October 25, 2014

{A Moms Day Out}

Every year around this time the Civic Center hosts the Women's Lifestyle Show. There are all kinds of vendors and speakers. I had never been but have always heard about it. This year my sister-in-law asked me, my sister, and my other SIL if we wanted to go with her. Tickets were just $10. So we all met up and I drove us over there. We spent our time roaming from one booth to the next. Entering contests and gathering the free loot.


On a whole it wasn't that fabulous. It was quite a bit of standing and then walking and standing around some more. But it was a good girls day out. It was certainly better than sitting around the house.
The highlight of the whole thing for me was the dogs for adoption lol.

We went to eat at Crust afterwards. It was good. I had some yummy taco pizza *drools* my favorite.

After that we headed to Ross and I snagged this adorable bag for Dawn for Christmas. I think I might go back and pick her up the matching wallet if its still there. *fingers crossed*. She's getting to the age where she is seeing her friends carry one and such. So naturally she is wanting to carry one too. Plus the bags she has are ugly lol. Its a Betsy Johnson Be Mine Mini Speedy in Bone and Black. Its adorable! I want one just like it lol. The wallet is small and matches exactly. And the best part? It was $17 at Ross from the original price of $40. The wallet is only $13. I'm slightly excited about it lol.

We went home after that. Then D and I took Dawn and Owen out to PMC. They were having some kind of bonfire but we got there late and it was pretty much over. We did get to go on a hayrack ride though. The first for Owen :).


After that it was dinner at Steak N Shake. Then a trip to Halloween City for Dawns costume. Owen was freaked out of course (how we got a kid so scared of all things Halloween is beyond me) and D scared the shit out of him. *sigh* Poor baby.

And now we're home. Watching Halloweentown until I can get to bed :).

October 23, 2014

{ Full Moon Dog Treats Review}

Boss and I had a little adventure today. Its rare that I take a pup with me on errands because I hate leaving them in the car when they can't go in somewhere. But after Lina...I just really want to spend as much time with Boss especially as possible. Her illness came on so fast and I don't want to be saying I wish I would have should something happen with Boss. So he will probably be going a lot of places with me from now on.

Prissy wanted to go to but she ate another harness so she couldn't. Brat.

Anyway, I stopped at Walmart and was browsing through the dog treats when I found these. Full Moon Natural Dog Treats. I am usually pretty apprehensive about buying anything for my dogs at Walmart. But these only had 4 ingredients and none of them were harmful. I was also happy to see that they dont have salt or sugar. Which is a huge petpeeve of mine. Dogs do not need salt or sugar people. So I thought why not try something new?

I gave one to Boss when I got in the car. He loved it. So much that I gave him another when I went in Kroger to pacify him lol. When I came out he was in the backseat attempting to get more treats from my purse lol. Sneaky puppy!

When we got home Prissy got one too and put her stamp of approval on them.

So I think I'll pick up the bigger bag the next time I'm over there :)

October 22, 2014

{ #90skid Tag!}

I found this tag on youtube when I was searching for 90's kids movies lol. I figured I should do it since, you know, I am a 90's kid. Born in '83. So here we go! And I think anyone that reads this should do it too and let me know in the comments so I can read your answers too! :)

THE QUESTIONS!
1. Favorite Disney channel original movie? I loved Wish Upon a Star.

2. Favorite music artist? Hmm...this is a tough one...I'm gonna go with Backstreet Boys ;)

3. Favorite Nick Jr. show? David the Gnome was a favorite. Though I can't remember if it was Nick Jr. Or just Nick. I did enjoy the guy who used to talk between shows though "Face" lol.

4. Favorite candy? I'm gonna go with Snickers. That's usually what I got when we would stop at my grandpas gas station after school :)

5. Favorite game? (board game, school game, etc.) Mario on the Nintendo lol. Wow. I'm old.

6. Favorite McDonald's Happy Meal toy?
Cabbage Patch Doll figures. I'm pretty sure my grandma still has a few. She used to put them on her Christmas tree.

7. Favorite book? Umm..well..I read a lot. But Babysitters Club was probably my favorite.

8. Favorite clothing store? Didn't have one. My grandma bought most of my clothes for me and I didn't get much of a choice lol.

