Whirlwind Wednesday 6/11

Sometimes I feel like Dory in Finding Nemo:



We're still in the thick of it with Papa Bear working 7 days a week. I barely even know what day of the week it is any more, since there is so little variation in our daily routine right now. I just keep trying to remind myself to be thankful that my husband is busy working; esp. with so many health expenses for Fidget at the moment. And while it seems it's been going on for ages, I know it won't last forever. Just keep swimming....

Fidget is now fully recovered from his ear tube/adenoid surgery. We had our follow-up visit last Friday, and not only do his ears look good, he also passed his hearing test! Before surgery he was showing a 30% deficit in both ears, so this is a huge relief. We'll continue following up with his ENT every four months until the tubes are out. He's not a fan of his ear plugs, but hopefully will get used to them over time. I got an email from his ABA therapy provider today, asking for me to confirm his availability for sessions, so hopefully this means we will get that ball rolling soon. Unfortunately, I'm still waiting to hear from his new occupational therapist, so I put in a call to our case worker. There aren't very many OTs working for early intervention in this area, so hopefully we can finally get in touch with her and get things started; I'd hate to have to fire her before even meeting her, and I've heard that once she gets going she's really good for kids with sensory issues. We're also in the process of trying some diet modifications to see if they will help; I'm slowly removing dairy from his diet and it does seem like his bowels have improved, so hopefully we'll see some of his other physical issues improve as well.

And speaking of poop, someone used the potty for the first time this week! I'm not at all trying to potty train him yet, but he was in the tub and kept asking to sit on the potty. Once he was able to pee a little, and once had the smallest poop I've ever seen. I think he was mainly asking b/c he likes to flush the toilet, but at least is shows that he has some control over his elimination functions. Hopefully we can tackle this together with our ABA therapists; not only does he not have the ability right now to communicate a need to go, he also doesn't have the motor skills to get clothes off & on. And with is tendency to engage in fecal smearing, I worry that he'll go but then play in it. <sigh> But I can't get ahead of myself, no sense in worrying about those things until we're there. For now I suppose I need to either get a new little potty, or an insert to put over the toilet, so that we're ready to go when his therapists are.


Sunshine had fun pulling Fidget around the yard before dinner tonight. Right after I snapped this he chuckled and said "Car-car!"













Sunshine is still chipping away at first grade; she's either done or almost done with most of her primary curriculum, but she still needs about 30 more school days to meet the state's requirement, so I've brought in some fun, supplemental things. Lots of Rainbow Loom-ing going on for art, I recently restocked her with bands, got a storage box for all of them, and got her one of the new little Monster Looms. She definitely seems to have an easier time with that one than the full sized one, which she will get all the bands placed on but then pawn the looping part on to me. We've also got a new reading curriculum that has her reading actual books instead of readers; the books are a bit simple for her reading level, but it makes her think about comprehension more than she is used to, so overall it is a good balance. Our math book has been replaced by a book of logic puzzles (though we're still working on fact memorization on the side). and we're taking our time to go in-depth on her current science chapter about space.  Yesterday we started painting a wooden solar system mobile kit I got from Amazon, and she has a Magic School Bus chapter book on space for her free reading. We're definitely moving at a slower summer pace though so she has time to play with her neighborhood friends, and for formal summer activities. Tomorrow she finishes up two weeks of swim lessons, and next week she will attend Vacation Bible School. Then we'll have some (relatively) quiet weeks before she and a troopmate have a 3 day/2 night resident camp session. She's had sleepovers with family plenty of times, but this will be her first time sleeping at camp, and with no family accompanying her I know she's a bit nervous. It does help some that she went with her troop up to this camp for a service unit at the end of May, so she at least is a little familiar plus excited to see more. And I attended this same camp as a girl, and am confident that she'll settle in and make friends quickly, and will be too busy having fun to think about missing us. She's also excited about some of the new camping gear I'm getting her. I could have bought it more over time, and some things could probably wait, but I figure by buying it now she'll get more use for the money than if we waited a year or two.

I wish I could say I had something fun and exciting planned for Father's Day, but since we don't know yet if Papa Bear will be working I really can't plan anything. I'm also trying, though not succeeding, to avoid thinking about the fact that this is the first Father's Day since my dad passed away. But it seems like lots of things keep popping up to bring him to my mind. All happy memories, but the timing makes them bittersweet.






