I'm still alive

Last night was rough. I go through periods of feeling pretty great followed by some rough patches and I find that usually when I stop taking my thyroid medicine for a few days I start to feel better. It's my body telling me that I've got too much Synthroid in my system and it's a huge balancing act of trying to blindly regulate my levels.

I've been having pretty extreme leg pain this week and last night it escalated beyond my exhausting leg pain and materialized into whole-body numbness. It's hard to explain. My face, arms, legs, and down one side of my back felt as if they were coated in Icy Hot or Ben Gay, this unexplainable numbing burning sensation. I tossed around under the covers thinking that maybe I was lying on a nerve and it was causing those symptoms. I thought maybe I was dehydrated or low on calcium. After two hours of being awake and petrified that I couldn't feel my body, or rather I could feel it but it was burning and sore, I crawled downstairs and wrote about how I was feeling on Facebook. I was terrified. And a part of me wanted to write it down on Facebook so that if I had died during the night people would know why. That sounds extremely dramatic but it was such a scary pain that I envisioned that maybe I had a blood clot in my legs or I was going into hypocalcemic shock and my heart would give out and I would pass in my sleep. I remember looking at a picture of Kate as I fell in and out of consciousness and wondering if she would remember me if I didn't make it through the night. I was ready to wake Sean up to take me to the hospital. But then I thought, none of my endocrinologists can help me without changing my Synthroid dose and telling me to wait a few weeks to see if I feel better so how would a hospital be able to fix me? So I drank some water in case I was simply dehydrated and fell back to sleep around 3AM.

I woke this morning feeling numb in my arms and legs but no longer in my back and face. An improvement. When I heard Kate giggling in her crib I opted to call for Sean to carry her downstairs because I didn't trust myself to bring her myself. Sean came up to check on me a few minutes later and my feet and hands were extremely clammy and I looked gray in the face. I'm not sick, this is all normal thyroid cancer stuff, but basically--as Cancer.org so nicely explains, "Extreme tiredness, called fatigue, is very common in people treated for cancer. This is not a normal tiredness, but a bone-weary exhaustion that doesn't get better with rest."--it feels like all of my bones are bending backwards. It feels like I'm recovering from running a marathon and I can never fully recoup.

So I called my hero, my Pops, and asked him if he could bring Dylan to school for me. He was here right on time and I spent three straight hours on the couch with Kate, not moving.



Pops came back with a container of homemade minestrone soup from a friend of mine at preschool dropoff and dropped Dylan off when school ended. I'm still having a hard time walking today but nothing like I felt last night and upon waking.

Since it was near 50° and I was starting to feel better we dressed up and played in the backyard.












I love that we bought Dylan a $229 dune racer and he was more excited to rake the yard. That's my little worker bee! Dylan has been enjoying a new reading app called Endless Reader. It's extremely addicting and very fun.



Let's see, what else is happening around here. Oh! We watched that Julia Louis-Dreyfus/James Gandolfini movie Enough Said last night and loved it. We watched the Hangover III this week, too and hated it.

Our saving money efforts are coming along nicely. We budget $400 for groceries and gas every two weeks and we always go over that because I spend frivolously at the grocery store but with the new Food On the Table app we've been using we were right on budget this month with fresh homemade meals every night. I started writing down everything I spend because I am horrible at dropping $1 here and there and then it all adds up. We have big plans for the future and not too many credit cards to pay down so I'm determined to help Sean out with building a bigger savings account. And I made $262 on EBay yesterday as an added bonus. We make a decent living but we could make a better one if I paid attention to the needless material items I buy. I also called our cellphone provider and managed to drop our bill $60 by analyzing our plan and dropping the data feature from my iPhone. So far I'm really enjoying not having internet access outside of the house, I find myself talking to the kids more, and looking up more. Sean made a comment to me this weekend about how he hasn't seen me in the car for about two years when I made an observation about some trees we drove by. That's sad. I always sit in the front seat and bury my head in my phone when we drive anywhere, it's become a bad habit and it actually is soothing in a weird therapeutic way. So I'm liking the idea that I can't do that anymore while we save $360 a year on just my data alone. This year we cut cable, paid off both of our cars, added a beautiful and tiny new tax deduction to our family, reduced our cellphone bill, refinanced our house and with all of those easy steps which really don't change our life too drastically (aside from the having a baby part), we are saving a thousand dollars a month easily. That's a nice lump of unwasted money that we can tuck away for the future. If you'd like to talk to me about the steps we've taken to cut unnecessary expenses feel free to reach out and I'd be glad to discuss it further.

