A Little Update....

So, as you know from my post last night, I have been having contractions. At 23 weeks pregnant, having contractions is not a good thing, I feel like I am walking on eggshells now. True I went through this same scenario with Robert 4 years ago, but I did not think I would have it happen again. Around the same gestation I started having contractions. Some have asked me if they are braxton hicks, but with braxton hicks you get those irregular pains that come and go. Contractions are regular and with the contractions I am having, my Dr confirmed it today at my appointment today that these are regular, about 3 minutes apart which is what they have been since yesterday. Good thing is I am not dilating, down side, they dont seem to be wanting to stop. I had a very restless night of sleep last night, trying to get comfortable. Being pregnant, a woman already has a hard time sleeping, but with these mini contractions that are every three minutes, they make sleep even harder to come by. I have been dragging my feet today, I have no energy, and I am hoping for sleep to come to me tonight. I go back to my doctor in 2 weeks, and like with Robert, it will probably be every 2 weeks until I deliver. I hope to be able to hold out until at least 36 weeks, which was my goal with Robert and I made it. Robert beat the odds, on top of having his own medical issues, he came out screaming and was a healthy 6lb 13oz baby boy. I am hoping and praying that I can last that long, I keep telling myself I did it before and I can do it again. I remember that after a week of these wonderful little contractions, I became immune to the pain, which I am hoping happens again if I will have to endure another rough pregnancy. At least this time around, we live just a few blocks from the hospital, and not a couple of hours like before, so I wont have to be away from my husband for the remainder of the pregnancy. Having the Ronald McDonald House was a blessing during that time, but I much rather be able to stay home and if need be, I dont have far to go to get to the hospital. So, here I go again, and I will make the best of it like I did last time. I know what to expect and what I need to do to try and keep Mr Wyatt in as long as I can, I just pray he is on board with me.

Excuse Me

Today turned out to be a somewhat eventful day. As most of you know I am pregnant. At this point I am 23 weeks along. Last night I started to get what I just passed off as gas pain. It wasnt until this morning that I noticed that the pain was coming and going. So just to play it safe, I started to time the pain. After about an hour I noticed that the pain was coming and going every 3 minutes, not good. Along with the pain, I developed a horrible migraine. I called my Dr. and like I had imagined, he prompted me to get to the hospital's Labor and Delivery. When I got there I was admitted so they could hook me up to monitors and watch my contractions. Now the pain, or contractions I have been experiencing were not strong, and that is why I hesitated to time them. After I had been there for a while, the nurse came in and said that she had to check me. Luckily I had not dilated any, but unlucky for me, I was having contractions and they are about 3 minutes apart. It appears that for now, these annoying little contractions are just that, annoying little contractions that I experience every 3 minutes give or take. This was not the best news I wanted to hear, I was hoping that the pains could have been related to a UTI, which I could have taken care of and dealt with, but no this is something that I have had to deal with before. When I was pregnant with Robert, I had the same thing happen, at about 3 months prior to my due date with him. With Robert, the annoying mini contractions lasted throughout the remainder of my pregnancy. So for 2 months I put up with those annoying little pains, I ended up having Robert 1 month early, so I did not endure the pains for the full 3 months, but 2 was long enough for me. Not sure what the Dr will do. I was discharged a little while ago and I have to see him tomorrow morning. With Robert, I ended up on full bed rest. I was on bed rest with him from the start, but after those mini contractions started, I was ordered full bed rest, which meant I was only allowed to walk to the bathroom and back, yuck! So, for the time being and maybe even for the remainder of this pregnancy, you are going to have to excuse me since it appears my boys like to give me a hard time during my pregnancies with them. I will continue blogging, but if this turns out to be a deja vous of my pregnancy with Robert, I might not be in the best spirits at all times. Like I have said in my reviews for baby products, I did not get a chance to prepare due to bed rest, the bed rest was because of this same issue. I am hoping that with the help of this blog, I will be able to prepare for this baby with out having to go out since that might be out of the question for me. I will however, have plenty of time to read all of the comments and respond, so amuse me, tell me some jokes, update me on the outside world since the next few months might be viewed from my bed :(

Wordless Wednesday...

