Update (sorry!)

Sorry for the lack of updates.
Life has been hectic.
Kiddo has been sick. He's been throwing up nightly for a little while now. We're in process of running a ton of tests to see if we can figure out what's causing him to be so sick. It's so confusing because he's only getting sick at night after he goes to bed. We take all the necessary reflux precautions (no eating 3-4 hours prior to bedtime, etc.) so I hope the tests can give us some results.
Hubby's been on vacation from work this week. It's been nice having him home. We've enjoyed many family activities that we wouldn't normally enjoy together. We all went to see Hop in the movie theater (a very rare treat around here!), hubby & kiddo have went fishing a few times, and we've just been enjoying time as a family. It's nice to be able to have a normal family life, even if it's just for a little while.
We all traveled out of town today to see Kiddo's pediatric orthopedics specialist. The specialist is absolutely amazing. She is very hands-on & is very straight forward with us. We already know most of the things she tells us (like Kiddo can't play any contact sports whatsoever due to his lax joints) but it's nice to be able to go to her & have her know exactly what we're talking about when we say "Kiddo has Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome type 2." Seriously, most doctors in our area say something like "I'll have to look that up" when we tell them that.
Anywho, we're in process of getting Kiddo some modified school activities to take the strain off his knees & ankles. He's very unsteady on his knees & ankles and it's due to his joints being lax (he can move his joints in some weird ways). We also found out that Kiddo has lax shoulders, which starts another host of issues we need to watch out for. By the time Kiddo is eighteen & on his own, I think our medical bills will have put a few kids through college.

I've been doing good watching my money. Obviously this week I haven't saved anything due to hubby being on vacation.
I'm also planning my best friends Jack & Jill shower, bridal luncheon, and bachlorette party since I'm her Matron of Honor for her upcoming wedding. It's been fun! I love it! I'm doing things as frugally, but as nicely, as I can. I've been able to make shower raffle gifts out of things I've had laying around the house (things I've won and/or collected over time), I've been able to get the bride-to-be's church hall for the shower for free (even though I'll donate a bit to the church for letting me use the facility), and I'm currently trying to make shower invitations myself on my home computer (hoping it'll be cheaper than purchasing them). I'm really trying! It's a bit harder to do things this way, but it's so much more fun! I'm having a blast!

Sadly, no major contest wins to announce. I'm still waiting for a big wad of cash or a nice, shiny new car to fall into my driveway. Trust me, when it happens I'll tell the world.

I'm off to bed. Five hours on the road today plus a day full of shopping has worn me out.

Update

What a week.

I've been shopping, but I'm proud to say that I've only bought food & a few other necessities. I haven't spent much -- around $50 or so. I was lucky enough to find some amazing meat markdowns on my shopping trip this week so hopefully that keeps us stocked up for a while.

I've also ventured into soap making for my son. If all goes well, I just might try making soap for the three of us to use & stop buying soap from the store. Right now I'm trying an oatmeal soap for Kiddo. I figure the more I can do myself, the less I'll have to rely on the "big man" who runs these stores & imports items from other countries which is slowly stealing American jobs away.

We're a Union family. American jobs are the only way for us. We won't even step foot in our local Home Depot because they hired out-of-state contractors to do the work on that store instead of hiring in-state local workers. I try to avoid Walmart at all costs. 95% of my grocery shopping is done at Kroger. I even buy my gas at Kroger to take advantage of their discount.

For buying the cats stuff, I go to a local health food store & a local pet food store. My cats eat grain-free in an effort to make them healthier.

Anywho, it's just been a heck of a week over here. I apologize for not blogging more. I've been fighting with so many people over so many issues. I hate jumping through hoops. I can't discuss some stuff that's happened yet, though. Let's just say I'm physcially, mentally, and emotionally exhausted & can't wait for these hurdles to be past us so we can get back to some normalcy in our lives.

One thing I can talk about is that my husband's identity is believed to have been stolen. We woke up Friday morning to fraudulent charges on our debit card. We've filed a police report & we're working with our bank to get things reversed. Right now we can't do anything till all the charges clear the account, which may take another couple of days since there isn't nearly enough money in our account to cover the charges that were made. Our debit card has been canceled and blocked by the bank & a new card has been ordered. Ugh, it's just such a headache.

