Time flies when you're...

busy up to your eyeballs. It's that time of year again - school has started, and I'm back to having not even close to enough time on my hands. There needs to be more hours per day, and more days per week.
Xarry started 4th grade this year - insane! Means next year is 5th grade (with the grade school version of senioritis), and then after that middle school. I'm not ready for that! And now she wants to quit swim team and do cheerleading. Well a couple problems with that - it's on the days that I work late so I can't take her, it's more expensive than swimming (at least up front - over all it seems to be nearly the same price), and her daddy is not wanting her to do it. Oh, and guess who gets to be the bad guy and say it's not going to happen! ... YEP! You guessed it - me! ... yaaaaayyyyy.... .
Adi is now 6 months old. Hard to believe that just 6 months ago I was still carrying her around in my belly. She's commando crawling all over now - kind of a cross between a scootch and a crawl, and getting pretty darned fast too! And in the last few days she has pulled herself up to a stand (that I have witnessed) 3 or 4 times. She shouldn't be doing that for another 3 months at minimum!! Not that I'm not grateful she's progressing FAR BEYOND ahead of schedule - because I certainly am! But it would be nice if she would just kinda... chill? I guess is the word I'm looking for. You know, master one thing, and hang with it for even a few weeks before trying to do something that's far beyond where she should be. Her physical therapy is going great - when she is in a good mood and cooperates. It's still up in the air as to whether or not she'll need speech therapy, or any other anything. I'm happy with accepting "baby steps" of progress, and she's blowing through the baby steps and trying to do everything. Oh the courage of a 6 month old!
I've started school again. I'm taking two classes this semester - Anatomy and Physiology 2, and U.S. History to 1865. Hopefully there are two A's in my future! I've also started work again. I didn't work for the entire 3 week break between the end of my summer classes, and the start of my fall classes. It was a MUCH needed break from doing mandatory work of any kind. I tried to spend many hours with my girls, and husband, and be creative (I made two large paintings!!), and I cooked and cleaned too! Now that school is back in session my crazy schedule is just too crazy to get to do all the things I want to do. As a matter of fact I'm writing this from work. Which is fine since my job just entails me monitoring the use of 65 computers to make sure people aren't doing what they're NOT supposed to be doing on them. I typically do homework while I'm here. ... Which I'm actually going to start doing in a few minutes. I seriously cannot wait for next summer. I'll have my AA done, and will hopefully be looking forward to starting the nursing program in the fall, so I will have TONS of free time. Which is good because I have so many creative ideas swirling in my mind and I likely won't have much time to do anything about them until then. So sad. Sometimes I wish I could be a stay at home mom and not go to school or work. But I know that I would go crazy if I did it full time. I need interaction with other adults on a regular basis to stay sane. I'm hoping that once I'm "done" with school I can work part time so I can at least be a part time stay at home mom. That would be fantastic.

Baby poops!

When Xarry was a baby she never really gave signals that she was pooping, or peeing in her diaper. Not until she was over a year old. At a year and a half I weened her off of breast feeding and put her on the toilet. We did a wonderful routine of sitting her on the toilet after she woke up in the morning, after she ate breakfast, before her first nap, after her first nap, after lunch, before her second nap, after her second nap, after dinner, before bed, and then a pull-up at night. And add in extra potty time when necessary. Tons of work since even though she had started giving signals that she was going to the bathroom, she still wasn't super verbal about it. And she didn't do many physical signals.
Now we have Adi. Adi started out her life projectile pooping (usually on ME!) whenever we changed her diaper. And when I say started out, I mean the first non-meconium poop was a projectile-poop (onto me). About a month ago Adalina started making stiffening legs/grunting noises when pooping. J and I briefly discussed that maybe she should be put on the toilet when we realize she's doing it. Maybe it would work. So tonight, she gave the signals....and I rushed her to the bathroom. As soon as I scooped her up she stopped with the stiffening and grunting. When in the bathroom I took off her diaper and  there was a little bit of poop in it already. But I stuck her on the toilet anyway. Why? Because I knew she wasn't done. After *nearly* 6 months of changing her diaper, I know my child's pooping ability!
So I put her on the toilet and she was super confused. She looked at me like "What in the world are you doing you crazy milk lady!?" After sitting there holding her for a minute saying to her "Go ahead! You can finish pooping!" She did! She finished in the toilet! Then had huge smiles and laughs at all the fuss that was made because of it. Maybe she won't give me a "You're insane" look next time! hahahaha
I'd include pictures, not of the poop, but of Adi. But none were taken. Which is really too bad since it was super cute the way she was smiling and playing with her rattle while on the toilet, and even cuter after she was done and enjoying the fuss that was made.

Picture taken the next time she did it. :)

All for crafts and fun creativity for all!

I adore creating things. If I didn't have my heart set on being a nurse practitioner I'd make creativity my full-time job. Sewing clothing for myself and my children, and other people's children, making baby stuff like carriers, bibs, burp cloths, painting, making necklaces, earrings, bracelets, anklets, crocheting blankets, and clothing, cross stitching, and I'm sure there's more but I can't think of it at the moment. I love being creative as a means of relaxation. And to give things to others that I've made makes me feel better than giving something bought. I'm not positive the other people always like what I make/give... but I enjoy making things with them in mind.

A close-up of a bracelet I made.

