I love it

The joys of being the mother to 3 beautiful children are really starting to show now. It amazes me how when I sit here in front of my computer all i can do is pour my heart out at how amazing these kids are. Yes they may act out at times, but they are kids. MY KIDS..

Yesterday as me and Riri were doing her homework, she asked "mom can we go to the playground"? I said "Yes". She reached over to grab me and gave me a big hug and whispered "you are the best mom ever"!!! How my heart just melted. I was having a bad day because i wanted to go to California but didn't want to drive by myself with 3 kids. So i could not go. I wanted to surprise my little cousin for her baby shower., but it is a fail. My daughters were so sad Sariah even started to cry about it. I felt horrible. When she said I was the best mom ever, it made it all better.

Putting Logan down for his naps are starting to get hard. He is really starting to fight me on laying down (unless he is just so worn out he falls asleep on his own). Well, the one thing that actually works to get him to sleep.... is me singing. Yes, i said singing (and i cant even sing, lol). I am not sure if it is the fact that i sing so bad that knocks him out, or if it is the fact he just likes his mommy's voice. Whichever it is, he absolutely loves it. He is out like a light with in seconds. It is the cutest thing ever.

So the other day on Tuesday me and my mom went to K-Mart with Kamille and Logan because Sariah was at school. K-mart always seems to carry the "whats in style now", for little kids. My girls are obsessed with two things. Sofia Grace and Rosie and American Girl Dolls. Well long and behold the moment that we walked in to the store there was dresses (which are Kamilles favorite). She picked it up and noticed it was a "Sofia Grace and Rosie dress, she immediately asked if she could get it. I said "no" because she has one to many dresses already. So we come home and the more i think about it, I feel like she deserves to have it because Sariah got so many new clothes and Kamille didn't. So i told Shawn about the dress and he said just get it for her if you want. So the next day we go and take her to K-Mart, she was so excited you should have seen her light up like a glow worm. She said "mom, i love it and you are the best". Ahhh my kids really know how to make me feel all warm inside.

I am so lucky to have these three beautiful amazing children, I get to call "MINE"!!!

She is growing!!!

Finally I have sometime to just sit down at my computer and put my thoughts in it. I have been so busy with Sariah starting school and adjusting to her not being her. It has been crazy, but I think that I got it all down packed now.

I cant believe how fast time has gone. My oldest is already in first grade and I so feel like I just had her. Her birthday is in less than two weeks and I don't know where the time has gone too. As I sit back and think about the moment I found out that I was pregnant with her, I remember being scared and nervous, while feeling joy and excitement. I was scared because 5 months prior I had just lost a baby. I didn't know if anything was going to happen during my pregnancy with her. Although I gained more than I would have liked to with her she was by far the easiest pregnancy.

August 25, 2014 was her first day of First grade, as we walked to school I felt those same feelings all over again (scared and nervous, while feeling joy and excitement). Weird, but so real. I look at her now and thank God for this little one. When I am not feeling well about myself (confidence) she always finds a way to let me know that she loves me and thinks that I am beautiful no matter what. How lucky am I?

My baby isn't a baby anymore, but she will always be "my baby". I am grateful for her attitude about life, school, friends and family. For only being 5 she is very smart. She notices everything around her (so i have to be careful with what i say because she totally gets it). It has its positive and negative sides to it. LOL!!!

Well She is now becoming a big girl totally not a little toddler girl. Who was I to think that she was going to stay a little innocent girl that is totally oblivious to life? Crazy. I have a smart, beautiful, talented princess on my hands.

I love you Sariah. You are already doing well in first grade. Mommy and daddy are very thankful that God decided to give you to us.

I love you for reading. Thanks again.

First grade here we come!!!

I am so excited my oldest baby girl is going to first grade. Time sure is flying by, before I know it she will be applying to colleges and wanting to leave home. I don't even want to think about that. We have been getting ready and preparing ourselves for this day.

