A new therapist

Today was day one with a new therapist. This time I decided to work with a woman,; our last 2 therapist were men.

I am also considering a new psychiatrist.

Anyway, This is the first time I didn't go in with my son. After an hour he emerged and therapist said it was a great first meeting. Well....It must have stirred up some good strong feelings because he was digging out poop and drawing on the walls for me tonight. He also hit, spit kicked and pulled my hair.

I am almost considering a hospital stay  for respite for hubby and I. And I hate psych hospitals for kids. I think they are expensive glorified day care and my son comes home sicker than before and learns even better profanity and gang signs...yeah ;(

I'll try to keep him safe and quiet tomorrow, I think we will be having a snow day.

Older adoption

My sons birth brother has contacted us. We found him 2 years ago but we were not in the emotional position to adopt him as we were in the throes of dealing with the hardest times with our sons RAD; including 2 hospitalizations.

We are now not in a financial position to help adopt him.

He has asked and I don't know what to do. My heart is large enough for him but my wallet is empty.

Please add him to your prayers and help us decide how to best help him.

Happy Thanksgiving

The kids are in bed. A rough evening but now all is well in the world. I hope you had a nice Thanksgiving.

Quiet night

Everyone is sleeping...all is quiet. Baby boy found a sharpie marker and proceeded to scribble all over his bedroom wall, mattress, pillow, and body because he way angry. I calmly handed him a Magic Eraser (they truly are magic, I love them) and told him  to start cleaning. He later snuggled with me.

But now I'm the only one up and all is quiet on the RAD front...for tonight :)

Incredible

It is just incredible. For the last 2 days my son has been almost normal. Yes, there is still sibling rivalry that goes on but not too much of the Raddy behavior. A few broken pencils and one short outburst after school but I thank God for days like this.

My hubby's work is winding down and my school and work schedule are not overly busy, maybe he is just reacting to our relaxed behavior. I have to stop over analyzing and just relish the moment.

The complexities of RAD

Here is a photo of our  pumpkins this past Halloween.  Between the four of us: Hubby, myself, my son and daughter guess which one has RAD.

Following the leader

I have been reading a lot of RAD blogs lately. As things act up in our home, I am curious about how other families cope.  One thing is clear, patience, patience, patience!

Anxiety driven RAD

My RAD baby boy is anxiety driven, picking his skin until bleeding, hitting his head and obsessively calling out you-ee you-ee you-ee. I found another feces filled diaper under his dresser this morning where he was on a time out after hitting his sister.  He can't take my affection for more than a few seconds, that RAD creeping up and covering his heart. I hug him and kiss his cheek and all of a sudden I feel a tenseness and he sticks his face in mine or pulls my hair or says "you stink'; all intended to push me away.

Bleach time

My Baby boy is raging again. We tried to cuddle tonight for a few minutes and he became very restless, starting picking his scabs open and ended up wiping feces on his door and wiping himself with the cream colored shower curtain. He just wants us to reject him, push him away or hurt him. I tell him he is safe and loved. He still doesn't believe me.

Send in the clowns

I haven't posted for a long time. Thing have been difficult the last year. Hubby and I are fine but the kids are challenging. My son has been hospitalized and struggles daily. My daughter is finally talking about her birth mom.

What Flower??

I am a Sunflower What Flower Are You?

I love Palin!!!

Wow, I can finally vote for McCain enthusiastically.

Palin is the new energy, integrity and strength that the Republican party needs. Bravo!!!


http://www.johnmccain.com/

My Favorite Song

I know this dates me but what a classic!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zJdbpzfJMs

A busy time.

It's been a busy winter and spring. We finished the addition to our home, I continue in school and really love it. I'm taking an online Bochem class this summer thru Colorado Colleges Online. I'll do the lab in the kitchen with a microscope I purchased. Should be fun.

The kids are just about finished with school, but summer school awaits! My son will continue with school for 6 weeks. I hope it helps him retain some of the 1st grade work he learned.

We need to finish landscaping but we have all summer.

A wonderful day

This sleepy, snowy winter day.

Children playing, hubby shoveling snow and plans to go bowling later. I'm watching a chick movie and enjoying my day.

Where did the time go?

I checked on this blog and I couldn't believe that it was over 2 months since my last post. Where did the time go?
1. I now work part-time.
2. I went back to school and am taking 9 credits this semester.
3. When I am not working or studying I am with the children or my hubby.
4. My son is having many more behavior-educational problems this year that are really making me rethink his behavior plan and our parenting of him at this time.
5. My daughter is in full time kindergarten and I volunteer at her school when I can.
6. I am volunteering in the school health room once a month.
7. Hubby and I are planning to remodel our home and we are drawing up plans and meeting with contractors.

As you can see, things are busy. and when I do have computer time it is usually spent looking up research papers or online discussions with other students. (All of my classess are online and I love it. )

I'll try and post when I can. In the mean time, do you know that I have to take a statistics class and it scared me to death. I am now really enjoying it and I have found that even though it makes my brain hurt and I sometimes start crying when I study, I am challenged by this class and am even getting a B in the class so far. It goes to show, you are never too old to go back to school.:> One of my classmates said her goal is to get her PhD by the time she is 60. Sounds like a good plan.

The end of summer vacation

The summer is winding down. The kids went to the zoo with a aunt yesterday. This will probably be the last time of the summer. We will be off for a few days of camping next week before school starts and we have a rush of haircuts and doctor appointments before the end of vacation time.
The garden is growing like a weed- or maybe it is a weed! Really, I weeded the vegetable garden last week and now I can see where the cucumbers and tomatoes are. This is a great time for the garden. I am sick of zucchini and I wonder why I plant three plants when one is all I need. Anyone need baseball size overgrown zucchini? But I love making fresh cucumber salad, garlic and butter roasted beans and fresh cherry tomatoes.
And remember those little chickens we got in spring? They are now 10 fat and happy hens with free range all over my property. They should start laying in 2 weeks. Then it will be eggs, eggs, eggs all of the time.

My Anniversary

Today is my 17th wedding anniversary. The kids are with an aunty- my sister, and hubby and I spent the day at the Wisconsin State Fair.
Really, I loved it!

The new me.

I 've decided to show you the new me. Last year when I was ill for a while, I didn't keep up with coloring my hair. After a while I decided to grow out my coloring to see what it really looked like. I was pretty grey but hubby liked it so I kept letting it grow out. Well, after the last of it was cut off I'm left with a beautiful head of mostly grey hair. At first I wasn't sure if I wanted to keep it up but now I really like it. And it's really nice not to color any more. My hair seem much healthier, also. I did get a funny comment from my daughter asking me why her mom is a old grandma. What!!!:) But after explaining that kids have all different kinds of ages of moms, she is ok.

End of the school year.

The kids will be done with school tomorrow. I know it's late but they needed to add extra days to make up for the lost snow days. We had my daughters branching out yesterday. This is a little ceremony when the K4 children branch out to their new elementary school. Very cute! I have the summer activities planned. So that my son continues to learn and not lose what he has learned, I have decided to home school during the summer. I have a set schedule for Monday thru Friday and it includes 2 hours of school per day. It also includes crafts, lost of art and plenty of fun outside play. Both of my children benefit by a routine and I believe this will work for them. Let's see!