Our dream home!

That is right I have found it...our dream home (well RV that is). We are still tossing around the idea of living full time in an RV or buying another house, but the bunk house we looked at the other day would fit our needs rather nicely. And the rv that we found even has Kyle's approval, so here I share with you what we are hoping to be our new home.

I love the open space it has, especially in the bunk house. I think we actually hung out in the trailer for a good hour trying to think of the pros and cons of that trailer, and living in a trailer.
Also, one place we were thinking about staying at (in the winter months) is here Sam's Family Spa. We still have a lot of thinking to do about it, but I generally I love the idea of being able to travel when I want. I love the idea of taking my house with me, and not having to worry about airports and hotels.
Oh well we will see what happens in the next few weeks.

A little late but never

    Kyle is 18 1/2 months old and I was starting to think he would never walk! It would appear that he seems more content to get up on his hands and knees and crawl around then stand on his own two feet and walk. And it's not a lack of trying to encourage him to walk either. He has a jeep walker, a lawn mover and other things he can push around, he just chooses to crawl. He is getting better about letting go, standing, and walking. Mainly because a lot of time if we are in a open space and he has nothing to grab onto I will just let go of him. I have decided that he is going to stand and walk even if he doesn't want to. No I am not a mean mommy but I do find myself standing in front of him with my arms out and then step backwards. When I stop and think about it, it does seem rather cruel to encourage him to come to me then move. However, this method has seemed to work. Sunday at church he was walking all over the place, unassisted! And he is doing it more and more at home. I say by next week he will be a full blown walker. So as they say better late then never and way to go Kyle!

Now if I can just get him to talk a little bit more :)

Defining love

Love is a hard thing to define. So many people are quick to tell someone they love them without evening knowing what love is. Those same people are the ones who get upset when the other doesn't say the same. I also believe that one reason why the divorce rate is so high is because they really don't love the person they marry. Yes, they may believe they do but I don't think you fall out of love after a few years of marriage. Can people grow apart, of course they can. When you think you are no longer in love or you are growing apart it's time to take things into your own hands. No one is saying you should erase all the memories you have created but try and go back to the first day you met. Try to remember what you liked about that other person, why you fell in love with them.

I have been given that chance all over again. Being apart from Vincent has been hard, there have been many nights I have cried myself to sleep. But we have now been given the green light to see each other, heck even live together. I know it may sound silly, but it's a chance to get to know each other all over again. Sure we have talked on the phone or via the internet, but it's not the same. Things have changed and we are going to get our life back on track.

See to me that is one thing that love is. It's beating the odds, never never throwing in the towel. As I go forward in our marriage I am always going to remember

  Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.Love never fails.
                                                                                            I Corinthians 13:4-8

My new addiction

I am proud to announce that I am addicted! No it's nothing bad, well not too bad. My addiction comes in the way of pinterest. What is pinterest.com you ask? Well, it is a website were you have as many boards as you like and you find items that you like and pin them to your boards.

Back in the day people would tear magazines apart taking out things they liked. They would save these items on walls or in shoe boxes under such titles as: bathroom redo ideas, wedding ideas, things for baby, etc. Now you have one place on the internet where you can do it all! Pinterest is very simple to use. 

First, you create your account. Once you receive your invite you set up your boards. You can have as many boards as you like, and call them whatever you like. I have boards for: food and cooking, kids and family, Sariah, Kyle, home life, fashion and make up, and places that I would like to go. I actually think I missed one or two, but you get the idea. 

Once you have your board or boards created the fun starts..the pinning or repinning. You can repin ideas that people have already pinned or when you go to a website (maybe a favorite cooking website) if you have the pin it button on the tool bar you can create a pin. I personally love it! I have come across so many craft ideas, recipes and clothing ideas that I am going insane. It's kinda my virtual shoe box online, and I don't have to worry about losing a recipe or a picture of an idea I liked. It's all right here at my fingertips, so good job you crazy internet people!