In good news, I got to see my kid brother this weekend. He's home from college on Spring Break. My brother & I are about 8 years apart so we don't have a real close relationship like I'd like to have, but at least we don't hate each other.

Now I need to get back to my duties of laundry, making dinner, cleaning...
Oh, and did I mention we're hoping to have a yard sale in two weeks? Yep, I'm busy.

I've been home for the past two days doing a whole bunch of nothing, which means no shopping!

However, I do need to go to the store tomorrow & hopefully I won't buy anything stupid. I'm currently browsing sale ads & trying to stick to what's on sale and stockpiling a bit as my budget allows. It seems that grocery prices have gone through the roof lately. My budget seems to get tighter as each paycheck comes around.

I guess it makes things a bit tougher when you buy things that coupons aren't common for. Examples are flour, yeast, milk, fresh fruit, meat, etc. Some people are lucky enough to have stores that give discounts/coupons out for those items but, unfortunately, I don't have any stores like that near me. I do most of my grocery shopping at Kroger. Walmart gets very little of my business & I try to shop at the local health food store for things as well. I really wish we would get a Target in this area. Oh, I want a Whole Foods and/or a Trader Joe's too! Ah, maybe one day...

I'm working on getting enough bread loaves frozen so I won't have to make bread for a couple of weeks. You can make bread & freeze it for up to six weeks and the yeast will still be active when you thaw out the bread. I have one loaf of Kiddo's bread frozen already, but seeing as how he eats one loaf a week & the hubby eats 2-3 loaves of bread a week (and I have zero loaves frozen for him) I guess I should get started.

And now I'm off to get dinner ready to go into the crockpot tomorrow. I'm hoping that if I get dinner started tonight that it'll encourage me to get other things done tomorrow... like making bread.

Today's purchases...

Holding myself accountable:

At Kroger:
Pack of chicken legs for dinner. A meal for my family under $2? You bet I'm gonna pick it up!
Bag of organic whole wheat flour for Seth's bread. Yes, I can buy the other stuff, but I try to keep his diet as organic as possible.
Total spent: $5.80

At a local health food store:
Two big cans of cat food. Smokie, my eldest cat, has no teeth so she gets a meal of soft food every day so I can make sure she's eating. Would you believe buying the bigger cans at the health food store is cheaper than buying the individual cans at Walmart? Makes me feel good!
Big bag of yeast. This is the only store that sells this particular size of yeast & it's cheaper to buy it this way.
Coconut milk dessert bars for Kiddo. A need? Not necessarily. A treat for him? Definitely. He hardly ever gets things like that. It came with 8 bars in a pack, so they should easily last him at least that many nights.
A bag of organic gummy bears. Again, a treat. Not necessarily a need. Of course, Kiddo thinks he needs everything in the health food store.
Total spent: $20.60

Please don't smack my hand for buying Kiddo some goodies. I promise that he hardly ever gets goodies like this... maybe once every other month or so. I'd just rather make him goodies than buy them, you know?

Want versus need.

Okay, so we finally paid off our family car that we bought new when my now seven year old son was an infant...

So, now our next goal is to get a bigger, newer family car & let the hubby have the car we just paid off. The hubby's car is just a car that gets him from point A to point B. It does its job, but I'm worried it'll die beyond reasonable repair before the end of the year. It's already in need of new tires & a welding job in order to pass state inspection this year.

I keep trying to win a car, but since that's not happening it looks like I'll just have to save up & buy another car.

I figured up that if we pinch pennies really tightly & the hubby keeps working like he is now, we can save up enough money for a newer car in a few months. I'm hoping to get the newer car before kiddo starts second grade in the fall.

So, this is where you all come in.
You're going to hold me accountable for the money I spend on frivolous things... you know, things we don't need. Obviously food & gas for the cars are necessities and that's where the majority of my budget goes every week. But, lately I've been guilty of buying a pizza to bring home for dinner or something else like that. I know that the small things add up, so I figure if I write it down I can smack myself if I do something naughty.

Help me achieve my goals! Give me a good smack on the (virtual) hand whenever I'm naughty. It'll take me a little while to get going, but I'm hopeful that we can do it.

