Clay County Fair

9/12/10-

Another year at the Clay County Fair.  The boys really enjoyed it this year.  It was a beautiful day for the fair.  In fact a little too warm for my liking.  The boys were so excited to see all the animals and test out all the tractors, combines, lawn mowers and any other type of farming equipment with Daddy.  The boys behaved really well.  We stayed about 4 hours and they missed their nap so I think they did great.  Once we got in the car to head home, I don't think we were out of the parking lot when they crashed and slept all the way home.  Then it was a little tough to get them to bed, but not as bad as it could have been.

Of course I got some pictures of them by the tires of the tractors.  I wanted to get Isaac by the John Deere but by the time we saw them he was not in the mood for pictures- oh well.

September photos

Is it really September already?  Wow.  What a change in the weather the past week.  We wake up to 50 degree weather and so I've already pulled out some jeans for the boys.  Let me just say, that adjustment was not an easy one for Isaac.  He has a hard time with transition and going from shorts and t shirts to pants and sweatshirts wasn't easy.  We still have battles when it comes to pajama's but at least he's accepting his jeans and sweatshirts for the day.

Ross had purchased an old tricycle at a garage sale last summer.  I just brought it out this weekend because I didn't think Isaac could pedal yet.  Boy was I wrong.  He took off on it like he'd been doing it forever.  He doesn't have the hang of pedaling on his hot wheels at Grandma's but the tricycle was a whole different story.  Now we need to buy another because Caleb wants it too!

It's hard to believe Isaac will be 3 years old next month.  Time has just flown by.  He still isn't potty trained but he's getting there.  I really haven't pushed the issue at all because with his personality it could really backfire on me.  I have let him lead the way so far and he usually is willing to go when I ask.  In a few weeks I might pull out the big boy underwear and let both him and his brother wear them and give it a shot. 

We had a good Labor Day weekend.  Saturday the boys and I spent almost all day outside.  I didn't mind because the weather was perfect.  The little house that we own has been vacant for a long time.  We had someone buy it from us to add onto his current home.  The demolition took place Saturday and the boys loved watching the John Deere take it down.  Sunday after church we headed to the lakes and stayed with my parents for the day up at West Oaks.  It was a good time.  Ryan, Bjorn and Daryan made the trip down so we got to see them for a little bit too!!!  Unfortunately we arrived at nap time so Bjorn and the boys didn't get to play...next time!  Sunday night we went back to my parents house and stayed over and then hung out at West Oaks on Monday.  We stopped at the flea market but it was rainy and chilly so we didn't stay long.

Here's a few pictures from Labor Day weekend!

Boys outside Arnolds Park

Boys being silly outside on a nice day

Watching the house demolition

Wow a tractor to watch too!

Cute little Caleb Benjamin!

Riding the trike is fun!

Ready to go swimming!

He looks so innocent!!!

Sponge Bob swimmers

Watching the boats from the patio

One of the 4 kittens

Sensory Processing Disorder

I debated whether or not to put this out there on the blog.  I decided why not, if someone else has a child with similar symptoms then maybe that will allow someone to realize their toddler isn't just being a "typical toddler" going through the "terrible two's". 

Isaac has not been diagnosed with anything nor have I taken him anywhere to be diagnosed.  I am not a doctor but I can tell you from doing my own research that I am about 95% sure that Isaac has what is called Sensory Processing Disorder, a/k/a Sensory Integration Dysfunction. 

Sensory Processing Disorder or SPD is a neurological disorder causing difficulties with processing information from one or several of the five senses.  For those with SPD, sensory information is sensed but perceived abnormally.  Unlike blindness or deafness, sensory information is received by people with SPD; the difference is that information is processed by the brain in an unusual way that may cause distress or confusion.

Some symptoms of SPD include:

• Fearful, anxious or agressive with unexpected touch
• Becomes fearful when touched from behind
• Resists friendly or affectionate touch from anyone besides parents or siblings
• Dislikes kisses
• Avoids messy play
• excessively ticklish
• Distressed by clothes rubbing on skin
• Distressed by seams in socks
• Distressed about having hair, toenails or fingernails cut
• May refuse to walk barefoot across grass or sand
• May crave touch, needs to touch everything and everyone
• Frequently hurts other children or pets while playing
• Avoids/dislikes elevators
• Afraid of heights
• In constant motion, can't seem to sit still
• loves being tossed in the air
• Always jumping on furniture, trampolines, etc.
• is a "thrill seeker" and dangerous at times
• Likes sudden quick movements
• Seeks out jumping, bumping activities
• Kicks feet on floor or chair when sitting at a desk or table
• Likes to be tightly wrapped
• Prefers clothes to be tight
• Loves roughhousing
• Frequently falls on floor intentionally
• Loves jumping off furniture from high places
• Frequently hits, bumps or pushes other children
• Seems to do everything with too much force
• Plays with animals with too much force
• Distracted by sound not normally noticed by others
• Often does not respond to verbal cues
• Needs directions repeated often
• Sensitive to bright lights
• Easily distracted to other stimuli in room
• Enjoys playing in the dark
• Difficult getting along with peers
• Difficulty accepting change in routine
• Can't go from sleeping to awake without distress
• Severe/several moodswings throughout the day

