• First of all, about 8 days after we... ahem... you know... I noticed some really super light spotting. (aka implantation bleeding.) I knew that if we were successful that it would come. It did with my first 2 pregnancies too. I got excited when I saw it... but I was trying SO hard not to get my hopes up! 
• Within 2 days I was peeing all day long which I NEVER have to do. (shame on me for not drinking enough water!) 
• Next I noticed that my pants were just a little bit snug. Not much, but as if I just had a big lunch or something. 
• A few days later I started remembering every single dream I had at night. I NEVER remember my dreams so this was odd... The first several were also very sexual in nature. Never have those kinds of dreams either lol. 
• Then came the mood swings. Josh would notice as soon as one came on. He said, You are SO pregnant! Look at you. Crying then laughing. You're a mess! 
• Suddenly my sense of smell was on overdrive. Ew, Josh, what is that smell?! Ewwww! Get rid of it please! Oh my gosh if that smell doesn't go away I'm leaving! 
• Then the dizziness. I get dizzy all of a sudden for no reason at all. I could be standing there cooking and then suddenly feel my head spinning.
• Along with the dizziness comes the nausea. It's nothing like it was with Brady, but it does come and go. Especially if I don't eat a little something every 3 hours or so.
• Holy tender breasts, Batman! This is new... it was never this bad with the boys. Ouch!
• Food cravings haven't really hit me too hard (not like with Camron anyway)... It changes daily. Mostly craving water, cheese, avocados and onions. Weird. I HATE cheese too... but wow, it's SO yummy right now. So strange how your taste buds change when you're pregnant.

I haven't lived with my ex for almost two years... I don't even have a joint bank account with Josh (who is really good with money by the way!) and yet I still get a sinking feeling every time I check my bank account. I hate it. I'm the only one who spends money on that account. I know exactly how much is in there... So why do I dread checking it? I literally get a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach every time I log onto the bank website... or even think about logging on.

When I was married to my ex-husband our bank account was in the negative more times a month than it was positive. Some times it wouldn't even go into the positive on paydays. It was bad. Unfortunately, for my ex it hasn't changed... I still get e-mails from the bank telling me that the account ending in **** is now in the negative. (I wish he would change the e-mail address on there already!) When we were married I would dread logging on to the account not only because it was in the negative, but because I would then see where the money was going. I didn't have a car.... I very rarely left the house (when he wasn't on deployment)... I hardly ever spent the money unless it was for groceries, our son or bills. I always knew what I was going to see when I logged on. I was going to see charge after charge for ATM withdrawals, cigarettes, alcohol, fast food and gas. I'm talking hundreds of dollars a month on each of these things. Mostly at places on base or just off base at a local bar. It makes me sick just thinking about it right now.

I know my life is completely different now.... I just wish my subconscious mind would keep up.

When you find out that you're going to have your first baby you do like most women do and get prepared.... by reading books, magazines, internet articles. By taking parenting classes. By talking to your mom or your friends who have already had kids....

Then your baby arrives.

Everything you read about, talked about and learned about goes out the window. It becomes a learn as you go type of process. Sure, some of the things you learned about during your pregnancy might apply to you and your baby, but you also learn that your baby might not go by the book.

I know my first baby didn't.

My oldest always seemed to take his time with everything that he did. He arrived 2 weeks after my due date... (he had to be evicted because he was just so warm and snug that he didn't want to come out.) He didn't sit up til he was 8 months old. Started crawling at 10 months. Walked at 14. He didn't start talking well until he was almost 3. He didn't understand the potty training concept until just a few weeks ago... and he's almost 3 and a half.

That's just him... He's like his mama and takes his time with things. I think he wants to be sure that he gets it right before he actually does it.

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When you find out that you're pregnant with baby number two you might think to yourself that this is going to be a piece of cake. (I know I did.) You think to yourself that you've done all this before.... baby #1 was almost like your "practice" baby. Now you're a professional. You've been through it all and now you're totally prepared for another baby.

Then baby number two arrives.

Everything you thought you knew has now gone out the window. Baby number two is nothing like baby number one! Where did this child come from?! He's the complete opposite of his brother!

