Going back Home!!!!!

We are headed to Phx in a few hours. Christina is so excited she was awake at 5. So was Zachary, and obviously I was too. Not Mike. Oh he's excited enough alright, but he was not awake at 5, or 6, or 7 or 8 or 9. He did rise at 9:30. but then again, he didn't go to sleep until 2am. Typical Mikey schedule! Here the boys are playing Operation. Caleb LOVES this game, but I think it's because he likes making the buzzing sound go off.

OK, must go get ready to go home. We have such a busy schedule while we are there. And I haven't even bought one single Christmas present.

Have a wonderful and Merry Christmas and a Happy, Healthy New Year!!

Our meeting with Zacharys Teacher

This morning we had a parent teacher meeting with Zachary's teacher. It went as well as what we expected. We know just by doing homework with him every night that he is struggling. Here is what she typed up for us: "Zachary is reading on a DRA level 4 which is below the level expected for this time of year. (He should be at a level 8) He is working on using phonemic awareness skills to decode unknown words. He is inconsistent with his skill and this effects his fluency and comprehension. Zachary is often able to read a story more fluently after reading it several times. He is having difficulty with comprehension after reading books on the expected level for this time of year. In writing, Zachary is working on writing in complete sentences and having the sentences make sense. His difficulty with sound/letter connection makes it hard for him to do "best guess" spelling when writing. In math he seems to understand most new concepts with just a little extra small group instruction. Zachary has difficulty sometimes understanding and following directions given to the whole group. He also does not always ask for help when he needs it or does not understand. We are placing Zachary on a Progress Monitoring Plan. Continue to read with him each night having him retell the story. Read again even if he needs to take the same book home again the next day. Work on sight words to help build fluency. Practice handwriting and writing in complete sentences. Review math papers for concept understanding. We are also having him tested for Language Screening." With the PMP he will be placed in very small groups where the teacher works with him for 90 minutes a day. I don't know if he will be held back next year, but it looks like a very good possibility. I really think that we should of waited before we put him in kindergarten. He is the second youngest in his class and I don't think he is mature enough yet. I cant imagine these parents that force little ones into school just because they don't want to pay for daycare anymore. We didn't pay daycare, and didn't HAVE to put him in, and now looking back I really wish I would of followed my instincts. But he seemed like he was ready, he knew his ABC's and numbers etc, and seemed so smart. (Everyone always said he was soo smart), but I really think he isn't mature enough. There is the possibility that he has a learning disorder. However unfortunately they don't test for that until the child is 7. So we will see first what the extra time in school does for him. Mike and I help every night with homework, (we DON'T do it for him) but sometimes he does need alot of instruction and gets frustrated easily. We also read every night, but sometimes he will see the same word over and over again and will forget it each and every time. The teacher gave us some ideas to work with hard words. These words are: with, when, that, where, want. These are definitely words he should easily know at this point but EVERY time he sees them he forgets how they are pronounced. There are also of course a dozen other words, but these ones I have been working with him since day 1 of first grade. So I am making flashcards of them and putting them on the TV, the playstation, the refrigerator, the shower, his bike etc and he has to say them three times before he can get whatever it is. We limit TV and playstation, these are special times only. Same with the computer. I try to make him play learning games, and not the other ones. I am so thankful that the school has these options and that he has a teacher that is on top of it. Last year we only heard good things. I don't know if it is because Dysart has lower standards, or his teacher didn't pay much attention, or if its just starting to show because school is getting harder. But I don't want him struggling for the next how many years because he has trouble keeping up. I really wish they has something like this for Christina. She struggled with reading and all her school suggested was "She needs to try harder" She was... "She has ADD she needs med" NO she didn't.... She just needed extra attention and time to process the information. She does well now, but she really struggled 1-5 grade. And now she understands that when she doesn't understand, to ask for help. Today Mike, Caleb and I are going to go have lunch with him. He will be so excited to see us. I think I will make that a twice a week fun thing for him. (At least until he is old enough that he doesn't WANT mommy coming to school to sit with him) :) Tomorrow I will post the pictures of them at the Grinch Show at IOA. It was a lot of fun! But I gotta head up to the school to surprise him!

