Roid Rage Patrol............

And so the next steroid reduction begins.......

I reduced Jophies 9 p.m. dose from 15 mg down to 12.5 mg.....In theory this should be a small enough reduction so as not to cause too many problems/complications.

In theory....

In true Jophie form these small calculated reductions almost always bring out the Roid Raging Monster in full force......Typcially we see signs of it ugly head poking ever so slightly out of its deep dark cave around the 24 hour mark......

Just in case this momma is spit shining her armor cause I'm gonna slay me some Roid Dragons!

For now the little prince is sleeping soundly and because this momma has mastered stealth mode he is completely oblivious to the missing 2.5 mg of powdery hormone gold otherwise known as Cortef....

Still no word on Jophies A. Subsidy course this is not from lack of trying....

I am persistant and I do question with boldness.....
I am not afraid to ask for the truth.
In fact I demand it......

When a deer is hit on the road we have the decency to put it out of its misery. Do we not?

We deserve no less.....Agree?

Either you toss us a tourniquet or amputate it makes no matter to me. What does matter is that you must stop the gushing blood that continues to flow aimlessly to the ground....

The truth please......That's all I'm asking

See I even have manners ;)

When the dawn breaks I'll once again begin my dialing quest in hopes of reaching the living breathing person who quite possibly holds the answer to this long awaited question.....

Is Jophie included in your budget?

And, in the event there are any prominent eyeballs peeking in on us I'd like to remind yo to look very closely at who you are hurting.....

You see this smiling face?


How bout this one?


Or maybe this one? He sees angels you know.......



Honestly, I could care less about me but.....


Your messin' with my baby and this momma bear is startin' to growl.....


I'm just sayin'...........

Walking in his SONshine
Trina and Jophie

I'm pooooped..........

Tired
Tuckered
Beat............

Mentally and Physically

You get the idea........

We've had sooo much rain lately that it's been next to impossible to get the grass cut. It seriously had turned into a jungle......Today I managed to wrangle that jungle into submission. It only too 4 1/2 hours. Usually it takes me about 1 1/2 hours which gives you an idea of how out of control that mess was........I'm sooo glad to have that taken care of. At least I can mark one thing off my list.....

There's so much going on that I honestly have no clue where to even begin or end. I'm having trouble wrapping my brain around some things let alone actually yanking it from my brain to here...

We still haven't gotten paid....I was supposed to have heard something today but was unable to get in touch with the person who "supposedly" has that information. I'll try again tomorrow.

Have I mentioned lately how much our government sucks right now? Maybe its only been the walls who've been hearing my ranting and raving? No matter it's still a mess and we're right in the thick of it all.....

I'm not comfortable just yet with telling all but soon if things turn out as we fear this momma is gonna be spewing like Old faithful!

I'm eating bacon by the way......Random

Random is my life lately....I'm seriously all over the board. Good luck following me....LOL

Jophie is doing well.......All smiles as usual with only a few of his normal little "blips" along the way..... Soon we have to do another steroid reduction. I dread it like always and have been putting it off...Bad Momma...I just hate hate seeing that Roid Rage! It's evil I tell ya just plain evil but, we have to muddle through the madness to get to the good on the other side......It's so worth it :0)

Jophie hasn't had much outdoor time bacause of our funky weather. We're hoping that's gonna change soon. We have a Little Tykes sprinkler ball we are dying to let him try. Water is such a "no no" but he loves it so much and I think we've covered all the bases to prevent anything from going wrong. Now bring on the sunshine!

Jophie hangin' out under our little shade tree......


Look how relaxed he is....


He loved it under that shade tree. You'd be surprised how tiny that thing is if you could actually see it in real life. It sure gives a lot of shade though! He could have stayed out longer but it was time for Lora to leave.

Jophies 4th annual Fall Fundraiser is coming up. I'm really excited about the whole thing as it's completely different than what we normally do.

We are having a Hog Roast/Fun day! It's set tentatively for Sept. 19th. The venue is pretty certain but we are just waiting on a verbal on that one. I'm working on the flier but still need that venue before they can go to print.

So far we have The Hog Man who will be roasting the hog and making all the food. The Hog has been donated. We have inflatables donated. We have tables/chairs donated. We have Port-a-Potties donated and you know you gotta have those! :0) We have a ginormous tent donated. We have 2 sheet cakes donated. We have one "very well known" place donating but I can't say what that is just yet.

There is also going to be Horse shoe and Corn Hole Tournements. A softball game. Games for the little ones/Face painting as well as the inflatables. Lots of yummy food! Pulled Pork Sandwiches/Brown/White Beans/Cornbread/Hot dogs & Sauce/Pop/Sno-Cones/Cake/Cupcakes along with other deserts. We hope to have balloons but we're still working on that one. Anyone locally have connections that could help there?

We also need themed baskets for auction/raffle. Lots of them. So far we have one from England coming(Thanks Tia!) One coming from Texas(Thanks Naomi!) One more I can't mention just yet. The good thing is we have several weeks to gather these as well as the other needed items.

We're waiting on phone calls back on a few things and have a bazillion more to make. Lora and I are going to sit down tomorrow and make our lists. "DONE" and "NEEDS DONE" and/or "Waiting to hear back"

We are going to need help as in "bodies" to help with the games/Inflatables/organization ect...You get the idea. I'll be able to take some pictures but Jophies nurses and I will be all swapping off taking care of him throughout the day/evening so someone taking pictures would be ever so helpful.

If you would like to help be it here locally, from afar, Providing a themed basket, Donating a desert, Donating any of the items we are still needing(I will post that list as soon as we get it organized), Any connections you may have to help with needed items/donationse ect.....Please just toss me an email at booboo2003@roadrunner.com or for those who have my number just phone me. I am quite busy with Jophie so I will be adding contact info of others who are close to us and will be helping.

