Pay It Forward

I'm not sure how many people have heard the phrase, "pay it forward" before, but for those who haven't, it means doing something out of the ordinary for someone else without expecting anything in return. The only thing you should do is continue on and do something special for someone else. For example, you're in the drive through at a fast food place and you tell the cashier that you want to pay for the person's meal who is behind you in line. That would be considered paying it forward.

Now that we've got that all worked out. I actually had this happen to me this past week. If you keep up on my blogs, you know that things have been kind of rough lately for me. On Saturday, I went out to get the mail and there was a piece of mail for me. I love getting mail as long as it's not a bill, so of course I was excited. I didn't recognize the return address, so I was a little worried as well. I tear it open and there is a small note along with a check for an undisclosed amount of money. I was floored to say the least. I then realized, I did know the name of return address. However, I had only met this wonderful woman once in my entire life and it wasn't under the best circumstances. The note pretty much said, she felt that this was something she needed to. How do you even respond to something that amazing? There are so many good people in this world, but sometimes I just forget to look. I get so wrapped up in my own little world and my problems, I don't think about other people. We should all look a little closer and we could someone who needs help. It could be someone you loathe, but if you do something special for them, it will make an impact. What this woman did was beyond amazing and I will definitely be passing the favor along to someone else in the near future. Paying it forward!!

It's a Miracle

Pretty much anyone who knew me a year ago, knew that both of my dogs were stolen after they managed to escape under the fence in our back yard. Some kids picked them up and sold them on the street. At the time we had had T-Bone for almost 1 1/2 yrs while we had only had Pillow for a month. I was devastated to say the least. Pillow was found a couple of days after the fact, when a family saw one of the many fliers we had put up about our lost dogs and called. T-Bone, I came to realize, I would never see again. Especially since the cop that we talked to said that at the age T-Bone was, they were probably fighting him. And I would rather him been dead, then been fought. I went to the shelter in Peoria everyday to look through all the stray dogs that had been picked up, but none of them ever was my T-Bone. The folks at the shelter came to know me by name and were always very helpful, kudos to them because I could never do that job, deciding which animals live and which die. I eventually gave up hope of ever finding him, I just kept praying that if anything he was with a family that was taking care of him. Well, two days ago I got a phone call from PAWS. At first I figured they were calling about rabies tags because Pillow needs up to date ones still. But he just said, "We picked up a dog registered to a Lindsey Koch, named T-Bone" I was sitting on the couch at the time and seriously almost fell off. He's like, "You've been missing him for a while, haven't you?" I said for a year, and it was, almost exactly to the date. He continued, "Yeah, I picked him up on Ann St in the south side." I told him I would have to come and get him tomorrow as Vince was already gone to work and I had no vehicle. I called Vince the moment I got off the phone with PAWS and told him the news and he is just like, "I knew he'd turn up eventually, he's an escape artist." Yeah, so he says, he's always gotta be right, lol. The only reason that T-Bone was able to be given back to us was because of the microchip and had put in probably six months before he disappeared. Otherwise, they never would have known who's dog he was. I'm all for microchips now!! In dogs anyway, not people. When we got to the shelter the next day they told us that since he wasn't current on his rabies shot we would have to pay an extra $20 to get him out. Ummm..ok, he's not current on his rabies shot because he was stolen and how the heck were we supposed to have any control over that. I tried to explain this to the guy, but he's just like, "It doesn't matter" He was being an ass and wouldn't listen and obviously didn't care. Ugh, so we had to dish out more money, plus we have to get him his shots in 2 weeks or we'll have to pay $100 ticket and then get his updated rabies tag which is $30, which I recently learned that in Tazewell, is only $10. What's up with that?! So we are spending about $170 to get our dog back. But I love T-Bone so much, so of course we are going to spend the money. And now, my little family is back together again, a year later. And in less than a month, another member will join our little clan :) It really is a miracle.

