Baby M is 3!!!!

So he's totally not a baby anymore. I'm going to have to come up with new ways to refer to my children because Baby M and Little man just don't fit, lol. We had a great day today. His party was last Sunday and of course he chose Light.ning McQ.ueen for his theme :) Today we went to the park, went to an indoor play place, and opened some more presents. We let the kids pretty much do that they would like for their birthdays so of course we had Happ.y Mea.ls for lunch and played a lot of games and stayed up late! Here is a cute picture of Baby M from his birthday. On Sunday we get to go to my grandpa's 90th birthday so we're pretty excited about that!!!! I feel so blessed to have my grandparents still alive and that my children get to know their great grandparents. It's not the norm these days for that to happen!!!!

Still Waiting

We still haven't heard anything about R's job, maybe tomorrow. I really wish that some of the other jobs he's applied for would call for interviews so that we'd have more options on the table. R has been working his butt off applying for jobs. He had a color coded spread sheet with nearly 100 jobs he's applied for, the date he applied, the follow up date, etc... Yesterday alone he applied for over 20 jobs. I had the opinion that if he applied for tons and tons of jobs that probability would be in his favor and at least one would work out. So far, we're still waiting for that one out of a hundred and I'm praying it comes soon.

Subbing is nearly over and my babysitting job is going to begin. Our income is going to go from around $1200 per month down to about $600. I'm really not sure how that's going to work but we're hoping things will just work out. Up until now times have been really tough but we've made it, hopefully things will continue to work out. We're cancelling our satellite T.V. tomorrow to save some money and I've been walking to work to save gas. Today I even took a soda can out of the trash because a person threw it away because it was easier than taking it to the pop can bin. I'm of the opinion that every little bit counts. Last week we had a garage sale and made over $100. I've babysat twice for the neighbors and made $70. We're really trying to live a greener lifestyle and save money in the process.

On a totally cool note, Baby M pulled himself up for the first time today and everyone got to witness it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He pulled himself up to standing using the coffee table because he desperately wanted to grasp the remote. The kid just loves remotes. He's been sick and under the weather this week so I did let him chew on it a little today :) Little man is continually developing his personality and said the funniest thing yesterday. He told R and he wanted mommy to have another baby in her belly and then proceeded to ask R how babies got in mommies bellies, LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!! Then he informed him that he wanted another baby brother, not a baby sister :)

It Could Have Been a Bad Day

So today turned out pretty well compared to how it could have turned out had I let doom and gloom take over. We had a terrible night sleeping. I went to bed later than I would have liked and then Baby M was up like 5 or more times and R had a terrible nightmare that caused him to freak out and therefore, wake me up. My alarm went off at 6am and I felt like I hadn't slept a wink. Instead of starting the day off on this bad foot I decided that I was going to make coffee, have a big mug, and just decide that I was going to have a good day.

It was really cold today, like -13 degrees this morning and so I went out to my car to start it up early so it could heat up and low and behold it would not start. Again, I could have gotten all upset and let it ruin my day but instead I went in and woke up R and started getting the kids ready to put in his car so that he could drive me to work. I luckily had plenty of time to deal with this situation and still be to work early. I was not going to allow anything to bring down my morning. Having a bad day is just how you react to things that happen. I chose not to have a bad day and in the end my day turned out really great. I subbed in a 4/5 split classroom and the kids were awesome. The teacher was so organized and her lesson plans were so great!

I got a really nice compliment from another teacher at the school I was at today. She told me that they (all the teachers) think I'm fabulous and offered to keep me in mind for a sub job next fall. She's pregnant and due in July so she's planning on taking the first couple weeks of school off. It made me feel really good that I have built a reputation for myself, now I just wish that I could land a long term position this year!

So all in all I chose the day I was going to have today and it is possible when everything seems to be going wrong to still have a wonderful day! Here are some pictures that I promised. I love that just looking at my kids puts a big smile on my face, how could you not have a good day after looking at them?? (I know, I'm biased :) )

Where Has the Time Gone?

Baby M is 5 months old today!!!! He's getting so big, it's making me sad, but happy in the same respect. Watching an infant grow is the most amazing experience I've ever had. They start out so dependent on you and then gain more and more independence as they get older. He's now rolling over from back to belly, eating carrots, sweet potatoes, and peas for his veggies and then bananas, pears, and apples for his fruits, so far no allergies (knock on wood). He's having 24-32 oz of breastmilk/formula per day along with his solids. We started supplementing with formula at the very end of Decem.ber and he's been sleeping for longer periods of time. We get both kids to bed at 8pm and then Baby M usually wakes up between 10-12 for his night feeding.