So now I need to figure up my wants versus my needs.
Kiddo is outgrowing every pair of pants he owns. My kid needs clothes, right? Not many, of course, but enough to get him through about a week (I do his laundry once a week).
Thankfully it looks like his summer stuff from last year should fit him this year. I *might* have to buy new shorts, but I won't know that for a little while yet. It's too cold for shorts right now, anyways.
The hubby keeps ripping holes in his work pants & there are a couple of pairs that are beyond repair...

This may be harder than I thought.
BUT, I can do it!
Please let me succeed...

Early birthday present

Kiddo's early birthday present...

Thomas & Friends LIVE on stage!

He LOVED it! We traveled over 2 hours to go see this, but it was so worth it.

We spent the entire day out as a family. We shopped till we dropped & then went to see Thomas. It was such a cute show!

We sat about 2/3 of the way back in the theater & no flash photography was allowed, but I think my pictures came out pretty good regardless.

I know it's odd that my kid is almost seven and still loves Thomas, but I think a lot of that comes from the fact that his daddy works on the railroad. Thomas is on television one day a week in our area & he always screams with joy when he realizes it's time for his weekly Thomas episode.

A few more pictures from our show for your enjoyment...

Sickness abounds.

Well, we've survived our turn with the flu, which turned into an upper respiratory infection. Makes me wonder if Kiddo had a mutated version of H1N1 since he can't get the actual H1N1 virus again since he's already had it.

Either way, we're on the road to feeling better. I had to get Kiddo an antibiotic which I really don't like to do, but his doctor felt it was necessary.

Kiddo has a birthday coming up in less than two weeks. He'll be seven years old! It doesn't seem like he should be that old already. Time really does fly by when you have kids.

I have a surprise early birthday gift for Kiddo. I can't wait to see his face when he sees his surprise! I'll definitely post about it when we get back.

Kiddo was also enrolled into speech therapy this week. According to his school he has a frontal lisp. The husband isn't too happy about it, but I feel like it'll help Kiddo more than it'll hurt him. He'll start therapy in about a week so hopefully it all goes well. Kiddo isn't thrilled about being in therapy, but I've tried to explain to him that if he works hard & does what he's told then he'll be out of therapy sooner than he thinks.

The husband & I have been talking about enrolling Kiddo into the private Christian school for the next school year. It's really hard to get in to this school so I don't know if we'll be successful or not. The tuition isn't too bad (around $4000 yearly) & I really think it would help him out. Not only do I think he'll get a better quality of education at the other school but I think it'll help keep him healthier as well. Just since Christmas we've dealt with two rounds of bronchitis, scarlet fever, strep throat, the flu, an upper respiratory infection, and a parasite with Kiddo. I understand that kids get sick, especially in public schools, but I just think it's a bit ridiculous.

I suppose I better get my butt in gear. My to-do list seems like it's a mile long today & sitting on my butt isn't helping the list get any smaller.

Is it Spring yet?!

We just can't seem to catch a break around here.

Kiddo came home from school yesterday complaining of a headache. I didn't think much of it because school is stressful, so I told him we'd eat dinner & that should help him. According to him, eating dinner did help... till shower time. He came out of the shower just bawling his eyes out. His head hurt so much that he just couldn't take it anymore (according to him). He felt a bit warm so I took his temperature and it read just a smidge over 100. Okay, so maybe he's just tired and needs some extra rest...

Not even an hour later, he comes to me all red-cheeked. I take his temp again. He's up to almost 104 degrees. Time to break out the ibuprofen! Even with ibuprofen in his system, he's still maintaining a fever of 100 or so. I think it's safe to say that kiddo has the flu.

Kiddo didn't manage to get to sleep till well after 9:30 last night (he usually goes to bed at 6:30 on school nights) & was up at 11:00 p.m., 4:00 a.m., and 6:30 a.m. this morning. At 6:30, I managed to get him to eat some toast, take some more ibuprofen and his daily vitamins, and convinced him to get some more sleep. He slept till 10:00 this morning.

Of course, all this stuff happens when Daddy has to work, so it's all me taking care of Kiddo. Not that it's a bad thing... it's just a stressful time.

