Moving On

Well the day has come after five long years for my husband to say goodbye to his job. 

He has been applying with so many companies over the past few years and nothing has been snagged, well until now

Let's rewind. 2 weeks ago my husband came home from one of his trips very distressed about how things panned out with work during the week. He kept going on and on how no one at the warehouse will listen to him or his concerns.

 He has to maneuver a large semi through small streets in neighborhoods and busy cities (San Fran, LA, Seattle) not only to deliver but also pick up. When he arrives @ customers to pick up one item that was scheduled, they say he supposed to pick up 5, which he was but dispatch didn't tell him. So he spends so much time re arranging his entire truck to fit everything together like a giant puzzle.

Well that weekend he went on a resume/application spree and just prayed something would pan out, and his prayers were answered. 

A company based out of Harrisburg, OR called him Monday to let him know they received his app, and were processing it. On Tuesday he received a call from his work asking why they had gotten a call in reference to employment. Sean explained to his boss and she asked what they could do to keep him there. He asked for a 2 dollar raise, (same amount as other 2 interstate drivers) and paid vacation. She said she would relay to the owner. By Wednesday the trucking company in Harrisburg called and said they had one more thing to check out but would be giving him a call the next day. No call from his work that day, at all. On Thursday the new company called and offered him the job. He gladly excepted but had been so worked up about how stressed he was with his current job he promised to start the next week, no 2 week notice to current job. On Friday he called and talked to his boss, they would only offer him 1 dollar more, and no paid vaca. He let her know he would be leaving the company and this was his last trip for them. 

I was really upset that he didn't give a two week notice. I didn't want him to leave on bad terms with the company. But as it turns out, his boss, his co-workers, and the owner said he has amazing work ethic and if ever wants his job back, he is more than welcome to it. 

Monday we went on a spree trying to get things taken care of and trying to figure out what to pack for him because neither of us knew what to expect. He left Monday afternoon to return his work shirts, and work phone to the company and from there drove to Harrisburg, staying in a "Bunk House" behind the school/company with other new employees.

This week is orientation. Learning about the company, the policies, what to expect and what is expected. They have gone through physicals and a lifting test. They are being tested on basic knowledge of the industry and also what they have been learning. He finishes on Saturday and will come home for a day, or two. Then it's off to sunny so cal for a week for glass training. They offered him two different positions and he took the I-5 corridor route hauling glass on a flatbed, also running into AZ. In CA he will be learning to drive with a flatbed and how to secure the glass.

I am extremely nervous for this new chapter as I have no idea what to expect. For the past 5 years this is all I have known with Sean, and now something new we are starting together.

As nervous as I am I am trying my best to be supportive and encouraging. Yes I have expressed more than one concern, and voiced some opinions but I am keeping myself at bay.

For once in a really long time, Sean is excited. He has this Ora around him that I can't see, but I can hear it in his voice when I talk to him and does that make me happy.

I am proud of my husband for taking a step in a new direction, and I am proud of him for wanting better for our family, and providing for all of us. I am excited for him and scared but I think once I see positive coming from this, which is already is, I will be much calmer

. 

Also since this company is 2 hours south, that's where our little family is headed. My heart had been set on moving to Ohio, but this opportunity came up and I have to do what's best for my family. So here in a few months, for the first time in my life I will call Oregon my home & that is exciting! 

Operation Rid Ant, Day 2

Yesterday I posted a blog on my attempts to remove these pesky creatures from our home

Here are the results

I placed 3 Jars in the kitchen and 1 in the bathroom

In the eve I checked on all the jars and L sink jar had a bunch of ants, R sink jar not so many and bottom of sink jar had TONS

Bathroom jar was 50/50

Before I went to bed I checked on the jars again only to find hardly any ants in the kitchen anywhere. I saw a couple but they just looked totally lost, side note; I didn't kill them because the directions said to keep them alive, they are going to kill the colony for me.