Do you buy your kids a new backpack every year? New clothes, and shoes? It is something that I think is a must. I buy Sariah two backpacks because she is still rough,  and with just one it wouldn't work. I am teaching her how to be careful with her stuff, but it is a work in progress.

This year is special because she is going to be at a new school in a new area, and I want her to feel safe. I want her to be happy and look forward to what is in store for her. First grade is when they really take flight and start to really step into their own. I am so excited.

We have 8 days left and we are 100% ready for the day. She has clothes, shoes, school supplies and a whole lot of accessories. I was hoping that her school was going to be uniform but unfortunately it isn't. So of course you have to spend a little more on their outfits. 

I made sure to get things on sale. This year I did it a little different I allowed her to choose the items that we bought. It so exciting to see her excited about getting ready. I don't remember being into what I was wearing in first grade, but times are definitely changing.

So I am praying for her protection from the ignorance of the world. People that think negatively about life and don't want anything better for those around them. I am asking that Lord you keep your angels around her at all times and allow her to be the best her she can be. I thank you in advance for her placement and her education. First grade her we come. 

Next blog I will post everything we bought. From where as well...

I love you for reading. Talk to you tomorrow!!!

What is really going on?

Hey everyone, how have you all been? I hope truly well. I know that I haven't been blogging and I am going to be totally honest on why.

We are all human and have feelings. True feelings. People can hurt you without even knowingly doing so. Even though on the outside I look tough, like I have it all together I don't. But, again I am human and I cant always have it together. Anyways if you read my blogs daily then you probably noticed after my "You are a mother" blog I kind of slowed down. Well I got way into my feelings. I spent a lot of time with that blog. Reading emails, Facebook messages and texts in order to make it what it was. I was thrilled about it. Excited to do something for you all, my readers.

I spent all night setting it up so that in the morning it would post and everyone would see how special we women are. Well on blogger you can see how many actually read your blogs and where they are at, like what state. I noticed that the views weren't as good as they usually are. People weren't reading the blog. I noticed that most people were reading the "graduation, a loss and a new beginning". I didn't understand. It was just hard for me to know I did it for you, and you weren't reading.

I know those of you that did because you let me know personally how you felt. I am sure their were a few that read it and just didn't say anything, but when you comment and or share it lets me know I am writing and you all are enjoying it.

So yes I got in my feelings and that is okay because I am "human". I just really enjoy your feed back. I love you all genuinely for reading my blogs. I know everyone has busy schedules and for you to take even 5  minuets away to read really makes me feel good.

I love you all for reading. I am back and better than ever. So blogs will be back up everyday. Please feel free to let me know some topics that you might want to hear about.

Book, books and more books.

Who loves doing things with your kids? I know I do. How about doing things that they will love that cost you absolutely nothing? Even better right? Yes!!! So, I am pretty sure that I have mentioned this once or twice, but me and my girls love going to the library. Especially during school time., but since I spend probably way too much money on books and right now is saving time to buy our house, I figured why not head out for a morning trip and explore our new library (its not new to the city, but since we are new, it is new).

Let me tell you ladies and gentlemen (if any men read this). When I tell you that this library blew me away from the moment that I walked in. Honey I didn't want to leave, 38 books later.

I am going to tell you exactly why I am in love. Over the last 25 years of my life I have been to numerous amounts of library's, and have never found one that has baby (0-18 months) books. I mean a full section dedicated to them. Okay! The icing on top of the cake: During the week activities for free just for them.

How exciting? I know, I am probably a little to geeked up, but when I tell you that one of our family favorite things to do is read. I am not joking. If I have $10.00 left to my name and my kids want a book, I would buy it. That is how crazy we are about books.

This library had the sections, sectioned out into easy reading to full on chapter teen reading. I mean beginner sections, baby sections, first grade, second grade and so on and so forth. They offer homework tutoring for all grades. How great is that? They also do story time during the week for different ages. Also are hosting healthy cooking for children with the college.

