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| Organized Chaos |
| I am a 30-something mother to 5 kids aged 11 and under. I have been married to my high school sweetheart for over 14 years and have enjoyed almost every minute of it. As you can imagine life at my house is chaotic at best and insane at worst. Either way I do my best to keep it organized and under control. Join me for a rousing story of life in my house. |
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| Total Unique Visitors: 154483 |
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| Bang Bang |
| 2008-07-19 15:28:00 |
Could it be... Is that the sound of hammering I hear... coming from above...?IT IS!Work on the attic has finally re-started after an 8 month hiatus!Hallelujah!...
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| Laying Face Down |
| 2008-07-17 13:49:00 |
Yesterday was a rough day. Well all week has been rough. Assimilating two boys who come from a dysfunctional family and foster care is not easy. In fact, most days it is downright exhausting.Yesterday wasn't unusual but the last few days have begun to build up and I was losing my cool way too easily.So about 5:30 I flopped down face-first onto my bed and layed there hoping for the return of my sanity. Jozey and Jack both were determined to be as naughty as possible and wait for me to crack. On top of that Billy was late coming home from work so the "break" I thought I had coming wasn't coming.I layed there and felt sorry for myself and tried hard not to cry. I knew I couldn't stay there for long or soon I would have two boys running all over the house doing things they shouldn't be. That i...
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| What do you think? |
| 2008-07-15 21:32:00 |
I got a wild hair and decided to make some changes to my blog template. What do you think?Puuurty or not?...
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| Don't Call Me |
| 2008-07-14 12:03:00 |
It was inevitable.Mr. Bill has proclaimed that he is no longer to be called Mr. Bill.His name is Billy.And that is what he wants to be called.Bill is okay too but his name IS Billy.Either way Mr. Bill is out.*sniff* Say goodbye to my baby. He is no longer my baby. *sniff*...
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| Being Me |
| 2008-07-13 15:27:00 |
I don't talk about myself much on this blog because I am not all that interesting. I am Jodi, a wife, mother, and woman. I can be bossy or assertive (which sounds nicer), I live for the moments when my husband wraps his arms around me and whispers he loves me, I am a Mom to 7 kids, I don't like to cook, I am fascinated by the "olden days", sometimes I just want to cry, watching my kids acheive something makes my heart soar, and most days I sit down at the end and wonder how I made it through.But can I tell you something else?My birthday is coming up very soon. July 27th to be exact. To quote my children, "It is my most favoritestest day EVER!"I love my birthday. The fact that it is in the heat of the summer, it is in July (the best month ever), and it is a day all about me.This year I will...
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| Not The Mama |
| 2008-07-11 10:49:00 |
Today I am having a "I don't want to be the Mom" day. I hate these kinds of days. I don't have them very often thank goodness.I woke up to one kid being as obnoxious as possible and another screaming his head off. The other five are doing good and I am trying like hell not to take my bad mood out on them. I spent the night dreaming of the baby that never will be. It confuses me as to why my brain insists on dwelling on the miscarriage. I want to just forget and move on but I can't. I keep reminding myself it has only been 2 weeks. Of course it doesn't help when the doctor's office calls to "remind" me of my OB appointment for tomorrow that I obviously don't need anymore.If you have seen my marbles would you please send them back my way?...
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| Freebies |
| 2008-07-10 12:23:00 |
I have received another BzzAgent Kit, this time for Aveeno Daily Moisturizing Lotion with Sunscreen.None of us are getting younger and lets face it, we need to protect our skin. So using a lotion everyday with sunscreen is always a good idea. I love the Aveeno brand anyway but I must say this lotion is wonderful. It goes on smooth and clean and doesn't have an overpowering smell (in fact it hardly has a scent at all). It mosturizes for a full 24 hours and makes my skin feel really really soft. (Just ask my husband who can't keep his hands off my legs).So anyway I have 4 sample tubes (1.5 ounces) and 6 coupons for $1.00 off. These coupons don't say "only good in the USA" so I assume my Canadian readers can use these as well. I would be happy to send them.To get a sample and/or coupon leave ...
