There are so many things that happen only "here" that I think I could write a post on it every day. That might be a little extra 'wierd' though. lol Here are a few things that come to mind from today.
1. Zeeky (5 years old and has autism) licked the waterslide while they were getting it setup and then drunk water out of it as a pass time today.
2. Crystal (11 year old with RAD) also drunk water out of the water slide today even though she wasn't supposed to be near the waterslide at all. (By the way I had a huge cooler of ice water with cups as well as numerous other beverages that were cold and CLEAN outside the whole time)
3. Jacob gets his "RAD eyes" on every time he sees another adult, but did come to me for hugs today after being reminded. He came several times on his own even after others went home. (I guess the 'only here' thing could even be that this is such a great accomplishment. roflol)
4. I can buy way too much food for get togethers and know that we will eat whatever is left.
5. I am proud of myself because I let Denzell head out with some of our church family this evening to football previews and did ok with it myself.
6. There were 21 kids here for a good portion of the day and it felt GOOD. There wasn't any real fighting (some on great 'water noodle' fights though!) even with that many kids here.
7. I will be just as excited to see the sandpit in my backyard leave as I will to see the addition on the back of our house that makes it leave.
8. With all the kids that were here, my husband is the one that I had to scold outside (he's such a big kid).
There are numerous other things, but those are just a few off of the top of my head! lol
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Great Day
We had an awesome day today. I had invited anyone from church who wanted to join us to come over today. I had food and we had the water slide up. It was VERY hot. I really didn't know if anyone would come at all, especially since we weren't at church Wednesday night to remind anyone.
My brother, sister-in-law, and their three beautiful kids joined us first. My mother came later as well. All the kids hit the backyard hard at that point. I knew that they'd have a blast one way or the other, but was hoping that some others would brave the heat to join us.
Several people from church ended up coming. It is so nice to have the sweet fellowship of other believers. Church time is always awesome for that reason. It is just nice to be able to socialize with them outside of church as well though. Here at my house is perfect for me. There are plenty of things to keep the kids busy. The yard is safe and there are ways to keep the little ones from wandering off. I usually do lots of individual chips, drinks, etc because they are so easy to hand out and still have time to enjoy our guests.
Others from our church understand adoption as well. It is nice to hear other families talking about what age their children joined their family. It is nice to have people here who understand that my kids have some issues that they "came with". People who love us enough and know I love my kids enough for me to say "No Jacob, you can only have love from me", without them thinking I'm a complete wierdo. (I mean, I am wierd in my own special way, but that isn't one of the reasons. roflol) It is nice to be with people who knew me even before I had kids and can say "Oh, I knew you were crazy even before the kids". hahaha
Overall it is just great to hear my kids laughing with their friends in the backyard and know that we are with people who really do love each other. I am very blessed with church family who love us and who we love very much. It seems rare in this world to find people who can look at our (very large and colorful) family and see the strings of love that bind us into the family that God intends instead of wondering what the heck we are. :)
Great day! God is good!
My brother, sister-in-law, and their three beautiful kids joined us first. My mother came later as well. All the kids hit the backyard hard at that point. I knew that they'd have a blast one way or the other, but was hoping that some others would brave the heat to join us.
Several people from church ended up coming. It is so nice to have the sweet fellowship of other believers. Church time is always awesome for that reason. It is just nice to be able to socialize with them outside of church as well though. Here at my house is perfect for me. There are plenty of things to keep the kids busy. The yard is safe and there are ways to keep the little ones from wandering off. I usually do lots of individual chips, drinks, etc because they are so easy to hand out and still have time to enjoy our guests.
Others from our church understand adoption as well. It is nice to hear other families talking about what age their children joined their family. It is nice to have people here who understand that my kids have some issues that they "came with". People who love us enough and know I love my kids enough for me to say "No Jacob, you can only have love from me", without them thinking I'm a complete wierdo. (I mean, I am wierd in my own special way, but that isn't one of the reasons. roflol) It is nice to be with people who knew me even before I had kids and can say "Oh, I knew you were crazy even before the kids". hahaha
Overall it is just great to hear my kids laughing with their friends in the backyard and know that we are with people who really do love each other. I am very blessed with church family who love us and who we love very much. It seems rare in this world to find people who can look at our (very large and colorful) family and see the strings of love that bind us into the family that God intends instead of wondering what the heck we are. :)
Great day! God is good!