He loves his exersaucer, bum.bo seat, and hand toys. Baby M is in love with Little man and vice versa. Little man always helps with what ever we need him to do as well as with things that we don't ask him to do. If he notices that Baby M is fussy in his bouncy chair he'll sit next to him and bounce him. He's always tickling him and making faces at him so that he'll laugh. I cannot wait until they are at the right age where they can play together.

I could go on and on but I've got to get to bed because I have to work tomorrow. I know I'm long overdue for a picture post so I'll try to get on that. A little update about R......he's getting signed up to substitute teach. His meeting is tomorrow so hopefully he'll be able to pick up jobs on the days that I'm unable to get something and then we both can work when my mom can come and watch the kids. We still haven't heard anything from the job in Chica.go.

Christmas and Beyond

We had a very nice Christmas. Thank goodness I had this blog because I went back to one of my posts from last year to figure out how we did the gift opening and Santa present thing. It settled an argument that R and I had and he won!!! I didn't remember doing all family presents on Christmas eve and then waking up and doing Santa presents but that is in fact what we did. In my family growing up we always did everything on Christmas morning which is what I wanted to do this year but since we did it R's way last year we kept with our newly formed family tradition and did it the same way this year.

I actually have to say that I enjoy doing it that way better. R prepared a yummy Christmas dinner of goose and roasted chicken with roasted potatoes and veggies along with stuffing and rolls. It was simple but tasted awesome! After dinner we opened presents and then set out cookies and carrot/celery sticks for Santa and the reindeer. We tucked Little man into bed around 8:30pm and when he was asleep got all the Santa gifts perched under the tree along with the stockings filled.

We woke up Christmas morning and opened Santa presents and then prepared breakfast. I usually go all out with an elaborate Christmas brunch but since we were missing my brother and low on funds I just made Ginger.bread waffles and my dad cooked his homemade cinnamon rolls he had made a few weeks earlier and then froze. We ate breakfast and then packed to head to my grandparent's house. We got there around 12:30 and then opened gifts there around 4pm. Santa (aka my Uncle K) came and visited the kids. (He's Santa for my town's Christmas festival so he brought the suit to surprise the kids) We ate dinner at 5pm and then just hung out for the rest of the night.

On Friday my mom, Baby M and I went over to my aunt's house and visited for awhile. She had Christmas presents for the boys and we had one for her grandson. It was a nice visit. When we got back from there R, Little man and I went to Cabel.as so that Little man could see all the animals and the aquarium. It's pretty huge and R had never been there, it gave us something to do so that we didn't get too bored. We had dinner, celebrated my brothers birthday, and then watched some movies.

Saturday we had brunch and then got on the road about 3:30pm to come home. Little man went home with my parents so that he could have some undivided attention from Grandma and Grandpa and so I could get stuff done around the house and get milk pumped and frozen in preparation for my return to work. On Sunday R and I went to the mall and to Ol.d Nav.y so that I could spend the gift cards that we received for Christmas.

Overall, it was a very nice holiday. We definitely celebrated family and it was more simple than normal because of our situation. It was the best holiday that we've had so far and I pray that this teaches us to celebrate the reason for the holiday and to keep it more simple in the past. It's not all about money and elaborate things.

3 months and 45 months

How the time flies, Baby M is already 3 months old and Little man is exactly 3 1/2 years older, which makes 45 months. I can't believe it's been three months already since I've given birth and it saddens me a bit to think of how fast he's growing. In three short months Baby M has grown so big that he's definitely in 6 months clothing, though he can still snugly wear some 3-6 month stuff. I'm buying 9 month stuff because I'm sure he'll be in it before we know it. He's started cooing and making noises, especially when we're playing with him. He's very close to rolling over when he's on his back. Right now if we put him on his blanket on the floor he will rotate around in a circle, though still staying on his back. He's much more mobile than Little man ever was. From day one he's scooted out of his bop.py and just been fighting laying down in one place. He's almost to the giggling point, showing big smiles and doing this sort of laugh thing when he's really happy. We have a bit of tummy time everyday, some days he likes it and other days he doesn't.

