THE lousiest blogger ever!

I am a great non blogger. I'd love to become a great blogger. We'll see. I've been thinking about maybe, possibly, probably not...but maybe making this blog my check in. I need motivation, I need support(even if no one reads it), and I need somewhere to vent, whine, and talk so to speak.

I'm in a rut. I'm embarrassed to begin this journey. I'm very judgmental of myself. Burro says it all the time "if someone is pointing out something bad about themselves you have to jump in and add something about you". I'm a negative Nelly. I'm lazy. I'm not the best house keeper. My floors get mopped (yes by hand) only once a month...maybe 2x. I have baskets of clean clothes, mostly folded but just not put away. I have boxes piled chest high in our spare bedroom, I have boxes still unpacked in our bedroom from moving in back in July. Our bed gets made 1 or 2 days a week. My counters almost always have something on them, be it a dish, a wrapper, empty milk jug...or if you ask me right now all three. My curtains are crooked, shoes aren't lined up, and my hair is an unwashed mess.

I need an outlet to get through these things. I need ideas, motivation, help!

Since having LS I have let myself go. I lost all the weight, a whopping 13lbs and I've gained it back. I haven't slept well in 8.5 months. How is that you may ask? LS is only 7 months old. The last month of pregnancy is hell. So that's how!

I'm a wreck. I'm tired, worn out, and really feel like a pathetic excuse for a Mom, wife, friend, daughter, sister, and neighbor.

Maybe I need to seek God, maybe I need to start writing more, letting feelings out in a healthy way. I don't know. I don't know why I tipped this all out. I felt compelled I suppose. Maybe a great force said "BLOG". I don't know. We'll see when the next post is...

I'm awful!

I'm such a bad blogger! Geez! But in the past few weeks we have done a lot! Pa had vacation and we finished siding, painted kitchen, living room, hallway, and BB's room. THEN Pa decided to quit work and start working with a family friend at another restaurant here in town! Its a whole lot less stressful and way less whining and crying...
LS started cereal, rolling over, and goo-ing a ton. I started selling my crocheted items again and bow holders.
I had a ton of things I thought about blogging...but never picked up my phone and did it! So this is short :(

Today...just another day

Arroz Con Pollo, Lightened Up | Skinnytaste
That's what I'm making for dinner. Smells smashing! Making dinner doesn't typically happen unless it's Mario's day off because we don't do well with leftovers. But for weight watchers I'm finding I need to use up my points in bigger point meals or else I eat random stuff just to make up my points.

Today the guys got started on siding! They have to do at least first row before they can secure the deck boards. Hopefully they can get the boards down tomorrow.

I also got the great idea to make crocheted items for Mario's family this year for Christmas. That's 4, 3, and 3...10 hats, scarves, mittens, or dresses to make before Halloween so they get there in time...darn mail system! Now must figure out what to make who and in what colors. That's enough to drive me crazy...and may take from now until Halloween for me to figure out.

Dinner just beeped!

August

So far this month we have had heart break, a deck break, lots if cuts and scrapes, and a big hit to the bank account.

The heart break is a but personal at this point. But involves the kids...maybe later.

The deck break and cuts and scrapes is because we tore down our old deck Sunday! The plan is to have the new deck up by this weekend.. So far we have posts cut. The scrapes and cuts, well i pinched my finger between two deck piers, BB tripped and fell 2x over the deck piers, and Mario cut his forearm on a nail and scratched his knuckle in the process of trying to get things done.

And the hits to the bank account...the deck, the siding, a faucet, tools, nails, a toilet, and all the gas involved in driving to the hardware store 29 miles away.

Now that I see it all written down maybe I should keep track of what we spend on the house...good idea huh?

LS slept in her crib for the first time in over a month! She did really well, 12-3, 3:45-7- 7:15-9. I'll take it! Much better sleep for me! We are nursing so I typically sleep and nurse her at the same time. I cannot sleep in that position...so I definitely needed a change.  Hope this is a long time change!

