Preparing to Graduate

Once again I am slacking in the picture department. The main reason is today I ran around trying to make sure everything was squared away for me to graduate in May or at least walk in the ceremony. I will complete classes for the program at the end of July. I will take two online classes and one physical class for nine weeks in the summer and then I will have the official requirements for my Associates of Arts.

The debate is now what to do after that. My original plan was ultrasound tech but the program was full. My back up was Vet tech but I talked to an advisor that thinks I should get my pre-vet and then go on to be a full veterinarian. For now I am leaning towards Vet-tech as the time and financial commitment for full vet is immense. Having five young children they are my priority. I don't want to miss too much of their childhood. This is why I'm taking online and night classes. In the summer I'll only be away Thursday nights.

But today I had to make sure I had my Chemistry prerequisite up and going. I'm going to complete a self study course to meet that. They give you eight months to complete the two courses but I need it done in less than two. But I'm registered for everything and with my current credits and registered classes I have enough to qualify for graduation in May. I just made the cut off date for graduation. Tomorrow was the last day to sign up to be able to walk in the ceremony.

As for the kids I spent the morning with them. We played games, read books and relaxed. Jadzia has begun to refer to Inara as her real live baby doll. She will squeeze Inara tight while she sings "I have a real live baby doll". Inara seems a bit annoyed with the squeezing. Inara has begun pointing at everything until I tell her what it is. She's also enjoying to drop things just to see where they go. She was in her jumperoo today and she threw a stuffed dog behind her and she turned around to find it and after I handed it to her we started the game all over again.

Tutu Baby

Today I got a call that they are going to do Xander's endoscopy. Isaac and I decided to wait before deciding to go ahead and we weren't sure if we wanted him to have it done. But due to some blood work and other things it has become prudent to pursue the endoscopy. On Wednesday he will have a clear liquids diet only. This should be an interesting day. If you are around Xander at all you know him lacking food is not a good thing. On Thursday he will have the actual test done.The only pictures I took today were of Inara in her tutu. Isaac and I had a discussion as to the function of the tutu. I told him it serves no useful function other than adding to Inara's cuteness. He found this unpractical but this blog is full of cute tutu pictures of Inara and thus I will prove my point.

I had a doctor's appointment to check on my wrists. I have been having trouble for about four months now. Too much blogging perhaps? My doctor was concerned and is sending me to an orthopedics specialist. Hopefully I can squeeze this in among the other appointments for the kiddos.
I'm also attempting to get everything squared away to graduate in May with my associates. I have to hurry and get the paperwork together so I can still walk for graduation. I'm pretty excited. In the fall I will probably be going into a vet tech program. I was planning on going into ultrasound tech but the program was full so for now I'm proceeding to Vet tech. I worked with a vet as a volunteer for four years in high school. I loved the work and know from experience I would enjoy being a vet tech.

Fixing up Boo Boos

The day arrived for the stitches to be removed from Jadzia's finger. She was excited to have the black removed. Jadzia sat watching cartoons when a little boy came running in. He saw the bubble/water device that was currently glowing pink "Pink is my favorite color!" He exclaimed. Jadzia joined the excitement "Pink is my favorite color too!" They both did a pink happy dance.
The nurse cleaned Jadzia's finger then her pediatrician came in wearing magnifying head gear. The stitches were pretty embedded because the doctor who put them in pulled them pretty tight. Her doctor decided to soak her hand for ten minutes and try again. When she returned ten minutes later she brought two nurses with her. This was good because it took myself the two nurses to hold Jadzia down. It took some time to extract the stitches and Jadzia wailed and fought.
Due to the event being a bit traumatic she was given bubbles and two suckers. Dr. Shash said they only reserve those things for harder cases. I can attest to that because the usual prize is a few stickers. Part of the skin is still loose so Jadzia has to continue to wear ointment and cream for a few more days.Ronan and Inara seem to compete at times. Inara can pull to stand at the couch now but since it is still fairly new I clap and carry on when she does. Today that's what occurred when she pulled to stand to get closer to me. Ronan saw me cheering for Inara so he rushed over, pulled to stand and the with a huge grin applauded himself. I had to pick both of them up and give victory kisses.
Tonight Landon had a bit of foot trauma. One of the tires to his monster trucks came off and then he stepped on the sharp end of it. I'm not sure how deep it went in but we put salve on it and bandaged up. Looking back it should have been a given that band-aides don't stay on the bottom of feet very well.

