Paying for School

I was just notified that I qualified for a Federal Pell Grant for school this year. I'm excited and nervous at the same time. Excited because I had no idea how I was going to pay for school and nervous because one of the conditions of the grant is that I have to go full time this semester. For most students that isn't a problem, but when you have 2.5 kids, a full time job and a house to take care of, well it's a lot of work.

Here's the tentative plan. I only need 13 more credit hours to finish my associate's degree. This includes an upper level math course, a science course, as well as an art class and something for my humanities credit, I'm deciding between philosophy and an intro to fiction writing. Of the four classes I need I can take three of them online. I could take the math course online, but I really need someone to hold my hand while I'm factoring polynomials so I'll take it on campus two nights a week. I can do my homework at work and delegate some of the housework to my husband who will undoubtedly fulfill his duties with a smile on his face and a song in his heart.

One benefit of getting the craziness out of the way now is that I will not have to worry about it when the baby comes in January. I hate the thought of juggling a newborn and a crazy class schedule. The downside is that I will be nearing the end of my third trimester during finals, Christmas will be fast approaching, and I will probably be a giant ball of nerves. During spring semester I will be able to take it easy with the baby and focus on my teaching application. Then I might pick up a part time job in the summer, save some money and start seriously working on my bachelor's degree in Fall 2010. On a sidenote, I can't believe I just typed Fall 2010.

So basically I'm looking at 13 class hours and 12 homework hours each week on top of the three ring circus that is already my life. That's almost like having a part time job. Can I do it? It will make for a crazy three months, but I think so.

I really want to teach, but the teaching program in my school is extremely competitive, only accepting forty new applicants each year out of the hundreds who apply. This makes no sense to me at all since we are experiencing a state wide teacher shortage, but that's another post. Plan A is to go through the application process in the spring, but I'm not expecting to get in. Plan B is a degree in microbiology and an alternative route to a teaching license through the state. This will take longer, but a microbiology degree may prove to be more diverse and usable.

7 Quick Takes: Update

You may have noticed that I've been MIA the last few weeks. Don't worry, nothing is wrong. I'm just pregnant. Once the first trimester is over I should have more energy, at least that's how it usually works for me. I thought I'd do 7 Quick Takes today as an update.

~ 1 ~

I can't keep my eyes open after 9pm anymore which has severely cut into my reading and writing time. When I do have the energy, I don't have the time. This may be making me a little cranky, I'm sure my husband would have more to say about that. Speaking of my husband, he has been great at helping me get the kids to bed and making dinner when I'm too tired.

As far as other symptoms go I'm simultaneously nauseous and hungry at the same time. I want to eat EVERYTHING, but when I'm done I throw up. Lovely, I know. After the dilemma that I wrote about here I stopped on my way home from work, bought a box of ice cream sandwiches and ate two in the car on my way home. I didn't even make it all the way home before I had to throw up. I had to pull off to the side of the road and haven't wanted ice cream since.

Also, I'm practically brain dead. I believe that there was a time in my life when I was intelligent. I was able to carry on a conversation, speak in sentences of more than a few syllables and retain what I read. Not so much anymore. These days it takes a lot of effort to squeeze out a thought, even more so to write it down coherently.

~2~

We saw Peanut last week during my first ultrasound, she has a strong heart beat and looks healthy. The doctor gave me a due date of January 8th.

Everyone is hoping for a girl this time. I would love another boy just the same, but I have taken to referring to the baby as a she just because I don't like referring to her as "it" or the androgynous "he-she".

My husband told me the other day that I'm "gestating Austin's arch nemesis", I'm starting to think he may be right. Austin is very much a mama's boy. He tries to push Jaxin off my lap and will wedge himself between my husband and I when we snuggle on the couch. It may be hard for him to adjust when the baby arrives.

~3~

Jaxin's pneumonia passed very quickly once he started his antibiotics. He felt well enough to go to the last day of school.

I still haven't heard anything from the asthma specialist. I will probably place a call to his pediatrician later this week to see if she can get the ball rolling on testing. I just want to be sure that there isn't an underlying condition.

~4~

Austin and I started his mommy and me swim class this week and are having a lot of fun. He likes being in the water as long as he can cling to me for dear life. If I try to hold him at arms length or lie him flat he gets upset. Surprisingly he likes to blow bubbles and has no fear of putting his face in the water. He's become slightly infatuated with a cute red headed girl in a green bathing suit. It's hard to get him to focus on the instructions because he stares at her the whole time.

