Oooooh weeeeee. This mama is TIRED. Like the kind of tired when you fall into your bed and all your muscles relax and you don't even remember trying to fall asleep, because you were out like a light. Yeah...that's me....almost.all.the.time.
But let's do a quick recap of my roller coaster week/weekend.
So...last weekend was pretty busy. Like....super busy. On Saturday, with a grand ole high temp of 43 degrees.....I did the Warrior Dash. Making up for the cold temps, I got to do it with some great peeps from the YMCA!
Here's our group pic after. Don't adjust your screen.....that is mud...ALL OVER MY FACE.
I'm considering that outfit.....a loss. Good thing it was old.
The race itself was so fun though....except for the frigid temps. The first pool of muddy water I slid into was the coldest water I've ever been in. What can I compare it to...hmmmm...? Oh I got it. When I was playing volleyball at Ohio State, during preseason a lot of us (players) would sit in the cold whirlpool in the training room. People would dump the the ice from their ice bags into the pool while you were sitting in it.
That water I slid into....colder than that. I swear. The minute I was up to my mid torso in the water....I immediately wanted to pee. Was it the shock to my system? NO. It was because I knew it would be warm. LOL. Fear not fellow dashers, I resisted the urge.
After we finished I came home, shed the cold wet clothes and relaxed in the hottest shower my skin could stand. I got out and I was red.
SE and C really liked the hat they give you for participating.
That evening was also the Wonderscope Children's Museum's sensory friendly Autism night. I knew the boys would love it....and they did!
I was extremely impressed by how they (the staff and volunteers) set up and staffed the areas. At the front they gave out a map you could fill out with your child and some helpful suggestions on how to engage your kiddo. Some people are naturally gregarious and always in their kid's faces (like me) but for some, that's harder and doesn't come as easy. So I could see how these suggestions would help. Each room would only allow a certain number of people in, to keep the crowd down for the kids that aren't comfortable with large amounts of people around them. And they also had a quiet space for kids that might have become overwhelmed and needed to regroup.
Also.....we got to see some of the boys' former therapists!! SE's speech therapist and both boys' occupational therapist. I'm always happy to see the wonderful people that I know have made such a difference in my boy's lives and development. *I also like showing the boys off a bit because of how far they've come*. Ssshhhhh.
SE's absolute favorite room was the one with golf balls and tracks to roll them on.
C enjoyed the golf ball room as well, and also loved the market/food room. He loved taking the veggies out of the garden, but conversely couldn't care less about putting them back. LOL.
The last room was fun as well, with air chutes and scarves and a submarine with a slide.
Both boys love slides. And this mama loves HUGS!!!
And this was the result in the car. I consider it a success!!
Now....let's get down to the not so fun part of the week. On Monday, I was sitting in the YMCA waiting for yoga to start. I was reading a People magazine and a woman I know came up and starting talking to me. She asked if she could ask me a question. Which, on a side note, that ALWAYS means something bad or inappropriate is coming. It's almost like, "Don't take this the wrong way but...." or "Don't take offense to this but....". It's like those statements---so I braced for impact.
"Are you pregnant"? --woman
"Excuse me? Um, no".--me
"Oh, okay I was just wondering".--woman
"Uh...yeah...I do have a little belly left from when C stretched it out. He was 9lbs 1oz and over 20 in long. He was a big boy. Left me with some stretched out skin. But I'm trying to work on it".--me
LIKE I NEED TO DEFEND OR EXPLAIN MYSELF TO ANYONE?!?!?!?! UGH.
Then the creme de la creme....
"That must be really frustrating to look so great everywhere else".--woman
WHAT?!?!?!?!?!?!
SERIOUSLY?!?!?!?!?
1. Who says that?!?!?! Seriously, unless the chick is in her 8-9th month and her water's about to break all over your shoes..........keep your TRAP shut. Just a general rule.
2. Here's what I was wearing when she asked me. This photo was seriously taken 20 minutes before yoga class when I was leaving for the gym that day.
Now, I don't think I look pregnant, nor did anyone else I told. At any rate, saying something like that to a woman that isn't 100% confident in her body brings up some bad juju. I cried when I got home. The hubs was of course, super super great about it. He told me that comment she made was ridiculous and she had "no idea what the hell she's talking about". He let me cry on his shoulder like he always does and gave me big hugs.
While I love the fact that I have super awesome friends and family that support me, it lit a fire under my butt.
I've ramped up my workouts significantly this week. I'm still lifting hard, but I'm hitting the cardio hard too.....running or doing mountain climbers in between sets while lifting. And that's on top of teaching TurboKick and PiYo Strength every week.
