It's The Most Wonderful Time of The Year... Oh Yes.

Remember this commercial??

Of course, way back in 1996 I  didn't "get" this commercial. I thought it was funny, but I didn't "get it".

After this summer.....oh boy do I ever!!

Olivia and Sophie can be so good together. They will play and laugh and giggle and have just a grand ol' time.

But when they fight, boy do they fight.

Olivia is feisty. Sophie is feisty.  Not the best mix when arguing begins.  Things seem to get out of control fast.

I won't go into too much detail, but all I will say is that blood has been drawn and tears have been shed.

I am ready for school to start.

Game Changer

What would you do for your child?  What lengths would you go to to help your child achieve their fullest potential?   What sacrifices would you make to get them to where you KNOW they can be?


For me the answer is simple.  I will do whatever it takes!!

For a while now I have been feeling unsatisfied with the progress Stella has been making.  Don't get me wrong, I have been loving and appreciating every milestone Stella has been working so hard to achieve.

But I have been feeling like we are missing something.

Since Stella turned two years old,  I saw very little progression with speech.  I kept thinking "there must be something more we can do to help her to talk".

Speech is huge in life.

Stella knows how to sign, she is able to be heard by using her voice (as in yelling or grunting when she wants something or is in need of help).

But that will only get her so far.  She is going to be starting preschool, she is going to be around typical kids more and more and knowing that she would not be able to communicate with them at their level was just causing me such sadness.

"She'll talk when she is ready" I kept being told

I wasn't convinced.

"There HAS to be MORE we can do for her!!!" I kept thinking.

Then one day I was checking out my Facebook news feed and came across this article that a friend of mine posted.

Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness for Kids with Down Syndrome

This article, made me stop.......

This article make me think.....

This article blew my mind......

This article was a GAME CHANGER!!

I always knew that Stella's brain function was different, but it never occurred to me that her brain was disorganised, that her brain was injured.

So, if Stella's brain is injured, does this mean it can be fixed?

Based on the beliefs of the Institutes for the Achievement of Human Potential (IAHP), the answer is YES!

Now this may seem "out there" and extremely "unconventional", but after reading the IAHP's website iahp.org, after reading their ideas and beliefs on children who have Down Syndrome, it just all made so much sense to me.

"Children with Trisomy 21, labeled as having Down syndrome, have a pattern of malformations that are pathogenetically related. It was believed that these genetic problems were the complete explanation as to why these children could not function as well as other children. As a result, it has been assumed that they could not be treated or helped.

This is not the case.

The Institutes does not treat the genetic disorder. However, these children are brain-injured as a result of their genetic problems. Those injuries may be mild, moderate, severe, or profound, just as they are in other brain-injured children.

Down syndrome is a label rather than a diagnosis. A proper diagnosis describes where the problem exists, the degree of the problem, and the extent of the problem. It is necessary to treat the brain, where the problem actually exists to be successful.

The Institutes teaches parents how they can help their child by focusing on the normal development of the brain, rather than on therapies that may be directed only at the symptoms." (an excerpt from iahp.org/downsyndrome)

I read this and re-read this, and every time, it made sense!

"For too long brain growth was thought to be a static and irrevocable fact. Instead brain growth and development are a dynamic and ever-changing process.

This is a process that can be stopped, as it is in profound brain injury. This is a process that can be slowed, as it is in moderate brain injury but most significantly this is a process that can be speeded.

All that we do to speed the process is to provide visual, auditory and tactile stimulation with increased frequency, intensity and duration in recognition of the orderly way in which the human brain grows. We then arrange for the child to have the maximum opportunity in an ideal environment to use and develop the motor pathways.

For more than a half a century, the heart of The Institutes program has been based upon the fact that the brain grows by use.Scientists now recognize the plasticity of the human brain and new research in neuroplasticity confirms that the brain is incredibly capable of recovery and rehabilitation. The old notion that once the brain is injured there is no means of recovery has been discarded."https://iahp.org/about

I showed Mickey the IAHP's website, I had him read the articles and to him it all made sense as well.

I called my friend who posted the article on her Facebook profile.  Her daughter has Down Syndrome and she has been on a ND (neurodevelopment) program with her since she was 8 months old.  I watched a few videos of their daughter and was amazed with what I saw.  It was obvious that they were doing something more then the conventional methods to help their daughter.

I emailed another facebook friend who did the IAHP program with her son from birth to 6 years.  She had nothing but positive things to say about her experience.  The program she had him on was intense, but worth it in the end.

