Week in Review: The Good, Bad & the Ugly

The Good. Deren has the new job. It promises some challenging work, and I'm praying it will be a good fit for him

The Good & the Bad. Rachael's notes home from school. You know to brace yourself when the teacher's notes start off saying "We've never seen this kind of behavior from Rachael before.." Apparently, Miss Rachael was starting to crack keeping up her role as leading lady in "The Many Faces of Eve", and her home/school personalities integrated a bit more. I responded to her teacher (who is terrific, by the way) that we see Rachael throw things A LOT at home (that's what she was doing at school that day). The next day there was a long note in Rachael's folder again. I thought "oh, boy.." Turns out, Rachael has a boy with cerebral palsy in her class. He was playing in the kitchen area, and Rachael made it a point to be his helper - she would bring him plates, utensils, cups, fake food.. The note said she was a really sweet friend that day.

I was thinking about this afterwards. I was so darn proud of that note. Having kids w/special needs forces you to tone down a lot. Especially with autism, you know play-groups, soccer, cub-scouts, Sunday school.. well let's face it, a trip to the grocery store without 3 days of prep are all out of the picture. Rachael did better than most of us this past week. She may not have a good concept of loving God with all her heart, mind and soul, but she sure nailed down loving her neighbor (Well, at least at school that day. By the time evening came she was throwing punches at home. Miss Eve still has some integrating to do!)

On Thursday Jaccob's in-home trainer jokingly told me that he is developing a reputation as a clepto. Everyday before coming home he grabs things from the classroom and sticks them in his backpack. They have to do a shake-down each afternoon to make sure he hasn't succeeded. Deren hadn't heard the story yet, and was frustrated that Jacob was attacking all the backpacks this morning. I told Deren to let Jacob search through the backpacks until he's convinced that no loot made it home.

Now for the Bad and the Ugly (the really ugly). Had Joshua's annual ARD meeting yesterday. The story has been the same - Joshua has been in the school district 2 yrs now, and has almost mastered one sign (movie), which he uses for everything. He'll be standing over a cup of juice and signing movie. I called his new teacher a couple weeks ago, and told her I was going into this meeting pretty upset with his lack of progress, that I wanted all the data and notes she had on Joshua so I could decipher if any progress had been made since 2004, and I wanted his 1 on 1 time increased and his 1 hr nap/watch a movie time eliminated. Dr. Bourland, a BCBA (board certified behavior analyst), attended the meeting with me. He's worked at the home with Joshua off and on since 2003. Anyway, get to the meeting and the teacher, the speech therapist, are saying "He's such a happy boy. He's doing wonderful! We're thrilled with his progress." Uhhh... what progress? I ask for data - ANY data - supporting their claim. The school principal starts griping at me at this point, saying I shouldn't have sprung the data question for the first time at the meeting. I look the teacher in the eye, then respond that I notified her a couple weeks ago about wanting data. "Oh" Whenever Dr. Bourland or I tried to get the teacher to clarify something, she took on the role of bumbling fool. Afterwards, Dr. B said he had never seen a teacher walk into an ARD meeting so unprepared. And in a school district that has (in the past, that is now apparent) prided itself on using ABA and collecting data.. things aren't looking good for Mr. Joshua. Dr. B and I agreed that it seems they are trying to move over to a TEACH style of classroom. For those not familiar w/TEACH, it's a classroom style, developed at the Univ of NC, that proposes an "eclectic" approach, and since it's so eclectic, you really can't pin down a particular methodology, or heaven forbid, try to evaluate the shifting methodologies. So a teacher using TEACH will look you right in the eye, tell you your child's doing great working 4-piece puzzles and vedging in front of a video all day, then say they can't collect data because their methods may shift the next day, depending on Joshua's needs (and I'm not making up this scenario - this is a good part of Joshua's day). I will refrain from typing profanities at this point.

Well, one thing I was able to pin the teacher down on was the Autism Supplement, a state-wide document that is 'supposed' to be followed by school districts. One big part of the supplement states that there should be no more than 15 mins of unstructured time/day. At this point in ARD meetings, teachers are supposed to submit their classroom schedules to prove this. Of course, that would have required some type of organization on her part, so once again, she sat there with a blank look on her face. I asked the diagnostician to clarify if it was 15 mins/day, and she affirmed. Then I looked at the teacher and said "how about that nap/video hour?" So thanks to mean old Mrs. Ebdon the nap/video fest may need to shortended. Let's face it, though, at this point I'm thinking she may type up a new schedule and continue as it's been.

In finishing, the district's autism consultant is supposed to be in town Nov 8th. I've requested written summaries of the classroom environment and of Joshua's progress from him, and requested a meeting with him (this last may/not be honored). The teacher is supposed to supply all data within 8 wks (instead of 4 because I don't want to be at an ARD meeting with a 1 week old baby). And I have until then to find myself someone who has experience with court mediation, 'cause it's looking like we may be headed that way.

On a funny note, at the end of the meeting the minutes were read. I'll get a paper copy next week. It was good reading. Apparently Miss Rachael (aka many faces of Eve girl) is a chip off the unstable mother block. The minutes start off reading "Joshua has been doing very well at school.. He's a happy boy".. yada yada yada. Then, the tone turns black.. "But Mother (that's how it refers to me) doesn't believe this, and is demanding that the teacher go out of her way to submit data.." yada yada yada. At the time, I wanted to pounce over and strangle the recorder. But after having a (half) night's sleep I'm finding it pretty darn funny. Dr. B said that there was no way I was going to get away in a favorable light. All my requests were in the minutes - that's what I cared about.

So if you could please pray for our plight with Joshua, I would appreciate it. I was so depressed, so discouraged last night. But I have our God with me, and he knows my troubles.

Oh, and one final baby/family note. Deren was summoned for Jury Duty 3 days after my due date! Deren called and rescheduled for next week. I had to cancel my OB appt on Monday. The kids are off school Mon & Tues, and there's NO WAY I'm taking all them. Sometimes I get out of there in an hour, sometimes, with the wait, it's a couple hours - forget it. The OB already cancelled my appt for this past week because she wanted to take a vacation. They called and rescheduled me yet a 2nd time for later in the morning on the 9th. Then I called yesterday and said I can't make that time b/c of Deren's jury duty. The nurse, in a snit, told me I won't be seen next week because they are too busy to fit me in. Sooo... I guess we'll see if I have another dr's appt before the birth, seeing as how my next appt is at 39 weeks, and my last one was at 36 weeks. Beyond praying about it, I don't think I'm going to bother with anything else. So please pray that the baby is okay until my delivery!

If I hear the phrase "unseasonably warm weather" too much more in the next couple weeks I'm going to have a tantrum that will impress the kiddos. I went for a walk with Abby at 9am today - it was too hot. I'm going to have to return to getting out before sun-up or bust. The kids want to be outside. We had some beautiful days in September, and that is still fresh in their minds. But we're outside for a couple minutes now, and all our cheeks are flushed, I'm a cranky mess, and so on. So it's back to being couped up again, and we're all showing the strain. Everyone is high-maintenance and irritable. The boys have reverted to some of the old behaviors. Jacob is having potty accidents daily. Joshua decided sleeping is no longer necessary. He was up from 3-5:30 this morning. I really need to put the autism doc on my to-do list. He needs to be on some kind of drug - at this point Deren and I aren't really concerned with what - just make the child sleep!

That's all my whining for the evening. I'd better get a couple hours of sleep before Joshua starts squealing again. Good night.

Kids say/do the cutest things:

Quote from Rachael yesterday (looking at a mole on my arm): "Mommy, you have an owie. Poor baby Mommy."

Jacob, after coming home from school yesterday. I was putting up their backpacks and emptying their lunchbags. Jacob had heard Abby awake in her crib. He grabbed some leftover dry cereal from Joshua's lunchbag, went to Abby's bedroom, and was feeding her cereal between the slats of her crib. I put her in the highchair and gave her more of the cereal. She threw it over the side. Nothing tastes better than cereal from my brother Jacob!

Baby countdown: 23 more days!

34 week picture and big girl Abby

Background for quote of the day: About a month or so ago there was a gecko on the ceiling in Rachael's room (we have a lot of geckos around here. Rachael agrees with me - they're quite disgusting). Deren was settling Rachael into bed. She kept fretting and pointing to the ceiling. Deren finally looked up - about the time it fell to the floor. It scurried away, and Rachael fretted for days about a lizard in her room. The morning after the incident, Rachael started fussing when she saw the exposed speaker wires on the ceiling in the living room. She kept saying, "Look, lizard!" I kept telling her they were wires, not lizards. She has a hard time pronouncing "w", so she would say, "Look, there's a fire on the ceiling!" Needless to say, she surprised Deren when he came home that day and she told him we had a fire on the ceiling.

..fast forward to this morning.. She's been learning about firemen and firetrucks at school. She pointed to the wires, said "Look, there's a fire! Get the firetruck!"

Joshua update. Joshua was a happy man when school started back up Aug 14th. He has a lot of trouble dealing with unstructured/'down time.' I know, I know. Boredom is hard on all kids. But Joshua will either 1) get completely emotional for stretches of time, crying and carrying on and/or smacking himself and the walls; or 2) make up his own fun (e.g., crawling into toilets, flooding the bathroom, etc). He has clothes galore now, seeing as how Jacob is growing out of everything he has. It seems like in just the past week Jacob outgrew all his shorts. Come on, cold weather! Grandma Priscilla got Jacob some new pants for the winter, but the warm weather pickings are pretty scarce.

