A Math Equation:

4 girls partying from 4-7:30 + one sick mom + 2 doctors appointments for 2 kids this morning + one "emergency" visit to said doctors to "discuss" results + NO ONE to help out = One stressed out mom who has no idea how the heck she is going to get EVERYTHING done when she is throwing up and is so shakey she can barely walk.

Results to follow.

Over-Exposure to Pure Awesomeness!

Anessa will be turning 9 on Thursday! I can't believe how big she has gotten! She has gone from this:


To this:


She also got a new bike for her birthday! We gave it to her on Sunday because Mitch wasn't going to be able to make it up on her big day.

The reaction:


Proud new owner:


Happy Birthday Anessa! We love you so much!

Other things going on in the Bennett household:

Peyton is doing so well in gymnastics! I've had a couple of his coaches approach me telling me that he has a lot of talent, especially for someone who has never done gymnastics before *cue Olympics theme music here*. I hope he continues on with it.

Cohen is doing great! He's using a lot of his words in conjunction with sign language, so we are finally able to tell what he wants/needs most of the time. We still have a lot of melt downs when he gets frustrated, but they are few and far between. Great job, Cohen!

Married for 7 years.

Today Mitch and I will have been married for seven years, and even though we have had our share of ups and downs, I wouldn't trade it for anything. He's my best friend and I couldn't have chosen a better father for my children. He's supported me through family troubles and listened to me when I've been an irrational mess. We have done so well with the hand that we were dealt; I don't think many other couples could have survived going through what we have gone through, and it has only brought us closer. We still love to wrestle and laugh at nothing. I love you Mitch. I would do it all over again!

Mitch loving on his baby girl this weekend..melt.


Mitch and I admiring our new bundle. Love my Pebbles hair? This was snapped about 3 minutes after she was born.


Mitch and I at Bridal Veil Falls Thanksgiving weekend.


Love you, babe!

Baby Slingin' and Family Picture: FAIL

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my ring-sling. It's the best little invention in the whole wide world. Aja loves it too.


She especially likes to suck on the edge.


Until she falls asleep.


Ah, the family picture. I think we took over 60 pictures and not ONE turned out. Ugh..So I guess this next weekend we will go for round two. Our main problem was that little boy on the right...yah, the blond one.


Thanks Cohen for making this SOOOOO easy!


I could go on...


I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

One November afternoon when my daughter was in kindergarten, I picked her up after school. She bobbed out to the car and crawled into the back seat.

"What did you do today?" I asked. She couldn't wait to tell me.

"We learned that boys are different from girls," she chirped.

Looking into the rear view mirror, I could just see the top of her head.

"My teacher told us that boys have a thing the girls don't," she added.

"Well, yes they do " I said cautiously.

I couldn't think of anything else to say, so we were quiet for a moment. Then she piped up again. "That's how girls know that boys are boys," she said. "They see that thing that hangs down and they know that he is a boy."

I mentally calculated the distance home. Our five-minute commute already felt like an hour.

"Did you know that when the boys see a girl they puff up?" My palms were beginning to sweat. "Um…well…"

I was still searching for something new to say, to change the subject, when she asked, "Why do the girls like the boys to have those things?" Well, I didn't know what to say. I mean, what woman hasn't asked herself that question at least once?

"Oh, well…um" I stammered.

She didn't wait for my answer. She had her own. "It's cause it moves when they walk and then the girls see that and that's when they know they are boys and that's when they like them. Then the boy sees the girl and he puffs up, and then the girl knows he likes her, too. And then they get married. And then they get cooked."

That last part confused me a bit, but on the whole I thought she had a pretty good grasp on things.

As soon as we got home and I pulled into the garage, she hopped out of the car, fishing something out of her school bag.

"I drew a picture," she said. "Do you want to see?"
I wasn't sure I did, but I looked at it anyway. I had to sit down.

There, all puffed up so to speak, looking mighty attractive for the ladies, was a crayon drawing of a great big Tom Turkey. His snood, the thing that hangs down over his beak, the thing that female turkeys find so irresistible, was magnificent. His tail feathers were standing tall and proud.

She was a little offended that I laughed so hard at her drawing, and I laughed until I cried. But when I told her I loved it – and I did – she got over her pique.

That was the end of that, for her anyway. But I'm not so lucky.

Every year I remember that conversation.
And to be honest, I haven't looked at a turkey, or a man, the same way since.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING

My take on the "Twilight" movie.

