"Mom's" in the News

Doesn't it seem like every so often the news is just full of mother's who've gone nuts!
My homepage has a story of a mom who locked her son in a sweltering attic.
Then there's the mom on the Cleveland news who was driving her kids on the Ohio Turnpike despite the fact that she had no license and had been deemed too reckless to operate a vehicle. She thinks she nodded off and ran into a car. She and her front seat passenger were buckled in but her 4 kids...NOPE! The 5 month old was thrown from the car and last I heard was in critical condition. Two of her kids were killed. Had they been wearing seat belts they probably would have only sustained mild injuries.
There's the woman who killed, cut apart and ate her own baby in Texas.
Two women who cut babies out of other women's womb. One in Oregon one in Massachusetts.
I think it's only because it's been such a mild summer that we haven't heard of any parent's leaving their kids in a sweltering car.
It just seems like this is some sort of sick cycle that comes around every so often.
When will people ever learn to ask for help or to step in whether asked or not if a child needs help. When the family claims the mother has been in and out of psych hospitals and says she didn't mean to do it, she wasn't in her right mind. I have no doubt she wasn't in her right mind. I just wonder why, if you or the state or who ever, knew she wasn't in her right mind didn't try to get the baby into a safe situation.

What you have left: a novel - Google Books

I just went to the local library to get a book to read and picked this up. I don't have any idea what it's about but the cover reminded me of a recent post about Elizabeth!

What you have left: a novel - Google Books

Not much happening around here.

My computer has been running slow as can be. What a pain!

Yearbook Yourself

Have you ever heard of yearbookyourself.com? It's a hoot!
You upload a photo and can see a yearbook photo of yourself from 1950-2000



The above photo is from the year 1972. The person in the photo actually wasn't even born yet!





Then there's this. It's from 1998. Same person as above but what a change! Almost unrecognizable.

Then there's student life!


Never learned to play the guitar? No one has to know! Now they'll think you rocked the 80's
This will totally make me rethink posting photos of myself online! I copied the photo used in these off a blog. I was resentful because the person looked so normal in the 90's while I had big hair, spiral perm etc.... We'll I've changed the history. Now he also fell for a few fads! :)

16 & Pregnant

MTV has some real crap programs and rarely shows music videos anymore, but this is an exception.



The first one I saw I only caught the last half. When it ended I thought "who would let this kid have baby?" Then I watched the whole episode and had a whole new perspective! The girls name was Farrah and her mother was no help at all. She even got on to Farrah when they toured the birthing unit and Farrah tried to ask a question about induction of labor. She said something like "do we have to stay here and listen to these disgusting questions". That poor girl couldn't ask her mom anything and her mom didn't even want her asking her questions to the nurse.
At one time I thought this is the first reality baby show I've watched and not been crying when it ended. Then I watched the episode in the posted video. I bawled my eyes out! These two kids have way better sense than their parents and are two good kids from bad situations who knew their kid deserved much more.

Music and Lyrics

Today while trying to soothe Naomi I went to Youtube and looked at some kids music videos. then remembered David's post about the movie Oliver. It ends up Youtube is full of Oliver videos and some even had lyrics.... boy was I way off on some of the lyrics!









I'm almost out of battery life on my laptop and Naomi is pitching a fit when "I'd do anything" quits playing!

When having a baby...