House or RV (Travel Trailer)

Over the last year Vincent and I have discussed the idea of living full time in a travel trailer / 5th wheel or an apartment / house. At one point we were seriously thinking about it, even went to look at trailers to get an idea of space. I have my reservations about living in a rv full time vs living in a house or apartment. So I thought I would share my thoughts about both.

RV Living:
Pros:
Your house / home is always with you. So if you need to move it's not like you have a lot of packing to do.
You don't have to worry so much about being foreclosed on or evicted.  A lot of rvs are cheap enough that you can pay outright for them. If not most payments are that of a car payment.
You don't have to worry about neighborhoods going bad, or having loud neighbors as you have the freedom to move.
When you travel (unless going out of the country) your house goes with you. You don't have to worry about pesky lines at airports, hotel rooms or eating out. You also don't have to worry about packing up clothes, or toys for kids. The nice thing about having an rv is you can travel on your time. Hey if you can't find a campground to stay at overnight you can always boondock as they say.
If you are choosing to homeschool you can bring History alive simply by going to places you are studying.
Work. If you are living in an area and having a hard time finding work you can always move to a different area. With Vincent's type of work we always know that no matter where we go he should be able to get some jobs.
No yard work! You don't have to worry about keeping your yard looking nice

Cons:
Space. With an RV you don't have a lot of space to move around unless you are willing to spend a lot of money.
You find yourself confined to the same area all the time. There aren't many defined rooms like in an apartment or house.
RV sites have limits on how old your trailer can be, some have to be less then 5-10 years old.
You are limited to the type of vehicle  you own.
If you choose to live in two main areas (let's say a summer home and winter home) you have to have more then one doctor. Or if you are going to be traveling you need to know where the local clinics / hospitals are just in case someone get's sick.
There is no real get away for vacation
Cost of gas, car insurance / rv insurance, rental of a campsite.
You have to spend a lot of time outside because of the limited space.

Good news; Bad News

The good news is I can now legally talk to my husband once again. We no longer have to be fearful that just one conversation, one e-mail, or one sighting can have him arrested! This also means that if we want we can live together once again. These last few months have been difficult to say the least. Yes, I love being around my family but I also miss having my husband around. At night is when I miss him the most, his covering me up and holding me. It's also nice to have help at night when the kids decide that they are going to wake up every few hours.

The bad news is the trial got pushed back. What this means is that our life is still on hold and that really, really sucks. A new trial date hasn't been set and won't be until Jan 30th. Don't they know what they are doing to us? I mean I understand that a man who has been in jail for the last 2 years should come first, but don't you think when scheduling these trials you would have a calendar of events? The good news was I spoke with Tupak today who confirmed everything for me, so there will be no if ands or buts about it.

So the question becomes.....Now What?

Co-Sleeping

If you are not a parent or have friends and family with small children around you might not have heard about co-sleeping. You could be sitting there scratching your head and asking yourself what is co-sleeping. Well, co-sleeping and also known as bed sharing or "having a family bed" is the practice of having your infant in your bed with you during sleep. As much as I love both of my children and don't mind if they sleep with us once or twice do not promote co-sleeping in my house.

Personally, it's not for me as I have a toddler who just can't lay still. So someone had shared these pictures, and I thought I would share them with you. I have been in many of these positions in the middle of the night with my young son, and let me tell ya they aren't fun.










As I said earlier I personally don't co-sleep, however both my son and daughter have shared the bed with me. Every child has rough nights when they need to be by mommy and daddy, and I will be right there for them.

However, I would like to share some of the benefits of co-sleeping with you:
Why Do Some People Choose to Cosleep?

Encourages breastfeeding by making nighttime breastfeeding more convenient

Makes it easier for a nursing mother to get her sleep cycle in sync with her baby's

Helps babies fall asleep more easily, especially during their first few months and when they wake up in the middle of the night

Helps babies get more nighttime sleep (because they awaken more frequently with shorter duration of feeds, which can add up to a greater amount of sleep throughout the night)

Helps parents who are separated from their babies during the day regain the closeness with their infant that they feel they missed

I think that if you can do it, co-sleeping is a great bonding experience for parents and children. But please don't think that there are no risk involved.