There must have been some sort of mix up at the hospital.... 


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I quickly learned that, yes it's true... every baby IS different. Even if they're related. I thought I knew everything I needed to know when I got pregnant with Brady. I thought surely another boy of mine wouldn't be that different than his older brother. I was wrong.

I was thinking about all of this earlier today when I was watching my 2 boys fighting playing together in the living room. Where did this 16 month old child come from?! He's screaming, talking, running, fighting, playing, jumping, singing.... He's doing everything that my 3 year old is doing. I don't remember Camron being like this at 16 months old. But I guess that's just it. Brady has an older brother. Camron just had me. Makes me wonder what Brady would be like if he were an only child.

From the time he was born Brady seemed like he couldn't wait to do things! Rolling over at a few weeks old. Sitting up at 4-5 months. Crawling at 6 months and walking by 9 months. He's been playing side by side with his brother ever since. Was he just trying to keep up with his brother... or is that just him? I'll never know.

What I do know is that this has been a huge test of my patience learning experience for me. I love learning about their personalities, seeing them grow and learn new ideas and concepts. They constantly amaze me when they learn new things.

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Now baby number three is in the works. :) We're in the "talking about it"/"considering the possibilities" phase of it right now. We haven't officially told anyone yet, but I think a few people are suspecting. Well, if anyone in our families is reading this... consider yourself in-the-know... but no talking about it! (:::cough::cough:::Annie!:cough:::) When it happens it happens.... :)

I'm sure that baby number 3 will be no different than my first two... (Read: I will have no idea what I'm doing when the baby arrives.)

I'm excited, nervous, happy and scared all at the same time about the possibility of a new baby... a new baby with the man of my dreams. One thing will be for sure. This experience will be completely different than the previous two. I can't wait to share about this new chapter coming up in our lives.

This is going to get interesting....

The older I get the more I realize how important family is... So when Josh came home and told me that his mom was giving us 8 tickets to 2 Padres game for a Thursday and Friday night game we knew just who we wanted to bring! My Grandma and Grandpa Looney! (yes, Looney is their real last name.) Grandpa is a HUGE Padres fan. Ever since I can remember he'd be listening to the game on his little radio while sitting outside in their backyard.

*And just as a side note... Josh's parents didn't go because his dad can't sit that long through a game and I don't think his mom cares for baseball.. at all. ;) *


We decided to bring my grandparents to Thursday's night game. It was so much fun! I'm glad we were able to take them with us. We had pretty awesome seats and there was hardly anyone seated around us. My grandpa bought us hot dogs, hot chocolate and some peanuts to share. Only thing I would have changed was the weather! It was FREEZING that night!













On Friday night's game we took my friend Teresa and her husband Robert. Soooo thankful we didn't take my grandparents that night. We had some loud, drunk, obnoxious guys sitting behind us. They left before the 7th inning though because they stopped serving alcohol. It was still fun though!


I'm not by any means a baseball fan, but I think I actually like going to the games. Watching baseball in person is a lot different than on TV.

I've been thinking about making some Lasagna for awhile now. There were a couple things stopping me from making it:

So yesterday afternoon I search the net for an easier lasagna recipe that I could try out. The one I found and used came from Tammy's Recipes ... I just changed around some of the ingredients because I like to make my own sauce. I also did my own sauce because I read in one of the comments that the noodles soaked up all the liquid... and I didn't want it to be dry. If you want to see the original recipe click the link above. ;)

For the past several weeks I've been keeping busy with researching my family tree. I think I'm starting to drive Josh a little crazy with it. I've done some research in the past (around 2003 maybe?) and I didn't find much further than my great great grandparents. I had always been told that my family hasn't been in America for very long so I figured that I wouldn't be able to find much... I was told that my dad's side was Irish/French Canadian/Native American (no one knew about the Indian side..). I was told that my mom's side was Italian. What I found out was that there's so much more to the story!


I think what sparked my interest was that new show that comes on NBC called "Who Do You Think You Are?" I was watching the episode with Sarah Jessica Parker... where her ancestor was part of the Salem Witch Trials. Little did I know that I probably should have been paying closer attention. (More about that later.)


