Life in the Grey Area

Happy Father's Day!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Tina Davis) — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 14:16:00 +0000

Happy Father's Day to all you great daddy's out there. I'm hoping that Jay and I can take the kids to the lake today, but I guess it's supposed to rain:( We'll just have to think of another way to celebrate.

I woke up this morning to find the kids happily wrapping Father's Day gifts in Christmas paper. Ooh so proud of their little homemade gifts! Now they have to try to wake Jay up!!!

Just a few other things...One of the blogs I have a link to ended up being a big hoax. What a bummer!! I hope that in the future I can be more aware of things like that.

But I would like to you to keep praying for a family that is very close to my heart. They are friends of ours from college days and have a sweet little daughter Lucy who is going through a lot right now. The link is on my profile page-All the Marletts.

Hope you all have a great day!

Sweet New Phone!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Tina Davis) — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 21:55:00 +0000

Hello again! I took a little Twitter break while friends and I had a garage sale. But now I'm back and I've got a sweet new phone. Just stopped in to the Sprint store to see what kind of upgrade I could get. I left 20 minutes later with a great purple Rant. Better keyboard and camera than the one I had. Now the kids are happy because the home phone is now my 'old' Rumor. They will probably be texting all the time now too!

Only four days of school left for the big kids. Hope got done with preK last week. I'm not sure that this mommy is ready for summer! I will be very busy with Faith and Lola toddling around. Just thinking about all the meals, snacks, entertainment, swim lessons, camps....makes me a little sick to my stomach.

Off to work I go. Hope Jay and the kids have a wonderful evening:)

A New Day

noreply@blogger.com (Tina Davis) — Thu, 21 May 2009 21:05:00 +0000

Thought it was about time to do some spring cleaning over here at my blog. Or maybe it is just my way of procrastinating any cleaning I may or may not be doing at my house.

When I started this blog I intended to write a diary of sorts to help me work thru the frustrations of having four kids-two with special needs. I have come to find out that my intentions were good, but my blogging abilities have something to be desired.

Now I have landed in the reality of loving to read other peoples blogs and yet not having the time to update my own very often. I also tried Twittering and I am having a lot of fun with that. Facebook is another great time sucker that I just can't stay connected with. I don't know why...all my friends are doing it?!

So if you are reading this-I applaud you for sticking with me. Leave a note and let me know you were here.

For now I will leave a few prayer requests for you religious types:

Lola is having an MRI and some other testing tomorrow. She is such a little sweetie and I hate the thought of her being sad. Please pray for her and that the tests will bring long awaited answers.

I have been following two blogs with little ones who need prayer. Stellan could use prayer for his heart and April Rose could use prayer as she enters this world soon with Trisomy 18.

Also little Lucy is having many tests and appts this week. Pray for answers!

And for the Lockwood family as they travel back Mexico with their 12 little ones.

HAVE A GREAT THURSDAY!

Dangers at McDonalds!

noreply@blogger.com (Tina Davis) — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 20:51:00 +0000

So here is the story-

I went to McD's at Hope's request. Pulled into the drive-thru and started to order. Waited patiently for a response from the speaker that my order had been heard....nothing..."Hello?"...nothing....I am waaaaay too patient..."Hello?"...nothing...finally I give up. I circle the restaurant and reenter the drive-thru. Decide too late that I should switch to the other drive-thru lane, so I stop and reverse (there was nobody behind me).

Here comes the bad part...

I shift the truck into drive and swerve around their little cement median thingy (or at least I thought there was enough room to go around it). Next thing I hear is a horrible BUMP...CRUNCH...SCREECH from the underside of my truck. Everyone around McD's was looking at me-this I totally hate!!! I now can see the HUGE rock (that just destroyed part of my truck) in the median, possibly meant to ward away lane changers such as myself.

I make a quick decision to abort the mission at this McD's location and make a hasty exit while trying not to make eye contact with anyone who saw my mishap.

Just down the road is another McDonald's...
and my wonderful husband.
He took just one look at the damage and shook his head in dismay-without a single word about woman drivers.

