Spring!!?!

We have been enjoying the pleasant weather we have had recently, the only bad thing is, Grace and Katie have a cough, and Helen has a cold. The problem with weather like this is, one day it's very warm and the next it's cold and rainy. Helen is more susceptible to upper respiratory ailments than the other kids, so when she gets a cold it usually turns into a sinus infection. This one is wicked, I have been giving her an antihistamine to help dry her up a bit, it has definitely helped. She is very irritable because she is so uncomfortable with her nose, she keeps pointing to it and making her complaining noise. I don't know if your kids make that noise, but it drives me crazy. I am always telling her to use her words and that just makes her even more irritated, which makes her even louder with her noise. When she's not sick she usually gives in and uses words, but when she's not feeling well, it turns into a guessing game for me. This time around she has let me clean her nose out, and put lotion on it and her cheek. Her cheek gets so red and irritated from her wiping her nose onto it instead of using a tissue. I used to do the exact same thing when I was young, I have a picture to prove it.

I have scheduled every one's back to school check ups, it's a good feeling knowing we are good to go with medical and dental appointments. It's hard to believe it is even time for that, the kid's doctor books up so quickly I have to make the appointments now in order to have some choice as to when we go. I have been working with Noah and the potty, hoping he will be ready for school in September. With the way things are going, we may be cutting it close! I must admit, I am not giving it the time I did with the others. I get so tired of arguing with him to take time out from playing to try and go on the potty. Last night before he went in the bathtub he told me he had to go potty. He took off his pull-up, got on the toilet, and went pee-pee all by himself. He was so proud, I made a huge deal of it, you would have thought he hung the moon! I sang him my song I made up just for this occasion, he sang along. I'm hoping with more successes like this one he will be ready for big boy underwear sooner than I think.

Religion class is almost over for Helen, she only has one more class. Her teacher told me last night she has definitely seen Helen mature a little this year. That was good to hear, I think she has too. I thought she might be able to make her first communion with Robbie, but I think it will be with Katie. Robbie will be making his next year, Katie will be the following year. I think the extra year will help her better understand what it's all about.

Katie is doing awesome at school, she is talking to all of her friends, out loud!!! Not only that, but she is also raising her hand to answer questions, and reading in front of the class. She has come a long way, I just hope she keeps it up. I am going to sign them up for Bible camp again this year, and also have play dates, hopefully that will help. Her teacher took her on a shopping spree to get Barbie's and ice cream. She made a deal with Katie at the beginning of the year, if she talked to her in class she would take her. Given her fantastic progress, they went on Monday after school. She came home with Barbie the baby doctor, a mom barbie and a dad barbie (that's how Katie refers to them), and a barbie coloring book. Holy Cow! Katie was still smiling when she feel asleep that night, what a wonderful teacher she has.

No Greek school for the next two weeks because it is Holy Week this week and Bright Week next week. Sunday is Orthodox Easter, so to all of you Greek Orthodox celebrating, I say to you...
Christos Anesti!!!

Until next time-
Take Care,
Sue





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Uneasy Feelings

Have you ever had a bad feeling in your stomach like something bad was going to happen? I get them every now and then, it's such an uneasy feeling. I remember one time it was one heck of an uneasy feeling that I asked, no pleaded, with Peter to stay home from work. I bugged him so much about it, he finally gave in. He stayed and worked from home that day, even though he got teased from his co-workers. Well, believe it or not, that day there was a very bad car accident that happened at the same exit he would have taken to get to work. Would he have been involved if I had not begged him to stay, we will never know. I do know that the accident happened around the same time he would have been going into work. Ever since that day I have trusted this feeling I get. I bet you're wondering if I had it when Peter was diagnosed with his brain tumor...I did, and it stayed with me until the very end. I've had a pit in my stomach since last week and now I know why. I have been getting estimates for a new roof, they are double what I had expected. The woman who owned this house before me was good at taking care of it, I could tell she had put a lot of money into maintaining it. I never expected the roof to need new wood in places, I just thought it needed new shingles. Ugh...the headaches of being a homeowner! I am just sick to my stomach at the thought of all that money, my nest egg, my comfort. What can you do? It needs to be taken care of before the roof starts to leak and I have damage on the inside. The lowest estimate so far is from a guy who went into business with his buddy. His 20 yr. old daughter was born with water on her brain, and because of that he gives discounts to households with disabilities. I still can't figure out how he knew I had a special needs child, he said I told him but I know I didn't. I think he just assumed because when I was setting up the appointment he wanted to come during a time that Katie had a doctors appointment at Children's Hospital. Before anyone writes me a comment on this I want to make it clear that I have never, nor ever will, use Helen as a way to get sympathy, discounts, or booted to the front of the line at an amusement park. I only mention the last part because we live close to Six Flags Great America, and someone once told me if we ever went we could go through the exit and ride right away because we had a special needs child. I look at Helen the same way I look at all of my kids, she gets treated the same as the rest, they are all special to me.

