Time has passed...

So much time has passed since my last post and so much has changed. My life at some points feels like it is in a constant state of flux. I recently lost some one I was very close to a few months ago and in that moment I felt weak. Weaker then I had in years, and I didn't know who was going to save me. But then days passed and time went on and I started to grow. I picked up my pieces and grew stronger. Those moments when you feel like you cannot handle the change and the challenge, those are the moments that define us. But I didn't feel inspired to write today because of that sadness and burden, I was inspired to write today because of the happiness that is filling my home.

There are mega blocks all over the floor in front of my kitchen. A whole bag, dumped out and scattered, because today Aries decided he wanted to build things and the twins helped. It was beautiful to see as I sat at the table. I sat there working on paperwork and watched my boys learn.

I grabbed a cold bottle of tea from the fridge, because my roommate Caitlin remembered to stock it. The fridge is covered in photos of family and friends.

I got to spend time cuddling each of the twins to sleep tonight. Aries went to bed watching his new favorite movie 101 Dalmatians. A love he now shares with his dad.

I got to hang out with Jeremy, laying around watching dumb videos and looking at funny pictures on iFunny. Just hanging out.

Aries told me today he was HUNGRY, not just that he wanted a snack. Every day, new words, and sentences.

The joy of getting to wear new clothes I got for this season.

Justin found out today they will be extending his work hours back out, so that means more money for Christmas and for our savings.

Everyday I fall more in love with the man of my life as I watch him play with our kids, and spend time with them. He is a amazing father.

Caitlin starts her new job tomorrow, and her new school next week. So much change and she has arranged it all herself. I am so proud of her.

I found the twins matching dinosaur costumes, and Aries has his own, so I will have 3 little dinosaurs to take out trick or treating this year.

All of these beautiful things are why our house is so happy. We have so much good in our lives, so much to be thankful for. Life is never a perfect thing. Things happen, and people come and go. But the truth is if you cannot make it through the hard times and struggle you never get to enjoy the good and all it has to offer. Since having the twins I haven't been as strong as I need to be but I am learning I can be. I can find myself. I can do this. Life is beautiful and I won't let events or people hold me back. I never have before now, and I am not about to start!
Here are just a few of our special moments:

Aries pushing Pikachu in a stoller.

Aries and Draven watching TV together.

Me and Justin in our family photos 2015.

Me and Aries cudding before bedtime.

Caitlin working her magic on the twins before bedtime and playing Xbox.

Jeremy rocking guitar hero at Dave & Busters.

What We Look For in a Home

So in December we got approved for a home loan and have been house shopping. Now we have put a offer down on a home and are currently working toward getting it. I wanted to share what exactly my family looks for in their perfect home and why. What does our home need?

1. Three or more bedrooms, with the potential to add more. We have Justin and I, Jeremy, and Aries currently. I am hoping to have a daughter eventually, and her to have her own room as well.
2. Parking for at least 3 or more cars at once. Actually this needs to be parking for 5 or more cars at once. We currently own 3 cars, and I want to buy a RV in the future. Also when Kim comes to visit she will need a place to park.
3.MUST be off street parking. My van was totaled while parked on the street. So no street parking.
4. Has to have a decently large back yard. Has to have room for a swing set for Aries, a trampoline, a 12x12 garden space, and a area to grill.
5. The yard must be able to be fenced in. I want to be able to have a safe environment for my son and dogs.
6. A front yard is required. I don't want to live in a house basically right up against the street. The noise is awful. I would like to be able to hold a yard sale in the front yard as well.
7. The kitchen must be open and large. I own a lot of cooking tools, such as toaster oven, coffee maker, 3 different steamers, two crock pots, and tons of other items. Plus I believe in stocking and stock up food. I also have a full size stand up freezer and chest freezer.
8. The bathroom has to have a lot of storage for towels, soaps and etc, or there must be another place to store these items, like a linen closet.
9. There must be two bathrooms, or at least two toilets. There is nothing more horrible then someone have to take a poop while you are in the shower. It ruins it.
10. Must have a barn or garage for us to store our outdoor tools and items. It must also be big enough to pull in one car so we can work on them at home.
11. The house must have an area besides the living room for me to store my crafts. I have a lot and they need their own area.

