Thursday, April 30, 2009

our little peanut



Well I woke up yesterday morning and was having some bleeding and cramping and was sick at my stomach and had a massive headach. SO i layed on the couch all day and my wonderful sister watched my kids and took care of them . (gosh i love her) but my bleeding got worse so i had hubby take me to the er, and we found out the #1 I didnt miscarry and they dont know what is causing the bleeding but it is not coming from my uterus or placenta. #2 im not nearly as far along as i thought i was .. I am only six weeks and that pushes my due date is december 27, im just glad that the baby is O.K.
so ive put up my ultrasound pics of "trey" since this is baby #3 that is what i am calling it since i dont know if the baby is a he or she. OH ya there was just one in there.. so that means sometime in the future i 'll have one more..

Sunday, April 26, 2009

making my home sing 3rd edition

MomsTheWord

So this weekend has been in my eyes as productive I had a list of things I was hoping to accomplish and while I didn't get it all done i was satisfied with my progress. Let rewind to Friday night , My 16 month old didn't want to go to bed we were up till 4am, Now mind you I had planned to go yard selling to try to find a few baby items i needed to replace,, aka a swing and baby bed, i was also hoping to find some more cloth diapers , diaper covers , crib sheets and shoes for my little man. I ended up scoring everything except a baby bed.I even picked up some maternity shirts. So i got up at 6:30 sat morning after yard selling I had to be at church at 9:30 am for "ladies " day , all the women of area churches gather and have a day of fellowship and teaching so when i returned from that i took a nap at my mother in laws and we stayed there late by the time we got home and got in bed it was 1 am. Hubby and I slept in until 10:30 this am and **gasp** didn't go to church, the kids were at my mother in laws so we "enjoyed" each others company for an hour or so then got up and this is when i started to make my home sing. My home is a remodeled 1972 12feet wide by 48 feet long mobile home occupied by four adults and two toddlers.we dont have much room, the only closet which was 8 x 8 was converted into the kids room before my oldest was born so we have NO closets, we have a kitchen, living room, kids room , bath room and our room , in our room i have my china hutch and it is used as a closet it holds most my clothing as well as we each have a chest of drawers in our room, both kids have a small dresser in our room and that serves as our changing table.My washer and dryer are in our hall way so all the dirty laundry is piled in baskets in our very small bathroom, Needless to say there is CLUTTER everywhere,just not enough room to put everything, so hubby and i decided to add on and DOUBLE our space by adding a utility room, a master bed and half bath , a kids rooma and kitchen and then remodel our kitchen now into a dinning room and where the kids are now in the "closet" is goin to be my crochet, sewing and home office room..I m most excited about that,and where our room is now will be my little girls new room and when we find out what we are having that baby will share with us for a while then with which ever sibling is the same sex. so back to making my home sing, we have two corner area's in our room that seemed to be the catch all for miss matched socks , clothes the kids have outgrown , winter coats and blankets and other items that dont really have a home yet. so i cleaned out these area's and sent bag after bag to our storage shed (much to hubby's dismay) he is also using it as a "garage" to store and work on an old 351 Windsor motor out of my truck i inherited from my dad when he passed away. so i have a HUGE INDESCRIBABLE amount of yarn stashed next to my recliner and the wall in the living room, i moved it in to the newly created space in the corner and organized all my baby and pregnancy books and magazines in a basket and stacked them neatly. and on one of my trips to the shed i discovered a long lost bag of summer clothes for my kids and my maternity summer clothes.. YAY.i also created at least two more loads of laundry, I got my diaper laundry washed and hung out to dry, all my floors swept and mopped or vacuumed, all the garbage taken out , all my dishes done , changed everyone's sheets, folded a bunch of laundry, purged kid clothing drawers and our clothing and created about four more feet in my living room for my kids to play in. so overall im happy and hubby got some more drywall finished on our addition.and we watched the nascar race.. i even found time to relax while watching the race and crocheted some, then this evening we went to town bought some food, got the kids from my mother in law and went to my father in laws, helped him plant his pepper plants in his garden , came home and put up the groceries and now im am just relaxing and reading all my favorite blogs like moms the word and now i am off to bed, im kinda tired.. good night and i hope you all make your home sing today

