not so happy...

Two nights ago, I think...the same day we had to go to the doctor for Rowan being sick, we ended up in the ER. Rowan was not feeling well, and I let him stay up since he could not sleep. I gave him some Tylenol and Benadryl, and I took my meds too. Around 11 PM, Rowan got bit by our dog, Beau!!!
We went to the ER because the bite was getting really red and swelling quickly; I couldn't get the darn thing to quit bleeding. Three hours later, we left with stitches in his chin. It was a very rough night. He had to get an antibiotic shot and numbing shot. Animal control came in to take a report; who knew dog bites were such a big deal??? Geesh!
Anyway, he is still feeling really yucky! This cough is really terrible. He is now taking an antibiotic for the bite, so hopefully it will kick whatever else he may have...Poor boy is drugged up from all the meds! Claritin and Antibiotic in the AM, Motrin and Tylenol (rotated every 4 hours), and Benadryl at night. I'll tell you though, it sure isn't slowing him down ONE bit!

Today is Rowan's 2nd birthday!!! We did a little celebrating, but not too much. He got balloons delivered to the house, and that made his day!!! :-)

# 2

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY BIRTHDAY BOY!!! LET THE TERRIBLE TWO'S BEGIN...

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Our day

Well, today was a long day, and I am super ready for bed. Rowan and I woke up, and right away I could tell he still wasn't feeling too hot. I took his temp, which had gone down a wee-bit...nothing major. Not alarming... Rowan just lied on the couch allll morning. Around 11 I decided I had better call the doctor. With his birthday on Friday, I didn't want it to get any worse, and I thought if we started meds now maybe he would be feeling better in time for his birthday.
At 2:oo the nurse called me back, and I gave her his symptoms: lethargic, rosy cheeks and nose, mild temperature (around 100-101), sneezing, coughing constantly. He had tugged on his ears a couple of times, but nothing that is out of the ordinary. She said to go ahead and bring him in just in case it was another sinus infection. By this time it was 2:15, and the operator lady said the only opening was with a different doctor at 3:00... Needless to say, we RAN out of the house. My hair was in a ponytail, not washed, no make-up, still in what I had slept in the night before...lol Rowan, however, always looks cute and stylish! So, we made the trip to Spfld. and got there 5 minutes late. I couldn't speed with my baby in the car!
Well, the male doctor there was awesome!!! He was super gentle with Rowan, and VERY, VERY patient...I was really pleased. As it turns out, Rowan is a "seasonal allergy" sufferer. I am still not really sure what this means. He did ask me if we had a new pet in the house....cough cough...yes, we do! Well, Beau may have to find a new home. I can't have him causing my little angel any allergy problems; that just isn't fair! Also, he has a viral infection. NO FUN, b/c there is just nothing to be done about that! His throat was a little red from drainage, but thankfully not strep or anything major. Rowan now has a prescription for Clariton, which he has to take daily. The allergies have not skipped my son; I was really hopeful that they had!

Sick baby...

I knew Rowan was coming down with something, as he has just looked drained and has had a cough and sneezles... Tonight, it hit...temperature, diarrhea, and just overall lethargy. My poor little man!
When I went to take his temp, I found that my digital thermometer did not work...what happened??? Not sure. So, I had one other option...anal, as I only had an anal thermometer. Luckily, Autumn was over, so I had her help me hold down my squirmy toddler.
He was running a bit of a temp, so Motrin came to the rescue. Right now, he seems to be fine. However, he won't eat. He has been drinking obnoxious amounts of cold water, and then the diarrhea is in full force.
I am sincerely hoping that he is better soon! Tomorrow is swim class, and Friday is his birthday!!! Prayers for a healthy boy!

Swim class

Tonight was our second night of swim lessons. We had to miss last Wednesday because of prior engagements, but we were back today. I was so psyched about going; we actually got there 30 minutes prior to class, as I thought it would give us ample time to get warmed up and have a little free-swim time. MISTAKE! By 6:00, Rowan was absolutely worn out. He was actually showing a fear of the water, which, as we all know, is odd.
Well, the other kids started showing up, and Rowan started to warm up for a few minutes. He does really well at swimming on his back; I even removed my hands from under him, and he stayed afloat by kicking his feet. The first couple of times, he freaked out... but after a few trial errors, we were good! I even had another mom ask me if he took the class last year, because "he seemed advanced"...come on now, all moms LOVE to hear that word! I smiled, and told her no...this was in fact our first year. After about 15 minutes, Rowan got really clingy, and the instructor took him. He was SOOO tired, and all he did was SCREAM!!! She said he was "stubborn, strong, and a screamer"...LOL Yeah, thanks PROFESSIONAL, tell me something that I don't know.
Anyway, by the finale of the class, Rowan was sound asleep in my arms...poor little man! I am sincerely hoping that my little monkey does NOT develop a fear of water as a result of this class.

On a good note, Rowan is starting to show improvements in following instruction and direction; this really excites me!!! We are working REALLLLLLLLY hard, and I am hopeful that his disobedience is more a lack of understanding?? Moms, help me out here!
For the last week, I have been extremely consistent, and I have noticed a HUGE improvement in Rowan. He is starting to understand that "BAD" behavior has a negative consequence, and "GOOD" behavior has gets positive attention. YAY
Two cannot be any worse than one,....right??? Speaking of which, I cannot believe that my baby turns two on Friday...thank the good Lord we have survived another year!

my big splurge!

