Pray for Scott!

Please pray for a good friend of mine, Scott Bilton. He is around 30 years old and has been hospitalized. He has a blood clot in his leg that needs to be monitored and a pulmonary embolism in his right lung. He will be in the hospital tonight and possibly tomorrow night. His wife's name is Laura and is one of my best friends!!

Praying for you guys!! (((hugs)))

A Beautiful Day!

Hey guys! I wrote this last Friday while the boys were taking their nap!

What a nice surprise! We are at White Lake and the weather report said it was supposed to rain all day today. Not just a little here or there, but literally all day. It is after 1pm and we have yet to see a drop. The sun is shining like a beautiful gift from Heaven. It is very windy, but we can play outside in the wind. I just need to make sure Stewart, our Miniature Schnauzer doesn’t blow away!

And we have plaaaaaayyyyed outside today! As soon as we were able, Conner hopped on his bicycle and Parker and I walked with him to the lake. We counted 17 ducks swimming and riding the waves. Mind you, this is a lake, not the ocean. The waves were caused by the 30mph winds, but we didn’t mind and the ducks didn’t seem to either. Parker, who is getting good at pointing, pointed to the ducks and signed, “me” indicating he wanted a duck. If his Daddy were here, I would have sent him into the lake after one, but he couldn’t join us this time. And any of you who know Jerry, know that despite his undying loyalty to me and the boys he would have laughed at me “sending him” into freezing cold water after a duck anyway!

We’ve been to the playground, and after a fun snack of cheese crackers and juice boxes in the wagon, the boys played in the street for about an hour. **GASP** Did she say, “play in the street??” Yep. In this little RV community, the streets are more like glorified sidewalks and the property owner/manager has made it clear that children have the right of way here and everyone better kept it slow. I have yet to see another vechile drive down our street today anyway. So, in the street, Conner rode his scooter, Parker’s tricycle, and his bike. Parker amused himself for the longest time by pushing the wagon in a circle. He had a few breakdowns when it would roll off the pavement and stop moving. But he had a great time. He also pushed himself backwards on his tricycle a few feet. This is good because he has just learned to do that and I understand they usually go backwards before they learn how to move forwards.

I was prepared for today to be gloomy and wet. But it sure has turned out to be nice. Sometimes we don’t get what we want and we’re disappointed. Isn’t it nice when the opposite happens? This is just what the doctor ordered! I’m going to go enjoy it some more!

No More Paci!!!

Since Conner was a newborn, he LOVED his paci. He had it all the time. We used to try to distract him so he would play without it, but that was difficult. He was my baby and he loved it so much. It brought him so much comfort and peace and security.

When he turned one year old, I decided that in order to encourage speech development we needed to regulate the paci to bedtimes only. I waited until "just the right time" and started putting the paci away when I fed him breakfast and not getting it back out until naptime *no matter what* The first week was HELL!!! He cried and cried and cried. I thought I was going to lose my mind! I felt so bad for him. The one thing that helped was that he couldn't say "paci"yet. If I'd had the extra burden of him being able to ask for it, I would have been toast!

Jerry hated that pacifier. He complained about it for years!! As Conner's second birthday approached, Jerry started in on one of his many many many monologues about getting rid of it. I was perfectly content. As long as he didn't have it when he was awake, he could take it to college as far as I was concerned. But Jerry was determined for some reason (he'll have to start his own blog to explain/defend himself) that the pacifier had to go. Drove me crazy!

The problem was that no paci = no sleep. The first time, I tried to take it cold turkey. That was a disaster. The child was coming unraveled. We made it 5 days and 5 nights before I couldn't take it anymore. I was pregnant with Parker and the last thing I needed was a distraught 1.5 year old and a newborn to care for. No way!

The second attempt is actually kind of funny. I took Conner to the mall to the Wacky Bear Workshop (like Build a Bear). He put the paci into an empty teddy bear and pushed a button to fill the bear with fluff. The machine made a loud noise and Conner thought it was destroying his beloved paci. Yeah. We had a breakdown in the mall.

