Drama. Drama. Drama. In Spades...

Yes, I am well aware that it has been a trillion years since my last posting, but my life has been chock full of drama. So much drama, it will take me 5 posting to catch you up. I have decided to dribble rather than dump my life for the last few months on you. You are so very welcome!

First post is regarding my eldest son, Jacob. See photo below- POST SURGERY!

Look a few millimeters over from his inner corner of his eye. The red lines are the sutures.

Last Saturday, we were shopping and we got tangled up in the store and one of the clothes hangers dangling over my arm, dangled itself into his right eye. Upon, unknown removal by me, by turning away from my son, it created a full-thickness tear of his upper eyelid. That created a centimeter long tear which looked like a triangular chunk of his eyelid was removed.

We proceeded with great alarm to the urgent care center, who upon taking my insurance information, refused to touch him and sent us to the ER next door. The ER, upon taking my insurance and admitting us, refused to touch him and transferred us to Children's Medical Center in Dallas. The injury was at 3pm, we got to Dallas at 6:30pm and he had surgery at 11:30pm. The poor thing not only never had ANY pain meds, he also didnt eat or drink for over 12 hours that day.

He did amazingly well. He was at times even charming the nursing staff into thinking that putting an IV in his arm was going to be "no big deal." Ha. Double Ha. By the time the surgery took place, he had exhausted every flexible, patient and pain-controlled nerve in his body. He was worn out. It took us 3 hours to wake him up post surgery to get him home, because they had to give him double the sedation meds to calm him down.

The pictures above "are not that bad" unless its your child needing sedation and you have to sign papers saying that you know its a possibility that your child may never wake up from the procedure. Thank you Lord for my husband, friend's prayers and my faith in God. I was a wreck and cried the entire surgery.

Jake is 100% in that eye. His vision was even 20/20 before they did the repair. The doctor said he was very, very, very lucky. No cornea damage and a few millimeters to the left and he would have needed tear duct repair, full admit to the hospital and a trip to the operating room. She says luck, I say God's Providence.

Wordless Wednesday...

******WARNING!! FULL FRONTAL NUDITY!!!*******

The time has come...

Here are the long awaited Halloween photos of Jacob and Luke. Oops! I mean Optimus Prime and Spiderman Jr. strutting their stuff. Yes, these are my actual children, even though you cannot see their cute and adorable faces.

Check out these cool Halloween bags my Dad sent them last year. They even talk when you push a button on the handle. Great for 3 year olds who are going through a shy phase. It says 'Trick or Treat' and 'Thank you.' Jacob's was a skeleton hand and Luke's was a witch claw, complete with creepy voices.

And here are the silly pumpkin faces they made with Grandpa and Grandma Sterzik's help on their last visit. I especially like the snot coming out of Jacob's pumpkin nose! It's great being the mom of 2 boys- grossness is encouraged!

Halloween pics

Well.... I can't seem to get my act together. How many days has it been since Halloween, and I still haven't downloaded the pictures of the boys in their costumes. I am going to blame my lack of time to pre-presidental angst and prayer. Anyways, here are a few photos of some children that are NOT mine, but I thought the outfits were great!

Here's my first fictional child, Pinocchio. Is that how you spell his name? Oh well, we just call him P-knuckle. He does whatever I ask, I mean make him do.

And this is little Shark-bait. Isn't he cute? The tiniest little feet you've ever seen!

Hope this tides you over until I get my rear in gear and download my real progeny. Is that a real word, or did I make that up?

Yep, the ladies love him...

Be patient. I will explain the photo in due time, in due time. Took Luke to the doctor for his annual exam. Yes, I DO know that his birthday was in August and its now October- time just gets away from me. Anyways, we were discussing his current quirks while Dr. D looked over his info. There was a time that we couldn't get out the door before Dr. D would announce, "He's the biggest boy on the block isn't he?" (Master of the obvious, but I love the man). "Luke is greater than 100% on his height and greater than 100% on his weight."

Get this- Luke is 40 inches tall and 40 pounds at the grand old age of 3. He is the size of an average 4 year old. He and Jacob are assumed to be twins almost everytime the go out in public together. Jacob is 46 inches tall and 46 pounds at the age of 5. Well, Dr. D tells me, "You are looking at a boy who will be at least 6'4 or 6'5." At 5'6, I think my 6'2 husband is a giant. Luke is going to be huge. I am going to have to go back to work full-time and Chris will need a second job to feed these boys. We better be sweet to them now or we are in danger of them sitting on us and squishing us when we are old and feeble.