It rained most the day today. Joshua, a true lover of water, played outside in the rain and had a good old time. Rachael wanted to go outside, too. But when she stepped out in the rain she then ran back in the house, yelling "I'm sorry! Raindrops!"

Our annual ARD meeting with the school district for Joshua is on Oct 6th (you have an annual ARD around their birthday). Joshua's new teacher looks like she is about 18 yrs old. She seems nice enough, but Joshua is quite a challenge. He sincerely feels he does not need to use sign language when he can grab for what he wants without asking. Also, Joshua's new teacher instituted a daily nap/movie time from 2-3. I'm not too happy about this, and a couple other things. So, I will talk to her on the phone before the ARD meeting and tell her what my concerns are. NOT looking forward to all that.

Joshua's birthday is on the 10th. I have a gut feeling that the baby is not going to be a 42, 41, or 40 week baby like the last three. But I don't want them to share birthdays, either! The countdown is on, and the excitement is building! I can't wait to see if it's a boy or a girl. I'm still thinking boy..

School is out on the 9th and 10th, and Deren is hoping to take off the Tuesday the 10th for Joshua's birthday. Deren makes wonderful, wonderful gfcf cakes. I'm not allowed to bake - I have a really bad track record, especially with gfcf. I do the frostings - yum! Anyway, prayers for Joshua on his birthday would be appreciated!

Kids playing outside yesterday

Abby update. Abigail has been our little 'whirling dervish' - I think that's the term her Grandpa David uses. She's into/on top of everything. She can climb up on the kitchen table, on beds, with relative ease. She's seen her siblings use chairs as booster steps enough that she herself is a pro at it. If she wants cereal, she scoots up the step stool and gets a box from the counter. If she wants some of her siblings' juice, she climbs up on one of the chairs, gets on top of the table, and storms the contents on the table. It was comical watching her with Joshua last week. Mind you, he usually tries his hardest to ignore her very existence. He was sitting at the table, trying to eat his dinner, and Abby is right there on top his placemat, grabbing at his cup and his plate. He's trying his best to still ignore her, but how do you ignore someone who's sitting on your dinner plate?? I took pity on the poor boy and drug her off the table. Which brings me to the next observation about Abby. She, too, is honing her stubborness and her temper. After all, she has had very good role models in the tantrum department. Pound for pound, she can throw a fit that meets or exceeds the best of the them. She has learned from Jacob and Rachael to run and smack at you when she's really mad. You don't know whether to laugh or put her in time out in her crib!

She still idolizes Joshua, in terms of the mischief he gets into. The other night Joshua decided to go toilet diving again. He made one big mess, splashing toilet water across the bathroom, shredding toilet paper (now wet) in the midst of it. Rachael walked into the bathroom and said "Joshua made a BIG mess. Clean up, Joshua!" Then Abby walked in. Her eyes got big, she got a big grin on her face, and she was ready to dive in herself. She was furious when we drug her away (Are you catching another theme? She hates to be drug away from a good time!).

Abby's favorite song is "If you're happy and you know it", followed by "Twinkle Twinkle little star." She loves to run errands. I know this is a good thing. Instead of throwing fits, she's all giggles and smiles when I take her to the grocery store. But the thing is, I do not like to go to the grocery store! Every day she's standing by the door waiting to go on an errand. With the cooler weather, I've been taking her on stroller rides and walks around the block, but it doesn't even compare to a good 'ole car ride and grocery run.

We were at the pediatrician's office yesterday. She is 12 lbs, 13 oz with a diaper on. So she is still quite petite. But goodness, is she ever a bundle of life!

Rachael posing for Grandma Priscilla

Rachael update. Rachael has been using more and more language. She has also gained more and more stubborness and willfullness (are those the same things?). I was describing her to another mom today as God's little challenge for us. As I see it now, the biggest challenge for us as parents is to figure out how to get through to her. I've read part of 5 Love Languages, and Love and Logic. I ordered a new child discipline book yesterday. Just don't know how to get through to her. For example, she is way older than Joshua was when he potty trained, and he didn't have the slightest clue what we were doing to him at the time! One morning he's using is diapers, the next he's peeing all over himself and being marched back and forth to the bathroom. There were no "is he ready for potty training signs" you hear about - we just did it without his consent. Miss Rachael Mae, on the other hand, will tell you when she's wet. She'll walk up and ask you to change her poopy pants, but try to get her on the potty.. it's a battle.

She will pound on other kids (siblings or not) at will. She knows what time out is. She will tell you she would rather go to bed than do a time out. As I said above, she's a little challenge from God! My mom says I'm getting payback, but I have no memory of being like Rachael (and if you can detect lies through typed text you're probably on high alert now!). It seems like each new 'bad' behavior the kids pick up, Deren looks at me and says "I wonder where they got THAT from..?" hmmpfh!

Anyway, on to cute Rachael stuff. Grandma Priscilla ordered Rachael some very cute skorts (skirts with shorts underneath) from Lands End. Rachael had seen the skorts in the catalog. There was one with a horse, one with a cat, and one with a dog. We got the package in the mail today. Rachael got the horse and cat one. Our appreciative little miss immediately exclaimed "Where's the Dog??!!" It's been over a month since she's seen the catalog, but we're learning she has a very good memory.

She also uses her good memory to hold grudges. When Grandma and Grandpa were here over the Labor Day weekend they took Jacob to see the movie Cars. Each and every day, at some point, she comes to me and says "Jacob stay home. Rachael go and watch Cars movie and eat popcorn." Hopefully Grandma and Grandpa will be up for another trip to the movies when they come next. Otherwise, Rachael will never forgive us all!

As for her speech, it has been so neat to hear her use more word combinations. Last spring it was rare for her to say more than one word at a time. Now she's holding conversations, making up her own songs. We still see a delay compared to other kids her age, but we're tickled with all her progress. She loves to watch her "horsie movie." And when the horse jemps into the river, she says tells us how the horsie is in the water with the dolphins and the sea turtles!

All and all, I guess she is a lot like me. When she's in the mood for it, she's a complete hoot - she's affectionate, she's funny, she's cuddly. When she's NOT in the mood - stand back!!

Goodness, it's been awhile. I got to the point where I started procrastinating, because to catch up I'm going to have to write out a mini-novel. So I'll start with babysteps and do a short posting. The kids are passing around a stomach bug. Sound familiar? Joshua over the weekend, then Abby, now Jacob. Rachael is the the last one standing. I've emailed her teacher to give her a heads up - looking on the bright side, I am! That reminds me, I need to make sure the washer is empty, the clorox wipes, trash bags, barf bucket, and disposable gloves are laid out before going to bed tonight. I have a load of wash going now - that's just asking for it - having the washing machine tied up and all.

We're getting off and on breaks from the heat. It rained all day on Labor Day, and was cooler last week. Granted, "cooler" in Texas this time of year is in the upper 80's, but it's a good 20 degrees cooler than what we were having. The kids have been going outside in the evening and having a blast. And Rachael has been showing everyone her bug bites. She really likes to talk about her 'owies'. Throughout the day I find myself telling her "I'm so sorry about your owie," "Poor baby", etc. It goes on and on - but on the other hand, it is cute to be having the conversation with her. For instance, Joshua has been having some major mood swings. One minute he's cackling like a maniac, the next he's bawling away. His teacher sent a note home about it today. And since the little guy doesn't say a word, I have no clue. So here I am responding to his teacher, saying that I haven't the slightest idea what's going on. Makes me feel pretty useless..

So.. what with the lack of sleep (the halmark of this particular bug is an onset of symptoms around 3 a.m.), and being hormonal and moody, I've been feeling pretty up and down myself this week. ..think I'll go join Joshua, who's pounding on the wall in his room and screaming (ugh!).

**Important**
The US House of Representatives will soon vote on the the Combat Autism Act (S.843 for Senators) or HR.2421 for Representatives). It is vital that this act pass for our kiddos and adults affected with autism. Please go to the website www.combatautism.org and click on the "TAKE ACTION" button at the top left corner of the homepage. You can find a list of your senators and representatives, as well as instructions on what to ask when you talk to them. If your senator or respresentative is already a co-sponsor of the bill, thank them for their support! If not, please, please take the time to enlist their support.

(I would appreciate you passing this along to family & friends!)

Jacob's surgery update. Jacob had eye surgery on both eyes this morning around 9 am. We weren't sure if he would be healthy for the surgery. Joshua and Rachael are sick with pretty bad colds right now. Abby has had a runny nose and gut "issues" since the weekend, but we're thinking she doesn't have the cold, either, because Joshua and Rachael are up coughing at night, and Abby has been sleeping. Deren took Jacob to the surgery center at 7:30am. I stayed home with the others. I didn't want to hand Rachael and Joshua over to the babysitter until I saw how they were doing once they woke up. They both woke up in a fairly good mood, and both ate breakfast, so Mallory arrived at 9 am to take over.

When I arrived, Jacob was still in surgery. Deren brought a dvd player for Jacob to watch during the pre-op time. They gave Jacob versed, and Deren said he was pretty mellow and happy to be watching his movie. The dr commented on how great Jacob had done, and how she couldn't tell he had autism. I told her "wait until he wakes up." We saw Jacob just as he was waking up. He was screaming and trying to claw his eyes. I told the nurse to ask the anesthesiologist for some meds to calm him down. They gave him a shot of phenergran to make him sleepy. The anesthesiologist (and I'm getting tired of spelling out that word) said he will be sleepy the whole ride home - WRONG! When we put Jacob in the wheelchair to go to the car Jacob popped right awake and went ballistic. It took Deren and 4+ nurses to subdue him. Dr. Wang, the surgeon, was walking down the hall just then. She wasn't saying "he doesn't seem autistic" at that point. Instead of sleeping the way home, Jacob screamed at the top of his lungs the whole way. Thank goodness the drive was only about 10 mins. Then he tackled me to the floor as I was trying to get him in bed. Deren and I sat in our bed with him and gave him a popsicle to eat. We cut his nails then. At the surgery center when he was clawing at his eyes we noticed his nails were very long - yikes, I meant to cut them yesterday and forgot. As soon as Jacob was still for a couple mins he tired out and went back to sleep.

