new blog!

head on over to my new blog!

http://whitepicketfencesandabottleofwine.blogspot.com/

giveaway once i reach 50 followers! refer your friends :)

So I know...

Its taking a long time, but im ALMOST ready to unviel the new blog! I didnt realize how hectic life with 2 kids could be! Haha. Anyway, keep follwing me, I have 2 giveaways coming as well as some reviews and other fun stuff! Hoping to kick it off by the end of the week!

Also, looking for some guest bloggers. Topics can be pretty much anything, but its a great way to get BOTH of our blogs some followers! Let me know if youre interested!

Free Money

So I was just told about this site, and I figured "what the heck?" I'll give it a shot. You get $50 for opening an account and bonuses. Sign up and check it out (you just cant take the money out just yet)

http://www.paybox.me/r/kcastain

Things are back to normal around here..

Im in the process of a bloggie makeover. A great friend of mine is helping me out. Thank you to those that did email me with suggestions.

AJ (my big boy ::sniff::) is starting preschool on Wed. Where has the time gone. I feel like I was just pregnant with him. Last night he was taking a bath (its been showers lately) and my husband came out and asked me when AJ all of a sudden got so grown up. Its so true. I feel like I came back from having Jalyn and he aged tremendously. No sooner then we finished saying that, I hear AJ playing with his figures in the tub in different voices "the shark is coming swimmmm!" "mmm im going to EAT you!" haha. Boys will be boys I suppose.

He is super excited to start school. In fact, he asked me this morning if I thought there would be "hot girls" there. SMH. Too much!

Jalyns reflux has been getting a bit worse, so were keeping an eye on that. Hubs is busy busy with work. And I was laid off! Im looking for another position but in the meantime Im looking at it as a blessing in disguise. I get to stay home with my babies just a little bit longer!

Whats going on in YOUR world? Any giveaways or anything I should know about?! LOL

Enjoy your day everyone!

Winner!

Trish over at won my business card giveaway! (she was also the only entry! come on people dont you like winning FREE stuff?!)

Stay tuned for more giveaways!

No one wants to enter?

I have my giveaway posted for free business cards! No one wants?!

You cant make this stuff up!

Lately it seems when I catch one break, I fall again lol. So you all know I had my gallbladder removed. I thought to myself, "ah, relief from the damned thing!" lol. Not so much. Shortly after my last post, I was admitted to the hospital for a WEEK (away from my newborn and big boy) with severe pancreatitis. The pain was horrible, but being away from my babies was worse. Never again do I wanna do that! Anyway, I finally recovered and came home, only to have to detox from the pain meds I have been on since April. That was worse then the pancreatitis!

Now all is (relativitly) back to normal. I have someone helping me with a new layout and button. I am starting homeschooling (pre-k) AJ on Monday. (ps any rec on websites, etc is much appreciated on that)). And Diva is doing great. All in all, things are quiet on my side of the world. Hubby and I even have a DATE night tomo! Woot!

How are all you doing? Ready for back to school yet?

Giveaway!!

Business cards? Mommy cards? Maybe you have an awesome blog you want to promote? Then this giveaway is for you! Thanks to the great peeps at UPrinting, I am hosting a giveaway for-wait for it-250 Die Cut Business Cards! Here are the details to the giveaway and the rules :)

1.Giveaway Prize:

250 Die Cut Business Cards for One (1) Winner
2 x 3.5”, 2 x 2” (square card) or 1.75 x 3.5” (slim card)
Die cutting options available: Rounded Corners, Leaf, Rounded One-Corner, Half-Circle Side, Circle
Paper Type: 14pt Cardstock Gloss, Matte, or High Gloss; 13pt Cardstock Uncoated
Color: 4Color Front, Blank Back; 4Color Front, Black Back; 4Color Both Sides
Limited to US residents only 18 years old and above

For a full selection of all UPrinting has to offer check out their business card page here :) business cards

Here are my rules to eneter:

Mandatory Entry: Comment below.
Extra Entry: Suggest a new follower to my blog. Post your and their blog URL below
3 extra entries: Link me up on your blog!

I will pick a winner randomly on 9/12/10.



Good Luck!


In adherence to the FTC ruling on Blogger Reviews and Sponsored Postings, I need to fully disclose that I will be receiving 250 Die Cut Business Cards from UPrinting.com for hosting this giveaway.

I NEEEEEEDDDD

A button. And maybe a layout. I just dont have buttloads of money for one right now. Anyone wanna barter something with me? Or do one for super cheap? pllleeease??

Whats YOUR favorite website?

