The Sensible Mom

Why I want to attend SoFabCon: An Amazing Conference for Bloggers

January 30, 2014 by Sandra 6 Comments

Last year, I had the opportunity to attend SoFabCon 2013. It’s a blog conference organized by Collective Bias, so that bloggers have the opportunity to connect with brands, learn from their representatives, and master how to become highly-skilled professional bloggers.

We made the trip to Arkansas to attend the conference a family road trip, and it was a lot of fun. Ruben took care of the kids while I attended sessions and did some networking. In between sessions, I’d head to our hotel room to nurse Elisabeth, and hang out for a little while before the next session.

During one break, I even prepared a meal for my family. I was working on a campaign for Collective Bias and created these super easy chicken sandwiches:

Prepared and photographed in our SoFabCon hotel room. 🙂

All that to say, I’d love to attend SoFabCon again this year.

Why? Because first and foremost, it’s an outstanding conference. Collective Bias ‘gets’ bloggers AND brands. This is so incredibly important, if blogging is more than a hobby for you, and you consider it your career.

Secondly, I need to get away. Life has been rough these past six months because of David’s illness, and I’d love just a few days to be able to slip away to a place where I know SO MANY of the people who’ll be there. My favorite part of the conference last year was meeting new people and getting to know them and their blogs.

SoFabCon = The best place for networking among bloggers

What Attending SoFabCon This Year Would Mean to Me
Going to Bentonville, Arkansas to the Social Fabric Conference would mean a time of refreshing for me. It would mean that I’d get to spend time with people who understand what I do in this online space. It would also mean that I’d have time away from home, by myself. I need a little of that right now.

What the Experience Would Empower Me to do Afterward
If you do pretty much anything online, you know that things change. This is definitely true when it comes to blogging. There are new things to be learned and new opportunities out there.

Going to SoFabCon would give me the tools I need to be a better blogger and business owner. It would enable me to become a more fabulous Social Fabric member, and the experience might even push me just a little further out of my introverted shell. 😉

I’d love to attend SoFabCon 2014!

#CollectiveBias is giving six bloggers the opportunity to win a trip to #SoFabCon14. This post is my entry, and I’m entering because I #LuvSoFab14.

An Easy Way to Eat Clean and Eat Simple

January 27, 2014 by Sandra 6 Comments

This is a sponsored collaboration with The Motherhood and Good Food Made Simple.

My days aren’t the easiest right now.

I’m constantly concerned about David, and my heart breaks because of everything he’s going through. So, as you can imagine, we’re living life pretty low key at the moment. Things are simple, including our meals.

We’re making easy meals that keep everyone in our family happy, and we’re incorporating some Good Food Made Simple foods that are way better than your typical grocery freezer aisle products. Why? Because Good Food Made Simple products don’t have preservatives, artificial ingredients, or GMOs.

That’s awesome.

Eat Clean, Eat Simple
Instead, you can eat clean and eat simple while enjoying delicious burritos and wraps. You can even add your own fresh ingredients to any of these products to make them feel a little more homemade. But trust me, these products are great on their own. My husband, who had no idea that I’d be talking about Good Food Made Simple on my blog, ate a breakfast burrito one day and said it was the best burrito of its kind that he’d ever had.

Good Food Made Simple makes…GOOD foods, with taste that comes from nature, not additives. They make SIMPLE foods with ingredients that come from farms, not labs. And they never use artificial preservatives, flavors, colors or sweeteners.

Again, that’s awesome.

Yum, Steel Cut Oats!
I’ve been eating a lot of steel cut oats lately. I love the heartier texture of steel cut oats, and I’m a little weird in that I can eat them totally plain. But sometimes, I add a little granola. And for the times when I want a little sweetness in my steel cut oats, the GFMS Vermont Maple Syrup steel cut oats are perfect.

I’m Totally Won Over
I’m thankful that in the midst of difficult days, I can grab a quick meal from my freezer that’s not only delicious, but also healthy. Oh, and my bathroom scale definitely approves. The numbers have been moving down lately… 😉

Have you tried Good Food Made Simple products? What’s your favorite way to eat simply, yet healthfully at home?

Would you like some food for thought? Check out these survey statistics stating what people really know about ingredients in food and reading labels. You might be surprised by what you read.

10 Goals for the Week

January 27, 2014 by Sandra 6 Comments

Is it absolutely freezing where you live? Here in the Chicagoland area, it’s dangerously cold and windy, so we’re planning on taking it easy and staying indoors as much as possible. I’m hoping to get a few goals crossed off my list today, too.

While I wasn’t able to get all of my goals accomplished last week, I feel like I had a productive week, overall.

Here’s an update on what I did get done:

Family/Mothering Goals:

1. ~~Read to my little ones 5 times~~

2. ~~Schedule a Family Night~~

Personal Goals:

3. ~~Juice 1x~~

4. Walk on the treadmill for 15 minutes every day this week — I missed one day, but for the most part, I’m staying on the treadmill for well over 15 minutes. This is a huge step forward for me.

5. ~~Continue reading Super Immunity by Dr. Joel Fuhrman~~

Home Management Goals:

6. Order photographs — I decided to wait for a good Walgreens photo coupon before I order pictures online.

7. ~~Wipe down door handles with disinfectant wipes~~

Business Goals:

8. Listen to two webinar recordings — I only listened to one.

9. Work on a client project — This is going to wait awhile longer.

10. Write 4 blog posts — I wrote three.

Here are my goals for this week:

Family/Mothering Goals:

1. Read to my little ones 6 times

2. Make a trip to the library

Personal Goals:

3. Juice 1x

4. Walk on the treadmill for 15 minutes every day this week

5. Continue reading Super Immunity by Dr. Joel Fuhrman

Home Management Goals:

6. De-clutter bedroom

7. Clean refrigerator

Business Goals:

8. Listen to one webinar recording

9. Return emails

10. Write 4 blog posts

What are your goals for this week?

