Happiness Project! Back to School edition!

Oh the joy of back to school!

And the quiet house it brings!

Please check out this important Blog Entry! Click HERE to read about something near and dear to my heart!

First Day of School!!

Today was the first day of 3rd grade for my oldest son!

And the first day of 1st grade for my middle son!

Yay for quiet days around the house again!  My youngest son (for now anyway until the baby comes!) doesn't start preschool until September 7th, so he's still home with me for now.  But I was able to get the house clean, strip the beds, wash the sheets, make the beds, do the dishes, empty the dishwasher, and it will all stay that way for at least the next 4 hours!! Ahhh!  Have I mentioned how much I love school days ;)

I'm not looking forward to my 4pm "hell hour".  That's when everyone is back home from school and the fighting starts again and homework has to be done and dinner is trying to be made etc etc.

But until then....They're off!  Have a great first day boys!

Please check out this important Blog Entry! Click HERE to read about something near and dear to my heart!

Miss me?!

I can't believe it's been a week since I've posted!   Things have just been SO hectic around here!  The older boys are home and having all 3 kids home now all day is definitely keeping me on my toes!  I realize just how spoiled I was this summer with my mother in law having the 2 older boys.  I wasn't able to sit down at all yesterday, which made for a very uncomfortable evening.  I can't believe how uncomfortable I already am so early in this pregnancy!  My back is absolutely killing me by the end of the night if I can't get enough "sit down" time during the day.  Having 3 boys I'm having to chase all day everyday isn't making it easy to get my "sit down time" either!

I've been fighting for the past 2 weeks now to find Avery (my youngest son) a new speech therapist and get him some private occupational therapy also.  After everything I've been through with his speech therapist he has now I decided it's time to try something/someone new.  I found a place that sounds really nice and looks nice online.  I called and was told they would verify insurance and get back to me.  I then emailed the lady every 2-3 days for updates and was told "we're still in the process of verifying insurance I'll let you know ASAP when I hear something.  Again I'd email in 2-3 days.  I can fully admit I'm not a very patient person when it comes to this kind of stuff! LOL

I finally got a phone call yesterday that the insurance has gone through and they wanted to schedule a time for Avery's Evaluations. I was so so pleased and tomorrow morning we'll be going in for a speech evaluation at this place.  Here's to hoping it's as nice as it sounds/looks!  Now I have the job of telling his old speech therapist that we'll be going elsewhere for therapy.  Not looking forward to that either!

The older boys have their "meet the teacher" night this friday at their school, and Avery has his "meet the teacher" on the 31st.  The older boys go back to school Monday and Avery starts back on September 1st.

Here's to hoping once everyone is back in school I'll have more time to keep up with blogging!!  Until then I hope you don't miss me to much!

Please check out this important Blog Entry! Click HERE to read about something near and dear to my heart!

SURPRISE!! It's a Baby Shower!

So for a few weeks now my older sister and my step mom and I have been planning to spend Sunday (the 15th) at the Outlets near my sisters house doing some shopping.  We made plans for my stepmom to pick me up so that I could leave my car with the carseat for my youngest son with my hubby.

The night before our "girls day out" my hubby gave me some cash for shopping and I was telling him what I was going to buy for the boys for back to school clothes.  Sunday morning I woke up and was getting ready for my stepmom to pick me up. She got to my house with my little sister because she wanted to go shopping too, and hey it WAS a girls day out!  We headed up to my sisters house and when we got there we went inside to decide what store to hit first.  This video explains what happened next!



OMG!!  I was SO clueless!!  I couldn't believe it! I wasn't expecting a shower.  Especially with this being my 4th baby and another boy at that!

I found out that this has been in the works for months!  Even my hubby was in on it!  We had SO much fun.  I got lots of great things for the baby and had so much fun playing games with family and friends.

After the shower was over we DID end up going shopping, but only because I was SO looking forward to it and my sister and stepmom thought I was going to be so upset by not going! LOL

So not only did I get a surprise baby shower, but also a night out with the girls shopping and dinner!

Just a couple pictures from the afternoon.  Not nearly all of them!  If you have me on facebook you can see them all there :)

What a great day!  I don't know how to thank my sister and stepmom enough.  They seriously made this whole pregnancy for me!

Please check out this important Blog Entry! Click HERE to read about something near and dear to my heart!

Feeding the Duckies!

All out of bread :(

Please check out this important Blog Entry! Click HERE to read about something near and dear to my heart!

Happiness Project 8/10/10

Linking up for the Happiness Project!  Click the picture above to see more pictures of things that make people happy

 Park Days!



Please check out this important Blog Entry! Click HERE to read about something near and dear to my heart!

Another Bad Sensory Day

So after our really bad day Friday at the speech therapists office, which you can read about in my Letters of Intent, I knew we've hit the point where things have taken a bad turn for the worst with Avery.

