gdp's Comments

http://www.extremeparenthood.com/ : Anymore

Fri, 14 Jun 2013 16:34:42 +0000

((HUGS)) you're right. There are days when it sucks so incredibly bad. There are days when you have to feel all the feelings and that is ROUGH!! But the good road is never easy and maybe that's why it's worth it. I'm still figuring it out for myself. My recent post The journey…

http://heldts.blogspot.com/ : The sin of adoption

Wed, 8 May 2013 16:07:50 +0000

As someone who has seriously discerned adoption but who could only afford to go through social services and then was turned down because we already have a biological child with disabilities, thank you for writing this. I am a cradle Catholic who was raised to believe that the proper structure for all children to grow up in was within a family. Not an institution. That being said, I often was coming up against the pro-life mentality domestically that was not supporting birth mothers unless they consented to adoption. That called women who wanted to keep their babies "selfish" and "irresponsible" instead of attempting to support them. I've heard many first count stories of women going to crisis pregnancy centers (including one who was in a marriage with two other children and having financial difficulties) and the first thing they heard was "Have you considered adoption?" And were seared. It felt as painful to many of them as hearing, "Are you going to get an abortion for this pregnancy you so clearly irresponsibly are involved in?" And if that happens here, just imagine what could happen in other parts of the world where life is valued even less. I thank you for your honesty on what is a truly difficult subject. I often have wondered, if adoption domestically is so fraught with issues, why would international adoption be any less. You are shining light in all the right places

http://www.extremeparenthood.com/ : Coming clean.

Fri, 3 May 2013 16:48:12 +0000

I am so thankful that you are getting better and are willing to share that. I am married to a recovering alcoholic who is the adult child of two recovering alcoholics and the younger brother of an active alcoholic. One day at a time. Sometimes one hour. Sometimes one minute. You are strong, you are enough. Love to you.

http://www.extremeparenthood.com/ : A lesson in diversity

Mon, 7 May 2012 11:27:20 +0000

"Even though our kids have special needs they do need to know the power of words to hurt" I couldn't have said it better myself... My recent post What is Autism Mama?

http://www.extremeparenthood.com/ : A lesson in diversity

Mon, 7 May 2012 11:06:23 +0000

They are always learning, even when we don't recognize it. My heart aches for you.

http://icanhasautism.blogspot.com/ : New Test results.....

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 12:48:07 +0000

With Shelby I focus almost exclusively on the classification section. The whole "borderline/deficient" section is what jumps out to me. She is in the process of being re-evaluated right now so that PDD-NOS label can be removed. She needs to be identified as autistic not developmentally delayed. Other than that, I don't study her results so I can't give any advice as to how to interpret these scores. :(

http://heldts.blogspot.com/ : Catholicizing my kids

Tue, 3 Jan 2012 14:41:55 +0000

I LOVE this post. I'm a cradle Catholic married to a non-Catholic, raising our kids Catholic. I especially liked the "keeping the two-year-olds quiet" part. For the first time, this last week, I went to Sunday mass without Daddy. Granted my parents, grandparents and my brother and his girlfriend were there but it's a little different without Daddy. We made it to the Sign of Peace when my four-year-old squeezed my hand and quietly whispered he needed to use the potty. My two-year-old took that as his cue to loudly announce to the entire parish that he wanted to go home. I took the four-year-old to the bathroom with two-year-old in tow. When I emerged with them, my brother's girl friend (who is also not Catholic) was waiting for me and took them out to the playground so I could go to communion. My kids are all very young, so no advice or suggestions, but wanted to say, you're doing a great job!

small things : Waiting and preparing

Mon, 19 Dec 2011 12:12:33 +0000

I am chuckling at Beatrix's hand because when my brother was a lot older than she is now and knew a lot better...he colored his hand and wrist blue with a Sharpie while he was "bored" one Saturday while my mom was out somewhere and my Dad was watching us. Now usually that meant I was reading a book and my brothers went outside to play but for whatever reason that day Matt had decided he was too bored to play outside. When my father discovered what he had done (my dad typically did yard work so he could keep an ear out for the boys), he commenced to scrubbing Matt's hand and wrist in the sink for an hour and a half even using bleach. It was still pretty blue for a while. Thanks for a great memory.

http://heldts.blogspot.com/ : We\'re home

Tue, 6 Dec 2011 15:25:14 +0000

Just looking at that beautiful face brightens my day and makes my life happier! The world is a better place because Mekdes is in it! And thank you God for bringing her to your wonderful family.

http://heldts.blogspot.com/ : Still alive (but barely :) )

