Ear Infection

Well, Grace had such a bad ear infection that, for the first time in her lifetime, she woke up and told Daddy that her ear hurt.  And so we pretty much knew it must have been serious if she's actually telling us.  And then today she said it again and pointed to the same ear.  So we went to the doctor at 4:10 and it was a NASTY ear infection.  This time it was so bad he gave us numbing drops to put inside her ears so she wasn't in pain.  And we also got antibiotics.  She gets to go to school!!  I was pretty excited to hear this, as was Grace.  Even though she still has a cough, she hasn't had a fever in 5 days so she's good to go!  We also have two gymnastics classes to make up as well.  Lots to catch up on with Miss Sick Girl!

We didn't go to church this weekend because of the bug we're all getting over.  We just laid low and stayed home.  And quite frankly, we're all so tired of Levi's constant crying and screaming that we wouldn't have lasted three hours in church.  

Amanda

Grace has started hitting again :(  Every time I ask her to do something or deny her something, she tries to slap/hit me.  More digression, and it's probably because of the stress Levi brings on.  It's not easy being around a child that cries and screams every single time he's awake.  The faster he grows out of this "I have colic and I hate the world so I'm going to cry ALL THE TIME" bit, the better.

Time Flies

You can tell by how long it's take me to update that it's been crazy busy around here.  She...can't wait for colic to go away!  And Grace has been sick so we've all been locked up in the house trying to heal.  It's just a cold but it's bad enough that I didn't want to send her to school.  So it's been a lot of hanging around, watching TV, long or no naps, going to bed early or late, and things like this.  Thankfully she's had no fever for two days now so she'll probably be fine to go to school on Monday.  

Not much else has been going on.  Grace has been super cuddly and I absolutely LOVE IT!!!  She has been telling me "I love you SO MUCH" so many times and I absolutely love hearing it.  Oh, and tonight my friend Shannon brought Grace a bunny rabbit and it was hand crocheted.  It is SO CUTE!!  Grace was so excited to see it, and she kept saying over and over that she loved it.  

Some pictures!

I love this little girl :)

Amanda

Talked About Kindergarten

We had a meeting today with Grace's preschool teacher, the school psychologist, speech therapist, general education teacher and the principal of the school she'll be going to.  Just I went because Grace is sick, so Daddy had to stay home with the kids.  I was really hoping we all could go so that the principal could get to know Grace and Brad could ask any questions that he had, but oh well.  She's just got a cough with clear mucus but I didn't want to take a chance getting anyone else sick or anything.  Anyways, she's going to have a full time paraeducator (aide) and so I'm really glad about that because I don't have to worry about her being bullied or wandering off.  The para will still go on the playground with her and so I don't have to worry about her falling while climbing anything.  There is usually about 20 students in the class, 3 adults including Grace's para, and the classwork will be adapted.  That means that if they have to write a certain number of the letter "A," she won't have to write as many.  The para will adapt the classwork on the fly and as she sees fit.  The only hard thing we have found is that she will HAVE to go to each enter in class, whereas with preschool she doesn't have to go to each center.  But I'm going to start having centers here at home to get her used to going from one thing to another, and we are going to use picture schedules here and at school so that she sees what's coming.  I'm so excited!  And the school is close so that I can walk her to school and pick her up.

Grace's home intervention therapist is here now with her and will be until 6 pm.  Levi, of course, is screaming his head off and I tried to deal with him but reached the end, so it's daddy's turn.  But I still hear him screaming so it might be my turn soon.  I can't wait to get over this colic junk.  And Grace will be glad when it's over with as well.  She gets extremely worked up when he cries all the time and tries to comfort him but is just really stressed out by it.  

There's our sweet girly :)

Amanda

Lazy Day

Today was a lazy day.  Daddy and I had a long night with Levi...well, Brad did.  He stayed up until 4 am so that he could feed throughout that time, and so I could get some sleep.  And then I took over.  I was up with Levi until 5:30 am and then Grace was up at 7:30 am, so we stayed in bed and she got to watch some of her fun shows.  Right now she really likes watching Octonauts.  And truthfully, it is pretty cute!  Later in the morning Grace and I went to the library and then to the grocery store, so that was fun to get out with Grace and not have to worry about a fussy little boy.  He stayed home and slept with his daddy.  The rest of the day we were just hanging out at home.  Grace went to bed for a nap at 1 but had A LOT of trouble going to sleep, and I was so tired as well so Daddy said I could take a nap (about 3 pm) and he made sure Grace knew a nap was necessary for her as well.  We all slept until 6pm!!!  Of course that means late night for Grace.  It's already 9:10 pm and we're watching Sesame Street.  Levi is sleeping in his crib after taking a nap with Daddy, and so Grace and I are just hanging out on the bed.  :)

A fun picture of Grace while we were eating split pea soup for lunch!

Amanda

Picture Updates!

I noticed there haven't been very many pictures lately, so I thought I would add some of Grace and Levi playing together.  She had a lot of fun showing him all her stuffed animals while he laid underneath the gym.  And she also LOVES laying under there with him!

