Illness of the Week: looks like it's a cold bug with a bit of stomach upset mixed in. So it looks like we'll miss yet another week of church. The last time we went to church as a family was in February. Jacob missed 2 days of school with it. Joshua and Abby are are their way to being miserable. Nothing much new around here..

I had a nasty tension headache from Monday through Thursday. During the midst of it, I took Jacob to Denton Cnty MHMR (mental health & mental retardation). We were supposed to be eligible for a $2500 grant for treatment for Jacob, but it looks like we'll be receiving less than $1400, if we're lucky. Yes, it's still money, but yes, I also wanted to yell at the caseworker for 1) leading us to believe we were eligible for more 2) insisting she wanted to meet Jacob, so I had to pick him up early from school and drive 40 mins to Denton, only to have her ask "does he always act this badly?" 3) handing me back some of the paperwork, saying she didn't need it, then leaving a message on my phone after the meeting saying I must have mistakenly taken it, and she needs it asap. Now I need to drag the kiddos to the post office with me to get it all mailed. grrhhh..

The next day, Wednesday, I attended an ARD meeting for Joshua, throbbing head and all. But I felt kinda bad for his teacher. There have been 3 different teachers in his classroom this past year, and with all the changes Joshua has made little progress, and negative progress with signing/communication. So the teacher is in her very first ARD meeting with a parent asking "what are you planning to do about this?!" So I left the meeting feeling like my head was going to explode.

Deren talked to his boss on Thursday to see if he could stay home because I was feeling so bad. He told his manager that I was pregnant and couldn't take migraine meds. The boss basically said "no problem, and congratulations on #3" (Deren had mentioned the boys to him before he was hired). Deren corrected him on the #, and his manager said "EXCUSE ME!!" (in a funny way - don't get all tense on me). After Deren told him the ages of the kiddos, the guy commented on how busy we will be come October!

So I went in to the doctor while Deren was home. She gave me a script for pain meds, and I heard the baby for the first time! (the baby's heartbeat on the doppler). It was soooo neat! I guess it perked me up, because I haven't had to take any of the meds - woohoo!

Deren went back to work this morning. I think you can still see the skid marks where he peeled out in the driveway! I was hoping to ease back into everything, but instead I had a kitchen to clean, breakfast to cook, laundry to do, etc, etc. So after that I figured 'what the hey' and loaded Abby in the car and ran some errands. Full speed ahead.

Next week is teacher's appreciation week at the schools. We have 3 teachers and 3 aides to buy for. The boys aides, especially, are the ones who do most the hands on work with them, so I can't skimp on them. The school sends home a list of gifts to send each day (eg, candy, crunchy foods, mints, notepads). I'm trying to refrain from pouncing on the candy. We'll see if it survives the weekend. Last weekend we ran out of chocolate and Deren was walking around griping "where's the chocolate?!"

Abby Chronicles. The nutritionist was by the house on Monday. She is 18 lbs 5 oz!! She gained over a lb in the past month. Go Abby! She is also tearing up the house - both figuratively and literally. In one picture Abby is on the couch - look through the other pics and see if you can guess how she got up there (hint: she didn't get any help from us). We've taken all the toilet paper off the holders - she yanks it down and shreds it like a cat. She can open drawers, and likes to empty everyone's clothes onto the floor. She's a wild woman! - Joshie's little sister!