I know, I know, I know... Long time no blog!

Just because I have been such a slacker, I have gone ahead and given the site a new look, do you like it? I think it's still a work in progress, so I may make some changes to it. The pictures on my header are of Caroline and Chase shortly after we got home and I used them for their adoption announcements; I think they are such beautiful pictures, I thought I would share them with everyone. By the way, I got the idea from another blogger friend who is way more creative than me, Rachael.

Life has been a little, I don't know what you would call it? Chaotic??? Funky???Difficult??? Probably a little of all that and more. This motherhood stuff is hard, hard, hard! And I have really been struggling lately

Chase has been having a difficult time of late and I'm am having a difficult time handling it. He is such a sweet and precious little boy and it breaks my heart to see him have such difficulty adjusting to different situations. He is in the school district's PPCD program Monday thru Friday from 8am to 11am; he is doing okay, although most days lately are measured by how many time outs he gets. He is incredibly smart and his language skills are just exploding weekly; he is speaking in full sentences, and for the most part you can understand him although there are a few words that I have to interpret for people. Not too bad for a 4 year old that's only been here for 6 months. It's his behavior that is such an issue. He is not violent or aggressive, he is just constantly "busy". He doesn't like to listen, and will just take off running just to see what your reaction will be, most times I try and ignore it, but if he's in a dangerous position, I have to react strongly which is exactly what he wants. I tried to put him in a daycare/preschool after his PPCD class ended at 11am and that was a total disaster; every day there was more and more drama with him, he reverted back to behaviors that had all but disappeared, hitting, biting, kicking and swearing! I finally had enough and pulled him out after 2.5 weeks, now I feel like we're working all over again to correct those habits. He is now home with me again and I am now going to resort to finding a nanny for him. His teacher at school is making a referral to a behavior specialist at my request; I also signed up for "Love and Logic" parenting classes, and I called his pediatrician and got the names of physicians that deal with behavior issues with young kids, his first appointment is not until July! Hopefully his pedi can pull some strings and get us in quicker. From what I understand with the school district and his pediatrician, it is unlikely that anyone will diagnose him with ADHD at this young age, they want to wait until he is at least 7 years old to do that, I don't know if I can hold on that long! Someone is going on meds and if not him, it's gonna be me! I did start him on Omega 3 fatty acids and "Attentive Child" mineral supplement; I have no idea if it works or not, the only change I have noticed is that his language skills have increased tremendously since I started giving it to him; whether that is from the supplements or a natural cause to his school, I don't know. Everyone that works with him says he is such a "puzzle", and underneath all of these issues everybody can see such a great kid with so much potential.

On a brighter note, Chase's favorite book is "Goodnight Moon". The Dallas Children's Theater was presenting the musical version of the story, so I took both Caroline and Chase to today's matinee. I was terrified of how Chase would do for 1.5 hours having to sit still and boy was I surprised! He sat on the edge of his seat for the entire show and loved every bit of it! He got a little antsy about the last ten minutes but so did half the theater. I was so proud of him! There is hope!!

Okay, I don't want to overwhelm you with everything all at once! So I will post again tomorrow (promise!) with the rest of the news.

Jane