fragilemom

Quiet on the Homefront

2012-01-25T13:23:00.004-06:00

Really not a lot going on this first month of the new year. Kids are struggling with allergies that are leading to ear infections, but nothing a little antibiotic and love can't cure.

Transitioning back to school was a breeze for the kids...thank goodness. Mom had a pretty easy time of it too...except the having to get up early, make lunches, and get them ready to get out the door on time. But, I managed to get back into the swing of things okay.

Notes from Ian's school have slowed down A LOT! When I get them, I don't generally reply anymore. I just mumble to myself and initial the day. Really I don't see the point in why they feel the need to write me everytime he, "had a good morning in Mrs. X's class and Mrs. Y's class, but he had a rough afternoon". Please tell me exactly what 'rough' means? If it means he got overstimulated and was loud and maybe annoyed a kid or two, well then I think we're working on two different perspectives of 'rough'. Oh well.

He's doing well at home. He really tries to communicate better, does his homework with me pretty well, and is wanting to do so many more things independently....some I wish he wouldn't try quite so hard at. :) He's also still staying in the same underwear all day (but changing them daily :).

Avery and Benjamin are truckin right along. Benjamin is getting more and more, ummm, what's the word???? Obstinent. Yeah, that seems like the right word. But, darn it, he's still so cute about it!

Avery is still our little princess.....with attitude. She's gonna be a great story-teller one day. The girl will spend 20 minutes straight telling me a story...usually about her "friend", her "friend's baby", her "baby", or her "husband". It's exhausting trying to stay up with it all.

That's about it. I guess sometimes 'non-exciting' is the way to go.

So Proud

2012-01-04T13:25:00.004-06:00

Well we just hit 2 weeks off school. Ian and Benjamin go back tomorrow. I have to say, I usually get really anxious when I know we're going to have that much time off. And this time was no different.

However, the kids did so incredibly well over the time off. That was even traveling by car out of state too. We had no major meltdowns or injuries. There was lots of time of playing nicely together. No illnesses. Wow, what more could I ask for? I would say the biggest problem was when we were with another smaller family member who has a hard time 'understanding' Ian anyway. That was par for course and nothing unusual.

I also forgot to mention that we increased Ian's dose of clonidine to a .2mg pill a day. He still takes 1/4 of the pill in the A.M. and afternoon, and 1/2 pill at bedtime. We're thinking this increase may have contributed to Ian's positive behavior. He's never had the dose increased since he started taking it a couple years ago.

Another step in the right direction is that while we were out of town, Ian decided that instead of saying 'shut-up' (which he picked up and brought home from school - getting disciplined when he'd say it), he would say 'be quiet'. We praised him a lot for this and are very proud of him. We still catch him saying 'shut-up' every once in a while. And he still gets in trouble for it. Now we have to get Benjamin to stop saying it!

On 3 different occasions (not in a row), Benjamin has come to me to tell me he has to go potty and then goes to the bathroom and does it! Treat time!!!!! On of those times he was in the bathtub and told me he had to pee. So I told him to get out and pee. He did. Now that would make any mama proud!

So What's the True Definition of a Fart?

2011-12-26T18:31:00.003-06:00

I found out the answer to this question when Ian kindly told me, "Mom, I burped from my butt."

So, there ya have it.

To Pose or Not to Pose....

2011-10-26T09:30:00.004-05:00

In Benjamin's class every year they dress the kids up like scarescrows and do a project with it. One of Benjamin's teachers went to take his picture and he didn't want to pose. When she saw him do this, she couldn't resist the cuteness. So, little did he know, but by not posing, he posed!

So What do Your Kids do at 10:30pm?

2011-10-14T09:12:00.003-05:00

My Benjamin is a late-nighter type kid. When we put him to bed, at 8:30pm, he refuses to sleep. He'll sing, play blocks, talk to himself in the mirror, play in his backpack, or try to get our attention some other cute way.

The other night I peeked in on him and he had put his cowboy boots on and was doing "mr. strongman" in the mirror, standing on a tub he had turned upsidedown.

A couple nights later I peeked in. He had dumped all his big legos out of the tub and was sitting inside the tub with his backpack, talking away at whichever stuffed toy would listen.

Bedtime is alwasys my favorite time for cuteness!

Avery Saying

2011-10-07T08:36:00.002-05:00

This one was extra too cute to not write about.

Avery: Mommy, can I get a cookie at school today for lunch?
Mommy: How much are they?
Avery: 4 quarters.
Mommy: A dollar for a cookie?!
Avery: No, mom....4 quarters.

my little baseball player

2011-09-26T11:32:00.007-05:00

Ian joined Miracle League and had his first game this past weekend. He had so much fun, and looked so proud. Oh, he looked like such a big boy in his uniform. Since this is the first time we really even let him have a bat in his hand, he did much better using a tee. The first time he hit the ball, he stood there until his buddy led him to the base. When it was time to run to 2nd, he actually ran....and then kept running. Every seen Forest Gump? Uh-huh.

The next time he hit the ball (at least I think he hit it), he decided to run to 3rd base. Not quite sure where his buddy was, but he came back to get Ian and lead him to 1st.

In the outfield he mostly liked talking to his buddy. When a ball rolled out to him, he picked it up, looked like he was going to throw it toward the infield. But then he turned instead and threw it over the fence. He did this twice.

They don't have 'winners/losers' and basically everyone gets to score. He seemed to enjoy it and enjoyed high-fivin' the other players and buddies. I sure enjoyed watching him.

Okay, can't get pictures to open up, so those will have to come next time.

Officially Autumn! and more

2011-09-23T08:19:00.003-05:00

In my opinion, in this part of the country, today is the beginning of the BEST season of the year! AUTUMN! I love everything about it. I know, I know...I say this every year. And I mean it every year. I love the weather, I love the colors, I love the football, I love the chili, I love the decrease in humidity, I love the running in cooler weather, and on and on. Okay, enough about fall.

Ian gets spelling words every week. I have to admit I giggled a little bit at the thought of Ian taking a spelling test. Boy, was I wrong! I started studying the words with him. First I would have him say the word..he did. Then I started saying the word and had him spell it as he was looking at it..he did. Then I would have the list in front of him and say a word, but not point to which one I was saying. I had him find the word in the list and spell it..he did. Then, I gave him the words orally and had him spell while I wrote what he said. He always got more right than wrong. At least twice he got them all right. So, I wrote a note to let his teacher know how we were studying. I didn't want them to just have him say the word. To me, that's not a spelling test if the student has the ability to do more than that. So, he brings home is spelling test yesterday. They gave it to him orally and the T.A. wrote what he spelled. He only got 3 wrong!!! I was soooooo proud of him!

Still pooping on the toilet. Not me...well, I am...but I'm talking about Ian. He'll disappear for a while then holler at us from the bathroom to let us know what he's done. We're on like 10 times now. Yes, he's getting a bit tired of pizza. Yesterday he requested McDonalds. To avoid a huge weight gain while potty training & avoid going broke, we bought the burger and made the fries at home. He was satisfied. Again, I am so stinkin proud of him! (pun intended) I am also so grateful that I have a group of bloggers who can totally understand the 'yippies' of this. And aren't you glad I don't post pics anymore!

Had another issue with school (well actually something T.A. did). I won't go into it because I don't want to sound like a negative Nelly. I emailed the teacher about the incident. I got a nice email back (although I don't think it was completely truthful, in order to save a butt). But it wasn't severe enough to pursue. I'm not out to get anyone in trouble, but I am out to be sure they learn about my son so they know best how to handle situations in a fair and appropriate manner. And, of course, I documented to be sure I have all the "data" to support anything that might come up. "Data" is the school system's 4-letter buzz word for the year. I got a bad taste of the word this summer while trying to work out a summer school issue. Anyway, I just want us all to be on the same side...not sure that's realistic based on the system, but, hey, it's always worth a try.

Temple Grandin - In My Opinion

2011-09-18T11:56:00.005-05:00

Thank you Karen at Red Letter Living for recommending the movie, Temple Grandin! I have to tell ya that I had never heard her name before. Then in a matter of 2 days I read her name on the blog, read it on an attachment to an email I received, and then heard it on the radio (she's coming to our city for a speaking engagement). Hmmm, definitely knew I wanted to see the movie. So, we watched it last night. Great movie! I laughed, cried, and felt proud. I especially cried (clear to bedtime) during 2 particular parts in the movie...first, was at the funeral when she attempted to hug her mom. Second was the sweetness on her mom's face at the end when Temple was speaking at the Autism Fair. It's like she knew without a doubt that all her hard work and sacrifices were worth it. All the times she left her when she didn't want to, all the times she pushed her (as she 'kicked and screamed' and said, "NO") to do something, all the times she worked with her....it all came together in one proud moment. It really brings a lot of hope.

There are so many times that I've pushed Ian and felt so badly through his anger and tears. But at that given moment, I knew it was what he needed. But as a mom, with a mom's heart, it hurts. I've decided, for me, sometimes the momentary hurt has to be put aside because you know it's for the best. Results may be seen quickly or not for a long time.

I also love the way both her and her mom were able to push (and I mean push) through the nay-sayers and just plain mean people. I for one think the dude Temple punched TOTALLY deserved it! And the men at the cow feed place....I won't even tell you what I woulda planned for them for what they did!

Okay, okay, I need to be done. Great movie. If you haven't seen it, it's worth seeing. That's my opinion!

Dare I Say It?

2011-09-14T09:47:00.006-05:00

Okay, I'm not the superstitious type, but I'm almost afraid to brag on this. I'm so darn excited, though, I'm going to! Ian has pooped ON THE TOILET for the last 4 (that's 1, 2, 3, 4 people!) days!!! He's gone in on his own and come out telling us he pooped. He's even held off flushing so we can see the proof....we told him we needed to see it to know he really did it. Well, our deal was he gets pizza no matter when or where if he does it on the toilet. So, instead of going broke ordering pizzas, Jim ordered a large and he gets a slice each time he does it. Works good so far. Oh, I wish you could see the proud look on his face! So stinkin' adorable!

I am praying (literally) that he keeps it up. He's been coming home dry and in the same underwear from school as well.

Oh, speaking of school. I talked to his Spec. Ed. teacher (who seems very caring)about several notes that have come home in his binder or on his school work. After deduction, I figured out that it was not her or his classroom teacher, but the T.A. who had been writing them. I've not met her, so I know nothing about her. But I do know they don't pay or train the T.A.'s near as much as they should. Basically, after about 3-4 notes, they became real downers. Things like "Ian had a hard day today", "Ian refused to do his work", "Ian was disruptive". Yeah, so tell me something I don't know. Now, I'm not asking for rainbows everyday. I'm not even asking for these things not to be written. I need to know it all (yeah, I'm a control freak). However, I am asking for positive things as well. Tell me what he did that was a "yea!" His teacher last year ALWAYS sent home notes telling me even the smallest achievement. Not only would it encourage me a bit, but I was also able to encourage Ian with it as well. So give me the bad, I can take it....but not without some good mixed in. That being said, here's the note that was in his binder the day after I talked to the Spec. Ed. teacher...."Ian had the best day he's had all year. He was even quiet in the cafeteria." Hmmmm, do ya think she talked to the T.A.????

From Typical to Depressing

2011-08-26T15:16:00.003-05:00

So, a few days ago, as I was listening to my 3 FX children beautifully playing and singing nicely together, I told God how wonderful they were and how much I love them, and just what a 'typical', 'ordinary', 'everyday' life that day seemed to be. And I meant it. And of course, I still think my kids are wonderful and love them more than anything.

BUT...today doesn't seem so wonderfully 'typical'. Well, typical in the way I meant a few days ago. It's the 5th day of school. I've talked to his classroom teacher 3 times on the phone, and his Special Ed teacher 3 times on the phone and held email conversations 3 times. As a whole, this is not a bad thing. I like knowing they are keeping me in touch. However, today was a phone call I would rather not have gotten. It was his classroom teacher, and she told me that Ian has pooped three times today. Long story short, the reason she was calling about it was because neither her, nor his Spec. Ed. teacher, nor his aid knew about this 'issue'. She was very kind about it. But I told her that it was talked about in the ARD because it was an issue Jim and I were very concerned about regarding him being in a regular ed. classroom. So, WHY IN THE WORLD DID HIS TEACHER AND SPECIAL ED TEACHER NOT KNOW ABOUT IT! This is the part I HATE about everything being so new for my poor boy. Nobody knows anything now.

Find the positive...you say? Okay, here it is. At least none of the times he pooped was in the general ed classroom, so no one was there to make fun of him!

Blanket Mahem

2011-08-18T12:21:00.003-05:00

So, there's this blanket that Avery is EXTREMELY attached to, and has been since, oh about...BIRTH! We're rushing about this morning, trying not to be late for her second day of school. She goes into her room, comes out crying and mumbling something I can't understand because she's crying so much. Ian was in her room too, so of course I thought he hit or something. Uh-uh....way worse.

Once I could finally understand her, these were her words, "Ian barfed on my blanket! Now it's ruined!" (more crying continues) Sure enough, poor Ian had vomited in her room, on her blanket and elsewhere.

After all humans and belongings got cleaned up, we managed to convince Avery that I would get her blanket washed and dried and good as new before she even got home from school. And so it is.

Oh, the pains of life. And yes, I got her to school on time...thanks to Jim helping to clean up, getting the boys dressed, and taking them to his school with him until I dropped her off. Love you honey!

To the Point

2011-08-01T17:04:00.002-05:00

Well, I was waiting until I had time to post pictures before I updated, but that could be forever. So, I'm just gonna update and will do pictures later...hopefully.

*The family went to Morgan's Wonderland. It was a great trip. The kids did great. This trip gave my hubby the confidence to do other 'shorter destination' trips with hotel rooms with the kids. On the way there, we met up with a mom and her adorable little boy with FX. I first 'met' her from someone's blog entry I commented on, so it was really cool to meet them in person!

*We've managed to stay cool without spending gobs of money this summer. The main way has been swimming at Gramma's or going into the pool in the backyard that is pictured in previous entry. That's been THE best summer purchase this year!

*Avery turned 6. She had a fun luau party at Gramma's with her friends. We had a hard time thinking of something to get her. One day we saw her riding on Ben's tractor and decided to get her a princess jeep. It's a 2-seater. So now Ben goes to his tractor and Ian hops in the jeep with Avery and they all take rides around the backyard. It's amazing how long they've been able to stand the heat when doing something they enjoy.

That's it for now. I hope to post pictures soon.

not another kitchen untensil!

2011-06-28T21:24:00.003-05:00

Yes, it happened again. Only this time, he asked. This utensil is normally called a collander, used for draining.

However, add this piece of equipment, and the collander becomes a skimmer.

IEPs, ESY, DVDs, and PICs

2011-06-23T18:31:00.006-05:00

Okay, so Ian is now in summer school!! Long story short (for real this time), after a couple phone calls, the summer diagnostician called us Monday morning to let us know she was completing the amendment paperwork (PAPERWORK only, people) for Ian to begin ESY (Extended School Year - summer school). She said the bus paperwork would take an extra day, but if we could transport him, he could start the following day (Tuesday). So, Tuesday morning we took Ian and Benjamin together. Wednesday he was walking out to the bus with Benjamin...soooo cute. Benjamin actually went without hesitation when he saw his brother going. So, all worked out. Now was there some huge ARD committee meeting needed? NO! Know what they did? One piece of paper changing his start date to ESY. ARG!!! Lesson???? Well lots. However, the most important one for me...is to stop being so anxious about things. Although things will not always work out the way I want in life, I still know Who is in control and should leave that up to Him. I may not always like it, but I can always trust it's the best. So I've got to learn to give up my anxiety....can that really happen with our special kiddos???? Hmmmmm. I'll at least keep trying.

Other news: I don't have a picture of this, but hopefully will at some point. I actually watched Ian one day open the DVD changer, take out the DVD, put in a new DVD, start it, and hit play to start the actual video. I couldn't believe it! Downfall is he hasn't quite gotten to where he puts the DVD's back where they belong, so we could easily be swimming in a pool of DVD's by the end of the day if mom didn't come to the rescue.

And lastly, here are a few pics:

Daddy walking Benjamin to his very first bus ride. Benjamin was not amused or excited by it.Daddy carrying Benjamin onto the bus. The noise from the bus was too much for him. Daddy ended up taking him to school that first day.

This may look like a kid on a microphone. I suppose in a sense, it is. The 'microphone' is actually the handle of a Barbie vacuum cleaner. Yes, cute. Very cute. Benjamin will not be out-done!

Oh, let's not forget the drums...the very, very, very, LOUD drums! And we're going to get him a drum set for his birthday?????? What are we thinking!

Ian continuing on the 'microphone', praising God along with the Mercy Me DVD in the background.

Summer fun in the backyard with a friend.

Umm, a good friend of mine, who would KILL me if she knew I posted this pic. Kristie and Tammy....don't say a word!

LONG and ANGRY

2011-06-18T08:07:00.007-05:00

Okay, I know I've always bragged that we've been so incredibly blessed to not have to have gone through what many of you have with school districts with my children because they go to the school where my husband teaches...until now. It's not a HUGE thing, but I'm just afraid it'll be the first of many.

As most of you know, it's hard to just boil it all down into a nutshell, but I'm gonna try. I'm just so frustrated. This is where I don't like having my husband work for the district. At the same time, I am glad, because it helps me to see both sides. But when smoke is undoubtedly being blown....look out! This mama bear gets MAD!

So, let's start with the ARD, which went relatively well (obviously until I signed off on it, which I will NEVER do again without my 5 days to dispute). But from what we were told (incorrectly), we were under the impression that Ian could only do one session of summer school (probably our stupid mistake since he went both sessions last year). But with all the budget cuts, my husband didn't seem too surprised. So, it was decided best for him to go the second session (dates listed as 6/27 - 8/4).

Then, after school was out we received paperwork from the district's Special Ed department listing both boys' summer school dates as 6/13 - 8/4, which is both sessions. Well, we were happy. The bus people came around to introduce themselves and let us know what time they would arrive, blah, blah, blah. They had listed that Ian would start the bus second session (date listed as 7/11 - 8/4). Jim just showed them the paperwork we got from the district and they changed the dates to list that Ian could get on the bus 6/13 with Ben...per the district paperwork.

Then at the end of Ben's first week of summer school, we get a phone call from one of the teachers at summer school because some there were under the impression Ian would be starting first session, some that he would start second session. That started the whole stinkin ball rolling. So, I keep up on calling to check the status of things. I was told by the teacher that they had begun the process and that Ian should be able to start by Wednesday of the following week.

Following week starts, haven't heard anything. So, we call one of the 'higher ups' for the program. She sounded clueless in him starting and told me that based on the ARD, the "data" only supports him going second session. My husband then told me that the word "data" is the buzz word and I'd probably hear it a lot. I did. She must have said that 4-letter word at least 5 times in our conversation. By the way, this woman wasn't even in our ARD meeting. I continue to tell her that the dates on the ARD paperwork are wrong for the start of the second session. She blurbed something and basically made it sound like that was the start of the second session. Yep, I'm supposed to believe her. After a few more minutes, she finally said she would research the "data" more and get back with me. Oh, and let's not forget she mentioned she'd have to contact the ARD committee to do this....Ummmm has she forgotten that I, as parent, am part of the ARD committee????? Now, I want to be sure to add in, that this woman is very nice and I (at this point) do have respect for her, and it's a very amicable conversation.

