You Smell

Today I had an initial IEP meeting for Hezekiah. I knew that him being enrolled in a charter school was going to change things, I just not know it was going to be so hard. That hard part has been him transitioning. He is overstimulated and overwhelmed. The program director of the enrichment site is having a hard time with him, and frankly does not seem to be understanding. He is not attending one of the days he is supposed to be because of that. He really isn't even aware he is not wanted there.

The other kids seem to be doing okay. Joaquin is often frustrated with feeling like the site director is answering questions for him. Oh, the life of someone with Autism. I hope that gets worked out soon.

The stress and anxiety of all this is very frustrating. I have thought about throwing in the towel and going back to a private school affidavit. You know hour to two hour commutes to therapy sessions. Running out of food because traffic is bad, and loads of gas money. But, then there is comfort of low stress and virtually no anxiety. It would just be another sudden change in our life.

Right now I just want some blankets, my tv and nachos. I guess I can settle for something else to eat. Time to quiet the mind and the worry.

Love
Momma

Joaquin and Baseball

Joaquin jad his first baseball game yesterday. He tried his hardest and hr played right feild. It didn't see much action. But, when it did I think he got nervous. The center feild ran to the ball and harness it to Joaquin to throw. It was sweet. 

Joaquin is certain situations is noticed my different socially and emotionally. I think a couple of the kids have picked up on it. I talked to the coaches wife about his needs. 

He likes playing on a mainstream team and I do see him improving over this season. It really is amazing his he powers through and doesn't complain, he powers through it all. Love this kid.

Special Needs Update

You know, I've been reading a lot about the ups and downs if parenting special nerds kids. So I will share about my two boys and what new with them.

Hezzie and Joaquin are currently in occupational therapy. We are waiting for openings so they can go twice a week. Hezekiah starts speech therapy twice a week next week. Joaquin is waiting on his physical therapy approval. He will be doing that twice a week. His speech therapy evaluation is in the next few weeks.

Joaquin is either pulling hair out it it's falling out. He has a male first cousin with alooacia who's hair looked similar when it first onset. I'll be calling his pediatrician on Friday.

Hezzie got his MRI results back. There's a small cyst with fluid showing. Nuerology appointment is in the next few weeks. Also, his audiology appointment.

Maggie goes to  genetics next week. 

Tuesday is Zoom Day

I felt like I haven't been home all day. This is serious, usually I can watch 50 episodes of SVU in a day. Okay, not really. Joaquin had an AMAZING OT evaluation today. I'm beyond pleased, now waiting for approval for him and Hezzie. 

Then we had Hezzie had as speech evaluation. Which wasn't surprising since I kind of knew what they were going to say. So here is to hoping that this get approved fast. So then the hour drive home ended with picking up Dexter so he could go to Creative Writing Group at the Library. I picked up some groceries, are dinner and then went to the Girl Scout Volunteer meeting. Hip Hip Hooray I won the drawing for a free pie! 

^^^ That is the paint job for the Girl Scout House, oh how I love it! 

Tanni and Joaquin playing with Legos. Life is pretty grand today!

Make memories!

Geography and Pi's

Happy Birthday Colorado! Joaquin loves maps and geography. So today we emailed the Gov. of Colorado asking for a map. We are hoping it comes through.

Meanwhile we ordered books and Joaquins birthday gifts.
I can not believe he will be 11. We are excited by all the progress he made this year. More on that later.

I can not wait to get the books and the Raspberry Pi for Joaquin. Thanks Ed S. for info on the Pi and Kraig H. for info on the Pi Book.

Unschooling FTW!
Love,
Momma

trying to keep it clean

The Kitchen After

i have been trying to keep the communal parts of the house clean.it's been a struggle since the baby. not blaming her, just love to be with her and the other kids. she's kind of amazing. anyway, back to the house cleaning business. the past few days i have been taking pictures and posting them to the blogs Facebook page. it's sort of an accountability, for me.

i am also trying to keep my mouth clean. i don't know what in the world came over me, but my language was getting pretty foul. maybe it was watching a rereun of Real Housewives of New Jersey. i really don't know. slowly, but surely i am cleaning it up.

