Crazy busy month!

This was one crazy busy month!  For my birthday Bart and the boys bought me a new phone.  I entered the smartphone world so these pictures are brought to you by my new camera phone.  Its sooo easy to throw in your back pocket and bring it out ready to use.  So much more handy than my big camera.  I still use it but all these are from my new phone.  Excited to see if its good quality.

Okay so I made this little guy some new Thanksgiving shirts!  All iron on applique.  After one wash though I did go around and hand stitch the iron on.!!

Jackson sang in the chorus for the Veterans Day Program!

Jackson and Riley at the Football party!

Coach Stancil giving Jackson his trophy!

It says 10u but really was 9U

The boys who made it all happen!!

We had lots of wrestling practice!

Stephen had to try one on to see what size to get.

Jackson threw up ONE time on the way to school at 7:30 one morning.  It happened to be the same day of Stephen's Thanksgiving feast at school.  His program was at 11:30.  Jackson was only sick one time and he felt like going so I took him with me.  He did end up running a small fever that night but I don't know what was wrong with him.

We enjoyed seeing him eat lunch at school.  Although he didn't eat anything but apples.  They have the nastiest lunch.  That particular day was apple slices, asparagus and mac n cheese.  Seriously!  

The Saturday before Thanksgiving Jackson was invited like they called and invited him to come because he received an award.  He didn't place this year at Commerce cause he missed 3 or 4 races, but the kids voted him Jr Dragster Sportsmanship.  That says alot for my little man!

Bless him.  He was bummed that he didn't place and all his buddies got trophies, but he realizes that they were at all the races.  Thats why he was voted Sportsmanship!  Cause he is amazing!!!

The next day we headed to Greenville to my sister's house.  She cooked us Thanksgiving Supper!!  Of Course Stephen has to be Stephen and act like a clown!

And then he has to show the whole family he has no manners.  Then his wonderful mom decides its okay and takes a picture.  Seriously who does that.  I am a terrible mom!

I think we had to fuss at Stephen cause he was being a brat and finally he smiled!!  Jackson of course stopped and posed cause he's precious like that!  and if mama has her camera out you just better smile!!

We were out of school the week of Thanksgiving.  Stephen and Jackson were having a fit to make a gingerbread house.

Of course my sweet one picked out the train cause he knew his brother LOVES trains!  He is so sweet like that!  Always thinking of others!!

Tuesday before Thanksgiving Jackson left to spend thanksgiving with his dad and Grace left for the night.  Stephen was asleep by 6:30.  I actually sent this same picture to my sister and husband, sis n law and Tammy saying "maybe he will stay that way till morning."  I went to cook supper and about 7pm I could tell he wasn't resting well.  So I will over to him to run his little head.  I knew right then he was sick.  Temp was 102.7.  For the next 5 days he was feverish.  It actually got up to 104.4 and took him to the doctor and he had nothing.  No flu, no strep, no ear infection.  Just some insane virus.  (Grace must have caught it.  She was sick last week)

You know since I am mom of the year I took my feverish child to spend Thanksgiving with my mom., my grandparents and my sisters family!

I couldn't miss seeing my beautiful sister.  I mean she got the looks and small waist line.  Ugh family genes!

I have alot more on my phone but I will do another later.

Jackson and ADHD

Jackson was diagnosed with ADHD back in December.  His teachers have been discussing the ADHD since kindergarten.  At first I was I really upset that he had several of the signs of "ADHD" and sometimes I just ignored the fact that people thought he was "ADHD".  I didn't like the labels and really just wanted it all to go away.  I loved him the way he was and did not understand why people could not love him the way he was.  Bart and I are not wanting to try the medicine and I am SOOOOO glad we have not done so.  I will tell you why later.

 First here are some of the reason we aren't wanting to try the medicine for now:

1.  Medicine will change him and GOD created him.  Why would I want to change something GOD created??

2.  He might have side affects like his appetite, headaches, stomach aches, not able to sleep good, nervousness, or tics.

3.  Find different ways to help him.

4.  He is not so "hyper" anymore and he is maturing a lot.

I think it is really important to keep GOD close in all areas of you life and pray about anything you want to pray about.  He has A LOT of people praying for him.  We have asked prayer at church for him in the past and he has lots of family members who pray for him.  He has a mama who prays for him lots daily.  Jackson has always had a really good appetite and I would hate to see him drop weight because I was popping a pill in his mouth.  I know that does not happen with every ADHD case, but I have seen soooo many where it has effected their eating habits.  Jackson has always been a super good sleeper.  When he lays down at night he is out like a light.  I am a firm believer in extra help.  If it takes a non-adhd child 15 minutes to do homework it might take Jackson an hour.  I always sit down with him and help him do his homework.  Yes sometimes it stresses me out and yes sometimes we get upset, but I would rather spend lots of extra time with him to help him re read his passage, help him with spelling or sit down and give him examples of fractions for math.  Yeah I would rather be playing on Facebook or even watching tv, but knowing that I can take that extra time with him right now is worth not giving him the medicine.  He matures from year to year.  When 1st grade started his guidance counselor commented on how mature he got over summer.  I think his racing has matured him a lot and being around the kids at church more has matured him alot.  And most of it is that he is growing up, learning right from wrong and learning there is a time and place for everything.  Yes he still has moments when i have to say to him "Jackson are you 9 or 4?"  BUT he has improved dramatically.  He is growing up to be a really good mature young man.

