Catch up, Ketchup or Catsup........Here I am =)

Ok so it has been a couple of weeks since I have written, I am trying to keep myself accountable and I am failing miserably. The last couple of weeks have just been stressful. There has been a lot going on with everyone. First and foremost Cassy has started her therapy. We had her first meeting last Tuesday, the therapists name is Cherri and she seems super sweet and Nice and Cassy seemed to like her, she has been working with kids for 12 years and has been with Cassy's Psychiatrist for 4 years, she is a mom of 2 girls as well. It was a very informal meeting just a meet and greet sort of, we sat and talked about my concerns for Cassy and just sort of what the regular session is going to be like for her. We have also pulled almost 100% of milk out of her diet I say almost 100% because Cassy is a sneaky and crafty little girl who loves her milk and always manages to find a way to get some each day. She also has an evaluation on October 1st with the school district for testing, if they do find any delay they will get her in a a class room Pre-K for 3 and 4's which I think will be great for her and I am excited at the prospect of it. Last weekend Katie had her first Cross Country Meet although she is in middle school she gets to run for the high school team and she did really well and even shaved a little over 4 minutes off her time, we are all very proud of her, she ran a 5k in 31 mins and 12 sec, she has another meet tomorrow I will not be able to attend that meet as it is in Columbia which is about 1 and 1/2 from home and I just do not trust my car enough to take it that far. Shane started his new job with Lincoln Harris this week, it is a bit of adjustment for all of us, he is switching from 3rd shift to 2nd shift with a week of 1st shift, Cassy, Shayna and my self's routine is just a mess right now. Luckily next week he will go on straight 2nd shift so we will be able to readjust our schedule. This is a great job that came with a nice pay increase, great benefits, Shane has a lot of potential with this job, this is a place he could retire from, so far he seems to like it, he was nervous the first couple of days but he is really liking it now. Sammy and JoJo are doing great in school, they are really liking it. Sammy has been a busy little bee like usual, last weekend she went to the beach with a friend and the weekend before that she was in Georgia with the same friend and if memory serves correct I think she may be making plans for this weekend. I am not sure if it is a good thing or a bad thing that my almost 10 year old daughter is more well traveled than ones self. Jojo has asked to play soccer so we are waiting for soccer sign ups to come around it won't be long before hey are sending them home. Shayna is doing great, I can not believe that she is almost a year old, I am really not sure where the last year has gone. Shay is walking a ton she is now trying to run, she has successfully climbed the front stairs 2 times and I am not liking that and she has also cut 2 more teeth so that is 2 on top and 2 on bottom. As far as me, well I have been stressed I am not going to lie, last week I was so frazzled tired and stressed that when I got home at 7 from picking Katie up from practice, I got out of the car and into the house and for almost 7 hours my car ran in the drive way, I got out of my car and forgot to shut it up, talk about preoccupied mind, thank god for Denise stopping by to check on me or the car would have ran all night long, in 7 hours it only burned a little over a 1/4 of a tank of gas so that is good. Well I guess that is the catch up for the day =)

Hello I love you won't you tell me your name?

I am not sure what I can do with Cassy to make her realize that there are such things as strangers. That child has no fear of anyone at all. Every person is her best friend and she is not afraid to let them know. She will run up to complete strangers and wrap her arms around them and tell them "You are my best friend" I have tried explaining that she can not do that, it does not matter what I say she just can not grasp it. I have so many fears of her running off with a stranger. She is quick in the blink of an eye boom she can be gone just like that, I do my best to keep her right with me hold her hand, but sometime it just takes a second. I can not put her in the stroller or carriage because that causes an extremely bad melt down and I am not sure how I feel about "leashes" for children. I guess I just have be more careful and not take her out into public places as much =/

