Mother Nature

At the beginning of the week we were outside with the kids in t-shirts and shorts cleaning up the garden and post snow melt. Last night it cooked right down and I was out in capris and flats. I had gone out to visit friends and to give my friend a accupressure point massage to attempt to induce labour. She is 40+4 and nothing! So I got home and remembered to turn the heat back on, thankfully because we woke up to Snow! Not the fall on the ground and melt right away snow either. I think Mother Nature is going through menopause!! 

The first picture is yesterday on my way out, I stopped at Tim Horton's and then the second picture is from my bedroom window this morning around 9 am. It snowed all day since I took this picture. I am so ready for Spring. 

Over the weekend we went to friends that live in the country, the kids ran around and played for hours. They came home and slept so good. We have put a double futon mattress in Ginja's room and what a huge difference. She is allowed to have her iPad until she falls asleep so she isn't crawling in with us all night. We have decided we need to pick our battles, I lay awake until I hear that last show fade and  her room go quite. Last night she was up until 3:30 am, but was in her room. 

We have been put in the wait list for services through Ottawa Children's Treatment Centre and also received a referral to a pediatrician in Ottawa to attempt to obtain a provisional diagnosis. I have to pick up our referral letter for a private diagnosis referral from the family dr this week. We have received some push back from them about insurance coverage. For a private diagnosis we are looking at about $2500 out of pocket. Insurance will cover 80% up to a maximum of $1000. Now a portion of the time is strictly with the parents and is billed at about $225 per hour, they want to see us on the first visit for minimum 90 minutes. Our family dr believes it is fraudulent to have my insurance cover that portion and to also have Ginja's portion cover her time with the psychologist. I don't quite understand that personally so I am hoping the paperwork is handled by the paediatricians office. We have been working with our infant and child development worker and also have a home based speech and language program in effect. Ginja has started stringing longer sentences together and has started using 5 word sentences. Ginja will start attending weekly speech and language session with her pathologist in May until about mid to end of June. 

Lil Man received an award at school last week for perseverance and determination. It is good to see he is pushing along as we had some issues with him giving up before. I have to implement our home reading program because the teacher rarely sends homework home, even after being asked for more. I have been looking at homeschooling websites and I want to start challenging him at home. He is very intelligent, just gets bored easily and frustrated when answers don't just come to him. I am extremely pleased with his reading, when he is done his chores he will play with his sisters or read. When we are travelling to visit family he will read in the van. You wouldn't know starting grade 2 that he couldn't read, and now he is reading well past his level. I give all the credit to his second grade teacher Mrs Robillard. She is by far the favorite teacher he has had. She put so much effort into her students, something that is rarely seen now a days. 

Our Coco! She is so full of energy always so happy, and progressing so well. It wasn't until I had her and have been watching her grow and develop, that I realized raising a baby could be so easy! She and Ginja both starting walking around their first birthdays, but I notice Coco talks so much more, is so independant and loving. She adores her big sister and brother. If I could have been guaranteed a pregnancy with no vomiting and a baby exactly like her, I would have a football team! My kids are my entire world and they are each individual and unique. I couldn't imagine our lives without them. 

Busy Month

March was packed full for this family. Dad  has a work related injury to his neck. Lots of TLC for him, and a long road to recovery. A lot of stuff still happening and a diagnosis of post-concussive syndrome. Attended a few autism related functions over the month. Illness dragged on in the children Coco is on antibiotics now after being sick for almost 7 weeks straight. Daddy bought Ginja an iPad mini and wow what a different child! We have implemented the home speech and language program as well as programming on the iPad and we got a 5 word sentence yesterday super excited! Lil man had some dental work done and was super brave not wanting nitrous gas and only the needle to freeze, much braver than I! To think of it they have never offered me nitrous gas, I could use a good laugh :) We just got the call for an appointment with paediatrician in Ottawa for June, just have to confirm details. In the process for referral to Emerging Minds and during this our family dr just up and decided to close her clinic! So now on the hunt for an autism experienced Dr in the area, as the offered replacement just isn't at the standard for autism care that we need. 

