Funeral Today

In about an hour I will be going to the viewing for a very dear friend's dad. I spent a lot of time at her house growing up, so he is very dear to me. Even though I know that "to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord," it is still hard. Hard to know how he suffered, hard to say goodbye, but especially hard to watch such a close friend grieve over the passing of her father. I know she has come to the end of one tough road, just to begin on another hard one. God, be with her on her journey....

Homeschooling and work boxes

Ok, so I did some googling about work boxes and loved the idea of getting more organized! We need that! However, I don't have the room for all of the boxes for 3 kids! So, this is what I came up with. Each child has 5 manilla file folders labeled with their name and each day of the week. Each day they get out that day's file folder ( I have them all stored in a little wire rack that might really be a shoe rack or something) and read their assignment sheet that I have placed in each day's folder. Any worksheets or papers needed for that day's work is in the folder, and anything too big for the folder goes on the rack under the folders. They check off the work for the day and put the completed folder in a seperate file folder holder. I put the folders and assignment sheets together on the weekend so I don't spend time each day printing and copying assignments. I have a seperate file folder and assignment sheet for myself for any unit studies that we are doing, and anything we do as a group (such as bible time and craft time, sign lang., field trips, cooking, etc.) So far, this week, we have gotten more done that ever before and the kids loved having time to do a really cute fall craft! We took acorns and made miniature pumpkins out of them! So cute! I am loving this system so far! Hopefully, it continues to be a success!

September Already?

Well, I've got 8 weeks and 5 days until my due date! It's just around the corner! Time is really flying by! Seriously, I am really not sure my belly can get any bigger. I think this little guy isn't going to be so little! The kids are really excited. Rachel says that Nathan is in there saying "get me out of here!" :) How cute. She's going to love being a big sis.

There's been a lot going on around here lately. One of my best friends is going thru a really bad time right now. Her dad is in the last stages of kidney cancer..which is now in his lungs, bones and brain as well. She has turned her life upside down to take care of him daily. She has always been like a big sis to me and this just makes me admire her even more. I am so proud of her!

Noah and Rachel are finished with OT for the year. This gives us a big break in our schedule, which I really need right now! However, we are really starting to see the effects already and it has only been 2 weeks without OT. Just more hyperness and squirminess, which sort of counteracts the benefits of a less hectic schedule! Ugh! We will start back up after the first of the year.

I took my kids and my nephew to the zoo last week. We had a ball! I can only make it about 2 hours though...and that is really pushing it for me! My kids are absolutely in love with this little guy, Avery. He is 2 1/2 years old and has the most beautiful, big blue eyes! He is already reading full sentences! Yes, he really can read! Noone had to teach him. He just figured it out on his own. He was more interested in his box of raisins than looking at the animals:), however he did tell his dad later that he looked at the dolphins at the zoo!

I'll try not to wait so long between posts next time!
:)

More on SPD

Hi all. My pregnancy is doing great. I go for another ultrasound (my sixth) on Wednesday as well as my glucose test (yuck!). The doc is monitoring me closely.

