An OK Weekend.

Scarlett and I didn't do much this weekend. I continued to pick up things around the house here and there. For the most part, yes, it is clean. But Scarlett just keeps bringing her toys back out to the living room and for that reason alone it looks like a disaster area! Who would of thought a few toys could look so messy. Oh well, it just means our house is lived in.

Rassie did get to come home Saturday evening and was here until about 9:30 on Sunday. It was nice to have him home. Would have been nice to have some help with some things around the house but thats ok. I did manage to talk him into helping water the yard! And he put up a load of towels I had folded so that helped a little.

We didn't do much. We did make it to Target. I had some coupons and figured I better use them while they were good. I usually use Johnson's baby wash and lotion but I ended up with Huggies! They were on sale for $2 for the big bottle and with my coupon I got 2 bottles for $2! That's always a plus. And I bought a regulare box of huggies wipes for $1.20 instead of $2 somethings. I think I got half off. I am trying to stock up for when the baby comes and if I can get a few good deals along the way that's even better!

Rassie picked up my gift tote with samples and coupons from a Target down in Houston. The Target here is always out! So I have 3 sample diapers (1 pampers, 2 huggies), a sample huggies body wash, sample of Johnson's baby lotion, $20 shutterfly gift card (if you spend 20 you get 20). And a whole lot of coupons! I am really starting to enjoy this coupon and sample thing!

I still have my $10 off toys r us card but I haven't made it out of town to use it. We plan on using it on diapers! And I ordered my diaper bag off of Wal-Mart.com It's coming site to store. Says its already been shipped but will not be here until at least July 8th! That seems like a long time. Scarlett's diaper bag gave out on me a long time ago and I've been using her Tinkerbell back pack instead so I really wanted to get this baby a diaper bag. I didn't overspend though. I can't see spending an arm and a leg on a diaper bag, especially when I can't afford to! I really like the one I picked out. It comes with a changing pad and wipe dispenser.

I have semi started Scarlett's potty training today. I was going straight to panties but I got a late start. So I set her on the potty when I got her up. She didn't use it of course. I let her go diaper free for a little big but then put her diaper on her. She squatted down and grabbed herself to poop so we made a run for the bathroom. She was all excited, sat on the potty for all of 30 seconds and then wanted her diaper back on. Needless to say she pooped in the diaper. The good news is, she knew that she needed to go! After lunch / nap we're going to put in the potty training dvd and sit on the potty and watch it (well she's going to sit on the potty and watch it, lol).

My baby boy is giving me a hard time. I love feeling him move but it has been painful some. I don't think he has dropped but his low movements have become uncomfortable and painful. I'm not sure what he's hitting. My bladder? My Cervix? But it causes me to cringe in pain and it hurts my lower back too when he hits these low spots! He also hits nerves and makes it hard to walk sometimes because it goes down my leg.

I've had tons of braxton hicks but no more contractions really. I do get some lower back ache and I've heard that can be a sign of contractions but it doesn't come and go and any set time. Just here and there.

I can't wait to find out next week if I am softened or dialated and for sure the "size" and position of the baby. I told him once I hit 37 weeks I'm all for the baby coming! Sex, Sex Sex... lol I haven't really been in the mood but hey if it gets things going I wouldn't mind. I thought about stripping of membranes but then I feel like that would be interfering with the natural process. I dont know. I really want to know how big the baby is and go from there. If he is going to be big I wouldn't mind doing a few minor things that might help him along. Maybe I'm crazy. Guess we'll see what my opinion looks like after the next appointment!

Postponing

So I am postponing Project Potty for a day. Rassie came home last night and will be home today. I know that's actually great news! But I am sure he will want to run around town and do a few things just to get out of the house and I'm not taking the chance of just panties out in public yet. So hopefully I will be able to get started tomorrow!

My Little Dancer!

Scarlett is the cutest thing ever! I love her to death. I caught her dancing this morning. I had it on Disney and Choo Choo Soul or something like that came on. She was having a blast so I snuck out my cell phone camera and caught her on tape! She fell while she was dancing but just got back up and took off again. Never looked back to see if anyone noticed or anything like that. Oh, and her poor Barbie. That poor doll got slung around the entire time she danced! I thought I would share a little footage of the big event!