My Daddy holding little 3 day old me



Papa Bear has gotten a couple of his gifts early, because Sunshine is pretty much the worst secret keeper ever, and was busting at the seams to give it to him. A few days ago we gave him this gorgeous rosary from cordbands.com

And today this came in for him from Amazon. Not really a gift, per se, but I know he needs the organizational space and will appreciate it over time. One thing that is sorely lacking in our house is storage for all of his tools and lawn equipment, so hopefully getting the big long stuff out of his main storage cabinet will make it easier for him to put some shelving in to organize the rest of it.

I do have one more gift up my sleeve for him, but that one I'm not even telling Aubrey about, and he'll really have to wait for this one.




None of the above links are affiliate links, I'm receiving no compensation for sharing them. Pictures are from the websites where the products are being sold.



As for me, aside from just holding down the fort I've been working on planning some home improvement projects, particularly redecorating the kids room now that Fidget is in a twin bed. They actually still had their "nursery" decor up, which we chose while pregnant with Sunshine, so I figure we got good money out of it, esp as nursery themes go. I'll have to wait on Papa Bear to carry out most of the execution, but I always have fun with the planning stages as much as the actual project. But for now there is a bed across the house calling my name. Many days lately I have stayed up late to work on domestic duties, but they'll have to all wait for another day.

Whirlwind Wednesday...

might become a theme on this blog. It seems like I'm constantly reaching mid-week before I finally get a chance to catch my breath and reflect on our goings on. I think because on Mondays we're trying to get our school week started in the morning, then Sunshine has her gym class in the afternoon; then on Tuesdays she has Girl Scouts in the early evening, so either Papa Bear gets home and almost immediately leaves with her, or else her troop leader picks her up to bring her, and Papa Bear joins Sunshine at her meeting. So even though we're already to mid-week, this is our first day of the week with nothing going on...at least, for now.

First off, aside from detesting his ear drops, Fidget is doing quite well since getting his ear tubes out in and adenoids cauterized last week. I'm absolutely amazed how quickly I have noticed an improvement in his enunciation. Words are definitely coming out more clearly now. Tomorrow morning will be his first speech therapy visit since getting his tubes, so I can't wait to get his therapist's professional opinion on his improvements. And speaking of therapies, we got confirmation from our case worker that the state has approved our request to add OT to his early intervention services, and our second choice therapist has accepted us as clients. I'm giving her until the end of the week to contact us; otherwise I'll be calling her to set up our first appointment.

As well, yesterday we had our intake appointment with our clinical supervisor from CARD, the Center for Autism and Related Disorders, which is the organization that will be providing Fidget with in-home ABA therapy. She has a PhD in behavioral analysis, and been with CARD since 1999, so I have great confidence in her abilities to oversee our ABA team. We had a good two hour discussion about his history and current abilities & struggles. Fidget was even "kind" enough to demonstrate some of his most problematic behaviors while she was here. Dr. PhD is recommending 35-40 hours a week, so once things get rolling that will likely mean 3-4 hours in the morning, and another couple hours in the evening, six days a week! I try not to think about the sheer volume of the therapy and how we're going to make it all work too much, not because I'm in denial but just to avoid feeling overwhelmed. But however it works in practice we'll deal with; my #1 earthly goal for each of my children is for them to be the best version of themselves possible, and as their mother my most important task is to give them each the tools needed to meet that goal. So if ABA gives him the best set of tools, then ABA it shall be.

Likewise for Sunshine; our biggest reason for deciding to homeschool was because we felt that for THIS child, at THIS time in her life, homeschooling would give her the best tools to be the best version of herself. Public and parochial schools do great things for many children, and the vast majority of teachers and other professionals working in the school systems are hardworking, devoted men and women who don't get near the appreciation they deserve. We aren't ruling out the possibility of either child transitioning to a traditional brick-and-mortar school later on; we're just taking things one year at a time and seeing what each of them needs in that moment. Especially for Fidget: we certainly have several years until we reach that point, but I would have no hesitation to admit if he needs more specialized help than I am comfortable giving him. But with countless hours of multiple therapies between now and then, it's not a decision we'll worry about until its time comes.