In this one she's having the cow give Levi a kiss!  She's so gentle with him, and I don't have to worry for the most part.  There are those times when the kisses are a bit hard, but for the most part, she does great with Levi.  And absolutely loves giving him kisses.

Amanda

Fun Time!!

Grace had a great time yesterday because she got to go to therapy in the morning and then her friends came over for dinner!!  Grace and her friends Robert and Jordan ran around like crazy monkeys, played in her playroom and just had a great time.  It was nice to see her having fun and I definitely didn't feel like she was being left out.  And today she gets to go to a "Frozen" party with her therapy company!  It's from 6-9 and she's so excited!  

I'm going to start printing pictures and laminating them that will hopefully make a picture schedule that will hopefully help Grace calm down and understand what's going on.  This will really take care of a lot of stress.  And I'm going to figure out some sort of prize system for her getting dressed because it would be really nice to not have to dress her in the morning.  I know she can do it herself so I know that she can handle it...it's just getting her to want to do it!!

All in all, a good day for now.

Amanda 

Changes

Well, I had this whole huge plan of what to write and it was going to be a "dump" of sorts.  Dumping all my thoughts and feelings about the day, but instead, I'm going to make it short.  I don't want to dredge up a tough day.  

I feel like I'm losing my little girl.  I feel like something is taking over her, and that patient, spunky girly just isn't there anymore.  I mean, she's fun and happy and loves everyone and all that, but the flapping of her hands, defiance and inability to follow a conversation is starting to take over.  She used to flap here and there (called Stimming---Like anyone else, people with autism stim to help themselves to manage anxiety, fear, anger, and other negative emotions. Like many people, people with autism may stim to help themselves handle overwhelming sensory input (too much noise, light, heat, etc).  But now it's almost a constant occurrence in our day.  Whenever I try to change her diaper, she rolls side to side as she shakes her head back and forth erratically, and will try to kick me in the face and chest.  I have to physically restrain her feet and/or arms in order to get a diaper on her.  And when you talk to her, for the most part, she ignores me.  I don't know if this is the typical 5 year old attitude or what, but I really feel like her grip with the world is getting lost in a cloud of...I don't know.  Anytime we reprimand she takes it so hard and will run crying to her room and be so emotional.  Or she'll do what you're asking her not to.  

I won't say much more because it makes me sad, but it's tough.  With everything I've read about how children are "typical" until a certain age (or their own personal way of being) and then start struggling and getting more out of tune.  I sure hope this is just a phase, and that it's happening because of the changes going on.

Amanda

Levi's Blog

Here is the link to Levi's blog.  For some reason I can't put it on the side...  hm..

Levi's Blog

Lazy Day

Sheesh, a lazy day for sure.  We didn't go to church today because Levi had me up from 4-5:30 and then Grace had me up at 7 am.  Brad had to be up super early dealing with a dog that had peed on our bed so he didn't get enough sleep either (Levi had us up until 1 am).  So it's pretty much been a day of TV watching and being lazy.  Grace girl took a late nap so she gets to stay up late (we're going to make oatmeal cookies!) and Brad is napping, as well as Levi.  Grace and I learned all about animal footprints today while we played with play dough and wild/farm animal figurines that Dado and Papa bought for her for Christmas.  She had such a great time looking at all the different footprints.  I got really sick late in the afternoon and I think it's because I'm taking too many herbal supplements to increase my milk production.  I am not getting nearly enough to satisfy Levi and so I'm trying to overcompensate, and boy did it hit me hard.  So I took a warm bath while Grace and Levi napped, and near the end of it, Levi came in with me.  

Told ya it was a lazy day!

Amanda

No Time

I hate that I never have time to blog.  I feel like it's a disservice to Grace.  This is a journal for her to read when she's older so she can see what life was like growing up, and now I'm so insanely swamped with a new baby and all the other things that I don't have time to write.  And it's not even that I don't have a single moment.  But when I actually get those moments of peace, I'm SO exhausted or my brain is tired that all I want to do is watch TV.  And that's horrible because this journal is so important.  And I know it's important and I feel so guilty for not updating it.  It's been a hard transition to a family of 4.  I didn't realize it would be this difficult, and there are some days I long for the normalcy that we had before little Levi came.  It's not that I don't love him, which I do, but I was comfortable in the life we had before him.  And now that he's here and dealing with colic, and extremely demanding baby, extreme post partum depression, a lack of appetite which them means my milk decreasing, etc...shew.  Just so much going on and I'm feeling like I'm in the middle of a tornado and don't know how to deal with it.  It's really hard for Brad as well...we are really just struggling and little Grace girl is as well.

I'm really hoping to get through this depression soon.  I'm hoping to stop focusing so much on this and that and this and that that I feel like I should do so I'm a "good" mother, and just focus on what's important for my two kids without the "good" title.  All they need is love :)  And my real time.  And this is what I'm going to try to give them.  Brad is so good at being so relaxed, and just being ok with who he is, but I'm always thinking I'm not good enough.

I love my kids.  I want the best for them.  I want them to have a great mom.  But I need to be sure I don't burn myself out...because that doesn't help anyone.  

It's a crazy life...but we'll make it through.  Grace girl is strong.

Amanda