About

My name is Melissa, but I’m better known as mommy or mamamamamama around here. I live in Sanford, NC, about an hour from the Triangle area. I have three of the most amazing children ever.  My oldest son was born in 2002 and is currently in first grade at our local year round school.  My second son was born in 2006 and is smart, funny, and maddening on a daily basis.  My third child is a little girl, born the day Obama entered office, in the midst of the biggest snow storm North Carolina has seen in years.  I consider myself to be an attachment/natural parent, so you will probably hear me mentioning co-sleeping, breastfeeding, cloth diapers, and more “crazy” things.  It works best for our family, so we roll with it.  It’s not for everyone and every situation and I can respect that as long as you respect my choices!

I currently stay home with my kids, but I am the worst housewife on the planet. Nobody is ever allowed to come to my house because it’s constantly a disaster area.  I frequently daydream about going back to work (so I don’t feel quite as guilty about the mess) and started working toward a nursing degree in summer 2009.  I’m working on prerequisites now, doing the classes mostly online.  It’s going at a snail’s pace because I have so many other commitments on my time.  I’ll graduate in May 2013 if all goes according to plan.

My husband is the most amazing man on the planet.  He cooks, he cleans, he does laundry, and he changes diapers.  He got laid off in the summer of 2008 (right after we found out that I was pregnant with #3) and has been looking for a job for over a year.  He finally gave up on manufacturing and decided to pursue his dream of becoming a real estate agent.  It’s terrifying and exciting.  The best thing is that he’s happier, which means we’re all happier.

Because he’s been out of work for over a year, I’m constantly looking for ways to save money.  Our savings is gone at this point and we’re living on a tiny fraction of his former income.  I’ve discovered consignment for children’s clothes, coupons for groceries, and I am always trying to get my monthly bills lowered for things like satellite, phone, and internet.  From time to time I share my latest discoveries.  It’s probably not new information to most people…we wasted a lot of money for a long time because we had it to spend.  Now we don’t, and I’m constantly amazed at the ways I can save a few dollars.  I figure there must be other clueless people out there like I was, and I hope it helps someone.  I’m also a hard core believer in living debt free.  If we had been living debt free when he got laid off, it would have been a much easier situation.  Instead, I spent my last pregnancy worrying about how we would survive with an extra child and no income.  It hasn’t been necessary…God has provided for us every step of the way.

My kids are generally healthy, but we have had some minor things we’ve dealt with in both of them. My oldest has Sensory Integration Dysfunction, mostly limited to hearing and taste. He worked with an occupational therapist for about 6 months and made some great progress.  I’m a big believer in OT! My youngest was born a couple of weeks early and though not premature in the technical sense, he did have a rough start. When he was around 2 months old, I noticed his head was misshapen. He had plagiocephaly, most likely caused by mild torticollis and womb position. After several months of physical and play therapy, along with a DOCBand he managed to get caught up with normal kids his age and his head is now shaped normally. I am thankful that we caught it when we did and that I had people encourage me to insist on treatment.  My daughter has allergies that are terrifying because they result in bad hives.  Artificial perfumes and fragrances (like in detergent) and wheat are the only things we’ve identified so far, but it’s terrifying because both of those things are everywhere and that’s probably just the beginning.  I’ve always been a little high-strung when it come to my kids’ safety and this has sent me into orbit, so forgive me if I seem totally freaked out!  They also all 3 have asthma, so during cold and flu season things tend to get pretty interesting around here.

I hope you enjoy reading the blog.  If you have questions, comments, or suggestions, send them to themama at iamthemama dot com!