In Need of Change

Happy November 1st everyone. Can you believe that it's November already? WOW!

My post today is about change. Our family is seriously in need of good change. We are just like everyone else in the world...we work our butts off and it gets us nowhere. So these last weeks I have opened my mind and not only do we need change, we will try for it. There has been a house that we found....its a foreclosed house that is 4 BIG bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths, on a corner lot in a nice neighborhood, about 25 min. away.... we ALL fell in love with it. It needs work, but so did our current house...and we made it home! It's so much bigger than this teenie tiny 11oo sq. ft. home we live in now (over 2500)! Paint, carpet and a little TLC...I think our family can make it home....

Eat in kitchen...everything need updating, but is very livable!!!

Nothing a little paint wont fix

I LOVE the family room!

It has a living room AND a family room!!!!

I love this entrance

We are already throwing out 15 years of accumulated stuff, giving to goodwill the decent stuff...our tree lawn is going to look ridiculous on garbage day. Its so nice to clean and declutter...I am feeling good about this! We just have to sell our house first before we can try for this one....Please say some prayers that things work out for us. If its not this house, it will be another...we just have to get our courage up and just move!!!! We are scared, but feel that this is the best for our family. With a lot of prayers and asking for Gods direction, things will work out!

So anyhow, back onto change....Kenny is wearing his hearing aids most of the time now! He still isn't walking on his own very much....a step or 3 here or there...but its a start. He is giving kisses now...totally melting my heart! I just love him so much.

I took him to his monthly visit to his doctor...he received the H1N1 vaccine...I am glad of that. It took a load off my mind. I was so worried that he would get such a bad case of the flu and die...its a feeling that I feel with all my kids....I think its my Post Traumatic Stress thing coming out. The other kids will be getting theirs on Dec. 1st.

The doctors are not happy with Kenny's weight gain. He is 22.6 lbs...he is on 32 ounces of Pediasure a day along with 10 teaspoons of duo-cal in everything...from his pureed food to his Pediasure...its a mess. His GI doc is sending him for a barium swallow in a few weeks...to see what and why he isn't chewing and swallowing pieces of food. I sure hope they find out what the heck is going on. He is also going to see an ophthalmologist for his eyes, since they are crossing all the time now.

I am just feeling so sad for my little guy. I just want him to be the best he can. I know he's happy but I also know that he gets so frustrated because he cant communicate. So can you all please keep Kenny in your prayers that he can overcome all his disabilities.

And one last thing. My friend Jen has a son who was born around the same time Kenny was supposed to be born, anyhow....he has been diagnosed with MITO. He is having a real hard time right now. He has been in and out of the hospital with major issues.Here is their blog: The Moody Tales and also his Caringbridge page. Could you all please keep Zach in your prayers along with his parents and older brother, They are such good people. Thank you so much.
Like I said....we are all in need of change and MANY PRAYERS for many different things.

Please vote for us.

Ok...to all my followers and readers of this blog, my life...I have entered the HealthBlogger Awards and would LOVE it if you could all vote for my blog for this award! I have put my heart and soul into this blog and would LOVE to win something this important to me.

Vote for me at either: http://www.wellsphere.com/michele-tomecko-profile/147034

or on my sidebar I have a badge to vote on.

I really, really do appreciate all my readers. Thank you for your support!

Wonderful and wacky Wednesday

OK...so since my home life is as crazy as it seems, I thought I show ya a few wacky things that have gone on....

First off...Taylor sitting by the "infamous" heater vent...yes...every morning (like clockwork) the kids all fight over this one lousy vent...all I hear is...."I called it"...then...."NOOOOO, I called it last night"...and the day begins! LOL! So, in this picture, Taylor won it...notice the smile? Next, we have this watermelon...I figured...Wacky Wednesday...watermelon, the size of a softball...ok...it fits. So....this watermelon is what we grew this summer in our backyard. It may not of looked like much, but it was the best tasting watermelon ever....Again...just add in the fighting over who was going to get the last piece. LOL!

OK...this one is a biggie. This is by far, the WACKIEST thing ever. Our beloved neighbor, Jerry passed away last week (RIP). It has been so hard on all of us...we've seen him everyday...he's been a part of our lives since we bought this house. He was more than just a neighbor...anyhow...the other day, Tony stepped out of his shop (aka...the garage) and saw this!

In the 15 years that we've lived here, this NEVER happened. We strongly feel that this was Jerry's way of telling us that everything is going to be alright. See, Jerry LOVED our yards...he spent most of his time working in his yard and ours...loved nature...so this is so appropre for him!

Moving on...we have a wacky and wonderful Gina! He has hit the "Rocker Chick" status by giving the "rock on" sign...all the time!

And last but not least....in our WACKY and Wonderful house...we have adopted a squirrel (see older posts). The kids love him and play with him like he was a freaking dog! LOL! So...ya cant get much more wacky than this!

