Didn't take Joshua to the dr for the IV chelation last week. Daniel came down with a fever last Sunday, and Rachael followed. Abby has a bad cough at night, and some nasty diapers (let's leave it at that), and Joshua must be coming down with something, too, because his eating has been particularly bad. New routine: come to the table, vomit until he empties all his stomach, eat a couple bites of meat/protein, empty stomach again (about 50% of the time - sometimes he keeps it down). Mallory, who helped me with the kids last summer and here and there throughout the school year, was here yesterday. Joshua had just thrown up everything he drank since he got home from school. Mallory said "Are you done? Take a bite of meat now!" She's definitely a keeper. Many would have gone running from that scene. Joshua is apparently doing better with his eating (though not all that great) at school, so I am going to meet him for lunch this Monday and feed him there. Hopefully they'll be able to give me some new ideas/pointers.

So, with all the sickies, I cancelled Joshua's appt. And I don't know whether to take him in now, or wait until he's eating better. The told the dr about his eating, and he thought that the antifungals plus the chelation would get Joshua on a better track. And I forgot to call in and ask for a different antifungal. Oh well, start my "to do" list.

Rachael is excited about Mother's Day. My first child who sort of gets Mother's Day! As soon as she got off the bus yesterday she yelled "Happy Mother's Day!" Then she opened her backpack and gave me the present she made at school. It was a potholder with her handprint on it. And it says "This is the hand you used to hold when I was only 4 years old." Awwwww.. (sniff, sniff). She also brought home two red suckers (the kind that you make at home with the molds) - one was a butterfly and one a flower. I was standing there trying to figure out whether they were edible or not (they sure were pretty - maybe they were for decor?) when the girls ripped them open and started eating them. I asked them to let mommy take a bite. "No No No!!" Come on now, these are my suckers, right?! So I called Rachael's teacher and verified they were edible. Rachael's teacher said she got the sucker molds and candy at WalMart. They were sooo cute! I think I'm going to look into them, and see if I can try it out with chocolate (a major food group around this house).

I'm off to eat breakfast and get on with the day. Daniel's been up since 5 a.m with his congestion. So maybe I'll get a head start on the day and go walking. HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!

Looks like the girls are working through the whole gender issue. Rachael still calls me "Ms. Mommy." And she calls Deren "Ms. Daddy." Abby, meanwhile, calls Deren "Mommy" all the time. "Daddy" was her favorite word for months on end. Now both me and Deren are "Mommy." Deren has been scolding me for not correcting them more - I'm always too busy laughing and calling for him - "Abby's calling for her Mommy!"

For those of you who may be familiar with Dora the Explorer, Abby has taken to saying "Swiper No Swiping!.. Oh Man!" Even Jacob is saying "Oh Man!" And if you're wanting more week-in-the-life-of-Abby moments, Deren came out of our room chuckling this morning. He asked Abby what she was doing. She said "Nothing!" hah! that'll be the day! This evening Deren came to me again chuckling. He said that Abby took the tiny baby that goes in the dollhouse, put it on the changing pad in the bathroom, got some wipes from the counter, and 'changed' the baby's diaper!

Joshua is on yet another hunger strike. This time he's forsaken his main source of calories, chips, along with the protein. So all he wants to eat is candy and popsicles. Oooooooooookay. I took him to his autism doc on Monday. The dr has seen Joshua since Joshua was just under 2 yrs old. The dr observed Joshua, who was acting rather psychotic from being up since 2:30a.m. He kept saying "we really need to DO something." He prescribed Joshua nizoral for his on-going yeast/gut issues. Unfortunately, Joshua will not take the crushed nizoral for anything. The dr also recommended IV chelation. Joshua has a IV challenge appt this coming Tuesday. The plan is to give him a challenge dose of DMPS and EDTA, then collect his urine for 6 hrs. If a lot of metals show up in the urine, then it may signify that Joshua has a lot of 'trapped' metals in his body that are not being eliminated like they should. Ugh! I hate to make these decisions, knowing full well that Joshua won't have a darn clue what is going on, and that IV chelation holds more of a risk. On the other hand, he's starving himself, he's not sleeping, he's withdrawing more and more. It's not looking good for the Joshua.

