Well, this morning we got the final confirmation, we will be expecting a darling new baby around the middle of August of 2008. Welcome to the Wonderful World of Insanity, and I am your host, Queen of Know It Alls, Jamie.
It came as a shock to all of us. We had taken off that hat. Set it aside. Decided that we would admire it every now and then, however we weren't going to wear it anymore. It was now time to move on to Parents of Older Kids. We talked and talked and had just come to accept that A New Baby wasn't going to happen for us. We had a wonderful family just the way it was. Izzy is a great guy to leave that final note on.
Why did I even have the notion to test, to just "see" if possibly maybe it would come back positive. There was ONE test sitting in the cupboard, it begged me to be used, so I did. I honestly expected to see that singular pink line just staring up at me on that white field, mocking my tiny hope that maybe, just maybe, my darling hubby's spermmies worked with my eggies that month. To my utter shock and amazement, a faint extra pink line was there. Was I seeing things? Could it be?
Just to be sure I wasn't just projecting my hope and hurt on to this tiny defenseless little test, i scanned it in, after taking it apart of coarse (which they say you shouldn't do, however there was no way to take a good pic of it otherwise) and showed to my online friends. Many of them said "Yes, I see it too!!!" So I called up those mid-wives and said "Hey, take my blood" and of coarse they said "Glad to!"
That was the day before Thanksgiving. I was getting the van on Jason's lunch so I could drive up to get Katy Beth and actually be back at a decent hour. Before heading up, I had my blood taken. When I got to Jenn's place, I called them and they said "You are Borderline pregnant, we are closed on Friday, so come back on Monday so we can take your blood again" How you can be borderline pregnant on a yes/no test is beyond me, however that's what they told me.
Me being me, I bought a box of tests. After all, borderline just wasn't a good enough answer. So I tested again on Friday morning and on Sunday morning. They both came up with much darker lines. All right! That's the kind of progression I like to see! With the last miscarriage, I never really got a dark line on a pee test, so it was reassuring to see that line. Throughout the weekend, I kept looking at those tests, making sure I wasn't seeing things.
Monday rolls around. It is slushing from the sky as only Michigan can. I was going to wait to go until Jason got home, so I could run over there real quick before heading off to work. I had to go to the library anyway to return some books that I didn't want to become even more overdue, so I decided to walk, in the nasty slushiness to the hospital, which is about a mile from here. Izzy was protected from the weather in his stroller with the rain cover on it. I didn't fair so lucky. Note to self, next time I go a-walkin' in foul weather, wear shoes that don't have holes. Something with a closed foot would be a much better choice than my crocs.
I make it to the hospital in wonderful time, and back home again. Izzy goes down for a nap, I dry off and spend some time on the computer. I call for my results around 4. They tell me that Yes, I am pregnant, however my number is only 68, and for being 5 weeks pregnant, as their charts say I am, that number isn't high enough, so I have to go back, AGAIN.
On Wednesday, I just waited until Jason got home, and ran over there real quick like and had it done. Called them this morning. After two hours of waiting, they call me back and say my numbers are now 145, which is a little more than double and a good good thing. Therefore, I am officially pregnant, 4 weeks to be exact. Based on my hormone levels, they changed my due date to something more accurate. Maybe this time around I won't have to be induced or go too far over the due date. However, the misery of being 9 months pregnant in August is going to be abject and complete. And I will do it gladly.
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Just a quick jot
Just a quick jot before I head off to the shower and then to slumberland. I must work again at Wal-Mart (the Devil Store as my darling Sister-in-Law calls it) and today was long and tiring, and I know tomorrow will be a repeat of the same. We now have lights on our Christmas tree, or Solstice tree, or Pagan tree, however you want to view it. No decorations yet, except the star at the top. Yes, I have a star at the top. And No, it's not representative of the North Star that the Sheephearders saw upon the Birth of Christ. Yes, I do capitalize all of that, seems disrespectful to a religion not mine to do so, I would ask the same from them.
Anyhoo, we have lights. That's what I did tonight. I brought home for dinner a big deli pizza (fresh pizza, bake in the oven) and watched "Forrest Gump" and put lights up on the tree. Why so early for the tree? Because if I think THIS weekend has been busy and tiring at Wal-Mart, just wait til NEXT!
Oh, Jason and I realized tonight that Izzy loves to walk. He's only been walking for about 2 months now, though it seems like he's been doing it forever. He's very close to running, and Gods help us all when that happens!
