Its been sooooo long!

It has been so long since I wrote on this blog.

Here are some updates:

Chase is now in 4th grade and still going to the school for kids with emotional issues. However he is really excelling and for the first time ever, has reached a level 3. When he gets to level 5, the school starts considering returning the student to a mainstream school.

Chase is still on Geodon, Lamictal and Clonidine. Its been about two years on these three meds and he is still stable.

Chase has been out of the hospital for over a year now!

Aimee is in Kindergarten and absolutely adores school. She has been diagnosed with a mild anxiety disorder. She sees a therapist and is doing well.

The kids haven't heard from or seen their biological father in over a year. Thankfully they have H in their lives and they adore him and feel safe and secure with him.

We bought a new (much bigger) home in November. Still in the same town but its great that all 3 of our kids have their own room and they also have a playroom.

I am starting a web design business again. I'll put a link on this blog when my site is up and running.

H and I are still in love and been talking about possible wedding bells in the next couple years....

That's all I can think of right now.

Pics

Aimee insisted that I take this picture. Her hair was wet, she dressed herself and she had her baby doll ready to go to school. Silly boy is losing all his baby teeth!

Check out Aimee's face! This is them after their showers and in a rare moment of friendship.

Aimee insisted on wearing this princess dress all day, despite the 50degree weather.

Sara the doggie.

Chase is still in the hospital, but with the Geodon, Visterol and Clonidine, he's doing better than I expected. And he is becoming quite the artist!

5 Months and pics

Tonight I realized that Chase has been out of the hospital for over 5 months! Woohoo!! His rages are less often and when he does rage, his violence is directed at THINGS and not PEOPLE. That is huge for us. We also haven't needed to call MRT in about a month.

Now if only I could get my insomnia under control. By the time I finally fall asleep, my kids are ready to get up!

Good day

Seems as good a time as any to do my weekly update

Aimee

• Aimee is spending her days dressing her "babies" for different events. Cant leave the house in pajamas of course. Gotta put baby in a dress, etc etc. Super cute
  
• Aimee goes to preschool tomorrow but they have the Christmas show in the evening. Aimee really doesn't want to do it. Do I bring her anyway?
  
• We made sugar cookies today that turned into one big cookie the size of the cookie sheet. Still tasty!
  

Chase

• He is doing well. Incredible even. First basketball practice was a ton of fun. Chase was focused and smiled the entire time. We need to work on "chest passes" and dribbling technique. After the hour of practice, he wanted to stay! He would have practiced for another hour.
  
• Besides the daily homework struggles, Chase is doing well in school lately. The teacher says he's less aggressive and more willing to learn. Lots of fidgeting and whining, but those are minor things compared to past behaviors.
  
• Chase went to Grandma's house for the first time since Grandpa died. He looked into his room and started crying. My dad laid in the hospital bed in his room for 6 months and now it is empty. But we did find a little stuffed horse that Chase gave to grandpa to hold. Now he calls it the "Grandpa Horse"
  
• As much as I avoid talking about Jared...... Its very clear to me that his absence has made a huge difference in Chase's behavior. Chase is doing really well overall right now.
  

Everyone else

• Met with the investigator on my "case" at work. Good meeting and I feel like I can relax until I know what my punishment will be, if any.
  
• Great shift at work. The girls missed me.
  
• A true friend went above and beyond the "duties" as a friend. I've always known she'd be there for me. She has NEVER let me down. But what she did for me today went way beyond that. I am so thankful to have her in my life.
  
• Kevin and Rick are here and leave tomorrow night. That puts me in a bad spot for thursday night when I work my graveyard shift so I have to figure that out tomorrow.
  
• BUT it looks like they may come back here and take Chase back to Yuba City with them for a few days!!!!! It would be great for Chase and for me! Then I only need to worry about getting a babysitter for Aimee this weekend instead of both.
  
• I really am at peace with the loss of my father. But what exactly does that mean? Maybe I will elaborate on that thought on tomorrows blog.
  

Good night for now. Today was a good day.

