I first of all want to apologize for being so neglectful of my blog. Things have been crazy. I know that I still need to upload birthday and Christmas pics..and I will try to get to that as soon as I can, but lots has been going on, so here it is in a nutshell.

Katie -- her ear infection came back and we had to increase her medication, but I think she is finally feeling better. She had a good Christmas and even did well at an extended family Christmas party -- which is usually a hard thing for her b/c she has to deal with a large group of people that she doesn't know. She also said "PaPa" for the first time (yesterday) and used it correctly as she addressed my dad with it twice. He is of course "smitten" as my mom said. We are thrilled for her that she is figuring out how to get these words out - and of course we are happy for "PaPa" as it is a real treat to get this "recognition" from Katie.

Mary - has finally recovered from the ear infection/pink eye thing -- and I think that we all safely escaped the pink-eye. She had a good Christmas and is now a big fan of her Leapster L-Max and has enjoyed staying up late over Christmas Break. She saw "The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe" with her Auntie on Tuesday and we have heard lots about that ever since.

Me - Well, I have taken a promotion with Kohls which is moving me to a larger store about 10 minutes further away than my present store. I'm excited and scared at the same time as this job will start on Monday (1/2). I'm wiped out from a busy Christmas retail season, but am thankful for my new job and the new opportunities it will bring.

Bill - is on a three week lay-off from work, but received a phone call that they have done some rearranging of staff and he has received a nice promotion. So now both of us are starting new jobs. We need to figure out some additional childcare for the girls as now it will be too much for my mom to handle on her own.

That is it in a nutshell.....I will try to be more consisitent -- maybe thta should be my New Years Resolution !!!!

The pictures are going to have to wait, sorry Susie. We ended up getting her a necklace -- it's really cute - sterling silver with a pink butterfly. She loves it. We also got her some books and a Christmas ornament (which she traditionally gets each year for her birthday). That was plenty b/c she gets tons of stuff from her grandparents and aunt -- and Christmas is only a week a way.

Today is Mary's 5th birthday. I'm blogging this morning b/c I probably won't have time later today with the party and all. Katie seems happy for Mary. She is "talking" so much these days. A lot of babble, with a few words mixed in. It is awesome for us to see her making such great progress. Both of the girls seem to be feeling better with the cocktail of antibiotics that they are downing each day... can we just stay healthy through Christmas?

If I have time I will try to upload some pics from Mary's party. This will be the second year of a princess theme for her.....too funny!

Thank-you, Emily for missing me. I want to blog more, I just can hardly find the time to see straight. It's been kind of a crazy week. Katie's ear infection is back, and Mary has both pink eye and an ear infection on the same side of her head...it's not pretty. I'm a little stressed out about work --- and I'm trying to finish Christmas cards, finish Christmas shopping, wrap presents, get ready for Mary's birthday party on Sunday and let's see -- have some sort of normal life. Bill's work Christmas party was this afternoon -- I stayed for a few hours but I am home now -- trying to get some things done before having to be at work tomorrow am at 8. Bill is off work now for 3 weeks - so that will help a little bit. I just can never remember being so crazed the week before Christmas -- but the good news is that Katie is thriving in school. My mom picked her up at school today for me (b/c I was at the doctor with Mary) and she was so amazed at what she saw. School has been fantastic for Katie --a nd her progress is more than enough of a Christmas gift for me.

Well, -- Katie's starting to get into everything, so I guess I had better go......

Well this is my week to get into the Christmas Season. My schedule at work is light, and I don't have to close the store for a whole week -- so I may actually get some sleep this week. I need to do Christmas cards, shopping, wrapping and get ready for Mary's 5th birthday which is Sunday and which I haven't really done anything for yet! YIKES!

I need more coffee today though... I got home at about 1 am from work and b/c I was so wound up from work I couldn't get to sleep. I put away about 10 loads of laundry and finally fell asleep a little after 2... so now I am soooo tired. I dropped Katie off at school this morning and one of the teachers says, " Wow, Jill...are you okay? You look really tired!" I wanted to say , "why ever would you think I'm tired? I have two kids under the age of 5 - one with autism, I work full-time, try to run a house, pay bills with no money and you want me to look anything other than tired!" But I was nice and just said, "yeah, work is catching up with me -- I could just use a little more sleep."