Thursday, April 23, 2009

cloth diapering

well my whole family thinks Ive gone insane because after a particularly NASTY round of diaper rash with my already sick 16 month old I switched to cloth diapers. I bought 12 pre folds , then whipped out a pattern left over from a dress pattern for a set of bloomers and have hand sewn him several more, i have a whole pile of flannel prints and solids to make more diapers out of, my sewing machine eat dirt so i have been hand sewing a few which is really slow since i am a beginning seamstress.So i was SO happy to read a blog about the Benefits of cloth diapers and you can read it here. I also going to email it to all my family so they can see the benefits as well and maybe get off my back..lately they have really been a pain in the neck with all their negativity towards the impending arrival of baby #3 and a my decision to cloth diaper and make my own laundry soap and follow God's instructions to dress modestly ( only wearing skirts) and letting my husband be the head of the house as the bible instructs. I just don't understand people sometimes..

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

total outrage,

I am so pissed off at my husbands family, Some of them are just so aggravating to me. We told them we are expecting another baby and it was like we told them we had murdered someone, they are all in complete outrage, You would think they would welcome a new baby and see that children are a blessing from God, Daniel and I were NOT trying to have another baby , i was on the pill and never missed one, i guess god decide it was the right time, The bible says God wont give you more than you can handle, While I agree that with work for Daniel really slow right now this isn't the BEST timing and i understand that as a concern but to openly and publicly be outraged as if we have committed a felony is really hurtful, They all think I need to get "Fixed" after this one , like i am a dog or something. Last time I checked it wasn't up to them or even Daniel and I how many children I have, I believe that is up to GOD.Being a christian I believe God knows what is best and The he knows what is going to happen and how things are going to be in the end Long before we do. I dont know why they think i need to get"fixed". Some of them have openly told others that they think I am a bad mom, well I take GOOD care of my kids and my husband agree's. I feed my kids 3 solid meals a day , give them a bath every day, i play with them , read to them , keep them dressed in decent clothes and yes i spoil them rotten. So if that is what a bad mom is then im guilty, MY husband and I dont drink or get drunk in front of them or throw huge parties every weekend,My husband works very hard so I can stay home and Raise our kids not someone else.We take them to church most Sundays.And we are very happy with our life most the time, I not saying im a perfect mom EVERYONE has room for improvement somewhere, and just because my kids receive state medical insurance, doesn't mean we are a Welfare family, If they didn't have that insurance I couldn't take them to the doctor and they couldn't get the proper treatment and care they need for their recurring medical conditions. Also I do not believe that having a third baby is going to be that much more expensive since we are going to use cloth diapers and i will nurse the baby, I have all the baby things I need and clothes for either a boy or a girl.We are planting a huge garden and I have started to make our own laundry soap and cleaning products, I already use coupons and have cut our needless spending almost in half. Yes I realize that I will have 3 children 3 or under SO WHAT!!! I love my kids and cant wait to meet the new baby!! So I say to all the naysayers GET OVER YOUR SELF!! we are having another baby DEAL WITH IT!!! I don't care what you think about me I'm not going anywhere Daniel and I are HAPPY and in LOVE and while we weren't trying to have another baby we are excited to meet the new addition the the strain family.I only wish everyone else could see the blessing God has given us instead of being so negative all the time.

Monday, April 20, 2009

Walgreens Savings

So I went to Walgreen's to pick up a few things and I ended up making out like a bandit..Bic razors were on sale for 3.99, in the easysaver there was $1.00 off coupon and in this Sundays paper there was a $2.00 off coupon that made them 99 cents. So i grabbed up two of them , I also needed diapers and pull ups for night time, we cloth diaper during the day and my 3 yr old is potty trained i just use pull ups for my own comfort.I had a 1.50 coupon off the diapers and a $2.00 off the pull ups and the easy saver had a buy 2 huggies products save 2 dollars..so i got the diapers for 9.00 and the pull ups for 8.00 SCORE!!! Also they had dawn dish liquid on sale for 99cents and i had a 50 cents off coupon so i got it for 49 cents. I got two of those, also they had Tylenol quick release tabs on sale for 7 something and a two dollar off coupon in the easy saver and i had a 1.50 off coupon from the paper so i got them for 4 something. i also got band aids i had a1.50 off coupon and if you bought two boxes you saved $2 with a easysaver coupon. i spent around 50.00 total, but i SAVED 25.00 in coupons and got most of my shopping list done. So then we were off the "EVIL" store aka walmart and i got my groceries and used some other coupons there and saved $20.00 there so needless to say HUBBY was really happy and so was i, and instead of eating out we came home and at that saved at least another 20 bucks. SO i saved atleast $50.00 this week just by useing coupons and eating at home.. CRAZY HUH!! Im so proud of my self...