I started weight watchers this month too. Its difficult getting used to...I don't have the menu/recipes/food i need/want/enjoy figured out yet. We'll get there I suppose.  10 lbs in 2 weeks...I'm happy with that :)

Off to figure out recipes and menu so I can get to the store.

Oh the possibilities

We are at a cross roads right now...job wise. If Mario gets a job at the local factory we'd have so much more time together...not a much money. We'd be going from him working 60 hours a week 6 days (10:30-10, with a2 hour break) to him working a normal 8 hours a day 5 days a week. his hours could be as great as 5-1! He'd have weekend and every afternoon/night off! The main reason we aren't jumping at that idea is because the money isn't great.

Lots to think about.

On another note we got a great desk on a deck! A craigslist ad for an 18 by 12 ft no care needed deck with rails! Mario is headed out to Go pick it up soon! Super excited!

Also, just saw THE coolest idea for or counter tops ever! More to come on those later!

Here's my no poo inspiration.

No 'Poo To You, Too!!! | Crunchy Betty
I just came across her blog the other day and love her sense of true being.  And being a new home owner I am going to be searching for ways to save $$$$ so far I didn't have to buy new shampoo after the move. Mine ran out right before we left the moldy house.
Any money saving ideas are welcomed! I will try home made detergent again, this time I'm going to invest in an essential oil to help the clothes smell nice after washing.
Any other tips/ideas let me know.

Long time no post

So its been a long time since my last post. But loud had been going on. We moved into the rental house we lived in before we left for Mexico, it had mold now though (and a landlord who doesn't seem to care). So seeing as we have a 2 month old and a 3.5 yr old we decided for health purposes we couldn't continue to live there.
So a month and one week after moving into that house we bought out first place.  Its a nice trailer in a 'community' just north of town. 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, and definitely in our price range.  Now we get to make it our own. So I'm sure I will have quite a few posts about remodeling and decorating. 
On Sunday I started a new adventure...no shampoo. I'm suppose to have beautiful clean hair and after just 3 weeks...5 days in and I am seeing ticket hair for sure.  If this works I will be searching for ways to transfer the kids and hubby to no shampoo as well.
My future goals for the blog are to
1) keep up with it
2) post during feedings
3) be semi sorta organized about the posts
4) keep them decently short...some longer but I'm writing on my phone so lets aim for short/er
5) I'm really going to aim for humorous posts...whether on purpose or because of my Swype typing. I.e. the title is"long time no post"...it almost was "long time no pussy"..see aren't you glad I caught that?

And it's a...

GIRL!  We had our baby girl on Saturday the 19th after being induced due to ruptured bag of waters.  Sweet baby girl just didn't want to leave her momma I guess.  She is a blessing beyond blessings.  Granted we had hopes for another boy, this little princess has been welcomed with open hearts, minds and arms.  We wouldn't change her for anything.

LS (Little Sister/La Señorita) is a very relaxed baby.  She was born to eat, and eat she does.  It is definitely a heartwarming experience to see what my body grew and continues to nourish successfully!  Currently la chiquita is napping, which isn't uncommon.  She will go 3-4 hours at a time and wake up to eat, hang out for a while and sleep some more.

BB(Big Brother) is doing great so far.  Definitely has his moments of wanting to be with her all the time...which sometimes causes us a bit of fear.  BB is almost 3.5 and he doesn't realize how strong he is.  He goes to lay on LS and is pretty forceful.  I'm sure we will get this worked out eventually.

JUST as I type that he goes over to the bouncy chair and pushes on it like a crazy man...oh BOYS!

40 weeks

Today we are 40 weeks.  Yup 40!  With Soon to be BB (big brother) we never made it THIS far.  He was born at 39 weeks and 3 days.  We are definitely ready for this baby to make his/her appearance.  BUT if it isn't time, it isn't time.

