It's been awhile...

Sorry I've been MIA! Life just hasn't slowed down any in the past few weeks.  So, where do I begin?

1st - JUDY: She's actually been doing pretty good these past few days! Starting to talk and babble a little more. She's still biting a lot.  She's bit someone everyday at day care for the past week and a half! YIKES! Last week, I saw the little girl's arm that she bit AND I WAS MORTIFIED! It was terrible! Bleeding and Jude took a HUGE bite out of her arm! I could have died! So, I'm sure this has to do with sensory issues and her lack of communication.  Occupational Therapy starts next week, speech therapy started a couple weeks ago, and still waiting on the neurologist to see her.  We don't know what else to do at this point, except LOVE her, guide her, and take care of her.  Judy is just so feisty, rough, and needy- neither one of our other kids were ever like this.

2nd- JACKSON: Bless his lil' heart! He has the growth hormone deficiency.  Thankfully, he is getting screened to be part of a new growth hormone drug clinical trial! Which will be free to us for 9 months! After that, it will be around 2K/month for his growth hormone injections, and will need to take these once/day until he is done with puberty.  CRAZY!! But I'd do anything for that lil' guy!! He has my heart! This week he will be performing at his school's talent show doing STAND UP COMEDY! Hilarious!!! Jackson is something else!!!  I know 9 months seems far away, but please pray we figure out how to do this financially for him.

3rd- GRACE: Can't forget about our sweet 11 year old!!  She is the kindest, most loving person!! She's becoming such a beautiful young lady.  Starting to talk about boys, shaving her legs, got her ears pierced, etc!! YIKES! Am I really that old to have a daughter that old?!?!?! Crazy! She's also such a great help with Judy!! The past couple nights she has asked to put Judy to bed! :) It's too sweet! Grace takes Judy upstairs and rocks her for 15 minutes or so, and Judy falls right asleep! Precious sisters! Love it!

AND you can always continue to pray for Michael and me.  Our lives have been so crazy the past year.  We are trying so hard to keep it all together!! It just seems like one thing after another!  Michael has had some health issues, and I'm on a temporary contract, hoping to have a job next school year.  When it rains, it pours. We did get to get away last weekend. My parents watched the kids, we went to the Indy 500, and then to a very nice hotel downtown for the night.  It was super relaxing and very nice to get away and spend time together.  We are coming up on 12 years of marriage this June. Now that's crazy! Praying for no more craziness, praying for peace.  Thanks again for all the support! :)

He's Got It!

Poor little Jackson! Results came in, he has the Growth Hormone deficiency! :( Our poor lil' buddy.  Now we just wait on the paperwork to get to our insurance.  We are extremely scared of the amount of $ this is going to cost us! They do have a clinical trial going on, that Jackson could be a part of, and it would be free.  However, this would call for a lot more doctor's visits, blood work drawn weekly, etc.  And they don't even know if this new drug works yet.  So, who knows what we will do.  We are very bummed out about this whole situation.  We just want to make the right decision! Typically, this hormone injections costs around $70/day! It's crazy!

Judy has been very Up and Down lately.  Crabby most of the time, unless with new people or a change of scenery!  Michael and I are exhausted! We both are extremely eager for work to start Monday mornings, and dread the evenings and weekends! I know that sounds bad, but she's so exhausting! She takes all our energy.  Judy just won't do one thing independently, she's always on top of us whining, and won't sit still for one minute. We LOVE her! We really do, but the fussiness might just put us over the edge!!!

Thank goodness, Michael and I get a break!! We are going to the Indy 500 in a couple of weeks! We can't wait!!! Michael rented a hotel, downtown Indy, that night too!! I'm grateful to have this to look forward to! It's what's keeping me going.

Also, I'm a Title 1 teacher, which is a temporary teaching position in Wayne Township.  Still haven't found out yet, if I get to come back next school year.  Remember, this job has literally saved my life!  It's what I look forward to!  I've made so many great friends, LOVE the position, and heart the students!  I pray that I get to stay!!! I will FREAK out if I have to be a Stay-at-Home mom with Crabby Judy next year!! AHHHH!!! NOOO!!!

Please pray that we make the right choices for Jackson's health issues, that Judy will be joyful, and that I can stay in my teaching position at my school!!

Waiting... and Staying Busy

Jackson's Growth Hormone test went really well last week.  Jackson did a super job! He was very brave!! I just held his sweet face next to mine, when the nurse put the IV in his arm.  I could feel tears fall on my face from his eyes! My heart just ached. 

My good friends (Missy Joy and Kara Mabus) gave me great advice.  Missy came up with the idea that every 1/2 hour I could give Jack a small gift to open.  Jackson LOVED that!  And Mabus gave me a great idea to prepare Jackson for this day.  She said I could act really excited that we were going to the hospital because we will get to find out if they can help him with growing taller.  It worked!  He really wasn't too nervous. Thanks girls!!!! :)

Jackson just has the best personality! He is such a ham!! He's a character! The nurses loved him and so do we! It was a 4 hour test and we are still waiting for the results.  Big Bummer though because if he does have this deficiency, it's going to cost a lot of money!! Without insurance, it's around $70K/year! YIKES!!!  Insurance is really funny, for some reason, about this growth hormone drug.  Even if insurance covers some, it will still be a lot for us monthly.  I will do whatever it takes for that kid though! I will keep you posted.

Judy, on the other hand, is UP AND DOWN.  We just can't keep up with her moods.  We had a lot to do this weekend, so that helped pass the time and entertain Judy.  She likes to keep busy.  We ended this weekend with my niece's birthday party! Sweet Georgia peach is now 1!  Oh how I love her!! We got to see a lot of family too! Big shout out to my cousin AUSTIN! (He really wanted to make the blog!!) LOL!