Rock Throwers

I did not take any pictures of today which is a first since I started the blog. I'll fill in with old pictures. I had an eye doctor appointment today and had to have my mom drive me since they were dilating my eyes. I decided to go to the clinic the boys got to. Neither Jadzia nor Inara have had an eye appointment yet. The boys see the pediatric doctor and even though I wouldn't be able to see him I like their staff and figured it would be a good choice.The appointment went well. My vision is the same and everything is still a blur without my glasses or contacts. Health wise he said my eyes look healthy with no apparent problems. Shortly after that I found out the only glasses they have on site are pediatric ones and I would have to get mine from somewhere else. I'm in need of glasses. Ronan doesn't like his glasses and I think he's come to the conclusion no one else wants to wear glasses either. He is constantly removing my glasses then smiling or hugging me. I know he thinks he's doing me a favor. The damage happens when he comes from behind and pulls the side. I know one of these days they're going to just snap. This is why a back up pair would be a wise idea.For the afternoon my mom was going to sit with the kids while Isaac and I ran errands. We didn't have much luck. I went to a glasses store I knew would have glasses covered by our insurance but they are closed on Mondays. Next we went to get me a different drivers license it got left in the car once and the heat from the sun created a bubble. Come to find out the drivers license place was also closed on Mondays.

Next we pulled in to go to the doctor and as we enter the drive a kid in a car intentionally throws a bunch of rocks at our car. Issac's window was rolled down and one flew and hit him in the neck and the rest scattered over the top and hit the windshield. We got their license plate number and took it to the police station. We'll see what becomes of that. Isaac and I grabbed a bite to eat and then it was time for my class. By the time I got home my mom had put my kids in bed. I feel I haven't seen them at all today and I miss them. This would also be why there's no pictures and why I've resorted to using old ones.

Cleaning out Winter

My mother in-law came to visit for the day while Isaac and his dad went to an auction. I had a report due and started working on that. During that time my mother in-law took the big three up to their room to clean what had become a disaster area. They had decided to pull clothes and blankets out of their closet and disperse them throughout their room. They had also pulled stuffing out of a poor stuffed animal and it was flung in various hard to reach places in the room.
By the time my report was complete they had organized most of the chaos. I helped with the finishing touches and vacuumed. Their room looked great and now they have been warned they must keep it nice until Easter or they don't get to embark to Grandma's. We felt pretty accomplished starring at the kids' clean room that my mother in-law suggested we tackle the porch.

The porch has been looming in my mind for quite sometime. The porch was quickly becoming a hoarder's hay day and had every unwanted item piled into massive disarray. The entire scene was overwhelming and I had no clue where to start. Thanks to the motivation of my mother in-law we took it one step at a time. We sorted clothes to keep and clothes to donate. We collected all the toys and put them in the donate pile from there we organized and cleaned until it was done. I did a quick sweep then vacuum and the porch has more room than I remembered. I'm very excited that the one project I was dreading is out of the way.Because the kids were such big helpers Grandma gave them each two dollars for their bank and jar. As a bonus she and Grandpa Fullmer took everyone out to icecream. I feel this day has been one of my most productive in awhile. I think having my Mother in-law come down was just what I needed. I also appreciate my mom's help watching the babies. I'm blessed to have family that helps.

We are planning on a big cleaning day the day before Easter. We are going to attempt to organize the basement and garage and other problematic areas. Spring is here and it's time to rid the house of winter clutter.Xander and Ronan are best friends. Always have been. A short time after Ronan came home from the NICU I caught Xander leaning over Ronan's bassinet. His words were priceless. He said "Ronan you don't have to be afraid about any bad guys or monsters or ghostes because I'm your big brother and I'm going to chase all those things away for ya." When Ronan is sad Xander will put on a little show to make him smile. And the two of them can laugh together over seemingly nothing. And as Xander promised to Ronan you better watch out if you hurt his little brother because he has Ronan's back.

