Feeling thrifty...

Amber has always been really good at thrift shopping. I was secretly (or not so secretly) envious of all the good finds she made. I do have to admit that I used to think buying thrift store clothing was gross. Of course I would never buy bathing suits or under garments there, that is nasty but I’ve gotten over my fear of second hand clothing. Nowadays I’m trying to save money everywhere I can so I am learning to love thrifting. After an exciting day of hunting for good deals I text Amber with pics of my finds, she does the same with me.

When we moved here to SW Florida Jeremy told me that a guy he works with found some really nice fishing shirts (you know those strange outdoor shirts with Velcro vent pockets on the back??? They are very popular down here and Jeremy likes them for work) at a thrift store for really cheap. The next time we went to Fort Myers we hit up every thrift store we could find. Jeremy found his shirts for 2 and 3 dollars a piece and since then he’s been hooked. I’ve made some pretty good finds myself (as I have been needing some more clothes as I have moved down in size :) and now every time we have to make a trip into town we stop by a few thrift stores and see what there is to see. Another problem I have is shopping ADD or ADHD take your pick. I have a hard time making choices in large stores with lots to look at. I get very overwhelmed and end up leaving with nothing. I’m still working on that one. Thrift shopping requires patience because every size, color, length, etc. are all shoved on one rack and it takes a lot of digging but you can find good stuff. It also requires a happy two year old, sometimes Jakob sees the big GW sign out front and starts to whine because he knows we’re going to be in this store for a while. I have learned to make sure he’s got a full tummy and a couple toys to tote around so he stays happy.  Anyways, I just wanted to brag about my finds and encourage you that if you live near a larger city you can find some really good stuff second hand. Amber is the master at finding super expensive name brand clothing at awesome prices. If you get a chance to go shopping and get a super good deal you can always brag about it to me :D Everybody loves a good deal right??? Here's some of my recent finds:

Arizona jeans sweater: $1.50

Express T-shirt $2.99 and 50% off! So $1.50 for that one

Ann Taylor Loft T $1.50

Mossimo Tunic: $2.99

Tees for Jakey: .99 a piece

ATL Corduroys: $2.99, Old Navy bootcut jeans (brand new): $4.99, 

Banana Republic Corduroys: $2.99

ATL dress: $4.49

Mossimo shoes (like brand new!!!) : $4.99

Jeremy has a large collection of Eddie Bauer, Colombia PFg, etc. fishing shirts

Oh! And here’s my new haircut…whatd’ya think???

Update...

Well y’all, I know I need to update about Jakob’s second evaluation, but really there’s not much to say. Yes he needs therapy. The lady basically told me that our county has very poor funding for their early steps program so it takes a long time for stuff to get done and even then it’s not the best program :/ Right now we are waiting to get a call as to whether Jakey qualifies for the program or not. She actually recommended that if we could afford it (which we can’t) that I put Jakob in daycare a few hours a week so he can be around other kids. That is definitely not in our budget at this time and I am not comfortable with that in this town, but I’m hoping if we move home I can get him in a Mother’s Day Out program at one of the churches there. I have to call today and try to schedule a hearing test. It is very slow going and rather difficult trying to schedule appointments because I’m working with two different entities (pediatrician and children’s hospital) and if one person doesn’t cooperate everything gets mixed up. I have to be honest and say that this whole thing gets very overwhelming for me sometimes. I just want to help Jakob but I feel so helpless sometimes. My sweet friend Dana reminded me that Jakob is made perfectly by a perfect God and it really encouraged me. When I can’t help my baby I know the God who created him and I can go to him for help. 

In other news…Jakob had a very bad spill on Sunday afternoon. Jeremy took him outside to ride on his little bicycle and long story short Jakob fell face first on the driveway. Jeremy came in carrying Jakob with blood pouring out of Jakey’s mouth. We got him cleaned up and he ate 3 popsicles :) and then he seemed to be o.k. His forehead and top lip are a little scratched and his gums are bruised above his top two front teeth, but I am hoping praying(!) that his teeth are o.k. He hasn’t been crying or fussing so I’m thinking his teeth are not hurting him. 

On Friday Jakob started saying “I want” a whole lot. A few times this weekend he has said “I want emee-emm-ee-emmm” which is m&m’s. We have bought him m&m’s every time he’s said it. (once we were at the store and the other was on the way home from church so we stopped at the gas station to buy them) he has also been going to the pantry and saying “I want coo-kee” then he smiles and claps for himself. I am glad he’s realizing that he can ask for exactly what he wants and get it quicker than if we’re guessing what he wants. I still think he needs help with pronunciation and forming of words, but obviously I’m no expert at that. I’m sure that’s where a therapist will be so helpful. We have been having gorgeous weather here in SW Florida. I love it. The highs are right about 80, maybe a little higher the last couple days. I guess the wind changes during the winter and there's always a breeze. I can open all the windows and get some fresh air in the house and I am so enjoying it. This place has really nice winters…that’s probably why so many people come in the winter :) We only have a week and a day before we leave for Vacation! I know, it’s not a “real” vacation it’s actually a trip for my sister’s wedding but I’m so ready to be anywhere but here. I can’t wait to spend time with my family and be somewhere that feels familiar. We’re actually going halfway next Wednesday so Jeremy can attend a meeting (for work) somewhere in central Florida and then Thursday afternoon when his meeting is over we will head home. It’s nice because we only have to drive 5 hours one day and then 5 hours the next. Well, that’s about all the updates I can think of right now. Hope you all have a great week :)

Evaluation...