I thought I would post an update on our life with SPD. We have been doing occupational therapy for almost a year now and we have seen a lot of progress. Noah's need to be in motion constantly has improved a lot which has made life more peaceful around here! :) His pain tolerance seems to have come down to a normal level..which seems like a bad thing, but it really is necessary to feel pain normally. A few months ago he had a stomach virus which just laid him out on the floor in pain. At first it scared me to see him holding his belly and yelling "it hurts", but then I realized that he had the same virus we had all been through, but was actually feeling it completely for the first time. Poor kid. He adjusted quickly, though. His issues with food have gotten worse, but hey, you can't have it all, huh? :( Right now he is working hard on his auditory issues. I have become more understanding of his issues, so instead of getting angry when he "doesn't listen" I have taken to repeating myself 3 or 4 times before I start getting frustrated. He doesn't like it at all! He told my mom I was a nag! LOL! 9 years old and already a typical man! A few days ago I had asked him to change his clothes. After reminding him like 14 times he finally was able to finish getting dressed. Part of his issues were auditory (at first), and then it was just that everytime he went to do it he would get distracted by something and forget. Finally, after he was dressed I asked him, "Noah, now do you see why I repeat myself so often?" and he said "yes." Maybe he won't think I am a nag now:) Homeschooling is wonderful for him! He was really stressed out at public school, coping with all of it. He knows how smart he is and it was really frustrating for him get problems wrong when he just knew he had done them right. He wasn't hearing directions completely, wasn't seeing the words/numbers correctly and couldn't use his hands the way he needed to to write, cut, etc... We can take all of that into account with homeschooling and make adjustments. We still have a lot of issues that we haven't hit yet, like vision, taste, fine motor work at therapy...but we will in time. We have truly come a long way. Occupational therapy with the right therapist has been a life saver...for all of us. I wish more people knew about and understood SPD, though. It would make life easier for us. I think that someday they will find out what causes this, and what fixes it!! My personal opinion (so far) is that it is a build up of toxins that this generation is loaded up with. The food we eat, the medicines (and vaccines) we take, the chemicals that are in EVERYTHING around us...from paint to bottled water! When we have a whole generation of kids who can't process sensory input properly to the point that it interferes with their life skills, then maybe it is time to look at what is going on. My patience with people who don't understand SPD has grown immensely...but if the doctors would get off their rears and speak up for these kids it sure would help a lot. I think docs don't want to admit that the mom's have figured out a problem without the doc's help. Oh well, I hope it will get better. I swear, though, if one more person says I am only dealing with a behavior issue, then I might just have to offend somebody:) With all the improvements we have seen in therapy we don't get too many comments like that anymore. It's been nice. I am not just a mom that wants to pawn off my parental resposibilty and blame everything on made up medical issues, and I think it is judgmental and arrogant to accuse someone of that. There are things I see, being the mom, that no one else sees. I have learned that there are some people out there that just need to learn a few more of life's lessons before they "get it." Well, I didn't expect to vent about that tonight, since I haven't dealt with it in so long. I have watched other kids struggle lately in other areas, and I think it is weighing on me a little bit. I see the attitude a lot out there that says "that kid just needs discipline," so tonight I challenge you to check yourself the next time you think a thought like that. You can NEVER know the whole story behind what is going on. If a child is acting innappropriately, then it could be a lack of discipline, but it could be more than that. I love what the singer/comedian Mark Lowry said about his childhood. He had "ADHD" and his teachers were always so mean to him. This one year he had a young, beautiful teacher that all the kids liked, but he would always go home with fingernail prints in his arms from her grabbing his arm when she was fed up with him. There was an old teacher at the school, though, that would come and get him and take him for walks and tell him that God loves hyperactive kids. She told him that God would use him one day in a great way, even with all of that energy! We should be showing God's love to all kids, even the difficult ones, and especially to their parents (who could probably use the support).

Rachel's OT is going well, too. She has gained a lot of stregth and balance. Her speech is amazing! She is learning so quickly with homeschooling. Her auditory issues are getting worse, and the OT has recommended brushing and listening therapy for her. Unfortunately, we haven't started on that yet, but we will soon. I have noticed that her issues with smells have gotten worse, too. She told my poor mom that she smelled the other day! :) LOL! She did it to her daddy too! She's not trying to hurt anybody's feelings, though. She just covers her nose and asks "what is that smell?" She does it in a way that isn't so much rude, as it is funny. She has a look on her face that says "why would anyone want to smell that way?" She can't figure it out! Yes, we will be having a talk about how it hurts people's feelings to tell them they smell! The funniest part is that she does this with good smells and bad ones! I think with my mom it was just her shampoo, and with my husband it was because he was eating something she didn't recognize the smell of. LOL! A lot of her other issues are resolving as well!

Tomorrow morning the kids have dentist appointments. This is always interesting with 2 SPD kids. No kid likes the dentist, but it is a whole different experience for them! Hopefully it goes well!

That all for tonight!

Meet Nathan!

Hey everybody! Today I had an appt. with a high risk OB. I had an ultrasound done while there to determine the diagnosis for a problem with Nathan's amniotic sac. The high risk OB is pretty confident that it is not an amniotic band...which is very dangerous...but it is something called synechia. This is harmless to the baby, and although the internet will tell you there is a risk for preterm labor, he does not think this will be so in my case. I will not be considered high risk, and this pregnancy will be treated as a normal pregnancy with the exception of another ultrasound around 28 weeks. I am 21 weeks now, and so far, Nathan is doing wonderfully! What a big relief. This picture of Nathan at the ultrasound today really struck me! He is doing what I felt like doing when I got the news that he will be ok. It looks like he is bowing down, praying! Thanks to all who prayed for us! Thanks, most of all, to God! There is a song from the 80's or 90's we used to sing in church..."God is gonna finish just what he started, even though the waters got to be parted, lift up your head, don't be broken hearted, God is gonna finish what He started in you...He who began a good work in you is faithful to complete it..." This past week, this song has been in my heart for Nathan. God is faithful!

