Friday, December 24, 2010

Just a few updates

I need to make this more than just a monthly thing. One day, right? lol


We've recently tackled potty training with Alex and that's been very ... umm ... interesting. It's not that he's not ready, because he is. He knows what to do, how to do it, and even when to do it. But if he has jeans on he won't go in the potty because he doesn't want to bother taking his pants down. But it's winter and he needs pants on those legs! I can't afford to keep my house warm enough for him to not wear pants during the winter so he's got to get better at it. One day at a time, though. We'll get there and carrying 5 pairs of clothes with me every where we go will be a thing of the past. :)


Kairi and I are still struggling with her attitude towards me and her friends. If it's not done HER way, then she's upset with us and suddenly laying in the floor screaming that she hates me/will never be my friend/won't play with me anymore/etc. After trying a letter chart and that not helping behavior, we're just putting her straight in bed when she does it. I'm not going to listen to her be rude. I know she doesn't mean it, but that doesn't mean she can keep saying those things. She's also doing it to her best friend, Azzy. Both Kairi and Azzy have very strong personalities and butt heads quite often. But they react totally different from each other. Kairi gets upset and she starts screaming and throwing a fit. Azzy gets upset and she cries to manipulate you into doing things her way. Needless to say, we're doing a lot of work on compromising. Kairi likes playing tea party. Azzy usually wants to play musical chairs. We have invented a musical chairs tea party game. Kairi wants to watch movies with Azzy. Azzy wants to play like they're in a movie. So we try to alternate in 15 minute rotations on which we do. Things like that. Both always want to be the leader, so we're taking turns in 15 minute rotations on that too.


I'm really thankful that Kairi has Azzy, though, as her parents have become the main people Chris and I spend time with. We're doing things together at least once a week. Her dad (Tim) and Chris get along great. And Meagan and I always have fun together. My only regret is that there is no boy for Alex to spend time with. He is always having to play with girls and we frequently find him wandering around by himself or standing next to us totally bored because either he doesn't want to be dressed up like a princess again or they are refusing to play with him. There is another little boy on the way! Meagan is due next spring. That's just going to be a big age gap for Alex. We need to bring another family with a little boy Alex's age into our group! Still trying to figure out who that might be though. lol


I'll try to update in a few days about our Christmas and other things. But there's where we are for now!

Monday, November 29, 2010

The Scoop On Kairi's Kidneys

I was so horrified by the test for Kairi's kidneys/bladder in September that it sorta sent me into hiding. I don't know how to explain the reaction that Kairi and I had to it, but let me try to explain it the best I can, and the next 24 hours, as well as the results of the test.

First they did an ultrasound on her kidneys. It was only different in that they did the u/s from both her stomach and back. She had no problems with it and chatted the tech's ear off. From there we were taken to the xray room. The xray is actually called an VCUG as it's different from a normal xray. The put a catheter inside of her, injected dye, and took xrays while the dye went filled her bladder, and then while she voided. Let me just say, this was not a pleasant experience ... and that is the understatement of my lifetime. I won't share the horrors, but if your child has to have one, let me know and I'll try to calmly prepare you no exactly what to expect. And then I'll tell you to ask/beg/plead for sedation. Right before leaving we were told that we'd hear from our pediatrician in 2-3 days.

That night and the next day Kairi was in a lot of pain. She stopped urinating and was scared to even try. She ran a fever and cried for hours. I finally took her back to the er, where she eventually voided her bladder for the first time since her procedure. Thankfully, the hospital I took her to was the same one that she had had her tests run at (and is a children's hospital) so they were able to pull up her records. Because of this we did get some news. The er doctor told us that the VCUG showed that she had grade 3 reflux so it was relatively minor and that I could call our pediatrician the next day for more details. Of course, that information made little sense to me, so I had to do some research. Let me share with you the most helpful link I've found.

http://www.pedisurg.com/PtEduc/Vesicoureteral_Reflux.htm

That basically explains that while she urinates her urine goes backwards up her urinary tract, into her kidneys, and then back down. It gathers fecal matter in the kidneys and once that reaches the bladder it can cause severe irritation and infections. The severity ranges from grades 1-5. Kairi is a grade three which is right in the middle. It doesn't require surgery, if it can spontaneously correct itself. Grades 4 and 5 generally require surgery. There's a 50% chance that the condition will correct itself.

Our doctor referred her to a urologist. Dr. Mercer is great. After meeting with her, the following decisions were made. One, we're not doing surgery for at least a year -- not unless she develops an extremely severe infection between now and September. She's on antibiotics anytime she starts to show symptoms. She'll go on them full time if she starts having fevers on a regular basis. She's on a schedule to control how often she pees to help train her bladder how to urinate. She's drinking cranberry juice almost exclusively. And we're retesting her next September. However, next time the test will happen under sedation, with her Daddy present. I will not be the one to hold her down during it again. She'll still fight it, I'm told. But this time she won't remember it, which will be a blessing as she's still telling her friends at school about how the doctor put tape inside her vagina. :-\ If there is no improvements by next September, then she'll most likely have surgery. It's a full bikini incision, though, which is not something I necessarily want for her. If there is some improvement, we'll continue to watch it. And of course there's the chance that it's completely well, which would be my favorite option. :) If in a few years it's almost completely resolved itself but still seems to be lingering, there's an injection she can have, but it has a smaller rate of success so it's not something we want to try unless her condition isn't very severe.

Since her visit with the urologist, she's not had a full blown infection. The few times she's shown symptoms I've had her on her meds for a few days and it's resolved itself without needing a dr's visit.


We also learned that Alex is unfortunately at risk of having the same condition. It's genetic and therefore siblings run a high risk. Also, Kairi has a large bladder which contributes to her issue. It also helps explain why she had such a hard time potty training. Fortunately,she doesn't want to test Alex for this issue unless he has an infection (although, one infection and he's immediately tested ... but I've been promised sedation for that test).

Thursday, October 28, 2010

A Quick Conversation

Mommy, Why are you so sad?
I'm not sad, baby. I'm sick.
Oh. Then you need to be in bed!
But if I'm in bed who will take care of you?
That doesn't matter Mommy. You need to go to bed.
I can't baby. I have to take care of you two.
Oh, well, I know who will take care of you!?!
Who baby?
GOD! He takes care of you and ME! So you go to bed and God take care of us both. Bye Mommy!

Thursday, October 21, 2010

A Kairi Funny

Story for now. Updates later.


The Blend Chant

Kairi is learning phonics. It's one of the reasons I picked out her specific school. They learn phonics early and will be reading on a first grade level by the end of the year. The first sounds they learned were the vowels. Now they're learning consonants. One of the first letters they learned was the letter t. They then attach the vowel sound to each consonant as a blend. So when they learned the letter t the blends were ta, te, ti, to, tu.

Last week I was waiting to pick Kairi up in the hall outside her classroom. They were walking through the classroom across the hall to enter their classroom when I heard it. Kairi's voice came strong and loud as she chanted out with a clear beat the t blend sounds. Every now and then the boy behind her would join in, but with or without help Kairi was chanting her blends.

