Steph is legal!

Steph and Aric went for her "interview" for residency today. They'd been preparing, stressing, practicing for every possible question. They asked her if she had ever been arrested for prostitution, drugs or helped anyone enter the US illegally. Then they admired her printed scrap books and approved her. Their attorney was there too but never said a word.  That was expensive but went really smoothly. I can't imagine trying to go through that process without an attorney. He really guided them through the entire thing.

Sooo, I just booked tickets for me, Don and Sean to go to Costa Rica on Christmas Day and come back on New Years Day. AJ and Steph are leaving on the 9th and coming back on New Years day. Yippee, I'm excited. We are going to have Christmas on Christmas eve. Alika is taking Spanish next semester and wants to go to Costa Rica too so we will probably go back in the summer:) Sean is looking forward to see the monkeys that live in Steph's back yard and he can practice his Spanish!

Ethan

Ethan has earned his own post. Why you ask? So many reasons! 

Last night Don said "you have to come see this." I picked up my camera and this is what I saw. No water, just two naked boys in the tub playing with toys.
On Wednesday I heard a HUGE crash and glass breaking. (Unfortunately, I didn't think of my camera until AJ and I cleaned up the mess.) Initially I thought my grandfather clock had fallen on top of the boys because there was no noise following the crash. In lieu of pictures I wrote this poem.

Twas the day before Thanksgiving, when all through the house
Two creatures were stirring who'd scare any mouse.
The plants were sitting on their stands with care
Not knowing two boys they needed to fear.
Momma in her bed reading a book
Was not watching those boys not even a look
When on the stair case their arose such a clatter
Momma sprang from her bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the stairs I flew like a flash
Only to see AJ fly up with a dash.
The glass and the dirt on the stairs could cause a fit
Two boys pointed at each other and said HE DID IT!

OK pretty lame poem but you get the point. I had a very large plant in a very large glass pot sitting on top of a not very stable plant stand. The boys knocked it over and it hit another very large glass pot and crashed down the stairs. The boys were both in the deny mode not that it really mattered who did it. I said "ETHAN, GO HOME! SEAN GO TO YOUR ROOM!" Ethan said "why do I have to go home?" I pointed at the mess and said "really do I have to answer that?" He went out on the porch while AJ and I cleaned it up.

Ethan has some funny little peculiarities. The very first time he ever played with Sean he screamed and cried when he couldn't take home all Sean's toys. Ethan usually has a toy in each hand, some in his pockets and one tucked under his chin. He's been known to stuff them down his pants as well. Lately he's taken to wearing a back pack so he can haul more toys around. He is also a streaker, he loves to be naked. He often arrives at our house naked and then wears Sean's clothes home. Some days he will come over with two left shoes on (both Sean's). Most mornings there is a bag of toys and clothes on our porch that his mom is returning. (I am often returning bags of Ethan's toys and clothes to his porch as well). When I tell Ethan he has to go home because we are going somewhere he says "I am coming with you." When I tell him he's not he cries "well what about me!" I remind him that he has people who love him and will take care of him. He sticks his bottom lip out rounds his shoulders and stomps or screams all the way home. (they live next door so it's not really that far)

Today Sean was annoyed with Ethan. "He didn't wipe his bum when he pooped in our yard." Yep, Ethan likes to poop in the yard. I've watched his mom make him pick the poop up in a doggie poop bag. I helped Ethan put the poop in a bag and then he put it in the garbage. I asked Ethan why he pooped in the yard and he said "I was peeing and it fell out." Oh well then, that makes perfect sense.

So staying with my gratitude theme. I am thankful for Ethan, he is a very good friend for Sean. They keep each other occupied. I'm also grateful for how well behaved Sean is. I am thankful I am not Ethan's mom. Miranda is overwhelmed by being Ethan's mother and I know how she feels that is how I felt when Carter was little. The plus is Liam is a little angel. Miranda told me once "I used to think parents with kids like Ethan didn't try and now I know." Yes, Miranda now you know. I don't even tell Miranda about most of the naughtiness because she doesn't see any humor and it causes her more stress. I'm more worried about teenage naughtiness they may get into.  

