I have brown hair!

This is me as a brunette! I have to say, I really like it! I've been a blonde for so long! I think the hair color brings out my eyes more and looks better with my complexion. I'm pleased to say that I found a really great and affordable hair stylist. Yippee! I just thought I'd share!

ADD/ADHD: Fact or Fiction?

No, I have not been sad, depressed, or upset for the last week-just busy. But I promised my next blog would be about the above title so here it goes:

This was the title of the 1st research paper I ever wrote back in 5 or 6th grade. ADD was a HUGE topic back then and there was tons of controversy about Ritalin, teachers and doctors over medicating and over prescribing, being quick to diagnose, and so forth. So, I did TONS of research and actually ended up writing 2 more papers on the same subject throughout junior high and high school. Why the topic? It intrigued me. I found that it was mostly boys that were being diagnosed b/c those little guys just wouldn't sit still for 8 hours a day in their tiny desks. GO FIGURE!!! Since I had brothers, I was very concerned over this fact and quite frustrated too. There were many other tidbits that I found through my research but my main point was that ADD was over diagnosed and that behavior modification instead of medication is the best and safest route and should ALWAYS be the 1st plan of action.

Time table:
6th grade: write research paper on ADD/ADHD
9th grade: another paper on same subject
9-11th grade: my Dad is diagnosed with ADD
11th grade: Chris, my older brother, is diagnosed as ADHD -put on med (?-I can't remember)
Freshman yr of college: Joe, my youngest brother, is diagnosed with ADD-goes to school on scholarship b/c of his learning disorder
Present: Zechariah, my oldest son, has been put on a medical trial for ADHD.

Let me back up: most of you who know me or have known me for any length of time know how strong willed and 'difficult' Zechariah can be. You also know that he can be the most amazing little boy on the planet! Over the years I have fixed sleep problems, changed diet, read numerous books on parenting, prayed, bought a parenting program, talked to pediatricians, talked to a counselor, pulled him out of public school, home schooled, spanked, screamed, cried, showed love, patience, and consistency and yet his behavior got increasingly unacceptable, Things were especially bad outside the home. Upon moving to Maryland, I sought out help. I wanted him to be assessed. Did he have a learning disability? It runs in the family... Did he have a mental illness? It runs in the family... Did he have a behavior disorder? It runs...??? But when the psychiatrist said ADHD Impulsivity subtype I about laughed in his face. WHAT?!?! He can sit still for hours building Legos, he listens to books on tape, he sits and reads, he can draw pictures for hours on end, etc, etc. I was like, "Are you kidding me?" They explained other factors that described Zech to a 'T'. (What a dumb saying!) Anyways, we went to see the psychologist first since I was against medicating my 6 yr old. What a load of rubbish! I will not go into details but let me just say it was after the 3rd session with her that I realized I was doing everything I could. She had nothing to offer me in behavior modification that I was not doing. I was validated as a mother and realized (after much prayer and discussion with Gary) that medicine was a good idea. We started him on Concerta one month ago.

The results have astounded me! I can not begin to express what a difference it has made in his life. I used to describe Zechariah as Jekyll and Hyde. You never knew which one would reveal its head. It used to be Mr. Hyde most of the time, now it is Dr. Jekyll. He is my sweet, loving, amazing little boy that I knew he was and wanted so desperately to be! He is happier and functioning better. He calls it his control himself medicine. Whatever works! And it does! I am happy to say that in my son's case ADHD is a FACT and not fiction. To learn more go here

My sweet boy!

I promise

Not to blog while depressed or sad or mad or frustrated.

The end.