Today

Mom, Dad and I skiing at about 5yrs old

My neice and nephew and my kiddos.

Today was harder than yesterday. Tonight I'm greiving with my mom, all curled up in bed.

Chase had a great week at school. I'm very proud of him.

Watched an episode of Dr. Phil about 2 bipolar girls and I have to say that I no longer will watch the show. He did an awful job trying to REALLY understand early onset bipolar disorder.

Going to bed now. Thank you for all of your prayers and kind words.

My dad is gone...

My daddy passed peacefully on Wednesday December 9, 2009 at 9:06pm. May he rest in peace. As much as I will always miss him, I'm so thankful that he's no longer hurting.

sweet delirium and pics

After 24 hours of NO SLEEP, I'm happy to announce that today was a good day! (mostly)
I thought I'd add some pictures for your viewing pleasure, or maybe if you are just cranky and need to laugh at someone.

The two pics below were taken when Kevin (Lil bro) wanted me to wear the lines on my face like the football players. He didn't think I'd actually do it! But I got proof!
'

This next pic was taken of Chase on Thanksgiving. I'm usually pretty strict about dessert after dinner but my mom spoils Chase just a tad. Hence the cookie hanging out of his mouth before dinner.

And this last pic is the picture I sent to Termite and Pest Control. I guess they don't exterminate these kinds of pets. So they will have to just stay cuddled with me for a while. At least they defecate outside. Usually.

My dad is really confused and scared. He was in so much pain that they upped his methadone and morphine and now he's mentally a mess. Makes my heart ache.

Took the kids to take professional pics with their older cousins, Sam and Zach. The pics turned out great. We will be giving them to my parents for Christmas. But if you are nice, I'll scan them and post them. Chase is so photogenic and really knows how to "work it."

Obviously I'm doing better tonight. Maybe the delirium has set in from not sleeping.

pics, good day and FAQ's

Aimee loves her guinea pig "Flower." He has gotten SO big! Chase on one of many trips to the library.

Chase had his best day ever at school so far this YEAR!!!!! Mama couldn't be any prouder! He jumped off the bus smiling and skipping up to me. So for a treat, I let him pick dinner. I'd cook whatever he wanted or we could go to dinner somewhere that he likes. My little stinker picks McDonald's. Its all about the chocolate shakes, ya know? Oh and the bus driver found Chase's Nintendo DS. Thank Goodness!

_________________________________________

The link below has a great list of FAQ's for juvenile
bipolar. Check it out and feel free to make a donation so they
can do more research studies on kids like Chase.

http://www.bpchildresearch.org/juv_bipolar/faq.html

Halloween Costumes

Chase = Jedi guy from Star Wars

Aimee = Kitty (but playing dress up in her princess costume too.)

pics

Just wanted to post some pictures from today. It was a great day. Of course now my throat hurts.

pictures of...me. sorry.

I know that 99% of the pics I post are taken by me. So here are some pics of me just because. The lighting is awful, the facial expressions are weird and I couldn't give a shit. I mean I don't care. Yeah. Thats what I meant to say.

Oh and the dark circles under my eyes are just side effects of having a bipolar son....

As far as an update goes, another rough day at school but I really have no clue what happened. We worked on his homework and finished about half without too much whining.

Dave from the wraparound team and Oscar, a "mentor" came over this morning for our weekly meeting. Our main focus today was that Chase needs to be in some sort of social activities besides school. As a mentor, Oscar could take him to sport practices etc and help him socialize appropriately. He also wants to take Chase to meet new people and practice his "boundary skills." For anyone that hasn't met Chase, he has no concept of boundaries or personal space. This freaks out a lot of kids and even adults.

Aimee has my allergies. Of all the fantastic traits to get from me, she got my stupid allergies. Go figure. Benedryl and Claritin here we come!

That's all folks!

pics

The above pics are
-the kids swimming next door with our neighbor while I relaxed in a chair
-Chase's first day of 2nd grade (waiting for bus)
-our crazy cat, Dax, playing with the guinea pig, Flower (they love each other for real)
-a few of the professional pics that i didn't scan because I was too lazy