So, here's the deal...

I have been nothing short of a piss-poor blogger. Quite frankly, it's been a crazy month and a half, between getting appointments finally rescheduled and all the trips to Children's for lab work. There has also been dealing with the side-effects of Prednisone in a three year old when Texas refuses to dry out. He's also been eating like a proverbial horse Good times, I tell you, so long as mommy has plenty of caffeine, Add to all that the week or so that the drain for my kitchen had an intermittent clog for about a week, DART train line closures and re-routes, and it was more fun than anyone should be allowed for any one single mom.

So, in the final two days of May, here I am, once again doing a reboot of sorts. Not just with the blog, either. Basically, with EVERYTHING. I'll cover the blog first, because that's what this is, after all. 

I'm making one change to how I do Mama's Mission of the Month for starters. On the last day of every month, I'll post the following month's goals. Tomorrow, June's goals will be revealed. Starting in June, on the last day of the month, I'll do the recap and reveal for July. That will be the way I'll do it, just so it doesn't eat up two days worth of posts.

"Life With/Life Without" will be getting a reboot. I'm basically starting over. I'm not going to just pull a copy and paste job on what's already been written, because, quite frankly, I'm unhappy with the previously posted product. I drafted them on the computer for the sake of time, and I'm an old fashioned girl that way. All my posts are going to be drafted with pen and paper and then typed out. The way I used to do school assignments. It is my groove, and I want it back, damn it. 

I will post updates on Landry's journey with ITP. Just to bring you all up to speed, the second time we went to Children's and he had a level of 28, they scheduled a follow-up in June. By early the next week, I was calling to ask for a draw. Mommy's instinct was spot on, as his count was at 7. I was given a ton of instructions and a prescription for Prednisone in the event that certain criteria were meet. We ended up in the ER for a few hours that night, as Ryli was running one way, Landry the other, and it resulted in a head on collision. The lower the count, the greater likelihood of a brain bleed, and it's far better to be safe than sorry. By Friday, I spotted purpura (a rash of purple spots on the skin caused by internal bleeding from small blood vessels.) in his mouth and called it in. Steroids started that day. With a dose left, his labs showed his levels were 118. We scheduled an appointment for the following week. Ten days removed from that beautiful, triple digit count, he was at 4. One more round of steroids while they finished up getting insurance authorization for IVIg. Two days after coming off Prednisone, his count was a whopping 217. Next appointment is nearly two weeks out, and its the original follow up appointment. They have slid it up to 9:30 in the event IVIg is necessary, to remove the need for two trips. I'm nervous. He's clueless.

The whole ITP thing has been a bit of a trip. I already know what to look for, and so far, since the diagnosis, my "Mommy Sense" goes berserk around 30. Ryli has been great. Landry is pretty good, other than the lab draws. At this point, I'm not sure if he totally hates them, or if he's putting on a bit of a show. He wears his band for as long as he can, which is cute. Right now, for a brief little bit, he can almost be normal. Still need to watch his head, though, because the drop from 217 to the range in which I can tell his numbers are dropping is huge, and right now, he's not all that far into the "normal" range of platelet level.

This summer, Ryli and Landry each get to go to a day camp. I could have put them both into the same camp, but I thought that it'd be a treat if I sent them separately. That way, they get two week's worth  little breaks from each other, and in turn get some one on one time with me. 

The homeschool curriculum that I bought over a year ago is no longer collecting dust. Copies have been made, and we will be starting Monday. It should be fun. I've already discussed not sending Landry to daycare of any kind in the fall until his ITP clears, so we will continue through after Ryli starts kindergarten in the fall. I'll post little schoolhouse recaps on Fridays.

I've decided to ride it out a bit longer here. Moving would be a logistical nightmare, and right now, where we are may not be the best neighborhood, but it is very convenient to pretty much everything. Ryli's future school is just across the street. There are several major bus lines that go down our street, and they both have stops that cover three of the four train lines. There's an after school enrichment program that Ryli has been dying to start. It's close to every store I really need, and I've also made friends with the kids' friends' parents, plus there's Nicole, our resident teacher.

Expect to see more food on here as well. I have been a tad berserk in finding recipes, and June will be a month of trying a lot of new things. I am hoping that they will all be successful, but odds are there will probably be a minimum of one epic fail. 

To sum all of this up, I am back, and I don't intend to fall off like I did before. You have been warned!

Ryli's Kindergarten Round-Up (so NOT impressed)

I still vaguely remember my kindergarten round-up, even if it was 1981. The prospective kindergartners went to a real kindergarten class, and our future teachers led us through mini-lessons while our moms filled out the paperwork and showed proof of immunizations. With my oldest, in 2001, she was asked to attend, and after the paperwork was out of the way, we got a tour of the school. 

Tuesday rolled around and I knew that I was short a complete shot record, as I accidentally had Ryli's packed away for our impending move when she had her 4 year set of shots. No big deal, right? I'd just call her pediatrician's office and have them fax it over. They'd done it for me in the past. I called around 10:00 and gave them the school's name and their fax number. 

At 2:45, after the sitter arrived for Landry, Ryli and I struck out in a fine drizzle to the school. Not too bad of a walk, and it went by quickly with all of Ryli's endless questions about my experiences in kindergarten. After-school pick up was in full swing when we arrived, so I quickly found the sign indicating the office and in we went to find out where we were supposed to go. I was a little miffed when we were told to go back outside and around the entrance to the cafeteria entrance, but off we went.

Ryli put up her Hello Kitty umbrella and I pulled the hood of my sweatshirt up as we headed to the other entrance. We were early, and there were already a handful of moms and kids waiting. The line built up behind me quickly, and the drizzle turned into a steady rain.

Staff kept sticking their head out the door asking why we were all standing there, and they all looked confused when we told them that we were there for round-up. They kept us outside, each saying "Well I'll find out what's going on". Finally, after about 25 minutes of waiting, 10 minutes passed the scheduled start time, they let us in one by one after giving us a numbered post it note.

We got inside and stayed in line so we could show all of our documentation before being given our enrollment paperwork. When it was our turn, I found out that they had never received the fax from the doctor's office, so we went to a table and I called the office. Apparently, they got a busy signal and never tried to send it again. They finally sent it over 45 minutes later.

Sometime during this wait, someone finally decided to break out coloring sheets and crayons for the future kindergartners we were all told to bring along with us. Apparently, they had nothing planned but the filling out of paperwork.

As I filled out the paperwork I had finally gotten into my hands, they collected all the documentation from us one by one to make copies. I asked about protective orders, and they said the school would need a copy before the first day of school, so I pulled that out and turned it over with the shot record, birth certificate, Social Security card, copy of our lease, and my drivers license. 

After all the paperwork was done, we were then told to go get into another line. Thankfully, they brought out a few cookies while we waited. Finally, it was our turn. We went up to the table and yet again had to present all of our documents so they could be checked off. Then, the freshly done paperwork was gone over to check that everything was filled out. I was then handed a pamphlet on how to prepare my child for kindergarten, and we were sent on our way.

The walk home was nothing short of miserable. Ryli was mad that she didn't at least get to see the classroom. And by mad, I mean up until the point where we came up to the street at the crosswalk, she was threatening an all-out nuclear meltdown. She tripped crossing the street and cried over her hands the rest of the way home. When we got their, she started bragging to her brother that she got to see her school. Go figure.

All and all, I would have to say that was the single most disorganized excuse for a school event that I have ever been to, and I hope that we move to a different area before the school bells ring again for the 2015-2016 school year.