More of me to love...

It's obvious that Mr.V is my primary blogging subject, as he often provides the exciting blog worthy material in our lives. However, there are FIVE other children and a cute Daddy that also occupy my days.
Today since our normal crisis ~ lull ~ crisis merry go round is currently in the lull stage, I thought I'd clue you in to the rest of the brood.

First and tallest I might add is my sweet, hormonal 16 year old William. My first baby and probably the most like me in the fact that he's the consumate night owl, he love, love, loves anything chocolate, and has had his mop of hair almost every shade that crayola has imagined.
Will is the more introverted, emotional type. This has caused some stress in the schooling department therefore he has chosen the homeschool route this past year and has done remarkably well.

My second oldest and the one who looks the most like his father is my Justin. He will be 13 in another month. He is excitable and absolutely obsessed with all that is wrestling. Not that I even remotely understand the infatuation, but he does love it. He is my blonde haired blue eyed ball of energy.

After him comes my oldest step-daughter (not that I even think of her that way) Kalei. I've been a part of Kalei's life since she was a toddler so she's pretty much just another one of my kids. She's nine, and has recently entered the world of pre teen angst.. fun. She looks like her Daddy, let me tell you. She was in her younger years what we all considered a champion napper. Kalei would nap anywhere, anytime which made for happy, stress free days. Now that she's school age that happy napper instinct hasn't faded, and last year when her teacher began sending home a series of notes that Kalei was napping right through most of her lessons we realized that her napping so easily and now at seemingly inappropriate times, might really be the symptom of someting bigger.
Sooo.. a few months back we did the whole array of testing which led to a sleep clinic study and the diagnosis of pediatric narcolepsy.
Since then miss Kalei has adopted a rigid waking, napping and bedtime schedule per doctors orders, and daily doses of a stimulant called provigil to help her stay awake during school hours.

Next comes my youngest step-daughter Alissa, she is six. Alissa is blessedly simple. She is quick and sharp, she listens when spoken to and rarely argues. She is a great kid, not that my others aren't, it's just that she's fairly "issue" free.

Then there's my Ryan, my five year old who spends his life teetering on the verge of ADHDness. he is one rapidly evolving bundle of life. Ryan is not a sit down and watch TV kind of kid. He craves the outdoors, he loves any game that involves running and jumping, and he has the best imagination.
I'm super excited to see where kindergarten leads him this coming year. I'm already dreading the impending "first day" separation, but I'm really excited for him.

Lastly but not leastly (is that a real word) is the Daddy.. at least to the last four of the brood, and my partner in life, love, and desperation for the past six years. Carmen is younger than me, six years younger to be exact, and still manages to act like he knows more than I do. I do the "wifely" thing and let him think he's right most of the time. OK, I don't. Not really, and that makes for much of our daily banter. He's a know-it-all and I'm a "Oh no you didn't" kind of gal. Somehow it still works. We like to keep things interesting.
Carmen is my other medical mystery. Shortly after lil V was born he began having strange symptoms involving his hands and eventually his feet as well. Pain, numbeness, tingling. Loss of sensation, ice cold extremities and still more pain. Something like an electrical shock at times is often what he would describe. Over a period of months these symptoms became more severe and debilitating since his job required the use of his hands and fingers. Carmen is an electrician.
After months of suspicions and testing he has been diagnosed with peripheral neuropathy, a degenerative nerve disorder. Most people who develop neuropathy have some type of other medical disorder like diabetes or cancer. Carmen has neither.
After exhaustive tests his doctor referred him to a pain management specialist to help control the symptoms. Since then we've been through the gamut of "routine" medications and are daily battling to keep it under control and still allow him a level of functional ability. It hasn't been easy but we keep trying. Lately he's been going through somewhat of a "mourning" period for the life and abilities he no longer has. It's been rough, and now with the loss of his job and insurance it's taken a turn for the worse. All I have to say is thank you PPA. Without them he wouldn't still receive his meds and we would be in a bad way. All in all, life has become a work in progress, but we're getting there together.

Then there is my sweet lovely, my runchkin of love.. my V.
You already know him.. he's self explanatory here.

I'll work on getting some pictures up of my house full for you all to adore.