Dogs and Kids

Before ever having a baby we had dogs. I have probably had dogs my entire life. Right now we have three wonderful little dogs that complete our family. Our oldest is Coco, she is 6 years old, and a chihuahua. The second is Cami, she is roughly 4 years old, and is a chihuahua. Then there is her son Furby and is only a year old, and he is also a chihuahua. We did have Quin a 4 year old Chihuahua for a while, but I sent him home with a friend. In our house the dogs are our other children and are included in a lot of things we do together. Our dog Furby has really bonded with our 4 month old son and constantly is checking on him to see if he is okay. I think animals look out for us like we do them. Here is a story of how a dog alerted parents of the babysitter abusing their baby. 

The pitbull was also known as the nanny dog, and was well trusted with children for supervision. You can read more about that here. I think dogs really can understand our wants and needs, and can know when we are in danger. I think they make amazing therapy dogs.

Coco has been in my life for many years, and has helped me with my anxiety and depression and helped keep me positive. How can you not smile when every time you walk in the door a small dog is over joyed to see you!

I really hope my son can enjoy this same bond with our animals. Also I think being around smaller creatures helps him to learn empathy for them, and then as he gets older he will learn to help with them as well. We all help take care of each other.

Furby has always been Justins dog, but since Aries has come along he has really bonded with him and worries about him a lot. I read here that they tend to bond to one person. Cami and Coco are really mine, and Cami likes to cuddle with Jeremy pretty often. Then Furby is Justins baby. Justin walks him and spoils him a lot.

With Aries being so much like Justin, I guess it only make since he watches over his favorite mini human. 

Walking It Off!

So I started this new workout routine. I got great advice from my friend Maya, who has had three babies of her own, on how to lose the weight and get back into shape after having my baby. Basically her routine was walk, walk, walk. So that is my plan. I started yesterday and so far I feel great from the extra exercise. The main routine is for me and Justin's mom Kim to walk together 4 days a week. Then when ever I can squeeze it in Jeremy and I will walk together in the mornings. Basically the goal is to walk a mile and more if I can handle it. Below is a screen shot from the app I am using on my phone to track my progress. I actually have more energy since I have been walking, instead of feeling more tired. I push Aries in the stroller every time we walk as well. Love this. 

My Baby Boy!

The day finally arrived and Justin and I headed out to the hospital on June 27th, 2013. We were there by 6 am. This is the very last picture of my baby bump, I was very ready to meet my little man.

 

 Finally after a very scary, but not too painful c-section I got to finally meet my little man!! There is no feeling in the world like when you get to hold your baby for the first time. That real moment when you feel like a real mom and feel so blessed. I was so happy.

Aries Michael Moran was 8 pounds 4 ounces, and 20 inches long, born at 8:11 am. A full head of hair and looks just like his daddy.

Justin got to hold Aries when I was done, and he was nervous, but he warmed up real fast. 

Uncle Chris came to visit and meet little guy.

Uncle Jeremy wasn't sure what to do with him at first, lol.

Heather came and met Aries the day he was born.

Then super Blair came and saw us many times, each visit fun and enjoyable. 

Aries currently has big deep blue eyes, and we can't wait to see what color they decide to be. Either light blue like Mommy or dark green like Daddy.

Like I said before being a mom is just the most amazing feeling in the world. All those times I was sick, hurt, and just hated being pregnant, seeing his beautiful face made every part of it worth it. I would go through every moment of pain for him all over again. He is so healthy and happy, I could not ask for more. 

I love out little family. Justin is so good with him, and I love us being all together.

Aries got to come home on June 30th, 2013. This is his first car ride, and he got to wear the outfit Daddy picked out for him. His sleeper has puppies on it.

Then as soon as he got home he got to meet his awesome Aunt Mickey. Who has been a super big help with caring for him while I am recovering.

