Good Bye 2010

It seems many people around me are saying good riddance to 2010. I myself couldn't decide whether or not 2010 brought more pain or joy, so I decided to review my blog from the last year and see :0)

The Negatives

• $1600 in air conditioning or pump repairs
• K requiring surgery
• Finances in general
• Feelings of isolation from friends
• The loss of our family dog, Jesse
• What seems like the multitude of infant loss and sickness with many friends
• The house being sick pretty much continuously since September.

The Positives

• Three healthy, beautiful, intelligent children
• Another year without an MS flare
  
• ONS Certification
• K's quick recovery from surgery
• The Children's Hospital waiving her bill
• Summer visit from friend J and her family
• Short trip to the Beach
• Excellent Breast milk supply, including donation of 2700 ounces
• Twins successfully starting school
• Pretty good year relationship wise with my parents. Along with their consistent presence in the lives of the kids. This has been extremely beneficial to all of us.

So, I'm thinking overall 2010 wasn't bad. There were some hiccups, which are expected, and some of those will definitely carry onto 2011, but overall, I have so much more to be grateful for, than to be upset about. When it comes to the important things, I have been very blessed.

Now, That's a Lot of Snow!!

This morning I had to go to work and when I woke up I was amazed at how much snow we got. I don't remember this much snow ever since I moved her 12 years ago. I had the pleasure of going to work at 6:25a in this stuff. It wasn't easy.

First I got stuck in my driveway. It took almost 30 minutes to get out, and had my dad not been there to help push and steer the car, I wouldn't have made it. Once I got on the roads, even the main ones were still coated in snow. The one nice thing was that no one else was crazy enough to be driving, so I had all three lanes to myself which meant I could go very slow and stay right in the middle of the road! My normally 15 minute commute to work took me over 50 minutes.

While I was at work, the kids had fun though. My dad helped them make their first ever "big snowman". The twins alternated between playing outside in the snow, and snuggling on the couch with some hot chocolate.



I kind of hate that I missed it, but seeing as I got to stay home for Christmas, I really couldn't complain.

I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas...

Well not since 1947 has this area had a White Christmas. But this year, not only was it White, it was a Blizzard!! This area rarely gets a snow fall that accumulates. Usually we get a few flurries which barely coat the ground and is melted away within a day or two. Well this year we got about 8 inches!!

The twins of course were thrilled! Since it was dark S didn't want to go out and play, but K decided to risk it :0) They will have so much fun tomorrow while I'm at work. I just hope the whole town doesn't shut down!!

A Great Christmas Day

My parents arrived Thursday night to stay with us this holiday weekend. Because I had pulled strings to go to Florida for Christmas 2008, and then was out on maternity leave for Christmas 2009, I was scheduled to work Christmas Eve, Day and Sunday. Pretty sucky, but at least my parents agreed to help out.

I worked my 12 hours on Christmas Eve, and since I was scheduled for Christmas Day, the kids opened their presents on the 24th. It was a late night since I didn't get home until 8pm, but obviously the kids didn't care.



Despite the pictures, I did really well sticking to my budget this year. I spent just over $100 on each of the twins and I didn't really buy anything for Max - he didn't need anything considering his birthday was 2 weeks ago.

S got many of the Imaginext gifts he was wanting. He also got some tools and fake wood sets that have made him very imaginative. S is also my science/biology kid and got some great books on Dinosaurs and other animals. He seemed very happy with his gifts.


K, who is much more difficult to buy for, got many arts & craft supplies, some super cute shoes and her favorite gift, an MP3 player. She is such a music lover and this gift was a big hit. She also got some books, dolls and an Aqua Sand kit she had been wanting.


The Mook was just as happy to walk around and play with the wrapping paper, boxes and toys of the twins. He did receive some cute wood puzzles from Grandma and Grandpa and some new socks and weebles in his stocking.

After all the chaos of Christmas Eve, we went to bed and unfortunately Max spent most the night up and not feeling well. Him and I didn't fall asleep until almost 4am Christmas Morning. So, when work called me at 5am to tell me they didn't need me, not only was the gift of spending Christmas Day and awesome one, but with the lack of sleep it really was a great thing!!

The only thing that sucked was the $280 I got for Christmas from Family and Friends will all be spent on a pump repair :0( Sometimes it sucks being a grown up.