I have to admit, I am disappointed.

There are no words. I know it's not humanly possible to fit the bill for Edward, but honestly, they could have picked someone a little more "good looking" than Robert Pattinson!! There were times when he really did it for me (when watching previews online before the movie came out), but after seeing that movie...Barf!! I groaned outloud at the "hang on little spider monkey" line..PUH-LEASE!! Honestly, if Mitch had said that to me while were dating I would have said "you know..Your nice and all, but this just isn't going to work". OY! The SUNGLASSES! Which ERA did you get those from buddy! He said a few funny lines, but all in all he was a great disappointment for me. I know some will disagree and that is fine. No hard feelings, ok?

Bella blinked WAY too much. I also didn't feel any "spark" between her and Edward.

Jasper, Alice, Esme, Rosalie, Emmett, Charlie were all great. The special effects..Need help. The baseball seen was terrible..I full body shudder at the memory of that scene.

The movie needed to be so much longer, it felt so rushed. There were some parts in the book that are supposed to be romantical and mysterious in a way and they totally hack-sawed it.

Meh..I would like to hear those who have seen it thoughts on the whole ordeal. Also, just got word from a friend..They gave the green light for New Moon..HOPEFULLY they will pick a different screen writer.

BUT, my Junior Mints were really good.

Cohen's name for Peyton

Cohen's speech therapist was concerned because Cohen didn't have a name for Peyton. Here it is:



If you couldn't catch it, it's Pee-pee. Sorry I couldn't get it full size, I really don't know what I'm doing here. If anyone wants to help out with that part, great!

Enjoy!

I'm so tired.

It's not even 9 and I'm about to fall asleep at the computer. I got up at 6:30 and the nights sleep was pretty decent even though Aja was sleeping in my bed and Peyton and Cohen were sleeping on the floor next to the bed. Also, I slept through Anessa cracking nuts (the girl grinds her teeth, BAD and someone else (I haven't figured out who) has taken to doing the same). I got in the shower and got ready (including blow drying my hair YAY!) got the kids out the door, got Aja and Cohen ready and then we headed off to thera-PLAY. Aja of course wouldn't stay with the "sitters" there and so I had to take her with me. It's not easy rough housing with Cohen while holding her.

There is a little boy there who is getting into the habit of hurting Cohen every time he sees him, and it's starting to piss me off. Today he kicked Cohen in the back and in the head. So I did EVERYTHING in my power to avoid another situation, I got side-tracked by another mom asking how I was holding up and the kid runs after Cohen and pushes him down, and Cohen knocked his head pretty good. UGH! I know that the kid has really no control over what he does and I'm trying to be patient, but any of you who know me know that I'm SUPER protective of my kids and I'm having a hard time with this.

We get home and I feed everyone, including inhaling a lunch of my own (I'm apparently not allowed to eat according to Aja) and then had to hold Aja for a few hours and finally got her to sleep. Then the Lord smiled upon me and made it so Cohen went to sleep too! I thought, YES! I can do a few things...Nope. I got a call from my work and I talked to my boss. She lives in California and her house and business (my work) burned down this weekend so she was giving me all the details on that. I feel so bad for her. Her mom died this year, she had to have back and knee surgery, then her two front teeth broke and then her house burns down. Wonderful year for her, huh? Anyway, I have made arrangements to send her some things since she now has no clothes. Then Aja and Cohen get up, Anessa gets home and it's time to run Peyton to gymnastics. We get home at 5:45 and yet again I feed everyone and I'm allowed to eat a sandwhich and that is all! LOL! Then it's off to take Anessa to basketball practice and we didn't get home until 8. I then tried to do a bit of work while Aja played in her saucer (not having it) and Anessa and Peyton go shower. Cohen did what he does best..wander. I FINALLY got everyone down at 8:45 and who decides that she needs to wake up? I'm hoping she will go back to sleep on her own, but I think that is a vain hope. Anyway, this was my day. This is how my typical day is every.single.day. Can you see why I'm tired?

My only saving grace is that I get to see this on Friday, and I can't wait!

My 5 month old baby girl, and Basketball Anessa!

Aja is now five months! The time is just flying by, I can't believe it! She is trying to crawl, the little bugger! She rolls around everywhere making it very insteresting to change her diaper. She also growls, it's so funny! I can't have a conversation on the phone without her having to put in her two cents worth!

Here is Aja's first taste of some applesauce. She loved it!


