Back to School Sickness OR Allergies?!

Monday, August 31st:

Happy birthday to my mom! She's the best and I know she had a great birthday!

Our Monday was very busy! After Theo and Nurse Patti got home Ms. Becca and Ms. Laura came over for PT/OT. Then Nurse Daphne with Maxim came over to check on us. 

[I love how honest Theo is 🤣]

We are having extreme heat (heat index over 100) every day this week, but Fall starts tomorrow! Bring on the apple cider! 😋

And we are officially in the late 2020s! Wild!

Tuesday, September 1st:

HAPPY FALL!

Theo and Nurse Patti went to school while I ran errands and Josh went to work up north. It was soooo hot today! I can't believe this is the start of Fall!

[Theo thought a book was funny and he gave it 5 stars!]

After school we went to see Sherman at The Legacy Ranch. It was really hot so Theo only got to ride for about 10 minutes and then we did some grooming and snacks. It was Ms. Kaylin's last day as Theo's teacher. We are going to miss her!

Wednesday, September 2nd:

Theo and I have been getting more and more stuffy as the week goes on. Luckily, our supplier sent us 300 nasal catheters! No matter how stuffy Theo is, we are not going to need all of these. Luckily, I am in a lot of local Facebook groups that are filled with people who can use them. 

We heard that COVID was going around Theo's class, so I tested myself just to be sure. I am negative for COVID and the flu. So, this is either some kind of cold virus OR it's allergies. I am really thinking (and hoping) it's allergies since this is usually the worst time of year for me.

Wednesday, September 2nd:

Theo had a great week at school. I think he was liking all the extra attention since most of the kids in his class were out sick. We hope they all recover soon!

Thursday, September 3rd:

It was another HOT day! Josh has been working extra long hours and we've been staying inside as much as possible.

Friday, September 4th:

Today is supposed to be the last day of our hot and humid heat wave! YAY! My BFF Emily told her that her son's flag football team is the Packers! I sent them a picture of our Cheesehead and she will now have to buy one!

After school Ms. Becca came over for PT. She discovered these two aquatic toys that my other BFF Katey had sent Theo. She loves them and the more they played with them the more comfortable Theo got.

Weekend:

Our holiday weekend was pretty chill! It was still hot, so we stayed inside as much as possible. College football started, so we had plenty of games to watch. BYU dominated their first game! Rise and Shout!

Lunar Eclipse

Monday, August 24th:

Theo had his first full week of school and he did great!

Josh and I are very excited for our trip to Africa. Only 97 days to go!

Tuesday, August 25th:

Theo and Nurse Patti went off to school while I stayed at home and worked and Josh headed into the field. 

While at school Theo worked on crafts, sorting, bean bag tossing, letters, and food play. He also went in his stander for 30 minutes and laid on the wedge. 

After school we went to The Legacy Ranch to see Ms. Kaylin and Sherman! Sherman is back and we are so happy! Theo and Sherman make a great team! Next week is our last week with Ms. Kaylin and we are really sad about that. But she promises that she will still "be around." 

Later that night I attended book club. We read The Lion Women of Tehran by Marjan Kamali. I love historical fiction and this book was one of the best! 

Wednesday, August 26th:

I sent Theo and Nurse Patti off to school while I went and got a Japanese Head Spa, a hair cut, and my eyebrows waxed. I was supposed to get that all done last month, but I wanted to wait until my neck was feeling better. 

Theo and I have both had a post nasal drip since the end of June (remember his ear?!) and this week we added a stuffy nose to the mix. Thanks to Rollin Rovee for helping me wtih the nebulizer!

Thursday, August 27th:

After Theo and Nurse Patti went to school I went to see my allergist. I told her I was struggling with a post nasal drip. She took a look in my ears and saw I had some fluid in there and she said my sinuses were a little swollen. She prescribed me singular which I am going to take in addition to my daily Xyzal. This is what I am currently doing for my allergies:

Three allergy shots every three weeks

Singular in the morning

Xyzal at night

Nasal rinse and nasal spray twice a day

My allergies are SOOOO much better than they were before I started therapy, but the fall is still a rough time for me.

That evening we watched the Chargers play in a preseason game. Justin is looking great! This is our year!

That night we got to see a lunar eclipse! 

Josh got our new camera set up and he was able to get some great shots!

[It begins]

[Oh no! Clouds!]

[Clouds moved out during totality!]

So cool! 

Friday, August 28th:

Nurse Patti and Theo went to school and I went to see my PCP for my yearly check up. We talked about our upcoming trip to Africa and she prescribed me malaria and altitude sickness meds. We also went over vaccines and we decided that I should get TDAP (it had been 9 years since my last one), Typhoid (last shot was in 2018 before we went to South America), and Hepatitis A. I got my TDAP shot at the office and I'll need to go to Walgreens to get the others. I also had my yearly pap and pelvic exam. I have some routine bloodwork to do and I have my mammogram scheduled for next month. Preventative medicine can be a pain, but it's best to catch any problems early.

