A Day With Kara

OK I am not one to complain but sometimes you just gotta get it all out!!! Know what I mean???  Anyhow......  I have had a nasty head and chest cold that will not go away!!!  I have felt like crap for nearly 2 weeks now!  My poor baby is now coughing and has a yucky nose too!

Last weekend our AC was on the fritz!!!  We paid $300 to have a guy come and add 3 pounds of freeon and he told us we most likely have a leak!  FABULOUS!!!  So he was kind enough to suggest we call the dudes that installed our AC and ask about any kinda warranty as our home is apx 3 years old and to save us from his costly labor.  So we call and the parts are covered for 5 years but not the Labor which is the most expensive part.  Well we thought adding the freeon would buy us some more time but NOPE!  My AC is not working right just a few days later. We already made an apt. for a tech to come out and do a leak check for Fri. morning but in the mean time it is nasty nasty HOT and miserable....  and my electric bill will no doubt be a small fortune as it is running all the blasted time day and night just to keep my house at a miserable temp  GRRRRRR!!!!  And to top it all off if it is a LEAK which it no doubt is a bad one for the freeon to be running low again so fast it is going to cost a ton to get it fixed.  Now where am I supposed to get the money from???  Maybe I can pull some outa my hat lol!  I am not going down without a fight though... I am gonna put up a big stink that they give us a break on the labor as there is NO REASON a 3 year old AC should have a leak!!!!  Clearly the AC is faulty or the install was a crappy job and one way or another they need to give us a break.  We will see if I can work some of my negotiating magic this time around.  I sure hope so but I have a feeling since it is 110 plus degrees that the AC people love to clean house with their fees and labor charges as who can say "No thanks! I'll pass" when it comes to having running AC in the summer time!  I don't think I have much leverage when it comes to my negotiating this time.

I feel like I can not get ahead... I finally just paid of ONE of my medical bills and am still paying on all the other ones, as well as some necessary dental bills for Seth, and now this happens. When it rains it pours!  I am working nearly every day which is really tough on me just to try and help to get some of these bills paid off.  But I really am grateful at the same time I DO have this little job. It helps.  But man oh man I sure wish Seth would get Overtime INSTEAD of the comp time they have been giving.  The time off with pay is nice but we NEED the overtime pay!  He still works the hours of OT only doesn't get the OT pay.  ROTTEN!

Well I suppose I have gripped LONG enough.  I need to get ready to go to work (sigh). I work a few hours and then hurry home to make dessert for the ladies church activity I am in charge of tonight.  I hope  I can get my kidos to nap before hand as I have to bring them with me as Seth will be at work and if they don't nap they will be CRANKY! Well Wyatt will at least.  Lets pray and hope the damage to my AC isn't as bad as I am fearing!!!!!  And let's also hope that this rotten head cold DIES!!!  AND QUICK!!!!

Until next time... Kara :)

helloimkara at 7:29:08 AM MST Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 13 comments: Show Recent | Add your own

So the last few days have been HORRIBLE!!!  I have been extremely light headed, dizzy, have horrible pressure in my head and having very frightening episodes where it is difficult for me to think, speak, and my limbs actually go numb along with my face!!!  It is horrible!  It was sooo bad Monday night and I was so freaked out I about had Seth take me to the ER but I tried to keep calm and I waited it out and the severity of it eventually lessened.  However I have been stuck with this horrid light headedness and pressure in my head.  This morning thankfully it is gone. 

