Care Map

Today I found inspiration from another special needs/foster parenting blog. They were trying to find the simplest way to explain to others the extent of care their special needs children receieved so they mapped it out, all in one place, on the same piece of paper.

You special needs parents out there may be more organized then myself but I know I have therapy notes, signed hippa consent forms, patient visit print outs in the glove box of the car, in my bedside table, under the tv, next to the fridge, stuffed in my purse and diaper bags, under the couch. I felt like it was time to put it all down on one piece of paper, exactly who we see. My calendar is chock full of appointments that I know of and understand but if you asked my husband what specialists our sons see he would have no idea! So here I thought the boys are two years old. It's plum time he gets a move on and figures this out. What better way to do that then to spell it all our for him. We sure have an amazing medical support system for our boys. We don't see some very often and we see others more than once a week but they have been there for us through the scary medical diagnosis's and through the bumps and bruises that probably didn't require anything.

When I sat down to do this I didn't realize how quickly I would fill up the paper.

So lets start with our lovely and largest health branch. We will start from the left and go to the right. I am going to give everyone a brief update of our medical diagnosis's for each specialist as well.

Both Gavin and Gabe see the Otorhinolaryngologist. He is commonly referred to as the ENT or Ear, Nose, and Throat doctor. The boys both go every 6 months in follow up to the barium swallow studies they have to do for the Feeding Clinic/ Dietitian on the write. (You see it is a tangled web we weave.

Both boys also see the Dentist. We first took the boys with Ethan turned 3 and the twins turned 2. Ethan needed a routine teeth screening for preschool (which didn't last long thanks to sensory processing disorder but hey we gave it a shot.) Gavin had two chipped teeth that needed looking at. He tends to mouth things and with poor neuromuscular control of his head and neck he tends to really whack his face on things unfortunately.

Every six months my twins go to the Cerebral Palsy Clinic at SSM Cardinal Glennon Childrens Hospital in St. Louis, Missouri. We are truly blessed that we found such knowledgeable and friendly staff that specialize in the disabilities our sons have. They are the ones who diagnosed our sons with Cerebral Palsy at 9 months of age after our PCP suspected it as much. All you special needs parents who have reached the same diagnosis with your children probably waited until around 2 years of age to hear those words but we were lucky to have a very progressive medical team who through our vocalizations and their own findings came to the conclusion and put it on paper for us. (This helped us get in our paperwork for Supplemental Social Security Disability.) When our sons were first born it was found through ultrasound that they head intracranial hemorrhages called Periventricular Leukomalacia. In layman's terms it meant that the area around the ventricles of their brain (which controls gross motor function) was bleeding, causing it to calcify. On ultrasound their brains looked like swiss cheese in the center. This occurred when the doctors preforming my delivery didn't get the boys out in time and they were oxygen deprived. We knew they were predisposed to Cerebral Palsy. In the NICU the director told us the boys had an 85% chance of delveloping some physical and developmental delays abnormalities. This is probably the team most prominant to our boys main diagnosis. They see the Neurologist and Orthopedic Surgeon at the same time in the same room. This helps provide the most accurate and comprehensive care possible because we are all as a team on the same page. The CP Clinic is who put Gavin on the trial of bacofen and helped us finally settle on botox injections for both boys. Gabriel currently gets them in his lower body and Gavin gets them in upper and lower. Because the boys are still so young they do have to be put under iv sedation each time which the more often you do causes more risks in the long run so hopefully soon just a mild sedative will do. Our nurse coordinator here is a freaking rock star. She is extremely cheerful, remembers us every time, and makes sure that all our referrals and paperwork line up before she even calls us for appointments. Truly amazing care and I would highly recommend anyone who lives in within 100 miles to go here. (our drive is just over 90 miles.)

Gabe after Botox 

Gavin after Botox

Next in line we have urology, which only Gavin sees. He recently had to have a bilateral orchiopexy because both of his testicles never descended. Surgery was December 15th 2014 and as of today he  and his "little men" are doing great! This is a common problem among premature boys. During gestational development boys testicles don't generally descend through the abdomen into the scrotum until 35 weeks. Gavin was born at 30 weeks so his little guys never got the chemical signals inside my belly to make the trek.

