Poor baby...

Hannah went to the allergist today and had a ton of allergy testing to figure out why she has been covered in a rash from head to toe for over a month now.  The good news is she is not allergic to molds, dogs, cats, horses, dust mites, cockroaches, feathers, wheat, soy, milk, eggs or peanuts.  I'm so glad, because I would have felt horrible if I was feeding her something or exposing her to something that was making her so sick.  The bad news is her rash is probably a combination of eczema and some sort of fungal infection and now we have to try to get her in to a dermatologist.  She has two more creams we have to try on her body.  I really hope she gets some relief.

Easter Recap

We are coming off a great Easter weekend.  Saturday the weather was warming up.  It was windy but we were determined to do something outdoors.  We left Hannah with my mom and my dad joined us for some mini-golf.  Of course he killed us.  

Serious mini-golfing right here.

It was pretty windy and chilly but we still had a great time.  It was nice for me and Ryan to give our undivided attention to Isaac. 

Meanwhile, Hannah found some time to relax. 

My parents were willing to watch the kids, so Ryan and I snuck off for dinner and a movie.  Hannah slept all night in the pack and play for the first time EVER!  

Easter morning was lots of fun.  Ryan and I cooked a big breakfast for everyone.  The kids dyed eggs.

 My dad convinced me to go on a motorcycle ride with him.  I was pretty nervous, but it was actually very pretty to go for a ride on such a nice day around the scenic farmland.

My mom had planned a bunch of fun Easter activities.  We had to throw eggs into hula hoops.

We did egg on a spoon races.

She had an egg hunt for Isaac and a separate one for Hannah.  Hannah did a great job putting the eggs in her basket once Ryan got her started.

And of course, there was plenty of time for pick up games of basketball and sessions of catch with grandpa.

Spring break has flown by and tomorrow is back to school.  It has been such a nice few days I will be so sad to see it end.

April Showers

The weather has finally warmed up a bit. Yesterday Hannah and I walked over to the little playground in our neighborhood.  She did NOT like the swing, but she did like running around in the wood chips.

At the beginning of March I made a few goals for the month (blog post can be found here).  I am going to do the same for April.

1. Date with Ryan-- no kids allowed!   This one didn't happen, although we are probably going on a date this Saturday.  

2. Finish Mercy and start another book.   Still haven't finished Mercy. :(  Usually I can't put Jodi Piccoult books down.  This one is just okay but it hasn't grabbed interest like some of her other work. I do need to make more time to read it.

3.  Get my clearances in order for work (they need to be updated to stay at my current job and definitely need to be updated if I am going to get serious about applying elsewhere).  This is done!  And I got them all back with no issues and they are scanned in to the computer.

4. Get one more letter of recommendation together.  I have two that I have collected but I need one more. This is also done.  My former co-teacher from my autistic support days wrote me the nicest letter.

5. Figure our renewing our family membership at the Y.      This done too!

April's Goals

1. Do at least 3 classes at the YMCA.  (I already did one this morning to get a jump on this!)

2. Cook a turkey

3. Finish Mercy and start another book.

4. Start making solid plans for our trip to Florida. 

Happy April!

You win some, you lose some

And suddenly another week and weekend had flown by.

While last week our street looked like this:

this week the snow melted and we were finally able to have an outdoor baseball practice.

Aside from all of the usual activities we have been consumed with trying to get to the bottom of some health troubles with Hannah.  She has been covered with a rash for almost three weeks now.  It started on her face, spread to her neck and then her whole body.

Some days it got better, but then it would get worse again.  We took her to the doctor, on what happened to be one of her "better" days, and she declared it to be eczema and prescribed a steroid cream.  As a long time sufferer of eczema, that didn't feel right to me (Hannah's rash is all over her entire body, comes and goes, and is red and pin pointy).  We decided to get a second opinion with the nurse practitioner.  She thought that some of the patches on her back/chest were eczema but referred us to an allergist because the rash on her neck and face are not.  Also, that day Hannah had a low grade fever randomly and then last night she threw up all over the living room, which I am not sure if either of those things are related to the rash or not.  I look forward to getting in the allergists take on it so we can start avoiding whatever is causing this reaction.  Any thoughts or advice are appreciated.  This is uncharted territory for us.

