Being a Parent can really be UN-FUN!

Christmas is always a bit of a struggle for me. Ever since I was 12 years old I've been sick over Christmas. Well I made it through Christmas this year, and threw up at 3:00am. It was a 24 hour bug that really sucked!!! I really didn't eat, or drink anything for about 18 hours. I slept for about 20 hours and felt better the next morning.

Of course then the next day Brett got sick and although I'm better I'm exhausted. But, I'm a Mom and a wife so I got up, went to Sacrament Meeting and led the music for Brett, then came home and cleaned up the kitchen, and made dinner. Well sort-of made dinner. My Mother-in-Law made chicken croissants and brought them down in the morning for us. It sure made life easier for me!!! After that I was REALLY Tired!!!

Then of course, to make life easier, Tori started throwing up before bed last night. When your the one sick, you clean up after yourself. When your spouse is sick, he cleans up after himself. When your kids are sick, they do not. When your feeling sick yourself still, it is impossible!!!

Sorry to be so descriptive.

Merry Christmas

We had an Awesome Christmas. The kids are still enjoying there haul, and we got to spend a lot of time with our families.

We spent Christmas Eve sledding and having dinner with my family. We actually sang Christmas Carol's. My sweet Grandparents were even joining in.

Christmas was rise and shine at 5:15am. The kids slept in the basement and called us with my cell phone to let us know when they were awake. They were advised to wait until we could rouse Jason and then called them upstairs.

They loved everything and enjoyed the Christmas morning.

We went to Grandma and Grandpa Siddoways for breakfast, it's a tradition for Brett to have scones on Christmas morning. Apparently this is a must! Then went to my folks for more Christmas cheer.

Jason was REALLY overwhelmed by the insanity of the holiday. By the time we got to my folks he just wanted to be left alone. I brought his presents to my parents bedroom and had him open them there.

My crazy brother decided to be funny and have a picture of his head put on a 12" x 10" canvas and wrap it for Samantha. My mother told me to have the camera ready because Sam was going to cry. Of course Jeff had another present for her but wanted to play a trick on her. The funny thing is Samantha got a big grin on her face and laughed out loud. I don't think she understood that she was meant to think that was her present. But, she didn't care! Which I LOVE!!!

My brother was shocked when Samantha insisted on taking her picture of Uncle Jeff home. She's a crack up!!

Tori enjoyed every minute of it. We got her some ruby earrings and a necklace (deeply discounted I must say), which is her birthstone. She loves them. I told her it was ok to wear them all the time. She just needed to only wear the necklace to church because, as it was so deeply discounted, the chain is a bit flimsy.

Duncan got some fun things. He's really been enjoying the family gift though! A Karaoke Machine. Brett and Duncan have almost sung nonstop since Santa brought it down the chimney.

Life cannot be mellow

Yesterday ended up being a long hard day, as was predicted. Jason didn't leave my lap.

He's doing much better today. He's being his normal crazy self.

Saturday night the drain backed up again. Brett did everything he could to get it unplugged and thought that he had it unblocked.

We went out to Sub-Zero ice cream for family night, which the kids LOVED. When we got home, the floor was flooded again. So as we speak I have a Roto-Rooter guy taking my toilet off it's base and is going to snake the drains......260.00 down the drain. Literally.

Long Day

Today is going to be a REALLY long day.

Saturday night Jason wouldn't sleep. We were up for a good 3 or 4 hours with him wimpering and coughing. I had tried to give him his inhaler but he fought it and although he got a shot of albuterol he still seemed like he was struggling. I took him into the front room and we slept on the couch for a little while. The cold air seemed to help. Then about an hour later he began it again.

I was in pain from laying on the edge of the couch for an hour so I went back into my bed and grabbed his inhaler on the way. I tried to give him another puff and he fought it. Then he grabbed it and put it on his face and started to breath. He grabbed for the inhaler and wanted to make it work. I gave him another puff and he put both hands on the face mask and breathed deep. Then reached for the inhaler again. I gave him one more puff and he held onto the face mask again, breathed deep and then fell asleep.

