Trial By Jury

Moving the blog

2009-04-21T16:36:00.000-07:00

This blog has been moved. Please join me here.

I felt it was better to associate this blog with my original blog rather than the one for our failed adoption attempt.

Autism Care Walk

2009-03-24T15:47:00.001-07:00

Please support me as I participate in The Autism CARE Walk at Heartspring on April 4, 2009.

How can you help? Just visit My CARE Walk page at
http://tinyurl.com/c3aape
and click the 'Sponsor Me' tab to make a donation on my behalf. You can also sign up for the 1.5 Mile walk, sign up as a virtual walker, or just make a general donation towards raising autism awareness.

Funds generated from this event will help benefit local children who are on the autism spectrum through workshops and programs offered by the Community of Autism Resources and Education (CARE) program at Heartspring.

Thank you!

**For those who do not know... Dima is very likely facing a diagnosis on the Autism spectrum. They are waiting until preschool is completed (in May) to re-evaluate him. From what we have been told though, the diagnosis is extremely likely.

this blog

2009-03-22T09:14:00.000-07:00

This blog has not really become what I wanted it to be. Maybe someday. For now though I have to take a bit of a leave of absence from it.

We had to release Angie. Financially we had hit a hurdle that was to hard to overcome. For now we grieve the loss.

Lucky Me

2009-03-15T09:58:00.000-07:00

I have had some good luck with contests I have entered lately. A few of the prizes I have one arrived the other day. I want to say thanks to the wonderful bloggers who held these contests.

I won a Nokia 5310 Xpress Music Cell phone from Being Frugal. You can find great tips and information on living a more frugal life at Being Frugal. The way the economy is now, this is something we should all be trying to do. Nikki and Reid are ~~arguing over~~ discussing who should get this phone. The good news for me is that my house will be really neat and tidy as they compete to see who deserves the phone. ;)

Bagladee was giving away some hand knitted mittens that her mom had made. My daughter loved the fingerless mittens, and we were fortunate enough to win them. They arrived at just the right time, since the weather here took a turn back towards winter. It actually snowed a bit on Thursday. Nikki has really been enjoying her adorable new mittens. Be sure to check out Bagladee's blog for lots of neat, crafty things.

I didn't win the Kajeet cell phone in Twofer The Price of One's contest. (it would have helped settle the debate over who should get the phone i did win) I did win a really cool Kajeet prize package though. It came with a t-shirt, stickers, tattoos, pins, magnets, pen, pencil, notepad and keychains. I gave this to Reid since Nikki got the mittens. He has had a lot of fun going through it all and trying to decide which of the little Kajeet characters is cooler. He was even nice enough to give Nikki some of the loot. Be sure to check out Twofer The Price of One for some great reviews or just for some cuteness in the form of her twins.

Photo Hunters: Four

2009-03-14T09:19:00.000-07:00

This week's Photo Hunt theme is FOUR.

Here is a photo of Dima playing with his homemade playdough. He loves to hide things in the dough and he then dig them back out. (this is an activity that is good for his fine motor skills and sensory issues as well) In this photo he is is squishing four bouncy balls into the dough.

I thought I would include the recipe for this playdough. It is the best homemade playdough recipe I have found. It uses Kool-aid which gives it color as well as a really great scent. It is not just fun to play with but also provides plenty of sensory input.

2 1/2 cups flour
1 cup salt
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 cups boiling water
2 packages unsweetened Kool-Aid

Mix dry ingredients. Add oil and water. Wearing gloves, knead for 10 minutes. Store in zip lock bag in refrigerator.
(the reason for wearing gloves while kneading the dough is because it is quite warm once you add the boiling water)

Signing in our home

2009-03-13T12:01:00.000-07:00

We are working on teaching Dima some sign language. He has limited verbal skills. At three years old he has less (quite a bit less) than a 50 word vocabulary, which is the "average" for a child around age 2. The words he does say are usually not clear. (well, they are to me and my mommy ears, but the rest of the world seems to have trouble) To ease day to day activities and to decrease Dima's frustration over his inability to communicate his needs, we decided sign language was a good idea.

