Saving money.

This post is for you, Sam :)

I've been trying to jump back on the money saving wagon after our vacation. I actually did pretty well this week. I signed up for www.grocerygame.com (4 week trial for $1. In my area it includes lists for CVS, Walgreens, Rite Aid, Kroger and Meijer). The verdict is still out on whether it's worth it to me (once the 4 week trial is up the cost goes up to $10 for 8 weeks for 1 store. Each additional store is $5 for 8 weeks). For this last week I did what I always do (get the papers and make my list of things I will buy- I do Kroger and Meijer) and then on Monday night (when the grocerygame list comes out) I compared my list to their list to see if I missed anything. This last week I only missed one thing that would have been a $.45 mistake. We'll see how I do this week. If it continues like this I won't be continuing after my trial offer. The bonus of continuing is that they do the work for you. But, honestly, I find it kinda fun to try and find the best deals :)

Since I was so happy with my deals this last week I'll post about it. Here's what I bought at Kroger...

10 32oz Powerade (normally $1.29- on sale 10/$10)
1 10 count 12oz Powerade (free with the purchase of 10 32oz bottles of Powerade)
*2 Lysol cleaners (normally $3.69, on sale for $2 each, plus I had a $.50 coupon, which Kroger doubles to $1 for each)
*1 Brawny Big paper towel roll (normally $1.89, on sale for $1.50 plus I had a $.50 coupon which Kroger doubled to $1)
1 Kroger yellow rice- $.69
*2 Kroger Instant Oatmeal (normally $1.92, on sale for $1.50)
*1 Bagel-fuls (normally $2.75, on sale for $2.00, plus I had a $.55 coupon)
*1 Tyson Anytizer- boneless buffalo chicken wings (normally $3.99, on sale for $2.50, plus I had a $3.00 coupon)
*1 Heinz Ketchup (normally $2.38, on sale for $2.00)
*2 Del Monte 4ct fruit cups (normally $2.79, on sale for $2.00)

All of the items with the * had a deal that if you bought 10 of these items an extra $5 was taken off the order.

Before savings the total was $48.46. I paid $19.31 for all of it. Savings of 60%

At Meijer that same night...

2 Tampax Tampons (normally $4.29 each, on sale B1G1 50% off, plus I had 2 coupons for $1 each)
1 cough drops (normally $1.09 on sale for $.50)
Zucchini ($.77/lb)
2 Hamburger Helper (normally $1.73, on sale for $1 plus I had coupons)
1 boxed brownies (normally $1.89, on sale for $1 plus I had $.50 coupon that doubled to $1, making it free)
1 liquid dish soap (normally $1.99, on sale for $1)
1 roll of paper towel (normally $1.09, on sale for $1, plus I had a coupon)
2 taco seasoning packets (normally $.53, on sale 2/$1)
1 bag salad (normally $1.50, on sale for $1)
2 containers of mushrooms (normally $2, on sale for $1 plus I had a $.50 coupon)
1 Electrasol tabs (normally $4.29, on sale for $2.99, plus I had a $2.25 coupon)
2 bottles of Wishbone dressing (normally $2.19, on sale for $1.67.... this was my splurge since I didn't have any coupons. I bought 2 of the new BountiFul kinds.... can't wait to try them!)
2 boxes of Tyson chicken -boneless buffalo wings (normally $3.38, on sale for $2.00)

Total before sales/coupons- $42 even. Total after savings- $21.43 Savings of 49%

Cute picture :)

This is what happens when Owen gets a new movie. He loves on it for days. Won't be apart from it for a minute. He even sleeps with it. LOL! Isn't that adorable??

Food.

The other day I found myself defending myself and Owen in regards to his feeding difficulties. This person insisted that Owen *could* eat every food (meats, whatever), he just chose not to because he is "playing me" and "being bratty". Needless to say, I don't have contact with this person anymore (and neither does Owen). We don't need that kind of negativity in our lives.

