Whine and Dairy

Testosterone levels in my household are through the roof.  Wikipedia states, “On average, an adult human male body produces about ten times more testosterone than an adult human female body, but females are more sensitive to the hormone.”  No kidding – ha!!  And more sensitive to those who carry ten times more of it.  Also of note from wikipedia, “Fatherhood has been demonstrated to lower men's testosterone levels which in turn may help fathers take better care of their offspring.”  So generally it is just a shifting of levels from fathers to their offspring…?????  But then, why must us females be the disciplinarians and the only ones to follow through with the punishments…Dad’s must gain that soft spot in their hearts when they lose the testosterone to their children.

So I am in big trouble considering where my kids testosterone came from  ;)

The reason I bring it up…. Isaac has become an out of control “I’m only 4” year old that has mood swings as enormous as that of an ape -- and his cellar is overflowing with “whine.”  I thought it was the terrible two’s and puberty I needed to worry about.  Nobody had warned me about the horrific almost five stage.  The commotion that comes out of that small mouth is something that my mother would have never let come out of us girls.  Is that a boy thing, or was my mother better able to control it… that in itself is frustrating.  Well, it is!!  Who knew that a boy needed to call his toys, blanket, mommy, daddy, brother, friends, and anything that gets in his way, a crazy made up name like----  “you boo doo fooey head”… Lots of them end in “head”… I guess we all have one.  On the plus side, the “words” are not generally foul?  Although name calling in general is just that, in my opinion.  How do they develop that language and the challenge set forth on us --  how to curb it? 

Or how about “begging” for chocolate milk….when it is the first time you have asked and IT IS an appropriate time to consume it… Why does that first --  “Mom can I,” -- have to turn into the screeching of nails on a chalkboard… Must we beg constantly?

Sharing is another “behavior” that is being flushed out of the house as fast as Isaac can run.  The iPad is the greatest new learning tool in the house.  It is also the most fought over.  “He is ruining my game… he can’t play that one…” How about mommy controls that, who else will?  --  well she has too.  Let’s just say that the 10 hour battery that the iPad brags…in our house “dies” way before it actually does.  So much so that it may need to be charged, JUST minutes after it was unplugged.  (The battery life on that thing is AMAZING-----shhhhhh don’t tell the boys!)

So I hadn’t wrote for a while—I was determining the “best” way to describe the current situation, although I do feel this is the most unorganized thought process that has come out in writing.   And the list that I didn’t have started last week has grown by leaps and bounds into an out of control mess… WAY TO MUCH going on right now!  Do you feel that way too?  Please tell me you do!!!! lol  

I recently read that the  lol  looks like a person drowning… ^^^lol^^^… SOMEONE please throw me a life preserver QUICK!

"A" List

If you know me, then you know I am a list maker… list creator… list ?????   well, you get the idea.

As my husband tells me we “need” something,  I instruct him to “write it on the list” -- he usually has to ask… Which one?  He also has the horrible habit of making my “lists” into scratch paper, --writing random phone numbers or other “thoughts” on it.  BUT no… that does not make him an “A” lister!  Often I have called him trying to figure out what he has “added” to my list…. For example, “panten” on my grocery list… Pantene belongs on the Target list… I had no idea what it was he wanted—let alone read his horrible spelling!!  Or he will be “general” and state cerel… yes that is how he spelt it… well do you want raisin bran, or honey nut cheerios!!!  I will mention that I am going grocery shopping say... tomorrow night... all of a sudden the “list” that HE DOESN’T want to add to consists of the usual 2 items I can’t leave the store without on any given trip.  What are the staples in Joe’s mind... OJ and yogurt and if we are out of either one… we must desperately get groceries, because “there is nothing to eat in the house”… add it to the list!... (I know I am a hypocrite!!! lol)  The 3^rd most needed item – cerel!!!

On a side note--- about the yogurt, Joe often reminds me to not get “this” one because it has too many “seeds” in it… I still couldn’t tell you right now which I am supposed to buy strawberry or raspberry… Hmmmmmm……..guess I should make a list!

So honestly though… I need a list to function.

 As most of you, I have a running grocery list that starts anew as soon as the last grocery bag is hauled into the house and up the stairs and allllll the way over to the kitchen counter, if not before!… Oops and so the cycle continues…

I also have lists of what needs to be accomplished (scrapbooking keeps getting transferred from list to list and never seems to be crossed off).  I currently don’t have one of these… I KNOW RIGHT?… I better get on that—I personally can’t believe it myself, but not to worry 2 little boys turn another year older next month… I should honestly have that list made already!  #1 on the list…. Scrapbooking!