Wed, 2 Nov 2011 11:22:37 +0000

My youngest brother was a carrier. No symptoms and he would swab positive. It ended with a tonsillectomy and adnoidectomy (sp?). Poor kid got his surgery a week before Christmas...not his finest hour, I can assure you but it was better afterward with him not having strep every two weeks! Blessings, I hope you are better soon. My two-year-old and I have rotovirus right now and when Mama is sick it's tough!

small things : On the up and up

Thu, 27 Oct 2011 11:40:35 +0000

I, too, am a silly, sentimental person, so I can empathize. The girls are beautiful, but so is their Mama, I hope they grow in love and grace to be strong women. Like their Mama!

small things : On the verge

Fri, 21 Oct 2011 15:22:28 +0000

About a year and a half ago one of my best friends lost her youngest brother to an aggressive bone cancer. At his funeral, she read a eulogy she wrote where she related a story about accusing her mom of having favorites and her youngest brother being the favorite, her mom responded, "Don't lie, he's your favorite too!" Your story about Seth and Keats reminded me of that in a very happy way. Kind of like Mike is looking down at them from heaven and laughing. And protecting.

small things : Practice Run

Fri, 26 Aug 2011 14:03:27 +0000

I am at Ground Zero for Irene. I am thankful though that she decided to come this week rather than last. Shelby still got to surf last weekend!

small things : Remarkable Trees of Virginia: The Earlysville Oak

Tue, 9 Aug 2011 12:35:19 +0000

I lived for a year in Earlsyville growing up...going to send this to my mom. I bet she remembers that tree (I was three).

http://www.ourfieldoflittleflowers.blogspot.com/ : Just Had to Share...

Tue, 9 Aug 2011 12:29:48 +0000

YEAH! Shrimp rule (still waiting on mine, I think he's part of our re-fi closing which hopefully is going to be this week!).

http://www.ourfieldoflittleflowers.blogspot.com/ : Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real - The Saturday Edition

Fri, 5 Aug 2011 14:44:10 +0000

Our first clown was pink and white, we named it Circles, my husband broke my heart by returning it to the pet store while I was at work because he suddenly wanted a fresh water tank...and I was informed this morning, a shrimp will be making his or her appearance in our tank soon!

small things : Embracing the fog

Thu, 4 Aug 2011 14:50:56 +0000

We endured the same thing with our camera at the beach last week. Only, it's not as nice a camera as yours so foggy pictures were...indiscernable!

http://www.ourfieldoflittleflowers.blogspot.com/ : Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real - The Saturday Edition

Thu, 4 Aug 2011 13:03:59 +0000

I LOVE those shrimp and have been begging my husband to put one in our saltwater tank at least since I saw Finding Nemo in the theater ;) (we do have a clown fish, my sons named it MoMo, to differentiate from Nemo...)

http://ourmothersdaughters.blogspot.com/ : {pretty, happy, funny, real}

Thu, 21 Jul 2011 11:45:48 +0000

Love the lavender and oranges in your window. So beautiful. Yum tomatoes and yum for squash ;)

small things : Hungry and Confused

Tue, 19 Jul 2011 16:38:17 +0000

I loved Michael Pollen's In Defense of Food, which I read all the way through. I was unable to do any low-carb, no carb diet and actually got quite ill (it's supposed to be normal to feel sick for a few days up to maybe a week on those diets, I was sick for four weeks straight) and I've been unable to completely eliminate any one food from my diet. A general rule of thumb is that if you are seriously craving something, your body probably needs it (although not a ton of it). In Defense of Food does not promote a paleo diet nor a vegetarian/vegan diet (I've heard people use that book to defend both) but conscientious eating. Making sure you are eating a lot of real food versus processed (excuse the expression) crap. Growing your own is a good way to start. It's ironic because I always look at your blog and think, "Wow, Ginny is so healthy in her eating habits!" I've just decided that any one "diet" is not going to cut it for me, or my family. I was in shock to find out potato chips are largely gluten-free (when my husband was investigating a gluten-free diet for Shelby with the autism connection I found that out--it sadly did not help her or change any behaviors, etc), they aren't exactly what us discriminating moms call healthy (although in small amounts they don't cause a major problem either!). We decided to make our "diet" full of real food (and as much pastured red meat and chicken and fish along with vegetables and fruits) with occasional processed foods and to watch portion control for health reasons. It seems to make life quite a bit easier. :) Just as we can't box you into one type of home-schooler, I don't think you need to worry about boxing yourself into one particular diet. BTW, you have heard of the Twinkie Diet, right ;).