Florida Trip

On Friday morning we left the house at 3 am.  We left at the crazy hour to accommodate our foster baby.  He does not like to ride in his car seat.  He has never liked riding in his car seat.  Riding in the car does not put him to sleep.  We figured that if we left real early he would sleep for the first part of the trip and we were correct.  He woke up in time to eat a late breakfast and then did well for the rest of the trip.  We made good time since all the kids slept and we didn't have to make numerous bathroom breaks.

When we got to Orlando we went to our friends home to deliver the dresser and doll bed. I met this friend online.  It is amazing how relationships can be built with people who are traveling the same path even when the connection is started online.

After school was out all of our kids were able to spend some time playing together. Yes, there was chaos. Many kids.  Lots of energy around.  We were fed a great dinner and then we headed out to our hotel near Universal Studios.  Sarah has been wanting to go to Harry Potter World for a while.  Her birthday is later this month and we were trying to find a way to go for her birthday.  Our friends were able to obtain two free tickets for us so we were able to afford the rest.  None of the kids knew that we were going to Universal Studios.  It was a very pleasant surprise.

Funny, the younger kids were not familiar with many of the movies.  They have never seen Back to the Future.

 
 The weather was fantastic and everyone had a great time.  Warning, picture overload ahead......

The kids loved this dragon and he blew fire.  However, I could never seem to catch the fire in a picture.

At least the kids were familiar with Dr. Seuss!

They enjoyed the water ride.  I forgot about Larissa's cast until after they were on the ride.  Ooops, at least my jacket protected it from getting wet.

Larissa saw this Hulk ride and begged to go on it.  Sarah finally decided to go on it with her.  Michelle and Emma were too short and Anthony had no interest in going.

 She came off of the ride very excited, said that she loved it.

We left Universal Studios at dinner time and went to a local Mexican restaurant. After dinner we went to the hotel where we crashed.  The suites that we stayed at had a well stocked breakfast so we didn't have to buy breakfast.  Eating out can get very expensive for our family. We stayed in a two bedroom suite for $150/night and brought our own playpen for little man.

The next morning we met up at our friends church for the 9am service.  It was a very nice church and everyone was very friendly.  After the service we headed back home.  It took us longer to get home because of the numerous bathroom/food breaks.

We stopped at Steak and Shake....

We made it home at 8pm and everyone crashed once again.  The weather had gotten cold while we were away.  I was ready to head back south! It was a quick trip but well worth it.  I love that we are able to meet some of our friends that we have connected with online.

Finished Project

I finished the dresser that I was going to take to Florida.  I had promised this dresser for a new baby earlier in the summer but house guests made it impossible for us to leave.  I was happy to finally have the opportunity to deliver it!

Since two girls share the room I decided to make an American Girl doll bed to match.

I had all the wood scraps in my garage so there was no extra expense.

Before we took off for Florida Larissa went to the orthopedic.  They put a cast on her arm.
 

Then we loaded up the van and headed south to Florida.

Tonight I will post about our trip!

Long Day

Today was a very long day. Lots of appointments.

I dropped Larissa (with her note) and Emma off at school and then headed to Columbia to take Anthony and Michelle to the orthodontist. I am giving the prices of braces for those that are looking and curious about the cost.  This is not secret information so I have no problem sharing it.  Here in South Carolina orthodontist procedures are not covered by medicaid at all.  Our own insurance covers some.

Michelle is getting braces on her front teeth only.  She will eventually get full braces when more of her teeth come in.  We are doing those teeth purely as a self esteem booster.  Michelle calls her teeth Nanny McPhee teeth because of the way they stick out.  We had a choice to correct that now or wait until she gets all of her braces.  Apparently she has a strong muscle that runs up between her front teeth.  This may need to be cauterized to correct her problem.  We chose to spend the $1880 to correct the problem now (out insurance covers 940). It is expected that she will have these braces for 10 months.

Anthony got full braces.  He may need to have some teeth pulled to correct his problem.  His teeth protrude and are not aligned correctly.  His braces will cost $6880 and he is expected to have braces for 30 months (our insurance covers 1750).

These costs cover everything from the beginning to 6 months beyond the retainers.  I wonder how the costs are compared to other areas. Larissa has an underbite and was evaluated.  She will have braces but not yet, she may get some spacers in the next 6 months because of overcrowding.

I took the kids to school after the orthodontist and went in and talked with the principal about Larissa.  Larissa's teacher says that Larissa cried when she hurt her wrist but seemed fine after that.  Larissa has claimed all along that she asked her at lunch to see the nurse for an ice pack and was told no.  Her story has never changed.  As a matter of fact when she came home today she told me that the nurse came to her and asked what happened.  Larissa said that she told her that she asked to see her for an ice pack at lunch but was told no.  I am inclined to believe Larissa and don't know what to think of the teacher denying the fact that Larissa asked.

