Brody's 9th Birthday 12-16-17!

This year for Brody's party we decided to have a laid back one and have it at our house. For the past two years we have had it at other places so it worked out great especially 9 isn't such a big birthday and we can do something next year when he is 10 and we are more financially stable.

Brody on his actual birthday on the 11th. He loves his cat Mack!! He is almost as big as him

He had a minion party. Cake from Smith's

This is all that came. Nana, Nana Heckert, Jordan and Kevin and their family with Avien. Johanna was sick so she didn't come. All the nieces and nephews are getting older and doing their own things. :( Aaron with Nana, Trena had to work. Uncle Justin and Brody's friend Roger. We had pizza and cake and ice cream of course. I wanted to use our free movie tickets but Brody wanted to have a sleepover with Roger and his cousin Aaron. It went pretty well! I wish these kids would slow down. 

He is so goofy just like his daddy. Like father; like son haha!! We all had a great time!! We always try to make our kids feel special on their birthdays especially Brody since his birthday is 2 weeks before Christmas. We don't want him to get screwed over so we always make sure he gets what he wants for his birthday parties and that we always give him a birthday present on top of his Christmas presents because I just think that is the right thing to do. Now onto Christmas!! Can't wait to see his face on Christmas. He is such a sweet kid who is always trying to think of others and always trying to do the right thing. We love you Brody! Can't wait to see what next year brings him!!

Why I am deciding to leave Exxon

Every since they took my position away from me when I was working at Motherhood I feel like I don't belong anywhere and I haven't found another job that I love as much as I loved Motherhood. I loved that job; I was proud of it! I have been having a lot of problems with my job lately and I thought I could stick it out. I promised myself and Chris that if things don't change by the end of the year than I am going to find a new job. I don't know what my next steps are. I used to be excited about this job when I first started but the excitement stopped. When I first started working the employees that I worked with are no longer there except one. The overturn rate is so huge; that I have never seen a company loose so many employees since I have been there and I have only been there for 8 months. One of the reasons why I think it is so huge because the management sucks. I get so taken advantage it's not even funny! I have worked every Saturday since I started unless I request it off. And it seems like I am always fighting for my requested days off; doesn't matter what days I request off. Last night was the breaking point; last night the straw finally broke the camel's back. I requested Christmas Eve and Christmas Day off a month in advance and she wasn't going to give me both days off. I understand that we are open 24-7 but I don't care about any other holiday but Christmas. Christmas is very important to me. That is the one day that my dad comes down. I thought that she would be understanding about that; but she wasn't. I go into work everyday that I am schedule on time and work my butt off. I always get the butt end of everyone during the day. I swear no one does anything during the day especially on Thursdays. I come in and have to play catch up and I am running around like a mad woman. And I swear not only am I the only one that does her job but I am the really the only one that comes in on time and that effects me especially when the overnight lady comes in. It doesn't matter how many times she is late or does no shows no calls they keep her around. It seems like they are never going to fire her and that isn't fair. Not only does she not show up some times but she has so much drama that I think that she is high most of the times that she comes in. No one else sees this because she is only scheduled when I am working so I am the one that gets screwed over. I have to admit lately she has been good about coming into work on time but last night it seemed like she went back to her old ways. I had to call her and remind her that she was scheduled and it seemed like I woke her up. She comes in finally and has a washcloth around her hand and it's all cut up. I am the type of person that doesn't get involved into people's personal life but I on the other hand I was concerned and trying to figure out if I should of left her alone or what because apparently she didn't look like she was in the right state to work anyways. If she was upset about anything that happened at home she should of had the decently to call the boss and tell her that she can't come; she should of never not showed up and waited until I call. But I guess we can't all be irresponsible. I swear I work with so many irresponsible people. I take my job seriously! I don't just have a job to play around with money; I have it to help support my family. That is when I realized that it doesn't matter what she does that they are never get rid of her. It's hard to get fired from this place. You either quit before you get fired because you are tired of dealing with all of the crap! I have been holding this in for too long. It's even effecting my sleep. I had a hard time falling asleep last night because I had so much going on through my head; plus I didn't get home until 12:30. I am just so glad Chris found a good company that really shows their appreciation for the employees. I feel like I am stuck and don't know where to go from here. I am happy for Chris! I want to move forward and move up with him and get into a great company like he is at right now. To be honest him being fired from Savers was the best thing for our family. I don't want a job that makes me choose my family over my job and I feel like this job does. It feels like me and Chris switched rolls and I don't like it one bit. So I am not going to leave until I have a new job lined up. It's going to be hard because overall I like the job and I am good at it and I love my customers because I get my same customers in and I know exactly what they want because they usually get the same things all the time. I just need to stop getting taken advantage of and a place that really appreciates their employees and what they do. My boss is going to be sorry once I am gone because I am one of her best employees but you can't have good employees when you take advantage of them because no one is going to put up with it.