Tweet Tweet

noreply@blogger.com (Tina Davis) — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 23:13:00 +0000

So as you may have noticed, I gave up on blogging around Christmas. I'm not really sure why, just didn't have the energy. So I thought I might try my hand at another great mode of communication-Twitter.

I'm stuck home sick right now, so what better to do than spend my time getting set up with Twitter and then blogging about it. ( What in the world did my own mother do when she was sick? ) Hopefully this will also inspire me to pick up blogging again.

I would love to hear from all of you out there. Motherhood is definitely a journey that can't be faced alone.

Hope to tweet you soon!

Merry Christmas!!

noreply@blogger.com (Tina Davis) — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 21:01:00 +0000

From our home to yours....

Have a blessed holiday season!!!

Way too long!

noreply@blogger.com (Tina Davis) — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 02:19:00 +0000

Well, it's been way too long since my last post. I have been struggling a bit with my typical winter blues, but it seems to have crept up on me early this year. It just makes every little thing just a bit harder to handle! So good 'ole Dr. B adjusted my dose ;) and now I seem to be back on track.

As always life just keeps flying by! The pic is from Thanksgiving. Aren't we just a happy little family:) The kids are now knee deep in their Christmas lists and counting the days. I was just on the upswing with cleaning and laundry after the whole lice fiasco when we all got the puking flu!!!! Can you even imagine the horror?! Five of the six people in this family were sick at the same time. Somehow Grace escaped-I swear she has an immune system made of steel!

I haven't finished Christmas shopping yet. I did get some Christmas cards/photos printed at Target. I have even delivered a few. That makes me feel good. Tonight I spent a lovely evening out to dinner with my favorite friends from work:) Our supervisor/friend treated us to a dinner without husbands and children-what a dream!! It was her Christmas gift to us. She is seriously the sweetest woman I know! I'm very lucky...

On a serious note, I have a few prayer requests for all of you religious types. My dear little Lola has been having some health issues. She has spent some days in the hospital and had many, many tests done. She will have more testing tomorrow. I just ask that you pray for answers and peace for her parents. She is a trooper and is still remaining very happy through this rough time.

And also prayers for a few more people I love who are experiencing health issues right now: my dad, my cousin, and baby Lucy. Thank you!

Introducing Lola!!!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Tina Davis) — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 21:31:00 +0000

This little darling is the latest addition to our clan. I started doing daycare for Lola at the beginning of September. It turned out to be such a blessing for all of us! She fits in with our family sooooo well. We miss her when she's not here!

Lola is the sweetest girl ever! She is always giving hugs and kisses to everyone. Her favorite things are her baby doll and balls. She is not even a year old and is already walking and saying many little words.

Faith and Lola are great friends already. They have huge smiles when Lola arrives in the morning and sometimes tears when she leaves. Her mommy and daddy miss her soooo much when they are at work, but we love having her as part of our family during that time.

The girls love playing the piano during the day. Here Hope is trying her best to "teach" them a song:)

This is what my days are all about. Two babies, two bottles, two nuks, lots of diaper and wipes!!! I have to say that it really is a joy. I did the two baby thing 9 years ago with RJ and Andy. It's amazing how much I missed it!

Welcome to the clan Lola!!!!

We love you!

Nit Picking!

noreply@blogger.com (Tina Davis) — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 13:17:00 +0000

I have a whole new appreciation for that phrase! Since Thursday morning I have been nit picking, hair washing, doing mountains of laundry, vacuuming, vacuuming, vacuuming and officially going crazy!!!!

I found lice in Hope's hair just before school on Thursday. I immediately went and picked up RJ and Grace from school. My worst fear has finally come true-all my kids have lice!!

OK, things could definitely be worse, but for someone who is constantly on the brink of OCD/anxiety overload this has got to be one of the worst things to happen. Even though Jay swears that there is nothing in my hair, I feel like Pigpen from the Charlie Brown cartoons-like there must be a cloud of flying bugs wafting around my head.

