So Much Going On...Busy Next Few Weeks!

Well a lot has happened in the past few weeks since I have wrote. There are changes being made at work...yay! More stuff to do in the same amount of time!! I have great news on the four day work week as I am going to start having Fridays off after this week! I am so excited to be moving on to a four day work week. I can't wait to get to spend that extra day with Andrew, the move has been hard on him as he was used to be having a four day week when I lived in Indiana and he has had to go without that since I have moved here.

The baby is doing well, she is getting big and she remains so active. She actually causes pain at time and most of the time I am uncomfortable now. The main thing that I have learned is that I need to continuously eat and have food around me and I feel better, except the fact that I am balooning to some huge proportions. And with that in mind I have developed a small workout routine that I am going to make myself do every afternoon when I get home from work or in the mornings when I wake up super early! I am going to be doing three sets of 10 repetitions of a few butt and thigh toning moved and some basic stuff for my arms which are more fat than I think that they have ever been. I even made myself a work out spreadsheet to remind myself to do them. I am still not worrying about what I eat as I usually just eat what I am craving and figure that the baby wants those foods for a reason and so therefore I give them to her!

I go to my 32 week appointment next week!! Then I have my 34 week appointment at which they will do another sonogram and then they will take the stiches out of my cervix...I am a bit worried about this and how painful it might be!! Then just a few short weeks after this Miss Delilah will finally grace us with her presense. There is so much that I want to have done before she gets here!! I am hoping to use my Fridays off work to get some of the housework done during Andrew's play times and then to work on things that he is not doing other times. Anyways I can't believe that in just 5 weeks she could be here and be healthy...I need to carry her until at least week 36 as that is when she can be born healthy but I am hoping to have her at 36 or 37 weeks! So just a few more weeks and I am done, thank God!! I love knowing that she is growing and that my body is nourishing her health but I also would like to feel good and not so crappy anymore!

Andrew's first t-ball game is tonight! I can't wait to watch him as I think that those types of things are so darn cute!

The next few weeks are going to be busy ones....this weekend we are going camping in Kansas with Andrew, the following week is my baby shower here in IL. We are excpecting some family in from out of town as well. Then the following week, we are going to Wakarusa Music Festival for one or two days (depends on how the camping goes this weekend). Andrew starts summer camp the first week in June! Then he is at his dad's for a week, while at his dad's Shane and I and my parents are going to see Phil Lesh and Friends in Chicago! Hmm...let's see then there is the Universal Rhythm Assembly coming up at the end of June in Peoria on the riverfront. Not much else for the month of June except hopefully having this baby! LOL!

Mommy Things!

It's the day before Mother's Day! Things here are going well! I am just getting ready to run and pick up two hanging baskets (one for my grandma and one for my aunt) for mom's day! Depending on prices and what they have, I might also be picking up one for myself! I wouldn't mind seeing a few flowers on my front porch, it would make our house a bit homey. For my mom, well she is getting a digital photo keychain...yep something that I want that is not too expensive that I have yet to purchase for myself.

I've been doing the house cleaning thing as the family is coming over for dinner tomorrow night! We are doing a whole Mexican thing. I got all of the dusting done and still need to finish up the kitchen this evening as well as finish sweeping floors! I want to wait on the bathrooms until tomorrow morning so that they smell super clean! I am kind of a bathroom freak!

Anyways what types of mom day plans do my readers have? Anything interesting planned! Not much going on here. We are just going to be getting up and relaxing, possibly going out to a late breakfast if Andrew is cool with that. I know that it sounds odd to say it that way but it is always easier to do breakfast when you know that the kid is going to behave. I guess I will probably try bribing him as he wanted a laser toy that was in some stupid quarter machine at this one little place here in Canton and I guess that I will probably tell him if he goes and sits nicely through breakfast that we will get that laser toy! That should make it where we can go and get some good eats and he will be cooperative!

Money Issues!!

Well things are finally getting better in the money department for me! I have been freaked out as I have had bills bills and more bills and seemingly they keep getting bigger! I just got approved for a new credit card, and it is a high enough balance to pay off the other two credit cards that I have with a balance transfer!! Yay!! I am going to be able to pay them off with 0% interest until June of 2009! That's perfect for me to get on the road to financial freedom! I am cutting up my other cards today! It is liberating to cut up credit cards and to know that I am going to be benefiting my family by learning how to get out of debt and stay out of debt! I am going to be cut down to one monthly payment too instead of two which will be super nice!! I am hoping though that I will be able to get it all paid off by the time that I am done! Shane should be proud as I will be done soon with being in debt! I am working really hard to get myself in a better spot financially so that I can go back to school! I need to make more money so that things are not so tight and stressful around here and to do so, well I am going to have to work at it!

