I was looking around for ideas to do with the children this summer. Since Margaret has a LOT of problems with some textile issues, in particular playdough, I thought it might be fun to make some at home. I found the following blog with, what I have been told, is a good recipe.
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http://musingsfromasahm.com/2012/02/easy-homemade-playdough-recipe/
Ingredients
1 cup flour
1 cup water
2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/3 cup salt
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
food coloring
Instructions
Mix together all the ingredients, except the food coloring, in a 2 quart saucepan. Cook over low/medium heat, stirring. Once it begins to thicken, add the food coloring. Continue stirring until the mixture is much thicker and begins to gather around the spoon.
Remove the dough onto wax paper or a plate to cool.
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http://www.dltk-kids.com/recipesdb/view.asp?rid=198
This second recipe involves no cooking or cream of tarter. I am not sure I would use Kool-Aid for coloring but it is a neat idea.
Kool-Aid Playdough
Ingredients:
• 1 1/4 cup flour
• 1/4 cup salt
• 1 pkg unsweetened Kool-aid (just the
dry koolaid, don't mix it into juice)
• 1 cup boiling water
• 1 1/2 Tbsp vegetable oil
Directions:
1. In a bowl, mix flour, salt and
kool-aid.
2. Stir in water and oil
3. Knead with hands for about 5 minutes.
4. Store in ziploc bag for up to 2
4. months.
5. Use like playdough.
6. Smells wonderful and takes on the color
of the koolaid.
I am the mom of surviving quadruplets. My blog covers the birth of my children, their special needs, therapy, homeschooling and what it's like to be the mom to these special kids!
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Trip to St. George and the Geneticist
Its fun having the kids in the car. This is the First time they are pointing out geographic features.
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Again, I was trying to use the mobile blogging feature. I have to work on this and see if I can get it worked out.
We had an appointment for Margaret and Joseph at the geneticist at 1:00pm Utah time. Dr. Arch is in St. George, Utah. There is only ONE geneticist in the state of Nevada and to get to see her there is at least a three year waiting list. So we went to Utah. The drive should take about two hours and twenty minutes but the drive was more like three hours. There was a small traffic accident on the way out of Las Vegas and I had to go through two construction zones before I arrived at the hospital (this is where the geneticist has her office). Luckily for us there were other patients from Las Vegas that day and they were late also so when I called and said I was running late it was not a surprise to the staff.
On the way there the children really where pretty good. I had the foresight to through in some books and toys into the car before we left. The kids played and shared SO nicely back there. I was SO proud of them. They were also having fun pointing out geographic features like cacti, mountains, rivers and trees. Especially when we went through the Virgin River Valley Gorge. James got out of the car and lead the way into the hospital. The kids played in the waiting room and got into the bag of food I brought with me as I went over paper work. Then we were escorted into the back and into a waiting room.
The kids now wanted to play with the toys in the room. It was about 10 minutes later the Dr. Arch walked in. We quickly discussed Margaret. With Margaret having a normal micro-array analysis and the MRI of brain damage I feel as though I know what I basically wrong with her. I think all of her problems stem from brain damage. Joseph on the other had is COMPLETELY different.
With Joseph having a normal MRI and DNA analysis but he is severely impaired in function I can only think there is something wrong that the doctors have not found yet. Joseph did have some blood work that showed some abnormalities. We discussed getting a muscle biopsy done. I will be working on getting the authorization re-approved.
If we get the muscle biopsy done it will be a BIG deal because we will have to drive four hours to Los Angeles and Joseph will have to be put to sleep. It would be like an out-patient surgery sort of thing. Very scary in some ways but it would be SO good to get it done and determine if he has any muscle myopathy or mitochondrial problems.
On the way home Margaret was getting restless. Sitting in a car seat for so long makes he cranky. About two hours into our return home Margaret got mad at James for some reason and the next thing I know he is screaming in the back. Then he says that Margaret bit him. I made her apologize. Man, it is rough making a car trip with her. She can get so hostile sometimes. Got to remember to put her on the outside and not between the boys. This would at least limit the amount of damage she could do because she could only reach one person.