    I have been busy making flowers for the wedding bouquets. I am just getting into the groove and it's all coming along nicely. I started by cutting the fabric I to strips.

As you can see I need a little more pink but lots of creams and whites. From there, I looked through a million and one Pinterest links to find the flower style that I liked and follow some tutorials, then started to branch out with my own ideas. Cut a ton of circles out of the fabric, because most of the flowers you can make from fabric utilize a circle shape. 

A lot of work to make them perfect a few I said no way and tossed them immediately!

I have come to the conclusion I like shabby chic style flowers and roses. I can't wait to finish this project and to share it. 

Hearing passed

Our speech and language pathologist for Ginja suggested we have her hearing tested to ensure no concerns, as she has over sensitive ears and is really soft toned with her speech. So I made sure we all got a full eight hours of sleep. Dad wasn't able to get time off for the appointment so I was ready for the worst appointment ever (when family dr looks at her ears we have to pin her, she goes into meltdown) so I was ready for a nightmare appointment to occur. We went to Heritage Hearing Clinic in Pembroke, they set aside an appointment for two audiologists to work with her. Much to my surprise they were amazing with Ginja, she didn't fuss, fight or cry once!!! I sat back and watched them in action, they didn't give her a minute to doubt and allowed her to play while conducting the tests. So she is definitely hearing us:) The audiologist performed words with Ginja while she was in the sound proof booth, the other audiologist was with her and she pointed to the pictures each and every time and the audiologist said she could not turn the volume any lower and she was still hearing extremely well. That explains her over sensitivity. So step one done, rule out hearing issues. This week we also did the one hour intake with Ottawa Children's Treatment Centre and have been referred to the next step which is the Getting Started program where they will give us strategies for day to day life and start therapies. That call will take about 6 weeks to receive and then we will be seen in about 4-5 months. That is discouraging to me as a mom, as early intervention shows the best results. They are the ones who decide if a psychological assessment would be beneficial. So I have been looking into our options, I even called McMaster Children's Hospital where my oldest was born and they are at an approximate wait of 12 months, better but still not good enough. Fiancées family is seeing if their family doctor who is also a paediatrician can see her and our last resort is to take her to Energing Minds in Ottawa for a private diagnosis, which is not covered by OHIP and we can only claim $1000 per year, so there would still be out of pocket fees for us, but is the quickest route to services and a diagnosis. 

Above is our beautiful Ginja waiting to enter her hearing test. So time to flip the page and keep on trucking :D

Ignited

Yesterday I attended the local autism group with Ginja. Before entering that room I knew she had autistic tendencies, when the doors opened it was like we were pulled right into the group and had been attending all along. No judgements were passed for her frequent meltdown and screaming events. In each one of the beautiful children I saw characteristics of my Ginja. I felt relieved and understood. Each one of the other parents knew exactly where I was because they at one time were in my place. They had all waited for a diagnosis, they all know my every day life. They knew how to make me laugh while I sat in My chair observing and watching the door to make sure my and their flight risk children didn't escape. I sat there taking it all in, and it's coincidental that group occurred on Sunday  because it was like "church" for me. For a while deep down I knew Ginja showed autistic tendancies, the drs pushed back and told me to wait it out she would come around etc. As I sat there I was happy to be a part of an unspoken understanding, and within myself I found peace knowing I was right for trusting my gut instinct. In that moment I became angry at the health care system for thinking it was ok to make children wait 18-24 months for a diagnosis. In that moment I decided I would not wait patiently and I became a determined momma bear. I came home and researched my butt off, staying up until 3 am with our sleepless Ginja. This morning I started calling. Now I wait for a few returned calls, and know I have an option for private diagnosis that could be majority covered by insurance within the next couple of months! I will not stop fighting for my kids and yesterday ignited a new flame. 