Jimmy has been on a wild goose chase to get a copy of his Baptismal records. So far, we have a copy of his First Holy Communion records. It came with a letter about his Baptism. He is on his way to recieving communion. WOOP!

Happy Guy

the little kids planted flowers yesterday. it was plant a flower day. we read more books and Joaquin had an MRI. he did well and without sedation for the first time. he said he pretended he was in a spaceship battling space bandits and the like. he's such a great kid and becoming more than i could ever expect.

At his favorite Subway!

Recovering and Daily Life

Hezzie is doing better. He is talking more and sleeping less during the day. He's been treated well by his brothers. Maggie is at her friends and calls for updates. Today grandpa came to visit. Hezzie said grandpa for the first time, "Bampa, look at dis." My heart jumped.
Waylon plays with Hezzie a lot, the older boys have been busy watching science videos on YouTube. I'm not at all shocked.
Today we also painted empty toilet paper rolls for a craft. He loved that.
This evening we had firewood delivered. Then we had more visitors. His old in home teacher and kids came. It's been over a year since she has worked with him. He remembered her.
He also got mail today. People are so loving and we are thankful for cards and little gifts. He shares them.
Best news of the day...his left eye is opening up!
Joaquin has mastered the grilled cheese Sandwhich. All I can say is yum! Got to love when he learns to cook/bake some thing new. He does it until its delicious and pretty! Pretty awesome for a 10 year old kid.
Now we prepare for baby Tanni! She will be here soon.

That's all for now.

Love,
Momma

Of Seizures and Brothers

I have been avoiding blogging lately as to not complain. You know, sometimes life throws us curve balls. The van has been in the shop for longer than needed, my iPhone will not restore. Just things, things that are not life ending just frustrating.

Joaquin has been staying up WAY too late, even with melatonin. He says he has been worried he is going to get sick. "Mom, I always get sick in August. It ruins my birthday. It's just bad luck." Strange thing is, none of us recall this bad luck. However, Joaquin has been known to tolerate sickness and pain for long periods of time without telling us. I have to say, it's probably his Autism.

Last night he was up pretty late and fell asleep on the living room floor. Around 1:20 am he sort of sat up and was seizing. He came out of it foaming and spitting. I ended up being awake for some time after that. He fell back to sleep and until this afternoon was pretty tired. He will be seeing his neurologist again pretty soon. Joaquin will also be having his MRI and EEG soon.

Joaquin has a MRI not too long ago. The neurologist from Loma Linda called me today. Hezzie has a cyst on his right temporal lobe. From what he says, it's pretty sizable and putting pressure on his brain. The doctor will be referring him to pediatric neurosurgery. He has an EEG soon and hopefully that will tell us more. I have to say the neurologist they both see is pretty amazing.

When I got this news, I was not anxious. I was not worried and still will not. I know in the end, worry for me...it's like picking an infected wound. It makes things worse and nothing gets accomplished. Also, it's not about me as mom, it's about him (them). It's about making sure they have a life outside of my own expectations. I love my boys.

Love

Momma

Visiting the Doctor and Tacos

I took Joaquin to his regular normal doctor today AKA Dr. Jennifer Keith. He had to get his blood pressure checked. It goes up and down a lot, so far no meds. Thank God for that miracle. He has lost one pound and grew about and inch. Go Joaquin!
She is trying to get him into his neurology appointment sooner because of his facial tic. Hopefully that pans out, April is a long ways away for this sort of thing.
While we were there he decided we should take some photos. Something we had a hard time doing with him for most of his toddler years. I think I like the lighting in the room, my skin looks amazing without any editing.

Joaquin kept talking about how much he loves tacos...tacos...TACOS!! I need to find a gluten free corn tortilla recipe. He even had the doctor smiling, perhaps she will have tacos for dinner.

TACOS! TACOS! TACOS!



