I made it to the YMCA three times this week. One time was with my youngest son and the other two times have been by myself. When I go on my own I leave about an hour before my son's shower time. My goal is to be able to spend at least two hours there. I vary my routine up by not always doing the same thing. Swimming is my favorite though. I like to be near others when I work out cause sometimes I compete with people without them knowing. I may try to stick close to someone or if I see an old person walking faster than me then I know to pick up my pace. My goal is to get my son to the Y at least once a week with me. I wish it could be more but between him going to school and homework and me working full time it's all I can manage.

My son eating habits are getting very bad. He will eat food from the floor or even the ground. He acts like he has been a starved child and I can promise you that my son never went hungry. I don't know what to do. We went to the Y and walked a mile and then were in the pool. On the way home, he asked if we can stop at McDonald's for ice cream. One. I think it's silly to work out and then eat ice cream. Two. I forgot my wallet and I told him that I didn't have any money to buy ice cream even if I wanted to do it. He gets all mad and insists on ice cream. Hello?? Any normal person would get no money do means no ice cream. It's like he just doesn't understand this stuff.

For Halloween I took my son to a church cause I thought he would get less candy. Instead he got normal size candy bars plus we did hit a few hours just for the sake of trick or treating. My son is driving me crazy wanting to eat candy. I keep saying that I am going to do daily walks but then I forget and don't forget homework. I make the effort to go to the Y at least twice a week and mostly he only gets there once or twice a month. We are not getting anywhere with getting him to understand that he isn't going to starve and I just get so confused on why he acts the way he does. I am trying everything I can. For example, we let him get pop corn (a bag) I asked for a small bowl and he gives me a dirty look. Another example, I give the cat a cat treat and he says since I gave her a treat he should have a treat.

My son has health class and is learning about labels and all the kinds of choices we can make that are good or bad for us. I hope it helps him think more about the food he wants to eat. We been trying to make sure we have fruit and he seems to accept that if he wants fruit or a little toast with his cereal that he has to pour less cereal. He is doing really well with the allergies/ asthma but we haven't gotten into needing too much heat yet.

If I could take it all away I would....

If I could take away the autism or whatever disorder that is making his life more of a challenge I would.

If I could take away the allergies that seem to be bothersome mostly October thru who knows when I would.

If I could take away the asthma that makes it hard to breathe when the allergies irritate his lungs I would. 

I am not one of those Mom's that says oh.. I wouldn't change a thing about my son. I do love my son just as he is and for who he is but if I could take away his challenges in life that we struggle with daily I would do it.

My son has learning disabilities.  He is not lazy. He maybe at times fight because it's so hard. But it's not the same as just being lazy.

My son loves to eat and eats slow. I think it's an oral fixation that I don't quite know what to do with. At his Dad's it seems to be worse but we don't have the luxury of letting him eat a meal for an hour. We don't let him sip on juice all day so he doesn't sip on a dish soap style lid. (that's how I think of the kind that resemble dish soap and I can't drink from them)

If I could take away it all away... I would do it in an heart beat. It's not cause I don't love him. It's cause I love him too much. 

My son has a stuffy nose. I am going to have him do two sprays with his nasal allergy medication. It says one or two but we have always done one. I hope we don't repeat last year. It makes me miserable when he don't feel well.

Update

It's getting chili and the sniffles are coming on. It's not too bad but I hope we are not in for a long winter of sickness for him. I am thinking of having him do his nasal spray in the afternoon too. It says one to two sprays per nostrils so I figure we could increase it.

It seems like he isn't asking for as many snacks as he used to. It's not that he doesn't still ask but it seems to be less. I am sure it helps that school is in session.

Today, we went to the YMCA for swimming and my husband said we should have walked too so maybe next time we will do walking too. I want to try to go there on the Sunday's he is home and not with his Dad's.

My son doesn't have PE this year so I have to try to find other ways for him to get some activity in. Today, went went for a walk to the river and was probably gone for 45 min and then after dinner I wanted to walk to Kmart and he wanted to come with and did. My husband said there and back was probably three miles. So, if we can just work that kind of walking into our days then it will be better for the both of us.