Under the weather

I realize it has been a few weeks for posting, the entire family had the flu that turned to the winter cold and to finish it off I ended up with food poisoning! We still have the lingering cough and runny nose but I can handle that! We saw the speech and language specialist and had Ginja's assessment completed, her understanding is at an age range of three and a half so she is on target for that, and expressive speech is delayed but that was what got us the diagnosis to start with. Tomorrow we meet with infant and child development worker to do the intake process and get more help while we wait the 18 months to get into CHEO. So we are the steps to answers. 

Wedding! So I have decided to go with alternative flowers. I will be making flowers from material like chiffon, silk and a few other materials. That took care of the how to preserve my bouquet and saved us a ton of money on our floral budget. I may still choose some fresh baby's breath but will incorporate a lot of twigs, lace and burlap in the centrepieces. 

Look what I won from Julie Keon, www.juliekeon.com !!! I am so excited to attend this awesome show, she is doing a seminar on writing your own vows. We will be fortunate to work with her for our wedding as we have confirmed her as our officiant. Now we have to just pay the deposit for our photographer that I finally decided on!!! I had decided prior to seeing their work in person but are going with BH Photography based in Almonte, Ont. After seeing their work and talking to them at the bridal show in Renfrew, I knew I wanted to book them and they embraced our idea of a first look. Then on the Monday following the show I received an email telling me that I won their $500 off giveaway! I could not have been more excited!! Check out their awesome work www.bhphotography.ca

I am getting more and more excited as we start to prepare the details and finalize our vendor list. It also reminds me there is so much work to be completed. Look for my future posts on with some how tos! 

Something new

Recently I have found that sitting down to make a meal plan ends up with a regular set of meals, so I wanted to try something different. Boy was it a hit, Lil man are all his food as usual, same for Daddy. Coco picked out all the broccoli and ate that first, and Ginja well she are what she felt like before she was up in the kitchen asking for George which happens to be curious George cartoon on netflix. This is the repeat cartoon of the week. For those who don't know Ginja is being referred for autism. At 3 speech is minimal, potty training is a complete regression, meltdowns are frequent and nothing can help her. She has now started telling us no touch, which can rip any parents heart out. She is affectionate on her terms, noises cause her to cover her ears multiple times a day. She will escape anything (safety door covers, double stacked baby gates) and a fascination with lights. This are just a few of what had us urging the doctors that something just wasn't right. I have a friend who has been a huge help through this process, JK has been there as a sounding board for me, she is a mom to three autistic children, we had a play date and she saw the things I saw in Ginja. She has offered so much help and advice. I appreciate being able to text or message her for help, knowing how chaotic her days can get with therapy, and everyday life of her household of 6. So JK when you read this, Thank you for being there. You gave me strength to push back against the doctors and bring out the momma bear and I know how I feel when Ginja is having a hard day, and knowing you face this with each of your children and are still there to help other parents. You are a Super Momma bear. Thank you, those two words can't express the gratitude I have for your friendship. Our next step is our visit with the child and infant development worker on Tuesday, which is the start of our path to answers and help. 

Family Handprint Art

Over the Christmas Break we decided to do a few activities for the family and for our home. I am a Pinterest lover (might need rehab!!) and I love all the amazing ideas, so we tried out this handprint Family sign for our living room. This was a super easy project and all you need is a canvas (size dependant on your wants) I picked ours up at Dollarama for $3, I already had paint in the house and we also had painters tape and brushes on hand. So this project cost is $3, and the kids had a blast painting their hands and stamping on the canvas. Black handprints are Daddy, green are Lil Man, pink belong to Ginja Ninja, red for Mom and purple for our baby girl Coco. The part that took the longest was ripping the painter's tape to make letters, I would think you could use vinyl letters if you want something exactly the same and crisper. I rate this project a 1/5 for difficulty, if you have wee ones they may require some help from Mom or Dad :) I rate this a 1/5 for cost as well.