September End of Month Review
September Goals
- Pay off Credit Card #7
- Start Our New Cleaning/Zone-Cleaning Routine
- Check-ups for the girls & Michael
- Research Health/Vaccines related to International Travel with Kids
Credit card #7 started the month with a balance of $1619 because we were able to pay $500 on it at the end of August. It was a bigger amount than we had been doing. I’m glad I listened to Michael about going for it instead of playing it safe with our goal. It was the mental push we needed to try harder. I’m proud to say that we completely paid it off and there are big goals coming for October!
We started our new cleaning and zone cleaning routines. We are still getting used to them but I think it has been helpful. It takes some of the stress out of keeping the house running. We continue to work on decluttering which helps to keep the house cleaner too.
Michael and the girls all had their check-ups. Michael got a Hep A vaccination because it has been going around in our area and it is one that is recommended for travel too. Octavia was due for some vaccinations and she had to have a lead test. They just took some blood from her foot. Her level was high so they sent her to have some blood drawn. She did great and didn’t even cry. We found out two days later that her lead level was normal. Her doctor said that it was likely her shoes. How scary is that? Ivy and Isabella did fine. Isabella got a referral to see an allergist again. She had a reaction to shrimp when she was three. She had a scratch test done and after having multiple positives they did blood work. It came back that Isabella had allergies to multiple different types of fish, shellfish, and shrimp. She also had a lot of food sensitivities to loads of things. She has outgrown the food sensitivities but we still carry an epi-pen for shrimp, fish, and shellfish. The allergist she saw when she was little said that she would likely grow out of at least some of her allergies with time. We are hoping for better results when they repeat her scratch test. Honestly, we’re afraid of traveling with her in areas where people eat a lot of seafood and we don’t speak the language. If she has grown out of her allergies it would make our plans to travel easier and less stressful.
I also found out about a local travel clinic from my girls’ doctor. I spoke with the doctor about what vaccinations were suggested for long-term travel to unknown locations. Also, I read a ton of websites and blogs. I’m working on getting a list together of all suggested and optional vaccinations.
Stay tuned! We have big plans for the remainder of 2018!