Neuropsych Results Are In...

Dr. Fay started out our parent meeting together by stating that Carson was one of the most hyperaroused kids she has ever seen in her office before. Tristyn was the gal who did the testing and she has an expertise of working with kids like Carson...and she even had a hard time working with him. Carson required a very highly structured environment and needed tasks to be broken down into small segments for him.

Here is what she said are areas of concern for Carson:

Severely hyperaroused
Unable to self soothe or self regulate
Aggressive, destructive and out of control
Lacks boundaries
Unable to tolerate frustration
Attention Deficit Disorder
Overall seen as having PDD-NOS (for more info on this, check out previous blog entry)

Hmmm...OK, no real big news here other than she thinks he has ADD...OK, maybe that's not such a big surprise either!

She feels that Carson needs a comprehensive day treatment program (not really sure what that means) to help him with his self regulation/self soothing skills. She also feels that because of the severity of his hyperarousal, we can expect it to be very difficult for Carson to be able to function in a mainstream elementary environment.

However, despite his hyperaroused state, his IQ tested as 'average'. It would be very interesting to see what happens to his IQ when we are able to get his other issues resolved.

I immediately got overwhelmed by this information because I could forsee a lot of work that lie ahead of me...I'm sure the least of which will involve a fight with the school district. Dr. Fay did recommend that we contact PAVE and have a PAVE advocate help us meet with the school district. PAVE is a parent advocacy group that knows a lot about the rules and regulations surrounding having a child with special needs.

Kelly took this meeting really well. He was easily able to relate to this information since this is how he saw himself as a child. In that respect, I feel that Kelly could totally relate to Carson and what he is experiencing.

So, that's it for now! I'll update as more stuff progresses...

Encouragement, Please?

Boy, I really feel like I have a lot of things on my mind lately.

The most frustrating thing for me right now is my weight. I have put on about 25 pounds In the last 18 months or so and it is really frustrating me! It seems that no matter what I do, my weight just keeps climbing. I bought a bunch of new clothes in the spring to fit the larger me...and now, some of those clothes are too small! What is wrong with me? ARGH!!!

I have been doing Weight Watchers (WW), of which I have been doing off and on for the last 20 years (yep, my weight has been a life long battle for me) and no matter what I do, I am always hungry and constantly eating! I easily surpass my daily points by evening-time. I know part of my issue is stress! I am very much a stress eater and can't quite get this under control.

I try to attend WW meetings, which always help me in my weight loss journey, but my favorite WW leader only teaches Saturday classes. Saturdays are days that Kelly sleeps in in the morning and then I always feel guilty leaving him with the kids when I could have gone to another meeting during the week when I didn't have the kids. ARGH...more excuses, huh? YIKES...what's up with me?

I have also tried to fit exercise into my daily routine, but it is very hard. When I am working, exercise just isn't an option. I need to commit to fitting it in on my non-working days, but other things seem to take priority. I would love some encouragement around this issue!

This afternoon we also have our appointment with the neuropsychologist and that has been weighing heavily on my mind. I guess my biggest fear is how Kelly will 'take' this information. And, what exactly will she tell us? I can't help but reverting back to the thought that Carson's behavior is because of my parenting...even though I know there is 'something' bigger going on with him. I'm sure these are all normal mommy fears...what does Carson's future hold for him...and us as a family? Only time will tell....

Also, we will be doing some testing of Logan to see if he will qualify for the developmental preschool program when he turns 3 years old (YIKES...October will be here before we know it!)

Our rental house has not had much activity since it went on the market in July, so my hopes to be able to pull the kids out of daycare in the Fall just isn't going to happen. So, I have moved onto 'plan B'. I will continue to work 2 days a week and will cut the boys' daycare days to 3 days a week to help conserve our savings as much as possible. This will give me a day to do errands and appointments by myself so I can focus my attention on the boys the rest of the week. That's my plan at least, we'll see how it works out.

