What A Guy!

Dad is a "what-a-guy"!  

He replaced switches, outlets, a toilet, hung blinds, added and changed our kitchen lighting and helped me move firewood.

Thanks dad!

Dad replaced our small round kitchen light with a new 4' florescent kitchen light and added a whole new light fixture above the fridge.

This area had no light before and was always dark.  Not anymore!

I can actually see when I'm cooking now.

Dad and Ayden replacing a 3-way switch with their headlamps on.

ADHD?

Okay so we've been in the process the past month or so of trying to figure out if something in Christian's brain isn't connecting the way it should.  We were told to call a local mental health place here in town.  I got Christian an appointment with a Clinical Psychologist.  Our first appointment was just to answer a few questions and meet the doctor.  The second appointment I dropped Christian off for a four hour evaluation.  They did a series of tests with him to help the doctor make a diagnosis (if there was one to be found).  The third appointment was today where I was given the results and diagnosis.

Christian has all the classical symptoms of what is known as ADHD Inattentive Type.  The doctor went over all of the test results with me.  He said that there is no doubt that Christian is smart, he is, anyone that knows him can tell you that.  There are two areas of concern.  One being Christian's social skills the other being his lack of focus.  These are apparently typical of the inattentive type.  The doctor said that the next step is that we will get a letter in the next few weeks and I will need to take him to see his doctor on base.  Then we can discuss our options.  There are some medications that he said work immediately and that we would be able to notice in the same day.  There are others that would take a matter of weeks.  

I intend to do some research online and see what our options are.  I was visibly surprised by what the doctor was telling me which he pointed out.  He said that children with this often get overlooked because they aren't hyperactive (Christian is not).  He seems to think that the rest of the school year will be a much different story.  

What a bit of news!

A few Christmas Pictures

Ayden opening gifts

Mason's new toy table!

Mason and Papa

It's a Wii!!!!!!!!

The boys in their Christmas jammies :)

Not as bad as I expected

Well, its Christmas night.  The boys are FINALLY tucked in bed and asleep.  Dad is out walking Millie and I am settling into my blog.

What a day!  I felt a bit disheveled today after all the gifts were opened.  We spent about two and a half hours opening gifts then about an hour and a half trying to get into the toy packages and putting batteries in everything.  Once that was done we needed to organize the trash piles and toy piles.  By this point Ayden can barely focus on one thing.  He starts to play with his Aquadoodle mat but then gets distracted by the new bounce back racer.  Christian got lots of great new books which he had his nose buried in not long after the excitement was over.  Dad, Christian and I played one of Christian's new games.  We all enjoyed that.  Then we went out back to play with silly string.  Dad and I transferred firewood from one stack on the side of the house to the stack by the back door.  However we won't be needing it for tonight or tomorrow.  It is supposed to be 78 degrees tomorrow.  Then 50 degrees on Saturday!

Mason likes his new toys and I am so glad.  He so enjoys following me around the house.  I hope that these toys will distract him for a short while so I can get things done.

We had a nice dinner of ham, corn and green bean casserole, baked potatoes and rolls.  We also made a pumpkin pie for dessert.

Dominic didn't think he would get to call, but everyone was authorized a 15 minute call to family by the commander.  I was grateful!  He called yesterday evening.  He said that things are good and he sounded good which is what I look for when I talk to him.  If he sounds good that makes me feel better.  He spoke to Christian and dad also.

I think this next week I will probably take down our decorations and get the house back in order.  Dad is going to do some repairs for me which I am excited about.  I am truly enjoying having some company.

Our good friend Zach came over yesterday for a quick visit and brought us some Chex mix that his mom made.  Then we went to the evening service at church.  It was nice, the music was beautiful and the chapel was glowing with candle light.  I was so happy that we went.

I hope that everyone had a very Merry Christmas!  I did (all things considered)!

Merry Christmas Eve!

Okay, time to catch up a bit.  

My dad arrived Monday afternoon.  Christian was patiently waiting by the front window to see the white monster arrive.  Dad has a big white diesel and was pulling a white enclosed trailer with him.  As soon as he was seen the boys were out the door!  

Its been nice having him here and having some adult conversation rather than talking to kids constantly.  Yesterday I was able to leave the two big boys at home with Papa so I could go to my stroller class.  That was nice.

We ran some errands yesterday.  Did some last minute shopping and picked up a few groceries at Walmart.  It was packed, which I expected.  The boys were fine and we were able to get what we needed and get out.

Today I think we will go to the Harley store.  Then this evening we will go to the Christmas Eve service at church.  Maybe after that we can drive around a little bit to see some Christmas lights.  

I got a few emails from Dominic over the past couple of days.  It sounds like everything is going okay.  He said that he will be working over Christmas Eve and Christmas day so he probably won't get to call.  He will be flying in and out of Iraq.  I am anxious to get to talk to him again though.  I miss hearing his voice.  

I asked Dominic how much down time they have between missions.  He said they get about 2-3 days between missions.  He said they have TV shows and movies that they can watch.  They sleep a lot.

Merry Christmas to you and yours!

Mission #1 complete!

I just got an email from Dominic.  He completed his first mission.  He and Nate flew into Iraq three times today.  WOW!  Its crazy to read that huh?

He said that it was "cake".  He got to sit in the cockpit for one leg of the mission but assured me that he wasn't flying the plane.  What a relief!

Dominic says "It's official, I have been in a combat zone, I'm a combat vet"

I'm so proud of you babe!

We love you and miss you!

He's spoiling me :)

I know it won't last, but Dominic is really spoiling me in the past two days.  He called yesterday for just a minute, then I got an email.  The phone rang just before 7 am this morning and it was him again.  I knew at that hour who it would be and I am so glad that it was.

