What day!

It didn't start off glorious, I was 15 minutes late to work. BUT it improved! I was able to enjoy lunch with a surprise visit from my cousin. Ok, he didn't really come to see me, but the Colts weren't training so what else did he have to do? Enjoy lunch with the Torres family at The Lemon Drop.

A chocolate coke totally made the morning drab disappear. The follow it up with a hair cut! Probably not the most updated or thrilling change, but the long weighed down mess that I was doing is no more. I have inspiration for the next cut in a month or two. Plus I purchased new hair product. For some reason, this always gets me excited and feeling fabulous. I have a weird thing about my hair.

Then I committed to doing Zumba tonight and I actually went. Twice in one week! I purchased a 10 week pass tonight so I'm not committed to going for another 10 weeks! I totally burned off my chocolate coke tonight in Zumba. Some where around 1,000 calories found home in the gallon of sweat that poured out of me. So glad I found Zumba.

Then, to finish it off, after I made dinner (I have to get excited and pat myself on the back when I cook at home in the worlds smallest kitchen), we went for a walk. So add to my Zumba work out, a almost two mile walk. That finished off the fries I ate at lunch. They melted away with the chocolate coke.

And wrapping up my night, I am almost done with writing assignment #2! Ok so making $8.25 for several hours of writing this weekend isn't top dollar, but its a step in the right direction. Once I get the hang of it, I'll crank them out in no time and I'll slowly bring in the spending money (or debt pay off money).

All in all, just a good day. Its good to have one of these days every once in a while. I'll relish in it while I can!

One the Road

No, I'm not traveling, but I'm on the road to what I have committed (rather recommitted) to doing.

One step in the direction I want to be going. I found a gig. A writing gig that is. Not that I ever had writing on my list of things to do in life. I have for the longest time wanted to make some extra cash, contribute to our little nest egg (is that the right phrase?) OK, just get at good cushion. I'm taking the family through the Dave Ramsey Total Money Makeover and we need anything we can to pay off debt so we're not 60 yrs old when its done. So I'm writing..and will be getting paid for it. Start off at making beans, but it will add up over time as I get to feel more confident and create more space. This is all made possibly by my great friend Sarah and TruYu Resources . Great resource for mom's who want to stay at home, someone who wants to pick up some extra cash working from home, or someone who just wants to work from hom with options. She's got legit work from home jobs. Highly recommend her services!

Also, I've made it to work on time. ON TIME. Probably doesn't sound like much, but I've let myself slide more than I want. I get my hours in, but I'm not always in at 9 AM when I should be. I have the flexibility with my job, but I don't want to take advantage of that. So I'm making that commitment. I know 9 AM doesn't seem like a bad time or that it should really be hard. Keep in mind my nights are typically later than most. And it will only start to get worse when students arrive back in the dorms full swing. So I'm trying to start good habits now.

Anyway, the past few days have been good. Steps in the right direction...we're moving forward!
Thanks for the words of encouragement!!

Time

Where does time go? Seriously it just flys by at times, and yet there are moments that seem to last much longer than they should.

Why is it when you're in a rut, that's when time seems to stand still? Yet in times in the luscious valley, they seem so brief?

I'm a bag of dry bones right now, seems I have been for at least 3 years. I've had brief, very brief moments where I seem alive, but they are fleeting. And being a ministry major, "trained" to lead students in and out of these crazy times, I can't seem to navigate myself out of the dessert. I have the tools, a bookshelf full of them. I have unending resources at my finger tips, yet I barely glance at them.

It sucks. I hate it. I want to move out of it. I need someone to help me pack my bags because I'm done staying in this dry dreary place of life. We've finally found a place of worship to call home. I've loved being at a place where I'm reminded of who I call Father, how He's actively pursuing me no matter what junk I've done. I still need a kick in the pants. I need one before Eleana gets old enough to know. I want to show her what a God fearing woman looks like and how to enjoy the adventure that living a life of faith can bring. I want her to know what it means to be engaged in a life changing love affair with Jesus.

So I'm going to start journaling....again. I'm not sure if I'm going to journal online or if its something I want to sit down and pen out. But I need to flush out some thoughts, desires, heart aches, disgruntled opinions, etc. There seems to be a release in writing that a conversation can't always bring. Does that even make sense?

So if you wouldn't mind keeping me in mind of the next few weeks. Lets hope I get off to a good start and I don't sink back into my apathetic lifestyle. It just isn't a satisfying way to live life.

Wowza's!

Its been a grip!

