Great Gifts

Z got this for a Christmas gift. She loves it. She is actually getting kind of good at the letters (for a 2.5 year old.) It is endless hours of dry erase fun. She works on it by herself and sometime we work together. For $6 you really can't go wrong.




Okay I just saw this and had to share. I don't eat fruit roll-ups but if you do thisis for you http://www.myfruitrollups.com/ This would be a fantastic birthday party favor, and $30 for 30 and free shipping using the code on their website...not too bad.

A trip to the allergist

Today was our second trip.
First trip it took one and a half hours for the doctor to look at my child's skin and do some online research while we were in the room. $200 billed to insurance.
Today we found out lil G has a latex allergy and I told her about the milk allergy incident. We did one shot (Prevnar) and then next time we do the Polio shot.
I got a prescription for one of those crazy pen shots that you use should Benedryl not be good enough. It is scary to think that I may have to use it someday, but I will not be afraid to use it should I need to. I also got a note to we can fly with it (since we fly a lot and have been known to eat airport food.)

I realized....I need to go back to my posts from 1 year ago...because the only things that have changed are our location, I have a handsome son now (vs. being pregnant), and instead of my husband's father being sick and worrying about him, we are now worried about my mom. The housing situation is exactly the same.

Give Away

I don't care for baby legs, but I got some for free when I ordered my last set of glamourmom nursing tops (which I no longer recommend because they switched to a lower quality fabric that piles.)

So here is the deal leave a comment (with your e-mail address, I will not publish it) between now and Saturday (Feb. 7th) and I will randomly pick a winner and mail try to mail them out in time for Valentines Day. I will not mail them outside of the U.S. , so my apologies to my international readers.

We are moving

So I just unpacked my husbands clothes a month ago. He needed winter clothes and he ever unpacked his self. A few things (decorative) never got unpacked.
Now our lease is up in a month and if we don't get out by then the rent goes up $400 or about 25%. Do we have a place lined up...no, but there is one potential. I wish the perfect house would come on the market, so this could be our last move for at least 5 years (or more) but I sure don't see the perfect house anywhere.

While I am on the topic. My husband likes multi level houses. I have no idea why, other than he says, "It is nice to separate the living and sleeping areas." He obviously doesn't spend enough time home alone with the kids. (Did I mention it is a 3 story town house with no gates on the stairs...yeah it gives me nightmares.) All the while he says this, he wants an office, which would likely be upstairs next to his nephew the teenager, and his loud music. If you ask me, it is really because he associates multi level with wealth and upper class in his home country (where there is no middle class.)

Now if only G will wait one more month before he gets good at crawling.

Why didn't I think of that...

A "Stay Dry Bath Apron." I am always afraid I am going to drop a squirmy baby while maneuvering around the bathroom. I always take off half my clothes before bathing the kids cause I always end up wet anyway. I am not sure if this is really what I need (I really need a rain suit), but it is a good idea and I could see how it would be really useful. Maybe I should make one for myself...

Just a note

Gibo played with his sisters sippy cup that had (cow's) milk in it. It is safe to say he is allergic to milk. I hope he out grows this in a year or less.

Coupons

I got my Kiwi Magazine and I have a lot o coupon codes to share. (I highly recommend the magazine for AP/Green mamas.)

Lavera Organic Skin Care 10% off with Kiwi09

SmartKnitKIDS Seemless Socks 10% off with KIWI

LoveBlessings.com Gift Baskets 10% off and free shipping with your first order KIWIBABE

Noli and Nali Skin Care 25% off your order with KIWI

Wee BE Organic Baby Cap 20% off with KIWI20

Green to Grow Gift Set 15% off with KIWIMAG

Sweet Pea Products 20 % off with KIWI

Child Safe Tee 10% off with KIWI

Lil Diaper Depot 10 % off first order till 2/28 with KIWI9

Dapple Baby Cleaning Products $5 off with KIWI

Happy Family Foods 15% off with KIWI109

Spa Princess Cookbook (all natural spa treatments and edible treats for kids) 15% off till 2/28