What are some of your favorite websites? It could be anything from freebies, to hot deals, to fun to frugal living- you name it! Ill list some of mine, what are some of yours?? Link em up!

Thinking of having another blog party.. what do you think?

For those of you who dont remember, a few months back I had a blog party. What I did was pair everyone up with a partner, and then you all had to post on your blog an interview, story, guest post, etc of your partner. Last time was a pretty good success, and it helpos bring more traffic to your blogs! So what does everyone think? Are you in??

Catching up...

So Im off to catch up on all the blogs Ive been missing! Here's just a few things I have coming up/Ive been up to:

I FINALLY had my gall bladder removed yesterday. Boy was it PAINFUL when I had attacks. The recovery has been pretty sucky so far, but it will get better!

I need a new layout and button. Anyone have any (free) sites to point me to?

I plan on at least partially homeschooling AJ this fall. He may be starting Kindergarden next fall (more on that to follow). Anyone have any advice (free or cheap!) or sites they can point me towards?

Thanks guys!

Anyone interested?

I plan on doing some major promoting of my blog soon, are any of you interested in participating in a giveaway or review of your product? Let me know!

Jalyn Louise

Jalyn Louise was brought into this world on Monday, June 14, 2010. Just like her big brother, my labor started days before. Saturday, I was having some pretty bad contractions, about 2 minutes apart each. I finally decided to go into the hospital. Well when I got there, they were indeed pretty intense, and very close together, so they admitted me. I was dialated to almost 2cm. I was given 3 doses of Turbutaline (side note: anyone here ever given that stuff? My God, it feels like what I can only imagine it feels like when you smoke crack. I was tweaking all over the place. Horrible drug. Anyway back to my story...) So the turb wasnt working. They also gave me some Demoral, to help with the pain (side note on that, GREAT drug hahaha). Anyway, nothing was stopping the contractions, but since I wasnt progressing dialation wise, I was told I would have an amnio on Monday. I tried going to sleep, but since my contractions were so intense, I had a hard time. I was getting pain meds every 4 hours, so I barely knew my name. In the middle of the night, the nurse came in and asked me if I was ok, my contractiosn were really picking up. I told her I was so loopy I didnt even know. So she went and got the resident, who well call Doctor Deet, cause I (and my pregnant sister also agreed) felt like she should have been walking around saying "deet da deet" lol. Resident hand raped me again and said I was not progressing. I went to sleep.

Sunday came and went with much of the same situation. Monday morning, they came and got me and told me I was going for my amnio. I was scared out of my mind. Heres a fun fact: Im PETRIFIED of needles. I have horrible veins so basically EVERYTIME I have to give blood they can never get me on the first stick and I end up with a huge bruise and pain. Now I know for an Amnio you dont need to find a vein, but its a HUGGGEEE motherlovin needle! No thank you! So I get down to my high risk doctor, dr e, and I express my fears. She calms me down a bit and says shes going to do an exam. As soon as she puts the U/S probe on me she asks me if my contractions had been that intense all along. Indeed I tell her. She tells me how this will make the amnio harder to do. Great! \sarcasm. lol. So she does the good ol hand rape. She tells me Im 3 1/2 now. She doesnt feel comfortable doing the amnio, because even if Diva's lungs are not mature enough, this labor is progressing too quickly anyway. ::phew:: for no big needles, but EEK for labor. She calls Dr P and explains the situation. Turns out Dr Deet never told him I was dialated at ALL! He would have come and done the section on Sat!

Monday around 8:45 I am wheeled into the OR. 9:12 Jalyn Louise was born, weighing in at 6lbs 5oz. 19 inches. PERFECT :)

She went to the regular nursery, however after about an hour there, the neonatal doc wasnt pleased with her lungs, they sounded a bit gurgly. So off to the NICU she went. She only had to stay a week and it was mostly for observation. Now she is home and doing (mostly) perfect! Last week she was admitted for a bad stomach bug which ended up dehydrating her. It was horrible. 4 long days in the Pediatric Unit. Im SO glad its over. Anyway, thats her story!

Im coming back!

My little princess Jalyn Louise made her debut 6/14/10. Things are finally starting to settle down here so I am BACK! I have to go to bed now, but soon I will post my birth story and more! Miss you all!!

Giveaway!!!

Im teasing you for tonight! Im pooped, but I will be posting a giveaway for new yogurt and a stop & shop gift card at some point this weekend! Stay tuned :)

WARNING! TMI TO FOLLOW! NOT FOR THE WEAK OF STOMACH LOL

So the last week-ish has been HELL on my pregnancy. I went to the doctor today and was diagnosed with thrush. On top of having what they think is gallstones. And you cant forget about my hemis that are non-stop bleeding basically. I want to wake up tomo and pretend none of it happened. LOL

::sigh::

I hope Diva is a bit more cooperative after shes born! LOL

I really need a new button!