Friday, August 13, 2010
Ear Mites? (nope)
I noticed this morning that Jacob had blood all in his ears. It was dried and gross. My first thought was that it looked like a dog with bad ear mites. I knew that wasn't it. lol My next thought was that surely he would have expressed some kind of discomfort if his ear drums had burst. Would he? Really I don't know if he would.
Then reality hit. I realized that this was the same little RADish that I had cleaned up bloody ears for it times past. They had never been this bad though. I got the diaper wipes and started cleaning his ears. I got it all cleaned up and then it started to reform.
Yes, you might have guessed it if you too have a RADish. My sweet little RADish really did pick his ears in the outer ear region until it they bled. See Jacob bleeds easily (probably on account of some seizure medication since it seems to have gotten better as we've weaned off of it). He also picks just to be a pain.
Yes, my house has more bodily functions and grossness some days! I still get taken back occassionally. You'd think "behavior" would be the first thought in my head, but it still isn't sometimes. I guess the fact that I am also parenting a lot of kids who aren't having such "behaviors" still keeps me in the "real world" instead of going totally to the "RAD world". I am going to take that as a good thing. I am not totally gone over to the "RAD world" and just go there for the ones that I need to go there to help.
Anyway, if you see my child and he looks like he has ear mites, I promise he doesn't. lol
Then reality hit. I realized that this was the same little RADish that I had cleaned up bloody ears for it times past. They had never been this bad though. I got the diaper wipes and started cleaning his ears. I got it all cleaned up and then it started to reform.
Yes, you might have guessed it if you too have a RADish. My sweet little RADish really did pick his ears in the outer ear region until it they bled. See Jacob bleeds easily (probably on account of some seizure medication since it seems to have gotten better as we've weaned off of it). He also picks just to be a pain.
Yes, my house has more bodily functions and grossness some days! I still get taken back occassionally. You'd think "behavior" would be the first thought in my head, but it still isn't sometimes. I guess the fact that I am also parenting a lot of kids who aren't having such "behaviors" still keeps me in the "real world" instead of going totally to the "RAD world". I am going to take that as a good thing. I am not totally gone over to the "RAD world" and just go there for the ones that I need to go there to help.
Anyway, if you see my child and he looks like he has ear mites, I promise he doesn't. lol
God Touched My A/C
The people who came to work on the unit yesterday couldn't find anything wrong with it. The duct work all looked good and they couldn't find anything wrong with the unit. By the time they arrived there was air blowing out of the vents, but the temperature was still 80 in here. They called the owner and he mentioned some "technical" parts that I don't quite understand. Even though the unit was just put in a little over a year ago, they are ordering some part for it. They said it would be here Monday or Tuesday.
My thought on that was "Oh great.". I mean I have 12 kids who were hot and so was I, which could have lead to not good things. On top of that, we invited our church family over for Saturday afternoon. I was thinking that the heat was going to really be bad and we would have no air conditioning. I prayed several times before and after the repair guys left. I thought that maybe begging God for it to work enough to stay comfortable might be a good idea.
The thing is that yesterday evening the house was 74 degrees, which was the exact number it was set on! I had expected it to be above 85 with the temperature outside in the upper 90s and "real feel" at about 105. It stayed 74 degrees! It has still stayed that all day!
God has put His hand on my A/C unit. I haven't asked the company to hold the order on the part. I don't know if God has made it work temporarily so that I can get ready for the time of fellowship stress free and not hot or if He has healed it for good.
Now before anyone thinks I'm crazy, I do realize that the men may have accidently hit something and fixed it. I also know that they sure didn't do it on purpose. I will definitely count that as Divine Intervention and Praise God for it!