In the meantime, my sweet husband, having to deal with both ends of it, doesn't want to make too many waves. I can totally understand that. BUT man do I feel totally alone in this. I don't even want him working on it cause I'm afraid he'll be too soft and Ian won't get what he is due to get...especially because it was the district who screwed up. Now, there are some areas I am being careful on because one of the teachers in particular should not catch the fall for this and I want to be sure she doesn't. But I don't feel like he is pushing enough. It's not like we're asking for something the district didn't already say he should be getting!

Okay, on we go. I pull out our ARD paperwork. Long story short, the "data" DOES support he would benefit from summer school. The only thing it DOESN'T support is why he should only get second session.....which has the wrong dates anyway. So, per my request, my husband emails this administrator I had been talking to and informs her of our information and requests an admendment to the ARD be started. I think the only reason he did this was because he gets angry that the district just isn't honest because basically it's all about money, not the best interest of the child, but they throw around words that they hope we have no idea what they're talking about...which is true in most of the cases for me!

I get a message from the administrator telling me after further research, the "data" supports that both sessions would benefit Ian. DUH! She would begin the process for an amendment ARD...which by the way, I do understand might be a pain for those they have to dig up to attend. But seriously, just fill out some paperwork and have us sign it! Curse those parents who have made it soooo difficult for things to be done without the districts all being so afraid of being sued! That's the reason you can't drop a pen without an amendment ARD. Uh-hem. Back to the facts. Administrator says she'll work on getting it done in a timely matter so that Ian would hopefully be able to start Monday. Ok, mama bear happy.

Okay, so another 2 days go by. The summer school teacher calls to let me know that she'll be gone next week, but she has already updated the sub for when Ian starts. Have I heard anything from the admistrator yet? NOPE. So, Jim emails her. Ready for this???????? He gets an automated response back saying she will be out of the office until the 27th!!!! That's the straw that did it for me! Mama bear REALLY angry now. Repect is diminishing. But what this woman doesn't know is that I inadvertantly got information that she WAS wrong on the start date of the second session. And I believe she knows it's wrong. That's the last week of the first session, not the first week of the last session. So anyway they want to slice it, the ARD paperwork IS wrong. And the district DID goof.

I told my husband when all this started, that I would bet him that they planned to sit on their "you know whats" and try to appease long enough until the next thing ya know it's the start of the second session. And then Ian would have missed the entire first session. He was going to agree to that bet....until he got the automated response email.

I could go on and on. But I'm really angry right now and probably shouldn't. So I'll end instead. I'll let ya know what comes next....

Vacation Agenda

2011-06-14T09:02:00.007-05:00

We were going to go to New Mexico this summer and rent a cabin, but ya know what? Sounds too exhausting for me this year....the drive in particular. We did a longer drive last summer to Colorado. It was okay, but exhausting and long. So, we decided to go to San Antonio (only 4 hours) and go to Morgan's Wonderland. Heard of it? If not, go to www.morganswonderland.com and check it out. (Sorry, couldn't get the link to come up.) If anyone has been there and would like to give us your opinion, please do. If you're like us, we just can't do the 'normal' parks and vacation spots...at least not at this stage in kids' lives. So, we've got our hotel booked and 2 days booked at Morgan's Wonderland.

The other great thing about not going so far away is not having to worry about what we're gonna do with Ellie (the dog) for so many days. This way, only being gone 4 days, we have our wonderful college babysitter (turned dog sitter this time) coming to stay at the house. Now we have no worries. House and dog will be well taken care of.

Vacation, here we come!

Graduates

2011-06-02T00:02:00.006-05:00

I have 2 kindergarten graduates this year. I never really understood, or got into, the whole kindergarten graduation thing. I think it's a bit silly, but that's just my opinion. I go along with it. And yes, they do look really cute in the cap.

This was Ian's second (and last) year of kindergarten. Next year is going to be a whole new ballgame for him, including a new school (where he will no longer be with Daddy.....Mommy's not a happy camper). Ian did such a great job during his 'ceremony'. They sang two songs first. Ian sang the words (I watched his lips) and did the right hand movements. He never touched or annoyed anyone around him. Then he sat right down with the rest of the group. He walked back up to stage to get his 'diploma' and back down to his seat again. It was great.

Avery will also be doing something new next year. Still pondering our final decision. She has done fabulous at her school over the last 4 years.

Okay, Avery's graduation experience was not quite as easy as Ian's. When both classes got on stage to sing their songs, I noticed Avery was not there. When I saw her teacher, she had a horrified look on her face and was asking me if I'd seen Avery. Uh-oh. Well, we found her in the hallway. She refused to go in. Another teacher finally coaxed her in, but she was NOT about to get on stage. When it was time for her to get her 'diploma', the music teacher had to coax and lead her up. Ugh. She walked ever so slowly to her teacher, then walked ever so slowly down to the "X" for her picture. When it was time to walk off, my wonderful mommy friends all clapped for her.

Benjamin obviously did not have a kindergarten graduation or kindergarten anything since he's still in pre-K. He had a beach day. Lucky for me, Daddy took the pictures and I did not have to endure the heat. Benjamin, who typically LOVES water, was way more interested in the trikes. Oh well, he had fun.

This picture has absolutely nothing to do with school, I know. I included her because she's so darn cute. This is my great-niece. Adorable, huh!!!

Five Words for Ya!

2011-05-24T16:08:00.003-05:00

BENJAMIN POOPED IN THE TOILET!

Extra words: No pic, sorry.
Extra, extra words: He even told me ahead of time he was going to go poop (I've heard that before, so I didn't believe him....showed me). Thanks for sharing the moment with me!

i got something to grow!

2011-05-20T22:59:00.004-05:00

Okay, just wanted to show everyone that I CAN get something to live for more than a week and even get it to grow. This doesn't happen often. This Hollyhock is something I bought when my MIL and I went to the gardens on Mother's Day. Every year we go, and every year I hesitate whether or not to buy anything to plant. I always vote on not buying because I know one of two things will happen. One, it won't ever get planted. Two, it'll die within a month. This year was different. I decided to buy this and a couple other things. I planted it within about 2 weeks of getting it. So far, it's bloomed great and looks beautiful.

There's hope for me yet!

6 Years

2011-05-13T11:47:00.004-05:00

This was supposed to be posted yesterday, May 12, but when I finally got to sit down at the computer, Blogger was down. So, here it is now.

Yesterday was May 12, which means yesterday was 6 years since our first diagnosis. I was trying to figure out how I felt all day, but I think my emotions escaped me. Overall, I did well. Time does do a certain amount of healing. One thing that tipped me over the edge was a potty incident that happened to Ian at school. The mere fact that Ian won't be at the same school, with Daddy to be there to help out, just drives me insane. I hate all the thoughts I let roll around in my mind. Maybe for once, I should think about all the good "what-ifs". Like, what if he does really well at the new school. What a concept.

Okay, so back to emotions. As I was jogging last night I pondered it all in my head. I began to think about Christ, because I KNOW without a doubt, He has a plan (unbeknownst to me of course) for all that happens, including rotten Fragile X. My kids may have Fragile X, but they're still my kids...wonderful, happy, adorable children. Then I began to think about the Bible verses tell us that we have not suffered anything that Jesus himself did not (He actually endured worse, in my opinion. I wanted to apply that to our situation. Jesus may not have suffered with Fragile X itself, but He did suffer loss. There's a huge sense of loss with the news of a diagnosis...whether it's Fragile X, Downs Syndrome, Autism, Emotional Disorder...whatever. Jesus DID suffer loss. He suffered loss through the death of His friends while on earth. He suffered loss through betrayal. Most of all He suffered loss by time separated from His Father while on the cross. This biggest loss He endured to the end, as is evidenced by His words, "...into Your hands I commit my spirit." He knew that ultimately His spirit belonged to His Father, and He knew the joy coming. And I know that ultimately, my kids belong to Him as well. He has most graciously 'loaned' them to Jim and me. He trusted us to take care of them and to 'train them in the way they should go'.

I cannot answer those who ask the why's of God. I've asked my own. I do believe I will have them answered in heaven...and am thankful that He, the Lord Jesus Christ, found me, loved me, and calls me His own. I could not make it through Fragile X without Him. For those who know Him as your Lord and your Savior and your Friend, don't ever let Him go! For those who say that He is responsible for all your woes in life, I am truly sad you feel that way and hope that your eyes too will one day be open to what it REALLY means to have Him as your Savior. It's a lot to take in, but well worth it. It's the only thing that makes this journey bearable for me.

So, my final thoughts....does any of this make it easier to live life? Does it make having Fragile X (or anything else) great? Absolutely not. But it does lead me through each day. And it reminds me to find the joy in all things....the kids' smiles, the "I love you's", each accomplishment, etc. Because Christ was willing and able to endure all He did, it makes me want to do my best to 'endure' to honor all He did for me.

Okay, thanks for sharing this day (a day late) with me. I still remember it like it was yesterday, and I will remember the other 2 as they come along too. It's good to have friends and bloggers to share it with!

McDonalds Here We Come!

2011-04-30T11:16:00.004-05:00

It's a wonderful day here in our household. First, Ian has been really good, behavior-wise. He's been enjoyable for the other kids to play with, and receptive to discipline when needed. But that's not the best of it....

I put underwear on both the boys today (knowing full well it's a risk with Benjamin in particular). Ian was playing with the other kids. All of a sudden I saw him dart across the house to the bathroom and shut the door. So I sneaked over to listen. Sure enough....pee! ALL BY HIMSELF! I am so stinkin' proud of him! And I let him know it! Wish you could have seen his proud face!

When the timer went off, I took Benjamin...totally against his will. Sat him down, and man...he pee'd a large river! But his underwear was dry. So, he got the accolades as well. (Especially at the thought of what it would have been like had he pee'd all that in his underwear!)

What would have made these proud moments better? Well, obviously if it would have been poop that Ian did in the toilet. And if Benjamin would have run to the bathroom himself to relieve all that liquid. BUT HEY! Ya take what ya get, and ya don't throw a fit, right? RIGHT! I'm lovin' it.

Oh, I forget to mention, that all this equals McDonalds time. Ian thinks we're going because he went potty by himself, Benjamin thinks we're going because he stayed dry and pee'd alot in the toilet, and Avery thinks we're going just because she's a little princess. Truth is....they're all correct!

Avery Saying Worth a Whole Entry

2011-04-26T18:05:00.002-05:00

I emailed this to my friends/family and then decided it was worth sharing with all who would read.

Just wanted to share the latest "Avery saying". Warning: Not for the faint of heart. :)

Background...She's been having some bowel movement issues. We'll leave it at that. We had to tell her that if she didn't go, we were going to have to use a sapository. See if you can guess how Jim explained one to her....(the shape)

Today....she went into the bathroom to go. Of course she wanted me in there. (Nothing I would rather do.) She gets that look of fear on her face that it's going to hurt. So, me, being the cheerleader I am, start chanting a little cheer to encourage her. Pretty soon (longer than I would have liked), I hear several big droppings go into the toilet. She gets this big grin on her face and we high five and hug.

After she gets off, she says, "Mommy, I guess this means I don't have to have a bullet now."

Yep, for real.

My Baby is 4! Can't Be!

2011-04-25T14:53:00.002-05:00

For some reason, for me, saying that my child is 3 sounds young. But saying that he's turning 4 changes everything. Maybe cuz it's closer to being 5. Who knows. It all still happens regardless. And Benjamin turns 4 today. We had his party weekend before Easter weekend. He had a lot of fun with his friends in the sandbox, on the trampoline, on the swingset, in the playroom, on the computer, etc., etc.

I ended up being pretty proud of the cakes I made. Since Benjamin LOVES the Veggie Tales song, I decided to go with a Bob and a Larry Cake. This being against my husband's opinion that I should just go buy a cake and not stress out. Hmmmph. No can do. Party started at 2pm and I started the cakes at 11am. Just finished them up as the first few guests arrived.

Ben really enjoyed opening the presents and occasionally tried to eat a piece of wrapping. The toy of all toys came the next day. Grandma and Papa got him a riding, battery operated John Deer Tractor with wagon. Fun, fun, fun. So, here are a few pics to share.

Survived the Scrapbook Retreat

2011-04-11T20:57:00.009-05:00

We had our annual April scrapbook retreat this past weekend. Loads of fun! Practical jokes was the theme of the weekend. When introduced to 16 year Jessica, her first remark was, "Oh,you're one of the big pranksters!" So, Here are the highlights.

This was a prank gone bad. It was meant for me. Unfortunately for the ladies, I caught on a little too early and no scream was heard from me! (It's stuffed! They got the owner, Larry, involved in this prank. It's one of his.)

This is the infamous 'bird'. I found out this weekend that is a roadrunner. Anyway, Jill pulled a good one and it was hiding for me under the lamp when I went to bed.

This is a pic of the group of ladies who went. Great group of women!

One of my layouts...to show we actually did work!

The bird again. This was actually the first joke pulled. After being asked to remind Jill to call someone the next morning, I decided to let the bird remind her when she got up to go to the restroom the next morning. It worked.

I'm sure the picture says enough.

Sharing in the joy!

We had a great time of prayer Saturday afternoon.
.
Sneak peak at the some of the wildlife.

Havin a good time.

My sweet great friend and coordinator of the retreats.

Hmm, the mango is a long story. Your secret is safe with me, Sue!

Time Flies

2011-04-06T00:01:00.003-05:00

I can't believe it's been nearly a month since I've made an entry. It's late right now and gotta get to bed. Just wanted to let everyone know I'm still here. Hoping to get spring break pics posted soon. Leaving town tomorrow afternoon for a ladies' scrapbooking retreat. First of 2 for the year. It's great fun. More posting after I return.

Spring Break Comin' Up

2011-03-11T07:48:00.004-06:00

So excited. Today is Friday, and next week is spring break. We are once again blessed to be going to what we have affectionally called the "cabin in the woods". Only this time we're doubly blessed because our friends are going with us!

We were first blessed by the cabin in the woods after we received our first two diagnoses (did I spell that right?), within 6 months of each other. Our good friends (and pastors at the time) knew the family that owned this cabin. This family uses their cabin not only for themselves, but also as a ministry to others. So, our friends told this family about our stressful situation and they invited us to spend some time out at their cabin. So, we went when Ian was 2 and Avery was about 6 months or so. We have kept in touch with this family ever since and have been fortunate enough to be able to go at least once a year since then. The kids love going. And I've no doubt our friends are going to love it as well. Total relaxation (well, except for keeping up with kiddos, of course).

Hoping everyone has a blessed, relaxing, and fun spring break...whenever yours is. Here's a few pics from last year's cabin in the woods.

Major Leap of Faith

2011-03-03T21:45:00.003-06:00

No more hee-hawing around. The decision is made. I will be home-schooling Avery next year for 1st grade. Most of you don't know that this is something I've been struggling with as her school career at her current school draws to and end (it's only PK through Kinder...boohoo). Although I am a certified teacher, schooling my own children scares me to death. Two events have lead to this decision. Both involving the Lord...what a shock.

The first is a book study I'm doing with a dear friend of mine. It's "Beautiful Things Happen when a Woman Trusts God" by Sheila Walsh. The second is a Jonah bible study I'm doing with a group of ladies. Through the Jonah study, I've learned something about myself and this homeschooling thing....like Jonah running away from what God called him to do, I've been running away from this homeschooling thing; trying to come up with every reason why I shouldn't do it, and never feeling at peace with any of those reasons. Through the Sheila Walsh book, I've learned that I don't have to be afraid that I don't have what it takes. If this is what the Lord is calling me to do (which I truly believe it is), then He has already (ALREADY) equipped me with what I need and He has already told me that I have what it takes (I just haven't been listening).

This is not really a subject I like to talk about in front of parents who choose not to homeschool, or have only seen the 'failed' homeschool attempts (there's plenty out there). But oh, I feel badly if they've never seen it work. I have plenty of friends who have beautifully homeschooled their kiddos. All have different personalities and thus homeschool differently.

I really don't have opinions for what other parents choose to do. It doesn't bother me if they homeschool; it doesn't bother me if they put them in a private school; it doesn't bother me if they put them in public school. They know what's best for their children and family. So why is it that I get so much slack for my choice? Of course the biggest reason I hear as to why I shouldn't homeschool is "what about their socialization?" Let's NOT even go there. If you're familiar with homeschooling at all, you know that there are plenty of opportunities for socializing. That's all I'll say about that so that I don't accidently offend anyone. :)

As for the boys? Well, Benjamin we know will stay at his public school in the PPCD program. We're very glad about that. Ian? Not quite sure what our options are for him yet. I panic everytime I think about that one. I'm hoping to one day be able to homeschool him, but this upcoming year will not be the year.

So, I am still nervous about what this will look like, but very peaceful that God has truly shown me the best direction for Avery's schooling. I always love it when I know that He has put His hand in my life to guide me! I hate feeling lost! Anyone have any encouraging words for me......I'm all ears.

Avery saying:
Me: "Avery, what did you learn at school today?"
Avery: "I learned that the moon is 150 million gallons away!"
(I forget the number she used. It's the 'gallons' that cracked me up.)

From Swordsman to Caregiver

2011-02-24T12:04:00.003-06:00

I think the pics say it all! My Benjamin is ALL boy....with a sensitive side. He will pick up anything and turn it into a sword (and make sure you have one as well). But when duty calls, he's right there to take care of the babydoll too!

No More Kitchen Utensils!

2011-02-05T09:31:00.003-06:00

Background Info: During our first year of marriage, we lived in a duplex with not a big yard. Luckily, it didn't have any grass either because we didn't own a lawnmower. Correction: We owned a push mower....literally....push. No motor. We didn't own one single lawn tool other than that. Well eventually dirt and what little grass there was began to become unsightly in the sidewalk edges. I went out front one day to see what Jim could possibly be doing with the lawn he said he was going to go work on. To my horror, he was edging the lawn with my pizza cutter! Yes, you read that correctly...pizza cutter. Genius? Men would say 'yes'. I would probably even say 'yes', but would never admit it to Jim after the way I went off on him for using a kitchen utensil on the lawn.

Back to the present: It's now been 11 1/2 years of marriage. Various kitchen utensils still get used for non-kitchen jobs (meat scissors for cutting non-food items, forks used as a screwdriver, rolling pin used as a hammer, etc). Keep in mind, most of it is used because he can't find where he last put the proper tool for the job. He has been working hard re-doing our master bathroom. I went in there the other day, and what did I find? Yep, a kitchen untensil (albeit only a spoon) being used for... I'm not sure what.

End result: I told him I was getting him a Lowe's gift card for Father's Day. And if I saw him mis-using one more kitchen untensil after that, I was going to go make a VERY LARGE purchase of some sort. VERY LARGE. Hmmmm, we'll see what happens.

Side note: I did get a new pizza cutter after the edging incident.

The Sweetest Moments

2011-01-30T15:07:00.004-06:00

For Jim and I, one of our biggest desires as parents is to know that our children are growing up seeing Jesus in us. We often wonder if that is the case...you know, at those moments where you just 'lose it'. Well, God has shown me otherwise in my children. Just today, I can list the sweetest moments.....watching Ian singing during worship time at church, hands raised, eyes closed, voice loud....Avery in her room singing "Jesus Loves Me" and "This Little Light of Mine"....Avery telling me her version of Noah and the Ark and Jonah and the Big Fish.

If it's such complete joy to my heart, I can only imagine what joy it must bring to their Father in heaven!!!!

