Okay, so it's been a couple (or more) months. I'm 35 - almost 36 wks along in my pregnancy now. I'm on permanent energy drain, or so it seems. But after 5 kiddos I'm at least pragmatic enough to know that the REAL energy drain will come after baby arrives - staying up with the little one all night, then doing the 'day shift' with the other 5. So I'm trying to enjoy the remaining weeks of being pregnant. Granted, the hotter-than-hades weather here has made the 'enjoyment' part a bit difficult, but I will discuss that more in a minute.

So I'm on a couple message/chat boards with follow moms. On one board yesterday, the "September '08 due date board", other expectant moms (with at least 1 other little one at home) were taking a poll of how many had their hospital bags packed, and other ready-for-baby-stuff completed. Now many of these moms are due after me. And I'm thinking, "Hmmm.. maybe I should start doing something. I kinda feel like a loser." So to bolster my ego, and defend my procrastinating, I came up with this current list, a Week (so far) in Review at our house. Here it goes:

Week in Highlights (so far) for August 4th, 2008:

Story 1:
Pass the Thorazine, Please
There seems to be a trend with the last 4 pregnancies - toward the end, when I should be thinking of things like packing hospital bags, getting car seats and babyclothing and linens washed, I/we find myself occupied with, well, other kids. This time around it's Joshua who has been occupying much of my attention (and energy) this summer. I knew it didn't bode well when day one of summer (ie, first day after school ended) he had some pretty good meltdowns. Well, the summer has progressed, and so have his meltdowns. He is no longer content to cry and scream at the top of his lungs. He's added violence to the mix. Joshua has always been the the least aggressive of our 2 boys w/autism. But Mr. Jacob (and let me just say that he has been no angel, either) comes out looking like Ghandi in comparison, as of late. On Monday, Joshua took picture frames from the wall and smashed them into in the floor over and over. There was glass everywhere. We had him go into the backyard to calm down while Deren swept up the glass. Joshua then started ramming 2 (full) propane tanks into the cement patio outside the kitchen. Let me just say this - when that adrenaline gets pumping, they are Strong. We then made him come back inside and he ran from me to Deren, smacking and punching us both. He especially goes after me and Deren, but if his siblings get in his way during a meltdown, they're going to get it too. They don't understand what's going on - they've never been the object of his aggression. They're used to getting right in his face/space and not being scared. So I've had to start telling them over and over to stay away from Joshua right now because he may hurt them. Same with baby (Daniel). He's used to crawling right up to Joshua, but I can't let him do that anymore. Other casualities include 2 broken chairs, a shredded mattress pad, shredded/gutted pillows, and, of course, our sanity. If this was just happening once or twice a week it would be one thing, but it happens up to several times a day now.

Story #2
Daddy. We need a new Car.
While the boys were in summer school yesterday morning, I loaded up Rachael, Abigail, and Daniel to go to WalMart. We had been to a neighbor's pool the day before, and the girls were envious of her hippopotamus floatie, and wanted to go to WalMart to get one for themselves. Also, Rachael wants a Hannah Montanna shirt from WalMart. "Momma, let's go to WalMart to get Rachael a Hannah Montanna shirt" - I hear often. Then she breaks out in her own rendition of "Best of both Worlds." So I figured 'what the hey - let's go to WalMart.' The girls (and Daniel - he usually loves car rides) were excited, that is, until I started the car and saw a warning light on the dashboard. Got out the manual - the tire pressure was low. So I told the girls "Sorry. We can't go to WalMart. The car is broken. Daddy needs to come home tonight and fix the tires." Well by the time Deren got home I had completely forgotten about the car and all. The girls hadn't. As soon as they saw him it was "Daddy! The car is broken! You have to fix it!" And Rachael told Deren, "Daddy! The tires are broken. You need to go buy a new car!" Deren laughed hysterically at that part.

Story #3
Keep the change. I INSIST.
I'm sure part of what is setting Joshua over the edge is being at home with all the down time and being unable to go outside because of all the hot weahter. So you would think one solution would be to take all the kids to some indoor play places - like McDonald's or somewhere. WRONG. If Joshua goes anywhere where food is being cooked - forget it. Regular programming is thrown out the window, the Adventures of Barfboy takes center stage. That boy can make himself throw up on the spot - empty stomach or not - if he thinks that food is being cooked, and then jumps to the conclusion he may have to eat that food. Doesn't matter if you're yelling at the top of your lungs "JOSHUA, WE'RE JUST HERE TO PLAY. YOU DON'T HAVE TO EAT!" Barf boy takes over.

Now that that stage is set, here's Deren at home from work last night. He asked if it was a good time to take the car to the gas station to air up the tires. I told him as long as he takes Joshua with him (yesterday was a high meltdown ratio day). And Joshua is usually thrilled to be on car rides, so Deren loaded him up. But Deren forgot to get change before he left. So here Deren goes to the gas station around the corner. And who would've put the two and two together - that the gas station also serves pizza and fried chicken? Deren took Joshua inside with him to get some change at the register. The register had one of those automatic change dispensers - the kind where the change slides down into a small metal bowl. Joshua saw the food, then threw up in the change bowl. Deren said the attendant was like 'It's okay! Just take your change and leave!' Quite horrifying at the time, but Deren and I were in hysterics about it when he got home - quite a bit a hysterics this week.

Story #4
So Babysitters go for HOW MUCH these days?
Got a call from Denton County MHMR (Mental Health & Mental Retardation) Center this week. Congratulations! Jacob is eligible for respite services. Catch is: with all the dough we're rolling in, we would be expected to pay for part of the services that are required for the program, including a $200 deposit to enter the program, and $350 fee for an evaluation to make sure he is disabled and qualifies for the program (despite having a current evaluation on record with the school district), a $200 fee due every 3rd month to cover the cost of a case manager, and a monthly co-pay of $230 before the county would give reimburse us for any money we spent on childcare/respite services for Jacob. Now it's early in the morning and I'm not even going to try to do the math right now, but how much would that be for a couple hours of babysitting a week??? I told the lady on the phone, "No thanks, we can't afford that expensive of a babysitter."

And finally, Story #5
Fall is in the air
Yes, one could almost feel the hint of fall in the air with yesterday's cool front. Temperatures were in the mid-90's, a good 12 degrees cooler than that prior couple days. Could almost imagine the leaves turning, frost on the ground, trips to the park...

No wonder Joshua is acting out so much - his brain must be fried from the heat.