So...

My mom was recently diagnosed with late onset progressive Multiple Sclerosis (MS). I have no idea if that's the correct name but that's what it is. It's a diagnosis she ultimately knew was coming but it wasn't until recently that her doctor confirmed she's suffering from MS.

MS is not considered to be hereditary (thank goodness) but "the risk of acquiring MS is higher in relatives of a person with the disease than in the general population, especially in the case of siblings, parents, and children." Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiple_sclerosis

Yikes. Along with family history, the other major risk factors are age and gender. Per Mayo Clinic:

Age. Multiple sclerosis can occur at any age, but most commonly affects people who are ages 20 to 40.

Gender. Women are about twice as likely as men to develop multiple sclerosis.

Check and check. Double yikes.

Can I be honest? All of this scares me. A lot. It's not easy to watch my mom's condition deteriorate so quickly. But then to also think I (or my brothers) could have the same fate is incomprehensible.

I've been doing a lot of research on MS recently. Mainly I wanted to know what the warning signs are. If I ever have any of them, I am high tailing it a doctor STAT.

I don't want to live my life like I already have MS but I have to live like it's an option.

I have to be more aware of what's going on with my body.

I have to be more aware of how I take care of myself.

It's scary and kind of daunting to think about having to be "on alert". But I just continue to keep up on the latest research and make changes as needed to hopefully, lower my risk.

Colin updates!

I feel like Colin is changing so much every day. It makes my heart burst with pride and also makes me a little sad. Time goes by way too fast and I wish I could keep him little forever. Okay, not really forever but you know what I mean!

His language skills are rocking my world. We're able to actually hold short conversations with him now and it's so much easier for him to tell us what he needs.

Two quick stories:

1. He has an Elmo movie, "Elmo Goes to Grouchland" which he loves - I think because he can relate to Elmo. Elmo has a blue blanket just like Colin has a beloved blue blanket. Elmo loses the blanket and has to go to Grouchland to get it back. Every. Single. Time. we watch the movie, Colin gets so upset when Elmo loses his blanket and tonight he said to me as I was tucking him into bed "Me no lose blankie like Elmo". I'm such a softy...it brought tears to my eyes! I just love when he makes connections with things like that.

2. We had our first repeated cuss word experience recently. I was getting the house ready for my parents 40th wedding anniversary party and the cat was on the table eating the plastic banner. I said "Get off the table or I'm going to spank your ass". I thought I said it under my breath so little ears wouldn't hear but Colin followed it up by yelling "ASS!" Definitely not my proudest moment. I tried not to make a huge deal out of it because I don't want him to know he's not supposed to say that word. I mean, he's two. He's always pushing boundaries and I don't need to give him one more to push. Mark and I are definitely more careful with our language now!

Colin is such a great helper. He loves to help cook and do small chores around the house. His babysitter is always mentioning how good he does at picking up after himself the first time she asks. He loves to help the babies at daycare, too. He's just such a kind boy. He's got great manners, always saying "please" and "thank you".

I feel like I'm missing so much! I need to get a notebook and start writing things down so I don't forget!

Meal Planning

We've been doing our meal planning for about 2 months now and it's going so well. Since we actually stuck to it, I figured I'd give you an update!

When I last wrote about meal planning, I mentioned I was using the program Plan To Eat. But I stopped using this program after my 30 day trial. The only reason I quit is because I didn't want to pay for a service. I found a free app on my Kindle called "Pepper Plate". I love it. I can update it on my laptop and it automatically syncs to my Kindle. Quick and easy!

One of my biggest worries with meal planning was that we wouldn't be able to afford to try new recipes since we have a pretty strict budget of $75/week. I have been pleasantly surprised because we have been able to try at least one new recipe each week. Sometimes it's more. Sometimes we can only afford to get half of the ingredients and then have to get the rest the next week. We've made trying new recipes a priority and honestly, it's become a fun bonding time for us to sit down together and pick out a recipe to try.

Meal planning has done wonders for our bank account, too. We're excited about cooking at home so we rarely dine out. We really only go out to eat once a week (or more if we're invited out by friends!)

We started out kind of rigid and stuck to the menu to the letter. That got difficult because you just never know how a night is going to go with a toddler. If he doesn't have the patience to wait an hour for dinner to cook, I switch it up and make something quicker, saving the longer recipes for the weekend. Then there are also weeks where the entire house gets the stomach flu and we don't eat a thing in the refrigerator. Flexibility is key!

All in all, meal planning will definitely be something we're going to stick with. Now that cleaning schedule I also wrote about in the past? That hasn't fared so well ;)

More Colin-isms

I haven't blogged about Colin in a while so here ya go!

• He's still ob.sessed with movies. Like every single morning and evening it's the first thing he asks for. No, we don't let him watch one that often. He typically has to "earn" it by being patient in the evening while dinner is cooking and he has to take at least 1 bite of something off his dinner plate.
• As much as he loves his movies, he still very much enjoys books. Before we put a movie on, we encourage him to read books with us. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.
• He pretty much refuses to eat anything but fruit, bread, and cheese so after he takes his one bite of food off his dinner plate, we give him something we know he'll eat just so he'll have a full belly and sleep better.
• Speaking of sleeping, he's doing fantastic with his big boy bed. Some nights he does fall out (he sleeps like me - all over the place!) but he either gets back in bed himself or we go in and lay him back down. It's been GLORIOUS to have our bed back. Don't get me wrong, I love the extra togetherness co-sleeping gives us but it's hard sleeping with a toddler who moves constantly.
• Colin knows the alphabet and can count to 15. He counts higher if someone counts with him but on his own he can get to 15 and only misses a number or two - which I think is pretty impressive!
• One funny story I wanted to share: Colin was pushing around this toy bus he has and ran in to Mark's feet. Mark said "Ow! That hurts. You need to be careful!". Colin looked up at him and said "beep beep". I know I shouldn't have laughed but come on! It was too well timed not to.
• Colin's vocabulary is growing every day. He's really trying hard to say new words and mimics almost everything we say.
• We're beginning to potty train. We're still in the very early stages...no underwear or pull ups just yet. We're just taking our time right now and focusing on getting him accustomed to the routine.

