Tuesday, March 30, 2010

ironic

Funny that you say to someone "have a good day"... when you have information that tells you they are absolutely going to have a bad day in the end.

Monday, March 29, 2010

strange awakenings

Yesterday morning I woke up to the cat licking my arm. I turned to look at him, only to discover that it wasn't the cat at all. It was Cassius!

Hot Chocolate

At one of our churches they set coffee out for adults to have during service. They even have an esspresso bar where you can get "special" drinks. We told Ryan that he could get a hot chocolate from the esspresso bar. He walked up and told the lady what he wanted.. she looked at him and asked how old he is.
"I'm... kind of like... 11... or something."
HUH?
"No, you are 11, not kind of like it"

Anyway, the rule is that you have to be 14 to get a drink because they dont' want people spilling on the cement (yes cement) floors. He was fine with that and walked away with no complaints. We chuckled about it, especially after Randy spilled his coffee TWICE on the floor!

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Choices

Sometimes the choices I make hurt other people, and sometimes their choices hurt me. I don't think most of us intend to hurt others, but it happens. Some choices have results that we'll never fully know or understand. That's why we need to take our time and really think before we make big decisions.

Randy and I have made so many BIG decisions recently, it's crazy! They effect everyone in our family, from Cassius to our parents and siblings. They also have an effect on our friends. We love our lives and are glad for our decisions.

Some recent decisions have been difficult on all of us, I won't go into detail right now. We feel that we have made the best choices for the health of everyone in our family, even though some things we choose feel like they hurt.. like getting a shot at the doctor's office. It stings, but it keeps me from getting the flu and passing it on to others.

That's it, nothing profound, just reflecting for my own sanity.

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

That's my boy!

This morning when Manasseh woke up, he lounged around in bed for about 20 minutes - oh yeah, he's got some of his mama in him. THEN.. when he finally decided to get out of bed.. he went directly to the coffee maker and started telling me "Yes, Yes"

LOL... for the record he did not get coffee.

Friday, March 19, 2010

Please..

Please, don't treat my son like a moron. He acts like it, I know. He wants people to treat him like he's mentally handicapped, he thinks it's funny, or cute. The truth is, he's not incredibly dumb. He's not the brightest kid there is.. but he's got a brain in there, and it works. See, I think that people have let him get away with acting like a moron for so long, that he doesn't know how to act differently. He likes the attention, and so people continue to treat him that way, and he doesn't try to act like the person he can be. He continually chooses not to live up to his potential, because acting dumb has worked for him for so long.

So, expect him to answer you with something that makes sense, when you ask a question - if he doesn't, tell him that doesn't make sense and ask him to try again. If he "forgets" something, make him remember it. If he can't tell you what day it is, make him figure it out. He's really not as dumb as he wants people to think.

Just one of those things that makes me crazy.

Thank you

teeth

"It should take two minutes to brush your teeth"
"maybe for you..."

Thursday, March 18, 2010

brilliant

This child is brilliant...

Me: It doesn't look like you're foldin laundry

Him: That's because you saw me.

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Sabbath

My life is crazy busy. I don't know how I make it through the week sometimes without being completely exhausted. I have appointments almost every day for one or another of the boys. A week ago, I had NOTHING on my calendar for this week. Now I have something every day... every day but Thursday, that is.

When I noticed that my empty week was quickly beginning to fill in, I decided that I had to do something about it. I declared that Thursday will be Sabbath and I will not schedule anything on that day -- I've had a few things vying for a position on that day, but I kindly declined with "I'm not available". It worked!

Now, it's almost 11pm on Wednesday evening and I'm trying to figure out what it means that I'm taking a Sabbath rest tomorrow. I've spent a bit of time looking at articles online about Sabbath Laws and practices. I can't quite figure out what it will mean in my life though. It's nice to think that I won't do any work, but the truth is - someone has to change diapers and keep Manasseh from climbing everything, and the children still need fed.

I'm in a quandary right now, I hope tomorrow evening I will have an answer about what it meant to have a Sabbath rest. I plan to start scheduling a rest day every week (I think it might already be too late for next week).