9. What would you watch when you'd get home from school?
Power Rangers. Because that's what was on.

10. Favorite TV show? This is hard cause I was a real TV watcher. I liked All That, Keenan & Kel, Gummi Bears, ect.

11. Favorite toys? Barbies.

12. Favorite commercials? I don't even remember any commercials from the 90's lol.

13. Nsync or Backstreet Boys? Backstreet Boys obviously :)

14. Weirdest fashion trend? I didn't really follow fashion. I just kind of wore what I had.

15. Favorite collectable? Barbies. And Precious Places. Pretty sure I have the whole town lol.

16. Favorite Beenie Baby? We had a couple. But I wasn't really into them.

17. How many tamagotchi did you have? Just one. My grandparents got one for each of us for Christmas one year.

18. What was your favorite game system and game?
We had a Nintendo and a Sega and a Dream Cast lol. But I think the Nintendo and Sega were my favorite.


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October 21, 2014

{I am Heartbroken}

Boss is sitting on my lap right now. He has always been able to sense when I need some extra puppy cuddles. And today I need a lot of them. I posted on my personal Facebook about my sweet chihuahua Lina but haven't posted about it elsewhere. I don't know how I'm going to get through this post. I've been rather emotional all day.

On the 13th (oddly enough 11yrs ago on this day I picked her up from her breeder) I got a message on Facebook from the friend who has Lina. She had suddenly become ill and had been rushed to the emergency vet. She was lethargic and not able to eat or drink. They ran many tests and found nothing. My friend took her to their regular vet that Wednesday and they be an more tests.

Her white count was high and her red count was low (or maybe it was the other way around). She was still not eating or drinking and had to be given meds to keep her hydrated and to give her some kind of an appetite.

They ran more tests and still found nothing. They thought it would be spleen cancer or she could have an autoimmune disease. They prescribed prednizone. She was to take that for 28 days and if it was an autoimmune disease she would start feeling better.

She did not. They were having to force feed her and force her to drink. My friend said that she was putting nutrical on her tonguso she didn't get hypoglycemic.

This morning I woke up to most awful message I've ever gotten. She was gone. She passed in my friends arms.

I am so upset. She was my girl. My first little furbaby. I was her first mommy. The world is just so darkknowing she isn't in it anymore. Knowing I will never see her again.

Rest in peace my sweet girl. I was lucky to have you for as long as I did.

October 17, 2014

{I wasn't Looking for Prince Charming}

For as long as I can remember I've been a girl that liked a bad boy. I wanted all the drama that came along with them because I thought the more crap you go through with a person, the more likely you are to stay together. That one day they'll be talking to someone and say "She was with me through all this BS. I couldn't do it without her." What I didn't realize is that you don't have to go through all the crap for them to say something like that. You don't have to put up with them calling you fat or telling you you're not good enough. You don't have to put up with them obsessing over ex's or cheating on you with every Tammy, Jane, and Helen they walk past. You can still have the "I couldn't have done it without her" moment without getting your heart stomped on, you can have it even if you put your foot down and say "I know my worth. And I'm worth a lot more than you think I am." (without the risk of sounding like a hooker ;) ).

The first time I ever said I love you to someone that wasn't relation I was 15. I don't even think I knew what love was at that point. I met the guy on a Backstreet Boys chat room. I'd been going there for a week or two when I finally joined in the conversation. He private messaged me asking for my A/S/L (for those that don't know, that is Age/Sex/Location). He called himself SpiderMan. We talked quite a bit that first night, about everything under the sun. He was 19 from Canada. Not close enough to be harmful, I thought. We had just gotten the internet at my house, hell we had just gotten a computer lol, so I was wary of who I should talk to and who I shouldn't. Stranger Danger being what it is and all. We met up in the chat room off and on through out the day on the weekends and stayed up all hours talking about all kinds of inappropriate things. We ended our conversations with I love you. Far too quickly when I look back on it now. It went on like this, eventually we talked on the phone, I sent him some stuff in the mail, ect. for about 4 years. We'd talk for a while and then "break up" and get back together. He was talking to several other girls (some of whom had become my friends) while talking to me. Basically he was jumping from room to room and had a girlfriend in every one of them. It was frustrating when I finally found out about it (from a friend who had also been talking to him). We stopped talking completely when I graduated high school and began dating someone a little closer to home. We didn't talk again until many years later and he was married with a kid. Still a player. Still trying to convince me that we should meet up for kinky sex (say huh?!), but I refused saying I had already met someone and I was happy (this was after D and I had met and had Owen). We talked a couple more times and that was it, I didn't want to talk to someone who was constantly talking in an inappropriate manner. It was harmless on my end of course, not so much his. Quite annoying when I had once loved this guy so much.

