Friday, September 26, 2014

Quick Update on Joey

This past Wednesday I turned in my formal request to have the boys' school evaluate Joey for learning disabilities, and today I received a call from the school psychologist. She wanted to let me know that she will be leading the Joey's evaluation. Also to let me know that in his backpack was the form for me to sign granting my approval for the testing. I'm so very glad that get a response so quickly from the school. I'm hoping the school's evaluation will proceed quicker than the medical one.

Then the psychologist said something that really bothers me. She had hoped to have the medical evaluation results back before the school tested him, because he's going to need to be on medication and that will effect his results.  She can tell from how much trouble Joey is having in school that there basically isn't any other way than to have him medicated (paraphrased). That "we" will have to re-monitor him after he is back on medicine. If he's on medications he may not need as much intervention.

It really bothers me that it seems the school just wants him on medication. As if he'll take some magic pill that suddenly make him a model student. That medication will "fix" his handwriting and difficulty reading and spelling. While it may help him focus better or sit still longer it's doesn't help him retain the material taught. If they talk to his teacher from last year, she can tell them he still struggled and he was medicated then. Even on meds he didn't sit quietly at his desk, was easily distracted and distracted others, his assignments weren't completed or if they were he couldn't find them in the black hole his desk had become to turn them in.

I understand that in our society everyone is all about finding magic pills for everything. Can't sleep- take a pill, need to lose weight- take a pill, kid can't sit still-give them a pill. While there are many people who do really need to take medications in order to function, why is that always the first option we turn to. With all the research that has been done with children (and adults) with ADHD and Autism and all the alternative therapies and diets, why aren't those encouraged instead of pushing medications.

We have been very blessed to have found a Neurologist and Neuro-psychologist that don't want to look to medications until we have tried everything else first.

I think Joey is doing awesome recently in class! Does he have room for improvement? Yep, tons! The progress he has made isn't coming from some pill I give him every morning. It comes from the teachers who are helping me figure out what tools Joey needs so he can learn to deal with his "disabilities". It's the cushion, the Velcro strips, the change of space (either going to the office or to the resource room). It's me hanging around the kitchen table while he does his homework and the encouraging when he is feeling frustrated with his assignments. It's having him practice writing and reading daily. It's the added step for me to double check that he has put all his homework in the correct folders and that the folders made their way back into his backpack.

He has been in class for 3 weeks. He has only know his teacher for 3 weeks. He only meet the school psychologist a week or 2 ago. You can't tell me that within 3 weeks that both his teacher and the psychologist know him well enough to decide he needs medication. Especially when the Neuro doctors (who have PhD's) and deal with "kids like Joey" are telling me to hold off on medications.

UGH!! I guess the update turned more into a rant than an update, but it just gets under my skin when people who barely know my kids start telling me what I should do with them. Medications are not always the only way success.

So within the next 30 days the school is suppose to test Joey. I'm hoping they do it sooner rather than later, seems they know he is going in for the medical evaluation at the end of October.

Thursday, September 25, 2014

Progress No Matter How Small Is Still Progress!

We are only 3 weeks into the school year and already there has been some bumps, but there has also been some progress. I was really worried about Joey going to school without any medications to help him control his ADHD. He had a great day the first few days and I started to feel more comfortable that between his teacher and I we'd find a way to "deal" with Joey's issues until he could be placed back on medicine. That comfort was squashed the week of his intake appointment with the Neuro-psycholigist when he teacher suggested that Joey be placed back on medication until his evaluation. She wasn't sure how she was going to deal with him otherwise, she'd be bald by the end of the week from pulling her hair out just trying to get him to sit and focus on his assignments. Joey wasn't staying at his desk, was very talkative, and mostly plain refused to do majority of his assignments. Everyday we were getting 5-8 assignments sent home to be completed because he just wouldn't do them in class. In less than a week Joey went from thinking he had one of the coolest teacher to thinking that she hated him.

