Author: criscollrj

birthdays, computer geekiness

check it out!

criscollrj

User:dori
check it out!!

https://criscollrj.com/photos/displayimage.php?album=1&pid=4&slideshow=5000 (NO LONGER A VALID SITE – 2020)

(note from 2020 – went in and made this a link as I have done here and there but it is not live.  Have no idea what this slideshow was!  But will leave here as it’s interesting to look back at how I had to show pictures back 15 years ago… a lot more complicated than now!!!)  But don’t worry about looking it up —

I have had fun with this — changed web servers (half my site is still down) but I have had a lot of fun playing with this coppermine photo gallery from Fantastico that my web server offers (just think I had never even heard of any of this 1 month ago….)

dori

wow, I just remembered today is my dad’s birthday. Happy 74th birthday Dad, you would have been so proud of your grandchildren…. you can see your third one from heaven, little Ryan!!

(Dad died 10-16-97)

 

children, reflections, Ryan

Baby…

criscollrj

so odd — this was Ryan’s first day to take the bus to school (his third day). He got on a little bus and rode away about 15 minute ago. I am alone. Monday I had Colleen home with pink eye so I wasn’t alone – we had some quality time together playing board games. Yesterday I dropped him off and stayed awhile, having him practicing getting on the bus (he rode it home yesterday). Today is my first day to have the whole time at home (11:50-2:30 when Chris gets home). Ryan doesn’t get home until 3:10.

My life as a mom is changing again. Baby’s growing up!


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hamsters

BACK HOME!

criscollrj

User:dori
(copied from Pet Hub) HAPPY DANCE!

I just found Spice! I was sitting here only 5-10 minutes after posting my last disappointed worried “giving up” post, and out of the corner of my eye I saw something moving by the front closet by our front door. It was Spice! I slowly got down on the floor after getting some food (luckily only about 3 feet away in my cabinet) and cupped my hands and gently called her (my heart was pounding!!)  Luckily we had hand-tamed her!! She came and got a honey drop and crawled in my hand, and then I cupped her and carried her to the cage. Her cage was half apart as we were going to just take it down soon!!! So I just set her in there, gave her more food and watched her drink some water.

WE ARE SO HAPPY! I woke my 10 year old daughter and told her. I put all the parts of the cage together but still keep checking it – I don’t trust it anymore.

I’m thinking of going to Walmart today and buying a huge rubbermaid bin to just set her whole cage down into for right now (she has a Crittertrail.) I can’t afford to buy a new cage right now. What do you guys think? Advice?

Ahhhh, so happy to have our girl home!!!!

 

hamsters

Missing Spice

criscollrj

Spice is still missing. We had some high hopes the first few nights as food was missing from our room’s food stash (we put a stash in each room) but now the last few days there’s nothing missing in any rooms and we haven’t heard anything in 2 days. We still have the cage and the bucket trap in our room but I’m wondering if tonight I’ll move it into the living room,where her cage always was, up on the filing cabinet. I could put on the floor next to the filing cabinet.

I haven’t seen any poop or pee paths, either, though, so am wondering if she indeed has vanished in thin air.

 

hamsters

Spice is gone.

criscollrj

Time: Saturday, 2/26/2005 9:49:41 PM (#66046)
User: dori

Spice is gone.

I don’t mean she died – she escaped! We are looking for her now, and we set a bucket trap of seed in the living room and 4 seeds in each room with the lights out and towels under the doors. I’ve been so sick and tired I didn’t clean, so now have lots of boxes of toys,etc., to look through for a little sleeping escapee —

I hope she didn’t die or get outside….

——————————————————————————–
Time: Sunday, 2/27/2005 5:46:38 AM (#66047)
User: dori

Comments: early a.m., my pets hub post —

haven’t found her yet, but in the middle of the night last night I thought I heard scratching and rustling in our bedroom. We brought the cage in there. And the sunflower seeds I’d left in every room, they were gone in our room.

Continue reading “Spice is gone.” →

birthdays, Ryan

ONE MORE WEEK, one more day

criscollrj

WOW, time flies. Tomorrow is my and Ryan’s birthday. He’s 3, I’m 40, tomorrow, at 1:53 and 1:56 (approximately!) respectively. Three years ago at about 2:00 (it’s 1:45 now) my labor JUST started. I had my first labor pains with him ironically during “A Baby Story.” It got severe about 8 hours later in the early evening. I drove my daughter to the Y and also picked her up during labor! I felt like I was falling out. But the pains were not consistent or extremely severe so I didn’t go into the hospital until 1 a.m., after my water broke (right after Sarah Hughes won the 2002 Skating Gold Medal (gold? I think? Unless it was silver????)

