Frustrating news

When Bryce's Physical therapist came today, she brought with her some news that is just making me sick inside. Budget cuts have now hit too close to home. Because of the states financial problems, DDD services for children birth to age 3 have been eliminated! What this means is that unless a child with special needs has been approved for long term care, they will no longer receive services such as developmental specialists, occupational therapy, physical therapy, or speech therapy! That cuts ALL of the therapy Bryce is currently receiving. When we applied for long term care back in Oct., they told us he doesn't qualify because he does not have a diagnosis. So basically, as of March 1st...yes next week...he will be getting NO therapy! I just can't believe it. Cut, just like that! It just makes me want to cry! His therapies are the one thing (other than prayers and fasting of course) that really seem to be helping. I can't believe that a 2 yr old who can't even crawl or sit up without support can't qualify for the help he needs! So what do I do? Just sit and wait until he is 3 and can't crawl or sit by himself and then get help from the school district? I don't think so! She did give me a few ideas of things we can try, so I will be pursuing those and we'll see what happens. I am going to have him re-evaluated for long term care and look into how much our insurance will cover if we need to go that route. Oh, I am so frustrated right now. I realize that something needs to be done to help the economy, but how in the world do they think that cutting the funding needed to help these little ones in the most critical time of their growth and development is a good idea! UGH!!!

On the road again

Well, last night Mom and Dad Stephens, Kevin, and Avery arrived into town at about 7:15. My mom and dad are moving back to California from Houston, Texas. They stopped here for the night. My brother Kevin and his son Avery flew from Utah to Texas so that they could drive the truck while my parents drove the car behind them. It was a short time to see them, but a lot of fun. My sister, Sheri, drove down to visit for the night also. We stayed up way too late talking and laughing and catching up a bit. This morning they got up, had some breakfast and were off again. I really miss having family close by.

Bryce's new chair

OK, I mentioned that Bryce's OT brought a chair for him last time she came for therapy. This thing is a lifesaver for both Bryce and his mom! We love it! Yesterday morning he sat in there and played for over 2 hours. I kept trying to take him out thinking he might be getting tired of it, or need a break or something and he made it very clear that he wanted to be in there playing. After his nap and a trip to pick up kids from school, he wanted to get back in there. I put him in and he played there for a couple of more hours. The chair is a specially made chair that positions him just right so that he has enough support of his lower body that he can now use his upper body much easier. She brought it so that we could work with him on his fine motor skills while he is supported there. Well, he has obviously decided that he loves the freedom it gives him. This morning he was playing in there and was able to color and draw, do puzzles and many other things that he has not been able to do very well unless he was being held. This is why it has become a lifesaver for me. I can't believe how much I have been able to get done these two days since we got the chair. I'm so glad that he loves it so much.




The left side of his body appears to be
weaker than his right, and he often keeps
a closed fist on the left. The little handle
thing that is suctioned to the tray gives him
something to hold onto for both support and
to get that hand involved. So far he has not
used it much because he is going to town
playing and building things with both hands!






One satisfied boy!



Look at him go with that left hand!




He was able to build towers 6 and 7 blocks high. Something
he hasn't been able to do without help. I propped the bucket
of blocks up so that he could reach in and get them by himself.
He built towers and knocked them down over and over while I
did laundry and other things around the house!

Since I'm awake...

What am I still doing awake? I have no idea. I just couldn't seem to fall asleep tonight which is very rare these days, but since I'm awake I thought I would add a little here for the day. Today was a much smoother day. I spent the morning attacking my laundry room. It was a very needed task and I feel great having done it. I still have lots of clothes to wash tomorrow, but at least everything is all sorted and ready to go! William and Jacob had their music classes today and Bree, our newest babysitter and one that I think is going to work out GREAT came to watch the other boys so I could go with them. They are in a class called "Let's Play Music" and I love it. It's a 3 year program that is an early introduction to music. It is amazing all that they have learned. Today William began composing his first song on the piano. He was so excited about it. I can't wait to hear it. Then tonight we had enrichment and the husbands were invited to go with us, so since we already had a babysitter, John and I decided to go out to dinner before the meeting. By the time we got everyone home from music and all, we only had about 30 minutes before the meeting so we just went for Chinese food there in Bashas. The egg rolls were disgusting, but other than that it was decent and actually a lot of fun to have a few minutes to talk. We really need to go out more often! Enrichment was on communication and keeping love alive in marriage. It was great. We stayed and talked with some friends for a while afterward and then came home to a very peaceful, clean (at least cleaner than we left it) home with all boys asleep. Actually our babysitter was also asleep with Bryce all snuggled up in her arms. It was pretty cute.

