It's been awhile...

Wow, I can't believe I haven't posted anything in 2 months! Where does the time go?

Our house still hasn't sold. We've had no offers, no one walk through, nothing. It's definitely disappointing but there isn't much we can do about it. Our realtor sucks, to say the least. He hasn't been out here since the day we signed the listing lease with him. He wanted to take more pictures of the house because the ones that are on the website with the listing, are the ones that I took! The house has been listed for over 2 months now, and he still hasn't shown up to get more pictures. So, that's the "update" on that situation, if you call it an update.

Josh was offered a new position at work in July. He was working M-F from 2:48p-10:48p. When Garrett was in school, he only saw him for about an hour or so in the mornings and then again on the weekends he had off work. His new schedule is Th,F, Sa from7pm-7am and then he's off Su-W. It makes it so nice!! He's home 4 days a week, will be here when Garrett leaves for school, and will be here when he gets home from school. We love it!! He can be more active in the kids' lives and activities which is great! Yeah, he works the weekend, which stinks sometimes, but it's worth it!

Garrett had a rough year last year at school. It was miserable for him and for us. He was forever getting in trouble for stupid crap. At one point, his teacher told us that he was "too enthusiastic" What??? Seriously, what kind of teacher would say such a thing about a child who was enthusiastic to learn?? She was teaching something to the class, asked a question, and Garrett jumped out of his seat and blurted out the answer because he was so excited that he knew it. I guess he should have sat quietly and raised his hand and wait to be called on. Since he didn't, he was labeled "too enthusiastic" and was given a referral. He got the referral because the school decided to start a new discipline program right after spring break. They had 1 week to learn the new program before it was actually started. Now, when the kids came back from spring break, they had exactly 6 weeks till the last day of school. So, it takes a week for them to learn it, that gave them 5 whole weeks to "Get it" ::Insert Eyeroll please::

This new program is called the "traffic light program". The kids (K-5) each have a car in their classrooms. At the beginning of each day, their car is in the "parking lot". If the child is spoken to 1 time about his/her behavior, they move their car from the parking lot to a green light. That's a verbal warning. If there is a 2nd time, their car moves to the yellow light, which means a loss of recess. If there is a 3rd occurrence, the child's car moves to the red light, which is a referral. Once a child gets 5 referrals, he/she is then given a "Wednesday School" which is 2 hours served in detention after school on a Wednesday.

Now, the kindergartners here go to school M-F from 8am-3pm. That makes for a really long day for a 5 year old. Add on 2 more hours after school, someone please tell me how this benefits a 5 year old! Anyone??

It was almost a daily occurrence for Garrett to bring home a red light/referral. He did serve Wednesday school. I had numerous conversations/meetings with his teacher over the course of the year. What it came down to, was Garrett, once again, being too enthusiastic. He gets so excited about something he knows, and wants to share it. Yes, I do understand he needs to follow directions, but seriously! He's a 5 year old who wants to learn!

I asked his teacher several times if she thought he could have ADD because he had a hard time focusing on "paper" work. If she told him to sit down and do something on a piece of paper, he'd lose focus. He would start talking, fiddling with his pencils, getting out of his seat, etc. He had no interest whatsoever in doing it. But when I asked about ADD, his teacher kept telling me "No, no way he has it. When we are doing circle time or I'm teaching in front of the class, I have his undivided attention. There is no way he has ADD. He doesn't have the typical characteristics of a child with ADD." Finally, I decided I was taking matters into my own hands. I told his teacher I wanted him tested for it. I got questionnaires brought home to me for Josh and I to fill out separately meanwhile his classroom teacher and art teacher filled out the same ones. The school psychologist took all 4 of them and recorded the results. I then took those results to his doctor to look at. His doc said there was "No doubt" that he had ADD and wanted Garrett to be seen by a psychologist.

In June, we took Garrett to see his psychologist. She wanted him to go through a 4 hour testing session. In July, he did that. Josh and I had to go back by ourselves to meet with his psychologist to get his results earlier this month. The results are that he does, in fact, have ADD! Gee, really? LOL

