as always, my plans have changed…

this will be short. sorry.

So, the only thing for certain is that nothing is ever certain.

As of the last post I was a nanny, right? Well, I babysat little lindsay for 4 weeks, and, although i really fell in love with her an opportunity came along that was just too good to pass up.

I am currently working as a contractor for BP – and the best part is that I am working from home and making my own hours! this is only a temporary assignment, but I hope to be wise with my new income and pay off my truck and convert the garage into a room so that my baby daughter can move out of my ‘dining room’ which is really part of my ‘living room’. (can someone please explain to me why newer construction homes are so poorly designed? or is it just mine? is it the lower-middle class neighborhood i purchased my house in? i don’t understand it  and i’m great with real estate!) So, yeah… thats my plan, but as we all know it could change at any given moment.

On another note, i have had ALOT of awesome testimony building experiences recently. My husband even asked me if i was “high on Jesus” the other day! I hope to get a well written post up about them all very soon.

a working SAHM

I love staying home with my kids, and even though I know its the best thing for my family, i have really missed working. Until last year I have worked full time since the age of 15, often holding down multiple jobs at once. I have always been independent and able to care for myself.  I am married to a hardworking man who does his best to give this family everything it needs, i really am grateful for his dedication. However, it is a different experience spending money when you are not the one earning it. I missed earning money on my own. I mean, Its hard to buy a present for someone if you have to ask them for money first, right?! So, I expressed the desire to work again with my husband and we agreed that becoming a nanny would work best in our current situation. This was we both won. I would still be home raising our kids and tending to our house – all while making a little bit of extra money to help out and contribute. Recently, an opportunity came up for me to begin babysitting full time in my home and I took it.

today is my first day, and so far everyone seems to be enjoying themselves.

The real challenge will be working on my craft business and my tamale business (more info to come later!) while being a nanny, but i am sure i’ll be able to do it all just fine.

To help keep us all calm, and to have a spirit filled home today, I have played an audio version of the scriptures through my dvd player all morning – 6 hours thus far – and it seems to be working well.

one month

Yesterday marked one month since the birth of my baby girl. She had her one month check up on Friday where she received her second hepitius shot and was measured and weighed. She has gained over two pounds already as well as gotten over 3 inches taller! She is only one month old and has already outgrown newborn sized clothes and I can only attribute her growth spurt to being exclusivly breastfed… for HOURS each day. That girl never stops eating, and its obviously making her grow. Thats  a good thing, so I guess I can’t complain about not being able to sleep as much as I would like.

Yesterday I had a cleaning assignment at the church. My husband had to work, something unusual for a Saturday since quitting his second job months ago, so my parents agreed to babysit while I went. I have family in the Navasota State Prision and my parents asked if I minded if Sam rode along for their visit. Sam has been on a recent “COPS” show kick and always gets excited when he sees policemen. He always asks about jail and the people that “live” there, so I agreed to let him go. The Navasota State Prison is a minimum security prison and the inmates are all pretty trust-worthy – well, as trust worthy as a prison inmate i can, i suppose. I have been to this prison many times myself and knew that Sam would be safe there espesicaly since both my parents would be with him. Since Sam is a minor we knew that he would not be allowed to have a ‘contact’ visit with the inmates, but he could go in for a “glass” visit and meet the family he has never met before – all while seeing police men, prison gaurds and  “jail”. He was excited, but after making the 2 hour drive we found out he wasn’t allowed in because he was wearing shorts. Anyways, I had a BLAST at my cleaning assignment and can’t wait to start attending sacrament meetings again. I almost went this morning, but decided to wait another 2 weeks untill charlie was 6 weeks old. She has been somewhat sick since receiving her Hep shot the other day. I made a new friend while cleaning the bathrooms(of all places!) and even got to see the bishop for a few moments. It was so great to be in the church building and to be with some of my friends all while serving. I honestly enjoyed myself, and was surprised at how much fun I could have while cleaning.

I had planned on getting Charlie’s one month photos taken yesterday, but it will have to wait a few days. Its probally better that I waited since she has been somewhat sick recently. ill be sure to post them soon, though.

Casey started a new semester of school last week in addition to a hard-core diet and exercise program. He’s already lost weight! I have only lost 21 pounds in the past 3 weeks, and have about 8 more to go. I don’t beleive in diets, but have no doubt that I’ll reach my goal in the next week or two. I also dont beleive in scales (because i think i’d obsess over my weight if i owned one) but I was in the hospital last week for a post-ceserian uterine infection and was weighed at the time of my check in. I know 21 pounds is alot of weight to loose in 3 weeks time, but i can’t help wanting to loose the rest of the weight i gained… see why i don’t own a scale?! The infection isn’t that bad, thankfully, and as far as I know is already gone. Even though I was in pain my ONLY concern was my fertility. I know that we may be done having children, but i also know that i DO want more. I also want to be an egg donor at least once in my life and uterine infections can offten lead to infertility. Thankfuly, all seems to be healing fine.

Sam is doing well as a big brother. He even made up a “Charlie Grace” dance where he spins in circles while shaking his bottom shouting “Charlie Grace” over and over untill he can’t stand straight anymore. Its cute. He doesn’t like to feed her, but LOVES to throw away poopy diapers (and ONLY the poopy ones for some reason). He reminds me that she is his “see-steer”. Also, now that her complection has lightened up quite a bit he says they look alike. He has no idea that he was dark like her once too! (why are babies born so dark? they haven’t ever been outdoors and come out sporting a tan! I thought it was because of my olive color that I got from my father who is part indian, but i’ve noticed lots of other newborns with a ‘tan’ too. hmmmm.)