Then of course the Target list… well, we won’t go there as it should be empty after our trip to the store last night…Joe and the boys aren’t invited back…….they are too expensive.  

We are heading camping for one last weekend on friday L and you would think I would be a “pro-packer” by now, but I have 3 lists going!!!  Hey you… laughing at me… you know there would be more commotion without them!!!...

Just want to “shout out” to the other list maker… This post is for you!  Thanks for all the touching emails and opening my eyes even more - as to why I needed this blog… glad it is helping you too! Whoever knew it would be sooooooooo relieving sooooo early into it! 

Thanks for letting me clear my thoughts! Better go make a birthday list!!

Asthma/Glasses of a 5 Year Old

Isaac better known as “I-me” by his little brother has been really good with his asthma issues until this week.  He has a well-developed cold that has settled into his chest, to stay?  Seems that way, last night he was up coughing for almost the entire night.  We have/had our niece spending the night with us for a few days and she is welcome back…she slept through it ALL… I was awake across the hall and she lay sleeping in her Disney princess’ sleeping bag peacefully.  Wow... Trevor even woke up twice in the next room over.  So very impressive!  (But, if they learned anything while she was with us… I hope they take away her eating habits!  She didn’t complain once and gobbled everything up…) So, I am very sleep deprived these last few days… A good excuse would be-because I am not used to having 3 kids- but it was my oldest child struggling to breathe L. 

Twice a day he is on a preventative inhaler.  What a difference it has made for Isaac (and his parents) over the past year.  I feel his asthma issues have been “under control,” thanks to that (expensive) medication.  When he was 2-3 ½ years old, he used to “cough” himself to sleep for about 30 minutes.  Now, he is only restless before bed due to his legs still “running”... lol…  We hadn’t used his other inhaler (bronchodilator) for wheezing for many months…we haul it everywhere though with the spacer (used to hold the suspension of medicine until the child can “inhale” the dose—6 breaths for Isaac)!  Anyways, he most definitely needed it last night.  “Can you lay by me mommy”… often was discussed throughout the night, but at one point he pushed my face away... as to “say” ok you can leave now... I laughed!... But, while I was lying by him I noticed AGAIN… that he holds his breathe so he doesn’t need to cough.  I reminded him often to keep breathing.  It isn’t that I fear he is going to stop breathing, but I ‘”copied” him for a few minutes and my chest hurt from holding my breath like that.  He received doses of his inhaler throughout the night, until he was finally comfortable to sleep through the remaining of the night at 3:30 a.m.  I hope for his sake, as well as my own,  that his cold is improved before bedtime tonight.  Poor guy-is probably worn out today.

We are also officially on our third set of glasses in under a year.  (I even bought a “back up pair” recently, so I guess 4^th!)  He is a rough little boy.  We visit the eye doctor’s office to have them readjusted about 4 times a month.  Mostly today, I want to discuss how he “uses” his glasses as a defense against us!.. Isaac is VERY good about keeping his glasses on.  BUT—when he is not happy with mommy and daddy...they get “ripped” off his face and he says things like, “fine, I won’t wear my glasses if---“ and so the fit begins.  This is often how they get stretched out.  It is humorous, yet irritating to me that he finds power in his glasses. 

Just to fill you in on the socks issue, Isaac has decided -just in time for fall- that he doesn’t need to wear socks, since he can’t find any he likes in his drawer, mind you he wore socks ALL summer. 

Just a few challenges of having boys!   

Apraxia

Childhood Apraxia of Speech…

Emotions upon emotions were felt and still arise about Trevor’s speech struggles.  He has been diagnosed with Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS). 

A child with the diagnosis of apraxia of speech has difficulty programming and planning speech movements.   CAS is a motor speech disorder.  For reasons not yet fully understood, children with apraxia of speech have great difficulty planning and producing the precise, highly refined and specific series of movements of the tongue, lips, jaw and palate that are necessary for intelligible speech.  Production of words becomes more difficult with effort, but common phrases may sometimes be spoken spontaneously without effort.

“A” meaning absence of…

 Praxis, refers to "skilled movement."

Most of the information I am sharing with you is from Childhood Apraxia of Speech Association of North America (CASANA) http://www.apraxia-kids.org who believe “Every Child Deserves a Voice.” Awareness is important, because just looking at Trevor you cannot tell he struggles with speaking.