Now all I need to do is fix my health. Baby steps, baby steps.

Dylan's new bedroom!

Before Dylan was born I decided to paint his room as dark as possible so that he would sleep well. Three years later and the darkness started getting to me. It was too dark and not at all fun for a little boy. So last weekend I got to work making Dylan's room more...Dylan. He loves cars and trucks and everything with wheels so I wanted to make him a car room. This makeover didn't cost much because I just repurposed things we already had, but it took me three long LONG days of working nonstop. Totally worth it though when Dylan would come in to see me and say, "Oh, this is so greeaaaaat! I love it!"

Here are before pictures of his room when he was 15 months old:



All four walls were that dark green color and his dresser was a dark cherry.

I painted two walls half white and added a road border. I had already painted one wall the light green color a while back. Here is the finished room:









His auntie Ann gave him that awesome truck bedding last year and the quilt was made for him before he was born by his auntie Sarah. We made the benches out of his old shelving units, you can see them in the before pictures, by turning them on their sides, nailing the shelves in place for support, and adding foam padding and fabric. Dylan loved making those with me. The headboard was part of an old hutch we've had for ages and the dresser is his old one painted.

Altogether for a total room redo I spent $15 on paint for five $3 sample sizes--I already had the chalkboard paint and a gallon of white--$5.99 for fabric, $6.99 for art, and a whopping $18 for a piece of foam. I was really proud of my budgeting until I bought the foam to make benches. But I wanted it to be comfortable and so I bought the expensive really cushiony filling. So less than fifty bucks.

Here's a very long video of him giving a tour:

Katie gets a boost!

If we're friends on Facebook, you've seen this weekend's design project - a new booster seat for Kate. We got rid of her plastic orange, blue, and green eyesore of a seat and modernized her dining experience a bit.

I found an old bar stool at a secondhand shop for $4.99. It's higher up than our other chairs and has arms so that Katie can get closer to the table and has added stability surrounding her on all sides. I had this paint color already--Pantone's Emerald--so I washed, sanded, and painted the chair.

Here are some quick cellphone pics of the before and after:



Dylan and I made a special mother/son trip to the craft store to buy her a new seat belt. I already had the buckles from her old booster seat and paid $2.79/yd for the new belt material.

And that's it! Kate has a new spot at dinner. Dylan is a bit jealous because he wants to sit in the new chair and Kate seems to enjoy her seat as well. I like that she is closer to the table and spills less food on herself.

These two turkeys were so funny today. When Kate was in her pack n play Dylan jumped in with her. When Dylan was crawling around the house pushing his trucks Kate was right on his tail. Dylan would call out for her and she would come find him. I love having two!







Kate is now an expert at standing.





And she's teething.







I'm in the middle of editing some photos for my sister and she is standing right here next to me in her crib squawking away when she should be sleeping. I like her accompaniment, I'm more than fine with editing next to a happy giggly standy baby.

Get the skunk out of your dog

Two of our three dogs were sprayed by a skunk yet again this morning. For the third time. The baby woke up at 5:30, Sean let the dogs out at 6, and by 6:15 the smell of skunk had invaded the house. Sean immediately came upstairs to get me and we changed into clothes that we could throw away and brewed up our favorite skunk stink removal remedy as Avery and Jasmine waited outside.



The key to this is to get it on your dogs as fast as possible because the longer the skunk stays in their coats the harder it is to remove.