Last week I mentioned the boys were having the Rain Gutter Regatta at Cub Scouts, well, we didn't do so good! I didn't tape the sail to the mast so the boats kept bumping into the sides of the gutter. The boys were getting really frustrated when they raced against a boat that sailed in a straight line. Ted's boat turned the water green because he didn't paint his whole boat with acrylic paint like you're supposed to. The first coat is with water colors, and then you are supposed to do two coats of the acrylic. I thought he understood when I explained it to him, I wasn't sitting right next to him while he painted. I'm in the middle of potty training Noah, so I was in the bathroom with him. Like I told Ted and Robbie, you live and you learn, now we know for next year. It was all in fun anyway!

All the kids are doing good, they are looking forward to school letting out and summer starting. They have already informed me they want to go to Bible camp again this year. Last year they went to the Catholic and the Greek, it was a good experience for them. Helen will be going to summer school again, she really enjoys it. I'm looking forward to lazy days, no schedules! After about two weeks I bet I'll be ready for school to start!!:o)

Until next time-
Take Care,
Sue






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Difficult Time

It feels so good to be back to my regular blogging routine! This past week-end the weather here was in the low 60's, I was able to get my front yard cleaned up. The last couple of days it has been quite windy, so I now have leaves back in my yard, isn't that how it always goes! The kids had a blast playing outside on the swing set. There are patches of mud in the backyard, and of course, Helen and Noah found them all! Thank goodness I was smart enough to have them wear their boots, although Helen felt it was summer, so she went barefoot. They had to change their clothes before church, and I had to wipe them off, Helen's feet were very dirty. The two of them didn't want to come in, I had to bribe them with a treat. During our movie night, Noah crawled up on the couch with me and fell asleep about 10 minutes into the movie. He usually doesn't fall asleep until half way through the first movie, it was all the fresh air, and stomping through the mud.

Ted has been having a tough time lately, he misses Peter terribly. Last night he was working on his homework, the other kids had gone to bed. I was helping Robbie get ready for bed when Ted came into my bedroom sobbing. I asked him what was wrong and he could barely get it out..."I miss Daddy, a lot." I think I have mentioned in other blogs that Peter would help Ted with his homework and also work with him in activity books, we called it Daddy School. I didn't know what to say, it was such a relief to finally see him actually cry about it, not just get teary-eyed. The last time I saw Ted sob over Peter was the night Sherry and Chris(my sister-in-law) brought them to the hospital so they could say good-bye. I have been worried, I know it's not good to keep all of that bottled up inside. I told him it was okay to miss him, and okay to cry about it. I told him I missed him too, and then I started to cry, I felt Ted had a breakthrough. He has had a hard time talking about Peter, going to the cemetery freaks him out, he says it's too weird. I just kept talking to him, I told him how Peter didn't want to leave us but it wasn't his choice to make. It stinks that he's gone, and it's not fair, he fought a brave battle and lost, all we can do now is remember him always. We will always have him in our hearts, a place where nobody can take it away from us. He loved us with all of his heart, and nothing meant more to him than his family, and I know he misses us too. I ended with telling him that I loved him very much and I wanted him to know that he could always come talk to me whenever he felt sad. I stressed the importance of communication, I hope I made him feel better. He went and finished what he could with his homework, I could tell he needed to unwind and go to bed so I didn't push it.

