Owner: Redefining Perfect URL:http://findingperfect.blogspot.com Join Date: Thu, 25 Oct 2007 17:54:59 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: A blog about raising special needs children and the unique challenges faced. From therapies to doctors to playtime...finding "perfect" in a life you never expected for them or you.
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Upcoming Contest... 2007-11-23 19:46:00 In the next couple of days I'll be posting a contest...I'm the giving spirit here today *G* I need to 'officially' decide on a prize and then I'll post the contest!!And yes...it will be Holiday Oriented...I'm really in the Christmas spirit this year! Read more:Upcoming
, Contest
The Queen has spoken... 2007-11-23 07:52:00 When I told my dad about this, I got a 'like mother, like daughter' comment...********Yesterday K kept getting into one thing after another. Finally after about 30 minutes straight of telling her 'no' and every time she'd hear it, she'd throw things on the floor, I was getting quite frustrated. When she grabbed at the medicine again I told her no and smacked her little diapered butt (not hard, enough to get her attention). The look she gave me could have shot daggers through me. She was MAD. She was going to STAY MAD. So she stalked across the room, crossing her arms across her chest, and staring at the TV (We were watching the parade to begin M's intro to Santa...nice and gradual). DH tried to get her attention, "Kennedy. Kennedy!" He said her name probably 5-10 times receiving no response. She kept her arms crossed and her back to us. So, not one to be bossed around, I spoke up "KEnnedy!" In response to my sharp tone she did turn around.She gave me a stern glare, po Read more:Queen
Thankful Thursday.... 2007-11-22 18:42:00 In place of tales of woe today I will do the 'obligatory' Thankful
post...I have a lot to be thankful for. I am thankful for...my husband who spends the morning attempting to 'help' while I'm trying to prep for Thanksgiving. Who cleans the bathroom so that I can cook...and who tells me daily that I'm a 'good wife'...and somehow knows when I'm having a bad enough day that I need to hear it more than once. When I'm going bonkers, he's calm; when he's going bonkers, I'm calm; our balancing act makes for a good marriage. I am thankful for...my oldest child. Who is smart enough to get on the A/B Honor Roll his first trimester, despite starting off the year with an adjustment period that began with three F's. That is so book-smart...but still manages to maintain a 9/10 year old's lack of common sense. That spends time with his sisters and almost always gets them laughing.I am thankful for...my Molly. She is the smartest baby ever. Despite the limitations of not always Read more:Thursday
Tale of a Geek (II) 2007-11-21 20:14:00 Okay, back to this. To recap...I was cute: I danced a lot...And I did theatre too. Here I am as Laura Ingalls in Plum Creek...a play I wrote myself as well as starred in. Yeah...I'd almost forgotten about that. It was...sixth grade, I believe. The year before I was in a Lewis & Clark play as Lewis...Then I became gawky....And Geek
y...*******And then I moved to Indiana. I had high hopes for a 'new life'...but I'm afraid I remained in the geek realm. I was a flaggot...flag hag...I was in color guard. I started dating one boyfriend at a Star Trek Convention my junior year (Yes. I'm serious.) In fact, here we are a month later going out to a party...But by just before my senior year I was not so much a geek anymore, at least I don't think so, in appearance. I still didn't have a ton of confidence...despite the fact that I did pageants (and did WELL in them), and was in dance, my self-confidence was shot. Here I am, slouching but pleasant enough, taking pictures for pagea
Best Day Ever... 2007-11-21 14:48:00 According to the teachers/therapists Molly had the "Best day ever" at day care! She still wasn't a conversationalist - but she made tons of choices. She picked what mat she wanted, her name, what treat she wanted. The OT said she let her do the oral motor exercises and everything. Apparently it was a very very good day...Then she came home and has turned into a holy terror. Yay me. *thunk*