The following week Abby goes in to see her neurologist, who will decide if she needs to stay on the phenobarbital.

The boys & Rachael have 2 1/2 weeks of school left. Where has time gone?! Mentally, I feel like I'm still at the beginning of the year. And here I am staring down a summer with the crew! And Mr. Daniel is still VERY attached (emotionally & physically) to the milkmaid. We've tried him on applesauce - he shudders and spits it all out. I tried sweet potatoes yesterday - a bit better than the applesauce, but still not thrilled at all. So, if given his way, he would stay "hooked up" most the day, which is going to be a bit tricky, what with the other 4 running around on their own devices. So kinda worried about that. On the other hand, I'm happy with how things are. With the other kids I so often thought, "I wish they were old enough to do this or that." With Daniel, I'm really enjoying this time and loving on him.

For those of you wanting a Joshua picture - here it is. You may think "How cute! He's loving on a teddy bear." Remember now, he's autistic! He's been obsessed with stuffed animals lately because he likes to pluck off their "fur", throw it in the air, and watch it fall. At any given time our house looks like it's been invaded by dust bunnies (that's what the balls of faux fur resemble). You'd never find dust bunnies laying around my house (insert hysterical laughter).

*News Flash* Daniel rolled over from his back to his tummy this morning, and he has 2 bottom teeth!!! Keeping with tradition, I was clueless about the teeth up until the moment I was bitten. He was really fussy on Thursday, and was crying at the top of his lungs. I called Deren at work and he came home from work early when he heard Daniel screaming in the background. I was even going to take him to an urgent care clinic, but decided against it at the last minute. That would have been priceless - well, not actually - I would have spent $75 to have someone tell me he's teething. And I have how many kids???!! So for anyone out there inclined to think "Wow, she must be on top of her game with 5 kids" - think again, people! I'm as clueless as it gets!!!

Are you familiar with the skunk mating season?? We are now. Turns out, the little buggers go around repeatedly spraying to attract a mate. To make it even more personal, we had one doing it's mating ritual, I guess, right outside our house from about 1:30 - 4 am on Thursday. The smell was so strong it woke us up from sleep. My stomach was turning. Deren searched the backyard with a flashlight twice, looked under the cars, and searched the attic (yes, the smell was that strong). He figured if he did any more trolling around the house for the skunk a neighbor would either shoot him (this is Texas, you know) or call the police. So we all still smell a little skunky around here.. The smell woke Joshua up, too. So just about 4am when the smell started to abate, Joshua was in full manic giggle-screech-till the-whole-house-is-up mode. He went to sleep about 1/2 hour before the alarm was due to go off. I was talking to my neighbor later in the morning (she's the one who informed me of skunk mating season). She asked me if I kept him home to let him sleep. My response "Are you kidding?!" I was in quite a "skunky" mood myself, and took more than a little bit of glee waking him up for school. Needless to say, he slept 12+ hrs the following night.

Rachael has been in a skunky mood, too. She comes home from school with all her crafts and worksheets. Abby wants to look at the stuff. One day Rachael literally came in the door and kicked Abby before she made it a couple steps. And needless to say, many an art project has landed in the trash because of it. I almost felt a little twinge of guilt when I threw her horsey in the trash today, but she really sent Abby flying when Abby got ahold of it (sigh). Yesterday it was almost like a scene from the twilight zone. She came in the door "Hi Abby. Want this?" (gave Abby her art project). She helped me pick up, gave Abby hugs, helped Abby with lunch and gave her other toys. She was calling me "Ms. Mommy", giving me hugs and saying "You're so sweet, Mommy!" You see, we got a copy of a kids' bedding magazine the afternoon before, and it had a horse quilt and pillows in it. Oh yeah, she was buttering me up! She's since lost the catalog and was back to throwing punches and kicks today..

