the last of May is over!! *WHEW*

wow! what an ending to a month! School is out, Graduation is over, and the POOL is OPEN!!






I'm over my little pity party...I'm not why it is so necessary for me to wallow a little bit, before i pull up my big girl panties, and get on with the tasks at hand....but i do. Didn't mean to be a bummer....Judevine comes tomorrow and starts us off with a 3 hour training session. Hopefully THEY will teach ME how to deal with some of molly's more undesireable habits....and either get her talking, or get us all signing!


This is a pic the school sent over after i posted about the fishing trip...lmao! doesn't molly just look THRILLED with the field trip???





and ally's graduation:













Gabe barbeque'd for all the families, and the food was delicious!




And we were granted a beautiful day for the outing...it had rained the previous 5 days, and was looking bleak, but it just turned out to be a perfect day:

We took molly out to a party our local Hospital was throwing, on the occasion of thier 50th year of operations...She had a ball! (and a blue coconut sno-cone!) The main pic on the title of the blog was her coming down a TWO STORY SLIDE~! ALL BY HERSELF!! (ok, one dad had to get up there and talk her AND his little girl into the tall climb)










After that we made what's become an annual event, and stopped to have lunch with Texas, a friend and workmate from the old Walmart Days! She lives in Branson now, but comes over every Memorial Day Weekend!

And some exciting stuff for you bird watchers out there! We have returning Killdeer to our yard...strange little things lay thier eggs in the open field (where we may not mow anymore) and hatch them there, before moving them to the lake. There were 3 eggs, and we timed the peek just right to see the last little one




mama kept a close eye on us:




And the adoption effort puppy is still with us. I haven't heard from anyone close, that i think would be a good family for her, although there have been several long distance opportunities from wisconsin and illinois ???????? what is with THAT? so she is still hanging around, waiting for me to move her:





So it's been a busy month...June is the month of birthdays around here...Aubrey Jo has her #1, Molly turns 9 on the 22nd and Bill has one on the 11th! I got this in the mail this week: Isn't she just adorable?? I mean really, have you EVER seen such a beautiful baby??? (sorry, couldn't help it, grammy keeps BLOWING outta my proud chest!! She is ABSOLUTELY the BEST!! and now? The invitation to her first birthday party!! YAY AUBREY JO!!






And we'll do it all over again when Shauna comes to town on the 18th! We will celebrate ALL the kid's birthdays then, when they'll all be together! So ON WITH JUNE!! I hope it is as eventful as May!!

I'll let you know next week how my training goes...and our new life in Summer school as a mom of a child with the dual diagnosis! I am happy to have her, blessed with FOUR healthy children, and with the love they have brought to me twofold, with the addition of the ones that THEY love...and surrounded by the love of good friends. I have MANY MANY THINGS to be thankful for, and won't let a little "label" get me down!

A new title, a new life, and a rainy day blog

Yea, I've been off awhile...partly because we've been so busy with Ally's graduation/end of school stuff/and acceptance. I'll talk about the fun in a future posting...it's just been a blur in my life as of late...for now? we'll focus on one topic:

Acceptance


Molly Kate now has a definite diagnosis of being on the Austism Spectrum. There, I've typed it for the world to see...My skunky, funny girl is Autistic.


tears...*sniff*



She went to Kindergarden twice...the first time? FABULOUS!! Everyone loved her, she was gaining a vocabulary, and was elected princess candidate of the spring festival...purely a popularity election. She was the only one on stage to engage the audience in the Wonder of Molly Kate, bowing, throwing kisses and inviting applause and adorable admiration. The pinacle which spoke of the future, and just how much of a "poster child" for Down Syndrome she would become. No need to fear...I'm just like YOU!!






Year two? things started to change....her circle of friends started dwindling to 1 or 2...she had previously dropped the signs when she verbalized the word...but now she was dropping the words, too...and she became more obsessive/compulsive.....playing only with toys that would stack well...then forgoing toys altogether for better stacking utinsels like paper plates, spoons, and oreo cookies.


denial



For 2 years i watched the changes...they were also noticed by teachers and tagged as a possible "A word" in her IEPs, (still not ready to accept the possiblity) and then? i started talking to other moms, and visiting other websites.... Moms with kids on the spectrum.