Can anyone please please make one for meeeee? Ill name my child after you! LOL ok well maybe not really but I would be eternally grateful :-P

::phew::

Happy Friday! (well, its Good Friday, so not happy, but Jesus did die for us, and Im sure he would like us to be happy :) )I cant wait until things settle down around here lol. Sooo Im out of work on bedrest. Not so horrible except the whole pay situation. Im waiting to see whats up with me getting disability. In te meantime, its all on hubs. lol.

Anywayyyy... this just started this week, so well see how I feel in another week or so lol. What else, hmmm.. diva is doing terrific! Im feeling good, just tired. But that would probably be that way if I wasnt pregnant :)

What are everyones Easter plans? Im with the rest of you in that its become so commercialized, andd no one (esp kids) really know the meaning of it anymore. Im just as guilty, but Im going to try and work on that! Ok im off to bed night night!

Giveaway!!! Woot!

So is anyone else out there a list junkie like me? I have kind of always been, however, since being pregnant again and going through a MAJOR nesting stage (my apartment has NEVER been so clean and organized haha), Im even worse with my lists. I have shopping lists, lists of things to do around the house, lists of lists I need to make (seriously. Im NOT kidding lol) Well anyway, while browsing all the blogs Ive missed out on, I came accross a booty-kicking giveaway on Kelly's Lucky You from ListPlanIt This is like a dream come truuuue! Haha. Anyway, shes hosting a giveaway and I think you should all check it out. While youre at it, why not leave a comment here with your best/favorite cleaning and/or organizing tip; Ill compile a list (teehee) of them all and post later this week(ish)!

Heres the giveaway!

Kelly's

Back in action babbbyy!

Yay! We got a laptop! (actually a laptop and a netbook thanks to an amazing deal :) ) So I will hopefully be posting alot more soon! Hows everyone been? Im still trying to raise money for March for Babies, come by and donate a buck or two please :)

www.marchforbabies.org/ajsmommy

March for Babies

March for Babies is a cause near and dear to my heart. As some of you may or may not know, AJ was born nearly 6 weeks early. Due to his underdevelopment, he was in the NICU for 2 LONG weeks, including Christmas. It was one of, if not the worst time of my life.

The people at March for Babies want to help babies like AJ grow to be big strong superheroes. Wont you help them?

Come down and spend the day with us, walk, jog, play on the beach or just root us on. If you cant make it, can you spare a buck or two to the cause? Thanks everyone!

If you want to join us, contact me and Ill help set you up on our team!

The mission of March of Dimes is to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth, and infant mortality.


www.marchforbabies.org/kcastain

The Evolution of Sharkboy

As mentioned in my previous post, we now refer to AJ as "Sharkboy". This started when one fine day "The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl" was on tv. AJ was sooooo entrapped in this stupid movie he asked for it again and again. I searched high and low for it and could not find it anywhere. Lo and behold the library had a copy! So we borrowed it and he watched and watched and watched it over.andover.andoveragain. Now, he walks around as Sharkboy, and we cant refer to him any other way. Lord help me lol.

I guess there are worse things in life! LOL

Contractions. Yuck!

I am hurting today. Last night hubs and I watched a movie. Diva was kicking all around (probably freezing her toosh off, I had a slurpee an ice cream bar and a frozen fruit bar in the course of an hour) and everything was fine. Then I started getting some back pain and cramping. Nothing major, just uncomfy. Took a terbutaline, went to bed and slept like crap with the exception of my dream about Britney Spears (WTF pregnancy dreams?! lol). This am got up, got sharkboy (AJ) ready for pop-pop to pick him up and took a shower. Now, showers are becoming difficult for me. If Im in longer then 5 minutes I usually start feeling very weak and dizzy/lightheaded. I think its an issue with my blood pressure. Its normally low, and diva is making it lower through this pregnancy. I go see Dr. E tomo, so well see what she says. I have a feeling Im going to have to get some cardio tests done because sometimes when I have these issues I either start to or completely black out. Not good. ANYWAY, back to today. Once in the shower the pain got worse. Its contractions in my back and my belly. Im just trying to make it through today with lots of water and terb and go see Dr E. tomo. We shall see! In the meantime, wish me luck please. Im only 21 weeks and this diva needs to bake! (hopefully longer then her brother!)