When we went to the intake appointment and the doctor said to keep Joey off the medications at least until after the evaluation, then we could revisit  the need for medication. I asked her what was I suppose to tell his teacher and school psychologist that were pushing for something to help him with his ADHD. Her answer was, to explain that we were trying to get the most accurate evaluation so there would be no medications until after the evaluation. They would have to do the best they could with Joey until we knew more about what was going on with him. Basically she was saying tell them- he's not going back on the meds. Deal with it! (which I totally agree with.)

The down side of having the teacher "deal with" Joey is that his self-esteem really takes a hit. I get that teachers are suppose to treat all the kids equally and that they try, but it doesn't always happen. It's much harder to keep your cool with the kid whom you have to keep redirecting than the ones who follow directions the first time. That when a kid digs in his heel and refuses to any part of his assignment and sits staring at the wall for the 20 minutes instead frustrates the adult in charge. "Dealing with" Joey makes class miserable for all involved, the teacher is frustrated with Joey's lack of cooperation. Joey feels that the teacher is picking on him because she keeps insisting he do the assignment. The rest of the class get distracted by the battle of wills between the teacher and Joey.

Now, I'm not blaming the teacher for not wanting to deal with (or not knowing how to reach) an un-medicated ADHD child; over the summer I was at my wits end more than a few times. I don't know how much experience the teacher has teaching a kid like Joey. I've known Joey his entire life and sometimes I'm at a loss for what to try. What works one day doesn't mean that it will work the next.

I'm a strong believer in the partnership between parent and teacher. I check in with Joey's teacher daily. At first, it looked like I was going to have to gear up to battle for my child. The teacher decided that she wouldn't keep after Joey to get his assignments done and would allow him to either sit and do nothing the whole day or send him down to office until he could better control his behavior. While I feel that if he is feeling overwhelmed that he should be allowed to leave the room and calm down, but he was spending 45 minutes at a time a couple days a week just chilling in the office. Joey is the type of kid that a lot of things are a fine line, sometimes he does just need a break but he'll also take advantage of the chance to just get out of class if he feels its boring. For about a week he'd do minimal schoolwork in class and sat and visited the the school psychologist and secretaries in the office just about every day. Then came home and did all his schoolwork that was suppose to have been done that day. I started feeling like the teacher was just dismissing Joey because he required more time and energy. Every night he'd sit at the table and complete his assignments while I made dinner and cleaned up the kitchen. The whole stack of assignments would be done in less than 45 minutes! I started questioning why he could do the work at home without complaint (or assistance) but could get nothing accomplished in class. Turns out that if Joey didn't think he could finish the whole assignment within the allotted time, he wouldn't bother starting it; at home he was allowed to take all the time he needed. Joey sees a page with 20 math problems and 15 minutes to do them, as less than a minute per problem therefor not enough time to do them all; when in reality he could finish in 10 minutes. Now Joey is getting as much done on each assignment as he can and finishing the remaining couple problems as homework.

Last week Joey has made more progress, granted I had to go hunt down the resources. I started touching base with the school psychologist and resource teacher, just to introduce myself and inform them that we will probably be seeing a lot of each other in the coming months. The resource teacher, we'll call her "Ms. W" suggested that seems Joey likes to move around so much and wander the room and wiggle in his chair that an inflated bubble cushion might help. Joey is allowed to wiggle on the cushion on his chair (as long as he doesn't bounce). She also thought that adding stripes of Velcro on the underside of his desk top that he can run his finger across might be helpful to him. Both of her suggestions have been working well for Joey. Seems he can still move while on the cushion, he is walking around the room less.

Yesterday, I met another resource teacher that apparently Joey has been spending some time in her classroom recently. The boys school is working on MAP testing and the resource teacher happen to be talking with Joey's teacher when she noticed his lack of focus during his test. He has been completing his test in her room, she quickly realized that Joey would more successful taking the test with five other students present than sitting in the class of 30+ and trying to focus. I'm not sure if I've mentioned it, but it takes very little to distract Joey. Joey has also been granted permission a few times to take his assignments into the resource teacher's room to have the extended time to finish them.