At this moment in time, Sunshine is absolutely thriving in homeschool, and I don't regret our decision at all. Because her birthday is late in the year, our school system would have required her to be in kindergarten this school year. We did start with a kindergarten curriculum, but let her move at her own pace, and since graduating pre-k last spring has not only completed kindergarten but is almost done with first grade! The public schools in our area are finishing school this week, but since we didn't move on to first grade until September, plus the need to take time off here and there for surgeries, general illness, bereavement, etc we still have about 40 school days to complete. But I'm not worried about it; as long as we keep chipping away at things over the summer we'll get there when we get there. It's been such a joy this year to follow her down the rabbit trails of things she wanted to learn, to be alongside her when she would have "ah-ha" moments as new concepts clicked, and it also gave us more opportuities to talk about emotional issues and work through some of her behavioral struggles. One thing she is lamenting is the lack of regular playmates, esp during the day. She plays quite a bit with the neighborhood kids in the afternoon/evenings, but when none of them are able to play she finds it hard to cope with. Partly I think this is because her brother has not yet become the reciprocal playmate we would have expected. The other part of it is that life  circumstances have caused us to not be as active in our local homeschool group as we had hoped. Hopefully we'll be able to participate more in the upcoming school year, or at least set up more play date visits at our house. My childhood best friend has a daughter who is only 6mo older than Sunshine, and they are homeschoolers as well. The girls are two peas in a pod just like their mommies; they're coming over for a visitFriday afternoon, so Sunshine has been looking forward to that all week.

We'll also be continuing both gymnastics and scouts in the fall. This week was the last week of her spring gymnastics session, but we decided to take the summer off from gym so that she can enjoy some other opportunities: swimming lessons, vacation bible school, and *hopefully* a three day/two night session of resident camp. She's been away from home for that long many times, but always staying with family. I'm talking to some of the other scout moms to see if anyone else is interested; I think I've found one of the girls who might like to go at the same time. If she has a friend to go with I am confident she'll be ready to go; if she has to go on her own, it's a bit more up in the air. Their troop is going to camp for the day on Saturday, so I'm hoping that will give her "camp fever" and help her feel both more excited and more confident about an overnight trip.

As for myself, I'm just doing what it takes to stay afloat around here. I'm coming down with the sinus crud the kids had last week, plus Papa Bear is traveling for work right now, so my hands and time are quite full juggling my health, the kids, the daily household chores, making all of our summer arrangements, researching complementary therapies for Fidget, and soon will need to make some choices on Sunshine's curriculum for the fall. One thing is for certain: even an ordinary day around here is never boring!

What a Wild Week!

Am I still at the zoo? Things in our house have been so crazy this week, sometimes I'm not sure. I'll have to get back to my post on the Blessed Mother's impact on my motherhood later. After all, the whole month of May is dedicated to honoring her, so I have time, right?

Things around here have really been crazy since before Mother's Day. Last Friday I took Fidget in to his pediatrician for a pre-op checkup. He never had problems with his ears until around 18 months, but had several back to back in the fall, and a hearing test as part of his Early Intervention intake revealed some hearing deficits. I took him to my ENT since Dr. B also sees kids, and he diagnosed him with "glue ear" and recommended ear tubes and adenoid removal. Anyway, I had thought it would be a quick in and out visit, home by lunchtime, but first she said we'd have to go somewhere else for the bloodwork since they don't do one of the necessary tests in office. Then as we were still talking, I had a crown fall off a back molar! So after we got done with the pediatrician we picked up lunch, stopped to get the bloodwork done, then just drove around killing time (trying to get Fidget to nap) until it was time for my emergency dentist appt. My mom dropped me off, then took the kids back home to Papa Bear while I was in the dentist. Dr. W got my crown cemented back on for now, but eventually it will need a post and new crown. By the time Papa Bear & the kids came to pick me up, there was a torrential prolonged rain. Traffic was a nightmare, and there was localized street flooding in some areas.  We decided the weather was too bad to go out to eat, so we just fought our way home and picked up some chicken along the way. We were almost home - in the neighborhood - but came upon someone who had run off our flooded streets into a ditch. The efforts to remove him from the ditch took a good 45 minutes, so by the time we were finally back home my "quick trip" to the pediatrician had turned into a ten hour day!

Saturday morning wasn't too bad, we spent the morning working on some chores and preparing Mother's Day gifts. We made these melted pony bead sun catchers I found on Pinterest for each of the grandmothers; they came out so cute!

 

We spent Saturday afternoon at my MIL's house, and Sunday had our annual visit to the zoo. We've gone every year on Mother's Day since Sunshine was a year old; this year my mom joined us as well.