Anyway.... so tonight Owen and I made spaghetti. He hasn't eaten it recently, for whatever reason, but he was really excited about it today. I made sure to make it *exactly* how he likes it (bow-tie pasta only, homemade sauce- Grandpa's recipe, of course). He helped with everything and was really excited. So I put a plate in front of him, he sat down and then I went outside to pick some basil (I use fresh basil in mine and Jason's sauce for lasagna we'll eat tonight, I use dried for Owen's because he won't eat the sauce with fresh basil). Anywho... I come back inside and see Owen sitting at the table, frozen, looking like he's going to vomit. I calmly go to him and ask what's wrong. He starts searching frantically and finally locates his napkin beside his plate. He spits out a piece of chewed up pasta and tears start welling up in his eyes. I asked what was wrong. He said "The spaghetti is.... mama it's..... it's...... it's sticky". He tried really hard to find a word to describe it (first time he's done that.... GREAT progress!). I asked if he wanted to try another piece, maybe the next piece will be better. Repeat with another piece. He was so upset that, for whatever reason, his spaghetti didn't taste "right" today. Tears started welling up again which, of course, made me start crying. Noone wants to see their kid in pain- physical or otherwise. I don't think he's ever been this upset at not being able to eat something.

I don't even really know why I posted this. Free therapy, I guess? To prove that I'm not insane? That he's not really "playing me" or "being bratty"? To prove that he really does have a medical condition that is keeping him from enjoying foods like most of us do. We've made huge progress with his food, but we still have a long way to go. We did add chocolate chips in recently (which he now loves and begs for!) and flavored applesauce. He won't eat the premade flavored applesauce but he LOVES the applesauce Jason makes. Jason takes jello mix (the powdered stuff) and mixes a little into plain, no sugar added applesauce. Just enough to give it a little flavor change (and it changes the color ever so slightly). Owen loved the peach. Jason recently made watermelon and he's loving that. I think he likes the flavored applesauce more than the plain now!! It's kinda funny because he won't eat flavored applesauce you buy at the store. But if you buy the plain applesauce and mix jello into that container he'll down it like there's no tomorrow.

Well, I'll definately have a head full of grey hair by 30....

This kid is going to give me a heart attack one of these days!

We were at work/daycare today. I was in the infant room. Owen was, obviously, in the big kid room. Or, more precisely, he was outside with his class on the playground. He comes walking into my room holding his teachers hand, grinning from ear to ear, dirt covering him and half his face is red. Here's the conversation that occured....

Me- "Uh-oh. What happened?"
Teacher- "Well, he was outside playing and he climbed up the climber. I guess he tried to jump to grab the bar but he missed and fell. He landed in a belly flop."
Me- "Uhhh.... is he okay?"
Teacher- "Well, he seems okay. He didn't cry at all and says nothing hurts but I wanted to bring him to you so you could check him over."
Me- "Thanks. Owen- what happened?" (while I'm checking him over)
Owen- "I was just trying to fly to the monkey bars mama."
Me- "You were trying to fly? You're not a bird!"
Owen "But I was trying to be safe!"
(We've been talking to him alot about safety and how he has to be safe)
Me- "Thank you for being safe, but I don't know if jumping off the top of it was such a good idea. Does anything hurt?"
Owen- "No mama. Can I go back and try again?"
Me and Teacher- "NO! No more flying to the monkey bars!"

ARGH! Okay, to give you a visual. This is one of those climbers for kids. It has steps to climb up, a slide and across the top is the bar where the swings go (but there are no swings attached right now so it's just a bar). To give you an idea of how high... I have to jump to grab the bar (which is what he calls the "monkey bars"). The spot he jumped from is about eye level with me (so about 5 ft off the ground). How he walked away from that with no broken bones is beyond me. Apparently he went straight down, didn't even put his arms out to catch himself (which, in reality, may have kept him from breaking any bones). His face is a little scrapped up and he has a little bit of a fat lip (it looks like he went straight down but turned his face since only half is scrapped up). Other than that, no battle wounds and definately not enough to slow him down.

I think we need to do a little more talking on safety. LOL!

A new birthday tradition...

For the last 4 years Owen hasn't cared at all about his birthday. No excitement leading up to it, no enthusiasm when it actually came, no ideas for gifts, nothing (the boy doesn't even eat cake! LOL!).

This year, however, the tables have turned and we're in trouble! Owen's finally gotten to the point where he asks us to buy him stuff at the store, which we're very glad he's doing! It's huge progress for him! However, we can't/won't buy him everything he asks for ;) So he's also learning about disappointments in the process. A couple weeks ago I made the mistake of telling him "maybe you can have that for your birthday". Now he's convinced he WILL get it for his birthday. And everything else I say no to between here and his birthday. LOL!

