Help for a Little Girl Named Kierra

Readers...today's post is about a local AZ girl named Kierra. She's a 2 year old little girl, who developed a metabolic disorder as an infant and she is now handicapped. Her family is raising funds for a wheelchair accessible van. And I'm asking all of you if this story touches your heart, if you would to please contribute, and also write a post on your blogs and encourage your readers to contribute if they feel led to.

The family makes hair bows and bracelets that are for sale, and they also have a few different fundraisers on their website. Or you can simply make a donation.

My little girl is 2 years old, and I guess that's why this story affects me so deeply. It makes me think that anything can happen at any time, and if something were to happen to one of my children, I would need help. So, whenever I am in a position to help someone else, I try to do that.

One of the wonders of the internet is its ability to reach so many people in such a small amount of time. I would really appreciate as much help as I can get.

Let's get Kierra her van! :)

Here's some links:

http://kierrascourage.com

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Help-Kierra-buy-a-handicapped-van/113291925352885

Wordless Monday

I know it's supposed to be Wordless Wednesday, but I just don't have time to post anything but a picture. :) hehe

Only 2 More Weeks

Yes, it's sad, but true...only 2 more weeks until I have to return back to work full-time. :( I've come to terms with it over the last week or so, but it definitely still makes me sad. It makes we wish I were independently wealthy. It makes me wish that the economy didn't suck so hard that my husband has to take crappy side jobs because he can't find full-time work right now. But I'm also thankful that he even has those crappy side jobs to take. God has given me peace about returning back to work, maybe even hinted that it might be temporary, so I'm OK with it I suppose. I just put myself into my little son's head and wonder if he will be OK with it. All of my other children were, so I'm sure he will be. But it just makes me sad that he'll be wondering "Who's this strange lady, and where's my mommy?" But his big sister will be there too, and we've been using this in-home daycare for almost 4 years, so I know that he'll be in completely good hands, they just won't be mine. Waah.

You know when 'they' say that you are a servant to your debt...totally true. Shame on me for allowing myself to get into debt to where I don't have the freedom to not have to work full-time if I don't want to. And I'm not even in THAT bad of debt, a car and a few credit cards...but it's enough to tie me to a desk for at least the next few years. Not to mention medical bills. For the last 3 years, I have reached the out-of-pocket limit on my insurance plan. And it seems as soon as I get one year's bills paid off, here come the next round. I know there's light at the end of the tunnel, but sheesh, it's looking pretty faint right now.

Sorry, didn't mean for this post to be a complaining post. There are lots of things I'm grateful for and happy about. But I'm human, and things bother me sometimes, and it feels better to get them out. To hear encouragements from others that have felt the same way. To let others that are struggling know that they aren't alone.

These are some scriptures that came to mind for my current state of mind:

Romans 8:28 - "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose."

Jeremiah 29:11 (my favorite of ALL time) - "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future"

30...Flirty...and Thriving

Did you ever see that movie, '13 going on 30'? With Jennifer Garner? And she's all in her akward teenage years, but then sees an article on the cover of her favorite magazine (Poise), and it says "30, Flirty and Thriving"...and she decides she wants to be 30, and , when she wakes up, she's 30?? Yeeeaahhh...I'm her. Except I look nothing like Jennifer Garner, nor do I feel Flirty and Thriving...but, I AM 30. Yes I am. Today, I am 30. Holy Poop Flakes, I'm 30.

OK, done obsessing about that now. I joked with my BFF today at lunch that I'm 30, Dirty, and Sagging. I'm dirty because I have 5 kids, and I'm lucky if I get to shower every OTHER day...but it's usually more like every other OTHER day. hehe. And I'm sagging because, well, because I have 5 kids. Need I say more?

But it's cool. I have gorgeous kiddos, a wonderful husband, and a Shark Steam Pocket Mop (my bday gift from hubby...which I ASKED for, by the way...that's how you know you're 30 and lame, when you want a MOP for your bday).

So...I'm saying 'So Long' to my 20's, and entering a new decade. I've grown and learned so much from 20 to 30, I'm looking forward to the lessons I'll learn over the next 10 years.