Saturday was a pretty decent day.  We did some school shopping for my older boys and ordered pizza for dinner and ate in front of the TV downstairs (a big treat for Avery!).

This morning we woke up and after a little while we decided it was way past time for Avery to get a haircut.  We've been putting the haircut off far to long because it is typical not a good experience with Avery.  We called Avery upstairs and told him it was time for a haircut.  We immediately were met with "no mama. no haircut. no mama" and crying.  I was trying desperately to get him to climb into the chair himself so my hubby could use the clippers on him (it's typically a whole lot easier to just buzz him, then take him somewhere and deal with the freak out.)  I wanted him to do it himself and for it to be on his own terms.  After a while it became apparent that was not going to happen.  At that point my  husband picked him up and placed him in the chair.  He continued to buzz his head while Avery completely broke down.  Tears, screaming, shaking, etc.  I kept trying to reassure him that nothing was hurting him and he was fine.  After a while I just had to leave the room because he was just completely unconsolable.

My husband finished his haircut with the crying, screaming, shaking continuing to take place.  After the haircut I got a bubble bath ready for him and tried to coax him into the tub.   He was still completely inconsolable and crying and shaking.  I placed him in the tub and started pouring the warm water over his body with my hands.  A few min later my husband came in and ended up having to bath a completely stiff, screaming, crying, statue of my son to get all the loose hair off of him.

When the bath was done I wrapped Avery in a towel and carried him (still screaming) to his room.  I sat down on the floor and started "shhh'ing" him and rocking him.  He moved himself into a position as if I was rocking a baby (lying across my lap in my arms) and I rocked him. As I rocked him his screaming turned to these moaning type sounds.  Those lasted a few minutes and then it was completely silent.  I looked at Avery and he was laying in my arms with this complete blank stare on his face.  He wasn't moving, he wasn't talking. He was just laying there.  I started talking to him and asking questions "are you ready to get dressed now?" and got absolutely no response from him.  Just stayed in that blank stare into space.  I asked "do you want to go to the park and swing?"  Still no response and a blank stare.  He wasn't looking at me, wasn't making eye contact.  Just staring into space.

As I sat there rocking him still all I could think was "this is what rocking a baby who has had a seizure must feel like."  In that moment I broke down.  Tears started to flow and I just looked at Avery and said "mama loves you, you know that?"  This typically would have gotten a "I wud ew moe" (I love you more) from him.  Instead all I got was a stare.  My husband walked into Avery's bedroom and I just looked at him and said "he's not responding to anything, he's not making any eye contact with me either."  My husband bent down and kissed Avery on the forehead and said "hey buddy, look at me."  and got nothing.  I started sobbing again and my husband took Avery from me and started rocking him and talking to him.  I went in my room and cried.  It took a few more minutes and then I heard Avery start giggling slowly.  I got in the shower and got dressed.  My husband got Avery dressed and they went downstairs.

Avery spent the rest of the evening by himself again only coming out to eat.  He would talk to us, but still no eye contact.  Tonight after putting him to sleep my husband came downstairs and said to me "he's still very quiet.  It's so unusual."

What in the world has happened in the last two months that has made Avery regress so much?!  Why is he shutting down so completely and staying shut down for the entire day afterwards?  What is going on? Could it really just be that it's summertime and he's out of his routine?  Could it be that he's not getting the consistant therapy he gets while school is in session?  I mean his speech therapy has been so sporadic due to vacations and stuff and he hasn't gotten any OT this summer.  But he only gets OT once a month at school.

I don't know what has been going on but I do know that first thing tomorrow I am calling an OT and getting him in to be seen.  I can't handle seeing him like this anymore.  He was making such progress and strides and to see him regress so horribly is killing me.  Not to mention today scared me to death.


Please check out this important Blog Entry! Click HERE to read about something near and dear to my heart!

Letters of Intent Friday - Special Needs Child Edition

Linking up for Letters of Intent!  Click the picture above to read more letters and join while we laugh, cry, and scream.

Dear Speech Therapist:
    This isn't the first "letter of intent" I've written to you.  After 20 min of my son screaming bloody murder in the room, yes I DID open the door.  When you told me "I think it's best if you stay out." I left again.  After 45 min of him screaming bloody murder I was DONE.  I am NOT paying you all that money for him to spend the entire hour screaming and crying while you do nothing but say "ok, when you're done crying you can come play."  Yes I said that to you too.  And yes, I DID leave without paying you.  My son who is usually so easy to "bring back" after a shut down has now spent the last 40 min since being home not even looking at me, and sitting by himself in the other room.  Thanks!  Thanks for absolutely nothing.