I found two blogs from mother's whos children have Down Syndrome and who are using a neurodevelopment program.  The Down Syndrome Action Plan, and Down Syndrome Day to Day

These blogs are amazing sources of information and inspiration.  Both boys are changing what it means to have Down Syndrome! What they are achieving and what they are able to do fantastic to see.

I then ordered and read this book

This book is about Kristen's Morrison's son (who has Down Syndrome) and her journey into discovering how natural medicine (vitamins and mineral supplements), plus the IAHP program helped her son to achieve HIS fullest potential.   Naturally Better Kids - Down Syndrome, It Doesn't Have to Be That Way

Mickey and I want Stella to reach her fullest potential.  I 100% believe.....WE 100% believe that with this new information, with this new knowledge that we have just learnt, that we will be able to help Stella.

We will be able to help her more then we ever have before.

In December Mickey and I will be travelling to Philadelphia to take a course at The IAHP.

From this course we will learn all about the brain, brain injury, how function determines structure, the importance of physical activity, the importance of teaching children to read, how to create a nutrition program, and how to evaluate OUR child and develop a program for her.

From this information, Mickey and I will develop a program specifically and only for Stella.  You see The IAHP believes that the parents are the key, and that we know our child better then anyone else. Therefore, who better to put together a program and do the program daily, then the parents??

This road we are about to embark on is not for the faint of heart.  The program will be intense.

But Stella is worth it.

This is for her, for her future, for the whole family's future.

I will not underestimate you anymore my sweet Stella.

Vegas, Urologists and ANOTHER Round of Illness

It's been awhile.....

I'm becoming one of THOSE bloggers.

The one who always has some reason for not blogging.

Honestly, I don't know how you all do it!

How in the hell do you manage a post a day! Or even a post every other day, or a post a week??

I was doing good there for awhile, but then life just gets busy and I take FOREVER to even write a post.  Well, posts like this one are easy, but the post with a little more depth, those for me take a long time to write. I feel like I gotta get the words just right and sometimes what I'm thinking just doesn't seem to come out on paper quite right.

But I digress......

This is an update post, an easy post.

Let's start with VEGAS BABY!!

Woooo hoooo!

Our first night in Vegas!

Oh, how some days I wish I was still there.

Two week ago tomorrow (already), I met 3 of my closest girlfriends (and 2 ladies whom I had never met) in Calgary! From there we flew to Vegas and spent 4 fantastic days together! We got a little tipsy one night, we dressed up all sexy and went to a show, we went to a fantastic outlet mall and shopped all day, we rented a cabana and spent all day by the pool....the list goes on and on!

One of my BFFs

It was REALLY hard to come back to reality, let me tell you.  I shit you not, I got MORE sleep in Vegas then I get here at home.  Sure, I went to bed almost every night in Vegas at 2/3am, but then I got to sleep...UNINTERRUPTED for 6-7 hours!! Since I have gotten home, the most sleep I have gotten is....3 hours.

I blame the youngest McG.  Her sleeping can be awesome sometimes, but then she goes through weeks where she sleeps like shit. I believe she is affected by the moon's phases.  I have been keeping a sleep journal for her and it's always around a new moon that her sleep starts to go all haywire.

So, the night I got back from Vegas, Stella slept shitty, so I slept shitty.  Then a few days later Sophie decided to get a stuffy nose and guess who then got a stuffy nose?  Yup, Stella.  Stella is on a crap load of vitamins, mineral, probiotics...you name it, yet she still is managing to get sick.  I was hoping that it would just stay a stuffy nose, but nope, it's in her chest, so now she's on a nebulizer again.  I am now considering doing a complete overhaul on her diet.  So far I have cut dairy out of her diet, but I am going to start looking into removing gluten and sugar.  That being said, Stella is not the best eater, so I really don't know what I am going to feed her if I stop giving her bread, crackers, pasta.  If she'd only eat a vegetable (that isn't pureed), that would be awesome.  I know of a few parents whose children are on a sugar/dairy/gluten free diet.  I will have to get some ideas from one of them.

And poor Livi! She is fighting strep throat.  Whenever she gets sick lately, she always seems to get strep throat.  I can tell she has it just by how she is swallowing.  A few days before I left for Vegas she was complaining of a sore throat, and so I took her to a walk-in clinic (it was the weekend so I had no other choice).  The doctor there affirmed my diagnosis and prescribed the usual amoxacillin.  The next day Livi felt better and she continued taking the antibiotics as prescribed.

Well, just yesterday Livi came upstairs in the morning looking like she felt horrible and swallowing "funny".

