Baby Central

The week that I spent in Louisiana w/my sister, Scott & the kids was WONDERFUL. Who knew I could be so content being in the house ALL DAY long taking care of babies? Trust me, we didn't venture out much. Although I did take Isabelle & Jamie to a softball game that week. We went and watched the high school team that Lori coaches play OCS (where Bryndyn used to teach/coach). Thankfully, Scott's mom was there to help because the double stroller only kept them content for so long. I always thought it would be fun to have twins. I definitely got a taste of that life. Fun? Maybe. Exhausting--DEFINITELY! But honestly, I LOVED it! Lori & Scott had an extremely busy week (which is one reason I was there) and it was very rewarding to be able to help them out while getting the opportunity to hang-out w/my niece & nephews. Feeding times were a challenge in that they were on the same schedule and, well, I only have so many hands. :) Otherwise, it was a joy being with them. I wasn't in my own house so I didn't feel the pressure of the million things I always have to do at home. I could just relax and enjoy the company of two precious little lives! Later in the week my dad flew out from CA and Bryndyn & Caelleb drove down, so we had a houseful. Braden had a basketball game and a soccer game. Lori's team was in a tournament. Scott was refereeing out of town. ULM was hosting their annual mardi gras softball tournament. Then, everyone got sick. . . But amidst all of the chaos was the warm feeling of being surrounded by family. You just can't beat that!!! Bryndyn & Isabelle (is it just me or do these two have the exact same head tilt?)

Isabelle, Bryndyn & Jamie

I love these pictures of Jamie in his adidas outfit that was handed down from Easton. . .

While Lori & I were busy dressing up and taking pictures of Isabelle (see previous post) Jamie was laying on the couch next to us after having just been fed. This is an example of how low key this kid is. . . We're focusing on Isabelle & meanwhile Jamie's bib was coming off, covering his eyes. He thought this was funny. . .
Could he be the Gerber Baby or what? :)

Playing Dress-Up

This is my niece, Isabelle. Her mommy bought her some cute little outfits for Valentine's Day and I got to witness the "dress-up"/photography sitting. She is almost 2 months old in these pictures. Isn't she a cutiepie?

Pre-Flight Pics

I look horrible & half asleep in these pictures (we had left REALLY early for the airport) but I still thought they were cute of the kids. They were taken right before J & I left to go see my sister and her family about a month ago. . .

Jamie did amazing on the flight. This should be of no surprise. He is such a happy little guy & quite the little traveler!

Dream Big

We drove past the Daniel Boone Little League baseball fields this past weekend, where Caelleb will make his t-ball debut. Bryndyn pointed out the fields to Caelleb and told him that would be where he played his games. Caelleb took a good look at the fields and then we heard him say, "Ahhhh MAAAAAAN!" I asked him what was wrong and he said, "my baseball fields are too small. . . WAY too small!" Bryn and I chuckled and one of us jokingly asked him if he had thought he was going to be playing on a field like the Cardinals. His very annoyed response (while also rolling his eyes): "Uhhhh YEAAAAAA!" I guess there is nothing wrong w/having high expectations. . .

Shame On Me!

A fellow blogger was recently commenting on her trip to the city library. . . Got me thinking, I really should take Caelleb there one of these days. OK, yes, I admit we've lived in Columbia now pushing five years and I had only been inside the library building ONCE (to pick someone up). In my defense, first, we go to Barnes & Noble ALL the time (seriously at least 2-3 times a month). Yes, mostly we take the kids there to play w/Thomas the Train but we read as well and the kids enjoy it. Second, we also have a TON of books at home and we read to Caelleb every night (ok, well, ALMOST every night). And third, you all know Caelleb. . . he's not exactly the QUIET type of kid. . . I rest my case. But, this past Saturday we decided to finally check out the Columbia Public Library. We all had a great time exploring but honestly, Caelleb LOVED it! He loved the little audio reading section where he got to wear headphones and listen to stories read to him. He loved the educational computer games. He loved helping daddy find books on the computer. He loved browsing through all the books. He seriously LOVED everything about our library excursion. By far his FAVORITE part of the trip was using his very OWN library card to check out his very own (borrowed) books. His eyes were just beaming as he handed the check out person his card and she swiped it and handed him the books. On the way out to the van he looked at me and said, "mommy, I WUV my own 'bary card." We will definitely be taking regular trips to the library from now on. My bad for not taking him sooner. . .

