Today was the beginning of a totally new life for us.
I got laid off from my job today. It's a hard time. Shane just went back to work at a commission only job after being laid off for six months. Miss Sunshine has surgeries ahead of her that we will have to use COBRA for. There are bills to be paid and all that fun stuff. I am scared out of my mind. But I am trying to have faith that everything will be the way it is supposed to in the end. For now, the plan is to stay at home with the kids until after Sunshine's palate repair and then go back to work. Hopefully we can afford for me to do this.
I am rather sad about being laid off. I have been working at my company for over 7 years at this point. It's sad to me that I will no longer work there, even though in the last year or so it had really become a place I didn't necessarily want to work. And I have always wanted to be a stay at home mom. But not like this. And I am just hoping against hope that we are able to keep our heads above water, especially with the economy the way it is now.
Sometimes an introspection. Sometimes a vent. Maybe entertaining. Maybe thought provoking. Always my life.
Friday, July 31, 2009
Monday, July 27, 2009
Busy, busy, busy...
This last week has been pretty much insane.
Monday, Sunshine had her first appointment with the ENT. I had to cancel her audiology appointment AGAIN the week before because she had a runny nose and I KNEW that meant fluid in her ears, and I just didn't want to go through the whole failed hearing test again. Well, naturally on Monday the ENT tested for fluid, and sure enough, fluid. He looked at her ears and said as best as he could tell it didn't look infected - they were red, but he attributed that to the fact that she was SCREAMING bloody murder while he tried to look at her ears. What is it with kids and screaming when their ears are checked? Anyways, he wants to go ahead and do the tubes now. He said he sees no point in waiting, that it will only cause MORE problems if we postpone than if we go ahead and get it taken care of now. Doing it this early reduces the risk of permanent hearing loss and should also help with her speech development. Right now, she is reacting to sounds, but not mimicking anything other than vowel sounds, and she should be at least STARTING to mimic the consonants. He thinks this is because of how muffled everything sounds to her, that she isn't really hearing the consonants. So we go on the 5th for her tubes.
Tuesday, we heard back from the Shriners, finally! We go for an initial consult in Chicago on September 2. I am so happy about that, although now I am very nervous about if they will decide to do her surgery or not. It's going to be a VERY long day - we will meet with the entire team of doctors in one day... They pay for one plane ticket for me, and a ticket for her if we need it, but we are going to hold her on our laps. We have decided that even though money is tight, it is worth it to use to have Shane come with us. I know I am going to need another adult with me as the day is going to be very overwhelming. I plan to take paper and pen with me to try and write down as much as possible, so that even if they don't do her surgery we can have more info on what it is she needs to pass on down here, since we don't have a team down here but are working with numerous individual doctors...
And then on Tuesday afternoon, I found out my grandmother had a heart attack. It was mild, no major damage to her heart, and they did a heart cath but found no blockages or anything, so no surgery. They have put her on a regimen of baby aspirin as she can't take plavix due to a skin reaction, and she can't take regular strength aspirin due to her asthma. But it's good that is all they are doing. We didn't go to see her since we can't take the kids to the hospital, plus she was only there one day and I figured between the heart attack and the heart cath, and the fact that we literally have a HUGE family, her room was probably going to be a revolving door, which is not what she needed, so we didn't go up there. So Sunday at church was the first day that I saw her and she just looked great - just like herself. Which was a big relief. We will go visit her sometime next week once she has had a little more time to rest and recover.
So my week was pretty insane from that point out. Now, I am getting ready to order my gDiapers. I am going to be cloth diapering, or at least trying to, at home. Wish me luck with that!
This is my last week at work. I'm kind of nervous about this. I have had a job since I was 16. Not working is going to be foreign to me. But we have decided that I will stay at home with the kids until after Sunshine's surgery at least. Hopefully I don't go insane. Luckily Monster Boy will be in preschool for three hours every afternoon, so that will help - I will be able to run my errands with just her, which will be SO much easier than trying to do it with the two of them. That will also give me time to do the cleaning around the house, since her naptime falls during his school time. I need to get my moby wrap made too, so that I can wear her while I am working if she isn't sleeping. I have a pocket sling, but she's not a fan anymore. She loved it when she was tiny, but now she wants to see and the front facing position isn't too comfy for her thanks to my large chest! I think once she is big enough for me to wear her on my hip in it she will like it again, so I am planning to just make a moby wrap for in between. I prefer wearing her to using the stroller right now, since she's still so tiny... When she gets bigger I will be happy to move to the stroller.
So that's things in our life this week...
