17 posts tagged “jordan”

Yup, Boy Wonder has done it now.  Or maybe I should say he hasn't done it.  His current average in Advanced English is a 52.  No, that is not a typo.  He is failing English.  He told me the other day that he sees no reason for this class.  He thinks he already knows all about grammar and punctuation; he just chooses not to use it.  So, Boy Wonder is grounded from all things electronic until his grade comes up.  When report cards came out a couple of weeks ago he found himself on the A/B Honor roll for the first time since 2nd grade.  As a result we've been really working on getting his Advanced Pre-Algebra grade up.  He and Chris have been going over things and it seems like Jordan has a better handle on his math progress.  Now, we have to worry about his English grade.  English?  Seriously.  He needs to get his act together.

So, today is parent/teacher conference day.  He's not in school today and since he's grounded from all things electronic.  I have a list of things for him to do.  Empty the dishwasher, mow the yard, brush Darcy and give her and Baron a bath.  Heh, let me keep thinking and there will be more added.  He knows that his 'job' in this family is to go to school and make good grades.  As long as he is trying his best we will accept any grade that he comes home with.  He has not been trying, so therefore he is in trouble.

I am waiting on a phone call from his English teacher so we can have a 'conference' to see what, if any, extra credit work he can do to pull this absolutely positively unacceptable grade up.

Jordan's English class had to write a poem on 'feelings'.  The teacher wrote a list of different feelings on the chalkboard and had the kids write a poem on any of the feelings listed or they could pick one of their own.

The teacher liked Jordan's so much that she read it to the class---keeping his name confidential.

Confusion

I'm always confused

About one thing or another

From why there are leaves on the trees

To why I don't have a brother

I'm always confused

About this, that and the other

From why I think like I do

To why my cousin's are such a bother

With all the confusion

There's no time to ponder

Because with every single Day

There's just a new wonder

All this confusion

Just makes me upset

And due to all this frustration

I'm glad I have a pet

Jordan

Feb. 28, 2009

First there was James knocking on the door asking if Jordan could come out to play. Then James was joined by Braxton and some football and basketball playing happened.

Now, he is at Austin's house. I don't know these boys! I don't want to be over protective. I don't want the kids to pick on him because of me....but at the same time I'm not comfortable with him just being 'all over the neighborhood' and me not knowing where he is from moment to moment.

I'm having to let go in a way that I've wanted to for so long....but now I don't want to.

I hate not knowing how to get him if I need him. Maybe this is why kids his age have cell phones. I hate not knowing that he's safe. I mean I 'know' he's safe....but I don't know he's safe.

Gahhh!!! I'm such a wishy washy Mom. I don't know how to do this! It was so much easier when he didn't have any where to go!

Jordan is a teenager.
Highlights--one for each year---
Birth year: At 12 weeks quits breathing while in his car seat, we spend the night in the hospital and he comes home with an apnea monitor which we used until he is 10 months old.

One year old: He loves his goodnight story--"Just Go to Bed!" and will point his little finger and shake it whenever we read the 'just go to bed' part.

Two years old: Potty trained extremely easy and with that came the knowledge that he imparted upon our extremely religious neighbor, Renee: "Miss 'Nay Miss 'Nay did you know that boys have penis's and girls have vaginas?"

Three years old: 'Marries' Zoe, spends several months walking around hand in hand calling each other 'wife' and 'husband'.  Asks me if Zoe can move in and live with us.  Upon seeing Zoe after a several week break he is devestated when she snottily states: "I divorced you!" he spends an hour in the house crying and hasn't had a 'girlfriend' since.

Four years old: Decides to water my plants for me so "they will grow big and strong"---does it with milk.

Five years old: Watching the Today show before heading to catch the bus for Kindergarten.  Something terrible has happened but we don't know what.  As we are sitting on the coffee table listening to Matt Lauer Jordan says: "I saw that big plane hit that building, there's a lot of damage and a fire.  Where there people killed?"

Six years old: He reads so well that he is moved from Kindergarten to First Grade during reading time.

Seven years old: Hates Second Grade.  Hates it.  He cries when I tell him to take a shower and get ready for bed.  He cries when I get him up in the morning and tell him it's time to get ready for school.  He cries when I walk him down to the end of the driveway to catch the bus.

Eight years old: Jordan flies to Boston by himself to visit Aunt Mo and Uncle John.  He goes sledding and throws a snowball at Aunt Mo.

Nine years old: Plays football with the local park team.  During the first game of the season he catches an interception.

Ten years old: Pre-teen attitude sets in and he starts giving the ladies at Happi-Faces all kinds of trouble.  He ends up grounded from TV and video games for months at a time.

Eleven years old: Finally learns how to ride a bike.

