Facial

So, my last post was about some "Me Time" and being offered a FREE facial! I promised to write about it after, so.....

As I mentioned before, I've never gotten a facial before, so I talked to my good friend and know-it-all expert, Google, so I would have a good idea of what to expect. Well, Google prepped me for a totally different kind of facial.

I was excitedly expecting to go to a back room of the salon, put on a plush robe, lay on a comfy cot-thing, wrap my hair back, and have cucumbers on my eyes and all sorts of creams, exfoliants, and more fun and yummy-smelling things. That's not what I got.

I walked in, introduced myself and the lady doing it did as well. She had me sit in a hydrolic chair (like what you sit in to have your hair cut). My hair was already in a ponytail, so no worries about that one. She then discussed my skin care needs, skin type, etc. Once we decided which facial would be best for me, she used a warm towel and wiped my face off and applied a cream. I sat under a steamer for 5 minutes, then she wiped that stuff off. She put another cream on my face, lotion & baggies on my hands and wrapped them in another steamy cloth. This time, I got yummy smelling cream on my face. Then the timer was up for them, she did my makeup and sent me on my way.

 It was an experience that lasted about 30 minutes total and my favorite part was Debbie doing my makeup. I asked her to try some techniques and colors that I had been wanting to try at home, but I'm never daring enough to try on my own.

It was fun, but I had no idea of what to expect, and knowing that would've been a little better. Oh yeah, the name of the facial that I had? Merle Norman Express Facial. Which I found out once I got to the salon.


BEFORE:

AFTER:

ME Time

What is "me time"?

Madea, a character from Tyler Perry's genius of a mind, argues with her daughter in a scene in "Madea Goes To Jail", about Cora needing "me time". I am a HUGE Tyler Perry fan, and encourage anyone to check out his movies, especially he Madea movies.

For me, I made a resolution with myself a few years ago that I would remember to take a few minutes a day to myself. I'm not always successful. Up until this summer, my "me time" has usually been my shower time. And oh how amazing it has been (until this summer) for every other weekend, I get to take an uninterrupted long shower and just enjoy the relaxing sound of the water, and not hearing "Mooooomm!" every two or three minutes. By the way, I've actually come to miss this.

My goal for this summer was for me to make my time away from Katie to work on me and become a better mom and person. I have been less than successful at doing much more than working and sleeping-unless I have Katie.

 I'm so excited that I finally get a few minutes of "Me time" tomorrow. A local salon posted on their Facebook page that they had an opening tomorrow morning and would love to give someone a FREE facial. So, after work, I'm getting my very first facial, and it's free. Of course I'll give a tip, etc. But I'm so excited! I'll be sure to post tomorrow how it went, before/after pics and all the details.

Mid-Summer Fun!

It's been about a month and a half or so since my last post, which was about Katie going to her dad's for the summer. What a summer it has been!

 Katie has been having lots of fun while she's been at her dad's, and I mostly work and sleep when I don't have my visitation with her. She's been busy swimming, having all sorts of fun, and playing softball.

As I've mentioned before, Katie's dad and step-mother have a swimming pool, so she can swim almost any time she wants to. She has kept me up to date with all the fun she's having in the pool: she can now swim without any floaties (I think we'll still use some until I know she's a very strong swimmer), she can touch the bottom of the pool, and her dad bought a basketball goal for the pool that she really enjoys playing with.

Katie's dad and step-mother have been making sure is having lots of fun and staying busy! Among other things, she's gotten to go see a circus, and spend time with her Grandpa and Grandma Shelton, and her older brothers. She says that when she's at her grandparents' she gets to help her papa take care of a baby calf, and she really enjoys getting to pet its head because it us really soft. I am so thankful that she is having a fun summer with them!

Katie's softball team sponsor this year was The Wagon Wheel Diner. It's a new diner in Fairfield that has a country theme, as I'm sure you can tell from the name. I've never eaten there, but I know several people who say it is really good. Katie mostly played left field, but her last couple of games, she got to play catcher a little. We discovered that she really enjoys playing catcher. With a little off-season practice, I think she will be great! She didn't hit any home runs this year like she did last year in tball, but she got a lot of good hits! I'll try to get sone videos uploaded at some point in time. Her team tied 1 game and won 1 game. They weren't the best, but they tried their best and every player on the team improved tons throughout the season! I'm so proud of them all!

