Broken

I have two broken girls. This usually happens. When one girls injures themselves, another one follows.

First, poor Samantha, I swear. This girl has the worst of luck. She went through a ton of hoops to join the high school's JV soccer team. She finally gets to play. Moments into the first quarter a girl kicks her in the knee. As she goes down her knee pops as it goes under her awkwardly. The final diagnosis is a Grade 2 MCL Tear. She will be out 5 weeks. That is how much time is left in the season. Really?!?!

Then, Vanessa did something terribly stupid. She was playing on the train tracks behind her trailer court. She was trying to walk across an iron beam and she fell off. She rolled down the hill twisting her knee. I'm glad its no more than a sprain and bad bruising but I am so angry with her I haven't had a chance to talk to her about it.

Thankfully, the rest of the kids are doing great. (Knock on Wood)

Matteo

Tatiana and I just moved to New Mexico with two of my children, Samantha and Matteo. I lived in New
Mexico up until four years ago when I decided to try another state for services for Matteo. Matteo has fragile x syndrome and autism. He is on the lower end of severe. Sweet kid but I'm biased! This is Tatiana's first time living outside of the Capital District in New York. She's been a trooper through the culture shock and transition to a new way of life.

Fragile x syndrome is a genetic disorder that causes developmental delays. To learn more about fragile x please see my great friends at The National Fragile X Foundation. Great website with personal stories, medical information, etc.

Matteo started his new high school on Tuesday. The bathroom is next to my bedroom and the walls are thin. Tatiana is not a morning person so she is still sleeping while the kids ready for school. Well, the first two days Teo was so loud he echoed off the walls. So I had to teach him to whisper. It is so funny to hear him whisper. Its barely down from talking but he no longer echoes!! He loves to whisper so much it is non stop whispering in the hour before he leaves for school. If no one is nearby he has absolutely no issue having a whispering conversation with himself. He is such a trip.

Starting a new school seems to be doing well for him. He has two girls in the class that he went to school with when we lived here before. It's Melissa and Anna. In 6th and 7th grade Teo had quite the crush on Anna. He would steal her stuff and bring it home. One time she left her planner out and Matteo swiped it. She was in such a panic until I found it in his backpack and called the teacher. She must have hurt Matteo's feeling because by the end of 7th grade he was so over it. When my mom asked him how Anna was doing his only reply was, "Bitch!" Hopefully he forgot that and is friendly with her this year lol.

Part of moving back to New Mexico means that we are surrounded by amazing family including his
Granna & Poppa. Granna & Poppa are two very special people who have been in Matteo's life since birth. They dote on the boy. So he goes and spends a night at their house every other weekend. For us parents of special needs kids...that means so very much. Tatiana and I get a chance to decompress and focus on us which is so very important.

Teo is such a sweet, shy guy. You'll love him as you get to know him as you will all my kids.

The First Post Deserves a Toast

Hi! We are the AreGrigPatHibSteelnowski's. No that is not a real last name. Just our big family consists of a lot of wonderful people who all have different last names. This is the story of two moms, a dad, and seven children currently ranging from 12 to 23. I'll post a list of players so you will know who is who. New players will always be entering! So grab some wine, a beer or a drink of choice. Pull up a chair and enjoy the constant downs and occasional ups that we have. It's definitely entertaining!!

P.S. If you are really intrigued follow my college blog at My Web Development Semester