These are just some of the symptoms and Isaac does not have all of them but he does show the majority of them.  Raising a 2 year old with SPD and raising another 2 year old is not easy.  What causes SPD is unknown.  Can it be related back to his adoption?  I suppose so but who knows.  Isaac was adopted at 3 days of age, so no he technically won't remember being separated from the woman who carried him for 9 months, BUT unfortunately odds are that he will at some point in his life feel a loss.  All adoptees experience loss at some point, because they have lost a relationship with parents that God intended to occur.  It's up to Ross and I as his parents now to help him through this loss he will experience.  Is he experiencing a loss now?  It's possible but I don't know.  Isaac seems to have some anger built up inside of him and trying to understand the mind of a 2 year old is tiring.  He can't express his feelings in a way that we understand so we are going to find the help we need. 

Until then we're trying to be as patient as we can and figure out what things work best for Isaac.  Isaac is a true blessing to our family.  A little more than 3 years ago I thought I'd never be a Mother.  Then we were placed with Isaac.  The ironic thing is that we received the call about Isaac just 4 days after another expecting mother looked at our profile and chose another family.  Within days I was bonded to Isaac and I felt at peace.  All the feelings I felt during our wait had vanished instantly.  I had even told my family that if I never gave birth to a child I would be fine with that because of the deep love I had for Isaac.  I can't explain it, but it didn't take long for me to feel like he was my son and some days I honestly forget he's adopted.  Of course you all know how the story continues, God had more exciting plans for our lives with another precious boy.  My boys are true miracles in our lives.  It's not easy raising them.  Each stage in their lives is different.  The infant stage was hard because Isaac was still an infant when Caleb came along.  Then things got a little easier after they turned 1.  Now things are getting a little harder with having a 2 year old and almost 3 year old.  They are at very trying stages of growing up but I wouldn't give it up for anything in this world.  There's never a dull moment at our house and it's insane sometimes, but it's worth every cent!

Tonsillectomy/Adenoidectomy

August 17, 2010

5:45 A.M.  I woke Isaac up from a deep sleep, which is not something I wish to do on a normal occassion.  Lets just say he's not a good one for waking up before he's ready.  We left Isaac in his pajama's and changed his diaper.  We told him we were going for a ride in the van.  What 2 1/2 year old wouldn't want to ride with Mommy and Daddy?  On the way to Sioux Falls he kept asking where we were going.  I finally told him that we were going to Sioux Falls.  The prior week I had been telling him about his surgery but our conversation always ended with him upset because he didn't want to go to the doctor.  We arrived at the surgical tower a little after 7:00 and checked in.  Isaac was such a big boy.  He stood on the big scale without a fuss and allowed them to get his height.  The first battle came when it was time to put hospital pajamas on.  He has a hard time transitioning from shorts to pants and since he's still wearing shorts, he was not having any part to do with the pajama pants.  The next battle came when it was time to put on his identification and allergy bracelets.  We had to put them on his ankle and cover them up with his socks.  The biggest battle was trying to get his blood pressure taken.  That was one hard task and he fought it the entire way.  The anethesiologist came in and spoke with us.  He asked if we wanted to give Isaac some medication prior to sedating him.  It would relax him a little and easier to put him to sleep.  Because Isaac is not good at taking medication we all decided we would skip it.  The anethesiologist thought it would be better not to have to hold him down and scare him even more. 

Surgery was supposed to be at 8:30 and the doctor thought we would be ahead of schedule.  It was a little after 9:30 before the nurses came to get him.  Isaac did pretty well watching cartoons while we waited.  The nurses wheeled him away in a red wagon.  He had no problem with that but I am guessing once he went through the double doors he was screaming.  Surgery itself took about 20 minutes and then he went to recovery.  We were able to be with him about 11:00 or so.  He was quite upset and in pain.  I held him and he fell asleep on my lap.  His oxygen started to drop.  They want it 92 or above and his had dropped to 84.  They put some oxygen on him for a half hour or so until it started to come up.  Then we were checked into a room at the Children's Hospital.  Isaac did amazingly well.  He downed about 4 popsicles in the first couple hours and only improved from there.  We kept him medicated every 4 hours to keep on top of the pain.  He was hooked to his IV for over 24 hours but seemed to do quite well with it. 