So today we were at walmart and he decided not only is he going to get 10 gifts for his birthday (9 is not okay, neither is 11. It MUST be 10) but he is going to have a "birthday tree". Kinda like a Christmas tree. How cute! So, of course, now I need to go buy a little tree. He says there has to be a star at the top so I'm going to buy a star and write/paint "Happy Birthday Owen" on it. Still trying to figure out what we'll use for decorations. I thought about using his trains but they might be too heavy. It's a good thing I have a couple months to think on this one.

We also decided that we would start a list of those 10 things he wants for his birthday. Thankfully the "Birthday tree" is on that list so it counts towards the 10 required items. I may even see if he'll put ice cream and balloons on the list. Bad mom, I know. The first 3 items are Thomas movies. The next is a thomas train. Then the birthday tree. Can you tell what he's obsessed with??

Finally, an answer!!

Sorta. I kinda just self diagnosed myself (what else can you do when the doctors never seem to have an answer?).

Remember those chest pains I said I was having? How I was wearing the monitor but it never happened while I wore it (but it did pick up my unusually high heart rate)?

Check this out. This sounds EXACTLY like what's happening. Right down to the not being able to breath or move (which is really scary when it happens when I'm driving! Fortunately that's only happened once and I was at a stop light). It happened a couple times last week when we were on vacation, and I was worried about how often they were occuring (years ago when they started it was only a couple times a year, now it's around once a week or so on average). I'm glad to see that it's nothing to worry about, just a pain in the... well... chest!

Ah, so it *is* all about the money.

This might get confusing. If so, I apologize!

Owen's been getting therapy at the same place for almost a year. He's been in a feeding group with his OT, "Miss B", and has made HUGE progress. Earlier this year it became evident that Owen's sensory issues were getting out of control and he needed some individual time with the OT. Miss B, Miss L (the scheduler) and I all sat down to figure out what we could do. Owen's insurance covers 52 visits a year for OT, one a week. So doing a sensory OT visit and the feeding group would put him at only 6 months of covered OT, which would suck. After some brainstorming we decided to do an hour of sensory OT and then immediately follow it with the hour of feeding group. The insurance gets billed once, for 2 hours, since it's back to back. Which meant he would have the full year still of covered OT. So we started this and it was WONDERFUL. He had an hour alone with Miss B and by the end of the hour he had had enough sensory input that he could actually get through most of the feeding group with no melt-downs. YAY! At that time the feeding group was 2-3 kids total with 2 adults. It was working well for everyone and Owen was really improving a lot. And then Miss B and Miss L asked if another little girl could join Owen's one on one session. I said yes, because this little girl had been in the feeding group with him almost since the beginning and is a very mellow child so I knew it wouldn't be too overstimulating with her there and Owen would still get the sensory stuff he needed.

About 1 1/2 months ago they added another boy to the "one on one" session, without even consulting me. He was added to the feeding group too (bringing the total up to 3 kids). I told Miss B my concerns, that Owen wasn't going to do well adding another kid (not only was the boy loud and rambunctious, his mom was *really* loud and overstimulated ME, and I don't have sensory issues!). Owen did not do well at all and melted down over and over and over again. 2 weeks ago, before we left for vacation, the other 2 kids didn't show up so Owen had his one on one session again and he THRIVED. We actually got him to sit down and cut some shapes out, which has NEVER happened. We were all shocked and thrilled. For the second hour, the feeding group, the boy did show up (with his mom). It was horrid. Owen went from being perfectly under control to meltdown terror monster. Afterwards I talked to Miss B and told her this wasn't working out for Owen. He needed his one on one or, at the very least, he needed it with only the little girl. She agreed and said she would see what she could do.

Last week we missed it because of vacation.

Today we show up and not only has it not been solved, they added 2 MORE KIDS to the group. Yup, 5 kids now. I was livid. Not only did they now have 5 kids, they weren't even organized enough to handle 5 kids (at a couple points both of the OT's were out of the room leaving 5 kids with 3 of the adults (the other 2 stayed in the waiting area)... I would have been PISSED OFF if I found out the OT's left my kids with another parent and no worker to be seen).

So the first 15ish minutes went okay. Not great, but okay. And then the meltdowns began. He spend the last 40 minutes of that hour in a body sox on my lap or on the floor with virtually no attention from either of the OT's (who were busy with the other 4 kids). Yup, I really just paid for my son to sit on the floor in a body sox for 40 minutes. What a waste. The second hour, the feeding group, went slightly better but he was still way overstimulated (to the point where they ended up using a weighted vest for a little bit and took him away from the group for a little bit until they let him return when he calmed down a little).