So, it is not very often that I can justify spending money for myself...but tonight, I made that leap. I was given a Lexmark printer/copier/fax for a birthday present in December, but never got it to work. I thought it was my lack on genius when it comes to technology...so, D (my bf's hubby) came over to install it for me. Turns out, I am not retarded, and it WAS in fact a bum printer.
Tonight, I went to Wal-mart in search of a printer. D told me to spend the extra $ and get an HP...hey, he's the expert! Well...I found one!!! It is simple, easy to use, right up my alley. It is an HP 3 in 1, regular priced at $99.00. They had only TWO left, and they were marked down to $65. I had hoped the $30 ones would be sufficient, but they didn't have the 3 in 1 capability...so, I wound up with this handy dandy little HP for quite a deal, I think!!!
I already have it installed and printing! WATCH OUT COUPONS, HERE COMES MAMA!!!

ARGH!!!

I am so uber mad at myself right now!!! I cannot find my receipts from all of my Huggies purchases. I bought 9 packs of Huggies Diapers and two Huggies swim diapers... Yeah, laugh at me all you want, but that is $8.25 that I lost...Caregiver's Marketplace gives back 75 cents on each of the items I purchased. So frustrating!!! I just spent 30 minutes going through old shopping bags and receipts looking for them...no luck. I am pretty sure, as my sis Jamie says, I too will now lose sleep over this... I am so upset!!!

Rowan, my fishy...

Tonight we had Rowan's very first swim lesson; I was of course very nervous, since he has not been in a pool since last summer. Not to mention, he is seemingly fearless! Well, when we got there, I went dressed and ready. He was ready except for his swim diaper. That made the changing room ordeal a little less chaotic (anything helps). When we got to the pool, he wanted to jump right in. Out of everyone, we were the first in the pool. GOOD SIGN, good way to start! He did fantastic at first; he wanted to kick his feet holding on to my fingers. GREAT!!! He did absolutely fantastic...until it came time to go UNDER the water! LOL At this point, he freaked out a bit. I had him jumping off the side of the pool, and he liked that...until I let him go under...
Overall, he did really well, and I was really impressed!

Savings?

So, at the beginning of 2009, I was so pumped to do everything right! I really wanted to get our savings built up, pay off some debt, and learn to live more simplistic. I am proud to say that we are making some progress, but I am just not as motivated...merely three months into the year! Do not get me wrong, I by no means am living the high-life here in Jville... I need to get back on the wagon, and go at it with gazelle intensity again!!!
I think, when Jamie gets home, it will be much easier to live on a budget. For now, running three households, it is darn near impossible!!! Rowan and I are here in IL, Jamie is in Iraq, and we still have our house and expenses in Germany. I can't wait to cut the Germany expenses out. When Jamie is HOME, we will be able to cut back a lot on our spending...not to mention, we can do it together, which really is essential in a good financial plan. Jamie is a little bit more of a spender than I am. I much prefer to save, where Jamie would live paycheck to paycheck if it were up to him....luckily, IT ISN'T! :-)

my plans for when Jamie gets home:

1. maintain ONE vehicle, not two or three. I am used to being home all the time, so it won't bother me to be w/o a vehicle during the day. On days when we have something to do, I can get up and take Jamie to work...or he can carpool!

2. Get rid of the house phone (69.99/month). We ONLY have it b/c I need it to get calls from overseas.

3. Squeeze the overall budget a little tighter. Since he won't be in Iraq, and will be home for meals, I will be able to provide a cooked meal most of the time...rather than him grabbing BK every night!

With the money we do save from him being home, I would like to continue sending care packages overseas to the troops. More for us = more for them!!!!! :-)

WAGS DEAL:

Another good day of deals!!!

GLADE STARTER KIT: FREE
on sale for 3.99
used $4.00 MFC

4 Rolls of paper towels for $2 (used RR, no OOP)
FREE

8 Dove deodorant 99 cents EA
got $10 RR back
FREE PLUS OVERAGE

4 packs huggies at $10.00 each
used 4 $1 WAGS coupons
used 2 $3.00 off coupons
4/$30 and $10 RR back
4/$20 used RR to pay for

got two bottles of Benadryl and meds, used RR to pay for! WOOT

I will be sending in my receipts for 75 cents off each pack of Huggies, I bought 7 total!!! That's another $5.25 back in rebates. LOVIN IT!

TECHNOLOGY IDIOT?

I hate printable coupons! They NEVER work for me, and then it says I have reached the maximum allowed. I don't get it! Anybody else have this problem?

WAGS DEALS

I am totally excited about my Walgreens shopping tonight!!! Here is a brief summary, questions, just ask!

HUGGIES JUMBO DIAPERS $10.00
SPEND $25, GET $10 RR

I bought three packs = $30
Register Rewards = - $10.00
I used 3 1.50 MFC = -4.50
I used 3 $1.00 off Wags coupon (in coloring book) = - $3.00
-------------------------------------------
3 packs Huggies (96 diapers), for a total of $12.50 (13 cents/diaper!!!)

ADVIL PM 4.49
$2 RR
$1.50 off coupon from Insert
----------------------------------
.99

CREST PRO HEALTH TOOTH PASTE 2.49
$1 RR
1.50 MFC
----------------------------------
FREE PLUS OVERAGE!

Woot!!! Can't beat those deals. I also got a crazy random $2 RR...not sure how.

OOP = $26.48
Register rewards back = $15.00

total = $11.48

If only the doves deal had worked....see milkallergymom.blogspot.com for that bargain!!!

Oh little monkey boy...

Rowan is absolutely INSANE!!!!!!!!!!! For those of you who do not already know, we made a trip to the emergancy room AGAIN! He dove head-first off the bed onto the hardwood.

Anyway, thanks for all the calls and prayers...he is doing just fine, and is back to jumping off furniture...ahhhhhh