I am thankful I can say "Ethan GO HOME!

If you're in our yard and you step in poop just know we don't have a dog:)



Happy Thanksgiving

We were thankful to be home with our family for Thanksgiving. The weather was nice, dinner was excellent it was a great day.

I took Sean to our regular doctor on Tuesday for a follow up. Our doctor was two hours behind so we saw his partner who was not behind. I don't like his partner so much and apparently no one else does either hence why he isn't behind. He was good though, just questioned why Sean gets so sick and discussed if we needed to look further for diseases such as cystic fibrosis. I said I didn't think so because when he's healthy he's healthy. He said it's well documented that serious RSV infections early in life can lead to chronic respiratory problems and he thinks that is the problem. I agree. We have another follow up on Tuesday.  Yesterday Sean really turned the corner and he used no oxygen and I kept him off it last night as well. I checked his saturation's in the middle of the night and he was about 95 on room air. His cough has changed too.

Hanging the star with his O's on. He liked to play hide and seek which is really funny when he's tethered to fifty feet of oxygen tubing. Where oh where can he be?

Cater hanging his ornaments.

There was a time we had to record whose year it was to hang the star on the tree because the kids had to take turns. Now it's Sean's turn.

AJ and Steph ate Thanksgiving dinner with us and then went to St George to see his Dad.

DCFS update: DCFS has stopped over night visits and Jenny and Ryan get one supervised hour a week with the girls at the DCFS office. Jenny thinks that's not fair because it's confusing to the girls. Really, do you think? We haven't discussed it too much other then she knows she screwed up but is still talking like she didn't. There is an evidence hearing on December 2 where she is going to deny any parole violations. Her defense, it wasn't her pot it wasn't her scale therefore it wasn't her fault. That's a really creative defense. I don't even feel sorry for her becasue she did it to herself. I feel bad that she was given such a crappy start at life but at some point you have to take control. She's had 18 months of DCFS trying to help her but she doesn't want to do anything by the rules it's like she thinks somehow rules and laws don't apply to her.

Don, Sean and I had lunch yesterday with Lanette and the girls. They are so happy. All through lunch they called Lanette Mommy which is funny because when Jenny is around they call her Lanette. It must be so confusing for them trying to figure out who they can say what in front of. Sean was a little confused with them calling Lanette Mom. I told Lanette that I must be her mother since I am the girls grandmother. It's all a little peculiar but it works if the kids are happy. The kids were sitting across from us talking about how old they were and I said 4, 5, 6. Lanette said that's amazing. She asked how old Ryder was and what he looked like. She said it was strange that the girls didn't know about him I told her they do. I asked Kylie "Do you remember Holland?" and she said "yes." I know they girls remember Ryder they just don't talk about him. They have so many things they are not allowed to talk about. Lanette wanted to know what he looked like so I sent her the picture from Halloween and an old picture of the girls with Ryder when he was a baby. Looking back at the pictures it is sad how bad Jenny looks. She looked like a little girl when Ryder was born and now she looks like she has aged 10 years or more. She is doing some seriously hard living.

Going home today

The plan is to go home in a couple of hours on oxygen:) He doesn't have mycoplasma so they don't know what the organism is but since he got better on zithromax they are going to keep him on it. I really want to get out of here. Sean needs oxygen but other than that he is fine. I think he's the healthiest kid in the hospital but because he is on droplet precautions he is confined to his room and that is making us both crazy. We've played with Lego's, done crafts, puzzles, watched TV, played on the lap top..... It's like we are stuck in hotel room and can't get out. Last night I turned on the "white noise" channel on the TV and it really helped us sleep. Alika came over last night and she drove Don home so he could drive his car to work today.