And of course we have to be a big girl and try to feed ourselves.


Oh Mom, you want me to SMILE for the camera?? Too bad. I just won't ever do it.


Mini push-ups!


We just put Anessa into basketball. I'm so proud of her. She's tall enough that she could get pretty good at the sport!

Update on our trip to Primary's.

I love Aja's neurologist. He's such a great guy. She actually has 2, but I can never remember the girls name. I love her too. Anyway, they told me that Aja's head is too narrow in the front and too "bulgy" in the back, but they want to wait and get more head measurements before they do anything. So, it's a wait and see thing right now. They aren't sure if it's the shunt that is causing all the narrowing in the front or what. So that is basically all that happened. Informative, huh? Other than that, she is perfect. I'm going to serial-post later on, but right now. I'm going to chill in my p.j.'s and do laundry. It was really good to see Mitch. Love that man more than anything.

P.S. Thanks Dad for helping me with kiddos during our appointment! You are a life saver!

Heading to Primary's.

We have an appointment with Aja's neurologist on Thursday at 1:40 p.m.

After doing a lot of research on-line today with the small amount of information I have, the condition I think she has is called craniosynostosis. Fancy word for the sutures of the skull fusing too early. Looking at some pictures of it as well, I'm pretty sure that Aja has the condition. Her head is very oval, very long (meaning from her forehead to the back of her skull) and she has weird bumps all over the place.

Anyway, I won't be on-line much the next few days, but will be sure to update as soon as we get back Thursday night. We may visit Mitch while we are down there. I miss him so much.

Please keep Aja in your thoughts and prayers the next few months.

It may get ugly. Really ugly.

As I mentioned a month or so ago, when Aja saw her new pediatrician he pointed out that her soft spot is super small. Smaller than my finger-tip and I have small hands. So I've been keeping an eye on it and just monitoring it. It's gotten smaller and it's really hard. I can't really push it anymore and have it spring back on me like a normal soft spot would. It feels like bone is growing in there.

So I called her neurologist and left them a message with the info and they called me back yesterday. Not good news. His nurse, who is really nice and super helpful, said that when this happens kids usually require craniofacial surgery. The reason being is that this could now be hindering the growth of her brain. So they would have to go in and spread the bones, again. So my daughter who had too much space now has too little space and needs to be monitored.

I'm so scared for my little girl. I'm also so frustrated. I feel like I have just been knocked down over and over again this year and it's getting harder and harder to pick myself up again.

The Brave Little Soul:

THE BRAVE LITTLE SOUL

Not too long ago in Heaven there was a little soul who took wonder in observing the world. She especially enjoyed the love she saw there and often expressed this joy with god. One day however the little soul was sad, for on this day she saw suffering in the world? God paused for a moment and replied, Little soul, do not be sad for the suffering you see, unlocks the love in people's hearts. The little soul was confused. What do you mean she asked. God replied, have you not noticed the goodness and love that is the offspring of that suffering? Look at how people come together, drop their differences and show their love and compassion for those who suffer. All their other motivations disappear and they become motivated by love alone. The little soul began to understand and listened attentively as God continued, The suffering soul unlocks the love in people's hearts much like the sun and the rain unlock the flower within the seed. I created everyone with endless love in their hearts, but unfortunately most people keep it locked up and hardly share it with anyone. They are afraid to let their love shine freely, because they are afraid of being hurt. But a suffering soul unlocks that love. I tell you this it is the greatest miracle of all. Many souls have bravely chosen to go into the world and suffer to unlock this love to create this miracle for the good of all humanity.

Just then the little soul got a wonderful idea and could hardly contain herself. With her wings fluttering, bouncing up and down, the little soul excitedly replied, I am brave, let me go! I would like to go into the world and suffer so that I can unlock the goodness and love in people's hearts! I want to create that miracle! God smiled and said, You are a brave soul I know, and thus I will grant your request. But even though you are very brave you will not be able to do this alone. I have known since the beginning of time that you would ask for this and so I have carefully selected many souls to care for you on your journey. Those souls will help you create your miracle; however they will also share in your suffering. Two of these souls are most special and will care for you, help you and suffer along with you, far beyond the others. They have already chosen a name for you. God and the brave little soul shared a smile, and then embraced. In parting God said Do not forget little soul that I will be with you always. Although you have agreed to bear the pain, you will do so though my strength. And if the time should come when you feel that you have suffered enough, just say the word, think the thought, and you will be healed! Thus at that moment the brave little soul was born into the world, and through her suffering and God's strength, she unlocked the goodness and love in people's hearts. For so many people dropped their differences and came together to show their love. Priorities became properly aligned. People gave from their hearts. Those that were always too busy found time. Many began new spiritual journeys some regained lost faith- many came back to God. Parents hugged their children tighter. Friends and family grew closer. Old friends got together and new friendships were made. Distant family reunited, and every family spent more time together. Everyone prayed. Peace and love reigned. Lives changed forever. It was good. The world was a better place. The miracle had happened. God was pleased.