By the way, the photo... the ladies do love a tall, tall boy! He is a shameless flirt and cuter than puppies and kittens on Christmas morning. I do believe I will keep him as long as possible.

monkey see, monkey do...

Doesn't matter what it is, if one does it, the other will too.

Note the differences in wearing apparel. It appears that I have a skull worshipper and a cucumber and tomato salad lover, living in my house. No... its just Jacob in his Halloween spirit wear and Luke in his brothers size 7 t-shirt. He wore it for over 24 hours a few days ago. Wore it to bed, wore it all day and had to have it pried off of him that night for clean clothing. Yes, I do have standards about cleanliness.. although it would have been easier to just let him wear it again. There was a tiny fit thrown about removing Bob and Larry from his person.

But my all time favorite story of the week involves the dentist. I took them in for a cleaning- it was Luke's first time. He was amazingly calm and cooperative. The dentist even commented on it. I told him that Luke was just very easygoing- that's how he rolls. We go to check out and Jacob has all his goodies PLUS a toy car they gave him. Luke did not recieve a toy, so he goes to get one himself. I stop him from pilfering the toy basket and he lets out, what the dictionary would term a "blood curdling scream." Not just one. Not just two. Three or four of them in a row. I take him to the bathroom where he continues and I am sure the office staff are convinced that I have ripped an arm off punishing him. I quietly talk to him and he stops the "from the gut" screaming. I have NEVER heard this child act this way.

We go back out and I ask him to apologize to the receptionist. Do you know what she said? She stated, "You scared me." My 3 year old freaked her out. THAT is how loud and insanely crazy he was acting. For those of you who know my son, you are shocked and appalled. If he wasn't a boy, I would blame hormones.

some cuteness...

Look at them! Aren't they the cutest? I keep reminding myself of that every time they tromp downstairs at 3am to ask if they can sleep with us or for us to take them to the bathroom, etc. Everthing seems to be flying by at the speed of light (except sleep deprivation). Got to keep in mind that they days will pass so soon. Pictures help me remembers how blessed I am.

1st Day of School

Look at him. Isn't he

an imp? Let's just say

that getting a serious picture of Jacob is nigh on impossible. He is doing fabulous in the classroom and enjoys going everyday. He started speech therapy this week and I start being a homeroom parent next week. Luke is happy being at home with me and no one to take his toys. All is right with the world!

Chick-fil-A Day

We ate for free a couple of times on Chick-fil-A day last month. We only had to dress up like cows to get the free goodies. It was worth it!

A "minor" meeting...

Last week, I asked Jacob's new vice-principal Mrs. Brown, if I could come take pictures of the school and make a little 'This is my school' album to help orient Jake to Kindergarten. She agreed and we chatted a little about him while we toured the school. All the teachers that were there let me take a photo and get a look at the rooms. She said she would like to meet again before school so we could meet some of the other staff and do a 'mini-ARD'. ARD's are school meetings for kids with special needs where staff and parents discuss goals, plans, etc. So, Thursday morning our entire family traipsed down to Hawk Elementary and were met in the conference room by: the Vice Principal, Diagnostician, Speech Therapist, Inclusion teacher, Inclusion paraprofessional, Psychologist, and his new Kindergarten teacher. This was a little overwhelming. We discovered that Jacob has not undergone a true Autism Evaluation (we suspected but weren't sure) but will by the first 6 weeks, and that he will be getting some pretty amazing services. I felt like we overwhelmed his Kinder teacher, but everyone else seem very excited about working with Jacob. I wouldnt call myself an anxious person, but I couldn't sleep very well last week and I think I have been dealing with the entire situation by ignoring/not thinking much about it. I've been praying about it all, but this is really a 'I dont have one iota of control' type situation and I'm not sure how these all go down. All I do know is that all of the staff we met were so professional and kind to us and to Jacob. You can't ask for much more than that.

Potty Training

Well... we started potty training Luke this week. Day 1 was pretty uneventful- a few minor accidents. Day 2 I decided to force drink Luke, giving him lots and lots of juice to ensure he got the hang of it. Mistake #1. He is a camel and can hold his pee for inordinately long periods of time. So, me taking him to the bathroom every 30 minutes was very frustrating for us both. Then he would have an accident after about 4 hours of no peeing. Tuesday morning at our house looked like "Hades- the Musical," with me starring as Satan and Luke as a little imp. After a long crying jag by Luke, yelling by me and a long nap. We all awoke in a better frame of reference. Since then, it could not have been easier. I removed myself and my ideas about how hard this should be and "How to potty train a boy" rules and just listened to my son. He tells me when he needs to go and is happy to do it. Yet again, experience does not equal wisdom on my part. The Bible says that man's ways are not God's ways and my wisdom is not God's wisdom. Another life lesson from the Lord via my 3 year old son and a potty.