I desperately need to spend some time on ebay, too to see if I can catch some good last minute deals for Christmas -- especially since I have hardly started shopping.... Any good ideas for a 5 year old girl that don't cost a fortune????

It's a snow day here --- yowsa! I guess that is a good thing since there is so much snow outside that I feel like I'm living in Alaska. I'm trying to clean the house seeing as I have to work tonight, tomorrow and Sunday until 12:30 am. My schedule next week is better -- but less hours -- so even though we could use the $, I am grateful that maybe I will be able to get some things done -- like Christmas cards, Christmas shopping, wrapping, etc. AND, Mary has her 5th birthday on the 18th and I haven't even started to prepare for that.

Mary's school program was last night -- how cute! She looked beautiful and sang so pretty! Bill video-taped it -- I can't wait to watch it.

Does anyone watch the Apprentice? I'm so excited that Randall is doing a benefit for "Autism Speaks." That is an awesome Autism Organization and they are doing some wonderful things to raise awareness and funds for Autism research.

Alright, my house is calling.

Well the days are just tracking along at quite a clip. It is snowing like crazy here -- I can't remember such a snowy December since 5 years ago when Mary was born and we had to drift-bus in the big Dodge pick-up to get me to the hospital to deliver. Yikes.

Here we are -- Katie is doing well in school this week. She is sitting at the table to eat her snack, but is still refusing to drink out of anything but a sippy cup. Mary is having a pretty good week, too. They have their Christmas program this Thursday night. I have to work 4pm - 12:30 am tonite and tomorrow night, and Fri, Sat & Sun ! YIKES! Sometimes I am not sure how I am doing this -- but we will survive.

I need to get working on my Christmas cards/letters -- I am really behind this year -- -guess I've been a little busy. :) Kohl's has an awesome sale tomorrow!!! Should be crazy!

What a week. I think that the girls are both getting healthy again. Katie seems to be recovering well from her double ear infection. How crazy. Work is nuts. Lots of hours and lots of drama. I found myself in tears yesterday -- not so much due to work itself but just my life -- how tired I am, how stressed I am, how I still can't figure out how people find the time for their families and their friends when they work full-time, have 2 kids to cart around to and from school - and all of the extra activities of the holidays including Christmas programs and parties and all of that good stuff. It's crazy.

My mom came over yesterday and helped me out for a few extra hours before she watched the kids while I went to work. That was a huge help. She put away my week's worth of folded laundry that has been sitting in the basket waiting to be put away. She also watched Katie so I could rest for an hour and get a few projects done that I can't do when I have to keep my eye on the little one. I am so thankful for my mom and all the help she does give us.

I don't work tonight and for that I am really thankful!!!I need some rest!

Today is going better. I kept Katie home from school b/c I felt she needed one more day to get feeling really good before I let her back into the classroom setting. She is doing well today -- she ate a whole grilled cheese sandwich for lunch -- a vast improvement over not eating anything for 3 days. I ran all of my errands this morning -- and now I have this messy house to clean up. I really wonder how people do it -- with both of us working full time and me carting the girls all over I am often left to wonder when I am supposed to get anything done. Mondays are typically my day off -- so I am enjoying that. We are getting crazy at work and there is a lot of stuff going on with people changing positions and stuff that has got my head spinning. As much as I love the holidays, I will be glad for the calm down of January. Well I had better get to the baskets of folded laundry that are staring at me wanting to be put away :)

What a week -- I had good intentions of blogging -but to no avail. Mary came down with the stomach flu on Monday night complete with vomiting, etc. -- and was basically lethargic and non-mobile all day Tuesday. I put in 40 hours at work, and then last night I was at the emergency room with Katie who has a double ear infection -- and she is not doing well. She was running a 103 temp and was basically lethargic and cranky -- definitely not good. She has those numbing ear drops now, which seem to be helping and they put her on an antibiotic. If I could get some sleep we would be in good shape.

Thanksgiving was good -- pretty laid back and uneventful - just the way we like it.

I also had the grandson of a good friend of mine die over last weekend which was really hard. He was born a few weeks early -- they induced the labor because they saw a spot of blood on his brain and they didn't think a vaginal delivery would be a good option. When he was delivered they ran a bunch of tests and determined that it was a brain tumor that was rapidly growing. They rushed him to the hospital at the University of Michigan, but he slipped away the next day. So that situation has been weighty on my mind as well. It's been quite a week. I have an 8 hour shift tonight --- crazy. I hope to write more often this week.