I am so excited to go back next time and get more books. Moms and dads if spending money on books is not something you can afford (because let me be honest they are expensive) check your local libraries. I am sure they have activities as well. Just ask the clerk for a calendar, and ask about activities for the kids.

If you have a busy schedule and cant go during the week they usually will have 1 on the weekend.

Its crazy because thinking back on my baby showers, I wish that I would have got books. They are so sentimental. You can use the inside cover as a card with a message to the little blessing (the baby) that will one day be old enough to read and cherish. Whenever I buy a special book for my girls, I write a personal message to them about the reasoning behind the book. Its just a little something that can go along way. (Leah, I hope you will enjoy this one, love you).

Love you for reading!!!

Food to make them grow!!!

"Carrots, num, num, num"!!!

So Logan did great on his apples. I decided that carrots and green beans were both next to make. Of course I wont give him both at the same time. I am so in love with how easy it is to make him his baby food. Nothing is more better than knowing what is going into your babies body.

So the carrots and green beans were just as easy as the apples. The cooking process is exactly the same, except for the length in cooking time. Every fruit and vegetable is going to be different. Some fruits you wont even have to cook. Like bananas, just warm up a little breast milk or formula and add it to your cut up bananas and there you have it. Put in your blender and puree away.

So for the carrots: (please buy organic).
Simply wash them good and cut off your ends and tips. Peel off the tough outer skin and cut into same size pieces. Remember the key is to cut small so they cook faster. The longer you have to cook, the more nutrients you lose. Add water to the pot, just enough to steam, then bring to a rapid boil. Turn
down to low.
After put carrots into your double broiler add lid, and cook for about 15-17 min. It really depends on your stove and how soft you need them to become to blend to a smooth consistency.
Once finished cooking pull off and let cool for just a second or two. Add your liquid. (now some just use the water from the cooking process, but for Logan I wanted it to be smooth and creamy. I warmed up some breast milk and used that for my liquid.

Blend till you get your liking of consistency. Pour into glass container, let cool. About 8-10 min. Stirring every now and again.
Once cooled completely down, spoon into your ice trays, plastic wrap and leave in freezer over night.
Remove and place in freezer safe bags and label.


Green beans: (please buy organic).
Wash them, and snap off the ends. Cut into small equal pieces, wash again. Add water into bottom of pot bring to a rapid boil, place your green beans into the double broiler and put lid on top. Cook for about 10-12 mins, check and see if they are fork tender, if not place lid back on for another 3-5 min. Remove once finished and let cool down.
Place your green beans in to your choice of blender and add your liquid. I used warm breast milk again because I wanted a creamy consistency for little man.
Once you've got the creamy consistency you want, pour into the glass container. Let cool for about 8-10 min. Stirring every now and again.
Once all the way cooled down, spoon into your ice trays, plastic wrap and leave in freezer over night.
Remove and place in freezer safe bags and label.

Now you have two more foods to add to your babies collection of homemade food. Logan loves his apples and now he loves his carrots. I will try his green beans next week and let you know how he likes them.

Hope your babies will enjoy.
Love you for reading.

Needing me.

As Sariah is about to enter into first grade I feel like my baby is leaving mommy. I am afraid that she

may not need me the way I want her to need me. These kids are growing up so much faster and maturing more than I can even remember when I was little. I so needed and wanted my mom in first grade. To be honest I didn't care about getting prepared for school.

Let me tell you why I feel like this. So Sariah will be starting school in about 20 days and we have been school shopping for her clothes, shoes and supplies. Well, when I was younger I cant remember even having an opinion about what my mom bought for me. I didn't really care. Lol. Times have so totally changed. My 5 year old, beautiful little girl sure has an opinion and she is not afraid to tell you if she doesn't like the things that you do.

We went to the mall and she wanted to choose everything out. She has great taste I have to say, but she doesn't understand price. Too funny. So we were able to narrow down what she wanted and got them. Choosing her shoes were so much harder, because I am very picky with the kind that she buys. Have you seen some of these shoes that are being made now? Ugh!!!