Jaxin has his swim class at the same time and has taken to the water like a fish. Swimming is the only sport he's ever shown interest in and he's good at it. He counts the days between lessons and it's hard to get him out of the pool. Our local pool offers classes for kids all the way up to junior high, where I suppose he could join the swim team if he's still into it.

~5~

I don't know if I've mentioned here my irrational fear of snakes. Just the sight of one is enough to make me jumpy for a few days. We get garter snakes in our yard all the time and it's not unusual to see big brown snakes on my walking trail near where I work. I've stepped on a few of them while working in my garden. Just typing that gives me chills.

The other night while hiking Taylor's Canyon in Ogden I stepped close to a stream and almost set my foot down right on a small rattlesnake who was lounging under the leaves. He became agitated and assumed striking position. I was too quick for him though, I screamed and jumped behind my mom who bravely shook her walking stick at him and watched him slither away.

This is not the first time I've seen a rattlesnake on these trails. If you are ever hiking the west facing foot hills in Ogden I would recommend that you not go near the water. They seem to be attracted to the cool streams and will hang out near the pools. Their camouflage makes them very hard to see in the dead leaves that cover the ground, until they move.

Anyways, I will continue hiking, but I don't want to be in the front anymore.

~6~

Summertime is definitely here, my favorite season. This year, however, it's being ruined by road construction. There is construction everywhere! It seems like every road that I use on a daily basis is closed or down to one lane. I would love to take the back roads, but they're under construction too. I'm perpetually five minutes late everywhere I go, so this is not helping.

I've mentioned before that I suffer from a bit of the road rage. When I get behind the wheel of my car something comes over me and I start spouting language that's somewhat, um, unbecoming. I can tell you that these orange barrels and detours are not helping me get control of my language which is probably not good for the poor kids who have to witness my outbursts from the back seat.

Yesterday upon approaching a big orange road block and a man in a hard hat holding a stop sign Jaxin piped up from the backseat, "Uh-oh mom, there are some bastards up there."

"There are some WHAT!?!", I asked, shocked that my darling boy was using such language.

"Some bastards." he said sheepishly.

"Honey, that's a horrible word and I'd rather you not use it.", I said.

"I thought that's what they were called," he said innocently.

The poor kid really thought that construction workers were called bastards. I guess I should just be glad that I caught it before he told someone that he wants to be a bastard when he grows up. I swear that kid only listens to me when I'm spouting cuss words, but when I ask him to clean his room he's suddenly hard of hearing.

So I apologized for swearing in front of him and promised that I wouldn't use that word any more either.

~7~

On Sunday I start working in the toddler room at church. I'm both nervous and excited about this. I love kids, but somehow the thought of a room full of toddlers terrifies me. I'm sure it will be fun though. If you follow my other neglected blog you know I've been having some church issues with my own toddler, so I'm hoping this helps.

It will be as much a test for Austin as it is for me. As noted above he's quite protective of me. I wonder how he'll do when he's not the only toddler vying for my attention.

For some reason this song from The Spoons comes to mind:



For more Quick Takes visit Jen at Conversion Diary.

Pneumonia....Again

Jaxin has pneumonia. Again. He had the flu in February which turned into pneumonia and was out of school for three weeks. In March he got bronchitis and missed more school. Yesterday we went to the doctor and he was once again diagnosed with pneumonia. Last night the doctor and I both agreed that it's time to see an allergy/asthma specialist to find out why Jaxin is so susceptible to respiratory illnesses. He knows a good one in Salt Lake and will try to get a referral to her office for us.

The poor kid just can't catch a break. Or a breath for that matter. Everytime we plan something fun he gets sick. He was sick for our trip to Vancouver in the fall, he was sick during Christmas, and now he might miss the last day of school which is the BEST day of the whole year. I mean, seriously, what kid doesn't love the last day of school?

I know when it's coming on. He gets lethargic, fevered, starts coughing and can't keep anything down. We usually end up at the after hours clinic where the Dr. treats me like an irrational mother who can't handle a sick child until they listen to his lungs and realize that he sounds awful. Wheezing and gasping for air. Hours and chest x-rays later we walk out with a prescription for antibiotics and a diagnosis of pneumonia or bronchitis. I can't even tell you how many times this scenario has played out in just the last year alone.