Well Merry Fricken Christmas!

Today while running around the house cleaning like a mad woman, I notice that the septic pump box in my laundry room has a red light on. Upon closer examination I see that it's a warning light. Sigh... I go outside and check the pump only to see that a pipe has broken and there is sewage draining on the side of my yard. Wonderful.

The first call is made to RoterRooter. They come out to look at the pump for a mere $75. This money is spent for them to tell me that it's not an issue they can solve, but rather a company that works on pumps needs to solve. Great. 15 minutes and they get $75. I obviously went into the wrong field.

Call many other companies who all give me different lines of crap. Of course by now is 2p on the eve of Christmas Eve and everyone is looking to close early. I finally talk to one guy who actually seems to have some sense of customer service and have his guys come out. They came pretty quickly, were able to identify and even fix the problem. They really were nice the whole time and very professional, but this visit cost me $298.

What totally stink is I have absolutely no extra money right now. So this $375 will have to be paid with Christmas money I receive. Super!!

So...for those of you keeping track...that's three air conditioning repairs and a septic pump repair for me this year. I really hope the house holds up better for me next year!

2700 Ounces

With another 600 or so in the freezer :o)

Breastfeeding with Max is still going great. He nurses several times during the day and, if you ask me, too many times during the night. He still seems to love nursing especially when sleepy or needing some comfort. He has even figured out how to tell me he wants it. The only thing that drives me nuts is he wants to nurse for 2 minutes...then pops off and wanders off for a minute or two...then comes back to nurse again. I'm told this is very common for his age, but obnoxious none the less.

I have actually stopped pumping except for when I'm at work. I was so tired of that pump. Max never really used any of my pumped milk. It mostly went to donation and now that he's one and can have whole milk, I made the decision to say good-bye to the pump. So, this will also mean that once my 600 ounce freezer supply is gone, there will be no more donations.

I had donated 2300 ounces to the mom I had committed to way back when. Her daughter seemed to do great with a combo of my BM and formula. I had been pretty consistent with a monthly donation to her. Well when I emailed her this month saying I had a box, but to help with the cost of bags I was asking $15 to replace the cost of the bags (this is not close to enough, but I figured it would help). I never heard back from her. I am kind of miffed right now as I have donated this woman so much milk over the last 6 to 7 months. She was never overly appreciative, but did say thank you. I am trying not to jump to conclusion about her, but it sure does seem like she's uninterested now just because I asked for the $15.

So in the meantime, another mom I know mentioned she was out of donor milk. I made her the same offer and she jumped at it! She even mentioned that the $15 was not enough and was I sure I didn't want more. So today I donated 300 ounces of milk to a new mom with a 4 month old son. I mentioned that I had two more boxes in the freezer and to call me if she had a need again. This mom seemed so much more appreciative for the 300 ounces than the other mom with the 2400 ounces!

So, that means as of right now I have helped 3 other babies, besides Max, with their first year of nutrition. That feels very good. Kind of crummy that I couldn't do that for the twins, but I'm glad that I got this amazing opportunity.

One Year Stats

It looks like I have another string bean baby. The mook is 30" tall and 20 pounds.

For those of you who don't know me, I am VERY overweight. I have fought with weight my entire life and in the last 10 years have given up the battle. I am beyond heavy and really need to do something about it. Well, six years ago, while looking for a donor to give me the children I so desired, I put a lot of thought into the weight issue. I am not exaggerating when I say that the first thing I did was take a black marker and cross through every donor who's listed weight made them even slightly overweight for their height. After growing up with this struggle, I knew I wanted to do what I could to spare my kids.

After crossing out for weight, then of course health history, intelligence and other factors were considered. The height and weight for my donor...6'6" and 200 pounds.

So, all this to say that so far my master plan has worked. I have three tall and skinny children. Now I know it's very early in the game, and they can develop weight issues later, but I was always 90th percentile for weight even from infancy, where S hovers around the 50th and K and M are currently in the less than 10th. I would love for them not to have the weight struggle.

Tooth #6

We have tooth number six. Another top tooth, the one to the left of his front teeth. He looks funny because he has six teeth, but they are his front teeth, and both the top and bottom tooth to the left. So...he's a little lopsided :o)

The doctor mentioned that it looked like his teeth were coming in pretty crooked, which I had noticed but was trying to ignore, and that it was a good indicator of braces in his future. Bummer. The twins and I have very straight teeth and the donor stated he never had braces, so I guess Max had to be special. He has his first dental appointment in a month or two so we will see what she says.

