A Taste of Crazy

It seems lately I am late for E.V.E.R.Y.T.H.I.N.G.!!!  I can't keep my head on straight! I will leave the house, get down the road and realize I left something and have to turn around or I just simply can't get out of the house on time for the life of me? On days that we have therapy, I seriously feel like I am running around the house like a crazed lunatic until the time I dash out the door. I seriously have too much going on and I'm always in a chaotic rush~ So, what do I do to add to the crazy??? Decide to homeschool my 7th grader ALONG with my 11th grader! Yes, this is a taste of my crazy...and to add another adoption... A Taste of Crazy!

Some days I feel like resigning to my bosses (AKA...my kids) =)
It's those days when I am in my chaotic rush( 6 days out of 7) when we have 3 therapies a day, Dr. visits on top of that, baseball practice for 2 hrs, grocery shopping, paying bills, cleaning house, cleaning up throw up, wiping a dirty bum, being a referee between the kids b/c all I hear is "Mom, Landen is getting on my nerves" , Landen screaming "mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, on and on and on", phone calls making f/u appts for Landen, trying to get everything ready for homeschooling 2 kids, cleaning up toilet paper in the bathroom or plunging the toilet b/c Landen just likes to take toilet paper and flush it in the potty, cleaning up cereal that Landen got out of the cupboard and decided to dump on the floor and kick it all around.. Need I go on? It's those days that I want to resign! So here is my letter of resignation~

08/14/2012
Name: Tosh Black
Position: Doer of EVERYTHING

Dear Sirs and Madam, (Lexi, Zach, and Landen)

I am writing this letter to inform you of my decision to resign from my current position. I have reached this decision after a very long prayer and after our inability to communicate effectively and my ongoing frustration as manager of this establishment (The Black's House) because of the fact that no one seems to hear a word that I say...EVER!!

I have worked for you for ..going on 17 yrs now and will continue to work for you until you can find an adequate replacement that is willing to work for free and meet your unending demands requests! (Good luck with that) I am hopeful that you will find someone that can handle the constant fits, writing on the walls, unending messes, food spills, talking back from teenagers, constant friends over at the house, and constant travel that this job requires... etc, etc, etc.

I am taking away with me some important things that I have learned from working here including how to not pull my hair out patience, almost cursing under my breath communication skills, and removing ink from the leather couch, problem solving skills.

Thank you for this opportunity to be abused serve this Company (The Blacks)

I will end this letter without saying anything else b/c One of you is pulling at my pants leg and screaming "mom, up!" and needs to be changed or fed or bathed or I need to clean up the newly spilled fruit loops on the floor!

(Before anyone gets their panties in a bunch, I don't want to resign from my job as a mom, this was meant to be sarcastic so please don't write me and tell me that I shouldn't be adopting another child if I can't handle the 3 that I already have)

Sincerely,

Mom of 3 and soon to be 4!

(No, this is not me but how I feel!)

Homeschool, back to school, baseball, therapy, vital stim, and Milkshakes!

Well this summer has really been too hot to enjoy! We've gone to the beach, we've gone to Atl to see the Braves, went to all the Allstar games that Zach played in (in 100+ degree weather) we've continued Vitalstim therapy,  OT, PT, Speech, Shriners visits, Ultrasounds, MRI's, CT's and we've eaten lots of Milkshakes (Landen's favorite!) 

Now it's time to get ready for Back to school! =(    

1. Baseball practice and games
2. VitalStim Therapy
3. OT
4. PT
5. Speech
6. Shriners and other Dr appts
7. Homeschool (Lexi) 11th grade
8. 7th graders homework and projects. I'm going to vent for a few minutes on this subject! I graduated from HS in 93' and I paid my dues doing homework and projects and I went to College and paid my dues there as well with papers, internships,etc. WHY ON EARTH do my kids have homework that I have to assist in, projects that need PARENTS to make stuff (I'm not a crafty chick so I usually have my mom help with these things) But it's not just Zach going back to school, it's me too!