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| Growing Up |
| 2008-07-08 09:01:00 |
The other day Mr. Bill came downstairs with his "handsome" shirt on. For those of you not up to date on 6 year old lingo that means his button down shirt.Anyway, he has trouble buttoning them so he came down and asked me to button it for him. As I finished the bottom button he grabbed the top of his shirt and yelled, "Don't button the top one!" I assured him I never buttoned the top one unless he was wearing a tie.Then he asked me if we had a brown marker. I told him I thought we did but what did he need a brown marker for? He said he wanted to be like Indiana Jones and have hair sticking out of that part of his shirt. I tried to supress the giggle about to escape and explained to him that marker drawn hair wouldn't look much like real hair. He got distracted by the girls playing the Lego ...
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| Life in these United States... |
| 2008-07-07 11:47:00 |
A typical summer day at my house involves......using 9 cups per meal, 9 plates per meal, 9 forks per meal, and 9 napkins per meal. That is 27 dishes to wash after each meal for a total of 81 dishes per day. That is also 27 paper napkins per day....washing 4 loads of laundry. This by no means gets it all done but it keeps the piles manageable....putting sunscreen on 7 little bodies. We use, on average, 2 bottles of sunscreen a month....saying "no you cannot" over 100 times. Also saying "yes you can" over 100 times....using one entire loaf of bread for lunch. Also at least 2 pounds of grapes....putting at least one child in time out....lining up 30 pairs of shoes so the entryway isn't cluttered....spending 2 hours a day doing our jobs. Each child has one and does it to help keep the house un...
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| Pool Life |
| 2008-07-03 09:32:00 |
Our new pool, the day it was getting filled. It was ice cold but that didn't stop the kids from getting in. Finally! It is full and has warmed up some. Let the swimming commence!...
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| 6 month Finance Update |
| 2008-07-01 12:07:00 |
I haven't been very good at keeping my sidebar up to date on our finances so far this year.And there is a good reason for that. I haven't been doing very good with our finances this year.Which is hard to admit and frustrating all at the same time. We have had so many things happen this year that have changed our plans over and over again. But I guess that is a part of life and I need to learn to expect these changes so I can adapt our plan as needed.We are doing something towards our goals though. I am still paying twice the minimum on the first bill listed so we can pay it off sooner and then move onto the next bill. I have also still kept all the cc's shredded so we are not adding to our debt and they are slowly but surely going down. I also have been p...
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| Life Returns |
| 2008-06-30 13:06:00 |
Things are looking up at our house. All of the physical symptoms of the miscarriage and pregnancy seem to have dissipated so I am regaining my energy and zest for life. I am so happy to report that.We spent the weekend swimming in the rain....yes not our new pool. We got soaked on Friday when we were at Billy's company picnic. We even got hailed on. It was a fast moving storm but we all got soaked as we didn't have time to run to the car even so we headed home a bit early.Today promises to be warmer so hopefully I can get some pictures of the kids in the pool. I haven't braved the water yet to even get in.I deep cleaned my room today. I cannot believe the amount of things that somehow collected under my bed. I found socks, sippy cups, clothes, toys, and tons of dust bunnies. Clearly I need...
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| Happy Anniversary Honey! |
| 2008-06-26 11:35:00 |
Today Billy and I celebrate 15 years of married bliss. :)15 years ago......he was 17 and I was 18 years old....gas was less than a dollar a gallon....we were starting our first year of college life together....we lived in a one bedroom "efficiency" apartment....we made a box of hamburger helper and had enough leftovers for two more meals....Billy worked as a pizza delivery guy making 4.25 per hour....I worked as a bun butterer and prep cook making 4.25 per hour....we owned a grey Mercury Topaz. My very first car....we said I do. The two most special words in the English vocabulary....
