Where has the time gone?

With Christmas break in full swing and all the big family events over, it's so lovely to just sit around and enjoy the kids. Tru did wonderful at the Christmas parties, and several times I found myself telling my son Tre' to be more like his sister, Tru and behave. She is a miracle and continues to amaze me every day. She is starting to become more vocal, and making sense. She's continuing to sign at home and it's starting to pick up in the school setting, I'm not sure what the delay has been but recent reports are promising. She's has really thinned out in the last couple months and we are going back to a lactouse free diet to hopefully clear up some bowel irregularities. But all in all 2010 has been a wonderful year and we are excited to see what 2011 has to bring to us.
2005, Tru's first Christmas

Schaefer Christmas 2010

Falling in with the time change

With the change of the season and time, there is always a bit of an adjustment period around our house. (It probably doesn't help that renovations are slowly coming together) The leaves falling off the trees really does Tru Legacy in. I've fooled her into taking her Benadryl, this is a very big victory for me cause after she got her second set of tubes she stopped being good at taking meds. Many a times she'd spit it back out ~ I wish I could transfer the want to spit meds out to a want to spit the mucus that is draining down her throat and out her nose, in the past month she's been on two different antibiotic treatments. The only way we can get her to take ANYTHING is to mix it with Snack Pac chocolate pudding, & it can't be sugar free. That kid knows the difference. She also refuses to eat wheat pasta, doesn't matter the amount of cheese or sauce I smother it in.

I thought I would share this link, I found it to be very helpful - http://www.kcdsg.org/files/content/Explaining%20Privacy%20and%20Sexuality.pdf

before I jump into the next topic.

Tru is starting to go into that "self-exploratory" stage and I'm truly at odds on what to do. We are usually able to redirect her attention to another activity, but I caught her in her room the other day. In her defense she did have her bedroom door closed, but I'm just unsure about how I'm suppose to react. I helped her wash her hands and just redirected her to hang out with me in the living room and color. I've spoken to her pediatrician and he tells me that since she is at risk for early puberty anyways, that I need to find away to deal with it. (He was much more kind in his wording, but as usual he was encouraging of the job that I am doing with her and his amazement he takes in all her accomplishments - is like a solidifying nail that I really am doing a good job.)

Now THEN

I just can't believe how quickly time is passing, it seems like just yesterday I was bringing her home and passing her around to family and friends in this living room, so many couches, end tables, and TVs have come and gone since then =) I think the only original piece is the computer and the multi-picture frame that holds Tru Legacy's pics from when she was 2 weeks old, and even those have been updated over time.

Change is good though and the memories that we have acquired along the way are worth all the time and effort.

~Have a Beautiful Day~

God's cake...

This is about the best thing I've ever read as an explanation.
Sometimes we wonder, 'What did I do to deserve this?' or 'Why did God have to do this to me?' Here is a wonderful explanation! A daughter is telling her Mother howeverything is going wrong, she's failing algebra, her boyfriend broke up with her and her best friend is moving away. Meanwhile, her Mother is baking a cake and asks her daughter if she would like a snack, and the daughter says, 'Absolutely Mom, I love your cake.' 'Here, have some cooking oil,' her Mother offers. 'Yuck' says her daughter. 'How about a couple raw eggs?' 'Gross, Mom!' 'Would you like some flour then? Or maybe baking soda?' 'Mom, those are all yucky!' To which the mother replies: 'Yes , all those things seem bad all by themselves. But when they are put together in the right way, they make a wonderfully delicious cake! ' God works the same way. Many times we wonder why He would let us go through such bad and difficult times. But God knows that when He puts these things all in His order, they always work for good! We just have to trust Him and, eventually, they will all make something wonderful! God is crazy about you. He sends you flowers every spring and a sunrise every morning. Whenever you want to talk, He'll listen. He can live anywhere in the universe, and He chose your heart. If you like this, send this on to the people you really care about. Life may not be the party we hoped for, but while we are here we might as well dance!

~Time for an upgrade~

Well, my darling son has lost all but like 3 of Tru's PEC magnets and as I was finding newer pictures and upgrading her PEC communication, I found a wonderful site with a pictionary dictionary. Tru's speech therapist and I talked about it before the summer started and I did formulate a small pec book with 4 signs, but in the book form Tru just chewed the pages. In a book format she just didn't take to it. So I guess I'm going to make two sets of magnets, one for home and one for school. (That's the goal today~ right after the dishes.) I might have to go buy some more magnet thingys, but I found an awesome site for pictures. Hopefully this doesn't bite me in the __ cause Tru's old PECs was made from pictures I cut out of magazines cause I didn't have a printer - - -now that I think about it I don't even think I have any ink in my printer - - - Here's the site though before I go further off track.

http://www.pdictionary.com/english/browse.php?bm=6&db=pd

The pictures are pretty generic and Tru does have a tendency to be particular but my hope is that because they are in the same place as the old ones that she's going to make an effort to work with them. I only have 3 of her original pecs the ones for eye glasses, daddy, & brushing her teeth, which is becoming quite a chore.......ugh... but I'm going to finish a set of six for the school and then personalize all the home ones and new things I want to introduce her to. The school has been working really hard with signs and she humors them, never lets on all that she knows. They do wonderful work with her though and she's always eager to get on the bus and smiling when she gets off the bus.