Work Fun!!

Yay! I am now in the happy confines of the office....not really wanting to get on the ball this morning but I need as much billable time as possible so I must be snappin' to it!! I am hoping to have a full calendar and get my full amount of productivity by the 1/2 way point this month so that I can apply for the raise that I would be entitled. Basically after you have worked in the industry for 2 years you are entitled to get a $3000/yr raise...it would be nice to have that kick in by June 1st so that my maternity leave would be paid at that rate. Who knows if it wil lhappen though? I am going to start working on it with my boss this week. I have a ton of paperwork to sort through on my desk and oodles of stuff to go over this week so things should be smooth sailing from here. Yay!! LOL! Not really that great but I am ready to get on the go and find out what the future holds for me as I feel that I am stuck in this deadend job at the moment. Do other people feel confused, frustrated and stuck??

Introduction

Hello all! I guess to get started I should write a bit about myself, who I am and what I hope to accomplish by blogging and putting myself out there for others to read!

My name is Amanda. I am a 25 year old mom of a wonderful little boy who is the light of my life! He is truly amazing and daily he never ceases to amaze me with something new he has learned or something sweet that he does. I can't believe that my baby will be 5 this summer, it seems like only yesturday I was cuddling him and holding him close to me!

Baby #2 is on the way...so far she has been healthy even though my body does not love pregnancy and it seems to hurt all the time from being preggo! I just want to feel good again. Lately I have been battling insomnia something awful and added to the horrilbe heartburn that I get when I am pregnant, well I am in for a boatload of fun these last few weeks. I am currently 28 weeks 6 days preggo! I can't believe that she could be here in as short as 7 weeks and 1 day and be completely healthy. I still feel like so much needs to get done before she gets here and I feel like it is so hard to get it all done in time.

I work in the social work field, I am a recovery specialist at a mental health facility. I don't love my job, the beaurocracy actually kind of sickens me. Plus the fact that I am living on next to nothing wages doesn't really help me out much either. I feel underpaid and undercompensated for what I do, also I am salary so I do not get overtime. In the past I have worked in mental health at a hospital where I got overtime so I am used to being able to make a lot more money than I make where I am currently at.

I am actually looking into going back to school because if something were to happen to my man (God forbid, please don't take him!) I would not be able to care for the two kids or take care of them as needed. Yep, I would be lost and I would not be able to even keep them in the same lifestyle that they would be accustomed to. So back to school for me. I've looked into get my MA and going back to school to be a high school English teacher, both of which would cost me about $30,000-40,000 in continueing education costs and would only yeild me a $10,000/yr raise....this just isn't going to be good enough for me and when I go back to school I am not going to be able to do much else. I am going to have to get it right this time as I can't keep going back to school like I could have in a different life, I need to get it right this time. Anyways the conclusion is that I am going to go into a medical technical field. I am looking into programs now for Radiology Technician (xrays, anyone?), Surgery Technician, and Sonographer (songrams...). I am checking to see which one has the shortest time of going to school and which one will be the best option for me. I am hoping to return to school in January of 2009 full time and to either cut back to part time at my current position if I were to be allowed or to find a part time job where I will enjoy what I do and make decent wages (probably a coffee shop and if I have to resort, Starbucks).

So I have a ton of things to plan and do this summer. We are getting a pool pass for the family. It should be nice to be able to take Andrew to the pool. I am sure that he will enjoy it and it will give us a nice way to let off some of his energy! Right now he hates the daycare that he is at...I guess in part because his daycare before our last move was wonderful and he had so many little friends and here he hasn't had the same luck in finding friends and he has had a hard time after having moved and then being put in a daycare that is so different from what we had before. It is not that there were a lot of options as things in the small town that we moved to were limited. But they do have a nice summer camp program at the Y and he will be able to join in that fun starting at the begining of June. I am hopeful that he will enjoy it more. Plus I will be home hopefully just a few weeks after that on leave.

I am living with and dating the world's most amazing man. And let me tell you, after a series of failed and horrible relationships, well it is about time that luck in love should come my way. Shane is truly an amazing person, he is sweet, caring, considerate and yep he is still a man! LOL!

I figure a blog will give me an outlet, a place to vent when things at my social work job get to to be too much. A place for me to be able to talk about my children and to express how thankful and blessed I feel each day to have them be a part of my life and an outlet for the extra stress of going back to school. I want a place where I can be me, write annonymously and be able to feel like something is gotten out of it. I plan on writing about all aspects and details of my life and using this as my personal salvation and personal post into my soul. I do sometimes write poetry or short stories and stuff and I feel that this is a place where I will be able to share them as well.

To be honest I just need a space that is me about me and that allows me to talk about the things that I love and dislike in life. I hope you enjoy!!