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.