one of those weeks....i

where to start?? i KNOW...i was OFF two weeks!!

The GOOD NEWS? we have found out that she is indeed pooping! *whew*!!

The BAD NEWS?? it took me HOURS to fish the poopy pull-ups out of the pool!

Life with kids with SNs is always full of surprises, detective work, and you better have a KEEN sense of humor! We need to appreciate and develop that throwing arm also, as the pool is twice as tall as she, and the pullups would have had to be side-arm LAUNCHED up there!

and SPEAKING of smelly!! Molly and I were driving somewhere, and I smelled something HORRIBLE in what is suppose to be the 'new car smell' of our new Tahoe! OH NOOOOOOOOO!! I take a right, instead of heading for the weekly shopping, and bring molly home....but it's not molly! it seems something has crawled up into my air conditioner and died.....almost bearable if you don't have to turn the air on!! PEEEEWWWW!! *gotta love the ozarks* Oh yea...sorry moll, sorry i thought dead skunk-smell was a digestive issue with you!

The smells in the house are a little nicer, today...white beans and ham are marking the start of autumn...they take all day to cook, and the house smells....well...snuggly! I love this time of year....the food helps to define it...white beans & ham..with cornbread. Autumn has arrived.

The new playcenter seems to be doing more than providing entertainment..the physical activity has really got her "moving"....now we need to get her to move to the
bathroom! We are pleased that she is becoming more regular, and we can ease up on the meds....but now I'm wondering.. shouldn't the insurance foot half the bill of the installation? or if we should erect a cedar framed outhouse by the playcenter. hmmmmmmm

I had the g-baby all of last weekend, but can't seem to pull the little videos i made of her off of my phone! so you'll just have to go peek at her 3 month old face in her album in the myspace home! Her mommy and dad had a weekend of best-friend wedding in Cape Girardeau, so baby came to stay with us! It was the first time they had been out as a couple since her June arrival and we were happy to give them some fun time.

It was my first time being on gramma duty...and I LOVED IT!! no blogging though as I had forgotten how newborns are REALLY NEEDY!! It does give you some added incentive to get things accomplished though, when you know you only have a 1/2 hour of naptime to bathe, vacuum, dust and get dinner going! SUPER G-MA!!!

Molly says Aubrey's name, but it was discovered that she cannot pronounce J's! She calls the baby Aubrey E-LO! (jo)



Hurricane Ike rolled through that sunday morning...scared the fire out of us, but we maintained power during the 60mph winds. Unfortunately 3000 of our neighbors did not. We are blessed that he lost some of his punch by the time he got to missouri. Prayers to those rebuilding in Texas...i can't even IMAGINE! The wedding party also reported that they awoke to a dark motel room...no coffee or breakfast...and came home early on that Sunday!

Tuesday, we tried to go to the new dds. We've been trying for nearly a year now, to find a good dentist for her, one that will sedate and not scare her. This one was a two hour drive away, but we're at the point of doing ANTHING and going ANYWHERE!

Her old dentist changed policy and was insisting that my friend/doc here...be responsible if anything went wrong in her chair! (signed waiver from him) She was in Springfield and used versed....but it wasn't working that well with Molly anyway.

I thought the new waiver policy was OUTRAGEOUS! and even though i know the friend/doc would do anything we asked...i found myself ethically bound NOT to ask! as IF! I heard many complaints about this from other parents of
children with special needs, many of whom DIDN'T have a doctor that would agree to such nonsense! Liability Insurance trumps dental care now! She was the only game in the area, also....hence the reason for the new dentist search.

So the new dentist was referred to us through molly's caseworker. I won't be making that mistake again. I keep expecting someone who works for the state to have A CLUE...but such is not the case. They keep telling me to send them information from YALL'S caseworkers...so they can figure out how to get molly some services!

*banging head ..board*

This dentist won't work on Molly...and his nurse *ratchett* actually squinched her nose when she asked me.."Is she AUTISTIC?" ah yes, evidently now at hygienist school, they teach them how to diagnose many things, although she missed the DS.