Katie had a friend over after school yesterday, it went very well. Her goal is talk to one friend at school, so the doctor thought having the friend come to our house would help. I was a bit nervous at first because Katie wouldn't talk to any of us. Her friend kept saying, "Talk to me Katie, just talk!" She sounded a bit frustrated. Katie came to me and said very quietly, "I'm trying very hard to talk to her, but I just can't!" I told her to do the best she could, and if that meant not talking, just nodding or shaking her head, that was okay. About 10 minutes later Katie came and told me that she had whispered in her friends ear, I was so happy for her. Then about 2 minutes later I heard a bunch of screaming and yelling, I went to check on them. It was Katie, her friend, Grace, Helen, and Noah, all in their bedroom dancing and singing to High School Musical. Katie had done it, she had talked to her friend, it was like they were celebrating! They had a good time, they were a bit loud, but they had fun. The big test was today at school, would Katie talk to her friend? I was told by Katie after school that, yes she did!!!! Hooray!!! What a huge step for Katie, I am so proud. I will get the full scoop in the morning when I talk to her teacher, I can't wait.

Tomorrow night is the rain gutter regatta with the cub scouts, the boys are looking forward to it. I hope their boats do well, I helped them this time around, it wasn't that difficult to do. We will find out tomorrow just how well I did. If Ted says he wants someone else to help him build it next year, I'll know I didn't do a good job! I will let you know next week how they did, keep your fingers crossed...

Until next time-
Take Care,
Sue





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Spring Break

Have you been wondering what has happened to me, well, I'll tell you what...spring break! We had such a busy week I can't believe it's over already. Easter Sunday was very relaxing, it was just the kids and I. My brother Rick and his wife Anne Marie went to visit her family in Georgia, and as you know, Sherry was in Boston with her family. My brother John's wife, Chris, was stranded in Las Vegas (because of the snow storm we had here on Good Friday) and ended up getting a flight to Phoenix to be with her mom and my niece Meghan. John and my nephew Ryan spent the day alone, I told him he should have come over. The kids and I went to church and then just hung out all day. The Easter Bunny was very busy at my house, he hid about 60 eggs! The kids loved looking for them, they did miss a couple, I know, because I sat on one!

On Monday I had a root canal done, and then was fitted for a crown. Did you know that you can have an infection under your tooth from trauma caused to the tooth over 20 years ago? I didn't know that. My infection was not bad, and not painful at all, it showed up on an x-ray. My infection was caused by an old filling that had weakened the tooth, I didn't know that could happen either. I was very surprised by how very little it hurt, it was more painful to write the check! That night we celebrated Robbie's birthday, he turned seven.

Tuesday I took all of the kids to get a haircut, my hairdresser Linda is a brave soul! She rents out space within another hair salon, it is very small. She put the kids out by the shampoo bowls and gave them some toys to play with. To my surprise, the girls were the loudest! Helen had gotten hold of a green crayon and found the nice white wall was a great looking canvas...scribbles everywhere. I tried my best to wipe it off, Linda was going to bring her pen (the kind that gets crayon off of walls) the next day to get what was left. Helen got her haircut right above her shoulders, it used to hit the middle of her back. She was starting to play with it all the time, it was becoming a distraction in school, not to mention how tangled it would become. She looks very cute, and her hair looks healthier.

Wednesday Helen had a doctors appointment at Children's with her Endocrinologist, it was just a check up. It went very well, I will know more when the test results are in. I'm hoping her dose will not have to be adjusted, but it may just need to. I noticed she has her tummy back, she gained about 5 lbs. since her appointment for her sinus infection a month ago. She is the first one to wake up in the morning, she gets into anything that she can find. I have to hide things before I go to bed, and make sure the cabinet and refrigerator are locked. One morning I followed a trail of fudgesicle wrappers to where Helen was sitting watching TV, eating one. This is where you would hear a heavy sigh....I had forgotten to lock the refrigerator the night before. Ted had a birthday party to attend in the next town over, so the rest of the kids and I went to Burger King for dinner, and the kids played. It worked out perfectly.

