Mummy hates taxes

I called the IRS this morning. After an hour on hold, I finally talked to a live person who informed me there is an issue with my return. She couldn’t verify exactly what the issue was though. Instead, she told me I’d probably have another 4 weeks before I have a refund. Anyway, I called my friend who works at the IRS right after. She said she wouldn’t bank on what that woman is saying. They aren’t telling anyone 4 week time –frames. It’s all 6 to 8 weeks. Instead, she’s going to provide me another phone number when she gets into work, so that I can call to be sure I don’t need to verify my identity first. She said if I don’t need to, then they’ll transfer me to the area that can really help me. She thinks it’s just an error because I’ve had some changes this year adding Emerson and daycare. These things error out when trying to go through the E-file system and require and actual person to review your return. Obviously there are a lot of errors to review, so it takes some time to get through the process. I hope I’ve already been assigned to a processor that’s looking at my return. Anyway, I’ll be calling again this afternoon. Hopefully I have some answers. I don’t mind if I’m not getting money for another 6 weeks. I just want to know that it’s really being processed and not stalled because I’m not doing my part. It’s really, really stressful. I had to gear myself up for this day because I knew it would require me making a lot of calls and being placed on hold. It’s very frustrating because they don’t have to help you, or give you answers. It takes getting through to the right person to be given the correct information. Sometimes that requires calling multiple times. I’m trying to put my toughest foot forward. This is not for the faint of heart. There is a lot of money on the line here. I just want to make sure I take the necessary steps to avoid further delay.

 

All of the families received a letter yesterday from the director  at daycare regarding the little girl who passed yesterday morning. I didn’t write about this in my blog yesterday, but a 4 month old baby that was in Emerson’s class died. She suffocated in her sleep. It is absolutely tragic and horrific. My heart aches for her family. I can barely wrap my mind around it and it makes me tear up anytime I think about it. The daycare is taking donations and working on putting together a fundraiser to raise money for the family. I feel so bad. The mood at daycare is so somber. I feel awful for the teachers. They took care of that little girl every day. It’s almost like losing one of your own. I don’t even know what to say about it other than I am very sad and I squeezed Emerson extra last night. I couldn’t imagine going through that and I never ever want to live that nightmare. I’ll leave it at that because it just makes me incredibly sad to go there in my mind.

 

This week has been filled with so many ups and downs. There were a large number of people at my company who were let go on Wednesday. Several worked very closely with me and my team. It was a somber week there too. After the firings occurred, we had a meeting to discuss them. It’s almost surreal. I feel for those people. It’s very scary to one day have an income then have it taken away from you the next. I’ve heard some rumors that they were given severance though. If that’s the case, then I’m happy for them. They’ll be okay until they find alternative employment. Also, they let team members go who suffered poor performance reviews, so it really wouldn’t have been a big shock to anyone. It’s still very sad though and puts all of us on edge.

 

I need a reprieve from bad news. It’s been that kind of week. I really just want to have a great weekend and to try to put everything aside. It’s supposed to snow on Sunday night. It sucks. We’ve gotten such a break from that. I’ve finally started to feel comfortable driving again. There was a coating this morning, but it was fine. I was able to get Emerson to daycare with no issues. I’m working from home today though. I’m glad. I needed a break from commuting. Also, I really needed to do laundry. I’m trying to figure out what I want to do after work. I really want to go to Once upon a child to find a shirt for Emerson to wear for picture day on Tuesday. We’re going shoe shopping tomorrow, but not in the same area that Once upon a child is located. I think it’ll be easier if I just run up today after work to look around before snagging him from daycare. I do need to get milk and dish liquid though. I’ll have about 2 hours after work is over before I need to pick Emerson up. It seems like a lot of time, but really isn’t. I probably won’t get to Once upon a child until 330ish. I know what we need though, so I shouldn’t be in there long. I can run to the grocery store on the way home to grab milk and dish liquid. I’d love to make fish and mac and cheese for dinner tonight. I can grab some fish at the store too. I’d love to just grab dinner from a fish fry, but that’s just being too wasteful. If I just buy fish at the store, we’ll have it to eat another night. I already have macaroni and cheese at home.

 

I’m excited to hang out with Emerson tomorrow though. I just want us to have a happy and healthy weekend. We’ve had it pretty rough the last two months. We deserve it. Alright. I hope you all have a really wonderful weekend. Stay warm and stress-free! J

Mummy has some decisions to make

I started to let myself dwell a little on the tax situation, which I don’t want to do. I’m just faced with such tough decisions now. We are getting a bonus at work next Friday. I’m hoping it’s a decent amount of money. Here is the issue. My car is due for inspection by April 1^st.  What do I do?! Do I just pay to have it inspected and pocket the rest of my bonus and just wait to get a new car whenever I get my tax money? I don’t know what my car will need to pass. I don’t know if it’ll be a lot, or a little. I guess I can try to get it inspected first, see how much it’ll cost me, and go from there. It’s either that, or do I take my bonus and my car to get a new car. The only issue is I’ll be extremely strapped for money if I have a car payment. My income tax was going to cover my monthly car payment, so that I could have the luxury of a new car without being so poor. Even with the two raises I just got, I don’t think I’d even have enough to cover something like that. Plus, it’s putting me in ALMOST semi-normalcy to where I can breathe a little. I don’t want to take that away from myself. Perhaps just paying for my car to be inspected, continuing to drive it, and waiting for the refund is my best bet. At least at that point, I can use some of my bonus to get some things for Emerson that I typically couldn’t buy. I don’t mean buying a playhouse, or anything like that either. I’ll have to put those ideas on the back burner for a while. I’m comfortable with that though. I just want to be able to buy an entire gallon of milk without worry. That sounds so stupid, but I always buy half gallons now in case we end up needing something else with that money. I’m so meager with everything I do. I’m really, really good with money and pretty thrifty when it comes to mostly anything, so I think that’s why it never looks like we suffer so much. I’ll tell you what, it has been a long ass winter. I can’t wait to be able to play outside. At least that’s free. I’m sorry to talk about this so much, everyone. It just eats me up so much inside sometimes. I try my fucking hardest to provide. I’m doing a damn good job too, but not without so much worry and angst over every single penny. Literally, every penny hurts to spend. It hurts my heart to not be able to take Emerson anywhere. We do the same thing every week. Work and daycare. We go home. We eat dinner, play, and go to bed. There is never anything spontaneous. I can never just run through the drive thru, or order pizza if I don’t feel like cooking. It might not seem like that big of a deal to you guys, but it hurts my heart. I can’t just take him to the store to buy a toy, or out for ice cream randomly. We are just in the house all of the time unless we are visiting my parents. This weekend, I’ve budgeted to get Emerson some new shoes and to take him for frozen yogurt. I’m so excited. Again, I realize how small this sounds, but to me it is huge. I know Emerson will grow up appreciating all of the small things I was able to do for him, but it just hurts sometimes. On top of that, I get bored too! Doing small things is as much for me as it is for him.