From an idea on my main blog we started giving my son three snacks a day. The only rules are that one has to be a fruit or veggie and basically he can eat them whenever he wants to eat them. For the majority of the time if he goes through them then he gets nothing besides meals. A time or two, we might offer something but never when he asks for it.

He spent five days in summer camp but before that I noticed that the snacking craziness of the crying was over.

Today, we all went for a walk and he was really bitching but to me I think he is looking thinner.

The allergies and asthma has been well controlled. We shall see what the winter brings.

In about a week, he starts middle school so this should be interesting.

I haven't posted in a while. My son had a check up because he was long overdue for this well child check up. Mostly, because he needed to be well to get it done. He got his shots and is all set for middle school. The doc is still concerned about weight and when we addressed what we should do about the constant wanting to eat. He said let him eat carrots until he turns orange. We will see if this work because he actually does like carrots. He is at 140 lbs now.

He had to have a blood sugar fasting test to check for diabetes. So, hopefully that will come back okay.

My son has been going to summer school which is doing gym and something called Y fitness. So, he seems to be getting more activity lately.

The Doc was happy with his health when it comes to the allergies and asthma. He is doing pretty good when it comes to the symptoms.

update

My son has been doing really well with his symptoms from allergies/asthma. I couldn't be happier. However, my son has become more scattered brained lately. It's harder to keep him on task at home but the school reports that he is doing great at school.

We been having major issues with how much he wants to eat and how he gets so upset when we try to control his intake. Sometimes, it's like he will eat until he just can't put another bite into his mouth by looking at him but he never seems like he would reach that limit on his own.

It has helped a little bit with snacking if he wants something and I offer something like a banana or a yogurt and if he doesn't take that then he gets nothing. It's just an extremely challenging time because we want him to be healthy and not feel like he can't keep up with other kids.

We did get my son a bike this week and that has gotten him outside quite a bit more. I am hoping that will help with the hunger/boredom eating that he wants to do all the time.

I took my son to the allergy Doc and after a 3 hour appointment they discovered what kind of allergies he has. The severe allergy was dust mites and the other allergies are feathers and cockroach. We of course have to laugh at him because of cockroach allergy. I haven't seen any of them in many years.
They didn't change any of his medications but think that his allergies are going to be year round.

I am so relieved that he isn't allergic to any of our animals. I am so glad that I stuck to my gut reaction that this wasn't the animals.

Now, I have to learn more about getting those dust bunnies out of our house.

My son has been off his allergy medication after Saturday. So far, he is mostly just sneezing. He is bothered by it but I think he is doing well. He doesn't seem to have the constant running nose or the nasal dripping in the back of the throat causing coughing. Tomorrow, is our three hour appointment with the allergy doctor.

Tomorrow, my son has to stop taking his allergy medication for his test for allergies. Hopefully, he won't get too many symptoms without the medications. It upsets me more than it does him when he is sick.

My son came home asking for his rescue inhaler but the Doc was overall happy with the report that he has been doing well. She is thinking he has spring allergies if he still has the cough if he misses his medication. Yep, Dad is to blame.

My son weighed in at 137 lbs and we are satisfied with that. It's a slight gain but within a few months. We can handle that and he is still growing. He is almost 5 feet tall now.

My son went to his Dad's for the weekend and he left him with him Mom for Saturday night and forgot his medications so he missed some of his medication. It only takes a missed dose or two for that cough to come back. I notice it's only the cough and not the runny nose. I am not sure if that means anything. Hopefully, it will go away now that he is back to his normal routine.

He goes to the Doc today and then see's the allergy doc in about a week. So, hopefully we will know more soon.

It's been a while since I last posted. My son is doing really well. We did forget his nasal spray a couple nights in a row and the cough came but then it went away as fast as it came. I guess that tells me more allergies than anything. But then again I am not a doctor.

We have a really long appointment with the allergy/asthma specialist and I am confused as how to fill out the paper work. It's all yes or no answers and it doesn't leave any room for the grey areas. If I answer based on his current state he is not showing any systems but without medications it's a different story.

I have to go sign some paperwork so the doc can see his records and I plan on doing that tomorrow. My son isn't happy about getting any tests done and says it's like they are evil or something. That is too funny. It does make you wonder what goes through babies minds when you give them shots and stuff. Mean evil ugly doctors always poking me and looking in my ears and stuff.