Good friends from Church, Dennis and Gracia came to visit before Isaac went into surgery.  That was nice that we were able to have them there.  Grandma and Grandpa K came to visit in the afternoon and Isaac was happy about that.  Daddy stayed until about 8:30 or so and then headed home.  I stayed with Isaac and slept in his bed with him.  He slept well until the meds wore off.  We started giving him oral meds in the night so we had to wake him up to get him to take it.  He did pretty well with how awful the medication tastes.

The doctor filling in for our surgeon made his rounds early Wednesday morning and told us we could leave whenever we were ready.  Daddy came and picked us up around 10:00 or so.  Isaac was very happy to be going home.  Wednesday afternoon Isaac had trouble with pain and it only continued from there.  It was darn near a week before he could ease up on his pain medication and didn't complain about pain every 2 hours.  It was a hard go but he's finally on the mend.  He still tells me his throat hurts every so often but he's been medication free for almost a week now which is a huge relief.  The medication he was on had some nasty side effects.  He was very restless, mood changes, dreaming,  no fun for a 2 year old.

Tomorrow is his 2 week check up and I expect that everything will have healed nicely.  I can already say that his sleeping habits have improved a ton.  It still takes him quite a while to fall asleep, but once asleep he does not snore, he sleeps with his mouth closed and he hardly moves all night long.  The next step will be to get him to his own bed.  I think he likes sleeping with Mommy a little too much!!!!  I don't mind now that he isn't restless.  We're not going to push the issue quite yet.  I'm pretty sure he won't be sleeping in bed with me when he's 15. 

Isaac was a trooper during his surgery and recovery.  I can only imagine how much his throat did hurt but he did great.  It's nice that he's eating now and not on a popsicle diet anymore.  His little brother didn't understand why he couldn't have popsicles for breakfast too!

Caleb had a good time staying with Grandma and Grandpa B while Isaac recovered.  He was very excited to see Isaac but it took a few days for Isaac to come around to wanting to play with Caleb.

Here's a few pictures of Isaac at the hospital. 

IV he had in for over 24 hours

First sip of water after surgery

Snuggling with Daddy

Having a popsicle

That was good

Finally a little smile

Exhausted but ready to go home!

Surgery has been postponed

Isaac's surgery to have his tonsils and adenoids removed has been postponed until August 17th.  Let me just say I was not a happy camper when I found this out.  Apparently our doctor will be out of the office on August 6th.  I'm not sure why he'll be out, but I guess  I would have thought that beings we had this appointment set for well over 2 months, we could have been notified much sooner.  The nurse I spoke with said she left a message.  Come to find out she did leave a message on my cell phone but my cell phone does not notify me when I have a new message.  The nurse did not try contacting me at work or at home or any other time so we missed out on having the surgery reset for August 5th.  Now we have to wait a few more weeks. 

Surprisingly Isaac slept from about 8:15-7:00 last night but because of his constant moving he's not getting complete rest.  Once he is done with surgery and recovered we'll worry about getting him back into his own bed. 

In the meantime I'm not sleeping well and it's not all because of Isaac.  Ross and I take turns sleeping with him in our bed but he moves  A LOT.  On other other nights we sleep in the twin bed that Isaac used to sleep in.  My back and neck are not adjusting to the twin bed very well. 

In the meantime I'm reading a book that will hopefully help us get him back into his bed.  I don't care if I have to lay with him until he falls asleep every night for a while, I just want him back in his own bed.  He's also fallen out of our bed about 3 times so I've now placed an order for another side rail since Caleb is using the one we have in the toddler bed as he's fallen out of that already.

The joys of toddlers!!!!!