I called the early steps program yesterday. For some reason you don’t have to jump through as many hoops and you get on a different waiting list if you live in our county (maybe because we have no medical centers/hospitals and very few doctors in our area???) Long story short the person I spoke to said someone would call me to set up an evaluation for Jakob and two hours later someone called me! The lady is coming today at 3:00 to do the evaluation. I am once again very nervous, even though I know what the outcome will be. It is a very hard thing to have someone critiquing your child. No parent wants to think there’s something wrong with their baby and you definitely don’t want someone else telling you your child needs help, (even though I know he does) it’s a hard thing to deal with. I worry that Jakob won’t be cooperative and then they’ll think he has something else wrong with him. I am thankful though that everything happened so fast. Hopefully we will be able to start therapy soon too. Pray for us! <3

Update...

Jakob’s speech evaluation went well. Thank-you to everyone who has called and texted to let me know you were praying. This was very important to us and we were both nervous, so knowing that people remembered and really did pray meant so much to us. The therapist did say that Jakob is behind in his speech, thankfully his comprehension is good. In terms of his speaking he tested at a 14 month level, which is a whole year behind what he should be . Of course therapy was recommended. We explained our situation (with the high co-pays) to the doctor and she did mention the state program, which Jennifer told me about also (in the previous post). I have actually called the early start program before and left a message for the woman who runs it and never heard back, (I just figured we probably wouldn't qualify for it anyways and forgot about it), so as of Monday I will call again and keep calling until someone contacts me. We have also decided that we will wait until January to start therapy. We have a chance to change our insurance plan only once a year and the new insurance would kick in January 1^st so we will be researching and find a better plan for our needs at this time. We will also know by January whether we will be staying here in SW Florida or moving somewhere else. -Jeremy actually applied for a job in Jacksonville today.- We’ve been told as long as we get Jakey into therapy by 3 years old he will be prepared and caught up when it’s time for school to start. Anyways, that’s the update for now. Thank-you again for all the prayers and encouragement <3

Talk to me...

So at Jakob’s 2 year well check I asked his doctor about his speech. The doctor said he should definitely be talking more than he is and recommended we take him to see a speech pathologist. He gave me a couple places to call. I got home and started calling immediately. I talked to a lady that runs a pediatric speech therapy clinic and she was so nice and helpful. She gave me some things to ask my insurance company about and then I called the insurance company. I was on the phone with them for at least 4 hours (if not more) only to be told that the clinic I had already talked to was not covered under our insurance. Eventually the insurance company offered to call me back once they’d done some research and found more doctors. I got a call a few hours later that there were only two pediatric speech therapists in all of Fort Myers (there are none in the county we live in). One obviously was not covered by our insurance and the other is considered a “hospital” so our co-pay is going to be a lot higher going to see this doctor. All in all it’s going to be super expensive having Jakob in therapy. The doctor I spoke with said usually kids come twice a week (which is $75 a visit for us) not to mention the gas we will spend driving the hour and 15 or 20 minutes it takes to get there. I would like to ask y’all to pray that something will work out. I feel so selfish asking that he doesn’t have to have therapy, or that maybe it could be pushed off till we move back home (if that even happens!) but this whole issue is stressing me out. His appointment with the therapist is on Friday, so I would appreciate your prayers that we will know what is best for him and that the situation would work out.

Thanks!

-Shauna

Something fishy...

If you’ve ever eaten at my parents house in the past then you probably know that my dad is the best at cooking fish. Of course my favorite kind of fish my dad makes is fried in Italian bread crumbs and dipped in tartar sauce. Ummm. I haven’t had any in a long time. I never try to cook fish because number one we don’t usually have fresh fish to cook and fresh is always better and number two if we were to get fresh fish I don’t know that Jeremy would clean it like my dad does. There’s never (rarely ever) bones in my dad’s fish. I don’t know why but bones in fish gross me out. We have been eating low carb since January of this year and I try to mix things up every now and then and make sure we’re eating a variety of food. I actually got brave the other day and bought some “fresh” tuna steaks (they were frozen, yet somehow deemed fresh on the wrapper). I mixed up a low carb teriyaki recipe from Atkins and marinated the tuna for 2 hours before cooking it in a hot pan. Like I said I’ve never cooked fish before so I did some research online as to how to cook tuna steaks correctly. Jeremy warned me not to cook them too long or else they’d be nasty. The website I found said sear them 2 ½ minutes on one side then flip them and sear them for another 1 ½ minutes on the second side. That’s exactly what I did and they turned out great! The tuna was so yummy. Jeremy kept telling me how good it was. I was so proud of myself that I had to call my dad and tell him about my tuna dinner :) The teriyaki marinade was so good also. I am going to marinate chicken in it next time and make chicken and broccoli stir fry. Here’s the recipe for the marinade. It’s easy and you can use sugar in it if you’re not low carb. I use xylitol which is the best substitute for sugar (jn my opinion!) and I used vegetable oil instead of canola oil, I don’t know if that makes a difference or not :

 ½ cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons unseasoned rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons xylitol
1 tablespoon grated peeled ginger
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons dark sesame oil
2 tablespoons canola oil

Directions:

Try this simple marinade with chicken kebabs, salmon or tuna steaks, pork chops or beef tenderloin. Marinate chicken and meat for up to 24 hours in the refrigerator, fish for up to 2 hours.

1. Combine soy, vinegar, sugar substitute, ginger, garlic and sesame oil in a bowl. Slowly whisk in canola oil until combined.

I want to do a post about our low carb dinners, but sometimes I forget to take pictures of meals before we dig in (hey, we’re hungry!) So I’m still working on that one. Maybe one day :) So far Jeremy’s lost 42 pounds and I’ve lost 14. I am now one pound under pre-Jakob weight and I’m very happy about that. 5 pounds to go!!!