.: March 2009

Random is sometimes required

3:14 PM | by *Monica

A quick recap.

Cat went missing.

Jack cracked his toe.

Third son's "issue".

Found out ex got married.

Got kidney stone requiring 4 day hospital stay.

Jack got virus

Swelled up and had to return to hospital for lasix shot.

I have cataloged it and now PUT IT ALL IN THE PAST.

I love my family!! They have taken such good care of me. I am mostly all better now. I do, however, look like a junkie. I have bruises running up and down both arms AND both shoulders. Who knew I was a hard stick?

I talked to the ex husband today about not talking to the kids before getting married. Or even after, but just doing it himself. He didn't get it. I think towards the end of the conversation he might have started to get it. I dunno. His point was that he was going to marry her regardless, so why invite discussion on the subject. He says that nothing has changed.

Jack's tummy is better and some of the other boys might be getting it. Skyler stayed home from school today.

I broke down and read Twilight. *who is that I hear screaming? Is that Anna?* It was good. A good book.

I found Jack a little people bus with 6 people at a thrift store today for $2!

What else..hmm.

Huge black ants are entering the house through portal unknown and driving me crazy. They don't appear to be biters, at least.

I think the boys and I are cutting out for Arkansas during spring break to see my Nana and biological dad. We deserve a vacation. It's only a 13.5 hour drive. No problem.

You ain't gonna believe this. Really.

7:08 PM | by *Monica

I have been missing for a few days. Guess where I was?

I was in the hospital attempting to pass a kidney stone. Sunday afternoon I started having severe right side pain. By ten minutes later I was on the phone begging my mother through tears to please take me to the E.R.

Twenty minutes after that I was in the E. R. literally screaming and vomiting. So ladylike and feminine. Let me take a moment to thank the staff, the people that visited and prayed with me and the makers of Dilaudid, Zofran, and Benedryl for I.V.

After being left in hospital to pass it myself for 3 days, they took me to surgery today and removed it. It came out whole and I did NOT need a stint.

God is good, prayer works and Percocet is awesome.

I will be recovering slowly over the next few days and then I have got some STORIES to tell you.

What did you say???

2:28 PM | by *Monica

While discussing my son with the ex-husband on a few moments ago, he throws a tidbit at me before hanging up.

He got married last Friday.

*I am speechless*

Disturbing Happenings

7:40 PM | by *Monica

I have been a bit quiet here at the old blog. There is something going on in real life that is eating me up. There is no way to talk about it in "code" so I haven't been able to come here to vent or ask for advice.

One of my sons has been caught in the same lie for a 3rd time. It is a big lie. It is not an age appropriate activity for him. Actually, its not a biblically appropriate activity. What he has been caught doing has twice threatened one of his brother's education.

He does not seem to understand the ramifications of his choices and quite honestly seems very cold and uncaring about it. I am terrified at what this can mean for his future. Will he be the kind of person that makes choices no matter who they may harm?

Will he put himself in harms way just for a thrill?

I don't know. I don't even know who to talk to about this because it is embarrassing and nobody wants to admit that their child has done something of this magnitude.

My heart is breaking.

I do indeed love my life

8:58 PM | by *Monica

All rotten happenings aside, I am a truly blessed woman. So much is right in my life. I am just in a rough patch and feel a bit overwhelmed.

And my best friend's sweet baby girl has crazier hair than Jack now. Tell me she isn't precious! That is my future daughter in law, right there.

Bullets

6:22 PM | by *Monica

*I just got back from the E.R. with Jackson. His older brothers rocked on his big toe while teeter tottering and he has a nail plate avulsion. The previous link is graphic, be warned.

He can not walk for 5 days and I have to change his bandage 3 times a day and check to make sure the nail is still under the cuticle. Its gross.

*Sassy is still missing. At this point, I doubt she will return. The weather hasn't been awful, but it hasn't been cat friendly.

*There are 15 crocs adopted so far for the VBS fundraiser. I was so happy to see that.

*I lovely old lady responded to my request for artificial plants on Freecycle and I will go pick them up tomorrow.

*I need a vacation from life. Is Calgone still around??

A good Apraxia article

11:22 AM | by *Monica

Apraxia

Apraxia results from an impaired ability to generate the motor programming for speech

movements. It is not a disorder in the transmission of messages to the speech musculature.

Apraxia is a planning/programming problem, not a movement problem like dysarthria. Apraxia

is a problem in assembling the appropriate sequence of movements for speech production or the

execution of the appropriate serial ordering of sounds for speech. The primary disorder is an

inability to program articulatory movements. Apraxia is always the result of a central nervous

system lesion and is a cortical problem.

