In Which We Have A Helpful Home Visit

Today Steve, an awesome occupational therapist from Good Samaritan's Children's Therapy Unit, came to our house for an equipment evaluation.  Basically he took a tour of the house, checked out Connor's current equipment, talked with me about things we're having difficulties with, and then suggested ways we can change things to make things easier for the little guy.  Of course our house is already set up beautifully for Connor, but as he gets older new issues will crop up that we need to problem solve.

The biggest reason we asked Steve to come out was to talk about lift options.  Connor is over forty pounds now, and while I can still pick him up by myself in most situations, he's only going to get heavier and I'd like something in place before I start throwing out my back.  I have the most trouble getting him in and out of his shower chair right now, which is pretty low to the ground.  And while it's pretty easy to get him from his bed to his chair, it's a little bit harder going the other direction. 

A Hoyer lift just won't work for us; they're made to slide underneath a bed, and Connor's bed has a solid base.  Installing a system permanently in the ceiling would probably be pretty expensive.  So Steve recommended a system called the Voyager Easytrack, which is strung between two fairly narrow poles and is close to, but doesn't actually touch the ceiling.  Here's a video for those who are interested in seeing it.  Our insurance should cover it, and it will work with Connor's bed.  And since it's portable, we'd be able to pack it up and take it with us to use while traveling, which is a definite plus.  If any readers have used a Voyager or have other recommendations, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Anyway, we also talked about getting a rolling base for Connor's shower chair and his toilet chair.  Right now his toilet chair attaches directly to the toilet in our hallway bathroom, and every time we have guests I have to detach it.  Once Ellen is home, she'll be sharing the bathroom with Connor and we'll have to move the toilet chair off and onto the toilet a lot more often, so it makes since to have one with wheels that simply rolls over the toilet.  That means we'd also be able to roll it into Connor's room when he's bigger and transfer him to the toilet chair using the lift.  The same thing goes for his shower chair. 

Steve also tweaked Connor's stander a bit to fit him better, and we discussed activity chairs for when Connor outgrows his current model.  It was really fantastic to have him here, and I'm so glad that we've got such wonderful people in Connor's world who help make his life as happy and healthy as possible!

~Jess

In Which We Do A Whole Bunch Of Stuff And Jer Takes A Vacation

Well that was a busy day!

I'm happy to say that little guy slept quite a bit better last night!  We made it all the way until around four in the morning, when he woke up with a stuffy nose (pretty sure he's got some allergies going) which made him cry.  This of course, made him more stuffy, which made him cry more, and then we spiraled down into a vicious, snotty, crying cycle that ended with me sitting on the floor of our guest bathroom rocking the little guy with the door closed, the shower on as hot as it would go and the vent off.  Thankfully the steam did the trick and he was able to go back to bed around a quarter to five, though it's not a remedy I'd like to try often as I enjoy having paint on my bathroom walls.

Anyway, so after I got up again-- this time for good-- and took Connor to school I spent an hour or so with Jeremy making the house look spic and span for the visit from our social worker today.  Our I-800A paperwork, which allows Ellen to immigrate to the United States, expires in December.  So we needed a homestudy update to be able to extend our I-800A.  As usual I completely freaked out and cleaned the house from top to bottom, just in case she decided that we would be unfit parents for Ellen because our mantle wasn't dusted or something.  I'm pretty sure every adopting couple (or in our case, half the couple) freaks out about social worker home visits.  It's an adoptive parent rite of passage.

Anyway, so the home visit went swimmingly, which is to say that she stayed on the living room couch and didn't so much as glance at the inside of my closets or the state of my mantle.  Since our house had already been inspected to make sure it was suitable last year and we hadn't made any major changes to it, she didn't need to go over that part of things.  So the meeting was pretty quick and painless.  Our paperwork should hopefully be submitted next week and then once we redo our fingerprints (yes, we have to redo those too, though as Jeremy pointed out it's not likely they've changed) we shouldn't have to renew our paperwork again until June of 2013, and we're hoping we'll have our girl home before that.  We'll just have to see!

Jeremy, by the way, wasn't just off work for the home visit.  He's on vacation!  He's built up so much leave time that he was about to lose some of it, so he's taking a couple of weeks off.  We have big plans to spend a bunch of quality family time together, and I'm excited about having him home! 

So after our home visit was over and we picked Connor up from school, Jeremy spent some time doing yard work outside while Connor and I ran errands and then headed up to Pike Place Market for a little pre-holiday rush Christmas shopping.  Unfortunately when we got there we discovered that a large chunk of the market is under renovation right now, and the stores that I wanted to buy specific presents at were closed.  Oh well; we've still got plenty of time to go back before things get super crowded.  I'm just going to keep telling myself that.

I realized about halfway home that I'd overdone it today.  I'm still feeling under the weather, though it's less a definable illness and more a distinct feeling of malaise, which makes me unsure of whether or not it's being caused by an actual illness or if it's the ridiculously small amount of sleep I've been getting lately that's the culprit.  At any rate, I had to stop for coffee on the way home and resort to calling various friends and relatives to keep myself awake behind the wheel.  Falling asleep while driving on the highway would have put a serious damper on Connor and my afternoon.  Luckily the caffeine and conversation did the trick and I didn't have to pull over at a rest stop and nap in the van or anything.

So I took the rest of the day easy, and now I'm off to bed.  It was a pretty busy day!