One thing to keep in mind. If you are local and plan to help or stop by please do keep in mind that Jophie is VERY IMMUNE COMPROMISED and visitors are VERY limited. Visitors with ANY COLD SYMPTOMS or illness at all are NOT permitted to come in. I'm sorry if this sounds harsh but Jophies life depends on me following these very strict guidlines.

Did I mention the best part yet? The whole Hog Roast/Fun Day Benefit is FREEEEEE!

Yep! You read that right its FREEEEE! We will be taking donations at the entrance so all donations are appreciated but no worries if you are unable to donate. You just come right on in and have fun! :0)

One more thing to talk about.....

I have a few "new" things to add to Jophies donation section as well as a "Jophies Closet". (More on that later.)

For now I have these......

Blankie Buddies...Holiday Themed for starters

Pumpkin..


Kitty..


These are infant/toddler size at around 10 inches perfect to snuggle with and small enough to drag along in the carseat. I am working on a larger size for the school age child. The twins are 7 and actually loved them and would have taken them home in a heartbeat if given the chance.

If you are interested the infant/toddler blankie buddies are $12.00 Each plus shipping. You can use the donation button in the side bar. Please include "Blankie Buddie" as well as which one you would like with your order.

A quick thank you to those who have purchased cookbooks and a special thank you to Louise. You know what its for and although Thank you seems so inadequate it's truly from my heart. I'd like to thank all the "Little Elves" who seem to be leaving elf prints all over my house. Me thinks they are working overtime as Christmas is still a ways off ;) More to come on the "little Elves" saga.. :0)

Id like to also thank all my friends and family who have prayed for us and just offered a shoulder during these trials. Please do continue as it's still a very scary and uncertain time. I try not to dwell too much on it but reality tends to slap you square in the face totally ruining my Narnia vacation. Yep! I do often look in the closet for Narnia! :0)

And with that this momma needs to go. Lots to still do before my head can even think about hitting the pillow....

Trina and Jophie

In the Jungle......

The mighty Jungle.......

The meeting went very well. All were very receptive and compassionate. They even prayed before they started the meeting. How bout those apples?? ;0)

The commisioners will all be drafting a letter in our behalf. All were in agreement and came out of the meeting so much more aware of what its like to be Jophie.

Our director of Child Protective services had called by the time I arrived home on another matter. We also spoke extensively on some issues as well as the immediate adoption assistance saga. He too came out of our little talk with more of an understanding.

Do we know anything definitive yet? No
Do I feel more at ease? Somewhat

If anything all parties concerned are just a bit more aware of what is actually going on behind these walls. At this moment we are still getting paid and for that I'm very thankful. I am hopeful the commisioners will be able to convey the urgency of this situation to our govenor. I pray he will see how devastating this would be not only to us but to many if he chooses to cut adoption assistance.

For now.....
The Lion Sleeps Tonight or should I say Dragon for those who know us well? ;0)

Nahhhh!
How good would it sound to sing......

In the jungle the mighty jungle the dragon sleeps tonight?? ;0)

And with that this momma is going to hit the sack!
Good night all......

P.S. Pleeeease pray these yeasty beasties away!
If you feel so inclined to pray about such things ;0)
Trina

Bite the Bullet......

Not literally but how bout a bullet post with the promise of a more detailed update and "give it my best effort" to have more current updates for 2009

I'll do my best! ;0)

1. Christmas was nice. Friends surrounding us with tons of love and making sure Jophie had all he needed and making sure I felt a little love too. ;0) Jophie was well and to me thats the best gift of all.
2. A new nurse is in our future. Now if we can just get the paperwork started.
3. Foster/adoptive parenting classes start on January 27th. I really want to attend these. This will be my second attempt in the last couple years to get recertified. Now to get that evening nurse in place so I can go and keep Jophie well!
4. MRDD blessed us with some end of the year funds that needed used up. Not cash but rather supplies. We chose trachs. Now we have a "little stash" Thank God
5. Appalacian Families and Children also had some extra funding that needed used up. Guess what we chose for that? A brand spankin new Hoyer Advance lift! The cadillac version! Again...Thank God!
6. Feburary will be 5 months I've been waiting for the state to pay me what they shorted me. Yep still waiting on that.
7. We have a fungus among us and Jophie shared! Yep! We both be faithfully taking our Diflucan. Be gone yeasty beasties! Itch Itch Scratch Scratch
8. The cookbooks are on their way to my house! Delivery date is Tuesday! Yay! We'll get right on shipping those out once they arrive ;0)
9. Round 2 of Meals 4 Wheels will be launching shortly after I get the first batch mailed. Seems all the fat and sassy folks are wanting some help after their holiday binging! We aim to please! ;0)
10. Kooky seems to be the theme in this house lately. Hats that is and Kooky they are! Adorable but Kooky. Wait till ya see the pictures of my twin nieces wearing theirs. Who knows you might want one for yourself. I think I could be pursuaded to make a few. For Jophie ;0)
11. The state is considering cutting adoption assistance. Read that one more time cause your eyes aren't blurry. Yep we may lose our only source of income. We have a meeting with the commsioners on Monday at 9:30 a.m. They are not making the final decision. Our governor is however, they have the power to draft a letter to the govenor on our behalf. Pray for my friend and I that we can impress on them the impact this will have. Pray they will see how devastating this will be.
12. The New Year is hear. It's scary and theres no gettin around it! I prefer jumping in head first anyways!

    Happy 2009!
    Hang on! It's gonna be a bumpy ride!
    Trina and Jophie