First Week of School Over

I know some of you have been into the swing of school for over a week now, but we just finished our first week....and yes, we have sick kids now. The week was hectic, but they did well. Avery goes 2 days a week to a Christian pre-school. Ian is in his 3rd year of PPCD. I really want to work on being more a part of the goal making this year for Ian's ARDs. I'm just not sure how or what. So, if any of you have any input, I'd love to hear. They would need to be for his age (he'll be 5 in November). I'm mainly not sure what is logical for the school and what is not.

Wish I could write more, but hubby is needing help with getting the kids to bed. More later.

Thanks!

Hey I got an award. My first. Thanks, Betsy at My Five Men! It came at a great time a few days or so ago. I commented to Betsy that just when I think I have nothing left in me, the Lord sends a friend to show me that I do have something left. Thanks, friend!

p.s. Can I use the picture of the green zinnias on my sidebar? I love that picture!

Straterra Anyone?

Okay, we took Ian to his neurologist appointment yesterday. We adore our current neurologist. However, he does not deal much with FX. Getting to the point in life where we need to start thinking about medications, we really need a neurologist who is more familiar with the syndrome and treating it's symptoms. So, off we went. BTW, Ian did so great! I was so proud of his behavior. I really appreciated the doctor, his thoughts, and his personality. Unfortunately he will be leaving soon to join a practice out of state. Figures! But I decided that if I liked him, chances are he would have another doctor in the practice he would recommend based on what I would be looking for.

After asking a lot of questions and answering a lot of my questions, he suggested starting with what he called a less intrusive drug....straterra (and keeping the clonodine). One of the things we like is that it is an anti-stimulant instead of a stimulant like a lot of the others. He also said it isn't as difficult to manage the dosage and regulate. We started Ian on it last night. The doctor said it would take about a week or so to notice a change. So, we'll see.

If any of you have heard of this or have used it with your child, please give some feedback.

Bittersweet; Avery Saying; Family

What an adorable face this is! This was our dog, Dante. We got Dante pre-kids. You know, when you have infertility issues, you get a dog! Well, we WAAAAYYYYY spoiled him. I wish I had some of the old pics on my computer to show you. Dante would sit in a chair with us at the table as we played cards. No, he wouldn't play cards, but he would eat pretzels and drink wine with us....don't worry, only a sip. He's a great dog.

Well, then we were blessed with children. I think our first really did him in with his loudness, inability to pet easily, etc. etc. We could see Dante's personality start to change. It's like he was trying to say, "Hey! What happened to my family, and who is this little terror taking my place!" Imagine his dismay when we had a second....then a third! His world was rocked. Sad to say, he growl at the kids, but it was more like a "Get out of my space and quiet down" type growl. Some friends couldn't believe we still kept him. Sometimes I couldn't believe it, but I just couldn't give him up. If I really believed he'd hurt the kids, I would have in a heartbeat. Anywho, times have gotten worse for Dante. He has really bad skin allergies and started "leaking" pee everywhere. After spending a lot of money at the vet (twice), we found out he had a really bad urinary tract infection and was put on meds.

We decided we really weren't being fair to our first baby (Dante). The vet agreed that under our circumstances, he was greatly stressed. So, we listed him on Craigslist (if you haven't gotten on this "better than ebay site" you should try it). We noted our circumstances with the SN kiddos, and commented that he needed a stressfree home with no small children. Long story long, we had someone come look at him and wanted to take him. Jim called to tell me so I could come say good-bye, but I couldn't do it. So, I drove around until Jim told me he was gone. We've been able to email the new owners to find out how the transition went, because we wanted to make sure that if it didn't go well, we got him back. They love him! They even kept his name. I had Jim email them again to let them know he liked to 'sing', especially to "Happy Birthday."

Thus, the bittersweet moment. I miss him dearly, especially when I see all the pictures of him. How are the kids doing you ask? The don't even ask about him! I couldn't believe it. Neither Avery nor Ian even miss him! Probably a good thing. We won't be getting a new dog for quite some time.

Avery Saying: One morning Avery was jabbering stuff. She said, "Mama, I'm such a mess." I said, "You are? Then what am I going to do with you?" She sat and thought for a moment and replied, "Throw me in the trash." :) :)

Family: Do you ever get so frustrated with family that you just don't know what to do anymore? I know from some of your blogs, that you deal with the same thoughts. I recently did a Beth Moore Bible study that mentioned that unity among family is more difficult because you don't choose your family. You can choose your friends. Face it, how many of us would choose to be friends with people with have nothing in common with or have a difficult time being around? If you said, "Hey, I would" ....more power to you. But the study reminded me that God chooses our family, and He knows the complete story and all the why's. He calls me to persevere with family and do my best to rise to peace and unity....even when others do not and no matter how I am treated. It's a tough battle everyday. If we ask and seek, He even shows us amidst the issues, the areas in our own lives where we need to be humbled and where we need to be prayer warriors. Isn't He great.....even when we are not!?