Twelve years old:  Takes up karate and loves it.  In six months goes from white belt to orange belt.  Gets a bloody nose during class and is bouncing with pent up energy wanting to get back to it as Mom tries to get the bleeding to stop.

Thirteen years old:  Well...so far, he got up and got ready for school.

It is so hard to see my baby as a teenager--but he is.

First report card of the new school year and he is on the A Honor roll. He is having a little trouble with Math as he has an A-. But, now that his initial scare is over I believe that he will settle down and make sure he brings his homework home and studies when necessary. On the other hand he is getting a 100 in World Geography.

Back in March he took the standard tests for the state (you know---those fill in the bubble tests). We got the results today. On the reading part of the test he scored a 692: Level IV (Exceeds Standards) Above 652. On the mathematics part of the test he scored a 705: Level IV (Exceeds Standards)Above 675.  At the same time they took the Stanford Achievement Test (SATs) in which the students are compared to same grade students across the nation. He scored in the 90th percentile or higher in all six categories and in Social Science he scored in the 98th percentile!!

I'm so proud of him! He's doing great...now if I could just get him to shower properly. ~sigh~ LOL!!

Jordan has committed to taking a martial arts class.  He went to a 'Buddy Party' last night and learned a few basics.  This morning we went back and the kids showed off what they learned and at the end of the class they broke a board.  It only took Jordan four tries to break the board.  It was pretty awesome!  We left today with his martial arts uniform and he will be presented his white belt during his first class on Monday.

Classes are on Monday and Wednesdays at 7:00 and last approximately 45 minutes.  The instructor, Mr. Eades was really awesome with the kids this morning.  Demanding they pay attention, no yawning, or putting hands in pockets, expecting them to try their best.  It was great.  I hope Jordan gets a lot of out of this experience.  Especially since it is so freaking expensive.

Check out the pictures I took when we got home.

Ready postition

Punch

The picture on the right is the 'Ready Stance' and the one on the left is after a single punch.

Defensive stance

Here we have him in a defensive stance which is the position he has to be in to do a side kick which is shown below.

Side kick

In yesterday's countdown to Christmas I talked about Jordan and his 6th grade class doing some things for the people at the retirement center.   I also spoke about my experience with a mean boy, Frank.  Some of my neighbors responded with comments about how they felt bad for Frank and the way he was raised, and other's commented about how rude he was.  When Jordan came home I asked him how the trip to the retirement home went and if his 'giftees' enjoyed their presents.  Jordan told me that the trip went fine, but they didn't get to stick around long enough for the present opening as the kids had to get back to school.  He then told me about what his buddy Ried did.  Seems Ried didn't do anything for this project.  His Mom gave him a box to put his gifts in, and left it at that.  When Ried got to school and didn't have anything to put in the box, or any money with which to obtain anything---he quickly drew/folded/colored a few Christmas trees out of notebook paper and threw them in his gift box.  Jordan knew about the paper Christmas trees and told the teacher, Ried's box was not taken to the home.  I know Ried's mom, she is clueless that he did this.  Today's Ried is yesterday's Frank.  Only thinks about himself and what 'it' will get him.  Ried's parents are good Christian's and see that Ried goes to church, they've even taken Jordan with them a few times.  Donna would be mortified if she found out her son was behaving this way....at the same time, she'd say something to the effect of "That's Ried.  What can I do?"  Every time we talk, she tells me that Jordan is a good influence on Ried.  That's all fine and good, but Ried is a very bad influence on Jordan and we'd rather they not hang out together.  Jordan is slowly but surely beginning to see that Ried is not a nice kid and he is pulling away.  It's hard on him though, because Ried has been his 'best' friend since they met in 2nd grade.

I keep thinking that if Jordan were behaving in the way that Ried does, I'd want to know.  That way I could talk to him about how abhorrant his behaviour is.  But, I can't see me calling Donna and telling her that her kid is a mean little monster. (I haven't gone into all the different things Ried has said and done through the years---poking a pencil 80 pages deep into a book---because Jordan wanted to read instead of 'entertaining' Ried is just one of the many 'nice' things he's done).

Being a parent is hard.

Jordan's birthday is tomorrow.  He's turning 12.  I've been thinking all day about his 'birth story' and the 'trauma' that surrounded his arrival. 

I had a fairly easy pregnancy with Jordan: I had no morning sickness, I wasn't overly tired, I never got dizzy, or any of the "regular" pregnancy complaints, my feet didn't even swell and I was on them all the time. I did have one scare
at about 20 weeks: I was at work, and started having contractions. I tried sitting with my feet up, drinking water, all that stuff, but none of it was helping. One of my co-workers, Ellen, came up to me and just about had a fit when she saw how hard my belly was....she "made" me call my Dr. He said that he wanted me to come right in, and not to drive myself. I called Chris to meet me at the office and had someone else drive me to the office. Dr. Kennedy checked me over and sent me to the hospital for observation. They set me up on monitors, put in a catheter and an IV with some sort of medicine that made me really drowsy. Dr. Kennedy sent me home that night as the contractions had stopped and I was okay. The next few months passed uneventfully.

