I guess I will start with the oldest child and then work my way down leaving hubby for last since his part most likely will be the longest and most time consuming for me to do.
First in line is Ashleigh. She is currently 12 and will turn 13 in December. I got pregnant with her at 17 and she was born 3 weeks after I turned 18. She is without a doubt my mini me. She looks quite a bit like me and has mostly the same interests I do as far as music, reading, and really just life in general. She's a good kid who cares deeply about others and because of it, gets hurt by others easily also like myself. She loves animals and hopes to become a veterinarian when she grows up. She actually went to Zoo School here last year as a step on the path to her dreams.
Next in line is Kaylee. She is currently 11 and is one of two April babies. She is by far my most difficult child although much of it is not her fault. She had a rough start to life and because of this does have some pretty significant delays especially in the areas of speech and fine/gross motor skills. I was in labor with her for 5 days mainly because my contractions would not come regularly and never did the whole labor. She also had the cord tightly around her neck and we came close to a c-section with her since her heart rate would drop really low every few contractions. We also got a call when she was 5 days old informing us that she has a rare metabolic disorder and will be on a very restricted diet the rest of her life. The disorder is galactosemia and with this her liver is missing the enzyme that allows her body to use the simple sugar that is found in lactose. If she eats or drinks products that have lactose in them, her body will store the galactose and will form a toxin which can attack the eyes, brain, kidneys and liver. Being she was breastfed for 5 days and tends to sneak foods she knows she cannot have, she does have some permanent damage. Her speech by far is the most affected. At one point in time, she had no consonants at all. All she would use was vowel signs and that was hell. Thankfully as of now, she does have most consonant sounds with some being much harder for her and thus much harder to understand but for the most part, those closest to her can understand at least 85% of what she says if not more. She also has pervasive developmental delay which is on the autism spectrum along with failure to thrive and some other diagnosis. She also can be violent especially towards her siblings. They are already questioning whether it could be bipolar since it does run in the family big time. She often will get mad and hit or pinch a sibling or throw toys at them. She gets upset very easily and cries at the drop of a hat. Her emotional maturity is down around the 3-4 year age so very close to a 2 year old tantrum. She has hurt herself on occasion when mad but typically attacks a younger sibling or destroys whatever room she is in. The moods swings can happen in the blink of an eye and often can be from the simplest things such as Ashleigh looking at her or at times perceivably nothing at all. I have tried everything I can to get her help but I am told as of now she's too young and because the behavior is not seen at school typically, that as of now she does not need to be receiving help in these areas. We did have her moved to a cognitively impaired classroom last winter and that has seemed to help her some since school is a major struggle for her.
Next up is Stephanie. She is also an April baby and shares her birthday with Kaylee. She just turned 7 in April and is by far the easiest of my kids. She is extremely easy going and quite a character. She has said some of the funniest things ever and is just such a joy to be around. Life with her is never boring and she makes you laugh almost constantly. She also is by far my most sensitive. She recently had double eye surgery to fix a very bad lazy eye issue and is doing much better after. She made it through wonderfully not even needing pain meds after the surgery was done minus tylenol the first day. She is in 2nd grade this year and rather proud of that.
And last but not least for the kiddos is Anthony. He is my only boy and will turn 6 in November. He also has galactosemia and does have some minor delays from it but not enough to qualify for any special assistance at school minus speech. He started kindergarten this year and so far seems to be enjoying it. He is a huge momma's boy to the point when he was a baby I had to take him everywhere with me or he would cry the entire time I was gone. He also is overly sensitive and does get upset more easily than normal. He also, like Kaylee is failure to thrive, and is tiny. He is in mostly 3t clothes and actually just moved in to those. He is short and skinny as can be. He is a very typical boy when it comes to interests. To him, the sun rises and sets around cars whether it be the Disney movie or matchbox cars. He owns probably close to 500 matchbox cars and typically gets one each time he goes with me to the store.
As I think most of you know, all 4 kids are currently in foster care with Ashleigh one place and the rest at another. This is eating me up inside and takes a lot of my time between doing whatever the foster worker requests plus research on how to fight them and also lots of appointments recently for all 4 kids. I will do absolutely anything I can to get them all home again. We return to court on September 7th and hopefully the judge orders them moved back home with us where they belong, but I am not holding my breath on that as of yet.
I think I am going to leave off for now and will return later to do a post on hubby and also the introduction for myself.
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