70-80% sure

that we will be taking in a before mentioned teenager this summer. His mom can't handle him and his younger siblings are tired of listening to him and his mother fight. My husband tells me it is because she never allowed him to grow up. You think??!!!?? At 15 years old he still likes to ride in the shopping carts at Costco and have someone push him (not fast and crazy like a teenager, but like we do my 2 year old.) He is more afraid of the dark than my two year old. I wish I was exaggerating. I am worried about having a teenager and his influence on my children, but I am hoping to nip a few things in the butt right away so I don't hear my 2 year old cussing.

We turned in the offer on the house yesterday. It was a low ball offer but I got an appraisal from an agent that had already seen the house and our offer was right on. However the owners said it was so low they weren't even willing to counter offer. (They obviously didn't see the news about 1400 people getting laid off 5 miles up the road yesterday.) So now the hunt continues. Looks like we will be moving out of here and into a 3 bedroom house even if we have to rent. I am excited about that part, but with the price of rent and the price of buying so close, I hope we find an even better house in the next 2 weeks.

Z not sleeping

In a previous post I blamed Zuzu's lack of good sleep habits on all of these weird changes and unusual events. Last night we found out the real culprit. The neighbor kid.

We live in a townhouse apartment. Apparently the neighbor kid (who is between 6 and 10) has his bed up against the shared wall. At night he moves around and his bed thumps the wall and wakes Zuzu up. This also explains why Zuzu would cry in the middle of the night and mumble something about noises and she loves to come into our room and sleep even if it means in G's crib.

My poor girl is being woke up 2-3 times a night by the neighbor kid....I am so ready for a house...sure there will be dogs, and parties and all kinds of other noises, but my guess is, it won't be every night.

With that said, we found a nice humble house that would meet our needs for the next 30 years. Could we throw a dinner party for 50 people in it...probably not, but we could in the backyard. :) Is it perfect, no, but it is as close to perfect as it gets without the house stretching our budget to the max (which is not something we want to do given the uncertain economic times.) Hopefully we will get an offer in that the sellers will approve of in the next week and we can all feel good. and if it doesn't work out...there will be a reason...and it may be another year before we learn that reason...

What to do...

My parents are only 51. They are already loosing their short term memory. I wasn't planning on their care being my main concern until they were at least 60. This was supposed to be my time to have babies and their time to enjoy them. We did everything right, my mother had me when she was 22 and I still have a couple of years until I am 30.

I'd like to think I could handle 3 people with mental illness, but I am no super woman. I am a simple mom of 2 hoping to have 2 more children and buy a house.

What a mess this is. So on one side we have my sister in law and her 3 children and on the other side there are my parents and my brother that will need more care in the next couple of years.

All of this "drama" makes me feel like we need to just step away and realize that my husband and I are only two people and we can't help everyone.

We gave my sister in law enough tips to keep her kids out of trouble (when they were asked for), but if she chooses to ignore them, there is not much we can do.
I don't want to have any regrets with our own children, and the week my nephew was here they did take the back seat to him and his studies and that may be why we are having sleeping problems with Z. She seems to be more insecure and she only sleeps well in our room since the nephew left.

Ugh...my mother. Her brain is shutting off every few days for an hour or two. She wanted to drive and pick up a rental Saturday. I said, no. As I type this she tells me she is going to drive to the doctors by herself on Friday. I told her no. She can not afford another accident.

Why do most things that matter have to be such a struggle....

Cloth Diaper Troubles

My son has sensitive skin. Cloth diapers were working well until November. Now I just can't get them clean enough and I have little or no sun to put them in to help.

I am having trouble with the Bum Genius pocket diapers. They rub the skin off his hips now that he is all over the place and spends time sitting up. They stink (like ammonium) when he pees, and they are stained. I have done my research and tried everything, short of the sun.

Why does using cloth diapers have to be such a pain in the butt? Why can't I just wash them and use them. It shouldn't require chemistry.