Everything I do is basically self-taught. I would absolutely love to take classes of all kinds. Classes on jewelry making, all different kinds of painting/drawing techniques and forms. Sculpting! That would be a blast!! I've only made a few paintings so far, but I'm definitely enjoying it. As of now I've done 2 tree paintings, and I'm currently working on a third. I've also done one for my middle daughter that's berries and birds,  and another for my youngest that's snails and mushrooms and flowers.

I also painted a t-shirt last night/today. That turned out pretty fun!
 The completed painting(s) I  was working on earlier. :)

The painting in total with all of it's parts together.

 

The painting as a close-up of the bottom.

 

 

 

 

Something good this way comes

So... a friend of mine and I are starting to work on a bunch of things for hopefully opening our own online store of handcrafted goods. We would be making/selling things like jewelry (bracelets, necklaces, earrings, anklets, chokers) using all sorts of media (wire, beads, yarn, ribbon, fabric, whatever else that looks good and is fun to use), body scrubs (using organic food grade stuff), lotions, epsom salts with essential oils. And then also baby stuff like bibs, burp cloths, changing mats, hats, embellished onsies. Then other random things that could be done with adults, or children, or babies in mind like purses/bags, washcloths, paintings, pillows, and bookmarks, and crocheted stuffed animals of varying kinds.
I'm seriously hoping this works out. I would love to be able to do creative things that help me relax and relieve stress and make some money at the same time. With school and kids and work it's going to be hard to find time to make things sometimes. Especially towards the end of the semester. But I think it would be worth it and then some. Now I need to come up with a business plan of sorts. Hopefully this all works out! It would definitely be amazing!!

My Baby Dear

My baby, dear
Looking into your eyes
So much trust I see
Staring right back at me

Your hand searching for mine
A comfort in knowing
I'm there all the time

Holding you close, not letting go
Wanting a hug before you grow
And turn my hugs away

Getting bigger now
A kiss on the cheek
Why does that smile look so meek?

A little girl has broken your heart?
A little boy has torn apart
The affection you've given?

"You'll be alright." I say
"Don't worry, there'll be another
Again, one day."

Another hug around the neck
With a flow of memories
All coming back

Watching and waiting
'Till the day does come
When you go off with another someone

Sitting there tall and prooud
Watching you get your paper
Standing out among the crowd

Next thing I know
I'm fixing your hair
For your wedding day is now here

Walking slowly down the path
A child at each side
My time, I am trying to abide

Holding you close
One last time
A tear comes down a cheek of mine


A poem I wrote back in May 2000 - before I was even pregnant with Xarry. :) Kinda silly, kinda corny, but I like it.

Adalina's Story part 3 - the good news

3/4/2010 See how skinny the poor baby was?! And this was after she gained some weight!

So... After finding out Adi's diagnosis J and I were in a bit of a funk with the new information. Of course, me being the medically minded "Let's get something fixed" kind of person I am I went on the internet and searched for anything and everything I could find related to brain damage, brain damage that can occur from birth, and anything having to do with the physical aspects she was displaying (the torticollis, right sided facial weakness, and right sided general weakness). I also emailed two friends that are involved in physical therapies for children asking them for advice since the nurse practitioner told us we would likely not be able to get her in for physical therapy until she was at least 4 months old - the waiting period/lists are that long.
The nurse practitioner guided us to a physical therapy center that she thought would be able to get us in the quickest, and that she thought also would be right for Adi to go to. At the same time a friend guided us towards a government program that helps with these things. Turned out that the government program is run out of the physical therapy center that the nurse practitioner wanted us to call. A few days of phone tag later and we had an appointment. A couple weeks later and the appointment came around. But the appointment was only for an initial screening evaluation to find out if we/she would qualify for this program. Turns out we/she does qualify. But that was just an initial screening. We had to wait until she was 4 months old (to the day or after) before she could get a full physical evaluation. So J and I started being proactive in our approach to caring for her. We didn't do anything drastic, since we aren't professionals and don't want to end  up doing something that could hurt her development. But we did do things like "force" (with much gentle pressure) her right hand open and put a toy that's small enough for her fingers to wrap around into her hand. She was only grabbing with her left hand so we knew we needed to work with her on her right hand. I also started gently massaging her tight neck muscles at night while she's relaxed - not every night, but now and then. I would especially do it when her neck muscles would seem to bunch up at the base of her skull. I can't imagine this felt good. Probably quite the opposite!

4/4/2010 Sleeping on daddy's chest/stomach and finally has some baby fat!

Well, fast forward to her actual physical evaluation that was done a few days after she turned 4 months old - they determined she needs physical therapy. Mostly because of the torticollis even though it's considered "mild." The good news: she scored at/above age level on all of her communication skills. One of the things I'm really worried about is how well she will/won't communicate because the brain damage is left sided, and the left side is where the vast majority of people develop these skills.

6/12/2010 Happy baby!!

 Fast forward again to this past Friday (7/30/2010) and we've come to the day of her first physical therapy session. This session came after about three weeks of waiting for a phone call saying we were approved for physical therapy and that they had found a physical therapist, plus another week and a half of bouncing back and forth playing phone tag with the physical therapist. After the physical therapist evaluates her, she states that yes, Adi does have torticollis, and she's a little tight in her right arm movement/range of motion.But she also says that from Adalina's file that she expected her to be much worse. That while she does have these slight problems, they are hardly noticeable at all! Such a relief to hear! Adalina isn't completely out of the woods for possible developmental problems, but she is definitely much better off than she could be! Not only that, but she seems to be getting better just from the few things we have done so far. Hopefully with the help of the physical therapist these few slight problems will be gone in no time.

7/21/2010 Enjoying playing in her bed.