David’s Story: Bone Marrow Transplant (Day +22 through Day +46)

January 26, 2014 by Sandra 4 Comments

Today is “day +46” since David had his bone marrow transplant.

In the world of bone marrow transplants, it’s fair to say that David is doing okay. If you would’ve asked me a week and a half ago how David was doing, I likely would’ve said, “He’s doing great. Yes, he’s still taking six medications a day, and, yes, he still has a port in his chest, but when it comes to his blood levels, they’re looking good. For this, we are very thankful!”

Today, though? David is doing okay (not great), because on day +37 we noticed a change in David’s skin. He had a red, raised rash on different parts of his body. Ultimately, the doctors confirmed that what David has is graft versus host disease of the skin.

GVHD (graft versus host disease) is a serious complication that can occur when you’ve had a bone marrow transplant. Essentially, it’s when the bone marrow donor’s cells start to attack their host.

David is the host in this case. 🙁

The doctors are keeping a close eye on David, and his medications have been increased. We’re making the trip to the Children’s Hospital in Chicago twice a week, and we’re dealing with this one day at a time.

Graft versus host disease can attack a person from the inside, too. It can affect the liver and the gut, so we have to keep a close eye on David and watch for other symptoms that can signal that the GVHD is elsewhere in his body.

For me personally, going through all of this is depressing and scary. I already knew GVHD was serious and that it could happen. But when it did happen and I started googling late at night…

Oh, I shouldn’t have done that.

But I did.

Looking at the bright side, I’m thankful that God is in control, and He’s blessed us with many wonderful family members, friends, and even people we don’t yet know who pray regularly for David. I know that prayer works and makes a difference.

So that’s where things are at this point. I’ll try to write again in a few days and not take such a long break in-between updates. 😉

For those of you who’d like a little more in-depth information about what life has been like for David the past 20+ days, here’s that update:

Day +22: David had a clinic visit in the hospital’s infusion center. At first, he was very uncooperative, and this was hard to handle because he’d been doing so well since he was discharged on day +19. It was like as soon as he realized that he was about to step into a hospital room, he stopped in his tracks and wouldn’t go in. It took awhile before we finally got him to agree to go into the room and have blood drawn for labs. He also ended up having a dressing and cap change on his PICC line. Overall, David’s labs are good, and he’s doing exceptionally well.

*He keeps asking why his hair is gone on an almost daily basis. I explain over and over that it’s because of the chemotherapy drug, Cytoxan, that his hair has fallen out. I reassure him that it will grow back. David notices that “Caillou is bald,” but I’m not sure if this makes him feel better or not.

Day +23: Good day. Grandma and Aunt Sarah visit us at the Ronald McDonald House where we’ve been living since David was discharged from the hospital.

Day +24 and +25: David continues to do well and take him meds. He’s on eleven doses of medication a day.

Day +26: David has severe stomach pain and diarrhea. The doctors are concerned that he may have graft versus host disease of the gut or an infection. We make a visit to the clinic where they draw blood for labs and get samples/swabs for other tests. The diarrhea lasts through the entire day but is gone the next day. David’s white blood cell count and absolute neutrophil count are elevated which signal to us that David’s body is fighting an infection.

Day +27 and +28: The stomach issues are over, and he has a couple good days.

Day +29: David has a clinic visit and is doing so well that the doctor thinks it’s okay to start slowly weaning David off of PrednisoLone, the steroid he’s been on. It’s the steroid that I hate because of all the side effects that come along with it. There’s a drastic change that happens to a person physically when they’re on this steroid. Then there’s the mood swings, anger, increased appetite…oh, it’s bad.

I realize that the steroid is necessary, but I’m ecstatic to start weaning him off.

Day +30 to +36: The days are good, and David is doing well. In fact, David is doing so well that the doctor has David’s nurse remove the PICC line in his arm, and she clears him to leave the Ronald McDonald House and go home!

Day +37: I feel like a bomb explodes in my life again. The moment that I lay eyes on David this morning, I can tell that his skin doesn’t look quite right. He has a rash, and it’s spreading. I call the hospital, and they want David to be seen that afternoon. The doctor prescribes a steroid cream for his rash, and the graft versus host of the skin continues to spread over the weekend.

Day +38: The GVHD is worse, and now it’s itchy, too.

Day +39: The GVHD continues to spread and bother David. 🙁

Day +40: David has a clinic appointment, and the doctor confirms that the rash is indeed GVHD. She doesn’t want to put David through a skin biopsy, because she knows that at this point there’s no real need for it. This makes my heart glad, because I don’t want David to have to go through that painful little procedure.

In order to try to stop the GVHD, David is given a dose of IV steroids in the infusion center. This day, he also has a 2-hour infusion of Pentamidine to prevent pneumonia. His oral dose of steroids is tripled. 🙁

Ruben and I continue to apply steroid cream to David’s body twice a day.

Day +41 to +46: The GVHD gets worse but then starts to look better in some areas. Today (day +46), it looks a lot better. Praise the Lord! We’re supposed to visit the clinic for an appointment in the morning, but because of dangerous weather conditions, I’m going to call and reschedule for Tuesday.

More to come. I’m planning on sharing updates until David reaches his day +100 milestone.

Click here for more posts and videos sharing David’s Story.

Click here to visit David’s Facebook page. I update that space often.

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