The principal believes her teacher but does feel that when a child is hurt at recess bad enough to cry then they need to be sent to the health room for the nurse to determine if there is a problem.  She plans on implementing this with her teachers. (Our school does have a nurse).

I am not going to get into a battle over the arm situation.  However, I reiterated that I want called when Larissa appears to be too tired.  I have yet to receive one phone call yet she comes home so tired that she is dizzy.  I said that their concern of her abusing the situation is causing undue stress on Larissa.  If she is so tired that she is dizzy then she is not functioning in class.  If I feel that she is abusing the ability to call me then I will deal with it.

As soon as the kids got home from school Larissa had a doctor appointment.  She now has a referral to see a orthopedic doctor.

At 6:30 Michelle had a chorus performance at the local high school.  We all went to watch.  See her?  Probably not since she is behind the piano.  I always seem to have a problem with seeing my kids!

We got home around 8:30 and I got the kids to bed.  Just as I turned to my HGTV channel to relax Jason came into the house with an odd expression on his face.  He started shaking and told me that all of a sudden his tooth was killing him.  He was in some serious pain.  I have never seen him in that much pain.  I took him up the the ER to get some antibiotics and pain medicine.  He does not have insurance.  He is too old to be on ours, makes too little for Obamacare (I don't understand that, I thought that was the purpose of Obamacare) and he makes too much for Medicaid. I paid for his ER visit and the medication they gave him put him to sleep.  Tomorrow we have to find him a dentist to deal with the tooth and fill his prescriptions.

Finally, around midnight I got home.  I did all that running around and didn't accomplish anything at home.  Such is my life, I have to schedule time to clean and do laundry.

Invisible Disability

On Friday Larissa got off of the bus crying. She said that she had hurt her wrist at recess and wanted to see a doctor.  Her recess is in the morning.  She said that she was crying when she hurt it and asked to call me but her teacher wouldn't let her.  She told her to put her head down on her desk. She asked to go to the nurse but her teacher said no.

On the surface her arm looked fine, no swelling and she could use her hand fine but with pain.  However, when a kid asks to see the doctor we listen to them and take them. John took her to our local acute care place where they x-rayed her wrist and determined that she had fractured it.  The doctor was surprised at the results herself.  They put a splint on it and sent her home.  The doctor called it a pull back fracture.  Larissa was playing ball and when she went to catch it her hand got pulled back to the point that it fractured her wrist. 

I imagine it was painful.  I am upset that she was sitting in class all day in pain.  I am upset that she was crying and wasn't allowed to call me when she asked.

Her injury made me think of the struggles that Larissa is having.  To everyone her injury didn't look like and injury, it was invisible.  The only one who could feel the pain was Larissa.  You have to listen to her to understand that there is a problem.

Larissa is living with an invisible disability every day of her life. This article explains what an invisible disability is much better than I could  Invisible disability

On the surface Larissa is a beautiful, active child with no problems.  Underneath she is a tired child who struggles to keep up with her peers every day.  I don't think that her teacher understands that fatigue.

I have asked that she be allowed to call me when she needs to.  The school agrees BUT are afraid that she will take advantage of it.  So far this year she has been able to go to the nurse once, when she had a fever.

At our last meeting her teacher says that she frequently has to wake Larissa in class. At that time I asked that she call me on days in which it is particularly bad.  I know that she has those days.  Some days she comes home complaining of dizziness because she is so tired.  How much learning was she doing in that state.  Her teacher agrees that some days she is not functioning well, her tests scores range from 0 to 100.  However, I have never received any calls because of tiredness, not one.

Once again I will go to the school and I will have it in writing that my daughter must be allowed to call me when she asks.  They are so worried that she will take advantage of that, that they don't allow it.  What is the purpose of stating that she can call home if they don't allow it?

I will also write that if she is in pain and wanting to call me that they need to allow it.  People with chronic fatigue actually feel pain more than others.  It would be my decision whether I pick her up or not.

My husband is very close to pulling her out of school.  I am torn because on those days in which she is making those 100's she is so proud.  I think that we need to readjust how we deal with those days where she is making a zero.  That part falls to her teacher.  I hope that when Larissa goes back to school on Monday with her splint that her teacher realizes that she should have allowed Larissa to call me.  We will see.  I am working on that letter now, open to any suggestions.  I am trying to not be emotional because I could very easily go that way but I know that it isn't the way to go for results.