Gavin before Surgery with the Urologist

And now we have Gastroenterology. Our doctor sucks. I will admit it. He is far older than he needs to be to still be safely practicing medicine and often forgets what he tells you between the exam room and putting it in the computer. He makes promises in the exam room but when you call a few days later to follow up on why you haven't heard from them they have no idea what you are talking about. We are in the process of outsourcing this practice to Peoria with Urology or St. Louis with the CP clinic. Both boys have been diagnosed with Chronic Cycle Constipation due the the spasticity of their muscles due the Cerebral Palsy. They also both still have reflux as toddlers unfortunately. Most people don't ever think about their internal organs being muscles but the entire digestive system is one big string of muscles that is spastic due to their brain injury. They both take Lactolase and Zantac daily still as toddlers.

Now we move on to my FAVORITE part of the entire branch. The State of Illinois Early Intervention Program. We have the absolute most amazing team of women who are not only there for my children but are there for me as mom. Our caseworker is so vigilant to find us all the care possible. Our Occupational Therapist has been with us from the beginning. She is like a member of the family and I will be very sad to see her go when the boys turn 3 and age out. Not only does she help us get all the equipment the boys need, she also fulfills a large part of the adult interaction I get on Mondays. The boys get Occupational Therapy once weekly. Our OT has helped us get a therapy swing, knee and elbow immobilizers, benik trunk support vests, compression vests, hand splints, adapted cups, forks and spoons, and a special tomato soft touch sitter. She has helped my kids learn to cope with the sensory overload that is our world.

Gavin in his Soft Touch Sitter by Special Tomato

Our PT is fairly new. She is the third we have been through in the past 2 1/2 years. She is so sweet to the kids. She is very loving and has a tender touch with the boys who don't usually mind when she contorts them into crazy (for them normal for us) positions. We couldn't be happier with her. We currently get PT once weekly even though the boys could use it 2-3 times a week. I feel like if we had more intense PT we would be further gross motor wise. Their father and I do all the exercises with them but it would be nice to have a professional to guide us and come up with new techniques and equipment. Our PT though has helped us get a Squiggles Stander, a Rifton Gait Trainer, and a Kid Kart Express chair for Gavin and Gabe without we would be lost.

Gavin in his Kid Kart Express

Our DT is fairly new too. She is like the mother figure to me of all our therapists which is probably because she is a mother herself, has foster children about my kids age, and is about my mothers age herself. She is the voice of reason between conflicting opinions within the therapists and has a good ear to listen to my complaints and worries. We do DT once weekly.

Our Speech therapist is probably my favorite and I can admit that. She is more a friend now than just a woman who works for my family helping my kids with oral sensory and speech. She has been with our family since the twins were born and has worked with all three of my kids at the same time. She has helped us get off bottles and onto sippy cups, increased ethans vocabulary and helped Gavin find his voice! Without the help of our SLP we wouldn't be where we are today. I still feel like my son Gavin would cry like an infant and wouldn't have found his voice.  We do ST once weekly.


Vision Therapy is now on consult. Gavin was originally suspected to have CVI or cortical vision impairment. We have sought second and third opinions and finally settled on farsightedness and ambliopia,

The boys least favorite and sometimes mine is our dietician. Though she is a lovely woman with tons of very good weight gain advice she has brought us on the brink of needing a gtube and I though HARD work with Gavin have brought us back to oral feeds. We are still in the 25th percentile across the board but we WILL get there.

The boys also have their regular PCP which we see for regular well child visits and the few and far between sick visits. I am that mom that doesn't bring my kids in unless a limb is hanging off. We fight the colds, little virus's, and poops at home the old fashioned way with natural medicines and good old fashion time. They do know me very well over the phone here though. :) I have to call 1000 times a month for new referrals, equipment request forms, insurance questions ect.

