Tragedy

I found out yesterday that my dad's nephew was found dead last Friday. This nephew, B, was only in his early 20's. It is suspected that it is related to drugs or alcohol since B has been heavy into abuse the last few years. It's so sad that someone this young would allow their life to spiral down the way it did.

Sadder, in my opinion, is the continued 'tragedies' that have hit my dad's family. It seems like his family has been hit with a higher than normal share of really bad luck. So many who have been taken before their time...

My dad lost his grandpa at a young age from colon cancer
My dad lost his dad at a young age from pancreatic cancer
My dad lost his 3yo son to a rare form of bone cancer

Rick, my dad's only brother endured the loss of his grandfather and father, as well as
His wife who died very young from breast cancer
And now his only son from drugs/alcohol

My dad isn't particularly close to his family so while this is obviously a huge loss, my dad is taking it well. I, though, worry about his future. He has all this cancer history and I can't stand to think about him ending up with cancer. He has one daughter, T who I mentioned a few posts ago, who also suffers from alcohol and drug addiction and participates in some pretty high risk activities. It may be just a matter of time before something happens to T.

I hate to say it, I love my dad very much, but it's times like this when I am glad I do not carry his genetic code.

Adoption Fundraiser

Several years ago when I 'entered' the world of donor conception, I 'met' a wonderful couple. They were just starting out their journey when the twins were several months old. T is a wonderfully optimistic woman who has been everyone's cheerleader and support. She has been an amazing presence within that group of women and I don't think there is anyone who hasn't been touched by her.

Unfortunately, her journey still hasn't come to an end. Despite many, many attempts, T and her Hubby are still without child. After all the medical stuff, they are now turning to adoption to create their family. There is no one else in this world who deserves a child more than these people!!!

We all know how expensive adoption is, and after years of medical intervention they are reaching out for help. Since my budget is extremely limited I can not help through donation, but I have decided to give them all my commission for the month of July through my Scentsy sales.

If anyone is interested in ordering from July 1st to 31st, please use the following link to help T and M bring their baby home.

Click HERE

And if you would like to read about T and her journey, you can find her HERE

Splash Park Today

Today we went to a local splash park. Although I hate the heat, I toughed it out and sat while the kids played for about an hour. We met up with a friend of mine who we haven't hung out with in awhile.

At first M didn't really like the idea. He loved the running around, but didn't quite like the 'splashing' or water flying in all directions. After about 10 minutes though he was all into it and was running through the park with a constant screech.
S loved the park. He and my friends son M ran around and had a great time. S loves when he gets a chance to play with other boys his age, and this was no exception.

And K was her usual weird self. Didn't really want to play. She sat and watched most the action. I don't get her sometimes?? She was excited to go and seemed excited when we got there, but she didn't do much and was more than ready to go within a few minutes.

Where Am I?

I don't know why I have been missing from the blogging world. I often think through out the day about a topic I need to share or something I want to talk about. But then the evening comes and I forget or it doesn't seem as important as it once did. I know part of it is that with summer here, the kids aren't going to bed early anymore which means I don't have my several hours of alone time. That was when I did most of my blogging. I was able to put some thoughts together without the constant noise or interruption from three little ones. So, I guess what I'm saying is I don't think this limited posting will change much. At least not until school starts again :0)

How Disappointing

If you have been reading this blog you know that I have 4 siblings. Sadly three of these siblings have been removed from my life for a few years now.
T - step sister - histrionic, borderline, pathological liar, substance abuser
J - half bro - antisocial, in jail, substance abuser
J - half bro - substance abuser, wife abuser, welfare mooch
The fourth sibling, my half sister, J has been on the edge for some time. She is only 21 and while she has made some really dumb mistakes, up until now I have tried to keep her in me and the kids lives. Sadly that ended this weekend.

I was actually already upset with her regarding the twins graduation. She said she would be there and the twins were told she would be there too. During the ceremony she was texted to find out why she hadn't arrived and her response was "it's just a preschool graduation, I have other things to do". This would have been fine, except that the twins were already expecting her. K was fairly upset later at home. She asked a few times why Yaya wasn't there. This kind of crap is unacceptable to me. As a child I was let down over and over and I will protect my children from that as long as I can. I definitely will not allow that kind of behavior from family.