"My throat hurts"

"What??  How is it possible that you could have strep throat again?? You literally just had strep throat!"

So off we jaunt to the clinic again, as her Ped is on vacation until August 12 (crap!).

Here is my version of the conversation with the quack.....ahem clinic doctor.

Dr.: "So what seems to be the problem?"

Me: "I think she (referring to Livi) has strep throat again.  She just finished a round of antibiotics on Saturday"

Dr.: "Strep throat is going around this year" (he says this right before looking in Livi's mouth)
Dr: (after looking in Livi's mouth) "That's not strep throat.  She has thrush."

Me: "THRUSH?? as in Thrush that babies get?"

Dr.: "Yes, it can happen after being on antibiotics as antibiotics kill both good and bad germs"

Me: "It didn't look like thrush to me? Does thrush cause her throat to hurt?"

Dr: "Yes, it can. It can be very painful"

Me: "Oh, okay. So, you are sure it's not Strep throat?"

Dr: "No, it's thrush"

Quack Doctor!

It's fricken STREP THROAT!!! That stupid antibiotic mouthwash crap has done diddly squat for my poor child.  She won't eat, can hardly talk and is in extreme pain every time she swallows!! Plus I have looked in her mouth practically every hour today and I'm sorry, but those white spots are not thrush! I know what thrush looks like, hell, Olivia, Sophie and Stella all had thrush as newborns!!

THAT'S NOT THRUSH!!!

Whew!!

Sorry, I'm a little pissed off.

Tomorrow I will be going to a different clinic and nicely requesting more antibiotics for my poor child. And this doctor better not tell me it's thrush or so help me God.....

Deep breathe.......inhale.............exhale.............ahhhhh all better.

Sophie's immune system seems to be the strongest.  That kid rarely gets sick, and when she does it's never for long.  Well, as baby and toddler, she tended to get chest infections but now that she's four, her colds never seem to bother her much.

No, her issue is her bladder.  She likes to hold her pee until she can't hold it anymore.  At the beginning of the year she got a bladder infection because of her fierce independence and unwillingness to cooperate when asked to "please for God's sake GO PEE!! I know you have to go!!!!"

This is Sophie back in March.  She had to go pee, but nooooo, she refused to go!  She insisted that she didn't have to go, and instead of going, she decided to lay down and hold her pee.  A few minutes after this picture she finally lamented and went.

After her antibiotics were done, she had an ultra sound and an x-ray of her bladder.  It was discovered that one of the valves in her bladder is not working properly and so when she pees some of the urine goes back up into her kidneys.  This is called urinary reflux.  So on Tuesday, Sophie and I made the 3 hour jaunt to Calgary to meet with the urologist at the Children's Hospital.  Sophie will have day surgery some time in the fall.  They will do what's called a "Sting Procedure".  The surgeon injects a collagen or Teflon through the tube.  It goes into the tissues below the valve.  The substance swells the tissues and sometimes tightens the valve and stops the reflux.

Then her little bladder will be good as new.

Thankfully she is much better at listening to her body and she does not lay on the floor......as often.

Update complete!

Now I must go and calm down Livi as her STREP THROAT is keeping her awake.

Quack doctor...mumble, mumble...thrush my ass....mumble, mumble....

Back To Reality

I'm back!!!!

My last post was right before the Saskatchewan River was expected to swell and do some major damage on the city of Medicine Hat.  We were packing and getting ready to catch a plane to Victoria to see my family.

Well, the river did swell, there was flooding and there was a fair amount of damage.  But the Trans Canada Highway bridge did not close and the river did not get as high as they had originally thought.

We had no problems driving to Calgary and the flight to Victoria was.....fairly uneventful.

I say fairly as I was expecting to be flying on a JET aeroplane, but when I looked out the window at the boarding gate I saw a plane with PROPELLERS???  Seems Mickey bought Air Canada Express tickets and Air Canada Express tickets give you a plane that looks like this:

A PROP PLANE!!

What's the big deal, right?  No big deal really, but for some reason the thought of flying on a plane with propellers was a lot more nerve wracking to me then flying on a jet plane.  Oh, and guess where my seat was?  Yup, right next to the propeller.

I am not a big fan of "take off" while on a plane and this time was no different. Mickey always gets a good giggle watching me close my eyes and "breathe" as the plane bounces up and down in the air as it makes it's way up past the clouds.