The worst part so far is that I have used the high powered shampoo twice on each of my kids and we are still finding live ones. I sure hope this is the very last time we do this!!!

Oh and just a side note, Jay had plans to go up to the family hunting cabin this weekend so I have been home alone with my creepy crawly children. This does not generally leave mommy in a very good mood!

I hope and pray that none of you ever have to do this!!!

And lastly, I stayed up late last night hoping that Tina Fey would brighten my weekend with yet another dead on impersonation of Sarah Palin. Well I got a rerun!! Not good enough!!!

MONDAY...

noreply@blogger.com (Tina Davis) — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 20:37:00 +0000

I know life is not always going to go as planned, but sometimes I just need a break! Last night I went to bed smiling after spending a wonderful weekend with my family. On Saturday Grace and I spent the day with friends at the MOA. It was a blissful day of all things pink and pretty. Two 7 yr olds with great new hairstyles and happy faces from lunch at the Rainforest Cafe. Then on Sunday we spent the morning at our new church and the afternoon doing an all-family cleaning of the house. It was such a relief to have things tidied up!

So monday dawned early with crabby kids and a baby full of boogers. By just after breakfast I had Grace back in bed after she refused to get on the school bus. Faith was in the bathroom with Daddy trying to cough up one of her lungs and Hope was being her usually sassy self. Soon I had a Dr appt. made for Faith and I had pleaded several times with Grace to let me take her to school-but no, she still had a "tummy ache"!

It's now late afternoon. I just spent the last hour on the toilet-something about lunch was not appealing to my bowels(TMI). Grace finally went to school and is now home again:) Faith is fine, lungs are clear and she has coughed and puked up all of last nights phlegm. Hope is still sassy and is currently running aro-update:I was just informed that Hope just peed on the counter again!!!

Gotta Go!
Happy Monday!

A most wonderful day...

noreply@blogger.com (Tina Davis) — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 03:23:00 +0000

I can't even begin to explain what an incredible day I just had! I met my best friend Krissy at the MOA for some food and shopping. It had been a long time since we had been together without kids in tow. We traveled from baby store to baby store searching for the perfect outfit for Krissy's little princess due in December.

Needless to say we found many other things as well. I scored new PJ's at Old Navy!!! And a few too many things for my little princess's. I didn't find anything for RJ, which I feel a little guilty about. I think I need to take him on a shopping trip sometime soon. Nine yr old boys are really hard to shop for!!

Now for the excellent ending to my day, A trip to the airport to serve as an "Adoption Doula" for my friend Mama Sweetpea. Although I've witnessed the 'birth' of many families, this was a whole new experience. To see the joy in the eyes of three sweet brothers as they welcomed their long awaited sister was just about all I could handle! Mama Sweetpea and her hubby E had traveled to Ethiopia to bring back their little princess Sunshine. She greeted everyone with smiles and curiously touched her brother's faces. It was a very magical time for everyone!

If you want to read more about Mama Sweatpea's adoption journey visit her blog.

So now I am emotionally drained. It's time for bed and I can't wait to get into my new PJ's!

It's been a while....

noreply@blogger.com (Tina Davis) — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 01:58:00 +0000

I just can't find the time for this blog these days! The end of summer and the beginning of school has just wiped us out here at the Davis house.

The big kids are (un)happily settled into their school night routine. I'm havin' some fun during the day without so many kids to tend to.

I also started doing day care for my friend's daughter. She is just the sweetest little thing ever! She's 10 mo. old, so it's challenging with two babies. But we have not let that keep us down.

We have already spent a few mornings at the mall and Target:) And this week I'm having a garage sale with a few mommy friends. Maybe I'll make you guess how much I made?! It's less than Marie Green made, but enough to make me super happy!!!

Here are a few vacation pics I promised a while back. I still don't have a pic of my new ride:( so sad!!!

I'm off to watch a little TMNT with RJ. Wish me luck!!

SUMMERTIME!

noreply@blogger.com (Tina Davis) — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 00:52:00 +0000

OK, those that know me will not be floored by this- but otherwise hold on to your 90's mall bangs!