So back in December we went back to the doctor and got a written diagnosis.  He has an AMAZING doctor in Lawrencville.  Dr. Rubina is a wonderful Psychiatrist and she is with Gwinnett Psychiatry.  You can visit their website here.  She was able to send in the written diagnosis to Jackson's school and his school has put him on a 504 plan.  He gets extra help at school and will get help during standardize testing.  He wont get help with questions or answers, but he will get to be in a small class setting and extra time to take the test.  That will help him so much because every little noise he hears he gets distracted.  If he hears another student cough or sneeze he stops what he is doing looks around and then when we goes back to what he is doing he is lost.  Same with the door opening, air conditioning turning on or someone talking.

It has been A LOT of work.  Not only for Jackson, but for me and his teachers as well.  Jackson is a trooper though and LOVES to go to his small groups.  We haven't got his test grades for last Friday but the week before he had AMAZING test grades!  He seems to be doing so well.  We are all sooooo proud of him and well here is a picture to see why we are soooo proud of him!

My sweet Jackson was star Student the week of Jan. 17th and again on the week of Feb 20th.  

He did not flip his card for 4 weeks straight.  When he was flipping his card it was for the occasional talking, playing and just being a typical little boy.  For the past 4 weeks when he was doing something wrong he either corrected after realizing it on his own or correcting it after 1 try and not getting constant reminders.  It helps that he has like the best teacher ever!  We LOVE her so much.  While we aren't out of the dark yet we couldn't be more proud!  We still have about 12 weeks of school left and the CRCTs are coming quickly.  We have a lot of work to do to pass the CRCTs, but I am confident through prayer and his 504 plan that he will do his best and that is all a mama can ask for.  

I am so glad that we have not gave in and tried the medicine.  He really has done so good with out it and I know that he will continue to do so.  Please pray for him that he continues to do good in life and school and that he passes the English part of his CRCT.  

Stephen aka the Wild One

Stephen got a birthday balloon on Monday.  Monday night he was taking it to show his daddy for about the 100th time!  When we did he was not looking where he was going and was looking up at his awesome Toy Story balloon.  He tripped on the balloon ribbon and fell on the desk.  Busted his head open.  We took him to the ER and he got 7 stitches!

Stephen

Last Wednesday I took Stephen back to the doctor. His tummy has been giving him trouble for a while now and when I called to ask if something was normal the nurse said it would be a good idea to go ahead and bring him in. So off to Gainesville we went. The doctor did some blood work and sent us home to finish up the other test. The blood work came back "OK" aka normal and the other testing should be done tonight and hopefully we will hear its normal tomorrow! The doctor also told us no dairy for 2 weeks. Bless his heart its pitiful. He use to love milk and that is all he wanted to drink. He never liked juice and so now instead of milk he gets juice. No cheese and he LOVED cheese. His favorite snack was cheese! It seems like EVERYthing has milk in it. We are watching labels very close these days. Stephen went to the grocery store with me this weekend and every time we turned around he saw something he wanted me to buy. I would check the labels and we would not be able to get it. He would say "dotter say me not hab dis" meaning Doctor say me not have this! So I guess he will have to stay at home next time I go to the grocery store. The boys had fun playing while waiting!

He got to pick his favorite color after getting blood drawn! Oh and he had lost 1 1/2 pounds in 2 weeks. We had taken out milk a few months back and things seemed to be better, but the last 2 weeks had been bad and he lost some weight. For a 3 year old a pound and a half is alot. He weighed in at 35 pounds at the doctor and this weekend I weighed him at home and he was 34 pounds so now its more like 2 1/2 pounds.

A mamas worse day :(

I took Stephen to the dentist today to get his cavity filled. I still feel like the worse mom in the whole world. The Dental Hygienist was a high school friend that I have not seen in a really long time. It was nice to chat for a few minutes while the "happy gas" was kicking in. Stephen did great!! He was very shy at first, but when the laughing gas was in full effect he talked her ear off about his dog Miley at home!! Here is to more flossing and hoping we never have to go that route again!!!

My life through my camera phone!

One day we had to help Bart. Bart was chaining the track hoe down and Stephen decided to crawl in the bucket! He was a dirty mess!! I had a flat tire and we had to take my car to Walmart to get it fixed. Stephens hair looked super cute and I just had to take a picture!!

Molly and Stephen walked to church with me one night after eating. Since we were walking in the parking lot I asked them to hold hands. They looked super sweet so I of course took a picture!!

Stephen and I came down with the flu. Stephen threw up all over our bed and was running a super high fever. That night while he fever was high Bart and I tried everything to cool him down. He LOVES popcicles so I bribed him to eat one if he wanted to sit in my bed! We are very strict about no eating or drinking in our house (except the kitchen!) So this was way over our comfort level!! The things we do for our kiddos!!

Clean up time at the Skelton house goes by way faster when you try to ride your cars together!!

Stephen went to the dentist for a cleaning. They found a cavity. :( I cried. I am sure they made fun of me when I left, but I was so sad. I feel like a bad mom. He can't brush his teeth and I failed him. Jackson is 8 and has never had a cavity. Stephen is ALWAYS brushing his teeth. BUT I never floss with him. His teeth are super close together so we are going to have to do better.

Finaly got the cars in the play room!!!

Stephen picked out a tinkerbell toothbrush. I talked him into switching to a Diego!

The next Jr. Dragster!!

I took Mary Grace and her friend to the Justin Beiber movie. Jo Anna kept Stephen. She let him play with Mary's babies!! Bart might not let him ever stay with Grandma again!! Just kidding!!

I am so glad my phone takes pictures. I don't know what I would do without it!! My real camera is a great one, but I always forget it or forget to charge the battery. Jackson likes having his picture made less and less everyday. I have to beg him to let me take a picture. Maybe I can get some of Jackson uploaded soon!!