I love her, but...

Our 9 year old Jenna was born with some challenges...nothing major like some babies have to go through. She flat lined during delivery...was diagnosed with a heart murmur...then when she was just a few days old, I noticed this weird twitching...it was rhythmic (i.e. one arm, then the next, then a leg, and the next leg). Everyone thought I was crazy when I insisted it wasn't "normal twitching". I eventually video taped it and took the video to my doctor. It turns out she had benign neonatal sleep myoclonus.

After that her sutures in her skull closed a little early...she still has a ridge on the top of her head...I spent months staring at her head worrying that she may need sugery on her skull.

The other odd thing was that my baby didn't talk. She didn't babble, she didn't repeat things, didn't say mama or dada. When she was 2, she still didn't speak, except for a couple of words here and there, but not if asked to say them, only it was spontaneous. She was eventually diagnosed with speech apraxia. I remember wondering if she would ever be able to have a conversation with me.

Well, fast forward to today...a little over 9 years later. I have days, like today, where I wonder if she will ever shut up! She still has funny speech issues...she has a very squeaky voice and a lot of nasality. Today in the store, she didn't STOP talking from the minute we entered. I think I heard Mommy at least 50 times in the 15 minutes we were in the store. Her squeaky little voice was driving me insane. Did I mention I'm also PMSing?

Anyway, I found myself saying "Jenna, will you just stop talking for a minute"!!!!

What is that old saying? Be careful what you wish for? I'm kidding of course, I'm glad my child can speak...but some days, I miss the quiet!

Has it been that long?

Wow, have I really not updated in that long? Things have been crazy here. Spring break (pic of the girls is from the zoo), then Joe and I went up north on some business/pleasure.

This week we got a letter in the mail saying our 7 year old was being recommended for GATE at school...this apparently means she has done well on the tests and may be a gifted student and may qualify for GATE cluster classes. Why is this so exciting? Well, it only took us 4 kids to get there...my oldest two are mad and say it is because I didn't breast feed them enough...(Kami was breastfed for 19 months). Oh well, it just wasn't the "in thing" 18-20 years ago. LOL Anyway, I guess we will do the testing and see what happens.

I am going to try to blog more often...it is my goal! I can do it...I will do it!

Busy, Tired, and Sadness

This has been a very busy week. I had to prepare for two of my clients board meetings and Joe had to prepare for one of his. The week just flew by.

At the same time, on Monday I decided to give up my afternoon cup of coffee...what was I thinking? Doing this on a week like this...oh well, it is Friday and I survived...I was irritable, and took a nap or two...but on day 4, I was good!

Now, for the sadness part. I follow a lady in Los Angeles on Twitter, her name is Elizabeth, her twitter name is mintcool. Anyway, she posted about a friend of hers who lost her baby...it is such a heartbreaking story...a beautiful baby girl named Madeline Alice, born pre-mature, who spent 68 days in the hospital. She was just 17 months...got sick with a cough, and within a couple of days she was gone. This story just touched my heart and I feel so much sadness for this family.
The Spohrs Are Multiplying this is the mom's blog
Photos of Madeline that is a link to pictures of Madeline
amomtwoboys.com/for-maddie/ donate to help
marchforbabies donate in Madeline's honor to March of Dimes
Here is a picture of beautiful Madeline. Please pray for the family.

Santa Barbara Tea Party

Today was great...Joe and I attended the Santa Barbara Tea Party. There were probably between 1,000 and 1,500 people there! And it was a beautiful day. I forgot my camera...I hate when that happens...

Tammy Bruce emceed the event and we had great speakers...and others on stage were singer-songwriter Lloyd Marcus, Hollywood screenwriter Andrew Klavan; State Senators Tony Strickland, R-Thousand Oaks, and George Runner, R-Lancaster; Lompoc Mayor Richard De Wees; Coalition of Labor, Agriculture and Business Executive Director Andy Caldwell; author Erin Graffy de Garcia; UCSB junior Gabriella Murrilo; and Carpinteria Councilman Joe Armendariz (who is also my wonderful husband).

My all time favorite line from the day: "They want us to fork out so they can just pork out"!