5QF

It's time for Five Question Friday. I'm still trying to figure out how exactly to get the picture to be the link to her blog. So just in case that doesn't work, CLICK HERE see 5QF's post. :) Enjoy and Happy Firday! 

1. Do you wake before the alarm or stay in bed until the last possible second?

You mean my 3 1/2 month old baby girl alarm? If that's what you're referring to, then I sleep past the alarm and get up at the last minute. Like, wait until she's about to get really mad and start screaming- then I dart in her bedroom to shush her before she wakes up big brother.


2. Who should get a baby shower? Is it just the first baby or all babies?

Since just having 2nd baby, my views on this have changed. I used to frown on those having showers for the 2nd baby - especially when they're close together- but now I completely understand the necessity. I wasn't given a baby shower for MissPriss and if it weren't for a sweet nurse @ work giving me lots of clothes, then she'd have been stuck wearing lots of boy clothes. 
And there are just other necessities that are needed for each baby- especially if they're different genders.

At the minimum, a diaper shower. That would have been helpful as well.

3. How will you spend Memorial Day?

Oh I'm so very excited! I just hope things go as planned in my "perfect world". My
Parents are coming up and we're all planning to go to the park and hang out. We took EJ and MissPriss today and he loved it! I'll have to post pictures of the most awesome playground ever next week.

4. Do you have a Storm/Hurricane/Tornado/Fire plan for your kids, house..?

Not really. Last time there was a tornado warning for our area, TheHubs & I loaded the kids up last minute and headed to none other but Walmart. We walked around with the kiddos in the buggy for a little while, then they made everybody go to the back of the building and stay until the warning passed. 
Very entertaining, I might add.

Growing up, our plan was very similar. Wait until the tornado has been reported down a few miles away, then jump in the car and hall tale down the street (a few miles) to the friend's basement. Then stay until it passed. 

Maybe we should develop a plan better than Walmart....

5. What is your favorite morning drink?

Water. Yep, H2O. Either that or milk. But I only drink milk if I'm eating breakfast. Ever since giving up soft drinks in high school (long long time ago), I have been a water girl. Seriously, I feel all groggy and tired if I haven't had my ice cold glass of water.
Don't judge. =)

The Joneses

Keeping up with the Joneses. What does that mean anyways?

Wiki says this:
"the comparison to one's neighbor as a benchmark for social caste or the accumulation of material goods. To fail to "keep up with the Joneses" is perceived as demonstrating social-economic or cultural inferiority."

Phrases.com says this:
"Strive to match one's neighbors in spending and social standing."

10 years ago...even 5 or 6 years ago, your neighbors were those with whom you had direct contact with on a day to day basis. People you worked with, people you lived near, people you went to church with, friends, family, etc. However, today your "neighbors" (the Joneses) can be anybody on the planet. Thanks to the internet, mainly social media, we are bombarded with "the Joneses" in ways we never imagined.

Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Keek, Path...and the list goes on.

We consume ourselves with social media. We feel the need to post every move we make so the world can see. Pictures posted within seconds, tweets tweeted as soon as an event occurs. We sleep, eat and breath social media. Sometimes literally.

Let me be the first to say I found myself buried deep in the pit of this chaos. My thoughts were often status updates on Facebook, I snapped pictures of my kids' every adorable move to post to Instagram. I never got in to the rest of the stuff, but mainly because my addiction was consumed enough with what I already had.

Sadly enough, I was checking fb at 2am when I would wake briefly to put MissPriss's paci back in her mouth. I was waking 1st thing in the morning to see if anything had happened since that 2am fix. I had my phone by my side 24/7 looking at it constantly. I was looking at other people's profiles and finding myself subconsciously (and a lot of times consciously) rejoicing in other's failures, and being angry or jealous at their successes. It's very humbling to even admit to some of this stuff.

It wasn't until TheHubs & I were talking one night about why I had begun a spiral of depression that I realized and vocally stated what I felt was the culprit. Nope, it wasn't post-partum-depression (which was what he had initially blamed it on)...it was social media consuming me.