This is something we will be doing with Angie as well. One of her special needs is her inability to communicate verbally. It is actually one of the reasons we felt she would be a good fit in our family. Having two children with the same issue will allow us to work with them both together as well as give them someone they can really relate to. I believe that they will be closer growing up, sharing some of the same challenges, as well as having another sibling who entered the family through adoption, added to the fact that they are close in age. It seems a good fit all around.

Anyway... my point was that sign language is going to be a big part of our family. So I was very excited to see that My Organized Chaos is having a giveaway for a complete set of books and dvd's from My Baby Can Talk. I have heard great things about My Baby Can Talk. I have been thinking about getting this set for Dima, so I am thrilled to get the chance to win it!

Win a Custom Flag Quilt AND help give an orphaned child a family

2009-03-06T09:49:00.001-08:00

A friend of mine is adopting a little girl from Russia. In order to help raise funds for the adoption a wonderful group of ladies put together a fundraising raffle. My friend is one of the founders of Two Hearts For Hope, an organization that helps orphans in Kazakhstan. Two Hearts For Hope received a Angels in Adoption Award last year, this award is given to those who have a commitment to improving the lives of others.

The raffle is for a Custom Flag Quilt. The raffle runs from March 1st-30th. The winner will be chosen on March 31st. Tickets are $5 each. The winner will be able to choose from the following countries:
Kazakhstan, China, Ethiopia, Vietnam, Russia & Guatemala.

I have seen the Kazakhstan quilt and it is amazing!

Go check out the raffle here.

I have won a few

2009-03-06T07:58:00.000-08:00

I have won a few contests recently. I will be posting details later. I want to be sure to thank each person that held a contest I won. The best way to do that is to post here and link to them. I do not like to post before receiving the item though. There are two reasons for that. Number one is that I like to be able to post about how much I (or more likely my children) are enjoying the item. Number two is that I once won something and posted a big thank you with a link to the person's blog and then never received the item. I know that it is very, very rare for that to happen, but it does from time to time. I do not want to promote the blog of someone who would hold a giveaway and then not follow through on actually giving the prize away. It is simply not fair to all the wonderful people who really do giveaway fantastic prizes.

Plenty of Chances to Win from Woman's Day

2009-03-03T13:16:00.000-08:00

Woman's Day magazine online offers up plenty of chances to win great prizes. Some of the things they are offering right now include trips, an Oreck vacuum cleaner, and a Sony camera. Visit their giveaway page to enter.

It's Girl Scout Cookie Time...

2009-03-03T09:31:00.000-08:00

So go find your favorite Girl Scout and buy a few boxes. I bought three boxes on Saturday from my niece and they are already gone. I wish I could say the kids ate them, but it was mostly me. I need to go buy more now!

Just for fun, I took the which Girl Scout cookie are you quiz. How cool that it came out that I am my fave GS cookie! I devoured two boxes of these.

You Are Peanut Butter Sandwiches / Do-si-dos

You are easy going and naturally happy. You don't need a lot to make you smile.

You genuinely care about people and are a great friend. You're always doing your best to make the world a better place.

Even though there isn't an immature bone in your body, you still are like a big kid sometimes.

Why make life complicated when the best parts are actually quite simple? You enjoy the small joys of life.

What Girl Scout Cookie Are You?

Promote Your Etsy Shop

2009-03-01T12:56:00.000-08:00

Are you looking to promote your Etsy shop?
Need more visits to your shop?

I would love to help you promote your shop. If you would like to offer an item for a giveaway, I will host the giveaway here. I will review items in your shop and require readers to visit your shop in order to be eligible for the giveaway.

I would especially love to help promote shops of people raising money for adoption, but that is certainly not a requirement.

contact me for more details

Help Us Bring Angie Home

2009-02-28T18:55:00.001-08:00

Please feel free to grab the code and add Angie's button to your blog or website. It will be a big help to us to spread the word! Thanks.

Grab This Button!

