So far this year...

... this will be a catch-all type post; a little of this, a little of that.

On the kiddo-school etc. front: They had some down time over the holidays even though we didn't really need it for anything. But their daddy was home a lot so we "relaxed" a bit (schedule/routine/school-wise anyway). It was nice but now we're trying to ease back into a routine. I need to do some evaluating of their subjects & add things to their days. With both working more in the early mornings they should be able to fit more into the afternoon. I'm also re-evaluating the twins pre-school program. It seems good for Little Bear due to his short attention span, but they want more. I have another one here I'll take a look at again.

Health wise all their various appointments are up to date except the dentist. Oh, how I hate the dentist trip. We're going to have to bring one or two at a time, depending. The autie kiddos need assistance of course. Little Bear hasn't been, & he's going to be just awful there. He would never open his mouth; we get to brush & floss him but he's used to us & that's it. He will clamp his mouth shut for them; should be "fun". The twins too, are an issue. They still won't cooperate well with their doctor. He's great with them; so mellow. We can barely get the checkups done though; they would never cooperate for a dentist. Thankfully it doesn't look like any of the littles have any dental issues at this time. We will at least have to bring them to start getting them used to the process-somehow. Storyman & Butterfly are looking at orthodontia; another thing I've put off. I never had braces & have crooked teeth but somehow survived. They do have some other issues though so we'll be bringing them, but I'm sooooo dreading it.

On the autism front:  There haven't been changes in a long while, to anything. I am considering what to tweak or do new for them biomedically. Their HANDLE program is actively getting updated at this time. She viewed our videos & offered some tweaks & changes I can implement immediately. So far the boys are good with it; they are typically very cooperative with this program. We'll be scheduling a phone consult so I can speak to her about specific issues; maybe she'll add to the program for us too. I still think a next route would be to add in RDI. It had the most benefit & "sticking power" for Big Guy. It is a huge commitment financially & time-wise & we're not even sure who to work with. We've been in discussion mode over it.

On the animal front:  All the animals are doing well, but Thea, however, is our little old lady, & becoming higher maintainance everyday. She gets her regular pills 2x/day, & her special food. I took her in for a checkup recently & they took blood & urine & found bacteria, so they put her on another short term antibiotic pill for 2x/day. However, I got a call the other day that another test came back saying she's resistent to that one, so we took her off it ($108 later), & now must pick up a specially mixed liquid antibiotic that she will get 1x/day for about 2 weeks I believe... then every other day for another week... something like that. We'll get the instructions when we pick it up. She went down a few ounces in weight so they also wanted me to experiment with B12 shots for her once/week for a while. So that's Thea's plight these days.

The home front:  What a mess... I had started purging & reorg-ing, which typically makes things worse instead of better, at least to start. Well, that's where it all stopped. I try to keep up with the day to day paperwork, kids' schoolwork etc, & that is about enough most of the time. If it were only easier to get rid of things. I can place them somewhere but if they don't have an immediate new home they sit, & wait... & wait... so there are many things still needing to go, somewhere. I'm not looking for decorating or pretty here; just less clutter. Still, a lofty goal.

One the "me" front:  Right... all the updates on diet & exercise... hmmmm... (insert cricket sound here).... someone fell off the wagon, hard. I'm presently trying to climb back on. I wasn't off too long on the exercise at least. It's tough because I do feel stronger, but still very achey & tired. I never get past that point... but I'll keep going. It is worth it, generally. The diet went aside; stress is a killer & it affects everything. It is also hard because there is little time for me to special make things just for me, & I rarely feel like doing so after taking care of everyone else. The plight of a special needs mom trying to get herself to feeling better... {sigh}. The other major thing that needs to happen is Bible reading & prayer time, for me alone & with the kiddos. It's bad enough I don't get fellowship but I need time with Him & I need to get stronger. That's not going to happen on my own; I need Him. Someone wrote to start something new with just 2 minutes/day, because one can do anything for that long.

I suppose, but when it comes to me & my own short attention span & the constant interruptions, we'll see.

Stay tuned, because, the excitement continues, living here on the spectrum...