What I Will Miss...What I Look Forward To

Wow! Half a month has passed and I have posted nothing. That shows how busy I have been. All of the things on the list from the last post have been crossed off. We are T minus 1 day away from being completely packed and ready for vacation before we embark on our family's next chapter. I will not return to our South Georgia home after vacation, but Drew will come back to load up the truck and haul it all to our new home. Its funny because it really isn't a new home for me, but I will get to that in a bit.

I wanted to write about what I will dearly miss about where we live now and how it relates to what I am looking forward to.

I will miss my job. I will miss my coworkers. I will miss my sweet South Georgia babies who entered my classroom smiling and ready to learn each day. Smiley Elementary is a wonderful school. I have made friendships there that will never be forgotten. I told my principal on my last day this week that this has been the best job of my whole life. Even over all the piddly fun little highschool and college jobs, my position as a K5 special education teacher takes the cake. The school is truly awesome, my co-workers are super nice and helpful, and most importantly I feel that I really made a difference in my students' education.

On my last day, my co-teacher said a speech that of course made me cry and my K5 team gave me a beautiful necklace to remember them by. Wregina said that I would always have a kidney table to call home in her classroom. She spoke of the strides we had made over the years with our students and how much we were alike. I have found a life long friend in her and I can't wait till I see her again so we can catch up. We are already discussing when she will come visit.

My sweet babies this year! Co-teaching is so awesome.

My beautiful and talented co-teacher and I at Open House.
I am going to miss this chic!

What I will look forward to is the new challenging 5th - 8th graders awaiting me next school year. I got a job teaching resource at a charter school, whose focus is health and fitness. I taught middle school at my first job and loved it. I am looking forward to going back to teaching middle school. I am excited for the challenge of learning new standards and strategies for struggling learners. I am ready to meet my new work friends and form teaching bonds with fellow teachers. I know this job will be tough. These kids are Title One. They come from inner city neighborhoods, but the school has a major goal that every child will graduate from the highschool that is connected to it. Oh yeah...I am ready for that challenge!

I will miss all the people that were part of our family's life. From the UPS woman that knew to drop our packages off at the school; Our neighbors who would lend a hand or a tool just like that when we called; Marloe and Grayson's wonderful preschool/daycare teachers that treated them like their own; All of Grayson's wonderful doctor's and therapists who wanted him to succeed and lead a typical life; Our wonderful friends we made from being involved in the local community theatre; My running buddies and girlfriends I went off with to the beach, the movies, or just to escape;Work friends; Church friends; Dance Teachers;Babysitters; My sis-in-law who is only 45 minutes away...JUST EVERYONE!!!! We will miss you dearly. You were with us when we began our family. You were there when Grayson received his diagnosis at two days old. You were our support system when Grayson had his surgeries. You were our family. Thank you for accepting us into your community. Thank you for your generosity and support. We love you!

My friends and I at our first mud run.
I will miss it this year because of moving and closing. :(
I will miss our afternoon sweat sessions after work each day.

Aunt BT and Marloe.
Brittany was the only friend I had when I first moved here.
 She was my savior! We will miss being so close BT. Love you!

Girls Nights Out! These were what kept me sane.

True friendships and memories never to be forgotten!

Love my friend Elizabeth! Drew called her his "non-wife".
She was one of the first friends I made here through the community theatre.
I love our girl talks! Now we will be friends for life.

Grayson and Marloe playing with the neighborhood kids on his first birthday.
Great place to live and make friends!

Drew, Grayson, and I at the Buddy Walk last October with a local news anchor.
The Low Country Down Syndrome Community is involved and always
offering ways to connect with other families.

Marloe at her first Dance performance. She loves Ms. Cheryl.

Grayson rockin' it in PT with his Ms. Elaina.
We will miss seeing you each week!

