Long overdue catch up post.

I can not believe my last post was from November, 2010. I have had a lot more time this past month since I am on medical leave and still am unable to bend over, lift more than 5 pounds, etc. So I decided to get back to blogging. Family update- Nathan is very busy working, he makes Artisan Sausage and his company is called Columbia Cochon. He still lives in Hood River. Ashley is 21 and she and Cody have been married for a year and a half. She is an assistant manager for a clothing store in the mall an Cody works for FedEx. They are living in Fort Worth. She comes to see us at least once a week. I am so proud of them both. Katy is 18 and is a sophomore in college and is attending UNT in Denton. She moved up there this semester, I miss her but so happy she is only 45 minutes away. She texted me today and was excited about all of her classes she had today. She is finally at the point where you can take some of the fun classes that are geared toward your degree and not just the basics. Sarah just turned 16 last month. She is a Sophomore in high school. Her favorite classes at school are dance and pre-drill. She attends early morning seminary and loves it. She loves anything related to church and church activities. Noah is in 8th grade and he continues to make great progress in his life-skills class. He has come such a long way since we adopted him 8 years ago. I do have to say it has been interesting having a son who has developmental delays and is going through puberty. I get to save his mustache and remind him to us his acne soap. lol He does not talk much due to his autism but when he does his voice is deep and booming. Oh the joys of being a Mommy! Jacob is 13 he had a rough year in 2013. He was hospitalized in the spring for several days and then in August he went from acting like nothing was wrong in the morning and then fussing at 1pm and by 10pm he was having emergency surgery to fix a bowel obstruction. He is so brave and I am so thankful for the power of Priesthood blessings. I am so very thankful for the Holy Ghost as there have been countless times when I truly felt so helpless and I felt his comfort just like a shield around me. Hannah is 8 and will be turning nine in February. She is my calm in the storm called life. She always has a smile and a hug. I call her my baby cause she is but she is still so small due to her growth disorder. She is 23 pounds and 32 inches tall and wears size 18or 24 months. She is also all girl!!!! She loves her purses, makeup brushes, necklaces and anything that is pink. She is starting to walk more still cruising furniture or holding fingers but can go farther. The doctors told us that if she was not walking by age seven she would not learn to walk and as usual she has proved yet another doctor wrong. Most of her specialist shake their head and lift there arms in the air and say it is nothing but a miracle she is doing so well. As a nurse when I look at her MRI's and knowing all medical problems I am amazed as well. Mike retired in April so that someone could be home with the children so he is busier than he was when he worked full time. He is such an amazing Dad and Husband!!! There is a lot of hard work that goes on in this house and we make a great team getting it all done. He had been wanting a Coon Hound for quite awhile. We found our Mr. Cooper and brought him home when he was 8 weeks old and now at six months old he is HUGE. He is such a smart well behaved dog. Don't get me wrong he has his moments due to being a pup still. I love seeing them play together. I am working in my dream job on a post partum unit where we do couplet care meaning we are the nurse caring for the mom and infant. Then some nights I get to work in the nursery. Some of the babies come in for parents to get some rest but I get to care for infants who need observation, close monitoring or IV medications. I really love the people I work with and the work I do. I have been out on medical leave due to the fact I got a cerebral spinal fluid leak that settled in my brain and then due to the pressure created it caused a subdural hematoma. I am so blessed that I had excellent care while in the hospital. I had the prayers, visits, calls, gifts and service of many friends and family. I am so grateful for all the people in my life they are amazing!! I still have restrictions like not being able to bend over, or lift anything over 5 pounds and so Mike has had to help me and I will be forever thankful for his loving care of me during all of this. Including sleeping in a chair so he could be there to care for me in the hospital.

