It has been a week since I started my new job, and we've already gotten into quite a routine. Emily had a rough first few days, but she soon learned that it wasn't as bad as she thought that it would be and she started coping with it. At first, though, she started telling me that she wasn't coming home. She spent every night at her Nana and Papa's house because she said that she didn't think she could stand to see me leave for work in the morning. I indulged her drama for the time being only because her cousin, Chase, was still in town and they were all three going to stay over there, but I told her that she better start dealing with it because it was just the way it was and that she WAS coming home! I think she found out that she actually handled it better when she was at home and saw me in the morning before work. She is THE most stubborn person. I know, I know, those of you (especially family members who know me the most) will say that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Ha-ha! I know it...and I will admit it!
We did, however, receive the most special little gift in the mail the other day and I only wish I knew who to thank. In the middle of the week, we received this Fedex box with a bright yellow box with smiley faces all over it. It was addressed to Emily and myself. Inside were wonderful smiley face sugar cookies! It was the most special gift to brighten our day...heck, our week! So, whoever sent it, THANK YOU!
My job is going well. All I'm doing right now is lots and lots of computer training. I never realized before how federally regulated the banks are!!! It's a lot of stuff to learn. I have one more day of computer courses until I can start what they call my "mentor training".
Ethan and Emily are in tennis lessons again. They are enjoying it and doing well. I'm so impressed with how much they have learned since they first started taking lessons a year ago. I hope they decide to keep it up.
Yesterday I decided to deem it "Family Day" in our house. I realized lately that Ethan has been going off by himself and just spending a lot of time in his room either playing Legos, playing video games, or watching tv. It has been bothering me that he has been spending so much time by himself. So, on Saturday night while he was watching Harry Potter, I snuggled with him and told him that on Sunday, he wasn't going to play any video games or watch tv, but that we were going to have a total family day together. At first he looked at me with these huge eyes like he wasn't sure he liked that, but then yesterday he told me that he had the best day ever. After going to church, all four of us played basketball, we played frisbee, we played some checkers, the kids ran around and played some of their own made up games, it was just an awesome day. And the best part was that not a single video game was played!!!! I am going to designate at least one weekend day like that.
It's a new week. Let's hope that this week goes well!
Monday, July 19, 2010
Monday, July 12, 2010
A new chapter...
Today started a new chapter in our lives. I started my new job. After 8 years spending my every waking hour to care for the total needs of my children, I have decided that it is not only time for me to go back to work, but it is necessary. Eight years ago, in August 2002, I was put on bed rest when I was pregnant with Ethan and Emily. From that point on, everything I have done in my life has been for my children.
When Rob got laid off of work again and we both started looking for jobs, the idea of going back to work was so exciting for me. The reality of the situation was that I NEEDED to find a job, but I soon realized that I also WANTED to find a job. I was thrilled at the idea of feeling fulfilled again in the workplace and when I was hired... well, I really felt great!
I set out and started preparing for my first day. I got some new clothes. Took care of some last minute things that needed to get done around the house and I was ready to go. There was just one tiny little problem, and she is just a little over 3 1/2 feet tall. She has blond hair, blue eyes, and she is terribly upset by this new chain of events. She answers to the name of Emily.
She had been getting more and more frantic as we had been counting down the days until today, but last night was the moment that I don't think I could have prepared myself for even if I had tried. We had already made arrangements for the kids to spend the night at Nana and Papa's house because we thought that it would be easier for them to not see me leave early this morning since I had to work in Downtown Mobile today. Emily had a massive break down last night and she sat in my lap and sobbed on my shoulder and snotted on my shirt for well over an hour. It was the most heartbreaking thing that I have ever experienced in my life. The way she acted was as if I was leaving her for good and moving away. There really was no consoling her. And there really are no words to describe how much my heart was aching for her and how much I wanted to take away her pain.
I left her at my parents' house as she was crying in my mom's lap. My mood for the rest of the night was the most melancholy I have ever felt in my life. In fact, I ended up just needing time to be alone. I could no longer feel the excitement that I had been feeling to start my new job. My mood just wouldn't allow it. I started to feel this overwhelming guilt despite the fact that I knew that the kids would be okay. I ended up locking myself into the bathroom and just crying. And I...DON'T...DO...THAT! EVER!!! I never allow myself to have pity parties. It's not in my nature. But I had one last night. I was suddenly filled with flashbacks of when the kids were infants and I was trying to teach Emily to crawl. How hard I worked with her every single day just to do the most basic things that babies do on their own. I remembered how I sat day after day and watched those videos on learning the baby sign language just so I could teach it to Ethan because he had speech apraxia and couldn't even babble like a normal baby, let alone say a word. I remembered all of the times that I sat with the kids through weeks and weeks of Kindermusik classes for several years in a row and our therapists would meet us to do their therapies there. I just sat there and balled my eyes out as all of these years of memories of being a stay at home mom with my kids and actually BEING THERE for them as I have helped them navigate their way through some of the toughest obstacles of their little lives. I know that in the grand scheme of things, I am doing something that is right for me and for all of us in the long run, but it is just hard taking that step.
So, last night as the tears flowed, I closed that final chapter in my life and in my children's lives. Today I woke up and we started the new one. Guess what??? We all survived! We will get through this adjustment period and everything will work out. As far as my new job...it was a first day. That is all I'm going to say right now. Ha-ha!
When Rob got laid off of work again and we both started looking for jobs, the idea of going back to work was so exciting for me. The reality of the situation was that I NEEDED to find a job, but I soon realized that I also WANTED to find a job. I was thrilled at the idea of feeling fulfilled again in the workplace and when I was hired... well, I really felt great!
I set out and started preparing for my first day. I got some new clothes. Took care of some last minute things that needed to get done around the house and I was ready to go. There was just one tiny little problem, and she is just a little over 3 1/2 feet tall. She has blond hair, blue eyes, and she is terribly upset by this new chain of events. She answers to the name of Emily.