Trying to Build Up My Girl's Wardrobe

2009-02-28T15:11:00.000-08:00

Ok, I just HAVE to try my luck at winning an adorable outfit for Angie. All Things 4 Baby and Mom is giving away winner's choice from Ooh la laMama. These clothes are just too cute to resist. Angie would be stylin' in anything from their shop!

Speaking of Ooh La La Mama.... on their blog they are giving away 3 $50 Target gift cards!!! Is that a fantastic company, or what?!?

Photo Hunters: Thankful

2009-02-27T23:52:00.000-08:00

PhotoHunt

This week's PhotoHunt theme is Thankful. We make sure to instill the virtue of gratitude in our children. One way we do this is by teaching them to lift their thanks to God in prayer. Dima is only 3 and he has some special needs that can make it difficult to get some ideas to really sink in with him. One thing he has recently mastered is holding his hands together in prayer.

Thankful Thursday

2009-02-26T13:20:00.000-08:00

This is my first time participating in Thankful Thursday. I absolutely love the idea of expressing our thankfulness each week.

This week I am thankful for:

* Dima's physical therapist. She has put in such a great effort to really get to know my son and plans each week's visits to suit him. This even includes making him a "cave" which is a place that he can crawl into for a minute or two to self regulate when he gets overstimulated.

* Nikki's choir teacher. It may seem silly, but this is the one teacher who really seems to care about how she is doing in school. He told me at teacher's conferences that he intends to help me reinforce in Nikki the importance of doing well in her other classes if she wants to participate in all the fun things that come along with choir.

* Reid's Language Arts teacher who is the first middle school teacher who has expressed the belief that Reid needs to be in advanced placement classes next year. In elementary school all of Reid's teachers gave him advanced work, extra work, and responsibilities within the classroom. Since starting middle school this year he has been bored and the work has been way too easy for him. I am thankful that this teacher sees and understands this and is requesting Reid be placed in advanced classes.

I seem to have come up with the theme of teachers this week. I promise I didn't set out to do that. Oh well, they all certainly do deserve some appreciation.

New Header

2009-02-26T13:16:00.001-08:00

I was having trouble finding an image for the header of this blog that I liked. So, I made my own! I had a good idea of what I wanted. All I had to do was sit down with some paper and pencils and make it happen. I think it turned out pretty good.

Brain Candy review

2009-02-24T17:05:00.000-08:00

I was recently given the chance to try out Brain Candy. No, it is not a Halloween treat. It is an award winning series of unique children's dvd's and cd's. The primary focus of this series is on the five senses. With our day to day lives being so directly involved in senses due to having a child with Sensory Processing Disorder, these dvd's really appealed to me.

The Braincandy “5 Senses” series uses four key creative elements to encourage interaction and motivate early learners.

1. A gang of silly “sense” puppets representing each of the five senses (Bruce Brain, Harry Hand, Ivy Eyes, Mojo Mouth, Nusi Nose, and Ana Ear) that make kids laugh as they offer new ideas.

2. Sophisticated animation that moves from live action to animated characters, demonstrating the mind/body connection and how the senses work.

3. “Real kids” engaging in experiential, sensory-based activities. This motivates young children to interact with what they see on the screen and mimic what other children are doing. Research suggests this type of interaction is the most foundational element in early learning and sets the groundwork for cognitive, social, and emotional development.

4. A yummy music and sound exploration, Brain candy’s multi-genre music provides little listeners with a broad variety of tantalizing tunes. Classical, rock-a-billy, Latin, Reggae, and jazz gets kids moving and grooving.

One of the dvd's we got to try was See My World. I was impressed with the visual effects in this dvd. There were bright colors as well as contrasting colors to really stimulate the visual senses. There was also plenty of action and movement for the child to focus on. Of course the opinion that really matters here is Dmitrii's. This dvd really gets his attention and he smiles and laughs as he dances along to the songs and watches the actions. He will approach us again and again saying "ain andy" which we have all learned means he wants to watch his Brain Candy.

We also got to try the Smell My World dvd. I love how this one really does encourage children to interact and mimic the actions taking place. I have seen Dmitrii running around the room smelling a variety of things while watching this dvd. This is huge for him! I honestly had just about become convinced he had no sense of smell. He just never seemed to notice smells before, not even really strong ones. Now, it seems as if he has suddenly discovered that the world around him is filled with odors, both good and bad.