Apparently I have a uncooperative baby....

I went to Stork Vision to get a 2D Ultrasound done on Saturday to get the sex of the baby...I loved the experience there, the staff was so welcoming and the environment was very calming and comfortable, and well it appears this baby has its own agenda and refused to cooperate. So we will go back on the 28th and try it again. The plus side is, I got some really cute pics of the baby and a video, my daughter got to see the baby and towards the end of the video it looks like the baby even waived to us, as my daughter pointed out! When the 28th gets here, I am going to try anything and everything I can do to make sure this baby does what we need it to do, then I will share all of the details!!

Wordless Wednesday...

Robert really loves his Step2 Wagon, so much that lately he has decided that he will sleep in it when he is not playing in it...

Earlier in the day, he decided to get his nap mat, his blankets and pillow, and place them all in his wagon. This is how I found him at nap time.

Wordless Wednesday...

Merry Christmas from my family to yours!!!

This picture was taken by Kristin Orr from It's My Shot Photography!!

Happy Thanksgiving!! Time For Black Friday!!!

I want to wish all of my amazing readers a very Happy Thanksgiving!! We are done with our little family dinner, and I am getting my running shoes on, brewing some fresh coffee to put in my thermos, and rechecking my list with my girls to make sure we know what we are each after!! Yes we are a group of those crazy women who you see out waiting in lines until insane hours, all just for a sale, but it is what we live for, BLACK FRIDAY here we come!!!!