We had plenty of help from family this past week after coming home. We even got a visit from Justin's mom, Kim. She has been a wonderful Grandma to my little man, and we can't wait to see her again at Thanks Giving. I feel like the luckiest woman in the world to have my little guy, and I wouldn't trade him for anything. The very day he was born I could not stop smiling, and I felt like I was on cloud nine. The drugs may have helped a little, but I feel like all my worries have slipped away. There is no way to describe the relief I felt knowing that I had the pregnancy behind me, the surgery behind me, and all I had now was my bundle of joy to love and adore. Babies aren't perfect and are a lot of work, but I wouldn't pass up being a mom for anything.

30 Things I want my kids to know about me Part 4

Here we go again!

Number 10:
Describe your most embarrassing moment.
I can't honestly come out with one solid moment, and that's because I spent a lot of my life making sure I wasn't caught in those kinds of situations. Honestly though, the most embarrassing thing that happened to me fairly often growing up and still some times does today is I get confused. I have very mild dyslexia and I will reverse the meaning of a word with its opposite or forgot which way spells a word properly. It really makes me feel super dumb that I can't recall the correct meaning or spelling when trying to express myself. On many occasions where that has happened people have called me out on it and laughed at me.

Number 11:
Describe 10 pet peeves you have.
1. Lazy people. People who think that things should just happen for them or will work out with no work involved.
2. Dirty people. People who cannot clean up after themselves and think it is perfectly okay to just be nasty and trashy.
3. When people don't know how to shut off the lights, shut doors or cabinets, or close containers after use.
4. When people don't put things away after using them, or use them without my permission(things they need to ask for that is.)
5. Bad drivers. Thanks for not only risking your life but mine all because you either don't care, or think your the best driver out there.
6. When the people I live with feel they need to have the TV on 24-7. I can't stand that. I need something more interactive then a screen to stare at, and eventually it gives me a headache.
7. When my dogs won't quit barking, especially when there is NOTHING to be barking at!!!
8. Discovering someone ate all of something I wanted, rarely happens, but when it does it drives me nuts. Used to happen to my ice cream a lot, but I put a stop to that!
9. Ungrateful people. You have everything in the world handed to you and you aren't grateful or only expect more. I hate that.
10. People who think they are above the law. I don't care if you smoke pot, power to you, but you seriously have no right to be pissy when you get caught. Same for any other kind of law breaking.

Number 12:
Describe a typical day in your current life.
Well, this is a boring one now. To reduce stress and to deal with being sick 24-7 from being pregnant, I don't do much. On a normal weekday I sleep in with Justin until about noon because he gets home so late. We either hangout together at home, watching TV and eating something , or run a few quick errands until he goes to work around 2-2:30. Then depending on the day I entertain myself on the computer or if not feeling well take a short nap. Then I spend time with the dogs until Jeremy gets here from work, and he usually spends the evening with me. Either we cook dinner together or separately, and watch some TV together. Then usually at a decent time he goes home and I entertain myself until Justin gets home. We eat, and spend some time together and then off to bed, usually around 2 am or 3 am. Weekends we get more time to hang out together.

Number 13:
Whats the hardest part of growing up?
For me personally, the hardest part was not wanting or getting the help I needed with my mental disabilities. It would have changed everything.
I would say though the hardest part in general is the fact your so young your world feels so huge, and any problems you face seem so much harder then they really were. Boys, school, family, everything seemed so big, and it just blows my mind to look back now and think that those problems are nothing compared to now.

30 Things I want my kids to know about me Part 3

Here is the third installment of my 30 things list.
Number 5:
What are the 5 things that make you most happy right now?
1. Justin. He makes me smile everyday and is the light of my life.
2. My pets. I love my dogs Coco, Cami, and Furby. Even though Quinn isn't living with me currently, it makes me really happy to see him.
3. My crafts. Being creative and making something always makes me happy.
4. Being Pregnant. It may not be the actual pregnancy itself, because I am sick as hell, but I am finally going to have my own baby and be a mom. I feel like a real woman.
5. Sleeping, honestly. Being pregnant has given me such super real and weird dreams that sleeping is actually more enjoyable then usual.

