New Month on it's way...new look is in order!

Today our local school district started back to school. Ellen does not attend our district schools and doesn't start till Sept. 8. Her class is in a neighboring school district which is always the last one to get going in the fall. That's ok except for going longer into June than anyone else!

I thought a new look for my blog was in order. September brings the fall season and cooler temps, especially at night. I have seen some trees showing red leaves already!

Today I took Ellen to the outlets to get some jeans for school. I always shop at Vanity Fair first. We found 2 pairs of jeans and 3 pairs of denim capris. All were under $10...2 were under $8! Yeah for some money saving!! I also bought her a really cute dress at Justice for $9.99. It's a summer one so she won't get to wear it much this year. Hopefully it will still fit next year.

Where did the summer go??

Happy Birthday, Paityn!

Paityn is 3 yrs. old today. What a delightful child. She is a gift to her parents, Marcy (our second child) and Scott, and to all of us....we love her so much!! I will never forget the day she was born. We knew Marcy was having a girl but they kept her name a secret. Drove me crazy but was fun at the same time! Enjoy the pictures of our little princess, Paityn Lily Smith.

Paityn is ok with this arrangement, not so sure about Conner!

Love the hair!

Paityn's second birthday

Cute!

Oh well, she's still cute!

The Smith family

Oh, Nana!

 

Doesn't she make your heart melt?

Ellen

Today is Ellen's 16th birthday. I sit here reflecting on that day and the months prior to that day.

 August 27, 1994.

Ellen's story is long. I will tell some of it.

Ellen was one of those surprise babies that we Mom's have sometimes! I was 40 yrs old. I had 5 children, my twins were going on 5 yrs. old. I felt satisfied. I was rather surprised I felt that way because I wasn't sure if I would ever not long for another child. So when I realised I was pregnant, I had mixed emotions. I hated that I wasn't completely thrilled. With my other pregnancies, I wanted to tell everybody that I was expecting again.....this time I was hesitant. I remember the day I went to my Doc to be sure, I saw him in the hallway before he came in the room. He knew why I was there, looked at me and said "Really?" It wasn't that he thought it was terrible. It was just a surprise to everyone!

I won't even go into the circumstances during my pregnancy....that's another story. I will just say that Dale lost his job early that year due to a down turned economy. That has a familiar ring to it doesn't it! He works in the construction business which feels it pretty quickly. It was a very rough time. That's all I'm saying....

My pregnancy went great. I was thrilled to know it was just 1 baby this time.....I was very concerned that it could be 2 again. Having two babies is fine once.....but twice? You know what you are in for if it happens again!

I went into labor 4 days early. My sister Jean and Dale took me to the Doc and he sent me to the hospital. Jean has a much better memory about all this than I do. I just know that labor was long, it hurt like mad when they would check how far along I was, Ellen was showing signs of stress during labor pains, the Doc suggested an epidural sometime as night was approaching (I went in the hospital in the morning, I think), I resisted at first because I never had trouble having a baby.....good grief, I gave birth to 5, but gave in. Labor lasted all night. It was getting close to shift change again when it was decided to go ahead with a C-section. Things happened fast and I was soon in the OR and we were having a baby. My very brave hubby watched as they opened me up and delivered a little girl named Ellen Corinn. I don't know the time, just know it was morning after 7. I know the Doc doing the surgery was talking about OJ Simpson! How's that for a memory!! After Ellen was born I was able to see her briefly then they whisked her off to the NICU...she had stopped breathing. I forgot to say that the cord was wrapped around her neck 3 times which was preventing her from being born naturally. A nurse said that it was good we did the section or we wouldn't be bringing a baby home with us. I have tears as I remember that!

Ellen started out as a very sleepy baby. I couldn't imagine life without her. She was the darling of our family. As time went by, I had questions about her development. She seemed slow. I mentioned it to the Doc. we were seeing at the time and he just said that all children develop differently. Geez, I knew that. I had 6 of them! By the time Ellen was approaching her second birthday, I started voicing my concerns to others in our family. They were noticing too and I was encouraged to take her to a pediatrician. We always just used our family Doc for our kids and didn't have a clue who to choose. Believe me, the Lord led me to the right practice and the right Doc in that practice! Dr. Bonnie Zehr sat and listened to me as I expressed all my concerns. I felt so heard, finally! She set us up with early intervention. Ellen had some testing to find where her challenges were. We placed her in a wonderful program with therapy. All this did not happen without some heart rendering moments for me. This was my baby.....I was sending her off to be away from me....in a van.....to a classroom with strangers....God, why is she like this....was it because I resisted having the section earlier during her birth....would she have been ok??