My son still tries to get tons. Sometimes, he pays for extra at school by putting his allowance on there. Luckily, we make him save 2 a week so he only has three to spend. Right now he is all into wanting to spend his money on something fun because it's growing. Also, he tells us about getting extra from his friends when they don't like an item at school.

I can't wait for it to warm up again and we all can start being outside more. Well, that's enough for now.

My son has been on the new inhaler for about a week now and he no longer coughs. He also no longer has a runny nose so while I am glad that the coughing has stopped it makes me wonder if we should have waited more time for the nasal spray to work.

Next month, he sees an allergist and has to quit all medication for allegies because they said they will test him. I just hope he doesn't get sick all over again. It will be interesting to see if he has any negative side effects from not getting the medication.

He also has quit yelling about drinking mostly water. He gets other stuff time to time but mostly it's water or milk now. He had found a friend in the neighborhood but my son put his gaming system in the garage because the friend had left it out and they didn't have a key to the garage. So, the kid was mad. So, a nice gesture caused a fight. I said, just next time whatever it is, if there is a next time, let it sit in the rain or whatever happens happens.

I hope they can smooth things over because my son needs a friend or two in the neighborhood.

I started Stephen on this new inhaler to control asthma attacks today. I don't like it. I think we are doing too much medication. Maybe, my husband is rubbing off on me. I just get the impression that my son won't tell the truth about his coughs. Like they ask to cough anything up? He says no. But to me they sound like a wet cough and not a dry cough. Does that make sense? I hate speaking up telling the Doc that I think my son isn't being truthful. How do we treat an illness if he isn't giving us accurate information.

My son was seen a couple weeks ago because he was really sick. His oxygen level was 91.He was given some medication similar to what got him out of it in late January. Also, given an antibiotic for ear infections.
He went yesterday for a check up and because I reported that he still coughs every day and most nights they are starting him on a inhaler for preventing attacks.
My husband thinks that we are making too big of a deal of the coughs. I agree to a point but it seems like those little coughs grow into big coughs.
We finally got our referral to a specialist for allergies. However, it's not until May 4TH. We have to take him off allergy medication 3 days prior to the visit.

It appears that he is down a few lbs but it's a different scale because we are seeing a doc in another part of the clinic. I can't wait for it to warm up some more. It will be so much nicer to be able to spend time outside again.

My son coughed through out the night and this afternoon he is going to see a Doc. It's not the normal one because he was booked. I think children listen to what others say too much, because he told me that when the dog comes near him he coughs. That isn't true. We don't allow dogs in his bedroom and he coughed all night. We been trying to keep the dogs out more and he still coughs. I am not saying that it still couldn't be the dogs, but he isn't coughing the only time he around the dogs. If you tell my son something he will believe it. If you tell him that he doesn't get dinner tonight he will get really mad even though he has never been deprived of dinner. I don't know why my husband finds telling him that to be funny.
If you tell him as soon as you get home I want you to jump in the shower so you can get ready for bed. He will tell you that he will not jump in the shower with his clothes on.
I just wish he would get better.

My son coughing and running nose has returned and it's sounding worse. He says he doesn't cough at school but honestly I don't believe him. It seems as if he can't go 30 minutes without coughing but can go six hours at school without coughing. Maybe, it's denial because I don't want it to be an reaction to our pets but something just doesn't sit right with me.
I say this because I have taken my son other places and he still coughs. It doesn't just go away when he is out of the house. I know this doesn't mean that the animals can't be the cause but I don't get why he isn't honest. Is it because he doesn't want medication for it. We haven't done the inhaler because he says he isn't short of breath and the Doc says only use it for shortness of breath.

I wish we would hear from the Doc about where to go for the Doc for allergy test. I have been hearing a lot about allergra lately. Has anyone ever used that? I would have to pay out of pocket because our insurance isn't going to pay for something that is over the counter. However, I would pay for it if it was better than what he is taking now.

My husband seems to be like my son and doesn't want to give any medications either. He says the nasal spray isn't needed if his nose isn't stuffy. I can see his point but when we were using the nasal spray morning and night and the allergy pill he was at his best.