I have 2 FuzziBunz diapers that I like still but they don't get as much use as the others. I know in time I will switch to FuzziBunz (since Bum Genius' one size doesn't fit bigger toddlers), but for now I am frustrated with the money I invested and the way the diapers are interacting with my son.

Steak/Beef seasoning

While out at PCC this week I bought a sirloin tip roast. I had not cooked one before so I googled it. I came across this link. It was so good!! I cooked it for over an hour, because I don't like rare. It seriously tasted like a $40 restaurant steak.

INGREDIENTS

1 1/4 tablespoons paprika
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 (3 pound) sirloin tip roast

DIRECTIONS

In a small bowl, mix the paprika, salt, garlic powder, black pepper, onion powder, cayenne pepper, oregano, and thyme. Stir in the olive oil, and allow the mixture to sit about 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.

Place the roast on the prepared baking sheet, and cover on all sides with the spice mixture.

Roast 1 hour in the preheated oven, or to a minimum internal temperature of 145 degrees F (63 degrees C). Let sit 15 minutes before slicing.

Yes you can be too cheap

Background: My mom drives a 1992 POS car. People have ran into the back of the car twice in the last year. I always bug my dad to get her a newer car with a few safety features...like say an airbag or two. Instead he usually turns around and brags about how little he spent on the car and that even though the head gasket leaks, the car still runs.

Yesterday afternoon on the way to the doctor my mom was sitting at a red light. This lady backs out of a mini mart across two lanes and hits my mom on her drivers side. The CR -V that hit her bounces off while shoving her car into another car on the passenger side. They had to use the jaws of life to get her out of the car.

The impact shifted her teeth and brain. It caused minor bleeding on her left side between the lining and the brain tissue. She spent 24 hours in the hospital and got a little cut up too (a few stitches.)

I was talking to my dad today. Telling him well we need to find mom a newer safer car. His first response, "I am only spending $5K. Cars are only to get you from point A to B." This coming from a man who has no problem spending $10k buying himself a motorcycle and who owns about a $1M in real estate spread out over 4 places. I went off! "You know they have side airbags now, if mom was driving a newer car she would have easily walked away and insurance would have bought you a new car. Mom's safety is worth more than $5k. I am tired of your bull sh1t excuses. Sell a property and take care of my mother."

My mom went to visit her family for Thanksgiving(4 days). She came home sick and miserable. On her way home (a 2 hour car ride) my dad calls and says, I don't have any food for work tomorrow. Can you stop and buy groceries. Then when my mom finally gets home sick and exhausted at 6pm. He asks her to make dinner. Instead of returning to work on Monday she spent the week at home in bed sick. Can you say lazy ass!

My mom's doctor today said to take two weeks off from work and my mom talked the doctor down to 1 week because my mom feels like she has to work. Seriously how can you have so much and yet still feel poor, feel like you need money to survive month to month and jeopardize your already weak health.

Have we got a deal for you!

Why is health care in the US so bad....here is an idea. Doctors and hospitals are greedy. My mom was online researching and she came across a cancer center in Zion, IL. They have this "great" deal. They will fly you and a spouse out to them for $40 a night lodging and $5 a meal pp for 3-5 days to set up a plan to treat your cancer. Then they will fly you out there as often as they need to treat you (once a week is the average.) My mom was so excited...."Wow! This sounds great." Okay first off, if you are sick and your immune system is very very fragile (as it is with MM and only made worse by the treatment) why would you fly anymore than you absolutely have to? It is only going to make you really sick and likely get pneumonia which will put you in the hospital....namely their hospital (because you will want to be near your doctor.) There you will stay for 1-6 months and accumulate a hospital bill anywhere from $200,000 to $2,000,0000 or more. While you are in the hospital your family will fly in and visit you or stay near you and generate more income for the hospital and the community.

The icing on the cake. This cancer center has a location in Arizona, which is closer to my mother. Do they offer this same package there.....nope. They only offer this to this little whole in the wall community half way across the US. (No offense to anyone, as I grew up in a similar community.)

