The Melmed Center

Today was our long awaited appointment for Renner to see the developmental pediatrician at the Melmed center.  This is an office of specialists that work with children experiencing all types of behavior and/or developmental issues.  For us, this is finally the doctor we have been looking for.  She is a medical doctor that can give an official diagnosis and is willing to treat children under the age of five!  We have been to four doctors before her and none of them were successful at diagnosing or treating or even supporting him/us in this. 

I have been asking our regular pediatrician about his behavior since he was 15 months old!  Her response was always, "it's just his age"!  For three years!  I have enough experience with children to know it isn't "just his age".  On to doctor #2, a psychologist.  She spends an hour with us as he destroys her office, only to tell me after the appointment she doesn't accept our insurance after all and we will need to pay out of pocket.  She can get in line for that money and we won't be going back.  I didn't really like her anyway, so no big loss. Doctor #3, another psychologist, was not what we needed either.  She was old, she talked in circles and her only advice was to try a sticker chart.  Sticker charts don't work for every kid and they don't work for Renner.  She diagnosed him with ADHD but said in the state of Arizona the official diagnosis had to come from a medical doctor.  Basically she couldn't really help me unless I want some of her hand drawn sticker charts.  No thanks.  I made the appointment for the Melmed Center but it was months out.  I thought we might not make it.  That's when I changed Renner's diet.  I cut out as much artificial crap that I could (preservatives, colors, etc.) and I cut back sugar and other junk.  It has really made a difference for him. He sleeps better, he is less aggressive and the tantrums aren't as frequent or severe. Still a little frustrated with the behavior we see, I made an appointment with a pediatrician that treats ADHD, doctor #4.  He wouldn't do anything with Renner until he was five.  He sent me home with a list of books and told me to keep my appointment with the Melmed Center. 

The day arrived. I was a little nervous.  I didn't want to be the mom that wasn't prepared for what she heard.  I spent a lot of time thinking and talking about the possibilities, just to be prepared.  This appointment was everything I had wanted it to be.  She spent lots of time talking with us. She spent time watching him, then testing for any hidden developmental delays.  There aren't any delays, his issues are strictly behavioral. She answered all of my questions and gave me really good advice on how to deal with, diffuse, and prevent his outbursts.  She is also the first doctor that has agreed with me on diet!  All the other doctors told me there is no evidence that diets makes a difference.  She actually recommended a supplement that has been shown to help.

His official diagnosis is Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Oppositional Defiance Disorder, and anxiety.  None of that really surprised me, though the ODD kinda freaks me out, mostly for when he is older.  The treatment right now is behavior therapy and possibly medication once school is started.  We follow up at the end of September to discuss how school is going without meds and go from there. 

I am feeling okay about this.  It is never easy to hear that your child has a label, or three. The nice thing is knowing we didn't break him.  It's also nice to have a plan in place for school. I like having support and having a doctor that agrees with us.  I have come to realize that fixing this is not my responsibility because it will probably never be fixed.  My job is to help him acquire the tools he will need to make it through life with these challenges.  I think I can handle that.  Meanwhile, I get to practice my patience and smother him in all the love he deserves!

I love you, sweet little Renner!

"San Francisco has only one drawback. ''Tis hard to leave." - Rudyard Kipling

Ahhhhh...San Francisco! I think this may be one of my most favorite places to visit!  I just love my time there.  It has so much culture and diversity and weirdos! It is awesome.  If you haven't been, go. No excuses!  We did it with five kids. You can do it.

We left on a Friday and came back on Sunday.  We ended up flying into Oakland and riding the BART into the city.  We had originally planned to fly right in to SFO but flights were full, and we have learned to be flexible.  Oakland it is!

Friday night we checked in then just wandered a little.  We ended up at a mall on Market Street where we found food. That's important with a family of tired and hungry kiddos.  We stayed right off of Market street so there was lots of good shopping and people watching to do there.  It is also very central for all of the public transportation.

Saturday was a busy day.  We bought the CityPass which ended up being a phenomenal deal for us.  It gave us our bus passes plus admission to every cool museum we wanted to visit.  We started out with the Exploratorium and from there went to the California Academy of Sciences. Both are excellent museums with all kinds of cool stuff.  Some things we have seen before others were totally new to us.  We had lots of fun.  We even got a little lost trying to maneuver the bus system between the two.  But, hey.  It's all part of the story, right?

Here are the kids waiting for the trolley to take us to our next bus stop.

The kiddos, all bundled up, watching the road out the trolley windows.

Luke, Ivy and I on the trolley.