They are 9 hours ahead of us here in TX.  So when he called at 7 am it was 4 pm there.  He said that they had a Christmas party today and had food brought in from town.  He said the food was very similar to the Indian food we've eaten in England.  He and the rest of the team have their own building.  Dominic is sharing a room with two other guys.  They have 4 computers in their building to use.  That will be nice.  I think the most contact we will have is via email since he only gets two 15 minute phone calls per week.  

I asked him a couple of questions about him getting a mission but his answers were very generalized.  I'm getting a feel for what he will and will not be able to tell me.  He knows that I know there are lots of things he won't be able to tell me and that's okay.

He said that their bus ride to the base was "un-nerving".  I guess the bus driver stopped to check a tire and fell out of the convoy.  That made Dominic really nervous.  He said that they had armed escorts that stopped with them though, so that's good.  He also said that the people drive like "mad men" there.

When I picked Christian up from school on Wednesday he was not looking good.  He usually runs to the car but he just slowly strolled to the car.  When he got in I asked how his day was and he said "oh, I don't want to talk about it".  Hmmm, okay.  Well eventually he told me what happened.  His teacher offered an extra credit assignment where the kids could bring in a traditional holiday food that their family makes.  It could be for any holiday.  Well I talked with Christian and we decided to make the almond roca that is my Aunts recipe.  I make it almost every Christmas.  So I made up a batch, counted the pieces to make sure there was enough for the whole class, bagged them up and sent them to school on Monday.  Well, on Wednesday when they were supposed to share their food Christian asked his teacher where his extra credit was.  She said "you didn't bring any".  He said "that's when I knew she ate it".  His teacher thought it was for her and ate all of it.  Christian was beyond disappointed and it broke my heart.  He was excited about sharing with his class, but that didn't happen.  I just can't figure out why we keep having these miscommunications with his teacher this year.

Short but sweet enough

The phone finally rang at 7:56 this morning.  YES!  I knew it would be Dominic.  He sounded good.  He said that he couldn't talk for long but that he was there and he was okay.  The conversation went something like this:

me:  Hello?

him:  Hi babe!

me:  Hi!

him:  I can't talk long but I wanted to let you know I'm here and okay.

me:  okay, I'm glad you called

him:  what are you up to?

me:  just getting ready to take Christian to school

him:  oh, well I don't have an address yet, there are a few things I don't have yet  but hopefully I will get one soon.

me: okay

him:  I better go, I don't have much time to talk but I love you

me:  ok babe, I love you too

him:  bye

me: bye

I was so glad to hear his voice!

I can't wait for the next phone call!

No Word

Yesterday was a crazy day, again. Ayden started throwing up and having the runs first thing in the morning. He asked for some water and threw up after each of the three times he drank. After about two hours he was clearly feeling better and didn't throw up again. He did manage to go through four pairs of underwear yesterday :(  Poor little guy!

Dominic was supposed to call at 7:30 am so that he could talk to the boys before we took Christian to school. He never called. When we got home there was a message. We missed him.

Mason decided not to take any naps yesterday. So it got to the point where I knew if we got out of the house (in the car) that he would fall asleep and not be so fussy. Christian had tutoring after school with his math teacher so I knew we had about an hour before we had to go get him. I loaded up the boys and drove to Target. I didn't really NEED anything besides to get out of the house. So we get there, park and I open Ayden's door and he's out! Sleeping! Well, there is no way I am going to wake him up. He's sick and he needs some extra sleep. So I decide to go to the bank and just drive around for an hour until its time to go get Christian. Ayden and Mason both slept in the car.

We picked up Christian, came home for about 40 minutes then we were off to the Hearts Apart Christmas Party. It was at the Family Readiness Center. There wasn't as many people as I expected. Santa was there for pictures. It took a long time and patients to get Ayden to sit with Santa and the only way he would was if I sat on Santa's lap and Ayden sat on my lap. Yeah, I know! A mom's gotta do what a mom's gotta do. Santa was so very generous and such a sweet guy. He had a beautiful Santa suit on and his beard and mustache were real. He asked us our plans for the holidays and I told him. He said that he always has an open door policy at his home and invited us to come for Christmas dinner if we didn't have anything to do. What a sweet guy! Christian loved him! Each of the boys came home with a bag full of stuffed animals and toys. They also served pizza.

We haven't heard from Dominic yet. I am anxious for the phone to ring, but I just don't know when that will happen. I am patiently waiting.

So sad.

Okay, I'm allowed to have a "poor me" day right?  Well this is probably one of many that I will have over the next 6 months.

Ayden and I both woke up this morning sick.  We have head colds, thankfully no coughing yet.  I would much rather be stuffed up or have a runny nose than a cough.  Ayden did pretty well today although he was a little short tempered.  He hasn't eaten much over the past two days but he goes through stages like that often.

It was FREEZING today.  I kid you not!  Yesterday was 76 degrees.  Today with the wind chill, it was 11 degrees!  Yeah, I know.  Honestly, how does that happen?

I'm sad.  Dominic's phone has no service and although I can call him at the hotel its not the same.  We always text each other throughout the day.  Now I know I won't be getting any texts from him.  We called the hotel to say good night to him but he wasn't in his room.  We left him a message.  He called a while later and said he was doing laundry.  They leave tomorrow.  Dominic said he would call me in the morning before we take Christian to school so that he could talk to the boys then.  After that, I don't know when I will hear from him again.  That's a hard fact to swallow.  I will miss hearing from him on a daily basis.  He is my hero, my very best friend, my lover, my everything!

I will be strong for the boys but its okay to be weak once in a while right?