More adjustments

So when I dubbed 2013 "The Year of Adjustments", I wasn't quite prepared for how fast adjustments would be needed in our daily life.

The first big adjustment we made was putting Colin in a "big boy bed". The quotations are needed because it's still his crib, just with the front rail removed. Thus making it a day bed. I'll admit - I was no where near ready for this. But after a very rough night that involved lots of screaming "HELP ME MAMA!" and one failed escape attempt too many (complete with bruised knees from getting his legs stuck between the bars), we decided it was safer to just make the change.

So last Friday night the rail came down. We chose Friday for the simple fact that Mark and I could nap on Saturday and Sunday if Colin refused to sleep because let's be honest, that's what we expected. But thank heavens, he did great! He was actually very excited to be able to get in and out of his bed on his own. But once he's in bed, he usually stays there. I think he only got up once to grab a different book. AMAZING. I think we bored him to sleep because we removed all distracting toys from his room, leaving only books and stuffed animals. We're so sneaky.

The next adjustment was our morning routine. We had a good thing going where Mark and Colin would watch sports/eat breakfast (yes, normally he ate his cereal bar in our bed...it works worked for us) while I showered and got ready. Then I would get Colin dressed and we'd head downstairs. I'm not sure what happened but all of the sudden, this was no longer copacetic with Colin. Almost every morning last week he would just stand in the bathroom and scream "DOWN!" at me. Then he would get even more pissed when I'd say "We can't go downstairs yet, we're not dressed". He wanted nothing to do with sports or breakfast. He just wanted to follow the dang cat downstairs.

This morning we started a new routine: I get up early, workout if there's time, shower and get ready. Once Colin is up, Mark gets him ready and then sends him downstairs to me. This morning almost went off without a hitch except...I over slept so I wasn't quite ready when Colin came downstairs. He only cried a little and was stoked to be with his dogs and cat. I think I'm the one doing the most adjusting to this new routine. I try to get as much ready at night as I can (like breakfasts, lunches, and outfits) and then I get up almost an hour earlier than normal. That's the hardest thing to get used to!

I was at the point where I would have done anything to make things easier and less stressful on all of us. Getting up early is a small price to pay!

2013: The Year of Adjustments

Well...2013 is upon us. Which means at point in the next 11 months, Mark and I will start trying to expand our family.

::throws confetti::

We're both semi-ready and crazy excited. Colin can be difficult to handle and deal with at times, so often the thought of adding a newborn to the mix is more than we think we're ready to handle. Nonetheless, we still definitely want to expand our family.

Mark and I agreed to use the time before Baby Testa # 2 arrives to get ourselves on track for the life we want to have. Meaning we will be working towards me becoming a stay at home mom. I wish with all my heart we could have done this after Colin was born. I've never really liked being a working mom. The only way I can describe how I feel about the SAHM vs. Working Mom dilemma is by saying imagine the one job you want more than anything in the world. Now imagine being told you can't have that job, not because you lack the skills, but because it doesn't pay enough. You have to miss out on your dreams because of a paycheck.

Totally not fair.

But that's life.

On the other hand, I feel so blessed that we found an amazing daycare (and friends) for Colin and that my husband also wants me to stay home with baby # 2. It's nice when our goals match!

We have steadily been working toward paying down debts like a small car loan and student loans. We're very careful to not take on new debt by limiting what we put on our credit cards and eliminating unnecessary expenses (like magazine subscriptions).

For me, 2013 is going to be about adjusting myself into the role of SAHM. I will soon be transitioning to a life that is completely different from the one I'm used to. Since our house and family are about to become my full time job, I need to do all I can to make the transition as smooth as possible. And, let's be honest here, I prefer to have a schedule so I've started meal planning and I created a weekly cleaning schedule. These are just small steps that I hope will help me adjust to my new role with ease.

Here's to 2013. I can't wait to see what the year has in store for us!

Meal planning

I've decided I need to shake things up and make my life just a little more exciting. Don't get me wrong - I love my life. I just need something to focus on and actually put some thought in to. A project, if you will.

So, being the Wanna Be Housewife that I am...I decided to start a meal plan. I really know how to spice things up ;)

I'll be honest and tell you I don't put a lot of thought into meals during the week. Our rotation of dinners is almost always chicken with veggies, steak with veggies, pork with veggies. BORING. I should also come clean and tell you I don't do the grocery shopping. Or the list making. Nope, that's all my husband. He's got a system he uses for budgeting so I just let him handle it. Which probably explains why our meals are so mundane: he's no chef.

I talked to him about changing things up and we agreed that from now on, we'll split the task. I'll do the planning and list making. He'll do the shopping and budgeting. I have to say, I love that it's a joint venture.

Anyway, I found this website called Plan To Eat (www.plantoeat.com). This is the best website I've found. They offer a 30 day free trial of their service with no strings attached. The website lets you add recipes (you can even import them from websites), then you can add them to your meal plan and it automatically adds all the ingredients from the recipe to your shopping list. Of course, you can add your own ingredients and customize it to suit your needs. It's really very cool. You should check it out.

I just started yesterday but I'm having so much fun. It's refreshing to be putting actual (healthy) meals on the table for my family.

It also makes me feel like a better wife when I tell my husband what's for dinner instead of him telling me!