Where does the time go? Is Thanksgiving really this week? Hard to believe. Things here are crazy. I am working a ton (which is not a new development) and there has been a lot of 'drama' at my Kohls recently. Not sure what's causing it -- but it's crazy. Bill's work is just the opposite -- winding down for the winter. The girls are both busy with school. Katie is thriving, making good progress each day. I continue to be really happy with her new aide, Amy - and I am so excited to see her participating in group projects and saying new words. It's so thrilling for us. Mary is preparing for her school Christmas program. We are trying to practice the songs each day. I feel like I will never be caught up with things at home. Thank goodness for my mother who came over on Saturday while I was at work (so my dad could watch the football game with Bill ) and she put away my baskets full of laundry that I had washed and folded but hadn't quite finished up. She even finished my wash. I am blessed by her. She is fabulous! And she knows how desperately I needed the help. I feel like with the 40 hours of work and carting the girls all over town that I can barely get the house picked up, let alone thoroughly cleaned. Plus my ebay has been really busy as of late -- must be the holidays or something, so I have been trying to keep up with that when I get home from Kohls in the wee hours of the morning.

Well, I had better run -- lots to do and never enough time...

I can't believe that I haven't "blogged" since Monday -- it's been a busy week. Katie has a wonderful aide named Amy. She is great! Katie has had an excellent week in school - no class tomorrow -- but she has said "all done" several times, she has colored, participated in craft projects, sat at circle time, and has been great! Bill and I are so thrilled that she is thriving in class.

It snowed here last night -- yowsa! The roads were straight ice on my way home from work. It snowed most of the day today as well. Of course that makes my Mary very happy -- except it was too cold for them to go out at recess (after I made a special trip back to school with her boots and snowpants.) Kohls has a big sale tomorrow and Saturday, too -- and with all of this snow we will be crazy busy!

I'll try to write more tomorrow. No school for either of the kids----

When are Bill and I going to find the time to go see "Goblet of Fire"? It is supposed to be awesome -- can't wait to see it -- it is by far my favorite book of the series.

As if things couldn't get any more crazy, I took Katie to class this morning and her newly hired aide has pneumonia! Yikes. So, there was a sub -- which is fine, I don't want someone with pneumonia coming into my child's classroom -- but it just seems par for the course at this point. Katie had a good day. Her well -child check-up was great -- she was happy and responsive and participated in the check-up which is more than she has ever done before. He wants to see her again in 6 months just to make sure that we are covering all of the bases with her and keeping ourselves from missing anything that would be beneficial to her. She did well in school today, too -- so overall a good day. Both of the girls have school tomorrow -- so I will get about 1 1/2 hours of free time (that is how long Katie is going to class -- we are stretching it out a little at a time) - I think I just want to have a big capuccino and snuggle up in my bed for an hour --- that sounds divine!!!!

Well, I am finished with day 7 of 7 in a row at Kohls. Thank-goodness! I am ready for a break. Katie has had a good weekend. She has her 3 year old well child check-up tomorrow. I'll be interested to see what her pediatrician has to say of her progress. He is a personal friend of ours. In some ways that is a big bonus -- he is easily accessible, but it can also be difficult because I think he doesn't always want to "tell it like it is" --that maybe I can't handle it. I know now that he knows I can deal with it. Hopefully the check-up will go well. She often cries through the whole thing ---- so we'll see.

It's Friday -- I'm slightly calmer. I don't know what we are going to do. I'm pretty sure that we are just going to let things be -- and not try to cause any more commotion. I feel like I need to do something to bring resolution to my heart though. I'm so torn up inside about how I was treated. I tend to personalize things like this -- and I have a hard time separating myself from it. It's a good thing that I work, because when I'm at work I'm able to be "Kohl's Jill" and not "mom Jill" or "Katie's advocate Jill " -- even though I still am those things, I am just able to pull myself apart from them and concentrate on somthing that doesn't take brain power. I know, I am rambling at this point -- I just feel like I'm in crazy mode or something. Well, I have to work in a few hours -- day 5 of 7 -- can it just be done?????

Katie has a cold again - Bill, too --- I have a feeling this is going to be a rough winter for illness.....Yikes!