Avery saying: Playing hide and seek, Avery's turn to count. Avery: "Okay, it's my turn to count. Hide someplace I can find you."

it's a new day

2011-01-05T13:23:00.008-06:00

happier entry today. sorry but my shift key has a mind of its own today, so all lower-caps and no great punctuation marks. if you happen to see one, it's because the shift key decided to work at that moment in time.

First, Avery...

This is baby addison. She is Avery's reward for her not sucking her finger anymore. it's been over 2 months now and we don't use the 'anti-finger-sucking' polish anymore. i recommend it to anyone working on the task of removing a finger or thumb. it's called Mavala Stop. heard about it from a friend and ordered it from Amazon.

Avery is extremely proud of her infant baby alive. she takes very good care of her and loves being a 'mom'. When her teacher asks her what she wants to be when she grows up, she always says 'a mom'. hmmm, does she like me that much? yep. This picture is of Addison ...which is what she named her .... buckled in the carseat while Avery is away at school. She told me to take care of her and feed her. i said i would. Don't tell her i accidently left her in the car all day.

Now ian....

yes, we actually have a tooth now. i was helping ian brush his teeth, when all of a sudden i see this white thing on his tongue and blood in his mouth. i freaked with excitement at the thought of actually having one of his teeth. So, of course, this made him freak..luckily with laughter. i pushed his head forward and the tooth came close enough to his lip for me to grab it....no, i was not about to risk losing a finger by putting it inside his mouth. Then i had him try to spit as much blood as he could into the sink. i don't know about your child's spitting techniques, but mine have a lot to be desired. but overall he did pretty good. he was laughing so much that i can't believe he never vomited. bleeding finally stopped, and i'm a proud mom of a tooth that didn't go m.i.a.

Finally, benjamin...

And here is benjamin displaying his pride in his new boots from Christmas. After seeing how much he loved putting on ian's boots...and anybody else's he could find...we finally decided he needed a pair of his own. he wants to wear nothing else. Literally, he would be fine butt naked with the boots. he is sooooooo stinkin' adorable..exclamation point.

OMG!

2010-12-30T09:42:00.003-06:00

That's about all I can say these days. Well, maybe I have a few more words, but you don't really want to hear them right now.

After catching up on some of ya'lls blogs (finally), I've realized that I'm not the only one extra tired these days. And I don't mean sleepy type tired. Everything about my life is exhausting me to the point of crying...which I have done. From vomit trying to brush teeth, to really SICK AND TIRED of changing pull-ups, particularly poopy ones, to books being ruined, to markers being ruined, to being woken up at night, to boogery noses, etc., etc.

Here's the real deal...we really do have a lot of sweet days. And when my kids are sweet, they are really sweet. Take for example, the wonderful kisses (for no reason) that Benjamin just came to give me! My real struggle has been that I have not been holding on to God's grace and strength. And because days have been so crazy over the last month or more, I have not stayed in touch with the ones who really challenge me to seek the only One who can get me through this life. I've lost a lot of the 'challenge' (you know, the ones who ask the hard questions and don't just 'fluff' the conversations) in many of those friends, but it only takes one. (BTW, I just got a kiss from Ian too.) So, as I prayed the other day, I will praise Him for all His good gifts (for He knows exactly how good they are). Even when my days are tough, He will get my praise.

Now, don't get me wrong. I am NOT unhappy with my life. Yes, it does get hard to watch 'normal' families, but that doesn't mean I'm unhappy with my own life.

Okay, the next entry will catch up on all the Christmas joys, like listening to Avery tell me all about God's forgiveness!

Avery saying: Avery: "Mommy, how do you spell 'drum'?" Mommy: "You mean as in the instrument?" Avery: "No, I mean as in the word."

Another Tooth Bites the Dust

2010-12-11T09:40:00.003-06:00

I've been waiting and waiting and waiting for one of Avery's teeth to come out because the replacement tooth has already come in behind it. It is so loose, I just want to 'pop' it out. But she will have nothing to do with it. It's practically just hanging there.

In the meantime, Ian is talking to me this morning and what do I notice? A tooth gone! We have yet to actually see one of Ian's teeth that has come out. All we see is a hole in his mouth. I didn't even know that particular tooth was loose! I've been watching another one that's loose.

I figure he either lost it in his bed or he swallowed it. Hmmmm, I think I'll just stick to searching his bed for it.

Looks Innocent, Right?

2010-12-06T09:37:00.004-06:00

Ian looks innocent enough holding these wooden mallets, right?.
BUT....add in the words he is saying....., "Bennnnn....come here....NOW!" Not so innocent anymore!

Oh, She's Sooooo Me!

2010-11-17T07:31:00.003-06:00

We've been working on getting Avery to stop sucking her finger. So a friend told me about this stuff called Mavala Stop. Goes on like fingernail polish, stinks to high heaven, and tastes worse than fingernail polish. The first time I put it on her, I took the time to try to explain it all to her as to why she needs to stop sucking her finger. She seemed to be okay with it. We even have the bribe going.....when she's stopped for a certain number of days then she gets to go to the store and pick out something she wants. Luckily, I'm catching her earlier than my sister, who just got her 8 year old to stop....but had to bribe her with an I-pod! Whew, I get out cheaper!

I put it on her and she calmly walks away. As she's walking I can hear her under her breath saying, "I'm NOT going to stop sucking my finger." All going okay for a few days, with only minor hissy fits. Then Jim catches her sucking her thumb! Oooh, she's a smart one! So, the next time I make sure to put it on all fingers and thumbs. She didn't like that at all. Cried and cried. I consoled and consoled.

Yesterday when I put it on, she got upset, but not too badly. Then she walked away. Then, she came back, walked past me, and smartly said, "I washed it ALL off. Hmph." NOT a smart thing to say! So I brought her back to me and put more on! Little did she know, you can't just wash or wipe the nasty stuff off. That's the beauty of it!

It's like one of those cartoons, where the character tries everything in their power to accomplish something, but it just doesn't work. I don't think she even realizes that she's doing fine not sucking her finger. She just keeps trying to outsmart me. She's funny to watch, but "OH, she's just like me!"

Bitter Sweet Field Trip

2010-10-30T22:33:00.005-05:00

Well, I went to Ian's first field trip of the year. Ian had a great time. Mom had a difficult time. I was in tears before we left and almost left early. I felt like an idiot having the teachers try to console me. Will I ever get past all this? Okay, here's what happened.

First, it's so hard on my heart when I see the kids have difficulty with Ian. They tell the teacher every time he even touches them (and I caught one that told when Ian never even touched him). And when Ian gets a little (okay, a lot) loud, I can see some annoyance in their faces. Okay, now let me give the real story. I am WAY hyper-sensitive to all of it. Truth is, the kids weren't really that bad. But to me, that's what I see.

Second, I felt it was best if Ian didn't ride this wagon pulling tractor thing. No adults could go on it, and if Ian had an inkling to stand up, he could have easily fallen out of the moving vehicle. The risk wasn't worth it to me. Did Ian care? NO! He happily waved bye to the other kids. Me, however.....I hated it. I hated that I even had to think about any risks. I teared up a bit at this point, but managed to suck it up because they were going on a hayride right after (adults allowed).

Third, while the kids were on this ride, we thought Ian had a poopy. Due to a miscommunication, the school did not bring the pull-ups I packed in his backpack (the same backpack his sack lunch was packed in). Luckily, I had one in the van. The walk to the van was a nightmare. I couldn't get Ian to understand that he wasn't leaving, but we had to change him. He screamed, he got angry, and he plopped himself down several times. We get to the van, I took his pull-up off....it wasn't even dirty!!!! He must have just had gas. Now this meant: 1) no more pull-ups left cause I had to put the extra one on him after I ripped off the one he had on; 2) I put him through all that for no reason. I felt horrible. Now in hindsight, he was probably trying to tell me he wasn't dirty.

Fourth, because of that whole episode, Ian missed the actual hayride! Again, he didn't care. I don't think he even knew. But I did. So, as we stood there waiting for them to return, I choked back my tears and decided it was probably best for me to leave (I met the school bus there). When I tried to tell his teacher and the aides......the river flooded. I couldn't open my mouth without crying. I'm sure they thought I was a crazed parent. I told them Ian was doing great, but that my heart just couldn't handle it. They were so sweet, and I see the concern on their faces. Long story short, they talked me into staying. I'm glad I did. Ian really did do a great job and had great fun, and the other kids really did do great with him.

I just want to feel like a normal parent sometimes, instead of always worrying or getting upset over the 'missed' things, especially when it never seems to upset him. Argh!

Cute Stuff

2010-10-28T10:34:00.010-05:00

Isn't he adorable! This is from his PPCD class. I'm not sure what the story is, but all the kids get to dress up like scarecrows. We have the same picture of Ian when he was Benjamin's age.

This was a sheet Ian did at school. The boy can write his name....pretty darn good too! I have to admit, this is something I would never have believed he'd be doing at this point. But, I also have not had very high expectations either. I suppose this is pretty normal for most of us during this journey. But as of late, I have learned to start raising the bar. So, when we do his homework, I really push him as far as he'll let me. I've been so proud of him. We got a note from his teacher last week that was soooo encouraging. She said that he reads all his sight words and that he's getting close to counting 5 objects one-to-one correspondence (touching each object when he counts it). My peacock feathers were quite proud!

Avery is doing great in school as well. I'm bummed that this private school only goes to kindergarten. I would love for them to add grades. She is really challenged and doing good meeting the challenge. Her writing is improving, she's trying to spell words on her own, and she does an awesome job at reading. I have also really enjoyed becoming good friends with a few of the moms from last year and this year. We've started meeting once a month for a "mom's night out". It's been great.

Thanks to great friends and family, I have been able to go to all three kids' first field trips this year. Makes for some really cute pics!

Ellie, the dog, is doing pretty well. Still in puppy stage. We went and had her spayed a week and a half ago. She developed this ping pong size lump on her belly. I knew a small lump was normal, but this seemed a bit large. So I took her in and they gave her some antibiotics for it and said it was more than likely due to over-activity. Bad parents! Well, come to find out, while I was gone for 4 days, Jim was making sure everyone, including the dog, was happy and well-exercised. Oops.

Okay, that's my update on things for the most part. Til next time....

Can He PLEASE Stay This Little?

2010-10-19T19:37:00.007-05:00

"A clue! A clue!" "Wat dat?" "Where Ben? "There e is!" "I coming!" "Ellie, sit!" "I pooped." "Snack, pease." "Tank you, daddy." "I did it!" "Night,night." "No!" "Honey, you can't love a duck!" (this is a song they sing at school) "Open it pease." "Hi Avery!"

These are just a few of the fine phrases my little Benjamin says. And I wish I could put the voice sound on my blog. It is soooooo incredibly cute to hear him in his tiny little voice.

I have just been so blown away by how he has been able to communicate his wants and needs to us. While it's not always distinguishable, most of the time we can figure it out. At this age (3), Ian was only saying single words. I'm sure it has a lot to do with Ian was the first kid, Benjamin is the third...being able to listen to two siblings talk all the time.

I know they have to grow up...just life. But, oh, he's soooooo adorable just the way he is!

Everyone Should Have a Bethany in Their Life!

2010-10-12T10:57:00.003-05:00

Where does the time go? It seems everytime I try to sit to catch this thing up, I get distracted and on to something else. Then, the next thing I know, what I had planned to write seems quite outdated. Oh well, that's life I suppose.

So, Jim and I had our 11 year anniversary on October 2. We had planned for a get-a-way night at a B&B that Jim found....he's a great planner. Long story short, the way we thought it would work out was not going to work out. We were hoping to start out early and not come home until evening on Saturday. Our sitters' plans had a different idea. So we needed additional back-up. So, after another failed attempt, I decided to call Bethany. Who is Bethany, you ask? Bethany is the only 14 year old we would ever let watch our children. She's not 14 anymore. She's now 2nd year in college. She is incredible with the kids and loves them sooooo much. She started babysitting for us when we just had Ian. She is creative, mature, responsible, loving, fun, and remembers all the 'extra' stuff for the kids (ie. pills, baths (even when not asked), bedtime routines, etc.). I never have to worry about whether or not something is getting done....yes, I still call - - - I AM a mom!

Anyway, she goes to college an hour and a half away. I called her up, told her our dilemma and without hesitation, she agreed to come up to watch the kids all day Saturday. So, now we have an overnight place for them (thank you, Grandma and Papa) and Saturday is taken care of.

Saturday morning comes. We finish breakfast (yummy), and get ready to head out for our fun for the day. As we were figuring out how long we had before we needed to head back, we started pondering the option of staying another night. Could we?....dare we?....ask Bethany to stay the night with the kids????? Yep. So, I called her, made our request, and again, without hesitation, she agreed! I started crying, and told her I wish I could get her to understand what a blessing this was to us. She said she loves the kids and since she came up just to watch them, she didn't make any other plans for the weekend.

There you have it. Everyone (especially families with special needs) should have a Bethany in their life! We love you dearly, young lady!

It's THAT Time of Year!

2010-09-24T21:41:00.004-05:00

I meant to post this yesterday because yesterday was the official first day of fall!!! My favorite time of year...especially here in Texas. Now we haven't gotten a cool-down yet, but I hear it's coming. And I am sooooooo ready! How could you NOT like fall? You got football, better weather, beautiful trees (well, somewhere anyway), Ian's birthday, fall festivals, our anniversary (11 years this October). Did I mention football? Oh, yeah.

I'm hoping to get brave enough to take the kids to a pumpkin patch thing this year. I'll let ya know if I have a major break-through and decide to do it.

What is this Beautiful Picture?

2010-09-09T13:46:00.005-05:00

This is one of THE most beautiful pictures residers of parts of Texas could ever see. DEAD FIRE ANTS! Sick, I know. This mound, which we have poisoned at least twice, came up looking like this after a day and a half of massive rain. Now, unfortunately there are two things we can be sure of. One, for each one of these dead ants there are at least a thousand more live ones seeking vengeance. Two, those lives ones are searching out a place in our backyard to reside. Horrible little creatures!

Introducing Ellie

2010-08-23T10:03:00.007-05:00

This is Ellie. She is an 8 week old Labradoodle (mostly lab looking), and she's ours. What possesssed us to get a dog, you might ask...and many have asked. Well, a husband that caved and a friend who was packing her up to go before we had even decided....she's great that way.

We went to our friends' for dinner. That's Jennifer in the picture above. They're dog had 9 pups. Jim was, "no way are we coming home with a dog." I wanted one...mostly the thought of one. There are things about having a dog I just don't miss...mainly dog hair, vet bills, spending money, and figuring what to do with it when we go out of town. So, off we go, planning on coming home with the same number we left with.

Jim goes into the room to look at the pups and walks out with one in his hand. I knew we were in trouble at that point. He said he wasn't expecting any of the pups to look have the smooth hair of a lab. He doesn't like the way Labradoodles look with the wiry, curly hair. (Sorry, doodle owners). So, very quickly, my friend Jennifer starts packing up the dog food and her husband gives the dog her shot and de-worming thing. Whoa! Then came the real kicker. First, they said we could do a trial run. If after a week things just didn't work out, we bring her back. Second, when we go out of town, we take her there for them to take care of. Gee, what more could you ask....besides paying for vet bills. :)

Now, most of you don't the history of us and dogs. Before we had children, we got a dog. You know...the, 'having trouble having kids, so get a dog syndrome'. So, we spoil the dog for nearly 2 years. Then we begin having kids...one every other year. Long story short, Dante (the dog) did not like it. Then add the FX on top of it and it was a mix for disaster. Dante began loosing his hair, gaining a lot of weight, and peeing on the floor. In a nutshell, the vet said he was stressed. So, we gave him to a good family. No more dog. Never planned to get another dog. Hmmmm.

Well, all the way home, Ian and Avery were blurting out name ideas. Avery wants to name her every princess there is, and Ian...well, he just blurts out names. Avery's favorite was Cinderella. Ian's favorite was Jesus. It was quite cute. So, as we were going through all the video characters they know, we finally settled on Ellie (the name of the female mammoth on Ice Age 2).

She's doing great so far. The kids don't seem as interested in her as I thought they would. Avery likes her and will read to her. Ian's indifferent. Benjamin most of the time doesn't like her and will cry because she, of course, jumps and nips. Potty training, you ask? Well, I don't want to jinx it all (if you believe in that), but it's almost like she's already potty-trained. She's only had 1 small accident in the house. Otherwise, pees and poops outside....but despises the heat! Who can blame her? She has black fur!

So, we'll see in a week if we still have a dog.

Bad News, Really Bad News, More Bad News, Good News!

2010-08-17T22:51:00.001-05:00

Bad News: My cell phone fell in the toilet. I quickly, without even thinking grabbed it, ripped the battery out, and began drying furiously. Yes, the white dot turned pink.

Really Bad News: It was AFTER I pee'd.

Really Really Bad News: Ian saw the whole thing and thought it was funny.....anyone besides me see him tossing a cell phone in the toilet anytime soon?

More Bad News: After realizing the phone wasn't coming back on, I called to file a claim with the phone insurance to get a replacement phone.....they say I don't have insurance on it! Argh! My mistake when I hooked up the information when we 1st got the phones. Must have overlooked the insurance part.

Good News: I TURNED ON MY PHONE AGAIN AND IT'S CURRENTLY WORKING!

Needles Update

2010-08-12T08:54:00.005-05:00

Thanks for the responses from the help entry I posted. I actually ended up getting my answer from the doctor. Imagine that. I've had such not appealing luck with doctors, I almost just don't trust their 'opinions' anymore. However, a friend referred me to our new pedi and she's great...so far anyway. She's actually familiar with fragile X. She not only did not look at me weird when I told her that Benjamin had not any shots yet, she also wisely helped out with where to start. Basically she suggested to get the ones that are pertinent for today. For example...she says they don't see cases of Hib much these days, but do see Diptheria, Pertussis, Tetnus stuff. Therefore, skip the Hib for now and go for the DTaP. Okay, you get the point.

So, we pull up to the dr. office and I tell Avery (who has been a brave girl thus far) that she can take her bear in to help her feel better. She told me she didn't think that would make her feel better. I asked her what she thought would help. She says, "Mommy, the only thing that will help me feel better is if I don't get the shot at all." Smart one.

We get in there and she diplomatically tells me all the reasons Benjamin should go first. She had done so well....until....the nurse came in with the shots. Eyes get big and filled with tears and the pleading begins. After finally getting her on the table, she proceeds to hold her arm and scream and scream and beg and beg. Ultimately, the nurse and I won and she had 2 shots before she knew what hit her. I felt so badly for her, but she did eventually recover. This was her first time to get a shot in the arm. Typically, she had gotten them in the thigh and couldn't walk for the rest of the day (drama queen). When we got home, she told me she didn't want to walk. I told her she didn't get the shots in her leg so she would be fine to walk. She held out a limp arm and said, "But Mommy, when I walk, my arm moves." How could I argue that? By the end of the day, she was all better.

Benjamin, you ask? He was a trooper. Zero tears. Of course, he didn't know what was coming, so he was all relaxed and didn't tense his muscles. Hope he stays doing that well in the future!

So, we all recovered the whole immunization thing once again.....until next time....

Need Help Quick!

2010-07-27T15:58:00.002-05:00

We are getting ready to start Benjamin's immunizations. We chose to wait until he would be entering the germ infested atmosphere of school. That time is about to start. He's 3. I believe that some of the earlier immunizations are dud now at his age. So, I'm looking for information on a schedule/immunizations to go by at this age. We opt not to do the MMR. The book I've read doesn't really give an alternative schedule this late, except for a few of the immunizations. If you have a good website to go to, a book, or a good email help, please reply back quickly. I have his appointment to go in this Friday. Yes, I'm a procrastinator. If I have to, I can cancel his until I get more information. Just thought I'd check with you all first. Thanks!

