Bored

These photos don't really have anything to do with my post. I feel like I have to include some kind of photo to make my post a little more interesting. I took these photos of the kids recently and thought they were cute. I think Evan looks so grown up in his photo. And Jordyn wanted to show everyone her new trick, biting her shirt. I will walk into the room and find her just sitting like this now!

We are all sick and staying home from church today. I think we are all getting a little bored too, from sitting around for two days. Jordyn has had a "flu bug" since Wednesday and the rest of us have sore throats and colds. I decided the #1 most annoying thing about being a parent is having to clean up vomit. I hate it! I hate that you never know when or where your child is going to throw up. Every little sound or movement Jordyn makes, we're saying,"Agh! I think Jordyn is going to throw up!" You just never know. Jordyn was sad because she had to miss her first primary program today at church and at school she missed seeing a visit from the firefighters. Tom said to Jordyn," I think mommy is the one who is really sad about not seeing the firefighters at school." Maybe he's right, maybe he's not.

Last night we watched Evan Almighty and today we watched the second disc from the Planet Earth Series. If you haven't heard of this DVD you should watch it. We even used it as our Family Home Evening lesson last week and talked about the beautiful world God created. It just makes you realize all of the amazing places and animals that are on this planet. We are always in awe of the animals it shows you from far away countries that you have never even heard of or seen. I wonder if people from other countries see animals from our country and think they are so strange? When we started watching the first disc, we were a little worried because it started out talking about Emperor Penguins! Please, I don't want to watch anymore movies or shows about penguins! Luckily it didn't talk about them too long. Anyways, Planet Earth is a 5 disc set, and we are getting it from our Blockbuster Online membership. It will take us 5 weeks to watch all of the series and we plan to try and watch them on Sundays for something to do.

This past week, before Jordyn got sick, she had a few doctors appointments. First she went to the eye doctor and got some new glasses. The eye doctor said that because Jordyn's eyes aren't crossed permanently, there is nothing they can do. Surgery can actually make it worse in some cases. So, glasses may help and she needs them for farsightedness. I will pick the new pair up this week and will take some pictures of her.

She also went to the Developmental Pediatrician. He specializes in kids behaviors and also finding a diagnosis for their developmental delays. He told us that when he walked in the room, the first thing he thought of when he saw Jordyn was Rett Syndrome! What is it with this disease? It won't leave us alone. He said he does not have any new tests or ideas because she has already had such extensive testing. Then we talked a lot about her "bad" behaviors: hair pulling, kicking herself, not sleeping well at night, irritability, these strange "episodes" she has (they are too hard to describe). After talking to me for awhile, he thought most of her behaviors might be stemming from her not-so-consistent sleeping habits. So, we have one month to try and get her on a strict sleeping schedule. If she starts sleeping well and none of these behaviors are improved, he said we could talk about medication. Now I am pretty dedicated to following our new sleep schedule so that she doesn't have to start on some new medication! Our plan to get her sleeping better is not really new information. We should have been doing this all along. We are supposed to start her bedtime rituals one hour before bedtime (snack - including an over the counter sleep aid called Melatonin, bath, quiet playing/reading) and anything we come up with to help relax her and calm her down before bed. Then, put her to bed at the same time every night, in a very dark room with relaxing music or something that she likes. Wake her up at the same time every morning and have her take a 3o min. - 1 hr. nap at the same time every day. We have been doing these things for one week now and it is going pretty well. We'll see how she does this week when she isn't sick anymore. I actually really like the "hour" of getting the kids calmed and ready for bed. We turn off the TV and play quiet music like Michael Buble, Chris Botti, Enya, or others. It's a great time to relax and just spend quality time with the kids.