Potty Training!! Whoo Hoo!!

Okay, so a couple of days ago Micha started trying to go pee pee on the potty. He only went pee once in two days. However, today has been very successful! He has already gone three times today! Whoo hoo Micha!!

As most of you know we are expecting again and my goal is to have Micha in diapers only at night by the time the baby is born. We just can not afford two kids in diapers, as I am sure most of you can not either.

So, wish me luck on my endeavor! :)

Over already?

Well, its Sunday night and the weekend has passed by in the blink of an eye... I don't even know what has happened. WOW! I really don't remember... I know that Saturday we took the boys to the park but, that's all I remember. Oh well!  Ill write some more tomorrow... I don't really have much to write since I haven't done anything worth remembering! haha

Nikki

Dear Army I hate YOU!!

Well, today I found out that our check is going to be low and we are not even going to be able to afford our bills let alone groceries. ARG!! They say that we owe some debt from when we moved here from Georgia. They say they over paid us travel. Well they took out a bunch of money when we first got here then they finally stopped and now all of a sudden a freaking year later they are taking out money again! What!?! Why would you do that? Because, the Army SUCKS!! They do not care about families all they care about is fighting wars that are not ours. SCREW YOU ARMY!!!


The Angry Army WIFE!!!!
Nikki

Heart Beat!

Well, today my dear friend Kim let me use her fetal monitor and I got to hear my peanuts heart beat. Thank God he/she sounds great. It had a heart rate ranging from 120-143. Thank you Kim!!

First Appointment... Worried!

Well, today was my first Drs. Appt. today for little peanut. It was a giant waste of time, other than the blood drawing and finally getting an ultrasound scheduled. I sat in a classroom with ten other women listening to a lot of crap I already knew, like how its going to feel to be pregnant, really... cause I don't remember that from last time!

Okay, so if everyone does not know I have lost many pregnancies before this. I had a miscarriage before we lost Jacey who was born sleeping. Then after Jacey we lost twins to a miscarriage. Finally, after a lot of medications and a lot of Drs. Appts. we were blessed with Micha. This of course has me very worried that this child will not be okay. I really do not know if I can handle losing another baby, it might actually drive me to the edge.

Now, I am going to say something that might irritate and may even offend some people... to be honest, I DO NOT CARE!! I am worried about this baby, I have every reason to be worried. I am tired of being told not to worry everything is fine. You do not know! Second, I am tired of people who have never lost a child telling me that they understand what I went through with losing so many babies, especially with Jacey. I would not wish what Craig and I went through on my worst enemy, but unless you have spent time in labor, given birth to a child, and not been able to feel their heart beating or their hand squeezing your finger, unless you had to bury your child instead of taking them home and watching them develop and learn their milestones, YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND!! Please stop telling me you do. It does not help me, all it does is make me angry, disappointed, and very upset!

So, I am going to close in saying, your best bet when trying to console me is to not try at all. I do not need someone to tell me not to worry about my child. Just as you worry about your living children, I worry about my living, dead and unborn children! Thank you for your concern and for caring enough to tell me not to worry but it will not change the fact that I am so do not even waste your breath trying!

Thanks for listening!
Nikki

The start of what has to be a good day!!

Well, after a very sleepless night of worrying about this Drs Appt. I have in about an hour. I got up this morning to get ready and had a productive morning. I am wearing makeup for the first time in a long time. I do not know if its good or not since my eyes are all watery and itchy I kinda want to take it off. Oh well I guess!

Anyway, this morning for Micha is AWESOME!!! He went pee-pee in the potty!! Whoo hoo Micha! So yeah, I am so proud of my little man!!


Okay, so I have to leave for my Drs. Appt. but, I will let ya'll know how it went as soon as I get back.



Thanks for listening!
Nikki

Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte!!!

So I just got real excited about the Pumpkin Spice Latte coming back to Starbucks for winter... then my bubble popped!!

I CANT DRINK LATTES!! I'm Knocked UP!! 

Sadly,
Nikki

Micha James... Our little miracle!

So if you read about Jacey you know that our little Micha is a miracle baby! He was a blessing that we never expected to actually receive. In October of 2008 almost a year after Jacey we were able to conceive our angel Micha, after three miscarriages and Jaceys death. Micha was born on July 13th 2009 the day after my best friend and his godmothers birthday! That is one lucky baby!

