Mommas helping Mommas Week Day 1

(this week instead of cute anecdotes about the kiddos and pets I am going to be doing a post a day that will introduce you to someone who needs some help; we've got a six different women in need and I'd like to see what we can do to help them. If you are unable to help, perhaps you can share the blog link and maybe someone else can help. thank you in advance!)

My friend Kris is all sorts of amazing; she has five gorgeous daughters, is married to a sweetheart of a man who has taken on her four girls as his own, deals with chronic pain and yet manages to work still, and is a very involved parent. She's the first to help someone out whenever she can and when she can't help, she tries to find someone who can. Kris is now in the position of needing some help. In her words:

My ex husband and I have four kids together.  He put us through years of financial hardship, including evictions.  We have been divorced for four years now. I'm happily married to the man of my dreams now and we have one child together. I work retail, as many hours as I can, and my husband works two jobs.  We are working together to dig me out of the hole my ex husband left me in.  The ex is still trying to keep interrupting my life and my attempts at bettering myself and fixing my credit, and is ignoring key aspects of our divorce decree in the interest of his own financial gain. I have the kids more than 80% of the time.  My husband and I pay co-payments, costs for school trips, for extracurricular activties for the kids, and now we even have drivers ed coming up (which he's also refused to help pay for).  I have multiple medical conditions but still work as often as I can for my family.  We cannot pay out-of-pocket for an attorney retainer, which is why I have created this page.  A friend of mine pointed me to this site trying to help.  I just need to fight for what is right.

She is still looking for help with lawyers fees so if you're so inclined perhaps you could pop on over to her page and donate a bit. Kris's page

Maybe you can't help her financially (that's OKAY really, it is!) but maybe you know a lawyer who takes on pro bono cases in the South West part of Michigan, maybe you ARE a lawyer and want to help a family who needs some help, maybe you've been through this situation and can offer some advice. I have such creative and amazing readers on my blog that I'm sure we can give Kris and her family some help, right??

What blog post is complete without an adorable photo? Here we have Kris and her youngest :D

One more time...Kris's page

A Long Winded Update, per usual

The last month or so has been incredibly busy. For one, I went back to work. Somehow I managed to find a job at a little company a few miles from here that only needs me to work three hours a day and is incredibly flexible if I am not able to come in. You always hear of places saying that family comes first but rarely do you find a place where that's actually true. I've found a place where that's actually true and it's, in a word, amazing. I'm a receptionist/problem solver/do whatever is needed person for the company and quite frankly, it's a very fun job. Just enough hours a day to get out of the house, a little bit of extra spending money, and I really enjoy the people I work with as well as our customers.

It has been quite an adjustment for the kiddos even though I am gone while they are at school. They get off the bus at 2:30 and I am generally home by 3:10-and Geo, of course, is home when they get home. They just aren't used to mom being gone at ALL. To be honest, I'm still not used to be gone in the afternoons yet. Sometimes I wonder if it was the right decision to go back to work and then I quickly knock those thoughts from my head and say of course it was, I love it!

Secondly my health has been kind of out of whack the last few months. I've made no secret about my struggle to lose weight over the last year or so. Last week I had a full panel of blood work done by my doctor to see how my cholesterol levels, hormone levels, etc were doing and the doc finally thinks he's found the root of my problem. I'm losing my hair, cranky and/or weepy constantly, can't lose weight, have awful menstrual cycles, etc. Turns out the doc thinks I have PCOS which is poly cystic ovarian sydrome( read about it here)  He started me on a med to try and help the cysts go down and help with the other symptoms I'm having. The good news is that I've already started to lose weight AND my blood sugar levels are going down.