2 year update

I got Caleb into the doctor for his 2 year check up.  What a big boy.  He stood on the big scale for his measurements and let the doctor check him out completely.  Once doctor was done examining him Caleb says to him "I want a sticker".  He is so funny.  Of course he ended up with 3 stickers because he was so charming.  My big boy is 29 lbs and 34 inches tall.  According to the height formula chart my Mom used when I was growing up, Caleb is only going to end up being about 5'8 or 5'9 which is pretty ironic considering that is the exact same height Isaac is going to end up being.  Then of course they say you can double their height at 2 years and it comes out to about the same.  Isaac is going to be short like his birthmother and Caleb is going to be short like me.  No basketball players in this family! :-)

We took Caleb to JCP to get his pictures taken.  He was quite the ham and we got a lot of good shots of him.  We had Isaac along and tried to get their picture taken together.  However, Isaac was having no part of it.  By the time we had Isaac convinced Caleb was done.  So the only pictures of them were one where Caleb is frowning in the background or the two of them fighting over a bat and Isaac crying. It's pretty funny but I already spent enough on the cute Caleb pictures I decided not to get any of the boys.  Maybe we'll do better when Isaac gets his pictures in October.

Oh sleep where have you gone?

This too shall pass...this too shall pass....this too shall pass.  That's what I have to keep telling myself over and over and over again. 

Isaac has been having a terrible time sleeping and we don't know if it is related to his enlarged tonsils and adenoids, sleepwalking, dreams, nightmares, or what exactly is causing this disruption.  He was a good sleeper starting at 2 1/2-3 months.  He slept all night long and slept until 7:00 or 7:30.  Around 18 months he started waking up once in the night which still wasn't that bad.  Right before he turned 2 he started throwing fits when we put him to bed.  He would shake his crib, yell, scream and throw long drawn out temper tantrums.  Once he finally got to sleep he would sleep all night.  THEN he learned how to climb out of his crib and he climbed out over and over and over again.  Needless to say we had to put him in the toddler bed.  It took a couple weeks to get him accustomed to falling asleep and not getting out of bed .  There is also a twin bed (guest bed) in Isaac's room so after a couple months of sleeping in the toddler bed we would find him in the twin bed in the morning.  What a stinker.  Well this past month has been very BAD for sleeping.  He throws terrible temper tantrums.  He bangs on his door, runs around the room, yells, screams.  I hate listening to it.  I feel so frustrated and helpless.  We've tried letting him cry it out and he used to finally give in after 20 minutes or so.  Not anymore.  He will literally cry for hours on end.  I'm not sure if it is a separation anxiety phase or not, but it seems like if we're laying beside him or near him he's fine but the minute we leave he freaks out.  Neither Ross or I were getting much sleep and we had to do something.  We thought he might be comforted by having Caleb in his room so we set up the 2 toddler beds in Caleb's room.  That did not work at all.  In fact, I wasn't prepared for this, but Caleb wanted to be in the toddler bed.  He's been there for about a week now and he sleeps all night without getting up.  What a big boy.  Okay back to Isaac.  So then he moved to the floor of our room a couple nights and now is in our bed. 

It's one thing for him to go through this separation anxiety phase and refuse sleep, but he's also a very restless sleeper.  He is constantly moving, snores, grinds teeth, sleepwalks.  It's quite the time.  The only one getting adequate sleep is Caleb. 

We began wondering about Isaac's behavior.  It's hard to say whether he's the typical toddler going through the terrible 2's or if something else is going on.  His behavior did get worse when he stopped sleeping well so I am thinking now that sleep has A LOT to do with it.  Isaac gets his tonsils and adenoids removed on August 6th and after recovery is through we'll try working on the bedtime routine again.  In the meantime Ross and I take turns sleeping in the bed with him or twin bed in his room. 

So if I could ask, please say a few extra prayers for Isaac in the upcoming weeks.  I pray his surgery goes well, that recovery goes well and that his normal sleep pattern returns.  I know what I feel like when I don't sleep well, I can only imagine how he feels.

Family Vacation 2010

We took our very first vacation with the boys.  Overall we had a wonderful.  We could do without the 9 hour car ride, but it was still a great experience for all of us. 
Thursday, July 8, 2010