Yesterday morning Caleb was looking outside and started yelling "Reindeer!! Santa's Reindeer are here!" Sure enough there were 4 does out back eating the grass. I ran in to grab my camera, but with Caleb yelling about Reindeer they took one look at us and scampered back into the woods. I did get this picture of the last one leaping to safety from my boys yelling at them. Here is a picture of a rocket that blasted off from Cape Canaveral the other day. It was a pretty neat sight. We went out front about 2 minutes prior and the boys were yelling: "10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 BLAST OFF." They were like "how come its not taking off yet?" Finally we saw it and they were cheering very loudly. The neighbors that were outside were laughing at them. Here is a snake that was out in front of our front door. It was a vicious little thing. It kept rearing itself up and 'striking' at us. It was pretty funny. Ive seen garden snakes before, but never had one that kept trying to strike us. Of course I'm sure it didn't help that Mike was poking at it with a stick, the boys were screaming, and I was taking pictures of it. Today we are going to Universal Studios to see the How the Grinch Stole Christmas Show that they have and they also have the Macy's parade floats there at Sundown. So I'm sure there will be lots of pics to post tomorrow!

80's flashback

Are the 80's already making a comeback? Is it true that those dreaded LegWarmers are back? Yep, it is! I about fell over when Christina came home from the mall with legwarmers. Then I seriously fell over when she asked if I still had my old ones. Ummmm....NO!!! I tossed those in the 90's! She gave me a hard time for tossing them. Who knew they'd come back in style? She loves them and wants every color!

She finally made her gingerbread cookie. Yummy!

Caleb is finally brushing his teeth without screaming the entire time. I don't know why he had such a problem, but ever since he was little that was always a big battle. We are still fighting him on toilet training. He did good for about a week, then when we were out of town, he had diarrhea and wouldn't sit on the 'big' potty, so we put him back in diapers. Big mistake. Now he refuses to use the potty again. *sigh* It had become a battle because we KNOW he knows how to go in his potty. I haven't put a diaper on him, but he keeps pooping in his underwear. Yuck. So FINE if he wants to be in diapers then so be it. I would rather change a diaper than have to keep cleaning out underwear. Mike and the boys are doing a 'science experiment'. Not sure exactly what... Something about a tornado.

Here is Zachary's letter to Santa. He wrote it all by himself! In case you can't read it, it says,

I quote:

"Dear Santa, I hope you bring me a lots of presents. I want dols and pokeman cards and I want little cars a kitchen and two stuffee and stickers and colorbrook and spongeybob and patrick 3 cookies and 6 chocolate bunny."

This was exactly how he wrote it all by himself. I think the 'stuffee' is stuffed animals.

I can't believe he wants Pokeman cards. Some kid on the school bus gave him 4 cards, and so now it has started. Christina collected them for about 1 year when she was like 9, and at the yard sale we had just before we moved, I sold the big book she had about half filled with them. I sooo don't get them. I don't let him watch the cartoons, and am not really happy he has this new interest. It pretty much bored Christina. Then again she is a girl, and they were NOT Barbies.

Zachary is back in school today. We took him into the class room and all the kids started yelling "Zachary!! Your back!! Are you OK? We missed you!" It was so cute it brought tears to Mikes and my eyes. Last week they all made him Get Well cards. So far, knock on wood, he is feeling fine. Tomorrow we cut back the breathing treatments to 2 a day, for a few days, then once, and then only if he needs it. I tossed all our harsh cleaners and ordered Get Clean from my friend DeAnna. She has sworn to me for several years now that I should try it, now I AM!!! Here is the web site in case anyone is interested in trying the products as well.

http://www.shaklee.net/deannabass/product/59262

We are also steam cleaning our carpets and I am looking into getting a better vacuum. I've read about the Dyson Animal one. We need a strong one to get out the pet dander, pollens and of course dirt. Our vacuum is only 2 years old and it blows so much dust into the air, that it can't be good. I'm also looking into getting a steam mop. I know you don't use any cleaning solutions with it, so that would be a plus. I feel like I spend all my time now on the computer researching. But it will be worth it in the long run.