Sunday night was the start of a three day adventure for me, health wise. Sunday night I felt a pop on ovary. I didn't think too much of it as I have cysts burst once a month or so; I took a pain pill and went to sleep only to wake up Monday morning feeling even worse than I thought possible (I would like to note that my threshold for pain is ridiculously high. I was in full blown labor with Bitsy and thought it was her having the hiccups...yeah, I can handle a lot) I ended up spending six hours in the ER getting iv drugs, ultra sounds, and blood work. I followed up with my doctor yesterday who decided he didn't like that I was still in so much pain so he sent me in for an emergency cat scan. Cat scans, for those who haven't had them, are interesting. The contrast iv they give you makes your whole body feel hot-not like sweating hot, but an internal warmth that you might feel when pleasantly drunk (you know, the feeling you have when you're sitting around a campfire, drinking schnapps with your friends and feel like everything is right with the world? that's how it feels-not the 'oh lord the world is spinning way too fast oh here comes the puke' hork into a bush and on your shoes feeling)

Today I went to the doctor as a follow up and it turns out that I don't have a burst appendix (as he suspected) however he couldn't really SEE my appendix because it's covered in scar tissue thanks to my first c section. I have a small kidney stone as well, though he's not concerned about it, and I did indeed have a cyst burst and have a few more on my ovaries that will probably burst in the future. I love what his prescription was though: walk a mile a day, drink plenty of water, and up your fiber intake. Seems pretty easy, right? Guess we'll see.

Both kiddos are doing well, Gabe is getting ready to do a huge pioneer project; they're going to be reading the first Laura Ingalls Wilder book (which he's read before but whatever) and then doing a huge project to go along with it. He's thinking of dressing as a pioneer, making foods a pioneer would make, and working on a small quilt with me-which should be a ton of fun.

SarahAnne is chugging along nicely, we had a rough week where she was using her inhaler round the clock every four hours, but that seems to be over for now, thank goodness.

Till next time!

A Boy and his Dog

This is Gabe; he just turned nine (in case you couldn't tell by the balloon) Gabe has a host of special needs, both visible and invisible. The biggest issue we're facing right now is his Autism spectrum diagnosis. It makes it hard for him to interact appropriately with other people despite the fact that he WANTS to interact with them. He has been afraid of dogs for as long as I can remember even though there's no real reason to be afraid. He's never been bitten or even barked at loudly. He's just not a fan.

This is Betsy, she's going to be two next week (no balloon picture, sorry) Betsy has host of special needs as well, the largest one being that she was given up for adoption by her first owners. We found her out at Tails which is our favorite local animal shelter. (Mr. Bonicat came from there as well) We knew she was going to have some challenges when we adopted her, the biggest one being that she was still considered a puppy and she hadn't had any real training. Also, Betsy for being a mix of two really intelligent dog breeds, is really kind of dumb. But she's cute and loyal so her lack of sense doesn't matter much :D

When we first got Betsy, Gabe was apprehensive, at best, about having a dog. He's more of a cat person if we're all honest. Cats are quiet and weird and will snuggle with you when you are reading. Also, cats don't generally drool on you when they sit on your lap...oh and cats aren't 50 pound dogs who think they are cats, so there's that.

Betsy, however, took to our home and quirks in about two seconds. She was so damn happy to be here with us and not in a shelter with barking dogs and strangers. They treated her well but she requires approximately 152 scratches on the nose per day and no one really has time for that (except us apparently)

Over the last seven months these two have taken to each other likes ducks in water.

Over the last few months Gabe has gotten so much more comfortable with Betsy and other dogs in general. We've been to a few different pet expos full of dogs and people and Gabe has become chatty and interested and even donated a dollar a few weeks ago to have a dog LICK him (this one is huge because he hates that) Betsy has been the best therapy money can buy...she has made him come out of his shell in a way our cats (sorry guys) have never been able to do. Yes, Betsy is a pain in our rears, I  mean she did EAT A COUCH and dig a hole halfway to China this fall BUT overall, she's a pretty good dog. Aw heck, who am I kidding? She IS a good dog and we're all lucky to have her...Gabe especially.

