HONDA interview!

Went great! It's for the Service Cashier/Receptionist position. I'm supposed to be getting a call from the HR lady about doing the background check and drug screen, and once all that comes back they will make a formal offer. I got a really good vibe off the Service Manager Chris, who interviewed me. He said he had never met a girl who was so interested and knowledgeable about Hondas! He even said he didn't think he would need to interview anyone else! My schedule will be either 7am-3pm, or 11am-7pm, and I would have to either work Saturday mornings or afternoons, or work out a rotating Saturday 8-5 shift with the other girl. I'm really excited though, this will not only be a big financial help to our family, but also a great opportunity to get my foot in the door at HONDA! I'm so excited, this is a place I've dreamed of working, and if I had to choose a long-time career, I would want to be with this company.

Also, our great friend Brandi will be able to watch Gracie for us whenever Sherrie isn't able to, so that takes care of the main concern we had about me working full-time! We're so grateful to her and her family for that.

I'll let you know what I hear from the HR lady! Pray for me! =)

Interview tomorrow... at Bankston HONDA!!!

I'm so excited! It's for a Receptionist/Cashier position in the Service Department. The shifts available are 7am-3pm or 11am-7pm. Don't know yet which one I will go for, but just to get into a Honda dealership is what I've wanted for years! My interview is at 11am, I can't wait!

Green Beans it is!

I couldn't wait to start Gracie on veggies (we were going to start on May 1st), so we went ahead and gave her green beans tonight (Mommy's favorite). She did NOT know what to make of them, haha. She made some really funny faces, but ate about half the whole container. We'll try again tomorrow night, and continue with green beans for 3 more days, then we'll do squash on Saturday for five days before we try peas. Thanks for voting on the poll!

Mom's SURPRISE birthday party!

So about a month ago, I went to lunch at this place called Scotty P's with my Dad, and realized how much it was like Johnnie's, my mother's favorite hamburger place in Oklahoma. So then I thought it would be a great idea to take her there to eat for her birthday. I got online to see if they had any closer locations (they didn't), and saw they had party rooms available. So that got me thinking... and long story short, I invited a bunch of Mom's friends and we totally surprised her on her birthday! At first I told her that I just wanted to take her to lunch at a place I found, but didn't tell her where. Then she said she had to work that day, so to convince her that she needed to be off that afternoon (seeing as how it was a week away at that point and everyone was coming) I told her where I was taking her. Then the day before she didn't understand why we had to wait until 3 to go eat when she got off at noon (I could only get the party room from 3-5) so I panicked and told her Mrs. Debbie was going to meet us there and that was the only time she could meet. So walking into Scotty P's she thought we were just meeting Mrs. Debbie and Nicki to eat lunch on her birthday... and she comes around the corner and bunch of her friends were there with cameras and said, "Surprise!" It was so cool. =) My 16th birthday was a surprise party and to this day I consider that my very best birthday so far, so I wanted to do that for Mom. We all had a great time, loved the food, took lots of pictures, and enjoyed the Pink Lady cake I made. Here are a few pics!

Wow

We just did our budget. How in the world have we been living?! Forget the 6 hours-per-week teaching job. Unfortunately, I'm going to have to work more hours just to get ahead. *sigh* Oh well, it would have been fun teaching those little kids. I'm really disappointed that I'm going to have to turn it down, but if I start and then leave when I find something better, that will be taking advantage of the company, and hard on the kids. They apparently get attached to their teachers and don't take to turnover very well.

Anyone know of a good nights and weekends job that pays at least $10-$12 per hour for at least 30 hours a week? I'm open to just about anything, but it has to be nights and weekends. And I can't lift more than 40 pounds at a time. Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

She's just so cute...

Here she is playing with the pouring water in her bath last night. It's so amazing how fascinated she is at all the little things we take for granted... =)

Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover!

We have been struggling financially, and a lot of my old debt has started to catch up with me. Sherrie let me read Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover book, and we are hooked! We are still on Baby Step #1, setting up our $1000 emergency fund, but we will have our budget ready by May 1st and will be ready to start Baby Step #2 (the Debt Snowball) as soon as we have the fund complete!

