Happy Anniversary to Me!

Today marks one year that I've been blogging! Yay me! To mark this occasion I was @ Mission Hospital with my daughter. Ali was having some pretty sever stomach pains.....again.....and so off we went. After many blood tests and urine tests.....nothing came up. So, I am calling the GI specialist in the morning to see what is up and what we are going to do to get to the "bottom" of this...hee,hee. It's really not funny but I couldn't help it. And what would an ER trip be without the biological mom storming in demanding answers and questioning my judgement? Well, at least that's how I felt. I've been the one dealing with this with Ali and it was not good timing to try and get involved.....enough said. Also, we had a MonaVie tasting at our house tonight with Joe Max Moore (world cup player). He did a great job and was packed with so much info. Thanks Joe! Did you know that drinking MonaVie Active helps with migraines?

No more whining

I hope none of you reading this have been contemplating NOT reading my blog lately. I know it's not been the most uplifting thing to read and I apologize. Life has been a little hard lately but I have found my new calling in the midst of it all. I am a professional mooch! I am loving finding all these bargains and seeing how much I can get for practically nothing. This economy has inspired me! Now, that isn't to say that I really wouldn't mind the market picking up and my husband being busy BUT I am finding a silver lining to this darn it! Today I went to Cox Communications where we have our cable, internet, and phone service. I took in the cable box that AJ had in his room because I decided he doesn't need it plus I had the lady go through our whole account and figure out where we can cut costs. I walked away with a savings of about $60 per month! Also, I decided that I am going to make room in our garage for all our holiday stuff so I can get rid of the storage unit we are paying $150 per month for. The other day I went to the drug store to get Ali's friend a card and a big teddy bear because she was in the hospital.....I had so many coupons that I ended up saving $27 and only paid $2.44! What a feeling to know that despite not making any income, I can still make a big difference in my family's output. Hey, maybe someday I will even write a book entitled "Mommy the Mooch"!

This is what keeps me going.....

I'll be the first to say it, life sucks just a little right now. The economy has really got me down and even though I know we will get through it, I hate the "getting through it" part. It's no secret that things are not good for a lot of people right now. Doug is in the mortgage business so we are one of those people right now. We are a family that is used to living pretty comfortably. We live in Orange County, our kids play sports that cost more than some people's car payments per month, and yet I haven't had a mani/pedi in 2 months at least. As someone that came from basically nothing, I am totally fine with that. I can do my own nails, I can wash my own car, heck, I can even clean my own house.....but it's the everyday struggle that I am having a hard time with. I'm not used to saying no to my kids because we truly can't afford it.....I usually say no because we CAN but SHOULDN'T give them everything. Now I'm having to pinch every penny and tell my kids sorry we can't do that.....I hate it. But the one thing that keeps me going....or should I say 4 things that keep me going....are my kids. Ok, some of you that really know me are probably laughing your a** off right now knowing what I've been going through with a certain someone lately but truly it is my kids that keep me going. Deep down in my heart I know that I am going to be a better mom/ a better wife after this is all over. We also have family that is struggling and that kills me to watch and not be able to help. I keep telling myself "it can only get better right?" Only God knows. What's the worse that happens? We lose our house? We lose our cars? It's easy to say now knowing that we aren't there yet but I pray every day that we keep going....that my husband keeps moving foward and that we remain strong as a family.....and when I say "family" I don't just mean the Sheridans.

*By the way, Jack's shirt reads "Make Pizza, Not War".......words to live by :-)

~And so it begins~

Today AJ got his driver's permit.....only AJ.

My how time flies.......

Today was Jack's 18 month well check. Did I just say that? I can't believe how time flies! So, he weighed in @ 29lbs 8oz (87%) and 33 1/4 in. height (74%). It was a fairly painless appoinment. Jack only got 2 shots and he didn't even cry. Some milestones Jack has gotten to are that he doesn't use a bottle anymore (sippies only), he talks nonstop, and he's learning french....just kidding. For those of you wondering whats going on with his foot.....he had a check up last week and everything looks awesome! I will take a picture tomorrow and post if I remember. It's healing up really well and come February, he won't have any restrictions or creams or anything. Right now I am putting a product called "mepiform" which is simply a silicone in sticker form on his foot while he sleeps and during the day if I can manage it. Our weather has been so hot lately that he's in sandals or barefoot most of the time so I don't bother. The silicone helps with the scarring by making the scar flat. I also massage vitamin E on his foot everytime I change his diaper.

Today we also had Ali's football game which was fun but exhausting since it was close to 100 degrees. Jack spent most of the time copying the cheerleaders (Ali) and trying to say "hi" to this guy. Kinda reminded me of what Santa would look like on the "off" season.

All I want for Christmas is.........

Check out this girl's stuff. She's amazing! I saw her jewelry at the Pumkin Patch of all places. She does amazing work and also does custom orders. Alot like "Brag" stuff but way better and much more reasonably priced.

www.mjornaments.com

This week in pictures

His tshirt reads "Most Likely to Be Your Boss"

AJ and Ali Saturday night on their way to a "sweet sixteen" partyThis was an amazing burger place on the side of the road on our way from AJ's hockey game to the pumpkin patch...the only drawback was the burgers were almost $6 each!

We've been going to this pumkin patch for 10 years now and this was the first time we brought along Doug! Usually a girlfriend and I bring all the kids. Last year the fires were so close we couldn't come.

This petting zoo was so amazing! Jack actually got to pet a pig, chicken, goat, bunny, duck, goose and donkey.

This little pig was sooooo cute! can you say "hand sanitizer"?There was a family of ducks in here....so cute!The more kids you have, the harder it is to get them all looking AND smiling! This was the best picture of the 4 of them.

Jack picking out his pumpkin.