Saturday was a bit of a rough day for me.  It started off with an appointment to get Isaac's teeth sealed.

Our dentist had recommended doing it about a year ago but my insurance doesn't cover it.  I found a free program through a local community college and signed Isaac up only to find out that he has some decay so they couldn't do any of the sealings.  "You should have gotten this done a year ago to prevent this" the dentist told me. Looks like more dental work is in his future... Grrr.....

Then I took Hannah to the township Easter Egg hunt (and accidentally styled her hair so she looked like the Easter bunny...)

It was freezing out and a little too close to nap time and Hannah wanted nothing to do with the eggs.  She would cry for me to hold her, then cry for me to put her down, and then cry to be picked up again.  When it was time to gather eggs she refused to pick any up.  When I tried to put some in her basket she screamed, took them out and threw them.  So much for the perfect photos I had envisioned of her smiling and gathering up eggs.  I ended up feeling like I was 0/2 on the parenting front before 10:30.  We both went home, climbed into my bed and took a nap.

Fortunately today was much better. We have been trying to focus on more meaningful family time. Ever on our quest to find something that is fun for Allison at age 12 and also fun for Hannah at age 1, we took all of the kid's to the YMCA. One of my March goals was to get on top of renewing our family membership and while there is still a tiny kink to work out it looks like we are set for another year.  (Thank for the fabulous Christmas present mom and dad!)

 We stayed until the lifeguard threw us out.  We could have easily stayed another hour, everyone was having so much fun.

Gabby finally got the coveted green band, meaning she can swim anywhere in the pool without supervision and in the summer she can do the waterslides.

 She had taken the test a few times last year but always got hung up on the treading water part.  This afternoon she went straight to the lifeguard and confidently stated ,"I'm ready to take the swim test."  She rocked it and afterwards declared several times that today was "The best day of her life!"

It was a great way to end the day, and probably a great way to end this blog.  Bring on Monday!




Linking up with Molly

First day of spring?

Things here have been busy but good. So busy that it has taken me all week to even write this post.  It has been hanging around as a draft for five days now.

We were able to spend some time with Ryan's kids over the weekend.  We took the whole gang to the bowling alley (the same one Ryan and I had part of our wedding reception at).  

It has been quite while since I was bowling and it was a fun way to spend some time all together.  

Hannah continues to the light of our lives, even though she is rather exhausting.  

Her mission now seems to be to destroy everything in her path. Unrolling toilet paper rolls - check!  Squeezing barbeque sauce into the rug - check!  Tearing apart books - checkity check!

New milestones: She is getting the hang of using a spoon.  She does NOT want to be fed anymore at all.  She wants to do it herself.  She wants to follow Isaac around and do whatever he does.  She will stick out her tongue if you ask her where it is.  She love lotion and will cry and beg for you to put it on her hands if she notices the bottle is out on the dresser.  She stands underneath the cabinet where I keep Oreos and cries and points until she gets one.  She also has finally gotten over her intense fear of the bathtub, which is great timing, with her new found insistence on feeding herself.  

It was quite an ordeal but I used my ABA background knowledge to build up her tolerance and reinforce closer and closer approximations of an independent bath.  I had to start off with just me in the bathtub playing with toys and trying to make things look as fun as I could.  Ryan even came in and gave me praise for being in the tub and made a big fuss over me.  The next step was putting Hannah on my legs in the tub.  At first she would panic if I even sat her directly on the bottom of the tub.  We have now been able to build up to me not having to get into the tub at all, but I must sit directly next to the tub.  I cannot even go over to the sink or she will panic.  She will play happily in the tub now and will allow us to bathe her and wash her hair.  I am grateful for this, because she needs to be bathed at least once a day now and before it was a two person job with one of us desperately trying to clutch her wet wiggly body in the shower while she screamed and writhed and the other one trying to wash her from head to toe as quickly as possible.  It was a traumatic experience for all involved.  