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| Dreaming of Freedom |
| 2008-06-24 12:19:00 |
Mr. Bill floated by me in the pool yesterday and said, "Mom when we are adults will you be dead?""Maybe." I said. "Hopefully you will be really old adults by then.""I dreamed that happened," he said."Were you sad?" I asked."No. I just did everything I wanted to do and no one stopped me." he replied....
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| Sweating! |
| 2008-06-23 15:45:00 |
We are outside in the pool! Stop on by and join us.Well the kids are floating on top of the pool on toys as they say it is very cold. So stop on by and grab a chair. :)Summer's here!...
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| Two Birthdays and some ramblings |
| 2008-06-21 21:25:00 |
I have been somewhat preoccupied and forgot to come here and blog about two wonderful kids who have both celebrated getting another year older. Megan turned 11 on June 17th. I can hardly believe she is 11 and starting sixth grade in just a few short months. Mr. Bill turned 6 on June 21st (today!). He is my baby and it seems impossible that he is really 6 years old now. Time really does fly as you get older. -----------------------------In other news we bought the pool today. As we stood outside and measured though we realized a 25 foot pool would take up a lot of the usable space in our yard and would not fit in the space we had wanted to put it. So we opted for the 18 foot one instead. Now my husband is outside knee deep in the dirt, leveling the ground to prepare it for a pool. The kids ...
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| Moving on |
| 2008-06-20 08:53:00 |
I am not really sure how to start this post. It feels sort of weird to come and talk about all the "fluff" but that is how life goes I guess. One cannot dwell on the bad things in life or life can pull you down.I am doing pretty well considering everything I have been through. I started running a fever on Monday and that is what my doctor thinks caused the miscarriage. I was 15.5 weeks along. Today my milk came in and my breasts are in a lot of pain but thankfully the doctor gave me some pain medication so I am surviving it. Hopefully this will be the last obstacle before life returns to some kind of normal now.Emotionally I am doing okay too. I know God has His plans and I am trying to be accepting that He knows what He is doing.We are saving our money to buy a large pool to put in our ya...
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| Sad news |
| 2008-06-18 11:26:00 |
I wish I had some great news for why I have been MIA but I don't.I miscarried the baby on Tuesday morning.I am doing okay. The kids took the news pretty well. They are just sad....
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| It's Really Big |
| 2008-06-13 16:37:00 |
I wanted to come here and spill the beans about what I got my husband for father's day but then I remembered he occasionally pops in here and reads.And I don't want to spoil the surprise for him. So I will give some clues on my blog and hope you all figure it out and he won't.It is really really big. 40 inches big!It comes in many different colors.It would most likely fall into the "boy toy" category.He probably dreams about getting this nightly.So let the guessing commence in the comments. And Billy no reading the comments until after Father's day!...
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| Drowning |
| 2008-06-11 13:23:00 |
I have been busy doing yard work in between the downpours of rain we have been getting. I bought a truckload of cedar/redwood mulch to put in my flower beds. It was delivered and immediately began to pour.Finally three days later the rain stopped and we had a dry day so Billy, my sister, and I all shoveled and hauled the mulch to the flower beds.Then it began to rain. So we stopped about 3/4 of the way done and came inside. Then yesterday we had a nice day again finally so we went outside and I watered the garden for a couple of hours.And...you guessed it...it rained.Now today it is dreary and pouring buckets again. I would show you all the wetness and beautiful mulch we put it but it is WET outside.These are the days when I just want to crawl back into bed and stay there. First the farmer...