She had been getting more and more frantic as we had been counting down the days until today, but last night was the moment that I don't think I could have prepared myself for even if I had tried. We had already made arrangements for the kids to spend the night at Nana and Papa's house because we thought that it would be easier for them to not see me leave early this morning since I had to work in Downtown Mobile today. Emily had a massive break down last night and she sat in my lap and sobbed on my shoulder and snotted on my shirt for well over an hour. It was the most heartbreaking thing that I have ever experienced in my life. The way she acted was as if I was leaving her for good and moving away. There really was no consoling her. And there really are no words to describe how much my heart was aching for her and how much I wanted to take away her pain.
I left her at my parents' house as she was crying in my mom's lap. My mood for the rest of the night was the most melancholy I have ever felt in my life. In fact, I ended up just needing time to be alone. I could no longer feel the excitement that I had been feeling to start my new job. My mood just wouldn't allow it. I started to feel this overwhelming guilt despite the fact that I knew that the kids would be okay. I ended up locking myself into the bathroom and just crying. And I...DON'T...DO...THAT! EVER!!! I never allow myself to have pity parties. It's not in my nature. But I had one last night. I was suddenly filled with flashbacks of when the kids were infants and I was trying to teach Emily to crawl. How hard I worked with her every single day just to do the most basic things that babies do on their own. I remembered how I sat day after day and watched those videos on learning the baby sign language just so I could teach it to Ethan because he had speech apraxia and couldn't even babble like a normal baby, let alone say a word. I remembered all of the times that I sat with the kids through weeks and weeks of Kindermusik classes for several years in a row and our therapists would meet us to do their therapies there. I just sat there and balled my eyes out as all of these years of memories of being a stay at home mom with my kids and actually BEING THERE for them as I have helped them navigate their way through some of the toughest obstacles of their little lives. I know that in the grand scheme of things, I am doing something that is right for me and for all of us in the long run, but it is just hard taking that step.
So, last night as the tears flowed, I closed that final chapter in my life and in my children's lives. Today I woke up and we started the new one. Guess what??? We all survived! We will get through this adjustment period and everything will work out. As far as my new job...it was a first day. That is all I'm going to say right now. Ha-ha!
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Summer Update!
So much has happened in the past month that I don't even know where to start. Ethan and Emily had their swimming lessons. Wow! What an experience that was. Emily HATED going. And I do not use the word "hate" lightly. She cried every single morning and even came up with every single ailment you could imagine as to why she couldn't participate in lessons. It was really sad and pitiful, but I knew that she needed the lessons and I knew that it was for her own good. I had a very long talk with her and explained that I wouldn't be doing her any good or doing my job as a parent if I didn't make sure that she learned how to swim. It was about safety, not about having fun. Ethan actually LOVED going and never wanted to get out of the pool when the lessons were over. Thankfully that was the case because I don't think I could have handled two of them being like Emily.
By the end of the second week, Emily was jumping off of the side of the pool into the deep end and swimming to the ladder all by herself. It was not an easy task for her, but she did it. I was very proud of her and she was proud of herself, but she obviously still had way more difficulty swimming than Ethan. I don't know if it is because of the spasticity of her muscles due to her CP or something else, but she is really stiff in the water and she has to work much harder to swim and to kick than Ethan does. I really noticed how much harder it is for her when I took her to the pool myself and worked with her on a kick board and it is like she has no core muscles in her body to hold her legs up and kick and she is just so stiff. However, she still managed to make it to the side of the pool. The best thing that came out of swimming lessons is her newfound confidence. Even though I still have to use some kind of floatie or life jacket, I no longer have to get in the water with her. She is comfortable enough now to be on her own. This is HUGE!!! Now, Ethan is doing awesome! I am am just so proud of him. He can swim now on his own and loves doing it. He has become a little fish now.
Those swimming lessons really came in handy when our cousins came in for a visit. The Cullens (from Colorado) came down as well as Aunt Debbie, Kaz and Chase. Wow! What a great time we had! We spent a few days at the Grand Hotel and really enjoyed ourselves, too. Ethan and Emily love having cousins here and they look forward to seeing them each year. And I certainly enjoyed spending that quality time with my family that I just don't get to see often enough.
Regarding my dad, things have been pretty tough lately. It is almost too complicated to post about, but I'll try. He spent Father's Day in the hospital because his heart started doing crazy things. His pulse was extremely elevated, but his blood pressure was low. Not a good mix. He spent five days in the hospital while they tried to get everything under control. Dad was put on several different kinds of blood thinners and many of his medications were changed. For obvious reasons (since he was in the hospital), his radiation had to be stopped for a little while. Well, then he started to develop this weird rash on top of everything else. It started out as just a couple small itchy patches on his back. Within a few days, the rash overtook his entire body. He was out of the hospital by then, but his heart was still not doing well. Dad's stamina has been very low and he sleeps a lot, too. Now, he stays in constant discomfort because of this full body rash that they are assuming is an allergic reaction to one of the medications they changed. His heart is still flip flopping all over the place, and he has been on high doses of steroids to combat the rash now, too. In a nutshell, Dad is not well. So what started out as just a lung mass has no progressed to the lung mass/cancer, now heart problems that aren't seeming to improve, and skin problems that are close to being considered torturous. I probably shouldn't even have to mention this part, but his mood reflects all that is going on with his body. And why wouldn't it?!?! So right now if anybody out there is of the praying sort, Dad needs them... and so does Mom!