Today has been over all pretty good.  We had our appointment early this morning, 8:30...I know that is my early now and soon to change!  We came home and hung out.  BB and Papa went on a bike ride, I made a sun hat for the baby for the 4th of July.  Then we went to the grocery store for dinner supplies, our dinner by the way was YUMMY!

Skinny Shrimp Scampi...delicious!  And this comes from someone who does not care for tomatoes really at all.  I definitely recommend you check that recipe out.  And our dessert is cooking away in the oven...Red Velvet Brownies.  We will see how those turn out, I'm thinking a scoop of ice cream on top sounds scrumptious.

On the house front, we looked at a few more.  Nothing we were interested in, too small, too much yuck, now in the location we were hoping for.  So we decided to keep our eyes open, but have this baby first!

Did I mention we got maternity pictures taken at 38 weeks, we did it then because we REALLY didn't think we'd make it past that weekend and yet here we are!

It was really fun getting them take.  Now we just need this new baby to make the pictures complete!








Oh, and if I have to watch another Jake and the Neverland Pirates I may just check myself into the hospital until this baby comes.  I can't take all of the episodes BB wants to watch, day in and day out.  I suppose this is where we are and hopefully soon we have better news to report.

House

So we found a house we 'liked'...really it was the idea of the house we liked the most.  It was on almost 5 acres, had 2 barns and a shed.  The house needed work, and by work I mean drywalled, insulated, windows and flooring.  This house was OLD, I'm not talking as old as this, but close.  Built in 1894, the house was still in decent shape.  And was in our budget.

BUT our bid wasn't accepted and needless to say Papa is upset.  It will probably take him a few days to get over the heartbreak of losing this house.  Too bad he can't just listen to some old N*SYNC and get over it like I use to get over an ex-boyfriend.  It is a little heartbreaking to hear a 3 year old say he wants a house with a barn so he can have "a little horse and little cow and a pig"...and we can't give that too him.  YET!









And that was COMPLETELY off track.  Anyhow, so we lost that house.  And we can't find anywhere we WANT to live.  I guess we really need to sit down and talk it out.  Need to make lists, check them twice and find the place that is just right.  Oh House Santa PLEASE visit us!











And it seems as soon as one thing seems to fall through our minds flip to a completely different endeavor.  We are trying to decide what it is we want to do with our lives...now that we are here for good (in America) we need to kind of sort things out and figure out what our goal(s) in life are.  I told Papa while in Mexico we needed to sit down and make a list of things we would like to accomplish in the next 5 years.  We didn't do that, of course!  So now we are back and truly have no idea what to be doing, where we will be going, and how we are going to do any of that!  I guess first thing is first...

The baby needs to be born!  We are 6 days from our due date and still no baby.  In fact, our doctor said "I can't still push him around in there"...and..."he's still swimming".  NOT what I wanted to hear.  BUT there is hope!  This Saturday is the "Supermoon"!  And with it being so close to our due date I'm going to blame this baby's birthday on that...seeing as the pineapple I ate the other day did NOTHING for me.




After re-reading this post I sound a little freakish about lists.  And to be honest, I don't even know how to write a list and stick too it.   Honestly, packing for the hospital I made a list and felt STUPID writing down every little thing that was going into the bag.  It was like "DUH of course I need my toothbrush!"  So I guess I should look up "how to write an effective list" and learn to how to stick to them.  Maybe that will fill my time until the baby comes, we figure out what we want to do in life, and where we are going to live.

Off to study lists.

Rainy Day

Today is a gloomy, rainy, BLAH day.  So I made some soup for dinner Mexican Corn and Bean Soup.  It smells yummy!  I also added in some carrots and used homemade canned tomatoes with some peppers in them.  Should be a delicious tummy warming soup, full of nutrients!