I am pissed off. Miss L is busy with a camp they're having this week so I only talked to her briefly and told her I'd call her Friday morning. I did talk to Miss B and told her we either need to fix this or I'm pulling Owen. She claims it's not her fault that this many kids got put in the group but that management wants her to get as many kids in at once (that's where the title came in.... management doesn't care about the kids- they just care about the money. The more kids they can put in one group, the more money they can get from insurance/parents).

It absolutely sucks. Owen was making HUGE progress with how we originally had it set up. But they sacrificed him for the money. Because even if I pull Owen, that leaves a group of 4. 4 kids bring in more money than 1 or 2 does so management doesn't give a flying crap if I pull Owen out. I understand that the other kids need the help too. But that's not my problem. I'm not going to sacrifice Owen. End of story. Nor will I let anyone else sacrifice him.

Temporary solution is I pulled Owen from this group. Next week, he and the little girl will be in their own group, but it'll be a feeding group only (no sensory OT) because it's just one hour. It will be VERY temporary though, as it's from 5-6. I work until 6 so I can't even bring him. Not to mention, he's not getting his sensory OT this way. If they can't fix this and put it back so Owen has his 2 hours (one of which is one on one and the other is feeding) I may just pull him. I'm not going to play these games.

The Crab Trap

I wanted the last post to be totally positive, because it really was a wonderful vacation we had. I'm really glad we were able to take Owen on this vacation.... he really did have a blast. So now our goal is to save up and maybe take him to Disney next year. Woo!

We had some minor issues with Owen, like I thought we would. We brought his body sox and his brushes for brushing therapy. I let the brushing therapy slide for the first few days but we used the body sox as needed (he climbs in and I do deep pressure to calm/sooth him). It works great.

He really didn't have many major issues at all, which is why I was shocked at what happened one night at dinner. We were at the Crab Trap (posted about it in the last post). We had just gotten our appetizers and Owen wanted to sit on my lap, no biggie. We were all just talking and eating when Owen did a complete 180 and grabbed my arm. He pinched me so hard he left a nasty bruise. We have NO idea what set him off. He wasn't upset. He wasn't overstimulated. He was just sitting there nicely when he flipped out. I've analyzed it over and over and over again and I cannot figure out what happened. It hurt like you know what though so I gently tossed him over to Jason to take before I flipped out on the kid. I tried to stay calm, and I did for the most part. But then it just overwhelmed me. It finally hit me that my child is getting bigger and stronger and really starting to do some damage. Thank God it's almost always me he hurts and not usually other people. A couple weeks ago I posted about the huge bruise he gave me in Best Buy. That was bad, this one was worse (the best buy one was bigger but this one was deeper/nastier). I'm getting him all this therapy. We spend hours every week in therapy and hours and hours working with him at home. I've taken him to dozens of doctors, I can't even count up the hours I've sat in doctors offices for him. I've spent thousands of dollars out of pocket to buy therapy tools for home. We spent all this money to take him on a nice vacation. But none of it matters because *something* is still going on. Something is not right, and noone can tell me what. When he's acting fine I hear people say all the time "Oh, nothing's wrong with him. He's just a perfect little boy". Ha. Yes, he's a perfect little boy who has SOMETHING going on. He just doesn't get it. When it happened I broke down in the restaurant, crying right at the table. It was a combination of the fact it hurt like heck, but more because it hit me hard that he just isn't typical, no matter how you slice it. He had NO idea what he had done. I tried to explain it but he just kept saying "what's the matter mama? Why are you crying?".

This is what it looked like the next day. It's not the best picture, it actually looked worse in person, but it gives you an idea.


So now that leaves me with.... no idea of where to go. He can't keep doing this, but what am I supposed to do? He can't do this when he goes to school or he's just going to get kicked out. But what the heck do I do? We're still waiting to get him in for another eval in Louisville (waiting on the phone call to tell me when) and his ped was supposed to be setting up an appointment with mental health to see how they can help. I need to give the ped a call and see what's up with that appointment.....

We're home :)

These are all in order from the beginning of the week to the end (except this first picture, which should be the last picture... don't ask)

Riding on a Merry-go-round in a mall in Alabama.

Not wanting his photo taken with the spaceship in Alabama

"Finally... I can sleep!" In Alabama.