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| A Baby Blog |
| 2008-06-10 16:23:00 |
I hate to turn this into a baby blog but it seems like that is all that is on my mind lately. So here is another baby post.I have been having a hard time making this pregnancy feel "real". I am not sure if it is because we were not planning to have another baby or if it is just because I have so many other things going on in life right now.I had hoped hearing the baby's heartbeat would have been a kick in the butt that would help me realize that "I am having a baby!" but that didn't happen.But then last night I dreamt I had the baby and someone took it away from me. I woke up screaming, "It is my baby! Give it back!" At that moment I realized how real this baby is. I WANT this baby. I already love this baby more than I ever think is possible when I am pregna...
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| Baby Update--Week 14. |
| 2008-06-06 19:39:00 |
Had my second doctor's appointment today.It went quickly and was very boring.Well except that we got to hear the heartbeat. The baby's heartbeat was easy to pick up and came in at 167 bpm. A good strong heartbeat. :)This pregnancy has been so different in terms of care at the doctors. With all my other pregnancies I had to pee in a cup EVERY SINGLE time I went for an appointment. This time...nothing.I went in, they weighed me (I gained back 4 of the 10 pounds I have lost), and they listened to the baby's heartbeat. The end.I got more Zofran too so I should be covered for the next week or two until this m/s ends completely which is a really good thing.Next appointment we get to do an ultrasound. I am excited! We won't be finding out the sex of the baby though. I like the surprise....
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| The best gift ever! |
| 2008-06-03 16:49:00 |
We have two birthdays coming up this month. Megan's is on the 17th and Mr. Bill's is on the 21st.I probably don't need to point out that my house has toy overload. Afterall we have 7 kids. Even if each one of them has a toy box full of toys that is more toys than any family needs. So this year I tried hard to find toy "alternatives" for the kids. I tried to find stuff they would actually use instead of more stuff to fill another toybox.I happened to do a search on Amazon for Legos. We have a small box of the regular legos that have been in the attic up until about a year ago. When we get them out all the kids crowd the box and will spend hours and hours playing with them. Unfortunately we never have enough of the right color or size for whatever they are making.So I found a set of almost 1...
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| Challenges |
| 2008-06-02 16:29:00 |
Life has been crazy busy over here as usual. I didn't name this blog "Organized Chaos" for nothing.My husband is working 4 10 hour days so he can be here more and attend the many upcoming doctor's appointments I will have. I love having him home all day on Fridays but it means I spend no time updating my blog over the weekend.Our new 6 year old son has decided that he no longer wants to use the toilet and instead is peeing in his bed or his pants. This is a challenge both because of my morning sickness and it means something is going on with him and it isn't good. We are off to see his therapist on the 11th. I am hoping for some help for him.We got our garden in finally this weekend. We are so slow at that this year. It helps that I am feeling better and better by the day. Hopefully by nex...
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| Big Dreams in a Small Town |
| 2008-05-28 13:12:00 |
When I was in High School I had Dreams">big dreams. I imagined myself one day being a very successful career woman in a loft apartment in a large city. I also imagined I would be married and have 2 kids.So I headed off to college, newly married to my high school sweetheart, with these ideas rolling around in my head. And then during my second year we decided we wanted to have kids quickly. Becca was born during the semester break in 1995. And all of my dreams suddenly took on a new twist. Working and becoming that famous career woman suddenly didn't sound appealing at all. We both decided that daycare was not for us or our kids and I would stay home after college. So we juggled our classes so one of us was always home with Bec...
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| Progress |
| 2008-05-25 19:20:00 |
Today I cleaned my bedroom...raked and weeded the front flower beds...andATE CHOCOLATE!!!!!!That is worth millions of exclamation points! I haven't been able to eat anything even remotely sweet for the last 6 weeks due to my morning sickness. Today I ate chocolate covered raisins and didn't feel like puking immediately after.I think it is safe to say the ms is going away. It will take a few more weeks before it is gone for good and I am still taking Zofran everyday but this is progress people.Woooohoooo!...