Soon to be BB (big brother) is sick.  He has a pretty bad ear infection, and due to him having tubes his ear is leaking gunk constantly.  We thought he was suffering from allergies, runny nose, itchy eyes.  He had no cough or fever.  But yesterday he came into the living room with his eye shut, and I asked him if it hurt and he said "no my ear" and it was gunky and runny...not pretty.  We went straight to the doctor's office and they gave him a strong antibiotic.  Thank God they didn't try giving us drops...those wouldn't have gone well.  BB has noticed that the medicine in America is "yummy".  They definitely help a mommy give her kid the medicines he needs by making them fruit flavored.  In Mexico they smell like fruit and bubble gum but taste like pure chemical.

With BB being sick he has passed a little bit of that on to Papa and I.  Both of us woke up this morning with a little sore throat.  And we are really hoping now that this baby stays in until we are over whatever may be attacking us.

Speaking of baby, we put up the crib on Tuesday and BB bought him or her some gowns.  "Gween ones".  Baby swing is washed and sheets are on the crib.  We also bought a car seat and some baby *infant* wipes...still going to wait on diapers until we see how well the baby takes to certain brands.

Still need to get the camera charged up soon though!  I'm procrastinating on that pretty bad!

Beer Pizza?

I know beer and pizza go together, but never heard of Beer Pizza.  Well its actually the dough that has beer in it!  Here's the link to a great American/Mexican chef La Cocina de Leslie and her beer pizza dough.

We will be enjoying this dough with sausage and green olives more than likely, but I thought it was an interesting concept to try out.

The casserole from the other day, with the ham? Was a HIT!

And the chicken last night was yummy!  Soon to be BB (big brother) even ate it!  And let me tell you, if my 3 year old eats any meat that isn't a hot dog we are doing something right.  He loved the broccoli too.

I have been feeling pretty BLAH these last few days and the only thing that seems to get me up and going is the thought of cooking something new and seeing how it turns out.  So far so good :)

Maybe some pictures of our dinners might be nice too huh?  Maybe some other night, the charger to my camera is in the basement in a trunk that I just don't have the energy to lift open.


OOOH we have a trunk, my mother-in-law had a wooden trunk in their garage holding tools and dirt.  Papa and his brother were cleaning the garage one day and threw the trunk on the floor, nearly breaking it to pieces!  I told Papa I wanted that box and he made me ask my mother-in-law.  She gave it to me :)
It is beautiful!  Old, yes.  But beautiful.  I am currently debating on touching it up, re-staining it, or just leaving it be.  It would be great either way.  I'll have to go down to that trunk someday soon and take a picture...oh and get the camera charger out.

What a day

I have had NO energy all day.  I couldn't even read a book to Soon to be BB (big brother) without yawning each page!  I blame it on pregnancy hormones.

I decided, after failing miserably to nap, that I needed to get up and do something.  Maybe some movement would wake me up.  So, I loaded the dishwasher, put clothes in the washer, started preparing dinner, made lunch, went to the store and filled the truck with gas.  I'm still tired but at least I got things done!

Here's what is for dinner (mostly from weelicious.com):
No Work Chicken
Crispy Broccoli
And mashed potatoes

It is nice to be able to prepare (marinate in this case) dinner and have it ready to just throw in the oven.  I can't wait to see how it turns out it looks amazing in the picture, don't you think?!

Don't you hate it when you have one dinner planned or finished and it seems it is time to start planning or cooking for the next?!  I'm going to try to work on more of an organized menu.  We are living at my grandparents and they have 1 stand up freezer and 3 normal refrigerator/freezers full of food, I should make a dent in there before we find a house of our own.

Which brings me to the topic of surprise.  We are house hunting!  We have looked at 10+ houses in the past 2 weeks...nothing promising at all.  Papa actually just left to drive by another possible house.  How STRESSFUL is house hunting seriously?!  But in all of this house hunting we have decided on a little bit more of what we want in a house.

Our wish list:
3+ bedrooms
2+ bathrooms
2 car garage (preferably attached)
Fenced in backyard for the kiddos
Formal dining room

We'll see what the future brings I guess.