She still isn't too interested in talking besides "Mum!" "No!" and "kay".  Sometimes she will say certain words so clearly but then she will never say them again.  The more you try to prompt her to say words the more she stares at you in stony silence.  She also sings to herself in baby gibberish, and it is adorable. 

Isaac is going through a clumsy phase which I am thinking may be related to a growth spurt.  At least once a day I hear some kind of loud crash followed by a howl of pain.  Baseball batting practice has started while we wait for the fields to dry out, winter soccer just ended and spring soccer training has already began.  In other words, I spend every single night in the car driving him to sports.  I know some people think it is too much, but he really is a talented athlete and he needs the outlet of regular activity.  He goes stir crazy being cooped up in the house.  As much as it is a hassle, it is good for all of us if he has an outlet for all of his energy.

Things continue to go well for Ryan at his job.  He is doing well, he is making decent money and he seems to be respected.  He has daily terrifying run ins with dogs, but that is pretty much the only complaint he can come up with.  Now that he is settled in I have really been focusing on my own potential job search.  I have all of my letters of reference in order and I have paid for all of my clearances.  I just have to go get my fingerprinting done.   I feel really stuck and unappreciated at my current job and I am really ready to make a change.   This morning I was fumbling with the lock on my classroom door and overheard three of my coworkers around the corner complaining about me and about how they think I am not doing my job adequately. What a slap in the face.  One of them is someone I considered a friend and ally at work and someone whom I have had numerous conversations about the difficulties of my assignment this year.  None of them have kids.  All of them arrive very early in the morning and stay late at night.  None of them knows what it is like to try to balance work and be a mom to young kids.  I was out of sight so I stood and listened to them for about five minutes and was pretty much on the verge of tears all day as a result.  It's good though, to spur me on, out of my complacent comfort zone and hopefully onto better things.  I don't want to work somewhere where I am not respected or valued, so it is time to find somewhere where I can be.

Today, the first day of spring was a huge snow storm.  We had an early dismissal from school and Ryan was able to stay home from work.  What a treat having him home and getting to eat dinner all together as a family, instead of on the run, like we usually do during the week.  It was funny reversal of roles as he had grown somewhat irritable and exhausted by a full day of Hannah's antics and I found myself with a lot more patience than usual to deal with her, since I came home to a spotless house and didn't have to cook dinner.  Sometimes I think it is good to switch things up, just to help you appreciate what your partner does.

Well anyways, I guess I better hit publish on this blog.  Happy Friday!

I can't live without coupons!

I am linking up for a Thursday blog party about things you couldn't live without.  I definitely could never live without coupons!

I post some of my hauls/deals on instagram or facebook and occasionally people say "Teach me!" or "Explain!"

I had tried couponing many times in the past and could never understand it, or figure out how to make it work.  When Hannah was born and breastfeeding didn't work out, I became obsessed with trying to get formula as cheap as possible. From there I began to figure out deals for diapers, cleaning products, and other grocery items.  It can be very overwhelming at first, but with a little bit of dedication, it can become second nature.  I stumbled across a local couponing group in my town that was very active.  People posted deals in stores that were near me, and what coupons they used and I began to follow along and copied what they did.  Then the admins of the group offered a class that I went to and then after that I was officially hooked.  Now I find myself answering the questions on the page instead of asking them.  I honestly don't think I could ever live without coupons now!

Lotion for .64?  Yes please!

It is hard to boil down everything about couponing into one blog post but here are some basic tips to get started saving money:

1. Get your hands on some coupons.  Buy a Sunday paper.  I get one paper delivered to my house and my mother gives me her inserts.  If it is a good week I will buy more papers.  I also print a lot of coupons.  The best website is coupons.com.  Other good sites are redplum.com and smartsource.com.  These websites will have a limited number of times you can print certain coupons.  You can get around that by printing from different devices.  If there is a really hot coupon I will print it at work, from my laptop, from Ryan and Isaac's ipads.  I have also written to and called companies for coupons.  A great place for local PA people is Turkey Hill.  You can call every month for more coupons.

