Never a dull moment...: It's a BLOGATHON...

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

It's a BLOGATHON...

No...you don't have to run anywhere...you don't even have to walk! You just have to get your clicky finger warmed up and do some clicking! Yep...that's right! I guess it should be called a clickathon! I know you are dying to know what the heck I am talking about...well the suspense is over! You know that cute little pink and leopard spotted square over there...the one that says "the secret is in the sauce?"...click it and you will be opened to a whole new bloggy loving world! Most people have heard of them by now but for those who haven't, you just don't know what you have been missing! They pick a daily winner to receive more comments in 24 hours than you ever thought possible! They give away great prizes! And they introduce you to great new bloggers! Just check out the cool people I have met since becoming a Sitsa (that's what we call ourselves...and you don't have to be a girl to be a Sitsa!)...

First, my favorite and loyal bloggy friend Jen. Check her out over at http://ihatewhine.blogspot.com. She is fantastic!

Then there is Carrie at http://carriestuckmanblog.blogspot.com. She does a great little thing on Friday called the "Phun Phriday Photo" blog where everyone posts their favorite photo on their blog with a link back to this blog and before you know it...you have 5 new visitors...sometimes more!

And third, who could resist Crazy Town USA? Check it out at http://craybickford.blogspot.com.

Fourth, I just recently found this one... http://swirlgirlspearls.blogspot.com.

And last...but not least....Michelle over at http://michelle-onecraftymama.blogspot.com.

I realized through doing this that I have some great bloggy friends in my favorites that are nor Sitsa's. Come on girls...go over to Secret in the sauce and become a Sitsa! You deserve all of that bloggy love! And as for my fellow sitsa's..visit these girls and tell them how great it is to be a sitsa!
Danielle over at http://daniellesdailylifeblog.blogspot.com
and Sarah over at http://isawitinbluewater.com.
Today is a blogathon where you can win cool prizes, get some new comment friends and lots of other cool things. So check them out..you'll be glad you did!

29 comments:

Aubrey said...: Hi Hi!! Don't you just love SITS!?

Have a great blogathon day!; October 14, 2008 11:47 AM
Natalie said...: Happy Blog-a-thon! Mommy of 9? So many blessings. I am in awe! :); October 14, 2008 11:06 AM
Laura Ingalls Gunn said...: I am not doing a SITS post today as I am celebrating my 100th post. Please stop by and enter my giveaway.; October 14, 2008 10:45 AM
Kori said...: Hey there. just wanted to stop by and say

Happy Blogathon-ing!; October 14, 2008 10:29 AM
Jenn said...: Aww that was really nice. Thank you!; October 14, 2008 9:31 AM
SITS Girls said...: We love how you included your friends who haven't found their way over to SITS... send them some of the comment love!

