I'm still here

Peyton's first birthday went well. Boy was I tired. I guess all these other moms that work and do everything else too are just super moms. I was super pooped. I was completely exhausted before the party even started, and thankfully I had the next Monday off to recoop.

My Grandma's house caught on fire on Saturday night. Everyone was fine, but as you can imagine it has been quite a stressful and family filled dramatic week due to that. It was my uncles fault (cigarette), so half of the family is very very angry with him. It was an accident though. I have mixed emotions about the whole thing. It this was the only issue, then it wouldn't be so bad, but my family has lots of problems with addictions and he needs help. Big Time. Hope this helps him hit the bottom, ask God for help, realize he needs it and actually seek that help that is out there if he would just go and get it.

I have started a small scrapbook website (i'm still programming it) and business here. I've decided to start small. I don't see us openning a real store anytime soon, so this is my 'baby' step into the business. I hope this will help me figure out some things about the scrapbooking industry, maybe make a few connections somewhere along the way and locally figure out the market a little before i take the huge leap into a real store. So, starting in an January i'm hosting monthly crops at a local church for a small fee. The fee will cover door prizes and a small project or two during the crop. I'm also going to provide daycare for those that need it, which is the main thing that is really needed (for some anyway). I know that it would be hard for me to go to an all day crop if I didn't have daycare. I'm getting really excited about this though. I've got a website almost done. Business Cards started. T-shirt Ideas in my head. Projects sketched out. Lots and Lots of ideas. Exciting stuff.

We signed the papers to list the land with a real-estate agent today. They marked the price up 11k higher than what we were asking, but hopefully the advertising will help it get sold.

My mom's cancer is really starting to scare me. The spots on her hands and feet just keep multiplying. It is spreading really fast. They made her cream very strong. The current dosage will kill her skin, so she has to put it on very carefully. I guess she is going to have dead skin/white spots on her hands and feet, but it should stop the spread of the cancer. She is meeting with the specialist at Emory in Atlanta in December. I can't wait for that appointment.

Lots of changes at work. Changes that I don't like. I'm getting a new boss. I'm also having problems with some of the people on the team that I lead. I can tell that being a supervisor is NOT easy. One or two people on your team can really make your life hard. One guy in particular has been giving me much greif.

I had to go back on my daily medication for my migraines. It seems to be helping. I was starting to get them way too much again. I need to start keeping a log again, i just don't want to go back throiugh everything that I have been through in the past.

OH, and I'm down 30 lbs!!! YIPPIE for me. I'm so glad that I didn't give up. Time to go buy new jeans again. :)

My Baby is One!!!

Yesterday was Peyton's First Birthday! I've taken today off to clean the house and bake for the party. I've become way to busy lately to regularly update the blog. I do keep up with everyone else though!

Another quick update

My latest happenings...

• My sister is pregnant with a GIRL! Hopefully it really is a girl. She is 25 weeks now, and she will go back in another month to try and re-verify.
• Peyton is going to have a Mickey Mouse party. I've bought all the stuff and I made invites in photoshop today to send out to everyone. I just need to buy a new color ink cartridge and print them out.
• I'm down 23 lbs. That is all. I'm struggling big time staying motivated. I think i need to start pack counting points for the weight watchers program - i would love to be down another 10 pounds this year.
• I have registered the scrapbook business in order to get a tax id. I have to get this before any of the companies will let me know what the wholesale prices are. without knowing that, it is hard to know how much profit it could make - and i need to know how much stuff i would need to sell in order to break even each month and how much i would need to sell to make a profit. i'm going to be researching this big time - because if i decide to do it i want to know that it could be successful. I read somewhere online that over 60% of all businesses that do a detailed business plan never get started b/c the plan proves that the business can't make it.
• I finally got some of Peytons pictures hung on the wall, and i started the 'picture' wall in our entry. so far it is looking good!

Well, i better get off and get the nighttime routine going so we can get to bed. We are still waking up way too much at night - so i have to go to bed early to make up for all the wakeups and still get enough sleep to function the next day.

No more excuses

Can't remember the last time I blogged. I don't really have much of an excuse at this point. I'm busy, always busy, but I think that I have gotten out of the habit and now it is even harder to fit it in. I have considered starting up my non-online journal again, but I haven't done that yet either. We are going through some trials right now and since Eric doesn't like for me to talk about certain things on the blog - I'm afraid that I might not be capturing the 'whole' picture. We are still struggling with our debt. I have a hard time seeing an end to this, he is very optimistic and I'm not. I'm starting to get this feeling that we are not going to get out for a LONG time. The goal on a weekly basis is still to NOT use the cards, and usually that works just fine, but some times it is hard. Juggling the bills and which one needs to be paid today and which one can wait until next paycheck is hard. It really isn't the routine bills that are problems, it is the ones that you aren't expecting - like a $259 dentist co-pay for a filling. Or the head MRI he had to get done about a month ago b/c of his severe sinus blockage...those are the ones we have troubles with.