Foster Update

Little man has been with us for a little over 8 months.  Our "short term placement" hasn't been short term.


In July a family member came forward and said that she wanted to have custody of him.  Then she never contacted DSS to do a homestudy after they told her that everyone in the home had to have a SLED check.  Last week she came forward and said that she has decided that she couldn't take custody of him.  She stated that she really couldn't afford to take him.  I appreciate her honesty.


So at this time no family member is pursuing custody of him.  It also appears that mom is not working to get him back either.  She has not worked her plan and hasn't contacted DSS since July.  She hasn't contacted me either or requested any pictures from me.  I used to text her pictures and videos any time she asked for them.


Last week we were supposed to go to court but it got cancelled at the last minute by the judge.  We were going to court to have the case changed from reunification to concurrent reunification./TPR.  I was not happy that it was cancelled.  We have found that the biggest hindrance for moving cases forward is not DSS but the judicial system.  Court is cancelled for many different reasons and then it takes forever to get back in.  I thought that because of the holidays we wouldn't get back to court until next year.  However, there was a cancellation of another case and we are supposed to go back to court the first of December.  I sure hope that we do because I have to reschedule Larissa's sleep study to be in court.


The way the process goes we have to change to concurrent to actually file for TPR.  At this time mom has the option to start working her plan and showing some interest.  At this point she would need to work the plan, visit regularly, drug test and give support.  If mom doesn't show up at court they will have to publish for her.  They also will publish for the dad.  Publishing is very important and not doing so will cause a delay when you do get back into court.


After changing the case to concurrent they have to wait 60 days before they can go back to court for a TPR trial.  At trial the judge can say no, yes or he will think about it.  In all of our cases we always got yes at court for TPR because by the time we got to court DSS had a solid case.  There have been times that it took a long time to get in to court because of delays or the lawyer not filing like they should.

So we continue to wait for the system to do what it is supposed to do.  Hopefully we will get into court in December so that the case can be changed.  In the meantime, we have permission to take him to Florida when we travel later in the month. 

With each passing month and no contact from mom we start to wonder if Little Man will become our youngest and last child.  It is a scary time because when you start thinking maybe then there is a bigger chance of a heartbreak.

Sleep Study....again

Larissa is now scheduled for another sleep study at the end of the month.  She is going to a place that specializes in sleep issues and I sure hope that we get some answers. They are going to do a more in depth sleep study and then a nap study the next day (I have never heard of a nap study).  She will go in at 8pm and get out at 4 pm the next day.  John will take the night shift and I will take the day shift.


I received an interesting phone call from them today, they got a copy of Larissa's last sleep study from the neurologist and said that she did have some seizures in her sleep.  The neurologist told me that she was not having any seizures.  However, the amount of seizures and intensity do not explain some of the issues that she has in regards to sleepiness. 


Larissa was asked about dreams and how she feels when she is first waking up.  It was a different line of questioning for her.  She answered his questions and he has some ideas based on her answers.  He is doing the nap study based on her answers.


Sarah shares a room with Larissa and she says that Larissa talks in her sleep and appears to have lots of seizures or sleep disturbances throughout the night.  She says that some nights are worse than others. I sure hope that we can get some answers this time around.  I wish that we had other options for neurologists.  I am not real happy with the care she receives from them.

Halloween 2014

Disclaimer, all prop and pose choices were made by each child

This year the kids wanted to do a little bit of Trick or Treating in our neighborhood and then go to a movie.  When I looked at the movie times I realized that it just wouldn't work out that way.  however, there was a 2:25 showing so Sarah and I picked the kids up a little before 2 and took them to the movies.  It was a pleasant surprise for them since we don't typically do that.  We were home in plenty of time for Trick or Treating.

Emma had to change her outfit.  She was wearing one of Larissa's recitals outfits from last year and got alone with the dog.  The outfit now has numerous holes in it and Larissa was so upset.  There will be no more borrowing of clothing for Emma!  She picked out something from the dress up box and actually didn't complain about it. (I just don't know what to do about the dog issue.)

The number of kids at our house has really decreased over the years.  I thought that since it was Friday we might have more kids.  We didn't so we now have an abundance of candy at our house to tempt everyone.

Every year we try to determine how old the oldest Trick or Treater was, this year I would have to say the she was at least 65!  She was dressed as a flapper and came to the door with her bag calling out Trick or Treat.  I Wish I had taken a picture!  She did go to the entire neighborhood because I asked my neighbors who there oldest visitor was.  I had an abundance of candy so she did get a good amount of candy from me.

Do you do Halloween?  Over the years we have done many different things.  Attended Trunk or Treats at church, fall festivals, parties at our house and old fashioned Trick or Treating.