Christmas at Mommy Katie

If you are a follower of my blog then you basically know my story. My husband went back to school back in 09 after the lay off so he could get retrained for a different career since there was no one hiring at the time, in his field. He had gotten a job in his new career field back in March, but the company was a very small company and they could not afford to pay him what they had anticipated, and that basically left him with out a job again. I am sure that if you follow my blog, you have noticed that I am doing more and more reviews for companies and products. I am still doing home health, I have also just started a home day care program that my husband is assisting with. I went and had our home certified and we are now state approved to do this. I am also seeking out more paid opportunities with my blog. I am doing everything I can think of so we can keep our heads above water. This year for Back To School, I worked very hard at getting reviews and wonderful giveaways out. If it were not for my blog, I would have gone to wait in line at the local church to get my daughter school clothes and supplies. Her dad is involved, but he does not pay child support. I was a sucker and when we went to set child support a couple of years ago, he promised me that he would help out if I needed it. He said that since he is also supporting his wife's three kids, and that he could not afford to pay what the state was going to set him to pay. His wife's kids are not his and their dad does not assist, but honestly I should not have taken that into consideration. Like many of my friends and family tell me, it is not my problem. But I am a sucker. If I had just done what I went to the Attorney General for, I know that when it comes to my daughter and her needs, I would be able to do more and not have to rely on my blog for clothes, shoes, school supplies and now gifts for Christmas. Needless to say, he has yet to hold up his end of the bargain he made with me two years ago. I have been getting lots of emails lately from people entering giveaways, telling me their stories and why they need to win and if I dont choose them, their kids wont have a present this year. I do sympathize, but when it comes to the giveaways, I only use the random.org generator. I dont pick and choose, that is not how it works. I used to enter giveaways daily just so I could get items for my kids after my husband was laid off. I was lucky enough to win gift cards to get my daughters school items for her first year of school. I then realized that if I really want to make it work, I could do my own blog. So that is what I did. I started Mommy Katie. I am just me, no one special, and I have had no special training when it comes to using the internet. I researched, on my own, and I taught myself how to build a blog. I did this for my family. Dont get me wrong, I love blogging and I would not change it. I learned that it was not going to happen over night. I had to really work at building this blog. My motivation was my family, what I could eventually achieve, and my goal is to continue to do my best and continue to blog and learn. I know that in 2009, for Christmas, my husband and I could not afford to get my kids presents. My parents bought the big gifts for my kids and I trolled the internet entering any giveaways I could find, and if it wasnt for my determination to win gifts that year, my kids would have only gotten the two presents from my parents. I was working on my blog at the time, but I did not have the following and I was still learning how to do it at the time. It wasnt until the summer of 2010, that I got my first review. I was beginning to think that it was not going to happen, but I was determined to make it happen. I got my first flood of followers, when I hosted a few giveaways from items that I provided. After that, I had opened a door that I do not wish to ever close. Last year was the first Christmas event for Mommy Katie, and it was a huge success. Our Christmas was huge. I was able to give all of my family gifts, my kids got what they asked Santa for, and I also made some money from some paid posts so we could pay for our trip to my parents house instead of relying on my family to help us pay for gas to get there. This year, Christmas will be just as great. My kids will be able to get their lists fulfilled. I will also be able to host Christmas at my own home this year, which will be a first. Now it is true that since we are planning a big Christmas dinner, we wont be able to afford a big Thanksgiving dinner. Last year we were given several turkeys and coupons to get sides as well, so we shared what we got and cooked Thanksgiving dinner for the Ronald McDonald House. It was our way of giving back to them. This year, we did not get so lucky, I got so busy working on the Holiday Guide and doing other posts, plus my home health, the child care and my own family, that by the time I contacted the companies this year, I was too late. But I have gotten some items to assist with the Christmas dinner, which will really be the big meal this year, so I am very grateful for that. I am honestly grateful for all of my readers and all of the companies I work with, who are willing to send me great products to review, and even offer products for my readers in a giveaway as well. This year, due to all of the Medicaid issues, I have lost most of my patients because Medicaid will no longer pay me to take care of them and they cant afford to do it out of pocket. I wish I could do it for less, but I have to pay my own gas and my truck eats up gas, so driving all around town to take care of my patients for the money that they could afford to pay me would just cover my gas. So I am working harder at getting paid reviews, on getting more patients (which is not easy), building our day care, and making it all work! When I first started explaining the whole blogging thing to friends and family, they did not think it would work. They were in disbelief, but many who were doubters, now read my blog on a regular basis, and ask me if I had tried certain things or if I could do a review on certain things so they could see what I have to say. Our family is on a very tight budget, in fact there is not any room for any extras. With out my blog, we could not afford to do a Christmas dinner, we could not afford to get any gifts for anyone. We could not afford to get my kids new clothes, jackets, shoes, school items. But if we did not have the blog, I know that there are other ways to at least do what is needed. There are coat drives, food banks and clothing lofts at churches, but if I can do something to get what we need, then that leaves room for another family to get those items from these places. I know that before my husband had gotten laid off, I was still quite frugal, I did all of my holiday shopping on Black Friday. We put about $20 from each paycheck through out the year towards our Christmas fund. That way there was not any credit cards needed and we did not go over board. Just like last year, this year I will be doing the Black Friday, but it is all on gift cards that I have earned this year from my blog. I have been given gift cards for certain posts, and if I am required to get certain products, I will get those products and with the extras, I will be frugal and creative so I can have a few dollars to put towards my Christmas fund. So I have some gift cards with a $5 balance and they go on up. I am sure that the retailers are going to love me when I pull out all of my gift cards to pay with things, but that is money I earned and money I will use to get the wrapping paper, and odds and ends. I know that times are tough for many, and I understand that there are many families that are in the same boat as mine is, but I wont rig my giveaways. My readers all deserve a chance at winning, and that is what it is, chance. Everyone who enters, enters because they also would like to win, and many are on budgets and enter so they can win gifts for their loved ones. I understand that you wish you could do more, and I am very glad to have you here at Mommy Katie and I wish everyone luck with entering all of the great giveaways, but I cant just give people prizes because times are tough, they are tough for many of us. This year, I wish everyone a very Happy Holiday, and I hope to continue to see all of my wonderful readers here at Mommy Katie for many years to come!!

Graduation!!

