Manic Monday

Over the past weekend, Grace was acting a little fussy. She would be really clingy one minute and just fine the next. We chalked it up to teething and went along our way. Monday morning was a different story. Grace was nearly inconsolable and had a high-pitched cry - almost like a scream. I still wanted to believe it was from teething, but I knew better. One of the signs her shunt is malfunctioning is a high-pitched scream. I called her neurosurgeon who had us come in that afternoon for a CT scan.

By the time we went to get her scan, she was her happy self again. I fully expected the doctor to confirm that it was just teething or other regular baby ailment. Instead we were told that her shunt was over draining, she had a bi-lateral bleed (her brain was bleeding on both sides), her ventricles had collapsed and that she would be admitted to the hospital. I was shocked and so thankful I listened to my gut and had called the doctor. Sally, the nurse practitioner we love, adjusted Grace's shunt to reduce the flow and we waited to be admitted. Since Grace has an adjustable shunt, all Sally has to do is hold an oblong contraption up to Grace's head, then twist a magnet near the shunt. Modern science!

Peek-A-Boo! I will not nap for you!

Twisted in two blankets and all her cords.

Jeff left work to get the older kids and be with us for a little while. Since the kids weren't allowed in the PICU, Jeff took them home and Grace and I settled in for the night. Her neurosurgeon came in to see us and told us that there was NOT a bleed (Thank the Lord!) but her ventricles had collapsed and it would take a while to resolve. He wanted Grace to stay at least one night to be sure that she didn't get sick from the adjustment in pressure in her brain. In the meantime, Grace was causing a ruckus singing, eating the cords and getting all twisted around in her bed. Around 9, I left to run home to grab some clothes and came back about two hours later to find out that Grace had thrown up all over a volunteer that was holding her. Afterwards she was completely fine and slept soundly for a few hours. About 6 AM, we went down for her second CT scan. Her neurosurgeon came in around 6:30 and said that everything looked the same, which is what was expected. He was comfortable sending her home as long as we watched her closely and called if anything changed. We made it home around 9:30 and surprised the rest of the family!

Nom. Nom. Nom.

She's thrown up a few times since being home, mostly after eating solid foods. She's very congested right now and the mucus has made her throw up in the past, so since there hasn't been any fever or  change in temperament we're holding on and keeping in close contact with her neurosurgeon for the time being. She will go back for another CT scan and check up on Tuesday. She will also be fitted for her hand brace and have a second hearing test next week. So pray for all good results and lower gas prices! :-)

So glad to be home!

Mighty B Coupon 101: Finding Coupons

If you are going to start saving using coupons, you first have to have the coupons. Duh, right? I find most of my coupons in the Sunday paper. We subscribe to two local papers for around $13 a month. Both papers normally have the same coupons, so I get two sets of each. This works out well because:

• Two sets don't take long to organize
• A lot of stores will only double two of the same coupon
• Rarely do I need more than two of any item

I went through a period where I would not print coupons from the internet. I had heard that it costs more to print than they are worth and stores do not take them. I did a little research and with my printer, a Kodak 7250, it costs me $0.04 for the ink and paper to print one page of coupons. If I print out and use at least one coupon worth $1.00, I can print out another 24 pages of coupons and still break even. I'm very selective about what I print and I've never had a store give me any hassle about using printed coupons. The website I print from most is coupons.com.

There are "clipping" services you can purchase coupons from and you can even buy full coupon inserts from eBay. I have not done this, but know some people who have and have had success with it. You can also find fellow couponers and swap coupons. I belong to a facebook group of local couponers and have made some great swaps. You could also go all "Extreme Couponer" and dumpster dive. I'm only slightly tempted to visit the local recycling bins and see if anyone left their coupons behind, but I would never actually climb in the bins. Pick around the top maybe.

Where do you get your coupons? Any hot spots I missed? Will you send me YOUR coupon inserts? :)

State of Grace

Grace:

• Is rolling around everywhere. For the longest time she could roll to her side, from side to belly, and from belly to back but just wasn't putting it all together. She's got it now and is starting to explore her environment. It's funny to put her in one spot on the blanket and see where she ends up!



Likes to roll everywhere - even in her chair!

