Day 1 of the Daily Schedules.

Well today was the first day of the Daily Schedules for the kids to help make mornings smoother. I am happy to report there was no yelling or screaming, no fighting or crying and the after bus sweep of the house turned out to be successful!

Brianna's room (Not really surprised she does this without being reminded) 

Shailyn's room (Not perfect but done) 

Nic's Room. (Yes he is on a air mattress his room is under construction will post pictures when its done cause its gonna be SUPER cool!) 

Now for the lunches Thanks to Pinterest I have found better compact healthy lunch ideas in my BPA free containers. This has made my morning so much easier. Although I dont usually pack the kids lunches for them I wanted to try out this idea. This lunch is for Shay so no veggies....I forgot carrots at the store! Bad mommy! :) The only thing missing was her bottle of water with her no sugar sweetener and her Gogurt. Those items were placed in her lunch bag.

Nothing fell out upside down either! Love this! No more Giant lunch bags overtaking my fridge!

Daily Schedules.

Micromanage :) I know this sounds good in theory but we will see what happens. I figure if the kids see the schedule on the fridge they will know what they are suppose to be doing. Later, I should have the chore schedules done although they will rotate chores like we do now. Each Sunday I will post the new weekly chore schedule, that way all the chores are spread equally among the kids. Here is what the schedules look like.

They all have different shower times listed as well....that way they have a time limit (Shay will stay in till the hot water is gone) and they know who gets in when! 

That whole Pursuit of Sanity thing.

Its time for a restructure. I am so over stretched because of my quick to say YES response to every question that is thrown at me. I know, I know you are all probably saying "You are SuperMom right?"  Well, this Supermom found her cryptonight and it's time. There just isn't enough time to do all that I need to do in one day. Well honestly its not enough energy. So, it is time for a restructure. I am pulling my super powers out and throwing them into my household. What is my super power you ask. I will create more time in the day! I know, how is it I can create more time? Well the answer is simple time management, organization and HELP. Over the course of the next month or so watch and learn as I create more time for my family. I will be posting spaces, organizational ideas, and planning! Although starting this will take some of that time I don't really have but to be honest....This momma is on the edge of a nervous breakdown SO its time for that change! I am on that quest for the pursuit of sanity right?? :)

Sometimes the ache is just to great.

For the last 3 years I have been battling the hole in my heart that I feel is growing to epic proportions. You know the book the never ending story and the nothingness that was over taking the land? Well my nothingness actually has a name its called a baby. Seven years ago directly after the birth of our son Nicholas Brian underwent a vasectomy to ensure that we would not have anymore children. At that time it was the right decision for us to make. I had been diagnosed with a heart condition that makes me high risk for blood clots so birth control on my end was dangerous. Trying the "protection" method was something I really wasn't into to be honest. We really didn't have the money to be spending on those so how could we afford another baby, that left us with one choice...Permanent Sterilization. Looking back now that we are older (at the time I was 25 and Brian was 24) I realize it was the biggest mistake we could ever make but was still the right decision at the time. Does that even make sense?

We are raising our children that in life you make choices so think them through before you make them because the consequence of the action is one you will live with forever. Oh how I am eating my words now. I never realized that ache in my heart for another child would have grown as great as it has. Our youngest is 7 and the oldest almost 12 but the ache is growing more and more each day. Seeing the "Were Pregnant" posts on Facebook or the fresh from the delivery room pictures of those sweet warm little buddies of love breaks me.  I at one point realizing the only way we could get pregnant was through IVF I considered donating my eggs to help with the cost of IVF. I was quickly told by a friend I was selfish and that me having 3 children of my own I should be happy because of the 1000's of women out there who want just one but our childless. I was so unbelievably hurt by that comment how is wanting a child selfish? How is enjoying the tiny toes, the milestone moments, watching a baby take the first steps, then watching them step onto a bus for school selfish?  One woman's want for a child is no greater than another regardless of how many they have or don't have.