As most of you know, my husband had been laid off at the end of 2008. Since then he has been a full time student at a local college here. The past couple of years with him in school and me working have been hard on us but we did it!!!! Toby graduated last Thursday from his Network Administration course. He also landed a job the same day from Halliburton!!! I am so proud of him. He worked so hard to get to this point and I know that all of the sacrifices we had to make were well worth it!!! His actual graduation ceremony will take place in June. On another note of graduations in my family, my baby sister Erin will be graduating from nursing school in March and my mom and my aunt will be there for her pinning ceremony. Her graduation is also in June (hopefully not the same day) and I am hoping to go to San Fransisco for her graduation! My family and myself are very proud of both of them and I know that this is the start of new beginnings for all of us!!!!

Below are pictures of my husband Toby and our son , and my sister Erin and her friend!

Can You Guys Help?? Get Extra Entries To Giveaways!!!!

This will only get you one extra entry for one giveaway per every day that you vote!!!
I have a big favor to ask all of yall! When my husband and I moved to Amarillo, we had lost everything. When my husband got laid off we searched for work in the town we lived in and after a while we could no longer afford to stay in our home. We left with just a trailer full of our items, so we ended up leaving quite a bit behind. We were lucky enough to find the house we are living in now, and our landlord is awesome! She is our age and when it comes to fixing things, my husband is her man for the job. Also the appliances are the originals that were put in when the house was built about 30 years ago. The wall oven only works if you know how to tweek it just right, it you turn it just a tad too much to one side it will either burn everything or go into the wrong cooking setting. The stove top is an old cream colored one. Only one burner works 100% of the time and there is another one that works about half the time, when its in the mood to work! The refrigerator has to have bungie cords to keep it closed and the freezer went out on it this summer, luckily we had a small deep freezer that does the job. Anyways I entered a contest through Sears to get new appliances, which we so desperately need!! I need to get the votes in order to win. You can vote daily. Oh and if you vote for me, I can see the votes and you can get a extra entry to one of my giveaways each day you vote!! PLEASE HELP AND VOTE!!!! Here is the link!!!!
http://www.sears.com/shc/s/dap_10153_12605_DAP_Kitchen+Aid+Sweeps?dest=gallery/entry/%3Fentry%3D28a23b1e-8544-4c95-81bf-8b503b736f18

He is doing great!!!

I just wanted to give everyone a little update on my little trooper. The recovery is complete and he is doing great!! The worst part when we got home was wound care and pain management for him. He is only 2 so it was not easy. But we obviously did good because we did not get any infections and after a few days of being home he was already back to his little 2 year old boy ways. I know that taking your child to the park isnt anything to brag about, but with our 2 year old, up until a few weeks ago, he could not enjoy going to the park. For the first time in his little life he was able to go out and play with other kids and keep up with his big sister. Also for the first time in his little life, he has gone with out a fever for over 1 week. We have now gone just about one month with out a fever!! So now you can see that I do have a reason to brag about going to the park with my kids. I can now say that we can all truly enjoy being outside with out having to worry about our son getting sick and throwing up after going down the slide, or after trying to chase his sister because he was out of breath. He can now be social, which he is really enjoying and so are we!! We can take him around other kids and not have to worry about another kid coughing and making him deadly sick!!

The battle scar

Let The Recovery Begin!!