So now then, Vince is still working at the same place and on Friday they laid a bunch of people off. Everyday is a suprise at his work. Will you stay or will you get canned? It's very nerve racking. I've been searching online for ways to make money and finally came across a GPT(get-paid-to)website where you complete offers and other easy stuff. I hate not being able to help support us. I think it's because I was the bread winner of our family for over a year and now I'm not doing anything. I thought I would enjoy sitting at home and being a little house wife, which I'm guessing would be easier if I wasn't 8 months pregnant and just wobbling around the house, lol. But anywho, so I've been on this site for a few days and I've already made $28, which isn't a lot, but I hate not contributing anymore to our money tree. I don't like not having my OWN money, so this is the best I can do for now. I wrote a bulletin about it because I know everyone is tight on money these days and a little extra cash can go a long way, if you let it. If you didn't see the bulletin and are interested in making a little extra money for yourself just follow this link: http://www.treasuretrooper.com/483074 I promise it's not spam and you don't need to put any money upfront. So now I'm thinking I might end up going back to work sooner than expected because I can't deal with not helping with our funds, but I guess it also depends on how I feel and what shifts we would both work. I really don't want to put the baby in daycare so if we could work opposing shifts then someone would always be at home with the baby. I realize though doing that, Vince and I would never see eachother though. I just don't know what we are going to do. Hopefully Vince can find another job that isn't laying people off every week, so pretty much anything that has nothing to do with CAT, which is probably half of Peoria. I suggested he apply at some restuarants as a cook since they make decent money, and he's thinking about it. I just hope our money problems turn around soon, but in this economy, I doubt it.

As Time Goes By

I can't believe I only have a little over a month to go. The time has flown by. I am really hoping that this baby isn't too far overdue, but I have heard that first babies usually are late. My mom told me she went over the due date with all four of us, but my grandma was always a month early. I just don't want him to be huge and then be in terrible pain trying to push him out. I couldn't sleep at all last night. If I laid on my left side my back would get this shooting pain and if I laid on my right side my left leg would go numb and my ribs hurt. I just couldn't get comfortable at all. I'm nervous about having the baby and actually being a mom, but I am getting so uncomfortable now, I just want him out. He's been moving around so much, I'm hoping that he may have flipped over, but I really can't be too sure unless they do another sono. I really don't want a C-section and I'm afraid if he is still breech by that time, a c-section will be my only option.

We got our first CILCO bill for the new house and it was big. I knew it would be because our furnace used to be a coal furnace that was made into a gas furnace. So it is frickin' huge. You can open the door that they used to throw the coal through and the flames that are burning the gas look a bonfire. So I knew it was going to use a lot of gas, I just wasn't expecting the bill to be over $500!! So Vince decided that he is going to buy a wood burning stove and hook it up to the furnace and just use that for our heat. I hope it works. Since the furnace is so old, there are no fans in it. All it does it burn the gas and the heat rises up through the vents in the house, so his idea could work, I just don't want the smoke that the wood burning stove gives off, to come through the vents as well.

Vince got a raise a couple of weeks ago, but now they are talking about laying off people soon. They asked him if he would be willing to move to first shift if it came down to it. He said yes, but they asked everybody else as well so who knows who is staying and who is getting laid off. The extra money from his raise has been nice though, especially since I'm not working anymore. Well, today he got his check and it was a lot smaller. The reason is because child support is finally starting to come out of his check. He sent in the paper work months ago and they just now started deducting the money. This really sucks. I know he needs to pay child support, I'm not saying that. He has a son from a previous relationship and he needs to help support him, every father should. The thing that bothers me is, she is living with her husband's mom, so it's not like they have to pay rent. What bills are they paying? Who knows, but Vince and I are barely surviving as it is and now more money is being taken from us. I don't know what we are going to do. I'm so scared that we won't be able to support this baby the way we want to. I just wish money wasn't such a big issue. The only good thing that might come out of this is maybe now we might qualify for LINK. That would be awesome!! He was making too much money before, but we were still struggling. I always hate going grocery shopping because there is so much food I would love to buy, but we just can't afford it. Our shelves are almost empty as it is. I don't want this baby to know we are poor. I hope things turn around before he figures it out. That's about all I have for now.

