Michael's Update

We had a follow up appointment for Michael today for his PDD NOS.  Overall, he is doing great!  We don't have to go back until December.  She wasn't quite ready to go to 6 months, but almost.  We talked about how to help Michael with his social skills and the doctor said that we should prep him with stories of what you do at the park, i.e. play with other kids, introduce himself, etc.  She also said to go up to kids with him and help him introduce himself.  We went to the park after his OT appointment and it wasn't really planned so we didn't start this today, but watching Thomas play with other kids was amazing.  He just went up and started playing with them.  The funniest part of this is that Thomas was the one I was concerned about with making friends.  My concern was that since he is so quiet, he would be lost in the crowd and not make friends easily.  I was concerned about Michael since he tended to play by himself, but this was something that we were aware of even before his diagnosis and one of the reasons that we had a feeling that there was something going on.

After the doctor said that me and my husband should help Michael with his social skills by introducing him to other kids, I almost immediately got this feeling of anxiety.  I am not the most social person, with lots of fears of talking to people and being assertive about going up and initiating conversation.  The funny thing is that I am a social worker by profession.  My job requires me to talk to people.  The thing is, I much prefer talking one on one with people, not in groups.  A lot of me fear surround me being afraid that people will reject me if I attempt to communicate with them.  A lot of this fear goes back to being a kid and not being one of the popular kids, actually being one of the kids that used to get made fun of.

The funny this about all this is that I have been trying to write about not having people make comments on things that I post on the web.  I get very few comments on my 2 blogs, varying amounts of comments on Facebook, little to nothing on instagram or twitter, and the same on anything else that I may have forgotten.  I can't figure out if people aren't commenting because they are too busy, because they don't like what I write, they don't like me, or that they just don't comment.  Unfortunately, my mind tells me that it's because people could care less about what I have to say, and that would be because they don't like me.  More than likely it's because people just don't have time.  At least I hope that it's just because they don't have time.  There are a few people who I have thought that I was friends with, but it just doesn't seem like I am really am.  I know that part of it is probably my fault since I tend not to do things outside of my family.  I just wish I had a better feeling about how people feel about me.  At this point in my life, it would certainly help me with my confidence in helping Michael.  It would help my confidence if life in general, which will in turn help me with all my kids.

Sorry for the poor me thoughts on this post, but I just needed to get it down.  I am hoping that I can get over this little to no comments thing and move on and realize that it is nothing more than people just not having time, not that they don't like me.  It will certainly help me to move on and get over it!

Amy

My Newest Crafting Experiment

I finally started to attempt to make soap.  I was a little fearful, partially from others telling me how dangerous it could be and partly because of my own crazy mind, though I think others remarks had helped to make my mind worry more than it would otherwise.  I also have this crazy fear of failure in anything and everything I do.  I like to be perfect in everything I do, and I have a hard time remembering that most of the time, it takes a lot of practice to get things perfect, even close to perfect.

I finally made the decision to go ahead and try it.  How hard could it be?  I definitely made sure that I researched and read up on making soap in a crock pot.   I watched many a youtube video on crockpot soap making and finally decided that I was comfortable attempting it.

I made sure that I had my iPad right next to me with a youtube video going.  I made sure that the kids were all in bed and fast asleep.  I made sure that I had gloves and vinegar in case I spilled the lye.  I didn't spill the lye.  Things went well and I had soap the next day.  I learned that there are better lye calculators than others, or at least there are many lye calculators and people have different feelings about the different ones that are out there.  Personally, I like http://soapcalc.net for all the info that I get and as a new soap maker, I really appreciate what it gives me.

I learned that there are many different oils that can be used and different outcomes.  My first soap was pretty soft and then once I found different oils, I found that you can make a harder soap right from the start.  My most recent soap consists of olive oil, coconut oil, and crisco, yes crisco.  I'm not really sure how I feel about crisco, but it seems to work well.  I now plan to try Walmart shortening and see how soap with that vs crisco is.  

I love making soap and plan to continue making it, experimenting with different oils and scents.  I may, at some point, attempt cold process, but that takes a little longer before the soap is ready.  I can't wait to learn more.

I have been pretty productive this summer.  I could always be more productive, but I am happy with what I've done.  I still plan to try to make some things for my twins group and hope that I can finish a few things to donate for them to sell at our national convention.  I also hope to start creating more for charity and maybe become part of a specific charity, Enchanted Makeovers.

A few picture of my soap and other projects from this summer!

First soap ever in the mold

first soap out of the mold cut and drying

rag quilts for the twins

doll bed, with quilt and rag rug

soap for Michael's teachers in the mold

soap for Michael's teachers cut waiting to be wrapped

my new pincushion

mixing my latest soap

latest soap at trace

soap cooking in the crockpot

soap almost finished cooking

soap molded and cooling. Can't wait to cut it tomorrow!

This is jut a few of the projects that I have completed and have been working on.  I have a few other things in process and can't wait to find time to finish them.  I can't what to get things organized so that I can have more time to craft rather than finding where to craft, a place to craft and then remembering to clean up!  Loving being creative!

Amy

July Pictures

Swimming

Castle Island

Castle Island

Waiting for the fireworks

Eva Rose petting the baby chick at Tendercrop Farm

Michael petting the baby chick at Tendercrop Farm

Thomas petting the baby chick at Tendercrop Farm

Homemade crockpot soap

Our first 5K finish

Crafty projects; doll bed, mattress, pillow, quilt, and rag rug

Spending Saturdays at the farmer's market in town

cucumbers from our garden

Our garden!

Just a couple of pictures from our days during July!

Amy

Way Back Wednesday

Date: March 2009

Michael age 1

Twins: 6 weeks

My grandfather, who had been sick and on hospice for years, died on Michael's 1st birthday.  The twins had just gotten out of the NICU the week before, after Thomas was in for 3 weeks and Eva Rose was in for 2 weeks with RSV.  Eva Rose had been intubated for 6 days and thomas was intubated for 24 hours.    2 of my sisters and I decided to drive to North Carolina with the 3 kids to visit my grandmother who was just admitted to a nursing home after my grandfather died.  My husband and I drove down almost a year earlier when Michael was just 6 weeks old, so I am glad that my grandmother was able to meet the twins when they were the same age as Michael was.  When I think back to driving 24 hours with 2 newborns who had just been released from the hospital and a 1 year old and being 6 weeks post c-section, I think I was crazy.  If I had to do it all again, I don't know that I would have made a different decision.  I am so happy that I have this picture and just wish that my grandfather could have met the twins!

Amy