Making the old new again.

I've decided to begin writing for my blog again. I have discovered that I enjoy writing.

I will be writing on a wide variety of topics. There will be posts about our farm and homestead. There will be articles about homeschooling and music. I'll sprinkle in posts about our family and the new adventures we're on these days. Sometimes I'll write one time pieces on a topic that I or my children are exploring together.

If you followed me in the past, welcome back. If you're new, welcome!!

A little about me. I've been a wife and mother for almost 16 years now. My eldest will be a sophomore this coming school year!! The saying is cliche, but time really has flown the last few years! I have 4 boys here on Earth and one waiting for me in Heaven. This school year they will be in 10th, 8th, 5th grades, and the youngest will be in kindergarten. We are a homeschooling family. A decision that was made long ago when my eldest began showing signs of being gifted with Autism. In the last 2 years we have begun a homestead on our property. We started with 5 chickens in 2020 and now care for over 20. We added goats in 2021 and rabbits in 2022. We also have the proverbial farm cats. My goal for next year is to get a strong garden built. My children have all been labeled as special needs at some point in their lives. As I mentioned, my eldest has High Functioning Autism. My second son was diagnosed with Insulin-like growth factor deficiency back in 2010 while we were still living in Florida. I could not find a physician in Louisiana who agreed, so treatment was suspended. My third son has Legg-calve-Perthes disease. I'll do a whole article on what that is at a future date. My youngest living son was born 1 month premature. Had a tongue tie that hindered breast feeding. Was labeled "Failure to Thrive". We spent New Years 2017 in the hospital trying to find out why he wasn't gaining weight. He was also diagnosed Deaf at 3 months old. I will complete several blog posts about his amazing journey!

I can't wait to watch this blog return to life and grow!!

Eva Duhon

Blog Under Construction

I've been doing quite a bit of work on my blog tonight. I'm still not sure it looks 100% like I want it to. But, it's almost 1AM, and I need to get to bed. So I will try to work on this tomorrow night.
I appreciate critiquing, and any advice about what works and what doesn't.

So, I will see you all in the morning.

Neglecting my blog

Wow, it's been about 6 months since my last blog. Guess it's time to catch up and move forward.

I've begun hardcore couponing. I love it. Just bought a new coupon clipper and it is awesome!!! No more scissors for me!!! Love using weusecoupons.com. They do all of the matchups for me, so all I have to do is clip the coupons and go shopping. I love getting stuff for free or almost free. Can't wait for the shopping bags to come out. =D

Alex had tubes put in his ears on August 27. He has also had 7 nose bleeds since then. Not happy about that, or the $7 I have to pay for Ayr Saline Nasal Gel although it looks like Amazon.com has it for about $4, so I may be purchasing it there... we will have to see. I've never thought of Amazon as a pharmacy. LOL

James is still my eater. He is the complete opposite of Alex. He will eat almost anything you put in front of him. He still only fits into 6-9 month clothing, though he's 15 months old, but I don't think that's going to last long. He's still going to physical therapy. We are appeasing a doctor more than anything else. He's doing well, but still isn't walking on his own. He's trying though, and I don't think it will be long.

Tony is doing ok. He's been quite sick and had to use all of his sick, annual, and some of his dad's sick leave last month. He's still not 100%, so prayers are much appreciated. He's trying to finish his Microsoft studying so that he can take the test and get that certificate. His supervisor is also trying to get him a promotion or at least a raise. However, his Bureau Chief may not agree. Praying this comes through for us.

We are also looking to move. Still not ready to buy a house, but at least wanting to get out of the one we are in. The biggest reason for moving is the school district we are in. I hope to homeschool all of our children, but if that ever becomes an impossibility, then we want a good school to fall back on.

Well, that about catches everyone up on the Duhon household. Now I just need to give my blog front some love. But I think that will have to wait for another day.

I hope to be more faithful to my blog in future... even if I do only have 2 followers....I do need to get better about it, period.

