Saving a dime (or 5,000 dimes) in '09

On Regis and Kelly a few weeks ago they had a segment about saving money. One of their suggestions was to check your car insurance rates, then check other companies and see if you could get a better deal elsewhere. Then they suggested you call your company and see if they could beat the other rates. Does that make sense? So Dan and I had insurance through a company which shall not be named but which claims to save customers 15% and has annoying commercials. I looked into a few different companies and found that we could save $500 a year by switching to another company which shall not be named but also has annoying commercials. Our current company couldn't make our rate any lower so we switched! $500! And our new company promised to plant a tree since we paid online. Just wanted to throw that suggestion out their for anyone who might find it useful. (If you want the actual names of the companies, email me. I just don't want to get in trouble for some unforseeable and stupid reason!)

The Latest and Greatest

(and not so greatest)

First, I would like to point out that Sam's helmet post got more comments than our "We're having a baby post" back when I was pregnant. (No, I'm not currently pregnant.) Sam's feeling the love.

We had quite the exciting week! Here's the rundown:

1. Today Sam is officially 8 months old! He is so cute and so much fun. We love having him and are so grateful to be his parents. Remind me of that when we're working on potty training.

2. Sam pooped while I was giving him his bath. Twice. Once Friday and once yesterday. I'm afraid to give him another bath. Of course, Dan wasn't around either of those times. Maybe I'll wait for him to get back from hometeaching (visiting families from church) and then suggest that he bathe Sam. Not a bad idea. I took pictures, but I'll spare you.

3. We put down money to build a house! We're going to build in the city of Humble, Texas. Our house should be done in about 6 months and we are very excited! We have lots of choices to make in the coming months about what we want our house to look like so I hope we don't get too overwhelmed! We selected a lot that's in a great community with pools, playgrounds, a fitness center, and lots of walking trails. We think it will be a great place for our family. We also found out that our church has property just a mile or so away so that will be great in the future. Our lot backs up to a "nature reserve" which means we'll never have back neighbors. That was one of the huge selling points because it seems like most places try to cram in as many houses as possible.

4. In honor of our big decision, I made pizza. For the rest of the night, and well into the morning, I threw up that pizza. And everything else I've eaten in the past 5 years of my life. I seriously lost 3 pounds. But I'm starting to feel a little bit better. Dan has been so sweet to me while I've been sick and I really appreciate him!

5. My mariokart skills have somehow plummeted drastically in the past week. Dan has crushed me every time.

That's all for now.

Presenting... the "Supposed to be dark blue but came out purple" new helmet. He's actually taken to it very well. He was pretty fussy when he first got it, but now once it's on, he hardly notices it. It's also really nice when he accidentally falls and bonks his head. Someone at church asked us if he was going to audition for American Gladiators.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOM!

Today is my mom's birthday so Sam and I wanted to wish her a happy one! She is an amazing mother and a very giving grandmother. She is always thinking of her kids and how she can help others. I am so grateful for her example and influence in my life. She has taught me so much. In honor of this special occasion, Sam learned how to write.

We hope you have a great day! WE LOVE YOU!

Plagiocephaly

Our sweet little Sammy has plagiocephaly (a funny shaped head). We noticed it pretty soon after he was born and brought it up with our first pediatrician in VA but he said it wasn't really anything to worry about. He just told us to stretch his neck. (Plagiocephaly is caused by a baby favoring one side of its head over the other. Sam was doing that because of a tight muscle in his neck on the right which means he would just look to the left a lot.)

When we got to TX I told our new doctor and she told me to take him to a physical therapist. That was back in August. I called the PT and they said they don't see babies who have plagiocephaly and that I should take Sam to a neurologist. So I called the one and only pediatric neurologist's office in Houston and they told me they could only see him if we got a referral (even though our insurance technically doesn't require a referral). So I called the pedi back to ask for a referral. They said they'd do it right away. I called and called and called and finally about a month later they sent the referral. So then I got to schedule the appointment with the neurologist. His earliest availability was TWO MONTHS away. I took it.

Sam saw him in December at almost 6 months old and it was determined that Sam would have to wear a head-correcting helmet like this:

But I had to see another guy for that. And that took almost another month. Anyway, long story short, or not so short at this point, Sam is finally going to get the helmet! I took him in today for the final head scan and next week the helmet will be fitted to him. It's going to be a big commitment. He'll have to wear it about 23 hours each day (1 hour off to bathe, etc.) for about 5 months or so but in the end it's going to be worth it. We don't want him blaming us about his head shape when he's older.

For our own records, and to be able to document his progress, we took a shot of his head. Can you see the big bump on the back-right side of his head and how it's flatter on the back-left? There is a little bit of a shadow, too.

In preparation for the helmet, we cut his hair last night. A bittersweet experience. I love his locks!

Before:

After:

Our Christmas was awesome! We spent it in Earlysville, Virginia with my family: Mom and Dad; Ryan, Teresa, and Cletus the fetus; Kirk, Gretchen, and Carter; Candice and Craig.

We hung out a lot, played lots of games, went bowling, went on a hike, (Sidenote: Dan was depressed that he couldn't scale a rock like Kirk did so he decided to take a dip in the FREEZING cold water. I've got a video. I'll post it later if I remember.)

got family pictures taken,

played mini-golf (I came in second out of 7), went go-kart racing (I came in 11th out of 11... Don't get me started),

and went to the Museum of the Confederacy and Confederate White House in Richmond.

I also gained 3 pounds which is better than I thought. I could have sworn I gained about 10 with my mom's delicious cooking. But maybe C&C's moroccan chili made my stomach turn enough to keep some of my holiday sweet cravings at bay. Ha! Just kidding. I actually liked it.

Also, on New Year's Eve I got to see one of my BFFs - Katrina Rice - and her adorable baby girl, Juliet. I want Sam and Juliet to get married, but she wasn't all that interested to tell you the truth. That's okay. For now. She's got 21 years to come around.

It was so nice to be together as a family and I hope that it happens again sooner rather than later.

Sam met his cousin Carter for the first time over Christmas break. It's crazy to see how different two little babies can be, but their personalities are very individual! Hopefully they'll become good friends. I think Sam liked him a lot.

Our Top 10 of 2008

(In no particular order.)

1. Finding out we were having a boy.
2. Our babymoon to Costa Rica.
3. Dan graduated from law school.
4. Dan passed the Texas Bar.
5. We moved to Houston, Texas.
6. Thanksgiving with some of Dan's family.
7. Christmas with my family.
8. Experiencing our first hurricane.
9. Samuel Durst was born!
10. Making money instead of borrowing it.

Happy New Year!