Great post! We are thrilled to have you in the SITStahood!; October 14, 2008 9:31 AM
Denyse said...: Wow! What an amazing woman you are! 9 kids and a full time job! How do you ever find the time to create such a cute blog?!; October 14, 2008 7:27 AM
April said...: good luck SITSTA!!!; October 14, 2008 7:05 AM
T said...: happy blogathon! I am second in a family of 9 kids, married to the second in a family of 11 kids... we stopped at 5 and I can't even IMAGINE doing more laundry than I already do... this is me, bowing to your superiority!!; October 14, 2008 12:28 PM
Jen Sue Wild said...: Fun Blog!! Happy SITS day!!; October 14, 2008 12:16 PM
Heather said...: Happy Blogathon Day!!; October 14, 2008 2:15 PM
Ronnica said...: I love that you're encouraging your friends to join SITS. I love it!; October 14, 2008 12:50 PM
dddiva said...: Holy moly, you've got a houseful! Since I need to know how you do it I've added you to my list so I can find out when I have some time.; October 14, 2008 3:25 PM
Melodie said...: Happy Blogathon, SITSta! Wow, nine kids. Impressive!; October 14, 2008 6:27 PM
Marrdy said...: Happy SITS Day!; October 14, 2008 4:55 PM
~Tara said...: popped over from SITS, happy blogathon day!! Wow, 9 kids!! You are amazing!! Cant wait to come back and really check out your blog!; October 14, 2008 4:23 PM
Meridith said...: New to SITS and LOVE'N IT!!!
Happy Blog-A-Thon!!; October 14, 2008 3:46 PM
SuZ said...: Happy Blogathon Day!!; October 14, 2008 8:13 PM
Sidney said...: Hey busy mama! Thanks for stopping by my blog...it's nice to meet another "mom to many"!; October 14, 2008 10:58 PM
Mommyhood is Thankless said...: Happy SITS day!; October 14, 2008 10:34 PM
Megan said...: Happy SITS Blog-A-Thon Day!!; October 14, 2008 9:51 PM
Marla @ Stolen Bon Bons said...: Happy SITSathon!; October 14, 2008 9:56 PM
Jen said...: You are so right! Sits is just so cool!!!; October 14, 2008 9:12 PM
Mrs. De Miranda said...: Cute Blog!! Happy SITS!; October 14, 2008 9:49 PM
Kelsey said...: Happy blogathon day!!
9 kids! I'm impressed!! Your baby (haven't seen the other 8) is adorable!!
You've got one of my fave bloggers, Michelle on here. Can't wait to check the other 4 out.; October 14, 2008 9:26 PM
Danielle said...: Thanks for including me... I'll check it out when I get home. I was doing defensive driving online yesterday and couldn't do much fun stuff; October 15, 2008 7:02 AM
Heather said...: Happy (belated) Blogathon day! I'm working my way through the list and it is taking a while.......

Always nice to meet a new (to me) SITSta! :D

Cheers!; October 15, 2008 10:13 AM
Lavender n Lattés said...: Thanks for stopping by on SITS day! Great Blog!; October 16, 2008 6:27 PM
Felicia Eis said...: How fun to have nine kids!! My husband and I want a lot of children too. So far we are on our first ;)

Hope that you had a lovely SISTA day!! Please forgive the fact that I am only now just getting around :P; October 16, 2008 5:42 PM

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Out of the Mouths of My Babes

We have one of those handheld, vibrating back massagers, and Zachary likes to play with it. The other day, he is playing with it and decided to read the sticker on the back of it. Of course, he has it turned on and after studying it for several minutes, he asks, "Mommy, what does PP-OO-WW-EE-RR spell?" So funny! I guess it the vibration was causing the letters to look doubled!
Zachary and Sydney are outside playing, she starts crying and I find her with a massive nose bleed. I asked "what happened?", Zachy said"I hit her nose, but it started bleeding all by itself!"
Logan was in the pool yesterday and he was using a snorkel. After about 10 minutes he asked, "how do you breathe out when you use this thing?"

Strange Searches That Led People Here...

Wedgies/Butt Cut...I am speechless on this one.
Do people suppose to get a marriage license before their wedding?...WOW...Um, yes but you have to be 18 to get one!
dora vent ass traffic..."what was this person really looking for?"
beautiful babes with ugly freak sex...Sometimes, I just don't get it
sports teams that wear black prefer to play in hot temperatures... OK.....Well OK!
Why does snake keep his butts?....Now, I am no snake professional but I am pretty sure they have only 1 butt and they probably keep it so they can go poo!
Zachary bonebreak divorce???? I don't know what to say about this one
father daughter shower together....SICK-O!!
Does anal sex hurt?....Ummm, probably! Wow! I definately don't remember writing about that one!
bitchin moms....well I guess that makes me one
pediatric intabation handle....proof that Google doesn't always get it right!
How to say my butt hurts in German....OK, either someone is in Germany and they are in pain or someone thought a German mail order husband would be a good idea!
mommy butt...hmmm, I am at a loss for words!
jyll stroller....I didn't know I needed one!

