I hope that you all had a great time with your families over the holidays. We ended up spending the entire Christmas weekend with my in-laws. Which truth be told is not a bad thing. I love all of my in-laws. Some more then others, but at least I can proudly say I love and get a long with them. ;)
This weekend proved to be really tough on our kids though. It was total chaos Saturday night when 8 out of the 10 grandchildren were over (but how can you expect anything less when 6 of the 10 grand kids are 6 and under?) Gordon has alot harder time dealing with everything then we thought. He had several huge meltdowns on Christmas day, which caused us to leave one of the relatives house early. I couldn't torture everyone by his screaming and crying the entire time now could I? Hopefully next year will be better. This coming weekend we will have Christmas with my side of the family, provide that my mother is well up to it.
Kids even though they were really, and I mean REALLY trying this year, were over all very good. Santa gave the kids several of the things they really truly wanted this year. So that's always a good thing. Kids have had it tough today, because everyone was thrown off their routines this past weekend....then again aren't they always thrown off when one goes to grandma's house? hehehe. So even though it's Christmas break, we'll have to make sure the routines stick.
I hope everyone was blessed as well with Santa.
Monday, December 26, 2011
Thursday, December 1, 2011
The Johnson Christmas Letter
Merry Christmas to everyone as 2011 comes to a close!!!
This year has been a very turbulent year for the Johnson family. Honestly- I'm very glad this year is coming to an end. Jessie and I have had a really hard last 2 years saying good-bye to several close and dear loved ones. Granted GOD gave them long lives, but it was so hard to see them go back to the Heavenly Father. At least He has given us peace, knowing that these people will never be hurting any more. Prayers that this year will be a much happier year and that we do not see anyone going home just yet to the Heavenly Father.
Dawn is still in middle school, loving her new school. She had to leave her old one due to bullying. She is soaring both social and academically at this new school. We are so proud of her, it's been great to see her personality blossom at times. Dawn also received some very important diagnosis' which has explained alot of her quirks, her struggles both socially and academically. We look forward to things improving for her. Dawn also finally found a sport that she loves and is really good at. I'm so glad, that we can finally draw her away from the indoor side of life.
Spencer join his sister in the ranks of middle school. I think as his momma, I was much more anxious about him starting then he was. But the staff were ready and had steps in place to help with his disabilities. So far he seems to be doing well and holding his own. He loves being in 6th grade. He's officially in Boy Scouts this year. I'm so glad that we stuck it out with all the disorganization and chaos the cub scouts were, he's been soaring this year. He even found a uniform material that he can handle sensory-wise. YAY!!! He loves his Wednesday night reglion class and looks forward to joining the youth group next year.
Cyril started preschool this year. He LOVES it!!! Due to where his birthday falls, we got the chance to choose to send him to Kindergarten this year or wait. We chose to wait another year, due to him telling the Kindergarten screeners "No thank you, I do not want to do that today." lol. It showed his dad and I that he wasn't quite ready yet. This year he's been flourishing in preschool and is leading the class in some areas as well. But I think I'll still have a really hard time when he starts Kindergaten next year like I did, the older two started.
Gordon - It's hard to believe that Gordon has his 1st birthday this year. And the best gift he gave us so far was walking on his birthday. I'm secretly going to throw a HUGE bash if he ever decides to sleep thru the night. It's been a long 18 months...but I've never heard of person not ever sleeping thru the night. So we will get there. lol. He continues to surprise us not only how smart he is, but also how sensitive he is to things. So even though it's been a blessing to have him here with us, it's been a challenge at times too. The joke has been around the Johnson household, that he's hit the terrible 2's early. Heaven help us when he does hit them.
Jessie still works for BNSF and loves almost every minute of it. He misses the times when he can't be close to us, but we understand that it allows me to stay at home with the kids. For now I've had to put my daycare business on hold due to the needs all 4 kids have. But honestly that's okay, because it's enabled me to be there for the older 3 in their classrooms through out the school year so far, and to take them to necessary appointments. The kids and I are still very active in our church community which has been a big blessing watching the kids develop their strength and personal relationship with GOD.
I pray that GOD blesses and keeps you all in HIS arms while this year comes to a close and through-out the new year.
The Johnsons
This year has been a very turbulent year for the Johnson family. Honestly- I'm very glad this year is coming to an end. Jessie and I have had a really hard last 2 years saying good-bye to several close and dear loved ones. Granted GOD gave them long lives, but it was so hard to see them go back to the Heavenly Father. At least He has given us peace, knowing that these people will never be hurting any more. Prayers that this year will be a much happier year and that we do not see anyone going home just yet to the Heavenly Father.
Dawn is still in middle school, loving her new school. She had to leave her old one due to bullying. She is soaring both social and academically at this new school. We are so proud of her, it's been great to see her personality blossom at times. Dawn also received some very important diagnosis' which has explained alot of her quirks, her struggles both socially and academically. We look forward to things improving for her. Dawn also finally found a sport that she loves and is really good at. I'm so glad, that we can finally draw her away from the indoor side of life.
Spencer join his sister in the ranks of middle school. I think as his momma, I was much more anxious about him starting then he was. But the staff were ready and had steps in place to help with his disabilities. So far he seems to be doing well and holding his own. He loves being in 6th grade. He's officially in Boy Scouts this year. I'm so glad that we stuck it out with all the disorganization and chaos the cub scouts were, he's been soaring this year. He even found a uniform material that he can handle sensory-wise. YAY!!! He loves his Wednesday night reglion class and looks forward to joining the youth group next year.
Cyril started preschool this year. He LOVES it!!! Due to where his birthday falls, we got the chance to choose to send him to Kindergarten this year or wait. We chose to wait another year, due to him telling the Kindergarten screeners "No thank you, I do not want to do that today." lol. It showed his dad and I that he wasn't quite ready yet. This year he's been flourishing in preschool and is leading the class in some areas as well. But I think I'll still have a really hard time when he starts Kindergaten next year like I did, the older two started.
Gordon - It's hard to believe that Gordon has his 1st birthday this year. And the best gift he gave us so far was walking on his birthday. I'm secretly going to throw a HUGE bash if he ever decides to sleep thru the night. It's been a long 18 months...but I've never heard of person not ever sleeping thru the night. So we will get there. lol. He continues to surprise us not only how smart he is, but also how sensitive he is to things. So even though it's been a blessing to have him here with us, it's been a challenge at times too. The joke has been around the Johnson household, that he's hit the terrible 2's early. Heaven help us when he does hit them.
Jessie still works for BNSF and loves almost every minute of it. He misses the times when he can't be close to us, but we understand that it allows me to stay at home with the kids. For now I've had to put my daycare business on hold due to the needs all 4 kids have. But honestly that's okay, because it's enabled me to be there for the older 3 in their classrooms through out the school year so far, and to take them to necessary appointments. The kids and I are still very active in our church community which has been a big blessing watching the kids develop their strength and personal relationship with GOD.
I pray that GOD blesses and keeps you all in HIS arms while this year comes to a close and through-out the new year.
The Johnsons
Friday, October 28, 2011
Social Worker
We had a nice visit with Spencer's social worker yesterday. It's a catch 22 in having one, we got one NOT because we've done anything wrong, but because with one of the programs that Spencer is doing they have to have a "case" worker aka a social worker to monitor his status. The blessing of having her is that, she's been a wealth of information. She was able to give us some more information in regards to the clinics that we were on waiting lists for Dawn. I also have really appreciated her, since trying to get a meeting set up to review Spencer's IEP. So I'm learning that not all social workers are bad. :)
We've been waiting and fighting with the middle school to get a meeting set up. You are supposed to have a meeting 6 weeks after the school year has started to make sure that everything is working, to just check in and etc when your child has an IEP...it's a federal thing. The interesting thing is, they aren't returning her phone calls either. Just like parents don't want to get a social worker mad/annoyed...schools shouldn't either. lol. So she's been helping me in trying to get this meeting set up. It's interesting the school is avoiding me...you'd think after all that happened with Dawn last year they'd be a little more quick to answer my darn questions. If this continues it makes one think they are unable to meet Spencer's needs as well, not ONLY will we pull Spencer from this school district, but the 2 younger boys will NOT be attending this school district. If you can't meet the basic needs of someone like Spencer - How the hell are you meeting the needs of "normal" kids effectively? It's not like Spencer has Down's or Autism...which honestly depending on the degree can be pretty tough. His needs are pretty basic...similar to learning disabilities. sigh.
