Feed My Starving Potty Talk

Tonight we joined some folks from Dan's work at Feed My Starving Children. We worked hard for an hour and our group packed 18,000 meals, which is enough to feed 51 kids for an entire year! WOW! This is something we never would have done "before" (i.e., before meds). Staying up till 8:00? No way! The boys were TIRED when we got home, but it was so worth it. The boys worked HARD! Elijah's favorite task was weighing the bags of food and determining if they were an appropriate weight. Sammy was a good bag sorter, but really enjoyed the scooping. Elijah said such an awesome prayer on our drive home for the kids who will be receiving this food. He truly seemed to understand the depth of what we did. The rest of the way home he kept saying, "We helped lots of kids! We are keeping kids alive!" Good lesson!

We've experienced some rougher days again, so I'm going to call Dr. M in the morning and possibly increase med dosage by just a bit. Potty talk and inappropriate talking in general has been OUT OF @#$% CONTROL lately. We have cracked down at home and no longer tolerate even an OUNCE of inappropriateness. If we let even a few words fly, things are suddenly spiraling out of control. This has been an issue at school, as well, and we got our first "rough day" email from E's case manager this week. :(

Sammy, by the way, is no innocent bystander in the potty talk escapades. He's quite the instigator and has no problem fibbing when he gets caught, but only at home. He is also a super hard worker and aside from being an incredible budding artist, he also creates homework for himself almost every day. The other day he decided to sit down and write out numbers starting at 1 and going up to 200. He went to 217 just because that extra mile was so enticing. Over-achiever. :)

Elijah really wanted to get an Elf on the Shelf this year. I think he's heard about it at school and wanted in on the fun. When we explained the concept to Sammy, he was mortified! It was hilarious! He very seriously told us that he would NOT allow this crazy elf into our house because he might...gasp....STEAL OR DESTROY HIS TOYS! He loves his things. And his people. He is a loyal kiddo. He also hates change and has recently been able to express this very thing. We did a major loft clean-up/organization last weekend and when I asked Sam if he liked it he said, "NO. I don't. Because I HATE change." At least he knows this about himself!

One last non-funny funny and then I'm heading to bed. I mentioned the inappropriate words that have been bouncing around the walls in our lives? Earlier in the week I got an email from E's case manager saying that Elijah had been trying to bribe his classmates to say inappropriate things along with him and he was using fake money THAT HE HAD CREATED HIMSELF to do so. WHAT?! We had lots of talks and the following few days were much better, thankfully. Part of me is proud that he was able to think through this escapade, but the potty words are driving me batty!

I'm off to bed! I have just a few more days of work in Cannon Falls and I'm hoping to be sane in the end. :) Have a great rest of your week!

Our presidential candidate

Due to our accumulating tiredness, we barely did a thing last weekend. We tried to catch up on sleep, but didn't get very far. For the past few nights, after multiple days of hugely cutting back on his sugar intake, Elijah has been sleeping better and later. I, however, am now getting up before 6:00 to get to work by 7:00! I'll be working in Cannon Falls 4 days/week for the next couple months. Dan will have to man the morning fort and get the boys on the bus before heading to work. I will be home in the afternoon to get them off and I'll man the late afternoon/evening routine! 

Last Thursday night Elijah told me that he was running for third grade student council and that he was doing so THE FOLLOWING DAY. We scrambled to get a poster partially made and I sent him to school hoping he'd follow through. After a little bit of encouragement from his teacher, he stood up in front of his class and gave a speech! We are so proud! His teacher said that he did GREAT. He didn't win, but he did receive a few votes! Yay Elijah!

For almost a week now, Elijah has been taking 18mg of Strattera (a slight increase from 15mg) and I think it's a great dose for him. Overall, his behavior and attitude have been great! There are still specific issues that we're constantly working on, but we are so happy with this medication. His days at school have been mostly positive, as well. His case manager has described at least three of his days in the past week as being "AMAZING." Last year at this time, nothing was amazing.

Sammy is doing great in kindergarten. I imagine he's probably the perfect little student. I have gone into his class to volunteer a couple times and he is so cute and sweet and kind. I love it!

That is all for now! Gotta work so I can get to sleep early. Thanks for stopping by.

After the 23rd surgery

Two quick funnies from Friday that I forgot to write in my last post! At one point before surgery, a nurse asked Elijah if his wristband info was accurate. She said, "Are you Elijah Daniel Porta?" He said yes and she asked, "Who are these two people with you today?" Elijah said, "That's my mom and that's the guy with the gigantic beard." :) Then after surgery the anesthesiologist came in to discuss how things went (this doctor was AMAZING, as all of them are at Children's). He said that E did great and then started laughing so sincerely. He said that Elijah was so polite as they were sedating him, saying things like, "No thank you, I really don't like that icky mask. Please take it away." That's our boy!

Elijah has bounced back from surgery like a total champ. I can hardly believe it! Literally the morning after surgery he was chipper and helpful and happy and rested. He was bouncing all through the house and eating through our fridge like caterpillars eat through milkweed. He was hardly in any pain this time, which was a huge difference from last time. This made me think about something. How often do we say a specific prayer a million times only to have it answered...and not give thanks?!

ALL of my very specific prayers were answered for this surgery. I prayed for a miraculous calm to take hold of Elijah in the OR. This was surgery #23 for him and all of the previous 22 surgeries have brought severe anxiety when the mask was put onto his face in the OR. I'm talking, multiple people having to hold him down because of body flailing and total anxiety/panic. :( According to Dan (because I have only gone in once and swore I'd never do it again), this time was a breeze compared to the last 22. That was an answer to prayer! My other main prayer this surgery was for Elijah to experience minimal pain afterward because last time was pretty bad for 2-3 days. He has had such minimal pain this time. Another answer to prayer. This time I have followed up with much thanks. It's so easy to overlook that part when your prayers have been answered, isn't it?

We are having some specific issues with behavior which pertains mostly to Elijah acting out aggressively toward Sammy. We have a plan in place for that and we're sticking with it, even if takes months for him to stop these behaviors. Consistency works best for him. Other than these issues, behavior has been overall so good for the most part. I remember just a few months ago barely making it through every day. The late afternoon hours were so rough that I wanted to run screaming from my house by 5:00pm. It's not like that anymore, even when homework and therapy is thrown in.

Elijah has been using the toilet on his own lately and I've been afraid to mention that to anyone in fear that he will regress again. I realized today that I have also been able to work on "other" things that even a few months ago wouldn't have been possible. He now gets into the car all by himself and puts on his own seatbelt. Even as recently as July, this did not happen. He also will put his shoes away when he gets home and put them on without complaint when it's time to go somewhere. Prior to July, I mostly did tasks like these for him. If I ask him to do a favor for me around the house, he'll (usually) do it happily. He now brings his plate to the counter without being asked after every meal. All of these things would have been tasks I wouldn't have even attempted three months ago, as we were all just doing our best to survive! I attribute most of this to his anxiety meds. They are another answer to prayer and I am grateful for them!

As always, I had a rough couple days after Elijah's surgery. It always hits me hard, even when it's a minor ordeal. I walked around in a stupor for most of the weekend and got nothing accomplished. Here's to a great week! Thanks for peeking in!