I didn't say I love you again after that. I dated a couple guys, 1 being Gaiges dad. He claimed to love me but I refused to say it back. I knew that wasn't something I felt for him right off the bat. Then there was the DJ who I met online. He was about 10yrs older than me but acted like he was 18. He was obsessed with his ex wife and he was also cheating on me with several different girls he met while doing parties at the college in his town I guess. I don't really know. It only lasted a year, or less.

I dated one guy before I met Gaiges dad that ended up being in a relationship with another girl also. I was the side chick. Which pissed me off. Blah. I didn't love him either.

The next time I said I love you to someone, I was 21. And even then it was hard for me to say. I was scared that I would say it and he would run. Or that I would say it and he would think he "had me" so he could then turn into a douche bag. So I didn't say it. He did though. He was the first to say it. He said it while he hugged me in his living room one day. I don't know if he meant to say it, but he opened that door first. I still didn't say it. I didn't say it because I didn't know if I wanted to be with him forever. Until one day I didn't have a sitter for Gaige when he showed up to pick me up. So he went and picked up Dawn from his grandmas house, and we went to the park. The 4 of us. I believe it was then that I knew he was the one. We have had our share of drama. Probably more than our share actually. We've changed and matured and grown together. We've fought and laughed and cried. We broke up twice and got back together twice. We've been together 12 years now.

The first time I ever heard of him say "I couldn't have done it without her" was our wedding day. Actually I didn't hear him say it. My uncle came up to me after the reception, as people we filing out, and said that "he really loves his Kristin". I said he better he's stuck with me forever lol. My uncle went on to tell me that D had been telling him (and some other guys) what we had gone through the last year with him going back to school and working full time on top of that. He told them that he never would have accomplished anything if it hadn't been for me. He knew that he just had to focus on work/school and that everything at home was taken care of.

We had our drama and our problems, but he never treated me like I wasn't worth what I knew I was. He never treated me like I was replaceable, in fact he has told me that I'm not. We got through all of that because I wouldn't be treated any other way than how I knew I should be treated. He respects me for not letting him walk all over me. I know he does. And I love him for knowing that I'll put up with an awful lot, but he doesn't make me.

So you see? You can let a man know your worth and still get the "I couldn't have done it without her". You just have to know your worth before you even start dating him. :)


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October 10, 2014

{A Walk Down Memory Lane: Owens Birth Story}

So sitting here going through old blog posts (from a Myspace blog) I came across Owens birth story. And it occurred to me that I haven't posted the full story on my actual blog before. So I thought why not? So I hope you enjoy it. I certainly love reading it every now and then. I wish I would have saved the blog I had when I was pregnant with Gaige :(. This is a copy and paste from my myspace blog by the way.