More importantly, my diet has changed. I've always been a yo yo "dieter" in the sense that I go between eating clean, paleo and I just need this candy/cookie/donut/pizza, etc. The boys' diet isn't the best, they tend to lean towards that beige autism diet, LOL, but me eating their leftovers ain't helping my cause. Neither is eating a couple pieces of their cinnamon roll at breakfast. Well, I've stopped that. It's high time I got serious about this. I would never want to go my whole life without knowing what my body could look like if I really put in the work and got consistent about my eating. I'm giving myself 6 weeks.
6 weeks in the grand scope of your life is a drop in the bucket. 6 weeks to eat clean (so cutting out all processed crud, refined sugars, artificial flavors/colors) with a large paleo (no grains/dairy/processed) influence. I will still have some dairy, but most grains are out with the exception of oats for breakfast on occasion, family pizza night (which I make) and the carbs that come from my protein shakes. I'm also taking some supplements. Whey protein shakes after workouts with a tsp of creatine and tsp of glutamine, a recovery formula right after lifting, casein protein shakes before bed (casein protein digests much slower), a multivitamin, an omega-3 supp and this preworkout supp..
before workouts on occasion. I'm only taking 1/4 to 1/2 a scoop at the MOST. I have never used a pre workout supplement EVER. I've always been scared that I would have a heart attack or something. I mean, c'mon, some people have keeled over from taking too much of this kind of stuff. THAT BEING SAID, I'm not going to take too much, I won't take it everyday and it will be when I'm going to be working out for an hour +.
Oh and it tastes like crap. Ick. Good try with the pretend raspberry lemonade ickiness. Good thing it's only 10oz of water I mix in it.
I'm also committing to drink at least 3/4 gallon of water a day. Surprisingly I was already very close to that everyday anyway! SCORE!
This weekend will be pretty uneventful. Lot's of housework (YUCK) and quality time with the boys...all 3 of them (YAY!!!!!).
I'm also going to be navigating my new app, iAdvocate! C has an IEPish meeting to choose what evaluations to do for him for the school district on Wednesday.
It's that little spud on the far right. This was introduced to me by one of C's therapists. It's a quick navigating app for IEP/IDEA/504 laws. Basically it helps equip parents in IEP meetings.
Having been a teacher and present in some pretty ugly IEP meetings, and now as a parent of 2 special needs kids......it's always important to be prepared and to know what services your children are legally eligible for.
Newsflash....school districts aren't always out to help you. They have budgets to worry about and believe me, while some teachers really care....some don't. I actually heard (with my OWN ears) a teacher at the school I used to teach at say "Don't put those retards in my class they'll just be a distraction to my good students".
YEP. So that just tells me that if he could have that kind of attitude, others could as well and parents need to go in assuming this is what they'll be dealing with.
Now, that doesn't mean I'll go into every meeting with the school with a craptastic attitude, BUT I will be prepared.
It's our job to advocate for our children and make sure they get every service they are entitled to. Those laws were created to protect our kids and give them the best shot at education and development the school can provide.
For those not in the special needs world....an IEP is an Individualized Education Plan. It outlines what services, accommodations, goals, benchmarks and strategies will be used with/for your child. There are also laws within the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) that the school has to adhere to. As with all things government related it's worded kinda crazy and hard to follow for the lay person. So this is where tools like iAdvocate and other IEP guideline books can help.
So far I've managed to stay in the blue and once yellow range with SE's IEP meetings and I would love to believe we'll be in the green with C, but that's unlikely. I just don't ever want to make it to the red. The red would mean lawyerville for me. I don't ever really want to get there. :)
Here's a valuable visual example of how much interventions and services can help.
The photo on the left is SE from last spring, his first time in preschool, age 3.
And the one on the right is SE this spring, age 4.
In the first photo he had to have a fidget, the toy car, and he couldn't focus on the camera or photographer, instead he was mesmerized by the flash on the umbrellas. This year......whoa nelly. Is that the best school photo EVER?!?!?!? I mean, yeah, I'm biased because I did birth this little cutie, but seriously...looking at the camera AND a smile?!?!?! That's what I'm talking about!
When I pulled that photo out of his backpack.....I was like...
I was SO PROUD of him, and all the work WE'VE put in. And by we, I mean myself, the hubs, C and all the therapists that have been working with him.
So....it's Friday and I'm gonna take my sassy pants to the kitchen and make some homemade pizza. Unfortunately our family movie night will move to Sunday for the next 4 weeks because I'll be co-teaching an adult dance class at the YMCA. Tonight is line dance night...which means: cha cha slide, electric slide and some others. The participants will undoubtedly be the coolest, most dance happenin' peeps at the next wedding reception they attend. Fo sheezy. :)
Until next time!!
love,
Supermama rosie
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