Have a great day everyone. Today is speech therapy for Kenny...as long as he is feeling better. He had 1 day of no sickness then BAM! So he and Gina have been battling runny noses, coughs, diarrhea and fevers...

but why not...its just a Wonderful and Wacky Wednesday!

RIP to our neighbor...our friend.

This has been a very hard week for all of us, here at the Tomecko house. We lost a great neighbor...he was more than a neighbor, he was family! When Tony and I looked at our house before we bought it...Jerry was the very first person that we met. He was out in the back burning branches that fell. We knew at that moment that he would make a great neighbor...for 15 years, we saw him every day. We was there for us through every high and low of our married life. Holidays, birthdays, summers working in the yard, fall...raking leaves into big piles for the kids...taking the kids on tractor rides...the kids know him as Uncle Jer-bear...
He will be very missed. Its been such a sad week. I know he is not in pain anymore...he fought a very long battle and just got tired. I know that he has finally at peace with his parents and brother that has passed before him and that since he cant be here with us, is at least holding our son Nick waiting for the day that we will see them again. RIP Jerry...we love and miss you.

We also celebrated our oldest son's 12th Birthday! OMG...where has the time gone?! 12 years since my very first baby...who would have thought that 12 years later, I'd be a pro at motherhood....well not a pro, learning along the way...ok....I'll just say I am a "seasoned" mom!
We were gonna have a big birthday party for Sydnie, Kayleigh and Tony this past Sunday, but because of our neighbor's death and sickness in the house...we are holding off. Not sure when...I have the cake design picked out, so when we are ready for that big ol' party...it just needs to be ordered. So, Happy Birthday to my oldest son, Tony....I love you so much! Now...does anyone have that handbook on how to handle teens? lol

Fall...foliage and flu

Oh the days are getting shorter and the cooler! Happy Fall everyone! The season is truly showing its cold side these days! Yesterday we decided to take the kids to an apple picking farm. We ended up just looking around and buying a bag of apples because it was close to closing time (yes...we got lost...drove for hours...LOL). I couldn't see spending the money on 7 kids for just 20 minutes...but that is OK. The kids enjoyed themselves and we ended up going over to my sisters house where they all got hair cuts! Kenny is looking like a little boy again!

The family pet that is known as "Leo" is doing great...yes...we named him and YES he is a squirrel. We will be giving him to a rehabber at 10 weeks of age...but for now, I have been rehabbing him since he was a few days old. I never thought I'd be having a squirrel living inside my house...but I have gotten attached to him...feeding him every 3 hours or so and now, now he's getting fun. He love to climb and explore. Just look at how big he got...the first picture is from when he was just a week old...and this other picture is from Friday night!

Kenny finally started school up again. He goes twice a week and is finally starting to like it...I think. He cries when we leave, but seems to do well while we are away. Every time I take him to school, it hits me like a ton of bricks...my son is a special needs kid. Yes, he needs hearing aids. Yes, he is developmentally delayed. Yes, he doesn't talk...at all. Yes, he doesn't know how to walk at age 2.5 and no, he cant eat. BUT... YES, he is a miracle and he is so very happy and loving!

He leaves his hearing aids in all day...which is awesome! He now just pulls them out when he feels the bungee cord that holds it onto his clothes. He took a few steps the other night...like I posted earlier, but that was it. Nothing since. I am hoping now that he is in school, he will see other kids his age walking and want to walk...hoping is the key word. I don't know how good its gonna be this winter and cold season...it is already starting to affect him...when he is sick...or I am, it is something that we cant help. It really sucks. We go through more soap and Germ-X around here!

This is one of the main reasons why Tony and I need to move. Our house is just WAY too small. It's not healthy for the kids. They are piled on top of each other like sardines...they cant help but catch each others colds. I just sometimes wish that "the makeover" would have taken place. I really do. I am kinda bummed about that.

I want everyone to remember that October 15 is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness day!

Because I had 2 miscarriages...one at 8 weeks and one at 13 weeks and also lost Nick, I take this day to heart. To remember, reflect and pray to my 3 angels whom I miss so terribly. And also to pray for all those parents that have lost babies like we have. Thanks to modern medicine, Kenny and Nick were able to survive birth at 23 weeks gestation.

When you are pregnant, you have hopes and dreams of the baby(ies) inside of you....when you start to bleed and something goes wrong...no matter at what week in the pregnancy you are at, it hurts bad...emotionally. Those hopes and dreams are shattered. No longer will you have the "due date" to look forward to. The belly rubs, the looking at cute baby clothes or picking out names. During a miscarriage...its an "I'm sorry, you lost the baby." in the doctors office or ultrasound room. So very heartbreaking. I have to believe that every one of those babies lost during a miscarriage has a soul...they were given to us and taken away for just that very short glimmer of time...for some reason. So, to all my cyber sisters that have lost a baby...be it a miscarriage, stillborn, neonatal, infant or toddler....This day is for us and for them. May God wrap his arms around us and comfort us in knowing that our babies are safe with Him and one day we will see them again (I hope and pray).