August already?

Garrett starts school in a little over a week and yet this summer seems to be dragging on forever. Lately everything in my life has been relentless: the heat and humidity; my workload; my son's special needs. There's simply no downtime and definitely no time for any fun. I wish I was granted a "do over." Oh, if it only were that easy.

Garrett turned eight on July 20th. Felt bad because we didn't celebrate it in a big way although he did get some really cool gifts. One being a new 20" bike from his Aunt Suzanne and Uncle Mike.

And what's really nice is he now has sidewalks and a safe cul-de-sac to ride around in.
We also made some progress on the developmental needs front. I found a fabulous pediatrician quite by accident (worked on a video for United Way and this doc was one of the people we interviewed) and he's been a real advocate for us. He's connected us with a developmental pediatrician, a psychiatrist (to help identify whether G has RAD) and a social worker who can help us with parenting techniques. He also referred me to an organization called Family Connection of South Carolina, a health information and education center for families who have children with special needs. I haven't had a chance to contact them yet, but apparently they match up parents with similar special needs for support. So in my case I would be paired with another family who has a child with ADHD. And if Garrett is also diagnosed with RAD, which I think he will be given his past, I could be matched with a family dealing with that issue. This could be a real blessing given the fact that I hardly have any connections in Greenville.

So in the next week Garrett starts first grade again. This time, he'll be in a school that won't coddle him or give him the answers. He won't have a para in the classroom telling him what to do; it'll be interesting to see how that goes. The good new is, Garrett should feel real comfortable with all the first grade material. The hope is he'll gain the confidence he needs to do things on his own. He'll continue to be pulled out for special ed every day, so he'll get some one-on-one attention. And if this doesn't work than his IEP will have to be readjusted. But I'm feeling good about his school and his pediatrician. Now all I need to do is work on myself.

The Vegas side of the family

Garrett finally got to meet his grandma (Bob's mom) who turns 90 in August. She lives in an assisted living facility in Vegas, close to Bob's brother, Gerry. Due to her age, I was afraid they'd never meet, so this picture is particularly dear. Not sure if Garrett or Grandma really knew who each other was (gram has a mild form of dementia), but that didn't matter. From the looks of this picture, he made her day. (Anyone who has met Garrett in real life knows he's a joyful, funny, happy kid.) But one thing is for sure, Gman loved, loved, loved his crazy Uncle Gerry. In fact, if it were up to him, he'd go live with him. And he's never said that about anyone. And here they all are. As you can see from Garrett's mismatched outfit, I was a thousand or so miles away in Greenville. Sure hope Grandma hangs around for awhile; it would be nice for Garrett to get to know her some more.

Busy June

We've sure packed a lot into this month. Garrett's last day of school was June 3rd. We've decided to keep him at Brushy Creek Elementary. Even though we won't be living in the school district, we've been really pleased with his progress, so it's worth the extra 20 minutes or more each way to see him do well. Also after our final IEP meeting, we decided it would be best for Garrett to repeat the first grade. We just feel an extra year will help build his confidence particularly in reading, spelling, writing and comprehension (he's got the math down cold). And supposedly the rising first graders are very smart (half are already reading at G's level), so he should do well. We didn't break the news to him immediately, so when an acquaintance asked what grade he was going in, he proudly said, "second." Ooops. But we explained it to him the best we could and he seems okay with it. So we'll keep our fingers crossed that we made the right decision.

Next morning we closed on the house and that afternoon I boarded a plane to the Twin Cities to celebrate Sade's graduation from high school. Since the day I met her, Jan. 25, 1998 to be exact, I told her I'd be there to see her graduate high school. And here she is beaming in her cap and gown. Posing with her mother Rosie. A family portrait. Suzanne and I took her out to Buca's to celebrate.
I'm so proud of her; she's accomplished the impossible and from here everything is gravy. She has officially enrolled in a community college and plans on taking a full load come August. Way to go Sade.

The rest of the weekend I spent visiting with my girlfriends. I sure miss 'em. A week later, we boarded another plane to Milwaukee. We were attending our first Kazapalooza—an annual event for families who've adopted children from Kazakhstan. It was fun to meet so many people in real life. These families are the amazing and like I've said many times before they've been our support through thick and thin. Even more amazing is that most of us have met each other through our blogs. And to see our children playing together was more emotional than I could've imagined.









Last, but not least, Garrett has been busy this summer at the YMCA. Besides day camp, we've got him signed up for Super T ball. And he actually seems to be enjoying it along with Coach Bob. It's so much fun to see father and son on the field. It's also so darn cute to see 6 and 7 year olds fumbling for the ball.

Now I'm off to pack up the apartment—it'll be good to finally put this move behind us. It's been eight months of living out of boxes and eating off card tables.

Y'all come visit us ya hear.

What we've been up to (sort of)

Since I've moved to Greenville, I've been working my tail off. So I apologize for my lack of posts. What's more, I'm plum out of words. So I'll let these pictures fill in the blanks.

More fun pix from our visit with Charlie and Jon-Jon. By the way, Garrett swears he's marrying both of Holly's kids—12-year-old Alexis and her 11-year-old brother Jackson. Not sure how Jackson feels about that.




Picnic at Brushy Creek Elementary



Being good citizens of Greenville on HOG day (Hands on Greenville).




The boys took me strawberry picking at Sandy Flats Farm for Mother's Day.

Moving right along

Actually, we won't be moving to our new home until June 4th, but we're moving nonetheless. So excited to get off the floor and into a real bed and not have to constantly remind Garrett to be quiet after 9 pm, because of the neighbors below us. And poor old Cody (our almost 15-year-old dog) won't have to walk up and down three flights of stairs just to go potty.

Despite apartment living, Garrett continues to blossom. The school psychologist ran a battery of tests and deemed him to be 98% ADHD. So after much discussion, we decided to put him on a low dosage of Focalin (a stimulant) and, low and behold, we have a new little boy. He "wants" to do homework. He sat in his seat through seven innings of baseball. He's getting seven stars at school for good behavior. Our prayers have been answered. There are some side effects though—he has developed a facial tick and after the meds wear off, he can get mean spirited. But overall, we're pleased with the results. We're also on the waiting list to have him evaluated by a team of developmental pediatricians. I just know there's more going on then just ADHD and I don't want to ignore it. But at least I feel like we're on the right track. One bad thing is our new home is far from his school. Kind of torn as what to do. Part of me doesn't want him to have to start over again. But the other part wants him to go to school with his little buddies from the new hood. The subdivision we're moving into is teeming with boys G's age. (That's the number one reason why we're moving there.)

Another big reason why we moved to Greenville is to be closer to these two precious little boys. Here's a photo of our day with Charlie and Jon-Jon. I have more pics of our great day, but they're in my camera. Nothing beats hanging out with the Uralsk Babyhouse #1 gang.

Home Sweet Carolina

We just bought a house. The sad part is, Bob left his phone in my car so I couldn't tell him the good news. Actually, buying this house is both good and bad news. Good in that it is a lovely home with a big backyard with tons of boys G's age. The bad news? It's a long commute to work. It's located in a subdivision with strict rules. And the neighbors are within earshot. But I'm a mom now, so my needs take a back seat. (Ouch, that was a hard one to admit.) So if you're ever near Greenville, SC, stop by. We've got a guest bedroom with your name written all over it.