Well, now that we've had 24 hours to digest the prior 48 hours, I am ready to put thoughts into words. At least partly.

To recap, Wednesday morning we packed up the car, loaded the kids and headed east to Omaha, stopping 3 times in the first 90 miles due to one or more screaming children, arriving at our hotel 8 hours and 10 minutes later. The room was absolutely ideal for us, an over-sized two queen suite with a second sink in the mini kitchen. We brought two fold out toddler beds for Eden and Lars, which set up perfectly by our bed, and had the crib for Elia, which fit in the walk in closet, leaving lots of space to vroom cars, play house and read stories on the couch on the other side of the room.

After a quick supper, the kids and I went down to the pool to see it and check out the lobby of the hotel. Cookies and beverages were on a side table and I asked the kids if they'd like a cup of apple juice before bed. There were two clear pitchers half full and I poured some for Lars, who drank it down all at once and threw his cup away, running towards the elevator, gave the second cup to Eden, who took one slug and said, "this tastes terrible" and then poured some for myself. After my first swig, I looked at Eden and said, "this is for Daddy" and walked away. It was beer.

At 11:00p.m. that evening, Al went out into the cold to pick up Grandma Kenny from the train station, who arrived about 11:40. They got back to the hotel shortly after midnight, Elia climbed in bed with us at 0100 and Lars was awake shortly before 0500, ready for breakfast, which didn't start till 0600. Thank God I'd picked up donuts the night before.

Shortly after the sun began to rise, Al and I headed out the door, grabbed a bite to eat in the lobby and headed over to the conference center. Bill and Reagan Boyer, friends from Bridgeport who also have a young son with sensory issues, met us at the book table after we registered and received our 100 page 'follow along' packet, and we were almost immediately swept into the room and found our seats at the table with the three educators who came from Bridgeport schools.

In the first 90 minutes, we learned more about sensory process disorder and the functions in the brain that the disorder affects, what the causes of SPD are being attributed to and the hope that the future brings. The presenter played a video of a 6 year old girl who was getting her clothes changed one morning, and the mother was holding her and gently talking to her, while the girl was screaming "I hate you! Why do you hate me?! You're killing me!" at the top of her lungs. With a lump in my throat, I wondered if that's what went through Lars' head every morning that we get dressed, and every diaper change that he screams through, and every night that we get pajamas on, on every day that he's been alive. If he had the language, would he be screaming that I was trying to kill him? It was heart wrenching, but so real that other mothers have had a child like mine. Now that 6 year old is all grown up and doesn't think poorly of her mother at all!

Temple Grandin, a woman who was diagnosed in the 1950's with having Autism and is now both a college professor in animal science and a world known speaker on the topic of Autism and Aspergers, gave a 90 minute talk, inspiring many and walking away with a standing ovation. Her story was featured in a movie titled appropriately, Temple Grandin, which won 7 Emmy awards. And she was one of Time magazine's top 100 people of the year in 2010. When she was signing books, she took time with Al and I to ask about Lars and what kind of therapy he was getting and how much and gave recommendations and praise all in the matter of 5 minutes. We were honored and thankful all at the same time.

In all, there were eight 90 minute sessions over two days.The information gathered was part theory, part experience, part scientific, part medical, part personal, part psychological, part opinion and part sacrifice. It was by no means all encompassing, but certainly informational. We took pages and pages of notes, with suggestions on adaptations to try at home and in the public, vitamins to consider, social stories to teach & plenty of sensory diet ideas. We purchased books to take home and read, and other music and DVD resources to use in our every day life.

It was a long and exhausting few days and I'm glad to be home. I know that the hassle of going, the money and time spent on the conference and the brain frying will be worth it if it helps Lars cope with life and helps our family cope with Lars.

Thanks for all the prayers and well wishes.

Spring is coming!

I hear bird's chirping. In between the laughter and constant chatter of my children, I can hear one. I'm sure it's perched on a newly budding branch, too, but I can't confirm this. Lars and Eden have played outside for the better part of three days this week, hopefully indicating that spring is right around the corner. All this outside sunshine time has increased the Vitamin D and helped Lars' mood, in turn helping all of us tremendously. Keep it up sunny and bright!

Unfortunately this also brings allergies. Daddy got a shot a few weeks ago and is feeling much better but Eden is not. She has been up much of the last two nights, crying and snotting all over the place. Come on Zyrtec, do your thing.

Elia, now 10 months, is teething again. She is very helpful, though, and makes it obvious by having a low grade fever constantly, drooling appropriately, experiencing the proper amount of diaper rash, being too stuffy to sleep at night, except on Mom or Dad's chest, and just the right amount of fussiness. Other than that, she's cute as a button.

Samson is getting old. He doesn't want to play fetch more than once. He gets it the second time, lays down and looks at me like, "what?". My first baby, I often wonder what he thinks now that three creatons have taken over his space in the car and in life's priorities.

Allen and I are on an adventure of sorts this week. The Autism Super Conference in Omaha, Nebraska, about 8 hours east of here. The topics include dealing with melt downs, transitions, and typical ASD and SPD issues. One of the speakers is Temple Grandin, who has autism herself and has been quite successful throughout her life and into adulthood.

The hope is to gather information, collect resources, feel the support of other parents and absorb the Nationally respected speaker's knowledge and understanding of the world we are venturing in so unaware. I have been tip-toeing through it thus far, but I have a feeling that we are about to get more than our feet wet in a few days' time.

My mom is taking the train from Michigan to meet us in Omaha, taking care of the kids at the hotel during the day, and spending time with all of us in the evening hours. Eden hopes she doesn't snore too loud so that she can sleep.