Last but not least medically we have Gavin's Cardiologist. He was born with an open PDA and PFO. While they thought they had closed in the hospital with steroid medication they have heard a few murmurs since then. We follow up once a year and have had EKGs and Echos.


Moving out of medical and on to the others we have the Illinois Assistive Technology Program.
They have equipment loans. You can go in and look through their inventory and find pieces of equipment to try before you purchase it yourself. We have borrowed many adaptive toys and switches for Gavin through the IATP. You get to keep them for 6 weeks.

DSCC for Department of Specialized Care for Children is one of my favorites too. Our caseworker is like my personal warrior. She battles insurance claims, helps find grants and benefits, helps me find reimbursement for travel expenses, DSCC covers cost of equipment that Medicaid doesn't. She is the only I call when I have stretched so thin and tired of calling our GI doctor 1000 times to get the same non answer and she calls and deals with them for me. Godsend. Really. She is also the one who signs our family up for the Angel Tree at Christmastime so when we are too ashamed to admit we can't buy our children more than one or two small gifts they can have a good Christmas. She also signs us up for a Thanksgiving food box every year full of months worth of food to feed my family without even asking me. She is amazing really. Amazing program. Best advocates for family's with Special Needs.


The boys see United Cerebral Palsy for their Learn to Play program. It is when a therapist comes out twice a month and brings toys to leave with the boys that are adaptived or suitable for them to use with their cognitive level and degree of disability. United Cerebral Palsy also gifed our Children with Amtrykes last year for FREE! My boys now have special needs tricycles to ride like all the other kids in the spring. I can't wait :) UCP is a really good resource for familys with children of all disabilities. A lot of their help targets older children and adults though through camps and career workshops ect.

Ethan, Gavin, and Gabe on their Amtrykes gifted from United Cerebral Palsy

Gavin

Public school is the elephant in the room. I blogged about it the other day because I am just not sure what we will do. When we enter the realm of public school we lose all the individualized care we currently receive in our home and in office. We are still undecided but thankfully we have 6 months to decide.

Last but not least is our support system. I REALLY wish I would say it was larger but we don't affiliate with any church organizations, and many of our friends have back off and disappeared since we had children with special needs. Many are uncomfortable or just don't know how to treat us or talk to us. Many feel pity for us or would just rather not face the baby elephants in their AFO's and wheelchairs hanging out in the room. We do have a few immediate family members who have been indispensable offering help watching the boys when we truly need it or helping us with bills when things are unbearably tight because we needed to buy Gavin the right piece of equipment for him or when we had a surgery for the boys and needed gas money just to get there. We hate asking for a hand out and we are lucky to have a few select family members who are really just there for us. It is hard to find support when you just don't have time to seek it. Maintaining relationships as an adult is difficult without the added fact of having children with disabilities. It is lonely sometimes. Even trying to make friendships with another special needs mom. No two children have the same disabilities so hardships they're facing I have no experience with and all I can offer is empathy. Being a young mother I also have the added challenge of having few friends who are even parents yet. Most are still in college or just graduating and trying to find their way in the world. Their responsibilities seem like child play compared to my daily life. I have a few drive by friends. The past couple years have really made me realize how important it is to maintain a friendship with yourself and find time to take care of yourself.

I am VERY grateful that while my husband might not seem like the most reliable man to others, often being between jobs or skipping family functions to clean the house for me instead,  he is indispensable for me! He is currently unemployed and between semesters in college but he is my pillar of strength. He is who picks up the slack when I need a break. He is the one who tells me not to worry and carries the burden for me. He truly is my better half. He may not be the husband every other woman wishes she had but he is the perfect one for me.

This is just a small glimpse into the overview of what we deal with on a daily basis. Don't even get me started on our sensory diet, equipment schedules for Gavin, the diet logs, and special foods we prepare everyday, I will have to save that for another day.