 

I will say this much though. Emerson is so happy. He is a cheerful, silly, playful little guy. I really pride myself on not being down around him, or worrying around him because I never want him to feel that stress, or negativity over lack of funds. We have a great time together at home even if it’s just me letting him chase me around, or randomly hiding from him and popping out from a secret hiding spot. He’s a great kid with such a wonderful personality. His smile is incredible and absolutely melts me every time he beams one at me! He’s allowing me to relive my childhood again and I appreciate that so much. There is never a dull moment even if I’m feeling bored with our same routine. I always find a way to make things fun. I have that type of playful personality too.

 

I feel a lot better after being able to get all of my thoughts out surrounding this. Alright, I have my annual review in 12 minutes. Pray that it’s good, k?! This affects my raise!

Mummy has bad news

Well, I didn’t get my tax return and today marks the 21^st day. I found out there are a lot of people having this issue. I spoke with a friend who works at the IRS. She told me I am probably unpostable and I need to call them. She said if they need additional information from me it’ll add another 6-8 weeks onto me getting my refund. I’m sick over it, but quite frankly, I don’t feel like being down, or stressing out over it. I’ll do what I need to do to have it processed, but I am really going to try my hardest to not dwell, or become obsessed with this. I don’t have the energy to put into being sad over it either. I know we really needed that money, but there isn’t anything I can do at this point to make it appear right now. I’m just going to keep budgeting and doing what I’ve been doing.

 

When I picked Emerson up from daycare, he had a huge lump on his forehead. He fell yesterday and bashed his poor face so hard. It looks absolutely awful and had me so worried last night. He’s fine though and it doesn’t seem to be bothering him too much. It looks awful. I scheduled pictures for March 6^th for him. If the bruise and cut aren’t mostly gone by next Friday, I’m going to cancel it. Other deals will come around. I’m not going to spend $20 to get pictures taken when his face looks like hell. School pictures are next Tuesday. If his head still looks really bad, I’m going to get a smaller package. The package I was going to get is $22. I’m not going to get all of these 8x10’s of him with a huge lump and black and blue mark on his forehead. We have so many pictures as it is. I’ll just be modest and get the smaller package just to at least have a 5x7 for myself and some wallet-sized ones for my family.

 

On Saturday, I’m still taking Emerson shoe shopping. His poor feet are so crammed into his tennis shoes. We’re going to go to the waterfront. The weather is supposed to right around 40 degrees. It’ll be nice to get out for a bit. I’ve budgeted every single penny we have, so I’ll be able to take him to get frozen yogurt afterwards. On Sunday, we’re just going to visit my parents. My sister hasn’t seen Emerson since his 1^st birthday party almost a month ago. She will be over there with my nephew, so it’ll be nice to see them for a bit. Plus, it doesn’t cost anything to go to their house!

 

Dr. Seuss week is next week at daycare. I need to go through Emerson’s clothes. We need some really wacky outfits for him to wear. I’m going to look around when we’re out on Saturday for a nicer shirt that he can wear to have his pictures taken in for picture day. Everything he owns is hand me downs and very worn. I’d like to get him a nice button up that he can wear again for Easter. That way, I’m getting my money’s worth.

 

Other than that, not too much is going on. I can’t wait to work from home on Friday. I’m sick of commuting into town. I shouldn’t complain though. I worked from home three days last week. It’s just tough going from doing that to being in the office four days in a row. Alright, I have to finish up some things. I have a late meeting. I just hope I don’t miss the bus because of it.

 

 

 

Mummy makes adorable snacks!

My daycare snacks turned out great! I ended up just winging it and making some banana split cheesecake bars. They tasted so freaking good. I have tons of filling left, so I’ll use the rest and make a cheesecake for us at home. I individually wrapped each bar in wax paper and tied with pink striped twine. I packaged them all into a bakery box and closed that with the same twine. I made sure I put a recipe card on the box as well, so the staff knew what was in the snack and in case they wanted to make it themselves. Anyway, I’m happy with the way it turned out. I hope the kids like them! Tonight is parent conference night. I’m going to go in and hang out for a little while when I pick Emerson up and talk to his teachers. Hopefully she’s available at that time and not preoccupied with another family.

 

I slept so well last night. Emerson went to bed around 7:30pm. He was conked out by 8pm. I had to get up to finish the snacks, but was snoozing by 9:30pm. I woke up around 4am right as my alarm went off. It was perfect and amazing! I feel so much better today and very refreshed! I felt so crappy yesterday from being so tired. I’m glad Em didn’t fight me too hard at bedtime either.

 

Last night, we had some Mexican for dinner. I made chicken burritos, Spanish rice, and refried beans. It was delicious! Emerson tore it up! That boy can eat. We have left over stuff, so tonight I’m going to just make a quick Mexican lasagna, but use ground beef instead of chicken. It’ll switch it up a bit, so that it isn’t like we’re eating basically the same thing two nights in a row.

 

The weather is supposed to be warming up a bit, so I definitely want to take Emerson to get new shoes this weekend. It’ll get us out of the house. It was -10 this morning on the bus. My toes were completely numb. It’ll warm up to about 26 degrees by the time I leave for the day, so it shouldn’t be too bad waiting outside.  I have my review on Thursday. I really hope it’s good and that I get a decent raise. They cap all of the raises anyway, so I’m sure it won’t be more than 3% and that’s being generous. I just got a 4% raise last week though, so I’ll be happy to add to that. 4% hardly equated to anything though. I wish I’d get enough to make a big difference. $100 before tax a paycheck would be beyond incredible. I guess we’ll see what happens, but I really hope that it’s enough to make a difference. I mean, any amount over what I’m making now is appreciated. I just wish things could be a little bit easier.