Looking back, I have to admit it was cool being "buttered up." In the soon-to-be 7 yrs of being a mommy, I've never had a child say anything in the ballpark of "You're so sweet, Mommy!" And I'm feeling more twinges of guilt about the horsey in the trash right now, but seeing as I have raw chicken and hamburger on top of it, I'll just have to live with my guilt.

Abby is getting around much better. She still has a limp, but she is trying her best to run full speed ahead. A neighbor a couple houses down has a beautiful yard, and has wildflowers in the spring. I asked the wife's permission to take some pictures with the girls. Another neighbor met me there today and helped try to keep the girls from picking every flower in sight - it was looking iffy for awhile - I thought I was going to be in real trouble. And, of course, the girls wouldn't smile for the camera, so I took a bunch of candid shots. When Deren got home Rachael told him "Say cheese for the camera, daddy!"

Joshua has had a big splinter in his hand all week. Deren and I looked it over this evening. It doesn't look infected, so we agreed to put it off until tomorrow. Oh man, is it ever going to be a nightmare getting that thing out. He won't let us near it. It takes the two of us to just get a glance at it. That boy, for all his smallness from lack of eating, has superhuman strength when he's riled up.

Jacob's birthday is next Wednesday. He's going to be 7 yrs old!! Happy Birthday to Jacob, Happpy Birthday to you.. Have no clue what to get him. He has lots of dvd's. They're exciting until he watches them a couple times, and then he's back at the computer hacking his way onto motion picture sights and watching trailers for horror movies. We have one of those internest security/blocking programs. We apparently need a different one, or something, because he gets around it all the time. He's gotten to where he won't walk to the bathroom at night without someone with him.

And on the 28th Mr. Daniel (aka cutie pie, momma's baby sweet boy, flirtie bird) will be 6 mos. Time is flying!

Deren and I are doing Weight Watchers. Actually, I am, so Deren's eating what I'm cooking. The thing is - he still snacks on candy throughout the day, eats larger portions, doesn't exercise, and he's losing the weight easier. What a man thing to do!!!!

We've been sick with a cold bug for the past couple weeks. Gee, how many times have I said that phrase in the past couple months?! Anyway, the kids aren't up all night coughing anymore, so that's definitely an improvement. They just have junk coming from their noses the whole day long.

I'm trying to figure out if Abby has OCD about spilling things - I mean, REALLY spilling things. If she's not spilling and making messes she's asleep. I thought I was being overly crabby today. Then Deren got home. After about 10 mins he was saying "Did she take a nap?! What's gotten into her today?!" So it wasn't just me..

Daniel will be 6 mos old on the 28th. 6 mos old!!!!!! My little baby isn't such a little baby! He's not rolling over - just occassionally gets stuck on his side. He doesn't like to sit upright too much. Oh well, he is not in a family of overachievers in the gross motor department.

The boys are going on a field trip to the Wiggly Play (center?) on Wednesday. I'm hoping they'll be healthy. Jacob was going to go on a field trip to the Dallas Aquarium with the first grade class last Wed but he was way too sick.

Here are some pics. When I was out running errands yesterday Deren played in the backyard with the kids. Jacob and Rachael were making nests for the dinosaurs and their eggs (rocks Deren found), and were feeding the dinosaurs leaves. Deren said it was soooooooooo fun to watch Jacob playing.

Update from the ranch - well, not quite "the ranch" because we live in the burbs, and our lot is really small, but you get the idea..

Abby got her cast off last Friday. I wasn't thinking she would be off and running, but it's been disheartening to see how much trouble she's having. She rarely uses her leg, and if she does she holds on to something and limps. She mainly scoots, crawls, or cries and screams for help (she's been doing a lot of that lately). It hurts to see how much she's struggling. I called and spoke with our OT from ECI yesterday. She said what Abby is going through is totally normal, to give her another month or so to get up and moving.

Jacob's ARD is this coming Monday. He's been doing well at school, and they are not going to recommend summer school. He's going to be soooooooo confused when Joshua gets on the bus. Rachael will be able to 'get it' after a week or two, Jacob.. I don't know..