I look forward to reconnecting with old friends and making new ones. I am returning to my home town. In the age of Facebook, I have not lost touch with anyone, but I want to reconnect. I am ready to reform bonds and make new friendships in my life. I look forward to getting to know the Down Syndrome Alliance families where we are moving. They have already been super helpful in suggesting doctors for Grayson. In a larger city, Drew and I will have more oppurtunities to get involved in the DS community. Grayson is already awaiting an evaluation into a special early intervention school just for children with special needs. Words cannot even describe how super excited I am to have that support. Not to mention, my dad's entire side of the family lives there and my mom.

Lastly, I will miss our home. Drew and I bought this house shortly after we were married. We added on, decorated, and learned what it was like to be homeowners. We formed a family here. We became parents. We became parents of a child with special needs. We became parents of a toddler X2. It is bitter sweet. I wish we could move the whole house with us and just lay it on top of our new home.

Christmas 2012

Saturday Morning, Half Naked, Play

South Georgia Dirt Roads are Great for ATVs

The screen porch addition was key.

Lots of first in this house.

Lots of firsts for Grayson, too.

Always warm in South Georgia.

But I look forward to growing as a family together at our new home. We are moving into my mother's house. It is the house I lived in when I was in middle and highschool. I have not lived there since I went to college. My mother is converting the basement into an apartment for her. We are living upstairs.

I know you may be thinking, "moving back in with your mother!", but we have a pretty sweet deal. We will have separate living spaces, laundry rooms, entrances, porches, etc. My mom has already told me that she will help out, but she is not our live in babysitter. She has her own life and she respects that we have ours. It works out for everyone because we can all help eachother out. And later on in life when my mother may need more help she will be with us already. Eventually Marloe or Grayson can live downstairs independently if that is what they want.

I am very excited about the entire move. My family will be right there and Drew's is only 2 hours away. It took having one child to think about moving back towards home, but it took having a second child with special needs to really seal the deal. Our family has a lot to look forward to. Although we are waving goodbye to wonderful people and memories with tears in our eyes, I know this is what is best for our family.

So I will try not to be completely slack during this stressful time. Because we all know moving is stressfull. Hopefully I will be able to post some pics from our vacation next week before the chaotic moving experience begins. Have a wonderful weekend. Hope your summer is great!

Ode to my Mom

This post is to wish my wonderful mother Mother's Day! She has been so wonderful to me throughout my entire life. (Even those couple of years where she was premenopausal and I was pubescent. Yes, feel sorry for my dad.)

I seriously could not have had a better life with anyone other than her.

I know we have disagreements and even after all these years I still need to work on being a better daughter, but, Coot Bridges, you win in the mother department. Thanks for being my everything! I love you.

Busy busy busy

This weekend we had a very successful moving out yard sale. It would have been better with out the on and off constant drizzle, but we still have enough to foot the bill for a moving truck. The Daddy just got back from dropping off the rest at the local Goodwill.

Now for the home stretch...and the list begins.
Two field days
Daddy daughter field trip
Mother's Day
Four IEP meetings with my students
Sis in law bachelorette weekend in Nashville
Home inspection
Appraisal
Exit doc appointments
Exit IFSP
Packing, packing, and more packing
Paperwork, paperwork, and more paperwork to prepare for the move.
End of year teacher checkout
AND....FINALLY....the annual family beach trip then....WE MOVE!

Okay. I just have to breathe because I can get through this. For now we are just relaxing on a Sunday.

Have a great week!

All's Well That Ends Well...Grayson's Surgery

My mom and I woke up at 3:45 on Thursday morning to make the drive to Memorial Hospital for Grayson's day surgery(adenoids, tear duct stint, tubes in ears). Drew had to do state testing with his students. Little Sweetie stayed with Wade-O and Gigi, Drew's parents.

Grayson did awesome on the ride there. He was the last "thing" I put in the car before we left. I just kept his pjs on. I didn't think he would wake up, but he did his babbling the whole way there. He was happy in the waiting room and the pre-op room, for the most part. I think he did awesome considering he hadn't had anything to eat since 7:30 the night before. He was also prodded and poked every five minutes by a different health care worker.

