Hectic crazy week!!!!!

It seems like this week has just been crazy! first, I had the high and middle schoolers start their week. And the mini-me's are still in the toddler/wobbler range,so their preschool is already back too. So that's 5 down.

Nadav was supposed to start kindergarten this week. but we made him wait a year. with his medical needs and having to adjust to his implants the confusion of kindergarten would be too much. And he's already hard to deal with!!!! Well he's not, but his issues are. 

On Thursday he got his implants. He hates the noise so much that he tried to pull his ears off. Poor kid. for five years his brain has interpreted little or no sound, so he really has no filters to figure out what all that chaos around him is. And OF COURSE he's hypersensitive to sound. why wouldn't he be? He's hypersensitive to everything else!!!!!Poor munchkin. While he's in hospital and having other people taking care of him, I can say that. When he's at home and we have the sharp objects hidden, not so much.

And now Tadgh has managed to end up in the ER too. He ran a temp of over 102 for a while last night. NOT good for a 1 month old. Today he's snapped back to his bouncing ,head butting self though So whatever it was, its gone now. Crossing fingers it stays that way and no one else gets sick.

And I started work this week. Love it. =)

of picnics and bouncy houses

I know its always a bad idea to take all 7 kids out anywhere when its only me. So why did I do that today? Why with my screwed( literally) back, and being in pain and exhausted from my fall on Wednesday did I take 7 wild kids to an outing??????

We went to picnic evening at the San Anselmo Town hall. It was actually pretty nice, with the tables set up, jazz musicians and (uh oh!!!) a brightly colored bounce house.

I should have known that it would be too much for Nadav, being outdoors AND social AND right after surgery. And to manage Nadav who can be wild, and Tadgh, who's only 4 weeks old...Well you can tell where this is going, right?

Lets just say that not being allowed in the bounce house with his brothers and sisters didn't sit well with Nadav. I'm sorry, but he just got a feeding tube put in, there was NO WAY I was going to let him anywhere near it.So he kicked, and screamed, and wailed like I was torturing him. And people were looking at me like "why can't you just let him in?" But they aren't the ones who will have to pay the bills if he hurts himself or rips that tub out!

Then Spikey( a girl by the way) got knocked over at...the bounce house. I am really starting to hate that thing!! So by then I had three crying kids, because Tadgh wanted food at that moment. And since I was at the end of m rope, I let the older three hang out with their cousin and headed home, swearing that I'll never take my little heathens anywhere again. But we know that I will. All I can say is that I can't wait for school to start next week!!!!!!

Nadav, the wild one!

Nadav looks like a healthy happy 18 month old. He likes to play with dinosaurs, fold origami, and spend time with his brothers and sisters.
But Nadav isn't 18 months old. He turned 5 on the 20th of April. So weighing in at 27 pounds is not a good thing.
Nadav is that small because he has EE. This means that the white cells in his body attack his eosphagus every time he eats. This causes him extreme pain.Yes, he is allergic to food. All food.
 EE also causes "failure to thrive" as he can't get the nutrients he needs to develop.He can't speak, and is not very coordinated(to put it mildly).  He has some sensory issues. Just smelling something cooking next door can cause him to vomit uncontrollably.
We are not sure what kind of life he'll have as he gets older.For now,every day for him is a struggle.Very few children have this, and even fewer children of color. It seems like a frustrating disease,with everything different for every child. Some can eat "safe" foods, some can't. Some have no issues other than the EE itself, others have multiple disabilities and illnesses. Nadav has an extreme form that involves many hospital trips, doctor visits and every type of therapist you can think of. His life has been vomit, hospital staff, terapy sessions and things that 5 year olds shouldn't even know.

humor

She's not my mom. she's one of the guys.(13 year old son)

But mom, you're not normal.(9 year old Son)

But what are you, mom? Human. Oh, I didn't know that.(9 year old Son)

I don't ever want to be president. You have to listen to too many  idiots. (13year old son)

Welcome to the world of the Goldfish Crackers!

It can be wild in my pond! Sometimes I blog about my family and kids,sometimes I blog about my health issues or other issues which my family face, sometimes I post about things I'm thinking about, or world issues. Sometimes its so wild that I'm not sure how the crackers haven't crumbled!

Just a few rules if you want to hang in the Turtle pond. First, there is a lot about my kids, and my kids read it, so keep discussions kid friendly. Feel free to argue with an opinion in my debate/pondering topics, but attacks will not be tolerated.Remember, no one forced you to read this, so be polite or leave the pond.