A Thank You Note in Pictures

Oil of Old Lady

Years ago when my grandmother was alive I found a jar of Oil of Olay in her bathroom and I always laughed and laughed about it and called it "oil of old lady" My grandmother had a beautiful face; it was deeply lined and you could tell that she had been through an extraordinary life. From being adopted as a baby, to joining the Marines, raising three sons, losing a husband, remarrying and having grandchildren (one great grand too!) she had earned every single line on her face.  I don't remember seeing her put the oil of old lady on her face, but I am sure she did because it was replaced every once in a while (I was an odd child, ok? I paid attention to those things)

Today I was perusing our local shopping center (side note: that sounds WAY classier than "wandering aimlessly through walmart", right?) and I found myself in the oil of old lady aisle...not only that but I found myself picking up the jars and reading them thinking "hmm, maybe it's not such a bad idea to get some of this" and I realized at the point, as I piled anti aging and anti wrinkle cream into my cart that I am truly aging.

I don't feel like I am in my mid thirties rapidly approaching 35; in my mind I am about 20 or so. Maybe 25 on a bad day. I don't think of myself as being old enough to have a child in the 3rd grade. Hell, having a kindergartener doesn't even make me feel old despite the fact that she'll be six in a few weeks. I don't feel older until I look in the mirror at night after the day is done and I see skin starting to sag and fine lines around my eyes and the occasional grey eye brow hair. I see those things and think to myself, "hmm maybe I *am* aging after all and should do something about it" but what? Plastic surgery? No thanks. Botox? Not for me. The only solution, of course, is oil of old lady and to embrace that I am finally maturing. I am past the point of acne and hormonal flare ups; I don't have to wear blue eyeshadow and bright red lipstick anymore, I can get away with a bit of mascara and lip gloss. No one expects me to look completely coiffed and made up to go out for groceries or to the bowling alley, in fact people might take my temperature if I started going places in full make up ha ha. As long as I still get carded and called Miss by barely 20 year old servers in places I think I'll be fine with aging...

Now if you'll excuse me, it's time to try the oil of old lady and see how it works...

Ha ha ha ha BUTTS!

Houston, we have a problem. Gabe is a problem. Well, not Gabe per se, more like his HORMONES or the start of his hormones. At what point exactly, did my sweet little "I love sports and books and dirt" boy turn into a "Jenny, Penny, and Mary [pseudonyms used to protect the true identities of these girls mostly for Gabe's safety...no need for any angry dads coming to the house] are soooo cute." All of the sudden, Gabe has noticed that girls are cute and he feels nervous around  them and blushes like crazy. Truth be told, it's adorable when he blushes talking about girls. There's one little girl in particular who makes him blush when he merely hears her name, never mind when they are actually together. Today he was filling out Valentine's Day cards and had to redo hers THREE times because he got so nervous he kept spelling things incorrectly. He was blushing furiously when he was finished. What was the message he wrote her? "You're a good friend ♥♥♥" yes, three hearts. *shakes head*

Not only are girls on his mind (sort of haha) toilet humor is in full swing at our house. Farting, burping, and talking about butts are the most hilarious things ever.  Tonight watching the Super Bowl, the camera guy panned over some players' rear end and for some reason got stuck there. Gabe lost it, he completely lost it giggling and then kept saying "oh my gosh, it's his BUTT. HIS BUTT ha ha ha ha butts"

I think I may start drinking now because I am not going to survive him actually going through puberty. Armpit hair, stink, and a crackling voice may kill me. On the plus side, at least it's not Bitsy going through this phase right now because I literally could not handle a dozen giggly girls talking about boys. I think boarding school-all girls boarding school-are in the future for her...and wine for me. Lots and lots of wine.

I'll Be Brief

SarahAnne is the cutest child on earth because of numerous reasons, however this reason *may* top all other reasons...

She walked out of her bedroom two nights ago and said "can you believe it, Boni cat whispered to me!"

When questioned further it turns out that she is positive he is whispering when he opens his mouth and does this weird little meow that you can barely hear; it's his greeting to you if he's been woken up suddenly or feels very kittenish. However, now we all know the truth, it is just Boni whispering. Pardon me while I die from the cuteness that is SarahAnne.