I started asking Josh about his family and where they came from. He had no idea. He barely knows  anyone beyond his own immediate family. His family members keep adding me as a friend on Facebook. When I ask him who they are he'll say, "I don't know... a cousin or something..." So I decided to ask his mom.


I figured his mom would be my best chance to learn more... She helped me out by giving me a few pedigree charts from their family history folder. That was MORE THAN enough to get me started! 


As soon as I got them home I filled in my Personal Ancestral File with the info from the charts she gave me. Then I went on Ancestry.com to see what I could find. (Birth records, death records, marriage records, etc, etc, etc.) I found a gold mine of information!! Not only on his side of the family, but on mine as well. The more I found the more into it I got. 


I signed up for the 14 day free trial and planned to cancel it, but I'm STILL finding out stuff so I think I'll pay for a month or two.


So back to the Salem Witch Trials... In that episode with Sarah Jessica Parker she learned about her 13th great grandmother Esther Ellwell. Turns out that her great grandmother and MY great grandmother (9th), Rebecca Dike (maiden name Dolliver) not only knew each other, but were both (along with Abigail Rowe) accused of using witchcraft against a woman named Mary Fitch. How crazy is that? I was watching that episode and learning about my (9th) great grandmother without even knowing it. :)


There's so much more I've been learning about our family that I never knew before. No one told me that we were some of the first settlers in America... Josh's family too... I also had no idea that I had so much French blood in me... Or that my 3rd great grandmother was full blooded Argentine and was adopted by an Irish family.


I could go on and on... but I'll save some for another post. I'll end with 2 pictures. One is a picture I found of Josh's great-great grandfather, Frands Peter Hansen Petersen. The other is a recent picture of Josh. Don't these 2 look very similar?

I've been meaning to post some of the yummy recipes I've been trying out lately. I think I've only actually posted one in this blog... and that was several months ago. When I get around to it I'll also post the chicken enchilada recipe I tried last week.

So here's what we tried last night. :)

Single Skillet Chicken and Shells

I found this recipe on whatsfordinner.net and I modified it just a little. It was super easy to throw together and you can make this as spicy or as mild as you'd like. Took about 20-30 minutes to prepare and it served 4.







1 pound cooked chicken (I used 2 large boneless, skinless chicken breast that I cooked and chopped up in a frying pan)
1 can tomatoes, diced
1 package pasta shells
2 cups water
1-2 stalks cilantro, chopped
1/4 teaspoon dill weed (I didn't have any so I left it out)
1/4 cup salsa


* I also added a small can of rotel diced tomatoes and green chilies, drained. It added a bit more flavor and spicyness to the meal.

1. Combine all ingredients in a skillet. Cook over medium heat until pasta is tender and most of the water has been absorbed (about 15 minutes). Stir occasionally.
2. Serve. 

Wasn't that easy?


image via whatsfordinner.net

The boys are sleeping and so is Josh. I should be sleeping too, but it's only 9:30 and I'm not tired enough to sleep. Too much on my mind tonight. I still have so much to get done and only 3 weeks to do it in.

Today Josh decided that he wanted to move into our new house tonight. It was the only day that his buddy Ash could help him with all the big stuff. So he's exhausted from moving all evening. ...I can hear him snoring now...

I'm sitting on our couch in the middle of our new living room. I'm surrounded by boxes that I'm dying to unpack... I'm holding off on that because I don't want to wake anyone up. We don't have cable yet (or even the DVD player hooked up).  I don't know where anything is at yet... and we still have a lot sitting at our old apartment. So I'm bored with nothing else to do.

I've decided that I hate moving. I guess not so much the packing or the unpacking... more like all the little junk that gets left behind at the old place and it never seems to end. That and the cleaning of the old place. I already know they're going to charge a ridiculous amount of money to clean it. When they were going over the checklist of what we could get changed with, it sounded like their minds we already made up...

Automatic $120 if the cleaning crew has to come in to clean one spot off the wall.
$175 if the place needs to be cleaned all over.
$50 if they have to touch up paint at all. (Unfortunately for us I know they're going to have to... our baby gate took a chunk of paint right off. That's what happens when you put 50 coats of paint on one wall...)
$200 if they have to paint the whole apartment.