Well it will be interesting in the coming weeks how they handle our social worker. And see how things are going...because Spencer is starting to have a few cases of bullying - thankfully he's blessed with some good friends...at least in the sense that they stick up and protect him. One boy bullied Spencer the other day at pick time. Then the next day Spencer told these 4 boys and they confronted the 8th grader. Whose says things can be accomplished in numbers? But we'll see if this kid stays away from my son...otherwise this MOMMA bear will be coming out to protect another one of her cubs at this darn school. But he's also struggling grade wise and I'm concerned...I thought they were gonna help him....it doesn't seem like they are.
We've been waiting and fighting with the middle school to get a meeting set up. You are supposed to have a meeting 6 weeks after the school year has started to make sure that everything is working, to just check in and etc when your child has an IEP...it's a federal thing. The interesting thing is, they aren't returning her phone calls either. Just like parents don't want to get a social worker mad/annoyed...schools shouldn't either. lol. So she's been helping me in trying to get this meeting set up. It's interesting the school is avoiding me...you'd think after all that happened with Dawn last year they'd be a little more quick to answer my darn questions. If this continues it makes one think they are unable to meet Spencer's needs as well, not ONLY will we pull Spencer from this school district, but the 2 younger boys will NOT be attending this school district. If you can't meet the basic needs of someone like Spencer - How the hell are you meeting the needs of "normal" kids effectively? It's not like Spencer has Down's or Autism...which honestly depending on the degree can be pretty tough. His needs are pretty basic...similar to learning disabilities. sigh.
Well it will be interesting in the coming weeks how they handle our social worker. And see how things are going...because Spencer is starting to have a few cases of bullying - thankfully he's blessed with some good friends...at least in the sense that they stick up and protect him. One boy bullied Spencer the other day at pick time. Then the next day Spencer told these 4 boys and they confronted the 8th grader. Whose says things can be accomplished in numbers? But we'll see if this kid stays away from my son...otherwise this MOMMA bear will be coming out to protect another one of her cubs at this darn school. But he's also struggling grade wise and I'm concerned...I thought they were gonna help him....it doesn't seem like they are.
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Just Keep Swimming, Just Keep Swimming...
"Just Keep Swimming, Just Keep Swimming."A friend just told me that sentence recently. If you are a parent of a child under the age of 10 years old whether physical or at heart you remember Dory from the movie Nemo. But there are times when you can't. There are times in a person's life, when it's hard to do that. When you are drowning and there's nothing you can do to fix it?
Picture a woman that's in the water, her life raft as tipped over. In the distance she see's her refuge, but no matter how hard she swims the waves keep taking her further and further away from that refuge. Then when you add her "weights", her grown-up responsibilities(taking care of a house, family, job, or etc.) it becomes harder to keep swimming. Then if one of "weights" has an extra challenge because of their special needs it becomes even harder to swim and to not just let the waves carry her away.
There are times where she just sits and tread water because she's not sure of which direction to go (Does she continue to fight against the waves to get to her refuge? OR Does she just give up and )But the longer she treads water the harder these directions are to figure out. AND then right now with the season of life that she's going thru the waves are getting BIGGER and BIGGER to try to swim against. Right now she's been hit by some big ones, and she can't seem to find where the surface of the water is. It's getting harder and harder to try. She doesn't want to just give up and let her "air" disappear because by giving up she'd totally fail her children and her husband...but then again she's so tired of trying to reach the surface, that she just wants to stop...for awhile...what's the answer?
Just wish GOD would answer her prayers sometimes.
God Bless
Picture a woman that's in the water, her life raft as tipped over. In the distance she see's her refuge, but no matter how hard she swims the waves keep taking her further and further away from that refuge. Then when you add her "weights", her grown-up responsibilities(taking care of a house, family, job, or etc.) it becomes harder to keep swimming. Then if one of "weights" has an extra challenge because of their special needs it becomes even harder to swim and to not just let the waves carry her away.
There are times where she just sits and tread water because she's not sure of which direction to go (Does she continue to fight against the waves to get to her refuge? OR Does she just give up and )But the longer she treads water the harder these directions are to figure out. AND then right now with the season of life that she's going thru the waves are getting BIGGER and BIGGER to try to swim against. Right now she's been hit by some big ones, and she can't seem to find where the surface of the water is. It's getting harder and harder to try. She doesn't want to just give up and let her "air" disappear because by giving up she'd totally fail her children and her husband...but then again she's so tired of trying to reach the surface, that she just wants to stop...for awhile...what's the answer?
Just wish GOD would answer her prayers sometimes.
God Bless
Monday, September 26, 2011
Asperger's
My mother has always thought that Dawn has Asperger's since she was a very small girl (about the age of 3), I never really listened to her about it. And then about 5 years ago, Dawn was diagnosed with ADHD with anxiety. I didn't put her on medication because she wasn't showing signs at school where it was interfering in things. Her teachers agreed that she didn't need meds. Well as time has gone on, she would do stuff that made me quietly think this isn't ADHD - I've never done this (I have ADHD) and I don't know anyone that does this either.This is something more. Mom would insist that the doctor got the diagnosis wrong and that it was Asperger's. I told her no, I asked the doctor who diagnosed Dawn if she was the spectrum. The doctor was very firm about that and said No she doesn't. So I believed her.
Well -Dawn has been struggling in school BIG time since then, she has always struggled with friends, social cues and the list goes on and on. I've been trying to get her to be placed on ADHD meds, thinking that the "wall" that ALL of us with ADHD struggle with had finally hit. Well now it was her doctors struggling and dragging their feet about placing her on it. Recently this past summer my uncle who I loved and respect agrees with my mom that Dawn has Asperger's. They told me to go to some website and read the definition about it. I compared it with what they had for a definition of ADHD. I was stunned. The definition of ADHD fit but not really. Then I went to the Asperger's one and I remember sitting there in the quiet of the night just being stunned, and quietly crying because reading it- was like they had been in my home her ENTIRE life. How could this had been missed?
So I did some more reading and researching, checked out some books and realized more and more that this is what we are probably looking at. So I called her peds. doctor - he told me that we needed to have a referral to the local ASD clinic or Autism Spectrum Disorder clinic. We were looking at a 12-18 month waiting list. So now we contacted two other clinics and we're on all three waiting lists. Her peds. doctor saw Dawn for something else recently and did a "loose" diagnosis....meaning it's a series of questions that they ask and etc. If it meets those qualifications then we go on to have the official diagnosis. He said that he's glad I didn't wait till he saw her and that I had placed her on the waiting lists, because he feels that she does have Asperger's. I have never felt so alone in my life!
Jessie doesn't want to accept that she has this, but he's quietly starting to agree too. Everything is starting to fall into place. There's a book that we are reading that answers parent's questions about Asperger's and it's like they wrote this book all about my Dawn!!! Again how come this was missed? I get mad because all the reading I do about ASD talks about early intervention making the difference and the older they get the harder it is for therapies and resources to make a difference for them. Have we missed this window?
So what do we do now? We still patiently wait for her name to come up on the waiting lists. We go through the minefields of emotions that she has. The daily rollar coasters of emotions can be sooo exhausting between her and Spencer's special needs is a lot. I've joined a support group online of parents that have children with ASD or children with Asperger's. They have been helping me alot not feel so alone, and to understand what's going on and what will be coming. And I just found out that normal teenage hormonal development becomes a HUGE rollar coaster for "Aspies". When they are having great days, they are really really great and when they are having rotten days, they are really rotten. GGGRRREEEAAATTT! Can we say already going through that? :-\
It explains soo much guys about our Dawn...including why she is soo OBSESSED about animals (mainly 1 or 2 in particular), why she has almost NO empathy (which we couldn't understand -because the middle two boys do), and the list goes on. Now on top of her dyslexia (which we also found out this summer about - again - why the hell wasn't this caught?) it's looking like she has Asperger's too.
oy vey!
GOD only gives you what you can handle with HIS help...but I truly wish he didn't trust me ( & Jessie ) so much.