Welfare (Special Needs) Parenting

Nothing is more embarrassing for a parent than to admit that you cannot provide for your children by yourself. You just don't have the resources, time, or financial ability to provide everything that your child needs. Being a special needs parent on welfare is an entirely different monster. Not only is there judgement because you can't take care of your child on your own but there is the stigma that you brought this child with his unique medical issues and physical flaws into this world and couldn't take care of them. You get the eye rolls when you are in the check out lane by yourself using 6 of your 30 WIC coupons you get a month and you are holding up the line. You get the comments about why you had more children when you couldn't take care of the ones you had. Or when your children are with you, its the people who are trying not to look at your child in his wheelchair and plaster on the polite smiles on their faces because they feel sorry for you and they think you want their pity. You get the second rate equipment because Medicare just doesn't cover all the bells and whistles.

Half a months worth of WIC for three children a month

 Sometimes when things are especially tight you have to feed your children those foods that you know will upset their stomachs or make them get a bright red rash across their face because it contains artificial dyes and coloring because you just can't afford the organic or the all natural version. You pump you kids full of sodium and enough sugar to cause diabetes by the time they are five because the Hi-C fruit flavored "juice" product is cheaper then the Juicy Juice. You have to make choices that you know are not in the best interest of your child because it is all you can supply at the time. 

Those months when things are so tight you think to yourself why did I buy all these boys for them at Christmas when I could have saved the money and paid the electric bill on time the last three months. Those past due notices and grace periods fly by and you are wondering do I pay the bill before they shut off our service or put the money in the gas tank to take them to their therapy or doctors appointments. You skip family functions because you have to save that 1/4 of a tank of gas to get to the doctors appointment that they really need to go to because you have rescheduled the last two appointments (for the same reasons) and you know you will be dropped from their practice and have to find a new doctor even more ridiculously far away to move them too. Or not being able to seek the latest therapies, getting the newest equipment or even better equipment suited for your child's specific special needs. Your son stuck his coat in a sticky mouse trap and you had to throw it away because it wouldn't come off and two of your kids now share a coat, one wears the outside and one wears the inside lining. You just have to make sure they are wearing long sleeve shirts and sweatshirts underneath so they absolutely stay warm.

Your toddlers don't understand the concept of money and when you tell them you don't have enough money to go buy the play dough they've been begging for for weeks at the dollar store and they find a quarter and cry to you "but we have money!" You research moving saving options and how to make cash fast options until you are blue in the face. You talk about disconnecting phone lines until you realize the doctors offices and department of public health, early intervention, family all have to be able to get a hold of you some how. You tell your kids they can't have a second snack because you have to make your food last all month. No or not right now seem to be the automatic response to just about everything.

Living a life of poverty is tough, especially in a family that's fairly well off. It is embarrassing to have to hide behind your problems, make excuses, and avoid participating in social outtings with family and friends. It is hard to get ahead when you are so far behind. Every option out there is just about impossible unless you win the lotto or win publishers clearing house (do they even do this anymore?). You can't move forward in life without money and without money to move forward you are stuck. Stuck skipping college (that costs money), stuck trying to find a new job (gas, clothing, spending time job hunting costs money), buying a house for yourself requires a job and money, buy that nee handicap van you need with the chair lift or the ramp in front of your house so you don't have to carry the wheelchair up and down the stairs costs money. People just avoid the elephant in the room. Wouldn't you?