Next I have to figure out how to make sure that my husband and children get a day of rest.

First Steps

I had a meeting yesterday with the boys' First Steps Coordinator yesterday to get Cassius started with therapy. They had initially stated that they wanted to wait until May and see where he is developmentally at that point. The pediatrician did not like that idea, I am so glad, so we are starting ASAP!

Oh my

I got this email from my dear husband this morning... wow

Good morning Honey.
I am so excited about my club’s meeting tonight. I get to go and learn about the birds and the bees, and if I get there early enough, there will be some hand’s on stuff going on. Hopefully, later this year I will get to participate in some of the more social events where we look at and play with each other’s stuff. It’s going to be so much fun!

Oh, and nevermind the birds.

I will buy lots of cereal

I have a hard time getting the boys moving in the morning - especially Ryan who has to be up at 5:45 in order to be on the bus at 6:45. The last two mornings he has been up fairly quickly and gotten his tasks done in a timely manner. Why? He wants cereal and I got some new stuff. Amazing how cereal can motivate a boy. I will buy whatever cereal he wants if that will keep my mornings more peaceful.

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

potty time

today we really start the potty training again... I started Nas off a few minutes ago with a trip to the potty, he sat on it for abot 5 minutes and refused to go - in spite of the fact that I could tell he needed it.. then as soon as he had the training pants on, he went... funny boy

Monday, March 15, 2010

DO NOT DO IT

I just heard one of my boys in his room having a conversation with himself... "time to jump off....do not jump off the bed... you could break your neck"...

Sunday, March 14, 2010

I should know better...

I should know better. It's happened before.. and yet.. I do it again and the same results! True craziness is doing the same thing again and expecting different results, right?

Okay, so what did I do now? Well, I let Manasseh sleep in his t-shirt and diaper. Oh yes.. when we came back upstairs Randy found him with his face pressed against the mesh of the pack'n'play and his bare bottom in the air.. a wet diaper in the bed.. and a wet blanket, eww.

Right....

"I don't see my med box... maybe this would be a good time to take me off my meds for a while".

Friday, March 12, 2010

"Don't call her Jenny"



This is how I feel tonight

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Cassius update

Cassius saw the opthamologist today. She said he's far-sighted with a bit of an astigmatism. That's normal for a 2 month old. She's not concerned that he doesn't track things yet, she said that some babies dont' track until they're 3-4 months old. The nerve in the back of one eye looks "pale", that could be an indication of trouble down the road. She will see him again in 3 months to monitor for changes.

clothes monster

"I don't have underwear packed"
"Why"
"I don't know where they are"
"I don't believe that"
"I don't either"
"What's the truth, then"

Your what?!?!?!

"Look at my squirmy"

Who's in charge here?

One of my friends recently told me that she's teaching her 4 year old about who can and can't tell him what to do. That seems like a good age to get that stuff sorted out. Unfortunatly for kids that get passed around a lot when they're 4, they are not as easily able to get it all figured out then.

So we have problems like, "My teacher said that I can bring toys to school to play with while I'm on the bus, and my bus driver said it's okay - so they win". But see, when the parents say no toys at school, it doesn't matter what teacher and bus driver say, the answer is no. Parents win.

Why is this so hard to understand? Probably for the same reason it's hard to understand that just because "my brother said it's okay" doesn't make it okay if it's against the rules.

Boys.

Monday, March 8, 2010

Don't ask if you don't want to know

That's the lesson I just learned.. "Don't ask if you don't want to know the answer". Okay, I know that lesson, just didn't know that I didn't want to know. The question?

"What are you chewing on?"
The answer?

"Chicken from school"

It's 5:30.. lunch is 10:30.

Yuck

Wisdom

I just got this quote from one of my mothers and friends.. Jackie Brady, as we were talking about "special" kids, and I love it.

Faith isn't believing God can do miraculous things to make your life easier. It's believing he will be right there beside you as you walk through it all, the good, the bad and the difficult. Normal is whatever you get. Faithful is knowing God is there and won't give us more than we can handle with our hand in his.

