Lender nor Borrower Be

Okay, I need to vent a little bit. Well as some of you know we have a home in Florida that we have been trying to sell since Millie was 2 1/2 days old. Well with the market the way it is we had two choses - forclose or Short sale. of course we opted for the less damaging option of a short sale. We got a buyer in June and were to close on July 26th. Here is were the trouble started...Our approval for the short sale expired just before the closing was scheduled and even though the lender knew that there was a closing scheduled they closed the short sale file anyway. So we had to send in updated income and living details also military status and orders. Well for three months now our loss midigations guy with our real estate agency and I have been calling daily and weekly (I can only talk to these people so much before I decide to drive to LA and make them listen to me so I only call once a week) to figure out the status of the approval. Well even though NOTHING has changed in the paper work they decided that since we had signed over signing authority to someone in Florida - someone who can only sign the closing papers on our behalf so that papers don't have to be shipped to us (and since Ben is over seas) and we don't have to find a notary and pay another notary (and they make up to $300 for a closing-I am a notary) that they can't approve the short sale. Well the truth is they don't have a copy of the actual paper that states exactly what this guy is allowed to do because it is a private doc. They only have the info that tells them that this guy will be signing all closing documents on our behalf. The lending people have been so tight lipped over this, because every time we would call they would tell us that it was waiting for a signature from management or that it was in review. Well a week ago Friday I called in the morning to find out what was going on and I was told that the negociator was reviewing everything because she was newly assigned to it and she needed to make sure that everything was in line because her name was on it. The rep that I spoke to sent her an email asking her to call me - She didn't. SO I called that afternoon and spoke to someone else and she told me the same thing and said that she was going to send her another email I asked her to send another one too tell her that this needed to be expidited because we have buyers who are about to walk because they have been waiting for such a long time. She said that she sent her another one (but who knows) - once again I never heard back. Now today I called and I was sent to the late stage foreclosure department. I was told that the short sale was denied because of the signing agents papers. they think that he somehow has authority over the selling of our home. Now you can see how all of this can be very frustrating. It wasn't like we weren't trying to help them get this thing done, we've been calling they just REFUSSED to talk to us. All of this could have been dealt with back in August and our house in Florida would no longer be ours but someone elses. I would have about a billion pounds of stress lifted off my shoulders and I think that I would have been able to handle the stress of careing for my MSC (many small children -thanks MckMama) much better had I not had this cloud over us. So now we are once again waiting for them to tell us what we have to do to get this thing back so that we can close on this house and get out from under it. I will be calling them this afternoon to find out if the supervisor has found out anything. They do have to pull it out of forecloser because of or military status and Ben being deployed right now so at least we know that we don't to worry about that. The biggest problem with all of this that Ben's credit has taken a huge hit and the longer we have to wait the worse it will get. So if I may ask all of you who read my blog (and thank you for reading by the way) to pray pray pray. Pray for favor with this Supervisor that she would see the urgency of the situation. And for speed of finalization of the approval so we can close quickly. Thank you all for taking the time to join your faith with ours (and by the way my faith has been very weak lately because of a lot of junk happening) Jenn

**UPDATED** I think my mind is almost gone

So it seems like everyone is having babies around me and I'm am behind the curve with getting all the gifts done. I made one diaper bag but i will probably be using it myself because it's not very practical as a first diaper bag, and I didn't put anything to make it stiff so it really wont hold too much in the places you want it. (I think it will hold my yarn and needles well though.)

I just finished another one but forgot to take a pic of the finished product before taking to church today to give it to Emily. I do however have pics of the fabric which is absolutely beautiful water silk (I have no real clue what that means in fabric terms but I do know that it is washable) brocade, that I got from WalMart for $1 a yard. I Bought the whole bolt and two other bolts of two different prints one is a brocade the other is a stamped silk. I am making one more diaper bag for another mommy (who just had her baby on Tuesday).

This is the main body of the bag before it was all finished. I'll take pics of the next one for sure.

I have also been working on crocheting boxes from grocery bags. Our church is having a fund raiser for a mission trip to Africa next summer. It is a "Green" sale, everything is handmade using recycled material. The first sale is this weekend. We are looking at trying for another come December and maybe another in the spring.

I also have three pumpkins so far,

and cotton (although only one of the balls have have actually popped open to reveal its soft white fibers.

There are also a bunch of carrots that I will be picking after our first frost ( thanks Amy for the info on the carrots being better after a frost) I am really excited to harvest my sweet potatoes. If the amount of vining is any indication of whats going on under the dirt then there is a plethora of spuds in there I've already had to cut them back 3 times because they were over taking the pumpkins.