Jason has started the budget for when he takes over at the New Year. Already? Seems like he's trying to jump the gun here, getting a bit anxious, chomping at the bit as they say. He asked me if I really felt that he'd be angry at me? Um, yeah, I do. Though, I've never had anyone be nice about it. And when he was doing it, long ago, it made him angry then, so it seems to stand reason that that would not have changed. I realize only time will tell.
Anyhoo, we have lights. That's what I did tonight. I brought home for dinner a big deli pizza (fresh pizza, bake in the oven) and watched "Forrest Gump" and put lights up on the tree. Why so early for the tree? Because if I think THIS weekend has been busy and tiring at Wal-Mart, just wait til NEXT!
Oh, Jason and I realized tonight that Izzy loves to walk. He's only been walking for about 2 months now, though it seems like he's been doing it forever. He's very close to running, and Gods help us all when that happens!
Jason has started the budget for when he takes over at the New Year. Already? Seems like he's trying to jump the gun here, getting a bit anxious, chomping at the bit as they say. He asked me if I really felt that he'd be angry at me? Um, yeah, I do. Though, I've never had anyone be nice about it. And when he was doing it, long ago, it made him angry then, so it seems to stand reason that that would not have changed. I realize only time will tell.
Friday, November 16, 2007
I have been remiss.
Well, what have I been doing? Oh, not much of anything really. Working 4 days a week at Wal-Mart. Taking care of the kids. Worrying about an ex-mother-in-law who fell down and seriously broke her ankle. Trying to help Jason rediscover his "lost creativity".
Lets start with Wal-Mart. Working there makes me realize there is just way too much commercialism and "give-me-ism" centered around December and the associated holidays. Being Pagan, I don't celebrate Christmas with the sense of the birth of Jesus and what not. We do have a tree. It's a Solstice Tree. I even got for it this really awesome rather "pagan looking" (per Jason's description of it) star. I'll have to post a pic of the tree once it's put up in all it's glory. Anyway, back to commercialism. Why do the carols start the day after Halloween? Why can you purchase Christmas themed items sometimes as early as AUGUST? There are many out there who say "Oh, it's the retailers". Well, yes, it IS the retailers. However, they wouldn't do it if people didn't buy it. After all, they only make money on things that SELL. That means that out there, there are people who actually BUY this stuff that early! WHY????
Working at Wal-Mart has really made me feel the pressure to BUY NOW. I'm a late Holiday shopper. I prefer to do it that way. Wait til the last minute, get great deals. This year, I have purchased more for Holiday gifts before Thanksgiving than I EVER have before! What is wrong with me?
I've also come to realize that as I am awake until the very early hours of the morning anyway - if I make it to bed before 1 A.M. I am either sick or just so tired I can't stay awake any longer - that I might as well be working those hours. After all, the purpose of me working is so that we can find our feet financially, isn't it? How can I honestly be contributing if I'm only working maybe 20 hours a week when Jason busts his butt for the full 40? That's another thing about this season. It really reminds me of how much money I don't have. And it only seems to get worse, never really better.
In my search to find my financial feet, I've discovered that I suck at spending money. I buy lots of stuff we just don't need. I just can't help myself. The common sense thing to do would be to hand my debit card to Jason and let him figure out our debt and money. However, that option literally makes me angry just thinking of it. Why you may ask? In all honesty, just previous bad experience with someone else handling MY money. I feel like handling the money, no matter how badly, at least gives me a sense, no matter how misplaced and useless, of power. So how do I overcome this? By swallowing my ill-placed anger and handing the reins over to Jason as of the first of the year. I really really don't want to do it. I guess we are going to try to do it together, but maybe to begin with, I should just step away from the money. I don't even have to physcially hand him my paycheck, it's direct deposited. Hopefully, I will be able to keep from arguing and fighting with him as he figures out my mess of things. And he stays married to me too. I have a feeling that January (maybe February too) is going to be a long, lonely, and cold cold month for me.
On to raising the kids. They are becoming responsible. When did this happen? Are these really MY kids? Well Hell, I must be doing SOMETHING right after all! There have been a couple of mornings (all right, a few) where I have just kept smacking that HORRID alarm clock and overslept by QUITE A BIT. OOPS. James always comes down and tells me "Mom, we are leaving for school now." What? My James? Getting himself and his sister up and out the door for school? Knock me out and call me Suzy! They ride the bus now, because of James' "issues" he gets a bus ride, and Jayden goes to the same place, so she gets one too, however we are still close enough that they can walk. So on these mornings, they invariably do end up walking. It's not really far, but the fact that they don't just stay upstairs and watching movies instead of going to school still shocks me to no end. Apparently, for my kids, a great threat to get them to go to school and behave is to tell them that if they don't, they will be homeschooled by me. Who knew that school was a mini-daily vacation from me as it is for me from them? Learn something new every day!