We've also had our 7 days together, and we had fun just hanging out the two of us.

Katie has also lost 3 teeth, including her top front 2 this summer. She's growing tons and keeps getting prettier by the day. We've also added a member to our family, Katie finally got her goldfish. She named it "Goldie" and is very excited about having a pet!

School will be starting in August, and it's right at a month before Katie comes back home for the school year. I'm so ready for my baby girl to be home!

The day Goldie came home, and her bottom tooth is gone.

Top front tooth

Both front teeth! 

Goldie going home with us!

Katie and GoGo

Softball!!!!!:

Changes

I haven't updated in over a month. A month and 11 days, actually. Some big things have happened with Katie, and it's taken me every moment of that time to soak it in and be able to talk about it without anger.

While it may be common knowledge that katie's dad and I don't get along-at all (in fact I think oil and water may get along better than he and I do), what isn't common knowledge is that for roughly the last year or so he has been trying to gain custody of our daughter. Sole custody. As in she live with him and I have weekend visitation, etc.

Some of you may be asking yourselves, "Why? Avery is a good Mom". While I do the best I can, I went through a rough spot emotionally the summer and fall of 2012. He decided to take these things, throw em in with a couple other accusations (some false, some extremely outdated or stretched), and use them against me to attempt to prove me unfit to have custody of Katie.

Moving on.

Our final court date on this issue was May 1, 2013. We were scheduled for a hearing/trial before the judge over our case. It didn't happen. Together, with our lawyers, we were able to come to an agreement outside of the courtroom.

For those of you who don't understand why I agreed to the set agreement (which I will describe as this post progresses), I'm going to explain what happened in that room, as best I can.

We sat down and he and his lawyer admitted they were no longer seeking custody of Katie, however, they wanted more visitation time.

Through discussion, we decided it would be best to wait in seperare rooms and allow our lawyers to go between. They made proposals, we countered, etc.

We finally came up with Katie staying with me through the school year, with her seeing her dad every other weekend, holidays, and certain days during Christmas and Spring breaks. And she goes there all Summer. She will be with me alternating weekends, 5/7 days, and she continues to play summer league softball in Fairfield as long as she stays interested. Of course there's a couple of other minor details that aren't as significant. So, there it is. Nothing else changes. Summer visitation is pretty much the only thing that changed.

Several people have questioned why I would agree to this. While I really want to simply say, "I'm her mom, you aren't.", I won't. It was actually a matter of unknowns: I could have taken my chances and said absolutely NO to anything they presented and gone through a full trial before the judge and risked losing custody of Katie; we could've gone before the judge and he could've ordered all sorts of other changes; we could've gone before the judge and he ordered she go there all Summer, no softball, no 5 days, nothing. In the big picture, I think the agreement really isn't too terrible, which is why I agreed to it.

It will be very good for their relationship to spend some extra time together. I'm actually kind of anxious to see how it goes.

It took Katie a couple weeks to warm up to the idea of being at Daddy's all Summer. At first, she was extremely opposed to the idea. Now, she's warmed up to it. She remembered that Daddy has a swimming pool and she'll be able to swim as much as she wants. (I remember when I was little and I loved going swimming so much, I can't even imagine if we'd actually had a " big" pool). Now she's started to be excited about it and I'm hoping that it will help make for an easier transition for both of us.

Maybe I'm being a little selfish here, but I'm kind of worried about how I'll do this summer. Katie and I are pretty much joined at the hip. I've asked to work extra hours and changed my availability some to help keep my mind off of my sidekick being gone. I'm thinking about maybe taking a class at FCC over the Summer, and I've resolved to get more active, and stay that way. I'm going to try "clean" eating, walking leading up to running, and getting and keeping my apartment spotless (ya, right!). Maybe I'll even find a guy to keep me busy. My primary focus when I don't have Katie and when I'm not at work, however, will be getting-and staying-healty.

In other news, softball practices have started and we are excited to start the season! Katie's first game is May 27 at 8pm.

We'll see what happens. "One day at a time" has become my motto for this Summer. I'm finally somewhat optimistic about it. It's a Summer of possibilities-for Katie and for Mommy.