Daniel is now a five monther! I took him to our favorite chiropractor/naturopath this past Tuesday. He recommended probiotics for his gut/reflux, and did some adjustments to help his ears drain. We've decided against the tubes for now. We're going to see how the alternative treatments work for awhile. The chiropractor was noting all the gas and reflux problems Daniel has, and said that the by-product of Daniel's immune system doing overtime in his gut is mucous, which could be aggravating the ear problem. Something to think about, isn't it.

Daniel is getting curious, and he is getting fast. The other day he grabbed off Rachael's glasses before she knew what hit her. Speaking of Rachael.. she finally got in to see the eye doctor. She's wearing a patch 2 hrs/day, and got her lenses changed AGAIN (we've spent several hundred dollars in lenses now - going from pre-surgery eyes to post-surgery back to more crossing/may need surgery again eyes). She's in bifocals again. Hopefully the new lenses and patching will head off surgery, along with praying - I haven't been good about praying lately. I've generally been feeling like a total failure at being a wife and a mom. But isn't that just what happens when you start getting lax with the Word and praying?? I need to kick by bottom into gear..

We got all the receipts mailed off to the IRS, and we're waiting to hear back. We haven't even thought of doing this year's taxes. Deren was comparing tax products online last night. He was looking into the audit assistance components, seeing how Uncle Sam has been coming after us every year about our medical bills.

Is that enough whining for you? My mom's probably clicked out of the blog by now - she hates it when I whine! Can you just tell we've had about 2 wks of cloudy/rainy weather?! I'm getting so moody!

..just took these pics

Oprah Smoothie Recipe

A month or so ago I actually got to watch some grown up tv. Oprah was on and doing a show with Bob Greene on eating fit. She was making a smoothie that I've since become addicted to.

Strawberries
Banana
Chocolate Soy Milk

Blend above. I add a small amount of stevia and 1 Tbsp of flax oil (my favorite brand is Barleans). I've used plain soy milk a lot, too. But the chocolate is the best.

Let me tell you about my day yesterday..

It started off with Deren leaving for work late, because he stayed home to help me get ready to take Daniel to the doctor. Now ordinarily, getting ready by 9:45 is not too big of an issue, but throw in spring break and everyone on different schedules.. let's just say I don't have my game on, okay?

Made it to the doctor. Daniel has joined the ranks of the wheezing. Jacob and Daniel have both been on breathing treatments for bronchiolitis. The other kids are working on it. Abby's cough is starting to sound pretty bad, but not in the chest yet. Joshua is bawling more than usual. My voice has gone south again. And it's funny. It may be me just being sick and in a bad mood and all, but it seems like Deren gets more chatty than usual when I lose my voice. All the sudden he's asking me questions left and right - questions that involve an in depth answer - not just "yes" or "no". Deren and I generally have a "talk to the hand" policy with each other when we get sick. One of us starts whining, and the other is walking out of the room whistling. "Oh, were you saying something?" Yes, it's something we need to work on. But with all the kids sick for what seems like FOREVER, a "Can I go take a long nap because I don't feel good?" comment falls on deaf ears. So, I'm whining here!

Anyway.. back to yesterday. Got to the doctor. Spent $25 more bucks confirming he's wheezing and we should continue breathing treatments (we already have the medicine at home). Nursed Daniel in the car. Side note: Daniel has decided the ONLY way he'll nurse is with a pillow and blanket over his head. So I loaded a nursing pillow in the car and he was in heaven nursing in the parking lot. He wouldn't nurse at all in the office. Finally finished nursing him. Called home to check on Mallory, our babysitter. She said all was fine. I then proceeded to back into the truck behind me in the parking lot. This is the second time I've run into another car in the same parking lot. I barely ran into the truck - the van has no marks on it whatsoever. But the owner of the car was pointing to a tiny dent and saying "oh, that's going to be very expensive to fix!" Gave the lady my information. Called Deren and told him about the dr appt and the fender bender. Conversation went something like this "*#&#^@ $@#&# %#!@" (Deren speaking).

