Finding my place

I am trying to figure out my niche, so to speak, in the bloggy world.  I'm a Mom, an animal lover, a wife, a daughter, a student, a homemaker, an employee, etc.  I want to write about all of my experiences, no matter how insignificant or trite they might be.  But where does that put me in this huge blogosphere?  This I'm not sure of.  I also know I hate my blog name.  I chose it when I was bored and pregnant and I just didn't have the brain power to think of anything else.  Defining my niche will help me choose a name, but as I said, I'm stumped.

I am thinking about purchasing my own domain, I just need to figure out a good name and then learn all this html stuff.  I just don't have patience for learning sometimes.  Which is why I probably chose such a cheesy blog name, laziness!  This is acturally a recurring theme in my life, but that is a totally different blog post.

In the next few days, I will be working on this, and possibly moving my blog to Wordpress since I've heard some great things about the features.  I'm not sure if I'm up to that challenge, especially since if I happen to have any readers, this would get confusing.  I just want to invest more and get more from my blogging experience.

In Which I Let Go

In November 2009 I traded in my 2008 Camry for a 2010 Corolla.  This was a financial decision as we had tons of medical bills coming up.  I was so incredibly upset and depressed because even though I didn't pick out my Camry, it was MY car.  As I've said before, we had no insurance and we'd just gotten some bad news financially, so we felt this was the right decision for us.  In reality, it wasn't really necessary as the payments weren't lowered by much.  To be honest, I've spent a lot of time dwelling on this and being very bitter towards my husband because he "pushed" this on me.  I've also been bitter towards him because I felt like I had to give everything up while he gave up nothing.

I decided tonight that I am going to let go of all of this negative energy and just finally be at peace with the decisions we have made.  There is nothing I can change and there is no sense in dwelling on what's already happenend.  My husband meant me no harm and I'm being foolish for continuing to hash this out 3 months later.

Letting go is a wonderful thing.  My mind will be clear and at ease and my relationship with my husband will be that much better.  This is my new mantra for life in general.  I'm not sure why I'm just now realizing I need to do this, but I truly think this will help with my mentality and overall mood.  Plus it will help me teach my son wonderful traits :).

So here's to letting go in 2010!

A Controversial Blog

I am a democrat.  I was born and raised as such.  There was a brief period in 2000 when I chose to cheer for George W., but that was to irritate my Dad, and because he is from Texas as I am.  After that, I realize why children are not allowed to vote, they sometimes don't make sound and rational decisions (i.e. trying to piss your parents off).  Anyways, with that said, I'm sure you all have me figured out and pegged.  I'm a sacrilegious heathen who believes in abortion, hates all of the American soldiers, completely lacks support for my Country, etc.  And in some cases you'd be right, but not in the instance of the things I just mentioned.

I am totally and completely against abortion.  While I am a democrat, I was raised Catholic (I know, a complete contradiction) and went to a Catholic schoole for 8 years.  I do not believe in abortion in any situation.  My Mom actually disagrees with me on this topic, so we don't really discuss it.  I do believe the government has every right to step in and make abortion illegal, afterall, it is murder.

Another thing I "go against the grain on" is the war.  Or, more specifically, the soldiers fighting this war.  Don't get me wrong, I am completely against the war.  I have my opinions on it and I'm sure no one really wants to hear them, so I'll keep that off here (more controversy than I can handle for one post).  However, I strongly support the troops fighting this war.  They leave their families and loved ones behind to keep me safe, and for that I truly respect them!  These people make huge sacrifices, including their lives, quite often, and that makes them all heros!  While I don't support the war they are fighting, I support them as humans for protecting me when they have no obligation.  They are truly the spirit of our Country.  This has become even more real for me since I have had Weston.  I want him to live in a Country where he doesn't have to worry about terrorist attacks, and these soldiers are trying to make that a reality for him.

I bring this up because I was reading a blog where someone was discussing soldiers.  I actually read a lot blogs of military wives for some strange reason.  Anyways, I really wanted to voice my thoughts on this matter.  I believe we should all support our soldiers, whether we agree with the war or not!

Bills

Ick is all I can say.  I'm being brutally honest here, so you should all know that I have a lot of bills.  This is due to my pregnancy, not because I'm a big spender.  My husband is the big spender, but that's neither here nor there :).

I have 7 different bills that are huge, all from my pregnancy and deliverly, not including the one I did actually pay off today.  They are not cheap by any means.  I can't believe how expensive everything is.  Actually I can, but I don't think it should be this way.  At least every other place has done the 20% cash paying discount, but they still really suck.  I actually need some kind of planner or journal to keep track of the payments.  I need to insure I have all of this for our taxes next year.

I am doing very small payments.  I'm talking $20 a month on most.  I plan on paying more at some point, but I did as little as I felt comfortable with to ensure I can pay them every month.

