Our Easter Picture

The Meltdown

On Wednesday, our family went to get our Easter pictures done at a place called Portrait Innovations. I like this place because you get your pictures back within 15-20 minutes. Getting our pictures done is an all day experience. Our day started with Sam getting his physical therapy that morning at 8:30. His therapy is supposed to last until 9:30 but his therapist is often runnng behind so it normally lasts until 10:00. Well, Jeff called at about 10 and asked me what I'm wearing for the pictures. What was I wearing? I hadn't planned on being in the picture. But, Jeff informed me that if we were to die , our kids would have no recollection about what their parents look like. (I'm just hoping that we hang on long enough so that I can lose the weight that each of them has helped me gain. Then, I'll get our pictures made.) Anyways, being the submissive wife that I am, I told him I would do my best but that I would have to find something that matches what the other kids were wearing. So, I got all of the kids in the car and headed to Old Navy. It's almost impossible to try anything on with all of the kids, so I grabbed a shirt that I thought would work and we were on our way. They were now starving because it was almost 1:00. So after lunch and a few spills and cleanups, I laid Eli and Sam down for a quick nap and bathed Susanna and Luke. I could not bathe them in the morning because too much happens between that time and when we actually needed to go. Their cleanliness only has about a 1 hour window. So, I curled Susanna's hair and woke up the other 2 from their nap. Jeff got home and helped me with Sam and Eli's bath. I put them all in their non-picture outfits(in case the clothes that they are getting their pictures made get messed up on the way). Then, I realized that we would not have time to change their clothes once we got there, so switched them back. I also realized that Jeff and I had no time to change either. So, we got there just in time. They were all looking their best. Sam quickly saw the Lego table that they had in their waiting room. As soon as he sat down to play, they were ready for our pictures. Sam began screaming at the top of his lungs. We could not get him to stop. I could already tell that the lady was not thrilled to have to work with so many young kids. She told her co-worker that she was going to need some back-up. Next thing we know is that there are 4 workers trying to get Sam to calm down. I asked if they had any bubbles, but they had none. Maybe next time, they will. Sam screamed for about 30 minutes at the top of his lungs. This was a pure angry scream. He was so mad and his body was so stiff. We did tell him that we would take him to play on the lego table and he smiled for a quick second. That is when the only group photo was taken. It actually turned out pretty cute but you can see a tear on Sam's cheek. I told them how sorry I was and how this is just not like Sam. The lady looked at me like,"I've heard that one before." That is the truth! I have never seen Sam ever act like that before. Jeff took him out to the car and we got every one else's individual pictures done. Sam's will have to wait. I will post the picure on here tonight when Jeff shows me how to do it. Anyways, Sam has been happily playing with his legos at home ever since. And this is why our picture experience is an all day experience.

Speech?

I just realized that Sam's neurologist appointment is March 19th and not this week. Tonight, Sam kept standing up by himself and taking a step or two. After he falls down, he claps his hands. His speech therapist has just given us some new stretching exercises to do with Sam. She said that this would help with his mouth being able to close properly which would help his drooling. She also said that his face and his mouth are so tight that he may not be able to say his words correctly until we have another surgery. But our plastic surgeon says that he will not do surgery until he hears Sam talk. So what do you do? Sam gets so frustrated with us when we don't understand what he is saying. But it is a good sign that he is trying to communicate with us. He doesn't seem to want to sign so much anymore but he is not able to say most of his words. Most of them sound alot alike. Our therapist said that we will probably need to make a set of cards that he can point to in order to help him tell us what he wants. I sometimes worry if this will set him back evem further but we'll just have to keep making him try to say the word, too.