GOD Bless ~
Well -Dawn has been struggling in school BIG time since then, she has always struggled with friends, social cues and the list goes on and on. I've been trying to get her to be placed on ADHD meds, thinking that the "wall" that ALL of us with ADHD struggle with had finally hit. Well now it was her doctors struggling and dragging their feet about placing her on it. Recently this past summer my uncle who I loved and respect agrees with my mom that Dawn has Asperger's. They told me to go to some website and read the definition about it. I compared it with what they had for a definition of ADHD. I was stunned. The definition of ADHD fit but not really. Then I went to the Asperger's one and I remember sitting there in the quiet of the night just being stunned, and quietly crying because reading it- was like they had been in my home her ENTIRE life. How could this had been missed?
So I did some more reading and researching, checked out some books and realized more and more that this is what we are probably looking at. So I called her peds. doctor - he told me that we needed to have a referral to the local ASD clinic or Autism Spectrum Disorder clinic. We were looking at a 12-18 month waiting list. So now we contacted two other clinics and we're on all three waiting lists. Her peds. doctor saw Dawn for something else recently and did a "loose" diagnosis....meaning it's a series of questions that they ask and etc. If it meets those qualifications then we go on to have the official diagnosis. He said that he's glad I didn't wait till he saw her and that I had placed her on the waiting lists, because he feels that she does have Asperger's. I have never felt so alone in my life!
Jessie doesn't want to accept that she has this, but he's quietly starting to agree too. Everything is starting to fall into place. There's a book that we are reading that answers parent's questions about Asperger's and it's like they wrote this book all about my Dawn!!! Again how come this was missed? I get mad because all the reading I do about ASD talks about early intervention making the difference and the older they get the harder it is for therapies and resources to make a difference for them. Have we missed this window?
So what do we do now? We still patiently wait for her name to come up on the waiting lists. We go through the minefields of emotions that she has. The daily rollar coasters of emotions can be sooo exhausting between her and Spencer's special needs is a lot. I've joined a support group online of parents that have children with ASD or children with Asperger's. They have been helping me alot not feel so alone, and to understand what's going on and what will be coming. And I just found out that normal teenage hormonal development becomes a HUGE rollar coaster for "Aspies". When they are having great days, they are really really great and when they are having rotten days, they are really rotten. GGGRRREEEAAATTT! Can we say already going through that? :-\
It explains soo much guys about our Dawn...including why she is soo OBSESSED about animals (mainly 1 or 2 in particular), why she has almost NO empathy (which we couldn't understand -because the middle two boys do), and the list goes on. Now on top of her dyslexia (which we also found out this summer about - again - why the hell wasn't this caught?) it's looking like she has Asperger's too.
oy vey!
GOD only gives you what you can handle with HIS help...but I truly wish he didn't trust me ( & Jessie ) so much.
GOD Bless ~
Friday, February 11, 2011
Time Flies!!!
Oh My Goodness, has time flown by. Things have been super busy around the Johnson household. Both good and bad. Being a mother of 4 has shown me, how super busy life gets....I really wonder how families larger then us, get everything done in a day. So Anywho- I'll do a brief summary of what we've been doing since Thanksgiving. LOL!!! Starting with youngest to oldest. :)
Gordon - is almost 9 months old already. He's been crawling since November, and boy is he a fast! You have to watch all the danger zones around him. We have to make sure the gate to downstairs is gated at ALL times, or he makes a b-line for those stairs. We've had to make a temporary gate to the upstairs, otherwise he watches his siblings go up the stairs and before you know he's up there too. With how steep these stairs are he'd either kill himself, or we'd end up with another child with a TBI. Don't want either one of those. Hopefully this spring we'll put more of a permanent gate going upstairs like we have to the downstairs ones. He's currently cruising along the furniture, and twice has taken a couple of steps. He's getting closer everyday to walking and if the older 3 have a say, he'll be walking by April. Heaven help us all if that happens. lol. I DO NOT want a 9 month old walking...not ready for that. He now has his bottom 2 teeth, and is currently working on his top 2, which makes nursing a fun occasion...mmm...not so much. But we'll make it thru, just like I did with Cyril...well I hope we do. We are currently still Gluten and Dairy free, due to Gordon and my allergies. Gordon doesn't look like he's going to be growing out of the dairy allergy anytime soon. :(
Cyril-Is 4.5yrs old already, and he's a little pistol. As I have said before God did not make him a red head for nothing. He sure at times lives up to that stereo type, but his parents are showing him, quickly how using that temper, in a negative way gets him into trouble. lol. He is still pretty shy, I can't remember if I've shared about his love/hate relationship with preschool? Well that's still going on. He HATES the actually leaving to go to preschool, but seems to love being there. He'd much rather be at home with me, and me teaching him. But we'll see. He's so smart!! He problem solves so quickly it's really neat to watch him do that. He's still my little cuddle bug, but for how much longer, I'm not sure.
Spencer - Is doing okay. 5th grade has been really tough for him on all levels. And we are now starting to get school involved in ways that, I don't appreciate. Spencer is late to school on a weekly basis, due to his tantrums that he has about various things. The school is threatening to involve social services, which little do they know, is already involved. We (meaning Jessie and I) have gotten them involved, to see if we can get more targeted services for him, because school honestly isn't really doing it for him, nor can they thanks to budget cuts by the federal government. They can only do so much, which is fine. I'm just getting tired of all the promises and not the follow thru. The window to help him, is slowly closing. Plus with insurance the way it is, we have limited resources in the area, that he can go to, all of whom have HUGE waiting lists, so I've been fighting with insurance to get a referral to people outside the area if need be. We all know how insurance people are. sigh. We have a meeting this month to update his IEP, and everyone will be there, wonder how THAT is going to go. We'll see.
Dawn - Is also doing okay. Somethings have come in her life that are proving very difficult for her. This year and the coming years are going to be a huge transition for her and us as a family. 7th grade has been very difficult for her, much more then what I thought. Not to mention how tough it was for me, dealing with her transitioning officially into the teen years. It's really hard thinking of my baby girl as a teenager - where has all the time gone? No more tea parties, no more frilly dresses, or playing dress up in my clothes. Now it's friends, and boyfriends (well 1 boyfriend). We are still looking at different school options since she is still really struggling in school. How on earth do we (Jessie and I) her parents pick the right choice for her? Public school (stay in the same one or a different one)? Private Christian school(there are 2 which we are looking at - 1 is SUPER strict and the other one isn't.)? OR do we homeschool her? We are getting closer to that final decision. Hopefully God will answer my prayers and show us the right decision.
So as far as the Johnson children, that's what's been going on in their lives since Thanksgiving. I won't bore you the details of the comings/goings of Jessie and I.
God Bless~
Gordon - is almost 9 months old already. He's been crawling since November, and boy is he a fast! You have to watch all the danger zones around him. We have to make sure the gate to downstairs is gated at ALL times, or he makes a b-line for those stairs. We've had to make a temporary gate to the upstairs, otherwise he watches his siblings go up the stairs and before you know he's up there too. With how steep these stairs are he'd either kill himself, or we'd end up with another child with a TBI. Don't want either one of those. Hopefully this spring we'll put more of a permanent gate going upstairs like we have to the downstairs ones. He's currently cruising along the furniture, and twice has taken a couple of steps. He's getting closer everyday to walking and if the older 3 have a say, he'll be walking by April. Heaven help us all if that happens. lol. I DO NOT want a 9 month old walking...not ready for that. He now has his bottom 2 teeth, and is currently working on his top 2, which makes nursing a fun occasion...mmm...not so much. But we'll make it thru, just like I did with Cyril...well I hope we do. We are currently still Gluten and Dairy free, due to Gordon and my allergies. Gordon doesn't look like he's going to be growing out of the dairy allergy anytime soon. :(
Cyril-Is 4.5yrs old already, and he's a little pistol. As I have said before God did not make him a red head for nothing. He sure at times lives up to that stereo type, but his parents are showing him, quickly how using that temper, in a negative way gets him into trouble. lol. He is still pretty shy, I can't remember if I've shared about his love/hate relationship with preschool? Well that's still going on. He HATES the actually leaving to go to preschool, but seems to love being there. He'd much rather be at home with me, and me teaching him. But we'll see. He's so smart!! He problem solves so quickly it's really neat to watch him do that. He's still my little cuddle bug, but for how much longer, I'm not sure.