Both boys will be transitioning to different classrooms in the Fall...and that just stresses me out as well. That means I have to educate another set of teachers on what makes my boys tick. It means another set of conference meetings to trouble shoot Carson's behavior in this new environment. And the one teacher who I thought would be teaching in Carson's room will not be there. She was someone who I felt understood Carson. Hmmmmm.....so much to think about! I know we will get there...it just feels so painful when there are so many changes...and I am the one who orchestrates it all! On a positive note, in Carson's classroom there will only be 9-10 kids at the most for a while. This is a very good thing...a smaller classroom will immensely help Carson from being overwhelmed by all the classroom commotion that a larger class size brings.

The boys have been constantly bickering and it makes our time together very frustrating, to say the least! Mealtimes are the worst! We have tried separating them, yelling, etc., but nothing seems to make it better! Logan has taken to constantly getting up at dinner time, so we are always yelling "sit down and eat your dinner" and finally last night, resorted to strapping him in his baby seat again! He's not a baby, why are we having to do this? Despite that, he still didn't eat his dinner! ARGH!! Maybe we should try some positive reinforcement this evening. Maybe a sticker chart for achieving our mealtime expectations? Ideas anyone?

On Sunday, I tried tackling Logan's potty training again! He wore his undies and every 20-30 minutes I put him on the potty and in return he got 2 chocolate chips (gotta love good 'ole bribery, huh?). He really did well! He peed every time I asked him to (and a few times in his undies as well). I didn't want to push the issue too much, so at nap time, I put him in a pull up...he woke up from his 2.5 hour nap completely DRY! WOW...that's impressive Logan! I think we will continue to tackle this issue next week while we are camping with nana and papa!

Yep, you heard that right, the boys and I are going camping with my parents, who have come up from California to take all the grand kids camping (my sister and her girls went last week and my brother and family went a couple months ago). Our turn is next week and we are very very excited about this! They have a fifth wheel, which is my kinda camping...out in the woods, but not too dirty 'cause you can clean up with the wonderful fifth wheel amenities! The boys are going to have so much fun, I'm sure! I think we will re-define the word "dirty", that's for sure! They are such great adventurers, so I'm sure they will be in heaven! Perfect time to learn about peeing in the bushes, don't you think?

We decided to rename grandma and grandpa Mitchell, because the boys were constantly getting confused when we talked about grandma and grandpa...they would say, "You know mom, the ones with the trailer" (Mitchell's) or "the ones who go golfing" (George's). So, they decided to name grandma and grandpa Mitchell "nana and papa" instead. We will have lots of time to practice their new names next week!

So, I better get off this computer and get to work...I have carpets to clean! Have a good one!

A Weekend With 5 Kids!

I invited my sister and her 3 kids up from Portland for the weekend of 7/24-26. I am just now getting to post pictures of their visit...I guess that means that I am just now recovering from their visit??

With my sister and her girls here, this means that there would be 5 kids total in my house! YIKES! It had been a while since Kendra and I had been able to get together and since I just had the whole week off from work, I wanted to take advantage of it!

I also knew that this many kids would just drive my hubby nuts...so I politely suggested that he call his friend Frank to see if they could spend the weekend together. No sense pushes his buttons if it was unnecessary, huh?

So, Kendra and the 3 girls arrived Friday evening (after 7 hours on the road!! YIKES...the traffic was horrific that night!)...and the RACE began!

My plan was that Kendra and I would sleep in our bed with the twins sleeping in seperate pack n'plays on either side of the bed. And, as we did the last time they came to visit, Carson and Rachel would share Carson's bunk bed. Yeah...that didn't go so well this time! The kids didn't settle down for bed until close to 9pm...and then Rachel kept pestering Carson (and I'm sure Carson was giving it back to Rachel as well)! By 9:45pm, Kendra and I decided that the sleep arrangements needed to be altered...so now Rachel is now in our bed...and since I needed to get my sleep as well...I go sleep on the couch!

Without hesitation, Logan woke up and started pounding on his door at 5:45am! The morning started very early (as usual) and it seemed like the fighting never stopped! Carson, Logan and Rachel were all over each other!
Kendra and I would periodically have to corral the kids with a TV show or two to get them to calm down!

Rebecca and Joanna are the cutest things ever and pretty much minded their own business...investigating all the toys in the playroom they could find! It wasn't long before all the toys were all over the place!