My thought on that was "Oh great.". I mean I have 12 kids who were hot and so was I, which could have lead to not good things. On top of that, we invited our church family over for Saturday afternoon. I was thinking that the heat was going to really be bad and we would have no air conditioning. I prayed several times before and after the repair guys left. I thought that maybe begging God for it to work enough to stay comfortable might be a good idea.
The thing is that yesterday evening the house was 74 degrees, which was the exact number it was set on! I had expected it to be above 85 with the temperature outside in the upper 90s and "real feel" at about 105. It stayed 74 degrees! It has still stayed that all day!
God has put His hand on my A/C unit. I haven't asked the company to hold the order on the part. I don't know if God has made it work temporarily so that I can get ready for the time of fellowship stress free and not hot or if He has healed it for good.
Now before anyone thinks I'm crazy, I do realize that the men may have accidently hit something and fixed it. I also know that they sure didn't do it on purpose. I will definitely count that as Divine Intervention and Praise God for it!
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Return of the RAD
Yes, Andrew has done it again. I am hoping that this will be a short bad spell. He had been doing so great. Homeschool was going wonderful! Behaviors were so minor that he was actually enjoyable.
He had went back into underwear (at age 9) this morning after a good long spell of being clean and dry, but it was all for nothing really. Yes, after less than 12 hours of being clean and dry, he decided to pee and poop on himself. I would have once asked "WHY OH WHY?", but I am past that. I just accept the present and move on toward the future. I calmly explained that I realize he must not be able to handle the world as big as it was getting for him. I realize that not having on a pullup (though he asked for the underwear) must have made him uncomfortable. I let him know that I was not made. I let him know that we would once again make his world smaller until he was able to handle it being bigger again.
I would like to say that I didn't expect it. There was just something "not real" about the way that he said "this has been a great day" more than five times while eating Blizzard pie. He was one of the few that had earned a special treat by finishing his school work and not being unbearable at dinner. Several had already been sent to bed, but he was one of the "well behaved" ones of the day. You know that he had to have felt so sneaky while he ate it knowing that he had peed his pants and pooped his pants and was sitting in it. Oh yes, what an accomplishment. Oh well, I'm sure that the baby food for breakfast won't be quite as enjoyable. I've come to realize that my 9 & 11 year old RAD kids seem to dislike but find baby food therapeutic. To them it seems "logical" to eat baby food when you use your pants as a diaper. I mean it makes sense. I also make sure that the breakfast that the other children are having is exceptional, so I have a little planning to do.
Whatever it takes for my RAD kids. I am determined to let God use me to help them get better. There will be setbacks like this along the way, but it is still more steps forward than backward now. Hopefully one day of being treated like a baby and he will have gotten the reassurance that things are still the same, I won't hurt him, I'm not angry, and I am willing to make his world as small has he needs it. Hopefully we will go back to dry pullups and won't try underwear again for quite awhile. We'll try to make small steps in other arenas and keep the pullup for awhile longer.
Who knows what the RADishes have up their sleeves for tomorrow. I just know that I have lots of God's grace up my sleeve. I also have love, hugs, and the endurance to see them through.
Crazy to say at this moment for most, but I am still glad to be the little poopers mom! hahaha
He had went back into underwear (at age 9) this morning after a good long spell of being clean and dry, but it was all for nothing really. Yes, after less than 12 hours of being clean and dry, he decided to pee and poop on himself. I would have once asked "WHY OH WHY?", but I am past that. I just accept the present and move on toward the future. I calmly explained that I realize he must not be able to handle the world as big as it was getting for him. I realize that not having on a pullup (though he asked for the underwear) must have made him uncomfortable. I let him know that I was not made. I let him know that we would once again make his world smaller until he was able to handle it being bigger again.