Love,
Momma and Joaquin

Why We Chose Unschooling

I was asked this today and really wish I had the whole clip of our interview with Lisa Ling. It boils down to one person...Joaquin. Joaquin is our now nine year old son. He was born on a hot August day in 2002. I was so ready to have this little boy, two weeks earlier they stopped my labor with him.
Joaquin was so different from his older brother when he was born. He was the polar opposite from him. I knew in my heart, he would forever be so different.
Joaquin had been diagnosed with Autism, Epilepsy, Sensory Integration Disorder, and some digestive issues. He is also, heat sensitive. But, if you look at him you'll just see a sweet boy, thank you goodness you can't see the meltdowns.

When Joaquin became school age, we were homeschooling Dexter through a charter school. Joaquin had a hard time with the reading curriculum as he had mastered one the summer before. We had a very strict daily schedule for the kids, as we were told this was best for Joaquin. We adhered to it as if life itself could not exist outside of it.
There were times when we had to break from this schedule, appointments, field trips or mom wanting a park day. The melt downs were horrible and he was uncooperative. Something had to give. It was heartbreaking to think, he would never learn that sometimes you have to break from the schedule, and life would be okay. Thoughts of, how would he be as an adult or even a teenager when life was even more out of his control, for work and play. We had to break from the schedule completely.
We had a pocket schedule on the wall, times and subjects on it. We took it down and put it up. He kept bringing it out, we left the charter and ventured out on our own. It was a bit scary, the unknown...but, nothing is ever certain. We had him throw the schedule into the dumpster and move on to a new life, where he could learn what he wanted (really all of them) and no day was the same....and that everything would be okay.

Today, this is Joaquin...happy, healthy and full of life. A lot less meltdowns and able to go at a whim (most of the time). He plays, he laughs and he is still very shy around new people. I won't lie and say he warms up to everyone he meets but, he is open to meeting new people. He loves animals and wants a bird.

He is why we chose unschooling...and he is why, it's be so so wonderful.

Love,
Momma and Joaquin

Dirty Socks and Pills

Joaquin had to see his GI doctor on Monday. Normally he would be okay with seeing a doctor since he loves them. He loves the attention showered on him by the two he sees the most. If it's a sub he is tight lipped. Well, Monday he could not even look into Dr. Boltron's eyes. He was shy because Dr. Boltron has seen inside his body. That really creeped him out. I get that, I don't like looking the OB/GYN in the eyes.

The best part for me....dirty socks. I sent Joaquin in the room to get socks and he picks up dirty ones. I really just had to laugh. He swears they were clean when we left. Yet, he had shoes on...kids.

The poor kid was told no dairy and to try to go no gluten. His bad bacteria in his small intestines are out of control. Another round of antibiotics after which he needs probiotics and kefir. YAY!

Yesterday, I took Maggie to the psychiatrist. For now no real diagnosis has been made. She is on meds to help with anxiety and depression. The doctor got to see her moods in mild action but, enough to get an idea of what is going on.

This is what she looked like 30 minutes after her meds. From what I gather it could be like this for a couple of weeks. It took so much for me to get to the point of seeking help. She has a therapist and a pediatrician who are helping as well. It's bad enough she suffers from hypoglycemia and now this. I just know, it's unfair for her to suffer mentally.

Love and Life
Momma and her Tribe

Friday is Fun Day?

Joaquin look perpetually displeased with life for one reason or another. Actually, I think it's his Autism becoming more noticeable as he's become more agreeable to photos. This morning we had to leave early to get to Loma Linda for a four hour breath test. When we got there, the place was decorated. He posed, reluctantly.

He had to drink some weird solution. He drank it up quick, probably because he was so thirsty and hungry. No breakfast for this poor guy. He did well, and did get tired. I even fell asleep for a bit. Why not?

Every 20 minutes for four hours he had to blow into these bags...interesting. He was not happy about wasting his breath.

Massive Santa Ana winds wrecked my foolishly unsecured gazebo. SIGH! I hope it can be salvaged.

Have and Awesome Weekend,
Momma and her tribe