 

Alright, I have so much to do. I hope you all have a great Tuesday!

Mummy is really tired!

This weekend was pretty relaxing. On Friday, I was able to make it to the grocery store. I was so glad. We were out of everything. I got everything we needed down to diapers and wipes. We should be good for the next two weeks. Emerson and I just hung out at home on Friday night. I made pizza. I even drank a beer! I haven’t drank in months and months. It’s just not worth it to me. The craziest thing is people scrutinize me for it. It isn’t that I’m against being a mother and having an adult beverage. I’m just funny about alcohol now. I’m very afraid that it’ll make me sleepy and I won’t wake up if Emerson needs me in the middle of the night. Yes, I know. That sounds extremely crazy to live my life based on what COULD happen, but it’s just the way I feel. Also, alcohol gives me a sour stomach and makes me feel sick sometimes even after just a few sips. It isn’t worth it to me to feel sick.  I need to be 100% all of the time because I only have myself to rely on. Anyway, I had a pumpkin beer stashed in the back of my refrigerator from October. It wasn’t that good, but then again, I have no taste for alcohol. On top of that, because I have such a tight budget, I’d rather spend the little bit of extra money I have on other things. Maybe one day my perspective will change and I’ll allow myself to buy my favorite wine again. Who knows. It’s usually the last thing I think about when I’m running errands and making lists. Needless to say, I resorted to an old beer that has been hibernating in my refrigerator all winter. It wasn’t even worth it though!

 

Saturday, the roads weren’t that great. It snowed…Shocker! We hung out at home all day. I boiled 6 different pots of noodles and made them all different colors! Emerson had a rainbow pasta lunch complete with a cloud shaped slice of bread and cheese shaped like gold! Super cute and fun. That’ll be a recipe to use when I’m trying to review colors with him! For snack, I made a bear face on his graham crackers with peanut butter, bananas, and chocolate chips. Breakfast was also fun. I used a waffle and made an ice cream cone using banana and strawberries! For dinner, I cooked a chili corn dog casserole that did not disappoint. I’m so glad I picked up double ingredients, so that I can make it again next week. I’ve been having so much fun lately cooking for us. It’s something I really enjoy. I’m trying to find little joys for myself throughout the day within the tasks that I have to do. Fortunately, cooking makes me so happy, so it’s almost like I’m doing a  hobby within an obligation if that makes sense.

 

Sunday, Emerson and I headed to my parent’s house. I had my brakes changed and did our laundry. We played for hours too. It was a lot of fun. Emerson tore up my parent’s house! He slept so well last night too. I didn’t. I was up at 2am and ended up just staying awake. I’m pretty tired right now, but trying to not dwell on it. I hope he sleeps well tonight, so that I can catch up on some sleep. I just have such a hard time shutting my brain down sometimes. I have so many worries and so many things that I want and need to do. On top of that, I stare at Em when he’s sleeping. He is so freaking adorable! He’s on the move so much these days that I only really get this quiet, sweet time when he’s conked out.

 

Tomorrow night is parent conferences at daycare. We also have to send in snack too. I’ll be making that tonight. Oh, I also booked an appointment for Emerson to have his pictures taken on march 6^th. Usually, I take all of his pictures myself, but there was an amazing deal at a studio near us that I couldn’t pass up. I’d like to be in some of the photos too, so I thought this would be a good opportunity. We never get nice photos taken together. Usually, it’s a selfie that I’m taking. I’m so excited for that! See, I’d rather spend my money on this over wine anyday!

 

Alright, I have to get some things done and I have to pump. yes, I’m still pumping and nursing. Some days I pump more than others. It just depends on how busy I am. I’m happy that I’m still producing though. Emerson gets regular milk and water too. He’s a happy, growing boy and he has a great appetite!

 

Okay, I hope you all have a super week!

 

Mummy is cold!

Well, it was supposed to be a bit warmer this weekend with some rain, but now I am seeing more snow in the forecast. At this point, I don’t know that I’ll be getting my brakes fixed. I really hope the weather man is wrong this time and we aren’t hit at all, or hard. After I’m done working today, I have to go to the store. We have almost nothing here at this point. Our food supply is really low too. I’m not going to do a full shop. I’m just going to grab enough to get us through the weekend. They are predicting around 5 to 8 inches. Do I know if that’ll happen? No, but I’d rather not be stranded with no food and diapers. There goes our weekend. I thought we’d be getting a nice reprieve. It sucks being wrong. We didn’t even have big plans outside of visiting my parents and going shoe shopping for Emerson. The shoes I bought him over a month ago are too small. I’ve been shoving his feet in them anyway, but he really needs a new pair. I guess I’ll be putting that on the back burner for now.

 

I received notification yesterday of Dr. Seuss week from March 2^nd-March 6^th at daycare. I can’t wait! I’m so excited. Every day has a theme. The first day is Crazy hair day. I’m not sure what we’ll do for that. Someone suggested getting hair chalk and just coloring his hair. I think I’ll do that and give him a Mohawk! It’ll be funny and cute. The second day is picture day, which they’ve designated as Dress up day. On top of that, we were told we can send in a favorite item to be incorporated in the pictures. I’m just going to send in a bunny and have this photo be his Easter photo. I’ll be killing two birds with one stone. It just sucks that it’s only one pose, but that’s okay. I can still do my own free photo shoot at home. If I want more Easter pictures. The third day is mismatch day. That seems easy enough. I’ll just grab a crazy printed top and match it with a different printed bottom. The fourth day is polka dot and stripes day. That seems a little harder. We have plenty of striped clothing, but no polka dots. I’ll have to work on this one. The last day is pajama day, which seems to be the easiest. I love pajama days! The whole week just seems like such fun. I hope the weather cooperates and we don’t end up missing picture day. I’d be very upset. On top of picture day and Dr. Seuss week, Emerson is responsible for snack day next Tuesday. I’m just going to get some graham crackers, cream cheese, and bananas to make little polar bear snacks. Very fitting for the weather, right? I’ll post pictures after I make them.

 

Poor Kodie. She is in and out so much. She can only stand to be outside for a few minutes at a time. Its driving me nuts though. I’m back and forth from the back door so much. Sometimes she won’t come inside either. It drives me insane! I just stand at the door yelling at her to come in. I don’t think she cares if she has frosty paws. She loves to be outside. Alright, I am going to wrap this up now. I have a ton of loose ends to tie up before I can call it a day. Have a good one, all!

