I am thankful…

   

With Thanksgiving upon us, its time for me to reflect back on what I am thankful for this year:

~ I am thankful for a wonderful, supportive husband

~ I am thankful for the most amazing little boy in the world

~ I am thankful for my family and my family in law’s

~ I am thankful for my job

~ I am thankful for our home, even though its not always as clean as I would like it

~ I am thankful for my friends

~ I am thankful for my health

~ I am thankful for meeting so many wonderful, supportive people on this site

 

From my family to yours, wishing you all a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Candy Candy Candy

Ok, so I am totally into making the candy. I have had so much fun creating different treats. Tony is loving being able to sample them all as well. And I must say, I am really impressed with myself. I don’t remember them tasting this good when I was younger. But then again, my mother and I didn’t dabble with caramel, chocolate creme, and flavored liquors. So, without further ado, I allow you to visit my candy site. I you would like some for quick little presents, please let me know. I will need a few days to make and ship to you.

Broken Heart…

A fat lip in need of ice…and not understanding that ice helps.

This is the dilemma I just went through. Tyler, in one of his temper tantrums, hit his face on one of his toys and caused a bloody lip. I had to pin him down in order to put ice in a washcloth to stop the bleeding. I walked away with a couple bites as well as bruises. But those don’t hurt as much as my heart. Tyler just doesn’t understand that I was trying to help him and not hurt him. This torture had to last for 5 minutes to get the bleeding to stop. I was afraid it might need stitches but he is ok. Unfortunately now he wants nothing to do with me, even though he did snuggle up on my shoulder. I fear he is scarred. I wish there was a way for him to understand.  

So he moves on and his playing with toys while my heart aches….

New found hobby/business??

So I have this beautiful area for all my crafts, I do cross stitching, stamping, scrap-booking, all when I have time of course. Which has been never lately. And the area is actually a mess as things have just piled up. I have promised Tony I would start cleaning it up. It truly is embarrassing to look at.  This weekend I had an itch to start crafting again. So I picked up a cross stitch and went to town. It was so relaxing.

Well, when I was in the closet deciding which cross stitch to work on, I came across some old candy molds. I thought how fun it would be to try making candy again. I haven’t done that since  I was a little girl.

So off to the store I go to pick up some of the chocolate melts. Well above the chocolate melts I see candy flavoring. Well lets just say I have now made, Creme de Menthe presents, Peanut Butter Cups with homemade peanut butter filling, and Peppermint Chocolate discs. I find myself itching at work to get home and make more. So far my family and one guy that I work with have given me high prises for my creations. This weekend I plan on making some creme filled concoctions as well as some caramel creations.

I know these will be GREAT Christmas presents for Tyler’s teachers, therapists, bus drivers, etc. Plus great gifts for neighbors and the mailman. I am so excited to put these all together. Now I am thinking I could start a little business for myself! How I wouldn’t love that!!! I am going to post some pictures this weekend of my creations. If you are interested in some, please let me know. I will be willing to whip some up for you and package them up as well. I love this!!!

Letter drop off

Well, our advocate has reviewed my letter to our team lead requesting clarification on a few items. The letter is 3 pages in length. I will hand deliver the letter tomorrow after I drop Tyler off for school. Should be interesting to see what her response will be to this letter. I am sure I will receive a phone call stating my questions/concerns are just too much and that she won’t be able to provide me answers. I can just hear her now! UGH. So stay tuned. I am sure there will be a good story to share.

Tony and I have actually talked a lot about the possibility of sending him to Perkins next fall. We are going to go check out the school and see what it is like. We have continued to get comments from the therapists that show they just haven’t been listening to us. The latest came from his PT on Thursday. She mentioned she has concerns that he is sitting in his Rifton Gait Trainer instead of standing to walk. We mentioned this concern oh 3 – 4 months ago that we were afraid that is what he would do. She never listened and now suddenly its a problem. Then the whole issue of allowing him to be in the classroom on his birthday with his peers. Its just starting to take its toll. I am sure they will not be sad to hear we want out. We need to do whats best for him. Yes a lot of the fights have been purely based on principle for me. But its not fair to Tyler and he needs to be somewhere where they understand him, where they will work with him, and allow him to grow to his fullest potential. That’s another story to stay tuned for updates on.