Jacob woke up a couple hours later, and has been cranky, but seems to be doing better and better as the day progresses. Rachael was the same way after her surgery. Too bad we won't be getting sleep tonight, with the resident sickies. I just hope Jacob has a least a couple days until he catches the cold, too (and wouldn't it be a blessing if he didn't get it at all!). We're to give him eye drops 4x/day for the next week. He's just loving that (sarcasm inserted).

..so I just got off the phone with poison control. FYI - the ingredients in flushable toilet wipes are non-toxic. Abby has developed an obsession with them. She dove into them again this morning, and was cruising around the house with a wipe stuffed in her mouth - sucking away. Ewwwww......!

tiaras and daredevils

It's a lot of the same old/same old around here. It's almost August in Texas, so it feels like you're in a hot hair dryer whenever you step outside. The boys are off school for 2 weeks until they start up on the 14th. Rachael starts the following week. I think she will be sooo excited to ride the bus & and see her teacher and her classmates again. I bought school supplies for the kids on Saturday. I think the boys' classes have a theme going - 10 boxes of kleenex, purell, 200 paper plates, baby wipes (are you starting to get it?). It's germ warfare!

Another bit of the same old story. The church hosted an afternoon of childcare for children w/special needs & their siblings this past Saturday. Deren and I were looking forward to it for 2 months. Sure enough, the boys had a head-to-toe rash Saturday morning, and Abby woke up with another stomach bug (which she still has) that morning. Deren still wanted to take them.. so I had to be the 'bad guy' and say "no way!" So we both spent Saturday feeling sorry for ourselves and the sickies. And I ended up school supply shopping instead of spending the afternoon at the movies with my hubby. I did buy Rachael a princess barbie doll. Abby tore the head off of Rachael's lone barbie doll, and Rachael kept asking me & Deren to fix it. Rachael was happy to see the barbie w/a tiara, and it has a matching kid's tiara (see the pictures). Jacob ran around after everyone w/the tiara on Saturday, trying to put it on our heads. Abby, in particular, seems to think the look suits her daddy.

And speaking of Abby Kate, she's now conquered the coffee table and climbing over the back of the couch (better be someone there to catch her!). After lunch today she got sleepy, climbed up on the loveseat, and fell asleep (see picture). After her nap she attacked the trash can for chocolate cake crumbs leftover from her siblings. Then she raided the flushable wipe container in the kids' bathroom - she's developed a fixation on those for some reason..

So what's new? Let's see.. I'm tired, tired, tired. Wait a minute, that's the same as usual!

Abby has taken to climbing on the furniture - Ain't No Mountain High Enough..

The boys are finishing up there last week of summer school. They will be home 2 (long) weeks, then start school for the fall. The kids are still stir crazy. It's not quite as hot - temps are in the upper 90's w/heat indexes in the 100's, but it's better than last week. Joshua is going to be sooo happy in the fall w/cooler temps and the leaves falling on the ground. Matter of fact, I will be very happy, too!

I took Jacob and Rachael to see the movie Cars again on Saturday. Let's see.. Jacob peed in his pants from drinking too much sprite (my fault), Rachael stayed still about a total of 10 mins. After the wet pants and too many dashes by Rachael up and down the stairs we left early. From what I saw (most of it), it was a pretty good movie.

Abby threw up (again) Saturday night. I went to church on Sunday while Deren stayed with the kids.

My cousin Stephen passed away last Thursday night. I didn't make it to Illinois for the funeral. Deren couldn't get off work, and with Abby sick on Saturday it's a good thing I stayed home. Please keep his mother, Betty, and his children, Savannah, Dawson, and Sierra in your prayers.

We're still waiting for the money from Denton County for Jacob's therapy this summer. The funny thing is we have to pay the therapist regardless of whether we're getting the money or not. We can't just say "maybe the end of next month." grhhh...

I went to my dr's appt last Thursday. When Dr. Bass asked how I was doing I think I cried for about 5 mins. Between the sad news of my cousin and another family's 6 yo dying from brain cancer, the bureaucracy of the local county, and being trapped indoors I'm drained.

..anyway.. that's my whine for the day. There are so many things to be thankful for, but when stress comes my way ya know it's all about me!

One funny/not so funny thing from Sunday. Deren was watching the kids while I was knitting. He was getting pretty cranky. I asked him what the deal was. When he answered he sounded like me at the end of a weekday (only he'd been at it for 3 hrs). "All they do is make messes! I can't even take a minute to eat my lunch!" - uh huh, yeah, sounds familiar..

Rachael loving on Abby

I think the paper said it's the 8th day in a row with temps over 100. I feel so bad for the kids. It's too hot to be outside, and combined with the poor air quality in the metroplex, we're pretty much prisoners indoors. So I guess it should be of no surprise that the captives have been very restless. Last night when I got home from grocery shopping Joshua escaped out the garage door, and made a rush at our neighbor across the alley. She was watering her flowers with a nozzle hose. Joshua thought "water play!" He wanted so bad to play. Poor guy.

Abby has been tearing the place apart - figuratively and literally. She flooded both the bathrooms this a.m. She took some cups and quickly dumped as much water as she could onto the floor in their bathroom. Then she went to our bathroom with the garden tub. The faucet is on the outside of the tub, and it is loose, I guess, because it twists around. Miss Abby figured out that she can turn on the water, twist the faucet around, and proceed to flood our bathroom (much quicker than the manual dumping-of-water in the other bathroom). She was so pleased with her handywork. She splashed and squealed on the flooded tile. I was just thinking "Thank goodness your brother Joshua wasn't home to take notes!"

..and speaking of 'taking notes.' Abigail has apparently been taking detailed notes from her siblings on how to throw a tantrum. When she isn't getting her way, watch out! She throws whatever is in reach, then she collapses on the floor and screams like a banshee. You think she's just suffered a great injury from the volume, but no, in this house you have to stand out from the crowd.

So okay, the flooding happened before 10am today. She then took a nap, and woke up at 12, ready to take on the afternoon. She figured out that the kid-sized chairs in the house are convenient stepping stools to about everything else. She loves playing on the computer. So you will often find her in the computer chair pounding on the computer. Deren saw this for the 1st time this morning, and being as safety-minded as he is, he was very disturbed. Of course, he wasn't around this afternoon when Abby pulled the chairs up to the kid table in the boys bedroom, then proceeded to use the kid table as a stepping stone to each of the boys' beds. A can of sprite had been left behind on Joshua's headboard (a full can, mind you). She then dumped the sprite all over Joshua's comforter and sheets, got off the bed, and poured the remainding sprite down the hallway. Joshua, in the meantime, was diving hands-first into red jello. Needless to say, when Deren got home I wasn't feeding the kids dinner, like I'm usually doing. I was mopping floors.

The boys are back in school this week and the next. Then they're off 2 wks. School starts up on August 14th. Rachael starts the following week. As trying as the summer has been, I'm getting nervous about the boys both having new teachers. "change is good, change is good, change is good" - repeat a couple thousand times..

I have a dr's appt on Thursday. I get to drink the orange sugary drink and have my glucose levels tested. Most other ladies I've talked to said the drink is so sweet it makes them nauseous. I remember liking the taste of it, myself. Shows you what a sugar hound I am.

Please keep my cousin Stephen in your prayers. He is in the hospital, and is not expected to make it much longer. My family has been pretty devastated. Sorry. Can't think of more to say. My heart is so heavy for him and those he'll leave behind.

24 wks pregnant, ketchup boy, queen of the bathroom sink, king of the slide

July pics

July 4th has come and gone! Another month closer to the fall. I'm 24 1/2 wks along. My next OB appt is next week. The baby has been pretty active. So have the other kiddos. The boys are off summer school for another week, and they are bored, bored.

We celebrated the 4th in our usual way - with sick kids. Joshua came home from school with a rash on the 29th. Sure enough, it was the strep again. He got an antibiotic shot at the doctor and the rash was cleared the next day. By Monday Jacob had a head to toe rash. Deren stayed and worked from home on the 3rd so I could take him to the dr. The p.a. had no idea what it was. We're thinking his food allergies may be acting up. He's not running a fever, it's not turning into blisters or anything. Any ideas (ugh!). We're seeing the immunology doc this month, but it's not until the 27th. I need to call in and see if I can get him squeezed in I guess. My "to do" list for Monday is growing and growing. Early (and I mean 'early' as in 1:30) Friday morning Abby started throwing up. She took out everything in her crib - the bumper pad, the crib skirt, the floor around it. It took a good 1 1/2 hours to clean that mess up. Deren worked from home again to help with Abby and watch her & Joshua while I took the other two to the eye doctor.

Due to the holiday, boys being home, various body rashes and whatnot we didn't go to the library last week. Rachael asked *at least* a couple times a day to do to the library for stories and songs. My neighbor's 21 yr old daughter is helping with the kids 2x/week this summer. Mallory is going to watch the boys (she says she's up to it!) Tuesday morning while I take the girls to the library - rashes and stomach ailments permitting. Mallory has been doing a great job with the kids. And they've put her through the motions, let me tell you. She's been walloped by all of them and doesn't blink except to send them to time out.