Number 6:
If you could have three wishes, what would you wish for?
1. Wealth. Pay off my debt, buy a nice house, buy a nice car(my dream mommy van), and have money to send my kid to college and go to Disney World.
2. Perfect health for me and my family.
3. World Peace? I really don't know because the first two make my life perfect.

Number 7:
What is your dream job, and why?
This is an easy answer. I want to own and run my own thrift store. I worked for a year at a GoodWill store and LOVED what I did. But being there made me realize there are so many things they could do to help out the environment or the community. They could have donated broken ceramic dishes to the local high school to make mosaics with or we had a teacher come in asking for wire hangers, paying out of his pocket, so his students could do a project. Our store didn't sell them, they threw them out, BUT we weren't allowed to give anything away, not even trash. I want to run the kind of store that builds community value, helping where it can. A place that recycles more, and throws away less, and makes the world a better place. That's my dream job.

Number 8:
What are 5 passions you have?
1. Art. That is my biggest one. I love to paint, draw, scrapbook, and just plain create.
2. Being Eco Friendly/Frugal. I like to save money and do good for the environment. I know I could do more, but I try to save on my trash output, reuse when ever I can, and recycle.
3.Reading and Writing. I love a good book, and I love to write when ever I can.
Since I condensed my passions I only have three.

Number 9:
List 10 people who have influenced you and describe how.
1. My Mom. She was a super strict parent, and although she made a lot of my life hell she taught me important things like proper cleaning, and the importance of being organized.
2. Helen Keller. Never met her obviously, but I learned about her in elementary school and her will to learn and survive was and is very inspiring to me.
3. Maya Gaskins-Hickman. This girl taught me that being weird is ok, and she taught me how to shop, and trust me, that is more important then you would think.
4. Justin Moran. He taught me what true happiness is, and that everything is worth working through.
5. My first high school love. I would rather not name. He taught me that there was love out there, before him I had never been happy with a guy and didn't know I could be.
6. Mr. Stone. He was my 6th grade teacher and he was the first teacher to really open my eyes to my love of education and learning. He made learning cool.
7. Mr. Hurt. He was my middle school art teacher. He changed my perspective on art and let me run loose with the art supplies. I thank him for opening those doors.
8. My Grandma 'Mamaw'. She showed me not all love is the same. She taught me how to knit and do plastic canvas work, and never discouraged my creative side.
9. My Dogs. Oddly yes. You come home every day to them and they are happy to see you and love you. I try to remember that, because no matter what everyone deserves to be loved, your dog thinks so.
10.Jeremy Malone. Yes that dork. He has taught me it is okay to be goofy, to love weird things, and to have a passion for games. His influence has taught me to enjoy life more.
 

Xbox360

Oh, Yes, This is a gamer post!

My system of choice is the Xbox360. You can blame my friend Jeremy for that, since he got me interested in the system back in 2006. Since the original Xbox360 was released in 2005, I wasn't too far behind in the times. The original game that got me addicted was Guitar Hero. Since then I have played several games such as Fallout, Fallout: New Vegas, Fallout 3, Fable 2 and 3, Guitar Hero, Rock Band, Halo Reach, MineCraft, Lego Indiana Jones, Borderlands, and Dragon Age.

Though out the years Xbox360 has offered a large variety of looks and styles that make it so the user can have their own individual system. The system offers a monthly membership you can buy to be connected online with other users, sharing game scores and playing multi player games together.

So basically I have chosen a popular gaming system that is constantly coming out with new games and connecting players all over the world.

