My ADD post. :D

Hello world,
The longer I go without blogging, the more 'behind' I feel. I feel like I can't just give a regular old post because there has been so much living going on in my family of 5 and I have so much to say. However, I'm just going to step out of that rut and start typing about what is in my mind right now.

Here goes:

My beautiful babies are all in school now! Kimberly is in 4th grade, Kennen is in 1st and baby Griffin is in 2 day a week preschool. I must admit...after our long lazy summer, our new schedule has hit our family like a Mac Truck. We aren't even that busy by most peoples standards. We just have school and each kid is in 1 sport. Should be no big deal to juggle that, but for us it's been hard. A rough adjustment. But this week things finally feel a little smoother and that we can do it.

There have been some changes. First up, I am finally admitting to myself that I have ADD. I have always known that I am a smart person, but I just don't seem to grasp things with the same intensity as other people. It's like my mental list of things to do were little butterflies that fluttered and flitted around inside my head and threatened to scatter away in the wind any second. I forget a lot of things. Paying bills. Washing clothes. Appointments. Social obligations. That when I tell someone, "I'll take care of it," that they actually expect me to (shocker) take care of it. I'm not really hyper. I mean I am kind of a spazz, but mostly my issues are that I am inattentive. I realized that, for me, three children was my tipping point and I no longer had a good enough hold on my life and responsibilities. I went to the Dr and she had me fill out a form. She sat and chatted with me for a few minutes and then wrote me a prescription for Concerta. Easy as that. I am amazed at how great I feel. I feel in control for the first time. I no longer have anxiety that I am forgetting something or that I am going to let someone down. My time management is much better. My house is cleaner. I'm not overwhelmed. I'm motivated and I just feel like I am able to be the best version of myself all the time.

The reason I first even considered it was because Kim struggled so much in 3rd grade. She was so forgetful, wouldn't finish her classwork, wouldn't turn in homework. She would forget to bring her spelling book home. She would tell me that her teacher would be talking and she noticed that other children seemed to understand what they were supposed to do the first time, but that she needed to be told again and again how to do an assignment. Her school isn't allowed to mention that she might had ADD, but they did use lots of adjectives like, 'inattentive', 'spaced out', 'not concentrating'. I was a little slow on the pick up, but I finally took the hint and had her evaluated. The child psychologist was great and tested her on not only ADD but anxiety too. In the ADD sections, she scored 90% more inattentive than other kids and in the anxiety part, he scored 97% more anxious than other kids. For now we are not medicating her. She does stress and struggle but I'm working on coping strategies to get her through each day. She came home with her progress report yesterday with 4 A's and 2 B's. Im so impressed! She is proud too. She said, "All that hard work and all those tears paid off!" <3 Love bug.

Now lets move on to Kennen. Oh my Kenny boy. He also struggled in Kindergarten but got by pretty well. He is actually academically better than Kimberly but socially awkward. He has the speech thing still so that makes it hard to have friends and stuff. He has gotten to the point that if you ask him to repeat something he will say, "Oh nevermind." I think it's a way to keep from getting teased for his speech issues. Even though he is super smart and a great reader and writer, he is slllllooooooowwwwwwww. One day, it took him 30 minutes to write, "Read for 10 minutes," in his homework calendar. His teacher says he spaces off and his folder full of incomplete classwork is building up quickly. The difference between Kim and Kennen though is that he thinks he is awesome. He is really confident and is not worried one bit about his academic performance. He is in speech at school, but he is also in speech with 3 other boys in first grade that happen to play on his football team. He loves going to speech because he gets to see his friends. In an effort to preserve his self confidence, I had him evaluated for ADD as well to be more proactive than I was with Kim. Okay, so I will be the first to admit that when it comes to Kennen I do have blinders on. I understand him on a deep level and I think I pay more attention to his intentions instead of his actions. However, in that interview with the child psychologist I noticed his oddities. Like when you ask him a direct question, he will go off on a tangent that has nothing to do with your question. When you guide him back to the question, he will contradict and talk back. He also was jumping around the office...spinning and making shooting noises and fighting imaginary bad guys. Probably normal boy stuff but well, maybe not. Basically by the end of the session, the Dr. told me that Kennen didn't even need to schedule the 2 hour formal evaluation. It was pretty clear to him that Kennen has ADD or ADHD. I don't think he is particularly hyper but the inappropriate social reactions are usually a result of having the hyperactive version of ADHD.