We skipped out on eating healthy for two days because of my son's birthday and my husband's birthday. So, back to eating right.
Also, my son hasn't been coughing so much lately. I imagine it could be because it's starting to warm up where we live and my son has been able to play outside.

My son weighed in at 134 lbs. So, he didn't gain or lose and I am okay with that. I would have rather it been down a lb or two but that's okay.

He coughs every day and most nights but it's not a lot.

The doc suggested we start eliminating our pets. It seemed like he didn't want to do an allergy test after all. I made it clear that we will not give our pets away without answers. We just won't play guessing games with the lives of our animals. I got the speech that if something was making his son sick then the dog would have to go. So, when I asked him if he would remove the dog without proof he said no. He suggested someone babysit them for a week. Anyone want to babysit 3 bunnies and 3 dogs?

He did say that he will give us a referral to an allergy doc so that makes me happy. I hope it's not the dogs. Plus, spring will get here soon and most likely he will get better.

We had the ducts cleaned and hopefully that helps too.

Tomorrow, we get the ducts cleaned. I am hoping that it makes our house less dusty and the coughing go away. Stephen still coughs but it's not severe.

He goes to the doc tomorrow and I am hoping that he has at least lost a pound or two. He is a growing boy so I don't expect for him to not ever gain again. I am not sure what will happen. I paid a few dollars on his lunch account so he could get extra pizza. I just wasn't aware that he could pay to get extra on all his meals at school. I am pretty sure that they will do a blood test to test for allergies. I am prepared and accepted that we may have to find homes for our three bunnies.

Please, don't let it be the dogs. I can't give another pet away. I have tried to say if I gave one or two away which one would I pick? First, I say Shadow.. he is old, has one eye and his boring. Then, I feel bad. We have had him for years. It would be so wrong to give him away at this point. Then, I say charlie. He is a adorable shitzu and loves to cuddle. We are his third home. I would feel so rotten. Then, there is Ann. She is a lab and my girl. I couldn't give her away. Is Stephen living in a tent acceptable? Just kidding! I think the one dog that I could part with would be Charlie but noooooooo!!! Please don't let it be the dogs!!!

pet hair

We had been suspecting that our duct work was filled with pet hair. Our house is super dusty. When we removed the vents to fit our new flooring for our living room in I found a huge amount of hair.
I had a guy come out and gave me an estimate to clean them out. I felt bad because we don't have the 400 needed for it. I called my brother and asked to borrow it from him and he said yes.

It wasn't easy to ask for money because I haven't had to ask anyone for money in years. But I been really sick and I feel like this maybe the cause of our problems. Next Monday, it will get done.

Yea!! I am so happy. I hope it makes a difference.

We haven't been staying very healthy.

My grand daughter was sick.

I got sick and missed two days of work.

Stephen is back to his coughing and sometimes a stuffy nose.

He finally gets to see his Doc a week from today.

The food package that I bought from the church is working out. It's saved us some trips to the store and I think relieved my husband of always buying the food out of his tip money. We are eating veggies on most night and actually cooking less meat. So, if my son wants to eat more he is reaching for more veggies. I will most likely do this again. The menu varies and I will probably trust them with some of the produce next time.

I think I lied about the amount we all weigh. The Y scale still says a much higher number. I didn't mean to do it. I was very sad at the thought that the smaller number is wrong.

I think we been slacking on the drinking soda or juice issue. It's not that we are giving in and giving a lot but I think between my husband and I we are bending more on it than we should.

Then, we hear that my son is fighting his Dad on the whole issue.

I picked up the food from the organization that I blogged about. We have yet to eat any of it. I have never seen my freezer so full since I married my second husband. So, I am hoping that this will help create better habits.

We might have to change some of our thinking because some of the food is not something we typically eat. One, is the frozen entrees of Salisbury steaks. I used to cook those but I make them homemade now and much better. Two, some of the food is packaged much different. The soups were packaged frozen and not in a can like we would normally buy. Also, frozen mac n cheese the same way. Three, the biscuits and muffin mixes were small jiffy boxes and that is very different than I am used to.