Dr Doom did however (well to Larry, as I was given the
"signal" to go to the car...i only get that signal when the sarge sees my eyes watering and my fists balling up...saves on legal expenses) gave us a few references. Wow, just what we needed, more references on who to see....like HE wasn't a reference! He then berated me for not having a dentist!! (that's when i got the signal) This is our 4th or 5th referral...all of whom have referred us
to someone else...and OH YEA! $$$$$$$ they ALL get paid hefty for seeing us!

not doing anything..just SEEING us!

I am in the wrong line of work *grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr*

My wonderful husband, who knows I'm way past upset...(but is just too much of a man to understand why emotions have to come into the situation) does make a side trip to Mantauk Park...something neither of us knew existed, and we took a little nature hike full of Missouri waterways...a bubbling spring and a glimpse of the greenery that will soon turn into autumn. I did calm down a little after that (ok, that AND a margarita at our favorite Mexican restaurant)
*he knows me too well and this pic is why i really love the ozarks*











At the dds...he is only catching half of the conversation...he lost all the hearing in one ear LAST week, when driving over to the 'boot hill' area of the state. I blew it off to congestion, and/or altitude change, gave him a decongestant on that saturday night.....then had him to the ear guy on monday. They have one chance to kill a virus that likes to attack the ear nerve (same as the chickenpox) and we did a week of high dose steroids and anti virals.

Andddddddddd that didn't work.

This week? off to the MRI house to make sure there is nothing growing on that nerve to cause trouble(tumor) and the following week into discuss MRI results and plan B.
Plan B isn't looking too good, as there is nothing they can do for it. If it's gone...it's gone.

I guess plan B is a second opinion.

*I am developing waiting room butt*

I was SOOOOOO looking forward to sleeping in today...Saturday morning was my focus for the week...no real plans just to GET THERE!

We EVEN had an incident on Thursday that involved my German Shep diving out the front window and taking out a SCREEN!! freak me OUT!! It seems that a possum ( NASTY!!) had wandered up to the front of the house, and decided like that was a good place to nap!! EEK!! mama squealed like a pig and threw everything in the house at him (right..good...he's looking at me like "ho-hum..that all ya got?) when daddy came to the rescue with the GLOCK???

oooooooh no...my big strong cop-hubby was wielding a broom handle!! seem to do the trick though! Here is a possum...they look like a big rat that has never seen sunlight...not my pic...just A pic, and I could puke just showing you!





So,with much effort...i took Hattin the Cat to the vet this Saturday morning...we seem to be having some bad health luck all the way around! Hattin had to have some IV fluids administered, as well as shots and meds...it seems HE has a virus!! I didn't even know cats COULD get a virus!

I ended up dreaming about work all night *they should pay overtime when that happens* when the light BLASTED into my room at 6am, followed by a LOUD VOICE demanding DORA!!

*good morning*

I stumbled to fixed the tv, and much to my surprise.....she shut the light back off, crawled in and snuggled up close..and it wasn't dora...this week the DVD that can make her giggle silly...is of all things...THE PINK PANTHER!! sing it with me now......."da da da dum...da dum...da dut da dut DA dum......da da da dummmmmmmmm"










She likes him AND Tom&Jerry!! all the stuff that doesn't have alot of language in it...*sigh*

This morning we'll toss all 'learning' DVD's to the wind...and allow her the cartoons, only because of the peals of laughter that come rolling out of her! It seems she also finds bumps growing out of bopped heads...
and kitty tongues flying out of fry-panned heads....just too delightful! (i KNOW! no emails please! ha!)

So this sat morn.. we snuggled and listened to Henry Mancini music, and even though i knew i had a whole house to sanitize, as well as the cat/vet trip...I'll take that 5 minutes of snuggle time. I'll be grateful that we have a warm, big, bed, and the means to continue the hunt for good doctors and good health. I will offer up my frustrations and headaches...to those that have needs much greater than ours...and try to be thankful for the blessings bestowed on me.....especially the little blessing snuggled in my bed this morning...teaching me about
priorities.

and if you made it all the way through? KUDO'S TO YOU!! now go kiss your kids, and know that EVERYONE has weeks like this! we will muddle through...knowing that the good times are around the corner...and they will be SO MUCH SWEETER because of weeks like THIS!