There are definitely perks to being a welfare parent sometimes. You of course get to spend copious amounts of time with your little ones. Seeing all the smiles, tears, firsts, and accomplishments during all the quality time you get to spend together. You learn to become inventive. You are definitely more creative when it comes to finding ways and recipes to feed your family. You learn to take a few extras and a little of this and create a new family favorite that you would have never though of before. You learn to accept and be grateful for the little things. My kids and I get so excited to wait for the mail everyday and see what new free samples have arrived or if their new free book for the Dolly Parton Imagination Library has arrived yet. We have learned to love trips to the library, for the books, free movies to rent, and their huge playroom area. The kids cry every time we have to leave. We spend a lot more time outside playing in the yard, working on our garden which helps supplement our food income. In the Spring, Summer, and Fall our food costs are always so low we have a little extra money to get the boys good birthday gifts for the trios birthday in August. I have learned that sometimes being cheaper is healthier especially when it comes to cleaning products. Sometimes the frugal choice is the BEST choice, not the ONLY choice. I have learned to make homemade cleaning products that are not only cost effective but are chemical and carcinogen free! If we weren't below the poverty line I don't think I would have every considered cloth diapering my children and dealing with their poopy diapers in the wash or hung up that clothes line that saves us almost $75 a month off our electric bill in the summer. I would have never done the research to know that using the crock pot is way cheaper than running the oven and that adjusting the thermostat so that we are always just a little warmer in the summer or a little cooler in the winter would really add up! It has also showed me who will actually stick around through thick and thin. It has given me an appreciation for the way things were when we were growing up. I totally understand now why we had the car with no radio or the one that died in the rain. A car is a car and its job is to get you from a to b. The brand of possessions is totally useless to me as long as it has enough quality to get the job done. I have learned to be a thrift store, used, generic junkie!

Being a welfare mom has made me a better mom. It has allowed me to open myself up to gratitude for what I have, the things we are blessed to be gifted with, and the things that really matter, my family. I have learned more about love and the ability of people. It has given me a new point of view on life. I have learned to find joy in the ordinary and love in all the right places and people!  

Overwhelming realizations: Public School vs Homeschool

Having a child with special needs is especially trying. Having two children with completely different yet completely the same special needs is stupefying some days. As my twins Gavin and Gabe get closer to their third birthday and graduation from the state of Illinois Early Intervention Program, a dark cloud rolls over. The side line conversations of IEPs, 504 plans, individual classroom aides, and therapy outside the home have begun to become a daily storm of confusion.

Gabe

As "typical" children grow up they follow a "typical" path. They go from daycare or home with mom/dad, to preschool, to kindergarten and beyond. The burden of parenting a typical kid (which I would know, myself and my two sisters all grew up as one,) is really to make sure the lunch money makes it to school each week and isn't spent on 15 ding dongs, to badger their children into getting their homework filled out and turned in, and as they progress to teenagers to make sure they actually arrive to school each day and make it home. When you parent a special needs child, or children in my case, you have to put in place standards for every single aspect of their entire day in public schools. Will they eat lunch with other children or in a special classroom because of their oral and auditory sensory issues (Gabe). Will they need you to have the teacher, or aide if they grant him a personal one, orally read them all their homework because they have very poor and limited gross motor skills (Gavin). Will they be integrated into a typical classroom and be picked on because they have to wear their orthotics and special compression vests and stick out like a sore thumb (Gavin and Gabe). Should they be allowed extra time that the other students don't get to finish their work because the part of their brain that controls motor planning and processing was injured at birth or should they be put to the same standards as the other students because despite the slow speech they are just as intelligent as their peers (Gavin). Do you rally for occupational, speech, and physical therapy in school when you know in your heart it will be in a group setting with therapists stretched too thin with far too little resources that can't provide individualized care (both).

Gavin

Or do you home school. Sink all your time and energy in providing an education at home tailored to their needs with all the accommodations you are already providing and have been since birth. As a parent you are the only person in the entire world that can decipher that special language your child can speak to you either verbally or not. You know when he starts to arch his back and cry like an infant that you need to touch his chin and remind him to "use his words" and give him that auditory and physical cue to remember that he can speak and tell you his problems if you help him slow down. You know you can drive them to therapy a few towns away everyday of the work week for a full hour of individualized therapy with a therapist who develops a personal relationship with you and your family. Do you spread yourself so thin trying to provide a education for them that you feel and know in your heart will be beyond whatever the public school system can do for them or do you give yourself a break, do as much as you can to accommodate them in a public school setting, push, prod, and poke until you get all your goals and individualized needs met on an IEP and hope and pray that while you put your trust into these people caring for your child or children that they will be honest and forthcoming in the realities of meeting this goals and implementing these needs your child has.

emotional Gabe

My husband likes to think the world is fair and just. He would love to put all his faith in the people we send the boys to spend the day with and hope that Gavin is changed throughout the day or given the opportunity to try to use the restroom while at school but I just can't. My heart and gut says that we should pursue education in our home. That we can find a social group outside of public school through activities, organizations, family, and friends.

