Sixth Grade Insanity

Incontinence and Meltdown:
This afternoon, as Shelby was getting off the bus, I could tell she had had an accident at school. (The change of clothes was a pretty good clue then seeing the bag of soiled clothes was as well). She came inside and wanted to call a friend. I told her no since she had a lot of studying to do for tomorrow for her test. We started studying. She soon began a meltdown. Again. Loudly. Overall, I handled the ordeal well, she received multiple consequences as she processed to go out of control. Ultimately she got herself under control and we were able to have a good rest of the day.  Shelby still hasn't mastered her study guide for the test tomorrow. At this point, I'm not as bothered by it as I was at the beginning of the year. This teacher is crazy!!!  Shelby's had the family life classes at school lately and boy, is she asking Steve and I tons of questions about a particular topic!!! Yesterday she asked me a question. I answered. She told me I gave her the correct answer since it happened to be the same answer as a teacher gave her. So glad I passed!! ;)

Textbook and Science Project:
Shane informed me he has a group science project due next week and his partners and him might get together this afternoon. What?! So we called one of the parents and got everything scheduled to meet tomorrow after school. I know the family where Shane will be going from elementary school and am thrilled it's this child who Shane has partnered with. Then Shane tells me he's lost a $75 textbook. He thinks someone took it from the shelf they're required to put it on. He claims he's looked everywhere.  Right before Shane went to bed, he dropped a bombshell: He is planning on asking a girl out on the last day of school!!! Wow, my boy is growing up.

Pediatrician and Neurology:
Baby had his peds visit today and is now 12 pounds 3 ounces and 24 inches long. He still isn't on the charts but he's getting closer!! Last week's doctor was going to put in a referral for Baby to see a Neurologist. Today I was told the Neurologist denied the referral. What?!?! He was born dead, had brain hemorrhaging and has been having episodes lately that could be seizures. I've put in a call to the Cardiology Clinic since they've helped me before w/referrals and hopefully we'll come up with a plan.

Karma

While leaving my Grandma's house yesterday, I chatted with the groomer for a moment and his wife. (My Grandma and I both use the same mobile groomer.) I was holding Baby and Curtis said, "You sure are building up good karma" - meaning by doing foster care we are getting karma points. Hmmm... It's always interesting to me the comments people make when they find out we do foster care for medically fragile babies. Most of the time I thank them for their compliments but typically redirect their praise. God put on my heart YEARS ago a passion for babies. Now, I'm blessed to love on babies who are in crisis and live out James 1:27 and Matthew 25: 34-40.  God gets all the glory. Not me. Thanks for the kudos but it's all God. :)

Million Dollar Baby

Today started off with a professional photo session with Baby - I can't WAIT to see the proofs!!!

Then we had a fun visit w/my Grandma.

Next, Baby did AMAZING with his therapy session - I am so very proud!!

Then I made some phone calls - one of which was an insurance phone call since we got billed for part of Baby's last Cardiology Clinic appointment. After resolving the issue, I asked if they had it on record how much his 9 week hospital stay was. At first I was told $1,690,000 then I was told $1,069,000.90. Either way - this precious, miraculous baby is truly, a million dollar baby!!! Unreal. God paid the ultimate price so in the grand scheme of things, $1 million, isn't much, however...wow.

Tonight, we took the kids fishing and Baby had one of his best nights out in the fresh air, sitting on my lap, "chatting" with me - loved it!!!

Microwave & Movies

More events from yesterday:

• I told Shane to put something in the microwave for 3 minutes. As I walked by later, I glanced at the time remaining. 26:48! Oops :)
• We went shoe shopping and spontaneously decided to go to the cheap movie theater to see a movie all 5 of us wanted to see. Baby drank a bottle, fell asleep and everything was great until...he pooped 1 hr 13 minutes into the movie. Hmmm, apparently, I haven't taught him movie theater etiquette yet!!! When the movie was 5 minutes from being over, I saw Steve and Shelby come out - Shelby had to go potty. I gave the baby to Steve and took Shelby to the bathroom. She had had an accident. We had no clothes to change her into but she still went to the bathroom in the toilet.  Shane in all his ADHD glory then had to fill in Steve how the crucial last 5 minutes of the movie ended.

Happy Memorial Day.  We hung our flag and said prayers throughout the day thanking the men and women who have served our country and for those who gave the ultimate sacrifice. Thank you.

Controlled Chaos

Yesterday/Saturday - I woke up and had the best morning w/the "quads" and the Baby - Matthew and Andrew spent the night and I gave them the choice of the morning's activity and breakfast so Steve worked on his "famous" scramble and I got everything ready for the boys to use our free passes at SkyZone. It worked out so well - I'm not used to having 3 able bodied boys to help and to get the van loaded as far as 1 got 3 water bottles filled up, 1 packed the snacks, 1 loaded up my Grandma's groceries into the back of the van, etc. Steve dropped the Baby and I and the groceries at my Grandma's then drove another 5 minutes to the trampoline place. Shelby opted to hang out with them vs. stay w/my Grandma and I.

