Learning About Gratitude

I've learned a lot about gratitude this past week.

This past Sunday we met with our Bishop to go over the financial donations we'd made to our Heavenly Father throughout the year. He pointed out to our kids that we had paid "Fast Offerings" to help people who didn't have enough money to pay for basic things that they needed and he asked our kids to thank us. As they did I thought about how this sacrifice also included them so I thanked them. I looked at Max, who was nearest to me, and asked him, "If we had kept that money what would we have spent it on?" "Extra things because we have all the things we need, " he astutely replied and a light bulb came on in both of our minds and hearts as the Holy Ghost taught our souls a principle. "Yep, extra things," I told him,  "like going out to eat and going to movies and things like that. Thanks for giving up some of those extra things so that people who need basic things can have them. We are so blessed that we have everything we need."

In that moment I felt so whole and grateful. My family has so many needs and all of them are provided for. 

Sometimes parents don't have all the right answers and I'm grateful to be able to reach out to experts in every facet of our community to help us fill in the gaps for our children. I'm grateful to doctors, teachers, cub scout leaders, primary teachers and leaders at church, therapists, Aunts, and Grandparents.

We have started seeing a Neuropsychologist with Noah to help us and him know how to manage his ADHD. This isn't just a normal therapist, it's one who specifically has knowledge about how ADHD affects the wiring of his brain and can help us with behavioral strategies that pertain just to that. How awesome to have such specialized help.

We've recently gotten some much prayed for answers about our Max's health. He has some doctors looking after him who have specialized in exactly what he needs. They are not only specialists but are the most qualified specialists in their field in the world. 

These answers to Max's health challenges have been a sweet confirmation that God is leading me in my life. As I look back I can see so many times when we were making an important decision and the choice felt right but we couldn't see exactly how or if that choice would solve the problem we were having. As I look back it is obvious that those choices were not only the right ones but that they were delivered to us by God. How grateful I am to have a living, loving Father and a Savior who know my family's needs and manifest their interest in our well being so clearly in our lives.

Noah gets his braces off today. I'm so grateful for our dentist and orthodontist and for the resources God has provided so that we can make use of their help. Before his braces Noah had a tooth that stuck way out. He felt self conscious about it and, because it wasn't in line with the rest of his teeth, it was in danger of being knocked out or being permanently damaged - especially because he is such an active boy. We made the decision to give him braces and at first the cost felt really huge but we managed and they are all paid for now. What a blessing!

All of my children have inventive, dedicated teachers who somehow, even with their classes full of other kids, manage to find the time and make the effort to cater to my children's individual needs. Marilyn has her Braille and O&M teachers plus my amazing twin sister who is her homeroom teacher and they are constantly mindful of her needs. Noah has a great teacher who finds creative ways to motivate him and works with him one-on-one at her desk every day. Max has a teacher who is always looking after him and watching for ways she can stimulate and challenge his busy mind. I'm so grateful for their efforts and I see the positive ways they influence my children every day.

My husband has always had a good job that he enjoys, that challenges him, and that provides for the needs and even some of the wants of our family.

I get to have my dream job.

We all have healthy bodies.

I've learned this year that my body is strong.

I have a house that feels like a home and it's full of memories of the people I love most.

I'm so grateful.

Just Another Manic Monday

Someday will I forget what it was really like to have 3 littles at home?

It's winter so we are all half sick but today is a day for school and work because we all had sick days off last week and you can't keep a person away from school or work until we are completely free of symptoms or we'd never go. Coughs come sporadically from every room in the house, faces are covered in boogers, I am loosing my voice, looking for my Asthma inhaler, and thinking that I have a Dr. appointment with my Asthma specialist looming in my near future. Yesterday was Sunday which means that this morning my house is a disaster after having my family in it all weekend off of our normal weekday routine. My kitchen is a special mess after having spent 3 hours making a birthday cake for my niece yesterday and then not cleaning up afterwards so we could make the party on time.

By 7:11  this morning, an entire 11 minutes after we all get up, Noah is already on the naughty spot; he's not taken his ADHD medicine yet and has lately been testing his boundaries to see how much he can get away with name calling and being sassy.

By 9:00 I have coerced Max into eating his breakfast, including his banana, fed Noah 680 healthy calories, done a page of Math homework with Noah, put in a load of laundry, unloaded and loaded the dishwasher, finished cleaning the kitchen, cleaned up breakfast, taught Marilyn a lesson in how to match clothes, talked Max through changing his own poopy accident, fixed a broken backpack, helped Noah customize his jacket, supervised the kids getting ready for school, dropped the kids off for school ON TIME and picked up my nephew Andrew to babysit for the rest of the morning.

Now onto doing "poopy time" with Max, eating my own breakfast, personal scripture study, cleaning the house, more laundry,  doing a craft/learning project with Max and Andrew all while trying not to talk and or cough.