Group shot outside the Exploratorium in the Presidio.  This park is awesome!



Cora enjoyed playing with bubbles in the Exploritorium.

Sayer, Cora, and Renner  in the giant chair.

The city...

Waiting at a bus stop so we can get to our next adventure. This is the bus stop where Renner felt the need to clean it. With. His. TONGUE!  EWWWWWWW!!

Luke, looking cool wearing baby Ivy.

Corey looking tough and Cora posing on the steps outside the Academy of Sciences.

Momma and Renner

Luke and Corey are pausing to check out the ultra cool rainforest! This place rocks, I tell you!

Sunday we went out to Alcatraz and did the tour there.  The kids were quite amazed by the old jail.  Renner was afraid of it...maybe I shouldn't have threatened to leave him? After Alcatraz, we went down to Pier 39 to see the sea lions, eat lunch, and visit the Aquarium of the Bay. We did all of that then booked it back to get our luggage so we could catch the BART to make our flight.  It was a little crazy but everyone was really good and looking out for their partner and helping with the bags.  We have a really good family team! 

Alcatraz, from our boat.

Mommy and Daddy!

Daddy and Sayer next to one of the cells.

Cora, posing again :)

The city, from our boat.

Crazy kiddos at the Aquarium of the Bay.

Checking out the sea lions.

Ivy really is in that sweatshirt.

The girls (Ivy is hiding) posing for one last tourist picture before we leave our hearts in San Francisco!

It was cold the whole time we were there. I am so glad we packed sweaters!  Ivy was just little enough to stay wrapped inside one of our sweaters.  The kids enjoyed it so much that they wanted to go back in a few months.  I think our next trip will be a little more relaxed.  We'll spend more time on the Pier and Fisherman's Wharf. Explore Union Square and maybe even walk the Golden Gate Bridge.  Luckily, I will never get bored in San Francisco.  I can't wait to go back!

Vegas in a Day

The first half of February was fairly uneventful.  I don't even think we did anything for Valentine's Day. But then we started our traveling season.  We needed to go to Vegas to show off our new baby.  Corey's dad and that side of the family hadn't met Ivy, and of course his mom would always love to see her again. We looked for a good deal on a hotel room but for some reason they were all really expensive so we decided to do it in a day.  Crazy, I know.  It is close to six hours each way by car.  Why didn't we fly, you ask?  Well we are now a family of seven!  No one has a car big enough for all of us. To rent a car for all of us would have cost a small fortune, even for a day.  So, our car to Vegas in a day it is. I was really scared to go over the new big bridge, but it turned out to be really easy.  You can't even tell you are on the bridge!  I was scared for nothing! 

We began our adventure early on a Sunday morning.  I drove the whole way.  And I was exhausted by the time we got there.  I had been up most of the night preparing and taking care of the baby.  I think I had gotten something like four hours of sleep.  It was nothing a five hour energy shot couldn't handle. When we got there we went straight to the Rampart Casino buffet to meet up with Francie and Chris. We ate, a ton. From there we went down to the strip and played video games at the Excalibur.  The kids had fun and Grandma and Grandpa spent a lot of quarters.

This is a group shot when we were done playing games. I tried to get out of the picture but Corey didn't wait for me to clear the scene.  This is Corey's mom, Francie, her husband, Chris, and our motley crew.

From there we went to Corey's Aunt Carol's house.  She has some toys for her grand kids and a yard.  It is easier to meet up there with our kiddos than anywhere else.  She was gracious enough to let us crash her pad for the afternoon.  She even fed us! 

Here is Grandpa Stan holding his newest grand daughter for the first time.

Carol's husband Johnny is a musician and has TONS of instruments in his music room.  He is brave enough to let kids, specifically my kids, play with them!  I about had a heart attack every time they came to show me a new one.  They did have a blast.

Renner trying out the fiddle.

Cora on the fiddle and Sayer on the banjo?  Maybe it's a ukulele. I have no clue.

Sayer on his stringed instrument and Renner jamming on the ivories.

Cora, channeling some Joan Baez, sing her heart out.

Finally it was time for pictures.  Here is Great Grandpa Johnson, Grandpa Stan, Corey, and all our kiddos.

This is four generations of Johnson men! What a cool picture.

This one is Great Grandpa with Corey and the great grand kids.

This was supposed to be Grandpa Johnson with his newest great grand baby but Cora crept in so it became his great grand daughters :)

Corey and his grandpa, so cute.