So, by now all of you know that I had junior :). Pretty freakin' awesome huh? But I bet you're all wondering the details. So here we go.
You already know that my BP was high on the 2nd when my doctor told me she was going to induce me instead of having me risk developing toxemia. Well, at midnight on the 2nd I checked in to Pekin Hospital. Both Miranda and I were escorted to the delivery room and they got me all set up. Miranda was of course a huge help to me if only because she was there to laugh with me and keep my mind off the fact that I was nervous as hell! Shortly after midnight (they had to do it then because if they didn't I'd be charged for a full extra day..and that's stupid) I was given this pill (in the hoohoo...who ever heard of such a thing?!) to soften my cervix since I was still only 1cm. Within' about an hour or 2 I started to feel my contractions getting stronger...and they were coming closer together. I thought that was a little odd because the pill was just supposed to open up my cervix, I didn't think it was supposed to put me into full on active (painful) labor. But anyway...after a while went by and the contractions were getting stronger and closer I kept feeling like I had to go pee. So I was up and down 20 different times and each time I would have a contraction while I was trying to pee...but I felt like I wanted to push SO bad. Finally I told my nurse that and she laughed and said OK.
Now, about 20 minutes before that I had asked her for some pain medication because the contractions in my back were the most horrible pain EVER! She just sat there on the f'ing computer or doing paper work or something.
When I told her that I wanted to push she said OK she would check me (after the annoying ass laugh) because she had to do it in order to give me the meds anyway. *Sigh* So she checks me, looks at the nurse and says, "I don't feel her cervix at all, but I do feel his head." *ugh*
So, to make a long story short, I was in labor for 6hrs. Pushed 3 times. And at 6:28am on October 3rd Owen Michael Dwight was brought into the world. He weighed 7lb. 12oz. and was 19in. long!! I had a big ol' baby! I went without meds (there wasn't time!) and had no complications what so ever!
However, Owen did have some problems. For the last 4 days I've been sitting in the hospital because he couldn't seem to keep his glucose levels up. Which has a lot to do with the fact that I was only 36-37wks along (nice right?). But all is well now. We're handling breastfeeding too, but I'm gonna get a pump and see if we can do better with that :). 
We're all just fine though :).


*tear* My little bitty baby isn't so little or bitty anymore. Kinda kills me a little bit.



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October 9, 2014

{My Baby Fever is Killing Me!}

It's no surprise that I would have baby fever, I got it when Gaige and Dawn were about 5, and we ended up with Owen. Now Owen is 7 and I'm ready for another. But I'm also not ready for another. D and I all but made it official that we are not having any more kids. 5 between us is plenty and I honestly don't want to be pregnant again.

Apparently though my brain does not agree with my "no more babies" decision because it demands I have baby on the brain at all times. This is evident by my pinterest board. I didn't get to do so many of the things I wanted to with either pregnancies. I really wanted a water home birth, but I didn't get either. I did get to nurse, which I found to be a wonderful experience and I miss it terribly. All of this is probably why I had the "baby dream" last night.

If you follow me on facebook or twitter then you probably saw me mention it. I had the most real baby dream ever last night. It was kind of crazy.

I was pregnant, heavily pregnant. I went into labor and called D to tell him that he needed to come home. He assured me he would be right there and yet a couple hours later, he was nowhere to be found. Not answering his phone or returning my messages. Someone (I can't remember who) said we had to go to the hospital without him. I ended up having the baby before he showed up with a story about his boss not letting him leave. I don't believe that would happen. He would sooner walk out and lose his job before missing something like that.

Then again, he did go in to work instead of going with me to the hospital when I had Owen...drama.

And I had a girl. She was pretty big too lol. At least 8lb. (which makes sense because Owen was 7lb. 12oz). With dark hair. Her skin was a little darker too (I had the same dream when I was pregnant with Gaige only he was a boy obviously lol). Get this we named her..Charlotte Lorraine. I told everyone they could call her Charlie or Lottie.

What's funny about the name is that it's exactly (at least the first name) what I wanted to call Owen if he was a girl. Charlotte is one of my favorite names. I don't know where Lorraine came from. But Charlie obviously because Charlotte's are often called Charlie, and Lottie because a good family friend was named that. I would never make that a kids actual name, but I think it would be adorable as a nick name :).

Anyway- I woke up after naming her. I know I'm not pregnant. I'm not even wanting to be pregnant. I honestly don't think my body could take another pregnancy. Owens pregnancy put me through the ringer a little bit and I'm a firm believer if you have a rough one, it's time to call it quits. No sense in torturing yourself for another baby right? At least that's my belief. I know others don't feel the same and that's fine. It's their body not mine lol.

Does anyone else have "baby dreams" like that? I hope it wasn't a premonition of things to come in the near future.

We need to get another dog..


