So since I haven't wrote since February of 2013 I will catch you all up on what's happened.
March 2013
Nathan's 12th Birthday
Nathan had a choice of inviting friends over and having a party or just doing something with family. He chose family. We decided to surprise him and take him to Inner Space Cavern. He was supper excited.
And Rich got to spoil Nathan with his birthday gift....passing down a tradition. Nathan got a Swiss Army Knife. Here's a few pictures....
Gee, March was a busy month....We also took a ride on a vintage steam train...
In April of 2013 we had our first family visit. Nathan's CASA came to visit for a few days. She took Nathan and they went and explored some of Texas. She even took Josh with them one night to go and watch the bats come out over the capital in Austin. Rich and I actually got a date night that night!
Also in April Joshua had a bit of a mental health crisis. He was seeing shadow's, hearing sounds as well as increase in urinating in inappropriate places and defecating in his room. I tried everything to get help for him. We went to the ER after he lit fires in his closet and saying he wish he was dead. The ER was a waist of time. Josh was the center of the nurses attention and they were catering to anything he wanted. We had to wait for what seemed like forever for a social worker to come talk to us. She felt that Josh should be admitted to a mental health hospital, but none with in a hour drive time had an available bed. I had the choice of staying there all night and wait till mid morning/lunch time to see if there are any beds that open up. I opted to bring him home, and call around in the morning. One of the hospitals did have a bed, we went down there, sat for what felt like 6 hours to be told that they didn't want to be liable to manage his type 1 diabetes. So we were sent home with a list of day programs, which isn't covered by insurance!
His defecating in his room got worse and I finally broke down crying on the phone to his pediatrician's office. They worked in an appointment, his doctor called out the county mental health outreach team to meet us at the doctor's office. The talked with me and Josh, determined that he didn't need to be hospitalized but needs therapy. So we started on the therapy road again.
June 2013
Filming of The Transformers: Age of Extinction:
My friend Melinda told me that filming crews were in town to film part of the latest Transformer's movie. I packed the boys up early in the morning and drove to Taylor, TX (about 20 mins away) to see them film a chase scene in down town Taylor. I got a picture of Mark Wahlberg too!
Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch
So one night while watching the evening news we saw that one of the Giraffe's in San Antonio had given birth to twin babies. Which is rare, but even more rare for both to survive. They were adorable on the news, so we decided to go down and do the whole safari drive thing! Here's a few pictures.
July 2013
We drove up north to my cousins Nancy and Chris for their annual 4th of July BBQ/Party! Wish I would have taken pictures or a video of the firework show. They live off of a lake that majority of the neighbors are retired veterans. One of their neighbor pays for out of their own pocket (about $1800 worth) for a firework show. The normal shows I remember as a kid were at most 20 mins long. This show was at least 1 1/2 hours long if not 2 hours.
August 2013 -
Lori's trip back home
For a very quick weekend I flew back to California to visit with some friends and family. I got to see my beautiful but very adult niece Valerie. I remember her sitting on my father's lap playing. Now she has a full time job and going to college. I also got to visit with my beautiful big sister. She is doing well, her and her husband moved to Santa Rosa for Rich's job around the same time my family and I moved to Texas.
I spent a some time with some very good friends, Christine, Kristina and Erica. We spent the night in the bay and wandered around San Francisco. On our way home we made a pit stop in Napa at one of Christine's favorite wineries. It was a great time spent with friends that I miss terribly. I also spent some time with my friend Anna and her children.
Also in August the boys went back to school. Josh started 4th grade and Nathan started 7th grade. This school year we tried something new with Nathan. We enrolled in him k12.com. It is a virtual online charter school. It's not considered home schooling, as it's a state/federal accredited public school. But he get's to do school from home. The school sends all supplies, text books, PE equipment (Balls/Jump rope), microscopes, art supplies etc. Unfortunately it wasn't the best thing for Nathan or for me. He agreed he would work independently when needed and not goof off. He did many times and at the end of the 1st marking period we put him back into school.
September 2013
My daughter and her family came up from Houston to San Antonio for a quick weekend. We drove down and met them for dinner. Hung out chatted. The boys got to hang with their sister, her brother and a few other kids.