------------------------------------------------------------------
I've cried so much today. I have been so touched by many stories I have read lately. This one was pretty darn good.

Tagged by Shelly

Rules:
1. People who are tagged need to post these rules, and 8 random habits/facts/quirks about themselves.
2. At the end of the post you need to choose 8 people to get tagged and list their names.

1. I'm the most cold person you will ever meet. It could be 8 billion degrees outside and I would still be wearing a house jacket. I dunno, a comfort thing I guess?? House jackets are so convenient becuase as I go around the house during the day, I stick stuff that is laying around in my pockets and put it away as I go.

2. Finishing a drink?? Never. According to my husband and my mom, I never finish a drink. I WOULD, but my wonderful husband never gives me the opportunity, he just finishes them off for me first now.

3. I CANNOT stand to watch my kids eat. It's gross. Anessa and Peyton sit at the counter for a reason. Cohen?? I kind of angle him out of my peripheral vision and I just keep my eyes on my plate or look around. ANYWHERE but where my kids are during the mastecation process. Ugh..I don't know what their deal is, but they incorporate both hands and have to TOUCH all their food..It drives me nuts and icks me out. I'm trying to work on that part of their manners, but man, when we are at home it seems that all manners go out the window.

4. Mitch used to take this personal until I explained it to him, but I'm not huge on kissing. I never have been. I get really claustrophobic and have to break away in order to feel like I can breath. Lame I know.

5. I know all the words to "Baby Got Back" and "Ice Ice Baby". Again, I know I'm lame.

6. I trip, a lot. Mitch finds it quite humerous. When I was pregnant with Cohen, I was waddling (see how I didn't say walking) and accidentally kicked one of Peyton's many swords under myself and totally biffed it. I was fine, but Mitch sure thought it was great.

7. I think I have had more flat tires than anyone. On every car I have ever owned (on #6 now) I have had either one or more flat tires. Mitch changed the brakes on my GOLD van once and I had 2 flats. Who knew??

8. When I get really nervous or stressed I bite my lips until they bleed. It's horrid. So if you see me and my lips look all funky and are super red, you know something is going down.

I tag Liz, Janita, Heather and Ashley!

Never Too Late For Pumpkins!

We took these a few weeks ago at the Logan Pumpkin Walk, and of course I was a dope and forgot my camera so my sweet sister-in-law took some pictures for me and sent them.

Here is Yoda Cohen. His head fit so perfectly in the cut-outs it was so funny! I love his face in this picture!


Aja as our little Ariel. That hat she is wearing was a big hit! She looks like a mini Aunt Jemima.


Peyton as Winnie the Pooh. He wanted me to post him as Snow White..uhh..No.


Princess Anessa. So fitting as she is my kindest most loving girl.


Alrighty then...The boy kept running from image to image!


We had a lot of fun that day as you can tell!

Can I say this..

I hate moving. I hate everything about it. I hate having to make sure my house is clean every minute of every day in case of a showing. I hate that Anessa has to leave her posse when they are so nice to her and she's feeling better about being at a new school. I hate that I have to leave all my friends that I just made. We have such a wonderful neighborhood and ward. I was really worried when we moved here because Saratoga was SO horrible with the whole Mormon mentality, but we haven't run into that here. We have had so much support.

I'm glad, however, that Mitch got this job. I was secretly rooting for it and he got it. It's an awesome offer, and it was one we couldn't pass up because it was so good. The health benefits, believe it or not, are better at his new place of employment than at the university, which ROCKS because, well, we have to have health benefits at all times. I know I should be thankful, and I am... I just am sad to be leaving everything. Logan is so great because it is in between both our families and the right size that I felt relatively safe. I'm sure things will be great when we move to SLC. I'm also going to miss my hubby very much. He's a good husband and a good father. He's worked so hard to provide for our family and I am so grateful for him.

Okay, my petty rant is over.