Birthday Boy turns 3!

Luke turned 3 this past Sunday and I had to share some cute photos and stories about this adorable boy. He and Jacob were in our hotel room and Luke decided to share one of his new birthday toys with his older sibling. I told Jacob, 'Your brother just shared something special with you- tell him he's awesome and thank him.' Jacob responds and adds the awesome part for good measure. What was Luke's reply? 'Yes, I am awesome.' Such a humble boy we have on our hands.

Check out those ultra big shades he's sporting at the poolside table. Tre' chic no? And what about the future James Bond? Green castle hats are all the range in San Antonio right now!

Putting the 'fun' in dysfunctional... or Our trip to SeaWorld

There is nothing like getting away from it all, to put things into perspective. On our SeaWorld trip, our hotel had movies outside at night, up on the wall. Like a drive in, only with mosquitos and smores. Anyway, the showed the classic Bruce Willis homage "Over the Hedge," in which he plays a deceitful raccoon. The other main character Hammie is a turtle. At the end of the movie, they are discussing how they are all a family and sharing how families operate; what they do and dont do well. Hammie tells RJ that he would have helped him in his quest to repay a killer bear if he had only asked him beforehand. To which RJ replies, 'I wish you would have told me that sooner,' and Hammie essentially says communicating is another thing families don't do well.

What does this have to do with our SeaWorld trip you ask? Well, my dear, it has everything to do with it. We drove 5 hours to be reminded that communication is the key to any healthy relationship, whether it is husband and wife, parent and child or brother to brother. In hindsight, we probably looked like the 4 stooges- constantly miscommunicating where to meet, where to eat, what to do and where the truck keys are and no one answering their phone- shoot, even knowing where our phones were! But, dont get me wrong. We had a great time and I have the pictures to prove it to you!

The boys at the Waggin' Tales animal show. They loved seeing cats, dogs, ducks, skunks, pigs and ponies doing tricks.

And this is how close we got to the dolphins. No photo cropping required to get this close. All you need are some stinky fish and they come right up to you.

The boys after face tattoos of Dolly the dolphin and Shamu the Killer Whale. Great times!

The Soccer Champion Blizzards

Here they are in all their soccer glory- the 2008 summer indoor champs with their purple trophies in hand. To commemerate the occasion, we bought Jacob a t-shirt in the color of his choice (purple) and an iron-on that has a soccer ball with the word "GOAL" on it. Very snazzy this shirt. How did I end up with 2 boys whose favorite colors are purple and pink? Maybe its because they never see these colors and are therefore novel to them? Lets hope so- for a solid month Luke begged for a 'pink birthday.' Without any intervention or slamming of pink, he changed his mind and requested a 'blue Shamu' birthday in honor of our SeaWorld birthday/family vacation trip to San Antonio.

Our BIG Day!

Today was crazy. Lots of things happened, but just stay with me. I promise it will all be worth it. Andra heads out to Bootcamp while Chris feeds and clothes the boys for Jacob's soccer tourney. His team, the Blizzards, were third in the indoor soccer season this summer. We were playing the Lightning team, who had soundly beat us both times we played them. Surprise, surprise, we won that game! So, it was home for a quick lunch, practice in the backyard with Chris and naps before heading back that afternoon to play the Storm team. We had beaten them earlier in the season, but after a full morning game (hour long), were the kids up for another win?
We scored several goals early on due to Storm being short a few players and a COACH for 15 minutes. About 15 minutes before the game was over, the score was 3 Storm and 4 Blizzard. Imagine a large huddle of 4-6 year olds and Jacob in the middle. The ball gets kicked to him and lo and behold, he fires it straight into the goal- SCORE! Our teams parents went crazy. Moms were hugging me and gives me high fives, the coach said he could see me crying from the bench and Chris was in shock because he had missed everything before the goal by talking to Luke! I was SO proud of my son! He looked up at us when all the shouting and clapping started and you could tell he was beginning to understand what he had done. The Storm came back and scored with about 45 seconds left, making it 5 to 5. Our star player Josh came out as goalie to play forward and literally with less than 5 seconds left he scored our final goal, making the Blizzards the champions! Trophies and everything! What a day! We followed it up with ice cream and Braums.
That goal was such a huge gift from the Lord- such an encouragement for the learning process for Jacob, but mostly for us as his parents. Its tough to see him struggle, but I hope he remembers that moment forever- Chris and I will. So, the next time you visit our house, look on our mantle for the coolest purple soccer trophy ever!