I was thinking the other night about when I was pregnant and my mom and others would say "as long as it's healthy..." .
Well I did give birth to a healthy baby girl. I didn't do any of the tests they offer to see if the baby has Downs syndrome or what ever else they look for. I just felt like, why? I mean they do those so late in the pregnancy what would I have done but worry for the duration? So I had nothing tested.
She was jaundice, but never so bad she had to stay under the lights.
She did have cradle cap like crazy for a long time. Still has sickening dry looking skin behind her ears she won't let me scrub at or put baby oil on to get off.
She never went to the doctor for anything other than her required check ups for the first part of her life.
But she's no longer healthy. I'd say for quite a while she wasn't even happy.
On Depakote she was foggy and her seizures were worse. No fun.
On Topamax she was foggy, numb, emotionless, and worse. No fun.
Now she's on the Ketogenic diet. Still having seizures. Still waiting for her 2 year molars to finish coming in, over a year late! On NO medication. She is happy though!
So what do I do now? I no longer have the healthy baby I started with.
What happen to all those institutions they used to have for kids like her?
How did those things ever fill up with kids!?!!!
I mean how on EARTH do you take your kid to something like that? I know it was a different time, and that's what people did back then but I can't even drop her off at a special needs preschool from 8a.m. - 3 p.m. everyday. How could anyone drop their kid off and not go pick them up. Only visit. I can't imagine those mothers loved their children any less than I love mine. The only explanation I can think of is they truly believed that the kids wouldn't know any better. Wouldn't understand they were abandoned.
I guess I'll keep her! Hope for better days. Hope she either starts talking some day or communicating in another way.
Worse comes to worse she'll live out her days with us, that's not so bad. A friend who is my parents age said when she was my age she would have thought that would be terrible. But now she said if something happened and her 22 year old daughter had to move home forever, she'd be glad to take her.
I guess the hardest part of all this is "what will happen?". We don't know where her cognitive development will be in the future. If something will happen, her brain will kick into gear and start understanding and learning. She can learn new things. She is just so stubborn! If it's not her idea, good luck getting her to do it!
Then there is the "will she grow out of this" question that people ask. Heck, I don't know! I don't think the doctors know until the kids actually out grow it.
People assume she's normal because she looks so normal. But she's not normal. Her cognitive development is delayed and who knows where that will go. I can't say she's retarded. I mean if you mean retarded as in she is behind, yes she's retarded. If you mean she's behind and she will never catch up, I just don't know. The neurologist said she'll probably just always be late hitting her milestones. So that means she will meet them. It'll just take her longer.
I know we're lucky. All of this is happening for a reason.
I don't think I'll ever say "as long as it's healthy" to a new mom. Because I just don't feel that way. I mean I think, that's kind of asking something of the baby. I think "as long as you take care of it and love it" meaning no matter what. You want to be a parent? Fine, take what you get. You can't custom order your kid. They are custom made for you.
I know a woman who was furious when her daughter's hair started coming in auburn. Really on the red side of auburn. Do you know how bad I'd like to slap her now??? I mean seriously! The child is a teenager now and a beautiful intelligent girl and her mom was absurdly ticked off that she got a kid with auburn hair. I wish I had the nerve to post this woman's name and phone number! She is one of the worst mom's I have ever encountered and I guess that's why God knew not to give her a child that needed anything extra.
It's an honor and privilege to be a mother to both my kids. God knew exactly what I needed in both of them. I don't think I could have handled Naomi's health issues as easily if she was close in age to Isaiah. So if Isaiah hadn't of been a 10 lb. 7 oz behemoth of a baby with an enormous head I may have had my kids closer together.
I got what I deserved. Apparently I deserved perfection.

Naomi's diet is now at 4:1

We just raised Naomi's diet to a 4:1 ratio (that's 4 grams of fat for ever unit of protein + carb). Of course the same day her last molar seems to really be bothering her.
I thought she was going to bite the end off the Nuk brush at therapy today! She's already shredded one! They had never seen that done before! She's a little shark I tell ya! I don't see her tooth. I don't know if you can feel it or not. I'm not about to stick my finger in there to see either! She bit my finger so hard one day she dented my fingernail!
Tuesday she had a great day. Only 8 seizures all day. That was before the ratio change.
She's been sleeping a lot better lately too.
Funny thing. You know when kids teethe they usually get diarrhea? She's the opposite! She didn't go all day yesterday and if she doesn't go today I'll have to take action. I've already been giving her Cal Mag Zinc twice a day instead of once. Usually if I give her more than 7.5 ml a day she has runny poo. For two days now I've given her 2 doses and nothing!
I gave her a 4:1 ratio meal Tuesday night and Wednesday her urine ketones had dropped really low which is exactly the opposite of what I expected to happen!!! That stupid tooth is causing all this! I'll be so happy when it finally comes up! It started coming June 19! Almost a month ago! My birthday is a week from tomorrow. That's all I want for my birthday! Her tooth!