Izzy can now say 4 words and one sign. His IEP is at the end of the month. He'll then have a speech therapist and an early education teacher coming to the house to work with him and I. Izzy "swallows" his sounds. It sounds like they are "stuck" in the back of his throat or mouth, that they aren't making it to the tip of his tongue and fully out. He says "eat" now, though it comes out sounding like eeeeeeeeeettttttt with a bit of an "n" sound to it - that whole stuck sound thing again. And he can say "eeeeezzzzzzzyyyyy", though once again it's with that "n" sound. He likes to draw the vowels sounds out, and he LOVES making that "z" sound. I'm glad we went with calling him Izzy, instead of Jason's suggestion of Ike.
Jason wanted to call him Ike after his great (possibly great great?) Uncles. He has two. One was Crazy Ike. I think the other was Lazy Ike. Or something like that. Jason felt that Izzy was too "cute" for a boy. I told him that little boys are only cute so long and I wanted my little boy to be Izzy.
On to the Ex-Mother-In-Law. Her name is Linda. She is Homer's mother. She and I get along "famously", in all honesty, much better than my own mother and I, let alone Jason's mother and I. I think with both of those aforementioned women, we just agree to disagree and try our hardest to be cordial. Linda is a wonder. At the age of 63, she went back to school to study Cosmetology. Why? Well, as she told Jason, it's so she doesn't have to bust butt washing dishes for the rest of her life. This is where I get a little angry. Why does she HAVE to wash dishes? Why aren't her children helping her? Because they are too involved in their own lives, that's why. Jason and I both get along very well with Linda, much to Homer's chagrin. She fell down about a month ago and broker her ankle so badly she needed surgery. She was at work when it happened. She just got her staples out last week. She is getting Workman's Comp to pay her bills, but it barely pays her rent. She was working 2 full time dishwashing jobs at the time she fell. And she was finishing up the last big of her schooling.
She's close to 65 now, if she isn't already there. This is where our worry over her comes in. She lives in Wisconsin, so she could be near her brothers and mother and assorted extended family. They have helped her out during this time not at all. They are always too busy to be able to do anything for her. Even to just drive her somewhere. So she is in a town where her family won't help her, and her children are too self absorbed to notice. I told Homer his mom fell and broke her ankle, after giving him her cell number - he didn't have it- over 3 weeks ago, he STILL has not called her. Jason and I have talked and we feel that she should come live with us. She would help us out a great deal just by being here. I could go in earlier to Wal-Mart. Not to mention, then we would KNOW she is ok and she wouldn't have to bust her butt working 2 jobs dishwashing to make ends meet. It's time for her to relax, enjoy her age and the time she has put in. Now comes the intersting thing, how do we convince her that we need her more than we feel she needs to be here?
And Jason's creativity. Jason is in a funk, it comes and it goes, but this should not be news to anyone really. He feels like he is wasting his life away at his job. Like he isn't "accomplishing" anything, or even really providing well for his family. He has no inspiration to draw or paint. He's in an artist's hell. I don't know how to end it. I don't know how to inspire him. I worry over him. I worry over them all, though I am mom, and that is part of the "mom" job description, it says it in the book we get when we become a mom.
And so I leave you on this note. Enjoy life to the fullest. After all, you could be living with your worst enemy.
Lets start with Wal-Mart. Working there makes me realize there is just way too much commercialism and "give-me-ism" centered around December and the associated holidays. Being Pagan, I don't celebrate Christmas with the sense of the birth of Jesus and what not. We do have a tree. It's a Solstice Tree. I even got for it this really awesome rather "pagan looking" (per Jason's description of it) star. I'll have to post a pic of the tree once it's put up in all it's glory. Anyway, back to commercialism. Why do the carols start the day after Halloween? Why can you purchase Christmas themed items sometimes as early as AUGUST? There are many out there who say "Oh, it's the retailers". Well, yes, it IS the retailers. However, they wouldn't do it if people didn't buy it. After all, they only make money on things that SELL. That means that out there, there are people who actually BUY this stuff that early! WHY????
Working at Wal-Mart has really made me feel the pressure to BUY NOW. I'm a late Holiday shopper. I prefer to do it that way. Wait til the last minute, get great deals. This year, I have purchased more for Holiday gifts before Thanksgiving than I EVER have before! What is wrong with me?
I've also come to realize that as I am awake until the very early hours of the morning anyway - if I make it to bed before 1 A.M. I am either sick or just so tired I can't stay awake any longer - that I might as well be working those hours. After all, the purpose of me working is so that we can find our feet financially, isn't it? How can I honestly be contributing if I'm only working maybe 20 hours a week when Jason busts his butt for the full 40? That's another thing about this season. It really reminds me of how much money I don't have. And it only seems to get worse, never really better.