Greedy bastards....

A family of 5

Last week we were a family of 5. My 15 year old nephew was here. He is failing Geometry and his mother is lucky if she can do 4th grade math, so we brought him up for a week of tutoring and a break from his mother (who has her own problems that she keeps sharing with the 15 year old.) This is the same kid who tried space cookies last month and told his mom she needed to try one. She is worried she is loosing her son, which she is because she is wrapped up in having a perfectly clean and decorated house.

While here he had to wake up at 5am everyday to start math. He would work with my husband until 7am, then all day on his own till 5pm with a 2 hour break for lunch, gym, and a shower. At 5pm he would play with the babies while I finished getting dinner ready. After dinner he got an hour to watch TV or play Xbox while we put the babies to bed. Then another hour on math and then about 30 minutes of TV or Xbox before bed.
Friday we drove up to the snow and spent the morning playing in the snow, and the afternoon shopping. Saturday morning he was begging my husband to let him live with us, but life isn't that easy and it is not our choice. Later that morning he flew home.
By Saturday night my husband was missing him.

Our nephew did so much better in our home with our rules than he does with his mom. For the most part getting him to do basic chores was not a struggle. At his house he whines non-stop because his mother allows it and it works her up and he gets attention from it. I personally don't allow arguments and whining and my husband is slowly learning not to allow them either.

My husband and I also saw his old self come back out. He has not been his old self in over a year when he pulled his dad off his mom. Sadly by the next day he was upset to be home.

Being a teenager is very hard.I think a lot of parents forget that. They forget that teenagers like to go out and spend time as a family receiving positive attention from their parents. They really only play video games and listen to music all day because they have nothing else better to do. Just like adults they want balance to their lives. Teenagers don't know how to give balance to their lives on their own and it is up to the parents to be an example and to occasionally make sure the balance is their (despite the will of the teenager.) They need time to work, play (which should include a physical activity), and then relax and unwind too.

Why am I writing all this...I want to remember it later when my own kids are grown and I want to remind myself that even now I need to be continually working toward a more perfect balance.

Learning from others

We just got back from California. We spent the better part of the week with my sister in law and her children.

Every time I see her and her children, I feel the same way. She messed up her life and she continues to allow it to roll down hill.

I am continually learning from her mistakes so I would like to share her story. Hopefully others will not make the same mistakes. I will refer to her as E.

When E was 19 she entered her rebellious phase. She feel in love with a man 16 years ago, who she knew had a history of spousal abuse and she never told anyone about his history. Her husband occasionally hit her but she always took it and kept it mostly to herself. He was unemployed for 6 months. At that time they moved in with E's parents. E's mother spent a good portion of her savings and retirement supporting the family. Finally E's husband got a job in California close to my husband. From time to time E's parents would come and stay with E. E's parents always did the cooking cleaning and bought E's children the best gifts while visiting and buy other large ticket items that were needed. E's husband was never happy about E's parents visiting. E's husband was only good for the money he made. E and her husband were funny. They buy things they don't need but tighten the budget on things they do need (food, clothing, housing.)

In fall 2007 E's husband beat her. He threw her against the wall then down on the ground and started hitting and kicking her. All of the children were a witness (4, 9, 14 years old.) The 14 year old boy had to step in and pull his father off of his mother. We (my husband and I) wanted to call the police but E did not want us too. We respected her wishes and my husband had a serious talk with E's husband and was warned that next time there would be no choice and no one to stop us from calling.

We moved away from California. August 2008 we received a call at 11pm from the 14 year old. He called to let us know his dad was drunk and threatening his mother and being vulgar. The 14 year old and my husband communicated online. When E was hit by her husband, my husband was on the phone with the local (to them) police and they were there in 2 minutes. They took him away and a restraining order was issued the next day.

As you can see it was very typical. He is a control freak when it comes to what he can control and she is naive about the world. He kept $50k in the bank all the time saying how poor they are. He even made a joint account just so he could deposit the tax return money without her knowledge (or signature.) E believes that everyone she meets is so nice and had no idea that the government was giving $1500 to families as part of the tax relief program (in 2008) even though everyone I know was talking about it.