Being a mom is a very time demanding thing, even more so when you're still working full time. But I am LOVING every minute of it. Yes, even those very early morning ones.

Eleana is now 7 months old and it just doesn't seem possible. Where did the time go? A neighbor of ours just had a baby and he's roughly the same size as Ele was at birth. I don't remember her being that small! Now we're off the charts in height and weight. Literally, at our 6 month check up we were above the 98th percentile for height at 27 and 3/4 inches long and above the 98th percentile in weight at 20 lbs and 12 oz.

We've go two teeth coming in already. The whole teething process has been a breeze for Miss Ele. She's not been fussy at all. Just a lil' runny nose and lots of drool. We're also sitting up all by our self rather well. And we're a rolling machine! If she sees something she wants, she rolls to it. I thought she was going to skip the crawling as the rolling thing seems rather easy enough for her but she's perfected the army crawl this week. She loves standing up like a big girl and this week it seems she's starting to get the hang of pulling up. She doesn't quite know she can do it, but if in your hands she's pulling hard to go straight up to her feet. I think we're going to have to officially baby proof the house.

Overall things have been much easier than I ever anticipated. She's only fussy at bed time, she loves sleeping in, she's eating like a champ, and has been healthy as a horse! One cold in 7 months isn't to shabby if you ask me. I would have twenty more if they would all be as easy as she is. I don't trust my luck so we definitely
won't be having that many. Maybe one or two more if we're lucky enough.


I must say I've enjoyed having a little girl. I have been able to restrain myself (for the most part) in shopping. I just don't go out or into the baby section. However, I have found a few websites that I can't pass up. www.mamabargains.com is now a guilty pleasure of mine. So is www.babysteals.com I've had to start leaving my debit card at home so I don't shop while I work.


Baby Legs are my newest and cutest addiction. They look a little "Flash Dance"ish, but they make changing diapers and staying warm so easy. Plus they're just so darn cute on her chubby thighs!


Another great thing we've discovered is cloth diapering and a few sites like www.diaperdaisy.com and www.cottonbabies.com or even www.pinstripesandpolkadots.com are a few new favorites. I was able to stock up on 3-4 days worth of diapering and we've drastically reduced the amount of blow outs. Actually, I've not had a blow out with a cloth diaper on.

Life is definitely busy. I feel like we've been the parents that just take our child with us where ever we go. We haven't really slowed down or changed our social life up much and she seems to be adjusting to it rather well. She's a social butterfly like her parents! We can't walk on campus with out being stopped at least once. We joke that she's the most popular baby on campus (and no, she is not the only baby on campus. There are three others and two more on the way). Ele just soaks up all the attention. She just lights up when a gaggle of girls come over to see her. She even has a standing lunch invitation with a group of the female RA's from our neighboring dorm. She's a pretty popular gal!

Well, I could go on forever about our little cutie, but I'll save you time from reading it all. If you're ever up for a visit, Ele would love to see you! Hopefully we can get around to traveling and seeing more people. She does fairly well traveling and has already been to 6 states (IL,OH,MO,IA, KY, & D.C) and has her 7th state (Michigan) planned.


*** Just a small side note, it has taken me a MONTH to get this post out. I started it March 31st. Here are are April 30th and I've had to take a few moments out of my work day to finish it up so I can get it out there!

In the last month...

Where do I start?? A lot has happened in the last month.

Eleana Marie Torres arrived on Tuesday, September 15th at 10:39 pm. Birth definitely was not as bad as I thought...thanks to the epidural. TAKE THE EPIDURAL! :) I went into labor saying we're going with the light pain meds they give you (I believe it was Nubain) Well, the Nubain only did so much. It merely took the edge off of the pain and at about 6pm that wasn't enough. I'm sure I could have managed the pain part of it, but I am not sure I would have had the energy to stay awake for the final important moments. So, epidural it was. I was able to take a nap before she made her big debut and I really needed it.

Words can not describe the last month. I'm a mom... a MOM! I have a daughter... a DAUGHTER! Its still weird to say and hear it, but it is a sweet sound to my ears. She's been a fairly easy baby so far. We had our days and nights mixed up for the first two weeks and there were times at 4 am where I thought I was going to lose it. We made it through though. We now have a normal schedule...well at least our days and nights are when they should be. Our only problem now is that we don't want to go to sleep. I have no idea why a 4 wk old would put off going to bed, but Eleana certainly fights it at times.

