The calm before the storm...

I haven't kept up with the blog lately because, well, I didn't have a whole lot to say. School started, and Andy was doing well in second grade. Nate started kindergarten and was thriving.

And, quite honestly, their SPD seemed to be pretty under control.

But, as any good SPD parent knows, times like that are usually the calm before the storm...

Apparently that was the case. Andy had a "not so good" day at school today. He got a "blue" day, which means he had to pull three cards. Yikes. Andy is my child who never gets in trouble except for the occasional blurting out an answer without raising his hand. A "blue" day is way out of character.

The note his teacher sent home listed the following as his infractions:

1. He blurted out an answer when it wasn't his turn.

2. He was "moving about" during instruction time.

3. He was talking during instruction time.

Do you see the problem with this? All of these are SPD related.

And, I can tell you what the trigger was. Today was picture day. Andy is very OCD about his schedule/routine, and anything out of the ordinary is a problem. Can it get more disruptive than picture day? There was a constant flow of children in the hallway walking to and from pictures, his normal routine was disrupted while his class went to get their pictures, and he was herded into a classroom full of bright lights/cameras where he had to stand in line surrounded by kids waiting for pictures...you get the idea.

I guess I'll have to go to school in the morning to speak with his teacher. I certainly don't want Andy to be a disruption in the classroom, nor do I want bad behavior excused. However, I feel like there maybe should have been some verbal reminders about his behavior instead of punishment. His behavior was well out of the ordinary for him, so I would think the teacher would try to get to the root of the problem.

This is the part of parenting that I don't enjoy. I wonder when the next calm will come...

Long time, no blogging...

The nausea has subsided, the bleeding has *almost* stopped, and I am feeling human once again.

I hope to be more active again soon. I know I said that before, but that's right when the bleeding started...Apparently this baby in my belly doesn't understand that my plate is already pretty full dealing with two active SPD boys.

On a good note, things appear to be progressing well, things seem to have settled donw, and we found out that we are having a GIRL!!! We are very excited and feel really blessed to be adding her to our family.

Enough about me...more SPD stories coming soon.

Restriction Lifted...WooHoo!

Nate's doctor was amazed by how well he was doing, and commented that he could hear Nate jumping around and talking nonstop from out in the hall. Hahaha. Live with the kid for a few days and see what it's like!

We are going to try to cram as much as we can into these last few days of summer. School starts next Thursday, and we want to have as much fun as possible before then.

First on our list, the waterpark. WooHoo!

We need to run, jump, dance, and play!

Nate got his tonsils out on Friday. The surgery itself went well, and Nate has been amazing. He hasn't complained about the pain, he was eating food within an hour, and has been a real trooper.

The problem is that he's on an activity restriction for 2 weeks. No running, no jumping, nothing that can elevate his pulse or his blood pressure.

That's made for a tough week. First of all, Nate is a sensory seeker, so he's used to jumping on the couch, doing sommersaults, wrestling with his brother, running throughout the house, etc. He also LOVES to play outside which is off limits.

I can't tell you how many times I've had to say, "Don't run", or "Stop wrestling with your brother".

Needless to say, he's crazy out of sync since he can't get the crazy, bouncy, heavy activity that he's used to. We even had to miss OT.

Tomorrow is his follow up with the ENT doctor who did the surgery, and I'm going to beg and plead that he pretty please lift the activity restriction early.

I'm not sure I can keep this boy down much longer!

More feeding woes...

Andy's eating is going through another bad phase right now. I can't say his eating has ever been good...well, not for the last 5 years at least, but it's been especially bad again lately.

We've had several episodes of him vomiting at the kitchen table which isn't exactly the way I want to spend dinner time. I mean, I am so nauseated from this pregnancy that I can barely eat as it is. To see someone sit next to me and vomit on their plate and/or the floor certainly does not help my appetite.

We saw a new "expert" today who is a counselor that deals exclusively with gifted children and their particular anxieties. It's my belief, as well as hers, that his eating issues began as a sensory issue, but have become much more than that. Now it's an anxiety provoking activity that causes him lots of stress.

Here's hoping that with some counseling and lots of work on decreasing his overall anxiety issues, I can once again serve a pork roast and mashed potatoes without anyone vomiting at the table.

Blackberry Picking

As you know, I haven't been feeling the best, so weekends have been pretty lazy around our house.

Because of that, I decided it was time for us to go do something fun as a family. I planned a trip to a local "pick your own" farm to pick some blackberries. The last time we went to pick blackberries, Andy was 16 months old, and he loved it! He was eating them faster than we could pick them. By the time we left, he was stained from head to toe with blackberry juice.

With that memory in mind, we drove to the farm to have some fun. From the instant we got there, Andy was grumpy.

It was too hot. He didn't want to wait for the tractor to take us to the fields. He didn't want me to take his picture.

Nate, meanwhile, was thrilled as pie. He was so excited to ride on the tractor. He couldn't wait to pick blackberries.

We got out to the blackberry fields and there were beautiful, ripe blackberries everywhere. Nate, my husband, and I started picking the blackberries as fast as our hands would let us.

Andy didn't want to pick the blackberries. He didn't like the way the blackberries felt. He didn't like the way the juice squirted on his hands. He didn't want to taste the blackberries.

And, he didn't like the bees. Ok, so there were a few bees around. Usually they stayed out of sight, and it's not like they were killer bees waiting to attack. But, with Andy's supersonic hearing abilities that come from his SPD, he could HEAR the bees. That in and of itself was enough to scare the beejeebies out of him.

Oh, and it was too hot. Did I mention that?

The rest of us were laughing, we were eating blackberries, we were yelling, "Look how big this one is!" and "This is going to be a sweet one!"

Andy just stood there and sulked. So I called him grumpy. That went over well.

After a few more minutes of Andy acting miserable while the rest of us had the time of our lives, I said to him, "Andy, sometimes happiness is a choice. If you want to choose to be grumpy, that's fine, but we are happy and having a good time. We're not going to stop just because you're grumpy."

That didn't work either. He continued to be grumpy.

We picked blackberries until our hands and nails were stained with juice and our buckets were overflowing. Then, and only then, did we agree to be done.

Do I feel bad that Andy was so unhappy? Yes, and no.

I feel bad that he could hear the bees that we couldn't. I feel bad that he felt the heat more than we did. I feel bad that he didn't have fun.

But I don't feel bad that we allowed ourselves to have fun anyway.

Sometimes you have to choose to not let SPD rule your life. This was definitely one of those times.

Sorry it's been a while...

I've been feeling under the weather. Don't worry, though. I'm not ill.

I'm just pregnant.

That's right...we have a baby on the way. It's an "unplanned miracle" that I wasn't quite ready for.

In fact, I had come to terms with the fact that there would be no more babies in my future. I had talked to my pediatrician, and my husband and I had discussed it for hours on end. We felt that with Andy's issues it might be better that we not have any more children.

Once we came to that decision, I cried, I grieved, and then I felt at peace. That was in April.

So imagine my surprise when I found out that God had a different plan for us! The shock has now worn off and we are ecstatic and very happy about this gift we have been given.

However, the nausea has been horrendous, and I've had a few other minor issues. It's been enough that I just haven't had the time or the energy to keep up with my blog. But, I'm hoping things will be a little more calm here in the next few months and I can jump back in the action.

So, that's what is new with us. I will try to update more regularly.