In my search to find my financial feet, I've discovered that I suck at spending money. I buy lots of stuff we just don't need. I just can't help myself. The common sense thing to do would be to hand my debit card to Jason and let him figure out our debt and money. However, that option literally makes me angry just thinking of it. Why you may ask? In all honesty, just previous bad experience with someone else handling MY money. I feel like handling the money, no matter how badly, at least gives me a sense, no matter how misplaced and useless, of power. So how do I overcome this? By swallowing my ill-placed anger and handing the reins over to Jason as of the first of the year. I really really don't want to do it. I guess we are going to try to do it together, but maybe to begin with, I should just step away from the money. I don't even have to physcially hand him my paycheck, it's direct deposited. Hopefully, I will be able to keep from arguing and fighting with him as he figures out my mess of things. And he stays married to me too. I have a feeling that January (maybe February too) is going to be a long, lonely, and cold cold month for me.
On to raising the kids. They are becoming responsible. When did this happen? Are these really MY kids? Well Hell, I must be doing SOMETHING right after all! There have been a couple of mornings (all right, a few) where I have just kept smacking that HORRID alarm clock and overslept by QUITE A BIT. OOPS. James always comes down and tells me "Mom, we are leaving for school now." What? My James? Getting himself and his sister up and out the door for school? Knock me out and call me Suzy! They ride the bus now, because of James' "issues" he gets a bus ride, and Jayden goes to the same place, so she gets one too, however we are still close enough that they can walk. So on these mornings, they invariably do end up walking. It's not really far, but the fact that they don't just stay upstairs and watching movies instead of going to school still shocks me to no end. Apparently, for my kids, a great threat to get them to go to school and behave is to tell them that if they don't, they will be homeschooled by me. Who knew that school was a mini-daily vacation from me as it is for me from them? Learn something new every day!
Izzy can now say 4 words and one sign. His IEP is at the end of the month. He'll then have a speech therapist and an early education teacher coming to the house to work with him and I. Izzy "swallows" his sounds. It sounds like they are "stuck" in the back of his throat or mouth, that they aren't making it to the tip of his tongue and fully out. He says "eat" now, though it comes out sounding like eeeeeeeeeettttttt with a bit of an "n" sound to it - that whole stuck sound thing again. And he can say "eeeeezzzzzzzyyyyy", though once again it's with that "n" sound. He likes to draw the vowels sounds out, and he LOVES making that "z" sound. I'm glad we went with calling him Izzy, instead of Jason's suggestion of Ike.
Jason wanted to call him Ike after his great (possibly great great?) Uncles. He has two. One was Crazy Ike. I think the other was Lazy Ike. Or something like that. Jason felt that Izzy was too "cute" for a boy. I told him that little boys are only cute so long and I wanted my little boy to be Izzy.
On to the Ex-Mother-In-Law. Her name is Linda. She is Homer's mother. She and I get along "famously", in all honesty, much better than my own mother and I, let alone Jason's mother and I. I think with both of those aforementioned women, we just agree to disagree and try our hardest to be cordial. Linda is a wonder. At the age of 63, she went back to school to study Cosmetology. Why? Well, as she told Jason, it's so she doesn't have to bust butt washing dishes for the rest of her life. This is where I get a little angry. Why does she HAVE to wash dishes? Why aren't her children helping her? Because they are too involved in their own lives, that's why. Jason and I both get along very well with Linda, much to Homer's chagrin. She fell down about a month ago and broker her ankle so badly she needed surgery. She was at work when it happened. She just got her staples out last week. She is getting Workman's Comp to pay her bills, but it barely pays her rent. She was working 2 full time dishwashing jobs at the time she fell. And she was finishing up the last big of her schooling.
She's close to 65 now, if she isn't already there. This is where our worry over her comes in. She lives in Wisconsin, so she could be near her brothers and mother and assorted extended family. They have helped her out during this time not at all. They are always too busy to be able to do anything for her. Even to just drive her somewhere. So she is in a town where her family won't help her, and her children are too self absorbed to notice. I told Homer his mom fell and broke her ankle, after giving him her cell number - he didn't have it- over 3 weeks ago, he STILL has not called her. Jason and I have talked and we feel that she should come live with us. She would help us out a great deal just by being here. I could go in earlier to Wal-Mart. Not to mention, then we would KNOW she is ok and she wouldn't have to bust her butt working 2 jobs dishwashing to make ends meet. It's time for her to relax, enjoy her age and the time she has put in. Now comes the intersting thing, how do we convince her that we need her more than we feel she needs to be here?
