Upon thinking back on 2011, I’ve been kind of at a loss for words. It’s been a tough year. To say I’m looking forward to 2012 is an understatement. Don’t get me wrong, we’ve had bits and pieces of good moments. As bad moments are (hopefully) followed by positive ones. Regardless, 2011 was tough.
My first year back to work ended really badly. Remember? It pretty much cured me from ever wanting to work outside the home again. It’s unfortunate, too, because I got to spend half of my time working with my college roommate…and we had an absolute ball working together.
We did go to Disneyland, but because of Emma’s meds, it wasn’t the most magical trip ever. I’m just happy that Jenna, our sitter, will still watch our kids, as she got to deal with Emma at her worst. Let’s put it this way…I didn’t even blog about that trip.
Oh, remember Paris? I had the best time ever. I still think about that city almost daily. It was like a dream within the nightmare…blink and you miss it. I want to go back. I could live there…you know, if I didn’t have kids and a husband.
We made the best decision ever, shortly after that meeting. We decided to proceed with legal action. We hired an attorney (an undefeated attorney) and started working on filing due process. I couldn’t talk about our Attorney Journey until we settled out of court, and got Emma 2 years at this wonderful private school. We took a risk by placing her privately (i.e. out of pocket) for 3 months at this school while we were in the midst of said due process. We are both so happy we made those decisions.
Did I miss anything? If so, it’s probably because I’ve blocked it out of my memory.
Suffice it to say, I’m really looking forward to 2012. I have goals in mind. Not cursed word resolutions. I continue to mull those over in my mind. I can’t wait to share them with you. And I can wait to blog about a wonderful 2012. I hope you stick around and see what happens with our little family!
Wow…we survived Christmas! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend with friends or family…or both! What are your traditions? Our traditions got a little mixed up this year. For the past few years I have hosted at our house. I feel like sometimes it’s actually easier. Both families here. No traveling for us. Everyone pitches in with food and cleaning up. It’s great! And equally, for the past few years we’ve had my brother spend the night (he’s Santa’s helper, actually) and my family would come up in the morning for breakfast. This year I made a French Toast Casserole that you make the night before. DELISH! You can find the recipe here.
This year we switched things up. We had Christmas Eve dinner at my parents after the children’s service at church. We opened their gifts and had a great time! The kids, however, didn’t get to bed until about 9:00. They slept in until 8:00, though! Then, breakfast here, with lots of fun time outside. The weather was perfect on Christmas morning! I’m really regretting not getting a picture of my dad riding Mason’s bike around the neighborhood. I really dropped the ball on that one.
In the afternoon, we went to my in-laws for Christmas dinner. Not before Emma had a meltdown. I actually can’t remember what it was about. I try to block those things out. Some food helped her calm down (things can get out.of.control. when her blood sugar drops). We headed to Grandma and Grandpa’s house, the kids played outside some more, and we ate dinner. After dinner, more gifts. And we came pretty close to another meltdown about her new helmet for horse back riding. It’s difficult with her because she gets so excited about her gifts, and if the size is not right, or we have to exchange and she’s not able to play with her gift, sh!t can hit the fan. I don’t know how to control situations like that. What she can comprehend is limited. And so while it looks like another temper tantrum thrown by a spoiled brat, rather it’s Emma not understanding the situation, and not being able to appropriately control her emotions (for a seven year old). When she’s at home, she can go up to her room, remove herself from highly stimulating situations, and give herself the time she needs to calm back down. It’s not always easy when you’re not at home.
This break hasn’t been the dream-like break I was hoping for. It’s been pretty challenging. And therefore I fear the wrath that summer break will bring. Eeeek!!
I do have pictures. And they are still on my camera. My bad.
Mason has a heart of gold. His awesome teacher, Mrs. K., just became a first-time grandma. And she has pictures of Baby B all over the classroom. Mason wants to make a card for Baby B. And give Baby B gifts. He found his drawer of baby keepsakes that I have held on to. And he wanted to give Baby B his first pair of shoes. They’re Vans and oh-so-cute! He also found his favorite baby toy and wanted to give the baby that. I tried to explain why these things meant a lot to Mommy and why we couldn’t give them away. He got so upset because he just wanted to give Baby B a gift. I promised Mason a trip to Target to pick out something special for Baby B’s first Christmas. And fortunately that was a good answer! I absolutely love my little guy’s heart. His range of compassion and empathy far outweighs most 5 year-old boys, I think. Of course, I may be a little biased.
I went to my friend’s house the other night to brainstorm some ideas for Jumping Waves, Inc. Okay, I’m not officially Jumping Waves, Inc. But really, I’m hoping to get the approval within the next week. Then I will officially be a non-profit organization. Check!
Next on my to-do was ordering business cards. Which, in turn, made me hire a graphic artist to recreate my design on a business card. That part has been checked off…I’m anxiously awaiting to see what the graphic artist comes back with! Then off to VistaPrint I go!