6 Years Ago

Wow! It's hard to believe that TOMORROW my baby girl will be 6. S. I. X. Years. Old. Six. Its been 6 years since she was born. Wow. I am in such disbelief at how fast time has flown by.

I would love to share with you the story as to how I found out I was pregnant.

In May, 2007, Katie's dad, Rodney, and I started dating. By the end of June, we were engaged, and married December 15, 2007. I'll save that story fur a different post. That's the story of her dad and I.

In June, 2006, I started working at Champion Labs. In July, my insurance went into effect. As my insurance went into effect, I started getting sick. All the time. I would throw up 3+ times a day, 5 or so days a week. For a year solid. I underwent countless tests, Dr appts, etc to figure out what was going on. As things were ruled out, my Dr decided that we'd look into my gallbladder. Now, keepnij mind that any test I had had done on my gallbladder came back reletively normal. We decided to take it out and see if it helped. "Why is this relevant to the story of Katie?", you ask. Hang tight, you're getting ready to find out.

Now, a patient must have reutine testing and things done before having a surgery. Roughly two or so weeks before my gallbladder operation, I had a simple procedure done where a scope is insured through my esophagus and down to my stomach, just to make sure my stomach isn't what was causing my issues. Since I'd had those preop tests done so recently, I was able to skip most of them. Except the pregnancy test. They redid that one.

I remember laying in the OR, when the nurse came in from getting the results from my blood HCG (the hormone that becomes elevated when one is pregnant). I asked her what it was, "Negative. Why? Do you think you could be pregnant?" Was her response. I was "late". But I was relieved that the test was negative. Being put under general anesthesia when pregnant poses man risks to baby.

August came, and I STILL hadn't "started". I was still taking my birth control regular, of course. Well, the time came that I needed more. I went to the Health Dept to get my script refilled. While there, they did a urine test just to make sure. Well, I had done a few at-home tests, which came back negative, so I wasn't expecting anything too exciting. How wrong was I! It was positive! I don't remember who my first phone call was to. My sister, maybe? I remember the call to Rodney, I was pumping gas at Casey's in Albion. That night, we went for dinner at Lonestar in Mt. Vernon. Which I barely ate because EVERYTHING that went down, came back up.

I was constantly sick. Anything & everything made me sick. My first Dr appt was supposed to be Sept 10. My loving sister went with me. Of course I was running late and the Dr wouldn't see me. So, we went to the ER in Mt. Vernon. I found out I was 10 weeks pregnant. My sister was by my side throughout my entire pregnancy. I believe that she went to more prenatal visits and birthing classes with me than Rodney did.

The next roughly 30 weeks flew by. We found out we were having a girl (finally! The first ultrasound she wouldn't cooperate and the tech wasn't certain what we were having). Rodney knew all along we were having a girl. I constantly second guessed it. We picked out a name.... Kathleen, after my mom, and myself; Alexis, I heard it on the radio and fell in love with it (though I really wanted Gracelyn, but her daddy wouldn't agree); and Rose, after me. Since I picked out most of her name, I let Rodney pick out her nickname. We had decided on Katie, but I let him pick how to spell it, with some input from me, of course.  We went baby shopping, had a baby shower, found clothes, and anticipated Katie's arrival.

Anticipating that I would have a big baby-I was over 8lbs at birth, and I believe Rodney was close to 10, my Dr recommended I be induced. A date was set-April 9, 2008.

On April 8, Rodney took me out for Mexican in McLeansboro as a sort of last dinner/date with it being just the two of us. On the way home, he joked that labor could go into the 10th, and she would be our little shotgun baby. 4/10..... A 410 shotgun..... Yeah. Once we got home, I made sure I had the diaper bag packed and ready, and I barely slept at all that night!

I don't remember exactly what time, but I know we woke up early to go to the hospital-Good Sam in Mt. Vernon. IL. I really want to say that we had to be checked in at 6am. The nurses started my IV at approx 7am, my Dr came in and broke my water about an hour later. The day progressed, and it was fairly boring, I got an epidural, which had to be redone, then around 11pm, I started begging to push. They finally let me start around 1am on April 10.