 

 

Mummy is stressing

Yesterday, I went to pick Emerson up at daycare early. The roads weren’t great, so I waited until a salt truck/plow came down my street, then I took my chance and picked him up. My poor heart cannot take another drive in this weather. I know, I know. You are all sick of me talking about this. Trust me, I wish I didn’t have to. Today, on the way to daycare, I noticed my brakes squealing. GREAT….I texted my dad and let him know, so that he can have his car guy replace my brakes immediately. THIS SUCKS! I’m so fucking afraid to go to daycare later to pick Emerson up. On top of that, we are out of pretty much everything. I desperately need to go to the store, but I’m even more afraid to drive now. My head hurts. I just feel so stressed out. My paycheck was short too. Last week when I had to leave work early 2 days because Emerson was throwing up, I didn’t use personal time to cover the hours. My boss said that I could make up the time. I assumed that meant I’d work extra hours and not log them to avoid getting overtime, but that he’d put me in the system for my regular time. That’s how we typically handle things like this. Well, he didn’t do that. I ended up having lost time on my paycheck for several hours, which makes me SICK. Even with a full paycheck, I was barely scraping by this time because I have to pay to renew my car registration and my gas bill was over $200. The only bill I can even play around with is my gas bill. So, I’m going to pay half of it this paycheck and the other half next paycheck. It’ll only end up being 8 days late. I HATE having to do that, but I have no other choice. The only good thing is the extra hours I am working this week will be logged as overtime on my next paycheck. It just makes me sick though.

 

I’m trying so fucking hard to be upbeat. I really, really am. Typically, I am. I try to not sweat the small stuff, but I’m starting to crack. It’s the weather and the stress of driving that’s sending me over the edge. I just don’t want anything else to go wrong. It has been a crazy ass year so far with Emerson and I being sick multiple times, the weather,  money, and now my car. I haven’t gotten my income tax yet either, which means getting a new car is further delayed. At this point, I’m just trying to figure out how I can get a car without that money. I’ve shed more tears this week than I have in the last 6 months. The beginning of the year is always so damn tight with money. It’s even worse now because I have additional expenses with daycare. I know if I can just make it until April, it’ll be okay. Can everyone please, please say a prayer for us? We can use all the extra ones we can get at this point.

 

It’s always hard to see the rainbow when you’re in the middle of the storm. I’m trying so hard to look on the bright side and every other cliché that would apply to this situation. It’s easier said than done though. I hate feeling this stressed out. It makes me so sick to my stomach. Alright, I’m going end this here and to stop complaining. I hope you all have a good day.

 

 

 

 

Mummy has been MIA

I haven’t updated in a week. So much has happened. A lot more illness. I guess I’ll start where I left off. Last Wednesday, I decided to take a random day off of work and to keep Emerson home from daycare. I thought it would be nice to have a mom/son day in the middle of the week. We went to lunch with my  mom and sister. It was nice. Emerson appeared to be fine and ate a boatload. That night, right at bedtime, he projectile vomited so much. It was unreal. I had to change all of the bedding because he blew chunks so badly. The next day, I decided to work from home, but still send Em to daycare. My plan was to get as much work done in the morning as possible, then pick him up early before he could be sent home. I called to check on him around 11am and was told he was perfectly fine. No puking or runny diapers. I decided to leave him there and just work a full day. That plan blew up when I got a call around 1pm that Emerson was vomiting and needed picked up. Ugh. I knew what this meant. He wouldn’t be allowed back for 24 hours, which resulted in him missing the Valentine’s Day Party. I was extremely bummed. I made so much cute stuff for the teachers and kids. I also didn’t want Emerson missing out even though I know he doesn’t understand anyway. When I picked him up, I could tell he was very sick. We went home and he literally slept the entire rest of the day and all night. He was still vomiting and having runny diapers in between naps. On top of that, he was pulling at his ear.

 

On Friday, my mom came to the rescue. I worked until 1pm, while she watched Emerson. He was still feeling under the weather and slept for most of the day. She was able to get him to keep some food down, but he kept playing with his ear. I took him to the doctors right after I was done working. I wanted to make sure he wasn’t having another ear infection that was causing him to vomit and be so sick. Luckily, he had no ear infection. His ear was completely filled with wax, so the doctor had to scrape it out. He didn’t fuss at all and let her dig everything out. Afterwards, he perked up so much! It must have really gave him a lot of relief. I was told he probably had a tummy bug though. We just needed to let it work itself out.

 

Saturday was Valentine’s day. I made an entire Valentine’s Day inspired menu for Emerson to eat. He was still feeling under the weather though and having random bouts of diarrhea and vomiting. Luckily, he completely stopped vomiting by Saturday afternoon. The diarrhea tapered off by Sunday. Valentine’s Day was very nice though. I made heart shaped pancakes and sausage for breakfast, heart shaped grilled cheese for lunch, and heart shaped pizza for dinner. Emerson and I both wore a Valentine’s Day  shirts too! The weather was pretty grim, so we didn’t make it over to my parent’s house. Emerson made my parents adorable valentines using his hand and foot print! During one of Emerson’s naps, I was just getting out of the shower when I heard a knock at the door. It was a florist delivering a gorgeous bouquet of flowers to me! My friend is such a sweetheart and always does random things to surprise me. I very much appreciated it and the flowers still smell and look beautiful!

 

On Sunday, we were FINALLY able to get out of the house. We headed to my parent’s house for a bit. When we got there, we were handed adorable Valentines from my parents. They loved what Emerson made them. We hung out for a bit, but didn’t linger too long. The roads weren’t that great and I didn’t want to drive home in the dark. I am just so beyond fed up with this damn weather. I can’t even find the words that are fitting enough to describe my absolute disgust. I have terrible anxiety every single time I have to drive. Yesterday, we slid off of my street right into a major highway. It was so scary and I panicked a little. The roads are fine right now, but we are getting more snow today. I haven’t figured out how I’m getting Emerson home from daycare yet if it’s that bad. It’s supposed to be the suckiest around the time I pick him up. Go figure. If I have to, I’ll walk up to daycare. I just worry about walking home with him. It’s bitter cold out there. I don’t think he could handle a 10 to 15 minute walk in this weather. We will see though.