I am really excited about this. So far I am the only one who has read the book, but David will read it next and we can be debt-free in only a few years! This will be a great gift to not only ourselves, but to Gracie as well. She will grow up in a debt-free home and will learn from a young age how to manage her finances so that she will not run into debt problems at all! I just can't wait to really get going on this. It will be a very difficult journey, that is for sure. We will drive a cheap little used car for awhile, buy only basic necessities for ourselves and Gracie, and give up a lot of the luxuries we are used to having every day. It will all pay off in the end, though, when we have retirement all set up and invested, Gracie's college fully funded, our emergency fund will have four-six months of expenses in it, and we can buy everything in cash! Including a house! I will post regular updates of our TMMO journey.

If you are interested in this Total Money Makeover for yourself or your family, tune into the Dave Ramsey Show daily to get a feel for his program. In the DFW area, his radio show is on 570AM (KLIF) from 1pm-4pm (you can listen to it live on your computer: http://www.daveramsey.com/tdrs/# ), and his TV show is on at 7pm and 11pm on Fox Business Network. Visit http://www.daveramsey.com/, enroll in his 13-week Financial Peace University at a local church, buy his books (I found them at Half Price Books!), ... just get going! ANYONE can do it!

Sara's new job!

Well, I have been looking for a job lately. I finally landed a position as a preschool computer teacher! The company, Floppy's Mouse Club, goes into various daycares and teaches children ages 2-5 basic computer skills to make sure they meet the TEA's Technology Knowledge requirements for kids entering kindergarten. It is a neat program, and the curriculum is planned out very carefully to ensure maximum learning capability for each child. I observed a class immediately after my interview today, and was blown away by three-year-olds who could open and close programs, name parts of the computer, and use the mouse and keyboard with confidence. It was amazing! I always said that if I were to be a teacher, I would love to teach computer skills, because I have a lot of patience with it. I will start out slowly, with only two daycares, one on Mondays, the other on Wednesdays, for two-three hours at a time. The company pays for me to be CPR and First Aid certified, and for 15 hours of continuing education as required by the state. I start training at a daycare on Monday, and I'm very excited!

Sara joined a church!

I haven't regularly attended church since I was 18. Back then I was a member at Vista Ridge Church of Christ, and after our Senior Sunday, I never went back. I can't really describe why, I just didn't "feel" anything there anymore. I went to Memorial Road C of C in Oklahoma City the first Sunday in college, but I never went back there, either. Dad and Angela moved to Richardson East C of C, and I visited there a few times, but it was too far away. I attended First Baptist of Colleyville wtih my good friend Matt a couple years ago, and liked it, but his pastor was leaving so he was looking for another church. We attended Fellowship Chuch in Grapevine a few times, but it was such a mega-church that I never could feel like I belonged there. I knew I wanted to start attending again after Gracie was born, not only for her, but for myself as well. I just couldn't find a church that I could call home. Finally, our good friends Mark and Brandi Koon told us about Northview Baptist Church. We attended their huge Easter service at Lewisville High School, and I was blown away. I loved the music, the message, and God really seemed to speak to me there. We went a couple weeks later when Mark was baptized at their regular building, and I was again just floored by the experience. I went by myself the next weekend, and that service just sealed the deal for me. So today, I brought Gracie with me, and after Pastor Wells' sermon we went to the front (accompanied by Brandi), and joined the church! It was amazing to feel so welcomed by everyone, and I am very excited to be able to raise Gracie in a church she can call home.

This is a huge step for me, as an adult, as a mother, as a child of God, and I already feel Him working in my life. A month ago, I hadn't opened my Bible in over two years... I didn't even know where it was! I found it last week, and I've since been "catching up". Prayer is a daily, humbling experience for me, as is a little bit of Bible study. I want to be as involved as I can, volunteering for VBS this summer and I'll start attending Sunday nights and a home team during the week. I feel so much happier with my life right now, and God will give me the confidence I need to stay focused on our goals, and be the best wife and mother I can be.

I know a lot of people have prayed for me to "come back" to God in the last five years, and I really appreciate it. Thank you!

4 months old!