In other news. We are half way done with deployment. The past 3 months have gone by pretty fast, but the last 3 will take longer. Like the road trip across 4 states- the last hour always takes the longest. I am ready for him to be home so that I can get some real sleep. I am so tired, I don't remember the last time I was this tired. I don't even think that I was this tired after each birth.

So since I am so tired I am going to head off to bed. I will update this tomorrow with pics of everything.

**Update** I forgot to add that we have a new addition to our family. His name is Charelston Chew. We don't know exactly what he is but his mom was some sort of shepard.

Good Night

A Fantastic Blog

my friend Lauren turned me to this blog and it is great. If you have every wondered why bad things happen and how a good loving God could let it happen then you have to read this blog. When you go to the page click on the link at the left to start at the begining. And don't forget the kleenex. It took me just over one evening to read the whole thing. I hope it touches you like it has touched me and so many others. God Bless you all

7 secrets of homebirth

7 secrets of homebirth from a dad’s perspective

1. In a home birth you are no longer relegated to the bench. Before the birth itself there is more to think about in a planning and logistics sort of way, ranging from buying equipment to manly jobs like making sure the birth pool hose actually attaches to your taps. On game day you are not just a big hairy thing whose only use is to be squeezed viciously or swore at. You are in charge of the birth pool, maybe even catching the baby (I'm doing that next time). And, aside from the mother, who will be a little preoccupied, you are the only person in the building who knows where all the towels are. If you have ever read The Hitchhikers Guide, you'll know how vital that is.

2. You'll lose less hair and gain less wrinkles.

Having a baby is always frightening on some level, if you're not scared out your wits you must be medicated or dead inside. With a homebirth though there are less things that stress you out and feed the ugly fear monster within. Think of it: No traffic. No worry of getting lost. No worry of the car not starting. No worry that you've forgotten something. No pacing corridors. No worry about what's happening. No corridors to pace. No smug doctors. You'll still be worried, but it won't consume you. Besides – in a home birth, you have too many jobs to do to have time to let your fear monster run free.

3. Home is where the heart is.

Not to mention Cd's, DVDs, the PlayStation... All your comforts. Your music, your TV, your favourite mug, your fridge, your magazines, your books even your beer I guess. You'll be more relaxed, the mum will be more relaxed and the baby will be more relaxed too when he/she pops out. I'll be honest, despite the stimulus of worry and excitement, births are pretty boring. Maybe I have a short attention span, but it's not, you know, entertainment. And we all know they can go on a bit. With a home birth you will be a thousand times less bored as you can take a break and read a magazine or flip on the idiot box for a bit. Hell, it's probably less boring for the midwifes too.

4. Say goodbye to the little things that kill Me?

I hate hospitals for a million and one small and big reasons. Looking back now I can't believe I didn't jump for joy when Bel mentioned having a home birth simply because I wouldn't have to go to one. My main problem with hospitals is this - the idea of being surrounded by sick people sounds like a bad strategy if you want to stay healthy. Plus there are hundred small things: it smells bad, the foods nasty, it's demeaning to find you way by following coloured lines on the floor and most importantly, when your newborn arrives he/she won't be woken up by someone else's screaming child. Hospitals suck, home rules!

5. You don't have to live the delivery room cliché of the hapless and scorned father.

You know the one - where the woman in labor hates her husband and screams blue murder into his face, punches him etc. Either that or she is so medicated and spaced out she doesn't even know what a father islet alone who you are. With a home birth her labor is undisturbed. She does not have to be picked up halfway through and rushed to the hospital. I cannot state enough how much a difference this makes.

6. You are He-man of the home, you have the power!

That's right. It's not the power of gray skull though, it's the power of being the master of your environment. It's a subtle difference, but one you will notice. Your home is your place. You pay for it. The-midwives and guests are the fish out of water. If they want something, they ask you. There's a funny thing about evolution, it has created the subconscious trait that whoever gives out the food is the dominant player in any situation. That's why in a home birth you will find it feels a lot more natural to ask more questions about what's going on, to make sure that the birth plan is stuck to and to generally be more involved and have more say over the whole thing.