My overall opinion of these dvd's is very high. I think this company is really on to something with their use of encouraging examples and images of young children, puppets and animation. I have seen it motivate my young child to interact, participate and learn.

Brain Candy is offering my readers the chance to a 15% discount off of their products! Just visit the Brain Candy Shop and use the code "brucebrain" when checking out.

(This code will be good for one month from the date of this post)

Win Books

2009-02-22T13:28:00.000-08:00

The Serenity Gate is offering the chance to win The Poet's Companion (a guide to the pleasures of writing poetry) along with a journal to record your thoughts, notes and poems.

A Circle of Books is giving away an audio book of The Terror by Dan Simmons. If you are like me you don't have much time to read books, so an audio book is a great alternative.

The Apron Goddesses are giving away an Apron Pattern Book from Dorothy's Aprons. I will admit I have been thinking of making and selling aprons to raise money for our adoption, so this could come in handy.

Cheryl's Book Nook is giving away a copy of The Crimes of Paris by Dorothy and Thomas Hoobler.

Writing It Out is giving us the chance to win either Eternal or Tantalize by Cynthia Leitich. Both books sound fantastic to me and I would love to win either one.

Photo Hunters: Warm

2009-02-21T09:15:00.000-08:00

I thought I might start taking part in some memes. I have seen many Photo Hunters out there. Thought I would jump in and join the fun.
PhotoHunt

This week's subject is WARM

Here is Dmitrii staying warm under his blankie.

I Won: Giggles Software for Babies

2009-02-21T07:06:00.000-08:00

Back during the great bloggy giveaway I won Giggles software from Reading to Know. This was a fantastic set of 4 Giggles software titles. Be sure to check out the Giggles Software For Babies site.

Thanks Carrie for hosting this giveaway. Dmitrii is really enjoying playing these! Everyone be sure to check out her site for some truly great book reviews!

Here he is enjoying playing the ABC's and 123's software

More Chances to Win Shoes

2009-02-20T10:11:00.000-08:00

I love shoes. LOVE them! When I was younger aka pre-children, I had a ton of shoes. Then when I had Cheyenne I stopped buying them for myself and started buying them for her instead. Then Christian came along and I had to split my shoe shopping between them. Now with three kids and one more we are working to add to our family the budget for shoes doesn't stretch as far. So, when I find the chance to win shoes I am thrilled. Tha-rilled!

Here is a chance to win some for either me or Cheyenne (since she is now a bigger shoe size than I am) at Frugal Mommy of 2 Girls. You can win a pair of OKA b shoes and these things are super cute and look comfortable too. While you are checking out OKA b website you can register to win even more shoes while you are there.

For Dmitrii I am hoping to win a pair of Polliwalks, also being offered by Frugal Mommy of 2 Girls. These shoes are just too cute for words.

How about some Stride Rite shoes? 3 Garnets and 2 Sapphires is giving away a chance to win a pair!

Simple shoes are great eco-friendly shoes and I Never Grew Up is giving away a pair.

Have you seen the adorable shoes made by Pedi Peds? They are so cute and they even have a pair called the Demetri! Ok, so they spell it the wrong way ;) but that's ok. Well, who better to give away a pair of these than Momma In Flip Flops. Head over and check out the giveaway.

"Deal"ectible Mommies is giving away a pair of Eleven shoes! I love these shoes that are just the right size for preschoolers.

I found another chance to win a pair of Eleven shoes! I am sure you remember how much I love these. Go Graham Go is giving away a pair of these fantastic children's shoes.

Momma's Review is giving away a pair of See Kai Run shoes. Dmitrii fits the largest size they offer!

What's That Smell is also giving away a pair of See Kai Run shoes!

Guess what? That's right... there is one more chance to win a pair of See Kai Run shoes at The Mommy Files!

Okay, okay... so you want one more chance to win a pair of See Kai Run shoes. Well then, head over to Jolly Mom because she is giving away a pair as well.