Laid Off Is a Scary Word

Everything is still going ok. Vince was back to work this week and now I am needing to step up and be a little housewife or house girlfriend, lol, whatever. I can't say that I mind it though. Being home and taking care of the house is what I've been wanting to do for awhile. Now I just wish the house was done. We still need to put quarter round in all the rooms and need to lay laminate in two rooms. The baby's room hasn't even been started. There is a leak in his room and so we haven't done anything yet and I really want to get it done. We got this really cute light blue paint and I can't wait to see it when it's done. One of the rooms still needs to be painted and I need a kitchen faucet that works!!! I've been using a bucket to get water from the shower and dumping it into the kitchen sink in order to do dishes, but it's been kinda hard for me to get motivated to do the dishes. I just don't feel like standing at the sink for an hour doing dishes with my belly. My back starts to hurt really fast and it just isn't comfortable.

What is really getting me nervous now though is Vince says at his work they are talking about more lay offs and that scares the crap out of me. He has only been there since July and he still isn't company. He is afraid that since he is a temp that they won't see any reason to keep him. But he is a great worker and he deserves a good job, plus the fact that we have a baby coming and we really need him to have a job. He has been thinking about getting his CDL license for awhile and now this is a little more of a push for him to look in to it. Even the people with CDL's on the lower end of the wage scale make more than he does now. The only thing is, it will take awhile for him to get it. He'll have to study and practice before he even takes his test so who knows how long that will be. I just hope everything turns out ok.

I have a doctors appointment tomorrow and I'm going to ask her about natural delivery. My mom was saying I should look into lamaze if I plan on going natural. I'm too late to sign up for any classes though, I'm hoping just reading some books about it will help and if all else fails I will get an epidural. I can't believe I only have 6 weeks left. It's crazy!! I've been having trouble sleeping lately too. It's just really starting to get uncomfortable now and this kid can really kick! I'm still waiting for him to move to the correct position. His little head still feels like it's underneath my right ribcage and now it almost feels like it's starting to bruise in that spot. I just want him to move!! I think that's about it for now.

Work is Over

My last day working for the Pekin Times was Dec. 27 and I could not be happier to finally be done!! I've been working on the house with Vince while we've been off. He has the week off as well since CAT shut down for a week, so we get to spend one last week together before our little guy is born. I feel so lazy, since it's starting to get more difficult for me to move around. I'm not able to help Vince move anything since it feels like I'm really straining if I do lift anything. And now, it's getting hard for me to even bend over. I don't understand how a little baby, probably 6 pounds, can cause me so much trouble getting around.

I was able to go to public aid today and get a replacement medical card, since when we moved and forwarded our mail the medical card wasn't forwarded. I was starting to get a little nervous since my next doctor appointment is at the beginning of Jan. and I wanted to make sure I would be able to keep the appointment. As far as I know the baby is still breech. It still feels really tight under my right rib cage where his head is, so I'm pretty sure he hasn't moved. I read something online that said I need to put my hips above my head and this will help flip the baby upside down. Something about putting pillows underneath my hips and lifting them higher than my head. I haven't tried it yet, but I'm thinking I better do it soon, since the bigger he gets the harder it will probably be for him to flip and as of tomorrow I will be 33 weeks.

My cousin came down from the Elgin area this past Sunday and brought me a ton of baby stuff. I'm so excited, but I have nowhere to put it all. She gave me a cradle that glides instead of rocks and I'm so happy. Vince and I were going to go out this week to buy a crib, but getting this saves us a money for now, until he gets too big for the cradle. I have a car seat, which I got from my aunt, but it doesn't have the little thing that's actually meant for a newborn. I don't know what it's called but it fits inside the car seat and holds the baby's head so it doesn't flop side to side. I could still use more baby stuff, but I don't want to be greedy. I just know babies can be expensive and I would rather have some of this stuff earlier than having to go out and buy it myself.