Carson was pretty cute trying to get Rebecca and Joanna's attention, so he offered to cuddle with them on Saturday morning. Joanna quickly decided that she was up for this, but Rebecca reluctently gave Carson "that look" meaning "No Way Jose!" However, once she saw how much fun Joanna was having, she quickly hopped up onto the couch with the other two. Very cute!

Logan had been pretty whiny the previous last couple of days (he had an ear infection earlier that week), so I opted to have the pediatrician check his ears one last time...just to make sure they were getting better. I asked Carson if he wanted to stay and play with his cousins or come with us...and he said that he wanted to come with us! Hmmm...I think he just needed a break from all the kids! Fortunately, Logan's ears were OK...I guess that means that I was dealing with 'cranky two year old whining' instead of 'hurting ear whining'! Hmmm...it's almost easier to deal with 'hurting ear whining'...at least Tylenol can help with that!

When we got back to the house, we got the kids ready to go to the water park! We packed out picnic lunch and got our bathing suits on! These kids need to get out of the house! Off we went!








The kids had so much fun playing in the water! After about an hour of playing, the kids were completely wiped! We got the kids changed into their dry clothes and rushed to get back home for naps! All the kids were soooo tired! They were all crying...and just needed to go to sleep!

OMG...the amount of food that we went through that weekend was impressive! I told Kendra that when the number of kids outnumbers the number of adults...we ALL get kid food! I tried to keep it easy....and keep it coming! I usually let my boys come into the kitchen and get their own snacks as they need them...but while we had 5 kids in the house, I couldn't let them do that! When one kid would come to get a snack...ALL of them wanted a snack! I was in the kitchen a lot as it was...I didn't want to be in there ALL DAY!

On Sunday, we played in the back yard. Is this the cutest picture ever? Joanna and Logan are checking out the worms in the dirt! We also pulled out the bouncer and played in the sprinklers.

The kids also found their favorite rock in the yard and we painted pet rocks! Very cute!







But, by 10:30am...all the kids were in tears and they were all very whiny! Kendra and the girls were going to take off for home after lunch...hoping that the girls would sleep most of the way home! These poor kids were very tired! It takes a lot of energy 'keeping up' with each other...and fighting your territory of the toys, you know! So, we decided on an early lunch so that everyone could take an early nap! I felt bad that our time was quickly coming to an end...but, let me tell you...my boys were asleep before you knew it (and the girls were as well!)

Kendra and I had a bit of time to chat with each other...but most of our time together was just trying to stay on top of the kids...and to keep them from killing each other! It's amazing how much energy that takes!

While we all took our naps, daddy came back home! He had fun playing computer games, golfing and doing some 'fix it stuff' with Frank! The boys were excited to see him when they woke up! They were also excited to have their home back!

Anyone up for hosting our next get together?

Sleep Study Success!!!

We had done all the prep ahead of time to prepare Carson for this big event! We told him that all the medical play we did on Friday was now his turn for. He seemed to be pretty acceptant on that fact. As a matter of fact, he would periodically ask on Sunday, "What minute do we go to sleep center, mom?"

We thought that we'd make this a special event and go pick out a new movie for him to watch while we were at the sleep center. We gathered up Carson's favorite pajamas, blanket and pillow...as well as his music and 'Moon & Sun' night light! We also picked out a soda, a candy treat and popped a bag of popcorn (sounds like we were going to the movies, huh?). With that combination, we thought that he would easily be content while his tech did the "hookin' up"! Daddy even let Carson take daddy's favorite teddy bear with him to cuddle with! So, off we went to the sleep center (check-in was at 7:30pm)!

We knew that Victor was going to be our tech and were quickly introduced to him when we arrived! Let's take a shot before the procedure gets started! We were already in our jammies (we came prepared!), so we got our stuff all out, went potty, put the movie in and waited for Victor! Victor had Carson be his "helper", so Carson helped Victor put the sensors down his jammies (to be attached to his legs and chest). He also helped put the breathing belts on (those purple belts) and was very proud when he clicked them into place!

They had one of those cool barber chairs for him to sit in while the probes were being attached to his head and face. It didn't faze Carson in the slightest when Victor started this part of the process! Carson was just chomping away on his popcorn and watching his new video (Over the Hedge)! It was very cute!