I would guess most people would not be surprised when I say I was exhausted when I got home and couldn't have been more thrilled to stop for the night...lol.
_______________________________________________________________________________________
Again, I was trying to use the mobile blogging feature. I have to work on this and see if I can get it worked out.
We had an appointment for Margaret and Joseph at the geneticist at 1:00pm Utah time. Dr. Arch is in St. George, Utah. There is only ONE geneticist in the state of Nevada and to get to see her there is at least a three year waiting list. So we went to Utah. The drive should take about two hours and twenty minutes but the drive was more like three hours. There was a small traffic accident on the way out of Las Vegas and I had to go through two construction zones before I arrived at the hospital (this is where the geneticist has her office). Luckily for us there were other patients from Las Vegas that day and they were late also so when I called and said I was running late it was not a surprise to the staff.
On the way there the children really where pretty good. I had the foresight to through in some books and toys into the car before we left. The kids played and shared SO nicely back there. I was SO proud of them. They were also having fun pointing out geographic features like cacti, mountains, rivers and trees. Especially when we went through the Virgin River Valley Gorge. James got out of the car and lead the way into the hospital. The kids played in the waiting room and got into the bag of food I brought with me as I went over paper work. Then we were escorted into the back and into a waiting room.
The kids now wanted to play with the toys in the room. It was about 10 minutes later the Dr. Arch walked in. We quickly discussed Margaret. With Margaret having a normal micro-array analysis and the MRI of brain damage I feel as though I know what I basically wrong with her. I think all of her problems stem from brain damage. Joseph on the other had is COMPLETELY different.
With Joseph having a normal MRI and DNA analysis but he is severely impaired in function I can only think there is something wrong that the doctors have not found yet. Joseph did have some blood work that showed some abnormalities. We discussed getting a muscle biopsy done. I will be working on getting the authorization re-approved.
If we get the muscle biopsy done it will be a BIG deal because we will have to drive four hours to Los Angeles and Joseph will have to be put to sleep. It would be like an out-patient surgery sort of thing. Very scary in some ways but it would be SO good to get it done and determine if he has any muscle myopathy or mitochondrial problems.
On the way home Margaret was getting restless. Sitting in a car seat for so long makes he cranky. About two hours into our return home Margaret got mad at James for some reason and the next thing I know he is screaming in the back. Then he says that Margaret bit him. I made her apologize. Man, it is rough making a car trip with her. She can get so hostile sometimes. Got to remember to put her on the outside and not between the boys. This would at least limit the amount of damage she could do because she could only reach one person.
I would guess most people would not be surprised when I say I was exhausted when I got home and couldn't have been more thrilled to stop for the night...lol.
Monday, June 11, 2012
Visit to New Pediatrician
This is not a good start when we have been sitting in the back office now at least 40m and it is now 6 pm. Our appointment was at 4:30pm.
I was trying to post from my phone. The above post is only part of a what I wrote. Our old pediatrician has changed practices and the new practice does not accept our insurance. I am SOOOOO bummed but I had to start looking for another pediatrician. Since I don't really know anyone here with small children that are disabled and are not vaccinating their children it is hard for me to get a referral....lol.
Also, before anyone even tries to flame me about not vaccinating my children I have looked into it. They have all had some of their vaccinations. Once we moved I fell behind. Now the children are behind in vaccinations and with Joseph's health problems I have decided I was no longer going to vaccinate him until I knew better what was going on. The other two children I will vaccinate but I will not give them more than one shot at a time. The more I learned about vaccinations the more I think the schedule they advise doctors to vaccinate children is ludicrous. If you want to know why I think that please just ask I and I will send you some information.