So I called my family doctor and went in in tears and he got me in to see a Neurologist first thing yesterday morning.  The doctor was very compassionate and asked a ton of questions and checked all my cat like reflexes haha!  Funny thing is about 3 years ago I had similar episodes as this only WAY worse and was in the hospital for over a week only they could find nothing wrong and they sent me home saying I was under too much stress. Ya!  Maybe I was but it still didn't explain my symptoms.  Anyhow yesterday I think I may be closer to getting some answers.  The doctor seems to think that I am having a type of Vascular or Migraine headache called Silent Migraines.  Basically it is a severe Migraine headache that skips the actual "pain" part of the headache but instead manifests itself with neurological symptoms such as debilitating light headedness, and dizzy spells, numbness, and trouble speaking.  Basically everything I was describing!  He said the strange feeling I get in my head before the severe episode kicks in is called a migraine "aura" and it is a warning that the migraine is coming and that if this is indeed what it is when I get that "aura" I can take medication to help ward of the attack.  He said basically the blood vessels in my head get constricted and that is what causes all the frightening symptoms.  However he is going to rule out any other possible causes by doing an EEG and an MRI this comming week.  He said if those rule everything else out we can safely assume it is the silent migraine that is causing this as there are no tests that can confirm it.

I am somewhat relieved to know that he thinks he may know what is causing this and that I am not going crazy!  I can not even tell you how horrible it is to have those bizarre sensations in my head and my body for days straight! It is absolutely terrifying.   I have to struggle to stay calm and I keep telling myself that I am OK and that it will pass eventually.  I have not been able to do a thing the last few days as even moving makes it worse so I have been camped out on my couch playing games with Wyatt to keep him entertained and now that I am feeling somewhat normal I really need to put my house back together!  However I still have the stuffy acing ears and now a sore throat to top it all off.  For crying out loud make it stop!!!!!

Wyatt is slowly getting better from his Bronchitis.  I have been giving him breathing treatments and trying to keep him calm and still as anytime he gets all worked up and starts running around the house he has a full blown coughing fit until he pukes!  The kid has been sicker than a dog and STILL insists on running around the house and playing!  He is a firecracker that one is.

Well I suppose I have rambled on long enough.  Let's hope today my head will behave so I can get something's done!

Until next time... Kara :)

helloimkara at 9:01:57 AM MST Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 11 comments: Show Recent | Add your own

Oh my kids are soooooo cute!  I love them soooo much. Here are a few of their recent photos....

 

Out of respect for the photograper I am posting the "disclaimer" they had on their webpage....

Reminder: Professional portraits are protected by copyright laws.
Images are low resolution; intended for electronic viewing and sharing only.

helloimkara at 3:33:25 PM MST Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 13 comments: Show Recent | Add your own

I woke up this morning at around 5am as I heard Seth getting ready to go to work for a special training when I realized Annie slept through the night!!!!!  She didn't wake up at 2am as usual to eat!  I could hardly believe it!  Sadly though I didn't get to really enjoy it as Wyatt is sick and woke up a lot through the night.  He has been running a fever and has a horrid cough.  Luckily I was able to find someone to work for me today as I was not about to bring my sick child to the kids club like so many other people do.  I get so mad when people bring in their kids with snotty noses and nasty coughs.  We've even had kids come in who have TOLD us they were puking earlier that morning!  Seriously what is WRONG with these people that their workouts are more important than their kids!  AARRGGHHHH.  Anyhow... I am waiting for the peds office to open so I can get Wyatt in this morning.  Most likely I will have him stay home with Seth tomorrow while I go to work.  I just hope Annie doesn't get whatever this is and that it goes away FAST.

Also over the weekend I went into the doctors as my ears had been driving me insane!  I had an ear ache and felt like I was in a wave pool swaying back and forth.  Doc confirmed that there was a TON of fluid in my ears and that I had a double ear infection. LOVELY!  Two shots later my ears still do not feel any better and I am sooooo sick of feeling all dizzy.

On a more positive note... I scored again at the store.  20 boxes of General Mills cereal for...... drum roll please...........

$4.50!!!!!!  WAAHOOOOO!!!  Yep thats right... I said 20 boxes of cereal for $4.50!!!!!  HAHAHA!  I also found a 55 gallon water barrel at Walmart for $40!!!  These normally go for around $70 at emergency preparedness stores.  So now I have 2 barrels and have 110 gallons of watr stored for emergency!  YEAH!!!  One of these days I need to take some pictures of my stores and post them. It is kinda cool.

Well I better go and get ready for the day. Until next time...