On another note, I managed to get the kitchen and entry way mopped last night. I had to wait until little miss priss went to bed or else she would have busted her butt on the hard floor trying to help. I really wanted to steam vac but folded and put away laundry instead. Then I got stuck on some Facebook gossip with the CM girls! I have to say it was a great stress reliever.

Today I have folded the last load of laundry. I do want to get the sheets off the beds and wash them though. So I guess that means a little more laundry! I have to bleach down the bathrooms and mop their floors and them I'm done!!!! Oh yeah, the steam vac, how could I forget that. Oh, the baby baby room needs to be vacuumed too but other than that I am almost completely done cleaning! Such excitement. Ha Ha!

It's still super hot outside but I think I may go out this evening and let Scarlett play in the water. I'm almost afraid to though. Nearby towns are already under water bans and if you get caught watering at all its a misdemeanor! How crazy is that? There's a few reasons for that though. 1) It has not rained in like forever. and 2) Their water tanks did not refill fast enough the other day so they decided to ration. Luckily my town has not hit that point yet.

Hope everyone has enjoyed their weekend so far!

Pre-Potty Weekend!

So far I have most of the house looking good. I still need to mop and was really wanting to steam vac. We'll see how far I get. Then I have the bathrooms, some laundry and odds and ends where junk seems to pile up at. So the cleaning portion getting ready for potty training has been good.

Scarlett has been going to the potty with me every time I go. She finally has wanted to sit on her potty without me putting her there. This is a good sign. The only bad news is, she's fully dressed when she sits on it. Oh well! Yesterday when she was finished she wanted some toilet paper to "wipe". I thought it was the cutest thing and laughed so hard when she lifted her shirt, wiped her belly button and threw the toilet paper in her potty. She's a little confused but has the idea at the same time.

Tomorrow I'm going to venture out into the heat to pick up a few groceries to make it through the week. While I'm at the grocery store I'm going to stock up on some gummies for potty time treats!!

I am really excited to see how things go. If they're not looking so good and she is resistant after the first day or two then we'll go back to all diapers all day! But I am really hoping that the last pack of diapers we have will be used on naps and bedtime. Guess we'll see.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend. Mine started out bad on Friday night but things are looking up now!

The Air!

So the air is NOT broken and neither is the thermostat. It is just THAT HOT! With the temperature outside hitting 105+ not including the heat index our house is just heating up and its getting harder for our air to keep it cooled down. Our house has plenty of shade on it but is also brick and of course when brick heats up it really heats up.


We made it through until about 3 o'clock. The air kicked on and off like normal. But now its kicked on and hasn't moved!!! I am hoping it keeps it the same temp or cools it off in here rather than letting it get hotter. If it doesn't cool down and kick off soon I will have to reset the temp so it does turn off. I have it set on auto but until it reaches what its set on it doesn't turn off and I can't just leave it running. I can't afford that type of electric bill. My mom says to set it cooler! Well if its not cooling down what I need it to right now I'm not going to turn it down even more!!!! Unless she's going to foot the bill of course and I really don't see that happening!


Here's to hoping this heat wave ends soon.

Project Potty

I have decided that I really need to focus on potty training. I have been saying for weeks, months even, that I was going to get started. Scarlett is showing more and more interest in her potty. It has a lid that opens and closes and she gets so mad when I go potty and don't open her lid so that she can sit on her potty too. I am a little worried about her actually going in the potty though. I have been letting her play in the water outside in just her swimsuit, no diaper or swim diaper. And she will grab herself and kind of whine because she needs to potty and she wants a diaper ON! She already knows when she poops and for the past few days she has been grabbing herself before she goes and I think if I could get her on the potty she would go in the potty and not her diaper.


I also have a pull ups potty training video that I got from my aunt. I have not watched it yet and I'm not sure we're going to go with pull ups so I really need to watch it and see what all it entails. If its pretty good and gets Scarlett's attention I'm going to make it a daily event where I put her potty in the living room, let her go naked and play the video.


I am thinking that I am going to let her go in just a t-shirt all day long and put her on the potty every 20 minutes or so until she gets the hang of it. Once she starts going in the potty there will be lots of cheering and maybe a piece of candy. She really loves those fruit chews so I am thinking I can do a candy jar and let her pick one each times she pee-pees or poo-poos in the potty. I think she will really like that.


I have already started singing a little song to her every time I potty. It's sounds funny and if anyone ever heard me that would probably laugh. but I sing "pee pee in the pot-ty, pee in the pot-ty" Scarlett seems to really like it though.