I don't want to live here anymore

I have been kinda frustrated lately. I don't want to live at our townhouses anymore. I am not happy here. First of all we have no room for our new tree and ornaments that we have so I am really not in the mood for Christmas. Plus I don't think we can afford Christmas this year and that is the truth. Second I am so sick and tired of one of our neighbors. We have a parking lot in the front of our townhouse that has 6 parking spots and one of our neighbors takes up half those spots so sometimes it's a pain in the butt getting in. Not only does he own his own car but he has several others that he fixes up and sales them. I don't mind that but if you have a lot of cars I think you should get your own place because at that point you aren't considerate of other people. And then he has his daughter and the grandma that lives there that have their own cars and then his wife has her own car. I am just over it at this point. I know I should be grateful to have a place to live but it's kinda hard when the management sucks and they don't listen to you when you have things in your place that needs fixing. I rather have my own place and fix my own things than wait forever for things to be fix. And another thing I am so sick and tired of going into their office and getting attitude every time I tell them that something needs to get fix or if I am just paying rent. I dread the time when I have to go in there because I don't like getting verbally abused. I shouldn't have to be afraid to report things. That is their job to fix things. I am just so sick and tired of the drama around here. We feel like we shouldn't have to deal with it. And on top of that I feel like we are growing out of this place. I feel so overwhelmed here and so does Chris. I just can't take it anymore. I just wished there was a place over here for sale or rent because I don't think I can spend another holiday in here.

Daisy is 2!

Daisy is 2! She is such a smarty pants. Even though she is only 21 pounds she makes it up in her brain. She knows so many words and is already showing interest in the potty. I think she is going to be quick to potty trained. She already went potty once in the potty chair. She is a very demanding girl though and will let you know what she wants. She has such a big personality and picks up on things very easily. She loves animals and has no fear. She is such a bundle of joy and makes our family complete.

We had her birthday party on Saturday at Arctic Circle with the whole family. It was really nice!

It was a My little Pony theme. Cake from Smith's fresh market.

I loved her expressions from her gifts

All of her gifts!

Than Sunday we celebrated my birthday and went and looked at the fall colors and had a picnic. It was a great weekend full of birthdays. I wished my dad was down here. It wasn't the same without him. First time I think in 3 or 4 years that he hasn't came down for our birthdays so it was weird not having him here. We still had a great weekend! We didn't want it to end!! Me and Chris also had a great dinner just me and him at Sizzler's. I love these moments!!

  

Update on Rocky!

We took Rocky back to the allergist because we felt like we needed more answers. I was reading one of my friend's post on FB about gluten free and how she found how she was allergic to gluten food and it made a lightbulb in my head goes off and I was like maybe that is what is wrong with Rocky. I kinda wanted to limited out all the possibilities of what he could possibly be allergic to. This time around he got tested for pepper because sometimes he is sensitive to pepper and then they tested him for wheat, barley, and rice and also Celiac (ex) cell disease. And also this time around I was just going to go do my own business and not concentrate on the results or anything like that. Well I got the results back today and he is negative on pepper and the Celiac cell disease so that is a good thing. Wheat: 0.17, Barley: 0.12, and Rice: 0.13 so just a little bit above negative so nothing to be too worried about. But isn't all of us a little bit sensitive to some foods? So all in all he really isn't a allergic to anything. So I guess that is a good thing. They said that if his symptoms get worse or progress than to advise to have oral food study which I was totally against from the beginning. I really don't think that does any good and gives you the answers that you are looking for. All they do is give you a type of food at different portions and just see how you do which each portion to see if they move on to the other portion. They said it's very well monitored and that they will treat the patient right there in the clinic if they find out that it effects them in any way and that a lot of parents are all for it and that if you want to schedule it than you have to do it as soon as possible because they fill up fast. I don't know about you but if I was getting tons of portions of one type of food I would be sick as well so I don't think it's that effective. And also why I also think it's pointless is because I don't think bread and that type of food really effect him. He always loves sandwiches especially from Subway and never gets sick off of them. I know when I was a little child certain foods I would avoid because I didn't like them and I think that is every child. And once I got older I was more opened to try new things and I am still opened to it and I love foods that I never loved as a child; everyone is like that. And I also know when I was in elementary some of the foods they had for school lunches sometimes didn't agree with my stomach and I think Rocky is the same way. I personally think Rocky will grow out of it and that he is ok. I just want to eliminate everything so I wasn't missing anything. And I think I got my answers. At the same time I wanted something to show up on his test results but at the same time I am relieved because then we don't have to be cautious on what foods he can and can't eat because I could imagine how hard it can be to have a child that has food allergies.

