My family blog is back home --

At www.criscollrj.com    Please add me at NetworkBlogs - thanks!

Thanks, my Facebook Friends!

Since with new wonders of Facebook, my blog now appears in my profile when I update, I just wanted to thank you all for being on my friends list.  Many of you have joined recently and I haven't been able to personally write you, but I thank you for being in my circle of friends and family.

I do have some prayer requests at this time.

• Roger continues to heal from his gall bladder surgery, but has hit some difficulty here and there along the way.  He had to have a more complicated surgery than normal due to a cyst he had, and I believe that is why it's taken longer to heal.  The doctors have also been watching another cyst he had in another area of his pancreas, but it was not prudent to work on that at the same time as the surgery so they were waiting and watching.  He still had it as of last week at his CT scan, so they will be watching it another 6 weeks.  If it is not gone they most likely will have to do another surgery to drain it.  This also may explain why Roger has had a slower recup time and extra nausea and pain.  Lately, however, he has had more good days than bad so we are grateful to God for that.
• We are in prayer that he can resume work slowly and get back to normal.  Whether he has to have a second surgery will determine how fast that will happen.  We would also like him to get home SOON (he's at his mom and dad's house) but with Ryan being rough in his affection for his daddy we were afraid to have him stay at home yet all the time.  Ryan talks to him every day on the phone and gets so excited when he gets to see him sometimes!
• My paperwork load has been very heavy but I'm trying to get through one project at a time.  It has been harder to keep up on my paid transcription work with the hundreds of pages I've recently had to scan and fax and mail and drop off to various agencies lately with different updates the agencies had to do on our kids, etc.  They all came up at once, and multiplied with just trying to keep up on calls in regard to hospital bills and just keeping up the checkbook and filing and all the items one has to do, it has been a little overwhelming!!  I am now trying to get ahead of my transcription a little this week, and am hopeful the largest part of the paperwork elephant is now behind me.  There are still some things left to do though, and I'm trying to keep track of them.
• Christopher's placement.  We had a meeting at Christopher's school Friday about how to help him progress more and learn more and learn to self-regulate with some aggressive behaviors and his not sleeping still, often.  We all agreed that we need to contact the autism school I mentioned in my last post, in Florida, and I will be doing that this weekend.  I pray the Lord's will will be done in that area, and that we know the best thing to do for Christopher.

Thank you for prayers.  We are all just trying to get through all this the best we can, and still enjoy the spring with the blossoms, and enjoy the family when we can all get together and communicate as much as we can.  Rog and I had our first Facebook chat last night!  That was fun :)  And I'm going over there and visiting a few times a week - Friday after my school has become a tradition.

I only have 3 classes left of my first class in 23 years.  I still have 4 papers to write to catch up on my homework, but I will do it.  It's a good thing I love to write.  Then I have a final paper to do along with a power point that I plan to do on music and religion (it's a religion class).  Next semester I am taking two online classes, first summer session computer introduction, and second summer session my first remedial algebra class.  So I shall continue to be busy.

Autism awareness personified --

Watching our children grow up in the world of autism and deafness, it has become harder for me to really be active in the community of autism, as it takes all our energy to just keep our children safe and well in the world.  It is hard to see outside our own lives.  I am grateful,however, that many people in the world, even people who don't have children or family members with autism, are working so hard to promote awareness and that today instead of being a rare condition it is becoming one of the most discussed and researched conditions.

I am hoping through my life to also work to be an advocate and learned person in the world of autism and deafness, which is the condition that most affects us personally.  That is an area of deficit today - there is little information or services on individuals with autism and deafness.

Here are a few:

• http://deafness.about.com/cs/multipledisab/a/autism.htm This web site contains this magazine pdf as well:  autism and deafness article, click on the second link after you clink on this main link. 
• http://www.raisingdeafkids.org/special/autism/
• http://www.mugsy.org/connor113.htm
• http://autismparents.net/deaf-with-autism/
• http://www.autism.com/families/hearingandvisuallyimpaired/networkfaq.htm

I am encouraged that there are way more than when I started these blogs in 2006.  I actually printed the Gallaudet University article (60 pages) and have read through about 30 pages of it.  We also are applying for Chris to go here:  http://www.nda.com/services/autism.php It will be hard to send him all the way to Florida, but it really sounds like they could meet his needs there.

I am also thrilled that I am back in school and headed for this degree:  http://www.kent.edu/ehhs/spa/index.cfm with http://www.kent.edu/ehhs/sped/index.cfm (the autism certification).  I also hope to get fluent in ASL either now at Lakeland (where I am currently attending) or at Kent.  I hope in the end I can be of more help to my boys as well as other individuals.

Thank you to everyone in the world working to make a better life for those touched by autism, as well as autism and deafness.

MIRACLES

It's a fitting day to thank the Lord publicly for His grace for us.  As most of you know, we celebrate St. Patrick's Day every year thanking Him for a miracle we had in 1994, when we had a mortgage and additional payment for a trailer, a baby on the way, and fear in our hearts that our trailer wouldn't sell.  Right on that day suddenly a person bought our trailer, with cash, and I'll never forget crying in thankfulness looking at that money on the table.

This weekend, 2010, right before St. Patrick's Day we had a financial deliverance once again that was sorely needed, and was a surprise.  Things are still difficult but I am so grateful!

Recent events:

• Caused by unsuspected gall bladder trouble, Roger has been in the hospital since February 11, save 5 days he was home and had to be readmitted.  We are hoping his surgery is SOON.  He had complications from the gall bladder trouble of pancreatitis, heart trouble, and pneumonia.  His dr. appointment is tomorrow; we believe these should be resolved enough for surgery hopefully!  Roger is aching to get back to work after being off for over a month!
• I went back to school in January, just part time.  Taking a comparative religion class -- starting off getting my Associate of Arts degree which I need to complete in order to go on.  Planning to get my Master's in Speech Language Pathology along with an autism certificate from Kent State.
• Chris is at his grandparents, and still struggling with his sleeping.  We are still planning to most likely try and have him admitted to National Deaf Academy in Mt. Doro, Florida.  

More soon -- have massive transcription to do today ----

I am alive

Testing out Windows Live Writer.  Working at the moment, and have had a ton of stuff happen in our fam since Christmas, and will try and update soon.  Really would like to get all three of my blogs seriously underway and active on searches soon.  Prayers for my family’s health issues appreciated at this time.