I'm also still trying to figure out our budget. I know how to budget for the regular expenses, but like i said above, it isn't those things that are hurting us. And I know that you should look back over a year and figure out how much money you spent on the 'non-daily-essentials' to know exactly how much you are spending on certain things. Things that stand out the most for me are clothes, party presents (baby showers, wedding showers, birthday parties, etc), christmas gifts, etc. Those are the things that I think are hurting my budgetting the most. The $200 a month 'catch all' just isn't working. And I know where we have weaknesses - eating out/takeout being the biggest one of all. I think I'm going to start cooking grilled cheeses and soup a few nights a week (or something similar) to try and save some extra money in the food budget - and pretty soon Pey will be off of formula, so that will save us about $50 bucks a month.

Oh, I didn't intend for this post to become consumed with our budget issues. I think coming up with a budget that will work for us fully is going to take alot more time and effort for me to figure it all out. And then once we do, it is going to have to be re-evaluated often b/c things change over time.

I'm also stressing Christmas presents. We just don't have the money. I really need to get my butt in gear and start selling off some stuff on ebay. I have things waiting to be listed, i just haven't gotten around to it yet. And since our camera is in the shop - it will be a few more weeks before I can tackle that task. We do always have one fall back though - and that is that our parents both give us money for Christmas. If necessary, we could use that money to buy the gifts for everyone else.

I'm still here

Can't believe it has been two weeks since I have posted. Yikes. Gotta get better at this.

I have had a 'dream' to open a local scrapbook store for a long time. For many reason, I kept pushing that dream away. It just keeps coming back. I try to talk myself out of it - but it keeps coming back. During this last month, I haven't been able to stop thinking about it. I've even started doing research and a business plan to see if it is even feasible. We have agreed to list the land for sale to help free up income to maybe try and get this started. I have big ideas and I know I could run and awesome store - but I have to make sure it could work and figure out all the numbers first. Having a Hobby Lobby and Micheals here in town worries me ALOT also - lots of competition.

My sister found out about 2 months ago that she is having another boy. Well, at her u/s this week, the doctor said it was a girl. So on Saturday we are going to go back to the place where she paid to have the first u/s done to figure out which one it is. I'm thinking, once you see 'boy', it is definitely a boy. I do HOPE that it is a girl though. She has already started getting his room set up and everything, but she has 2 boys already and I know she would love to have a little girl and I would LOVE to have a little niece.

Peyton has slept through the night for me 3 nights IN A ROW!!! This is HUGE. He has been staying up later - he hasn't gone to be before 9 all week, and usually he is awake until I go to sleep around 10. The bad part about him staying awake until 10 is that I don't get any 'free' time at night. But to gain not waking up 4 or more times each night - i will gladly sacrifice that time.

Eric started another new job about two weeks ago, and he really likes this one. He is working at a cabinet company.

My mom was diagnosed with cancer. A very rare form of skin cancer (only 1000 cases discovered per year). It has an 80% survival rate and we caught it very early - so we are all very optimistic that she will beat it. It is just scary.

My cousin got bit by a brown recluse spider - and her arm is VERY infected. She has to go into the hospital/surgeons office everyday to get it drained (yuck) and cleaned out. And she just found out she is pregnant - so they can't give her anymore antibiotics to help fight out infection. The doctors are very worried about the baby so she is very very scared and worried too.

Bad News

Eric dropped our camera and broke it. Hopefully it is still under warrenty. We are sending it in to Sony to be fixed on Monday. Now I'm worried b/c Peytons birthday is only about 6 weeks away and I don't know if we will have it back by then.

And some good news - our Little League team won in the US, and they are playing today for the world title. Good Luck WR!

7 Weeks

Only 7 more weeks until my baby boy will be one. I've been thinking about his birthday for weeks, and I'm already starting to stress it a little. I originally (and still do) wanted to do a Mickey Mouse party - but they don't have any 1st birthday related stuff - so I might just wait and do a Mickey party for his 2nd birthday.

And I have this 'itch' to make him something for his birthday. I usually make quilts or empty scrapbooks for all my nieces and nephews - but I have not made anything (at all) for my own son. I tried the stuffed animal a few months ago and that was a major flop - so I'm thinking about making some sleeping pants or a quilt. I saw a very cute quilt here I think, where she made a quilt with a pocket for a stuffed animal, that would be fun. I've also been looking for a special t-shirt for him to wear on his first birthday, but I haven't found anything 'just right' yet - so I might attempt to make him a special shirt. We shall see. Wish me luck.

I've also been thinking about #2 alot. I was pretty set on starting to TTC whenever Peyton is 18 months old. Well, last night I was thinking, he is almost 11 months now - so that is only 7 months away. YIKES! Thinking of it in those terms is very scary. So, I think we are just going to wait until it feels right, and I have a feeling that 7 months from now might be a little too soon. Of course, I'm the type of person that needs a 'plan', so I think I'll just plan to wait until he is around 2.