While w/my Grandma, we played 3 games of scrabble, ate lunch and of course put away her groceries. It was a sweet visit.

Steve texted when they were en route to pick me up so we were ready for them. We drove home and the kids all got along so well - it was awesome!  Theresa (our respite worker) came over - a rare treat for a Saturday - and helped Shelby play different games w/Andrew (wii, uno, Guess Who, etc.).

Eventually, Guy and Tammy came over, hung out for a bit then wrangled up the 3 big boys and took Shane with them to their house for a sleepover. Theresa left and shortly after Steve, Shelby, the baby and I loaded up to go to church right as it started to rain.

There was somebody new in the nursery so I got to tell her Baby's amazing miraculous story and later talked to a family who's adopted in the past just to see if they might be interested in this precious lil guy.

We drove home and had an early evening - we were all tired from staying up late and our busy day.

This morning, we all slept in  (well, our version of it since the Baby has goofy sleeping habits), then I went to visit my Grandma while Steve and Shelby hung out at home.

She and I ate breakfast while Baby napped, she and I played scrabble, I ran to Safeway for a few things while she "baby-sat" then he and I were on our way home.

Tammy brought Shane home and we've been relaxing between chores ever since.

Just for kicks - I looked up the average weight of a 6 month old (he'll be 24 weeks on Friday) and it's between 14-22 pounds (that's the 3-97th %ile) Yup, Baby is little...last weight check he weighed 10 pounds 10 oz. He goes in this week for a pediatrician appt, he also has therapy and a professional photographer session :)

Medication Madness

Meds in our Household:

• Baby is on 8 dosages of meds a day - 2 meds 2x/day and 1 med 4x/day
• Kona (poodle) is on meds 2x/day
• Oreo (lab mix) is on meds 1x/day
• Shelby (daughter) is on meds 1x/day (for chronic constipation due to her severe CP)
• Shane (son) is on meds 1x/day M-F (for ADHD)

So M-F, there's 13 meds to keep track of + phone calls to my Grandma (usually once at 9, I'm usually there by 11 and stay until 1:30 or so, I call around 3, her helpers arrive at 4 and leave at 7:30 and I call one more time at 8). So, 13 meds and at least 3 phone calls - every time the clock strikes a new hour, I mentally calculate if it's anybody's medicine time, geesh.

Today went overall well - Baby was up at 5 for meds and bottle which works out awesome since he's then asleep when I have to take my shower, get ready and get the big kids up and ready for the day.

I spent 2 1/2 hours w/my Grandma who was NOT having a good memory day. I can't tell you how many times she asked me how much longer we'll have Baby.

The kids and I all got home about the same time. Shane tried to tattle on Shelby which actually worked to his disadvantage because I found out about a test I then logged onto his school's site to discover he received a 50/100 on - ugh.   Shane wanted to borrow some money to go to Wal-Mart to buy his daddy some Raider's posters. Nice thought but a. Steve wouldn't want posters to decorate his Raider's room, b. Shane doesn't have the money and c. Shane shouldn't be rewarded for flunking a test. On the other hand, Shane was super helpful at home getting ready for our friends to come over. Respite arrived. Steve came home from work. Shane, Steve, Baby and I went to the grocery store.

I should've won Worst Foster Mom of The Year Award - I packed 2 bottles to take to Grandma's. I didn't double check the diaper bag before leaving for the store, since I KNEW there was one more bottle left. We're barely down the first aisle and Baby lets it be known he's ready for his bottle. I check one side of the diaper bag. Empty. No biggie - the bottle's on the other side. I flip the bag and reach to grab the bottle from the other bottle area. It's empty too. No Way!!! 8 foster babies + our twins, I've never done this before!!! Luckily being that we were at a grocery store, I ran to the baby aisle, found the cheapest single bottle they had, took the label off so we could pay for it, ran to the bathroom, washed the bottle and filled it with water (I HAD brought the formula!!), ran back to the boys, scooped in the formula and Baby was one happy camper. Oh my word.  Dork.

We arrived home, the girls had left to go shopping using a gift card Shelby had, we unloaded the groceries, Baby went down for his nap and we got all set for our friends to come over.  We had a BBQ and everything turned out soooo good!!!  We ate, Baby had a bath, drank another bottle, played, talked to Tammy, Matthew, Shane, and Andrew played video games (XBox, Wii, etc), Shelby and Theresa did their girlie things, the dads played pool...life is good!!!  Tammy took off to get some laundry done, the kids are all getting along, the dads are chilling, I am loving the start to this long Memorial Day weekend.

Today marks 100 days that we've had the privilege of loving on Baby. He's grown 6 inches, gained 6 pounds so far and forever changed our life. He's been a phenomenal testimony of God's miraculous healing and we can't wait to see what God has planned for this precious baby next :)

Therapy Thursday

Today was Baby's first therapy session and he did AWESOME!!!! His Occupational Therapist came out and worked with him for about 35 minutes before he really wanted his momma and fell fast asleep!! He definitely earned that nap.

I received a phone call from my social worker asking me to speak (again) at the Foster Parents Graduation tonight.  I said yes.