As you can probally tell I have decided to give up on the national blogging month topics. The topics i’ve skipped have been irrelevant to this blog anyways – such as “who was your first kiss and when and where was it?”. Its not important so i’ve decided to put in an honest effort to blog more, but try to blog about things that matter.

Thanks for reading through my rambles!

Do you owe anyone an apology? Who and Why?

The next topic that I need to catch up is “do you owe anyone an apology? who and why?”

Yes. My husband and my son.

To Casey: I’m sorry i’m up blogging and not cleaning like I should be. In all fairness this makes pumping go by faster.

To Sam: I took an applesauce cup after you went to bed and it was delicious. I’ll get you more though.

On a more serious note, though, there is not anyone that I can think of off the top of my head that I actually do owe a really good, deep, apology to. I am a very open person and I believe in having an open line of communication with everyone I know. If I owe you an apology you’ve probably gotten it already. Of course, I try not to hurt people. If I do hurt someone though I take full responsibility and try to make it right.

Oh, and to the hospital that I have a mound of un-paid medical bills on my desk from… i’ll get to you soon.

What is the first thing you think of when you think of your father?

Recently I’ve been thinking alot about my Heavenly Father. I haven’t been to church in what seems like FOREVER because I was told by several sisters in my ward that you should stay home until your newborn is 4 to 6 weeks old. Charlie is almost 4 weeks now, and I’m super excited to be returning to church soon. I miss it. Really. I keep finding myself treating Sunday’s like any other day of the week, and i HATE that. I also really miss hearing the messages, taking the sacrament and speaking with my friends. I get moved to tears just thinking about how much I miss it. Really, I do!

Also… here is a photo of the day my dad gave me away to my husband. (Don’t worry, My husband asked my dad for permission first. Really, he did.)

Photos! (because i’m too tired to write words)

I promise i’ll get around to writing about everything that’s been going on. Lots of good changes have been made in my family that i’d like to elaborate on, and not so good things also – like falling behind in my scripture studies (by alot!) and missing church several times over the past few months. Things have been super-hectic around here, but are calming down much faster than I had originally anticipated… so i’m going to try and get into a new schedule (and stick to it!) over the next week or two. Keep coming back though, i’m going to try and do *somekind* of post several times a week.

(if i look a little high in that last photo, its because, well, i was kinda high from my c-section drug mix-up. One of its contents was morphine. so… yeah.)

oh, and my husband left for a few hours today and came back with a “Taylor” tattoo next to his Sam & Charlie tattoos. He is going back soon (next week, i think) to get the three of them blended together. I’ll post pics afterward instead of now.

It’s baby central here at Chasing Conviction –

Ok, so its been a few weeks since my last church-related post, and for that i honestly apologize. Sadly, I am behind on my scripture studies (as i am behind in just about everything else in my life right now) and i have just not taken the time to write out a good blog post. I HAVE been touched by some scriptures and quotes recently and that there have been several really good Mormon Messages videos I have wanted to post, but, again, i haven’t gotten around to it.

Tomorrow morning, May 12th, at 5:30AM i’ll be getting admitted into pre-op for the birth of our newest little addition. I’ve invited family and friends who regularly would not be reading this blog here for birth updates and photos as they become available and as time/health/energy permits me to post.

So, again, there will be no church related posts over the next few days, but I am hoping to gain some readers… and better use my blog towards my goal of being a better missionary later this year.

So, I do hope ya’ll will stop by for updates as they become available. I plan on taking my netbook to the hospital, and posting as often as I can. I’m not sure how often that will be, but i’ll try to post at least once daily.

Thanks for all the well wishes, and prayers!

Happy Mother’s Day!

Happy Mother’s Day to all the great and wonderful Mommies out there – you have the toughest, most demanding, most blessed job ever! Its hard for me to believe that in just 3 days I’ll be welcoming the newest little addition to our family, Charlie Grace, into the world. Wow!

Here’s me and baby Sammy on my first Mother’s Day back in 2007:

Baby Belly – Charlie Grace Edition:

Only a few more weeks to go!

Happy Valentines Day!

Valentines Day is somewhat of a “major” holiday in my house.  My now husband, Casey, asked me to be his girlfriend (actually, he asked me to be his “old lady”) on February 7th back in 2006 and told me he loved me for the first time just a week later on February 14th. He also told me he wanted to marry me, but he felt like he needed a better job and a nice ring before he could ask my dad to give me away. He officially proposed a few months later (traditionally after gaining  my father’s permission, of course) and we were married less than 2 weeks after our engagment was official. We moved fast, but we are still just as dorky and in love as we were that first Valentines Day we celebrated together. Its so funny how opposites attract, we have so little in common but are so completely nuts over each other that it just works out.

Here’s a photo of us taken when we first started dating, shortly before we were engaged. We both look ALOT different now. We have lost a combined 300 pounds between the two of us and he no longer has his nose pierced, but I do. Man, I love this guy.

My advice? Marry your best friend. That is the most important trait in a spouse, or at least i think so. Someone you love so much that you just simply can’t live without them. So what if he is too loud or goofy at times and you squeeze the toothpaste tube from the middle or talk too much?! Is that going to matter when your 84? No.

Also, you should treat every day like Valentine’s Day. Make sure your spouse KNOWS without a doubt that you are truly happy to have them in your life and that you thank God daily for blessing you with them.

Here is a very short video for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy!