Weekly Newsletter

I should try to make Sunday the official "even if nothing is happening, I should toss an update up" day, hereafter to be known as the Weekly Newsletter!

We will go youngest to oldest as we started with Emerald the last post.

Benjamin is walking really well now; he still relies heavily on crawling because it is faster, and he can't step up like stairs or anything, but he is making very good progress with his mobility. Three new little teeth buds have broken through this week, making for a very fussy Benjamin who is clingy during the day and restless at night. He thankfully isn't having any serious symptoms like fever or vomiting or diarrhea, but he is using his grumpiness to the best of his ability so that he is held more, kissed more, and put in the playpen less. Curiosity and sociability are both strong characteristics--he can make friends with anyone and is forever on the go, exploring even where he is not supposed to (maybe deviously where he is not supposed to).

Gabriel starts back at school on Monday. His program provides breakfast and lunch, but he has to get on the school bus super early. The bus driver was quite kind and drove by to introduce herself and the bus aide that will take care of him in the morning. Meet the Teacher was last Thursday and Michael, Gabriel, and I went to that while Rhonda kept an eye on Emerald and Benjamin. It was a little stressful because they had meet the teacher for the entire school, they have inadequate parking (to put it mildly), early in the afternoon on a work day, and we were left milling about outside the locked hallway with hundreds of other people. Claustrophobic and unorganized, his teacher wasn't even present--she is on Maternity Leave until September sometime. All the discomfort was worth it when Gaby ran into his classroom with great joy, hugging the inclusion coordinator and touching all the things that he remembered like his locker, his chair, and his friend Peter.

Emerald is doing well at school. Ken went and spoke with the principal the day after Emerald was sent to see him; Principal Breaux said that they had talked about what she did wrong and why they have rules and better choices she could make in the future...he said he must have started going on too long because Emerald laid her head down on his desk and started snoring! Mr. Breaux said he had to take a moment to compose himself or he was going to start laughing. Emerald is such a stinker!

Other than that incident, she has has few difficulties at school. Ms. Robins said they changed her circle partner because they didn't seem to get along and her attitude has improved greatly since they did that. For now, we still use the prayer bracelet and I let her pick her shoes so that she won't want to kick them off. On Friday she got a "yellow bear" which means time out and a note explaining why; during library time, the teacher told her that it was time to go and she said "no" because she was not finished yet with her book. They said she was mega sweet before and after that, and she wasn't awful or rude, just told them that she wasn't done and refused to leave. After timeout, she apologized to Ms. Robins and when she came home she told Michael and me about what happened and promised she would try harder next time to make good choices and keep her blue bear.

I am currently getting a little more involved--I joined the PTFA (Parents Teachers and Friends Association) and volunteer once a week (the day Michael has off) to help Emerald's class with lunch and recess. At Monterey, our church, I am looking at volunteering as a teacher or an assistant for cradle roll/nursery and Michael and I signed up for small groups. We won't start going to service again until they have Heroes Children's Worship reinstated because it is a real struggle to keep Gabriel quiet under normal circumstances and the singing stresses him out. Right now, we go just for Sunday School class.

A few weeks ago, I spent four days hurting so bad I was living on acetaminophen and heating pad, so I went to the doctor. He said I was suffering from back spasms, likely from carrying around my chunko kids. He put me on some painkillers and muscle relaxers, and I seem to only have trouble if I am carrying loads of laundry or hefting a kiddo.

Michael is selling really well at work; everyone pray that he can get one more Suburu out this month which will help us with affording Emerald's and Gabriel's birthday parties.

In case you are planning on coming, we are looking to host it Sunday, September 9th at 4 or so at Ken and Rhonda's. Tentatively speaking, we are considering a beach-y themed pizza party, but we are keeping our options open as always to what we can pull together.

Not much else is going on at this time. Keep Amber in your prayers as she is having surgery on Wednesday to remove her gallbladder. Remember Jarrod and Dad as they are both following up on abnormal blood work, and Dad fell and hurt his ankle again.

Have a blessed week!
--Andie

First Days, Praises, and the Races Begin

I wanted to go back to the beginning of July when we went down to San Antonio and our adventures there, but I am tragically fuzzy-brained from exhaustion today (more on that later) so I am going to just start with recent goings-on's and come back to those more distant memories at a later date.

First! My eldest, the apple of my eye, my little Emerald. 

My apprehensions over Emerald's ability to handle kindergarten were growing exponentially as the first day of school approached. Ken and Rhonda volunteered to send Emerald to Lubbock Christian, which is incredibly generous--private school was something Michael and I thought we would ever be able to offer, but because of them it is a reality! Either way, school days were bearing down on us and my fears were not diminishing, so we began to consult all manners of experts from teachers/parents from the University to family members to the principal and teachers from the school trying to get a feel for how Emerald would cope. All throughout this process we had been told time and time again that the teachers would be more than capable of handling her regardless of her behavioral issues and that we didn't need to worry....

...but....

If we wanted to, Pre-K was always a good choice--worse comes to worse, we can move her up to kindergarten instead of her getting held back a year or moved down if she didn't thrive there. It would teach her how to follow and obey school rules and how to make and be a good friend, the things we were particularly concerned about. We knew she would be able to handle the schoolwork aspect of it; the daycare fiasco has made me a little gunshy about Emerald's behavior away from my supervision. 

Monday was Meet the Teacher night. Michael watched the boys while Rhonda and I took Emerald. There was a new-parent presentation that Em fidgeted through and then we went and saw her classroom, dropped off her school supplies, and met Ms Lindsay. Her teacher is Ms. Robins, but she was out of town for a funeral and Ms. Lindsay would be substituting until then and being an aide in the classroom for the rest of the year. 