Wednesday February 18

Today started out with a trip to the dentist for Jacob and Bryce. No cavities! Great news. They both did a good job. Bryce was a little leery, but he still did well. My boys love going to the Dentist. It's so nice. It was Bryce's first time to see the dentist. Dr. Johnson said that his teeth look great and they are coming in just as he would expect them to. Maybe a little behind, but nothing to worry about. On the way home we stopped at Costco and got a few things for us and some snacks for nursery. We got home just a few minutes before Spencer's ride came to get him for preschool. I then got a call from Bryce's developmental specialist and she ask if she could come over at 2 today for her visit. I told her that I had to pick up preschool kids at 2, and that his occupational therapist was coming at 12:45. She decided she would like to meet this therapist so she would come at the same time. That would have worked out great, except that Connie, his OT called about 1 pm and said that there had been some miscommunication within their company and she was going to be late...about 45 minutes late. She said that she knew I had to pick up kids at 2, but that she had found a really cool chair for Bryce in one of their closets and she really wanted to bring it down. So I said that was fine and we would just do a short visit. Well, Kim, the DS was already here so we worked with Bryce until about 1:40 when Connie arrived. We got the chair all set up for Bryce and did a few things with him in it and then it was time to go. But the therapists stayed and kept talking mostly to each other about their jobs and how funding has been cut so much and it looks like more layoffs are coming. Very scary. I really hope it doesn't affect Bryce's therapy too much. He is already on his second OT because his first OT was let go back in December. Anyway, by the time they left it was past 2:00 so I called Spencer's preschool teacher and apologized and told her I would be right over. UGH, I felt really bad being so late. Anyway, I picked up Spencer and the other two kids we car pool with, dropped them off at their homes and headed back to ours. Upon returning home, I realized that the babysitter I planned to have while I went to William's parent teacher conference, was not able to make it. By this time it was after 2:30 and the conference was at 3:15. I called the school and said that I would either have to bring all the boys or reschedule. His teacher said just to bring them, so I ended up taking all 4 boys to the school with me. They each took a book and sat in the hall while I went in and talked with the teacher. Luckily they all behaved (bribery and threatenings work wonders!) and the conference went well. We then got home and I decided it was a great day for a frozen meal dinner. After dinner, the boys played for a while while I cleaned up the dinner dishes, then had scripture time and off to bed. John said he came in from working outside about 9:00 and I was totally out! I had fallen asleep before 8:00 and didn't even hear him come in! I guess I was pretty tired. What a day!

Lunch at Julie's

This morning I woke up in a rotten mood. I don't know why for sure, but maybe it was because it was raining on park day, or because I was awake a good part of the night with pregnancy pains, or because of the kids waking up way to early and being fussy, or having people avoiding me and not returning my calls because they owe me money, or maybe it was the huge piles of laundry and dishes that greeted me.... Who knows what it was, but I was having a tough time getting motivated today. I did have a Parent teacher conference at 10:30, so I knew I would have to get ready sometime, but I just didn't feel like it. I just wanted to go back to bed. Luckily I got a phone call from Julie at about 9:30 who not only offered to watch my kids while I went to the conference, but also told me that some of the people who had planned on going to the park were going to be getting together at her house for lunch at 11 instead. That was it! That's what I needed. I got everyone ready to go, went to the conference and then over to Julie's. It was so great to just let the kids play and to have a yummy lunch and talk with the other ladies that were there. It was great to see Cyndi again and catch up with her as well as all the others. All morning I had been thinking, that I just wanted something different and good to happen and this was it. I was also able to watch Julie's son after school today while she went to the dentist so that was nice. I feel like I use other people so often these days with all of the appointments that we have, that it was nice to be able to help someone else out a little. So thanks to Julie and all the others who helped to put a little sunshine into my day!