By the looks of things, all three of us are just a hot mess together. For example, just us getting out of the house on time is a nightmare. The kids can each only find one of their shoes, they forgot to brush their teeth, I can't find my keys, Kennen cries because he is all stressed out, Kim has wandered back upstairs to look for shoes and instead plays with her gerbil, I'm going ballistic and yelling at the kids to hurry, and in the mean time Griffin decides to poop so I have to top what I'm doing and change him. Whew, I'm exhausted just thinking about it.

I am loving my medicine but I need to decide now on whether or not to medicate my kids. I think I am going to at least try it for a month. Parenting is a funny thing...before I was a Mom I never even believed in ADHD/ADD. I thought it was poor parenting. Who knows, maybe I am a crappy Mom and I've taught my kids my bad habits. Oh well though...all I can do now is try to give my babies the best tool to succeed and get past my guilt. Guilt only weighs me down.

Crazy Koupon Lady

My friend recently got me into couponing. Not just the kind of couponing where you save 35 cents on something that you need...but crazy couponing where you stock up on necessities (and not so necessary items) at deep discounts. I'm getting really addicted! This weekend, my total grocery bill between two stores was $577. After coupons I spent $311 and saved $266!!!!! That is with only this weekends Sunday paper...well actually I bought 4 Sunday papers. By spending $8 in newspapers, I saved $266. That's insanity!

Here is the beginning of my 'stockpile'
9 boxes of kelloggs cinnabun cereal
12 gillette mach 3 razors
4 containers of salt
4 boxes of baking soda
10 boxes of jello
4 bottles of All detergent
4 bottles of bronzer lotion (totally not necessary but I like it for my pasty ass legs)
3 cans of salmon
4 cans of pineapple
2 lysol wipes
2 toilet bowl cleaners
40 pudding cups
10 bottles of Fuze flavored water
4 tubs of Philly cooking cream (my new obsession)
12lbs of chicken breast
5lbs of ground turkey
3lbs of deli meat (Jeff doesn't eat carbs so he goes through a ton of meat)
12 bags of frozen veggies
4 bottles of windex
9 packs of cheese (some shredded, some sliced)
3 twelve packs of soda

Whew...that's what I had coupons for/store super sale items. I also bought the regular milk, bread, fruit, crackers etc to pack in the kids lunches. I'm still getting the hang of meal planning and couponing. I must say though that having a ton of meat and frozen veggies keeps it simple. Boring but simple. I just change out a side dish for the kids...tonight it was au gratin potatoes from scratch.

My goal is to save at least 50% off my grocery bill. I saved 46% this time...and I want to do better! Wow, how nerdy am I? :D

Vegas baby

I am officially going on an adult vacation this summer! Tickets are booked for flights, hotels, and Sigfried and Roy's dolphin show. I guess they decided that the white tiger gig was not something they want to continue. Hey, dolphins and gay men in tight pants work for me. :D

I'm not crazy about flying but my desperation for crazy fun outweighs my fears. Nothing that some early morning wine drinking can't cure. Jeff booked a tower suite. I'm not sure why because I'm assuming we wont spend much time in the room but hey...whatever floats his boat ;D. We are going with a bunch of other couples that live in Katy, but my long lost friend that moved to HI will be there too with her husband and kids. I really really REALLY am looking forward to this adult playground. There is a topless pool...could be fun but I will only go if I can wear pasties. There are roller coasters, pools, bars, clubs, dancing, and yes drinking. I am not at all interested in gambling because I never ever win. It just feels stupid and pointless to throw away money. Jeff likes it though so it will be fun to sit at a poker table with him. Oh! Do y'all watch Pawn Stars? I totally want to go to that pawn shop and buy something!

