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.