Her lead teacher, Ms. Jennifer, entered the hall first to lead the way into their classroom. She stood in the hall watching her children go into the room. Kairi was at the back of the line. Her co-teacher, Ms. Christie, was at the end of the line. As Ms. Christie walked into the hall she didn't see me. Instead she looked directly at Ms. Jennifer and said "She's been doing this alllllllllllllllllllllllll day."

At that moment Ms. Jennifer looked at me and smiled and simply said "I know." I shook my head and said "Sorry about that. Sounds like my daughter. At least you know that she knows her blends!" Ms. Christie looked thoroughly embarrassed to be caught semi-complaining about my daughter. What she doesn't realize is that I fully sympathize. I understand how annoying that could be. And deep down inside, in a place I'd never admit to her face, I'm just thankful that I don't have to be the one that hears it all day. ;)

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Moving

Have I ever told ya'll how MUCH I hate moving? Because I do. With a passion. It's one of the most horrible things you could ever do. Especially when you have bronchitis and a stomach bug that is immediately followed by the most terrible, horrible, excruciatingly painful cramps ever experienced by mankind.


In good news, I love my new house. And Chris is thinking that he likes this house so much that we may not move to the other side of town next year when he'll be working over there. And that is good.



So I'll be back to a normal routine once our move is finished and Chris is working again. (On leave till the 10th...). In the meantime, just be glad I'm not on here every night telling you all how much moving sucks. ;)




Oh, and btw, Chris is helping this time. It's a nice change. :)

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Driving Me CRAY-ZAY!

I had to wake Alex up from his nap today. I hate doing that because he is always super grumpy afterwards, and really, who can blame him? I'm grumpy too when I have to wake up before I'm ready.

Because I woke him up he was crying. And crying. And crying. 30 minutes of crying later and he finally let me hold him in my lap. I was sitting with my legs crossed while he laid in my lap and tried to stop his sobbing. Kairi was on her knees facing me while trying to cheer her brother up. Here is the conversation that followed:

Me to Alex: So what is this Dude? Do are we going to have to sit here all night like this and send Kairi to church without us?
Alex (with much whining and a nod): Uh-huh
Kairi: But Mommy! I don't know how to drive!!!
Me: Really?
Kairi: Really!
Me: Really?
Kairi: Yes!
Me: Really?
Kairi: Yes!
Me: Really?
Kairi! MOMMY! You're driving me CRAY-ZAY!

Monday, September 6, 2010

Warning Signs You Don't Want to Miss

I've heard it over and over again, if you have a uti then you will KNOW that you have a uti. But what if you don't? More to the point, what if you don't know that your CHILD has a uti?

In May Kairi's ravenous appetite took a nosedive. Suddenly she was picking at her food and constantly telling me that her tummy hurt. Being the drama queen that she is, I generally believed her to be exaggerating and just started sending her to go potty more often. Then she had a few random fevers. Next she started wetting the bed -- something she hadn't done since February. I noticed after a while that her lips were always chapped and let her use my lip gloss occasionally while pushing more liquids.

Then the bombshell. During our trip to Texas, she suddenly started running high fevers and crying when she needed to tee-tee. I knew immediately what that signaled and took her straight to the er. A couple of hours later we had our diagnosis -- a uti. But I didn't combine the fevers and painful urnination with the other symptoms. To me they seemed to be completely separate issues. In fact, it wasn't until this last round of problems that I realized that it was all combined.

At this point Baby Girl has now had 6 suspected uti's. I say suspected because every time the culture done in the office comes back borderline. And most of the time she's treated just in case. And let me tell you, my baby girl can pee in a cup like a pro and on demand. She's GOOD.

When we finally got to see our regular pediatrician about the past few months and the suspected uti problem, he was immediately concerned. Worried that this was a recurrent problem, that may go back all the way into infant-hood (and explain the occasional low-grade fevers without any other symptoms), he scheduled an x-ray and ultrasound of her kidneys to be held this Friday. When we get more information I'll share that with you, but for now I know that we're looking to make sure that her anatomy is correct, nothing is enlarged, and that there's no scaring from past uti's.


But if your child had a uti, would you really know it? See, I always thought I would, but now I'm pretty sure I'd be wrong. Uti's left untreated can cause scaring which causes even more problems. And in infants and young children, it's not always the "omg I'm dying" pain that we experience as adults. So here's a list, taken from www.kidshealth.org, that can help you recognize uti's hopefully earlier than I did.


Symptoms of a UTI can include:

pain when urinating
changes in frequency, appearance, or smell of urine
fever
chills
loss of appetite
nausea
vomiting
lower abdominal pain
lower back pain or discomfort
UTIs can also cause bedwetting in kids who were previously dry at night. Infants and young children may only show nonspecific signs such as fever, vomiting, or decreased appetite or activity.

Some kids experience UTIs again and again — these are called recurrent UTIs. If left untreated, recurrent UTIs can cause kidney damage, especially in kids younger than 6. So it's important to know how to recognize the signs of these infections and get help for your child.

Friday, August 20, 2010

A Mean Old Lady

I'm a mean old lady.

At least, that's what I tell my kids every time that they start to whine. Really, my theory is start out mean and strict and tough, and eventually you'll be able to loosen up and have fun. But the meaner you are on a regular basis, the more fun the fun times are. I mean, I don't run a boot camp here, but I do expect and demand good behavior from my children and I'm a pretty firm disciplinarian when disrespect, direct disobedience, or violence (towards me, each other, or an animal) comes into play. Other things can be dealt with through natural consequences, but those things warrant immediate action. I also am not afraid to tell my kids no. I know many moms that will go out of their way to find a way of nicely saying no, and there are things that I don't outright say no about (like buying something the kids want ... my answer is always "maybe later"), BUT I also try to be realistic and sometimes the answer is simply no.

All that being said, there can be some whining and crying whenever discipline occurs or the word no is uttered in my house. My response is usually "I know, I know. I'm a mean old lady. And I don't care. The answer is still no." To which a sobbing child usually mutters something about me not being mean (although you can tell that they don't mean it) (and I notice that they never contradict the old part). I chuckle, say it's ok, I know I'm mean, and then find something else to do while they calm down. They also adamantly deny that I'm mean when I'm relating a story of their adventures and when I said that I was a mean mommy and made them stop. I have suspected for a while that this is simply a way of buttering me up.... Perhaps it's a little psychology with the idea that if they tell me I'm not mean often enough maybe I'll start to act like I'm not mean.

Two days ago I was putting Kairi in bed. I don't remember what all our nighttime conversation entailed but I do know that by the end of it she was very happy. She jumped up and gave me a huge hug and a kiss and then while squeezing me tight a second time she exclaimed:

"You're so nice Mommy! I love you! And I thought you were MEAN!"

Picture this

Boxes piled behind the couch that separates my living room from my dining room.

Camping gear piled next to the door to take to the storage unit.

Laundry couch full of clean clothes.

Bedroom floor full of dirty ones.

A floor coated with toys.

Last night's dishes stacker precariously high in the sink.

A daughter in nothing but panties.

A son in nothing but a diaper.

Both kids are curled up on the couch watching Mulan way too loud.

A dog whining on the floor that she's not allowed to chase the cat that is perched on the back of the chair I type from.