Thumbs Up~Jacob Turns Ten

I just can not believe my baby boy is 10 years old! We are so blessed to have have so many people in our life that love and cherish Jacob as much as we do. Every year for Jacob's birthday his homebound teacher's, his speech therapist, orientation and mobility specialist and vision teacher bring a fun party to him. They bring yellow balloons because this is Jacob's favorite color, they bring a cake, party supplies and a group gift. The pictures above are from this year's birthday party.
Jacob loves the fact that he is ten. As you know he uses sign language to talk and the sign for the number 10 is thumbs up. For the past month we have been telling him that when he has his birthday he will not be 9 (index finger to thumb) but will be 10~thumbs up and he makes the signs then laughs out loud. He loves to count and has been working on counting by 10's to 100. It seems like yesturday he was my little 3 pound 11 ounce little man, boy has he come a long way. Thanks for the many things you have taught me this past 10 years my little Jaybird~Love Mommy

Family Update

Ash~has a part time job as a photogropher with lifetouch studios, she is taking a photography class at the local college and she is part time Nanny to Jacob and Hannah. Since I am working nights she watches them while I get some sleep during the day.

Katy~Is on the volleyball team again this year, she is also on the student council and is currently taking driver's ed.
Sarah~is doing an online public school and absolutley loves being a beehive in our church youth group.

Noah~is having a rough time in his current classroom and I am waiting for his annual ARD to get him moved to another program. We found that at night he is helping Jacob become an escape artist. Jacob has been going through a phase where he likes to take all of his close off when he is in bed. We thought we solved this by getting footed jammies that zip up the front, now he just unzips them and takes them off so we started putting them on backwards so he could not reach the zipper. Well several times we have gone in and he is naked again, this was puzzling as his arms are not long enough to reach back there. One night this week Noah was caught red handed helping Jacob unzip the backward facing jammies :/

Jacob~was diagnosed with hypothyroidism three months ago and despite the fact that the meds have brought his blood levels back up, he still gets tired really easy. He loves his homebound teachers and therapists. They are all so excited about his birthday next month. Every year for the past four years they bring him balloons, cake and a present. They are so wonderful and they each mean so much to us.

Hannah~otherwise known as Miss Sassy Pants. She is doing so well but she is in the three year old frame of mind that her way is the only way and you better get out of her way or she will fuss at you. It is really cute when she fuses at Jacob for playing in front of the floor mirror. She thinks it belongs to her and only her.

Mike~is helping care for the kids more since I started work and he is finding out teenage girls can be a bit overwhelming :) So can little girls who like to play with their feeding tubes until they come out during a feeding and soak the bed.

As for me I am working as a pediatric home health nurse. I work 12 hour shifts at night. It is an adjustment in progress for all.

Ashley Graduated from Early Morning Seminary

I have homeschooled Ashley since the 6th grade and she was able to graduate last summer. Since she graduated a year early she decided to attend a local college full time this past year. She recently graduated from Seminary, which means 4 years of getting up at 5:30 am and going to church to learn about the scriptures. I am so proud of her. It is exciting to see my oldest growing into a young woman but it also is hard to realize my baby girl will be 18 in one month. I love her more than she will ever know and I am so proud of her!

Long over due vacation to South Padre

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

We have not been on a vacation for three years due to school and Jacob's long stay in the hospital two years ago. We love going to the beach. This year we went to South Padre and stayed in a three bedroom condo on the beach. It was so relaxing and everyone had a great time. The kids loved to swim in the pool, swim in the ocean and taking long walks on the beach. Mike and I went on a date one night. We took a walk on the boardwalk and saw many species of birds and even saw an alligator in the wild. Then we walked to the Bay side and watched the sun set. The whole trip was fun and totally relaxing. I am already wishing we could go back.

Hannah's 5th Birthday

This is such a late post but I wanted it on the blog so bare with me as I update the important things that I did not blog about when I was in school full time :)
We are so very thankful that we could celebrate this special birthday with little Miss Hannah. She is totally a Gift from God.

CDLS Wordless Wednesday

Ashley took this photo of Jacob yesturday. He loves to practice signing in fron of his mirror.