THE SHADDOX BOYS

Jacob and Elijah Shaddox are brothers. Jacob is 21 years old and just moved into an apartment with his girlfriend. He graduated from a technical college with an Associate's degree in Computer Maintenance. He works for a school district as a computer technician. Elijah is almost 18 years old. He is hearing impaired, has Tourette Syndrome, OCD and ADHD. He is a junior in high school. Elijah lives with his mom Mary and her wife, his stepmom. Mary has a bachelor's in deaf education and a masters in special education, and is an educational diagnostician. Life is always changing and this blog has chronicled many of these changes and will continue to do so!






Saturday, November 20, 2010

CI moment, even after 9 years!

It is amazing to me that Elijah can still have a new CI moment! He has been sick and he really slept hard last night. He went to bed at 8:00 last night and was still sleeping at 8:00 this morning. I went in to wake him up and of course, took his processors with me. He was REALLY sleeing hard. I scratched his back and shook him a little. NOTHING! He just laid there.

He was sleeping on his right side, so I took his left processor and slipped the coil on. He squirmed some and started waking up. I didn't say a word and with his eyes closed he said, "good morning mom!". It was just so sweet. He knew it was me, because I always get his processors for him when I wake him up. It surprised me he needed SOUND to wake up this morning.

He usually gets around 9-10 hours sleep. His meds make him sleepy and the doctor said he really NEEDS a full nights sleep. He is usually easy to wake up in the morning and even wakes up on his own quite a bit. This was the first time I really had to use his CI processors to wake him up.

It was just a very sweet moment and even after NINE years of hearing, he still can have a CI moment!

Friday, November 19, 2010

Memories!



I was home today with Elijah and decided to go ahead and get our Christmas tree up! I really do enjoy putting up our tree. One reason is because of the memories I have of past Christmas' and from looking at the ornaments. I have taken a few pictures of some of my favorite ornaments and here they are. This first one is of the boys. I have an ornament for the boys going back to Jacob's first Christmas. I also have a lot of homemade ornaments they made at school.



This is an ornament from one of my LOOPIE moms! This is a group of mom's that I have corresponded with for 14 years and each year we exchange ornaments. This is an angel with the "I love you" sign.







This is a gingerbread woman that I made in the Brownies back in 1976. It reminds me of that Christmas and it is an ornament I look for each year!!








This is an ornament we got on vacation in Fredricksburg. We went to a wildflower farm and really had a good time. There was also a butterfly area and we got to see lots of butterflies. We all really liked it!






This is an ornament that my mom gave me because I am the first born!!












This is an ornament from our trip to Disneyworld in 2005! It was an awesome trip!












This is our Christmas tree this year!



















The octupus came from our trip to Orange Beach about three years ago and the starfish is another ornament from one of my LOOPIE moms!

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Staying Busy!

Well, I don't have as much time to write as I usually do. Work is keeping me very busy and I am worn out at night. I am glad to stay busy, but am doing a LOT more driving these days it seems. I am looking forward to the Thanksgiving break!! All three of us will be out for the whole week!

Jacob is doing well. He is still enjoying ROTC. I ordered his yearbook today. He said he didn't want one, but one of my biggest regrets is not buying a yearbook for my junior year! He can also put some personal pages in there....his school was one of five across the country chosen to try this pilot program, so that is pretty cool!

Elijah had a rough week about two weeks ago so I was on the phone with the doctor a few times. We finally decided to up one of his morning medications and that seems to have helped. He had an AWESOME week this week!

Both boys are starting their Christmas lists and I have a few surprises for them! I cannot believe how quickly it is approaching!

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Update on Us!



Just writing an update on what's been happening with us. Nothing too dramatic these days. Elijah really enjoyed Halloween and did a great job out trick or treating. We went with my brother, his wife and two kids. My niece was dressed up like a cat and the baby was a loaf of wonder bread! Both were two cute!

Elijah has been having so-so days at school and tics have been a little up these days. A few weeks ago he was falling asleep at school so I called the doc to see if we could lower one of his meds and we did. Well then he was having a harder time at school, so I called the doc back and we decided to put back on the original dosage, but move the time he takes to an hour earlier. That seems to have really helped. Not sure why tics are up right now, it is just part of having tourette's I guess. Today he had a good day at school and got bonus time on the computer, so he is happy.

Jacob is doing well. He refereed his last two soccer games this past Saturday. He liked earning his own money....and SPENDING it! His grades are staying up and so that is a good thing. He gets his bottom braces on tomorrow afternoon!

Work is going well. I am keeping busy. I am taking half a day tomorrow to take Jacob to get his braces. I am going to come home for a bit and may straighten up a little bit. Nothing major! I'll pick up both boys and then go down to the orthodontist.

We are looking forward to Thanksgiving. I have got to start my Christmas shopping!!! Time sure is flying right now!