Hooray for Bullet Time

OK, so I tried to post sometime last week, but Blogger was not letting me. It was giving me some sort of "You cant post right now, because Blogger sucks" kind of message. So, I gave up, and now here we are...and all I can do is bullet. Because that's what I do when I haven't blogged in awhile and need to catch up.

And away we go...

• There is a Dollar Tree getting ready to go in by the Target!! Can you say, "YIPPEE!!!"??? I can...and I said it out loud to myself in the car when I was driving by Target and saw the sign that said "Dollar Tree coming soon". YIPPEE!!


• My daughter, Cita, turned 8 on March 30th. WHAT? 8 years has NOT gone by since she was born. That is just ridiculous. She should be 3 or something.


• I started to work part-time last Monday. I'm telecommuting for 4 hours per day...with my infant son at home since I'm still nursing. Yeah...it's going awesome. But seriously, I'm just sort of getting my feet wet again as I prepare to return back full time on May 10th. It's going pretty well.


• My 2 year old's most commonly used phrase at this juncture is "I do it MYTHELF!"


• The craziness of my kids' sports has begun, but it really hasn't been as bad as I initially thought. That's the beauty of building something up to be MUCH worse than it actually is. Then, when it actually comes around, and doesn't quite reach the level of bad that you thought it was going to be, you can pretend that it doesn't suck THAT much.


• I started working out last week...to the program called "Insanity". I'm an infomercial, workout DVD junkie. Seriously. I have a bajillion workout programs on DVD...and am I ripped? Well, I just had a baby 7 weeks ago, so that's not fair to ask right this second. But have I EVER been ripped from using the DVD programs when I wasn't 7 weeks post-partum? Ummmm...nope. So why do I do it? I think it's all of the success stories that they put in the infomercials...I always find a bit of myself in some of those success stories. I just seriously lack the willpower. I've already missed 2 workouts, and this is only the beginning of Week 2. Argh. BUT, on the plus side, just from the workouts I DID do...I've lost 2 pounds and 1% body fat in one week. Maybe if I actually committed to these things, I could be ripped. :)


• We had a nice Easter. I took the girls to the park in the morning, and then we went to my Mother-in-Laws for lunch. She made a YUMMY ham, and salad, mashed potatoes, some creamy cauliflower and broccoli thing and bread rolls. Mmmmmmm. Then we had a custard cake with fresh fruit on top, and mandarin orange sherbet for dessert. Double Mmmmmm.


• Every stray cat in our neighborhood finds our house. Seriously. A new one just showed up this past week. It's white, with a couple black spots on its forehead and it yowls ultra loud. We don't let him in the house, but he has managed to sneak in a couple times and chase our other cats around. They don't like it.


• My knock off version of Spanx does a pretty good job of holding in the post-baby flabberoo. But when I take it off, my fat explodes out of it like it's relieved to have been released from its prison.


• AJ is getting HUGE! He's going to be 7 weeks tomorrow. I can't believe it's been that long.
• My husband's friend said that AJ has my cheeks. I was all "AJ's cheeks are FAT, what are you trying to say?"


• Aaron was in a motocross race this past weekend. He did pretty well. He's up against a lot more experienced dudes because they have more time to practice during the week. (Read: 17 year old kids with no jobs)


• My oldest, SAM, did great in her volleyball games on Saturday. On her last play, she tried to spike the ball, but hit the ball so hard that it flew over the net, and hit the wall behind the bleachers where all the parents were sitting. EEK!


• Why do 2 year olds have to wake up at the sound of the first bird chirp? I can't wait until she learns the concept of sleeping in on weekends.

OK, I think that's about all I can muster up for today. AJ has his 2 month appointment in a couple weeks...so I'll post more pictures then. OH YEAH, I looked at Baby Pants' measurements from her 2 year checkup, and she is 3 feet tall right now. My grandma says that if you measure a child when they are 2, and then double it, that's how tall they will be as an adult. That would make Baby Pants 6 feet tall...hmmmm...not sure about that one. Maybe we should put a basketball in her hand now. ;)

1 Month Pictures

Here's my little AJ at 1 month. :)

Getting Older...The Kids AND Me

AJ had his one month appointment last Friday morning. He's 10 1/2 pounds now! Yikers. My little guy is SOLID. They didn't go over percentiles with me this visit, but I'm pretty sure he's still up there. His circumcision area looks good - when the doctor was poking around down there, he peed on her...and me. hehe It was funny. Then she checked his ears, and guess what, my little guy has an ear infection. I guess all the coughy hacky sneezy that's been going on around here got to him too. Waaah. He's been a good sport though and hasn't been acting fussy at all. But now I have to give him antibiotics twice a day. He doesn't like it, but he tolerates it because he wubs me.