I can't believe 4 months have already gone by! Gracie is such a big girl, measuring 15 lbs and 8 oz, and 25 incehs high at ther doctor appointment today! She is not overweight by any means, though, Dr. Len said her extra height is balancing out her weight and she will just be a tall girl! We are feeding her rice cereal every morning and evening, just a tablespoon or so at a time, and she is really getting it down. We will start vegetables in two weeks, and try each veggie for five days before introducing another. Then we will start on fruits, and do the same thing. When she is 6 months old, we will be able to start her on Gerber 2nd foods, which are combinations of two or more foods. It will be exciting!Teething sucks, though. Ugh. She cries so hard every few hours, sometimes with such intensity that we aren't able to calm her down. The only thing we can do is hold her and let her know we're there until she finally starts hiccupping and passes out. It's so sad not being able to help her, but it will be over one day, so that's what we look forward to. She is pretty much sleeping through the night, but still not in her crib. Once she started really teething she started having a really hard time going to sleep, and wouldn't stay asleep unless she was with us. We will really tackle that this week, though, because the regular rice cereal feedings seem to make her sleepier and sleep longer. Hopefully that will help to get her to settle down and sleep in her crib. Otherwise we might have to resort to using the Ferber method of letting her cry it out to go to sleep in her crib at night, only letting her see us every ten minutes before we leave her alone again. I really really want to avoid that though, so hopefully we can get it all worked out!She's getting into all of her toys with such an interest. She has a little frog that sings the ABC song, and she "hums" along with it in her own little language, hehe. Still hasn't rolled over on her own yet, but she is getting closer and closer every day. We'll see how everything is in a couple of weeks. It all is going by so fast!

Toys & rolling over!

Gracie flipped over from her tummy to her back unassisted for the first time today! She was having trouble getting her arms in the right position to allow it, but she did it and was quite pleased with herself. She can go from her back to each side, but not all the way over yet, all though that seems easier, so it will probably happen any day now. She's mastered switching toys from one hand to the other, and using both hands to bring objects to her mouth. She's not quite interested in teething rings yet, but she's definitely mouthing a lot of things. She keeps gnawing at her hands, and she's found her thumbs. We're trying to break her of that and give her her pacifier instead. Up until this poing we've only been using pacifiers to put her to sleep, because we didn't want her to get too dependent on them, but now we'd rather her suck on them than her thumbs. In a few years, we can take a paci away, but not her thumb.Her favorite toys are still brightly colored or contrasting colors that crinkle, and her very favorite is a pink poodle with black and white crinkle skirt. She takes naps with it and it can always get her attention. She's starting to be able to entertain herself on her playmat and with toys in her swing, which is not only important for her development but allows me to get a few things done! She will take a face over a toy any day, though. She's fascinated with smiles and laughs and noises, and loves to explore faces with her hands. She imitates noises really well, and concentrates really hard when you make the same noise she does, hehe. She's just getting so big!

3 months old!

Wow time is going by much faster now! Gracie sleeps in her crib most of every night, and only wakes up to eat once or twice. She's napping well during the day (although not on any sort of schedule), and loves to play with her toys! She's grabbing, lifting and starting to mouth (safe) objects. She smiles so big, and is really starting to giggle out loud more often. Her latest joy is going outside! The other day I took her for a walk in her stroller without the carseat for the first time so she could look around and see everything, and she did great! She watched birds go by, and was cooing the whole time! She loves to be carried out to the backyard, and is fascinated with leaves crunching under our feet. It's very cute. She's definitely getting bigger! Don't have a weight measurement since 2 1/2 months, but we're sure she's pushing 14 pounds! Not too big, just perfect. She's fitting perfectly into her 3 month clothes, and we find she has a bit more room in 3-6 months sizes. Overall, she's doing great, and we're so proud of our big girl!

2-month check-up (finally!)

We had to postpone this appointment back when she got sick because the fever she had can make it hard to monitor her reactions to her shots. Oh man, were they ugly. They had to stick her three times in one leg and two in the other, and she had to drink this other stuff. Ugh, I couldn't even watch, and she didn't just bawl, she sobbed and screamed. It was so sad, and made me cry too! But otherwise, she's fine and healthy. A wopping 12 lbs, 11 oz and 22 1/2 inches! But that's right on target for her age, so she's just perfect. She's still sleeping in her crib at night for awhile, but not all through the night yet. Oh well, it's still better than having to sleep with us all the time!

Slept in crib!