I am also thankful that our school district is providing resources for the Elementary special education teacher, the Sped Director and speech path to attend the conference. I feel very blessed that a school this size with so few students wants to take the time and effort to further their education in this specific field, helping my son and others as the time comes. Even our local librarian has ordered books specific to Lars' condition and placed them in circulation.

To everybody involved, we say THANK YOU!

Ever do something so completely irritating that was an entire waste of time that you then sit down and call a friend to tell them about it, wasting even MORE time than if you'd just completed the task and gone about your day?

Yeah, well, that was me yesterday. And what am I doing now? Blogging about it! I guess I'm not over it yet.

In lieu of not wasting any more time on the subject at hand, I will say in the Reader's Digest version that I spent nearly 2 full hours on the phone, calling several different numbers, being put on hold and transferred to several different departments, trying to order a $2.19 piece of plastic for my Hoover vacuum, which is still under warranty. However, if I wanted to use the warranty, I'd have to bring my vacuum to Scottsbluff so that they could mail it to Denver and get the piece fixed and sent back. Estimated time is one month, but "Jr", the guy at the other end of the line told me it wasn't worth it, b/c it was almost never back in one month and sometimes they sent you a different vacuum back. I don't somebody else's I want mine. I like mine. We're friends by now.

And What Mother of three small children would willingly send her $250.00 vacuum away for over a month? I finally had them convinced that I could fix the part myself if they would send me the piece. (OK, I was sure that my husband could fix it). I was then transferred to another, higher than the first 'higher' department to get this taken care of. After 10 minutes of discussion, I read off the number on my receipt.

The answer I got was, "oh, we don't honor Wal-mart receipts".

AHHHHH!!

Can I pay for the piece myself?
Of course you can.
Ok.
That will be $2.19 plus $8.99 in shipping and handling. Expedited delivery is available for an additional $14.00.

You've GOT to be kidding me???

Anyway, I've got it out of my system and I am expecting a UPS shipment of one very small plastic piece to fit a Hoover Vac. Of which I love.

On to other news, Elia is crawling. Sort of. She does the 'right knee/left big toe' and it gets her where she needs to go. She is so completely normal, too, and follows along the baby books rule book by eating everything that comes in contact with her hands. My other two didn't do this b/c they had a paci in their mouth for the first full year. Not so with Elia, she would rather eat plants and left over bits of food that drop from Eden and Lars' bar stools.

Since two teeth have come in and no more are on their way at the moment, combined with the fact that she is now mobile has helped mommy considerably. She is very content to crawl around and explore, with no fear of heights, as long as her siblings leave her alone.

She pulled herself up onto daddy's brief case last week and I nearly collapsed with fear. "KNOCK HER DOWN" I shouted, "I'M NOT READY FOR STANDING!"

Lars has had a better week, but not my leaps and bounds. We are working on new strategies to help him figure out how he's feeling at that moment and deal with it before he loses it all together. His speech therapist is helping us find resources, and for that we are eternally grateful. He will also begin OT and PT once a week over at a sensory room in SB, in addition to his home care OT and PT. He slept all through the night last night, which was a good sign for me. Unfortunately, Elia joined me at 12:15 and never left.

Eden, what can I say, she is a rock and doesn't yet know it. Though she clamors for our attention, she does remarkably well being the older sister. She will go far in life.

The preacher and I are taking the afternoon to go to lunch, a car ride, and who knows what else? I'll be ready for our kids when I get back, though, for this I am sure. Maybe I can get a chapter read in my book before we go??

Out with the old...

Because one can only living in the depths of paneling for so long.

Our downstairs living room is half paneling on three walls and half dry wall. It was Ok when we first came because We really liked the paint color we chose to compliment the paneling when we moved here in 2007. It was a deep red that was cozy and perfectly set for movie watching. With one child who went to bed promptly at 7:00 p.m. in those days, it worked as planned. Unfortunately, since then, we've had a couple more children (not the unfortunate part) and have watched about 3 movies total in there. The rest of the time it's a kid's play room and mommy office.

Because said paneling is in such good shape after all these years and not doing any harm, and since we're not looking to leave Bridgeport anytime soon, we decided to find some inexpensive mis-tints and get to work painting it.

The question is, why in the world would one very sleep deprived mother and Lent-preparing Pastor slash father of three decide to paint with no grandma's around to babysit?

Covered in primer from 3 days ago, as well as a bit of off white, beige and mint green, I still ponder the question....

However, the hallway is completed (off white), and the living room has one coat of color (green and beige).

So far, it seems both earthy and bright at the same time. I'm hoping it will be both energizing for the day (that's where my desk is) and relaxing in the evening (it serves as both toy and movie/hockey watching room).

To be continued...

There are several things I should be doing right now and blogging probably isn't one of them. However, here I am. Sitting. Without anybody on my lap helping me. Which is a novelty of late.

In fact, the house is quiet. I hear the dryer tumbling clothes, the washer running water and the click clack of these keys. An occasional gust of wind blows somebody's artwork off the refrigerator upstairs and I wait to hear that somebody start crying because of it. Then I remember that Eden is at school, Lars is with his wonderful respite provider and Elia, bouncing baby Elia, is at a sitters all morning for the first time.

You know that first time you give your child to somebody intending to leave them there? And they are happy looking at you from the car carrier, and even happy to sit in the other person's arms and bounce for a few minutes. And then you turn and walk towards the door. And all breaks loose and you're pretty sure the child will forget you the minute you walk out and never forgive you when you do finally come for her?

Yeah, that's how I felt this morning. She's nearing 10 months and hasn't been away from Mom more than an hour or so. Even when I've had sitters here at the house, I've gone back to check in and feed her on a regular basis.

So, today is a test of wills. And really, until now, it's been quite productive. One more hour...