The nurse came in and gave him something that she said, "...would basically make him drunk." So I watched as Wee Pie got glassy eyed and moved in slow motion. The doctors came in and said hello. They checked Grayson, and gave us another run down of what was going to happen. Then, after a kiss on the head, they whisked him away in a wheel chair on the lap of the nurse.

I don't know why I wasn't more nervous. Maybe because I had undergone 6 grueling hours of waiting for Grayson's open heart surgery in a cardiac waiting room. One hour and three magazines later we met with the first doctor, the opthamologist, who said that the stints weren't easy, but they were done. He gave us eye drops and said he would see us Monday. Great. Good. One procedure down, two to go.

Thirty minutes later the ENT called us back. He said that everything went well. Grayson had large adenoids, lots of gunk in his ears that they got out, and very large tonsils. The tonsils have to wait, though, because Grayson isn't old enough for this invasive and bloody procedure. He did want Grayson to stay over night. I had already packed and prepared for that.

Then he asked if Grayson ever had petechiae (pronounced puh-TEE-kee-ee). You can read more about it here. Basically it is bleeding under the skin that is rash-like in appearance. Petechiae is caused by popping of blood vessels or low platelet counts. Low platelet counts are usually caused by the "L" word (or luekemia, but we aren't even going there!).

Grayson had his platelet count checked before when he was under a year old because he had petechiae. Drew and I researched it then and we know what the causes can be. Grayson's platelets came back in the clear after two wonderful days of waiting for the results of that test. That's why we aren't going there because those days were anything, but wonderful.

Anyway, I told the ENT all of this information. Dr. Rawlings said that some had popped up during and after the surgery. So Grayson was going to stay over night. I knew he would probably be staying overnight. I didn't mind Wee staying after three procedures and the fact he's had open heart surgery and the fact that he is a child with Down syndrome. I thought it would be best for everyone. So I waited to be called back to see my Wee.

Then when I got back to the recovery room, I didn't even recognize him. He looked so big in the nurses arms with his little wispy curls around his shoulders...wailing, sweating, blood spurting from his nose, and his petchiael rash all flared up. I wish I could have taken a picture of the nurses' faces! I think Grayson Goo really freaked them out and he was living up to his Grayson Goo namesake at that moment. I sat down and took that bloody, screaming boy in my arms. I promptly removed the heavy blanket that was causing my hot natured child such distress.

"He won't take this bottle," the brunette nurse said.

"That's because he doesn't drink from bottles." I replied calmly because I knew they just assumed he took a bottle because he is a child with Down syndrome. "His sippy cup is in my bag. He will drink any kind of juice, but no milk per the doctors."

She got it and filled it. Grayson gulped it down. Then he laid his little bloody, rashy head on my shoulder. The nurses were still freaked out. They told me he was going to the PICU.

"Instead of the regular pediatric floor? Why?" I asked looking around at them and the child life services coordinator.

"We will let the intensivist talk to you when you get there. You didn't meet him?," the blond nurse asked.

"No, I just got back here in recovery. Is this because of the petchiae, his bloody nose, or the fact he is a child with Down syndrome?"

"They will talk to you up there," brunette answered.

Those freaked out nurses took his bed the wrong way as they led him up to the PICU, all bloody and wailing again. I later found out that they don't do very well in day surgery recovery with kids. They just aren't used to them because most of the patients are adults. I'm sure Grayson Goo was a doozy!

The PICU experience was wonderful. I loved Grayson's two nurses that watched over him. The intensivist, Dr. Paden and the resident, Dr. Haupt explained that Grayson's petechiae was the reason he was here. Dr. Paden told me the fact the rash was above the neck lead him to believe it was just popped blood vessels due to crying. They just wanted to monitor him and make sure he recovered okay.