My Little Angel is 5!

2010-07-22T20:22:00.015-05:00

Ok, now that we're back from vacation, I figured I post about Avery's bday party from the 10th before our vacation details.

Avery had a great time. This year, we decided to make it a 'kid friends' only party. So, she picked about 7 or so kids (and their parents) from school and then we had 'non-school' friends (and their parents). She's the only summer bday, so she gets the swim/cook-out party over at grandma and papa's. Everyone swimmed, ate burgers and hotdogs, and had loads of fun. And we got an extra surprise because I thought my family wasn't going to be able to make the trip. They called the night before while I was away making the cake to let me know they would be here, but Jim forgot to tell me. So, it was a nice surprise to me the day of the party.

The highlight of the party actually happened before the party. See, I've had all the kids' bday cakes made by a friend of mine (who does an incredible job!) or by me (who does a decent job). I was so disappointed in the cake I bought for Ian's first bday, I decided no more. Well, after 6 years of having all the cakes made, I decided maybe I would go ahead and just buy one this year for Avery. Then I decided I just couldn't do it. It's kinda become a tradition now. Therefore, I decided to make my first icecream cake.

I needed to make it over at my in-laws so that Avery wouldn't see it and so that it would already be in the freezer. I wish I could go into every single detail of that evening and the next day. Hilarious doesn't cover it. The cake was supposed to be a sandcastle icrecream cake. It ended up looking like a sandcastle AFTER the big wave hit it. My MIL was laughing so hard I thought we were going to have to take her to the hospital. Needless to say, we had tons of fun making it. And you know what?! It tasted awesome and Avery loved it!

Avery's 'big' gifts were her violin, by mom and dad, and purple dress to wear while 'playing' the violin, made by grandma. She was thoroughly excited and missed both her violin and her dress while we were on vacation.

Another birthday gone. Another wonderful year with her has passed so quickly. I love you, sweet Avery!

Avery loves being thrown in the water
The dog cage was a big hit for the kids too!

Avery and her cousin enjoying a ride on the alligator
Grillin' Papa

Avery in her purple dress ready to play her new violin
THE cake! Remind you of Amatyville Horror House?
This was an extra special gift from Grandma and Papa that arrived after we got home from vacation!!!! Was actually a gift for all the kids. Wahoo!!

Vacation Time - woo-hoo!

2010-07-11T10:51:00.002-05:00

Literally on our way out the door for vacation in Colorado. Ready to get away from this heat for a while. Will check back when we get back. Have a great week all!

Did He REALLY Say That?

2010-07-01T00:17:00.003-05:00

Yeah, so if any of you have kids like my oldest, you're probably broke from buying food. The boy literally eats more than I do. He'd eat an entire pizza if we let him. And 5 minutes after that pizza he'd say, "I'm hungry" or "guacamokie?"** This is no joke. Earlier on, people would say, well if he's hungry, he should eat. After all, look how tiny he is. Yeah, right. Let's just start all the bad over eating habits early just because the kid has no sense of fullness. Most who know us the best can now testify that, no, he shouldn't eat just cause he SAYS he's hungry.

Okay, so this morning I asked what they wanted for breakfast. And out of Ian's mouth (sheer accident, I'm sure) comes...are you ready for this..."I'm not hungry. I don't wanna eat." If I wouldn't have been sitting, I would have fallen. I literally went to feel his head to be sure there was no fever. Guess what I found out? The kid's got a great sense of humor! For as I'm walking away, he says, "Toast?"

**Guacamokie is Ian's guacamole...just in case you didn't get it.

Another knocked out tooth...is that really necessary?

2010-06-24T08:55:00.007-05:00

Yes, he did it again! Benjamin was running with the football away from his brother. Being the careful boy his is not, he turned his head for a second. In that second, he managed to swerve his body too much to the right, smacking himself into the barstool. Now let me tell you, it just did not look like a very hard hit. He cried, I went over to console. Then Jim tells me there's a lot of blood. As we attempt to look at him, Jim says it's his lip that got busted. As I look a bit more, I notice the space where he knocked out his first tooth is bigger. Jim was in shock when I told him I think he knocked out another tooth. "NO WAY!" were his exact words.

Sure enough, once the blood cleared a bit and we managed to get Benjamin's hands out of his mouth for a few seconds, we could see the missing spot. I ran over to the barstool to look for the tooth. I found it a few feet from the scene of the accident. I found 2 pieces. I was confused however, because one looked like a whole tooth, the other looked like a piece, and I couldn't get them to go together. Of course, I panicked thinking he had also broken a piece off another tooth. After looking at the second piece, Jim informed me it was only a pebble. Whew! After feeling a bit silly, I was quite relieved.

The meltdown of the episode didn't last near as long as the first one. Does this mean he's getting used to it? No, no, no, no! It also didn't bleed as much or as long as the first time. And mommy didn't freak near as much as the first time.

So, his nickname lives on...BooBoo!

Catch Up Time

2010-06-19T15:22:00.001-05:00

Summer is going pretty good so far. Ian is doing extended year and has 2 more weeks left. Since its from 8am-2:00pm, that leaves a lot of time spent with Avery and Ben together. They always play really well together and I think have enjoyed their time. But it's always nice to hear, "when will Ian be home?".

This past week, Avery did a Princess Ballerina day camp Monday-Thursday. She really enjoyed it and looked darn cute! They had a 30 second 'recital' the last day. Avery completely froze. Oh well. She was still cute.

We took Avery and Benjamin to a nearby mini-aquatic park. It's a great way to beat the 98 degree heat without having to endure the bigness of a water park. Of course, Benjamin waited that day to have his first poop until about 10 minutes after he'd been playing in the water. No biggy. Just changed and went on as usual. They've also been swimming in the little backyard pool. That's a nice easy way to beat the heat as well.

Of course, they've all been swimming at Grandma's a few times. And of course, I forgot to take pictures each time. I always like to get their 'first swim' of the summer. So, pics will say first swim, but it'll actually be later. Who'll know?!

We've gone to visit my family once since school's been out. My newest niece is just adorable.

Jim leaves for Chicago to visit his dad next week for a week. So, I'm planning my 'time alone' today at the pool. No kids, no noise, just me.

My niece on Jim's side left yesterday to live with her dad. It was a sad day. I won't go into how all worked out that way, but I'm sure if she's going to live with her dad, you can guess the jest of the reason why. I know it's absolutely the best thing for her. She's actually been living with Grandma and Papa for quite some time now, which has been great. But life was just too 'unknown' and topsy-turvy here. I know she would have rather stayed here and stayed living with them, but she needed to get away and start a new, stable life. We'll still see her when she comes back to visit, but it's just strange now to know that we won't see her as often. I'm just thankful for the closeness of our relationship. Rambling now.

I get a mom's night out tonight! So excited. These are some new mom friends that I don't get too see all at once too often, and they are so much fun. Looking forward to it.

I think that's about it.

Green Thumb Yet?

2010-06-01T17:09:00.000-05:00

Begonias, overtaken by Impatiens

Rose moss, verbena, lavender, rosemary, birdbath

Pentas (planted pink and white)

Yea! Ripe! And tasty! Just picked another one today.

Dusty Miller and Verbena

Avery's Daisies

Okay for those of you who are really good at the gardening thing, please don't laugh. I'm just getting into it and have been enjoying it, thanks to my MIL. I just decided to quit thinking so much about what to put where and with what, and just plant.

So, I'm the proud mother of 3 finally ripe tomatoes and plenty more growing. That's the extent of the veggies so far. Luckily, Ian's only picked and tossed one tomato over the fence. I've got a bush bean plant started, but not sure what it's gonna do. Not really even sure what one is.

Then I've got the decorative items. I'm one of those that sees it wilted or 'dead' blooms and thinks, 'That's it. I've killed another." MIL says, "no, they'll come back. Just keep watering as needed and watching." So, I do, and they bloom. Puts a smile on my face. Avery has a couple as well and she's very proud of them.

Goal for next year or later this year....pull the front bushes and plant veggies in back.

Know What Bugs Me?

2010-05-19T09:34:00.003-05:00

Okay, I'm not a person that gets bothered by much. Well, the list grows a little the older I get, but that's beside the point. If I get bugged by something, I'm generally pretty quick at letting it go. A) because many of them I'm guilty of myself, and B) really, what good does it do to gripe and gripe about the same thing. Don't get me wrong, I have a subject or two that can get me going at the thought of it. However, that's not for today (or anyday on blog).

I'm a big fan of Craigslist. We've gotten many a good deals on it, and never been scammed. I'm pretty darn picky though. That helps. Okay, so there's this item we want to purchase. I mean REALLY want to purchase. That doesn't happen too often. Most of the time, I hesitate so much, it's either gone or I decide we don't need it. But not this one. I've emailed the person twice about it, left them my email address and phone number, told them I'd come get the item that day, blah, blah, blah. HAVEN'T HEARD A PEEP BACK! So, okay if they sold it....TAKE THE DUMB THING OFF THE FOR SALE POSTING FOR CRYING OUT LOUD! Now, my husband, being the kind man he is, says they may be out of town. Okay, possibility. But seriously, I emailed them THE MORNING IT WAS POSTED. If you're not going to check your email or are not that serious about selling, DON'T POST. If you're serious about selling, but don't check your email, LEAVE A PHONE NUMBER. Are ya'll feeling my frustration? Okay, I'm done. Overall, it's a really, really, really, stupid thing (oops, we don't say that in our house :)) to get stuck on. So, I'm over it.

Year 5 Anniversary; Tooth Fairy Overrated

2010-05-11T19:00:00.003-05:00

Well the time has come around again. The 12th will be the 5 year mark of our first of 3 diagnoses. It hits me differently every year. This year feels especially remarkable as I see how far Ian has come and how incredibly happy he is the majority of the time. I feel especially blessed as I realize that the only medication we have him on is clonodine, and at a very low dose (sometimes lower than we would like). Hearing about all the meds is one of the things that scared me the most about this diagnosis. I'm not saying that Ian will never need to be on anything 'heavier', but I am soooooo glad his quality of life is such that we have not felt the need to change things. So, Ian, I just want you to know how incredibly proud I am of you and how much I love you! You are my big boy! Now, could you work really, really hard on the potty training thing, PLEASE!

Okay, wait til you hear this. Avery lost her first tooth last week. We've never been big fans of the whole 'imaginary character' things...one being the tooth fairy. However, with Avery being the only one who will actually be interested in the whole thing, we decided to tell her that the tooth fairy is one of God's angels, and that when she leavese her tooth under the pillow, the 'angel' replaces it with gift from the God who formed her and created her teeth to fall out and grow another. Well, that night I had her tooth in a little box ready to put under her pillow. She just looked blankly at me and told me she didn't want it there. I explained that that is how the tooth fairy gets it and puts her surprise there. Again, weird look. Then, as she looks around her room, she tells me she doesn't want the tooth fairy to come. Hmmm, what do I do now? So, I tell her that if she doesn't want her to come, she won't, but she can't be mad in the morning. She told me she wouldn't be mad in the morning. So, I complied and took the tooth with me. Low and behold, I never heard another word about it! She said nothing about it in the morning, or any time since! What's up with that? I'm thinking it kinda freaked her out to think that 'someone' might come in her room while she's sleeping, although I told her she would never even know. That's my little angel!

Black Thumb Gardening

2010-04-29T08:36:00.008-05:00

No, that's not my beautiful landscaping. Wish it was! Okay, I've been threatening for years to try out gardening and finally plant landscaping stuff. Now that I have a little time by myself before summer starts, I thought it'd be a great time to start. There are no pics, because I start out VERY small. It's kind of like me trying to add wall decor to my house. I'm too 'chicken' because I think, "What if I don't like it there? Now I've got a hole." Yep, that's my thinking. It's not really the small decor that worries me. It's the larger, sinker needed, type stuff. But I've finally concluded that I CAN cover the hole if needed.

Okay, how does that relate to my gardening phobia? Well, I think "What if it dies? How do I know what kind of soil or fertilizer to use, or which part of the house offers the right amount of sun during the day? How do I know what will grow well together?......" Thanks to my friend, Jill, who suggested I just go for it or I'll never start.....I did just that. I read a bit on-line and then just did it. I bought a potted tomato plant, and just a few flowers. I plan on a ground garden for veggies soon, but I have to wait until I can figure out how to keep the rodents/rabbits/other creatures of the night we have hanging around out of it. So, for now, I'm good with potted. I transplanted 2 of the flowers (verbena) into an area under a tree in our front yard; one of the begonias into a pot to use as a house plant; and then one begonia and 2 impatiens in an outdoor pot on our front porch. If anything dies? Okay, I just go buy more. I think I'm reaching a break-through!

I have also decided to really start using the tools I have....my mother-in-law and the internet. I have read so much on-line, I've decided to start a 'gardening' folder. Today, Avery and I are going to start a compost bin. Should be exciting! When I'm feeling more confident, I'll attach pictures.

Any suggestions out there.....I'm all ears!

Benjamin Turned 3!

2010-04-26T10:18:00.008-05:00

Lego Block Cake

HOURS of fun on the new trampoline!

Cute, Rian!

Benjamin turned 3 years old this weekend! I can't believe it. We had a great bday party for him. I was pretty proud of how the cake(s) turned out, but they still didn't turn out as smooth looking as the lady who did it on the video...go figure! He had great fun on his 'big' birthday present. Don't tell him, but it's really for the whole family to enjoy...which we did. Oh, and don't you just love your self portrait mug shot, Rian!

Oh my gosh, I'm cute!

So, now that he's 3, that also means he started his PPCD class today. MY BABY IS IN SCHOOL! I really thought I would cry, but I didn't. I kept my mind focused on all the things I would get done in the 2 hours I have by myself 3 days week, until summer. He looked darn cute (and small) with his

backpack on!

Ready to learn with my teacher!

Let's Catch Up!

2010-04-20T11:52:00.006-05:00

Been too long. Everytime I go to sit at the computer, I decide I'm too brain dead to try to put things into words. Not to mention, that on an open blog, one can really only include so many words. Remember that "big brother watching" thing. One day, maybe I'll do an 'invitation only' blog. Doubt it. Here goes my life thus far. Luckily, can't complain. God is still not only good, but faithful in the busy and crazy times.

I went on my semi-annual scrapbook retreat a couple weekends ago. BTW, I'm proud that this is one of my hobbies and know my children will sooooo appreciate and enjoy it as well in the future. I can't imagine not leaving them with something so concrete. Beats all the money in the world or any computer/disk or other techno form...IMO - which I am well aware is not asked for. (unless of course, that's the way you enjoy doing it or if busy days, busy kids, busy lives don't allow for the concrete stuff....totally understandable, no offending intended - after all, I only have 1st year for each kid) Okay, done with the rant. Anymore, the time away is not soley about getting books done (although we do work LATE into the night/early morning). It's become so much more of a ladies' social, strengthening, encouragement, just plain fun time! And they let me act like a kook(?) as much as I want. What more could you ask for? Well, this time, they outdid me. I don't know if you remember 'the stuffed pheasant' from the last several stays there. It's part of the decor in one of the rooms. Why it's part of the decor, I'll never figure out. Anyhoo, the joke between my grand friend and me is to hide the ugly bird in the other one's belongings. It shows up in the darndest places. This time, a few of the ladies decided to go on a walk. I asked them to take my camera to take some pics of the wildflower fields and whatever. My mistake. They took the 'whatever' to the max. They took the pheasant along for the walk. I've only included a small number of the large number of pics they took of the bird's adventure. I was laughing so hard when I saw the pics, I had tears.

While I was gone, Jim texted me that Ian lost a top front tooth. You all know that when Ian 'loses' a tooth, he literally 'loses' it. About 20 minutes later he texted again with a picture, revealing that he had by that time lost both top teeth! Ian told our friend that he swallowed them. Hmmmmm????
Benjamin had his ARD meeting with the school last week. It went fine. He just had his last session with ECI (Early Childhood Intervention) and will start in his PPCD class on Monday...the day after he turns 3. OMG! I will cry. He's my baby.....and quite the mamma's boy at that. I've also included a pic of yet another black eye. Yes, right before his bday party. No one's sure what happened. Avery told us she accidently fell on him with the chair. All we know is there was bleeding and crying. But, he recovered, as you can tell by the adorable smile.

Last Friday I had a procedure done at my GYN's office called an endometrial ablation. Read about it if you'd like. I'm sure most have heard of it. I'm hoping I get the results I'd like. It was not a big deal to get done. My wonderful MIL took me. They put an IV in to knock me out. Next thing I knew, I was awake, groggy, being given instructions, and heading home. I slept most of the day and took one pain med and ibruprofen for cramping all day. By the next day, I felt fine. By yesterday, I was running (in great weather BTW).

These 3 pics are the reason I should get mom of the year. :) These are 3 reward/extrensic motivators we use. The pizza is to work on toilet training with Ian. You know, to bribe him to stay dry and to pee and poop ON THE TOILET. When he fills up the pizza pie, he gets to order a pizza. Now, if he poops on the potty, we skip straight to ordering a pizza. The two charts are for Ian and Avery. When they do something 'above and beyond' to make us proud, they get a smiley face. If they get 3 by the end of the day, they get a treat. The little board maker cards are 'treasure box' cards. If they have at least one card left by the end of the day, they get to choose something from their treasure box. With all these, we still also use spankings when needed and time out. Life seems like one big game of reward/discipline.

The sandbox is compliments of my wonderful FIL. He built it for the kids! He's so awesome!
This is a random pic from Easter, just cause I like it.

Last thing. I went out running last night on my usual route. I noticed a bunch of emergency vehicles ahead of me in the neighborhood. I knew whatever it was, they weren't going to let me pass, so I changed routes. We watched the news and found out that a gang related shooting death took place.....20 minutes before I went out to run! Just the fact it happened in our neighborhood (actually about 1 mile away) was enough to freak me out. But then when I think I could have been running by as it happened really freaked me out. Jim is definitely getting strict on not letting me run later in the evenings.

Well, I hope you made it all the way through this. I know it was long. Hopefully I won't wait so long next time!

A little of this, a little of that, and walla...a LOT of RED!

2010-03-31T07:27:00.006-05:00

So, that's the new do (unvixed and wind-blown). I don't think the pics do justice to how red it really is, but you get the idea. Just go down a couple of posts to the spring break pics. You'll see the difference pretty easily.

I'm lovin' the cut. I usually hate new hair cuts until about 2 weeks of the 'settle in, what do I do with it' stage. This time, I liked it the very next day. Very easy to fix and actually makes my hair look like it has some semblance of 'umph' to it. The color? Well, I think I like it better than most, but do I wish it had a little less red....uh-huh. But, it'll fade some with each day and each wash. Seriously, my goal was NOT to be a 40-something wishing I was 20-something. I know someone who's hugely that way, and it embarrasses her daughter tremendously. So, no thanks. I let my wrinkles (smile lines thank you) be my not-so-subtle reminder that we really do get older.

41 and Red.....Red?????

