None Other Than Mother's Day

If I am going to blog today, it seems fitting to write about my Mother's Day...  

We have a skylight above our bed and so in the spring when early mornings are light that means I am awake. At 6:30 am I knew I wasn't getting back to sleep and of course my moving in bed woke up the hubby.  We decided to get up and enjoy our coffee as we did not hear any little sounds coming from the other room (usually it is drink your coffee in 5 minutes because we have to walk out the door or get the kids ready).  Ahhhh...I usually do not get up quite this early if I don't have to. But, I have to admit it is my favorite time of day because it is not just our house that is quiet but the world around me is mostly silent except for the birds singing outside and a few cars going by. 

We enjoyed coffee and breakfast outside on our patio furniture and talked about our landscape and what we liked and what we want to improve on (yes, some people may think we are a little nerdy, but we love to landscape with perennials, etc and I love that my husband enjoys this too).  

If one is looking at the camera, the other one is not.
If one is smiling, the other one is not.

Quietness and calm are all over!  Kids are up (oh, but I love them)!  Amazingly when you get up early we leave for church thinking we are late, only to realize we have a few minutes to spare!   At church, all the young kids give their moms a carnation so I felt special to receive one from Izzy.

After church, Ced and another friend decide to take us out for lunch...very nice to not have to cook!  Lunch was delicious...kids were NOT on their best behavior and I unwantingly met the kitchen staff as Izzy ran through the open kitchen door with me chasing behind in high heels! 

Now all is quiet and Isaiah is excited to see Grandma and Grandpa tonight.  Of course we all are but when I say Grandma and Grandpa are coming Sunday, he repeats me and gets an excited look on his face (wish I could permanently capture the look for the future because I don't want to forget those expressions).  

Kid Corner

Maybe on the days that I am frustrated and feel overwhelmed with Izzy's developmental delays, I will be able to look back on these blogs and find joy in the progress that she has made.  These seemingly insignificant progressions are what allows me to well-up inside with genuine pride at her abilities.   I periodically want to blog about my children's accomplishments as a way to remember how far they've come.  

April 2: Every Tuesday at the end of Izzy's preschool morning, all the children sit in their seats and wait for their parents to come in to pick them up.  When it is their turn they go up to the teacher, state the letter that they have learned that day and get the candy, etc that starts with or relates to that letter.  Usually Izzy runs up to her teacher (or right past her if we don't cue her) and it may take a longer time to coax the letter out of her or she may completely ignore the fact that we want her to say the letter.  This day, Izzy runs up to her teacher, teacher asks Izzy what letter they learned, Izzy says "X" (or something that sounded like X) without hesitation, takes her Twix bar and runs to me.  

April 2: On that same day, Izzy's preschool gym teacher came up to me and was beaming because Izzy said "Bye" to her.  This was the first time Izzy had spoken a word to her since the beginning of the school year in September!

April (beginning of month):  This may seem very subtle but I noticed Izzy was able to fill a cup (not quite full because it is too heavy) and then pour it out in a normal fashion.  She has not been able to do this before probably due to hand/forearm weakness, decreased coordination and just plain disinterest!

Holding the cup like normal 

Pouring the water into the sink

I am adding this picture just because I think it is cute.  I caught her this morning sitting on the "potty" with her leg crossed, reading my Mary Kay magazine!

Writing about Isaiah's accomplishments are somewhat different because it is not as specific as Izzy's.  Isaiah's speech is really developing and I am always amazed at what he picks up on.  He puts two words together (sometimes on his own and other times he is mimicking us).  Loves to say "Daddy's truck" (in a manly voice); "awww man" (o.k. that comes from me), "Izzy nooooooo"(that is starting to be a regular!).   He loves his big sister and many times asks for "Izzy" (with a lisp) after he wakes up from his nap.

He is a bit attached to his mamma and daddy and has difficulty going into the nursery at church, but usually stops screaming after 5 or so minutes.  In fact, as soon as he sees the door to the nursery he starts crying!  I am the one that races to pick him up after church just so I can see the huge smile he gives me when I come through the door!