Also, yesterday I turned in my request for the school to evaluate Joey for any learning disabilities even though we are are still pursuing the medical evaluation. I also requested that I be granted an advocate for IEP's as I'm not real sure what help is available for him. We still do not have an IEP in place even though we are starting to figure out which accommodations work for Joey. The teachers I have talked to seem to agree that accommodations will be needed. His teacher has agreed to allow Joey to use an AlphaSmart for writing assignments, but has yet to actually let him use it.

I'm not really feeling that his teacher and I are on the same page. While she is going along with the accommodations once one of the resource teacher brings them in the class, she does not seem happy about it. When I talk to her (daily) I get the impressions that she thinks I'm looking for "special treatment" for Joey, which is not the case. I'm just trying to figure out what works best for him so she is not struggling with him all day. I'm hoping she realizes that we are on the same side. I'm trying to lessen her work, not make extra for her.

Joey is still bringing homework home everyday, but it's only a couple of questions per sheet and not near as many sheets. Homework isn't a battle and is completed in less than a half hour (compared to the hours it took the first couple weeks). All writing assignments he types on the computer and we attach it to the worksheet to turn in. While he is doing much better, he still has some issues to work on. BUT...he is making progress (however small) while not on any medications!!!!

* I am not against putting any of my children on medication if there is a real need for it. I want to try other non-medical options before returning to medication.

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

2014 Summer Bucket List - Final Post

Summer is officially over and so is our 2014 Summer Bucket List? You remember our bucket list; our goal of 30 things we planned to do this summer. For much of the summer we kind of forgot about it :/ We started participating in the bucket lists as a way to keep away the "I'm bored", "There's nothing to do" and to give ourselves a gentle reminder to do new things. Last summer we had a massive list and completed all except 2 or 3 things. Then there was the Fall List and the Winter List. While we loved marking off the activities we came up with as a family, this summer we kind of lost interest in our list as we found new interests to pursue.

This summer was just kind of off. We never got around to posting our list on our kitchen wall as a visual reminder of what we wanted to accomplish. Joey was on his "drug holiday" (which was not as smooth as it had been in the past). The boys really got into skateboarding and were content to hang around the house and improve their skating skills. I did not do well at all with keeping everyone updated on the activities that we did mark off. The whole summer we were just happy to be not doing much of anything.

While we did not complete our goal of 30 activities we did pretty well. Here's the last couple things we marked off our lists.










 Family bike ride- We actually did this a couple times over the summer. We 
love our Metro-parks and when we visit our bikes usually come with us. Our first ride we rode 3 miles down the path to get to the McDonalds, where we stopped for  break and a drink then rode the 3 miles back to the car. We made the whole 6 mile ride in 55 minutes!! Our other family bike rides were at another Metro-park where it is a bit more challenging with the hills in the path, but manage another 3.5 mile ride and a 5 mile ride. As the boys are getting older I'm realizing that I'm the one now asking to breaks and having a harder time keeping up with them Lol :)





 






Go to the beach- There weren't as many visits to the beach this year as the weather just wasn't warm enough. However we made it to the water's edge 4 times this year. It has become sort of a tradition that I bury all 3 boys in the sand at least once at the beach.





 






Silly string fight- This turned out to be a better in theory, then practice activity for us. Jordan and Jacob were all into it, but Joey not so much. Joey loved straying everyone else but could not stand the feel of the string on him. Everyone was given to cans of silly string, the first can was for them to get each other so I could get pictures and video tape. The second can was for a free-for-all and they could spray mom also, and spray mom they did :)












Make pretzels- A few years ago (wow! 7 years ago) I worked in the mall at a pretzel shop and thought it would be fun to teach the boys how roll pretzels. The recipe we used left the pretzels tasting more like rolls, but once we dipped them in liquid cheese they were more like "real" pretzels. The boys didn't master the art of pretzel knotting but had a fun coming up with their own way to form the pretzels.