Some more randomness

Here are some random pictures of the kids. Enjoy!

Peyton LOVES Aja. It's really quite cute. Of course, it's impossible to get a good picture of BOTH kids at the same time.


Oh yeah. I made bread. Finally. I can never get yeast to rise. So here is a picture of my success!! Mitch is convinced that I skip a step, but I never do!! So I'm so happy that I had some bread that actually worked! I made us some cheese bread and it was good!


The end result! I think my family downed one and one-half loaves at dinner!


Cohen went Trick-or-Treating at the CPD building today! By the end of it all, he was actually saying something that sounded a bit like Trick-or-Treat. It was so cute! They gave him a PECS card to hand to people this year, but I don't think we will use it as I'm sure they will have no idea what to do, so I've been working with him all day with it. Last year he ran into every one's house. It was really embarrassing.

That is Janelle, one of the MANY people who are helping Cohen. We LOVE her!


Everyone got a kick out of the Chicken costume! It was great.


And of course..Cohen "smiling". Our family pictures this year are going to be pretty darn interesting.


P.S. The new play list is dedicated to my kids. They all have different tastes, it's hilarious!

Updates..(I know I have updates all the time).

To answer a few questions been asked:

Janita: Cohen is on a waiting list right now for a specialty pre-school called ASSERT. There is a 5 month waiting list for it and that is something that the developmental pediatrician has told us would help Cohen function in a normal school setting and may even help his social skills since they are basically nil right now.
Cohen is seeing the following: Occupational Therapy (for sensory issues), Physical Therapy (he's not very coordinated), nutritionist, Behavioral Therapy, Speech Therapy, and the lady from the ABC class comes in and works with him and me as well. Her main job is to help Cohen become more engaged with the family. He will be starting in a class soon that will be with other kids and they will help him engage with other children and we will see how that goes. He was attacked by a little boy on Tuesday and he shut right down, I couldn't get him to engage with me anymore.

The job hunt has gone well. Mitch got an offer! It's with the company I was secretly rooting for and they have come back with an amazing offer, so we will probably go with it. It means that Mitch and I will be separated for awhile while I try to sell the house, but heck SL is just an hour away, not a big deal. I will be cutting back on my hours from work drastically, but will still work to retain the account I have and what I make I can use for whatever I want. I have a huge list! LOL!

Heather: The pediatrician is up here in Logan. He's great! I'm sad now that I will have to leave him, but I'm sure I will get awhile with him as the housing market really is not doing good. Can buy a house, selling is hard.

Liz: My favorite dog is a Daschund (sp??). I don't know why my pictures aren't working! I want to make wedding cakes as my dream job. I want to visit Italy or live there even. I LOVE fast cars. Another one of my dreams is to fix one up, yah, dumb I know, but always been a dream!

I hope I got to every one's questions! I will be posting some fun pics later this afternoon!

I'm in love...

With another man besides my husband. Okay, not love, but he's pretty great! LOL! We went to Aja's new pediatrician today and he spent one and one-half hours with me today!! I couldn't believe it! He looked up all her pre and post surgical reports, answered questions, told me what I should do in case of a malfunction, answered questions on her enlarged lymph nodes in her head, answered questions on her herniated belly button and then proceeded to talk to me about Cohen's blood work and what avenues we could take with him! It was awesome and I left there feeling confident instead of worrying that I would miss something and my child would die.

He did tell me that her fontanelle is closing faster than it should (it's barely the size of my finger-tip) so it would be harder to tell when she has a malfunction, but he didn't make me feel like it wasn't something that we (meaning him, me, Logan ER, and Primary's) couldn't handle, was very supportive of helping me arrange the helicopter in case of a malfunction and how he would contact the radiologist on call at both hospitals to get things going. He has 2 other kids under his care that are also shunted so he knows how to handle things. It was just a great bit sigh of relief!

Little thing:
Weight: 12 lbs. and 6 oz. (she's up 5 pounds since her birth)
Length: 24 1/2 inches.
Head Circ: 40 1/2 cm. (this is good. When she had her surgery it was 41.5)

He was very supportive of breast feeding and said there was no rush to introduce solids, which was very good for me as I believe in giving things a little time and not rushing it per se. So all in all it was a very positive experience and I left with a big smile on my face!

Tagged by Liz!

My wonderful friend, Liz, tagged me. So here goes!

