Good Things

Today we have had some good things happen, so I needed to be sure to write them down -

1) I got the ultimate work compliment from a 3yr old. One of my clients has this adorable little girl, who I had the opportunity to photograph 2x last month. Both shoots were family events. Apparently she got to fly with her parents all the way to Montana to visit my friend's side of the family during the holidays. My friend A told me her little cutie was very concerned when she asked "How is Rory going to get to grandma's house to take pictures?" She knew that family picts meant lots of fun time spent with me. It doesnt get any better than that! I also received other nice compliments from A about the extended family shoot I did, which also made me happy and relieved since I have been feeling unsettled about that one. Good to know that the client is happy. Always helps a ton to know that I really am doing ok.

2) The squeaky wheel really DOES get the grease. We took some extra initiative in the last few weeks to have Colton tested by a couple more crucial specialists, hoping to gather enough fire power to take to his next IEP meeting. The crucial pieces that we have been missing are: 1)the school staff being willing to take all of the specialists info and reports and physically write the need for services all tied to the VCFS, and 2) scheduling IEP meetings when we request them and holding them in a timely manner. Thus far, they have been unwilling to do so, and have not scheduled timely meetings and have dismissed all of the outside reports because he was not receiving services from the district specifically. We have been requesting both since before the beginning of the year.
Today I got a phone call from the school speech specialist who informed me that not only are they going to hold a whole staff (speech, psych, class teachers, district director, ORCA director, me, local director) IEP meeting within the time we have requested, but at that meeting the goal will be to RE-WRITE his entire IEP to include all of his current needs for speech, OT, and psych, and tie it all back to the VCFS - the medical piece that is at the root of everything and the ONE thing that has been keeping insurance from covering his other services. I still have a niggling amount of doubt, but if we can take all the new reports and prove, finally, what we have been asking for all along, then we are going to move forward at a rapid pace and be able to receive the help Colton is needing. It will be a HUGE relief, more than I could ever write in words

3) After talking with the pediatric psych specialist on the phone yesterday, I was told that Colton now has a conclusive diagnosis for ADHD from 3 different medical specialists. You may be wondering why I have added this to the list. Even though this is going to bring on its own set of challenges and is scary to think about, the good thing is that we have something conclusive, something tangible to work with. We have something that we can go forward with, whatever that may include. It is a good thing.

4) My children are crack ups - and we are needing that right now. Today specifically these have been things out of my children's mouths -
Kaeli - came in fussing about the hot and humid temperature in the house - all the while spouting it out in a heavy British cockney and Irish brogue. It is hard not to laugh hysterically when she does it. She could totally get away in real life with those accents.
Colton - I put on Sleeping Beauty for the 2 little peeps. Colton informed me "I don't like that movie, it has KISSING in it, that is gross!" as he scrunched up his whole face and closed his eyes.
Kelsianne - She was overheard by Preston this afternoon singing "blah, blah, blah" to the tune of Jingle Bells. She is also struggling with saying the word balloon, and Ceana & I were laughing hard trying to help her break the syllables into pieces she could say. Her other big endeavor is drawing pictures of "points" and "wuwoons" - now while I know what "wuwoons" is (after ceana told me that she was really trying to say balloons), I have NO idea what "points" are or is...probably something to do with the little boys play something...
Caiden - He cranked out some serious homework today and it was fun to see him so proud of himself, but also how tired he was. His own take was that "doing lots of homework is EXHAUSTING!" as he flung his arm over his face and wiped his brow with his forearm. I thought we only had 2 drama queens in the house, he has good teachers I suppose.

5) It felt like early Spring outside today. I know it is totally tricking me, but after all the freezing temps, and then suddenly having it turn 55 and rain; that Spring smell was in the air, and the sound of frogs echoed across the empty pastures, and I could actually see the moon through wispy clouds. It was nice to think about all that is coming with the warmer weather - even though I know it is only January...

6) I have a wonderful husband who makes me laugh, who holds me when I cry and worry, who does dishes and laundry, who drives Ceana to seminary every morning just so I dont have to, who comes home from work in the middle of the afternoon just to help kiddos with math, who stays up until all hours of the night getting my new computer system up and running and does all the tweaking when I still can't get things figured out, who is patient with our ever changing schedule, who meets us for on-going medical appts, who is very patient with hysterical girl genes running rampant in the house right now, who helps Colton read from his scriptures for mini FHE at night, who runs around the dining room table chasing and "running" from little people just to make them squeal, who works so hard to provide for our family, who is gentle and loving, and my best friend. I am truly blessed to get the privilege to love him and spend my life with him.

7) Sugar is a really lovely thing. It is a chocolate sprinkly motivator, and reward, for boys struggling with school work. It is energy for extra long days after very short nights with no sleep. It is sharing cinnamon & sugar sweetness with a 2 1/2 yr old. It is melted chocolate on your fingers and crunchy goodness in your mouth. It is going to the "wrong" store just so you can bring home treats from the bakery. It is rediscovering treats that were childhood favorites and finding out they are still as good as they were then - esp if you toss them in the freezer (frozen Twinkies are the ONLY way to go :) It is seeing the beaming smile on the face an almost 8yr old as he eats his favorite frozen treat, that he bought with the pennies he had saved himself.

8) Holding a baby in your arms is one of THE best things in the whole entire world. I got spoiled by getting to hold 2 today. We get to enjoy a friend's baby on Thursday mornings when she swaps me a baby for Ky and drives preschool carpool. She is a little cutie with huge eyes who likes to watch everything and be right in the middle of all that is going on around her. This morning I did the one-handed mom thing while holding her and helping Colton with homework. I also enjoyed watching and listening to Kels enjoy her too. Tonight I got to hold another little sweetie of a friend in our ward at a RS activity. My friend and her husband are both of Polynesian descent, and their little girl is everything beautiful that the Polynesian people are. She has dark, gorgeous eyes with eyebrows that are constantly crinkled as if she is trying to figure everything out already. She has a darling smile and a tiny, pouty lip and chubby baby cheeks. Holding and rocking her in my arms was wonderful. She fell asleep while I was holding her, and it was so nice to just look down at that sweet little face and know that I was holding an angel.
I miss having a baby in our home. I was so sick again after Kels came to us, that I missed a ton of her early baby stages. She was so big when she was born, and has just not stopped since. She is now quite the big girl and doing everything her brothers do. I am sad sometimes knowing that she will never be a big sister, that all those little baby days are done for us. I guess I am just extra lucky to know so many people with babies, and that I can enjoy other little ones often.

I know there are probably other things from today, but this one post has taken me most of the day to get written, and if I dont close now, I may fall asleep here in front of the computer. I have my next iron infusion appt tomorrow, hopefully when I am back home I can add a few more things to this list, including that the appt went well. Until then, count your many blessings, name them one by one and it will surprise you what the Lord hath done!"