Jan '08 Lower Income and/or Struggling Mama's Support - Page 30

[Smokering]

Bah. DH spent $53 at the grocery store, on the theory that we 'needed' everything in the 'we don't really need this' column. Oh well. We can spend $13 less next week... maybe... can we? At least we'll have yummy dinner tonight!

[asianyoushi]

can u not have hubby go shopping that will make u only stick with ur list .. glad u had yummy dinner- i has bowl of lucky charms lol

[s_kristina]

Originally Posted by asianyoushi

wic will give u checks for dairy substaute--- u just have to tell them befor they print out the checks

Not in most states they won't. In FL you can have cow's milk or lactaid that's it. Not much help when you have a 2 year old that can't have diary or soy

[mamamoo]

Originally Posted by s_kristina

Not in most states they won't. In FL you can have cow's milk or lactaid that's it. Not much help when you have a 2 year old that can't have diary or soy

yup, they don't here in wa either.

[asianyoushi]

oooo i didnt know that. sorry.

[eilonwy]

I have to say, my husband does very well in grocery stores if i give him a list.

Our WIC won't give dairy substitutes, either; lactaid or regular milk, and lactaid has to be written on the checks. Lucky for us, we've only got one lactose intolerant child-- the other two can drink milk (though interestingly Bella is allergic to soy ). Speaking of which... we need to go WIC shopping today. We're all out of whole milk.

Crazy busy day, and of course I couldn't sleep last night and woke up this morning with contractions. I'm feeling super miserable... but we're trying to get things done. Today is one of those days I wish the kids were in daycare... there's just entirely too much crap to do.

Please wish us luck in finding a place to live ASAP. : We're kind of screwed on that. I don't know if it would be easier for SeaMonkey to be born before or after, but in any case he won't go later than 4 Feb (the latest my c-section might be scheduled) and I'm just feeling totally overwhelmed. The kids, of course, are their loud, normal selves.... *mutter*

[Iris' Mom]

Originally Posted by eilonwy

I have to say, my husband does very well in grocery stores if i give him a list.

Our WIC won't give dairy substitutes, either; lactaid or regular milk, and lactaid has to be written on the checks. Lucky for us, we've only got one lactose intolerant child-- the other two can drink milk (though interestingly Bella is allergic to soy ). Speaking of which... we need to go WIC shopping today. We're all out of whole milk.

Crazy busy day, and of course I couldn't sleep last night and woke up this morning with contractions. I'm feeling super miserable... but we're trying to get things done. Today is one of those days I wish the kids were in daycare... there's just entirely too much crap to do.

Please wish us luck in finding a place to live ASAP. : We're kind of screwed on that. I don't know if it would be easier for SeaMonkey to be born before or after, but in any case he won't go later than 4 Feb (the latest my c-section might be scheduled) and I'm just feeling totally overwhelmed. The kids, of course, are their loud, normal selves.... *mutter*

: I hope you find a place very soon.

[Aura_Kitten]

FTR WIC doesn't allow dairy substitutes here either.


eilonwy ~~ good luck! and happy hunting.
I remember how terribly stressful it was having precarious housing when my dd was about to be born...!

[ediesmom]

good afternoon mamas!

naeva noelle....
january 21, 2008
10:04pm
6lbs15oz
18inches long

with about an inch of beautiful thick brown hair and her mamas (and nina's) big lips. really a beauty

one of those sleepy smiling littles. with little grunts. i am so in love.

the birth turned tough, but she did deliver vaginally. naeva latched right on....no issue yet at all
......seems like a natural for both of them

i've got a class...gotta run

[mamamoo]

Originally Posted by ediesmom

good afternoon mamas!

naeva noelle....
january 21, 2008
10:04pm
6lbs15oz
18inches long

with about an inch of beautiful thick brown hair and her mamas (and nina's) big lips. really a beauty

one of those sleepy smiling littles. with little grunts. i am so in love.

the birth turned tough, but she did deliver vaginally. naeva latched right on....no issue yet at all
......seems like a natural for both of them

i've got a class...gotta run

Congratulations!!!

[Smokering]

Heh. Thing is, I did give DH a list. He's just a bit clueless... for instance, he didn't get mayonnaise because when I was chatting to him online and said 'We need mayonnaise so we can have Caesar salad', I didn't add 'so add it to the list of ingredients I just told you'. So he had to make an emergency dash to the dairy to grab some when we were halfway through making dinner. 'Make sure you get mayonnaise', quoth I, and he came back six minutes later proudly bearing a jar of tartare sauce. I love the man dearly, but occasionally I do get the impression that the wheel is spinning but the hamster's dead. Side note: Caesar salad made with tartare sauce isn't half bad, actually.

In other news, DH has been summonsed for jury duty. Which means that, if it should take the entire week, we'll be $600 out of pocket because the Government doesn't pay as well as his workplace (which is also the Government, kinda, but I digress). Really NOT good timing, as we're trying to save enough that DH can take two weeks off for paternity leave! And they want him the day he's travelling back from his conference. So he's going to ask to have it postponed.... which will still be financially pesky in the long run, but better than having to do without right now. Especially because I've just realised I don't actually have everything I need for the baby after all! I still need vasty numbers of cloth nappies, not to mention mama pads and breast pads. And my darling mother, who ought to understand frugality, spend half of yesterday trying to persuade me to buy a maternity swimsuit and maternity trousers, while I kept repeating like a broken record 'Yes, it's lovely but I can't afford it'...