My Bucket List (more to be added!)

So here is my "Bucket List". Well so far. I have lots that I want to do... I took some ideas from some of my favorite bloggers too :)

1- Go back to school
2- Have a third child (although I may change my mind after being a mommy of 2!)
3- Kiss hubs in the rain :)- DONE!
4- Buy our own house. With a bedroom for each of our babies, a wraparound porch with a rocking chair and swing and a princess room :) (You know those corner rooms that look like they belong in a castle.)
5- Make a scrapbook for each of my kids and one for hubs and me
6- Visit Australia
7- Visit Italy
8- Visit Hawaii
9- Visit Egypt
10-Drive cross country. (Though I dont think I could handle this, wed drive each other crazy haha)
11-Swim with dolphins
12-Go to Atlantis (in the Bahamas) and go through that water slide that goes through the shark tank (eek!)
13-Take the shark dive at the aquarium (bigger eek!)
14-Get into great shape!
15-See the Vatican


Thats all I got for now.. Ill be adding more. Link me to yours!

Im an idiot!

I deleted my button that Yaya made for me :( UGHHHH. Shes so busy with her adoption I dont want to ask her right now. Can anyone help me out with a button? Pwetty pweaaase? Ive tried to make my own but it didnt work out too well lol. So anyone, anyone?? lol

Thanks guys :)

And welcome to my new ff followers! Thanks!

**EDIT** Actually, if someone could totally help me redo my blog it would be awesome!

The Bucket List..

Ive decided to make a bucket list. You know, a list of things I want to do before I die. Im gonna get on mine, wont you join me? Link em up here!

I'm-a-shoppin!

For a new laptop. Any reccs? Trying to stay under $600 if poss. (Thank you IRS!) haha. So, the last 2-3 weeks has been hecticly hell lol. Hubs went into the ER on 1/31 with bad stomach/chest/back pains. Turns out it was his gall bladder. Well when he first went in they did an EKG and it came back a bit abnormal. So to be safe, they did a whole slew of tests to make sure that his heart was ok for surgery. That prolonged the visit and he finally got the surgery Tues night and was released Wed. All the while he couldnt eat, drink or even chew ice chips. I felt so bad and I was so worried about him. AJ kept thinking he was never coming home and all the while I was stuck working.

So Wed he gets out (of course in the middle of a HUGE winter storm with snow/ice etc etc. Hes fine all day Thurs and Fri. Fri night around 11pm he starts puking. This continues (without exaggeration) every 5 minutes until I FINALLY convince him he has GOT to go back to the ER at about 830 am. Turns out he has SEVERE pancreatitis. Tack on another 5 days in the hosp. When we first went in I was so stressed I was admitted myself for a few hours with contractions. Thank God its all over now and (knock wood) hes much better. ::PHEW::

So thats been my (so called) life. Im glad its all over and I have my hubby back. Who knew I'd miss him so much?? ;)

RIP Laptop

LOL I totally jinxed it. I said in my last post how shot my laptop was. Well it fried. No laptop til tax return time. ((sigh)) lol. oh well, guess well have to find other things to do. My only hope is my uncle, hes going to try and get it fixed for us this weekend. :)

I really need to get my tooshie in gear!

Its been hard for me to post lately. Work has been, well work, and my laptop at home is close to being thrown out the window and/or buried lol. My wonderful son stepped on it, and it cracked in quite a few places. The screen itself is not cracked, but you cant close it and if you try to adjust the screen at all it falls back. So now its at our table with uncomfy chairs that I just cant sit at for longer then 5 minutes. Plus Im still falling asleep pretty early. Cant wait for tax time to get a Netbook! Any recc's in that dept?

Baby "Book" (as AJ has named her - docs are 85% sure its a "her", if it was a boy, his choice was "Finger". He still thinks there are TWO babies in there!) is doing pretty good, although she just is not letting mommy have a break. Last week I was at the doc with contractions. I finally got that under wraps and this morning I blacked out. ::Sigh::, my children are so impatient to meet their mommy and daddy! Im still not feeling 100% right today. Im hoping and praying I dont have to go to the hosp later, and even more so that I dont end up on bedrest (at all but especially) before the hubs goes back to work FT. Come on Spring! haha :) If I make it through the night (::good thoughts please!::) I have an appt at 830 tomo morning with Dr. E (high rish doc).

Im really REALLY going to try and post more. I have so many hopes and aspirations for this blog! LOL. I know Ive said it before, but I AM gonna try! And try to catch up with all of your comings and goings! Stay tuned for a giveaway within the next few days!