Tuesday, July 22, 2014

My day!

Today was a great day. Do you remember my frustrations with trying to get scheduled to take my placement tests out here? Well I called and was able to find out that I had to sit and wait for them to release more dates and times. At midnight, but I did it and got my appointments. Thank God. It is two weeks out but hey it is a date.

This morning I woke up and made the best breakfast burritos ever in life. Seriously they were that good. Nom, nom, nom... LOL. Today my little man turned 4 months so that was a big deal for me. All that we have been through with him, it is a blessing to watch him get older.

Dinner was amazing, easy and yummy. It brought back so many childhood memories. I loved it and so did the girls. Riri wanted 2 of them. What a big girl.

Sariah had been bugging me to buy her these little Legos from target so I figured she deserves it. She has been being so good. I am proud of her. I mean they are only $3.99. That isn't exactly breaking the bank. So we went and they each choose something. Logan got a new book.

Logan has been pretty fussy lately because he is starting to teeth already. My poor baby. We got everyone ready for bed and it was time to read some books. The most important thing that you can do with your children, is keep a routine. It really helps the kids. After 3 books everyone was ready for bed.

Now it is "mommy me time". I am watching my pretty little liars and enjoying the silence in the house. Then shower and hitting the sheets. Its been a long day. My body is drained, thank God Shawn is off tomorrow I can sleep in. Yeah right... Nighty night everyone reading. If anyone is reading.

10 Best Mommy Must Haves

As a mom of three kids, I have tried a lot of different products. Some of which I cant live with out and some that I wish I never spent my money on. If you are a new mother or a mother to be, I promise these products will do you justice.

  1. Medela breast pump. (There are a million different types you can make the decision based off what you considered to be needed).
  2. Ergo carrier
  3. Britax traveling system.
  4. Lanolin nipple cream.
  5. Tommee tippee bottles.
  6. Bebe Au Lait nursing cover.
  7. Burt's Bee Calming body wash, and lotion.
  8. California baby bubble bath (Aromatherapy).
  9. Nose Frida (I used this when little man had RSV, it did wonders).
  10. Honest company diapers and wipes (I don't use anything else).
Now of course to each is own, but for me these are products that I stand 100% behind. I cant go wrong with any of them.

I love my Medela breast pump. I use the heck out of it, especially when little man was so sick in the hospital. I would pump so that I could leave enough milk for Shawn to feed him. I had to travel back and forth because I had 2 other kids depending on me as well. I am in love with it. When I first had Sariah I bought a cheap one, and boy did I make a mistake there. It had no suction and kept breaking.

You all know my love for the Ergo carrier. I am always using it.
The other day as I cleaned the house I put Logan in it and it put him to sleep. Sometimes you have to work with what works. I would not waste my money on anything but an Ergo, and that's not wasting money. I know that he is safe in it and that he is comfortable. Nothing can beat this.

My Britax traveling system has everything that you need for the baby. It comes with the car seat base, the car seat and the stroller (which is the best part of the whole thing). I wasted a lot of time and money with strollers. I probably have bought at least 10 strollers in my kids life time because they just weren't reliable. I wont go back.

Lanolin nipple cream soothes your sore cracked nipples. Now some say if your nipples are
cracked then your doing it wrong. Not true. Mine actually cracked from using the breast pump and feeding him. My nipples were on over drive if you can understand that. I used other creams and they were greasy and didn't really sooth me.

Tommee tippee bottles are amazing. I use the ones that specialize for colic and reflux babies. It really does make a difference. Logan
is very picky when it comes to a nipple. He likes the Medela bottles as well, but they cant surpass Tommee tippee... They make all the different sizes as well and babies r us always has a sale on them.

Bebe Au Lait nursing cover is a must for breastfeeding mothers. It keeps you 100% covered up and is airy
enough for the baby to keep cool. Also in the inside it has two terry cloth pockets so that you can keep extra breast pads or pacifiers. It is cool. This cover allows you to nurse your baby comfortably in public without worrying who can see (although I didn't care who saw, just being honest).


Burt's Bee Calming body wash, and lotion go hand in hand with the California Baby Bubble Bath (Aromatherapy). Not only do they smell amazing, but they work. When little man is tired at night and ready for bed. I give him a bath using these products and sure enough it puts him right to sleep. I wish I would have found these products with the girls.

Nose Frida is probably one of the coolest things invented since sliced bread (thank you Kendra). When Logan was sick those bulbs the hospital used didn't work for anything. Besides the fact they deep suctioned him we needed something that would work in between. This never once failed me. It grabs all buggers and snot. No people you cant actually get them in your mouth. I only wish that I would have came up with this product...

Honest company diapers and diaper wipes are my favorite for so many reasons. My favorite part about them is the cute designs that are on my babies butt.... OMG they have so many to choose from and I want them all (wait I do have them all). The are bio- degradable and safer for the environment.
Logan has very sensitive skin and huggies make him irritated. He gets very red and swollen. Pampers do the same thing to him. I was buying the sensitive pampers in the beginning because he was so small and the honest company would swim on him., but even those started to irritate him. I love these and am so glad that I found them. I wont go back. A big plus is if your order them online you get way more bang for your buck.