Sometimes Mommies need a time out too

Yesterday was going good. I was moving and shaking=getting things done. My house is not where I would usually have it. I have been extra tired lately but I was determined to do things that I have been putting off. After spending 3 hours on the phone only to get NOTHING resolved with DirecTV and Verizon, I started other projects. I made cookies with the kids. I made banana bread with those nasty bananas that have been calling my name for the last week. I put the kids down for their naps, I did laundry, I made a budget and took care of some bills. Zechariah was especially helpful all day which made it even easier to deal with everything else. I made dinner and Gary actually came home in time to sit down with us and eat! Things were going good! I mean, the day had definitely had its frustrations: Gabriel and Ammon seem to be fighting non stop, Gabriel has decided to turn from my sweet loving little boy into TERROR SUPREME!!! He screams at the top of his lungs instead of talking about his frustrations. You would think someone is murdering him the way he's been carrying on. Even as I type this, he is sitting in the time-out corner (for screaming) crying and screaming, "I want grilled cheese!" What? Is this really something to scream about? (sigh) Elijah even decided to get on the ban wagon last night and cry and cry and cry. Well, Gary had to go to church so I put the boys in a bath. Things got progressively more crazy and I started yelling. I calmed myself down, got them out, started to read them Book of Mormon stories. I truly needed the spirit back into the house and my heart. Well, the chaos just kept going. The only one being civilized was Zechariah (I will write more about that in my next post entitled "ADD/ ADHD: Fact or Fiction") After telling Gabe and Ammon to leave each other alone for the 1,000,000,000 time that day, they ended up kicking Eli in the head as I was nursing him and reading them all stories. I had HAD it!!! I picked Ammon up, put him in his bed for the night, said Goodnight to Gabriel and threatened his life if he got out of bed. Then, I apologized to Zech (I mean he was being sooo good and did not deserve to go to bed without books or songs). I told him, "I need a time out because I feel very frustrated and do not want to do something mean or bad. Please go to bed and I will go into time out and we will all be better in the morning". I ended up going to sleep at 8pm last night. Things are still not great at the house. I honestly don't know what I am doing wrong. I got up, had prayers and read scriptures and still feel like something is amiss. Well, Gabriel is STILL screaming and crying and now so is Elijah (he's only been asleep for 20mins!), Zech is making everyone lunch, and Ammon? Who knows! I am taking a "TIME OUT" right now to write this post. Wish me luck. Sometimes Mommies need timeouts too!

Lego fun

LEGOS, LEGOS, and more LEGOS!!!

My son, Zechariah loves to play with Legos. No, I don't think you understand: he is obsessed with Legos. He can make anything with Legos. He can play them for hours and hours and hours and hours and....you get the idea. Two weeks ago I went to the farm in Ohio to visit Gary's parents and just hang out in the solitude of the farm. They have an enormous, very ecletic stash of Legos and let Zechariah pull them out onto the sunroom and leave them out over the week we were there. I NEVER let him leave the Legos out. (I am WAY too OCD for that) Anyways, his Aunt Sarah was visiting that week too and together they came up with some pretty impressive creations. Gabriel likes Legos too but he doesn't build them like Zech does. He likes Zech to build so that he can play. Even Ammon has gotten into the "Lelos". Zechariah has let me know that he wants to be a Lego creator when he gets older and a Robot engineer. OK!
Anways, enjoy these pictures. You might just see them in an upcoming Lego magazine!

Aunt Sarah, Zechariah, Gabriel, and the Space Pirate Boat

Space station

Knight's castle

The brothers

We went to Target on Tuesday and found some 'Space Police' Legos. (not pictured) It is a new series so I was a sucker and bought the boys a set. When we got home, Zech sat down, pulled out the instructions, dumped out the box, and had it all built within 15 mins. I was amazed! Maybe he'll be an inventor of some sort after all. You never know....

What happens when the kids get a hold of the camera?

After Gabe's birthday party, the kids went out to play...with MY CAMERA!!!

It is darn cute though!

the 1st of many...

Why the title? Because it has been a month already since my last post. Oh my goodness! Time flies by so fast and I have been so terribly busy! I don't even know where to start! Ok, the last post was about our renovation of the house in preparation for the 4th of July weekend where my entire family would be up for Elijah's blessing on the 5th. I was sooo excited that all my brothers, their spouses, my nieces and nephews, my mom and my dad came! Here's a rundown of what happened over the weekend:

Friday July 3rd
Gabriel's birthday party at our neighborhood pool

Saturday July 4th
Cortnie's babyshower
Fireworks in D.C.

Sunday July 5th
The blessing of Elijah Aaron Griesmyer

It only took me 2 days to make this video so I hope you like it but I must add: please excuse the bad transitions and sideways pictures. I'm learning. (Gary laughed at me!)