The tale of a geek (me pre-DH) 2007-11-20 21:03:00 Before I get to the part of my life where I bring in my DH, there's a lot of backstory to go through...well, quite a bit. I'm short on pics right now (especially decent ones of me once I improved from geekdom)...but I'll post those tomorrow once I have access to my bedroom (DH is snoozing now).******In the beginning there was me. And I was cute (seriously, check me out with my brother at 10). I was little and cute and very much what K is probably going to look like in about 7 years. I was happy, popular, and relatively outgoing - but a bit of a crybaby. I danced all the time, took many classes and by the age of this picture I was teaching little ones to dance (yes, seriously). P.S. Not the JELLIES on my feet! Yay for the 80's!!Then in sixth grade something very strange happened. The most popular girl in school decided I was a nerd. She told everyone...and that was the end of me. I was picked on constantly, and I wasn't even truly geeky yet. But within the next two years
Terminology Tuesday 2007-11-20 14:36:00 Sputum CultureLovely word, isn't it? Sputum. Sorry. Definition...*A sputum culture is a test used to determine what bacteria or fungi are infecting a persons lungs and/or breathing passages. The test is run using a swab at the back of the throat to collect the Sputum**. The culture is then tested for growth. If not growth is present, the culture is considered negative. If there is growth, the test is positive and is then checked under a microscope to determine the type of bacteria.~~~**Extra definition: Sputum. The thick fluid fluid produced by the lungs and the airway leading to the lungs. Read more:Tuesday
Bring on the good news!! 2007-11-20 12:31:00 Well, it looks like our Christmas, and our pocketbook have been saved! We don't physically have the money yet, but it has been withdrawn from DH's 401K. We can fix Dh's car now, and this means we can sell my car (this is bad and good) to CarMax, pay it off and get that bill, and the cost of insurance off our backs!! This translates into HUGE relief. On top of that, our Christmas will be nice for the first time in 5 years. We can get our 'big' gift for Denver (space camp! Whee!), and a few others (It is SO hard to shop for a 10 year old boy, you know that?). We can round out the girls toys (right now they are primarily clothes)....AND...*gasp* BUY FOR EACH OTHER!! AND, I can buy the supplies to make the girls holiday dresses...and purses for the rest of my fam (I'm still hoping mom's sweater will be knit in time...but just in case...hello pursy!). We've been waiting on news for over a week on this! The thought of getting this money has been a glimmer of hope for us!
NaBlo NoMo...BADGES!!! 2007-11-30 15:58:00 Congrats to all of us that made it the thirty days...and those that tried!! I've made up these badges for both camps!!! Feel free to save and post on your blog...I just ask for a link back to Redefining Perfect!!Enjoy!! I hope you use them!
Holiday Traditions... 2007-11-30 11:43:00 Traditions can make or break a holiday. The traditions we grew up with as a child are translated into something we try to do with our kids. Every year we add traditions or drop them, but if we don't have any...our holiday can be only ho-hum. In my family there are several traditions that I continue to follow to this day. Christmas is not Christmas without them.The first thing that makes it Christmas is listening to the The Oak Ridge Boys Christmas Album. How can you not hear Thank God for Kids with lyrics like "When you look down in those trusting eyes; That look to you, you realize; There's a love that you can't buy; Thank God for kids..." and not melt? There's just something about this album that brings Christmas to our family. We ALWAYS listen to it on Christmas eve (there's a song for that, too!!)There are two movies that we must watch, too! First is Scrooge. It's the musical version of a Christmas Carol and it's just bright and cheery and perfect for decorating the Read more:Holiday
Operation Santa...And other random items... 2007-11-29 15:36:00 *OperationSanta
- Stage 1 is complete. If I may say so myself, it was a success! In order to prepare Molly for pictures with Santa, I took her and the other kids today to the Santa's Snowglobe nearby. We played in the 'waiting room' part for a while...crept our way closer to where Santa was. Finally got close. Every time I said Santa Molly would look up at him and smile. She wouldn't get too close, but we got within a couple of feet. We'll go again tomorrow. Next week when it's picture time I may have to have her on my lap, but I think we'll get close.*DH's Christmas List - I've asked him to make me a Christmas list because we are actually getting gifts for each other this year. Among those things on his list is...Vomit Bags (he finds the word vomit funny), a 2007 Dodge Charger w/ Hemi engine (yeah, that'll happen), and sex. Hmmm...maybe I SHOULD get him the Charger *giggle**Christmas Cookies - I just may go overboard this year...I printed out quite a few recipes l