His sleeping patterns are very inconsistent as well as where he sleeps at night. He's definitely napping and sleeping more in his crib but we still use the bouncy chair sometimes. When I'm getting ready in the morning he'll sleep on his bop.py next to R because I know someone is right there with him and I can frequently check on him. He's making it more 3 hour stretches at night but he still feeds A LOT! I'm up several times per night. I'll feed him and he'll be asleep so I'll put him in his crib. That will last about 5 minutes, enough time for me to settle snugly into bed and then he'll start crying, in which R will go in and get him back to sleep so I can get some rest. Baby M love music! Most nights he's listening to the extensive Dav.e Matthe.ws playlist on the IPOD that I created for when I was in labor and more recently he's started listening to the Bab.y Einstei.n classica.l lullibie.s.

Little man is getting huge! He's already growing out of some of his 4T and 5T clothing that I bought him to start school. So he's pretty much in 5T except for Ol.d. Na.vy which I've had to go to the "big boy" sizes now because the little boy 5T's are too small. I hate that clothing sizes are different everywhere. Every day Little man cracks me up. His latest saying is "Oh good grief" since we've recently been watching holiday Charli.e Brow.n cartoons. It's so funny because if something doesn't quite go his way we hear an "Oh good grief" with the best emotion in his voice! His vocabulary amazes me every day!

He's loving preschool and anticipates every Tuesday and Thursday. He can write his first name really well and can finally count perfectly from 1-20, he was getting mixed up with 14, 15, and 16 but those days are long gone. He can safely go much farther than 20 but still occasionally gets mixed up with a few here and there. His coloring is more controlled and he's staying in the lines a little better. He's been creating the cutest holiday craft projects so our back door has become his mini "art gallery." I just love kids art work hanging up in our house! Oh and my most favorite skill that he has acquired is the fact that he can say the Pled.ge of Allegian.ce all by himself. He demonstrates his new skill frequently and even gets his little flag that he got at the 4th of Jul.y parade to hold while he's saying it, so incredibly cute!

Little man LOVES his baby brother so much. He'll play with him and show him all the toys he has. I know he's super excited for when he can really play with him. He'll bounce him if he's crying or gets upset in his bouncy seat. He gives him lots of hugs and kisses and asks to hold him. He even said that Baby M was going to be his best friend when he gets a little older and can play with him. He truly was at a great age and was so ready for a sibling. He'll sit and read books to Baby M. We really need a video camera to capture all these precious moments.

So that's a little peek into their development and mainly a written account for me so I can remember these developmental stages in their lives. I'll post soon about our Thanksgiving and life situation.

A Long Night

I'm taking a little hiatus from money saving ideas to answer some of your questions and write about how I got no sleep last night, or at least very little. I'll begin with the sleep issue because it's definitely on my mind. I can't figure out what I've been eating but Baby M has the worst gas and hasn't slept good for several nights. I'm beginning to think that it might be the oatmeal I've been having for breakfast because it's last for several days and that's the only different thing I've really been eating. I go through spurts with my breakfast foods. Since I've been subbing I decided that oatmeal might be a better choice because it will stick with me longer since I can't eat whenever I want. I usually have cold cereal but I think 2 times last week I had oatmeal and then I had it yesterday. I'm having cold cereal this morning and then I'll be sure to pay close attention to everything else I'm eating because it may have just been a coincidence but man it's been hell not getting any sleep. R and I have been trading off. I'll feed him and then pass him off to R and he'll try to get him back to sleep until 2 hours have passed and it's time for him to eat again.

I think my milk supply is down since I've been working at the elementary schools (they have longer days) and I worked in the elementary level 4 days last week. In fact, Baby M had to have his first formula bottle last Thursday and then again on Friday :( I'm really depressed about that. I pump in the mornings and evenings, in addition to usually twice while I'm at school, but it's hard to get a lot extra since I'm also feeding him. I tried to get some advice from La.Leche Le.ague last night (they have online Q and A sessions) and they pretty much just told me to try to get one more pumping session in during the day while I'm at work. It's hard though because I don't get many breaks and they are never at the same time because it depends on what school I'm at and what the specific classroom's schedule is for that day. They also told me to try Fenu.greek supplements to help with increasing my milk supply, have any of you tried those?? We were at Whol.e Foo.ds yesterday too and I could have found them there but I didn't know until last night. I've never heard of them before and don't know anyone who's tried them. I guess though the G.NC brand isn't good so if you do want to try them they said don't get that brand.