Since I am going to let her go naked I really want to get the house super cleaned up the rest of this week and weekend so that I can focus all my attention on Scarlett and potty training and not on cleaning. I am thinking I'll just run around the house with her and when she acts like she needs to go we'll rush to the potty. Guess we'll see how it works out. Wish me luck!


I am hoping to get started on Monday morning (June 29th). Anyone who wants to join me can. I'm calling this Project Potty and will update a few times a week on the topic!

The Good & The Bad

Yesterday I had my bi-weekly prenatal appointment. I'm 34 weeks tomorrow!! I was very happy that I did not have to wait too long. I was in and out within an hour, which is pretty quick for my doctor. Everything was looking good. I think I am finally over my never ending yeast infection. HOORAY! The baby's heartbeat was very strong and very loud. We listened for a while because it always gets Scarlett's attention and my Dr. is trying to make friends with her. She always tells Scarlett that she shouldn't be shy because she's known her since she was "this big" and does her fingers about an inch apart. It's so cute. Ha Ha!

Ok, I'm getting a little off topic. She did measurements and felt around alot. We both agree that we think the baby has turned into head down position. I think that's awesome news. I have been worried he will be breech. The Dr. says she thinks this baby will be bigger than Scarlett. I was a little confused because she keeps saying she thinks he will be big so I asked how big she thought he was and she said "normal for this stage" ha ha! So I guess she just means bigger than Scar. Scarlett was 7lbs 11oz and thats pretty average.

I go in on July 8th for my almost 36 weeks appointment. I see the nurse practioner that visit. She's going to check my cervix and do the group b strep test. I am really hoping to see some progress with my cervix. I know that you can walk around for weeks being dialated but then at least I can say my body is doing something to get ready! I was still a 2 when I went into labor with Scarlett, just goes to show that my body didn't want to do any before work with her. This time around I have had a couple of contractions so I think it may go a little faster than the last time.

On July 8th, I also get an u/s. I am hoping that it confirms the baby in a head down position. Please pray that this is so!!! I am also hoping that the baby isn't measuring too big. I wouldn't mind a baby around the same size as Scarlett but I don't want a monster! No really, no matter what I will be extremely happy to have been so Blessed with another baby in my life. I could not have asked for more.

So, today was Thursday and Rassie had to call back into the Saxon office (the oil field job). His application was still under review by HR and the receptionist said to call her back after lunch, so he did. His application is still under review! The receptionist said that this is not a bad thing. They only pull applications to review if the applicant meets all of their qualifications. So she said to give them a few more days and call back Tuesday. I am still praying every day that this job comes through.

I am having a hard time with the job Rassie is working right now. He is gone non stop. He may get to come home for 1 day once a week and he spends most of that time catching up on sleep. I miss him so much not to mention I am exhausted. I have not had a break to myself for a while. I take that back, I get a break each night once I put Scar to bed. But that time is usually spent cleaning, showering and then crawling into bed myself because I am so tired! At least if he were back in the oil field he would be home every other week and be able to help out a lot more. I really could use the help too. Our yard is looking like a jungle. About to be a dead jungle if I dont water it more or we don't get some rain!

Today was pretty good. It was 106 outside! I took Scarlett and my nephews out in the shade of the front yard. Turned on the sprinkler and filled up the kiddie pool. We spent an hour out there playing in the water. I put my rocking chair next to the pool with my feet in it and let the kids splash me while they played, just so I could keep cool too! They all had a blast. The water was like ice but felt like heaven compared to the 106 weather!

I took the kiddos to grandma's and then home. Scarlett and I made him around 5:30. I fixed us some left overs and we played a while. Then I noticed the thermostat said it was 76 in the house. OMG! I had it set on 73 so that could not be right. I realized it had not turned off since we had been home. So I turned the air up to 77 so it would kick off. I moved our little outside thermometer inside and waited a while for it to adjust to the inside temperature. It's a mercury one so I trust it pretty good. It said it was 72 in here. The aire thermostat still said 76. GREAT!

So I waited a bit, and the air kicked on. Hmm. So, I made sure all the bedroom doors in the house were open, all the fans on high, all blinds and curtains closed and then I waited. Waited to see if the air would kick off. I had adjusted it to 76. So at 77 it would turn on and at 75 it would turn off. It did turn off! I am so happy for that. But the thermometer and the thermostat are still reading 2 different temps! I dont know if our thermostat is broken or what and Rassie isn't home to check it out or fix it!