Update: What the docs saw on the ultrasound was a succenturiate lobe placenta. There was an extra smaller lobe to the placenta. It is dangerous because if it's not known to be there it can be left behind and cause infection. I had a c-section, though, and all went well.

It's a Boy!

Well, we had our much anticipated ultrasound on Tuesday. I am 20 weeks pregnant and our little one was more than happy to show off his gender...he even was pointing to it for us so we would pay attention! Everything looked healthy...heart, stomach, kidneys, mouth...everything in place and doing as it should. At one point he was crossing his ankles. So cute! I will try to get a picture of that one posted, but I do not have a working scanner so I will have to do some extra work to get that done. The technician noticed some areas of concern around the inner lining of the amniotic sac. I think they are called "amniotic bands" and if the doctor is correct, and this is what they are, then it is highly dangerous for our little guy. I will be seeing a high risk OB next Thursday to confirm a diagnosis and make a plan for treatment. My regular OB mentioned that they will closely monitor the baby and possibly take him at 34 weeks (that would be the goal)...if they can keep him safe until then and not need to take him earlier. During the ultrasound, the technician said, "wow, look at that, he is pointing straight up in the air." I know that he was pointing up to God to show us all that God is in control. Of course, we appreciate any and all prayers that you all could offer up on his behalf. We have pretty much decided his name is Nathan. The kids are excited to have a little brother. I will definitely be posting late next week with the findings of the high risk doc! Tonight I am going thru all the boy baby clothes that Tiff passed along and it is really making me antsy to meet my little boy. All in God's timing...that's for sure! Thanks for your prayers!

Busy weekend

Hey all. It's been a madhouse around here. Tom has been fixing the shower (yay!) and so far it is going well! Hopefully it will be done today. My new nephew, Eli, is doing well, but I NEED to see him soon! Tuesday is the BIG day! I will have my ultrasound at 2:45 to check the health of our new little one and hopefully we will be able to find out the sex of the baby! The whole family is trying to be patient until then, but they are dying to know! I, on the other hand, am very nervous about the whole thing. I won't be happy until they tell me everything looks perfectly normal and the baby looks healthy. Whether it is a boy or a girl is just icing on the cake for me!

We have jumped back into listening therapy full steam ahead. I couldn't keep up with it during my first trimester...I was way too sick. We have a star chart that Noah fills in everyday and he gets a prize at the end for doing his therapy. It is working wonderfully so far! I am hoping to notice some big changes soon!

Well, that's all for now. I will leave you with a picture of my youngest, Rachel, right after she gave herself a haircut a few weeks ago!

Still learning

Saturday I went garage saling and, oh my, did I get some great deals. I am really stocking up on things for the baby...cheaply! It was a lot of fun. Tiff and I went together and we ran into my parents along the way...literally, we almost ran into them!! Anyway, we shopped a few sales with them. I'm really getting into garage saling!

Well, I am going to make my first attempt at posting a blog with a picture in it! If it works I will be doing it more often! These are pictures from our trip to Holiday World last year! That's Noah and Rachel in the top picture. My oldest, Hannah is in the 2nd picture (2nd one from the right side).

Well, until next time!

I'm back

Ok, so Tiff helped me with my new blog look! Thanks Tiff! I love it! I plan on changing things up a bit more as I figure it out! I am going to find out the sex of my baby in 2 weeks! I will post a picture as soon as I get it! My oldest kids want this one to be a boy, and my youngest is hoping for a girl. We will soon see! My oldest, Hannah, says I look a lot farther along than I am. I feel and look like I am 6 months pregnant! So far we are liking the names Nathan and Leah. Nothing is set in stone yet, though. November 18th seems so far away.....:( My newest nephew will be born this Tuesday. His name is Eli and he will born via scheduled c-section. We are all very excited about meeting him. Well, it's time for me to eat again, gotta go! Hi to Renee'...it's good to be back

OK, I'm still alive!