Should I join Scentsy?

A couple of weekends ago I went to a Scentsy party. While I was there I swear someone was telling me that I should join and start selling it. I love Scentsy and always have. I am always looking for a discount when it comes to buying the product. They have so many cute stuff now. It was weird because I was really down in the dumps when I went to this party because we are dealing with financial issues right now and I couldn't spend money at the time but something kept telling me this is what you need to do, this is what you need to do. I don't know if I should ignore it. Back in 2006 someone told Chris to quit Walmart and he listened to it and it was the best thing he ever did. I was working at Savers at the time on less than minimum wage and for some reason we survived. I don't know how we did it but we survived. The more and more I think about it maybe it was the holy spirit talking to him and maybe that was the same thing talking to me. I don't know if I am making any sense. Maybe this is my other calling to sell Scentsy. I am passionate about it. I always have been iffy about home base companies because I really don't think you can make a living off of them so I think that is one reason why this is holding me back and plus it takes $99 to start it. I can always start it and if it doesn't work out I guess it won't be a big deal because I am still going to keep my other job and Chris is still going to have his job and this would be just a job on the side. I need advice. I just want to do the right thing for my family.

How things are going for us

I don't usually talk on here about our financial problems because I feel like that is me and Chris' business but right now I feel like this is all that I got and I don't know who else to turn to and we are running out of ideas. Sometimes I hate adulting and just want to be a kid sometimes, because it's hard I am not going to lie and right now me and Chris are stuck. Whenever you are backed up in bills and keep pushing bills back and you keep getting overdrawn and keep getting overdrawn than you had a hard time getting back on track. Last payday was a good payday and not a so good payday. We were already overdrawn in our account but we knew that bills had to be paid. I know that we had to play catch up but for what price? It made us even more overdrawn to the point that we aren't going to be able to pay rent or all the other bills that we need to this coming payday. Me and Chris are always thinking about our kids and others and even though we didn't have the money last payday we bought each of the kids new sandles and father's day gifts. We knew that we were going to be overdrawn but we had to do what we had to do. Right now on top of bills that need to get paid I need new clothes and so does Chris. We don't even have the money to do that. I haven't even received my mother's day gift. I know I am probably just complaining on here but we have no one else to turn to and have racked our brains over and over again and we just don't know how we are going to survive this payday and me and Chris are scared. I think he is more scared than I am. I am just taking as it comes and taking it day by day and that is all that we can do. I don't even know how we got in this mess. It's weird because things were so good in March when we all went to Vegas; because we could afford it at the time and now things are a lot different than 3 months ago and it just blows my mind. Why I am writing all of this down because just in case someone has an idea or can help us in anyway. I hate to ask for help; I usually never ask for help. Usually me and Chris do things and handle things on our own but now I think it's time to ask for help. And sometimes asking for help isn't a bad thing. Sometimes you need to do it.

Sienna turns 5!!

This sweet girl turned 5 today!! She is such a girly girl and loves school. She is definitely my social butterfly because she has so many friends. She is getting into boys already. There is this one boy Easton that has her heart. She is such a great big sister to her baby sister; she loves having a baby sister. She thinks her middle name is monkey butt because her daddy calls her monkey butt. She likes the nickname monkey butt. She is for sure a princess and she knows it. She is always going to hold a special place in my heart because she is my first girl! We love you Sienna Jeanne and Happy birthday!!