Ellen had lots of testing. I will never forget the day when a Doc told me it had nothing to do with the cord being wrapped around her neck. I accepted that but it still took some time for me to really believe there was nothing I could have changed. I think a lot of Mom's with special needs kids go thorough that.

Ellen grew. She eventually started talking although it was hard to understand her. That was a huge frustration for her. She went from a very sleepy baby to an extremely active toddler. Way over the top active. She was diagnosed with ADHD. Living with her was challenging. I had to think about everything to keep her safe. She would use anything to get into everything. We put up gates in the house and tried to keep one room safe for Ellen. We had to put up taller gates as she grew. I won't go into all the things she figured out which nearly sent me over the edge. When Ellen was 4 our daughter Marcy was in a very serious accident. Life would never be the same again for her. I was her care giver till she could get strong enough to do it by herself. We had to renovate our home to accommodate Marcy's needs. Ellen's extreme activity during this time was about sending me to the brink of insanity. Ellen had to go to the Doc for some reason over this time. Her Doc had known about Marcy's accident. She saw I was at the end of my rope and suggested that it may be time to put Ellen on meds to help control her activity. She had always said it was too soon prior to that. I must have looked a mess cause I didn't even ask for them! (but I did tell her if it wasn't Ellen that was going to go on something, it was going to be me. I meant it!) Oh what a difference for Ellen! For the first time ever she was able to sit on my lap and have me read to her. She would pick up a pencil and scribble on a paper. We were soon able to take down the gates. We didn't fear for her safety when outside. Life was still a challenge but soooo much better!

Ellen has experienced surgery on her eyes twice, tubes in her ears, back surgery and surgery on her right foot. Life is not a piece of cake for her. But she is an absolute delight! She prefers a regular routine, doesn't like new situations although she adjusts very quickly to them. She hates going to the dentist and stresses every time although it's never as bad as she expects it to be! She continues to learn. She has been blessed with wonderful classrooms with wonderful teachers. She is learning to be independent in life, as much as she will be able. Her supporters have high hopes for her. I try really hard not to be a Mother Hen...there are times that I don't think I can stand it for her to be too independent....I need to be her protector....the world can be ugly! Sigh......I let go cause it's what is best for Ellen.

Happy Birthday to our beautiful Ellen. Sweet 16!

Ellen holding her niece, Paityn

Ready for her first IU Prom

Mom wrapped something in a lot of newspaper!

13yrs. old!

Ellen plays Challenger Baseball

Ellen loves NASCAR

Jeff Gordan is her man!

Today is a Special Day

My baby is 16! I will post more later........

Happy Birthday,
Ellen!

A funny thing happened on the way into the Park

As we were entering the Park, I pulled out $5 to pay for parking. It has been a long time since we were at Hershey Park and I wasn't sure how much it would be. Well, as we approached the booth I saw a sign that said it was $10! Wow....that's a money maker for them! We got to the booth and the attendant wondered if we would like Preferred Parking for another $10! Uh, noooooo! Are you kidding??? That is outrageous!

We parked, walked and waited for the rest of our bunch to arrive. As I asked our kids if they wanted preferred parking, ha ha ha, they didn't know what I was talking about.........it so happens that we were they only ones to get to get the offer! Ha ha ha on us! I guess we must look like we couldn't walk the distance to the park or something......or our kids thought maybe it was because on this ~

We drive a Buick

I guess it really is a car for old people...

(we did buy it from a lady who was no longer driving....)

but I like my car.

I don't consider myself to be old....

most of the time =)

Hershey Park Happy

Hershey Park, Hershey, PA

What a fun day we had yesterday!

Earlier this summer the Giant grocery chain had a brand promotion where you purchased $60 worth of certain products and in return you received a coupon for either a free Hershey Park ticket or 4 tickets for $60. Christy and I did this. I thought it was a good deal. A Hershey Park ticket sells for more than $50.

