HiHo HiHO off to the Dr we go....... AGAIN

I will be off to take the baby back to the Dr. today. She is just not herself and was up A LOT last night. I am totally lacking in the sleep department even though I headed to bed early last night. She is now so congested and I think her head hurts because she keeps pulling on her hair.
I am really discouraged because tomorrow is a huge deal. It is the church Baptisms up at the lake. It is supposed to be an awesomely fabulous day of fun along side the joy of the baptisms. I want to be a part of it but if she is still under the weather I can have her out in the heat all day and around people when her resistance is low. Please pray that she gets rid of all this gooey gunk.

PICTURES

The Birthday Girl
Gracie loved opening presents. See she even looked at the tag first LOL
We love piggie tails

Prayers for Gracie

My little sweet potato has a yucky stomach virus. I feel so bad for her. She has a fever, bad watery diarrhea and is vomiting. We are really going to have to watch her for dehydration. My butterfly had a one day version of it last Monday. I pray that it leaves quickly and that we are all clear of it when we take our vacation. Gracie threw up on her birthday and has been under the weather since. I had associated it to the bug Ki had and then thought it was due to switching her to cows milk. Oh well, please pray that she is feeling better soon cause this is really wiping her out. She is so pale.

Life and Milestones

I have been so negligent at writing in my blog. Actually my computer time has been very limited with having the kids home for the summer. Being on the computer is actually a major destressor for me and I can take some time , refocus and get back to the task at hand.
So much has been going on and I need to do some major catching up. I have also not had a chance to read my friends blogs and see what is going on in their lives.
Our biggest news has been that little miss Gracie has turned ONE!!! Can you believe it? This past year has flown by so fast and I already miss having a little little baby. Don't get me wrong. I love this stage she is going through. She is discovering everything and learning new things every day. I keep thinking back to the day she was born and how God had his hand in it all. I am so thankful that I was still in the hospital when she went into distress. I shudder to think how I might not have even know if I had still been at home. God was there the whole time. Even from the moment of her miracle conception. I am so thankful that he chose to bless us with our little miracle girl. I just encourage anyone who reads this that may be struggling with infertility. God knows more than any Dr. He has the ultimate say. He can take the impossible and make it possible. Don't give up the Faith.
We had a cute little party for her and Delaiah who is a friends daughter. Their birthdays are one day apart. I will try to share some pictures of that later.
Little miss is majorly cruising furniture, saying and waving bye and she says yaaa like a little dutch girl. She loves to laugh and make us all laugh. I love when she is sitting and playing and cracking herself up. She got a little push toy for her birthday and she moves pretty fast with it. We went for her 1 yr check up on Thursday. She now weighs 18lbs 10 oz and is 27 3/4 inches long. She is just going to be a petite little thing. She got her shots and she has reached all of her one year milestones. That is such a blessing considering she was a preemie. She had lagged behind for a while and I had concerns. I even had someone suggest that they thought she had CP. I knew that was a lie straight from Satan. This child didn't have any of the symptoms and I actually talked to my Dr. about it this last visit. He was like NO WAY.
She is growing and learning and did I mention she loves to eat? She hasn't met a food she doesn't like. You can not eat anything in front of her without her wanting some. She even is alerted by the sound of wrappers. Lucky for me she loves veggies and fruit.
I will post some pictures later for your enjoyment.

Little Miss Personality

Bad Day

This lovely song is playing in my head as I look at these pictures of Kiarrah who was indeed having a bad day.

Bad Day by Daniel Powter

Where is the moment we needed the most

You kick up the leaves and the magic is lost

They tell me your blue skies fade to gray

They tell me your passion's gone away

And I don't need no carryin' on

You stand in the line just to hit a new low

You're faking a smile with the coffee you go

You tell me your life's been way off line

You're falling to pieces every time

And I don't need no carryin' on

Cause you had a bad day

You're taking one down

You sing a sad song just to turn it around

You say you don't know

You tell me don't lie

You work on a smile and you go for a ride

You had a bad day

The camera don't lie

You're coming back down and you really don't mind

You had a bad day

Oh, you had a bad day

Will you need a blue sky holiday?

The point is they laugh at what you say

And I don't need no carryin' on

You had a bad day

You're taking one down

You sing a sad song just to turn it around

You say you don't know

You tell me don't lie

You work on a smile and you go for a ride

You had a bad day

The camera don't lie

You're coming back down and you really don't mind

You had a bad day (Oooh.. Holiday..)

Sometimes the system goes on a blink

And the whole thing it turns out wrong

You might not make it back and you know

That you could be well oh that strong And I'm not wrong

So where is the passion when you need it the most

Oh you and I

You kick up the leaves and the magic is lost

Cause you had a bad day

You're taking one down

You sing a sad song just to turn it around

You say you don't know

You tell me don't lie

You work at a smile and you go for a ride

You had a bad day

You've seen what you like

And how does it feel for one more time

You had a bad day

You had a bad day

A rare photo appearance of Dom who hates to get his picture taken.

Click Take a Pic

An hour of Peace

I have one more hour of freedom before the boys are out of school for the summer. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

School Countdown

The kids are doing the last day of school countdown. Monday through Wednesday will be half days with Wednesday being the last day for them. They have Thursday off and then they start their Summer program which is a half day School Success program. It is an enrichment program in Reading, Writing and Math. They aren't thrilled about going but they both could use the help. Actually Rey more so than Dominic but hey it is a free program and I want them to do their very best in School. They both made the Effort roll this quarter. That was a big challenge for Reynaldo and I am so proud of him. I am proud of Dominic also but I know he can do even better and he has been so lazy. When I mention making honor roll to him he gets very defensive and says that he doesn't care about that and it is stupid. I don't know where this is coming from. This program only runs for a month and they get out by 1 so they will have plenty of time for free play. They are also going to do the summer library reading program. I am an avid reader and I really hope that they will develop a love for reading. Dominic already enjoys it but he would rather play his play station.

Gracie is Growing

Have I mentioned that sweet potato is now crawling and cruising furniture? She is on the go now and there is no stopping her. She loves to play with her toys and is really into filling a container and then dumping it. She does this with her shape sorter.

She really enjoys eating also. She LOVES watermelon. You can't eat anything in front of her without her hollering for you to share.

FFF

Kiarrah had decided to surprise me and wash some dishes.

Another Brick Wall

I feel like I have hit another brick wall where KI is concerned. I took her today to the Neurologist with my list of concerns. Jim called into the meeting and shared his fears too. The Dr. was very frank with us and told her what we are dealing with is all too normal and it will get worst. You see, deep down inside I know this but didn't want to face it. She feels that the community does a disservice to these children. Why are there not enough programs? WHy is the wait list for a Pyschiatrist more than 6 months? We need more help out there. The Dr.'s hands are tied regarding medicine and she is passing us over to the Fetal Alcohol syndrome clinic. We have an appointment next month. It is going to be a long month before that appointment. I need a Dr. that will be aggressive with treatment and will get the ball rolling. I need help with her. I feel like we are not moving forward at all. How do I get help in the home for her? This child is as smart as a whip but yet these horrible behaviors come out. Today she was a complete angel while we were at the Dr.'s. She actually would not even speak which is so not her. I think she was taking everything in though. She had that scheming looking going on. I just know we are not going to survive the summer unless we get some help. I am scared to death that we are not going to make it.

Question of the Week

My children have been talking a lot lately about what they want to be when they grow up. Reynaldo has informed me that he wishes to be a Policeman and he wants to have one cat, one dog and a cell phone. Dominic wants to be a Pastor and Kiarrah wants to be a teacher, a mother and a fighter fighter(fire fighter)
I was curious to what you all wanted to be when you grew up. I know some of us still need to grow up :)

Wedding News

Thursday evening we went to Jessica and Franks Wedding. Jessica is my son Reynaldo's Godmother and he was the ring bearer in the wedding. He did an awesome job. He looked extremely handsome. It was really humorous because he was dead set against wearing the tux but once people were telling him that he looked great he quickly changed his mind. Congratulations to the Bride and Groom. Your Wedding was so elegant and beautiful.

