Ahhhh

The kids came home today from Jared's. They were pretty good, went swimming and about 30 minutes later Chase started to get aggitated. At one point he was rocking in the chair and saying that there were too many voices talking all at once in his head. After about 3 meltdowns between 5 and 7pm, Chase went back to being a little sweetie. He curled up on my lap and we watched "Open Season" on TV until bedtime.

Long evening but now Chase and Aimee are sleeping soundly. Ahhh....

thankful

People that I am so thankful for in the last week or two:

• Our next door neighbors. Between massages, relaxing time by the pool, free swimming lessons, and friendship for both Chase and myself, I couldn't ask for better neighbors. They watch over us, support us and are just plain good people. How did I get by before they moved in?!?!
  
• Meredith and Dave. I love Dave for "giving up" his wife. Meredith goes out of her way to help us. Constantly. And she's a pretty great friend on top of all that.
  
• Aimee for her new obsession with hair brushing. I LOVE getting my hair brushed and she's learning.
  
• My dad for his honesty. No sugar-coating from him! Just gives it to me straight, and usually exactly what I need to hear.
  
• The kids on my unit at juvenile hall for reminding me that being a mom means loving your children unconditionally and letting them love you back
  
  AND...
  
• My boyfriend for his neverending patience.

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

missed out

I'm so tired that typing is hard. Chase had a great first day of 2nd grade. But I was at work and wasn't there when he got home on the bus. I feel like I missed an important day even though I got him on the bus this morning.

dont hound me!

The kids were great this morning in a rush to get ready for work (and their going to daddy's).

Work was...well...I have some VERY needy kids on the unit right now. For some reason, they can't do ANYTHING without asking questions about it or making a comment. Duct tape anyone?

Looking at the new pictures that were taken at the studio, I see two amazing children. Chase has such personality and it shows through in his little smile. My little man. And Aimee is hiding her devil horns in there somewhere!

Before you start hounding me about posting the pics, I'll try to download them ASAP.

rivalry

The sibling rivalry between Chase and Aimee seems to have gotten out of control. They went from yelling at each other, to doing violent and mean things to each other. All I do is referee and try to keep them away from each other.

One on one, they are both fantastic. But Chase got so upset with Aimee today that he called MRT who came out and talked with him.

I'm not seeing many bipolar symptoms, or any real signs of mental illness this week. No clue what to contribute that to.

I have to be at work in 5 hours so I guess I should get off the computer and go to sleep.

list

1. Wrap around meeting went well this morning. Jared was a "no show" and Chase slept in the meeting room with us the entire time (almost 2 hrs). They will provide Chase with mentors and buddies to work on socialization. Some other stuff came out of it like safety plans etc.

2. Nice quick lunch with Meredith

3. I took a short nap while Chase played video games. I DO think video games and TV make for good babysitters but Chase does NOT spend his day in front of the TV. But it does sort of seem to be soothing.

4. Took the kids with me to bring my brothers wife, Julie, home. She fed us an amazing dinner as always! Aimee loved it! Chase wasn't really hungry.

5. Trying to get in the car to go home, Chase started having a temper tantrum. Not a rage, thank goodness. Somehow he calmed down quickly, came home and went to bed.

I'm glad today is over. On to the next one, here we go!