I need a house!

Well, with the big news of having ANOTHER baby that will be joining our family next year, and with the thought always looming that my 3rd son might join our family at any time, well, my biggest concern right now is our housing situation. 

When it was just me as a single mom with my baby R, we lived happily in a 2 bedroom apartment. The second bedroom rarely got used. We shared the master bedroom and I set up her crib beside my bed. 

Then, when my boys started visiting and sleeping over regularly, one of them would take the extra bedroom and the other two would camp in the living room. 

Then, when R's dad came into the picture, he would stay in the spare room on weekends while he visited R. Pretty soon he moved in and the 2nd bedroom was his. 

When she got to be 4 years old the apartment was too tiny for us so we found a bigger 2 bedroom basement suite that came with a fenced back yard. Which we all loved and used all the time. 

Then, my 1 son came to live with us. The 2 bedroom was starting to feel tiny. My son took the 1 bedroom and me and R and her dad took the master. 

Then things fell apart and I moved out. I rented a 2 bedroom suite so me and R shared the master and my son took the small room. 

Then things changed and we started looking for a 3 bedroom. We found one. Right now R has her own room and my twin sons share another bedroom. Me and S share the master. 

When baby comes, she will share the room with us and when she gets older she can share R's room. 

But I'm sick of renting. I basically give away $13,200 / year to pay someone else's mortgage. And all because I don't have a down payment? That's crazy. I am going to talk to a guy at rentbusters and see what can be done. 

I'd love to buy a house that's big enough to be able host Thanksgiving Dinner for my family. I'd be nice to have a small basement suite I could rent to my bestie, so she would always have a place to live. It would be awesome to actually OWN something instead of throwing my money away every month. 

I write this with the hope and expectation that God is hearing my prayer. That He will provide us with what we need. And that one day I will look at this entry and say, "Oh goodness, My God is soooo good." as I read this entry in my newly purchased forever home. (That has jets in the bathtub.)

Head Lice Elementary

Our daughter started grade 1 in a brand new school this year. She used to attend daycare and school wayyyy on the south side because that's where we lived for a long time, but in the past few years we have moved 3 times and each time we get farther away from the south. We are now officially located in North Edmonton. So I thought this year would be a great time for a brand new start. She was really excited to be going to a brand new school "Just like Matilda!" she would proudly say as we would drive by her new school.

Anyways, this brand new school is classified as an "Inner City" school and I heard that it had major lice issues. My daughter has had lice twice. She had caught lice from family members (cousins) both times, so before I enrolled her, I called the school to ask if these rumors were true. They replied that lice is an issue at most schools and if lice is found, they will send a note home. 

Well, in R's last school, there was not even 1 note sent home during the whole year. So I was suspicious immediately. I texted my sis-in-law because she has a million kids and is a lice expert. She said that since she started using tea tree oil in her kids shampoo she hasn't had to deal with lice alot anymore. She also said she does regular lice checks just to make sure if they do come home that it doesn't get out of control. So, with my mind at ease, I enrolled my R to this Inner City school.

So guess what was in her backpack the VERY FIRST DAY she came home from Grade 1? Yep. You guessed it. A note from her grade 1 teacher saying "Lice has been found in our class. Please check your child and read the brochure." Behind the note is a brochure all about lice and how to treat them. 

By the time I read the note my little girl was already in bed sleeping, so I checked her head first thing in the morning. I was very relieved to see that she was lice free and I silently thanked my sis-in-law for telling me to buy shampoo with tea tree oil in it. I mixed a teaspoon of coconut oil and 5 drops of tea tree oil in my hands and spread it all over R's hair, and tied her hair up in a ponytail bun. She was quite impressed because she said she looked like a Pokemon Doctor....

I explained to her that "someone" in her class had lice and that if she hugged anyone today, those lice would jump right up into her hair and then she would have lice. She assured me that she would NOT hug anyone because she did not like lice in her hair. I also told her that if she saw someone scratching their head furiously, then to be careful because they were probably scratching lice. She seemed to understand. 

She came home from school that evening lice free again! She told me very seriously that she did NOT hug anyone, and I praised her for that. 

Again, this morning, I mixed up some coconut oil and tea tree oil and slathered it in her hair. I got to say, I hope this continues to work! I feel like I have beaten the lice epidemic single-handedly. I feel like I have conquered. 

I'm comforted in knowing that even if I happen to find a lice on her now, I have the confidence to handle it right away. It will never get to an out of control situation where I'll feel like I have to quarantine my house (like the 1st time she got lice!). I feel a lot wiser and calmer about it. But hopefully those little buggers just stay away. 

Aren't I too OLD to have another baby?

So, 2 weekends ago we were doing our bi-monthly grocery shopping trip. This is where we stock up for 2 weeks on supplies like bread, lunch meat, fruits and vegs, and personal care items. I had noticed that I hadn't bought any pads for awhile and I went to grab a big family size pack of Always Plus when all of a sudden I realized, I was 10 days late!


Now, I'm a bit.... um.... older... and so late periods are not that abnormal for me. I've been anywhere from 2-5 days late before and not been pregnant. In fact, just this past May I was 5 days late and in a panic I texted my sis-in-law telling her about it and she laughed at me and said it was probably stress (because I had been dealing with alot that month) and that I should take a test to be sure. So I went out and grabbed a pregnancy test that had 2 tests in it, just in case one came out positive and I had to double up to make sure. (Turned out I wasn't pregnant.)


Anyhoo, 2 weekends ago, when I came to the realization about my pads, I decided to come home and do that pregnancy test that had sat in my top drawer for the past few months. I went into the bathroom and peed on the stick and almost immediately, the test turned positive. I honestly didn't know what to do next. My heart was beating so fast, and I felt.... excited! Could it be true? Am I going to be someones Mommy, again?


I went and layed down in my room so I could think. A couple minutes later my bf and daughter came into my room to tell me we had to go back to the store because we forgot a few things. I said "Ya, ok. Um, we need to pick up a pregnancy test too because this one says positive." My bf gave me a funny look and said ok, and my daughter didnt understand what I had just said.


So we went back to the store, and I went and got an expensive "Clearblue" test. You know, the kind that turns into a plus (+) sign if your pregnant. We got home and I went straight to the bathroom and pissed on the stick.


Sure enough, it turned into a Plus sign right away. There was no dening it. I walked out to the living room and said to my bf "Well, I guess we are going to have another baby." Our daughter looked up at me with quizzacle eyes and so I said to her directly "Guess what baby? Your going to be a big sister. Mommy is going to have a baby."


You should have seen the look on her face. Her eyes and face literally lit up. She clasped her hands together and started jumping up and down and yelled "YESSSS!!! OH MY GOODNESS! YES!!!! I'm gonna be a big sister!"


My first ultrasound is tomorrow. We are all very excited to meet this new baby.