So even tho it is a few weeks away, I am starting on a New Years Resolution. Getting us healthier by changing the way we eat, clean and live in general. And if it all helps the environment, then that's even better!

Zachary Update

We took Zachary to a different pediatrician yesterday afternoon, and she said she doesn't think he has asthma, but rather, Reactive Airway Disease. Which would actually be better than asthma because asthma is chronic, and RAD is brought on by a reaction to something that he is allergic too. On Sunday I took off all the window screens and sprayed every window seal in the house with Tilex. I left the windows open thinking I was airing the house out. Then after letting it sit for awhile, we closed the windows and power sprayed all the mold off. We are thinking that he had a reaction to the Tilex, and possibly the mold since the screens were no longer covering it up. He is obviously allergic to other things since he had a less severe reaction last Wed. The Dr wants him allergy tested and thinks we will find out he is allergic to quite a few things, especially the pollens and molds that we have here in GREEN Florida. He didn't have any of these kinds of things in Phx, except he did get 'chest colds' often. Maybe that was reactions to things there,? but they weren't as severe as the whole Tilex thing on Sunday. So we are doing a lifestyle change until we can get to the Allergist (not till January) and figure out exactly what he is allergic to. All of my cleaning will be done first thing in the morning after taking him to school to give the house a chance to air out, and I will no longer use the cleaning solutions I have been using. (I am the kind of person that uses Clorox on EVERYTHING that I can, and several times a day too) So, out goes all that, and I am in the process of ordering 'Green' Cleaners. They are 100% organic with no chemicals. We aren't letting him outside when Mikey mows the grass, and I am paying attention to the pollen count which is high in the spring and fall here. I am also keeping a diary of what he eats, when he eats, when he goes outside etc. Its a start at least. Hopefully we can prevent another episode until we can figure out exactly what is going on. Poor Zachary. He hates being cooped up inside, and has a hard time understanding why he cant run around outback. We are also having to limit Caleb, since its not fair to Zachary. That is making Caleb very upset because he wants to go outside and golf. At least he can still do that while Zachary is in school. Hopefully being in cool (!) Phx for a few weeks will give him a chance to get outside and play. Its still 83 here, and humid, and there is alot of pollen in the air. We moved here hoping to help his Eczema, and it only made things worse for him. :(