And Jason's creativity. Jason is in a funk, it comes and it goes, but this should not be news to anyone really. He feels like he is wasting his life away at his job. Like he isn't "accomplishing" anything, or even really providing well for his family. He has no inspiration to draw or paint. He's in an artist's hell. I don't know how to end it. I don't know how to inspire him. I worry over him. I worry over them all, though I am mom, and that is part of the "mom" job description, it says it in the book we get when we become a mom.
And so I leave you on this note. Enjoy life to the fullest. After all, you could be living with your worst enemy.
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
The baby monkey.
There once was a baby monkey. His name was Izzy. He loved to climb on EVERYTHING. Not only did he like to climb, he LOVED to take things OUT. Out of everything. Wipes, books, toys. Out of grocery bags with the nice freshly bought groceries all over the floor. The dirty clothes out of the hamper. The toys out of the bath tub. The candy out of the box. The food off of his tray, I guess that was as close to OUT as he could get. The diapers out of the crate. The crackers out of the box. Well, I think you get the picture. And to the mommy monkey's ever frustration, baby monkey would NEVER put anything IN!
Can you guess how my days have been going? Chasing an 18 month old toddler is like living with a wild monkey. He's CONSTANTLY on the move, taking everything OUT, and just causing general havoc. Cleaning is pointless, or so it seems. After all, he just follows behind and takes it all OUT again. This is my biggest frustration. Why does it all have to come out? Why can't some of it stay in? He has no preference as to what must be out, except that it must be EVERYTHING he comes in contact with. E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G.
Izzy certainly has the muma sound down now. I think he realizes it's a word, a name. He is also vocalizing quite a bit more. Screaming at the top of his lungs in joy as he takes things OUT. He is also trying very hard to run. Run away from me and everything I'm trying to get him to do. Oh, did I mention that when things come out, they are not just placed on the ground...oh no, that would be too neat and orderly, they are THROWN. AS FAR AS POSSIBLE. If you happen to be in the way of said thrown object, watch out, cause it may just hurt.
Izzy has this area on the floor surrounding his high chair that is covered in crumbs and half eaten crackers and fruit bars. It's cleaned daily, however it never stays that way. By the end of the day, it always appears as though we haven't cleaned up after him since he was born. And he is boycotting milk. Just won't drink it anymore. Can you guess what he does with the cup when he gets something he doesn't like, or it's empty? If you guessed THROW IT well you win the grand prize. I don't remember my other children needing to throw things like this. Or to take everything out. Or to make constant messes. He is not content to sit and play, but on the MOVE. I'm beginning to regret that whole teaching him to walk thing. Needless to say, work is a refuge to me, how sad is that?
Can you guess how my days have been going? Chasing an 18 month old toddler is like living with a wild monkey. He's CONSTANTLY on the move, taking everything OUT, and just causing general havoc. Cleaning is pointless, or so it seems. After all, he just follows behind and takes it all OUT again. This is my biggest frustration. Why does it all have to come out? Why can't some of it stay in? He has no preference as to what must be out, except that it must be EVERYTHING he comes in contact with. E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G.
Izzy certainly has the muma sound down now. I think he realizes it's a word, a name. He is also vocalizing quite a bit more. Screaming at the top of his lungs in joy as he takes things OUT. He is also trying very hard to run. Run away from me and everything I'm trying to get him to do. Oh, did I mention that when things come out, they are not just placed on the ground...oh no, that would be too neat and orderly, they are THROWN. AS FAR AS POSSIBLE. If you happen to be in the way of said thrown object, watch out, cause it may just hurt.
Izzy has this area on the floor surrounding his high chair that is covered in crumbs and half eaten crackers and fruit bars. It's cleaned daily, however it never stays that way. By the end of the day, it always appears as though we haven't cleaned up after him since he was born. And he is boycotting milk. Just won't drink it anymore. Can you guess what he does with the cup when he gets something he doesn't like, or it's empty? If you guessed THROW IT well you win the grand prize. I don't remember my other children needing to throw things like this. Or to take everything out. Or to make constant messes. He is not content to sit and play, but on the MOVE. I'm beginning to regret that whole teaching him to walk thing. Needless to say, work is a refuge to me, how sad is that?