Odd sort of feeling.... 2007-11-29 09:21:00 This is totally not kid-related and so should probably go over at Side Dishes...but I'm putting it here anyway.***I woke up this morning to my phone ringing. It was my DH. This is normal. The girls and I sleep until 9:30ish around the time my DH calls. While I'm on the phone with him I hear a diesel engine outside. Several of my neighbors have diesels, and at least one of them ahs a friend that drives a bigrig...so out of curiosity I try to look outside to see what it is with little succeess. Whatever it is is right out of sight. I hang up with DH and head out to my living room.Outside my window I see the neighbors Fire Vehicle (He drives one of the SUV's he's like a step down from the captain...he's also a prick) - wouldn't be out of norm, but his lights are flashing. No sirens. I move further into the room and see a plain white van. Further into the room and there's the other Fire Dept SUV. FURTHER into the room and I see the source of the diesel engine...the Fire D
The Newest Obsession... 2007-11-28 21:02:00 Molly has obsessions. They come and go, only return again and be greeted like a long lost lover (you'll see I'm not kidding). Her first notable obsession was the Backyardigans...but not JUST the show. We're talking down and dirty love with the DVD case. She carried it EVERYWHERE. Took it to bed with her. It got to the point where we had to sneak the cases away because she'd played with them so much the actual title pages were ripped and worn - and in some cases the plastic of the case was half ripped off. We now have NO DVD cases of kids shows...all kids shows are on a spindle and locked away for their own safety.From there we moved onto cars. She had toy cars and she would line them up in a perfect little line and carry them everywhere. This was a very short lived obsession...Because she found her Dora doll. Oh, Dora was BIG. Dora was carried EVERYWHERE. Dora was chewed on as much as Molly's fingers. Dora was LIFE.Then she learned the word "STAR". Dora still had a pl Read more:Obsession
Breastfeeding is not Obscene! 2007-11-28 15:36:00 This was brought to my attention through blog browsing over at Michele's Sparks & Butterflies...and I felt the need to pass it on!***********The all-mighty YouTube has become as ignorant as other sites, removing a video that the LMJ put up in honor of breastfeeding.Incidences like this make breastfeeding seem obscene and disgusting. To a young mother like I once was, it makes the nature of feeding your child uncomfortable!! I, personally, breastfed my oldest and my middle child, but not my third. I don't care either way if you did or not...I more care that we are made to feel vile for doing something so simple when, as others have pointed out, videos of starlets and not-so-starlets shaking their bits are left up as "enjoyment". Why not give others the ability to decide if they want to watch a video that is no more vile (in fact, less so) than a stripper dancing for dollars. Breastfeeding my first was uncomfortable for me in public. I hid in back rooms, nursed in a changing room Read more:Obscene
Terminology Tuesday 2007-11-27 21:49:00 (Yes, I did almost forget)***********Hypotonia(as quoted from Wikipedia because I couldn't say it better)Hypotonia is a condition of abnormally low muscle tone (the amount of tension or resistance to movement in a muscle), often involving reduced muscle strength. Hypotonia is not a specific medical disorder, but a potential manifestation of many different diseases and disorders that affect motor nerve control by the brain or muscle strength. Recognizing hypotonia, even in early infancy, is usually relatively straightforward, but diagnosing the underlying cause can be difficult and often unsuccessful. The long-term effects of hypotonia on a child's development and later life depend primarily on the severity of the muscle weakness and the nature of the cause. Some disorders have a specific treatment but the principal treatment for most hypotonia of idiopathic or neurologic cause is physical therapy to help the person compensate for the neuromuscular disability.**********And that is ver Read more:Tuesday