We went to church yesterday and he seemed OK. I talked to Lisa, the kids nurse practioner, and she said to come over after church and she'd check him out.

He has 2 ear infections, but the inhaler seemed to be helping with his Asthma. She gave us an antibiotic, and another inhaler that is supposed to help control his Asthma better.

We also discussed some things to help control my dangerous little bugger. He's found out how to climb up on the counters and my dresser. He really likes to climb, and he freaks me out!

Because of all his issues this weekend he hasn't wanted to leave my lap all day. I have so much work I'm going nuts. I should have worked this weekend, but really didn't want to.

We'll see how the day goes!

Too much work

Ugh.....just typing this is killing me. I've been working so much that my arms are KILLING ME! With Christmas coming everyone is trying to pack as much as possible in the 2 weeks before Christmas. I'm not sure I can keep up with this.

On top of that, because I have so much work to do I see some regression in Jason. He is once again bouncing off the walls. Hopefully Brett will be able to be home soon, to help me take care of my boy.

More Choir

The kids performed at a retirement home on Tuesday. This is there last performance for the choir. Duncan, Tori, and Sam are just too busy but it was fun while it lasted.

My favorite part of the evening was during a solo performance. The soloist was a young teenager and he was very nervous. I could barely hear him over the piano. Of course that meant that the old folks couldn't hear him. Unfortunately it was also a very LONG song. In the middle of it one woman leaned over to another and "whispered" something. This of course means that the whole crowd could hear her. She said, "I can't hear him singing." I just had to laugh, you just have to love them!!!

I remember going to help with Sacrament Meeting when I was in Young Women at the Retirement Home Branch. I was always disturbed out how noisy and "un-reverent" they were. Now I just think they are great, and I understand they can't HEAR.

I didn't get Jingle Bell Rock at the last performance so here it is.

Another Samanthaism

Samantha: Mom, two of the church colors make green! Blue and Yellow!!!

I cannot convince this girl that they are PRIMARY colors! They are CHURCH colors and probably will be in my mind for the rest of my life!!!

I should have known then

We have taken a few pictures in the photo booths. They have been my favorite for quite a while. I found these awesome pictures tonight and had to share.

For Samantha to get her picture taken I had to put the stool up as far as it would go, and you can basically see her head and shoulders. I think she was 2 and a half. I shoud have known then, what a ham she would be!

Good Morning Sunshine

Jason had me up at 5:30am. Not my finest hour. However, I did pretty good.

Let me explain: Last night I made 3 loaves of bread, and started some cinnamon rolls. The bread turned out wonderful! I've made it before so that wasn't too tough. The cinnamon roll recipe said to put 2 cups of HOT water. HOT? Naw........OK, always follow the recipe. My rolls did not raise, so I left them on the stove to see if they would raise to cook this morning.

5:30am hit and Jason was up and ready to go. So I got up and turned the stove on and put the rolls in to proof. I set it really low and left the oven door open. Then went back into my bed to contain Jason. After about 15 minutes I went back in and they were all big and beautiful. So I preheated the oven and put them back in for the 20 minute wait.

Duncan got out of bed and asked me what on earth I was doing out of bed already. Of course, it was even more strange because I was sitting on the floor in front of the oven with Jason on my lap. Then I explained what I was doing Duncan was overjoyed!! Fresh cinnamon rolls for breakfast! What more could any kid ask?

Santa Breakfast

We had the Breakfast with Santa this morning. We got to the church and the kids immediately separated and went to find there friends. I'm not sure when they got that old, but they used to stay with me the whole time. =(

Santa actually showed up this morning! That was a plus over last year.

As you can see Jason was not interested in seeing Santa!

Samantha seemed a little shy.

Tori was uncertain.
And Duncan is testing his limits.