I saw the New Kids on the Block at the Mall of America last week:)

On a whim, Grace and I went to see the NKOTB perform and have "just girl time" at the MOA. It was soooooo fun!!! I was such a Blockhead back in the day. I think everyone should relive a little fun from their teen years now and then. What made it even more special was sharing the experience with Grace. She is just 7, so we haven't quite hit the boy crazy stage yet. But I know that in just a few years I may be driving her to a Jonas Bros. concert or whatever other hot group of teen boys is the latest craze by then. I can't wait!!

Here are a few pics, just in case there are a few closeted Blockheads out there somewhere:) ENJOY!!!

We just got back from our summer vaca. After the next few days of reentry I will post some great pics of the kiddos!

Mama's got a new ride...

noreply@blogger.com (Tina Davis) — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 23:46:00 +0000

Hey guys!!! I'm sooo excited! After many years of driving my dear old friend "Superstar" aka-ugly green ford windstar, I am now sporting a sweet Ford Expedition! Now before you go all green on me- I know what kind of gas mileage I'm gonna get- HORRIBLE! But on the upside, I can transport my children and several friends safely...this is Very important to me. I have been a car seat technician for several years now and it has been driving me crazy that I can't get anywhere these days without putting some little innocent lives in danger. Now-problem solved...and mama's got power seats, cd changer, and auto start too!!!!

OK, enough about that, the summer continues to scoot by. We are anticipating a wonderful one week vaca starting this weekend. Nothing fancy, just laying around by the lake/pool for eight days!!! I even picked out a book today. It will be the first actual book I've read for enjoyment since Faith was born. It's so silly how excited I get about the simple things in life-like reading:)

Hope seems to have taken a step back and is now putting diapers on. I told her I was done changing diapers, so she puts them on herself! I hope that doesn't sound too mean, but the girl didn't have a single accident in over two weeks-and now she WANTS to wear diapers again. What a stinker!

Grace and RJ never want to go back to school. I have to admit that it's been great having them home, but they need to go back now:) I can only handle four kids 24/7 for a certain amount of time-three months is too long. Again, hopefully I don't sound like a horrible mother. I'm just the type that needs a little personal space once in a while to stay sane-and maybe a little Paxil!

Little Faith is still little! She is weighing in at a whopping 16# 12oz. The great news is that she is always making great progress in therapy. She's eating more solids and starting to make more sounds. She is signing for "more" and "bye bye" consistently. And just this week she started pulling herself up to standing~WooHoo~

I'll try to get a pic of my ride up soon...
Have a great week!

Where is my summer going????

noreply@blogger.com (Tina Davis) — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 16:22:00 +0000

I can't believe how fast life is flying by these days. It's so hard to live life in the moment when the moments are going by at light speed. Yesterday I sat down to finish balancing the checking account only to find that I started doing that job on July 7. How did that happen?

Everyone at our house is doing well. Faith is continues to make great progress. She is now making more vocal sounds and just started to sign for Bye Bye and More!!! We are soooo excited! She is also finally eating solids. We just had our first real meal with all six of us at the table. I never thought that I would be so blessed!

RJ and Grace are playing every minute they can with neighborhood friends. It's nice to be able to stay around home more and have happy kids. They are growing up so fast. I love that they enjoy taking care of Hope and Faith. Grace is a mommy at heart and always makes sure everyone is following the rules-even if she isn't:) And RJ has been practicing Guitar Hero in every spare minute. He can now beat me and Jay at many songs!!

And I'm super excited to announce that Hope potty trained herself this past week! I knew she would get it on her own. No one tells Hope what to do:) That is a personality trait that will come in handy someday, but can make life VERY complicated when she's 3. Most recently I had to carry her out of our local Subway kicking and screaming because she refused to contain her loud voice during lunch. Later when I asked her about the situation she just shrugged her shoulders, gave me puppydog eyes and said "That happens!".

Hope you are all having a fun and happy summer too!