The kids got home early, did homework, chores, etc...Steve came home, he and Shane worked on a model car together, Shelby's friend came over, we all ate dinner together then I left to go do the presentation with Baby.

We sat down in the back of the room while the lady from WIC talked. Baby stared at my social worker's plate of food - super funny since a. it was like he was glaring at the food, saying give me some. She even apologized to him for not giving him any! and b. he can barely see but he certainly was giving stink eye to the plate of goodies!! Shortly after that, when the room was suddenly quiet, he did the loudest fart ever!!! People all thought it was the SW next to me. Super cute. :)  My talk went well. I try to mix it up every time so I'm not a broken record.

I arrived home, during my absence,  respite took the girls to the dance, the boys are playing a computer game and I made my final phone call to my Grandma. Usually Thursdays are my days "off" from the hour round trip to visit her since she has her helpers come in the morning to take her to her hair/nail appt and w/my kids getting out of school early, by the time she got back and what time I'd have to leave, we're talking a 30-60 minute visit.  Today, however, she cancelled her hair appt since she wasn't feeling well. She insisted she was fine when I talked to her multiple times today but said she just wasn't feeling 100% earlier.

Middle School

Yesterday Shelby brought home a study guide for her upcoming test. Her instructional assistant writes her modified tests and lately, she gives Shelby the test to study from. Well, yesterday's page had words with their definitions. Shelby told me she didn't need to study since all she had to remember was "x's" - and sure enough, there was a pattern and everything made "x's."

Today on the study guide Shelby brought home, the first question when I quizzed Shelby - she knew the answer was "the middle one." True, she was right but she needs to know the answer, not just where the answer is located on the paper. In the grand scheme of things, do we really use 6th grade social studies on a regular basis? No. Did I try to get the school to put her in a modified 6th grade social studies class vs. the 7th grade "typical" social studies class? Yes. Did they move her? No.

Shane brought home his newspaper assignment today that we spend every day for a couple weeks on. He got 145/195. Ouch.

Then he handed me today's history test. 64/100. Double Ouch.

This led to yet another conversation with him about study habits, what we are more than willing to do to help him, his motivating factor - football (if he gets anything lower than a C, we won't allow him to play football), etc. We banned him from playing his favorite online computer game until Monday which, all things considered is really nothing since he will be spending time w/his best friends every day Friday-Monday. Oh well.

I had e-mailed back Baby's Adoption Social Worker and specifically asked him (again) how the search for Baby's forever family was going and said "No rush - just curious."  I checked my e-mail throughout the day and not a word. Bummer.

Baby had a good day overall today. Nights are still a little rough from around 7 p.m. on. He is just growing before my eyes - he's gained 6 pounds and 6 inches since we brought him home exactly 14 weeks ago TODAY. In two days, we'll have been exceedingly blessed by having him in our lives for 100 days. That's WILD. Time flies!!!

A quote from a pastor I received on Facebook today:

Sometimes God will have us go through a difficult season to help somebody else because it’s not all about us. Be ready to see the needs of others.

 I am trying to put the betrayal into a new light based on that...haven't quite figured out the "needs of others" other than my Grandma. Maybe that's the point.

 

 

 

Ducklings

Today started off well - Baby woke up, drank his meds and bottle and went back to sleep before it was time to get up and shower and do the normal drill with the kids. I wrenched my back lifting Shelby from her bed to her potty chair. Shelby gave nasty attitude but I handled it better than usual, gave her a stern talking to and we moved on with our day.  It seemed very relaxed this morning since we didn't have to leave until 10:30. The baby had an appointment and while at the facility, I saw another mom w/an infant carrier w/toys dangling off. Bittersweet - I don't have any on my infant carrier because Baby doesn't see well. I was called to the room so the woman asked a few questions about Baby and one of them was about how Baby is progressing developmentally. Again - bittersweet - yes, he is a true miracle however, no, he isn't where he "should" be at his age. Fast forward to driving to my Grandma's house and at the entrance to her neighborhood is a pond w/a waterfall. A dad and two kids had been riding their bikes, the stopped, and were pointing to the pond so of course, I had to look for what captured their attention and I found it - a momma duck w/her adorable, tiny ducklings. Too sweet. Definitely put a smile on my face.

Grandma and I had a nice visit - a couple games of scrabble and lunch and conversation.

Baby and I left with just enough time to arrive home before the big kids.

We had a mellow afternoon - phone calls, homework, chores, meds, bottles, Steve came home, he took the poodle to the vet - turns out she has a double ear infection - it could be the cause of all the accidents in the house - her head was hurting too bad to use the doggy door. The vet also recommended a tooth cleaning procedure which would cost $600-800. Wow.

We had dinner, Baby had a bath, did some Facebooking, watched some TV with the family.  When it came time to put Shelby from her powerchair to her potty chair, I told her how imperative it was for her to help. Yeah, she did minimal. I can't wait for the overhead track system/Sololift system to be installed.

Tomorrow's a rare day where nothing is on the calendar. Not a note. Not a sticker. Nothing.  So, it's school, visit to my Grandma's and chilling. Nice.