OK, so back to finding a pediatrician. Since I did not know what else to do I decided to look on Yelp! I mean, why not? Many doctors in Las Vegas are not even listed on Yelp! I think this is a shame and I do make sure I write reviews for the specialists we see. There were a couple of pediatricians that had positive reviews so I looked them up. I picked Dr. Robertson. So I made an appointment. It was for June 11th at 4:30pm. The doctor's office is on the other side of town from me. I am NOT familiar with the area at all. With my Garmin dead I am SO LOST! LOL
Luckily, I made it there, got the children out of the car and into the wagon along with the bag of binders holding everyone's medical information. My computer and the print have not been talking to each other since we moved so I had to hand wrote out the list of doctors Joseph sees and my questions for the new doctor. I am a terror with doctors and I can't say I really apologetic over it either. My old pediatrician was GREAT! He was the coordinator of all care for Joseph. Trust me when I say that is a LOT to ask of a doctor...lol. When I had even set this appointment the receptionist asked why we were coming and I said it was to check the doctor out and to explain Joseph's complex medical history. The receptionist chuckled and I know she did not believe that Joseph's medical history takes an ENTIRE appointment just to explain everything. LOL
So I get there at 4:30pm because I had a hard time finding the place. Once I get there the office is full. The office staff was nice enough. I got the paperwork and I started to fill it all out. I get it filled in and turned back to the staff. At 5:05pm we were called into the back and put into a room. The room was cute at least, it was done in a Disney Cars motif, but I was surprised there were NO covers over the outlets. I had to tell Margaret four times not to put her fingers into the socket.
At 6:15pm the Dr. Robertson finally entered the room. I appreciated that the FIRST words out of his mouth was to apologize for the wait. That was nice. Then He looked at the list of doctors Joseph has seen since we have been in Vegas. He looked at me and asked if I saw all of them and I said yes but we do not see all of them on a regular basis. He looked at me and said, "I am SO sorry! You are VERY busy!" ROFL! NEVER had a doctor say that! Then we started talking. He asked why I was there. I told him our old pediatrician had changed practices, he knows who our old pediatrician is, and we have to find someone who takes our insurance. He looks at my list of questions and says, "I am a man, if a list is more than 2 items long I can't read it." ROFL! He asks me to tell him what is most important. I tell him I need a referral to a feeding specialist for Joseph. At 4.5 Joseph can only eat baby food, tiny star pasta, oatmeal and eggs. He drinks from a bottle and has NO idea what to do with a straw if you put it in his mouth. In the last two years his weight has not really changed even though he has grown 2 inches. He weights about 25.5 lbs. He wears a 2T shirt and a 12m to 18m pants in the waist. He is SO small!
I also told the doctor that I wanted to take Joseph to a GI doctor and I explained that we were going to see a geneticist the next day. I said we were seeing about getting Joseph a muscle biopsy to check for mitochondrial diseases. He asked why were we thinking this and I said he had some bloodwork that was off in the very long chain fatty acids. He said, "Is it a metabolic problem?" and I said I did not know. He asked for the blood work that shows the unusual numbers and I pointed to the 3" 3-ring binder. He laughed. I said I would look for the lab work and if I could find it I would have the office staff make a copy. He said there is a metabolic specialist that comes to Las Vegas once a month and he would send a referral to him for us. How awesome is that???
Overall it was a good visit through rushed. I left the office and had the kids at the car at 7:10pm. I still had to drive across town to get home. By the time I got home, fed them and got them to bed it was 9:00pm. Wow, that was a LONG afternoon!
I was trying to post from my phone. The above post is only part of a what I wrote. Our old pediatrician has changed practices and the new practice does not accept our insurance. I am SOOOOO bummed but I had to start looking for another pediatrician. Since I don't really know anyone here with small children that are disabled and are not vaccinating their children it is hard for me to get a referral....lol.