One other thing that both kids looooove to do....they are obsessed (more so Isaiah) with dipping their food into any kind of sauce (ketchup, BBQ, sour cream, etc).  In fact, sometimes I will put a dipping sauce on their plate even if it might be a weird combination so that they will eat their vegetables.  I think they might take after their poppop with liking ketchup on everything!

What a ham!  We'll say he takes after his daddy :)

Preparing for Spring

Spring is here but it sure doesn't feel like it with the weather in the 40's recently.  According to the forecast, warmer weather is coming!  There is always so much clean up and preparations to get the garden and flower beds ready for planting and mulching.


We are trying something new this year....our own mini-greenhouse!

In the past, we have started seeds in the greenhouse where my husband teaches but right now it is easiest to have the seeds at home where we can manage them when it suits us.  I was a little skeptical at first, but I actually am excited now and think it might do it's job!  The past few days it has been in the 40's or low 50's but the greenhouse has kept in moisture and warmth.  Hopefully we will start to see some seedlings sprout in the next few weeks.

Items we planted (on 4/3/13):
*Roma tomatoes
*Peppers
*Cucumbers
*Basil
*Columbine flowers
*Lots of annual flower seeds (not sure what these will do)

The garden has been rototilled and cleaned up and I am hoping to get lettuce and spinach in this week.

A good part of my time is also spent raking the leaves out of the flower beds.  Yes, that sounds like a fall thing but if you know our house, you know all the mature trees we have in our yard and it makes for endless raking in the fall and then more raking in the spring.  I leave some leaves on the flower beds in the fall to help protect the plants through the winter.

Our place is always a work in progress but I guess if we had everything perfectly the way we wanted it we would be looking for a new place to fix up!

My Son

My daughter has been the center of most of my posts so far, but I do not want to forget about my son.   Isaiah means Salvation of the Lord; God's helper.  This little boy is full of spunk and energy.  I am amazed everyday at how fast he picks up on words and he is now at the point of repeating things we are saying (this should be fun) :)   

The other day we were all at a store and my husband had him on his shoulders to keep him entertained.  He is usually non-stop "on the go" and if we put him down on the ground we spend our time chasing him instead of shopping.  My husband wanted to ask a store employee a question and to get her attention he said "ma'am".  Before the employee could turn around and respond, we heard a commanding "MA'AM" from the top of my husband's shoulders.  Everyone who heard got a good laugh!  You don't even realize he is listening.  

Isaiah loves to say hi to everyone in the grocery store, etc.  It must be the age because I hear of other children that do this too.  He gives anyone a big smile and waves his hand and that gets him plenty of attention!

He just looks like trouble!

What a ham!

Isaiah's new thing is to jump.  He LOVES to jump!  Not just on the ground, but now he has discovered he can jump off things. Unfortunately, he has no fear of falling and so that makes mommy a little nervous.  Daddy says he is just being a boy....well I've been to the ER enough with Izzy and I am not ready to start with him.  I think I am more nervous because I always have to keep an eye on Izzy and her balance, but this boy is actually fairly steady.  As soon as it is time to go up the steps, he gets up on the first step, turns around and wants to jump off; if he goes into the bathroom where there is a step stool he wants to jump; the small slide we have is now a playground for jumping because instead of sliding down he gets to the top, turns around and wants to jump off.  At times, he is courteous enough to say "mommy hand" so I can hold his hand, however most of the time he feels it is not necessary to have me present.  

These are the stories I want to remember in 10 years. 


 

The MRI

Today was the day.  About a month ago, Izzy was scheduled for an MRI of her brain but her pediatrician didn't clear her for it because she developed a cold.  We finally rescheduled it for today.  On Wednesday, she went to the pediatrician again and she cleared her, however she then started to develop a runny nose and I was concerned that they were going to cancel it again.  But, the anesthesiologist didn't seem concerned because her lungs sounded clear.  Here is a run down of the day....

**5:50 am:  Izzy woke up bright and early...thank you darling for that!  She must have known something was going on today.