We are using the passy again at night - and the last few nights have been better. Not good - but better. When he was sick for 3 weeks straight, he couldn't use the passy b/c he couldn't breathe with it in, so we thought it would be a good time to just stop using it all together. We changed our minds over the weekend.

And a new rule at our house. Bath time must be at least 1 hour AFTER dinner. If we try to have a bath before that, we have 'accidents' that are not fun for anyone involved! Yuck.

Sunday Ramblings

Last week was rough, with my sinus infection and sinus migraines. I have had a migraine everyday since Wed. It will go away for a while and then come back in full force before the day is over. I'm going to make an appointment with my doctor Monday to get on some stronger allergy medicine to see if it helps, if not, I'll have to go on my daily migraine medicine again.

Other things that have been happening around here:

• I think I'm getting the hang of this knitting thing. I've got about 8 rows on my 'practice' project done now. The first few look really rough, but you can tell I'm getting better. I think I should be doing this the left handed way though. I seem to be doing most of the work with my left hand, even though I'm learning to do it the right handed way. My goal is to eventually make Peyton a knitted stuffed animal. I would love to give him one for his birthday, but that isn't too far off, so maybe Christmas would be a better goal.
• A long time ago we decided to try and sell off our land instead of our house. We have people constantly calling to get info and directions - but no one has made an offer. We are considering listing it with a real estate agent.
• We have finally gotten somewhere with a lawyer to try and sue the guy that built our house. She thinks we have a really good case and is going to represent us for free - and we will only have to pay her if we win, which is great b/c we couldn't take the risk of a trial/lawsuit that we were having to pay for. If we do lose, we would be even worse off that we are now. Our main problem is our A/C (we haven't had a bill under $250 the whole time we have been here, and last month it was $330). We think the unit is too small for our house, so it is running constantly trying to keep up - and living in GA, you have to have a good a/c. We also have problems with our wood flooring. It is buckling and splitting in some areas. We contacted him within a few months of living here and he hasn't done anything about it. He also never provided us with all the receipts/invoices from the construction - and considering that we went $50,000 over budget, we want proof that he wasn't taking money from us - and to prove that we need all the invoices. He is going to be supenoed (i have no idea how to spell this, and spell checker isn't helping) to give us all that info - and she is going to supeno all the subcontractors to make sure the numbers match.
• He also messed up the foundation - which made our house almost 200 sq ft larger than the plans, and we want part of the money that we went over due to HIS mistake back. And we want closure and for the nightmare to be over.
• Our little league team is in the LL World Series. They have been playing on ESPN for the last two nights. Last night they lost though. It is cool to get caught up in the excitement!!! i have enjoyed the games and I hope they go all the way. Last year, the team from Columbus, GA won the Series, and they are the team that put our team out of the playoffs...anyway, it would be very neat for a GA team to win two years in a row.
• Peyton slept better last night - but we still have a big battle to win with this sleeping issue.
• Yesterday i bought a new pair of jeans - one size smaller!!! I was holding out for 5 more lbs, but since that seems to be taking forever b/c I'm having a hard time staying motivated, i decided to go ahead and get them. i think wearing the other pair so baggy was making me look bigger than i really am, so hope this will up my confidence some and help get me back in gear to lose more weight!

Well, I'm off to get some scrapbooking done while Peyton is taking his nap, then we are going to Eric's parents for lunch.

Another horrible night

Not only did I have a migraine, but Peyton was up 3 times. I'm getting migraines from not getting enough sleep (or I think that is part of the problem anyway). I don't know what to do. I've started dreading nights. What could have changed so much in the last few weeks? He has never been a great sleeper - but typically only once a night was how often he would wake up. And at least once or twice a week we had nights where he didn't wake up at all.

Onto another topic - I'm trying to learn how to knit. I've figured out the cast-on part, but the stitches are giving me tons of grief. My question to all you knitters - what size needles should I be working with to learn. I'm using large needles, I don't know what size, but they are about as fat as a pen, and they are pretty long - about 12 inches. Should I try a smaller size?

I also bought some embroidery needles yesterday at walmart - so I'm going to be participating in the embroidery lessons over at crafty daisies, go and check it out if you haven't already.

Feeling a little better

I'm back at work today and feeling better. I cannot believe the difference in yesterday and today. I guess sleeping all day and night really helped (along with the nyquil and antibiotics).

Although sleeping all night would definitely be an overstatement. Peyton was up 4 times last night. FOUR TIMES. Last Friday night he was up 5 times. This is driving us crazy. I don't know what the problem is - is it his teeth, a growth spirt, habit, etc? And it isn't happening every night, but a few times a week is plenty!

I don't know if he is getting enough food before bed. He is no longer eating baby food - he spits it out every time I try to give it to him. So, he is eating all 'real' foods now. The problem is, I can't really tell how much he is eating. So much ends up on the floor and in his chair b/c he is feeding himself - and I do try to feed him some, but figuring out how much food he has eaten was alot easier when we just have to finish the jar of food.

I don't know what to do. I'm going to re-read my 'no cry sleep solution' book and see what we are doing wrong.