It seems like forever since I have been on my computer! I have been dealing with hyperemesis (the most severe form of morning sickness). Unfortunately, I ended up in the emergency room twice, and was admitted overnight one of those times. The finally found some med that are helping relieve the worst of it. Praise God for that! I have lost a lot of weight and my doc is keeping a close eye on me to make sure I gain it back. The baby is doing wonderfully! I have had 3 ultrasounds so far and the heartbeat looks strong each time. I will be 12 weeks on Wednesday, so I should be done with this sickness completely soon. My hubby stepped up to the plate in a big way and took care of everything while I laid on the couch. I am so proud of him. What a guy!

BIG NEWS

I'm pregnant! I just found out a couple of weeks ago. It has been sheer torture waiting for 2 weeks to get an ultrasound. Last year I had an ovarian ectopic pregnancy. This increases my risk of ectopics by quite a bit. I went for bloodwork twice and my hcg levels were going up dramatically which was a good sign. Tuesday I had my ultrasound, and not only did we see the baby in the uterus, but we also saw the yolk sac and a heartbeat! I am about 6-7 weeks along and my due date should be around November 18, if they don't change it. I'm very naseaus and very tired, but my oldest daughter has been a huge help! I go back next week for another ultrasound. This one is just to make sure everything is developing as it should. Also, this will be my initial pregnancy exam. This one was not planned, but is definitely a wonderful surprise!

Update on Listening Therapy

So far, so good! The first couple of days were really rough. My son was very upset and kept saying he hated music. He didn't want to cooperate. Things are going better now. I have been keeping an eye out for any changed behaviors. He has seemed really mellow this week. My husband even noticed it. It's like his engine is running at 5 miles per hour. Now, he has had a cough for a while, so I am hoping that this isn't what is causing this change. I guess we will see. Tomorrow we have OT so it will be nice to see what she has to say. My youngest really doesn't seem to be able to do the LT. She is only 4, and the headphones fall off so much because they are so big, even when they are adjusted to the smallest setting. We may hold off on LT for her for a while. I have a very good friend who just started brushing with her infant daughter. I was able to show her the Wilbarger protocal! It's really cool that they are catching this with her so young. I think they were on top of things with her because she was a 10 week early preemie. She's fine in every other way, other than some sensory issues. Well, that's all for tonight. Later.

Listening Therapy

Tuesday we finally got our Therapuetic Listening gear! Yay! My son didn't like it at all, and has argued with me everytime he wears it. I listened to it myself for a few minutes and it is not just regular music. It does something funny to your ears...nearly gave me a headache. I really can't describe it. Our OT said we could use it on my youngest as well and it might help her speech. She did it yesterday, but not today...I will start her in a couple of days, after I get my son to be more cooperative with it. This could last as long as 6 months. We do it 2 times a day, for 30 minutes each time. The sessions have to be at least 3 hours from the end of one to the beginning of another, and you have to finish your last session at least one hour before you go to bed. Thankfully, we are homeschooling now, so it will be much easier to schedule these sessions. I will keep track of the kids' progress and any changes that I might notice. Today my son told me he loved me out of the blue and my oldest brought me in a flower from outside! I have the best kids in the world! :)

New blog look

Well, I have changed things around quite a bit here. Still working on it. I like having 3 columns instead of 2. Rachel's cough is finally gone and she is all better! Yay! The husband and I watched "Die Hard, Live Free" tonight. It was pretty good for an action flick. It really makes you think how vulnerable we all are as a nation. Definitely not for the kids, though. Too much violence. We stumbled upon craft time today at the library quite by accident. Rachel liked it a lot! We will try to go to them from now on. All in all, it was a great day. Can't wait for a warm day to get out and clean out the camper!!

What a Week!

Ok, so it turns out my daughter and I were sick. My daughter's temperature got up to 104 under her arm on Monday night! I gave her tylenol, but 1 hour later..still nothing. So, I called the doc and he told me to give her some Motrin right away. When I tried to do that she said she was going to throw up, so I didn't give her any Motrin. She threw up and her temperature went down right away. Unfortunately, she has had a bad croupy cough all week. It seems that every time she gets sick she gets this cough. Well, thank God her fever came down. On the same day my wonderful cousin came over to fix a light that was out. It turns out that it was a fire hazard, and by fixing it he probably saved our lives! Thanks God! (and thanks cousin!) Well, we are still waiting for our listening therapy equipment to come in...anxiously awaiting! I am very excited to start doing it! I have heard really great things. Well, I hear my little one coughing too much in the other room, so I will go for now!