Sweet Avery and Tough Day

A little over a week ago we had a good friend pass away. When I was letting Avery know that she would be taken to a friend's house while mommy and daddy left, she asked where we were going. I told her we were going to say good-bye to Jamie. Here's the conversation:

Avery: "Is Jamie still sick?"
Mom: "No, Jamie isn't sick anymore."
Avery: "Where's Jamie?"
Mom: "Jamie is heaven. Do you know who he gets to be with?"
Avery: "Jesus."
Mom: "Yes."
Avery: "Is Jamie happy?"
Mom: "Yes, Jamie is very happy. Do you know why?"
Avery: "Why?"
Mom: "Because he gets to dance with Jesus, he's not sick anymore, and he gets to see your smiling face everyday now."
Avery: Big Grin!

Oh, it was such a sweet moment.

Today: One big YUCK. We're out of town visiting family. I don't know if I was just over emotional today or if the kids really were tearing at my last nerve. Then we went to my niece's birthday party. It was at Little Gym. I did my usual letting the gym people know about Ian so they wouldn't think he was a 'bad' boy. He did okay in the beginning. Then he just couldn't handle the excitement anymore, so we left with him and had family bring home Avery. I cried the whole car ride and pretty much the rest of today. I just want him to be able to be a part of things in a 'normal' way. Jim made the point that he DID have a good time. That helped a little, but I guess not enough.

I try really hard not to cry in front of my family, particularly my mom, when we're back home visiting because I don't want them to worry. Sounds fake, I know. But they worry so much anyway, I hate to give them anymore reason to. I blew that today. Couldn't hide it. Maybe it's pride? Maybe I just want them to think I really can handle our life perfectly. Ha Ha

Anyway, it's time for bed now and tomorrow is a new day. I will get up like a do everyday and ask Christ to give me strength for another day. He is sufficient....even when I cry.

Friends are the Greatest!

You know, I often wonder what life would be like without friends. I think it'd be a sad, sad life. Tonight was a wonderful example of great friends.

About a month ago, my good friend had set up a date for her and her family to come over and eat dinner with us...they would plan to bring dinner. Hey, can't beat that. She set the date a month out. I thought, "Well, what a great planner." The night was to be tonight. I had tried to let her out of cooking dinner because her husband ended up going out of town and we had a funeral for another friend of ours. :( I thought that was a lot for her to have to worry about in one day. Nope, she was all gungho.

Then, I call her after my nap, around 4:00pm and told her she would have to ignore my tornado hit house of toys. She tells me that I'd better start cleaning cuz she had a surprise. I finally got it out of her. She said there would be a bunch of people over here for a housewarming party for us. Let me tell you, I was totally surprised. I just don't know how everyone kept it secret. I really thought she was joking. So, I hung up the phone and Jim and I started cleaning like mad. Sure enough, they came. We had a wonderful time! The kids loved having friends over to play with and they did great. No vomit! And they had all pitched in for a Home Depot gift card for us.

This is not the first time this family has blessed us in such a great way. They don't have to do anything and we'd want them for our friends. But they are so thoughtful and really really care about us and always go out of their way to bless us.

So, for anyone who thinks they can make it through life without the joy and love that comes with friends, think again. What a lonely life it would be.

Thank you to all my precious friends! Christ shines through each of you!

Stuff Again

Betsy asked if Avery was still potty trained. Very good question. Well, no more poops in the potty since the big one. And, a day or so after I did my bragging to ya'll, she wet THREE TIMES in her panties. What's up with that? She must have been having an emotional day that day. Since then, she's still doing good with the pee part. School starts for her the last week of this month. I'm just gonna pray she doesn't have to poop while she's there. I guess I'll find out the true meaning of potty trained from her teachers!

Avery saying: I was going to get on the treadmill this morning and Avery was going to fingerpaint. She asked me if I was going to work-out. I said, yes (but quickly changed my mind when I felt how sweltering hot it was!). She grabbed her fingerpaints and said proudly, "I'm going to work out my fingerpaints."

I can't believe Ian's ESY is almost over. His last day is this Thursday. I have to say, his time there has way exceeded my expectations! I've been very pleased. He'll start his last year in his PPCD program the end of this month. I don't want to think about the future.

That brings up another stress point time. Drugs. I know you've all dealt with them or the thought of them. Ian will turn 5 this year, and I know that reality says he can't concentrate or sit still unless he's sleeping....even then, it's debatable. When he was diagnosed and I started learning more about it, I was absolutely against him ever being on drugs (other than the ones that help with his sleep). I saw too many kids, FX or otherwise, who just totally lost their personality once on drugs. I can't stand the thought of this for Ian. He has such a great personality. It makes me cry to think of him any other way. However, it also makes me cry to think of him having to go through life as hyper as he is. It's like his brain just never stops being on overload. He's beyond HDHD. It hurts to think of how he must feel having to live with it. Anyway, our neurologist is a great guy, but not very knowledgeable about FX. We're going to see another one that has been recommended. I don't want him medicated by anyone who doesn't really understand his diagnoses. Truth be told as well, I don't know how long the rest of the household would stay sane if Ian doesn't get help. He's only getting bigger and stronger. Anybody have any words of wisdom for me?

Can't they just stay young?