2010-03-29T09:43:00.000-05:00

Yep, that would be me. I turned 41 years old this weekend. The tulips (my favs) are from Jim. And here are the things I did:

Decided to get my hair cut and had my niece color it...a proud #22, Cinnaberry. It's quite, uhm, RED! Just when I think I'm getting used it, I look in the mirror and a quick, Whoa!! hits me. I've gotten reactions that range from "I think it's sexy" (from my sweet husband); to "It's butt ugly" (thank for the honesty, FIL. Let's work on the tact.). I like it. And I like the cut. I think it brings out my green eyes. Hopefully, I'll get a pic on soon. So, that's that.

Had lunch with a friend. Got to have an afternoon marguerita.

We went out to eat (Thai food, yummy) and bowling with a group of friends, and had a blast. I actually won a game. I still haven't figured out if Jim let me win or not. I only beat him by 1 point. He's normally pretty good, but I guess had a bad 2nd game. He won the first. Thank goodness for me the other bowlers stunk as bad as me, so my measley 124 looked pretty darn good. Thank you, Kathie, for watching the kiddos for us. Hope your knee feels okay! The first thing Ian said the next morning was, "Where's Kaffie?" He loves you! And so do we! And thank you, Jim, for organizing a great time! I love you!

And I got the sweetest card from a dear friend. She and her 4 children came to town and stopped by for a visit recently. In her card she mentioned me as a hero, mainly referencing having our situation and still reaching out to be a friend to others. That is such a huge compliment, especially coming from her. And although I don't see myself that way, I was sooooo encouraged (and needed it). But, we ALL know that parenting, whether it be to typical or special needs, 1 child or 19, biological or adopted or foster, SAH or working, is THE hardest job on the planet. So, to all you moms (and dads)....you are all heroes!

Avery sayings: 1) We were on our way home one night and I informed Jim that he would be sleeping on the futon that night (because he had allergies going, and it keeps me up....we switch off sleeping on the futon when necessary...don't worry, no problems). Anyhoo, Avery heard and said, "But Mommy, then I'M gonna want to sleep with you tonight." BTW - at 2:30am, I hear the sweet little voice. I think she was just waiting til I was too tired to say no.

2) Long story short, I went to the store with Avery. We went in one end of the store. I forgot that we did, and at the end of the shopping, we headed for the other end of the store to leave. So, we walked around the outside of the store to get to the other side. Avery asked why we were walking to the other end. I told her it was because I wasn't thinking straight. She thought a moment and asked, "Were you thinking crooked?" Hey, she knows her opposites!

Spring Break

2010-03-21T12:43:00.011-05:00

We're back from the little cabin in the woods. As usual, we had a great time. The disk swing was the hit of the week. That's about all the kids wanted to do. Ian was able to swing on it all by himself this year. He was sooooo proud! And so were we. Avery just wanted to keep going higher and higher. Benjamin just couldn't understand why he couldn't swing on it by himself. He's our independent wanna-be. A dangerous thing!

The kids were also thrilled because we let them all sleep together this year. We did have to get up 2 of the nights to move Ian to the downstairs room cause he woke up and woke the other kids up. He didn't seem to mind too much.

Jim and I were the only ones who got hurt this year, so that was a plus.....sort of. I missed taking some pictures I really wanted to take; like the kids sledding down the hill (of leaves, not snow), and the lake, and the beautiful daffodils. I figure I'll just take some shots of daffodils around here and put them in as if they were taken there. Who'll know?!

So another spring break is done. We've been conspiring with my in-laws about finding some land with a dwelling for us all to buy. They are sooooo incredibly gung-ho. So, if other things that need to happen work out, we'll have our own 'little cabin in the woods' to go to over spring break. (okay, so it won't be as nice as this one, but we'll be just as happy!)

Avery Saying: I was using a curling iron to try to put some curls in Avery's hair. She saw felt how warm the curl was when I let the iron go and the piece of hair whirled to her face. She said, "Mommy, you're cooking my hair."

little cabin in the woods

2010-03-15T01:01:00.007-05:00

This morning we leave for our spring break trip to the 'little cabin in the woods', owned by some sweet friends who have allowed us to vacation there at least once a year since Ian was diagnosed. We've made some great memories there. The family picture to the right is from last year.

This year will be just about as much needed as the year Ian was diagnosed....might be a bit exaggerated. We're once again encountering family issues that are just draining us. I won't go into it all, but I am thankful to be getting away someplace we cannot receive a signal. We need to relax.

Ian and Avery are SO STINKIN EXCITED about going. For days they keep asking, "when are we going to the cabin in the woods?" Usually when we go over spring break, it rains. Well we never prepare for it, so the kids rarely get to go play in it because we've only taken one pair of shoes. HA, this year I AM PREPARED...COME ON RAIN! (not the whole time please) I bought the kids rain boots. I decided if it didn't rain, I would just return them. That way I wouldn't feel like I wasted the money. Well, once I got them home and Avery put hers on, I knew I would NOT be taking them back, rain or no rain. She put them on, quickly got her umbrella, and began to dance around in the boots and twirling her umbrella. So cute! She keeps saying, "Mommy, I'm ready to dance in the rain!" This coming from a girl whose first words when it starts raining are "Mommy, is it going to thunder? I don't want it to thunder." So, for their enjoyment I hope they get their rain.

So, I'll return to the blog world once we return to reality and our home-sweet-home. TTFN!

Benjamin....in school?!

2010-03-10T09:51:00.004-06:00

We went to the school district evaluation for Benjamin so he could get into the PPCD program at his 3 year birthday next month (yikes, can't believe he'll be 3!). It was such a strange thing to watch him during the evaluation vs. watching Ian at the same evaluation when he was 3 (3 years ago). Benjamin just seems way ahead of what Ian was....except for language. He did things I didn't even think he'd do, and although his attention span was one to be expected of a 2 year old, it was still greater than Ian's attention span at each task. I have to admit, I was wondering how much he was getting 'right' and how much was just 'luck'. Whichever, he was so fun to watch. He was even quite verbal. He definitely qualifies for the program and services under the language umbrella. They are also going to put him as NCEC (or something like that), which is basically like NOS, until time to re-eval for MR or other needs in a few years. So, now we just have to get his ARD scheduled.

The evaluators kept trying to tell me that he would have to go to his 'home district' school because the school where we would transfer him is full in their PPCD program. I kept trying to tell them that I've already talked to the PPCD teacher and they were going to take him. I think they get upset at that. Oh well. I'll survive. Anyway, sure enough, they called during the day to let me know I would just need to get the principal's okay for Benjamin to transfer in. No problem!

Now my emotions. OMG, by the end of April I will have all 3 kids going to school, and all will be going 5 days a week....mixture of 1/2 days and full days. How am I feeling? Not quite sure. I'm thinking I will be crying to see Benjamin going. He's my baby, and we've gotten A LOT of mommy/son time over this last school year with Ian being in school full days and Avery going 3 days a week. Hmm, I guess we'll see soon.

I know I will get used to it. Although I would NEVER in a million years give up my time with my children, it will be kinda nice to be able to concentrate on getting things done I've been wanting to get done around the house, as well as actually following through at putting school things together for the kids to be doing at home. It will also be nice to know I will be able to go to the kids' parties and programs kidless. Benjamin is such a busy-body that I usually don't choose to take him, although he's gone to one party and one program this year (did great at the program, not so great at the party).

That's about it in a nutshell. Oh, I also wanted to brag more on the kids' dentist. I did write them a thank you card. The day I mailed it, I got a card in the mail from them as well.....well it was actually addressed to and written to Benjamin. They were checking up on him and hoping he was doing well. They also wrote in the note that they hoped Mommy was okay too cause I was so worried about him. How awesome (and rare) is that?! (the note, not the worry)

10K

2010-03-05T20:27:00.004-06:00

Jim and I did our 10K run together last weekend. It was great fun. Seriously. Jim decided to get us a hotel room so that we (well, I) wouldn't have to get up at 5:00am (which would take me at least an hour to try to do, leave (no getting ready needed), and find a parking place. He's so sweet. I'd love to say he was thinking of me, but truth be told, he probably just didn't want to be late. :) So, we got a room (quite the dump, but served it's purpose) 2 blocks from the starting point. I'm a night runner, so a 7:30am race just doesn't settle well with me. However, to my surprise, I did quite well at waking up and feeling ready to rock.

We met our goal, which was to finish in under an hour. We weren't really too worried about that since we do it in under an hour on our usual runs. I was a bit worried about the role hills would play. There were some, but not as intimidating as I imagined. He kept my pace, but I could tell he was wanting to go faster. So about the last 1/4 mile, I told him to take off. He's now ready to do a half marathon. Actually, he's quite stoked about doing one. He could probably just go out and do one, no problem. Me, well, I'd have to work a bit harder before doing one. But I'm looking forward to it.

After the race we chilled out, took showers, went out to lunch, and picked up the kiddos.

NEWS BULLETIN: IAN JUST CAME UP AND TOLD ME HE WAS READY TO GO TO BED! LOVE THOSE WORDS!

The Worst Morning EVER

2010-03-02T13:33:00.010-06:00

Need I say more?

Last Thursday morning. It started out an incredibly good day. I had the 3 kids up, dressed, fed and out the door at 7:30am for Avery's and Ian's 8:00am and 8:30am dentist appointments. All were in good spirits. About 5 minutes after being in the waiting room, Benjamin falls off a chair. So I do the usual...pick him up, cuddle him, then pull him away to check for blood. Usually it's a minor lip cut or scrape. Not this time. There was blood everywhere. I freaked. Long story short, I handed him to a nurse and gathered the other two up to follow. As I handed Benjamin to the nurse, I noticed it looked like he had a hole in his mouth. I ran back to the scene and yep, there's his tooth...the entire tooth, just as if he had had an extraction.

All kinds of things were running through my brain.....why did I bring all three, how long will he be without the tooth, how much pain is he in, how bad am I throwing the dentist office off schedule, oh what a horrible mom I am, and of course, OMG pictures are coming up!

Again, long story short, they asked if I could hold Benjamin. I couldn't because I was about to pass out. So they got me some water, rubbed my back, asked if I'd had anything to eat, and told me not to look at the blood. I'm crying, crying, crying. Then I notice the other 2 are not with me. Freaked again. They had taken them back out front and said the staff was watching them. Okay, that's good. After about an hour of putting pressure on Ben's gums, they managed to somewhat stop the bleeding and get him (and me) calmed down.

In the meantime, they had managed to get Ian and Avery to go back to the room without me for their appointments. When I walked into the room they had already gotten both kids' teeth cleaned....first time Ian's ever let them brush his teeth! They were just trying to get him to lay in the chair when I walked in so they could look at his teeth. I held him on my lap and he was doing good....until the hygenist put her finger in just a bit too far...vomit. I was done with the bodily fluids! Luckily it was just a little and he never pitched a fit.

Ben has managed to recoup. I have to deal with him having a missing tooth for a couple of years. I guess it was a good thing it was one of the boys and not my girl. Looks a bit more natural on a boy.

I just adore the dentist we go to for the kids. There's actually 2 in the office. The one who happened to be there when all the excitement started wasn't even the one they had their appointments with, but she chose anyway to stay and do all she could to get the situation manageable. I wrote them a thank you card today. They are just awesome!

My Boy Can Read!

2010-02-23T07:52:00.005-06:00

Oh yes, I am extremely excited. I think I scared the pants off Ian. I think I told ya'll about the Bob Books. If not, they're great, in my opinion. I've been using them to help start Avery into reading. They keep with pretty much the same words within a book, keep a lot of them into the next book while adding a new word or two and using a new word family.

Well, Ian has this thing they do from school. If he reads 10 books in the month, he gets a pizza coupon....could it get any better for him! He's made it one month, but I've had trouble getting any books on there the last couple of months. Obviously, I don't wait until he can read the book fluently by himself (he might be in 3rd grade by then :) ). So, I consider his abilities when deciding when to write the book down as "read". Well, I decided to try a Bob Book since it's a great beginner. I pointed to the words, and here's what HE read, totally on his own. "Dot had a cat." Next page: "Cat had a hat." And he continued to read the rest of the pages (about 6). He got caught up on 'sad' (called it 'said') and 'on' (called it 'no'). It was very obvious after watching him read the book that he has been learning the site words at school very well.

After he read the first page, I screamed...yes, screamed. He looked at me like I was nuts. We high fived over and over and I told him how proud I was of him over and over. He looked like a very proud peacock. After I showed Jim what he could do (he usually thinks I exaggerate until he sees it himself), he told his teacher and the head of the program. They wanted me to send the book to school so he could read it there too.

Then, yesterday, Ian's aid told Jim something he did. They had 2 sets of cards. One set had shape words on it (trapezoid, rhombus, circle, triangle, square, rectangle). The other set had the shapes on them. He was to match the shape names with the correct shape. He read each shape name and matched it to it's correct shape. He did call the rhombus a diamond...that's because it looked like one the way they drew it. :)

I was thinking a lot about Ian last night on my run. And about the rest of you. I was thinking about how much rejoicing we've all had and great it has been to share it all. I was thinking about how the Lord really uses the little things in life to remind us how big He is. I don't know where the rest of you stand, but I know without a doubt that I would definitely not be seeing things the same way if it were not for my Jesus. Do I wish sometimes ( a lot) that I had 'typical' kiddos? Sure. I'd be lying if I said otherwise. But would I ever change my kids or switch them out? NO WAY! Life will always have it's tough rides (whether I had FX kids or not). So why not learn to watch for these wonderful moments and let them outweigh the heavy ones! Something I have to continue learning everyday. But I sure feel like I'm further ahead than I was on diagnosis day!

Hodge Podge

2010-02-16T16:38:00.004-06:00

Hope you all had a fun Valentine's weekend. We're putting ours off for a few weeks when we get a short overnight getaway.

Not a lot going on around here. I just got back in town from visiting my great niece. She's just as beautiful (more) in person. Seems like a really content baby. Mommy and Daddy are doing great, and will definitely never be lacking in babysitters between grandma and other aunt! They actually argue over who will watch her! Anyway, it was great to see my family.

We had record snow here last week. I know for some of you, our measly 11 inches doesn't compare, but it was great. This makes the 3rd time it's snowed this season. This time it was nice packy snow so the kids got to have snowball fights and build a snowman. My little Ian, who seems to have ZERO ability to know when something hurts, kept taking off his mittens to use his hands. We were too afraid he'd get frostbite and wouldn't even feel it. I don't know how he does it. Well, we all had a good time. Wish I had pictures ready to post.

Benjamin did a new thing a few days ago. I'd forgotten about this til now. He went to the bathtub faucet, pointed to it, and said, "water". So cute.

That's about it for the hodge podge. Just wanted to be sure I didn't stay off from writing for too long.

"Make Me Proud, My Love"

2010-02-09T11:10:00.003-06:00

These were the last words Jim said to me before I left to go for a run Friday night. (He calls me 'my love' - sweet, isn't it?) So, I decided to take him up on it. Oh, but first after I got a little ways from the house, I decided I needed to go to the bathroom and couldn't wait. So, I stopped at one of our neighbors on another street and thank goodness they were home. (Aren't you glad you're not my neighbor?) By the time I finished my pit stop, I had spent about 10 minutes being gone.

On with the run. It was a mighty good one. It didn't rain...that's a plus. I started hitting my wall at about 4 1/2 miles. I kept hearing Jim's voice, "make me proud, my love". So, I kept going. Thanks to Todd Agnew, my MP3 voice of choice, I made it 6 miles running. I knew Jim had to be worrying at least a little, cause total I was gone over an hour (including my warm up walk and pit stop) and I run in the evening, so it was dark (I know, shame on me). So I turn the corner to our house and sure enough, there's my sweetie in street looking around for me. Next thing I hear is, "Lady!" (That's what he calls me when he's a wee bit frustrated). So of course, I reminded him of what he said before I left. So sweet that he worries. Was he proud?

Yep. 6 miles in under an hour.

So, I decided to do the same last night. Got rained on a bit, but again Todd Agnew and his great praise songs kept me going. Especially when God is so good to have it start raining (1) when I'm almost home and (2) when Todd sings "Grace Like Rain".

Next step....Jim plans on buying me pepper spray. He'd rather convert me to a morning runner, but my body just won't cooperate in the morning!

Isn't She Beautiful?

2010-02-04T09:21:00.018-06:00

Okay, I've tried over and over to figure out why my paragraphs won't separate with a line space. Can't get it to do it! What's up with this! Help, anyone!? So, I've separated them by color to hopefully make it easier to read.

So, does this make me a great aunt? I can't believe how much hair she has. I also can't believe this makes my oldest sister a grandma! She is 52 (or 53?). But that only makes me sound older to hear her being called a grandma. Oh well, at least I don't have gray hair yet...not that there's anything wrong with gray.... My sister is sooo excited and loves being a grandma. My other sister is loving it too...she's already gotten to babysit.

It all makes me a little sad because I'm away and won't play a big part in her life like her other aunt will. To be honest, I'm not even really close to my niece, especially not like I am to my nephew. He and I talk all the time on the phone. I think it makes a difference that I was still living in the same city when he was born. I had already moved away by the time my niece was born. My goal this year is to be the one to put forth the effort to stay in communication better. I usually go visit my family about 4 times a year or so, but other than my older sister (not the grandma), I don't talk a lot to the rest of my family on the phone. I used to talk with my mom all the time. But things have changed a bit since my dad's stroke a year and a half ago. But, that doesn't mean that I can't change that. Then maybe it'll make it easier for them to call me too. It's just kind of a strange thing to come up with conversation when you don't talk often. So I figure the more we talk, the more comfortable we'll feel. It's not like we're total strangers or anything. When I go visit, it's totally different...like we've never been apart. For that, I'm extremely grateful! It's just the darn distance.

Okay, well, thanks for the therapy session! I"m extremely motivated now.

Oh, did I already mention in a previous entry that Benjamin says, "Want, dat"? We don't ever know what "dat" is (unless we give him choices), but hey, he's saying a 2 word phrase! Rian, if I didn't tell you that already, sorry. I will when I talk to you next. :)

Signed Up

2010-02-03T09:43:00.006-06:00

Well, I'm now committed to a 10K run with my wonderful husband. I know I mentioned in one of my past blogs that I had started running again. I'm proud to say (if that's okay) that I'm still faithful to it. I go at least 3 times a week and run between 4 - 5 miles each run (occasionally I hit a wall at 3). Jim goes at least 3 times a week and he's up to 6+ miles each run. So, we decided it was time to sign up for an organized run. It's great just doing it on our own, but there's always been that certain something....oh, it's called competitiveness...about an organized run. The last one we did together was a 10K about 8 or 9 years ago.

This one is at the end of the month and the even better news is we get the night before without kids. We've decided that would be our Valentines weekend.

On another note. As I was typing this entry, I had sat Benjamin on the potty to see if I could get anything out of him. I just heard an "uh-oh". So, I go in there to find his "W" book in the toilet. HOWEVER, along with that "W" book was a toilet full of poop! Yea, Benjamin. That makes 6 times over the last 4 months or so. Poor Ian has only gone once - period. Hopefully this means Benjamin won't have a phobia about letting "it" go.

Stop Procrastinating!

2010-02-01T10:00:00.006-06:00

Oh, I'm such a procrasinator! Can't stand it, but it's true. Can I say it's the FX part of me? Sure, why not. I'm working on switching back to our old neurologist. I FINALLY called their office and left a message. I asked for the doctor to be the one to call back so I could ask him directly some questions. I want to know if he'd be more open to researching than our current one is. So, if he's actually the one to call me back, I will be extremely impressed.