Once we levelled off, and the plane stopped bouncing around I was able to relax.  Stella on the other hand... she was not impressed at all.  She never actually cried, but she did not like the sensation of being on the plane.  Poor kid just didn't know where to put herself! She'd sign "mommy" and then once she was in my arms she would fidget, pull away and then sign "daddy".  Then Mickey would take her and she would do the same thing with him.  Sophie and Livi were awesome travellers! They sat together and giggled and sang and were just really cute.

Our week in Victoria was awesome!  We stayed with my sister, her husband and my two nieces.  Sophie and my niece Emily are the same age (6 weeks apart, to be exact).  They got along so well! Every year they see each other they get along better and better! There were a few arguments between Sophie and Emily and there were a few arguments between Olivia and Sophie, but on the whole.....they were all just really well behaved little girls.  They shared, they laughed, they played, they giggled, it was just so lovely.

Playing "Baby".  Emily is the baby, Sophie is the mommy and Livi just decided to jump into the picture....

These two were just so cute. 

Livi and Abby.

Stella and my other niece Abby (she's 15 months old), got along really well too....for toddlers...  Abby enjoyed pushing Stella every now and then, and Stella got in a good scratch here and there.  But on the whole, they did way more hugging and parallel playing then pushing and scratching.

The Toddlers!! They were the  "silent communicators".  Neither of them said much, yet they seemed to know exactly what the other one was saying.

Too adorable!

It was awesome hanging out with my sissy sis.  It was awesome seeing my parents again and having my girls spend time with them.  It was awesome seeing a few of my girlfriends and their kids again.

Stella loved listening to gramma sing her songs!

At the park with Grandpa

LOVE this photo of my dad and Olivia!

I miss living there.

I miss the mass amount of lush, green trees... and bushes!!

I miss the hills.

I miss seeing the mountains.

I miss having my sister nearby.

I miss having my parents nearby.

Yet I feel like where Mickey and I are right now (living in Butt Fuck, Alberta), I feel like this is where we are supposed to be.

The air may not smell as fresh, the trees may be more sparse, but this is our home.

Life is good here.

I will see my family again next year.

And it will be awesome.

And maybe we'll get a picture with ALL of the grandkids with the grandparents......

So this was the best picture we could get of the grandkids with the grandparents....Sophie, during the whole trip, refused to cooperate and smile for a picture....unless it was just her in the picture.  Stella, clearly, was DONE and not the least bit happy. Abby was nowhere to be found, Emily was distracted with Stella crying.  The only child cooperating was Livi.  But wadaya gonna do?

PS. This post was brought to you by the word "awesome"

No River Flooding Is Gonna Stop the McG Clan

Alberta is facing mass destruction and devestation due to flooding. Mass amounts of rain in Northern Alberta have caused the rivers to swell.  High River is covered in water.  Here is an article from the Calgary Herald.

High River

Yesterday residents from downtown Calgary were told to evacuate and this morning, this is what downtown Calgary looked like.  Pictures courtesy of Calgary Herald.

Down Town Calgary

Here in Medicine Hat, those living in the lower lying areas (those close to the South Saskatchewan River) have until 10pm tomorrow night to evacuate from their homes.

So far, there is no flooding, but the river is predicted to start to swell at an alarming rate tomorrow afternoon.

We McG's do not live near the river so we are still in our home.  We have plans to travel tomorrow...to Calgary...but NOT to downtown.  We will be going to the airport and flying to Victoria, BC to visit my family. All roads to the airport are good so off we will go, crossing our finger and just taking it as it comes.

We have stocked up on as much water as possible.  We are unsure as to what we will be coming back to.  I am optimistic that all shall be ok, but I am not sure if there will be available running water.  I honestly didn't even think to go and buy water to stock up on, but no matter as ALL stores in Medicine Hat are sold out.

I honestly don't know just how bad this flood will hit Medicine Hat, but I am optimistic that it won't be as bad as everyone is making it out to be.

My thoughts and prayers are to my "Hat" residents who have been displaced from their home.

My thoughts and prayers are with all of my fellow Albertan's who have lost loved ones, who have lost their home, who are displaced, or who are just scared shitless.

I am attempting to Stay Calm and Carry On as the British have once said.

Daddy-O - A Father's Day Tribute To My Dad

Father's Day is today and what a better way to celebrate then to write about my dad.

My dad was in his 30's here.....hard to believe that I am now in my 30's......

What I remember most of my dad:
(these are but a few things that I remember)


I remember his calmness and his patience.  He had a knack of making me feel better when I was worried about something.  If I had a bad dream, I would sit at the top of my stairs and quietly call for my dad.

"Daddy.........Daddy........Daddy...."