PRICELESS...

noreply@blogger.com (Tina Davis) — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 13:33:00 +0000

I can't believe this will be our last 1st birthday. It really makes me realize that I need to treasure every moment. Time goes by way too quickly!!!

What a weekend...

noreply@blogger.com (Tina Davis) — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 15:59:00 +0000

My sweet little Faith is now officially a one year old!!! I can't believe it!

We had a huge holiday weekend full of celebrations. It was wonderful to be able to spend time with Jay and the kids, as well as many family members and friends. She enjoyed every minute of the festivities. I haven't had time to upload the cake pics yet, but she made a huge mess:) We attend the local parade on July 4th and fun was had by all. We missed out on all this fun last year because of Faith's birth. So I was just as excited as the kids to have a fun and sunny Fourth of July!!

This was the day...

noreply@blogger.com (Tina Davis) — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 21:29:00 +0000

Just one year ago I was still preggers with little Miss Faith. She was still snuggled safely inside, just waiting to come into this world. I was sooo relieved to be in labor after making it through the hardest of my four pregnancies! I was literally counting the minutes that I had left!!! Little did I know that I was on the cusp of a whole new normal. It's really interesting to examine the mindset that I had in the past, not knowing what was just hours into the future. Could I have possibly imagined what this year would be like? Tiny, nonbreastfeeding newborn, months of struggles with bottle feeding, endless dr appts, endless therapy sessions, four visits to the surgery center, two broken bones(Grace), the list could go on and on!

WOW!! That's all I can say!

Tonight I am taking a trip down memory lane with my dearest doula. She was with me last year as my contractions were steadily going nowhere. She drove me to Walmart "just to walk around". She was beside me as we pulled into the parking lot and my water broke! She gently helped me labor and bring Faith into the world a few hours later. Tonight we will walk the isles of Walmart (a store that I dispise the other 364 days of the yr!). I will probably look for a few toys to spoil my baby with. It will be nice to relive those moments and just focus on my sweet girl!

Thank You Doula Friend!!!

Joys and Sorrows...

noreply@blogger.com (Tina Davis) — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 22:47:00 +0000

This summer is certainly flying by!!! It seems like every minute we are going somewhere or anticipating another exciting event. Here are some of our recent highlights...

SHE'S CRAWLING!!! Faith has finally become mobile. She doesn't go very far yet, but she IS crawling and we are sooooo excited!!!!

Our sweet Gracie became an actress last week. She appeared in

a small production of Beauty and the Beast. As the youngest in the cast she was assigned a minor role as a Rose. But she took the job very seriously and loved every minute she spent on stage!! For those of you close enough to attend, she will be performing again in July:)

RJ is just enjoying summer one day at a time. He frequently bothers all of us with his strange humor and loves to be silly! He has also started gymnastics much to his father's dismay!! I tried to ease the topic by assigning RJ to a class with a male coach. This didn't work very well because Daddy picked RJ up on the second day of class and noticed that the coach wasn't the "man's man" that he had hoped for. He is more of the eyeliner and outstanding wardrobe type;) At least RJ is happy!

Hope is her own little challenging self these days. This is how we prefer to see her-sleeping(silent):) On this day she literally fell asleep with her snack in her mouth! We all had a good laugh when she woke up and saw this pic.

We also have endured some sorrow. Our Grandpa Francis passed away last week. He was a wise old man who taught us many things. The kids only knew him in his frailness. Hope had been scared of him lately because of the O2 tank he needed to travel with. This was the first experience with death that any of the kids had. RJ and Grace understood everything and really handled it well. Hope was endlessly confused and is still asking "Where is that Bampa in that box?" every day. She did provide us with some humor when we found her standing next to this is our living room soon after Grandpa's viewing. We hope Wendy(of Bob the Builder fame) will rest in peace!

Hope your summer is as fun and silly as ours has been!