We came to the hospital yesterday at 7:30 am to start the process of getting my little Robert prepped for surgery. Well, it wasnt easy at all. Yesterday was also the first day of school for my daughter, so my husband had to stay at the hospital while I went to the school for a meet and greet and to leave her at her first day back at school. I didnt realize how much this whole surgery idea had affected my daughter. I think it wasnt until we dropped Robert and my husband off that Estrella really understood what was going to happen to her little brother. So on her way to school she cried because she was scared for him. I comforted her and assured her that her baby brother would be just fine, that this was needed so that he wouldnt be sick all of the time. Once we got to school and she saw all of her friends she was ok. I got back to the hospital around 9am and they hadnt taken Robert back for surgery yet, so I was able to be with him until then, which wasnt long. The nurses came in and added a patient ID to his Scooby Doo and he helped prep Scooby to go back to surgery. Just a few minutes after 9am the Doctor and his team came to the pre-op room to give Robert some medicine to relax him and take him back for surgery. My anxiety really kicked in while I watched them take my baby boy away. But I was able to keep it together for some odd reason, as if I knew it would be ok. We were out in the waiting room and as the time passed my husband and I decided that maybe my husband should run to the house and pack some lunch for us. Just about an hour after he left the surgeon walked in and asked if my husband was around so he could speak to the both of us. The first thing I asked was if everything was ok. When the surgeon smiled all of the anxiety I had been feeling immediately went away. He began by first telling me that everything went very smoothly, what a relief. Then he explained that what they had thought all of this time to be a diagnosis of CCAM turned out to be an extra lobe on his lung, so instead of 2 lobes he had 2 and a very small extra lobe. This meant that instead of cutting into his lung and possibly having to remove his lower lobe that they didnt even have to cut into the lung at all, they just had to cut off the extra piece that was on the side of his lung. Not long after the Surgeon was explaining things to me, my husband came in so he was able to explain everything to him as well. But because they did have to remove the piece from his lung, they did have to place a tube in his chest for drainage and he would have to go to the PICU for observation and care of the tube until the tube can be removed. About an hour after the surgeon left a nurse came in to take me back to see him in the recovery and assist with the transport to the PICU. I got in the recovery room and he looked so pitiful. He was on his stomach and he was holding his Scooby Doo doll, Scooby was allowed to go with him into the surgery. When he heard my voice he opened his eyes and looked up at me and said that he was ready to go home. Poor baby. I told him that we could not go home just yet and that he would have to  stay and let the nurses and the doctors fix him up so he could go home. He was ok with that answer. While we were transporting up to the PICU his oxygen level dropped and we had to hook up a tube that I would hold to his face to bring his O2 back up. Well, once the O2 level went back up he decided that Scooby needed some O2 and he then held the tube for Scooby. Once we got in the room in the PICU they explained that the tube he had on his chest was to hopefully keep him from getting pneumonia and fever. They also put him on a pain pump. Let the recovery process start! Not as easy as it would seem though. Yesterday was a whole lot harder than today has been. I cant stand to see my babies in pain and to see alarms going off because his O2 keeps dropping into the 70's. Once we were able to get him to sleep, things went a little smoother. Through the night we had nurses in and out repositioning him, checking his IV's and checking his vitals. But I am happy to say nothing serious happened last night. This morning he woke up talking, and the first thing he said was that he was hungry. He ate a pretty good sized breakfast and drank quite a bit of juice. Good start to what I know will be a good day!! The only things we have had to really worry about is he does not like the tube and we have been trying hard to get him to stop pulling on it as well as his IV's. He is very antsy, which isnt a bad thing. I am glad that we are in recovery, but very tired. I cant wait to get this tube taken out so that he can move to the regular Pediatric floor and get through this and get home.

My Baby Boy......

We were up at the hospital all morning. They ended up switching the procedure and instead of a sedated MRI we went and had a sedated CT Scan with contrast. The reason, they explained, was because with the MRI they would have to make him stop breathing for 3 minutes and with the CT Scan they would only need to make him stop breathing for 30 seconds. They needed the lungs to be still for the scan. They didnt tell me about having him stop breathing before we went in. Then they explained how there was a possibility that he might not start breathing again once they finished the scan and that they would have to force oxygen into him to get him breathing again. That just shot my anxiety level way up. I knew that there were risks with the sedation but I didnt know that they were going to make his breathing stop. While waiting in the hall during the scan, I was listening to the heart monitor and trying to hear everything they were saying. I think if my husband hadnt been there to keep me calm and focused, I might have lost it. There was one point when I heard them asking for the oxygen and to get the crash cart and be ready. At that point I wanted to run back through those doors, but I knew that was not a good idea. When the nurse came out to get us so we could help get him up, I was so relieved. Then, going in the CT room and seeing him still under sedation wasnt too easy. The nurse picked him up several times trying to wake him and his entire body was limp. I know it wasnt too long but I started to worry because the Dr kept telling them that they had to wake him up, he needed to see his eyes open. When he did finally wake up it was such a relief. I wanted them to hurry up and take out the IV's so I could hold him. I am so glad the scan is done and I dont want to do that again. They did find what they were looking for and we will be back up at the hospital on Monday for his surgery. The mass they found is about 2 inches long and if it turns out that the mass is in the inside of his lung, there is a chance that they will have to remove his left lower lobe. God, please send angels to watch over him and give me the strength to keep it together. I know that my baby boy's fate lies in your hands. I know that once the surgery is done and he has recovered, we can put this chapter of our lives behind us and he can be a normal little boy and be with and play with other kids.