Monday certainly lived up to its reputation. We started the day with two episodes of fecal smearing, the second of which came just minutes before the arrival of Fidget's early intervention case worker. She came by for me to fill out paperwork for adding OT to his services and choose an OT provider. As soon as she left I had to quickly feed the kids lunch, because Fidget's speech therapist was coming that day because of a schedule conflict on our normal day. While he was doing therapy I quickly ate lunch myself and got changed; as he was finishing up his Godmother (my cousin's daughter) arrived to babysit during his naptime, so that I could go with Sunshine to her Showoff Week for her homeschool gymnastics class. They learned routines for beam, bars, and floor, and after performing their coach scored them. Sunshine got a 9.1 on beam, 8.8 on bars, and 8.9 on floor. Because of the age spread in her class (6-13) the coach broke them down into age groups for ranking; Sunshine is the only 6/7yo, so she got 1st place in every event. :) 

Tuesday and Wednesday weren't busy with errands, but over the course of Sunday and Monday both kids had come down with colds, so there was a lot of dispensing of meds and trying to calm cranky children. Sunshine ran some low grade fever, but thankfully Fidget never did. I was also doing my best to get caught up on housework and encourage Sunshine to do at least a little bit of her schoolwork.

This morning Papa Bear and I were up early, to take Fidget in for his ear tube surgery. My mom came over before we left to stay at the house with Sunshine since she'd been sick. Papa Bear's mom & stepdad joined us at the surgery center. I'm so glad we were able to get the procedure scheduled quickly; despite being on antibiotics Dr B said his ears were BAD. He got lots of fluid out of each one when putting in the tubes, and also cauterized the adenoids. Fidget has had some trouble coming out of the anesthesia fog, and been very agitated. He was napping as I began this post, but is now resting with Papa Bear.

I'll be interested to see how his hearing results are when we repeat them in two weeks. For now, though, I'm headed off to fix lunch and love on my babies.

Motherhood and Mommy Wars

I'll introduce each of the kids in their own post next week, but with this being Mother's Day weekend I'd like to take some time to talk about motherhood. In particular, tonight I want to share my thoughts on society's view of motherhood, and mothers' views of each other. Tomorrow I hope to write about the influence of the Blessed Mother on my vocation.

Being a mom has been one of the greatest gifts of my life. As you might expect, I certainly dealt with a bit of depression after becoming a paraplegic. For starters, while I tried to trust in God's plan for my life, it was certainly a tough pill to swallow at 25 that I was not experiencing significant recovery, and was unlikely ever to do so without major advances in modern medicine. I felt like in many ways I was no longer the woman my husband had just married, and while I know he promised God he'd be with me in sickness, no one expects their vows to be tested so soon. We did after some rocky times pull our marriage even closer, but I often had feelings that my life didn't make much difference in the world. I wasn't suicidal at all, I was happy to be alive, but my life had little meaning. With my husband working, it didn't matter when I got up, when I got dressed, or what I did with my day. In our house at that time, I was limited in the contributions I could make to the running of our home. We valued our time together in the evening, but that was only a small portion of what I felt was an otherwise insignificant existence.

Giving birth to my daughter changed all of that. Suddenly I was important in the world. Not only did I have someone who cared about me, I had someone who needed me, and needed my time. I had a reason for getting up and moving every day. How I spent my time made a difference to someone. For the first time in five years, having a child actually helped me get off of antidepressants. My existence had a purpose again. I wasn't just the woman my husband came home to in the evening, I was a mother; and this precious life depended on me for her well-being and happiness.

When Sunshine was a year old, we finally moved into a home that is built for my needs, and I can now run my home instead of having others run it for me. In addition to making my life easier, and reduce the burden on Papa Bear, it also came with it a responsibility which I, as a stay at home mom, had been longing for. Yes, the cycle of never ending chores can be come tiresome and monotonous, but I try to do them joyfully, as a gift to my family. And having Fidget has brought even more love and meaning into all of our lives.

One of the big things that gets to me, though, is this mentality many people have that I, and others like me, are "just:" a mom: nothing special, nothing significant. When people learn that a highly educated woman - perhaps even someone with an established career - has "thrown it all away" to be "just" a stay at home mom, they demean our importance in the world. Why waste such time and money to spend your life at home raising kids, they wonder. If a young woman "only" wants to become a wife and mother, why should her parents encourage her to go to college?

For starters, I hardly consider my college attendance a waste. The acquisition of knowledge, and practicing the art of gaining knowledge for oneself, can never be considered invaluable. Just because we're living in the internet age, and can find out virutally anything with just a few taps of a keyboard, a click of a mouse, or a scroll of a touchscreen, doesn't mean that having that information in our own memories is useless. "The more you know," the NBC slogan used to say on Saturday mornings. Somehow having access to so much learning has devalued the experience and the concepts themselves.