Brian and I considered adoption but to be honest the process is long and grueling and in the US they always want the children placed with the birth parents and finding birth parents willing to just let the baby go is alot harder considering those 1000's of women who are childless and to be honest with a lottery system like that my selfishness is none existent. I ccouldn't stand in a room with 1000's of women and have that needle in a haystack birth mother pick me over them to adoptive their baby I would want them to have the child not me. International adoption is to risky and expensive. You can dish out thousands of dollars and have them ask for more and you not receive the child. I know of a friend who went  into another country to adopt and 3 months later was still there waiting on conflicts to be resolved but refused to leave without her child. Unfortunately I don't have that flexibility. In talking with another friend who had a friend that went to Russia and tried to adopt and after spending thousands of dollars on the process they went for the final stay to complete the adoption process and when they went to the court to be appointed the court asked for 10,000 more dollars which they didn't have and they left the country childless...I cant go through that.

Last October while at church talking with some of the ladies who were pregnant I told then how bad I wanted another baby. When I explained the vasectomy and how we didn't have the money to have it reversed one of the ladies spoke up and said a friend of hers knew of a Dr who knew how to get vasectomy reversals done through insurance. I was shocked to hear this news and asked for her to get me some information on this Dr. Well during a girls night out with a few of the same ladies she was able to get me the Dr's name and I called and scheduled an appointment immediately I was relieved and felt excited about this for the first time in a long time all by simply asking...How much is your consultation fee? They responded with 100.00. All the other Dr's I called was 500.00-750.00 just for a consultation! I scheduled the appointment and that will be sometime in January. Here is the kick to the gut I got last night. Brian has been having alot of issues with his shoulder and been in excruciating pain. He finally goes to the Dr they schedule all this stuff and put him on anti inflammatory drugs and then when it all failed to stop his pain the Dr orders him a MRI. Well Brian received a phone call last night that our insurance is denying him the right to a MRI because it doesn't seem necessary?? The man had been in constant pain but a non doctor in a office doesn't feel its necessary. They want him reevaluated and more claims sent in to be determined if its medically necessary. If the insurance company wont pay for a MRI........How will they agree to a surgery to fix a mistake made so long ago? Wall after Wall after Wall.......no windows, no doors, only a open ceiling and a soft floor for me to hit my knees and look to the heavens. In HIS time and HIS way if HE feels I am worthy enough will he make the path to stop my aching either go away or be filled. Oh how my Patience is being tested and to be honest I feel I am failing miserably!

Mommy Common sense! MUST READ!

Sorry its been a while since I blogged but between church, soccer, college, and work I just don't have the time. But, I felt this was important.

As I have worked with children, have children and have friends with children I have come to know most childhood illnesses from hives, lice, allergic reactions, yeast infection diaper rashes to hand foot and mouth, croup, asthma and pneumonia. I am NOT qualified nor do I have a medical degree but what I do have is mommy common sense and the contact with each diagnoses to back it up. I DO NOT Google because well.......who has ever parent googled and been listed with a bunch of nonsense diagnoses that all point to a life threatening diagnoses by WebMD I know I have. Well here is where technology failed me 11 years ago.

11 years ago Brianna was born she was a average baby and for the most part VERY healthy she had one huge problem.....Chronic Ear Infections. I felt like we were in the doctors every other week when one antibiotic ended the other ear would get infected. The cycle was brutal on us as well as her. You know those middle of the night howlings and screaming followed by you as a mother in fetal position PRAYING for 20 minutes of sleep before the howling and screaming began again! Ya I know you know! Well I was 20 years old and I trusted my pediatrician to do right by my child. They do hold a degree and for Gods sake they are DOCTORS! Classic ear infection no problem right....she didnt have a mysterious rash or random fevers of no cause or origin she had ear infections. We also 11 years ago didnt have Facebook or Myspace or Twitter and to be honest I didnt have ANY friends with kids so information came straight from the doctor. Where am I going with the computer stuff this is where....When we post our Facebook status about our children or our day or what we are making for dinner we get feedback from other people. If I had posted "Up all night with Brianna again pretty sure we are on ear infection 13246543216543541" I would have atleast gotten a friend or family member to say....Hey my child had that same problem and had tubes put in their ears you should call Dr so and so they did my kids and BAM no ear infections...Well this never happened for me and this is the result.

We have switched pediatrician since the first whack job let me just give you a antibiotic regardless of the strains of infections that are mutating up immunities to these said antibiotics and mommy will just feel better. Im not a mommy who needs to feel better jack ass a  mommy who wants my child better and will ONLY give those said antibiotics if a BACTERIA or INFECTION is present NOT because you think I need to feel better about pumping my kid full of unnecessary antibiotics!