Thursday was the only day we didn't have anything to do, well, the kids didn't have anything to do. I got caught up on housework and laundry. I needed to start getting the house ready for Robbie's birthday party, which we had today.

Friday we met with Robbie's Tiger Den at the local radio station to get a tour, that was fun. The station manager gave us the tour, he told us that you didn't need a college degree to become a radio DJ. He made it very clear that you do need to go to college so that if things didn't pan out with the radio, you would have something to fall back on. I joked with one of the mom's about maybe one day she would hear my voice over the radio...I would love to have a radio show. All of the DJ's they have at that station have been there a very long time, so it's a very low turn over, but, you never know.

Saturday Katie and Robbie both had birthday parties to attend, they had a great time. I was once again trying to get my house in order. I noticed most of the snow had melted in my backyard, underneath all that snow were little piles of...did you know we had a dog? I got most of it up, there was still some snow left in places. I'll have to go out there again sometime this week and finish up, but it does look and smell much better!

Today we had Robbie's party, he was very excited about everyone coming over just for him. It doesn't take much to make a child feel special. It was an enjoyable afternoon, and to those of you reading this that were here, I hope you enjoyed yourselves.

I'm off to watch my movie that was sent to me, we had to move movie night from Saturday to Thursday, due to Robbie's party. I haven't had a chance to watch mine yet, tonight's the night!

Now you can see why I didn't have a chance to write my blog this week, and also to see how busy life can be for this single parent.

Until next time-

Take Care,

Sue

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Greetings from Boston!

Evan and I are in Boston this week, enjoying the city and its many sights and sites. Yesterday we visited the JFK Presidential Library and Museum. As we waited for the shuttle bus to take us from the T station to the library, I told him that the last time he was here he was in a stroller and his brother, sister, and cousins Meghan and Ryan (who joined us for that vacation) passed the wait time by pushing Evan's stroller up and down the T station ramps as fast as they could. He seemed really taken by the thought of that. I'm just astonished at how quickly time passes. On that earlier trip my older son, Alex, was the age Evan is now (10) and Evan was too young to remember any of the trip. Now Alex is finishing high school and getting ready to head off to Auburn University in the fall - and Evan actually enjoyed and learned a lot at the museum. Life is such a fast, whirling ride that sometimes I don't even see how quickly it's moving.

Anyway, since we're on the road I don't have anything to post about It'll Fit'll (except a reminder that we'll be back in Boston in early July for the convention of the National Down Syndrome Congress.)

It's going to be 51 degrees in Boston today - perfect for walking the Freedom Trail. Hope everyone's getting a bit of Spring these days.






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Snow, Cupcakes, and Netflix

The snow is falling again! The news is saying we can expect up to 15", the largest snowfall of the season, and I thought it was spring! The airport just grounded all of their flights, they are hoping to reschedule for this evening. What a way to start the Easter week-end. I'm hoping the people I know who had travel plans were able to get out before the snow fell, otherwise, what a headache! I spent the week preparing for spring break. I hit the grocery stores and Target, stocking up on everything we need, we are good to go!

I'm feeling better, I had a stomach bug of some sorts. Only half of the kids came down with it, and the ones that did, it only lasted for a few hours. Once they had a good nights sleep, they were feeling fine. Mine lasted days, nothing that knocked me off my feet, just the feeling of having a "sour" stomach.

At the kid's school they have hot lunch on Wednesdays, some of the mom's cook and serve it. Once or twice a month the kids get homemade cupcakes for dessert. At the beginning of the year we sign up for what week we would like to bring them in, they are usually themed. My last day for baking them was this past Wednesday (Easter theme), so I baked on Tuesday night. I have a cupcake holder to put them in because it so much easier to transport them. I put the container on the counter, not thinking...Helen got into them. I went into the kitchen to get their breakfast, and there she was, sitting by the refrigerator, cupcake in hand!! She had licked the frosting off of four of them, my heart sank. I called her teacher warning her of what could follow...tummy cramps. When I dropped the cupcakes off at the school they laughed and told me not to worry, they usually have extras. Helen never had any accidents at school that day, just a lot of gas. Her teacher gave the kids an extra treat that day for being so good about not laughing when Helen passed gas. I can only imagine what the air was like in the room that day...