Kid movie marathon- This just kind of happen on a a day that it rained all day long. No pictures though, we didn't realize we had marked this off until after we did it.









Visit a splash pad- Friends of ours love a splash pad that is about a half hour north of us. On one of the rare really warm days the boys and I went to check it out. There was a fence that surrounded the whole splash pad area with gates that closed. It was really nice to know that your kiddos could be contained to just the splash area and less risk of them wandering off. There were tables and benches along the outside the of fence where parents could sit and watch with out getting splash themselves. There is also a playground near the splash area and walking paths.








Go fishing- There was a scheduled fishing derby through the scouts at the nearby Metro-park. The boys decked out in the scout uniform and excited to fish with friends. I was excited that there was going to be other people there so I didn't have to worry about putting worms on hooks or taking fish off hook. It was suppose to be a 6 hour derby, and we got there 2 hours after it was said to be set up. We drove area the area we were directed to and didn't see anyone. Turns out scouts decided to cancel the derby and didn't send out an email to those of us that had planned on attending. Not to let my boys down we set up their fishing stuff and just the three of them fished. Jordan wasn't thrilled by having to keep putting worms on hooks for his brothers, therefor not getting to relax while he fished. No one caught any fish, during those few and far between moments they weren't reeling in their lines for a better cast.



We had also planned on marking off camping in a tent and picking up trash with the scouts. There were two clean-up scheduled for the VFW hall and both days were canceled due to rain. The boys were super excited about the camping trip which the date was TBA. It was never announced to us, I learned from a fellow blogger on Wednesday the week of the trip it was to be that weekend. We don't have any camping equipment here, all that kind of stuff gets stored with Papa. There was no way I could have rearranged our schedules and gathered the camping supplies within a couple days. I was a couple day after the missed camping trip that both boys decided they no longer wanted to continue with scouting. The kicker is now that my boys have called it quits, I get tons of emails from the den leaders.

We came close a lot of days to all day in Pj's, just puttering around the house. Usually sometime in the afternoon the boys would find real clothes so they could go outside to play.

We attempted to catch fireflies but the couple times we went searching for them there was none to be found. We've decided to blame the cooler temperatures for the lack of fireflies.

We managed to find 3 out of 5 Geocaches back when we got distracted by the new to us park. Just never ventured out to find the other 2. Now that we have found most of the "caches" near our home and surrounding cities we're finding it harder to want to seek them out.

Trying to watch the sun is harder than you think it should be. We just couldn't get the timing right. We'd head out a bit earlier and then get busy playing while we waited for "the right moment" and end up missing it LOL

I personally was looking forward to the glow-in-the-dark party. I'm not sure when we will actually get around to doing this, but we're going to still do it.

That concludes our Summer Bucket List 2014. Thank you to all who followed our very inconstant journey this year.

Saturday, September 6, 2014

Aspie-lutely Awesome Joey!!

This summer Joey took a "drug holiday" which means he was off all his medications. We did our first ever drug holiday last year and he did wonderful with it. The main purpose of his meds is to help him slow down and focus better, there isn't much he needs to focus on during the summer. He isn't required to sit still for extended periods of time and has plenty of opportunities to release his energy outside. One of the major factors in wanting to take the "holiday" was Joey's sleeping schedule was so messed up. He was barely sleeping, most nights he was getting roughly 3-4 hours of  broken sleep. We had tried melatonin in the past; it did help him sleep better for the first night, but around the second or third night he would start having night terrors and we stopped using it. Sleeping had been an issue with him once we put him back on his meds last school year. It started off that it would take him (3) hours to settle down so he could sleep, then they upped his dosage because he was still having a hard time in school (the doctor said it was the dosage, not the lack of sleep) that after fighting for hours to get to sleep be was unable to stay asleep. I'm proud to say that throughout this summer he has been sleeping a lot better, he still wakes up too early but he's getting 9-10 hours of rest a night.

