Friday, April 27, 2012
A Day In The Life...
Yesterday, shortly after waking Shane, he showed me where one of the cats threw up on his bed and said since he JUST woke up, it was my job to clean it up vs. his. I did :) Shelby had a clinic appointment where two different agencies get together and come up with a game plan for the next year. After it was over, we walked to the van, I got the lift down and thought how slow the lift was going...then it dawned on me...OH NO ... I did it again...I left the lights on (since it had been gray and sprinkling earlier) and I didn't go out the driver's side door when we arrived - I just crawled through the back to undo Shelby's wheelchair tie-downs. The battery was dead. I called 21st Century and they arranged to send somebody out. Meanwhile, a lady who worked in the radiology building (where I parked) came out and said if it started raining, Shelby could wait in the conference room of their building - so nice of her. Later she came out to check on us. Very kind. The third time out, she brought heated blankets. So sweet!! We saw 2 police officers before the blankets had been given to us, Shelby, the baby and I had asked them if they happened to have anything in their police car that could help. Nope - but they were super friendly. Shelby later talked to a man in a wheelchair who was very kind. Eventually the guy came out w/the battery charger. We tried. Didn't work. Tried again...and again...and again. My battery was toast. He told me he could call a tow truck or I could have somebody bring me a battery for the van but he wasn't allowed to. Hmmm...nothing like planning for emergencies w/a kid in a powerchair and a medically fragile foster baby. The tow truck thing wouldn't work - Shelby wouldn't be able to go. Steve worked nearby but now takes light rail so it would've taken him over an hour to get to us and most of his co-workers also take light rail so they wouldn't have a car for him to borrow. The battery guy said he's try one more time. I prayed. The van started!!! Yipee!!! I got Shelby and the baby in, and we drove to AutoZone where the nicest older man helped me pick out a battery and installed it for us. Relieved he just give me the battery and send me on my way!! Meanwhile, I got Shelby situated to eat her lunch and fed the baby a bottle since the battery install took a while. We drove to Shelby's school, dropped her off and the office lady oohed and aaahed over precious baby boy and he smiled at her :) He and I finally got home after our ordeal to find...dog pee in the family room. So got that cleaned up, and Baby fell asleep as I snuggled him and finished my latest book on my Kindle. The kids arrived home shortly after and Shane told me he got 20 out of 36 on his science test. Did I want him to make corrections? Ya think??? I told him, yes, he definitely needed to make the corrections to which he asked me how many. Seriously??? All of them!!! Steve got home about usual time and we had Shane take a couple pics of us since Steve had shaved off his goatee a couple weeks ago (only the 2nd time in 16 years I've seen him clean shaven) and he is ending his shaving every day adventure. Later, we talked to the solar panel guy who was supposed to be giving us a reason why we aren't paying what the solar panel people said would be our monthly bill but instead an amount much more (still cheaper than it was pre-solar panels but it's a big difference and I despise being mislead/lied to). We ate a yummy dinner. Baby fell asleep, I laid him down, ran to the store to do a super speedy shopping trip for my Grandma and of course, lil guy woke up 2 minutes after I left after I swore to Steve he would sleep the whole time!!! Oops! ;) We had a good night and are so glad today is Friday!!
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Run-Down of the latest
Yesterday was quite the day:
Shelby:
Shelby had a MAJOR meltdown before school. I didn't handle it well. Again. So stinkin' frustrated with myself.
She had a seizure at school - Steve thinks it was due to her being completely out of control in the morning.
Shelby had another monster meltdown after school. I handled it MUCH better. So grateful.
Shane:
The kid's school had a fundraiser at Fuddruckers last night. Due to Shelby's issues, we didn't go. He was sad.
Shelby gets different consequences than Shane. He doesn't think hers are strong enough. He was upset.
He is on ADHD meds that make him not hungry. His friends weigh more than him. He was frustrated.
After Shelby went to bed early, the big boys had a "date" and went to DQ for some yummies. He was happy.
Steve:
He's had 3 total hip replacements. Lately he's been having more bursitis issues in his hip. To make matters worse, he's now having nerve problems in his leg/hip area. And he has a "rash" on his lower leg that seems to get better then comes back worse. Has he called the doctor? e-mailed his doctor? Nope!
Baby:
He had 2 sets of people over yesterday doing nursing-type evals and therapy-type evals. The ladies gave me wonderfully helpful information. For the past 3 days, Baby's been "off" - I called the Cardiology Clinic and talked to the nurse I adore two days ago. She doesn't think his signs are anything cardio or heterotaxy related. But something's "up" - but it's nothing the pediatrician could identify I don't think. Lots of prayers. He is now officially 4 months old, almost 18 weeks actually, is almost 10 pounds, 22 inches long, still in Newborn-sized clothes and diapers and other than the past few days, he has just been thriving. We are awaiting the official adoption worker's name to contact him/her. At least his file is in Adoptions vs. floating around. His first SW was trying to help fix his latest insurance issue. His smiles are melt-your-heart awesomeness :)
Weather: It's been raining. A. Lot. We have 3 dogs and 2 cats. One of our dogs has been using the house as her toilet. Too. Frequently. I am becoming increasingly agitated at her.
Me: I'm slowly going back to low-sugar eating since I was realizing just how out of control I was becoming w/my eating disorder and how big I was looking in the mirror and how my clothes were fitting so poorly. I checked the damage on the scale and yup, I've done it again. So, back to healthy eating I go...well, I usually eat healthy,,,,it's the bingeing I do that, obviously, isn't.
My dad: Yesterday was 4 months since he died. It's been decided that his girlfriend and his sister will do a different "ceremony" with his ashes at a nearby lake than my family. Rejected in life. Rejected in death. Sounds extreme but that's how I'm feeling. As Steve says - my purpose has been served. In this as well as a different situation with my Grandma.