All All ALL of Them

About a week ago I asked Caelleb if he wanted me to sign him up for baseball or "kick" ball (soccer). His response: "All of them mommy." So, I said, "you want me to sign you up for both? baseball & soccer?" He says: "no all, all, ALL of them mommy" and goes on to start listing all of the activities he wants me to sign him up for. . . baseball, kickball, hut ball, hoop ball, golf, karate swimming. . . OK, he's only five. Maybe we need to start teaching him about setting limits! :) But apparently his enthusiasm is rubbing off on Tia too. . . sidenote: she is definitely a lefty. . . we had bought her her "first" glove for Christmas (right-handed because that is all we could find in her size at that time of the year). But as we browsed through a local sports store, more recently, we handed her a left-handed glove and she put it on as naturally as could be and demanded a ball! :)

Like Father & Mother, Like Son

I told Caelleb yesterday that I signed him up for T-Ball. His eyes lit up and here were the first words out of his mouth:

"YAY! I gonna hit a homerun mommy!"

So much for just playing for fun. Then again, hitting homeruns IS pretty fun! :)

Blessed are the pure in heart. . .

So, yesterday I asked Caelleb how his day was. What he did at school? If he got to play outside? If he read any books? Painted anything? If he got any time outs? Who he played with? etc. The standard questions. He told me that a boy at his school, who I will refer to as "D," had tripped him on purpose when he was running outside. So we talked about the circumstances of what happened: did he do anything to provoke this? how did he respond? did he tell his teacher? etc. Finally, I suggested that we should pray for "D" that he will not be so mean in the future. Caelleb agreed. We were in the van at the time, driving home. Caelleb immediately started praying (I LOVE that about him--more on this topic later). His exact prayer went as follows:

"Jesus, peez help 'D' not trip me no more. Peez help 'D' be nice. Jesus, why does 'D' trip people? Amen."

Taking the Plunge

It's official. Caelleb is signed up for T-ball. I don't know why this feels like such a big deal to me. His first real organized sport w/teams, etc. . . . I just want him to have a FUN experience (and me to get some good laughs watching). He still seems too little to be playing for any other reason than fun. I hope he gets a good coach, one who is positive & encouraging. I hope they go to ice cream after the games, win or lose. I hope the snack bar food is good! :) I hope he meets some cool kids on his team (w/cool parents). I hope that it doesn't rain much this spring. I hope. . . he LOVES everything about it!

Just Plain Messed Up

Tia adores Jamie, or as she calls him, "My J." The minute she hears him fussing she will run over to me and exclaim: "mommy, J crying, J crying, J crying. . ." over and over again until I do something about it. I'll try to explain, "he's hungry Tia, I'm making him a bottle right now." That's not good enough or fast enough for Tia. She will continue, "J crying, mommy, J crying, J crying, J crying." It's pretty cute. She loves to get right in his face (or as close as i'll let her get) and say, "Hi J" or "J J J J J J." She just repeats his name over and over. He loves it and will smile from ear to ear. It is adorable. Only problem is we don't know how long we'll have Jamie. And since Tia is only w/us on the weekends (and not every weekend at that, unfortunately), there is a good chance that down the road we will pick her up for the weekend and Jamie will no longer be with us. I'm big on trying to prepare my kids in advance for difficult situations. When Tia moved in I explained it to Caelleb in the following way: "we don't know how long we will have her Caelleb, but right now she needs a family and so we are going to give her lots of love as long as she needs us to be her family." The best way I could think of to explain it to him at the time (without making him worry that someday he, too, will have to leave) was to say, "Tia has two mommies. And Tia's other mommy loves her very much. Someday Tia may have to go back and live with her other mommy. But you, Caelleb, only have ONE mommy. You will always live with me and daddy." Caelleb and I talked about this often, especially when the Tia transition got closer and closer. The older he got and the more he seemed to understand the situation the more info I gave him. Looking back, I really do think it helped Caelleb when Tia left. He knew that it might happen and he knew that he could talk to me about it. He understands that this is the same situation with Jamie (although, now, after going through the Tia situation, Caelleb seems much more nervous and protective of Jamie--who can blame him?). But how do I explain all of this to Tia? I tried a few weekends ago, to just plant the seed. Tia understands two mommies. She calls both her mother and me "mommy." So, while she was sitting on my lap helping me feed J a few weekends ago, I said, "Tia, you know what? Jamie has two mommies, just like you" (thinking this could be a bonding thing for the two of them). Her demeanor immediately changed and she angrily shouted, "NO! NO TWO MOMMIES! NO!" She definitely gets it. But "getting it" doesn't make it OK. I know that kids are resilient. . . But when I think about all the different people and emotions that are involved in the whole fostering system. . . it just seems so messed up. Life shouldn't be this complicated.