Wednesday was her first day of school. We couldn't drop her off any earlier than 7.50 that first day, but 7.30 early care with Principal Breaux is available the rest of the time. We dressed her in her tiny little uniform--so adorable in a plaid skort, blue polo, and little maryjanes with a matching headband. She looked so sweet. I gave her the first-day-of-school present I bought her: a pink lunchbox and water bottle. I wish I had gotten a thermos but I reasoned that I was unlikely to send hot food, soups, or drinks that would make a $15 glorified cup worth it. 

Emerald has officially been going for a week now. Ms. Robins came back on Monday; she and I met Tuesday when I went to pick Emerald up and we had the discussion I had been fearing: Emerald was screaming and throwing fits, kicking off her shoes, and generally fighting the teachers. She was sent to talk to the principal. I was mortified, but we took her to have a good talk with Ms Boyer, then we talked about it and discussed better emotional outlets for when she is mad or sad or misses me, grounded her from the DS and iPad (I know, I know--kids today) for the afternoon, and finally prayed that God would help her make good choices at school. 

Today (Wednesday) we prayed and reminded her of what we talked about, then I gave her my prayer bracelet as a special reminder. She came home with a great report from her teacher and she told me that she put all her bad choices in the little prayer box on the bracelet and let them stay there. I was so proud! I know it is a long road yet, but it is good that she is recognizing what we are saying. She really loves school; we just want to make it as positive experience for her. 

Enough about her. On to Gabriel!

I have been doing a lot of thinking and praying recently--about the kids, about how we are raising them, what changes we could make to create a less stressful, more loving atmosphere at home. My bible readings have veered to Psalms because it feels like the place to get answers when you don't know where to go. I kept going round and round the same subject: how can I create an environment of tranquility when Gabriel is the embodiment of Chaos itself. Though his autism does not define who he is, it is a large part of him and a daily struggle for all of us at this time. Meditating on this for the last few weeks, I have arrived at a conclusion.

I am happy with who Gabe is. 

Seriously, I wouldn't change it. I don't know what parts of him are tied up in ASD and what isn't, and I wouldn't want to risk losing what makes him my Gabriel to make him easier to raise or more controllable. I feel like my whole life I have been training for this moment. God directs us all along our paths; I assumed my love for neurology and medicine and special needs would lead to a future as a pediatric neurologist. Now, I see that it led me to Lubbock Christian, to meeting Michael and falling in love and having Gaby. I've trained for it all my life and now God wants to see what I have learned. 

The song I sing to Gabriel best explains it (even if it kinda dorky): This is the Gabe that the Lord hath made; I will rejoice and be exceedingly glad; I will lift up mine eyes from whence cometh my help; when it's coming from the Lord, Great God Almighty it'll never fail. 

Mr Gabriel is going back to the Preschool Program for Children with Disabilities starting Monday. He is still at Preston Smith, the best special needs in the city from what I hear, and we have Meet the Teacher tomorrow to night (though that is misleading--Ms Reynolds is out on maternity leave and we will be meeting with the sub and the teacher aides and seeing the classroom). His Pawpaw buzzed his hair all off and he looks so clean and adorable now without that ratty shag he had going on. When school starts, he will still be seeing outside therapists four days a week--Monday through Thursday, and occasional Fridays--to keep the consistent, firm prompting that is most likely to encourage the changes we are so eager to see. 

Finally, after a few months of relatively pleasant nights, Gabriel's tolerance for his nighttime medicine has increased and the effectiveness of the clonidine has thus gone down. We kept going the course with the 2 mL a night hoping for the best, but after four weeks with no positive changes, we contacted Dr. Dalton. He re-ran the blood work we did last year to check his nutritional health (his pica worsened around this time with him consuming plastic tubing, seeking out candles, and gnawing on a ceramic decorative Easter bunny) and recommended we reinstate the melatonin at night. Give it a week; call back if it doesn't work. A week later, we call and they increase his dosage to 3 mL of clonidine a night plus 3 mg of melatonin. Please shoot a prayer that this works; options are limited for a 3 year old and we are burning through options fast. 

Lastly but certainly not leastly, my Benjamin! 

The very day that Emerald started school, I set him on the floor and Ben tottled from the couch to the brown chair. Feeling on a roll, he then walked to the entertainment center, over to my chair...by then, he had the hang of it and was wally-wobbling all over the living room. He is still quite unstable  (do you blame him? He's 25 pounds of pure chunkedy-chunk) and it really wears him out ( :-D), but he goes a little further, a little more stable every day. He walked for nearly a week before he would do it in front of Daddy though, the little stinker!! 

He has three baby teeth coming in which is putting him in quite the bad temper, but he is eating more than ever so we can't complain too much. Soon it will just be him and Mommy during the day and I bet he likes that a lot.

It is rapidly coming up on 5 and Michael will have to come home to a house littered with popcorn if I don't get up to straighten now. More later, I am hoping! 

--Andie

Sorry, Sorry!!

I am the worst in the world. I know I haven't updated in over a month. If it is any excuse, it's because I am absolutely wretched with technology--I broke my phone by doing exactly nothing, and now my laptop (borrowed, as my laptop broke earlier this year) has started regularly crashing. So I haven't had a consistent way of getting and staying online long enough to update the news. I am hoping to type fast enough that Ragnarok (my current laptop) doesn't have a chance to crash, hurrah!

What you have missed: our trip to Sea World, Meet the Teacher, back spasms, Emerald's first day of school, weekend in Abilene, Beth and David moving away. Not much else, really. Just the end of summer and our easing back into fall. The days are finally starting to feel cooler, and it's raining more frequently. It's actually pretty awesome. On crisp clear mornings after a night storm you can smell the stockyards, but otherwise it is ideal.

Once again, wretchedly sorry that I have not kept up with the blog. I hope to rectify that problem today! :)

--Andie