Wordless Wednesday!

Who is that masked marvel????? Her Nana brought her back a Mardi Gras mask and some beads... just too cute!

Finally Friday!

It has been one looooong week I tell ya! Today, Miss O and I went to watch Little J and his choir sing at CWU for a couple of hours... the choir is getting so much better! We spent the rest of the day running countless numbers of errands and just making it home in time to get things rolling for dinner!
Knock on wood - Little J has been doing pretty well... he has a better attitude and loves to offer to help - especially lately... not sure why... but I am not going to question it (yet!!).

We have had a really long and mentally/physically exhausting week with Big Al. We have found more items being hoarded in his room and he is back on the "eating crayons" band wagon! He has brought home small garbage items and been hiding them to eat them at night. It is unfortunate that we cannot find a counselor that specializes in PICA (which is the medical term for what he has). I have horrible fears that he is going to eat something really wrong that will either tear him up on the inside or cause real serious poisioning. We can talk to him about it until we are blue in the face - and have on many occasions. It is really a very sad situation for him, as his condition forces us to be extremely over-vigilant about where he is and what he is doing. I feel more like a prison warden than a mom on most days... searching through every offafice of his room, patting him down morning and night for "contraban"...
I have had numerous incidents of "intuition" with Big Al, that have proved 100% dead-on... and I hate knowing that if we don't have an eagle-eye on him, he will do something that will cause him harm.
Trying to figure out what to do with him this summer is going to be a challenge! There is no summer school or long-term summer programs locally with enough supervision to handle him...... I sure wish we had more military boarding schools close by!!

No words Wednesday!

Another appointment with no answers

I took Big Al to Children's last week. It was time for his "official" six month check up with the endo doctor. Well.. he gained a whole 2 measly pounds in six months.. I personally can gain 2 pounds in a weekend (or less!!) and his height gain was very minimal, probably only shown as an increase due to needing a haircut!
I did request that they test him for lead poisoning, which they did... his levels came back at very low. His doctor was really hesitant to test for lead.. her EXACT words were, "We really only test for kids who eat paint chips.... (then looking at Big Al she says..."oh never mind - forgot!"... I had a hard time not busting up at her question! The kid has practially stripped his bunk bed of any paint!
So, moving forward... we are applying to get HGH (human growth hormone) approved from the insurance company. Since he apparently has enough growth hormone in his system, they are applying for it under the diagnosis of ideopathic short stature aka (ISS) which basically means they have no answers to why he really will not grow!
According to Children's, it could take up to 3 months to see if we can get approved. It is a lengthy process because typically, for children with ISS, it is a "cosmetic" drug... that cracks me up - but oh well!
We are still trying to do our part to get the kid to EAT, but it is an exhausting and frustrating process... one that I wish I did not have to deal with!

Weekend fishing

This weekend, we decided to try out a different fishing pond. For the first time in many years, I got a fishing license... just to be legal when I had to hold the poles! haha!
This was a pond we have never tried. After about 30 minutes, the hubby and I were ready to pack it up. Big Al had cast into the trees over head twice, Little J kept losing his worms... the hubby was getting sick of being everyones "fishing guide" (meaning me - I don't touch worms!) and it was getting late... then WHAMMMMMMOOOOOO!

Miss O said "I got something!"... We assumed it was just a big weed, since there was alot of vegetation... nope - she reeled in a cute little perch or something! Her first fish of the season! She was QUITE happy with her self!
About 5 minutes later, Big Al screams that he has one.. another cute little spiny fish... Little J was starting to have a "moment" and got really hacked off - since he is the only one who really LOVES fishing (according to him!)! I then had a bite on my line, so I handed it to Little J to reel in... thinking that I was being nice by letting him catch one on my pole! The whole time he was whining about how it was MY fish, not his (ummm yeah - I have not actually caught a fish on my own in more years than I care to admit!) Within minutes, he had one on his pole... and the excitement was back! We ended up catching about 7 or 8 of these little guys.. they all survived and are now living in our pond! The kids all ended up having fun and only the hubby came home fishless! He tried to be a good sport about it!! haha!



All three kiddos having a good time at their "favorite" new pond!

My little songbird!

This morning, Little J got to sing at the Grand Opening of a store here in town with his choir from school. It was alot of fun! Less than half the kids showed up to sing, but they had alot of fun, once the nervousness was over!!

Choir is the ONE thing that Little J has done on his own! He really HATED music class all the way up to 4th grade. Then, he decided he wanted to be in choir! I think it might have had something to do with the fact that it is 98% GIRLS and only 5 or 6 boys! haha!
He will have another few music events this year, which will be fun to see! We are hoping that he continues, as it gives him something that is just his, not shared with his brother!

My little helper!