Daddy's Girl

We had Tia this past weekend. She is turning into quite the little Daddy's girl. Don't get me wrong, Bryndyn is an AMAZING parent and ANY child would be EXTREMELY lucky to be able to call him daddy. But, for Tia, I think she has learned that "daddy" is much less confusing. She only has one (that she knows). She now calls our house, "my daddy's house." Often when we are taking her back to her mom's after a weekend visit she will say, "No! I go daddy's house, DADDY'S HOUSE!" The good news is that, behaviorally, she seemed a lot better this past weekend. Hopefully, she is finally getting used to this transition. I think we are all starting to adapt. I mean, it is still hard not seeing her EVERYDAY and VERY hard dropping her off on Sundays. . . But it's getting a little easier. Why do I feel guilty writing that? I don't love her any less. I still worry about her constantly. Our family still feels incomplete when she's not with us. But I think my heart is mending. . . slowly. . . Our new strategy for Sunday drop offs is to divide and conquer. Bryndyn takes Tia and deals w/that situation (he definitely has the harder end of the bargain), and I spend time talking w/Caelleb about how he feels about the situation. A few weeks ago he was really upset when Tia had to leave and so I tried to help him verbalize his feelings (verses just throwing a tantrum). He told me that weekend that he was sad & angry at Tia's "other" mommy. This past Sunday when I asked Caelleb how he was feeling after Tia left he told me: "my heart crying mommy." Wow! That got me choked up but what a great way to describe the feelings. My heart continues to cry, as well, but the brokenness is on the mend.

Playing House

Caelleb & Tia love to "play house" in their Dora hut. . . It's pretty cute (other than the fact that it takes up HALF our living room).

My Handsome Boys

I often tell Caelleb how handsome he is. He'll get this cute grin as if saying "I know, but I'm a little embarrassed." He almost always responds with: "and daddy too?" I, of course, say, "yes, daddy is very handsome." Then he'll say: "J too?" Again, I confirm that, yes, J also is my handsome boy. He'll say "You got three handsome boys mommy!" That I do. . .

Thanks, I'll Miss You Too

I got the opportunity to go down and spend a week w/my sister. J came with me. We left Sunday 2/11. Bryndyn and Caelleb came down five days later on 2/15. So, the day before I was leaving I was explaining to Caelleb how all of this was taking place. . . He told me he wanted to come with me (ahhh, how sweet). So, I explained how he couldn't miss school and how daddy would be too lonely if he was here all by himself. He seemed really sad. It made me sad to think about being away from him for 5 days. So then, a couple hours later while we were all sitting around the dinner table Bryndyn asks Caelleb: "what are we going to do this week without mommy?" I just knew that Caelleb would respond with something very sweet and sad about how much he would miss me. Nope. Not the case at all. Instead, Caelleb's eyes got huge at the thought of just him and daddy being home together and he yelled "PLAY!!!" So much for worrying about the two of them missing me. . . :) I'm glad they got some one-on-one bonding time!

No Deal!

Two weekends ago was the last time we saw Tia. We are supposed to pick her up tonight for the weekend but I'm not holding my breath. Unfortunately, even when we are told we will get to see her it doesn't always happen. But that isn't why i'm writing this post (that will be the subject of another blog, which i'll never actually publish. . .) Anyway, back in November Mimi (aka Amy) watched Tia for me one night for a couple hours. Tia had a GREAT time. She came home with painted finger nails, wearing perfume and saying "No Deal"! :) Side note: if I ask her now if she wants her finger nails painted she will tell me "no" and ask for Mimi to do it! :) Anyway, now, three months later, when she's really mad and doesn't like something or doesn't want to do something she just screams "NO!" But when her mood is happier and an appropriate response would be "no thank-you" Tia instead yells, "NO DEAL!" Thanks Amy! :) It's actually pretty hilarious and really hard not to laugh. . .

Hard Questions

My nephew (Lori's step son), Braden is 6 years old and very inquisitive, which is great, most of the time. . . .