So yesterday Dale, Ellen, Greta, Lynn, Corey, Christy, Zoe, Scott and I headed to Hershey Park for the day. We arrived around 11a and left just before 10p. A long day but lots of fun!

After a ride on the Comet (the original wood roller coaster....I went on it once and was sure I'd die!), Dale and Ellen went to rides that Ellen wanted to go on and the rest went to do some insane rides like......

Greta and Lynn are on this ride,

Corey, Christy and Scott came right behind them...

they are crazy!!

Ride over....

and they lived to tell about it!

As you can tell, I'm not into fast, crazy rides!

When I go to an amusement park

I go as the bag lady.....

I hold the bags for the crazy people

who ride the fast, crazy rides  =)

This year I also watched this little one.....

Zoe had a good day too.

About 2p we all were hungry. We headed to the

 parking lot for a tailgate lunch.

I made sandwiches and brought grapes.

Corey and Christy provided some juice and chips.

Scott brought Oreo's (double stuff!) and brownies.

Corey hangs out while the others finish eating.

Ellen wanted to get back to the rides.

Since we were parked near Chocolate World,

we decided to go through that before heading back to the park.

Been awhile since I'd been there too.

Back to the Park. The water rides for

Corey, Christy, Scott and Lynn.

Ellen and Greta headed to the Ferris Wheel and

other rides near it.

Dale took Zoe for a walk.

I pulled out a book to read.

At some point I started feeling restless and looked up....

I discovered that the very overcast skies had

cleared up to beautiful blue!

I took my book to a sunny spot to catch some rays.

After awhile I decided to see if I could find my kids....

Looks like they are having fun!

They just came down a slide on a two person tube.

It has a big circular part during the ride

 that Christy says makes you feel like you're being flushed down a toilet!

Wave pool again!

This time I was instructed to take pictures!

Lynn tries some moves.

If you loose control, the force of the water shoots you up to the top!

Corey gives it all he's got!

Scott gets instruction from the attendant.

Here comes Christy!

Scott preparing for a fancy move....

Ta-da!

Moving away from the water park....

this ride, I don't recall the name, was at Hershey Park in the 50's!

Scott is always up for a pose!

They had a blast!

They really did.....Scott!

Taking a break

Scott and Lynn gave Greta and Ellen a twirling good time!

We rode the little train.

It was the only ride I went on.....

I had a very important and detailed job to attend to all day =)

It was the only ride that Zoe went on too!

On this ride, you go past an 'Old West' ghost town...

there is a snake that sprays water on the riders....

sometimes....

it got Christy good!

I didn't have the camera on and missed a

Kodak moment for sure.

Before we knew it, it was time to go. Corey and Christy left around 9 to pick up Aidan at Great-Grandma and Aunt Nancy's house. He had a wonderful time with them!       

Scott and  Lynn got their fried candy....yes, they sell fried Hershey's candy! 

Ellen rode the Comet one more time. Greta rode with her.

The tired but Hershey Park Happy bunch walked  a bit more slowly out of the park than when they came in.  We will surely need to do this again.                  

Paityn - part II

Paityn and her Mommy and Daddy had lunch with us on Sunday. It didn't suit anyone else to come until later. After lunch Paityn's Mommy used Nana's little computer to look up birthday supplies for a birthday party next Sunday.....Paityn's! She will be 3 years old on Saturday. Paityn wants a Princess party. All this talk of Princesses and parties caused Nana to remember she had saved a tutu that she bought for Greta at a yard sale many years ago. Sure enough, it was right where Nana thought it was!

Paityn was delighted to try it on.

It was a bit large for her, but Paityn didn't mind!

Nana found a sparkly headband for her hair.

Paityn thought her purple Crocs were just right to

complete the outfit!

What does a little girl in a pink tutu do?

Dance, of course!

And laugh, of course!

because....

...Nana took a picture of her bu**!

(this happened to be her favorite picture!) 

And make silly faces for Nana,

 of course!

I think our little Ballerina is getting tired

or, maybe she is fixing her hairband.

No, she's getting tired.

Time for a rest...

Ahhhh.......