Merry Christmas From The Hoover Household

Merry Christmas 

From our Family

To YOURS

With Love 

Andrew, Trina

Jonathan, Daniel sand Sarah!

Our Big update and more pics

More pictures and  our long awaited update... and NO We are not pregnant...

Our Family is complete.  The Hoover Trilogy had it's final installment December 27th 2010.

March 16,2006

Now for our update: We were able to get in to be seen by the best genetics clinic in  the area. Both boys were seen!  Great news is that Daniel will now be tested with the  full microarray (that looks through all 23 chromosomes).  He previously had one area checked to see if he had the same chromosome deletion his brother and mommy have, which lucky for Daniel he does not have.

The only thing is that with the implementation of O'care  or ACA most insurance won't pay for this test... so we are waiting on our insurance to approve.  This test costs $1200.  SO at least we have progress in the right direction and not the usual brick wall  we've been banging our head against , it seems.

July 25,2008

I used to pray for big things to happen, because I had faith for it but I think, back in the NICU with Jonathan, God had another idea... He began to really emphasize the little things that add up like pennies in a jar, that begin to add up to something way bigger than we ever imagined.

Don't get me wrong... BIG things did happen in that NICU in Charlotte.  Everywhere around us there were miracles.  We saw a whole lot of babies go home to happy families pretty fast, even a baby on last ditch ECMO got better in what they called record time.  We saw the NICU and progressive care units clear out within a couple days.  Jonathan chose to take his time... We learned to appreciate the fact that God works in the small things as well as the big things.

Be blessed and love those around you.

Halloween pics

The Next couple of posts will be more pictures than me talking.  We have great news, I am writing a post on... but since I know these kiddos fans include their grandparents, I will  post some pictures.  We LOVE you.

We had dress up day at school.  Jonathan's grade level had as a theme "famous Americans".  He went as Senator Ted Cruz (our Senator from Texas).  I love him wearing Dad's tie.

Daniel's class theme was  Community Helpers.  He loved this costume so much he decided to wear it in the evening.

Jonathan decided to wear Captain America and we dug up Eeyore for Sarah.  That's me in the Gumby suit... I have a new found empathy for the guys at the amusement park in those suits.

Sarah at her last ECI Visit... We passed the skills test at the school district with flying colors and as soon as we get potty trained will be going to a mother's morning out program at a nearby church, and not the school. Hallelujah!

Sarah at Daddy's work at The Family movie night under ste stars... they watched a new movie (to them) which Became their favorite movie... Despicable Me ...

Lots of sweet moments with Sarah while her brothers are gone.  ALL day.

Looking at the trials of the past to see where We've been to see where

Sometimes it's a great thing to look back at something that was so horrible and heartbreaking and to be able to see where God has brought is through.
We've had a lot of challenges recently(not just Daniel) , which would leave me feeling hopeless and depressed, if it were not for the Lord making a way to not feel this way.
Other than finding at least five things to be grateful, another way I often use is to look back at something hugely difficult where God proved his trustworthiness and faithfulness.  Also Known as a BUT God....moments.

This video was taken on Jonathan's 6th day of life.  He had just been transferred to the Neonatal ICU level 4 at what would become Levine Children's hospital in Charlotte, NC from somewhere locally.  At the time this was shot we didn't know whether or not he would continue to be here.  This was one of our biggest trials, and to this day I'm so very thankful for the home group we were a part of that walked beside us every step of the way, even when there wasn't a pastor to come pray. This group became the Church.. We we had bad days in the NICU, they cried and prayed, when we had great days they cheered. When Jonathan came home, we praised God for his wonderful work together.  Meanwhile another of it's members we were all praying for was in his final months of his life.  I was told at his funeral that he was praying for Jonathan and that to this very day still has touched me.
Jonathan has days where it seems he's 7 going on 14, and although he has physical challenges, and learning differences, we keep cheering him on because we Learned that life is a gift. And we share things together on this journey of life.

Here's another video that ministers to me every time I hear it.
Worn by Tenth Avenue North


Be Blessed

And the result is somehow different than what we expected?