Monday, September 24, 2007
Work and Life and Classes of One Kind or Another
So here it is, Monday. I realized today that school is back in swing full force. How did I know this? Wasn't getting up at the atrocious hour of 7 A.M. enough of a clue? Well, I guess not. Tonight the Horde had homework. All of them, even darling kindergardener Jayden. How can you have homework in K you may ask? Well, they sent home a calendar on Thursday (they had no school last Friday) with "suggested" activities to do each night and to send in any projects that resulted from said "suggestions". Also, she brought home 2 worksheets of "reading" exercises that needed a "reading partner" signature, i.e. Me. These sheets were front and back. She's only 5 people, take it easy on her!
James just had one sheet. And I made him read his book. He's reading "Superfudge" by Judy Blume. I don't think I'll be having Jason supervise James' reading time anymore however. James certainly has not been making progress on his book. He doesn't like to read. Jason doesn't pay much attention to if James is actually reading at the time.
Jayden starts her 2 dance classes tomorrow evening. With excellent timing, her ballet shoes came in the mail today. We picked up her tap shoes last week at the dance studio. So 2 classes for her. She LOVES her dance class. Where she will be taking classes is right across the street from the gym that I go to. Once Jayden is in the "swing" of things, I'm going to start dropping her off for class, and head across the street to get in an hour of "me" time!
I went to orientation at Wal-Mart today. It took 4 1/2 hours! We watched videos, and I almost fell asleep. We took a long tour of the store. We did a couple of computer training programs on the computer. As a cashier, I did the Tobacco and Alcohol Sales and Procedures. I scored 100% on both tests. Of coarse I did. I've been in retail, and working at stores that sold both things, long enough to know how to do it! However, I had to do them in order to start work on Friday. Jeez, what have I gotten myself in to? It looks like this weekend, between Friday and Monday I'll be working 25 hours. I'm not working at Denny's anymore. The money just wasn't worth the effort. And Wal-Mart offered me a much better wage.
Life is going as normal. Jason has his initial appointment with the doc who will probably order a sleep study for him. Jason snores horribly, and will have episodes of apnea. Izzy sees Doc. J on Friday morning for his 18 month well child visit. I was about to say well baby, however, my bruiser of a boy isn't much of a baby anymore. At his 15 month visit he was 34 1/2 inches tall and 29 1/2 pounds. He's grown since then, I know because his clothes are smaller!
We went to the Verhage Cider Mill this past Saturday. A good time was definately held by all! I'll make a seperate post of the pics from that outing, and a video of them getting the apple pulp ready for squeezing to make the cider! We went on a hayride, watched them make cider, and fresh doughnuts. Of coarse we had to sample both! MMMM fresh doughnuts and cider, how much more fall could you get? Well, I'll tell ya! In a couple of weeks, we'll be going out to see Gene the Pumpkin Man. This man literally has orange everything, car, barn, house, clothes. He even has a huge cinderella pumpkin coach in his yard!
Unfortunately, I won't be working a Civic show this season. Working is taking a priority this year, working for pay I mean! I love the shows and the people and environment, but we want to buy this house, and in order to do that, we need to clean up our credit. It's not really bad credit, it's just not the greatest.
This blog kind of reminds me of "Prairie Home Companion" and the Letters from Lake Wobegon segment of the show. It's a little snipet of life from my corner of the world. Where things are always chaotic, and wonderful, and amazing. Have a great night everyone, and a pleasent tomorrow.
James just had one sheet. And I made him read his book. He's reading "Superfudge" by Judy Blume. I don't think I'll be having Jason supervise James' reading time anymore however. James certainly has not been making progress on his book. He doesn't like to read. Jason doesn't pay much attention to if James is actually reading at the time.
Jayden starts her 2 dance classes tomorrow evening. With excellent timing, her ballet shoes came in the mail today. We picked up her tap shoes last week at the dance studio. So 2 classes for her. She LOVES her dance class. Where she will be taking classes is right across the street from the gym that I go to. Once Jayden is in the "swing" of things, I'm going to start dropping her off for class, and head across the street to get in an hour of "me" time!
I went to orientation at Wal-Mart today. It took 4 1/2 hours! We watched videos, and I almost fell asleep. We took a long tour of the store. We did a couple of computer training programs on the computer. As a cashier, I did the Tobacco and Alcohol Sales and Procedures. I scored 100% on both tests. Of coarse I did. I've been in retail, and working at stores that sold both things, long enough to know how to do it! However, I had to do them in order to start work on Friday. Jeez, what have I gotten myself in to? It looks like this weekend, between Friday and Monday I'll be working 25 hours. I'm not working at Denny's anymore. The money just wasn't worth the effort. And Wal-Mart offered me a much better wage.