I was due on November 23 (Thanksgiving Day).  I had plenty of sick leave and personal time built up, so I went on leave after Nov. 3. Thinking that this would give me plenty of time to get the nursery finished and some R&R time before delivery.  I was "planning" on being late because he was my first and my Mom was always late.  On Saturday the 11th Chris' Mom came over to help him hang the wallpaper in the nursery, she has carpal tunnel and cervical spondilosis, and other things so she was doing us a big favor to help. In the middle of the afternoon, I just got worn completely out and had to go take nap.  Chris got irritated at me, but I laid down anyway. Got up a little while later feeling just fine and "helped" them some more. Mom went home and we had supper. Before I went to sleep, Chris and I "fooled around". He went back out to the living room to watch TV, I went to sleep. I woke up a couple of hours later because I was hurting. I laid there a minute and the pain came again; a contraction. I got up to get Chris, and had to stop in the hall because I had another one. Chris said that it was probably Braxton-Hicks and "made" me sit in a tub full of warm water; but they kept coming, stronger and faster.  I begged him to "let" me call the Dr. He said: "I never said you couldn't"  I called, and naturally it was my Dr.s weekend off...his partner, Dr. Willis, was on call.  He said for me to go to the hospital. So, off we went. On the way to the hospital, the contractions just kept on coming.....when I wouldn't be having one I would tell Chris to slow down we have plenty of time, then another would hit and I would be grasping the door handle doing my breathing and saying: "Are we ever going to get there?"  So, he'd speed up...then slow down...then speed up....then...well you get the picture. I was so scared that we were going to be in a wreck because we were on the highway between a "wet" county and a "dry" one, on Saturday night/Sunday morning right after closing time.

We got to the hospital and they put me in the observation room for just a few minutes, then I was in the labor and delivery room.  The next while passed very quickly while they IV'd me(it took seven tries) enema-ed me, shaved me, and all that other stuff.  Dr. Willis came in and checked me out, said that I could have the epidural whenever the nurses got done doing all the prep work. The anastegeologist (sp?) came in and administered the epidural...no problems there. It took effect immediately and we had to watch the monitor to "see" when I was having contractions. At about 5 AM Dr. Willis told us that it would be at least 4 more hours before I would be dilated enough to start pushing, and that he wouldn't bother calling anyone until after 9. By 7 AM I was done dilating and Dr. Willis told Chris that I was going to start pushing and that if we wanted anyone here, he'd better call. So, Chris went to make a few phone calls.  It was about this time that I started asking for Dr. Kennedy and was told that he didn't live very far at all and he would be there for the delivery. I continued to ask for him every time Dr. Willis came in. I kept getting the same answer: Dr. Kennedy didn't live far and he'd be there for the delivery.  Chris came back from making the phone calls and I started pushing. I pushed with every contraction for over two hours, nothing was happening, except I kept asking for my Dr. and they wouldn't call him. After about two hours Dr. Willis came in and checked me (again), he told them to turn the epidural off because I wasn't pushing right. That made me so mad!!! I was exhausted and he had the nerve to tell me I wasn't pushing right. Chris was so supportive, doing and saying everything that the classes had taught him.  He kept saying...."Come on baby, you can do it." To which, after a point, I said..."No, I can't" then he'd say..."Yes, you can." What I meant and couldn't verbalize was that deep inside I knew something was wrong and I couldn't deliver this baby. So, finally about 10:30ish Dr. Kennedy came in.  I was never so happy to see a man in my life....I may have cried in relief.  He watched me through one contraction, during the next he had the vacuum extractor, by the third they were prepping me for a c-section. They turned the epidural back on, and shaved the rest of me....wheeled me down to the operating room. Chris had gone to scrub up and when he came in I had trouble figuring out which one of the men with blue scrubs, glasses, and mustaches was Chris.  They checked me to see if I was numb; took a sharp little pin and stuck me with it over and over "can you feel this, this, this, this? Okay, she's ready."  I was so excited (and exhausted and disappointed) Dr. Kennedy made the cut, and I looked over at the anastegeologist and said...."Am I supposed to feel that? I can feel that." Chris says I screamed.  The anestegiologist said: "She's got feeling!" Then he gassed me and a big nurse drug Chris out of there. That is the last thing I remember: Chris being man-handled out the door looking scared and bewildered. The gas took effect immediately, and I was out.