I figure we will give a try this month and see if we like it. I like the idea of it. Food for less and less trips to the store. Also, we won't always have to think to buy veggies. We will just get some in the package. Now, if I can just get the freezer to open up and throw them at us. hahaha.

My son still coughs everyday but it's not very much. I don't even hear him at night. So, that is very good. Tonight, he went to volunteer with me to help with the children and he was coughing quite a bit. Is coughing a sign of an asthma attack? Also, if it's asthma acting up.. then I am thinking exercised induced and that could mean that it's not pet induced. I hope this doesn't make me a bad mom that it not being animals make me feel good. Of course, I am not a doc so I don't know if this is the case. He doesn't get to go until March 14th.

Today, was a bad day for eating. We had fattening cinnamon rolls for breakfast and pizza hut for dinner. I hope that it helps that I only allowed us to eat fruit for lunch.

I gave in a bought a cheap home scale. It's made me very confused.

My youngest son it says he weighs 128 lbs... no confusion there.

My oldest son said he weighs 180 lbs on it and that is the same as when he was at the Doc's last.

My husband weighs 140 lbs and he thinks that it's 20 lbs off for him but when he weighed a 20 lb back of dog food it was right.

The real confusion starts with me. It says that I weigh 220 lbs. The Y scales says I weigh 266 lbs. Am I not understanding how to weigh myself there? So, if it's true then I am much lighter than I thought. I had thought that I was near 300 lbs last spring and then lost 40 lbs. That would mean that I was at 260 lbs and lost 40 lbs. So confused.

I did go to this church and paid 65.00 so we can get some groceries. The website is here. I am hoping this will just make our lives more simple. It's put a bit of a strain on us because I had to pay for it and it will be another week before we get the actual food. But we will make it.

I have been doing more cooking lately and my husband said that he has finally getting the wife that he has been wanting. lol Tomorrow, I am going to try to make some homemade soup.

The Doc called me yesterday and said that his xray came back clear but he does think my son has asthma or some severe allergies. So, when we can go back, he wants to do another breathing tests and some blood work for allergies.

I am not used to docs calling instead of the nurses. So, as of right now, I am really liking this Doc. I hope we find that he is allergic to anything but dogs. I can go without owning cats, bunnies but not dogs. I guess I don't understand how he could have lived his whole life with pets and suddenly with the last couple of years become so allergic to them.

It's on!!

We did two nights of cough meds so that my son could sleep instead of cough.

Now, we have made it through two more nights without cough meds. We just been giving him the meds that the doc said to give but haven't seen an use for the inhaler in almost a week.

We can't see the doc until March 14th but I put in a call to hear from the doc to see if there is anything on the xray.

Last night, we found time for the Y even though that meant him staying up until 9 pm. I made him walk for 30 mins and then to go play in the adventure area. He told me he was just going to lay around because he was tired.

However, I knew if I stayed gone long enough he would play. So, I walked another ten minutes or so and then I took my shower and sat in the sauna and read my book. When I found him he was playing with a kid. He said that this kid was from his old school and they were playing because they were both in favor of the others school closing. Right now, it's a chance that some of the schools will close and it's a toss up between the two schools. So, my son said it was on! It was so cute.

I know some people might not agree with me for forcing exercise on him, but I don't care. When it's summer, I probably won't have to do that because he will go play. Well, I hope he will go play.

We went to my sisters so she could scan a picture for me and she has a scale so I weighed him and it's showing a 6lb weight loss but I don't know if it's accurate or not.

Then, we came home and had dinner. I remembered the green beans that we been meaning to cook and he actually asked for more. I find the frozen kind so much more appealing than the canned stuff.

mix up

There has been an mixed up with the insurance for my son. Basically, our primary care Doc was changed and we can't do anything about it until March 3rd when we then can go back to the clinic of my choice. This means that my son can't go to the Doc on Wednesday and it really ticks me off.
I explained how my son has been sick and I don't want to deal with this other clinic and they suggested that we take him to the emergency room or a after hours clinic. So, go figure that they will pay those costs. As of right now, I am waiting on a call back to get the advice on what to do.