Gavin trying to master the propped sit 

The biggest setback for us as a team of parents in the financial obligation. Sending our children to public school where the subsidies provide free lunches full of allergens that upset our children's stomachs (wheat, dairy, corn, soy), therapists that seem to operate with way below the funds or more importantly the time needed to provide individualized care in a one on one setting, and its free to us. Or do we spend money from our pockets on gas to and from activities and play dates so our kids don't fall behind as much as possible socially, or for materials to teach lessons in an effective manner adapted to their personal disabilities. 

Gavin standing unassisted for the first few seconds of his life

Thankfully we have six months to decide but as fast as time moves in the special needs world of doctors and therapy appointments it feels like the blink of an eye.

Day 6 & 7 July 9-10

Today was all about planning and saving money. 

We are a one income family and thankfully fall into the income limit for WIC, or the federally funded Women's, infants, children's program here in Illinois. With Gavin and Gabe's special needs it allows is to save upwards of $500 a month on pediasure. So when I make a trip to walmart, once a month usually, it's a big one. A trip full with 2 carts of supplies, and all of our 16 desperate WIC coupons to use for the boys. 

Yesterday my sisters ended up coming with to help out. We ended up getting 114 bottles of pediasure, 4 gallons of milk, 2 loaves of bread, 2 large boxes of cereal, 2 things of juice, 1 peanut butter, 2 dozen eggs, asparagus, mushrooms, peppers, bananas, peaches, apples for free. That along with a few lunchtime odds and ends, pack of natural hotdogs, 2 things of ham lunch meat, trail mix, veggie straws, only set me back $12. 

Diaper duty 

Today was diaper day at my house. There is nothing more satisfying to a cloth diapering mama to see your diapers getting some sun on the line. The sun not only bleachs out unsightly stains but it also has antimocrobial properties killing bacteria and helping to sanitize the diapers. 

My routine for diapers is fairly simple. I run a regular load on hot/cold with no detergent. When it's complete I add some Plant Brand detergent and run it through again and then I line dry them. No fuss! My diapers have held up almost 3 years now with no issues. (Besides that dreaded wet bag I found after we moved that grew penis shaped mushrooms. The mushrooms literally ate holes in the diapers! Needless to say the tenticle mess was thrown out.) 

Garden time 

Ethan's first round of sunflowers are finally about double his size. The second set we planted last week have yet to make an appearance but it may have been too late in the season. 

Our mini pumpkins are also getting out of control! They have engulfed two tomato plants we had out on the side of the house but I'm afraid it's too late to transplant them. Next year they will have to find a new home. 

The rest of the garden is doing great! I am just waiting until the first set of corn is ready. The silk is starting to brown. The ears, which have been grown organicly like the rest of our garden, are a lot smaller then commercially grown corn. I can't wait until they're ready to be pulled out so I can make room for my fall garden and allow some more sun to hit my tomato and peppers. I learned my lesson this year that I should've planted my rows east to west instead of north to south so it wouldn't block out the sun to my shorter crops. 

The rest is getting there. My zucchini, squash, new corn, pumpkins, and beans are starting to get big enough to produce blossoms and fruit. 

My carrots are getting there and the new crop of lettuce has yet to make an appearance. 

My cucumbers are getting ready to eat my cherry tomatoes and jalapeños. There are about 100 cucumber blossoms getting ready to go so I'm sure they will be coming out within the month which will allow my peppers and tomatoes to get some more light. 

Next year I will surely be planning out my garden more efficiently and will be making it a little larger. 

 

Hopefully tonight this little mister stays in his bed because I'm not sure I can take another night on head in my ribs. 

Planning a yard sale for Saturday. More to come. Wish me luck! 