Thanksgiving Weekend:
Where's Tia?
(this was the first time in 16 months that we had been to see extended family without Tia)

Week after Christmas:
Tia didn't get to come again?
(it actually was nice that he asked again, made me realize how much everyone in our family loves and misses Tia)

Last weekend:
I thought you said Tia got to come this time?

She's with her real mom?

Why wouldn't her real mom let her come?

Does that other baby (Jamie) belong to you or someone else?

Why did he (Jamie) get to come and not Tia?


I'm sure there were more questions of this nature that I have forgotten. I didn't mind the questions. I'm glad he wants to know where Tia is. They just required some hard answers that I wasn't really prepared for. But I love that kids will just ask whatever is on their mind. It is refreshing!!!

I - C - E - C - R - E - A - M

Last night we were walking downtown (oops, I mean, in the "district" *whatever*) to go eat at Chipotle. We walked right past Cold Stone. Caelleb says, "How come we don't get ice cream no more?" UMMMM because it is FREEZING outside is what I was thinking in my head. But then I got to thinking it might be a nice treat for him tonight. He has had an amazing couple of weeks, behaviorally. So while we were eating our dinner I say to Bryndyn, "maybe we could stop and get I - C - E - C - R - E - A - M (spelled out) on the way home?" Without missing a beat, Caelleb yells ICE CREAM at the top of his lungs. Ummmm, when did he learn how to spell? Apparently, besides his name, ice cream is the first word he learned how to spell! :) I take that back. . . He did that one other time with another word that he hates: B - E - D - T - I - M - E!

All About the Perks

So, in college one of the most important cards in my wallet was pink. Come on, all you fellow Pepperdiners. . . You know which card i'm talking about. COFFEE BEAN! Buy "x" amount of ice blended mochas and finally get one free. Last time I was out west I discovered that Coffee Bean no longer does this. HUGE BUMMER! And neither does my favorite Columbia coffee shop (It's A Grind). BUT, here in Columbia, you can sign up for their "perks" program. When I signed up, i'll admit, I thought it was kinda dumb (I wanted a punch card). BUT right now, I'm on my lunch break, enjoying one of their "perks": a complimentary speciality drink in honor of my upcoming birthday! A free ice blended mocha and free wireless internet. . . It's the little things in life!!!! Lovin' the perks! :)

Where to Start. . .

I've feel so out of "blog" touch. For a week I was down in Louisiana w/my sister and then when I got home I got sick. . . BUT I have a ton of things to write about, kid stories, pictures, etc., just feeling a little overwhelmed about where to start. So how about a Caelleb story from this morning. . .

I went into his room this morning to get him up and was saying things like, "Caelleb, it's time to wake up and get ready for school," over and over as I got his clothes out for him. He was out like a log. Not his occasional stubborn refusal to get out of bed (which btw, I have NO IDEA where he got that from *chuckles*). He was just genuinely wiped out, poor thing. Finally, I just went over and picked him up out of bed. I was half hugging him and half just trying to get him to stand up so he could get dressed when the first words came out of his mouth:

"I HATE waking up!"

I can certainly relate to that. Love that kid. . . :)

For Grandma. . .

My mom asked me if I had any recent pictures of Jamie to put up. They change so fast when they are this young. . . I told her I'd get some up by this weekend as he turns 3 months on Saturday. But, then, I couldn't resist. I took these a few days ago. He is such a cute kid & so fun to photograph!!! So this blog entry is for the grandparents. . . :)

Star of the Week

Caelleb is "Star of the Week" at his school this week (every week it is a different child, Caelleb happened to be the first "star"). Daddy helped him w/his poster that is now hanging in his classroom. They worked really hard on it. He was so excited to present it to the rest of his class and tell about himself. Bryndyn asked him all of the questions on the poster and helped him "write" out his answers. We learned some things about him too . . .

Definitely. Caelleb LOVES to help!

1. he IS the best big brother.

2. he learned to swim this past summer in my parent's pool.

3. he does have blue eyes--whether or not they have "power,"

well, that depends on who you ask! :)

Caelleb loves to give hugs. Lately he has been telling me he hates kisses. I guess he has outgrown the kissing mommy stage. . . :(

Favorite sport--GOLF??? Bryndyn tried to sway him to baseball, but Caelleb was adamant that golf is his favorite sport. Bryndyn and I have always joked that we aren't even sure that golf is a sport (sorry to any avid golfers reading this). Alrighty then. To each his own! :)

KILLING US--You want to be a GOLFER when you grow up???? OIY! Are we really going to have to fork out money for golf lessons? I've always said I would let my kids choose their own path, but come on now, GOLF? Hopefully it is just a phase. :) But if not, well then, golf it is!