School Registration

Yesterday I registered the Butterfly for Kindergarten. She is going to be in an inclusion class which I pray will be the best fit for her. We shall see. I am very anxious about her starting school and pray that we have made the right decision. I have been reading a book called Damaged Angels by Bonnie Buxton. This book has opened my eyes so much to the effects Alcohol has on an unborn child. While reading this book I am finding that I am becoming so angry.I don't understand why people think it is OK to drink while pregnant. Alcohol is a tetragon that causes birth defects. Even when you read parenting books they misinform the public that a little alcohol is OK. The effects it has on a child are serious. My butterfly is showing these effects now. I appreciate the people in my life that have taken the time to learn about this and who understand her. Those that don't just look at her behavior and judge her or even my husband and I as her parents. We are doing the best that we can and are learning as much as we can.

Happy Birthday Speedy

I can't believe that I forgot to blog about this. We must not leave this out. What would poor Speedy think. A few weeks back we ( the whole family) were invited to Speedy's 3rd Birthday party. The kiddos were presented with invites that had dog bone shapes glitterized ( is that a word? if not it sounds cool) on them. Being the good sports that we are we decided to "humor" Sarah and join in on the fun. Hey, it was a party. Any excuse is a good one isn't it? Well, I think I would draw the line at a party for my pet hermit crab. We all know that Speedy is Joey and Sarah's kid. When we got there we were greeted by Mr. Speedy, His Mom and Pops and his Uncle Steven and friends that came all the way from Ohioooo for the even ( not really but it sounded good) We then proceeded to get into costume. If Speedy can have cute ears, well so can we. What fine ears they were too. The kids played pin the tail on Speedy. Thankfully it was just a picture of him otherwise people would be calling the animal abuse hot line. We had a dog gone good time singing " Who let the Dogs out?", How much is that "Doggie in the Window?" and many other fine Canine tunes. Sarah made a scrumptious bone shaped cake and speedy got special homemade doggie treats. He was in doggie heaven. He loved opening his presents and was very social. People even got to have photo opportunities with him. Happy Third Birthday Speedy.

Prayers For the Chapmans

I am so sad today. I don't know if you have heard but Christian Singer Steven Curtis Chapman's Daughter was killed yesterday tragically in an accident in their driveway. I can't even begin to imagine what this family is feeling. Especially the son who was behind the wheel. It was clearly an an accident. Please keep this family in your prayers.

Art Academy Show

I am looking forward to a nice quiet weekend after the Crazy non stop one of last week. Our church has an Art Academy that offers classes to the community on Saturdays from Sept to May. Last Saturday was the year end show and all three of my children were involved. It required a full week of extra practices and dress rehearsal. My kids were exhausted to say the least. This is the time when an early bedtime is not good. Thank goodness it is only for a week. My kids do not cope well when they are out of their routine and when they stay up late. Saturday they performed two shows back to back and did a marvelous Job. Kiarrah did a ballet number to Radetsky's March. She then did a tap dance number to "He's got the Whole World in His Hands." Reynaldo did hip hop to " I am not forgotten" by Israel. They both did an amazingly good time and they really enjoyed themselves. Dominic had an art project on display. I can't wait to share a picture of it. It is amazing. I want to frame it and put it in my living room.

Our Saturdays are now free again until the Fall from classes. Rey is already saying that he would like to take Tap next year along with the Hip Hop. We would like to get Kiarrah into voice lessons. Dominic loves his art but would also like to take piano.

I am so happy that we are able to be a part of this awesome program and the kids are exposed to the arts.

Question of the Week

Ok, Miss Gracie is now almost 10 months and this poor child still hates taking her bath. She screams like a cat in heat. I have tried every way possible for her to enjoy it and no such luck. Any ideas?