Well I finally spoke to the Supt. of Schools and he basically told me that it was unfortunate that his secretary had to take my call on Monday morning as she was very emotionally unsettled due to being in the hospital for a week. Basically he told me that he was not going to be repremanding her, or disciplining her in any way and that I need to "move past it". He said that he was busy preparing for the school board meeting during the week she was out and that that was much more important than posting Katie's aide position. Basically he told me that I need to move on and get over it - and that he isn't going to do anything regardless. He said that he heard her side of the conversation because his desk is right next to hers and he was there when I called. He didn't even apologize for her --- nothing - I told him that I felt her response was inappropriate - and that as a parent in this school district I felt he needed to know that her behavior was unacceptable. HE DOESN'T CARE.

Bill and I have decided to proceed with the out of compliance report since it is dated prior to their posting of the job for Katie's aide. I also am considering filing a complaint against the Supt. and his secretary in regards to their unprofessionalism and I would submit this to the school board. I have to explore the options on this one -- more later....

Well believe it or not they have finally hired an aide for Katie and she will start on Monday. It is one of the gals who has subbed a few times in the ECCD classroom. I think it will be fine. I'm just glad that it is resolved.

The supt of schools finally called me back this morning but I wasn't home -- there is something wrong with Nextel around here and my phone is doing all kinds of weird things. I had called their customer support number and after a bunch of trouble shooting they told me it was my phone and I would need to take it in for service. As soon as I get there they tell me it is a problem with Nextel's towers and there is nothing they can do for me. "You're the tenth person to come in in the last 10 minutes with the same problem and it's not your phone! " Great! I hate Nextel right now - they are driving me crazy. I can't make any phone calls, or recieve any phone calls -- I think I'm going to call and request a credit for 100 minutes or something -- this is ridiculous.

If I'm able to talk to the Supt. I'll try to get back on and make a note about it. My house is so trashed - I really need to spend the afternoon cleaning before heading back to Kohl's. Day 4 of 7 in a row - Yee haw!!!

Well I put a call in yesterday to the Supt of Schools to speak to him about the "conversation" that I had with his secretary - but he has yet to call me back. Maybe that is a good thing b/c it is only today that I have calmed myself down about the whole situation. The aide posting is still not on the website, but I am assured that there will be an aide in the classroom on a permanent basis for Katie on Monday. I'm not sure how I will react if there isn't. I'm also not sure how I will handle it if the the Supt. doesn't call me back today. I have a feeling that he wanted to talk to her first and find out what she thinks happened (which I already know to be different from what actually happened.)

Katie doesn't have school today or the rest of the week --- conferences. I asked Katie if she was getting taller this morning, (b/c her pants are getting shorter) and she looked at me and said, "Yes." How funny -- how happy that makes me. She is starting to answer simple questions. Does she really know that she is getting taller - doubtful, but she answered yes and that's a start. If I get a call from the Supt. I'll post about it -- but I work 3-11:30 tonight so it may be tomorrow before I'm able to update...

Well, I have decided not to file the out of compliance report unless there is no PERMANENT aide for Katie on Monday when school resumes (no school W, Th, F). They assure me there will be. I do, however, still have the issue of the secretary who decided to use me as a stomping mat. I called the supt. of schools today and left a message for him on his voicemail that I would like to speak to him about the "conversation" that I had with his secretary yesterday. I am told that he already has a heads up about this -- hopefully this doesn't become an issue of "she said v. she said" as I have already been told that the secretary claims that I was the one who was out of line. WHO IS SHE KIDDING? I never raised my voice one time -- and I was told to call her by the monitor of the whole county's education program. She's the one that told me I didn't have the right to bother her about it. Give me a break! (Can you tell that I am still a little worked up about this?) I really hope that the supt. decides to call me back sooner than later -- or else I may lose it. I am getting really tired of dealing with this.

Katie did have a great morning in school. Apparently they were having music time (in a semi-circle, sitting on the floor) and Katie decided she wanted to participate, so she pushed the kids aside to make a place for herself to sit! How awesome! She never wants to participate in group activities, let alone taking the initiative to make a spot for herself to sit. The teacher was thrilled. On Monday we are increasing her classtime by 15 minutes. We are trying to get up to 3 hours by the first of the year --- that may be a long shot though...we'll have to see.