7. You won't have your surprised, fragile heart ripped out.

If you only remember one of these secrets, make sure it's this one. At the end of a home birth, the midwifes leave. Not you. This is the way it should be. In a hospital, you will be torn away from you newborn child and your exhausted wife at the very peak of your emotional vulnerability. Let me paint the picture for you real quick: two weeks before my eldest daughter was born my Dad had died, we were not financially safe and I didn't have a job. In short, it was tough. But being the alpha male I am, I wasn't showing it and being the rock solid guy I like to think I am. But the instant I saw my new daughters face I discovered a vein of happiness and a depth of feeling that washed away my ego and my fears and even helped me come to terms with my Dad's recent death and made me, a mainly scientific sort of thinker, to almost see a thread of symmetry within life.

Written by: Ven Batista

How does your Garden Grow?

Good morning all! I just wanted to post a few pics of my Garden. I am so excited about it. We have peas, greenbeans, corn, squash, pumpkins, carrots, sweet potatoes, Sunflowers, and cotton (don't ask about the cotton, I just thought it would be cool to try and grow some). I have been at this garden since late february when I started everything from seed inside our laundry room. Nathian has been fairly inamered by it, everyday he wants to see his flowers growing. Well today he finally gets to see a true flower. The funny thing about it is I was just talking to my mom yesterday about out gardens and they planted pumpkins too. I asked her if they had any flowers on theirs and she said no. I told her that the buds had popped out on ours but there was no sign of when they would open, then just an hour ago I walked out to water and there in the middle of the pumpkin patch was a beautiful golden flower. YAHHH!!

Here are a few pics of the other wonders that are going on in our Garden.

Sweet potatoes

in a tire.

Carrots in one too

Cotton in another

Green Beens growing on Corn stalks

And of course

the Corn

And Mia is learning to Whistle

(She's getting ready for next years America's Got Talent)

Trying to finish my midwifery study orientation

I have been working for the last 5 days trying to finish up my orientation work so that I can actually start focusing on my studies. I am very close to being finished but the part that I am doing not is very tough. I have to buy two books to finish up one of the assignments but the problem is I have to spend $220 for the books. Now in the long run $220 is not a lot of money, especially when these books are going to be what helps me to be the best midwife I can be. I have been putting off finishing the orientation process because I just hate doing the prep work for anything, I would rather just get in there and do it. YET, I know that I have to do it all from start to finish. ( I wouldn't want to go to a doctor that just JUMPED IN and started practicing) SO all in all it is just a slow and pain staking process but soon (by the end of the month) I will officially be studing to be a midwife (not that I haven't been studing for the past few years, but now I will be getting credit for it). On another note, I am struggling with my boys. Nathian is getting into everything and back talking all the time. He just wont listen to me at all, everything I tell him is wrong. I am so frustrated with him right now and I don't know what to do. Yesterday when we were at the neurologist the doc gave us another medicine for him to take along with the Adderall and a smaller does of Adderall for him to take in the afternoon. The Clonidine is a bloodpressure medicine that they have found helps ADHD children control their implusive behavoir (like being destructive yelling being violent) The only problem that I am seeing so far is that it also makes him sleepy (which sometimes makes him more crancky). I have to find the right time to give him the meds because giving him both in the AM is not going to work. This is going to be hard but I am thankful that Ben will be off for about two weeks so we can play around with the dosage times. Lincoln, I don't know how to explain Lincoln. He is starting to yell a lot. he will not talk properly. He refusses to use his tongue and all the sounds that he makes are vowel sounds and when you can't understand him he then starts to yell and get upset and of course it makes me upset and so it just keeps going back and forth. He also cries at the drop of a hat, he has no problem inflicting pain on anyone else but if he steps on something or if Nathian hits him or even runs into him, he will scream and cry and act as if you have torn his arm off. Somedays he asks as if he doesn't hear you. We do have a referal in for him to have an audioligy exam but that could be weeks from now and I am so frustrated I don't know what to do. Mia is starting to fuss and scream a lot now too but I don't know if she is just reacting to all of her teeth coming in at once and an ear infection or if she is starting her twos early(by about 9 months) I have been working with her since she was born on sign language so that she doesn't have to yell at me to get something but lately it is like she has never seen a sign in her little life. The boys are yelling all the time so she thinks that that is the only way that she will get the attention that she wants. i am at a loss for what to do. Okay enough venting I guess. They are saying now that they are ready for a nap so that is a good sign, hopefully they will sleep for a while and I can get some work done. Thanks for listening.