On a very positive note, I have some good news to report. I found a job!!!!! After months and months of sending out resumes, I finally found a one. It is still sinking in actually, but I am just so excited! I will be working at a bank. And it happens to be at a branch in our town, too, so it is perfect! I love the fact that I got a job that will allow me to still have decent hours and be there for the kids and their schedule. It is going to feel so good getting back into the work force again after all of these years. I start my new job on Monday. Unfortunately tonight, Emily cried herself to sleep. She is NOT taking the news very well. I tried very hard to explain how excited I am and how it is a good thing for me and for our family, but it was all falling on deaf ears. Of course, I do understand her worries and fears and I am sympathetic towards it. I tried to compare it to her as starting the first week of school, how it is for her when she walks into a new class with a new teacher each year and she wonders how things are going to be. But before she knows it, she is in a routine, has made friends, and even finds out that she likes her teacher and likes school. I told her that once we get through the first couple of weeks of my new job, we will start to be in a routine and we will realize that things really will be okay and things will actually be better for us because I will be doing something to make our family be in a better place. Then she asked, "Do you think you will ever get laid off?" Now, why should a 7 year old ever have to worry about something like that?!?! But that is the reality of our economy and situation right now. I told her that I sure hope not, but nobody ever knows that. So, right now I have one very sad little girl on my hands. Ethan seemed to be sad, too, but he holds his feelings in. As long as he has legos and food in his life, then he is generally happy.
Please pray that Monday goes well not just for me, but for my children who have had my undivided attention for their entire lives. This is a HUGE transition.
By the end of the second week, Emily was jumping off of the side of the pool into the deep end and swimming to the ladder all by herself. It was not an easy task for her, but she did it. I was very proud of her and she was proud of herself, but she obviously still had way more difficulty swimming than Ethan. I don't know if it is because of the spasticity of her muscles due to her CP or something else, but she is really stiff in the water and she has to work much harder to swim and to kick than Ethan does. I really noticed how much harder it is for her when I took her to the pool myself and worked with her on a kick board and it is like she has no core muscles in her body to hold her legs up and kick and she is just so stiff. However, she still managed to make it to the side of the pool. The best thing that came out of swimming lessons is her newfound confidence. Even though I still have to use some kind of floatie or life jacket, I no longer have to get in the water with her. She is comfortable enough now to be on her own. This is HUGE!!! Now, Ethan is doing awesome! I am am just so proud of him. He can swim now on his own and loves doing it. He has become a little fish now.
Those swimming lessons really came in handy when our cousins came in for a visit. The Cullens (from Colorado) came down as well as Aunt Debbie, Kaz and Chase. Wow! What a great time we had! We spent a few days at the Grand Hotel and really enjoyed ourselves, too. Ethan and Emily love having cousins here and they look forward to seeing them each year. And I certainly enjoyed spending that quality time with my family that I just don't get to see often enough.
Regarding my dad, things have been pretty tough lately. It is almost too complicated to post about, but I'll try. He spent Father's Day in the hospital because his heart started doing crazy things. His pulse was extremely elevated, but his blood pressure was low. Not a good mix. He spent five days in the hospital while they tried to get everything under control. Dad was put on several different kinds of blood thinners and many of his medications were changed. For obvious reasons (since he was in the hospital), his radiation had to be stopped for a little while. Well, then he started to develop this weird rash on top of everything else. It started out as just a couple small itchy patches on his back. Within a few days, the rash overtook his entire body. He was out of the hospital by then, but his heart was still not doing well. Dad's stamina has been very low and he sleeps a lot, too. Now, he stays in constant discomfort because of this full body rash that they are assuming is an allergic reaction to one of the medications they changed. His heart is still flip flopping all over the place, and he has been on high doses of steroids to combat the rash now, too. In a nutshell, Dad is not well. So what started out as just a lung mass has no progressed to the lung mass/cancer, now heart problems that aren't seeming to improve, and skin problems that are close to being considered torturous. I probably shouldn't even have to mention this part, but his mood reflects all that is going on with his body. And why wouldn't it?!?! So right now if anybody out there is of the praying sort, Dad needs them... and so does Mom!
On a very positive note, I have some good news to report. I found a job!!!!! After months and months of sending out resumes, I finally found a one. It is still sinking in actually, but I am just so excited! I will be working at a bank. And it happens to be at a branch in our town, too, so it is perfect! I love the fact that I got a job that will allow me to still have decent hours and be there for the kids and their schedule. It is going to feel so good getting back into the work force again after all of these years. I start my new job on Monday. Unfortunately tonight, Emily cried herself to sleep. She is NOT taking the news very well. I tried very hard to explain how excited I am and how it is a good thing for me and for our family, but it was all falling on deaf ears. Of course, I do understand her worries and fears and I am sympathetic towards it. I tried to compare it to her as starting the first week of school, how it is for her when she walks into a new class with a new teacher each year and she wonders how things are going to be. But before she knows it, she is in a routine, has made friends, and even finds out that she likes her teacher and likes school. I told her that once we get through the first couple of weeks of my new job, we will start to be in a routine and we will realize that things really will be okay and things will actually be better for us because I will be doing something to make our family be in a better place. Then she asked, "Do you think you will ever get laid off?" Now, why should a 7 year old ever have to worry about something like that?!?! But that is the reality of our economy and situation right now. I told her that I sure hope not, but nobody ever knows that. So, right now I have one very sad little girl on my hands. Ethan seemed to be sad, too, but he holds his feelings in. As long as he has legos and food in his life, then he is generally happy.
Please pray that Monday goes well not just for me, but for my children who have had my undivided attention for their entire lives. This is a HUGE transition.
Friday, June 4, 2010
Summertime!!!!