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| Summer Fun, Found! |
| 2008-05-23 11:34:00 |
I found something new for us to do for the summer.Unfortunately this isn't the exact model we have but it was the closest picture I could find on the internet. You see I would take a picture of ours but right now it is in hiding in the garage.Why? You are wondering? Well because last night Billy brought it home and took it out for a test drive. His friend (who let us use his truck) also came with him. Billy went around the block (we live in a very small, dirt road kind of town) and then his friend went out and just as he got about a block away the sheriff of the neighboring town (we don't have our own police) happened to drive into town. He got pulled over and got a lecture. Of course this cop only makes a drive through town about once a month. What luck!N...
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| Rise and Shine |
| 2008-05-22 10:01:00 |
It is the first day of summer vacation for our house. I was so excited yesterday. I had visions of beach towels, sunshine, and lazy days playing in the yard with the kids.What I forgot was those same 6 kids who I have to drag out of bed at 6:30 a.m. on a school morning will pop out of bed at 6 a.m. with daisies growing out of their heads and stars in their eyes.Yes, sleeping in is a dream I have. And it won't be coming true anytime soon.I think I have yelled at just about every kid this morning because it seems when one of them is up there is no reason to be quiet, so you know, the other people in the house can sleep in. Duh!...
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| Tomorrow |
| 2008-05-20 17:55:00 |
Tomorrow is the kids LAST DAY OF SCHOOL!Oh, sorry I didn't mean to yell that. I am so excited to go to a much more relaxed schedule and doing fun things with my kids.I love summer time....
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| Summer Activities |
| 2008-05-19 15:18:00 |
Okay so I am doing a little poll for the summer.Tell me what you LOVE to do in the summer. I am looking for new activities to do with my kids for the summer. It can be a paid activity or a free one.We usually hit the lake, go for bike rides, go for walks, have a picnic in the yard, go to the park, and play games like badminton, kickball, tag, etc.So tell me what do you love to do in the summer time?...
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| Hope |
| 2008-05-19 12:13:00 |
The last few days I have begun to feel slightly better. I usually don't throw up at all or if I do it is once in a day. I have started to want to get up and do things, like clean the house, pick up stuff, and move around so I must be getting better.I even was able to spend an hour or so transplanting strawberries on Saturday without any major problems. I still feel nauseous all day but it is not to the point of puking.So life, and my blog, may be returning to normal in just a few more days instead of weeks. I am 12 weeks this week and ms usually ends at 14 weeks so I am crossing everything I have that this goes away by then....
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| Interesting |
| 2008-05-15 17:21:00 |
You all came up with some interesting baby names. Thank you. You definitely gave us something to think about. Thankfully we have a few months to make a decision because we are no closer to choosing one. :)Went back to the doctor today as my medicines aren't working again. So they switched me to a new medicine again. Let's hope this one works. The doctor also said I have hit the "peak" of the hormone trip that makes me throw up my toenails (his description of ms, and very accurate might I add?). So hopefully I should level off and eventually begin to feel better. (Over the next four weeks anyway).Jack threw a fit while we were at Arby's today so I took him out to the car. Where he screamed for the next hour and a half. Then when we got home he went directly to his bed where he continued scr...
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| Give 'Em To Us... |
| 2008-05-13 11:00:00 |
Okay, baby names.We thought we were done naming babies so now we are struggling to come up with something, anything. And yes I know we have almost 9 months (I have a ticker at the bottom of my blog btw) but I like to have names picked out and ready to go.So here are your criteria:1. We won't know the gender so we need a name for a boy and a girl. We are not big on unisex names. I want people to know my kid is a girl or boy based on their name.2. Billy would like it to represent hope and destiny. (The other day he came home and said, "What about Destiny Hope?" I said, "What about it? It is Miley Cyrus' real name?" So no, Destiny Hope is not an option. And we need a male version too. This is NOT a requirement though. If the name doesn't represent hope or destiny it will be okay.3. Our other ...
