724, 725 + 620, 621 Weeks

The last two weeks have been quite a roller coaster!  Carmie has been extremely nauseous, so I started keeping a food and nausea diary for her last Wednesday, as I have to figure out what is going on.  I thought perhaps it was dairy related (and it still might be), but she seems to get nauseous most times when she eats.  On Thursday night she was feeling terrible, and then the vomiting started.  She was ill all night, all the next day, and most of Saturday too, finally able to keep food down by dinner time.  She has slowly been getting her appetite back this week, however the nausea is still ever-present.  To top things off, I fell over on Thursday morning - I was taking Arley on a morning walk (which took a lot of convincing!) and I made it about three metres past the end of the driveway before I slipped in the mud and went down on my knee, onto the concrete.  Of course, because this is me, this wasn't a normal graze, and it got inflamed and started getting infected, and over the course of the next three days, walking felt like someone was sticking a red-hot poker into my knee cap.  I had a cane and everything.  And I tell you, hobbling down the hallway at 3am, and 4:30am, and 5:30 am to clean up Carmie's vomit wasn't the best time I ever had.  She only wanted me, but Jeff ended up taking over after that because I couldn't do it anymore.  Fun times!  My knee is healing and at least I can walk now, and Carmie is not ill anymore, so double win!

Arley has been doing well.  He had a good OT session on Monday.  He is able to talk about his sensory issues with the OTs now, and they are going to start working on doing things in the kitchen with him.  He went bike riding with Clint around the neighbourhood, and Clint said he did really well.  We have a new electronic calendar that has a routine and chore chart in it with a reward system, and Arley is very intent on earning his chosen rewards, so he is actually doing things I ask him to do (via the chore chart).  I'm hoping the novelty doesn't wear off - he's even doing his laundry right now as I type!

I have found a support worker to come do Carmie's physio exercises with her.  She is a paediatric physio who does support work on the side, so how good is that?!  She will be doing half hour sessions with Carmie here at the house, Thursday mornings and Monday afternoons.  I have also found a disability drive service that we have started using to get Carmie to her D&D sessions.  This frees up my afternoons, so I couldn't be happier about this.  So far they can only do Tuesdays, but they will be driving her on Wednesdays and Fridays as well soon.

This all means that I can plan on doing more painting.  I have been doing a simple online painting course to get my mojo back, and I have been loving it.  Things have been a bit of a shemozzle this week and I haven't had a chance to sit at my easel, but I am hopeful my time will be freer very soon!

I took Arley to get his hair cut this morning.  It is not easy to convince him to get it cut, but I got him there and got it cut, and he was great.  He did get to go to the supermarket for a treat afterwards, but it was worth it!

We are off to Lolo and Dida's now for some afternoon games and dinner :)

This morning waiting to get his hair cut.  LOL

722, 723 + 618, 619 Weeks

So, I have no photos from the past two weeks.  Not one.  Arley and I took a couple on our morning walk this morning, but they are horrible.  Carmie and I decided this morning that we were going to go for a walk at Currimundi Lake and then out to lunch, but on the drive there she came down with a headache.  I stopped at a pharmacy to get her some Advil, and continued driving to the lake, but within a few minutes she was nauseous, 7/10, and asked to go home.  Our morning was a bust, and Carmie is now in bed.  I have made an appointment with her endocrinologist, as her coeliac numbers are still high and our paediatrician requested it...but guess how much an endo appointment costs?  $510, with only half back on Medicare.  How can a half hour doctor's visit cost $510??!!  Ugh, it's crazy.  But, we've got to figure out what is going on with her belly.

We've had a few ups and downs over the last few weeks.  Arley and I have been butting heads - mostly because he is having trouble doing whatever is asked of him.  It's kind of driving me crazy, but there's not too much I can do except praise him when he is cooperative.  He had a good day yesterday - he was with Clint in the morning and at his social time with his buddy Liam until the afternoon.  I took Carmie to her physio appointment, and while she was there I took a walk through the neighbouring rain forest, and it was just what I needed.  I will be doing that whenever I take her to physio, as long as it's not raining.

We have made all the bookings and arrangements for Jeff's trip back to the States in June.  He will be gone for three weeks, which is the longest we've ever been apart...I'm not really looking forward to it!  I would love to go too, but we couldn't take the kids.  Vacations are all too difficult for us, I'm afraid.  Luckily we live in such a beautiful place.

We haven't been doing a lot.  We went to Lolo & Dida's for dinner.  One morning Carmie and I met up with Nicky and Lexi at Cotton Tree beach.  Of course I forgot to take any photos, but it was a really lovely morning.  We left Arley at home, as he was refusing to come.  I'm just going to start going out now, whether or not he and/or Carmie joins me.  I turn all the screens and internet off when I leave - I figure one day he might just be bored enough to join me!

Hopefully I'll have some good photos for next week.