The Geek Grows Up (III) 2007-11-26 23:09:00 Onto Part 3 of the tale of me (Part 1, Part 2 to catch up)...Moving to NC. Fewer pictures from here on out...************After I was finally free of Bryan, I moved to NC. My aunt lived there and I had been accepted to UNC_Greensboro as a Dance Education major. I moved in w/ my aunt and crazy uncle (seriously disturbed) and found a job at a restaurant there. I worked at the restaurant through the summer until school started. During the summer I dated Jeremy. A cute kid, but nothing major to come of it. Especially since part of me still believes it's very likely he wasn't sure what team he was playing on (no, I didn't realize it at the time). And to show how crazy my uncle was...Jeremy and I went on TWO dates, MAYBE three...my uncle had run a credit check on him before our first date!! That summer I turned 20. I was hanging out with the Rock-O-La crowd...and they were a bit older. I got an in at a local bar with one of the (incredibly hot and WELL muscled) bouncers and star Read more:Geek
Apologies... 2007-11-26 22:20:00 I wanted to apologize for my earlier post. It was my intention to never go off like that on here. I was hopping mad, though. I'm calmer now, but still will not post on the subjects again until I have had a couple of days.Again, sorry for my tirade. It has been removed :D
Guilty Confession... 2007-11-26 15:50:00 I have a guilty confession to make...DH and I raced through the leftovers so fast we were left unsatisfied...so I've cooked ANOTHER Turkey breast (and some stuffing) today JUST for the 'leftovers'!!!*****P.S. Tonight I continue the story of me!! Fewer pictures from now on, though...I promise :P Read more:Guilty
*MELTING* 2007-12-07 12:33:00 Well...after last night's fiasco I've been a bit...exhausted. BUT, the girls found a way to make me melt. They asked for milk, so I gave them some and got back to cleaning up my pit of a kitchen. I heard giggling after a few minutes and found them like this: I grabbed my camera phone (reason for the bad quality) because if I got out the regular camera I would have lost the moment. I managed to catch a brief video too. Basically, Molly was snuggling and talking to her sister...and anytime K took the bottle out of her mouth, Molly would point to her and say "eat".It is seriously the cutest thing I've seen them do yet. I LOVE how close they're getting!! (There are also times I'm not so thrilled with it :P)
The Butt of Doom... 2007-12-07 08:34:00 It invaded our house. It's actually not uncommon, but it almost always occurs with Molly. She has VERY sensitive skin and tops it off with acidic excrements (all kinds)...which leads to many open-sore-in-an-instant diaper rashes.Soooo....last night I got very little good sleep. I went to bed late, too late (I'd been out Christmas shopping for DH so when I got home I had to get in some required puter time so I didn't go into W/Ds). I crashed on the couch because the night before my snoring had kept me and DH both up (me because he elbows me to get me to stop...so I sleep little). Sooo, I crashed on the couch. Hard.4AM screams rip through me like a shot. Wake me up little by little. Loud.Violent.Bloody-murder.screams. You'd think Kennedy was being attacked. Molly soon joined in. I go into their room. K is immediately on her feet reaching for me. M is still laying down, but I check her...she's soaking wet. I pick them both up and take them into the living room and give
The Geek Grows Up (IV) 2007-12-06 22:19:00 Onto Part 4 of the tale of me (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 to catch up)...and to restate the last few lines of my last post:Stop at the drugstore, pick up a two pack of tests. Go to work and into the public restroom (this is how convinced I was that I was NOT pregnant). Pee on the stick...pace the small stall...Stare in shock...It's POSITIVE!!! I'm...I'm....PREGNANT!!!!!!!!!!CRAP.****************I throw the fateful test in the trash and run up to my supervisor/good friend (and sometime drinkie-buddy), who is prepping a mocha and latte combo for some customers. I nod hello to the customers grab a business card from the cash register, scribble on the back of it "I'M PREGNANT" and hold it in front of her face. Her eyes get huge, she does a rapid stir of the mocha and hands off the coffee's to turn to me "WHAT?!?!?!?!"From there I call my mom in VA. First words out of her mouth, "You're telling your Father." Gee....thanks, mom. I try to call Alex (again, not his real name for a refre Read more:Geek