I have to be the first to say that Miss O is a wonderful little helper! When she is given a job ot do, she goes all out! Her job last night was to clean up after dinner! I really just meant to wipe off the table... but ohhhhh no! She wiped off the table, the chairs, the bench, put things back in the fridge, took care of the napkins THEN swept the floor! AND... she was thrilled to do it! Love that little monkey!

Easter!

Well... there was not much fan fare this year for Easter! The Easter Bunny was out ill with the stomach flu! It took all the Easter Bunny's strength to get the eggs and baskets hidden! The kids really enjoyed hunting for their stuff! Fortunately, Big Al and Little J were helpful to their little sis in finding her stuff! She sure LOVES holidays!!!

Big Al turns 12

Hard to believe that we made it to 12!!! But, here we are! Happy Birthday Big Al!

Wrestling season is OVER!!

Thankfully, spring is finally here... which means the end of another wrestling season! Whooo hoooo! We went to three out of town tournaments this year, with not so great results, but the boys had a good time and really improved on their skills! The last hurrah was an inter-club tournament. The boys had a fun time and did have to wrestle each other.. but they enjoyed it!

Wrestling finale at Moses Lake

I realized when we got home that I did not take ONE picture!! Oh well! I did video all the matches for the boys... Neither boy medaled. It was a long season for them... for Big Al, it was more difficult as there are not too many 12 year olds that weigh less than 65 pounds that he can wrestle.. and the kids that DO weigh under 75 pounds have been wrestling since the day they were born and are really GOOD! Little J had fun and seemed to be able to get his anxiety a bit more under control... but that is what kills him on the mat. He gets too worked up thinking he might get a medal and then forgets what to do! Oh well... live and learn!

Wordless Wednesday

Spring Break Fishing

Spring Break this year was pretty laid back! We stayed around here and the kids just hung out and relaxed! Since the weather was ok, we ended up going fishing one day. All three kids did ok... unfortunately, Captain Little J caught NOTHING, and made sure that EVERYONE had to feel the wrath of his disappointment! Big Al, though, caught the king of the pond... a whopper of a trout! We did release him back, as he was too big for the bucket AND the kids were not in the mood to eat trout (nor was I in the mood to attempt to clean trout! haha)
Miss O lost interest after about 45 minutes and went off to search for "wabbits"!

Weekend Fishing

We took the kids fishing this weekend to one of the local ponds, just to get them out of the house... and of course, Little J was in a fishing "Mood"! We said we were only going to stay a little bit!

As I gave the final warning to leave (the kids had not caught anything yet!) within minutes, Little J had one on! Not long after that, Big Al caught one too! Poor Miss O caught nothing and was kinda upset!

Wrestling, East Wenatchee

Big Al had only ONE kiddo to wrestle today! They wrestled 2 out of 3... Big Al did beat him both times and got his first medal of the season... so we had to waaaaaiiiiiitttttttt until late so he could stand on the podium to get his medal!



This was too cute! Little J had to wrestle a GIRL his second match! While waiting in the line up to go out... she says to him "Do you want me to beat you up???!" I have always told the boys to NEVER underestimate a mad girl!! haha! Little J did end up pinning her (his very first pin in a tournament!) in their match... that was his highlight of the season I think!

First Wrestling Tourney

Above is Little J at the beginning of his second match. He did not win either match that day... but, he did learn some new skills!


This is Big Al in his second match. He won one match of the day total. He did have to wrestle kids 10 pounds heavier than him, as there was no one to wrestle in his age/weight class! Hmmmmm... not like we've been telling HIM that! Better shovel some twinkies down that kid to pack on some weight! (wishful thinking, I'm sure!)

Maybe I should not post too soon!

Yep - I must have either jinxed her or challenged her! Today, I got fed up with listening to Miss O whine about needing help... she got a big push and just kept on going on her own!! She kept screaming "I DO IT!"... she was (and is) very proud of herself!
She is still in the learning phase (like using the brakes, not your feet to stop) when it comes to figuring out what to do... but she is off to a really good start!!!

Riding a bike is HARD!

Two weeks ago, we took off the training wheels on Miss O's Barbie bike... needless to say, she has NOT been happy about it! She is so very close to just taking off on her own.... But, she has a really stubborn streak! Yesterday, while we were outside, we worked with her a bit on trying to balance... it ended up being alot of crying (without tears!) and begging for us to "help" her... which basically means just hang on to her to whole time!
It's funny, because she is pretty fearless... we just think she soaks up the extra attention! Hopefully, she will be off and terrorizing her brothers on two wheels soon enough!

Spring Rocket season

Every spring, before the wind starts to howl... the hubby and the kids pull out all the rockets! Since the dogs have finally learned to NOT chew them up when they land, the rockets have lasted alot longer! Yesterday, Miss O was brave enough to hit the launch button! Since it was such a beautiful day, it was hard NOT to enjoy some springtime activities!