• Has looked at me! She now looks right at you when you are talking to her. It's not quite consistent, so I don't know how much she's actually seeing. But having your baby look at you is a super, super thing! Her eyes still shake back and forth (Nystagmus) and her left eye still turns in (Strabismus). We saw her opthamologist in June and he advised us to continue patching her right eye and we will talk about possible surgery to correct the strabismus at her next appointment in October. Here is a video that I took today. It really shows her nystagmus and strabismus - this is pretty typical for her. It also shows little (POTTY TRAINED!) ballerina Brenna and my son singing the Bee Gees towards the end. He's NOTHING like me. Nope. No idea where he gets it. (I tried to be clever and get her whole body in the shot, but now I can't figure out how to rotate the video. So it looks like Gracie is amazing and can stand and dance on air.lol)
• Has out grown her infant carrier. But doesn't sit up on her own yet. This is a problem since she can't sit up in grocery carts or high chairs at restaurants. I found the Hugga Bebe which is GREAT for restaurants, but doesn't work in grocery carts as she tends to fall over. Right now it's not too much of an issue and hopefully she'll be sitting soon. But until then I think we'll have to try the Hugga Bebe and blankets stuffed around her in the carts.

• 

  Double-Chin Grin

  
  

  

  Jumpy-jump!

  
  
• Has a perfectly working shunt. Everything is moving along as it should. We go back in September for another CAT scan and check-up. Just a routine thing for my little baby!

• 

  Bright Eyes!

  
  
• Now has an occupational therapist added to her entourage. Sherrie will help Grace learn to use her left side more. Specifically use her left hand to hold objects. We see her occupational therapist twice a month and her physical therapist, Cynthia, once a week. It's both strange and nice having a "team" that just wants your daughter to succeed.

• 

  Giving me the ol' stink eye.

  
  

I recently heard Beth Moore say, "Blessed are you when what comes naturally to others comes supernaturally to you." In the midst of everything, it can be so easy to look at other kids and wish she was "normal". That she didn't have to work so hard to meet her milestones.  But when she does get those milestones, it is so, so sweet. I'll take the miracle over the natural every day. (Watch this to get a better idea of what I mean.)

Everyone who heard about it took it to heart, wondering, "What will become of this child? Clearly, God has his hand in this."  - Luke 1:66

The Great Debate

I'm so done. And I felt super guilty about it.

With my other two kids, I breastfed until around 6 months and then it just got to be too much. I was working full-time, pumping was hard, etc. So when I got pregnant with Grace, I resolved to breastfeed as long as possible. A year! 18 months! 6 years! Okay, I never once considered six years, but my commitment was there. So around month 6 when we were still going strong I felt empowered. I am super mom hear me roar! And then it went on and on and on... Here we are at almost 10 months and I'm done. My supply has gone way down and frankly I'm just tired of it. So I took the plunge and decided to start weaning. But first I had to buy formula.

This was not an option, but I wish it was! Japan makes the cutest baby formula.

I would stand in the formula aisle and stare at all of the tubs trying to decide which one would be best. The Similac? The Gerber with it's coupons burning a hole in my binder? The Enfamil that mocks me with it's label reading "breast milk is best!" I would finally give up and march off emtpy handed. I was convinced that by giving Gracie formula, I was robbing her of the essential nutrients she needed to survive. Who knew what medical issues would be resolved with the power of my magical breast milk?!

(Please refrain from writing to me to tell me I'm ridiculous. Trust me, I know. I have the secret ability to give myself epic guilt trips and work myself into a frenzy of ridiculousness. It's one of the very few flaws I have *ahem* and I'm working on it.)

But I had to put my own feelings aside. I wasn't producing as much, so Grace wasn't getting enough from me. She wasn't learning to hold a bottle and for some babies that's no big deal. But for Grace, since she doesn't consistenly use her left hand, it's something I had to keep at the top of the list. By allowing her to use a bottle, it would help her learn to use a cup. And the thought of nursing AND pumping so we'd have enough for bottle feeding made me want to crawl into the corner and lie (lay?) in the fetal position until she was old enough for college. So after weighing the pros and cons and some simple straight talk from a friend (thanks Megan!) I knew I had to commit to weaning her. And we're all doing just fine with that.

*Update - I wrote this about two weeks ago and things have gone downhill from here. Grace is now REFUSING to drink formula. A nurse friend of mine laughed when I mentioned I was worried about not producing enough. Gracie's chubby leg rolls apparently mean everything is just fine. So we are kind of back to square one!*

Digging Out

Princess Brenna before her party.