Medical Geneticist

This morning started off at a popular medical establishment where Baby met a medical geneticist who evaluated him and said he is "remarkable" - esp. considering it took 20 minutes to get an Apgar of 5 and he is doing phenomenal - his head control, his trunk control, his reflexes, his tone, etc. His stats for today: 22 weeks, 11 pounds 8.8 oz, 22 3/4 in. and he did awesome. It was a bit NCIS-ish at the appt since there was a mirror where other doctors/interns/etc could see in but we couldn't see them.

After the appointment, right as I was about to take the exit for my freeway, I received a call from the transportation worker that biomom is sick so today's visit was cancelled. Whether it was truly "sick" or meth or too much to drink - doesn't matter - I'm grateful she called in and thus kept Baby healthy and safe. Also, it was a total God moment that I received the call exactly when I did so I could take the next freeway exit.

Because of the change of plans w/no biomom visit, I went to my Grandma's and had a wonderful time. I stopped by a strawberry stand on the way so brought yummy berries w/me. We talked for a while, played two games of scrabble, ate lunch then she babysat while I ran to the local library and returned her books that were due and checked out a few more for her.

Baby and I then loaded up and came home. I swung by a different strawberry stand en route home, got to my house, the Baby was still sleeping so I did dishes, laundry, mail, etc. as fast as I possibly could. Shane came home, respite came, Shelby got off the bus and we all had a good afternoon. Shane did awesome taking it upon himself to do some yardwork, Shelby and her respite worker cooked us all individual dinners - including making the Baby's bottle and feeding the dogs!

She left, I showered Shelby, hung out with the baby and did misc. things. We all watched America's Got Talent together and ate homemade strawberry shortcake from scratch w/whipped cream I made tonight. It's my "cheat" meal for the week. Today was weigh in #1 and I've lost 8 pounds since last Monday - woot woot!!

Lately I've really been into blogs and there are so many heartbreaking stories...really brought home a Facebook post of a friend today from a devotion: "You are My beloved child. I chose you before the foundation of the world, to walk with Me along paths designed uniquely for you. Concentrate on keeping in step with Me, instead of trying to anticipate My plans for you. If you trust that My plans are to prosper you and not to harm you, you can relax and enjoy the present moment."

Praises & Vents

I met Tammy at a Confident Parenting Seminar at church this morning and it was wonderful - also wonderful: the Baby did awesome for Steve while I was gone. I was concerned "my" medically fragile momma's boy would be super fussy but he wasn't!

At home, Shelby (almost 12) tried to help but putting on a t-shirt. She couldn't. I know this. She knows this. But she tried, bless her heart.

The poodle (we inherited her) pooped two times last week in the house and we caught her just before doing it again today - beyond frustrated w/that.

We did a family grocery shopping spree, zipped home for dinner and to unload then we were off to church.

While Steve, the Baby and I waited in the lobby for the kids, a volunteer found me and let me know the lift for Shelby in the bathroom was broken and they needed my help. The volunteer holding her on the toilet couldn't lift her back into her power chair - I knew the time was coming but more and more people can't lift my "baby" girl anymore.

Then the elevator was having problems - oh my goodness, that would've been a challenge to get a 500 pound wheelchair down stairs.

Then Steve and I were talking about Baby and how both of us have noticed more "issues" he is having. :(

Then at home (had to stop at ATM and gas station), gave Baby a bath and then he did another nasty chunky spit up - not a lot but still...made me sad. His heterotaxy issue - I definitely need to do more research on it and exactly what it will manifest as if his bowels truly twist.

My dad's been gone for 5 months. Over the past 6 months so much has happened between Adult Protective Services getting involved w/my grandma, my dad getting sick and dying, forcing a new placement of the precious baby we had at that time, my Grandma's dementia roller coaster, my eating disorder roller coaster, getting a new baby who is such a true miracle, my eye issues, Shelby giving me more backtalk and disrespect than ever before, Shane wanting to challenge Steve more than ever before, money being an issue, Steve having more bad days w/his hip replacement sites, some days are just HARD...

Approved and Funded

It's been about 3 years in the making but I received a phone call today from Shelby's Alta Regional Worker telling me that after today's committee meeting, the SoloLift with the overhead track system has been approved and fully funded!!! Hallelujah!!!! Shelby just gets bigger and heavier and my back just gets worse and worse - esp. late in the evenings. This lift will be here not a moment too soon - esp. considering that this is the first year Shelby won't be in summer school (meaning more time at home = more lifting). I was surprised at the price ($18,000) and that much more grateful for the cost to be completely paid for. Thank you God!!!

Baby's Story

Today while I was at my Grandma's, Baby was lying on my lap, facing me and he was cooing away, very animatedly and how did he end his "story?" He giggled!!! It was just precious - my heart melted. The cute-o-meter broke. Here is a 5 month old baby, born with no signs of life - communicating with me and laughing at his story. Highlight of my day!!!