Spencer - Is doing okay. 5th grade has been really tough for him on all levels. And we are now starting to get school involved in ways that, I don't appreciate. Spencer is late to school on a weekly basis, due to his tantrums that he has about various things. The school is threatening to involve social services, which little do they know, is already involved. We (meaning Jessie and I) have gotten them involved, to see if we can get more targeted services for him, because school honestly isn't really doing it for him, nor can they thanks to budget cuts by the federal government. They can only do so much, which is fine. I'm just getting tired of all the promises and not the follow thru. The window to help him, is slowly closing. Plus with insurance the way it is, we have limited resources in the area, that he can go to, all of whom have HUGE waiting lists, so I've been fighting with insurance to get a referral to people outside the area if need be. We all know how insurance people are. sigh. We have a meeting this month to update his IEP, and everyone will be there, wonder how THAT is going to go. We'll see.
Dawn - Is also doing okay. Somethings have come in her life that are proving very difficult for her. This year and the coming years are going to be a huge transition for her and us as a family. 7th grade has been very difficult for her, much more then what I thought. Not to mention how tough it was for me, dealing with her transitioning officially into the teen years. It's really hard thinking of my baby girl as a teenager - where has all the time gone? No more tea parties, no more frilly dresses, or playing dress up in my clothes. Now it's friends, and boyfriends (well 1 boyfriend). We are still looking at different school options since she is still really struggling in school. How on earth do we (Jessie and I) her parents pick the right choice for her? Public school (stay in the same one or a different one)? Private Christian school(there are 2 which we are looking at - 1 is SUPER strict and the other one isn't.)? OR do we homeschool her? We are getting closer to that final decision. Hopefully God will answer my prayers and show us the right decision.
So as far as the Johnson children, that's what's been going on in their lives since Thanksgiving. I won't bore you the details of the comings/goings of Jessie and I.
God Bless~
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Gordon - 6 months
As far as weight stats, we'll find out on Monday how he's doing, but I can tell you as far as weight goes, he won't be going off the charts for it that's for sure. But as far as developmental milestones he's doing very well...it's been a very busy month for this little guy. At the end of October, he realized the advantages of rolling around the room, and became fast at that quite quickly. Since the end of September, he's been pushing him self backwards, almost army crawl like. Also at the end of October he also started getting on all 4, and rocking it's only been recently that he started pushing himself backwards on all 4's so it won't be long that he's actually on all 4's crawling. This past month, we've seen him go from rolling around the room for a few weeks, to realizing that if he army crawls it's faster. So depending on how quickly he wanted something he'd do one of each. The living room is no longer safe from him, nor are the kids toys if left downstairs. He's getting really close to crawling forwards on all 4's. He hasn't quite put together yet, that as you move a knee a hand needs to move forward too, so he face plants and gets all mad. He has gotten really good at sitting up by himself in the last 2 weeks. Boy, doesn't he babble...it's been so adorable. He loves to "talk" to you.
He also started this month on rice cereal & fruits/veggies, he loves it, we started this month, since he's been trying to swipe at people's food. Guess he really wants the food huh? lol. With his sensitive tummy, we've been talking it nice and slow. Even though he wants more and more, his tummy shows us, that he's not ready for all that he wants to eat. So as for now, he's getting rice cereal with a fruit/veggie at night and breastmilk the rest of the time. He still doesn't take a bottle, but if wanting to drink out of people's cups more and more. So I've been thinking of trying a sippy cup, and bypassing the bottle stage all together. :) So as you can see it's been a very busy month for this little guy, even on top of battling a cold.
God Bless
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Voting Day and....
Ironically enough on this very day 11years ago, I missed voting day for a VERY important reason. Spencer was born. I had complications from about 32 weeks on in that pregnancy, and he was determined to arrive early. He was due November 25th of that year, but came 3.5 weeks early, all 7lb 13 oz. My best friend Liz who was supposed to be my labor coach didn't make it in time, he came so quickly.
It's hard to believe the bumpy journey that we've had these last 11years. I know that the Lord is holding our hands as we travel on this journey, but there are many times, especially when it comes to Spencer, that I would LOVE if the Lord would give me just a sneak peak as to what's coming down the road for him, are we making the right decisions for him, and if his life will get any easier. No mother wants her child's life to be filled with obstacles and difficulties, but alas I worry that's what it will be for him. He has hit a big road block as far as schooling goes, and we are starting to look at homeschooling more as an option for both him and his sister Dawn. Lord has been giving me a lot of great feed back in regards to that, providing resources for me, and giving me the not so quiet shove into that direction. I honestly am starting to feel that would be the best option for the two of them...but we shall see.
Spencer will have a small party to celebrate turning a 11 years old. They will go to the movies and have the party there...this will be interesting.
Happy Birthday Spencer!!! The two of us will be going to breakfast soon, to celebrate his birthday, just like I did with Dawn when it was her birthday earlier this year.
It's hard to believe the bumpy journey that we've had these last 11years. I know that the Lord is holding our hands as we travel on this journey, but there are many times, especially when it comes to Spencer, that I would LOVE if the Lord would give me just a sneak peak as to what's coming down the road for him, are we making the right decisions for him, and if his life will get any easier. No mother wants her child's life to be filled with obstacles and difficulties, but alas I worry that's what it will be for him. He has hit a big road block as far as schooling goes, and we are starting to look at homeschooling more as an option for both him and his sister Dawn. Lord has been giving me a lot of great feed back in regards to that, providing resources for me, and giving me the not so quiet shove into that direction. I honestly am starting to feel that would be the best option for the two of them...but we shall see.
Spencer will have a small party to celebrate turning a 11 years old. They will go to the movies and have the party there...this will be interesting.
Happy Birthday Spencer!!! The two of us will be going to breakfast soon, to celebrate his birthday, just like I did with Dawn when it was her birthday earlier this year.
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Long 2 weeks.
Last week and this week will have been very long for us. Last Saturday, Jessie's grandfather passed away. He had been sick off and on for the 10 years that we've been together. So it was a mixed blessing with his passing. I'm not sure for Jessie or members of his family, but for me it brings me comfort knowing what a strong relationship with our Lord Jesus - his grandfather had. My heart breaks though that Jessie wasn't able to say good-bye to his grandfather before his passing. We had gotten word earlier the week before that Grandpa Johnson's health was failing, and that he didn't have much time left. Then on Friday, we got word that he would not make it Thur the night, let alone the weekend. Unfortunately Jessie was working out of town/state so he didn't get back till later in the evening. By that point Grandpa Johnson had been put to sleep, so Jessie didn't want to disturb him. So Jessie would leave very early the next morning to see grandpa, but he never got a chance. He died the next morning.
We had hoped that the funeral would be either Monday or Tuesday but it ended up being later in the week, which meant that Jessie was unable to attend. My mom was wonderful in coming with me and Gordon, so that I could attend the funeral, pay my respects and support my in-laws.
That very night that Grandpa Johnson took a turn for the worst, my grandma took a turn for the worst and was readmitted into the hospital. About a month or so go - my mom, Gordon and I traveled to go see her when she was in the hospital the last time. We had been told that she wasn't going to make it, and to be honest she didn't want too. Her husband has been gone for over 30 years and she was ready to go. She was dying from cancer and there wasn't much they could do, especially at her age. But one of her children wasn't ready to let her go, found doctors to help her in sustaining Grandma. SO it's been rough on Grandma and everyone around her watching her being in pain.
Sadly this afternoon, she passed away. I'm so thankful that my aunt and uncle were there with her. She didn't die alone. My uncle Steve said that was a little strange being in the room as she died though, I could only imagine. I feel blessed and thankful to have had such a wonderful lady in my life and to be able to call her Grandma. The kids have been a little unruly today, but I think that's normal for kids to take advantage when their parent's minds are elsewhere. They are also excited at the thought of being out of school for several days. The older 2 have grown up with Grandma, and have asked to go to her funeral. I'm not sure how it will go having all 4 of the children, but I feel that it will be okay, much to the disagreement of others.
May God bless us, and give us all strength during this tough time, as we mourn the loss of dearly loved family members.
