Double Digits?? OY!

Happy Birthday to my baby girl... who isnt much a baby any more. She turned ten this past week. Ten years ago at 10:43 AM. I pushed her out like a turd. Ahhhhh, memories! It really seems like a life time ago, but yet seems like it was yesterday. Amazing how that works. She was born in the Navy Hospital on Camp Pendleton, in California. And I knew she was destined for greatness! I mean, I AM her mother afer all ;)

So after the "theme" fiasco, we had a great party. Only a few people came, but that was fine by me, because I hate hosting. Skylar had an awesome time, and I am pretty sure everyone else did too. Minus the few bumps LJ and I hit that day, it all went pretty well. My mom bought a slip and slide and that is when the "real" fun began...

Yes, the adults were a slippin and a sliding...

Ahhhh, summer!

So her birthday went well. As you can see...
She was very thankful for all her gifts. And I hope no one took offense when she disappeared for an hour or so to play by herself with her new toys, its just her Aspergers kicking in... I am embracing it instead of fighting it. I actually thought she was outside playing, until I did a head count. Only to find her, in her room with the door shut, playing with her new bakugan. Ah well, Its her birthday, she can do what she wants.

Hope everyone has a great week!

More then meets the eye...

Thankfully this past week has been pretty uneventful...
Skylars Birthday was yesterday, and she only got one phone call. And that was from my mom. What has the Internet done to us these days? She got a million and one messages on facebook ( which she checks MAYBE once a week). She didn't want to stay home from school, but had to cuz she had a Doctors appt. Did you hear that, let me repeat... She DID NOT want to stay home! I love when that happens! I could just take that teacher and raise her to the Lord! Anyways, we ended up birthday shopping for supplies for her, How to Train a Dragon birthday. So off to Party City we went... guess what.... NO DRAGON STUFF... Of course not. So a quick call to iParty and Walmart, and to no avail - NO DRAGON STUFF. SO we had to change the theme at the last minute, Back to Transformers, which was our original idea anyways. ::sigh:: Thank goodness I had not ordered the cake yet, like I had intended to do first!

Anyways, after buying the store out of party supplies in Transformer theme ( Did I have a daughter? Ok just checking...) We went off to the dollar store, to buy matching supplies cheaper... And then off to McDonalds.. cuz no birthday is ever complete without heartburn! Then off to the quickest docs appt ever known to man, I mean seriously we were in and out of there in 15 minutes! I just had to get some Speech and OT scripts... Then we came home and she went off to her Dads.
Back tracking to Monday, we had dinner with LJ's boss and were kinda worried they were gonna give him the axe, but it wasn't bad and the food was pretty good! MMMMMM cheesecake... Anyways, I have been trying to design a logo for them for the past few days and came up with some good and not so good ones. Wouldn't you know they like the not so good ones. ::sigh:: So now I am waiting to hear from the printer to find out costs and what not... wait a sec here.... when did i get put on the payroll? oh wait I'm not. ::sigh::

Well that's about it for now, sorry this week was so boring, well I am not really sorry, lately, I like boring!
Have a great weekend!Stay tuned for Sky's birthday party Saturday!

So, Its true...

Ahhh Friday! How I love thee...

Yesterday was our appointment with Developmental Pediatrician Dr. Henry Shapiro, All Children's.
We went for our final diagnosis of Skylar. And her diagnosis is:

Aspergers ( a mild form of autism) and Semantic Pragmatic Disorder.

The silence filled the room, the imaginary fist punched me in the gut. I was breathless and in a cold sweat. but why? I knew that's what it was, Why was it still such a surprise? I guess somewhere deep down inside, I was hoping I was just overreacting maybe? I thought maybe, there might be nothing wrong with her, and she really was just a brat? I dunno, what was in the back of my mind, I just know I wanted to cry. Even though I was prepared for the answer.
But I remained stoic, so she wouldn't think I was afraid or upset. Her IQ scores were pretty amazing, as I figured. The doctor told me she needs to be in an ASD class ( Autism Spectrum Disorders). Which is what I have been trying to get. But now with a diagnosis, I have more power. Like this little blue piece of paper is my army. With this, no one can stop me...

Well, now that I have slept on it, I am back to reality. My children are perfectly imperfect. What do I do now? I continue advocating for them, and be the best mom I can be. So that they can have the best life that I can give them. Because society with be rough on them both, and so will the real world. I will do my best to prepare them for the ugliness. So onward I trudge, creating a path for them to follow. I am a Godly mother and they will always be safe in His arms! Thank you Jesus!

P.S.
Dakotas teacher got fired. I shouldn't be gloating about this, but I am sadly ecstatic. She shouldn't have been teaching those children. She belongs somewhere else. So now, I am going to be sending Dakota back to school full time ( at least for the rest of the school year), cuz his new teacher ( who has been at that school for years, teaching the 2nd Grade kids) rocks! This is what advocating for your kids is all about. Making a difference!

How much more can I possibly take?

Ahhh Monday...

I am so not relieved to see you...

So this week is about the same as last. Dakota's leg started feeling much better this week finally! Wednesday I took him down to Shriner's Hospital in Tampa to take a look at his synovitis leg. They told me everything seemed fine and to come back in 6 months to double check. I also asked them about his flat feet and clicking of the hip he likes to do. They told me if his feet do not bother him, then there is nothing that needs to be done. Some people are just born with flat feet. uhh, ok. And the clicking of his hip is fine, kinda like cracking your knuckles and hopefully he will outgrow it. uhhh, ok.

Went to a birthday party on Saturday. ( Shout out to Nate and Brandyn, WOOT) Dakota was feeling fine all morning, and then it hit him like a ton of bricks. He suddenly was pulling on his belly and was burning hot. So strange. I took him home gave him Motrin and Tylenol... hoping the fever would break and be gone. Fast forward to Sunday morning... Dakota woke up still really hot. No church for us, bummer.... He went down for nap at 1pm and slept til 6pm. Figuring rest was all he needed I let him sleep. I really wish I could sleep like that! When he woke up he was covered in a bright red rash, his feet were purple, and I PANICKED. All I could think about was that this had something to do with the synovitis that has been ruining my life ( see previous post). So I waited a bit to see if maybe all that sleeping just made him hot. Much to my dismay, it got worse. So at 9pm LJ and I rushed off to the ER, at All Children's, for our fourth visit in one month. Sigh. Everyone else had the same idea apparently...
After waiting an hour to get vitals, we waited another half an hour for a room. They were so busy, we were put in a trauma room, which was huge. While waiting for the doctor, Dakota and I found a chair with wheels.. I think you know whats coming... YES I did act like a complete idiot just to hear my son laugh, we rolled and spun all over the trauma room... that is, until we got a roommate. So they did a throat swab and blood cultures, to find out he had scarlet fever and strep throat. My poor boy! This kid has been thru so much this month and now this? OY! They administered him some meds thru his IV, and asked us to keep him still... UHHH yeah right! We managed to keep him still for the 30 minute treatment, and got to leave. he is still wicked red today and really cranky. But wont be contagious after today so that is good. I am less then thrilled to see what this week will bring.
Sorry I have no pictures this week, as lack of sleep and motivation are killing me.
Praying for a better week, oh heck lets go big... praying for a better month.