On to the coupon questions. Check with your local grocery store because I know that a lot of them double them if they are 50 cents or under (Meij.er does I know) also if you have reusable grocery bags some stores will take 10 cents off your grocery bill so check with your local store because those might be a great investment. Also, the stores will double them all the time, doesn't matter what day you shop the sale ad will usually tell about the store's specific coupon policies so check that out. I have such a huge stash of coupons right now and I've found the best way to organize them is by categories (dairy, cleaning, canned goods, etc...) this way when you are going through the sale ad you can go straight to your specific category to see if you have any coupons.

I'd never heard of Re.d Bo.x before but I looked it up, very cool, unfortunately we don't have one close enough to us :( On the bright side our local library started renting their movies from Monday to Monday and it's still only $1!!!!!!! So that's a plus. Well I have to pack my lunch and pump so I need to get going. Hope everyone has a great day!!!!

Wordless Wednesday

"Your Earrings Look Really Nice"

Ah the joys of substituting in high school. I subbed for freshman World Geography today and received the above compliment from one of the freshman boys, lol. The day seemed really long because the class periods are over an hour, and lunch seemed really short because after you walk the miles to the teacher's lounge there's not much time left to eat. The school is huge! I'm challenged with directions anyway and wasn't given a map so yeah, I got lost several times. I'm there again tomorrow subbing for a resource room. I talked to the sub who was in the class I'm in tomorrow and she said they were a little difficult, not sure how that's going to go. Friday I'm subbing in the afternoon in a business class.

Baby M slept in his crib last night!!! We do have a white noise lamb (it's a stuffed animal that has different white noise settings) and that's been working well for him. I was able to stay awake while feeding him by watching a taped T.V. program. R had to help out a little because he was a little fussy after he ate and I needed to get back to sleep. I didn't get to bed last night until after 11:30 so I was pretty tired today. Luckily, I was able to get a nap in after I got home and before I started tutoring.

R is going to Denver next week for a conference where he is doing several presentations so I'm looking forward to having the week off from subbing. I feel like I'm burning the candle at both ends sometimes so I'm definitely ready for a break. I just need to get through tomorrow and then Friday should be easy since it's only a half day and it's in the afternoon. R still hasn't heard anything about the SC job or any other jobs he's applied for. I'm really hoping that something works out soon. SC is apparently really strict about their hiring guidelines so I'm not sure that's going to work out. I wish something would work out soon though because I'm really tired of not knowing what our future holds. There are some days that I'm just really ticked off that we're having to go through this. I was so hoping for some stability rather than always being in a state of limbo.

Well I'm dead tired so I'm off to bed.

Working Woman

I'm going to be very busy this week! This weekend I was able to pick up some more sub jobs so now I am working every day this week. Today was a half day in the afternoon at the middle school. It went pretty well but the kids were quite obnoxious. Tomorrow I'm at the same building I was at last week doing the one on one test reading with individual kids. Wednesday through Friday I'm at the high school. I have social studies on Wednesday, Math and resource room on Thursday and then a half day on Friday in a business class. I'm hoping that high school won't be terrible but I'm a little nervous after the obnoxious kids today at the middle school level. It was nice today though because the teacher I was subbing for was still there when I got there so I was able to ask questions and get to know her a little bit. Another added bonus was that I didn't have to pump since it was a half day and so close to my house.

To add to the busy week I'm also tutoring for 15 hours in the evening. Things are starting to get overwhelming! I think my biggest issue is that I'm not able to get enough sleep. Overall I've been coping pretty well and don't feel overly tired throughout the day but I know that I should be getting at least 7 or 8 hours per night, which I'm definitely not getting. Baby M is still up every 2-3 hours per night. The problem isn't him getting up it's that neither one of us can stay awake for a feeding. Last night for example, he woke up at 1am to eat and I brought him out to the couch to eat and I kept nodding off. I awoke at 3:30am and he was sleeping and had only eaten on one side. I had a terrible kink in my neck and definitely didn't get quality sleep. I'm not sure how much he's getting at a feeding, nor am I sure how much he should be eating at this point. I think I would feel so much better if I could feed him for 20-30 minutes and go back to my bed and actually get quality sleep. I think I may start setting my alarm so I don't fall asleep for long periods of time.

