Nothing is predictable!

Good evening~
The wind is howling here tonight and it is really starting to feel like Fall. I love it.
We talked to Gabe's parents tonight and they are coming out in a couple of weeks to meet Isaiah and visit with us. We are all very excited about that!!

Today was a nutty day. Well it started with last night. Isaiah woke up coughing pretty bad. I kicked into mommy gear...or grandma gear and got out the Vick's vaporub! Awwww yeah! It helped a little but he ended up needing a breathing treatment. That helped him fall back to sleep. He woke up this morning with no fever but still some cough. Another breathing treatment and off to day care. Went to the day care at noon to give him another treatment and he was doing well. From that time until he got picked up he had 2 accidents in his pants...meaning that he had no change of clothes.

Gabe called me at 5:15 to say that he was stuck in grid lock traffic and wouldn't be able to get to the day care in time. I had a client in my office and another one in the waiting room. I had to ask my 5:30 to come back another day and zoomed to day care before they closed.

When I got there, Isaiah was thrilled to see me and was LITERALLY wearing his long sleeve striped shirt, a pull up, white socks and his brown shoes. NO PANTS. Because he wet twice he went through all his spare clothes. He could have cared less. He was running around having a blast...in a pull up. I just had to laugh.
Tonight he came home and had a slight fever and went right to bed after dinner and a bath. He pretty much fell asleep while I rocked him.

So now we wait and see how he is tonight and then again tomorrow. We are certainly realizing that nothing is predictable and planning things doesn't always work...like going to work.

Sunday night

Good evening~
Hope you all had a nice weekend. The weather here today was AWFUL. Rainy and dismal. Luckily we haven't had many of those. When it rains, kids get cranky and bored. Yep!

Nothing significant happened today. It was just a day of keeping a 3 year old occupied while we all kind of felt under the weather. Funny how when kids don't feel so good, they still have the energy of a wild animal but when I don't feel so well I need to sleep. The two don't really mix now do they?

But we survived. And I am finally heading up to take a shower now. At 9pm. First one of the day. The good news is we made it through a rough day with no hitting and only 1 threat to have my ass kicked. Yeah, by a 3 year old. At the end of the day when you are tired and irritable and a 3 year old tells you they are going to kick your ass if you don't let them watch Barney, it is REALLY temping to say, "LET ME SEE WHAT YOU GOT KID?" It was on the tip of my tongue, I swear!

So we are getting ready for bed, watching some football, snuggling JP and reading a bit. Tomorrow starts another week. It has been 4 weeks since Isaiah has come to live here. Some days it seems longer and others not so long. Today, it feels like he has been here 6 months...but I am sure it is just because we are tired...and the low pressure of the rain is depressing.

Here's to a sunny day tomorrow!!!

Until then...

A week later!

Good evening everyone!

Sorry I have been neglecting the blog. We are still getting into a rhythm here in Colchester and the days seem to FLY by! But all in all, things are good.

First things first, we fought our first semi battle with DCF and WON! We were thrilled and we are no longer transporting Isaiah to his visits with his mom. It was just to abnormal....unnatural, if you will. We do feel like it was good for her to get to meet us and know who he was with, but the reality and is that we are not going to all hang out and be chummy so we wanted some distance. We told DCF that and they made it so. Nice.

They also upped the amount of time Isaiah sees his mom. He went from seeing her once a week for 1 hour to 1.5 hours. Not significant and not what she wanted which was another whole visit in the week. We were surprised and somewhat upset but have come to terms with it. I think we will be doing a lot of that, coming to terms with things that DCF does.

Isaiah has had a nice week. He has done well at day care and is getting ready to go on his first field trip to the Firehouse in a couple of weeks. He is already talking about it.

He continues to do very well with potty training. He loves the positive reinforcement we give him and so he tries to go more often. It's working! AND since his diet is regulated he is experiencing more normal, boy-like poop! Was that an over share???

We are VERY happy to say that JP is doing so much better. It took many trips to the vet and swipes of the credit card to get him healing, but he is doing well. Below is a picture of him in his new Doggles, which may be helping more than anything. They reduce his light sensitivity and allow him to be out in the sun with no problems. I think the big thing that went wrong with him was related to his eye sight. He would flinch in the sun and then fall over. Poor puppa! But now he is a cool dog AND can see ok. Seriously, we would do anything for this dog!