I'm Angry



I was so careful with her innoculations, only to find out i could have separated the MMR and taken it in 3 different doses....knowledged gained too late. I'm not saying it WAS the MMR, I'm saying i don't feel like i was given enough knowledge about all the alternatives at the time of innoculation....(hers was definitely mercury free) and we still don't know why this disorder is attacking our children at the current estimates of 1 in 150.

Since she has Down Syndrome and the majority of physicians don't believe that our children can have Autism (they think it more of a level of the DS)so I too kept dragging my feet. It's taken me two years to grasp the idea and call in the experts...and the experts have come and filmed an evaluation, studied it for 2 months...and sent us the diagnosis.

She is mildly autistic by their standards...but still...another diagnosis, and this one packing SO MUCH MORE OF A PUNCH than the DS did....I so worry about "losing" her...her spitfire...her sassy...her demonstrative love......this diagnosis has just knocked me for a LOOP!


I'm slowly getting on board. Judevine has promised parent training...support...playdates...respite...horse & music therapy and of course we will persue any and all opportunities for her as always


but.... (sorrow)



It still leaves me feeling lost. She's different from her peers, now (friends with down syndrome) and we again find ourselves in the limbo world of parenting. Time to start all over I guess, and accept it...support it...learn it..fight for her and her place in this world ....and advocate.





soon

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Happy Memorial Day sounds like such an oxymoron. Thank you! more appropriate.

Thank you to my dad and uncles who fought in the big one, WWII....thanks to all of you from my generation who fought in Nam, and didn't get the thanx when you came home.....and as our own 1138th prepares to leave for that horrible place, THANK YOU and prayers for our servicemen and women currently serving in this lastest conflict.


We especially honor and remember my Father in Law, Glen Wilson, who left us too early at the hands of Altzheimers, after surviving the Germans.

After fighting in Germany, he came home and devoted his life to his 5 children and wife... and the Missouri State Patrol for 33 years...

always the public servent...and the bar to reach for. We miss you, pops

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!

I sat down to write a touching Mother's Day blog, but was interrupted by a SNOOTY little MISS KNOW IT ALL...who is currently fighting me on the wearing of the big girl panties. It's not that she isn't potty trained...she is...it's just the fact the "bypers" are the norm, and in NO WAY should we ever venture away from our routines. MOLLY THE MULE!!

Such is Mother's Day to SO MANYYYYYYYYYYY wonderful moms i have the pleasure of knowing...my sisters. We can discuss panties, hormones, flop&drops, poop & IEPS. We know enough collectively to make one fantastic physician!! (as well as how to make a geneticist cringe)

We have shared our joys, and screamed our losses and just about the time we are ready to give up???...we lift each other up in love, in shared stories, and touching phone calls, and prayer....never with condemnation or pity (which is possible from the typpies)....but with the love of true understanding and compassion. Our children have taught us lessons in patience and diversity we would have never learned without them, and along the way have introduced us to each other. We Celebrate Them! and thank them for that awesome gift!


We meet face to face, open our homes to each other without a second thought...the sisterhood kows no anxiety over things like that...we just love "hangin" with each other. We come from every demography imaginable and yet we are family by the one link that binds us closer than blood.

We understand. That's just it...we UNDERSTAND.

I hope one day...the whole world can reach this level.




HA HA!! PANTIES!! I WIN!!
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This week marks the beginning of the "end of school" parties...we didn't post last week, nor have the parties been as much fun, because of the rain and tornadoes....but we keep trying. One day daddy went to school and all the kids went fishing!! Molly caught the first fish!! (She wasn't impressed) The MUD was pretty awesome though!!


this is her and our beloved miss stephanie, who is not even afraid of splitting up worms and hooking them for 30 kids!!




and this is Chloe our newest temporary "child"....we are re-homing her...I am thinking about calling her Karma, because thru the advertising I've done, we may have found the original breeder, as well as a woman with the same name as her 2nd owner, who ALSO lost a female german shep! (that was a wrong number, BTW!) I have lots of wonderful prospects for homes for her, and will be sad to see her go.....she's been a HOOT!

have a GREAT DAY!! Enjoy the pampering and THANK YOU MOMS for all that you do for ME!!

love,
e & molly kate