Tomorrow I plan on living like a hill billy. Just in case something is wrong with the air I've hung dark blankets over all the windows to make sure and block out all the extra heat from the sun. Keep your fingers crossed that nothing is wrong other than it was just super hot today and the air conditioner just could not work that hard to keep the temp in the house down!

Keep Your Fingers Crossed

I'm going to start off with Father's Day and then go into keeping your fingers crossed!


I was so grateful that Rassie got to come home Saturday night and spend the entire day with us Sunday. What a great Father's Day present. To be home with your family! I did not get any pictures of the card Scar and I made for Daddy. We're going to try again on that one. When I put the paint on her hands to do her hand prints she freaked out! She started screaming and crying. I could not get it off fast enough. Now, Scarlett usually doesn't mind painting but for some reason with her entire hand covered she panicked. Bless her little heart. Needless to say, Grandpa's t-shirt w/ her hand prints didn't turn out all that great either but he loved it anyways!


Father's day started off good. I got up with Scarlett and then brought her back to our bed to watch cartoons while daddy snoozed. Scar eventually woke him up because he was snoring and she started hitting on him telling him "get up". She's too cute. Daddy and Scarlett spent the morning laying around in their pj's while I baked! I made Rassie my old fashioned buttermilk pound cake.. ooohhh soo yummy! He's been asking for several weeks if not months for one but I just haven't remembered to buy the buttermilk. So for Father's Day I finally got around to it. I also made some Dirt for my dad. It's his favorite dessert (other than cheesecake). Basically it's pudding with a few extra pounds of calories added in.. haha!


Scar went down for a nap and Rassie and I did our showers and got dressed. Then it was time to head to Grandma & Grandpa's. We had brisket cooked on the grill with some sides. It was very tastey! Grandpa got some hugs and kisses that he had to tickle out of Scarlett. She's always stubborn like that. After lunch mom, Rassie and I played UNO while Scarlett played "cards". Then we headed home.


Rassie, Scar and I spent the evening just lounging around the house together. It was nice to just relax with the family. Rassie had to leave back to work this morning. I really wish he could have stayed home but I know work calls and he has to go. Overall, I had a great weekend with my family.


NOW! Please keep your fingers crossed. In other words, Keep us in your Prayers. I am very thankful to God that he has Blessed Rassie with a job. It took so long and finally he has one. I am still stressed and worried over it because it does not pay near as well as the job he lost in January, therefore our bills are starting to get tight and his paycheck is not going to cover them. BUT, Rassie calls every week to millions (exaggeration) of oil field companies checking for work. Last week he had a little luck. The receptionist told him they were actually hiring a few people with 5 years experience and to go ahead and resend his resume and application (Rassie has 11 years!!!). I was so excited but at the same time didn't want to get my hopes up too much. Today Rassie called back in to check on his application. The receptionist told him its being reviewed!!! What good news and to call back Thursday morning because there are a few positions open that are being hired for. I am praying so hard that Rassie gets one of those positions. I will have a huge weight lifted off my chest and not so much stress if he gets hired back on. Every month when I pay the bills I just sit here and cry wondering how we're going to get through next month. God has continued to Bless us and make it work. And now when we're down to the very bottom He has given us the slightest hint of hope that we're going to make it. If if Rassie doesn't get this job God continues to amaze me and comfort me. I am so grateful that He stands by us and gives us hope.


So just keep praying!

Getting things Ready

For Father's Day that is!

Scarlett and I have a few art projects to get done today!

First, we have Grandpa's shirt that we have to get her hand prints on. I found it at Wal-Mart a while back. It says "World's Greatest Grandpa" and it comes with fabric paint so that you can put your child's handprints on it. Once we get it painted I will post some pictures.

Second, we have to work on making Daddy's card. I have some construction paper and paint lying around so I thought we would make our own. We're going with the same words as Grandpa's and putting "World's Greatest Daddy, 2009". Then I'm going to put a heart in the middle with Scarlett's handprints. Afterwards I'm going to let her put a few finger print polka dots here and there to give it that special touch from her! I am sure Rassie will love it. I'll get some pictures up of it also!