Gabe and I are settling in after a fun "Welcome Fall" party at my cousin's house. There was yummy food, friends and a fire pit blazing. Gabe and I are both starting to feel under the weather and are looking forward to a rainy day tomorrow to do nothing but stay in!

Have a nice weekend!!

What a day!

Good evening. Boy the Fall has hit CT and it has been chilly. But we LOVE IT!! Love, love, love it. We have had an eventful couple of days and, as we lay in bed with JP tonight, we are feeling more at ease. But it took some drama to get us here!

Friday was a rough day...it was a visit day. Without getting into much detail, we got some news we didn't like but more importantly we received it in a way that was unprofessional on the part of DCF. We reached out to our support worker and got minimal support, so we talked it out in the back yard last night under the stars. We made some decisions on how this needs to go for us and have drawn some lines. And it feels good. What is even better is that our transitional worker came over today for a visit and totally validated things for us and said she will advocate for us. I think we literally both breathed a sigh of relief. FINALLY! Someone is going to look out for us...and we are too...while we do what's best for Isaiah!

Today was a BIG day. Gabe's company has been planning a 5K fundraiser for months. It was Gabe's idea and he was a big part of the planning committee. It was stressful over the past couple of weeks for him and to have the day come was a relief. Add to that perfect running weather and a lot of runners and we have a happy Goobie! Isaiah and I went and played in the park while the run happened. Then there was a picnic that we went to. Friends and family came out to support the cause and it was so beautiful outside. Isaiah had a great time playing in the dirt and with sticks. Riveting!

Then tonight we drove about 40 minutes south to the shore for dinner with some friends. It was the last trip of the summer to this particular restaurant and it was fun. We ate great food and there was music...and Isaiah got ice cream. Before we drove home, we changed him into his jammies, put his cozy blanket on him and put the sleepytime CD into the player. He didn't fall right to sleep but he was yawning back there and went right into his bed without incident tonight.

So, it was a jam packed day and it was great. I think we are all feeling relieved a bit and hoping for a more balanced experience with DCF starting next week. We'll see.

Until then...

Lots of stuff!

Greetings everyone!
Well, I know it has been a while since I wrote...things have just been going so quickly this week.
Gabe is back to work...and he was met with a pleasant surprise yesterday. His coworkers got together and threw him a surprise party...shower if you will. Everyone was so nice and generous and gave gifts for Isaiah. Gabe was so touched with their planning and sentiment. It was a wonderful surprise!

Isaiah is at day care most days now and is loving it. He hugs his teacher good bye every day...and it happy to report that he doesn't hit her at the end of each day. We had one day when he did and we jumped all over that. So now he is proud when he doesn't...that works. He will start getting speech services next week twice a week for an hour. During that time they will be evaluating him for any additional services that may be needed. We'll see.

We went to another local fair this weekend with some friends and Isaiah had a BLAST. There were 2 other little girls that came, a little older than him. He loved hanging out with them and they took him under their fair going wings and had a blast. Above is a picture of him holding a baby chick.

JP is still a little under the weather. He has been struggling to walk this week...and last. The doctor think it is something in his back pushing against his spine and causing some numbness. He really just looks like a drunk dog who can't quite walk straight. We don't think he is in any pain and he is still eating and pooping like a champ and that is always a good sign...at least to me!

This weekend we have Gabe's company 5K run to go to. While Gabe works we will play at the playground the park with my cousin's wife and her son. Should be fun!

We hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the Fall!!!

Testing, Testing, Testing!

Good evening~
Gabe and I are settling in for some evening Football! Ahhhh....just what we need after a ROUGH day! I will first back up with a PPT update. Isaiah has not yet started school because Colchester did not officially honor his IEP so they are reevaluating him. It was a frustrating meeting for us but Isaiah has an educational advocate who was there and who will be sure his needs are met in the end. So he is in daycare now and luckily it is a great day care run like a school so he will be getting educational components. We will meet with the distric again after their evaluation in mid October to see if they have qualified him for Speech and Special Education services.