Lots of things going on here in Ruddville. Brenna turned 3 and has started potty training boot camp. (So far, so good...), Grace turned 10 months today, and Riley is preparing for kindergarten.

I'm just trying to keep up with everything! We had a family birthday party for Brenna Saturday and I'm still digging our house out from the shindig. I have lots of things to share - coupon tips, lots of pictures, a super update on Grace...but first I need to make sure we have clean towels. Hopefully I will be able to write it all soon! 

Mommy's Sanity Savers (No, it's not booze.)

One of the things I love about being a mom is that my kids love to be around me. One of the things that drives me batty about being a mom is that my kids love to be around me - meaning I cannot get anything else done. I've found some awesome *FREE!* resources to help entertain my kids when I need a mommy minute (and they are educational! win/win!) Here is what you need to check out:

1. Our absolute favorite resource is Zoodles. It's an "educational online experience" that allows kids to watch videos and play games at their favorite websites. It combines websites like Nick Jr., American Girl, PBS Kids, and more so your child doesn't have to skip around from website to website to find what they want. Your child is blocked from going to any other website by their crazy clicking and there is even an option that allows you to block ads (there is a small fee for the upgrade). Each week I get an email telling me which games my child played and how long they spent. The kids are always asking to play Zoodles and the big blue "Z" icon on my desktop makes it easy for them to find. LOVE IT!
2. Starfall is pretty new to us, but it's great so far. It's described on the site as a "free public service to teach children to read with phonics". They have options that are basic preschool lessons (learning letter recognition) and go all the way up to stories your child can read on their own. They also have tons of free printable worksheets in case you don't want your child hogging the computer.
3. I stumbled on 1+1+1=1 when I was searching for decoration ideas for a Toy Story party. After seeing all of the super-cute options and realizing that they are FREE, my mind was sufficiently blown. I can't wait until the ballerina and dog packs are available. You know...for the kids. *Ahem*
4. I have picked up copies of The Mailbox magazine from the library and thought they were so neat. They definitely appeal to the teacher inside me. So when I checked out their website I was thrilled to find a section called My Mailbox where you can register (for free!) and find loads and loads of printable resources. I found cartoon suns that were meant for bulletin board decorations, typed my kids names on them and had them color them. They thought it was awesome and the suns are now taped to their bedroom doors. I'm sure we'll do a different one for the fall!

I'll be sure to share more that I come across. Do you have any kid-friendly distractions you go to when needed?

Mighty B's Couponing 101

I love the TLC show Extreme Couponing. It's completely unrealistic (even the supermarkets are coming out and saying they bend their coupon policies for the sake of the show) but the idea of going to the store and getting carts full of products for free is intoxicating to a cheap frugal mom like me. So at the beginning of May I started clipping and in just a short period of time I've managed to get us a nice stockpile of toiletries and cleaners. Hopefully soon I'll be able to start the food stockpile.


So how do I do it? The hardwork is already done for me by several couponing websites. My favorites are The Krazy Coupon Lady and Faithful Provisions,  but there are tons more. Each week they matchup the coupons to the sale ads and tell me exactly what to do. But there is some leg work on my part. We subscribe to two newspapers (Sunday only!) and I clip every single coupon in the inserts. They go into my couponing binder, I make my shopping lists, pull out the coupons I need, sort them into envelopes by store and shop away! It's a lot of work. And while it certainly isn't hard, it does take a lot of time. But as a stay-at-home mom, I consider saving on our grocery budget part of my 'job'.

Interested in hearing more? I hope so! Cause I'm excited to share with you. I am in no way a couponing expert. I'm learning as I go. But I'm finding that so many people aren't taking advantage of coupons each week! Hopefully, I'll help some of you realize that a little work and planning can save you quite a bit! You'll get to learn from my mistakes and hear what works for me and what doesn't. And learn that saving can be easy-peasy lemon squeezy.

So Big

When did she get this big? And how do I make it stop?

Enchanted Gardens

One of our favorite (and free!) things to do is visit the petting zoo at Linton's Enchanted Gardens.

 It's just minutes from our house and the kids love it.

We stopped by today for a few minutes to say "Hi" to the animals.

Brenna and Riley going to see Chocolate the Goat.

Riley with his miniature pony and donkey friends.

Riley feeding the donkey and pony.

Tom Turkey

One of the cute houses at Linton's.

Another cute building.

Feeding the goats.

Grace was not amused and found closely examining her fingers to be more entertaining.