She certainly is a beauty! I know we're biased, but she is so darn cute. And growing like a weed! She already is growing out of her newborn pajama's and clothing. We're moving into 3 month clothing. Who knows where she gets her long legs and her big feet, but that's what is making us move into larger footie pajama's.

All in all, the last month brought a lot of changes but it feels like life has always been this way. Our family seems a little more complete now that Eleana has arrived. We'll keep you posted as she continues to grow!

New Friends at Alice.com

So I've become acquainted with this new website http://www.alice.com/ I've ordered twice already and its great! I love knowing that I can do shopping without leaving my home, saving myself time AND money. I order toilet paper, lotion, snacks, Twizzlers for Jose, cleaning supplies, etc. They do the searching for coupons saving me money. They also ship FOR FREE, saving me even more money. I haven't had to wait more than two days for my shipment to arrive either, so its not like I'm waiting a week for my much needed toilet paper to arrive. Its at my doorstep (or campus mail) in the same amount of time it would take me to get out to the store (I typically forget I need it and don't make it out to get the TP for another two days to a week anyway). And when baby Torres comes along (ANY DAY NOW!!!) who doesn't want to have something so easy and convenient like Alice to help get shopping done. It is worse than pulling teeth on a lion to get Jose to go to the grocery. So the less things on the list, the happier we both will be.

Some things I do recommend shopping around for though. I'm picky on some things I use and they are not necessarily the cheapest on Alice. If you are just a bargain shopper when it some things then you can get some great deals.

They also have this great blog. They feature new products, time saving ideas, and just in general good housekeeping fun things. This week I was reading the blog and came across an interesting title.. "If the Health Department Isn’t Coming, It’s Clean Enough (+ Giveaway!) " There's a new book out called The White Trash Mom Handbook by Michelle Lamar.

I'm all for catchy titles on books, especially if they are going to give me advice and tips on how to do things that I normally do. (Remember I'm a huge fan of the book Green Chic..) Anyway, the excerpt that is on the blog is pretty good. She even gives nod to being green but being in a pinch. Sounds like my kind of book! I'm sure I'll end up with the book in hand, so I'll let you know how it turns out or you could just check it out for yourself!

Music to my ears!

So last week I went to the Dr and I had it set that it was week 37. The Dr walks in and says..."So week 36". I said politely, NO this is week 37. She said 'No week 36'. I said two weeks ago it was week 35.... She said well lets look (she is the one that holds the records). Turns out I was 36 weeks and 3 days. I was totally week 37..... :) Who cares what she thinks, she's only the Dr right? And I'm thinking, throw me a freakin' bone! I'm so ready to be done with this, just make it week 37 already! But she didn't move any dates or anything. I was beginning to think she was against me or hated me or something.

But this week she went and totally redeemed herself!

I went in for my "37" week check up and she checked me out. Yes, the physical exam not just the measure my belly and hear the heartbeat kind. This is something that you oddly look forward to when you are this far along. It isn't pleasant but it must be done. She goes through the normal quick questions " How do you feel? Is the baby still moving..." This time I get to tell her that yeah 'he/she' is definitely moving and I think we've headed south more. I can feel the baby in butt area when he/she decides to move. With a surprised/excited look on her face, my Dr says.."OH he/she really is moving down then...lets check it out. "

She said "Yep! Definitely down there, I could feel the head. You're dilated to about 1, about 70% effaced, and definitely thinning. The cervix is still tucked under the head, but its definitely thinned." I told her about something else (rather gross so I'll spare you the details) and she said..."Oh that could be part of the mucus plug."

And the words that made my day...."Well, If you go into labor this weekend...." Do you know how long I've waited to hear those words? Well, ok, up until the past week or two I could have waited, but the past two weeks that is all I've wanted to hear! Being dilated to 1 isn't much, but it is more than what I was and it means that labor could happen tomorrow, or it could happen in two weeks...or four....BUT we're making progress!

Today she was a little more lively than normal. She had been at the hospital and had to come running back to the office, so either the jog energized her or she is just a Dr who is someone you want to visit in the early afternoon. I typically go at 4 or 4:30 and by then she is drained I'm sure so she's not really ever been full of expression like she was today.

She said she was going to be out of town on this weekend, so if I do go into labor then some other Dr is on call and will fill in. Jose's family would probably not make it into to town this weekend if we went into labor. Plus two soccer games....we may have a weekend ripe for labor! Just when things get busy, but who knows. I did survive two weeks of craziness and Move-In weekend for the Freshman class and returning students. Maybe this kid is going to hang on for dear life inside.