Yesterday Isaiah had another visit with his mom. She brought him some of his old toys and Barney videos and we have seen some regression since getting those reminders of his old home. A lot of accidents in the pants today after nearly a week without one, more aggressive play and increased aggression towards us in the form of hitting and kicking. Today made Gabe and I miss our old life. It was beyond challenging.

JP seems to be on the mend...albeit sloooowly. This is a huge relief for Gabe and myself. We were both a wreck with him being so sick, but are hoping we have turned a corner.
Tomorrow is another day...and hopefully a better one. Between the adjustment and JP being sick I don't know how many more tears we have to shed. Personally I think we are both dehydrated!
We hope you are all having a nice weekend. And we hope ours improves tomorrow.
Until then...

Back to work does not equal blog post!

Hi all-
My apologies for skipping an entry last night. I went back to work yesterday and was exhausted by the time I got home at 8pm!
I know people are wondering what happened in court yesterday. The short answer is: nothing. The hearing was about Dad and the fact that he has still not been served neglect papers or notification of the state's intent to file termination of parental rights. Apparently he is on vacation so they gave more time to serve him blah blah blah. A couple of good things that came from the hearing are that we were able to see what it is like and we were able to meet Isaiah's attorney. He will be coming out to the house to pay a visit in the next month or so!
Listening at court also made us realize how far we are from really keeping this little boy. If Dad decides that he wants to be a parent DCF has to try to let that happen. I don't think he does though since he hasn't returned any of their calls in the past. Just interesting.
This morning we got up and took JP to the vet. He has been ill and come to find out it is his kidney disease progressing. So we were there for 2 hours, just me and Isaiah. That was interesting. It gave him enough time to poop on the toilet though. In the vet's office. Lol, he told everyone in the waiting room when he was done. The nurse gave him stickers! It's the first time in a public bathroom. AND he stayed dry all night last night. Amazing potty training progress.
Tomorrow we have a PPT at his school and he will spend the afternoon at his new daycare. He may start school Friday...or the following Monday. We are all looking forward to getting into a regular schedule...especially JP!
Tonight I am heading to the spa in town for a 1 hour massage! I can't wait!!!

Weekend Update!

Good evening~
Well it has been a beautiful weekend weather wise. We really have been lucky to have such great weather the first week Isaiah has been here.
I was thinking of what to entitle this post and had so many options. So I figured I would list all the options and then explain the occurrence that made me think of them.
1. I need a bigger purse: Seriously, I HATE carrying around big purses, but with wipes and neosporin and everything else that comes along with a 3 year old, I now understand why some women carry purses that really look like carry on luggage. Today we went to the fair and I just made Isaiah carry his back pack with everything in it...including the camera. LOL, he loves to wear a back pack...what's the big deal???
2. Poop success: Isaiah has pooped successfully in the toilet TWICE since my last update. There has been huge progress in the potty training area. In fact today we left the house and napped in big boy pants with zero accidents. We also had to use a port a potty at the fair (vomit) but we avoided any accidents! YEAH!
3. "Is she a delivery person or something?" This is a quote by Gabe. We were watching Dora THE EXPLORER and he asked about the premise of the show. I explained that she has to help people by getting something from one place to another. He asked...so she is a delivery person or something....no she is an EXPLORER! That was a big laugh!
4. Grown up fun. Both Saturday and Sunday night, Gabe and I enjoyed our chiminea outside. It was so beautiful out and there was a full moon, we just sat out there with some adult beverages and relaxed! Saturday it was just the 2 of us after Isaiah went to bed and last night we had some friends over and let Isaiah come out and roast a marshmallow before bed. He inhaled it whole and nearly choked on it. I think he even scared himself.


So we ventured to a local fair today, just me and Isaiah while Gabe rested his sore back. We rode some rides and had lunch. He got a hot dog, instantly had it slip through his fingers and then got another hot dog!

Tomorrow we attend a hearing in court. We have NO idea what it is about. We received a letter on Saturday indicating a hearing this coming Tuesday and next Tuesday. Luckily my mom will be able to come and stay with Isaiah tomorrow morning and next week he will be in school. Talk about short notice. I am not really sure what to expect..not sure if Mom will be there, not sure what the reasoning is...I am just referring back to not anticipating things. Either way it will be an interesting day. I also start back to work tomorrow. Interesting all right!