I love this picture of him. I took this over the summer at a twilight festival. Caelleb got to sit up in a fire truck and try the hat on. At that point he wanted to be a fire fighter when he grew up. Tomorrow he will probably want to be a power ranger. :)

Part Timer

Temporary sanity! :) As of Feb. 1st I am a part time worker. I work Monday-Wednesday and am off Thursdays and Fridays. I'm not going to lie--I LOVE it! This is only temporary. I will be back full time in a few months. I just needed some time to catch up to my life. Grieving for Tia, rejoicing over getting Jamie, worrying about losing Jamie, helping Caelleb w/all of these things, being a support system for Bryndyn, keeping our house in "for sale" order, paying bills, doing laundry, COOKING dinners (imagine that?), trying to stay involved in Tia's life, communicating w/caseworkers, doctors appointments . . . and a whole lot more things that have been bogging me down. Something I have learned about myself is that when I start feeling overwhelmed I just shut down. I feel like I've been in "shut down" mode for a few months now, where I'm just doing the bare minimum to get by. Its not fair to me or to Bryndyn, Caelleb, Jamie, Tia, my job--anyone! So, I'm done with that. I'm done w/shut down mode. I love my two extra days & am trying to make the most of them, while they last!

SUPER bowl

Yay for Peyton! The Super Bowl was awesome! I guess partly because the team that I wanted to win won. Mostly because I had the house to myself for 5 hours!!! I'm not antisocial. Usually the super bowl is mostly about the party and less about the game. Its an opportunity to hang out w/friends and laugh at the dumb commercials. But this year, I was just craving some alone time--it is hard to come by these days. I stayed home, did laundry, dishes, put clothes away. . . fun stuff, huh? Had the game on in the background, checked the score every now and then. It was a great, relaxing, peaceful night! :) I don't want to make a habit out of spending the super bowl by myself. But for this particular year, it was just needed. Bryndyn, Caelleb & J had a boys night w/our small group. I got some peace and quiet! It was a SUPER bowl!!!!!

Life Is Good... Almost!

Tia, J & I went out to Jeff City today to meet Bryndyn for lunch. We had just turned right, towards Chili's, when Bryndyn saw a sign in the opposite direction that got us very excited-- "McCallister's Deli." No way! How did we not know there was a McCallister's in Jefferson City? We quickly turned the car around headed to one of our favorite places to eat. Life is good! We unloaded the kids and were heading inside when we read the sign on the door: "Training in progress. Opening Feb. 5th." Life was almost good! :) You can be sure that Bryndyn is bringing home dinner on Monday!!!!!

Friday's Fest #2

Bryndyn and I have always dreamed of having a large family. My desire to get pregnant goes in spurts. I mean, the desire is always there, but with different levels of strength. There are times when I feel completely content with life and there are other times when the desire to bear a child, to see a little one w/Bryndyn or my eyes, is so strong it hurts...

I don't remember the exact date but it was sometime during the summer of 2004. I was driving down to Jeff City (where I was working at the time). Caelleb was two and a half and had only moved in with us a couple months before. He was behind me in his carseat for the 30 minute commute. Driving has always been therapeutic for me. When I am stressed or sad or lonely or frustrated or angry, etc. one of the best remedies for me is just drivig w/my music blaring, singing at the top of my lungs, or praying or just deep in thought. On this particular day I was lost in my own thoughts. It was one of those times where my desire to be pregnant was at an all time high, to the point that I was feeling sorry for myself... I was listening to one of my Sara Groves CD's (if you've never heard her, you need to). The following song came on. . .

He's Always Been Faithful

Sara Groves (album, Conversations)

Morning by morning

I wake up to find

the power and comfort

of God's hand in mine.

Season by season

I watch him amazed,

in awe of the mystery

of his perfect ways.

All I have need of his hand will provide.

He's always been faithful to me.

I can't remember

a trial or a pain

he did not recycle

to bring me gain.

I can't remember

one single regret

in serving God only

and trusting his hand.

All I have need of his hand will provide.

He's always been faithful to me.

This is my anthem,

this is my song,

the theme of the stories

I've heard for so long.

God has been faithful,

he will be again.

His loving compassion,

it knows no end.

All I have need of his hand will provide.

