Merrill and Roberta Simon and Family

Well, the appointment we waited so long for arrived today. I took Macylea, McCoy and Montana to see the Gastrointerologist. I have to admit, I was looking for answers...and I was hoping against hope that I would come away with a lot of answers :o) You see, Montana has a lot of feeding issues. It seems that he is always in pain after he eats. We have switched his formula several times already. Now, I would not always run to a specialist for that, but in come his two siblings with their issues. Macylea throws up a lot and she also has diarrhea more than we care to think about. We were told that she had a weak stomach, but it seems to be much more than that. Now, add poor McCoy. He also has gastrointestinal issues. Both he and Macylea have distended tummy's. Now you get why we went to the specialist. We are seeing some family history perhaps here. So, nearly three hours later we now have more questions than answers. Montana is getting his formula changed to one that has higher c...

I am not sure if it is the....."my age" .....or if it is just that so many things touch me in ways it is hard to fully explain. Some things are hurtful, some are just hard to grasp, some involve the children and so it hits me in my heart, and then there are the things that happen that make you wonder what you ever did to deserve something this good. That is the one that I want to blog about today. McClain brought home his Christmas letter to Santa. It really was not that big of a deal. Many of the children get a chance to do these each year at school. I try to read them all, but I know that I have missed one or two over the years. McClain just handed me his...no biggie...nothing special. He was telling me about it so I was not reading it but was listening to him. He says to me, "Mom, they did not really answer my question. I still do not know." I said Who? He says, Judy, Santa's elf.....So I read his letter....and cried. Here it is...I hope you can read it, ...

WOW, Here as of late it seems I am always coming in from behind. I guess it is more about tending to the needs of now 15 people at home with 4 of those being only 2 and under, than anything else really. We have had Macylea and McCoy for just a little over a month now. It has been on heck of a ride. They seem to have many more needs than we originally thought. We work with an agency called Nevada Early Intervention. McCoy was already receiving their services, but it was felt that Macylea did not need them. After some rather extensive observation and testing, Macylea is now getting 9 hours a month with them and McCoy is getting 9 hours a month also. This is including speech, feeding, behavior and developmental. We are also working with some attachment issues with Macylea. McCoy seems to be able to attach and bond but Macylea is going to be a tough nut to crack. We have also set up an appointment with a Gastrointerologist as all three of the children seem to have some gastrointestinal...

We have been so busy this past month. I know that we must catch up here on our BLOG. So much with the new babies and all. I promise to do just that in a few days. BUT FIRST...I must share with our blogging community....LISAMARIE sings Amazing Grace for her recital. We are so proud of her and we want to share her with the world. I hope that you enjoy this and will post a comment or two for her to read. Hugs to all.

WOW!!! Are we ever living life in the fast lane right now....well, many that knows us think we are always living life in the fast lane....but this is different :o) In my last post I told you how Montana is getting ready to have his surgery here soon. Then, the call we have been waiting for arrived. It is time for us to meet the twins. Some of you are scratching your heads saying..."twins"? When did that happen? When did they tell us about twins? Well, as luck would have it, Montana has twin siblings, a boy and a girl who are just 13 months older than he is. They have been in foster care and waiting for their forever family. When we were approached about the possibility of keeping the three of them together, well, how could we say no? We are so excited about this it is really had to explain. Just a few months ago we were thinking it was unreal that we were adopting yet another baby and here we are really getting three babies. So, back to the twins. Looks as if we will...

So many emotions and it is hard to deal with it all. I wish that I had a cleft palate support group to lean on, but here in Carson City you do not always have what you wish you had. You see, my conflict has arisen from the fact that Montana is getting ready for his first round of plastic surgery. Oh, do not get me wrong, he needs these surgeries and in the end it will all be wonderful for him. He will "look normal" and people will not cast that strange first look. He will be able to suck on a bottle and hopefully get rid of this tube feeding sooner rather than later. Yes, all of the surgeries he will face are for the good. Now, my conflict. I love his little face. I love seeing his wide open grin, his little tongue working over time in that mouth of his.  I love how his little face looks like Popeye with that flat nose of his that has no defined nostril on the one side. He is the baby we were given and we are in love with him. Now, this next Tuesday, Nov. 9th, all of that...

Hi All: So here is a link that will take you to an article about our friend MaryAnn. She is the blind/deaf specialist that is a godsend for parents of blind/deaf children. Our precious son, Joseph is in two of the pictures. Please enjoy and let us know what you think. Hugs. http://www.unr.edu/discover-nevada/nevada-stories/features-2010/demchak/