Kara :)

helloimkara at 8:00:14 AM MST Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 10 comments: Show Recent | Add your own

OK... I simply can not contain my excitement for the smokin' deals I got on Monday while doing some shopping. I am an HUGE bargain shopper and coupon fanatic!  The way I shop is stockpiling.  Every week I go out armed with my grocery adds and coupons and if it is on sale at the rock bottom price I buy tons and tons.  Then I simply buy  my produce and bread every other week from the food co-op I belong to and then milk on a as needed basis and I build my families meals around my stock piles.

Just a few examples... peanut butter was sale about 2 weeks ago for 1.oo a jar and I had .75 off coupons so I got about a dozen jars for .25 a piece.  So now I have about 20 jars of peanut butter at my house.  And toothpaste and toothbrushes... NEVER PAY FOR THESE!!!  They always go on sale for between 1.00 and 1.50 and there are ALWAYS 1.00 off coupons so every time the go on sale I get them for free or for .50 so I have a drawer full of toothpaste and brushes so I never have to pay full price.  Same for cereal....  I never pay more than 1.00 a box... lots of time I get that for free too!  I also have about 15 boxes of cereal at my house.  Anyhow you get the idea.

Well Monday I scored BIG time!!!!  My grocery bill before all my sales and coupons was 1o1.46 and after the sales discounts and coupons I had I paid 30.16!!!!  Thats a 70% savings!!!!!  I saved 71.30 I was sooooo excited.  And the best part is here is what I got for FREE after coupons...

6 boxes of Pizza rolls, 2 boxes of Betty Crocker Suddenly Salad, 2 bottles of  Lawrys Marinades, 2 bags of Dole salad, 2 French's Mustards, 1 bottle of BBQ sauce,and 2 Valasic relishes.

I paid .77 for my milk, and .60 for boxes of fruit snacks for Wyatt.  The $30 I spent went towards some Steaks, Ice Cream, and other soda pop I normally don't buy as it is too expensive hahaha!

So tonight for dinner we enjoyed our expensive steak on the grill along with our FREE Suddenly salad hahaha!

Oh Yeah!!! And I got me 2 new dresses on clearance at Kohl's for 10.00 a piece that were marked down 80% off, and 2 Tony Hawk shirts for Wyatt for 4.80 a piece also 80% off..... (evil grin) MUUAHAAHH!!!!!

SCORE!!!

helloimkara at 9:25:20 PM MST Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 12 comments: Show Recent | Add your own

Howdy folks!  I hope you all had a Happy 4th of July and are all safe and sound this morning.  First of all let me share some stinkin' cute pictures.....

               

Me and the kidos ran a few errands before heading over to my folks house for some BBQ and swimming.  Wyatt had the time of his life in the pool and little Miss Annie just enjoyed hanging out snuggling with everyone.  Seth was home sleeping preparing for work last night. 

We stayed until around 7:30 and then headed home.  The kids were so tired and cranky but on a whim I decided to pull into a grocery stores parking lot not too far from where I knew the town's fire work show would be going on and we camped out in the car to watch the fire works.  Well a lot of other people had the same idea and the family parked next to us had a little boy Wyatt's age and the two boys sat in the front seat with the windows rolled down just chatting away while we waited for the fireworks to start.  It was pretty funny!  Well we couldn't have picked a better spot!  We could see the show beautifully and were nice and comfy sitting in our car with the windows rolled down and the occasional run of the AC as it was still HOT!  And the best part was little traffic getting home.  I loved it!  Next year I think we will do it again only come prepared with snacks haha.

Wyatt conked out on the drive home and I had to haul him in the house and get him in bed while he was absolutely unconscious lol!  Annie was super mad as she just wanted to nurse and be in her own bed hehe.  Also thankfully this year was a quiet 4th at home unlike previous years in our old scary neighborhood where wing-nuts (as I call stupid people) would shoot off shot guns up in the air!!!!!  I slept soundly not being woken by loud bangs and gun shots!!!