Plus, there is so much learning that happens in college that doesn't take place in a classroom. Having attended an out of state university, I learned so much about life (and myself) that I never could have learned even by staying home for college, and esp. if I hadn't attended at all. Could I have learned many of those lessons without attending college? Sure. But they would have impacted my life in much different ways. Every day I draw strength from things I learned in my college years, both inside and outside the classroom.

I also fail to see how bringing life into the world, nurturing it, and helping it grow into adulthood can be seen as an insignificant use of a woman's time. I know many kids of my generation did it, I grew up in the time of the latch-key kids, but I honestly can't imagine growing up without my mom in the house. She has been such a strong source of support, knowledge, and love my whole life; and she remains so today. Working moms are certainly those things to their children, but an early childhood spent in daycare is definitely not the same experience as a childhood spent at home with mom and/or dad. Just as much as I'm so grateful I always had my mom there for me, I'm grateful to have the opportunity to be there for my children any time they need me, and not be trying to fit my family into a work schedule, or my job into my family schedule.

Now before I start getting things thrown at me by all the working parents out there, I'd like to address the rapant "mommy wars" that seem to be so prevalent in today's society. I know not everyone feels called to stay at home with their kids. It can make me sad sometimes to hear parents so eager to get rid of the presence of their own children, but I also know that being a 24/7 parent is hard work. I know there are other families where they can't get by without a second income, and single parents who are the home's only income. Those things might not be applicable to my own life, but that doesn't mean that my experiences and feelings invalidate those factors for others.

It seems like mommy wars go viral more often than almost anything else in social media. Moms chastise each other's decisions on vaccination, circumcision, parenting styles, educational paths, food choices, media exposure; the list is virtually endless. Some moms get tired of others projecting "pinterest perfect" existences to the world, and post about their shortcomings in an effort to "keep it real," but then other moms question why we're celebrating mediocrity when we should be striving for better? I personally have never construed it as celebrating mediocrity; when I put a *real* post on facebook it's more of a way to say, yeah, I fell short, and I'll try to do better next time, but the world didn't come to an end because of my failure to meet goals which were imposed strictly on myself. Most recently it's been a pair of posts: one pleading with mothers to put away the smart phones and engage with their sons and daughters when spending time together - the example of a park outing being specifically given; while the other one chastises the original commentator by saying look, you haven't seen what I've done with my kids all the other hours of the day, and I need a break just as much as they do.

I can definitely agree that there is some value to the lesson that so many of us - myself included - can easily find ourselves lost in the digital world of our phones and tablets, and miss the life that is happening right in front of us. However, there is equal value to the bottom line that we don't know what goes on behind other people's closed doors. Unfortunately there are indeed parents who are neglectful or abusive to their children; but the vast majority of us are doing our best at any given time. So for those of you who fall in the second category, I promise you this:

I will not judge you on this blog. Ever.

Did you serve your children three square meals and snacks consisting only of organically grown produce, grass fed meats, and other locally sources ingredients? Good for you, that's great that your kids have developed a palate that appreciates such healthy foods.

Did your kids eat fast food every single meal of the day? Well, it happens. You were probably caught up in a crazy day like the one I had yesterday. A simple pre-op pediatrician visit for Fidget (he's getting ear tubes this upcoming week) needed a second stop for bloodwork, then I had a crown fall off because the tooth under it broke and I needed an emergency dental visit. Oh, and there were crazy flooding rains, so an appointment I expected to return from before lunch ended up becoming a full day ordeal that didn't see us home until 7:45. But at least my kids were fed.

Are your children going to bed hungry tonight? Are you going to bed hungry because you gave the last of the food to them? I'm so sorry. I know what it is like to fall on tough times. I will pray for you to find the resources necessary to better provide for your family.

Is your child in private school? public school? homeschooled? Good for you for figuring out what environment your child learns in best. Is your child stuck in one of those situations because you have no other choice? I'm proud of you for working to make the best of an unfortunate situation.

Do you work outside the home? An in-home job? Is homemaker your sole occupation? Either way, you're working hard to support your family. Well done.

Are you more of a free range parent, trying to give your kids a "don't come home until the streetlight is on" childhood? That's terrific you are so confident in your children's abilities, and working hard to prepare them for the scenarios they may encounter. More of a helicopter mom? That's impressive that you can give them so much of your attention.

No matter what choices you make for your family, they are your choices, and yours alone. Most of us fall into different categories on any given day. With every moment, we are each making the best decision possible with the information available. Deciding on the best way to meet the many varying needs of an entire family is never an easy task. We may not understand the reasons why someone would choose an option which is vastly different than the one that works for our family, but they're not in our family. As long as they know why they made that decision, and are comfortable with it, that's all that matters.