Living life

Today was a fun day. The boys and I had some friends we hadn't seen in a loooong time over to our house. We all have something in common- one of each of our children has developmental delay. Anywhere from autism to tactily defensive to PDD. It was so easy to talk about our lives with the struggles we have faced over the last 2-3 years as we have walked the path separately. God is so kind to put people in our lives on the same journey as us that have had totally different experiences but can totally relate to our path. I think it is so easy to feel isolated and bewildered by all the uncertainties of knowing what is best for your child. I laughed and said there is no instruction manual for that, but in a way that isnt true. God has moved and directed us in lots of different ways. Obviously the Bible is full of wisdom and humble going to the Lord and saying, "I dont know what the heck I am doing and you are in control heere- help me out!" There has been a lot of that. And people. People have been so instrumental in helping us out. From the preschool director telling me about the monthly free screening, to a new friend giving me advice that has helped with her own recently Autism diagnosed son, we have had people guiding us through what seems to be unknown and scary territory. I have NEVER known anyone with autism. Now I know an adult man at my church, and 5 kids plus my own son with PDD- all within 9 months. How gracious is God that He has surrounded me with people who KNOW what our family is going through. And what is even better is that because I know that all things work for our good if we are in Christ, I know that our story will benefit others- it will all be worth it, because our journey will help other people navigate life- may I faithfully give God the credit for the growth in our lives and in others. Because, like I said, I dont have all the answers, but I know Who does.

Check out my boy Luke's book- he's famous!

Click here to view this photo book.

wishin' and hopin' and dreamin' and livin'

Well.... here it is again. Long time no write. Where does the time go? Will someone please let me in on the secret? Things are settling down at our house- thank you to God! To make a reallllllllly long story short- Jacob was not having seizures. He quite promptly met our $900 deductible in 2 visits- one for an EEG, one for the neurologist and a bonus MRI under anesthesia. We are still getting bills 2 months later. Our neurologist (sent to us by the Lord) has given Jacob the diagnosis of 'Autism Spectrum Disorder,' which is as confusing as it sounds. Basically, there are 5 disorders within this spectrum, 3 of which are Autism, Asbergers and PDD-NOS. They are all similar in appearance but different in classification. For example, Jacob has many of the characteristics of autism but not enough of them to meet the criteria for diagnosis. He is most similar to PDD-NOS which is pervasive developmental delay-not otherwise specified.

But all that to say, he is doing FABULOUSLY! We weaned him off of his meds and tried some new ones with good results, but decided to leave him off of medication for right now. He was doing so much better on his new meds, but spectacularly on nothing. God has so used all of the speech-language therapy, social skills training, pre-school and what we have been doing at home to work wonders in him. He is a totally different little boy. Ask anyone who has known him his whole life and they will testify to what I am saying! There is such peace in our home! I am tearing up right now just writing about it. More on this later.

Keep us in your prayers. There are many deep, dark places in our souls that God is plowing up through all of this. Areas of stubborn rebellion and ignorance. Pray that God would show Himself faithful to us as we struggle through these raw places. Thanks for listening. Andra

Seizure or sleep deprived?

Well, it is 11:30pm and Jake and I are watching Toy Story II and eating popcorn as we try to stay awake for his EEG tomorrow. He is supposed to be sleep deprived, because somehow that gives them better brain wave activity readings.

Anyways, I was looking through some of my photos on the computer, when I came across this one. THIS is what makes me think he fell asleep and didnt have a seizure. I just want things to be cleared up. Maybe its denial, but I dont think he is having seizures. If he is, I need some clarification, big time. I hope its a $750 insurance policy- get it done and rest easier. We'll know soon wont we?

A Day out with Thomas the Train-

We went to Grapevine to ride Thomas. It was a beautiful day to be outside. The boys were a bit overstimulated by all the people and sights to see. We had photos taken with Thomas and Sir Topham Hatt, played with train sets and explored the gift shop. Reeeeeeally explored the gift shop. On our train ride we sat in an old coach complete with a conductor in full regalia who punched our tickets. The photo was taken as we were leaving the train. The boys were pretty exhausted at the end of the day. They wore their Thomas shirts that day and since we returned they have both been playing with the train set quite a bit. Ah... boys and their machines.