How does this happen?

Almost 9 years ago I met and married a wonderful man named John Clayton. We had known each other almost 1 and a half years before we got married. He had gone to school and was working at a wonderful job at Motorola as an electrical engineer. He was living in a home he owned in Scottsdale with roommates, who of course were kicked out once he decided it was finally time for a more permanent "female" roommate. In the time that we knew each other before getting married, we talked a lot, did many things together, and became really good friends.

Now I know that you don't know everything about a person before you get married, but through talking with John I learned many things about him. Things like he is not into sports (I was much more than he was at the time), he loves working with his hands...building things of metal, wood, whatever scraps or old non working machines he could find, he was very smart and he could fix anything. Yes, he was a nerd and had a backyard full of junk to prove it, but he was also a hopeless romantic who loved singing, hiking, camping, mountain biking, and many other great activities. I had seen him interact with children and knew he would make a great father. And, another very important thing to me, I knew he was not an animal lover. He had said that sometime he might like having a dog again and since I am not an animal person at all we talked about that and decided that someday once we had children who were old enough to care for it, we would get a dog. It would be an outdoor only dog and the only pet we would have other than maybe the occasional goldfish or hamster that kids always want. OK, great. I thought that was settled. So, after only a few short years, here is the question I am asking myself. How have we ended up living on a farm with many stinky animals and the realization hitting me that I am married to a man who has become a "redneck cowboy"? This is a term he was referred to by his good friend Jim...also a redneck cowboy...just a few days ago after John had been roping with him as well as doing a few other animal farmer/cowboy type activities which left his clothes dirty and bloody, and one horse and two sheep less in the backyard and a stinky smelling lamb stew cooking in our crock pot. (No, luckily he did not eat the poor horse!) I actually woke up in the middle of the night with sick kids and thought that someone had diarrhea...nope, just John's lunch cooking in the crock pot-Yummy!

Here are the shots of John's first attempts at roping!

So, obviously I did not know all there was to know about this wonderful man before I married him. Actually, I think that was a very good thing! But, on this Valentine's Day I am still thankful that he is mine and I am his. I love my nerdy, singing, romantic, great daddy, redneck cowboy! (Although I don't think I will ever get used to these animals and all that comes with them--yuck!)

Mukutu's Island

Last Monday night we went to Mukutu's Island for the first time as a family. William had been there before with a birthday party and has been talking about it ever since. We have this thing where the boys can earn points for doing certain chores each morning and evening and then when they get up to 100 points they get a special date with either Mom or Dad. Well this last time they all chose Mukutu's Island so we decided to just make it one big date this time. I picked the boys up from school and headed over. They did their homework in the car so that was done by the time we got there. We stopped on the way over and picked John up at work and then went to play. There was only one other family in the play area when we arrived. It picked up a little bit, but it was pretty quiet most of the night which was great! We purchased a family pack that got everyone in (they didn't charge for Bryce--Hurray!), plus dinner and tokens for 4 which worked out just fine. We all had a great time and the boys all fell asleep on the way home. I call that success! Most of the pictures I took turned out pretty dark, but here are some that worked out.


Jacob, Spencer, and Dad in the Pirate's Den




Jacob, William and Spencer taking a 2 second
break on the climbing rope net.




I tried to get a picture of these guys looking
at me, but Bryce was way too interested in
getting up there. No time for photos!





John and Bryce on the Zip line.



William on the Zip line





Jacob on the Zip line




Spencer got most of his tickets while playing
ICE BALL!




Bryce was a pro at air hockey!




This picture cracks me up. Bryce did not want to stop for
a picture! The others are all just in their own little worlds.




I thought it was great that Bryce was able to support himself
while up on this blue thing in the toddler area...



But then it got even better. When I put the yellow mat in
front of him, he started to pull himself up using his upper
and lower body...



until he made it far enough to knock the mat over! It was so great.
I just sat there and cheered him on until he made it! He loved it!