I didn't want her to buy red colored chucks because I honestly just don't like them, but I let go and let her get them. This summer her favorite color has been red, so Shawn and I let her get the color that she wanted. Even though she doesn't really own any red clothes. I was having a conversation with her and she was telling me that she needed all new clothes, shoes and she needed to have all the best supplies for school. Really? Where are they doing that?

I cant for the life of me understand what is getting into these kids. I just hope that as she goes into first grade and meets new friends that she wont forget about mommy. I am not trying to sound like I am overreacting but we only have our kids for a short amount of time and then before we know it they are all grown, and off to college. I really just want her to be my little baby forever.

Well here goes the count down till my baby goes off to school. Today is the 4th but, it is the end of the night so I am considering this to be 20 days till she is off to school.

Has anyone else felt like this?
Love you for reading. Thank you!

Baby food crazy!!!

When feeding your baby you always want to give them the best. You want it to be fresh and healthy. With my first kids I didn't really know about anything. I just pretty much did what the pediatricians said or the books told me through reading.

This time around I wanted to make sure that I knew what Logan was eating. If I couldn't read the ingredients and understand them, then he cant have them. Seriously, people all those added ingredients aren't necessary for a baby.

I decided there is nothing better than knowing what's in their food. So I decided that I would make his food this time. I know books and doctors like to say "don't feed them till they are 6 months". I don't agree. My son is always hungry. Breast milk and formula doesn't keep him satisfied. I am not going to shut him up with sticking a bottle in his
mouth every hour. Not happening.

Once Logan turned 4 months I started him on baby cereal. Not a lot, just enough to make sure he would be okay with eating it. Now the key thing to remember, if your baby is not good at being a supported sitter you should not try it yet. Wait until they can sit in their highchair, or bumbo and they aren't falling all over the place.

Kids can be allergic to food so you need to be smart when starting out. The number one fruit that is recommended to start is apples. So I prepared homemade apples for little man, and it did not disappoint him. He loves them.

It took me less than an hour to make them. Not bad. The biggest thing for me was it only cost me $3.71 for 6 apples which would make about 20oz. Cant beat that.  Now I only did 3 apples because I wanted to make sure he was going to like it before I made them all.

Here is what you will need to make your own:

1. Nutri-bullet or any blender
2. 6 organic apples (of your choice)
3. Apple slicers
4. Pairing knife or peeler
5. Glass container
6. Double broiler
7. 2 ice trays
8. Freezer bags
9. Label's
10. Water
11. Plastic wrap
12. Spoon/fork

Wash your apples before you start. Slice the apples with your apple slicer. Remove the unwanted core. Now, you can peel them first with your peeler, but I liked the pairing knife much better. So if you didn't use the peeler first, use the pairing knife to remove the skin. Then dice your apples up in to little squares (all the same size).
Add water to the bottom of your pot (I used a cup) your steaming your product not submerging it. Start on high to bring up to a rapid boil. Now add your apples to the basket of your double broiler and add the lid to cover. Once your water is boiling turn all the way
down to low.
The apples took 11 mins to get to the tenderness you need. Remove the apples and let cool for 2 mins (don't throw out the water. You may need it). Now add your apples to your Nutri-bullet or blender. I added maybe 2 tablespoons of the hot water. Now blend away.
Once it has reached the consistency of what you want for you baby, pour it into the glass container to cool all the way down before putting it in the ice trays.
Once it is completely cooled, spoon the apples into the ice tray (fill them up all the way) and wrap with plastic wrap.
Place in your freezer over night. Pop them out in the morning into the freezer bag and label.

How to label them:
DATE:08/01/2014 CONTENTS: APPLES

Now you can store them in individual bags or in one big freezer bag like I did. For me it is all about saving so no wasting here with individual bags.

I hope your kids enjoy, I know Logan does.
Next either carrots or green beans. I cant wait. I truly enjoyed making these for him.

Note: Mix the food with baby cereal until about 6 months, then you can just do the food alone.

I love you for reading.