Halloween

We were planning to go to New Orleans today. It would have really been my last chance to see my SIL pregnant. And little Joey (my great-nephew) is 4 weeks old and I've not seen him since he was a day old :( . He's doing pretty well and I wanted to visit him at home while I'd have the chance.

Joey & Mikey...

Last night Gregory told me he didn't want to go. No big surprise there. He doesn't want to go anywhere lately. This morning he was dragging butt getting ready and I eventually found him in tears. I wanted to go so bad. I had already made phone calls (MY phobia!) and we were expected and I'd have to call AGAIN to cancel. My spirit could see that he couldn't do it but my flesh wanted him to get over it. I got very frustrated and wasn't helping. I finally just picked him up and held him and said we wouldn't go. That got him even more upset and he started insisting we would go (I know he was thinking he'd be blamed) because I wanted to go. I told him that yes I wanted to go but that his feelings were more important. I told him I was upset because I don't want him to cheat himself out of ever doing anything because of the fear of leaving home. I even told him I knew how he felt - a burning hole in the belly. BINGO. His face just transformed. I saw the trust return to his face. I wasn't just blowing smoke; I did know how it felt. Anxiety. Not the road I want him to go down. But it's part of the package. He's super sensitive and that applies to food additives, clothing tags, "joking" comments, and any stress around him. He knew I wanted to go. And I know a part of him wanted to want to go. But he couldn't. We went outside and I made my phone calls (I lived) and we just hung out and had a nice afternoon outside.

We watched a spider build her web...

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And Gregory finally believes that he can swing himself. He's been enjoying our "fall" weather. Today he was working on his dismount...

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And just to show how much he doesn't want to leave home - no trick or treating tonight! We've never had any TrT in our neighborhood. There really aren't any other kids. So we usually go with some friends to a neighborhood nearby that really goes all out. Saturday he got to go to a trunk or treat with his best friend and that was about as big of a crowd as he can handle. When we were talking about it today, he sounded like he didn't want to go (and that didn't break my heart). I told him he didn't have to go and he said, "Well I want some candy, so, yeah, I kinda have to go." His face lit up again when I said I had some candy & he did NOT have to go trick or treating. So he and his dad have been having a superhero cartoon marathon complete with dragging out comic books and the DC "encyclopedia" of superheroes.

As I typed all of this it occurs to me that the reason Gregory doesn't like to go to church with me is that it's a big church - seats about 1100 - and it's always crowded. He likes to watch it online with me sometimes & I take what I can get. I've had to really teach my faith by living it. No way could I get away with schooling it. But that's a blessing too. It's made me dive deeper.

Babies...

Well, Joey has been home for over a week and things are going pretty well. If his feedings and enemas continue going well, he should have his surgery in January. It was slow going for a while and there was talk of a temporary ostomy, but he's had several good days now and has surpassed his birth weight(finally!).

Still waiting for my other niece/nephew to be born. Only 16 more days till EDD! There's been a little concern about baby's size and the ammount of ammniotic fluid, but so far just "watching" things. My poor FIL is a nervous wreck. It doesn't take much to get him upset and his anticipation has gotten the better of him.

We're going ice skating today w/a few HS groups and hopefully there'll be a baby or two for me to snuggle. :)


[UPDATE] No babies to hold! Oh well. I had to follow the toddlers around instead.
BTW - I crocheted the hat Gregory's wearing!

Hirshsprung's disease

Well, unschooling has proven it's validity once again. This week, my whole family is learning all about Hirshsprung's disease. My nephew's son was born last Tuesday. By the weekend, it was clear something was wrong with little Joey's gut and he was in the hospital. Basically, the nerves that cause bowel movement are missing &/or incomplete, leaving him without the ability to eliminate properly. Treatment involves surgically removing the affected intestine and reconnecting the rest. But docs want to wait until he's 12 pounds, and he's now only 6 pounds. Until surgery, he'll have to have enemas to help him eliminate.

This is in the IBD (inflammatory bowel disease - not the same as IBS, irritable bowel syndrome) family of diseases. And we are an IBD family. I have Crohn's disease. I have one sister w/ ulcerative colitis. My mother has 2 cousins & 1 brother w/UC. My father's brother died of complications from UC 10 years ago. And if that weren't bad enough, little Joey's mom has a brother very sick with Crohn's. This little man's gut didn't almost didn't have a chance. Thank God for God!!

The blessing here is that this could not have been caught sooner. He wasn't even dehydrated yet when he was hospitalized. And his days are getting better. He's able to keep formula down (we won't go there!!) and had a small BM on his own yesterday. They may get to go home today. So prayers for good weight gain are appreciated. And feel free to join me in praying that these nerves continue to grow and develop making surgery unnecessary! AMEN!

Baby Joey

I met my 3rd great-nephew yesterday. Joseph Paul was born Tuesday, October 2 @ about 1:15 PM. I got to hold him for a while, but never saw his eyes - he slept the whole time. Older brother Mikey was pretty tired too and fell asleep just after we got there. Oldest brother Chase was happy to see Gregory - he thought he'd found a play mate. But yesterday was not a fun day for Gregory. Well, he ended up having fun, but he really didn't want to go. I did what I could to validate that feeling, but staying home was not a good option. He just wanted to be home and we talked about it and agreed to just keep our visits short. Thankfully, once we were there, he did enjoy himself and I really had to drag him out of his Grandpa's house to go home.

I have to say that the more time we spend in NO, the more I realize I really do not want to live there anymore. I used to think we'd end up there again, but I don't see it now. The main drags all seem to be up and running, but you can go down just about any side street and find abandonded buildings - often very large buildings. It's creepy. And I have to say, everyone we know went home and rebuilt/repaired. And everyone of them have said never again. They have all said that next time, they are not coming back.