Making my home sing Monday!!#2

Making your home sing Mondays

Well since my sister and brother in law have come to stay with us this past week it has had its blessings and downsides, My brother in law works as does my hubby so that leaves me and my sister alone all day together with the kiddies. While I really enjoy the extra set of hands to help with kids, I don't enjoy all the extra housework that is associated with more people, It seems sometimes like I am just everyone's maid. So today to make my home sing I am implementing some new but very necessary rules. Also my sister and I are going to clean the whole house , I m going to divide up the rooms and jobs and it should be done super fast.I m also going to read one of my favorite blogs Moms the word please check it out. So I'm off to find every crook and cranny that has dirty and dust.I am also purging the dressers and closets so I can put in some summer clothes and appropriately dispose of the outgrown or ratty clothes, not a whole lot is going to get throw away yet , until we find out what baby #3 is. Well I m off to make my home sing when i am finished i hope it sounds like susan boyle check out her on youtube

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Miah's pageant

Some members of my family hate that i enter here in pageants but her and i both enjoy them, so as long as she WANTS to do them and we can afford it i am goin to let her participate, This past
Saturday she participated in another pageant and she won 2nd place. She did so well and Im so proud of her..Daddy took the pics so some are blurry.but here they are






her Miss PhotoGenic entry pic



Miss personality photo entry

best hair photo entry


she looks so serious i guess she was "in the zone"

ignoring me .. so typical




a blurry pic of her crown


Her getting her crown



after the pageant on the way home



telling the first place crown winner congrats ( they both got the same crown only the other girl got a sash also) and below is miah after the pageant she was so tired..yes she has a black eye she fell a few days ago,

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Slow cooker Thursday




Well today I drug out the ole crock pot and decided to make one of my hubby's favorite suppers. BBQ Pulled Beef Sandwich's,
My recipe is simple One shoulder Roast, one packet of Mccormick Seasoning
My Header is a pic taken of the crock pot on my stove and the meat in it and below is a pic of the finished product..

It smells so darn good, I cant wait for hubby to get home so we can eat. That is all for now .. Oh Ya i got this idea from another blog called Evening Shade Morning Latte

Monday, April 13, 2009

Making my home sing Monday!!

Making your home sing Mondays

I got this idea and the button above from Moms The Word blog, How i am making my home sing today is by purging my 3yr olds toy boxes, She just had a birthday party on Saturday so I removed all the old toys she does not play with anymore or the broken ones and divided them up. Some go to little brother others to trash and some to save and donate pile. Then i gave the kids room a good ole scrubbing and linen changing.I also purged the toy box in the living room, it seems more and more toys are brought in from the kids room to the living room and in my own laziness i just pile them in the crate instead of returning them to their room because it is normally after everyone has gone to bed when i do my best cleaning and if turn on the light or drop something i don't want to wake them up , I REALLY enjoy my alone time between 10:30 p.m.and midnight to read , crochet , blog.. ect. Also today i m trying a homemade soap recipe i got from Here im useing #4. i got the idea from a blog called Evening Shade Morning Latte which i follow her recipe is slightly different from the one im useing, Im also sew on some home made cloth diapers for my little boy and the baby on the way.I find it much more frugal to make them as the flannel i purchased at my local walmart is $2.49 a yard and i can make 4 diapers out of a yard, i line them with a terrycloth wash cloth 18/$3.88 also at wm and coverthem with a scrap of the left over flannel. Im just learning to sew, and the first few arent pretty but i figure hey in the near future they are goin to be holding poop who cares what they look like right? but if you Dont sew this blog call The Cloth Diaper Whisperer , they have all kinds of diapers and covers and great advice as well. I guess i should Stop blogging and Start making my meat loaf, mashed potato's and corn on the cob and rolls for supper. Maybe that will make my husband sing as well..
Hope you all have a good day .