Kathleen Alexis Rose was born at 2:05 am, April 10, 2008. I had my sister on one side, and Katie's dad on the other. I cut her umbilical cord. I remember them laying her on my chest and I was just overwhelmed with emotion. Katie weighed 8lbs, 2oz, and measured 20 ½ inches. She now weighs close to 65lbs and is over 3 feet tall!

The last 6 years haven't been easy-Rodney and I got divorced, and Kate and I have been through a lot.

I have been the best mother that could be. Katie constantly teaches me new things about being a Mom, and we are growing and changing together every day.

6 years ago, my world changed. It turned upside down. And I would not change any minute of it.

 5 years old

 4 years old

 4 years old

 2 years old

 First day of PreSchool, 2011

3 years old

 5 years old.

Weekend thoughts

I know this blog is supposed to be about my crazy life as a single mom. Well, it's not so crazy anymore, which I described in my last post. I know, I'm posting twice in one week, I must have gone crazy or something, right? No, I just can't sleep. I love it every few weeks when my insomnia makes an appearance and I go days on just a couple hours of sleep. It's the life, let me tell you. Just kidding. It really sucks.

What do I do when I can't sleep? I SHOULD clean or do something productive, but I don't. I lay in bed and toss and turn, play on my phone, think about a bazillion different things that really don't amount to a hill of beans, and watch movies.

Katie is at her dad's this weekend and that leaves me home alone. I usually work my way through these weekends, but today (Saturday) was my niece, Evelyn's (Evie) 4th birthday and her party, so I took the weekend off work. Evie is my brother's little girl. If I haven't told my few loyal readers before, he and his wife, Jen, live in Indianapolis. So, we made the trek up there. As you can imagine, it was quite an adventure. We had my sister, me, dad, his girl friend Mary, and my sister's two daughters all stuffed into my sister's new (to them) Acadia. Oh yeah, along with birthday presents, changes of clothes, 2 car seats, along with everything else that goes along with 6 people in 1 vehicle on an all day road trip where we'd spend roughly 8 hours in the car. It was a fun adventure and I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

I'm going to keep this relatively short. I'm starting to have trouble keeping my eyelids open!

I've been posting from my phone; I'm hoping to be able to start posting from my computer soon, and I'll share some pictures, links, and other things from my crazy life.

Until next time, stay safe, have fun, and God bless!

Randomness-Update

I once said I liked it when my life gets a little crazy. I now want to knock that person out. Maybe I should say that I like it when I stay busy.

Last year at this time, I was a full-time student, part-time employee, and trying tonfit motherhood in the mix. I was in my phlebotomy clinicals, finishing up coursework for my associates degrees, studying for my phlebotomy board certification, working, and being a single mom. I know there are thousands upon thousands of single parents out there who do this. It just seemed extra hard for me. Oh yeah, I forgot to throw in a custody battle with my ex husband. And some other nonsense court business. Oh the craziness and the stress!

This year, the custody battle is ongoing, though it does not require as many days off work and out of class as it originally did. The other cases have been settled, and life is not so crazy. Busy? Absolutely. I like to stay busy. Just not crazy busy.

I'm working almost full-time, I've graduated community college, but I'm still on the job hunt, and I have so much more Mommy & Katie time! That is absolutely the best part of life slowing down this year, and the point of me taking time off from school before going on to an university. I work more often, and longer hours, but I'm not spending so much time "zoned out" studying or halfway being a mom.

Katie definitely enjoys having her mommy's attention more, and she takes advantage of it as often as she can-which is about every 5 or fewer minutes.

It's crazy to realize that my baby girl will be turning 6 in less than 2 weeks. She is growing in leaps and bounds. I find it so hard to comprehend that my 8lb, 2oz, 20½ in baby has grown to barely fit in my arms and weighs over 60lbs these days. She still loves it when I rock her like a baby, we get to have our cuddle bug time, and just getting to be Mommy's baby. Now we squeeze that time in between reading books, talking, and doing homework. And of course I can't forget that she loves fixing her own snacks, drinks, or doing most things for herself. She has become so independent the last year!

As for me, I'm trying to enjoy every minute of watching Katie grow. I truly do love my job and my coworkers. I love that we're like a big family. I will be very sad when the time comes for me to move on with my career and leave my family at McDonalds. And, I'm still single with no serious prospects, and I like it that way. I get to focus on me and Katie. ;-)