Friday

First off, I want to say thank you to Lannie McKee.... we really appreciate your gift!

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It has been asked recently why my profile pic looks the way it does and why dont I change it to something nicer so more people will respond better to the adoption.

Well, I had a nice, sweet picture during our first adoption, it didnt help... :)

And also, all my blogs are tied to that one profile pic, as far as I know you cant change profile pics for each  blog... and that picture is part of the brand for my photography business and blog (www.talleyimages.blogspot.com) - it helps to attract the clients that I want to work with so it needs to stay for that reason.

Also, I find that very few people actually know about this blog, and those who do know about it, usually know me fairly personally and know how I am and what I look like.

Also, a BIG lesson in our house is that you are loved for who you are and you should never try to be anyone but yourself - and we love ourselves and our kids for exactly who they are.  I think it would be hypocritical to put up a picture that didnt represent who I really am... or rather who I would like to be - I am a goth girl at heart, but no, I do not have any real facial piercings - although I would LOVE that... but out of respect for my mom, I dont. (although I still think she sees me as a hooligan and heathen most days)... but that is who I am, and I dont know if Ive ever felt more beautiful than I did in those pictures (which were inspired by The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, if you were curious).... most of the time, I look like the picture above

Also, I feel a bit upset that someone would refuse to help a child recieve a family just because of a certain picture... that just seems like someone has their priorities all wrong.... also, if you look around this blog, my photography blog or facebook... or you know me in person, then I think its pretty easy to see that Daniel and my kids are my life - and no "weird" picture of me can disprove that

So there you go.... hope that was helpful.

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So far, we have 33 of our puzzle pieces sponsored.... yay, that is awesome, and we appreciate every one.

A little idea that alot of people are doing is buying one piece of the puzzle for each family member... I think that is so cool!

Yall totally rock!

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Ok, back to the actual adoption journey... :)

- yesterday, we went to the dr's office to get our TB test read and pick up our paperwork... it should have taken about 5-10 minutes....

yeah right.... in my dream perhaps...

It took an hour to figure out that they almost lost our paperwork, nothing was filled out and the dr had not even signed it.

Better luck next time.... ha ha... we have already talked to the head nurse this morning and she has all of our stuff ready to, so we will go pick that up this afternoon.... get Daniel fingerprinted.... and then scan it all in.

Whew... :)

We did pick up the kids medical form yesterday, so that is done.

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And you may want to skip this part, but I need it written out for record's sake... :)

If you were following this blog last year when I was blogging about Wallace and our family then you know we had tons of problems with his school.... they called us 2-3x every week wanting us to go pick him up for a runny nose or some such nonsense (no fever, no sickness, just a runny nose).... it all stopped when we met with the principal who had no idea all this had been happening.  (look we know wallace can be difficult - we live with him, but you cant just send him home every day)

So yesterday, I get the following call...
School nurse (SC): Yes, is this the mother of Wallace Talley?
Addie (A):  Yes, it is
SC: Well, Wallace's nose just keeps running, you need to come pick him up
A:  All he has is a runny nose?
SC: yes
A: Well, we just took him to the dr yesterday and the dr said he was fine
SC: Well, it just wont stop running
A: Thats because he has down syndrome, which means his nasal cavity is so shallow that it has nowhere to go but out
SC: Funny, I dont know any other down syndrome kids that have that (yeah, b/c all kids with DS are exactly alike... nothing like making generalizations about kids that mine is one of the only 2 in the school)
A: well, thats the way his is... its just allergies - he is like this every winter and spring
SC: Well, its green, so that means its an infection, not allergies
A: We took him to the dr yesterday and he said he was fine, it was allergies and he wasnt contagious
SC: Well, I just dont think its fair to the other kids
A: He isnt contagious
SC: Well, he is getting snot everywhere
A: (silence, b/c all I want to say is that he is in a kindergarten class - they all get snot everywhere, ask any parent of a kindergartener)
SC: Well, you know if another parent walks in, then they might see his nose and be worried for their own kids health
A: I thought parents werent allowed to visit (b/c when we tried to schedule a visit with our non-verbal child's class so we can see what his day looked like, we were promptly told that parents were only allowed to visit during lunch on Wednesdays, which does us no good)
SC: they can visit during lunch on Wednesdays (hello! its Thursday, you have a whole week before you need to worry about other parents... besides, parents of kindergarteners are pretty understanding when it comes to runny noses)
A: Also, he is adopted.... so his body hasnt quite adjusted to all the trees and environment here yet... he constantly has a runny nose, but he is not sick nor contagious
SC: Well, I just dont think its fair to the other kids
A: Well, he is like this every winter and spring when the weather changes.... we cant exactly keep him home for 3 months out of the year for a runny nose
SC: well, I guess you cant
A: No, we cant
SC: Well, I just dont think he is getting much school work done (have you met Wallace?  He doesnt get much school work done when he doesnt have a runny nose.... plus, do you think he is going to get more school work done at home, really?)
A: ok
SC: well, do you have an excuse from the dr's office
A: no (why would I get an excuse for a healthy child?)
SC: well, can you have them fax one over
A: Ill see what they can do
SC: ok
A: ok, bye

I did not call the dr's office b/c the nurse did not give me a fax number and I sure wasnt going to call back for it... Daniel had to go get the kids medical paperwork yesterday afternoon and I asked him to pick up an excuse for Wallace while he was there - the clinic staff was surprised that the nurse needed one for a runny nose... so I sent that back to school with Wallace today.

I find it hard to believe that they call every single parent of a kid with a runny nose.

Also, I refuse to put up with this type of behavior b/c its just unnecessary and we let it go on way too long last year until we actually talked to the principal.... so this time, I went straight to the top and talked to the SPED superintendent of our county.

She set a few things straight... and she was quite appalled that they wanted to send home a child with only a runny nose... she also told me a few things that contradicted what the school has told us prior... and she said that if we need her at an IEP meeting than she would be happy to do that for us.  Man, who knew it could feel this good for someone to have your back... nice.

So we have requested a parent/teacher meeting and also a meeting with the principal (new one this year), so hopefully we can get on the right track.
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Not sure what else to say... hope yall are having a great Friday!
-addie