We also, went to JCPenny yesterday and bought daddy some jeans at their doorbuster sale for $13. Daddy could always use a new pair of sexy boot cut jeans, plus he's been asking for a new pair for a while. I figured I would splurge since its father's day and with a sale like that for more than 1/2 off I juts couldn't pass up the deal!

Scarlett and I need to run to HEB today. I have to grab a box of pudding and cream cheese. We're going to make grandpa some "Dirt" dessert for lunch tomorrow. It's his favorite and those are the only 2 ingredients I dont have!

The only thing left, is for daddy to be home tomorrow! I am really hoping Rassie's partner/mentor decides to take the day off so that he can come home for Father's Day. If he does I'm going to make him my old fashioned buttermilk pound cake. I really need to dig out that recipe because I have no idea what I did with it!!! But Rassie's been asking for me to make it lately and I haven't had a chance. What better day to get to it then Father's Day!

Wishing everyone a great weekend and a Happy Father's Day!

A New Day

Not too much to post about but I thought I would give it a try.

I have been trying to take it easy and get things ready for the new baby all at the same time. I feel like my house is a complete disaster but I can't get much done before my feet start swelling and feel like they're going to pop. So, I've been drinking tons of water, watching my salt intake and kicking my feet up! Which isn't easy when you have a 17 month old running around at home. But for the most part she is pretty good and I can sit in the floor and play with her to keep her entertained.

Last night I had my 3rd contraction this pregnancy. It was the most painful by far! It started in my back, came around to the front. My entire stomach tightened up and I couldn't move at all without causing added pressure and extra pain! WOW! I am ready for this baby but 1) he needs more time to cook and 2) I'm not ready for all the labor pains just yet. I will be going epi free again!! At least that's what I am hoping unless something happens and I need a c-section.

On another note, Rassie got to come home for a day and a half earlier this week. I miss him like crazy! I can't wait for his 6 weeks of driver training to be over so that he can get dispatched through here instead of ending up in Ft. Worth every time he has time off. But I am very grateful that God has blessed us with this job opportunity to keep our family going!

We are still praying that the oil field will pick back up and he can go back to his old job so that all of our bills can get paid! Right now we have managed to keep them all paid and up to date but things are getting tighter by the day and I have no idea how next month is going to work out. It really stresses me some days.

So there's my update in a nutshell!

32 week update!

I forgot to blog about my appointment so I will make a quick one now.

I went in for my 32 week appointment (35 weeks 5 days). The bad news, I have a never ending yeast infection due to unbalanced pregnancy horomons. But everything else looked pretty good. My blood pressure was right on track and the baby's heart beat sounded really good. We scheduled my next ultrasound for July 8th. I am really hoping the baby is not as big as they are thinking and that he has turned by then. Right now he is still breech and with each week he grows it is getting harder and harder for him to turn!

His movements are becoming painful. He likes to kick on my bladder, which really hurts! And when he tries to flip (but fails) that is extremely painful. I have been having some lower back ache and I think he is sitting on a nerve because some days I feel like I can't hardly walk. My pelvic bones are starting to pop again which makes me think he's laying lower but I feel his head way up high above the belly button and to the left. I can actually feel a firm spot where his head is most of the time!

So just keep me in your prayers that this sweet baby boy turns soon! No breech baby for me!

Baby Names!

But we've come up with ANOTHER name!

It was not this hard the first time around. I knew forever that Scarlett was going to be Julianna Joy. Then Rassie's mom drove me nuts and I decided to throw out the Joy part and ended up throwing out the entire name when I was watching a movie with Scarlett Johansen (sp?) and fell in LOVE with the name Scarlett. From that moment there was no doubt in my mind I would have a Scarlett. And if we had a little boy we had Rassie Braden picked out and would call him Braden.

This time around it has been a struggle! I now have a friend who has a Braden and then a nephew named Kaden which sounds similar and I dont want them to be confused! Then there was Ian Rassie which we really got used to the name Ian but lately there have been things discouraging us from using Ian. Which is a big turn off to the name, sadly!

SOOOO, we came up with a simple name Joshua... so Joshua Rassie and we will call him Josh. Scarlett can even say it! YAY!

I am not going to say that this name is set in stone because the way things are going we will probably end up with a few more names on our list! (we also like Layne) Guess it will be one of those where you have to see what he looks like to see which names fits him.