Bathrooms that need to be scrubbed.

Bedrooms that need to be straightened. And my bedroom needs an overhaul.

Trash that needs to be carried out is sacked but still piled by the trashcan.

And finally, a kitchen floor needs to be scrubbed -- spot mopping won't do it this time.



Now that you have that picture firmly planted in your head, can you explain to me why I'm not doing anything about it? I really have no good excuse.... lol


But it is the reason I'm not blogging today. Hopefully by this evening I'll have at least a picture or two to share and will be triumphant in my quest to rid my house of the mess. :D




Oh, before I go I will share pictures. I finally have a camera again and while these aren't top notch they do make me happy. :)

She wrote her name all by herself! I had to help her remember how to spell it, but she did all the pencil (er, crayon) work herself!
Kairi

A face I've missed very very much.
Chris

And finally, Alex has become a major cheeser recently. :) Just look at those eyebrows!
Alex

Sunday, August 15, 2010

School Blues

Kairi has been ready for school much longer than I have been ready for her to be ready for school. She astonishes both me and my family on a nearly regular basis with the things she has taught herself. Do you remember my grand plans for homeschooling this spring? Well, they fell through thanks to a certain young lady NEVER believing a word I said. Every single lesson or thought or game became a challenge of did I really know what I was talking about? Even just reading books for the last few months has been interesting. I read a sentence ... "Mommy, does it really say that? Are you sure? Maybe you need to read it again to make sure." (Sure being pronounced shore.) And if you accidentally stumble over a word ... may heaven have mercy on your soul because Kairi will NOT. To say that this deployment was trying would be a drastic understatement.

But despite my not spending as much time "teaching", Kairi still has managed to teach herself a thing or two. She can almost write her own name. She knows most of her letters and their sounds. She can draw very well. Her reasoning powers are amazing. And she believes that every story should have the following parts: 1) Once upon a time, 2) And then there was a PROBLEM! What are we going to do?!?, 3) The end. And she can quote facts about the ocean, dinosaurs, bugs, Texas, and other random tidbits she's picked up, at the drop of a hat.

I hadn't realized how far she had come until our second day at my il's house in Texas. It was our stop on the way to Midland. Becky (my mil) had brought the kids some highlighters and paper from her office. Kairi had been drawing and "writing" stories for a while when she jumped up and ran over to me with blank paper and highlighter in hand. "Mommy! Pretend this is red!" Ok baby, it's red. "Now, take de color and draw an octagon." An octagon? Ok... "Good job Mommy! Now put in the middle s." An s ... alrighty, there you go. "Perfect Mommy. Just perfect." Then she walks over to the coffee table and starts working intently on the same paper. Finally, she stands up and walks over to me and goes "Member we're pretending it's red! Now look! It's a stop sign! See?!? S-T-O-P! That spells stop!" And right next to the s I had written for her, she had followed it with a t, o, and p ... formed almost perfectly. Since that day she has told every one that she thinks might be interested how to spell stop and that a stop sign is an octagon and is red. She also tries to spell her name, but frequently forgets the last r and i.




This spring I also knew that starting in August Kairi would be able to start pre-school for half days for free. It's a nice program that Florida has for our children. I worked hard to pick out a school for her that used curriculum that I wanted her to use and had the same philosophies and ideals I used when teaching myself. I did find what I wanted in a school. They use a fun curriculum that is also much more advanced than the traditional pre-school stuff. It's also Christian based which is pleasing to me. My aunt uses the home-school version of it for her son and through them I have come to really appreciate it and what it teaches. It should push Kairi to learn (which she needs) but will give her a teacher besides Mommy so that maybe she'll believe her. They do require uniforms at the cost of the parents, and I had to pay a curriculum fee since it's not the state-provided curriculum, but beyond that I couldn't ask for a better situation for Kairi. I'm really excited about the coming school year.

So why the title you ask? If I'm not sad that Kairi's going to school, and Kairi's definitely not sad that she's going, who is blue? His name would be Alexander James. Alex frequently cries because he doesn't want his sister to leave him. He cries that he doesn't get to go to school. He cries and claims that no one needs to go to school. But mostly, it's just that Kairi is leaving him. The poor kid has never had to spend more than a few short periods without his sister. His life pretty much revolves around her and what she wants to do. This fall will be interesting for both of us as we get to experience what life without Kairi is like. I'm thankful it's only for a few hours each morning for this first year, but I also am hoping that just as it's good for Kairi to go to school, that it will be good for Alex to be home with me. And maybe he'll let me teach him if she's not there throwing things off with her constant questioning. :)

Friday, August 13, 2010

How in the world did so much time pass?

Here we are almost a week after my last post and I have no idea how I haven't blogged yet. lol I promise I have lots to talk about.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


I think I mentioned in the last post that Chris reenlisted for another 5 years. His reenlistment ceremony was July 26th, and while I missed it because it was on the ship the day before he was home, his parents did get to see it. I'll try to include a few pictures from that. Even if it's not my most favorite thing ever, it's good for our family and I'm extremely proud. :)

Part of the goodness of reenlisting when you're an ET in the Navy is the nice reenlistment bonus that comes along with it. I'm not going to say exactly how much, but let me describe to you what this means to us: we're paying off the car, we've bought new kitchen stuff, Chris built a new computer, a couple of new gun/gun supplies, new furniture, NEW CAMERA STUFF!, spending money, etc. Needless to say, it's been nice to be able to put money in savings and still treat each other with things things we've been wanting for a while. My favorite things at this moment are tied between the dining room chair covers and my new camera lens. The chair covers makes everything just look RIGHT again. They're now black and eliminate the harsh contrast of patterns and colors. And actually, I bought two lenses. One has come in so far and I'm really excited. :) It's a 70-300mm lens and it should be very nice for what I need it for. The bonus also helped to pay for our trip to the mountains. Another nice part of the bonus is that we'll get some money from it every October for the next 5 years, starting this October. And with that bonus check .... Chris is buying me a new wedding ring!!! I'm currently wearing his mom's ring (who is wearing an anniversary ring). It's pretty, but tiny and not something that I would ever pick for myself. This time we're picking out my new ring together and I'm so very excited about it. :D



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Two days ago I did something I've been wanting to do for a while. I re-pierced my (left) ear cartilage, and I pierced my nose! I have a little stud on the right nostril now and I love it. Of course, I'd love it all more if they were all through hurting, but that might be a little while. In the meantime, I'd settle for the kids just not bumping them anymore.

Once they aren't bright red, I'll post pictures. :)



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


After all we've dealt with food issues with the kids, I've now got a new food issue to deal with. But not with any PERSON in my house. Instead, it's with Zoe -- my DOG!!! She's always been an itchy dog, and recently has been sneezing non-stop, so I finally took her to the vet for it. They think she has food allergies! So we're trying her on a prescription food diet for a while and seeing if that fixes it. Part of me hopes it's that simple because it would be an easy fix -- in a way. But part of me is praying it's not the issue because convincing the kids to not feed her, and keeping her out of the cat's food is becoming a problem. Very very very hard.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


I'm sure there's more to share, but at the moment I'm having a hard time thinking of them so I think I'm just going to go to bed with a book. Have a good night! ♥




ETA: Pictures aren't cooperating. I'll try again for those tomorrow. G'night!