Count Your Blessings..

Have you counted your blessings lately? What are you thankful for in your life? When was the last time you really took a look around and really thought about all of the amazing blessings you have in your life? Today was a day my husband and I knew was coming and one we know we have to deal with. But its just the beginning of a journey we are praying for the best outcome. Every night before bed I thank God for all of the blessings in my life and everyday I pray that He will heal my son. My little Robert is 2 years old. He is our little blessing , our reminder everyday that God does preform miracles and that He is truly amazing and awesome. In 2007 my husband and I had to bury a little boy who didn't even take his first breath or even get a chance at life. After the loss I knew that my thoughts were wrong but I kept on asking , "Why?". I know that God has a path chosen for us and that I just need to keep my faith in Him because he wont give me more than I can handle. So in the Fall of 2007 when we found out we were pregnant again, I dropped to my knees and thanked Him and prayed for a safe and healthy pregnancy. The doctor had explained that there were risks involved and that I would need to stay in bed and take it easy through the pregnancy. Once we passed the first trimester I had to quit work and go on complete bed rest. I can still remember the day I was at the doctors for a sonogram. I was on the table  and when the sonogram tech went silent, the first thing I did was look at the heart and check to make sure I saw blood flowing and count the chambers. I then started looking to see if I could see what would trigger her silence and the look of dread on her face. I didn't see anything at first take out of the norm so I asked her what was wrong. She wouldn't answer, then she just left the room. I immediately began to panic, last time I was in for a sonogram and the tech left the room and wouldn't tell me anything, was when they said, that our baby that we had lost, no longer had a beating heart. She then came back in and said to go in this room and the Dr. would be in to talk to me. Those few minutes of waiting seemed to be hours. When the Dr. did come in he sat down and told me that there was something wrong with my baby and they were not sure what is was. All they knew was that his heart was on the right side instead of the left and that they had already made an appointment to see a specialist. I had to go home and wait one week before we could get answers. I went to the specialist and she had me go and have another sonogram done. She then came in and explained to us that our baby boy had a disorder called CCAM or Congenital Cystic Adnomatoid Malformation. When they found this, his entire left lung was a mass of cysts and his heart had been pushed to the right side of his chest. She had explained what that meant and what the chances of him surviving after his birth. She also explained that if he did make it through the entire pregnancy, that he would have to stay in the NICU for a while and he would also need surgery. Once we got home we held each other and cried. This time I didn't ask why, I just prayed, I prayed for my babies life and for the best outcome possible. The pregnancy was not a easy one. I became very sick and ended up staying at the Ronald McDonald House for the final 8 weeks of my pregnancy. I ended up getting so sick that the doctors said I would have to deliver him 4 weeks early. I went in for a final sonogram with the specialist two days before the scheduled delivery. She had told us that he would be very tiny, maybe 3 lbs and that he may not be able to thrive. I went in for the scheduled delivery and they began to induce me. The doctor came in to talk to us and explain about how there would be a entire team of doctors ready to rush him to the NICU once he was born. When the Dr left the room the nurse came in and prepped me for my Epidural. When she sat me up I felt my babies head coming out. She said that was impossible since the Dr had just started the induction. I insisted that she lay me back down because he was coming. Sure enough, I was right. Robert was getting ready to make his debut. It all happened so fast that my husband ended up delivering him. The Dr. was out in the hall and came back in and guided Toby through the delivery. To mine and everyone else's shock, he was not tiny and he came out screaming. When they weighed him he was 6 lbs 13 oz, no where near the size they had told us. They then rushed him to the NICU. I know that God was listening to my prayers. I and many doctors have witnessed a true miracle. We were not completely out of the woods though and we still aren't. Robert still has cysts on his left lung. They are not huge, but they do cause him to have health issues. When he gets sick, he gets really sick. For example, this past Spring my daughter had a little cold. Robert got it and his fever got so bad that he started seizing. During the cold and flu season he is constantly sick. He also throws up quite often, sometimes just out of the blue and others just when he is playing he ends up coughing then throwing up. We have been waiting to see if the surgeon is going to do surgery on Robert to remove the cysts. They wanted to wait to see if the cysts would, I guess, go away. Well since this past winter was real hard on him and because of him throwing up all of the time, they are looking at going through with the surgery. We got the call today, one have been waiting on. Robert will be going in for a sedated MRI this coming Thursday. This has been something that has been held off because of the risks of the sedation. Once we get the results we will then know what the next step will be. There is a chance he could go into surgery directly after the MRI. We wont know until MRI results are read by the doctor at the time of the MRI. So, for now, we are counting our blessings and hoping for the absolute best.