We left home around 8:30 or so and headed to Missouri.  We had told the boys we were going to see Aunt Erin but that it would be a long car ride.  About an hour into the ride Caleb said he wanted out and wanted to go swimming.  He started to get a little irritable so I kept him occupied with snacks, books, coloring, stickers until he fell asleep.  I think the boys were too excited to sleep because throughout our 9 hour driving time, they only slept about 90 minutes total.  We stopped 3 times on the way.  The first time we stopped for almost 2 hours which allowed them time to run run run!!!!  We even stopped at the train museum in Council Bluffs.  Lunch was at McDonalds and I knew it was starting off to be a bad day when Caleb dropped his sippy cup into his container of ketchup and it ended up in my hair, on my face, shirt and pants.  To top it off I had a couple different guys at McDonalds tell me things about my parenting styles.  I may not be the best parent, but honestly why do people actually have to say something?  The first man was walking to his seat.  I had just picked Caleb up and was turning around to walk back to the counter and he says to me "maybe you should watch your children".  The next man was sitting across from us while eating.  Ross had told the boys to stay with me while he went to get more pop.  Umm yeah that didn't happen and when they got up the man says "well they listen well now don't they".  I think my only come back was "excuse me, they are two years old".  Yeah the first day didn't start off too great for me ha ha!  After many hours in and out of the car we finally arrived in Arnold, MO at Aunt Erin's house a little after 9 pm.  We let the boys stay up until about 10:30 because they were way to hyper to go to sleep anyways.  Caleb slept in his pack n play (he barely fit) and Isaac slept with us.  In a way it was good to sleep with Isaac because I got a good feel on how his sleeping patterns are.  They aren't good.  He tosses and turns ALL NIGHT LONG!  He snores, sleeps with his mouth open, coughs, and rolls all over the bed.  What a time we had with him in bed with us.

Friday, July 9, 2010

Erin had a class she needed to go to in the morning so Ross, the boys and I went out on our own.  We went to Grant's Farm which has the Clydsdale horses for viewing along with many other animals.  We got to ride the train a couple times.  We saw all sorts of animals, turtles, goats, ducks, geese, birds, etc.  We even bought tickets so the boys each got a ride on the carousel, a sno cone and 2 bottles of milk to feed the baby goats.  We had a blast!!!!  We headed back to Erin's at dinner time and let the boys take naps.  Then Erin joined us and we went on the Budweiser tour.  Isaac hated being in the stroller but wanted to be carried.  Ughh.  Oh well, overall it was fun.  After that we went over to the Arch.  We took some pictures outdoors and went inside and looked at the displays.  We did not go up into the Arch because the wait was so long and we were not sure the boys would sit still long enough.  That night Erin made us supper and we had grilled fish and sweet corn.

Saturday, July 10, 2010

Today we went to Six Flags.  What a fun/stressful day.  We got there around 11:00 or so and we were there until 6:30.  The boys got about a 30 minute nap in the stroller so Isaac was quite crabby but we dealt with it.  I think Ross and I rode 2 roller coasters.  The 2nd one I did not like.  It appears that Aunt Erin tried to give away Isaac while she watched him and Caleb as we rode the roller coaster.  Ha!  I guess Isaac threw a fit and wanted me the entire time.  That's okay, Erin experienced a little glimpse of what we go through as parents.  Isaac's favorite thing was the tree house where he could climb so high and go down all the slides.  He also loved riding the train.  Caleb enjoyed all the rides he went on.  We went on the ferris wheel, hopper, helicopter, boat, mini train, swings, cars, etc.  Isaac only liked a few rides.  He enjoyed the train, helicopter and cars.  Everything else he seemed afraid and didn't like to go fast or that high up.  He did good though, he's a trooper.  That night we went to Fozoli's and had some italian food. 

Sunday, July 11, 2010

Today we skipped church because we knew the boys would not sit during service and they would require either Ross or I to be with them in the nursery.  We went out for breakfast.  Then went back for naps and then hit the zoo.  They loved the animals, especially the elephant, lion, zebra, giraffe, gorillas and monkeys.  Aunt Erin bought us tickets to go touch the stingrays.  The boys put their hands in the pool but wouldn't touch them.  They thought it was cool that Mommy and Daddy touched them though.  After a few hours of fun we went and had pizza and then headed back to Erin's. 

Monday, July 12, 2010

We loaded the van and headed out around 8:15 this morning.  We made good time and kept our stops short and made it home by 7:30.  We had to ask Uncle Nolan, Grandma and Grandpa K to come over to visit.  The boys missed them all so much and loved to tell about their vacation.

Boys sitting outside the Arch having fun on the steps

Isaac at the park in Council Bluffs~ captured him without a hat!

Caleb watching some of the rides at Six Flags

Isaac feeding the baby goats at Grants Farm

Caleb riding the carousel at the zoo.  He loved it!

Isaac climbing the tree house at Six Flags

Caleb enjoying his ride on the swings

Daddy and Isaac watching the penguins at the zoo. 

It had been raining outside and was freezing where

the penguins were inside.

Mommy and Isaac watching Gorila Joe at the zoo. 

We went through our "Goodnight Gorilla" story

as we watched him.

Aunt Erin and Isaac outside the Arch.

Aunt Erin and Caleb at the zoo

Outside the Arch.  Caleb has the cutest little wave.

Inside the Arch at the baseball scene

At the park in Council Bluffs