So far behind on here...
First off... We had to find a new home for the puppies. I know when you take in a pet you are taking on that responsibility and its "supposed to be for life" as they say but I have to draw a line at some point. They were up to date on their vaccinations, they sat, laid down, shook, went in there beds and went outside on command, were kennel trainned, had the barking under control (for the most part) and were even doing really well on their leashes all by 6 months old but they chewed... And I know especially puppies, that dogs can chew and I expected it but this was out of control. They chewed my flip flops, a few toys and even some of the curtains. Then they moved on to their bowls and the cushions to our outdoor patio furniture. After the cushions, they ate the straps that the cushions sat on so now I cannot even just replace the cushions with new ones, they chewed the swings off the swing set, the rope/wooden ladder on the swing set, the actaul wooden swing set structure itself, the pull cord on off the lawn mower and the knobs to adjust the mower's handle bar and the thing the water house wraps around and 2 sprinklers and they ate the screen out of the back sliding screen door.... Even after this I was still trying to find ways to discourage the chewing- gave them all sorts of different chew toys for them to chew instead, sprayed them with water, beat their butts, even sprayed this bitter stuff I got from the pet store on things to discourage them and even shock/training collars ...nothing seemed to work and then they decided to start chewing on something that I had to draw a line at... They started chewing the house! The actual stucco on the house!... So we found a good home for them with one of my husband's coworkers who has more time to work with them and this way they could stay together too. I still feel bad though about giving them up to someone else. Like I failed but I know it was the most rational thing to do and they are now getting the attention they deserve from a family that I know is taking really good care of them and if we wanted I know we can go over and see them whenever we feel like it as they are literally less than a couple of miles away.
The kids had their birthdays. My son is now 3 and we had a house full of kids running around, eating hot dogs and hamburgers and I blew up about 30 balloons and let the kids run around in them in the family room. My husband made an awesome blue Spiderman cake that we stuck this neat Spiderman candle on top of. I can't believe my little man is getting so big!
And my daughter had her 5th birthday and we had a party for her too. She wanted to get a pinata again. She picked out one of the traditional star looking ones, a blue and pink one and we put the goodies in it and let the kids fill their own goody bags once it was busted open. And she told my husband that she wanted a flower cake so he made her one with pink daisies. She is big enough that she gets to start school next year, wow....
We had my grandparents out for the Thanksgiving holiday and they even stayed long enough to be here for my daughter's birthday too so that was really awesome. I am glad they came out and that the kids got to spend a lot of time with them getting to know them since I don't know when we will get to see them next and my kids so rarely get to see them. But we had a nice Thanksgiving holiday as we got to spend it with our family.
Christmas this year was a bit stressful. I felt so rushed at the last minute. I like to have my shopping done by Thanksgiving so I can enjoy the holidays with my family and friends and do activities and whatnot, but this year, with things being tight I wasn't able to buy things ahead as much as I often do and we cut back on our budget, way back, to less than half of what we normally do. But it was still nice.
I got my office to do a food drive instead of a Secret Santa gift exchange and was able to get a decent amount of food collected which I took over to the United Food Bank. That helped perk my holiday spirits since I could not afford to do the toys for tots or christmas angel type programs this year.
My kids helped as much as they could with decorating the house and baking in the kitchen. We didn't put up as much decorations, well lights, as we normally put up as we are trying to save where ever we can and that includes the electric bill.
The kids even wrote a letter to Santa this year. My daughter had been begging for a red Nintendo DS and we were able to barter some old vynil albums with someone who had one that was slightly used and we found a gently used Gameboy Advance for our son, since he is definitely not ready for a DS yet, equipped with some basic arcade style games and a Spiderman game too. They were ecstatic and have yet to put them down for any bit longer than to let them charge. And between Santa and grandparents and aunts and uncles, they got plenty of new clothes and PJ's and even a new jacket and slippers, and puzzles, some books and games, some toys and activities/crafts for them to do together too.
It was a nice Christmas overall. My grandmother came to town too. We went to my in-laws Christmas Eve and had a blast, eating dinner and deserts and exchanging gifts and playing games. Christmas morning the kids allowed us to sleep in a bit (getting home from the in-laws after midnight may of helped) before we got up to see what Santa brought and that afternoon we headed over to my parents for dinner and more deserts and gift exchanging and just good 'ole hanging out with the family. And next year we will have one more to share it with too.