After Victor was finished applying the probes, he put a mesh ski mask on Carson (to help keep all the probes attached for the night). It was a bit itchy, but once Carson got used to it, it was OK. He never tried to pull ANYTHING off! WOW!!!

By now, it's 9pm and it's time for bed! So, Victor and I got Carson into bed (this is a feat with all those darned wires, let me tell you!) and then Victor left the room. It was at this point that Carson got a bit scared. He started complaining about the mesh mask itching and that he was a bit scared (completely understandable!!). I gave him lots of reassurance, hugs and kisses and explained that I was going to be sleeping in the bed next to him! I also gave him daddy's teddy bear and his blanket again...and he was very thankful! It probably took him 30-45 minutes to finally go to sleep (yikes...that's a late bedtime for a little boy who usually goes to bed at 8pm!). Once he was asleep, Victor quietly walked in and put on a nasal prong to Carson's nose (I think this is the worst part of the sleep study, from my memory of my sleep study...OK the whole thing is NO fun!). He managed to keep the prong on for a while and then OFF it went...until Victor finally taped it in place! (Hmm...guess it's not coming off now, huh?)

Carson woke up many times in the night (many more than usual) crying when he woke up. I think he realized how confined he was with all the cords and stuff. But, he was easily consolable with me talking to him from the other bed. Then, came the "Mom? I wet the bed, mom!" Kinda weird, really because he wears a night time pullup to bed and it wasn't even soaked! Oh well...I wasn't in charge of changing the sheets, so it wasn't a big deal to me! (he he he he) I changed his pullup and cuddled with him while Victor changed the sheets. Then back to bed we went...waking up at 6:30am!

YIPEE!!! It's over! Off comes the probes and into the shower we go! Now we have to get all the goop out of his hair! I washed his hair twice and there is still some in there...oh well!

He was very excited when it was finally over! We came back from the shower and found 6 stickers waiting for Carson on the bed! Carson said, "Who in this world gave these to me?" Very cute!



So, as promised...we were off to eat breakfast out at a restaurant! Carson wanted lots of pancakes, sausage and orange juice! Okey dokey, dude!

I am soooo proud of Carson! He did a magnificent job! Carson even got to pick out a special toy at the toy store today! What a big boy you are Carson, mommy and daddy are so proud of you!!

Special thanks to Robyn and Terry for 'playing with us' on Friday! And, special thanks to Victor for being very kind and patient with us...and for changing the wet sheets in the middle of the night!

I'll update everyone when we hear the results!

Cute Stories, My Birthday and Sleep Study Preparation

I am sitting in the family room right now...drinking my iced latte, enjoying the fact that both my boys are outside playing nicely with each other! (I'm not too happy about the fact that Logan was pounding on his door to get up this morning at 5am, despite the fact that the sun on his night light hadn't appeared yet...but that's another story!) They have really enjoyed this 'cooler weather' since our 103 degree record breaking weather here in the Seattle area this week! But, believe me, even that hot weather did not stop the boys from playing outside!

We had another good week! (I'm hesitant to say that statement for fear that I'm going to jinx what we have going on here) I honestly believe that these good weeks are a compilation of Carson's medication being titrated to an optimal dose for him, the good weather (since the boys love being outside) and no preschool this summer. Now the boys are still going to daycare, Carson is just not attending his developmental preschool, since they are closed for the summer. He loves preschool, but it does introduce two big transitions into his daily routine and transitions are very tough for Carson!

Dad even mentioned that Carson's behavior was getting better and I commented back to him with what I thought were the reasons. His response was "or he's growing out of this" and I just chuckled to myself. I just thought to myself, "No honey, I don't think you grow out of this in a couple of weeks, but you can believe what you want. Don't think for a minute that we are going to stop his medication!" It's interesting how we all have our own perspectives to life. It's really not about who is right or wrong...it's all in how it is perceived and handled! I'm OK with that!

Monday was my birthday! I had kind of forgotten about it until my hubby said "Happy Birthday" to me while I was in the shower! I had to work on my birthday, so as I was getting the boys ready for daycare, I told the boys that today was my birthday. Carson promptly began calling me "The Birthday Girl!" It was very cute! Even when I dropped the boys off at daycare, Carson gave me a hug and kiss and said "Have a good day Birthday Girl!"