Today I may take the kids to the pool as for the first Saturday in months Wyatt does not have any sports games this morning. We shall see......

Until next time....  Kara :)

 

helloimkara at 10:18:49 AM MST Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 14 comments: Show Recent | Add your own

Good morning!  I have a few minutes before I have to get the kidos ready to get Wyatt to pre-school so I thought I would hop on here and write.  So far Weight Watchers is going good!  My first weigh in and I lost 2 pounds which was nice!  I have been staying on track and counting all my points which has been really easy given the cool online tracker!  The first few days I felt really hungry but now I seem to have fallen into the groove and I am doing OK now.

A week or so ago we were able to bless Annalee at church.  It was wonderful and I am so glad to have a wonderful husband that can bless my daughter.  Here are some pictures.....

Here is Annie in her white, fluffy, blessing dress.  She seemed to be so happy to be in such a girly dress!!!  She smiled and cooed at me when I told her how pretty she looked haha!

After her blessing my Mom made a wonderful brunch and we all pigged  out. it was delicious!!!!! It was a nice day thanks to my family and husband!

OK on to other news.... the other day our community had a really fun activity planned that I took the kids too.  They had free hot dogs and hamburgers (which I did not eat Thank you!!!) that Wyatt enjoyed, a DJ, water slides, and they had fun games for the kids at the pool.  The fire department also showed up and hosed all the kids down.  It really was alot of fun and I am so glad we live in a community that does so many fun things for the families.  We certainly pay enough for our HOA haha!  Anyhow this was Annie's first time at the pool and everyone was oohing and awing over her in her little swimming suit.  And wouldn't ya know she slept the entire time we were in the pool!!!!

Well there ya have it.  That is some of the latest and greatest at my house.  I had better go and get Wyatt ready for school.

Until next time...  Kara

 

 

helloimkara at 8:12:33 AM MST Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 13 comments: Show Recent | Add your own

Well it has been 8 weeks since I had my baby and the weight loss has hit a stand still with me just exercising and not really paying any attention to what I eat.  In fact I have actually gained a few pounds because I am so hungry and seem to need a lot of calories because I am nursing!  It is an odd feeling to eat so much and still feel hungry all the time lol!!!  Annie is getting soooo chunky so I know she is stealing all my calories haha!

Anyhow I signed up for Weight Watchers online and yesterday was my first day on program. I LOVE Weight Watchers. I did it many years ago when I was first married and needed to loose some weight.  I did it again after Wyatt was born to loose the baby weight and I am doing it again now.  They do give you many extra points because I am nursing and supposedly the weight loss will be slower as to not take away from the baby which is fine!  I just need to loose this last bit of weight so I can get back into all my clothes. it is seriously HOT here and I can not wear any of my summer stuff and I refuse to buy new clothes, plus I can't afford it ha!

Yesterday went really well for my first day.  I stayed in my points range, drank all my water too.  I didn't make it to the gym though because the Y needed me to work as some one called out sick.  So I worked all morning then came home and watched my good friends kids while she worked.  But I am on track to go this morning and then I am working tonight too.

This morning Wyatt's preschool class is going on a field trip across the street to the fire department! How cute!!! All week they have been learning about fire safety and water safety.  The other day they were learning about what to do if your house is on fire.  They talked about how you crawl really low and get out of the house.  Well Wyatt was adamant that he was told by his Mom and Dad that he should go and stand in the corner if there was a fire!  His teachers kept trying to convince him that no he needed to go outside and he kept arguing that his Mom and Dad showed him where to stand in the corner!  Well his teachers told me about this and I started laughing and I said "Wyatt... tell your teachers where the corner is you are supposed to stand in if there is a fire."  and he said "In my back yard! I go out the back door, cuz I can open it, and I run to the corner of the yard and yell for help."  Well we all started laughing and I explained to his teachers that we have a lock on our front door way up high so the kids can't unlock the door by themselves and we taught him to go out the backdoor if there is a fire because he can always open that one hahaha! Smart kid... remembering what his Mommy taught him lol!