Saturday, August 7, 2010

Let's Restart

It's been a while since I've truly blogged. I had every intention of keeping the private-ish blog updated on what has been going on, but it just felt weird blogging there. No real reason why, but it just didn't mesh. And I may still eventually make my blog more anonymous in order to talk about those things, but right now, it just doesn't feel quite right.


So let's do some quick updates, and then hopefully we'll get restarted on this whole blogging thing. :)

~The kids and I spent a month in Texas with my family. Zoe came along with us while I had a friend staying in my house and taking care of Aslan. We spent time with family, played in sprinklers, went to the Sandhills, and just in general had a good time. Zoe had fun too playing with all the different dogs we saw. Now that she's home she's super lonely and restless. I'm thinking that when we move next (into a house WITH a fenced yard) a new playmate is in order for the poor baby. :)

~I did really well with Weight Watchers for a while, lost a lot of weight. In the last month and a half I have gained back a little of it, but am now getting serious again. I don't want this weight on my body any longer.

~CHRIS IS HOME! His ship pulled into port on the 27th and we are all happy to have him back home. Alex is suddenly more happy to see him than he ever was before. And of course Kairi adores her daddy and is always seeking his attention.
The 27th was a Tuesday, we spent Wednesday with his parents who came into town to see him, and then Thursday morning before the kids got up we packed up and headed out of town. Chris' parents kept the kids Thursday and Friday, and then took them to a friend's house where they stayed until we came home. Chris and I went to the Smokey Mountains to camp for a week. If I remember to, I'll blog about that later this week. :)

~Now we're preparing for the next phase in our life -- shore duty! Chris officially leaves the ship in September and begins working at the other base in Jax in October. He has a few short trips out to sea between now and then, but thankfully he'll be home from there on out for the next 3 (or so) years. I'm hoping that that will good for all of us.


Ok, so onto trying to read a few blogs and catch up with people that I've missed. Here's to a more consistent future for this blog! :)

Friday, June 18, 2010

To Do:

I haven't been around in a while because my days generally are so full that I don't have time to type, or I'm totally exhausted and can't think to type. But to help with the blogging, and to demonstrate exactly why I haven't been around, let me show you today's to do list. Btw, I hurt my back Tuesday, so this will all have to be done with a bad back. Joy....


1. Clean Alex's room. Scrub poop off his wall.
2. Steam clean both kids' rooms and the hall.
3. Put up groceries in the kitchen. Spot mop.
4. Laundry, laundry, more laundry. And then some laundry.
5. Take Zoe to the groomer's. Run across town to the NEX to get the bag I left there yesterday w/ batteries, razor blades, and a movie for the kids.
6. Pick up Zoe.
7. Vacuum and then steam clean a few spots down stairs.
8. Cook dinner.
9. Put kids to bed in time for friend to come over. Yay for girl time!

Oh, and I need to throw a shower some where in there. Not sure exactly when that's going to happen.

So, Nessa, if the bathroom isn't scrubbed, and there's still laundry on my bed this is my apology way in advance. lol I'm going to work as fast as I can. And Joyce, no comments about the laundry. It's still better than it was before. :P

Saturday, June 5, 2010

I have ...

A messed up crazy life right now. But I'm starting to love it again.

A dog that needs a backyard.

Two kids who need an attitude adjustment.

A husband who is far away but can't wait to be home again.

4 drafts of posts I've started but not completed for this blog, along w/ multiple other drafts for other blogs.

A knee that needs to be soaked because it decided to swell again tonight.

A couch full of laundry to put away.

A house that's almost all put back together. Almost.

And a jam packed summer that I'm really looking forward to.

Monday, April 26, 2010

Super Kairi

Did you know that there is a movie called Super Kairi?


I was just told so by Kairi. It's her favorite movie.

But when I asked her if I could watch it, she goes "Well, I left it at my work."

So I asked if she could bring it home, and she told me that she would, but Zoe broke it so she had to throw it away at her work.

I said that I'd try to find it at a store and she goes "I think maybe I can find it here. Just let me look later." And then added as she walked off "But if you got to see it, you really like it Mommy. It's all about me, Super Kairi."

Saturday, April 3, 2010

Another Difference In Kairi and Alex

This morning I got to observe another difference in my two amazing children that made me smile and remember how much I enjoy getting to know their individual personalities.

When Kairi gathers her animals together, they all have relationships that represent the people in her life. They speak to each other in English and thir conversations usually reflects whatever is on her mind. If she's thinking about her daddy, her animals talk about their daddy. If she's been thinking about princesses and the color pink, her animals do so as well. If she's missing our family in Texas, her animals miss their family in Texas. It's a precious insight into her mind, especially when she's not able or willing to tell me what she's thinking about. And it's always been this way. Anytime she plays with animals, she puts her own thoughts and feelings into them.

This morning, though, I saw Alex gathering his favorite animals. He had the elephant, a puppy, an otter, and a bear. They were on the step to the sliding back door and they started talking. But when they started talking, it was a whole new world. They spot in their "animal voices". The puppy barked, the bear roared, the elephant trumpetted, and the otter, well I'm not sure what noise Alex was having him make, but it was interesting to say the least. To Alex, his animals are real animals that exsist in their specific worlds. They aren't his personal therapy -- they are just playmates. Maybe it's that things don't affect him as deeply as they do Kairi -- he does have a happy go lucky spirit that rarely dwells on things he doesn't like.

Whatever the reason for the difference, though, I'm just thankful tat I have the opportunity to get a glimpse into each of their minds, a chance to see how different they are, and to see one more piece of such precious personalities. :)

Friday, March 26, 2010

Thursday, March 25, 2010

A Day at the Beach

Dee Rowell of DJRowell Photography took pictures of the kids and I this morning. I thought I'd share a sampling (especially since I am currently camera-less). Eventually copies of these will be up for sale on her site if you want to purchase these or others. I'll put a link up when the pictures are available for viewing.

In the meantime, here's 6! (Clickable pics)



Photobucket
Photobucket
Photobucket
Photobucket
Photobucket
Photobucket

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

The Princess and the Frog

I'm listening to it in the background while the kids watch it intensely. This is our second time through it, so I know what they're seeing at least.

Through all the darkness that can be found in it, there's a story that I find to be very compelling. It's the story of the lies that Satan tells. The prince is drawn into half-truths and makes a deal for his life based on such lies. Throughout the story the Shadow Man has to make more and more bargains with his "friends on the other side" in order to keep his scheme going. In the end, his scheming fails and he has to pay the ultimate price for his promises.

You know, Satan promises us things all the time if we'd only go along with his plans for us. But he only tells us the part he wants us to hear, or he is vague enough to keep us distracted and focused on what we want to hear, or he flat out lies about what would happen. Some part of us is hesitant, but many times we are so excited about what we want to hear, what we want to believe, that we just go along with it. That does not make us any less responsible, but it's good to recognize the way Satan works.