~Jess

In Which We Prepare For Our Home Study And I Am Really, Really Nervous

I spent a good portion of today weeding the yard and cleaning house, because we have our home study tomorrow.  To be honest, I'm totally freaked out about it.  Despite the fact that we've already met our social worker and she seems like a lovely, very non-intimidating, rational person, I am still half-convinced that she's going to sit down with us, do the interview, and declare that there is absolutely no way we are fit to parent another child, and also that she's iffy on our ability to parent the one we have.  Likely?  Probably not.  But that doesn't stop my brain from thinking it anyway, because brains are wonderful like that.

I'm also worried that she's going to take a look at our backyard (which is totally torn up due to the deck construction) garage (which is full of deck materials) and front yard (which is half-full of ivy and weeds) and disprove us on the grounds of our house being unsafe for children.  But there's not really anything I can do about it, as I am not going to be able to build the deck, organize the garage and pull up 60 feet of ivy in the next 24 hours, so we'll just have to hope that it's not a big deal. 

And then there's the thought that I'll say something completely inappropriate and horribly offend her, or that Connor will decide to have a major meltdown in the middle of the interview, or any number of other equally unlikely scenarios my mind has managed to come up with over the course of the day that make me want to consume possibly toxic amounts of chocolate.

If I can get my brain to stop spewing irrational ideas about how we're going to flunk this thing, hopefully I'll be able to get some sleep tonight.  But so much hinges on this dang home visit that I don't know how successful I'll be.

Wish us luck!

~Jess

Schedule of Doooooooom!!!!

Connor would like to inform everyone that there are many, many ways to recycle. Shoes, for example, when outgrown, can become very fashionable hats. Don't be afraid to accessorize daringly!

Right. Today was the day that my sister and I planned to do a whole lot of outdoor activities. Today was also the day it started raining again. Figures.

Jer and Connor stayed home and had a Daddy Day. My sister and I ended up driving down to one of my favorite little cafes in Tacoma and playing Scrabble for two and a half hours. I got my rear handed to me on a platter. Apparently I'm a little out of practice. Then we drove down to the Tacoma mall and wandered around for a while, observing the bizarre ceremonial dress and mating habits of the local teenagers.

We stopped by the store on the way home, after determining via a phone call to Jeremy that the chicken I had thawing in the refrigerator still bore a closer resemblance to a rock than it did to any sort of bird. I made spaghetti with sausage, and we watched Hook after dinner. Well, my sister and I watched Hook. Jer played World of Warcraft and Connor alternated between playing with his Gertie ball (which he highly adores and I would recommend to anyone with a child who has gross motor issues) and screaming with glee over nothing in particular. I love that little guy.

The next couple of weeks are going to be even crazier than usual. Monday and Tuesday are pretty free other than my sister leaving, sign class, and scheduling a bunch of appointments, but then things go kind of insane. Here's a quick run-down of my to-do list:

Wednesday: Connor's special education teacher comes and we have an appointment with anesthesiology at Children's Seattle. Buy food needed for party on Friday-- the party for 30-50 people I was informed by my husband yesterday that I would be throwing. I love the army.

Thursday: Visit the possible schools Connor might be going to (this will take about 6 hours as I will visit a morning and an afternoon preschool at two different elementary schools). Go get Connor's three year vaccinations and an updated copy of shot record, then comfort screaming, irritable child while making last minute preparations for the next day's party.

Friday: Go to Connor's nutrition appointment. Rush from there to Jer's office to set up for party. Attend army function. Host party. Rush home and frantically begin cleaning for guests that arrive the next day.

Saturday: Run around shoving everything into my closets. Mother-in-law and aunt arrive and pretend not to notice dangerously bulging closet doors and my totally frazzled appearance.

Sunday: Prepare for Connor's surgery, try and cram in as many touristy things as possible, as feel guilty for all activities occurring during relatives' visits. Lie in bed at night thinking about all the ways surgery could possibly go wrong.

Monday: Connor's surgery. Fight with husband over who gets to stay at hospital. Either spend the night on uncomfortable chair in hospital room, or at home on comfortable bed wishing I was on uncomfortable chair in hospital room. Sleep poorly either way.

Tuesday: Recovery from Connor's surgery. Resume touristy things. Possible frantic preparation for IEP meeting, which they won't call us about until the day before it happens.

Wednesday: Possible IEP meeting. Forget everything that I wanted to discuss due to extreme exhaustion. Realize later that have agreed to have invisible gremlins help Connor in classroom, which will be paid in bowls of milk left outside the shoe cupboard. Develop nervous twitch.

Thursday: Have Connor's last meeting with Family Conversations and his Deaf Mentor. Cry.

Friday: Connor's last Family Conversations play group. Cry some more.

Saturday: Mother-in-law and aunt leave. Continue to feel guilty over number of things they are either dragged to or times they are left at completely loose ends.

Sunday: Collapse in exhaustion. Vow to never leave bed again.

So as you can see, we have a busy couple of weeks ahead. If I survive, I may need a bit of a vacation. I'm thinking Bermuda. Think my bed will fit on the plane?

~Jess

Attack of The Health Care Professionals

It's forty minutes before the hordes of school nurses descend on our house. Mr. Crabbypants still reigns supreme. I just received a phone call letting me know that it won't be one school nurse coming, it will be three.

Hope I have enough cookies.

~Jess