Now Micha is two years old and ALL BOY!! He is a jumper, I swear he is going to be that kid that breaks at least one bone every year. He is going to be the death of me. Being a "Nut Case" aside, he is a wonderful loving little boy and is about as sweet as can be when he is not telling people to "shut up" and hitting them while saying "pow-pow", which I will admit is my fault.... OOPS!  I am hoping however that he gets out of that soon. Especially since we are now expecting our third child. We do not need a neurotic big brother teaching the baby to smack people and telling them to "shut up", as funny as that would be.

This year with Micha has been interesting. Just since we have moved to Texas from Georgia he has developed the most interesting personality I have ever seen a two year old with. He is starting to speak his mind and protecting what is "his". Just recently when we hung out with another military family he was playing with a train and the little boy took it from him. Well, Micha did not like that much and smacked the little boy in the head and cracked it open. The poor kid had to go get stitches in his head... So not cool! I still feel really bad every time that kid talks about it. It is very sad! I have a crazy kid on my hands.

Wish me luck on my journey with this "Nut Case" of a child!  :)

My first born...

Jacey Allen is our first born child. He was born sleeping on December 20th  on that dreadful day from Anencephaly. Below is a blog I wrote on Facebook and Myspace back in 2007 right after he was born. I am sorry if it is a little unorganized and fragmented. I was very upset and not writing, reading, or thinking very clearly. All I knew was that I lost my child. Since I have learned a lot more about this terrifying defect.

On December 17th 2007 I was twenty weeks pregnant. I and my husband were going to the doctor for an exam and ultrasound. I was so thrilled! We were finally going to get to know the sex of our child. When we got to the office, the nurse called us back and put us in a room, I changed and got on the table. The sonographer came in and started the procedure. After about three minutes of looking at the monitor she got an odd look on her face. I then realized there was no movement on the monitor. I asked " Is there a heart beat" she then told me she was looking for it. After what seemed to be an eternity she got up and sat beside me on the table, as I sobbed, she told me " I don't know what happened, nor do I understand.But, what is obvious is there is no heart beat." As I started to sob harder she left the room. The Doctor came in to talk to me and told me he was going to have to induce my labor on the 19th of December. My husband and I went home and we got to be admitted. We came back on the 19th and had another ultrasound done, Still no heart beat was seen or heard, still no movement. About ten minutes later I was admitted. They had to induce my labor by giving me a pill that was supposed to make me contract. After about forty-five minutes I started to contract. Later that night as the labor got harder and the pain increased my water broke. It was around 1:30 Am December 20th, 2007. Then after 17 hours of labor at 4:30 Am I got up to use the restroom. As I sat on the Toilet, I realized I was not using to bathroom but, my water was still draining. Then my baby, started to drop, I felt him sliding and so I reached down to catch him. But, due to all the amniotic fluid and the placenta I could not. I screamed for the nurse. After about two minutes she came in and got my baby. They then told me he was a beautiful little boy. He weighed 2 oz and was 6 inches long. He was so adorable. You could see his little nose, mouth, eyes and cheeks. After about ten minutes my Doctor came into my room and said " I know what happened! And I know how to prevent it next time!" He then told me that my body does not produce Folic Acid, a vitamin that woman need while pregnant to prevent neural defects in Infants. My son's brain did not develop. Only his cerebral cortex did which is what kept him alive for twenty weeks. But, eventually it gave in to the strain off keeping him alive. The next day I was released, and had to have my first born son cremated. We went to the funeral home and signed all the papers. A week later we had a memorial service at our church for our son.



The following is a little more information on the dreadful defect that took my beautiful baby and so many others from the arms of their loving mothers and fathers.

Anencephaly

Aprosencephaly with open cranium

Last reviewed: May 1, 2011.

Anencephaly is the absence of a large part of the brain and the skull.

Causes, incidence, and risk factors

Anencephaly is one of the most common neural tube defects. Neural tube defects are birth defects that affect the tissue that grows into the spinal cord and brain.
Anencephaly occurs early in the development of an unborn baby. It results when the upper part of the neural tube fails to close. Why this happens is not known. Possible causes include environmental toxins and low intake of folic acid by the mother during pregnancy.
Anencephaly occurs in about 1 out of 10,000 births. The exact number is unknown, because many of these pregnancies result in miscarriage. Having one infant with this condition increases the risk of having another child with neural tube defects.