 Reflections on PCMC:
We had been here an hour and I had not seen any of our students then the registration clerk came in and she had been a student. The first nurse when we got to the floor, Candy took our class 15 years ago. She was our nurse last time too. Most of the techs were students, two security guards and a bunch of student nurses that I've seen. Our attending doctor lives a couple of blocks from us. Teaching all these students is awesome because no matter what hospital we are at I feel like we "know" everyone and there is a real comfort level. I've never worked at PCMC but we feel totally comfortable. They've taken excellent care of Sean.

Yesterday I went to church here. I don't know why church can be done in 30 minutes at the hospital but everywhere else it has to last an hour. They had two people playing the sax and clarinet. It was very nice. One of the people who spoke was from the fifth district quorum of the seventy. He was excellent. He said he was at the hospital because he had a grandchild here and felt compelled to come in and speak. So many parents were crying and I felt guilty because Sean is doing so well and I know some of those parents are really suffering and it made me sad. When I got back to the room a little boy across the hall was screaming so terrified "I don't want anyone to see my underwear." That made me sad too. Kids lose so much control when they get sick. We try to give Sean control. I let him hook his monitors back up, put his oxygen on and adjust the bed. When the nurses tell him not to look when he's getting "poked" I tell him he can. He does much better if he sees what is happening.

I'm thankful for the staff at the hospital. I'm thankful for all the great students who have gone through my school and now work here! I'm very grateful for our insurance and the fact that Sean's already met his out of pocket for the year so this admission isn't going to cost me another two grand! I'm grateful that despite these hospitalization's Sean is a healthy kid.

Another admit to Primary's

We didn't stay home for long last night. I checked my email, posted a blog, took a bath and then Don, Sean and I laid down. I gave Sean another breathing treatment but the minute he fell asleep I knew he was crashing. His respiration's were up, he was grunting and moaning. I put the pulse oximeter on him and he was 78%. We packed a bag (we came prepared this time) and went to the ER. They got him right back, put him on oxygen. We got there about 11:30 and made it to a room at 3 a.m. Sean was so good, he just sat there and watched when they started his IV. The nurse dug for a good five minutes on the first hand and they got it on the second. He wasn't just being still because he was too sick to fight he was fascinated by what she was doing. He loved looking at his X-rays and seeing his skeleton, heart and lungs. He finally fell asleep in the ER but he got woken up to go upstairs. The nurse upstairs was doing her assessment and when she went to put the electrode leads on him he had a full blown angry melt down. Screaming! The nurse said "I'll go get him a toy." I told her "Just go and he'll be fine." She left and he calmed down then the night residents came to see him. He was calm by then and had a pretty decent remainder of the night. He's still asleep. He has the same nurses he did last time and they all said "oh you're back." Lots of my former students again. Not fun to be known at Primaries. When we were at Kids Care one of the Herrin twins was there too and she looked so miserable. (They were the conjoined twins that got separated a couple of years ago and each has one leg and one had a kidney transplant.) She looked so miserable and it made me grateful for how healthy Sean is despite his lung problems. The kid in the room next to us is a new diabetic. I know because I hear the mom out in the hall talking about carbs and correction doses and that really stinks. Then there are all the kids in ICU an on the oncology floor. All things to keep my perspective. When we were in the ER I couldn't help but think about Jenny or a foster family dealing with this. That would be even yuckier for Sean. That said, this really stinks:(

Pneumonia again

Sean has been sick all week. On Wed I thought he was getting better. He slept well wasn't coughing so I sent him to school. When I picked him up from school his temperature was 104. He coughed on Thursday but no fever, same on Friday. Then last night he coughed all night and today while I was at work he coughed continuously and had a high temp. When I got home he was doing his respiratory distress pneumonia breathing. His saturation was 89. We went to Kids Care and the saturation was the same, they gave him a breathing treatment did an X-ray and gave him a shot of Rocephin. The Dr said if we could get his saturation above 91 we could take him home otherwise we had to be admitted. We left with his saturation's at 92. Hopefully with the shot of Rocephin he can start to get better and we can stay out of the hospital.