So early this morning (2am or so) I laid her down in her crib after her bottle to go put the bottle away. I came back and she was OUT. So I quietly made sure the monitor was plugged in, tiptoed out to our bedroom, and turned the monitor on. She woke up at 5am to eat, but then went right back down in her crib again! This time she woke up after an hour, and came to bed with me, but still, how awesome! We'll start putting her down in her crib at night from now on and see how she does.

Ugh

And now she has a horrible diaper rash. Does it ever end with this child? =)

No more fever, yay!

This medicine must be working, the fever is gone. She's much more awake today, playing and smiling like usual. Thank goodness.

Two months old... and an ER trip!

Well, this was a fun few days. Long long story short, Gracie's fever came back with a vengeance late Sunday, early Monday. It was 101.1 at 11pm, and after two hours and not being able to bring it below 100.8, even after a dose of Tylenol we called the nurse-on-call for her doctor, and they told us to take her to the ER. By the time we got there of course it had dropped to 99.0, so they just sat us in a room for two hours. When a doctor (stupid lady) finally came in they just said to keep an eye on her temp and bring her back if it went up again and we weren't able to bring it back down.

Well, she kept running a fever all day, spiking to 102.1 at 5pm, but we brought it down quickly with a cool bath and Tylenol. But at 1am Tuesday it was 102.0, and after Tylenol and another bath it was 102.4, so we took her back to the ER. This time she still had a fever when we got there, 100.6, so they put us in a room. Unlike the night before, a doctor (really nice guy) came in within 15 min and said there had been a lot of kids in with the bad flu that night, and he ordered chest xrays and a throat swab. Those came back negative, so he ordered blood work and urine taken. After THAT traumatic experience (it was so sad, they had to hold her down to put in the catheter and IV) the blood work came back negative, but the urine showed an elevated white cell count, so they diagnosed her with a urinary tract infection. They gave her a dose of antibiotics through her IV, monitored how she would react to it for half an hour, and then sent us home with a prescription and instructions to give her Tylenol every 4 hours until the fever lifted and give her medicine every 6 hours. She's very sleepy today after all that excitement early this morning, and the medicine is making her pretty lethargic, but otherwise she's doing fine. Hopefully this medicine works and gets rid of the infection.

Fever = doctor visit

Gracie started having a fever this weekend. On Saturday night it was 100.5 (under arm), but we got it down to 99.5 within 30 minutes. At 4am Sunday morning it was 100.8, but we got it down to 99.5 a couple hours later. Back up to 100.1 around 2pm, and back down an hour later. She was pretty fussy all day Sunday, so I called her doctor's office first thing this morning. They wanted us to come in, and checked her over. They said she looks fine and is acting okay, eating, sleeping, and having normal diapers, so they just want us to watch the temperature. If it gets above 100.8 rectally and stays that way for over an hour and we're not able to bring it down, or if it gets above 101 at all, we're to take her to the ER. I'm a little worried, but the doctor said she can sometimes just get hot in her clothes, and we are able to bring it down, so that's good. They weighed and measured her and she's 10lbs, 6oz, and 21 1/2 inches long! What a big girl!

Done breastfeeding... =(

Well, that's it. Gracie's absolutely refusing the bottles of breastmilk now, so we're going to stop pumping, and go to just formula. I was really depressed about how this was going the last few weeks, but then I realized how happy she is with the formula, and how much she is thriving off of it. So I feel a little bit better about the decision to quit. My mom said that I was the same way, I breastfed for 6 weeks and then only wanted formula, and David was strictly formula-fed, and we turned out just fine!

I will still try to solely breastfeed our next baby, so it's not like I'm quitting forever. Next time I'll start pumping right at the beginning and working with a lactation consultant until we get it right so hopefully we won't have supply or latching issues. Thanks for everyone's support and advice on this the last few weeks, I appreciate it. Now I can put this stress behind me and focus on other things, like cutting Gracie's razor-sharp fingernails!

One month old today!

I can't believe it's only been a month, it feels like 6 months! I guess that's what happens when you don't sleep much, haha.

Well, the breastfeeding is still not going very well, and the pumping hasn't really helped to increase my supply. Gracie seems to like the formula a lot better, which breaks my heart. I really wanted to be able to provide everything she needs, but she just will not latch on! There doesn't seem to be anything wrong with her mouth or her reflexes, she just doesn't like it. It actually makes me mad, but I'm trying not to let it bother me so much. It's just frustrating.