I'm also working on taking advantage of services Ian and Benjamin just received from In Home and Family Support. I got an email from our rep who informed me they were running out of funds so she wanted to get us the services we want. Problem is, I'm not sure what they are. I know one would be Hippotherapy. Again, I've got to get on the ball. I need to call our insurance company first to see if they cover it...doubt it though. I also have to get a script from our pediatrician. The other thing I'm hoping for is a device for Benjamin to help with his speech/communication, as well as computer programs that might help out. Gotta get on-line to see what's out there! So, these are my goals for this week. IF ANY OF YOU KNOWS OF ANY GOOD SOFTWARE PROGRAMS, CD'S, DVD'S, OR BOOKS FOR THE KIDS, PLEASE LET ME KNOW! ANYTHING EDUCATIONAL OR DEVELOPMENTAL (SPEECH/COMMUNICATION DEVELOPMENT).

Jim and I have been talking about totally enclosing in our back patio. Currently, it's closed in, but with screens and screen door and pebble-rock ground. So, it's still more outdoors like than indoors. We have absolutely NO idea how to even begin...who to talk to to see how much it will cost us. I'm hoping we can even afford it. The reason we want to do it is so that we could use it as a school room for the kids. I decided if I'm really going to do what I can to home-school, then I have to have a place for it (schooling and all the schooling stuff). Jim and I are both procrastinators when it comes to BIG projects (especially that cost).

I can't wait to hear how Ian does at school today. He was CRACKING HIMSELF UP in bed since 3:30am this morning. He never went back to bed. It's funny to hear him cause I really want to know what he's laughing at. I always say he sees angels. He left for school so pepped, that you'd never know he'd been up that long.

Well, better go get started with some of those things on my list. Have a great day all!

Day 2...Kid Update

2010-01-29T08:52:00.007-06:00

Two days in a row...so far, so good.

This is more of a kid update. We started Benjamin on folic acid therapy recently. He's been gaining some words here and there, so I was hoping by starting it, maybe he would soon start putting 2 words together...if he responds the way we've seen Ian respond to it. He was so cute the other day because he imitated what he always hears Ian say after a video has stopped..."uh-oh, stopped!" So cute! I also just got loaned to me an auditory device from our early childhood intervention program. Or maybe it's called augmentory...not sure. Anyway, it's suppose to help with language by having him work on making a choice between 2 items, push the button with the picture of his choice, and hearing the item (plus, we'll add the word "please" to make it 2 words). Goal is that since he's a good imitator, he'll start to imitate what he hears on the device.

Benjamin has also the process to begin the PPCD program (same program Ian started in) at school. As I look at Benjamin, it's so hard for me to imagine Ian that little starting school (Pre-K). As soon as he turns 3 in April, he can start the program. We're so excited to be able to be working with the same teacher Ian had for 3 years. She's just wonderful. And, of course, there's a lot of nervousness because Benjamin and Ian are so different. But I've no doubt it'll be great for him.

Avery is just doing wonderfully....well, if you take out the huge amount of 'attitude' she's gained. :) I was so proud because her Pre-K sent home a note letting us know the kids will be working on learning their phone number....Avery already knows hers, and her address. Hopefully she'll 'show off' her knowledge instead of being shy and acting like she doesn't know it. She's been such a good big and little sister to the boys. She's so loving and caring toward them (when they're not fighting of course). Her and Benjamin are best buds.

Ian is doing great in school. We started working on recognizing numbers at home. I figured out that he can count really well, but he can't recognize that a written number actually stands for something. So, we've been working on the #1 for a couple of weeks now. I made this huge #1 and put it on the wall. Then I spelled the word out and put 1 dinosaur with it. Everyday we would go over it. Everyday he would say every other number but 1. We had a breakthrough 2 days ago! He only called it a 4 before then calling it a 1. I was sooooo proud!

We went to the neurologist a few weeks ago (which is always a waste of my time...gotta find a new one). I told him we would like to switch him off the guanfacine and back to clonodine. Of course, he didn't argue with me (since I know more than him in this area). We think it has helped him out at school by taking partial dose in the morning, then another 4-5 hours later. We've loved it at night because he's practically back to wanting to put himself to bed.

Once again, I'd better end before you decide to quit reading!

New Attempt

2010-01-28T13:04:00.007-06:00

Okay, I've been out of the loop for a long time now. Thanks to encouragement from my friend Kathie, I'm ready to start making time for this again. So much going on. Bummer is, with such an open blog, I don't feel safe to post some of it. So, those thoughts and feelings stay to myself...and privied friends.

So, I went scrapbooking this past weekend to the same place I blogged about back several months ago. My friend, Jill, did a wonderful job organizing it, as usual. This group of women was competely different from the usual twice a year crew. Both are unique and fun and great in their own ways. This happened to be a group of 10 others, most of whom I knew the names, but didn't know personally, or barely knew. They happened to be a group I've highly admired for their servant hearts and uncompromising godly characters. So, I felt a bit intimidated going in. Everyone, including myself, was so incredibly blessed by the time we spent with each other. Lots of fun, fellowship, meaningful conversation and just plain silliness. Did I get much done? Ummm, no, but that's okay. I'll be going again in April. Maybe I'll catch up then.

Next thing: My niece (the 20 year old that got married last year and was diagnosed as a carrier) just had her baby this morning at 12:20am. She had a baby girl and named her Adelin Sage (not sure how to spell either). I can't wait to see her.

Next: Ian's program coordinator asked Jim today if we thought we might want to keep Ian in kindergarten another year. AMEN! That's exactly what we were going to ask for.

Next: Our family is transitioning to a new church that has (so far from what we've seen) an incredible special needs program called Special by Design. Although we adore our previous church, we have noticed that we have been so 'overwhelmed' by life that other than attending church on Sundays, we have not sought out ways to serve or fellowship. Even with our homegroup, we started alternating each week between the 2 of us because it gets hard on the kids. So, we heard about the caring SN support at this church, decided to attend, and are now looking for ways to serve to see if the Lord leads us to stay.

I think if I don't end now, this might end up being way to long for my jump back in. So ta-ta for now.

What We Believe

2009-10-19T11:38:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago, Kristie at Life with My X Men posted an entry - religious training and fragile x. I was going to comment on it, but found my comment to be too long and decided to make an entry out of it. My goal is not to offend anyone, but if I do I cannot apologize for it. This is what we believe in our family. And, let me add, I am in no way saying we have all this figured out or that we do it right all the time, but we sure give it a good hidy-ho effort every day. We also are always ready to receive wise guidance from others who believe the same as we do about our Christian doctrines, faith and beliefs as they relate to everyday life.

In our opinion, raising our children to love and have a relationship with Jesus Christ is both the most wonderful and frightening privilege given to us. How on earth do we pass this along to our children.....who currently (1) are very young and (2) do not have the ability to understand things in the same way as typical kids? Well, we figure we do it in exactly the same way we would if they were 'typical'! We lead by example. No, we don't always manage to display the example we would like, but we sure try. When we fail (like totally, totally lose our cool with them, or spank out of anger, etc), we try to chalk it up to what NOT to do instead of beat ourselves up night and day over it. God's grace IS sufficient to gird us up for the next challenge, which is usually just right around the corner. :)

My biggest fears when we got our first diagnosis, and each one after, was "Will they learn to love, and will they know our love and the love of Christ who formed them? Will they ever be able to understand what it means to have a saving relationship with Him?" I cried lots over this. I sometimes still do. But God is so good. He shows me in ways only He could that He is really in charge of it all. I do my part, He promises to do His. So, I cherish the times I watch my kids in front of a Mercy Me DVD dancing up a storm, arms raised, and voices singing and saying things like God is good. It warms my heart when Avery does it, but it runs even deeper when Ian does it. He'll raise his hands and close his eyes. It's just beautiful! And it warms my heart that they enjoy going to Sunday school each week.

With Ian, because of some his difficulties in school, every morning we try to talk about how God made his hands to be nice and his mouth to say nice words. When we see him hit, push, pull hair or say 'stupid', we remind him of these. And we ask him, "Ian what did God make your hands for? Ian, what did God make your mouth for?" That way when he answers, we know he was paying attention. :) Just tonight he was imitating me as I got down on my knees, palms lifted, singing. OMG! And just imagine...if it's that adorable and heart-warming to me, how much more is it to the Lord's!!!! So, although I know that he does not fully understand everything, I do believe with all my heart he will...in the way he can. I believe the Lord really, really wants to be sure I know that

Avery doesn't understand everything yet either, which is fully understandable at her age. But, she is further along in understanding than Ian. She asks questions, likes to pray, and thanks God for EVERYTHING when she prays. She also tells Ian when he's done something that may have made God's heart sad. We've started praying together for her classmates that weren't at school that day because they were sick. One of them was on a trip so Avery wanted to pray that she would be safe. She once made a comment like "God is not real", which brings up really good conversation. Of course it's hard for her to understand when she can't see Him. It's hard for most of us a lot of the time, and she's only 4. We let her know He is real and lives in her heart. Yeah, try to get a 4 year old to understand that. But right now that's one thing we'll keep saying, even though she doesn't understand it yet.

We make sure we don't 'shove' things down their throats or tell them a bunch of heavy stuff they could not understand at this point, like why people die, why bad things happen, how Jesus could actually take care of all of our sins, how He could be everywhere at once, knows all things, etc. Instead we just set the best example we can, and hopefully they will continue on the path they are and will ask more questions as they get older. Then we will know they will be ready to know more. Right now, we let them know what pleases God, what breaks His heart, and that Jesus loves them soooooo much. We believe in 'teachable moments' and look for them all we can.

So, yes, I am a firm believer that fragile x'ers, and all other SN kiddos can know and love Christ and learn what it means to walk with Him. It may or may not look different, but God speaks to their hearts just as much as ours. I will never let anyone lead be to believe otherwise.

Anniversary Trip

2009-10-13T12:10:00.000-05:00

This is Jim's face right before he's getting ready to color my hair.

This was a really cool spider that wouldn't let us take it's picture. It kept coming up as this bright light. Pretty clever guy.

"I think we're lost?" "Which way do we go?"

Self pic before our hike.

"Roses in our Garden" Jim's anniversary gift to me to add to my Willow Tree collection.

We just got back from a long wonderful weekend away for our 10th anniversary. We went to an incredible resort in the Ouachita National Forest and Lake area in Arkansas, and it was great. We're already planning to go again with some friends. It was relaxing to be kidless for 4 days. We had great family (thanks Tallmans) and friends (thanks Williams) taking excellent care of our children while we were gone.

We had planned to hike, play tennis (not that either of us play), relax at the spa, go boating to our own island. However, our plans changed a bit due to weather, missing equipment, and an extra long hike. But, no loss. I loved the weather! It was nice and cool, rained a little, and overcast. No humidity! That was the best. That's relaxing weather for me, especially for fall. And let's not forget to mention the beautiful colors! We also met some really fun people.

We left Thursday night, stayed in a hotel along the way; got up the next morning and headed to check-in at the resort. We got there earlier Friday than we thought we would, but thank goodness our room was ready for us to check in. After check-in, we drove into town for a few necessities and checked out town. Then we checked out the resort area. Then, we just sat in our condo and enjoyed....dare I say it.....SILENCE! Ahhhhh! And we enjoyed a wonderful seafood meal cooked by my chef of a husband. Yum!

Saturday, I slept in. Jim has a hard time sleeping in, poor guy. After going back into town to pick up items we should have gotten on our first run, we decided to check out a part of the Vista Ridge trail. We hiked 4 miles. On this part of the trail, we were passed by lots of mountain bikers who were participating in an adventure race that was going on the same weekend. They all looked really tired. We found out later after talking to the coordinator of the race, that the biking part was the last part of the race. Before that, they had been running, canoeing, and hiking off trail with only a compass and map. The entirety of the race was anywhere from 8 to 14 hours.

After getting back to the condo, I enjoyed a nice hot bath (which I don't generally get to enjoy at home). Then we went to the resort restaurant and enjoyed a yummy steak dinner. Then back to the condo for a movie. And I talked Jim into coloring my hair. Never done that before. He's was quite funny.

Sunday morning we got up, ready for our longer hike. This hike ended up being 3.5 miles/2 hours longer than we planned, due to someone's error in reading the map (and can I say, it WASN'T me...miracle). Neither of us cared much though. We actually got quite a good laugh from it. The end result....13 miles of hiking beautiful forest and streams. It's a good thing (1) we packed our good hiking boots for the trip, (2) I didn't sleep in that morning and got a good start time, (3) we packed plenty of power bars and water in the backpack. Our feet were barking at the end. When we got back, I took another nice hot bath. Jim was so hungry he cooked while I bathed. (Yes, I do actually cook for our family. Jim likes to do the cooking on vacation....and I don't argue). So, we enjoyed another of his wonderful meals. Then, because we're both football fans, we watched the Sunday night football game.

Monday morning, we got up, bodies screaming. Poor Jim had blisters on his feet. I went down to the spa for a massage, only to find out they didn't have any openings until 3:00pm.....we had to check out by 11:00am. Lesson learned.....make reservations. So, we packed up, turned in our tennis raquets and keys, loaded up the van (along with the boat we'll use next time as well), and headed home. The kids were great when we picked them up and were great the rest of the night. That made it a nice transition back into the swing of things. Oh how we never take advantage of our time away!

hmmm, busy at work??????

2009-10-07T09:26:00.001-05:00

Yep, he's mine. All I can say is.....don't ask. :) Gotta love this man!

Can I Start Today Over?

2009-10-02T08:03:00.000-05:00

GRUMPY!!!!

ARG! I was supposed to be blogging on how happy I am because today is our 10 year anniversary. But nooooo, yuck had to get in the way. Instead I am super emotional (not even on my period). Jim and I got into a conversation about the schools and children, particularly the 'not typical' children. I really tried to keep my cool, but I blew it. So, you guys get to read it....remember, all raw unprocessed emotions.

So, I try to explain and bear my heart about how I feel about things like Ian getting pulled out of his class and put into a different class, about not really knowing what's going on this year, blah, blah, blah. I'm not doggin' the school. They have been very kind to us, and I feel very confident and fortunate, overall, about the care and attention Ian gets there. BUT, I also have a lot of fear. And when it hits, it hits. When I try to explain how I'm feeling to Jim, mostly I get how I need to understand how strapped the school is when it comes to our type of kids. No real programs for them, parents sueing, not enough funds for aides, etc. Well, that's all find and dandy, but what I really want to hear is, "Honey I know this is hard for you, I'm with you, and we'll do all we can for our children. Hang in there. " You know, something encouraging for ME (yep, all about me at this point). I just feel like he doesn't hear my heart. Like all his concern lies with the school. I DO know how difficult it is. I was a classroom teacher and I did have SN in my class. If anything, how would HE know! He does resource in-class support and pull-outs. He doesn't even have his own classroom full of kids all day.

So, I accused him of 'siding' with the teachers/principal and told him I would appreciate support for me because I'm sure not going to get it from anyone else. He's supposed to be there for me and the children. I'm not asking him to go out and start demanding things. I don't work that way. I'm asking him to say what I need to hear when my heart is scared and hurting. The only thing I could compare it to to help him understand (cause he still says things that lead me to believe he's not TRULY understanding what I'm trying to tell him) is a family situation. I asked him, "Okay, so what if everytime you struggled with the family member and felt beaten down, I decided to take their side and tell you that you need to understand what they're going through (which in this case would be a ridiculous statement). Would that make you feel like I was YOUR cheerleader and that I truly understood your heart? NO!"

I know he doesn't really know what to do with me when I get like this. So, I've pretty much vowed to keep it a blog thing and stop trying to get him to understand. This is just one of those times I feel completely alone. Like I'm the only one pushing to help Ian (which is not true). I just see sooooo much potential and I don't feel like he sees the same potential. Is that the hardness of the teacher these days?

I'm finding it hard to stop crying this morning. I hate to say things like, "This is my life, I have to deal with it." It is my life, but I fully expect to enjoy it and thank God for it. I was never promised an easy life and I'm okay with that. But sometimes I have a really hard time 'doing' the hard life. And I don't even have it as bad as some people I know. But I try not to compare lives. That's not what God intends for me to do. He wants me to do the life He's given me.

Okay, I think I'm done. I'm going to go spend some time with the One who really knows the details of my heart. I'm glad we're all walking this together. You help me not feel so alone. Once things process and I get to talk to Jim again (I've already emailed him to tell him I love him and I'm sorry), I'm sure I'll be put back together.

By the way, did I mention today is our 10 year anniversary!?

Weekend Away

2009-09-28T09:08:00.000-05:00

This is my very good and most funny friend. Yes, believe it or not, she is. Why does she have a pair of scissors clipped to her nose, you ask? Well, Jill is on a diet and we happened to be baking cookies. The aroma was too much for her self-control. Her solution? You got it! She's so smart! And no, she didn't have even one cookie. At least not that I know about. :)

This is the "Texas Cabin". This is the most popular of the cabins. Jill and I stayed in it this time.

This is in the crop room. This is Jill's and my collection of paper. She came up with this great idea last time. We each layed out all our paper so that it was within easy eye view when trying to come up with layout patterns for the pictures.

The bugs and spiders were outrageous this time! Especially the daddy long-legs and these annoying tiny flying things that kept getting in our faces and then falling to their doom in scrapping glue! This was one of those particularly beautiful spiders sitting in her web. Luckily, it was outside the crop room, not inside. It is a cotton spider. When we went to pack up to leave.....she was gone. Hmmmm. Hope she didn't come home with us!

These were just a few of the pictures. The only thing I didn't take a picture of that I wish I would have was this stuffed pheasant-like bird that was in our cabin. Jill and I are notorious for playing practical jokes - mainly on each other! She has the best sense of humor. Even better, she can dish it out as well as she can take it! Anyway, this bird kept 'disappearing' and 'reappearing' in strange places in the cabin.....my bag, the shower, the toilet paper basket, the bed. It traveled quite well.

I almost got Benjamin's book done. I decided to keep up with tradition and didn't do any journaling yet. I did manage to get embellishments on some of the pages during the trip. I only have March and April of '08 left to do. Then my goal is to add embellishments and journaling to all 3 books. Then what? Hopefully cards! I would like to scrapbook some trips, but who knows.

It was a great and relaxing trip. Jill and I left home Wednesday evening, a night before the others started arriving. We got back early yesterday evening.

I did get some running in, which felt great. Except for the tiny flying bugs threatening to enter my mouth and eyes, I adore running in the country. The air is so much cleaner! Those 2 lane roads are full of hills to add to the adventure!

Although we didn't get to bed until ridiculously late, I slept great, which is rare. I only got up once each night and got 8 hours of sleep each night. Woo-hoo!

We had great music. Everything from 80's to operetic to praise and worship. We had great conversation. Everything from trips to how the Lord is working in our lives. We even stayed away from politics.....way to go, Jill! And we had a couple of nice prayer moments for things that came up.

We watched our usual couple of movies. This time we watched Ever After, Day After Tomorrow, Big Fat Greek Wedding, and Return to Me. I don't think we actually sat to watch all of any of the movies. We'd watch for a while, then it became background while we scrapped.

Jim did great! The kids got fed, bathed, and made it to and home from school. I had left a card for him to find, which blessed him. Just wanted him to know how much I love him and was thankful for this time away. And to remind him what a great dad and husband he is.

Well, I think that catches you all up on the time away. We already have our next one booked in April. Now I'm looking forward to my time away with my husband for our 10 year anniversary next week!

Time for Fall, Time to Scrap!