And in the end, when we make a deal with Satan in order to get what we want, there is a price to pay. It's called consequences of actions. It's not always our death, but there is a price to pay for our sin. Whether it's that someone doesn't trust you any more, or you ruin a dream you had for yourself, or it's that you have to face the earthly consequence of it ... there is always a price that has to be paid. And if you promise your soul to Satan, you have to know that one day he will call on that promise. Only Christ' grace can save you from that.


There are other good lessons throughout the film, but that is the one that speaks to my soul right now so I wanted to share it.

Saturday, March 20, 2010

New Location

Due to circumstances in my family I am currently having to make some changes.

I plan on continuing to use this blog for pictures, some stories, and even the occasional family rant. However, I can no longer continue to write here on a regular basis because when I can't talk about what is on my heart right now -- it feels like a lie.

If you would like access to the new blog, please email me and I'll send you the new address.

Saturday, March 6, 2010

Writer's Guilt

I have writer's guilt. It is similar to writer's block, in that I find myself unable to write, but different in that I have plenty to say. My problem is every time I start to blog, I start thinking about all the things I SHOULD be doing instead of wasting my time at the computer, so I stop writing. That doesn't mean that I've been productive housework wise. It just means that I've allowed my guilt to keep me from writing. I suppose if I actually got the house clean, I wouldn't feel so guilty anymore and could blog to my heart's content, but what's the fun in that, right? ;)


To make up for it, I'm going to post a bunch of randoms from the past few days.




Last night both kids were playing upstairs. I thought that they were in Alex's room. But suddenly Kairi started screaming that Alex had my pretzels -- that means that he was in my bathroom. (Doesn't everyone keep pretzel sticks in their bathroom? No? Oh, well I do.) I hollered up the stairs that he needed to bring them to me immediately, and that Kairi needed to close my door.

Slowly the boy trudged down the stairs. Bag of pretzel sticks in one hand, other hand in a fist behind his back. He tried looking repentant, but there was a glimmer of a smirk on his face -- a tiny twitch at the corner of his mouth that screamed he was trying to not laugh at his own cleverness. He drug his feet to me, handed me the bag, and said "Sorry Mommy. Go pay now." and took off running for the stairs. I grabbed his arm right before he took off, leaving his little legs running as fast as they could w/ him going absolutely no where.

I told him to hand over whatever was in his other hand -- the one he kept hiding from me. The smirk was gone. He was devastated for about 8 seconds as he started to hand me the handful of pretzels he thought he was hiding so well. Just before they reached my hand, he took a bite off, dropped them, and started to run again. Let's just say that he was completely devastated when I made him spit out his bite.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


My house is veeeeeeery slowly coming together again. I have cleaned out the kids' closets. Put up 2 out of 3 new bookcases. Moved another bookcase. Bought a new tv that needs to be mounted on the wall. Found a table for the kids, but can't put it up until the old tv is moved upstairs so that there is room for it. I know that one day my house will look the way I want my home to look, but so far it's not there yet. Let's hope it is by the end of the week at least, though. :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


My weight loss is moving right along. I'm so very proud of myself. :) I have lost nearly 15 pounds since I started in January and am so excited about needing to put some of my clothes in the back of closet because they're getting to be too big.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Alex knows not just that the PS3 plays movies, but how to take the old movies out and put new ones in. He can also operate the cd/dvd drive on the computer.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Kairi has become quite the stickler for the rules recently. She's constantly correcting Alex, telling him that Mommy says the rule is xyz and he needs to obey. Of course, if the rule is to speak respectfully to your mommy, then it can be ignored...... right?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Kairi cut her hair for me the other day. I still have to get it to someone to have it repaired, but for now it's not notice-able if I style it just right. She's having a hard time with "cut only paper" thing. She'll obey it (now that she's been in trouble for cutting her hair), but if she could talk me into letting her cut something else she'd be thrilled.




That's all I have time for tonight. Hope everyone is doing well! I promise to try to comment on blogs soon.... :)

And I should be back by Monday to tell the latest in our Naval adventures.

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Communal Property

Alex is having a hard time understanding what belongs to him versus what belongs to other people and the social constructs surrounding such thoughts. Or maybe it's not that he doesn't understand, but rather he just doesn't care.

Most recent example. Both kids were given cups of water this morning. Each child was shown which cup was theirs and told to only drink out of their own cup. A few minutes ago Alex starts screaming about Zoe drinking water out of a cup. I go over and Alex shows me Kairi's cup and goes "I dink Kai-wee wata and now Zoe dink it! Tell no! Tella Kai-wee wata!" I shooed Zoe away and made sure her water bowl was full (which it was), and then turned back to the cup. Alex was still in tears. I asked why he wasn't drinking his own water and he told me because he was saving it. Of course ... he saves his own water by drinking Kairi's; makes perfect sense. I told him that he needs to drink his own water from now on, not Kairi's. Kairi finally takes notice of the entire situation and starts to freak out that both Alex and Zoe drank out of her cup. I'm on my way to replace the cup, but that's not what she wants, she wants HER cup. See, Kairi has been clear on what belongs to her versus other people since before she was two -- she does not understand why Alex doesn't respect this rule. To Alex, all things belong to all people, even if they have someone else's name attached to them. Unless it's his Cars book or his blanket, then if you touch it you might die a death of burst brains because of his shrill scream. I offer Kairi Alex's cup, since obviously he hasn't touched it and she somehow sees the justification in this. He isn't happy that she's drinking the water he saved, but he also knows better than to scream at her about it -- that never ends well. He walks off muttering about needing water. I finally replaced the water cup that both he and Zoe drank out of and made him promise not to touch Kairi's new cup and to not put it down when Zoe's in the room. And now he's calling both cups Kairi's cups. At this moment I have no idea which cup belongs to which child. I'm going to assume that the one that Kairi shrieks about every time Alex walks near it is Alex's old and therefore Kairi's new cup. But to be honest, I'm not sure as I think that Alex managed to trade off cups while Kairi was going potty.

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Hilarious or Infuriating? Or Both?

I thought I'd give you an update on how homeschooling is going w/ the kids, but instead of giving details about how fast Alex is catching on to things, or how well Kairi is doing tracing, or how much fun they're both having, let me share a moment or two that happened today. Every single thing we learn has this same battle with the Girl, while the Boy is willing to agree that I know what I'm talking about every time.


We were reading Part One of the Flip-Flap Body Book which discusses food, digestion, teeth, etc. Kairi interrupted me to inform me:

"Mommy, food does NOT come out my bottom. Germs come outta there. Food goes down into my toes. I know cause I see my candy hearts from yesterday when I look at my toes. See? It's right DERE. Mommy, stop being wrong. I know dese things."


Later, when we were looking at capital and lowercase letters, she tried to convince me that b and d are the same letter. When I promised her that they're not, and tried to show how they go in different directions, she told me that she was smarter than me and knew that it was just an accident.


Lord help us when she's a teenager if this keeps up.

Thursday, February 4, 2010

When they arrest me, this is my insanity defense....

