Thursday, January 6, 2011

Max, just because

I feel like I have not talked a lot about Max lately. So here he is....

He is doing great. His ears were clear at the ENT appointment a couple weeks ago. His hearing was normal or at least close to it. He still only has 1 tube. So that is great news! Clear ears in the winter? A first for him I think.

His eyes still doing fine as well.

I am trying to get his cholesterol re-checked since it was high 6 months ago.

He is a big pain in the butt to his siblings but isn't that what big brothers do?

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Reindeer hat

These lovely reindeer hat caused much drama. This is Joe at his class party (separate from the gingerbread house party). It was on Friday, before school got out for Christmas. It was also Sam's last day. I went to Sam's party first, hung out, helped, etc... Then hopped across the hall to peek in Max's class. I didn't see him but planned on coming back after I visited Joe. Max saw me because as I was walking down the hall Max went to his door, yelled my name and waved for me to come back. I went and visited him for only a couple minutes. I feel bad because I never did make it back to his class. I went to Joe's class and never made it back out! Nothing big, just got busy helping and such.

I had told Sam's teacher I would come to her class after school to help pack her stuff up. However, ALL her stuff was already packed up before the parties. I did leave my stuff and Ike's coat in her classroom because I still planned on helping her carry her stuff and making sure she got everything.

So school was over. Max was already in Joe's class with me (dropped off by his para). We were getting packed up in Joe's room and started walking towards Sam's class. We met her and her friend half way there. Her friend carried all my stuff (it was stuff for their party and never got around to using). I asked them if they grabbed Ike's coat. No. At that time, Joe announced he forgot his reindeer hat. Instead of dragging 4 kids and ALL of our stuff down the hall to Sam's class, fighting the huge crowds, then turning around and going back to Joe's class I came up with a plan. Sam could grab Ike's coat for me, Joe could go grab his reindeer hat while me, Max and Ike waited in the middle. They went on their ways. Sam got back first. We waited on Joe. He wasn't coming.

I looked down the hall for Joe but did not see him walking down. I decided we would walk on down to his class. I had all his stuff (coat, backpack, craft and goodies, etc). We walk into his class but there was no Joe. I am wondering if it was possible to have missed him in the hall. We step back out and here comes his teacher, holding his hand, coming in from outside. She walked other kids outside to meet their parents. She decided she would take Joe for some reason. I have NO idea why. It was cold and I had his coat. She knew I had him and we were good to go.

So here she comes holding onto Joe with a death grip because he was kicking at her, screaming, falling to ground, anything trying to get away from her. She hands him over to me and then asks, "is there anything I can do to help?" Oh my goodness I was pissed. Joe was just fine by himself. I sent him to get his hat and that was it. Joe is capable of getting his hat and walking down the hallway by himself!! He was fine, he was happy, just missing his reindeer hat.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" I replied, "no, I'm guessing Joe is mad because I sent him to get his reindeer hat and then come back to me but I'm guessing somebody grabbed him and wouldn't let him do it!" She was quite. Joe was pissed. He was now in a huge fit. He didn't want to walk, stand up, or do ANYTHING! "Well, let me know if there is anything I can help with." We all start walking towards the door. Joe wasn't moving. However, I had my hands completely full of stuff so he was going to have to walk out by himself. We all go outside while Joe lays on the floor. He finally gets up and follows. We get to the car and he would not get in. He would not talk to me either. I was asking him what happened, why did his teacher have him, etc.. nothing. The same time Sam remembers something she forgot. She went back in to get it. Joe still trowing a huge fit. I decide to ignore him since trying to talk to him was getting me nowhere. Sam gets back and I am still waiting on Joe to get in the car. I finally get him in and buckled but he was SO not happy!

I never found out what happened. All I know is that the reindeer hat ended up causing a lot of drama. This is the teacher we are having issues with this year. I don't think I ever blogged this but one day she came out with the students, and handed me Joe. She said, in front of the other kiddos as well, "today was a good day. He only did a few of his little quirks. But then I told him how odd he was being and made him cry." Seriously, you are telling me it was a good day because you made my child cry!? I asked Joe about it later. He said another boy blamed him for something he did not do and that is why he cried. I will never know the straight story. I did talk to the principal about it though.

It all makes me wonder, is this just the teacher or is there seriously something different about Joe? She has told me all year long about how "atypical" and "odd" he is for being a 5 year old. I can't say I see it. I'm I letting her get to me? Is there something going on? I guess only time will tell.

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Tough guys



Remember Ike vs the glass coffee table? He fell asleep on our way to get ice cream. I blogged while he slept. I never got this picture up so I decided to go ahead and do it now. I saved his ice cream for him and this is what he looked like after he woke up...
a little beat up!! However, by the next day he looked fine.

The day of our Gingerbread House Party at school the 2 little boys wanted mohawks. I was fine with it because they both had some serious bed head hair.

I'd think sporting the tough guy mohawks, all would be good. Apparently not when your 3 and 5 and something doesn't go your way. I don't even remember why they were crying. I think this was the day they were fighting over who got to push the button to open the garage vs who got to close it once in the car. Anyway, here are my 2 tough little guys....