And speaking of walloping.. Let me tell you about our Miss Mae at the eye doctor. I took Jacob and Rachael to the specialist on Friday. Jacob made quite a scene when it was time to leave the video playing in the waiting room for the exam room. Threw himself on the floor several times, screamed.. was better viewing than the video playing at the time. Rachael, however, apparently did not want to be outdone. She didn't want to sit in the exam chair. When I put her in it against her will she flew out of it, right at the nurse, walloping the unsuspecting lady. Then she ran away, throwing anything she could get her hands on. She was totally out of control, and the nurse was probably thinking 'I can't believe you're having another!' I put Rachael in a chair, took away the book she had, told her to be quiet every time she tried to chatter, and had her sit there until the doctor came. As soon as Dr. Wang came in the room Rachael yelled "I'm SO sorry! That little chickie has a temper to rival her momma and it's driving me crazy!! In the end, Rachael did just fine for the exam, and the dr is pleased with her eyes w/glasses. Jacob, however, is crossing more and more, and the dr wants to do surgery asap. It will be on both eyes, like Rachael. Ohhhhh, I'm not looking forward to it. There's basically no way to explain to him what's going to happen. He will wake up from surgery with both eyes bleeding and in pain. Rachael was completely hysterical when she woke up. Jacob has 20 lbs and a lot more disability than her, so it's pretty much going to be awful for the guy. My poor baby boy (yes, he's still my baby). Please pray for Jacob.

Abby is all over the place, and doing new things every day, it seems. She is signing more. She signs for "french fries" (blushing with embarrassment), "fruit" (that's better, isn't it?). She will put her clothes - well, anyone's clothes, in the hamper when you tell her. She is such a ray of sunshine - especially in the morning, when everyone else is kinda groggy. Her talking is coming along slowly, but she's doing things that we never even saw Rachael do - it's very exciting. We have a lot of bunnies in the neighborhood. Whenever she sees one she gets so excited. She'll wave and chatter and say "bye bye bubu" when she chases them away. Joshua could stomp on a bunny and still not notice it - he's very selective as to what/who he will pay attention to. He will maul adults who come to the house - he knows they're tall enough to turn on the movie player and get him popsicles. He rarely pays attention to Abby still. Although they did have a big bathtub party on Thursday. They both dove into mud in the backyard. I put the mudballs in the bath and the party was on. They flooded the bathroom a couple times over. Deren and I now joke that we produce kids with 1 of 2 personalities: 1) shy; on the uptight and easy-to-tantrum side; timid; very sweet when they want to be; cuddlers 2) not a shy, timid, or uptight bone in their body; big tantrums when they thwarted from whatever mischief is in the making; funny; light up the room (Note: both personality types are very lovable - esp to mommy and daddy, but each w/challenges). Is the new baby going to break the mold? We'll see..

"Firecracker" is definitely an appropriate description of our little Abigail as of late. She is toddling around a lot more these days. We don't see the 'Abby scoot' around the house as much - well, at least from Abby. Rachael has taken to the scoot, so we see it from her now (sigh). Abby has also figured out how to climb onto the stepstool in the bathroom so she can play with the water in the sink. She can push the button and open the dishwasher. I'll walk into the kitchen and see her playing with dirty silverware, just as casual as can be. And her assaults on the trash can continue. We call her our Dumpster Diva. Although this week she also figured out how to open the toilet lids with one hand, and throw things in the toilet with the other, so she now has a competing obsession. She is pretty smart and pretty strong-willed. If you ask her about going outside, she will walk to the door, and then come back and fuss at you if you do not proceed in a timely fashion.

Her male sibling counterpart, Joshua, has been busy as well this week. He's decided he likes the feel of dirt on mommy & daddy's sheets, so he goes outside, grabs handfuls of dirt, then runs into the house and dumps it all on our bed. Little pigpen then congratulates himself by rolling around in the dirt covered sheets. He has also developed a toilet obsession. He always want to play in the little pool or with the slip-in-slide in the backyard. And if you don't honor his requests for water play, he finds alternatives - one being the toilets. On Monday he also found a bowl of jello that had not set in the fridge, and decided to bathe in jello. He was streaked with red the rest of the day. He is also loving his popsicles, and opens the freezer constantly to make a grab. One day most of the items in the freezer had defrosted thanks to Joshua's continued assaults (sigh).

Jacob is just being Jacob. He'll be watching a good movie on tv, and will roar at all the other kids if they even think of coming into his vicinity. Then we turn the movie off, and he roars more. He's decided summer school is not for him - he'd rather be at home watching movies. But when he's not going to school he's bored, bored, bored. Kinda like all kids, I guess.

Rachael really enjoys picking out books at the library. She has one in her hands now. Lately, she will sit by me, touch my tummy, and say "mommy's baby."

..gotta go. Joshua is launching another full-scale assault on the fridge..

Lil' Firecracker, Ladybug girls, and Ham

Pictures of pool party (with pj's on), Appalachian baby, and Guess who the girls are smiling at? Their daddy!

As I type, I am watching Abby climb up the brick step at the base of the fireplace, then use the step as a booster to climb into the chair next to the tv. She's also walking more around the house. You can pretty much tell when she's walking, even if she's not in your line of vision, because she starts squealing. She's quite proud of herself. We are supposed to have a cool front tomorrow - rain/storms and high of 88. The paper today said that so far we are having the warmest temps in the past century, and summer starts Wednesday!

Saw the baby yesterday on the sonogram. I don't have any good pics to share because it was moving around like crazy. Deren can already feel it kick when he touches my stomach. It's fun to have an active baby. All it usually takes is a popsicle and it's doing sommersaults. I told Dr. Bass that Deren would kill me if I found out the sex of the baby, so she's not to tell me anything. She gave me a funny look and said "Is Deren okay?" I laughed and told her that Deren just loves surprises, and especially with this being our tie-breaker baby, it will be a neat surprise. Everything looks good with the baby - it's measuring on target.

With the warmer weather Joshua and Jacob have been loving popsicles. Joshua opens the fridge an average of every 5-10 mins to beg for a popsicle. Won't sign for it, of course, just tries to grab and run. We're teaching both boys the sign for popsicle, but Joshua's motto has always been 'why should I sign when I can take!'

Rachael has a new word in her vocabulary - library. Abby likes the library, too. She'll go to the door to the garage and pat on it because she wants to get in the car to go to the library. It's so cute to see them enjoy it so much.

I told Deren I've had my last grocery shopping trip with Rachael. I am not a fan of grocery shopping, and what should have been a 1/2 hour trip today extended 1 1/2 hours. It was misery. Every 2 ft "mommy, another grape" or a full-scale attack on the cookie/juice/cereal aisle. She wasn't horrible or anything, I just wanted out of that store! We got home minutes before the boys' bus arrived. By the time I finished with lunch, grocery, and dishwasher unloading it was close to 3pm. I sat on the couch to be woken up a couple minutes later by Abby's cackling - she was sitting on the chair by the fireplace by herself and as proud of herself as can be. Oh, she is Joshua's little sissy, alright!

I made spaghetti and meatballs for dinner. For the meatballs I chopped up green bell pepper, onions, and garlic. I put 2 roma tomatoes in the food processor. I added 2 tsp of parmesan cheese, 1/2 tsp of salt and black pepper, and my ground beef. They were pretty good. Hopefully no heartburn tonight (crossing fingers).

I know most people do a daily blog, but let's face it - I'm tired! (insert whiny voice) . Typing, and thinking about something to type, requires too much energy on most days. I've been getting up before 6 each morning to take a walk before the sun comes up - it is really hot - in the mid to upper 90's most days lately. And the boys' bus arrives at 7:20, so I need to be back in time to help Deren get the boys out the door.

Rachael is adjusting to not being in school. I've been taking her & Abby to story time at the library twice a week, and she enjoys it. She also likes to pick out books. I'm pretty impressed with her. I can look at rows of books and not see anything particularly interesting. Rachael can look at the same rows and pick out some great books. I keep Abby in the stroller, because otherwise wild child will try to pull everything she can off the shelves.

Speaking of wild child.. some of her latest accomplishments include: climbing up the slide and going back down on her own, figuring out the buttons on the dishwasher and the answering machine. She is quite a handful. Whenever she's outside she makes a bee line for the dirt and any standing water. Sort of/kind of/exactly like her big brother Joshua. And she can create trouble like you wouldn't believe! We're thinking she may be even more of a challenge than Joshua! Needless to say, she is getting quite tired of hearing the word "no!" throughout the day.

Rachael Mae is still bossing and ordering everyone around.

The boys get home from school after 12. Then they each work with an ABA therapists for 1 1/2 Mon-Thurs. Both are doing well, and both are testing the limits with the therapist. Maria & I are taking Jacob on weekly field trips. He came so close to getting a dvd at Target yesterday, then through a tantrum at the cash register. So no movie - poor Jacob.

Deren took Jacob and Rachael to the local movie/grill to see Cars last Saturday. He said both the kids were so enthralled with the movie that he fed them bite by bite like babies because they wouldn't take their attention away from the movie. McDonald's has Cars' toys in the Happy Meals, so we will be visiting the golden arches quite a bit over the next couple weeks.

I have a doctor's appt tomorrow morning. I'll be 21 wks, and expect to have a sono, but will not find out boy/girl! Dr. Bass let it 'slip' last time, and I'm going to beg her to not this time around - we both are looking forward to our surprise baby in October!