Third time's a charm! A few months before his 3rd birthday, I got that "it's just the right time" feeling again. So I took Conner to Walmart and let him pick out a toy for when he was ready to give up his paci. He loved this Little People's airplane. I told him I would buy it for him but he couldn't have it until he slept without his paci. So we took it home and put it on his dresser. He wanted that thing so bad. So he did it! There were still some tears and we had to add a back rub to his nightly bedtime routine (which we still do, lol). But it was in his hands. His choice. He did it because he wanted that airplane. So, at least I didn't have to feel like such a beast!

We've been paci free for months!

Happy Birthday!

We celebrated my mom's birthday the other day. Since my parents and grandmother and uncle couldn't come to Conner's birthday party a few weeks ago, we celebrated Conner's birthday again too! He didn't mind.

My parents bought him a turtle sandbox for the backyard. Both boys loved it when it was empty, but Parker wasn't too sure about getting into it once the sand was added. Conner however jumped in and had a blast.

They also got both boys little chairs for the yard. We had a great time!!
Happy Birthday Nana and Conner!!

Think We Have Enough Stuff?

"Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.” -inscribed on the General Post Office building in New York.

We're going to the lake anyway! I snub my nose at the rain! We're going! Does it look like we've got enough stuff to stay busy? I don't know what I would do with a sedan. I'd need a U-Haul to leave the house.

The forecast still calls for rain on Friday, but not on Saturday and Sunday so we're going. I brought enough toys and rainy day activities to keep them occupied for a week. Or in Conner and Parker's case a few hours, lol. And in case of emergency, I'm bringing my laptop and they can watch videos on it.

Adios amigos!!

Patience and Flexibility

Jerry recently had the priviledge of working with Extreme Makeover Home Edition. They built a home in Jamestown, NC. As he was working on the site, Jerry and one of the regular employees were chatting about the various challenges of construction on such a tight schedule. The guy told Jerry that he always came to work with a bucket in each hand. One of the buckets was labeled "patience" and the other "flexibility"

A couple of weeks ago I met with Parker's case worker from the CDSA. She said that she would make arrangements for Parker to see the developmental pediatrician tomorrow. That she would make sure that date was open for all the people who need to be there and call me back. I never heard from her so I called today to make sure we were still "on" and she said that Parker's appointment had been made for next Thursday instead. I suppressed the urge to make a smart comment along the lines of "I guess I didn't need to know." *deep breath* Fine.

Patience and Flexibility.

Earlier in the week I checked the weather report. The forecast showed rain Wednesday but sunny skies from Thursday until Monday. I was so excited. I decided to take the boys to the Lake to play outdoors for a nice long weekend. I planned to bring their bikes, scooter, power wheels, sidewalk chalk, stale bread to feed the ducks, and their beloved wagon. But when I checked the forecast it had *gasp* changed!!! Rain Rain Rain!!! Rain today, tomorrow, Friday and possibly Sunday! Waaaaaa! We will have to go some other time I suppose.

Patience and Flexibility.

Extremism or Necessary?

One little boy! 19 months old! He seems pretty healthy to me, physically. But get a glimpse of what his case worker at the CDSA (Children's Developmental Services Agency) and his regular pediatrician say he will need in the next month or so:

1. An EEG and MRI
2. An occupational therapy evaluation
3. An oral assessment
4. A swallowing study
5. A psychiatric evaluation
6. A medical evaluation



I aked about the medical evaluation. I told them he just saw his pediatrician for his 18mo well visit. Wasn't that a medical evaluation? Yes and No. Evidently there's a different king of medical evaluation. Ooooo-kay. And mind you, that that list is BEFORE he has even seen the developmental pediatrician.


He's scheduled to see the developmental pediatrician this Thursday. The problem or concern I have about the length of this list is that every time you see a specialist or a therapist, they refer you to at least two more doctors or specialists. And everyone you see has at least a couple of evaluations or tests to run.

So 6x2=12, right? And then 12x2=24 and where does it all end? Gee Whiz!