Monday, January 3, 2011

Gingerbread houses and goose eggs

Every year in Kindergarten the kids have made gingerbread houses. The parents/siblings are invited in to help their child. When it was Max's turn to make a gingerbread house Sam got to join in. If I remember correctly, Sam made her own. I let them keep them for a little while. I get pictures but they end up in the trash eventually. Joe got to make one when Sam was in Kindergarten and now that is was Joe's turn, Ike also made one.

However, this year Joe got cheated. The gingerbread house party lasts for one hour. He only got to stay for about 30 minutes. Max had an ENT appointment making us leave early from school that day. Ike threw a fit the entire 30 minutes. Why? Because he is 3 and he was mad because mean mommy put icing on the house to hep him build it. So I gathered a few of the different candies when it was time to go. They finished them at home later on. SO much more peaceful!!

I still have the gingerbread houses but they are about a day from the trash can. The kids have been ripping into them over the weekend.

We all know the best part of making a gingerbread house is the frosting....

Joe with his creation


Ike and his creation

Sam and her friend saw these lovely houses and decided they want to attempt to make a "bread house." "All we need is some bread and peanut better!" I'm a sucker and let them try it out. It failed. That and they realized we had graham crackers and frosting. So they attempted another house. I should also say, they told me they were going to eat their creation when done.

They used about 2 packages of graham crackers, all the frosting we had left and a lot of peanut butter. It looked nothing like a house. It was more like graham cracker stacked on graham cracker with frosting or peanut butter between them. Needless to say they never ate it. I threw it out without even getting pictures.

Speaking of Sam, my ever so graceful child.... she ran right into a wall yesterday. She is now sporting a nice bruised goose egg on her forehead. She also had a bloody nose. How fast was she going to hit the wall that hard?? Pete is teasing her and asking if she thought she had super powers and could run right through the walls! She has her follow up for her broken ankle this afternoon. Hopefully she is good to go, considering she has been going without her boot almost the entire time these last 2 weeks!


Friday, December 31, 2010

Reece's Rainbow Christmas Angel Tree

Final day of Reece's Rainbow Christmas Angel Tree !!!

Please consider checking out all these precious Children and donating towards their grant funds.

Reece's Rainbow is a wonderful organization that helps find children born with Down syndrome (and other special needs) in other countries families. These other countries don't think being 'different' is acceptable.

Look at these precious faces....



an updated photo of TristanTristan has over $3,000 in his Christmas Tree fund and $705 in his everyday grant (meaning the money he already had in his grant before the Christmas Tree project started. They will be combined after the new year.)

Yegor
Yegor has $790 in his Christmas Tree Fund and $300 in his other fund.


Cliff has about $8,000 in his Christmas Tree Fund and $40 in his other fund.


Artem
Artem has about $600 in his Christmas Tree Fund and $1,215 in his other fund.



Charity has a family committed to adopt her but why not help her (and her family) out?

She has $550 in her Christmas Tree Fund and only $10 in her other fund.

To learn more about these precious little faces, just click on their names or check out Reece's Rainbow.

Happy New Year everyone!!

Thursday, December 30, 2010

Oh My Gosh.... wall art

Does anyone remember my picture of my sweet, innocent, little Max and Sam cleaning their wall art? ...........

I had flash backs the other day...


"There is nothing to see behind here momma"
Joe's wall and ceiling above his (top bunk) bed.

Little Monkey Ike climbing the beds. Do you notice the marker behind the door and on the other wall as well?
They had a lot of scrubbing to do. Thankfully, most of it came off without much problems. They decorated their room, the hallway and the bathroom.


Speaking of wall art, I found this note attached to the wall a couple weeks ago...
This is proof of Sam's awful handwriting and spelling. What? You can't read it??!!

Translated it says, "Please watch out for cats If you find a wild cat call 901011" Then has 'tear away' tabs with the number on it.

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

It may appear...

... as that I have fallen off the face of the Earth. But really, I am still here! Not sure how it has been so long since I posted. Oh well. Hope everyone had a great Christmas and got to enjoy it with family or people you love.

I have been somewhat playing catch up reading other blogs. Not quite there yet.

Sam did get glasses. Her vision was 20/50 without them. She wears them some. I'm sure it takes awhile getting used to them.
They look good on her though.

Her foot... Sam broke her ankle and has had to get it X-rayed several times. 2 weeks ago we had it X-rayed. The lady we saw thought it looked healed enough and that Sam could go without her boot unless it started bothering her. So she got to wear her new glasses and go without her boot on her last day of school. We went to my parents house for that weekend to celebrate Christmas and she did not have to wear her boot.

Monday afternoon I got a call from the doctors office. The radiologist thought Sam should wear her boot for another 2 weeks and then again have it re-X-rayed. I guess the expert thought her foot was not quite ready to go without that support. Nice. We got used to going without for 3-4 days and Sam did just fine. Now I was being told she needs to wear it again! grrr! Truthfully, Sam has worn it about 2 times since then. I know, I know! She has been fine though. Even the last week (or 2) while she was wearing it she only had to wear it at school or during the day. In the evening she could take it off and help strengthen it. Honestly, it should have probably been the other way around! It is at home when she does all her crazy stunts not at school.