During those ear infection battles we discovered that Brianna was allergic to Amoxicillan and Ceftasporin antibiotics and she was from then on out given Zitromax. It did work but she lived on it.....and my doctor never suggested tubes in her ears. He also just treated Shailyn for chronic croup, bronchitis, CONSTANT wheezing and hospitalized Strep A bacterial pneumonia with out ever considering it was being caused by weak lungs due to ASTHMA! This same doctor also NEVER diagnosed Nic with his Low Growth Hormone levels that caused him to all of a sudden stop growing at 2 years old....that took me fighting for a referral to Georgetown Hospital Endocrinology after he was 4 years old and STILL in a 2T. That was enough for me to FREAK OUT! We left the practice and since have found a GREAT pediatrician and are very happy with the care we receive! Brianna has had a huge bought with strep throat and he referred us to ENT.  We met with ENT Dr today who said that Brianna was going to definitely need her tonsils out she has pitted tonsils that grab and hold bacteria in the little pockets of those pits and it would just get worse and not get better. While she was talking to us about her history and drug allergies she was looking Brianna over and as she looked in her ears I told her about the chronic ear infections and how she lived on one antibiotic for 2 years of her life and she said.....St Marys pediatrician.....I said YUP, she still looking in Briannas ears....start with a S and end in a TH I said no but close La......feer. She said.....she needed tubes!!!!  I can see the struggle in her ears.....she has some pretty bad scarring on her ear drums due to that struggle!!!!  I must have looked dumbfounded because she sat down and said that doctors don't seem to want to refer kids to specialists to fix the problems. I know I disliked that doctor but now I am FURIOUS! my child has SCARS on her EAR DRUMS due to his lack of concern and his antibiotic pushing self! She then informed me that the pediatricians were treating kids with fluid in their ears with antibiotics this is when that common sense comes into play.....Antibiotics are to treat infections and bacteria NOT fluid in the ears.....fluid need to be drained NOT given a antibiotic for it.

What I am trying to say pretty much is listen if parents had to take a infectious control class before becoming parents they wouldn't be so apt to just take a antibiotic from the doctor and give it to a child based on a VIRUS ANTIBIOTICS DONT CURE VIRUSES. I can honestly say that I threw away 75% of the prescriptions for my kids when the doctor handed them to me after telling me my child had a virus. by the time Brianna is my age she may not have a antibiotic she can take to cure a common sinus infection because her doctor let her live on Zithromax instead of referring to a specialist. If your child had a reoccurring illness over and over and over again see a specialist! Dont wait till your child has permanent damage and you live with the guilt of that. She will need hearing aids long before old age when our hearing starts to go...hers will go quicker because she is so scarred up.  Just use mommy common sense.

That backfired only slightly!

On Sunday Brianna had a soccer game,  on the way to our church picnic that was before her game Brianna told me she often feels nervous before her games.  I asked her what does she do when she feels nervous she replied "nothing", I laughed and said "What should you do?". She sat there for a minute and then said "Well I guess I could pray?"

Im trying to make sure that my children know that every problem they have in life can be lifted up in prayer and the Lord will help them make since of it. I told Brianna that prayer sounded like a great idea! I told her that most football games, or baseball games are started in the locker rooms with prayer. She looked slightly puzzled by this. She then looks at me and said "Well what do I pray for???"

I had to actually think about that for a minute What do you pray for before a sporting event? So I sat there and then said "Well first Thank God for the blessing of be able to play something you love so much, ask for strength to endure the sport, ask for the wisdom to make good judgement, ask for the knowledge to make good plays, watch over and protect the players of the game to keep them safe and free from injury and most importantly ask God to bless you with encouraging words to say to your teammates as well as your opponets.  She looked at me and smiled and say AWESOME Thanks Mom! That made me smile!