The Queen is a B-.... 2007-12-06 12:25:00 Okay, so I'd never ACTUALLY call my daughter that...or maybe I would...but I'm digressing.I'm so very not used to this. Denver was (forgive me for saying) the "perfect" child. He never had terrible twos, three's, or any age. He acts up at the start of every school year...otherwise he's a great kid. As a child temper tantrums were VERY rare...I never feared going out in public.Molly is silent 90% of the time. When she was a baby the overstimulation would send her screaming if we went to a restaurant...but mostly I don't have to worry about her freaking otu in public anymore. She acts incredibly shy. And now, since she's started preschool a new social side is coming out around people she's familiar with.Kennedy. Well, she's my little B-...snot-nosed brat. And yes, I DO mean snot-nosed.Yesterday I tried to go shopping. Little One decided she didn't want to go shopping...much less in Old Navy. Threw a SCREAMING fit. I had her in one of those carts they have...she kept Read more:Queen
The Orthopedist yesterday... 2007-12-05 08:59:00 I have so many posts to make and so little time/space to do it. I feel like if I post everything I'll overrun all of you with posts. I think there will seriously be 3 posts today on different subjects. If it's too much, tell me. I'll try to narrow posts down on upcoming days! (I've been trying in the past, but it's tough some days!!) Anyway...onto the doctor's appointment...********We took K to the Orthopedist. This was on the reccommendation of our Physical Therapist. Currently K is receiving PT for hyoptonia among other issues. She wanted us to go see an Ortho just to make sure that she didn't need further "Assistance" in overcoming the issues she's having. (She walks like a chimpanzee, her foot turns in, her left leg is 1/4" shorter...)I must say that it was the shortest, most concise appointment I have ever been to out of ANY specialist that I've seen. There was no weight taken. No height measurement. We were taken to a room. Five minutes later the doctor cam
Terminology Tuesday 2007-12-04 22:40:00 Talk about just under the wire!!! Quick TT for today...something I learned about at the Orthopedic (more on that appointment tomorrow)*****Tibial TorsionTibial torsion is an inward twisting of the shin bones. Tibial torsion causes the child's feet to turn inward, or have what is also known as a "pigeon-toed" appearance. It is typically seen among toddlers.Tibial torsion generally corrects itself by age 4. In the rare cases that it does not correct itself, surgery may be required. Read more:Tuesday
Blogroll 2007-12-04 17:03:00 It's time I shared the love, don't you think? The following blogs are blogs I visit every day that I am on my computer (which is just about every day). Most of them I found through NaBloPoMo...others were random luck, or connections from other blogs. Please visit them...these women always make me smile!Are We There YetAspergertopiaBeta Mom's BlogBoy CrazyCanned LaughterCrooked EyebrowDraco's RoseA Historic Moment in the LifeImaginary BinkyLaLa Girl - Twinfinite ChaosMoosh in IndyMomisodesMotherBumperMothering TimesNavel Gazing at its FinestOh, the JoysOrdinary DaysPlaygroups are No Place For ChildrenSarcastic MomSoapy WaterSorta CrunchySparks and ButterfliesTurtleheart Cove Read more:Blogroll
Orthopedist.... 2007-12-04 09:18:00 The ortho appointment is in a couple of hours. DH has the day off from work and he's coming with (yay!). I'm extremely nervous about this one for several reasons. 1. I'm worried he's going to say she needs braces. I know it's not "horrible" but it's not what I wanted for my girls.2. It's at the hospital that I'm iffy about...not for the docs...but for the people that run the various tests. We had some disasterous results when taking Molly for tests there...and I'm not to keen on having more tests run there.3. It's right at nap time *headdesk* We're going to have some REAL happy campers.But, I will update later with what happens! ***Also, I know I didn't get around to the next in the series of the story of me...but I actually stayed off the puter and spent time with DH last night. We watched part 2 of the "Tin Man" miniseries...and I'm guessing we're going to finish it off tonight. But I WILL try to continue with the next post today after the doctor's appointment