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| Rock, Paper, Scissors! Upgraded |
| 2008-05-09 13:31:00 |
Yesterday Mr. Bill asked his Dad if he wanted to play rock, paper, scissors with him. We were surprised as we didn't even know he knew of this game.So Billy starts playing and ends with rock. Mr. Bill does his move and ends with...TORNADO??????Which apparently beats all three rock, paper, and scissors.So they play again. This time Billy ends with paper and Mr. Bill ends with...LASER????Clearly the game as I remember it has been upgraded....
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| Done |
| 2008-05-07 17:09:00 |
I went and left PayU2Blog. That is right. There will be no more sponsored posts on this blog.Please don't cry. I know you will miss them. ;)Seriously though, I have struggled for months with the feeling that I had 'sold out'. But then I would get paid and I felt like I could handle being a 'paid' blogger. But in fact I can't. I liked my blog better before it was bringing in money. And I want to get back to that. So as of today you won't see any regular posts about sponsored products.If I post a link it will be because it is a product I believe in and feel like you all should know about. Not because a company is paying me to link to it.Amen. ;)...
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| Working? |
| 2008-05-07 15:32:00 |
This morning Cassie bounded down the stairs and found me laying in bed, again."Did my prayer work Mom?" she asks."What prayer?" I ask."I prayed that you would feel better and not be so sick anymore." she replies."I don't know. It might be awhile before I feel better." I respond."But not too long right?" she asks."A few more weeks." I say."Okay." she says as she bounces off toward the bathroom....
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| Bawling |
| 2008-05-05 13:17:00 |
I have gotten a few emails from some of you sort of asking if congratulations are in order as you couldn't tell from my posting if we are happy about this baby. I guess I never explained.We weren't trying to get pregnant. Quite the opposite actually. Billy had the Big V about a month ago but apparently it was a week or two too late. I was already pregnant although we didn't know it.We were shocked and a bit disappointed when we first found out. I really thought it would turn out to be a false alarm. But no, I am in fact, very pregnant.We are slowly adjusting to the idea and are getting more and more excited and happy about it. We just weren't prepared for this little speedbump in our life. But we are flexible and we will be just fine.I am struggling very much with the ms right now. The med...
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| Should have been a clue |
| 2008-05-01 08:27:00 |
While I was laying on the couch willing myself to not throw up last week I would watch t.v. to try and distract myself.Pretty soon every food commercial became my enemy. I would see fast food commercials which would make my mouth water which would make me puke. I couldn't win.I should have guessed that I was getting dehydrated when I started seeing the commercials for juice, milk, and wine of the month club because they all looked good. Even the wine and I have never drank alcohol in my life. LOLI even wanted to lick the snow as I took Jozey to preschool one day....
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| Hospital Visit |
| 2008-04-30 12:49:00 |
This baby is kicking my butt!I went into the clinic on Monday afternoon and promptly got myself sent to the hospital for dehydration.I got out last night and thankfully seem to be on some medicines that are helping. I haven't thrown up since Monday and I have been able to keep some food and liquids down.We did get to have an ultrasound too while I was there so that was cool. I will try to get the pictures of it posted soon. It is a pretty small baby so there isn't a whole lot to see yet but it was definitely in there.P.S.I have quite a backlog of sponsored posts so bear with me as I get a few done this week. Thanks!...
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| WTF? |
| 2008-04-30 12:43:00 |
I was watching HGTV yesterday and they had a couple on who wanted their bathroom remodeled because it had pink marble all over in it. They had attempted to make it better by painting the walls a deep green color. Which of course they discovered only made it stand out more.So the design team came in and instead of ripping out the marble they decided to cover it all up. They put river rock on the counter top and around the tub. And instead of going up the walls to cover the marble they put some black board glued directly onto the marble.While the bathroom did look good in the end I have to wonder how long that bathroom is going to hold up. Why didn't they just rip out the marble and do the project right? It would have been better than putting in the kitchen faucets and river rock....
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