An Earlier Start

Last night for about 3 hours I slept on the floor, next to Jason's bed. Needless to say my back was on fire when I woke up this morning.

So I got moving a lot earlier then normal today. I'm trying to be more responsible and get Jason dressed and his hearing aid in to start the day. As you can see, I did it today.
However, it's already out and attached to my shirt. Mr, is not wanting to wear it. Surprise, Surprise! I'll put it in a little bit later and start acclimatizing him to wearing it again.

We had Joel the Occupational Therapist come over to our house yesterday with Jean the behavioral therapist. I really like Joel, he seems like a really nice guy. He said that the visit was mainly a formality and he'd already decided that Jason would need O.T. We had filled out an evaluation on Jason's Sensory concerns earlier and he said Jason only hits the Normal scale in one area. That is Sensitivity, he is OK with being hugged and loved.

We talked about Jason and our concerns. His issues, for example NO FEAR, and his constant movement, climbing, eating things that he shouldn't, his attachment to his bottle. Anyway, what Joel told us is that Jason sounds like he is a Sensory Seeker. So Jean made us a weighted blanket and weighted vest to see if these things will help to calm Jason down. We'll be having Joel come to our home 2 a month.

He's wearing he Aid again! Just needed to distract him with a sucker while I put it in. =)

Jason's Friend Paula

Paula came to visit us last night. This week has been so good for Jason she had to write really small to fit in everything that he has accomplished.

We talked about "infant massage" last night. Jason LOVES having his feet rubbed, so she thought that maybe having a good massage before bed that he might sleep better. I think a lot of Jason's improvement comes from staying home this week. He has been feeling stable and in control, so he's been able to progress.

I've got to be more diligent about him wearing his hearing aid. That's one of the things I need to work on this week.

Also, Grandma Siddoway found Jason a soft fuzzy blanket. I wasn't 100% whether he would like it or not at first, but as you can see he loves it at bed time! He didn't even try to get out of it.


Since the above picture is really washed out I took another one the next evening.

Jason speaks

I think!

This morning Jason grabbed a banana off the counter. Before I had a chance to ask him if he wanted the banana, he said "na-na".

I'll take it!!

Tori Update

Today was a day for Tori. She had an appointment with Dr. Yamashiro for an orthodontics consultation. He says that it would be good to get her started with spacers and braces. So we will be going back to PCMC for a full round of X-Ray's.

We had a few hours in between appointments so we went downstairs to the cafeteria and had a lovely lunch. Then we went to the gift shop and got something for Tori to do while we waited for her next appointment.

Then we went to see Dr. Olafsson who is Tori's optometrist. We were there a good 2 hours early so we got our stuff out and planned to camp in the waiting room. Dr. Olafsson worked us in so we could come home early. After Tori got her lens polished her vision improved greatly. She will no longer be needing her multi-focus lens and will just work with what she's got.

All-in-all it was a pretty good day.

Frost Bite

I got a phone call this morning from a neighbor saying that Tori was crying on her door step and wouldn't walk to school or walk home. I had to go and get her and find out what put her into hysterics.

She had put on her snow boots from last year without socks, and went to walk to school. Tori scuffs her feet something awful so she had worn a hole into her boots last year. Her feet had gotten so cold she couldn't move one more step.

I brought her home made her put on some socks and change into her high-tops.

On the way to school the story came out! She had gotten a little bit of snow in her shoes and said that it hurt and started to cry a little. Duncan advised her that if it hurt enough for her to cry then she was 5 minutes away from frost bite. My sweet, yet obnoxious boy, even took off his socks and gave them to her. Of course she would have been fine, but she's a bit emotional.

I guess it's time to get Tori some new snow boots.

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Jason Update

Jason has said Da-da consistently for 2 days now. This morning he said ga-ssssssss. I'm so excited about his new vocalization. He really seems to be progressing this week. We'll have to see how it goes. I've been told Autism is 2 steps forward 1 step back. It's so nice to see progression, even if it seems so small as to different sounds. I also enjoy documenting them on my blog, that way when I'm discouraged I can go back and remember the baby steps.