 

Power Outage June 2012

Well this blog officially starts
Friday June 29th, 2012.
 I came home from my part time babysitting job around 4pm. Heather, who I babysit for, gave me a ride home so her husband could repair my van. It was hot and only mildly overcast, so I went in and checked on my little doggies. I had just bought wormer for them the night before and went ahead and administered all the babies. Cami had to be wrapped in a towel like a taco so I could administer her medicine. After that I really felt tired since I didn't sleep well the night before, so I went to lay down for a nap. I cranked up my air conditioner and started to lay down to relax. I laid there for a few minutes and just had a weird feeling, and I noticed it had gone nearly pitch black and it was only 4:40pm at this point. Looking out the window in my room I saw the trees thrashing about and decided it was time for me and the puppies to go down to the basement. So I grabbed my blanket and pillow and headed down stairs. After taking a minute to get things arranged downstairs, I went back up for candles and puppies. and shut all of us down stairs. I would say we were sitting down there for five minutes and all hell broke loose. It stormed and while it sormed the fun began for me. Ian, Jeremy's puppy saw the cat food bag and decided he was hungry and started pawing the bag. Plus Toast (the cat) was staring at it like you better feed me! So I poured a big bowl, which Cami, Coco, Ian, and Toast ate like crazy. Then everyone settled down a little bit. Cami cuddled up between my legs under the blanket. Then about ten minute later she started to get up, crawled over one leg (all under the blanket)and gaged a coughed a little. I thought she was going to throw up under there but managed to hold it. Oh no, she started licking my leg a second later. Cami is the kind of dog that doesn't ever lick people. So I flip back the blanket and sure enough she puked down the length of my leg. So as I start to get off the fold up bed and pull off the blanket I hear Coco retching accross the room and throws up a nice big pile her self. Oh and at this point the power has gone completely out and I am cleaning up dog barf by candle light.

Finally, after a solid 30 minutes of horrid storm and a mild 30-45 minute of mild rain it was finally over. I ran out in the driveway and cleared the larger limbs off the driveway. I lit candles all over the place and began my count of hours without power. I met Justin and Chris in the living room with candles lit so they could see to get in.

Saturday June 30th, 2012
Well, this would have been a perfectly okay day. Except I chose this week to get lazy and put off buyinh my bipolar meds until last min. Friday morning I missed a dose, no big deal. Well, WalMart was behind so I couldn't pick up my script at noon like I planned. Then with the storm and no van I for got in the evening. So by Sat morning, I was missing dose number 3, and I woke up sick as a DOG. It was a like the flu while riding the tilt-a-whirl. I wanted to barf and cry. Luckily Walmart in Urbana who had my meds, and no power, had enough generators to be running their pharmacy. Jeremy ran into town and bought my meds and some food. I took a pill, ate and then took another. I slept off most of the sickness it ensued catching my system back up to where it needed to be.  So most of Saturday was spent sleeping. Then we went over to Heathers house to borrow her generator, because they got their power back on in the morning. After that we went to the WalMart in Marysville to stock up on some candles because rumors were we could be without power for a week or more.

Sunday July 1st, 2012
The house was finally starting to get pretty hot, so my solution was for us to do a clean and rearrange of the basement. So I gathered up all the guys and it took us nearly and hour, but we got the basement arranged in a open way with two twin beds and the couch down there so we could all relax. It is extremely cool, almost cold in my basement, and this way we could all sleep there without the heat bothering us. Jeremy, Justin and I spent most of the day chilling down there, and then Chris went to work. Shortly afterwards we left to deliver some stuff a friend of Justins bought and picked up lunch. We thought why not waste some time walked around the mall. Which turned out to be a mistake, since we weren't there 10 minutes and the storming began. It made the power blink in the mall and the shops started closing a little early. We head out to the from door and see nothing but grey and rain. Finally we made a break for the van and got soaked in the process. We got safely home, more branches down and still, no power.

Monday July 2nd, 2012
We sleep in, and around ten am Justin wakes me up and points at a light that was now magically on. Power was back!!!
I ran around the house plugging in fridges, turning on the air conditioners and closing all the windows. Today was the best ever. Then Jeremy, Chris and I went out to a junk yard to get some parts for the van. After we got back we all did out own thing until closer to dark and then as it cooled down outside we all picked up the down branches and twigs everywhere and hauled them around back to be burnt. We separated the burn barrel from the fire ring, so we burnt trash in the barrel with some leaves. Then we burnt the clean wood in the burn ring and roasted marshmellows and hotdogs. Making the end of our two and a half days of no power pretty sweet.

Scrapbooking Pictures

Here are several pages I made with online scrapbooking.