I hope that this will help you when shopping for your baby or setting up your registries for the baby shower. I love each product on here. They are not in any specific order they all stand out on there own.

A Materalistic world

I am guilty of spending way to much money at times. Sometimes on things the kids or even I don't need. How about you? I think at one time or another we all are. If we can admit it. For me it was hard to admit because I thought the girls deserved everything under the sun. What I was really doing was handicapping them.

Its not enough that we live in a world full of materialistic people, and now we are making our kids the same. I have learned over the last almost 6 years that spoiling them out of control doesn't do any good or anyone. For one, kids that are spoiled rotten, usually end up like that "ROTTEN".

I noticed my girls starting to act out more and not care about the toys they had. They already knew that mommy would go out and buy new ones. The thing is we aren't rich so throwing toys away and buying new ones gets crazy expensive. Have you seen the price of toys today? Seriously insane.

I am glad that I realized this now when I can still get it under control. Truthfully my girls haven't had new toys since we moved her. So probably around 2 months. That is along time from how it use to be. Every weekend I use to take them to target and or the mall. Yes I said and/or, because sometimes I would buy them toys, clothes, jewelry and books. Ridiculous right? I can admit, I was doing way too much.

Sariah and Kamille still have some learning to do when it comes to toys, but I can say that I do see a change in their attitude about toys. Actually about life.

The other day when I was cleaning the girls room, and purging, Sariah and Kamille said "mom these are the toys that we can give to someone who doesn't have anything". Do you know how amazing that made me feel? My girls thinking about others who are less fortunate than them. Mommy must be doing something right.

Parents don't be the reason our next generation is so absorbed in the materialistic things that everything becomes about what you have and what you don't. Those that don't aren't shit is how society has made it. Let me be the first to say my mom gave me the world and then some, and I became absorbed in stuff  like that. I couldn't even appreciate the love that comes from just a card. I would honestly be pissed if you gave me an empty card. Now just the mere fact that you took the time to write your honest feelings down shows true love (family and friends).

I am glad I can see that now, and I am instilling that in the kids. Lets set positive examples for our babies. They are innocent and if we teach them to be self absorbed they will be, If we teach them to love on others and help the less fortunate then will be better people and this world would be so much better. Let them know God will reward them with more than just toys.

I cant wait to see how they are in the next few years. My kids are amazing and I like to think I had something to do with that, but I give them all the credit.

My day

Today was a pretty laid back day for the most part. Not really much to do. I took the girls out to the pool for a while. It was fun. We had the whole thing to ourselves. I wasn't mad at that. Little man didn't get in, he just watched from the side lines with his daddy. Sariah and Kamille are doing so well in the pool. They took off their life vests to show me that they are able to swim without them. My girls are growing up so fast. I feel like just yesterday they were being born. These are the moments that you have to hold onto, because before you know it they are going to be off to college and out of your house.

After spending time in the pool, we got cleaned up and headed out to do some grocery shopping. We spent about an hour or so getting food for the week and standing in line for what always seems like a life time at food 4 less. I am not sure why they cant hire people that know what they are doing. It so frustrates me. Now for the fun part putting everything away. I have to be honest downsizing so that we can save money to buy our house can make a girl go crazy.

Anyways, after doing so I noticed that I didn't have anymore trash bags. Well wait I did have one and I was holding onto it with my life. Okay just kidding. Seriously though. I really didn't want to leave, but my big girl Sariah said that she would go with me. So out again we went. Heading to our favorite store "Target". Well one of them anyways. On the way Sariah wanted to listen to music. Can anyone guess what we put in and turned all the way up?????

If you guessed Tamar then ding, ding, ding you won a trip to "getcha life"... and honey boo me and Riri got ours. I am almost sure everyone next to us and or driving past thought we were crazy. We didn't care because we were enjoying ourselves and having fun. This is what I live for. Seeing my kids happy and all from the little things in life.

I came home to find that my little man was already for bed, so it was mommy time. I put him to sleep pretty much every night. One thing that I just started doing, is reading him his own books at night because I notice that he actually enjoys it. Trust me I get he is only 4 months (in 6 more mins. as I am writing this) but you should see his eyes glow and get big, his feet start to move and he laughs. I am so in love. After reading him 3 books off my favorites list, I held him close and told him "Mommy loves you". I looked down to see that he had already fell fast asleep. In my arms he was safe and warm.

I got the girls ready for bed, then we cleaned their room. Now book time for them. Tonight it was a "Junie B" Book, which they love. Something about chapter books make them feel like big girls. So cute. Now it is time for me and my honeys guilty pleasure "love and hip hop". Nighty night. Until tomorrow.

Monday, July 21, 2014

Must have in your kids library!!!

If you don't already know books are my favorite thing to buy, now you know. I believe that they keep children grounded. If there is one thing I remember most about my child hood it was my mom reading me books. I make it a point to read 3 books before bed, unless it is chapter night. Then ill read a whole book to them. That's another book topic for later.