Until then...

Sprinkler Fun!

It was HOT in CT today...so we hit the sprinkler!

This is a WEIRD experience!

As I write tonight we are on our 7th night. Last night was interesting. I was up a total of 3 times at various hours. Once at 11:30 when Isaiah fell out of bed. Once at 4am when JP had diarrhea and again with JP at 5am. Each time I woke up I felt horrible. Like I was hungover, but wasn't. This morning when I woke up I still felt badly but rested a bit while Gabe fed the wee one. I am feeling better now and think it was just the disrupted night.
Today, Isaiah spent most of the day outside, since it was beautiful again in CT. He is really mastering his bike now, even making turns. He played baseball and golf and of course the sidewalk chalk.
Today we were anticipating his visit with his mom all day. I think that is why my stomach was sick most of the day. We just didn't know WHAT to expect. Isaiah took a nap and then got ready to see his mom. He was very excited to see her. As we drove there, Gabe and I were on pins and needles. When we arrived she was not there yet so we left Isaiah playing with the social worker and jetted. We figured it would be a smoother meet and greet at the end of their visit. Gabe and I went down the road to Target for some shopping. Nice and therapeutic. As we finished our shopping, I got the weirdest feeling in my stomach. I stopped into the ladies room and just talked to myself and said, this experience is so WEIRD. Like, we are now going to pick up this little boy from visiting his mother and take him back home with us. And we will be friendly to her, but then take her son. WEIRD. Nauseatingly weird.
When we got there I held back my vomit and was pleasantly surprised. Mom was very friendly and instantly commented on how much better Isaiah looks since last week when she saw him and he was at the foster home. She said his speech was better and he looked happier and cleaner and she thanked us. We chatted a bit and she asked a few things about him and his transition.
We started a communication log to go back and forth and in it I placed a pouch for pictures we take of him. We will copy the great ones and give her them too. Well today she got a copy of Isaiah riding his bike yesterday and she wept. She was so happy to see it and so thankful for us sharing it with her. She asked, "is this for me??" Absolutely.
Unfortunately it became clear where Isaiah gets his food issues from when she told us she brought him donuts and chocolate milk and he ate something like 4 donuts. I believe her quote was "I may have ruined his dinner tonight". She was right, he didn't eat a thing for dinner.
BUT that is not for us to address, the worker will address that and I will now know not to give him chocolate milk on Fridays because she will!
In the past, Isaiah has cried after every visit with mom when he had to leave. Today she walked him to our car, helped him get into the seat and thanked us again! No tears.
See, it is weird. Surreal. Unique. Difficult.
He was quiet for about 20 minutes in the car ride then he got back to his chatty self again...only amplified X4...for each donut. He was very energetic tonight and helped me put away some things we got at Target. We also put together a collage frame of the pictures his mom sent to hang in his room. He loved that project.
So, we are now winding down and reflecting on the day. Anticipation can be a devilish thing, both good and bad. It certainly played tricks on my body over the past 12 hours.
Tomorrow..I have no idea what we are going to do...perhaps I just shouldn't anticipate anything.

Until then...

I don't really like my new haircut

Greetings and Salutations~
I just thought I would start out tonight's blog saying that I don't really like my new haircut. It is nothing drastic, and I hope it is still lin the shock phase after the cut, but eh...
On to other things. Today was a decent day. Gabe got up and went to play golf so it was me and buddy solo during the morning. We ran a bunch of errands, one of which was looking for a small back pack for him for school....this is hard for such a little guy. Any tips???
This afternoon, Isaiah did great on his bike, as evidenced by the below picture. He was so happy for himself....as were we. Then he napped and when he woke up we went on another day care shopping trip. This time it was a huge success. We found a great day care that has openings and we all loved the visit. It was GREAT! We will go back tomorrow and fill out paperwork and he will spend a little time there next week before transitioning there and to school the week after.
He loved it!
Tonight we had meatloaf and mashed potatoes on the menu and he chowed down...of course.
We continue to have struggles with meal times...he always wants more but we have been leaving out fruits and veggies for him every day and when he gets hungry he can eat them. But the meal times are tricky.
Tomorrow he has a visit with his mom and we just have no idea what to expect of that.
Until then...