 

Anyway, on Monday, daycare was closed. I scheduled Emerson’s 1 year shots and took the day off of work. He wasn’t able to get the shots back when he had his one year appointment because of his ear infection. Luckily, he was able to get them on Monday. He’s all vaccinated and up to date now. He does have tiny bruises where the shots were given in his arms. Poor guy. Other than that, he seems fine outside of teething a bit. He’s been very restless at bedtime and tosses and turns a lot. We slept perfectly for about a month straight. I hope this is just a small hiccup and we go back to getting great sleep. I’m tired!

 

Yesterday, I took the teacher and kid Valentines into the daycare. The teachers LOVED the mugs. It made me feel good to hear so many compliments because I worked so hard on those gifts. It’s nice to hear that someone appreciates the effort that you make. Though I do not do these things for the compliments, it’s definitely an added bonus. I’ve been looking on Pinterest for ideas for St Patrick’s day and Easter. You know I’m always thinking ahead!

 

Next week, the daycare is having an open house, so that the parents can come in and talk to the teachers to see how the kids are developing. I received Emerson’s 12 month assessment yesterday.  I didn’t think it was that great to be honest. I felt like there was a lot of negative remarks on the sheet. Maybe I’m just taking it too personally, but it did feel that way. There was a comment that he’s having difficulty transitioning between the bottle and cup. I call bullshit. I give Emerson a cup at home and he does fine with it. On rare occasions, I do give him a bottle, but that’s only if I don’t have a cup clean, or if he isn’t feeling well. I actually send the breastmilk in sippy cups. I do send one clean, empty bottle, but that’s more for when he’s in the baby room, extremely tired, and they want to try to get him down for a nap. They don’t HAVE to give him that bottle though. I more do it as a nicety for him and them and I don’t fill it with milk. He no longer freaks out either when he’s given the cup. I just spent 6 days straight with him. He had a cup the entire time with the exception of once in the car and one night at dinner. There were other remarks on the assessment that he tantrums when he doesn’t get his way. I’m not offended by that. The category was EMOTIONS. What bothers me is they didn’t put any positive comments in there. It was all negative about how he becomes upset when a stranger enters the room and how he tantrums when he doesn’t get his way. Though those are true, I don’t understand why there aren’t positive comments to go along with the negative. (well, not really negative, but you know what I mean) Other comments were about how he interacts with the other kids. They mentioned that he takes toys off of kids, sometimes tries to head butt them, etc. I just feel like they should offset those with positive comments that show that he does play and interact well too. It just felt very negative. The good comments (if you can even call them good) are that he is walking and doing very well physically. Okay? Well, I’d still like to have a well-adjusted child that plays great with other kids. Anyway, I cannot wait to go in and talk to his teacher. I’d like her to elaborate on some of the things that she wrote down.

 

Picture day is on March 3^rd. I’m so excited. I’m just nervous because it’s an added cost. I got the payment envelope yesterday. I just need to figure out what I want to do. The pictures were so good last time and I was bummed that I didn’t get bigger prints. It’s going to cost me at least $25. I know, that doesn’t sound like a lot of money, but my gas bill is over $200 and due next week. That’s sucking up most of my extra money. I’ll figure it out, but I hope I’m not poor the second I get paid. Being cooped up in the house is great on the wallet, but it would be nice to venture out if the weather ever decides to warm up. I think it’s going to end up being around -30 at some point this week. I can’t even wrap my mind around that.

 

Other than that, we are just chugging along. I haven’t gotten my tax return yet. Today marks 2 weeks that I filed. I’m crazy nervous and very anxious over it, but trying to not dwell too much. The irs won’t even help me until I exceed 21 days of processing. Please say a prayer, guys. I really need to get a car. Alright, I am going to end this now. I hope everyone has a warm week!

 

 

Mummy is budgeting

I spoke to my friend who works at the IRS. She said the message I’m seeing out on the irs.gov website is completely normal. She also informed me that folks who are using the dependent deduction for the first time will see a slight delay. I guess there are additional checks that go on before your refund is released. It makes me nervous, but I’m going to try to be optimistic.

 

I did make a major decision today. One that I’m really afraid about, but that is necessary. I’m going to move forward with getting a car and a car payment. I have the numbers completely worked out to where I’d be using my income tax to make the monthly payments. I cannot find anything decent to buy outright and I don’t want to end up putting all of my money into something that might end up breaking down because the quality wasn’t good to begin with. This just makes sense. Instead of throwing a few thousand away on a piece of junk, I’d rather put that into a better car. The only downfall is I’ll end up having to do this every year at tax time. Using that refund money to cover my car payment for the year. The upside is I’ll still get to use some of my income tax because each year I won’t be using some as down payment. I’ve thought about this moment for the last year. Getting my income tax and getting a reliable mode of transportation. This isn’t a decision that I’ve made on a whim either. I’m also not looking for something brand new and very expensive. I’d like a lower monthly payment and something I can potentially pay off early. I’ve already begun looking and have a few prospects. I’ll keep you all updated. First, I need to get my refund!

 

Every March, our company gives us a bonus. It’s usually a nice chunk of change. Because I’m using my entire income tax on a car to get us around, I wanted to be a little more whimsical with my bonus. The numbers haven’t been finalized yet, so there is potential that we won’t get one at all, or it’ll be small. These ideas are under the assumption that we get what we typically have gotten in prior years. Anyway, I want to get Emerson a playhouse for the backyard. I’ve thought long and hard about this and have checked every and any store I can think of that carries them to price check and do my homework against reviews of the product.  So, you’re probably wondering why I want to get him a playhouse. Well, originally, I wanted to get him a playhouse and a table/chairs. The one I found is at Wal*mart and it is a house with an attached picnic table. We have an amazing backyard that I cannot wait to utilize in the spring and summer. Emerson was too small last year to really get full use out of the yard. With him being able to walk and run already, it’ll be nice to hang out in the yard when the weather is nice. I thought having a playhouse would be nice and a table and chairs for him to eat lunch outside too. The fact that I found a beautiful combination is even better. It’ll be nice to have something in the yard that he can play in. My parents have a sandbox for him too, and I’ll set up a baby pool again this year.  This way, we have some entertainment at home instead of constantly having to drive to the park. During the work week, I like being at home after I pick Emerson up from daycare. The dog has already been at home for 11 hours by herself, so picking Emerson up and going to the park seems silly. To me, it seems like a better idea to invest in some backyard fun, so that we can hang out at home without making the dog suffer. I found a slide too, but I’m not sure we’ll be splurging quite that much. I’ll see how good the bonus is before I start adding on additionals like that. A playhouse, sandbox, baby pool, and some outdoor balls will be plenty. I feel like I’ll make my money back because we’ll be at home in the yard playing instead of wasting gas and driving to the park. I don’t know why I feel the need to justify my decisions though. It’s my money. I’m spending it on something that I know Emerson will enjoy over using it on myself.