Here is where the story gets funny. We stayed in that PICU till around 5:00 that evening and then Grayson was discharged. Wee Pie got much better. He was playing, throwing balls, waving to the nurses as we took walks, and eating/drinking fine. He took several naps on me and his daddy. He needed tylenol and motrin, but overall we could have gone home after the recovery room.

I think Grayson's disability just freaked the recovery staff out. Disabilities and differences do that to some people. The recovery nurses just weren't ready for all the petechiae, blood, sweat, and tears Grayson was ready to give them. Grayson needed extra time to recover and the PICU staff accepted him with  understanding open arms. Perfect lesson in how kids with Down syndrome just need a little extra time to do things.



Poor baby ready to sleep on the ride home.
 Only picture I got of the whole day.
 Petechiae is hard to see in this picture.



I chuckle about it now and I though the whole thing was funny then, in the moment, at the hospital. Grayson is still doing well. He has been playing all weekend with his grandparents. He chomped on ravioli, mashed potatoes, hamburger, and spaghetti among other snacks. I can already tell he is hearing better and more aware. Everyone who's child has had the procedures told me I would see a difference right away. They were right.

Have a good week.

Wordless Wednesday: Comfy Spot

What a week! Surgery update and signs that Wee's terrible twos are on the way.

This past week Grayson went to his first speech therapy appointment through a private office. I am very optimistic about this therapist. The drive isn't far either and they are flexible with scheduling later in the afternoon so I won't miss work. He has his second appointment tomorrow so I will post on that really soon. We are hoping that the upcoming surgery (tubes), along with the speech therapy, will improve his receptive and expressive speech abilities.

Along with tubes in his ears, Grayson is also getting a stint in his tear ducts and his adenoids removed. This surgery is scheduled for this Thursday. Last Thursday, Drew and Grayson went to a pre-op appointment with the opthamologist, Dr. Davarro. Drew texted me at 4:15 to let me know they were still waiting. The appointment was at 3:30. I told him to go complain. Seriously, an 18 month old, at the doctor, late in the afternoon, having to wait 45 minutes to an hour to be seen...uh not working.

Basically, I think Grayson destroyed the waiting room. Drew claimed he crawled everywhere, pulling things down, ripping up pamphlets, and bothering other patients attempting to do homework. He even attempted to crawl back into the actual office by pushing open the door and crawling on back to be seen. Drew finally told the receptionist that if they weren't seen soon, Wee would actually tear up the waiting room and he wasn't going to stop him.

Grayson in a better state than he was at the doctor.

 Grayson is all boy and beginning to show more and more that he is about to be a full fledged toddler. He shows this by getting into anything and everything. Once he is into it, he makes a mess of the room or himself. He also enjoys long tantrums on the floor when told no and testing his parents once told he can't do something. This includes playing in the toilet (yep, he's had his hand peed on), pulling hair (mine and Marloe's), biting (anyone who gets in the way), and banging hard things on our glass coffee table (yeah, I know, it's time to put it away). I also failed to include that he does somersaults out of the bathtub and it doesn't even phase him.

 Seriously, this kid is going to be hell on legs when he can finally walk.

Here is Grayson and the coffee table. The balloon didn't even last 20 minutes because Grayson managed to pop it shortly after.

On one more note. I ordered and have been reading a book, My Friend Isabelle. The book is a children's book, about a little boy named Charlie and his friend Isabelle, who is a girl with Down syndrome. Tonight I read it to Marloe and tried to introduce the concept of Down syndrome to her and the fact that Grayson is a child with Down syndrome.

I think it is way too early. Little Sweetie now thinks that Down syndrome is a store like the Dollar General. "Okay mommy we go to Down syndrome store with Grayson like we buy the juice from the Dollar General." I think I'll wait on that explanation and for now we will just read the book for pleasure instead of teaching a lesson.

Have a good week to everyone. More surgery updates and hopefully some really exciting news about the move coming up this week!


My mom is super excited about us moving.



Wordless Wednesday: A New Place to Play