MY FAVORITE VACATION:

I would LOVE to go back to Japan. Mitch is actually interviewing with a company where he would be traveling there for business, so I'm kind of crossing my fingers for that one!

MY FAVORITE COLOR:

All pink..All the time.

MY FAVORITE TREAT:

I love brownies. They are my weakness.

MY FAVORITE FRUIT:

I love all fruit!

A LITTLE KNOWN FACT ABOUT ME:

I love punk music! I usually listen to it when I'm alone as it's not appropriate for my kids to listen to. Also, I used to have gauged ears. YUM!

WHERE I WANT TO TRAVEL:

I love Italy. I would very much love to visit/live there.

WHERE I GREW UP:
I couldn't find a picture of it. Bountiful, Utah.

WHERE I LIVE NOW:
No place too exciting. Logan, Utah.

MY MIDDLE NAME:
Okay. It's JEHAN. JE-HAN. JUH-HAN. Not JOHN..JUH-HAN. Everyone always gets it wrong. I'm named after a previous president of Egypt wife. He was Anwar Sedat his wife was Jehan Sedat.

MY FIRST NAME:
It's Monique.

MY BIGGEST PET PEEVE:
I really don't want to post a picture of this one. It's kids with boogery noses. I would much rather wipe my kids' nose on their shirt than have them sucking it in all day! It's so gross!

MY FAVORITE ANIMAL:

I want one of these really, really badly!

PAST LOVE:

I still love fast cars, but was very much obsessed with them when I was younger.

MY GREATEST WISH:

I really want to learn to make wedding cakes (I make a killer cake, just don't know how to decorate) and open my own shop! My wedding cake was so beautiful and delicious that it's something that I have wanted to do as a side thing since!

All right..I'm done! I tag Tasha, Shelly, Heather, Lacey, Janita, Ashley and anyone else who reads it.

I'm not looking forward to this.

Oy... Cohen's got bad teeth. I mean seriously bad. Since the age of 1, when I first started taking him to the dentist, we've walked out of here with a 200$ bill or more. He has a cap on one of his front teeth and that little puppy cost us about 150$ after insurance. Well, we went to the dentist last week and the poor kid has the worst luck. He has to get 3 caps and have 2 cavities filled, and this is what they could see from checking into his mouth.They are going to have to take more x-rays because he wasn't being cooperative during that portion to see if there might be more cavities they didn't catch. The last time, when we got the cap, Cohen had a real rough time and they had to give him 2 shots in the arm to semi-sedate him and we were at the dentist office for almost 3 hours! This time, he gets to go into the hosptial to get fully sedated so they can work on him. I feel bad for him, he was born without enamel on his teeth and he has pitted dentin, so that means no matter what I do, he will always have cavities. As it is I brush his teeth with my electric toothbrush and give him fluoride pills. It's really bad when the first thing the dentist says when looking into his mouth is "I just want you to know that you aren't doing anything wrong, there is nothing you can do in this situation".

Dentist: 900$ (HOLY FREAKING CRAPP!) This could go up too because there might be things that they find while he's under!
Anesthesia: 300$
Operating Room: 500-700$.

As if there weren't enough little moths flying from my wallet. Like I said, I'm not looking forward to this.

Our ADOS Update.

Sorry to leave you all wondering. We went on Thursday to get Cohen's final part of his diagnosis and it was so mind boggling, I really just don't know how to explain it. They score him on a few different things and give him a "final score". He's a 15 out of 24 with the cut-off being 12. So what you or I would normally think is, Oh, he's mildly autistic right? I guess that isn't how it works. See, his communication is mildly autistic (which was weird to me when the kid is just barely talking), but his social-emotional is considered severely autistic. That part didn't surprise me in the least. So he's all over the spectrum, hence the term autism spectrum disorder or ASD.

Anyway, they told me that he could go on to lead a normal life, just be "quirky". I think they meant that as a comfort to me, but still, I don't want the other kids in class (when he goes to school) to walk away going..That is one weird kid. They said, he just might prefer being alone the rest of his life, which is okay with me as long as it doesn't affect his self-esteem. I know I'm not wording this right, but I really don't know how to express how I feel about this whole thing.

So the new thing he's going through is called echolalia. It's where he will sometimes just sit there and repeat the same thing, over and over and over and over again. We were in Joann's and he saw Buzz Lightyear (loves him) and he repeated "Mommy Buzz" for the next 45 minutes. I finally had to just hurry and buy my stuff because it's drives you insane after a bit. He's still really violent with me and we are trying to work on that. I don't know why it's just with me though. He doesn't do it to Mitch and Cohen and I have always been extremely close. Who knows? Quirky.