In apraxia, errors are inconsistent and unpredictable. Different error patterns occur in

spontaneous speech versus repetition. Students’ spontaneous speech contains fewer errors than

does his/her speech in repetition tasks. When producing rote material or that which has become

automatic, the student will speak clearly. Substitutions are the most common type of error.

Approximations of the targeted phoneme are also expected. Other types of errors found in

apraxic speech include repetitions, additions, transpositions, prolongations, omissions and

distortions. Errors are often perseveratory in nature. As in stuttering, the anticipation of errors

causes dysfluent speech. Apraxic speech is full of groping along with trial and error types of

articulatory movements. This could be due to the anticipation of errors. For a student with

apraxia, vowels may be easier to produce than consonants. Problems with voice and resonance

are not symptomatic of this disorder.

Apraxia of speech may occur without concomitant swallowing problems. The movements of the

velum, lips, tongue and jaw will only be impaired during speech. Diadochokinesis will be slow

and abnormal, and syllables will be produced out of order.

Characteristics of apraxia in children according to Smit (2004)

Significantly reduced intelligibility Severely limited consonant inventory with many omissions
Reduced syllable inventory Assimilation and transposition errors
Vowel errors Groping evident in articulation attempts
Inconsistent production of the same word Performance reduces with increased sentence length and complexity
Prosodic errors Better performance in single words than in sentences
Isolated instances of well articulated words that are not evident again

Characteristics in the history of students with apraxia

Poor feeding in infancy Drooling past an age typically seen
Sensory aversions Relative quiet infancy
Generally clumsy Slow progress in treatment

Nonspeech Characteristics

Resists imitating modeled words
Uses gestures to relay message Avoids speaking
Relies on family members as translators

Concomitant Characteristics

Receptive language skills above expressive language Poor vocabulary and wordfinding
Symptoms of central neuromotor disorder: perseveration, difficulty inhibiting contradictory behaviors, fatigues easily

APB

5:45 PM | by *Monica

My sweet girl is missing. She must have gotten outside which she is not equipped to handle. Pray for her return, will ya? I miss my Sassafras.

Poor parenting

7:54 PM | by *Monica

Sometimes I wonder what I am teaching my kids.

I took this picture of my sweet baby boy the other day.

I find this "improved" version tonight.

I actually laughed really hard before rolling my eyes.

Jesus, Please Hurry.

8:43 PM | by *Monica

Today, less that a mile from my oldest son's school, a man knelt in the path of a train.

This has made me cry for our world more than many things I have seen or heard. I can't sleep tonight as I try to imagine what kind of life experiences can make violent suicide a better choice.

I can not wait for Jesus to come back and claim His own. My heart is too soft.

Reason #4892983758932

3:20 PM | by *Monica

My mom is awesome in more ways than there are numbers.

I say I would love to do a cool bulletin board for a VBS fundraiser. She jumps in and gives me the coolest board.

Thanks Mommy, I love you. Lakeview Baptist says thanks too!

Party Pictures

5:55 PM | by *Monica

The Cake

1:49 PM | by *Monica

For somebody who has never made more than a bundt cake, I am pretty happy.

I can't wait till tonight for him to see it!!

HAPPY 11TH BIRTHDAY

5:30 AM | by *Monica

Today, my third son, Skyler, turns 11. He has been the baby of the family for years and even with the addition of an actual baby, I still see him that way. He is hilarious and loves a good joke. In fact, he jokingly asked me for a wedding cake for his bday cake. Guess what I am working on later today? I am not a cake maker, but I am going to do my best to do a tiered cake with a wedding'esq look.

He is gonna love it. We are celebrating tomorrow night, so I will post pictures of the hilarity afters.

Happy Birthday, Benjamin Skyler. I love you so much.

A Real Post

5:43 PM | by *Monica

Things are good here in my house. The weather has been crazy, the boys have been sick off and on and I have cracked my big toenail in two. The toe will live, but under protest. I swear I heard it begging to be put down.

I have been down thinking about my Nana. She is in her 80s now and suffering from Alzheimers. She has survived bladder cancer, a divorce, being widowed, the near death of her only son, and much more. She is now reduced to attempting escape from the nursing home in a pack of gospel singers. She called her son the other day to tell him that her shift was over and they wouldn't let her leave. She is going through roommates like crazy. She has a penchant for smacking people with her catheter bag.

They live far away from me in Arkansas so I have been avoiding dealing with her new reality. In my memory, she is vibrant, articulate, and headstrong. I hate the new image clashing with the old.

I can only imagine what it is like to be in her skin now.

Playing with Picasa

3:23 PM | by *Monica

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