The other problem is that I can't get him to sleep in conventional type places such as his crib or bassinet. If we put him down in either place he's up less than 10 minutes. I've been getting him to sleep the longest in his car seat, bouncy seat, on his boppy, etc.... It's really frustrating but in the middle of the night I try everything just so he will sleep and I can get back to sleep. The sound of water also soothes him to sleep so sometimes I'll turn the shower on and put him in the bathroom in his bouncy seat or last night I put his bouncy seat by the dishwasher and that seemed to lull him right to sleep. We are really focusing on trying to get him to sleep in his crib though, by putting him in there during the day so he's getting used to the feeling. So far he's been doing a little better.

Lastly, R is being recruited for a job in Sout.h Caro.lina. He had a phone interview today and knows the woman recruiting him pretty well. He's actually presenting at a conference with her at the end of the month. She really wants him for the job and they are trying to work things out with HR because apparently they are very strict about the criteria and he doesn't quite have the 6 required years. He had 4 years experience and a master's degree but apparently they don't take his master's into consideration. If he gets the job he'll be starting probably the middle of November. We decided that I would stay here in MI with the kids until we were sure the job was going to work out as well as until we could make arrangements for our house. He has not heard a single thing from any job here in MI so we're getting pretty desperate.

I definitely need some help in figuring out how to post pictures, I can't get them to go where I want them and post text in between. I'll keep working on it.

Food Rut and an Update

So since having Baby M I've been in the biggest food rut, nothing sounds good, well except sweets. I seriously think about what to have for lunch or dinner and sweets are the only thing that sound good. Usually I can find something moderately appetizing to have for breakfast since that to me is the simplest meal but lunch and dinner drive me crazy. I open up the fridge and just stare only to move on to the pantry where I do the same. Of course I can think of foods that I would like to eat but they are all things that we don't have the ingredients for, so usually I just go hungry until I get desperate and just have something like a bowl of cereal or cheese and crackers. I think it may have something to do with breastfeeding. Many of the foods that I love don't really agree well with Baby M so I've been very conscious of eating only foods that I know won't cause him gas.

R had his phone interview this morning, though she called later than she scheduled so he was pretty nervous he got stood up, apparently she was just running behind. He thinks that it went very well. It was great experience. I would be surprised if he got the job because they have around 20 very solid candidates and it's a huge job. They aren't hiring until the end of next month so we'll see what happens. His other interview is an in person interview and it's on Wednesday. My interview for substitute teaching is tomorrow at 4pm. I have been able to make a ton of money this month online tutoring and then since I'm a certified teacher I can make $90 per day subbing. We figured that subbing would make more money than R getting some hourly job which would most likely include nights and weekends and not make much more than minimum wage. Plus I can continue to online tutor in addition so hopefully we'll be able to make ends meet until a job comes along.

Tomorrow is going to be a busy day. Baby M has his one month appointment, hard to believe he's already 4 weeks old!!!! In addition to his appointment I have my check up with the OB. Little man has preschool and then I have my interview at 4pm. Tomorrow is also the last day that we have health insurance. I'm going to ask the dr for a script for birth control and get one month filled along with my prenatal vitamins refilled and then we'll go from there. I'm either going to pay out of pocket or use the government assistance that I qualify for. It's hard to believe that September is already over and we are moving on to the scariest time of our lives. This is worse then when we moved up to MI because R was still working for his job in FL, via the computer so we were making money and living with my parents expense free. Surprisingly I'm not worried, something will work out!.

Baby M has grown so much in the past month. He's working on smiling and is more alert during his awake time, which is still minimal during the day. He was sleeping pretty much through the night but then after his cold his sleep schedule has been off. He's been up and fussy much more at night. I have been sleeping on the couch and he's been alternating between sleeping in his bouncy seat, crib, swing, and bo.ppy. It's been easier for me just to take care of him at night. When R and I were sharing neither one of us got any sleep and it was just inconsistent. I have been able to get sleep most nights. Little man loves his baby brother. He's constantly helping and loves to just stare and talk to him. The other morning he told R that he thought Baby M would like to watch a Bab.y Eins.tein show and asked him to face his bouncy seat toward the TV. It was cute, though I don't really want Baby M getting attached to TV at an early age, haha. He loves baths and hates getting his diaper changed! R and I were getting pretty overwhelmed with all the cloth diapers so we finally chose our favorite and ordered more so we could use the same type of diaper. We are mainly using pocket diapers and our favorite is the Bu.m Geniu.s 3.o. It's supposed to grow with them so we shouldn't have to buy any other sizes. So far they have been great!