It was me trying to "keep up with the Joneses". I was jealous at the moms who were taking their kids to the park everyday, or the wives getting to have a lunch date with their husbands. I was jealous at the flowers and beautiful gifts ladies got on Valentine's Day, birthdays, anniversaries, and "just because". But at the same time, I was laughing at divorces that were taking place and "stalking" others to find out the gossip of who was having an affair with whom. And smirking at such sin, such filth taking place.

I was consumed. Big time.

I felt like I wasn't good enough if I didn't take EJ on a walk everyday, or have good fruits and vegetables for him to eat everyday. (And unless popcorn chicken and chips count, then I'm a big fat failure on those standards.)

I felt angry about having to work weekends instead of getting to spend it with my family like everybody else.

I dreaded each holiday as I knew everybody would post wonderful pictures of all they were getting to do, when I knew me and Thehubs were just lucky to see each other or be off work together.

My emotions could go from good to bad with just one post by someone...

As TheHubs and I talked that night, he agreed that I was consumed.  So after I said that I probably need to "quit", he quickly agreed. So we got the lap top, sat on our bed and I ever so slowly "deactivated" my account. No warnings for my friends...no big announcement or anything. I just did it. Because I knew if I didn't do it then, then I never would. Even as we were in the process, I was making up excuses for why I shouldn't. Wondering what I would spend my time doing now, or how I would know what's going on in the world.

But I (we) did it.

Yep, I've been "sober" from Facebook for almost a week and it's actually been quite nice. I haven't asked TheHubs, but I hope he would say my depression tendencies and sour attitude has diminished. I am no longer having stuff thrown in my face to be jealous at.

After all, who puts the dirt and grime of their lives for the world to see anyways??

I will say I've chosen to keep my Instagram. I feel like I have more control over that, and plan to dwindle it down to only close friends and family who I follow and who follow me. Simply to keep up with our lives a little better.

Freedom. Exhilaration. Relief.

So now the hard part of staying focused- keeping my eyes on Jesus and being consumed by Him each day begins.


Ephesians 6:10-18
"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. "

....

"And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord's people."

Adventures of EJ

Where in the world does the time go? It seems like yesterday I was giving birth to my firstborn. Then I blinked a few times, and now I'm sitting here with my (almost) 3 month old in my lap, and an (almost) 18 month old in his bed sleeping. Seriously...life is surreal.

Let me just talk (write?) about Mr. EJ and catch up on what all he has been in to here lately. He is absolutely a mess pot. Nothing he does surprises me; I just have to laugh at most of it to keep from having a melt down and crying.

About a month ago, I was determined to take both of the kids to library toddler story time. What in the world was I thinking, I don't know, but I did it. We get there (all in one piece) about 10 minutes before story time, so I went and plopped down at the back of the rug-which I assumed would be the back of all the other people that would come later. Well, you know what happens when you assume things....

MissPriss did great- she just looked around everywhere in her car seat and didn't make a peep. EJ on the other hand, well he had to go check out the cabinet at the front of the room that contained music equipment and open and close the doors a few times. He also found an outlet protector thing, which he loves to play with at home.
Story time started, and I was just hoping he would somehow miraculously sit still and be good. WRONG! He did like the song they sang at the beginning. All the other kids and mothers knew the words and motions, and I went right along with it, helping EJ do the motions and pretending to know exactly what was going on. Well, I was never really good at pretending...

So EJ then decided he needed to go look out the door that was at the front of the room, and he sorta kinda wanted to help the teacher, but was scared to get to close to her. So he just kept going to the front of the room back to the dog-blessed cabinet.  I kept getting up and weaving through mothers and their goody-two-shoes little "toddlers" to get my child.

 (By the way, shat kind of toddlers sit still for 20 minutes? NOT MINE!)

After about the 3rd time of retrieving my son, I decided it was time for us to go. So I made my way back through the MIDDLE of the crowd of 25-30 mommies and their oh-so-perfect children, and got my daughter (whom I may have just left in the middle of the room) and we left.
Needless to say, the librarian at the back of the room gladly held the door open for us as we made our grand exit.

I laughed on the way home thinking about how great of a story I have to tell.

We haven't returned.


Here's another good one for you. And trust me, I don't make this stuff up.