A New Roomate

Well the last weeks sleeping arrangements have been interesting. Since Cassy has started her new med it is more comfortable for me to be near her while she is sleeping. This means it has been a week of figuring out exactly how to do it. First we were in the living room, that was just not comfortable for either of us, so I was sleeping with her in her bed, that does not work though because the baby sleeps in my room, so when all else fails she is now sleeping in my room. At first I had her in the bed, that quickly came to a halt when she had an accident and wet the bed. Now she has a nice little pallet made on the floor next to the bed where I can be close to her but still have the luxury of sleeping comfortably in my own bed. She is still waking during the night, however, when she wakes now it is not play time she usually just goes right back to bed. The only problems we are having are 1 sometimes she needs to get up and go the bathroom which is fine but she does not wake me she just goes but in the process of going she seems to get lost in the living room or kitchen (I believe this is do to the drowsiness of the meds) so this results in a chilling scream at 3 am the 2nd problem we are having is she knows how to use the remotes for the TV so she is putting the TV on at 3am she finds her cartoons and quietly watches them till she goes back to sleep. I could easily detour her from doing this by putting the remotes somewhere we she can not get them, however, this action result in a crying episode which in turns wakes the baby. I just want her to sleep. So what do i do? Do I let her just watch the cartoons till she falls back asleep or do I let her get upset and put her back to bed? I do not have a problem with the cartoons except I do not want her to get into a habit of watching TV whenever she feels the need. Do I put her back in her own bed and then hope when she does wake at night that she will come to me and not find her way into trouble. What if she goes outside? What if she gets into something in the kitchen or bathroom that will harm her? I have some planning to do to figure out what has got to happen. I really just need her to sleep through the night, I am also afraid that is she gets into a regular routine of watching the TV that eventually that will turn into playing a little then playing more then playing a lot which will in tun defeat the entire purpose of the meds to begin with. It is just a frustrating process. I am going to put a call into the Dr to discuss these concerns with him and see if he has any sound advice.
As for the older girls they are enjoying school so far which is great. i did have to have Sammy's class assignment changed but that worked out fine. Katie has been so busy with Cross Country and now school that she has a hard time keeping her eyes open at the dinner table, at least this way I know she will stay out of trouble. I can not believe that in less than a month Shayna is going to be a year old, I am still trying to figure out where the year went. TGIF!

First Day of School

AHHHHHHHHHHH that is how I spell relief! My older girls had their first day of school. Now do not get me wrong I love all my girls to death, but I have to say my day was a little less stressful now that 3 of them were not here. They all got up on time this morning without a fight, which is very unusual. I can not make any promises for what tomorrow might bring, but here is to hoping, praying and keeping my fingers crossed. Now that the girls are back in school I am hoping to get a more ergular schedule down for Cassy and Shayna. I would really like to start some homeschooling with Cassy, she so badly wants to learn and go to school but she is just not old enough to go yet. I am going to start out with some really basic things and we will go from there. It will also depend on how long I can keep her attention and how long she will stay on task. I am going to get out my big dry erase board and start using to help me stay on task so that I can help her stay on task. Sometimes if things are not right there in my face I will either forget about them or put them off till later or tomorrow, the problem being later and tomorrow never come.
As far as Cassy and her sleeping, that did not go as well as I had hoped. She did wake up a few times again last night, the first time she woke because she had peed the bed. Did I forget to mention that it was my bed that she was sleeping in. After a quick wash, a bed stripping, and some new PJ's she settled nicely on the floor next to my bed, although she did not stay there to long. Once I had the bed cleaned and new sheets on it she was in it again, luckly for me she had already gone to the bathroom so I did not have to worry about that happening again. As for how i slept, well I had nightmares when I was sleeping.

Bag Bucket Basket

Today was a pretty good day!!!!!!! It has been awhile since we have had one of those. I have been busy most of the day getting things ready for the older kids to go back to school tomorrow =) I love my kids to death but I am happy that tomorrow starts the new school year. Cassy kept herself very busy today, she "played" with the Littlest PetShop Animals today, when I say "play" it is because she does not really play with them like other kidsw her age. She spent her time lining them all up on the coffee once they were all lined up perfect each one got put into a bag then into a bucket and then into a basket. In between "playing" with the LPS animals she was listening careful as I spoke to the other girls about what they needed to do. Now let me tell you it is the cutest thing in the world when they do not promptly do what I ask because little mother hen Cassy is quick to go and tell them "you need to go and ....."., however, the older girls do not find it so cute and funny!

Long Road Ahead

Noone ever said that motherhood was going to be easy, however, I did not realize it could be so hard. I am starting this blog well for a couple of reasons, but mostly to document my journey. I am about to embark on a wild ride, a long journey, a bumpy road. I know I could not do it without the support of my husband, my family or my wonderful friends. I hope that someday I can look back and say I did the absolute best I could. I also hope that by documenting My Life as a Mom I might be able to give peice of mind to other mothers who are on a journey of thier own whether it be an easy one or a difficult one. I hope that I can find humor and humility in my life. I hope that I can learn to accept the things I can not change, and do my best to change the things that I can. I will not say that I will blog everyday though I hope that I can find the time to do that. I also can not say what I will blog about, it will change so who knows, I just want to document all the changes that I am embarking on, all the knowledge that I will gain, and the experiences I will have. This journey that I am speaking about will focus mostly on my daughter Cassy, she is almost 4 and has recently been diagnosised with ADHD OCD and an Anxiety disorder, this is where the journey begins but does not end. Her Dr has also reffered her to see a specialist to have her evaluated for Autism. Lefe is about to get crazy, but I am strapped in and ready to ride.