I'm trying...

I've started at least three blog posts in the last few days.

None of them really seem to go where I want them to.  I tried a post about what I am thankful for, but it seemed so syrupy and sappy and, well, just NOT what I wanted to say.  I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm thankful for a lot of things in my life, but I just couldn't seem to get what I wanted to say to come out right in words.

So then I started a general update post.  But it just didn't seem to fit the bill either.  I tried again, and yeah, no dice.  I'm not sure what the issue was with that, but again, it just didn't seem to say what I wanted it to.

So now you get this.  Random musings about what I was TRYING to say and can't.  I'll toss some quick updates in there, and then I'll get down to what has really been on my heart these past few days.

Life is pretty much the same as always here.  A struggle to find enough time to fit in everything that needs to be done in our days.  In some ways, I like the insanity, but in others, well, I miss the ease that life had before. But, I know these days are worth it, and we will manage, as always.

Monster Boy is doing great in school.  Parent Teacher conferences went well - he is ahead of the class in pretty much everything, which we already knew.  His teacher asked if we had any ideas on how to keep him interested since he is so far ahead, especially in reading (he is reading at a third grade level - in first grade!).  We are brainstorming ideas but haven't really come up with anything that we think will fit well into the set up she has for his classroom, so suggestions are welcome!

Daddy Mac is working hard as always.  I don't know what I would do without that man.  He is an amazing husband, father and person in general.  I certainly wouldn't have survived the last few months, let alone the last few years, without his love and support.

I am as crazy busy as ever.  School is going well - I'm pretty much kicking butt in all my classes, which makes me very happy.  But, I am ready for this semester to be over.  And, while I am taking a full course load again next semester, two of my classes are online, and two are in classroom.  Which means less time on campus, and more time with my kiddos.  Also, no night classes next semester, which I think will make a HUGE difference in how busy I feel.  Fingers crossed that I can continue with the good grades after this semester is over!

And let's not forget Miss Sunshine.  She is crazy.   Seriously.  She is at THAT stage.  You know, that fun stage right around the age of three where kids are nothing but attitude?  Yep.  That stage.  Sometimes all I can do is laugh at her, because she is just so funny when she is trying to cop her little attitudes with me.  Of course, I make sure she can't see me, because that would just feed in to the attitude.  We are STILL trying to potty train.  I have been blessed with extremely stubborn kids.  And, apparently, extremely stubborn kids are not good potty-trainers.  I know she knows what to do.  She can go days, several in a row even, with zero accidents.  And then for a week it's non-stop accident after accident.  I just don't even know what to do anymore.  I had hoped to have some success this long weekend with getting her in to underwear, and yesterday thought I had it.  She went the ENTIRE day with no accidents, telling us when she needed to go potty, just doing great.  And today?  Well, today, she pooped in her pants.  Not just once, but twice.  I just don't even know what to do with her.

And then, I realized this week that we are nearly TWO YEARS post-palate repair.  Two years!  That's just crazy to me.  I can't believe it's been that long.  We have been so incredibly blessed in the last two years.  This week, she has her evaluation with the school system for an IEP.  It's a two day process - they will do testing, they will watch her interact with other children, they will watch her interact with Daddy and I, they will do lots of things.  I have high hopes that they will release her from care - she is actually ahead in speech now, we don't notice any unusual behaviors that might indicate other developmental delays, and I think that she just no longer requires services.  BUT, and this is a big but, I simply don't know.  And I won't know until after these evaluations are done - which makes me very nervous.  So, I try to focus on other things.  Like the potty training... So that I don't spend countless nights worrying myself to death.

I will update after her evaluations, and have some ruminating for you all on life with her cleft (including some links to some pretty cool sites that I HOPE you will take the time to check out!).

Changes, again.

I've made a few changes on the blog.  Minor ones, that you may not notice right away.  But, if you have been here more than once, you might take a look around, and let me know what you think.

I plan to update the banner soon, with newer pictures and graphics.  Of course, things like that take time, and time is a precious commodity in our house these days.

I meet with my adviser this week to plan my schedule for next semester.  Some big changes are going to come with this meeting.  Depending on if I can work it out to take a certain class online, not too much will change.  But if I can't, I have to completely redo my schedule, including the work schedule.  Which means less work, less money and things will be even tighter.  And it means that we will likely have to put Miss Sunshine in some type of full time care, rather than the Mom's Day Out programs we have been able to utilize so far.   Which means things will be even tighter with money.  Fingers crossed that things work out the way I want them to.

It's nearly time for Christmas - and with Christmas comes birthdays!  Both of the kid's birthdays are fairly close to Christmas - so soon I will no longer have a 2 year old and a 6 year old - I will have a 3 year old and a 7 year old.

Miss Sunshine is now on yearly visits to Shriner's!  Hooray for progress!  I think one of the tubes that we just had replaced is blocked again, I will be taking Miss Sunshine in for a hearing test soon to see what is going on there.  We had our first local dentist visit, and Miss Sunshine does have a pronounced under bite - not unusual in a child with cleft palate.  We did expect this, as her palate is likely growth-restricted due to the scar tissue from her palate repair.  It should grow somewhat normally, but most children who have palatoplasty (palate repair) have a pronounced under bite due to a smaller palate and roof of their mouth.  What this will mean in the future, we aren't for sure.  Obviously we are talking palate expansion.  Whether they will be able to do this with orthodontic devices or whether it will require additional surgery we just won't know until she gets older.  She is still missing the right upper canine - her left one finally decided to make an appearance last month.  She does not have all of her two year molars yet, so there is still hope that her canine will eventually show up.  They tried to take xrays to see what was going on, but she just couldn't hold still enough.  We will try again in March when we go back.

We had parent teacher conferences for Monster Boy - and he's doing GREAT!  He is reading at a third grade level (he is in first grade this year) and is ahead of his class in both math and science.  We are having some issues with fidgeting, talking out of turn and not fully listening to instructions, but we have put a plan in to place we hope will help with some of these things.  I think, and his teacher agrees, that a lot of the attention issues are due to the fact that he is just so far ahead of the rest of the class.  So, when he finishes work up early (which according to his teacher is pretty much daily), he will get another worksheet on the topic they are studying, to hopefully allow the rest of the class to finish before he hits the "bored stage" where he starts messing around.  He lost tooth number four this weekend, and was super excited that he pulled it out all by himself (this is the first one he pulled on his own!).  It's funny, when your kids start losing teeth, their baby teeth seem so small in their mouths, and yet, when the adult teeth start coming in, they seem so HUGE!  My baby boy is growing up so fast, I wish I could just freeze time some days.

Daddy Mac is doing well.  He fell down the stairs on Thursday, moving a table, and hurt his back.  Not badly enough to warrant a trip to the doctor, or so he says, but enough that it's causing him discomfort and he's having a hard time sleeping in our bed because it's too soft.  He slept most of the night last night on the couch after falling asleep during a movie (I didn't have the heart to wake him) and said that it felt a bit better today.  Hopefully he is telling the truth and not just saying that to, *ahem*, get me off his back.  (Okay, okay, bad pun, I know.  I just couldn't resist.)

I hadn't really intended to write a novel tonight.  But, I guess it was time to catch you up on life in the Mac household.  Hopefully I will be able to post a bit more once the holiday break gets here (although, as a mom, it seems like the phrase "holiday break" is an oxymoron - anyone else feel that way?).  And, if my schedule works as I hope it to (again, all dependent on one class and whether or not my adviser will allow me to enroll in it as I am missing one prerequisite) then I will actually be taking fewer hours next semester, and should have more time on my hands.  We will keep our fingers crossed that things work out the way I'm hoping for!