Symptoms

• Absence of the skull
• Absence of the brain (cerebral hemispheres and cerebellum)
• Facial feature abnormalities
• Heart defects

Signs and tests

A pregnancy ultrasound is done to confirm the diagnosis. The ultrasound may reveal too much fluid is in the uterus. This condition is called polyhydramnios.
Other tests that may be done on the pregnant mother:

• Amniocentesis (to look for increased levels of alpha-fetoprotein)
• Alpha-fetoprotein level (increased levels suggest a neural tube defect)
• Urine estriol level

A pre-pregnancy serum folic acid test may also be done.

Treatment

There is no current therapy. Talk to your doctor about care decisions.

Expectations (prognosis)

This condition usually causes death within a few days.

Calling your health care provider

A health care provider usually detects this condition during routine prenatal testing and ultrasound. Otherwise, it is recognized at birth.
If anencephaly is detected before birth, further counseling will be needed.

Prevention

It is important for women who may become pregnant to get enough folic acid.
There is good evidence that folic acid can help reduce the risk of certain birth defects, including anencephaly. Women who are pregnant or planning to become pregnant should take a multivitamin with folic acid every day. Many foods are now fortified with folic acid to help prevent these kinds of birth defects.
Getting enough folic acid can reduce the chance of neural tube defects by 50 percent.
For specific recommendations, see folic acid (folate).

References

1. Kinsman SL, Johnston MV. Congenital anomalies of the central nervous system. In: Kliegman RM, Behrman RE, Jenson HB, Stanton BF, eds. Nelson Textbook of Pediatrics. 18th ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Saunders Elsevier; 2007:chap 592.

Review Date: 5/1/2011.

Reviewed by: Neil K. Kaneshiro, MD, MHA, Clinical Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, University of Washington School of Medicine. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.

Couponing....

Okay, so I figure if I am going to write in a blog I might as well utilize it to teach others what I know about important things that most Army Wives need to utilize too.

Yes Ma'am I Coupon is a page on Facebook. Christy and myself run this page and this is why we do it. As Army Wives we know that the Army does not pay well, at least not until your an E5 or Higher. When you have so many bills you can not afford groceries and hygiene products for your family it makes you feel like a bad mother and wife. Well, I know that I am the furthest thing from a bad mother or wife. My family like most wives, especially Army wives, is my whole life. I am the mother lion I will protect my cubs and my alpha lion (leader of the pride) with my life any day of the week.

This brings me to why I started couponing. I can now after learning this trade walk into a store with less than ten dollars and walk out with what I need for less than that.

This brings me to how you can learn to do the same thing! Like us on Facebook and we will teach you how to do what we do everyday!!


Yes Ma'am I Coupon!

About Me!

Hello people. My name is Nikki. Most of you already know me I assume. However, I do know that some people may not, therefore, I will tell you a little about myself and my family life.

I was born in Modesto California to very young parents. I was raised by my father and my stepmother. I moved to Georgia after being placed in foster care as a young child. After living in Georgia it has become my home and I would not rather live anywhere but there. I do miss my family in California a lot tho. I hope that over the many years of living away from there that I will be able to visit my family and hometown a lot.

When I was sixteen two major things in my life happened. The first and foremost is I became a Christian. Sometimes I may not act like it, I am ashamed to say. I do however believe that Christ is my Lord and that one day He will return to take us home with Him and we will all fall on our faces to worship the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in Heaven.

The second thing that happened to my life was I met my wonderful adoring husband. I met this man when I was but sixteen years old. He was seventeen. We were both seniors in high school and attending a youth trip in Andrews North Carolina with our youth group from Ephesus Church in Rincon Georgia. I believe it was love at first sight with a little delay. After only knowing each other three days we knew we would one day be married. Now, six years later here we are married with two boys and one more blessing on the way.

Today my wonderful husband is a Soldier in the U.S. Army. He has been in going on three years now and we are stationed at Ft. Bliss Texas. We enjoy it here. Ft. Bliss has many wonderful things that we can do with our children and many wonderful places to have our family grow and form together.

Least of all I am a student in the process of studing for my Associates in Early Childhood Education with Ashford University.

I hope that I have given you enoph information about myself and my family. I hope to be hearing from you all. If you want to know anything else feel free to ask. If  I feel comfortable with asking I will give you an answer.

Thanks for listening!! :)

Nikki