A chance to win a free cell phone

2009-02-20T08:52:00.000-08:00

Win a Kajeet cell phone from Life Starring Ellie and Eve. This is the perfect phone if you have a teen or a tween and I just happen to have one of each. The Giveaway: Enter to win a Sanyo Katana II; a $100 value + $5 Free Airtime!

Things I would LOVE to Win for Angie

2009-02-18T07:48:00.000-08:00

Win a Green Toys Tea Set at dkMommy Spot. I think this set is so cute! I would love to win it for our little Angie. We have so many boy toys around here, so I really have to start thinking about getting started on spoiling our soon to be daughter! This contest ends 2/22

Win a Hokey Pokey Polka Dot Musical Skirt from The Funky Monkey. One more fun thing I think Angie will love. contest ends 2/22

Design For Baby is giving away a blanket from The Modern Baby Company. Dmitrii has a blanket that he is totally attached to. I think most kids do. I would love to win one of these fantastic blankets for Angie to have as her own personal bit of security.

My Trendy Tykes is giving away a $25 gift card to Royal Rugrats. They have a ton of cute clothes that I would love to get for Angie. ends 2/24

The Shopping Mama is giving away a chance to win some beautiful hairbows from Five Blessed Bows. I have my eye on some that will look so pretty in Angie's hair. contest ends 3/6

Life Starring Ellie and Eve is giving away a $48 Gift Certificate to FaithWorks4U. They have the most adorable handmade designs for little girls. There are some adorable dresses that I could just get dozens of for Angie!

sharing about SPD

2009-02-17T10:38:00.001-08:00

Talk To Me Tuesday

We had to make our adoption blog private, so for now I am going to use this blog to post a few things. (by the way if you want an invite to the private blog leave me a comment)

My son Dmitrii has Sensory Processing Disorder. This is something many people know nothing about. So, I thought I would share a little bit about it.

I had never even heard of SPD until I came across a post on one of the adoption groups I am a member of. A woman was talking about certain behaviors her daughter had and that they were because of her SPD. Well, the behaviors were the exact things I had been seeing with Dmitrii and suddenly there was an explanation for things that had been a mystery to me up until that point.

I am not going to try to explain the technical details of SPD. I wouldn’t do it justice I am sure. Please check out the SPD Foundation for that. What I am going to do instead is describe some of the sensory issues that Dmitrii has and how they affect his day to day living.

When he is off the ground he feels complete terror. This is an irrational fear of falling. Even if he is safely in our arms he is afraid he will fall unless he is held very close. We can not lift him up above our heads like many people do when playing with their toddler. It terrifies him. He can not sit in a swing at the park because it terrifies him. (this is not from the motion of the swing but the simple fact of being a few feet off the ground)

Certain clothing bothers him to wear. If his pants legs ride up on him it bothers him and he will completely obsess on it until the problem is fixed. He actually will scream and cry while pulling at his pants leg trying to fix it. Nothing will distract him from the fact that the pants leg is up and as soon as it is fixed he goes about whatever he was doing as though nothing happened. The same thing will happen if long sleeves ride up his arm. It is almost impossible for him to wear a mid length sleeve shirt without him obsessing over the sleeves.

He seeks or avoids oral sensation. I know it sounds crazy but he both seeks and avoids oral sensory input. He will lick his hand to get the sensation on his tongue. He avoids things like tooth-brushing. The hand licking has caused him to get impetigo. The tooth-brushing thing is hard on both of us. I literally have to hold him down to brush his teeth while he cries and fights the whole time. I hate doing it but I don’t want his teeth to rot, so I have to.

Over sensitive to auditory input. This simply means that he hates loud noises or excess background noise. I have a photo of us at dinner in a restaurant in which Dmitrii has a dvd player in front of him that people always comment on. They think he is spoiled because we do that. In truth, it is a necessity in almost any crowded place. It helps him to block out the background noise. Otherwise he would be holding his ears and growling. Places with too much background noise are overstimulating for him and he doesn’t know how to handle it.