My mother in law asked me if Sean was exposed to drugs in utero. When we were at PCMC the pediatrician asked me if there was drug, alcohol or tobacco use during pregnancy and I said "yes." She gave me a blank stare and asked "which"? I said "all" and she asked "which drugs" and I said "I don't really know." She looked at me like I had two heads and I said "he's adopted." Ohhhh. So to answer the question. I know there was lots of smoking and drinking in utero but can never get a straight answer as to recreational drugs. Sometimes she tells me none then other times she says pot and once she told me meth so who knows. I will just say that Sean was not incubated in an optimal uterine environment. None the less he turned out a great kid.

I'm thankful for health care and health insurance.

Weekend Update

Isn't that a Saturday Night Live skit?

Sean is sick. He's had a cough and fever for a week. He was starting to get better and is now getting worse again. I get nervous when he gets coughs and a fever that don't go away quickly.

Jenny update:
She got out of jail last night. She texted me this am "You called?" I texted her back "where the heck have you been?" She texted "at Joe's." I texted "In Texas" she texted "Colorado." Then she tried to call but I was teaching. She texted for me to call her on break. I called her a while later and asked her what was going on and she said "I'm not going to lie to you. I was in jail." I asked her why and she told me the her parole officer came over and her roommate had an ounce of pot and a scale but it wasn't hers and she didn't know anything about it. I asked who all was in the house and she said Anthony and she didn't even know the other people. She said she shouldn't have lied to Lanette. I asked her if DCFS knew and she said she was going to tell them and she was meeting with her attorney on Monday. She said that Anthony and all the people at her house went to court and told the judge it wasn't her stuff. Yep, I'm sure they did. I'm sure at an initial hearing the judge listens to anyone. Her not lying to me only lasted through the first sentence of "I was in jail." I'm sure DCFS is really going to believe her. No one ever denies ownership of drugs. Honestly, I doubt it was hers but I do not believe that she didn't know it was in her house. And so the stomach continues to churn and churn and churn. I am so sick of this crap.

In the slammer (for the next few hours anyway)

I had not heard from Jenny for four days which is very peculiar. Usually I hear from her every couple of days unless she doesn't have a phone or is in jail. She just got a new phone last week. I texted Lanette this am and told her I hadn't heard from Jenny and thought it strange. She said she got a text this am from Jenny's phone saying she had to go to Colorado to see her brother because he was being sent to Iraq and she wouldn't be back until Tuesday. Now that's very strange because: she has court on Monday, she doesn't have a brother in Colorado and service men are being pulled out of Iraq not sent in. Hm.... I was at the podiatrist with mom so I told Lanette how to check the jail site and bingo there she was.
She got arrested Monday for a parole violation. (It looks like she is going to be released today pending an evidence hearing in December). Her parole officer went to her house on Monday evening for a routine check and there were four people at her house said to be watching football. The house smelled like marijuana. When they searched the house they found 31.8 grams of pot and a scale in Jennifer's room. They arrested her. She said the pot isn't hers but her roommates (what roommate) who she heard was a drug dealer. What the crap? That girl does not learn anything!!!!! There was also alcohol in the house and she is not allowed to be around alcohol or people drinking alcohol. The alcohol found under the kitchen sink was still cold. Guess they didn't want to pour it out and waste it. I guess the positive is when she goes to court Monday saying she can't pay her fines because she doesn't have a job it will probably be true. Hopefully this is the nail in the casket for her attempts to regain custody of her kids.