He's always been faithful to me.

It's a great song, one of my favorites. As I was meditating on the words I was thinking about how God will be faithful. I was thinking about how someday God will bless us w/the gift of bearing a child. I just kept telling myself to trust God, that he will be faithful. All of a sudden my thoughts were interrupted--I had vaguely been hearing this laughter in the back of my mind while I was selfishly lamenting the fact that I wanted a baby and telling myself that God would be faithful. . .someday.

Eventually, the laughter brought me back to my reality. I looked in my rearview mirror to see what all the commotion was about. . . There was Caelleb, with a pullup pulled completely over his head, covering his face, laughing hysterically at himself and this new pull up game he had discovered. I couldn't help but laugh along with him. He was filled with such joy, it was contagious! The Sara Groves song was still playing and at that moment it dawned on me-- God IS faithful. I had been thinking about the day that God would be faithful to me, feeling sorry for myself. But God IS faithful. He is faithful everyday! He blessed me w/this beautiful child in the backseat that is full of life, love and joy. God was, is & will always be faithful. It was a moment of realization that brought me to tears. Who am I to decide what I need? Who am I to decide how God should be faithful? He loves me & His track record is impeccable. "All I have need of his hand will provide. He's always been faithful to me. . ."

An Apple A Day. . .

SOOOO does NOT keep the doctor away. Trust me, I'm on a first name basis with all the doctors and nurses at my pediatrician's office. We are getting our money's worth out of our health benefits. Let's recap the month of January. . .

1/5 -- My initial apt. w/Dr. Schust
1/9 -- Jamie's 2 month check up. He got his shots & the doctor believes he has RSV. Thankfully his oxygen levels were good. Just monitor his breathing and make sure he keeps eating. . .
1/11 -- Bryn's check-up
1/12 -- Jamie's gotten worse, back to the clinic for a breathing treatment that did not help whatsoever. Again, just monitor his breathing and make sure he keeps eating.
1/19 -- Caelleb's yearly checkup/shots. I have never heard a child scream so loud when getting his shots. Poor thing. I tried to prepare him. He assured me that he was not scared. In fact, he told me he liked shots. ha! Not so much. He had to get 5! It took me and the nurse both holding him down. . . not fun! He's all immunized for kindergarten.
1/22 -- My HSG (at least I think thats the acronym). All you need to know is that it was NOT fun! Thankfully I won't have to do that again!
1/24 -- Caelleb back to get his ears checked after failing a hearing test at school. Clean bill of health from the dr.
1/26 -- My glucose/insulin test. Drank some nasty stuff, gave 4 blood samples. . .

It has already started again in Feb. . . I picked up Tia this morning for the weekend and she wasn't feeling well, so we were back at the Pediatrician's office. . . I am told this is pretty standard for life w/small children, in the winter especially. It's 12 degrees outside right now and the forecast is even worse. . . fun times!

Huge Steps

Since we've lived in Columbia (pushing 5 years) i've gotten two referrals from my primary care physician to see a fertility specialist. Both times that is as far as I got. The first time, I got this huge packet of info that I had to fill out before my first appointment and they asked that I have my medical records sent over. . . Browsed the info, never filled it out & never bothered w/the appointment. The second time, I actually carried around the packet of info and thought about filling it out, but never did. I don't know why! We SOOOO want to get pregnant. But something just kept stopping me from taking that next big step. Something about the idea of fertility treatment just turns me off. It seems so unnatural. I kept telling myself, its just not the right time, or when God wants us to be pregnant, He'll make it happen, in His time. Maybe I was scared to know what the problem is? Maybe I just didn't want to admit that there is a problem. It is pretty humbling to admit that you need help in this area. I never thought we'd have this issue. But we do! Time to get my head out of the sand. I am proud to announce that I followed through this time. I filled out the paperwork, got my medical records sent, had my initial appointment & have had two more appointments as well. I think we are getting close to the end of the evaluations. We should hopefully know what the problem is soon (if they can pinpoint it). I don't even care what the issue is. I just want someone to tell me EXACTLY what the problem is and EXACTLY how to treat it. With everything else going on in our life these days it will just be nice to have a clear game plan! I am hopeful. I'll keep you posted.

Big Shoes to Fill

January 14, 2007

I had been trying all day to take a picture of tia in her elmo shirt (thanks again, Kathy), but she was being very stubborn. Finally, I caught her being silly and trying to walk in daddy's shoes.