Well rested and ready to go on to Florida! In some of these pics he's in his pj's. He decided he much rather enjoyed the comfort of the pj's rather than clothes. And who am I to argue? I'd wear pj's all the time if I could!

At the Peach Park in Alabama. He tried (and liked) onion rings! Crazy!

Hugging the giant peach.

We finally made it.... the beach!! We stopped briefly after we got to Florida so he could see the beach before we went to dinner. Just a quick walk through the sand and a dip of the toes.

Bright and early the next morning.... come on mom.... LET'S GO! He insisted on carrying the beach bag.... what a little gentleman ;)

When we got to the beach, this is what we saw.... how cool!

Building a sand castle with Jason.

Another new food.... kettle cooked chips. He LOVED them!

His one and only nap the entire vacation. He slept for a couple hours while we shopped.

Dinner at a local restaurant (can't remember the name of it though).

And some more beach play.

We had a couple "oh no" freak out moments because he insisted on bringing Thomas to the beach everyday. And burying him. And forgetting where he buried him. LOL!

Swimming at the hotel (swimming at the beach was banned because of his injury).

This was Owen's dream come true. It was a McDonalds. Inside of a Walmart! His 2 favorite places, together. He flipped out when he saw it. LOL!

Sue was trying to get a picture of all 3 of us on the beach. She took at least a dozen... and O's not looking in any of them. LOL!

I LOVE this picture!

Jason made a road for Thomas....

One night we ate at a restaurant called "The Crab Trap". Very yummy. I splurged and had crab legs.... delicious! We ate outside. The next 2 pictures are the view from where we ate. The first is a pier that we took a walk on after dinner.

On the pier.

We saw a dolphin while we were on the pier! She/he kept coming up, but I could never get a good picture. Here's the best one I got.

Playing putt putt golf.

There was a race car for the kids to sit in. Owen sat in it and, my safety conscience kid, immediately tried to buckle up before he touched the steering wheel. Good job, Owen!

Jason helping him buckle up.

"Hi mom!". He was a little upset when he realized the car didn't move ;)

More beach time.

After we got cleaned up we packed a lunch (and stopped at Subway for subs) and ate next to the beach.

Later we went to Bass Pro Shops (that's what it's called... I think). Owen LOVED the shark.

And kept asking to climb inside. Once Jason obliged, Owen got a bit more timid once he was inside the sharks mouth. LOL!

The two boys.... playing video games.

Last night in Florida.

He wasn't too interested in posing for me.

Another new food.... salt water taffy!

That's it for now..... sorry there's so many. We took over 200 but I managed to narrow them down a little :) I'll post more later....

PSA- Toilet seats are dangerous!

If this hadn't happened to my child, I never would have believed it possible.

Owen was sitting on the toilet yesterday, going potty. He fell IN the toilet (not the first time, but it's certaintly not an everyday thing). He immediately jumped back up. On the way up, his penis got caught on the underside of the toilet seat (on that semi-sharp edge.... which is apparently sharper than I ever imagined). It cut where his penis meets the body An ER trip, 4 doctors, 6 hours, sedation, 9 stitches and surgical glue later, he's doing fine. He was such a trooper. We got home after 11 last night, we went to sleep a little after midnight (I did give him tylenol to help him sleep through the night). He slept until almost 10 this morning and woke up fine. He says it doesn't hurt at all and he's up and walking around (running and jumping too ).

Unfortunately, we're supposed to be leaving for Florida on Sunday for a week! The doctor said no ocean for him this time, though starting on Monday the pool will be fine as long as it's kept to less than 15 minutes at a time (making sure to let him dry completely between swimming). He can play in the sand, but we need to find a way to keep the sand out of it first. We're working on that one.

But, to lighten up this post a little.... the sedative they gave him was ketamine (Special K, in drug terms). They warned us that, while it was safe to use it, it might cause him to have hallucinations or to have memories of dreams when he wakes up. When he finally starting waking up and talking a little he was saying something about clouds up there (pointing to the ceiling), a bird named Marcello in a pine tree, etc. Then he started rocking really hard back and forth and said "Woah.... this wind is going to blow me over!" He was definately acting goofy, which was good because it lightened the mood a bit. At the very end when the nurse was unhooking his monitors and stuff Owen suddenly reached down, yanked down his pants/underwear and said "Look! It's good as new!" to the nurse. LMAO! The nurse was laughing and told him he can't show it to everyone! LOL!