Anyway, Garrett's problem is, that's too smart! He is 6 years old, entering into 1st grade, yet he is reading at an almost 4th grade level! He tested in the 99th percentile for his sight word recognition and the 95th percentile for his spelling. He does lack though in his fine motor skills which makes for super messy handwriting. His brain works so much faster than his hand. So, when it comes to paperwork, his hands can't keep up with the thought process of his brain. He then gets frustrated and gives up. Therefore, he starts doing things he shouldn't when it's time to do the "paperwork" part of school. Also, Garrett's brain can't transition easily from one task to another. He's had a lot of problems with using the bathroom in his pants instead of just getting up and going when he gets involved with doing something (reading a book, playing the wii, playing outside, watching tv, etc) His body knows he has to go, but his brain can't transition fast enough for him to stop doing one activity so he can go to the bathroom. His psychologist says that meds are an option if we feel his ADD is effecting his way of life. Well, when a 6 year old can pee/poop himself and not care, then yes, that's effecting his way of life in my opinion. I don't want him being teased at school because of something like that. I don't want him being called stupid or labeled as a troublemaker because he can't sit and do the paperwork portion of school. Yes, I definitely think its effecting his way of life. So, we go on Thursday this week, to meet with his regular doc to get him started on some ADD meds. I hope it works for him!!

When we were talking to his psychologist about this new "Traffic Light Program" at his school, she immediately said she hated it and it was all wrong, especially for elementary aged kids. When we told her everything we went through last year, she was shocked. Could not believe a 5 year old was treated the way he was because his teacher didn't want to see that he had issues outside of being a "naughty 5 year old". He is not a naughty boy. He's a very smart child who wasn't being challenged or dealt with properly. When we left her office, I cried all the way home. I cried because I knew he was being treated unfairly, yet had no evidence to back up what I "Knew". I cried because I've rode him and rode him about using the bathroom in his pants, and to find out it was a medical issue, broke my heart. I cried because I felt helpless when it came to Garrett and his needs.

His psychologist said he needs a positive discipline program. Having his recesses taken away and keeping him locked in school 2 hours past the time he's already having to be there, is benefiting NO ONE! Not helping Garrett because he needs to get rid of that extra energy and not helping teachers who are having to deal with a child that has too much energy pent up. She said doing the traffic light system will only hurt Garrett and make his behaviors worse. Yet, when I talked to his teacher last year and told her those exact same things, I got the response "Well, Rachel, it's a school rule and EVERYONE will abide by them or they pay the consequences." After hearing that, his psychologist recommended we pull him from the Martin School District and enter him into a better school. We've now got him enrolled into Otsego Public Schools. I'm hoping and praying that with a new school combined with some meds to keep him focused, that he will have such a better year this year.

Garrett is an eager learner. His love for books and soaking up information is amazing! I would never want anyone to ruin that love he has. He was so excited to start Kindergarten and couldn't wait for the 1st day of school. Well, now, he's telling me he doesn't want to go to school yet. That just breaks my heart. I really hope he gets that love back this year. So, to all my followers, please say a prayer for him if you would. He NEEDS a great teacher and a great discipline program to get that love back that he lost. I know that was a huge update on Garrett, but he's really my Main concern right now.

Mattie and Teegan are 19 months old now and are doing awesome. They talk all the time and are learning new things everyday. They are busybodies but as opposite as night and day. Teegan needs to touch and explore everything. He needs to test his boundaries and find out how far he can go before he gets in trouble. Mattie pretty much leaves things alone. She tests her boundaries sometimes but most of the time if you say "Mattie, no" she stops doing whatever it is she was doing. Now, if she sees Teegan testing us, she will try it too just to see if she gets the same response from us as he did. LOL Not too much to update on them. They are busy 1 year olds that's about it! :-)

As for myself, I've had a lot of female problems lately. I ended up having to have a biopsy done on the lining of my uterus to find out if there were precancerous cells in there. I had that done July 27th and I still have not received the results from it. I bled for a month straight, had the biopsy done and was put on progesterone. My doc said my body would respond to the progesterone and the bleeding would stop. Well, it did stop for 9 days before it started back up again. It still hasn't stopped. I've called and called the docs office. I've left messages only for them not to be returned. I called again yesterday to try and get my results from the biopsy and to let them know I'm still bleeding, but once again, I got voicemail. I need to have my annual done and its now had to be rescheduled 3 times because of the bleeding. They must not think its too serious because I can't get anyone to take my phone calls or to return my messages which is frustrating. As of right now, I go back Sept. 1st for my annual, assuming I'm done bleeding by then. I'm praying that nothing serious is going on and that my body is just being dumb. The doc did say that if the biopsy comes back positive for precancerous cells, that I will need to be on progesterone the rest of my life or I can get the Mirena IUD put back in (had it for 14 months after I had Garrett). The IUD lets off small amounts of progesterone all the time and it's good for 5 years I think.

Well, that's the update on all of us! Sorry it got so long!