Mitch wanted to know...

Which gayA$$ he was and he is..


Take the Quiz and Share Your Results!

Ladies of the world unite!!

You know you love the book series and can't wait for the movie!


Take the Quiz and Share Your Results!

Zach will like this one..

Peyton writes pretty good for a lefty, and I think the Y in his name is very fitting.


Good, sweet, loving kid..Hard to deal with sometimes. He cracks me up!

P.S. Mitch told me I suck at making playlists (he doesn't like Portal), so I made a new one. I'm really not a huge geek, but these bring back fond feelings..I made it mostly for Anna. Love you!

What's going down..

Just wanted to update everyone with what has been going on with us this last week. Mitch has applied for a couple of jobs. Some down in SLC, Idaho, St. Louis, and Washington D.C. He had 2 interviews on Friday down in SLC that went really well and he has a second interview with one of the companies next week. Then on the 28th he goes back down for another interview with a different company. Sometime this week he's also heading up to Idaho Falls for an interview. The boy will be traveling around a lot! There are some people who are concerned about the fact that Mitch is changing jobs when the economy sucks, but don't worry, we aren't making any rash decisions. Everything is being thought through very carefully. While I hate to move back down to SLC, if it helps us out and Mitch is able to get with a company that actually has growth, then it's worth it to me. He got his MAcc this spring and wants to be able to actually use the education that he has gained.

Aja has her first cold. YUCK! The poor, little thing has red, runny eyes and is producing copious amounts of snot. I FINALLY found a pediatrician to take her on!! This is the SIXTH pediatrician I have contacted. Everyone else was uncomfortable taking her case on, and while it's been a pain in the butt, it's better that they are honest with me than taking her on and not knowing a dang thing about hydrocephalus. Even still, I don't really expect them to be taking on that part of her anyway, she has a neurologist for that and if she has a malfunction I don't plan on taking her to the ER up here anyway. We will just fly right down to SLC.

On Thursday we are getting the final results for Cohen's ADOS (autism diagnostic observation schedule) testing. This will tell us where he falls on the spectrum or they might down grade him to PDD (pervasive developmental disorder). We are crossing our fingers for a down grade, but I highly doubt it. He attacked the doctor while they were doing the testing, which is something he does when he's had enough of you. He starts getting violent. He grabbed a toy threw it against the wall, picked up the table and flipped it over, and then grabbed a chair and was in the process of throwing it at her before I intervened. I wasn't supposed to because of how the testing process is, but she was going to get a chair to the head and I really didn't want to be liable for that.

Oh yeah, and that stupid little ticker up in the corner isn't moving for a reason. I'm not losing any weight!! It's infuriating. I could practically kill myself with not eating and working out and the dang thing still wouldn't budge. I have a really hard time losing weight while I'm nursing, and I guess this time is no different. I'm not going to stress it anymore. I'm getting healthy and that is all that matters I guess. The weight will come off eventually.

So anyway, cross your fingers for us and pray that something REALLY GRAND comes along so that things ease up on us a bit. It's been a rough year.

Aja is 4 months old!

I can't believe that my little girl is growing up so fast! The time is just flying by and it makes me sad because she is our last one. She is so much fun. Unfortunately she won't hardly let anyone hold her without screaming. Hopefully it passes soon.

Here she is all bathed and prettied up ready to go to visit the gals at Mitch's work!


Sucking her thumb...and shirt. Her 3-6 month clothes are still a bit big for her.


Bath Time!! She loves taking baths. Yes, she is kind of going bald. She is my baldest baby, but she's still adorable. Where her incision is, she has blond hair growing in! Another blondie in the family!!


All cleaned up! This was taken this morning. Cohen wouldn't get out of the way for me to take a decent picture. This is as good as it gets.


And for all of you who were up in Idaho this weekend..a picture of the current bane in my life.


Cohen won't leave the bleepin stools alone!! Non-stop it's that horrible rubbing sound! What's worse is he especially loves doing it while I'm nursing and can't do anything about it! GRRRR! He's too stinkin smart for his own good. LOL!

CHEEKS!

Aja was being kind of fussy yesterday, and noone could get a decent picture of her except me of course...



I had to mess with it a bit so you could get the full effect of the monster cheeks! So funny! Everyone got a kick out of this picture.