**5:50 until 9:00 am: Izzy sat in our bed playing IPAD until I rolled out of bed to get myself and other things ready.

**9:00 am: got a call from the hospital saying they were running ahead of schedule (now how often does that happen!) and asked if we could come now.  Sure thing...just had to get shoes and coats on and we were out the door.

**9:45 am: went to admitting office, got our lovely bracelets on with Izzy's name, birthdate, etc and were taken to pre-op area.  Izzy got to wear the too big, too cute hospital pjs and socks.  The pediatric anesthesiologist came in to explain what would happen and to answer any questions.  About 15 minutes before taking her to the MRI area, the nurse had me give her a syringe by mouth with a drug called Versed to calm her as they were going to eventually sedate her.  I asked the nurse how kids usually react to this and she said they either fall asleep, cry or become the "happy drunk".  When we were ready to get transported, I sat in a w/c and held Izzy on my lap.  Isaiah and hubby were walking behind in the stroller but Isaiah just couldn't have it and was crying, so we rearranged some things and I now had both kids on my lap.  Isaiah was content with too fingers in his mouth and Izzy was becoming very relaxed on account of the drug.  (picture below is before we were taken to MRI area)

**About 10:30 am: Got to the area where the MRI would be performed,  Izzy wanted daddy to hold her and she now had become the "happy drunk"(was very smily/happy and relaxed).  I gave her a kiss and told her I loved her and the anesthesiologist carried her into the MRI room.   We were taken up the the waiting area and given a pager so they could find us to tell us when we were allowed to see her.  We were told she would be in MRI for 45 minutes.

**12:00 pm: Still no news (I thought she should be out by now).  I was getting exhausted running after Isaiah.  He was non-stop the entire time, wanting to climb on the waiting room furniture, go up and down the steps and just run around.  His big thing is saying hi to everyone now, so he at least made people smile with his antics.  We also went to visit some of my co-workers to pass the time.   At noon, I asked the woman at the front desk if she could call and see what was going on and she called and told me that Izzy was in the recovery room (she told the person on the other line that they should have called to let us know that she was out of the procedure...uh-oh...didn't want to get anyone in trouble).

**Sometime later our pager went off and they told us that we could go see Izzy in recovery but Isaiah couldn't go in.  I just went.  She was all snug with blankets and was in a crib.  She looked somewhat dazed but was awake.  She had a few nurses giving her lots of attention and one of them was even singing to her they said.  Izzy then got wheeled to another room for a short time to make sure she was coming out of the anesthesia o.k.  I held her and the nurse said she would probably be somewhat floppy so I should support her head.  She hadn't eaten anything since last night or drank anything since this morning so she got apple juice, jello and crackers and she tolerated that well.   Within minutes, daddy and Isaiah came to visit.  We were continually feeding Isaiah snacks to keep him happy so it was no surprise that he had an oreo in hand and a chocolate covered mouth.  Now this sparked Izzy's attention when she saw the cookie and now she wanted to jump up and go to daddy.   She did pretty well walking but we had to steady her because they said she may be uncoordinated for up to 24 hours after the anesthesia.

**Around 1:00 pm:  nurse said Izzy was doing well and that if we wanted to be discharged we could go.  She explained the discharge papers and we were off to the car....Izzy and mommy being pushed in a w/c (this did not make Isaiah happy).

**Soon after we left in the car, Isaiah was out cold (I called that as he was non-stop on the go in the waiting area).  Izzy fell asleep later in the afternoon and now I am sitting down to write.

**Did call her doctor's office to see when we would know the results and they said probably by Monday.

The Little Things That Make Us Smile

Someone once told me that at some point you need to just find the humor in some of your child's behavior and not let all the frustrations get in the way (this person has a son who is on the autism spectrum).  

For a very long time now, we have been trying to teach our daughter how to get dressed/undressed.  Sometimes she fights us on even trying and other times she starts but has difficulty completing the task and needs hand over hand guidance to finish.  Needless to say, our morning and evening routine of getting dressing and putting pajamas on can take a very long time and it is frustrating but we continue to keep at it.

