I guess after some serious contemplating, Steven must have come to some kind of epiphany this morning.  Because when I happened to wake up this morning at 4:30AM, he was sitting at the dining room table looking for houses in Baton Rouge, and told me that he wanted to give it a chance.  I was like, “Okay…what made you change your mind?”  And he just said that he realized that he already had a job, and he didn’t want to have to look for another one, and that he just wanted to go ahead and do it.

So today, I spent most of my day, looking for houses and apartments online.  We’ve found 2 different places located in the area we’ve chosen to live in.  One is a brand new 3BR condo (pretty much an apartment) for $1100 a month.  Much better than the $1300 or $1400 we had been coming across.  The other is a 4BR house I found on Craigslist located in the same area, but in more of an established older neighborhood, but still nice, and it’s only $1050 a month.  Has a huge backyard and all kitchen appliances.  Obviously, it seems like the better deal, but we have no idea what it looks like.

So we are going down tomorrow, to take a look at the house.  We will be staying the night since Steven has to go to work tomorrow night, so I booked a really nice hotel room for the kids and I to stay in (with free high speed internet, woohoo!!)  The next day, we just plan to browse around Baton Rouge a little and get the feel of the city.  The kids will miss one day of school, but it won’t hurt just this one time, and really won’t matter since we are definitely moving.  I’ll be making phone calls to the school in the area, which from what I’m told, is walking distance from the house we are looking at.  So I totally love that!  We might just swing by the Baton Rouge Zoo on our way out, since the weather is so nice, the kids will probably love that.

Well…it’s getting late, and I better head to bed.  I’ll keep you guys posted and might have some pictures to share as well!  Wish us luck!

Thanks for stopping by My Mama Drama!

Technorati Tags: houses for rent, Moving, relocation, rental homes

Of course, in all this excitement of possibly moving, which we will most definitely still be doing but still don’t have any idea where, I’ve been browsing apartments and rental homes online.  Specifically rental homes, because I really think we are going to have to pass on an apartment this time.  We really need more room than an apartment can provide.  I’ve found some gorgeous homes, brand new, spacious and I wish I could say affordable, but that is not the case.  Like I said earlier, we are currently only paying about $450 a month in mortgage payments, and I’ve found that amount will more than likely double, if not almost triple when or where we do decide to move.  It’s just a fact.  Steven just can’t see us paying that much, and that’s why I’m having so a hard time convincing him.

But I can still dream, right?  Here’s a picture of one of the places I found when we were still considering Baton Rouge.  This is the living room.  I can just imagine Steven and I curling up on the couch and sitting down to a movie on our new entertainment system, with some of the best in-wall home theater speakers installed in the corners.  The house has 3 bedrooms and 2 full baths. It has walk-in closets, bathroom with a jacuzzi tub and separate shower.  A huge fenced in backyard for the kids to play in.  And as you can tell, it’s brand spanking new.  Something that is not totally necessary when we do find a house to rent.  Although, brand spaking new would be nice, I don’t mind finding a home that is a little older, but still in good condition.  That should save us a couple of hundred a month.  This one rents for $1200 a month, btw.

Technorati Tags: looking for a house, new house, renting a new home

Since I’ve started blogging, I’ve made tons of online friends.  Some I would call just acquaintances, and others that I consider very good friends, and would love to meet one day.  Actually, there are two in particular I did get a chance to meet, and one I still see on a regular basis, because she lives only 80 miles from me.  A few months ago, I started a group blog for moms of multiples, and it is composed of about 7 ladies that I met through a Babycenter message board.  Franca, who is now living in Hong Kong, I got to meet last December, because she and her family were moving from Chicago, and wanted to make a trip down south before they did.  So they ended up passing through my hometown.  Now how cool is that?  Anyway, I enjoyed meeting her and her husband, 4 year old daughter and 1 year old boy/girl twins.  The other one, Keri, who lives 80 miles from me, has identical twin boys, and she’s the one that has taken those beautiful pictures that you have seen me post of my kids, and in the post about the twins’ birthday recently.  She stays pretty busy, but we still email each other back and forth, and hope to get together again soon.

About November of last year, I met Tessa who lives in CA.  I don’t know what it was, but somehow we just clicked, and have gotten pretty close.  Tessa and I spend almost every day chatting on IM off and on all day long.  She has been a great friend and I really hope to meet her one day.  We’ve joked about me coming out to California, and us going out partying all night long.  LOL  We’d go shopping in San Francisco, or out to eat at a nice restaurant in La Jolla.  I could definitely see it happening, well all but the partying all night long, I doubt I could keep up with her. LOL  And she swears that when she gets married one day, I’ll be invited to the wedding.

Anyway, I think it is so cool all of the people that I have met through this great world of blogging, and even cooler that I’ve had the chance to meet a couple of them.  Do you have any online friends that you have met or hope to meet one day?  Feel free to share it in the comments.

Technorati Tags: blogging friends, meeting online friends, online friends

Awww….this makes me really sad.  Partly because I, personally enjoyed his movies old and recent and he was a legend in the film industry, and also because my mom (who passed away at the age of 73 three years ago) loved him.  She was a huge movie buff, and face it, who couldn’t love him, the man was unbelievably gorgeous, was he not?  Anyway, I hope she’s meeting him right now.

So here are a couple of pictures in tribute to an Academy-Award winning superstar who personified cool as an activist, race car driver, popcorn impresario and the anti-hero of such films as “Hud” and “Cool Hand Luke“.  And of course, my all time favorite, Tennessee Williams, “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof”.