I can't believe summer is here. Well, not officially, of course, but according to the school calendar it is here in full force! Ethan actually had to miss the last day of school. It was almost a dejavu of last year. The week prior he had started having some coughing and asthma issues, but no other symptoms. Things just never really got better. And then the night before the last day of school, Ethan started running a fever of 103 and coughing. I was worried that things had progressed into pneumonia by that point, but his oxygen levels were still good. Regardless, he was not going to school on the last day. He was devastated! He ended up writing a note to his teacher that I took to the school and delivered to her. It said something like "Dear Ms. L, I am going to miss you. I hope you have a good summer. I had fun in your class this year." And he signed it by drawing a heart and then signing his name. When I gave it to his teacher, she almost started crying. And then I almost started crying because I knew how much Ethan was wanting to be there on the last day of school. It was tough! When I took him to the doctor that day, the pediatrician went ahead and treated him for pneumonia because of his symptoms. He said there wasn't really a need to do the chest x-ray because he was going to treat him the same way no matter what. Plus, we were supposed to be leaving for camp in just a few days and we really needed Ethan to get well. Ethan was put on Prednisone plus a heavy duty antibiotic. Luckily, the meds did the trick and by the time we left for camp, his coughing was better and he was feeling like Superman because of the steroids.
We ended up having a wonderful time at Magic Moments Family Camp despite a few rain showers here and there. Ethan and Rob went tubing. Emily swam in the lake and played in the sand while they were tubing. The kids loved swimming in the pool. We played in the most awesome pirate tree house ever! We went boat riding. There were fun carnival games where the kids won little prizes. We had quite a competitive round of bingo. They did some arts and crafts. We rocked out and got our groove on during the evening dance. The parents got to enjoy a quiet meal without the kids during Parents Night Out / Kids Night Out. We had an amazing fireworks show! And some of the best times were when we weren't really doing much of anything at all except catching lightening bugs in the evening or eating Pop Rocks on the deck of our cabin. We are so blessed to be able to go to such an amazing camp each year. Magic Moments is truly one of the best children's charities that I've ever seen. Ethan and Emily feel like they keep getting wishes each and every year because of this wonderful camp. For those of you that may not know, Magic Moments hosts a camp each year for the wish children and their families. It is held at Children's Harbor on Lake Martin. Once you've been granted a wish, you are eligible to go to this camp each year until you turn 18. We still have many years left. And the one thing that amazes me about Ethan and Emily is that they are totally blind to children's disabilities that attend this camp. No matter the severity of the other children's issues, it made no difference to my kids. They were all just kids in their eyes! And that's the way it should be! In fact, Emily played in the sand with a little girl who had Spina Bifida and the little girl could only communicate by sign language. Even though Emily couldn't sign with her, they still managed to play together and have fun. But ever since we got home, Emily has been determined to learn to sign. She knows that they used to sign when they were infants and toddlers, but she doesn't remember the signs. She pulled out the signing DVDs I had and she has been watching them and teaching herself to sign. I also pulled out an old sign language book that I had from when I was little and gave it to her.
Also, now that school is out, I have signed the kids up for swimming lessons. They desperately need them. Their P.E. coach from school teaches the lessons and I am praying that they work for the kids. Emily is scared to death about it, too, because I won't be staying for the lesson. Ethan is more excited because he really WANTS to learn to swim. I'm hoping that these are successful because they will end just before our cousins from Colorado come for a visit. I know that we'll be swimming while they are here.
Since the kids have been out of school, they have been doing a lot of reading. Emily was reading a book that was 282 pages. She can't wait until the school library opens next week so she can go in and test on it. They can test on books all summer and they will count towards next year's AR points. I was telling Emily about some of the Beverly Cleary books. I thought that she would really enjoy reading some of those. So we went to the public library yesterday and she got two of the Ramona books. While we were there, Ethan spotted the Harry Potter books. He is such a huge HP fan and really wanted to check out one of the books. I told him he could, but I showed him how thick they were. I just didn't want him to get discouraged. It has only been very recently that he has even gotten into reading. I'd hate for him to give up on it because he got something too hard. I told him to take the book and sit down on one of the couches and read the first two pages for me. I just wanted to make sure that he didn't have any problems with the words, punctuation, comprehension, etc. He sat down and within just a minute or two he was done and said that he wanted to check it out. Well, that was yesterday, and Ethan is already on page 32 of the Harry Potter book! He got the second book in the series because the first one was checked out. He has seen all of the movies so he isn't missing the plot. He has spent so much of the day just reading. He LOVES this book. So, I sat him down this afternoon and worked out a plan with him. I first asked him how it was going and if he was having any trouble at all with any part of the book. He said he wasn't. I told him that when you read really big books like this, you have to do it in baby steps. I told him that if he can read an average of just 10 pages per day, then he can finish the book in just 34 days. I said that that would be a very good goal for him at his age. I really doubt there are many 1st graders who are reading Harry Potter. I told him how proud I was of him to be reading that book. He asked me how many AR points he would get for it and so we looked it up together. He about freaked when I told him. This book is ranked on a 6th grade level and is worth 14 AR points!!! And the really funny part about this is that when Emily heard this she FREAKED! The competition is ON!!!!
And I can't close without asking for some prayers for my dad. He started his radiation this week for his cancer. They are trying to shrink the tumor in his lung before they can do surgery to remove it. Removing it right now is just too risky and they need to try to get it to reduce in size as much as they can before doing any surgery. Please say a prayer for Lenord Roberson if you could.