My daughter and son share a room and the other night they took quite awhile to settle down and finally when all was quiet I went up to check on them.  I walked over to check on my daughter and I couldn't help but smile and start laughing to myself because this is what I saw....

I  felt like she needed a little mermaid fin!  Many times when she tries to put pants on she puts both her legs into the same pant leg.  She must have taken her pants off and tried to put them back on and then obviously fell asleep.  That's my girl!  (Please disregard the mismatch of pajamas she is wearing!....we also fixed her pants so she did not sleep like that the entire night).

Waiting

    Three weeks ago my husband and I, along with our daughter, sat in the waiting room at a clinic for special children.  This visit was occurring because her neurologist was questioning if she  may have a genetic disease called Rett syndrome (a regressive disease) and was recommending genetic testing as a source to possibly determine the cause of her developmental delays.  This was a situation I never imagined I would be in.  

   This clinic is a unique place in that they specialize in genetic diseases that occur in persons with Amish and Mennonite background (which my husband and I both have).  Her doctor seemed very knowledgeable and got right down to business.   He wanted to know last names/maiden names of our families to determine if there may be a genetic disease that run in those family names.  It was actually interesting listening to all of this, however reality set in and I remembered this was to determine if my daughter may have one of these diseases.  At the end of the hour and a half they took blood from her, my husband and myself with the plan to do three different genetic tests.  If those came back negative, then they could run a much bigger test looking at myself and my husband's blood work as well.  

    It was somewhat sobering on the ride home as I was scared and nervous but also relieved that we may find out some answers.  After the initial thoughts of this set in, the days that came were fairly normal as we waited.  I don't know if it was the next day or a few days later, but one day I realized that I was completely calm about this.  My husband can attest to the fact that I am a worrier and I surprised myself of this inner peace.  I can only explain it as the Lord granting me peace and patience in the waiting.  I decided that if we were going to get bad news then I was going to be thankful of this time of "not knowing".  Of course there have been times of weakness where I completely talked myself into "knowing" that she has Rett syndrome or another disease but thankfully those moments have lasted briefly and then the peace returned.  

    One week went by and we got a letter in the mail from the clinic.....my husband and I were both standing in the kitchen and we just looked at each other.  We opened it and had relief when the first test for HERC2 was negative!   About two weeks went by with no other responses.  At the three week mark from our visit (which is today) I needed to know what was taking so long.  I called the clinic after saying a short prayer and was told that the third test usually takes awhile and we would know by the end of the week.  I then asked about the test for Rett.  They had done the test and the result brought tears to my eyes: negative!  Just to confirm, I asked the secretary one more time and she said, yes, the test was negative.  Thank you God!

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   As a final note, I will say that I have appreciated the support, encouragement and prayers of our families.

THE UNEXPECTED

   I am the kind of person that usually has most of my day planned out because I like to be productive. I know I am not the only person out there that does this!!!  So, when something unexpected happens, it really throws me for a loop....
   On Monday I did the usual get up, drop my daughter off at preschool, run errands, pick her up from preschool, come home get the kids lunch, play a little, then off the kids go to nap.....then it's my turn to get my projects done or relax (o.k. so the relaxing piece doesn't seem to happen that often!).   I had just put my son down for a nap and was starting to walk into my daughter's room when out of the corner of my eye I saw her run to her bed and trip over something hitting her head on the wooden base of the bed.  The crying immediately followed.  Now my daughter is somewhat clumsy and tripping and falling is not out of the ordinary for her.  Usually I pick her up quickly, look her over to make sure there is no blood, etc. and then we cuddle until she calms down.  This time when I picked her up and looked at her I saw this...

   So....I freaked out for a bit!  Yes, I am in the medical profession, but when you see a gaping wound on your daughter's forehead, all logical thoughts seem to go out the window.  I did have enough sense to put pressure on it, but now what?  How do I get her and my sleeping son in the car and drive to the ER?  I frantically called my neighbor to see if she could watch my son, but she was not available.   Then I remembered that my husband had a half day at school (Thank you Jesus!).  I called him and he came home immediately.  While waiting for him, my daughter and I both calmed down and once he was home, I took her to get stitches.  Took two of us to hold her down and I have to say this little girl is stronger than I thought she was!  She was back to her normal self on the way home and at 4:30pm she finally got her much needed nap!

