10 Ways to Save Money with Your baby

When I saw the heading I thought "hey this will be interesting" but quickly realized it was nothing like I expected. Instead if/when I create a graphic it'll be titled "10 tips to save money for your baby". It will read:

1) warm baby wipes are nice during the winter months and baby will fight diaper changes less BUT you don't need an expensive wipey warmer, a microwave will so a decent job and won't dry out your wipes. 

2) you can save yourself money by bathing your baby in the sink. Its easier on your back and you don't have to store it. The do have little foldable lounge seats you can put in the sink that work amazing and aren't expensive. 

3) bibs are more for wiping off babies face or used as teething devices than to protect clothes from vomit or food droppings but still come in very handy. 

4) burp clothes are basically hand towels but you can buy hand towels cheaper. Hand towels also work better than burp clothes any day. 

5) don't waste your money on an expensive changing table. It'll be used more for storage than to change  babies diaper. I know we hardly used ours at all. 

6) the infant swing wasn't used as much as the vibrating bouncer. The bouncer was a life saver for us especially when baby had colic. Swaddle baby then put in the bouncer on vibrate and watch the magic happen. Bouncers were the only reason I got any sleep at all. 

7) fancy baby clothes are a waste of money. They get stained quickly and are usually uncomfortable. Onsies were the key to a happy baby and happy mommy. For the first few months all my kids wore were onesies and socks. Even on winter months because they loved being swaddled and would sweat in anything else. 

8) you could go out and spend a fortune on cabinet locks but a hair tie works just as well. On cabinets with handles we wrap the tie around one side then loop several times around another topknots tight enough. Works like a charm. 

9) an infant washcloth is usually thinner and smaller than a normal washcloth. It also cost a lot more. Normal wash clothes work better so why waste money on baby ones. 

10) brand name diapers aren't the best just because it says "huggies" or "pampers" doesn't mean their the best. I use target brand Up and Up and they work better for my little ones than the name brand. 

Baby You're Sick

I should have known better than to think that Liam would escape Cold/Flu/RSV

season unscathed. It started about a week and a half ago with his allergies. At that time I increased his benedryl from just at night to every 6 hours to help combat the symptoms. I also tried keeping him inside. Problem was every time I turned around big sister or daddy had let him outside. Still he seemed fine.

But of course he had to go to a doctors office where I am sure he must have

caught something on top of his allergies. That or he caught it when we had to run out to the store. We've tried not to take him out of the house for this very reason. I know some of you probably are thinking that you can't keep a kid sheltered and secluded inside the house for that many months. Which we usually do from late September to at least April. We've tried very hard and you're right. It is pretty darn impossible to NEVER take him out somewhere along the way but we try. And we do this for his own health.

It seems to never fail. A soon as Liam gains some weight back, he gets sick, stops

tollerating full feeds and looses all the weight it took 6 months to gain. We are very blessed that he hasn't ended up in the hospital over this yet. This time last year, a cold landed him admitted in the hospital for at least 5 days minimum. Thanks to the synagis shot protecting him from RSV, when he caught RSV in January 2013 he was able to fight it off at home. Too bad they don't have something that works that great against colds.

I'm assuming he caught a cold but with Liam when his allergies get severe enough he has the same symptoms so it's very hard to tell. I know the last two night, last night more than the night before, was pretty bad on him. Last night he was up every hour on the hour. He ran a low grade fever and coughed the whole night. He was miserable. I gave him Motrin at bedtime, then again at 3 am and that kept the low grade fever away. Milk of Magnesia helped his upset tummy but not his diaper. I had to continue to change his diaper every few hours last night because it gave him the runs. Good news is it helped him tolerate 45 mls an hour of feeds. His normal rate is 80 mls per hour so you can be sure he's loosing weight as each hour passes. If I can just get that cough to subside he would be able to tolerate more.

Unfortunately he's not the only one in the house not feeling 100%. Big sister Lanie Bug is having allergy issues of her own. She has been very hard to keep inside. It's been a fight. She hates being inside, especially when someone is outside. Daddy has been outside all weekend working on the car and she wanted to be right there playing the entire weekend. Even though she felt worse that night from it. I told her this morning there was no way she could go outside today because she had school tomarow. That if she did she would get worse and not be able to go to school. Her eyes got huge and she agreed to stay inside. She hates missing school. If only it was that easy to keep Liam wrangled lol.

On top of no going outside, all doors are staying shut today so allergens don't come inside.
Have I ever mentioned how much I hate allergies. I too have been suffering. I finally figured out why my face kept breaking out. I am allergic to the concealer I was using. It's been a few days since I've worn any and my face it clearing up now. My nose and throat are suffering from the pollen and dust in the air. It's winter yet the last few days have felt like late spring/early summer. We had some rain last week but it wasn't enough to clean out the nasty air. I swear socal is the worst place for any with allergies or asthma to live. It's time again for the air purifiers to come out.
 
Of course with two "sick" kiddos, I've been on germ patrol. Lysol
everything. And in doing the sanitizing and cleaning everyday for the last week I've realized how very small our house is. With the kids getting bigger the place seems to be getting smaller. I thought as they got older it would be easier to keep the place clean and everything in its place but I was so very wrong. Instead the kids make more messes and getting them to clean up is a headache. Every little mess seems huge because this place is so small. This weekend I felt like the walls were closing in on me. I thought maybe we had too much stuff and started trying to figure out what we could get rid of. Then I realized that it's because we have no storage in this house. What I need is a professional organizer to come in and revamp everything or lots of money to do it myself lol. Our house didn't feel this small when we moved in.

Oh well, like in all things, I'll find a way to make it work.

In other news:
Liam is ready for a big  boy bed!!
Yep, you read that right.
Liam is ready for a big boy bed!!
hehehe
I love saying that.
My task today is to tackle Liam's room and organize it.We need to get it ready for a toddler bed,
and toys need to be picked up and put up.
Justin and I have to decide now if we're going to go buy him a character toddler bed from say Walmart or Target or if we just want to build a short base to put his mattress on so it's low to the ground for him and to just make it last until he is ready to be moved to a twin bed. To put a twin bed in his room would be difficult with all his medical supplies. I would have to store them somewhere else and we've already tackled the fact that this house is really small so there really is no where else to put them.

Anyhow,
I'm exhausted from lack of sleep.
Waiting for my coffee to kick in.

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Looking Back 7/22/11

A year ago today my little lamb was 1 day post-op from repair surgery. He survived the repair and began healing.

Liam was slowly being weined from the paralytic and finnaly was allowed to wake up and open his eyes for us. I remember sitting there stairing at him when the nurse said he was being allowed to wake up. Admittedly, I cried when I saw his beautiful eyes.

Liam threw his first fit.

So Lanie sang to him "Go to sleep little liam"

And he calmed right down.

Fast forward: 7/22/12