Just a tad chaotic...

Yes, things around here are just a tad chaotic right now.

Little Man is LOVING school. He's doing really well. He's behaving and interacting appropriately with his peers. Believe it or not, he actually sits still for circle time! lol. He does like to throw a bit of a fit when the speech therapist comes to pull him out for speech though. it's either he's afraid I'm there to take him home or he would rather stay with his friends! :) Cute. Although the ST isn't thinking it's quite that cute, hehe. He loves the ST, but loves his friends more.

Let's talk names for a moment. When we were picking out the name for our first born we picked the name Jacob. Long story short, we eventually decided to change it. Just one of the reasons was its popularity. We figured it was so popular that he'd likely end up being Jacob F amongst a sea of Jacob's. He ended up with a name that while, not necessarily common, it's not uncommon either. All that trouble and guess what...there is no Jacob in his class. But there is another Little Man. So now he knows he's Little Man F & the other boy is Little Man M, lol. He can even spell his last name thanks to this.

I bet you're wondering what we're going to name this latest little darling, huh? Too bad...my lips are sealed. We've settled on the first name and not 100% decided on the middle name. I can tell you this though, I will still be mom to my Killer B's. :)

I got my first steroid injection for his lungs today and have to go back to get the 2nd one tomorrow. This is just a 'rather be safe than sorry' scenario. I'm praying I get to keep him on the inside for at least several more weeks. However, I've been having some good contractions & plenty of pressure down there for a couple of weeks now. So we'd rather be safe than sorry. I got to see his precious little face on ultrasound again today too. He's been hiding from us for weeks now!

It's so quiet here...

Little Man started preschool today. Oh he was SO SO SO excited!!!

We first started off the day back at his old therapy place. He's officially back in OT for the feeding.

We are so excited about Little Man's preschool experience. It's at the public school but it's a new program. They have put 2 children with disabilities in a classroom with 8 'regular' kids. Don't quote me on that, it could be 3 & 7 but you get the idea. They are not only doing regular 4yo preschool curriculum but have built a gross motor lab (room) and a sensory lab. AWESOME STUFF.

A large chunk of the kiddos in his class attend a daycare down the street from the school so they all arrive together. When they walked in Little Man exclaimed, "MY FRIENDS!!!" and that was all she wrote. I tried to tell him bye but he really didn't care. He didn't even notice we left, lol.

As it should be. He's happy & we just know he's going to thrive there. I have to be there in an hour to pick him up & I just can't wait to hear all he's going to tell me about his day. Although I also imagine it could be difficult to remove him from the classroom. Oh boy.

A couple of pictures. Not great quality as he just flat out REFUSED to cooperate for me. Actually, he was acting like such a little stinker this morning that 12:30 wasn't coming quick enough, lol. I think he felt the same way.

One more from the cell phone:

Playing Catch Up

It seems like the past couple of weeks I've either been busy, sleeping or just trying to stay awake.

Last weekend (8-9th) I finally got around to making laundry detergent. I have to say I'm impressed. It was really quick & easy and the clothes are so clean!! I'm also just using vinegar instead of fabric softener. The hardest part about all of this is the psychological battle. We've all been conditioned to think our clothes are supposed to smell "clean" when they come out of the dryer but the reality is that they only smell "clean" because of the extra CRAP they add to detergent or softener!! It's really strange to have your clothes coming out of the dryer smelling like absolutely nothing. We're going to give a try to the essential oils idea to add smell since we already have lots of them from soap making. :)

That weekend also saw a shuffle of furniture in our house. Let me try to explain this. Little Man is having LOTS of tantrums. LOTS of meltdowns and the majority of them are coming from his lack of communication. He cannot simply tell me, "but mommy it's not fair" or "but I had it first" or "but I just want him/her to play with me." Nope, he's not there yet. We're trying. He's trying. But this is his life and we must figure out the best way to help him cope as we try to cope ourselves.

The boys like to play together but since they have separate rooms it means Peanut ends up playing with Little Man's toys and Little Man is none too appreciative of this. So we went ahead and put the bunk beds together and put them in the front room (bigger & where Peanut has been). Little Man now has his top bunk, which is his special space that he KNOWS his little brother cannot get to. He knows he can take a book up there & Peanut can't try to take it or attack it, lol. Things like that.