Grandma: She's maintaining. The dementia meds helped for a bit. Now it's like she isn't on anything. I visit almost daily. We have lunch and play scrabble, usually. The baby smiles so big for her - it is breathtaking to watch :) I call her every 2 hours. She has helpers 4-7:30pm every day. One of the last helpers allegedly stole food from my grandma. With what I pay for them, for them to steal...then again this is my grandma who can barely remember much telling me what she's missing - I see the irony in this...makes me wonder what else is missing. That helper is no longer coming to my grandma's.
Money: Sucks. Last couple months have been expensive with non-essential yet important things: Shelby's camp, Shane's camp, Shane's football, a BBQ, etc....so we are running low on funds. We are still waiting to be paid for Baby so when those checks finally do come in, we'll be doing much better. They are still working on homes who took in babies in July. Ummm - it's April. WOW!
Hospice: We received a call for a 3 month old baby boy born 9 weeks early who is ready to be discharged. He has a tummy tube and a morphine prescription. He needs a family to love on him until he goes to Heaven. We are one of the only medically fragile homes in the area so they called us. Because of Baby, we said no. Praying he's being treasured and adored by a wonderful family now.
Shelby:
Shelby had a MAJOR meltdown before school. I didn't handle it well. Again. So stinkin' frustrated with myself.
She had a seizure at school - Steve thinks it was due to her being completely out of control in the morning.
Shelby had another monster meltdown after school. I handled it MUCH better. So grateful.
Shane:
The kid's school had a fundraiser at Fuddruckers last night. Due to Shelby's issues, we didn't go. He was sad.
Shelby gets different consequences than Shane. He doesn't think hers are strong enough. He was upset.
He is on ADHD meds that make him not hungry. His friends weigh more than him. He was frustrated.
After Shelby went to bed early, the big boys had a "date" and went to DQ for some yummies. He was happy.
Steve:
He's had 3 total hip replacements. Lately he's been having more bursitis issues in his hip. To make matters worse, he's now having nerve problems in his leg/hip area. And he has a "rash" on his lower leg that seems to get better then comes back worse. Has he called the doctor? e-mailed his doctor? Nope!
Baby:
He had 2 sets of people over yesterday doing nursing-type evals and therapy-type evals. The ladies gave me wonderfully helpful information. For the past 3 days, Baby's been "off" - I called the Cardiology Clinic and talked to the nurse I adore two days ago. She doesn't think his signs are anything cardio or heterotaxy related. But something's "up" - but it's nothing the pediatrician could identify I don't think. Lots of prayers. He is now officially 4 months old, almost 18 weeks actually, is almost 10 pounds, 22 inches long, still in Newborn-sized clothes and diapers and other than the past few days, he has just been thriving. We are awaiting the official adoption worker's name to contact him/her. At least his file is in Adoptions vs. floating around. His first SW was trying to help fix his latest insurance issue. His smiles are melt-your-heart awesomeness :)
Weather: It's been raining. A. Lot. We have 3 dogs and 2 cats. One of our dogs has been using the house as her toilet. Too. Frequently. I am becoming increasingly agitated at her.
Me: I'm slowly going back to low-sugar eating since I was realizing just how out of control I was becoming w/my eating disorder and how big I was looking in the mirror and how my clothes were fitting so poorly. I checked the damage on the scale and yup, I've done it again. So, back to healthy eating I go...well, I usually eat healthy,,,,it's the bingeing I do that, obviously, isn't.
My dad: Yesterday was 4 months since he died. It's been decided that his girlfriend and his sister will do a different "ceremony" with his ashes at a nearby lake than my family. Rejected in life. Rejected in death. Sounds extreme but that's how I'm feeling. As Steve says - my purpose has been served. In this as well as a different situation with my Grandma.
Grandma: She's maintaining. The dementia meds helped for a bit. Now it's like she isn't on anything. I visit almost daily. We have lunch and play scrabble, usually. The baby smiles so big for her - it is breathtaking to watch :) I call her every 2 hours. She has helpers 4-7:30pm every day. One of the last helpers allegedly stole food from my grandma. With what I pay for them, for them to steal...then again this is my grandma who can barely remember much telling me what she's missing - I see the irony in this...makes me wonder what else is missing. That helper is no longer coming to my grandma's.
Money: Sucks. Last couple months have been expensive with non-essential yet important things: Shelby's camp, Shane's camp, Shane's football, a BBQ, etc....so we are running low on funds. We are still waiting to be paid for Baby so when those checks finally do come in, we'll be doing much better. They are still working on homes who took in babies in July. Ummm - it's April. WOW!
Hospice: We received a call for a 3 month old baby boy born 9 weeks early who is ready to be discharged. He has a tummy tube and a morphine prescription. He needs a family to love on him until he goes to Heaven. We are one of the only medically fragile homes in the area so they called us. Because of Baby, we said no. Praying he's being treasured and adored by a wonderful family now.
Monday, April 2, 2012
Verdict is...
Miracle Baby's case is going to adoptions. Technically, by now it should already be there and in the perfect world, I should have already talked to and met the new adoptions social worker and he/she should be looking diligently for a phenomenal forever family for this precious almost 16 week old bundle of pure joy but.....I haven't heard from anyone in adoptions yet. In the past, with a different baby and a different social worker - the SW finally returned my call after multiple voice mail messages by yours truly. She had this particular baby's case for over a week but didn't call me since she could tell he was going to be "hard to place" so hadn't given it any priority. I talked to her, sent her an e-mail filled with information and pics to show just how adorable he was and she (the SW) realized the error of her ways. The whole "never judge a book by it's cover" thang...
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