We were supposed to have a specialist appointment today out of town & it got rescheduled at the last minute. I understand why we were rescheduled now -- we wouldn't have been able to make it anyway!

Kiddo been's living off of toast (homemade bread, of course), mommy's homemade chicken noodle soup (I make huge batches of soups in the fall & freeze them for times like this), and lots of rest in his bed today. Thankfully there's a three day weekend this week due to President's Day on Monday so maybe I can get him better over the weekend & we'll only have to miss one day of school instead of two or more.

Side note -- I just heard Kiddo laugh at something on his television. That makes me so happy. I haven't heard him laugh all day. It makes for a weird household without hearing Kiddo's laugh.

One down...

One specialist appointment down for the year...

Two more to go!

The hubby & I took Kiddo to see a pediatric gastroenterology specialist in a town about 2 hours away. They ran a few tests on him (still waiting for results) & changed his reflux medication. I'm hoping to hear results of the tests soon. So far the new medicine seems to be doing okay... except that it's artificially colored & flavored. Ugh. I'm hoping to find a generic or something else that'll work just as well for him.

I'm officially in Valentine's Day party planning mode. Kiddo & I are spending our weekend getting goodie bags ready. I went to Sam's last night & bought pineapple spears and potato chips for the party. Those kids are going to have so much junk food to eat. I've had Twinkies, rainbow-chip cookies, marshmallow hearts, and a few other things donated. I know one of my class moms is bringing fruit & Kiddo can have the pineapple & potato chips so he won't be left out of the party festivities.

I'm so anxious for Spring to come! I've been hearing birds chirp outside in the mornings & it makes me so hopeful. I've seen weather forecasts that say we might get up to sixty degrees by the end of next week! I know it won't last, but it's a nice change from the twenty degree high temperatures we've been having.

I guess Kiddo & I should get back to business now...

Wow.

What a weekend.

Good news: I received my Feingold stuff in the mail & have been going over it. I'm loving it! I hope I can continue to see good results. Oh, and I finally sent the hubby to work. That's always a good thing... time apart does our marriage well.

Bad news: Kiddo had to go to a local quick care clinic yesterday. He was diagnosed with bronchitis & scarlet fever. So, he's on a round of antibiotics to get rid of both. I've read that the antibiotic he's on may or may not get rid of the scarlet fever, though. So, obviously, I have to keep a close eye on him. I've already called everyone I know that has had contact with him over the last few days. I've been trying to call his school this morning to let them know as well.

Here's hoping that the rest of our week isn't quite as eventful.

I did it!

Well, I finally took the plunge & ordered the Feingold kit.

I'm so excited for it to get here! I ordered late last week so hopefully it'll get here soon. Yesterday my package was leaving Florida...

Now I just have to hope that I haven't been doing Feingold all wrong during these last couple of months & hope that we're all still on the right track.

In other news, I'm frantically preparing for Kiddo's yearly check-ups that are miles & miles away from our home. He has a pediatric gastroentrologist appointment in less than 2 weeks at a hospital in my little brother's college town (even though I won't get to see my brother... boo!) & he has a yearly check-up with a pediatric orthopedics specialist in Columbus, Ohio just a few short days after our trip to the local college town. At least the specialist in Columbus knows what Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome is.

Trying to get medication lists together...

X-ray copies...

Insurance stuffs all organized...

Yep, I'm busy.

Oh, & I'm trying to plan Kiddo's class Valentine's Day party. As long as there is no more snow, I have a meeting with the other class moms tomorrow. Cross your fingers for me...

A little bit more about me.

I think my first post was a bit of a book. If you read it all, then congrats are in order. I just get typing & tend to lose track of how much I actually type.

I thought I'd tell you a bit more about me. The not-so-serious side of me, I guess.

I'm a couponer. I love getting good deals using coupons! No, I don't go to the extreme that they show on TLC's new show, but when a good deal comes around on something that I'll use then I'll snag up as much as I can reasonably use. I have multiple cans of cream soup that I got for free (not Feingold friendly, though) through a recent deal like this. I also hit up a lot of discount stores. I love going to a local Big Lots near my house. They usually get quite a few buy-outs of organic lines of cereals and/or snacks. I've been getting organic cereals for around $2 a box. I stocked up on organic cereal at a local grocery store sale for $.99 a box, but when you don't have that sale to rely on, the Big Lots deal is the next best thing. In recent weeks I've bought organic oatmeal, organic cereal, and organic crispy rice bars for my son to eat & I haven't broke the bank!