Life is going as normal. Jason has his initial appointment with the doc who will probably order a sleep study for him. Jason snores horribly, and will have episodes of apnea. Izzy sees Doc. J on Friday morning for his 18 month well child visit. I was about to say well baby, however, my bruiser of a boy isn't much of a baby anymore. At his 15 month visit he was 34 1/2 inches tall and 29 1/2 pounds. He's grown since then, I know because his clothes are smaller!
We went to the Verhage Cider Mill this past Saturday. A good time was definately held by all! I'll make a seperate post of the pics from that outing, and a video of them getting the apple pulp ready for squeezing to make the cider! We went on a hayride, watched them make cider, and fresh doughnuts. Of coarse we had to sample both! MMMM fresh doughnuts and cider, how much more fall could you get? Well, I'll tell ya! In a couple of weeks, we'll be going out to see Gene the Pumpkin Man. This man literally has orange everything, car, barn, house, clothes. He even has a huge cinderella pumpkin coach in his yard!
Unfortunately, I won't be working a Civic show this season. Working is taking a priority this year, working for pay I mean! I love the shows and the people and environment, but we want to buy this house, and in order to do that, we need to clean up our credit. It's not really bad credit, it's just not the greatest.
This blog kind of reminds me of "Prairie Home Companion" and the Letters from Lake Wobegon segment of the show. It's a little snipet of life from my corner of the world. Where things are always chaotic, and wonderful, and amazing. Have a great night everyone, and a pleasent tomorrow.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
A little of this, a little of that
I got to thinking the other day. Well, more accurately, a post on a message board got me to thinking. My son James. He's got "issues" as we call them around here. That's stating it mildly. James is currently taking 4 different medications for various things. Odds are that after he sees the Pediatric Endocrinologist in October, there will be another. New things just keep cropping up with him.
James is a highly special needs child. Appearences are very deceiving when it comes to him. Aside from the fact that he is VERY small for his age, about the size of a "typical" 5 year old and he's almost 9, there is nothing about his outward appearence to make one stop and say "that child is special". He is very smart for his age. He can be very charismatic and charming.
James has a list. And the list keeps getting longer and longer. On that list are things like Autism Spectrum Disorder, Sensory Integration Disorder, Reactive Attachment Disorder, Attention Deficit and Hyperactive Disorder, Sleep Disorder, Growth Disorder, etc., etc., etc. I never signed up to be the mother of a child with special needs. Especially one like James. I'll admit that I cried when I found out Izzy was a boy because I was so worried that he would be "another James". I knew I could care for one "James", but 2???
I love all of my children. Sometimes remembering that I love James can be hard. It does get easier as he gets older and he learns control and we understand more about him. These are all honest feelings and I'm sharing them with you. I don't want to take any flak for feeling them. In all honesty, unless you have a child like James, you don't have any room to give me flak anyway.
I wonder often about James and who he will be when he is an adult. I wonder just how he will be able to handle working in the "real" world. Will he ever get over his video game obsession? Will he ever learn to really connect with other people? Those are things I think of, on top of the usual stuff of wondering about the kind of woman he may or may not marry, and what college he will go to.
I'm going to leave this post with a couple of things. First a thought, and then an excerpt. The excerpt is from a woman who is talking about discovering her child has Fragile X Syndrome. While I particularly identify with what she is saying, having a special needs child, I think that it applies to all parents. Her name is credited along with the title. I got the excerpt from a woman on another message board I post on. The thought is this. There is a wonderful strong lively woman with two beautiful boys on one of my boards. She just found out recently that her oldest boy is on the Autism Spectrum. Needless to say she is having such a difficult time adjusting. I still am having a difficult time adjusting, and I've known about James since he was about 1 1/2 years old. I shared the excerpt with her. I also told her this. "I'm not promising roses, but tulips are just as beautiful when they bloom." And that's the truth of being a parent. You may not get the roses you planned on, but those tulips are just as bright and beautiful coming up in the spring.
WELCOME TO HOLLAND by Emily Perl Kingsley
When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go.
Several hour later, the plane lands. The flight attendant comes in and says, “Welcome to Holland.”“Holland?!?” you say. “What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy!! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy.” But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.
The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine, and disease. It's just a different place. So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met. It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for awhile a you catch your breath, you look around...... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills.... and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.
But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy...and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say, “Yes, that's where I was suppose to go. That's what I had planned.”And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away.....because the loss of that dream is a very significant loss.....BUT ....if you spend your life mourning that fact that you didn't get to Italy, YOU may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things,....about HOLLAND!
James is a highly special needs child. Appearences are very deceiving when it comes to him. Aside from the fact that he is VERY small for his age, about the size of a "typical" 5 year old and he's almost 9, there is nothing about his outward appearence to make one stop and say "that child is special". He is very smart for his age. He can be very charismatic and charming.