Today I want to talk about the 10 books every parent should have in their children's library. Starting with my favorite. Now narrowing these down was very hard. I almost love every book just as much as the other. If I could list all of the books I would, but then we would be here forever. My kids own that many books. So here we go, get your iPhone or pen and paper. Or maybe you already have a few already. Anyways hope you enjoy the quick read, and these books will take you back down memory lane.

TOP BOOKS EVERY MOTHER SHOULD HAVE IN THEIR CHILDRENS LIBRARY!!!
  1. LOVE YOU FOREVER: Written by Robert Munsch
  2. GOODNIGHT MOON: Written by Margaret Wise Brown
  3. CORDUROY: Written by Don Freeman
  4. IF YOU GIVE A MOUSE A COOKIE: Written by Laura Numeroff
  5. ARE YOU MY MOTHER: Written by P.D. Eastman
  6. THE LITTLE RED CABOOSE: Written by Marian Potter
  7. THE NAPPING HOUSE: Written by Audrey and Don wood
  8. DADDY AND ME: Written by Karen Katz
  9. BROWN BEAR, BROWN BEAR, WHAT DO YOU SEE?: Written by Bill Martin jr/ Eric Carle
  10. FIVE LITTLE MONKEYS JUMPING ON THE BED: Written by Eileen Christelow
NOW FOR A BONUS BOOK: WACKY WEDNESDAY: Written by Dr. Seuss

Hope you will enjoy these books as much as we do. I read these books to the girls as well as my little man. They all equally love them.

Frustrations

So now that I am settled here in Vegas, I am ready to get back in the swing of things and go back to school. The only problem that I am now having is that the colleges out here are over populated. Seriously? This has to be one of the hardest places to go to school. They have more than one campus but the one that I need has no testing openings. I am so mad right now. What can I do though?

I feel like every time I try to take a step forward for myself, I get pushed back 20 steps behind. Now this may not seem like a big deal to some, but furthering my education is very important to me. Yes I could always go to another trade school and do something else I love., but why put my "REAL" dream on hold?

Is anyone out there listening to me? Do you understand where I am coming from, or am I all alone in this? Going back to school has always been my dream, I just had to defer it for a while because I needed to put my babies first. Yes I know little man is only going to be 4 months and he is still small, but I need to get things in order so that when he turns 6 months mommy can get her life....

Its been along time coming and I am ready to go back and get my career started. I could sit here and cry because I cant get an appointment, or I can put on my big girl panties and keep fighting for my dream. When one door closes isn't another suppose to open up? I am waiting and praying for this.

I believe that it is my time to finally fulfill "ME"!!! I have the support of my husband, and the motivation from my kids. College here I come, again.

I wont let this bump in the road stop me. I will continue to be persistent even if it means trying to get a walk in and being told "its to full". I got this. College is a weapon we need to succeed in life. It is the true key to success and I can feel it at the tip of my fingers. Lets do this.

Not our season!

I never thought that having kids meant loosing friends, till I had my own. In the movies they make it
seem like not much changes when you get pregnant. Your friends are there for you when you need them. Not in my case.

When I found out that I was pregnant with Sariah I didn't expect to lose the friends that I had been friends with for what seemed like forever. It wasn't until around 3 months that I really noticed (now don't get me wrong, a few did stay, the real ones)., but most of them fled like it was a disease. To this day I still don't understand why. I asked and answers were so ridiculous I could not come to grips with the excuses if you ask me. Some of the reasons: "I wanted to party and you couldn't", or "you were starting a family and I was going to be left out".

First things first I am not one to kick someone to the curb because I am having a baby. The only reason that I would, is if you were a bad influence (drugs, prostitution, stripping). Friends aren't something that you just throw away at your disposal.

This is when I really began to understand what the saying " Some friends are for a lifetime, but some are only for a season". I didn't want to believe this, but it is true. We aren't meant to keep the seasonal friends for life. I now know this. I didn't lose them because I had a baby, it just wasn't our season any longer. Now I am not sure if they come back for another season or not, because I am not willing to get hurt again. Or allow my children to meet someone and they are around for a sort while and then they up and leave.

Me becoming a mother has taught me a lot about myself and showed me that the friends I need are the ones willing to stick it out even if I cant go to the club. So what you can go to the club with the other women who don't have kids (or in todays time the ones that don't take care of their kids, their mom or dads do it for them). Hey I call it like I see it.

Now don't take it out of context people. You don't have to loose yourself and stop having fun. I on the other hand am not about to spend my money to get my nails, toes, hair done and a bomb outfit to sit in the dark and be around a bunch of sweaty nasty young people acting crazy. I can do that at home on YouTube for free, okay!

If you are reading this and you don't have kids, but your friends do. Don't leave them because you think that their life is going to change so much that they would kick you to the curb. Talk to them and explain how you feel, because trust me when I say " if you decide to leave and become MIA don't come back"!!!

Seasons come and seasons go. So do friendships. It is something that is hard but when those friends leave God will give you the true friends that you need. To last a lifetime. My kids didn't scare them away. It was just them being selfish, and that is okay. It just isn't our season anymore!!!