One morning I went to get him out of bed only to find that he had taken off his pants & diaper. I walk in to find a 1/2 naked boy grinning from ear to ear. A drenched diaper and some poo in the floor. Yep, had to laugh....

Going to church has been yet another adventure. He now knows where we are when we walk in the door. He wraps himself entirely around my leg, as I attempt to walk, all the while also carrying MissPriss and her suitcase bag. I'm afraid before long, he's going to figure it out when we drive up, and refuse to get out of the car.

He hates it. Which, I understand because it's the only time he's away from family. I mean, we just drop him off and run for it. He screams bloody murder as he ladies so graciously take him and care for him while we go to the service. They have informed me that he is doing a little better. Thank God! He apparently let them change his diaper without screaming. (Didn't know he had gave them a fuss about that...) She also said he stops screaming a little sooner each week, which is progress.

This past week, they got out play-dough for the kiddos to play with. Well, EJ apparently found it more entertaining to play with the containers, making sure each of the lids were on them. He put the lids on and off the entire time instead of playing with the play-dough. Poor child....

Some of his "normal" favorite things to do here lately are turning on and off the light switch, throwing toys over the safety gate into the kitchen, opening and closing any kind of container, and of course closing any and every door in the house.  He's also started taking wipes or napkins and "cleaning" things. That's pretty adorable actually.


I swear he's OCD....if he sees that I've left a door cracked, he has to ruuunnnnn real quick and close it.

We now have a bedtime routine down pat. I'm sure everybody's routine goes as follows:
Go into bedroom, he has to close the door behind us (of course), pick up all of his stuffed animals and throw them into his crib one by one (takes for.ev.er.), closes closet doors, then gets into bed. Before we leave the room, he's trowing out his stuffed animals until it's just him and his blankey. The beloved blue blankey. Heaven forbid when that thing starts to deteriorate. Good thing we have 2 that are just alike!


Every day is certainly an adventure. I often say that if DHR gets called on us from something happening to MissPriss, that I promise it will be from the abuse she received from EJ not me or TheHubs. She has been hit, slapped, stepped on and sat on...and survived it all so far. She's one tough cookie. More on her (and her high maintenance prissiness) later.

Until then...

Catch up on EJ

Just a few random facts about little EJ and all he is now getting in to- number style. Ohhh he's a mess. We try to capture some of it on camera, but of course he stops as soon as we try. Maybe one day...




1.  The number of naps he now takes per day.

2.  The number of his books he has destroyed. So far.

3. The number of cookies, crackers, etc. he has to have at 1 time-one for his mouth, & one for each hand.

4.  The number of full-fledge-fits he probably throws per day. As in, flop back on the floor, hitting his head and everything and screaming to the top of his lungs. I just look at him and walk away....

5. The number of spankings it usually takes in a row for him to figure out he's NOT supposed to be doing something.

.......


15. The number of wipes he can pull out of the package in a matter of seconds.

45. The number of seconds it takes for my son to figure out how to open his closet doors and take out all the clothes mommy just put up.


Other random things he's in to:

* Climbs on EVERYTHING- coffee table, high chair, couch, baby gate, etc.
* He goes running to the gate at the top of our stairs every time he hears the door open (which is at the bottom of the stairs)...especially when mommy or daddy comes home.
* He gives good ol' full open-mouth kisses. The kind that gets slobber all over your entire face. Their delicious. =)
* He hits. A lot. But it's out of excitement- so I'm not exactly sure how to make this stop.
* He loves pretty much anything you feed him. Except real fruit...guess it's a texture thing.


He melts my heart every day. Thehubs and I are so very blessed to have him as our son! He turned ONE just a little over a month ago, and I know before I blink again, I'll be planning his 2nd birthday party!

Little sister will be here very soon...like within 5-6 weeks soon!! EJ has no clue what's going on, but I know he'll be the best big brother!

We're here!

Well we've officially been at our new place for almost a week now. So far so good. The week has absolutely flown by, which I didn't want to happen. I start my new job on Monday, and will be working full time (M-F) for 5-6 weeks being trained.