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October 8, 2014

{First Time Tag!}

1. FIRST Youtube video you ever watched? I honestly couldn't even tell you lol. It was way too long ago.

2. FIRST person you subscribed to on YouTube? I think that would be MissJenFabulous

3. Do you still talk to your FIRST love?
Well. Yeah. I married him. I dated other guys and I might have thought I loved one or 2 but I learned when I met D that those were mainly infatuations. It wasn't love.

4. FIRST kiss? Omg. My first kiss was in 3rd grade on the bus. With a boy name Johnathan who ended up moving in 4th grade :(. We were "boyfriend and girlfriend" all school year though lol.

5. FIRST alcoholic drink? Probably wine coolers. Which is funny now because they make me sick lol.

6. FIRST car? The first one that was ever mine and mine alone, a green cavalier :). D bought it for me because he got tired of me not being able to come see him because my grandma would always want the car she bought for me.

7. FIRST job? I babysat a lot. But my first job at a place..a busser at the French Toast.

8. FIRST pet? A Scottish Terrier named Jack :). My grandparents rescued him as a puppy. He hated all kids but me ;)

9. FIRST celebrity crush? Umm..this would have to be Joe from NKOTB.

10. FIRST real boyfriend? Uh, well the first guy who ever took me on an actual date..a guy named Mike. We went out 5mo. Turned out I was the side chick. Not cool.

11. Who was the FIRST person to text you today? My sister.

12. Who was your FIRST grade teacher? Mrs. Fischer

13. Where was your FIRST sleepover? I'm going to guess it was at my friend Nicki's house.

14. What was the FIRST thing you did this morning? Checked my phone for the time.

15. FIRST concert you ever went to? NKOTB. I was 7.

16. FIRST broken bone? Never had one.

17. FIRST movie you remember seeing? My uncle and one of his girlfriends took me to see Snow White when I was really little. I fell asleep.

18. FIRST sport you were involved in? I don't do sports lol.

19. FIRST tweet? Probably something lame.

20. FIRST Facebook profile pic? Probably one of my kids lol.

21. FIRST piercing? I got my ears pierced when I was 14. But then I got my belly button pierced at 18 and my tongue done at 19 lol.

{ChoreMonster: A Review}

I don't know about other houses, but in mine, I do the majority of the household work. I do the cooking, cleaning, laundry, and picking up of random things through out. I signed up for this is what I tell myself when I've cleaned off the table for the umpteenth time that day (or afternoon if the kids are at school). I have always wanted to be a  stay at home mom. Since I was a little girl. That (and writing) was my goal. Now I am one and I'm realizing that even though I love being able to raise my kids, and get to go on field trips with Owen and such, I hate being the only one to pick anything up or clean up anything. It drives me up a wall and it will eventually send me to the crazy house, complete with padded room and straight jacket. I swear.

Which is why I have been in the market for a way to entice my little heathens angels to help out around the house and to do their chores. I've tried chore charts, but they didn't really work for my kids. They're boring. And they can't see the incentives. So when browsing Facebook one day, I saw an ad for ChoreMonster. I thought why not? and signed up. I made a list for each one of my kids, and added their rewards.

Dashboard
Dawns Chores and Rewards

 Gaiges Chores and Rewards


 Owens Chores and Rewards

We've been using this app for a little while now, and so far it's doing what it's meant to. Owen still needs some help, and Gaige does most of his stuff but I have to keep reminding him. Dawn is the main one that uses it the most and with the most enthusiasm. I added behavior to her chores. She has to be respectful to all, bring home all her homework (since that is a huge problem for her, she thinks if she doesn't bring it home she doesn't have to do it), and obey all the rules set up for her. So far so good.

I like how they can check off the chores as they do them, and watch their points accumulate. I also like how I can add random points for small things I see them do that aren't on their chore list. Like when Dawn helps Owen with something without being told or throwing a fit about having to do it. I really like how I have to approve the chores before they get the points also. This eliminates the ability to check it off and not do the job. 

What I don't like is that you can't deduct points. I would like to be able to do this when I accidentally check something as done without meaning to (which I've done). 

That's really the only negative I see here.

So if you're searching for a chore chart this is the one to go with. It's available for Android (works on my phone as well as all 3 tablets) but I don't know about Apple products.