This little girl spent her birthday at boondocks. It's always a tradition to go to boondocks for each of the kids birthdays. They always have fun here. She got a crown, and a bracelet. Rocky was wondering why he didn't get either one on his birthday and I had to tell him that he is too old because it said for kids 8 years and younger. He is just getting so big! Brody is getting too big as well because when we were on the horses farris wheel Brody weighted too much because it wouldn't go lol and then we went to the play area and he is too tall for that as well. I just told the boys that they are just getting too big for these things which is sad but it what it is. If I had it my way my kids would never grow up because it is a trap lol.

Rocky and Daisy's checkups

Since Rocky's Jr. High checkup and Daisy's 18 month checkup was around the same time we just decided to kill two birds with one stone and get them done and out of the way the same day. They are both doing good. They both got one shot. They wanted to give Rocky the Meningoccal shot but me and Chris refused to have him have it because I have heard nothing but bad things about it. I wasn't going to have that nasty stuff inserted into Rocky or any of my kids. I had to sign a release form saying I wasn't going to give my child this because it is required in Jr. High. I was fine with signing whatever just as long as he doesn't get it. Daisy doesn't need anymore shots until she goes to Kindergarten or Preschool whatever comes first. Rocky is 4'9 already! So tall. And in the 29% for his height. His weight is 68.2 in the 6% which I am not surprised because he is just like his daddy. Tall and skinny. Rocky got a eye exam and his eyes are perfectly fine. I updated Dr. Nye about his allergist test. And everything is going good with him. Daisy looks good but he is concerned about her not fully walking yet. He would like children to be walking around 15-16 months so he wants her to go to physical therapy. He said she might not need it because she is progressing but it doesn't hurt to get a second opinion. I don't know how I feel about this. In a way I feel like it's my fault that she isn't fully walking on her own yet. Daisy is 18 lbs and 14.5 oz in the 6%. And her height is 30.5 in the 10%. She still has a big head. Maybe that is why she is so smart. She has always had a big head since she has been born.

Update on big changes!

When I posted the blog post about big changes I never thought what big changes were going to come in place. So many things has happened to us this year already. Good and bad things. As everyone knows Chris got fired from Savers on Friday the 13th in January and then right after that he started dealing with a bacteria infection that landed him in the hospital for a week. I thank the Lord everyday that he is healthy and the infection is 100% gone. He is definitely not taking life for granted anymore. He is trying to take better care of himself so he stays healthy. I am so proud of this man! He went right back to work at a new job called Warner Fleet Services and he loves it. I admit I love the new job as well. He works Monday thru Friday with nights and weekends off perfect for our family. It doesn't pay as much as Savers did but we are ok with that. We are making it. That is why I wanted to find a new job that gave me more hours and more pay so I could help with the difference. Not only that but I was supposedly suppose to get another raise from Motherhood but I yet have seen it. I am really frustrated about it. Not only that I have noticed that every little thing that my manager is doing is driving me up the wall. Like for instant she told me to rearrange some capris and put them on hangers and hang them and then put certain ones on the table. So I did what she told me to do and then the next day she changed it up. Don't tell me to do something and then change it to something totally different. I haven't seen her all last week because she has been helping out at the Gateway store. At first she was helping out at Park City until they can get that store running and she even hired a few ladies for that store like is it her job to do that? No. They have a store manager there. And then she recently put a table right next to the cashwrap and put some things on there like snacks and some flowers that I am not kidding you smell like pee. I hate the fact that I have to walk around the table to get behind the cashwrap. I think once these small things are irritating you than it's time to go. And since I haven't seen her all last week I don't know if she saw my two weeks notice so I text her today and she was starting to make me feel bad for leaving. I hate when people make me feel guilty for my choices. She was saying things like "Could I of done anything to make you stay" I am like really. I am just over it all! I found a new job at Conoco Gas Station on Antelope in Layton. I am so so excited to start! I am so ready for a new change. I am so ready to leave Motherhood. I am so ready to get more hours and more pay and not to work in clothing anymore. I think it's really neat that both me and Chris got a new job this year. It was for the best for both of us. I have no fear that I will love and enjoy this job. Once I always wanted to work at a gas station and two I know that I will do great at it! So changes here we come! I can't wait for April 30th to get here to start my new job.