Communicating with my Son.

December 2009 I first learned that Ronan had a hearing loss. When he was six months old I set up an appointment at a hearing booth. I had been told that children with Down Syndrome should be screened for hearing loss on a six month basis. The booth told me that Ronan had failed his first newborn hearing test in the hospital. The hospital did not tell me. They told me he passed because he did pass the second type.This was important information that I should have been told because the first test indicated fluid build up which can cause damage and of course make Ronan hear everything as though he was under water. I was floored by the fact no one had told me and I had carried my baby around for six months not knowing he couldn't hear that well. The first step was ear tubes. We had those done a month after the hearing test. The help from the tubes was minimal at best and a BAER was finally scheduled two months after the tubes which confirmed moderate to severe hearing loss.

A month after that Ronan was fitted for hearing aides and two weeks later finally had them. In summary his hearing loss was indicated at birth but I was not told . If I had not done my research and discovered he needed a hearing check who knows how long Ronan would have gone with very limited hearing. Then it was six months from diagnosis to the time his hearing aides were first put in his ears. I have been told not to be surprised if Ronan never speaks. When he called me "Mama" at ten months old I was told that was impossible. But Ronan defeats the "impossible" on a regular basis. And I have been determined to find a way to communicate with my son.While every child is unique and different children with Down Syndrome tend to be visual learners. Sign language seemed to be the best avenue to pursue. Ronan can currently sign 6 words consistently with his favorite being "Daddy". He does four more randomly which means he utilizes around ten signs. Today he and I went to Gigi's playhouse signing time introduction. Gigi's is going to use the signing time program to have weekly classes for four months.

I was asked if I wanted to be one of the four moms to teach the class but I don't feel confident enough to teach any of it yet. Perhaps next year. I'm excited for the classes. I look forward to the day Ronan will tell me his favorite color or what he learned in class and most of all I love you.
Xander spent quite awhile building a lego sky scraper today. I think the boy might follow Daddy's footsteps and be a builder.

To Climb the Stairs

Guess who knows how to officially climb up the stairs? That's right it's Miss Inara Bug. She's known for awhile how to pull to stand holding onto a stair but for the first time she climbed up a couple of stairs. Inara climbed over to the gated stairs. I opened it and supervised her attempt and with a triumphant grin she reached the top of the second step.Landon has a piggy bank not the one in my main profile picture. The pink and blue ones at the top are the kid's college fund coin by coin thanks to Grandma and Grandpa Fullmer. But now he has one as his own personal savings bank. His tooth fairy money is the first amount saved. He said he is going to save until the bank is full then he's going to take the money to the bank and open himself an account.Ronan got his hearing aides adjusted today. It turns out the information I was originally given was incorrect. The person who told me had heard by word of mouth and had not seen the actual report. The actual result is not 40 decibels in the right and 70 in the left. The real result is that he is the exact same in his right at 50 decibels and 65 in his left which means he can hear 15 decibels better in that ear. The significance of this changed result is that he will most likely stay at this level and not improve. I was hoping he would improve but I'm not going to complain because he could have been worse and been headed closer to being completely deaf. It is a blessing his one ear has improved from severe hearing loss to moderate.
Tonight Grandma Spencer brought Smores . She found a new smores frosting that made it easy to make the smores. Jadzia was unsure of the messiness and required reassurance and about five minutes to stare at the smore. Finally she decided that it would taste good and be worth the required hand messiness.