For now, ALL of their toys are in that room. We moved the crib & dressers into the smaller room and the only thing that happens in there is me getting clothes for the boys & Peanut sleeping in his crib in there. Once Peanut is big enough to be moved into a bed (in a couple of months) he will go on the bottom bunk. Then once the new baby is big enough to share, he & Peanut will share a room.

I can't believe how well this is working though. It's really helped to cut down on the tantrums and the toy stealing, lol.

Little Man's new favorite past time is playing Mario Kart on Wii. Yes, my 3yo is addicted and has major meltdowns about 80% of the time when it's time to turn it off, lol. Needless to say he's quite restricted. At least it's a Wii though and good for his gross motor.

When little man tells you he loves you he says, "Uh Boo." So yesterday I was trying to get him to say 3 separate words, "I Love You." Instead he decided it was much better to say, "I love wii." HAHAHAHAH!!! We laughed SOOOOO hard!!

Of course on Saturday was our fantastic Kroger Super Doubles down here in Texas. I bought 151 items & paid $168 OOP. My total saved was $258 & I have $13 in MIRs coming back to me. Not too shabby. Especially since that included diapers, paper towels, TP & Hygiene items that are normally so much more expensive.

Man I hope they do that again!!!

And the best update of all!!! I went to the doc on Friday and my blood pressure was DOWN! I hope this dosage of medicine works indefinitely! The bad side: The diabetes is here!! But at least I know what to do about that!

No More Neurosurgeon

YAY!

On Monday we took Peanut to the neurosurgeon for what was our last visit with him. Nice Guy. Busy waiting room. LONG waits!! lol.

He informed us that since Peanut is now walking that we're pretty much out of the woods of his (external) hydrocephalus ever needing surgical intervention. His head is still WAY up there on the charts. It's somewhere around or just above the 95th percentile & if you correct for age (he was nearly 2 mo early) it's well above the 100th percentile, but that's pretty much where it's been since he was tiny.

He turned 15 mo on Sat & at his appointment he weighed in at 24lbs & 30" & some change. Not bad at all. Actually, the boy likes to eat.

My 'issue' is how flat his head still is on one side. No, it's not the end of the world but look at this poor boy's genetics...he IS going to be bald again & I hate to say it but that will be sooner rather than later. He was never a candidate for a helmet because of the extra fluid surrounding his brain. Putting him in a helmet could have caused more damage than good, so his head will round out just a little more before that last soft spot closes but he's pretty much stuck with what he's got. Man that sucks for him.

A bit Bummed

Let's see if I'm capable of keeping this one short.

Not Likely.

We have 2 children (obviously) & both were born a bit on the early side. In case you don't know a pregnancy is supposed to be 40 weeks but it's considered full term at 37. Little Man made it to 35 weeks (no NICU time) & the Peanut made it to 32 weeks (a month in NICU). I have a cerclage this time around & I was really hoping that would make a huge difference in keeping this little one baking even longer than the first 2.

So far things have gone pretty well, no issues with the baby & he's growing just fine. While my blood pressure has a tendency to soar the moment of conception it's not taken a ton of meds to keep it in check...until now. I'm 24 weeks & for the first time this pregnancy I finally got an indication that she doesn't expect me to actually make it to term...again.

Little Man was born in MI so I had a different doctor with him. I'm using the same doctor this time as I did for Peanut (love her) and all during that pregnancy she was very honest about me not making it to term. Of course, that's because the issue of the cervix was discovered then.

So yesterday as I was having the discussion of how & when the cerclage comes out, signs of labor that could be different this time around because of being stitched etc, she said those dreaded words..."I'll be ecstatic if you make it to 36 weeks." UGH. This is SO disappointing to me.

Even though most women do nothing but gripe about that last month of pregnancy I'd love the opportunity to experience it. I'm still hopeful that I can prove her wrong but I guess time will tell.

Anyhow, that's why I'm a bit bummed now.

Home Sweet Home

Sometimes I think the best part of a vacation is coming home and laying your head on your own pillow. Man that feels good!