We KNEW it!! 2007-12-03 12:53:00 We KNEW Molly was smart. Just KNEW it. But, as I said before, it's like there's something blocking her from expressing that intelligence. But now, bit by bit, she's showing us just how smart she is!! This weekend was a grab-bag of "Tricks" for her...for example:***We have an advent calender with removable numbers (In the shape of stars...). Every night when it's time to change the stars, she sits on my lap. I ask her to take off the star with the "3" on it (or two, or whatever number). Without hesitation she takes that number off. I give her the new number, I tell her what it is, I sign it for her and she puts it on the post (little tiny wood posts the stars have holes...tough to line up...). *We were reading a book called "pop pop pop pop pop pop"...with a monkey finding different colored balloons. She accurately picked out "red" "Blue" and "yellow"!!!*She has an ugly little baby doll she got from the hospital. She can take the clothes off of this doll. I went to get h
The....WHAT-cracker??? 2007-12-01 14:06:00 So, I had my very first "I'm blogging this" moment shared with my DH - he did, after all, just see it for the first time a couple of days ago. We had the appropriate 'discussion' about it last night. I was given permission to complain about how little he helps me (gee, thanks, doll - love ya)...and so, thus, the blog has been opened between us.So the "I'm blogging this" moment happened not to him...or with one of my kids...it was ALL me...and it had my DH rolling on the floor, practically. I laughed so hard I cried...and it was ALL.MY.FAULT.*****Our tree is up and decorated. Sitting proudly on the upper branches, taking up much room is a very heavy Nutcracker ornament that is, in fact, a music box. And an ornament. Yeah, excessive...but still pretty neat.So, I pull it off the tree and ask DH who gave it to us, because damned if I can remember. He can't either. We continue our discussion and get to the part where we talk about the Butler Ballet performing the Nutcracker at
Ceramic for dinner.... 2007-12-18 09:20:00 I was making Erik's favorite for dinner last night, cowboy spaghetti. I've been waiting all weekend to make it (I forgot to get garlic at the grocery store..I got some yesterday). I fried up the bacon, it was perfect. took it out of the frying pan and set it on it's paper towel-lined plate. I turned on the burner under under the water for the noodles on high (because it takes ages to boil)...and began cooking the beef for the sauce. Everything was going swimmingly.Five minutes later....BANG!!!Scared the crap out out of Erik and I....I had turned on the wrong burner. The burner that I had set the bacon on was blazing red, the plate shattered, pieces all over the place, the papertowel - on fire- on the floor. It cleaned up pretty well, the floor was not burned badly, most of the pieces were big.I did find a few small pieces of ceramic in my plate of spaghetti, though. I'm the only one that got any, of course. *lol* At least, Erik was kind enough to not tell me if he did get Read more:Ceramic
Random Joy... 2007-12-17 13:06:00 Well, when you've been kicked, it's hard some days to find the joy. After learning our car is terminal over the weekend I've been struggling with my usual cheery disposition (really, I am the optimist in this house, believe it or not!). Over the weekend we went to the movies - $40 gone. I remembered I still have to buy a present for my nephew when I thought I was done with Christmas presents (looking at another $10 there at least). I have the expense of Christmast dinner (ham is EXPENSIVE!! Sheesh! And I thought our turkey breasts at T-day were bad)...and other random things. I'm looking at our currently stable savings (small though it is) and trying to figure out how long it has left to live. At this point I'm figuring 1 - maybe 2 - weeks before it's DOA. Erik calls from work says he's going to pay on his account at work (he works for a water purification/water softener company - from which we regularly buy salt for our softener, and filters for our R/O)...and then t Read more:Random
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