Mansions

• Got up extra early for a Monday compliments to Baby :)
• Steve left for work
• Got Shelby up and going
• Woke up Shane bright and early
• Bus picked Shelby up at 7
• Once the bus arrived, Shane, Baby and I left to drop off Shane to school for his Science Camp trip
• Returned home, gave Baby bottle #2 by 7:05 a.m.
• Printed out forms for our 8 a.m. visitors, did misc. stuff
• Baby's therapists (2 OT's) arrived (I know them from being Shelby's therapists and from a different foster blessing)
• Baby did AWESOME for them - he was already off his normal routine but he was sooo happy for them - tons of his huge dimpley smiles, cooing, standing, trying to focus/see - it was the best visit ever
• As they were leaving I received a phone call from Shelby's helper at school - she had an accident and needed more clothes
• I loaded up a bag of clothes for her, got Baby's stuff ready in the diaper bag and we were off to the middle school for the second time in 2 hours
• Talked to Shelby, picked up her and Shane's Spring Pictures (not impressed - a white background - really???), chatted w/the secretary who loves Baby
• Zipped off to pick up Nanny to take her to her Neurosurgeon appt
• Appt went well - she's stable and returns to him in 4 months. Ironically, she's doing the worst she's done in a while - memory wise.
• Back to Nanny's house - poor Baby, he'd had enough of all this silly driving, we ate, played 2 games of scrabble, came home right before bus arrived
• Theresa (respite) came, gave Shelby a shower and was crazy helpful prepping for a monster project Shelby has in Social Studies
• Shelby talked to me about NOT wanting to do the Family Life videos they do at her school. Cute conversation about it.
• Poodle pooped in my room - again. Darn dog.
• Steve came home. Filled him in on today's wild schedule.
• Baby woke up from huge nap, played, received text message from the foster blessing we loved on for 50 weeks - he is so stinkin' adorable!!! Fixed easy dinner, hung out, tried to rest, Baby thought otherwise
• Just started watching America's Got Talent when the phone rang and it was one of Steve's friends/co-workers. He asked me if he could visit me in my mansion in Heaven since it's going to be huge. ;) So sweet of him. He told me he doesn't like talking to me because without meaning to I convict him and make him think about how much more he could be doing to please God.  I normally don't accept compliments well. I am nobody extra special - I am who God made me - someone with a heart for babies, for babies w/special needs, for the orphan and have been given the honor of passionately loving on foster babies in crisis until their forever families are found. I adore living out James 1:27. His comment just made my heart so happy. I rarely talk to him, I've actually never met him in person but today that praise meant the world to me. I've been acknowledged for what I do in a pure and special way. Just for the record - I don't believe there are mansions in Heaven but the thought was kind.
• Did bible study w/Shelby, put her and the Baby to bed and here I am.

Mother's Day 2012

To Steve's mom and my mom who went to Heaven too soon
To the 8 biomoms who chose life and whose precious babies changed my life
To the 8 mommies who said yes to being forever families
To our current bundle of joy - to your mommy - whomever, wherever she may be
To the moms whose children have already received their angel wings
To the single moms
To the moms with children with special needs
To the moms with children in the military
To the moms fighting their own battle (cancer, diabetes, dementia, eating disorders, addiction, etc)
To the stepmoms
To the pregnant moms
To the women waiting to be moms
To ALL moms
Happy Mother's Day :)

Folsom Day

Last night, it took forever to fall asleep, Baby woke up once, alarm went off at 5:15 and we were running!!! We left the house around 6:25, picked up bagels then went to the Fun Run/5K/Wild Way area, secured a terrific parking spot and a FANTASTIC picnic table close to the playgrounds and under a ton of "shade" trees.  Shelby was up first w/the 1/2 mile fun run. I hadn't quite thought through this and wound up running it w/her to make sure she did well, didn't crash her powerchair into anything/anybody and she had a blast. She barely finished before it was time to do the 5K. It was Baby's bottle/med time so Steve hung w/him vs. me front packing the punkin. We got back to the picnic table area and I rested/snacked and before I knew it (I never even looked at the vendors - we were so busy!) it was time for the Wild Way - a 2 mile obstacle course. It was getting hot but it was so much fun - doing these activities w/our best friends, the weather was great, the Baby did fantastic, all the kids were having a blast...the food everyone brought was yummy...super good time. Before we left, Tammy and I took the kids through the zoo that's full of rescued/can't be released back into the wild animals. We left the area and spend the rest of the day (until 8:30 p.m.) at the Nelson's house. Ate snacks, ate dinner, played w/the baby, dealt w/Shelby's issues (she didn't drink hardly anything today - she didn't overheat - Thank God but still she was dehydrated.) We got home around 9, got the kids (all 3) into bed and I'm just about done doing Facebook, e-mails, printing cute pics (I got the BEST pic of Baby smiling BIG for Steve - too sweet!!!), dishes, laundry, prepping for tomorrow, took a shower, etc.

Tomorrow's Mother's Day - bittersweet on multiple levels - Steve's mom AND my mom are both in Heaven.
We've loved on 8 foster blessings whose biomoms didn't always make the best choices.
I had hoped our latest adorable bundle of joy would be with his forever family  by now - talk about an incredible Mother's Day "gift"!!!  I'm not the mom I thought I'd be to Shane and Shelby - I have so far to go.