Little Dorrit

I finally finished Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens.

I watched the movie version on PBS and I must say.... just watch the movie.

Yes there are things in the book not in the movie. Nothing so extraordinary that you will miss out though!

I highly recommend the movie. It was part of the Masterpiece Theater series of Charles Dickens works.

I would never recommend an 850+ page book to anyone. Especially one with so small print! Everyone would be sending me bills from their eye doctor!

I finished and now I can say I've read a Dickens book.

You know you're in Lenoir North Carolina.......

when you see Willard walking down the side of the road.




This time he wasn't dressed as Super Woman, a gorilla, a belly dancer or a woman in a bikini. He was dressed head to toe in black. Long sleeves, Long pants. With a sombrero on his head and one hanging off his neck. In 90 degree weather!

I feel like the people in the video are making fun of him. But there is something obviously wrong with this guy. He is a registered sex offender. He messed with some one's kid. My first thought on that is WHO left their kid with him!!!!????? Even before he was in jail he obviously was not all there!
He is entertaining though. You never know what he'll be wearing next!

Our Trip to North Carolina

Here's Naomi on the ride south.

The sun was driving her nuts so we had to make a "curtain" out of a pillowcase.

She kept wrapping her Elmo blanket around her head and it was so cute!

The child Loves her books!!

This is Naomi talking to the dishwasher!

The friend we stayed with bought the house out of foreclosure. The dishwasher still worked fine so she kept it. But MAN is it noisy! When it would run Naomi would stand in front of it and kind touch the top of it like she thought someone was in there that needed help! :) She'd step back, study it then run right up on it. She's definitely got some sensory issues going on with her hearing. Sometimes it looks like she's trying to catch the sounds.

There was lots of swimming! Isaiah's back looked beet red after day 1! But he's luckily like me and it didn't hurt. Just turned to tan by morning.

These 2 have been friends since Isaiah was 6 weeks old. They're 2 years apart and even though they haven't seen each other since July 2007, they just picked up where they left off. Just like their mothers. It's great to have friends like that.

Here they are after a day of playing. They fell asleep on the same couch. Isaiah told me in the morning "I didn't sleep very well Austin kept kicking me all night". I told him to try sleeping on the other couch by himself the next night!

While we were there my friend's 17 year old daughter had to go have her Senior pictures taken at her High School and asked me to go with her to help her get changed and carry her stuff. I went but I asked her "what if I start crying?" and she asked why I would cry! I said "BECAUSE YOU'RE HAVING YOUR SENIOR PICTURES TAKEN AND HAVE JUST GROWN UP TOO FAST!" I've known her since she was about 2 and the time has just soared by! Seems like she was just Naomi's size not long ago! She is a great girl. She hasn't missed a day of school since she started Kindergarten! I'm sure she'll keep it up through her senior year and be very responsible as a university student. She wants to be an architect.

While we were at the school I saw one girl getting her photos taken with her two kids. They looked to be about 4 and 2 years old and were cute as buttons. I can't imagine having her life! I give her all the credit in the world though for sticking with school and going for her diploma!

Away From Home

We are miles away from home for the first time since Naomi started having seizures and everything is going great. No different than at home.

She sat good in the car for the long ride. It's only about 8 1/2 hours but we stopped over at my in laws and that added about 3 hours to the ride.