Here is a shot of one of his other climbs! He just kept doing
it over and over. I can't believe how well he is doing.
It makes me so happy!

A Wonderful Day

Last Saturday I planned to have a little bit of time by myself to get some grocery shopping done. Well, it ended up that John was busy all day and since I refuse to go grocery shopping on a Saturday with four boys, it didn't get done. By the end of the day, I knew that I would need a break soon. So I told John that I was going to take a "day off" today. I got a little nervous when a co-worker asked John to help him move today and he agreed, but it all worked out fine. I started the morning off by going to the temple. John now goes once a week on his way to work, but I haven't been in a while. I knew I needed to go soon before my belly is to big and my bladder is to small to make it through a session! So I went this morning and it was wonderful. I even ran into my friend Julie while I was there. After that I did a little shopping and then headed to a baby shower for my friend and ward member Alicen. I had a great time there talking with friends and just plain enjoying some adult conversation. Although the conversation that I had with Alicen's little girl was quite entertaining as well. After I left the shower, I called John to see how things were going at home and found out that he and the boys had gone to the park to fly kites! Great! So I went up to the store and got a few groceries to get us through the weekend and then headed home. One of the greatest things of the day was that I didn't listen to kid's music the whole time I was in the car, nor did I have to answer a hundred and one questions throughout the day! John and the boys came home soon after I arrived back. John said, "I know it's crazy, but I just want to lie down and take a nap!" (Now he knows how I feel most every day!) But instead he headed out to help his friend move while I made dinner and fed the boys. The boys ate a lot for dinner and they said it was because all they had to eat all day was a piece of lunch meat for lunch. John said that the boys never said they were hungry so he didn't give them anything else. Oh well, they survived and they did do a great job of finishing off dinner! Then they were actually saying that they were so tired and wanted to go to bed. So we had early baths and William read to Jacob and Spencer while I put Bryce down to bed. I then went in and tucked the older boys into bed and by 7:15 pm all 4 boys were sound asleep. It is great! So both being able to have a day off and having a husband that will play with the boys and tire them out, get two huge thumbs up from me!

William gets sent to the Principal's office

And I discover that all phone calls that come from the teachers are not to tell you how wonderful your child is! Yesterday afternoon I got a call from Ms. Halal who is William's second grade teacher. She said that William had gotten in trouble while standing in line and had to be sent to the Principal's office. She said that the girl behind William called him some name and so William hit her in the face. Now, I know my son is no saint, but hitting some girl in the face just doesn't sound like something William would do...Jacob, my more physical child...maybe, but not William. But you never know. So anyway, his teacher did go on to say that this girl often plays with William and so she (the teacher) didn't think he hit her to be mean, but just in play, blah, blah, blah. She didn't tell me the name of the girl, but by the way she describe her relationship with William, I narrowed it down to two people that I thought it might be. One he is friends with, kind of like a brother/sister relationship and I could see them fooling around and getting in trouble. The other is a girl that has been bugging William since day one this year and just won't leave him alone. For example she thinks it is so funny to pull his glasses off of his face and throw them on the ground during recess. If I am being totally honest, there have been a few times that I have wanted to deck the girl myself. Anyway, so I thought if it was her, maybe he just got tired of her bugging him and hauled off and hit her.

So I was very anxious for William to get out of school so I could hear his side of the story. When I picked him up I ask him how his day was and he said, "it was ok" and then told me about being sent to the Principal's office. He said that the girl behind him in line called him Squilliam and then covered his eyes with her hands and wouldn't let him go. He said that he was trying to get her off of him and "accidentally" hit her in the face because he couldn't see. Then she went and told the teacher that he had hit her. I ask who the girl was and he said her name. Guess what, it was the girl that he has had trouble with before. We talked more about what the Principal had said and the fact that both kids had to sit out of the next recess and how important it is not to hit and to be careful, etc. I won't tell you what the girls name is, but I will say that we will not be naming our daughter Annabel! So anyway,my first child has earned a trip to the Principal's office. Luckily it wasn't for something more serious and hopefully it won't become a regular activity.