Money wise we have have been hit or miss with being on the track we want to be on. We had some bills come up that we were not expecting and we have also had some good things take place too with finances. Our son was able to get into the Long Term Care program, which is wonderful!! So he is able to get his speech therapy again and occupational therapy again (we are just trying to find a new occupational therapist right now). If it wasn't for these programs, I have no idea how we would of gotten this far. Their help has not only been wonderful financially in covering costs for his therapies (after insurance we would have to pay about $2400.00 a month out of pocket if we didn't have these programs helping us) and they are now providing his diapers, but they have helped him progress SOOO much. He can say words now and even some short sentences. The people that work with him also keep us involved as a family with his therapy too so we learn how to work with him when they are not there and how to help him on our own. I don't feel so helpless anymore when it comes to him. These people have such amazing talents working with these special children that they are somehow able to unlock and open doors that as a parent, being new to having a child with special needs, I would not have been able to even find. We still have our bad days and the meltdowns, but it seems like those are so much fewer than they were when I look back to a year ago. And the good days just shine through so much more in my memory now.
Money is going to get tighter. I am still working full time and babysitting in the evenings and on weekends. And my husband is still working full time and has been making a little extra money picking up albums here and there for really cheap and turning around and selling them online for more than he gets them for.
My full time sitting job in the evenings has been cut down to only a couple of nights a week since the mom graduated from night school. So that is going to be a hit on us financially.
So with money that we have gotten from selling a few things and any extra babysitting nights, we are stashing it all away to help make up for any possible shortfalls we come across in the next few months.
Luckily with the holidays being over, we won't be spending as much on food and gifts and gas money to drive to every one's houses. And it also means tax season is coming and hopefully this year we will be getting a decent return which I want to go to immediately paying of some credit card debt. We had one card's APR hike up because the promotional period was over and I want that card gone ASAP. I looked into getting a new card to roll the balance over to a lower APR but now with the economy and all the new regulations, credit card companies don't seem to offer anything with a fixed rate anymore and I am not buying their pitches about "earning points" and whatnot when I know that what they are selling could have a 18-24% variable interest rate. "That means it could go down since its variable..." they say. I was not born yesterday- it also means it can go up!
We recently found out about a possible promotion at my husband's work and we are currently crossing our fingers for it. It would not only be helpful financially but I really think my husband deserves it. He has been working so hard and cross training so much to make sure that he can cover almost anything. Cross your fingers for him/us.
We have gotten balances down on our car loans and are almost to the point where we are ready to sell and downsize to one vehicle. We are currently trying to decide the best route to go though. To sell both cars, downsize to one vehicle and the vespa OR to refinance one car, out right buy a really cheap vehicle and sell the vespa. We just need to see more of where the market is on the vehicles once we are ready and what our options are but in only a couple of months tops we be in the position to actually do something and not cut it too tight/close.
A good note though, is that we had saved almost everything from our kids as far as baby supplies goes so we are practically already set with supplies for the new baby. We managed to get an amazing deal on a brand new crib, one that converts to a toddler bed and then a full size bed, for only about $150 at target and we got the matching changing table for free too! We already had the car seat and stroller and a high chair and swing and we have plenty of blankets, crib sheets and baby towels/washcloths. Unfortunately, the clothes from my daughter that we saved are probably not going to work with this baby because she was born in the winter and I am due right when it starts to get hot at the end of spring... So we just gotta grab the smaller items like bottles, pacifiers, bottle brushes, some more burp rags and clothes on top of the usual diapers and formula and we are pretty much good to go. I am excited we get to do up a nursery this time but at the same time we are trying to save costs so we are going to use the same crib set as we did with our other kids since its still in practically brand new condition, so its another "Care-Bear" baby... Oh well, gotta save as much as possible... Not really a big deal since she won't remember it anyway....
Another set back has been my kids dental work. Both kids are needing crowns. They have unfortunately inherited thin enamel from their mom and after our insurance we owe just over $230 to the dentist. And the dentist has to have an anesthesiologist come and put my son under, since he is so smaller plus his autism makes it almost impossible for him to keep still enough to have the crowns and sealant put on, and the anesthesiologist does not bill insurance but instead insists on payment in full up front and then we bill our insurance ourselves to have our insurance reimburse us, which means we have to completely front the $700, and right now I do not have an extra $700 sitting around.... So that's one more thing to save for and to save as quickly as possible for because I do not like letting health/dental issues go unattended....
So we have had our ups and downs lately... But its a new year and I am just trying to stay optimistic that things will be positive as we try to meet our goals.
Comments