Around the same time we decided to take another "holiday" our family doctor moved down south and we had to find a new one. I chose a pediatric doctor this time. I had switched Jacob over to the pediatrian about 6 month prior to having to switch the other boys. There are only 2 doctors in the office and I absolutely LOVE them both. Joey's new doctor was surprised that he had been diagnosed with ADHD at age 6 with only the use of a survey and that neither him nor Jordan had been re evaluated since their diagnosis. She was firm about not refilling their (mainly Joey's) prescriptions until he had a psychological evaluation done. I figured during his "holiday" was a great time for the evaluation that way they could get a clear look at how he was un-medicated. There was a mix up with our insurance and I was told that I needed to reapply that none of us had insurance. After reapplying I learned that there was no need for us to reapply and that we had insurance the whole time. It took about a month to straighten out, and that was a month I could have been looking into getting Joey the evaluation he needed. Trying to get in to see a psychologist before the start of school was a challenge,every place I called had a 9-12 month waiting list. I checked back with the pediatrician to see if a neurologist's evaluation would work, and had an appointment for 1 week later.

It took Joey 20 minutes to write the same four sentences as his classmate.




When we went to the neurologist I kind of had my own ideas of what might be going on with Joey, but kept them to myself. I didn't want to sway the doctor and was curious to see if she saw the same "symptoms" I did. Papa & Grandma watched the other boys so just Joey and I could go to the appointment, I didn't want the boys' "helping" to interfere with the doctors observations. By the end of the appointment the doctor had come to the same conclusion as I, and Joey was diagnosed with ADHD and "possibly" Autism Spectrum Disorder. She said that Joey is definitely on the spectrum but wanted a neuropsycological test for a clearer diagnosis. She said that he is high functioning and is leaning more towards Asperger Syndrome but to see the neuropsycologist. We were also given a script for behavioral therapy and occupational therapy. She suggested that they he may also have disgraphia. After doing some research on what Disgraphia is, I have to say I agree with her. She also told me not to put him back on the medication he was taking, due to the sleeping issues it was obviously not working properly for him.

*Disgraphia is learning disability that effects writing. Often times, and in Joey's case, writing is illegible and the spacing between letters and words is not consistent. Even he has a hard time reading his own writing. Having to write for extended amounts of time cause him pain in his hands and fatigue. He has a very difficult time with spelling and still reverses letters. He has a hard time getting his thoughts onto paper and often times leave words or sentences unfinished.

Joey and I had talked about what "possibly" being autistic meant and what the chances were that he actually had autism. We are very blessed to know people with a different range of abilities, including two who are on different sides of the Autism Spectrum. We have my nephew Matthew whom had lived with us for a year about a year ago and is mildly autistic and our friend "E" who has aspergers. My boys have also been exposed to kids on the spectrum that ranged from severe to mild autism when we use to take Matthew for his therapies. Joey accepted the news of his diagnoses very well. Having a reference point of "E" really helped him see what characteristics of Asperger Syndrome he has. He didn't see himself as "autistic like Matthew" who has more behavioral issues than "E". I knew he would be fine with a diagnosis of Asperger, when I told him "Yep, it would make you an "Aspie" like "E" and he replied "That's because I'm aspie-lutely awesome!! :D Hey, if they say I have Aspergers will you make me a shirt that says that!"

Joey is on the waiting list for occupational therapy at the same facility I took Matthew to. Fingers crossed that we won't have to wait long. Joey is really excited to start therapy, he has already seen the "rewards" for working hard. From things I have been hearing, I may need to do some research on how to get him the behavioral therapy as our insurance may not cover it.