Speech Therapy

Today we added a speech therapist to Bryce's growing number of friends. Her name is Stacy and she seems very nice. She is actually the one who came out to evaluate him back in late November to see if he would qualify for this therapy. She said that after meeting him, she had requested that they put her in as his therapist. That makes two therapists now who have done that! They just seem to meet Bryce and fall in love...I totally understand! =) It sounds like she has some great ideas for helping Bryce with his communication skills. So he is now up to 4 hours of therapy a week. He now has a Speech therapist, an occupational therapist, a developmental specialist, and a physical therapist. That makes for one busy boy!

A bit of a scare

Today I had my 24 week appt with Dr Leonard. As he listened for the heartbeat, he was unable to find one. He said that he could hear some movement in there, but wasn't really getting a heartbeat. As I was waiting for the ultrasound machine to become available, I could feel her moving so I wasn't too concerned, but stuff like this always makes me a bit nervous. So finally we went into the room with the ultrasound and had a look. Luckily we quickly found a very active girl whose heart was beating just fine! Whew!!!!

A very busy week

It's been a very busy week full of Dr's appointments, therapy sessions, flat tires, a trip to the park, music classes, Grandma and Grandpa Clayton arriving in Tonga, and lots of other fun adventures. We started the week Monday morning with my second ultrasound. Since I'm "older" I get to have more detailed ultrasounds than in the past. Well, when we went in for the first one our baby was lying in such a way that they could not see the entire spine. It also looked like the placenta might be lower than it should be so I got to go back a month later to check everything out. Well, I love seeing my baby so I didn't mind at all. With this ultrasound we got lots of great news. First of all, yes, she is still a girl! We can move ahead with the pink plans! Also, everything looks great in there. She appears to be growing and developing just as she should be. She was moving all over the place and at one point I actually saw and felt her as she stretched one of her little arms out. It was super cool!

Tuesday Bryce went in for his 2 yr well check. I was very anxious to see if he had gained any weight since we were there in Nov. He has! It was just a small amount and he is still way under the growth charts in every area for his age, but at least it is finally moving in the right direction! I am so glad that his appetite has returned and that his desire and ability to eat and drink most everything is back. Now if we can get the rest of him to keep moving forward!!! Actually he is doing very well. We are now working with a fantastic neurologist/geneticist team at St. Joe's. We have yet to meet the geneticist, but Dr. Narayanan, the neurologist is incredible. He is the forth neurologist we have seen and the one that I believe we will be sticking with. The funny thing about him is that when he looked at Bryce's MRI's he came back into the room and said, "Well, those MRI's are definitely abnormal, but not in the normal way." I of course had him explain a little further and through talking with him discovered that the abnormalities on the first MRI were most likely missed because they were not what is normally seen when looking at an MRI for an answer to what is causing a white matter disorder. Anyway, it is all rather confusing, and we still don't have many answers, but I believe we have found someone who is willing and even excited to work on this puzzle.

On Wednesday the boys and I had another adventure as the tire of our van popped as we drove home from school. Luckily we were not to far from home and we had a stroller in the back. So we just loaded Bryce into the stroller, walked home and left the van there for John to go save once he got home from work. The boys thought that was the greatest thing. As soon as I said that it was a flat tire, William very excitedly said, "Great! Does that mean we get to walk home?" It actually was a very pleasant walk and now we have a brand new tire. I've been wanting a new van for quite some time now but with the recent construction of our guest house and barn/workshop, there is just no money for that right now. Well it looks like that old van is trying to become new again piece by piece. Last week it was a power steering pump that was "shooting" fluid out of it (yes, shooting, not dripping, but shooting) that we had to have fixed. This week the tire. Let's hope that is all for a while. I don't think our pocketbooks can handle much more!

And now for what is probably the best news of this week...John's parents arrived safely in Tonga for their mission. They spent about a week in the MTC and are now doing the rest of their learning in Tonga. They seem to be very happy. We enjoy hearing about their adventures and are looking forward to the next 18 months!

Well, I think that sums up this week for the most part. Hopefully this coming week I will find some time to get to the grocery store! Thank goodness for food storage!