I also shop at a locally owned health food store for many of my essentials. I buy the flour to make my son's bread there. I also buy our flax seed (for my son's bread -- he loves it!), salt, sugar, & dried fruit from there as well, just to name a few things. It's not expensive at all & I feel good knowing what's going into my son's body when he eats it. I pay $1.29-ish a pound for organic whole wheat pastry flour. The last time I priced this at a store, it was well over $5 for a three pound bag of organic flour & even then the flour was bleached (I try to avoid any extra processing in foods).

I love yard sales. Oh, my goodness. It's winter where I live right now & there's snow on the ground. I can't wait for yard sale season to start back up! I have a ton of stuff in my house ready to go for a yard sale, but yard sale season doesn't start here until at least mid to late April. I'm ready for Spring!

I enter many contests. I'm having a bit of a dry spell lately, but in just a few months last year I won a $250 check from Kellogg's, an XBox 360 with Kinect from Burger King, and various other small wins like t-shirts and coupons for free items. I'd really love to win a car and/or a paid vacation for our family but I guess those things will come when the time is right. Of course, since we're down to one car again I think the perfect time to win a car would be right now, but Lady Luck doesn't seem to think so. I'm beginning to stalk my mailman & the Fedex and UPS delivery people in hopes of surprise wins. Okay, so I'm not really stalking them, but a surprise win would really lift my spirits a bit!

I'm mildly addicted to Facebook. As much as I hate to admit it, Facebook has become my social outlet. I'm a bit busy this time of year with doctors appointments & various other things that come up in day-to-day living that Facebook is the only time I get to sit down & catch up with what everyone else is doing. As bad as that sounds, life definitely isn't going to slow down at all so I guess I'd better get used to it.

I get to be in my first ever wedding this summer. My husband & I got married in our local courthouse for various reasons, so we never got to have a "real" wedding. My best friend (seriously, I've known her since I was eight years old) is getting married to a fantastic guy this summer & I'm so excited for her! I'm even the Matron of Honor, which is such a blessing for me. My friend & I have had our ups and downs and for her to give me this honor is so wonderful. I'm looking forward to all the fun that being a Matron of Honor brings. Now lets just hope that during the wedding I don't fall flat on my face or something embarrassing like that.

I love to experiment with new recipes. I love baking a lot more than I like cooking, though. I'm quite fantastic with yeast (please, don't let that jinx me now that I've said it!) so I love to make breads & rolls for my family to eat. Desserts are another weakness, but I try to limit those as much as I can. I try to keep plenty of fresh fruit in the house for us to munch on, but a cookie every now & then isn't a bad thing.

Till next time...

Don't get buried in snow. We're expecting four to six inches of the white fluffy stuff tonight. They've already canceled school for tomorrow for my son, so he'll be thrilled to wake up to a snow day.

Howdy :)

Well, I guess it's time to start fresh.

This first post will be an introduction. A look into my little world, I guess.

My name is Heather. I'm a mid-20's stay at home mom. I've worked in the "real world" before, but when my son was little I was given a choice between my kid & my job. The choice was an easy one & I've never looked back.

I'm married. My husband is a railroad conductor for a Class One railroad. He's gone a lot more often than he's home. It's hard at times -- I will never deny that. However, I've adjusted over the years. This job has been a blessing to us & I hope to see my husband retire at an old age from this job. He enjoys his job & that's so rare anymore. My husband & I recently celebrated eight years of marriage.

Together my husband & I have a six year old son. He's our only child & will likely be our only child. I want another one, but my husband currently says no. That doesn't mean that it won't happen in the future, but I'm not holding my breath. My son is currently in first grade at a local elementary school. He's an accelerated reader & is sharp as a tack. Common sense completely skipped him, but I've heard that's common with kids who have book smarts like he does.

There are also two cats in my family. Smokie is an almost nine year old pastel calico. She's the most lovable cat I've ever seen in my entire life. We adopted Smokie when she was a year old from our local Humane Society. She was in the back of the shelter ready to be put to sleep because her tail is broken & it has a ball at the end.

