Decisions, Decisions

I have finally come to terms with the fact that we won't be having any more babies. Don't get me wrong - I love my kids, and am not wishing my time away, but I always thought I would have 3 or 4 kids. However, a string of bad decisions and bad luck financially has meant we can't really afford to have more - or at least, by the time we can, we will be ready for the next stage of vacationing with our kids, and enjoying raising them instead of having them. I am not totally at peace with the decision - as in, we will not do anything permanent about it for a few more years, but we are selling all the baby stuff we are done with (I justify it with the fact that I can always repurchase the items if we do have another one down the road). Another decision we have come to, is to convert our dining room back into a bedroom, giving each kid their own room. This will buy some more time in the house before we need a new one, and may help us sell it if this area continues to attract more student rentals. We hope to begin renovations this summer and be done by the fall. Expect to see before and after pictures. I must admit, it does feel good to have made those decisions, because it means we have a plan for moving forward - and we can start selling the baby stuff and other furniture we won't be using in this house (and would be okay not having in the next house - or don't want to store until that unknown time). I am excited to purge, clean out the basement, reclaim that space, and organize it! And by converting the dining room, we will need to redecorate the living room (which will then become the living/dining room), and I am excited about that. I have the whole thing planned out in my head - now we just need to save for it because I refuse to put it on credit. No more buying things we can't pay cash for.

Anyone out there...?

2013 so far has not been very kind to us. While nothing really, really bad has happened, it has been a frustrating few weeks. In an effort to make it a better year, or to make the most of frustrating situations, I am going to do 2 things: 1. I am going to appreciate what I do have, even in the frustrating times. Every day. I will appreciate my health, my husband, my kids, my family, the fact that I have a job and a home. The fact that everyone I love is healthy. 2. Going to make some New Year's Resolutions. Since January 17th is typically the day that people give up on their resolutions - "resolution ditch day", I thought it would be a good time to start my resolutions. So, here they are. Resolutions: 1. This will be the year I get healthy. Not just about losing weight, but getting healthier in general. 2. This is the year we will make a major plan to tackle debt and start being able to do the things we keep putting off (this will be a hard one, since we will have 2 kids in daycare for a while). 3. Stop procrastinating. There are so many things we talk about doing to the house, and 5 years in, we haven't done hardly any of them. 4. Start making our house feel like our own - on a budget (DIY) and blog about it.\ 5. De-clutter, sell stuff, etc. We don't use about 60% of the stuff we have in the house. So why have it? We have a very small house, and can't afford the real estate to be wasted on junk. 6. Be more organized - this includes organizing the house, as well as our life - from menu plans and shopping lists, to laundry and clutter. 7. Spend more time appreciating what I have, and spend quality time with my kids and husband - this includes more date nights with husband. So there you have it, my list of goals. What are yours? Is anybody out there (I feel like I am the host on a late night radio show asking listeners to call in and tell me what they are doing, lol)...?

Somehow this never got posted...

Little C has arrived, making Sweet P a big sister! Little C arrived on Wednesday, May 23rd - just 4 days before Sweet P's 3rd birthday! She is so in love with her little brother! The hardest part, so far, has been my recovery from the c-section. I feel much better this time than I did with my first c-section, but finding the restrictions so much more difficult this time around. Not being able to lift Sweet P (she is counting down the weeks until I can pick her up again), and not being able to drive have been the hardest. I feel pretty good physically, so I keep coming up with all these things I want to do, but I can't do them yet because of the restrictions - and I am still healing. This time, I am determined to not waste any of my year off sitting in front of the TV - except during Little C's 24/7 nursing sessions! LOL. There is so much I want to do this time around! Anyway, I hope you will enjoy following along on my journey into motherhood the second time around. Some of my posts will be about th.e things we have done/are going to do, some of them will be random thoughts etc.

Ikea and Pediatrician

We had big plans today: go to Ikea for breakfast, buy some shelves, come home and rearrange the office are. Then go to Little C's pediatrician appointment. Well, we went to Ikea, and got home with just enough time to eat lunch and get to the pediatrician. We were referred to the pediatrician because Little C's pectus excavatum (sunken chest). That's about as far as we got. It turns out that hubby (and his mom, and her father) have Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, and that it looks like Little C does too. We have to go back in April for a follow up. We will also be going for X-Rasy and an EKG (to make sure there are no issues with the lungs and heart as a result of the pectus exccavatum). We will also see a plastic surgeon to determine whether or not any bracing is needed before surgery. Yep, surgery. It looks like Little C will need surgery in about 4-5 years to have it corrected. Depending on the X-Rays, he could need it sooner (if the lungs and/or heart are affected). So not the news we were hoping to hear. However, it could have been worse. This doesn't affect life span or intelligence. Unless it is compressing his lungs, it is mostly a cosmetic issue and is easily corrected (though the idea of my little boy having surgery does not seem easy). Sigh. He is healthy and happy. It could be so much worse. We don't know yet how else the syndrome will manifest itself. It could result in pain, delayed motor skill development, clumsiness requiring assistance at school etc. Or there could be no other issues and this is it. But because he is only 7 months old, there is no way to predict how else it might affect him. However, other than the sunken chest, there are no other issues or 'red flags' - in fact we wouldn't know about this syndrome if we hadn't raised concerns about the sunken chest at his well visits with our family doctor. So, I am going to assume that all is good. SO far he shows no signs of gross motor skill delay, or muscle weakness/poor muscle tone, or any other symptoms. Hubby and his mom (and her Dad) all have mild cases, with only some of the symptoms). There are different types, so we will also be seeing a genetic counsellor to determine which type, and therefore what kind of treatment/surgery he will need in the future. Sigh. Thanks for listening, internet peeps!

I'm Back.....

After almost 2 weeks of no computer (our motherboard died, then we couldn't decide what to buy, and then when we did buy, we had to wait for Geek Squad to set it up and transfer our 150GB of data from our old computer to this one). Anyway, now that I have a computer again, I plan to get back on the blogging train. So time has been flying I can't believe Little C is nearly 8 months old! Not much has changed around here. We are running out of space in our tiny house, so we will be spending the next year or so updating and fixing up the house and getting ready to sell it. Get ready to see lots of before and after pics as well as DIY stuff, since we will be doing it all ourselves and with a very limited budget. Hope you will find some inspiration in our projects. My main source of inspiration is the blog younghouselove.com. I am addicted to this site after receiving the book for Christmas.

wow, talk about disappearing!

I didn't realize it had benn more than four months since my last post! Where does time go?!? Lots has happened since my last post. I have started a side-job as an independent consultant with Epicure Selections and it has changed my life! I am loving it and doing fairly well with it! It has slowed down a bit now since the holidays, but hopefully it will pick up again soon. Hubby also started a new job and it has been so good for him! He left a job where he was bullied and stressed to a job that treats him so well. About the same money and hours, but much better work-life balance, and it has been awesome! Little C is now over 7 months old. Laughing, babbling, sitting up! He is now eating solids, and loving it. Sweet P is sweet as ever - a great big sister! We are also making changes at home. We plan to buy a bigger house in the next 2-3 years, so we are using the time now to purge, declutter, and renovate/fix/update the house so it will be ready to put on the market when we find our dream house (ideally a house that we can update and put our own stamp on). So watch for home improvement posts and before & after photos! I promise not to be gone for another four months. Now that i have wireless, I can update from anywhere in thehouse. However, ourcomputer bit the dust a few days ago, so until i make a decision between a desktop and a laptop, all i have is a tablet to blog on. It has not been a good month for electronics in this house.