stayed home sick

Well not really sick but my nose is runny and my throat hurts and I've been coughing but it's really all just allergies. Life in Cali's central valley is quite challenging, last week it was extremely hot (triple digit temps) then this week we have had high temps and winds stirring up the dust and then just as soon as the wind stopped the temps decided to take a dive and the rain started. Now don't get me wrong I love the rain and we have been in great need of it (especially those areas dealing with the fires) but it is very rough on a persons allergies when the weather keeps changing. Not to mention the fact that all of this is happening at the same time that my body is building up it's immunity to our new kitten. So with all that said, I stayed home from church today. The first time since March of 2005 when I went to hospital on Sunday afternoon to have our second child. I wasn't going to stay home because I do have some control issues and I keep thinking that if I'm not there then the Nursery is going to fall apart but Ben convinced me that it would be better for me to stay home and rest so that I don't get really sick cause then I would not be good for anyone. So as I'm here alone I am working on trying to fix my serger (hoping that I don't have to buy new loopers for it.) and also trying to finish up our duvet cover. I also have to get dressed so that we can go pick up my new treadmill. It's not really new but it is for me. I can't wait to start running. I have always wanted to run but I have asthma and so running outside is not really a good idea but now I can run while the kids are taking a nap and then hopefully by the time Ben gets back from his deployment next February I will be in great shape with an even healthier heart. (not to mention rid of the baby fat still left around my middle) I have to get ready to meet the family for Sunday lunch, I just hope my nose is up for it.

brand new baby kitty

Her name is ButterCup. It was originally Scarlet (that is what the lady that had her called her) but Nathian wanted it to be Sweetart. I told Ben that we had to start thinking of names for our puppy (who hasn't been born yet- hopefully this week) and it needed to stay in the candy family. I thought that Kit Kat would be really cute for the dog. Ben was then looking at the kitty and noticed how much her coloring looked like chocolate and peanut butter so she is ButterCup now. It is hard having a new kitten, I forgot what it was like. I don't think it was as hard with Sam (our first cat) because I didn't have any kids chasing him around and I could focus on him and getting him to use the litter box. She has finally used her box but it was just once and she hasn't went at all today (at least not that I can see). having a kitten has also but all my project on hold. I have all the pieces cut for a new duvet cover but I have not been able to put it all together because I can't lay it out on my floor without little paws walking all over it. Not to mention my serger is not working properly, I think I broke it. Which is not fun for me because I love my serger. Everything is easier to make with a serger. Well that is all for now. I will post some picks of ButterCup in a couple of days when I take some pictures of her. And hopefully I will get the duvet finished soon too.

Made a some clothes for Mia

So I made a beautiful dress for Mia for Easter. She was so cute. It's a reversable wrap. I used a tutorial from another creative mind http://whatdidshedotoday.wordpress.com/category/tutorials/. Thank you Amy.

It was so much fun to make and a lot easier than it looks. I didn't enjoy making my bias tape but I found a new tool (at least new to me) at Joann's, it acually folds your bias tape for you. You still have to sew and cut out your material but then you slip your material into the tool and you pull it through and start to iron it. I haven't used it yet but I am actualy looking forward to it .

I also made another dress for Mia using the same concept as the wrap but it is more of a jumper. It ties on the shoulder. I also tried to make reversable bloomers but it was very hard to put the elastic in around the legs so I opted for just surging around the leg holes with a simi rolled edge so they look more like shorts which is fine, I just have to tie the shoulders tighter so it looks more like a short outfit.

I used $1 fabric from Walmart to make the short outfit and a brocade for her easter dress. I do not recommend the brocade if you are a novice, it frays really easy, I would have given up before I began if I didn't have my serger. The fabric from walmart worked really well I actually loved how it was thin and you can see what looks like a watermark background print (I took a picture I hope you can what I'm talking about.)

First Blogger blog

Okay so this is my first time blogging with Blogger, I have only used Myspace to keep up with all my friends and family across the country. This is very new to me and I am not a consistance blogger. I am a very busy mother of three and they really keep me going. I have been working this week on about a million projects and have only finished one. I finished up all my paperwork and got it all faxed off to be a surrogate mother. I am very excited about helping another couple become parents. I have to finish up a baby sling to send to me baby sister in Illinois, I also have to work on a baby wrap for her but that one might have to wait till next week. I am also working on a couple of dresses for my baby girl. Along with that I am studing midwifery, dealing with some legal stuff all while dealing with teething crankiness and a three year old and 5 year old all day long. I'm not complaining by any means I love my job but there are days when it is a bit crazy and I wish that I could get a break. I know that one day real soon they will all be gone doing their own thing so I need to enjoy every moment I get with them (at least most of them) I need to get off the computer now and get my kids ready to go out to lunch with daddy. I'm sure that everyone who reads this is going to think that I am the most boring person on the planet but really I'm not I'm a mom and my life will never be boring again.