Made it home. Saw Mallory off. As she was leaving Rachael came up to us and started talking about poop in the potty. Went and checked. Jacob had apparently stuffed half the container of toilet wipes in the toilet. Oh - and he had bad diarrhea - let's not forget that tidbit. When I flushed the toilet the diarrhea water went pouring over the toilet. I pulled up on the lever thingy inside the tank - did nothing. The diarrhea water went everywhere. I started crying. Jacob came in to check on me. He trailed through the water, walked down the hall, got onto our bed, and started rolling around on the bed - with diarrhea water on the bottom of his sweatpants (there was a good 2" on the floor in the bathroom before I got the water turned off) and on his feet. I cried more, and more, and more. Jacob started crying with me. He kept wiping my tears off my face and crying along. I called Deren. He's like "get a grip! You're having a breakdown!" I called my neighbor Monique (Mallory's mom). "Monique can you come over and help? I'm having a breakdown." Monique came over until Deren got home - yes, he's on the show up late leave early policy this past week. Monique directed clean up efforts and watched the kids while I cleaned up. We agreed that the bath towels used needed to be burned.
Deren got home a short time later. He finished clean up. Maybe that's why we're all doing worse today, come to think of it. He dumped enough bleach in that room - I could feel my lungs burning! He got the toilet plunged, and we're back on track (minus the tank lid that got knocked over and shattered during cleaning.)

I guess that about sums it up. I got a grip, mopped the house, started tackling the mountains of laundry.

Gotta go. Daniel is doing worse today, and poor little guy is crying.

Happy Birthday to you.. Happy Birthday Dearest Rachael! Rachael turned 4 on the 6th. Deren made an awesome chocolate cake for her (and for me, I guess, because I ate more than everyone else!).

Jacob can write his name. Hooray for Jacob!!!

Our little big guy!!

I guess I'm on the once-a-month post schedule.
Abby had an accident, and broke her leg just above her ankle. She's in a full leg cast until the end of this month.
We've had one kid or another throwing up every weekend since the first of January.
We're passing around another (who-knows-how-many-now) cold.
Joshua is on another hunger strike, albeit more sever than some of the others. All I have to say is "Time to eat!" and he runs and gets his barf bucket. Yesterday evening I was feeling a bit sadistic. I kept saying "Joshua, time to eat!" ..Poor guy gagged I don't know how many times. I suspect that he got a bit of a tummy bug, then that prompted his most recent hunger strike. So I'm not pushing him to hard. If he wants to go outside and play or watch a movie, he has to take a bit of soy yogurt. After crying for minute or two, he often does. OR he throws up. And does anyone know if you can selectively throw up things. A couple days he ate some pretzels, followed by some hamburger. He threw up only the hamburger - no pretzels (and "yes", we've cleaned up enough pretzel puke that we can tell the difference.)

Needless to say, we're celebrating our spring break in usual fashion. It's also been raining this week, so Joshua is positively stir crazy. The sun peaked out a bit ago. I was talking with Deren on the phone. I told him I was thinking about taking the kids for a walk. His response was something along the lines of "Do you have a death wish?!"

Took Daniel to an ENT specialist this a.m. Looks like he's going to get tubes. Daniel has his third ear infection at the tender age of 4 mos. He also has the respiratory yuck that the others are passing around, and has a bad cough. The doctor said that research shows that kiddos who get their first ear infection when they're under 4 mos usually have many to follow. Seeing how Daniel is on #3, it's not looking good. And since we don't like to give antibiotics to the kids in general, let alone every other month, Daniel's getting tubes. Poor baby.

In other Daniel news, he's growing - he's 17 lbs, 12 oz now. He's also taking prevacid for reflux. It was so weird. The other kids started having reflux problems when they were a couple weeks old. We thought Daniel was going to beat it. But he started having all his problems late last month. Finally, he's lifting his head up like a pro. I will post a pic later. Abby has a swiffer and it sounds like she's pounding the dickens out of something in the bathroom. And she's squealing and laughing to boot, so I'd better go check!