Baby Pants had her 2 yr appointment in conjunction with AJ. She's right on track as well - 36 pounds, and darn, I forget how long she is. I think it was because she started freaking out about getting measured, and we just got through it quickly. I'm not sure why, but for her last couple of doctor's visits, she has been totally freaking out every time. She has never had a traumatic experience at the doctor (we postponed immunizations) - so it's kind of odd. She has an ear infection now too, that she got WHILE on Amoxicillin for her upper respiratory infection - so her pediatrician switched antibiotics to a cephalosporin (sp?) which is once a day for 10 days. Now I have to go BACK to the doctor in 2 weeks for a follow up - seriously I have spent over $200 in the last week on doctor's visits and antibiotics...and that's WITH insurance. argh.

Anywho...hopefully the kids will all be better soon.

So, not only are my kids getting older, but apparently I am too. There was a segment on this Christian radio station that I listen to where the DJs were talking about getting older, and what things make them know they are getting older. So, at first, I had a hard time coming up with some - but then they just started flowing this week. I'm going to be 30 next month, and I know that's not "OLD" per se, but it is 'older' than I was 10 years ago. And for sure some things have changed - and here's what I've come up with so far.

#1 - I can leave the house wearing glasses and no makeup. This would TOTALLY not have happened 10 years ago - I always put my contacts in before leaving the house, and always had a full face of makeup on before I set foot out the door. In fact I used to SLEEP in my makeup, just in case my house caught on fire and some hot firefighters needed to come rescue me. (that never happened by the way...hehe)


#2 - The things that I want for gifts are starting to become WAY practical. Is it sad that what I really want for my birthday this year is a Shark Steam Pocket Mop? It will make mopping my floors SO much easier, and supposedly it disinfects too, which is a good feature. What ever happened to wanting clothes and CDs?


#3 - I drive a freakin' beasty of an SUV. When I was a younger mom, of only one child, I drove a really cute Mitsubishi Eclipse sports car (the cute bubbly model - not the newer boring looking one). I had already graduated to a smaller SUV by the time baby #2 came around, which was a Ford Escape - and that one stuck with me through baby #3, and pregnancy of baby #4 - but, yeah - the Escape only fit 5 people total - so a hubby, wife, and 4 kiddos was NOT going to fit. I am STILL putting off the minivan...so I got an Expedition instead - BUT, I am really starting to see the benefits of the minivan, especially the ones that have the auto-sliding doors. Ugh...I'm destined to a be a minivan mom, I can tell.


#4 - I commented on a friend's blog this week (a younger friend), and mentioned the Vanilla Ice song "Ice, Ice Baby"...and...she had never heard of it. Waaaaaaah. (Sorry Michelle...had to blog about it - it's funny, but also makes me feel super old). Also - if you haven't checked out her blog yet, check it out here.


#5 - My date nights no longer consist of "clubbin" - and if they do, we feel totally dumb and out of place. We usually just hit up casual bars or coffee houses with acoustic music now.


#6 - My older kids think I'm a dork.


#7 - I've been friends with my BFFs for over half my life time...we're talkin like 20+ years yo. I met my BFF in 1988 - we didn't become BFFs till around 90 or 91 - but still....that's a long freakin time.

OK, that's all I can write about now - I'm getting somewhat depressed. hehe. No, it's really OK - in all honesty, I have been looking forward to my 30th birthday since my 20th birthday. When I turned 20, I had already been a mom for almost 3 years - and I was tired of having the 'teen mom' label. I was also working with women who were in their late 20's/early 30's, and they seemed to have life so much more together than I did. So I thought I would have life all figured out by 30, and that things would be awesome and great.

I don't have life figured out..but things are pretty awesome and great I'd have to say. So, I guess getting older isn't all THAT bad. :)