Her seizures have been fine. Only about 17 all day. She sleeping like a rock from all the activity. We're staying in North Carolina with a friend who has an in ground pool so the kids are having a ball in there. Naomi likes to kick her legs in the pool but also likes to dip her face in the water which drives me nuts!!!! Of course she hacks and gags some and then goes right back to dipping her face!

Well enough blogging on vacation!

ON VACATION

JULY 4TH

Happy Independence Day

A Funny for the Fourth!

Once when we were first married and living in North Carolina we were sound asleep.
It was daytime. We worked 3rd shift so we slept odd hours.
Our doorbell rang.
Bill , being high strung, ran straight downstairs without thinking and threw open the front door.
I mean, he RAN! Like someone shouted FIRE.
Standing there in nothing but his underwear, his mussed up hair, a chest full of tattoos of skulls, scorpions and dragons (I think I'm so used to them I don't even notice it anymore!) . He greeted a man who lived down the street.
He was the preacher at a nearby Baptist church and wanted to invite us for Sunday service.
Think we went??? UHHHHH NO WAY!!!!!! We'd have been forever the heathens that answer the door in underwear!
Note: my dad bought us a Mega Millions ticket for tonight's drawing. If we win the tattoos will be the first thing we get rid of! He was young and dumb and had a friend who had a tattoo gun and needed practice! But I seriously don't notice them anymore and I thought I'd hate them forever!

Things I don't understand...

I really don't understand California handing out IOU's! I wonder if the state of Ohio would take an IOU for our income tax. Or even better the city and county taxes! Our city owed us $1 one year and we've never seen it! Never even got an IOU!



Why did it take the feds to seize Madoff's penthouse and evict his wife. I know people who've just been accused of crimes and law enforcement has gone in taken appliances, curtains, popped tiles off the floor! Anything that may have any value. All this before a trial.



What the heck David Carradine was doing when he died. When my neighbor lady said early on that she'd heard it was a sexual thing and that they have several cases a year come into the ER at the hospital she works for I thought "Seriously!!????" But yep, she said most are young guys and they either end up brain dead or damaged.



How Bill can be almost 40 and ask me what insomnia means!



The appeal of the Dave Matthews band.



How the William's sisters are so extremely dominant in tennis! I mean one family member but 2! That's a lot of hard work and determination.

Why they feel the need to put so much adult humor in kids movies!

How our local university has no money to pay people who've worked their most of their lives, but can build a new top notch soccer complex and football stadium. Both with artificial turf. So many schools put more into sports than academics. Although I must say.... the construction company doing the work is going at it starting at 7 a.m. 6 days a week. How do I know??? Open a window in my house and you hear "beep, beep, beep, beep, beep" all day long! ( the sound of the equipment backing up)The complex is very near our house!

and just in time to post this.... Why is Palin resigning as Governor July 26...hmmmmmm.....

Unlucky #6

I've been wondering who would be the sixth celebrity to die, it's Karl Malden

I hate to admit it but a cousin mentioned maybe it would be Patrick Swayze! OH NOOOOOOO! So maybe Karl's death makes me feel "Johnny" is safe.
I do not want to admit how many times I saw Dirty Dancing in the theaters in my youth. Or that I own the VHS copy.

In so many ways she's a typical 3 year old!

While I make lasagna.........

She...

Makes a mess

Notice only half the shutter on the right is actually left hanging.

I've taken all the photos off the mantel because she finds something to stand on and reaches up there! So now the mantel is decorated with things we take from her but aren't going to hurt her if she gets a hold of them. We'll never make Better Home & Gardens.

She also make a poopie

NO PHOTO AVAILABLE

Today throws a wedding

Does anyone follow the Today show wedding?
They just announced the winner and that couple that won works across the street from my home ! I saw them out running Sunday morning. They were out running, I was in my car driving up the road to pick up apple fritters, cinnamon rolls and a cream horn for Bill!
Congratulations Leigh and Nick!
If the runners up get to go to the Turks and Caicos on their honeymoon, imagine what theirs will be like!!!!!!!