Family Home Evening

Yesterday felt pretty good. I spent the day working as hard as I could so that we would have time to play last night. My goal is to have work finished by 6:00pm every night. I'm not sure that will happen all the time, but so far so good.

Brett cooked dinner, and then I came upstairs and helped make dessert. Yes, we had dessert. =)

Spaghetti for dinner, baked apples for dessert. It was lovely.

Then family night consisted of cleaning our rooms and the front room so we could put up our Christmas tree. We got it done pretty quickly and then enjoyed our baked apples. At least most of us did. Samantha didn't even want to try them.

We didn't get our tree decorated because we started a little late but the tree is up, and lighted. Decorations to come.

It was a nice relaxing day. Work completed, no stress, I didn't even leave the house except to drop the girls off at Hip-Hop. It was kind-of nice.

A nice do nothing weekend

The kids have had some pretty nasty colds coming on. Jason has had a snotty nose since about last Sunday so we decided to stay home and take it easy.

Saturday the only thing we left the house for was grocery shopping. The kids were set on the task of cleaning the family room. It took them ALL DAY. Just because they were only cleaning during the commercials. Then every 15 minutes or so they would take a "break". Ya, it wasn't a very productive day for the kids.

Then Sunday Brett was the only one that attended church, and only then because he has to lead the music in Sacrament Meeting. I don't think the kids even got dressed on Sunday. Samantha helped us make some French Toast for dinner. That is sort of turning into a tradition on Sundays. To have the kids help, one at a time, with cooking. Sam even did a bit of the flipping of the french toast.

Jason seems to be improving

My crazy boy said "Da-da" this morning. He wouldn't say it again, but he hasn't said Da-da since he started his downward spiral into the world of Autism. He seems to be doing better the last few weeks.

By better I mean, Mama hungry. I feel like he's developmentally about 18 months, and communication wise maybe 12 months. I'm questioning his hearing loss. Probably because I'm in denial about EVERYTHING.

We'll see how things improve.

The Bountiful Light Parade

Duncan, Tori and Samantha were in the Bountiful Light Parade. It was dang cold!!! Jason wanted to jump up and run around. Which I couldn't blame him because it was freezing. Until of course the parade started, and then he just wanted to sit on my lap and watch, and stay warm.

They always start the Parade with the firetruck siren, I think it was an unexpected noise for Jason because he grabbed his hood and pulled it down over his head.

There weren't a ton of actual floats. But, anything that is lit up and moves is ok with us.The kids were on this "float". Brett tried the video function and it didn't really work. It was just too dark. Of course I thought they'd be singing but they were just riding along the parade route. Nice and toasty warm under a million blankets. sigh.....my bum is still cold from sitting on the curb. At least the kids all stayed warm.
I couldn't get a very good shot of the manger float.

I loved the tractor. It made me giggle.

And of course the tractor was pulling an old coach.

This was Woods Cross High's float. Much better then the Bountiful High float. (Note the rivalry that is a constant at my house between Brett and I.)
It was too cold for the clowns to be out walking the parade route so they rode instead.

This guy could have stayed in front of us for hours and I would have been happy. That was a nice blast of heat.
And of course the parade always ends with Santa Claus on the Davis County Clipper float.

Tori was a good teacher

Tori got to teach a first grade class today. Her VI teacher was asked to give a presentation on Braille by Mr. Paget who happened to have been Tori's first grade teacher. Marcia decided it would be good for Tori to get up and talk about Braille with the class.

Marcia stopped by on the way home from school and said that Tori did awesome!

Tori talked about where Braille came from, and the life of Louis Braille. Then after that she told them about the Brailler and how it was used. I guess Marcia had a bunch of cards typed up with some Braille words so they had an activity and Tori and Marcia helped the kids read them.