BIG Day!

We learned to pedal our bike today. Thanks, Auntie Paula. We don't even care that it is purple!

Seriously, Bipolar!

Good evening~
It has been gorgeous here all week. We are so lucky that this is the first week we have Isaiah and we are both off with such great weather. Today was another good day. See the pattern...good, bad, good. Thus the title of tonight's post. A lot of people emailed me after last night's post and if I summarized all their comments it would be "welcome to parenting". I am comforted...a little!
Today we started out with a fresh slate. Had a great breakfast and went outside to use the sidewalk chalk....in his brand new school shoes. CURSES! Once we realized, the crocs went on the Fred Flinstone feet. That was a little better.
Then it was time for a bath and to shop for day care. We visited one center but didn't really get a good vibe from the owner. I think what did it was a. she fed him 2 cups of animal crackers right before lunch without asking us, b. she walked through policies and told us "please pick him up on time...i don't want to have to call DCF on you for not picking up on time". Now I have called DCF on a number of parents in my life and NEVER has it been for a late daycare pick up. What IS it with some people?
Isaiah didn't want to leave there...nor would I at 3 years old with the bottomless animal cracker cup. He had a little fit but then we moved on. He took a nap and then we went on another adventure...sneaker shopping and grocery shopping at Stew Leonard's. Oh did I mention that on his way to nap he whacked his head on his bed and now has an egg? Right smack dab in the forehead. His mother will LOVE this when she seems him Friday for their visit.
He did great in the shoe store and got himself some sweet kicks...which will not go out to sidewalk chalk playtime. Then we went grocery shopping. He couldn't go into the front of a cart because...well, he weighs too much. They didn't have any of those "car" carts, which I hate anyways...so the little man walked the entire store with us. Along the way, he put stuff in the cart, picked out stuff he liked and replaced the Oreos that fell from the Oreo tower, which he knocked down. We left there totally unscathed and I stopped on the way out and thought, how on earth does a 3 year old do an hours worth of grocery shopping with ZERO problems but yet has a total meltdown in the doctor's office? The missing element...the nap. Had it today, didn't yesterday. All hail the nap.
So Gabe and I are settling in and having an evening cocktail while we catch up on some shows. Isaiah is in bed, but chatting to himself right now. Tomorrow is another new adventure.

Until then...
HA Just got summoned to the upstairs for help. Poop explosion in the pull up.....Sip the cocktail.

We feel Bipolar!

Good evening~
So today was rough. We were on such a high from yesterday and now feel so low today. Thus the title of the post. Today was rough. I think I already said that.

We started the day ok. Isaiah spent most of the day testing limits...particularly around the stairs, which resulted in him slipping down a few stairs and having the crap scared out of himself. He then got mad at us. Huh? We told you not to go down the stairs til we got there. Where is the logic there?

Then we went to get him new shoes. They are cute!!! He was very happy to get new shoes. His shoes were a size too small, thus the difficulty getting them on his Fred Flinstone feet. Then we hit McDonald's for lunch. He CHEERED when we pulled in. This will not be a regular occurrence. Clearly it was for him in the past. Cheering on the way in, crying when we left. It made me sad.

Then he had to go for his annual check up at the pediatrician, where he spent a lot of time with his mom due to frequent asthma issues. So as soon as we turned into the parking lot, he was asking for Mommy. Forget the fact that it was his nap time. Then, get this...we walked into the most overstimulating pediatrician's office I have ever seen. Apparently one of the doctors collects things...creepy things. Harry Potter things, star wars things, comic things. All on display but not to be touched. Um, this is a place where tons of kids go each day. Combine that with a nurse who continually called us Mommy and Daddy to Isaiah despite us correcting her, called Isaiah Isreal and reeked of cigarette smoke. None of us were pleased! The difference was that Isaiah could flop on the floor and scream and we could NOT! Damn it.

The evening was okay but there seems to be a recurring theme of getting mad when mealtime is done. He always wants MORE!
He finally went to sleep around 8:30 but that, too, was a battle. So I am typing thru some tears tonight but knowing this will happen in the process. Perhaps I needed a nap too.

Tomorrow we go check out a home daycare for him. Let's hope it is a better day.

Until then...