The next day we went to The Alamo and The Riverwalk. We had lunch at The Rain Forest Cafe. Walked around the Riverwalk, took a boat ride of the river. Ate too much and spent too much!
Also Nathan started playing basketball for a league called SOA. His coach loves how well he can cut through the crowed on the court to get to the net, he has been nicked named "Buzz Saw."
December 2013
So around Thanksgiving we were at a friends house for our weekly bible study and fellowship dinner. A few days later the leader's wife text me asking if we could chat. When she called she informed me that another family expressed concerns because their children reported that Nathan had wrapped a toy stuffed snake around their toddler's neck, and told a few girls if they didn't give him the basketball he would kill them. The same week I got this news, I received a call one morning from Nathan's guidance councilor asking if he rides the bus, walks or if I take him to school. I informed him that Nathan rides the bus. The councilor told me that one of Nathan's teachers spotted him walking under the overpass to the toll road. I jumped in the car and found him walking in the opposite direction of the school. He claims he was walking to school with a friend. Rich and I have the feeling he was either ditching school or trying to run away. This then escalated into anger and aggression at home and after an after hours call with his psychiatrist it was recommended that he be admitted to a mental health hospital. Which he was and was there for about a week.
January 2014
Nathan's 2nd mental health hospitalization for being suicidal. Nathan came home from a bad day at school, had a lot of anger and aggression. Tried to hang himself in front of me and his younger brother. Called the hospital, told me to bring him on in. He was there for about 2 weeks.
February 2014
Rich turns 40!! Enough said!
March 2014
Nathan's 3rd hospitalization - more anger and aggression
April 2014
I went back to work! I took a part time with a local women's domestic violence shelter as their house manager. I was responsible for all of the purchasing of food and supplies and the shelter maintenance, having one employee report to me, the maintenance guy. It was a fun job.
May 2014
Back in December or January I requested that the school do a formal evaluation on Nathan for a IEP. Well we had our 1st ever ARD meeting. Nathan has a IEP for next school year!
July 2014
We drove up north again to my cousins Nancy and Chris's for their annual 4th of July BBQ. It was great spending time with family.
August 2014
Beginning of the month Nathan had two more hospitalizations for anger and aggression. This time against me. Sadly he hit me.
Towards the end of August the boys went back to school Nathan in the 8th grade and Josh in the 5th grade.
October 2014
During a late night much fest I discovered I broke a tooth. One of my back molars. Off to the dentist I went, had to have it pulled, was beyond saving. Ouch that hurt, and not just my jaw, my checkbook too.
So, because of the several inpatient hospitalizations Nathan was having and the toll it was taking on us as a family I reached out to a family therapist we were seeing shortly after moving to Texas. After explaining to what had been going on she said that the scope of what Nathan and our family needs is beyond what they can do for us so she gave us a referral to the CRCG.
CRCG is a state run group that goes by what county you live in and they help you get services you need. At the time of the meeting we had been on a waiting list over 2 yrs for equine therapy. They helped get us moved up the waiting list. We were introduced to TBRI - Trust Based Relational Intervention. This has been a life saver for our family. I will blog more about this! Also there was someone from the school district who is walking us through the steps to apply for non-educational funds to help pay for respite, camps, sport, etc. for Nathan.
November 2014
We started TBRI. Our therapist Lauren, comes out to our home twice a week. 1st time is to meet with me to go over new teachings to build on top of what I learned the prior week. The 2nd time is what we call nurture group. It's a place where we learn how to respect each others, use good words, respect personal space, etc. And she observes me and how I am applying what I am learning.
December 2014
Nathan's 6th hospitalization. More anger and aggression, threatening to jump out of his 3rd story bedroom window.
My birthday was on the 19th I turned 35 (ugh)
Christmas was uneventful, nothing major. We try to keep holidays as low key as possible. We tend to see an increase in poor behaviors during holidays. The boys were sufficiently spoiled. They got phones for Christmas.
Nathan also started equine therapy. His therapy horse is Zeus.