Let me just say that I haven't worked 40 hours out of the home ever. I know that sounds crazy, but it's true. I'm a little scared about this, but at least I know that there's an end in sight and will soon be working weekends and staying home with my baby boy during the weeks. Soooo yeah, I know I'm going to be absolutely exhausted- especially since my lower back feels like my right hip is dislocated at times when I'm on my feet. Hopefully I'll get used to it pretty quickly. And of course I know it could be much much worse!

Back to the new place. It is sooo much bigger and EJ has loved walking around EVERYWHERE. We've had to purchase a new baby gate because we have stairs. It's kinda weird...we are an upstairs apartment, but instead of the stairs being on the outside of the building, you enter our front door at ground level, and then their's a small foyer area with stairs that go up to the apartment. It's really pretty with high ceilings and everything, but not so safe with a toddler walking everywhere.
So I found an "extra wide and extra tall" baby gate from Target, and TheHubs installed it last night. It makes me feel MUCH better, and lets just hope EJ doesn't try to climb on it any time soon.

In baby news, I'm now 23 weeks along, and feeling good for the most part. Little Miss is growing well, and moving all the time. Yeah, it's a girl...I don't think I even posted about that experience. Maybe I'll get around to that one day. She's already going to think I'm a horrible mom because I haven't even taken any "belly pictures" while pregnant with her....and I think I took them about 1x per month with EJ. Oh, well, 2nd baby syndrome  I know. lol

February is quickly approaching and I can't wait to meet her!! Can't believe we're about to be a family of FOUR!

Leaning on Him

Emotions have been getting the best of me here lately. One minute, I'm so excited about the big move, and another, I'm petrified and crying.

I know Satan is certainly trying to win the battle of my mind, and captivate my thoughts. It's a tough battle to fight these days. And without me filling my head (and heart) with scripture as I should, he does win (briefly) at times.

I put in my notice at work, and as of October 4th, I will no longer be employed with Gateway. I've been with them almost 3 and a half years (which is a long time in the Social Work world), so it's going to be bitter sweet to leave. They're definitely a wonderful company to work for....

With that being said, I've applied for about 15+ jobs in the Huntsville area. I still have several other places to look into thanks to the recommendations of so many people helping me out. Job hunting freaks me out a little...you know, especially since I haven't done it since being fresh out of college, and since I'm pregnant and everything.
I KNOW the law says I can't be discriminated against, but come on...you know pregnant women often are when it comes to job hunting.

THEN comes the financial side of moving.....

We are getting a "moving expense bonus" or something like that from Thehub's work, so that will certainly help. But on the flip side, I think of all of the deposits for our utilities as well as the fact that we're pretty much having to pay rent in 2 places for the month of October...PLUS the whopping "early termination fee" for breaking our apartment lease.

"Any other worries?" you might ask. Well of course!!!

You see, here in the Bham, we have some family support. My brother lives close and helps out occasionally as well as Thehub's mom and my cousin. Without the 3 of them, I'd probably have gotten fired a long time ago from my job for not being able to do everything.
In Huntsville.....we'll have NOBODY!! Thehub's mom says she will come when needed, but probably won't be able to make the drive every week as she does now.

So daycare/ Mother's Day out it is. I've already prepared myself for this, and honestly it's not a huge concern right now.  Once I get a job, that will be another story. Did I mention I'm having a baby in February, and that would mean TWO in daycare of some sort?!?!?!


So those are the thoughts that run wild in my head, and bring me to tears everything I let them consume me. But you know what? My God is bigger than those issues. My God knows what tomorrow holds despite all of my "what ifs".  I am trusting in Him to provide all of these things.

We know He is leading us to Huntsville, and has opened so many doors already. He will continued to provide for us.

This morning at church, we sang an old hymn that literally brought me to tears. It came to mind one day last week as I was singing EJ to sleep...so I sang the chorus to him. I think God just knew I needed to be reminded of it once again today.
I don' think I've ever had to trust The Lord as I am now.

Leaning on the Everlasting Arms- click HERE to listen.

Leaning, leaning, safe and secure from all alarms
Leaning, leaning, leaning on the Everlasting Arms.

What have I to dread, what have I to fear, Leaning on the Everlasting Arms?
I have blessed peace with my Lord so near, Leaning on the Everlasting Arms.