I want to know why nobody ever told me about Netflix, like it was a secret or something. I signed up for a trial period of two weeks and fell in love. We didn't rent movies, something I missed very much. Peter and I used to rent all the time, we enjoyed the hunt of finding that one perfect movie. We could spend an hour going through movie after movie, trying to talk each other into the one that we picked. When we moved to Wisconsin, Peter would go to the library and get the movies. He would come home with some that I would have never agreed to, he also favored foreign films. I have to admit, they were usually very good. When the kids and I moved to this house I started movie night. We all get into our pajamas, grab our blankets and pillows, make popcorn, turn off the lights and watch movies. We would always have to settle for what was on TV, or what they had to offer on PPV. Now with Netflix, the skies the limit. We have seen some very good movies so far. It was a very pleasant experience going through the list and choosing what we wanted. They put the movies in order of when they wanted to see them. If there was a dispute, it didn't matter if there was yelling involved, I was the only one that could hear them. They like going online to see what's coming next, and to choose more movies. Movie night is much more enjoyable now that we are in control of what we watch.

Tomorrow we will be coloring eggs for the Easter bunny, the kids are getting very excited. I hope all of you who are celebrating Easter on Sunday have a wonderful day.

Until next time-

Take care,

Sue

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Jenna's Jammies

Thanks to my new pal Laurie, mother of 7-year-old Jenna, It’ll Fit’ll is developing a new product and I couldn’t be more excited. I think of this product as a “dream” product. It will, as you might have guessed, be called “Jenna’s Jammies”. That’s the girl’s line, anyway. We’ll probably call the boy’s line the “Boy’s One Piece Sleeper.”

Jenna’s Jammies will, indeed, be a one piece sleeper. The unique aspect of the product is that it will zipper in the back. Laurie explained to me that Jenna, who wears a diaper at night, would routinely take off her pajamas and diaper in bed sometime during the night. To avoid that situation, and the messes that implies, Laurie began buying one piece sleepers for Jenna – and putting them on backward. That way the zipper is in the back and Jenna can’t get herself out of the jammies during the night. Problem solved!

My first thought was “What an ingenious, elegant solution!” I immediately shared the insight with Susie. She completely agreed. Speaking with that awed tone of someone who’s just been illuminated by the bright light bulb, Susie explained that she’d had the same problem with Helen. But, Susie said, she would never have thought of such a creative, yet straightforward approach. Instead she just suffered through that long period, cleaning up the messes when they occurred and breathing a big sigh of relief when Helen was able to make it through the night without needing a diaper. The beauty part of Jenna’s Jammies is that once a child reaches the point of not needing the overnight diaper, the jammies are still useful. They still do their basic job, keeping the child warm and covered during the night.

This is exactly the kind of product that Susie and I feel great about producing. It fills a unique, important need and will make life a little easier for you parents in its humble, yet profound, way. While the need may be limited to a particular development period, and will likely never be a blockbuster in terms of sales volume, it’s a blockbuster idea in that it solves a problem with great practicality and simplicity.

We are working hard to have Jenna’s Jammies available for purchase at the convention of the National Down Syndrome Congress in Boston in July. We’ll have a girl’s version as well as a boy’s version. The size range will be 4 through 7. So, we’ll have sizes 4, 5, 6, and 7; the size should generally correlate to age (in years.) We will have a fleece version, for the colder months, and lighter weight cotton knit for the warmer months. Our current plan is to make the sleeper footless. As practical moms we think that the absence of feet allows kids to wear them for a longer period of growth. A sleeper with attached feet will stretch and pull and stop fitting once the child grows beyond a certain point. These sleepers will be so durable and well made that they will hold up to a very long period of use.

We also plan to have the flap that snaps at the neckline/top of zipper. That’s usually there to cover the zipper pull so that the child is less likely to be scratched by it. In this case, we’ll include the flap in order to limit access to the zipper and thereby make the jammies harder to remove during the night.

Please share your own thoughts and design ideas about this one-piece zippered sleeper. We want to produce the best product possible for you guys. So, do let us hear from you. In the meantime, sweet dreams to us all.






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