Wow! Just saw it's been awhile since I've posted. May was a bit hectic. Well, all months are kinda hectic here. I guess with me feeling lazy was added to the picture the posts just didn't happen.

Abby went to the doctor of her 1 yr check-up on May 10th. The doctor was pleased with the gains in her weight (18 lbs 7 oz), height (30") and strength. We went to the lab for her re-tests afterwards. The following Monday we got the results - Abby's alkaline phosphatase levels were completely normal. They are now attributing all the abnormal levels from Feb to the rotavirus she had - nasty bug (grumble grumble).

The boys & Rachael finished school last week. They are all a bit confused. Rachael keeps asking for her backpack and the bus. Joshua, at first blush, is enjoying sleeping in. But he is later completely out of sorts from the lack of routine and boredom. Jacob is in tantrum heaven. He asks for a movie, then it's not the right one, then it's not on the right tv, then it's not on the right player on the tv, then he changes his mind and wants another movie, then I say "Forget it," and walk away (process repeats approx every 1/2 - 1 hr during the day).

The boys did break up the monotony by breaking out with head to toe rashes. Turns out they have Fifth disease. I had to go to the OB and get my blood drawn to test for antibodies, since Fifth disease can be dangerous to fetuses. No worry there.. (sarcasm inserted). I heard back from the doctor 4 long days later - I have antibodies, so the baby should be protected. The great (once again, sarcasm inserted) thing about Fifth disease is most people don't know they have the virus until they break out with the rash, which usually starts on the cheeks. And by then they are no longer contagious - they've already unknowingly spread their 'love.' So we're still watching and waiting with the girls. The rash appears about 2 wks after they've contracted the virus, so it will be about mid-June before we know.

Other than that, we're passing around much-more-mundane bugs this week, a cold and a mild stomach bug. Deren and I are starting to wonder if we'll again see the day when all of us are healthy at the same time.

My mom called the Thursday before Memorial Day and said she needed to hug some babies, and wanted to come visit. So Mamaw and Papaw joined us for the holiday weekend. They didn't balk at the rashes (and man, did the boys look bad!). They chased, tickled, hugged, and (even better, in the boys' minds) filled the inflatable pool up with water each day. Rachael has become our in-house princess. She likes to go outside and supervise her subjects "No splash, Jacob, No splash, Josh!" And woe to the subject who errantly splashes the princess! Abby, on the other hand, competes with Joshua for Pigpen status. They both love the water and the mud. We had a really nice visit. Hopefully my parents would agree, although between babysitting and yardwork they worked like dogs.

And FINALLY, I wanted give everyone an up-to-the-minute update on Abby. She started taking some steps (on her own, sans push-toys) TODAY! Of course, she does everything in front of daddy first. She just loves her daddy! Every morning it's, "bye bye dadda!" She really lives up to her namesake, 'father's joy.' Last week she had another weight check. She's now 19 lbs. Another pound or two and she'll be in forward-facing seat! Which is good, because she's getting pretty cramped in her rear-facing seat. Both the OT and nutritionist from ECI have been thrilled with her progress. It's been such a blessing to watch her!

Oh, and one more exciting event today! Mr. Jacob started jumping with both feet in the air while watching a Little Einstein video. He's been trying to jump for years now, so it's really an exciting accomplishment. He seems to be really proud of himself. And Abby started saying "want Rocket" for the Little Einstein videos, today, too. My cute babes!

Oh - and I finished my first knitting project!! No - we aren't going to find out girl or boy, so my next project is a variegated/gender neutral hat, then a pink one.

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!

More from the Abby chronicles. After posting last night, I remembered a couple cute things that Abby is doing now. First, it is no secret around this house that Rachael does not like to go down for naps. She has fought naptime since she was put in her crib at 4 mos. Everyday we go through the same thing - "no naptime", then running away and trying to hide, then screaming after she is taken to her bedroom. I keep Rachael's door cracked because she makes enough of a scene already.

Well lately, Abby has taken to coming to her big sister's rescue. As soon as she hears Rachael crying, she scoots to Rachael's bedroom as fast as she can, shoves open the door, and keeps big sister company. They will play with the dollhouse, or unload all the contents of a drawer and drape the clothes over themselves. I always find them happy and giggling. When I put Rachael down for her nap yesterday afternoon, she started crying "Abby, come here!"

Besides rescuing big sister, another of Abby's pasttimes is emptying the laundry basket. She especially likes the clean socks. You will see Abby scooting across the house with socks in hand.

Today at lunch, Abby figured out that a sure way to get my attention was to stick her fingers down her throat. I would yell "no Abby!" and she cackled and did it again and again. What a character!

So our baby boy turned six this past Tuesday! It's hard to believe. I still call him "Baby Jacob" all the time. We baked him a GFCF chocolate cake over the weekend. He enjoyed it. Rachael liked it, also. Joshua enjoyed the icing once he was over the stomach bug (last week's illness-of-choice), and we didn't let Abby have any because she was was still in the throes of the bug. Rachael asked for a piece of "chocolate birthday cake."

Speaking of Rachael, she is really enjoying her PPCD class. I picked her up from school today, and she was really put out. She usually rides the bus to and from school, and loves it. Her teacher said her favorite activity is circle time, and she loves the days when she gets to be the 'special helper' during circle time, passing out and collecting materials from the other kiddos. They have different stations in the classroom w/different themes. Rachael enjoys the dress-up station, and likes to put on a pink dress w/fringe over her clothes. Rachael also enjoys the kitchen station, and likes to serve her classmates pretend meals. One thing Rachael does not enjoy too much (at school or at home) is potty training. The teacher advised waiting until August to really focus on it, since the school year is almost done. That is a little too close to October for me, so I'll see what I can do over the summer. We beg, we plead, we bribe, we scold.. nothing works with our stubborn little 3 yr old princess!

As for Abby, she is moving around more and more. She pulls herself up on a lot of different things now, but cries because she doesn't know how to get back down. Her hips are gaining strength from all the standing time she is doing. She is starting to taking steps while she is holding on to things. The OT from ECI was here today, and was very impressed with the progress Abby's made in the past week alone. Her weight isn't budging much, though. I think she gained about an ounce this past month. The pediatrician's office has been calling to ask when we want to re-do Abby's labs. I'm waiting to get our new insurance cards in the mail.

Deren is doing fine at his new job. He has to take a shuttle van to a remote parking lot, do to lack of parking, and that adds up to 1/2 hour to his commute.

I see I'm running a little bit behind on my postings. Finally got some late April pics posted, including a picture of pumpkin baby. As of today, I am officially in my 2nd trimester. Woohoo! I am allowed to start exercising again, taking it easy. We went for a 1/2 hr walk in the beautiful weather last night.

The sickness of the week is... wanna guess?.. the strep. Joshua was fussy at school on Monday, so I picked him up mid-morning. He wasn't running a fever, and once he got home he seemed fine. Fussed a bit at lunch and at his usual naptime (he sleeps on the bus ride home from school). So we sent him back on Tuesday - yes, Tuesday, April 25th, aka JACOB'S BIRTHDAY!! Got an email from Joshua's teacher in the a.m., saying he had a rash on his neck, back, and stomach that he was scratching, but he wasn't running a temp and they thought maybe contact dermatitis. By the time he got home the rash was all over his body. I took all the kids with me to the pediatrician. Joshua's temp was 97.1, but he had a bad strep infection - rash included. The other kids tested negative. Joshua got a shot at the office. Jacob got.. well, we'll see what he ends up with... Mr Jacob is a wild man at dr's offices. He particularly likes the wooden tongue depressors (am I getting the word right?). He dives into trash cans after them, got some other 'fresh' ones, but was dipping them into the water at the bottom of the sink in the exam room and licking them. Then he took a cup marked for the dirty caps on the ear gadget thingy, filled it with water, and took a swig.

..and here I was thinking we might make it through the week without at trip to the doctor, because Deren's health insurance doesn't start until May 1st.

We got home from the dr's office and had hamburgers that Deren picked up. Jacob was happy with his birthday meal.

..that's all for now. For some reason Joshua has become obessessed with waking up Abby every time she goes down for a nap. Seeing her door closed apparently offends his sensibilities. So I have a crying Abby to tend to for now.

I see I'm running a little bit behind on my postings. Finally got some late April pics posted, including a picture of pumpkin baby. As of today, I am officially in my 2nd trimester. Woohoo! I am allowed to start exercising again, taking it easy. We went for a 1/2 hr walk in the beautiful weather last night.

The sickness of the week is... wanna guess?.. the strep. Joshua was fussy at school on Monday, so I picked him up mid-morning. He wasn't running a fever, and once he got home he seemed fine. Fussed a bit at lunch and at his usual naptime (he sleeps on the bus ride home from school). So we sent him back on Tuesday - yes, Tuesday, April 25th, aka JACOB'S BIRTHDAY!! Got an email from Joshua's teacher in the a.m., saying he had a rash on his neck, back, and stomach that he was scratching, but he wasn't running a temp and they thought maybe contact dermatitis. By the time he got home the rash was all over his body. I took all the kids with me to the pediatrician. Joshua's temp was 97.1, but he had a bad strep infection - rash included. The other kids tested negative. Joshua got a shot at the office. Jacob got.. well, we'll see what he ends up with... Mr Jacob is a wild man at dr's offices. He particularly likes the wooden tongue depressors (am I getting the word right?). He dives into trash cans after them, got some other 'fresh' ones, but was dipping them into the water at the bottom of the sink in the exam room and licking them. Then he took a cup marked for the dirty caps on the ear gadget thingy, filled it with water, and took a swig.