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I wanted to answer a few questions that a couple of people have asked me:

I work as a medical transcriptionist at home. I usually work at night. I do transcription for a radiation oncology doctor based out of L.A. He's a good guy.

Mitch does enjoy his job, but living in a college town is very hard because there is a lot of competition and they can hire people right out of college and pay them a lesser wage, whereas Mitch has a lot of years under his belt and the education on top of it makes it so he's pretty "expensive".

Cohen's blood work came out normal. The stupid doctor (the one I complained about below) had to run all these EXPENSIVE blood tests for stuff that I knew Cohen didn't have, but wanted to make sure. Basically, I went in there to get a urinalysis done, but left with a prescription to get useless blood work done. I read about my kids' conditions. A lot. I will admit it's insane the amount of information that I have gathered and I knew that we could have found out if Cohen had a glucose or casein sensitivity through a simple urinalysis, but the doctor of course poo pood me off and told me that I HAD to get these done. This is what he got done: CBC, Liver function study, Celiac profile and a thyroid function study done. All normal. ARGH! It pisses me off having to hear my son say "OW"..He doesn't process pain like a normal kid does and it was even more heartbreaking. I left there crying, and I'm usually pretty strong, but this just broke my heart.

Aja seems to be developing normally right now. She's trying to roll over and I think that is a good sign. HOWEVER, if Aja were to have a malfunction we don't know what kind of kid will be coming out of surgery. She could go in functioning 100% and come out mentally handicapped. She could hemorrhage and go into a coma. She could go in get a revision and three days later require a new one. She could come down with an infection and end up staying longer in the hospital. There are a lot of 'unknowns' with hydrocephalus, so it's a test of faith every day, and every day I thank Heavenly Father that we didn't have a malfunction. But just so you all know, I'm prepared. I've made a list of everything that needs to be done when the time comes, and I always have a bag out just in case.

Random thoughts...

I'm tired. I've been thinking way too much this week. I swear every day we have something "therapy-like" going on, and to be honest, it's wearing me out. I need a vacation. Right now these are the thoughts running through my head:

How best to tell my pediatrician that I don't find him a suitable doctor for my kids and that he's screwing up big time with me left and right. You entrust someone with your child's care and he has the audacity to COMPLETELY ignore you and basically do whatever he feels like. Yah, he's a real gem.

Work. I know I need to, but it's really wearing on me. I love my job, but with everything else going on...it's so not high on my priority list right now.

I have to think about ways to get Cohen to engage with me every day. I have to work with him on using his PECS (they are little pictures that he hands me to tell me what he wants to help ease all the temper tantrums I've been dealing with lately). I guess it's better than him standing in front of the pantry or fridge screaming because I'm not grabbing the "right" thing.

Jobs. Do we stay in Logan or do we move for a better opportunity? Do I really want to uproot my kids, AGAIN? There are so many requirements that have to be met. It has to be near a children's hospital for Aja, has to have decent insurance because we can't get insurance for Aja or Cohen now, and has to have a state-funded program that we can stick Cohen into so that he can continue with the help he requires.

House..Forget about it. It's never clean and it drives me nuts. I would kill for a maid just to take over for a month.

So that is just SOME of the things I've been thinking about lately. To "run away" from all of this..I have been reading. Granted, I don't get much time to read except for when I'm nursing Aja and the limited time during naps, but I've been reading a good series. I would recommend it to anyone. I'm not usually a fan of Dean Koontz, but his Odd Thomas series is great. It's not gory, sexual or over the top with deep thoughts..It's been a nice place to "get away" every now and then.

That is all.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PEYTON!!!!

Today Peyton turns 6! Happy Birthday biggest, littlest man!! He came screaming into this world at 1:03 p.m. on a beautiful autumn day, and he hasn't stopped screaming since! He definitely adds flavor to our family from all the funny things he says. Ask Uncle Zach, he uses a whole bunch of his lines! LOL!

Here he is shooting me with his gun.


His first black eye. Kind of blurry.


Holding the rabbits at Baby Animal Days.


CHEESE!


First day of Kindegarten, getting on the bus! He was so excited. He LOVES school!


Have fun! I will see you soon!


He is such a fun little guy. He got a new bike for his birthday. He's been needing one. The one that he learned on is a wee bit too small. His legs will be going 90 mph and he barely moves, so we got him a new one. He loves it!

HAVE A GREAT DAY PEYTON! WE LOVE YOU!