So I think I will just LEAN on Him.....

The unknown

The unknown is one of the scariest things if you ask me. Not knowing where you will be living in the next few months...yep, one of the biggest things that freaks me out.

Thehubs has known for about 2 months now that there would be a possibility that he would have to relocate for his job. Granted, we wouldn't have to go far...we're talking about 2 hours from where we are, but the possibility has been there, but it's all been left out in the open and a whole bunch of "what ifs".

Without getting into all of the details, there has been talk of him getting one of 2 or 3 different positions, and only 1 of them consisted of us having to move. But it started out being the strongest possibility, and would dwindle away several times....and back again.

Just in the past week, I've went through the emotions of the whole moving thing being tossed back and forth. Thehubs was told that he pretty much would be placed at one of the positions here locally, and then BOOM the next day he was told that the other one was "hot" again.

You see, he's in the security business, and is an Account Manager right now. His goal one day is to be an Operations Manager, and we're so almost there because he is SUCH an amazing hard worker!!

So today, I've been looking at apartments in the area which we will very likely have to be moving (Montgomery). It's all kind of hit home and I'm trying to accept it.

Our original plans were to just move about 1/2 way there and I would keep my job, and we would still be fairly close to our parents. But his boss informed him today that he needed to be within 30-40 minutes of the place in case something goes wrong. (i.e.  in case he has to go in and cover for one of his employees that didn't show up, or go take care of something they screwed up).
So there goes the plans....again.

I mean really, God, I PROMISE I'm learning trust....I don't think I need any more life lessons.=)

We haven't "broken" the news to anybody yet...mainly because nothing is 100% certain. (which is what's DRIVING ME CRAZY!!!)

Today is August 20th as I write this, and I'm not sure when we'll know for sure. Until then, I'm thinking I'm just going to begin preparing to move. And I've been realizing how much this entails.

*Changing doctors (possibly even my OB...would I have to deliver Baby2 at a dif hospital1?!?)
*Finding yet another church (just when we're starting to find our niche here)
*Finding friends
*Me and my job....I have NO CLUE what I would do...
*Childcare?!?!?
*Being about 3 1/2 hours away from my family
*Being 2 hours away from Thehub's mom
*Figuring out a new area

I mean, I know people do it all the time, but this little mamma has only moved from home to college (as far as major city changes) and has never ever had to make such "adult" decisions such as this.

Lots or prayer has been taking place. We'll see how it all plays out.....eventually.


******UPDATE*********

On Sunday, 8/26 TheHubs got a phone call that changed everything. An Operations Manager resigned in Huntsville, and he was offered that position. DUH, that's been his goal all along, so he jumped on it.

So I get a text while at a Bridal Tea that day saying "Well I'm an ops manager now"

Since then, we have found an apartment up in that area, put in our notice where we are now, and I plan to put in my notice at work tomorrow morning. They sorta know I'll be leaving, and I'm pretty sure my boss is very much aware now since I asked to meet with him tomorrow morning about something.

PLEASE PLEASE be in prayer about my job. I've applied for several positions already, and continue to look daily for social work positions in that area. TheHubs will be able to do a lot of his work from home, but childcare continues to be a huge concern for me as well.

As I've told several people over the past week, if I were to actually sit down and stress about all there is to figure out, I'd just curl up in the fetal position and cry. It's a lot that has to be figured out, but I know God is leading us here and has already provided in so many ways.

Some realizations I've had about moving is that, yes I'll have to change pediatricians for my kiddos. I'll also be changing area codes, which freaked me out a little....AND news stations!!! WHAT?!?! No more James Spann when tornadoes are coming!?!?! I just don't know how we'll survive!!

Good news is that we're almost doubling our living space, and will have a 3 bedroom/2 bath apartment! Praise Jesus for more room!!!



I'll try and continue to update as things get closer. Oct 19th is the tentative move-in date. TheHubs wants to move sooner though because he's having to drive back and forth almost everyday until then.

So in the next 5 months, we'll be moving, I'll hopefully get a new job, we'll celebrate EJ's 1st birthday, AND I'll be having ANOTHER baby!! :)

What an adventure!!!