I checked the bathroom jar and it was covered, & was crawling. Made my skin crawl. 

So today when I went to grab the jars to refresh the solution this is where all my ants were,

 bathroom jar

Now these bait traps were meant for ants to crawl inside and collect the food to take back to the nest but it's like ants decided to move to where the food was. They were alive in these jars and thick. It's almost like I made an ant farm(that I didn't want)

But good news is that I got a bunch of these lil suckers and a few minutes in a "bath" did just the trick

When I made the 2nd batch of solution I upped the borax to 3 tablespoons. 

I also placed the larger jar in the bathroom this time. 

Got ants?

Got Ants?

Well we do and Lot's of them

It used to be only spring time when we would see them and it would be in our living room under the window or in our bathroom. 

But now

They have been going non stop since summer and they have taken over the right side of our kitchen where our sink is. 

I have set ant traps with no luck

Our neighbors have them to in their kitchen too

During the summer we must of pored boiling water onto at least a dozen ant mounds out in the yard on the sidewalk

We have complained about this issue to our landlord and his resolve was to buy raid ant killer spray, SPRAY, to put on our Kitchen counters, where I prepare our food, my children's food, yeah I don't think so.

So I have be researching at home remedies to get rid of ants and I found a simple make it yourself ant trap so today I made 4 of them using:

3 small baby food jars

& 

1 large spag. sauce jar

Mix

1 cup sugar

1 cup water

and 2 tbsp Borax

Then you poor the mix into the containers and then fill with cotton balls

Pierce the lids to create small holes and twist back onto jars

Then you place the jars where you see the most ants

(In our case I put one on both sides of our kitchen sink

The largest underneath our sink

and one behind the toilet)

Here is the finished product

The goal is for the worker ants to gather this "Food" and take it back to the colony where the other ants feast on it and they slowly die off.

My only concern with this is that this isn't safe for our children or pets, thus being why they are in sealed jars. Tonight I will see how it is working and I may just switch to the safer child/pet friendly version of just baking soda and water.

Sweet Child Of Mine

My sweet child or is it My obnoxious child?

These days it's one or the other, and sometimes a mix of both in one day

Let's start with the sweet one

The sweet one helps

loads dirty laundry

loads the dryer

Hands me clean dishes out of the dishwasher

Hugs his sister randomly

Hugs me randomly

Opens the screen door to let our dog into the yard and opens it again to let him back in

When we get home he sits down right away to remove his jacket and shoes and socks and puts EVERYTHING away

Now for my OBNOXIOUS child

Running around screaming

Throwing things just because he can(He has dinged Shell's a few times without meaning to)

I clean his room all day long and as soon as I leave he is back in there throwing everything out of place, not playing with anything

When I ask him to pick something up he just runs away

I let him out of the shopping cart yesterday and as soon as that kids feet hit the ground he took off

People were staring, some laughing, and some giving us dirty looks like we were bad parents.

Sean ran after him and I walked with Shelby, sooo embarrassed. 

Last week Michael was walking with me and I let him go to help me put things into the cart when he darted off into the clothes. I saw what direction he went in and tried to catch up with him on the outside and then I didn't hear his feet anymore. I ran to the end of one of the clothing isles and stopped to try and find him and then he ran right into my cart! Oh that child!

& now for the worst

He will not leave his diaper on AT ALL

I lay him down at night and as soon as my eyes are off him he strips down to bare skin

It wouldn't be so bad if he didn't pee, but he pees as soon as his diaper is off so I have had to do many many bed changes.

This happens throughout the day as well.

When I shower, or do dishes, and try to cook, just about anytime he doesn't see me his pants and diaper are off. 

I know these are signs of him being ready to potty train. Months ago I bought him this cute duck toilet to start going potty in, and when anything hit the bottom it would make music, cute right? 

Wrong

The toilet has a lid, because it doubles as a stepping stool

The seat can be removed to be placed onto the real toilet

There is a cover for little boys that folds up

and the waste container can be removed

It was nothing but one big toy to the kid. All he wanted to do was play. 