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Frugal

Before I had my boys I never realized how much I supported consumerism in our economy. Every penny in my pocket went from hand to mouth, or back, or car. I lived a very one use life style and wasn't really raised to live very environmentally conscious. We had paper towels, Tide laundry soap, and plenty of toys. My mother was just very good at managing money, but never really shared the process with us. When I moved out on my own for the first time at 17 it wasn't so bad. I was working a job as a Switchboard Operator for a local hospital and made decent money. Enough to afford a fancy newer car, whatever food I felt like throwing in my cart, going on with my friends, and shopping for new clothes.

After I met Tim and became pregnant with Ethan, I quit my job as the Front Desk Manager of a local hotel. I was constantly on my feet, under appreciated, and just stressed. It was directly effecting my pregnancy and my baby was more important. Two weeks after my financial contribution ceased to exist, Tim was laid off. We now found ourselves just short of homeless with car payments close to default with a baby on the way no less! We sold our cars and actually ended up staying in one bedroom of a should have been condemned house with no functioning toilet or furnace. Talk about scary. We stayed in the master bedroom, ate as minimally as we could with me being pregnant, and prayed for Tim's unemployment to quickly arrive. We were in the house for almost 5 long months living like this. No A/C, pouring 5 gallon buckets down the back of the toilet just to flush, battling bugs and other "friends." We finally received Tim's unemployment and my tax return, by the grace of God, and were able to rent a small two bedroom apartment that was just a step up above where we were. Tim finally secured full time employment just shortly after I had Ethan, our first born together.

When Ethan was just four months old we found out we were pregnant with TWINS, non the less. After a very complicated pregnancy and a traumatic birth, we were blessed with Gavin and Gabe. Due to being born 10 weeks early after having Twin to Twin Transfusion Syndrome we were now faced with brain injuries, Cerebral Palsy, and a lifetime of complications to contend with. We will still only a one income, now special needs family, barely above the federal income poverty line. We were left to figure it out on our own. Thankfully Gavin and Gabe's Cerebral Palsy are qualifying diagnosis's for Social Security Disability, for without which we would severely struggle for me to stay at home with them. Not that staying home even with SSI allows us to not make sacrifices.

Last year our total family income for a family of 6 was just about 17,000 for the year. We rent a nice 3 bedroom home with a partial basement and nice big yard, own a 2005 Honda Odyssey Van, and a 1995 Ford Escort Wagon. We pretty much pay the bare essentials bill wise with no added extras; electric, water, gas, trash, rent, renters insurance, car insurance on both vehicles, gas, van payment, internet, netflix, cell phones.We spend about $70 a week on groceries to eat clean for our family of 6 but do get supplementation from WIC and friends and family enjoy feeding us as well. :)  We cloth diaper, thanks to gifts from friends and family and for BumGenius's Share the Love Program. We make our own cleaners and laundry detergent. I do not use paper towels. We use a shampoo bar to wash our hair as it is less wasteful then conventional liquid shampoo and its organic and free from all the synthetic and harsh chemicals. I also plan on writing a dedicated post to our house hold purchases monthly and cleaning supplies.

We are very blessed to have immediate family that understands the challenges of raising two special needs kids and a third with a diagnosed behavioral issue on less then 20,000 a year. We also receive some assistance with therapy co-pays and Assistive technology/ equipment from Illinois's Early Intervention program and Illinois Assistive Technology and United Cerebral Palsy for their wonderful lending libraries.

I am growing our first garden this year. It is about a 25-30ft by 15ft plot. I have spent about $60 on it so far between seeds, fencing, and starter plants this year. It has already paid its self off though. I have already harvested 30 bags of spinach, buttercrunch and romaine lettuce this year, an estimated retail value of $65. So if anything else produces in my garden I will have already made our money back. More posts of the garden to come as well.

This is just a little incite on how our family functions on a minimal income. We very much enjoy striving towards a self sufficient and debt free lifestyle. It is not for everyone. Less is More. I will write a dedicated post on how we feed our family of 6 on such a small budget, cloth diapering and our system of doing it, paying for special needs related purchases, gardening, and homemade cleaners soon!