I am grateful for the parole officers who did their job:)

My third subpoena

I just got served (AGAIN!) Alika got one too (AGAIN!) The new date is December 9th at 9 am. Lanette said next week marks one year that she has had the girls in her home. She said the therapist is really concerned that if the girls go home they will get molested because they have been "groomed" to keep secrets. I think they saw their dad again on Saturday after Sean's party. The guy who served the subpoena served Jenny's old neighbors as well. It would appear that Jenny and Ryan were drunk and partying together on a regular basis at her last residence. Go figure.

I had no idea this could drag on for soooo long. We are headed for two years. I just want their rights terminated and all the kids safe and happy.

Jenny didn't call me yesterday. She got a new phone and was calling me constantly it was driving me crazy because I was spoiled when she didn't have a phone she didn't call me everyday. She even showed up at my work on Sunday on her way to meet Lanette. She's pretty mobile with her car.

My baby is four!

Sean turned 4 today. We celebrated yesterday at Jungle Jim's. Like my niece Jaclyn likes to say "we are all kinds of fancy." It's tough when they are little because they have such high expectations for their birthdays. Sean has been talking about it for months. Whenever he would get mad he would say "you are not coming to my birthday party." He had a really fun day and was happy so I was too. Here he is taking a swing at the pinata. He smacked it a couple of times then started to cry. I think the noise scared him.

Here are some of the party goers in line waiting to take a swing. I think that pinata was made out of cement or something. I knew that Catherine's boys would finish it off in the end and they did. Jungle Jim's was very organized. They put the candy in individual zip lock bags, one for each child so there was no scrambling. AJ and Steph called it socialism I called it convenient. Steph really rolled her eyes. No scrambling for the pinata you silly Utahan's call that a pinata.

Sean wanted cupcakes but I wanted something festive so I borrowed an idea from my niece and got a cupcake tree (or whatever it's called). I thought it looked cool. Those are cupcakes with transformer rings in them. It was a transformer/ any costume you want to wear party.

Singing happy birthday to Sean.

Some of the adults. Jenny totally ignored Alika which Alika was fine with but it was weird. I think she was worried Alika would say something about court. I dunno. Alika got a new lap top last week and someone broke into her car and stole her laptop and her text books. She was super bummed! That's the third time we've had a car broken into this year. Alika's was in Salt Lake.

AJ and Steph at the socialist party.

Miranda (Ethan's mom) and Liam.

The princess roller coaster.

I am very grateful that Sean made his was to our family. He is such a great kid and we love him so much. I am grateful for all the people in our families who have accepted Sean. He has all these brothers, sisters, cousins, Aunts, Uncles and Grandparents who love him too.

I am thankful that Jungle Jim's is so much quieter than Chuck E Cheese:)

Change O plans (again)

The hearing for Monday has been cancelled because Jenny has her other hearing asking to not pay her fraud payments because she is unemployed. Hmm. Lanette said Clarice was at her house today and said that the Assistant DA is upset because he thinks this is all a waste of time and the judge will send the kids back. She still feels like it is 50/50. However, she said she has never seen a GAL be as persistent and aggressive as Jeanenne. She said Jeanenne just won't give up. The state is now counter petitioning Jenny's attorney who is asking for home placement with a petition to go back to supervised visits. Oh, the saga.
I am thankful for Jeanenne.

The court hearings that never end

Update: Jenny's attorney has petitioned for an emergency hearing to have the girls immediately placed in the home for a trial placement. She got her certificates saying she has completed her DV and drug abuse counseling. Interesting that she thinks that makes everything OK and should have the kids back.
BECAUSE:
Sunday Don took Sean over to her house for the day to see the girls and she took Sean and the girls over to their dad and grandfathers house which is explicitly forbidden.
Also, she has filed a petition for a review of her felony charges because she hasn't been able to pay her fines and wants a reconsideration because she is unemployed YET she has told the family court judge that she is employed. SO what is the truth. The GAL has been investigating and has spoken with Jenny's old neighbors co-workers etc.
I just hope and pray that the judge sees the truth and protects those girls by allowing them to be raised in a loving, stable environment.
New hearing is scheduled for this Monday, say a prayer.
I am thankful for the GAL, the assistant DA, the DCFS staff, the therapist and the foster family all who have devoted their time and talents to helping these little girls. I am also thankful for all my family and friends who have kept them in their hearts and prayers.