The morning of the third was crazy only because we had to get everybody in the house ready because after we took Jonathan to school, we left for Fort Worth.
It didn't take us very long to get there as it was our third trip collectively. We sat in our car for twenty minutes just listening to the radio and praying.
As soon as we checked in, Daniel heard his name called. After answering a billion questions Daniel's measurements were taken. The little dude is 43 pounds and 43 inches tall.
We were led into a exam room that had some toys in it and a table in it, but not much else.
What seemed like forever ticked by (more like twenty minutes) and the doctor comes in. I answer more questions, and show her the video off of my phone. She then examines him and points out every last flaw.
She talks to me about his IEP and how it was almost stripped out of services he needs at school just so he is stable enough to learn effectively. I told her another meeting has been scheduled later this month on this very issue. She leaves and comes back with her recommendations. Apparently he exhibits symptoms of opposition defiance disorder and a borderline cognitive disability(he probably poorly when he was tested on the spring).  She is going to send us to a psychologist to learn how to parent him when he is in full force. She said that he acts out because he may not understand how to process his emotions and he also may be acting out to avoid doing things that he perceives as difficult for him. His people at school and us as his parents need to learn to spot this and shepherd him in how he can deal with a given set of feelings.
The doctor is also sending him to be fully tested through genetics. This is great and we've been praying they'd send him for testing there.

As for the ODD diagnosis, here's my take. We don't really know what that all means, but it doesn't really change who God created him to be. He may face a few extra challenges right now, but eventually something wonderful will come from this sweet little man. Who knows maybe he'll be a doctor or a fireman. He probably can be who he wants to become. I pray every day for him that he would know that we are in his corner cheering for him, and that he learn to work through some of his issues that someday we can laugh about this.

It's really a uncomfortable feeling to understand that some things are really out of your control and ultimately in the hands of God. Ultimately  this is always a great thing.
We have already attempted a couple strategies from a love and logic type of approach and have seen some success in the limited situations we have tried it in. 
In any case if you feel led please feel free to pray for him. It would bless me if you left comments and I promise to read them to Daniel.

Be blessed.

Our sweet middle child and our crazy life- Day before the specialist

Wrtten 10/3...

This is Daniel. He just turned 5 two months ago. He is our middle child.
  Being the middle child,He can create a ton of drama, but he can also cause others to join in the fun, even if he creates the opportunity.
He can also steal your heart, run away with it and totally spike it like a football.
Lately and for almost a year he's been struggling. Sometimes he'll totally emotionally shut down, crawl under a desk or just sit there, and lose his ability to reason. He'll just growl and scream and kick at everything and just generally refuse to comply with what's being asked of him..  By all accounts this has a totally random cause.   He's done this both at home and school. It's now interfering with learning and just functioning.
He had several episodes of this at school, one of which I witnessed and was able to capture on my cell phone camera. 
He also had two episodes on Sunday morning. One on the way to church, and one leaving. I had to drag him  to the car. Although he's been potty trained for several months now, he's having so many accidents I was convinced that he needed to wear a diaper. He then went in he potty, which shows me this is a control issue. Every day he also walks up to Sarah and either hits or bits her with no provocation
Last Monday, by 745 am I had received two phone calls from the vice principal.
Needless to say I believe one of many things is happening. It's pretty obvious the staff at this school haven't put his IEP in place six weeks into the school year. I have meet with several of them several times, and each time they cannot recall a tiny portion of the bad things they've said. Daniel tells us daily that his teachers don't want him there. Whether or not there is any truth to this is yet to be seen as this is his perception. Since there is a lot of behind covering going on we'll probably never know the answer.
All we get is a bunch of meaningless talk. I make requests that according to the federal and state laws are perfectly legal and I get told everything else like this needs to be done at another time. To me this was a no. This also proves to me this school isn't doing a great job educating special kids because to them parents are merely a hindrance and not a valued member of the team.
We are at the point where we want to pull out our hair and bust out some special cuss words, but we won't.
I want to cry and go hide under a rock because honestly I think that no one wants to know what he's been going through. Only several of my friends have pleaded with me that we not walk through this alone, so that is why I wrote this.
I guess you can say there is a silver lining here. On Thursday we are going to go see the developmental pediatrician and it only took a month to get an appointment. By everyone's account this was a miracle. To us this just took way too long to get here.
God knows just how much I love this kid and how totally heart broken I am for him. God willing we get some kind of answer and if needed some medication, because he just deserves to be his happy little self who wants to please..

 Please say some prayers, and be Blessed

Summer Fun 3 (Fair Park)

This summer we did a lot of fun stuff locally.

This post is about 

Summer Adventures at Fair Park in Dallas, TX

Our kids: age 2, Age 5 and age 7 all have varying interests and this was a sure hit with our entire family.  All the fun of the fair with not near the crowds of the fair..  You pay one price and get unlimited rides.  They had little rides for Sarah and big rides big enough for Andrew. Jonathan was one inch shy of getting to go on a roller coaster.