All about Zachary...

Zachary has Autism. But nobody knows why. Let me give you a little background on my Zachy. My pregnancy was normal up until about 30 weeks. I started having contractions and was beginning to dialate. So they put me on full bedrest. At 31.5 weeks gestation, my water broke. I was admitted into the hospital and placed on monitors. They wanted to try to keep him in there as long as possible. They gave me shots to help his lungs develop and antibiotics to prevent infection. At 32 weeks he showed signs of distress and I showed signs of infection so he was delivered by emergency c-section. He did well and even had APGAR scores of 9 and 9. But before long he was unable to regulate his body temperature and had to be placed into an incubator. He weighed 4lbs 5.5oz at birth and never required intabation (sp?). He even breastfed 2 days later. But he remained in the NICU for 12 days to stabilize his body temperature. He also had jaundice and went under the lights for a bit. After coming home he did pretty well until he was 7 weeks old and he developed RSV. I noticed that morning that he was sleeping more than normal and felt cool to the touch. I called his doctor and took him to be seen immediately. They sent us straight to the hospital because his temp had dropped to 93.5. They had to place him back into the incubator which was devistating to me because we waited so long to get him out originally. But I wanted what was best and I wanted him better. After spending a week in the ICU, he came home again. He would spend numerous days in and out of the ICU over the next year for Bronchiolitis, RAD etc. On one of his admissions the nurse and doctor asked if he had ever been tested for Downs Syndrome because he showed alot of the signs. We said no and they decided to test him. We had to wait 4 weeks for the results and we were devestated. Not because we would love him any less but because we knew what that meant for his future. The test came back negative but it stirred up some thoughts of what might really be wrong. Since he was my fifth child, I recognized right away that he wasn't hitting his milestones. He didn't smile until he was 9 months, he didn't track objects, he didn't sit or roll until much later than normal etc. I had him tested for developmental delay and they agreed that he was way behind schedule. They concluded that it was most likely due to his prematurity and illness. I relaxed a bit because I knew we could get him to catch up with therapy. He received physical therapy 3 times a week. At 1 year old he still didn't have any words and seemed oblivious when his daddy and I would come and go or drop him off at daycare. So speech therapy began as well. Soon to be followed by occupational therapy. By the time he was 2, he was receiving 3 types of therapy, 3 times a week. But he was still way behind on his milestones. Finally, we had him tested for Autism. He passed that test with flying colors. The doctor was amazed at how well Zachy put together a puzzle designed for 12 year olds but couldn't point at which picture was of someone throwing a ball. He had no clue what Mommy and Daddy were and called everyone Mommy. He wasn't afraid of anything, heights, scary movies, monsters, etc. But he was terribly afraid of the vaccuum, the sky and loud noises. He would have tantrums that would require physical restraint to keep him from hurting himself or others. At just 2 years old he was able to turn my recliner upside down with ease. He would throw tables, punch walls, rip off wallpaper, dump over furniture etc. He tried to put his head through his bedroom window so we had to cover it with plexiglass. We had to turn his bedroom doorknob around so we could lock him in at night. Otherwise he would wander the house and we were terrified he would go outside and get lost. He was fascinated with things like trains, trucks, rocks, trees, light switches, water and his air condition vent. He lined up everything and would create intricate designs with mismatched blocks and if 1 got moved out of place he would tantrum. He would play with his feces, painting himself, his walls, his furniture and his floor with poo. He didn't care about the nastiness of it and would get angry when we put him in the tub. He would only eat nutrigrain bars, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and gummies. He didn't sleep more than 2 hours at a time and had terrible night terrors where he would start screaming bloody murder in the middle of the night and it was very difficult to get him out of it. He would spend his time outside throwing a ball up into a tree trying to get it stuck or lying on the ground watching the water run out of the hose. All the while my neighbors kids and my other kids were running around playing, riding bikes and having a great time. He was oblivious