Anyways I know Jeanne... you are doing WW still right??? Anyone else so we can all hold each other accountable???  Can we make our own message board on the WW site???  Anyone else care to join me?????

Until next time... Kara :)

helloimkara at 7:51:14 AM MST Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 10 comments: Show Recent | Add your own

AHHH where does the time go.  Sorry it has been so long since I have updated and read journals.  I started back to work a few weeks ago and it wipes me out!

Anyhow... life is good.  Little Miss Annie is now 2 months old and as cute as ever!!!

She is so chunky and is getting all those adorable baby rolls on her thighs and has such fat cheeks!  It is adorable!  She has finally started to look at you once in a while and smile and coo.  She has her Daddy's half grin as we call it where just the corner of one side of her mouth grins haha!

 I LOVE this picture with her pouty face hehehe.  She stills spends the majority of her time sleeping!!!  I never did see a baby sleep so much!  I guess she is still growing like MAD.

I get to take my kids to work with me at the Y and all the ladies fight over holding her hehehe.  And the older girls just LOVE her and it is especially nice as Wyatt's preschool teacher has been bringing her kids to work with her also and she has a 12 year old girl who is so sweet and lovely and this little girl just LOVES Annie and holds her and cuddles her the entire time I am working!  It really helps me out so much.  She also has been watching her this week for an hour so I can go and exercise in the gym  I plan on getting her some goodies and making her a little thank you basket!

Wyatt has been keeping busy as well.  He goes to preschool Mon-Wed-Fri for 2 1/2 hours and then has swimming lessons on Tue-Thur, then t-ball practice Tue night and games Sat morning.  He is doing so much better at swimming. He is not nearly as afraid as he was last year thankfully!  T-ball is so much fun too!  I just love watching his games and seeing his skill level improve!  I think all these activities have been so good for him!  He seems so grown up for a 4 year old haha! He is really competitive though and I really have had to remind him and work with him on his sportsmanship lol!

 

Seth and I also celebrated our 11th anniversary over the weekend.  My Sister was kind enough to come out to the house and watch the kids so that we could go and see a movie and go out to dinner. It was so much fun as we had not been to a movie in probably 2 years hahaha!  It is hard to believe that it has been that long! Time sure flys by when you are having fun hehehe.

Well I need to go and get ready for the day and go and get some exercise fun fun!!!

Until next time..... Kara

helloimkara at 8:12:15 AM MST Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 13 comments: Show Recent | Add your own

Howdy folks:

Yesterday we celebrated Wyatt's 4th Birthday and it was so  much fun!  I got up super early to make sure me and the kidos were ready to head out the door around 9 or so.  My family came over a bit early to help us set up which was very helpful!  We had his party at the YMCA complete with a large jungle bouncy house.

There was a great turn out of kids, 12 I believe, and I think they all seemed to have a great time.  We decorated goodie bags, had snacks, jumped in the bouncy house, had HUGE cupcakes, and even did a Grave Digger Monster Truck Pinata.

Wyatt's friends and family gave him some wonderful presents and he was so very excited!!!!  I'd say the two highlight gifts for him was the Monster Truck "Brutus" or the "orange truck with pretend teeth" as Wyatt calls him ha! and a lightning McQueen race track that the cars can zoom around.

Today now that all the gifts have found new homes in his room I need to help him make thank you notes for everyone.  I am pleased he was on his best behavior at his party and was a good host!

The morning of his birthday opening gifts from his family...

At the party...

Jump Wyatt Jump...

Cupcakes... YUMMY...

Decorating gifts bags with Aunt DeeDee...

Blowing out the candle...

  

 

What a fun day...

It was so much fun to throw a party for my little guy.  Seeing have so much fun and have a party made my day even though it wore me out and about killed me when it was all said and done haha! Im glad it is over hehe.

Anyhow thats about all for now. Have a great weekend.

Until next time...

Kara :)

helloimkara at 4:26:20 PM MST Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 15 comments: Show Recent | Add your own