I kept telling Sean we just need a seat with a hole in it, just one solid piece. We looked around for a while and saw a couple but they were just obnoxious with price but then out of all places we found the perfect one, IKEA. This little green potty seat for $5 bucks, couldn't be that.

The last couple days we have been using it throughout the day. We bought the thick padded training underwear for him to wear and pull down when he needed to go. He will sit down on the potty just to fart, which is pretty cute, but he is getting the idea. He has peed quite a few times but hasn't pooped yet. I am praying he gets this whole going potty in the toilet idea!

Shell's @ 7 months

Our sweet little Shelby turned 7 months old on Jan 29. I haven't blogged about her in a really long time so here is a review of how my little girl is growing.

Her 6 month well child check up was on the 30.

She weighed 16 pounds and is 26 inches long.

Her ped. said she was getting long but staying on the narrow side. 

She is eating baby food like a champ. We gave her, her first bite of food the day she turned six months old. They were peas, and it did not go well. Since then we have graduated to liking green beans, banana, pears, squash, & sweet potato. But she will not stand for carrots or applesauce. I think that's funny because Michael would not touch applesauce either. 

After we started feeding her the baby food along with her cereal (oatmeal, rice, & mixed grain) She wanted nothing to do with her bottle. She just kept spitting it out. I upped the amount of formula in her cereal just so she would still get the nutrients but her little body was not handling the lack of liquid. At first I thought it was because she saw Michael eating and that's what she wanted to do. (she does get really mad if he is eating and she is not) Then I thought about the bottle nipple's. I had Sean go buy a faster flow and we made that change and  bada bing bada boom, she was sucking those bottles back they were going out of style. I was on top of all this with Michael but it just zipped right past me with Shell's. 

She is also holding her bottle. I notice it's easier for her if it's a 4oz. compared to her 8oz bottles, or if it a larger(rounder) bottle. 

This girl is on the move as well. She rolls around all over the floor and each day gets closer to crawling. Last night I walked around the corner to find her rear all the way up in the air with her on her tippy toes but her face was planted into the carpet. She hasn't figured out how to use her arms and legs together yet, but she is almost there. I put things out of her reach and she will roll around until she gets to it. 

The bouncer. FAVORITE. Oh the smiles and giggles I see out of that child when she gets to bounce around is to die for. The music activates when she moves and she just goes to town. She shakes the arms because she jumps so much and at times really hard.

Her hair is getting thicker and finally starting to grow in the back. She still has a really small, like quarter size bald spot but it's slowly filling in. It's getting longer and longer in the sides and top and curls like crazy. It used to be just curly when her hair was wet but then it would dry super straight when her hair was really thin but the thicker it gets the more curl is wanting to stay. I am also able to give her little pigtails or a pony which I LOVE. He is just too stinkin cute when I put her hair up but she does seem like they give her more of a tude. When she gets mad her features pop out more.

The nicknames

Shell's, Shelly, sissy,  and what I use to always get her attention is Shel Shel.

 Michael calls her Shebie

She is in a size two diaper and in 6-9 months size clothing. She still wears a size 1 shoe but not for much longer.

Still no teeth but I have a feeling the top are going to pop through before the bottom ones will. 

Bath time is still debatable with her. She seems to like being in the water cause she will splash around but she is soooo so serious during bath time. She just is so focused and doesn't smile during bath time. Ha. 

This girl is a smiling machine and laughs at just about anything. She will be rolling around and all I have to do is say "What are you doing little girl" and I kid you not that girl will bust out some big ol hearty laughs. When we are out and about people are almost drawn to her and always saying, My aren't you a happy girl. She watches people and follows them and almost always flashes a pretty smile when they make eye contact. 

 She really has lit up our lives and although she was not a planned addition she certainly has become a very welcomed one to all of us. Michael adores his sis and she adores him.