Remember last time I blogged I said it looked pretty bruised? This is a picture 2 weeks after she hurt it. A full 2 weeks! It was also still swollen at that point. I know a little hard to see bruising in a picture...


I have tons to blog about but not tons of time. I will try to get some post up in the next few days.

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Sam's last week at school

This following week will be Sam's last week in public school. Starting January I will be homeschooling her. I don't think she is really that excited about it. I am though. I hope we find our groove quickly and she excels in her academic work. Partly to feel like "Ha- I told you so" towards some people but mostly just for Sam. I want her to feel confident in whatever she does and actually know the stuff she is working on.

Friday are the school's "winter" parties. I think Friday may be a hard day for Sam. Hopefully she gets over it fast though.

The school nurse said Sam failed her vision test twice and that she should be seen by the eye doctor. I took her and Joe in on Friday. Joe's vision was fine. Sam was a little nearsighted but not too bad. The Dr left it up to me if I wanted to get glasses for her. She said Sam would definitely see better with them. So we picked some out and should have them within a week or 2. I think Sam is excited. We got home and Pete asked what her vision was. I think the Dr said 20/30. To which Pete said Sam does not need glasses for that. If her vision is really 20/30 he wants me to cancel the order. Maybe the dr said 20/50? I'm not sure, I'll call them Monday. But really I think we will be getting them anyway. With insurance they only cost $20. That's it, $20. Not bad! Mine cost way more than that with our insurance. Even Max's cost more. His are bi-focal though. Speaking of which, Max goes to his eye dr in about 2 weeks. I think he needs new glasses. His seem way too small for his face.

Today we actually have snow on the ground. Not much but enough for the kids to want to go play outside. I bundled them up and sent them out. It is very cold out there today. They had fun, even if it's not enough to even do anything with!

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Anna

I love that so many families decide to adopt little cuties with Down syndrome.
With Reece's Rainbow Angel tree project running right now it's easy to go over and check out those sweet faces all in one place. Reece's Rainbow Angel Tree. As of right now, 20 kids have found families! 20!!

Right now there is a family trying to adopt a little girl named Anna. She is not from the tree, so to speak, they had already committed to her before that.
Right now they are trying to raise money like crazy. They are hosting a drawing give away of a 16gb IPad with wifi of anyone who donates to their chip in.

So I encourgare you to go read about and donate to the Williams family.

The post explaining about the Ipad is HERE. The family blog is HERE. Either one will get you to their chip-in, which is on the right side of their blog.

Isn't she adorable?!

Thursday, December 2, 2010

1 week follow up

It has been 1 week and 1 day since Sam's lovely attack on her ankle. Last week they could not tell if it was broken or not. However, the huge amount of swelling could be seen on the X-ray and they said that is not good. Sam did pretty well with her walking cast this past week.

Tonight I took her back in for her 1 week post accident. They did another X-ray to take a look. Her foot is actually still pretty swollen. Nothing like before but it is noticeable. I was actually shocked the first time I took her cast and wrap off her foot a few days ago. It is really bruised up. So the verdict for her ankle? She did in fact break it. I was told it was healing nicely though. We will be going back in 2 weeks again. She is allowed to take her cast off in the evening, along as she is not walking a lot and it doesn't hurt. It is not a weight-baring bone. I forgot to ask which one it was.

Just like a real cast, that thing can stink!! yuck!

Updating on Sam and her meds for ADHD-inattentive type... The smallest dose did nothing for her so it was up'd some. Honestly I don't see much difference with this dose either. I need to ask her teacher if she notices anything.

Sam is a type of child that takes forever to fall asleep at night. Just like her dad. He takes melatonin every night. I saw on Sam's report from the ADHD clinic (that was 4 or 5 pages long BTW) they would suggest melatonin next time we visit if she still takes awhile to fall asleep. Meds for ADHD can have that side effect as well. Last night I decided to give it a go. Oh my gosh what a difference!! I will be trying again tonight. I am not sure if last night was a fluke or what. Usually it takes her about an hour to fall asleep. Here lately I have been trying to get her to bed about an hour earlier to see if I notice a difference in the morning. getting to bed early is not easy. Last night she never came out of her room saying she couldn't sleep, no calls out for one more hug/kiss, nothing! Usually she does anything to get out of bed. If melatonin can help with that then I think I love it!

I am not the type of person who likes pills. Having one of my kids on pills almost makes me cringe. BUT if they work and make life easier for her, then it is worth it. Also, not being a pill type of person I can not swallow pills. I can do a small pill and can take my nightly zocor 20 mg without any problems. But a regular size tylenol I can not do. Sam is a champ... She can swallow her pills with no problem. She rocks!

I have not really researched a lot on ADHD. However, it seems Sam fits right into a lot of the 'signs' with the stuff I have read.

It's bedtime for a certain little girl so I will update again soon.