So she was already in the 'dog house' for that when I received a call from a man on Friday night. This could be a 10 page essay on what was discussed but basically I will condense it for you. J has conned this man out of thousands of dollars. She has lied to him and played with him. A few examples:

- When J was living with me, it was to take care of my kids, the house and to pay my rent because I wasn't able to. The reason she left - because it was too much for her and she couldn't afford it all.
- J has been sending multiple pictures of herself naked and in some using drugs.
- She has taken him for a huge chunk of money when she needed it to hire a lawyer because my parents were going to sue her for custody of her child - yep...her fake child! He says he has sent her money numerous times for diapers and formula!!
I told him that it was all fake. She sold him nothing but stories. He had been duped.

The kicker is the next day she started texting me hateful texts saying "how dare I share info with him" "He is psycho and I can't believe anything he says" Calling me names and cursing up a storm.

Sadly it is very clear who the psycho one is. My parents are done with her behavior. I am done with her. I hate to now have no siblings that I can maintain a relationship with, but I need to protect my kids from these kind of people.

Look What Grandma & Pop-Pop Got!

My mom has been begging my dad for years for a hot tub, I don't really remember a time where she didn't want one. Well, I guess the years of begging finally wore down my dad and this past weekend my mom got her prize! Of course the kids and I had to go test it out.

Now I know what your thinking...it's 90+ degrees outside and your in a hot tub? For the summer my mom is keeping the water at 80 degrees. So while it's still warmer than a pool, it's cool enough to feel slightly refreshing. I'm sure in the evening it would be perfect!

Here is S in the tub...no bubbles, the water just foamed like that!

K loved it! My mom told her about her hot tub dream about 2 years ago and K has been waiting to try it ever since!

The Mook had fun in the tub too, but he preferred to play with other things.

WHAT!!??!!??

It is with sadness and denial that I make this post. Tomorrow M will be 18 months.

How did this happen? When did 18 months go by? How is my little baby halfway to two?

We had M's 18 month doctor's appointment today. He is doing well. Earlier in the week he started having a lot of nasty drainage from his eyes which is still present. Since the whites of his eyes were still white, I assume it was allergies, which was confirmed by the doctor. I may or may not start him on some meds this weekend.

His weight was down in percentiles again. In fact I think he only gained 1/4 of a pound in the last 3 months. He currently weighs 22.25 pounds. Right now there really isn't a concern. He is sitting in the 5th-10th %-ile where his sister likes to hang out. We will just keep watching him and make sure he doesn't drop any further on the charts. His height is 32.5 inches which maintains him in the 50th percentile.

At 18 months M is into everything. He is so strong willed and has an attitude that could fill a body ten times his size. I often think that he, as one child, is more challenging then the twins. I definitely have lost that laid back baby. He is very smart and physically way ahead of his peers. There is nothing this kid can't do. He follows his siblings around everywhere and DEMANDS to be able to do whatever they do. He LOVES his brother. M is still very cuddly and loves to just sit and be held. He still nurses once or twice a day. We still co-sleep and M's sleep schedule stinks.

A few weeks ago M finished all his evaluations for his speech. He is quite delayed with expressive speech only - actually excels in other areas - but since there is a familial history of therapy, they qualified him. We had to jump through a bunch of insurance hoops but finally we have everything approved and now we are just waiting on a therapist assignment. I hope that with early intervention, M won't need to be in therapy into his school years like S.

So, the problem with getting a picture of M...he won't sit still. I will have to get some this weekend outside where I don't have to depend on a flash. Most the ones I took tonight were horribly blurry :0(.

Hey, I got one without blur!!

Such a Huge Impact

For the last two year's S has been seeing a speech therapist. A has been such a wonderful presence in our life. S LOVES her and she has such a caring spirit and seems to have a true interest in S's progress. The past Monday was S's last day with A. He is still in Speech next year, but because he will be in Kindergarten, he must be seen my his home school's therapist. I wish there was a way around this, but there isn't. :0( I just need to be happy that the past two years have been great ones and just hope that the new therapist is at least half as good.

Preschool Graduation

Yesterday was the twins graduation from preschool. I was excited to see them graduate, but I was not prepared for the joy and emotion I would feel during their ceremony. Not only were my babies growing up, but they were singing and dancing proudly with their classmates. They were confident and happy...and how could I not be proud of that?

I didn't get very good pictures of the ceremony based on seating and lighting - I did order a DVD of the event though. Here are some of the good shots I did get.

K & S on our way to the ceremony. They were very excited!

S doing one of his songs in cap and gown :0)

S with his 'favorite' teacher Ms Holly

K in her cap and gown reciting a poem

K with her 'favorite' teacher Mr Matthew. Can you see that face!?