Wordless Wednesday

Can You Help Me?

The whole Scentsy thing has been going very well. I have had a few parties and many of my friends have been very supportive of my endeavor. I have really done better than I could have imagined!

Right now I am trying to make level two in Scentsy's New Consultant Shooting Star Program. I get a nice bonus if I reach this level. Since I never thought I would even get close...and now I am close, I want it :o)

So...I know I have a bunch of readers out there...if you would like to order something...and in the process help me sell just over $300 of Scentsy before December 26th, I would be very grateful! Order before December 18th for guaranteed Christmas delivery! And my site will even take orders from Canada.

If you feel comfortable, let me know you've ordered and I will give you a discount for a future order. Click on the picture in the sidebar on the left.

Thanks!

Birthday Party!

What a great and busy day the 10th was. My little baby turned one and seemed to know the day was about him. First thing this morning he got his present from me...a Cozy Coupe Car. He LOVED it. Even sat in it while I was trying to put it together. He spent most of the day climbing in and out of it and even decided to watch some TV in it. It's toooooo cute!


In the afternoon we celebrated M's birthday with family and friends at the local Children's Museum. It was a great turn out with Grandma, the twins, and many family friends. There were 13 children there and everyone seemed to have a great time.


The theme was 'Barnyard' and I think I did a good job with it. My friend A, who makes many of the kids personalized tee's, made M a 1st Birthday shirt. I got some cute balloons of the net and matched them to the plates. I was even able to get some great cup cake toppers of Etsy.com and make my own cupcakes.

Of course M loved the pizza and cup cakes. He ate about half a piece of pizza and then ate all the icing off his cupcake.

It really was a great day with wonderful celebration. He got several great toys and a huge pile of new clothes! He will be one very well dressed and warm boy this winter :0)

Mookie Is One!!!

I will post more tomorrow as right now I am so exhausted from today. My baby is one....

The Turning of Paige

A fellow single mother by choice is enduring life's worst pain. The loss of a child.

If you feel like you can, please visit her blog, found on my blog roll and send her some love and support. She is struggling so much.

My Christmas Miracle

This afternoon I called the Childrens Hospital that performed K's surgery to get a final total on what I owed after insurance paid for everything. I had $150 that I could pay and had my card ready to make my first payment.

I owed the physicians $276.00 - I had already made some payment towards this - and the hospital $924.58. I asked the lady what the payment plan options were and told her what I could pay today. She took all my info to see what options would be available and when she got the result I was floored.

The hospital would remove 100% of my bill. I owe nothing.

I am so relieved.

SNOW!

Today we had the first snow of the season. For our area this was very early and quite a volume.


The kids of course had to run out and play in it as soon as they could. The twins threw snowballs and I think ate their weight in it. M didn't know what to think. He liked to look at it, but wasn't so thrilled on sit in it, nor could he figure out how to walk in it. We took the necessary photographs and then M and I went back inside.


By the end of the day, most had melted, but there was still a light coating on the ground. I wouldn't mind having a little bit of the stuff around for Christmas, but then it needs to go.

Tooth Number Four and Five

On Monday November 29th, Max's fourth tooth finally broke through. It was his first top tooth; the front right one. I think this one had been bothering him as he has constantly been chewing on something.

Then this morning, Max's second front tooth broke through. There is another hard knot beside this one, so we may be seeing tooth number six soon!

Disney On Ice

Tonight I took the kids to see Disney on Ice. We had never been, because I am too darn cheap to shell out that kind of money for something like this, but the twin mom group got a bunch of tickets for $5 a piece so I jumped on the opportunity.


It was a very cute show. The twins seemed so excited and they really seemed to get into the story and like the performances. Max went from being completely focused on the skating to fussing in my arms. The show went past his bed time and a few times I almost had him to sleep until a loud musical number started and he had to see what was going on.


The night went great until we walked out and S wanted to get a toy. I told them before we left the house that I was not buying anything there...but that understanding did not last long. S sulked all the way home which did tick me off since I had just spent the night doing something nice for him and then he acts this way, but of course he is four and stuff like that is hard.