2009-09-22T15:08:00.000-05:00

I adore fall! It's my favorite season. We got married in the fall because we both like it so much. So I had to blog on this day, the 1st day of fall. There's just something refreshing about the season. I love being able to open the windows, which happens so little here because of heat, humidity or rain. Today I turned the A/C off and opened the windows. It's actually that cool outside, and it feels great.

Tomorrow I leave with some ladies to scrapbook. A good friend of mine puts this together and her goal is for us to do it twice a year to catch up on our books. Yeah, I say that as if I was a real scrapper! I really thought I was going to be, and maybe I still will be one day. That was before I had children. Now, I know a lot of people who have kids (and many who have more than me) who are still able to do all the mom/wife/family/etc. things AND still scrapbook. I am NOT one of those people. So, my goal is that each child will have a scrapbook from their first year of life...birth to 1st birthday. How far have I gotten? Well, I'm further than I was the last time we headed out to do this. I have Ian's pictures in his book. I still have embellishing and journaling to do (if I haven't forgotten everything already...it HAS been 5 years). I have Avery's pictures in her book and mostly embellished. I have journaling to do in hers. BTW, her book ended up being 1 1/2 times as thick as Ian's. Hmmmm, probably cause she's a girl. Or maybe because I somehow felt like I had to put every picture of the both of them in HER book? Regardless, it's thick! Tomorrow I'll be off to start (and hopefully complete) Benjamin's book. I would really like to have pictures, embellishings, and journaling done by the time we head home. Seriously, I'm there from Wednesday night to Sunday night. And we stay up nearly all night each night. So, that's my goal.

The big trick is going to be....can I totally enjoy myself without worrying how Jim is doing with the kids? I'm thinking I can once I get there. Right now, I panic. He's soooooo great to let me do things like this, and never complains about it, and is even taking off work 2 days. But he and I both know he gets a little more stressed having all the kids by himself for that long of time. Big bummer is that usually my in-laws are around to help out, but they're going to be out of town that weekend too. I'm sure he'll be fine. As he always says, "The kids will get fed and stay alive." He really does better than that, but it's a little joke we have.

So, I'm off to relish in the coolness of the air. Okay, I'm off to cook dinner. I'll catch up with everyone after I get back. Wish me luck! Ooooh, wish Jim luck!

HATE those ants!

2009-09-15T08:48:00.000-05:00

Why oh why did God create fireants! Our first encounter with them left us taking a fully blown up Ian and absolutely crazed out mom to the ER where we were told that subsequent bites could be worse! WORSE!?

Today, Jim hollers for me after he had taken a shower. He was drying himself off and guess what rude guests he was met with! I guess because of all the rain we've had, they decided to take up residence in our linen cabinet!!! I'm currently doing 2 loads of towel laundry. Jim sprayed as much as he could around the bathroom and we've quarantined the kids from it and our bedroom. Luckily, all I have to do is mention Daddy getting bit and Avery won't go anywhere near our room. Not only that, but she doesn't want me to either!

I have NO MERCY for those.....those.....x!%###! I'm surprised no one has made a horror flick about them....or have they?

I'm disgusted!!!! And now, also living in fear that they will travel to my babies' rooms! Anybody have any suggestions??????? PLEASE! I'd take a picture and post it, but they don't deserve it.....unless it's a dead one!

The Little One Pooped! In the Potty!

2009-09-09T13:35:00.000-05:00

OMG! He really did it! He'd been pretty consistent going tee-tee when I take him. He'd even come running when I say, "Benjamin, time to tee-tee." So, I heard him grunting in the living room after lunch and thought, hey why not. So I grabbed him up, stripped his diaper off and put him on the potty. After a little while of doing the grunts I taught him, I decided to quit staring and give him a book. Once he got engrossed in looking at it, I snuck away. When I came back I didn't think anything had happened. I picked him up and low and behold, there it all was! I'm sure he thought I was nuts. I praised, and praised, and praised him; he praised himself with a "yesssssss!", then I gave him his Smarties. Oh could this become habit?! Sorry for another poop pic. Only a mom, right?

Go Sooners! Or Not!

2009-09-08T00:06:00.000-05:00

This is where we went for Jim's 40th bday. This is the OU/BYU game being played at the new Texas Stadium. The great thing is we went FREE. I actually had a surprise guys' night planned for Jim and his buddies to watch the game and eat, but then Jim called and said a co-worker had a friend she could get tickets from. This is what Jim originally wanted to do for his birthday, but the tickets were so stinkin' expensive, even for nosebleeds.....thanks Jerry Jones. :(

But it all worked out even better. We still got nosebleed (literally the next to the very top row), but they were free. Which meant we could actually pay the ridiculous prices for food/drinks. And we got to park at in a friend's garage that literally lives 2 mintes walking distance from the stadium.

This was our first time in the new stadium. It was incredible. Even with nosebleeds, with the largest HD jumbo tron around, there's really not a bad seat in the house (as long as you don't mind paying out the wazoo to watch the game on a TV). We are OU fans cuz my family lives in Oklahoma and I was raised an OU fan. Jim quickly adapted once we got married. Because they got paid boo-coo bucks, they played this "home" game 3 hours away at the new Texas Stadium.

Horrible thing happened.....THEY LOST! And looked bad doing it!

First Week of School

2009-08-31T20:43:00.001-05:00

Proud Ben on the potty

Avery at school her first day

Avery 1st day of school

Ian 1st day of school - not as smiley!

Ian getting on the bus

Benjamin's 2 year pic

Biker Ben's other 2 year pic

Well, we're entering into our second week of school. I was hoping to have this entry done by the weekend, but oh well. Ian entered his first day of kindergarten. He's in a special program, but is in a regular ed classroom. Few big changes for him. First, he's had the same wonderful teacher for the past 3 years. Now he has a new teacher. I don't know that much about her, except that she's the more strict, organized, routined of the teachers. This is good for Ian IF she is able to have some flexibility with his impulsivities. I'm not sure if there are any of the other kiddos from the program in this same class or not. Second big change is going from 8-10 kids to 21 kids! OMG! Third big thing is this year he is all day instead of 1/2 day. How's he doing? So far, so good. The great thing so far is that he waits til he gets home to poop!

One of my fears was that they were not going to work on his potty training. Jim had told me that was just a PPCD thing. Well, the 2nd day of school, the head of the program (a great lady, and wife of our dentist) sent a note home saying she would like him to be in underwear and that the aide would take him to the potty every hour. This was a HUGE blessing! So, I sent a note back thanking her for that. On the 4th day, Jim came home and said that they came down to his classroom with Ian to tell him Ian went to the potty all by himself. Walked in and everything by himself. They wanted him to praise Ian....and he did.

He's riding the bus. We did a test run during his summer school time. He loved it. I felt even better when I found out that there were no 'typical' kids on the bus. I've had horrid visions of the kids being mean to him on the bus. So, this was another blessing to me. And the bus driving and aide are the same ones he had during the summer. He gets on the bus all happy, and he comes off the bus all happy.

The only thing I don't really like is that they don't seem to keep me posted on the details like his teacher did the past 3 years. I suppose I can understand that since they have 21 kids in the class. So, I figure if I write notes asking, then they'll answer. Hopefully I don't get on their nerves. :)

Avery's doing great as well. I was really worried when we went to meet-the-teacher the day before it started. She wouldn't walk in the class. This is her 3rd year going at this particular church early childhood program. She goes 2 1/2 days. So, I did what any sensible mother would....I bribed her! I told her that if she walked in like a big, brave girl the first day then we would go get a surprise after school. She did, and we did. I was so proud of her. Today, her teacher told me she played and ran and screamed with the other kids on the playground and in class she talked with the other kids. She's becoming a school pro!

Benjamin is at home with me still. He's the same age Avery was when we sent her to the 2 year old program 2 days a week. It's hard to believe. Benjamin is definitely not where she was at that age. But he is such a joy none-the-less. I enjoy having the time with just him. He loves to sit and look at books, dance and 'sing' to music videos, and climb ALL OVER EVERYTHING. He's hard to keep up with....especially at 40! He's been slowly adding single words to his vocabulary. He even uses them every now and then! I've been working on potty-training him. Slowly. I put him on the potty first thing in the morning, still before baths (hate seeing him pee in the tub - yuck), and every so often during the day. He does great going tee-tee. He's so proud of himself after and loves getting a Smartie for it. I haven't gotten him to poop yet, but he makes the cutest grunting sound when I tell him to poop! One day something will come out. Don't ya just love the pic!

The Things of Life

2009-08-21T09:35:00.001-05:00

I'm sitting here listening to my children fight. Avery yelling at Ian for saying 'bad'. Ian saying it all the more because Avery is screaming at him. It gets funny after a while. But right now, it's just kinda tiring. I'm in one of those spots.

A very special friend of mine and her sweet family are moving away in a couple of weeks. I understand why the need for it, but it doesn't make it any easier on my heart. A lot more goes into it for me, but I won't go into that. I will miss her so very much, and miss watching all the milestones of their bathed in love little boy. I don't doubt that we'll keep in touch.

Side note: Avery just screamed so loud my eardrums about popped! Can't handle that at all. Silence now, as I sent her to her room. All is good. :)

We have friends who are struggling with their marriage, and it makes me so sad. I'm glad that they feel comfortable talking to us. I just feel helpless and hope that God, who instituted marriage, will restore this sweet couple's marriage. I know they're wanting the same thing.

Family stuff is about to drive me nuts. I've no doubt a lot of you could relate if I went into the whole story. But you know how it is....never know who's reading. Let's just say all is about to blow within me if the nonsense keeps up, especially if there's anymore of it during another 'time of the month' for me. Hold me back, sista!!!! I just don't get it, and truth is, I don't wanna get it. I just want people to start acting like adults, take responsibility, stop enabling, and take responsibility for crap that comes out of the mouth. Is that too much to ask? Okay, better stop there. You get the picture. After all, I am perfect, ya know. Ha Ha Ha. Kidding, I fully realize the majority of my many faults. Maybe one day I'll blog about those. Naaaaah!

Side note: Ian is loving on me as he asks for about a million different videos and laughing after he says each one. Silly boy!

Side side note: Benjamin is ripping all the books off the book shelf. ALL the books he can reach.

This all reminds me of a country song I've heard a couple of times. I think it may be called "Sounds Like Life" or something like that. It's this guy who's talking to a friend of his who is struggling with a bunch of things (little work, can't pay bills, fridge went out, wife's pregnant, etc.). Anyway, basically this guy listening is noticing that it's all the things life is really made of. The everyday things and struggles. So in the chorus, he says something like, "may not be whatcha wanna hear, but sounds like life to me." So true. Not that we're happy in them, but it's true. We've never been promised a life of no struggles. But we have been promised a Savior who knows and knows the end of the story as well. I can still hurt and cry and get angry, but in the end, hope is the answer. Life is really fleeting. While we don't ignore the 'struggles' and 'everyday things', let's never never never let those overshadow the many wonderful things of life! Whoa! Where'd all that come from?!

Side and end note: I just heard Ian say, "oooh, Ben pee'd". Benjamin took his diaper off and pee'd on the furniture!!!! We don't have a dog for just that reason! Here's where ya gotta laugh.....the things of life!

Gotta go clean up a mess so I can get us packed to go out of town in a few hours. Thanks for listening. I'm sure I'll be okay in a few hours.....or days. :)

Can't Sleep

2009-08-14T01:28:00.000-05:00

It's 1:40am and I can't sleep. Didn't someone else just have this problem not too long ago? So, I thought I would get up, eat another 1/4 of the container of icecream, and add an entry to my blog.

Ian is up to his old habit of not sleeping through the night again. Very irritating. He doesn't cry out and get mad like he used to. He just 'happy screams' in there. Not too long ago, he woke the other ones up. Not cool! He's in there now awake. We just up'd his does of guanfacine cause we were noticing that it didn't seem to be having the same affects. If we don't notice anything after a few weeks of the increased dose, I think we'll go back to clonodine again. We're thinking that maybe since he's gained weight since the last time he was on it, maybe he'll be able to take a small dose of it during the day without it knocking him out.

Remember my 20 year old niece who got married in April? Well, I don't remember if I already told you that she's pregnant. She got pregnant like immediately. She's 17 weeks. Well, she called about a week ago to let me know she got tested for FX and found out she's a carrier. It's weird, but all of a sudden, it seems the whole family is now wanting to read up on it more. It's a good thing, but it kinda woulda been nice to have them so gungho about knowing more about it when we got our diagnoses of fully mutated. My other sister just recently asked me for the websites. My mom said she read something, something, something about the repeats. And of course, my oldest sister (the niece's mom) is wanting to know more about it obviously. I'm not mad, just kind of feeling.....I'm not sure. Probably don't need to go there anyway. I just wish everyone would have wanted to be more educated when I needed them to be....with all my diagnoses. I actually hadn't thought about any of that until I started writing this entry. Oh well, better late than never.

Ian LOST another tooth. No idea where. But at least there wasn't blood everywhere this time. He looks awfully cute with his two bottom teeth out. He's got a tooth growing back in place of the first one. I just hope his permanent teeth are as pretty as his first set. I love his teeth.

AVERY SAYING: One more story, then off to bed. Grandma was watching the kids yesterday and told me this story: The kids were watching football (we have several games recorded for Ian, who loves to watch them over and over and over and over). She decided to give them a quick football lesson. She told them that the man with the ball needed to run fast to the yellow (first down) line. If he didn't make it, they had to try again. So, Avery pipes up and says, "Oh, that's like when I wait to long and don't make it to the potty. I tee-tee in my panties because I didn't make it to the yellow line." Too cute!

God is so Sweet

2009-08-10T22:57:00.000-05:00

Sorry I haven't been up for a while. Trying to stay caught up with ya'll, but havin' a hard time. We've just been trying to keep the kiddos happy. It gets tougher as the summer goes on.....and it's soooooooo stinkin' hot outside (not to mention those nasty, nasty fire ants!) that finding things to do (inexpensively) gets hard after a while. Thank goodness for grandparents with a pool!

I just wanted to share a story of just how sweet Abba is to His children. The other day I was having a bit of a down day....worrying that Avery was going to grow up despising Ian because he can be so physically hurtful to her, especially when he's having a rougher day. Well, that night I went out for a run, and when I got back Avery was excited to tell me that she was going to sleep in Ian's room. I looked questionably at Jim, who told me it was her idea. Then I got to hear them having such a good time in the room before they fell asleep. That calmed my heart so much. I believe He was speaking to my heart through this and telling me that all will be okay. This is just a season and that Avery's love and understanding for Ian will grow with time. She does love him.

Thank you, Lord, with being so faithful and for letting my eyes be open to your sweetness!

UH-UH!

2009-07-14T21:43:00.001-05:00

Well, we're having a little difficulty 'enlightening' our neurologist on the folic acid therapy. We faxed him all the info. from the Hagerman research we found, hoping we could all be on the same page. Previous to the appointment and after 'reading' the info. he did prescribe a low dose of the folic acid over the phone for us.

We get to the appointment and tell him we want to move Ian on up to 10 mg, incramentally, like we had been doing so far. He was quite hesitant, left the room, came back, and proceeded to tell us what folic acid was (like we didn't know). Against what he would have wanted to do, he went ahead with the prescription, working our way up.

Then came the battle with the pharmacist. Basically he wanted to talk to the doctor because he was concerned about the dosage and wanted to be sure the doctor was in his right mind when he wrote the prescription out. Don't get me wrong, I am grateful there are people out there watching for any weird stuff from doctors. However, not when it inconveniences me - ha ha. So, long story short, the doctor would not override the pharmacist, so I'm stuck with a prescription of 2 mg. He had already worked himself up to 6 mg a day. That would be a step back. Whatever.

So I went to get the prescription, deciding that we would continue with what we've been doing and when that bottle was gone, we would get the higher dosage pills from a doctor friend who does more holistic stuff. When I get to the pharmacy they said insurance (medicaid because he's on SSI) isn't going to cover because it hasn't been 30 days since his last prescription. I just paid for it myself - it was cheap. Then I went to the vitamin store, bought a bottle of 800 mcg and am giving Ian a total of 8 capsules (emptied into his juice) a day (about 6mg). We were giving him 8mg, but then started noticing some behavior issues. So, I dropped back down to 6mg. I'll up it back up just to be able to decide if it's that or was just an off-week for him.

So, then I email NFXF for references for a new pediatrician and neurologist in our area that are familiar with FX. They sent back one pediatrician and one neurologist. Never heard of the pediatrician. The neurologist?......Yep, the same one we're using! Ugh! I figure we'll be a good source for him when other FX parents ask about folic acid therapy! :)

Sometimes ya gotta laugh just so ya don't scream.

Did I Really Do That?

2009-07-08T15:16:00.001-05:00

So, I go to Kohls to buy a shower curtain. Of course, the one I like I cannot find on the shelf. When I asked an employee about it, she said she would go see if they had any in stock. So I wait, and wait, and wait. No kidding.....for 25 minutes!!!! Finally, I saw another employee, told him about the disappearing lady, so he goes to see if he can find her and the shower curtain. He comes back....no luck finding the lady and no luck finding the shower curtain. So he says, "wanna just buy the display?" I say, "Sure". So he takes it down and I take it to the register.

A friend of mine asked me later if I asked for an extra discount since it was a display. Nope, I don't ever think that fast. I take the curtain home. A couple days later I go to put the hooks in to hang it up. Oh, first I have to work 20 minutes just getting a display tag off the shower curtain. Why 20 minutes you ask? Because of what the curtain is made of, it's fragile. If I were just to rip off the tag, it would have ripped a big hole in the curtain. Okay, then I go to put the hooks on. I'm putting it on with the liner. All of a sudden, I run out of shower curtain, but I don't run out of liner! The display is a partial shower curtain!!!! Okay, some of you would probably have been smart enough to notice that at the store before you decided to say, "Sure". I, however, did not. I just knew I wanted THAT shower curtain.

Embarrassingly, I had to take it back. Lucky for the me, the clerk didn't mention anything about how I didn't notice. She only said, "They sold it to you that way? You should have asked for a discount".

You will be glad to know that they had the actual shower curtain the day I went back.

Know What I Wish?

2009-07-01T21:35:00.000-05:00

I was thinking the other day about how I wish that I could meet all of you! How great it would be for us all to be able to meet in one place (I'd opt for anyone living in Australia).

I got a call the other day from someone who's son was recently diagnosed with Fragile X. She got my name through a friend of hers who knows my sister, and therefore knows about my situation. As I talked to her, I found myself wanting to just talk and talk and talk. I'm not sure I was even much help to her, but it all reminded me of when we got our first news. All the emotions, uncertainties, questions, etc. I told her one of the most important things to me was getting in touch with others who were going through the same thing. That's how I got questions answered, resources, and just knowing that the feelings I was feeling were okay and normal. I felt like I truly ached for her. I found myself praying for her marriage and family, knowing what a toll it can take on couples.

Anyhoo, then I started wishing this wish....especially as I got responses from those of you I requested information from via email. I've loved having you all rejoice with me in the little things and feel compassion for me in the not-so-good things. And I've loved feeling a part of each of your lives as well. So, thank you! And who knows, maybe one day........