1 quart hydrogen peroxide
1/4 cup of baking soda
2 teaspoons of dish soap



We usually use an old plastic watering can that we save for such an occasion because it is easier to pour the solution onto the dogs. Our guys were sprayed so badly at close range this morning that we used the garden hose on them to get it right off since Avery was puking his brains out and Jasmine had obviously been sprayed in the mouth, too. It wasn't too cool, probably about 50°, but I felt bad having to spray them with cold water after such an ordeal.

We washed them again in the shower and they still smell--as they will for weeks, I'm sure--but at least now the smell is very minimal. The first time Jasmine was sprayed we bathed her with pasta sauce and she smelled like skunk and garlic for the longest time. This remedy is much less invasive. Just make sure you don't get it in your dog's eyes and leave it on for five minutes for best results.

Here's hoping you never have to use the skunk remedy!

5 Tips to Make Your Life Easier

I'm always looking for ways to make life easier. These are some of my favorite tips.

1. Buy a trimmer tool.

So I cut Dylan's (and Sean's) hair. I use the buzz trimmer, cut the top with a comb and scissors, and then I use my secret weapon.

Source

We've had a few different brands of these trimmer things--this one is called a Microtouch Max--and they are only $10 but ours break down after about a hundred uses. The thing about this hair trimmer is that it is painless so I don't have to worry about cutting Dylan as I tidy up the back of his neck or straighten his little sideburns. And this thing works wonders for keeping Sean cleanly shaven on his neck and above his ears and the like.

I'd recommend this tool to anyone, seriously. Sure, it's flimsy, but it seriously works wonders on keeping your family looking as if they just left the barber shop. And they also make them for women for bikini lines and such. Absolutely worth the ten bucks. We buy ours at CVS.

2. Let your kids eat out of cups.

My secret to lazy lunches when I am plumb exhausted: I cook Dylan's lunch--say macaroni and broccoli or cheddar baked potatoes--and then instead of having him sit at the table as I pray very hard that lunchtime will soon be over, I put his meal in a mug or a cup and give him a spoon. He can cuddle up on the couch and watch a movie or something while I'm tending to Kate and the like and he is usually really careful not to spill anything.

3. Dry off your razors.

Sean loves to listen to the Clark Howard radio podcast. Clark Howard is all about giving advice which helps you manage money. One of my favorite simple tips he gives is to dry your disposable razors. The reason consumers go through so many razors is because they rust, and the reason they rust is because they are often left wet after use. So take a towel to your razor after every use and the same disposable razor you would've replaced ten times will last for more than a year before needing replacing. To keep it sterile dip it in rubbing alcohol once in a while. I was shocked when I started drying off my razor and noticing that I almost never have to buy replacements.

4. Use cinnamon instead of pesticides.

Put cinnamon in your sandbox to keep the bugs at bay. Actually, put cinnamon everywhere. I simmer it on the stove often, I put it in our mudroom and vacuum it up, in the bottom of our garbage can, etc etc. But bugs, spiders, and ants don't like cinnamon, so use that instead of harmful chemicals.

5. Take a sip first before swallowing pills.

And my last tip pretty much saved me when I was pregnant. I had a terrible time trying not to gag on my prenatal vitamin. When I had complications with my thyroidectomy and the doctors had me swallowing eight pills in a sitting to raise my critically low calcium levels, I just could not get them down. So in the middle of the night, two nurses came into my room and taught me a little secret. Before swallowing a pill, take a sip of liquid and hold it in your mouth. Then put the pill in your mouth and swallow with another sip. Before they taught me that I always put the pill in my mouth first and then took a sip and it would be so hard to swallow the pill once it stuck to my tongue. I don't know if I'm explaining this right. Take a sip first basically. I went from not being able to swallow one pill at a time to being able to take all five of my nightly pills in one sip.

How I clean and organize the house: Part II - Organizing trucks and bath toys

I've got two kids who love to take baths. And with baths comes a whole bunch of tub toys. Stores sell large toy scoops for $20 or so in the shape of turtles and ladybugs which also act as toy storage, but I wanted something cheaper and more adult-looking and so I looked on Pinterest and found this solution to the tub toy invasion.