She is very proud of herself. Any self esteem builder for Tori is a good thing!!

I'm such a good Mom

Yes, he's behind the curtains. Yes, he's in the window. Yes, I'm taking pictures.

Choir

The kids joined the school choir for the Christmas season. They had a performance tonight at the library, and they did a wonderful job. I think Samantha has a flare for being on stage. Not singing necessarily, but maybe she'll be a stand up comedian.

I know a lot of video. I couldn't decide which ones to post, and I'm not that blog savvy. Sam is entertaining in everyone of them, though. She just makes me laugh.

Panic Attack number 1,025

The kids came home from school today, and Tori came over to my desk. She had a concerned look on her face, and said "Mom, I'm seeing something." I've become very leery when Tori says this. Is it nothing? Is it adjustments? Is it stress and strain? She said she was seeing a floating white-yellow line in the top of her eye. She was also seeing a wall off to the side. The floating white-yellow line wasn't a concern for me. It was the "wall" off to the side that I didn't like.

I'm so tired of being a hypochondriac mother! I called my Dad and said, "I need a stable, non-mother answer." I explained the situation and he said, "I think you should call the On-Call." This just helped nudge me over the edge of my questioning. At least I wasn't the only one to see something that could be a potential problem.

I called the on-call answering service and told them the situation. I also dropped Dr. Bernsteins name just for good measure. The answering service said it could sometimes take up to 20 minutes to get the on-call to return their call but to hold on the line and she would see if she could get hold of them quickly. Within 5 minutes I had the doctor on the phone.

I again explained the situation. He asked a few questions as to why I thought my daughter had a retinal detachment at 9 years old. (Obviously this isn't a very common probably amongst children.) He said, "I'm happy to run into the office. What you describe could be many complications. It might be nothing, but it could be something. I wouldn't know until I looked in her eyes." So, I dropped the other kids off at Grandma and Grandpa Child's and ran Tori out to the Moran Eye Center once again.

It was the fastest after hours appointment I've ever had. No E.R. No waiting for the doctor to decide if he was coming in to see her. No $75.00 co-pay. He met us in the lobby and we went upstairs to the offices. He dilated her eyes and did a really thorough exam. There was one spot where he looked VERY CLOSELY. I started to get nervous at that point, especially when he stopped the exam and started asking Tori to tell him EXACTLY what she was seeing and WHERE she was seeing it.

He said she has some pretty good scarring on her left eye next to her nose. There also seems to be a small strand of vitreous still remaining which I think could have been the white-yellow line. The place that he found the scarring and where Tori was describing her issues weren't corresponding so he looked again for good measure. He also gave me some instructions on how to test her peripheral vision just in case the wall becomes a big problem. As of bedtime it's still there. He told me he was unsure of what Tori is seeing. There isn't any signs of anything going wrong. He did say that it could mean the beginnings of a problem, but at this point all is well. He also commented that she has had enough trauma done to her eye that this just might be something she will have to cope with.

I just hope she will one day be able to distinguish between the fixable and un-fixable concerns. I know she is only 9 so I'm not going to try and push it. We have so many appointments in the next few months I'm not too concerned with the waiting. Someday I also hope to not feel like a hypochondriac for my kids. I would like to go a few months without a doctors appointment someday.

Eyes are one thing that you can't mess with though. You can't replace them, not yet anyway. Maybe someday technology will get there, but for now we have to be careful with my family. It's not like she just had a low grade fever that we could just watch it for a few days. There isn't an obvious open wound that needs fixing. These are her eyes, and at this point they still work so I'm going to do everything I can to keep it so.

Oh well. I need to go to bed. Night all!

Oh no....=)

Duncan: Mom, Samantha has a boyfriend!

Mom: What?

Samantha: *grin*

Duncan: What's his name Sam?

Samantha: Matthew.....=)

Mom: Why do you think he's your boyfriend?

Samantha: Because he is! We spend all recess together. *big grin*

Oh Man!!!!!