 

Outside of beefing up the backyard play area, I’d like to finish off the playroom in the basement. We’re about $60 away from being able to use that space. It’s actually too cold to use in the winter time, but will be a perfect spot for evenings and rainy days when we can’t play outside. The absolute last thing that I’d like to use some of that money for is to buy a washing machine. We have a dryer that’s in perfect working order, but no washing machine. I’m still toting our laundry to and from my parent’s house each week. I almost feel guilty spending that money on a washer because we’re doing okay without one now. It almost feels selfish because  I know I’m going to have to drop at least $300 on one unless I can find a used one somewhere. There are so many other things I could do with that money, but having a washing machine would be amazing. I’d like to stash the rest of my bonus away for emergencies, or to just be able to take Emerson to the zoo and fun things like that over the summer. As happy as I am to have some extra money to play around with, it’s so stressful. I want to make the right decisions and do the best thing with that money for us. It scares me to go from having money to not having money too. I’m just trying to make decisions that’ll have a long-lasting impact and that make our lives feel a little easier and joyous. I think all of the above will do that.

 

Outside of the above that is constantly reeling in my mind, nothing too much is going on. The staff at daycare really enjoyed the strawberry milkshake cookies that I sent in. I’m glad. They were so tasty. I plan on making some of those again. I hope they really enjoy all of the things that I’m sending in on Friday. I had such a great time crafting for Valentine’s Day.

 

Tomorrow, we’re going to lunch with my sister and mom. I’m excited to be off of work. It’s supposed to be in the 40’s too, so that’ll be nice! We’re meeting around 12:30pm, so that means we can sleep in a little while. I never sleep in though. I’m sure I’ll still be up at the same time. I’ll just get ready, hang out with the dog, and enjoy some quiet time until Emerson wakes up. It’ll be nice to get out of the house for a bit tomorrow too.  We have absolutely no weekend plans either aside from celebrating Valentine’s Day.  That’s okay though. We can save our pennies. Alright, that’s really all I have for today. Have a good day, all!

 

 

Mummy's weekend

We had a nice weekend and probably one of our healthiest in quite some time. Emerson still has a bit of a cough, but I think as a whole, we are okay. I’m counting my blessings and praying that nothing else catches up with us. Emerson hasn’t been able to get his current vaccinations due to illness. We have an appointment next Monday. It creeps me out that he hasn’t been vaccinated against the measles yet with all of these stories flying around about outbreaks. Yes, I realize they aren’t in Pennsylvania, but there have been some reported cases. I just don’t want to end up being one of them! I’ll feel better once he’s been vaccinated. I just don’t want another illness to hold up the process.

 

On Saturday morning, we did a mini Valentine’s day photo shoot! It turned out freaking adorable! It only took about five minutes, but Emerson gave me all the shots I needed. The dog even joined in the fun! It was simple, but very cute! On Saturday afternoon, we went to lunch with my sister and nephew. It was nice to hang out with them and to get out of the house. The weather was so nice! High 40’s and sunny! It felt like the middle of summer, which is sad when you think about it, but I loved it. After lunch, we headed to my parent’s house to hang out for  a while. They hadn’t seen Emerson in about a week. We played there for a few hours before heading home for dinner. I made barbeque chicken, veggies, and mashed potatoes. Yummy! Emerson liked the barbeque sauce, so that was a good decision on my part! We’ll have to add that into the rotation more often.

 

Sunday, we didn’t do much. We made a Wal*mart run, so that I could pick up ingredients to make strawberry milkshake cookies for snack day today at daycare. We were all given a calendar and assigned two days a month to provide snack. The cookies came out amazing! They taste like strawberry nesquick. I bought an adorable Valentine’s Day treat carrier to send the cookies in. I wanted to keep with the Valentine’s day theme for the week. I’m so excited for his Valentine’s day Party on Friday! I have everything ready. I just need to figure out how I’m getting 14 mugs to daycare. I’ll probably just put them in a big box to transport. Today, I created Valentine’s for the teachers using the photos that I took over the weekend. I got 15 Valentine’s for $2! They are so adorable! I also made special ones for my parents and sister. In total, I spent $3.30.  For those of you who do not know, Valentine’s Day is my favorite holiday. It excites me to make treats and gifts. Everything is very budget friendly even though it may seem I went over the top with what I’m sending, I spent very little. I spent $25 to make 14 teacher mugs, the kid’s goldfish valentines, and to print out the photo cards. The cookies cost me $7.00 to make. Not too bad when you break it down. I incorporated all of that into our budget.

 

This week, I’m off work on Wednesday and keeping Emerson home from daycare. We’re going to breakfast with my mom. Outside of that, we don’t have much planned at all. Just laying low and hanging out at home. I want to make a special Valentine’s Day dinner for us on Saturday night. I was thinking of making heart-shaped mini pizza’s for dinner, heart-shaped pancakes for breakfast, and heart-shaped grilled cheese for lunch! It’ll be an entire day of heart-shaped food! Why not? We have to eat. I might as well make it fun.

 

I filed my taxes last Wednesday. I checked the irs.gov website and everything was processing normally. I had the orange bar, etc. I just checked today and the bar is gone, there is no refund date, but a message saying they are still processing my taxes. That scares me. I was in refund hell a few years ago and it took me 6 months to get my money. Of course, I’m in panic mode now. I really hope that the system is just updating and they’ll provide a refund date really soon. My sister and best friend got their refunds within a week of filing. I have such a sick feeling to my stomach now. I have no idea what the issue would be either. I’m going to just try to relax and not worry about it so much right now. My friend works at the IRS. I just sent her a text to ask her if I should be alarmed at all. I hope she doesn’t respond with anything bad. Pray for me, guys! I need that money to get a new car!!!!