This all took place two weeks before the start of school and we won't have our first appointment with the neuro-psychologist until 2 weeks after school starts. So I was very anxious about sending to school without medication of any kind. Since first grade he has always been on one med or another. I was worried about how the other students would view Joey, would they see him as quirky and weird or think that he was trying to be the class clown or rebel. The first few weeks is when everyone is starting to figure out who to hang out with and who to avoid. There wasn't much I could do to help Joey make a "good" first impression. We talked about what behaviors would be acceptable, but talking about them and him following through are two totally different things.

His first day was only a half day (3.5 hours) and he didn't get much sleep the night before because of Jacob's trip to the ER. He did beautifully though!! He walked into class noticed the directions on the board and got right to work finding his way around the room. The second day though, his teacher got to see Joey as he normally acts (not that he was misbehaving). He had a bumpy start and dug in his heels about getting a particular assignment done. He needed a few reminders to stay on task but as the day progressed he controlled himself better.
*Currently Joey does not have a 504 or IEP in place. We are waiting until after the evaluation to determine what accommodations he may need.

I will keep everyone updated on as we get a clear look at what all is going on with Joey. Until then prayers for him to have successful days in school and to get into therapy quickly would be greatly appreciated.

Thursday, September 4, 2014

Year Long Goals Progress- August

I honestly have no clue what we did in August. It seemed to pass in such a blur. Actually the whole summer seemed to have gone by too quickly. Our focus this month was to get outside as much as possible and work towards reaching our goal of 1000 hours outside. The boys spent a lot of time on their skateboards, Ripstix, and bikes. I had attempted to update which items from our Summer Bucket List we had completed that I kind of forgot about marking more from our list.

For how everyone has done towards their personal goals, we are still making good progress. The boys are doing better at reaching theirs than I am. Jordan has done well managing his electronic time. He has been really working on learning some skateboard tricks and has spent much of his time outside. Joey continues to make new friends. We spent majority of a Saturday at Touch A Truck and the carnival at the city of Warren's birthday bash, while there Joey found a kid his age to hang out with. They even exchanged phone numbers so when we are down by Papa and Grandma's they can get together. Jacob is still sharing well with others. Not only is he still sharing his toys he has been more open to sharing his thoughts with others without the fearing rejection. I have not made any progress this past month towards any of my goals. Other than setting aside time for me to do something I enjoy. I have a couple work in progress crochet crafts I have been on. Also I have been exploring different crochet stitches and patterns.

There was only one bucket list activity marked off this month, which is kind of disappointing. However we have been doing well with spending time outside. We totaled 119 hours and 30 minutes of outside time for the month, bringing our year-to-date total to 687.5 hours!! Spending so much time outdoors made it harder to want to sit and read. There was also very little reading that went on this month. Here are the few books that did get read.

Jacob- (4 books) Dragon Slayers Academy-Revennge of the Dragon Lady by Kate McMullan, The School Nurse from the Black Lagoon by Mike Thaler, The Teacher from the Black Lagoon by Mike Thaler, and Magic Tree House Afternoon on the Amazon by Mary Pope Osborne

Joey- (0 books)

Jordan- (5 books) Skinned by Robin Wasserman, The Key to Rondo by Emily Rodda, Crashed by Robin Wasserman, Raven's Gate by Anthony Huruwitz, and Throwing Stones by Henry Holt.

Me- (2) Life is not a Stress Rehearsal and Relax- You May Only Have A Few Minutes Left both by Loretta LaRoche * I highly recommend both book my Mrs. LaRoche. I have seen some of her programs on tv and she is just a hoot!! Her message is to laugh more and stop taking yourself so seriously.

Wednesday, September 3, 2014

School Daze

I know my title seems like so many others as all the kiddos get back to school, but this year that title is literally how our school year started of for me. I've been awake for roughly 25 hours straight, so when I dropped my boys off for their first day back to school I was in a daze. (I still am, so don't hold me accountable for spelling or grammar errors.) Last night was pretty much the same as it is for us every year; I double checked that all their supplies were in their packs (and labeled), clothes were laid out, alarm clocks were set, the boys were in bed earlier and had muffins baking for the morning. We were all ready and eager to begin another school year. Then thing took a turn I had not expected.

