!

 

They decided to hang out in the back pack cubbies. So cute!

 

Ghost{s} of Birthdays Past

I hadn't blogged in so long, I wanted to update my page with pictures from the girls' birthdays the past year.

 

Carrah turned 6 last year {it's nearly her birthday again!} and we celebrated at a local Pumpkin Patch since she has a Fall birthday! She is a Minecraft girl, so of course, we had to find everything Minecraft themed for her special day.

 

 

{How cute was she missing her two front teeth!?}

Then came Cami's birthday. She turned 9!! The last year before double digits. This made me a bit emotional. She's getting so big, birthdays are becoming less fun for ME! She doesn't want all of the fru fru glitzy decorations. She'd rather just have fun with her friends.
However, she did give me a theme to work with. She wanted school colors and chevron! DONE! She had a pool party since she is a summer baby!

 

For my tiny baby's birthday, it had to be Peppa Pig! This is basically all we get to watch in our house. Peppa Pig dominates..and this little girl runs the house. JClaire turned 4 years old! We had a backyard BBQ and swimming party at our house for her celebration.

 My mom helped me make the decorations extra special for this birthday. It was a Pinterest kind of birthday party!

 

Birthdays are always a ton of fun in our family! I procrastinate and wait until the last minute to plan things and get things together, but once I start, I am in full force mode to get it all finished and looking amazing! Can't wait to see what the girls choose for their next birthdays.

Who gets sick..

in the dead of summer?!

{Mid August heat plus a cold = no bueno.}

Oh.. this girl, that's who. It never fails. Life gets chaotic, we all get busy, I gear up to be super mom, then BAM! I get hit, head on, with stupid sickness.
It came out of nowhere too. Runny nose, sneezing like crazy, face and ear pain, exhaustion... It sounds like severe allergies or a sinus infection, but it feels like death! Perhaps I'm being a whiny baby, but I do not have time for this mess.

I somehow managed to crawl out of bed and make it into work this morning, but I can barely function. Everyone is trying to be very empathetic. They're staying about 10 feet from my desk, but asking "Are you making it over there..?"
I finally took the hint and made a Dr's appointment. Lord willing, medication will do the trick!! It better because I'm having to miss our monthly meeting at Copelands!

Busy Season - School, Cheer, and the Like

It's the time of year when all of the lacksadasical plans turn to complete chaos. 

This year, all three of my girls will be in school{plus Braylee}.
That means 3x the school supplies, 3x the school clothes(!), 3x the Open House, 3x the first day of school, 3x the enrichment fees, 3x everything that is chaos, plus Cami's 2x/week cheer practices, soon to be football games, and all of the extras!

 

This week alone, we have had 2 cheer practices, 3 nights of VBS for all of the girls, and Cheer Orientation.

We turned in our raffle money and received Cami's uniform and Cheer Bow, just to turn around and be told that they were ordering a warm up suit(pants and jacket) to go over their uniforms. It's not mandatory that each girl have one and you also have the option to just buy the jacket or just buy the pants. That fun little outfit is $65. Of course I'm not going to be the evil mother whose child is the only one not getting a warm up, so there's that... Thankfully, though,  they're offering a car wash for the kids to participate in to raise money for their warm ups.{We're TOTALLY in on that!} 

Next week, Cami has practie Monday and Tuesday, Tuesday also happens to be Carrah and JClaire's open house, then Thursday is Cami's open house. There, not only will we meet one teacher for my fourth grade child, but also, meet THREE other teachers and ROTATE classes like she will be doing all school year. Yes, I said that. Fourth graders are now in middle school and have an uber strict dress code and rotate classes. Never in my life did I think I would witness these kinds of rules from our tiny town and school district. The same school that had 56 kids in my graduating class. ;) I'm not complaining, though. Really, I'm not. It is a great thing to teach them early and to have a dress code for everyone to be held accountable... it's just really hard to find shorts the correct length for a long legged 9 year old! Oy vey!

The following week SCHOOL STARTS! Ensue all of the more chaos that comes along with that. J-O-Y! Love my babies though and they're #worthit 

 

 

Wordless Wednesday - A Family that Plays Together

Tax Free Weekend

It's no surprise that as a woman I am obsessed with shopping.

Growing up, I loathed the days that I had to spend with my parents at the mall, at the supermarket, at any store that required me walking around for hours on end. But now, I become giddy with excitement everytime I receive an email showing SALES of any kind.

This past weekend, I took the girls to pick out their school supplies and we took complete advantage of tax free weekend! It was like a mini version of Black Friday. The aisles were jam packed and people were downright rude when you had to squeeze past them to grab a package of pencils or if you took a little too long to find the folder with pockets and prongs!{I don't even want to talk about the school supply list...}

But at the end of the day, we came out with a TON of new supplies at a very good price! I think our overall total was about $38. (Not including backpacks and lunchboxes. I purchased those a couple weeks ago on sale at The Children's Place)

The girls also got haircuts and new shoes! Woo Hoo! We all felt very accomplished.

 

 



Updates with TONS of pictures - Summer 2015

I miss writing. Journaling my thoughts. Recording the girls' successes and achievments.

Today is July 30th, 2015. 16...SIXTEEN... months since my last blog post. What a shame. So much has happened in that time span.

I am nearing 29. I am now married {for almost a year} to my childhood friend who happens to be the most amazing man I've ever met in my life! He has a daughter who is 6 years old, so I've gained a bonus daughter. My girls are 9. 6, and 4! I can't even believe that time has flown by so quickly. They are my world. I'm obsessed with them. They make my life worth waking up every single morning. I've been working with same company for nearly two years and I've grown to become a manager of my department. I could not be more blessed than I am right now. Everything I've ever struggled with has lead me to this point in my life and I'm beyond thankful and owe it all to God.

My husband and I both feel that God brought us together for a purpose. We've focused our marriage and relationship and our relationship with our girls on God and building a future following Him. I'm so blessed that Jake was put into my life because he is truly the leader of our household and I need his balance in my life.

Cami is going into the fourth grade this year. That in itself is mind blowing to me, but the real kicker is that her school has 4th grade in "Middle School!" What is that about?! I can't even deal... She is definitely going through the pre teen emotions. She likes boys. iPhones, Music. Dancing. Cheering, etc.. Her cheer practices start soon and she could not be more excited!

Carrah is going in to the first grade. My sweet girl. Kindergarten flew by and it makes me sad! She is so loved at school by her peers and her teachers! She is night and day different than Cami. She does not like sports. She does not like to wear shorts or athletic clothes...she is a dress and skirt kind of girl. She also enjoys Minecraft, American Girl Dolls, and anything technology related.

JClaire, my tiny baby, starts PreK this year! An all day PreK at the girls school. Its unreal to think that she is old enough to start "school!" She is a great mixture of her sisters. She enjoys babies, babies, and more babies! The girl is like a carbon copy of her babysitter. Lol! She has sass and attitude like Cami, but a gentle heart and compassion like Carrah.

 

Braylee is my step daughter. She and Carrah are only two months apart, but she tends to play with Cami more. She is an only child {until now, of course} so she likes the grown up play more than the creative, imaginative play. She'll be going into first grade as well. She enjoys drawing, coloring, watching the Disney channel , and playing outside.

 

 

All in all, life is pretty fantastic right now. I hope to continue to record my thoughts here so that I can go back and read about it later like I have with my past blogs.