 

Alright, I have a ton of work to do. I better get to it. Have a great week, All!

 

 

Mummy's Valentine gifts!!!!

I made Emerson's class and teacher gifts today!!!!!! The mugs are the teacher gifts. They are chalkboard heart mugs complete with an adorable piece of chalk for writing. The goldfish valentines are for the kiddos. I love crafting!!!!

Mummy's Valentine

I was able to get the car seat adjusted properly. I cannot stand the process of putting him in it though. I miss the simplicity of the carrier. It’s such an ordeal every morning and afternoon because I have to climb into the backseat to put him in. He screams and cries in the morning because he’s tired and doesn’t want to be messed with. Before, all I had to do was put him in the carrier in my house and pop it into the base in the car. He’d fall asleep before we walked out of the front door. Now, there is just no easy way for me to put him into the car seat without waking him. I feel bad. Not only am I waking him well before he’s ready to get up, but it’s freezing in the mornings and I can’t put him in the car seat with a coat on. When we get to daycare, I take him out of the car seat, then I put a coat on him before getting out of the car. With the carrier, it was easier. I’d just throw a few blankets over the top before I popped the carrier out of the car. It’s just such a damn hassle now. I know I’ll get used to it and adjust. He will too. It more just sucks because of the weather. Scraping ice every single morning off of my car windows is really annoying. I cannot wait for warmer weather! I’m so over this crap! Sorry, I hate to complain, but it’s just daunting and it’s becoming so exhausting. On top of that, I have such anxiety and fear of driving when the weather is snowy and icy. I slid this morning and nearly had a panic attack.

 

Emerson has had his first taste of whole milk since turning 1. He likes it. I haven’t tried to give it to him cold yet. I’ve been mixing it with breast milk and warming it up for him. I’m still pumping and nursing, but trying to intermix if I’m short. It’s taken a lot of pressure off of me because I no longer have the fear of being short if I don’t get to pump enough throughout the day. I’m glad that hasn’t happened too often though. I’m not ready to give up nursing, or pumping. It is good to know that he doesn’t have an aversion to whole milk, so I know it’ll be fine when the time comes to fully make the switch. He still loves water though, so I’m continuing to give that during dinner. He gets plenty of milk throughout the day, so having some water during dinner is a good compromise and he doesn’t fill up too much on liquid, so he’s eating plenty of actual food. Speaking of food, we are in desperate need of everything. Last night, we ate a microwavable lasagna meal and fish sticks. I’m going to grocery shop after work tomorrow. We are always down to our last random meals when it’s this close to payday. I only grocery shop once every two weeks. I can’t wait to stock up again. I haven’t even made a grocery list yet. I better get on it!

 

Emerson’s daycare is having their big Valentine’s Day party next week. I just realized it’s Friday the 13^th next week. Ew! Anyway, I’m so excited to make Valentine’s for the kids and teachers. I was provided a list of the kid’s names the other day. How cute is that?! I know, I know. I’m so “that mom”, but I live for this stuff and it makes all holidays even more exciting. I just think it’s so freaking adorable that Emerson gets to partake is “school” activities like this through daycare. Daycare is structured though, so it’s basically like he is in school. For the kids, I’m sending goldfish crackers. There was a specific DO NOT SEND list, so to be safe, I’m going to stick to goldfish crackers because I know all of the 1 year olds can have those. Anyway, I found the most adorable idea on Pinterest. You make your own fish bowl out of heavy cardstock, then you place it in cellophane bag, and fill with goldfish. The valentine message is: Will you “O’fish’ally be my Valentine?! Adorable! I’m going to work on this over the weekend. I already have a TON of cardstock. A box of goldfish doesn’t cost more than a few dollars and I can get the cellophane bags for $1 at Dollar General. Easy peasy! In addition to that, I’m going to make a heart shaped fruit pizza. I’m keeping it very simple, so the cost is low. I just need sugar cookie dough for the base, cream cheese cool whip as the icing (sauce), and sliced banana and strawberry as toppings. I’m going to drizzle some chocolate sauce over the fruit as an added bonus, but I already have that at home, so it isn’t costing me anything extra. Let’s hope I’m able to make the dough into a heart without ruining it. That’s the only part that I’m worried about. If it doesn’t look right, I’ll just make it into a circle and call it a day. For the teachers, I’m making chalkboard mugs. All I have to do is buy $1 mugs from Dollar General and porcelain chalkboard paint. I’m not painting the entire mug. I’m only painting a heart on each mug to keep with the Valentine’s day theme. I’m going to attach a piece of chalk with twine to each mug, write “#1 teacher” inside of the heart, wrap in cellophane, and top with a ribbon. How cute is that??  I just hope  I don’t mess the heart up! You bake each mug in the oven at 300 degrees for 30 minutes to set. Another Pinterest idea! I think they’ll absolutely love them. I’d like to make one for myself if I have enough chalkboard paint leftover.

 

Emerson is assigned so snack day on February 9^th. I don’t want to go over the top because the Valentine’s Day party is the same week. I was thinking of putting together a Valentine’s inspired snack mix with pink frosted animal crackers, plain chex cereal, and strawberry yogurt covered cheerios. I can put it into a nice, valentine’s day box and have the teachers distribute for snack. I already have cheerios at home, so I’ll just need to coat in yogurt and freeze, get some animal crackers, and chex, which is fairly cheap. It’ll be easy to eat for the kids, semi-healthy, and festive.

 

As for me on Valentine’s Day, I’ll be wearing the same Valentine’s day shirt that I’ve worn the last 3-4 years. It’s sort of my tradition. I always watch the movie, “Valentine’s Day”. It’s one of my favorites. I’ll make some kind of heart-shaped dinner for Emerson and I that night. Valentine’s Day is one of my favorite holidays. Even when I’m single, it is still my favorite. I just love it! I think it’s absolutely adorable. I don’t even like it for all of the romantic reasons. I just love pink, hearts, and cuteness. It’s even more exciting with Emerson. I need to put together something for he and Kodie. Dollar General has so many cute things for $1. I’ll do something small and simple for both of them. All Kodie cares about is having a stuffed animal to rip apart!