Our last few months

For the last 6 months we have been finalizing my husbands residency in America.  Well, really for the past 22 months but we spent from Oct '11 to March '12 in Mexico going to appointments and making it all FINAL!
We left Iowa on Oct 13th EARLY.  I want to say like 4:30 in the morning.  Our truck was PACKED!  Inside and on top was to the brim.

Poor Soon to be BB (big brother) only had the space of his car seat to sit in.  

So we left early and arrived in Dallas TX around 6 or so.  We spent Thursday and Friday night at my aunt's house and left EARLY Saturday morning.  We were on the road before 4 that day.  We got to the border at Laredo around 11am and sat there for 3 hours until 2pm.  And after BB wooed the soldiers who were at the check point, they thought it was amazing he spoke English, we were on our way.

From the border to my mother-in-laws house in Jalisco, MX it took us until 11:40pm...LONG DAY!  But it doesn't help when you have to stop every 45 minutes to an hour for a security check.  I don't have pictures of the soldiers from our trip, its illegal to have cameras out on the border.  But let me tell you they aren't anything to be messed with.  Huge machine guns and 6-15 soldiers at each check point, in the middle of nowhere, you have to get out of your vehicle and let them search to their content.

When we finally got to the house we were exhausted, but super excited to be there and see Papa's family.  BB went to Mexico understanding but not speaking Spanish so he wasn't clueless but he was tired and just restless and REALLY not wanting anything to do with these tan skinned people.  (He's use to Iowa...we aren't all that tanned up here haha)
After a short nights sleep we were officially ready to start our trip.  And start it we did.  The boys didn't waste anytime getting the horses to the house and for the first 2 weeks I don't think there was a day they didn't ride at least for a little while.








We also spent the first two weeks having picnics and parties in Papa's family's land.  Beautiful place to go and hang out and relax or jump rope in this case.

BB also got his very first piñata of his own.  He hit it for a good 7 minutes and gave up and decided to step on it.  It was a green Lightning McQueen.  Definitely a fun first two weeks.









I say it like that "fun first two weeks" because that's what it was.  After that things kind of lost their fun.  Between too full of a house, a husband who is too kind to everyone, and just the stress of not knowing what the future would hold...things lost their fun.

More on all of that to come :)

To start

So this is a late started blog, in late I mean "should have been done a LONG time ago".  But it is never to late to start right?
So this blog will be random.  Some posts from the present, some from the past, some from a mix of both.  I have a lot to catch up on and not the best memory of the order they happened in.  Bare with me :)

Lets start off with this:

Not that the baby was a surprise, but the gender is!  We are due in 4 weeks (May 8th) and haven't the slightest idea what is hanging out inside there!

When we came back from Mexico (too be discussed in another post) we were so far into this pregnancy that we just decided to hold out and have a "SURPRISE" baby.  Have to admit it is just about as much fun as finding out...although somewhat scary to know that we could have a daughter and we have NOTHING for a girl.

Either we will have a very well dressed baby boy (clothes from Soon to be BB (big brother)) OR we will have a tomboy dressing daughter...however the case may be we are super excited and can't wait to meet him or her.

Speaking of BB, it is just about lunch time and we are trying out a new recipe:

Yummy Ham Casserole

6oz medium egg noodles,uncooked

2 c ham, chopped 

1/2 small green pepper, chopped

1/4 c onion, chopped 

10 oz can cream of mushroom soup 

8 oz carton sour cream 

1c cheddar cheese, shredded

Cook pasta according to package directions; drain. Heat oil in skillet and add ham, green pepper andonion. Heatuntilvegetablesaretender. Remove from heat and stir in soup, sour cream and pasta. Place in a greased baking dish, cover and bake @350 for 25 minutes. Sprinkle with cheese and bake until cheese melts.

Maybe a catch up post will be later today.