Eventually my dad would wake up and come upstairs to my bedroom.  I'd tell him about my bad dream and he'd hug me and tell me "it's ok". We'd say a little prayer and I would feel calm, secure and so much better.

My dad worked hard to support us.  He had a dental lab attached to our house when we were young.  That way he was able to work from home. At that time he worked as a dental technician.  He made dentures and other orthodontic devices.  We LOVED hanging out in his lab.
I remember always being down there asking him questions or asking him to help me hide when I was playing "hide and seek" with my brother and sister.

I really don't know how he got any work done.  However, he never got angry or impatient with us.  

He would always answer every question.

He would always stop what he was doing and help me hide when I asked.

A very patient father, and for that I am grateful.  I'd love to say that I am as patient with my own McG girls, but this is still a work in progress for me.

I remember every Saturday night we would have "Soup over rice" for dinner.  You know Campbell's Chunky Soup? Well, we would have that over rice.  Then we'd sit down and eat it while watching wrestling on TV.

And almost every Saturday afternoon after church, my dad, brother and I would drive out to the airport.  We LOVED the airport.  Perhaps it was because we lived on such a small island and it was a symbol of "escape" for us.  Nah....we liked going to the airport because it carried good memories of the travelling we did once a year.  Not only that, but there was a really cool dump near the airport where people used to take their old worn out objects like bikes, stoves and tons of other cool stuff.  It was fun to climb around and look at all the cool stuff.  Then on the way back home we would sometimes stop at the ice cream shop and have a yummy treat.

My dad is an awesome grandfather.  He was always running around playing with Olivia.  Sadly we moved to Butt Fu.... I mean Medicine Hat before Sophie was old enough to really appreciate her grandfather.  However, my parents send little 5 minute videos of themselves talking to our girls and Sophie gets such a kick out of watching my dad do silly funny things.  I can't wait for this summer when she will be able to see him and get to experience his silliness in person.

My dad has not seen Stella since she was 8 months old!!!

Thanks Dad, for being such a great Daddy.

Thanks for your patience. 

For your calmness.

For your reassurance.

I couldn't have asked for a better Dad!!

My Baby's Daddy

When Mickey first moved to Victoria (before we had met), he lived with his aunt and uncle for a few months.  During his stay with them he spent a lot of time with his young cousins who were 6 and 3. When I had been dating Mickey for a while, he took me over to his aunt and uncle's house to meet them.  He had talked a lot about his little cousins and I was excited to meet them.

I could tell immediately just how much those two little kids loved him.  Their eyes lit up when they saw him and were just so happy to play with him.  Yup, Mickey pretty much dissed me to go play with his little cousins.  Brownie points, BIG TIME!  (Well played Mickey, well played).

Seeing how he interacted with his young cousins, how he seem to really, honestly enjoy playing with them, I knew that he would be a fabulous father one day.

I was right.

From the moment Olivia entered the world he has been an amazing father.  I remember feeling so unsure, so awkward with holding Olivia or changing her diaper for the first few weeks.

Not Mickey.

He held her, dressed her, changed her diaper like he had been doing it for 10 years! When I was stressing or worried about something to do with Olivia, he was calm, logical and reassuring.

He was like that with each of our girls.

So confident, so sure, so loving with each McG girl.

He still is like that to this very day.

He's my "go to" guy when I am worried or unsure, or just need to have straight up logic.

He's an amazing father to our McG girls.

He never flinched, not once, when we were faced with the possibility of having a child with special needs, and when Stella was born and we saw that she in fact did have Down Syndrome, not once did I see any sadness in his eyes.....just love.  I clearly remember him bent over gently touching her face and softly talking to her as tears of pure love filled his eyes.

He works his lil touche off to provide for us.

I work hard yo! Just look at my bulging biceps...

When he gets home from work, he is always in a good mood and happy to see his girls (and they are always excited to see him too). No matter how shitty work may have been, no matter how stressed he is, he leaves it all at work.

Our McG girls LOVE to spend time with him.

Every Sunday (his only day off), he spends his day playing with his girls.  He'll even sometimes let me sleep in!!

Thanks to his "need" to have everything in order and organised, I always have someone who will pick up my slack....that's right ladies my man is NEAT and ORGANISED (he makes me look messy in comparison).  I shit you not. When we were dating, that was the first thing I noticed when I went to his apartment for the first time....it was IMMACULATE!

My McG girls have a wonderful example of what a "real man" is.

Happy Father's Day my darling.

such a joker

gotta love a man who can act like a kid...occasionally

We love you to the moon and back!