I bought a spring-loaded curtain rod at Ocean State Job Lot for $5 and then hopped over to the dollar store and bought these green baskets. I hung them with shower curtain rings. It's fun because you can pick out which baskets will work best for you--and not just for toys, you can use these caddys for shampoo and soaps and sponges and razors, etc--I found the best baskets don't stick out too far. Total cost = $8. There is no drilling and everything is adjustable.



Although sometimes all you need to have fun in the tub is bubbles.

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Dylan also loves trucks and some of them are absolutely huge. He has hundreds of them, some as big as three feet long and as small as two inches. When his collection outgrew our space I searched everywhere online for "truck storage" and found nothing that really worked for us. Most ideas involved baskets and buckets and square shelves. So I bought this 5-tier metal shelf at Target for $59. I painted a wooden sign which reads, Dylan's Truck Garage, and because he is an adventurous little boy I installed it inside of his closet so that I didn't have to worry about the shelves tipping if he tried to climb it.



I think I counted about 34 trucks/planes/helicopters/bulldozers/cars/buses tonight but the count varies depending on which vehicles Dylan is currently doting on. I use the higher shelves for arts and crafts storage since Dylan can't reach those anyhow. Because we call this his truck garage he is more than happy to park his trucks here at the end of the day. It feels less like cleaning up for him and more like play. And I love it because I can shut the door and hide three dozen very large toys.

How I clean and organize the house: Part 1 - the kitchen

I was doing the dishes this morning and thought that maybe I should share some of my cleaning techniques here on the blog. I'm a pretty good mom, I'm a horrible housewife. Anything that makes my job easier and my house neater is my friend.

I'm one of those people who has a 30-second attention span. I can't tell you how many times I've started doing the dishes only to end up planting and mulching a garden. I start the dishes and then the phone rings. Or a baby cries. Or LOOK OVER THERE! Or I suddenly have to blog about doing the dishes.

We don't own a dishwasher because Sean and I are pretty anal about having clean dishes and so even if we had a dishwasher we would probably rewash them to make sure there was nothing left behind. Our house can be a huge mess but at least our dishes are overly clean.

We've been known to go for a few days without doing the dishes and I think I figured out the secret--at least for us--to getting them done faster. We started a nothing in the right side of the sink rule. This leaves the garbage disposal and one sink free for hand washing, food dumping, paintbrush rinsing and the like. This also means that we have to wash the dishes more often because there is less room to make messes. If your shopping cart is smaller, you buy less. Same goes for dishes.



Definitely try the one sink only rule, it rocks.

When I first had Kate, a dear friend came over with lunch and did our dishes for us. And she blew my mind. Let me remind everyone that I am a horrible housewife. I didn't realize that our dish drainer had these little doohickeys:



Which hold all of your (sippy) cups!




Mmmm, organization.

And if you have a baby who uses bottles, get yourself a nice drying rack. This is essential to space saving for us because we drown in bottles. This one was about $10 at Target.



And the last tip is sort of a PSA. Both sets of grandparents did not know that you actually have to pull the valves out of sippy cups and wash under them or else gunk and mold form and can make your child sick. I'm sure I wouldn't have thought to do this either except I happened to read the instructions on the cup when I first bought it.



These little tricks are ridiculously elementary but I need them to get things done or else I'll get overwhelmed with crap and find myself writing a children's book before I finish the dishes. Tomorrow I'll show you how we do bathroom toy storage and the dreaded-in-our-house truck storage. We have a million toy trucks, I'm not kidding.

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In the meantime, this is how we've been spending the day. I washed Dylan's old walker and set it up for Kate. She's still too little to use it but Dylan LOVES to push her around. They did this for about two hours today. She enjoyed the ride and he loved to drive the "motorcycle".



I realize that this video is way too long but I love watching them play together. We always talk about redoing our floors but in the end decide not to touch them until the kids are older because then we would worry about scratching them and our dogs would need to wear slippers. Instead, we ride bikes and scooters in the house which is way more fun than having nice new floors.

Sam isn't too sure how to react to all of this action.




Later on, we changed into racing pants for our very own race team uniforms.




Complete with drool.