I would like to say that I didn't expect it. There was just something "not real" about the way that he said "this has been a great day" more than five times while eating Blizzard pie. He was one of the few that had earned a special treat by finishing his school work and not being unbearable at dinner. Several had already been sent to bed, but he was one of the "well behaved" ones of the day. You know that he had to have felt so sneaky while he ate it knowing that he had peed his pants and pooped his pants and was sitting in it. Oh yes, what an accomplishment. Oh well, I'm sure that the baby food for breakfast won't be quite as enjoyable. I've come to realize that my 9 & 11 year old RAD kids seem to dislike but find baby food therapeutic. To them it seems "logical" to eat baby food when you use your pants as a diaper. I mean it makes sense. I also make sure that the breakfast that the other children are having is exceptional, so I have a little planning to do.
Whatever it takes for my RAD kids. I am determined to let God use me to help them get better. There will be setbacks like this along the way, but it is still more steps forward than backward now. Hopefully one day of being treated like a baby and he will have gotten the reassurance that things are still the same, I won't hurt him, I'm not angry, and I am willing to make his world as small has he needs it. Hopefully we will go back to dry pullups and won't try underwear again for quite awhile. We'll try to make small steps in other arenas and keep the pullup for awhile longer.
Who knows what the RADishes have up their sleeves for tomorrow. I just know that I have lots of God's grace up my sleeve. I also have love, hugs, and the endurance to see them through.
Crazy to say at this moment for most, but I am still glad to be the little poopers mom! hahaha
Jamaica? (HuH?)
Brent took Denzell to urgent care this evening. Our medical provider (who I love so much and this trip proved why we don't see other people) is not in on Wednesdays. Denzell occassionally gets skin irritations that seem to be related to grass or weeds, but not something contagious like poison ivy. They seem to quickly spread and make his eyes swell up some. We didn't want to wait until tomorrow and it is difficult to just take any walk in appointment when I don't even have Denzell to sit with kids who are waiting for me.
I let Brent know ahead of time that he needed to make sure that he came away with steroids. I know from past experiences with him that our medical provider would give us those for this rash. I also know that not all doctors have a lot of experience with the way that rashes look on darkly pigmented skin.
The physician's assistant that was to see him came in. He began to examine the rash. Denzell is hysterical when he tells about the way the man looked at it. (He cracks me up!) He then asks Denzell if he has had any rashes like this before. Denzell lets him know that "yes" he has.
The next part is what cracks me up and makes me sad all in one whack. The PA says "Did you have it here in the United States or . . . . (long pause here hoping that this teen or his dad would fill in the blank I guess) or in Jamaica?
Brent says "He was from Columbus" and Denzell gives the place he was born. The man then clamors with things like "So sorry for speculating" and "I guess it was the accent". Seriously, Denzell has no accent. It must have been hard for him to feel the need to explain. I mean what could he say 'Oh I didn't know there were dark skinned children in the US that are adopted by white people' or 'your dark skin confused me'.
We all had a good laugh about it. Some people really just don't think. I mean seriously though, why don't people see someone whose skin is different from theirs and realize that the person is probably American? Why do people always assume that multi-racial families can only be formed through international adoption? I am proud of how my family was formed and the other moms that I know who have families formed via adoption are too, but is it so much to ask that our society just see them as our kids and don't assume anything.
Oh well, we shall laugh and hope that the next time he sees a "black" kid with "white" parents he might just assume that families are formed through international or domestic adoption, but that he shouldn't make a teen feel like he has some foreign rash that is unknown of just because his skin pigmentation is dark. Rainbows are beautiful and so are rainbow families.
I let Brent know ahead of time that he needed to make sure that he came away with steroids. I know from past experiences with him that our medical provider would give us those for this rash. I also know that not all doctors have a lot of experience with the way that rashes look on darkly pigmented skin.
The physician's assistant that was to see him came in. He began to examine the rash. Denzell is hysterical when he tells about the way the man looked at it. (He cracks me up!) He then asks Denzell if he has had any rashes like this before. Denzell lets him know that "yes" he has.
The next part is what cracks me up and makes me sad all in one whack. The PA says "Did you have it here in the United States or . . . . (long pause here hoping that this teen or his dad would fill in the blank I guess) or in Jamaica?