..and here I was thinking we might make it through the week without at trip to the doctor, because Deren's health insurance doesn't start until May 1st.

We got home from the dr's office and had hamburgers that Deren picked up. Jacob was happy with his birthday meal.

..that's all for now. For some reason Joshua has become obessessed with waking up Abby every time she goes down for a nap. Seeing her door closed apparently offends his sensibilities. So I have a crying Abby to tend to for now.

The photo software isn't working, so I can't post the pics of the week yet. We have some good pictures, too. Abby's birthday was on Monday (April 10th). We made her a birthday cake. She didn't like it, though - she thought the frosting was pretty gross. I have a picture of her poking a finger at the cake, with a look of disgust on her face. Her big brother Joshua must be so proud. We've seen that very same look on his face so many times..

Last Thursday Abby pulled herself to standing for the first time! Since then, she's been pulling herself up on all kinds of things. Her favorite is the bath tub. She had a time playing with bubbles while Joshua took a bath the other night. Whenever Abby hears a door open or the bath water running she comes scooting just as fast as she can. Yes, she's still scooting. She can crawl, but she has very weak hips, so it's hard and slow-going. She will often start off crawling, then revert to scooting - it looks like a frog hopping, actually. Jacob and Rachael (especially Rachael) like to imitate her frog-hopping.

Abby was sick with a cold on her birthday. Rachael soon followed. She missed school Tues & Wed. Then Joshua and Jacob followed, missing Thurs - they would have missed today, also, but school was out.

I had another doctor's appt on Thursday. For those who have not heard, I'm pregnant! Baby #5 - aka baby pumpkin, is due Oct 26th. The baby looks good, and is measuring on target. I've spotted twice in the past couple weeks, and have had to cut down on my activity. So the house isn't looking to great, to say the least. I really miss taking walks, especially with the nice weather we've been having. But it's been worth it. From the exams I've had everything looks fine.

As for Easter, it looks like we will be celebrating in our tradition - aka at home with sick kids. Happy Easter, and I'll post the pics as soon as the software is working again :-)

To go back a couple of days, last Sunday Joshua was feeling better, so we took the kids to A Day Out with Thomas (the Train). It was in a neighboring city, Grapevine. There is usually a vintage train that travels from Grapevine to Fort Worth, but for the Thomas event they hooked a real Thomas up to the front of the train and gave 20-30 min train rides. There were several booths for different activities. Rachael and Jacob liked the small battery-powered Thomas the Train sets. Rachael also liked coloring at one booth. All of the train ride tickets were sold out by the time we got there. Jacob apparently remembered when he last rode the train in Oct 2003, because he started fussing when he couldn't get on the train.

Deren checked in with the ticket counter, and waited in line for stand-by tickets. I took Jacob and Rachael over by the train. They got Thomas tatoos while we waited. Deren got 3 tickets for the train! I took Jacob & Rachael. Jacob sat by the window and watched. Rachael sat between us, bopped around and sang to the Thomas music playing over the speakers.

Joshua and Abby stayed with Deren. Joshua had already climbed back in his stroller - he didn't really care for the whole thing. Abby had a great old time just being outdoors and munching on cereal. It was really neat to be able to take the two who most wanted to go on the train.

..Fast forward to the present.. The kids received Easter cards and books from Grandma and Grandpa. Rachael liked her card with stickers (below is a picture of her sticker collage on her shirt). Rachael is having an Easter egg hunt at school next Monday. Abby & I went out this morning and bought plastics eggs and candy to fill them. The girls have been having a great old time playing with the eggs - luckily I bought some spares that I've hid. Abby has already thrown a couple by the toilet and in the bathtub!

Abby had her weekly appointment with the OT from ECI this afternoon. She has been really persistent about refusing to crawl, but scoots on her bum instead. The OT saw a nylon tunnel in the corner of the living room and had me get it out. Abby proceeded to crawl back and forth across the tunnel. She crawled until her hips (which are weak) wouldn't carry her anymore! She was a real trooper. Abby's birthday is on Monday. I hadn't thought about presents yet. The OT strongly suggested a walker (the mobile kind - not the stationary). She said if we put it down on the lowest setting, Abby will bear weight on her feet more and strengthen her hips with all the upright time. So Abby's getting a walker! Hopefully we'll be healthier than we were at Miss Rachael's birthday, and we'll bake a cake and take some pictures. Matter of fact, I think we're going to tell Rachael it's her birthday, too, and celebrate them togeter - along with Grandpa, who is going to be in town with Grandma this weekend. Time to get baking, Deren! (I once again tried making GFCF pancakes this past Monday. Deren doesn't think I should try my hands at baking ever again. He was in the room with me the whole time - I still messed it up!).

Deren took Jacob and Rachael to the movies today. We received an invitation in the mail from a movie theater/grill. In the next 2 mos they are hosting 4 movie days especially for families w/special needs kids. They saw Ice Age 2. The movie was over lunch time, so they all watched the movies and had burgers for lunch. I just talked to Deren on the phone. He said the movie was so-so, but the kids did great - well, until it was time to leave. Miss Rachael decided she was too big to hold hands in the parking lot, and the fight was on. When I talked to Deren, she was in the background screaming "mommy, mommy!" -- honey, be thankful mommy was at home, and not the one dealing with you.

Grapevine, a nearby city, is hosting "A Day Out with Thomas (the Train)" this weekend. We went in 2003, when it was last in town. It was really cute. I think the kids would enjoy it even more now, but the weather is iffy this weekend - raining off and on. And more importantly, Joshua woke up this morning, came to cuddle with me in bed, and I noticed he was damp all over - he had thrown up all over himself sometime last night. Didn't cry or get out of bed, but his appetite is still off. Sooooo not sure if we'll hit Thomas this weekend. Abby was not feeling well yesterday - stomache problems, too. When will this sick season ever end?!

Deren started his new job at Countrywide today. Unfortunately, he woke up with the stomach bug that Rachael brought home from school last week, and he had to go to work anyway. Didn't figure it would make a good impression calling in sick the first day. Poor Deren. Once again, poor Deren.

Rachael went back to school today. She missed Thurs and Fri. She had a good time. Her language seems to be really picking up at home. Still a delay, but she's saying much more than she was. She especially likes to boss us all around now. "Shoosh Jacob. Go to your room. Calm Down!" "I want juice. The cup is Right There!" "Abby, Be Quiet!" ..the list goes on. Jacob's teacher was at the house last Wednesday and commented on Rachael's, uhh, direct manner.

It warmed up over the weekend. The kids loved being outside. I say this again and again - Abby takes after Josh so much. She is in heaven outdoors. One of her favorite things (besides being pushed in her swing) is to pick pansies with sissy in the front yard. The season for pansies is about over, so I will have to be sure to plant some summer annuals so there will continue to be flowers to pick.

I started walking again. I had been on a hiatus since the flu - close to 4 wks with no exercise. Needless to say, I'm out of shape.

Abby is doing better, but still wakes up at night coughing pretty bad. She's "only" 2 wks into the flu, so she may not be better for another couple weeks. I haven't been going to bible study or the mom's group at church - I can't imagine a worse place for her to be right now that the church nursery. I tell you what - the military needs to look no further than a room full of preschoolers to develop an effect bio-warfare program.

We are finally emerging from the disaster we will call influenza B. Goodness, I don't think I've ever been so sick in my life, and that's keeping drama to a minimum. Rachael came down with it on the 1st - 5 days before her birthday. She was so sick over the weekend that we postponed making ladybug and butterfly cupcakes. Jacob got off the bus that Thursday, coughing and with a fever. Deren and I were sick a couple days later. Abby got sick later that week. Joshua miraculously made it through school that week when the rest of us were sick, only to bring home & pass around a stomach bug during the week of the 13th.

Meanwhile, the rest of us had several days of fever, nausea, fatigue, joint pains, bad coughing and chest congestion - it was so awlful. I tell you what - I was so ugly. My attitude was so bad that week. It was not uncommon to find me shaking my fists in the air, saying "God why are you doing this to us!"

Deren called his father and pleaded with him to come and help while we were all sick. David babysat, ran errands, kept us fed, and held barf buckets for the kids. He left us sick, though I'm hoping his flu shot protected him from the full-blown flu. Sorry, David! We gave him the stomach bug for New Year's, the flu bug for spring. I bet he's just itching to return for the next round the week before Easter! I wonder what the Easter Bunny will bring. Each time I think, 'well, this is the sickest I've ever seen the kids, it's got to get better from here on out.' Well, the scary thing is that the bugs are getting worse. I don't even want to think what is going to come along to top this influenza B.

During the week of sick I attended an ARD meeting with the school district for Rachael. She started a 3 hr/day PPCD class this past Monday (the 20th). On Sunday night I told her that she was going to school like bubbers (brothers) . She had Deren put on her shoes and socks, asked for her coat, and asked Mommy to take her bye bye in the car. She was ready to go to school! The next morning we woke her up about 6:20 and told her it was time to go to school. She bolted out of bed! Deren took her to school on Monday, and got to sit in the classroom and watch her. He said Rachael was very shy at first, but warmed up during circle time. She waved her hands and clapped and sang. When I picked her up at 11 the teacher said she did really well - she liked singing and played with the other kids. On Tuesday Rachael rode the bus to and from school for the first time. She was a real trooper. She is too small to climb up the steps on the bus on her own. Deren carries her. There is one other girl in Rachael's classroom. The driver said Rachael and the little girl laughed and chattered across the aisle at each other on Tuesday.