Seeking Wisdom

I got a call from Ronan's sleep doctor today informing me that she and two of his other doctors had been having a conference about Ronan. They decided that he needs to see a cardiologist again. He had a cardiologist following him when he was first born because he had a delayed PDA closure (it's a sort of valve that all newborns have open but it closes on it's own usually). His stayed opened quite awhile after it should have closed and the day before they were surgically going to close it it suddenly closed. Also he was born with a VSD or ventricular septal defect which is a type of hole in the heart.Shortly after Ronan came home from the NICU he was sent back into the hospital for back to back apnea spells. The cardiologist looked at his heart again and was amazed to see it was starting to form healing tissue. The cardiologist told me then that Ronan had been a patient he'd been very concerned about and he had been sure Ronan would need surgical repair but his heart was repairing itself now. By the time Ronan was six months old the hole in his heart had completely closed on its own.Now the doctors are concerned his heart is causing trouble again. When he was born he had extremely high heart pressure. They are concerned that something might be occurring again in that area and causing his apnea. There second concern is that if the heart isn't contributing to the apnea that the apnea is damaging his heart. For this reason they want him to have another cardiology work-up. He's also having trouble with his heart rate going extremely low when he sleeps and way too high when he eats or is just slightly upset. This gives them another reason to be concerned about heart involvement.The soonest available appointment for the cardiologist was April 12th. His doctors are sending his cardiologist a letter with their concerns and asking him to fill them in with what's going on. After the heart work-up they are going to have another conference with all of his doctors and see what they want to do about his apnea. There have been some extreme measures mentioned and Isaac and I have been talking about what lengths we want to go. Right now we are unwilling to go to the extreme some have suggested. But we are praying for wisdom. If his heart is having trouble that will of course change things.As for the rest of the day Ronan got fitted for his second set of foot braces. He out grew the old ones. His old ones were dinosaurs this time Isaac picked out a jungle pattern. We also ordered him the wider shoes to fit over the braces. The braces have to be worn with shoes. He should have them in two weeks. Inara said "Ball" today. Ronan was having therapy and as usual he was trying to make things as hard as possible on his therapist. He always feels the need to show them he's still the one in charge of the therapy session. He can be too smart for his own good sometimes and devises multiple ways of escaping therapy.
But Inara was happy to oblige the therapist even though she herself doesn't receive therapy. We were rolling a ball back and forth I had Inara sitting in front of me and the therapist had Ronan and we would pass the ball back and forth using the babies' hands. We told them to roll the ball. All of a sudden Inara reached her hand out onto the ball and as plain as could be said "Ball". The therapist looked at me and said "She just said ball". Neither of us could believe it. This brings her total to four words at nine months.

Jar of Coins

Xander has a jar full of coins. He finds these coins in various locations, under a couch cushion and on sidewalks. His most successful location for coin scavenging is the laundry room. Each time he finds a coin he puts it in his jar. The majority of the coins are pennies and he is saving for a single event. He wants to treat his brother and sister to icecream. He has been saving for months now but due to the low appearance of random coins he still doesn't have enough. I'm thinking once it warms up he will suddenly find he has enough as there will be an anonymous donation to the Xander sibling icecream fund.But the jar is what was the center of discussion at bed time and led to a random Xander sentence that I have yet to fully grasp. He was chatting with Jadzia and Landon and said "When I take you guys to icecream Landon will get to pick his icecream first then me and then Jadzia." Jadzia sounded disappointed at being last but Xander continued. "We are like a pyramid so that's the way it has to be." and at those words Jadzia was instantly ok with being last. I'm really wondering if I'm out of the loop on this pyramid thing. I may have to use it the next time one of the kids argues with me. "We're like a pyramid that's the way it has to be."Ronan ended up staying in the hospital two hours longer than my blog yesterday indicated he would. His throat started swelling just as I signed his discharge papers. They gave him a strong steroid and then watched him for two hours. He was doing better after the two hours and got to go home. On our way out they gave us a t-shirt that said he's been honorably discharged from the Children's hospital.Our house is old and we are having it lead tested as part of a program. If they find lead on your windows, siding or elsewhere they cover replacing whatever the lead is on. Part of the requirements are that children between the ages of 1 and 5 be tested before the house test. This meant Landon and Inara got to avoid being poked. We took the middle three down to the testing center today for their finger pokes. They are going to mail me the reports with how their levels are. Jadzia was excited because now both of her hands matched by having band-aides on them.