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

noreply@blogger.com (Tina Davis) — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 20:09:00 +0000

Jay is such a wonderful guy!!! He has spent the last 16 yrs being patient with me and all my special personality quirks. He has spent the last 9 1/2 yrs being the best dad I know to our four children. Not to mention working hard each day to support our family and still having time and (some) energy to spend doing all the things we constantly ask of him:)

It's hard to find just the right words to discribe how thankful I am for the blessing Jay is to my life! It seems like I've known him forever. Since we were just "kids" when we met, there has been a lot of growing up done together in the past 16 yrs. Becoming parents has been quite a journey and continues to be a challenge everyday. It's amazing that the past year since Faith was born has been both the most difficult and yet the happiest. Jay and I have grown closer and have also been able to gain a lot of perspective through this adversity.

So today I just want to say "Thank You" to Jay for being a great DAD! You are a blessing to us all:)

A Glimpse...

noreply@blogger.com (Tina Davis) — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 04:04:00 +0000

Just wanted to give you a quick glimpse of what our family is like, in case you are just visiting for the first time. My name is Tina. My husband, Jay, and I have been married for 11 1/2 yrs and have four children. RJ 9yrs, Grace 6yrs, Hope 3yrs and Faith 11 months. Jay is an auto mechanic at a Ford dealership and I moonlight as a Childbirth Educator at a local clinic and work on call as a birth doula(not to mention being a full time mom during the rest of the day).

This blog has turned out to be my mommy rantings about the frustrations of raising children with undiagnosed special health concerns. RJ is assumed to have, but never diagnosed with, mild autism spectrum disorder. He is currently doing very well with the help of anti-anxiety medication and lots of TLC from his family, friends and special education programs. Faith has had several medical issues since she was born and is developmentally delayed in all areas. She is currently a medical mystery with no know cause for her problems. She gets physical, occupational and speech therapy weekly while continuing to undergo testing.

All that aside, we are a very happy family! Everyone in our house has a huge sense of humor. Although we have limited time all together due to work, dr/therapy appts, etc.-we make the most of the time we do have. I love taking all the kids on picnics to the park or to play at the local mall children's area. We also lurk at our local Target for fun, even making friends with some of the employees:) The kiddos love to spend time vegging with Dad in front of the TV or going boating. They spend a lot of time outdoors playing with our neighbor, Isabella(12yrs). She has been my lifesaver this year, spending time with RJ, Grace and Hope while I tend to the needs of Faith.

I hope that this gives you a little glimpse into our lives. I hope to share more in the near future. Stay tuned!!!

FAITH=Belief in the Unseen

noreply@blogger.com (Tina Davis) — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 23:08:00 +0000

Today was an especially tough day for Faith. She had to have and MRI to rule out any abnormalities in her brain that could be causing her delays. Although she has already had general anesthesia twice, it was still hard to hand her over to the nurse. She was amazingly brave and came through the procedure with no ill effects. Just an hour of IV fluids and she was on her way home.

The day wasn't any easier on mommy! I was pretty calm during the procedure, wasting my time with an OK magazine and some Food channel shows. It was the small cries that I could hear coming from recovery that really started to pull at my heart strings. Faith really snuggled in when they handed her to me 20 min later and she hasn't left my arms yet. I am currently typing one handed:)

I just talked to Faith's pediatrician little while ago. She gave me the report that the MRI results were normal. My response was "Huh." Not what I expected?!? I don't want you to think that I was hoping something was wrong, but I WAS hoping for some answers. I KNOW some thing is not right. I see it every second I spend with Faith. It (delayed) is who she is, although it definitely doesn't define her personality. She is a marvelously sweet baby who just happened to get some extra "specialness". That's a much more positive way to think of "IT"-"SPECIAL".

So now we move on...with Faith. There was nothing to see today. Maybe there never will be any answers for my sweet girl. I will continue to work on living in the moment and not dwelling on my mommy guilt or the uncertain future. Wish me luck!!!

Tough Times...

noreply@blogger.com (Tina Davis) — Mon, 26 May 2008 13:26:00 +0000

So here is my little pity party...

