Happy Father's Day

The Hoover Household@ the Bluebonnets 2014

Because: We know  These Kids grandparents, Great Aunt ,several  Godparents and "Aunties" Read this page whenever I get around to it.   I will try to explain these pics... and By the way I can send to any Walgreen's any of these pictures so send me an email or call me or Facebook  message me and I will be on it as soon as I can... you all deserve pictures and all I need to know is where you want them sent...(especially for Grandma, Grandpa, Aunti and Babz and Jennifer)and  all our godparents.

These pics were taken on April 23, 2014 just outside of Dallas, TX  by a friend of ours by the name of Brooks (AKA Mr. Boo)

Jonathan (8) and by our nature someone is always around.  He had  his second eye surgery the following day.  This kid TOTALLY loves Science and social studies.  He loves legos (which we've recently gotten into)

This is one of the ONLY shots that was posed for Sarah has some of the most wild expressions.  Daniel is always impossible to photograph.  Getting all 3 to look at the camera at the same time...totally nearly impossible.  This location was chosen because although it was easy to access, we felt it was far enough away from the road just in case Daniel decided to make a break for it.  He ended up being way more behaved than the total of 5 kids that were on this outing.

There is always someone either laughing or crying  in all of our pics... I'm not sure what Daniel was laughing about other than photo bombing his brother.

Daniel (5)

When he settled down he has a sweet demeanor.  That or he was plotting... This was not posed.

Sarah (3) We think this totally looks like a painting.  And yes that was a pretty steep hill.  She spent the whole time trying to convince Brooks that she was a princess.

She is a very funny in a rotten 3 year old sort of way... Her grandparents and her Great aunt would  pleasantly surprised her personality is a cross between girly girl and a tomboy.  She can do both.  She LOVES Sofia The First.

We have decided after some discussion to have Daniel repeat Kindergarten.  He was neither academically  or socially ready to move on.  We pray  his next year calms down for everyone's sake.  We had a ton of Drama with his teachers and school...especially after he's run from school off the property...with staff chasing him.

Daniel was recently diagnosed  with a mild to moderate  Intellectual disability.  We are about to run some genetic tests on his blood to see if  we can't determine the cause.

Jonathan is doing great in school... minus the falling down all the time. Balance is a continuing issue.  He isn't looking forward to Third grade too much.  I believe he got his dad's mind and issues I had as a kid growing up...  Brilliant mind, sometimes too brilliant that his body can't catch up and do what he wants it to do...

His speech therapist is working on a few things with him so he can be understood in a conversation and sound a little more mature.

 Be blessed.

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.