Hopefully, fingers crossed, we caught it early enough this time that it doesn't turn into a weeks long ordeal.

This is really one of those times where I'm reminded just how badly I hate being a working mother. I should be home tending to my sick child, instead I'm sitting in an empty office waiting for the phone to ring so I can collect a paycheck. How's that for priorities?

Ice Cream Sandwiches

Now that my morning sickness is gone I just want to eat everything. And I mean EVERYTHING. For example, yesterday I ate half a jar of pickles, a bunch of sugar cookies some fruit loops and a small package of lunchmeat. And that doesn't include breakfast, lunch and dinner.

There is a HUGE (48 count) box of ice cream sandwiches in the freezer at work and I don't know who they belong to. Now that I've seen it I can't unsee it. I have never wanted an ice cream sandwich so badly in my entire life. I can't even walk into the kitchen because I don't trust myself around that damn box.

Curse my coworkers and their delicious frozen treats! I'll be thinking about it all day long.

So, do I take one and leave an IOU? Like that scene in Dumb and Dumber when the guy opens the briefcase that is supposed to be filled with money and gets nothing but IOUs. ("Those are IOUs, they're as good as cash.") I can just imagine my poor coworker opening his ice cream sandwich box only to find it empty except for 48 sticky note IOUs in various colors signed, The Pregnant Lady at the Reception Desk.

Or do I stay strong and pick some up on the way home? This is a major dilemma.

Don't Fear the Swimsuit

Jaxin and I were looking through an old photo album last night when he came to a picture of my siblings and I taken about fifteen years ago. It was taken in the summer time as we were getting ready for a family vacation that would include a river rafting trip. I remember being upset about the thought of wearing a swimsuit.

He easily pointed out his aunts and uncles, but when he came to the broody teen girl sulking in the corner, dressed all in black with big glasses and stringy hair I saw him pause. Then a look of recognition crossed his face and he sucked in his breath.

"Mom, is that you?," he asked in horror. I nodded. "You were hideous!," he shouted.

I laughed so hard that tears began to form in my eyes. Jaxin obviously isn't one to sugarcoat things and I've come to appreciate his brutal honesty.

It's true, I was not an attractive child. I was cute as a baby and came into my own in high school, but there was a period of time between the ages of ten and fifteen where I was not pretty. It was a combination of braces, big glasses, acne and my big brother's hand me downs that contributed to my boyish appearance. I probably could have looked better. I just lacked the confidence and knowledge to do it.

You all remember those awkward pre-teen years right? I wouldn't go back for anything in the world.

I wasn't teased too badly, but I was painfully shy. To the point where I would start to sweat and stutter if I had to speak in front of a group. I remember the two things that I feared the most were shopping for girl clothes and wearing a bathing suit. In fact I didn't own a swim suit for about ten years. I was always the girl at the pool wearing an XXL t-shirt over a pair of boys swim trunks. I wanted so badly to be one of those girls in a cute bikini without a care in the world.

In high school things got better. I learned how to use a curling iron, lost the braces and my mom finally forced me to buy some girl pants. I went from being shy and awkward to opinionated and obnoxious. Still though, I carried that fear of bathing suits into my adult years. It wasn't until a few years ago that I finally found the courage to buy one.

Looking back I do wish I hadn't been so hard on myself. I missed out on a lot of fun opportunities because of body image issues. The older I get, the less it matters. Not that I don't care about my appearance, I just don't let silly issues like that hold me back anymore.

Yesterday was swimming lesson sign up day at our local pool. I noticed while I was registering Jaxin for a class that there was a mommy and me toddler class in the same time slot. Knowing that Austin would love it I signed us up without even thinking about it and I'm really looking forward to it. It will be better than sitting in the bleachers all summer and will hopefully be a fun bonding activity for the two of us. Also it may encourage me to shave my legs more often than the usual once a month, but I make no guarantees.

Funny thing is, the thought of cramming my pregnant butt into a swim suit and stepping out in public doesn't absolutely terrify me like it used to. It actually doesn't terrify me at all. I'm not sure if that's a sign that I'm getting older or that I'm more confident. Maybe both, who knows?

Part of it, I think, is now that I have kids it just isn't about me anymore. I'll be spending time in the pool with the people I care about most. Who cares what my butt looks like?