So on this Mother's Day weekend, how about we all cut each other some slack. Assume that your fellow mom is doing what she thinks is best for her family. Our encounters with each other are brief; don't assume you know what has happened before, or will happen later. And if you see a mom who is struggling with some aspect of her role, how about trying to pick her up instead of pushing her down? No matter how you do it, this mom stuff is hard work; our children place enough demands on us, there's no need to make things more difficult for each other.

Have a happy Mother's Day everyone.

Sunday reset

I love Sundays, for so many reasons. The peace and strength I gain from attending mass (though we've been really slacking on mass attendance lately) is an important part of my life. It's the one day of the week I can almost always guarantee Papa Bear won't be working; with the work his company does, his work hours depend on the terms of the contract and policies of the job site he's working on, and the last few months it has included a lot of Saturdays. Every Sunday the extended members of Papa Bear's family gather for Sunday lunch, and usually at least some of us are in attendance. I enjoy spending time with my in-laws, but lately Sunday has become an important day for me to take a little time for solitude and recharge for the week ahead.

Papa Bear got up with Sunshine and Fidget, and took them early to visit his parents. This is huge for me; because of my paralysis I struggle with chronic fatigue issues, and being able to take my time getting moving helps me pace myself for the rest of the day. If we're not attending mass as a family, I typically watch mass or at least read through the day's scripture readings and pray a rosary before getting up. Then I've got the house to myself to take care of whatever I want or need to accomplish.

With Sunshine and Fidget home all day every day, there is very little time to myself in my daily life. On Monday afternoons my mom takes Sunshine to gymnastics which coincides with Fidget's nap time, but 90 minutes a week is just not enough to myself. Sometimes it's something as simple as anything but preschool channels on tv, or slightly more adult music on Pandora (which is what I have on as I'm writing this morning; right now it's playing "Ho Hey" by The Lumineers). Sometimes I just want to hang out on Facebook, Pinterest, and playing games on my iPad. Typically though it's time to accomplish tasks which are hard to focus on with two kids in the house.

Sunshine is quite independent for a six year old, but there's still lots of "Mama, can I...", not to mention homeschool lessons to teach/supervise, chores to enforce, attitudes to handle, and back and forth with her neighborhood friends in the afternoon. And Fidget, God bless him, didn't start saying Mama until after his second birthday (after starting speech therapy through our state's early intervention program). It's a beautiful sound to hear after so much time, but I sometimes think he's trying to make up for lost time! Sometimes I can't even turn to look at something else in the room without him shouting "Ma-MA! Ma-MA!" not to mention his sensory-seeking tendency to get into everything - the usual 2yo mischief, only amplified - and the very real concern that his Pica will find him ingesting the one little Lego that rolled away or something equally inappropriate. Put it all together and it doesn't leave much time to focus on things that aren't child-oriented without staying up late.

Yet there are always clothes and dishes to wash and put away, just like any other parent. There are also homeschool papers to grade and lessons to plan. Calendar events to coordinate: doctor and therapy appointments, extracurricular activities, social gatherings, church events. I do of course chip away on those things throughout the week, but to have a large block of time to hear my own thoughts and focus on those things is priceless. Papa Bear organized a great backyard barbeque yesterday afternoon to celebrate my birthday, but after our children themselves my Sunday reset time is truly the best gift of all.

How I Got Here

During my first pregnancy, people said, "You'll be raising a child and you're a paraplegic, that's so interesting! You should write a blog!" But I'm just a regular mom aside from the wheelchair, who would want to read about me?

When I started homeschooling my oldest, people said, "You should blog about your homeschooling!" But there are so many great homeschool blogs out there, and I'm just a beginning homeschooler; what would I have to share?

Then my youngest was diagnosed with Autism. Again people said, "You're a disabled mom homeschooling your gifted daughter, and now working with your autistic son. You've got so many unique perspectives to share." So I started thinking about it.

Last night, one of my favorite bloggers, who has two sons with autism, wrote about how we need to tell our stories. Then this morning, the topic of starting a blog came up in one of my Facebook groups. Today is my birthday, and after 34 years I think God is telling me it's time to start sharing.

And now here I am. So pull up a chair (don't worry, I brought my own), and join me as I share the stories of my life in all my many roles. I'm a woman living with paralysis, a wife, a stay at home mom, a homeschooler, and a cradle Catholic keeping my faith at the center of it all.