God Bless
Carlena
We had hoped that the funeral would be either Monday or Tuesday but it ended up being later in the week, which meant that Jessie was unable to attend. My mom was wonderful in coming with me and Gordon, so that I could attend the funeral, pay my respects and support my in-laws.
That very night that Grandpa Johnson took a turn for the worst, my grandma took a turn for the worst and was readmitted into the hospital. About a month or so go - my mom, Gordon and I traveled to go see her when she was in the hospital the last time. We had been told that she wasn't going to make it, and to be honest she didn't want too. Her husband has been gone for over 30 years and she was ready to go. She was dying from cancer and there wasn't much they could do, especially at her age. But one of her children wasn't ready to let her go, found doctors to help her in sustaining Grandma. SO it's been rough on Grandma and everyone around her watching her being in pain.
Sadly this afternoon, she passed away. I'm so thankful that my aunt and uncle were there with her. She didn't die alone. My uncle Steve said that was a little strange being in the room as she died though, I could only imagine. I feel blessed and thankful to have had such a wonderful lady in my life and to be able to call her Grandma. The kids have been a little unruly today, but I think that's normal for kids to take advantage when their parent's minds are elsewhere. They are also excited at the thought of being out of school for several days. The older 2 have grown up with Grandma, and have asked to go to her funeral. I'm not sure how it will go having all 4 of the children, but I feel that it will be okay, much to the disagreement of others.
May God bless us, and give us all strength during this tough time, as we mourn the loss of dearly loved family members.
God Bless
Carlena
4 mos
Wow has time flown. On the 27th of September, Gordon turned 4 months old. I can't believe that already. He had his 4 month old check-up and it went well. He's already 27.5 inches long (off the charts as far as percentages go) and 17.1bs (85%), to help put that in perspective he's wearing 6/9 month clothing (9months if they are one piece outfits) which is amazing.
We aren't doing vaccinations, so we didn't have that to go thru during his well child check-up. He's hitting all the milestones for someone at this age, and a few he's even ahead. Lately he's been pushing his chest up, and almost getting up on his knees. It doesn't seem like it will be long before he's crawling, he's already pushing himself backwards, so he's won half the battle. It's really cute watching him get annoyed because he pushes himself backwards to the point he can't go anywhere. He's rolling over on to his tummy (been doing that for several weeks already), but hasn't quite figured out yet how to go from tummy to front. It will come.
We tried cereal the other night but I think we will hold off on that. It's not that he's not ready. He is, he loved eating cereal, his tummy didn't like it very much. He cried and was very fussy the next day. I was talking to a chiropractor friend of another friend of mine last night. She suggested since Gordon, is already showing food sensitivity to hold off on the cereals, but trying foods that are "good" fats and easier on the tummy to digest, like a yolk(not the egg white) and avocados. So I'm going to do a little more research into that and see. He's showing signs he's wanting foods: waking up more at night, batting/swiping at your food if he's in your lap, watching you eat, and the tongue reflex is gone. SO we'll see what happens in the coming weeks.
God Bless
We aren't doing vaccinations, so we didn't have that to go thru during his well child check-up. He's hitting all the milestones for someone at this age, and a few he's even ahead. Lately he's been pushing his chest up, and almost getting up on his knees. It doesn't seem like it will be long before he's crawling, he's already pushing himself backwards, so he's won half the battle. It's really cute watching him get annoyed because he pushes himself backwards to the point he can't go anywhere. He's rolling over on to his tummy (been doing that for several weeks already), but hasn't quite figured out yet how to go from tummy to front. It will come.
We tried cereal the other night but I think we will hold off on that. It's not that he's not ready. He is, he loved eating cereal, his tummy didn't like it very much. He cried and was very fussy the next day. I was talking to a chiropractor friend of another friend of mine last night. She suggested since Gordon, is already showing food sensitivity to hold off on the cereals, but trying foods that are "good" fats and easier on the tummy to digest, like a yolk(not the egg white) and avocados. So I'm going to do a little more research into that and see. He's showing signs he's wanting foods: waking up more at night, batting/swiping at your food if he's in your lap, watching you eat, and the tongue reflex is gone. SO we'll see what happens in the coming weeks.
God Bless
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Preschool
This week Cyril started preschool, and LOVES it!!! He was so excited this past weekend, every time you turned around he was asking if it was time to go yet. Even when I was having the kids get ready for Sunday school, he asked. When Monday morning came, he jumped out of bed, got dressed and was ready to run out the door before anyone else was ready. lol. We made sure his backpack was ready, including a picture he made at Sunday school. He was so excited to show his teacher Miss S, but then all of a sudden that excitement turned to fear on Cyril's part. His big beautiful blue eyes sparkled no longer with excitement and happiness but with fear. His eyes had tears in them. He said "Momma don't leave me."
My heart just stopped. It took every once of courage I had to look down at him, and smile. My heart was secretly breaking that my little boy was old enough to be starting this new adventure, and for the fact he was scared. I wanted to pick him up, and run back out the door. Thinking no, he's not ready, we'll try this again next year. But this mommy took a big huge breath, said a prayer, and looked at Cyril. I gave him a huge hug, and said "you'll have so much fun with Miss S". Thankfully Miss S read the signals right, and got Cyril distracted with searching for circles.
Then as I left the tears fell from my face. I remember holding Gordon close to my chest to stop the aching that my Cyril was old enough. It felt like yesterday he was as small and helpless as Gordon. Then again, it's hard to believe that ALL of my babies aren't that small anymore. It feels like they should still be that small.
Later that morning, when it was time to pick him up, it was so easy to see I had made the right decision. Cyril was lit up like a Christmas tree with excitement. He couldn't wait to show me his "happy face" which was a circle (the shape they had discussed) and to show me the song they sang. He also got to be made teacher's helper, which he was very proud of. Turns out that Jessie had those strong feelings too. He didn't cry, but I bet he would have liked to today.
God Bless
My heart just stopped. It took every once of courage I had to look down at him, and smile. My heart was secretly breaking that my little boy was old enough to be starting this new adventure, and for the fact he was scared. I wanted to pick him up, and run back out the door. Thinking no, he's not ready, we'll try this again next year. But this mommy took a big huge breath, said a prayer, and looked at Cyril. I gave him a huge hug, and said "you'll have so much fun with Miss S". Thankfully Miss S read the signals right, and got Cyril distracted with searching for circles.
Then as I left the tears fell from my face. I remember holding Gordon close to my chest to stop the aching that my Cyril was old enough. It felt like yesterday he was as small and helpless as Gordon. Then again, it's hard to believe that ALL of my babies aren't that small anymore. It feels like they should still be that small.
Later that morning, when it was time to pick him up, it was so easy to see I had made the right decision. Cyril was lit up like a Christmas tree with excitement. He couldn't wait to show me his "happy face" which was a circle (the shape they had discussed) and to show me the song they sang. He also got to be made teacher's helper, which he was very proud of. Turns out that Jessie had those strong feelings too. He didn't cry, but I bet he would have liked to today.
God Bless
Saturday, September 11, 2010
1st week of school
This was a very exciting and busy week for Dawn and Spencer. They started school the day after labor day, just like 99% of public school age population here in Minnesota. If you don't know, here in Minnesota - school districts have to ask permission to start the school before labor day, if September 1st occurs before.
Dawn loved the fact that she is entering her 2nd year of middle school, and this year kicked off with her being a student leader. She loved being able to mentor and help out in coming 6th graders and new students. The new students and Student Leaders all had 1 day of school without any of the other students, and then the other students came to school the next day. Dawn missed one day of school, due to a gluten attack. She is starting to get more and more of these, so we'll be investigating that with the doctor.
Spencer entered into the 5th grade and is all excited that he's "top dog" in his elementary school. He loves being the oldest. :) I'm very thankful that Spencer has the teacher that he has. It was the same teacher that Dawn had for 2 grades while she was in elementary. He's a terrific teacher. Spencer so far has been very excited about going to school. We're still having issues with clothing, and shoes due to his sensory issues. I'm coming to the realization this may never, ever change. We as a family need to be okay with that.