Locked Out

Yesterday was another meltdown for Shelby day - both in the morning and after she returned from her super short (3 hour) day at school. It was during this afternoon out of control behavior that she was sent to her room. A while later she told me she was trapped - the door wouldn't open. Somehow it got locked and she couldn't open it. Shane and I tried from our side and it wouldn't budge. Of all times Shelby actually had all of her powerchair straps on so her ability to push/pull on her fancy door handle was limited. Shane and I tried the "key" - but it didn't work. Her window was locked and wouldn't you know it, Shelby had to go potty. I called Papa (my father-in-law) and he came over and saved the day. We still don't know how it locked/malfunctioned/got stuck but luckily Papa was able to come over when he did and Shelby made it to the toilet in time. Phew!!  Talk about natural consequences - she was profusely apologetic for her behavior after her much longer than usual time alone in her room!!!

We went to the kid's "Student Led Conferences" at their middle school and both Shane and Shelby did a fantastic job.  We went out to dinner afterwards for some super yummy Mexican food.

Today (Friday), Steve took off (he has lots of hours to "burn" at work) and he helped me w/a bunch of errands. 9 to be exact - yeah, it was a busy day. Some of the highlights: We went out to lunch w/Grandma, I was able to get some terrific books to help w/Shelby's latest social studies assignments and tonight, Theresa (Shelby's respite worker) spent 6 hours w/Shelby that she adored - she was Theresa's guinea pig getting a special "spa treatment" for part of that time :)  Shane and Steve were going to go fishing until they realized all their fishing supplies were in the van that Shelby and Theresa had while they were out and about so the boys changed their plan to go to Wal-Mart to pick up more fishing lures and bought Shelby her own fishing pole for our fishing adventure this Sunday.

We spent some of this evening getting ready for our 15 hour adventure tomorrow :)

In Baby news - he is doing SPECTACULAR!!!!! He can totally tell who is a "baby person" vs. who really isn't and can "sense" when people are near him like yesterday, he had been napping in the family room. The kids got home while he was snoozing. He woke up, I picked him up to standing position on my lap and he turned towards where Shane was sitting - very purposeful. Shane had been zoned out to TV so hadn't been saying anything but Baby KNEW!!!!  We pray someday his vision will be completely restored. He is eating/drinking/peeing/pooping well, not doing the heterotaxy type throw up stuff anymore - thank God!!! He just gets even cuter every second, has gotten a little darker and just keeps on growing. At lunch today, the hostess asked how old. 5 months. She has a 3 month old. Her 3 month old weighs 20 pounds! Yeah, Baby weighs 10 pounds. 

This Sunday is Mother's Day.  I always wanted a big family - being an only child and having divorced parents made my desire that much stronger. What did I do? Marry another only child. BUT due to foster care, we've been blessed to love on 8 foster blessings plus our twins so technically, I've "had" a big family!! This holiday is bittersweet since both my mom and Steve's mom are both in Heaven, my grandma has dementia but the kids have been doing sweet things for me and Baby is going to make a handprint gift for me - he told me so! ;)

Ok, I'm off to finish getting misc. odds and ends ready for our big day tomorrow.

"Easy Day"

I put the title in quotes because what I consider "easy" might be different than what others consider "normal" or "easy" but that's a whole different post I've been writing in my head...anyways,, today was a great day - no major issues/attitudes/crisis, etc.  I was in my happy place this morning after Baby and I spend our delicious bonding time together, he snuggled in and snoozed on my lap while I read....later, I took an awesome picture (if I do say so myself!) picture of my 88 year old Grandma holding the hand of "my" precious foster blessing while he was standing (with help) in her backyard on her cement patio. I posted it on Facebook (of course) as "opposite ends of the spectrum" and it was no frills, no crazy cool background - just 2 hands - weathered and old + fresh, new and young...the kids got home, argued, we got through that and studying for Shelby's ridiculous test she has on Friday (I tell you, this teacher gives tests all.the.time - at least one a week.)...Steve came home and we tried a new recipe for dinner. Yeah, not doing this one again (too spicy for me). We hung out together when a new "friend" (I follow her blog and have recently started leaving comments so I had e-mailed her to tell her a little about me and a few of our foster blessings) e-mailed me to tell me that she has a friend who might be interested in Mr. Adorable!!! How wild is that?! We are on different ends of the United States, bonded by the love of babies who are medically fragile and she and I might have just found a forever family for their precious boy whose social worker thinks will take a long, long time to find someone willing to take a chance on this sweet angel we've had the privilege of loving on for twelve incredible weeks. Even if it doesn't work out - just the thought is still a wow!  The kids went to bed (all 3!) and Steve and I hung out, watched TV, I read more of my book and here I am - about to go to bed but trying to be more faithful to my silly blog. :)