First we drove straight through to the Washington, DC area to visit Hubby's family. We had a good time & for the first time in a long time, all of the grandkids were together. It was really nice to see some of Hubby's cousins that we don't get to see very often & we were thrilled to be able to finally spend some time with our cutie patootie niece.

So we got to DC in time to go to bed on Fri night (July 10) & we headed out for our vacation part of the trip on Tuesday morning. Vacation this time: Camping in the Smokey Mountains. We actually camped "in" Cherokee, NC & had a blast. We stayed at a Jellystone campground & Little Man was SO excited to actually see Yogi & Cindy Bear. SO CUTE.

Thankfully the rain pretty much stayed away during the day but the last 2 nights there saw some thunderstorms. That was interesting. That was also the end of our tent camping days.

We officially have a "pop up" fund for next year, lol.

So here we are, 3600 miles later, HOME SWEET HOME.

Pictures to follow once I get them onto the computer.

Hello from Jellystone!

We're in the Smokey Mountains.

In a tent.

It's raining.

THANK GOD for our fan.

We've Lost Our Minds

That's right folks...we've lost it! :)

Thursday I packed the van & when Hubby got home from work we left town, driving straight through to the Washington, DC area to visit Hubby's family. That's a long drive. No, really long as in over 24 hours. Especially with a 3yo & a 14mo. It really wasn't that bad though. The boys sure were ready to get out of the car when we got here though, lol. Who could blame them.

So we're here a few days & then we'll go camping in the Smoky's a few days before heading back home. Should be a decent get-a-way.

By the way: I just have to tell you how frustrated I am. People just cannot understand Apraxia/dyspraxia. I'm honestly just as sick of dealing with this stuff as I am of explaining it. I can't stand when we're away from home because Little Man hardly eats and being in groups of people makes it SO much worse. And honestly, until you've walked a mile in our shoes I don't think it's really even possible to understand it but that doesn't make it any easier on us when people choose to judge us, him or the situation.

Eh, I'm not really in a great mood tonight anyway.

G'night folks!

Just do your job!

With both of our children having issues that have required extensive medical care this was bound to happen eventually.

Back in December, Peanut had a short stay at Texas Children's Hospital to determine why he had extra fluid surrounding his brain. At the point they decided to admit him, it wasn't that they thought it was an emergency to know what was going on since they had determined his ventricles were okay. Instead the issue was that if they sent us home to follow up, it would be 4-6 months before he would be seen & have an MRI to determine what was going on. It might not have been an immediate need but waiting months to find out wasn't acceptable to any of us. It was at least more urgent than that.

So the point is that someone at the hospital dropped the ball & didn't manage to follow through with getting the pre-cert required for his hospital stay. Oh bloody wonderful! I have been chasing this crap through hoops for months. The hospital says we owe them over $2000 because part of the claim was denied.

Well hellooooooo bone heads! It was denied because someone at your facility didn't bother to make sure the authorization was obtained!!! The insurance company doesn't even show a record of TCH making an attempt for an auth, even though TCH says they started it.

Well TCH, if you did then you could provide me that info so that I can help you get paid! Grrr....

My Plan: I've had enough. I know that we owe them $500 for our co-pay and not a dime over (because the OOP max was met in what, the first few hours of his life? LOL). The insurance co paid for all the medical related services but denied room & board based on lack of authorization. I am willing to file one appeal with the ins co. If it's denied again TCH will be getting a letter along with my payment of $500 explaining that they will NEVER see another dime related to that claim and they can take up the lack of authorization with the employee that failed to do their job or the insurance company but it's not my problem.

If people would just do their jobs, things like this wouldn't happen.

Lead Shoes

Meet the lead shoes.



Of course they aren't really made of lead. But try telling that to Peanut. On Friday we bought him his first pair of shoes and he really doesn't care for them one bit, lol. He just stands there, frozen in place as though his feet are too heavy to lift. Oh yeah, & he screams his head off about it too. What a hoot!


I do have to say I'm horribly disappointed that we have lots of shoes in new condition from Little Man but as we suspected, the Peanut needs WIDE shoes making Little Man's shoes perfectly useless. Go figure.