Cyril starts preschool on Monday. He is so excited, he's been asking every day since Dawn & Spencer started when it's his turn. We had his open house on Thursday night. He wasn't shy at all, I was pleasantly surprised. He didn't even want to leave the classroom. So even though it's on two different days then I had planned, Cyril is showing me that he's more then ready to start. Makes me really sad, but I'm glad that he's going to a christian preschool. It will help get the roots of our faith down a little better. Knowing what I know now, I would have put the older two in it as well, since it really is only 5.00 more a month for us compared to public preschool.
God Bless
Dawn loved the fact that she is entering her 2nd year of middle school, and this year kicked off with her being a student leader. She loved being able to mentor and help out in coming 6th graders and new students. The new students and Student Leaders all had 1 day of school without any of the other students, and then the other students came to school the next day. Dawn missed one day of school, due to a gluten attack. She is starting to get more and more of these, so we'll be investigating that with the doctor.
Spencer entered into the 5th grade and is all excited that he's "top dog" in his elementary school. He loves being the oldest. :) I'm very thankful that Spencer has the teacher that he has. It was the same teacher that Dawn had for 2 grades while she was in elementary. He's a terrific teacher. Spencer so far has been very excited about going to school. We're still having issues with clothing, and shoes due to his sensory issues. I'm coming to the realization this may never, ever change. We as a family need to be okay with that.
Cyril starts preschool on Monday. He is so excited, he's been asking every day since Dawn & Spencer started when it's his turn. We had his open house on Thursday night. He wasn't shy at all, I was pleasantly surprised. He didn't even want to leave the classroom. So even though it's on two different days then I had planned, Cyril is showing me that he's more then ready to start. Makes me really sad, but I'm glad that he's going to a christian preschool. It will help get the roots of our faith down a little better. Knowing what I know now, I would have put the older two in it as well, since it really is only 5.00 more a month for us compared to public preschool.
God Bless
Friday, August 27, 2010
3 months
Gordon turns 3 months old today. It's hard to believe that 3 months have gone by that he's been in our lives already. Gordon & Dawn had their well child check-ups last week. Dawn had to have one to get into 7th grade and Gordon had his 2 month check up. Both went very good. Gordon is measuring in 90% for weight (15lbs 8 oz.) and 99% for height(26 inches). Dawn though I'm a bit concerned. She's only measuring at 10% for height and 25% for weight. So I brought up my concerns and the doctors ran some tests, we are now waiting on those test results.
Nursing has been going okay. The supply seems to be going up and down. Which is really stressful. I'm having a hard time getting all of my daily amount of calcium, and I'm gonna need to maybe look into a supplement. I've been taking fenugeek and drinking mother's milk tea, which has been helping a lot. I'm not at the point of taking the fenugeek where I smell like Maple Syrup (Yes you read right. lol), but I think I'm going to be at that point soon. I've also been making a lot of the lactation nursing cookies. I was able to successfully make them gluten free, and even the kids love them. Gordon is still sensitive to what I eat. There are times that he just wails and acts like he's hurting but we can't seem to figure out what the issue is. I think at his 4 month check up we are going to ask for a blood test to see if he has some sort of a food sensitivity or something. Yes, part of it is that he's a fussy, colic baby, but there's more to it. My mommy instinct is telling me there is something more. Especially considering that Dawn had colic as a baby, and I have babysat several babies thru the years that have colic they weren't this bad. I've cut out my dairy along with gluten, and even though that has helped a lot, it's not totally stopped it.. My heart just breaks for the little guy when he's like this, and I feel bad for his brothers and sister too, that they have to listen to it. Hopefully now that he's 3 months old, this will start getting better.
Development wise he is doing really well. He is still trying to sit up, to see the world I guess. So since Gordon has excellent head control, he's been sitting in the bumbo seat and excersaucer for brief periods of time. He LOVES them, he just watches all the activity that is going on around him. He's a little busybody I think. lol. He also loves to babble and talk to everyone. He's got so much to "say" - would love to know what it really is. lol. He's gotten really good on his tummy and is almost at a 90 angle when he's on his tummy, so maybe he'll be an early crawler like his brother Cyril. He's also starting to grab at things when he's in the bouncy chair. It's been really neat watching him grab at things and look at them, or study his hands. He LOVES his fingers. I hope and pray that I'm not in a losing battle in regards to his fingers and him sucking on them. lol. Every time I see him sucking on them for too long, in goes a nuk (a pacifier).
He is starting to look more and more like Cyril I think. I see a lot of Spencer in him, but more Cyril then anyone. Gordon's hair has really lightened up since he was born, and he's losing a lot of it. I hope that he won't lose his curls. They are just so adorable on him, with his big blue eyes. Which I hope will stay. Then we'll have 2 kiddos with baby blues. :)
God Bless.
Nursing has been going okay. The supply seems to be going up and down. Which is really stressful. I'm having a hard time getting all of my daily amount of calcium, and I'm gonna need to maybe look into a supplement. I've been taking fenugeek and drinking mother's milk tea, which has been helping a lot. I'm not at the point of taking the fenugeek where I smell like Maple Syrup (Yes you read right. lol), but I think I'm going to be at that point soon. I've also been making a lot of the lactation nursing cookies. I was able to successfully make them gluten free, and even the kids love them. Gordon is still sensitive to what I eat. There are times that he just wails and acts like he's hurting but we can't seem to figure out what the issue is. I think at his 4 month check up we are going to ask for a blood test to see if he has some sort of a food sensitivity or something. Yes, part of it is that he's a fussy, colic baby, but there's more to it. My mommy instinct is telling me there is something more. Especially considering that Dawn had colic as a baby, and I have babysat several babies thru the years that have colic they weren't this bad. I've cut out my dairy along with gluten, and even though that has helped a lot, it's not totally stopped it.. My heart just breaks for the little guy when he's like this, and I feel bad for his brothers and sister too, that they have to listen to it. Hopefully now that he's 3 months old, this will start getting better.
Development wise he is doing really well. He is still trying to sit up, to see the world I guess. So since Gordon has excellent head control, he's been sitting in the bumbo seat and excersaucer for brief periods of time. He LOVES them, he just watches all the activity that is going on around him. He's a little busybody I think. lol. He also loves to babble and talk to everyone. He's got so much to "say" - would love to know what it really is. lol. He's gotten really good on his tummy and is almost at a 90 angle when he's on his tummy, so maybe he'll be an early crawler like his brother Cyril. He's also starting to grab at things when he's in the bouncy chair. It's been really neat watching him grab at things and look at them, or study his hands. He LOVES his fingers. I hope and pray that I'm not in a losing battle in regards to his fingers and him sucking on them. lol. Every time I see him sucking on them for too long, in goes a nuk (a pacifier).
He is starting to look more and more like Cyril I think. I see a lot of Spencer in him, but more Cyril then anyone. Gordon's hair has really lightened up since he was born, and he's losing a lot of it. I hope that he won't lose his curls. They are just so adorable on him, with his big blue eyes. Which I hope will stay. Then we'll have 2 kiddos with baby blues. :)
God Bless.
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Cyril turns 4
It's hard to believe that 4 years ago today in about a half hour, our Cyril entered into this world. I was so nervous at what Spencer was going to say and how he was going to react. He hadn't reacted very well to the news when he had told him he was going to be a big brother. He refused to talk to anyone that even mentioned babies, or the fact he was going to be a big brother. Then again that's Spencer for you. I remember the first couple of weeks after we brought Cyril home. Dawn was so enthralled with him, and Spencer could careless about him, but boy oh boy - if Cyril started fussing or crying, Spencer got very upset, and wanted you to "fix" Cyril right that second, so he wouldn't cry. When Cyril was 3 weeks old, I was making our bed, when Cyril started fussing. Then next thing I know, Spencer is singing to him. It reassured me that things would be okay, maybe not perfect (what life is?), but okay.
Fast forward to now: Cyril is a walking, talking spitfire of engery. I swear this little boy is going to be the one that brings me gray hair. He beats to his own drum, nows what he wants and thinks that he's able to do everything. He's stubborn and exhausting some days. lol. On the flip side he's sweet, loving, compassionate, and a little ham. He's so expressitive with his eyes. He loves to wrestle with Spencer and Dawn. He's a wonderful big brother to Gordon as well, even trying to "help" nurse Gordon.
Today the kids and I went to Dairy Queen to celebrate his birthday. We'll have a birthday party this weekend with friends and family. Hopefully it won't be so hot and humid as it has been.