And of course, we can't forget all of the other "regular" bills a family has.  We have the electric bill, mortgage, gas bill, water bill, 2 car payments, student loans, cable/internet bill, and cell phone.  Whew, I think that's all.  All of this plus groceries and gas, and I am completely overhwhelmed and stressed out.  I am working on a few things to make our lives not quite so stressful, but I'm not sure how those things are going to pan out.  I'd love to get rid of the cable, but the husband won't allow that.  Plus, since I'm home all day, I do need some entertainment ocassionally.

Sorry about the vent.  I'm going to purchase (???!?!?!) some of Dave Ramsey's books and hope we can be debt free soon, though I highly doubt it.  Wish us luck :)!

The blog that will never be

I was going to write a terribly long post on my current frustrations.  However that isn't productive, and could potentially hurt people's feelings, so I am choosing to avoid this right now.  Just know, I'm very frustrated right now, but I'm pretty sure this will change.  Instead, I want to channel my frustration into productive activities, and believe me there are hundreds to do around this here casa.

There is so much I need to get done.  Some things are short term, like completing this semester; and some are long term, like getting our finances in order and living debt free using Dave Ramsey's ideas.  I guess I could put these on my 101 goals in 1001 days.  So maybe my goal for this week is to start working on my goals for the next few years.  Huh, a goal for goals, how odd!  I feel like this will be much more productive than dwelling on my annoyances/frustrations.

Weston is doing well, of course.  He had his first visit with the Easter Bunny yesterday.  He was absolutely adorable!  Please ignore me!

Here's a better view of his little outfit

I love this little boy!

Almost 5 Weeks

So Weston has been on this Earth for almost 5 weeks.  I apologize for the lack of blogging, but holy moly it's hart taking care of a baby and all of my millions of animals.  He has these days where he absolutely doesn't want to be put down, and as you can imagine, that makes it very hard to do anything, much less blog.

My priorities have definitely shifted, to say the least.  My life absolutely revolves around my little man.  Everything I do is for him.  Also, I'm exhausted!  The every 3 hour feeding schedule may just be the death of me.  OK, it won't, but it is really hard.  Those days he is super fussy are also quite hard on me.  But, I love him so much.  Even at his worst, he is still a great baby.

I almost have the birth story completed, though I don't know if I will post it.  That is something very personal and special, so I'm still on the fence about that.  Sorry to leave you hanging.

I really don't have anything interesting to report.  I spend all my time with Weston, and while I think he is the most interesting thing ever, some might not agree :).  I will say this much though, he is incredibly advanced for his age.  He was trying to lift his head before he was a week old, and has been able to fully lift it since he was 2 weeks.  He's also been smiling and laughing for about a week now.  He also is trying to crawl already!  He can move the legs, its just the arms that are throwing him off.  He will have it soon though!  I'm so amazed and proud of my baby.  He really is perfect.

With that, I'm going to end since he is probably about to stop fussing since his Dad put him in his swing to take the dogs out.  Hopefully it won't be so long for my next post.

Being a Mom

Weston Michael arrived on 2/21/10 at 1:29pm after 7 hours of labor.  Yes, it was quick, but it was mighty painful.  He weighed 6lbs 10 oz and was 20.5 inches long.  I'll try to write the delivery story sometime soon, though who knows when because its apparently really hard being a Mom.  I know that's common knowledge, but I have no energy or desire to do ANYTHING at all.  I don't want to answer my phone, I don't want to get on the Internet, I don't want to watch TV, I don't want to do anything at all.

I've been very lucky on many fronts.  First, Weston is a great baby.  I say that even though he has been quite fussy today, he seems to have a tummy problem right now, but I believe that is normal.  Second, my husband stayed home with me all last week, which was a life saver.  Third, my Mom is staying with me all this week, which is another life saver!  I'm actually dreading next week when I'm with him alone, though I've heard that is also a common fear of new Moms.

We ended up staying at the hospital until Tuesday because he has a thing called stridor, he became jaundiced, and he had low blood sugar when he was born.  In order to save us money (since we have no insurance) we did a thing called rooming in where they let us stay for free, but I lost all nursing care once that happened.  Let me tell you, I definitely preferred having the nursing care.  I hated the other side of the hospital and I felt very alone.  It was quite depressing, so I was very happy to leave Tuesday.

We took him to the doctor on Thursday to check his bilirubin levels for his jaundice and it was at 14.7, so they had us come back on Friday to have them checked again, which they had then gone down to 13.  My poor boy has been poked in the foot SO much.  He had to have his blood sugar tested before he ate from Sunday to Monday, and then of course the blood tests to check his bilirubin levels.  I have to take him to get his 2nd newborn screen this Friday and then to his 2 week checkup...I am looking forward to neither.  Luckily my Mom will be with me to help me.

I really love being his Mom, he's an awesome baby.