I have to admit that lately I've been having a pretty tough time dealing with life. For a while things had been cruising along and with the help of my trusty friend (Paxil) I was able to 'deal' with all of life's ups and downs pretty well. The last few weeks/month have not been so great. I think as Faith is getting older I'm finally starting to grieve what might have been. This may be a little premature since she is only an infant, but as her 1st birthday nears I am more and more aware of all the milestones that haven't yet been conquered.

Will she catch up? Maybe.
Do we know anything for sure? No.
Are there ever any guarantees? Never.
Do I wish she was a 'normal' baby? Yes.
Will I love her no matter what? Of course.
Am I furious that we don't know why? Every second.
Do I think it's my fault? Sometimes.

These are the things that fill a messed up mommy brain. I know that things could be worse and things may very well get much better in the future. But right now I'm just in a funk. Probably something that is part of a natural process of acceptance-or some ridiculous psychological garbage like that.

Take a deep breath and move forward.
That's all I can do.
And maybe get a stronger script for Paxil!

btw...
I would love to touch base with other moms in situations similar to our family. If you know anyone, send them my way. And be sure to tell them that I'm not always such a pathetic loser...I'm sure it's only temporary:)

The Tea Party

noreply@blogger.com (Tina Davis) — Mon, 19 May 2008 04:02:00 +0000

Just to give you some idea of how silly we can be at our house. I will grace you with this tale of today's tea party.

Early this afternoon, the kids (RJ, Hope and our neighbor Isabella) asked if they could put a towel down in Hope's room and have a tea party using just water in the teapot. This sounded like at least a half hour of free mommy time to me so I, of course, said yes. There was the occasional need for assistance as the teapot was refilled MANY times, but I was glad to help since it seemed like and innocent request.

After about 30 minutes of tea party fun RJ appeared at the top of the stairs to announce "Come have some pee-I mean tea..." This was mumbled as he stumbled down the stairs. As he got closer I could see that the entire front of his shirt was wet and it looked like he had peed his pants. I asked what he was doing and he proceeded to tell me that Hope had served him beer instead of water so he was drunk and he had peed his pants.

Now before you freak out on me, he was JUST KIDDING. RJ may be naive when it comes to most social behavior but he has a superhuman sense of humor!! My question is: How does my 9 yr old know how to act drunk???? I think Jay might have some explaining to do! I'm pretty sure that it's not me who lets the kids watch adult themed cartoons on a regular basis.

We immediately brought the tea party to a close. I informed Hope that she must only serve tea or water next time, and we then changed everyones extremely wet clothes. It gave me a nice transition to PJ time!

Hopefully I'm not the only one with massively inappropriate parenting going on at their house. When things like this happen (which isn't very often) I try to keep my cool and count my blessings that it could be something worse. We also use it as a learning experience-RJ and I had a brief discussion about what it means to be drunk.

Now I will go lay down in bed and wonder what tomorrow will bring as Jay finishes watching the latest episode of Family Guy...

Hello Again...

noreply@blogger.com (Tina Davis) — Sun, 18 May 2008 02:52:00 +0000

I can't believe over a month has gone by already! I never imagined that life could cruise along this fast. So many things have happened over the past month, I just don't know where to start.

Our journey with Faith is keeping us on our toes. We had just about settled in to feeling like 'wait and see' was our only option when everything changed suddenly. Within just a few days our ENT doc decided that Faith needed to have her adenoids removed and her airway widened. This was to help improve her eating and breathing because she had stopped gaining weight.

The surgery went very well and she was only in the hospital for just over 24 hrs. We have yet to see the full effect of the procedure, but we're hoping that she will gain more weight and her body will continue to get stronger. In just the past two weeks she has learned to army crawl and how to get from laying on her tummy to sitting. We are thrilled to see so many changes happening so quickly!!!!!

Our sweet and sassy girl, Hope, turned 3 this week. She has been a pickle lately so I was really hoping we could make it through her b-day party without any major tantrums. It turned out to be a wonderful day full of friends, family and of course tons of gifts.

I'll end with a request today...
If you read this blog, please stop and leave me a quick comment. I would love to know who is reading my random thoughts, and I would also like to talk with others out there parenting children with special needs.
Thanks!!!!