Scroll Reunion

Last night I went to a very mini Scroll reunion. That's the newspaper I was on at Ricks College 30+ years ago. I was News Editor, Melinda on my right was an editor and Marta on the other side of the table was an editor and Brother Palmer was the director of the department and our instructor. It was fun to reminisce and hear what others have been up to. Another person showed up but didn't find us in the restaurant. I guess after 30 years you don't know what each other look like. I would have recognized Brother Palmer any where.
This leads to my things I am grateful for: I am grateful for my education at Ricks. While I never became a "journalist" learning to write has opened up many opportunities. I've written for just about every nursing magazine out there. I've had my own column in NurseWeek magazine, I've been published in Reader's Digest and most recently I have my column in the Salt Lake Tribune. None of these fun opportunities would have come my way if it weren't for the two years of Journalism I majored in at Ricks College. Good times!

First snow of the season yesterday and Sean made some great snow angels.

We went to the train museum in Ogden but it was really too cold to do anything so we ate lunch and came home.

I am working today and so is Don. Jenny wanted to see Sean so Don dropped him off at her house for a couple of hours. Kylie and Brie are there so I am hoping he's having fun. She said she was going to take them to church. They cynic in me says she's going in hopes of getting church welfare.

A Halloween Wrap

We started Halloween morning off with Sean's history parade at school. This year I told all the parent's to make sure they sent their kids in comfortable walking shoes because I wasn't carrying anyone! I did take two strollers just in case. Everyone had comfortable shoes but both strollers got used and teachers were carrying kids. Next year I'm taking the six seat stroller from the school with us.  Sean's class were knight's and princesses again. The Little's were astronauts and scientist and the big kids were Egyptians. We made root beer and that was fun. It is amazing how much Sean has grown and changed in his year at the school. I remember watching in awe last year when big kids could put the code in the door lock and the school and open the door and now Sean can do that. His Spanish is incredible too.

Trick or treat started early. Ethan's little brother came over in half a birthday suit. His mom told me he wasn't really trick or treating rather he had escaped!

Sean and Ethan visited a couple of houses in the neighborhood and then we went over to Catherine's to trick or treat with her boys. The weather was perfect this year. One of the neighbors said "Isn't it early" and I said "these two have been dressed up all year." He had to laugh because everyone in the neighborhood is always laughing at Sean and Ethan because they are usually in costume. My camera didn't work well at Catherines. Her boys were dressed up like hamburgers.

One of the fun things about Catherine's neighborhood is we see Heather and her family. (I had Heather send me her picture because mine didn't come out.) Sean and Ryder hadn't seen each other since last Halloween. They were so cute they immediately started sword fighting and really playing. It was strange to watch them having such a grand old time. They are biological brothers and have no idea. Not that they are old enough to know what a biological brother is. They sure look like brothers. When Ryder was a baby Sean once looked at him and said "look it's a baby me." Ryder has pretty eyes like the rest of the kids but his are different than Jenny's. Sean and Kylie's eyes look exactly like their moms.



Jenny's sister Sabrina came over yesterday so her daughter Empress could play with Sean. I feel bad for Sabrina she so wants a mother and a grandmother for her daughter. It's got to be so hard to be raised in foster care. Sabrina would like to re-establish a relationship with Jenny. She asked me to ask Jenny about it. When I told Jenny last night Sabrina came over she couldn't understand why and said she didn't want a relationship with her. I told her I'd seen Ryder too and she just wanted to know if he was fat or skinny. 

Time to move on to the Thanksgiving season and being thankful.

I will start with something I am thankful for:
I am thankful for my great family. Both the great family I was born into, the one I helped create and the one I married into.