If anyone has advice or tips on other 'must see' attractions, please let me know. Mama is ready to play!

sparkly

i finally have a laptop! yay yay yay yay!!!

So crazy how technology changes. Three years ago I had a slower computer, with a shittier processor and less storage space for $200 more than what I paid for my new HP. Yup...I'm brand loyal. Harry Potter took great care of me in the past and when I went shopping, it was pretty much all I looked at. It just felt riiiiiight. Like a glove. Or riding a bicycle...or something.

My next job is to transfer my 2000 pictures from my iphone to my harddrive...and then I need to back it up to my external drive. Then I need to print and collate them into albums. Yeah, that last part wont happen.

I'm gardening now. I'll talk about that soon but now it's time to watch The Bachelor. Woot!

Must write

I must keep the forward momentum going on this blog. I'm just a few weeks away from a new computer and it will be gloriuous to type with all ten fingers instead of just my right thumb on my tiny iPhone screen. My thoughts flow faster than my touch sceen tapping ability and that my friends is why I've neglected my blog so much.

I need a vacation. I've got the wheels turning on making a Vegas trip happen this summer. It seems like the gods are lining up many arrows that are all pointing to Vegas baby. Check this out;

1.My friend Laurie moved to Maui last year and and she is going to be in Vegas with her family in July.

2. My other friend Sarah is planning on renewing her vows in Vegas in July.

3. I have awesome in laws that prefer to watch my kids without me around so they can over indulge my children without me bringing everyone back to earth. This means free enthusiastic babysitting.

4. I'm long overdue for a trip to AZ. I have nieces, and my Mom, and cousins, and grandparents that I need to reconnect with. Vegas is 5 hours from Phoenix.

5. The kids won't be in school in July.

See what I mean? It's kismit.

My plan #1 is to drive to AZ with my kids and spend some time rekindling my love affair with the desert. Then I wil leave my babies with my in laws while I drive to Vegas. Jeff will meet me in vegas, then we will pick up the kids in Phoenix and drive home to Texas.

Plan #2: in laws fly to Texas, jeff and I fly to Vegas for the weekend, party like rockstars, fly home to Texas. Skip AZ altogether.

Plan two is less stressful but it's been a long time since I've been back "home". Oh I just don't know. I do know that I need to see Laurie and that I need a break from my kids. How is it all going to play out? Not sure yet!

Getting better?

Yesterday I had my colonoscopy. Wow what a trip! That twilight anesthesia Versed is pretty fabulous. I remember the medicine being injected into my iv line and I was trying really hard to concentrate and attempt to stay awake. Then I blinked my eyes and I was in a different room sipping on some ice water. It's different than waking up from sleep. When you wake up from sleep, you have a sense that you have been laying there for awhile. Waking up from versed feels like no time has passed at all. So weird!

Anyway, my dr. said that I only have left sided colitis now, which is an improvement from my pancolitis a few years ago. I also had 2 polyps removed which is pretty freaky. They were small, I'm sure they are benign...but still. I'm only 31 and I have polyps. Eek! Get your colonoscopies people! Colon cancer is one of the leading killer cancers out there but it's so preventable! Quick...do it before Obama-care dictates that you aren't allowed to have one!

In other news...it's supposed to snow today. In Houston people!!!! Crazy! I'm off to crawl under a thick down comforter with my baby boy. Oh...except that he doesn't cuddle. So I guess I'm off to attempt to cuddle with my baby boy while he arches his back while scratching at me with his finger and toe nails.

Checking in. :D

Tonight I have the glorious luxury of having a laptop to blog on. Ever since the unfortunate death of my old laptop, I have been stuck on just my iphone for all of my internet enjoyment. I'm greatful for my 3g network and autocorrect...but it's no qwerty keyboard!

Lets see...what's new? Griffin is a happy healthy 18 month old. He's walking, talking, throwing fits and stealing everyone heart around him. He has a determination about him that I admire. He is contstantly having 'big kid toys' taken away from him but despite being told no a zillion times per day, he is still relentless. He wants what he wants and he never gives up. It can be annoying but I admire that and I see a lot of Jeff in Griffin. Self starter. Arrogant. Charming. All those things that make me swoon, lol.

