Finally Settling Down...a bit

Six weeks then you should have smooth sailing...that is what the previous foster mom to the boys said. Well it has been 8 weeks and we are just starting to seem glimmers of normal. Or at least closer to it. Of course things get hectic around our house from time to time, and most of the time they are managable. It is just at the end of the day you really feel like you have been thru the wringer.

Our house is still trying to settle into a routine as it has not been too long since my schedule changed, my regular schedule is now Friday, Saturday and Sunday 12 hour shifts 4pm to 4am.
This week I am working some extra days, both Monday and Thursday nights. So not a lot of relaxation this week. Kodi has had a challenge trying to feel like she gets any real time off since she has to care for the boys by herself on the weekends. Yesterday was her day off and she went shopping (got some nice Lane Bryant clothes...thank you Momma Santa) and treated herself to a movie. I was sleeping and was glad for it as it had been a bit challenging at work Monday night. We met with some friends from the Madison Nazarene Church, Bruce & Karen Mitten last night for dinner. Went to a pizza place called Rocky Rococo's. They have several locations around town but we had not been to this one. Turns out this place is a pseudo Chuckie Cheese with a theatre room and Arcade area...luckily no rides or tubes...we would still be there. Kodi and I thought this was just another pizza place like Fazoli's or pizza Hut. We were overwhelmed and the kids were at frenzy level 8.5...of course it was loud and of course there just had to be a corporate family party in progress and luckily finishing up as we were ready to eat. But looking for a table for 6 was a bit challenging.

Boys are doing okay...Isaiah still has to be reminded to Listen (and do what we say) and obey the rules, but he is getting better at calming himself down and making better choices. I think he is learning that Brad and Kodi can not be bought with whinning and tears and that his control tactics from his past are not nearly as effective at our house. He still has to have time outs now and then, but they are less frequent and we are getting more happy, let's just live our life moments than we were several weeks ago. Even school is going better for him as far as behavior. We are still dealing with grief and emotional issues and are setting up counseling for him/the family. We are cautiously optimistic.

Sam is going thru a phase right now where he feels he can get what he wants if he just stands in one place protesting his displeasure with passive refusal. Guess what kid...that just does not work. More times than not he simply does not want to stop playing with his toys for things like potty time, getting dressed, eating or bed time. He absolutely loves his Thomas train set and plays with it or looks at pictures of Thomas trains all the time.

We have several doctors appts set up for Sam. Hearing test and cognitive development evaluation are set in place to rule out any issues other than just neglect for his lack of speech. He is making progress, He likes quoting certain lines of movies...especially the "Shark bait, Ooo Ahh Ahh" from Finding Nemo which in Sammy language comes our "Ar Ait, Uhh Ahh Ahh". He loves when I say it along with him in a very deep voice...he laughs everytime I do it. He even was singing his version of "I'm a little teapot" last night in the car. He tries to mimic words and even sentences that the rest of us in the family are saying. He knows that talking is how we communicate, he just does not have enough words to do it very well yet...and he gets frustrated with it. Lack of front teeth is not helping his cause. His teacher is thinking of adding an extra day for his school week of early childhood development. So that he would go mornings Tue-Fri...all of us think he really could use it.

So for now we are okay. Not really the peaceful Leave-it-to Beaver home that I had hoped for...but we are making strides. I will say this every moment is intersting!

Thank you all for your prayers and thoughts. Love to all...Brad