Happy Birthday my darling fireball!
God Bless
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Dragonfly camp
"Dragonfly" tree at "dragonfly" camp
Jessie told me of one part of their day, he was making a meal ( I can't remember what time of day it was) and there were tons of dragonflies in the tree, behind him, it got very loud all of a sudden when they all took off. I would have loved to have seen that.
Spencer got the biggest fish of the whole trip. He got a Northern. He was pretty excited. When considering that was the 2 or 3rd time that he's gone fishing, I would be too. It sounds like everyone got some fish - which makes the trip even better. Jessie was a little disappointed that they weren't able to go to his favorite spot on the lake whenever he goes there to fish. He said that spot isn't available anymore. So he'll have to find a new spot.
It was nice last night having the kids tell me all their stories. Cyril was so excited to have the kids home, he wouldn't leave Spencer or Dawn alone. He was wrestling Spencer everytime you turned around, to bad that Spencer didn't want to wrestle. It was equally nice to have all of my babies under 1 roof again, and under my wing. To bad the sibling love and getting along between the older two didn't last long. (3hours and 15 minutes to be exact.)
Jessie had to go back to work today, but thankfully he'll be back Friday night. It's going to be a busy weekend this weekend. We have 3 birthday parties to go too, along with some friends coming up for the weekend. I'm so excited for this weekend. I haven't seen my friend in forever, we've both added to our families since the last time we got together. It's going to be a blast. :)
God Bless~
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Dance Your Ass Off
A couple of weeks ago, late one night while nursing Gordon, I started watching a dance show called "Dance Your Ass Off." I'm not sure if you have seen it, but it's a combo between two shows currently on TV, I think. The Biggest Losers and Dancing with the Stars. The contestants are trying to lose large amounts of weight, but they do it dancing. Each week like Dancing with the Stars, there's a dance style that they need to do each week, but there's no famous people.
I've really gotten into the show, not sure if that's because Gordon chooses that time to eat, and it's the show is interesting or what. One of the contestants made a comment on this week's show. Katie said "She doesn't just want to lose weight, she wants to turn people's heads." That's exactly what I want to do. I was on my weight loss journey before I got pregnant with Gordon. Between January of '09 and the 1st 10 weeks of my pregnancy I had loss 30 pounds. Even though it wasn't my intention to lose weight the 1st half of my pregnancy it happened. Now that Gordon is going to be 8 weeks old on Thursday, I feel it's time to start kicking my weight loss back in gear. Today I've lost 20lbs, which is really good, but I'm not anywhere near my goal weight. I'll get there, nice and easy, I'll get there.
\
God Bless~
I've really gotten into the show, not sure if that's because Gordon chooses that time to eat, and it's the show is interesting or what. One of the contestants made a comment on this week's show. Katie said "She doesn't just want to lose weight, she wants to turn people's heads." That's exactly what I want to do. I was on my weight loss journey before I got pregnant with Gordon. Between January of '09 and the 1st 10 weeks of my pregnancy I had loss 30 pounds. Even though it wasn't my intention to lose weight the 1st half of my pregnancy it happened. Now that Gordon is going to be 8 weeks old on Thursday, I feel it's time to start kicking my weight loss back in gear. Today I've lost 20lbs, which is really good, but I'm not anywhere near my goal weight. I'll get there, nice and easy, I'll get there.
\
God Bless~
Monday, July 19, 2010
GF spice cake.
I made a GF/DF spice cake from Full Circle - which turned out pretty darn good if I do say so myself. :) The best part for me though was the frosting that I made from scratch! I always thought frosting where really hard, so I have avoided that part of the Betty Crocker cookbook. But I was craving something sweet, and spice cake does not taste good without frosting or whip cream, in my opinion. The frosting turned out great, but really sweet, so be careful. I am posting the recipe as well too. It sure won't help me in getting my girlish figure back since having Gordon, but I think a treat is always a good thing, especially for a new momma.
Enjoy!
Vanilla Butter Frosting by Betty Crocker
3 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup margarine or butter softened.
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons milk
Mix powdered sugar and margarine/butter. Stir in vanilla and milk; beat until frosting is smooth and of spreading consistency. Fills & Frosts two 8 or 9 inch layers or frosts a 13x9 inch cake.
Enjoy!
Vanilla Butter Frosting by Betty Crocker
3 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup margarine or butter softened.
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons milk
Mix powdered sugar and margarine/butter. Stir in vanilla and milk; beat until frosting is smooth and of spreading consistency. Fills & Frosts two 8 or 9 inch layers or frosts a 13x9 inch cake.
Trader Joe's
Mom, the little boys and I went to Trader Joe's today. Mom and I have been meaning to go down there since sometime last year. We've heard they have a great selection of gluten free foods, and that they aren't really that expensive. Well - now that Dawn has been showing signs of being at least gluten sensitive if not gluten intolerant, I figured now was the time to go down and check it out. I'm going to be making the household 99% gluten free. I don't want to make it 100% gluten free, and I'm not sure I'd be able to successfully be able to do it 100% all the time so why try to?
It was a long drive down there today, I'm not sure if it was just because of Gordon having a fussier day today or what the deal was, but it seemed to take forever to get there, and equally long on the way back. The car accident on the way home didn't help either. At one point of our trip home - there's a certain stretch that takes 15 minutes to get from one exit to another - it took 40 minutes. It seemed longer then that when Gordon picked that time to start screaming bloody murder. Yesterday I ate some cheese by accident and I think that helped contribute to his fussiness. Going Casein Free/Dairy Free is a lot harder then I thought it would be, more so then going Gluten Free originally. Not sure why. :(
In some ways it was worth the time and drive to go down there to check out Trader Joe's. It reminded mom of an old fashion grocery store. It doesn't have any or very little processed foods. The fresh produce was very yummy looking and low prices. A thing of bananas was $0.19 and organic ones was $0.29. Normally in our local grocery store regular ones are $0.59. Their Brown rice pasta was almost 1.00 cheaper, and there were a few other things too. The Almond milk that I've been drinking was also a 1.00 cheaper here. So I bought a couple.
I was a little disappointed though. I was expecting for them to have a larger selection of GF flours and baked goods. Even more GF crackers and breads. They had only 1 kind of each. They had a HUGE print out list of GF foods, but they aren't in one section of the store, you have to look for a G symbol on the packaging. So we'll see. Mom and I are talking about coming back down to check it out again...but without Cyril with. lol. It's not that he was naughty, but he was everywhere trying to "help" us grocery shop. Every time I turned around he was putting stuff in his cart, that he thought we'd want. It wasn't junk food, just gluten food. lol.
It was good for us to go down, because we've always heard about how people just LOVE to go to Trader Joe's, but I just wasn't so sure about it, and if the benefits out way the drive down there. The jury is still out on that as far as mom and I are concerned. But it was interesting getting people's opinions for or against Trader Joe's on my facebook account. So far it's all been positive.
God Bless~
It was a long drive down there today, I'm not sure if it was just because of Gordon having a fussier day today or what the deal was, but it seemed to take forever to get there, and equally long on the way back. The car accident on the way home didn't help either. At one point of our trip home - there's a certain stretch that takes 15 minutes to get from one exit to another - it took 40 minutes. It seemed longer then that when Gordon picked that time to start screaming bloody murder. Yesterday I ate some cheese by accident and I think that helped contribute to his fussiness. Going Casein Free/Dairy Free is a lot harder then I thought it would be, more so then going Gluten Free originally. Not sure why. :(
In some ways it was worth the time and drive to go down there to check out Trader Joe's. It reminded mom of an old fashion grocery store. It doesn't have any or very little processed foods. The fresh produce was very yummy looking and low prices. A thing of bananas was $0.19 and organic ones was $0.29. Normally in our local grocery store regular ones are $0.59. Their Brown rice pasta was almost 1.00 cheaper, and there were a few other things too. The Almond milk that I've been drinking was also a 1.00 cheaper here. So I bought a couple.