Better Day

Everyone slept better last night, I didn't start and end my day with bodily fluids from babies/pets and it was just an easy day. The big kids did well this morning, I was able to be productive after they left for school, and the Baby and I had some wonderful bonding time before we left for my Grandma's. She and I played 2 games of scrabble and ate lunch together. I swung into a strawberry stand and bought 2 baskets of strawberries on my way home. The kids were in good moods when they returned from school. Shelby's respite worker came and worked on a surprise for me - Shelby wrote a beautiful letter for an early Mother's Day gift, her respite worker then made a sweet snack for me, I was able to talk to DMV about issues re: Steve, my grandma and myself and got everything cleared up - with just 1 phone call - phew! Shane had a good day and school and found out what he needed to do to tweak his newspaper project a little. We looked online at his grades and in history, he's receiving a C vs. an F so yea for progress!! We had a yummy dinner (the best part: strawberry shortcake!!!). Theresa gave Shelby a shower then we were off to take the kids to church for their middle school ministry. At the last second, Shane stayed w/Steve, the Baby and I and we went to check out what turned out to be an amazing little lake, totally accessible for Shelby. Steve even caught a fish!!! Granted it was tiny, but it was a fish!!! We picked up Shelby, came home, did bible study and as Steve was reading today's bible study about joy, the baby did soft giggles for me - so very sweet. The kids went to bed, the baby took his meds, drank his last bottle, snuggled on me while I finished my book...ahhh.....life is good :)

Sunday Stressful Sunday

Throughout the night Dolly (our great dane) woke us up with her whining, & the baby woke up more than usual, it was not the best night then I went out to the family room to find two separate piles of dog poop from the poodle. After that discovery, I cleaned up the poop, threw it in the kitchen trash can I momentarily left in the family room since I discovered Dolly "stole" one of my sandals and I went to the game room to find it. Thankfully, she hadn't chewed on it. Seconds later I heard a sound - Dolly was pulling everything out of the trash including the poodle's poop still wrapped up in the toilet paper plus some chicken bones from Shane's snack yesterday. Ugh!!! So, I'm dealing with that then what is Oreo our lab mix doing? He's in the grass in the backyard eating cat poop. Ewww!!!

Eventually everything gets cleaned up, put away, the cat poo area gets covered, the kids woke up, I gave Shelby a shower, we did different breakfasts, and the day was progressing. Shane and Steve left for Shane's football practice w/his best friends and Shelby was working on different projects while I did chores and the baby took an amazing nap.

I admit, by this point I was lazy and didn't want to go visit my Grandma. Loading up Shelby and her wheelchair into the van, forcing the baby to do an hour round trip in the van...not my idea of a good time. I called to tell Nanny when I thought I'd be over - my original plan was to wait until the boys returned home so she wouldn't have to go with me then the baby slept so long, I didn't have the heart to wake him so by the time he got up, took meds and drank a bottle, it was past lunch time.

The boys arrived just as we were about to leave. Shelby crashed into the front door (we have double doors and she crashed into the side we rarely open, leaving wood splintered out of the door.) Steve wasn't thrilled about Shelby's latest driving mishap so there were consequences. We made it to my Grandma's but Shelby and I were hungry. My plan was since we were too late to eat w/Grandma, I would do a Taco Bell drive through as a treat but once Shelby got in trouble, that wasn't an option. So we arrived at Grandma's and I made Shelby and I lunch to eat there.

We had a nice visit - played scrabble w/Grandma, played uno w/Shelby, etc. We left to come home, the baby slept the whole way and Steve was in the middle of helping Shane with this monstrosity of an ancient Greece newspaper project he's working on in history - the class he's currently receiving an F in and he has to have a C or better to be allowed to play football. Considering the last quarter is over halfway over, the pressure's on yet he isn't terrible motivated to do A quality work. The baby was still snoozing so I did an internal debate - do all 5 of us do a Wal-Mart run? Do I take Shane and the baby? I finally decided on just doing a solo run - picking up Baby's meds and misc. stuff we needed plus my Grandma's grocery list. Amazingly enough, the baby woke up five minutes after I returned home - I was so relieved since he doesn't always do well w/Steve.

Steve, Shane and I worked on the project, we worked on dinner, Shane helped put groceries away and we ate dinner a little late but it was sooo good!!!

Afterwards, we watched some shows we had recorded, I fed baby a bottle and he did a burp that didn't sound normal. I was right - he soon covered me w/a huge amount of nasty throw up. Shane ran and brought me towels to mop it up off me. Shane gave baby to Steve so I could change then the poor baby hurled over Steve, himself and the floor.  Ordinarily, babies throwing up isn't anything too unusual but in Baby's case - it could mean his bowels have twisted and we'd have to rush him to the hospital for emergency surgery. Thankfully, his tummy wasn't hard (a sign of the heterotaxy) so we didn't have to make a hospital trip but oh my goodness, it's been quite the day.

Baby and I got cleaned up, we finished watching our show, we did bible study and prayers with the kids, and they went to bed. Now Steve and I are doing odds and ends and hopefully will get better sleep tonight.