When I first researched apraxia, the best explanation I found and still refer to today is… comparing it to an adult who has suffered a stroke.  All the information is available within the brain, but they need to teach themselves how to get it “out.”

As a family we struggled through evaluations and rethinking information through sleepless nights as we determined how to assist Trevor.  It is extremely difficult to listen to and explain any developmental delays your child may encounter.  Starting mid-summer 2010, we began processes to help Trevor.  ND offers an Infant Development Program (ID) to children with special needs.  Trevor, after multiple evaluations and meetings, was accepted into the program in Sept 2010.  ID meets with Trevor once a week to follow progress and it is paid for by Medicaid (in ND).   After a few months of weekly visits we decided pediatric speech therapy was essential.  Sooo thankful for Medicaid eligibility to cover the remaining costs after our insurance!  Both programs are helping Trevor succeed daily.  Although it is a constant process to keep schedules running, it is worth every adaptation.

Just recently, we applied and were awarded an iPad to assist with Trevor’s speech and it has helped by leaps and bounds!  I will talk iPad later, but what a great “gadget” it has been to build his self-esteem… “talking” has picked up within our house in the last 2 months.  You cannot fully understand both Trevor (but at least he is verbal!!) and what that means to us as parents!  Thanks Spin for Kids Foundation for that opportunity. 

At times, it is a relief to me that Trevor’s current “diagnosis” contains the word “Childhood”… meaning, to me,  a place in time of which he will grow out of… As he progresses daily, I am so proud of him.  Yet there are always those thoughts in my mind of “what if” and “when.”

Some of the powerful words that helped me cope from CASANA—

“Your child is brimming with potential and is counting on your help so he or she can unfold the many gifts that lie inside of them.

and

 No matter what your child’s speech ability, he needs to have opportunities to simply be a child.”

I was finding it difficult again to write these thoughts, but it was one of my main reasons for starting this blog…helping me to cope with the everyday reasons families struggle, and apraxia is well established in our household. 

I have shared the link below under “my sites” for reference needs. 

SOCKS

… yes socks… is my second posting those darn little things!

So going beyond the usual stinky, husband socks laying in random places around the house…esp. the stairways either up or down…(which buy the way, I don’t want to touch them-so PICK THEM UP and there is NO NEED to wear those hole-ly ones.. your drawer is over flowing with others!!) and the ones that seem to disappear (which as I remember - seemed to happen more throughout my childhood growing up than it does in my house, but my mother has told me… to just wait, it will happen in your home too Deb)  -- we are having major sock issues in our house and yes it is causing an official commotion…

(definition:  com·mo·tion Noun /kəˈmōSHən/  A state of confused and noisy disturbance) 

Isaac:  oh, where to begin??...about 5 months ago I bought a pair of “running shoes”.  That is what I called them and he too--and regrettably, I told him that these are the type of shoes we wear socks with…..OH NO… That one conversation turned into Isaac needing to wear socks ALL THE TIME…he loves his running shoes-they make him fast!  Ha!  So, I bought needed, additional socks.  They were so “cute”… they look like all types of sport’s balls, I thought he would love them. Well, -- “They have ‘stuff’ in them mommy.”  So, we will have 6 brand new pairs of “sports” socks for Trevor when he turns 4, because he wouldn’t wear them.  After that commotion, I found some that Isaac accepted and they became VERY dirty looking (they are clean).  So just a few weeks ago I bought the EXACT same brand…fresh, clean ones and now there is “something” in them too… they only have one stitching area above the toes as compared to the sport’s socks that have random stitches throughout the sock, plus he had worn the others all summer-what was possibly different about these?  Well, the new issue in our house now, is there is always, “Something in the socks; they don’t fit” no matter what pair they are.  No lie - we went through 8 pairs of socks Monday morning until we found one that was satisfactory.  (I refolded them later… I know!)  So they were “the Lightning McQueen ones with the tire streak down them” – they came in a pack of 3-----that are made exactly the same--… won’t wear the other 2.  He wore THE SAME pair Mon (clean), Tues (dirty), and Wed (dirtier)… finally this morning without any fuss... he picked just 1 pair out and wore them… WHAT REALLY?  How does a parent handle that?  I didn’t say a single word today and out the door we went…  Unbelieveable… we will see what tomorrow brings!