Certain touches bother him. A light touch or tickle might feel kind of funny for most of us, but for Dmitrii they are beyond annoying. This kind of touch really bothers him. There are many ways we play with our toddlers that involve light touch or tickling and this is one way I simply can not play with my son. This little piggy? Nope, can’t do it. He hates for his toes to be touched. He does respond well to deep pressure touches. This means I get to have really great big bear hugs, so that’s a plus. One example of light vs deep touch comes when washing his hair. If I use a small cup to pour water on his head to rinse he screams and fights me. However if I use a small bucket and dump it on his head all at once his response is much less severe. He still does not really like it, but the deeper pressure of more water being poured on his head at once is less bothersome.

He can not stand to be leaned backwards. This leads me to more on hair washing. I can NOT tip him back to rinse his hair. Tipping back will send him in to a total freakout. Not a good thing to have in a bathtub. I learned this lesson quickly when we went from rinsing, to him nearly drowning himself in a twisting motion that flipped him face first in the water in an attempt to get out of the leaned back position. I also learned that if I am holding him I need to squat down to pick something up because if I lean down it tips him back and again we have freak out.

There are a few other sensory issues that he has that affect his day to day life, but I think the list above gives you a good picture. There are times that we will be in public and he will have what looks to everyone around us like a temper tantrum. It isn’t. It is my son reacting to some sensory input that his brain just can not process in the correct way. We get stares and looks and whispers. I know strangers often think my son is a spoiled brat. They are so very wrong. My son is a good, sweet boy with a disorder that is beyond his control. Something to think of the next time you see a child having a “temper tantrum” in public.

Miles For Ean and Mila

2009-02-16T17:14:00.000-08:00

What is Miles for Ean and Mila?
This is a 3 Mile Walk-A-Thon fundraiser and GIVEAWAY! The walk-a-thon will be held on Saturday, March 21st. Money raised helps Ean and Mila become part of a wonderful family.

What is the fundraiser part?
The Jones family is looking for people to sponsor their walk, each pledging a requested minimum of $21. More or less in pledge amounts is also accepted and ALL is appreciated.

Tell me about the giveaway? What can I win?
Here are a few items up for grabs: Personalized Announcements and Invitations, Baby Bassinets, Children’s All Natural Bath Products, Children’s Costumes, Child Carrier, Water Bottles Good for the planet and good for you, and even Art.

(The current value of giveaways comes to $1191)

How do I enter the giveaway?
This is an adoption fundraiser so they do ask that you consider sponsoring their walk and make a donation to their adoption fund in exchange for entries but a donation is NOT REQUIRED to enter.

Visit the Jones Family Adoption Blog for more details and a full list of prizes

Win Shoes!

2009-02-16T08:50:00.000-08:00

I love See Kai Run shoes! They are so cute and they are very well crafted and durable. Now that Dmitrii is bigger he is fitting the very last size they offer. :( But, the good news is that See Kai Run also makes shoes for older kids now. This bigger line of shoes is their Eleven Line.

A Couch With a View is giving away a pair of Eleven shoes! I am so excited. Head on over for your chance to win.

A Couch with a view is also giving away a pair of Jack and Lily shoes. These are so cute and are sized from 3 months up to 4 years.

The Family Loop is also giving away a pair of Eleven shoes! Contest ends Feb 18th, so hurry over for a chance to win.

The Conservatory Overcoat GIVEAWAY!!!!

2009-02-15T19:58:00.001-08:00

The Conservatory Overcoat GIVEAWAY!!!!

iPod Touch

2009-02-15T19:57:00.001-08:00

Win an iPod Touch from Skimbaco Lifestyle!!!
That's right you can actually get a chance to win an iPod Touch. What a fantastic giveaway.

Trial By Jury Blog

2009-02-15T18:55:00.000-08:00

I have recently become fascinated with blog reviews and giveaways. I am hoping to start doing some of my own in the near future. I wanted to keep it all separate from our adoption blog though. So, that means the birth of Trial By Jury. I think the name fits well with the concept of trying and reviewing products.

I will also use this blog to pass on wonderful things I find on the web such as great sites and fabulous giveaways.