 

This weekend, I’d love to do Emerson’s next photo shoot. I’d like to incorporate some Valentine’s day things into it just to be festive, but I’m not specifically doing it for Valentine’s Day. I want to a cooking themed photo shoot. I plan on boiling up a pot of Spaghetti noodles, putting Emerson in a big ol pot of it, and snapping some adorable shots. I hope it comes out the way I envision it in my mind. In addition to that, I’d like to add in some baking shots as well. A little flour on his nose, mixing bowl, spatula, and a jar of Candy Hearts to incorporate Valentine’s Day. Again, I hope this comes out the way I envision it! The good thing is I do it for fun, so usually my expectations are set pretty low. We usually spend MAYBE 10 minutes tops taking photos, so Emerson doesn’t get too bored. I like getting the candid shots because I think they look better. Let’s hope my vision comes to life! I don’t plan on doing any crazy background, or anything. Just white with props. I’ll post pictures afterwards.

 

Okay, that’s about all I have for now. I hope everyone has a really nice weekend if I don’t update!

 

 

 

 

 

Mummy's baby turned 1!!!!

It has been an entire week since I’ve updated my blog! Where has the time gone?! I’ve been so busy though. Emerson had his very first birthday, which was amazing! I’m still in disbelief that I have a one year old! Thursday was his actual birthday. I took the day off and headed to Emerson’s doctor appointment. The doctor opted out of giving him shots due to his recent ear infection. I need to schedule an appointment for later this month to get that done. The daycare is closed on the 16th, so I’m thinking that’ll be a good day to go. Anyway, he weighs 23lbs and stands at 29 ¼ inches tall! Such a growing boy! After his appointment, we headed to get donuts. It was a part of his birthday treat. Later that night, we headed to my parent’s house to sing happy birthday, eat cake, and open some presents. It was fun. He absolutely loved the cake and dove right in. It was such a great way to spend our 1 year mark together. On top of that, it marked an entire year that I have been breastfeeding. I’m so incredibly proud of myself. It’s no easy feat. I won’t drone on about it, but I am very proud of myself. I’m not looking to stop pumping, or nursing just yet, but I’m happy to celebrate such a big milestone!

On Friday, I sent Emerson to daycare with cupcakes for his classmates and teachers. I made the most adorable cupcake boxes to hold the cookie monster inspired cupcakes that my mom prepared for us. Freaking adorable! The daycare sent home pictures of Emerson and his classmates eating the cupcakes. Cuteness overload! That was day #2 of blue icing. He had a cookie monster birthday cake the night before too! He probably thinks all birthday cakes are blue. Anyway, I took a half day on Friday and had my hair dyed. I’m not sure how I feel about it. It’s not as blonde as I typically go, but it’s much better than what I had. It’s been eight months since I’ve had my hair cut and colored. I had a gift certificate from Christmas though, so it was nice to not have to pay for it and to pamper myself a bit. After having my hair dyed, I picked my sister and nephew up from work and school. They slept over on Friday night to help me set up for the birthday party. I was so appreciative of their help. Without my sister, I wouldn’t have been able to get everything done. We set everything up on Friday night and prepared all of the cookies, so we didn’t have much to do on Saturday outside of waiting for everyone to arrive.

On Saturday morning, I picked up coffee and donuts for breakfast and we all hung around for a while. The party looked incredible. I couldn’t be any happier. All of my hard work finally came together. I put so much time into hand making all of the décor. Everything looked absolutely beautiful and so put together. My expectations were superseded! Emerson looked adorable in his cookie monster shirt too. It seemed like everyone had a really nice time. It was small. We had about 13 people in total, but it was the perfect bunch of people to celebrate such a big day. I ended up taking Kodie over to my parent’s house, so after the party, we headed over there for a while and had dinner. It was a really nice day and I’m very happy with the outcome. Now, I just feel empty without party planning. It’s kind of sad to know that all of that hard work and build up is over so quickly.

Sunday, the weather was supposed to get bad, so the baby and I stayed in all day. It was a chill day. Lots of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and playing with toys. Nothing too crazy. Luckily, the weather wasn’t so bad that we couldn’t make it to work and daycare yesterday. I had Emerson’s car seat installed yesterday. I was so excited about it until we tried using it this morning. I have no idea what the hell was going on, but I couldn’t get the straps to adjust at all when I put him in the seat. It was freezing outside too. We were in the backseat of the car for 20 minutes tinkering around with that damn seat! I’m going to mess with it after work. I talked to the girl who installed it. Apparently I wasn’t doing it right. There’s a part in the front of the seat that allows you to loosen the straps to get the baby in and buckled, but then you tighten it back up. I wasn’t doing that at all. Emerson was freaking the hell out! I ended up having to go back into the house, grabbing the carrier and base, and reinstalling it in my car to take him to daycare. I hope we have better luck this afternoon. What a nightmare. I felt bad putting him through that at 6am! The sad thing is my friend fit him into the straps before installing the seat. It was totally user error. What a failure I was this morning.

This week, we don’t have much going on outside of work and daycare. I’m really over this winter weather. I can’t take it anymore. All of the parking lots are solid sheets of ice right now, so going anywhere is ridiculous. I barely make it in and out of daycare. I hope it isn’t THAT bad today. Maybe some of this ice melted and there are some safe patches to walk on. I just miss the days of being able to go to the park, or playing in the yard. I have such cabin fever. There’s only so much you can do with a 1 year old. It seems that he gets pretty bored of his toys quickly. It makes for a long weekend. I’m hoping to at least visit some friends and my parents this weekend to break things up a bit. Well, weather permitting!

Emerson is on the snack calendar at daycare for two days this month. They’re also having a Valentine’s Day Party, so I guess that’ll be my next mini project to focus on. The week of Valentine’s day, I plan on sending a heart-shaped fruit pizza for snack day and then adorable gold fish cracker Valentine’s for the party. I found both on Pinterest (of course). Aside from that, I guess I should start tinkering with my sewing machine. I haven’t had a chance to since I got it for Christmas. Christmas rolled right into party planning for Emerson’s birthday. Outside of that, I don’t have anything to report. Em and I are both finally feeling better though and I can hear again. I have a few more days of antibiotics left. Em has one more dosage. We both have lingering coughs, but other than that, we feel pretty good. I hope that’s the last of sickness for us. Hospitals and doctors are just not my thing. We need a break from all of that. I’m glad we’re finally on the mend!

Alright, I guess I’m going to wrap this up. I hope everyone is enjoying their week. Stay warm!