There was a splash pad and because Texas is hot in the summer and my kids have never seen one of these EVER. This was just their reaction and it was priceless.

 They rode their first roller coaster together.

And what would a day at Fair Park be without a Fletcher's Corny Dog... Totally worth the $5 each...trust me.

This was a great trip, Be super blessed.

Summer Fun part 2- Stockyards Birthday

We have had may adventures over the summer, but none so fun as The Historic Fort Worth Stockyards .We have been here before.

Last  time we were there, although Daniel was talking about cowboys non stop.... when we got there he was terrified of the horses the cowboys were on.  As you can see this time he wasn't.

This was also on his 5th Birthday. I love my  Daniel.

This animal is a Longhorn steer named Pecos.  And yes He's saddled.  Daniel was so proud of not being afraid, that we let him get his pic taken.  We donated $5 to the Fort Worth Herd.  They let us also pet him.  Although he has those horns, he was quite tame.

 Jonathan petting pecos, the cow girl was making sure no one was skewered.

Twice daily cattle Drive down the middle of Exchange Street

Summer Fun Part one of many

First I just want to say that if you have young kids, please do yourself a huge favor and try not to move from one dwelling place to another  while they are young.  It doesn't matter if it's two miles or 4,000 miles. Just count the cost. One person gets the enormous task of packing everything and the other gets the enormous task of keeping three curious monkeys  out of the fray.
My end of this move involved 2 sleepless nights at a hotel (because the first night Sarah kept us all awake)
We packed up our residence and  moved to another apartment in July, and lets just say it's been a world of difference.

Our view of the GOLF course.

We paid some professionals to move our stuff down 3 flights of stairs across several roads and down and up another flight of stairs. it was worth EVERY PENNY of the 800 we paid.for 8 hours..
Andrew's arm decided to malfunction a midst this move which although if you know me and my family, by now it wasn't a surprise something really bizarre always happens.  Luckily, Andrew has a cool benefit that he can use called Airrosti ... You need to check this out If you are in pain because in 3 visits his pain level and function was back...granted he had bruises from treatment but it DID work, and I highly recommend it.
Oh and the fun thing about moving (sorry for the sarcasm) was getting out primary vehicle towed again. This time out in deep fort worth.  $293 later we got back the van. Yay for Andrew parking the van late at night and not seeing he was in a fire lane...granted it was really poorly lit and the markings on the ground leave you guessing about where is safe to park....
Granted we are re-funding our emergency fund so little annoying stuff doesn't become a point of freaking out.  I love Dave Ramsey.

The Boys room

The Hallway looking toward the kitchen

Sarah's Room which is huge but largely still not put away.

our bedroom

our back porch... the stairs lead down to the golf course as a fire escape.

 Be blessed.

Trina

School's Out for Summer.

The last week has been full of....Awards Ceremonies...

 Kind of rough always being the last class at the awards. You can't hear and by this time no one cares about the people in the class behind.  The first two classes were completely spanish speakers.  We had the best readers though and that included several of his closest friends. And that's a Fact Jack!

 Jonathan accepting his award...

 Jonathan Who Had Mrs. O. (First grade...got the Math and scientist award---always drawing weather,maps and or airplanes)

 Daniel Graduated from Preschool program- with the Friend award...He's spent the last two years with her and 6 of the most amazing little kids. She deserves a Gold  medal and a trip to a fancy spa (for a week)... They really need to pay these teachers more.  I will miss you something Terrible Mrs. H.

     

I believe this is his friend Jerome... like we said He is friends with EVERYONE.

NOW.... We go have fun and actually do something. Last summer was eaten away at with various therapies.  Because of insurance issues...although we need it, we are going to just have fun, learn a bunch about this state of ours Texas and just be kids.

And also Move somewhere in the area (that is still being determined).

At least: I know:  the School won't be calling me about Daniel having any more episodes. I got some more gray hairs because of that.

At Least I Know: We won't have any more conversations with the Nurse. I got more calls from her than I did his teacher. She will be summoned for Jonathan's Ard in the fall.

Hopefully (Prayer request):

We will find a place and get moved smoothly

------>We will have our transfer request granted <------- p="">

We will find treatment for Daniel and get him diagnosed. (there was supposed to be an appointment but due to major ineptitude and a doctor's office lying to us and our insurance...the appointment never happened.  We are going to call our US Senator at this point.  

There shouldn't be this much trouble trying to get my child medical care. Ever.

Be blessed

Because we are