Time is of the Essence

    Do you ever think about what you did with your time before kids? I mean think about it...There were no mouths to feed (but mine and my husband's), no toys to clean up, no diapers to change, no one but myself to get ready in the morning...and the list goes on and on.  Now I love my kids dearly and would not change a thing, but I had to think about this. Even with all the “extra” time I think I had, did I use my time wisely? I now sit on this Sunday afternoon thinking, “both kids are napping, I've taken our dog for a walk.....now what do I do?” I stop myself and decide I need to soak in the quietness of the afternoon and enjoy the beautiful, 60 degree weather God has given us on this November day.

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    I have been reading the book One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp and have been challenged to think about my view on time. Did you ever think that there was never enough time in the day to get things done? Try to rush, rush, rush through one thing so you can get to the next? Unfortunately, I am guilty of this. There are a few quotes from One Thousand Gifts that I would like to share:

“I don't really want more time; I just want enough time.” (pg. 67)

“Time is life. And if I want the fullest life, I need to find the fullest time.” (pg. 64)

This is a thought from a pastor that is quote in the book:

“Being in a hurry. Getting to the next thing without fully entering the thing in front of me. I cannot think of a single advantage I've ever gained from being in a hurry. But a thousand broken and missed things, tens of thousands, lie in the wake of all the rushing....Through all that haste I thought I was making up time. It turns out I was throwing it away."
 (pg. 65-66)

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I am encouraged and challenged to just sit and be thankful for the Lord's provision and grace despite living in a place that does not sit still and is in a race to get “things” done.

Lean not on your own understanding

I wrote this post on 11/11/2012 but never published it until now.

"Lean not on your own understanding" comes from Proverbs 3:5.  This was my encouragement today.  I don't quite know how to start a blog.  Where do I begin? 

   I guess I will start with my daughter... 

  

  "Devoted to God". This is one of the meanings of my daughter's name and the reason we chose her name. There is something about having your first child--the excitement, the unknown, the expectations! Yes, the expectations! A list in my mind of what my child will be like and what she will do..."my plans".

  So what happens when reality was the complete opposite of "my plans"?  That is what happened to me.   

  I had a normal pregnancy and delivery and was brought to tears when my daughter was born.  Everything appeared normal, however looking back I would say that her lower muscle tone was the only thing I noticed that seemed out of the ordinary.  At 5 months old, we rushed my daughter to the hospital because she had a febrile seizure (we didn't know it was that at the time). That occurred in the morning....at around midnight we rushed her to the hospital again because of another febrile seizure. Probably one of the scariest times of our lives.  After seeing the pediatric neurologist in the hospital I was somewhat calmed to know that this can be common in children under 5.   As of this date, she has not had another seizure (thank you God)!  

  As my daughter continued to grow she always seemed just a step behind the other kids her age.  She achieved her milestones on the later end of normal, however when it came to language and cognition she was far behind.  Early intervention started at 18 months and although progress was extremely slow, she was showing some improvement.   My daughter is now 3 years and 4 months and improvement continues to be slow.  There is no official diagnosis at this point in time.  If I had to give one it would be Global Developmental Delay (she is delayed in all areas of development).   (As a side note, her pediatric neurologist does not think her delays are caused by the seizures).  

                                         ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  I thought I was a patient person...but I found out I have room for improvement!  When raising a child with developmental delays, patience is a must...and when you think you just might have enough....you need to ask God to give you more!  It has been a struggle to accept that your child may never act or behave like a child their own age, but I am slowly learning that it is the trials and struggles in life that give way to complete trust in God.  MY plans did not prevail...but HIS plan will. 

  I love my daughter with all my heart, and always will, no matter what she becomes or how she progresses.  God is in control.  "Lean not on your own understanding".  This was my encouragement today.