Kennen is impressing me in kindergarten. Ever since he has speech/balance/development issues, I always assumed he would be behind. It's funny because I went into his parent-teacher conference ready to hear the worst. He is ahead of his class as far as reading and knowing his sight words. He doesn't need speech therapy anymore. The only thing he doesn't say correctly are his 'L's" but that is still within the normal realm of kindergarten kids. He is enormous! He is 65lbs and wears a size 7/8. He is very tall and lean. He has my heart as always. I don't have a favorite child...it's just impossible buuuuut. He's very special to me. :D

Kimberly, oh my Kimmy-girl growing up so fast. She has been developing her social life. I am really trying hard to fight my instinct to tell her she's not allowed to have friends that I don't choose for her. It's annoying when she has girls calling and asking her to play or sleep over every weekend. She's just a baby...a mere 8 years old...too young for sleepovers, right? Apparently not. I'm learning to let go just a tiny bit. She had a slumber party last night and I was up between the hours of 2am-6am and more than once I worried about Kim. Was she having fun? Was she warm? Did the smoke alarms in the house she was staying at have fresh batteries? Was the father of her friend a pedophile? Would she pee the bed and become the laughing stock of third grade? Of course she just had fun and was her happy strong self when I picked her up. No worse from the wear and very happy to have a night with her girlfriend.

The huz. We just celebrated 9 years of marriage a few years ago. I bought him a Coach wallet and he cooked me dinner, pampered me and bought me 2 dozen roses. I had all these ideas of tucking in the kids early, sharing a bottle of wine, savoring our steaks and salad. Instead we had kids begging for steak too, crying toddler, barking dog, and general pandemonium. It was fun. I love the noise. He has been working a ton lately...but honestly making more money than ever so no complaints here. So odd that I married a waiter and now Jeff is so successful. I always knew he was smart and driven...but yeah, I must say it's a nice yet unexpected bonus that he takes such good care of our little family.

Me? I'm good. My anxiety...which I may or may not have really blogged about in the past...is kind of chilling out. I'm not sure why. Maybe having a baby to dote on is good for my mental health. Please take note people...if I ever suffer some kind of amnesia or dementia, please give me a baby doll and tell me it's my child. Being a mother gives me a peaceful easy feeling. My UC is in the shitter. I'm swallowing handfuls of pills a day and I'm only minimally controlling my symptoms. I even met with a colo-rectal surgeon a few weeks ago to discuss removing my colon. I'm sick of the pills, I'm sick of the pain...bah I'm just over it. But then I went to the surgeon and my vanity got the best of me. I don't want an ostomy even if its temporary. I don't want the nasty vertical scar on my abdomen. I had three perfect pregnancies with no c-section scars and no stretch marks. I would hate to ruin one of my better assetts by slashing it up with huge scars. I did find a sort of famous surgeon in my city that does laproscopic surgery and if I did need a total colectomy, I would go with that guy. But I don't think I am there yet with my disease. I think the surgery and then living with a jpouch (a rectum fashioned out of my small intestines and hooked up to my bung hole) would be better than what I'm living with. I'm back on prednisone, along with my colazal and 6mp, and I'm feeling pretty well. I'm getting fat again though so I'm tapering sooner than later. Oh! I almost forgot...I have another colonoscopy on Wednesday. The last time I had one, my Dr. hospitalized me. i had the last procedure done in the hospital so it was easy to admit me. This time I am smarter. I am going to an outpatient clinic so she can't admit me. Muahahahaha! I don't have time for another hospital stay. I'm much better than last time though so I don't anticipate that she would admit me but just to be safe...outpaitent clinic it is!

Speaking of getting fat. I'm going to join weight watchers this week. Boo. Hiss. But it's time. I tried on swimsuits already and it was pretty scary. All of the sudden, my Mothers reflection was staring back in the mirror. Cellulite and all! I need to lose 20 lb's stat!

Wow it feels great to blog. I need to buy a laptop. I need to buy a laptop. I need to buy a laptop.