We ended up having a wonderful time at Magic Moments Family Camp despite a few rain showers here and there. Ethan and Rob went tubing. Emily swam in the lake and played in the sand while they were tubing. The kids loved swimming in the pool. We played in the most awesome pirate tree house ever! We went boat riding. There were fun carnival games where the kids won little prizes. We had quite a competitive round of bingo. They did some arts and crafts. We rocked out and got our groove on during the evening dance. The parents got to enjoy a quiet meal without the kids during Parents Night Out / Kids Night Out. We had an amazing fireworks show! And some of the best times were when we weren't really doing much of anything at all except catching lightening bugs in the evening or eating Pop Rocks on the deck of our cabin. We are so blessed to be able to go to such an amazing camp each year. Magic Moments is truly one of the best children's charities that I've ever seen. Ethan and Emily feel like they keep getting wishes each and every year because of this wonderful camp. For those of you that may not know, Magic Moments hosts a camp each year for the wish children and their families. It is held at Children's Harbor on Lake Martin. Once you've been granted a wish, you are eligible to go to this camp each year until you turn 18. We still have many years left. And the one thing that amazes me about Ethan and Emily is that they are totally blind to children's disabilities that attend this camp. No matter the severity of the other children's issues, it made no difference to my kids. They were all just kids in their eyes! And that's the way it should be! In fact, Emily played in the sand with a little girl who had Spina Bifida and the little girl could only communicate by sign language. Even though Emily couldn't sign with her, they still managed to play together and have fun. But ever since we got home, Emily has been determined to learn to sign. She knows that they used to sign when they were infants and toddlers, but she doesn't remember the signs. She pulled out the signing DVDs I had and she has been watching them and teaching herself to sign. I also pulled out an old sign language book that I had from when I was little and gave it to her.
Also, now that school is out, I have signed the kids up for swimming lessons. They desperately need them. Their P.E. coach from school teaches the lessons and I am praying that they work for the kids. Emily is scared to death about it, too, because I won't be staying for the lesson. Ethan is more excited because he really WANTS to learn to swim. I'm hoping that these are successful because they will end just before our cousins from Colorado come for a visit. I know that we'll be swimming while they are here.
Since the kids have been out of school, they have been doing a lot of reading. Emily was reading a book that was 282 pages. She can't wait until the school library opens next week so she can go in and test on it. They can test on books all summer and they will count towards next year's AR points. I was telling Emily about some of the Beverly Cleary books. I thought that she would really enjoy reading some of those. So we went to the public library yesterday and she got two of the Ramona books. While we were there, Ethan spotted the Harry Potter books. He is such a huge HP fan and really wanted to check out one of the books. I told him he could, but I showed him how thick they were. I just didn't want him to get discouraged. It has only been very recently that he has even gotten into reading. I'd hate for him to give up on it because he got something too hard. I told him to take the book and sit down on one of the couches and read the first two pages for me. I just wanted to make sure that he didn't have any problems with the words, punctuation, comprehension, etc. He sat down and within just a minute or two he was done and said that he wanted to check it out. Well, that was yesterday, and Ethan is already on page 32 of the Harry Potter book! He got the second book in the series because the first one was checked out. He has seen all of the movies so he isn't missing the plot. He has spent so much of the day just reading. He LOVES this book. So, I sat him down this afternoon and worked out a plan with him. I first asked him how it was going and if he was having any trouble at all with any part of the book. He said he wasn't. I told him that when you read really big books like this, you have to do it in baby steps. I told him that if he can read an average of just 10 pages per day, then he can finish the book in just 34 days. I said that that would be a very good goal for him at his age. I really doubt there are many 1st graders who are reading Harry Potter. I told him how proud I was of him to be reading that book. He asked me how many AR points he would get for it and so we looked it up together. He about freaked when I told him. This book is ranked on a 6th grade level and is worth 14 AR points!!! And the really funny part about this is that when Emily heard this she FREAKED! The competition is ON!!!!
And I can't close without asking for some prayers for my dad. He started his radiation this week for his cancer. They are trying to shrink the tumor in his lung before they can do surgery to remove it. Removing it right now is just too risky and they need to try to get it to reduce in size as much as they can before doing any surgery. Please say a prayer for Lenord Roberson if you could.
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Big Awards
Ethan and Emily had their 1st Grade award ceremony this past week at school. I was so proud of them. Emily earned a very special trophy for reading and earning over 50 AR points. I think she had around 63 points. Out of all of the first graders (well over 200 of them), there were only 7 students who received this trophy. Emily SHOULD HAVE been very proud of herself. However, while she was on stage with her award, they made an announcement that there was one child in her grade that read over 100 points, and the look of total disgust on Emily's face almost made me laugh out loud. Talk about competitiveness. It was almost like she couldn't enjoy the moment of getting her special award because there was somebody there that read more books than her. I could just see everything that was going through her little mind while she was standing on those risers. I even had to call out to her to smile (we were sitting on the front row) so I could get a picture of her. On her way walking back to where her class was sitting, she came over so I could congratulate her and she immediately mentioned to me how the other girl got over 100 points. I told her how awesome she did and how proud I was of her, but I don't think she cared about all of that. Then I looked at her and said, "Okay, Emily, now you know who you need to beat next year and how much more you need to read." THAT was what she wanted to hear. Goodness gracious this child is competitive! And I wonder where she gets that from... Ha-ha!
As the award program continued, my pride increased. Both of the kids received the Superintendent Award, which is a medal for getting straight A's all year long. I've got to mention how great it is to see Ethan receive this award in his class. He is the only boy in his class to get straight A's. And both of the kids also received awards for receiving excellent conduct grades all year long. Ethan was so cute, though. When he got that award, you could see the look on his face like he didn't understand why he received it. As we were walking back to his room he even asked me about it. I told him it was because he has received G's all year long in conduct and is so good. He looked kind of shocked and sad, and said, "But I didn't." I said, "Well, do you want to tell your teacher and give the award back?" You see, Ethan had a rough couple of days during the first couple of weeks of school. This was before he was diagnosed with ADHD. He has had perfect conduct the entire year since then. The teacher saw Ethan's distress and she asked what the problem was and I explained his concern that he was afraid that he didn't deserve the award because he didn't earn G's all year. She kind of laughed and said that those couple of days in the beginning were forgiven because of the circumstances and he has been so good since then. So, Ethan went home with a clear conscience knowing that he really did deserve and earn his award. Ha-ha! I was also given some of the best news from Ethan's teacher. She gave Ethan a Star test to see what is his current reading level. When she started telling me, I could see how proud she was of him. Ethan tested at 3.8. Basically that means that he tested at 8 months into the 3rd grade year, so almost at a 4th grade reading level. When he started 1st grade, he was just at a 1st grade level and he has improved so much that he has jumped up several grade levels in that short of a time span. Wow! That is amazing!