Brent says "He was from Columbus" and Denzell gives the place he was born. The man then clamors with things like "So sorry for speculating" and "I guess it was the accent". Seriously, Denzell has no accent. It must have been hard for him to feel the need to explain. I mean what could he say 'Oh I didn't know there were dark skinned children in the US that are adopted by white people' or 'your dark skin confused me'.
We all had a good laugh about it. Some people really just don't think. I mean seriously though, why don't people see someone whose skin is different from theirs and realize that the person is probably American? Why do people always assume that multi-racial families can only be formed through international adoption? I am proud of how my family was formed and the other moms that I know who have families formed via adoption are too, but is it so much to ask that our society just see them as our kids and don't assume anything.
Oh well, we shall laugh and hope that the next time he sees a "black" kid with "white" parents he might just assume that families are formed through international or domestic adoption, but that he shouldn't make a teen feel like he has some foreign rash that is unknown of just because his skin pigmentation is dark. Rainbows are beautiful and so are rainbow families.
Chin Love at 2am
"Chin Love" is a term that was coined especially for Julianne. See Julianne didn't "eat" originally, but was instead fed by gtube. She therefore didn't "explore" with her mouth either. From the time that we met her, we realized that her "chin" was how she explored. She played with musical toys with her chin. She rocked in the floor while bounching her ching off the floor. She touched things with texture to her chin as well.
Soon after coming home, she also began to show affection with her ching. She would take her chin and put it on your chin. She would move your head to make sure that she had the proper angle to "chin love" you. It was her highest form of affection really. The "awww"s that came when anyone was blessed with "chin love" were hysterical. The whole family in complete adoring of her also completely embraced this new type of affection!
Last night Julianne had been playing in her bed ever so sweetly. There was giggling and rocking that could be heard. It is impossible not to smile when she is giggling. :) Then she got very quiet and I just knew that my sweet girl was dreaming sweet dreams.
Every night we go in to check on her, so Brent and I headed in as normal. I reminded him to be very quiet since she had taken awhile to go to sleep. It is our favorite part of our bedtime routine to go in and check on her. To see her angelic face in perfect sleep is the perfect blessing.
As we opened the door ever so quietly, Julianne burst into loud giggles. She had been in there waiting. We couldn't help but join her in laughter. She wasn't asleep at all, but in there waiting to surprise us with giggles. Needless to say, we once again broke all of our parenting rules. We picked her giggling and snuggly self up. We sung, spun, and gave/received kisses. We totally indulged her every whim at 2am in the morning! roflol
As we stood getting chin love, we both looked at each other. We acknowledged that we are the most blessed people that we know. I bet no one else got "chin love" at 2 am, but us! What a blessing to get to be her mommy and the mommy of 11 others as well!
Soon after coming home, she also began to show affection with her ching. She would take her chin and put it on your chin. She would move your head to make sure that she had the proper angle to "chin love" you. It was her highest form of affection really. The "awww"s that came when anyone was blessed with "chin love" were hysterical. The whole family in complete adoring of her also completely embraced this new type of affection!
Last night Julianne had been playing in her bed ever so sweetly. There was giggling and rocking that could be heard. It is impossible not to smile when she is giggling. :) Then she got very quiet and I just knew that my sweet girl was dreaming sweet dreams.
Every night we go in to check on her, so Brent and I headed in as normal. I reminded him to be very quiet since she had taken awhile to go to sleep. It is our favorite part of our bedtime routine to go in and check on her. To see her angelic face in perfect sleep is the perfect blessing.
As we opened the door ever so quietly, Julianne burst into loud giggles. She had been in there waiting. We couldn't help but join her in laughter. She wasn't asleep at all, but in there waiting to surprise us with giggles. Needless to say, we once again broke all of our parenting rules. We picked her giggling and snuggly self up. We sung, spun, and gave/received kisses. We totally indulged her every whim at 2am in the morning! roflol
As we stood getting chin love, we both looked at each other. We acknowledged that we are the most blessed people that we know. I bet no one else got "chin love" at 2 am, but us! What a blessing to get to be her mommy and the mommy of 11 others as well!
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