6 Brand New Bottles of Finger Paint
Photobucket

What a "pretty" mess. It's even on the wood of the table. Of the $1200 dining room table.
Photobucket

The culprit tried to use a towel to clean up.
Photobucket

Obviously, the towel didn't work.
Photobucket

The bottles are empty....
Photobucket

Meet the culprit, trying to look innocent.
Photobucket

Didn't she do a fabulous job on her arms and legs?
Photobucket

I bet that those shirt stains come right out ..... yeah.
Photobucket

It splattered on the walls.
Photobucket

Oh yay ... It's on my carpet too.
Photobucket

Yup ... on the carpet and walls.
Photobucket

This would be a beautiful handprint, had it been on CONSTRUCTION PAPER.
Photobucket

Yeah, she's nothing if not thorough.
Photobucket




This does not include the dining room chair, couch, wool coat, or front door.


All I wanted was 10 minutes to finish blow-drying my hair while she watched tv. This is what it got me.

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

My confession....

So do you remember this post? You know, the one where I committed to reading the Bible in 90 days? I was excited, and while I wasn't buying a new Bible at that moment, I knew I could keep up with the reading in my own Bible. I was determined to not let anything keep me from doing it.

And then came January 1st... the only thing I was thinking about on January 1st was that my husband was leaving the next day. And my desperate need to spend every waking moment with him because of that. And January 2nd all I could think about was that my husband had left. Then by January 3rd, I was more concerned with being able to breathe than reading. That's how it started ... the 2 1/2 weeks of asthmatic bronchitis that left me barely able to walk from one side of the room to another without having a coughing fit that would leave me in a heap on the floor. Reading the Bible didn't even cross my mind during those first few days.

Now, that's not to say that God didn't have a lesson for me during those times. Because He did. He reminded me that He led my family to the church we attend for a reason. When I was in the middle of a "can't believe I'm 1000 miles away from the people that would help me with the kids -- I can't do this -- what am I thinking?!?" pity party while sick one night, I suddenly realized that I needed to call someone for gatorade. There was no way I was going to survive the night, let alone the next few months if I didn't get myself hydrated, and since I could barely hold anything down .... gatorade sounded like a good idea. So I called, and gatorade was brought for me, frozen pizza for the kids. From that night on, there was not a night that I had to cook. Food was provided, little things that you might need around the house were brought, babysitters volunteered to take the kids so I could nap, and no one did anything more than once for us. Our church family poured love and blessings over our family. And all it took from me was being willing to admit that I couldn't handle it on my own, asking God to find a way to help us through it, and then calling a lady from church for help on ONE night. Women that I barely knew were bringing us things and offering to clean my house and do my laundry.... Talk about a humbling experience.

But even though I was being reminded by God that HE is the one that is carrying me through this deployment, and that HE will make sure that we're taken care of, I still wasn't reading my Bible. I just forgot. And when I did remember, I felt so guilty that I made myself forget.


Sunday was my first Sunday at church since before Chris left. I left it exhausted, but also challenged. Joel, our preacher, challenged us all to read our Bibles for 2 hours a day for 30 days and to see the changes that God would bring in our lives from that time spent with Him. And while Joel preached, I knew I had to do it. Not only because I wanted to take Joel up on his challenge, but because I was soooooo far behind on the 90 days! It would get me caught up and help me recommit to spending more time with God. My first thought was that I'd read 2 days worth of reading per day. I had thought that one day's reading would last me about an hour, so 2 days should give me 2 hours. I was wrong. It took me 3 days reading the first day to get me 2 hours. And last night, it took me 4 days of reading for me to get 1 1/2 hours. And I promise that I'm not speed reading or skimming (well, I occasionally skim the name lists), I just read that fast. So I may be done with this read the Bible in 90 Days challenge a lot sooner than March 31st..... Actually, once I'm caught up, I plan on reading other parts of the Bible while reading just the daily reading with the Bible in 90 Days program.

But either way, I'm excited to be doing it. I do need to start reading earlier in the evening. Starting at 9 or 10pm only makes me exhausted in the morning. But either way, I'm happy to be doing it and not feeling nearly as guilty as I've now caught up w/ week one so I'm only 20 days behind instead of being 27 days behind....


Over the next few days I may post some of my reflections on what I've read so far. Right now I'm just in awe over the things that I knew but had forgotten.



Wait, here's something that I was a little dumbfounded over at first, but then realized is probably typical of what humans do on a regular basis. Abraham, twice, told a king that his wife was his sister. Both times he was reprimanded by God and by the king once the truth came out. Both times the KING paid Abraham and apologized, even though the only person who had done anything wrong was Abraham by lying. First, it struck me how frightened others must of been of Abraham's God -- my God -- that they were scared of offending Him even when they weren't the ones that had sinned. I think it speaks for how much God hates sin that they were truly terrified of invoking God's wrath because the only way they would know that God hates sin that much is if someone had truly offended God and been punished. I am so thankful that we have Christ who intercedes on our behalf so that I don't have to be that terrified to approach my God when I have sinned.
Also, the only way we know these stories is because the history of the Jewish people was passed through an oral history -- children memorizing word for word what had happened in their people's past, until it reached Moses who recorded it for future generations (and even then, it was still memorized word for word). So in order for us to know that Abraham sinned both times, he had to have told Isaac. But Isaac did the exact same thing with Rebekah! He told a king that she was his sister because he was scared that he would be killed in order to take her from him. He again was rebuked by both God and king, but was still given many gifts in order to prevent his God from being angry with the king. Shouldn't he have known better?!? Of course he should have. But how many times do we repeat the same mistakes that our parents or our grandparents or our friends made? Yet God still loves us. He still calls us His own. He still draws us into Him and cares for us. Even when we sin and break covenant with Him, He still keeps covenant with us. He knows we're going to sin, and probably make the same mistakes more than once, but loves us anyway. He is truly a gracious God.

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Only a Texan...

I have Texas plates on all my vehicles still. I know I've lived in Florida a while, but we've kept our permanent residence address in Texas for legal reasons, so I've felt justified in keeping Texas plates. It's rare that I think about it, but today they created a story.

I was in the drive-thru at KFC. I pulled up to the window when the manager laughed and said that I must have been stationed in Texas. I quickly explained that no, I was from Texas, but my husband was now stationed here. His eyes lit up:
KFC: Where in Texas?
Me: Midland/Odessa
KFC: Really?!? My uncle used to own a furniture store in Midland!
Me: Wow...what a small world.
KFC: It is. I come from a family for 4th and 5th generation Texans. I don't know how I got stuck in Florida.
Me: Haha ... yeah, our family goes way back there too.
KFC: I wish I could say we were at the Alamo, but we weren't. But we were at San Jacinto!
Me: HAHA! We were too! Well, not during the battle. My family got there 2 days too late for the battle.
KFC: My however many greats grandfather was Sam Houston's doctor and was there!
Me: Still laughing You know, only a Texan would be able to tell you exactly when their relatives showed up in their state, and what roles they played in that state's history.
KFC: You're right! We always know what our people did.