What I have decided

This vacation made me think about a lot of things. While I was on vacation my store manager kept texting everyone in a group text about the schedule and things like that. I am so over it by this time. My resume looks really sad right now and I am trying to fix that. Especially since two of the places I have worked at are no longer around and another one goes by a different name. I think I lost my passion for my job. When I first started Motherhood in 2013 I was so excited to be working with great people and especially one of my good friends that I have known a long time ago. When everyone was leaving it was slowly but surely changing. And then leaving Motherhood and coming back kinda drained me. I am tired of the other stores not being fully staffed and relying on our girls to cover shifts. I don't think it's worth it in my opinion to only get 50 dollars for one trip to a different store. I think when I came back under a different position and then when Macy's closed really killed my spirits. I don't really care anymore. Don't get me wrong I am glad that Chris found a job that he loves that is perfect for our family but I feel like he is moving on and I am just stuck. It hurts me that he succeeding and I am not. I have been dealing with this feeling for a while now. Me and Chris decided that if there comes an opportunity to move to St. George we would take it. We always wanted to move there since we first got together. We just fell in love with the town. So now that I will have a set schedule I think it will be easier for me to find a job. I hope so. But this time I am going to do it differently. I am going to stay at Motherhood and deal with it until I find a new job. I hope I find something soon. I am just scared to leave a place where I am so comfortable with and everything. But I can't be scared anymore. I have to venture out. I have to try something new and get out of my comfort zone. Wish me luck! I just need to move on!! 

What's been going on with Rocky

For a few years now we have noticed that Rocky has been getting sick off of pizza. He is fine the next day but for some reason he would get sick more often than any other child. At first we didn't know exactly it was but we narrowed it down and noticed it with just pizza. We don't know if it is the sauce or what. I know for the past few years he would eat spaghetti without the sauce, sloppy joes without the sauce mixed into the meat. But he also won't drink plain milk and only chocolate milk in the carton. He also will only eat specific cheeses and doesn't like melted cheese. We thought he was just strange but we knew that something was going on. We don't know exactly what ingredient it is but something is irrating him. We have controled it for the most part by not giving him pizza or giving him pizza without the sauce and that has seemed to helped but we are tired of guessing what it is. So tomorrow we have an appointment with the allergist to narrow down what it is. I hope we find out what it is so we can solve the problem. I hate that he was sick so much and we didn't know why. It makes me feel helpless as a parent when I can't help him when it's my job to. I hope Chris is out of the hospital today so he can go with us. I will keep everyone updated about Rocky. I hope we figured out what is going on. Rocky is excited but also nervous to find out but he also wants answers as well. He is just as frusterated as we are.

Big changes!!

I have been having a hard time lately with changes. Especially since they have been happening one after another. I really enjoyed being a MSC (motherhood sales consultation) at Macy's. I loved being my own boss and being able to go in whenever it was convenient for me. I felt like I had the best of both worlds. I could be my own boss at Macy's and I can help my store manager upstairs if she needed me. I also loved the co workers and everyone knew who I was there. When Macy's announced that they were closing I felt lost; and I still feel like I am lost. I feel like I am just floating. The one thing I was concerned about was where was I going to go. Alisha my store manager already decided my fate. She was like no she is coming back to me. I am not going to lose her. Which was awesome because it showed that she really valued me as an employee but now I feel like I am just a convenience to her and I hate that feeling. What you guys don't know is she hired a new lady a couple of weeks before Macy's announced that they were closing. Alisha told me even though she hired this new employee they can still squeeze me in which I don't like. I feel like that I am only there when someone needs a day off or a break. Don't get me wrong I do appreciate everything that Alisha has done for me. She has done a lot for me and continues to do a lot for me and I will be forever grateful for her. She even would work around Chris' schedule when he had a job and that was very nice of her to do. I feel very comfortable with her. I would just like to have my own schedule and feel like I belong somewhere and right now I feel like I don't belong anywhere. I know it sounds silly. I am just having a hard time adjusting to this new change. Maybe it will change once time goes on. I think that is why I volunteered to work in Park City because I feel like that is the only way that I am going to get hours is at other stores.
    Chris had an interview today at a place called Warner Fleet Services. They are a call center for truck drivers and do inbound calls. He said that the interview went really well and he thinks he got the job. He thinks it would be perfect for our family. Even though it's in West Valley City I am not really concerned about what city a job is at at this point. As long as it's perfect for our family. This job would be Monday thru Friday either 7am to 4pm or 8am to 5pm with weekends off is what he wants. He is really excited to move forward if they decide to have him hired. I am thinking if he gets this job to try to find a new job or just tell her I can only work nights. I am trying to stay positive and take it a day at a time. I hope these changes are for the best and we know what we want to do and we are happy about it. And of course we will keep all you guys updated!