ANYWAYS... An update on Landen and his therapy~

VitalStim is going well (I think). Lets just say he is tolerating it -somewhat-  We won't know if it's really helping until we have another MBS sometime late Aug.
He is graduating from Occupational Therapy at the end of August! =) 
He still has texture and sensory issues that he will ALWAYS have but he has made some huge strides and we will continue to work on those things at home.

His PT thinks Landen is "overweight".  Landen doesn't like to walk in his walker and his therapist thinks it is b/c he is getting fat and lazy. He's 2!  He has hip dysplasia as well so I know it's not easy for him to walk with one leg shorter than the other, no muscle tone in his legs (he gets weak trying to hold up all his weight) and it's not b/c he is fat. I mean he's 2 and wears a 3T and some 4T shirts... but he aint fat! =)
My boy loves him some Mcdonalds! Typically when we leave therapy Landen says "fry- ice cream" and momma gets her fat boy some fries and a milkshake!  He's had his feeding tube for 9 mos now and he use to not be able to eat anything without aspirating/choking and throwing up but since we have been doing VitalStim he hasn't thrown up nearly as much...so when Landen wants something to eat now...anything to eat.... I happily get it for him!

What else?

• He has been casted for new AFO's and we are waiting on those.
• Our Shriners visit Wednesday went well, we received results from his ultrasound, CT, and cervical spine. All were fine. His bladder doesn't hold as much as they would like BUT atleast we are still cath free! There is no damage to his kidneys so that is GREAT and his shunt is draining perfectly. Cervical spine was good, he does have a curviture but it hasn't gotten any worse. GOOD NEWS! =)

Lastly.... We are waiting to complete our HS. Our Social Worker is 99% finished with the homestudy but we have 1% left before we are completely done! Thank the good Lord! Going through this process for the second time around is even harder.  Can't wait to add some pictures of our newest addition when we finally adopt again!

That's it for now!
Will download some random pics from this summer really soon!

Yay for Monkey!

No picutres for this post b/c it would be just PLAIN gross...but......


MY BABY JUST POOPED IN THE POTTY!!!!


:)

Too stinkin' HOT to be outside

We haven't been too busy this summer. It's just too stinkin' hot to get out and have fun! Landen doesn't do well with the heat and having asthma doesn't help the situation. We went outside the other night (at almost 8pm) and we were out maybe 30 minutes cleaning out his pool and taking a wagon ride around the yard. He was pouring sweat so we went inside...about 20 minutes later....the throwing up began. He just gets over heated and then starts vommiting. Needless to say, we won't be going out until winter! :)

Other great news...

We got the results back from his MRI and he DOES NOT need the decompression surgery...yet...and we hope he won't EVER need it. Now I am just crossing my fingers that next week Shriners visit goes well. (He has CMG, CT head, Ultrasound scheduled) I'm hoping there is no reflux and we won't have to cath yet.

We FINALLY finished our homestudy through DSS minus the final fire inspection that will be completed in 2 wks. Now we can start looking through some profiles and see what that leads to! :)  Exciting and stressful time! We are ready for our family to grow again and their are SOOO many children that need loving homes. God has blessed us with 3 amazing children and we are thrilled to see what else He has in store for us.

Last but not least~ We found a speech therapist that will be coming to our house to start VITAL STIM TODAY!!! She will come 3 days a week for the Vital Stim and she'll also come for speech therapy!  This is certainly the best news we have gotten! Now I can see the future without a feeding tube! hip hip hooray! :)

Here are a few pictures of what's been going on...inside the house.

Landen likes to be "work" on his train with his tools. He basically just hammers all over! :)

Monkey LOVES to eat some grits! He makes a huge mess, but what fun is it if you don't make a mess? It just tastes so much better when messes are made!

Landen loves to "boo-boo" on the potty! Although he has never pooped in the potty, he did however pee when daddy was taking this picture...hence the big thumbs up!!! He usually sits on the potty before bath time in the am and pm. His potty training will not be like every other toddler his age. His will eventually consist of catherizing on a timed schedule. In the meantime though, we will sit him on the potty as much as he wants!