Okay, enough whingeing. Life isn't that bad really, I just get a bit angsty about the money stuff. There's good news though! My step-grandfather wanted to buy us a pram for the baby as a gift. So yesterday we found one that was cheap enough it could come with a capsule attachment for under his budgeted price, meaning we now have a baby carseat as well as a pram. And as it can fit into anyone's car, DH decided (much to my relief) not to borrow $3500 from his father to buy a car which neither of us want. We'd only really use it on Sundays to get to church, and Mum's offered to take us; the rest of the week he lives close to work, and I can bus or walk wherever I need to go. It isn't an ideal long-term solution, but it's ridiculous for a three-person family to have two vehicles, when only one of us can drive and he lives five minutes' walk from work! Plus, cars are evil.

[justmama]

Originally Posted by ediesmom

good afternoon mamas!

naeva noelle....
january 21, 2008
10:04pm
6lbs15oz
18inches long

with about an inch of beautiful thick brown hair and her mamas (and nina's) big lips. really a beauty

one of those sleepy smiling littles. with little grunts. i am so in love.

the birth turned tough, but she did deliver vaginally. naeva latched right on....no issue yet at all
......seems like a natural for both of them

i've got a class...gotta run

Oh yay Shelby!!!! But goshdarnit, mail didn't run yesterday. How am I supposed to get those longies out in time??????? Congrats grandma! Hope you get lots of time to enjoy her in the next few days. Can't wait to hear all about her and see a pic or two. Tell Shelby those longies are sitting in a polymailer waiting for the mailman today.

[Nursingnaturalmom]

Congrats, Gramma!!! I hope your DD has a wonderful baby moon!

So, remember that benefit review I was so worried about? Turns out I was right to be worried. I got a letter TODAY that says our FS will be cut off because I didn't do the review. HUH?? I should note that when we first applied, it was HELL with this worker. I had multiple complaints to her supervisor, then to her supervisor's boss all the way up. TOday I called the state and requested a hearing. I cannot believe that this woman still has a job. I gave her EVERYTHING she needed. I have no idea what we'll do if we lost foodstamps UGH!!!

[Iris' Mom]

Originally Posted by Nursingnaturalmom

Congrats, Gramma!!! I hope your DD has a wonderful baby moon!

So, remember that benefit review I was so worried about? Turns out I was right to be worried. I got a letter TODAY that says our FS will be cut off because I didn't do the review. HUH?? I should note that when we first applied, it was HELL with this worker. I had multiple complaints to her supervisor, then to her supervisor's boss all the way up. TOday I called the state and requested a hearing. I cannot believe that this woman still has a job. I gave her EVERYTHING she needed. I have no idea what we'll do if we lost foodstamps UGH!!!

Oh, I missed your story, but I'm so sorry. How many days do they have before they hear the appeal?

[cornflower_3]

*

[Iris' Mom]

Originally Posted by cornflower_3

Congratulations ediesmom, Smokering I can totally relate to the DP shopping disaster, I sent mine once and he came back with a shrimp tray, pizza rolls, chips and pop and spent $35 bucks. (Nothing that young kids can eat and nothing I want to.) : Mamachel hope the house works out and hope the houseing issue works out for you to eilonwy. : And Nursingnaturalmom I feel ya'. Somehow I always end up dealing with the case worker that I swear must have forged her degree.

Cornflower_3, I hope you don't mind me saying, but this cracked me up!

[justmama]

Originally Posted by cornflower_3

Congratulations ediesmom, Smokering I can totally relate to the DP shopping disaster, I sent mine once and he came back with a shrimp tray, pizza rolls, chips and pop and spent $35 bucks. (Nothing that young kids can eat and nothing I want to.) : Mamachel hope the house works out and hope the houseing issue works out for you to eilonwy. : And Nursingnaturalmom I feel ya'. Somehow I always end up dealing with the case worker that I swear must have forged her degree.

silly mama. I know exactly what you mean. Only once have I not gotten one of these caseworkers. And that was recently and she really really helped me out and it was wonderful. Made up for the years of stress and awful workers that make you feel like absolute dirt because you can't provide for your family by yourself.:

[EarthyMamaofDaisy]

NursingNaturalMom - I hope your hearing goes well! It really sucks to have to deal with al the BS! I once got my FS shut off because I handed in a huge stack of paperwork and just one paper didn't get entered into the system. It took me so many phone calls to get that worked out! I think sometimes the case workers forget how stressful it is on us to have to make them happy all the time. Sending good energy your way!

[Nursingnaturalmom]

I don't understand why they must treat everyone like that. After phone calls to supervisors and finally a call to the state about getting a hearing, turns out she had done NOTHING absolutely NOTHING with our case. Hadn't entered ONE SINGLE thing. She was still calling me at 6:00PM with questions. I think she was told to get it done before she went home. What really irkes me is that had I not called 2 times this week and taken the steps I did take, she would have just left our case undone. I can't help but thinking of all those people out there who have this worker and are going through crap because she can't do her job.

Anyway, its all worked out now. Relief.

Hope everyone else is doing well,
Chandi

[Smokering]

A Good Thing: A friend who works at the movies (where I used to work) wants to take me and DH out to see a film or two this weekend--and it's free, because she has comps! There are a bunch of films I want to see at the moment, but no way we could afford it, so this is a nice way to feel like life still has treats, and get to catch up with my friend at the same time. She's nice...

Nursingnaturalmom: Wow, what a mess. I'm glad it all worked out in the end... people like that can be SO FRUSTRATING! I'm amazed you weren't poking pins into voodoo dolls. (Er, you weren't, right?).