So.. so far so good. School is going well. They are sending a team into Rachael's classroom in a couple weeks to rule out autism. On her evaluation her skills were really scattered - she can count to 10, but can't tell you how old she is. She didn't make much eye contact - I attribute that to her being so shy. But I was pretty floored with her evaluation results in general - she scored really low on speech and cognitive. I need to look up the boys' evaluations. If Rachael scored in the 5th percentile, I'm thinking they weren't anywhere near the graph then. We see her do so much that the boys never did.

Abby update - she had "only" been sick for 1 1/2 weeks, so she is still having problems. I started to feel human again at 3 weeks, by comparison. She has lost 1/2 lb so far - I've been too skittish to way her again - it can't be that good. She's not able to eat or drink much. Pray for peanut, please.

Rachael's b-day, 1st day of school, Nurse Grandpa

Rachael had her evaluation with the school district this morning. She scored w/speech and cognitive delays, and they recommended PPCD (public preschool for children w/disabilities) placement. She will go to a school that is about 20 mins away, Mon-Fri from 8-11. To be honest, I'm upset. I remember crying and crying about sending Jacob to all-day school when he was 3, thinking about how little he was. But I was ready for Joshua. I knew what to expect, Joshua was in the process of systematically destroying the house. I was upset because they recommended 8-11 for Joshua. I was at the ARD meeting griping "he needs to be in school all day!" To put this in context, so everyone reading doesn't think I'm Attila the Hun, let me explain that the experts in the field of early autism treatment recommend extensive hours of therapy each week. Less than 3 hrs/day for Joshua was really ridiculous for his needs. And last year proved it. He lost most the skills he had gained at home, before starting PPCD. Today I was sitting there thinking how much more advanced Rachael is than Joshua, and how they justified warehousing him PPCD for a year..

My pride has also taken a big clip today. I was convinced that Rachael would be our first one not needing special services. I called Deren and told him about the evaluation. He sounded bummed on the phone, too. But on the positive side - Rachael will be going to a classroom that will focus entirely on her deficits, with trained teachers. And I'm kind of thinking this is her chance to catch up with other kids her age before kindergarten. I know one thing I won't do is send her to a kindergarten class where she will be ignored by a teacher who is too busy to help out Rachael, and be picked on by all the other kids. Can you say "homeschool?"

But back to sending Rachael off to school 5 days/week. She seems so little still, and I am having a hard time picturing mornings without her. I'm just feeling sorry for myself today, ya'll! Having been up since 4:30 might have a part in it. We have been passing around a cold/flu bug that hangs out in your chest. I am so finished with coughing up nasty stuff. Rachael has been running a low-grade fever off and on since yesterday, and is lethargic. I'm hoping Deren can come home and watch the kiddos so I can take her to the doctor later this afternoon. There's no way I'm going out with all 4 and little sleep!

In closing, I've been repeating Psalm 94:19 to myself since yesterday evening: "In the multitude of my anxieties within me, Your comforts delight my soul."

The weekly update. Just didn't get around to posting sooner. Good news.. Abby's latest round of test results came back. I spoke with the doctor on Tuesday morning. The doctor went over Abby's labs with a pediatric endocrinologist. The specialist thinks that the most likely explanation for Abby's high alkaline phosphatase is a transient condition, usually preceeded by a stomach bug. For some reason - not sure why, this enzyme, and nothing else, is very elevated. After 2-4 mos the levels drop. The labs showed most the alkaline phosphatase coming from Abby's bones, although her liver results were also abnormal. So please pray, pray, pray that in April when Abby is re-tested her results are normal. Otherwise, she will be referred to the endocrinologist and also need a bone scan to rule out various not-so-good problems. BUT I am clinging to the most likely explanation - that the rotavirus from mid-January did her in for awhile, but she is okay. When the doctor told me the news it was like the Lord was in the room smiling at me!

Next bit of good news.. I've been praying about our finances (or lack of). Deren's parents graciously sent a check to help us out with medical bills, formula, and all that good stuff.

Next bit of good news..(yes, there's more!). Our insurance company, United, has been giving me the royal run-around about paying for the boys' private speech therapy. We switched plans last August, and they were supposed to start paying. I got a bee-in-my-bonnet and called again yesterday. One part of me is thinking, "It's your birthday. Are you just trying to be in a bad mood?" I spoke with the first lady, who was really rude. First she said there were no claims on file, then said they were all still denied because of diagnosis code, then hung up on me when I asked to speak with a supervisor. I called back, ready to lash out at the next person. Instead, I started crying and saying, "Listen, we're poor. Do you know how awful it is to go to the clinic and watch everyone pay their co-pays while we're paying the full amount on everything, when our policy says the visits are supposed to be paid for (at least 1/2)?" The next item on my to-do list was to call and cancel speech therapy, because we had no money for it anymore. This lady on the phone was really nice, and asked me to wait while she looked into the claims. Turns out, they had entered the diagnosis code incorrectly - according to their error the boys were receiving speech therapy for strep throat. No one else prior to this checked to make sure all was correct. Thank God for this one lady who wanted to help (psst - don't spread the word to United - they'd probably fire her)!. Soooooo we are supposed to start getting some money from them within the month, and will be able to resume speech therapy. Hooray!

Partners in crime..

In case you missed the gleam in her eyes, let me just say that our little Abby is becoming a wild child. Both her and Joshua have particularly expressive faces - especially when they are making mischief.

It's very cold again today. I didn't go to church - we've been having freezing drizzle off and on during the day. The weather is supposed to get up to the low 50's tomorrow. I hope so, because we are out of groceries.

Reading the Sunday paper

Baby Shower incident. Went to a baby shower today. You think, "I know the games are always bad, but how bad can it really be?" Ohh.... it was bad... The mom-to-be works for ECI (early childhood intervention - both the boys and now Abby receive ECI services). Most of the attendees were also ECI workers. They spent the entire time cracking jokes about the little kids they work with. After the first joke, when everyone was giggling, I thought "that is soo not funny, but maybe I'm being too sensitive." After joke #40 or 50 - I lost count, I was about ready to launch across the room at these hens. The mom-t0-be knows our kids, so I'm thinking she should have put a stop to it. Instead, she told told joke #1, and cackled throughout the rest of the jokes. I left that place so upset. I'm sure the rest of the gals didn't know about our kids, but still, they are making jokes at the expense of little kids under the age of 3, who are struggling and who have families that are struggling. Yuck. and yuck again.

Now that that's off my chest, let me say "it's cold!" 85 degrees on Thursday, in the 20's today. The kids are all good and stir crazy. All but Joshua took long naps today - it was cold and dreary. I'm getting ready to send Joshua to bed, but the rest will be up hyper for hours to come.

Abby update: she had to have more blood drawn yesterday. The nurse hadn't completed the last lab req form correctly. Poor Abby. She was a trooper, though. I am going to make an appt w/the pediatrician for later this next week. The labs should all be in, and I'll be able to go over them with the doctor. So far, I've been talking with nurses on the phone, and the info I've been given has been inconclusive and confusing, at best. So sorry, there's no news to share. She hasn't been eating well this past week. She has a cold that has gone into her chest, and has been fussy. I think her ears are hurting her, also. Jacob, Rachael, and I also have the crud. Yesterday I felt like someone was standing on top of my chest. So imagine what the kiddos feel like - poor things.

Abby is pulling herself up to kneeling quite a bit. Her favorite 'hang out place' is the toilet. She pulls herself up and throws everything she can get her sticky hands onto into the commode. Wait 'til she can stand!

First of all - Abby update: no results from the labs yet. The lab had to culture the sample to isolate bone vs. liver, so that apparently takes awhile. Hopefully we'll receive some results soon. Good news - Deren weighed himself and then himself w/Abby yesterday. She was 16-17 lbs, which is way up from last month. Just carrying her around she seems heavier. So good news! Praise the Lord! We started her on soy formula last Tuesday. I was worried she would have a reaction, because at least one sibling (Jacob) is allergic to soy. But so far she is doing well, and likes the taste of the soy formula much better than the nutramagen. Another bonus is that the soy formula is almost $20 less/can. (woohoo!)

Second, I wanted to take the time to write about some happier moments from the past week. We rec'd valentine's cards from my parents on Friday. Rachael divvied them up - "Jacob - balloon" (his card had some balloons on it), "Joshua, - firetruck, "Abby - baby", "momma - heart." Guess you had to be there. She is turning into such a little helper (when she isn't in one of her 'moods' - those who know me well would know what I am referring too!). Earlier on Friday my mom called to check up on us. After we got off the phone I tucked Rachael into her bed for a nap. I asked her "Who loves Rachael?" She said "mamaw loves Rachael" then "papaw", then "Grandma loves Rachael" and then "Jesus loves Rachael."

Jacob continues to play the role of big brother. Abby was playing in the bowls from the tupperware cabinet while Jacob was eating dinner on Thursday. I kept noticing Jacob walk back and forth from the table to Abby. I walked over to Abby to see how she was doing. Jacob had provided her with some potato chips. Then he brought over some applesauce, one spoon at a time, and dumped it in the bowl she was playing with. Finally he sat down next to her and shared his chocolate chip cookie with her.

It looks like Abby is inheriting a lot of Joshua's personality, which means, Look Out! She has yet to pull herself up to standing, but that hasn't stopped her from lobbing rubber duckies into the toilet. She will bypass any toy if she detects something dangerous to play with in the immediate area. She loves her bathtimes, and she is becoming an outdoor queen.