Nap time! This is where we end up both during nap time and bed time or even in the middle of the night. Who needs a bed when we have a floor :)

Sis and monkey watching tv from our bed. He sure does love his sissy!!

Allstars!!

Just want to give a little "shout out" for my baby boy Zach! He's 12 1/2 so he's not really a baby boy, but he'll always be my baby...even at 21!  Zach is really competitive, loves playing all sports, and is an all around athletic kid. He has made the allstars team the past several years and this year he passed up his vacation to NY with his dad over the 4th of July to be able to play in the Allstars games! It is a great honor to be chosen as an Allstar! Zach will also be trying out for JV baseball with the Highschool kids next year (he's only in the 7th grade). I know that this kid will be getting a scholarship to play baseball at College. (Let's hope it's with USC~ Gamecocks) :)

Way to go Zach, Moms is super duper proud of you!

B.R.A.V.E.S!!!

Me and the kids gave Ron an early Father's Day gift. He loves the Braves and Dale Murphy has ALWAYS been his hero so we thought we'd get some tickets to see the Braves PLUS they were having a concert afterwards... American Idol winner of season 10, Scotty McCreery! Lexi was super excited! Landen however, I knew would not be as excited. Landen doesn't like loud noises and he tends to freak out. I was right! I knew he would HATE it!  We took the 4 plus hr drive to Atl which wasn't bad at all for Landen. We got there,  unloaded the van with all our goodies, wheelchair, diaper bag, etc and started our way to the gates...Upon arrival Landen started crying/freakin out before we even made it through the gates...2 seconds later....V.O.M.I.T. all over the place. (embarrassing) Finally calm Landen down for a brief second, enter the gates, crying starts again. Finally, after making our way to our seats, Landen is now "semi ok", Landen wants his "wa wa". Few minutes after the Braves start, Landen is already soaked in sweat, ill from the heat, has had a cup of yummy, thickened, pediasure and  blows chunks everywhere...even splatters on the back of the chairs in front of us. (Sorry people) I apologize to the people in front of us...they leave and don't return until the very end of the game. :(
I smelled of spoiled vanilla pediasure(not a good smell) my watch had dried vomit all in the creases, I had stains of dried vomit on my shirt and shorts and  Landen was sweaty and smelled horrible and it was miserably hot!!! The rest of the family had a great time though and the girls loved Scotty McCreery! Let's just say I will not be making any more plans to see the Braves for a long time.

To make our trip even better, on the way home, a little after midnight, Ron gets a speeding ticket. Not just a little speeding ticket. AND, the Trooper was- a -Jerk!!!!!
What a terrible,horrible, sucky, wonderful trip we had!
Happy early Father's Day sweetheart!!

My security "blanket"

Most kids have either a passy (which Landen NEVER took) or they suck their thumb (which I had WISHED Landen would have done...because it is oh so stinkin' cute) or they have a special blanky that looks all ragged b/c they carry it everyhwere (Landen has never cared for any of these items) HOWEVER, his security blanket is a....... BASEBALL!  Landen has ALWAYS loved a ball...any ball. He has really grown attached to his baseball though. He takes it everywhere we go and even sleeps with it. He still loves his "moe moe" doll and still sleeps with it as well, but he HAS to have his baseball with him all day! 

So, even though Landen is not attached to a ratty little blanky that he has carried with him since birth, I guess I can deal with his "security blanky" being a baseball! :)

Zach's baseball coach gave Landen a team baseball hat the other day. Landen LOVES watching his bubba play ball and his coach has grown to like Landen (Duh, who wouldn't). Landen cheers for his bubba during the game and likes to wheel his chair over to the dugouts to give his bubba a good luck "fist bump" So, I guess it was only natural to make Landen a "part of the team" by giving him an extra team ball cap. Landen's #....16!   :)

Gosh, i love this kid!