I still can't believe that I almost have second graders. It seems like only yesterday when I was holding my tiny little preemies in my arms. We only have two more days left of school. Since it was the end of the year, I fulfilled a promise to Emily that I made to her a long time ago. I let her have an end of the year slumber party. It was a total last minute decision. I didn't know if we were going to be able to do it because we have had a lot of stuff going on, but we ended up not having plans this weekend and I wanted to be able to do this for her. I called her friends' moms and luckily they were all able to come. Emily was so excited!!!! Maddy, Molly, and Gracie all spent the night at our house. Those girls had a BLAST!!!!!! At first Ethan did not want to be here, but he changed his mind. He was stuck in a house with four girls and he ended up having fun, too. The kids danced and sang with Emily's Hannah Montana stage. They played in the playhouse. They ate a TON of pizza. We baked a cake. They painted their fingernails and toenails. We roller skated through the house. They just had all kinds of fun. I'm so glad that I was able to do that for Emily. I love seeing the friendships develop at this young of an age.
Next weekend is another big weekend for us. We will be heading up to Lake Martin for our annual Magic Moments Family Camp weekend. We had to miss it last year when Ethan ended up being hospitalized at the last second. We are very much looking forward to going this year!!!
As the award program continued, my pride increased. Both of the kids received the Superintendent Award, which is a medal for getting straight A's all year long. I've got to mention how great it is to see Ethan receive this award in his class. He is the only boy in his class to get straight A's. And both of the kids also received awards for receiving excellent conduct grades all year long. Ethan was so cute, though. When he got that award, you could see the look on his face like he didn't understand why he received it. As we were walking back to his room he even asked me about it. I told him it was because he has received G's all year long in conduct and is so good. He looked kind of shocked and sad, and said, "But I didn't." I said, "Well, do you want to tell your teacher and give the award back?" You see, Ethan had a rough couple of days during the first couple of weeks of school. This was before he was diagnosed with ADHD. He has had perfect conduct the entire year since then. The teacher saw Ethan's distress and she asked what the problem was and I explained his concern that he was afraid that he didn't deserve the award because he didn't earn G's all year. She kind of laughed and said that those couple of days in the beginning were forgiven because of the circumstances and he has been so good since then. So, Ethan went home with a clear conscience knowing that he really did deserve and earn his award. Ha-ha! I was also given some of the best news from Ethan's teacher. She gave Ethan a Star test to see what is his current reading level. When she started telling me, I could see how proud she was of him. Ethan tested at 3.8. Basically that means that he tested at 8 months into the 3rd grade year, so almost at a 4th grade reading level. When he started 1st grade, he was just at a 1st grade level and he has improved so much that he has jumped up several grade levels in that short of a time span. Wow! That is amazing!
I still can't believe that I almost have second graders. It seems like only yesterday when I was holding my tiny little preemies in my arms. We only have two more days left of school. Since it was the end of the year, I fulfilled a promise to Emily that I made to her a long time ago. I let her have an end of the year slumber party. It was a total last minute decision. I didn't know if we were going to be able to do it because we have had a lot of stuff going on, but we ended up not having plans this weekend and I wanted to be able to do this for her. I called her friends' moms and luckily they were all able to come. Emily was so excited!!!! Maddy, Molly, and Gracie all spent the night at our house. Those girls had a BLAST!!!!!! At first Ethan did not want to be here, but he changed his mind. He was stuck in a house with four girls and he ended up having fun, too. The kids danced and sang with Emily's Hannah Montana stage. They played in the playhouse. They ate a TON of pizza. We baked a cake. They painted their fingernails and toenails. We roller skated through the house. They just had all kinds of fun. I'm so glad that I was able to do that for Emily. I love seeing the friendships develop at this young of an age.
Next weekend is another big weekend for us. We will be heading up to Lake Martin for our annual Magic Moments Family Camp weekend. We had to miss it last year when Ethan ended up being hospitalized at the last second. We are very much looking forward to going this year!!!
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
The Race
I have to dedicate much of this blog to talk about something that has been going on for several months. I will just call it The Big Race. I can't even tell you exactly when it started, but it was probably sometime in February. Here is what it is. The "race" is a fictional race against Ethan and his daddy that is drawn on the back of Ethan's school papers. The picture is always the same with the exception of one thing, who is ahead in the race. Let me see if I can set the scene for you. It is a bright and beautiful day with the sun shining big and bright in the sky. The race takes place in the ocean and Daddy is driving a boat and is speeding along as fast as he can go down in front. Ethan is riding a surfboard and appears to be on the ride of his life with this massive wave that is carrying him across the sea. Like I said, the picture has always been the same, except on some days, Ethan was ahead and on other days, Daddy was ahead in the race. The thing is, I never mentioned to Ethan one single thing about this picture. I just casually took his school papers out of his folder and immediately turned them over to see if I would have another drawing. I often wondered how he had the time to draw such detailed artwork on the back of his school work, but I looked forward to it. A while back, when I realized that he was drawing the same picture over and over, I started saving them. I now have a collection of the race pictures. And the best one of them all came this week. I suppose he felt like he had to finally end the race since we are on the last full week of school. The picture was a two part picture. The top part shows the boat and surfboard both heading toward a beach off in the distance with a finish line in front of them. You can see that on the beach is a first place trophy and an award stand. The second part of the picture is where Ethan (the surfer) is celebrating because he won the race. Confetti is flying in the air all around him. So, after months of this ongoing race, Ethan the surfer has beaten Daddy the boater.