James has a list. And the list keeps getting longer and longer. On that list are things like Autism Spectrum Disorder, Sensory Integration Disorder, Reactive Attachment Disorder, Attention Deficit and Hyperactive Disorder, Sleep Disorder, Growth Disorder, etc., etc., etc. I never signed up to be the mother of a child with special needs. Especially one like James. I'll admit that I cried when I found out Izzy was a boy because I was so worried that he would be "another James". I knew I could care for one "James", but 2???
I love all of my children. Sometimes remembering that I love James can be hard. It does get easier as he gets older and he learns control and we understand more about him. These are all honest feelings and I'm sharing them with you. I don't want to take any flak for feeling them. In all honesty, unless you have a child like James, you don't have any room to give me flak anyway.
I wonder often about James and who he will be when he is an adult. I wonder just how he will be able to handle working in the "real" world. Will he ever get over his video game obsession? Will he ever learn to really connect with other people? Those are things I think of, on top of the usual stuff of wondering about the kind of woman he may or may not marry, and what college he will go to.
I'm going to leave this post with a couple of things. First a thought, and then an excerpt. The excerpt is from a woman who is talking about discovering her child has Fragile X Syndrome. While I particularly identify with what she is saying, having a special needs child, I think that it applies to all parents. Her name is credited along with the title. I got the excerpt from a woman on another message board I post on. The thought is this. There is a wonderful strong lively woman with two beautiful boys on one of my boards. She just found out recently that her oldest boy is on the Autism Spectrum. Needless to say she is having such a difficult time adjusting. I still am having a difficult time adjusting, and I've known about James since he was about 1 1/2 years old. I shared the excerpt with her. I also told her this. "I'm not promising roses, but tulips are just as beautiful when they bloom." And that's the truth of being a parent. You may not get the roses you planned on, but those tulips are just as bright and beautiful coming up in the spring.
WELCOME TO HOLLAND by Emily Perl Kingsley
When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go.
Several hour later, the plane lands. The flight attendant comes in and says, “Welcome to Holland.”“Holland?!?” you say. “What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy!! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy.” But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.
The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine, and disease. It's just a different place. So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met. It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for awhile a you catch your breath, you look around...... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills.... and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.
But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy...and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say, “Yes, that's where I was suppose to go. That's what I had planned.”And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away.....because the loss of that dream is a very significant loss.....BUT ....if you spend your life mourning that fact that you didn't get to Italy, YOU may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things,....about HOLLAND!
Monday, September 17, 2007
A post of pictures
I don't know if this will work or not, but we'll find out. I'm trying to add pics, to make a whole post of them. It's kind of hard to do because while I love my brother dearly for putting my new computer together when mine suffered the Crash and Burn of 2007, and we added huge amounts of memory, because of where the photos are now stored, I can't see them as little thumbnails in the folders, so unless I KNOW the name of the picture, I'm playing a wonderful guessing game, so we'll see what we get! I sure do hope I can get these pictures to go in some kind of order!
That is the darling Horde in all it's cute glory. They are posing for the camera and trying to keep Izzy in place for the picture!
This is what happens when Izzy is Baby of the Week on a message board I belong to. They ask for random pictures of said baby. I was told to take a picture of Izzy in something girly. This would be one of Jayden's MANY dress up skirts. Yes, that's me sitting behind Izzy.
This is Jason and Izzy playing along on Jason's Martin, a birthday gift from me a few years back. Izzy loves to hear music and "play" along. I wonder if as he gets older he'll keep the interest or not?
That is the darling Horde in all it's cute glory. They are posing for the camera and trying to keep Izzy in place for the picture!
This is what happens when Izzy is Baby of the Week on a message board I belong to. They ask for random pictures of said baby. I was told to take a picture of Izzy in something girly. This would be one of Jayden's MANY dress up skirts. Yes, that's me sitting behind Izzy.
This is the older members of the Horde on the first full day of school. They look so eager and happy. Katy looks amazingly cute with a shaved head, in fact I think even more grown up than before. Where did my little girl go?
This is Jason and Izzy playing along on Jason's Martin, a birthday gift from me a few years back. Izzy loves to hear music and "play" along. I wonder if as he gets older he'll keep the interest or not?
This is another of those "Baby of the Week" photos. This time around, it was put some hair on Izzy's bald little head. He does have some hair. It's very palely blondish red, and it's very fine, and it's barely there right now. He does not look like he's having fun here. That is James hold him down and Katy putting the Cabbage Patch Doll's Hair on his head. I certainly hope that the hair that Izzy grows out of his head is a little less unruly.
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