As for Joshua, the weather here turned very cold on Saturday. But that hasn't stopped him. He grabs his coat, chases you down with it, and (silently) begs to be outside. He was sick with a strep throast on Wednesday, and stayed home from school the rest of the week. By Thursday afternoon he was feeling better, and wanted to play in the front yard. Rachael was napping, but Abby saw the door open and scooted (she doesn't crawl, she sits on her bum and scoots around the house) to go outside also. They had a great time. Abby scooted up and down the sidewalk, eating everything in her path. I went in and got her a waffle. She dumped it out on the sidewalk and ate it from there. When I related the story to Deren that night his responses were in the nature of "She ate that?! You just let her do that ?!", etc. But Abby apparently had fun, because every time she hears one of the doors open she scoots as fast as she can to go outside.

Joshua is on a quest to crush all the dead leaves in the neighborhood. He's already mulched the backyard, hence, the fascination with the front (and other people's houses). And now that the dead leaves are getting scarce, he is trying to find suitable substitutes. For example, you give him a potato chip or a piece of crispy bacon to eat, he crumbles it in his hands, then eats the bits off the floor. I came back from errands yesterday and noticed some dried leaf-looking stuff on the bedroom floor. Joshua had found the dried flowers from our wedding, and decided to test their crispiness.

Joshua has also taken to frisking people who come to the house. He's particularly fond of cell phones at the moment, and has no pause diving his hands into strangers' pockets in search of his quest. We had some friends stop by the house last Tuesday to pray for Abby. While Joshua frisked everyone, Jacob ran around in cirlces yelling "Moobee moobee" (aka movie), and Rachael ran after Jacob laughing maniacally. At one point one of the women pointed to Rachael and said "What does she have?" (in terms of disability). I'll admit, the noise level at this house can be overwhelming to someone expecting a subdued time of prayer. On Monday, when we rec'd the initial news of Abby's lab results, my neighbor Monique was here. We grabbed Abby, laid hands on her, and started to pray. Meanwhile, Jacob took that moment to turn the table lamp into a basketball hoop. Monique and I intially tried to ignore him, but with the lamp flying around the living room, and kiddos cackling harder and harder, we had to stop our praying and round up the miscreants. I remember being so thankful for that lamp flying around - one moment I was crying, the next laughing along with their antics. I guess times like that autism can't be all that bad..

Well here we go again..

Three yrs ago we went through the ringer when Jacob was in the hospital and his bloodwork came back showing a rare metabolic disorder. Turns out it was most likely from a blend of the rotavirus wreaking havoc and just having a messed up system as many autistic kids do (After the fact I talked to another momma who said her son had similar readings that the doctor's couldn't explain. They just say "well, your kiddo has autism, he's messed up, best of luck to you, buh-bye.)

This brings us to the present day. Abby had labs drawn last Thursday to rule out any serious underlying problems causing her failure to thrive. Got a call from the doctor's office yesterday. Her alkaline phosphtase levels showed up Very high. From my google understandin, this is an enzyme secreted by the liver and bones, and a high level is indicative of some not-so-very-good things going on in the liver or bones. I took Abby to the hospital this a.m. to have a 2nd blood draw. This blood draw is supposed to 1) rule out any "fluke" readings from last week's test and 2) isolate whether the problem is coming from the liver or bones. Sooo.. we are back to the waiting game, and praying that God watches over our baby peanut and guard our hearts from leaping to scary conclusions. Please pray for little peanut.

On a cute note, Jacob is becoming protective of Abby, and calls her "Abby Kate" - and no, it's not in perfect English, but we understand him and it's so very cute. He also called her "peanut" (pretty clearly) on Sunday. He gets upset whenever we all leave the house. He runs around the house until he finds Abby, and says "Abby Kate Abby Kate.." until we have her settled in the car. Apparently he's afraid of his ditzy momma leaving her behind!

We are having another beautiful spring-like day in N. Texas. It started off cold, rainy, and dreary, but now the sun is out and it is beautful - can't help but be in a good mood. I'm trying a new recipe - pork stew with guajillo chiles. It's another recipe from my friend Cristy, so you know it's going to be good.

Chile:
7-8 dried guajillo chiles (no more than 10)
1 to 1 1/2 cups water
1 tsp salt
1 tsp oregano
3 cloves garlic
optional ingredients: 1/4 tsp thyme, 1/4 tsp cumin, 3-5 tomatillos (see below)

Clean chiles (be careful not to get much on your hands. I wear nylon gloves). Take off stem, cut down middle and remove seeds. Rinse. Put chile skins in pan of water, softly boiling, for about 30 mins, until plumped up and tender. Drain. Add to blender w/remaining ingredients. Blend very well. If too thick, add a bit more water (and no, I don't know what 'too thick' means, I'm just copying down Cristy's instructions!). Strain chile in fine mesh colander.

Tomatillo prep. Take off outer skin/peel. Put in saucepan w/boiling water. When they start to blister & pop open, they are done.

Put chile in sauce pan. Let come to soft boil. Set aside. (I didn't do this step. I lost the recipe and winged it).

Pork:
1 pork roast, diced
salt, pepper, & garlic powder to season
(I followed Cristy's suggestion and made jar with the salt, pepper, and garlic powder mixed together so I can use again in the future)

Fry pork w/seasonings in pan w/oil. Once browned, cook for about 30 mins on lower heat (about 40-45 mins total). Add chile to pork and bay leaf (opt). Simmer about 20-30 mins.

Cristy serves w/spanish rice (homemade) and beans. Can also eat on tortillas.



Knitting update - there's nothing to update - estimated finish date on Rachael's poncho sometime before Christmas 2006.

Abby update - went to the pediatrician with the 4 kids on Tuesday. Jacob has been wheezing, and his asthma medication expired. Had Abby weighed while we were there. She had lost a lb since her January appt, putting her at 15 lbs even. Did a finger prick to rule out diabetes, a urine culture to rule out a UTI. The ped suggested supplementing her with formula - nutramagen (called "liquid gold" by many because of it's cost. Judging from the other kids' food allergies the ped did not want to mess her up further by giving her one of the cheaper formulas). Nutramagen is milk-based, but the proteins have been broken down so much there's not supposed to be much left the body will react to. When I was a baby I drank progestamil (sp?) - another broken-down formula. Abby shudders when she drinks it. I heard from another mom on a board I'm on that said her doc suggested adding Karo syrup until they are more used to the taste. I'm going to try it tonight. Let's hope Abby doesn't end up with a corn allergy like Mr. Jacob and Ms. Rachael.

Went to the neurologist yesterday. No news there, which I'm relieved about. Well, actually there was some news. They weighed Abby and she is now around 14 1/2 lbs. WTH!!! I called the ped's office and they said not to panic *yet*. I took Abby to a lab for a blood draw yesterday. I'm hoping the results will be in on Mon or Tues. Between the ped's labs and the neurologist's labs (he wanted to rule out any chromosomal probs. Jacob had these tests run and was okay, so chances are the results will be similar w/Abby).

Today Abby is fussy, spitting up a lot, having very yucky diapers (not as bad as the rotavirus ones, mind you), and without much of an appetite. So what am I supposed to do??? She is NOT healthy, she is still losing weight, she is very fussy with her OT exercises, which the OT is thinking because Abby is losing weight and weak. I'm wondering "is it the formula?" "the egg yolk I gave her yesterday" "a new bug?" (her nose is running). Oh God, please hold on to my little girl, and please give us some answers and a good outcome.

Rachael update. Well, she missed 2 weeks at the church MDO program in January. They didn't call or anything. I took her back this past Wednesday - they did not know she was gone. Hmmm. Again - hmmm. Needless to say, I am praying to God for guidance on this one. And I think I'm getting some answers. I've had various professionals trucking through the house for Abby or the boys. Each has recently noted that Rachael seems to be really lagging developmentally, and engaging in a lot of self-stimulating behaviors (in autistic speak, this is called "stimming" - had flapping, eyes crossing, lining up toys in a row (ie, inappropriate play w/toys - see Jacob and/or Joshua for demonstrations). NO ONE is saying she is autistic - just lagging more and more behind her peers. They've even noted this at preschool, which is significant, because they don't know she's there half the time. They were planning to put her in a classroom w/younger kids (rather than kids her age) next year. Soooo.. after discussing the matter in depth w/Jacob's teacher Shonna, I called the school district and requested an evalation for PPCD placement (public preschool for children w/disabilities - memorize this, because I will never take the time to type it out again!). I need to return paperwork to the school district, and then they will schedule an evaluation for Rachael. She turns 3 March 6th, and would be immediately placed in a classroom, providing she meets criteria for disability.

What disability, you ask? I don't know. I'm winging this. And let me say it took some major chunks off my layers of pride to take this step. All along, Rachael has been our special blessing, the one that was going to 'make it.' It's not that we don't adore the boys, it's just such a blessing, such a gift from God, to see Rachael do things the boys have never been able to accomplish. They have been truly 'God moments.' Yes, I have taken it for granted so much, and often count on her to sit in some corner with a toy while I'm dealing with one of the boys or Abby. But her needs are pushing to the forefront these days. I'm thinking, if I can get her into a school setting w/teachers who are trained to work with delayed children, to pay attention and help Rachael along, instead of focusing on the 'typical' kids, and let the others like Rachael tag along for the ride - - this may be a good thing. So about 30-40% of me wants a PPCD placement for Rachael, and the other 60-70% wants them to say, "she's not delayed enough for services."

..gotta go. The school bus is here!