It is hard to even comprehend that this is the end of the school year. The kids only have 5 more days left of school. This year has flown by and I am amazed at how much my children have changed during that time. This was definitely a year of growth and maturity. I am so proud of both of them for their accomplishments. This Thursday is their award ceremony at school and we are looking forward to it.
Regarding my dad, we have had some very positive and uplifting news. He had his adrenal gland biopsy and we were very surprised with the results. The test came back NEGATIVE for cancer. The oncologist was as SHOCKED as we were. This is very promising news because it means that we are just dealing with the large mass in his lung right now. Unfortunately for Dad, though, it means another biopsy. They will have to do a needle biopsy on the mass in his lung. They still don't know exactly how to treat it until they know definitively what kind of cancer it is. That test is scheduled for Thursday morning.
As far as Rob and me and the job hunt thing, well...we're still hunting. :)
It is hard to even comprehend that this is the end of the school year. The kids only have 5 more days left of school. This year has flown by and I am amazed at how much my children have changed during that time. This was definitely a year of growth and maturity. I am so proud of both of them for their accomplishments. This Thursday is their award ceremony at school and we are looking forward to it.
Regarding my dad, we have had some very positive and uplifting news. He had his adrenal gland biopsy and we were very surprised with the results. The test came back NEGATIVE for cancer. The oncologist was as SHOCKED as we were. This is very promising news because it means that we are just dealing with the large mass in his lung right now. Unfortunately for Dad, though, it means another biopsy. They will have to do a needle biopsy on the mass in his lung. They still don't know exactly how to treat it until they know definitively what kind of cancer it is. That test is scheduled for Thursday morning.
As far as Rob and me and the job hunt thing, well...we're still hunting. :)
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Lonely Weekend
Rob has Army Drill this weekend. He has been looking forward to this particular weekend for quite a while. It is a three day drill. Friday was spent all day preparing for the big maneuver training that will take place at Camp Shelby in Mississippi. He was pretty exhausted when he got home last night, and he had to be up at 3:30am to leave this morning. He is actually one of the Humvee drivers and had to get certified and receive his license last month. Rob is a little OCD, though, and he was going crazy this week trying to prepare while he was packing his gear. He still hasn't been issued everything from the Army yet and that was bugging him more than I can even explain. I just hope the weekend goes well for him. He didn't get much sleep last night and he has a hard time functioning well when he is overtired.
This weekend also happens to be my dad's birthday. He is turning 65. My parents are gone, though, and are in Houston for the weekend. They are staying with my sister. My cousin and her daughter, Tracy and Ashley, are flying in to Houston from Colorado to be with my parents for the day and to help celebrate Dad's birthday. I am glad that Dad will have a nice birthday celebration, but I am just feeling very left out because I want to be there with him this year. I guess Dad will just have to celebrate twice! And I know he won't mind because you can never have too much cake and ice cream. :)
Dad has had more testing at the cardiologist. He had an echo as well as a stress test. We were very happy to hear that although they still see a weak spot in his heart with decreased blood flow, it has not gotten worse over the past four years. This was wonderful news. This meant that he would not require any kind of heart procedure before moving on in his treatment, whether it was surgery to remove the tumor or whatever else is required. After getting his heart cleared, we had the appointment with the oncologist. In all honesty, we had the news that I was expecting to hear. Another biopsy is needed to fully diagnosis the cancer. This time the biopsy will be done on the adrenal gland. The oncologist is thinking that this is more likely a return of the kidney cancer that Dad had 13 years go and it has spread. The oncologist does not recommend removal of the tumor in the lung. He thinks that his recommendation is going to be shooting this thing with chemo to try and shrink it down, but of course we have to get biopsy results first for confirmation.
Ethan and Emily got their progress reports this week and both are making all A's. I can't believe that we are already approaching the end of the school year. Emily is not going to handle things well when she no longer has Mrs. Watson as a teacher. In fact, her teacher had to call me the other day because Emily had a meltdown in class because the teacher had to leave to go to a meeting. Emily has become very attached to her and I couldn't have asked for anybody better to take care of her when I'm not there, especially considering how rough this year has been for her and her headaches. Emily has had more headaches lately, too, and it got a little concerning for me this week. A couple of them were doozies!
Emily had her last tennis lesson this week. She is such a little tennis pro. I love watching her play. But what I really love is watching her excitement after she hits the ball. If she hits that ball perfectly over the net, she does this little booty shakin' dance thing where she holds either her racket up in the air or just her finger and sings "Oh yeah! Uh huh! Oh yeah! Uh huh!" It is just too adorable for words. And she is giggling so much on the court that her coach is always laughing and smiling at her, too. And that girl has more confidence in herself than anything I have ever seen. For somebody who used to be so shy that she wouldn't ever talk, I am amazed at how she can get up there and just be such a natural leader.