I want to know what the Xray showed. So, to go to another doc or hospital doesn't seem like we will get the answer to his problem.

update

I had a relaxing weekend with my husband. Friday, I dropped my son off with his Grandma's where his Dad was suppose to take him home but there wasn't enough room in the car so he stayed there. Don't ask me.
So, Friday night, after work, my husband and I went out to dinner. We had a nice time and I stayed up late and had a little to drink. It felt so good to just relax and not worry. I was able to sleep in and spend Saturday with my husband.
On Sunday, I suddenly realized that it was Valentine's day the next day and we would have to do my sons cards. I pick him up at 6 pm and my ex said that he was complaining of not feeling well. He picked at his dinner like a bird. We had chicken and he loves it and didn't eat. He had a breakdown because he needed to make a box for his cards and all we had was a tissue box. Finally, we got him to take a shower and then he calmed down enough to help me make the box.

My son is still coughing. I gave him some cough meds even though it says that if you have a chronic cough don't use it. I also made sure that he was propped up on his pillows. Between the two his cough stopped during the night. However, when I woke up about 5 am and realized that he slept all night and I didn't hear his cough. I was wondering if he was still breathing. I was afraid to go look. Then, I had to go check. I went into his room and when I couldn't tell if his chest was rising, I touched him and he woke up. I felt dumb. What did I really expect? Did I really expect that he would be dead?

In two more days, he goes to the Doc again. I hope we can find an answer and a solution to his illness. He says that he isn't out of breath so that would mean that he doesn't need the inhaler. But he needs relief from a chronic cough and constant runny nose.

On a side note to all this. I do think he is slimming down. I think I am seeing it. I don't know if it's because I want what we are doing to help him become thinner or if he really is.

Just for the record, at the end of January he was almost 5 ft and weighed 134 lbs.

Today, after Stephen went to school, I slept till 11 am. This is his weekend with his Dad. I sent him with some fruit and his medications. I only seen him for about 45 minutes or so, but his coughing was less. So, let's hope he is on his road to getting rid of the annoying cough.
This was a hard week. Every time my son coughs I wake up and just can't sleep. I am drinking a few Mikes lemonades and going out to dinner with my husband and hopefully have a good evening and sleep in tomorrow.

Savings on groceries

Take a look at the picture. This is the menu for one of the many packages that people can order through Angel Ministries. It's not a hand out. Well, I don't think it's an hand out because it's not free. However, I am seeing this as an chance to lower my cost of my groceries and hopefully change our patten of every day shopping. My husband waits table and makes money everyday but I think that leads to poor choices and lack of timing when it comes to preparing meals. I am home four days a week and I am hoping that by ordering a package like this or two will help me be able to create more meals that are not always on the fly. I will be paying for this tomorrow or next Friday and then I have to go back and get the food. I will make sure I blog about this program.

On the subject of my son eating better, we still have work to do. We haven't been the best with getting veggies down him. I just bought some V8 and we are going to try that since it has two servings of veggies in a glass.

My son has actually started to eat less now on his own. I think it may have to do with the medication. I am not sure, but it's so not like my son not to finish his dinner. He hasn't been well either. He just hasn't recovered from taking away the allergy pill. I am a little worried for him. I hope he starts to improve soon. It's not keeping him out of school but the coughing sure keeps him from getting enough rest.

My son has yet to recover from us following the Doc's advice about the allergy pill. Actually, he seems to be getting worse. I witnessed yesterday for the first time that I could tell that he was out of breath. We are using the fast acting inhaler a couple times during the day and a few times during the night and my son had a fever last night.

I feel like my husband tries to shrug it off. He says that he might have been out of breath from doing something before I seen him and the fever might be cause of his flu shot.

He thinks that the symptoms are just a new cold rolling through the area.

My son goes back to the Doc next week. Let's hope for an allergy Doc and that his illness isn't because of our animals.

Things just keep getting worse

Today, hasn't been a good day in the overall land of Stephen's issues with health and school.

First, we get a call saying that in three days we will meet at his new middle school for a transitional meeting to discuss the changes from grade school to middle school.

Hello!! 3 days notice. Hello again!! We don't want him to go to middle school and it's not the normal fears. My son has learning disabilities that make school a bigger challenge than the average Joe. I told the resource teacher that I hadn't received any times on a conference.