The joy of water

Water.. ahhh. It's so good for drinking and showering and flushing toilets. I use water every day and think so little of it. Can I even imagine what it would be like to live in a place that does not have fresh running water? What if the water I had to give my children were contaminated? If it made them sick, but I didn't have anything else? Water is so basic that we forget about what a blessing it is, and forget that other people don't have it so good.

Why am I thinking about water this morning? We finally got the water turned on at our new house this weekend. There was a pretty good leak under the sink when Randy turned it on, the water heater was old and nasty looking.. also it had a significant leak in it and was missing a knob. Oh, and more leaks in the bathroom when we turned the water on again!

We experienced the wonder of plumbing and the blessings of water. Not just water - we can have hot water!

We also experienced the blessing of family. My parents came up to see our house for the first time. They were going to come a week ago, but my sister had to go and have a baby! My dad came in his overalls and with his tools, ready to work. He helped us get the plumbing in order. Wow! They spent several hours with us. Mom washed the windows and watched the little kids while dad and Randy did plumbing work and even installed a new water heater!

Water and family are just two of the many blessings we experienced this weekend.

How did you know?

One of the rules in our house that seems kind of dumb from the outside is "no cats in the bathroom with you". Poor Farlow and Boogerhead have enough to deal with without being trapped in the bathroom with people.

Another is "the bathroom is for going to the bathroom and getting dressed - not for playing"

This morning, while one of the boys was getting ready, I got up to get a drink for Manasseh just as the other boy was getting out of the bathroom and I saw both cats were inside. I asked him "why were the cats in the bathroom with you?". (Obviously the child was playing with the cats in the bathroom). Child said "How did you know?"
I did not choose to reveal my sources of information, rather let the child be amazed that I found him out. My oh my...how did you know. I have eyes child, eyes!

Sunday, March 7, 2010

Cassius Update

Cassius had his first appointment with the neurologist on Friday. It went pretty well, really it was just a consult to get him set up with this new doctor.
She did an exam and then looked over the disc of his first MRI.

Her concerns were that he does not seem to track movement well with his eyes (he did not follow her at all). He does not smile (developmentally that's about a 4-6 week skill and he's 8 weeks). He snores in his sleep. She initially thought he had low muscle tone, but it turned out he was being stubborn and did not want to use his muscles.

He will see an optomologist next week regarding the tracking. I'm not sure exactly what Dr. Chen wants them to look for, but they're smart and they'll know what's up. He will also have a nap study sometime in the future, regarding the snoring. Dr. Chen ordered some blood and urine tests to try and find out if he had an infection in utero - I'm not entirely sure what finding that out will do to help us, but I'm sure there's a good reason. Those tests were done on Friday before we left the hospital. She wants to follow up with us in 3 months, when he is 5 months old. She may order a new MRI at some point to get a picture of how his brain is developing.

Dr. Chen seemed to think that his brain injury looked fairly severe and was suprised that he is developing rather normally at this point. We don't know what that means as far as what she expects him to be able to do. She will track his progress.

The things kids say

While we were working on the floor at the new house, Ryan stopped and looked at me. He said, "You should call me "Sand Tiger", because I'm so good at pulling up staples."

HUH?!!?!

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

miscommunication

This morning as I was getting ready to take one of our children to the doctor's office - I went into my room to change a diaper. After this happened I didn't see the child in question for 40+ minutes. I assumed he was napping or going to the bathroom, or something. When it was time to go I called for him to get ready. He didn't answer. I checked his room and the bathroom.. no child. He got on the school bus - I didn't even know he had gone outside!! Oops. After a quick call to the school I picked him up and got him there. Hoorah

New House


We're moving to Fort Wayne. We hope to wait until school is out, but that may change depending on our circumsances. It'll be a tough few months as we make aggressive payments on the new house so that it can be paid off before school starts - we will also still be paying on the Goshen house until it is sold. We think that the difficulty will be worth it for our family in the long haul.