secretagentswife

Happy Birthday Ike

Sun, 12 Apr 2009 02:59:35 GMT

My Ike is three. I can't believe my Dennis the Menace is three:) He is so funny. He has been singing Happy Birthday Dear Me all week and really hamming it up. I have to say since he turned about 18 months and his problems have slowly emerged, we have not had an easy year and a half but he is a joy just the same...a high energy, full throttle, to the max, or die trying kind of joy but a joy!

His birthday rolls around and I get kind of emotional. A bit different than with the other kids. I remember the Easter hunt that Cass was scurrying through when I got the call from Homes For Good asking if we wanted a foster baby....a two DAY OLD baby. We were not prepared for a foster baby (we wanted to adopt), we were not prepared for a boy (we wanted a girl), we were not prepared for a newborn (we wanted a toddler or older)...but God knew differently.....so instead of following my bullheaded plans like usual, I listened to His for once. And Ike arrived at our house 2 1/2 hours later in a filthy hospital t-shirt and blanket with a shock of reddish blonde mohawk hair and BIG blue eyes and shaking all over. I was in love....bad....

I really think about his birthmother a lot. I want to write to her so badly and just give her all these pictures I have been saving for her. I want to tell her that I pray for her. I want to tell her that we love him and think he is the sweetest, monkey ever! (He can climb anything:) But I don't dare risk his safety. Ever.I am keeping all these things for her for one day when he asks that question, "Mom, can you help me find her?" I will willingly go and search. I will be curious myself. Hopefully she will be ok then.

I think about his 4 birth brothers and wonder if they are growing up healthy and loved. I know one in particular is doing fabulous because he has a wonderful aunt taking care of him and she is Ike's hero in my opinion. That aunt is the one reason he is safe among the two caseworkers that did their job way back before he was even born. Praise God for people that care about children!!

This weekend for Ike's birthday, we went to Brownwood, he caught a FISH (he was so excited!), ate cake, had a fish fry (not his perch though), got to hunt Easter eggs, and generally was the star of the show for three days! My baby is officially not a baby he says...he is a big boy. Now if we can just get him out of diapers!

Saving Lives

Tue, 24 Mar 2009 00:45:11 GMT

My son is a life guard!!!! Wow. Tjack passed his lifeguard test. He is actually responsible for other's lives....a daunting thought but maybe this will encourage him to keep track of his homework??

Seriously, we are so proud of him. Diving down to the bottom of a 13 ft. pool to get a "body" and do CRP/rescue swim is hard for someone that is built so lean. He was worried he would not pass. The multiple choice part others struggled with and he aced with awesome scores. His CPR demonstration was almost perfect.

On top of that high, he got home and in the mail he got more letter patches for his letter jacket. His cross came in Phil. 4:13 which will proudly be sewn under his grad. year. "I can do everything through Him who gives me strength." I thought it was appropriate that it came in on the week that he struggled so hard to get this lifeguard certification, his first big "professional" accomplishment.

Way to go....I won't even start getting all weepy about how my baby is growing up and how he used to let me give him "turtle rides" in the pool when he was a baby. My Tjack is growing up.......

Spring Break is over

Sun, 22 Mar 2009 21:28:14 GMT

It is over.....wahhhhhhh

Trying to book our vacation

Thu, 19 Mar 2009 18:07:17 GMT

Update:

Found a brand new condo-three bedroom. Room for a babysitter to come with us!!

Today is our almost last day of spring break and I am trying to schedule our vacation for summer.....it is not working as planned. Our favorite condo (3 bedroom) is being greedy....wants us to book 7 days. We can only do 5. GRRR! It is a difference of about $1000. So I am saying no. I am sure there are other condos but I really like that one. My kids really like that one!

Work with me people!

Best Laid Plans Go to Heck:)

Mon, 16 Mar 2009 14:30:46 GMT

Scratch all the before mentioned spring break plans. Ike is running a fever....ughhhhhh! Anyway, he is running around here with 101 fever like a little wild Indian. Gotta love Murphy's Law!

My Spring Break Plans

Sun, 15 Mar 2009 03:24:22 GMT

Monday-Ethan goes to the orthodonist

Tuesday-Cassidy goes to the dentist

Wed. Ethan goes to the dentist and then mom goes to College Station for part of the day.

Thursday: ECI comes to visit Ike....Going to take Ethan out for his belated birthday with a friend.

Friday: Cass and I are going to the wild Mustang sale in Navasota with my sister and mom and then going rose shopping for the rest of the day.

When do I get my day......I will have to plan that in between dentists and ECI I guess!

Spring

Sun, 08 Mar 2009 23:54:11 GMT

Springitis is upon us. The kids feel it. I feel it. JB never gets it. Why is that? Do guys just not get it? I have the urge to plant stuff? The kids just want to be free of school! I want to start going through school clothes and packing away winter clothes, knowing the MINUTE I do some freak Houston cold front will hit and my babies will not have anything to wear. By the way, when do you go through your kids's clothes?

You know, I am starting to feel the need for a garage sale. I remember how much money I made at garage sales back in Aggieland and I miss it! Becky, would you be willing to let me park my tables outside your garage and let me sell all my stuff....it is overflowing out of my garage. I will give you a cut of the proceeds of course! A pedicure? Manicure? What do you want? I need your subdivision my friend....it is a gold mine.