The biggest item to tackle on my to-do is starting (and then ideally finishing) the application for the 501 c 3. All 26 pages. You read right. 26 pages. It’s a little daunting! But I have some pieces of information that will hopefully help the process. And an aunt who is an attorney. And a friend who runs a big NPO.
And when this whole process gets overwhelming, I need to remember why I’m doing it. To get the word out there that educational advocates are necessary, I think, in almost every situation. I really think that any child with an IEP should have an advocate who is “assigned” to him or her. That’s how important they are. In my ideal world, along with every IEP would come a qualified educational advocate to help the parents get the very best for their child.
Jumping Waves is starting small. But it is starting. I’m raising and saving money. I’m taking the necessary steps. And I’ve even given out my first scholarship. I hope to share this deserving family’s story very soon. I couldn’t have given it to a more deserving family at this time of year. You’ll see what I’m talking about very soon!
Well, I had high hopes for Tuesday. High hopes. They got smashed quickly when Mason woke up with a gunky eye. I actually didn’t think much of it until I took a closer look right before the bus came. Those eye boogers weren’t just eye boogers. No, they had the appearance of pink eye. My neighbor confirmed it. And away we went to the doctor’s! The kids did well. I bribed them, of course. And come to find out, my little cutie has not only double pink eye, but double ear infection. Score! Needless to say, the movie playdate scheduled for today got postponed. At least it’s not the flu bug, though!
And then this!
Really, there are no words.
By 3:00, I was ready for a drink and then bed! (no, I didn’t have a drink at 3:00, or at all.)
Post Edit:
I found Emma’s first victim. Baby Doll.
So defenseless.
And a second weapon hiding nearby.
I think it’s safe to say you won’t see my daughter behind the counter at Laura Mercier or Bobbi Brown in the future.
Well, for one of my kids, anyway. This has proven to be the challenge with 2 kids in different schools. Their breaks are not the same. Not even Christmas break! I’ve put a positive spin on this…quality time with EACH kid, right? Sure! So idyllic and perfect. Why shouldn’t that happen? Well,Emma started first. Today was her first day off. We went to the gym to work out with Brandon at Premier Fitness Systems. She likes working out with me, and it’s pretty cute to watch. We came home, and she went right up to her room and…wait for it…got into her pajamas. Oh, and also trashed her room (I’m using the word “trashed” lightly). It was fine. We had a few hours to chill at home, and the girl wanted her space. I got a bunch of chores done that had run over from Sunday when no one was home all. day. long. Oops.
Well, 2:30 rolls around and I start talking to Emma about cleaning her room up and getting changed back into her clothes. It’s gymnastics day, you see. First go ’round she wouldn’t have any of it. I tried again. No luck. It came to a huge melt-down on her part…and tempers all around. Not fun. Not how I envisioned our first day of break. But Brett reminded me: it was her first day of break. We broke the routine of school. She was already thrown for a loop. It just ended the day on more of a sour note. I’m hoping the rest of the week runs smoothly. Tomorrow we have plans to see Chipwrecked with her BFF from school. Wednesday will bring us lunch with Daddy! And Thursday will give her special time with Oma. I’m hoping she’ll mellow out, or I’ll be wishing January 3rd to come quickly!
I’m not the only one who has this issue…I just know it! This wasn’t the first, of course, and definitely won’t be the last. And while it was pretty intense, it wasn’t the worst. Can I get an “Amen”?
I didn’t want to say we created a monster. Because that’s not quite true. But we’ve created a behavior that we need to change. ASAP. I know one of the things that Brett and I strive to instill in the kids is responsibility and independence. There’s one area that we’ve slacked on. And that’s getting dressed. The problem is mostly with Emma. To thwart any melt-downs we might have in the morning, it’s been our experience that if we dress her ourselves, we avoid any of said melt-downs. But it’s getting to be ridiculous. Changing her own clothes is something she’s very capable of. She does it every night when she changes into her most favorite outfit of the day…her pajamas. But getting out of those pajamas is where the struggle comes into play. Yesterday morning I had had enough and I told her no TV until she got changed. And she decided to miss about 30 minutes of TV simply because she didn’t want to get changed. In the end, she did change all by herself…everything but the dreaded jeans (not a fan of the jeans right now…I think it’s a sensory issue). I helped with those. And I brushed her hair while she watched TV- another meltdown waiting to happen, depending upon number of tangles. Last night? I had to beg her NOT to change into her pajamas. See? It’s not lack of knowledge or ability.
I know I’m not the only one dealing with this issue. And I’m looking for positive ways we can change this and make it “fun” for her. Or at least be able to give an immediate reward afterwards. Any suggestions?
You know you’ve spent too much time in hospitals when you dream that Emma has surgery the next day and you don’t wake up in a cold sweat while hyper-ventilating. Rather, I woke up and wondered if she really did have nodules on her vocal chords that needed to be removed. Think I’ve been reading up on Adele much? Fortunately, I remembered that, no, she doesn’t need surgery for this, and I went back to sleep. The end.
Getting a visit from a therapy dog during her last hospital stay.
