Back To The Grind

Back To The Grind

We had great intentions to blog while in California but that didn't go so well.  And then the summer just seemed to slip through our fingers and here we are more than two months after our last blog.  So much for doing this on a weekly basis, hence the name change of our blog!  We just have too much going on!

Let's see if I can summarize our summer before Jack awakes from his nap...

At the end of June/beginning of July we spent nine days in California.  After four days of Disney, two days of Legoland, and three days at the beach house, we were ready to return to New York.  We had a terrific time but it wasn't really a restful vacation.  We packed as much as we could into our time away and I know we created memories for the kids that will last a lifetime.  Here are some photo highlights.

                               

 

We got lots of pictures with different Disney characters and princesses

Breakfast with Minnie and friends

Cars Land at Disney California Adventure Park

The Lazy River at Legoland Water Park

 

An after dinner stroll with Uncle Tim and Uncle Michael

This was a huge step for Ryan and a far cry from the hysterics of meeting Lola during our trip to California a few years ago.

Jack loved his first trip to the beach!

 

We waited until our trip to California to officially announce the big news that we are expecting our 4th child!  We wanted to surprise Phil's brother in person.  I'm due November 3rd.  Here is a picture of me at 30 weeks.

After our return from California we had a little over a week to finalize details for Jack's 1st birthday party.  We had 107 people in attendance!  It was quite the day including a water slide, lawn games, lots of food, and a baby gender reveal!

Anticipation leading up to opening the box of balloons.  Pink or blue???

It's a girl!!!

Ryan wasn't really sure what the pink balloons meant.  At first he thought Jack was now going to be a girl!

Jack on his first birthday!

And we continued to have a busy July and August with a week of camp, numerous visits up to nonna's and papa's house, a trip to Playland, a trip to Splashdown, numerous birthday celebrations, a bridal shower, a baby shower, a Renegades game, the Norwalk Aquarium, the 4H Fair, three Irish Dance competitions, a week of Irish Dance camp (for both Ryan and Julia), and preparations for back to school.

At camp

Ryan with his Godparents, Uncle T and Aunt Anne

Rockland Feis

Dancing on the dugout at the Renegades game

Performance with her dance school at the Putnam County 4H Fair

Fishing upstate

Fun in nonna's and papa's pool

Norwalk Aquarium

Performance at the end of Irish Dance camp.  Ryan was so serious as he concentrated on the steps.  It was so cute!

Catskill Mountain Feis

Sporting their new Brazil soccer shirts

Happy Birthday Papa!

East Durham Feis

Bow and arrow target practice

Loved driving the cars at Playland

I wonder what he's thinking...

Happy Birthday Grandma!

Happy 6th Birthday Julia!

But not all of the summer was fun and games and good times.  After experiencing weeks on end of numbness and soreness in my arms and legs, the neurologist sent me for an MRI.  I have several spots in my neck and back where disks are hitting my spinal cord and causing neurological issues.  I'm returning to work when the school year begins but I will be on limited activity.  It is difficult to lift my arms, stand for long periods of time, and walk up and down stairs.  I have numerous appointments coming up to work on a plan for treatment options.

In addition, we continue to struggle with Ryan.  He has many ups and downs and continues to display wild behavior, especially when not taking the Focalin.  He is unpredictable and can get very violent at times.  We were denied services through OPWDD through their 2nd step review and we felt extremely defeated receiving that news.  The cost of the psychiatrist he sees, simply to get the prescription for meds is ridiculous.  It is $350 a month and all he does is write the prescription.  We need to look into switching to someone in our plan.  With everything else going on we dropped the ball on taking Ryan to the psychologist each week, although I'm not sure what good that was doing either.  We worked in the beginning of the summer with a behavior analyst but it was difficult applying a lot of the techniques she trained us to do when we were constantly on the run and in different settings.  All of these setbacks built up and has made me feel like a failure where Ryan is concerned.  We dropped the ball on a lot of things this summer.  It's not that we don't see the value in these things, we are simply pushed to our breaking points.  We have so much going on and when you juggle too many balls at once, some are bound to fall.  But I'm confident we will pick those balls up and add them to the mix in due time.  School begins for the kids in a week and getting back to a schedule and routine will help.  Being home on maternity leave this fall and winter will give me more time to make the phone calls that I need to make and spend more time with Ryan getting him back on track.  Fingers crossed and prayers needed!

DC