Living on One Income

We've fallen off the budget wagon this last month and desperately need to get back on. I'm getting a little nervous about the upcoming birth of child #3, even though it still months away. My hope is that if we plan well now, we will minimize the damage when the time comes.

I'm super excited about the new baby, but there are three problems that I fear will become very real in January when our family goes from four people to five.

1. I don't think that FMLA applies to me. The company I work for has less than 50 employees so I'm not eligible for FMLA and am not guaranteed a job when my maternity leave is over
2. I have no maternity leave cushion. When Austin was born I had a temporary disability plan that I contributed to each month which paid for my leave. Right now I have nothing like that and since all of our extra income is going towards debt we have little in savings.
3. I'm going to be a mother of three! I need to be home with my babies.

Being a stay at home mom is something that's always on my mind. I want nothing more than to be there for my kids while they're small and I am constantly scheming up ways to quit my job and stay home. Unfortunately, my husband is NOT on board with this. Not because he doesn't want me to stay home, it's just that the thought of living on one income is terrifying to him. I agree. Money would be tight and we would have to sacrifice a lot to make it work, but it would only be temporary. I plan on finishing my degree and when the kids are older I would go back to work.

The thing is, we always find a way to make do. When the money stops rolling in we are pretty good at scaling back in order to make ends meet, even when it seems absolutely impossible. Our main problem is that we always seem to live just within our means, so when we have extra money it's nickled and dimed away very quickly. We could definitely be better at saving. I just think that it would be better for the kids if I wasn't working or was working from home.

Here's the start of my list on how I can make it happen.

• Have a huge yard sale to kick off the summer. We'll put all the proceeds into our baby account.
• Save everything. My goal is to have at least two months wages in savings by the time the baby comes. To make this happen we will have to save every possible penny from now until then.
• Pursue part time work at home opportunities. I'm open to working part time or working from home if necessary. I want my family to be my full time job.
• Find ways to cut utility costs. It drives me absolutely crazy when I walk into an empty room and the lights and TV are on. I need to train the kids to help me save electricity.
• Recycle. There is a plant near by that will buy our recyclable materials. I'm not sure how much money we will actually make doing this, but every penny counts, right?

There are a lot of other areas we could cut back as well. We could eliminate one of our vehicles, sell our trailer, cancel our cable and other unnecessary monthly expenses, but I don't think my husband is quite there yet. It will take some more badgering guidance on my part.

I will probably post about this more in the next few months, in the mean time here is a great bunch of links about living on one income:

Mommy Tips has a six month plan to transition to one income.
Keeper of the Cheerios posted about it here.
Rhonda at Down to Earth is full of good ideas.
Frugal Dad has been there, done that. Read his tips here.

Waterfall Canyon Hike

I love the town I live in. I hear a lot of people complain that there isn't anything to do here, but I have to whole-heartedly disagree. There is plenty to do and see, you just have to go out of the way to find it.

For anyone wanting to get out and explore Ogden's trail system, the 29th Street Trailhead is a great place to start. From here you can access the Bonneville Shoreline Trail, the Mt. Ogden Fitness Trail, Taylor Canyon, Waterfall Canyon and a number of interconnecting trails in between.

To get there, head East on 28th Street from Harrison Blvd., make a right on Polk Ave. and a left on 29th Street. Follow 29th Street all the way up to the trailhead.

From 29th Street you can make your hike as easy or as difficult as you want. Weber Pathways has a cool interactive map tool on their site here. Both the Shoreline and Fitness trails are great for beginners, if you are looking for a more intense hike follow the signs for Taylor Canyon or Waterfall Canyon.

Last night we hiked the Waterfall Canyon trail. This is one of the more popular trails in the Ogden system because it rewards hikers with awesome views of the valley and a massive waterfall at the end. This is not a easy trail, it's about 1.5 miles straight up to the waterfall with a few really steep sections.

I wouldn't recommend it for small children, but older kids and adults can usually make the climb. Last night there was a church youth group and even a lady who is about seven months pregnant and was packing a toddler on her back. (For the record, she was using this pack from Ergo and said she loved it.)

If you go bring lots of water and wear good shoes. It will take you at least two hours. You can expect to walk over loose rocks and through water on the trail. Watch out for rattlesnakes, especially during the summer when they come to the river to cool off.