Our newest additions!

Meet Spots, otherwise known as BOTS to Miss O... who decided to name him!



This is JJ... named after Little J!



And this is Poppy, also named by Miss O....

We got our spring batch of calves today! And man are they cute!

Dr. Jekyl

For his birthday last week, Little J got another wonderful science kit! Thank God for the Smithsonian Science kits!! He is trying to grow some crystals! He sure does love science!

Wow - Turned Double Digits!

Our little baby boy is not so little any more! Today, he turned TEN... that's right 10!!
I love to look back at the pictures and see how much he has really changed!

Happy Birthday Little J!!!

Oh yes she did!!!

She did! Miss O lost her first tooth today!!! I can hardly believe it!

How was our weekend? Hmmmmmm

We decided to go to Disney Land for the weekend! It was sort of a quick decision trip... we planned about a week ago, with out the kids knowledge!
We spent Saturday night in Seattle, just hanging out... then at dinner asked them what they wanted to do tomorrow. Since we did not like any of their ideas.. we decided to tell them! They were SHOCKED!

We jumped on a plane early Sunday morning to Anaheim. Spent Sunday thru Tuesday at Disney, then flew home Wednesday! We did get loads and loads of rain... but we had a great time anyways!

Photos from the weekend!

Not the best news... but news none-the-less

Today, Big Al's doctor at Children's Hospital called us with the results of last weeks growth hormone testing. The doc was upbeat and excited about the results... I was not.
Apparently, they wanted to see Big Al have a hormone level of 10 (10 of what - I can't remember!) his came in at 21.. which was DOUBLE the norm. This was exciting for the doc because it ruled out the fact that his body did not produce enough growth hormone. Unfortunately though, it does not explain WHY he is not growing!
So, the doctor does not want to see him for another 3 months. She is counting on the fact that he will grow a significant amount (for him) in that time period... then she can just say he had a delayed spurt..... In my heart, I know that this is not the case, but at this point, I am so tired.... When I asked her what should we do until the next appointment, she said to keep doing everything that we have been doing for the last 6 months!
Her response about killed me! I don't believe that I have the mental or physical stamina to keep after this kid for another three months.. I'm worn out! I am tired of requiring him to finish his meals.. to count the calories, fat and proteins in everything he eats, to keep bugging his teachers to make sure he eats his snacks... all these things just chew away at my patience! It may not seem like it is a big deal to most people... but when you have to deal with the numerous other challenges that Big Al has, it takes its toll.
For the first time in a long while, I just sat down and cried out of sheer frustration and emotional stress. We have so many things to figure out with Big Al, I just wanted something to come out with an answer for us.. just one thing to help clear the clouds for once. Apparently, this one is going to stay on the stove for awhile. How many burners can a stove have anyways??

The growth hormone test

We completed the growth hormone test for Big Al on Thursday.... things went fairly well.. he was fighting the sleepiness of the medications for the first hour - which concerned the nurse, as they were worried that his blood pressure was not in the correct range. During the last part of the test, his blood sugar had to be tested every 15 minutes to make sure his blood sugar did not drop too low. His blood sugar had the opposite effect - it went up pretty high. Also, during the last part of the test, his blood pressure dropped really low - to the point where they had to wake him up and have him move around a bit.
We were able to head home in the afternoon. Big Al slept pretty much the whole way home. He was a bit groggy and tired - which was an AWESOME change! Maybe they could just give him that set of meds and we would be set each day!! haha!

We are hoping to find out the results in the next week..which will be interesting to say the least!

The Science Experiment

Little J got a science kit from Santa this year... it had lots of neat little experiments to try... His first one was an exploding volcano... the results of the "lava" were not quite as spectacular as he would have liked - but he enjoyed it all the same!!

Our Holidays 2009

This year, our Holiday season has been one of being busy and as usual, stressful! The last few months have been beyond challenging dealing with some major behavioral challenges with Big Al, some major hurdles leaped with Little J, and of course a certain sweet little someone whose vocabulary has increased by leaps and bounds!

As much as I would like to say it was a nice holiday... it was not, for any of us. Unfortunately, certain behaviors with kids don't take a holiday!! Now THAT would be a nice GIFT, a day or a holiday without our kids acting out! haha

We spent much of the last month clearing out our guest/storage room, moving Miss O out of her room, moving Little J into Miss O's old room, etc... we are still getting bits and pieces moved and settled. NOT an easy task! We have been trying to get Miss O acclimated in her new room, which is not going too well... she misses her old room!!

We have hoped that some things would have settled themselves out over the Holiday break from school... but needless to say... more ugly situations have popped up instead! grrrrr! We are making some drastic changes in 2010, and keeping our fingers crossed that some success will come out of it!!

Christmas Pictures