Technorati Tags: Paul Newman Dead at 83, Paul Newman Died, Paul Newman Dies of Cancer

So far, we still haven’t moved.  Steven started his new job last Saturday.  He worked Sat and Sun, and then was off Mon and Tues.  His drive there takes him about 1 hour and 20 minutes.  A pretty rough commute, I know.  I don’t think it is something he can continue doing for much longer.  Considering Thursday morning we woke up to a flat tire when I had loaded all the kids up in the van to take the older two to school.  So I got half way down the street before I realized it, and then turned around to go back home.  Steven aired it up and had planned to drive it to the nearest tire center to have what appeared to be a screw in the tire removed and plugged.  Then the van wouldn’t start.  Turned out that the battery was very corroded, so he and my dad cleaned it up and it worked fine after that.

So after all that drama, got the tire fixed and he went to work that night and came home without any problems.  Friday morning, I got to thinking that since he didn’t go into work until 8PM, that someone would need to pick up his first paycheck, because if we didn’t get that day, we wouldn’t be able to until next week, since it was located in the HR dept.  Well…considering Steven had just gotten in that morning around 4AM and needed to sleep, I offered to drive to Baton Rouge to pick up his check for him, and I did just that.  So, later that afternoon after I had gotten back from Baton Rouge and picking up the kids from school, Steven gets up to go cash his check and get a few groceries.  When he returns, he notices that the tire was flat again.  At this point, it’s very late in the evening and all the tire centers are about to closed and no one was able to get to it, so he had to call out at work.  Something he really didn’t want to have to do, but had no choice.  We are taking the van in this morning to either get it fixed or a brand new one put on.

All of this, to me, is just telling us, that this commuting thing isn’t going to work out.  It’s putting too much wear and tear on our van, and we need to make a decision ASAP about moving.  I’m having trouble convincing Steven though.  He’s concerned about the housing situation.  Currently we are only paying $450 a month for our mortgage, which is a “steal” compared to anything else.  If we moved to BR, our rent would double.  So he’s nervous about that, and afraid we won’t be able to afford it.  Which I can completely understand.  But the schools there are so much better, and that’s where my head is at right now.  I’m prepared to do whatever it takes so my kids can get a better education.  And if that means I have to go back to work, I will do that.

And another thing, is he’s not that excited about living there.  I know you are probably thinking, “Then why did he take a job there?”  Well…at the time it was the only offer, and some crazy stuff that I won’t go into happened at his job here, so he didn’t have a choice and had to take it.  So we have lots of things to discuss, and decisions to make.  He has also wanted to go back to school to finish his degree, and I keep reminding him that LSU is right there and would give him that opportunity to do that.  He could be dealing blackjack by night and carrying around college textbooks by day.  So that has enticed him a little.  He also wants to see if the company will be able to provide the hours that they orginally had promised him, so that’s another thing we are waiting on.

Hopefully, we will have all of this stuff figured out in the next month or so.  Of course, I am totally ready to just sell our house and get out of here, but I respect his concerns and will give it a little longer.  I just pray that our van holds up.  We’ll see…

Technorati Tags: college textbooks, dealing blackjack, mortgage payments, Moving

I have posted these previously, but I feel like I need a reminder as to why I need to lose weight and what inspires me to do it.  Here are 5 things that inspire me to lose weight.

1. First and foremost, my kids. I’m no “spring chicken” (having my first born when I was 30), and being the weight I am, I find it very difficult and exhausting to keep up with them. I have dreams of being able to run around and play with them, without getting breathless and tired. I want to take them to Disney World in the very near future, and when I go, I want to be able to enjoy myself with them, and not constantly be worried about where I can find a bench to sit down.
2. I’m tired of not “loving” myself. I’m very self conscious about my weight and how I look to myself and my husband (even though he tells me he loves me the way that I am…I know…I’m blessed). I’m ready to feel good about myself, and not become nauseated every time I look at myself in the mirror.
3. And I’ve mentioned this before, but heart disease, stroke and diabetes runs rampant in my family, and I absolutely REFUSE succumb to it.
4. I have really enjoyed Weight Watchers and plan to get back on it. When I’m on it, I’m able to eat a lot of the things that I used to, but just in moderation. Now don’t get me wrong, with WW I definitely eat a lot healthier that I did before, but I love how I’m able to indulge (not overindulge) in some of the things I like without going off my diet.
5. And last, this blog! I am having such a blast sharing my progress with my new found readers! I refuse to start something and not finish it, and having this blog has definitely helped with that.

Technorati Tags: Inspiration, lose weight, motivation, weight loss, Weight Watchers

HAPPY BIRTHDAY EMMA & FAITH!!

Two years ago today, an amazing event occurred.  The very unexpected, premature birth of our twins, Emma & Faith.  It was a very stressful time for us, but some how we all pulled through it.  Today, they are two very typical 2 year old girls, with two completely different personalities.  Faith is Allie’s “mini-me” practically.  Always, toddling right behind her where ever she goes.  She’s Allie’s little partner in crime. LOL

Although, Emma had a little trouble with learning to sit, crawl and walk, she has completely caught up with Faith, and now is capable of dressing herself, putting on socks, shoes, etc.  It’s really amazing.  I am constantly catching her putting on Allie’s pants or Christopher socks.  It is so adorable.

Here’s a video that I would like to share (some of you may have already seen it) in celebration of their birthday and their survival really.  We’ve been so blessed, and I thank God everyday for them.

Technorati Tags: premature birth, premature twins, twins birthday