Trevor on the other hand is completely opposite… could you expect anything else!!?  He would go barefoot 365 days a year.  If you do get socks on him... they will be off within an hour.  Fall has set in here in ND, especially this week brrrrrrrr....and I, you know just the mom... think a little boy who is developing a cold (up 3 times last night and used my shirt as a Kleenex during them) should wear them?  But he thinks differently.  So NO SOCKS FOR TREVOR……..today… we will see what tomorrow brings!

Onto something that that seems to work and I still have control over, keeping track of those bachelor socks: 

In our house everybody’s sock drawer contains their own single socks, mostly because the “stray” sock will be thrown into a laundry basket eventually, and then it will end up -unbeknownst to us- with its partner right where they belong!  (so which sock was officially missing anyway??!)!!!... and even those widowed socks can get new partners (who aren’t so hole-ly) and live happily ever after… well until they are worn again and then process will continue, unless you are Isaac’s socks then you may just get worn for a few more days in a row!

Introduction into this COMMOTION:

I have been thinking about starting a blog for a while now, mostly to just organize my thoughts.  Everything else in my everyday life seems to be organized…maybe sometimes too much, but I can never seem to organize my thoughts.  I better start clearing my head and writing things down so I can rest my mind too!!!  I truly believe that if my day, house, and thoughts are “organized” then my stress could be and is greatly reduced.  So, what better time to start a blog than today amongst the busiest months of my year ahead.  Hey, what is one more thing to do in my daily routine, Ha…

You may wonder why it would be important to read my blog…well maybe its not.  It is going to be about my opinions, due to my encounters, about my everyday commotions.  I am not write to give advice, although I hope somebody could relate to my issues and either learn from them, or laugh about them.  I am just a mother who wants to grow through experiences, may they be positive or negative, and share them in writing to get them out of my head!  I believe that I have succeeded in life, but there are many more opportunities and doors that need to be opened. 

So, a little bit about me… I have five “jobs”…

It’s kind of cliché, but most importantly, I am a mother to 2 energetic boys.  They are both born in October, hence why these next few months will be busy ones.  Isaac will be 5 years old.  He has asthma and glasses… both challenge us as a household.  Then, Trevor is 2 years and 22 days younger than Isaac.  He will be 3 in October and he struggles with Childhood Apraxia of Speech.  I know this is sure to be topics throughout my blog in the future, so I will just state… issues with lacks of communication cause great commotions!  I was referring to my 3 year old, but same goes for my husband, Joe.  He is a great daddy, the boys look up to him for everything, which also poses the problem.  They believe EVERYTHING he says.  And depending on our communications on any given day that can cause major commotion in our household!

My main occupation is a registered computed tomography (CT) technologist.  I work full-time at an outpatient clinic.

I am a Mary Kay Independent Beauty Consultant mostly because I seek interaction with females and want to make them feel good about themselves, as I do with these products!  I use the products exclusively and love them!!  www.marykay.com/dbeland

I also decorate cakes…yep I seem to have time to do that too??... I officially started spreading my hobby into a business this year!  It started as that hobby to decorate for my family and close friends.  I would say that I still just decorate for my friends, because I get to know everyone who enjoys my cakes, but it has grown tremendously!!  With assistance from my aunt, Nancy, we created “Frosted Deb’s Cake Co.”  Check out www.facebook.com/frosteddebscakeco whenever you have a minute!!  I probably average one cake a week, in my spare time.  Like I have any!!

Finally, I am also a CPR instructor, which I am not toooooo busy with, but it keeps the commotion interesting as well!!!

So those are my “official” jobs—I also love to scrapbook (which I am very behind on). Photos in general are important to me.  I am not necessarily a “photographer” but I capture those moments that need to be remembered often and enjoy doing it.  I would love to improve in this area, but let me know if you see sometime within my schedule to do that!  I like to think I have a creative eye!!!  Which also brings me to interior decorating… LOVE IT.  Man, if only there was more time in the day.  Would very possibly be my career of choice if I wasn’t in radiology… again, not that I know what the proper way to create a room is, just that I enjoy doing it.  I love to make a room look complete!!  I thoroughly enjoy every aspect of designing adventures...from coming up with the ideas, to creating the projects myself and admiring the organizational excellence of it all in the end!  I am an organizer or maybe a “planner” in case you were wondering!

Ok... way more information for an introduction than anybody needed. Hopefully this will help get some weight of my shoulders…and other places!!!  I am excited to get my ideas, whatever they may be on that day, out of my head and straighten up these everyday commotions that run my life.