Jordan was delivered at 11:01 AM November 12, 1995. 7lbs 14oz, 18 3/4 inches long, with lots of reddish blonde hair. The nurse went out and told Chris and the family that Jordan was born and the Dr. was closing, I should be in the recovery room in a few minutes then after about two hours they could go in and see me. Happy, happy, joy, joy!! Chris and his folks went to the coffee shop for a bite to eat and my folks left for a bite to eat. After about two hours the nurse came in and told Chris that they had been looking for him.  There were some complications.  When Chris asked if I was going to be okay he was told: "It's all in God's hands now."  Seems, that I had pushed hard enough, long enough, and right enough, that I had severed an artery and Dr. Kennedy had trouble finding then getting the bleeding to stop. If he hadn't gotten it stopped when he did, he would have had to do a total hysterectomy. I received four units of blood on the table. The next thing I do remember was Dr. Kennedy saying..."She's coming around." and being so cold, I was shaking so bad that it took 4 Dr.s and nurses to hold me down. I was in and out several times before I stayed coherent. They had to use a blanket that blows warm air to get me warmed up and when I finally saw Chris, he looked like he had been through the wringer. He had to convince the nurses to let me see Jordan.  Which they did, so I finally saw him about nine o'clock that night.  My first words to my new son were..."Awww, how cute." said very dryly because he had this big red birth mark that started on his chin and went all the way up his head to the back of his neck.  (He still has some of it.) It was very noticeable to me and to others when he gets sick or angry or upset.

I spent two days in the intensive care unit, Dr. Kennedy wanted to give me another unit of blood, but I said no. I didn't get the opportunity to breast feed Jordan until he was two days old but I never got any milk to come in even though I kept trying for over two weeks.  Jordan was ready to be released on Tuesday, but they wouldn't release him without me, and I wasn't ready until Thursday.  This gave him a few extra days under the "billi" lights as he was very jaundiced.

It wasn't until we lost Samuel that we realized the extent of the injury to my cervix.  By that time the statute of limitations had run out and there wasn't anything we could do.  Not long after this Dr. Kennedy ended his partnership with Dr. Willis.  They both still practice, but not in the same office.

Chris is in Atlanta for a class on SQL.  He won't be back until Friday.  His plane lands in Birmingham at 5:30-ish.  Which means that I will be driving in Birmingham during Friday rush hour.  I'm already paniced at the thought.  Traffic scars the be-jesus out of me.  I wonder how it would go over if I left the house an hour earlier than I really needed to.  Then I could sit in the airport and read and/or people watch until his plane lands.  I'm seriously thinking about it.  Then as soon as his plane lands and I see him, I'll pop some sort of 'nerve pill' so I can pass out in the car before we even leave the parking lot.  That way I won't be subjected to Chris's driving and all the traffic.

What is it with cool/cold temps that bring out the lady bugs?  Today's high is going to be in the low-mid 50's with a freeze watch out for tonight.  The house is filled with lady bugs.  There is at least a dozen on my window and several crawling around on the ceiling.  weird.

Plans for India and our vacation have changed a little.  We are still going to India in January.  Now we are planning on leaving a few days early to get in some sight seeing time in Hyderabad.  Then instead of going to Amsterdam we will be going through Paris.  Neither one of us is that big on Paris so we will be leaving Paris practically immediately upon deplanning.  We will be going to the Loire Valley and doing a tour of some castles and such.  After a day or two there we will hop a plane to Athens and spend time there before flying back to Paris and getting on the plane to come home.  We are thinking about cutting the visits in the Loire Valley and Athens back a day each so we can get some time in Rome, too.  But, that will depend on money and whether we want to 'leisurely' enjoy two places or be a bit more hurried and see three.  This is a trip of a lifetime for both of us.  We want to do it right and see all we can, but not feel rushed and stressed while doing it.

Thanksgiving and Christmas are just around the corner!  Christmas is only 48 days away.  We are going to my in-laws for both.  I asked my mother-in-law if I could cook the Thanksgiving dinner and she said we'd share the responsiblity.  I'm still trying to decide on a 'final' menu.  Christmas will be fun with Loretta and Caroline both here.  I bet Chris will have tons of fun with his Santa Suit this year.  Yay!  I can't wait to start putting out my decorations.

Jordan's turning 12 on Monday.  whoa.  12.  dang!  Where'd my baby go?  I suggested to him this morning that he might want to wear long sleeves as it would be chilly all day.  His response was that he'd just wear short sleeves and a jacket as none of his long sleeved shirts are 'cool'.  So, now, in order for my kid to be warm this winter I have to take him to a store and let him pick out what shirts he deems as 'cool'.  Well guess what?  He just sealed his birthday presents!  LOL!!  SpiderMan 3 on BlueRay, the trilogy of the Golden Compass books, and some long sleeved shirts.

Okay, I should be working.  back at it!