Monday, Sunshine had her first appointment with the ENT. I had to cancel her audiology appointment AGAIN the week before because she had a runny nose and I KNEW that meant fluid in her ears, and I just didn't want to go through the whole failed hearing test again. Well, naturally on Monday the ENT tested for fluid, and sure enough, fluid. He looked at her ears and said as best as he could tell it didn't look infected - they were red, but he attributed that to the fact that she was SCREAMING bloody murder while he tried to look at her ears. What is it with kids and screaming when their ears are checked? Anyways, he wants to go ahead and do the tubes now. He said he sees no point in waiting, that it will only cause MORE problems if we postpone than if we go ahead and get it taken care of now. Doing it this early reduces the risk of permanent hearing loss and should also help with her speech development. Right now, she is reacting to sounds, but not mimicking anything other than vowel sounds, and she should be at least STARTING to mimic the consonants. He thinks this is because of how muffled everything sounds to her, that she isn't really hearing the consonants. So we go on the 5th for her tubes.
Tuesday, we heard back from the Shriners, finally! We go for an initial consult in Chicago on September 2. I am so happy about that, although now I am very nervous about if they will decide to do her surgery or not. It's going to be a VERY long day - we will meet with the entire team of doctors in one day... They pay for one plane ticket for me, and a ticket for her if we need it, but we are going to hold her on our laps. We have decided that even though money is tight, it is worth it to use to have Shane come with us. I know I am going to need another adult with me as the day is going to be very overwhelming. I plan to take paper and pen with me to try and write down as much as possible, so that even if they don't do her surgery we can have more info on what it is she needs to pass on down here, since we don't have a team down here but are working with numerous individual doctors...
And then on Tuesday afternoon, I found out my grandmother had a heart attack. It was mild, no major damage to her heart, and they did a heart cath but found no blockages or anything, so no surgery. They have put her on a regimen of baby aspirin as she can't take plavix due to a skin reaction, and she can't take regular strength aspirin due to her asthma. But it's good that is all they are doing. We didn't go to see her since we can't take the kids to the hospital, plus she was only there one day and I figured between the heart attack and the heart cath, and the fact that we literally have a HUGE family, her room was probably going to be a revolving door, which is not what she needed, so we didn't go up there. So Sunday at church was the first day that I saw her and she just looked great - just like herself. Which was a big relief. We will go visit her sometime next week once she has had a little more time to rest and recover.
So my week was pretty insane from that point out. Now, I am getting ready to order my gDiapers. I am going to be cloth diapering, or at least trying to, at home. Wish me luck with that!
This is my last week at work. I'm kind of nervous about this. I have had a job since I was 16. Not working is going to be foreign to me. But we have decided that I will stay at home with the kids until after Sunshine's surgery at least. Hopefully I don't go insane. Luckily Monster Boy will be in preschool for three hours every afternoon, so that will help - I will be able to run my errands with just her, which will be SO much easier than trying to do it with the two of them. That will also give me time to do the cleaning around the house, since her naptime falls during his school time. I need to get my moby wrap made too, so that I can wear her while I am working if she isn't sleeping. I have a pocket sling, but she's not a fan anymore. She loved it when she was tiny, but now she wants to see and the front facing position isn't too comfy for her thanks to my large chest! I think once she is big enough for me to wear her on my hip in it she will like it again, so I am planning to just make a moby wrap for in between. I prefer wearing her to using the stroller right now, since she's still so tiny... When she gets bigger I will be happy to move to the stroller.
So that's things in our life this week...
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Fourth of July
So we had a very busy Fourth this year. First it was over to my grandmothers for burgers and brats and a little hanging out. Miss Sunshine cried most of the day and would not take a nap. Lovely. Monster boy had a blast though, running around with his cousin. Then it was off to small town, KS for some REAL fireworks. Monster Boy fell running after a parachute that he lit and scraped his knee. You'd have thought he broke it. Wouldn't walk on it normally for about half the night. Once we got him distracted enough with fireworks, he was fine. Miss Sunshine did much better with the fireworks than I thought she would. The loud booms didn't phase her at all, but the zinging noise of the rockets scared her to death. She jumped every time. I finally put my hands over her ears and that seemed to do the trick. Then it was home again (very late) and to bed. Naturally this did not mean that the neighbors stopped their fireworks. But the kiddos were so exhausted they slept right through it. Today we have had a lazy day, although I just FINALLY got Miss Sunshine down for her nap at 6 o clock. Ugh. I hate the fighting sleep stage, and she is fully in the middle of it. Hopefully we get past this soon because she is anything but Sunshine when she doesn't take a nap. And she went to sleep so late today I can only imagine how bad her sleep schedule is going to be screwed up. But I don't want to wake her up because she so desperately needs the nap. Catch-22. We are all tired and cranky as well. Hopefully I can get Monster Boy to bed early today.
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