I was a little disappointed though. I was expecting for them to have a larger selection of GF flours and baked goods. Even more GF crackers and breads. They had only 1 kind of each. They had a HUGE print out list of GF foods, but they aren't in one section of the store, you have to look for a G symbol on the packaging. So we'll see. Mom and I are talking about coming back down to check it out again...but without Cyril with. lol. It's not that he was naughty, but he was everywhere trying to "help" us grocery shop. Every time I turned around he was putting stuff in his cart, that he thought we'd want. It wasn't junk food, just gluten food. lol.
It was good for us to go down, because we've always heard about how people just LOVE to go to Trader Joe's, but I just wasn't so sure about it, and if the benefits out way the drive down there. The jury is still out on that as far as mom and I are concerned. But it was interesting getting people's opinions for or against Trader Joe's on my facebook account. So far it's all been positive.
God Bless~
2 more days...
It's Monday morning: Jessie and the kids have been gone 3 days already. It's hard to believe. I miss them terribly. It's been strange not having them here, when they should be here. This has been a good test run too, on how things will run when they are in school everyday.
I haven't done to much out of the normal, but I think Cyril has liked the fact that everytime Gordon has laid down, or if Nana is here holding Gordon, then that's more time I get to spend with him. My little mommy's helper has even returned. All last year, everytime I was cleaning something he wanted to help. Since sometime in April or May - he stopped wanting to do it as much, if at all. And I think we will have to go to the library this week, whether or not the older two are with. We've read thru all the books we checked out. Cyril is loving that he gets story time, whenever he wants this week. lol. We have had some interesting days too. The 1st day they were gone, the little boys were crabby, we missed a playdate, I lost my cell phone, we had severe weather that included 3 tornado warnings, 1 of which resulted in our seirns going off, or so I'm told. The little boys and I fell asleep, we slept thru the whole thing. Good thing, nothing touched down in town.
The quiet has been really strange for me to get used too. I thought I would love having all of that quiet, but to my surprise I've discovered that I don't. I love the sound of children laughing. I miss the sound of the kids talking, pestering me with questions, tattling on each other, and etc. Granted when I'm in the heart of it - it drives me insane on many, many days...but thru this trip I've realized how much those sounds mean to me.
Jessie has been checking in almost everyday. The kids are going to have some interesting stories to tell when they get back. Some are funny (even though Dawn will not think so right now.) and some are just interesting I guess you could say. Who knew- they would enjoy playing with the walkie talkies so much. They found a dead snake while they were biking around the campgrounds. Dawn lost a sandal in the lake because she freaked out thinking she had a leech on her. No wonder they didn't get any fish that time....wonder if anyone else did on the lake with how loud she screamed. lol. Then they go back to the campsite, because she needed her tennis shoes, only to discover they were in the truck with them the whole time. Did I mention the camp site was 30 miles away??? Jessie didn't find it so humorous at the time that he told me, but I think it's funny.
Wonder what interesting adventures they will experience between now and the time they come home?
God Bless~
I haven't done to much out of the normal, but I think Cyril has liked the fact that everytime Gordon has laid down, or if Nana is here holding Gordon, then that's more time I get to spend with him. My little mommy's helper has even returned. All last year, everytime I was cleaning something he wanted to help. Since sometime in April or May - he stopped wanting to do it as much, if at all. And I think we will have to go to the library this week, whether or not the older two are with. We've read thru all the books we checked out. Cyril is loving that he gets story time, whenever he wants this week. lol. We have had some interesting days too. The 1st day they were gone, the little boys were crabby, we missed a playdate, I lost my cell phone, we had severe weather that included 3 tornado warnings, 1 of which resulted in our seirns going off, or so I'm told. The little boys and I fell asleep, we slept thru the whole thing. Good thing, nothing touched down in town.
The quiet has been really strange for me to get used too. I thought I would love having all of that quiet, but to my surprise I've discovered that I don't. I love the sound of children laughing. I miss the sound of the kids talking, pestering me with questions, tattling on each other, and etc. Granted when I'm in the heart of it - it drives me insane on many, many days...but thru this trip I've realized how much those sounds mean to me.
Jessie has been checking in almost everyday. The kids are going to have some interesting stories to tell when they get back. Some are funny (even though Dawn will not think so right now.) and some are just interesting I guess you could say. Who knew- they would enjoy playing with the walkie talkies so much. They found a dead snake while they were biking around the campgrounds. Dawn lost a sandal in the lake because she freaked out thinking she had a leech on her. No wonder they didn't get any fish that time....wonder if anyone else did on the lake with how loud she screamed. lol. Then they go back to the campsite, because she needed her tennis shoes, only to discover they were in the truck with them the whole time. Did I mention the camp site was 30 miles away??? Jessie didn't find it so humorous at the time that he told me, but I think it's funny.
Wonder what interesting adventures they will experience between now and the time they come home?
God Bless~
Saturday, July 17, 2010
1st Camping trip
Well - it's 8am in the morning and I'm not sure what to do with myself. lol. The little boys are sleeping. Jessie, the older kids and my brother in law Kenny, left this morning for a 5 day/4 night camping trip. This is the kids 1st big camping/fishing trip. We decided that the little boys shouldn't go because Gordon is too small, and that the older kids need this trip with just dad. No younger siblings.
I'm so nervous about it, because it is their 1st big camping trip, not sure how the kids will handle not having any modern day technology. lol. No TV, no video games, and no computer. lol. Plus the last time Jessie took Spencer fishing, he didn't have a good experience. It was ice fishing and his foot fell in the hole. He swore off all fishing forever. lol. But this week, he had been getting more and more excited about going so we'll see. I just hope he has really good days, and none of his bad days like he's been having lately. Dawn has been like a typical teenager. One moment she wants to go, and the next she's too "cool" to be going. Plus lately she has been having gluten attacks. At least a couple times a week she's been sick, so I'm starting to wonder what's triggering the gluten attacks. I just hope she doesn't have any while she is up there. That would make for a miserable trip. I packed a bunch of gluten free foods, but we'll see. You know how kids can be when you restrict them from foods they love.
They've only been gone 2 hours but I miss them terribly. lol. It will be a nice break for me, especially with the challenges Spencer has been giving me lately, I guess in a way it's respite care for me. Cyril was just sad at the though this week of not being able to go on the camping trip with Daddy and his siblings. But so far this morning he's handling it okay. He got sad at 1st, but I told him that we needed to do something fun for just the 3 of us. I asked if he'll help me think of some fun stuff, but secretly I've already got some stuff planned. We will go to the splash pad or the wading pool, go to the library, maybe even go to the local fast food place that has a kids play area. I think he'll have some fun. Plus it will do him good, to spend some time with just momma, when Gordon is sleeping. It's been tough for him having to share his mommy.
This is going to be an interesting day I think, I wonder how it will go and the rest of the week will go without all of my family here.
God Bless~
I'm so nervous about it, because it is their 1st big camping trip, not sure how the kids will handle not having any modern day technology. lol. No TV, no video games, and no computer. lol. Plus the last time Jessie took Spencer fishing, he didn't have a good experience. It was ice fishing and his foot fell in the hole. He swore off all fishing forever. lol. But this week, he had been getting more and more excited about going so we'll see. I just hope he has really good days, and none of his bad days like he's been having lately. Dawn has been like a typical teenager. One moment she wants to go, and the next she's too "cool" to be going. Plus lately she has been having gluten attacks. At least a couple times a week she's been sick, so I'm starting to wonder what's triggering the gluten attacks. I just hope she doesn't have any while she is up there. That would make for a miserable trip. I packed a bunch of gluten free foods, but we'll see. You know how kids can be when you restrict them from foods they love.
They've only been gone 2 hours but I miss them terribly. lol. It will be a nice break for me, especially with the challenges Spencer has been giving me lately, I guess in a way it's respite care for me. Cyril was just sad at the though this week of not being able to go on the camping trip with Daddy and his siblings. But so far this morning he's handling it okay. He got sad at 1st, but I told him that we needed to do something fun for just the 3 of us. I asked if he'll help me think of some fun stuff, but secretly I've already got some stuff planned. We will go to the splash pad or the wading pool, go to the library, maybe even go to the local fast food place that has a kids play area. I think he'll have some fun. Plus it will do him good, to spend some time with just momma, when Gordon is sleeping. It's been tough for him having to share his mommy.
This is going to be an interesting day I think, I wonder how it will go and the rest of the week will go without all of my family here.
God Bless~
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