Yucky day

Not feeling so great today. I went to bed at 8:30 last night and slept for like 12 hours straight! My 4 year old slept most of the day today. It feels like a virus, but it's only lots of sleeping with possibly a small temperature (we were both really warm). Uggh! No fun! When I feel better I will get on here and post more about SPD. For now I will leave you with a few great deals at Kroger. They have some awesome sales on their meat. Ribs, roast and hamburger...yum! Also, Meijer has Sweet Baby Rays BBQ sauce for a dollar I think! More later...

That didn't go so well...

Ok, so I went to Walgreens the other day, and basically, the cashier called the manager up to figure out my coupon deal (which was right!), and they acted like I was "scamming" them but gave me the coupon deal anyway. She was very nice, other than saying that some websites were trying to get people to scam them using coupons. Ugh! I will have to find a different Walgreens. Not a good experience.

Walgreens Deals

Well, today I am going to Walgreens. I have my coupons in hand, and I have checked the ads and some websites for the deals. I am going to attempt to get some freebies! I will check back in tonight and let you know how it works!

Great Deals

Today was grocery day! I got some great deals! Meijer had tubs of land o' lakes spreadable butter for 4/5.00. I used my .50 off of 1 tub coupons (which Meijer doubled) and got them for .25 each! Yay! Better yet, I went to Kroger and got the Pillsbury crescent roll deal. They had the very tiny crescent rolls for 1.00 on sale. I used my .35 off of 1 coupons on each...the doubled the first 2 coupons!....which meant I payed about 2.55 or so for 5. Then they had a deal where you get a 3.00 off your next order coupon if you buy 5 crescent rolls! So...of course, I went back later and used my 3.00 coupon to buy 5 more..which gave me 3.00 off next order again...which I used to buy some hamburger! I still haven't gotten the hang of the CVS game yet. I am trying, though. Even if you don't coupon, Kroger and Meijer had some great 10 for 10.00 deals this week. Meijer even lets you get the 11th 1.00 item for free. Well, we are stocked up on food for a while, thank God! A lady at the grocery store saw my coupon binder and stopped to ask me how I used my coupons. This is becoming a serious addiction. Hey, it benifits the whole family, though! The trick is to get multiples of the same coupon and wait for a really good sale on that product and then stock up. Well, it's been a long day, with 2 trips to Kroger, 1 to Meijer, a trip to the In-Laws (the best In-Laws in the world!) and making a yummy homemade pizza! I'm off to get ready for another day of homeschooling tomorrow...which we are loving, by the way! Later!

SPD and Listening Therapy

I wanted to take this chance to spread a little info about Sensory Processing Disorder. This is a neurological condition that shares some traits with Autism and ADHD. It is commonly misdiagnosed as ADHD. In SPD, the nervous system cannot process sensory info correctly, resulting in incorrect responses to sensory input. It does not affect people in the same way, nor does it affect an individual the same way at all times. For example, one sense that can be out of whack is the tactile sense, or sense of touch. Some people will actually feel a very light touch as extremely uncomfortable, and will react strongly against it. Others may not notice touch at all, so they will crave touch and constantly be in others space. Even worse, some will waffle between the two extremes. My son is a waffler! Other senses that can be affected are sight, sound, taste, smell, proprioceptive and vestibular. Not all senses have to be affected. My son is affected in all areas, but especially with sound, touch and vestibular. My daughter, who isn't diagnosed with SPD, but may have it as well, has problems with vestibular, sight and auditory. If your child has ever been diagnosed with ADHD or autism I would recommend doing some research into SPD. The treatment for SPD is Sensory Integration Therapy, along with a lot of other things that are worth a try (although they are considered alternative). Today our Occupational Therapist ordered my son's Listening Therapy program. This is a special cd player and headphones (with different cd's) that play frequencies that regular cd players and headphones won't even play. This somehow retrains the brain to "hear" correctly. I do not understand it completely, but I am happy to learn. When we first started therapy we tried something called Wilbarger brushing. It seemed like an odd thing to do as "therapy", but it has made a world of difference in my son's behavior, as well as his ability to communicate. Thank the Lord, my son's SPD is only considered moderate. However, this leaves him in the category of being misunderstood quite frequently. His SPD has caused him to have a fine motor delay (pretty severe), low muscle tone (endurance), dyspraxia (poor motor planning), eye convergence problems (even though his vision is 20/20), along with some minor struggles with social skills. When he was 4 I took him to our local school system to have him tested for SPD. Unfortunately, they didn't know enough about it to point us in the right direction. A couple of years later we went to our pediatrician, who was leaning toward ADHD, but recommended further testing (unfortunately, through the school system again). Finally, I took him to an independent OT who specialized in Sensory issues. She has helped him in so many ways. We go to OT once a week and I wish we would have been able to do this when he was younger. I think this is one of my new missions in life...to educate the world about SPD. Help spread the word!