Man, it seems like yesterday. He was born the next afternoon, on my birthday.

Gotta finish cleanup today—- kids home, president’s day. busy busy.

more soon — Ryan starts preschool next Monday!!!!

 

adhd, autism, speech delay, work

Cutting down on computer time.

criscollrj

just posted this in my other group — thought I’d update here too.

Time: Sunday, 2/13/2005 10:34:34 AM (#65523)
User: dori

Comments: Hi – had to make a tough decision about 5 weeks ago and cut out just about all my computer time.

Quick update – Since Ryan quit napping right after Christmas, I made the decision to cut down/out the computer time because it was becoming unsafe to not monitor him at all times. Even now I’m watching him over my shoulder,but he’s eating at the moment. He is into everything, climbing up on ledges, cabinets, tables, etc. He still will often throw things, including pitchers of juice, etc. He is in speech therapy 3x a week still and starts preschool in 2 weeks (2/28). I am looking forward to a break and I think some structured school time will be good for him as well. He barely made it (by 2 points or so) into the special needs class in our city due to his speech. Of course that means we are hopeful he will be catching up on speech even further, which means he wouldn’t be eligible next year, but then maybe he can get into headstart. He will be in a special needs/typical mixed preschool from 2/28 until end of year in May.

Chris is still sleeping well and fairly healthy. He has periodic fits still where he runs through the house hitting himself and us and the walls – maybe 2x a week at this point (down from 2-3 times a day at Christmas when he had a cold).

Colleen is doing well in school and has speech and OT as well. She is also going to counseling 1x a week, since November.

Our work situation is still the same, Rog is looking, not finding anything, but his work is steady, and I had to stop looking “for” him as my job is these kids’ mom and right now Ryan is my biggest challenge. We have lost our insurance, but the kids still have theirs. Thank God.

I’d better go… I’ll try and post when he goes to school 😉

dori

——————————————————————————–
Time: Sunday, 2/13/2005 10:36:21 AM (#65524)
User: dori

Comments: He actually quit napping before Christmas, but I was still putting him down for nap times and he’d nap about 1x a week. But what happened right after Christmas scared me so much I stopped putting him down – he jumped up and down so much that somehow he hit his face on the crib bars and split his lip and bruised his gum. We thought he’d have to go to the ER it was bleeding so much. But it stopped, and it healed up. But no more “quiet time” in the day in the crib for him…

 

adhd, autism

Exhausted

criscollrj

I just wish I had time to write out all the things that go through my head.  I just go and go and really never have a down time.  If I do take a down time, something else suffers, like my sleep time, or my pile of dishes, or my daughter’s homework.

I’m not depressed, but I’m unfocused and also eating compulsively, and I’m sure it’s from the stress.  The kids are exhausting me.  They’re wonderful – I LOVE THEM! And I’m happy I’m a mom – I always wanted to be one.  BUt I thought being home I’d have ALL THIS TIME and could do all I wanted to do with them and the house, and have me time too….

nope!

As usual I have to go…

I think the hardest though is Chris is having these fits again where he marches through the houses screaming and starts at the height of it grabbing my arms or hitting me, making scratches as he does it.  He’s hitting the aide too and I’m afraid she’s going to quit — I need her!!!  She’s helping us 14 hours a week but it’s just through Medicaid – I know it’s not the highest paying job in the world for her!

I’m worried about Ryan some as he’s SO hyper, and when he jumps on us in the morning (4:45, this morning) he seems to have no regard as to where his head goes on the bed and I’m scared he’s going to bash his head in!  He has spells where he’s this hyper.  He crashed his head into the side of his crib a few weeks ago and got a split, bleeding lip.  We almost put him in the ER!  I need to set up a bed for him instead as he’s learned also how to put his leg over the side.

I’m thinking of trying again to put everyone (we all have ADD, I think – 3 of us are diagnosed) on a sugar-free diet again (with the help of Splenda and Diet rite pop!) to see if we can calm this behavior down.

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