It is definitely just another manic Monday!

Visiting the Doctor's Office: Part 1,435,326

These pictures are from a recent trip to the Dr.'s office.  I had my camera in tow because we were on our way to do something more fun, but I pulled it out in the waiting room because we are at the Dr.'s office so often I figured documenting our waits there would be an accurate reflection of our lives. 

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I am always doing battle inside my head about what to say/not say about my children's health conditions.  It is their private information but helping them with their many issues is a big part of what I do. I like sharing, most of the time, because it lightens my load but it also helps me when I hear about the health issues other families face.  Maybe by sharing the medical challenges our family has we will help someone else?

Adopting two children who were considered by the Chinese government as having "special needs" has added quite a few Dr. appointments and motherly worries to my daily to do list.  At only 5 weeks in to our new health insurance plan year we have met our $3,000 deductible.

Max was born with a liver problem (that I will not go into) and is taking some really expensive medicine to help strengthen it.  It makes my mommy heart sore.  I have to give him a shot 3 times a week.  It's physically really difficult to stick something sharp into my own child.  On top of that, the medicine makes him run a fever, feel achy like he has the flu, and be miserable for the day which is also hard on my heart.  This will last 4 more months and we've been doing it for two.  

Max also has had issues with passing bowel movements since birth.  We help him by doing a 90 minute procedure every day, which we have been doing for over a year now, and it is now just part of our daily routine - no big deal.  No big deal unless the dosage of something that is involved in that procedure needs to be adjusted, which we are currently doing, and then the time involved in helping him goes up to sometimes 3 hours a day, plus we have to time things on the Dr.'s schedule instead of when it's convenient for us, get a daily x-ray at the Dr.'s office, keep a log, and talk to the specialist on the phone every day - then it feels like a big deal.   We are a week into this new re-evaluation and I'm already tired of it.  Hopefully we will have it re-adjusted in a week or two. Max will need to have a major surgery in late winter to help with all of this, which I am dreading.  He will be in the hospital for a week and then healing at home for a month.  While he heals his we will have to do this 90 minute procedure twice a day for a month.

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Marilyn's official diagnosis for her eyes is Optic Nerve Hypoplasia. This can have accompanying hormone problems relating to growth so we've recently needed to see a specialist for that.  Thank goodness she doesn't seem to actually have any of the hormone problems that can come with this.  She also has what feels like never ending warts from her time at the orphanage that we are still fighting. This past week we had what was probably our 12th visit to the dermatologist this year.

Noah has ADHD and Asthma which require doctor's visits for monitoring and a trip to the Dr.'s office one time a month to pick up the paper script (required because it is a controlled substance)  so we can get it filled. We've also been to the dentist for him more than our fair share because his teeth don't ever fall out on their own and he has to have them pulled.  He's 7 years old so that has been happening a lot lately.

That all adds up to A LOT of trips to the Dr.'s office.   Thank goodness for insurance!

End Of Summer Letter to Myself

(To be read by myself 5 months ago.  Maybe through time travel? Haven't worked that part out yet.) 

Dear Laura, 

You're worrying a lot right now about what you are going to do when your "Firsties" are finally out of 1st Grade and you have them in your house 24/7.  Don't.  Everything is going to be fine. 

Everyone keeps telling you that and you haven't believed it, even for a nano-second.  Let yourself off the hook of all the endless nail picking and stomach-aching worry.  I'm here almost at the end of the summer and it's been more than fine; it's been fun!  I'm (almost) sad that it's ending. 

Just like your Christopher said, this summer hasn't been last summer.  Good news -  last summer is never coming back.  Noah is medicated now!  And it helps!  And he's fun to be around.  And you don't have to do homework with him at night anymore.  And he does learning time (mostly) happily during the day time.  His handwritting is getting better.  He's just as good a reader as he was when he left 1st Grade or better.  AND he's gained a pound and a half.  That's right, peanut butter baby!  You've figured it out. 

And Marilyn.  She's SOOO much easier to be around than last summer.  She stays in her pjs all day long and lounges around and enjoys it!   She knows what to do with herself now.  She's comfortable now.  And there aren't so many questions.  And her piano skills are amazing!  And her reading ability is INCREDIBLE.  And she's a miracle in every way.  People adore her and so do you.  She's your #1 helper around the house.  You wish every child were as obedient and as happily helpful as she is.

And Max.  He's sheer joy, but with a little attitude now.  Don't worry - he's still sweet and it's not anything you can't handle.  He spends every day less lonely than he did when it was just you and him.  He's Marilyn's little roomy and Noah's best bud.  And he's doing alright in all the other ways that you've worried about. 

It's been a great summer.  Sneaky walks after bedtime with your hubby.  Hammock/book time while watching the sun set.  Lots of summertime/Lagoon sister time.  No sweat.  Quit your bellyachin'.  It's all gonna be ok. 

Love, Me