Ok, well, promised the golden boy~Tre' that I would color a picture with him. Then the dishes. I swear.....sometime.

~Have a Beautiful day~

[Unemployed again, so I'm back]

Yet again, several months in between my posts, something things can not be helped. But in all honesty I've really had nothing to write about. Tru Legacy is one of the most happy and healthy kids I know, she just won't talk, she has the ability to, I know she does cause I am her mother and hear it and encourage it and will hold out till she uses some form of words or sign. And it's finally paying off. Tru is in Kindergarten now, working with the teachers as asked, using her signs, completing tasks. She thoroughly enjoys her integrated class times. And everyone that has a say in Tru's education respects my opinion and thinks I've done a wonderful job raising her. So not much to report.......except;

POTTY SUCCESS-
Tru finally went #2 on the potty!! (Yes, I am excited over shite) Bless my adoring husband Scottie Lee, he caught her before she went in her diaper a couple weeks ago and got her on the potty in time. It's renewed my efforts personally - And I have had a couple #1 success since then, so it's still a work in progress. Just like everything else in life.

EAR ISSUES -
I know I've mentioned it before, but Tru has the tiniest ear canals. She is currently on her second set of tubes. And it looks like those are going to have to be removed and a new set put in, right on schedule. Tubes only last her about 18 months, but will not fall out on their own, she gets (figure the misspelling) polyps, growth of scar/fat tissue over the opening of the tubes.Her ears are draining some nasty crud, and they tell me that it's normal and all is well. And most of the time Tru doesn't seem to be in discomfort. When the drainage is really heavy, she does mess with her ears, but the real trick of finding out if her ears really hurt her is to brush her hair and fix it up.

That's our standardized test for getting to stay home because of her ears. Shhh.... don't tell her that. She pulled a quick one on me in the second week of kindergarten. She fussed and whined for her aides and the nurses. I went and picked her up and the moment I walked through the nurse's door - Tru was smiling and started to sign for play, book, song, eat, all at once. At home she was a delight and was fine. Even got along and played with her brother. My dad was never so pleased that Tru pulled on over on mom. I've wised up though =)

~Have a Beautiful Day~

**2010**

~General Update~

It's been so long since I've posted, so I apologize in advance for the long post. So many great things have happened since the last post. Tru is thriving in school. Her concentration is starting to really improve. She'll sit down for a task and complete it, even if it takes 20 minutes!, this may not sound like much to some, but for us it is a great accomplishment. Her trunk strength is slowly increasing. Just this morning she climbed into a Blazer, which I have problems getting into sometimes, so I'm very pleased that we got the trampoline for Christmas. It's too cold now, but I just know that this summer she's going to love it and that it'll help her continue to increase her strength. She's growing up so fast. She's learning and continue to amazes me everyday. I'm very proud of how she adjusted to her baby brother. We seldom have the terrible meltdowns that followed Tre's birth. Tru is learning to deal with her frustration, we still get some head banging when she doesn't get her way, but practicing breathing exercises with her has really helped. The teachers at her Headstart finally got an aide for her approved. It's always so slow when I have to rely on the school system-whom provided the aide, after the Headstart teachers kept pushing & I threatened to talk to the superintendent. (I SOOO fear the end of this school year and what's next to come, we'll save that for another post though). We're still trying to potty train, she'll go a little most of the time, but she won't come and tell me, or sign, that she has to go, instead she comes to me when she's done and whines. I've tried keeping record and come up with the schedule of taking her every 1 1/2 hours to every 2 hours. We're gonna keep trying and that's her goal for 2010 - even if she doesn't want to do it. The Speech therapist and teachers are all enforcing the sign "potty" and thoroughly talking to her about it, so we shall see........

~My Personal Christmas Wish WAS Granted~

All I every wanted from the time Tru was first diagnosed was to understand what was going on and going to become of my precious lil' girl. That's when I found a support group on Yahoo, with amazing people who are my closest and most inspiring of my extended family to date. A group of dedicated parents, myself included, had enough will power and drive to start a non-profit for people just like my baby girl. Well rite before Christmas we got the acceptance letter that grants the non-profit 501(c)3 status. I couldn't think of a better Christmas wish and felt so much joy I jumped up and down and did a little jig in front of my computer as I read the e-mail. It's amazing what can be accomplished now a days with communication technology =) .....just a thought, but so very true.....

~Have a Beautiful Day~