Things have been quite hectic

Life around here has been a little crazy since the last posting. On October 9th, Lacy, Dustin's mom had passed away from an accidental overdose. May she rest in peace! The toxicology report came back stating she had 2 drugs in her system (one medicated and one over the counter) that interacted with each other and caused respitory failure. I understand she was in a depressive state and was in pain, but none of us had seen this coming, especially with her having 2 young children. Accidental or not, it is still hard to see it come down to this. Hannah, her youngest and same age as Kayla, is with her father and his family and they will be raising her. Dustin on the other hand, has been a hard decision to make on to what would happen with his custody.

You see, when Phillip and Lacy seperated, Dustin went with Lacy. After about 8 months, he went to live with his aunt and uncle, unbeknownst to Phillip and I until after he was registered in school and in daycare. Lacy and her sister had documents drawn up for them to have temporary custody of him, so they could legally fill out paperwork and such. When she passed, all of this paperwork had become null and void.

Phillip and I had discussed it and we were going to take Dustin and have him come live with us, but not until the end of the school year. We didn't want to make all these changes to his life and complicate it even more, so we were going to let him first adjust to the current matters at hand. We went down on that following Saturday (17th) to celebrate his 8th birthday, when we were approached by his gramma Lauri, stating that his aunt and uncle want to adopt him. So Phillip said we would need to discuss it and would let them know once we had time to talk about it.

We talked, but really didn't discuss it all that well in full force, and unbeknownst to me, Phillip thought we had come to an agreement that we would allow them to adopt him...WHAT?!? WAIT?!?! Are you kidding me? I know there are many pros to them keeping him in the stability of the home that he has known now for almost 3 years, he will have plenty of Military benefits that we can not offer him, and opportunities with them that we can't offer him right now, but there are also many opportunites that we can offer him, that they will never be able to. Yes, they do treat him like he is their own child, they are excellent "parents" to him, and he has become part of their own family. I truely feel that he needs to be with his father, and his sister, and we would have more financial freedom without the child support and the social security he would receive as well to be able to provide him many other opportunites. Needless to say, Phillip is still going through with the adoption, I am not happy at all with this decision. In the end though, he is his son, he does have final say, but I don't have to agree with it, and I don't have to like the decision being made!

On another note, I had stated a couple posts back about babysitting jobs for me, and I had a few that had been really promising, we met, we set dates for when I would start, and then days before hand they all back out. I am not sure if I want to continue on this journey of finding a little constant playmate for Kayla, but financially, until we no longer have to make the child support payments, we are very tight on funds. That being said, with funds as they stand right now, Kayla will be having a delayed birthday and a delayed Christmas, cause we just don't have the funds to get her gifts or have any sort of party for her. I feel terrible about it, but it just can't be helped, I am trying to figure out ways for me to bring in just a little bit of extra income, so we can purchase things for her, but things are looking pretty grim. I am thankful though that we can provide her with all of hers and our basic needs, but we can't do much of anything that costs more than a couple dollars and it breaks my heart, cause I want to provide for her so much more. All I can do is keep trying.

Ok so that basically sums up what our last 3 weeks have been like...I am tired and heading to bed soon, hopefully we can hit up TRU tomorrow for their Halloween Parade event they have going on.

Slacking again...

Well ok not really slacking per say, we really have not done much of anything. Kayla and I have both been sick all week so we have been locked up in the house to avoid giving it to our friends. Today however we went out for a walk so we wouldn't feel so cooped up and ended up over at the shops. I bought a few items for Kayla's b-day and/or Christmas, since I got some money last night doing a crochet lesson, and the money I had set aside for this weeks events that we weren't able to attend because of us being sick. Then we came home and Kayla had a butterfly PB&J sandwich and believe it or not, she actually ate the full thing, I was shocked as she rarely eats when she is healthy, let alone when she is sick. I also think on top of her being sick, she is also cutting one of her eye teeth, it is all swollen and looks like it is about to pop out any day now.

Enough babbling, and since we haven't done much of anything, I don't even have any photos to show you. Wow we are sad..

Wow...such a slacker am I..

Ok I know I have been a super slacker here lately, I will try to keep up more often...I promise. Not really a whole lot going on here though. We had Dustin (Phillip's son) for a week in August, we had a blast and really hated to see him go, he and Kayla had so much fun together. We have been to playdates, which I will upload some pictures of here, but other than that we have been laying pretty low.

Funds have been super tight, seems like everything just seems to come down at once. I have been trying to find odd jobs here and there to help bring in some income, cause I feel guilty having Phillip completely provide for us. I have tried selling my blankets that I have crocheted, yet still no buyers. I have offered up crochet lessons, and did get one "student" but she is now skilled enough that she can be on her own, but it brought in a little extra at times when we needed. I have now started making amigurumi's and will also be adding them to my stores and hopefully I can sell some of those, I am currently making a bowling ball and pin set for a friends son, and had a couple other friends inquire about other amigurumi's so hopefully they are still interested and that will bring in a bit more funds.

I have also posted for babysitting jobs, and I do have one little girl that I have watched once, and will be sparatically watching as mom attends classes at the local college, and if she can find a job, I will be watching her more. I have also have another prospect for a little boy, that would be full time, but his mom's job may be on the line right now and won't know anything till next week, if she keeps her job, I will start watching him in October, lets hope that she keeps her job! Those extra funds would really help out to pay off debt and help out with birthday's and Christmas that is coming up.

We also picked up some panties for Kayla, hoping to soon start to work on the potty training, we just been busy with playgroups that besides the weekends we haven't really had more than 2 days to consectutively sit at home and concentrate on it. Guess I should do that soon though if I get the little boy full time I won't be able to dedicate all the time to her for it...hmm guess I need to cancel some events..

Ok so as I promised...some pictures..

Kayla and daddy being silly!

Daddy and his kiddos

She loves her big brother and he loves her

Wearing daddy's hat

In her big girl panties, take note they didn't last long by the pee spot between her feet hehe

Kayla and some friends at the SAZoo

Is that Dj Lance or Kayla in disguise?

18 month Photoshoot

I have a friend, Monick, that is starting up her photography business and is wanting to build up her portfolio and had offered to do a photoshoot for us for free as long as she could use the photos in her portfolio. I was more than happy to help her out, and her help us out by taking beautiful pictures for Kayla's 18 month shots.

We went over to a park that is pretty much right around the corner from us. It has a little pond and waterfalls and bridges and docks and just a beautiful place to take photos. She took over 200 shots, and here are just a few of the ones that I loved.

Etsy Store

I have been making blankets for friends that have been/are about to have babies. I have found it really relaxing to just sit at night while watching the boob tube when the babe is asleep and crochet away. I figured, since I have been enjoying it so much and it gives me something to do instead of heading to the fridge/cupboards to find something to munch on to feed my boredom, why not set up an etsy store and try to sell some as well. I could always use the extra cash and can still keep myself busy. I will also be adding in some more items to the store besides my blankets. Look for some bows and hats and other crafty items that I make in my "free time".

Check out the store please. http://blanketeerandmore.etsy.com/