We are so deep into baseball that it is crazy. Man, this sport takes some serious dedication!!! Two to three games every week, plus practices on top of that. And then when I have to factor in time to take him to get his weekly shots and also tennis lessons, well, life has been crazy! And here is the thing about baseball and Ethan. The boy loves it. It doesn't matter to him that every other kid on the team is practically in the major leagues compared to him, he loves it. Half of the time he throws the ball, it only goes half-way to the other person and hits the ground. I've never heard him be hard on himself, nor have I heard the other players be hard on him. If he strikes out when he bats, then he just shrugs it off and runs back to the dugout with a smile on his face. If he happens to get a hit, then you would think it was a home run whether he makes it to the base or not. The best moment of our season so far (other than when Ethan was given that game ball) was when he got a hit and made it to first base. The player after him hit and he was able to make it to third. After that, the next player hit and Ethan started running home. We thought there was a chance that he might actually score a run in the game. He was tagged out at home plate. It didn't matter, though. The best part of the whole thing was when I heard every parent sitting in the stands with us yelling Ethan's name "GO ETHAN! GO ETHAN! GO ETHAN!" It was almost enough to bring tears to my eyes. Everybody knows what a special moment that was for us and for Ethan, too. And they realize what a special boy Ethan is, but they just don't realize what all we've overcome for him to even be playing that sport. We love to watch Ethan in the outfield. He is in his own little world when he is out there. You never know what you are going to get when you watch him. Sometimes he does these "ghost pitches" as we like to call them. He just stands out there and I think he is trying to perfect his form on throwing and catching, but of course he has no ball. Other times he is dancing. There are times when he is just spinning his hat on his head. And he loves to star gaze. We joke and say that if he had his way, he would take his telescope out on the field with him. And sometimes he just picks grass. And this is one that secretly makes me smile the most. Other moms would probably go crazy and want to yell at their child to stand up, but I think back to all of the years that Ethan had a grass aversion due to his sensory issues. I love the fact that he is touching grass. I still doubt he would ever sit in it, even today, but running his hands in it is a start. So, here I am, a proud baseball mom. Yes, not the typical baseball mom that you'd usually see, but let me assure you, I couldn't be prouder of my little star-gazing outfielder!
This weekend also happens to be my dad's birthday. He is turning 65. My parents are gone, though, and are in Houston for the weekend. They are staying with my sister. My cousin and her daughter, Tracy and Ashley, are flying in to Houston from Colorado to be with my parents for the day and to help celebrate Dad's birthday. I am glad that Dad will have a nice birthday celebration, but I am just feeling very left out because I want to be there with him this year. I guess Dad will just have to celebrate twice! And I know he won't mind because you can never have too much cake and ice cream. :)
Dad has had more testing at the cardiologist. He had an echo as well as a stress test. We were very happy to hear that although they still see a weak spot in his heart with decreased blood flow, it has not gotten worse over the past four years. This was wonderful news. This meant that he would not require any kind of heart procedure before moving on in his treatment, whether it was surgery to remove the tumor or whatever else is required. After getting his heart cleared, we had the appointment with the oncologist. In all honesty, we had the news that I was expecting to hear. Another biopsy is needed to fully diagnosis the cancer. This time the biopsy will be done on the adrenal gland. The oncologist is thinking that this is more likely a return of the kidney cancer that Dad had 13 years go and it has spread. The oncologist does not recommend removal of the tumor in the lung. He thinks that his recommendation is going to be shooting this thing with chemo to try and shrink it down, but of course we have to get biopsy results first for confirmation.
Ethan and Emily got their progress reports this week and both are making all A's. I can't believe that we are already approaching the end of the school year. Emily is not going to handle things well when she no longer has Mrs. Watson as a teacher. In fact, her teacher had to call me the other day because Emily had a meltdown in class because the teacher had to leave to go to a meeting. Emily has become very attached to her and I couldn't have asked for anybody better to take care of her when I'm not there, especially considering how rough this year has been for her and her headaches. Emily has had more headaches lately, too, and it got a little concerning for me this week. A couple of them were doozies!
Emily had her last tennis lesson this week. She is such a little tennis pro. I love watching her play. But what I really love is watching her excitement after she hits the ball. If she hits that ball perfectly over the net, she does this little booty shakin' dance thing where she holds either her racket up in the air or just her finger and sings "Oh yeah! Uh huh! Oh yeah! Uh huh!" It is just too adorable for words. And she is giggling so much on the court that her coach is always laughing and smiling at her, too. And that girl has more confidence in herself than anything I have ever seen. For somebody who used to be so shy that she wouldn't ever talk, I am amazed at how she can get up there and just be such a natural leader.
We are so deep into baseball that it is crazy. Man, this sport takes some serious dedication!!! Two to three games every week, plus practices on top of that. And then when I have to factor in time to take him to get his weekly shots and also tennis lessons, well, life has been crazy! And here is the thing about baseball and Ethan. The boy loves it. It doesn't matter to him that every other kid on the team is practically in the major leagues compared to him, he loves it. Half of the time he throws the ball, it only goes half-way to the other person and hits the ground. I've never heard him be hard on himself, nor have I heard the other players be hard on him. If he strikes out when he bats, then he just shrugs it off and runs back to the dugout with a smile on his face. If he happens to get a hit, then you would think it was a home run whether he makes it to the base or not. The best moment of our season so far (other than when Ethan was given that game ball) was when he got a hit and made it to first base. The player after him hit and he was able to make it to third. After that, the next player hit and Ethan started running home. We thought there was a chance that he might actually score a run in the game. He was tagged out at home plate. It didn't matter, though. The best part of the whole thing was when I heard every parent sitting in the stands with us yelling Ethan's name "GO ETHAN! GO ETHAN! GO ETHAN!" It was almost enough to bring tears to my eyes. Everybody knows what a special moment that was for us and for Ethan, too. And they realize what a special boy Ethan is, but they just don't realize what all we've overcome for him to even be playing that sport. We love to watch Ethan in the outfield. He is in his own little world when he is out there. You never know what you are going to get when you watch him. Sometimes he does these "ghost pitches" as we like to call them. He just stands out there and I think he is trying to perfect his form on throwing and catching, but of course he has no ball. Other times he is dancing. There are times when he is just spinning his hat on his head. And he loves to star gaze. We joke and say that if he had his way, he would take his telescope out on the field with him. And sometimes he just picks grass. And this is one that secretly makes me smile the most. Other moms would probably go crazy and want to yell at their child to stand up, but I think back to all of the years that Ethan had a grass aversion due to his sensory issues. I love the fact that he is touching grass. I still doubt he would ever sit in it, even today, but running his hands in it is a start. So, here I am, a proud baseball mom. Yes, not the typical baseball mom that you'd usually see, but let me assure you, I couldn't be prouder of my little star-gazing outfielder!
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