Fall Cleaning…

This weekend, despite the rain and frigid temperatures that we had, Tony and I decided it was time to do some fall cleaning. We started by going through all of Tyler’s toys. Man has that child accumulated a lot of toys in 5 years! There will be a lot of happy children somewhere in this world this Christmas as we are going to donate a lot of them to charity.

Then we took down the screens, put the storm doors in, threw away the pumpkins that were rotting, threw away my mums that have lost thier vibrant colors, and we covered up our patio furniture. Now all I can say is BRING ON THE HOLIDAYS

Christmas Spirit

So I was fumbling for a tissue in my center console this morning on my way into work, and I came across my Josh Grobin Christmas CD that I bought last year. Today is a very dark dreary rainy day here in Massachusetts. I was all by myself and said why not. In went the CD and up went the volume. I know its early, but I can’t resist. We have a lot of stress at home and Christmas music just seems to make all of them disappear, if only for the 35 minutes I am in the car. It certainly put me in a wonderful mood. Here’s to the start of a wonderful holiday season.

Change needed

If you visit this site often and start seeing changes, its not your eyes failing you. I feel this site needs some major rehauling. I am going to be working on that but wanted to put the disclaimer out there. I guess the cold rainy day that we are having today is getting to me. I need a change.

IEP saga continues

So, in Massachusetts, the school has 10 days to get the IEP to the family for review. Our IEP was HAND DELIVERED, not mailed, last week on the 10th day. I sent a copy to our advocate so she could review it as well. Let’s just say, as I am writing this post, I am writing a letter to our team lead that is 2 pages in length. I am asking for clarification on a number of items, the most important item being his service delivery grid where the teachers and specialists are really held accountable for their goals. His is completely inaccurate. So I am sure my good friend will not be pleased to receive my letter on Wednesday when I drop it off. There is no way I am signing off on this IEP. It is such a disgrace. UUUGGHHHHH!!!!!!

A day to reflect. Happy Birthday my sweet pea.

The day has arrived. My baby turns 5 years old today. I have smothered him with kisses and hugs today, but to him that is no different than any other day. What I wouldn’t give for him to realize today is all about him. What I wouldn’t give for him to have understood why all his family came over on Saturday for a party. What I wouldn’t give for him to understand what birthdays are. But I can’t sit and think of those things. Today is a day to celebrate how far we have come:

5 years ago the doctors told us you would be a paperweight. You clearly aren’t.

5 years ago the doctors told us you would need a feeding tube because you wouldn’t eat. You never did need that. You eat just fine

5 years ago the doctors told us you would never roll over. You mastered that and are now the all time barrel rolling champ.

5 years ago the doctors told us you would never sit up. You mastered that and enjoying sitting.

5 years ago the doctors told us you would ever see. While it might not be perfect, those doctors cannot tell me you can’t. Especially after looking into my eyes yesterday as I held you.

5 years ago the doctors told us you wouldn’t hear. Once again, it might not be perfect but you can clearly hear.

5 years ago the doctors told us you wouldn’t walk. If only they could have seen you walking into school today smiling away.

5 years ago the doctors told us you wouldn’t live. I am so glad they were wrong.

Tyler, you will never know how much you are loved. You will never realize how much you have changed us, at least Mumma, for the better. You will never realize how very lucky we are to have you.  So while you may not understand what today means, we do. We remember hearing all those horrible things the doctors said and knew they just couldn’t or wouldn’t be true. We know how close we came to almost loosing not only you but Mumma as all. We know how extra special this day is because you have come so far.

While I wish so many things for you my sweet pea, the only thing I can wish for you today is to have a very happy 5th birthday. Mumma loves you….as do many many others.

Happy Birthday Sweet Pea.