Life as a Leach

Have you ever heard the old wives' tale that some people can tell the weather based on their aching bones?  Well, it is SO true.  The VEPTR moms have had many discussions on it! Enter this week's weather forecast...in case you've been hiding under a rock, Hurricane Joaquin is heading our way.  RUN!!!!  Get your toilet paper and milk!!!!!! We have already gotten quite a bit of rain, and are forecasted to get much more even BEFORE Joaquin hits. What I have learned in the last 5 months is that heavy, sustained rain = a bad back day for Abby.  So these next few days are going to be fun! She was totally fine this morning and it wasn't raining anyway, so I didn't think anything of it.  Then I got a call from the nurse saying she was in a lot of pain but refusing to take her medicine.  Ugh.  C'mon, Abby!  They called Caleb down to try.  Bless his heart, he tried, but she wasn't buying it.  My dear friend B finally convinced her t...

I'm not gonna lie.  Life has been challenging recently.  The herniated and torn discs in my back are severely limiting what I can do, and it is frustrating.  I don't live life on the couch.  It's just not me.  And not sleeping is kind of an issue too.  There's other tough stuff going on right now too, which is taxing on our family.  We would certainly appreciate your prayers. However... So let's name a few.  Some are minor, some are HUGE!  In no particular order: 1.  A sweet friend and coworker of mine is finishing her LAST radiation treatment on Monday!  What a celebration that is!  I am so thrilled for her.  It's been a tough 9 months, and I know she is ready to move on! 2.  I entered us in a drawing through our electric company for a fancy new thermostat.  We were chosen and got this $250 wireless thermostat that is app-controlled for free!  It learns your habits and is supposed to lowe...

My tiny dancer had her first dance class on Thursday.  No surprise that she absolutely LOVED it!   Matt brought her to me afterwards to Caleb's open house so that he could go to a meeting.  In the hallway, I asked her what she learned.  She promptly stopped traffic to line her feet up perfectly to do a pleeeeee -- aaaay complete with sound effects. She got a lot of awws for that one.  Matt filled her teacher in on her limitations, and the assistant knows Abby well--she's the daughter of our wonderful therapeutic recreationalist!  But Abby let me know on the way home that the class did forward rolls on the mat, but she told her teacher that wasn't safe for her. (The teacher wasn't going to have her do them anyway)  So she did bunny hops instead!  Way to self-advocate, Abs!!  Love it! And she can't wait to go back next week!  So many firsts for my little girl!

Thanks to a bunch of wonderful people, Abby's first week of school went perfectly!  She absolutely loves it and asked today if she was going to school. She was disappointed to hear that we were only in the car to go to Caleb's fencing practice. :) Our awesome new PT was there almost every second of the first three days (T, I feel like I am almost cheating on you by calling MB awesome!  But you know how much we adore you!) and examined everything closely to see how she could help Abby to be more independent.  One of the custodians heard that Abby couldn't do a particular style of paper towel dispenser, so she switched it out for one she could do! I was so surprised and grateful!  There's a stool there so that she can reach things, and we have trained the bus drivers and assistants (she will ride a different bus coming and going) in all of the safety precautions.    Abby's teachers, the wonderful Mrs. C and Mrs. Y, have put a lot of procedures in place to hel...

This dog is SO loved by our family!  And I think the feeling is mutual...

Today was Abby's first day of Pre-K at our local elementary school!  She did great!  We walked to the door just as the bus was letting off.  Abby said goodbye, joined the line, and walked right in! I did stay in the building (since the nurse was going to be out), making copies for the 3rd and 2nd grade teachers and pulling a few groups. She didn't know I was there, and I kept it that way!  She did totally fine, and the biggest "issues" were that she wouldn't sit in the chair they provided her per her IEP (she can sit where she wants to sit!  It just needs to be available) and she didn't want to sing.  I do believe the child was showing her sassiness right out of the gate.  :) A lot of people asked me if I cried.  Yes, I did.  But they were not tears of sadness that she is growing up.  They were tears of pure joy and thankfulness that we have made it to this point. You see, When you cried because you couldn't get your colicky ba...

Abby got into prek at SLES, so now the fun begins!  Before she can start, I have to make sure she is completely safe and everyone knows what she can and can't do.  The nurse and I had a great meeting yesterday to create her medical plan, which she will share with the teachers. Nurse K has been really great and seems like she will be very protective of Abby.  She even decided to make her a lanyard with a little "please don't pick me up" sign for her to wear until everyone gets to know her.   I have a meeting later today with her teacher, and then an IEP revision meeting on Monday.  Somehow, our awesome team pulled off a meeting that fast, and I'm so grateful!  We need to change her IEP to be school-specific, rather than just as if she only receives speech services.  We also need to put in that she needs a 5 point harness in the bus, because she can't ride until it does.   Abby's start date won't actually be until Thursday, because the nurse will be...

Could they possibly be any cuter?!?!

That word describes me right now!  I'm having a lot of back trouble--a suspected herniated disc that is just getting worse, to the point I really can't stand upright--which is also causing numbness, tingling, and spasm in my leg.   Insert Restless Leg Syndrome.   It sounds so stupid...my leg jerks throughout the night.  No big deal! Oh, let me tell you.  I don't sleep.  My average last week was 4 1/2 hours.  I haven't slept at all tonight, and it's past 4 am!  This is the worst night I have had, with lots of pain in addition to the other stuff.   I decided to take a second dose of "Restful Legs," a homeopathic medicine that is supposed to all them.   Bad idea.  Even though it had been more than 4 hours between doses, my body had some sort of a reaction and I couldn't breathe.  I was so scared and eventually woke Matt up.  After a Benadryl, several inhalers, and a nebulizer treatment, I finally felt better.  Thank...

I don't say nearly enough how much I love this man.  He is so sweet to me, even when I'm stressed and nag him all of the time!  He's a great guy.  :)