A good day...

We had a great day homeschooling today! We covered a lot of ground. I think the kids are getting used to being around each other all day. We are only in our second week of homeschooling now. So far, so good.

I have decided to try out the binder method for storing my coupons. I am currently setting that up. We'll see how it turns out. My oldest daughter is so into couponing with me! Actually, she is cutting coupons right now! Sunday afternoon I stumbled upon the information about Kmart's super double coupon sale. Needless to say, I ran right out and stocked up on a few good deals. I got Rimmel fingernail polish for free and a few tubes of Crest toothpaste for free as well. This was my first venture into Kmarts double days. I couldn't believe they were doubling 2 dollar coupons! Wow! What a deal! I've still got a lot to learn.

As you might have noticed from my first post, I have a couple of kids with some medical issues. Thankfully, my oldest is fine, with the exception of some major allergies. My son was finally diagnosed with Sensory Processing Disorder (also known as Sensory Integration Dysfunction) this past fall. My youngest daughter has some developmental delays, and her OT is on the fence as to if she has SPD as well. She shows many of the signs of SPD, and a lot of her delays can be related to SPD. She is only 4 years old, so we are watching her closely. Thankfully, she has been receiving speech, developmental and occupational therapy since she was 2, so her issues are not as problematic as her brother's. I will eventually post more info and links about SPD on this blog. I just have to figure out how to work this blog!

Thanks for stopping by!

My very first blog post

I've been thinking about blogging for a while now, and it seems that tonight is the night that I finally get the courage to make an attempt! I just thought that this would be a good way to keep everything in perspective. Life can get in the way at times and cloud my view. I want to keep my focus on Jesus more and more. I have learned a little bit about "binocular" vision as 2 of my kids are having problems in this area. If you aren't using both of your eyes correctly to focus on something than you will lose your depth perception. Try covering one eye. Now ask someone to hold up a small container and hold an object above that container. Have them slowly move the object over the opening of the container until you tell them that it is directly over the opening. You will be amazed at how far "off" you will be in your attempt. This reminds me of how "off" my life becomes I am not correctly focused on God. My spiritual eyes need depth perception to be able to perceive the deep things of God. My kids have problems with double vision when they are writing. Likewise, when I am not focused on God, I see all of life's problems and woes to be "double" what they really are. They also have problems catching things that are thrown at them. I, too, have problems "catching" the things that life throws my way when my mind is not on Him. It's also hard to "catch" the teachings and blessings that God throws my way when I am not looking towards him. Another area of concern for my kids is that they sometimes struggle in making eye contact with someone who is up close. Oh, how this one resonates within my heart! When I have lost my focus on Christ it is so hard to "look Him in the eye" when I am in His prescence. As soon as I start to feel the guilt, though, He reminds me of His unconditional love for me. No, He will NEVER leave me nor forsake me. He has held me in the palm of His hand the whole time. Interestingly, the way to fix this vision deficit is to do vision exercises daily. Sounds a whole lot like my christian walk! I need to stay in His Word daily and sit in His presence to keep my eyes trained on Him. It reminds me of an old song...

O soul, are you weary and troubled? No light in the darkness you see?
There's light for a look at the Savior, and life more abundant and free...

Turn your eyes upon Jesus, Look full in His wonderful face
And the things of earth, will grow strangely dim
In the light of His glory and grace.