Zacharys Hospital Stay

Well, as most of you know, this was a very long week. It really started Wed, the 28th of Nov. when he was diagnosed with asthma. We began giving him breathing treatments at home. He seemed to be doing just fine. Then Sunday night we put him to bed about 8pm, and at 10:15pm he woke up not being able to get a breath. After watching him for a few minutes, I woke Mike up to look at him, and we decided to take him to the hospital. That in itself was a nightmare. We thought there was a hospital very close to us, near a mall because we had driven by a big building that said "Florida Hospital". Turns out it is an Urgent Care and closes at 7. (Apparently ALL the hospitals and Care Offices are called "Florida Hospital") They had a phone number on the door that Mike called and got directions to the REAL hospital. About 15 min away. THANK GOD, it is across the street from the Science Center we were at the day before, so Mike knew exactly where he was going. While driving there on the freeway, Zachary couldn't hardly breathe and was in soo much pain. We took him to the ER and they took one look at him, and rushed him to Triage. He was soo blue. His lips were blue, his face had no color and he couldn't even breathe enough to cry. He was just limp. They started him on oxygen, and his oxygen level was 80%. It should be 100%. After stabilizing him, they called the Florida Children's Hospital to have him transferred there. FINALLY at 4am, the ambulance arrived and transported him with lights and sirens to FCH. He was so critical that he was immediately put in the Pediatric ICU. There he received breathing treatments and steroids every hour. Once he was out of danger it was every two hours. He was in ICU until late Monday. I didnt take any pictures because he was soo sick looking. Then they transferred him to Peds. Its a level 2 unit. There they gave him treatments every 2 hours, then every 4 hours. During the day, he was OK, but at night when he fell asleep his Oxygen level would drop to 88%. Every time that they have to give him Oxygen its automatically 24 hours before he can be released. Finally last night he was able to keep his levels at a normal rate without any oxygen! So the Dr said he should be able to come home today! Yeah!!! Boy, all these lifestyle changes we are trying to make, will really start to come into play. We need to figure out his triggers and eliminate them. Here is his monitor. The top green one is his heart rate. When they give him his steroid breathing treatment his heart rate goes up to 170. The blue one is his oxygen level. The bottom white one is his respiratory. At the point I took the picture he was pretty much in the normal range except for the oxygen. 97-100 is where they want it. Here he is getting a breathing treatment and a 'beating' on his back to loosen any blockage. They let him wear his favorite clothing instead of the ugly hospital gowns. So of course he is wearing his SpongeBob shirt! When we were in the ICU, a nurse brought us a 4 balloon bouquet. Someone had donated them to the children's ICU. Zachary smiled and LOVED them! In Phx, for the last few years Mike and I donated $20 a month to Phoenix Children's Hospital. We need to do that here. I also am going thru the boys toys and all the ones that are too young for them we are giving to the hospital. They also had a wagon full of toys that came thru and let the new kids pick out a toy. Last year at Attitudes I organized a toy drive that brought in a total of 6 Hefty bags full of toys that Mike and I took to PCH. It was such an awesome feeling donating all those toys, now I KNOW what great feeling those kids found in receiving the toys. I wish I could do the same here, maybe next year. I hope each and every one of you will find it in your hearts to donate, even just a small toy to your local Children's Hospital. We got to see first hand the joy it brings these kids. It truly puts smiles on their faces. And it will put a glow in your heart, I PROMISE YOU!

Science Center

Saturday afternoon we took the kids, including 2 of Christina's friends, to the Orlando Science Center. We got a family membership, so we can go anytime now. It was really neat. We only got to about 1/3 of it in 4 hours. Most of that time was spent in the Daytona 500 exhibit! Caleb didn't want to leave it at all! There are no pictures of Christina because she and her friends took off on their own once we walked in the doors. Mike is driving a simulator car race. An authentic Jeff Gordon Race car!! He actually drove this in the Daytona 500 a few years back. They could race cars down the hill. This was Zachary's favorite game. They could race cars around a giant racetrack. This was Caleb's favorite. Here they are "flying" an airplane.

Caleb is trying very hard to catch this ball. Zachary was fascinated by the dinosaur exhibit. Caleb however was not. He wouldn't go near any of the skeletons! This was a hurricane simulator. The wind gets up to 78.9 miles an hour. alot of fun. Daddy and Caleb 'flying' the airplane in the simulator. The boys thought it was funny to fly straight up in the sky, then nose dive into the ground. There is a big screen in front of you. Zachary is milking a cow! After the Science Center we went to dinner at a Japanese Restaurant. This is the first time the boys had eaten at a place where they cook the foods on the big cook top right in front of you. Zachary got into it, but Caleb didn't like the big fires. Mikey is eating a fried shrimp head. One of our favorite things at a sushi house. Here's the Chef. His hands are moving so fast you cant even see them!

After we got home the boys made Gingerbread cookies. They had a lot of fun decorating them. My floor is now decorated like the Cookies as well. Ahh, they DO love their sister. Today we had the pleasure of taking all the screens off the windows, and cleaning the MOLD out from them. YUCK. I was wondering if that could be causing some of Zachary's problems with his asthma. Every single outside window had a layer of mold under the screen. The windows inside our screen porch didn't have any mold. Every one is outside enjoying the beautiful weather! We even got Christina off the computer and away from her phone for a few minutes outside with us! Mikey put up our Christmas lights as well. We had a fun busy weekend. Tomorrow we have a parent teacher meeting for Zachary. His teacher is suggesting we put him in special reading/language classes. He is that far behind. I hope that once he is feeling better he will do better in school. I'm so glad they have these kinds of programs to get him caught up as early as possible. And how was your weekend?!