I'm a little nervous about our dog too. She has really bad allergies, we've been giving her fish oil for it, but she scratches and shakes her head so much. Right now, she sleeps in the room with us on her bed, but she wakes me up in the middle of the night scratching. She gets fur everywhere and I really don't know if I want her in the same room as the baby once he's born. I've tried pushing her put of the room and she cries until I let her back in, but I seriously don't trust her anyway. She's already pooped in the new house once and I don't trust her not to do it again if I push her out the door. So I'm kind of torn what to do about her. I don't want her getting fur all over the baby and waking him up with her scratching. Hopefully this fish oil works and I won't have to worry about it once the time comes. And we have selected a name for our little guy, we've decided on Logan Frederick. Can't wait to meet our little Logan :)

We Have Officially Moved In

We finally moved into our new house a couple of weeks ago!! I'm just writing about it now because I haven't had the chance to get on the internet more than a few minutes at a time and write a blog, but now we have internet again, so no worries!! I'm just so happy to be out of the south side. I need to do a few updates since I haven't written for a while. Our little baby is still doing good, but I have a urinary tract infection. I think it's from when I got food poisoning a few weeks ago, but I'm taking my antibiotics so all should be well in a couple of days. I can't believe I only have 9 weeks left!! The time has flown by, but I don't want it to end yet. I love the feeling of the baby inside me and I'm going to miss that feeling once he's born, but at least then I'll get to hold him in my arms. I've been having all these crazy dreams lately about me and the baby. I hope they go away after he's born. And I have this nagging fear about dying in child birth, but when I asked the OB about it she said in all the birth's she's done only one mother has died and that was from an underlying problem that she had before. So I guess I shouldn't worry so much.
I only have one week left of work and then I'm done with delivering papers forever!! I put Christmas cards in my papers a couple weeks ago and I've gotten a few tips and a couple presents, actually I got a box of microwave popcorn yesterday, lol, these people are creative. The only thing I've noticed though is that everything I've gotten has been from people in Tremont, no one from Mackinaw or Deer Creek has given me anything. And I hand deliver some of my papers in Deer Creek and no one feels like I deserve a tip or a gift of some kind? I sound so spoiled right now, I know, but I do 4 hours of driving a day, being 7 months pregnant, having to shuffle across the ice and they don't feel the need to reward me for my hard work!? Pft, whatever.

If I don't see you later, have a Merry Christmas!!

The Way Things Are

It seems like ages since I've written a blog. I miss my internet!! Anyway.... So things haven't really changed a whole lot. I'm getting bigger which is nice, but I don't like gaining all this weight. I went to WIC yesterday and they weighed me and I have gained 17 pounds in all, which I thought was ok. But then she asks me if I feel like I've gained 17 pounds and I said, "yeah" and then she says " the doctor hasn't said anything to you about it?" WHAT?! Am I really that fat? I feel like a freakin whale now that she said that. I don't do a lot of exercise because our house is pretty small and I'm sure not walking around the south side by myself (Vince sleeps during the day) so yes, I am gaining some weight.

Our house that we are working on still isn't finished...getting closer, but not there yet. Now we find out there is a leak in the 'will be baby's room' and we got a roof estimate done and a new roof is going to run us $16,000. Yeah right. I don't know what to do. There is no way on top of the roof without the proper equipment and it's not even a whole in the roof, it's something messed up with gutters, so we can't just patch it. Why does money have to be so stressful. I just hope maybe one of these times that I go to McDonald's I'll get the winning game piece from Monopoly and win $1 million. Wouldn't that be awesome!! Today is Vince and me's 4th anniversary since we started dating and we don't even have the money to go out. This sucks!! That's about it for now.