My lil sis holding baby Robert!

Toy Story Boys' Pull-Ups Training Pants

So I was at Wal-Mart and I was needing to get some more Pull-Ups for my son when I saw this cute toy box with the Toy Story 3 Design on it and Pull-Ups inside. So not only is there a cute toy box for my son and I can also get the Pull-Ups I needed but there is also a potty training Cd inside as well as a progress and rewards chart all for a very decent price. So yes I did purchase a box and I am very excited to pop the training Cd in and see what tips Pull-Ups has to offer to hopefully help us succeed in our potty training! Oh and what I like is if you have a girl they also have a princess design available in the same type of package!!!

Mommy to a Angel

My husband and I actually have 3 children but our middle child is a little angel. We lost him in July of 2007. I had carried him until I was 6 months pregnant. I went for a doctors visit and ended up in the hospital. Before the delivery was complete he had passed away. He never got to take his first breath. Why it happened , I dont know. The doctors could not figure out what went wrong. The only one who knows the reason is God and I know someday I will get to meet my little boy and hold him , but until then he is my little angel. One thing I will never forget was when we had the funeral for him. My daughter was 3 and I was crying. She grabbed my hand and told me "Mommy , dont cry. It is ok because I am still a big sister. I am a big sister to a angel." When I think about my little angel I remember what my daughter said and I tell myself that I am still his mommy , I am the mommy of an angel.

Welcome

Well , here it is, my blog. I am a mommy and a wife. I love reviews and giveaways!! I love playing with my kids and spending time with my husband. We love to be outside. We love to explore , hike and camp with the kids. I have a daughter and a son. My husband is a full time student and I am a homemaker during the day and in the evenings I assist elderly with their night time needs. My little boy was born with a medical disorder called CCAM , which means he has cysts on his lungs. With the CCAM he is more susceptible to getting sick. For example if someone has a minor cold , not only will he more than likely get it , but because of the cysts which act as breading grounds for bacteria , a cold can turn into pneumonia very easily for him. So we are very careful with him and try to keep our home and his environment as clean as possible. Its hard because he loves to play with his older sister and other kids as well , so I am the mom that carries hand sanitizer and wipes , who is constantly keeping hands clean and trying to wipe down everything they touch. I just refuse to keep him from being a kid and doing things that other kids are doing , so I try to be as careful as I can.

Like many families , we too were hit hard by the economy. In 2008 my husband was laid off. We ended up loosing our house that we worked so hard for and moved to the city in hopes of finding work. After many dead end job searches , my husband and I decided the best thing for our family was for him to go back to school and retrain for a new career. He enrolled in a IT program in the Spring of 2009 and he is currently a full time student. He has been going year round and is expected to graduate in December of 2010. We get by on what I make, but just barely. Our kids are happy , they have what they need and are taken care of. We may not be able to do everything that we would like to do and get our kids everything they would like but we have what we need. It was a huge adjustment but we have managed and my marriage has survived through this and it has made us that much stronger. But isnt that life , no one ever said it was supposed to be easy , you just have to do the best you can. My husband and I have had to go through a lot but everything we have gone through brings us closer and makes us stronger.