Sincerely,
The woman who isn't going to let her son scream for an entire hour


Dear Husband,
   When I call you because I'm tired of listening to our son scream bloody murder in the therapists office it would be nice if you answer your phone.  When you DO finally call back and I'm now at home, when I start telling you about therapy it would be nice if you didn't completely act like nothing is wrong.  Telling me "well he's not going to have a perfect day everyday" doesn't help.  Telling me it's my fault because he plays his DS to much, or telling me I obviously did something that set him off, doesn't help.  You're son has special needs.  He has sensory integration, speech apraxia, motor planning problems, and some low tone.  He isn't PERFECT. I never said he was perfect.  But him having a "bad day" has nothing to do with something I am or am not doing.  Thanks for making me feel like absolute shit.

Sincerely,
The woman who just wants to smack you right now

Dear Self:
   You've shed enough tears about Avery to last a lifetime.  No need to shed anymore.  But seriously, what were you thinking having another baby when Avery has so many issues and still needs so much?  Are you looney??

Sincerely,
The "man in the mirror"


Please check out this important Blog Entry! Click HERE to read about something near and dear to my heart!

Rejection sucks! Plain and simple!

As you all know I've agreed to be a co-coordinator for this years Walk for Apraxia in our area.  This is something so near and dear to my heart because of my youngest son suffering from this disorder.  In being a co-coordinator one of my responsibilities is to contact businesses, shops, etc and get donations from them.  Things like gift cards from Costco, Sams Club, Giant, etc etc to cover the cost of food, drinks, etc that will be served there.  Local businesses willing to give giftcards or gift baskets to donate to a raffle we'll hold at the walk.  Everything we do at the walk or plan at the walk has to be donated by someone.  Of course these places that donate money are given a donation form so they can claim it as a tax deduction.

We'll be holding a "fundraiser night" at a local pizza hut where a portion of the proceeds will go to the walk.  Of course the catch is we have to sell $200.00 worth of pizza that night in order to get any portion of the proceeds.

Another thing I'm in charge of is trying to find some "entertainment" for the walk.  I've been contacting local clowns, magicians, face painters, etc trying to see if they would be willing to donate (of course) their time and do a show at our walk.

I have received more rejection these past few weeks then I've ever gotten in my entire life. I'm getting emails left and right "sorry but my policy is not to do charity events." and "our company has already met it's maximum allowable donations for this year."  "I won't donate, but I'll reduce my price by $50.00."

No matter what the circumstances we all know rejection sucks.  Plain and Simple.  I was told I would get a lot of rejections when I agreed to take this on.  I didn't expect it to effect my self esteem so much though!

I mean I completely understand that if I had my own business I'd never make any money if all I did was charity work, and donated my time all the time to shows.  But the other part of me says "what's an hour of your time to entertain some children who struggle enough as it is?" Is there no one out there that does charity work anymore?

I pay thousands of dollars a year on therapy for my son.  Would it really kill some of these business owners to donate a $25 dollar gift card to help us?  Would it kill someone to say "that's a good cause and I'd love to help out."

Or I could just keep repeating.....

"A rejection is nothing more than a necessary step in the pursuit of success." - Bo Bennett



Please check out this important Blog Entry! Click HERE to read about something near and dear to my heart!

23 weeks!

Today I had my sonogram for heart views on the baby.  The last sonogram I had the baby was being stubborn and wouldn't allow her to get the shots she needed of his heart.  I took my youngest son with me today (like usual) and he did really well again with just playing his ninetendo DS while I had my appt.

The baby again was really stubborn today!  He just doesn't want to give us what we ask for! LOL  He was fighting the tech ever step of the way to get the views of his heart that she was trying to get.  She did eventually get them though!  And his heart is PERFECT!  So yay for that!

She was trying to get me a 3D picture of his face and everytime she put the wand over his face he would cover his face with his hands!

What a booger!

He's measuring perfectly on time at 23 weeks 2 days, except for his head which is measuring a week bigger.  All of my boys have HUGE heads!  And they all measured 1-2 weeks ahead in that department!  I had her confirm gender and she was laughing about there being "no doubt" that he's still a boy.  I had a small glimmer of hope, but that's completely gone now! LOL  She even gave me a "money shot" to take home so there's no denying it.

He weighs in right now at 1lb 5oz and is head down now (was breech at last appt) but that can still change at any point, and doesn't really matter since I'll be having a c-section anyway.

Here's some pics I got today :)  I had to take a picture of the pictures with my cell since my scanner isn't working :(

3D face

It's a boy!

3D face again

Profile

Please check out this important Blog Entry! Click HERE to read about something near and dear to my heart!

A raffle where you could WIN $50.00 to Hailey's Hair Clips!

If you have a little girl in your life (whether it be your daughter, niece, granddaughter, etc)  Check out this raffle going on over at Hailey's Hair Clips She is holding a raffle where you could WIN $50.00 to her website.  This raffle will also help support my son!  Check it out HERE please!


If you don't have a little girl in your life that could use that raffle, then Please check out this important Blog Entry! Click HERE to read about something near and dear to my heart!

You guys rock!