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Big changes at the strain house

well there has been some baby drama at our house the past few weeks as i mentioned in a few past post my little boy gus has been really sick lately. he has had diarrhea for 3 weeks, the doctor cant figure out why he had up until Thursday no other sickness symptoms.Thursday he started coughing, vomiting, running a fever and had a runny nose and the diarrhea disapeared. So we went to the doctor and he was put on more steriods and anitbiotics. My daughter who will be 3 today went to the denist on tuesday for a check up and the denitsit descoverd a few small cavities so he sent us to a pediatric dentist in Harrison , AR and hour away and we went thursday ( this is when gus decied to start vomiting, half way there was a barf fest.. fun fun) We were late cause my mother in law whom drove us had to keep pulling over so i could wipe him off or change his clothes. She is goin back on the 23rd to have her teeth filled. Gus goes back to the doctor on the 27th for a recheck unless he gets worse before then , and now to my hubby , we went to the doctor, luckly his eye required no stitches but was sore has heck for several days and swollen . The doctor gave him and anitbiotic which he is done with now and a control med for the seizures, and we finally got a diagonosis, CLASSIC EPILEPSY , Finally this is the 3rd doctor he has seen one a neorologist who couldnt give us one . I've know for three years this is what he had but couldnt convice those dam know it all doctors of it. We really really like his new doctor and so does he, And much to my relief this episode finally scarred him enought to start taking his pills like he his supposed to and is MUCH easier to live with . So that is every one but ME.. well I've been well playing nurse to everyone and their needs and have been really tired lately didnt really think nothing of it till i looked at my girly "Calender" to see when "AUNT FLO" was supposed to be here and reliezed it was january the last time i seen her and thought OH SHIT!!! ran to the store bought 2 preg test,, first one invalid.. dam it... second one neg.. (WHEEW) so i laid them up on the back of the toilet and went about my business , when i went to throw them away the first one had a postive result.. so i went and bought two more, took one this am and YUP wouldnt you know it.. WE ARE EXPECTING #3 some time in oct the best i can guess.. Im not planning on telling my hubby's family b.c as all you who read this know they are goin to go ape shit and freek out. we wanted another baby someday but wanted to wait a while, this is the 2nd time ive gotten prego on the pill, and Ironicly when i found i was expecting Gus it was on Tommiah' First birthday and i found out this am one day before her 3rd birthday im expecting again .. weird huh.. also when i went to the dr this am they guessed my due date as 10-10 . Miah's bday and our anivery is theh 11th, and gus's birthday and the day dan and i first talked was a 10th, and this baby is due on the 10th.. wierd i guess 10 and 11 are my lucky numbers but DONT worry i am not a DUGGAR WANT TO BE (nothing wrong with the duggars they seem sweet and well rounded ) BUT IM PLANNING ON HAVING 10 or 11 kids. Maybe four.. but i guess the lord will decied how many huh.. he decied to bless us with another one ..
well im off to bed ive sitten so long my but is asleep i believe that is a sign to get up ..

Sunday, April 5, 2009

busy weekend

Well we have had a pretty full weekend. Last night (friday) we took the kids to eat at one of our favorite resturant and then to the circus. My mother in law took them for the night so we came home and went to bed and SLEPT IN..Hubby and my brother got up and worked on our additon, Hanging the last bit of drywall and cleaning it up so we can put down flooring, Then we went to Hubby's uncles Grand Opening of his Gun Store, Saw hubby's whole family there, reclaimed our little boy, went into town picked up a few thing, then back home for the guys to work more on the additon and me more time to clean house, then tonight we took my brother to the local stock car races in West Plains, Gus my 15 month old LOVED it, we have alot of fun while we were there i got to work on some of my current crochet projects.. (read the my other blog for more details) so i guess tomarrow is church, more addition work, house cleaning and retrieving my little girl. she went with her nanny to see her greatgranny and is spending the night again.. hope everyone has had a productive weekend.

Thursday, April 2, 2009

my Leftover make over

ok so i got this idea from a blog i follow called The New Frugal Mom so here is my LOMO..
Taco Sandwiches,
I used left over taco meat with onions cooked in with the beef and warmed it up then put it on bread with tomato and lettuce,a slice of cheese and hubby added some salsa to his. We also have a habit around our house of putting chips on our sandwiches so we added nacho Doritos's on this one.. It was REALLY good and FAST plus it used some of leftovers in my fridge that sometimes go neglected. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did.