BUT life DOES go on, and here's some proof:


Joey

Mikey

Baby shower, New Orleans style

My SIL's baby shower was Saturday. It was a suprise, thrown @ the Rib Room of the Omni Royal Orleans Hotel, on St. Louis St. in the French Quarter. It was lovely. The food was incredible! Mmmmm the gumbo! It was even worth having to wear dress/hose/lycra/heels.

For some reason, I thought I would be the only person from Jason's side of the family attending. I thought it was a suprise from him also(it wasn't) and knew that I was the only woman in our family they knew well. To my suprise, their grandmother was there, 2 aunts, & 3 cousins. I hadn't seen most of them in several months, but one cousin I hadn't seen since Gregory was 5 months old! It was such fun.

We were treated to a 3 piece jazz band, and an open bar .


Outside the giant windows of the hotel, this couple sat and entertained passers by. LSU was playing Tulane @ the dome, and the streets were crowded.


After Katrina, both of Darlene's sisters moved out of state. Her older sister is 14 months older, and the other is her twin, so they are very close. It's been hard on Darlene for them to be gone. Renee has 2 boys, so her family is ready for a girl. Our family, however are all pulling for team blue (Did I mention that they aren't finding out the gender before birth?). Lately, I am secretly hoping for a girl because I know that's what Darlene wants, but I'm still getting that boy vibe. We shall see!

blossoms

Some of you may be enjoying fall already. Although we have had a break in temps (it's only 88 right now!), my flowers are still loving a long summer.

proud of me

I've left the aforementioned mommy forum for good. Really for good since I can't remember my password! Long rant short, there's an Ezzo mom there and it's just too painful. I've been there for 5 years and always passed along AP info. But for the past year an Ezzo mom has been very vocal. It really breaks my heart. It started with recommending flicking baby's cheek if she bites while nursing and it just got more horrific from there.

Anyway, I have left this forum before, because of this, but gone back because of the real friendships I'd formed with most of them. But this time it's for good. It was hard, and yet not hard KWIM? A few of them are on myspace anyway.

My peg appears to be a rhombus...

Test - photos

Just testing. Darlene said I couldn't post this on myspace. She didn't say anything about my blog. :)

Impatiently waiting for the arrival of Little Jason Jr or Stella Marie,
Aunt Penny

Unschooly movie

We just watch Accepted. The writers obvioulsy have a fixation with the word "shit", but if you can get past that, it's a great story. Basicly a guy doesn't get into college & takes the college money from his dad & makes up a college. It slowly but surely evolves into a very real "uncollege", w/ some very unschooly themes.

A day in our life

Somone on Louisiana unschoolers began a "our day" thread, and I wanted to repost my reply here.

DH Greg leaves for work @ 6:30am. I try to be up by 8:30 to have some time before DS Gregory (9) gets up, but that doesn't always happen. I start my day w/coffee, devotionals, and email, including checking for new soap orders. Gregory is up by 9:30 and heads straight for my lap :) . He sits there until he can't wait any longer to pee . Then he's off running around with the dog. By the time he's done devouring some peanut butter sandwiches or oatmeal, it's his turn @ the computer. He's very into Webkins right now. He takes care of his panda there, often while taking care of his tomagachi as well. Then he's off to his room to read his huge pokemon book while playing the latest pokemon game he's rented from Gamefly (he pays out of his allowance), and often watching a pokemon episode as well. Somewhere in there will usually be a SpongeBob episode or 2.

DH comes home for lunch, and DS has recently begun cooking (we usually have burgers) w/me. We do a spot clean of the house, get the floor swept, our hair combed, etc. The house always looks lived in, but I try to be sure that the mess DH comes home to is not the same mess he left behind LOL! DH loves the show How It's Made, and it happens to be on at lunch time, so we'll have that on while he's home. DH, DS, and the dog usually have a bit of play time before DH goes back to work.

Three or 4 days a week, our afternoons are spent out - post office, shopping, field trips, park day. If I have a soap order, he likes to help me pull the
inventory and package it, then we are off to the post office. Trips to WalMart always entail bringing allowance money, price-checking the latest games, figuring how much more he needs to save, how long it'll take to save that much, etc. We talk about choosing best prices, nutritional value, marketing ploys, goodness we are always talking! Recent field trips include a visit to a small post office, a hands-on pottery demonstration, checking out a homeschol kung fu group (he's not interested), and learning to crochet over the summer(a class taught by a homechool mom for any interested kids & moms. I'm now teaching myself to knit as well.)

DH is home about 6 and we try to do dinner before 7pm. Gregory has recently been bit by the cooking bug. Last night he made spagetti & meat sauce. After dinner ny 2 guys will usually do something together - a bike ride, play a video game, wash the truck, work on whatever household project is going on,
etc. I get about an hour or so alone most evenings. My guilty pleasure during that time is watching a CSI/Law & Order show. It's my time to veg. Then we usually watch a movie together (love Netflix!). Our collection and taste in movies vary greatly. Some family favorites are Bob Hope, Red Skelton, Abbott & Costello, Jerry Lewis, John Wayne, John Candy, Bill Murray, etc. I married into a movie family. My in-laws, DH & DS can see a movie once and they remember such detail! DS loves to take a DVD and watch everything on it - outtakes, how it's done, etc. He learns so much from watching movies.

Bed time for DH is 10pm. He rarely makes that, but that's his story and he's sticking to it (more like 11 or 11:30). Gregory & I are the night owls, usually up until 1am or later. If I'm ready for sleep & Gregory isn't, he'll just watch TV or play until he is (that is rare). Then we get up next morning & have a completely different, although similar, day.

And I know that we do many things everyday that I am not remembering right
now. :)