After the pictures were taken, we changed into our pajamas or driving clothes and we headed out.  Corey drove home because I was thoroughly exhausted by this time of night.  I think we headed out around seven! The baby was really upset when we first got in to the car.  Luke had to sit up front and I had to sit by her. She would be fine as long as I was sitting where she could see me.  Once, I thought she was asleep and I turned the light on to check. She was wide awake just staring at me with giant blue eyes. Goofy girl. We dropped Luke off at his mom's for him to visit for a few days.  I still had to sit in the back with Ivy.  I leaned forward to talk to Corey and she started to fuss.  As soon as I sat back where she could see me again, she instantly stopped crying. Crazy. Finally in Kingman I was able to move to the front. From there I slept most of the way home, waking up every now and then to make sure Corey was okay.  It was quite an adventure.

We got home really late and went to bed exhausted.  It was a pretty good day. Now we unpack, rest for a few days and head off on our next great adventure!

San Francisco, here we come!

Jumping Through January!

My sister Natalie Rose and her family came to visit for Christmas and New Year's Eve.  Whenever they come to visit from Idaho, Mom gets this itch to do family pictures because all of her babies are in one spot. I can't say that I blame her.  Mine all live at home and a group shot is very rare.  So for New Year's Eve, wh had a little shindig at Tiesha's house so we could let the cousins run crazy in her backyard and take some family pics too.  We did get an entire group shot, just not with my camera. 

This is our little family, minus Luke. He was working.

This is a decent one of all of us siblings. We are in order from oldest to youngest.  In the back it's me, Tiesha, Tyler, and Sterling.  On the couch is Natalie Rose, Serena, Hannah and Halley.

Here we all are with Mom and Dad in the middle. One big happy family that has led to one even bigger and happier family!

This one was an all girls shot and Lulu decided to pose accross the couch for us. Crazy old lady!  Don't worry, Lu.  We all love you. But only this much {}!!

I can't figure out how to turn this picture. It is too late to mess with it. Just turn your head and you can see it just fine ;) This is baby Ivy in all her diva glory.  I love the tiara and the tutu!

Daddy and Ivy taking a nap.

Sweet baby!  Don't you want to just eat those cheeks?

Renner loves the baby! Such a good big brother, when he wants to be.

Bath time! 

She loves the bath.  The water calms her down and she would just hang out in it if we let her.

All dressed up with no where to go. But she is too stinking cute!

The kids had award ceremonies at school to get their achievement awards. Sayer got everything except perfect attendance.  Handsome and smart!  I am one lucky mama!

Cora got her awards too!  She also got everything but perfect attendance.  Little miss smarty pants.

It sure is a good thing these kids take after their mama ;)

I wanted to take some cute pics of the baby.

She didn't like it, but I think her face is SO cute when she cries!

A little calmer, wondering why on earth she has to do this.

Angie came out from Minnesota to enjoy a little sunshine. It was great having her here.  She had never been to our house. We always travel to her since we have the flight benefits.  She came out to meet the baby and we had a great time.  We didn't do anything too spectacular but that's how it is with really good friends.  Nothing is just as good as everything, if not better.

One of the cool things we did was make flowers for our girls' hair.  That's why we are all wearing kinda silly headbands...we made them. Aren't we fabulous?

All four of our kiddos just chillin on our bed.  I suddenly feel like a queen sized bed is no longer big enough...

So there you have it. One really quick leap through our fairly uneventful January. See, if I keep booking through these months, blog world will catch up with reality in NO time!

December's Festivities (the second half)

I think I am going to let the pictures tell the story for this half of December.  There wasn't anything huge that stands out in my head.  A lot of family and presents, the usual for Christmas :)


Francie and Chris visited us for Christmas this year.  Luckily, they got to meet Ivy then too! We went to dinner and then to their hotel room to open gifts.  The kids love it and they spoil us all!




Grandpa Chris and three of the kids in the hotel lobby.




Christmas eve we spent at my parents' house with all my brothers and sisters and all of our kids.  Papa is my grandpa. He and Renner jsut happened to be twins and I thought it was cute!




The grandkid nativity with baby Ivy starring as Jesus!





Christmas morning, Santa had come and left all kinds of stuff!



Here we are opening all the presents!

Renner was excited to get his Jack doll and was sharing it with Ivy!  So sweet ;)

That pretty much takes us to the end of the month.  The kids each got a Nintendo DS for their big gift and they were very excited.  Luke was visiting his mom and family in Vegas. We had a wonderful Christmas and we are extremely blessed to have the family we have.  We had a fantastic December.  We may have skipped some of our usual traditions but we got one very special Christmas baby instead.  We should be back to the "normal" craziness this year.