His teacher calls and says that she gave my son the information but it never came back. I never got anything. We get into an heated arguement about my sons process and why we don't want to buy an expensive calculator when he doesn't even get the basic math. She says that she doesn't believe us that my son spends hours sitting at the table. Also, that he isn't turning homework in. She said that my son is playing us being reading more than he needs to because he just can't put the book down. I personally would rather him read than do a bunch of converting numbers that he doesn't have a clue.

I keep saying to friends that you can read me a chapter on brain surgery and give me the tools but would you give me your brain to operate on? Hell no.. It's just busy work.

I told her how he has been ordered by a doc to thin down some and to be more active and the homework interferes with this plan and she basically shrugged it off as all young boys are fat and then thin down.

My husband and I have decided to see the principal and if she feeds of the same line of bull that we can't hold him back.. We are going to considering fighting them. In my district, no teacher has permission to hold anyone back. Just push them on through and out. It makes me feel like if these so called experts have to listen to crap like that and they have no say so then how do I know that there words of encouragement are even real. After all, they get rid of him after this year. It doesn't help that because of budget cuts that my sons school is on the list of 7 schools that could be shut down.

Today, my son is having a hard time with the runny nose and coughing. He has a horrible habit of sniffing instead of blowing which could land a bunch of junk in your sinuses and ears. Before the Doc, my son wasn't having symptoms but now he is at it again. It is better now that he is on his allergy pill again. He goes back to the Doc in one week from today. We haven't heard anything back from the Xray. It will also be interesting to see if he has lost any weight or not. I would be satisfied if it's only a pound or two.

Well, I better go now. I like writing this stuff down. It's releases some stress for me.

No word from my sons chest Xray yet. He had it on Wednesday night and I would think that by now someone has read the report and would have called if there was a problem. It's only been two business days though.

We are doing ok with the new food habits. We still need to work more veggies and fruits into his daily routine. We have cut calories by him taking an 100 calorie granola bar for snack time instead of a 200 calorie pack of crackers. He is getting zero to very little juice during the day. He gets milk at dinner, but he isn't really willing to drink water. I am worry that he isn't getting enough fluids that his body needs.

We are changing his allergy pill to something he takes after school so it's the most effective when he is sleeping in bed. He still has some running nose at times but seems to be doing better. He has a horrible habit of sniffing the snot back up his nose and this is where the sinus and ear infections can arise. Well, that is what the doc told me.

He hasn't gotten any official exercise but he has been going outside some, but I don't know if lying in the snow counts for burning calories. He still hasn't had any cookies, candy or other sweets.

I am going to seriously try to take him to the YMCA once or twice a week so he do some walking,swimming or playing. In order to do this, we might have to start letting him stay up to 9 pm instead of 8 pm.

Sometimes, life just sucks! It's been horrible around here.

First, my husband is pissed off about being told to smoke outside and wants me to understand where he is coming from. He feels that docs blame smoking on everything. I try to tell him that no one is saying that he is the cause but it doesn't help and it can't be good for any of us. That is also including our grand daughter who spends a lot of time with us.

He suggest that I drink soda outside to know how he feels like. Now, I get that it's cold, but why should I drink my soda outside?

I been really busy trying to make our house less dusty. I been dusting things that I normally don't pay attention to. I cleaned my sons room from top to bottom. That includes the walls and his curtains. I have been brushing the dogs. Two out of the three need a hair cut and I have to take them somewhere to get that done.

My husband has tried to dispute the asthma dx and I don't know if he is right or not. I am not a Doc. All I know is that my son has been sick most of the past two winters.

The Doc told me to quit giving him the allergy pill and only use the nasal spray and use the inhaler and within the next morning all the major symptoms of snuffy/runny nose has come back. The barking cough came back at night.

Yesterday, I took him to get the Xray of his chest and I am about to have a nervous breakdown. Test just scare me. I really worry and get myself into a panic.