Also, before anyone even tries to flame me about not vaccinating my children I have looked into it. They have all had some of their vaccinations. Once we moved I fell behind. Now the children are behind in vaccinations and with Joseph's health problems I have decided I was no longer going to vaccinate him until I knew better what was going on. The other two children I will vaccinate but I will not give them more than one shot at a time. The more I learned about vaccinations the more I think the schedule they advise doctors to vaccinate children is ludicrous. If you want to know why I think that please just ask I and I will send you some information.
OK, so back to finding a pediatrician. Since I did not know what else to do I decided to look on Yelp! I mean, why not? Many doctors in Las Vegas are not even listed on Yelp! I think this is a shame and I do make sure I write reviews for the specialists we see. There were a couple of pediatricians that had positive reviews so I looked them up. I picked Dr. Robertson. So I made an appointment. It was for June 11th at 4:30pm. The doctor's office is on the other side of town from me. I am NOT familiar with the area at all. With my Garmin dead I am SO LOST! LOL
Luckily, I made it there, got the children out of the car and into the wagon along with the bag of binders holding everyone's medical information. My computer and the print have not been talking to each other since we moved so I had to hand wrote out the list of doctors Joseph sees and my questions for the new doctor. I am a terror with doctors and I can't say I really apologetic over it either. My old pediatrician was GREAT! He was the coordinator of all care for Joseph. Trust me when I say that is a LOT to ask of a doctor...lol. When I had even set this appointment the receptionist asked why we were coming and I said it was to check the doctor out and to explain Joseph's complex medical history. The receptionist chuckled and I know she did not believe that Joseph's medical history takes an ENTIRE appointment just to explain everything. LOL
So I get there at 4:30pm because I had a hard time finding the place. Once I get there the office is full. The office staff was nice enough. I got the paperwork and I started to fill it all out. I get it filled in and turned back to the staff. At 5:05pm we were called into the back and put into a room. The room was cute at least, it was done in a Disney Cars motif, but I was surprised there were NO covers over the outlets. I had to tell Margaret four times not to put her fingers into the socket.
At 6:15pm the Dr. Robertson finally entered the room. I appreciated that the FIRST words out of his mouth was to apologize for the wait. That was nice. Then He looked at the list of doctors Joseph has seen since we have been in Vegas. He looked at me and asked if I saw all of them and I said yes but we do not see all of them on a regular basis. He looked at me and said, "I am SO sorry! You are VERY busy!" ROFL! NEVER had a doctor say that! Then we started talking. He asked why I was there. I told him our old pediatrician had changed practices, he knows who our old pediatrician is, and we have to find someone who takes our insurance. He looks at my list of questions and says, "I am a man, if a list is more than 2 items long I can't read it." ROFL! He asks me to tell him what is most important. I tell him I need a referral to a feeding specialist for Joseph. At 4.5 Joseph can only eat baby food, tiny star pasta, oatmeal and eggs. He drinks from a bottle and has NO idea what to do with a straw if you put it in his mouth. In the last two years his weight has not really changed even though he has grown 2 inches. He weights about 25.5 lbs. He wears a 2T shirt and a 12m to 18m pants in the waist. He is SO small!
I also told the doctor that I wanted to take Joseph to a GI doctor and I explained that we were going to see a geneticist the next day. I said we were seeing about getting Joseph a muscle biopsy to check for mitochondrial diseases. He asked why were we thinking this and I said he had some bloodwork that was off in the very long chain fatty acids. He said, "Is it a metabolic problem?" and I said I did not know. He asked for the blood work that shows the unusual numbers and I pointed to the 3" 3-ring binder. He laughed. I said I would look for the lab work and if I could find it I would have the office staff make a copy. He said there is a metabolic specialist that comes to Las Vegas once a month and he would send a referral to him for us. How awesome is that???
Overall it was a good visit through rushed. I left the office and had the kids at the car at 7:10pm. I still had to drive across town to get home. By the time I got home, fed them and got them to bed it was 9:00pm. Wow, that was a LONG afternoon!
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