Despite all that scary stuff, it's a fun trail and totally worth the climb. From the trail head follow the sign that says Taylor Canyon South trail, this will wind you through a bunch of scrub oak, past the golf course and to another fork. Go right (south) and keep following this trail straight up.



This is the view to the North about half way up the trail. You can clearly see Ben Lomond Peak and most of North Ogden. This view is especially beautiful in the fall when the leaves change.



This is the view to the West, towards Antelope Island and The Great Salt Lake. I'm not a photographer, so these pictures don't really do it justice. It really was breathtaking last night with the earthy sounds and smells coming from the river and the sun barely setting.

You will cross two bridges, then the trail starts to get rocky and steep. Watch your step here, it's easy to twist an ankle in the loose rocks. Keep going, you're almost there now.

At some point you will have to cross the creek to get the best view of the falls. The creek is narrow and relatively shallow, but can be quick moving. When the water is high like it was last night it can be treacherous. We crossed on a bridge that someone had made with fallen trees. We made a human chain to ensure that no one lost their footing and fell in. This is the view approaching the falls.



Here we are at the top. That's my almost-brother-in-law, sister, mom and myself looking kinda dorky in my capris. (Fyi: No, that's not a fanny pack. It's a
sweatshirt.)



We sat at the top for about half an hour just taking in the view. We were all tired and sweaty, I'm obviously rocking the no makeup look. After a long hike the spray from the falls feels really good. Bring a jacket, it gets cold when it's windy.



Here's the view of Ogden from the top. Again you can see Antelope Island and the lake.

Unique Baby Names

I found a new obsession today. The Baby Names board at babycenter.com is just chock full of great naming advice for little ones. I've spent the last hour or so going over the posts and adding to my short list of possibilities.

To be honest, I'll probably be driving you all nuts with baby name posts until I've decided because it will be basically all I think about for the next nine months. I'll try not to over do it, but I make no guarantees. In fact, if you are ever talking to me and I don't respond you can assume that I'm not paying any attention to you at all, but am mentally pairing up baby names instead.

Baby naming is really hard for me, especially considering that I need to take my husband's input into account and he's a little more, um, conventional than I am so we tend to disagree. Also our last name is long and a difficult one to work with.

I like names that are unique, but not weird and have some significance to them. I'm drawn to boy's names that are strong and masculine and girls names that are not too flowery but still feminine. I like to tie the middle name into the family if at all possible.

Boys are more difficult than girls for me, but just in the time I've been online I've added these three to the list: Hudson, Noah and Sullivan (only because I like the nickname Sully). For girls I've found Norah, Maia and Adalyn. I'm fully anticipating that when I read the list to my husband he will make a face like he just smelled something awful and we will have to start again from scratch.

Jaxin told me this morning that we should name the baby Rex or Sally. This is coming from the kid who wanted to name his little brother "Poop" two years ago, so we'll count it as progress and add them to the list.

Feel free to add your suggestions below.

This post is linked to:

Things I Love Thurdsay at The Diaper Diaries

Down Dog

I think our dog was a hippie in a past life. He loves to keep his fur long and hates the groomer. Unfortunately, if he goes too long without a haircut he gets mats and starts to smell.

He got a haircut over the weekend and the groomer had to remove his beard due to a matting issue. I was trying to convince him that he looked very handsome, but I don't think he believed me.

He sulked under the coffee table all day and wouldn't let me take his picture. He didn't even want to go outside for his usual patrol around the perimeter of the yard, because God forbid the neighborhood dogs see him looking like this.

This post is linked to wordless Wednesday here and here.

Albertson's BMOW: Roast Chicken and Rice

Albertson's has whole chickens on sale for .77/lb. which is a good deal. I like to buy two or three, roast them on a Sunday and use the meat later in the week to make fajitas, stir-frys or soup.

This week pick up a whole chicken for .77/lb, Albertson's chicken flavored rice side for $1.00, and 2 cucumbers for .69/lb.

Roast Chicken
3 lb. Whole Chicken 2.31
2 Tbsp Olive or Canola Oil .25
Salt and Pepper to taste .05

Rub your chicken with oil and salt an pepper both on the outside and inside the cavity.

Roast at 375º for about and hour and fifteen minutes for a three pound bird. Internal temperature should be 180º.

Chicken Total: 2.61

Serve with rice ($1.00) and cucumber spears (1.38) and dressing of your choice for dipping .50.

Meal Total: 5.49