Productively Spontaneous

This morning, Mr. Miracle Man ("our" precious 20 week old foster blessing) decided to change up the typical morning routine. We still got the kids out the door on time. Eventually, he decided to take a fantastic nap allowing me to finally get caught up on the growing pile of my stuff, my grandma's paperwork, the kid's paperwork, etc. and it felt SO GOOD to get control of everything. Bills are paid, checkbook is balanced, paperwork's filed, etc. I wrote an e-mail to thank the adoption social worker for coming over yesterday and included another picture :)

I was getting ready to head to my Grandma's house when I rec'd a call from Shelby's instructional assistant telling me Shelby wasn't feeling well so off Baby and I went to pick her up. Turns out, she didn't want to leave which lead to a few interesting minutes getting her to the van. We arrived home and she unleashed a marathon meltdown...always a good time ;)

Eventually, she was calmed down, Shane arrived home from school with...his progress report card showing an F and a D in 2 main classes. He has a really high IQ, he is a very smart boy but the ADHD does NOT make school easy or fun for my almost 12 year old. He knows we won't allow anything lower than a C for him to be allowed to play football so he has 4 weeks to bring up those two grades.

Respite was over with Shelby, Steve came home and we ate dinner then decided to be spontaneous and invite our best friends over and their twin boys are going to spend the night. Tammy (their mom) and I got to visit for a while and Baby got lots of lovin'  Andrew (one of the twins) has a baseball game early tomorrow so after a big breakfast, the boys will be on their way.

Adoption SW

Today was the day I've been looking forward to for 11 weeks and counting - Mr. Miracle Man's adoption social worker came over and wouldn't you know, Baby slept through the entire visit - he didn't show off a single one of his 4 dimples or his awesome personality - ugh! R. (SW) and I had a good conversation and he left with a bunch of paperwork and of course numerous pictures of Mr. Adorable. I'm an incredibly open person and I must admit, it is a little odd talking to a man you just met about male private part issues. Just sayin'!!! So tomorrow begins the search for the forever family God's planned for this precious baby to be with from the beginning of time. On one hand I want it to totally be a "God thing" and for R. to get a YES from the first family he calls and let Baby start his happily ever after now. On the other hand, I love him so passionately, I don't want to lose him - I think part of this is my coping mechanism since most likely it will be a while for R. to find a family willing to take a chance on "my" punkin with so many medical issues and who has so many unknowns. R. wants to find a family where mom or dad stays home and that will make it even more challenging - better for Baby because of how dangerous it could be if/when he gets sick but that's yet another hurdle to jump over.

Tonight was the night for Shane and Shelby to go to their middle school to pick their top choices for electives for next year. When I received the letter for tonight's meeting in the mail, I wrote the time on the calendar then slid the notice in the calendar pocket. Tonight when I pulled it out, I reread the dates and times and realized I made a huge mistake. They did one time for the A-K peeps and a different time for the M-Z folks.  We belong in the first category yet I had written down the 2nd category's time. We still headed over the to the school and arrived at the break between the two sessions which - in all honesty - worked out really, really well. We talked to the vice principal - really, really like him, and the person who has Shane on his caseload (due to Shane's IEP) and he was super helpful. We met the lady who knows both kids and will have Shane on her caseload next year and we weren't rushed, everything got taken care of, people talked to us about the baby, and we got more info about the sports camp Shane went to last year that tonight he decided he definitely wants to do this summer. The main bummer was Shelby can't take Spanish next year (something you can't do as a 6th grader so she's been excited all year about how she can take Spanish next year - only thing is - she can't since she's in special ed classes.) Both kids picked band as their 1st choice - surprising since a. neither one plays an instrument and b. they might wind up in the same class - something Shelby would love and Shane would despise!!

Last night was the first night I haven't had to wake up at 3 a.m. to give Baby meds. Steve woke up on his own at 3. I woke up on my own closer to 4. Oh well, maybe tonight all of us will sleep through the night!

Cardiology Clinic

Today was the long awaited third Cardiology Clinic appointment and Miracle Baby did amazing!!! He is now 10 lbs 10 oz, and 22 inches long. He had an EKG which looked great. The dietician talked to us, the Cardiologist and his team did their visit, the Cardiology RN came in and everybody was thrilled with his progress. 2/3 of the meds got increased and the med that he gets every 6 hours I have been given permission to give him at his first bottle of the day - usually around 5 or 6 a.m. vs. waking up at 3 a.m. every day like we have for the past 11 weeks. Today might be a full night's sleep - the first in 3 months!!!  After his appointment, I bought my Grandma a new phone (her old one was having problems), went to her house where I made us breakfast for lunch per her request then beat her in a game of scrabble which she wasn't happy about - she's so used to winning it's funny. I came home, the kids arrived home and after Steve came home, we went to do a bunch of errands: Kohl's, Raley's, home (to drop off what Steve needed from Raley's), Lowe's, Logan's (our dinner was sooooo good!!!) and finally Joann's. I can't remember the last time we did so much running around on a school night. We got the kids home, did bible study and prayers and did their normal bedtime routine.   Tomorrow I get to meet the baby's adoption social worker - I am super excited!!!