Until then,
Amanda Duhon

Neglecting my blog/Disney

I can't believe it's been almost 4 months since I last posted. I want to do better than that. I guess it would help if I had a better following, but I should know better than to expect that. I've never exactly been the popular one.
Anyway...
We are getting ready for Disney!!! Totally can't wait!! We are going with my brother, Trey. We leave tomorrow to go pick him up. Then Sunday, it's off to Disney!! Four parks in four days... we are going to be soooo tired, but it will be worth it.
Well, I know this is short. I'll have a much longer post when we get back.

Gotta get to packing.
Amanda

Random

A blog that I follow recommended writing everything I'm thinking in a 5 minute period without stopping to correct spelling, punctuation, etc. and then post. I'm going to give it a try. This will be completely honest, so if it offends anyone... I don't know what to say.

Tony found out today that there is little to no chance of him rising in his field with the state. No amount of schooling or training will change that. Because of the things going on with Alex, we have to stay with theState for heatlh insurance reasons. He hates his job. Wants out of it. We both know that e is called into the ministry, but don't see how he could drop out of hte state at this point. the fact that he can't even get a raise, and he graduated Suma cum laude reallly makes me angry. He's even willing to go back for his masters degree, but would have to move around within the govrnment because of Alex.  i know that this sounds like I'm blaming all of our troubles on Alex. I'm not.  I LOVE MY SON VERY MUCH!!!I hate that he is having these problems with his growth. I'm 4'9", and hate every minute of it. People often say the cruelest things without thinking. I don't want him to have to go through that. At the same time, I'm very afraid for all of the testing that he will have to go through, and the chance that Iwill have to give my son shots. I don't lik the thought of causing him pain. yes, I get him vaccinated, but that's very differnet. I had a good  friend tell me today taht fear is  sin.  id don't agree with her at all. I think fear is a natural emotion and that as long as I do my best to turn my fears over to God, then I'm doing the right thing. That's the hard part. Yes, God had to put his Son on the Cross adn wath him die a horrible death. a painful death. I still have a hard time With what I may have to go through with my Son See, God knew the outcome. he knew that everything would be ok.  I DON'T. Not having answers is very very scary/ Not having a happy husband is not something that I like either. His bosses at teh state keep giving him more and more work, but wont raise his pay. Wont raise his level. You  know, a but 12 years ago when Democrats were still in charge in Florida, itwas a good and respectable thing to work for the state. jeb bush changed al of tat. He made working for the state seem lie the worst thing you could do. Working for the state today means taht you couldn't get hired by any one else. THAT SUCKS!!! I don't use fowl language. Lord, forgive me for using it here, but when I see my husband come home at the end of the day from a job where he feels like he is under appreciated and overworked and at a dead end in life, it hurts. My husband is 32 years old. There isn't much time left for him to change careers or dgo back to school. Of course we've been told that schooling wont help im at this level. I don't knwo what to do.

I need to figure out how to get my act together adn work in my home like I should. It is difficult to get things done with small childrne, but so many other mothers do it, and manage to either work out side the home or do other extraccurricular activities. I would like to join MOPS, bt don't know if I have the itme becuase I need to gettthings done at home. I need to take my boys outside everyday, but feel that i ave to do things at home. I fwish I were rich enough to hire someone ot clean for me, just once. then I could keep it clean. Or at least ry to. I think I could do it. I need someone like clean house to come get mre orgnaized and clean, and then I would be set. it doesn't help that we don't own our home, so there's only so much i can do to make it look like a home. OH i WILL LOVE THE DAY WHEN WE MAKE ENOGH MONEY TO ACTUALLY OWN A HOME INSTEAD OF RENTING IT!!!!! I still wnat two more hldren. At this point we think our chances of having a girla re pretty slim. Tony wants to adopt the next two children. I miss being pregnant,a nd really wnat to have two more biological children.