Shadow is a one and a half year old domestic cat. Shadow, quite literally, walked into our front door one day & we've had her ever since. She belonged to our neighbors who were looking for a new home for her. She's a gorgeous grey & white marked cat. She's quite the character. Shadow is full of surprises & she's quite talkative. She understands a few basic words ("bite" is her favorite, of course) & she knows her name well. She has an obsession with crinkle balls, string, and tape of any sort. You will likely hear quite a bit about Shadow's antics.

My son & my husband have a genetic disorder known as Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. We received the diagnosis with my husband in February, 2006 & received the diagnosis with our son about six months after that. Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (which you'll see me refer to as EDS in this blog quite often) affects how your joints product collagen & it has many other nasty side effects as well. My husband has acid reflux that we control with diet along with his EDS as well as shoulder & knee problems (he's looking at knee surgery in the future due to a torn meniscus). My son has acid reflux that we control with diet & a prescription antacid, he has many joint issues (we're currently battling ankle problems; we've dealt with knee problems in the past), and he's very double-jointed. He can pop his hips out of place standing up (eww!).

My son sees various specialist doctors for his condition. Most of these doctors are out of town, but they're the very best at what they do. We've been told by his pediatric genetics specialist that he'll never be able to do any sports other than swimming. We invested in a metal frame pool last summer & enrolled him in swimming lessons over the summer as well. I'm hoping to do the same this year.

My son has also shown ADHD-tendencies in the past. After two years of listening to others tell me that something is "wrong" with my kid, I did some research and found the Feingold diet. It has been a lifesaver! After winter break, my son's teacher came to me & asked me what I'd done over the break to my son. He sits still in class, he completes his work on time with the other kids, he's not constantly talking or bugging other kids... it's been so wonderful! We're currently working on adding foods back into his diet. So far we've tried tomatoes & apples, but I'm going to have to try the apples again. I gave my son some of the applesauce I had canned from the summer & I forgot that it had lemon juice in it. I used lemon juice with an artificial preservative that's a no-no on the diet. Oops.

I have family. I have lots of family.
I have an eighteen year old brother. He's currently off to college on a full-ride scholarship. I'm quite proud of him as is the rest of the family.

I have a thirty-three year old sister. She has Spina Bifida & Hydrocephalus (water on the brain). She has the mentality of a four year old, but she's beat so many expectations. She was supposed to die by age ten & be a vegetable all of her life. She's definitely not a vegetable at all & she's definitely passed the age of ten! She's definitely a miracle & she keeps life interesting.

I have a mom. Growing up my mom & I didn't get along well (I don't know of many teenagers that get along with their parents). Once I was out on my own & especially after I had my son I grew close to my mom. My mom & I try to spend as much time together as we can, but it can be difficult since her full-time job is caring for my sister & my full-time job is caring for my son, running the house, and trying to keep things in order.

I have a stepdad. My biological dad is referred to as my sperm donor. The sperm donor hasn't seen me or talked to me since I was about two years old. My stepdad is the only dad I've ever known & he's been wonderful to me. My little brother belongs to my stepdad so I guess he'd technically be a half-brother, but I really don't like using those terms. I've always called him my brother and he, for the most part, has always called me his big sister. Anywho, my stepdad is a good guy. He's a bit weird (he has an Andy Griffith obsession) but he's a good guy. He's currently counting down the years to retirement.

I have in-laws. My in-laws aren't around much. My husband's grandparents, who my husband is very close to, live very close to us & we try to make a visit to them once a week or so. It's been hard to do that lately due to my husband's work schedule & the snow that's piled up. My father-in-law lives close to us as well with his wife (not my husband's mother. She is similar to my biological father -- she has nothing to do with my husband for various reasons). Again, they're not around much, but we all try our best with what we have.

I also have a little brother-in-law. He's about three weeks younger in age than my little brother & he's off in college as well. We don't see or hear from him much right now, other than Facebook. I suppose that's how college kids are these days.

I'm not quite sure what I expect from this blog. It might be a place to vent, it might be a place to brag, or I might post a few Feingold recipes from time to time. Whatever happens with this blog, I hope that you'll join me.