I arrived at work and it was same 'ole, same 'ole work! Then a guy arrives to the pharmacy window with a vase of flowers and a balloon! I took a look at him and said, "Oh, those are for me!"

"How do you know that?"

"Well, today is my birthday and I bet those are from my hubby!"

"Well, I guess you guessed correctly!" They were beautiful! Thanks hubby!

Later that evening, I fixed a birthday cake. Have you ever added a can of diet soda to a cake mix? Well...it's a good Weight Watchers technique I have learned. Just add a can of any diet soda to any cake mix, mix it all up and bake per box directions. Voila! It's very moist and delicious and much less calories than adding the oil and eggs! So, after dinner we had birthday cake topped with cool whip and raspberries/blueberries! Yum! We all had birthday candles on our cake (per Carson's request) and we all took turns singing happy birthday to each other! It was very cute! The boys both gave me a birthday card and daddy gave me a present! (speakers to enjoy my computer music outside!). All in all...a good birthday day for me!

Both boys went to daycare again on Tuesday and I was home on Wednesday. After I picked up the boys from daycare on Tuesday, I was telling them that they get to stay home with me on Wednesday and Carson started to cry.

"But mom, they are having pajama day at daycare tomorrow! I don't want to miss out!"

"Oh really? OK Carson, I guess you are going to daycare tomorrow! And Logan, you get to have mommy all to yourself tomorrow!"

So on Wednesday, I took Carson to daycare and which pajamas do you think Carson chose to wear? He chose he two piece FLANNEL LONG SLEEVED pajamas! Yep, he did! It took me all morning to convince him that he was going to be hot with those jammies on and he was dead set on wearing them...until we got to daycare and he got out of the car!

"Mom, can I put that T-shirt on that you brought?"

"Yep, you can!" WHEW, I thought, as Wednesday was predicted to be the hottest day EVER in Seattle!

Logan and I had a nice day together! He ran a bunch of errands with me and then we had our speech therapy appointment later that morning! Our speech therapist walked into our house and you could just see the look of relief and smile on her face as she says, "Oh Kari, you guys have air conditioning?" Poor thing...she goes from home to home providing speech therapy services to folks and I can only imagine how hot some homes truly were!

On Friday, Carson got to stay at home with mommy all by himself! It is very nice to be able to give them some one on one attention! It just isn't the same when you have to share mommy's attention with your brother! And, believe me...they are highly competitive for mommy's attention! We had Carson's occupational therapy appointment early and then we were off for our tour of the Mary Bridge Sleep Center. Carson has his sleep study on Sunday evening and I was on a mission to prepare him for this event! Thursday evening, I made a story for Carson about all the steps of the sleep study process, so he would know what to expect when we actually went for the study. I gave it to him that morning and he was very excited to have 'his own book'. He spent a lot of time just looking at the pictures! I just let him look at it on his own and didn't read it to him until we were at the Sleep Center.

If you are interested in viewing the 'book', you can download it at one of the following links:
Word document Format
Power Point format

We grabbed our Sleep Study Book and were off for our personal tour. We met our Child Life Specialist (CLS) and one of the sleep center technologists there. I had previously spoken with Robyn, the CLS and we planned on what we were going to do with Carson. She brought Carson his personal 'sleep buddy' which was a white fabric stuffed doll. She also brought markers for him to color his 'sleep buddy!' He was all over that...coloring it from head to toe, front and back! We let him get comfy in the room (the actual room that we would be sleeping in) and then we slowly introduced the 'stuff' and read him the story. He got to touch the electrodes that would be placed on his head, face and body. He thought it was pretty cool to put them on us, but wasn't too interested in putting them on himself! We did a lot of 'medical play' and just let him get comfy with everything that was going to happen to him. I was really proud of how well he did with this process. We continue to read the book and talk about this test and I'm hoping that he will be able to make the leap from 'having it done to others' to 'having it done to himself!' We talk about it all the time, so I'm hoping that he will be comfortable with what will happen on Sunday evening. Keep your fingers crossed and say a little prayer for us on Sunday evening!

Well...that was our week in a nutshell! Let's hope for a cool and pleasant weekend! Hope you have a nice one as well!