$50 if the carpets need to be cleaned.

...and the list goes on...

I'll be headed over to the apartment almost every night after the kids go to bed. I don't wanna, but I'd rather keep our charges at a minimum.

Anyway, enough about me. I think I'll go catch up on my blog reading. :) Something I haven't been able to do for awhile. I'll update this with pictures of the new place soon!

A few weeks ago Josh went on a trip to Saint Louis, MO. He was there for a job interview... and unfortunately he didn't get the job.

No biggie...

We've decided that with the economy the way that it is and with the HVAC industry being in it's slow time of year we're going to be putting our St. Louis plans on hold. Just for the time being. This Summer when business starts picking back up we'll try again.

So for now we'll be staying in San Diego. I'm not really complaining though. Beach, mountains, desert, nice weather, sea world, zoo... Could be worse. ;)

We are moving though.... down the street and around the corner into a house with a garage, washer/dryer hookups and a yard. The bedrooms are a bit smaller than where we're at, but we'll have a yard to play in to make up for it! Moving day is next weekend, the 27th!

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In other news, my ex-husband returned from Japan sometime this month. I got a text from him the other day and we talked briefly on the phone... Apparently he and New Wife aren't hitting it off so well and they're getting a divorce. (Can I just shout out a BIG, "I TOLD YOU SO!"???) Does everyone else see the pattern now? Get them pregnant, marry them and leave them before the baby is even a year old. (For the record, our marriage was actually planned, babies were planned... and some how I managed to last 6+ years before I got cut. Wife #1 and #3, not so lucky.)

Now I'm just feeling really sorry for the guy. It's sort of hard to explain. I guess I'm feeling sorry because he just seems so lost. He's 28 years old, married 3 times and has 4 boys that he'll probably never get to know.

I wrote this in a letter to him just over a year ago... (December 2008)

"I really hope you've thought long and hard about all of this before you decided to give up your chance at being a family with us. It would be incredibly sad if you decided a month or 6 months or a year from now that you've made a huge mistake... because by then the damage will have been done and the 3 of us will have moved on with our lives without you."

Wow.

I have a little one sitting on my lap so I'm gonna have to keep this short.

About an hour ago I dropped Josh off at the airport... He's on his way to Saint Louis for a job interview!!! About a week and a half ago I sent a cover letter and Josh's resume to a company that is hiring for a maintenance tech in this historic high rise apartment building. (Really ritzy and nice looking.) They wanted someone with lots of HVAC experience... (someone like Josh who has worked in the HVAC business for the past 5+ years.) They called Josh the next business day and asked him when he could come interview. Once the guy on the phone mentioned the pay Josh tried to be polite about it by saying that he wasn't going to be out there for another month or two. A day or two later Josh gets an e-mail from the General Manager asking why he can't come interview now. Josh wrote back saying that he just couldn't take that kind of pay cut... and he was sorry for the misunderstanding. It was $5 - $7 an hour less than what he makes now. She wrote back and offered him $5.50 more than they originally did... and asked him if that would get him to come out to St. Louis to interview with them. So we decided to go for it.

He interviews tomorrow morning. I'm so nervous and excited for him! It's not exactly what his dream job is, but it's a start. They're offering him decent pay and all the benefits that he has at his current job. And let me tell you, this place is NICE. It's not just some run down apartment building... It's like top of the line everything.. Clothing store, restaurant and even a doggy salon in this building. (And the best part, you can order room service from the restaurant!) I told him if he gets hired we should see if we could get a discount on this place. I was only half joking though... I know he wouldn't want to live where he works. ;)

If things don't go well at this interview I wrote down a bunch of Heating and Cooling companies that don't have websites so he can drive around and look for work that way.

If absolutely nothing goes well and he comes home with no job from this, well, at least we can say that we tried. Business is pretty slow in the HVAC industry right now. This economy isn't helping at all. I'm just thankful that he does have a job here and he's not in any danger of being laid off. If we have to stay here a little longer than planned it's not a big deal.... We'll just be stuck in a 2 bedroom apartment until further notice.

Kids are getting cranky... Gotta run! Wish us luck!