You can also just google coupons.  Ryan and I literally don't buy anything without checking to see if there are coupons first. A simple search brought up coupons for our zoo membership and oil changes.  Retailmentnot is one we check for stores and restaurant coupons.

Giant will double this coupon, making the sugar free.

2.  Know which stores double coupons and what their policies are.  Around me the stores that double coupons are Giant, Weis and Wegman's.  Stores vary a bit-- not all grocery stores are the same, and even my local Giant may have a different policy than the Giant by my mom's house.  For example, my Giant will double coupons for less than a dollar.  So a .75 cent coupon will save you 1.50 but a 1.00 off coupon will not double. Wegman's will double up to 4 like coupons, whereas Giant will only double the first of multiple coupons.  Target, CVS, Walmart, etc. do not double coupons.  Coupon policies can take a while to get the hang of, so it is easiest when you are starting out to just focus on one store.  Just be patient and persistent.

3. The most important part of couponing is matching the coupon up with a sale.

 This can be tricky but there are lots of websites that do the work for you.  Some of my favorites are thekrazycouponlady.com and forthemommas.com.  They will have the whole breakdown for you: what coupons to use and where it can be found with a link if it is printable.  I use my phone and take a screenshot of the breakdown to refer to later.

My favorite deals are Giant frequently offers "buy XX amount of certain products, save XX dollars instantly".  For example, last week they had a deal to buy 4 General Mills Cereals, save $6 instantly.  You could stack coupons on top of that making cereal about $1 a box.  I did the deal three times.  Another great way to take advantage of sales is CVS which prints out Extracare bucks for buying certain items. These are essentially gift cards that can be used on a future purchase. They print on the bottom of your receipt and look like this:

You can use the Extracarebucks on deals that generate more bucks and pay pennies out of pocket.  Again, there are literally whole websites dedicated to match-ups to help you learn the ropes.  You will need to get the store savings card and you will want to make sure they have up-to-date email and mailing addresses.

4. When you see a good deal, stock up!  Couponers who stockpile have reputations for being looney, but that is the best way to save money.

I have over 20 containers of laundry detergent that I got for less than $1 a piece.  Now I don't have to budget for laundry soap in my weekly grocery budget and I can afford to hold out until the next time I can find it that cheap.

One of my shelves of stockpiled items.  We just bought this one for about $30 at Costco. 

We will always need cereal, deodorant, toothpaste, diapers, laundry detergent, etc. and I have the room to store it, so to me it makes sense to stockpile.  We are looking into a deep freezer so we can store more perishable items.  I have also been able to donate some food and hygiene items to local needy families, which has been awesome.

Couponing has helped me save so much money on grocery items.  Even if we hit the lottery, I think I would still do it, because saving money is such a rush and couponing is a fun hobby.

SIA and Snow

First off, I am participating in a fashion challenge Style Imitates Art. The idea is to put together an outfit inspired by a piece of artwork. I have participated in the past (here and here).

This is the inspiration painting:

Here is my outfit inspiration (disclaimer, it was really hard to get some decent photos with lighting, etc.  I tried bribing Isaac my ten year old to take the pictures.  He recommended a selfie stick. :P)

I thought of my new blue button down right away when I saw the painting.  It reminded me of her head scarf.  I am not usually a leggings as pants kind of gal, but for an afternoon of errand running, I thought it worked.

Check out the other outfits in the challenge here.

Other random noteworthy things:

1. Hannah has mastered calling me "MUM!" and calls for me about 119809832 times a day.  It's actually quite adorable.  In this picture she is randomly playing with a meat thermometer... cause.. that's how we roll these days.

2. Today we finally have some beautiful weather with temperatures in the 50s, which is long overdue.  I had three actual snow days from school last week.   Even Ryan got a snow day from work Thursday which was nice.

 Hannah liked running around in the snow but wasn't such a fan of the sled.  Isaac was a good sport and entertained her until she had enough.

Today I did my carline duty at school without a jacket, only four days after these pictures were taken.  Isaac was out playing cricket with the neighborhood boys (in a driveway, since the yards are still filled with snow and slush.

Happy Monday!