Well  the game was going full force and those girls we fighting each other tooth and nail for the ball. It was a hard game being played by both teams. I starting noticing that the girl on the opposing team #5 was not playing very fair and who was she covering...BRIANNA! I am very vocal on the sidelines (Go figure right) well #5 kept throwing her arm up across Briannas chest when she was trying to go around her to block her...In case you don't know soccer, that is not allowed you can use your whole body or arm at a angle but not straight across the chest...The ref was calling NOTHING! We all love when that happens dont we! I had an INCREDIBLE since of yelling raging inside my body. My insides were screaming to yell "KEEP IT UP #5 IM WATCHING YOU" I walked up and down the sidelines briskly and my heart was racing and I realized...This soccer mom stuff is tough buisness! I prayed for calming...didnt happen LOL. Well forth quarter we were up 1-0 and the opposing team was NOT happy about that. The gloves were coming off at this point. Brianna is a Midfeilder and had already had two oppurtunities to score and either missed the net or didnt pull the trigger and she was down on the other side of the feild opposite of the goal they score into. She was able to get the ball and was running..I MEAN RUNNING! Like Forrest Gump running with the ball dribbling really fast probably the fastest I had ever seen her dribble the ball down field!! Then guess what HERE COMES  #5 with a quick TRIP!!!! I watched my daughter CHEST plant in the middle of the feild!! I mean like CHEST first and her feet flipped up almost touching the back of her head with her arms CRUMPLED under her! My heart stopped! Then she got up and took off down the feild!!! I was astonished! The ref NEVER called the Penalty!

As she kept playing I noticed she was holding her arm and opening and closing her hand and favoring it ALOT. I yelled out CRUSH and when she looked my way I gave her a thumbs up she signaled back WITH THE OTHER ARM and thumbs up. We were nearing the end of the game and her coach switched out the line....never pulling Brianna....She played till the end. As she ran up and down the feild again coming SUPER close to scoring I could see the swelling in her arm. At the end of the game her team won they held them to the 1-0 lead. When she made it to the sidelines  I asked if she was okay she said NO. I looked at her arm and it was swollen I could have sworn it was broke. She was able to move it and she decided she didnt want to go the ER she was fine. I respected her decision and she came home and went to Awana.

Later that night she came to me and said "You know Mom I did what you said and I prayed before the game and asked for Gods protection for my teammates and I got hurt???" Why would he let me get hurt?? My response was "Well was your arm broken?" She replied No I said right Gods gonna let you fall and maybe even scrape your knees alittle but understand one thing....He will always PICK YOU UP! Did you get up? She said Yes, I said right and did you finish your game? she said Well yeah....I said Right! He gave you the protection you asked for and the strenght and the wisdom to make decisions that didnt involve retaliation and that can also fit into encouragement...Think about how your teammates may have felt after they watched you fall HARD onto the ground and even with your arm aching you got up and you CONTINUED your game. That Babygirl was God.....

My ideal marriage...With the help of my Faith.

As much of us are very well aware fairy tales dont exist. The Knight in shining armour is never gonna whisk you up and carry you off into the sunset or to the top of a tower overlooking a gorgeous kingdom. This was a hard concept for me to come to. I always wanted that TV show marriage not King of Queens but the Leave it to Beaver one. I had such a hard life as a child, my parents didnt show me the picture perfect version of a marriage. I set up unrealistic expectations of what a marriage was and then expected my husband to live up to those standards based soley on what I wanted and didn't want from what I saw in my parents marriage. I then realized that the only knight in shining armour to come swoop me up and take to my tower over looking the kingdom was Jesus Christ when he comes back. My happily ever after starts then and only then not while I am here.

Friends around us are divorcing left and right and believe me when I say my marriage has been on the battlefield more than I care to admit and on countless times almost collapsed to a ashy pile of smoky dust at the front lines of that battlefield. I have recently decided to pray about what my marriage was meant to be by Gods standards and not the standards of Disney Princess lives. This is my new standard and what I want in my marriage and what God intended our marriage to be.

1. I will and I want my husband to have patience. Fights occur when patiece is lost....

2. I will not easily anger....see #1 :) I will go to prayer before I speak. Only words to lift my husband not words to discourage him.

3. I will chose to be kind in all things. How I speak, my ACTIONS (equally as important then my words)

4. I will make it a point to kiss my husband when he walks in the door to show him that I missed him while he was gone and how THANKFUL I am the Lord brough him home each and every day!

5. My only addiction......My husband. Good bye facebook.

6. I will pray with my husband and become submissive in the way of religion. I will submit to his leadership in our faith.

7. I want to work as a team together holding hands facing down the darker paths of life with the Light of the Lords Glory shining on us. Through Christ who gives us strentgh those dark paths will be lite through him.

8. I want a relationship full of mutual respect.

9. I want to rely on my husband for help. Teamwork. Always be his equal.

10. Most impotantly I want a marriage filled with all the blessing the Lord has bestowed upon us...with that being said Grace and Forgiveness.