Catchup

2009-06-25T08:03:00.000-05:00

Okay, catch up time. I'm probably missing stuff, but this is what I have time for right now. Although Benjamin isn't in any of the pictures, he's been doing a lot. He's starting to say single words more frequently. He'll say 'mooooorrrrrre', 'dink', 'bite', 'bath', 'dowwwwwn', 'hi', 'bye'. He elongates about everything he says. I hear that's the way is supposed to be done here down south. A 1 second word becomes a 5 second word. Anyhoo, he's doing good. We had an orthotics appointment a few weeks ago. He'll get his SureSteps in about a month. Hopefully that will help get him walking a bit stronger. His knees buckle a lot and his feet pronate a bit. I can't wait to see him in them. I got them with dinosaur print. Okay, so on with the pictures:

My niece got married in April...little late in announcing. She was such a beautiful bride. Look young? That's because she was only 19. (She's 20 now). She's also now pregnant. Can you say honeymoon baby? If she's startin' this young, I expect her to pop out a bunch of babies! Seriously, so hard to think of her as a mom. She seems to have grown up so fast. She'll be a great one though.

Ian lost his tooth a few weeks ago. LITERALLY LOST IT! We have no idea where it is. We just happened to notice his hand and mouth were bleeding. I thought he made his finger bleed by chewing. But then Jim noticed the tooth missing. (Doesn't it seem kinda early for him to be loosing teeth?) We had noticed over the last month that his two middle bottom teeth were spreading apart more. Now we know why. I just hope I don't find that tooth somewhere. I do NOT do well with the whole loose tooth, pull tooth thing! When I taught 3rd grade, that's the one thing I couldn't handle. It's not a gross thing to me. It's more of a "fingernails across a chalkboard type thing." Can't explain it, but it gives me chills just writing about it.

Okay, so the niece got married in April. My nephew (from the same sister as mom to my niece) just got married last weekend. Yes, my sister is quite a bit overwhelmed at becoming a MIL twice and finding out she's going to be a grandmother! This is a picture of Avery and my other niece (from my other sister). Avery was quite the hoot. My niece was the flower girl in both weddings. Cute thing is the dress she is wearing belongs to my oldest niece (that just got married). It's the same dress she (oldest niece) wore in mine and Jim's wedding. Confused yet?

This is my handsome nephew and his new bride. His wedding was a lot of fun. He is 26 and is such a good kid. Not perfect. But he is definitely a family guy. He still hugs and kisses all over his mom and his aunts. I'm really proud of him.

This is my brave Avery. Just last year I couldn't even get her off me in the pool. Now she's jumping all by herself. I wish I could have gotten a picture of her when she has her legs bent and stretched like a frog! We left her at my sister's to spend the week with her cousin after we came back home from the wedding. I go get her today. She's had a lot of fun, but is ready to come home.

Another thing going on is we started the Folic Acid a few months ago for Ian. I'm not sure our neurologist understands much about it. I gave him the info. from the FRAXA sight (Hagerman's stuff). If anyone would like to post a comment to me about how they went about with their dosing, feel free. We're up to 3 (1 mg) pills twice a day. We've worked our way up to that, and will move on to 4 (1 mg) pills next week. Right now the pills are working fine with Ian, but as we move up I don't think it's going to be a great option. But our dr. doesn't seem to know how to get it compounded to a liquid. Like I said, I don't think he's ever gone this route before with his other patients. From what I've read from some, it doesn't seem like an easy process???? Thoughts????

Can You Say Poop....In the Potty!!!

2009-06-22T22:06:00.000-05:00

Ian's First Poop in the Potty...TMI, I know, sorry.

He was soooo proud of himself!

Ian enjoying his first poop party

Ian still enjoying his party

Okay, I have soooo much to catch up on. I'll try to get to it all this week. But I just HAD to post this one.

We had a breakthrough today!!! I am sooooo excited!!!! I will definitely be over-using my exclamation points on this one. Okay, so Jim tells Ian it's time to go tee-tee. We are remodeling the kids' bathroom, so there's no toilet in there. Not generally a problem since we have another bathroom. However, the toilet in our bathroom is in it's own separate small closet sized room. Uh-uh. Doesn't work for Ian. Too small of space. So, we got out the little kid's potty again....ugh! Well, Ian was being a bit too quiet for a bit too long, so I went to check on him. When I opened the door, there he was....standing with this extremely proud look on his face. When I looked down....OMG!!!!! There it was. So sorry, I realize the picture may be a bit overboard, but I just couldn't help it. At least I didn't take a picture of everywhere else the poop ended up besides just in the potty!!!!

So, Ian got his first Poop Party! Avery is staying with my sister for the week, so I let Ian call her and tell her what he did. She was just sad she was missing the party (well, actually the cake and icecream). I took Ian to the store to let him pick out what he wanted. He chose the little cupcakes (which I think he managed to shove in his mouth before I even got a picture of them), pretzels (instead of Fritos!), and cookies and cream icecream. I hope this is the first of many! I am sooooo extremely proud of him!

My Little Graduate

2009-06-02T19:21:00.000-05:00

Daddy, Mommy, and Ian with Teachers

Ian proudly displaying his award

Again, proudly displaying award

It was a fun day in Ian's class last week. They had their Awards Day and Party. They put on a little show of songs then his teacher presented the awards. Ian got the Care Bear award. This was for the child who was really concerned and aware of the other childrens' feelings and gave them lots of hugs. She comes up with a lot of really cute and encouraging awards. After the awards they played a slide show. It was really sweet and had a section on there saying 'good-bye' to all the 'graduates' of the PPCD program....Ian included. Yes, I cried. One, because I adore his teachers and know how much they care about Ian. And two, because I can't believe he's going into kindergarten next year. It all still scares me to death, but I believe he'll be well taken care of.

Recognized

2009-05-27T16:25:00.000-05:00

What a simple word...recognized. Well, here in Texas it's sometimes NOT so simple. The standardized tests here (called TAKS) are incredibly stressful on teachers, students, principals. I won't even go into the details. Lets just say, way too much emphasis goes into those tests every year. Too much depends on them.

There are different levels of ratings that schools get, depending on the results of the tests school-wide. There's Academically Unacceptable, Acceptable, Recognized, and Exemplary. The school where Jim teaches has never made it above Acceptable (but has never gotten Unacceptable). This year, they made it to Recognized. I was very excited for them and for the principal, who has tried so hard every year to motivate and encourage (and threaten some, I'm sure). Needless to say, she has been in a WAY good mood. If they can keep it up each year, that would be even better.

Okay, that's about the only news I have going on these days. :)

4 Years Ago Today

2009-05-12T18:40:00.001-05:00

Well, today, May 12, is the 4 year anniversary of our first diagnosis. Am I the only one who remembers their date? I don't mean to over-dramatize, but for me it was a date as much to remember as my miscarriage. Many of the same feelings and emotions. So, for my entry today I want to walk down a memory lane that took me closer to the Lord and showed me His great love for me and showed me that He really does care in the tough times. He cared so much, He gave me these great memories that culminate into His perfect and obvious orchestration of my precious Ian.

After Ian was born, but before his diagnosis, I was watching a Praise Baby video with him. As the music was going and the kids on the video were playing, there came a part with this boy in a wheelchair that had obvious special needs. It was the first time I had seen that part in the video, and I'll never forget the emotions that ran through me. I believe it was then that the Lord told me about Ian. (not audibly, but in my heart) Here's the part that took a while to figure out it was Ian. Ian had been born, but we had not yet had the diagnosis. I was pregnant with Avery as I watched the video. So, of course, I was convinced that it was Avery He was telling me about. It didn't take me long after our diagnosis for the video to hit my mind. It all clicked at that moment. The Lord was telling me about the specialness of Ian.

Ian is also the only child that I believe God gave us his name. Ian was never a name I would even have thought of. We had planned on naming him Brennan. I won't go into the long story of how I believe it was to be his name, but I remember it all happened as I was driving home. So, I immediately called Jim and asked him to look up the spiritual meaning in our name book. His name means "God is Gracious". I didn't argue. Jim and I both knew that was to be his name.

One more thing. I had chosen for my life verse(s) Jeremiah 29:11-13 early on in my Christian walk. At one point when I was so distraught and brokenhearted about the diagnosis, this part of the scripture reminded me that I'm not alone. "...plans to give you hope and a future." This wonderfully reminded me that as I seek Him and pray to Him, MY SON HAS A HOPE AND A FUTURE. It was then I realized that this part of scripture was not meant only for me to have as my life verse, but it was meant for me to have to turn to in that particular part of my life (and still today). God chose it for me to have it inbedded in my heart for just the right time.

Oops, I thought of something else. Again, I will shorten this story. My dad and I had never had what you'd call a great father/daughter relationship. It was just kinda 'there'. After Ian's diagnosis, something happened. See, my mom and dad had a son die at the age of 5. That son had Downs Syndrome. This was a place in our hearts where we could totally connect. It was not until we were talking about Ian one day that my dad opened up about things about my brother. He had NEVER talked about it to me before. Anyway, our relationship is so much different than it used to be. It's more like how its supposed to be.

So, I am one who believes that ALL things happen for a reason (even if I never know that reason this side of Heaven). And I believe that it's my role to bring all the glory to God that I can in all my circumstances. I fail miserably many times. But I do believe that Jim and I live out our life with our 3 Fragile X children well. (Again, not always, but overall) I want others to see a life of hope in me, not a life of pity. Afterall, Christ is all about hope.

My Big 2 Year Old

2009-04-26T23:10:00.001-05:00

My little one turned 2 on Saturday (same day as Blake's bday). I can't believe it. I've said it with the other ones too, but for some reason when it's the youngest, it's harder to believe how fast the time has gone by. Isn't he adorable?!

Here he is enjoying the bounce house with the other kids. We bought this 2 years ago to help strengthen Ian and Avery. It's been a wonderful investment. We're ready for another one that's durable enough for bigger sizes. The kids love it!

The cake, made by my friend, Julie (and her son). She is an incredible maker of cakes. I try to get her to do all my kids' cakes. Show her a picture, and wa-la! I think people like coming to the parties just to see what the cake will be!

Benjamin working on blowing out the candles. Luckily, no spit. With a little (okay, a lot) of help from Dad, the candles went out.

Ben wasn't quite sure what to do with the cake this year either. After viewing it for a short while, he decided a nose dive would work best!

And Ian wasn't about to miss out on the fun! Lucky for him, his brother decided to share!

This was only part of the end result after he was done with that cake. The bath afterwards was almost as fun!

Mom and Daddy enjoying his cuteness.

A Lot of Nothing....Sorta

2009-04-24T15:04:00.000-05:00

This'll be a short one. Not in a real 'with it' mood today. Probably because I'm about to start. Yes, finally after 28 or so years of having a period I've finally been able to catch my mood and know when I'm gonna start. Shouldn't have taken me so long.

Anyway...just a bunch of family and friends issues going on....none of which are related in nature. Things that make me want to just move away (for a little while) while people get their stuff sorted out. Sounds kinda selfish, I know. I guess I'm getting a little tired of watching people who don't listen to wisdom, get themselves deeper into _ _ _ _, then blame God or everybody else for the mess they've gotten into. And the kicker is that it's always the person on the outside of the situation who can see all the junk a-comin, or at least some of it. Now don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that I made all the right choices in my lifetime. I know better than to make a statement like that. I've definitely messed enough up in my life. Unfortunately at that time in my life, I didn't have sound people to listen to. They were all in the same boat I was. But it's just irritating to watch it be someone else you know and love do it, especially when they do have people in their life who can give sound advice. Seems like any question, any statement, any act of love gets turned against you. My solution? I'm stayin out of it all. Well, I'm gonna try anyway. I'm getting way better at not offering advice or any sort of statements when not asked. And I've gotten even better at skatin' around the issue when asked. I figure I can still love them and pray for them even when all else fails. As humans, we can't save anyone from themselves, right?

Then to top it all off I found out yesterday that my very, very, very, very good friends are putting their house up for sell and headin' out. As sad as I am, I can understand why. There's really not too many friendships I consider strong enough to try to keep up with when one moves away, but this is one that will be worth it. So, Rian, if you're reading this, I love you dearly!

Okay, I'll be better in a few days. Words of encouragement would be great about now.

Exciting News

2009-04-16T23:07:00.000-05:00

Okay, we all know things are 'final' until the ARD meeting. However, I got a note in Ian's backpack about him going to the ABLE summer school program at his school. This means he will be in the program for kindergarten. This means we are very happy. He'll be in a regular ed class, but with a full time aid to shadow him. I'm not 100% sure of what all this looks like, but we had a lot of help from inside pushing for us to get him in something like this, and we are very grateful. I am just so praying that he will learn more self-control over the summer. I know he'll be excited though because he'll get to ride the bus. He loved riding the bus at his Extended year during the summer last year (even though that school is less than 1/2 mile from our house). Mommy will enjoy it as well. :)

Today when we picked Ian up from school, the first thing he said was 7 layer burrito (a Taco Bell item). I hesitated and then thought 'why not'. So I asked Avery, "Do you want a ham sandwich or Taco Bell?" So sweetly she said, "Oh, Taco Bell will be fine Mommy." Unfortunately (actually very fortunately) she got in trouble and nobody got Taco Bell for lunch. Oh darn, no junk for lunch! The amazing thing was that Ian didn't throw a fit. He was so interested in why Avery was crying and in trouble that I'm not sure he even noticed. He was just fine at home with his all natural PB&J and fruit.

Let's Build A Word!

2009-04-13T18:06:00.000-05:00

If ya'll don't have Word World, you're missing out. It's a great show for the kids. The characters and things are made out of the letters that spell them. They build words. It goes through different kinds of skills like rhyming, 's' to make plurals, blends, sounding out words, etc. Okay, now that you have the background, here's the scoop.

We have these little 2 inch sized letters, kinda like the ones we all had and stuck on the fridge, only these don't have magnets. Ian and Avery like to get them out to "build a word". Ian has this gift of knowing what things say by looking at it. For example, if we showed him one of his VHS cassettes (without pictures on it), he could tell us not only that it was a Barney or Veggie Tales, but he could tell us which one it was (Barney Songs, King David and the Ducky, etc.). When he looks at the list of shows we have recorded on DVR, he can tell us which is Dragon Tales, World World, Sesame Street, etc. Get the picture?

So, Ian and Avery are playing with these letters, so I think, "Hey, why not see what he can do." So I get out the letters that spell 'dog', mix them up and tell Ian to build the word 'dog'. HE DOES IT! Yeah, I know....easy word. So, I get the letters that spell 'bear', do the same thing, and HE DOES IT! He had a little difficulty with 'sheep', but he finally got it in the end.

I'm thinking he will definitely be a 'whole word learner' in the beginning. What a big boy! Woo-hoo!!!!!

Another one on the Potty?

2009-04-09T13:18:00.000-05:00

Still working with Ian on the tee-tee in the potty. He's doing really good as long as we set a timer for him. Hard to get him to go on his own free will. But I'll take what I can get right now.

Call me crazy, but I've been taking Benjamin to the potty lately. I put him on it before he gets in the bathtub (ever since I actually saw him tee-tee in the tub - one of those things if you don't see it, you don't think about it as much, but once you see it....all over). Sometimes he has to have me pour some warm water over his privates before his body will go. Other times, he'll just go after I sit him on it.

So, I thought, why not sit him on it at random times too? Sometimes I'll take him first thing in the morning after he wakes up. He's gone then. Today, I decided to put him on right before his nap....he went...no warm water needed. He's soooooo darn cute when I tell him, "Benjamin, let's go tee-tee." He'll stop whatever he's doing, make his way to the bathroom, open the lid to the little potty, and sit himself down. Then he does this "Sssshh, issen" with his finger between his mouth and his ears. He's heard Ian say, "Shhh, listen" when he's gone potty. (Cause I used to have him be quiet so I could hear if he went or not...when he would sit on the big potty.) So, Benjamin does the same thing. Then he's so proud of himself when he goes. SO AM I!!!!!

2009-04-06T13:30:00.000-05:00

The birthday party was great fun and the scrap retreat was great fun too! I somewhat finished Avery's book. I have embellishing and journaling and some pictures still to do. I think I got picture crazy with her book because it's at least twice as thick as Ian's. Luckily, girls care more anyway. She loves looking at it. How many times has Ian looked at his????? ZERO! But I look at it a lot.

We haven't had anything exciting going on lately. Guess that could be a good thing. Still waiting to hear when Ian's placement ARD will be. A bit nervous, but I do think we've got some good things in store with it. Ian's teacher got Teacher of the Year this year! She soooo deserves it.

I go this Friday...yes, Good Friday...for my pre-op appointment for the skin cancer on my forehead. I've got to hurry and schedule our family pics before the surgery. We've tried scheduling twice before, but have had to cancel. First time we had sick kids. Second time was right after our spring break trip and Benjamin came home looking like we beat him with a bat! Didn't think that would make for a good picture. So, since we have Benjamin's 2 year bday coming up, I figure we'll knock out two pics in one.

Well, wish I had more to tell. Just feelin' a bit quiet lately.

Scrappin' 40!!!

2009-03-26T09:09:00.000-05:00

Today is the day. I'm the big 4 - 0. Wanna hear an added funny? My mother-in-law's birthday is the same day! We always joke that Jim married me so that he could remember his mom's birthday. Anyway, she's great, so I adore having the same b-day as her. Back on track...Fourty doesn't feel too bad so far. Jim and I always wonder that as we get older how are we going to maintain energy for the kids, since they're so young. Well, we've been working on taking better care of ourselves. We try to eat better....doesn't always work when we're feelin' lazy. We've started jogging again which has done 2 things - given me more energy (although I could always use more), and helped me sleep better at night (I've never been a good sleeper during the night). The trick for me is.....can I keep it up? I can find ANY excuse not to go jog....too windy, too cold, too hot, too tired, blah, blah, blah. I'm actually starting to enjoy the jogging again though, which helps out with the motivation. Shoot me a "you can do it, Donna" comment every once in a while!

What am I doing for the big birthday you ask? Well, first Jim got me this GREAT camera (well, I think it's great). Suzanne, you'd be proud to see what this one is compared to my old one. Thing is, I'm still trying to figure out how to use it. I can do the point and shoot thing, but I want to know ALL the cool things I can do with it. Unfortunately, the way I read instruction manuals - hmmmm, well it might take me a while. Anyhoo, I'm enjoying it so far.

Last weekend, we had a family birthday gathering at our house. My mother-in-law and I decided on pizza and wings to keep things easy. Plus, the kids love pizza - makes it double easy. We hung around, goofed off, told stories, etc. Then my niece (almost 13) decided we should play hide and seek. So, we did. It was soooooo much fun. What better time in life to remember that we can still be kids!!??

Next, my best friend is putting together a girl's night for me tonight. I'm looking forward to that. Basically all Iknow is we're going out to eat, then to a friend's house for girl stuff. I'm excited to spend time with friends I don't get to spend too much time with these days.

Then, the culmination of it all.......scrapbook weekend! 5 other girlsfriends and I are going away to a scrapbooking cottage. We leave tonight and don't come back until....ready for this....SUNDAY EVENING!!! Wee-hooo! Avery will be 4 this summer and I just MIGHT get her 1 year book done. I plan on getting a 1 year book done for all 3 kids, but I don't plan on being a scrapbook mom. Who knows, maybe that'll change....maybe not. I enjoy cardmaking more. It's less taxing on my brain.

So, here's the deal. I'm normally a bit of a jokester when it comes to overnighting with friends. There's one friend in particular on this trip that I would LOVE to come up with something to 'get her'. So, if you have any ideas on good pranks, please offer them up!

To sum up the entry, I just want to praise my Father above for the great life He's planned for me. It's not always easy...okay, it's pretty much never easy...but it's still wonderful. While I can only see the parts of my life He's shown me thus far, I know He has a beautiful plan for making it all for His glory. That knowledge and hope keeps me going everyday. Thank you, Jesus!!!!