Later that day I had a meeting with my fellow NI owners and our accountants. And then Theo had PT with Ms. Becca.

Weekend:

Everything here is totally normal 🤦‍♀️

WTF Illinois?! We also broke the record for the largest hail stone recorded in Illinois (6 inches). So, yeah, it's been a great year!

Look at these cute hats!

We went to the local Vintage Faire and another famers market down the street. It was threatening to rain on us, but the day turned out really nice! 

Theo got a haircut just in time for the weather to get extreme! Trust me kiddo, having that mop on your head is not great when it hits 106 degrees (heat index) next week!

We lost some greats this week. Thanks for being great people and fantastic entertainers!

Theo is a 4th Grader!

Monday, August 17th:

We get a lot of door to door sales guys around here. They are either selling solar panels, bug/pest control services, lawn care services, internet, or cell phone services. I always answer the door and talk to them. I have no problem saying no and I'm always nice. AND a few times I've actually switch services because of them, so I may as well hear them out. During the summer two kids came to my door. They had a small business and they were cleaning out trashcans with their new power washer. I thought it was a great idea, so I had them do our trash cans after garbage was picked up that week. 

A couple of weeks ago they reached out again and asked if we needed our exterior windows washed and our driveway cleaned. I said to come by and give me a quote and we'll chat. On Monday they came over and counted our windows and looked at our driveway. They gave me a quote and I accepted. After a couple of hours they rang the doorbell and I went out to inspect their work. The kids are very polite and they did a great job. I paid them and gave them a nice tip too. I hope they are successful entrepreneurs! 

They gave me permission to post about them on social media, so here's their Instagram:

Tuesday, August 18th:

For Theo's last day of summer we hung out at home and then went for a jog/walk around the neighborhood. We found a new park in another neighborhood that had an ADA swing and Theo was very happy about that! 

We have had a ton of rain this year and our backyard trees have grown a lot!

That afternoon we took Theo to The Legacy Ranch for horseback riding lessons with Ms. Kaylin. Unfortunately, Ms. Kaylin is going to be leaving TLR at the end of this session and we are really sad about that. But they said that Sherman should be coming back soon, so we are excited about that!

Wednesday, August 19th:

Today is Theo's first day of 4th grade! 

We have a new bus driver named Lisa and the bus aid from last year, Christy, is returning again this year. Theo seemed pretty happy to be going on the bus with Nurse Jess and Nurse Patti.

Thursday, August 20th:

After Nurse Patti and Theo headed off to school on the bus I went north to meet with Megan, a representative from Sova. She was in town to meet with an architecture group (great idea!), so she reached out to see if we could have breakfast. It was so nice to chat with her about Sova's changing tables and all the work we have to do in Illinois. I love that this company has worked closely with Changing Spaces Campaign for the last few years. We've sent them a lot of feedback and they made a great changing table that we endorse. It's powered, height adjustable, adult sized AND it does not require any infrastructure work.

Here is their Ascent® Universal Adult Changing Table:

[Food play and using his eye gaze]

Friday, August 21st:

Theo and Nurse Patti had a great third day of school! Since Theo needs to be home by 2:30 PM for PT and OT, I will be picking him up from school on Mondays and Fridays. It'll be nice to see his teacher, therapists, and admins a couple times a week, so I can keep up to date with what's going on at school.

I had to take down Theo's artwork to make room for all his new creations!

Weekend:

Josh worked on Saturday and then went golfing Sunday afternoon. Hopefully we have a nice and mild Fall so he can get a few more golf days in before the weather turns.

PSA's:

School is back in session! Do you know who fought the hardest against Sami's Law? Lobbyists who represent School Districts. Surprised? I was! I think it comes down to a lack of awareness (call me naive). We need to make sure that teachers, therapists, and administrators know about our loved ones' needs at school AND on field trips. Send this to your child's teachers to remind them to think ahead about field trips and check whether the location has a universal changing table! And if there is a place that your kiddos frequent on field trips that does not have a changing table, please let me know and I will reach out to them!

Changing Spaces Campaign

Our Map

Post from Jan Mariet Thomas:

"This is one of the most frustrating cycles surrounding accessibility.

Disabled people cannot participate because a place, event, activity, or program isn't accessible. Because they cannot participate, nobody sees disabled people there. Because nobody sees them there, people assume disabled people aren't interested in participating. Then, because they assume there is no reason to have accessibility and continues to be treated as unnecessary. And around we go.

The absence of disabled people does not necessarily mean they didn't want to come. Sometimes it means nobody made it possible for them to be there in the first place."

I was literally just talking to Megan at Sova about this! 

I get so frustrated when I approach businesses about putting in height adjustable, adult sized changing tables and they tell me that they've never had any customers ask for one, so they don't think they are needed.