Yesterday Jacob had his first ever soccer game. He and his team had played well. They didn't win, but they played hard. Jacob hadn't expected so much running and with his allergies kicking in, he started to get a bit wheezy. No big deal, we've dealt with this before a quick breathing treatment and he'd be as good as new. He had been too nervous before his game to eat, so after his treatment we celebrated his first game with pizza. Then spent some downtime watching tv before preparing for school the next day. All the kiddos were in bed and all the "school stuff" taken care of, I went to visit with a friend across the street for a bit. As we chatted time got away from us (as it often does) and around midnight we called it a night. I peeked in on my boys before heading to bed and noticed that Jacob was starting to get wheezy again. I really didn't want to wake him, he had an exciting day ahead of him so I went to lay down. I had this nagging feeling to check on him that could not be quieted. I went back and watched my sweet child sleeping. His body was working harder than it should have to breathe and out came the breathing treatment again. I knew it was necessary but felt so bad watching him fight to stay awake enough to sit up for the treatment. Knowing he had his treatment that he would be able to rest more peacefully I went back to bed, it was one in the morning and I had to be up early. There was that feeling again that something just wasn't right, I had to check on him again. When I went to him his breathing hadn't got any better. I stood there on the ladder of the bunk bed for at least a half hour watching the way his chest moved and comparing it with the way his brother's was moving. His breaths were to shallow and to quick and his heart was racing. To reassure myself that he was fine, I woke my poor baby up and had him come sleep in my bed so I could watch his breathing. By this time his tummy had started doing what I could only describe as "the worm" it wiggle up his chest with every breath than his body did this kind of twitch. I really started to panic, this happened last time when his oxygen levels had started dropping. I kept asking him if he was okay, and he kept telling me that he was tired. Hating to keep waking him due to my own paranoia I let to sleep but kept an eye on his breathing, something just didn't feel right. Then he woke and asked me to call the doctors because his chest was hurting really bad.

It was around 3:15 am so the only option was to call 911 and they were here in less than five minutes. They said that he needed to go to the hospital. I called Papa waking him up at 3:30 in the morning to have him come watch my other boys so I could follow the ambulance. Papa doesn't live real close by and we couldn't sit and wait until he got here. I called my friend and she woke up her kids and came straight here. (I have the best friends ever <3). She stayed until Papa got here then had to get to work and her own kids off to school. I swear the scariest thing I have ever seen is one of my kids in the back of an ambulance.

Jacob and I spent the next 3 hours in the hospital while they helped return his breathing to normal. I was still too shook up to sleep, as he slept I watched his chest. While there we also learned he had a double ear infection he hadn't complained about. We were sent home with a steroid, a script for his treatments, and an antibiotic.

While I wasn't sleeping at the hospital, Papa and Joey weren't getting any rest at my house either. I learned when we got home that Joey had been awake since the paramedics were at our house. He was all wound up between worrying about his brother and school starting in only a few short hours. Jordan was able to sleep until about 6 when Joey woke him thinking he needed to be at school by 7. Jordan was baffled that Papa was there as he had slept through all the events of the happened.

We made it home from the hospital just in time for me to run Jordan to school. Papa stayed to watch the boys for me seems they were wide awake. Papa headed back to his house (hopefully to get some sleep) as the younger boys were getting ready to leave for school.

While we had had a rather eventful night Jacob insisted on attending the first day of school, it's only a half day. My baby was safe and acting like himself so I let him go to school. We still managed to keep our tradition of first day pictures and mom seeing them off to school. For the younger two it also include seeing them to their classroom doors.

A huge thank you to Papa and to my friend Krystal for being there when we needed you!! You truly are blessings to us.

8th grade
3rd grade
4th grade