Feeling the need to purge some dressers....gotta go.....

Rose Garden

Thu, 05 Mar 2009 12:10:46 GMT

Part 2: Sometimes you might find a surprise or two hiding in your roses. Ike was "helping" me plant some new bushes. I almost had a heart attack when my glove uncovered a dead snake. I actually had my hand on it!! It was dead but still a snake....ewwww! It made me realize that sometimes even within the most beautiful of God's creations Satan can still lurk. I can not be too comfortable even among the red and pink roses in my garden. I must be a bit on guard and protect myself from hidden dangers. (Oh and keep Ike from picking up "wormies" that might not be "wormies"!) P.S. Thanks Aunt Susan for the gorgeous photos of your roses. These are hers not mine!!

God never promised me a rose garden or was that Lynn Anderson? Can't remember. Either way, I am pretty sure God doesn't promise my days will be filled with roses. Pity, because I love them.

Tjack and I drove back from yet another dr. appt. and had no answers except go to Texas Childrens and faced with an appt. with a cardiologist today so my heart was very heavy and especially burdened. I asked him if he minded if I stopped at Arbor Gate. It is a beautiful garden center that I could spend hours at. He graciously said sure. Kind of surprised. Of course he did what all red blood American males did and stayed in the car but he let me. I think he knew I needed refuge. So within minutes I was lost in Penelope, Polonaise, Pinata and Carefree Beauty Roses and trying to "shop" for climbers and shrubs that would color my novice garden. The scripture about lilies of the field not toiling or worrying came to mind and I wanted to just sit there and look at my roses. I am being docked $250 a day now for each absence which we have stopped counting on account of TJack's illness. It doesn't leave money for roses. My beloved roses.

But my momma bought me two Angel Faces and she bought a Golden Shower and a Tropicana climber so at least I will have something new to look forward to in the spring. (That woman...she finds the BEST bushes.....I can't find certain ones! Gotta love her!)

I got back in the car sad. Tjack asked why I didn't buy any roses. (That boy knows his momma well) I told him money was tight. He seemed to understand. We switched the subject and started talking about his "car". He is about to be 16.....just around the corner...everything is about a car. And basketball. Which is the way it should be, not doctors and specialists.

God didn't promise me a rose garden but I am thankful for the one I have started.

I choose not to worry

Fri, 27 Feb 2009 11:52:12 GMT

I have been obsessing....Tjack's health has me obsessing, trying to fix things, control things, you know the usual. I can't. I am not a doctor and I am not God. So that is out of my hands. So I try to control teachers, counselors, specialist, cardiologists, pharmacists, grades, makeup work flow charts....and if I don't watch out I will have to go to the cardiologist with him. So I choose not to worry. Today. I am trying this out for size. Not my usual M.O. I am by nature a bulldozer and kind of a control freak.....

Ike

Wed, 25 Feb 2009 12:03:00 GMT

After meeting with Early Childhood Intervention we have a better understanding of what is going on with Ike. Cognitively and intellectually he is at about 32 months old out of a 34 month scale, which is really good and the counselor said is only because he is in the home he is in. He told us had he stayed in the birth home more than likely these scores would match some of the other scales we saw. The rule of thumb is when there are delays you usually find them a little in each part of development. So score two for us! Yeah. Self help area (potty training and dressing himself) was 17 mo. out of 34 months. This did not worry me too much. He is a boy�.they are slower in the potty training area. The counselor said due to his other problems we may be faced with a nervous system problem with the potty training�.be patient. Joe groaned. (Joe actually said potty training was one of our goals for ECI to work with Ike on since he had been buying diapers for 9 years�.I laughed at himJ)

The part where we saw the biggest deficient was the nervous system (which goes right along with our Uncle O�s suspicions of Sensory Integration Disorder) development delay. The counselor said Ike is very much developmentally delayed in this area and that is why he seeks inappropriate hard touches (which is why he hits), sounds, speed, etc. He needs therapy in this area and intervention. Ike will probably not be a teacher�s dream student�.more like a bouncing ball and he will need lots of breaks and outlets for his intense energy. He told me to be prepared for bungie jumping, rugby, bullriding , football, etc. in Ike�s future�..like he had to tell us that?

One thing he said to me really made an impact. He said if you think about the birth mother�s prenatal care like this�.if you are drinking alcohol (all the time), you are not drinking milk-which means you are not getting calcium, which means the baby gets no calcium. Drug users typically do not eat vegetables�.therefore the baby does not get XYZ� and so on. All these things have to build the nervous system and Ike didn�t get them. The counselor asked me to read Dr. Bruce Perry and about Theraplay, which I plan to do this week.

All this being said, Ike will probably not qualify for PPCD with the school district (we meet with them on Friday) because his other scores are so high. But at least we have some interventions now. One of our ECI interventionists is going to the daycare 3-4 times to try to work with the teachers on strategies that would help Ike. The counselor is coming back at least 2 times before Ike�s 3^rd birthday (when services end in April) to help me and an OT will come in to help Ike two or three times before his birthday as well. We still meet with Texas Children�s Hospital for a more in depth evaluation in July. This will cover so much more ground but ECI has been great!

We were advised to get a swing�..I am going to call my DadJ