prayer please

I am asking for prayer from my closest of friends and family. Pray for peace from anxiety for Nathan. Nathan has been screaming, crying, and refusing to use the toilet. This has been going on for about a week or so since Nathan has started preschool. He hasn't had any accidents at preschool. I have asked him nicely and bribed him with candy but he refuses to pee in the potty. He is holding it in and wetting himself. Maybe this is the one thing that he thinks he can control. Maybe he feels out of control in his life. There are new kids in his class but he is in the same preschool room with the same teachers. He has a new speech pathologist and para working with him now. I am at my wits end. I have been crying all day. Nathan refused to change out of his pajamas and put his clothes on. He sat in time out for about 40 minutes. It seems like he is always in time out. I have been spanking him as well. Maybe he doesn't like the spankings. I am also at my wits end with Chloe as well with potty training. Accidents all the time. We are using pull-ups though. Nathan doesn't care if he pees in his pants. He will sit in it and not tell me and he doesn't want to change out of his pee clothes. I don't think my nerves can take much more of this. I am considering going to talk to a doctor or counselor. Maybe I need anxiety medicine or depression medicine. I really don't like the idea of being on a drug. All of your prayers are needed and welcomed.

this summer

This summer has gone by rather quickly. It has been one of the most social summers that I have had in about 5 years. I love that our church has a coffee playground group every Tuesday morning. The kids love the bounce house and having lunch in the coffee shop. I have noticed that Nathan has been more social with the kids at church. He is actively wanting to play with them. I think this makes him more comfortable for Sunday School and Rainbows because he sees the same kids.

We have spent a lot of time at the pool. I enjoyed our Sunday evening swim in July because there was no evening service. The kids loved playing with some of the other kids from church at the pool. Good times.

Last week we went to someone's house for a playdate. Chloe just loved playing with the 3 year old girl. I have been meeting another family for a playdate on Wednesdays this summer. Even though their kids are older; my kids still enjoyed some social play time.

We had our struggles as well. I don't want to dwell on them. Potty training has had it's ups and downs. Chloe is still working on it. Nathan has had some anxiety and other problems that we are working through. I praise God that He will give me the strength to persevere. : )

remember me

Ok. So I was supposed to do better at posting to my blog this year. My New Year's resolution didn't turn out so well. I guess I'll try again and see how I do.

Things have been stressful; so I usually don't post here or at facebook much when I'm depressed. I think that things are turning around. I think the winter weather with little sun doesn't help when your already down. We also don't get much exercise either during the winter months.

Nathan has made so many improvements lately. I'm excited to see God to continue to heal his mind and body.

I'm optimistic about the future. I hope this summer goes well with Nathan playing tee ball. Chloe is getting to be such a big girl. Looking forward to warm weather!

msg

I went grocery shopping with a friend recently. She showed me what items typically have msg in them. I didn't even know what msg stood for. Monosodium glutamate. Apparently, msg can trigger migraines. I plan on cutting back or eliminating chips with flavoring like ranch or bbq. There is msg in ramen noodles which I usually eat about once a week. I'm hoping that changing our diets a bit will help Nathan's issues. Both he and I have problems with attention span. I'm also considering buying some organic foods. Chloe drinks organic milk. I'm going to try to limit red and yellow dyes. I can't believe that there is red dye in Flinstone vitamins.

I never thought I would ever go the organic and healthy route in eating. I know that something needs to change with our family. I'm hoping that changing our diet will help us feel better, less cranky, less whiney, less tired.

I'm back!!

For New Year's I thought I would try to post more on the blog site. A friend of mine told me that she uses hers as a journal. I think I'm going to try to do that too. I use to agonize over every word that I used and would re-write paragraphs. I really don't have time to do that anymore. Starting now, I am going to use a stream of consciousness (sp?) type of writing.

This year I am going to focus on the positive instead of the negative aspects in life. I often stress about things not being perfect. I am going to accept the imperfection to help my nerves.

I hope this year is more stable than the ups and downs of the previous year. The up of last year was going to Maui. The down was Nathan's diagnosis of autism. I will probably talk more freely about autism on the blog because I don't feel like I can talk freely about it in other avenues of my life. Happy New Year to you all!!