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October 7, 2014

{Field Trip Fun!}

Our adventures today lead us to Tanner's Orchard. A place so many of the people where I am from visit every fall. They load up on their apple cider and apple cider donuts (which are amazing I must say). I, myself hadn't been there since the last time my grandparents took us. In was probably 10..which says about hownhight it is on my list of things to do with my kids lol.

If it had just been me, D, and the kids, I don't think it would have been worth the drive out there. But on a field trip it was a good time had by all. When we arrived we went ahead wondered around on our own for about an hour. The kids (I had two other boys with me) played and ran around to the different parts of the farm. The favorite I would have to say though was the play ground area.






We also stopped to see Spookly the Square Pumpkin.


Later we went on a hay ride. Which contained not one bit of hay. In my day (I sound like my grandma lol) the hay rides were just flat trailers covered in, you guessed it, hay. You had to sit down and hold on. It was good times. I'm not saying this wasn't fun, it was, just not what I was expecting. This was also Owens first hay ride. :)


From there we went apple picking (no pictures) and then took an inside tour of the part where they make apple cider.



We had lunch after that and I was pleasantly surprised that they had coffee to buy. You know I got a caramel apple frappe ;).

Then it was more playing.



We ended up leaving after that.

In all it was a good day :). I know Owen enjoyed himself. And I'm pretty sure the rest of the classes did too. I was wooped on the bus ride home. I love going on these trips with my boy, but I am not a fan of riding the bus.

Until next time folks :)

October 4, 2014

{Owens Birthday Recap}

It always amazes me how much preparation goes into a birthday party (or any event) that is going to last only a couple hours. I planned this out a couple months in advance. Picked out his cake some time in August. We planned to have it at the park in the town I grew up in and I picked up all the goodies we would need a month ago. We chose what food to have and everything weeks before the day. Its kind of exhausting.

Then it turned out that the weather wasn't going to cooperate with us. The high was only going to be 54°. The park would just not do. So we switched it to my grandparents house.



My brother, SIL, and niece were there. As were my sister & nephew, my grandparents, D's dad and step mom, and my mom. My other brother was holding down his bed after a night of being kid less (cause he has no kids lol) and my dad never responded to the invite (there is drama behind that *eye roll*). My cousin and his daughter were also there. D's grandma was supposed to come but she ended up in the hospital yesterday and was released today. So obviously she wasn't going to make it (we understood). 

It was a good time. D bought Little Caesar's and soda. I made the cake. Everyone ate and had a good time...as usual when it's anything to do with my family :).




We sang happy birthday and then opened gifts. D was ready to go home after everything was cleaned up though. So we headed out, it usually takes about an hour to actually get out the door lol. We ended up coming home without Gaige who spent the night with my cousin and swapped him for my nephew. He loves his aunt Kristin ;). 






In all I think Owen had a pretty good birthday. And now the real planning for my favorite holiday begins!! ;)


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October 3, 2014

{7yrs ago Today}

I don't even know where to begin. This post comes every year and with each one comes tears. My little baby isn't so much a baby anymore. The little baby that was perminantly attached to my boob is gone. The toddler that followed me from room to room is gone. And in front of me stands this little boy. This amazingly smart, funny, sweet little boy. I'm upset that those times are gone but I'm excited to watch his personality develope even more. I can't wait to watch him grow into an amazing kid and an even more amazing adult. Those times don't need to hurry though. I am perfectly OK with taking my time and enjoying every single second of his childhood.

I know that he can't stay a baby forever. Before long he won't want mommy to cuddle him or sleep in my bed. He won't need me to make his chicken nuggets or to pour his chocolate milk. Before I realize it he will be telling me he's going out with his friends and bringing home girls. *Shudders*

But for right now, I am going to soak in every single experience and memory until he doesn't want me to be around as much. Which I hope is many many years in the future.

And while I'm at it, I got his progress report today :). He is right on target with where he should be right now. Guys, he is seriously so smart. I can't believe he is my kid lol. Gaige has so much trouble in school and Owen just doesn't.

Also I sent him to school today with Munchkins from Dunkin Donuts. I am told they were quite the hit ;).

So here we go with another year. I can only imagine what his 7th year will bring.