I have so much more I could say, but really need to go to bed. I have definetley gone over my alloted 5 minutes. But there it is. Those are most of the thoughts running around in my head. Completely honest.

Prayer for Alex and James

Back in November, I took both boys to have a test called a bone age. I'm still unsure of James' results, but Alex failed his. He has only grown about 3/4 of an inch in the last year or so. My almost 3 year old son weighs 23 pounds, and is 32 3/4 inches tall. On January 7th, I took them both to see a Pediatric Endocrinologist. He asked me if any one had told me that if I just fed him right, that he would grow. I said that yes, people had said that to me. He then told me that those people are wrong. He told me that if I feed him more than I currently am, Alex will only get fat. He will not grow taller. The reason that Dr. Deeb believes this is because for his height, Alex is a perfect weight. He ordered lab work on Alex. He is and is not treating James at this point. It's easier to find a problem in a 2 year old than a 6 month old. So this past Monday, Tony and I took Alex to have the lab work done. Alex did wonderful!!! Yes, he cried. But, he didn't try to get out of my arms. He didn't scream. He just sat their and cried. James didn't cry either, for which Tony and I are thankful. They took 6 small vials from Alex. At this point that's all the news I have. I have done some research online, but at this point to speculate is pointless. I will say that if the problem is with a growth hormone, the next test will be anything but fun for me or Alex. But we will cross that bridge when we get there.

Amazingly, I'm not a basket case over this. I might get that way further down the line(especially if he has to endure the second test), but for now I'm ok. When I shared this information with my Administration Pastor on Wednesday, he stopped and prayed with me right there, and prayed that I would have the heart of Mary who knew that her Son was born to die, and yet she was calm. I know that God loves Alex more than I ever could(which has to be a lot because I love him soooo much). I know that God knows what is best for Alex. These events have made Tony and I look at our future differently. We were hoping to begin Seminary in about a year and a half, but if we leave Tony's current job, we would loose his health insurance and therefore loose the ability to take care of Alex. He would be labeled with a Pre-existing condition.

So pray with us as we face this trial in our lives. Pray that God would lead Dr. Deeb to the right diagnosis without much pain to Alex or James. Pray that healing would be possible for Alex and James. Pray that Tony and I would know the right thing to do about job/house/etc.

"But Mary took all these things and pondered them in her heart." Luke 2:19

Amanda 

Wow, it's been 2 months!!!

I have never been good at keeping a journal. I will try to do better by this blog. Thank you to those who follow my blog.
Well, since my last post we've celebrated Halloween and Thanksgiving. For Halloween, Alex was a lion again. We just couldn't find a good costume for him this year, and he absolutely loved being a lion this year. James was a teddy bear. They were sooooo cute!! We didn't do much for Halloween this year. Last year we tried to go to one of the malls here in Tally, and we must have gotten there too late. It was awful. So this year we went to something hosted by the zoo within walking distance of the house. That was a lot of fun! This took place the weekend before Halloween. We spent the actual day with Tony's parents in Perry. That was a lot of fun.
My parents came and visited the weekend of Nov. 16 for James' dedication here in Tally. They definitely do things differently from FBC, where Alex and I were dedicated(as babies). It was great having them visit. I wish they would do so more often.
We are in the final streatch for the Tallahassee Christmas Pagent. The music is awesome!! Don't know what the story is about, but I gather it's amazing too(I missed the kick-off banquet where this info was disclosed). Five more rehearsals and 3 performances left. Then it's off to St. Augustine!!!! Thank you so much to Jason Pamblanco, Courtney Vinson, and many others for making this musical such a great success!!!!
Finally, on December 17, my momma is coming to get me and the boys for a much needed vacation to St. Augustine. Can you believe it's been more than a year since I last went to St. Augustine??? That's a long time for someone who went almost every month while I was still a child, and several times a year after that.

I'd love to give updates on the boys, but James is calling for his last meal of the night so I'll try to post later.

Amanda