You know your 2 year old will be smarter than you when....

She knows the difference between right and left body parts, says, "We're almost home!" when you turn on your street, reminds you to "Be careful!" when you get mad at other drivers or (baba) starts swerving, and she spells her last name with the same ease you do.

We have a local educational channel aimed for middle school to high school level students. I told my husband maybe I should have her watch that and the university channel (always watching in on a computer technology class.) Could you imagine....

I would really never have her watch something that advanced at her age, but children truly are sponges at this age.

Did I mention the 6 month old says, mama, baba, and night, night. He is just now getting a firm grasp on sitting up by himself.

Grandmas.....

My mom called this morning. We started talking about Christmas presents. As you can see from the last post I am a very practical person and I know what I want for my kids. We don't celebrate but they do so we are going to see them for the holidays.

Cotton food from "Under the Nile." He can chew on it, she can play with it and have herself a store or cooking party. $26 not cheap, but okay.

Melissa and Doug Lacing beads. She can sort but color or shape and make her own necklace. $10 very affordable.



I talk to my mom and she was thinking about getting them something along the same lines but different.

Not bad or anything. Just more money and it looses half of it's purpose (sorting) and I am not sure Gibo will want to play with it when he is 3.

This for Gibo. $68 from FAO. It is a very cool toy and all, but for a 6 month old I don't see a lot of purpose behind it.

From my mother who in the same call said she is worried about money (she has cancer and will start chemo. soon) The same person who growing up said $50 gifts are the limit and made all three of us go in together to get the orginal Nintendo for Christmas one year.

I guess being a grandma changes everything.....

This years toddler "IT" gift

This year if you have a toddler you have just got to get them a kitchen. Almost every toddler parent I know is buying them a kitchen. It's okay if you don't have room, just make room for it. It okay if you can't afford your mortgage and you are thinking of letting your house get forclosed on, just get your kid a kitchen for Christmas because if you don't your 2 year old will hate you and you will be out casted by all of your other cool parent of 2 year old friends.

They range from the table top stoves




to diners







Yeah so guess what Z is getting. $10-15 wood lacing beads. And G? He is getting felt or cotton fruits and/or veggies ($20) so he can chew on them safely.

Chicken Pox with a baby

Gibo will be 6 months this Friday. Last Wednesday it became obvious he had the chicken pox. I thought okay it is just chicken pox, not a big deal. I was so wrong. Emotionally it was so draining.

We went to the doctor on Wednesday. Our usual doctor was not in. The doctor we saw looked at him and wasn't sure what it was and had to go get a second opinion. As we are waiting more and more dots are showing up, they are doubling right before my eyes. They conference with each other and decide it is chicken pox that I gave to him from the shingles that I had (didn't know it was shingles at the time), because they have a 2 week incubation period.

Thursday (Thanksgiving) my husband is home for the weekend to help. Thursday night only Zuzu sleeps. We are up all night with Gibo who is just so upset, uncomfortable and has a 102 fever with Tylenol in him. We changed our bed sheets at least twice that night and gave him an oatmeal bath at 3am to help with the itching.

Zuzu's love for Gibo really started to show through. She wanted to be there with him and confort him when he cried. She would get upset when she couldn't be by his side.

Friday night it became obvious Zuzu had the chicken pox too. Saturday Gibo started getting better and Zuzu worse. Saturday night her eye started getting a little red so for the 3rd time in a week we went back to the doctor. Turns out it went away on it's own and she was fine.

Now we are just waiting for all the sores to scab over so we are no longer contagious and we will pray for minimal scars and that Gibo has magically become immune (even though when babies his age get it they usually don't.)

In all of this I did learn that Gibo is 20 lbs now and my husband not only had the chicken pox as a boy, but the mumps and measles too.

I am happy that Zuzu and Gibo had each other through this and even if we could not make them smile, they could still make each other smile.