Seriously, that conversation would not have happened about almost any other state. It made me laugh, and be a bit proud the history of the state that I wish I still lived in. :)

Saturday, January 23, 2010

Another Saturday Edition

The television is officially banned in my house. It's not a permanent ban. That would be too much for me. But it's a ban until attitudes are better and my house is clean. And it's only in effect while kids are up. Kairi was interacting less and less with her brother and I, becoming angry if I talked during a show, and only pretending to be characters on her shows. Yesterday I had enough. She was talking back because I was trying to get them to color and she wanted me to turn the tv on. She melted into the floor bawling because I refused. And that's when I decided that I had had enough. I informed her that the tv wasn't going to be turned on for the rest of the day. If she fought me over it, I would spank her. So she needed to come color. She pouted through color time, but eventually forgot about the tv. Alex and Kairi played in their bedrooms without needing my supervision (and no fights) for a couple of hours after naptime was over. And they didn't fight me over helping straighten up their rooms before bed that night.

As of this morning, the tv hasn't been on, no one has asked for it, and I've not had a major attitude from either child. If the day continues to be this good, I plan on us having a picnic in the living room floor tonight when I'll treat them to watching Thumbelina with me. I cannot tolerate their previous behavior though. I semi blame myself because when I was sick I allowed the tv to be on waaaaaay too much. But that's over with. Yay! lol





I had been planning on starting "school" with Kairi this spring. She needs more formal learning and I know that she's ready for it. After Alex's evaluation the other week, I realized that Alex needs it as well. So I'm currently gathering resources and will soon start "homeschooling" for preschool. Now, Kairi will be in a regular preschool next year, as in Florida the state pays for 4 year old preschool. But it would not hurt to start this year and get ahead. Especially for Alex as he already is starting to recognize letters and can tell me some of their sounds.

I plan on rearranging the living room and purchasing some new furniture to help with this. It actually fits nicely into the no-tv rule as I'm going to be moving the tv and putting their school table in that corner. Maybe I'll mount the tv on the wall or something. Either way, the tv will no longer be the certain of attention in my living room. I keep threatening to take the large tv upstairs to my bedroom and putting the tiny tv downstairs for the occasional video.

I've had so much fun picking out workbooks and games and things for the kids to learn with. I think we're going to start with the Kumon workbooks, along with a couple of others by School Zone and Brain Quest. They look like a lot of fun and something that the kids will truly enjoy. Then I a friend recommended a couple of games/books that came with her homeschool curriculum that I'm going to invest in. I hope that this goes as well in reality as it does in my head. lol






I have made a weight loss goal and I need to post my progress to keep myself accountable. After Alex was born, I was really good about watching what I ate and working out every day. I lost weight quickly. By the time Chris had returned from his deployment, I was a size 8 and still losing weight. Today, that is not the case. I'm back to where I was, and I hate it. So my goal is simple, 110-115 pounds by June 26. It's a reasonable goal. It would require me to lose 2 pounds a week. I'm going to not count calories, but keep a general idea of what I'm eating calorie and fat content wise. I'm going to work out every day, even if some days it's just stretching and crunches. I also should buy myself a scale. That way if I do start to slide in the wrong direction, it won't take me having to change back into bigger clothes to figure it out. I'm not going to run myself into the ground, but I am going to be consistent about this. Once upon a time, Kairi thought that crunches and other exercises were just things you did every day -- things like cleaning and cooking that you did but could learn to enjoy. I know that she doesn't think that anymore. I'd like to change her mind again. :)

Saturday, January 16, 2010

Story time

Kairi and Alex have been full of adorable moments today. Ok, so some of them weren't so adorable in the moment. But I can smile about most of them now. Here's a few of them:


Alex crawled into my lap and curled up in my arms like an infant. Then he pointed to himself and said "Mommy, rock baby. Tree top baby." He wanted me to sing rock-a-bye baby so that he could have the little "drop" in the song. After singing it and "dropping" him a few times, he informed me that he wasn't just any baby, he was an "ag-gator baby". Which if you were wondering, he's still on the alligator kick -- he is an alligator almost every day these days, with short breaks during the day to be a baby or a puppy.




When Alex first woke up from his nap he was terrified looking and sounding. I held him close and couldn't set him down for about 5 minutes without horrified wailing. I finally got him to tell me that he had bad dreams. He said he remembered monsters that scared him. I promised him that there were no more monsters and that he didn't have to worry about it. About that moment, Kairi came bounding up to my bed where I was sitting with Alex and climbed on up. She immediately launched into her fantasy realm and began to tell me that my bedroom floor was a river and we were in a boat. Our boat needed to hurry though, because there were monsters in the river. Alex set straight up for the first time since his nap and starting screaming "No monsters! Mommy! No monsters!" I told Kairi that we were not going to pretend monsters today. She could pretend dinosaurs or dragons or trolls or whales or whatever she wanted to, but no monsters. She started to get insistent that there were monsters chasing us while I tried to calm Alex down. Finally, I looked at her and told her that Alex had had a bad dream about monsters so we weren't going to pretend that way today. Suddenly, her whole face changed. She bent down to eye level w/ the little boy ball in my lap and said "Alex? You have bad dream?" Alex grunted an uh-huh response. "I sorry Alex. Look! No monsters. Monsters are pretend anyway. See? No monsters. We won't play dat. I sorry. Wanta tell me bout the dream?" And at that he launched into a babble that made no sense to me, but comforted him and Kairi set listening intently while nodding her head. When he finally finished, she patted him and goes, "Is ok Alex. Now let's play." And suddenly, the world was right again for both my kids.




While Kairi, Alex and I were curled up on my bed after naps talking and playing, Kairi decided she had to go potty. These days after going potty she has figured out how to wash her hands without needing me to lift her to the sink by climbing from the potty seat to the cabinet. Today, though, the water kept going and going and going and going and going. I hollered after a moment to find out what was taking so long.

Just washing my hands Mommy! And I'm gonna wash my face!
You're washing your face? Seriously? Fine .... just hurry up and finish.
Ok Mommy!
A minute later there's still water running.
Kairi, what is taking so long! Turn off the water and get in here!
But my feet are dirty Mommy! I gotta wash dem too!
You do NOT need to wash your feet! Turn off the water, and then get your butt down from the cabinet, dry off and get in here.
Fine Mommy!
Water is still running for another minute.
Kairi! Get in here NOW! Soap off. Water off. In here.
Ok, ok, I'm coming.

I hear her climb down from the sink. And in she walks ... hair is dripping, legs are dripping, butt is dripping, shirt soaked. I tell her to get that shirt off, at which point she climbs onto my bed and starts to try to jump while taking off her shirt, spreading all the water across Alex and me ... and my bed.