Today, I called the Doc and he called back and said that if it came back as of a result of not having the allergy pill then it might just be allergies. So, it's possible he is allergic to our pets. Do we give away three bunnies? and three dogs? We have two cats that have to live outside because they spray but we let them in because of the snow storm. Could the symptoms because of the cat? Honestly, I want to give away the cats to someone who can afford to fix them because it seems mean to keep them outside. I think the neighbors share them with us because they are really fat. It wouldn't our first cat that ran away to them because they didn't like the dogs. The Doc couldn't tell me about the results of the Xray but said that if I don't hear from him in a couple days then no news is good news. I might have to take up drinking to get past these next couple of days.

Well, the good news is that because my husband has seen me trying to make changes in our house and making changes in the way we let our son eat is that he is agreeing to do most of his smoking outside.

We have been doing really well on controlling my sons eating habits. We are not going to any extreme measures. He is still eating well and maybe even more than he needs but we have basically cut out all juice. Today, I gave him a small glass. But overall, his calorie intake from juice and junk food is way low. We have decided to not allow any sweets for a while. We know at times the school will give them to him, but at home we won't for a while.

My husband wants to see my son exercise if he doesn't go outside to play. I really want him to be healthy but I won't tolerate my husband being mean like he did to me when I used to bug him about drinking.

I don't know if I am strong enough to give away all three of my dogs. Shadow must be about 8 or 9. He is an one eyed shitzu because him and my lab got into a fight. Then, our next oldest dog that has been with us in the lab. She is my girl. Then, there is Charlie. He is a shitzu and his last owner only had him for one day and gave him away because she had an allergy to him.

I remember when I was young my Mom was part of this program called share and basically it helped you get fruits and veggies and I don't remember what else. I remember that she had to pay for it and volunteer two hours of service a month. So, I decided to see if something like that still around but I didn't find it.
What I did find was this place called Angel Food Ministries. You can check it out here.

I am going to talk this over with my husband and call and ask more questions. I am interested in checking them out because I really want to focus on healthy eating habits and I want to find cheaper ways to be able to provide fruits and veggies for my family.

I have been busy trying to dust the house. This isn't something I do often. Also, been brushing the dogs. I really don't want to give away our three dogs. So, I am trying to make this effort to brush them more often.

My husband is still smoking in the house, but I am hoping that when he sees that I am making efforts to make our house a better environment he will make the adjustment to go outside. We have a screen in porch and a little plastic could make it more bearable. He has been saying how he wishes he could quit and maybe this will be what he needs to try to stop.

I am going to keep a diary of what my son eats. Also, I just have to start saying no more. I believe he eats because he is bored. My son isn't getting juice and not liking to drink water. I am trying to drink more water too. I love diet soda and I don't want to drink soda all the time while he can get mostly water.

I would like to take my son to the YMCA but we are having a blizzard and not the kind from Dairy Queen. The schools in my area have been closed.

I decided to make a third blog to document the new challenges that I must face for my family. I have always known that something seemed to be off about my youngest child. He spends all winter with stuffy noses, coughs and the list just goes on. It's never severe enough to slow him down but it made him not sleep very well.

I took him to a new doctor and he believes that he may have asthma. We have to get a chest xray done and continue from there. I really don't know what to think. I have never seen anything that reminds me of a full blown asthma attack.

The doc gave us some orders. We are to use the rescue inhaler when he has an attack and continue to use the nasal spray until it runs out and to discontinue the allergy pill that the clinic gave him a month before.

My husband is to take his smoking outside. Oh is that going to be a challenge. I hear all kinds of talk about how people just choose to attack smoking and there is lots out there that is worse.

I have been told to stay on top of brushing our dogs hair or give them away. I can't see giving them away so this is something that I just have to go.

My son is a big eater and the doc said that he needs to lose weight and that his breathing problems could be a result of his weight.

He wants my son to get very little juice a day. He is to drink water. He said for him to eat 5 fruits and 5 veggies a day. Also, to lay off the chicken. He said that because my son said I love chicken and I can tear it up. lol I kind of wonder can we afford to do that, but then again how can we not?

Tonight, we had pasta. Does the sauce and mushrooms count? We had to tell my son no to the that piece of bread.

We are going to extend his bedtime routine for an hour later on some nights so he can come to the YMCA when the weather is okay. I hear we are getting a major snow storm.

My son goes back to the doc in two weeks and I am hoping we see an improvement in his weight. I am going to try to to focus on my weight loss too. It's been kind of at a stand still lately.