to them and spent most of the time by himself. He started going to the public school in the Autism program at 2.5 years of age and began to show immediate improvements in his speech and other things. He immitated everything so they decided to pull him out of the Autism class and place him in a development delay class so thay maybe he would mimic more proper behavior. It worked pretty well but he still had a long way to go. Meanwhile he had been tested for everything from heart problems, to upper GI issues to EKG. He was diagnosed with severe reflux and had a terrible drooling problem. Life at home was difficult because we had a picture schedule we had to go by to keep Zachy on task and we always had to have his foods and his favorite toys available. We couldn't take him out in public because he would tantrum everytime. Come to find out he has a severe intolerance to noise. He covers his ears almost constantly. I took him to Burger King one time because he was going through a chicken nugget and french fry stage, but he tantrummed terribly because the food was too hot. Food is supposed to be a certain temperature and if was any different, he couldn't handle it. And then people would stare at him like he was a bad boy and a few times I snapped and told them not to judge. Zachy has come a long way in the past 2+ years. He speaks pretty well and can tell you when something is wrong. This really helped cut down the tantrumming. He also takes Adderall XR every morning, a low dose of Adderall every evening and clonidine to help him sleep. He finally realized at age 4.5 that I was his mommy and his daddy was his daddy. He has still not figured out the whole boy/girl thing and can only guess someones gender based on the length of their hair. He has to wear earplugs at lunch because he says the noise in the lunchroom "hurts". When he needs downtime, he plays his video games "the game where you stay in the car" and picks which game based on the direction of the traffic lights. He is hugely fascinated by traffic lights and signs, bridges, trains, train tracks, arrows and waterfalls. He is beginning to imaginative play but is very rehearsed because they are teaching it to him versus him learning it on his own. He loves Thomas the Train, Spiderman and monster trucks. He also loves big cities. The buildings fascinate him. But he doesn't eat candy or ice cream, he doesn't look forward to holidays, he doesnt get bored with one thing and decide to play something else. He plays the same things everyday, the same way and at the same time. He only eats PB&J sandwiches (they have to be cut into 4 equal squares), gummies, nilla wafers, french toast sticks (only 5 because thats how old he is), and an occasional bag of doritos (triangle chips). He only drinks water! I have to always be sure to have his foods because his world stops when he doesn't have it. He doesn't sleep through the night and he can already read many words. He can read most traffic signs. But one thing he does real well is steal my heart. He is my soul! I love him dearly! He had a brain MRI done a year ago that showed he has a benign cyst located in the area that produces socialization and also that he showed signs of seizures. He later had an EEG done that showed he has abnormal brain waves and is 95% likely to suffer en epileptic seizure at any given moment. And they can't medicate him for it until it happens so they can see what type of seizure he has. Now I watch him very closely because the thought scares the hell out of me. Currently he is in a "normal" kindergarten class with a full time aide, speech therapy and occupational therapy. He is still not potty trained, still not doing well socially and still easy to tantrum. He has an IEP but they listed his disability as development delay because they dont want to have to provide autistic therapies since the county has none available. We have 2 different diagnosis of Autism from 2 different doctors and have argued numerous times to get it changed. But we get the run around. Until now, we finally got his IEP label changed to Autism. Now he will get what he truly needs.

Never a dull moment...

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

It's a BLOGATHON...

29 comments:

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All about Zachary...

Never a dull moment...

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

It's a BLOGATHON...

29 comments:

Elf

Christmas Countdown

love

Follow Me!

The secret is in the sauce

All About Me

award

Mom Blog Network

Entrecard

Who We Are...

vote for my blog

counter

Mom Blogs

Out of the Mouths of My Babes

Strange Searches That Led People Here...

Private Brandon

Blog Archive

christmas

autism awareness

background

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Gin in my pocket

All about Zachary...