I am officially grumpy. Kairi said it, so it must be true. These days if I act the least bit upset Kairi looks at me gently and goes "Mommy, do you miss Daddy? Are you sad?" and no matter whether my answer is that yes I miss him, or yes I miss him but am just frustrated with your bad behavior right now, or the answer is yes I miss him but I'm more upset because I can't stop coughing, Kairi's solution is always the same. "Mommy, you need a hug." She then proceeds to hug me and tell me that she loves me. If she's supposed to be in trouble I usually shoot back "I love you too, but you're still not allowed to xyz...." The rest of the time I just grin a goofy grin inside knowing that she's a much more empathetic and compassionate child today than I had ever imagined she would be 2 year ago. Today, though, Kairi talked back non-stop. She does it frequently these days. And I finally jumped on her case about it. She calmly listened while I lectured her on not talking back, and then she pulled out the card

Mommy, do you miss Daddy?
Kairi, you know I miss Daddy. That has nothing to do with this. This is about you doing what you're told to do without talking back. I'm the Mommy, not you.
Mommy, when you miss Daddy you're not fun.
Kairi, when you talk back, you're not fun. Stop talking back to me.
Mommy, are you still sick?
Yes, I'm still sick. But we're talking about how you talk to me. Don't talk back to me again or else you're going to bed early tonight. Do you understand? Say yes ma'am.
Yes ma'am. But Mommy, when you're sick and when Daddy's gone. I don't like you much.
Sorry Kairi, you have your whole life to not like me. It doesn't change that you can't talk back.
At this point, she folds her arms and looks at me with a frown. Mommy, when you're sick, and when Daddy's gone. You're grumpy. Goodbye.
And with that, she marched out of the room and did whatever she had told me no about before.




Since I've been so sick recently, I've not been cooking. Instead, I've been blessed by an amazing church family that has been providing meals for us most nights. One of the ladies also brought by some diapers so that I didn't have to go to the store and so that I didn't have to try to do laundry feeling as badly as I do. It was very appreciated. Normally, if we do disposables, we do the Target brand. They work well, leave no rashes on children, and are cheap. We were brought Luvs though. I may be switching brands. Now, I hate the smell of Luvs. I hate the way they feel so very papery. I hate how they're smaller than Target's and hold less pee at night (Kairi keeps waking up leaking as she's still in night-time diapers). BUT we will be switching to them for one reason: Alex HATES how it feels to pee in them. We went through 10 diapers today because after every single pee, he took his diaper off and then brought me a new one. The worst one was when Kairi insisted that he take it off (even though I was yelling for him to not), because it was poopy and she wanted me to see it. As if I wouldn't see it as well when I was changing it..... Even with the annoyance, though, at the constant taking off the diaper before having a clean one to put back on, I was impressed that he was so aware. And if he hates the way it feels to have on THAT much, then it shouldn't take too much encouragement to get him to go in the potty instead. :) That's my hope at least. We start this week.




The kids are hyper these days. I've been sick and unable to properly run them ragged, so they have way too much energy for their poor sick mother to handle. Tonight they decided to expel that energy. They did so by running from one room to another, climbing on furniture, and throwing toys at each other, all the while screaming at the top of their lungs.




Final story for the night. It was way past the kids' bedtimes and I was gathering things to send them that way when Alex ran to me yelling that he was scared. I asked him why and he indicated that the problem was with Kairi. I hollered across the house that she needed to stop scaring her brother, and continued to get things together for bedtime. Suddenly there was loud shrieking on both children's parts. I walked in to find out what the deal was. Kairi was screaming while making scary faces from behind a corner of the couch at Alex, while Alex threw things at her shrieking "No scare me! No scare me!" I yelled for her to get away from the couch and stop scaring him. She looked at me calmly and said "I have to scare him. It makes me happy." Remember the monster story? Turns out there is no possible way for her to be that sweet all day. ;)

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

More on Alex

Alex had his appointment today for the follow up on possible speech therapy. General consensus is this: He's too smart for his own good.

He does have speech delays. He is missing sounds that he should have learned during those periods when he had little to no hearing. However, we're going to have to go the extra mile to get him help.

Because I didn't have a written referral, only a verbal one, they simply tested him to see if he was lacking skills in a specific developmental area. If he qualified for services there, then they could include the speech therapist in the other area. If he didn't, then I would have to get a specific referral/prescription from the ent or audiologist for therapy and they would evaluate him again.

They evaluated him in 5 categories. Three of them were cognitive skills, motor skills and communication. I don't remember the other two. Average 2 year olds score between 85 and 115 -- usually depending on how new a 2 or how close to a 3 they are. To qualify for services, a child has to score below 78.

Alex's lowest score was a 109 in communication and his highest was a 121 in motor skills. Most of his scores were well above the 115 norm-high. They said he was solving puzzles and showing skills that even some 4 and 5 year olds struggle with. On average, they said that he functioned at a level of a 3-4 year old and said that that explained his lack of connection with other children his age and his self-isolation when with his peers.

Alex definitely showed them his speech problems, however, because he is "higher functioning" he's adapted to those problem and learned other ways to communicate. They tried to find another way to offer him speech therapy, but basically said that he just scored too high every where. They sort of explained not being able to help him but the reason they felt a need for me to keep pursuing help like this: if a normal 2 year old showed the issues he was having, his communication scores would have dropped below normal and qualify for help; or if a 3-4 year old child (that functions the way he does) scored this way, the communication score would again qualify him for help; but because he is a 2 year old functioning at a 3 year old level, there is a gap in the system that he falls through. The only way to correct this is through having the ent or audiologist prescribe the help. Unless they do, the therapists we saw today were worried that his speech would not correct itself completely and he would always have a slight "hearing impaired accent".

The plan of action now is to wait until his appointment in February. The speech therapist did give me a few suggestions to try at home, which I've already been doing, but will continue to work on. Then we'll take the results of his hearing test and where he's at speech wise, get a referral, and go back to Early Steps and have them help us go from there.

Monday, January 4, 2010

I have pictures to post, things to talk about, stories to tell, and no clue what to do first.

So I'm going to start with my favorite picture and call it good for the day.

Photobucket

Saturday, January 2, 2010

Randomness from the last few weeks

I have no energy to post a real post. That's what happens when you go through Christmas, a 4 day trip to Texas and back (wedding in the middle of that), New Years, and a spouse leaving for deployment. And yes, deployment was today. He'll be home in a little over 6 months. Can't wait as I miss him already.


~Kairi's not mad at Daddy for leaving, but for Daddy not taking her with him.

~Alex has decided that he answers to nothing besides "alligator". He frequently tests me on this. "Mommy. Mommy. Mommy." What Alex? "NO! ALLIGATOR!" Except, it doesn't come out like alligator but ag-gator. Too cute.

~Wedding was beautiful and I couldn't be luckier to have Janice as my sister-in-law.

~Trying to convince my parents to come out here for my youngest brother's spring break this year. Wish me luck.

~I have had a migraine for 3 days now. Maxalt barely touches it and it NEVER fails me. It may be time to go see a doctor. But I was convinced that once the deployment stress was over that I'd be ok. Maybe I'll wait until tomorrow to see if it calms down.

~The dog is driving me insane. I think she sensed the stress in our house and it has caused her to NEVER poop on the puppy pad but instead always on the floor, have massive amounts of diarrhea, and become more destructive than ever. Her favorite thing to chew now is diapers and she'll knock the trash over to get to them. I guess I need to pick back up on the cd'ing now that I'm not traveling all over the world and can finally wash on a regular basis.

~My house looks like a tornado vomited in it. Gotta work on that Monday.

~Also need to do a menu plan on Monday. It'd be nice to make one and stick to it.

~I have big plans for this year w/ the kids. Especially while Chris is gone. Guess I need to get started on making schedules and rearranging furniture for it. I'll share when the house is ready for it all.



Ok, that's it for now. Have a good night everyone!